Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) is expanding a program to remove counterfeit goods from its website this spring as part of a broader push to assure brand owners that the online retailer is an ally rather than a threat.

 VietNamNet Bridge – HCM City plans to open special street-food areas in District 1 as part of a pilot programme to move vendors to designated pavements, among other plans to improve the liveability of the city.

 Wastewater treatment is an urgent issue of public concern, especially in the face of climate change and development of industrial parks and industrial clusters, authorities have said. 

 The A/H7N9 and A/H5N1 avian influenza viruses may enter Vietnam through poultry smuggled from China and Cambodia and wild birds, an official from the Ministry of Heath has said.

 The south central coastal province of Phu Yen will host the Miss Friendship of ASEAN this year, as announced by the organising board at a press conference on March 21.

  TH Group of Vietnam and Israel’s MedicDan Ltd. and Sraromedic R.N International on March 21 inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on cooperation in a project to develop a high technology medical and health care complex in Hanoi.

 Holcim Vietnam was renamed Siam City Cement Vietnam Co Ltd  after being acquired by Thailand’s Siam Cement City Public Co Ltd (SCCC).

 Customs officers in the northern port city of Hai Phong on March 21 seized a container suspected of containing Khat leaves.

Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien on Monday urged inspectors from the central to grassroots levels to ensure that fines are handed out for violations of healthcare service regulations.

 Minister of Information and Communications Truong Minh Tuan has called for US businesses’ engagement in providing technology and cooperating in building criteria for smart cities as well as local planning.

 The eighth session of the 14th National Assembly’s Standing Committee concluded on March 21 after working on a Government’s decree on rescue activities of the fire-fighting force.

The official visit to Vietnam by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong is expected to deepen and broaden the Strategic Partnership between Singapore and Vietnam.

 Vice Chairman of the Vietnam National Assembly’s External Relations Committee Nguyen Manh Tien led a delegation to visit Russia from March 18-22 to push the two countries’ cooperation forward.

 The Vietnamese State will create all possible conditions for the system of intellectual property to grow and make maximal contributions to socio-economic development, affirmed President Tran Dai Quang.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Duy Nguyen impressed the public at the Fall-Winter Fashion Week recently with new suits that used brocade made by the H’Rê ethnic minority people from Teng Village in Quang Ngai Province. 

 VietNamNet Bridge – A shortage of capital and lack of technical assistance for farmers in the Central Highlands region are hampering efforts to replace old, unproductive trees on coffee farms. 

 Vietnam has joined other 35 countries in the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition 2017 (LIMA 217), which opened at Mahsuri International Exhibition Centre, Langkawi, Malaysia on March 21.

 Vietnam’s Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Dao Ngoc Dung paid a working visit to the Republic of Korea (RoK) from March 16-18 to promote bilateral cooperation in labour.

A Vietnam – Israel defence industry forum was held in Hanoi on March 21 by the Vietnamese Defence Ministry’s General Department of Defence Industry and Israel’s International Defence Cooperation Division. 

 Vietnamese Ambassador to the Dominican Republic Nguyen Trung Thanh recently presented his letter of credential to the republic’s President Danilo Medina.