The first VinFast cars would be tested in Europe on March 6 this year, reported Vietnam News Agency.

 Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has instructed relevant ministries and agencies to improve the efficiency of a programme to treat drug addiction by methadone therapy.

 The Vietnamese automobile industry is expected to grow well, driven mainly by an increase in per capita income, demand for cars, and infrastructure improvement.

 The Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency (Vietrade) and Amazon Global Selling will select 100 Vietnamese businesses to sell their products on the retail giant’s online network.

DPRK Chairman Kim Jong-un began his official friendship visit to Vietnam on March 1. The visit is made at the invitation of Party General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong.

 Heritage Space Library in Hanoi will hold a talk themed “Finding the Souls of Cities” on March 2, featuring associate professor Pham Thuy Loan as guest speaker and Dr. Dang Hoang Giang as host.

 A press conference was held by the HCMC Ballet, Symphony Orchestra and Ballet (HBSO) on February 26 to introduce the artistic program for the year 2019.

Hong Kong’s Beerco Limited has spent US$3.85 billion on acquiring a stake in Vietnam Beverage Co., Ltd, a local unit of Thai Beverage Public Co., Ltd, raising foreign investment approvals in Vietnam in the first two months to US$8.47 billion.

Buyers of pickup trucks will pay an extra fee from April 10 as registration fees for pickups have been adjusted up in line with Government Decree 20, issued on February 21.

Many investors have funded projects involving the processing of Vietnamese fruits and vegetables over the past three years to leverage Vietnam’s abundance of local agricultural products and meet the market demand.

Instead of requesting additional data used in the building of Pak Lay hydroelectric dam in Laos, Dr Le Anh Tuan, a Mekong River expert, believes that it would be better to cancel the project.

 Dr. Tran Huu Hiep, an economic expert, has stressed the importance of the effective operations of air routes to Can Tho International Airport in the Mekong Delta city of the same name, rather than launching many services and then stopping them.

The State Securities Commission (SSC) has approved the National Citizen Bank’s (NCB) plan to sell more than 199.44 million shares to the public to mobilize nearly VND2 trillion (US$86.2 million) over a period of 90 days.

 The Ministry of Transport will invite tenders for eight subprojects under the public-private partnership (PPP) format of the North-South Expressway project in September this year. Work on these subprojects is scheduled to start in early 2020.

Danang has collaborated with Fayfay.com, a Hong-Kong-based travel ecommerce platform, to organize tourism promotion events and art performances to attract more tourists and foreign reporters to Danang.

 National flag carrier Vietnam Airlines (VNA) is considering the launch of new air routes connecting Ha Long and Danang with popular destinations in the neighboring country of Cambodia, including Siem Reap and Phnom Penh.

 HFT Securities Corporation has selected South Korea-based Hanwha Investment and Securities Co as its foreign investor allowed to buy more than 25 per cent of its charter capital without a public bid.

Phan Van Anh Vu, alias Vu Nhom, a 44-year-old property magnate turned fugitive spy, has lodged an appeal against his entire first-instance verdict for his improper land sales in Danang and HCMC that cost the State millions of dollars.

 Tran Luu Quang, secretary of the Party Committee of the southern province of Tay Ninh, has been picked as the permanent deputy secretary of the HCMC Party Committee for the 2015-2020 tenure, the local media reported.

Bilateral trade between Vietnam and the United States picked up three times in the past eight years, from US$18.01 billion in 2010 to US$60.28 billion last year, according to the General Department of Vietnam Customs.