Quotas set for salt, sugar, eggs

The Ministry of Industry and Trade yesterday issued Circular No 22/2012/TT-BCT setting import quotas for salt, sugar and eggs for the period from August 6 to December 31, 2012.

Accordingly, the import quota for salt is 102,000 tonnes; 70,000 tonnes for crude and refined sugar; and 41,000 dozen for eggs.

"The import quota was carefully decided by MoIT, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Finance Ministry at the beginning of the year. The benefits of all relevant objectives have also been reviewed," said Phan Thi Dieu Ha, deputy head of MoIT's Import-Export Department.

Ha said the ministry would allocate 51,000 tonnes of the imported salt for chemical production and another 2,000 tonnes for pharmaceutical use.

She added that businesses allotted these supplies would be responsible for using the items for production purposes only. They would have to report their usage to the ministry on a monthly and quarterly basis.

"The ministry will also organize teams to check up on businesses," she said.

In response to the concern many have expressed with importing eggs while the country has abundant supplies and breeders face severe difficulties, deputy minister Nguyen Thanh Bien said the import of the items showed Viet Nam's strong commitment to WTO.

Under the commitment, the country has to import four items including sugar, salt, egg and tobacco. In 2007, Viet Nam imported 30,000 dozen eggs and the import amount must increase 5 per cent each year.

Bien said the ministry has not implemented the strategy proposed by some associations of inviting bids for the imports as the quota followed global commitments.

"In addition, domestic producers find themselves in a tricky situation because local salt quality does not meet production demands, especially in the chemical industry," he said, adding that several producers resigned themselves to importing expensive salt to ensure their products' quality.

He also said the bidding would be difficult because several producers wanted to receive the quota but lacked capital.

"The bidding does not suit the country's economic scale. The quota would also be an opportunity for Vietnamese businesses to take time to adapt to the global commitment," he said.

To prevent smuggling sugar, the deputy minister said the best solution was to keep domestic sugar prices in line with prices in bordering countries to reduce smugglers' possible profits.

In addition, the ministry would also improve market management to limit the situation.

Delta advised to invest in hi-tech, human resources

The Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta needs to increase application of technology and invest in human resources and infrastructure to make it a development spearhead, Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Tran Viet Thanh has said.

"The region's socio-economic advantages notwithstanding, its people still face much difficulty due to rapid population increase and overexploitation of natural resources," he told a seminar held in Hau Giang Province on Thursday.

"Besides, it now faces new challenges like climate change, saltwater intrusion, and changes in the flow of many rivers caused by irrigation and hydropower projects upstream," he said.

Several participants said shortage of resources and low salaries were major hurdles to research and growth of science and technology.

Nguyen Minh Chau, head of the Southern Fruit Research Institute, said his institute regularly transfered advanced technologies to farmers, but the benefits did not match expectations since the funds needed to deploy them were lacking.

For instance, new strains of vegetable have been certified by official agencies, but there was not enough money to carry out trials, he said.

"Without trials, how can these vegetables be popularised?"

Dr Nguyen Thanh Phuong of Can Tho University said investment in fisheries research was not commensurate with the sector's importance.

As a result, the number of research projects in the sector remained limited and mostly focused on resolving problems, he said, and thus technology did not play an important role in boosting the sector's development.

Scientists participating in the conference spoke about the importance of science and technology in growing rice under the large-scale model being developed in the region, and fisheries production under the co-operation model.

They also spoke about developing irrigation in a manner that factors in climate change and rise in sea levels.

Le Van Banh, head of the Cuu Long Delta Rice Research Institute, said the large-scale model for rice was appropriate for simultaneously applying science and technology and adopting mechanisation.

The model was also the premise for creating rice-growing zones, he said.

The application of technology in large-scale rice fields helped reduce production costs by VND721 per kilogramme on a 20,000-ha area in An Giang Province during the last crop, he revealed.

The seminar was organised by the ministry and Hau Giang People's Committee.

‘Get moving on transport' Deputy PM says

Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai has urged HCM City and neigh-bouring Dong Nai Province to speed up work on the HCM City-Long Thanh-Dau Giay Expressway and metro line No 1.

At a meeting in HCM City yesterday, he said they were of vital importance, so the Government has kept funding them despite the economic turmoil.

He called on HCM City and Dong Nai authorities to create the most favourable conditions to complete them as soon as possible while also ensuring quality.

He praised the efforts made by HCM City and Dong Nai to make clear and transparent plans for land acquisition and compensation for the HCM City-Long Thanh-Dau Giay Expressway.

Construction of the 55-km expressway, which will connect HCM City with the planned Long Thanh International Airport in Dong Nai Province, began in October 2009.

It will have four lanes in the first phase scheduled for completion this year.

In the second phase, it will be widened to have eight lanes in the 24-km section from An Phu in District 2 to Long Thanh, and six lanes in the remaining section to Dau Giay.

The expressway will cost US$932.4 million in the first phase, for which the Japan International Cooperation Agency will provide a loan of over $516.5 million and the Asian Development Bank, $410.2 million.

During a trip to a construction site in Long Thanh District yesterday, Hai told concerned agencies and authorities to clear obstacles holding up site clearance, including paying compensation to households whose lands were acquired.

As for the 19.7-km metro line No 1, Hai appreciated the city's efforts to tackle difficulties and hold a groundbreaking ceremony on August 28.

Preparatory work is complete after an EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) contract to build the overhead section of the first metro route was signed in May.

The first 2.6-km stretch, from Ben Thanh Market in District 1 to Ba Son Shipyard in District 1, will be underground.

Then it will go overhead from Ba Son Shipyard, passing through Van Thanh and Tan Cang in Binh Thanh District and along the Ha Noi Highway to Suoi Tien in District 9. There will be 11 stations.

The 19.7-km line is divided into three packages, the third being for installation of machinery and electrical devices and maintenance.

The line will cost VND47 trillion ($2.25 billion), with 88.4 per cent coming from Japanese official development assistance and the rest coming from the city budget.

Construction is expected to be finished by 2017 and the line will become operational in 2018.

Plan to lift industrial production, quality

The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) on Wednesday launched a project to improve the productivity and quality of Vietnamese industrial products through applying appropriate management solutions and renovated scientific technologies.

The project, which is part of a national programme to enhance the quality of made-in-Viet Nam products until 2020, will also set up and complete a system which includes 6,000 technical regulations on advanced production processes and management systems to lift the quality and productivity of industrial products up a notch by 2020.

Chairman of the Viet Nam Science and Thermal Technology Association Truong Duy Nghia said that Viet Nam aims to become an industrial country by 2020 and it would be difficult to manage industrial production without suitable standards. Therefore, there is a need to work out standards for industrial goods and products as soon as possible. However, he was afraid that it would be difficult to meet the 6,000-standard system target as he estimated it would take roughly two and a half years to be able to complete a standard.

Director of MoIT's Science and Technology Department Nguyen Dinh Hiep said that the project will give priority to textile and garment, footwear, plastic, steel, chemical, mechanical engineering, power, electronic and telecommunications industries.

Hiep said that 40 per cent of the country's major industrial product-producing enterprises were expected to join in the project during 2012-15 and all of the country's industrial producers would take part in the project by 2020.

Industrial producers said that they had so far applied science and technology in their production and management, but they still expected the Government to aid them in training, research and building up standard systems.

Chu Van Nguyen from the Viet Nam Chemical Group said that the implementation of the project met the real demands of chemical producers as improvement of productivity and quality was vital for sustainable growth of the producers.

Echoing Nguyen, a representative from the Viet Nam Coal Mineral Industries Group also said that the application of science and technology was very important to the mineral mining and processing industries and he expected to have support from the Government for the activities.

Planning ministry promotes on-line auctions

Viet Nam would save billions of US dollars annually if it could fully apply the online bidding method, according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI).

The mechanism would also save time, increase transparency, and minimise corruption, said director of MPI's Bidding Management Department Le Van Tang.

According to the MPI, the total value of bidding contracts in Viet Nam was about US$20 billion, accounting for around 20 per cent of the country's GDP.

Tang said that after trialling the method for the past three years, about 1,700 bidding offers and 600 bidders had registered to trade online, with 30,000 tenders posted and 200 successfully completed bids.

"The MPI will continue to promote the application of online bidding by gradually enhancing the awareness of businesses as well as offering more online trading training to bidders," he said.

Tang said the Government would invest some VND200 billion to boost online trading on a nationwide scale.

"But we (the MPI) will ask the Government to choose a private company to implement the project as it will save investment costs," he added.

However, Tang said a number of businesses remained hesitant to utilise the mechanism, despite some 3,500 businesses having registered electronic signatures.

"Many of them are still unfamiliar with this advanced method and its transparency and competitiveness" he added.

Tang also attributed this hesitance to the inability of businesses to apply IT as well as poor network infrastructure.

"There are many things that need to be done in order to make online bidding more popular," he said.

He added that agencies and enterprises should be aware of the global trend of using online bidding and the necessity of upgrading technological infrastructure and increasing transmission capacity.

"It would be better to compile regulations stipulating the required percentage of online bidding packages and punishments for violations in order to ensure that they are obeyed seriously and effectively."

Japan leads consortium in port project

A consortium comprising Japan's Nikken Sekkei Civil Engineering Ltd and Port and Waterway Engineering Consultant Company would provide consulting and draw up a detailed plan to the scale of 1/2000 for central Quang Ngai Province's Dung Quat II Port, under a contract signed on Wednesday with the Dung Quat Economic Zone Authority.

The contract, worth VND21.3 billion (over US$1 million), will be implemented within 10 months. It is hoped that the contract will help the Dung Quat EZ Authority (DEZA) build a long-term relationship with its Japanese counterparts.

While vowing to supply sufficient capital and co-operate with the contractors to complete the project as scheduled, DEZA also called for the contractor to comply with the general seaport plan approved by the Government.

"The planning of Dung Quat II Port is vital to the development of Dung Quat II heavy industry complex, which is key to the expansion of the Dung Quat EZ," said Pham Nhu Ro, deputy chairman of the provincial People's Committee and head of the Dung Quat Economic Zone Authority.

The port will be developed in Dung Quat II Bay, which connects to around 5,000ha used for developing heavy industries and 2,000ha for support industries. It is also expected to handle ships of 250,000-300,000 DWT which are used to carry crude oil, iron ore and coal. That will create a foundation for the development of the Dung Quat II heavy industry complex.

The Dung Quat EZ plans to attract US$13 billion in investment capital by 2015, of which $8 billion would be disbursed, pursuant to the zone master plan for 2012-15 approved by the Provincial People's Committee.

In addition, the province aims to handle 25 million tonnes of cargo through its port and generate approximately 20,000 jobs for local people, contributing VND16 trillion ($761 million) to the State budget.

The zone would raise its yearly industrial production value to 17-19 per cent in the next three years.

The province would allocate more resources to develop Dung Quat EZ into a multi-sectoral economic zone, focusing on developing petrochemistry, chemicals, mechanical engineering, shipbuilding, metallurgy, light industry, the Dung Quat deep seaport and Chu Lai Airport.

Over the past 15 years, the EZ has attracted 115 projects with total registered capital of more than $8 billion. In the first five months of the year, it has licensed four new projects valued at VND4.6 trillion ($2.2 billion).

Last year, the zone received approval from the Government to expand to over 45,000ha by 2025.

Developers slash apartment prices

Real estate developers in HCM City are cutting prices to promote sales of their apartments, especially in the mid-end segment.

More customers have shown interest in buying apartments, but the trade volume has not increased much, particularly because of high selling prices.

Thus, project owners have had to adjust their selling prices to lure customers.

The Sai Gon Moi project of Sai Gon Moi Real Estate Company in District 7, for example, once sold for VND970 million but now is selling for VND873 million.

The buyers can move in immediately, if they pay VND384 million (or 40 per cent of the value of the apartment) in advance. The remainder is paid within one year.

The Thanh Truong Loc Company is also selling its apartments at the 4S Riverside Linh Dong in Thu Duc District at very attractive payment rates.

The buyers have to pay only 30 per cent of the apartment's total value, and then each month pay the remaining amount of money, depending on the total scale of housing floor.

If the buyers are state employees and workers, they will enjoy a 15 per cent reduction in the selling price.

A joint venture between Viet Nam's Hung Viet Company and the Korea Real Estate Development Fund (KRDF 03) has offered the first 100 condos of the Eastern Project located in District 9. The project is planned for completion in late 2013.

The fully furnished apartments are priced at between VND1.2 billion and 2.4 billion, with a value-added tax included.

Homebuyers only need to make a 10 per cent payment in advance and the remainder will be paid when they receive the apartment.

Huynh Thi Kim Doan, director of the Eden Real Company, said that apartment demand was very great but most people still wanted to wait for a further price cuts.

Pham Van Hai, general director of the ACBR Real Estate Company, however, said a further reduction in apartment prices was not feasible.

"People should not buy property for investment purposes at this time because the market remains at a standstill. But it is very good for those who want to live in the apartments," Hai said.

"If I was looking for housing now, I would decide to buy at this time because I would have many options," said Nguyen Xuan Quang, chairman of the Nam Long Real Estate Company.

Late last week, the company opened for sale 38 street houses at the Nam Long-Bac Sai Gon Project in Binh Duong Province's Thuan An District at a price of VND867 million each.

All of the houses sold out within the morning, showing that demand remains high, according to Quang.

No more land for golf courses

Chairman of Can Tho City's People Committee Nguyen Thanh Son said that the city will not set aside more arable land for construction of a golf course in its master plan to develop Can Tho until 2030 and its vision to 2050.

On the other hand, since Can Tho has been recognised as a first-class city, land prices have been increased. If arable land was set aside for a golf course, construction would become wasteful and less effective, said Son.

The city administration granted an investment licence in 2007 to Hoan Lam JSC to invest in a project including an 18-hole golf course, residential and entertainment area valued at over VND1 trillion. However, the project's licence was revoked due to its late construction as committed.

First fingerprint debit card launched

Mekong Development Bank (MDB) launched on Tuesday Viet Nam's first card employing biometric fingerprint-authentication technology made by Swiss firm Temenos.

The card is expected to provide better convenience and security to customers.

Cardholders can use the fingerprint function at the bank's biometric ATMs provided by American NCR Corp.

At the more than 9,000 ATMs of the Smartlink system and 20,000 points of sale (POS) that cooperate with the bank, customers will use their normal personal identification number (PIN).

Companies return to operations after halt

About 940 enterprises who suspended operations in the first half of the year restarted business last month, said Vietnam General Department of Taxation.
Photo for illustration.

This is seen as a positive signal for the market following the closure of nearly 22,000 businesses in the first six months of the year.

By last month, this trend had subsided and the number of businesses that suspended operations had come down to 20,741. Nearly 47,000 new enterprises were also registered, including 5,000 state-run businesses.

The department added that the recovery is led by non-state firms.

According to the department's second-quarter report, pre-tax profits for all enterprises in Vietnam in the second quarter were 2.5 per cent higher than in the first quarter, while profits for state-run companies were up 5.8 per cent.

The Department of Statistics said as of last year, there had been 451,103 registered businesses, though only 375,732 were operating, with the rest suspending operations or shutting down. For most companies the biggest problems have been the inability to obtain credit at reasonable rates and high stockpiles.

ADB plans nearly $4 bln for Vietnam economic development

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Thursday said it has planned nearly $4 billion in regular and concessional loans and grants to Vietnam in the next three years to support projects aimed at easing bottlenecks to economic growth.

Six sectors - farming, education, energy, finance, transport and municipal infrastructure - would be covered by the funding aimed at reforming state-owned companies, helping poorer regions develop and dealing with climate change, the Manila-based multilateral lender said in a statement.

While Vietnam has had grown rapidly in the past two decades, "structural constraints continue to be a concern" in the longer term, ADB Vice-President for Operations in East Asia, Southeast Asia and the Pacific, Stephen P. Groff, said in the statement.

The Country Partnership Strategy through 2015 includes $2.6 billion in ordinary loans and $1.2 billion in lending from the Asian Development Fund, plus technical assistance worth $8 million a year, the ADB said.

Machinery imports post strong growth

While Vietnam’s general merchandise imports saw a sharp fall in January - July except, the purchase of machinery and components in the period grew by nearly 8 per cent.

Data of the General Department of Customs showed total value of machinery, tools and components imported from the year’s beginning to the middle of last month totaled $8.4 billion, picking up 7.9 per cent. Machinery and equipment imports, therefore, keep taking the lead in the group of ten goods imported the most into the country.

Meanwhile, import turnover of other commodities in the same group shrank year-on-year, including fuel products with a decline of 11.1 per cent, fabric falling 1.7 per cent, iron and steel 4.2 per cent, material plastic 1.1 per cent and footwear and leather materials 0.1 per cent.

Customs figures in the first four months of the year indicated Vietnam bought most machinery and equipment from China, accounting for over 31 per cent of the total volume in the period. Vietnamese enterprises spent $801 million on importing machines from China while foreign direct investment (FDI) enterprises only imported $673 million worth of machinery from this market in the same period.

At a meeting with leaders of the Ministry of Industry and Trade late last month, Nguyen Chien Thang, chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Handicraft and Wood Industry Association (Hawa), said the current economic downturn is the right time for local firms in the wood industry to invest in machines with low expenses.

From early 2012 to July 15, import turnovers of computers, electronics products and components also sharply increased to $6.1 billion. Similarly, cell phones and spare parts imports shot up to $2.2 billion in value, up 90.9 per cent and 111.6 per cent year-on-year respectively.

Vina Properties takes over Novotel Phan Thiet

Vina Properties Development Group said it had taken over Novotel Phan Thiet Ocean Dunes & Golf Resort in Phan Thiet City, Binh Thuan province.

Details of the deal were not revealed but a source from Vina Properties said the acquisition was completed a few days ago. The new owner has changed the hotel’s name to DuParc Phan Thiet Ocean Dunes & Golf Resort.

Indochina Capital Investment Fund is one of the investors in the project. Apart from an 18-hole golf course, the project features a four-star hotel with 123 rooms operated by Accor Hotel Group.

Earlier, Vina Properties acquired the stakes of Hong Kong’s Kovina Investments Limited and Singapore’s AOI Saigon Pte Ltd. in Amara Saigon Hotel in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 3. The 280-room hotel was then renamed Ramana Saigon Hotel.

In 2010, the group expanded its investment portfolio in the hospitality industry by taking over Dalat Palace Luxury Hotel & Golf Club and DuParc Hotel Dalat in Dalat City.

Vina Properties is a local company active in the business fields of hotel-entertainment, aviation and construction.

Airlines’ bid to suspend taxes rejected

The Ministry of Finance has rejected the proposals of Vietnam Airlines and Jetstar Pacific Airlines to suspend the collection of VAT and environment taxes on jet fuel if the oil price rises to $118 a barrel or more.

In a document sent to related ministries and agencies and the two companies on Tuesday, Deputy Minister of Finance Vu Thi Mai said collecting VAT and environment protection tax is subject to the rules of the National Assembly Standing Committee. Therefore, the involved companies are required to adhere to the tax payment in line with the law, Mai asserted.

The application of petrol import tax should be based on the finance ministry’s regulation upon import schedules. The prevalent tariff is now fixed at 12 per cent as per Circular 109/2012/TT-BTC issued on July 3, 2012 but the ministry said the lowest level might be put at 7 per cent.

In May, both airlines submitted to the ministry the petitions clarifying their current financial plight in an effort to persuade the ministry to delay the tax collection schedule.

Vietnam Airlines complained that it was unable to obtain the year’s target in the first four months due to the economic slowdown. Moreover, rising input costs with the average fuel price picking up by 7.4 per cent compared to the planned price has pushed the national flag carrier’s expenses up by VND303 billion.

Vietnam Airlines asked for assistance from the ministry by not imposing import taxes on jet fuel if the fuel price stays at $118 a barrel or higher.

Similarly, Jester Pacific in its submission also proposed the ministry to levy an import tariff of 0 per cent if the fuel cost is fixed from $110 per barrel.

In response to the two aviation firms’ requests, the finance ministry insisted that jet fuel bought at home is levied an environment tax of VND1,000 a litre and VAT of 10 per cent.

Meanwhile, the imported products are imposed an import tariff of 12 per cent besides the aforesaid environment tax and VAT.