Van Giang district in the northern province of Hung Yen is the biggest bonsai kumquat garden in northern Vietnam, spanning an area of 300 ha.

 Business process outsourcing (BPO) is believed to be one of the five sectors with the greatest potential for growth and investment in Vietnam in the near future.

 Former Chairman of PetroVietnam (PVN) Construction Joint Stock Corporation (PVC) Trinh Xuan Thanh on January 22 was sentenced to life imprisonment for his wrongdoings at the corporation.

 The website freedomhouse.org recently posted the Freedom in the World 2018 report, which maintained biased views and misleading assessments, despite many countries’ opposition.

 Traders are already starting selling and displaying peach flower trees on many streets in Hanoi in preparation for the Lunar New Year.

 Tran Van Thao, the first Vietnamese to win a World Boxing Council (WBC) Asia title, will face Richard Rosales of the Philippines in the 52kg category on January 26 in Thailand.

While other regional countries have made big leaps in developing their retail industries, the achievements gained by Vietnam have been modest in the last 10 years since Vietnam joined the WTO.

 Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation, General of the Army Sergei Shoigu is paying an official visit to Vietnam from January 22-23.

 The national-flag carrier Vietnam Airlines will increase flights from Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City of Vietnam to Shanghai (China) to serve spectators of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U23 Championship.

Vietnam’s top tennis player Ly Hoang Nam climbed 26 places on the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP)’s latest men’s singles rankings to the 471st position. 

 Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s India visit to attend the ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit and the 69th anniversary of the Republic Day of India from January 24-26 will boost bilateral cooperation and political trust.

 Vietnamese shares are forecast to move marginally this week as investors could realise their earnings after having priced in the growth prospects of both the market and local stocks.

Many family households in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 1 are storing motorbikes at their homes after a decision by the District 1 People’s Committee on January 11 to suspend operation of 48 parking sites on street pavements.

The rector of the HCM City Agriculture & Forestry University last year signed 946 decisions to expel 946 students after they received three warnings from the board of management.

VietNamNet Bridge - China buys 85 percent of Vietnam’s total mineral exports, but the price of exports to the market is 60 percent of the average export price.

With a special-use forest and wetland ecosystems, Tram Chim National Park is Vietnam’s fourth Ramsar site and the world’s 2,000th.

 An absence of under or overheating in Vietnam’s economy puts the country in good stead.

VietNamNet Bridge - The vigorous growth of the internet and technology in Vietnam is expected to provide a platform to support the development of a digital economy.

 FPT Telecom cooperated with The National Payment Corporation of Vietnam (NAPAS) to launch a free automatical paymment service named AutoPay on Hi FPT.

 Newly appointed biology teacher Vu Thi Mai Anh won first prize in food technology at Eureka 2017, a contest for research and technology students on the use of basa catfish fat for producing environmentally-friendly bio-plastics.