Vietnam’s consumer loans hit a five-year record high of US$15.12 billion last year, according to a new report from local market research company StoxPlus.

Finance markets will become more sophisticated and powerful in the near future, and this will pose a challenge if banks do not focus on renovating existing technology, financial experts warn.

Azerbaijan and Vietnam share several cultural similarities despite the distance which separates the two countries, said participants at the recent conference entitled The Parallels of Azerbaijani and Vietnamese Cultures.

Vietnamese female boxers hope to have tickets to the Rio Olympics in 2016 via the World Boxing Championships, an Olympic qualifying round, to be held in Kazakhstan ton May 19.

Coach Nguyen Huu Thang of Vietnam’s national team selected 24 players on May 18 for the upcoming friendly match with Syria on May 31 and a four-sided tournament in MyanmarJune 3-6.

Vietnam Gold Trading Association (VGTA) chairman, Nguyen Thanh Long, asked the central bank and the Ministry of Finance to set up a national gold trading floor to mobilise gold from local people.

Technology holds the key to banks’ development, especially with the country’s increasing global integration, a seminar heard in HCM City on May 17.

The Electricity of Vietnam (EVN)’s wholesale electricity prices sold to its power corporations in 2016 would be increased by two to 5% over last year.

It was critical for Vietnam to tighten natural resources consumption tax policies to improve budget collection from exploitation activities, while a number of resources were facing exhaustion, experts said.

Though non-performing loans (NPLs) at commercial banks are being kept under control at below 3%, their potentially irrecoverable debts remain high, Đau tu chung khoan (Securities Investment) newspaper has reported.