Business

Vietnam has become the first Southeast Asian country to sign a free trade agreement (FTA) with Israel, which will remove duties on at least 86% of Vietnamese products. The Vietnam-Israel Free Trade Agreement, signed on Tuesday on the occasion of Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang officially visiting Israel, entails …

Vietnamese carriers have to keep flying to international destinations despite low demand if they are to retain airport slots for next year, Vietnam Airlines deputy CEO Trinh Ngoc Thanh has said. The number of international flights to and from Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City have increased though demand is …

Vietnam’s benchmark VN-Index rose 0.44% to 1195.9 points Tuesday in its third rising session. The index closed 5.18 points higher after gaining 4.82 points on Monday. It remains at the highest since September. Trading on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) increased by 0.50% to VND20.14 trillion ($851.06 million). …

Vietnam exported 153,000 tons of pepper worth US$483 million in the first half of this year, up 24% in volume but down 13.7% in value year-on-year. The average price stood at $3,184 per ton, a decrease of 29.7% from a year earlier, due to weaker global demand, according to the …

SJC gold price rose 0.07% to VND67.25 million ($2,839.41) per tael Tuesday morning, highest since July 15. Gold ring price dropped 0.09% to VND56.95 million per tael. A tael equals 37.5 grams or 1.2 ounces. Globally gold prices struggled for direction in early Asian trading on Tuesday as traders braced …

Four Vietnamese companies could lose five containers of spices and cashew worth US$517,000 they shipped to Dubai under what seem mysterious circumstances. They had sold pepper, cashew, cinnamon, and anise to Bab Al Rehab Foodstuff Trading Llc, according to the Vietnam Pepper Association. But four of the containers have been …

With the reduction in interest rates, international credit rating agency Fitch Ratings believed the credit and liquidity risks of Vietnam’s real estate have passed their peak. Fitch Ratings said the Vietnamese Government’s commitment to curbing the financial bubble in the real estate sector is a positive factor creating stability for …

The decline in pangasius fish exports has started to reverse, according to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers. Exports to mainland China and Hong were worth US$48 million in June, down 15% from the same period last year. They had declined by 66% and 30% in April and …

Vietnam-based fintech startup GIMO, which seeks to provide flexible salary payments to blue-collar workers, has completed its Series A funding round, raising $17.1 million. The final closing, comprised of a mixture of equity and debt financing, is led by venture fund TNB Aura, with participation from the company’s existing backers …

Vietnam’s retail market is seeing signs of recovery, and industry insiders are expecting a boom in sales in the remaining months of this year. Rice and cereal retailer Que Viet last month received 9,200 orders in an online flash sale campaign on June 6, nearly eight times what it gets …