Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc hosted a reception in Hanoi on February 19 for head coach of the Vietnamese men’s football team Park Hang-seo and his spouse. 

 The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has requested its chapters in the Mekong Delta and commercial banks to provide loans for rice procurement in the 2019 Winter-Spring crop, which is now in the prime harvest season in the delta.

 Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc chaired a working session with ministries and agencies in Hanoi on February 19 to discuss the acceleration of rice purchase as a way to improve income for farmers. 

 Vietnam earned a ticket to the semi-finals of the ongoing ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) U22 Youth Championship in Cambodia after beating Timor Leste 4-0 in a match which took place in Phnom Penh on February 19.

 The Government recently issued a decree on amending and supplementing the list of foreign citizens eligible for e-visas and border gates that allow immigration by e-visas. 

 A freight train, called AH2, derailed at Suoi Kiet Station in the south-central coastal province of Binh Thuan this morning, February 19, bringing the North-South rail line to a temporary halt.

 After 10 years of negotiations, Vietnamese mangoes were licensed for export to the US on Feb 18.

VietNamNet Bridge - PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc, at a conference held in late December, said the localization ratio in the textile and garments, and footwear industries, has risen to 40-45 percent.

 While most Asian economies are vulnerable to the ongoing trade dispute between China and the US, Vietnam is a possible exception, as it may attract parts of the global value chain that currently run through China.

 Foreign direct investment (FDI) remains an important economic sector for Vietnam, but the country has to compete fiercely with other nations in FDI attraction.

VietNamNet Bridge - Private universities in the past were often considered inferior to state-owned schools, but that image has changed in recent years. 

 Multinational FMCG companies have made every effort to capture the new generation of shoppers in Vietnam - Millennials.

 Last year may be considered a good year for Vietnam’s rice export sector. There remain complicated issues to address, though.

VietNamNet Bridge - As the domestic market is getting saturated, air carriers are opening international air routes as demand increases for inbound and outbound tours.

For most Hanoians, com (green sticky rice) is one of the capital’s most important symbols of gastronomy and elegance, and so is Banh Com (sweet cake made of green sticky rice and green beans). 

Vietnamese Government Inspector General Le Minh Khai held talks with Alexander Anikin, Deputy Head of the Anti-Corruption Department of the Russian President, in Hanoi on Feb 18.

Vietnam, like many other countries, is in a bid to spur economic innovation with Artificial Intelligence (AI), but experts say the country is starting from at a low point and needs to make a huge effort to catch up with the global trend.

 Four men will be prosecuted for the rape and murder of a university student in the northern mountainous province of Điện Biên, provincial police announced at a press briefing yesterday.

Authorities in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta are setting up firebreaks, preparing equipment and putting up warning boards as the area’s forests face a high risk of fire in the dry season.

Power and aviation companies are among the industries forecast for better things this year, according to industry analysts.