VietNamNet Bridge – Minister of Finance Dinh Tien Dung said in an interview on VTV on Sunday that one of the key tasks that his ministry will fulfill this year is to balance the state budget.

 Vietnam could not spring the expected surprise in the first match at the Asian U-23 Football Championship in Qatar on January 14.

 20,000 workers receive free bus ticket to return homeland for Tet, Hung Yen hospital treats 34 for food poisoning, Woman punished in scheme to smuggle 7 Vietnamese into UK, Ha Noi authorities seize expired food

 Vietnam condemns terror attacks in downtown Jakarta, Indonesia, on January 14, which caused deaths and injuries, said Foreign Ministry Spokesman Le Hai Binh.

The significant improvement in Vietnam’s business environment is expected to be the major reason which helps Vietnam obtain high economic growth rate in difficulties, and helps ‘the fish swim against the current’ as economists commented.

VietNamNet Bridge – Hanoi’s newly elected chairman Nguyen Duc Chung served more than three years as the city police chief. He directly commanded investigations of many major cases.

 VietNamNet Bridge – The HCM City Department of Health instructed relevant agencies to severely penalise small food stores and vendors on streets who continue to flout safety and hygiene regulations.

 VietNamNet Bridge – The agricultural and rural development sector expects to gain US$39-40 billion in total farming, forestry and fishery products by 2020, according to officials.

 VietNamNet Bridge – As most of us enter adulthood, one of the things that we encounter is the gradual disappearance of a habit, a place or a thing we loved as children.

Chinese stickers containing phthalates – a group of toxic chemicals believed to be harmful to human health – are still being sold by street vendors and toy stores near primary schools in Ha Noi despite warnings from local agencies.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Competition is getting tougher for domestic brewers as foreign rivals are increasing their share of the country’s output.

VietNamNet Bridge – The central province of Quang Ngai has decided to establish the Ly Son marine reserve of nearly 8,000 hectares in order to preserve marine resources and biodiversity and improve livelihoods for local people.

 The People's Court in Ha Noi yesterday sentenced a foreign teacher to four years in prison for sexually abusing teenagers.

 Military authorities transported a bomb, discovered in My Duc District, on the outskirts of Ha Noi, to Mieu Mon Military Airfield yesterday to safely destroy it.

 An international workshop was opened in the central city of Da Nang on January 14 to gain an insight into the Asia-Pacific Regional Initiative on Energy, Environment and Ecosystem (3E) Nexus for Sustainable Development.

 Vietnam’s Open Budget Index (OBI) has not been substantially improved but is ready to be changed, Joel Friedman, a senior fellow at the International Budget Partnership (IBP), said at a workshop revealing the index on January 14.

 Customs officials at Noi Bai International Airport are strengthening inspections of passengers, luggage and cargo from all flights arriving at the airport.

 No Vietnamese were killed or injured during a series of bomb attacks and gunfight in downtown Jakarta, Indonesia on January 14, the Vietnamese Embassy to Indonesia has confirmed.

 The Prime Minister has issued a directive on elections for deputies to the National Assembly and the People’s Council in the 2016-2021 tenure, urging relevant ministries and agencies to well prepare for the country’s major event.

 The 44th session of the 13th National Assembly Standing Committee opened in Hanoi on January 14.