Current Events
· Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung met with voters in the port city of Hai Phong (All dailies).
· Activities to mark Laos ’ traditional Bunpimay New Year festival (Nhan dan, page 1).
· A delegation of the Communist Party of China visited Vietnam (Saigon Giai phong, page 1).
· The first ASEM Energy Security Policy Forum: an opportunity for cooperation to ensure energy security (Hanoi Moi and Saigon Giai phong, page 8).
Socio-economic Affairs
· Vietnam Investment Forum was held in the US (Nhan dan, page 8).
· EU should not exclude the Vietnamese footwear industry from the Generalised System of Preferences (Nhan dan, Quan doi Nhan dan and Saigon Giai phong, page 8).
· The Government to issue 14 trillion VND in bonds for the healthcare sector (Nhan dan, page 1).
· Tens of thousands of drug addicts have been helped to kick their bad habit and get jobs (Nhan dan, page 1).
· Vinasat-1 satellite to be launched into the orbit on April 19 (Hanoi Moi, page 1).
· Investment for the upgrade of 621 hospitals (Quan doi, page 1).
· The Netherlands Agritera organisation granted 30,000 euros to support agriculture-driven cooperatives (Lao dong, page 3).
· Revisions of and supplements to the Laws on Value Added Tax and the Corporation Tax leave no impact to production, business and investment activities (Hanoi Moi, page 1).
· Prices of imported cars are all increasing (Cong Thuong [Industry and Trade], No. 4, page 10). Car importers launched a new price rise on a large scale in early April, the move, as market forecasters said, is just a kick-start as the demand is still growing. In the context when the Government is taking drastic measures to curb inflation and narrow the trade deficit gap, there will be tougher treatments to imported automobiles.
· Lending interest rates begin to cool down (Thoi bao Ngan hang [Banking review], No. 44, page 3).
· Investment capital for agriculture and rural areas (Thoi bao Ngan hang, No. 44, page 5). Economists appreciated the State Bank of Vietnam ’s recent moves as active in curbing inflation, promoting the sustainable growth of the banking system and improving credit quality. As a result, capital pumped into the rural area in the first quarter rose 8.8 percent, giving farmers more chances to expand production.
· Managing monetary market - necessary steps (Thoi bao Kinh te Vietnam [Vietnam Economic Time], No. 88, page 3). An interview with Le Xuan Nghia, Head of the State Bank of Vietnam ’s Strategy Department.
· IFC offered financial assistance to Vietnamese small and medium-sized enterprises (Thoi bao Kinh te Vietnam , No. 88, page 4). The IFC provided the Vietnam Bank for Techno-Commerce (Techcombank) with a 20 million USD (320 billion VND) loan to support small and medium-sized enterprises.
· Accelerating exports after WTO entry: export lines need to be restructured (Thoi bao Kinh te Vietnam , No. 88, page 6).
· Bank joins hands in reigning inflation. The bank for investment and development launched a new action programme (Thoi bao Kinh te Vietnam , No. 88, page 8).
· Petrolimex is working on a project to build a 2 billion USD oil refinery (Dau tu [Investment], No. 44, page 1).
· Issuance of shares is heating up (Dau tu, No. 44, page 6). Many enterprises have issued shares inappropriate to regulations. The public holds that punishments for those enterprises are not tough enough.
· Property developers are racing to erect high-rise buildings in central Da Nang city (Dau tu, No. 44, page 11). The race to build high-rise buildings in Da Nang has never been as hectic as it is at present though the demand remains low.
· Foreigners’ ownership of houses in Vietnam : more customers will seek high-end apartments (Thanh nien [Young people], No. 102, page 4). The National Assembly’s Economic Committee on April 10 met with the Construction Ministry to appraise a housing plan policy for foreigners in Vietnam .
· A wave of films made by overseas Vietnamese (Thanh nien, No. 102, page 15). Many overseas Vietnamese film makers have been preparing to produce new films following the success of a series of films shot by their peers.
· Housing prices to go down day after day (Tuoi tre [Youth], No. 96, page 1). Though prices of housing in “hotspots” in Ho Chi Minh City dropped between 10-40 percent, people showed indifference.
International Affairs
· Italy exerted great efforts to get out of crisis (Nhan dan, page 4).
· G-7 combats globally financial crisis (Nhan dan, page 8).
· The US appoints first Ambassador to ASEAN (Hanoi Moi, page 8).
· The six-party talks on nuclear issue on the Korea peninsula re-start (Hanoi Moi, page 8).
· The US and China have for the first time established a military hotline (Quan doi Nhan dan, page 8).
· The US President orders halt in withdrawing troops from Iraq (Saigon Giai phong, page 8).-Enditem
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