VIETNAM TODAY

Japanese investors have seen the slump in the securities market as an opportunity to buy stocks on the cheap in Vietnamese banks.

Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong warmly welcomed his Lao counterpart Choummaly Sayasone who arrived in Hanoi on December 26 for an official visit to Vietnam.

Vietnam ranked second in the list of attractive destinations for foreign tourists in 2013, according to a recent survey conducted by the United States Tour Operators Association.

A lack of incentives has created a shortage of kindergarten teachers, so not all children can go to school by the age of five, a number of NA deputies said at a talk with the Education Minister.

China started service on the world's longest high-speed rail route, the latest milestone in the country's rapid super fast rail network.

Danang city maritime rescue forces and border guards in Thua Thien-Hue province have saved five Malaysian crew members from a ship that encountered trouble on December 25.

A military transport plane has crashed in southern Kazakhstan, killing all 27 people on board. The aircraft crashed 20 kilometres from Shymkent airport in the south of country.

A private company in Hanoi announced a Tet bonus of VND74.5 million, making it the highest bonus payer among local companies.

Both the number of newborn babies and the birth ratio between male and female continued to rise in the first 11 months in HCMC.

Vietnam might not fulfill this year’s FDI attraction target of $15 billion due to a recent decline.

Hanoi has been rated best destination in Vietnam for city life by Lonely Planet Traveller, the world’s leading tourist magazine.

The Ministry of Construction has passed a circular governing the minimum proportion of unbaked brick used in buildings to boost the production of green building materials.

"Mui Co Chay” (Scent of Burnt Grass) of Vietnam is not in the shortlist of the nominees for the Best Foreign Film category of the Oscar Awards 2013.

An estimated 8,000 patients need kidney transplant operations in Vietnam each year, according to the Health Ministry.

Rising wages in Vietnam are prompting many foreign investors in labour-intensive industries to look to other countries with cheaper labour cost to make investments.

A Myanmar plane carrying 65 passengers crash-landed in Shan state, leaving two people dead and 11 others injured, officials said.

Australian runner Patrick Farmer and his Vietnamese partner, Mai Nguyen Dinh Huy, arrived in Hoi An City last night, completing the 16th stage of the Pole to Pole marathon.

The high number of deaths from cancer in a commune in Phu Yen Province has raised serious questions about the safety of the groundwater used by local residents in their daily lives.

The U.N. General Assembly has voted to restart negotiations on a draft international treaty to regulate the $70 billion global trade in conventional arms.