Digital currency bitcoin kicked off the new year by jumping above $1,000 for the first time in three years late on Sunday, having outperformed all central-bank-issued currencies with a 125 percent climb in 2016. 

 During the three-day calendar New Year 2017 holiday, the country saw 93 traffic accidents which killed 79 people and injured 54 others, according to the Traffic Police Department.

 Vietnam had 8,978 communes and 79,899 hamlets as of July 1, 2016, representing decreases of 93 and 1,005 respectively from five years ago, according to the preliminary outcomes of the latest rural, agricultural and fisheries survey.

Global markets marched confidently into 2017 on Tuesday, with Asian stocks extending gains after European shares surged to their highest in a year, while the dollar resumed its climb after last week's stumble. 

 The Liberal Democratic Party of Japan (LDP) wants to boost affiliation between its youth division and Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union, said Suzuki Keisuke, Director of the LDP’s Youth Division.

 The Embassy of Vietnam in India held a ceremony in New Delhi on January 1 to mark the fifth anniversary of Vietnam – Bhutan diplomatic ties (January 19, 2012-2017).

 Oil prices rose in the first trading hours of 2017, buoyed by hopes that a deal between OPEC and non-OPEC members to cut production, which kicked in on Sunday, will be effective in draining the global supply glut.

VietNamNet Bridge - The best moneymakers in Vietnam saw their assets in business and investment activities in 2016 increase to very high levels.

VietNamNet Bridge - The dong/dollar exchange rate remained stable for most of 2016 thanks to important government and State Bank policies, and resources of the national economy.

The Central Highlands province of Daklak, the nation’s biggest coffee growing area, will launch a tour program in which guests can visit coffee processing facilities and gain hands-on knowledge of the cultural space of Gong

VietNamNet Bridge - As the shortage of clean water for irrigation has become serious, local authorities are trying every possible way to bring clean water to fields.

VietNamNet Bridge - Though skeptical about the 6.7 percent GDP growth rate target, economists still believe Vietnam will be among Asia's fastest growing economies.

VietNamNet Bridge - Many Vietnamese university students plan to give up studying and develop businesses of their own, even though they are still living on their parents’ money.

VietNamNet Bridge - Vietnam’s textile & garment sector will maintain current growth if the US withdraws from the TPP, analysts say, but the growth would be higher if the TPP is approved by the US.

VietNamNet Bridge - In the context of limited domestic resources, attracting foreign capital to banks is seen as a viable solution to bank restructuring.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Riding a boat in the nipa palm forest gives me a feeling of being lost in the lush greenery.

“The program on building terraced hydropower plants on small rivers is a wrong decision. It is the root cause of floods,” said Vu Trong Hong, former Deputy Minister of Water Resources, now chair of the Vietnam Water Resources Association.

VietNamNet Bridge - Discovering 13 new plant species within 13 years, Pham Van The, MA, an expert on reproductive biology, surprised everyone with the speed of his work. 

VietNamNet Bridge - The best-known names in various business fields all entered the bourse in 2016. The year also saw the appearance of a new dollar billionaire – Trinh Van Quyet.

VietNamNet Bridge - ViOlympic, an online math competition for primary and secondary school students, has raised controversy among parents.