Tea culture to shine at festival

 VietNamNet Bridge – A hundred years of northern Thai Nguyen province tea culture will be showcased at Thai Nguyen Tea Festival which begins tonight (Nov 26) in downtown Thai Nguyen City.

DJs from Hong Kong, Italy at Observatory

 Fairy Land playground for HCMC kids, HCM City hosts Int'l Friendship Day, Hotels to switch on Christmas lights, Affordable art fair arrives in capital, Run for Heart 2015 charity race set to go, DJs from Hong Kong, Italy at Observatory

Xiem Can Temple – stunning old architecture in Bac Lieu

 VietNamNet Bridge – Xiem Can Temple in the Mekong Delta province of Bac Lieu is listed among the most magnificent large-scale Khmer temples in southern Vietnam.

Vietnam's Prime Minister to visit EU next week

 PM Nguyen Tan Dung will attend the 21st session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 21) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Paris from November 30-December 1 and pay working visits to Belgium and the EU on December 2.

Four destinations in Vietnam rated among top 29 places to visit in Southeast Asia

 Four locations in Vietnam – Hanoi, Sapa and Hoi An towns, and Ha Long city – have been named among the 29 best places to visit in Southeast Asia, as selected by Touropia.

Major corruption scandal at Agribank financial leasing company set for trial

 The People’s Court of Ho Chi Minh City on November 25 commenced a preliminary hearing for two defendants involved in a major embezzlement scandal at the Agribank Financial Leasing Company No 2 (ALC II).

Social News 26/11

 Crane collapse traps several workers, Executives face trial on embezzlement charges, Ca Mau waterway accident kills two, injures seven, Thai vessel caught selling contraband oil to fishing boat, ASEAN journalists to meet in Vietnam

Saigon’s “through-the-fence market”

 VietNamNet Bridge - This is the most special “market” in Saigon, where buyers and sellers exchange through a fence of more than 2m high.

Are Vietnamese bank shares too expensive or dirt cheap?

While foreign finance institutions believe that Vietnamese bank shares prices are the most expensive in frontier markets, Vietnamese shareholders are distressed that bank share prices have not increased as expected.

National tourism year to feature few new events

 VietNamNet Bridge – As many as 65 events are planned for the National Tourism Year 2016 in Kien Giang Province and other parts of the country next year, but only some of the events are new.

Paintings made from leaves and husk

 VietNamNet Bridge – At the age of 73, artisan Vo Van Tang is well known for his unique paintings created from the leaves of thot not (sugar palm trees).

No limit on cars using e-hailing service: official

 VietNamNet Bridge – Vice Minister of Transport Nguyen Hong Truong said authorities would not have a quota for the number of cars for services such as GrabTaxi and Uber, because of certain concerns.

Serviced offices for rent – New trend for TPP age

TPP membership is expected to create strong foreign investment inflows into VN and result in business expansion. Learning from vibrant economic centers in the region, new forms of office premise leasing have appeared in major cities.

Map of tourism products in Vietnam’s central coast launched

 A technical report and a map of regional tourism product development for Vietnam’s Central Coast have been launched by the European Union-funded Environmentally and Socially Responsible Tourism Capacity Development Programme (EU-ESRT).

HCM Stock Exchange introduces new sector indexes

 The HCM Stock Exchange is developing new sector indexes based on the Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS) and will introduce them in the first quarter of next year.

Switzerland values relations with Vietnam

 Switzerland has continuously attached significance to developing the bilateral relations with Vietnam, said Swiss President Simonetta Sommaruga.

10 must-see landscapes in Ha Giang

 VietNamNet Bridge – Besides the fields of buckwheat flowers, there are many tourist attractions that visitors should not miss when they come to the rock plateau of Dong Van, in Ha Giang province.

Photos: Saigon’s special advertising style

 VietNamNet Bridge – Many shops do not use advertising signs or display commodities in HCM City but rather hang special signs on the sidewalk as a way to identify their goods and services.

Vietnam’s Le Quyen introduces charity project at Miss Supranational

 VietNamNet Bridge - The second runner-up of 2015 Miss Ao Dai Vietnam Nguyen Thi Le Quyen is participating in Miss Supranational 2015 beauty pageants in Poland from November 19 to December 4th.

Cyber-thieves 'target Christmas shoppers'

 Cyber-thieves are preparing malware and spam campaigns in a bid to catch out retailers and shoppers during the run-up to Christmas,

Ukraine closes airspace to all Russian planes

 Ukraine has banned all Russian planes from using its airspace and exports of Russian gas to Ukraine have been halted by state-controlled giant Gazprom.

Actors famous on social media deliver hit

 VietNamNet Bridge – For their romantic comedy hit Yeu (Love), the film studio Early Rises Media Group decided to invite young actors with millions of Facebook followers to play the leading roles in hopes of attracting high profits.

Petrobras scandal: Brazil billionaire Andre Esteves arrested

 One of Brazil's richest businessmen and a top senator have been arrested as part of the sweeping corruption probe into state oil giant Petrobras.

Grab taxi gets go-ahead, taxi associations oppose move

VietNamNet Bridge - The Ministry of Transport (MOT) has given Grab taxi the green light on drafting a plan on allowing Grab taxi to ‘utilize technology to support the connection and management in passenger transport’ in a pilot program.

National Park loses 100 trees a month to illegal loggers

VietNamNet Bridge - At the Yok Don National Park, 100 trees are cut down every month on average. In 90 percent of cases, illegal loggers responsible for the damage cannot be found.