The 2019 High-Quality Vietnam Goods awards were presented to 542 businesses at a ceremony in Ho Chi Minh City on February 20.

The yield of Government bonds (G-bond) has continued to decline and hit seven-month lows as the US Federal Reserve (Fed) seems unlikely to hike interest rates and the domestic monetary market has shown positive movements.

Many banks have seen their employee efficiency increase significantly, with each member of staff earning them more than 1 billion VND (43,000 USD) in pre-tax profit on average last year.

A Vietnam-Argentina business forum took place in Hanoi on February 21 with a view to promoting cooperation between the countries’ enterprises.

The Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang aims to ship 300 tonnes of star apples to the United States until the end of the 2018-2019 crop, raising the shipment of the fruit to 400 tonnes, or hree times compared to the previous year.

Metfone, the Cambodia-based affiliate of the military-run telecom group Viettel, has sustained its share of 48 percent, also the biggest, in the local telecom market after operating here for a decade.

Vietnam is current the top exporter of wood and furniture in Southeast Asia, the second biggest in Asia and the fifth in the world, according to the General Department of Vietnam Customs.

The amendments to enterprise and investment laws should be aimed at promoting the development of the private sector, a conference held in Hanoi was told on February 20.

The Hoa Phat Steel Pipe Company Limited has announced the first order to export around 1,000 tonnes of galvanised steel pipe worth 600,000 USD to India.

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) set the daily reference exchange rate at 22,903 VND per USD on February 21, down 2 VND from the previous day (February 20).

A delegation from Food Valley of China (FVC) led by former Chinese Ambassador to Vietnam Hu Qianwen made a fact-finding tour to the southern province of Binh Phuoc on February 20 to study the possibility of boosting exports via official channels to China.

Da Nang authorities have selected Singaporean-based firms Sakae Corporate Advisory and Surbana Jurong to design the central city’s master plan and economic development strategy towards 2030.

Two-way trade between Laos and Vietnam exceeded 1 billion USD in 2018, up 13 percent annually and surpassing the set target, according to the Lao Laophatthana newspaper.

Permanent Government members met in Hanoi on February 20 to discuss the acceleration of the Trung Luong-My Thuan highway construction.

Director General of the General Statistics Office (GSO) Nguyen Bich Lam has affirmed that a project on unobserved economy statistics will serve as an important reference for the statistics sector to refine its expertise up to international practices.

The Ministry of Finance has asked the Government to amend its laws to eliminate the special consumption tax on locally manufactured auto parts and components, a move which could reduce prices of locally assembled cars.

The slow listing of post-equitisation firms, including State-owned enterprises (SOEs), may make Vietnamese firms less attractive regarding a lack of corporate transparency and government agencies managing those firms must be blamed for the problem.

Trade between Vietnam and Russia was estimated at 4.57 billion USD in 2018, up 28.6 percent year on year, partly thanks to the enforcement of the free trade agreement (FTA) between Vietnam and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU).

The US is now the biggest importer of the southern province of Dong Nai, accounting for 25.7 percent of the locality’s total export turnover.

The Military Commercial Joint Stock Bank (MB) ranked third among 14 Vietnamese banks in the list of 500 strongest banks (AB500) in Asia-Pacific recently released by The Asian Banker.