A regional training workshop on public weather services opened in Hanoi on March 27 for countries participating in the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO)’s Severe Weather Forecasting Demonstration Project (SWFDP).

 The export of farm, forestry and fishery products in March reached 3.1 billion USD, bringing the total export value of the items in the first quarter of this year to 8.7 billion USD, a rise of 9.6 percent from the same quarter in 2017.

Vietnam hopes French enterprises will do successful business in the Southeast Asian country in the long run, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee Nguyen Phu Trong said. 

Party Chief Nguyen Phu Trong highlighted the bright prospects for Vietnam-France relations in his recent article published by Le Monde newspaper on the occasion of his ongoing visit to France from March 25-27.

Spokesperson of HCM City police Nguyen Si Quang on March 26 said criminal proceedings started against a case of serious blaze which burned the local apartment complex Carina Plaza on March 23.

The State visit to Cuba by Party Chief Nguyen Phu Trong from March 28-30 aims to consolidate mutual political trust and step up bilateral cooperation in economy, trade and investment in a more pragmatic and effective manner. 

 The 11th annual Phan Chau Trinh Cultural Awards on Saturday honored seven local and foreign scholars in the fields of music, culture, translation and Vietnam studies for their devotions to the cause of Vietnamese cultural and educational development.

 A regional collaboration drill on health response to disasters opened in the central coastal city of Da Nang on March 26, gathering ten ASEAN state members and representatives from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

Japanese low-cost airline Vanilla Air announced its official exit from Vietnam's affordable aviation market despite optimistic business performance over the past 18 months due to its failure over local competitors.

 Authorities in the central city of Danang have just allowed two polluting steel firms to resume operation, despite opposition from local people.

 Indochine Arts Ltd. Co. on March 24 opened the first online painting transaction centre in Vietnam, aiming to prevent copyright infringements.

Events in Hanoi & HCMC on March 26-April 1 

 Vietnam Book Day 2018 will be held in Hanoi on April 18-22 to celebrate the culture’s love for the written word.

 Leaders of the central province of Quang Tri are accused of selling calves given to low-income people.

VietNamNet Bridge - Travel firms are thinking of developing astrotourism activities to attract domestic and foreign travelers.

 A doctor who owns a beauty salon in HCM City has been fined VND64 million (USD2,909) following the death of an American man during a loose skin removal surgery.

 Investigators from the Ministry of Public Security on Monday arrested two employees of Eximbank in connection to the vice director fled overseas after misappropriating VND245bn (USD10.8m) from a customer.   

 Surpassing over 1,000 international candidates, Phan Trung Kien, a student at the Vietnam National Academy of Music, has won the only special prize at the Kyushu Music Concour 2018 in Kumamoto, Japan.

 The Republic of Korea's distribution and food processing companies are shifting to Vietnam from China amid tougher business conditions and strained bilateral relations in the world's most populous market, the RoK’s Yonhap news agency reported.

 Vietnam Airlines and Air France Industries KLM Engineering and Maintenance (AFM KLM E&M) inked an agreement for the maintenance of Boeing 787-9 engines worth 500 million USD in Paris on March 26.