The production value per hectare of land in HCM City reached VNĐ450 million (US$19,736) last year, an increase of 10.9 per cent compared to 2016, largely due to high-tech methods, according to the city’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Lawmakers, lawyers and leaders from Vietnam Social Security (VSS), a State agency in charge of the country’s social insurance programme, have all advised against the practice of using social insurance books as collateral by banks, credit institutions and small loan businesses at a conference last week on the subject.

Transport businesses, including aviation, railway and buses, have prepared plans to serve passengers travelling during the Tết (Lunar New Year) holidays, Vietnam News Agency reported.

One motorbike driver was killed and 10 people were injured in a traffic accident on Saturday night in a stretch of National Highway No 20 running through the southern province of Đồng Nai’s Gia Tân 1 Commune.

Nhơn Châu island commune in the central province of Bình Định is blessed with plenty of sea products, including seaweed. Porphyra, a cold-water seaweed found growing abundantly around rock pools here, has created a source of food and income for local residents.

Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc on Saturday gave a certificate of merit for bravery to Hoàng Đức Hải, who died after saving a woman and her two children from drowning in the northern province of Thanh Hóa on Thursday.

Police in the northern of Bắc Giang Province seized 117 kilos of smuggled firecrackers on Saturday in Hoàng Văn Thụ Ward.

Authorities in the southern province of Đồng Nai on February 11 used their own budget to pay the salary and Lunar New Year (Tết) bonus for two thousand workers of a company whose managers have fled the country.

This Hà Nội peach blossom flowers collection features shots by VNS photographer Thái Hà documenting a rare sight in the old capital - a Hà Nội immersed in pink with thousands of peach blossom trees in full bloom.