(VOV) - Vietnam is on track to becoming the first Southeast Asian nation to ratify the landmark Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

The Vietnam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Agribank) has been awarded the 2014 prize for Excellence in Payment Quality by the US’s Wells Fargo Bank.

(VOV) - A number of businesses have won contracts to export fresh litchi to demanding markets after all necessary preparations have completed, according to the Plantation Protection Department (PPD) under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).

The World Bank (WB) chief economist in Vietnam, Sandeep Mahajan, has shared his views on the country’s socioeconomic performance in the first months of 2015 after the Government presented a socio-economic report to the Legislature’s ongoing working session.

ASEAN’s leading exhibition organiser Reed Tradex Co., Ltd. hopes to drive the growth of the manufacturing industry in Vietnam via its two high-profile exhibitions, Vietnam Manufacturing Expo 2015, and NEPCON Vietnam 2015. 

Vietnamese enterprises should try to raise the bilateral trade turnover with Russia to US$20 billion by 2020 following a Free Trade Agreement between Vietnam and the Europe-Asian Business Alliance to be signed later this month, President Truong Tan Sang said on May 24.

On-the-job learning and training are so common now that employers need to facilitate the process and offer their employees a chance to improve themselves while working, said Michael Baas, from PUM Netherlands Senior Experts.

Vietnam's fisheries industry should better utilise modern production technologies to improve its competitiveness in the global market, said Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) Cao Duc Phat at a conference last on May 23.

Eight foreign-owned companies were found using unlicensed software valued at more than VND13.5 billion (US$643 million) by an inter-ministerial team that carried out a month-long inspection.

Since the Foreign Investment Law was passed in 1987, Vietnam's construction sector has received US$11.5 billion for 1,196 foreign direct investment (FDI) projects. The law was passed a year after Doi Moi (Renewal) policy was announced in 1986.

Pan Food Joint Stock Company has raised its stake in confectionery maker Bibica (coded BB on the HCM Stock Exchange) to 42.25%, becoming the second biggest shareholder of Bibica after Korea's Lotte Confectionery. 

The consumer price index (CPI) for May showed an increase of 0.16% over April and a year-on-year surge of 0.95%, the General Statistics Offices (GSO) said on May 24.

Masan Group Corporation (MSN) has found the 20th place on the Forbes' list of the World's 100 Most Innovative Growth Companies 2015.

Hundreds of garment and textile enterprises across 12 provinces and cities will be thoroughly inspected by the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs and experts from the International Labour Organisation (ILO). 

The Vietnam Association of Property Brokers will make its debut on May 28 in Hanoi, according to the Vietnam Real Estate Association (VREA). 

Ho Chi Minh City is implementing several trade promotional activities in Myanmar to help its enterprises effectively tap into potential markets, the Vietnam Economic Times reported. 

Expanding cassava cultivation will increase jobs and generate higher incomes for farmers, thus contributing to socio-economic development, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Cao Duc Phat, said. 

Although economic restructuring has been recognised as a vital task, the process remains slow and requires greater efforts for a more comprehensive outcome, according to experts.

(VOV) - Though the overall realty market in Vietnam may be showing some cracks, the market for oceanfront mansions and palatial condos shows no signs of thawing, dampening concerns of wildly escalating prices in the near future.  

A local conglomerate has started work on its beach and golf resort complex in a central province, with its beach villa clusters to be the country’s first to attain a seven-star standard.

Gifu Kogyo Vietnam Co., Ltd. is one among the small contingence of software companies in Vietnam which are run by 100%-Vietnamese staff although it is a wholly Japanese owned investment by Gifu Kogyo Group.

(VOV) - After four years of implementing a national new rural development program, the three communes of Vinh Thuy, Vinh Thach, and Vinh Kim in Vinh Linh district, Quang Tri province have completed all of the program’s criteria.

Vietnam has much to offer as an investment destination, which remains largely underexploited as the country has not been paying due attention to promoting its reputation.

Tokyo Keiki Precision Technology Inc inaugurated its first plant outside Japan at central Da Nang city’s Hi-Tech Park on May 22, following eight months of construction. 

Vietnam Bank for Industry and Trade (VietinBank) and the Petrolimex Group Commercial Joint Stock Bank (PGBank) signed an official merger document on May 22, thereby opening opportunities for the new bank. 

(VOV) - The Vietnam central province of Quang Tri is now one step closer to breaking ground on a US$2.4 billion power thermal energy plant with a capacity of 1.200 MW.

(VOV) - A critical shortage of workers in the textile and clothing industry is hampering HCM City’s ability to transform itself into the fashion centre of the southern region, leading industry analysts report.

The US and Australia will import Vietnamese lychees, but local businesses must bear the high cost of meeting these countries' irradiation requirements, officials said at a meeting earlier this month.

Standard Chartered Bank has said Vietnam is emerging as the most preferred destination for companies planning to move production out of China.

It is said that we should never tell the same lie twice, but this seems to be the case of the argument that a“higher environmental tax does not mean higher fuel prices,” which was put forward during both of Vietnam’s fuel price increases over the last two weeks.