Petrolimex, the country’s largest oil product importer, publicized its pricing data for the first time this week, but economists say the firm has still withheld some important figures. Le Dang Doanh, former director of the Central Institute of Economic Management, said the move was praiseworthy, but there was not enough transparency. For instance, components in the CIF (Cost, Insurance and Freight)... 

Vietnam’s banking credit is expanding at a very slow pace and it’s unlikely that it can help economy achieve its 6.5 percent growth target for the year, bankers say. Hanoi-based Techcombank said credit contracted in January. It began to pick up last month but progress was really slow. Nguyen Duc Vinh, general director of Techcombank, said as the global economy has not fully recovered yet, many... 

HCMC – HCMC Housing Development Bank (HDBank) has got approval from shareholders at the general meeting on Monday to more than double its chartered capital to VND3.5 trillion from the current VND1.55 trillion via a share issue. The capital increase will be done in two phases. In the first phase, HDBank will spur capital to VND2 trillion by issuing 45 million shares to existing shareholders at the... 

A representative of the Department for Trade Promotion says market share for Vietnamese products in Cambodia increased sharply in the first quarter of 2010. Tran Van Thi made the statement at a conference on ways to penetrate the Cambodian market held in Ho Chi Minh City on March 18. Over the past 3 years, the popularity of Vietnamese goods in Cambodia has grown by 40 percent. Aquatic products, steel... 

Subway, the US-based sandwich-shop chain, plans to open its first store in Vietnam in August and is targeting 25 shops throughout the country by 2015. “It would be reasonable to get to profitability fairly quickly and build a good foundation” for opening stores, co- founder Fred DeLuca told journalists in Ho Chi Minh City Monday. Within a year, Subway may have three stores in Vietnam, he said. Subway,... 

Two local wireless carriers Wednesday announced they will start selling the iPhone on March 26, ending speculation that they were not able to meet requirements by Apple Inc.. According to both Vinaphone and Viettel, they will distribute all three iPhone models –3G-8G, 3GS-16G and 3GS-32G. They said the prices will be attractive but did not provide more details. Ho Duc Thang, deputy general director... 

HCMC – Tien Len Steel Corporation Joint-Stock Company on Tuesday debuted on the Hochiminh Stock Exchange at VND34,700 per share, 16% higher than the reference price although the VN-Index crashed with 157 stocks falling. Unlike previous companies whose liquidity was very low on the first trading day, Tien Len stock coded TLH had high liquidity as over 1.7 million shares changed hands. Established...