Business

Vietnam was expected to maintain the second fastest growing economy in ASEAN-5 in 2015, according to the International Monetary Fund's latest World Economic Outlook.

BNP Paribas- a French bank and financial services company and the low-cost carrier Vietjet Air on April 15 signed a US$60 million credit agreement to financeVietjet’s purchase of five aircraft in the Airbus A320 family in 2015 and 2016.

The central city of Da Nang maintained its status as the most competitive locality in the country, topping the Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI) for the second consecutive year.

The European Union has committed to continue its provision of technology to improve the legal framework for nuclear safety in Vietnam, EU Ambassador to Vietnam Franz Jessen said in Hanoi yesterday.

The Ministry of Finance has confirmed that the country's sole oil processing facility – the Dung Quat Oil Refinery – will not be closed thanks to a recent import tax reduction on petroleum products.

The Vietnam Business Annual Report 2014 was released in Hanoi on April 15 with a focus on enterprise development in agribusiness.

Japan overtook China in February as the top foreign holder of U.S. Treasury securities, a position Japan last held in August 2008.

The Vietnam Association of Seafood Producers and Exporters (VASEP) recently forecast the overall export value of tuna to increase slightly by 4% on-year to US$510 million for 2015.

Young entrepreneurs nationwide can register for the 3rd Start-Up Wheel competition, which aims to help them gain expertise, experience and support, from April 14 to May 15.

Vietnam-Cuba bilateral trade jumped more than 45% to US$207.5 million last year, including US$206 million from Vietnam exports and US$1 million from its imports.

Thai and Japanese products are dominating the Vietnam marketplace, creating a greater competitive environment for local manufacturers.

HCM City, considered a financial center of Vietnam, could lose its stock market in the future because the watchdog agency plans to merge the Hanoi and HCM City stock exchanges into one Vietnam Stock Exchange headquartered in Hanoi.

Foreign banks, especially those from Asia, have been strengthening their investment in Vietnam in recent years.

Vietnam is moving away from a "cheap labour" workforce to one more skilled to better compete in a climate of global integration, a senior industry minister said.

Vietnam is expected to record GDP growth of six percent in 2015, slightly weaker than the 6.2 percent forecast by the government, the World Bank has said.

It is urgent to assist domestic businesses to become a strong pillar of the Vietnamese economy, an economy whose growth has been largely fostered by foreign direct investment (FDI) in recent years, experts said.

Continuing to promote improvements in the business climate of Vietnam will be the main focus of the 2015 Spring Economic Forum scheduled for April 21-22 in the central province of Nghe An.

Analysts believe that after swallowing a number of Vietnamese companies, Thai billionaires will take the next steps to turn Vietnam into their production bases from which Thai products will be distributed globally.

China’s investment in Vietnam has dramatically increased both in terms of value and project number, but the quality of these projects needs to be taken into account, and to ensure they contribute to reducing the bilateral trade gap.