Hanoi - The Vietnamese government Thursday announced the results of its investigation into the collapse of a 343-million-dollar bridge last September that killed 54 construction workers and injured 80 others.

The probe concluded an imbalance in the foundation of a temporary buttress was the main cause of the collapse of a section of the 2.7-kilometer Can Tho Bridge spanning Hau River in Vietnam's southern Mekong Delta.

"The imbalanced subsidence of one of the buttresses, the main cause leading to the collapse of the bridge, was as an unforeseen circumstance in regular design," the government said.

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Hanoi - Vietnam may fail to realize its target of attracting 5 million foreign visitors this year due to high inflation, which has reached 25 per cent, an official said Thursday.

Hanoi - Vietnam's stock market had a rare good day Monday after preliminary figures released by the government showed inflation slowing and the trade deficit shrinking in June.

Hanoi  - Vietnam has told local rice exporters to boost exports, reversing its decision in March to stop signing new contracts and to cap rice exports this year at 3.5 million tons, officials said

Hanoi - A Vietnamese real estate and forest products magnate said Wednesday he will pledge 14 million dollars to Laos to help the country host the 2009 SEA Games, the biannual Southeast Asian sport