Socialist Republic of Vietnam

HA NOI — The State Bank of Viet Nam will loosen regulations which restrict the use of Vietnamese dong by foreign banks to give small-and-medium-sized firms a better chance of obtaining loans, the bank’s governor Le Duc Thuy said last Sunday.

"The loosening will create competition on the credit market so that banking services will be improved," Thuy told young entrepreneurs getting Vietnamese golden star awards at a meeting in Ha Noi last weekend.

(08/26/2003)

Ha Noi, Aug. 26 (VNA) - Viet Nam's export value grew at 27.5 percent to 13.3 billion USD in the first eight months of this year, with the foreign-invested sector posting a 38.2 percent growth to nearly 6.7 billion USD and the domestic economic sector, 18.3 percent, said the General Statistics Office.

Coffee enjoyed the highest growing rate of 64.5 percent in export value, due to the hike in prices, while the volume of exports decreased by 6 percent year-on-year.

HA NOI — Viet Nam has sent its sympathies to the victims of a car bomb which tore through the United Nations’ headquarters in Baghdad on Tuesday.

"We were very shocked at the bomb attack on the UN headquarters in Iraq on August 19, causing huge losses in life and property, and we strongly condemn this violent action," Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ spokesman, Le Dung, said on Wednesday.