Foreign finance groups are eager to join Vietnam’s fruitful fintech market, which is still at early stage but is forecast to reach nearly US$8 billion in 2020 thanks to surging internet and smartphone penetration.

 Concerns over potential oversupply has driven Petrolimex to halt construction, according to Nikkei Asian Review.

 While Vietnam is regarded like “a hot cake” among foreign investors, the country needs to give more consideration to proposed projects and maybe say “No” to those too small in scale.

 More investors have planned to take part in the country’s medicine retail system through merger and acquisition (M&A), expecting to gain higher value from owning completed chains from production to distribution.

 Despite their overwhelming popularity around the world, McDonald’s and Burger King have not risen to dominance during the long years in Vietnam.

 Vietnamese airlines continue to open more lines connect to tourist destinations even in the low season, but airport infrastructure needs to be upgraded to ensure flight quality.

 As trade tensions between the US and China worsen, Vietnam’s textile and aquaculture stocks are rallying thanks to their strong business prospects. However, challenges may still arise due to protectionist sentiments.

 Vard Braila Shipyard, the company employing the largest number of workers in the eastern city of Braila in Romania, has employed 70 Vietnamese workers and plans to bring another 60 to cover its workforce deficit.

The Ministry of Information and Communications has suggested lifting a controversial requirement for mobile phone users to register their photos in a stunning policy turnaround just six months after the regulation was put into force.

VietNamNet Bridge - Many casinos have been or are going to open in the central region, particularly on the coast.

 Karaoke clubs and discotheques will be allowed to stay open two hours later under a new proposal introduced by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, which would extend closing time from midnight until 2 am.

Some online lenders that offer very high interest rates are in fact a form of ‘black’ credit and the State Bank of VN (SBV) is not responsible for management over such activities, SBV deputy governor Nguyen Thi Hong has said.

 The State Bank of Viet Nam is carefully studying international models of peer-to-peer lending (P2P) to develop a legal framework to effectively manage the country’s nascent fintech business.

The model of distributing insurance products via banks has contributed to increasing insurers’ revenue, but experts warned that the overheating growth of the business could cause insurers to have to pay compensations.

 Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has recently approved a project to build a set of criteria to evaluate the corporate development of the country and of each province and city separately.

 Viet Nam’s biggest dairy firm Vinamilk is eyeing foreign markets in the hopes of offseting the declining growth in the local market.

 Efficient restructuring of the agricultural sector has brought good results in production and business in the last few months, so the sector expects to gain stronger growth in production and business this year and beyond, said experts.

 Organisations and individuals using e-commerce websites will not be required to notify or register with the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) from October 18.

 Five young talented Vietnamese footballers had the chance to train in Barcelona with one of the leading professional football clubs in the world.

 Thai Son Nam easily crushed bottom-placed team Kim Toan Da Nang 6-1 in the last round of the National Futsal Championship to take the title yesterday.