With around 40 golf courses which have modern designs and meet international standards, Vietnam holds great potential to develop golf tourism.

VietNamNet Bridge - The extension of the e-visa policy to a wide range of countries, plus important events held in Vietnam recently, have brought golden opportunities to attract more travelers.

 Besides high import duties, completely-built-up (CBU) automobiles imported from Europe are also subject to strict requirements in Vietnam, leading to the shrinking of the market share of European CBU automobiles.

 The British Council in Vietnam has provided 17 officers of the Vietnamese People’s Army with an Academic English and IELTS preparation course, which is part of a training program funded by the UK Ministry of Defence.

 Japanese fingerstyle guitarist Satoshi Gogo, who was the special guest in the Vietnam tour 2018 of Korean guitar prodigy Sungha Jung, will perform in Hanoi, Danang and HCMC early next month.

PVN noted in a statement today, March 21, that a participation bonus in the oil and gas sector it paid to Venezuela was not “commission money” but was in fact an amount of money a contractor must pay the host country when signing contracts.

The Ministry of Finance has proposed PVN focus on expediting the divestment of domestic enterprises operating in sensitive business fields such as real estate, investment funds, securities and insurance, VietnamPlus news site reported.

 The Ministry of Transport on March 21 asked the Government for approval to use VND4.2 trillion (US$181 million) to upgrade runways at Noi Bai and Tan Son Nhat Airports.

 The Ministry of Health on March 21 requested the Bac Ninh government to direct the provincial Department of Health and local medical centers to stop conducting porcine tapeworm tests on children, the local media reported.

 Vietnam’s local currency (LCY) bonds outstanding stood at VND1,180.5 trillion (US$51 billion) at the end of December, down 5.3% quarter-on-quarter, but up 9.3% year-on-year, according to ADB’s latest report of the quarterly Asia Bond Monitor. 

The trimming off of 34 administrative procedures in Hanoi`s industry and trade has translated into the reduction of 116 working days, saving about VND2.4 billion (US$103,200).

 Given rapid urbanization, Vietnam is facing a series of problems that require large efforts to address, and “Cities for People” by award-winning Danish architect Jan Gehl would finally serve citizens in such cityscapes.

 Director of the Hanoi Department of Information and Communications Nguyen Ngoc Ky stressed that Hanoi’s 5G network testing is considered a basis to promote the capital’s e-government infrastructure.

 The gap between productivity level of Vietnam and regional peers has widened, placing growing pressure for Vietnam to catch up with those in the region, according to Vu Tien Loc, VCCI chairman.

Competent agencies must be aware of the qualifications of state personnel before the 13th National Congress, which is slated for 2021, Secretary General of the Communist Party of Vietnam and President Nguyen Phu Trong has said. 

Global private equity firm Warburg Pincus is said to be looking at acquiring Vietnam-based resort The Grand Ho Tram, DealstreetAsia reported.

 South Korea’s conglomerate SK Group, through its investment arm SK South East Asia Investment, has decided to invest US$1 billion acquiring shares of Vietnam’s leading privately run conglomerate Vingroup, according to Bloomberg. 

 Hanoi's Department of Tourism on March 22 organized a ceremony at the Temple of Literature to launch the volunteer team to support Thang Long – Hanoi tourism in 2019.

 The annual Danang International Fireworks Festival will be cut in half from two months to one this year according to local authorities.

 Another cold snap is forecasted to hit the northern region from March 23.