Breakfast @ Tuoi Tre News — December 18

Check out the latest news in Vietnam today:

Politics

-- State President Luong Cuong on Wednesday sent a message of congratulations to King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck on the 118th National Day of Bhutan, while Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh extended his congratulation to Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay.

-- Vice-chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee Nguyen Loc Ha and many representatives from the municipal departments received and worked with a delegation of officials from Laos’ Houaphanh Province on Wednesday afternoon. The working session was aimed at exchanging their experience in socio-economic development and strengthening bilateral cooperation.

Society

-- The People’s Committee of Ngu Hanh Son Ward in Da Nang City, central Vietnam has directed the ward’s economic, infrastructure, and urban management division to install a surveillance camera system along roads and waste collection points in order to detect and strictly handle acts of improper waste disposal.

-- A series of social housing projects will get off the ground nationwide on Friday, enabling tens of thousands of low-income earners to access housing.

-- Although Christmas is still more than a week away, many central areas of Hanoi have already been brightly decorated and filled with festive colors.

-- Sun Group Corporation has won the bid for a project to renovate, upgrade, and redevelop the park corridor along both sides of the To Lich River in Hanoi.

-- A man in Tay Ninh Province, southern Vietnam was fined over VND315 million (US$11,960) for illegally keeping a saltwater crocodile without documents proving its lawful origin, the provincial Department of Agriculture and Environment announced on Wednesday.

Travel

-- Ho Chi Minh City will offer various financial incentives and gifts to MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions) tourists from December 20 to 30 in an effort to boost MICE tourism.

-- Da Nang City aims to serve 19.1 million tourists in 2026, up 10.5 percent year on year. The city is seeking to develop a Chu Lai airport urban ecosystem at a cost of some $10 billion to enhance regional connectivity and boost its economic growth.

Economy

-- ThaiBev, the beverage conglomerate of Thai billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, plans to spend $228 million buying more than 96 million shares of Vietnamese dairy producer Vinamilk through Fraser and Neave.