Tuoi Tre News briefs you on some of the leading stories published today in Vietnamese media:

Politics

-- Venezuelan Vice President Elias Jose Jaua Milano told Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung that his country will create all conditions and financial support for joint oil and gas and agricultural projects implemented by Vietnam and Venezuela when the Vietnamese Prime Minister mentioned difficulties Vietnamese investors are facing in the South American country during a reception in Hanoi on Thursday.

Society

-- The Vietnam Department of Survey and Mapping and the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan on Wednesday signed a memorandum of understanding on collaborative efforts in Hanoi, paving the way for beneficial experience exchange in cartography as well as tighter partnerships between the two nations, said Nguyen Linh Ngoc, Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment.

-- A memorandum of understanding on cooperation between Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Japanese prefecture of Wakayama were clinched by Deputy Minister Le Quoc Doanh and Governor Yoshinobu Nisaka in Hanoi on Thursday. The deal focuses on three sectors – production, processing and technology transfer in agriculture, workforce development, and trade.

Business

-- A Vietnam-Hungary business forum was held in Hanoi on Thursday to establish affiliations between companies operating in various sectors, including food processing, mechanics, energy, IT services and communications, having the participation of nearly 120 firms.

-- Japan’s Kyocera Corp has planned a US$57.8 million expansion in the field of metal moulds and plastic in Vietnam this year in an effort to shift part of its operation from China to the Southeast Asian country. With the expansion, its factory in the northern Vietnamese city of Hai Phong is expected to produce two million units of multi-purpose printers each year, quadrupling the current level, by March 2018.

Lifestyle

-- An exhibition featuring ancient sculptures of lions and “nghe” – a fictional creature with a lion-like head, long tail and dog-like body – was inaugurated in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho on Thursday with about 60 exhibits sculpted out of stone, ceramic, terra cotta, wood and bronze dating back to the Ly, Tran, post-Le and Nguyen dynasties lasting from the 10th to 19th centuries in Vietnam.

-- Food lovers in Vietnam will have the chance to learn more about authentic French cuisine through French-style dinners offered by 17 cooks, including seven Vietnamese nationals, at 17 restaurants across the country next Thursday. The meals are among 1,500 dinners that will be prepared at restaurants and French Embassies in 150 countries around the globe on that date.