A large number of local people and visitors joined the Pig Procession festival in La Phu village, Hoai Duc, Hanoi on February 17 (the 13th day of Lunar New Year).

 The final verdict on whether Grab’s acquisition of Uber violates Vietnam’s competition laws has yet to be decided, pending further investigation. But the impact of Grab’s monopoly on service quality has already been too obvious.

The Ministry of Transport (MoT) has planned to build in 2019 a number of road projects costing an investment of more than VND100 trillion (US$435 million). 

 VietNamNet Bridge – The fisheries sector has set itself an export target of US$10 billion this year, the target set by the Government only for 2020, 

 Danang International Fireworks Festival this year is scheduled to take place from June 1 to July 6 with the participation of seven teams from abroad.

 Thousands of people in the central province of Nghe An and Ha Tinh are going to Laos and Thailand to find jobs since the beginning of the year.

 Billionaire Pham Nhat Vuong has become the first Vietnamese to be named among the top 200 richest people worldwide.

 Vietnam faces a possible return to a trade deficit this year after three years of enjoying surpluses, experts said pointing to the sharp rise in imports and increasing difficulties facing exports. 

 A group of divers living in Nha Trang have been cleaning the sea for years off Hon Mun island. Taking up diving as a hobby and ending up using it to protect the environment, they are taking matters in their own hands.

 The northern border defence war now belongs to the past. Residents in border villages in the northwestern mountainous province of Lao Cai now live in peace and look toward a bright future.

 For those who love traditional Vietnamese cakes, bánh da lợn (literal translation “pig-skin cake”) should be at the top of your list during the Tết (Lunar New Year) holiday which welcomes in the Year of the Pig.

 Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai said recently the ministry would consider increasing the price of electricity this year.

  The Vietnam Securities Depository (VSD) granted new securities trading codes to 265 foreign individual and institutional investors in January.

 The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has asked Nghe An, Ha Tinh and Phu Yen to take urgent actions and find solutions in response to the EU’s warning about illegal, unreported  and unregulated (IUU) fishing. 

 The upcoming visit of President Maurico Macri to Vietnam is significant to Argentina due to the important role of the Southeast Asian country in the current overall international relations of Argentina.

 The Vietnam-Germany Friendship Hospital in Hanoi successfully performed an endoscopic surgery through the mouth to repair a patient’s orbital floor, announced the hospital on February 17.

 The Ho Chi Minh City-based Nhan dan (People) 115 Hospital has successfully carried out the first robotically assisted brain tumour surgery in Vietnam, said Director of the hospital Phan Van Bau on February 17.

 VietNamNet Bridge – The Vietnamese Government has issued a series of conditions required to set up a foreign-invested vocational training institution in Vietnam, expected to take effect from March 20.

 VietNamNet Bridge – The State Bank of Viet Nam (SBV) is planning to change its policy on reserve requirement ratios for credit institutions and foreign banks’ branches for the first time since 2011.

 VietNamNet Bridge – The first programme of a special art project to introduce classical music to young people will begin this week in HCM City.