The EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) is expected to create a breakthrough for timber and wooden products. Experts forecast about US$1 billion worth of timber to be exported to the EU annually by 2020, according to an official of the Vietnam Timber and Forest Association.

Trade development of the Cambodia-Laos-Việt Nam (CLV) Development Triangle Area remains modest and unsynchronised, failing to match the potential and the strategic co-operation between the three countries, participants were told at the 11th Trade and Tourism Promotion Forum of the CLV Development Triangle Area held in the southern province of Bình Phước on Monday.

The country’s cement surplus this year could be 30 million tonnes and reach 35 million tonnes by 2020 if Việt Nam does not export cement.

New strategies to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) must strengthen linkages with domestic enterprises as a lacuna that cannot be ignored anymore, experts say.

A three-day official friendly visit to Việt Nam by Bounnhang Volachith, the Lao Party general secretary and national president, which starts today, is expected to boost diplomatic and economic co-operation between the two sides and open new opportunities for Vietnamese investment in Laos.

Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc has urged the Mekong Delta region to improve logistics to increase fruit and vegetable exports to global markets.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) on Monday sold all of its 343.6 million shares or a 53.6 per cent stake of the Saigon Beer, Alcohol and Beverage Corporation (Sabeco), receiving an estimated VNĐ110 trillion (US$4.89 billion).

Shares advanced further towards the end of Monday’s afternoon session on solid investor confidence following the successful auction of brewer Sabeco’s shares, as well as strong recovery of major large-cap stocks.

The People’s Committee of Bến Tre has approved the proposal of Nexif Energy, an independent power producer in Asia and Australia, to develop a wind power project with 80MW capacity in the southern province.

The Vietnam National Coal and Mineral Industries Corporation (Vinacomin) signed a contract to supply alumina to Emirates Global Aluminum (EGA) from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from 2018-20.

The Việt Nam Construction and Machinery Installation Corp (Lilama) will withdraw 15 per cent of its capital at its affiliate, Lilama 45-1 Joint Stock Company.

Remittance inflows to HCM City in the 11 months of this year reached US$4.55 billion, Nguyễn Hoàng Minh, deputy director of the State Bank of Việt Nam’s HCM City branch, said.

Huy Long An Limited Company and Japan’s Sawai Ranch on Sunday signed an agreement for cooperation in Japanese-style Waguy cow farming in southern Long An Province’s Đức Huệ District.

Vietnamese shares are expected to move marginally in the last two trading weeks of 2017 as investors take a rest, however the selling of brewer Sabeco shares should give a short boost to the market.

According to the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA), Việt Nam will have to cut 669 tariff lines to zero per cent in January 2018.

Rice products will be certified under the “Vietnam Rice” national brand if they are produced in accordance with VietGAP or GlobalGAP standards -- good agricultural practices to produce clean and safe farm products.

The central city of  Đà Nẵng has called for VNĐ1.5 trillion (US$66.3 million) investment in five high-tech farms to create a centre of hi-tech-farming in the central and central highlands region.

A huge potential exists in the country for start-ups that find innovative solutions for existing problems, and young people must be the game changers for this to happen.