Vietnam's National Assembly on Wednesday approved raising the economic growth target for this year and backed major infrastructure projects, including a rail link to China and the construction of the country's first nuclear power plants.

HANOI: Vietnam's parliament on Wednesday (Feb 19) approved plans for an US$8 billion rail link from its largest northern port city to the border with China, boosting links between the two communist-ruled countries and making trade easier.

Main route will be 391 kilometers long, with 28 kilometers of branch lines connecting port city Haiphong to Lao Cai, mountainous city bordering China's Yunnan province - Anadolu Ajansı

Vietnam's National Assembly on Tuesday approved a bold bureaucratic reform plan that will slash up to a fifth of government bodies, as the country tries to cut costs and improve administrative efficiency.

Vietnam will cut one in five public sector jobs and slash billions of dollars from government budgets, after the country's rubber-stamp parliament on Tuesday gave the go-ahead to a radical streamlining drive.