Ho Chi Minh City People’s High Court on January 24 upheld the lower court’s 30-year imprisonment sentence given to former Chairman of the Vietnam Construction Bank (VNCB) Board of Directors Pham Cong Danh.

 Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang sent on January 24 a congratulatory message to his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko on the 25th founding anniversary of the two countries’ diplomatic relationship.

President Tran Dai Quang asserted that Vietnam always wants to develop its strategic partnership with Singapore when receiving Singapore’s Ambassador to Vietnam Catherine Wong in Hanoi on January 24.

VietNamNet Bridge - While Hanoians have lower incomes on average than Saigonese, they pay more for housing because of higher construction costs.

VietNamNet Bridge - Hundreds of trillions of shares in dong transacted on the bourses since the last days of 2016 have brought great opportunities to investors.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Television stations have lined up dozens of new and interesting programmes to entertain nationwide audiences during Tet (Lunar New Year).

VietNamNet Bridge - As the ‘.shop’ domain name becomes more popular, e-commerce experts believe a record number of registrations will occur.

VietNamNet Bridge - Hundreds of unowned import containers of waste banned by Vietnam have been left at HCMC ports, causing problems for port authorities. 

Leaving his home village for Hanoi with his parents when he was in the fifth grade, Pham Minh Hoa now speaks English fluently. He founded an international volunteers’ organization for which he serves as a Vietnamese ambassador.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Businesses have complained that they have to deal with a host of barriers and risks in agricultural projects though they are encouraged to invest in the sector.

 A Khen (panpipe) Festival will open for the first time from January 30 to February 12 in Sapa, Lao Cai province.

 The Vietnam Poetry Day 2017, the 15th edition, will be held in Hanoi on February 11 or the 15th day of the first lunar month of the New Year (Nguyen Tieu festival), with a special space designed for children’s poet clubs.

 The Ban Flower Festival 2017 will take place on March 12 together with the fifth Culture – Sports – Tourism Festival in the northern province of Dien Bien.

Property developer Sun Group will open Dragon Park, Souheast Asia’s largest theme park by area, in the northern province of Quang Ninh’s Ha Long city on January 25. 

 Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc hosted a New Year banquet in Hanoi on January 23, with the participation of foreign ministry officials and representatives from foreign embassies in Vietnam.

 Cao Ba Hung, an 18-year-old boy, was announced as winner of the reality talent show Sing My Song on January 22 night.

 Vietnamese pop sensation Son Tung M-TP has been listed among top 55 Fashion Face Award Year 2016 by I-Magazine.

 As registering business online is now completely free of charge and easier than ever, the number of firms engaged in online registration is expected to reach 30% of the total this year.

 Ensuring timber supply for domestic manufacturing is a problem in Vietnam as a large amount of raw timber is exported while many domestic producers lack raw materials.

 All credit institutions will be subject to restructuring in the next few years, according to Nguyen Van Hung, deputy chief inspector of the State Bank of Viet Nam (SBV).