Laos and Vietnam need to focus more on developing trade ties for mutual benefits, Lao Party General Secretary and President Bounnhang Volachith suggested to the new Vietnamese Ambassador to Laos, Nguyen Ba Hung. 

President Quang, who is also head of the Steering Committee for Judicial Reform, stressed the need for the procuracy sector to improve its role and position in fighting crimes and legal regulation violations, especially corruption and economic ones. 

 Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc highlighted 10 remarkable socio-economic achievements in 2016 and nine outstanding problems while chairing a conference of the government and localities in Hanoi on December 28. 

 The Prime Minister has approved the establishment of the Vietnam sub-committee in the Vietnam-Armenia inter-governmental committee on economic-trade and science-technology cooperation.

 Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong has urged higher resolve and more drastic actions to better prevent and fight corruption, wastefulness and negative phenomena.

The Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee and the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese Affairs should coordinate together more closely to advise the Government on policies and solutions to ensure the legal rights of OV.

VietNamNet Bridge - Two banks have received approval to place their shares into transactions on UpCom market, while other banks will follow as requested by the watchdog agency.

External affairs key to Ho Chi Minh City’s growth, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia localities work on border security, Bomb weighing 225kg safely defused in Phu Yen, Activities mark 25th anniversary of Vietnam-Korea diplomatic relations

 Dinh Thi Long has lived in her house in Ninh Van village for over 50 years, and is still getting used to the idea that it has become a major tourist attraction in the famous stone carving village in northern Ninh Binh province’s Hoa Lu district.

 The number of business startups nationwide in the year to December 20 had reached 110,100, an increase of 16.2% against the same period last year, according to the Business Registration Agency at the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

VietNamNet Bridge - About 3-5 percent of students are in a state of mild depression, while some suffer from severe depression and need medication and long-term treatment, according to a psychologist.

VietNamNet Bridge - The Ministry of Finance (MOF) has lowered the fee for registering and using the national domain name ‘.vn’ in order to become more competitive with international domain name ‘.com’.

VietNamNet Bridge - After the long rains, residents in the provinces of Bac Lieu, Soc Trang and Kien Giang were surprised to see unusually large butterflies in their gardens. 

VietNamNet Bridge - The low-cost real estate market has become more competitive with big property companies that usually specialize in developing high-end products.

Vietnam’s economy in 2016 slowed to an estimated 6.3% from 6.7% last year due to a contraction in mining and largely flat agricultural growth, the National Financial Supervisory Commission (NFSC) has projected.

 Vo Kim Cuong, former deputy head of the HCM City Chief Architect's Office, blamed urban planning for severe congestion in the city.

VietNamNet Bridge – Nguyen Dang Phu is a veteran illustrator. He is a contributor to dozens of newspapers and magazines and has won many Vietnamese and International awards.

 Farmers in the Central Highland province of Gia Lai are destroying their coffee plantations to grow sacha inchi plants believing they will gain better returns.

VietNamNet Bridge – Viet Nam’s gross domestic product (GDP) rate in 2016 was 6.21 per cent, predictably below the set growth target of 6.7 per cent. 

 VietNamNet Bridge – DJs Katty Q, Oxy and Mie will perform at the Countdown Party 2017 in celebration of New Year at the central city’s March 29th Square on Saturday (December 31st).