The south-central province of Phu Yen has declared a state of emergency due to severe erosion in the estuary of the Da Nong River.

 Health ministers from ASEAN member states convened a teleconference on September 19 seeking ways to combat Zika virus, which has hit many parts of Southeast Asia. 

 Minister of Information and Communications Truong Minh Tuan and Lao Minister of Post and Telecommunications Thansamay Kommasith have agreed to strengthen future partnership in information security and human resources development. 

 Lao Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith has asked Vietnam’s Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) and the Lao Ministry of Post and Telecommunications to work closely together in information security and building e-government in Laos. 

 The France-Vietnam Friendship Association, organisations of Vietnamese community and friendship associations with Vietnam in France issued a joint statement expressing support to the ruling on the East Sea issue by the Permanent Court of Arbitration.

 Teachers from northern high schools for the gifted and foreign language universities were updated on regulations on the 14th Russian language Olympiad in 2017 at a workshop in Hanoi on September 19. 

 ASEAN member states and China have agreed to boost partnership in implementing sustainable development goals (SDGs). 

 Members of the Non-Aligned Movement called for the settlement of all sovereign and territorial disputes in the East Sea by peaceful means without using or threatening to use violence in the final document adopted by the 17th NAM Summit.

 Standing Vice President of the Vietnam Women’s Union (VWU) Hoang Thi Ai Nhien led a delegation to the 16th Congress of the Women’s International Democratic Federation (WIDF) that was held in Bogota, Colombia from September 14-18. 

  The Central Steering Committee for Anti-Corruption will inspect the supervision of Quang Nam’s all-level Party Committees over the combat against corruption in the locality.

 HCM City’s police has called for prosecution against two South Koreans detained on smuggling charges, Liberated Saigon reported.

 People in HCM City struggled to commute on the flooded streets as the city witnessed heavy rainfall and high tides late yesterday afternoon.

 The Vietnam CEO Forum 2016 will be held in Ho Chi Minh City on September 30, with more than 1,000 business people set to participate.

 Vietnam recorded a trade surplus of 2.87 billion USD in the first eight months of this year, according to the General Department of Vietnam Customs.

 Vietnam and Venezuela attach great importance to their long-standing multifaceted cooperation and will do their utmost to strengthen the friendship between the two countries.

During the wartime, Vietnamese students had to take with them a shovel to dig bomb shelters and a first-aid stretcher. Particularly, they often wore straw hats as protection from bomb and shell shrapnels.

VietNamNet Bridge - Following Thai, Japanese and South Korean retailers flocking to Vietnam, Chinese investors are now jumping into the market.  

 A lack of restrictions on investor criteria for the upcoming public auctions of Vietnam’s leading breweries, Habeco and Sabeco, is expected to ramp up investor appeal in their forthcoming restructuring.   

 Vietnam’s new import tariff, part of the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA) for 2016-18, has come into force.

 President Sanchez Cerén of El Salvador said his country will soon open a diplomatic mission in Viet Nam, a move to strengthen economic and trade ties between the two nations.