Car drivers can now fuel their vehicles themselves, as part of a pilot project that began at two filling stations in Hanoi on December 1.

Vietnam joined over 40 countries and international organisations and companies at an international charity fair in Pakistan on December 7 to raise fund for underprivileged people.

The Vietnamese Embassy in Singapore has vowed to work closely with relevant agencies to bring home the body of sailor Tran Duc Dat who was shot dead by pirates off Singapore’s coast in the early morning of December 7.

Vietnam will continue making more efforts to fulfil UN Millennium Development Goals and contributions to building the UN Development Agenda beyond 2015, Deputy Foreign Minister Ha Kim Ngoc told UN officials in Hanoi on December 8.

A working group from the Party Document Compiling Sub-committee on December 8 worked with the Hanoi Party Committee’s Standing Board on the city’s overall situation, including Party and political system building in the 2010-15 period.

A delegation of the National Assembly’s Committee for External Affairs led by its Chairman Tran Van Hang has paid working visits to Mexico and Colombia.

President Truong Tan Sang asked the central province of Thanh Hoa to step up administrative reform, making it easier to attract more foreign investors at a working session with its authorities in the locality on December 8.

Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong expressed his wish that outgoing Russian Ambassador Andrei Kovtun, in any position he undertakes in the future, will do his part for the ties between Vietnam and Russia, at a reception in Hanoi on December 8.

The National Steering Committee for Flood Control and Prevention on December 8 sent three teams to the south central, Central Highlands, and south eastern regions to examine local preparations for typhoon Hagupit, which is forecast to reach the East Sea in early December 9.

Many giant international retail groups such as Auchan, Robinson and Walmart are likely to set up more convenience stores, supermarkets and big commercial centres in Vietnam when the country completely opens its retail market next year, said the Vietnam Business Forum Magazine (VBF).