The National Assembly of the Republic of Korea (RoK) ratified the country’s free trade agreement (FTA) with Vietnam on November 30.

 The outlook for the Vietnamese banking system is stable, driven by the country's good economic growth and stabilising asset quality and good liquidity, according to a Moody's report released early this week.

 Vietnam has chosen to become a founding member of a new global set of trade rules by joining in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, Japanese Minister of State for Economic and Fiscal Policy Akira Amari said.

 FPT, Vietcombank, PetroVietnam Gas (PVGas), Vinamilk, and Vingroup are five Vietnamese enterprises that appeared on the Asia300 report, which was released recently by Nikkei Asian Review.

 Vietnam’s economy will escape from recession and start a new recovery cycle, according to the National Centre for Socio-Economic Information and Forecast (NCIF).

 The global market share of Vietnamese coffee has shrunk from 22 percent in 2014 to 18 percent this year even though the country is still the world’s second biggest coffee exporter.

 Vietnam’s GDP growth is likely to reach 6.5 percent this year as the country’s economy has weathered the recent turbulence in the external environment fairly well, said the World Bank (WB)’s latest report released on December 2.

 Leading scientists from the US and countries in the Mekong River basin met at a workshop in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho on November 30 to discuss measures to quicken the building of a Mekong Delta Museum of Natural History.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung announced that Vietnam will contribute $1 million to the Green Climate Fund from 2016-2020 during his speech at the 21st Conference of the Parties.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Ba Den Mountain is 986 meters above sea level, the highest in the nation’s southeastern region.

 Industrial parks nationwide discharge more than a million cubic metres of wastewater each day, 75 percent of which is untreated and harmful, according to a workshop held in Hanoi on December 1.

 Brazilian President cancels official visit to Vietnam, State President greets DPRK prosecutor, Congratulations on Vietnam-Cuba ties’ 55th founding anniversary, Vietnamese delegation visit Laos’ former leaders

 Vietnam has greatly contributed to the successes of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) since it joined the 10-nation group two decades ago, said Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh.

 Burkina Faso has officially recognised Vietnam’s market economy status in a diplomatic note of its Ministry of Foreign Affairs on November 23.

 Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and his Belgian counterpart Charles Michel agreed on ways to strengthen bilateral ties across politics, economics, culture, education-training, and science-technology during their talks in Brussels on December 2.

 A group of U.S. scientists and activists on Monday called for a global ban on the use of new tools to edit the genes of human embryos,

VietNamNet Bridge - Economists believe that the low inflation rate is a concern for Vietnam, which has been affected by high inflation for many years.

 Green credit is making very slow progress in Vietnam despite being a path towards sustainable economic development.

 VietNamNet Bridge – The central highland city of Da Lat will host the biennial flower festival – a tourism trademark of the city – from December 29 to January 2.

Vietnam National U23 team will play a friendly match with Japan-based Cerezo Osaka Football Club at the Hang Day stadium on December 17, the information was released by the Vietnam Football Federation.

 VietNamNet Bridge – The Investigation Police Agency of the Ministry of Public Security has suggested prosecuting 36 former officials at the Vietnam Construction Bank (VNCB).

 VietNamNet Bridge – Representatives of foreign business associations have expressed concern over Vietnam’s visa policy, claiming their member enterprises are having problems with short-stay visa and strict entry regulations.

The ‘pure shopping mall’ has lost its position amid the strong rise of ‘shopping mall complex’, or ‘one-stop shop’. Experts believe that ‘one-stop shops’ will be dominant in the retail market in the future, especially in large cities.

 VietNamNet Bridge – The Civil Code (revised), adopted by the National Assembly on November 24, states that negotiated interest rates must be controlled under 20 per cent per year, excluding loans stipulated in other laws.

 VietNamNet Bridge – South Korea's National Assembly officially adopted a free trade agreement with Viet Nam on Monday.