PRESS DIGEST - Vietnam newspapers - March 18

HANOI, March 18 (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.

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VIETNAM NEWS

-- Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung has directed the Civil Aviation Administration to start building a second passenger terminal at Noi Bai International Airport in October.

-- Rice exporters said profits were falling as the U.S. dollar continued to weaken.

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QUAN DOI NHAN DAN

-- Credit institutions completed buying 20.3 trillion dong of obligatory treasury bills.

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SAIGON GIAI PHONG

-- Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) will provide information technology training for 200 Vietnamese officials as part of its strategic agreement with Vietnam signed in May 2007.

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LAO DONG

-- The Health Ministry confirmed 10 people had caught cholera since March 6, seven of them in Hanoi.

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TUOI TRE

-- The central bank asked commercial banks in the Mekong Delta to meet corporate funding demand for paddy purchases and rice exports, especially when the harvest peaks.

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THANH NIEN

-- Poor quality Chinese rice has been smuggled into Vietnam, mainly to make rice wine, market inspectors said after they found two cargoes without proper documents in the northern province of Yen Bai.

- - - - (Reporting by Hanoi Newsroom)