HANOI, Aug 12 (Reuters) - These are some of the leading stories in the official Vietnamese press on Wednesday. Reuters has not verified these stories. FINANCIAL NEWS: TUOI TRE -- Partly private Vietnam Export and Import Bank, Military Bank and Saigon Commercial Bank have applied to list on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange <.VNI>, which could increase the market's capitalisation by nearly $2 billion if approved, an exchange official said. THOI BAO KINH TE VIETNAM -- Vinamilk <VNM.HM> said its net profit in the first half of 2009 reached 1.02 trillion dong ($57.2 million), or 68.4 percent of its annual target. ECONOMIC AND GENERAL NEWS: VIETNAM NEWS -- The Philippines is Vietnam's largest rice buyer so far this year, taking about half the country's total grain shipment, followed by Malaysia, Cuba and Iraq, industry figures show. NHAN DAN -- China has released all the Vietnamese fishermen it had detained earlier, Vietnam's Foreign Ministry spokesman Le Dung said. QUAN DOI NHAN DAN -- State-run Vietnam Development Bank has focused its lending in various industries such as electricity, ship building, agriculture, construction of hospitals and schools in the past three years. HANOI MOI -- The number of foreign visitors to Vietnam this year could drop 10-12 percent from 2008, provided arrivals in the remaining five months are similar to the same period last year, while the sector's revenues could be raised by more domestic travellers, an industry official said. SAIGON GIAI PHONG -- Vietnam has found a document issued in 1743, which serves as evidence of the country's sovereignty over the Paracel archipelago, the Hue city museum said. TUOI TRE -- Vietnam needs to have a second stimulus package to follow the first set of measures that end this year, many attendants said at a meeting of the national monetary policy consulting team on Tuesday. -- Oil product distributors will only be able to raise retail prices by 500 dong per litre each time they do so, the Finance Ministry said. THANH NIEN -- A 52-year-old woman died of H1N1 flu on Monday in Ho Chi Minh City, the country's second fatality from the disease, health officials said. -- About 900 workers at a Korean-owned bag factory in the southern province of Dong Nai went on a strike due to late salary payment. -- Time-share properties in seaside resorts are attracting more interests from home buyers, real estate dealers said. (Reporting by Hanoi Newsroom)
Costa Rica's President Oscar Arias walks in his residence after a meeting with Spanish Vice President Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega, Ibero-American General Secretary Enrique Iglesias and Secretary General of ...
