People who pay or accept Bitcoin or other virtual currencies will be fined and face up to three years of imprisonment from January.

VietNamNet Bridge - A lucrative beer market with expected high growth rates is the driving force for foreign investors to acquire a stake in Sabeco, the largest Vietnamese brewer.

VietNamNet Bridge - The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) has announced its findings about inspections of airlines’ compliance with laws on securing customer privacy. 

HCMC authorities have called on enterprises to invest in projects to develop microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and sensors, and have committed to create the most favorable conditions and incentives for investors.

Scientists have called on re-programming the development of the Son Tra peninsula to protect doucs, a rare primate.

VietNamNet Bridge - A bicycle created by a university student uses two kinds of clean energy, the first of its kind in Vietnam. 

 Businesses and households have illegally encroached Tuoi Tre (Youth) Park in Hanoi which has been abandoned for years.

 Transparency in the equitisation of State-owned enterprises (SOEs) must be enhanced to attract foreign strategic investment in the process, experts said.

 Toyota Viet Nam is one of the first firms to ask the Ministry of Industry and Trade to issue business certificates in accordance with new Government Decree No 116/2017/ND-CP.

 Do Tuan Duc and Pham Nhu Thao were ousted from the quarter-finals of the mixed doubles at the Turkey International badminton tournament which wrapped up on December 21.

 A series of Christmas music and dance shows featuring hundreds of singers, dancers and theatre artists offering something for everyone in HCM City’s Dam Sen Park, District 11, will begin on Saturday. 

 About 126,000 people have tuberculosis (TB) in Vietnam, but fewer than 106,000 have received treatment, while the others are undetected and sometimes unaware of their status.

 Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh on December 21 held a meeting with President of the Republic of Korea (RoK) Moon Jae-in as part of his three-day visit to the country.

 The People’s Court of southern An Giang province on December 21 sent five local people to jail for conducting “anti-State propaganda” under Article 88 of the Penal Code.

 The Hanoi Customs Department on Wednesday decided to temporarily suspend two employees of the customs sub-department at the Hanoi-based Noi Bai International Airport for having inadequate communication with passengers.

 The third Vietnam-Cambodia Defence Policy Dialogue at the deputy ministerial level was organised in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on December 21.

 With tonnes of waste discarded directly into fields, lakes and ponds or dumped on roadsides for years, the northern province of Vinh Phuc has a serious pollution problem.

 The Golden Ball 2017 organisers, Sai Gon Giai Phong (Liberated Saigon) newspaper announced the shortlist for categories in the nomination on December 20.

General Secretary of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party and President of Laos Bounnhang Vorachith left Nghe An on December 21 and concluded the official friendly visit to Vietnam from December 19-21.

 Total trade turnover has recently exceeded $400 billion, a four-fold increase in the decade since 2007 and a major milestone for Vietnam, Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue said on December 19.