Việt Nam News

With the EU – Việt Nam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) signed late last month, Việt Nam will have the opportunity to gain further access to the market of 28 European Union member countries as well as global markets.

Stepping out of their doors into the scorching heat last week, Hanoians choked on the foul smell of piles of trash left on the streets. The usual destination for Hà Nội’s rubbish, Nam Sơn Waste Treatment Complex, had been blocked by local residents, preventing garbage trucks from entering the site.

On the morning of June 28, Phan Đình Thành from Nghi Sơn District in central Hà Tĩnh Province bought groceries and a lighter to smoke some cigarettes. Later that afternoon, he gathered dried leaves in a trash pit in his garden and lit them on fire. The wind rapidly spread the fire to the nearby forest in Hồng Lĩnh Mountain.

Drug addicts are easy to spot, so surely their dealers must be easy to find too? The answer to this problem isn’t stricter laws or harsher punishment.

My family usually stay at just one hotel when we go to Da Nang City. The reason is very simple: my kid loves the fact that the receptionist at the hotel would always offer her some candy whenever we stay there.

I hate that once many Vietnamese men sit down for a drink with friends, they are forced to down their drinks to show their “respect” to their drinking buddies or to show that they are “true men”

The Đà Lạt I know is the city of thousands of pine trees, the city of fog, an ideal hideaway from the hustle and bustle city life – who would like to come to Đà Lạt if it’s a copy of Hồ Chí Minh City?

School should be a happy place. A place for children to learn, develop and grow. But if that growth is being stunted by cutting corners when it comes to food hygiene, it will leave a bad taste in people’s mouths that will never go away. 

Recently, a top transport official said drivers who lose their licence should have to sit a driving test again. That’s lose as in misplace, not lose as in break traffic laws. Crazy, I know.

The second round of talks between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ended early, with both sides unable to make concrete progress on denuclearisation. A definitive peace deal was just out of reach for the former adversaries. However, it’s worth taking a moment to consider the meaning of this diplomatic event for Việt Nam as host.

Like a rotten apple which spoils the barrel, travel scams have held back the country’s efforts to boost service quality-oriented tourism.

Years of rapid economic development have left Việt Nam with negative externalities – noise and poor air quality arising from pollution and road congestion.

Việt Nam is one of the most open economies in the world. Trade-led development has contributed to rapid growth, job creation and poverty reduction, helping the country achieve GDP growth of 7.1 per cent in 2018. But linkages between foreign direct investment (FDI) and domestic enterprises are weak and may erode further unless Việt Nam puts the right policies in place to strengthen the competitiveness of domestic enterprises.

Somehow the most basic rule of driving is being ignored. Despite thousands of warnings, drunk and drugged drivers still risk theirs and other’s lives on the roads daily. Public health messaging about the dangers of operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol or drugs is falling on deaf ears.

Tết gifts are an age-old tradition in Việt Nam, affording people the chance to pay visits to their seniors to wish them (and themselves) all the best for the New Year.

Public discourse has taken off over Hà Nội’s recent decision to forbid citizens from making audio or video recordings without consent during meetings with officials.

Đinh Bằng My, 57 years old, principal of Thanh Sơn District’s secondary boarding school for ethnic minority students in northern Phú Thọ Province, was allegedly reported to have molested dozens of male students in his office. The horrific truth would have been a secret forever without the involvement of the media.

Two journalists received death threats earlier this week for reporting on an alleged parking racket at Long Biên market, the biggest wholesale market in Hà Nội.