PRESS DIGEST - Vietnam newspapers - Aug 13

Aug 13 (Reuters) - These are some of the leading stories in the official Vietnamese press on Monday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

FINANCIAL NEWS:
VIETNAM INVESTMENT REVIEW
- Several banks said they may have to cut their dividend ratio by half due to the poor profits this year.

LAO DONG
- The State Securities Commission, the stock market regulator, said it would accelerate the restructuring of the stock market after brokerages publish their financial statements and financial safety ratios in August.
- Exchange-traded funds may be charged 1 percent at the most for transactions in the primary market and 0.01 percent for trades in the secondary market, sa id a draft regulation of the State Securities Commission.
- As of July 26, Vietnam Construction and Import-Export Corp , or Vinaconex, had sold 8 million shares in Yen Binh Cement Co, cutting its ownership to 26 percent from 57.3 percent, the cement producer said.

ECONOMIC AND GENERAL NEWS:
VIETNAM NEWS
- Vietnam's private carrier VietJet Air said it plans to open its first international routes to South Korea and Japan by the end of this year.

TUOI TRE
- Companies with foreign investments have been boosting their funds to expand production and business in Vietnam while many domestic companies face business slowdown or bankruptcy due to the slowing economy.

THANH NIEN
- A circular stipulating a number of new fees for the feed industry could lead to the closure of many feed manufacturers, said Le Ba Lich, chairman of the Vietnam Feed Association.

THOI BAO KINH TE VIETNAM
- Three major fuel importers -- Petrolimex, Military Petroleum Co and Saigon Petro -- have sought the finance ministry's permission to raise retail fuel prices following a sharp rise in global markets, a finance ministry source said.

- The General Department of Taxation said it had granted 19.8 individual income tax accounts by the end of June.

($1=20,835 dong) (Reporting by Hanoi Newsroom; Editing by Sunil Nair)