VOV.VN - With just over a week to go until Christmas, many areas across Ho Chi Minh City have been lavishly decorated, attracting large numbers of locals and visitors for sightseeing and photos.

At the 33rd National Congress of the Communist Party of Uruguay (PCU), held in Montevideo from December 12–14, the images of President Ho Chi Minh and Vietnam were printed on the ballots used at the congress.

A prize-awarding ceremony for the contest on storytelling, painting, singing, and poetry recitation about President Ho Chi Minh for children in 2025 was held at the Vietnamese Embassy in Japan on December 15.

With the Lunar New Year (Tet) set to fall in mid-February 2026, businesses in Ho Chi Minh City are accelerating production, finalising stockpiling plans and rolling out price-stabilisation measures to meet shopping demand amid persistently high input costs.

Authorities in Ho Chi Minh City have intensified inspections and law enforcement to prevent fishing vessels that fail to meet regulatory requirements from operating at sea, as part of efforts to curb illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

VOV.VN - Day of Phở 2025 officially opened in Saigon Ward, Ho Chi Minh City on the morning of December 13, promoting Vietnamese food, agricultural products, and brands.

The Ho Chi Minh City Investment and Trade Promotion Centre (ITPC), together with the Japan Business Association of Ho Chi Minh City (JCCH), hosted the 2025 Japan business roundtable in the city on December 12.

A light art exhibition featuring images of President Ho Chi Minh and the friendship between Vietnam and the Republic of Korea opened at the Rok's National Assembly headquarters in Seoul on December 10.

VOV.VN - The National Assembly on December 11 approved a resolution on the development of a free trade zone in Ho Chi Minh City, introducing pilot mechanisms to attract investment and position the city as a regional economic hub.

Ho Chi Minh City has readied necessary infrastructure, personnel, and investors for the operation of its International Financial Centre (IFC), slated to be inaugurated on December 19, Dr. Truong Minh Huy Vu, Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Institute for Development Studies (HIDS), has said.