VietNamNet Bridge – The urban poor in Viet Nam face barriers in accessing preferential policies on housing, vocational training, job creation and technical transfer, Ngo Truong Thi,

VietNamNet Bridge – Norwegian Crown Prince Haakon Magnus and Crown Princess Mette-Marit are scheduled to visit Vietnam from March 18-21 at the invitation of Vice President Nguyen Thi Doan.

VietNamNet Bridge – Viet Nam did not annually spend US$3.5 billion on feeding the apparatus in charge of poverty reduction, confirmed Deputy Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Nguyen Trong Dam.

 Five persons are critical after mushroom poisoning; Bid to smuggle spurious fragrances into HCM City intercepted; Dog fighting rings sprout up in Vietnam; Purple heron released into Tram Chim national park

 Northwestern poverty reduction policies to face review; Sai Gon River bridge in danger; Smuggled Chinese pigeons seized in Quang Ninh; Soft skills a must for Vietnamese workers; Work accident inspections progress slowly

 First dioxin detoxification centre opens in Danang; Entire hydrofoils fleet unsafe; One killed, 5 injured in accident; Doctor faces jail for surgery death; Poverty reduction policies to be reviewed; Australia supports Vietnam’s climate change project

 Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung arrives in Japan; Russia, Vietnam reinforce defence cooperation; Party chief calls for greater support from the elderly

The fourth session of the Viet Nam-China Land Border Joint Committee ended in Ha Noi yesterday (Dec 5) after reaching agreement on opening and upgrading border gates.

VietNamNet Bridge – The Prime Minister will have a direct dialogue with international donors about development issues in Vietnam at the Vietnam Development Partnership Forum 2013 scheduled for Thursday in Hanoi.

VietNamNet Bridge – The Government spent more than VND700 trillion (36 billion USD) on nationwide poverty reduction efforts in the 2005 – 2012 period, an average of 90 trillion VND (4.2 billion USD) per year,

 VietNamNet Bridge – The World Bank (WB) will provide 100 million USD to help Vietnam implement the Fostering Innovation through Research, Science and Technology (FIRST) project which was inaugurated on November 7.

 Vietnam hopeful of close links with Switzerland; Vietnam hopes for stronger Swiss support; PM praises UN’s operations in Vietnam; Vietnam, Iran share brighter outlook

VietNamNet Bridge –Viet Nam's poverty rate is estimated at around 10 per cent but the number of people who do not achieve social well-being is believed to be much higher. It's necessary to go beyond income when defining people's experiences.

 VietNamNet Bridge – The European Union has committed EUR743 million (US$965 million) in official development assistance for Vietnam in 2013, making it the country’s largest aid donor.

 Education ministry begins action against illegal drugs; Vietnam honoured for achievements in poverty reduction; Blogger arrested over distorted information

 VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnam is striving to improve the quality of poverty reduction to make its poverty line close to the global standard by 2015 and beyond.

VietNamNet Bridge – The Government has issued Decree 38/2013/ND-CP which stipulates nine priority fields for using official development assistance and preferential loans.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has asked ministries and agencies to raise efforts in implementing the Party and State's development policy in ethnic and mountainous regions.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Macro instability and external shocks have created new challenges to Vietnam’s poverty reduction achievements.

VietNamNet Bridge – The poverty rate of ethnic minority groups has plummeted eight percentage points over the past five years, with poverty rate of H’Mong ethnic people tumbling 24.3 points, but the rate is still high,