— VNA/VNS Photo Thống NhấtHÀ NỘI — Despite huge reductions in the price of motor vehicles, car dealerships say sales have been unexpectedly slow in recent weeks. Cut price deals, in some cases reductions of tens of millions of đồng during recent holidays, failed to attract the expected amount of buyers. Nissen Vietnam slashed prices by up to VNĐ70 million for buyers of Sunny, Navara, X-Trail and SUV Terra vehicles. Isuzu also offered similar sale prices along with Toyota Motor Vietnam (TMV) and BMW, but again, sales slowed. According to the latest report from the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (VAMA), the total sales in April were 21,021, down 35 per year compared with the previous month.

Addressing the meeting, head of the Vietnamese delegation Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyễn Quốc Dũng acknowledged the progress made in the implementation of the COC and negotiations for the COC. The Vietnamese delegate emphasized the East Sea was also facing other challenges such as illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU fishing), pollution and plastic waste. He added that Việt Nam would host the 18th ASEAN-China SOM on the implementation of the DOC in the latter half of 2019. The countries reiterated the importance of ensuring peace, stability, and security, and safety and freedom of navigation and overflight on the East Sea. They committed themselves to the full and effective implementation of the DOC, especially self-restraint, and to co-operate on trust building.

Before the opening ceremony, Party and State leaders and NA deputies laid wreaths and paid tribute to President Hồ Chí Minh at his mausoleum. The NA also held a preparatory meeting to discuss and pass the working agenda for the 7th session. The 7th session will spend 60 percent of the total meeting time (20 working days) on law making work. The NA will listen to reports summing up voters’ opinions and petitions and on the supervision of the settlement of voters’ petitions submitted to the NA’s 6th session. The NA’s 7th session will conclude on June 14.—VNSRead more at http://vietnamnews.vn/politics-laws/520174/seventh-session-of-14th-natio...

Current and former Party and State leaders attend the 7th session's opening ceremony . — VNA/VNS Photo Trọng ĐứcHÀ NỘI — The 7th session of the 14th National Assembly (NA) opened at the NA Hall in Hà Nội today in a ceremony broadcast live on national television and radio. The NA also held a preparatory meeting to discuss and pass the working agenda for the 7th session. The 7th session will spend 60 percent of the total meeting time (20 working days) on law making work. The NA’s 7th session will conclude on June 14.—VNS

High senior officials from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China take group photo at the 17th senior officials’ meeting (SOM) on the implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties on the East Sea (DOC) in Hangzhou, China, on Friday and Saturday. — VNA/VNS Photo Lương TuấnHÀ NỘI — The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China held the 17th senior officials’ meeting (SOM) on the implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties on the East Sea (DOC) in Hangzhou, China, on Friday and Saturday. Addressing the meeting, head of the Vietnamese delegation Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyễn Quốc Dũng acknowledged the progress made in the implementation of the COC and negotiations for the COC. He added that Việt Nam would host the 18th ASEAN-China SOM on the implementation of the DOC in the latter half of 2019. They committed themselves to the full and effective implementation of the DOC, especially self-restraint, and to co-operate on trust building.

Trường Sơn — Hồ Chí Minh TrailSixty years ago, Gia Nghĩa Town was the meeting point between the North and South on the Trường Sơn Trail, hence the reason for holding the conference there. In 1971, French author Van Geirt published his book, La Piste Hồ Chí Minh, or The Hồ Chí Minh Trail describing how the US spent a tremendous amount of resources trying in vain to cut off the supply line. Along the Trường Sơn – Hồ Chí Minh Trail, the US also dropped Agent Orange to destroy green foliage, which the North used for cover. image: http://image.vietnamnews.vn/uploadvnnews/Article/2019/5/17/11823_02.jpgFrom small segments of dirt roads, the Hồ Chí Minh Trail grew into a network of five roads along the Trường Sơn Mountain Range. image: http://image.vietnamnews.vn/uploadvnnews/Article/2019/5/17/11895_00.jpgGeneral Ngô Xuân Lịch leads a team of senior millitary officers to pay tribute to fallen soldiers at the Hồ Chí Minh Trail Museum.

Barcelona striker Luis Suarez underwent surgery on a knee injury on Thursday and could be a doubt for their Copa del Rey final against Valencia later this month. Suarez played the full 90 minutes of Barca’s shock 4-0 defeat to Liverpool on Tuesday, which ended their hopes of reaching the Champions League final according to AFP. But the club announced on Thursday that Suarez needed an operation, with the cup final just over a fortnight away on May 25. “Luis Suarez has an internal meniscal injury to the right knee and will be subjected today to an arthroscopy,” read a club statement. Suarez is unlikely to face Getafe at home in La Liga on Sunday before Barcelona play away to Eibar the following weekend in their last league game of the season.

Scott Kennedy, a China trade and economics expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said on Wednesday that the negotiating teams were unfamiliar with each other. "It turns out the Chinese had pulled out an eraser and started taking back things that they had offered," said Kennedy. US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer released an official notice on Wednesday making the tariff increase a virtual fait accompli. Analysts say China will be reluctant to make many of these changes, which could undermine the Communist Party's political power. She also doubted the Chinese side had simply miscalculated the potential American reaction, adding that Liu, the Chinese trade envoy, likely still believed he could offer enough concessions to ensure a deal with the Americans.

The downward trend continued in March, down 14 per cent year-on-year, after bouncing back in February (up 6.8 per cent). The decline was seen in Chinese holidaymakers on charter flights to beach hotels and resorts in Việt Nam, according to travel firms. The Việt Nam National Administration of Tourism will host a tourism promotion programme in Chengdu, Chongqing, and Shenzhen in China from May 15-24. Việt Nam welcomed more than 5.96 million international tourists in the first four months, a year-on-year increase of 7.6 percent. China remained the top source market, with nearly 1.71 million tourist arrivals.

Since 2018, Việt Nam’s rice exports to China have dropped to 1.3 million tonnes, down from a record high of three million tonnes. “We need to be regularly updated with market information to have measures to boost rice exports to China,” Nam said. He said he hoped that more firms would be licensed to export rice to China in the near future, adding that many firms could now meet China’s requirements. At the moment, only 22 Vietnamese firms are licensed to sell rice in China. The average rice export price dropped by $72.7 per tonne to $430.1.

But it is showing signs of slowing economic growth and linkages with the region remain weak, he said. image: http://image.vietnamnews.vn/uploadvnnewsPrime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc chairs a conference on the development of the southern key economic zone in Biên Hòa City on Monday. If the region’s transport infrastructure is not developed properly, it would certainly affect its economic growth, he warned. Deputy Prime Minister Vương Đình Huệ proposed that the council of southern key economic region should regularly meet to discuss and identify priority projects to serve the socio-economic development of the region. The region achieved average annual economic growth of 8.34 per cent in 2016-18, with its per capita income rising to nearly US$5,500 last year, two times the national average.

PARIS — Leonardo da Vinci may have suffered traumatic nerve damage that left him with a "claw hand", impairing his ability to paint in later life, a new study said. The two scientists reached their finding by studying a chalk drawing of da Vinci attributed to the 16th-century Lombard artist Giovanni Ambrogio Figino. "Rather than depicting the typical clenched hand seen in post-stroke muscular spasticity, the picture suggests an alternative diagnosis such as ulnar palsy, commonly known as claw hand," Lazzeri said in the report. Researchers say the physical weakness of Leonardo da Vinci, whose sculpture by Italian artist Pietro Magni is seen in Milan, was not accompanied by any cognitive decline . French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian counterpart Sergio Mattarella on Thursday kicked off commemorations to mark 500 years since da Vinci died in France.

Though the private sector now accounts for 42 per cent of GDP, more can be done to reach the sector’s full potential. “We need to create space, resources and opportunities for the private sector to develop more smoothly,” he said. On average, the private sector annually provided 1.2 million jobs, resulting in a great contribution to the nation’s GDP growth. Thao called for consensus in terms of perception and actions among the Government, authorities and agencies with regards to the development of the private sector. PM Phúc and State leaders participated in the ribbon cutting ceremony of the opening of the Private Economic Achievement Exhibition.

From January to April, the country's trade turnover reached $157 billion, up 8 per cent year on year. Its export value amounted to $78.8 billion, up 6 per cent, while imports totalled $78 billion, up 10.4 per cent. The US remained Việt Nam's biggest export market, spending nearly $18 billion on Vietnamese goods, up 28 per cent year on year. It was followed by the EU ($14 billion), China ($10.4 billion), South Korea ($6.2 billion) and Japan ($6.1 billion). Việt Nam spent nearly $3 billion importing the three groups of products, statisticians said.

The country exported $78.8 billion worth of goods in the first four months of 2019, up 6 per cent year on year. From January to April, the country's trade turnover reached $157 billion, up 8 per cent year on year. Its export value amounted to $78.8 billion, up 6 per cent, while imports totalled $78 billion, up 10.4 per cent. It was followed by the EU ($14 billion), China ($10.4 billion), South Korea ($6.2 billion) and Japan ($6.1 billion). Việt Nam spent nearly $3 billion importing the three groups of products, statisticians said.