Total revenue from retail sales and services topped US$160 billion during the first 11 months of 2017, surging 10.7 per cent year-on-year, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).

 Increasing competition among private and foreign enterprises shows the market’s attractiveness towards suppliers and the potential for development in the growing Vietnamese consumer market.

 Online Friday 2017, the largest annual shopping event for the e-commerce business and consumer communities in Viet Nam, took place on Friday with discounts ranging from 30 to 50 per cent.

 The central province of Quang Ngai has lifted its temporary suspension and decided to allow the dumping of dredged mud off the coast of My Khe Beach.

 Despite billions of đồng spent on wastewater treatment facilities, many projects are still incomplete and wastewater pollution remains a huge problem.

 Asian champion Vo Thi Kim Phung will participate in the London Chess Classic, which began yesterday at the DeepMind Google headquarters. 

 Midfielder Nguyen Van Quyet of Hanoi FC has been eliminated from the list of candidates for the national 2017 Golden Ball award for the best player of the year, according to organisers.

 Sandy Ngoc Nguyen was sexually abused at the age 8. She attempted suicide several times over the years. Facing death, she regained the strength to live and to overcome the pain and hurt of her trauma.

 A series of new government policies on land use right certificates, proving financial capacity to play at casinos, and for the horse racing and international football betting business, come into effect this month.

 Ta Dinh Huy, 35, of Thuong Vuc Commune, Hanoi's Chương Mỹ District, was one of 86 outstanding young people given a 2017 Luong Dinh Cua Award, for making farming machines and creating jobs for 50 local youngsters.

 Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc underlined the importance of building a resolution on key socio-economic tasks and plans in 2018 at a cabinet meeting in Hà Nội on Friday.

 The HCM City Department of Transport’s public transport operation and management centre has launched 100 new buses on three routes with a focus on comprehensively improving their service standards.

 Illegal coaches and bus services can be seen cruising the streets and flouting all rules as the demand for commuting options increases in the run-up to New Year and Tết (Lunar New Year).

 As the HIV response is being integrated into the general healthcare system, raising awareness of healthcare workers is important in addressing discrimination and stigma.

 A workshop, themed “intelligence security in the smart connected world”, opened in Hanoi on December 1, as part of activities marking the Vietnam Information Security Day 2017 event.

 Vietnam has implemented a wide range of policies to preserve and promote cultural diversity among ethnic groups, considering it an extremely important factor to ensure peace, stability and sustainable development.

 Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc chaired the government’s regular meeting in Hanoi on December 1, during which he urged cabinet members to well perform their promises to the National Assembly and voters as well as the NA’s resolutions.

 Immigration New Zealand has announced that three Vietnamese sailors who had been detained by New Zealand authorities while being on board a Korean ship did not violate the law and are in good health condition.

 A national-scale painting contest organised by the Danish Embassy in Vietnam awarded winners at a ceremony in Hanoi on December 1.

 The out-going Ambassador of South Africa to Vietnam Kgomotso Ruth Magau has been honoured with the “For Peace and Friendship among Nations” insignia of the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations (VUFO) at the end of her term in Vietnam.