HCM City People's Committee will spend VND380bn (USD16.7m) as bonuses to encourage 1,062 officials to retire early in order to cut staff numbers in the run-up to 2021.

 The LED light market is expected to grow by 25 per cent a year for the next three years to US$854 million, according to the Viet Nam Lighting Association.

 Vietnamese lifter Nguyen Binh An on December 7 won a silver medal in the men’s 54kg category at the ongoing World Para Weightlifting Championships 2017 in Mexico City.

 Vietnam attaches importance to the comprehensive strategic partnership with Russia and the relations with the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF).

 A smart city project worth more than 4 billion USD invested by the Sumitomo – BRG joint venture is expected to commence in Hanoi in the first quarter of 2018.

The skyrocketing price of bitcoin is creating frenzied trading. The price in Vietnam is rising in line with the world price, with the gap between buy and sell prices up to tens of millions of dong per bitcoin. 

 Experts have urged simplifying the procedures to receive refunds on value-added tax (VAT) for foreign tourists.

 Hanoi firefighters have modified motorbikes to carry their equipment into small alleyways to allow them to carry out their tasks.

The trend towards non-cash payments and digitalization in retail banking and the maturation of FinTech companies in Vietnam present major opportunities as well as challenges for retail banks during the fourth industrial revolution.

 The Vietnam Aviation Academy has proposed to the Ministry of Transport to use a Cambodian passenger jet abandoned at Noi Bai International Airport for a decade for its training activities.

 As many as 597 cyber attacks were launched on Vietnam’s websites in November 2017, according to the Vietnam Computer Emergency Response Team (VNCERT).

 Shares tumbled for a third straight day on the HCM Stock Exchange on Thursday but rose on Ha Noi’s bourse as money inflow channelled into small- and mid-cap stocks.

Although FDI has played an important role in boosting Vietnam’s economic growth, recent changes in policies and regulations have exposed many foreign investors to considerable risks and obstacles in executing their investments.

 Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc asked the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) to handle suspected financial violations by the Vietnam Rubber Group (VRG) prior to the company’s intended initial public offering.

 Vietnamese cueists, Ma Xuan Cuong and Ngo Dinh Nai, have entered the main round of the Three-Cushion World Cup in Hurghada, Egypt.

 Six South Korean archers of the Doosan team that won the silver medal in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics are training members of the Vietnamese national archery team in Hanoi.

 Saigon Heat will start their ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) this weekend, targeting a better place than their previous play-offs.

 A cold front approached the northern region late last night, dropping the temperature and causing scattered rain across the region.

 Hanoi’s narcotics police have caught two men for illegally transporting a large amount of heroin from the mountainous Northwest for retail dealers in the capital city.

 The Ho Chi Minh City People’s Council (ninth tenure) set a gross regional domestic product (GRDP) growth rate of 8.3-8.5 percent for 2018 during its sixth session that took place from December 4-7.