US Senators move to nullify new catfish inspection rules

US Senators John McCain and Kelly Ayotte have introduced a resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act that would nullify the US Department of Agriculture's (USDA) final rules establishing the catfish inspection programme.

Under the Congressional Review Act, the US Congress can overturn actions by a federal agency, like USDA, after a rule is formally published and submitted to the Congress. If the resolution is enacted into law, it would nullify the new catfish inspection rules, which were officially published on December 2, including any portions of the regulations that have already gone into effect.

"We are proud to continue the fight to repeal the USDA catfish inspection office, which is an egregious waste of taxpayer dollars and a classic example of anti-free market protectionism," Senators McCain and Ayotte said in a press release.

"The Obama Administration's establishment of this program comes despite the fact that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) already performs seafood inspections and the Governmental Accountability Office has repeatedly warned that the USDA catfish office would be 'wasteful and duplicative' and would invite retaliation from Asian-Pacific trading partners against American agriculture exports.”

“As a result of this program, the American taxpayer is estimated to be on the hook for 15 million USD a year to pay for USDA catfish inspectors who will be working alongside FDA inspectors doing the exact same job.”

“The true purpose of the catfish program is to erect a trade barrier against foreign catfish suppliers to the economic benefit of a handful of domestic catfish growers in southern states. Over the past several years, we've sponsored legislation to eliminate this program and we urge our colleagues to join us in sending a message that we won't stand for this wasteful catfish inspection office." said the Senators.

According to the USDA, the final rules will become effective in March 2016 and will be applied on both locally raised and imported catfish. The agency will conduct extensive outreach to domestic industry and international partners so that they fully understand requirements of the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) prior to its full implementation.

The rule’s effective date of March 2016 begins an 18-month transitional implementation period for both domestic and international producers. During the period, FSIS will re-inspect and conduct species and residue sampling on imported catfish shipments at least quarterly at US import establishments.

Planning and investment sector urged to better performance

Vice President Nguyen Thi Doan has asked the planning and investment sector to ceaselessly improve its role as an advisor to the Party and State leaders on the country’s socio-economic development strategies.

Speaking at a ceremony to mark the sector’s 70 th founding anniversary in Hanoi on December 9, the Vice President praised its significant contributions to the country’s development, renovation and integration.

The sector has taken many initiatives in managing public investment to solve scattered investment and public debt in investment, improve the efficiency of investment and draw official development assistance (ODA) sources, she said.

Doan urged the sector to increase its management and use of investment capital in an economical, transparent and effective manner, thus avoiding wastefulness and loss.

According to Minister of Planning and Investment Bui Quang Vinh, his agency has given advice to the Government on many important policies for the reform process of State-owned businesses, while making contributions to building and perfecting legal documents on assisting enterprises.

The country’s policy to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) plays a crucial role in removing economic blockade and embargo, as well as in luring external resources to serve its socio-economic development, thus fostering the nation’s regional and global integration, Vinh noted.

Vietnam lured 98 billion USD of FDI and 30 billion USD of ODA in the 2011-2015 period, with respective disbursed values hitting nearly 60 billion USD and 23 billion USD. The resources have contributed to creating impetus and foundation for Vietnam’s economic growth and development.

Northwest region’s tourism products developed

Experts of the EU-funded Environmentally and Socially Responsible Tourism Capacity Development Programme (EU-ESRT) have completed two technical reports on developing tourism products in the northwest region.

The region comprises eight provinces, namely Dien Bien, Ha Giang, Lao Cai, Yen Bai, Hoa Binh, Lai Chau, Son La, and Phu Tho.

The reports were built based on the geography of provinces along the Hanoi-Lao Cai expressway, National Highway 6 and the Da River basin.

The report on developing tourism products in the Hanoi-Lao Cai Highway corridor defined four main tourist clusters including southern Phu Tho, northern Phu Tho and Yen Bai, eastern Lao Cai, and western Lao Cai. Tourism products in the clusters are mainly based on nature and culture.

Prominent tourist sites will be the national relic site of Hung Kings temple and ancient villages nearby Viet Tri city in Phu Tho province; Thac Ba Lake in Yen Bai province; Sa Pa town in Lao Cai province and ethnic minority villages and mountaineering routes in neighbouring districts like Bac Ha and Bat Xat.

Hanoi, Lao Cai city, Sa Pa town, and southern Chinese provinces will serve as key centres providing tourism services in the Hanoi-Lao Cai expressway.

The expressway forms part of the Kunming (China)-Hai Phong (Vietnam) Transport Corridor and belongs to the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) cooperative programme linking Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar and China.

Meanwhile, the report on developing tourism products along National Highway 6 and the Da River basin identified Hoa Binh city and vicinities, Hoa Binh Lake, Mai Chau Valley, Van Ho district, Moc Chau plateau, Son La city and vicinities, Muong La-Quynh Nhai, Dien Bien Phu city and nearby areas, Muong Nhe, and Da-Nam Na confluence as main tourist clusters.

The EU-ESRT project also issued a regional tourist map based on fact-finding tours. It is considered important sources for local authorities to develop tourism development policies in preparation for the National Tourism Year to be hosted by Lao Cai and northwestern provinces in 2017.-

Vietnam, Pakistan move to boost trade

The Pakistani Government wants to sign a preferential trade agreement with Vietnam, paving the way for a future bilateral free trade agreement with a view to accelerating the two countries’ trade.

The intention was delivered by Pakistani Finance Deputy Minister Tariq Bajwa at the third session of the Vietnam-Pakistan Intergovernmental Committee, hosted by the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), in Hanoi on December 9.

At the candid discussion, MoIT Deputy Minister Do Thang Hai proposed increasing delegation exchanges to boost bilateral engagement.

He emphasised the importance of encouraging trade promotion programmes and market research among the business communities.

Both sides need to set out orientations for agriculture, finance, banking and tourism cooperation.

Meanwhile, the Pakistani side added information technology as one of the promising cooperation fields with Vietnam.

According to statistics from the General Department of Vietnam Customs, trade revenue between Vietnam and Pakistan climbed to 427 million USD in 2014 from 242 million USD in 2010.

In the January-October period this year, the figure was recorded at 474.6 million USD – an annual increase of 39.5 percent, and is expected to reach 500 million for the entire year.

Pakistan is the biggest importer of Vietnamese tea with 35,000 tonnes valued at 81.2 million USD in 2014.

Vietnam mainly imports fabric, cotton, chemicals and animal feeds from Pakistan.

Toyota records positive sales in Vietnam

Toyota Vietnam posted its November sales at 4,419 units, up 6 percent from the same month in 2014.

The northern and southern markets together captured the lion’s share of 85 percent of the total figure. The remaining 15 percent or 664 cars were consumed in the central region.

The Vios model led the saloon segment with 1,257 cars sold – an annual increase of 41 percent. Its counterparts in the commercial line were Fortuner and Innova models with 877 and 854 units consumed respectively.

As the company has faced limited supply due to underway preparation for the launch of new models, only 56 Lexus cars were bought last month. The number took eleven-month sales of the luxury model to 881 units, up 268 percent from the same period last year.

By the end of November, Toyota sold a total of 44,935 vehicles in Vietnam, increasing 24 percent year on year.

Employees key to making businesses succeed: forum

Vietnamese businesses should focus on developing their human resources to become more competitive and capitalise on the opportunities from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the 2015 Vietnam HR Awards Forum heard in Ho Chi Minh City on December 8.

Luong Hoang Thai, Director of the Ministry of Industry and Trade's Multilateral Trade Policy Department, said besides infrastructure shortcomings the country also faced limitations in terms of human resources, with labour productivity being very low.

The country needed to focus on improving labour productivity and the quality of human resources, he said.

Pham Phu Ngoc Trai, Chairman of Global Integration Business Consultants, said local firms should understand their capability to make suitable business strategies of which human resource development strategies are an inseparable part.

"More than 90 percent of multinational companies have a career development road map for their human resources, while few local companies do so," he said.

Pham Hong Hai, CEO of HSBC Vietnam, said at many local companies, owners made decisions large and small. This posed a risk, he said, asking who would manage the company if something happens to the owner.

Preparing the successor management team was very important, he said.

"HSBC focuses on diversifying its human resources, using not only local workers but also foreigners, to improve its competitiveness and meet the demands of a wide range of customers," he said.

Ngo Hung Phuong, CEO of CSC Vietnam, said: "The TPP will create huge business opportunities not only in the domestic market but also abroad, and we must invest in advance to avail the opportunities."

Investing in human resources is very important, he said.

His company's strategy focuses on sectors such as next-generation technologies, cloud computing and cyber security, with the target markets being the US, Japan and Australia.

Wilfred John Blackburn, CEO of Prudential Vietnam, shared his company's experience in developing its human resource strategy, saying it has management trainee programmes, including internal training, that provide them opportunities to work overseas.

"Each country is quite unique," he said, adding that his company applies different operational methods in each market.

Phuong said industry and academia should cooperate to improve education quality.

"There is fierce competition in attracting talent", especially in the IT sector, he said. To retain talent, apart from offering training and competitive salaries and benefits, companies would also need to offer a good working environment, he said.

The forum, which attracted more than 300 delegates, saw senior executives compare notes on the importance of management and taking advantage of a variety of talents to become more competitive amid the integration.

It was organised by HR consultancy Talentnet Corporation.

Project list for ODA capital plan 2015 announced

The Prime Minister issued a modified list of projects eligible for the official development assistance (ODA) capital plan from the State budget in 2015 for ministries and localities.

The PM assigned the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) to allocate specific capital to ministries, sectors and localities for each project based on the total capital and the full list of projects.

The government only adds ODA projects with capital from the central budget and capital from their sponsors that has yet to be disbursed. The transfer projects are ones approved by the PM in previous years.

The 2015 ODA capital supplemented for each project will not exceed the ODA capital sourced from the State budget as stated in the agreement, or according to the decision signed by authorised agencies. It should befit the sponsor’s progress and capital-funding capabilities.

For new projects, only those that have signed agreements with their sponsors and are approved by authorised agencies are added to the list and the 2015 capital plan.

The MPI is held accountable for the accuracy of the information, figures and capital level allocated to projects.-

Europe eyes Viet Nam investments

European investors are eyeing further investments in Viet Nam, the Ambassador and head of the European Union (EU) Delegation to the country, Bruno Angelet said.

Angelet made the announcement at a recent press conference in Ha Noi, after negotiations on the EU-Viet Nam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) were officially concluded in Brussels, Belgium on December 2.

He said many European investors are awaiting further improvement in Viet Nam's macro-economic policies and investment environment for a suitable time to pour capital into the country.

While the EVFTA is expected to be signed soon and will take effect in 2018, the conclusion of the negotiations will help the country speed up its economic restructuring and growth model innovation process, for better integration into the global economy, he said.

Angelet said the investment influx from the European Union (EU) to Viet Nam has witnessed dramatic progress. The EU became the third largest investor here during the first half of this year, rising from the sixth position registered last year.

The Vietnam News Agency reported that as of the end of June 23, 28 EU member countries registered investments worth over $38.4 billion, and they were active in most key economic sectors of Viet Nam, especially in industrial development, construction and services.

Angelet noted that both European and Vietnamese enterprises should work out appropriate investment roadmaps and business strategies to maximise the benefits related to taxes and markets that the EVFTA brings about.

Following the agreement, Viet Nam and the EU will eliminate duties on more than 99 per cent of tariff lines, while ensuring favourable and open investment environment to facilitate capital flows.

The two sides are especially committed to facilitating the import and export of their key products, such as Viet Nam's garment and textile, footwear, farm produce, seafood and timber products, and the EU's machinery, equipment, and automobiles, in addition to alcoholic beverages and agricultural products.

Bilateral commitments related to government procurement, intellectual property protection, investment dispute settlement, and small and medium-sized enterprise assistance are expected to open up opportunities for both sides to make inroads in each other's market.

Earlier this year, the European Chamber of Commerce in Viet Nam released promising figures about future European investments in the country, via its second-quarter business climate index survey.

Forty-one per cent of the European businesses polled by the chamber said they will increase investments in Viet Nam, while 39 per cent said they will maintain their current investment levels.

European Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmstrom said the Vietnamese economy shows significant growth potential with more than 93 million consumers.

She emphasised that the Vietnamese market will particularly facilitate agricultural and industrial products of EU member countries, as well as their service sectors.

The EVFTA will play an important role in helping Viet Nam ensure sustained development while accelerating economic growth in the future, she added.

According to official data, the EU is currently the second biggest trade partner of Viet Nam, with bilateral trade hitting $19.4 billion in the first half of this year, a year-on-year increase of 11 per cent.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker witnessed the official conclusion of the EVFTA in Brussels on December 2, after nearly three years of negotiation between Viet Nam and the EU.

They expected the ratification process of the trade pact to be completed "as soon as possible".

HSBC Viet Nam General Director Pham Hong Hai told news website enternews.vn that the progress of the EVFTA, together with the formation of the ASEAN Economic Community at the end of this year, will be important bases for the trade liberalisation between EU and ASEAN blocs.

Viet Nam, Pakistan expect trade to rise to $500 million

The Pakistani Government wants to sign a trade preferential agreement with Viet Nam, paving the way for a future bilateral free trade agreement with a view to accelerating the two countries' trade.

The intention was delivered by Pakistani Finance Deputy Minister Tariq Bajwa at the third session of the Viet Nam-Pakistan Intergovernmental Committee, hosted by the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), in Ha Noi yesterday.

At the candid discussion, MoIT Deputy Minister Do Thang Hai proposed increasing delegation exchanges to boost bilateral engagement.

He emphasised the importance of encouraging trade promotion programmes and market research among the business communities.

Both sides need to set out orientations for agriculture, finance, banking and tourism co-operation.

Meanwhile, the Pakistani side added information technology as one of the promising co-operation fields with Viet Nam.

According to statistics from the General Department of Viet Nam Customs, trade revenue between Viet Nam and Pakistan climbed to US$427 million in 2014 from $242 million in 2010.

In the January-October period this year, the figure was recorded at $475 million – an annual increase of 40 per cent, and is expected to reach $500 million for the entire year.

Pakistan is the biggest importer of Vietnamese tea with 35,000 tonnes valued at $81 million in 2014.

Viet Nam mainly imports fabric, cotton, chemicals and animal feed from Pakistan.

Thai company earmarks US$61.8mln for M&A deals in Vietnam, Indonesia

Tipco Asphalt Pcl, or Tasco, a major asphalt manufacturer in Thailand, plans to acquire five companies in Vietnam and Indonesia for a total of US$61.8 million, news website Deal Street Asia has reported.

The acquisitions, which are now awaiting shareholders' approval, are expected to be completed in the first quarter of next year, it said.

They are part of Tasco's plans to become a big player in the world's asphalt and petroleum-related products market over the next five years, according to the report.

Thailand's Tipco Asphalt Pcl plans to acquire five companies in Vietnam and Indonesia for US$61.8 million. Photo credit: tbelco

The targeted companies, including two in Vietnam, are subsidiaries of French civil engineering company Colas S.A.

Tasco expects to triple its sales in 2020 from 2.2 million tons a year now to supply for both local and overseas markets.

The Thai company also plans to earmark US$100 million for expansion in Malaysia in 2017, managing director Chaiwat Srivalwat said in a recent interview with The Nation.

Flappy Bird creator pays 14% of purported US$446k tax

The Vietnamese developer behind the 2013 hit mobile game Flappy Bird has paid more than VND1.4 billion (US$62,500) in tax for the income he had reaped from the historically popular app, a tax official has said.

While relevant agencies are still discussing what kind of tax Nguyen Ha Dong has to pay, the Hanoi-based developer has “completed the payment of his own accord,” said Nguyen Quang Tien, deputy head of the reform division under the General Department of Taxation.

Dong, who goes online by the name Dong Nguyen, released the addictive Flappy Bird on May 24, 2013, but the game would only become popular worldwide in early 2014.

At the end of January 2014, it was the most downloaded free game on App Store.

During this period, its developer claimed that Flappy Bird was earning US$50,000 a day from in-app advertising as well as sales.

The 30-year-old removed Flappy Bird from both App Store and Google Play on February 10, 2014, due to guilt over what he considered to be its addictive nature and overuse.

The removal also came as it became debatable whether Dong should pay taxes for the huge earnings his app generated.

In August 2014, Dong resurrected the game and renamed it Flappy Birds Family. But it was only available for download from the Android app store and could be played merely on Amazon Fire TV, which is a digital media player that allows users to play video games with the included remote, through a mobile app, or with a game controller.

Later that same month the developer introduced Swing Copters, considered another Flappy Bird sequel. The new game was expected to be Nguyen’s second hit of 2014, but it failed to find fame.

Swing Copters was considered one of the 14 biggest flops in tech that year by Business Insider.

It is believed that Dong has to pay as much as VND10 billion (US$446,429) in tax, which means he has just paid 14% of the sum, according to tax analysts.

It is in fact a challenge for Vietnamese tax authorities to determine how the app-generated income should be taxed.

“In this time of advanced technology and the Internet, there are many new online business models that are not included in any of the current tax regimes,” Tien was quoted by newswire ICTNews as saying.

“So it is difficult to inspect or collect taxes from them.”

The General Department of Taxation has in fact looked into the tax issues of the Flappy Bird creator since early 2014, shortly after which Dong shut down the app.

Tien did not elaborate on what kind of tax Dong had paid, as well as whether he still has to make more payments in the future.

The objective of Flappy Bird was to direct a flying bird, named "Faby," which moves continuously to the right between sets of Mario-like pipes. If the player touches the pipes, the game ends. The bird briefly flaps upward each time the player taps the screen; if the screen is not tapped, the bird falls due to gravity.

In 2014 Dong was listed among ten Internet millionaires who made fortunes out of thin air by entertainment news site The Richest, while the game itself was included in the list of the world’s 50 most popular brands that year by social media intelligence technology firm Infegy.

The app creator was also featured in the “30 Under 30” list of 2014, which honored 30 Vietnamese individuals who stood out in the industries they were part of by Forbes Vietnam.

The Hanoian now devotes his time to .GEARS, an Internet-based company he founded to “produce and publish bite-sized arcade mobile games,” as his life mission is “to make good games,” he told Forbes Vietnam earlier this year.

Foodpanda sells Vietnamese operation to local rival

Rocket Internet’s online food ordering service Foodpanda has said that its Vietnamese business had been acquired by local rival Vietnammm, days after announcing its withdrawal from the Vietnamese market over financial issues.

The acquisition means that Foodpanda’s customers and database of over 1,000 Vietnamese restaurant partners will be transferred to Vietnammm, according to news website Tech in Asia.

“This deal enables Foodpanda’s customers and listed restaurants to keep making and receiving orders online in Vietnam,” the company said in a statement sent to the newswire.

“Foodpanda has always been in the front line of market consolidation in the online food delivery sector by establishing clear number one positions in the vast majority of its countries and by conducting a number of complementary acquisitions in the past,” co-founder and CEO of Foodpanda Ralf Wenzel was cited by Tech in Asia.

The consolidation will allow Foodpanda to focus on more attractive core markets while helping Vietnammm become the strongest player in the Vietnamese market, according to Wenzel.

“Vietnammm.com is thrilled to announce the deal with Foodpanda to solidify its market leader position in Vietnam. We welcome all new customers and restaurants and will do everything we can to ensure a smooth transition to Vietnammm.com,” the newswire quoted Jochem Lisser, CEO of Vietnammm, as saying.

Vietnam’s online food delivery space now becomes a battle between domestic brands, Vietnammm and Eat.vn, following the acquisition,Tech in Asia said.

Vietnammm is a subsidiary of Takeaway, one of the world’s largest online food delivery websites, and Eat.vn is backed by VC Corp, one of the most prominent Vietnamese online media companies.

The announcement of acquisition is considered a surprising twist in the online food ordering industry of Vietnam as Foodpanda sent a notice on December 2 to its restaurant partners in Vietnam saying that it would shut down all business activities in the country due to financial issues, which would take effect within five days.

Foodpanda is a global mobile food delivery marketplace headquartered in Berlin, Germany with operations in 40 countries including India, Russia, Brazil, Mexico, Singapore and others.

The company has established business partnership with over 38,000 restaurants in 500 cities worldwide.

The business launched its operation in Vietnam in 2012 and has set up connections with more than 1,000 restaurants, including many well-known brands, to the food lovers in the country, such as KFC, Burger King, and Baskin Robins.

Fujinet Systems and Uchida Yoko form strategic alliance

At a signing ceremony in Ho Chi Minh City on December 9 sealing a cooperation deal with Fujinet Systems, Uchida Yoko Group unveiled it has also added a 10% minority interest in the IT solutions firm to its portfolio of investments.

“The strategic alliance between the two Japanese based companies will allow each to benefit from the strengths of the other and gain competitive advantage,” said Fujinet Systems General Director Nguyen Dang Phong at the ceremony.

Phong said the alliance would allow for the two companies to not only improve their competitive positioning but also provide advantages in gaining entry into the highly competitive Vietnam market.

“The alliance brings synergy to the process,” said Uchida Yoko’s CEO Noboru Okubo, allowing for each to supplement their critical skills and share the risks and cost of major development projects.

He said specifically it permits flexibility and particular efficiencies in processing new orders on a consistent, timely and quality basis, which best satisfies the high demands of the firms’ customers.

Transport ministry surpasses equitisation target

The Transport Ministry has surpassed the equitisation target assigned by the government, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Van Ninh said during the ministry’s conference on December 9 reviewing the 2011-2015 reshuffle of State-owned enterprises (SOEs).

Following the equitisation, most SOEs have performed better with increased asset value, ownership’s capital, revenue and workers’ salary, he said.

As the challenges remain ahead, he suggested the Ministries of Finance, Planning and Investment issue special mechanisms for specific cases to untie the knots.

From 2011-2015, 137 businesses in the transport sector went public, 67 more than the target, according to the Deputy Transport Minister Nguyen Hong Truong.

As of the end of this year, the number of firms having completed IPO (initial public offering) will reach 124, including 12 corporations, paying more than 1.7 trillion VND (77.2 million USD) into the fund supporting rearrangement of SOEs of the State Capital Investment Corporation.

During the period, the ministry withdrew around 4.4 trillion VND (200 million USD) of State capital from 113 SOEs, including seven parent companies and 106 affiliates.

The ministry plans to complete the divestment of all State capital from corporations during the first quarter of 2016.

Deputy Minister Truong also pointed out existing obstacles to the restructuring of SOEs, including the lack of a relevant legal framework, overlapping State management, among others.

He also noted the need to reform the operation of political and social organisations such as Party organisations and trade unions in equitised enterprises to suit the new situation.

20 websites shortlisted for e-commerce awards

Twenty websites of firms in tourism, electronics and other sectors have been picked for the 2015 HCMC E-commerce Award (HCMC ECA 2015) held by the city’s Department of Industry and Trade.

There are five websites in tourism, five in electronics and 10 in other sectors, which have been selected from 66 websites registered by 56 enterprises for the award based on votes of 20,000 people by December 4, three weeks after HCMC ECA 2015 was launched.

The department said votes for candidates of HCMC ECA 2015 have grown strongly over the same event last year.

The potential websites to win the city’s e-commerce awards include those of Thegioididong, Tiki, Saigontourist, Vietravel, Nguyen Kim, Dien May Xanh, Hotdeal, Nhommua, Lazada, Careerlink, Nganluong and Bizweb.

The organizer expects there will be a big change in the rankings of those websites in the final week of HCMC ECA 2015 as a number of candidates have launched multiple promotion programs, particularly for Online Friday, the Vietnamese version of Black Friday.

Lazada, Zalora, Tiki and Thegioididong are running big promotion programs until the year-end.

Online shoppers can visit www.eca.trade.hochiminhcity.gov.vn to vote for the websites they like.

Voters will select the top 10 e-commerce websites and the finalists will be announced in mid-December. The award presentation ceremony will be held in mid-January 2016.

Economic alliances key to attracting global retail

Domestic economic alliances would be the main factor in improving the flow of international revenues into Viet Nam, Theodore Knipfing, head of retail services at Cushman & Wakefield Asia Pacific, has said.

Speaking to the media about Viet Nam's retail market during a business trip to HCM City last week, he said the collaboration between domestic retailers, property developers, consumers, and policymakers would be the main factor rather than trade deals like the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

"A lot of people are excited about TPP. But I think people may be disappointed if they expect some massive change overnight in the numbers of revenue or the influx of foreign retailers.

"The biggest benefit of TPP is just the mindset, that it will bring some trade."

There needed to be a growth or a continued maturation of the market itself, not just purely in economic terms but in terms of people's habits and the way people shopped.

"The vast majority of people in Viet Nam are not used to shopping malls yet, so I think the message is that yes TPP will help a lot but a lot of things have to change, not purely trade, with restrictions being lifted; it is the way people live, the way people shop, that has to also change in hand with the economic improvements.

"Many things all coming together will cause the retail market to mature."

They included the rise in salaries, middle class, malls, and travelling, and the removal of trade restrictions.

Another thing that international retailers typically looked for to enter a market was strong anchor tenants in malls who would bring people to the mall consistently every day.

"Co.op Mart and Highland Coffee are big ones."

Retailers would look at the entire region, for example Thailand and Cambodia and Viet Nam, more as a unified region and where they could put more resources and investments.

For example, if they could ship goods between these countries with little or no duty or taxes, it would allow them to achieve more efficiency.

Retailers would have products in one country and it was much cheaper to be shifting those products around close countries rather than shipping all the way from Europe or US.

Retailers had to look at things globally, and allocate their resources in the best possible way.

"So a country may have amazing growth or very healthy retail, but if it's very small or smaller than big countries like Indonesia or India or China, the priority suffers."

He cited the example of H&M and ZARA, saying they often liked to be together in a mall because this attracted more people to the mall.

International retailers were very interested in ASEAN, especially Myanmar, Cambodia and Viet Nam, with Viet Nam exciting the maximum interest for its market size.

Ha Nam sets investment goal of $8 billion in next five years

The northern province of Ha Nam plans to attract VND180 trillion (US$8 billion) in investments between 2016 and 2020, said an official of the province's Department of Planning and Investment.

Director of the department Nguyen Van Oang said it would give priority to projects in hi-tech and support industries, foodstuff processing and pharmaceuticals.

"Investors are also welcome in the tourism and service sectors and urban development. They are also encouraged to build infrastructure for the Tam Chuc tourism area, including entertainment, trade and high-end accommodation facilities," Oang said.

In the future, the province plans to seek investments in the industrial complexes which have adequate infrastructure facilities while fostering co-operation with large domestic and international companies, including those from Japan and Israel to develop hi-tech agriculture, dairy farming based on industrial models and organic farming.

It will also target foreign investors from developed economies such as Japan, South Korea and the European Union.

Mai Tien Dung, the Ha Nam Party secretary and People's Council chairman, said that the province would create favourable conditions for investors through a mix of incentives related to land lease, infrastructure, administrative procedures, and taxes, apart from imparting labour training and ensuring recruitment support, among others.

"The province will focus on further improving its investment environment to enable it to become a friendly, attractive and competitive destination in the region," Dung said at a recent investment promotion conference in HCM City.

The latest report from the Foreign Investment Agency showed out that Ha Nam attracted about $320 million in foreign direct investment (FDI) over the past 11 months. That helped the province rank 14th among 49 localities in terms of attracting FDI.

SSC to detail its five key market policies

The State Securities Commission (SSC) plans to issue legal documents this month to assist in the implementation of its five primary policy orientations for development of Viet Nam's stock market.

This statement was made by Nguyen Son, head of SSC's Development Market at a bilateral co-operation seminar between creditors and entrepreneurs of Viet Nam and Korea late last week.

The first orientation is aimed at increasing the supply of products on the securities markets through the acceleration of the State-owned enterprise restructuring, divestments of State capital from big companies and introduction of structured products like derivatives (index futures and bond futures), and covered warrants, in addition to non-voting depository receipts (NVDRs) or global depository receipts (GDRs).

The second policy focuses on stimulation of market demand and the encouragement of capital inflows in the market, together with the task of upgrading Viet Nam's stock market to the emerging market status in the MSCI's ranking.

Son said Viet Nam had satisfied some criteria of the MSCI, the world leading index construction provider, and the ranking promotion would happen in the near future. He also added that some legal documents would be soon issued to implement Decree 60 which increases foreign holdings in domestically listed companies.

The legal framework for information disclosure of public companies and development of professional investment institutions (exchange-traded funds, pension funds, investment-linked insurance products and investor protection funds) would be further developed.

The third group of policy is to speed up the market restructuring, including consolidation and dissolution of weak securities companies, permission of higher foreign ownership (between 50 per cent and 100 per cent) in domestic securities firms, and restructuring the two stock exchanges.

HAGL anchors shopping plaza in Myanmar

Hoang Anh Gia Lai Group (HAGL), one of Vietnam’s premier property developers, has announced the grand opening of phase one of a US$300 million 40,000 square-metre shopping plaza in Yangon, Myanmar.

“We currently have 95% of the space leased,” a public relations officer of HAGL unveiled, noting that when all of the stores are fully stocked the centre will offer a plethora of brand name products for the customers shopping pleasure.

The official said the project has been divided into two phase.

“Phase one of the project is focusing on the shopping centre and completing construction on a one-star and five-star hotel while phase two will concentrate on constructing residential housing.

He said plans are for phase two to take six to seven years to complete.

Vietnam trade deficit widens as export growth weakens

Sagging export growth spurred a wider-than-forecast trade deficit of US$4.0 billion during the eleven months leading up to December, according to a recent report released by the General Statistics Office (GSO).

The gloomier trade picture is the result of a weaker than expected domestic economy resulting in exports falling far short of expectations, a strong US dollar and weak global growth say experts.

Though the value of overseas shipments for the nation’s FDI businesses for the eleven month period jumped 8.3% year-over-year tallying in at US$105.1 billion, those gains were eroded by a 2.6% dip into the red of exports by domestic companies.

Combined overall revenues for the nation’s FDI and domestic businesses of US$148.7 billion for the period fell far short of the target of US$162 billion budgeted for the year, said the GSO.

The US remained Vietnam’s largest export market with sales of US$30.6 billion (up 17.6%), followed by in descending order of importance the EU, ASEAN, China, Japan and Republic of Korea.

“A strong US dollar has made it more expensive for companies in Vietnam such as manufacturers to sell goods to foreign customers,” say experts.

The impact tends to be felt hardest by the smaller domestic companies who have more difficulty accessing overseas markets.

In addition, they say a weak global economy has made it much more difficult for customers outside of Vietnam to buy lesser known brand products made by domestic companies.

“Meanwhile imports lunged 13.7% year-over-year to US$152.5 billion for the period January-November, contributing significantly to the higher than expected trade deficit,” said the GSO.

Imports for FDI businesses increased 8% to US$62.3 billion while those of domestic companies shot up over twice the rate at 18.1% to US$90.2 billion, the statistics show.

China was the biggest market with an estimated import value of US$45.1 billion, up 14%.

Experts say the performance of domestic businesses is quite weak compared to FDI businesses and their counterparts in the region such as Thailand, India, Philippines and the Republic of Korea.

The trade balance will continue to deteriorate unless the government takes effective action to remedy the situation they say.

French investors demonstrate interest in large-scale projects

Many French firms are seeking investment opportunities in Vietnam in the electrical equipment, energy, transport, and aviation infrastructure industries.

A source from Schneider Electric Group in Vietnam told VIR that this group would soon begin construction of a plant making hi-tech electronic products in Ho Chi Minh City’s Saigon Hi-Tech Park. This first phase, covering 12,000 square metres, is scheduled to be operational by late 2016. The second phase will likely be constructed after 2020.

According to the park’s authority, the plant’s total investment capital will be nearly $100 million. After completion, this 26,000sqm plant will be one of the group’s biggest manufacturing plants worldwide.

According to the French Embassy to Vietnam, the Schneider Electric investment is just one among many prospective French-invested projects in Vietnam.

“In particular, investment in infrastructures such as energy, transportation and green technologies could be higher, some companies have already significant investment projects in these fields,” the embassy’s first secretary Jean-Philippe Gavois told VIR.

Last week in Paris, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung met with leaders of many French groups hoping to invest into Vietnam. They include Electricity of France; Aéroports de Paris (ADP), Perenco, Technip France; and Accord.

According to Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), these groups informed Prime Minister Dung of their investment plans into Vietnam. ADP wants to engage in the construction of Long Thanh International Airport in the southern province of Dong Nai. The company has worked with Vietnam’s Ministry of Transport on several previous occasions.

In another case, the French Agency for Development in Hanoi and the International Network branch of Electricity of France (EDF-IN) have signed two financial agreements that will optimise the investment planning of Electricity of Vietnam’s Hanoi Power Corporation and Northern Power Corporation.

Also in Paris last week, Deputy Prime Minister and MoFA Minister Pham Binh Minh met with the leaders of Thales Group, which is currently implementing projects to monitor coasts, roads, and satellites in Vietnam. Thales said it wanted to expand its investment portfolio in the country.

According to Minh, Vietnam’s government wants Thales to submit a long-term investment plan that would make use of Vietnam’s resources, while training Vietnamese experts and transferring technology to Vietnamese partners.

Last month, about 15 French groups came to Vietnam in search of investment opportunities in building urban infrastructure projects.

Etudes Créations et Informatique recently signed a deal with Vietnam’s V-ECOM on jointly conducting a project to develop transport solutions in Vietnam. This deal followed six months of negotiations.

More Korean firms seeking for potential franchisees in Vietnam: official

Many more Korean firms, mostly those operating in food and beverage service, are in search of potential Vietnamese partners for franchise deals, an official from the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Ho Chi Minh City said earlier this week.

The number of Korean franchisors coming to Vietnam for potential partnership has jumped nearly seven-fold in the year to date compared to the same period of 2014, Park Sang Hyup, head of the trade section at the consulate general, said at a workshop introducing Korean franchisors on Thursday.

Ho Chi Minh City is a potential market for Korean franchisors against the backdrop that Korean culture, most noticeably movies, catering service and make-up style, is becoming more popular in Vietnam, Park said.

Given a young population and the rise of the middle class in Vietnam, there are many opportunities for franchising in the restaurant business and many other fields, especially those serving the needs of the young.

Those seeking franchisees in Vietnam operate mainly in food and beverage service as well as the cosmetics industry, including such names as Don Chicken, Yadllie Chicken, Coffee Bay Coffee & Bakery, and Namwa Restaurant, he said.

These brands are already operational in Asian markets like Japan, China, Hong Kong and the Philippines, Park added.

Meanwhile, in Southeast Asian countries, other Korean brands like Lotteria, CJ Foodville, Genesis, Holly, F&B, SF Innovation, Caffe Bene, Tous Les Jours, Paris Baguette and BBQ Chicken have successfully set up their franchise chains.

Growing trade and investment between Vietnam and South Korea, and between South Korea and ASEAN, have paved the way for more franchise deals for Korean brands to gain a stronger foothold in the region, Park said.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, better known as ASEAN, is a ten-member bloc which includes Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam.

The establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community, which is slated for December 31, will offer a better platform for more successful franchise deals between Korean businesses and their local partners in the region, Park said.

In addition, the Vietnam-South Korea free trade agreement, ratified by the Korean parliament on November 30, will help boost bilateral trade to US$70 billion in 2015, and create more opportunities beyond trade and investment, including franchising, he added.

South Korea is the biggest foreign investor in Vietnam with 4,459 operational projects worth over $39.1 billion, and third-largest trading partner of the Southeast Asian nation.

Catering is currently the most franchised business in Vietnam, accounting for 43.7 percent of the recorded deals, followed by fashion with 19.3 percent, education service with 14.1 percent and convenience stores with 2.2 percent, according to the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Forty-two catering brands have been franchised out in the country, including those of fast food, bakery, coffee and beverages, according to the ministry.

Vietnam has licensed nearly 140 foreign businesspeople and 150 international brands to enter the market since 2007, the ministry said.

VEF/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/Dantri/VET/VIR