The Vietnam Mountain Marathon (VMM) 2016, to be held on September 24 and 25 in Sapa, is expected to attract 1,500 runners, including the British Ambassador, to take on some of the toughest and most beautiful running trails in the world.  

 The Ministry of Construction (MoC) is calling for the quickening of work specifying areas in cities and provinces where foreign ownership of apartments and houses is banned.

 The State Bank of Viet Nam (SBV) will continue to encourage the practice of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) as a solution to dealing with ailing credit institutions.

VietNamNet Bridge - The average price of smartphones sold in Vietnam is VND5 million, higher than last year’s price of VND4.2 million.

 Vietnamese Paralympic swimmer Trinh Thi Bich Nhu finished sixth in the final of the women’s 100m breaststroke, SB5 category, at the ongoing Rio Paralympics in Brazil.

 Mitchell Robins from Australia won the men’s category while Jessica Fleming of Sweden took the women’s event at the Challenge Vietnam Triathalon in Nha Trang city, Khanh Hoa province, on Sunday.

 The second season of the Victory Cup has arrived, with new candidates and categories up for voting to honour national sportsmen.

VietNamNet Bridge - A debate has been raised among educators and scholars about whether to teach Chinese writing in the public school system.

 The Animals Asia on September 12 announced that it has received a Malayan sun bear and two monkeys that were caged as pets in Buon Ma Thuot city, the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak. 

 The Hanoi People’s Court has accepted the request for extraditing eight Indonesian pirates from Vietnam to Malaysia for trial. 

 The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has been urged to take action to narrow development gaps to enhance global competitive capability.

  Vietnam and China have reached a consensus on further prompting their comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership in the new situation. 

 Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc met with Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress Zhang Dejiang in Beijing on September 12. 

  President Tran Dai Quang said he supports the Vietnam-Kansai economic dialogue mechanism, which will help Vietnam’s authorised bodies to promptly remove investment obstacles and bolster bilateral economic links. 

 President Tran Dai Quang suggested Governor of Japan’s Aichi prefecture Hideaki Omura encourage local and central region’s businesses to invest in Vietnam during a reception in Hanoi on September 12. 

President Tran Dai Quang hosted a reception for Singaporean Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean in Hanoi yesterday on the occasion of his official visit to Vietnam to attend the 20th founding anniversary of the Vietnam – Singapore Industrial Park.

 Several provisions of a new draft circular on imported autos impose unfair restrictions on small and medium-scale firms, according to the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI).

VietNamNet Bridge - The bankruptcy of Hanjin Shipping Global has surprised the world’s freight & forwarding market and caused alarm among Vietnamese goods owners.

 What are new-generation bilateral free trade agreements? What should be done for domestic enterprises to truly benefit from FTAs? Can Vietnam make the most of preferential tariffs brought about by new-generation FTAs?

 The success of agricultural restructuring, including the establishment of new rural areas, depends on greater co-operation and risk sharing between different stakeholders, experts say.