REUTERS – The yen fell to a two-year low against the dollar on Wednesday as Japan’s new prime minister called for weakening the currency to stimulate inflation, while U.S. stocks fell, led by declines in retailers’ shares. Sales growth at U.S. retailers was projected to have fallen short of expectations during the holiday shopping season, according to preliminary estimates from... 

This year’s fresh foreign direct investment (FDI) attraction has continued falling sharply compared to last year but additional capital poured into operational FDI projects has surged, said the Foreign Investment Agency (FIA) under the Ministry of Planning and Investment. FIA said in a recent report that the nation as of the middle of this month had attracted more than US$13 billion of FDI including... 

The stock market saw another seesaw session on Tuesday but a steady rise of some large caps helped the VN-Index close above the 400-point psychological level after staying below this line for over three months. Trading on the Hochiminh Stock Exchange (HOSE) was erratic as a number of mixed macroeconomic numbers came out throughout the day. Despite suffering some moments of the intra-session losing... 

While the Government’s draft resolution implies automobile registration fee reductions would start next year to support consumers and enterprises, there are concerns the fee will remain high and cause little positive impact on the gloomy auto market. According to this draft resolution, the proposed personal car ownership restriction fee will not be put into practice. The registration fee for... 

Overseas remittance to HCMC this year has reached US$4.1 billion, up 15% against 2011, most of which came from the U.S. and Europe. Nguyen Hoang Minh, deputy director of the central bank’s HCMC branch, said the higher amount of remittance will help stabilize the exchange rate next year. Last year, only 15% of remittance was sold to banks and the figure has surged to 34% this year, suggesting stronger... 

Viettel has asked the Ministry of Information and Communications for a license to provide cable TV service, said Nguyen Manh Hung, deputy general director of the military-run telecom firm. He was speaking at a review conference held by the information ministry in Hanoi this Monday. This is the first time Viettel has voiced its proposal for the cable TV service license since it applied in February. Deputy... 

Experts have warned farmers in the Mekong Delta should not expand the autumn-winter rice crop, saying losses will outweigh benefits in the long run. They were speaking at a seminar “Benefits and Costs of The Autumn-Winter Crop in The Mekong Delta” held in Can Tho City on Tuesday. Nguyen Huu Thien, an independent expert in ecology and natural systems in the delta, asked a lot of questions over... 

Vietnam’s five-year bonds gained by the most since May after the central bank reduced interest rates for THE sixth time this year to spur economic growth. The dong was little changed. The State Bank of Vietnam cut its refinancing rate to 9 percent from 10 percent with effect from Dec. 24, according to a statement on its website on Dec. 21. It lowered the discount rate to 7 percent from 8 percent.... 

Several Japanese investors have seen the slump in the securities market as an opportunity to buy stocks on the cheap in Vietnamese banks. Tokyo – Mitsubishi UFJ wants to buy 20 per cent of Vietinbank’s stakes in the first half of 2013 Big deals When Tokyo – Mitsubishi UFJ Bank announced plans to buy a stake in Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Industry and Trade (Vietinbank), a... 

Schweizer Electronic Singapore, a member of Germany’s Schweizer Electronic AG, will enter a joint venture with Meiko Electronics Hong Kong Company, a member of Japan’s Meiko Electronics Company, to set up  production of a printed circuit boards in Vietnam. “Both companies have agreed to build a common production line for the manufacturing of printed circuit boards dedicated to European customers...