The Asian Games 2018 in Indonesia will feature 39 sports, including new ones, the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) announced on April 21.

 Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc had a meeting with Secretary-General of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) Hugo Hanz Siblesz in Hanoi on April 21.

 Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung has suggested Ireland prompt the European Union (EU) to soon sign and ratify the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (UVFTA) and recognise Vietnam’s market economy.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh held separate meetings on April 21 with US Acting Trade Representative Stephen Vaughn and a group of assistants to senators of the Democratic and Republican Parties.

 A native of Dien Bien Province, the Mong man joined the border force a year ago, and is now a member of the Apachai Border Guard Post in Muong Nhe District, which straddles two borders, that with Laos and China.

VietNamNet Bridge - A lot of shops which sell products at exorbitant prices to Chinese tourists under "zero-dong tours" have been forced to shut down. 

VietNamNet Bridge - The Ministry of Education and Training is setting stricter requirements when granting professorship titles.

 Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee Nguyen Duc Chung held a dialogue with local residents in Dong Tam commune in the city’s My Duc district on April 22.

The Party Central Committee’s Secretariat met on April 18 and 21 to consider disciplinary measures against certain Party organisations and Party members at the proposal of the Central Inspection Commission. 

Vietnam and India should bolster investment ties in areas of India’s strength and Vietnam’s demand, while minimizing and generally removing trade obstacles, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said.

Vietnam will continue to be an active and responsible member of the international community and the UN and engage more in the UN’s peacekeeping operations, said President Tran Dai Quang.

 Eleven innovative tourism startups from Viet Nam have qualified for the Mekong Innovative Startup Tourism (MIST) Startup Accelerator programme.

 Viet Nam’s U16 and U19 teams are in the No 1 seed group of the East zone to prepare for the draws of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) tournaments, the AFC has announed.

 Exports will be one of the key factors to help Vietnam achieve an economic growth rate of 6.7 percent in 2017, but the sector still faces many challenges, according to the Market Intello research company.

 The real estate market will welcome many new launches in the second quarter of 2017 and sales volumes will be higher than the last quarter, according to the Vietnam National Real Estate Association.

The government has released a series of incentives and policies in recent years to boost Vietnam’s support industry (SI), but improvements are yet to be fully seen.

 Foreign investment funds have expressed renewed interested in Vietnamese financial technology startups, despite a series of challenging setbacks that occurred in previous e-commerce deals.

VietNamNet Bridge - More Vietnamese are buying imported fruit, which have become surprisingly inexpensive.

 The capital city of Hanoi will conduct a thorough inspection of the management and use of land in My Duc district’s Dong Tam commune, particularly in the Dong Xanh area where a plan to build Mieu Mon Airport is underway.

 FPT Group is developing an artificial intelligence program as a platform for developing tools that conduct conversations via auditory or textual methods.