VIETNAM TODAY

Car sales in the ASEAN region in the first nine months of 2014 fell by 10.8 percent from a year earlier to 2,380,683 units, said the ASEAN Automotive Federation (AAF).

Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong will pay official visits to Russia and the Republic of Belarus from November 23-28 at the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.

China cannot change the legal rights of Vietnam over the exclusive economic zone (EEZ), affirmed experts at a two-day conference themed “East Sea: Cooperation for Regional Security and Development” held from November 17-18 in the central city of Danang.

Pham Anh Khoa and Tran Thi Thuy Trang will represent Vietnamese young businesspeople to attend the Global Entrepreneurship Summit Youth (GES Youth 2014) in Marrakech City, Morocco from November 19-21.

The police in Nghe An Province has arrested a man who had been supplying customised microchips to dozens of fuel stations designed to cheat consumers.

The 2014 European Music Festival will open in Hanoi on Saturday and in HCM City next Monday, with artists from seven European countries and Vietnam participating.

The Vietnam Railway Corporation (VNR) will sell tickets online starting December 1.

Households living in vulnerable areas in the southernmost province of Ca Mau are being relocated to new resettlement areas.

The Ministry of Finance (MoF) has asked 11 concerned ministries to join hands in simplifying administrative procedures to create the most favourable conditions for import-export activities.

A UN report is recommending the seizure of all oil tanker trucks leaving militant-controlled territory in Iraq and Syria to cut off millions of dollars from crude sales now bankrolling the militants.

The United States International Trade Commission (USITC) has decided to keep anti dumping tax on pangasius imported from Vietnam at least in the next five years, according to the Vietnam Competition Authority under the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Vice President Nguyen Thi Doan expressed her hope that the US organisation Operation Smile would continue its support in providing reconstructive surgery on children with cleft palates and lips, training personnel and transferring technology during a meeting with the

Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang held a National Assembly Question and Answer session in Hanoi on November 17, easing concerns over the underperformance of large-scale hydropower plants, support industry and the crackdown on smuggling and counterfeits.

China must make significant investments now to meet the targets of last week's agreement with the United States on greenhouse gas emissions, a senior US official said Monday, predicting a big impact on its economy.

An unofficial survey of students in Ha Tinh Province carried out by a teacher suggests that Vietnamese students may spend too much time studying and not enough learning real life skills.

The sixth international workshop on the East Sea opened in the central coastal city of Da Nang on November 17, with the participation of more than 200 Vietnamese and international academics and representatives of the diplomatic corps in Vietnam.

The 6th Culture, Sports and Tourism Festival of the Khmer ethnic people in southern Vietnam will commence on November 27 in Hau Giang province.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has approved a plan to develop culture, sports and tourism in the key central economic region through 2020 with a vision towards 2030.

More than two-thirds of Hong Kong people think pro-democracy demonstrators who have occupied key parts of the Chinese-controlled city for seven weeks should end their street protests, a Chinese University of Hong Kong survey suggests.