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).

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.

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 this year would not scare away UK companies.

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.

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.

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 Social Affairs (Molisa).

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 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 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.

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 have direct export contracts and committed to selling foreign currency back to BIDV.

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%.

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.

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 city markets and supermarkets.

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 performance did not meet my expectations.

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.