Auto imports soar during first five months

 

Some 26,900 autos valued at US$524 million were imported into the country in the first five months of this year, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).

 

These figures showed an increase of 45.7 per cent in volume and 65.4 per cent in value over the same period last year.

 

"More autos are being imported to meet high demand from the domestic market," said Nguyen The Hung, chairman of the KyLin-GX 668 Joint Stock Company.

 

"Last year, joint-ventures were not allowed to import cars, but thanks to new regulations, joint-ventures such as Honda, Hyundai, Nissan and Toyota have been permitted to do so this year. That's why a large volume of autos has been imported since the beginning of the year," Hung added.

 

In May, 5,500 autos worth $132 million were imported, a similar figure to the previous month.

 

Experts said that imports remained steady this year due to the stable domestic market, thanks to the Government's financial policies.

 

"However, high interest rates are holding back the domestic market," Hung said.

 

Talking about the future of the import market, experts said that the market may dip, following the release of new circular 20.

 

Circular 20 was recently announced by the Ministry of Industry and Trade. According to the circular, traders will have to prove they are authorised to be sales agents by providing letters of authority or authorised sales agent certificates.

 

"Circular 20 will limit imports. Only joint-ventures will import cars because private domestic companies do not want to in this uncertain climate," Hung said.

 

Agreeing with Hung, Nguyen Trung Hieu of the Viet Nam Automobile Manufacturers' Association (VAMA) said there would be no big change in the market.

 

"Circular 20 was released just a few weeks ago and will soon be effective. That doesn't leave those effected with enough time to make last minute investments in imported autos before it comes into effect," Hieu said.

 

A number of car importers earlier last week met to discuss the new regulation and decided to petition the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Justice, asking for the new regulation to be revised.

 

Petrolimex okay to equitise

 

The Viet Nam National Petroleum Corporation (Petrolimex) has received a thumbs-up from the Government to transfer to a shareholding company model with at least 75 per cent of its charter capital held by the State.

 

According to the Government decision 828/QD-TTg on Petrolimex's equitisation and restructure plan, the corporation is renamed as the Viet Nam National Petroleum Group.

 

The group is allowed to raise its charter capital to VND10.7 trillion (US$519.42 million) while allowed to sell 1.07 billion shares for initial public offering (IPO).

 

Of the total shares for IPO, around 94.99 per cent, equivalent to 1.016 billion shares, is held by the State; 1.98 per cent (21.172 million preferred stocks) will be offered to the group's labourers; 0.47 per cent (5 million shares) will be sold for its labour union and 2.56 per cent (27.425 million shares) will be auctioned via the domestic stock exchanges.

 

After equitising, the Ministry of Industry and Trade will act as the representative of the State capital in Petrolimex, according to the decision.

 

Also, the group and its subsidiaries will restructure according to the shareholding company's model, with the parent company operating as a joint stock company.

 

After restructure, Petrolimex will have three corporations including petroleum transportation and services, construction and petrol and services. It will have 42 petroleum trade companies in cities and provinces and one member limited company in Singapore.

 

Under its labour restructure plan, the group will have 16,502 regular labourers at the equitisation time. Of these, about 15,995 workers will be moved to the new group and 505 labourers will be let go.

 

Currently, Petrolimex is the leading petroleum distributor in Viet Nam, occupying 60 per cent of total market shares. Its sales value reaches VND25 trillion or 80 per cent of its annual total revenue.

 

At the moment, the corporation has a distribution system of nearly 1,500 gas stations and an agent system of 6,000 nationwide.

 

Trade deficit to reach $7.5b in H1: MPI

 

The Ministry of Planning and Investment expects the trade deficit in the first half of the year to be US$7.5 billion, despite optimism about exports.

 

In a report submitted to the Government this week, the ministry anticipated that the total export revenue in the first six months of the year would be $41.5 billion, up 27.8 per cent against the same period last year, and nearly three times higher than the 10 per cent increase targeted at the start of this year by the National Assembly.

 

Imports, meanwhile, are expected to reach $49 billion, up 26.4 per cent compared with the same period last year.

 

If the ministry's forecast proves accurate, the trade deficit in the first six months of this year will be equal to 18 per cent of the total export value. The NA at the start of the year set the trade deficit ceiling at 16 per cent of total export earnings.

 

The ministry warned in the report that the trade deficit was rising due to an increase in imports, and urged ministries and agencies to take bolder measures to control the trade surplus.

 

Last month's trade deficit saw a year-on-year increase of 17.3 per cent to $1.7 billion, the highest level since January this year, according to the General Statistics Office.

 

In January-May, the country's main trade deficit was with Asian countries and territories that included mainland China ($5.4 billion), ASEAN ($3.2 billion), South Korea ($3.1 billion), Taiwan ($3.1 billion) and Thailand ($1.8 billion), the GSO reported.

 

Domestic pork prices expected to start falling by mid June

 

The price of domestic pork is increasing weekly due to high input costs, but the Ministry of Industry and Trade expects it to start to fall from the middle of this month.

 

Local prices have surged by VND10,000-VND20,000 per kilo against last week, to an average VND120,000-130,000 for shoulder, VND110,000 for ribs and VND100,000 for loin.

 

"The price has increased because supply has fallen but demand has not," said Nguyen Thi Thu, a pork trader in Hom Market, Ha Noi.

 

The wholesale price of pork jumped by VND10,000 per kilo to VND85,000 so traders had no other choice but to pass that hike on to consumers, said Thuy, a trader in Hoa Sen Market, Ha Noi.

 

Consumers must accept that this was unavoidable because the meat is so popular, Thuy said. Restaurants, on the other hand, were refusing to accept the higher price, so traders were having to cut profit margins in order to retain customers who ordered large quantities of pork.

 

The price of pork in supermarkets has also gone through the roof.

 

Tran Thi Thu Hang, director of the Viet Nam Farming and Food Product Joint Stock Company, said the price had gone up because of high animal feed costs, disease, low imports and increased export activities with China.

 

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development predicted the price of pork would fall from mid-June as supply increased.

 

Le Ba Lich, chairman of the Viet Nam Animal Feed Association, said the price of pig feed had reduced to VND10,000 per kilo while the price of pork remained high. This was likely to encourage farmers to rear more pigs.

 

The Ministry of Industry and Trade affirmed it had no plans to import around 100,000 tonnes of meat, contrary to a recent rumour that had been circulating.

 

Deputy Minister Nguyen Thanh Bien said that there was no need to import meat as the industry would be able to meet domestic demand this year.

 

Chung Kim, general director of the Kim Long Livestock and Processing Ltd Company based in southern Binh Duong Province, said the state should support the recovery of the domestic livestock industry.

 

Hoang Kim Giao, head of the Department of Livestock Production, said that domestic demand for pork was expected to reach 3.3 million tonnes this year and the domestic livestock industry could meet that demand.

 

Ha Noi targets 10-12 per cent export growth rate by 2015

 

Ha Noi is aiming to post an annual export growth rate of 10-12 per cent from now to 2015 and 14-15 per cent in the period of 2016-20, as a result of the city's trade development programme being formulated by the municipal Department of Industry and Trade.

The city plans to shift the emphasis of its exports towards processed and high value products and services. By 2020, authorities hope processed goods will account for 65 per cent of the city's total export turnover and services 25 per cent.

 

In addition to maintaining its presence in traditional markets, the city also plans to boost exports to Africa and Eastern Europe.

 

Ha Noi's export turnover reached nearly US$8 billion last year, a year-on-year increase of 26.3 per cent.

 

Among those goods with the highest export turnover were computer components, glass and glass products, garments and agriculture products.

 

Project transparency key requirement in loan applications

 

Companies, especially small- and medium-sized, need to hire a prestigious consulting firm to draft a feasible project plan if they hope to get bank credit, a financial executive told a seminar in HCM City yesterday on obtaining bank loans.

 

Diep Dung, director of the State Financial Investment Co, said firms seeking to borrow should also have transparent accounts.

 

Nguyen Tan Binh, deputy head of the Leadership and Management Science Research Institute – Leadman SRI, said transparency was a key requirement for banks in approving loans to businesses. Besides, borrowing firms needed to demonstrate capital efficiency and human resources to the bank, and, ideally, sales potential, he said.

 

"If a project is large, they need to demonstrate its benefit to the economy or society," he said.

 

Tran Buu Long, deputy director of the HCM City Credit Guarantee Fund for Small and Medium Enterprises, said there were many support programmes offering businesses loans on easy terms.

 

For investment in projects that act to stimulate demand, the city subsidised loan interest by 50 per cent, he said. The maximum loan amount available for such projects was VND100 billion (US$4.8 million) and the maximum term, seven years, he said.

 

The projects could be in areas like manufacture of machinery and automobile tyres and food processing, he said.

 

The city was considering setting up a Technology and Science Development Fund to support businesses in innovating machinery and equipment, he added.

 

Dung said the State Financial Investment Company would back vocational training projects and construction of roads, hospitals, schools, wastewater treatment plants, and housing for low-income people. It would also join hands with development and investment funds in other provinces to support businesses around the country.

 

State Bank tightens dollar interest cap

 

The State Bank of Viet Nam yesterday reduced further interest rate caps payable on US dollar deposits by 0.5-1 percentage point in an aggressive move to discourage economic entities' dollar accumulation and strengthen the domestic currency.

 

The interest caps were cut to 0.5 per cent per year for institutional depositors and 2 per cent per year for individual depositors. The interest rate caps cover all types of promotional costs and are applied for term-end payment.

 

The decision came one day after the central bank told groups, corporations and enterprises that are over 50 per cent-State-owned to sell the dollar to commercial banks next month.

 

The central bank also raised compulsory reserves in foreign currencies from 6 per cent to 7 per cent, which received a number of mixed reactions.

 

Earlier in April, the State Bank capped rates payable on dollar deposits in the US currency at 3 per cent for individuals and 1 per cent for non-credit institutions. It advised economic groups to sell the dollar to banks.

 

The series of actions is believed to ease the downward pressure on the value of the Vietnamese dong and to enrich the dwindling national foreign reserves.

 

Foreign reserves earlier this year were estimated at US$12.2 billion or nine import weeks, from a level of nearly $24 billion at the end of 2008.

 

Deepak Mishra, lead economist of the World Bank in Viet Nam yesterday told the mid-term Consultative Group Meeting's press briefing that the implementation of Resolution 11 should be retained until the level of international reserves was adequate to finance at least 2.5 months of prospective imports.

 

Mishra added it was acceptable if such foreign reserves could be stored in the central bank's stock or in commercial banks.

 

The central bank recently reported on the banking operations during the week of May 21 to 27 whereby the average interest rate in US dollar in the interbank market increased by 0.05-0.76 per cent in all terms. The total trading turnover saw 34 per cent fall in US dollar transactions.

 

According to the latest report from commercial banks, the total weekly trading turnover in the interbank market as of May 25 reached approximately $2.659 billion, averaging at $532 million per day.

 

More businesses created but capital less, says ministry

 

More than 32,300 enterprises with a total registered capital of VND194.9 trillion (US$9.28 billion) were set up in the first five months this year, according to statistics from the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

 

The number of newly established enterprises in the first five months inched up by 1 per cent against the same period last year, however, the total registered capital was down by 5 per cent, the ministry said, attributing it to economic difficulties and the escalation of input costs on the back of rising global prices.

 

In May alone, more than 5,500 enterprises were set up, with a total registered capital of VND40.2 trillion ($1.91 billion).

 

The ministry estimates that the number of newly-established enterprises would reach 39,000 in the first half of the year, a 4 per cent increase against the same period last year. However, the total registered capital of the new firms would be only roughly VND232 trillion ($11 billion), down 5.4 per cent.

 

According to a recent survey by the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, up to two-thirds of small and medium sized enterprises are either unable to borrow from banks or find it extremely difficult. Lending interest rates of 20-25 per cent per year are generally too high for many businesses.

 

State Bank of Viet Nam Governor Nguyen Van Giau said that for new firms, it was difficult to obtain credit from banks, but for established enterprises, this was not a problem. Credit provision for established enterprises had increased by 6.2 per cent, he said.

 

"Up until May 23, the total credit provided to the economy had reached VND135.8 trillion ($6.47 billion), 6.2 per cent more than the same period last year," said Giau.

 

Firms eye opportunities in Malaysia, Indonesia

 

The Ministry of Industry and Trade's Asia-Pacific Department will organise a business trip for Vietnamese firms to seek opportunities in foodstuff and beverage in Malaysia and Indonesia from September 26-October 3.

 

The trip, as part of the National Trade Promotion Programme in 2011, will help domestic enterprises better understand the demand of customers in the market and then draw up effective export strategies, said the deputy head of the department, Dao Ngoc Chuong.

 

Five-month trade turnover surges in Quang Ninh

 

The northern province of Quang Ninh posted a trade turnover of US$2.3 billion during the first five months of this year. This was double the figure of last year's corresponding period, local authorities said.

 

Of the turnover, $406 million came from exports including rubber, cassava flour, seafood, footwear and beverage.

 

Air Mekong launches HCM City-Quy Nhon route

 

The Mekong Aviation JSC (Air Mekong) launched a new air route between HCM City and Quy Nhon City in central Binh Dinh Province on Wednesday.

 

The carrier will conduct seven flights per week on the route using CRJ 900 aircrafts.

 

Vietnamese company to exploit gold ore

 

Viet Nam's DaLy Co has received approval from the Lao government to mine gold ore at Huoi Kham Village in Xangthong District, Vientiane city.

 

DaLy Co director Dang Si Linh said his company completed the exploration of the mining site at Huoi Kham and devised a technical plan for exploration with complete investment from the company.

 

Interest rate support for agri- and aquaculture

 

The Ministry of Finance issued a new guide, effective July 1, on interest rate support for loans and subsidising interest rate differences.

 

The aim of the new guide is to reduce post harvest losses in agricultural and aquaculture products.

 

Loans with interest rate support for purchasing machinery and equipment specified in Decision 63/2010/QD-TTg will receive 100 per cent State budget support during the first two years and 50 per cent from the third year onwards.

 

Subscriber numbers for phones drop during May

 

The number of Vietnamese phone subscribers reached 127.8 million in May, a decrease of 11.1 per cent compared to the same period last year, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).

 

15.5 million fixed subscribers and 112.3 million mobile phone subscribers made up the total number. The number of new subscribers during the first five months of 2011 reached 4.4 million, 24.4 per cent of last year's figure.

 

GSO attributed the sharp fall in subscriber numbers to a decrease in pre-paid subscribers.

 

Firms announce dividends

 

Real estate developer Vincom (VIC) has announced the plan for cash dividend of 19.6 per cent per share to total VND2.3 trillion (US$109.5 million).

 

The dividend will be paid in three instalments of VND766.65 billion ($36.5 million) on July 12, August 2 and 23.

 

Meanwhile, Viet Tiep Lock Joint Stock Company will conduct its second phase of dividend payment this month at a rate of 49.7 per cent and HCM City Securities Co will pay its second phase payment at a rate of 7 per cent on July 1.

 

New company to be listed

 

Bao Van Plastic JSC (Bavico) in southern Binh Duong Province has registered to be listed on the HCM City Stock Exchange.

 

The company has announced to list 24 million shares. It has a charter capital of VND240 billion (US$11.4 million).

 

Hapaco affiliates to merge

 

Automobile manufacturer Hapaco Group has approved the merger of two affiliates Hapaco Yen Son Joint Stock Company (YSC) and Hapaco Hai Au JSC (GHA).

 

Each GHA or YSC share will be exchanged for a HAP share at a ratio of 1 HAP share to 1.2 affiliate. HAP will issue 1.33 million shares to swap for GHA shares and 0.17 million shares to swap for YSC shares.

 

World Bank backs Vietnam’s macroeconomic stabilization

 

World Bank expert has suggested Vietnam to continue key measures to curb inflation, stabilize the macro economy and ensure social welfare.

 

Vietnam should continue implementation of the Government’s Resolution No.11 in a stable and effective way to reset three macro economic indices of inflation, forex rate and foreign reserve.

 

WB chief economic expert Deepak Mishra at the press conference Thursday prior to the Consultative Group’s mid-term meeting in Hanoi, said Vietnam had achieved success in stabilizing the macro economy.

 

These included easing inflation, narrowing the gap between official and black market forex rates while foreign reserve was kept at import value for two and a half months.

 

The WB expert, however, refused to say whether Vietnam would be able to achieve the three targets as it depended on the effects of the Government’s short term measures in Resolution. 11.

 

A mid-term consultative group meeting for Vietnam will take place in central Ha Tinh Province next week, announced World Bank Country Director for Vietnam Victoria Kwakwa at the press conference.

 

The two-day meeting will focus on four main themes: macroeconomic stabilization, protection of poor people, fighting corruption in the mining industry and the effectiveness of aid, she said.

 

Customs cracks down on fraud

 

The Viet Nam Customs Agency has revised customs regulations involving garment exporters in an attempt to counter duty fraud that capitalises on governmental incentives.

 

The new regulations were recently submitted to the Ministry of Finance for approval, said Trinh Dinh Kinh, deputy head of the National Customs Agency's Watchdog.

 

According to current regulations, materials imported for processing exported goods are exempted from duties on the condition that all completed goods will be exported.

 

Garment and footwear makers are the biggest benefactors of the incentive, given that they import up to two-thirds of their materials for production.

 

However, some garment-makers have taken advantage of the incentive to import duty-free materials in large quantities and sold them domestically, incurring losses of hundreds of billions of dong (dozens of millions of US dollars) in duty revenue.

 

They then fabricate airway bills to present to the customs agency as evidence of their exports, or they just run away with the profits.

 

"Clothes items having tags ‘exported by Viet Nam' can be found in many markets in Ha Noi," said Pham Thanh Binh, head of the National Customs Agency's Department of Post-clearance Watchdog. "It proves that most imported materials are used for domestically bought garments.'

 

The new regulations will impose tighter checks on three categories of garment-makers: those contracted by foreign importers for the first time, those hiring others to do part or all of their contracts, and those failing to export any items three months after they import materials, said Trinh Dinh Kinh, deputy head of the National Customs Agency's Watchdog.

 

However, the draft regulations have encountered a backlash from garment exporters, especially those which have signed their first processing contracts.

 

"Many new regulations contravene governmental directions on reducing red tape," said Dang Phuong Dung, general secretary of the Vietnamese Association of Garmentmakers.

 

Nation eyes economic stability

 

A discussion of ways to stabilise the marcroeconomy and protect poor people from macroeconomic instabilities will take place at the annual mid-year Consultative Group's (CG) meeting next week.

 

Topics for discussions at the conference held in the central Ha Tinh Province will be updates on the implementation of Government's Resolution 11 which was to curb inflation, stabilise the macro-economy and ensure social security, monetary and financial sector, fiscal and budget transparency, public investment efficiency and State-owned enterprises, said World Bank (WB) Country Director Victoria Kwakwa at a press briefing yesterday.

 

Social impact on the poor and appropriate policy responses, protecting small-and-medium-sized enterprises activities, as well as fighting corruption in extractive industries will be other major topics deliberated at the conference.

 

Speaking at the press briefing, Deepak Mishra, a leading economist of the WB in Viet Nam said the country would see gradual improvement in marcoeconomy during the second half this year.

 

Inflation was likely to peak this month at around 22 per cent and gradually fall to around 15 per cent by the end of this year, he added.

 

"The country will have a stronger performance next year but still will be significantly below the growth rate of the period before the global crisis."

 

Before the mid-year CG meeting, representatives from the Government and development partners will visit some projects on education, healthcare, infrastructure and environment which received investment from donors in the province.

 

Development partners last year pledged US$7.905 billion in Official Development Assistance (ODA) for Viet Nam this year.

 

The amount included $3.3 billion from bilateral partners and the remaining $4.6 billion from multilateral partners.

 

Eased trading rules tickle market

 

Stocks continued to surge yesterday, with shares across-the-board on both national exchanges hitting their ceiling prices.

 

Investor confidence improved strongly on news that the Ministry of Finance had issued a long-awaited circular allowing margin trading, multiple brokerage accounts and intra-day trading, effective August 1.

 

"Creating new products that enhance flexibility and investor convenience are significant to the stock market in the long term," said the head of analysis and consultancy for Hoa Binh Securities Co, Nguyen Phuc Thinh, adding that the news today inspired yesterday's positive reaction on the market.

 

However, Thinh said, market gains or declines were not necessarily caused by any single factor but were a combination of many elements including economic conditions, demand, earnings, and investor pyschology.

 

The VN-Index, the benchmark measure of the HCM City Stock Exchange, climbed 3.42 per cent to close yesterday's trading at 450.59 points.

 

The value of trade rose 17 per cent over Wednesday's session to VND681.3 billion (US$33 million), with over 34.3 million shares changing hands. Gainers dominated the board, with 65 per cent of codes reaching their maximum daily gain of 5 per cent.

 

Seven of the 10 leading shares by capitalisation hit their ceiling prices for a second day, including insurer Bao Viet Holdings (BVH), Vietinbank (CTG), software provider FPT, real estate developers Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAG) and Vincom (VIC), food products conglomerate Masan Group (MSN), and PetroVietnam Finance (PVF).

 

Sacombank (STB) became the most-active share on the southern bourse, with 1.87 million shares traded, before closing up 1.7 per cent to VND12,000 per share.

 

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index surged by another 3.23 per cent to close at 74.05 points. Value rose by 5 per cent to VND300.4 billion ($14.6 million) on a volume of 28 million shares.

 

Gainers outnumbered decliners by 284-46, with 201 codes hitting their ceiling prices.

 

Securities shares posted the day's strongest gains, with shares of Bao Viet Securities (BVS), Au Viet Securities (AVS), VNDirect Securities (VND) and Kim Long Securities (KLS) all soaring. KLS was the most-active share on the northern bourse, with nearly two million traded.

 

Foreign investors continued to be net buyers in HCM City, picking up a net of VND27 billion ($1.3 million) worth of shares, but they were net sellers in Ha Noi of a net of VND6.8 billion ($330,600) worth of shares.

 

Seafood exports to hit $8b by 2020

 

Seafood exports are forecast to grow by 8-10 per cent per year, with annual export value to grow from a current level of about US$5 billion to US$6.5-6.7 billion by 2015 and $8 billion by 2020, said Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Vu Van Tam.

 

The US, EU and Japan would continue to be the three primary export markets for the nation's seafood, accounting for 60-65 per cent of total exports.

 

To meet the targets, the industry would move beyond its reliance on current key products like tra fish and shrimp and develop the export potential of other seafood products, including tuna, tilapia, shellfish and seaweed, Tam said.

 

Former deputy minister Nguyen Thi Hong Minh said that the seafood industry had been developed and modernised to become more competitive but would need to take further steps to reach the ministry targets, including better balancing the supply of raw materials with the demand of seafood processors.

 

Minh noted that a State-sponsored fund must be established to promote Vietnamese seafood in a number of countries, with exporters required to contribute to the fund.

 

It would make the seafood industry better prepared to respond to such challenges as the Word Wildlife Fund's listing of tra fish in its "Red Book" of endangered species.

 

At that time, Viet Nam failed to mount a strong campaign to protest the listing, Minh said, succeeding only in holding conferences that disseminated information to authorities and enterprises.

 

In the first five months of this year, the nation's seafood exports totalled $2.1 billion, an increase of 27.3 per cent over the same period a year ago, according to ministry figures.

 

Vietnam’s footwear exports up 31 pct

 

Vietnam’s footwear export turnover in the first five months of this year reached over US$2.36 billion, up 31.8 percent over the same period of last year, according to the industry association.

 

EU remains the leading importer of Vietnam’s footwear, according to Diep Thanh Kiet, deputy head of the Vietnam Leather and Footwear Association (LEFASO).

 

Export turnover to the US, Japan, Belgium, Holland, France, Denmark and Czech also rose by between 20 - 60 percent.

 

The EU’s removal of anti-dumping duty on Vietnam’s leather-capped shoes on April 1will help further stabilize the export of this commodity in the near future.

 

LEFASO forecasted that footwear exports this year will earn $5.5 billion in revenues.

Donors tour projects in Ha Tinh

 

Delegates to the mid-term donors’ consultative group (CG) meeting for Vietnam said that aid packages for central Ha Tinh province have helped to improve local people’s lives.

 

They made the remark on June 8 after making a fact-finding tour of projects and subprojects in Ha Tinh within the framework of the CG meeting in the province.

 

The projects included the VND419 million Ke Go irrigation modernisation subproject funded by the WB; a programme for improving market participation of the poor in Khanh Loc commune, Can Loc district, jointly funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the German Technical Cooperation (GTZ); and the Central Region Urban Environmental Improvement Project – the US$17.5 million Ha Tinh Sub-project jointly sponsored by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the French Development Agency (AFD).

 

The delegates also visited the Community Based Rural Infrastructure Project (CBRIP) – the Xuan Yen-Xuan Hai-Xuan Pho inter-commune road subproject funded by the WB, the JPY705 million Ha Tinh General Hospital equipment project funded by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), a VND104 billion Vietnam-Germany vocational training cooperation project jointly sponsored by the Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the VND43 billion inter-provincial road upgrade project funded by JICA in Duc Tho district.

 

The meeting will continue through June 9.

 

Vietnam Marine Economy Forum opens

 

The Vietnam Marine Economy Forum (VMEF) was held in Nha Trang City in the southcentral coastal province of Khanh Hoa on June 8.

 

The event, themed “Motivations and challenges for the development of Vietnam’s coastal economic zones”, created an opportunity for domestic and foreign investors and experts to discuss the development potential of marine resources and coastal economic zones.

 

It also aimed to encourage investment in Van Phong economic zone and other projects in Khanh Hoa.

Vietnam joins 44th Algiers International Fair

 

The 44th Algiers International Fair (FIA 44) was held in Algeria from June 1-6 to help foreign partners seek investment and development opportunities.

 

On display at the fair were products related to services, electronics, farm produce and food. The event attracted the participation of 565 companies from 28 nations and territories around the world.

 

Anh Tuyet Co, Ltd, a Vietnamese company also showcased its traditional products such as handicrafts, garment and textiles.

 

This is the third consecutive year the company has participated in the trade fair. Director Anh Tuyet said that Algerian customers are very keen on buying Vietnamese products of good quality at reasonable prices.

 

Forum seeks trademarks for green sea products

 

Economists and authorities from coastal areas across Vietnam gathered at a forum on June 6 to seek ways to build trademarks for the country’s green marine produce and products.

 

Twenty-six speeches were delivered at the forum in the central coastal city of Khanh Hoa, which was the third of its kind held in response to the annual Vietnam Sea and Island Week.

 

Participants explored new approaches in managing and building Vietnam’s marine trademarks in the 21st century, and shared lessons learnt from the building of trademarks.

 

“A trademark of Vietnam’s sea products serves as a tool that the State agencies will use to comprehensively and uniformly manage the country’s sea and islands in the course of accelerating industrialisation and modernisation and deeper integration into the world economy,” Deputy Minister of Environment and Natural Resources Nguyen Van Duc said.

 

Vietnam Confidence dips below Asia Pacific average

 

Vietnam’s confidence index has dipped five points to stand at 98 points, below the Asia Pacific average of 106 but still higher than the global average of 92 points, according to the Nielsen Global Online Survey released on Monday.

 

Consumer confidence levels above and below a baseline of 100 indicate degrees of optimism and pessimism. It is based on consumers’ confidence in the job market, their personal finances and readiness to spend.

 

The survey was conducted between March 23 and April 12, 2011 by polling more than 28,000 consumers in 51 countries throughout the Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa and North America.

 

According to the survey, which is based on the behavior of respondents with online access only, 61% of Vietnamese believe the economy is in a recession, an increase of 5% versus Quarter 4 last year.

 

Vietnamese people continue to be ‘cautiously optimistic’ as 60% of them believe job prospects are good-to-excellent over the coming 12 months. Despite the overall positive outlook on jobs, only 56% of Vietnamese consumers believe their personal finances are good-to-excellent over the next 12 months, a drop of 6% versus the fourth quarter of last year.

 

After paying for essential living expenses, 67% stated they will put their money into savings, followed by spending on holidays/vacations (39%), spending on new clothes (36%), spending on new technology products (36%), home improvement (36%) and out-of-home entertainment (32%).

 

The dim vision, however, is widespread among respondents worldwide.

 

Venkatesh Bala, chief economist at The Cambridge Group, a part of The Nielsen Company, said in his statement that more than half (55%) of global online consumers say they are currently in a recession, and of those, 51% expect to be in a recession for at least another year.

 

Regional differences prevail, with 37% of Asia Pacific consumers saying they are in a recession on Monday compared with 82% of North Americans and 68% of Europeans.

 

Seven out of the top ten optimistic countries are from the Asia Pacific, while European markets dominated nine out of the top ten most pessimistic nations. India remained the most optimistic country in first quarter (131 index points) followed by Saudi Arabia (118) and Indonesia (116).

 

The researcher said in its survey that concerns over rising fuel prices rose to 18% this quarter, up from only 4% three months ago. Rising fuel and food prices are taking a toll on consumers around the world as more and more households are spending a higher proportion of their limited income on these necessities.