Italy’s financial news website Firstonline recently posted a story by analyst Ciro Caliandro giving his valuations on Vietnam’s economy as well as opportunities that Italian businesses can gain from their investments in the country.

(VOV) - The Vietnam government on November 27 gave its full backing to a proposed the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) technical assistance package, which in essence establishes the nation’s first international agricultural research centre.

(VOV) - More than 30 Japanese and hundreds of Vietnamese small and medium sized enterprises gathered on November 27 in Ho Chi Minh City for a business matching event sponsored by the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO).

More than 700 businesses have so far registered to join the online shopping day which is scheduled for December 5 in Ho Chi Minh City.

(VOV) - Since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1993, South Africa has remained a potential trade and tourism partner of Vietnam, said Truong Thi Kim Anh, Vice Director of Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) branch in Danang.

Consultancy firms from Vietnam and the Republic of Korea (RoK) gathered at a workshop in Ho Chi Minh City on November 26 to share experience in renovating business operation. 

Italian enterprises are particularly interested in pouring money into projects at industrial parks in Ho Chi Minh City, Dong Nai and Binh Duong provinces, said Chairman of the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (ICHAM) Michele D’Ercole at a business forum on November 26.

(VOV) - The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) has offered assistance to Vietnam’s agriculture with the aim of modernising the country’s rice industry.

(VOV) - Global Financial Market Review has chosen OceanBank the winner of three distinguished international banking awards – the Best Retail Bank Vietnam 2014, Best Banking Group in Vietnam and Best Online Banking Initiative of the Year.

(VOV) - Over 200 enterprises from 10 nations have registered to participate at the international trade show– Metal & Weld 2014 – in Ho Chi Minh City on December 3-6 showcasing the latest in metal working and welding industrial technologies.

The Spanish government has pledged to provide EUR3.4 million for Ho Chi Minh City to carry out a pre-feasibility study for Metro line No.5 which will link Saigon bridge to new Can Giuoc coach station.

The Japanese fully-invested Daiyu Steel Limited Co. opened a new steel factory in Di An town, the southern province of Binh Duong, on November 25.

Italy will provide Vietnam with EUR15 million in soft loans to help increase the competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises (SOEs) in southern localities, an official from the Italian Embassy in Vietnam said on November 25.

Vietnam has realised that the use or reference of names or marks of product origin (Geographical Indication, GI) is vital to increasing economic value and competitiveness of products, said the Communist Party of Vietnam Online Newspaper. 

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Vietnamese Government on November 25 signed a 50 million USD loan agreement to upgrade the country’s tourism infrastructure, boost tourist spending, and create more jobs for poor and ethnic minority communities.

A Vietnam-Azerbaijan energy workshop was held in Hanoi on November 25 to promote connection between the two countries in the field.

(VOV) - Businesses in Vietnam must seize the huge opportunities created by regional and global integration to attract investment and boost trade with new markets around the globe – with an emphasis on tapping the US market.

The Ministry of Planning and Investment’s Foreign Investment Agency (FIA) has recently launched the Korea Desk in a move to practically support the Republic of Korean (RoK) investors interested in doing business in Vietnam.

Keiden Vietnam Co.Ltd put into operation a metal-coating plant at My Phuoc 3 Industrial Park, Ben Cat town in the southern province of Binh Duong on November 24.

The Mekong Delta city of Can Tho reported a 12.5% increase in GDP this year, generating VND69.5 trillion (US$3.26 billion), the highest level in three years. 

The Foreign Investment Agency's latest figures showed that disbursed foreign direct investment (FDI) hit US$11.2 billion in the first 11 months of this year, rising 6.2% year-on-year.

(VOV) - Over the past 30 years of the renewal process, Vietnam’s agriculture has maintained an average annual growth rate of 3.5% – the highest level in Asia, most notably in Southeast Asia.

Vietnamese seaports are attracting more interest from foreign investors following the Government's decision to sell bigger State stakes in these companies.

Italian and German newspapers have run stories praising Vietnam’s business climate.

(VOV) -VietJet Air signed a US$300 million deal on November 24 to provide maintenance for the LEAP engine, currently under development by CFM International (CFM), a 50-50 joint venture between GE Aviation of the US and Snecma of France.

(VOV) - Vietnam needs to rely more on productivity gains driven by innovation in order to boost its economy, according to a new joint study by the World Bank and Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) released on November 24.

Vietnam's consumer price index (CPI) fell in November 2014 by 0.27% month-on-month largely because of decreasing transport costs, the General Statistics Office (GSO) revealed on November 24.

As many as 200 veterinary specialists and aquaculture researchers and students from more than 30 countries are gathering in Ho Chi Minh City for the ninth Symposium on Diseases in Asian Aquaculture (DAA9).

(VOV) -As many as 100 Italian organisations and enterprises are taking part in a number of trade promotion activities in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City from November 24 to 26.

(VOV) -Since early this year, the quantity of Vietnam’s agricultural products exported to China through Lao Cai border gate has fallen by 13.6% and Chinese products imported to the country reduced by 42.8%.