Senior officials from six countries along the Mekong River have vowed to strengthen law enforcement and security cooperation.

 The fifth defence policy dialogue between Vietnam and the Republic of Korea (RoK) took place in Hanoi on December 27.

The Capital Market Working Group has suggested lifting the foreign ownership ratio limit in banks in which the state is a big shareholder, and in privately run joint stock banks to 35 percent. 

 Non-performing loans (NPLs) of the banking system by the end of 2016 is estimated to inch down to 2.8 per cent from 2.9 per cent in 2015, according to the National Financial Supervisory Committee.

VietNamNet Bridge - Hoan Ngoc (Pseuderanthemum) is on a list of 47 medicinal plants subject to priority development announced by the Ministry of Health.

VietNamNet Bridge - In developed countries, high school students study four to five subjects, while Vietnamese students have 14.

VietNamNet Bridge - Pharmacy firms are making good profits, with the market expecting a stable growth rate of 10-15 percent.

VietNamNet Bridge - Agricultural land in Vietnam has been overexploited because of inappropriate cultivation methods, scientists say. 

 The quick urbanization speed in the eastern part of HCMC has gradually exposed reverses as social and technical infrastructures have run behind the development of new residential areas and population increase, causing severe traffic jam and flooding.

2016 marked a major watershed regarding transfer pricing in Vietnam and the announcement of a new round of tax reforms by the Ministry of Finance introducing regulatory changes to tackle base erosion profit shifting practices.

 Transnational investor pledges with the Foreign Investment Agency have tapered off in the wake of the demise of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), said speakers at the Vietnam Business Forum.

 The Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs has issued a circular guiding the implementation of a number of articles of Decree No.11/2016/NĐ-CP detailing a number of articles of the labor code in respect of foreign workers in Viet Nam.

 Head of the Vietnam Food Administration (VFA) under the Ministry of Health Dr. Nguyen Thanh Phong yesterday said that six inspection teams will be set up for food safety in Tet holidays (the Lunar New Year) and festive season 2017.

 Three hundred- old “thi” (known as diospyros decandra) trees which are located at Tien Chau village, Thang Binh district, Quang Nam province, were recognized as Vietnam heritage tree, yesterday.

 According to the latest report from the Ministry of Information and Communications (MoIC), total revenue in the country’s ICT industry in 2016 is estimated at VND1,337 trillion ($59.9 billion), a year-on-year increase of 9.36 per cent.

The government suggested raising the charter capital of two policy banks with the use of foreign funds during the fifth session of the 14th National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee on December 23.

 Systemic problems in auctioning shares of State-owned enterprise (SOE) Vinamilk recently should serve as a lesson for upcoming equitising transactions, a Finance Ministry official says.

 Let’s review friendly images of US President Barrack Obama, France President François Hollande and Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge during their visits to Vietnam in 2016.

 Vietnam’s top tennis player Ly Hoang Nam dropped four places on the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP)’s latest men’s singles rankings to the 662nd position.

 The Prime Minister has agreed to allocate 165 billion VND (over 7.2 million USD) from the budget reserves fund to eight provinces to help them tackle the consequences of storms and floods from October 13-18.