The benchmark VN-Index hit an almost decade-high on November 22 after large cash flows poured into blue-chip stocks on investor optimism over a sustainable uptrend.

 A freight train service between Hanoi and Nanchang city in the eastern Chinese province of Jiangxi was launched on November 22.

 The Gabriel Péri Foundation of France held an international seminar on the East Sea at the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium, on November 21.

 With 83.1 percent of approval, the National Assembly approved a resolution on investment policy for the construction of some road sections in the eastern route of the North-South Expressway in 2017-2020.

NA Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan will pay official visits to Singapore and Australia from November 26 to December 2, according to a statement of the NA Committee for External Relations released on November 22.

 The Vietnamese Party and State always attach importance to the special friendship and comprehensive cooperation with Laos, affirmed Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

Minister of National Defence General Ngo Xuan Lich has highly valued the deputy ministerial-level defence strategic dialogue between Vietnam and Russia.

 Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh had a meeting with the Republic of Korea (RoK) National Assembly Speaker Chung Sye-kyun in Seoul on November 22 to seek specific measures to forge the two countries’ future partnership, especially in legislation.

 Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc suggested Vietnam and Sweden expand cooperation in various realms during his reception for Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallström in Hanoi on November 22. 

 Vietnam’s Permanent Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son held a political consultation with Secretary General of the Federal Public Service (FPS) Foreign Affairs of Belgium Dirk Achten in Hanoi on November 22. 

 Deputies of the 14th National Assembly debated the draft Law on the Protection of State Secrets during their November 22 sitting.

 The Ministry of Public Security is working on a national database that will store and supply “basic” and accurate information about citizens via their personal ID numbers.

Though the peak time of the dry season has yet to arrive, the water level on the Red, Thai Binh and Day Rivers has been decreasing, posing a risk of water shortage for hundreds of thousands of hectares of farmland.

Vietnam is still under big pressure to call for capital for domestic debt swap, with 50 percent of domestic debts expected to reach maturity in the next three years, according to the World Bank.

VietNamNet Bridge - Vietnam makes boxes and wires for Samsung smartphones, while the five key components of products are made by foreign-invested enterprises. 

VietNamNet Bridge - Project 911 on producing 20,000 PhDs in the 2010-2020 period has not succeeded because of unreasonable financial policies.

Struggling in recent times, the equitization of Vietnam’s main State-run film studio seems to have set the industry back even further.

The future of news media and what it must do in response to severe competition from technology companies and social networking services were the key issues discussed at a recent conference in South Korea.

VietNamNet Bridge - State management agencies still have not agreed on a way to manage bitcoin and other kinds of digital currencies.

 Regulations imposing stiff fines on littering and urinating in public spaces took effect almost nine months ago, yet it has not changed people’s habit.