Credit institutions headquartered in these financial centers will not be bound by restrictions on to foreign ownership or foreign investment conditions when providing services there or across borders.

Hanoi is advancing its efforts to integrate technology into urban management by expanding the pilot program for cashless parking payments throughout the city.

One of the key priorities for the banking sector is to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), as they generate a large number of jobs and contribute significantly to the economy.

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has flexibly managed the interest rate policy to suit the market and currency exchange demand and support businesses, stated SBV Deputy Governor Nguyen Thi Hong.

The General Department of Vietnam Customs held a ceremony to mark 70th founding anniversary (September 10) in Hanoi on July 14.

Most of credit institutions expect that deposit and lending interest rates will remain stable or decline slightly in the third quarter of 2015.

Hanoi People’s Committee has just approved a decision to issue bonds to mobilise resources for the municipal development in 2015.

According to the Vietnam Bank for Social Policy, the total capital of preferential loans, which were provided for 1.1 million clients, reached 23.8 trillion VND in the first half of this year.

Insurance shares continued driving the national market up, helping the VN Index approach the benchmark of 630 points on July 10. However, the index lost its growth during the last minutes as blue chips could not maintain their strong increases.

The market slumped on both bourses as the VN30 and HNX30 Indexes slid from their values in the previous session.

Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong witnessed the signing of four cooperation agreements totaling 507 million USD between Vietnam and the World Bank (WB) aiming to support Vietnam’s agricultural development, green transport and poverty reduction in Washington D.C., on July 9.

Insurance shares took the lead on the market on July 7 to drive the VN-Index on the HCM Stock Exchange to reach the benchmark of 630 points.

Joining the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) as a founding member, Vietnam will have certain rights, said Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) Nguyen Van Binh.

Minister of Finance Dinh Tien Dung, who will chair the upcoming investment promotion conference in the US on July 1, spoke with VIR about his expectations for a comprehensive and deeper partnership between Vietnam and the US in the finance sector.

According to the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), Vietnam`s credit growth rate increased by 6.09 % as of June 15 compared to the end of 2014 and nearly 19% from the same period last year. Vietnam recorded the highest credit growth rate in the past three years.

According to the Import-Export Duty Department under the General Department of Vietnam Customs at the recent meeting held in HCM City, the Circular 126/2014/TT-BTC, focused on the e-payment of export-import duties, has helped saved time and resources of businesses and State managerial agencies.

Some mid-sized commercial joint stock banks recently raised interest rates on short-term dong deposits amid rising credit demands.

The national stock market stabilised on June 10 and is expected to grow as market liquidity stayed high and cash flow into the market remained strong.

PetroVietnam Gas Joint Stock Corporation (ticker GAS), engaged in the oil and gas refining and marketing industry, was ranked number one on Forbes top 50 Vietnamese companies list.

The Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX) held 24 auctions of Government bonds gaining over 3.8 trillion VND in May.

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) will keep the fluctuation of the VND/USD exchange rate at a maximum of 2 percent in 2015, as set in its policy for the year, despite the fact that the rate has already been adjusted by 1 percent twice this year.

The Bank for Investment and Development Vietnam (BIDV) and the Mekong Housing Bank (MHB) signed the official merger agreement on May 25 in HCM Ctiy.

The banking system restructuring has resulted in positive changes, the most notable involving bad debts and interest rates.