VietNamNet Bridge – The year 2010 witnessed an important milestone in Vietnam’s robot industry, when a made-in-Vietnam robot was warmly welcomed in the world market.

Leading financial experts have warned domestic banks that they could suffer market losses this year as Viet Nam's commitments with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) on the operation of foreign banks comes into effect.

VietNamNet Bridge - Automakers in Vietnam are now rushing to import cars from ASEAN member countries as import tariffs on automobiles have just been slashed to 70 percent from the previous 82 percent rate.

VietNamNet Bridge – Thanks to the current cold spell in northern Vietnam, Mau Son mounts in the northern border province of Lang Son have become a favorite destination for photographers and tourists.

VietNamNet Bridge – Educators are complaining about the virtues of school students nowadays, saying that they are not only lazy in expressing their opinions during lessons, but they also lazy when doing house work.

VietNamNet Bridge - Although Viet Nam's mobile telecom costs are already low compared to many Asian countries, service providers are looking to cut their charges further in a race to expand their market share.

Shaking off economic woes, retail sales hit $80 billion in 2010; Stabilisation efforts trigger more price cuts for staple goods; Top 2010 securities brokerages announced; Nation achieves average five-year growth of 7%

VietNamNet Bridge – Thousands of spectators enjoyed a big feast served by The Lost Souls Club rock band from Great Britain and Vietnamese top rockers in the Tiger Translate rock concert in HCM City on January 7.

VietNamNet Bridge - Viet Nam's stock markets performed poorly in the year's first trading week with the benchmark indices retreating on both exchanges because of investor uncertainty over market trends.

VietNamNet Bridge - Two consecutive cold spells will hit the northern region this week with the temperatures dropping to between 5-8 degrees Celsius, warned the National Hydro-meteorological Forecast Center.

The 11th Party Central Committee may have around 175 official members and 25 alternate members, said Nguyen The Ky, vice chief of the Party Central Committee’s Information and Education Department.

 Experts believe that amending the Personal Income Tax (PIT) law is urgent because it has become “out of date”. While consumer goods’ prices have been increasing sharply, the threshold for taxation remains very low at 4 million dong.

Buying the right to attend the First Division Tournament from Hoa Phat V&V and changing the team name into Saigon Xuan Thanh, the new football club is emerging as a new power after purchasing several players of the national squad.

VietNamNet Bridge – Two Vietnamese singers won both the gold prize for folk music and silver prize for pop music at the 2nd ASEAN Television Golden Voice Festival, which closed in HCM City on January 8.

VietNamNet Bridge - The industrial sector welcomed in the New Year by inaugurating a series of big energy projects.

VietNamNet Bridge - Vietnam targets to reach total export turnover of about $78.8 billion in 2011, up over 10 percent from 2010, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

VietNamNet Bridge - Outgoing US Ambassador Michael W. Michalak who will end his tenure and leave Vietnam later this month after three years in the Southeast Asian country addressed a farewell press conference on January 6 in Hanoi.

VietNamNet Bridge - HCM City will set up a chain of shops selling organic food this year under a pilot food management project that is awaiting the Government's approval.

Ministry asks steel firms to cut costs; PVN halts $1b in bond sales overseas; PepsiCo launches $250m plant; Joint venture to build herbicide plant; Ministry calls for less public investment; Coffee exports down in 2010

In order to reduce the big trade gap, Vietnam needs to reduce the trade gap with China. But how can Vietnam do that if it still continues relying on cross-border exports?