Read what is in the news today, May 8!

Politics

-- Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc welcomed Crown Princess of Sweden Victoria Ingrid Alice Désiree in Hanoi on Tuesday, affirming that her official visit to Vietnam was of significance in the context of the 50th anniversary of the two nations’ diplomatic ties.

-- Royal Australian Navy amphibious assault ship HMAS Canberra and frigate HMAS Newcastle made a port call at Cam Ranh International Port in the south-central province of Khanh Hoa on Tuesday, beginning their four-day goodwill visit to Vietnam as part of Australia’s Indo-Pacific Endeavour 2019 (IPE 2019) deployment.

-- Vietnamese Defense Minister General Ngo Xuan Lich and his Canadian counterpart Harjit Singh Sajjan have expressed their mutual belief that bilateral defense ties will continue to progress, enriching the Vietnam-Canada comprehensive partnership, as the two ministers met for talks in Ottawa this week during General Lich’s official visit to the North American country from May 4 to 12.

Society

-- The People’s Court of Ho Chi Minh City on Tuesday opened the first-instance trial on a drug trafficking and production ring, the biggest of its kind in Vietnam when it was busted in 2017, led by Van Kinh Duong, 39, who is prosecuted for illegally producing and trafficking drugs, swindling to appropriate assets, escaping from prison, and counterfeiting seals and documents of agencies and organizations.

-- The rate of female parliamentarians in Vietnam has topped 27.1 percent, higher than regional and global averages, officials highlighted at a workshop in the northern city of Hai Phong this week to review Vietnam’s 25-year implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action – one of the world’s most comprehensive documents on gender equality and women empowerment.

Business

-- Vietnam’s national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines on Tuesday officially listed more than 1.4 billion shares with an estimated capitalization value of VND57 trillion (US$2.45 billion) on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HoSE), becoming the largest capitalized company listed on the HoSE since the beginning of this year.

-- Vietnam’s stock market saw fairly positive growth in the first quarter of 2019 with 15 out of 18 sectors gaining higher scores and a strong flow of money into the market through exchange traded funds, insiders said at a Tuesday conference assessing the development prospects of Vietnam’s economy and stock market in 2019.

-- Vietnam earned $55.17 million from catfish exports to member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in the first three months of 2019, up 18 percent year-on-year, according to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Processors.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!