The proposal by the Innovative Technology Development (ITD) Corporation to build tollbooths around the Ho Chi Minh City centre has met with criticism from experts working in various fields.

 Minister of National Defence General Ngo Xuan Lich hosted separate receptions for war veteran delegations from Laos and Cambodia, who are in Hanoi to attend the 6th National Congress of the Vietnam War Veterans’ Association (VWVA).

 Vietnamese Ambassador to Sri Lanka and Maldives Phan Kieu Thu was elected the 7th Secretary General of the Colombo Plan on December 12.

 Further improving the business environment and facilitating the private sector’s development were part of the focus at the Vietnam Business Forum. 

 VietNamNet Bridge – HCM City requires strong commitment at the leadership level to develop a bus rapid transit system, a workshop heard yesterday.

A flower street will be opened on Nguyen Hue pedestrian street in Ho Chi Minh City from February 13 – 19 to welcome the traditional Lunar New Year (Tet) 2018.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnam’s Best Tennis Players Tournament will be organised in Nghe An Province from December 17 to 22.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Forward Nguyen Anh Duc has been selected as one of the Asia XI of November 2017 by Football Tribe, a website specialising in continental football.

 An exhibition hosted by the Embassy of Indonesia in Vietnam opened at the Umah Indo exhibition house in Hanoi on December 13.

 Chairman of the Japan Cherry Blossom Association Takaoka Terumi has been awarded with the insignia “For Peace, Friendship between Nations” for his dedication to promoting cultural exchange and tourism between Vietnam and Japan. 

 Shares on both local exchanges declined on December 13 with investors cautious about market volatility.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Former national coach Mai Duc Chung said it was a ’good’ defeat for Vietnam’s U-23 team who lost 1-2 to Uzbekistan during their M-150 Cup match yesterday in Thailand.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Loc Yen, an ancient village in Tien Phuoc District in the central province of Quang Nam, is dubbed "paradise land" for its heavenly landscape. 

'No & Meaning’ – a solo exhibition by visual artist Nguyen Minh Thanh – one of the most important artists of contemporary art in Vietnam today, opened on December 9 and will last until January 8 at Manzi Art Space, 14 Phan Huy Ich, Hanoi.

After six years of research and development, VS-KEY USB developed by a group of engineers from the Electronics Institute under the Ministry of National Defense has been launched. 

VietNamNet Bridge - Unable to compete with foreign manufacturers in the home market, Vietnamese mechanical engineering enterprises have to do outsourcing to survive.

Dr Tran Xuan Nhi, former Deputy Minister of Education and Training, commented that as three out of four accreditation centers belong to universities, the accreditation results may be unreliable.

 State-owned giant Vietnam Railways is venturing further into the logistics services market to cash in on rising trade and to prepare for the possible merger of two railway units.

VietNamNet Bridge - With the increase in population, rapid urbanization and opening of more factories, Da Nang City is facing a high risk of water, soil and air pollution. 

VietNamNet Bridge - The final exhibition of the “Beyond Structure” Program will take place at 4th floor, Agohub space, 12 Hoa Ma, Hanoi from December 17 to 21.