Vietnam’s digital economy has progressed rapidly in recent years, but challenges in network security require the country to build a comprehensive national strategy to address network vulnerabilities.

Educational institutions in several provinces and Ho Chi Minh City are encouraging their students and staff not to use single-use plastic water bottles and straws as part of the UN’s global Beat Plastic Pollution campaign.

Vietnam tied 0-0 with Myanmar in the second match of the four-side International U18 Football Tournament in Hong Kong on April 20.

Politburo member and Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Nguyen Thien Nhan hosted a reception on April 20 for a US Senate delegation, led by Senator Patrick Leahy, Vice Chair of the Senate Committee on Appropriations.

Small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are unable to borrow from banks because they do not have property to mortgage, Tran Viet Anh, Vice Chairman of the HCM City Business Association, has said.

Many opinions in the Czech Republic have shared the view that the agreements reached during PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s visit to Czech from April 16-17 have opened up new directions for bilateral cooperation in the time ahead.

No Vietnamese citizens have been reported among victims of explosions in Sri Lanka on April 21, according to the Vietnam Embassy in Sri Lanka.

An exhibition is being held at the Russian Museum of Military Medicine in Saint Petersburg to give visitors an insight into the assistance of the former Soviet Union’s army for Vietnam.

The Investigation Police Agency of central Nghe An province has begun criminal proceedings against the case of “illegally transporting drugs, not denouncing criminals and taking property by force” for further investigation.

Foreign investors are eyeing Vietnam’s healthcare sector, but they find it difficult to invest in the field.

Within four months, the preliminary results of the Vietnam 2019 Population and Housing Census will be made public. Information about population, education level, jobs, housing and migration will be helpful to form new policies.

Intellectual property (IP) is now considered one of the key factors in national commercial, educational, cultural exchange and cooperation.

Vietnam’s GDP growth looks set to slow over the next couple of years, but the country is likely to remain one of the region’s best performing economies, according to Capital Economics.

The Sap Still Runs, an exhibition that will immerse visitors into an art space full of poetic works created by two artists, Freddy Nadolny Poustochkine and Truong Cong Tung, is slated for opening at 7 p.m. on April 24 at San Art in HCMC.

Three foreign runners will take part in the Red River Run, a 300-kilometer relay scheduled for 5 a.m. on April 22, to raise funds to improve healthcare services for local newborns.

Vietnam Airlines (VNA) and the government of Hanoi City will jointly hold a “Vietnam Airlines Festa – Summer in Europe” event from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on April 20-21 in Hanoi, gathering many artists from France and Germany.

Hue Traditional Craft Festival 2019 is scheduled to take place from April 26 to May 2 in the central city of Hue.

HCMC police confirmed on April 19 that they have arrested members of a large drug trafficking ring in District 5, seizing more than 1.1 tons of drugs transported by two Taiwanese, Yeh Ching Wei, 33, and Chiang Wei Chih, 31.

The HCMC High-level People's Court has ruled that Eximbank must pay over VND115 billion to Chu Thi Binh, who was swindled out of US$10.5 million by former deputy director of the Eximbank HCMC branch Le Nguyen Hung.

The number of vehicles is on the steep rise in HCMC, with scooters making up a staggering 37% of exhaust emissions, said an expert at a roundtable on the environment in HCMC on April 19.