Hanoi will continue promotion efforts with trade and tourism initiatives to achieve its investment attraction strategies.

The summit aims to share best practices and promote cooperation among Vietnam's provinces and cities in building and developing smart cities.

The total transaction volume in the Jan-Sep period increased by 37.7% compared to the same period last year.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) warns the seafood inspection legislation the US Government is considering risk negatively affecting Vietnam’s seafood export businesses.

Deputy PM Hoang Trung Hai has asked the Electricity of Viet Nam (EVN) to ensure adequate power supply for the country from 2014.

Viet Nam is to overtake India to become the biggest exporter of cashew nuts in the world in 2013, maintaining the position for eight consecutive years.

The agro-forestry-fisheries sector has set a target of earning US$28.5 billion in this year’s export earnings including US$8.5 billion in trade surplus, up 3.63% over last year, said the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).

The fisheries sector plans to break into its potential markets such as the US, EU, Japan and South Africa to increase its exports.

Experts expect Vietnam to achieve 2013 GDP growth between 5.3–5.4% while keeping annual inflation to 6.2–6.3% but warn domestic production needs more time to make a complete recovery.

The Vietnamese manufacturing sector slowed down in November to a fractional pace as a fall in new orders broadly offset continued expansion of output and employment, according to HSBC Vietnam.

The Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) once again tops the list of the 500 largest enterprises in 2013.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MIT) forecasted that export turnover in 2013 may reach US$133.5 billion, up 16.6% compared to the year’s plan.

Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Market Department Deputy Head Le Viet Nga has revealed Vietnam’s export tea price is significantly lower than the average global price, attributing it to more than 90% of tea volumes being exported in the form of raw materials.

As of the end of November, the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) increased 5.6% compared to the same period last year, according to the General Statistics Office.

The 10th Conference of the ASEAN Council on Petroleum (ASCOPE) is underway in Ho Chi Minh City from November 28-30.

The Vietnam- Australian Northern Territory business forum aims to further enhance economic and trade links between Vietnamese and Australian businesses.

Despite market fluctuations and adverse weather, the agricultural sector’s export earnings rose 1.5% in the past 11 months to US$25.25 billion, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

A London based reporter of Vietnam News Agency on November 25 quoted the Economist Group’s Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) assessment on Vietnam’s promising prospects for economic growth in Vietnam.

Vietnam’s garment and textile exports to the Republic of Korea (RoK) fetched US$1.37 billion in the past ten months of 2013, up 49.2% compared to last year’s figure, according to the statistics of General Department of Customs.

Vietnam’s export figures for October were up by a healthy 12.8%, compared to the previous month, reaching a total revenue of US$12.61 billion. Imports rose by 11% to US$12.51 billion.

Vietnam will build a tra fish distribution establishment at Zeebrugge port in Belgium to facilitate its exports to the European market.

Vietnam shipped more than 30,700 tonnes of coffee to Mexico in the past 10 months, earning US$63 million or down 19% against the same period last year.

The Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) has announced the US recently overtook Japan to become the world’s biggest importer of Vietnamese shrimp.