The Party and State always treasure the role of performing arts in the national culture and create favourable conditions for the arts to develop, President Truong Tan Sang said at the 8th congress of the Vietnam Association of Stage Artists in Hanoi on December 17.

Vietnam condemns terrorist acts in any form, Foreign Ministry’s spokesman Le Hai Binh has said in response to a school attack in the northern Pakistani city of Peshawar that left hundreds of people dead and injured on December 16.

Rescuers are racing against time to reach 12 workers who were trapped in the Da Dang-Dachomo hydropower plant tunnel collapse in the Central Highland province of Lam Dong early on December 16. 

The police in Ho Chi Minh City have arrested a Chinese national who is being wanted by the police in China’s Guangdong province for swindling.

Southern Dong Nai province authorities had a dialogue with over 100 local enterprises on December 16 to figure out their difficulties and seek ways to raise their production and expand export markets.

The Belgian Government will provide 6.2 million EUR (US$7.7 million) for Vietnam to improve the quality of its human resources.

The Prime Minister has agreed to advance VND555 billion (over US$26 million) from the State budget for 18 localities to implement 48 urgent projects to stabilise the lives of free migrant people.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, awarded its first EDGE resource efficiency certifications in Vietnam, at a ceremony held in Ho Chi Minh City on December 16.

The Republic of Korea (RoK) wishes to cooperate with Can Tho city in infrastructure development and science technology application into high-tech industry, said Kim Kyong Soo, Vice Chairman of the Korean Display Industry Association.

Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai has asked for quickening the introduction of a decree mandating public-private partnership (PPP) investment since the form is viewed a solution to inadequate investment problem.