Family Mart has decided to follow the lead of Parkson Retail Asia and stop throwing good money after bad into the Southeast Asian Vietnamese retail market, according to a report by Reuters.

VietNamNet Bridge - Analysts believe that banks at year-end will ease interest rates, which will make loans more accessible for businesses.

VietNamNet Bridge - Quang Ninh province still has no large-scale resorts, even though Ha Long Bay in the province is a popular tourism destination. 

 The Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) and the Siam Cement Group (SCG) of Thailand have just signed an agreement on accelerating the progress of a petrochemical project in southern Vietnam.

The spread of dengue fever has begun showing signs of slowing down in Hanoi, which recorded a huge number of patients over the past few months, according to the Hanoi Department of Health.

The finance reports from the first half of the year show that Vietnam has three banks with combined total assets exceeding VND1,000 trillion, or $50 billion, while 11 banks have total assets of over $10 billion.

The northern province of Quang Ninh plans to turn Van Don special administrative-economic zone into a smart and green island urban area, Nguyen Van Doc, secretary of the provincial Party Committee, said.

 Despite the order to cut staff, state schools still face teacher redundancy problems as decisions are made by the departments of internal affairs instead of the education sector.

In early June 2017 Bkav launched the Bphone, which it touts as the first smartphone designed and made in Vietnam.

Vietnamese archers Nguyen Tien Cuong and Chau Kieu Oanh brought home a bronze medal and broke a Southeast Asian (SEA) Games’ record in the mixed doubles 70m three-stringed bow event at the Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on August 18.

The installation of exercising equipment in parks and other public areas has been an unqualified success in the capital city.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on August 18 met with President of Thailand’s Privy Council Prem Tinsulanonda and President of Thailand’s National Legislative Assembly Pornpetch Wichitcholchai as part of his ongoing visit to Thailand. 

Nguyen Xuan Cuong, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, speaks to the press about the ongoing APEC agriculture week in Can Tho Mekong Province.

VietNamNet Bridge - With value of $118 billion in 2016 and $180 billion projected for 2020, Vietnam is listed among the world’s 30 most attractive retail markets. 

The Vietnamese mobile phone market in recent days has heated up with the appearance of two 4G/LTE models – Bphone 2 of BKAV and Vivas Lotus S3 LTE of VNPT Technology.

VNPost, EMS and ViettelPost, the big players in the forwarding market, are now faced with growing competition from smaller players such as giaohangso1.vn, tochanh.vn and giaohangnhanh.vn which are scrambling for market share. 

 As State Capital Investment Corporation gets ready to sell 3.3 per cent of its shares in Vinamilk, the market expects to see a different outcome from last year’s unsuccessful bidding.

VietNamNet Bridge - Amid an average 14.4 percent growth rate of listed companies, many enterprises have reported unsatisfactory business results, including strong brands with a long business history.

Exports of tra fish to the United States have remained stable after it imposed a demand that exporting countries demonstrate that their food safety control system is equivalent to that of the US.

The US Department of Commerce (DOC) has rescinded an administrative review of antidumping duties on certain frozen warmwater shrimp imported from Vietnam from February 1, 2016 through January 31, 2017.