The new firms have total registered capital of over VNĐ1 quadrillion (US$44 billion), up 43.8 per cent from the same time last year, statistics from the Ministry of Planning and Investment revealed.

The cashew industry has achieved impressive growth in the past years with increasing exports, but unfavourable weather due to the impact of climate change and an increase of diseases and pests threaten its continued development, delegates told a seminar in HCM City last Saturday.

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE) has proposed the Government to shift one conditional business line, eliminate 36 business investment conditions and amend 15 conditions required for individuals in enterprises, accounting for 44.78 per cent of business conditions under the management of this ministry.

Việt Nam witnessed a trade surplus of $1.23 billion so far this year, according to a report from the General Department of Customs.

Việt Nam’s telecommunications market has reached a saturation point and will find it hard to attract new subscribers. This could result in increasingly fierce competition among telecom providers for their revenue and market share.

Foreign and domestic investment in HCM City has significantly increased and industrial production remains robust, a meeting to review the city’s socio-economic development in the first 10 months of this year heard.

The Central Institute for Economic Management (CIEM) released a report yesterday on the actuality of strategic shareholders’ involvement in state-owned enterprises’ (SoEs) equitisation process, which they concluded to be below expectations.

The State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC) is under pressure to complete its divestment scheme towards the end of this year with many large companies still in its portfolio.

Shares ended on a positive note for a second day on the HCM Stock Exchange on Monday as energy firms and some construction companies continued to perform well.