Vietnam is striving to develop sea and island tourism to drive the sea-based economy forward, thus turning itself into a rich and strong marine nation.

Sabeco reported good profit for 2016 and requested the Ministry of Industry and Trade to hasten its equitisation this year, said Sabeco’s chairman Vo Thanh Ha at the company’s 2017 annual general meeting held on Tuesday.

 Thanh Thanh Cong Tay Ninh and Bien Hoa sugar companies plan to merge to create the largest sugar company in the Viet Nam’s stock market.

 A couple in Hanoi have decided to tie the knot a special way – dressing in wedding costumes of the past 100 years to create a vintage nuptuals photo collection.

 For the first time ever, Alessandro Martire will perform an intimate 'La Vita' piano concerto set in Vietnam.

 The Ministry of Education and Training has unveiled that a group of eight of the brightest high school physics students in the country have been selected to take on the region’s best at the upcoming Asian Physics Olympiad in Russia.

 Vietnamese beer consumption is predicted to reach 4 billion litres in 2017, up from 3.78 billion litres in 2016.

 The cosmetics industry in Vietnam has experienced a burgeoning demand for premium products over the past decade, driven by a fast-growing market of women who increasingly want to buy luxurious products, say market researchers.

 Italy’s University of Brescia hopes to receive more Vietnamese students and postgraduates, headmaster of the university Maurizio Tira told Vietnamese Ambassador to Italy Cao Chinh Thien at their meeting in Lombardy on April 19.

 Despite positive steps in anti-drug efforts, drug smuggling has continued seemingly unabated, especially in border areas.

 Construction of the Vietnam Bear Sanctuary – Phase 2 in the Tam Dao National Park of Vinh Phuc northern province has been completed, announced the Animals Asia on April 19.

 The State Securities Commission (SSC) has endorsed the ceiling foreign ownership level at the Vietnam National Petroleum Group (Petrolimex) at 20 percent as approved by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc last year.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Eleven international and local DJs will perform at the Ravolution Music Festival 2017 in District 2 of HCM City on May 12-13.

Former US women’s national team footballer Linda Hamilton, who won the World Cup in 1991, and coach Lisa Berg had a short training session with Vietnamese women’s footballers as part of the Sports Envoys programme

 The Vietnam National Village for Ethnic Culture and Tourism in Hanoi is buzzing with activities to promote ethnic cultural values. The activities aim to celebrate Vietnam Ethnic Groups’ Culture Day on April 19th.

 Vietnam is targeting between 49 and 62 gold medals at the upcoming 29th Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games 29), which will take place in Malaysia from August 19 to 31.

Vietnam has made major strides in caring for, educating and protecting children over the past 27 years since the country became the first in Asia and second in the world to ratify the implementation of UNCRC in 1990.

 Sappers in the central province of Quang Tri founded a 240-kg bomb on April 19, when working on a project to expand the Lao Bao international border gate in Huong Hoa district.

Vietnam and Cambodia have agreed to push ahead with cooperation in the fight against drugs by instructing authorized agencies and border localities to maintain the regular exchange of information.

 The EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) will play a vital role in Vietnam’s global trade integration, helping the country become a promising business and investment market in ASEAN for European firms.