City authorities have acknowledged several lacunae in the Fire Fighting Department, including the lack of qualified personnel and inadequate planning for future contingencies.

HCM City is considering to build car parking on the surface of Nhiêu Lộc – Thị Nghè and Tàu Hủ canals in order to cope with traffic congestion in downtown.

HCM City is considering to bury overhead electricity and telecommunication cables on 46 small streets in Districts 1 and 3 to improve the quality of life for locals.

National Agro-Forestry-Fisheries Quality Assurance Department (NAFIQAD) under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) has said that it in co-ordination with the Ministry of Public Security will inspect and strictly punish cases on illegal injecting foreign substance into shrimp.

HCM City People’s Committee has instructed departments and other agencies to take measures to reduce the recreational use of amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS) among local residents.

The Vietnamese government has proposed to reduce contribution by employers to workers’ unemployment insurance premiums to facilitate “growth of enterprises” in the country by “improving their competitiveness”.

Deputy Minister and Vice Chairman of the Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs, yesterday visited Buddhist Monk Tăng Nô, Supreme Patriarch of Buddhist Sangha of Sóc Trăng Province, on the occasion of the traditional Chol Chnam Thmay New Year festival.

Statistics on traffic accidents last year showed that 40 per cent of 21,568 crashes occurred from 6 pm to 12 am when drivers felt tired after working all day.

Nam Trà My District in Quảng Nam Province has introduced the first ever Ngọc Linh ginseng (Panax vietnamensis or Vietnamese ginseng) and medical herbs Centre in Trà Mai Commune as a major source of seed and sapling in Việt Nam.