Roger Cranville, vice president for global marketing of the Pittsburgh Regional Alliance in the US, has encouraged US entrepreneurs to explore investment opportunities in Vietnam – a fast growing economy in Asia.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade will focus on helping businesses boost exports and overcome the economic recession, a top official said. Speaking on Thursday at a meeting held in HCM City, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Thanh Bien also urged other ministries and agencies to assist businesses in increasing exports of key products like garments, footwear, and agricultural and fishery items.

The Government will issue bonds denominated in US dollars to fund key national projects and help offset the State budget deficit, it was announced Friday. Decision 211/QD-TTg, signed by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, directs the Ministry of Finance to determine the amount of money to be raised in each phase of the bond issue, based on capital requirements.

An exchange rate policy, which leans towards the devaluation of the local currency against the dollar in accordance with the currency value decrease in the world, proves to be the best choice for Vietnam in 2009, experts say.

Dang Hung Vo, former deputy minister of Natural Resources and Environment, spoke with Kinh Te & Do Thi (Economy & Urban Affairs) newspaper about how to take advantage of foreign real estate investors.

The VN-Index dropped for four consecutive days last week, as investor worries deepened about increasingly gloomy economic conditions and the business prospects for listed companies.

Enterprises said that they still have a lot of things to worry about, even though they can enjoy a 4% interest rate subsidy.

The Government’s stimulus package will help strongly expand Viet Nam’s bond market this year, forecasts the latest edition of the Asian Development Bank’s Asia Bond Monitor.

The European Union is looking to sign a separate free trade agreement with Vietnam after experiencing a slow progress in negotiating a region-to-region free trade deal with ASEAN.

On September 25, banks took the first steps to slash lending interest rates as the central bank decided to keep the basic interest rate at 14% per annum and raise interest rates on compulsory reserves from 3.6% to 5%. Duong Thu Huong, Secretary General of the Vietnam Banking Association, talks about lending interest rates in the time to come.