The Association of Vietnamese Entrepreneurs in Italy (ASSOEVI) and the Italy –Vietnam Chamber of Commerce (CCIV) signed a cooperation agreement in the northern Italian city of Milan on April 8. 

Vietnamese Ambassador to India Ton Sinh Thanh has called for accelerating overland, railway, waterway and airway connectivity between northeast India and ASEAN countries as well as facilitating Indian trade with its neighbouring countries.

Italy will benefit most from the EU-Vietnam free trade agreement (EVFTA), former Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta commented at a seminar held recently in the northern Italian city of Milan. 

Malaysia and the European Union has initialed the text of the Malaysia-EU Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (MEUPCA), according to the Malaysian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Vietnam saw a reduction in its trade deficit with China in the first quarter of 2016, raising expectations of an ongoing decline in this deficit for the whole year.

FECOBA – the federation of commerce and industry of Buenos Aires and Argentina’s confederation of enterprises CAME recently organised a workshop on trade opportunities with Vietnam in Argentina.

Canada, the world’s third largest pork exporter, is seeking to expand its market in Vietnam, where a growing middle class has driven demand for meat products. 

Australian agencies are finalizing procedures to allow Vietnamese exporters to ship mangoes into the market, said a source from the Vietnam Business Association.

A lot of Vietnamese businessmen nurture plans to ‘do big business’. Some of them have succeeded, while others have tasted failure, but they do not give up, still awaiting new opportunities.

Opening the market widely to foreign investors and developing infrastructure were the two important hallmarks of the Vietnam economy in the last 10 years under the management of the government headed by Nguyen Tan Dung, who has just resigned from the post of Prime Minister.

Vietnam is the only country to achieve an impressive export-import growth in 2015 among the 30 leading export-import economies of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), according to the report “World Trade 2016 and Prospects 2016” announced by WTO Director General Roberto Azevedo.

The Vietnam Competition Authority (VCA) will host a public consultation meeting on May 5 to collect opinions from agencies and businesses on the duties imposed on imported steel.

The Saigon Hi-Tech Park Incubation Centre (SHTP-IC) put into operation an Innovation Lab on April 8 in order to promote research, creativity and start-ups in business incubation projects.

VOV.VN - Vingroup was successful at the prestigious Asia Pacific Property Awards in Kuala Lumpur, according to an announcement by the company’s public relations department.

VOV.VN - The Vietnam Competition Authority (VCA) on April 5 announced the ‘Final Results of the Administrative Review’ of the antidumping duty order imposed by the US Department of Commerce (DOC) on certain frozen fish fillets imported from Vietnam.

The first 100 hi-tech and environmentally-friendly Renault-branded electric cars will arrive in Vietnam in June.

Vietnam’s consumption of electronic and electrical appliances is expected to rise from 7.3% to 11.9% by 2020, thanks to a new focus on its youthful consumers.

 The General Department of Taxation will inspect the tax compliance of numerous big firms this year.

Vietnam is forecast to grow 6.5% or less in 2016, depending on economic restructuring progress, said Truong Dinh Tuyen, a former trade minister and senior adviser to the Government in negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) deal.

VOV.VN -  An international conference called Vietnam Forum was held for the first time in Singapore to review and examine how Doi Moi renewal policy has changed Vietnam over the past 30 years and its national and regional implications.  

The business community, Government bodies and sectors will seek out ways to boost the private sector at a conference late this month in Ho Chi Minh City.

Businesses in the mechanical sector in Hanoi are facing shortage of capital, production area and high quality human resources, as well as shortcomings in import taxes levied on materials.

VOV.VN - The Vietnam Competition Authority announced on April 8 that the US International Trade Commission (ITC) has voted to renew antidumping duties on polyethylene (PE) retail carrier bags.

VOV.VN - There is huge potential for Vietnam and the US to cooperate in agriculture in the coming time, especially when the Trans-Pacific Partnership is likely to be approved.

Vietnam drew nearly US$4.03 billion in newly-registered and additional capital from foreign direct investment (FDI) projects in the first quarter of this year, up 119.1% against the same period last year.

The Vietnamese government has requested that a Hanoi water company suspend a scheduled contract signing with a  Beijing-based pipe supplier, responding to an appeal from the administration of the capital city.

Thailand's industrial park developer Amata VN Pcl said on April 7 it had been granted a new licence by Vietnam's government to develop land for a US$23 million residential and commercial project at Long Thanh, near Ho Chi Minh City.

Spending among Vietnamese people on electronics and electronic refrigeration products is estimated at VND157 trillion (US$7.06 billion) each year from now to 2020.

Exporting laborers must not be seen as a long term solution to the economy, experts have recommended.

Information related to mergers and acquisitions (M&As) of credit institutions is awaited as the season of annual shareholders’ meetings is around the corner.