Business

Vietnam’s consumer confidence index hit 96 points in the first quarter of 2013, an 8 point rise from the previous quarter and 2 points higher than the same period last year.

Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Nguyen Minh Quang has instructed localities to keep land-use fees as low possible and speed up the processing of land-use rights certificate.

The Vietnam Business Forum has said that there has been a slowing trend in the equitisation of state-owned enterprises.

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Van Ninh is in China to attend the 2013 China-South Asia Exposition, which opened in Kunming, Yunnan province, on June 4.

The Prime Minister has recently approved a master plan on socio-economic development from now until 2020 in the Red River Delta.

How to accelerate economic reform to facilitate business operations was the major theme of a mid-term business forum which opened in Hanoi on June 3.

Domestic petroleum wholesalers have lobbied the Finance Ministry to approve an increase in retail prices, claiming they have taken losses despite the recent falls in the world fuel price.

Hanoi has set an economic growth rate of 8.5 - 9.45 percent in the second half of this year to realise the preset Gross Regional Domestic Product goal of 8-8.5 percent for the entire year.

Vietnam is carrying out investigations into the operations of the digital currency exchange Liberty Reserve, which has recently been accused of money laundering.

An estimated 700-800 Vietnamese people working illegally in Saudi Arabia may benefit from a general amnesty issued by the country's government.

The VAMC is expected to solve VND70,000 trillion in bad debts this year, said the SBV's Governor Nguyen Van Binh.

NA deputies have recommended slashing the corporate income tax to 20% for all enterprises as a way to support enterprises.

Vietnamese exporters have described the US Department of Commerce’s recent levy of anti-subsidy duties on frozen shrimp imported from seven countries including Vietnam as absolutely unreasonable.

McDonald’s plans to open restaurants in Vietnam, with the first to open in Ho Chi Minh City "in the next two years".

A newly-issued decree on e-commerce which will take effect July 1 is expected to provide better protection for online shoppers and boost internet trading.

The US Department of Commerce announced on May 29 that it will impose anti-subsidy tariffs of nearly 63% on frozen shrimp imported from China, India, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.

The Warburg Pincus Consortium has just spent USD 200 million to buy a 20% share in Vingroup's Vincom Retail, a leading real estate developer in Vietnam.

Vietnamese people spend around USD3 billion on beer annually, topping Southeast Asia and standing third in Asia.

A host of proposals aimed at elevating bilateral trade and investment links between Vietnam and the EU have been presented at the Vietnam-EU Business Forum in Ho Chi Minh City on May 29.