Catch up on the news in Vietnam today:

Politics

-- Italian President Sergio Mattarella chaired a welcome ceremony for his Vietnamese counterpart Vo Van Thuong at the Quirinale Palace in Rome on Wednesday. Thuong left Austria on Tuesday afternoon (local time) for his visits to Italy and the Vatican at the invitation of Italian President Sergio Mattarella and Pope Francis from Tuesday to Friday.

-- The Italian Parliament ratified the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement on Wednesday, paving the way for Italian businesses to ramp up their investments in Vietnam, Italian President Sergio Mattarella told a press briefing on the same day.

Society

-- The Department of Overseas Labor under the Vietnamese Ministry of Labor, War Invalids, and Social Affairs has allowed three firms to supply a combined 150 laborers to Greece this year, the department said on Wednesday.

-- Italy expects trade with Vietnam to reach US$7 billion, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni told a meeting with State President Vo Van Thuong in the Chigi Palace on Wednesday.

-- The People’s Committee of Dong Nai Province, a neighbor of Ho Chi Minh City, has issued a decision to take back over 540 hectares of land in Xuan Loc District from the long-stalled Dofico industrial and agricultural complex project.

-- Ho Chi Minh City aims to complete site clearance for the Ho Chi Minh City - Can Tho and Thu Thiem - Long Thanh railway projects by 2025, according to a draft plan for the city’s railway network development the municipal Department of Transport sent to the People’s Committee.

-- Ho Chi Minh City will charge fees for the use of roadbeds and sidewalks in the metropolis from September 1. The fees are expected to range from VND20,000 ($0.84) to VND350,000 ($14.7) per square meter a month, depending on use purposes and locations.

Tourism

-- Hoi An and Ho Chi Minh City were included in U.S. travel magazine Travel+Leisure’s list of 15 most favourite cities in Asia. The two Vietnamese cities were ranked 13th and 14th, respectively, based on votes submitted by the magazine’s readers.

Sports

-- Vietnam will clash with Portugal in their second match at the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup at Waikato Stadium in Hamilton, New Zealand, at 2:30 pm on Thursday (Vietnam time).

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