PRESS DIGEST - Vietnam newspapers - June 19

June 19, 2012
(Reuters) - These are some of the leading stories in the official Vietnamese press on Tuesday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

FINANCIAL NEWS:

THOI BAO KINH TE VIETNAM
- The central bank should float the short-term deposit rate in addition to the long-term rate instead of capping it at 9 percent to prevent banks from raising long-term deposit rates, which ultimately results in high lending rates, analysts said.

THANH NIEN
- The central bank's branch in Ho Chi Minh City is considering to convert non-SJC gold bullion into SJC bar to efficiently manage the gold market, Nguyen Hoang Minh, deputy head of the branch, said.

ECONOMIC AND GENERAL NEWS:

VIETNAM NEWS
- The Ministry of Construction said it plans to partly privatise eight state-owned construction companies by 2015, bringing the state ownership to 65 percent.

- Agricultural officials said they would step up checks on China-grown apples imported to the country, following media reports about tainted apples.

QUAN DOI NHAN DAN
- The consortium of Japanese constructors of Vietnam's Ninh Thuan nuclear power plant will introduce the technology and models they plan to use for the facility at an exhibition in Hanoi between June 27-29, the exhibition organisers said.

LAO DONG
- Vietnam imported 11,900 cars in the first five months this year, valued at $235 million, down 55 percent from a year ago in terms of volume and falling 53.6 percent in terms of value, said Vietnam Customs.

TUOI TRE
- Vietnam's cement output is expected to reach 139.34 million tonnes by 2030, while its demand is estimated at 113-115 million tonnes, according to the industry's master plan.

- Hanoi authority has approved a plan to allocate 376 billion dong ($19.98 million) for businesses to stockpile essential goods to stabilise prices.

- Vietnam will extend the lunar new year holidays to five days from four days and raise maternity leave by two months to six months, according to the amended Labour Law approved by the National Assembly to be effective from May 1, 2013.

- Vietnam plans to raise the rate of trained labours to 70 percent by 2020, according to a government education development strategy for 2011-2020 period.

THOI BAO KINH TE VIETNAM
- The National Assembly approved on Monday five laws, including those on deposit insurance and prevention of money laundering. Both will take place from Jan. 1, 2013. (Reporting by Hanoi Newsroom; Editing by Anand Basu)