Property M&A deals surge in six months

 The real estate market has become busier with a large number of merger & acquisition (M&A) deals recorded in the last two quarters. 

Spike trap thought to target overloaded trucks

 The National Traffic Safety Committee has requested an urgent inspection into a big board of spikes that was deliberately put on a road between Phu Tho and Tuyen Quang provinces.

Second-hand consumer goods flood HCM City ports

 Second-hand consumer goods have been smuggled and abandoned in HCM City.

Children’s game shows could see tighter controls

 Never before have game shows with the participation of children boomed in Vietnam like at the present, which has raised concerns over using children as a tool to earn money.

JBAV warns about Vietnam losing cheap labour advantage

 The Japan Business Association in Vietnam (JBAV) has said Vietnam is losing its advantage of cheap labour and must focus on developing support industries and Japanese firms can help with technology transfers.

One win for Vietnam team in chess event

Vietnamese player Bao Tram defeated her Chinese rival Tan Zhongyi in the third round of FIDE Women’s Team Championship in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia on June 19.

International markets open more widely to Vietnamese goods

VietNamNet Bridge - Vietnamese products have more opportunities than ever before to conquer the world market. 

Rapid bank credit growth makes analysts wary

 Nguyen Thi Hong, deputy governor of the State Bank of Vietnam, said as of May end bank credit had grown at 6.58 per cent in the year-to-date, an eight-year high.

Pharma FIEs allowed to trade

Eight years after the phase-in schedule for the relevant WTO commitments, Vietnam is setting forth a legal framework for foreign invested enterprises to trade in pharmaceuticals and pharmaceutical ingredients to fulfill its WTO commitments.

Real estate credit a worry for experts

 Half of consumer loans in Vietnam are mortgages or related to house repairs, which raises fears about banks’ liquidity.

Smaller banks overtake giants in profit growth

 Although commercial banks have yet to release their financial reports for the second quarter of 2017, many of them revealed their operating results in the first five or six months of 2017.

Experts call to raise USD deposit rate

 The policy of zero interest rate on USD deposits is showing some shortcomings and the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) may need to increase it, especially in light of certain pressures on the VND/USD exchange rate.

HCM City banks create $5b link-up programme

 A banking-enterprises link-up programme in HCM City has enabled 4,138 businesses to borrow over VND124.3 trillion (US$5.5 billion) from banks in the first five months of this year, a conference heard on Friday.

Techcombank plans $231m share buyback

 The Viet Nam Technological and Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Techcombank) on Saturday proposed that its shareholders approve a share buyback plan that will take place in 2017.

Domestic, foreign firms eye online retail sector

 Online retail is expected to continue increasing, as domestic and foreign retail companies are planning to invest heavily in this field.

Eleven VN brands appear on Asia’s Top 1000 list

Eleven Vietnamese brands appear in the list of Asia’s Top 1000 this year, according to the annual Asia’s Top 1000 Brands survey.

Vietnam’s choir features in Human Kind single

 The Miracle Choir and Orchestra is Vietnam’s only representative in the Human Kind international charity single, released and distributed worldwide by Universal Music Operations.

Artist Nguyen Tu Nghiem’s masterpieces on display

 Thirty paintings of renowned Vietnamese artist Nguyen Tu Nghiem (1922-2016) are being exhibited in downtown Hà Nội to commemorate his first death anniversary.

Quang Ninh sign Russian-born American striker Dyachenko

 Quang Ninh Coal FC have signed Russian-born American striker Rod Dyachenko for the second leg of the national premier league season.

Deputies critical of draft Forest Law

National Assembly deputies said on Monday that the Law on Forest Protection and Development had not clearly identified responsibility for forest protection nor encouraged people to participate ...

Vietnam targets 42 percent forest coverage by 2020

 Vietnam aims to increase the nationwide forest coverage to 42 percent, equivalent to 14.4 million hectares, by 2020, according to the target programme on sustainable forest development during 2016-2020 recently approved by the Prime Minister.

National plan designed to cope with radiation, nuclear incidents

PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc has issued a national plan to cope with radiation and nuclear incidents, aiming to set up a system with clear responsibility allocation.

Vinacomin requested to sell coal stockpile, cut rates

 The Vietnam National Coal Mineral Industries Group (Vinacomin) must cut costs to become competitive and find buyers for its stockpile of 9.3 million tonnes of coal, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s working group said.

Foreign brands find Vietnam cosmetics market alluring

 With double-digit growth annually, Vietnam has a promising cosmetics industry for foreign firms seeking to expand overseas, experts have said.

Quang Binh cave festival kicks off

 Son Doong Cave in central Quang Binh province has been recognised as the world’s largest and most beautiful natural cave by the World Records Union and the World Record Association.