AP Moeller-Maersk's five-year contract to operate Iraq's southern port of Khor Al Zubair will end when the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority hands over power to Iraqi officials on June 30. AP Moeller-Maersk, the world's largest container carrier, won the contract last May. The Iraqi Port Authority will take control of the country's ports in July, Peter Bingham, an adviser to the transport ministry, said in a presentation in London.

Vietnam's economy will continue to grow despite challenges from the bird flu. In its East Asia update report released last week, the bank says regional recovery has been stronger than expected, with growth in East Asia predicted to grow from 5.7% in 2003 to 6.3% in 2004. The three fastest growing economies are China, with a growth of 9.7% last year, followed by Vietnam with 7.2% and Thailand with 6.7%.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) have agreed to end a US$425 million lending program for poverty reduction and economic growth.

Saigon Port-Tien Dat of Vietnam and the Korean team clinched the most important titles of this year's HCMC Television Cycling Cup, which wrapped up in the city yesterday.

The next negotiation round will be very significant for Vietnams completion of the process to join the World Trade Organization (WTO) by the end of 2005. WTO Deputy General Director Rufus H. Yerxa spoke to the mass media on his visit to Vietnam from April 5-8.

The Trade Promotion Department announced on April 6 that the New York trade center of Vietnam has just opened. Covering 300sq.m of the sixth floor of a building on West 26th Street, New York, the center consists of showrooms and offices

Viet Nam's largest telecommunications company - Viet Nam Post and Telecommunication Corporation (VNPT) will cut some of its telecom service charges as of May 1.

Ho Chi Minh City Planning and Investment Department's deputy head Luong Van Ly says starting from April 1, 2004 foreign investors can ...

World Trade Organization, WTO, former deputy general director Paul Henry Ravier during 1999-2002, came to Vietnam within the framework of the Vietnam-France cooperative program to support Vietnam joining the global integration process. Hereafter we present his some ideas about Vietnam's admission to WTO.

A sense of urgency is growing as time goes by and HCM looks for a start to its people-moving project