Vietnam saw a trade surplus of 2.59 billion USD from the beginning of the year to December 15, according to the latest statistics of Vietnam Customs.

 Construction material manufacturer Viglacera Corporation on December 22 listed more than 65 million shares worth over 650 billion VND (28.2 million USD) on the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX), under the code VGC. 

 Former Thai Ambassador to Vietnam Panyarak Poolthu has pledged to make more contributions to enhancing the traditional friendship and strategic partnership between the two countries.

 A high-ranking delegation of the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) paid a working visit to China from December 19-23 with a view to enhancing friendship and cooperation with the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).

 The Hanoi People’s Court pronounced on December 22 the death penalty for seven defendants and life imprisonment for two others involved in an inter-provincial drug trafficking ring.

Vietnam plans to boost cooperation in skilled lalour and health care privatization, which is a good chance for Japanese firms, said Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Dao Ngoc Dung.

While SCIC can sell only 60 percent of Vinamilk shares, the nation’s leading dairy producer, domestic investors are queuing up to buy shares of Sabeco, increasing the brewery’s share prices.

 The Prime Minister has decided to allocate 165 billion VND (7.2 million USD) as relief aid to seven central localities from Nghe An to Quang Nam and northern Quang Ninh province which have been hit by recent devastated floods.

 General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong has asked Vietnamese and Chinese party officials to share practical experience in Party building and the combat against corruption. 

 The Standing Committee of the 14th National Assembly concluded its fifth session in Hanoi on December 22.

The VN Party Central Committee’s Commission for Information and Education and the Lao Party Central Committee’s Commission for Propaganda and Training have signed an agreement on cooperation between the two commissions in the 2016-2021 period. 

South African leaders expressed their appreciation for bilateral friendship and mutual support with Vietnam over the past more than six decades during talks with Secretary of the Party Central Committee Nguyen Van Binh. 

 A number of luxurious shopping centres in Vietnam are facing slow sales and even closing as they fail to meet customers' changing demand.

VietNamNet Bridge - The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) is encouraging the development of steel complexes in coastal areas where there are deep water ports and plentiful land.

VietNamNet Bridge - Trade carried out on Facebook has boomed over the last few years, but the State still has no way of collecting tax on the activities.

VietNamNet Bridge - LOTUSat-1 and LOTUSat-2 are important component projects of the national satellite center, Vietnam’s biggest ever science & technology project with total investment capital of $600 million.

VietNamNet Bridge - While US and Israeli professors are surprised that Vietnamese students scored high on PISA tests, many Vietnamese people wonder why the country remains poor with such good marks on the test. 

 VietNamNet Bridge – The HCM City People’s Committee has submitted to the municipal People’s Council a list of 880 projects that require around 7,000ha of land to be acquired.

 The Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA) has recently released a Circular guiding some articles of the Labor Code relating to foreign workers in Vietnam.

 Vietnam’s farming exports in the first eleven months of 2016 reached US$29.1 billion, up 5.9% over the same period of last year, with eight commodities each earning more than US$1 billion.