A government ministry in Vietnam is starting a pilot project to revive the export of puffer fish, known for its toxic skin and internal organs, after a ban of six years, according to The Vietnam News, an official newspaper in English. The goal of the project is to produce 800 to 1,000 tons of products worth up to USD10 million by the end of 2012. In 2003, the government prohibited the processing, trade and use of puffer fish because of a high number of poisoning cases.

Vietnam’s trade deficit in the first 11 months of the year reached USD10.2 billion, down 58.6% from the same period last year, a state newspaper reported on Thursday, citing government data. Exports fell 11.4% from the same period last year to USD51.4 billion, while imports dropped almost 18 percent to USD61.6 billion, the Vietnam News reported. Vietnam exported 12.6 million tons of crude oil during the period, an increase of 3.1% year-on-year, but earnings decreased 41.7% to USD5 billion due to lower global oil prices, the newspaper said. Petrol imports fell 45.3% compared with the 11-month period last year to USD5.75 billion, it said. The General Statistics Office, quoted throughout the story, has not officially released November’s figures yet. In October, the stats office reported the 10-month trade deficit to be USD8.78 billion.

The nation’s first oil refinery has turned out 803,387 tonnes of products since it started trial operation in August, according to the Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam). The refinery had to temporarily shut down on August 18 as a broken valve was discovered in the residue fluid continuous cracking apparatus (RFCC), which makes gasoline and other products. It resumed operation on October 1, 2009. The plant is scheduled to finish its test-run in November 2009 and be transferred to its investor no later than early January 2010. Dung Quat refinery is designed to provide each year 110,000 tons of propylene, 300,000 tons of liquid gas, 1.9 million tons of different kinds of fuel, 410,000 tons of J-A1 aviation oil, 3 million tons of diesel oil, and 330,000 tons of fuel oil (FO).

An international trade fair to showcase Vietnamese and Myanmar products wrapped up in Rangoon, Myanmar, on Dec. 22, after drawing over 60 businesses from the two countries. The four-day event was part of a trade promotion campaign launched by Vietnam and also the first international trade fair ever held in Myanmar in the past four years. Vietnamese businesses brought products to show off their strengths, ranging from farming machines to fertilizers, and electronics and electrical appliances, rubber products, consumer goods and stationery. In the framework of the trade fair, the two sides held a business forum with the participation of over 200 businesses from the two countries as evidence of a keen interest from business circles in the opportunities for trade and investments in each other’s markets. Vietnam and Myanmar have made remarkable progress in trade over the past years, recording USD108 million in two-way trade revenue in 2008 against just USD2.5 million in 2002.

Vietnam Telecom International (VTI) has selected Squire Technologies for large scale SS7 Media Gateway deployment. Working closely with their Vietnamese partners ONE Communication Technology Corporation (ONE CORP.), Squire Technologies were successfully chosen from a number of vendors to provide their flagship SVI-MG 8000 product to expand their cutting edge IP Network. After an extensive trial the SVI-MG 8000 was chosen as the best product solution for VTI to increase and expand their international VoIP traffic, as a replacement for the small scale existing system.

The Saigon Asset Management Fund Joint Stock Co (SAM) has signed a cooperation contract with RNG, a domestic fund management company to set up a foreign investment fund. The foreign investment fund is expected to have a total value of 100 million USD intended for real estate projects. SAM and RNG are expected to invite well-known investors, consultants, senior experts and managers from leading companies at home and abroad to participate in the fund, which aims to find investment opportunities brought about by the recovery of Vietnam’s economy. They plan to meet foreign investors in the US, Europe and Asia in early 2010.

Foreign investors were net buyers of VND221.4 billion (USD12.4 million) of Vietnamese stocks out of a total VND3 trillion traded Wednesday, the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange said. Volume traded totaled 67 million shares, with foreigners accounting for 9.5% of that amount, the stock market operator said. In the month to date, foreign investors have been net buyers of VND658.4 billion of Vietnamese stocks.

Rabobank forecasted that the price of robusta coffee may fall another 10% on the speculation about more supply from Vietnam, the world’s biggest grower of the bean. Mr. Doug Whitehead, Rabobank analyst, forecasted that price of robusta coffee may fall another 10%. However, the price floor may not be far away as a surplus of the beans expected to narrow to 2 million bags in the current season from 4.9 million bags a year earlier. Robusta is used in instant coffee and espresso, while the milder Arabica variety is favored for specially beverages. According to Rabobank, prices may find support as roasters seek fresh beans from new harvests in Vietnam and Uganda. Traditionally Vietnamese exports ramp up after the Chinese New Year. The bank forecasted that demand will rise by 1.9% in the next season.