Thu Minh wins Best Asian Artist award

 VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnamese pop star Thu Minh has honoured with won the Best Asian Artist title at the 2013 Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA).

Party chief’s India visit successful, says senior official

 VietNamNet Bridge – The recent visit to India by Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong has been a success, deepening the strategic partnership between the two nations and driving their cooperation in a more practical and effective way.

LUALA Concert series resumes in Hanoi

 VietNamNet Bridge – The Fall/Winter season of the free outdoor 2013 LUALA Concert series is set to take place in Hanoi from December 1-22.

Ethnic funerary sculpture exhibition in Hanoi

 VietNamNet Bridge – A display of wooden funerary sculptures made by local people from the Central Highlands was opened during the on-going Vietnam Cultural Heritage Week.

India trains Vietnam submarine crew

 VietNamNet Bridge – India on November 23 began training 500 Vietnamese sailors under a defence initiative between the two countries.

Sugar imports from Laos make domestic manufacturers tremble

 VietNamNet Bridge – The Vietnam Sugar and Sugar Cane Association (VSSA) has protested against the plan by Hoang Anh Gia Lai group to sell 30,000 tons of sugar it made in Laos to the Bien Hoa Sugar JSC.

Salted or sugared dry apricot - a dilicious nosh!

 “Ô mai” (salted or sugared dry apricot) is a favourite nosh for many people in Hanoi and other provinces.

Vietnam rules with light hand on environment law violators

 VietNamNet Bridge – Under the current environment laws, the punishment is not heavy enough to deter violators.

Weaker students spend more hours surfing the Internet

 VietNamNet Bridge – Educators have found a close relation between the number of hours students spend to surf on the Internet and their learning capability.

Online games can bring profit, but it’s a hard nut to crack

 VietNamNet Bridge – A series of IT firms, big and small, have jumped into the online game market because they believe this is a profitable job. However, it is always not easy to make money.

Vietnam to set up early warning system of diseases

 VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnam will set up an early warning system of infectious diseases related to climate change, a health official has said.

Retailers worry as Vietnam opens market in 2015

 Vietnamese retailers have expressed concerns about the increasingly competitive retail market, as the country plans to open up to an influx of foreign retailers required by the WTO obligations, which will come into effect from January 11, 2015.

Vietnamese firms absent from food-chain market?

 VietNamNet Bridge – The fast food market has formed in Vietnam, with a series of foreign food chains. Why don’t we see many local brands?

Popular Hong Kong actors join city show

 VietNamNet Bridge – Hong Kong TV stars Ron Ng and Tavia Yeung will come to HCMC next month to join a series of cultural exchanges and charity auctions.

BUSINESS IN BRIEF 25/11

 Vietnam's advertising wakes up to a changing industry; Electricity market on the horizon in Vietnam; Lotte trade centre put into use in Binh Duong; Credit institutions asked to deal with bad debts

Consumer confidence creeps up

 VietNamNet Bridge – Consumer confidence in Viet Nam rose two points to 97 in the third quarter as local job prospects and personal finance are expected to be more positive next year.

New albums mark start of festive season

 VietNamNet Bridge – Music industry stakeholders are engaged in a race to release new albums for the upcoming holiday season, but those with more experience are likely to do better in the market.

Local authorities, government in heated dispute over thermal power project

VietNamNet Bridge – The Kien Giang Provincial People’s Committee is at odds with the central government over its desire to revoke the investment license granted to Tan Tao Group to build a giant thermal power plant and a deep water seaport complex.

Foreign NGOs to meet in Hanoi

 Hanoi will host the third international meeting on cooperation between Vietnam and Foreign Non-Governmental Organisations (FNGO) on November 28-29.

Bright spark inspires Mekong bio-tech rice boom

 VietNamNet Bridge – A young entrepreneur from the Mekong Delta is helping local rice farmers save money and save the environment with the use of his bio-technology innovations and a sustainable approach to mushroom production.

Crowd favorite Nutcracker returns to HCM City opera house

 VietNamNet Bridge – HCMC Ballet Symphony Orchestra and Opera (HBSO) brings ‘Nutcracker’ back to the HCMC Opera House at 8 p.m. on November 29 and 30 for city ballet fans to lap up.

Schools combat cough medicine craze

 VietNamNet Bridge – Bui Thi Thuoc in HCM City is worried that her eighth-grade daughter will become a drug addict.

Privileges proposed for domestic ships to regain market

 VietNamNet Bridge – The Ministry of Transport has proposed to apply a series of measures to help shipping firms ease their difficulties and regain the maritime transport market from foreign agents.

"Divo of Vietnam" talks about his stellar career

 VietNamNet Bridge – Dubbed as "divo of Vietnam", Tung Duong has just released his latest album Doc Dao (Only Path), his biggest music project with Vietnamese-French musician/producer Nguyen Le.

Sport offers new hope to disabled

 VietNamNet Bridge – Central Quang Tri is home to about 80 per cent of the country's physically disabled people, but its sports programme has been a "magical wand" changing the lives of those with disabilities for the better