VIETNAM TODAY

A Hyundai Santafe driver was fined VND 23 million (approximately USD 940) and had his car seized for replacing his licence plate with a Happy Wedding sign.

As many as 250 works and projects worth nearly VND 1.28 quadrillion (USD 48.73 billion) are being simultaneously kicked off and inaugurated across Vietnam this morning, August 19.

State President Luong Cuong hosted a red-carpet welcome ceremony in Hanoi on August 19 for King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and Queen Jetsun Pema Wangchuck of Bhutan.

Vietnam’s pangasius catfish, often dubbed the “export king” with annual revenues worth billions of USD, has yet to secure a strong foothold at home.

Hosts Vietnam and visitors Singapore jointly won the overall first prize at the 2025 Vietnam International Mathematics Competition (VIMC) held in Danang from August 15–18.

A job fair due to be held at Long Thanh International Airport in Dong Nai Province on August 23 will offer more than 3,000 positions for local workers and students.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade has proposed including previously unaccounted costs in retail electricity prices to help Vietnam Electricity (EVN) reduce losses and stabilise its finances.

Residents in Nghe An have voluntarily handed over a 200-kilogramme deer, three macaques and a turtle to Pu Mat National Park for care and release back into the wild.

King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and Queen Jetsun Pema Wangchuck of Bhutan arrived in Hanoi on August 18, beginning their five-day state visit to Vietnam.

Police in Lam Dong Province have returned a lost phone to two Russian tourists after tracing it through GPS and locating it with a local resident.

Despite global trade uncertainties, a large number of US companies have chosen Ho Chi Minh City as a sourcing destination at the Vietnam International Sourcing 2025 (VIS 2025).

Secondary and high school students in Ho Chi Minh City will begin classes later in the new academic year, starting at 7.30am and 1.30pm instead of 7am–7.15am and 1pm–1.15pm.

A tropical depression has entered the Gulf of Tonkin, bringing heavy rain to the northeast and Thanh Hoa Province from August 18 to 20.

A sudden storm with heavy rain lasting about 30 minutes capsized a raft carrying 17 people in Quang Ninh’s Dam Ha Commune on Sunday evening, leaving two dead.

Hanoi authorities are racing to revive the To Lich River within two weeks, in time for Vietnam’s National Day celebrations on September 2.

Leading Chinese fruit retailers and distributors will travel to Ho Chi Minh City in September to source Vietnamese farm produce, with durian a key focus.

Two cousins, aged 19 and 14, drowned after their inflatable paddle board capsized in rough waves off Hon Tre Beach on Hai Tac Island in An Giang on August 16.

Banks that undertake a mandatory transfer of weak banks will have their reserve requirement ratio reduced by 50 per cent from October 1 this year, according to the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV).

Vietnam’s cement industry is rebounding in 2025 after two years of oversupply, with output, sales and profits rising on stronger public investment and lower coal prices.