PRESS DIGEST - Vietnam newspapers - Aug 25

HANOI, Aug 25 (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.

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FINANCIAL NEWS:

TUOI TRE

-- Several securities companies cut down their network of transaction centres as investors prefer placing orders via distant methods.

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DAU TU CHUNG KHOAN

-- The State Securities Commission (SSC) aimed to complete the transformation of the Hanoi exchange .HASTCI into to a one-member limited company, SSC Chairman Vu Bang said.

-- Partly-private SaigonBank expected its gross profit for the whole year of 2008 to reach 272 billion dong ($16 million). The bank, mostly owned by Vietcombank and Vietinbank, earned 125 billion dong in gross profit for the first half of this year when it raised more than 9 trillion dong in deposits and lent about 8 trillion dong.

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ECONOMIC AND GENERAL NEWS:

VIETNAM NEWS

-- The remains of nearly 5,600 Vietnamese soldiers who died in battles in Cambodia have been repatriated to Vietnam, the Military Zone 7 Command said.

-- Vietnamese gold importers have bought 60 tonnes of gold of the 73.5-tonne quota allowed for 2008, the Gold Business Association said.

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VIETNAM INVESTMENT REVIEW