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

Politics

-- Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung will attend the seventh biennial Cambodia-Laos-Myanmar-Vietnam (CLMV) Summit and the sixth Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy Summit in Myanmar’s capital city of Naypyidaw from June 22 to 23 at the invitation of Myanmar President Thein Sein.

-- ASEAN policymakers on Thursday joined a two-day workshop, co-organized by the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank Institute, and the ASEAN Secretariat, in Jakarta to discuss advances and challenges in the service integration of ASEAN member countries to promote the ASEAN Framework Agreement on Services and study global value chains and management cooperation.

Society

-- The Khau Vieng primary and nursery school in Dinh Hoa District in the northern province of Thai Nguyen has been upgraded with VND2.5 billion (US$115,000) worth of funding, most of which was financed by Lotte Vietnam, an affiliate of South Korea’s Lotte Corporation. The school was inaugurated on Thursday after nine months of construction which added many facilities, including two new classrooms, four upgraded classrooms, and a resting room for teachers.

-- Hanoi has been stepping up precautionary measures to prevent the transmission risk of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV), according to a meeting on Thursday between Health Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien and the municipal authorities. The city is conducting temperature screenings at Noi Bai International Airport to detect passengers with MERS-CoV symptoms.

-- A steering council for compiling a national encyclopedia made its debut in Hanoi on Thursday. The council will start their work next year to create a 36-volume encyclopedia covering a wide range of knowledge, from social and natural sciences, technology, national defense to diplomacy. The council, consisting of 16 members, including eight deputy ministers, will establish 35 specialized sub-committees with 2,000 scientists and experts, including overseas Vietnamese intellectuals. 

Business

-- The Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank of Industry and Trade (VietinBank) on Thursday announced that it had selected Singapore’s Interbrand Pte Ltd as the provider of consulting services for planning and carrying out its brand name strategies.  

-- The Vietbuild international exhibition, showcasing the latest construction materials, technologies, and interior and exterior decor products, on Thursday opened in Ho Chi Minh City, featuring the participation of more than 800 businesses from 18 nations, including Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, South Korea, Japan, and the U.S.