Bank sector joins in to stabilize prices

The State Bank of Vietnam’s Governor Nguyen Van Giau, on Wednesday ordered that all the bank’s branches follow Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung’s instructions. That is to stabilize prices during the upcoming Tet holidays.

The governor asked them to ensure safe ratios in their operation, as sanction in two circulars issued in May and September this year.

Branches of the State Bank should effectively carry out currency and credit measures, that the bank instructed in November, to stabilize prices and the macro economy.

They should monitor interest rates and lending activities and make certain they are legal and in accordance with policies of the government, and the Vietnam Banking Association.

Additionally, the credit organizations’ loans should have priority for agricultural production, rural development, natural disaster recovery, exports and commodity stockpiling during the Tet holidays.

Moreover, they should sell foreign currencies to businesses, for the import of necessary goods, and implement other measures to stabilize the foreign exchange markets. They have also been asked to monitor and forecast changes in the international gold price and domestic supply to rationally import the metal.

The State Bank’s branches should monitor credit organizations to ensue their mobilization and the lending of gold, matches the criteria set out in the governor’s circular in October. Any violation from the guidelines will be monitored.

Vietnamese company wins most innovative company award

Dong A Money Transfer (DAMT) under Dong A Commercial Joint Stock Bank has become the only Vietnamese company to receive the Most Innovative Company Award 2010 presented by the International Association of Money Transfer Networks (IAMTN).

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The IAMTN has applauded DAMT’s efforts to become a remittance services provider of international standards and a pioneer in remittance home delivery services nationwide.

In 2008, Money Gram International, a leading global money transfer service provider, selected DAMT as the first Vietnamese partner to develop this kind of service.

This year, the company received remittances of 1.2 billion USD, a year-on-year increase of 20 percent and continues taking lead in the money transfer sector for nine consecutive years.

IAMTN is the only money transfer organisation in the global remittance sector with member banks and organisations in more than 90 countries and territories.

Private investors key to HCMC development

Private investment has been a key factor in HCM City's development in recent years .

Vietnamese and international investors have made large improvements in the city's transport infrastructure, housing, clean water supplies and waste management, according to experts and municipal departments.

Domestic and foreign companies invested a total of VND12.4 trillion (US$654 million) in the city's transport projects in 2007-09, more than twice the city's transport budget, the director of the Department of Transport, Tran Quang Phuong, said.

The city's road density now is 1.75km of road per square kilometre, a 50 per cent increase compared to before 2005.

Four million square metres of roads and 84 bridges have been built since 2005, according to city figures.

It has been a combined effort from city authorities, departments, sectors and private investors at home and abroad, Phuong said.

The privately invested Ong Lanh and Phu My bridges have made a large improvement to the traffic in the city, he said.

Bui Xuan Cuong, deputy director of the city Department of Transport, said most of the city's current major transport projects are the product of private investment, including Ha Noi Highway expansion project worth VND2.2 trillion, Rach Chieu Bridge project worth VND800 billion, the Tan Son Nhat – Binh Loi – Vanh Dai belt road project worth more than VND1 trillion and Cat Lai seaport project worth VND600 billion.

If all these projects had to wait for the State budget, who knows when they would be completed, Cuong said, adding that the city budget for roads this year was only VND2 trillion.

In the housing sector, the city has built a total of 33.3 million square metres of housing in 2005-10, exceeding the city's target by 4 per cent.

The contribution to new housing by association members and private home owners is very large, accounting for about 90 per cent of the total, said Le Hoang Quan, chairman of the city Real Estate Association,

Most new residential areas in District 7, 9, Thu Duc, Tan Binh and Tan Phu are built by private investors, he said.

Since 2002, the city has strengthened calls for capital sources from all economic sectors to invest in clean water supply.

About 90 per cent of the city's residents have access to clean water for their daily use and privately invested water plants treat about one- third of it.

Private plants include the Binh An BOT water supply plant, the Thu Duc BOO water supply plant and Can Gio Water Plant.

City authorities treat slightly more than half of the city's 6,000 tonnes of household waste a day at Phuoc Hiep Waste Treatment Complex in Cu Chi District with the privately owned Da Phuoc Waste Treatment Area of the foreign invested Viet Nam Waste Solutions in Binh Chanh District handling the remainder.

Dao Anh Kiet, director of the city Department of Natural Resources and Environment, said thanks to the private sector the city could boost its waste treatment capacity by 10 per cent a year to cope with yearly increases.

Automobile sales down in November: VAMA

Domestic automobile sales decreased by 9 per cent in November compared to the same period last year to 11,198 units, reported the Viet Nam Automobile Manufacturers' Association (VAMA) yesterday.

This figure, the association said, was an increase of 777 units over October and 1,075 units compared to September.

Private car sales saw the biggest decrease, hitting only 3,770 in November, down by 16 per cent.

VAMA sales figure for the first 11 months of the year reached 99,978 units, down 4 per cent in comparison with the same period in 2009, in which sports utility, multi-purpose and cross-over vehicles decreased by 13 per cent, and commercial vehicles were down by 3 per cent.

In November, most members of VAMA saw downward trends in their sales.

Visuco (Suzuki) experienced a year-on-year decrease of 46 per cent, while GM Daewoo and Samco were down 37 per cent and 43 per cent respectively.

In November, Toyota Viet Nam sold just over 3,200 units, a year-on-year decrease of 7 per cent.

Experts attributed the decline to the devaluation of the Vietnamese dong and high interest rates.

InterContinental expands business in Vietnam

The InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) signed a cooperation deal with the Lucky Star Joint Stock Company and the Thinh Vuong Company to expand business in Vietnam.

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Accordingly, IHG will manage two resorts – Phu Quoc Holiday Inn Resort and Cam Ranh Holiday Inn Resort – with investment by Lucky Star and Thinh Vuong companies.

IHG managing director in the Asia-Pacific region, Jan Smits, said emerging markets like Vietnam promised a long-term and stable growth. Increasing in aviation services and cheap flights will also help develop regional tourism markets.

The number of arrivals to Vietnam in 2010 was forecast to rise by 35 percent compared to 2009. Another factor helping promote tourism development in the country is the Government’s commitment to improving infrastructure and develop new destinations, such as Phu Quoc Island.

The Duong Dong Holiday Inn Resort on Phu Quoc Island will cover 3ha with 250 rooms. It will begin construction in August 2011 and be put into operation in the middle of 2014.

The Cam Ranh Holiday Inn Resort will begin construction in June 2011 and start operation in the third quarter of 2013. It will take 15 minutes to go from the airport to the resort and 40 minutes from the resort to Nha Trang city’s centre.

Holiday Inn Hotels and Resorts have been chosen as the best hotel and resort in the world over the past 10 years. IHG now has 1,301 hotels and resorts in the world, including 104 in the Asia-Pacific region.

IHG also manages other hotels in Vietnam, such as the West Lake InterContinental and Crowne Plaza in Hanoi and InterContinental Asiana Sai Gon. The group planned expanding business in Vietnam and to generate nearly 5,000 jobs at new hotels in the future.

Delta urged to develop rice varieties

The Mekong Delta should pour more investment into research and technology to create high-yield, disease-resistant rice varieties that can adapt to climate change, according to speakers at a meeting held in Can Tho on Tuesday.

Held by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Can Tho City People's Committee, the meeting looked at the development of rice and tra fish cultivation in a sustainable manner.

Le Van Banh, head of the Cuu Long Delta Rice Research Institute, said the reclamation of land for rice cultivation, improvement of irrigating systems and creation of new rice varieties had increased the Delta's rice output from 4.2 million tonnes in 1976 to 21 million tonnes this year.

Despite progress, rice production still lacked high-yield and high-quality rice varieties, processing technologies and a sufficient number of warehouses. There was also a high rate of post-harvest losses (14 per cent).

The knowledge and skills of farmers were uneven and the investment in the Delta's agriculture sector was still low, leaving farmers at high risk.

Participants said the Delta should develop rice co-operatives to create large rice-growing areas and find stable outlets for rice production.

Co-operation between the State, enterprises, farmers and scientists must be improved.

The delta should also improve farmers' knowledge and skills, mechanise rice production, build rice brandnames, improve market information systems, and call on more non-State investors investing in creating new rice varieties, they said.

Le Ngoc Dien from the Can Tho City Sub-department of Fisheries said the area under tra fish breeding had increased from 1,290ha in 1997 to 5,540ha last year. Tra output has also risen from 17 tonnes per hectare in 1997 to 250 tonnes per hectare in 2009.

Many tra fish breeding areas have met the Safe Quality Food 1000 (SQF 1000) and Global Good Agricultural Practices (Global GAP) standards.

Sugar cane growers see high yields

Nearly 800,000 tonnes of sugarcane have been processed into around 55,000 tonnes of white sugar by 15 mills in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta and south-eastern region since the crushing season began last week.

With more than 75,000ha under cultivation in the two regions, the volume of sugarcane harvested during the 2009-10 crop is projected at 5 million tonnes, the Viet Nam Sugar Association said in a report released at a meeting held on Tuesday in the Mekong Delta province of Soc Trang.

Most factories had signed contracts to provide capital, fertilisers and sugarcane breeds to farmers and consume their produce, the report said.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Bui Ba Bong said at the meeting that cities and provinces in the two regions, which are among the country's largest sugarcane farming areas, should maintain the cultivation area.

He also called for closer co-operation between farmers and factories as well as among the factories themselves. The factories should participate in the sugar price stabilisation programme during the run up to the Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday, he added.

Sugarcane is currently being purchased in the Mekong Delta region at VND1.1-1.2 million (US$55-60) per tonne and at VND950,000-1 million (US$47-50) per tonne in the south-eastern region.

Korea’s KIS acquires 49% stake in local brokerage

Korea Investment & Securities Co. (KIS) on Tuesday announced to buy a 49% stake in the local stock brokerage Empower Securities Co. (EPS) to increase the company’s capital from VND135 billion to VND263 billion.

The local firm is in the process of changing its name to KIS Vietnam Co. with the new chief executive officer being a Korean.

Nguyen Huu Nam, board member of Empower Securities, told a press briefing in HCMC that the selling price was VND10,000 per share, the par value. The company did not make profit in the first 11 months of the year, he conceded.

Ryu Sang Ho, president and CEO of KIS, said that if Vietnam regulations allowed foreign firms to own a stake higher than 49% in a local company, KIS would raise its stake in Empower Securities.

For the time being, he said, the new company of KIS Vietnam would focus on developing online trading service for individual customers. It aims to become the leading firm on the local market by 2020, Ho said.

KIS is a subsidiary of Korea Investment Holdings Co. (KIH) that has been active in Vietnam since 2006 via three funds with a total investment size of about US$900 million at this time. The three funds invest in the local equity market, and oil and real estate sectors.

However, Ho said the US$100-million real estate fund would close for withdrawal from Vietnam as it could not find suitable projects for investment and had so far disbursed a fraction of its capital in Vietnam.

PV