The fresh signing of a joint vision statement on defence cooperation through 2030 between Vietnam and the Republic of Korea (RoK) will contribute to promoting defence relations in a deeper and more practical manner.

 A grand ceremony was held on April 24 in Hoa Lu district, the Red River Delta province of Ninh Binh, to celebrate 1,050 years of the establishment of Dai Co Viet, the first centralized feudal state of Vietnam.

 The palanquin and offering procession was organised by seven communes and wards surrounding the Hung Kings Temple Complex in the northern province of Phu Tho on April 23.

 A folk cultural programme will be held from April 28-29 at the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology to meet the entertainment demand of capital dwellers during the upcoming Liberation Day (April 30) and May Day national holidays. 

 National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan expected that Viet Nam and Sri Lanka will actively and effectively realize the agreements signed in April 2017, striving to raise the two-way trade value to US$1 billion in the upcoming time. 

 Minister of Finance Dinh Tien Dung has defended a plan to slap a property tax on home, land and other asset owners, saying it would not affect low-income people.

 The Ministry of Information and Communications said on April 20 that the Government has relaxed business conditions for those providing computer gaming services, and launching and operating news aggregators and social networks.

 Technology transfers from foreign firms to domestic partners have been as scant as ever, said Nguyen Thanh Phong, chairman of HCMC, at a meeting with foreign firms on April 21.

 Shareholders of HCMC Development Joint Stock Commercial Bank (HDBank) have approved a plan in which Petrolimex Group Commercial Joint Stock Bank (PG Bank) will be merged into HDBank.

 The Prime Minister’s economic advisory team has projected average economic growth at 6.85% between now and 2020.

 The Drug and Crime Prevention Department in coordination with Lao police force have caught red-handed a Lao man who was smuggling 40kg of methamphetamine, 120,000 pills of synthetic drug and two cakes of heroin into Vietnam.

 The War Remnants Museum in HCM City has opened a display of around 190 items, documents, and photos related to the US army’s use of bombs, mines, and toxic chemicals during the past war in Vietnam.

 Police in the central highlands province of Dak Nong have prosecuted and arrested five people involving in the large-scale fake coffee production in the area.

 As many as 46 % disabled people in Vietnam think that they should not love and get married according to a survey released on April 23 by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

 Vice Chairman of HCM City People’s Committee Le Van Khoa has submitted his resignation letter to municipal authorities citing health problems. 

 The Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV) plans to spend around VND9.8 trillion (USD445.5 millon) on building Terminal 3 at Tan Son Nhat International Airport.

 Over a quarter of businesses that have been hit by a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks do not think they were the intended target, showing that businesses cannot afford to be complacent when it comes to today’s threat landscape.

 The US$1.75-billion Vinh Tan 1 thermal power project will begin operations ahead of its schedule owing to concerns about the risk of power shortage in the southern provinces in future.

 The Vietnam Festival 2018 will take place at the Yoyogi Park in Tokyo between 10 am and 8 pm on May 19 and 20.

 Vietnam has been making great strides to move from malaria control towards elimination of the disease, but increasing malaria in disadvantaged areas is threatening the country’s overall progress.