Nguyen Duc Thanh from VEPR believes that Vietnam’s agriculture is suffering from so-called Dutch disease. It is still fumbling for ways to develop, though it leads the world in the output of some products. 

 VietNamNet Bridge – The movie “Ice and the Sky” (La Glace et le Ciel) (France, 2013, 113’) by director Bertrand Tavernier will be screened at the L’Espace, 24 Trang Tien Street, Hanoi and April 28. 

 Saigon Joint Stock Commercial Bank (SCB) said on April 18 it had received approval from the central bank to sell more than 50% of its shares to foreign investors.

 Health Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien said that dirty food is not the major cause of cancer in Vietnam, but it is acute infection and chronic diseases.

 The temple management board has prepared 100 sets of clothes to lend to tourists who wear short skirts or unsuitable clothes. 

 Local authorities of the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai seized more than 1,600 items suspected to be made from ivory.

 HCM City Department of Transport plans to launch a public bicycle hire service in the city centre.

 The Hakuhodo Institute of Life and Living ASEAN (HILL ASEAN) released the findings of its latest study titled “ASEAN’s Millennials: One size fit all? A generation gap in Asean” in HCM City on Friday.

 Average occupancy of five-star hotels was up four percentage points quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) and 10 percentage points year-on-year (YoY) to 74 per cent, according to a quarterly report by Savills Viet Nam.

 The construction ministry will study the legality of condotels and issue technical standards soon to ensure that the development of this new property product is on the right track.

 The rapid growth and increasing production of cement in Viet Nam raises questions of how to increase efficiency and minimise hazards to workers and the environment, said Swedish Ambassador to Viet Nam Pereric Hogberg at a Ha Noi workshop on Thursday.

 The service sector has reported a strong growth, thanks to the rising number of enterprises, especially in education and training, administrative operations and entertainment.

 Viet Nam’s U16 and U19 teams are in the No 1 seed group of the East zone to prepare for the draws of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) tournaments, the AFC has announed.

 Viet Nam have been placed in Group H of the East zone qualifiers for the 2018 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U19 Championship.

 Viet Nam won two gold medals at the ongoing Asian Junior Taekwondo Championships in Kazakhstan.

 Two students from Hanoi on Thursday won the Taste of Australia culinary competition after beating three other teams at the final of the first nationwide culinary contest.

 Hue Monuments Conservation Centre, on April 22, kicked off a promotion programme, "Golden Tourism Week at Hue Heritage Site", phase 1 (April 22-28) at various relics under the Hue Heritage Site system.

 The former Imperial Palace in Hue will be lit up every night thanks to a light system installed by the Hue Monuments Conservation Centre, the local government body that manages the monuments.

 HCM City must develop a roadmap to restrict the use of personal vehicles, especially motorbikes, experts have urged.

 The Ministry of Science and Technology and HCM City People’s Committee on Friday signed a co-operative agreement on science and technology development for 2017-2020 period.