The Lunar New Year (Tet) festival is ten days old but the ‘imprint’ of Tet remains in many products, particularly meat, vegetables and bulbs.

The State Bank of Vietnam’s surprise move in the final days before Tet to devalue the dong by another 3.3 percent has had the positive effect of narrowing the gap between official and black market exchange rates.

Jetstar plans to double the number of its daily flights from Singapore to Vietnam, starting this July, after it receives new aircraft.

The price of steel rose by VND150,000-250,000 per tonne in February.

Many businesses in the southern province of An Giang provide aquatic varieties and technical assistance to help Cambodian farmers reap higher profits.

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has decided to maintain the base interest rate of 8 percent for deposits in Vietnamese Dong.

Da Nang City’s industrial production has increased sharply in the past two months and many businesses have several months worth of back orders, according to the municipal Department of Industry and Trade.

Around 200 tonnes of seafood from five businesses in the southern province of Kien Giang have been granted certificates for export to the EU market.

The world’s largest contract manufacturer of notebook PCs, Compal Electronics Inc., will build a production facility in Vietnam.

The Asian Farmers’ Group of Cooperatives (AFGC) and the Vietnam Cooperative Alliance jointly hosted the 10th annual conference in Hanoi on February 24 to discuss measures to raise capacity for agricultural cooperatives and farmers’ organisations.

The Vietnam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Agribank) is planning to submit an agriculture insurance project to the government, under which all compensation will be paid by Swiss Reinsurance.

A joint committee on trade cooperation between the Republic of Korea (RoK) and Vietnam made its debut in Seoul on February 24 with the aim of supporting business links and increasing bilateral trade.

Keeping the inflation rate at seven percent this year is a goal set by the Vietnam National Assembly but this is not easy at all in the face of growing pressures from different factors.

The Khanh Hoa Garment Company recently exported their first batch of garment products worth US$52,000 to the US on February 21. Its director, Vo Thanh Quang, said his company is trying to reach a turnover of VND80 billion in 2010.

The country’s consumer price index (CPI) in February rose by 1.96 percent compared to January and 8.46 percent against the same month of last year, but the figure was still lower than projected by the General Statistic Office (GSO).

Vietnamese tra and basa fish exports to Russia, which started in 2009, have risen steadily in recent months and are expected to fetch US$100 million in revenue in 2010, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The Singaporean airline SilkAir announced it will run another flight between Da Nang and Singapore every Saturday from March 28.

The Vinamilk Corporation has increased the retail price of its milk, powdered milk and yoghurt by 8 percent as of February 23.

The Prime Minister recently approved an additional list of 10 ministries in charge of granting and managing certificate of free sales (CFS) for import and export.

The fourth Presidential Council Conference of the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) opened in Ho Chi Minh City on February 22 with the participation of WFTU leaders and representatives from international trade union organisations from 20 countries worldwide.

A float glass factory, the largest of its kind in Southeast Asia officially came into operation in Chu Lai Open Economic Zone in the central province of Quang Nam on February 22.

Hon Ngoc Asia Joint Stock Co started the construction of Anvie Resort and Residences in Ngu Hanh Son District in the central city of Da Nang.

Ho Chi Minh City’s consumer price index (CPI) rose by 1.68 percent in February, according to the municipal statistics department.  

The Central Highland fair will take place in Dak Lak province from March 9-14 to commemorate the 35th anniversary of Buon Ma Thuot victory and the city’s 105th founding anniversary.

The Washington Post reports that the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) will consider whether or not to list Vietnam’s Tra and Basa fish as catfish under the 2008 farm bill. The report has aroused concern amongst Vietnamese seafood exporters.

The Government plans to exploit Vietnam’s marine resources and develop its coastal economic zones.

The Japanese Government is teaming up with domestic companies to build, operate and maintain infrastructure facilities in Asia and other emerging markets, including Vietnam, a local daily reported.

The Mekong Delta region hopes to attract more foreign direct investment (FDI) in high-tech, supporting industry, agricultural processing, and rural development by improving its infrastructure and human resources, local officials said.

The government has set a goal to increase the export turnover of agricultural, forestry and seafood products by US$700 million to reach US$16 billion this year.

Fewer people were hospitalized from food poisoning during the Lunar New Year festival (Tet) but more were taken to hospital for traffic accidents, according to the Ministry of Health.