PRESS DIGEST - Vietnam newspapers - April 25

HANOI, April 25 (Reuters) - These are some of the leading stories in the official Vietnamese press on Friday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

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FINANCIAL NEWS:

THOI BAO KINH TE VIETNAM

-- The Finance Ministry licensed an insurance firm called Vietnam Aviation Insurance Co, whose shareholders include major state-owned companies such as Vietnam Airlines, Vinacomin and Lilama.

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THANH NIEN

-- Indochina Capital will invest $25 million in International Transportation Joint Stock Company (ITC) as a strategic partner. ITC, a leading sea transportation firm in Vietnam, also received $9 million from Sacombank Securities Company Ltd.

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ECONOMIC AND GENERAL NEWS:

VIETNAM NEWS

-- Gold trading companies must be allowed to register their yearly imports rather than receiving a quota, Huynh Trung Khanh, an adviser of the World Gold Council in Vietnam told a seminar on gold trading.

-- Petrol prices in Vietnam will remain stable until at least the end of June unless there are hikes on the world markets, government officials said.

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NHAN DAN

-- Smuggling of petrol and oil products across Vietnam's borders, especially into Cambodia, has affected market stability and the fight to control inflation, the government said.

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QUAN DOI NHAN DAN

-- The municipal authorities of Hanoi have banned the sales of blood pudding and ice as well as dog meat without proper certificate of origin as part of measures to fight cholera which have infected nearly 400 people in 20 provinces and cities in the northern and central regions.

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SAIGON GIAI PHONG

-- Rice fields on the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh City have shrunk 11 percent to 17,600 hectares from 19,800 hectares in 2006, making way for new businesses, the city's Agriculture Department said.

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LAO DONG

-- Vietnamese labourers working abroad send home more than $1.7 billion a year, the Labour Ministry said.

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THOI BAO KINH TE VIETNAM

-- The southern provinces of An Giang and Kien Giang said they would help farmers to expand their planting area to maximise rice yields of the two remaining crops this year.

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DAU TU

-- Footwear and garment exports in the January-April period jumped 21.3 percent from a year earlier to nearly $4 billion, the Trade and Industry Ministry said.

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