Vietnam is likely to surpass the United States to become the Republic of Korea’s second biggest importer by 2020, thanks to a bilateral free trade agreement, according to a report released by the Korea International Trade Association on March 20.

 The Vietnam Administration of HIV/AIDS Control said the country has successfully bidden anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs with prices 15-17 percent lower than those of similar drugs in use, bringing more hopes to local HIV/AIDS patients.

 President of the Republic of Korea (RoK) Moon Jae-in will pay a state visit to Vietnam from March 22-24, which is expected to be a chance for the two countries to further enhance their relations.

In a high-ceiling room on the second floor of the Viet Nam Fine Arts Museum in Hanoi, a young curator has been briefing a group of over 20 tour operators on an oil painting titled “A Ploughing Day”, painted in 1960 

Each city and province in Vietnam is known for its local produce and specialities – Hanoi is famous for its pho, bun bo from the central city of Hue and original nem nuong Cai Rang from the southern province of Can Tho.

VietNamNet Bridge - Born in 1994, many of these entrepreneurs are young but have already become rivals of prominent businesspeople. 

Spotify has officially joined the Vietnamese market. The world’s largest digital music service, Spotify has been warned about challenges it could face in Vietnam where people are used to free music services.

Scientists and natural resource management agencies will no longer have to pay for optical images for forest inventory and surveys after the Vietnam DataCube, a satellite database, is put into operation. 

VietNamNet Bridge - Many in the Vietnamese entrepreneurial community believe the arrival of Amazon, the e-commerce giant, will be a ‘threat’, not an ‘opportunity’.

Vam Sat Ecological Tourist Site in the outlying coastal district of Can Gio, HCMC, could be a perfect place of choice for those wishing to explore the pristine natural scenery and experience water services attached to local daily lives.

 Footwear sector set to step up a level in 2018, Demo Prosound Vietnam 2018 festival to be held in HCM City, GoBear, KLOOK seek to attract tourists to East Asia, FPT Telecom plans 80% dividend payout for 2017

On January 1, 2018, the 2017 amended Criminal Code with stricter provisions and heavier sanctions on wildlife crime took effect. 

VietNamNet Bridge - The special machine, which helps young patients with myasthenia exercise muscles of their limbs, also contains games that can be played. 

Over the last thirteen months, the volume of foreign investment injected into Vietnam-based financial institutions (FIs) not only bolstered M&A in the finance-banking sector, but also sped up the restructuring process at FIs.

Fending off 26 competitors from different parts of the world, Nguyen Huong Giang was crowned “Miss International Queen” at one of the world’s top beauty pageants for transgender women. Giang speaks about her plan to fight for the LGBT community.

 Due to robust economic growth, the country’s unemployment rate, especially among higher-education people, last quarter decreased significantly compared to the previous quarter and the same period in 2016.

 Apart from co-working spaces which have already taken root in Vietnam, the market is now expected to receive the co-living trend—a new trend of sharing living space.

Today, the position of each nation does not only depend on the richness of its historical and cultural traditions. The leading factor now is its economic potential, including two sides, wealthy people and a strong country.

 Four Italian nationals last Thursday wrapped up their 24-day Vietnam trip, including a 1,000-kilometer-plus biking tour stretching from the former imperial city of Hue to Vung Tau Province to promote Vietnam’s tourism image to Italian people.

 An exhibition on Thanh Le pottery opens at Ho Chi Minh City Book Street from March 19-25.