Việt Nam catfish processors must prepare for the inspection programme of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) in order to boost exports into this market.“If Vietnamese producers can meet USDA’s requirement, a huge market in the US awaits them,” according to a recent article on  seafoodsource.com.

The Finance Ministry also explained at Monday’s meeting its proposal to increase the environmental protection tax on petroleum consumption from the current VNĐ1,000-4,000 to VNĐ3,000-8,000 per litre.

Budget revenues were estimated at VNĐ280.9 trillion (US$12.4 billion) in the first quarter of this year, up 15.2 per cent compared to the same period in 2016 and meeting 23.2 per cent of the annual estimate, the Ministry of Finance (MoF) said yesterday. 

Sand prices have soared over the past few days, following the Government’s order to tighten supervision of sand mining, though speculation is more likely to be blamed for the price jump.

Asia Commercial Bank (ACB) hoped to complete the handling of bad debts caused by six companies of  former banking tycoon Nguyễn Đức Kiên by the end of this year, it said at the annual shareholders meeting on Monday.

The fluctuation of foreign exchange in the first quarter was due to a sharp rising import value, according to the National Financial Supervisory Commission (NFSC).

The recent suspension of rice importation by the Philippines, a major market, has sparked concern among Vietnamese rice exporters.

Shares grew at a slower pace yesterday on the two stock exchanges as investors displayed caution ahead of the annual shareholder meetings of big companies this month.

Việt Nam’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth is projected to increase modestly to 6.5 per cent this year and 6.7 per cent in 2018.