(VOV) -Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has adopted a programme to develop and upgrade industrial clusters and value chains for products having competitive advantages in five sectors.

The Prime Minister agreed to establish three corporations under the Vietnam Post and Telecom Group (VNPT), according to the Government Office. 

Vietnamese Ambassador to India, Ton Sinh Thanh attended the 7 th Vibrant Gujarat Global Investment Promotion Summit, which opened on January 11 in Gardihinaga city, Gujarat state, India.

Hanoi’s hotel market, particularly the five-star segment, performed well through peak season in the last quarter of 2014, reported the international real estate service firm Savills Vietnam. 

(VOV) - 157,810 automobiles were sold in 2014, making the total turnover up by 43% against the previous year, of which cars rose by 43% to 100,000 and trucks by 42% to 57,371 units, according to the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers Association (VAMA).

(VOV) - Japanese entrepreneurs have been progressively moving into agriculture ventures with Vietnamese farmers in the high-profit niche markets, capitalizing on the trend in consumer demand for organic and technologically altered foods.

(VOV) - Trung Dong Ltd Company in Bien Hoa City, Dong Nai province imports around 1,500-3,000 cows from Australia worth US$1.5-3 million each month.

(VOV) - The Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) on January 10 held an awards ceremony for winners of the Business Start-up Competition 2014 and launched the Business Start-up Programme 2015.

Policies to stabilise the monetary market and finance small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) topped the agenda of discussions between visiting Vietnamese financial and banking officials and representatives from the Association of Banking in Italy (ABI) in Rome on January 9.

The Bkav Corporation recently displayed its international-standard SmartHome solution and smartphone at the Consumer Electronics Show "CES 2015" in Las Vegas, Nevada, the United States.

(VOV) - Vietnamese business enterprises have been put on alert by the Vietnam Trade Office in the Netherlands over instances of internet scams and are urged to be cautious of fraudulent activity.

(VOV) - Integration and growth are the new buzzwords for the steel sector in Vietnam as business enterprises look at global markets not just to sell steel, but also to acquire the raw materials to fuel further expansion.

(VOV) - Publicly listed food company PT Tiga Pilar Sejahtera Food (AISA) plans to allocate around US$80 million to expand its business to Vietnam and Malaysia this year, aiming to become a regional player in the food industry.

(VOV) - By early 2015, foreign businesses have invested US$1.73 billion in 106 projects in the northwest region, according to latest statistics released by the Foreign Investment Agency (FIA) under the Ministry of Planning and Development.

(VOV) - The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) adjusted the VND/USD exchange rate up by one percent effective January 7 in a move aimed at buttressing exports and economic growth by increasing the purchasing power of the US dollar in the domestic market.

(VOV) - The Prime Minister has authorised the Vietnam National Shipping Lines Corporation (Vinalines) to sell a portion of its Hai Phong Port shares to foreign investor Vietnam-Oman Investment Joint Stock Company (VOI). 

(VOV) - The US Agency for International Development (USAID) in collaboration with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the European Union (EU) has agreed to provide US$3.9 million of ODA for sustainable green growth projects. 

As many as 1,100 villas and attached houses across 11 projects are scheduled to hit the real estate market in the first and second quarter of 2015, said Savills Vietnam, the largest property company in the country, on January 8.

(VOV)- Mexico has adjusted the import tariffs to 20% on Vietnamese rice imports and 9% on paddy imports effective January 9, 2015.

HSBC and ANZ gave positive reviews on the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV)’s decision to raise the VND/USD daily reference rate by 1% starting from January 7.

(VOV) - The Prime Minister has issued a plan to simplify administrative procedures and cut at least 25% of related fees.

(VOV) -Government economists have forecast that the overall improvement in the global economy would create more favourable conditions for foreign direct investment (FDI) in Vietnam in 2015.

Vietnam exported US$2.8 billion worth of goods to France last year, up 8% year-on-year, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT).

(VOV) - Property sales in Ho Chi Minh City for the fourth quarter of 2014 spiked 28% over the third quarter and represented a year-on-year increase of 149%, the highest recorded figure for the three-month period since 2010.

(VOV) - The Lao Government has applauded Vietnam’s coordinated efforts in building ‘one-stop-shop’ (OSS) model at the international border gates of Lao Bao (Vietnam) and Densavan and Savanakhet (Laos). 

(VOV) - The Ministry of Finance (MoF) has requested the government to reassign responsibility for ensuring compliance with its decision to impose price ceilings on milk products for children to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT).

As many as 80 MW of electricity has been added to the national grid as the first turbine of the Mong Duong 1 thermo power plant was successfully connected to the grid, according to the Electricity of Vietnam (EVN). 

Vietnam’s tourism sector has decided to prioritise human resources development in an effort to diversify the industry, the Vietnam Economic News reported.

(VOV) -Vietnam will need US$30 billion to carry out the Green Growth Strategy in 2020, of which 70% will come from the non-State sector.

Fares have been slashed by 69 taxi and 15 long-distance passenger transport companies in the capital since last November, after authorities urged them to do so following fuel price reductions.