VietNamNet Bridge - Unlike two years ago, when Vietnam witnessed a wave of foreign direct investment (FDI) in textile & garment projects, the capital flow into the sector has slowed down.

 The 53 ethnic minority groups in Vietnam had a total population of 13.39 million, accounting for 14.6 percent of the country’s population (91.71 million) as by July 1, 2015, a survey revealed. 

A road map for turning Phu Quoc island offshore southern Kim Giang Province into a smart city was unveiled on the island on September 29.

 Russia’s globally-rated universities made a fact-finding tour of Vietnam from September 25-30 to seek enrolments, student exchange programmes, and connections with local partners.

Vietnamese women spend over five hours doing so-called “no-name” work such as cooking, cleaning and childcare - about 2-2.5 hours more than men. 

Deputy PM Truong Hoa Binh has agreed to spend $135 million in advance on compensating residents in the four central provices for damage from the recent environmental incident caused by Hung Nghiep Formosa.

 Vietnam and the Philippines issued a Joint Statement on the official visit on September 28-29 of President of the Republic of Philippines Rodrigo Roa Duterte to Vietnam.

The Presidents of Vietnam and the Philippines have pledged to further strengthen political and diplomatic cooperation via regular exchange of all-level visits and boosting ties on the Party, government, State, National Assembly.

  President of the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations (VUFO) Vu Xuan Hong presented the insignia “For peace and friendship among nations” to outgoing Japanese Ambassador Fukada Hiroshi in Hanoi on September 29.

  Deputy Foreign State Secretary Szilveszter Bus of Hungary has affirmed Hungary has endorsed the Vietnam-European Union Free Trade Agreement and will soon pass it to lay a foundation for furthering economic-trade cooperation between the two countries.

Each locality in Vietnam that has a World Heritage Site devotes special resources to the development of tourism and a unique “brand” of culture. However, the management of these sites has yielded varied results.

 Vietnamese Ambassador to Egypt and Lebanon Do Hoang Long suggested Lebanon recognise Vietnam’s full market economy status during his current visit to the Middle-east country. 

 President of Iran Hassan Rouhani will pay a State visit to Vietnam from October 5-7 at the invitation of President Tran Dai Quang, according to the Foreign Ministry’s statement. 

VietNamNet Bridge – Several years ago, Nguyen Anh Thu dropped out of school and had no way of earning an income in HCM City. Her family, originally from the Mekong Delta province of An Giang, could not afford to pay

  The 14th National Assembly Standing Committee will convene its fourth meeting on October 3 to prepare for the legislature’s second session scheduled to begin on October 20.

NA Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan on September 30 paid a courtesy visit to President of Myanmar Htin Kyaw as part of her official visit to Myanmar and attendance of AIPA-37 in Nay Pyi Taw.

 National Assembly (NA) Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan has thanked Secretary General of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), Martin Chungong, for his help to the Vietnamese NA in building the new Constitution.

National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan called for bringing AIPA forward on the back of the solid foundation it has built over the past four decades in her speech at the first plenary session of the 37th General Assembly of AIPA yesterday. 

 The Vietnam Web Summit (VWS) 2016 will kick off in HCM City on October 22.

VietNamNet Bridge - The Gioi Di Dong (Mobile World), the largest mobile phone distribution chain, shut down its 22 shops at Big C Vietnam after the retailer fell into Thai hands. Cdiscount, an e-commerce website, will stop operation from December 31.