Read what is in the news today:

Politics

-- The first meeting of the ASEAN senior economic officials for the 51st ASEAN Economic Ministers’ Meeting concluded in Hanoi on Tuesday after three days of discussions on goods, services, investment, trade facilitation, quality standards, small- and medium-sized enterprises, and rules of origin.

-- The Vietnam Union of Friendship Organizations and the Vietnam-China Friendship Association on Tuesday co-hosted a reception to mark the 70th anniversary of the two countries’ diplomatic ties (January 18).

Society

-- Hanoi chairman Nguyen Duc Chung has issued a dispatch to the municipal police department requesting an investigation into recent media reports of a suspected child sex ring in the capital city which offers virgin girls to customers.

-- Roads in Ho Chi Minh City, especially those connected to airports and bus terminals, have been heavily congested since the start of this week as residents have begun a mass migration back to their hometown in other provinces for the Lunar New Year, which will fall on January 25.

-- No state capital will be provided for the construction of the third (T3) terminal at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung said in a document sent to the Ministry of Planning and Investment, asking the ministry to elaborate on capital sources for the building work.

-- Tran Thi Hoai Thanh, director of the Department of Labor, War Invalids, and Social Affairs of Gia Lai Province in the Central Highlands region of Vietnam, is being questioned by the local Party Committee’s inspectors for approving droves of promotions in the months before she is scheduled to retire on February 1.

Business

-- National flag carrier Vietnam Airlines announced on Tuesday domestic passengers can now weigh their own check-in baggage and print luggage tags at self-service check-in kiosks installed at airports in Hanoi, Da Nang, Nha Trang, and Ho Chi Minh City, before dropping them off at a reception counter to save time.

-- The Vietnam Association of Motorcycle Manufacturers has said its five members, namely Honda, Piaggio, Suzuki, SYM, and Yamaha, sold over 3.25 million motorbikes in 2019, a year-on-year decline of 3.87 percent.

-- A representative of brewer Heineken Asia Pacific on Tuesday said it had initiated legal procedures pursuant to an agreement on avoiding double taxation between Vietnam and Singapore concerning an earlier request by tax authorities in Vietnam that Heineken Vietnam pay VND917 billion (US$39.58 million) in tax arrears and fines related to a capital transfer deal.

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