Provinces and cities in the Southern Key Economic Region should strengthen their linkages to enable the region to capitalise on its development potential, a seminar heard in HCM City yesterday.

Representatives from four of Việt Nam’s largest telecommunication companies reported very large revenues in 2016, with significant improvements over 2015, at a conference held by the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) in Hà Nội yesterday.

Việt Nam’s stock market has kept its nose ahead in 2016 despite several negative impacts of international events. The 10 biggest events on the securities market in 2016 were announced yesterday.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) will hire a foreign consultancy firm to evaluate its draft master plan for steel production by 2025 and its vision till 2035.

The recent launch of motorbike models with high-engine displacement has attracted the Vietnamese and stirred the domestic market, even though import prices are 2-3 times higher than world prices.

Việt Nam is expected to adopt International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) instead of the current Vietnamese accounting standards (VAS) by 2025 in its efforts to enhance comparability and improve transparency.

Stocks on the HCM Stock Exchange edged up in the last trading minutes yesterday, but the overall market condition was negative as investors remained cautious prior to year-end holidays.

Dung Quất Refinery is working with foreign oil groups to seek strategic investments for its privatisation, which is expected to be carried out in 2017.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) will tighten control over the fertiliser and petroleum markets in 2017 to limit fake products and frauds.