Hand, foot and mouth disease strikes Hanoi; Construction sector owes USD25m in unpaid wages; Hao Duong delays paying environmental pollution fines; As many as 3,000 part time jobs awaiting students during Tet; Chemical traders ignore dangers: HCMC

SBV survey optimistic about outstanding loans in 2015; Vinafood 2 acts to secure rice for export; Ministry sticks to ice-to-fish ratio rule; Husbandry households face tougher future; Authorities crackdown on tobacco smuggling

 David Gomez Ramirez, one of the most promising conductors and composers in Spain, will perform at a special concert next Monday (January 19) at the HCM City Opera House.

VietNamNet Bridge – Four women from the Netherlands aim to bicycle around 22 countries in 400 days in a project called R4WR (Ride for Women's Rights).

The business environment in Vietnam is expected to be more open in 2015 with a number of new policies that will take effect.

VietNamNet Bridge –Do (poonah) paper, used to make the famous folk painting Dong Ho, has been given new vitality thanks to an art project created by a young NGO employee, Tran Hong Nhung.

  With concrete construction experiences in Belgium, Jan Peeters, a Dutch businessman, has given free schools to children in Vietnam for more than six years.

VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnamese computer users lost VND8.5 trillion in 2014 due to  viruses, according to BKAV, the largest internet security firm in Vietnam.

 The Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) is tasked to submit two new laws to the National Assembly in 2015, a move sparked by the requirement to speed up institutional reform to further improve the country’s investment and business environment.

VietNamNet Bridge – Scientists say that excessive study could be the cause of high school students’ mental health problems.

VietNamNet Bridge – The Hue Monuments Conservation Center and relevant departments have implemented procedures to bring Nguyen's Dynasty royal rickshaw back home for displaying at the Museum of the Hue Royal Citadel,

VietNamNet Bridge – Bank loan interest rates decreased sharply in 2014, but are expected to rise in 2015.

  Vietnam has moved up to the third place in ASEAN rankings in terms of chip design, heard a conference in Ho Chi Minh City on January 16.

VietNamNet Bridge – The number of traffic accident fatalities nationwide fell below 9,000 in 2014 for the first year in a long time, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc noted.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Hotels in HCMC, especially those in the four- and five-star segments, had a tough 2014 when they had to lower tariffs to attract guests and offset dropping room occupancy rates.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Two gold mines in the central province of Quang Nam operated by Besra Vietnam, a subsidiary of Canadian Besra Inc., face closure again if the miner can not work out a solution to the payment of their taxes

  HCMC-based model Kha My Van, the first runner-up title of Vietnam’s Next Top Model (VNTM) in 2012, has landed a modeling contract with ICE Models in Milan, Italy.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Viet Nam's U23 team will play two friendly matches against Indonesia and Uzbekistan before taking part in the Asian championship's qualifier round.

 VietNamNet Bridge – On a chilly day just after Christmas, curious passers-by stopped at Hoang Hoa Tham Bridge in HCM City's District 1 to gawk at a young man who jumped into the Nhieu Loc – Thi Nghe Canal.

While the powdered-milk market is controlled by foreign companies, the liquid-milk market is dominated by domestic dairy producers, who are competing to own a higher number of cows, which directly influences their ability to grab market share.