VN-Index fell sharply for the second consecutive day, dropping nearly 24 points on May 17.

The Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) launched the One Commune, One Product (OCOP) programme worth nearly 45 trillion VND (about 2 billion USD) on May 17. 

 VietNamNet Bridge – The Ministry of Health (MoH) has begun implementing a plan to strengthen control over drug distribution by applying information technology.

The US Navy’s hospital ship USNS Mercy docked in Nha Trang port of Khanh Hoa Province on May 17, beginning its Pacific Partnership Programme 2018 (PP18) from May 17 – June 2. 

Vietnam will welcome over 200 experts and researchers from around the world to participate in the fifth International Conference on Rice Bran Oil in Hanoi from May 23-25.

Vietnamese Ambassador Nguyen Phuong Nga deposited with the UN Secretary General Vietnam’s instrument of ratification of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons on May 17, becoming the 10th country ratifying the document.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Two access points to public beaches will be constructed on Ho Xuan Huong Street and Ariyana Beach Resort.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Every night on Viet Nam Television’s VTV1 channel, thousands of viewers are watching a new show about Sai Gon’s lifestyle in the 1950s.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Freddy Gentizon, known as McFreddy, a photographer from Switzerland, has spent 13 years capturing the beauty of Vietnam and its people.

 VietNamNet Bridge – An English tutor in Hanoi was fined for using inappropriate terms to address her student and running tuition classes without a licence.

 Travel firms lending or borrowing licenses will face tough punitive sanctions, including a suspension of license for 18 to 24 months and a fine of VND40-50 million, according to a draft Government decree.

 Investors involved in projects under the public-private partnership (PPP) must have equity accounting for at least 20% of total investment capital, according to a recently released decree of the Government.

VietNamNet Bridge - The link among economic and industrial areas in the Central Region Key Economic Zone remains very weak after 10 years of development. 

VietNamNet Bridge - The smartphone market was boiling in March and April when manufacturers rushed to sell mid-end products and apply attractive sale policies.

“Of all ways, starting up is the only way which allows you to create new value which never existed before,” said Pham Kim Hung, CEO of Base Inc, called the ‘golden boy’ of Vietnam’s math community.

 Medium-sized banks are working on massive capital increase plans to boost their financial capacity, striving to reach Basel II standards.

On the journey toward the industry 4.0 innovation, Vietnam has met plenty of roadblocks and difficulties. However, one problem seems to be extremely challenging is the lack of high quality workforce. 

 VietNamNet Bridge – An online gambling ring involving over VND100 billion (US$4.4 million) was busted in Thanh Hoa City on Tuesday.

Hanoi plans to install cameras at 15 locations at risk of flooding throughout the city, to better supervise the level of rising waters and put in place timely measures to avoid flooding during heavy rainfalls.

 VietNamNet Bridge – People in Hanoi are suffering the twin pains of hot weather along with water shortages in many areas.