The fifth national population and housing census in Vietnam will be conducted in April 2019, according to a decision issued by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc. 

 Increasing value-added tax (VAT) does not help boost economic growth, but it can increase the poverty rate, said a report announced by the Vietnam Institute for Economic and Policy Research.

 The tax incentive mechanism of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) will bring great benefits to Vietnamese industries and products, according to Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh.

 Tourists from the UK, France, Germany, Spain and Italy will enjoy visa exemptions for the next three years until June 30, 2021, from July 1, 2018, when travelling to Vietnam.

 Remittance inflows to the southern largest economic hub of Ho Chi Minh City in the first six months of 2018 was estimated to reach 2.45 billion USD, up nearly 20 percent from the., Sai Gon Giai phong reported.

 Some 81.3 million people across Vietnam have been covered by health insurance by the end of May, up nearly 21 million people from 2012 or 35.6 percent and representing 81.7 percent of the population. 

A delegation of four Vietnamese children arrived in Moscow, Russia, on June 26 to attend the “Football for Hope” festival – the official event of the FIFA World Cup 2018 to honour the power of football in making positive changes in society.

 Vietnam’s GDP expanded 7.08 percent in the first half of the year, marking the highest rate since 2010, fueled by robust expansion of the industrial and construction sector and service sector.

The upcoming visit to Greece by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh from July 1-2 will help open up a new development era for the two countries.

 Vietnam’s consumer price index (CPI) in June expanded by 0.61 percent over May, the highest pace over the past six years, the General Statistics Office (GSO) announced on June 29.

 The number of foreign tourists to Vietnam in the first six months of 2018 surged 27.2 percent year-on-year to 7.89 million, the General Statistics Office announced on June 29.

 The Chairman of the Kyowakai Medical Corporation of Japan, Kiso Kenzo, was bestowed with the honorary citizenship of Hue city, the central province of Thua Thien-Hue, on June 29.

 Nine new laws will become effective on July 1, 2018, including the Law on Public Debt Management; Law on amendments and supplementations to some articles of the Law on Overseas Representative Missions of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

Preventing Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) attacks on national critical information infrastructure was the main topic of a seminar and drill on cyber security in Da Nang on June 29.

Cam Ranh International Airport on June 30 officially opened a new terminal for international services (first phase) which has a total investment of $164 million.

 Anti-drug police in Ha Long city of the northern province of Quang Ninh on June 29 discovered an illegal garden of marijuana in the city, seizing 62 marijuana plants.

 The central province of Thua Thien-Hue kicked off the Lotus Festival 2018 themed “Legend of a flower” on June 29, as part of a series of activities to promote Hue, a festival city of Vietnam. 

General Director of the General Statistics Office Nguyen Bich Lam urged sectors and localities not to take it for granted that the yearly goal of 6.7 percent GDP growth is within reach.

A crowd of 3,000 sang the national anthem and stood in line to form a 45m x 25m national flag in Ly Son Island, on June 29. 

  The southernmost province of Ca Mau plans to build 2,100 metres of sea embankments over the next three months to protect dykes at high risk of erosion.