The Vietnam Railways Corporation (VNR) is set to put six new passenger trains into operation on the North-South route on January 10, 2018, in an effort to improve service quality.

A 2.2km stretch of road in the capital city has become the most expensive one in the country so far, being built at a cost of VND3.5 billion (US$152,000) per metre.

Cheap flight tickets for the Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday are almost sold out, especially for the Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoii route.

The Ho Chi Minh City government has dismissed a proposal to build vertical rotating parking lots in the city's downtown because the project would take up too much of the already limited public space.

VOV.VN - Primary and secondary students in Ha Long city are educated on local scenic and cultural values in a fun way. The pilot inclusion of this subject into school curriculums aims to raise pupils’ awareness of environmental protection. 

Vietnam experienced unprecedentedly severe natural disasters in 2017, resulting in 386 people dead and missing and some 60,000 billion VND (2.6 billion USD) worth of damage.

VOV.VN - Vietnam’s weather forecasting will be modernized next year in order to stay abreast with developed countries’ level. 

VOV.VN - Firework shows will be held in HCM City to welcome the upcoming New Year 2018 and Lunar New Year (Tet) Festivals.

VOV.VN - A number of Mekong Delta provinces have launched a broad range of charitable activities to help poor households, social policy beneficiaries and disadvantaged children. 

VOV.VN - The Ministry of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA) has proposed presenting gifts worth more than VND386 billion (US$17 million) to people credited with revolutionary services on the occasion of the upcoming Lunar New Year (Tet) festival. 

About 24 percent of tuberculosis (TB) patients in Ho Chi Minh City show symptoms of drug or multi-drug resistance, heard a conference on December 29, which overviewed TB prevention and treatment in Ho Chi Minh City throughout 2017.

The National Traffic Safety Committee has announced 12 hotlines to receive complaints about traffic problems during the 2018 New Year holiday from December 30, 2017 to January 1, 2018.

The Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee on December 29 announced the city’s top ten events in 2017 as follows:

The average Tet (New Year) bonus of the upcoming lunar Year of the Dog will be about 10.9 percent higher than last year in Ho Chi Minh City, said Director of the city’s Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Le Minh Tan on December 29.

VOV.VN -The Parties, States and peoples of Vietnam and Laos should work closely to protect their traditional cultural values and the valuable asset of the special friendship between the two countries in the context of wide-ranging international integration and impacts of the market economy.

New vehicle parking fees for Hanoi have been published and will take effect from January 1, according to local authorities.

The number of water buses operating in Ho Chi Minh City’s new transport service remains low, causing long wait time for passengers, according to media reports.

More than 22,500 units in Hanoi were found to have violated food safety regulations this year after inspectors examined 110,930 units, according to the city’s Health Department.

 President Tran Dai Quang urged the procuracy sector to focus on achieving a stronger Party organisation and comprehensive development while attending the sector’s conference held on December 29 to launch missions in 2018.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) plans to launch a communication campaign to promote the non-use of plastic bags as a prelude to its sea turtle conservation programme on Ly Son Island in 2018.

The Supreme People’s Procuracy has issued an indictment for its prosecution of Dinh La Thang and six accomplices accused of causing losses of VND800 billion (US$35.2 million) of the Vietnam Oil and Gas Group PetroVietnam (PVN) as capital contribution to the Ocean Commercial Joint Stock Bank (OceanBank).

VOV.VN - Ninety two garment factory workers in Tan Phu Trung industrial park in Cu Chi district, HCM City were hospitalized on December 28 with suspected food poisoning after having dinner at their workplace.

The volume of prepared goods for the Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday has increased by 20-30 percent against the volume last year, according to Ho Chi Minh City Department of Industry and Trade.

The 10th HCM City Book Expo will open at Le Van Tam Park in District 3 in March.   

Multiple transportation firms have proposed reducing the number of Build – Operate – Transfer (BOT) toll stations as well as road maintenance fees by 30 percent.

Though the idea of a ‘gap year’ is still in its infancy in Vietnam, local students are actively seeking out opportunities to enrich their lives and expand their horizons between finishing high school and beginning university.

A Ho Chi Minh City court has handed jail terms ranging from four to 16 years to 15 terrorists, totaling 128 years of prison time, for those involved in plotting several terrorist attacks in southern Vietnam this year.

It is necessary to continue assessing public satisfaction with outcomes of new-style rural area building seriously in order to promote responsibility and role of the Vietnam Fatherland Front in the work, heard a seminar in Hanoi on December 28. 

The Central Highlands province of Dak Nong has completed the building of 80 auxiliary markers on the border shared with Cambodia’s Mundulkiri province as set in 2017. 

Some 30 new anti-vibration and noise-protective train carriages were handed over to the Vietnam Railway Corporation (VNR) on December 27 to serve passengers during Tet (Lunar New Year).