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The Government has given the nod to halve the most-favored-nation (MFN) import tariff on unleaded gasoline to 10% from the current 20%.

The Spanish Embassy in Vietnam announced on August 8 that newly designed passports of Vietnam will be recognized in Spain as they contain essential information in accordance with international regulations.

South Korea’s Samsung has said it is planning to manufacture transistor grids and open a research and development (R&D) center in Vietnam.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has told the Ministry of Public Security to find ways to deal with the non-recognition of Vietnam’s newly-designed passports by three European Union countries.

Vietnam imported petroleum products worth US$5 billion the first half of the year, surging by 128% year on year.

Some 50 Indian firms are participating in the expos of four industries, coatings, rubber, paper and plastic, which began in HCMC on August 3, to seek business and investment opportunities in the city.

Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security has said it is considering adding the Place of Birth (POB) field to newly designed blue-violet passports after three European Union countries have declined to recognize these passports.

The Spanish Embassy has announced a temporary suspension on issuing Schengen visas to Vietnamese who hold new blue-violet passports due to the lack of the holder’s birthplace field in the passports.

Vietnam’s total import-export turnover of agricultural-forestry-fishery products in the year to July reached an estimated US$58.9 billion, up 7.2% against the same period last year, according to data from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Nguyen Manh Quan has been appointed as new general director of local carrier Bamboo Airways JSC, with effect from July 27, replacing Dang Tat Thang, according to the carrier’s announcement on July 29.

A mere 25% of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have gained access to formal credit, while many others are struggling with their poor financial situation.

Hanoi City received an estimated 10.62 million visitors between January and July, a year-on-year increase of 3.6-fold, fulfilling its target for the entire year, according to the municipal Department of Tourism.

During a working session at the Ben Thanh Station and Ba Son Station of the HCMC metro line No.1 on July 27, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh underlined the need to reduce administrative procedures while implementing the next ODA projects to speed up the pace.

Vietnam expects to phase out fossil fuel-powered vehicles by 2040 through steps to restrict and then stop manufacturing, assembling and importing vehicles running on fossil fuels and switching to electric vehicles.

Tran Van Du, former deputy head of the Immigration Department under the Ministry of Public Security, and five others have been detained for allegedly taking and giving bribes linked to the arrangement of Covid repatriation flights.

The HCMC health authority will tighten the screening of those traveling to the city by air or sea to early detect suspected monkeypox cases, as part of the city’s coping plan amid the spike in monkeypox infections in many countries, especially in Asia.

The Party secretary of Hoa Binh Province in northern Vietnam, Ngo Van Tuan, has been picked as deputy auditor general in charge of the State Audit of Vietnam (SAV), said a report on the news website of the National Assembly.

High inflation in the United States could impact Vietnamese textile and garment exporters although their shipments there in the first half of 2022 grew by 22% year-on-year to US$9.3 billion, accounting for over 50% of the country’s total apparel exports.

The country is seeing a surplus of 21.5 million Covid vaccine doses, the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology (NIHE) told a teleconference on the fight against Covid on July 21.

Domestic fuel retail prices were cut by some 10% at 3 p.m. on July 21, according to an announcement jointly issued by the ministries of Industry-Trade and Finance.

Local gold prices have fluctuated strongly over the past few days as global recession worries have kept investors from rushing to gold as a safe haven.

The installation of Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) systems on the HCMC-Long Thanh-Dau Giay expressway has been basically completed, paving the way for the start early next month of ETC lane operations on this oft-congested road.

Masan Group is set to spend VND3.5 trillion (US$149.5 million) developing a food industry center in Chau Thanh District in the Mekong Delta province of Hau Giang.

The nearly-US$2-billion Song Hau 1 thermo-power station was inaugurated on July 16, in the Mekong Delta province of Hau Giang.

Many commercial banks made hefty profits in the second quarter of the year.