The Cong group has around 1,000 people living mainly in Dien Bien province. At the end of the year they are cheerfully organizing a flower festival to celebrate a bumper crop and welcome a new year of good luck and happiness.

 The five enterprises having the most substantial contribution to augmenting the size of the Vietnamese stock market in 2017 are Vietnam Airlines, Vietjet Air, Petrolimex, VPBank, and Vincom Retail.

 The Vietnamese drama entitled "Aspiration" of Ta Xuyen, directed by Meritorious Artist Lam Tung from the Vietnam National Drama Theatre, has won six awards in Shenzhen, China.

 The Hanoi Department of Transport began to launch a level-four online public service for issuing international driving licences for Vietnamese citizens and foreigners who are permanently residing in Vietnam from January 2, 2018.

 The Vietnam Students' Association (VSA) organised a ceremony in Hanoi on January 7 to honour outstanding students and organisations with “Students with Five Good Performances” title and January Star Awards 2017.

 The real estate sector ranked third in attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) to Vietnam, accounting for 8.5% of the total registered capital, which was announced at the CBRE Vietnam’s press conference on the real estate market held on January 4.

 Vietnam's rice export recorded a good year in 2017 as export volume reached 6 million tonnes, thanks to an increased demand on the world market.

 The Office of the National Assembly picked out ten prominent events of the parliament in 2017 on the 72th anniversary of the first general elections.

 Many ornamental plants and gifts featuring dog figures have been appearing in markets to serve customers looking for something special for the Year of the Dog 2018.

 Vietnam’s Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Ngoc Thien and China’s Minister of Culture Luo Shugang agreed to continue realising the common perception of the two countries’ leaders on enhancing bilateral cooperation in culture.

 The Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX) said that its Unlisted Public Company Market (UPCoM) welcomed 11 newly registered stock codes, increasing the total number of businesses trading on the bourse to 701 as of January 5.

 HCM City targets a serious reduction in the number of AIDS cases by 2030, according to the city’s Health Department.

 National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan chaired a meeting on January 8 to review the preparation of the 26th Annual Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum (APPF-26).

 Total revenue in Vietnam’s insurance sector was estimated at VND105.6 trillion ($4.6 billion) in 2017, an increase of 21.2 per cent against 2016, according to the Insurance Supervisory Authority (ISA) at the Ministry of Finance (MoF).

A representative of the Ministry of Finance (MOF) said after the sales of Sabeco and Vinamilk,  PetroVietnam, Binh Son Refinery (BSR), PV Power, PV Oil and the subsidiaries of the Vietnam Rubber Group (VRG) will be put on sale in 2018.

 Increased consumption and consumer demand have in recent years made Vietnam a more desirable destination for several international retailers – one which is expected to see giant retailers embracing the omnichannel approach to retail in 2018.

 Manufacturing sector experienced a positive end to 2017, according to report accompanying Nikkei Vietnam Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index.

 Below are the ten major events that shaped the year.

Cyber-attacks, including the rise of ransomware, cost Vietnamese users some VND12.3 trillion (542.8 million) last year, according to a report from leading local online security firm the Bach Khoa Internetwork Security Center (BKAV).

 Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has called for strict punishment of organizations and individuals who commit violations in military land use and management.