Spain’s Ministry of Health and Consumer Affairs affirmed on January 30 that Vietnamese catfish meet food safety regulations set by the Europe Union (EU). According to Spain’s Ministry of Health and Consumer Affairs, in contrast to their claim that the Spanish Government was not concerned about food safety, Spanish authorities carried out hygiene tests on [...]

Inflation will probably slow to less than 10% in 2009 for the first time in more than a year, two fund managers told investors in research notes. Inflation has been in double digits since November 2007, and in August 2008 reached 28.3%, the highest since at least 1992. The pace has slowed for the past [...]

Vietnam’s economic resilience and its government’s enthusiastic emphasis on reform are likely to woo more British investors and boost bilateral trade this year, a top UK trade official said. Gareth Thomas, Minister of State, UK Trade and Investment and Department for International Development, said he was convinced that the bleak economic forecasts facing Viet Nam [...]

Concerns among some countries that the Chinese yuan is “a bit undervalued” are justified, Surin Pitsuwan, secretary general of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, said Saturday. “In the last round of crisis, one thing that China didn’t do and was appreciated among us was to maintain the currency value. So I think [...]

Authorities in Ho Chi Minh City are worried unemployment will increase after around 7,000 workers at the city’s industrial zones lost their jobs since June as the recession drives down exports. “Some companies are laying off workers because they don’t have enough orders to maintain production,” Vu Van Hoa, head of the Ho Chi Minh [...]

Viet Nam will take advantage of demand from countries not hard-hit by the global economic downturn to send 85,000 workers abroad this year. “The situation (for exporting labor) is becoming more difficult in 2009 but it doesn’t mean we don’t have opportunities,” said Deputy Minister Nguyen Thanh Hoa of the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and [...]

The Vietnam Railway Company launched the construction of a bridge in Chi Lang district, Lang Son province, on January 30 as part of a 641 billion VND project to upgrade a railway linking capital Hanoi with the northern border province. The project will replace all the wooden ties with concrete along the main 144 km-long [...]

The southern economic hub Ho Chi Minh City is accelerating administrative reform in investment licensing and site clearance to attract more foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2009. The city is calling foreign investment to such key projects as the 5 billion USD Thanh Da peninsula, the 737 ha Thu Thiem new urban area, the 6,000ha [...]

The progamme “Vietnamese people use Vietnamese goods” launched by the Ministry of Industry and Trade has attracted the due attention from a large number of businesses and consumers. This is an effective measure to help businesses restore production and promote consumption, especially those having goods in stock as their market share has declined. Catering for [...]

State-run BIDV, Vietnam’s second largest bank by assets, said it will reduce dong lending rates next month to help boost domestic production and support exports. The Hanoi-based bank said in a statement late on Friday it would slash the three-month rate by half a percentage point to 8% as of Feb. 1 for exporters who [...]

International passenger traffic for last month continued to fall, with Asia Pacific carriers taking the biggest hit, said the International Air Transport Association (IATA). Passenger traffic dropped 4.6% in December from a year ago, while cargo traffic dipped some 23%. “The fall in global cargo is unprecedented and shocking. Even in September 2001, when much [...]

Gold prices posted by businesses in Ho Chi Minh City have hit VND18.5-18.6 million per tael (1.2 oz), far exceeding the pre-Tet price by VND 350,000- 450,000, while the world price increased by more than $30 to $910 per ounce. Many private jewelers on Jan. 30 opened and posted gold prices higher than prices before [...]

Just like last year Vietnamese-made foodstuffs dominated the Tet shopping season in Ho Chi Minh City as consumers plumped for their improved quality and remained wary of imports following contamination scares in recent times. Local products made by prestigious names like Vissan, Kinh Do, Hai Ha, Bibica, Sargifood, Nutifood, and Huynh Gia Huynh De flooded [...]

Business leaders discuss how the global economic downturn will effect enterprises in 2009. Dang Van Thanh, chairman of Sacombank: The tightened monetary policy starting in the middle of last year, as well as the global financial turmoil, affected Vietnamese enterprises, and Sacombank in particular. On behalf of Sacombank’s management, I must say that Sacombank business [...]

Mobifone has offered more services as bonus for pre-pay by account customers. With the services, those on pre-pay will get inter-network calls, GPRS and MMS services instead of local calls and SMS. Calls and SMS services for local and inter-network calls, GPRS and MMS will be charged on accounts. Mobifone now has nearly 32 million [...]