ADB agrees to issue infrastructure loans

The State Bank of Viet Nam has signed with the Asian Development Bank agreements for nearly US$160 million in loans for improving the country's infrastructure.

The deals were signed by SBV governor Nguyen Van Binh and Tomoyuki Kimura, the ADB's Viet Nam country director, in Ha Noi last Friday.

The first was for an additional loan of $147 million to complete the Noi Bai-Lao Cai Highway, a key road link between Ha Noi and the north-western border with China.

The 244km highway will mark the completion of the Kunming-Hai Phong Transport Corridor, a vital conduit for trade between Viet Nam and China, according to Yasushi Tanaka, principal transport specialist at the ADB's Southeast Asia Department.

The additional assistance would ensure the project fully met its goals of supporting economic growth and employment in the northern mountains of Viet Nam and reduce travel time and accidents on the route, he said.

The second agreement was for a $12.58 million loan for preparations for Beltway No 3 in HCM City. The loan will help conduct surveys and plan to invest in sub-projects like the Ben Luc – National Highway No 22 and National Highway No 22 – Binh Chuan sections.

The loan will also enable Vietnamese agencies to make technical plans for the Tan Van – Nhon Trach section and the road to connect this section with the National Highway No 1.

Indonesia welcomes Vietnamese traders

Indonesia is a very promising export market for Vietnamese firms, especially for agricultural, fisheries, and food products, delegates told a conference in HCM City.

Speaking at the Accessing the Indonesian market towards ASEAN integration conference held by the Investment and Trade Promotion Centre of HCM City (ITPC) and the Indonesian consulate on Friday, Nguyen Anh Ngoc, deputy chairman of the Viet Nam-Indonesia Friendship Association, urged local firms to export items like rice, fruits and vegetables to Indonesia.

Ho Xuan Lam, deputy director of the ITPC, said with a population of 253 million and insufficient production, Indonesia had great demand for many products, especially rice and seafood.

The country was the fifth largest market for fresh food in the world, making it a good opportunity for Vietnamese food firms, he said.

Ngoc said trading and retail also offered potential for Vietnamese enterprises to capitalise on.

Bilateral trade had increased by 25 per cent in the past five years to nearly US$5.4 billion last year, he said.

Before 2010 Viet Nam had a trade deficit with Indonesia, but with an increase in exports in recent years, the situation has changed.

Viet Nam's key exports to Indonesia are mobile phones and accessories, iron and steel, machinery, textile and garment, and farm produce, and its imports include timber and timber products, drugs, and rubber-based products.

But others pointed out that Indonesia had complicated labelling regulations and tariffs. Besides, it was a fiercely competitive market, requiring Vietnamese businesses to study it carefully before putting foot there, Ngoc said.

Donna Gultom of the Indonesian Ministry of Trade said exporters should furnish documentation on product origin and quality and label food products in Bahasa Indonesia.

Abdulla Abdulrohman, director of Halal Viet Nam Export and Import Co Ltd, said as most Indonesians were Muslim, Halal certification was like a passport for Vietnamese goods to penetrate the market.

Supermarkets to replace US chicken products

Viet Nam's supermarkets are looking for frozen domestic chicken sources as a replacement for imported chicken products from the US, which have been temporarily stopped due to a bird-flu outbreak in the US.

Vo Hoang Anh, marketing director of Co.opMart supermarket, said the supermarket had imported US chicken and sales had been relatively good.

However, the supermarket has stopped importing poultry and poultry products from the US. To meet consumer demand, it will seek more domestic sources as a replacement.

Ho Quoc Nguyen, PR director of Big C supermarket, said it had not imported US chicken, and only distributed chicken from domestic enterprises, mainly from Son Ha Company.

Lotte supermarket said previously the supermarket imported frozen chicken from the US but after a temporary suspension of poultry imports from the US, it would seek domestic supply sources.

The supermarkets would not reveal the amount of US imported chicken each month.

Nguyen Xuan Binh, director of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development's Animal Health Agency Zone VI, said to protect local consumers, the ministry issued a ban to temporarily suspend poultry imports from the US, where a bird flu outbreak has spread to 14 states.

The ban, which covers live poultry, frozen and processed poultry meat and eggs, took effect on May 1.

Virulent H5 avian influenza strains have spread to 14 states over the last five months and affected about 26 million birds in the worst outbreak of the disease in US history, according to Reuters, citing the US Department of Agriculture.

Binh said in the past, Viet Nam's imported frozen chicken came mainly from the US and Brazil.

This is not the first time that Viet Nam has issued a ban on temporarily stopping imported frozen chicken. The ban was issued in early 2014 during a bird flu outbreak in Korea.

Sugar industry in balance struggle

The domestic sugar industry is struggling to gain a balance between supply and demand, after years of grappling with high inventories and plunging oil prices.

According to the Department of Processing and Trade for Agro-forestry-Fisheries Products and Salt Production under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, sugar inventories totalled more than 560,000 tonnes, sliding 141,500 tonnes over a year ago.

As of April end, 19 of 41 domestic sugar factories recorded more than 1.24 million tonnes of total production in 2014-15; this was 218,440 tonnes lower than the same period last year.

The Viet Nam Sugar and Sugarcane Association said sugar plantation area decreased by 261.5ha against the previous crop, as plunging sugar prices and unfavourable weather conditions deterred many farmers.

Ha Huu Thai of the association noted that the production and consumption of sugar in the domestic market had been unstable during recent crops, pushing the industry into a difficult situation of supply exceeding demand.

The association hopes that the ASEAN Economic Community will put pressure on the domestic sugar industry to restructure and enhance its competitiveness, when the tax rate will be cut to zero by 2018.

Enhancing production capacity and technology is critical for the sugar industry to lower sugar prices as the current production costs of Vietnamese sugar, averaging about VND12 million (US$550) per tonne, remained higher than that of many countries, including Thailand, Brazil, and India. Higher prices made Vietnamese sugar unable to compete in the world market.

The world's sugar production has been predicted to be around 183.8 million tonnes this crop and consumption demand expected at 182.5 million.

Mobistar launches new range of phones

The Vietnamese mobile phone producer Mobistar yesterday officially launched its KIM Series with a metal and glass design, along with a series of upgrades for customers.

The smartphone in the KIM Series is designed with luxury metal and glass and has a 5-inch screen, 8-core chipset and a superior 13 MP camera focusing on selfies.

The KIM Series includes three smartphones: Lai Y, Prime Xense and Prime X, priced from VND3.2 million (US$150) to VND8 million ($380).

Jetstar takes control of HCM City-Chu Lai route

Low-cost carrier Jetstar Pacific Airlines, 69 per cent owned by Vietnam Airlines, will take over the HCM City-Chu Lai route from Vietnam Airlines and its fully-owned subsidiary VASCO starting May 19.

The move is part of Vietnam Airlines' strategy to develop both brands.

Jetstar will fly three times a week — on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays — using an A320 jet.

Customers who have booked on Vietnam Airlines can opt for a refund or get a Vietnam Airlines ticket to Da Nang, Hue or Quy Nhon instead.

Those booked on VASCO can get a refund.

In March, Vietnam Airlines had handed over the HCM City-Tuy Hoa route to Jetstar.

Taiwanese investors eye Vietnamese market

Taiwanese investors have shown an increasing interest in the Vietnamese market, Director General Berton BC Chiu of the Department of Investment Services under the Ministry of Economic Affairs in Taiwan said to Dau Tu (Investment Review).

The investors are paying particular attention to the local industries of agriculture, garment and textiles, IT and vehicular spare parts, he said.

Foreign apparel-making enterprises are eager to build plants in Viet Nam supplying high-quality products for domestic consumption and exporting them to Southeast Asian countries, China, Japan, South Korea and European nations.

Taiwan is the fourth largest investor in Viet Nam, with 2,306 projects worth US$27.43 billion employing 1.4 million workers. More than 80 per cent of Taiwan's total investment is concentrated in the production and agricultural sectors.

Weakened market hurts securities firms' Q1 profits

Securities firms have announced profits for the first quarter compared to last year were less than expected due to a weakened market, stockbiz.vn reported on Wednesday.

The total revenue of the 20 largest securities firms on the market at the end of the quarter rose by 18 per cent to VND1.54 trillion (US$71.4 million), but the total net profit was halved to VND442.7 billion ($20.5 million).

In the total revenue structure, the revenue from brokerage and for-profit trading activity (securities firms make profit from trading shares on the market) fell by 17.5 and 51.6 per cent, respectively, while other revenue rose by 15.2 per cent to VND691.6 billion ($32 million).

The decreasing revenue from brokerage and for-profit trading activity was caused by a downward trend in Viet Nam's stock market. Liquidity was halved to an average of VND2 trillion ($92.6 million) each session during the first quarter.

During the quarter, Saigon Securities Incorporation (SSI) had the highest pre-tax and after-tax profits of VND230 billion ($10.6 million) and VND185.5 billion ($8.6 million).

Its profit was even higher than the total profit of HCM City Securities Company (HSC), ACB Securities Company (ACBS) and Vietnam Direct Securities Company (VNDS).

During the first quarter, SSI took the lead on all three stock markets including HCM Stock Exchange (HoSE), Ha Noi Stock Exchange (HNX) and Unlisted Public Company Market (UPCOM) with market share of 12.24 per cent, 8.58 per cent and 16.88 per cent, respectively. Noticeably, SSI's market share on UPCOM doubled the second one.

Among 20 securities firms, only five had positive profit growth rates, including KIS Vietnam Securities Company (KIS), VP Bank Securities Company (VPBS), May Bank Kim Eng (MBKE), PetroVietnam Securities Incorporation (PSI) and Bao Viet Securities Company (BVS).

KIS recorded an after-tax profit of VND10 billion ($463,000) after the last quarter, 27 times the result for the same period last year. Its revenue rose by 76 per cent to VND23.8 billion ($1.1 million).

In the company's revenue structure, other income tripled to more than VND16.5 billion ($764,000), which resulted from increases in capital, bank interest and customers.

Fifteen of the securities firms had negative profit growth rates, particularly Kim Long Securities Company (KLS), which lost VND39 billion ($1.8 million) after the first quarter compared to a profit of VND91.6 billion ($4.2 million) last year.

KLS said that during the last quarter, the company had to add VND50.8 billion ($2.3 million) to the provision for share value decreases, while during last year's first quarter, the company received more than VND21.8 billion ($1 million) from this provision.

Vietnam, Italy localities look to enhance economic ties

Italy’s Emilia-Romagna region and Vietnam’s southern Binh Duong province boast economic similarities, a favourable foundation for them to develop an economic partnership, Vietnamese Ambassador to Italy Nguyen Hoang Long said at a recent workshop.

He suggested both sides optimise mechanisms provided by central Governments and local authorities to turn their cooperation into a role model of Vietnamese-Italian relations.

Emilia-Romagna’s exports to Vietnam now stand at EUR121 million (US$135.87 million) with 40% from machinery, said Palma Costi – an official of the region – at the May 6 function, deeming the figure modest.

She also highlighted the observable 27% increase in her region’s shipments to Vietnam from 2012 to 2013, stating that Emilia-Romagna prioritises its relations with the Southeast Asian country and is willing to offer mid- and long-term assistance.

Cooperation between Emilia-Romagna and Vietnam’s southern Binh Duong province has enjoyed substantial strides in recently years, as evidenced by a number of visits and working sessions between their officials and entrepreneurs since 2013. The upcoming establishment of Emilia-Romagna’s trade office in the Vietnamese province will promote the region’s investments in Binh Duong, Costi added.

Laura Barberi from the Italian Ministry of Economic Development declared Vietnam is attractive to Italian companies, including those from Emilia-Romagna.

The European country prioritises partnering with Vietnam in consumer products, textiles-garments, and leather footwear manufacturing. It is calling on leather product makers to invest in Vietnam and plans to open a textile-garment supporting technology centre, she said.

Presenting his province’s advantages, Chairman of the Binh Duong People’s Committee Tran Van Nam said the province is located in the southern key economic region – the most active and developed economic region in Vietnam. It attracted US$1.74 billion in capital from 171 new projects and 145 existing ones in 2014.

Binh Duong has focused on comprehensively developing socio-economic and transport infrastructure, especially facilities connecting the locality with nearby economic hubs, he added.

Nam pledged optimal conditions for the support industry, hi-tech projects, and those producing goods with high competitiveness, especially electronic, electrical and mechanical products.

A Special Meeting of the International Tripartite Rubber Council (ITRC) attended by officials from Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia was held on May 8 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Vietnam Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat was in attendance at the meeting by special invitation to discuss cooperation with the ITRC in supporting mechanisms to improve natural rubber prices.

During the meeting Douglas Uggah Embas, the  Malaysian Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities (MPIC) extended an invitation to Minister Phat to become a full member of the ITRC.

Minister Phat graciously accepted the invitation and said he was confident that the four countries working collaboratively would be able to establish up a common trading platform to halt the declining global price of rubber.

The four major rubber producing countries – Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and Malaysia – account for 75% of the world’s rubber production.

The price of natural rubber has dropped over the past year, negatively affecting sustainability of the industry.

Local footwear manufacturers should improve the design and quality of their products to attract local customers after bringing the local footwear market under free trade agreements, said experts.

According to the Vietnam Leather Footwear and Bag Association (Lefaso), local demand for footwear reaches 150 million pairs per year and local producers have met only 40% of the demand, reported Dien dan Doanh nghiep newspaper.

Local footwear mainly cater to rural and remote areas that have people with low incomes. Therefore, large footwear manufacturers often make footwear products for exports and have left the domestic market to small and medium enterprises, the association noted.

Meanwhile, the domestic leather and footwear industry does not have any standard for the use of chemical residues in products. It does not have quality verification centres to ensure the quality of raw materials or finished products.

Nguyen Van Khanh, general secretary of the HCM City Leather Footwear Association, said Vietnamese footwear producers should pay more attention to the design of their products to attract more local customers.

They should build a trade mark and distribution system as well as take flexible marketing measures, Khanh said.

Tran Van Tac, general director of the Tuan Viet Ltd Company and the owner of Tuvi's footwear brand, said some of the major factors for developing the domestic footwear market were quality, design, and price.

The Lefaso, along with the Vietnam Leather Footwear Institute and other related agencies, will build a system to ensure product quality standards for protecting the domestic footwear industry and market and to help them compete with imported footwear.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade has also submitted to the government a decree to help the support industry in various sectors, including leather and footwear. Support industries are expected to ensure the sustainable development of sectors in the domestic market.

Vietnam agriculture exports face uphill struggle

Vietnam agriculture, forestry and aquatic exports in the four months leading up to May dipped 5.1% on-year to US$8.5 billion, renewing pressure on the government to get the stalled sector moving.

At a recent conference in Hanoi organized by the by the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) to address concerns over the slowdown, experts said though the overall decline was modest there were a number of key exports that dropped in the double digits that are cause for concern.

In particular, coffee was off 38.3% on-year and there was general consensus the decline was largely attributable to an overreliance on traditional markets and failure to focus sufficient attention on exploring and nurturing ‘emerging’ new markets including the domestic market.

Vietnam should follow the lead of countries like Brazil and Indonesia that routinely sell 35% of their coffee production domestically said Phan Huu De, general secretary of the Vietnam Coffee and Cocoa Association.

De said far too many domestic producers have patently ignored the local market and there needs to be an immediate push to bolster the domestic market share for not only coffee but all agricultural products.

Seafood and other marine exports to the US, one of the largest foreign markets, were off 44% on the back of the imposition of antidumping tariffs said Nguyen Hoai Nam, vice general secretary of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).

Nam said seafood and other aquatic businesses, government offices and non-governmental organizations are now scurrying around seeking new sales outlets in markets like the Republic of Korea (RoK), China, Hong Kong and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.

Here again, domestic businesses in the industry have become too complacent, relying on key markets to carry the day and not proactively seeking supplementary markets to spread market risk around over a diversified customer base.

In addition, lack of access to bank financing to fund investment in installing the latest in machinery and equipment and implement new technologies remains a critically important obstacle to growth noted Nguyen Viet Vinh, secretary of the Vietnam Coffee and Cocoa Association.

The most sure-fire way to boost the agricultural sector is to improve on the quality and productivity of agricultural, forest and marine products by investing in the application of science and technology— and the lack of access to credit puts the industry at a huge competitive disadvantage.

There was general agreement the sector also encountered difficulties related to the fluctuation of the VND/USD exchange rate during the early months of the year that negatively impacted the volume agricultural exports to a limited extent.

Tran Tuan Anh, deputy minister of the MoIT, said the ministry is in charge of market promotion but the agency cannot tackle the task alone, as it needs to be a joint effort in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).

MARD generally limits its focus to agricultural output while the MoIT pays more attention to value, while exporters are primarily interested in profit only. These groups need to get coordinated and freely exchange information and devise cohesive policies for the development of the sector, said Nguyen Huu Dung, VASEP Vice President.

Le Van Anh, Chairman of the Vietnam Vegetable and Fruit Association (Vinafruit) stressed the need for the MoIT to increase the overall effectiveness of trade promotion programmes.

For his part, General Secretary of the Vietnam Coffee and Cocoa Association Nguyen Viet Vinh suggested the MoIT should organize substantially more trade promotions and hold them in conjunction with trade fairs.

Deputy Minister Anh of the MoIT underscored the importance of coordination and communication among the ministries, trade counsellors and businesses.

The fact is trade counsellors spend a great deal of time seeking information, however, the information hasn’t been disseminated to the right people in a timely manner thus enabling them to act and use it to their advantage.

HCM City promises to cut red tape for foreign investors

Ho Chi Minh City has promised to remove some administrative procedures for foreign investors and publicize the status of investment applications to ensure transparency.

The People’s Committee this week ordered the Department of Planning and Investment and other relevant agencies to simplify the process of approving investment applications, news website VnExpress reported.

For example, the department has been asked to skip consulting with district authorities before approving licenses to foreign investors.

According to the committee, the deadline for the approval of investment applications is often not met, with delays of up to a year sometimes. Therefore, the city is striving to settle this problem.

Starting this May, the committee will send apology letters to foreign investors if the deadlines for their applications’ approval are missed.

The status of investment applications will also be publicized on the websites of relevant departments and agencies, so that investors will know if their applications have been passed a certain stage or still pending. The reasons for delays will also be given.

Pepper exports likely to set new record

Vietnam's pepper export revenue could set a new record this year or at least equal to that of last year despite lower export volume, according to the Vietnam Pepper Association.

Last year, 156,396 tonnes of pepper were exported worth US$1.2 billion, the highest figures so far in both volume and value, chairman Do Ha Nam told a review meeting in HCM City yesterday.

This represented a year-on-year increase of 16.38% in volume and 34.72% in value.

With a forecast of pepper to fall significantly over the last year due to unfavourable weather and disease, export volume would fall by about 10% to 144,000 tonnes this year, he said.

In the first four months of the year, export volume dropped by 24% over the same period last year, with only 57,000 tonnes of the spice exported, but export revenue went up by 2.1% to reach $521 million.

According to the International Pepper Community, there had been little change in both supply and demand for the spice in the world market, which had kept prices high, he said.

Pepper export prices had increased from earlier this year, and were expected to be 20% higher year-on-year, he said.

But despite its achievements, Vietnam's pepper industry faces a number of challenges, such as stunted plants and overexploited pepper farms with more disease and decreased productivity. Climate change has also affected farms.

High prices have persuaded farmers to expand cultivation without any planning, according to Nguyen Mai Oanh, the association's deputy chairwoman. The overuse of fertilisers of farmers has caused the plants to degenerate quickly and become vulnerable to disease.

"Pepper prices might remain high in the short term, but if production is not monitored carefully, there could be a glut," said Hoang Phuoc Binh, deputy chairman of the Chu Se Coffee Association.

With import markets like the US and EU demanding higher food safety requirements, the association and delegates at the meeting called on farmers, processors, and distributors to focus more on safety and hygiene norms.

Ha Huy Thang, general director of Petrolimex International Trading Joint Stock Company (Pitco), one of the leading companies in processing and exporting pepper, said the Government and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development should develop measures to control the planting of pepper without advance planning and impose strict punishment on those using banned plant-protection drugs.

In addition, the agricultural sector should offer more instruction to pepper farmers who follow good agricultural practices (GAP), he said.

"Improving value and quality is the target for Vietnam's pepper industry," Nam said.

To mitigate risks in production and trading, the association's members and farmers should produce more "clean" spices to satisfy demand of import markets, he said.

Vietnamese pepper products are exported to 97 countries and territories, with the US and Singapore, United Arab and India being the largest buyers.

The country has around 80,000ha under pepper, 52,000ha of which can now produce harvests, with an average output of 2.4 tonnes per ha.

Ministers of rubber producing countries meet in Malaysia

The Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries (ANRPC) agreed to work towards a common trading floor in a bid to take control of supply sources and regulate the market for the sake of rubber growers at its ministerial-level meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on May 8.

Founded in 1970, the ANRPC is an inter-governmental organisation grouping 11 countries - Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam. In 2014, overall production of its members accounted for 92 percent of the rubber yield worldwide.

Participating ministers agreed that the association needs to become an official latex-related information source and work with other organisations, such as the International Rubber Research and Development Board (IRRDB), to promote joint-study outcomes.

Given the decreasing rubber price effects on growers’ incomes, the ministers reached a consensus to establish a market research group, which is to put forth effective solutions balancing supply and demand, including the setting up of the common trading floor.

On the sidelines of the meeting, Malaysian Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities Douglas Uggah Embas, expressed his hope that Vietnam, the world third largest natural rubber producer, will soon join the International Tripartite Rubber Council (ITRC) which currently consists of Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia.

According to Uggah, Vietnam recently agreed to collaborate with the ITRC members in efforts to raise rubber prices. Vietnam and the ITRC members together make up 75 percent of the total global rubber production.

Vietnamese Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Cao Duc Phat said, Vietnam, as a major rubber producer in the world, should participate deeply in activities of international rubber alliances, including ITRC.

Such participation will produce positive impacts to the global rubber market, he said.

Concerning the domestic market situation, Phat shared that Vietnamese farmers should be equipped with suitable rubber planting models and technologies rather than focus on expanding plantation and increasing yield.

Ministry suggests increasing export tariff on tapioca chips

The Ministry of Finance has proposed to increase export tariffs on tapioca chips and ethanol, considering their high demand in the domestic market.

According to a draft proposal for adjusting tariffs on E5 petrol (ethanol petrol) and materials used for making ethanol petrol, export tariffs should be increased from zero to 5 percent on tapioca chips used to produce ethanol and 3 percent on ethanol made domestically.

The ministry said the increase of the export tariffs on tapioca chips and ethanol will ensure enough supply for producing bio petrol.

Meanwhile, the state will encourage the people to use bio petrol, according to a report in the Thoi bao Kinh te Vietnam (Vietnam Economic Times) newspaper.

Although tapioca chips is a main ingredient for producing ethanol and one of the important materials for processing bio petrol, its exports have increased sharply.

Tapioca exports rose 24 percent year-on-year in volume to 1.37 million tonnes in the first quarter of this year and 7.91 percent year-on-year to 3.3 million tonnes in 2014, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The increase in the exports of tapioca, the main raw material for bio petrol production, has affected the industries that are manufacturing bio petrol for selling it nationwide from December 2015.

Vietnam has many high-capacity ethanol factories, including Dong Xanh factory in Quang Nam province (with an annual capacity of 120 million litres of ethanol), Tung Lam Factory in Dong Nai province (72 million litres), Binh Phuoc Factory (100 million litres), Dac To Factory (72 million litres), Dac Nong Factory (45 million litres), and Phu Tho Factory (100 million litres).

If those factories run their full capacity, they will be able to produce about 500 million litres of ethanol and process 10 billion litres of E5 petrol and 5 billion litres of E10 petrol.

However, since they lack materials for producing ethanol, they must produce moderate quantities.

The ethanol manufacturing industry, which is already troubled by the high prices of raw materials, has to compete with traders buying tapioca for exporting them to China.

Central Highlands keen to boost trade with Cambodia’s localities

The Steering Committee for the Central Highlands has called for incentives to facilitate trade cooperation between the region and Cambodian border areas.

The Committee also suggested relevant bodies work with Cambodian authorities on specific labour cooperation regulations to create favourable conditions for Vietnamese enterprises.

Local businesses have made active contributions to social security, vocational training and job creation for Cambodia’s northeast provinces, according to the Committee.

They have invested in developing infrastructure facilities in the area, including road systems, power grid networks, schools, workshops and markets.

The two sides have organised delegation visits, people exchanges and other cooperative activities.

Since 2012, annual trade between Central Highlands’ provinces and Cambodia’s northeast provinces exceeded 180 million USD, annual increases of 10 percent.

Major export earners in the Central Highlands region are equipment, construction material, petrol and gas, pharmaceuticals and seedlings.

The region has 20 projects operating in northeast Cambodia with 970 million USD in total registered capital, mostly in forestry and agricultural production.

Da Nang property growth leaps by 12 percent

Da Nang city has approximately 76,300sq.m of office space stock spread across 21 buildings and has remained unchanged quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) but increased by 12 per cent year-on-year (YoY).

According to a report from Savill Vietnam, a property consultancy firm, with approximately 55,700sq.m from 17 projects, Hai Chau district in the downtown continues to be the main supplier of office space, accounting for 73 per cent market share. Thanh Khe district has 20,600sq.m from four projects.

The average occupancy rate during the first half of this year was 86 percent, up three points (ppts) QoQ but down minus 1 ppt YoY. Grade A's occupancy was 97 percent, with QoQ remaining unchanged but YoY increasing three ppts. Grade B occupancy rate was at 84 percent, up 5 ppts QoQ, while Grade C was 85 percent occupied, up 1 ppt QoQ.

Do Thu Hang of Savills Vietnam said: "Although it is still adjusting to new developments, Da Nang's real estate market is considered to have great potential for a number of factors. Da Nang now has an international airport offering many direct flight services. It also has golf courses, casino, and a lot of large-scale entertainment centres, in addition to beautiful coastlines and several heritage sites in the centre of Vietnam. With the Amended Housing Law coming into effect from July 2015, demand is expected to soar."

The report also revealed that the total area leased was approximately 65,400sq.m, up 4 percent compared with 2014. At 75 percent, demand for office space in Da Nang was mostly focussed in Hai Chau district.

According to the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), Da Nang has continuously ranked first on the Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI) 2014, reflecting its attractive investment location.

Savills Vietnam expects that from the second quarter, some 15 projects will offer some 93,600sq.m of office space. However, their launch dates are unclear because of the slow pace of the construction of a number of these projects.

In 2015, one new project is expected to enter Da Nang's office market, supplying some 20,400sq.m

Meanwhile, in the residential sector, no new villa or apartment projects were introduced in the central city during the first quarter this year.

Villa stock remained stable at 927 dwellings from 16 projects, unchanged since 2012. Compared with the second half of last year, the primary market saw 11 projects with 395 dwellings, down minus 5 per cent and the secondary market introduced 16 projects with 532 dwellings, up approximately 4 percent.

There were approximately 3,100 apartments across 14 projects and 678 units across 12 projects in the primary market, down minus 14 percent against the second half of 2014. The secondary stock consisted of 2,431 units from 14 projects, up approximately 49 percent against the second half of last year.

Despite the good performance, the villa absorption rate remained soft at 4 percent due to a low market sentiment. The average villa price was approximately 25 million VND (1,190 USD) per sq.m, up 11 percent against the second half of 2014.

The apartment absorption rate was 11 percent during the first quarter of this year due to transactions in central and affordable projects with prices below 20 million VND (952.4 USD) per sq.m. The average price was up 17 percent against the second half of last year. The prices of apartments in and around the city's centre ranged from 13 million VND to 51 million VND (619-2,428 USD) per sq.m, while beachside apartments ranged from 21 million VND to 73 million VND (from 1,000 USD to 3,476 USD) per sq.m.

According to the real estate consultancy company, some of the key factors that may affect buying decisions include developers' reputation, construction status, price and location. Several recent purchases had been done by foreign or buy-to-let investors.

The company has noted that starting 2015, 1,300 dwellings offered by 12 villa projects and 16,870 units across 15 apartment projects will enter Da Nang's market. While Son Tra district continues to have the largest future villa supply, Hai Chau district remains the top future apartment supplier. Most future villa and apartment projects are in the planning stage and do not have clear construction schedules; this makes it difficult to forecast their launch dates.

The total retail stock in the first quarter remained at approximately 136,000sq.m, up 5 percent (QoQ) and stable year-on-year (YoY), due to the entrance of Parkson Vinh Trung Plaza.

Modern retail zones are centred across three districts: Thanh Khe with 41 percent share, Hai Chau with 35 percent share, and Cam Le with 24 percent share.

In the first three months of this year, both occupancy and average rates improved QoQ but fell YoY. Occupancy rate was up 5 ppts QoQ thanks to the good performance of Parkson Vinh Trung Plaza, but down minus 1 ppt YoY. The average rent increased 6 percent QoQ and minus 7 percent YoY.-

Binh Duong draws investors’ attention in Belgium

A workshop promoting investment potentials of southern Binh Duong province was organised in Brussels, Belgium, on May 8.

Binh Duong is among top five Vietnamese provinces that attract more than 20 billion USD of foreign direct investment. It contributes over 40 percent to overall national GDP.

Piet Steel, who is the first Belgian Ambassador to Vietnam, lauded the fast and stable growth of the southern economic zone and believed that it will attract a great number of investors, including Belgian businessmen.

Ambassador to Belgium and Luxembourg Vuong Thua Phong presented the Vietnamese Government’s favourable policies for foreign investors, such as reduced corporation tax and preferential land leasing prices for foreign-funded enterprises.

CEO Bart Milloen of Molenbergnatie Vietnam Limited Company, which provides all-in supply chain management service, including the coffee export facilities, told participants that his company has chosen the province for its advantageous location connecting the central and Central Highlands regions with Ho Chi Minh City.

That location feature also enables Binh Duong to link coffee production plants in the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak with the European distribution centre via sea ports, he added.

At the workshop, Vietnamese business representatives gave details of the local infrastructure system and answered relevant queries.

Can Tho draws more 5.5 million USD to industrial zones

Industrial zones in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho have drawn more 5.6 million USD, according to the management board of the city’s industrial zones.

The figure, which comes from four new projects and capital increases of three existing projects, represents a six percent increase from the same period last year.

Currently, the city’s industrial zones have 214 valid projects with a combined investment capital of 1.91 billion USD, 192 of which are operational and 22 are under implementation.

The board said industrial zones in Can Tho plan to produce an industrial and commercial value of 1.5 billion USD with an export value of 620 million USD in 2015.

The zones are expected to generate 3,500 new jobs and contribute 2 trillion VND (92 million USD) in tax.

In the first four months, the industrial value produced by the industrial zones reached 400 million USD, up 10.9 percent against the same period.

Tuna export value likely to fall 5 percent in 2015

The Vietnam Association of Seafood Producers and Exporters (Vasep) forecast that the export value of tuna will decrease by 5 percent this year, bringing in an estimated 123 million USD for the second quarter of the year.

Vasep predicted a drop in turnover because of a recent sharp decline of the world price of tuna, coming in below 1,000 USD per tonne. The global increase in tuna production, and the depreciation of the euro and Japanese yen against the US dollar are listed as causes.

Declining demand in major markets was also listed as a factor of the price disturbance. However, unstable sources of raw tuna, was listed as the primary reason for falling tuna exports, Vasep said.

According to Vasep, tuna exports got off to a rocky start over the past three months dipping by 9 percent to 104.3 million USD.

Exports to the US, the leading importer of Vietnamese tuna, declined by 1.2 percent to 38 million USD for the quarter. Exports to the EU –the second largest market – slipped more by 15.5 percent to total 28.23 million USD. Shipments to Japan - the third largest market – saw the most dramatic yearly decline of 43.2 percent to only 4 million USD.

Experts had already predicted a rocky first half of this year for tuna since no signs of recovery in tuna consumption-demand and tax pressures on Vietnamese exporters remain high, especially in the major import markets of Japan, the US and the EU.

According to Vasep, management and data collection on tuna exploitation remained weak and must be enhanced to meet the requirements of demanding importers.-

Mekong agricultural producers receive VietGAP certificate

As many as 15 vegetable and fruit production establishments in the Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang have been granted Vietnam Agriculture Practice (VietGAP) certificates for their safe farm products.

The certificates were presented at a ceremony held by the Management Board of the “Quality and Safety Enhancement of Agricultural Products and Biogas Development” (QSEAP) project and the provincial Centre for Agricultural Development Promotion in the locality on May 8.

The awardees included 13 agricultural cooperatives, specialising in planting guava, grape fruit, durian, dragon fruit, clean vegetables and pepper as well as two dragon fruit-producing farms.

According to Tran Thanh Phong, Director of the Centre, the implementation of safe vegetable models in the locality helped local farmers access advanced technologies thus creating high-quality products meeting VietGap standards.

The models also contributed to build a consulting network for expanding agricultural production models in line with the VietGAP production process in the future, she noted.

Tien Giang boasts the largest fruit-tree area in Mekong Delta with over 85,000 hectares generating an annual yield of 1.3 million tonnes. It is also home to over 43,000 hectares of vegetables.

The province hopes 80 additional hectares of dragon fruits and durian will be granted Global Good Agricultural Practice (GlobalGAP) certificates in 2015.

HCM City to host first food industry fair

The first Vietnam International Food Industry Exhibition (Vietnam Food Expo 2015) will be held in Ho Chi Minh City from May 13 to 16, aiming to boost consumption of Vietnamese food in both domestic and export markets.

It also aims to help domestic firms involved in production, processing and trading of farm produce, food and beverages to source right production technologies in order to raise their productivity and quality, said Ta Hoang Linh, deputy general director of the Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency (Vietrade) under the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

As a national trade promotion programme, Vietnam Food Expo 2015 is the largest of its kind in the country and will feature more than 500 booths of over 300 exhibitors from Vietnam's 36 cities and provinces and 19 other countries and territories, including India, Belgium, Cuba, Taiwan (China), the Republic of Korea, Singapore and Thailand.

A wide range of farm produce, seafood products, processed food products, beverages, food processing technologies and machineries, food preservation and packaging technologies, and others will be displayed at the expo.

Held at the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Centre, the event also includes the Vietnam international conference on the food industry, where participants will discuss solutions to raise the value of Vietnamese food products, improve competitiveness, and enhance the ability of Vietnamese enterprises to join the global value chain.

Many other activities such as the Saigon International Cooking Contest, business meetings, culinary demonstrations, and factory tours will be organised during the show.

Organised by Vietrade and Adpex JS Company, the expo is expected to welcome 30,000 visitors, he said.

Ben Tre province eyes 1 million tourists this year

The Mekong Delta province of Ben Tre hopes to attract 440,000 international visitors and 560,000 domestic visitors this year and earn revenues of VND700 billion (US$33 million), according to the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

The province encourages tourism and travel companies to invest in community-based tourism in riverside communes in Chau Thanh district and is focusing on completing work on two specific projects – Forever Green Resort and the Ho Chi Minh Trail by Sea Monument Park.

It is also upgrading cultural-historical relics and developing tours of trade villages.

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