Tuoi Tre News briefs you on some of the leading stories published today, April 2, in Vietnamese media:

Politics

- The 132nd Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) concluded Wednesday in the Vietnamese capital city of Hanoi after five working days. Chairman of the National Assembly of Vietnam Nguyen Sinh Hung announced the approval of several resolutions on a number of matters, including cyber war, sustainable development, finance, and trade.

Society

- Many projects on highways in the southern region of Vietnam are all ready to be implemented in 2015 in order to connect the regional localities together.

- Local authorities will organize a conference on Friday and Saturday on promoting and honoring enterprises’ investment in the northwestern part of Vietnam. 

- A large number of cosmetic products have been found being smuggled at some markets in Ho Chi Minh City, including Kim Bien in District 5 and Binh Tay in District 6. In the last two weeks of March, market management authorities seized nearly 25,000 boxes of contraband cosmetic products, including lotion, hair dye, and others.

- The Ho Chi Minh City University of Medicine and Pharmacy held a ceremony Wednesday to launch its technology transfer center for chemical dependency and HIV treatment. The main function of the center is training workforces for drug addiction treatment facilities in the southern region.

Business

- The Hong Kong-based carrier HK Express yesterday started offering its first flight from Hong Kong to the central Vietnamese city of Da Nang, making it the second carrier to operate on the Hong Kong-Da Nang route.

- According to the General Statistics Office of Vietnam, the Southeast Asian country only received around 543,300 foreign tourists in March, an over 23.44 drop compared with the same period last year. During the first three months of this year, foreigners made around 1.99 million visits to the country, down 13.6 percent compared with the same period last year.

Lifestyle

- The Ho Chi Minh City-based The He Tre tourism company has recently launched its first tour to Southeast Asia’s largest volcanic cave system in the Central Highlands province of Dak Nong’s Krong No District. The system was first examined in 2007. Last December, the General Department of Geology and Minerals under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment held a press conference to announce that the system is the largest of its kind in the Southeast Asian region.