Vietnam and India have seen rapid growth in the digital entertainment market and online gaming, the US Pearl Research company has said.

The first international Home Décor and Gifts Fair-Lifestyle Vietnam will kick off at the International Exhibition and Convention Centre in HCM City on April 22.

Nguyen Thanh Huan, General Director of the Vietnam Electricity Group (EVN)’s International Company and Laos’s Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Thongmi Vongvisay on March 4 signed a memorandum of understanding on the Nammo 1 hydro power plant.

The potential for Vietnam has to become a regional entertainment hub is highlighted by an agreement reached to investigate the feasibility of establishing MGM-branded theme parks and attractions in the country.

A delegation of 30 Malaysian firms will visit Vietnam next month to explore trade and investment opportunities, according to Le Van Loi, director of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Institute of Information Technology for Business.

Vietnam’s aviation industry this year will grow by roughly 15 percent over last year, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam (CAAV).

Vietnam is the most attractive investment destination among ASEAN members for Japanese businesses, according to a survey conducted by the Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO).

Vietnam Manufacturing Expo 2010, an international exposition of machinery and technologies for industrial parts, will take place at the International Centre for Exhibitions in Hanoi on May 20-22.

The Republic of Korea (RoK) wants to be Vietnam’s strategic partner, said RoK ambassador to Vietnam Im Hong-Jae at a seminar on high-level policy dialogue held in Hanoi on March 4.

The business model of Public-Private Partnership (PPP) in infrastructure projects and public services topped the agenda of a seminar held in Hanoi on March 3.

Industrial production in the first two months of this year gained a year-on-year increase of 13.6 percent to reach VND114.54 trillion (US$6.1 billion), according to the General Statistic Office (GSO).

The General Department of Customs has issued a new reference table of imported car prices aimed at helping its officials combat import tax evasion.

More than 300 entrepreneurs from HCM City and the southern provinces as well as economic experts gathered for the Vietnam Entrepreneur Forum 2010 held by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and the Vietnam Women’s Union in HCM City on March 3.

To welcome the International Women’s Day on March 8, supermarkets and trade centres in Ho Chi Minh City have deployed a series of special programmes for women and 10-50 percent discounts on beauty products and goods.

Vietnam has weathered the global economic crisis well and is likely to achieve a growth rate of 6.5 percent this year, ANZ Banking Group CEO Mike Smith said during his visit to Hanoi on March 2.

The European Union has agreed to start negotiations of a free trade agreement (FTA) with Vietnam, according to the European Commission (EC).

The General Statistics Office (GSO) has predicted that the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the first quarter of this year would increase by 5.7-5.9 percent over the same period last year, which stood at just 3.1 percent.

Vietnam Airlines opened a direct route from Hanoi to Rangoon, Myanmar, on March 2, starting with 4 flights a week.

Vietnam’s leading asset management and real estate development company VinaCapital Group and Asia’s leading independent project management firm inProjects Group announced the establishment of a VinaProjects joint venture on March 2.

About 150 local and foreign enterprises will showcase their products and services at the Vietnam International Furniture & Home Accessories Fair 2010 (VIFA 2010) in HCM City from March 11-14.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) have organized a training course for Vietnamese government staff involved in stabilizing national finance.

A round-table discussion was held in London on February 28 between overseas Vietnamese entrepreneurs and a delegation of the Ministry of Industry and Trade led by Deputy Minister Le Danh Vinh.

Over the past ten years, the footwear industry has grown impressively and now ranks as the country’s third largest export earner after garments and crude oil.  

Exports nationwide gained US$3.9 billion in February, raising the total figure of turnover in the first two months of this year to over US$8.9 billion, matching the same period in 2009.

Vietnam has won a contract to ship 90,000 tonnes of five-percent broken rice to Iraq, announced by the Northern Food Corporation on March 1.

The cashew sector expects to have a total output of 400,000 tonnes with value of US$1.2 billion this year.

The consumer price index (CPI) for March 2010 is predicted to rise above last March’s figure due to unfavourable factors, according to market management experts.

The cooperative ties between Germany and Vietnam have grown and flourished in recent years, especially German investment and official development assistance (ODA) to Vietnam.  

The national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines has said the company will continue to offer discounted airfares for tour operators participating in its tourism stimulus programme.