Know-how turns shrimp breeders into billionaires

Thach Canh Quyet is one of dozens of farmers in Hamlet 12 in Hoa Binh District's Vinh Hau A Commune who have become billionaires from breeding shrimps.

Quyet earned a profit of VND800 million (US$40,000) from harvesting his latest black tiger shrimp crop.

Industrial and semi-industrial shrimp farming is being pioneered in the hamlet in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta Province of Bac Lieu.

Quyet also sells shrimp feed and medicine and consults on farming techniques for local households preparing to breed the black tiger shrimp.

Hamlet 12 has become a wealthy area since it switched to shrimp farming in 1999.

Nguyen Van Muoi, deputy secretary of the Vinh Hau A Commune Party's Committee, said: "Nearly 50 of more than 450 households in Hamlet 12 are now billionaires."

Tran Minh Huong, head of Hamlet 12, said his family was one of the success stories there.

"Last year, my family earned a profit of VND1.5 billion from shrimp farming," Huong said.

He said there was a lot of work and technical know-how involved before one could make the big money.

Do Manh Thuong, deputy director of the provincial Department of Science and Technology, said households in the hamlet were kept up to date on the latest in industrial farming and clean farming models to achieve the good incomes.

The price of black tiger shrimp with 30 heads per kilo purchased at ponds in the hamlet is now VND200,000 a kg, a record high.

Shrimp breeders in the hamlet said they were now renovating their ponds to prepare for this year's crop.

Imports of motorbikes and automobiles shoot up

Imports of whole motorbikes increased by 72.4 percent and automobiles by 79.5 percent in the first two months this year, according to statistics from the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

Imported input costs also rose sharply, oil and gas (60 percent), iron and steel (9.6 percent) and cattle-feed (20 percent).   

To control import surplus at 16 percent of export turnover, the Ministry of Industry and Trade and related agencies are strictly monitoring the imports of luxurious, unessential goods and materials which are lacking in the country.

Honouring ASEAN businesspeople

A programme was launched in Hanoi on March 3 to present the “ASEAN outstanding businesses, ASEAN famous trademarks” award, and gold cup for outstanding and talented businesspeople of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.

The programme was co-sponsored by the Van Hien Viet Nam (Vietnam Civilisation Magazine), the Vietnam-Laos and Cambodia Economic Cooperation Development Association and other organisations.

The aim is to encourage the ASEAN business community, especially Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, to develop reputable trademarks, brand names, products and services, contributing to building a healthy business environment and promoting sustainable economic development.

Businesses in all fields from ASEAN countries, especially Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia are eligible to join the programme.

The awards ceremony will be held in June, 2011 in Vientiane, Laos and broadcast live on Lao National Television to honour outstanding and talented business leaders who have performed well and actively taken part in social activities.

Experts anticipate inflation under 10 percent in 2011

Vietnam’s inflation rate this year is estimated at below 10 percent, according to Le Xuan Nghia, Vice Chairman of the National Financial Supervisory Commission (NFSC).

Under the prediction of NFSC, the adjustment of the USD/VND exchange rate and the increases in electricity and petrol prices from March 1 will push the year’s CPI up by 2.5 percent.

However, food and foodstuff prices, which directly influence the CPI rise, are expected to follow their annual downward trend after frequent increases within the past six months.

This will allow the CPI to drop by between 2.5 - 3 percent, enough to cover costs arising from the increasing prices of electricity and petrol.

Nghia also said the Government’s resolve to curb credit growth rate at below 20 percent and keep total payment growth at 15-16 percent will help reduce total money supply, thus putting a brake on inflation.

Le Duc Thuy, Chairman of NFSC, said at a recent meeting on the macro economic situation and monetary policy in Hanoi that the solutions mentioned in the Government’s Resolution No.11/NQ-CP are very comprehensive. However, CPI instability is a risk if the solutions are not strictly implemented.

Thuy added that the policy to reduce public investment and the budget overspending to below 5 percent of GDP will make a prompt decrease in the nation’s inflation and interest rates. As a result, capital in the state sector will be transferred to the private sector, bringing more abundant capital for the market by the end of the year.

MoneyGram International opens first office in Vietnam

The President of MoneyGram International (MGI), Pamela H.Patsley, arrived in Ho Chi Minh City on March 3 to open the first MGI transaction office in Vietnam.

On the same day, another office also opened in Vinh City, Nghe An province.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Ms Patsley praised Vietnam’s great market potential with more than US$7 billion in overseas remittance sent in 2010. She said MGI developed 30 percent of the networks in Vietnam and committed to continue expanding products and services in the country and cooperating with the East Asia Bank.

The East Asia Bank is the leading bank in Vietnam that will supply MoneyGram’s payment services. The bank’s Deputy General Director, Le Tri Thong said the bank will cooperate with MGI to supply customers with convenient and safe services.

Nation’s key shipping route opens to traffic

Vietnam’s most important sea route from the Cai Mep-Thi Vai port complex in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau to buoy zero opened to traffic on Mar. 2.

The route with a length of 49km, a width of 250m-480m and a depth of 12m-14m is now available for ships of up to 80,000 DWT.

The route, with funding sourced from the Japanese Government official development assistance, is expected to make great contributions to the development of the key economic region in southern Vietnam.

At present, the Cai Mep-Thi Vai port complex accommodates three ports, where many ships can go directly to America and Europe rather than an intermediate destination, helping reduce time and the transport cost.

VN-Austria sub-committee on trade cooperation set up

The Vietnam sub-committee under the Vietnam-Austria Joint Committee on Economic and Trade Cooperation will be set up following a recent Government decision.

Under the decision, a Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment will be the Chair of the sub-committee and officials of the ministry’s departments for international relations and the Government’s Office will be its secretaries.

The sub-committee’s members will be representatives from the Ministries of Planning and Investment, Foreign Affairs, Finance and Industry and Trade and the Government Office.

The head of the sub-committee will consider inviting representatives from relevant agencies to join its activities, depending on specific contents of every session of the joint committee.

State to aid poor households with agricultural insurance

The Prime Minister has signed a decision on agricultural insurance for the 2011-2013 period, which provides 100 percent insurance for poor households or peasants on a trial basis.

The state will also provide an 80 percent assistance package for households and individuals who are a shade above the poverty line, 60 percent for other groups, and 20 percent for agricultural production organizations.

Agricultural insurance will cover rice, cows, buffalos, pigs, poultry, tra and basa fish, sugpo prawns, and whiteleg shrimps in provinces and cities such as Nam Dinh, Dong Thap, An Giang, Haiphong, Hanoi, Thanh Hoa, Bac Lieu, Soc Trang, and Ca Mau.

The pilot implementation of this form of insurance aims to help agrarian producers overcome and make up for losses caused by natural disasters and epidemics.

The insurance compensation will be made on the basis of current regulations and on the indices of weather, output, and epidemics.

Vietnam and Laos boost forestry link

Laos is seeking stronger cooperation with Vietnam in forestry, especially the processing and export of furniture, a Lao forestry official has said.

Sousath Sayakoummane, Head of the Office of the Lao Agriculture and Forestry Ministry, signaled his country’s purpose during talks with officials from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) in Hanoi on March 2.

In 2010, Vietnam raked in US$3.4 billion from furniture exports. The country, however, imported 80 percent of the timber, mostly from Laos for making furniture.

At the meeting, both sides compared notes on the negotiation for the Volunteer Partnership Agreement (VPA) and the implementation of the Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Action Plan endorsed by the EU in 2003.

The officials shared information on their export and import policies in a bid to better the system of tracking down the legal source of forest products.

The Head of the FLEGT Office in Vietnam, Nguyen Tuong Van, said both Vietnam and Laos need to perfect their legal systems with strong tools to monitor the enforcement of laws in the forestry field.

The EU has already signed VPA/FLEGT agreements with three African countries and is negotiating agreements with Malaysia and Indonesia.

Vietnam and Laos are also engaged in VPA/FLEGT talks with the EU.

FLEGT, which aims to combat illegal logging and related trades, will take effect in January, 2012.

East Flanders, Lam Dong co-plant vegetables

Vietnam’s Central Highlands province of Lam Dong and Belgium’s province of East Flanders will team up to promote the planting of vegetables, fruit trees and decorative plants.

A memorandum of understanding on the partnership, which will also see the involvement of the Hanoi University of Agriculture, was inked in Da Lat, Lam Dong, on March 3.

The partnership will enable both localities to exchange experts, train technicians, transfer new farming techniques to farmers, and coordinate in product sales.

“The programme will open a new prospect for Lam Dong to promote the sustainable production of vegetables, fruit trees and flowers,” Chairman of the Lam Dong People’s Committee Huynh Duc Hoa said.

East Flanders Deputy Governor Marc De Buck said both provinces will benefit from the partnership as it will tie them up to joint research, training and production activities.

A research centre on vegetable, fruit and decorative plants will also be established in Lam Dong province under this cooperation programme, which is scheduled to last in five years.

ADB helps improve urban environment

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is ready to cooperate with Ho Chi Minh City in urbanisation projects which aim to address urban issues such as transport, water supply and environment.

At a working session with the municipal leaders on March 2, ADB President Haruhiko Koroda said that HCM City is facing a lot of challenges during its rapid development and one of these challenges is climate change and sea level rise .

Over the past time, ADB has helped HCM City in infrastructure development and climate change adaptability, including a project to build Metro Route No. 2, he said.

Recently, the bank approved a $1 billion loan for water supply and drainage projects in Vietnam , including Ho Chi Minh City , he added.

The municipal People’s Committee’s Chairman Le Hoang Quan said over recent years, ADB has provided a great deal of assistance to Vietnam and Ho Chi Minh City commits to using its capital in the most effective manner.

In an other development, on the same day, Vice Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee Vu Hong Khanh heard relevant units to report on the implementation of a project to improve a road section on the right bank of To Lich River.

Funded by the Japanese government’s ODA loans, the project will help improve the environment and scenery along the two sides of To Lich River, strengthen the water drainage capacity for Hanoi and reduce traffic jams once completed in March 2011.

Small firms still economic dynamos

Vietnam and small domestic appliances continue to reign as the most prosperous growth market and category respectively.

Market research firm GfK Asia Pte Ltd recently released its Technical Market Index on technical consumer goods which revealed that Vietnam enjoyed 28 per cent growth in value of technical consumer goods, the highest among Malaysia, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore and Taiwan.

Besides Vietnam, other surveyed markets also saw strong double-digit growth including Malaysia, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Thailand with 17, 17, 14 and 10 per cent respectively. Singapore (4 per cent) and Taiwan (2 per cent) also managed to register single-digit increases. Korea was at the bottom with a slight decrease of 2 per cent.

According to the research firm, small domestic appliances in 2010 continued to be the best performers with 24 per cent growth in the eight combined markets. In countries such as Vietnam and Singapore, growth hit as high as 40 per cent.

Stanley Kee, regional commercial director of GfK Asia, said: "Vietnam, Indonesia and Hong Kong are three countries which boasted positive growth in every single one of the categories we track. Of the three categories across all the markets which reported exponential growth of over 40 per cent, two came from Vietnam. The country’s small domestic appliances and telecommunications panels grew 42 and 41 per cent over the previous year, pushing the country to the top of the table.”

“Some of the other noteworthy findings are the good showings of consumer electronics in Vietnam (39 per cent), major domestic appliances in Indonesia (33 per cent) and telecommunications in Malaysia (30 per cent) - all of which managed to achieve no less than 30 per cent growth,” added Kee.

Hanoi to build PPP-model treatment plant

Hanoi People’s Committee and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) on March 2 signed a deal on making preparations for the construction of a wastewater treatment plant in Hanoi.

Under the deal, JICA will send a mission to conduct a preliminary survey for the project, as preparation for a feasibility study.

The project was designed to be built in Yen Xa, Thanh Tri district following the public-private partnership (PPP) formula, under which the system to collect and treat wastewater will use funding from the State budget, while facilities to treat mud and the control system will use private funding.

The project, the first of its kind in Hanoi , is expected to open up a sustainable pathway for wastewater treatment in the capital city by mobilising funding from the private sector.

Finland helps innovate businesses in Danang

The role of innovation in successful business activities and how to access a Finnish-sponsored project in this area have been introduced in the central coastal city of Danang

At a seminar on the Vietnam-Finland Innovation Partnership Programme (IPP) in Danang on March 2, IPP’s project director Tran Quoc Thang said that the IPP is an official development cooperation project between Vietnam and Finland .

The five-year project which has been carried out in eight provinces and cities since September 2008 aims to improve and promote innovation in Vietnamese businesses and organisations, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises, personnel training in the field and enhance the Vietnamese-Finnish partnership.

IPP will sponsor three projects under the Danang Science and Technology Department for the 2011-2012 period. They include building and improving the capacity of the Danang Biological Technology Centre, devising a policy to assist technological renovation in Danang City and a project using photo-electricity and LED technology to ensure safety for fishermen and develop the fishing industry in Danang .

Danang now has around 12,000 small and medium-sized enterprises that employ around 97,000 workers.

Paper industry expands capacity

The nation's paper industry rapidly expanded capacity during 2010, adding eight major new production facilities with a total capacity of 430,000 tonnes per year.

Tan Mai Joint Stock Co, meanwhile, built four new paper mills in the central and southern provinces of Quang Ngai, Lam Dong, Kon Tum and Dong Nai with a total cost of VND6 trillion ($289.8 million).

A VND3.35 trillion ($161 million) packaging plant was opened by the Vina Kraft Paper Co in the southern province of Binh Duong, while the Sai Gon Paper Co invested around VND2 trillion ($96.6 million ) in its My Xuan 2 plant in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau.

Bai Bang Paper, meanwhile, opened a VND520 billion ($25.1 million) mill during 2010 to produce newsprint, while Diana Joint Stock Co invested roughly $20 million in launching a tissue paper plant on a 10ha site in the northern province of Bac Ninh.

Sizeable investment in the past year is a good sign for the industry, reflecting a growth rate expected to reach 11 per cent this year and reducing import, said Vietnam Pulp and Paper Association general secretary Vu Ngoc Bao.

However, paper producers continued to barely break even or even operate at losses, Bao said. Manufacturing costs rose by 30 per cent last year, he noted, while producers increased product prices by only 14-20 per cent.

Paper import duties have been reduced by 20 per cent since September 2008, he said, and Vietnam has opened the door to foreign competitors from the US, China and Japan, increasing competition for domestic producers.