The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has confirmed of no increase in foreign shareholdings at Vietnamese banks which stay at almost 30 percent of charter capital of a local bank.

The northern mountainous province of Tuyen Quang licensed a US$19.83-million milk project of Australia’s Jonvest Co. Ltd on August 19.

The State should adopt more special incentives to encourage investors to engage in agricultural and rural development, according to a seminar held in Hanoi on August 19.

The US Department of Commerce (DOC) has decided to remove its anti-dumping taxes imposed on the East Sea Seafood Joint Venture Co.Ltd, QVD Food Co. and Anvifish Co.Ltd.

Local expressway constructor Vietnam Expressway Corporation (VEC) will offer VND500 billion in revenue bonds guaranteed by the Government, at the Hanoi Securities Trading Centre on August 20.

The Japanese Government has pledged to grant US$172,000 in total to help build a primary school and provide vocational training equipment for the northern province of Phu Tho.

Deputy Prime Minister Truong Vinh Trong has urged the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV) to invest further in the northwestern region.

22 trademarks and four products of 26 businesses in the northern mid-land region have been presented the Gold Star.

Vietnam and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have signed a cooperation agreement on investment, finance, trade and labour during a recent visit to the UAE by a Vietnamese government delegation led by Minister, Chairman of the Government Office Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

Vietnam is now the 10th biggest export market of the Republic of Korea (RoK), according to the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (Kotra).

ASEAN member-countries have invested nearly US$17.5 billion in Vietnam this year, accounting for 40 percent of the total foreign directed investment in the period.

The Central Highlands is expected to become the country’s largest hydro-electric power centre by 2010, as it will have hydro-electric power plants with a total capacity of 5,000MW, equal to one third of the current capacity of the national power grid.

Vietnam’s rubber exports are likely to reach US$1.5 billion in 2008, according to the Vietnam Rubber Association.

Vietnam attracted more than US$31 billion worth of foreign direct investment (FDI) capital in the first half of this year, the highest figure so far. However, economists have warned that it’s high time for Vietnam to pay more attention to quality.

Vietnam pays special attention to combating corruption and preventing waste of foreign official development assistance (ODA), according to a senior Vietnamese diplomat.

The Vietnam fruit association (Vinafruit) on August 15 announced that it is preparing to export the first two containers of dragon fruit to the US in late August or early September.

Vietnam Auto Show 2008, the biggest of its kind so far, will be held in Hanoi from August 21-25 with the participation of 12 members of the Vietnam Automobile Manufactures’ Association (VAMA).

Representatives of the Singaporean group Sembcorp and the Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park (VSIP) joint venture conducted a fact-finding tour of central Quang Ngai province on August 15 to study investment opportunity.

The prices of building materials, especially steel and cement have begun to fall after remaining high for over a year. This is a good sign for the market and will help to bring down the consumer price index (CPI) for August.

Eleven Vietnamese businesses together with almost 900 businesses from 29 countries and territories are displaying their products at four fairs in Hong Kong, China.

A forum is being held in Can Tho city from August 15-18 for policy makers, managers and representatives from enterprises to discuss solutions for better application of information and communications technology (ICT) to agriculture and rural development.

More businesspeople are coming to Vietnam to attend meetings, incentives, conferences or events, known as MICE in the tourism industry.

The Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam on August 14 approved the Vietnam-Russia Joint Venture Bank’s plan to establish its wholly owned bank in Russia with a charter capital of US$8 million.

A delegation of Russian experts is on a working visit to Vietnam to study the production conditions and quality control of seafood exported to Russia, according to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Processors (VASEP).

The Ministry of Finance has decided to lower domestic retail petrol and kerosene prices by VND1,000 per litre from August 14.

The Nguyen Kim Trade Centre has been listed in the Retail Asia-Pacific Top 500 for the second time in a row by the regional trade magazine Retail Asia.

The world sixth largest steel maker, Tata Steel, signed an agreement on August 13 with the Vietnam Steel Corporation (VnSteel) and the Vietnam Cement Corporation (VICEM) to build a US$5 billion steel complex in the central province of Ha Tinh.

Vietnam disbursed US$6 billion in foreign investment in the past seven months, making up only 13 percent of the registered US$45 billion, according to the Foreign Investment Agency (FIA).

The Prime Minister on August 12 approved a plan to turn the coastal south central region into an important sea-based economic zone from now till 2025.

After the recent sugarcane harvest, many companies have refused to buy from farmers as they promised under signed contracts. Even if they agreed to do, the sugarcane prices would be dirt cheap.