Catch up on the news in Vietnam today:

Politics

-- Vietnam and Singapore signed a memorandum of understanding to boost cooperation in humanitarian assistance and disaster relief on Thursday, as part of the 14th defence policy dialogue between the two nations. The dialogue was co-chaired by Vietnamese Deputy Minister of National Defence Sen. Lt. Gen. Hoang Xuan Chien and Singaporean Permanent Secretary for Defence Chan Heng Kee in Hanoi.

-- Chairman of the lawmaking National Assembly Vuong Dinh Hue received Lao Ambassador to Vietnam Sengphet Houngboungnuang in Hanoi on Thursday, lauding the outgoing diplomat’s significant contributions to relations between the two countries, reported the Vietnam News Agency.

Society

-- A fire erupted at a plastic packaging manufacturing factory in La Phu Commune under Hoai Duc District in Hanoi at 6:00 pm on Thursday, creating a giant column of black smoke, and disrupting the operations of several trains plying the rail route near the scene of the blaze.

-- TikTok Singapore, which provides cross-border services in Vietnam, was asked to deactivate accounts owned by children under 13 and ban children from selling goods on the video platform following inspection results announced by an intersectoral inspection team under the Ministry of Information and Communications on Thursday.

-- The Authority of Information Security under the Ministry of Information and Communications discovered and handled 441 scam websites in September.

-- The northern region is forecast to experience a heat wave during the daytime on Friday, while many parts of the Central Highlands and southern regions will face medium to heavy rains in the afternoon and evening, according to the national weather center.

Business

-- Vietnam has much potential to become a logistics hub in the region and the world, heard the 2023 FIATA World Congress, which is being held in Brussels, Belgium. The congress, which will wrap up on Friday, is one of the largest and most important events in the logistics industry.

-- The government has tasked the Ministry of Finance with weighing a plan to extend the two-percentage-point value-added tax cut until the end of the first half of 2024 to prop up the economy, the ministry told a press briefing on Thursday afternoon.

-- Japan’s SMC Corporation has added US$120 million to its SMC Manufacturing Vietnam Company project in the Long Duc industrial park in Dong Nai Province, southern Vietnam, raising its total registered capital to $669.4 million.

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