Business

The European Union is keen on bilateral free trade agreement negotiations with Vietnam towards a comprehensive Vietnam-EU FTA in future, said European Commission Trade Spokesperson, John Clancy.

An academic issued a warning after the announcement by Las Vegas Sands that it plans to build casinos in Vietnam.

As EU leaders sign a much-heralded "pact" on fiscal rigour, two of the eurozone's top economies found themselves in hot water for fiscal indiscipline, including deficit hardliners the Dutch.

As gold prices become more stabilised, many investors opt to deposit their money into banks or to invest in the securities market.

Vietnam is hoping that falling inflation and rising global risk appetites will spur sustained interest in the country's small stock market, a frontier where many pioneers have been burned.

The General Department of Taxation is trying to recover debts from some of the country’s biggest firms that complain they have been affected by the economic downturn.

Despite recent petrol import tax cut, traders still complain about rising losses due to soaring prices in the world market.

Europe's leaders seek to turn the corner on the debt crisis by mapping out new routes to grow their economies just as a eurozone-wide recession kicks in.

Gas traders have decided to increase retail gas prices by VND62,000 (USD2.97) per 12-kilo canister, beginning on March 1.

Easing inflation and improvements in the trade balance suggest that Vietnam's economy is stabilising, but authorities need to double their commitment to the "Resolution 11" policies, Fitch Ratings said.

The ECB is set to flood eurozone banks with a new bonanza of cheap cash aimed at averting a credit crunch in the euro area.

Vietnamese authorities have applied tough measures in order to speed up important infrastructure projects.

Vietship 2012 offers a good opportunity for local businesses to seek opportunities to develop the domestic shipbuilding industry, said Deputy PM Hoang Trung Hai.

Ratings firm Standard & Poor's declared Greece in "selective default" after banks agreed to write off more than half of their Greek debt holdings in a second EU bailout of the country.

Small and medium-sized banks are tending to set expectations low for profits this year.

While world gas prices continue to rise, Vietnamese traders have actually increased their imports.

The Ministry of Science and Technology honoured 96 outstanding enterprises with the National Quality 2011 Award, and two businesses with the Global Performance Excellence Award 2011.

China has reached a "turning point" in its economic development, with the pace of growth likely to nearly halve in the next two decades, World Bank and Chinese government researchers said.

Despite the recent cut imposed on lending interest rates, many banks still worry that there will not be many borrowers.