The development of professional personnel is the most important benefit that Vietnam s ABA member banks have gained over the past since joining the grouping, he added. More than 800 bankers have been sent out to take part in training courses and fact-finding trips at banks in regional countries with help from the ABA , said Giau. The SBV is coordinating with central banks of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to implement the Chiang Mai Initiative - a financial cooperation...

Crops prices are at record highs, and the wealthiest farm and agribusiness owners are getting the majority of government subsidies. Seventy percent of agriculture producers get little or no subsidies. Producers of corn, soybeans, wheat, cotton and rice get the vast majority of federal subsidies. Seventy percent of the funding from the Farm Bill is set to be funneled to 30 of the nation's 435 congressional districts. But we're up against a very powerful lobby that's had a long time to...

Both countries concluded talks in October 2005, and began implementing in January last year an Early Harvest Programme (EHP) for trade in goods comprising Malaysia's offer of tariff cuts on 140 tariff lines and Pakistan's offer of tariff cuts on 124 tariff lines. Both countries concluded talks in October 2005, and began implementing in January last year an Early Harvest Programme (EHP) for trade in goods comprising Malaysia's offer of tariff cuts on 140 tariff lines and Pakistan's offer of...

Under this system, rice farmers with crop problems are given access to scientists and experts advice, comments and recommendations through SMS, he said. He urged other government agencies to think out of the box to implement relevant laws on competitiveness and bureaucratic reforms and to instill a business-friendly environment following the country s poor showing in the World Bank Global Competitiveness Doing Business Survey 2008. He urged other government agencies to think out of the box...

There is a plaque made by a group of veterans in a post-traumatic stress therapy class, along with a series of barbed wire garlands to memorialize the eight women on the wall. Are they a statement about what could have been but was lost? Do they symbolize dreams and hopes derailed? John Rowan, president of the Vietnam Veterans of America, says seeing the names is what motivates people to leave things behind, a way to commune with the dead. Felton pointed to one of the dozens of pairs of...

Driven higher by the rampaging bull market for crude oil, Bay Area gas prices could soon top records set just this spring. In addition, some analysts say the bull market has taken on a life of its own, with traders more inclined to bet prices will rise rather than fall. Crude, the raw material for gasoline, is pushing close to $100 per barrel, a level that just two or three years ago would have been almost unthinkable. A military confrontation between the two could disrupt the flow of oil...