Vietnam said Friday that it was reducing interest rates to the lowest level in more than three years — the latest in a series of stimulus measures aimed at boosting the ailing economy.

Vietnam will further concerted efforts to attract and effectively use foreign direct investment (FDI), pledged Vietnam Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung at a national conference held Wednesday in Hanoi.

Vietnam's economic growth slowed in the first quarter of the year, the authorities said Wednesday, warning of an “extremely challenging” outlook for the communist country.

Vietnam Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung yesterday applauded Samsung's decision to expand operations in Vietnam, adding that it would contribute to the strategic partnership between Vietnam and South Korea.

Vietnam on Monday announced it was cutting interest rates for the seventh time in little more than a year, after economic growth slowed to the weakest pace in more than a decade in 2012.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) pledged in Vietnam rose by 4.7 percent to US$16.3 billion in 2012, according to a revised report released by the Ministry of Planning and Investment's Foreign Investment Agency on Monday.

Two-way trade turnover between Vietnam and the European Union in 2012 reached US$29.09 billion, up 19.77 percent from 2011, according to the General Department of Customs.

Vietnam has approved a broad plan to boost its economy to 2020, focusing on restructuring public investment, banks and state-owned enterprises while controlling inflation and maintaining growth.

With about 10 days before the beginning of the Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday, the usual hustle and bustle associated with the period is missing at traditional markets in Ho Chi Minh City.

Vietnamese seafood producers are prepared to embark on a long battle against a U.S. Department of Commerce anti-subsidy investigation to see whether the country and six others have been engaged in unfair trade practices.