Vietnam and Singapore are planning to extend their cooperation in various fields for another 50 years following the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two Southeast Asian nations.

The HCMC People’s Committee and the Mekong Delta provinces jointly held a conference on July 21 to unveil an action plan to implement their agreement on socio-economic development cooperation in 2023 and the 2024-2025 period.

The Hanoi People’s Court yesterday, July 28, handed down a 16-year prison term to To Anh Dung, former deputy minister of Foreign Affairs, for receiving bribes from those arranging repatriation flights during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Part of the roadsides and sidewalks in HCMC will be leased for various purposes, such as car parking, business and hosting cultural activities, starting this September.

A 2.7-kilometer residential frontage road that runs parallel with the HCMC-Long Thanh-Dau Giay Expressway will be opened to traffic by the end of this month, according to the HCMC Department of Transport.

After seven years of negotiations, Vietnam has become the first Southeast Asian nation to sign a free trade agreement (FTA) with Israel, which will result in tariff cuts by up to 92% for Vietnamese goods exported to Israel.

Four State-run banks have further reduced interest rates for deposits of various tenors in a bid to make loans cheaper for businesses that are struggling to survive tough times.

The Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade has announced that the U.K. will recognize Vietnam as a market economy.

A US$20-billion loan was proposed for the development of HCMC’s urban railway network at a conference yesterday of the newly-established Southeastern Region Coordination Council.

Vietnam will purchase around 20 million tons of coal from Laos annually in the next five years to ensure national energy security.