The Aeon Co. (Malaysia) Bhd, a subsidiary of Japan’s second largest retailer - AEON Co. Ltd is eyeing Vietnam as a potential retail market. AEON Malaysia Managing Director Naghahisa Oyama said his company is considering plans to invest in Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia and Laos. He said he is entrusted to seek potential partners and locations in Vietnam and to complete a report on the market in October. However, he added, the investment plan is likely to start in 2011. According to Oyama, the AEON group will give Vietnam first priority and Ho Chi Minh City is seen as the most promising location, followed by Hanoi.

Vietnam’s trade deficit in the first nine months of this year is estimated to have fallen 58.8% from the same period last year to USD6.5 billion, the government said in a statement. The Planning and Investment Ministry estimated January to September exports fell 14.3% to USD41.7 billion and imports fell 25.3% to USD48.2 billion, the statement said. The report did not provide any further breakdown. The government statistics office is expected to release full trade data later in the month. The Industry and Trade Ministry has forecast the trade deficit would drop to USD11 billion this year from $18 billion in 2008. The Planning and Investment Ministry also estimated September’s industrial output rose 12.5% from the same month last year to 62.56 trillion dong, while the value for the first nine months jumped 6.5%.

Some 60 Vietnamese companies will be able to export catfish to Brazil after passing inspections, Tuoi Tre newspaper reported, citing Duong Ngoc Minh, head of Vietnam’s steering committee for catfish exports. The decision followed the Latin American country’s inspection of the industry’s farming and food hygiene practices, the report said. Brazil plans to buy about 40,000 metric tons of catfish per year from Vietnam, Minh said, according to the report.

The Vietnamese government will provide VND51 billion (USD2.8 million) to promote domestic trade amid the global economic downturn, Vietnam News reported. The package, which will start next month, will provide support to companies involved in research and development, distribution and trade fairs, the report said, citing Vo Van Quyen, deputy director of the Domestic Market Department at the Ministry of Trade and Industry. The stimulus program will target 10 cities and provinces for a year before being reassessed, the report said.

Russian equipment supplier JSC Power Machines has been awarded a contract to deliver key equipment for the reconstruction of a hydropower unit at the Thac Ba project in Vietnam. The USD2.5 million contract calls for the manufacture and delivery of a new stator system for the 42-MW generator. Power Machines also will supervise the installation. The equipment will be delivered in the second quarter of 2010 and the installation is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2011, the company said. Power Machines said it is involved in several hydropower projects in Vietnam, including Pleykrong, A Vuong and Buon Kuop. The company also is supplying equipment for the 750-MW La Yesca project in Mexico.

VietinBank will lend Vietnam Oil & Gas Group USD220 million to finance a fertilizer plant in the south of the country, a newspaper said, citing an agreement between the two companies. The USD900-million plant in Ca Mau, with an annual capacity of 800,000 metric tons, is expected to be operational in the second quarter of 2012, according to the newspaper. Vietnam Oil & Gas, known as PetroVietnam, has a 30 percent stake in the plant, Thoi Bao said.

Foreign investors were net sellers of VND404.9 billion (USD22.7 million) of Vietnamese stocks Thursday out of a total VND3.87 trillion traded, the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange said. Volume traded totaled 72.7 million shares, with foreigners accounting for 10.8% of that volume, the stock market operator said. Foreign investors have been net sellers for 14 straight sessions. In the month to date, they have been net sellers of VND1.72 trillion of Vietnamese stocks.

The Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank) has been awarded the title of 2009 Best Vietnamese Bank for a series of its trade finance activities by the AsiaMoney magazine. This is the third consecutive year, Vietcombank has made it to the top at the AsiaMoney magazine’s selection. Vietcombank said that it is the only Vietnamese bank to win six prizes from AsiaMoney this year. The award ceremony was held in Hong Kong on September 24. Vietcombank also won the prizes for the best provider of foreign currency services, the best trader on foreign currencies in the 2006-2008 period, and the best cash management. Besides, Vietcombank was recognized as the best bank for its creative ideas in foreign currency services, the best intermediator in the trade of foreign currencies and the bank owning the best online trading background.

The 8^th Vietnam Saigon Oil and Gas Expo 2009 will be held in Ho Chi Minh’s new Saigon Exhibition and Convention Centre (SECC) from October 29-31, 2009. The 8^th Vietnam Saigon Oil and Gas Expo 2009 is a premier international exhibition endorsed by the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Vietnam, which will be held in Ho Chi Minh’s new Saigon Exhibition and Convention Centre (SECC) from October 29-31, 2009. This 3-day event is especially focusing on information and technical services, finance, and the upstream and downstream sectors.

Minh Phu Seafood Joint-Stock Co. climbed to the highest in 19 months in Ho Chi Minh trading after a local fund said it would increase its stake. The shares rose by the daily limit of 5 percent, to VND35,900, the highest since Feb. 26, 2008, at 10:13 a.m. local time Friday on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange. The benchmark VN Index added 1.1%. Vietnam Investment Fund, part of Hanoi-based BIDV-Vietnam Partners Investment Management Joint Venture Co., will boost its holding in Minh Phu to 7% by buying 990,000 shares by March 28, the company said in a statement on the exchange’s website. The fund currently has a 5.6% stake. Minh Phu, based in the Mekong delta province of Ca Mau, had exports of almost $91 million in the eight months ended August, according to a statement on its website posted after the market closed Thursday. It didn’t provide any comparative figures.