What you need to know in Vietnam today:
Politics
-- Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Le Hai Binh asserted on Saturday that Vietnam will continue to closely observe the Hague tribunal case against China over competing claims in the East Vietnam Sea while retaining its eligibility for all appropriate peaceful measures to safeguard its legal rights and benefits over the sea.
Society
-- A fishing boat sank in the Soai Rap River, which crosses the outlying district of Can Gio in Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang, on Friday night. Passing ships rescued 12 crew members while another was brought to safety by rescuers, with four still missing.
-- A praying session was held at one of Ho Chi Minh City’s iconic Buddhist pagodas on Saturday to kick off the bronze casting work of a 35-metric-ton Buddha statue, which would be the country’s largest of its kind to be worshipped in sanctums.
-- Delegates from several central and Central Highlands provinces voiced their concerns at a seminar on Saturday that without efficient drought- combating measures lengthened spells would take a heavy toll on residents’ production activity and daily life.
-- Many housewives anxious about health hazards posed by fruit and meat soaked in toxic chemicals have recently resorted to pricey imported food safety gauging devices, whose efficiency remains dubious.
Business
-- State President Truong Tan Sang on Saturday attended a ceremony held at Quy Nhon Fishing Port, located in the south-central province of Binh Dinh, which saw the transfer of Japanese technology and tools for deep-sea tuna fishing to local fishermen. The provincial government and Japan’s Kagoshima University also inked a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in aquatic product research.
-- Tran Ba Duong, chairman of Truong Hai Auto Joint Stock Co., has said that the group is expected to sell approximately 80,000 automobiles and earn a revenue of nearly US$2 billion by the end of this year.
Education
-- The Vietnam National University-Ho Chi Minh City has just inaugurated a Training Center for Advanced Management, one of the two facilities built under the Vietnam Skills for Employment Project, which is a joint initiative between the Vietnamese and Canadian governments.