Vietnam top news 2007
  1. The Government set the GDP growth target for 2007 at 8.5%
  2. Vietnam officially becomes WTO member, 11 Jan
  3. Vietnam Index started the year at 822 points and keeps shooting up to 1000.
  4. Bird flu broke out in southern provinces.
  5. Central Committee of the Communists Party met in session 4 and decided to cut the total number of committees down to 6 instead of a dozen, 24 January 2007.
  6. PM Nguyen Tan Dzung made a visit to Vatican on his trip to attend Davos Economic Forum, 25 January.
  7. Police eased the registration of motorbikes by not requesting residence book (ho khau) and driving licence, 8 Feb 07.
  8. PM Nguyen Tan Dzung has a live discussion on the Net for 3 hours, morning 9 Feb. 20,000 questions were submitted.
  9. Vietnam celebrates New Year of the Pig on 17 Feb in an extremely positive mooth for economic prosperity.
  10. Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem visits US begining with California, 11 March.
  11. Stock market continues the spirit of growth despite warnings from IMF and Government with VN-index peaking to 1077 points, 12 March.
  12. Misterious oilspill polluted beaches from Da Nang to Vung Tau throughout March.
  13. Forest protection found 43 tigers kept in Binh Duong province. Controversy heated up around confiscating these illegal tigers. Most people believe that once handed over to a government institution most tigers will die. MARD decided to register and allow people to keep them at home without breeding.
  14. Vice Minister of Trade, Mr. Mai Van Dau was sentenced 14 years for graft scandal. It was wide spread at the Ministry of Trade to take huge bribes for giving out export quotas. Ironically Mr. Dau was sentenced for 6000 USD bribery - the amount hundred times smaller than he actually got.
  15. Prime Minister and President took turn to make live answering sessions on Internet in March. President Triet answered a question from a student that VN students don't need to go back home after graduation if they don't want.
  16. Power cuts become widespread in Hanoi and HCMC. Provinces are power-supplied every second day in March. It's expected that the shortage would continue until June.
  17. Angelina Jolie visited Vietnam to adopt a 3 year old boy, March.
  18. Appeal court in Bangkok ruled out extradiction Ly Tong to Vietnam on basis that it was a political case.
  19. Government issues a Decree 55/2007 freeing petrol price 6 April.
  20. Police forces of central command raided New Century Discotheque at Trang Thi, a famous entertaiment place for youth and foreigners, 1 am 28 April. 1160 people were arrested for drug tests. All were released later, except the manager Nguyen Dai Duong and other 19 drug suspects. One day later another bar in Sai Gon was raided too.
  21. Law enforcement continued raids on discotheques and karaokes nationwide.
  22. In one week of May 6 dissidents of 8406 group were sentenced to prison for anti-state propoganda.
  23. Earth quake of 4 degree jolted Hanoi from epicenter in Laos. It was felt only on top floors of high rise buildings, 16:00 16/5/2007.
  24. President Nguyen Minh Triet visits China on official visit, 16/05.
  25. General election took place 20 May, 493 members of National Assembly were elected compared to 500 available seats. Some did not get enough 50% votes to qualify.
  26. General Secretary Nong Duc Manh visits Cuba, Chile, Brazil, Venezuela, 28 May- 4 June.
  27. Police raided 5 in-hotel casinos in HCMC. These casinos have licences to provide rewarding games to foreigners only but many Vietnamese players entered those hotels to play.
  28. Fishermen looted hundred kilometers of undersea optic fiber cable V-T-H including repeaters, paralyzing telephone and internet links in March but only discovered in May. In June VN still could not negotiate a repair vessel to restore.
  29. Bird flu comes back to Vietnam, May.
  30. President Nguyen Minh Triet made an official visit to US, met President G.W.Bush on 22 June and talked (not read!) to Vietnamese Americans in Orange County.
  31. PM Nguyen Tan Dung visits India, 4 July.
  32. Consumer Price index for first 6 months reached alarming 5.2%. Central Bank bought 7 billion USD pushing VND slide down against already weak USD. Stockmarket VN-Index stood at 1015 points for a month.
  33. Central Committee met in July and decided to merge some ministries which would be announced at the National Assembly session starting 19 July.
  34. Heat wave lasted for more than 10 days in July kept central and northern provinces at 36-40oC.
  35. National Assembly endorsed the new cabinet. Ministry of Fisheries disappeared, Ministry of Trade and Ministry of Industry merged into Ministry of Industry and Trade. There are 5 deputy Prime Ministers. 2 August.
  36. Stockmarket went down below 900 points, 20 August.
  37. Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung signed a Decree granting overseas Vietnamese visa-free entry effective 1 September 2007. Overseas Vietnamese have to obtain an entry card valid for 5 years at VN Embassies.
  38. Can Tho bridge elevated access road collapsed during construction at Vinh Long river bank, killing 53 workers and injuring a hundred more, 26 Sep.
  39. Typhoon Nr. 5 hit Ky Anh, Ha Tinh. Post-typhoon rain caused flooding in Thanh Hoa and Nghe An, 5 October.
  40. Hanoi inagurated first pedestrial bridge at Giai Phong street.
  41. Sex video of Hoang Thuy Linh, a singer and actress, was uploaded to a website and seen by thousands of Vietnamese. A scandale broke out and created a news phenomenon. 11 Oct. Her boyfriend, Viet, in the video is the son of a police chief. Police hunted down four young persons who uploaded the video.
  42. Vietnam is elected as a non-permanent member to the Security Council of the United Nation 16 October.
  43. Thousands potential buyers crouded the office of Capital Land in Saigon to buy The Vista appartments worth 200,000 USD each, signaling a new "appartment" fever.
  44. Cholera broke out in Vietnam, ~1 November 2007, 30 people died.
  45. Flood hit central provinces at the level exceeding 1999 watermark. Highway Nr.1 was cut in Quang Ngai and Quang Nam provinces. Hue city was flooded for second time a year, 10-14 Nov.
  46. China declared establishment of a new Shan Sa (vn: Tam Sa) city including Paracelly and Spratly islands belonging to Vietnam. Vietnamese people demonstrated outside the Chinese Embassy in Hanoi to protest the Chinese agression, 20 November-10 December 2007. Police arrested some demonstrators.
  47. Vietnam completed 24th Seagames in Korat, Thailand, at 3rd place after Thailand and Malaysia.
  48. Helmet rule applies 15 December. Compliance is very good.
  49. A rock cliff at a stone quary at Ban Ve hydropower construction site collapsed killing 18 workers and engineers under 1 million cubic meter of rocks, 15 December.
  50. GDP growth reached 8.44%. Inflation rocketed to 12.3% (average CPI 8.3%). Trade balance deficit reached an alarming record of 12.5 billion USD (vs. planned 0.8 billion $) while export earns 48.8 billion USD. Indirect foreign investment at official market reached 8 billion USD in official market and 12 billions in un-official market. FDI recorded 20 billions of registered investment. Vietnam Index closed the year at 927 points.

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