(VOV) - TIME dotCom Berhad (TIME), a data-centric, fixed-line telecommunications provider based in Malaysia with a business reach across the Asia-Pacific region, has announced the acquisition of a 25% interest in a leading telecom based in Hanoi.

Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang spoke to the Vietnam Government Portal on how Vietnam can make use of the free trade agreement signed with the Republic of Korea in Hanoi on May 5.

(VOV) - Vietnam’s economy faced increased downward pressure – especially in agriculture, forestry and aquatic product exports – in the four months leading up to May, according to officials at the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT).

(VOV) - The Vietnam Garment and Textile Forum 2015 will be held in Hanoi on June 25-27. It expects to attract the participation of world’s leading garment and textile groups such as Puma, Levi Strauss, Li & Fung, Tal Group and the United States Fashion Industry Association (USFIA). 

Coffee markets in Vietnam and Indonesia will flourish with the recent signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Vietnam Coffee- Cocoa Association (VICOFA) and the Association of Indonesian Coffee Exporters and Industries (AEKI).

Several taxi firms plan to raise fares after gasoline prices were hiked by around 11% on May 5.

Trade turnover between India and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is likely to hit US$100 billion by the end of 2015.

The State Bank of Vietnam has weakened the dong by 1%, reducing the US dollar daily reference rate from 21,458 to 21,673 dong effective from May 7, its second devaluation this year.

An international exhibition on technological devices was held at the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Centre (SECC) Ho Chi Minh City on May 7.

Japan’s stationery supplier King Jim Co. Ltd plans to build its third plastic paper file factory in Vietnam by late 2016, the firm said.

An increasing interest in the Vietnamese market has been noticed among Taiwanese investors, Director General Berton B.C. Chiu of the Department of Investment Services under the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Taiwan (China) said to Dau Tu (Investment Review).

The Electricity Regulatory Authority of Vietnam ( ERAV ) and the US Bureau of Energy Resources ( ENR ) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on providing technical support to develop the competitive electricity market in Vietnam on May 7 in Hanoi.

The Prime Minister has approved a master plan for hi-tech agriculture zones through 2020, a move to put domestic farming on the sustainable development track and ensure national food security.

(VOV) - Three Vietnamese banks have entered list of Forbes Global 2000, which is known as a comprehensive list of the world’s largest, most powerful public companies, as measured by revenues, profits, assets and market value. 

(VOV) -The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) has temporarily stopped granting import licences to US poultry products as from May 1 due to a complicated avian flu situation in the country.

One-third of the Vietnamese consumers (34%) love shopping at hypermarkets, supermarkets, and other modern channels, according to the latest Future of Grocery Report prepared by Nielsen.

The greenback rates in most of the local commercial banks yesterday touched the ceiling price of VND21,673 per dollar set by the central bank in January.

Singapore-based supplier of sustainable dyes and chemicals, Huntsman Textile Effects, announced it will expand its operations in Vietnam in the hope of tapping into the textile and garment industry.

(VOV) - Vietnam’s trade surplus with Russia hit US$191 million for the first quarter of this year with exports and imports valued at US$319 million and US$128.4 million, respectively.

The national one-door customs mechanism was officially launched at ports in five localities, namely Quang Ninh, Haiphong, Danang, HCM City and Ba Ria-Vung Tau on May 6.

Tran Van Quang, a farmer in Hau Giang Province in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta, has increased his profit from rice farming by at least 18% since he began to apply a new farming model developed locally.

International conservation group IUCN plans to extend Ha Long Bay to include the Cat Ba Archipelago, an adjoining holiday resort area.

Inflation this year will fluctuate at about 3% due to adjustments in public services, taxes and fees, the Vietnam Institute for Economic and Policy Research (VEPR) has forecast.

US Dollar rates soared at domestic commercial banks on May 6, touching the ceiling price set by the State Bank of Vietnam.

The domestic retail prices of oil and petroleum went up at 9pm of May 5 in the wake of increasing global fuel prices.

Canada's Fairfax Asia Limited will acquire some 41 million shares, or 35%, of BIDV Insurance Corporation, thus becoming a strategic investor in the firm. 

(VOV) - The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has issued its final ruling and regulations allowing for the importation of litchi and longan fruit from Vietnam into the continental US – with the exception of the State of Florida.

(VOV) - Vietnam is implementing a contract on exporting rice to the Philippines while negotiating with Malaysia on the same issue.

Vietnam has become a significant site for factories of Samsung, Intel, Microsoft (Nokia) and a number of manufacturers of clothing and footwear. 

Toyota has proposed a series of tax breaks for locally assembled cars so that the Japanese automaker can increase the localization rate and open new factories in Vietnam.