Former PM Phan Van Khai passed away on March 17 but he lives in the heart of the people, especially those in HCMC, as a child of Cu Chi who made great contributions to the development of the city and the country.

 Vietnam-Italy economic and cultural relations

 Testing chemical residues in vegetables, fruit and other foodstuff sold at wet markets, supermarkets and restaurants will be enhanced in Hanoi this year as part of the city’s efforts to stop unsafe food being consumed.

 Security forces at Noi Bai International Airport have intercepted an American man for carrying guns. The US passenger had flown to Viet Nam from Taiwan and was transiting to Laos.

 VietNamNet Bridge – HCM City has approved the integration of its three emergency numbers as one of the first steps in its makeover as a smart city.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Social media has recently lit up with a discussion about medical treatments that supposedly “follow natural therapies”, reported Lao Dong (Labour) Newspaper.

 Customs officers at the Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City on March 20 detained a Korean man after he was found illegally transporting a gold bullion to the Incheon airport in the Republic of Korea.

Foreign investment funds are interested in fields benefiting from the growing middle class in Vietnam, listed companies and those with plans to make IPO in the areas of food, retail, digital technology, aviation, tourism, oil and gas.

 The list of 16 finalists in the Fintech Challenge Vietnam (FCV) – the first-ever financial technology contest in the country has been officially announced, according to the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in Vietnam on March 20. 

 The VN-Index failed to hit the threshold 1,160 points after the stock market experienced loads of selling transactions late on March 20.

NA Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan will attend the 138th Inter-Parliamentary Union Assembly (IPU-138) and related meetings in Geneva, Switzerland, from March 24-25 and pay an official visit to the Netherlands from March 26-28.

The US’s recent ruling to impose unprecedentedly high import duties on frozen Tra fish fillets from Vietnam shows a level of unfairness and is not in line with the usual antidumping law provisions, said VASEP Secretary General Truong Dinh Hoe.

 Vietnam will organize the sixth Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS-6) Summit and the 10th Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam (CLV-10) Development Triangle Summit in Hanoi from March 29-31.

 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.