The global economic slump has offered local property developers a chance to replace foreign players in large projects and begin dominating the market, analysts said. Many said Riviera Group’s withdrawal from a US$500 million five-star hotel project in Hanoi, one of the largest in the capital city, was a harbinger of the situation today. Following the announcement, a race began among local developers... 

Vietnamese rice businesses will increase their stockpiles by another 1 million tons in the first half of this year to support prices during a high-capacity winter-spring harvest. The association announced last week a plan to buy 600,000 tons in March and 400,000 tons in April for the stockpile. The government recently asked the Ministry of Finance to spend VND450 billion, or US$24 million, buying... 

Auto importers said they may have to raise retail prices as the General Customs Department has set higher minimum taxable prices for hundreds of imported car models. Taxable prices for all imported cars, both new and used, have been set between 2 and 20 percent higher than the end of last year, which can translate to an increase of up to thousands of US dollars. Any car priced under the minimum taxable...