Despite the Government’s willingness to enter into free trade agreements, Vietnamese companies are not taking advantage of such pacts to increase exports and are even losing out on their home turf to foreign rivals.

The State Bank of Việt Nam will keep track of gold price fluctuation and intervene if necessary, said Nguyễn Ngọc Cảnh, director of the bank’s Foreign Exchange Management Department.

The Hà Nội Stock Exchange (HNX) has mobilised VNĐ212 trillion (US$9.46 billion) in government bonds for the State budget in the first half of this year, said Nguyễn Thành Long, the exchange chairman.

The domestic railway industry should reform to increase its competitive ability and revenue in the second half of this year, an official of the Ministry of Transport has said.

While the imposition of additional tariffs on imported steel products as a temporary safeguard against cheap imports since March was meant to protect the local steel industry, consumers and firms that use steel for their production are worried about steel price hikes in the local market.

State price management agencies will face many challenges in the second half of the year if they are to meet the National Assembly’s (NA) target of keeping inflation under 5 per cent, experts said at a conference held yesterday.

Vietnamese shares advanced yesterday as investors were upbeat on an uncertain US interest rate increase and higher oil prices helped energy firms rebound.

With the combined market capitalisation of all listed companies accounting for less than 30 per cent of the country’s GDP, the Vietnamese securities market has plenty of room to grow, Trần Anh Đào, deputy director of the HCM City Stock Exchange (HOSE), said yesterday.

Australia has still suspended livestock supply to some facilities in Việt Nam for investigation due to missing international animal welfare standards, said the Australian Embassy in Hà Nội.