Investors, impressed by banks’ high profits, have been rushing to buy bank shares, pushing prices up.

Only one candidate has been found not to meet the standards for a professor title in 2017. However, concern about the quality of professors/associate professors remains.

VietNamNet Bridge - The highlight of the Vietnam real estate market in 2017 was the boom of ‘green’ construction. 

While a student condominium project has been halted due to a capital shortage, plans to give it a second life as a social housing complex have run aground due to the failure of Hanoi authorities and the Ministry of Construction to compromise.

 The Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) warned that benefits from the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) could be reduced if Vietnam does not implement breakthrough reforms.

Vietnam is both qualified and motivated to take the lead in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Vu Minh Khuong, associate professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy speaks to VIR about what the future will bring.

 VietNamNet Bridge – With the new year season coming around, cai luong (reformed opera) performers in HCM City are releasing new and catchy music videos after a long slog in the studio.

 There are many arguments related to the solutions proposed by ADPi and local organisations to expand Tan Son Nhat International Airport.

 Increasing the value of domestic production and promoting the automobile supporting industry must not depend on foreign direct investment (FDI) firms.

 Thai Nguyen Iron and Steel JSC (Tisco) is considering taking the Chinese contractor China Metallurgical Group Corporation (MCC) to court to deal with the overlong dispute over an engineering-procurement-construction (EPC) contract once and for all.

 Indonesia and Thailand, Vietnam’s two major car exporters, are trying to provide the Vehicle Type Approval (VTA) certificates to reopen car exports to the country after Decree 116 tightened quality checks.

 Hanoi set the target to turn into a smart city by 2030 in accordance to the capital's revised information and technology strategy in the 2016-2020 period.

 Grave air pollution in Vietnam’s cities and towns, especially Hanoi, continues to cause severe health problems for Vietnam’s growing urban population. However, no effective measures have been taken to deal with the situation.

 A gigantic project – worth over $37 billion – to build a synchronous smart city project in northern Hanoi may have to wait some time before being realised, due to an absence of specific criteria for this type of development.

 Dana-Y and Dana-Uc steel factories will have to suspend their operation indefinitely due to violations of wastewater discharge regulations.   

Thanks to Vietnam’s issuing incentive policies to lure investment into the renewable energy sector, more and more foreign investors, especially those from South Korea, have expressed ambitions to join the field.

 Internet-based sharing services such as Grab, Uber, and Airbnb have taken Vietnam by storm in 2017. Various legal concerns still linger, but experts believe that the sharing economy is here to stay.

 VietNamNet Bridge – HCM City should have methods to evaluate the actual work effectiveness of civil servants in order to fairly decide salary increases, 

 VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnamese players on Monday began their three-day table tennis exchange with strong athletes from Japan at the Hoa Lu Table Tennis Club in HCM City.

The eastern part of the city will still be hot in 2018, while infrastructure works in the western part will attract house and apartment buyers, analysts say.