The 14th National Assembly (NA) deputies approved on July 29 a resolution on the State budget balance for 2014 with 82.59 percent of them having “yes” vote.

 The new Government wants to maintain a peaceful environment and create optimal conditions for national development, said Pham Binh Minh, who has been re-elected Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Vietnam.

 The 36th ASEAN Police Chiefs (Aseanapol) concluded on July 28 with the signing of the Aseanapol Communication and Coordination Protocol for Crisis Management (ACCPCM) after a 10-year hiatus.

Newly-elected Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong has suggested measures to develop agriculture in the context of global integration.

 A tropical depression developed in the east of the Philippines may intensify into a storm and enter the East Sea in the next few days.

VietNamNet Bridge - Formosa, the Taiwanese investor, which is building a steel complex in Vung Ang Economic Zone in Ha Tinh province, plans to build an oil refinery in the second phase of the project development.

VietNamNet Bridge - Many foreign-invested projects in textile, paper, dying, steel and other polluting industries have been licensed recently, raising concerns that Vietnam would become a ‘pollution paradise’.  

The annual football Fair Play Awards to honour fair performances and rejection of violence and gambling were announced in HCM City on July 28.

 Vietnam achieved their first win at the AFC U14 Regional Festival of Football after beating Myanmar 3-1 in the second Group A match on July 27 in Brunei.

Vietnam entered the semi-final of the Southeast Asian Women’s Football Championship after beating the Philippines 4-0 on July 28 in the Group A second round match in Mandalay, Myanmar.

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has called on Asian countries to close their tiger farms to boost efforts against the black-market trade in the cat’s parts.

VietNamNet Bridge - Confirming that its coffee products in the market contain soybeans, a representative of Nestle Vietnam said the proportion of ingredients was a "business secret’.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Vu Van Tam led a Vietnamese delegation to the Southeast Asia and Pacific Regional Fisheries Summit held in Jakarta, Indonesia on July 28.

 The Argentina-Vietnam Cultural Institute (ICAV) on July 27 issued a statement in support of the recent ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, the Netherlands, related to territorial disputes in the East Sea.

World Bank (WB) Vice President for East Asia and the Pacific Victoria Kwakwa pledged to continue promoting the cooperation between the lender and Vietnam while meeting Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh in Hanoi on July 28.

Legislators heard a report on the audit of the 2014 State budget during the seventh working day of their first National Assembly session in Hanoi on July 28.

 President Tran Dai Quang has affirmed Vietnam’s consistent policy of attaching importance to the strategic partnership with Thailand and expressed his wish for the ties to have new progresses.

 President Tran Dai Quang hailed Cambodian Ambassador to Vietnam Hul Phany’s contributions to the friendship and comprehensive cooperation between Vietnam and Cambodia while hosting the outgoing diplomat in Hanoi on July 28.

Visits by a number of Taiwanese officials to the Ba Binh (Itu Aba) feature area have seriously violated Vietnam’s sovereignty over the Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelago, stated Foreign Ministry spokesperson Le Hai Binh on July 28.

VietNamNet Bridge - Vietnam is an attractive consumer market, listed among the top five ASEAN countries with the fastest increase in the number of middle-class consumers.