What you need to know in Vietnam today:

Politics

-- Minister of Planning and Investment Bui Quang Vinh on Thursday led a Vietnamese delegation to join the first ministerial-level session on land infrastructure cooperation between Vietnam and China in Beijing to discuss the feasibility of some transport projects, including the Lao Cai-Hanoi-Hai Phong railway, as well as coordination in non-renewable energy.

-- Inspector General Huynh Phong Tranh and U Mya Win, chairman of the Anti-Bribery Commission of Myanmar, signed a memorandum of understanding on fighting corruption in Hanoi on Thursday. Both sides agreed on six areas of cooperation, including training personnel, technical assistance, exchanging information and expertise, raising public awareness of anti-corruption, and facilitating visits each year.

Society

-- Government Decree 89, which will take effect on November 25, will enable fishermen and ship owners to get full cost support for the design of steel and new-material fishing vessels with high capacities, said Pham Ngoc Tuan, deputy director of the Aquatic Resources Exploitation and Protection Department under the Vietnam Directorate of Fisheries.

-- A desalination plant, financed by non-refundable aid from the Korea International Cooperation Agency, will be built on Ly Son Island, 30 kilometers off central Quang Ngai Province, according the Ly Son District People’s Committee. Once finished, the US$11.8 million plant will be able to process 2,000 cubic meters of water per day, providing enough fresh water for 16,000 residents living on the island.

-- Base salaries at foreign companies are 25 percent, 40 percent and 53-62 percent higher than what Vietnamese firms are offering at the staff, professional, management and executive levels, respectively, according to a survey recently conducted by human resources firm Mercer and its partner Talentnet Corporation.  

-- Many Vietnamese residents in many condos in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi are stocking rope ladders and masks having an anti-asphyxia valve for safety reasons, following fires breaking out at many apartment buildings in both cities.  

Business

-- The Japan External Trade Organization will organize a visit to Vietnam for Japanese businesses to study the investment environment in hi-tech agriculture this December, according to what was discussed at a workshop with the participation of 70 Japanese firms in Toyama Prefecture on Thursday.

-- Military-run Viettel Group on Thursday launched its telecom services under the brand name Halotel in Tanzania, the fourth market of the Vietnamese group in Africa after Mozambique, Cameroon and Burundi. With a population of over 50 million, Tanzania is the most populous country of the eight foreign markets where Viettel is providing services.

-- Russia’s Sollers automobile company may have the opportunity to start assembling the UAZ model in Vietnam next year, following negotiations between the two sides, Sollers Director General Vadim Shvetov told the Vietnam News Agency. The next negotiation round is scheduled to take place on December 25.