Vietnam Morning Monitor: Ho Chi Minh City clears foreign homeownership in 5 new projects, ex-national footballers arrested for match-fixing

| TRAVEL

-- Many museums, historical sites and some national parks will offer free admission on Vietnam Culture Day on November 24 each year, under a circular issued by the Ministry of Finance. The list includes the Vietnam National Museum of History, the Vietnam Fine Arts Museum, the Vietnam Women's Museum, the Yersin Museum and the Independence Palace.

| ECONOMY

-- South Korean instant noodle maker Samyang plans to invest around VND4.2 trillion ($172 million) in a factory in the northern province of Bac Ninh. The company aims to take advantage of Vietnam's production and logistics costs to expand in ASEAN and Europe.

-- FPT Corporation and Japan's SBI Holdings have signed a memorandum of understanding to study SBI's investment in a memory chip packaging and testing plant planned for Hanoi. The signing took place in Tokyo during the official visit to Japan by General Secretary and President To Lam, who also met and held talks with senior leaders of the Japan Business Federation (Keidanren).

-- Ho Chi Minh City has approved five additional commercial housing projects where foreign organizations and individuals are allowed to own homes, under Official Dispatch No. 11050.

The projects include residential developments in Long Phuoc, Thuan Giao, Cho Lon and An Khanh wards and Nha Be commune in Ho Chi Minh City, with Masterise Group and four other developers involved.

| LIFESTYLE

-- The 11th Italian Cuisine Week will be held in Ho Chi Minh City, Da Lat and Dong Nai City, following UNESCO's recognition of Italian cuisine as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity.

| SOCIETY

-- The 22-year-old suspect in the killing of 13-year-old Vietnamese girl Lisa Ta in Germany has died in a hospital, the Berlin Public Prosecutor's Office said on Wednesday. The suspect died at around 6:25 am local time after an earlier suicide attempt, and the girl was found in an uninhabited house in Brandenburg state.

-- The Ministry of Public Security's Criminal Police Department announced on Wednesday that it has initiated legal proceedings against 21 individuals in a major sports match-fixing and gambling ring operating across Ho Chi Minh City and several other provinces and cities. Officers seized VND2 billion ($76,000) in cash alongside 28 mobile phones and relevant physical evidence. Among those detained are five former national and U23 team players.

-- Tuoi Tre (Youth) online newspaper and the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Culture and Sports launched an online walking campaign titled "100 Million Steps for a Healthy Vietnam" on Wednesday to encourage public participation in the 10th National Sports Games. Running from November 11 to December 11, the campaign allows participants to walk at their preferred locations and times, contributing their recorded steps to a nationwide movement promoting public health.

Hoi An Ancient Town will host a series of activities to welcome 2027