Overseas remittances to HCM City were estimated to reach $3.45 billion in the first eight months of this year, according to the State Bank of Vietnam’s HCM City branch.

Thousands people in Ho Chi Minh City flocked to the city’s downtown to admire a spectacular firework display on the National Day, September 2.

Nguyen Hue Pedestrian Street is set to host an international music festival from December 13-15, according to the Ho Chi Minh City municipal People’s Committee.

HCM City plans to spend hundreds of billions of dong on building more than 100 reservoirs to store rainwater and control flooding by 2020 under a flood-control programme.

The HCM City Food Safety Management Board plans to strengthen oversight of companies producing food supplements.

The HCM City People’s Committee has ordered the termination of the contract with the Investment and Development for Underground Space Corporation to build an underground parking lot at Le Van Tam Park in District 1.

HCM City faces a housing shortage caused by the rapidly rising population and shortage of new housing projects.

HCM City is seeking to speed up spending on public projects after many districts reported slow rates so far this year.

Lieutenant General Le Dong Phong, Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Policy, speaks to Thanh Niên (Young People) newspaper on his agency’s commitment to tackle ‘black credit’ in the city.

More than 100 garments for women and men created by Vietnamese fashion houses and designers will be showcased at the first Vietnam Runway Fashion Week to be held in HCM City this week.

HCM City authorities have decided to organise fireworks to celebrate the August Revolution (August 19) and National Day (September 2) this year.

Ly Hoang Ly is probably the first professional artist to exhibit her installation at a school in HCM City.

HCM City plans to invite experienced international experts to get involved in selecting designs for a pedestrian bridge linking District 1 and the Thu Thiem New Urban Area in District 2 over the Saigon River.

MUSIC & PERFORMANCES

The National Artistic Gymnastics Championships will run in HCM City on August 23-24.

HCM City is hosting a series of cultural activities to celebrate the 74th anniversary of the August Revolution, on August 19, and the Independence Day, on September 2.

Feathers were ruffled and tiaras left askew after the organisers of a beauty pageant in HCM City reneged on a promise to present Hollywood megastar Robert Downey Jr. at an upcoming press conference.

The HCMC government plans to invite experienced international experts to get involved in the process of selecting designs for a pedestrian bridge linking District 1 and the Thu Thiem New Urban Area in District 2 over the Saigon River.

The support policies for residents affected by the Thu Thiem New Urban Area project in District 2 will not put them at a disadvantage, but will even benefit them, said HCMC Vice Chairman Vo Van Hoan.

HCM City has ordered its Department of Transport to review the subsidies paid to bus companies after inspectors recently concluded they have indulged in fudging of figures and other wrongdoing to get larger subsidies since 2011.