Market and product

HA NOI — Adjusted for inflation, retail sales value grew just 3.9 per cent in the first nine months of the year, a significantly slowing from the 15.4-per-cent pace of growth in the same period a year earlier, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).

Trade in retail goods and services reached a total value nationwide of nearly US$67 billion.

Consumer demand was a quarter of what it was last year, mostly because of the increasing prices of goods and services, said a senior expert from the GSO's trade department, Vu Manh Ha, noting that cumulative inflation in the first nine months of the year exceeded 18 per cent, compared to just 6.46 per cent in the same period a year ago.

US-Viet Nam friendship branches out

HCM CITY — An opening ceremony was held last Friday for a new branch at the HCM City-headquartered CT Group of the American-Vietnamese Friendship Association.

Tran Kim Chung, the group' chairman and head of the friendship branch, said he would promote exchanges and co-operation in areas such as cultural, education, healthcare, science and the economy.

"We will soon organise activities with American businesses in Viet Nam and Viet Nam business missions to the US to look for business partnerships," he said.

Da Lat trademarks vegetables

LAM DONG — The People's Committee of Da Lat City announced last Friday that a trademark had been granted for vegetables grown in the city and neighbouring districts.

The districts are Duc Trong, Don Duong and Lac Duong in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong. Lam Dong has several vegetable growing areas with a total area of over 40,000 ha, providing 1,260 million tonnes of vegetables per year.

Forty per cent of the vegetable-growing areas have applied environmentally safe cultivation.

The city authorities provided the first certificates for using the Da Lat Vegetable trademark to 10 businesses.

Property to be sold on slow market

HCM CITY — Medium-priced property projects will be put up for sale even though the real estate market remains sluggish.

Experts said the medium-priced segment, ranging from VND300-500 million (US$14,300-23,800), especially in Dong Nai Province, would continue to attract customers who had been interested previously.

Phu Tin House Trading and Building JSC put its residential area project with 116 land lots on sale on Saturday. — VNS