CPA Australia inks deal in Ho Chi Minh City

CPA Australia, one of the largest accounting bodies in the world, today signed a cooperation agreement with the State Audit Office of Vietnam (SAV).

The agreement enhances information exchange between the two bodies and encourages international collaboration as a powerful avenue to strengthen the accounting profession.

CPA Australia CEO Alex Malley said the agreement with SAV was a demonstration of SAV’s commitment to advancing the accounting profession and its integrity.

“The role of SAV in conducting independent auditing services for the Vietnamese government plays an integral part not only in developing Vietnam’s economy, but also sends a strong signal to the region that Vietnam is serious about its efforts to build a transparent and respected market economy,” said Malley.

“Vietnam’s accounting profession is flourishing,” he added. “The growing presence of CPA Australia in this country since 2008 advocates our standpoint that as a region, we can achieve much more working together than as individual nations.”

This five-year cooperation agreement focuses on professional training and development via information and experience exchange, local and international seminars and workshops, professional network expansion, and scholarships to positively influence and contribute to the development of the accounting and auditing workforce and industry in Vietnam.

On January 14, CPA Australia will also sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Banking University of Ho Chi Minh City, which will would enrich the high-quality educational opportunities the university offered Vietnamese students – particularly in its finance and business streams.

According to the MOU, CPA Australia would support the university with initiatives including scholarship offerings, curriculum assessment, sponsorship for students’ activities, seminars and conferences for accounting professionals and access to research grants.

“CPA Australia has a long tradition of working with the world’s leading education providers. We are particularly pleased to be signing this agreement with the Banking University – one of Vietnam’s top educational institutions – because it will enable collaboration to benefit both organisations,” said Malley.

BankingUniversityis the fifth Vietnamese university with which CPA Australia has signed MOU. The other four universities are the National Economics University (Hanoi), University of Economics (Ho Chi Minh City), RMIT University (Vietnam) and Academy of Finance (Hanoi).

Key industrial products aid capital's growth

A total of 53 products from 47 businesses have been recognised as the city's key industrial items for the past five years under the Hanoi Programme for Developing Key Industrial Products during 2005-10, according to the Hanoi Department of Industry and Trade.

Director of the department Luu Tien Long said most enterprises that offer key products showed much higher production growth rates in the past five years and contributed significantly to the city's overall industrial growth.

According to the department's statistics, the key industrial products made up 34.23 per cent of the city's total industrial production value last year against 27.6 per cent a year earlier.

Director of the department's industrial division Trinh Thi Ngan said that 10 of the 53 products brought in an annual revenue of more than VND1 trillion ($50 million) each and another 17 had annual earnings of between VND500 billion and VND1 trillion ($25-50 million).

Besides meeting the domestic market demand, Ngan said, the selected enterprises also earned $760 million from exports last year, accounting for 10 per cent of the city's export turnover in the period.

Several recognised enterprises that have had breakthrough growth over the past years included Garment 10 Company and Son Ha Corporation, which recorded a year-on-year growth of 50 per cent.

Under the programme, key industrial products were categorised into six groups: mechanical engineering, electrical and electronics, chemicals and plastics, footwear, garment and textile, paper and packaging, and processed foods.

Assistance for the recognised enterprises included help in building and promoting trademarks, technology development and priorities to resolve land use rights and administrative procedures, said Long.

The programme for developing industrial products in Hanoi was launched in October 2005 with the aim to creating favourable conditions for the continued development of these local products using all available advantages and resources.

Office rent slumps: report

Office rents were all down in the final quarter of 2010 when supply surged with the opening of new buildings in Ho Chi Minh City, according to a quarterly report released Wednesday by property consulting firm CB Richard Ellis Vietnam.

Grade A rents dipped 4.46 percent from the previous quarter to US$35.06 per sq.m per month. Following the opening of HCMC’s tallest skyscraper Bitexco Financial Tower in October last year that provided a further 37,710 sqm net leasable area, office space stock increased by 19.4 percent quarter on quarter (q-o-q).

Grade B rents dropped by 2.37 percent q-o-q to $19.55 after the market received three new Grade B buildings with a total of 51,020 sq.m gross floor area.

Meanwhile, eight new Grade C buildings supplied 39,729 sq.m of gross floor area, reducing the rents to $16.25, down 3.92 percent q-o-q.

The overall vacancy increased to 17.8 percent, up 4.4 percentage points, a vivid reflection of the newly completed office space.

The total net absorption in the last quarter of last year, however, reached 34,545 sq.m net leasable area, pushing the figure for the whole year up by almost 50 percent against 2009.

Tenants at the time preferred Grade C buildings with a net absorption of approximately 22,000 sq.m, Rudolf Hever, CBRE Associate Director, said.

CBRE expects Grade A rents to drop to comparable levels of other regional cities like Shanghai and Beijing ($31-33 per sq.m per month) when the availability of new office space will be further significantly expanded in 2011.

Absorption is also forecast to continue growing this year when many local companies, looking for professional working environment, take higher quality space.

Work starts on Dalat Center

Len Nguyen Joint Stock Co. has started construction of VND900 billion (US$46 million) Dalat Center in the Central Highlands Lam Dong Province.

Covering a 5,000 square-meter site in Dalat city, the center will comprise a hotel, apartments and commercial area.

Scheduled to open in 2013, the 10-storey center will feature kiosks for lease, a hotel and high-end apartments.

The center will have more than 560 kiosks for a traditional market selling fresh foods, fruits, flowers, and other products from the highland province.

Ho Chi Minh City-based Sacomreal-S has been appointed exclusive marketing agent for the project.

80 businesses given Gold Dragon award

Eighty businesses will receive the Gold Dragon award, announced the organising board.

Fifteen awards will be granted to enterprises operating in finance, banking, and insurance. Besides, other awards will be delivered to enterprises in fields of real estate, services, construction and building materials.

Annual Gold Dragon award is oragnised by the Vietnam Economic Times in coordination with the Foreign Investment Department, under the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

It aims to honour foreign-invested businesses and their contributions to Vietnam’s economy.   

Gov't entrusts five tasks to SBV 

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) was asked to concentrate on some important tasks set by the government, the bank announced on January 12.

SBV was tasked to actively and flexibly manage the monetary policy and cooperate with the Ministry of Finance and other related ministries. The coalition aims to combine monetary policy and fiscal policy to control increase in the general payment methods, credits and to keep interest rates at a reasonable level.

The Bank should decide the exchange rates promptly due to fluctuations in the market, and strengthen the forecasting capacity and balance the supply of money to meet the market liquidity of the banking system and reduce the inflation rate.

SBV should work with the Ministry of Finance and other departments to strengthen surveillance of the input-output capital, especially the foreign indirect investment (FII). It should also create preferential conditions to attract more remittances for controlling the foreign currencies market while stabilising the balance of payments and increasing foreign currency reserves.

It should use suitable monetary policies to encourage commercial banks to provide loans for producing goods which have large export markets.

To maintain the monetary, credit and banking system, SBV should cooperate with other agencies and localities to implement the following solutions:

Firstly, SBV should find ways to reduce the interest rates of business loans for credit institutions, to ensure the stabilisation of the macro economy, improve people’s living standards and support the commercial banks. This will allow to provide loans for developing agriculture, rural areas, small and medium sized businesses, export businesses and businesses working in the support industries while minimising the use of administrative measures.

Secondly, the Bank should continue improving the legal framework on foreign currency management and control the foreign currency market and exchange rates in line with the supply and demand for foreign currencies. It should encourage exports, reduce imports, improve the international balance of payments and contribute to reserving foreign currencies. The Bank should also research, amend and add more regulations on the management of the international balance of payments.

Thirdly, SBV should implement comprehensive measures to control the gold market, prevent and strictly oppose the illegal businesses of trading gold or exchanging foreign currencies. The Bank should survey the transparency of information in the gold and foreign currency markets and determine solutions to control the capital and credit flow between these two markets.

It should also create regulations on the trading of gold towards improving the ruling role of the state and strictly controlling the circulation of gold bars. SBV should propose solutions to the dollarisation issues and transform the domestic mobilisation and loans using foreign currencies by credit institutions to the trading of foreign currencies and submit them to the Prime Minister in the first quarter of 2011.

Fourthly, SBV should also submit a project to strengthening non-cash payment for the 2011-2015 period in the second quarter of this year.

Lastly, the Bank should continue to revise regulations related to credit and banking safety in accordance with international regulations and national socio-economic situations. The Bank should direct credit institutions to sustainably restructure their assets and capital resources. SBV should improve the quality of credit, warn early of system risks and support commercial banks and credit institutions in dealing with risks to ensure the safety of their systems.

Coffee prices exceed VND38,000/kg

The price of coffee in Dak Nong and other central highland provinces rose to VND38,200 per kg on January 12, up VND900 from the previous day and up VND1,200 per kg from early January.

This is the highest price level for coffee in Central Highland provinces since 2008.

This increase is attributed to a surge in coffee prices on the London market on the evening of January 11, from US$2,050 per tonne to US$2,105.

However, many farmers have limited their sales because they hope coffee prices will continue to go up in the coming time.

Businesses said coffee growers can still make a profit even when selling their products for VND38,000 per kg.

H’mun hydroelectricity plant inaugurated

An inauguration ceremony for the H’mun hydroelectricity plant was held in Barmaih commune, Chu Se district, in the Central Highland province of Gia Lai.

With a total investment capital of more than VND300 billion, the factory has a designed capacity of 16.2 MW including three turbine groups.

The plant is expected to generate 66 million kwh of electricity this year, earning a potential revenue of VND40 billion.

It was the second hydroelectricity plant in Mang Yang district with the investment capital contributed by Gia Lai Hydroelectricity Joint Stock Company. The first plant in the district one was the H’Chan hydroelectricity plant project which kicked off in 2007 and had a capacity of 12MW.

Gia Lai Hydroelectricity JSC Director Nguyen Dinh Tuan said that two plants have proved very effective in the province. Currently, H’Chan hydroelectricity plant has provided more than 100 million KWh to the national electricity grid.

Competitiveness strengthening for business

A seminar was held by the Central Institute for Economic Management (CIEM) to contribute opinions to the draft Resolution on promoting international economic integration in the 2011-2015 period and vision to 2020 in Hanoi on January 11.

Vo Tri Thanh, Vice Director of the CIEM said over the past 3 years since its entry to the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Vietnam became deeper integrated into the world. This has helped to push up economic development, expand markets, promote exports and attract foreign direct investment.

Many participants stressed that every business should pay more attention to the role of technology, science and human resources in the integration process.

They said the Resolution should focus on strengthening the competitive capacity of businesses, and work out detailed solutions for every sector.

Forum reviews ASEAN electronics sector’s integration

A forum on the integration of the ASEAN electricity and electronics sector was jointly held in Ho Chi Minh City on January 11 by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Secretariat of the AEM-METI Economic and Industrial Cooperation Committee and the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Businesses of Vietnam and other ASEAN-member countries reviewed the implementation of the bloc’s integration roadmap in the electrical/electronics industry.

Electricity and electronics is one of 12 prioritised sectors for regional integration, said Le Quang Tan, head of the Vietnamese delegation of Senior Economic Officials (SEOM) and Deputy Director of Multilateral Trade Policy Department.

Over the past six years of development, the industry has grown steadily, attracting a large amount of investment and skilled workers, and contributing one-fifth of ASEAN’s total export value, he said.

In this regard, he affirmed the need to establish a common market for the regional electrical/electronics industry as well as common production for cooperation and development of all ASEAN members

Subash Pillai, Director of the ASEAN Secretariat’s Market Integration Directorate, called on regional countries to remove trade barriers and non-tariff policies.

Also at the forum, participants discussed issues related to ASEAN’s free trade and competitiveness in East Asia, investment attraction in electronics, development of support industry and human resources, and expansion of production networks.

The proposals and recommendations raised at the event will be submitted to the ASEAN Economic Ministers’ Meeting scheduled for February in Laos.

PV