Minister of Information and Communication (MIC) Nguyen Manh Hung highlighted the role of 5G – the next generation of wireless technology – as the pillar of the digital economy at the ASEAN Conference on 5G in Hanoi on March 21.

 A group of Canadian visitors have called on people to gather litter on a beach in Binh Dinh Province’s Quy Nhon City.

 The annual Danang International Fireworks Festival will be cut in half from two months to one this year according to local authorities.

 Another cold snap is forecasted to hit the northern region from March 23.

 Vietnamese start-up Momo was recently ranked as the 10th most well-funded tech start-up in the Asia-Pacific region by global information services firm CBInsights.

 Vietnamese businesses have been urged to embrace digital transformation to remain competitive and enhance their value.

 A Vietnamese start-up has built a multi-connection blockchain system which allows information sharing and exchange between ministries and businesses worldwide.

 Governor of the State Bank of Viet Nam Le Minh Hung issued a document early this week to ask co-operation from local authorities in expanding credit, part of efforts to prevent loan sharking.

 Liquidity in the interbank market has been abundant, helping the State Bank of Viet Nam (SBV) resume the issuance of treasury bills after five months to withdraw Vietnamese dong from the banking system.

 Total assets of credit institutions and foreign banks in Vietnam by the end of last year surged by 10.62 per cent against the beginning of the year to more than VND11 quadrillion (US$472.1 billion).

 Japanese companies want Viet Nam to further streamline inspection procedures for imports, especially of foods.

VietNamNet Bridge - The buyers in recent big M&A deals in the real estate markets in Hanoi and HCMC were Vietnamese, not foreign investors, as seen previously.

VietNamNet Bridge - Commercial banks will be under pressure to meet Basel II capital standards, which could prompt them to think of M&A (merger & acquisition) as a solution for growth.

 Viet Nam now exports 1 billion pairs of shoes per year and the nation is the second largest leather and footwear exporter in the world, according to experts at the Viet Nam Footwear Summit 2019 held in HCM City Wednesday.

 Although people and businesses don’t want the price of electricity and other commodities to increase, it is necessary to raise these prices to balance the economy in a multidimensional way.

 The country is facing fierce competition, even in the domestic market. Businesses therefore need to better exploit the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

 More than 100 spring-summer designs of the Eva De Eva brand were released during the fashion show ‘Colour Your Mood’, held on Wednesday in Hanoi.

 Eight students aged 10 to 15 drowned on Thursday afternoon while swimming in the Đà River in the northern city of Hoa Binh, Hoa Binh Province.

 Prison sentences ranging from 4-9 years have been proposed for two ex-leaders of the Vietnam-Russia oil and gas joint venture Vietsovpetro for “abusing position and power to appropriate assets”.

 The Saigon Securities Incorporation (SSI) and a group of seven foreign financial institutions, led by Taiwan’s SinoPac bank, signed a trust loan contract worth 55 million USD during a ceremony in Ho Chi Minh City on March 21.