Business

Power prices will be averaged at VND1,459 per kWh this year, up 7.2% from last year, said the Electricity of Vietnam Group.

2013 is forecast to be a difficult year for Vietnam’s rice exports as competition from other global rice producers such as Thailand, India, Pakistan and Myanmar intensifies.

PM Nguyen Tan Dung vowed to take serious measures to fight against the trade and production of fake goods.

Deputy Minister of the Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Thi Xuan Thu has announced a raft of new measures to ensure food safety at a conference on agricultural product distribution.

Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai has asked the Vietnam National Coal - Mining Industries Group to settle inventories at the beginning of the year.

The State Bank of Vietnam said that strong measures will be continued to tackle bad debts in 2013 while deposit rate cap may be removed given the improved liquidity in banks.

Climate change is estimated to have already cost Vietnam 5% of its GDP, and the impacts could be more serious in the coming years, a new report claims.

Citizens and businesses are suffering higher fees and prices of power and water, inconsistent with what the Government has vowed to do and reflecting the heartlessness of ministries, said economist Pham Chi Lan.

Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook said he expects the country to surpass the United States as the technology giant's largest market, state media reported.

The first pharmaceutical packaging materials factory in Vietnam to meet the GMP Standard has started operation.

Traders in HCM City are earning big profits by driving up the prices of Tet specialties by up to five times their original prices.

Exports to key Middle East markets, including the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Israel and Iraq, brought in US$4.2 billion to Vietnam last year.

The State Bank’s governor must be held accountable if high inflation returns this year, according to the PM.

The majority of 24 projects valued in billions of dollars licensed in Vietnam since 2007 have not yet been implemented.

Struggling businesses are in urgent need of government support to keep their heads above water.

Students with banking and finance degrees are worried about their job prospects as banks have tended to cut their workforces.

FDI enterprises are still the most profitable, according to Vietnam Report's Top 500 Largest Enterprises in 2012.

The Electricity of Vietnam on January 7 signed a credit contract worth 2.5 trillion VND with the Vietnam Development Bank to develop the Vinh Tan 2 and Duyen Hai 1 thermo-electric plants.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade held a ceremony in Hanoi on January 7 to grant the National Trademark award 2012 to 54 outstanding businesses.