The Vietnam Technological and Commercial Joint-stock Bank (Techcombank) has sold 21 million shares of the Vietnam Airlines Company Limited (Vietnam Airlines), according to the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX).

The wave of commercial banks entering the bourse was triggered earlier this year when 564 million shares of VIB, with charter capital of VND5.644 trillion, was put on UpCom on January 9.

Vietnam’s upcoming free trade agreement with the European Union (EVFTA) is expected to make Viet Nam the most promising business destination for European companies in Southeast Asia.

Viet Nam has 200 super-rich people, with fortunes valued at US$30 million or more, according to the Wealth Report 2017 by the UK’s leading independent real estate consultancy Knight Frank.

 A Japanese health festival will be held at the Hanoi-based Aeon Mall Long Bien Trade Centre on March 4-5 to introduce the nation’s medical equipment and services.

 The Quang Nam People’s Committee said it has collected eight tonnes of waste mixed with oil clumps along the beach in Nui Thanh District, adding that these clumps were not the same as previous ones.

 The Ministry of Finance has announced that the maximum level of Government guarantees for a programme or project has been reduced to 70% from 80%.

 Many big companies in Vietnam, including Vietnam Airlines and Vinamilk, have stopped advertising on Youtube after local authorities announced that their ads have been running on illegal videos.

 Deputy Foreign Minister Ha Kim Ngoc, head of the Vietnamese delegation, participated in a panel discussion on adverse impacts of climate change on children’ rights, in Geneva, Switzerland, on March 2, as a panellist.

 The country’s total retail sales and services revenue this February crossed 309.3 trillion VND (13 billion USD), data from the General Statistics Office (GSO) has revealed.

 Foreign direct investment (FDI) flows into Vietnam’s real estate sector hit 345.5 million USD in February, accounting for 10.1 percent in total FDI poured into the country, increasing by 12 times year-on-year. 

 Chairman of the People’s Committee of Hanoi Nguyen Duc Chung held a working session in Hanoi on March 2 with Sugi Ryotaro, the Vietnam-Japan Special Ambassador, discussing natural calamity prevention and firefighting.

 Japan affirmed that ASEAN remains a big priority in its foreign policy at the 32nd ASEAN-Japan Forum held in Banda Seri Begawan, Brunei, on March 1-2.

 Senior officials from APEC member economies have highly evaluated and reaffirmed their support for the theme and priorities proposed by the host country Vietnam for APEC Year 2017.

 Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc received the Chairman and CEO of Aéroports de Paris (ADP), Augustin de Romanet, on March 2.

 Japanese Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko on March 2 visited the Museum of Biology of the Vietnam National University in Hanoi where specimens of white goby fish and Onagadori chicken, gifts from the Japanese Royal Family, are preserved.

 Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc met with Japanese Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko in Hanoi on March 2, describing their visit to Vietnam as a significant and memorable landmark in bilateral ties.

 Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security and Belarus’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and State Security Committee agreed to enhance cooperation in crime fight during their separate working sessions in Minsk on March 2.

 The First APEC Senior Officials Meeting (SOM1) entered its second working day in the south central province of Khanh Hoa’s Nha Trang city on March 3 with a series of issues high on the agenda, including food security and clime change.

 The Vietnamese Embassy in Malaysia is taking citizen protection measures for Doan Thi Huong, a suspect in the murder of a Democratic People’s Republic of Korean citizen, according to the Foreign Ministry’s Consular Department.