Financial autonomy has improved the quality of many public hospitals in Ho Chi Minh City, but some of them still do not have sufficient funds to upgrade facilities.

 Petrol smuggling and trade fraud continues to be a big problem in Vietnam, with several cases of fake and poor quality gasoline discovered by Government agencies.

 The Mong Cai International Border Gate in northern Quang Ninh province announced on February 22 that three Chinese nationals had been arrested for using fake ATM cards to steal money from banks.

 Vietnam’s export growth in 2018 is hoped to be 8-10 percent higher than in 2017, according to a plan set by the National Assembly and the Government. 

Vietnam ranks 107th among 180 countries and territories in the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2017 released by Transparency International on February 22, a slight improvement from the two previous years.

 Last year witnessed many mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in Vietnam’s real estate sector, and foreign investors’ interest in the market is forecast to continue in 2018.

 Vietnamese typical dishes during Tet

 The land reclaimation, compensation and resettlement support for the construction of the Long Thanh International Airport in the southern province of Dong Nai is estimated to cost $1.01 billion.

 The capital city of Hanoi will organise a dragon boat racing festival for the first time from 10:00 to 15:00 on February 24.

 Vietnamese people in the Czech Republic are seeking ways to preserve the collection of books and documents about Vietnam left by late Czech linguistic professor Ivo Vasilijev, an expert on Vietnamese studies and a good friend of Vietnam.

 Southeast Asia sprint queen Le Tu Chinh and her coach Nguyen Thi Thanh Huong will set off for the US on February 23 to join a training course at the IMG Academy – a sport training destination in the US State of Florida.

The demand for hotel managers is always high in Vietnam, even at a time when the tourism industry experiences tough days. However, it is difficult to find Vietnamese staff for mid- and high-ranking management posts.

 The festival began with a ritual worshipping the guardian deity at the local communal house. A palanquin procession took offerings from the communal house to the Au Co Temple to pray for peace, good weather, prosperity and happiness.

 Many people flock to Chu Van An Temple in Thanh Liet Commune, Thanh Tri District every year to attend the new-year writing festival. 

From the afternoon of the 7th day of the first lunar month (February 22), people flock to Nam Dinh for a unique market which is held only once a year to sell - guess what - bad luck as well as to buy good luck for the year to come.

 Vietnamese shares fell on February 22 as increased selling pressure during the ATC session dragged oil-gas and bank stocks down.

 In many seaports across Vietnam, it takes vessels about 15 minutes or less to enter or leave the ports even if businesses have already submitted dossiers online.

 A slew of infrastructure works have begun or been speeded up across the country after Tet (the Lunar New Year) holiday.

Vietnam has been warned that FDI flow to Vietnam could shrink as investors will head for the US, where the corporate income tax (CIT) rate has been cut from 35 percent to 21 percent.

VietNamNet Bridge - In Gia Lai province  Ksor Cham, a 76 year old mahout, in Plei Pa Kdanh village, Chu Mo commune of Ia Pa district takes care of one surviving elephant in his area.