PRESS DIGEST - Vietnam newspapers - December 17

HANOI, Dec 17 (Reuters) - These are some of the leading stories in the official Vietnamese press on Monday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

- - - -

VIETNAM NEWS

-- About 99 percent of motorbike riders in Vietnam put on their helmets at the weekend, the first two days of the new law that makes wearing helmets mandatory, the traffic police said.

-- Rents in major cities such as Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City are forecast to increase around 15 percent next year as Vietnam continues to attract foreigners, said an official of U.S.-based CB Richard Ellis Vietnam, a real estate services provider.

- - - -

VIETNAM INVESTMENT REVIEW

-- An alliance of Japanese and Taiwanese firms is searching for a suitable location for a proposed $1 billion steel plant after failing to secure land in the central city of Danang.

-- Vietnam's central bank has avoided pumping dong into the market due to inflation pressure, a central bank official said. Meanwhile, increasing foreign currency inflows were still a major concern, he said.