US$1.4 million for mushroom growing in Quang Tri

The People’s Committee of the central province of Quang Tri and the Humpty Dumpty Institute (HDI) have signed an agreement to carry out the “Mushrooms with a mission” programme worth US$1.4 million.

The programme is part of the “Restoring the environment and neutralising the effects of the war in Quang Tri province” project, aiming to provide support to Quang Tri farmers in growing, processing and marketing high quality mushrooms in a sustainable way.

About 1,000 local households who are victims of bombs and mines during the war will benefit from this five-year programme.

HDI is a US-based nongovernmental organisation that creates government and private partnership in humanitarian programmes linking landmine removal with agricultural development and poverty reduction all over the world.

Inspection of public spending in provinces and cities

Officials from the Ministry of Planning and Investment will work with provinces and cities and economic groups across the country on public spending reduction in line with the Government’s Resolution No.11.

Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment, Cao Viet Sinh, said that there will be a reduction in the level of investment in those projects which have not yet received investment license or have been delayed. Investment priority will be given to projects which are expected to complete in 2011 and 2012.

Mr Sinh added that businesses are not allowed to get 30 percent of investment capital in advance as in previous years.

At present, about VND8,000 billion from bonds in 2009 and VND20,000 billion from last year’s investment sources have not yet been disbursed. This amount is not allowed to be transferred to 2011. As a result, this year’s investment in projects will see a sharp decrease requiring chief investors to make planning adjustments.

Advertising Vietnam’s agricultural products in Japan

A delegation from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), led by Deputy Minister Ho Xuan Hung, had a working visit to Japan from March 1-4.

The visit aimed to advertise Vietnam’s agricultural products to this potential market.

During the visit, the delegation introduced the country’s goods at the 36th International Food and Beverage Exhibition (Foodex Japan 2011) in Chiba province, east of Tokyo. This is the biggest annual event in Japan with over 3,000 stalls from 60 countries and territories.

The delegation also coordinated with the Vietnamese embassy in Japan to hold a seminar at the international convention centre in Chiba province on strengthening agriculture-aquaculture trade cooperation between Vietnam and Japan.

The seminar attracted nearly 300 delegates from institutes, banks, businesses and distributors, creating a good opportunity for Vietnam’s policy makers and businesses to listen to and learn from Japan, which is always requesting high quality goods.

Addressing the event, Deputy Minister Ho Xuan Hung said in recent years, Vietnam’s agro-forestry-aquatic industries have developed strongly and use environmentally friendly methods that meet international standards for quality and food hygiene.

Vietnam’s agro-forestry-aquatic products are now present in over 160 countries and territories, in late 2010 Vietnam’s agro-forestry-aquatic exports reached more than US$19.5 billion, up 25 percent compared to 2009, Mr. Hung added.

He encouraged Japanese businesses to import Vietnamese agro-forestry-aquatic products and help Vietnamese enterprises advertise their products in this potential market.

In his speech, Nobuo Kato, a Japanese expert, said Vietnam has great potential for developing its agricultural sector, but it doesn’t focus on producing high-quality products. He noted that Japan would cooperate to help increase the quality of Vietnam’s agricultural sector.

In addition to such activities, the delegation paid working visits to officials from Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and businesses to discuss measures to intensify cooperation and push Vietnam’s exports in Japan.

City urges firms to help reduce power cuts

Authorities in HCM City have told city businesses and residents to minimise their power usage in an effort to meet the goals of the Government's plan to reduce the number of power shortages.

This move follows the Prime Minister's decree late last month on implementation of the power-saving plan.

The chairmen of people's committees in districts have also been told to encourage residents in their areas to reduce power usage.

In addition, the districts will have to closely oversee public-light usage between 6:30pm and 5:30am.

State-run companies and businesses will be expected to use energy-efficient equipment, maximise their use of natural light, and turn off air conditioners when they are not needed.

The city has asked district officials to regularly evaluate individuals' and organisations' efforts to cut power usage.

Households have been asked to limit use of power-hungry equipment during peak hours between 5pm and 9pm, and are encouraged to use energy-efficient lights.

Under the plan, half of all public lights and advertising billboards will also be turned off during the evening's peak hours of electricity use.

Large commercial billboards will be turned off if an emergency power-savings plan becomes necessary.

Last summer, HCM City was forced to implement an emergency power-savings plan to save at least 10 per cent of power consumption.

Excessive power consumption in HCM City caused an overload during peak hours last summer.

Companies and businesses have been asked to work with the city's power companies to take measures to use power efficiently.

Electricity of Viet Nam (EVN) in HCM City on Friday said poor households would receive financial assistance to pay their electric bills.

The monthly subsidy of VND30,000 (US$2), sourced from the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, will be given to each poor household which consumes less than 50kWh a month for at least three consecutive months.

If low-income households registered for the subsidy consume more than 150kWh for three months, they will be charged the retail price for other households.

The EVN has warned that increasing demand from the industrial production and construction sectors will lead to power-supply shortages and power cuts during the dry season.

Local spring boards to bounce products

Foreign businesses are getting in line to hook up with big players in Vietnam to introduce products to the local market.

United States-based Baker Hughes Asia Pacific Ltd last week signed a memorandum of understanding on chemical production and distribution with Ho Chi Minh City-based PetroVietnam Fertiliser and Chemicals Corporation (PVFCCo), a subsidiary of the state-owned PetroVietnam Group.

Accordingly, Baker Hughes will assign PVFCCo’s company members to create BPC products and packaging for BPC customers in Vietnam.

The two parties also plan to do experimental research on specialised chemicals and raw parafin, and cooperate in human resource training. The research is to be conducted at PVFCCo’s plant in Bia Ria-Vung Tau province’s Phu My 1 Industrial Park.

“PVFCCo will extend its product portfolio into the chemical field, along with its traditional urea products, which is part of the firm’s long-term development orientation. On the other side, through cooperation with PVFCCo, BPC hopes to increase its Vietnam market share,” said PetroVietnam’s chairman Dinh La Thang.

Simultaneously, partnership deals between leading local dairy-maker Vinamilk and three European nutritional corporations were inked in the research, development and application of micro-nutrition and bioscience.

Vinamilk signed cooperation agreements with DSM Corporation, a leading health and nutritional ingredient solution provider in Switzerland, with Switzerland-based Lonza Limited, a leading supplier to the life-sciences industries, and with a global bioscience company in Denmark, Chr. Hansen.

Through these deals, Vinamilk will invest in research and apply innovative scientific achievements to improve its product lines to better meet Vietnamese children’s needs, said Vinamilk research director Nguyen Quoc Khanh.

Vinamilk will introduce a new tailor-made product for kids named Dielac Pedia applying the most advanced probiotics technologies from Chr. Hansen and Lonza Ltd.

Vinamilk was ranked as one of the top 200 enterprises in Asia by Forbes Asia in 2010.

Massive shoes to fill in Phu Yen

The axing of an ambitious $250 billion special economic zone project in central Phu Yen province will open the door for other investors to fill Sama Dubai’s shoes.

Nguyen Chi Hien, director of Phu Yen’s Department of Planning and Investment, told VIR: “There was news that the government would possibly scrap this project, but we are still waiting for a written decision from the government. If this is really the case, a strategy will be outlined to attract tourism and real estate projects to the area.”

Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Cao Viet Sinh on the sidelines of the monthly governmental meeting last week told the local press that senior government officials had just gathered to discuss Sama Dubai’s project, given its protracted delay. “The possibility is Samai Dubai’s project will be abolished,” Sinh was quoted as saying.

Sama Dubai’s special economic zone project was first proposed in June 2008, covering 3,000 square kilometres or 60 per cent of Phu Yen’s total acreage. The investor proposed to rent the land for 210 years. Though Phu Yen already made land use zoning for this gigantic project, Sama Dubai has made no move to materialise its proposal.

The leaders of Phu Yen People’s Committee recently submitted a proposal to the government to consider suspending the project due to the cash-strapped investor’s prolonged delay.

Provincial authorities complained that many investors had showed interest in the province but they could not be welcome as a huge land area has been reserved for Sama Dubai.

Phu Yen authorities in 2008 presented investment certificates to three sub-projects inside the proposed special economic zone. Those are the $550 million Ganh Da Dia tourism complex project, the $300 million Tuy Hoa airport upgrading project and the $150 million expressway development linking Tuy Hoa airport to Ganh Da Dia tourism area.

Hien said without Sama Dubai’s investment, these projects could still be implemented.

Phu Yen has been chosen for many ambitious projects. These include the $1.7 billion Vung Ro oil refinery, the $1.68 billion Nam Tuy Hoa Creative City and the $4.3 billion Phu Yen tourism complex projects.

However, the feasibility of these projects is still questioned. The Phu Yen complex faces land clearance difficulties, while the Nam Tuy Hoa investors are in financial hot water.

OPIC to help spearhead US investment in Vietnam

American investors in Vietnam will have more financing options when joining local partners.

Lawrence Spinelli, director of Foreign Affair of Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), said Vietnam was a favourable investment environment with a great deal of opportunities for doing businesses.

Spinelli said: “OPIC will focus on the projects in tourism, renewable energy, clean technology, and infrastructure sectors, which are of great development potential.”

“Vietnam is lucrative not just because of the market size but also the region-linked opportunities that the country offers to companies from America,” he noted.

OPIC will organise its seventh international investment conference in Jakarta, Indonesia from May 3-5, 2011 to encourage more US investment in South East Asia and will bring together US businesses that are looking to enter or expand their operations in the region. Attending the event will be financial institutions that can provide loans for investment projects.

“This will be the first conference in the region following the recent amazing emergence of the South East Asian countries economically. The investment opportunities in the countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines will be the focus of the conference’s programme.”

Spinelli said OPIC had already financed a $5 million agricultural project in Nha Trang.

“I hope that the number will augment in the very near future following this conference,” he said.

Operating in Vietnam since 1998, OPIC has supported companies by giving them a loan with a negotiable interest rate and securing their investment by offering them investment support.

Besides the Nha Trang project, the corporation has also given financial support for GE, Procter & Gamble and other small- and medium-sized companies.

“We will offer medium and long-term direct loans and loan guaranties of between $100,000-$250 million to each eligible investment projects. Interest rate applied for each project is also different upon the market’s rate in a specific time and the project’s feasibility. It usually takes us two to four months to evaluate small projects and four to six months for others,” said Spinelli.

OPIC is an independent agency of the US government that mobilises US private sector investment in new and emerging markets overseas in order to support both the sustainable economic development of those markets and the creation of American jobs at home.

The corporation has been so far presented in 155 countries and provided more than $2.1 billion in insurance and financing in Indonesia - the biggest recipient of OPIC help in South East Asia.

Food safety sees massive investment

A project to boost competition in animal husbandry and food safety in the agricultural sector kicked off in Hanoi on March 4 with an investment of $79 million.

Of the investment, official development assistance (ODA) will contribute over $65 million while the Government will pay $3.4 million and the private sector over $10.37 million.

The project, to run from 2010 to 2015, will benefit 12 cities and provinces, including five northern provinces , two central provinces , one Central Highlands province and two southern provinces, in addition to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City .

Some VND250 billion will be invested this year in launching Good Animal Husbandry Practice (GAHP) measures in seven pilot provinces, building biogas cesspools for 1,410 target families, constructing 19 slaughterhouses and installing liquid waste treatment systems in 99 markets.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Diep Kinh Tan said animal husbandry was predicted to face the most difficulties during the integration process and the project will help the agricultural sector overcome those obstacles.

The project aims to help breeders boost family-based production as well as reduce the environmental impacts of raising animals, food processing and marketing.

It is also aimed at improving food hygiene and safety in processing and supply of animals and poultry, especially in target provinces and cities.

Vietnam, RoK cooperate on origin of goods

Vietnam and the Republic of Korea (RoK) will assist with administrative requirements and cooperate closely in granting and examining the origin of goods, helping to ease difficulties for businesses and promote trade.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) to this effect was signed in Hanoi on March 4 by Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Thanh Bien and RoK Customs Service Commissioner Yoon Young-sun.

Under the MoU, part of the ASEAN-RoK Trade in Goods Agreement, the two sides will cooperate in granting and examining certificates of origin (C/O), and exchange information and data, particularly in cases of doubtful or fraudulent certification.

The MoU serves as a basis for the two countries to share data and provide technical assistance in building a future electronic certification system, cutting complexity in procedures for export firms, Deputy Minister Bien said at the signing ceremony.

The ASEAN-RoK Trade in Goods Agreement, which took effect in June 2007, brought trade benefits for participating countries, including Vietnam and the RoK.