Van Mieu-Quoc Tu Giam, one of Hanoi's most important cultural landmarks, attracts thousands of visitors each Tet.

Vietnam has made remarkable strides in developing a comprehensive, life-cycle, and gender-transformative social protection system.

Innovation in garbage collection vehicles is an important step in ensuring environmental sanitation, contributing to building a civilized, clean and beautiful urban area in a sustainable direction.

A Friendship Association between Vietnam and Japan’s Gifu prefecture was set up on February 1 with the aim to bolster bilateral ties.

According to the National Centre for Hydro-meteorological Forecasting, four to five cold spells may occur in February, including one or two severe cold snaps.

According to the recent report of the Department of Overseas Labour under the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, in 2015, about 115,980 were sent abroad to work, surpassing the year’s target by 22%.

Hanoi People`s Committee held a ceremony to inaugurare a four-storey car park with the steel structure, situated on Nguyen Cong Hoan Street in Ba Dinh district on January 30.

The annual “Xuan Que Huong - Sacred Hanoi” art performance (2016 Homeland Spring) was organised in the Hanoi`s August Revolution Square on January 31 with numerous cultural activities for overseas Vietnamese (OVs).

For most Vietnamese, Tet (Lunar New Year festival) has actually begun with the “Ong Cong - Ong Tao” (Land Genie and Kitchen Gods) ceremony on the 23rd of the last month of the lunar year, which falls on February 1 this year.

President of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee Nguyen Thien Nhan presented 120 New Year (Tet) gifts to families of war heroes, Agent Orange/dioxin victims and poor students in Giao Thuy district, in the northern province of Nam Dinh on January 30.

The Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV) has granted urgent financial support worth 2.6 billion VND (116,948 USD) for localities hardest hit by the recent cold snap, including Cao Bang, Yen Bai, Hoa Binh, Lao Cai, Dien Bien, Son La, Lai Chau and Ha Giang provinces.

Celebrations took place across the country on the night of January 28 to round off the 12th National Party Congress.

The Husbandry Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has instructed cities and provinces affected by the frosty cold over the past few days to take all necessary measures to ease the damage caused by the severe weather to the animal breeding sector.

The Vietnam Bank for Social Policies (VBSP) has announced it will provide loan term extensions for households suffering from the recent cold spell.

A SMS campaign was launched in Hanoi on January 27, aiming to raise funds for poor people in remote, mountainous and border areas across the country, helping them overcome difficulties in the ongoing spell of cold weather.

The Prime Minister has issued an urgent document to direct the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the People’s Committees of northern and central localities preventing damage by severe cold weather.

The Saigon Railway Company inaugurated and put the two newly-acquired trains, coded SE7 and SE8, into operation at the Saigon Railway Station on January 26.

The Vietnamese Embassy in Bangkok held a get-together on January 26 to celebrate the traditional Lunar New Year (Tet) which falls on February 8.

The community, especially netizens, have joined hands in various charity activities to send help up to mountain ethnic minority groups who are struggling in the country’s record cold spell.

The Party and State will do their best to ensure a sufficient Tet for every Vietnamese person, especially poor people and those who have rendered great service to the nation, said Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Pham Thi Hai Chuyen.

Nearly 150 reporters from more than 20 overseas press agencies have registered to carry news on the 12th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam, which is underway in Hanoi.

Deputy Minister of Transport Le Dinh Tho had a working meeting with Hanoi Department of Transportation on the organisation of passenger transport and ensuring traffic safety and order in the city for the upcoming Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday.

The Prime Minister has approved a strategy on the international integration of the social insurance sector by 2020 and orientations to 2030 aiming to maximise all resources and favourable conditions of international integration in building the country`s sustainable, efficient and modern social welfare system.