As road transport grows more costly, businesses are wringing their hands because of the lack of alternatives. The movement of goods by railways and waterways, they say, still offer no viable competition to land transport.

Vietnamese e-commerce sales are expected to hit more than US$4 billion in 2015, thanks to growing internet users, reports the Viet Nam E-commerce and Information Technology Agency (VECITA)

Vietnam’s agreement to provide 800,000 tons of rice to the Philippines will help raise the domestic price of the product, which should allow farmers to make higher profits, and help regain the Chinese market.

A credit package worth VND120 trillion (US$5.7 billion) would help develop the local property market, said Phan Thanh Mai, general director of the Viet Nam Bank for Construction (VNBC).

Undaunted investors are pushing ahead with their casino projects, notwithstanding the chilly reception they’ve encountered, nor their awareness that casino doors, once open, will have to bar the largest segment of the population – native Vietnamese.

A number of foreign investors, seeing bright opportunities springing from the free trade agreements expected to be signed in the near future, have jumped into the Vietnamese retail market to develop convenience stores.