A quick scan of these news pieces will keep you informed of current affairs in Vietnam:

Society

-- The Vietnam Expressway Corporation on Saturday started work on Phuoc Khanh Bridge, which is part of the Ben Luc-Long Thanh Expressway linking Ho Chi Minh City and the two southern provinces of Long An and Dong Nai. The project, which costs 3.9 billion Japanese yen (US$31.4 million) and another VND2.8 trillion ($128 million), is slated for completion in 42 months.

-- Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has approved a soft loan of $250.62 million from China for the Cat Linh- Ha Dong route, which is part of the Hanoi urban railway project. Adjustments will also be made so that the project would become commercially operational in 2016. Work started on the Cat Linh-Ha Dong project, worth a total of $552.86 million, in October 2011.

-- According to the 115 Emergency Center in the central city of Da Nang, an elevator compartment fell free at Hoang Anh Gia Lai Hotel and Building, situated on Nguyen Van Linh Street, around 10:00 pm on Friday. The accident caused injuries to five people. 

Business

-- Work started on Saturday on Vinh Tan 1 Thermoelectric Plant, situated in Tuy Phong District in the south-central province of Binh Thuan. The project costs a total of $1.75 billion, with 95 percent of the investment coming from two Chinese enterprises, China Southern Power Grid Co. and China Power International Holding. The factory is expected to become operational in 48 months, and reach a total capacity of 1,200 megawatts.

-- Tran Minh Duc, of Saigon Railways Co., announced on Saturday that fare discounts of 20 to 50 percent will be offered on four trains from September 6 to December 12 for early bookers.

-- Local businesses remain reluctant to make tax registration and payment online. According to the statistics provided by the Ho Chi Minh City Taxation Department, as of July 12, 102,487 Vietnamese businesses, or 76.62 percent, have registered for online tax payment, but only some thousands of them have actually performed the act.

-- Son Ha-Chu Lai Co., a subsidiary of Son Ha Group, on Saturday put its Son Ha-Chu Lai Plant into operation. The factory, located on a 40,000-square-meter plot at Chu Lai Open Economic Zone in the central province of Quang Nam, is the group’s third and largest stainless steel makers.