National Assembly (NA) Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan will attend the 138th Inter-Parliamentary Union Assembly (IPU-138) and related meetings in Geneva, Switzerland, from March 24-25. 

 Inspectors from the Department of Information and Communications in the Mekong delta province of Ben Tre decided to issue an administrative fine of VND10 million ($439) on a local man for publishing a false new to his fan page on social media.

 At a meeting on March 21 on dengue and summer disease prevention, Deputy head of the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology (NIHE) Dr. Tran Nhu Duong warned the possible outbreaks of dangerous diseases in the next time.

The Kafka Festival 2018, which features a series of cultural events to mark the 135th anniversary of the Czech writer Franz Kafka’s birthday (July 3, 1883-2018), will be held for the first time in Hanoi.

Around 52 percent of Vietnamese companies and 40 per cent of internationally invested companies will expand their business in the next two years, according to the Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI) 2017.

 The authorities’ collecting VND2.5 trillion ($109.8 million) in tax arrears from Saigon Beer, Alcohol and Beverage Corporation (Sabeco) made foreign investors concerned about taking part in later divestments of state-owned firms.

 New rules imposed by the Penal Code for software piracy, including crippling financial fines up to VND1 billion ($45,400), the suspension of operations, and so on, are expected to mitigate and hopefully terminate piracy in Vietnam.

Nguyen Thanh Nam, former CEO of FPT, the largest domestic information technology group, now chair of Funix Online University, is calling on overseas Vietnamese talents to come back to Vietnam to do business.

A ceremony took place in Hanoi on March 23 to welcome President of the Republic of Korea Moon Jae-in and his spouse, who are paying a three-day State visit to Vietnam.

 The US will temporarily cease the issuance of a number of investment and religious worker visas for Vietnamese citizens from March 23.

 Dr Nguyen Thi Hiep was selected to be part of the International Rising Talents Programme of the L’Oreal-UNESCO For Women In Science Awards, which were presented on March 21 in Paris, France.

Five Vietnamese students will take part in Yown Puraya youth festival which is set to take place in Sri Lanka from March 27 to April 1.

 Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. and MobiFone Global signed an agreement to boost engineering and commercial cooperation on 4G and 5G networks in Vietnam on March 22 in Hanoi in front of about 100 ICT businesses from Korea and Vietnam.

Scholars, members of the national heritage council and the public were shocked to discover recently that a concrete road has been built inside a UNESCO-recognized World Heritage Site. 

 An Irish man who was attacked by three security guards at a restaurant in HCM City has made his apology for his bad behaviour after getting drunk.

Thirty years have elapsed since Vietnam ratified the Foreign Investment Law in 1987. Foreign investors committed to invest $312.9 billion by the end of 2017, of which $170 billion was disbursed.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Water found in some 71 per cent of Hanoi’s wells is contaminated with higher than permitted levels of phosphate.

 VietNamNet Bridge – The water environment in the world-renowned Ha Long Bay has been under tremendous pressure from the growing socio-economic activities in the area.

 Japan’s Wanokai International Culture Association presented Nguyen Du Secondary School in downtown Hanoi a set of Smart Education solutions, worth 12 billion VND (528,000 USD), during an event on March 22.

 Vietnam’s benchmark VN Index marginally surpassed the record high of 1,170 points on March 22 as energy stocks remained upbeat and insurers and agriculture firms performed strongly as well.