Vietnamese shares soared on Thursday as investors flocked to pour money into the HCM Stock Exchange (HOSE) after a two-day halt in operations following a technical crash.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade has warned that businesses must carefully verify information on their business partners from the US before making deposits and payments or doing business as some cases of fraud have been reported recently.

The pepper industry plans to reduce the area under the spice and focus instead on improving quality to ensure long-term growth, a seminar heard in HCM City yesterday.

Economic experts have warned of challenges facing Việt Nam in 2018 which may cut the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate to 6.58 per cent, lower than the previous year’s figure, at a conference held in Hà Nội yesterday.

The Việt Nam - Singapore Industrial Park (VSIP) in Nghệ An has attracted 12 investors with total committed investment of VNĐ860 billion (US$38 million) since construction began in 2016.

The deal was approved by Techcombank’s board of directors on May 22, 2017. At that time, the financial term of the deal was estimated at dozens of millions of US dollars.

The Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development of Việt Nam (Agribank) and the Republic of Korea (RoK)’s NongHyup Bank (NHB) on Tuesday officially launched the service of transferring money without using bank account.

The State Bank of Việt Nam has asked credit institutions and branches of foreign banks to give priority to production and business while lending.

The shutdown of the HCM Stock Exchange (HOSE) on January 22 was the result of errors occurring in the order-matching engine software, HOSE deputy general director Lê Hải Trà said.

The Netherlands has emerged as Việt Nam’s largest importer in the European Union (EU), with an annual export growth rate of 18-25 per cent in recent years.

VNPT Group will restructure for equitisation this year to implement Decision 2129/QĐ-TTg on the group’s restructuring during the 2018-2020 period.

The State Bank of Việt Nam (SBV) will deal strictly with credit institutions if people cannot withdraw money from their ATM in the months approaching Tết (Lunar New Year) holiday.

The HCM City customs department aims to cut the time it takes for clearing goods by half by the end of this year, Đinh Ngọc Thắng, its deputy head, told the media on the sidelines of a meeting with American businesses on Wednesday.

The State Bank of Việt Nam (SBV) is drafting the National Financial Inclusion Strategies (NFIS) to increase the ratio of people and firms with access to formal financial services.

Growth prospects for Việt Nam this year are bolstered by strong domestic demand and prospects of a global economic revival.  However, protectionism, fiscal deficit, public debt and low productivity raise questions about a possible middle-income trap - and the means to overcome it. Sebastian Eckardt, the World Bank’s leading economist in Việt Nam, speaks to Việt Nam News reporter Phương Uyên on the country’s medium-term economic progress.

The Mekong Delta City of Cần Thơ’s Trade and Investment Promotion Centre plans to promote investment in the Việt Nam – Japan Industrial Park this year, according to Nguyễn Khánh Tùng, director of the centre.

Prudential Plc on Tuesday announced that it had reached an agreement to sell 100 per cent of its Prudential Vietnam Finance Company (PVFC) to Shinhan Card Co Ltd, a subsidiary of the Shinhan Financial Group (Shinhan), at a cost of US$151 million.

The three-day event will witness the participation of nearly 100 businesses, including those from foreign countries with developed maritime industries, such as Japan, South Korea, Singapore and China, as well as India, Germany, the US, Norway and the Netherlands.