An increasing number of Japanese firms are interested in investing in Việt Nam, particularly in the agriculture sector, Tanoi Masahiko of Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said at a meeting on Tuesday.

Vietnamese shares extended gains yesterday, driven by the banking sector on expectations that lower short-term deposit rates would boost lending for the economy and local businesses.

Stricter punishments were essential to prevent fake and poor-quality fertilizers which were now rampant and alarming in Việt Nam.

For the first time ever, the list of national Public Private Partnership projects in the 2016 - 2020 period was submitted to the Government late last week by the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

The Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta city of Cần Thơ has implemented measures like improving infrastructure and offering investment incentives to attract more investors, especially to its industrial parks.

Vietnamese firms were once again urged to pay special attention to improving product quality to utilise opportunities under the free trade agreement (FTA) with the European Union (EU).

Việt Nam plans to launch a new commodity exchange in the fourth quarter of this year, according to a Memorandum of Understanding signed between the Singapore-listed logistics firm Straits Financial Group and the Việt Nam Commodities Exchange (VNX).

Vietnamese shares continued to rise yesterday, driven by large-cap stocks while investor confidence in local companies was bolstered by good prospects of higher quarterly performances.

As a result of contractions in the agriculture and mining sectors in the first half of the year, the Asian Development Outlook Update 2016 forecast a downward revision in Việt Nam’s economic growth to six per cent in 2016 and 6.3 per cent in 2017, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said in a flagship report released yesterday.

The Bình Sơn Refining and Petrochemical Co Ltd earned nearly VNĐ1.04 trillion (US$46.22 million) in profits in the first nine months of this year.

Việt Nam News spoke to Dharmendra N. Choudhary, who is counsel to CS Wind Vietnam, about the recent victory by the company in its appeal before the US Court of Appeals for Federal Circuit (CAFC). Mr. Choudhary is a widely acclaimed surrogate value expert. Excerpts from the interview.

Việt Nam’s agro-forestry-fisheries exports fetched an estimated US$2.5 billion in September, lifting the total nine-month turnover to $23.3 billion, up six per cent year-on-year

Commercial banks in the central city yesterday committed to set aside VNĐ150 trillion (US$6.7 billion) as a credit support package.

Việt Nam’s growing retail market has attracted the attention of foreign retailers. A series of famous retailers from Japan, Thailand, Korea and France have flocked to the country, hoping to penetrate the market, the recent JLL Việt Nam’s report said.

Hà Nội will host the third ASEAN Broker Networking event in October, which is expected to lure investment for the country’s stock market.

Thailand has proposed the imposition of anti-dumping duty at a maximum of 40.49 per cent on Việt Nam’s steel products imported into the country.

The customs sector can’t reform or develop effectively without comprehensive measures and co-operation from business and other sectors, a meeting heard yesterday.

Local exporters, freight forwarding firms and seaports are calling for Government support to ease the effects of the bankruptcy filed by South Korea’s Hanjin Shipping Global (HJS), the world’s seventh-largest container carrier.