HANOI, April 28 (Reuters) - These are some of the leading stories in the official Vietnamese press on Tuesday. Reuters has not verified these stories.

- - - -

FINANCIAL NEWS:

TUOI TRE

-- The Finance Ministry has cut the preferential lending rate by 4 percentage points to 2.9 percent on loans to support exporters who borrow funds from state-run Vietnam Development Bank between now and the end of the year.

- - - -

THOI BAO KINH TE VIETNAM

-- Total new foreign direct investment pledges in April dropped 87 percent from a year earlier to $342 million, government data showed.

-- Partly private Saigon Commercial Bank said it would raise interest rates on dong deposits by 10 basis points as part of efforts to raise more dong funds.

- - - -

ECONOMIC AND GENERAL NEWS:

VIETNAM NEWS

-- The Vietnam Seafood Exporters and Producers Association said it would be difficult for the sector to meet this year's export target of $4.5 billion due to weakened demand from foreign buyers.

-- On Monday eBay Inc <EBAY.O> launched its first Vietnamese website at www.ebay.vn.

- - - -

LAO DONG

-- Vietnam has not found any pig infected with H1N1 swine virus, said Hoang Van Nam, deputy director of the Animal Health Department.

-- The Health Ministry advised residents against flu vaccinations as currently there are no vaccines against the H1N1 virus.

- - - -

TUOI TRE

-- Vietnam's airport authority should ask airlines to avoid taking fresh meat among passengers' hand luggage to help prevent the spread of swine flu in Vietnam, said Nguyen Huu Nghiep, head of the quarantine section at the Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City.

- - - -

THANH NIEN

-- The Vietnamese government will urgently implement measures to ensure food security, increase forest coverage and develop infrastructure in coastal areas in preparation for adverse effects of climate change, a government meeting in Hanoi heard.

- - - - (Reporting by Hanoi Newsroom)

AlertNet news is provided by