Finance-banking, real estate-construction and consumer goods are three industries that gain the highest profitability in the securities market in 2017.

 Vietnam’s exports in 2017 were fruitful despite many difficulties caused by natural disasters and import markets. 

Sedge mats made by Xuan Duc village in Nam Dinh have been in presence of Vietnamese people lives throughout the course of history. However, the craft of making sedge mats in the village is on verge of extinction.

Skilled grafter Le Duc Giap from Thanh Oai district, Hanoi can earn hundreds of millions of Vietnam dong during the traditional Lunar New Year (Tet) by selling pomelo trees which he has engrafted with up to 10 different varieties of fruit.

 The Year of the Rooster has been a rollercoaster ride for foreign banks in Vietnam: one received a licence to expand, two trimmed down their business scopes, while others decided to divest their stake in domestic banks.

The biggest M&A deals were in a variety of business fields, especially the real estate and banking sectors.

 The import tax for cars imported from ASEAN has been slashed to 0% from January 1, 2018, which is expected to raise the country’s car ownership rate which remains low compared to regional averages.

 The end of the lunar year is a busy time for the blacksmiths of Phuc Sen village in the northern mountainous province of Cao Bang. 

The use of herbal medicine is on the rise among Vietnamese in recent years, but concerns about management and arbitrary pricing are growing, too. 

 Due to the recovery of the credit market throughout the year 2017, plenty of banks announced positive business performance with increased profits whilst fostering asset trading, risk management, and control over non-performing loans.

 Despite being the world leading exporter of Robusta coffee, Vietnam has to import instant coffee to meet special customers’ needs and a huge volume of green coffee beans every year from Laos and China for processing and exports.

 The Drug Crime Investigation Department (PC47) under Ho Chi Minh City Police on January 5 uncovered two drug trafficking cases and arrested two people for illegal trading and stockpiling of ecstasy, ketamine and heroin.

 The Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Processors (VASEP) has projected shrimp exports to continue gathering momentum this year, particularly in the EU and China.

 The Vietnam Peacekeeping Department, which was upgraded from the Vietnam Peacekeeping Centre of the Ministry of National Defence, made its debut at a ceremony held in Hanoi on January 5.

 Ha Noi Stock Exchange has approved Garment 10 Corporation Joint Stock Company (GARCO 10) to list 18.9 million shares on Unlisted Public Company Market (UPCoM) on January 10.

 The internet service connecting Viet Nam with other countries is expected to be affected this weekend due to a disruption in the submarine cable systems of Asia-Pacific Getaway (APG) and Asia-America Getaway (AAG).

 Traffic police of different provinces have fined over 1,300 drivers for violating regulations on Highway 1A, stretching from the northern province of Ha Nam to the central province of Nghe An. 

 Soldiers from the border guard force in the northern city of Hai Phong rescued a British man stuck in a small mountain canyon in Cat Ba District’s Cat Dua Island on Thursday midnight.

 Many pedestrians in HCM City are unaware of the new penalties that took effect from January 1.

 Vietnamese chess star Le Quang Liem has fallen to 23rd spot, with a new Elo rating of 2,737, in the latest International Chess Federation (FIDE) rankings for January 2018.