Ho Chi Minh City authorities will provide free train and bus tickets as well as gifts for workers and students to go home for Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday.

 Prof. Dr. Pham Van Thuc, Rector of the Hai Phong University of Medicine and Pharmacy, has become the first Vietnamese people to receive the “academician” title at the French National Academy of Medicine.

 Lawrence Manley Colburn, the US army helicopter gunner who helped stop the massacre of hundreds of unarmed Vietnamese villagers by US troops at My Lai in 1968, has died at the age of 67, reported the Associated Press.

  Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee Nguyen Duc Chung has told Belgian Ambassador Jehanne Roccas that capital the city is keen on fostering partnership with Belgian enterprises in various fields, especially construction and health care.

 President Tran Dai Quang presented appointment decisions to the new ambassadors to Cuba, Laos and Spain at a ceremony in Hanoi on December 21.

 Head of the NA Committee for Deputy Affairs Tran Van Tuy has affirmed that Vietnam attaches special importance to developing stable, healthy and sustainable ties with China, considering it a strategic choice and top priority in its external policy. 

VietNamNet Bridge - Many Vietnamese food items are not available on the world market, while export items often do not have a Vietnamese brand name.

 Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Tri Dung has expressed wish that Lao leaders will continue to assist Vietnamese firms in doing business in the country in order to lift two-way trade. 

Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen concluded a successful official visit to Vietnam on December 21 afternoon. 

 World Bank (WB) Country Director in Vietnam Ousmane Dione has pledged to assist Vietnam in fields of request and stand ready to offer policy consultations to the Vietnamese government. 

Deputy PM Pham Binh Minh has urged member ministries, sectors and localities of the National Committee for APEC 2017 to enhance coordination and information sharing to ensure the success of the APEC Year in Vietnam in 2017. 

President Tran Dai Quang had a meeting in Hanoi on December 21 with UNESCO Chair in Global Learning and Global Citizenship Education, Prof. Carlos Alberto Torres.

VietNamNet Bridge - Institutions and businesses in VIetnam have suffered serious damage from cyberattacks because of a lack of emergency response teams.

VietNamNet Bridge - The loss rate in catfish farming has been increasing in recent years, mainly due to environmental damage. 

VietNamNet Bridge - Hanoi has 13 high-quality state-owned schools, all of which began in a pilot program in 2014. The city plans to have 20 more high-quality state-owned schools at different education levels by 2020.

The VN Index has increased by nearly 15 percent this year, while investments in gold, bank deposits, real estate and the US dollar brought a profitability ratio of less than 10 percent.

If the US Fed raised the prime interest rate, the overseas remittance (kieu hoi) flow to Vietnam would slow down, the dong would depreciate, and the dong interest rate would increase. The decision will also change international capital flow.

 Local experts have delved into the low labor productivity of State employees at many forums and seminars, but the specific number of incompetent staff at government agencies remains unfathomable, said the Ministry of Home Affairs.

VietNamNet Bridge - National Assembly committees all want to tax second and subsequent houses  purchased to restrict speculation, but it is still unclear when the tax would be applied.

VietNamNet Bridge - The State is encouraging institutional and individual investors to establish new ecological industrial zones (IZ) or develop existing IZs into ecological zones.