Warning on $1 billion stimulus package

Business leaders say the government should focus its stimulus spending on improving infrastructure, such as ports

The government should carefully consider the use of a stimulus package of over US$1 billion that it plans to spend on spurring investment and consumption, analysts warn.

“With its limited funds, Vietnam should pinpoint the beneficiaries of the [...]

HCMC infrastructure projects powering on

Laborers working on the Calmette Bridge, which is part of the East-West Highway Project, Sunday afternoon

Work is continuing on two major Japan-funded infrastructure projects in the city, contrary to rumors sweeping the city that the projects had been halted by the suspension of Japanese aid loans to Vietnam.

Work was continuing on both [...]

World Bank calls on Vietnam to continue reforms

The Hai Van Tunnel in Da Nang, Vietnam’s first mountain pass, was built with construction assistance from Japan

World Bank Vice President James W. Adams Thursday called on the Vietnamese government to continue working on its reform agenda and assisting the nation’s poorest citizens.

At a biannual meeting of Vietnamese officials and representatives of [...]

Lives on the rock

Plagued by poor farming conditions and destitution, many members of the Ruc ethnic minority group in central Quang Binh Province have gone back to living in caves

The road leading into On Hamlet in Minh Hoa District’s Thuong Hoa Commune was rough and desolate, with few signs of life around.

As it opened into [...]

HCMC cracks whip on crack questions

The Ho Chi Minh City administration has demanded quick answers to what caused cracks in sections of a tunnel under construction and what can be done to fix them.

The 1.5-kilometer Thu Thiem Tunnel is part of the first package of the East-West Highway and HCMC Water Environment project, which began in 2005 [...]

Vietnam, Russia collaborate on archeological research

Russian and Vietnamese agencies launched an archeological research cooperation program by surveying Vietnam’s Cat Tien Archeological Site and visiting Lam Dong Museum over the last two days.

The activities were carried out by a group of archeologists from Russia’s Institute for the History of Material Culture and experts from Vietnam’s Southern Institute of Sustainable Development.
The group [...]

Russia, Vietnam sign deals on energy and alumina

Representatives of Russian gas giant Gazprom (C) and the Vietnamese government (L) shake hands at the Kremlin in Moscow Monday while Russian President Dmitry Medvedev (Background/R) and Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet look on.

Russian firms Gazprom and United Company RUSAL signed deals on Monday to participate in natural resources projects in Vietnam as the Kremlin [...]

Milk distributors sour on tardy gov’t responses

A young child stands in the dairy section of a Co.OpMart supermarket in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 1.

Local businesses are facing the tough challenge of winning back consumers’ confidence after many were driven away by the recent melamine scare.

With slowing sales and growing concerns that thousands of workers may be laid [...]