Consumer confidence slightly softer in October; Brokerage firms fare well in Q3; Automakers report surging demand; India woos Vietnamese investors; No State money for bad debt; Equitization of 432 SOEs to finish next year

 VietNamNet Bridge – The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on Tuesday approved a tourism marketing strategy until 2020 which includes a marketing roadmap.

Approximately two kilometers from the Vietnam-Cambodia border, there is a market where men can buy tiger spiders, scorpions, queen termites and other items believed to be tonics for men’s sexual health.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Several types of vehicles will enjoy import tariff cuts beginning next year in line with Viet Nam's commitment to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) on tax reduction.

VN wrapped up their six days of competition at the recent Asian Para Games in Incheon, Republic of Korea placing in 10th place on the overall medal count with a stunning collection of nine golds, seven silvers and 13 bronzes.

The Ministry of Education and Training, in an effort to ease excessive amount of homework for students, has prohibited teachers to hold after-school classes. But many instructors have ignored the ban.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Economists says if the ceiling on advertising expenditures is lifted, it may do more harm than good to Vietnamese businesses,.

 Middleweight fighter Cung Le's suspension for failing a human growth hormone (HGH) test has been rescinded.

 Fighting corruption and recovering assets remain a big challenge for Vietnam, domestic and international experts said at a roundtable on anti-corruption measures in Hanoi on October 28.

 The latest rankings released by the International Chess Federation (FIDE) show Vietnamese top player Le Quang Liem dropping 22 places to 66th.

 India’s group Tata and Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade are completing procedures for an early implementation of Long Phu II thermal project worth US$1.8 billion under a build-operate-transfer format in Vietnam.

VietNamNet Bridge – The number of mobile subscribers (2G, 3G) in Vietnam in 2013 had fallen by nearly 8 million compared with the previous year, to 123 million subscribers.

 VietNamNet Bridge – By the end of September 2014, Hanoi authorities estimated that there were more than 16,000 drug addicts in the city, including over 1,000 uncontrolled addicts.

 VietNamNet Bridge – At 4am on October 28, a hole 15m wide, and over 2.5m deep suddenly appeared on a road in Quy Loc commune in Yen Dinh district of Thanh Hoa province.

 The military-run telecom group Viettel plans to commence construction of a new third-generation (3G) mobile phone network in Tanzania this November with services expected to begin by July 2015.

 Young bands to rock city show; A glimpse of Hanoi; Photo contest for youth launched in Hanoi; Int’l workshop on Nguyen Du-Truyen Kieu opens in RoK; Japan donates technical equipment to Youth Theatre

 Saigon Heat have signed up American player Dijon Thompson as they prepare for the 2014 AirAsia ASEAN Basketball League playoff round.

 The Hoang Anh Gia Lai-Arsenal-JMG U21 team tasted victory for the first time after crushing Thailand's U21 team, 3-0, in the final game of the International U-21 Football Tournament yesterday.

 The exact number of investment capital spent on the National Assembly House project is over VND5.5 trillion, or roughly US$260 million, with some 80% of it already disbursed, said the Construction Minister.

Ocean Bank said on October 27 it has had no problem with liquidity since Ha Van Tham, former chairman of the bank, was detained by police last Friday on his alleged involvement in lending irregularities.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Recent surveys about the tax policies applied to foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs) show that Vietnamese have become choosier about foreign direct investment (FDI) and FIEs (foreign-invested enterprises).

 The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has unveiled a draft plan to set up 11 parks across the country by 2020 to research and innovate agricultural technologies.

 Well-known Indian dance troupe Odissi will amaze Hanoian audiences with four special performances at Hanoi University of Culture on October 30.

 The 113-year-old Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi has been crowned the best hotel in Southeast Asia by Conde Nast Traveller, one of the world’s most luxury and lifestyle travel publishers.

 Vietnam had more than 33 million Internet users at the end of 2013, constituting 37% of the nation’s total population, according to the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC)’s White Book.