Business

Foreign experts say that restrictive visa policy and poor quality of tourism services are the biggest obstacles stopping foreign tourists from returning to Vietnam. Martin Koerner, chairman of EuroCham Vietnam’s Tourism and Hospitality Sector Committee, told at a tourism conference Wednesday that Vietnam’s visa policy remains complicated and restrictive compared …

Vietnam’s benchmark VN-Index rose 0.44% to 1,045.1 points Thursday, its third consecutive day in the green. The index closed 4.56 points higher after gaining 8.11 points on Wednesday. Trading on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) fell by 9.93% to VND7.79 trillion ($331.49 million). The VN-30 basket, comprising the …

Foreign investors can buy up to a 28% stake in PGBank when its largest shareholder Petrolimex divests from the lender. PGBank temporarily capped its foreign ownership of 2% to support fuel distributor Petrolimex in finding buyers. After Petrolimex completes the procedures to sell its stake in PGBank, the bank will …

Nearly 2,700 stalls at An Dong Plaza in Ho Chi Minh City closed their doors on Wednesday as vendors demanded free rent for the year amid plunging sales. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, thousands of customers came to the mall in District 5 every day. However, only 100-300 shoppers show up …

The U.S. dollar plunged against the Vietnamese dong on the black market Thursday morning. Unofficial exchange points sold the greenback at VND23,570, down 0.46% from Wednesday. Most banks, however, kept the dollar unchanged. Vietcombank maintained the dollar at VND23,690. Eximbank sold the greenback at VND23,740, and Techcombank VND23,690. The State …

SJC gold price gained 0.37% to VND67.4 million ($2,866.56) per tael Thursday morning. Gold ring price rose 0.63% to VND55.85 million per tael. A tael equals 37.5 grams or 1.2 ounces. Globally gold prices edged higher on Thursday after the U.S. Federal Reserve raised interest rates by an expected 25 …

Ratings agency Moody’s Investors Service has downgraded the long-term deposit and issuer ratings of private lender Techcombank because of its high exposure to the struggling property sector. Its currency deposit and issuer ratings were lowered from Ba2 to Ba3, the same level as several other banks in Vietnam. Its outlook …

Vietnamese 5% broken rice has been the most expensive in the world since August last year, surpassing rivals Thailand and India, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade. In the first two months this year Vietnam’s average rice price was over $519 per ton. Since August last year, it …

Vietnam’s major manufacturers have raised steel prices to a 7-month high despite plunging demand. On Tuesday, Hoa Phat Group hiked its prices for rebar steel by 0.95% to VND15.99 million ($678.55) per ton. Local steelmakers Viet Y, Viet Duc, Kyoei and Viet My all made similar adjustments, while Pomina’s price …

A large delegation of big U.S. businesses – including Boeing, Meta and SpaceX – has said it regards Vietnam as a strategic market and supports the government’s digital and green transformation goals. At a Wednesday meeting between Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and the delegation of the U.S.-ASEAN Business Council …