These are some of the leading stories in the official Vietnamese press on Friday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
FINANCIAL NEWS:
TUOI TRE
- Vingroup said it has issued $115 million worth of convertible bonds on international markets at an annual coupon of 5 percent.
THOI BAO KINH TE VIETNAM
- Vietnam banking system's bad debt reached 10 percent of its total loans by June, accounting for 92.1 percent of the combined equity, the central bank's data showed.
ECONOMIC AND GENERAL NEWS:
LAO DONG
- The Vietnam Lawyers Association said it strongly protested China National Offshore Oil Corporation's invitation for international tenders of nine oil and gas blocks lying in Vietnam's sovereignty. The association asked the Chinese firm to cancel the plan and abide by the 1982 United Nations Convention on Sea Law.
TUOI TRE
- The Finance Ministry said it has set the production cost at 3,524-4,540 dong (16.8-21.7 U.S. cents) per kg for summer-autumn paddy harvest in the Mekong Delta region, asking businesses and individuals to abide by that level when stockpiling.
DAU TU
- Bridgestone Corp, the world's biggest tyre maker, said it will start the construction of a car tyre factory worth $570 million in the northern port city of Haiphong, which is expected to begin production in 2014.
- The partial privatisation of state-owned enterprises has been behind schedule because of the government's regulation that state firms may not sell the stakes at a lower price than the book value, said Dinh Quang Tri, deputy chief executive of state utility Vietnam Electricity.
($1=20,870 dong)
