Total fatalities from tropical storm Nari and following floods in the central region have climbed to 10, according to the Central Steering Committee for Flood and Storm Control on October 17.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung will ask for the National Assembly (NA)’s approval of two new Deputy Prime Ministers at the sixth NA session which will open in Hanoi on October 21.

ASEAN countries are facing big challenges from water supply and wastewater treatments, said Nguyen Tuong Van, Executive Director of the Southeast Asian Water Utilities Network (SEAWUN) at a water forum in Ho Chi Minh City on October 17. 

The Thai Cabinet has approved the composition of a Thai panel in the Thailand-Vietnam Joint Commission on Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC) to be set up to strengthen strategic partnership.

Vietnam will host on October 21-24 the ASEAN Disaster Emergency Response Simulation Exercise (ARDEX-13), which is expected to strengthen ASEAN’s collective response to massive disasters in the region.

President Truong Tan Sang and Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung on October 17 conveyed their sympathy to Party General Secretary and President Chummaly Sayyasone and Prime Minister Thoongsinh Thammavong of Laos over a deadly plane crash in the country.

President Truong Tan Sang and Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung on October 17 conveyed sympathy to President of the Philippines Benigno S. Aquino III over a recent powerful earthquake in the central region that resulted in great losses of human life and property.

Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh on October 17 conveyed his condolences to his Indian counterpart Salman Khurshid over a recent stampede at an Indian Hindu temple that left 115 people dead and hundreds more injured.

Vietnam is appealing for investment in the hi-tech fields of manufacturing and processing in deprived areas, said Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai. 

Feature films "Nhung Nguoi Viet Huyen Thoai" (The Legend Makers) and “Scandal – Bi Mat Tham Do” (Scandal – Red Carpet Secret) won Golden Lotus Awards at the 18th National Film Festival, which ended in Ha Long city on October 16.