Analysts have predicted further car price decreases in the time to come, as most automobile manufacturers and importers are still reporting big overstocks and the purchasing power still remains very low. The quiet market Le Nguyen Ha, Director of a HCM City-based company specializing in importing cars from the US, said that he has not [...]

Hotel Yasaka – Sai Gon – Nha Trang has announced that it will set a new record by making a sticky rice cake roll 34m long to welcome the traditional New Year Festival. Hotel chefs will get down to work on the cake at 16:00 on January 24 or the 29th day of the 12th [...]

The second turbine group of the A Vuong hydro-electric power plant was connected to the national power grid on December 28, three months ahead of schedule. The turbine group, with a design capacity of 105MW, was officially put into operation after a test run on December 20. The first 105MW turbine group was connected to [...]

Dollar prices have dropped on the free market as the high demand on sentiment following the central bank’s move to weaken the dong has gradually reduced. After the State Bank of Viet Nam fixed the dong’s rate 3 percent down against the dollar to spur exports on December 25, the dong was traded for as [...]

Nhat Tao, Ho Chi Minh City’s largest electronics market, moved Friday to a new location not far from the original one, which will be closed in the new year. It now occupies several floors of an apartment block in Nguyen Kim Street, District 10. Nguyen Thi Hanh, director of the District 10 House Management and [...]

Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung has joined officials from ministries, agencies and Mekong delta provinces at a conference to review the region’s socio-economic results in 2008 and discuss plans for 2009. Addressing the conference held in Hau Giang province on Dec. 28, Deputy PM Hung appreciated the localities’ efforts to overcome difficulties to record [...]

The Vietnamese government said on Monday it aimed to grant an investment licence to U.S. utility firm AES Corp early next year to build a coal-fired power plant in northern Viet Nam at an estimated cost of $1.4 billion. AES would form a joint venture with state-owned coal producer Vinacomin to operate the 1,200-megawatt plant, [...]

Saigon Jewelry Holding Company (SJC) announced a price increase of VND180,000/tael (US$10.60) to VND17.72-17.74 million/tael ($1,042.40-1,043.50) for its SJC gold Saturday. The company’s new price was about VND600,000 ($35.30) lower than the world gold price for a tael. The international price grew by $21.70/ounce to $868.70/ounce on the same day. The price at domestic gold [...]

Electronic firms should reduce their reliance on government support and push exports to promising markets in the context of the global recession and opening up of the Vietnamese market, analysts have said. “Vietnamese electronic companies should believe in their strengths, not expect protection and understand WTO rules,” Tran Quang Hung, the general secretary of the [...]

It is unusual that this year Viet Nam has been affected by two continuous shocks, called the “two crises” by some experts. Also this year, Viet Nam has had to change its priorities twice. The two shocks have brought the country face to face with the threat of stagnation.The first crisis That was the crisis [...]

Visitors will have the opportunity to take part in domestic tours at cheap prices, following a large-scale promotion campaign by the tourism industry starting January, 2009, the Viet Nam National Administration of Tourism recently announced. The promotion campaign will last from January to September 2009. So far this year, many hotels have committed to reducing [...]

Official USD/VND rate: 16,984 -3 Vietcombank buys at : 17,430 +100 Gold shops buy at : 17,440 +40 Vietnam’s central bank set the dollar’s exchange lower at VND16,984 Monday, compared with VND16,987 Friday. The state-owned Vietcombank sold at VND17,494, compared with VND17,450 Friday. Gold shops sold at VND17,490, higher than VND17,480 on Friday. Dealers said [...]

The central province of Khanh Hoa Friday said it would spend more money on tourism marketing next year. According to the Khanh Hoa Province Tourism Association, the number of foreign visitors to the province has dropped by 20-25 percent since September, with luxury hotels and resorts being the hardest hit by the decline. As the [...]

The Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) will install detecting devices on retail gasoline pumps across the country after widespread fuel fraud was found at gas stations. Inspectors check a gasoline pump at a fuel station in HanoiThe Ministry has instructed the Center for Technological Progress to make a black box to record the volume [...]

After over 3 years of construction, Vietnam’s biggest wastewater treatment plant, constructed with Japanese official development assistance (ODA), was inaugurated and put into operation Friday. The HCM City plant cost VND4.16 trillion (around $245 million) and has a daily capacity of 141,000 cubic meters. Located in Binh Hung commune, Binh Chanh district, the plant has [...]