PRESS DIGEST - Vietnam newspapers - July 18

HANOI, July 18 (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:

THANH NIEN

-- The interest rates of 17-18 percent on dong deposits are reasonable in the context that inflation has shown sign of slowing, ACB ACB.HN CEO Ly Xuan Hai said.

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THOI BAO KINH TE VIETNAM

-- Revenues from insurance services in Vietnam of the U.S insurer ACE Life soared 131 percent in the first six months of 2008 from the same period last year.

-- The State Securities Commission granted an operating licence to Technological and Commercial Fund Management Company, which is a subsidiary of partly private Techcombank.

-- Petrovietnam Finance Joint Stock Corporation (PVFC) said its first-half revenues rose 37.7 percent from the same period last year to 1.8 trillion dong ($107 million), bringing the gross profit to 198 billion dong. PVFC planned to open a representative office in Singapore and list shares on the Singapore Stock Exchange during the second half of 2008.

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ECONOMIC AND GENERAL NEWS:

VIETNAM NEWS

-- Police in Ho Chi Minh City have detained four South Korean nationals and two Vietnamese for organising an audition of 121 Vietnamese prospective brides in a hotel in the city earlier this week. South Korean men seeking to marry Vietnamese girls would have had to pay up to $10,000 in match-making fees, officials said.

-- Furniture exports are expected to rise to $3 billion this year from $2.5 billion last year, making Vietnam the biggest wooden furniture exporter in Southeast Asia, the Industry and Trade Ministry said.

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