The Red Sunday programme will take place across 25 provinces and cities nationwide this year, with 40 blood donation events scheduled.

  Vietnam International Bank (VIB) will make its debut on the market for unlisted public companies (UPCoM) on January 9, offering around 564.4 million shares at the starting price of VND17,000 each.

 The Dung Quat Economic Zone (EZ) Authority aims to attract US$2.5-3 billion investments in the zone by 2020, quangngai.gov.vn reports.

Three news sites in Vietnam have been fined a total VND80 million for publishing articles with inappropriate content about convicted child sex offender comedian Minh Beo.

 The State Bank of Vietnam announced they intend to restructure five banks this year.

 More challenges and difficulties will face the local economy in 2017, said Nguyen Duc Thanh, head of the Vietnam Institute for Economics and Policy Research.

VietNamNet Bridge - Seven out of 15 of the richest billionaires in 2016 are businessmen in the real estate sector or sectors related to real estate.

 A 35 year-old woman in HCM City died of dengue fever on Tuesday, taking to six the total number of fatalities due to the disease since last year, according to the Preventive Medicine Centre.

 Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has asked the Ministry of Health to inspect the observation of regulations in antibiotic prescription and use in medical facilities.

 The future of Thach Khe mine in Ha Tinh, where Kobe Steel’s unmoving Nghe An project expects to source ore for steel production, has become unclear thanks to financial troubles.

 Vietnam has set targets of 6.7% GDP growth, stabilizing the macro-economy, and ensuring social security for 2017. To meet these goals, the Government has initiated a number of action plans.

 The General Statistics Office has estimated Vietnam’s 2016 retail revenue at US$118 billion, a 10.2% rise over the previous year.

 Stepping up water resources planning is among the core tasks the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has set for 2017, aiming to complete a national water resources planning by 2020 and others for major river basins.

 Scientific research must follow reality’s demands, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said at an online conference on science and technology with provinces and central level cities on January 4.

 Vietnam U20 football squad will attend a training camp in Germany, which is expected to start in March, to prepare for the World Cup Championship in the Republic of Korea (RoK).

The Vietnam Young Leader Awards (VYLA), an annual scholarship co-sponsored by the Ministry of Education and Training and the US-based Indiana University Bloomington, is opening for application until January 10.

 The military high command in the Central Highlands province of Dak Nong, on January 4, defused a 226kg bomb unearthed in the local Dak Song district.

VietNamNet Bridge - Agoda.com, Booking.com, Hotels.com, Expedia.com and similar websites are believed to be pocketing trillions of dong from doing business in Vietnam, but they have not paid any dong in tax. 

 Car-related accidents have happened more frequently with about 27 percent of total road accidents caused by cars in 2016 though automobiles make up only 6 percent of total vehicles in Vietnam.

 Heads of ministries, ministry-level agencies, and government agencies, and chairmen of People’s Committees of provinces have been urged to make all-out efforts in performing key tasks set by the 14th National Assembly.