European firms optimistic about Vietnam’s business environment, Japanese bank buys into BIDV subsidiary, Complaints over expensive rice export licences, Rural areas new source of FMCG growth

 The Party inspection and supervision must be conducted regularly and thoroughly, ensuring openness and democracy, Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong has said. 

 National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan hosted separate receptions in Hanoi on February 24 for Japanese and Thai Ambassadors to Vietnam, Umeda Kunio and Manopchai Vongphakdi. 

 The first APEC Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM 1) went on in Nha Trang city on February 23 with 430 delegates participating in 11 activities of eight committees, working groups and forums.

 Delegates spoke highly of the theme and priorities set by the host Vietnam at the meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Health Working Group in Nha Trang city, the central province of Khanh Hoa on February 24. 

 A delegation of the Vietnamese Ministry of Transport (MoT) is visiting Geneva, Switzerland, from February 20-24 at the invitation of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE).

 VietNamNet Bridge – We call it an qua or qua chieu – a snack between meals or afternoon snack.

 Vietnam has almost everything needed for franchises to really take off.

VietNamNet Bridge - Despite tariff cuts and low import prices, Vietnamese still have to pay high prices to buy cars because of high taxes and fees.

VietNamNet Bridge - The Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA) is trying to create jobs for hundreds of thousands of unemployed university graduates in a project to export laborers. 

 Change can sometimes seem to come slow to Hanoi, but over the past few years some places in the city have undergone complete transformations.

 VietNamNet Bridge – People who have a chance to visit Then Village in Thai Dao Commune in the northern province of Bac Giang’s Lang Giang District will be amazed to see the elderly and kids skillfully play violin.

 Taking a deep breath and calming down before responding to someone or something is good advice, and it has become ubiquitous advice of late.

 Mr. Dustin Daugherty, Senior Associate / ASEAN Lead at Dezan Shira & Associates, spoke with VET about the effects on FDI of the US's withdrawal from the TPP.

 Certain challenges have come in the way of the implementation of the Vietnamese Qualifications Framework, it was revealed at a policy dialogue held Friday morning in Hanoi.

 Viet Nam is likely to have something to crow about during the Year of the Rooster as several factors will facilitate socio-economic growth, ANZ Vietnam said on Friday.

 It turns out that the Government Inspectorate (GI), a ministry-level body charged with tackling corruption in State administration, is not immune from wrongdoing.

 Veteran director Le Mong Hoang, who rose to fame in the 1960s and 1970s, passed away on Thursday at his home in HCM City after a long illness due to heart disease. He was 88.

 Striker Tran Viet Phuong won the 2016 Golden Ball award for amateur footballers in the northern region.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Several officers found visiting pagodas during work hours were imposed with various levels of penalties on Thursday by the disciplinary council under the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT),