Vietnam entered the semi-final of the Southeast Asian Women’s Football Championship after beating the Philippines 4-0 on July 28 in the Group A second round match in Mandalay, Myanmar.

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has called on Asian countries to close their tiger farms to boost efforts against the black-market trade in the cat’s parts.

VietNamNet Bridge - Confirming that its coffee products in the market contain soybeans, a representative of Nestle Vietnam said the proportion of ingredients was a "business secret’.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Vu Van Tam led a Vietnamese delegation to the Southeast Asia and Pacific Regional Fisheries Summit held in Jakarta, Indonesia on July 28.

 The Argentina-Vietnam Cultural Institute (ICAV) on July 27 issued a statement in support of the recent ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, the Netherlands, related to territorial disputes in the East Sea.

World Bank (WB) Vice President for East Asia and the Pacific Victoria Kwakwa pledged to continue promoting the cooperation between the lender and Vietnam while meeting Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh in Hanoi on July 28.

Legislators heard a report on the audit of the 2014 State budget during the seventh working day of their first National Assembly session in Hanoi on July 28.

 President Tran Dai Quang has affirmed Vietnam’s consistent policy of attaching importance to the strategic partnership with Thailand and expressed his wish for the ties to have new progresses.

 President Tran Dai Quang hailed Cambodian Ambassador to Vietnam Hul Phany’s contributions to the friendship and comprehensive cooperation between Vietnam and Cambodia while hosting the outgoing diplomat in Hanoi on July 28.

Visits by a number of Taiwanese officials to the Ba Binh (Itu Aba) feature area have seriously violated Vietnam’s sovereignty over the Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelago, stated Foreign Ministry spokesperson Le Hai Binh on July 28.

The Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee has submitted for Government approval a list of priority transportation and sanitation investment projects that will be developed in a Public Private Partnership format between 2016 and 2020.

VietNamNet Bridge – The second International Fingerstyle Guitar Festival was held in Ha Noi and HCM City last week, attracting both Vietnamese and foreign audiences to the performances. 

VietNamNet Bridge - Vietnam is an attractive consumer market, listed among the top five ASEAN countries with the fastest increase in the number of middle-class consumers.

 VietNamNet Bridge – The central city plans to open a 31.8km Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) route connecting the Da Nang International Airport and favourite destinations with Hoi An City in neighbouring Quang Nam Province.

Merger and acquisition (M&A) deals in Vietnam have amounted to over US$3 billion in the first seven months of this year, a year-on-year rise of 28%.   

VietNamNet Bridge – Nearly 30 talented classical music artists from Viet Nam and the US will gather to present the beauty of Baroque music during the Viet Nam Connection Music Festival.

VietNamNet Bridge - Vietnam is witnessing a fiber-to-home (FTTH) subscription boom with the number of FTTH subscribers 1.6 times higher than those who buy ADSL services.

VietNamNet Bridge - Many students are surprised about rising tuition at universities. 

 VietNamNet Bridge – The HCM City Department of Transport has called on the administration to build smart parking lots at hospitals to meet the burgeoning demand for parking space at most of them.

Taiwanese firms are increasing capital investment in the Vietnamese footwear sector to benefit from Vietnam’s new free trade agreements, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the EU-Vietnam FTA, and the Vietnam-Korea FTA.