PRESS DIGEST - Vietnam newspapers - July 30

HANOI, July 30 (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:

TUOI TRE

- State-run Agribank, Vietnam's biggest lender by assets, has assigned fund-raising targets to its staff as of Aug. 1, under which each employee must ensure to raise between 400 million dong an d 700 million dong ($19,200-$33,600), depending on his or her rank in the bank.

LAO DONG

- Vinamilk, a leading dairy products maker, said it would spend 1.1 trillion dong ($52.7 million) to pay a 20 percent dividend to its shareholders.

ECONOMIC AND GENERAL NEWS:

VIETNAM INVESTMENT REVIEW

- South Korea's Daelim Industrial Co is conducting a feasibility study, expected to complete by the end of this quarter, to build a $3 billion mega oil refinery and petrochemical project through a joint venture with Vietnam's top fuel distributor Petrolimex in the central province of Khanh Hoa, said a provincial official.

- Ho Chi Minh City authorities said they plan to start work on the country's first metro, worth $2.2 billion, on Aug. 28 and expect to complete in 2017.

VIETNAM NEWS

- The index of industrial production increased 4.8 percent in the first seven months of this year from the same period in 2011, the lowest in the past three years, the General Statistics Office said.

QUAN DOI NHAN DAN

- The government said it aims to keep public debt at no more than 65 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP), with the government's debts at no more than 55 percent of the GDP, while it targets to keep sovereign debt at no more than 50 percent of the GDP.

LAO DONG

- Vietnam will allow real estate investment funds to operate from Sept. 15, provided that at least 65 percent of the funds' net assets are invested in property, a government decree said.

TUOI TRE

- Husbandry and poultry owners are facing combined losses of between 2 trillion dong and 2.5 trillion dong ($96 million-$120 million) a month, and the losses could hit 5 trillion dong if the situation is not solved, the Vietnam Livestock Association said.

THOI BAO KINH TE VIETNAM

- Vietnam aims to reduce the number of rice exporters to 100 from Oct. 1 from over 150 now, the Industry and Trade Ministry said.

($1=20,850 dong) (Reporting by Hanoi Newsroom)