Business

Overseas Vietnamese play an important role in developing HCM City’s economy, but the city lacks the legal framework required to fully utilise their capabilities.

Many large and unexpected merger and acquisition (M&A) deals were made in 2016, with retail and real estate continuing to dominate the domestic market.

The State Bank of Vietnam announced they intend to restructure five banks this year.

More challenges and difficulties will face the local economy in 2017, said Nguyen Duc Thanh, head of the Vietnam Institute for Economics and Policy Research.

The prices of RON 92 petrol and bio-fuel E5 remained unchanged, while diesel price 0.05S increased slightly in the first regular adjustment of petrol prices in 2017 on Wednesday.

In 2017 HCM City will focus its spending on key construction works and seven breakthrough programmes like relocating people living along slums in canals and building new apartments replacing old, dilapidated ones, a conference heard yesterday.

Vietnam has seen annual rises in imported meat, which has posed a challenge for domestic products and businesses.

Chairman of Vingroup Pham Nhat Vuong is still Vietnam's only dollar billionaire and has moved up on Forbes' billionaires list of the world's richest people.

Experts said that it would be difficult for Vietnam to reach the CPI target of 4% in 2017 set by the National Assembly when the country still faces many macro-economic challenges.

Thua Thien-Hue Province People's Committee has announced it will invest over VND40bn (USD1.7m) in the rattan craft.

Vietsovpetro - an oil and gas exploration joint venture between Vietnam and Russia - exploited 5 million tonnes of crude oil in 2016, generating yearly revenue of more than $1.7 billion, a decline of 28 per cent compared to 2015.

HCM City hopes to incorporate 50,000 new companies in 2017 so that there are 500,000 operational ones by 2020, the chairman of the city People’s Committee, Nguyen Thanh Phong, has said.

The General Department of Vietnam Customs decided to take Euro Auto Corporation, the authorised distributor of BMW and Mini automobiles and BMW motors, to the court after discovering signs of smuggling and trade fraud, according to newswire Vnexpress.

PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc attended a ground-breaking ceremony for the Minh Tam Cement Plant in Binh Phuoc Province on January 2.

Việt Nam’s index of industrial production (IIP) rose by 7.5 per cent this year, much lower than the 9.8 per cent growth seen in 2015.

Vietnam’s agriculture sector targets growth of 2.5 to 2.8 per cent next year, production value growth of 3 to 3.2 per cent, and total export turnover of $32.5 billion.

From January 1, Hai Phong will start collecting fees for using infrastructure, service facilities and public utilities from shipments at all ports in the city.

As the country marks the end to another tumultuous year for the national economy, that has seen significant challenges to globalization and integration, there has been a lot of reflecting about the past and future.

The State Bank of Vietnam has reaffirmed its determination to pursue a proactive and flexible monetary policy in 2017.