HCM City will host the nation’s first International Debutante Ball on February 15 at the Sheraton Hotel and attending the high-society event is sure to become the new status symbol.

 German Minister of Foreign Affairs Walter Steinmeier and President of the German Bundestag Nobert Lammert will visit Vietnam in March to commemorate the 40th anniversary of diplomatic ties.

 A report by U.S. cloud computing services provider Akamai on the Internet in last year’s quarter three says Internet speed in Vietnam was the second slowest in Asia-Pacific after India.

VietNamNet Bridge – Most seasoned Vietnamese businesspeople were born in the 1960s and are aged between 46 and 55.

 Visitors will be offered free admission to Hoi An ancient town in Quang Nam province and some other related tourism destinations from February 18 to 21, on the occasion of the upcoming Lunar New Year (Tet).

 VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnam’s credentials as an international travel destination gathered momentum in 2014 after the nation received kudos from the global media as a must see travel destination on many occasions.

 The boss of oil giant BP's boss Bob Dudley has said that oil prices could remain low for up to three years.

 The trading of smuggled and counterfeit goods in HCMC is on the rise, challenging local market monitors, according to the city’s market monitoring agency.

Viettel Global, a subsidiary of Viettel Group, has approved a resolution to invest in a telecommunications company in Myanmar with the total registered investment capital of $1.8 billion, according to the company’s website.

 Veteran journalist Tran Mai Hanh won the Vietnam Writers' Association most important prize of the 2014 year, poet Huu Thinh, chairman of the association, confirmed yesterday.

 The State Bank of Viet Nam does not plan to issue new banknotes with denominations lower than VND5,000 (23 US cents) for the Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday, to cut costs.

Vietnam is making substantial efforts to fulfil its National Target Programme to Respond to Climate Change in 2015.

The Vietnam Food Administration has issued a warning and called for inspection of local businesses that might be importing prepackaged caramel apples from the United States.

VietNamNet Bridge – Economists have repeatedly called on local authorities to give preferential policies to Samsung, one of the biggest investors in Vietnam.

 The Solar Radiation and Solar Potential Maps of Vietnam were introduced to the public on January 21 by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, according to the Spanish Embassy in Vietnam.

 Eleven Vietnamese athletes are competing at the seventh Asian three-cushion billiards championship, which kicked off in Seoul, the Republic of Korea, on January 20, according to the Vietnam Administration of Sports and Physical Training.

 Vietnamese tennis players made a good start at the 2015 Asia U14 Tennis Championship, Division II, which opened in Ho Chi Minh City's Phu Tho Sports Centre on January 21.

 Rice exporters are expected to ship 900,000 tonnes of the grain abroad in the first quarter of this year.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Disabled Vietnamese weightlifter Le Van Cong will receive VND10 million (US$476) per month from his sponsor, the Viet Nam Institute for Biomedical Physics, for 20 months from January this year.

 VietNamNet Bridge – The Ha Noi People's Committee has approved a proposal to spend about VND22.8 billion (US$1.07 million) on the festive lighting system for this year's holidays, double last year's budget.