Politics

-- Vietnam’s lawmaking National Assembly has announced it would vote to confirm the nominee for president, Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong, on October 23, the second day of its sixth plenum.

-- Vietnam and Belgium have agreed to promote cooperation in multiple fields with particular focus on clean agriculture, the countries’ prime ministers announced at a joint press conference in Brussels on Tuesday during Vietnamese PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s official visit to the European country.

-- Ho Chi Minh City’s Party chief Nguyen Thien Nhan on Tuesday hosted a reception for U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis as the latter arrived in the city for a working trip in southern Vietnam, during which he will visit a dioxin treatment plant at an airport in neighboring Dong Nai Province.

-- Vietnamese Minister of Public Security To Lam and Mongolian Minister of Justice and Home Affairs Tsend Nyamdorj agreed to reinforce crime fighting cooperation during talks in Hanoi on Tuesday.

-- Vietnam and Finland will bolster cooperation in science, technology and innovation, according to a memorandum of understanding signed between Vietnam’s Ministry of Science and Technology and Finland’s Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment during Finnish Minister Mika Lintila’s working visit to Hanoi.

Society

-- Vietnam expects to welcome its 15 millionth foreign tourist of 2018 in late November or early December as the special visitor will likely arrive in Ha Long City, a northern coastal city that houses the world-famous Ha Long Bay, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said at a regular press conference in Hanoi on Tuesday.

-- Vietnam will set aside VND762 billion (US$32.63 million) to implement a national plan on bird flu control during the 2019-2025 period, officials said at a conference hosted by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in Hanoi on Tuesday.

-- The hand, foot, and mouth disease outbreak in Vietnam has spread to the Mekong Delta region as a record 1,300 patients have been admitted to the Children’s Hospital of Can Tho City since the start of October alone.

Business

-- Vietnam’s global dominance in dragon fruit production and exports is being threatened by China as the northern neighbor has made large-scale investment in the industry.

-- The State Treasury of Hanoi must collect VND1.3 trillion ($55.68 million) in state revenue per day until the end of 2018 to fulfill the target set for the whole year, as the capital city looks to collect VND238.37 trillion ($10.2 billion) in 2018, 17 percent more than last year.