Korea-VN joint venture to build three big ships

The Hyundai Vinashin Shipyard Co Ltd (HVS) recently held a keel-laying ceremony in central Khanh Hoa province for the construction of three large ships for its foreign partners.

The cargo ship coded S059 was ordered by the Huyndai Merchant Marine Co., Ltd of the Republic of Korea for the first time.

The 200m long and 18.3 m wide ship, with a capacity of 60,000 DWT, was expected to be completed and launched in early November and delivered to the Korean ship-owner in January, 2012.

The 56,000-DWT S046 ship, with length of 18.3m and height of 18.3 m, and having a speed of 14.5 sea miles per hour, which was being built under a contract inked between HVS and the Geden Lines shipping company of Turkey, will be also transferred at the end of January, 2012.

The S067-coded ship, 187m in length, 27.8m in width and 15m in height, was the fourth ship HVS had built for the Hi Gold 22 International S.A. (Hi-Invest) of Korea. The ship was scheduled to be launched in February, 2012 and transferred to Hi-Invest one month later.

Established in 1996, HVS was a joint venture between the Hyundai Heavy Industry Group of Korea and Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Group (Vinashin).

After more than 10 years of providing only ship repair services, HVS switched to ship building in March. This year, HVS planned to hand over 12 fully made ships, earning a total turnover of $490 million, a 67 percent increase on the previous year.

One month is not 30 days, transport firms learn

Two toll booths on Ho Chi Minh City’s Hanoi Highway and Kinh Duong Vuong Street have been selling new monthly tickets which are valid within one particular month and not for 30 days as usual, causing losses to transport companies.

The HCMC Infrastructure Investment JSC (CII), which manages the abovementioned toll booths, recently announced two important changes regarding toll collection as of July 1: hiking the fees and adjusting the monthly payment method.

According to the old method, the monthly toll ticket is valid within 30 days since the purchasing day.

However, the ticket now will expire on the last day of the month it is purchased, regardless of whether it is bought at the beginning or towards the end of the month.

Vo Tan Phong, driver of a four-seat car, said he bought a monthly ticket on June 13, which would be valid until July 13 if the old payment method was applied.

But on July 13, when he showed the ticket to the toll booth official on Hanoi Highway, he was told it was invalid and he had to buy a new one.

“The ticket costs VND300,000 (US$15) for 30 days, which is VND10,000 per day, so it’s unreasonable that I have to waste VND130,000 for the 13 days [which went beyond June].”

Many transporting companies, whose vehicles pass the toll booths many times a day, lament that this abrupt change has caused them many difficulties.

P., director of the ML Transport Company in Binh Thanh District, for instance, said 10 out of his 50 container trucks have to pass the toll booth on Hanoi Highway on a regular basis.

Last month, these trucks had to buy new monthly tickets while the old ones still had 10 days until expiry under the old method.

“This caused us a total loss of VND8 million,” he said.

Thai Van Chung, General Secretary of the HCMC Goods Transport Association, said it was unreasonable that the toll booths forced drivers to buy new tickets although the old ones were still valid.

“We have to pay twice to pass the booths,” he confided.

“Since there are hundreds of transporting companies and thousands of vehicles passing the two toll booths every day, the losses are enormous.”

For their parts, the toll booths’ representatives said they did nothing wrong.

Pham Ngoc Van, head of the Hanoi Highway’s toll booth, said the change was in line with the Ministry of Finance’s Circular No.90.

“A monthly ticket is valid within a month, from the first day to the last day of that month,” he quoted the circular as saying.

Nevertheless, the HCMC Goods Transport Association demanded that CII switch back to the old method.

“Changing back to the old method will cause no damage or loss to CII but will help companies save cost,” he said.

Air Mekong to begin Vinh-Buon Ma Thuot service

Private carrier Air Mekong is set to begin the first Vinh-Buon Ma Thuot service October 1.

It will be thrice weekly on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.

Air Mekong will also double the frequency of its services to Da Lat from Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi to twice a day from September 6.

SBV appointed Techcombank for WB-funded project

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has assigned the Vietnam Technological Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Techcombank) for an urban transport development project, mostly funded by the World Bank (WB), in northern Hai Phong City.

The $277 million project, including a $175 million ODA (official development assistance) loan from the WB and the rest from the domestic reciprocal fund, was signed on May 31, 2011 between Vietnam and representative from WB.

Up to date, the works that have been completed are ratified investment policy, social and environmental impact assessments, environmental management plan, compensations and resettlement policies.

The project, scheduled to last until 2016, includes construction work of 20km urban route running from Le Loi Commune in An Duong District to Hai An District; new bridges of Niem Bridge 2 and Dong Khe crossing Lach Tray River; Truong Chinh Road, Cau Rao Tunnel, and renovation work on the existing Niem Bridge.

It also inlcudes a pilot public bus route will be built from the downtown to Tien Lang and Vinh Bao. At the same time, the project will enhance the transport management and policies and carry out the urban traffic and public transport planning.

This is the first WB-funded project in Vietnam whose preparation cost financed by the investor - Hai Phong City - and accepted by the WB.

It is tailored to help the city shorten the execution time and enlist a final WB’s ODA loan as the country has been listed out of underdeveloped country status.

Ho Chi Minh City government has recently petitioned the Ministry of Planning and Investment to propose the World Bank (WB) to grant a non-refundable ODA aid for $7 million sub-project of green transport development in HCMC from the Project Preparation Technical Assistance Facility Project (PPTAF).

The project aims to complete preparations for green transport development in HCM City project, including detailed engineering designs, preparation of bidding documents, programs of protection, training and procurement supports.

The project is expected to last from 2012 to 2013.

Mekong Province upgrades power supply  

The electricity department of the Mekong Delta Province of Vinh Long plans to provide electricity to most of the residents in the region, by setting up at least 77 electric projects at a cost of VND47 billion (US$ 2,238,000).
 
46 of these projects are already underway at a total investment of VND 10.2 billion, while the remaining 31 projects are set to complete this year.

The electricity department has conducted massive upgrading of electric grids across the province, in preparation for the coming rainy season. It has also spent a substantial amount on 9 major electricity projects in the districts and on 25 projects to install street lights along roads in rural communes of districts Binh Tan, Binh Minh and Tra On.

1,100 residents living in remote communes have benefitted from these projects. Most of the electricity projects have been funded by the World Bank.

However, the department still faces many challenges and obstacles as households are located far apart and with greater distances to cover, more capital is required as costs go up.

Over 20,000 households in the province have no electricity in their homes. Residents often have to borrow from neighbors at an inflated price, causing a loss to the distributing network.

The Department of Industry and Trade in the Province is therefore collaborating with the Electricity Department to implement fool proof plans to install private electric meters for each separate house so residents will pay as per government price.

The Vinh Long Electricity department will also be responsible for repairing connections to private homes and ensure that the supply is stable across the province.

Firms call for better policies to develop husbandry  

The husbandry section needs better attention for full development to better serve local demands and the country’s economy, businesses said at a conference in Ho Chi Minh City last week.  

Figures from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development which organized the conference, the export turnover of agricultural products for the past seven months has reached nearly US$14 billion, up 33.4 percent year on year.

But the husbandry sector has been doing badly as it worsened the agriculture trade deficit, the ministry said.

Deputy Minister Diep Kinh Tan said that the country has spent $2.2-2.7 billion every year to import animal feed.

According to the ministry officials, several Vietnamese firms have been exporting pork to China and Malaysia, which shows that the section has high potentials for development.

The officials said that Vietnam needs better policies to develop areas for local production of animal feed, especially soya, corn and manioc roots.

They said corn and manioc cultivation around the country has not supplied enough to local demands but the products have been exported every year.

There’s time more than $1 billion of manioc roots were exported a year, mainly to China for no tariffs, but domestic factories later had to pay 5 percent of tariffs when buying the roots from overseas, which raised the animal feed prices, they said.

Over the past seven years, the prices of material imports for animal feed has jumped 12-14 percent, pushing the animal feed prices 20 percent further.

Pham Duc Binh, general director of Thanh Binh JSC in Dong Nai Province neighboring HCMC, said at the conference that the government has not valued husbandry as much as farming.

Nguyen Thi Le Hong, general director of Dong Nai Food Technology Corporation, expressed her agreement.

Hong said that her company has received 1,000 hectares from the province government for breeding projects but the implementation of the projects has faced a lot of red tape.

The allocated area was also subject to different relocation policies, which made it hard to lure long-term investors, she said.

Tran Tan An, deputy general director of VISSAN Food Processing Company, said that husbandry farms face high risks of location as local governments would prefer to give the land to any other industrial project of foreign investor.

Chung Kim, director of a pig farm firm in Binh Duong Province neighboring HCMC, called for a clear breeding area planning for the long term or there won’t be enough husbandry products for the society.

Kim said further that a well-developed husbandry sector would be a strong supply for many industries.

Import goods forced to sell at reduced rates  

Uncertain factors in the market such as fluctuating USD exchange rates and competitive products are forcing businesses to slash prices on most imported goods to be able to stay operational.  

According to many electronics shops, prices of goods are fluctuating day to day depending on the state of the US dollar. “However, it is quite difficult to assess whether the fluctuated price is actually due to a lower exchange rate or a reduced import price”, said a salesclerk at a computer and electronics store on Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street in District 1 of Ho Chi Minh City.

At present the electronics industry is focused on cutting prices mainly on electrical and mobile phone accessories. For instance, a made in China headset is now available for only VND106, 000 (approx. US$5.17), more than VND10, 000 ($0.49) less than at the beginning of the year.

After vacillating for a long time, some imported food businesses are also releasing goods into the market at slashed rates. With so many factors affecting businesses these days, maintaining a steady price can prove to be a loss.

At Binh Dien wholesale market in District 8, prices of imported frozen pork and chicken have already dropped to VND5, 000-7,000 per kilogram (about USD$0.3 less than in January).

Cosmetic and beverage industries are also busy slashing rates. Nguyen Vu, a trader in cosmetic products from Malaysia, said that by trading in USD, he has the flexibility to lower prices whenever the USD exchange rate goes down.

Despite a decline in the exchange rate, logistic expenses have increased, creating problems for businesses which have to lower prices. For example, there is a decrease of 4-5 percent on shampoo and shower cream products, yet there is no guarantee that the same will happen in retail stores in smaller markets or grocery stores.

Children’s toys, which are 90 percent imported, have the greatest margin for reducing of prices. According to Thu Le, a trader in Binh Tay Market in District 6, many toy sellers are slashing prices on such goods like car models, stuffed animals, etc.

Toys that are priced less than VND50, 000 ($2.44) are able to face a slash of VND2, 000-3,000 per piece, while the costlier ones get a 6-7 percent decrease on the retail price.

Price stabilisation holds inflation in check
 
The city's price stabilisation programme has become an effective price-regulation tool in recent years, according to Nguyen Thi Hong, deputy chairwoman of the HCM City People's Committee.

Introduced in 2002, the programme initially targeted the supply and price of essential goods during the Tet (Lunar New Year) holidays, when demand for these items usually increases by 20-40 per cent.

Encouraged by its success, the city began to implement the programme throughout the year from 2010, Hong said.

The programme has helped the city to control inflation, she said, adding that the city's Consumer Price Index in the first seven months of the year was 3.54 per cent lower than the national figure, despite HCM City having the country's highest population density and consumption demand.

Another advantage of the programme has been that participating enterprises feel secure about investing in modern technology and equipment as well as in new breeds, helping reduce production costs and improve product quality.

By ensuring sufficient supply of goods of good quality at reasonable prices, the city has gradually been able to control speculation that pushed up prices, she said.

This year, the price-stabilisation programme has expanded to cover four categories – essential goods, school equipment, essential medicines and powdered milk for the elderly and children under one. Thirty-seven businesses are participating in the programme as of now, including companies in several sectors that hold a large market share and have at least 12 outlets each.

The city is now focusing on opening more outlets for price-subsidised goods in traditional markets, outlying districts and industrial parks for the benefit of low-income residents.

It has recently launched five stores selling price-subsidised goods in Can Gio District, raising the total number of stores under the programme to 3,773.

Hong said goods sold in these stores met quality, hygiene and food-safety standards and were sold at registered prices, which are at least 10 per cent lower than market prices.

Beer consumption surges 8.7%

Domestic beer consumption in the first seven months surged 8.7 per cent against the same period last year to about 1.7 billion litres, according to the General Statistics Office.

In July alone, consumers drank 279.1 million litres of beer, up 14 per cent year-on-year, regardless of the economic difficulties.

The office said that the beer production was one of few industrial sectors whose Index of Industrial Production grew this year. The index is used to assess the industrial sectors' health. The IIP of the beer industry in the first seven months surged 15.6 per cent compared with the same period last year.

During January-July, Vietnamese beer producers of Sabeco and Habeco remained the country's largest producers, accounting for more than 65 per cent of the industry's output.

With the beer industry's annual growth rate of 15 per cent in Viet Nam, it is one of the largest beer consumers in the world.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, beer consumption jumped from 1.29 billion litres in 2003 to more than 2.7 billion litres last year.

Director of the ministry's Light Industry Department Phan Chi Dung took the Mekong Delta provinces as examples, saying that beer consumption in one Mekong province rose from 10 million litres in 2004 to 40-70 million litres last year.

Because of the huge demand, many breweries with capacities of hundreds of millions of litres per year have been built in recent years. The country currently has about 350 beer breweries, 20 of which have a capacity of more than 20 million litres a year. Fifteen have capacity of over 15 million litres a year, while 268 produce under a million litres a year.

Meanwhile, imported beer volumes have also risen sharply to roughly 140 million litres last year.

Ministry won't cut petrol price despite cheaper oil
 
Despite the continued decline in world crude oil prices, the domestic petrol price is likely to remain unchanged in the near future, an official from the Ministry of Finance said.

The last increase in domestic fuel prices took place on March 29 when the retail petrol price rose by VND2,000 (nearly US$0.1) to VND21,300 ($1.03) per litre. The price has remained unchanged since.

A meeting in HCM City last week heard that hundreds of gallons of petrol was being illegally imported across the Viet Nam - Cambodia borderline everyday.

The domestic petrol price is about VND2,000 to VND2,500 per litre higher than in Cambodia, Thailand and Malaysia, which has encouraged smuggling, according to An Giang Market Watch Department.

Nguyen Tien Thoa, director of the Price Management Department under the MoF, also said there would be no immediate change in petrol prices.

"Viet Nam has not imported crude oil so world prices of crude oil should not affect local prices," he said, adding that the trade should be in compliance with Government Decree 84.

The decree permits businesses to adjust petrol prices by up to 7 per cent when the world petrol prices fluctuates by at least that amount in 30 consecutive days. When the global oil price was rising and falling by between 7 per cent and 12 per cent, enterprises were allowed to hike prices by 60 per cent of the increase, with the remaining 40 per cent being offset by import tax adjustments and the fuel stabilisation fund.

The basic petrol price must be based on the average price over the last 30 days, Thoa added.

The average price of A92 from July 9 to Aug 8 was $123.88 per barrel, while diesel was $131.04 and kerosene, $130.52.

Distributors have been selling petrol at VND 21,300 per litre, lower than the computed basic price of $123.88 per barrel.

In the past month, Thoa said the price stabilisation fund, along with import tax adjustments, had helped to keep domestic prices stable.

Meanwhile, the world crude oil price has declined by 10.5 per cent since the beginning of last month. Last week alone, the crude oil price dropped by 9.2 per cent as investors bartered the commodity away, anticipating another recession that would restrain demand.

The global crude oil declined to $78 per barrel yesterday after the US's credit rating was downgraded by Standard & Poor's.

In comparison with March, the global crude oil price declined by $20 a barrel.

Experts said that as the US economy continued to face difficulties, crude oil prices would continue to decline.

US-based Merrill Lynch earlier forecast that the crude oil price could fall to $50 a barrel this year.

Parts producers urged to join global production chain

Ha Noi's insufficient support industries were due to small-scale local businesses and their failure to further participate in the global production chain, due to a lack of technologies, limited production capacities and inadequate Government incentives policies.

Ha Noi's Industry and Trade Department Director Luu Tien Long delivered this message during a press conference held yesterday in the capital.

The city's support industries accounted for only 25 per cent of its annual industrial production value, he said.

"We are targeting to increase that ratio to 50 per cent in the next five years with a focus on developing support industries that serve the textile and garment, electronics, mechanical and engineering and new material production sectors," Long said.

"Helping local enterprises to join the global production chain will also be our top priority," he said.

In order to do so, the department will organise the Industrial Components and Subcontracting Viet Nam Expo from September 15-17 in Ha Noi, with the participation of 60 Vietnamese companies, mainly from the automobile, electronics, metalworking, plastics and information and communications industries.

At the same time, the Viet Nam Manufacturing Expo 2011 to be hosted by Thailand Reed Tradex Company and the fourth Viet Nam-Japan Exhibition on Supporting Industries to be co-organised by the Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) in Ha Noi and the Trade Promotion Agency will also be held.

The Viet Nam Manufacturing Expo 2011 will bring together 200 brands from 20 countries and territories, showcasing mechanical tools, auto and ship components, electronic assembly and metalworking and welding technologies.

Meanwhile, the Viet Nam-Japan Exhibition on Supporting Industries will display automobile, motorbike and electronics components as well as equipment for the engineering, plastics and packaging industries.

The three events will provide a chance for Vietnamese parts producers to update their technologies and access advanced production methods to restructure their production and sharpen their competitiveness.

Domestic businesses would also be offered the opportunity to introduce their products to foreign clients and in return, foreign buyers could discover reliable parts' producers which would help the firms further access the global production chain, Long said.

Sesan 2 hydropower plant behind schedule

EVN International Joint Stock Company (EVNI) under Vietnam Electricity Group expects to start work on Sesan 2 hydropower plant in Cambodia by the end of this year, instead of early 2011 as originally planned.

Cao Thi Thu Yen, an environment officer of the utility company, told the Daily on the weekend that preparatory works like site clearance had taken more time than expected, prompting the delay.

“Due to difficulties in site clearance, compensation and resettlement for local residents, the project is nearly one year behind schedule,” she said.

The US$816 million Sesan 2 hydropower station was approved by the Cambodian government in late 2010. The plant consisting of five turbines with a designed capacity of 400MW is expected to generate electricity in 2017.

However, concerns are arising over the project.

Meach Mean, a coordinator from the 3S Rivers Protection Network (3SPN) in Cambodia, claimed the Sesan 2 hydropower project might flood seven villages in the locality. 3S stands for the three regional rivers of Sesan, Srepok and Sekong.

Thus, over 1,200 households in the affected area must be relocated if the project is to be implemented, he said.

“Furthermore, the Sesan 2 dam will prevent the migration of fish in the Sesan and Srepok rivers. This will badly affect the livelihood of residents living in the basin,” Mean added.

According to the environmental impact assessment on the Sesan 2 hydropower plant obtained by the Daily during a field trip to the construction site last week, a 6-km-long dam and the reservoir will food a basin area of 400 square kilometers.

There are currently six hydroelectric dams already in place or in the process of implementation in the Sesan basin. Yali hydropower plant, the first plant to be built in 1993 and finished in 2001 with a total capacity of 720MW, is the biggest in this basin.
 
Property firm ready to enter pay TV market

An Vien Group, widely known in the country for its various property projects such as Vinpearl and Vincom projects, will officially join the pay television service market in October after a year of test-airing, said the company’s chief executive officer.

The group will become the second private firm to engage in the pay TV industry in Vietnam after K Plus, a TV channel under Vietnam Satellite Television (VSTV), a joint venture between Vietnam Television and France’s Canal Plus.

CEO Pham Nhat Vu of An Vien Group said his company had spent about US$2.5 million testing the service for both terrestrial and satellite broadcast. According to the international standards, a TV network provider must test-air for at least six months to ensure service quality.

By the time the company officially starts launching its service, the company’s total investment in infrastructure will have reached some VND1.5 trillion. The figure excludes the VND600 billion spent on digital devices that will be retailed to customers.

By coming onto the market later than others, Vu said, the company would have its own advantages, such as using latest technology and having sufficient market observation to draw on experiences. However, the company will have to offer services of distinction to compete with those well-known pay TV network providers namely VCTV, SCTV, VTC, K Plus and HTVC.

To provide the best service to avoid complaints on poor signals, the company has founded the first network control center in Vietnam. The total investment capital for this center is VND150 billion by the time of completion, and the center will act as a quality supervisor in order for timely adjustment.

An Vien Group will also be the first provider in Vietnam and Southeast Asia to invest in single frequency network (SFN). This technology allows for simultaneous transmission of the same signal over the same frequency channel to many TV sets and thus provides better quality than multi-frequency network though the costs double.

To lever its competitiveness, An Vinh will offer more affordable services packages, Vu said.

In addition to airing foreign channels, An Vinh will cooperate with certain authorized media agencies, such as Binh Duong TV Station, to legally produce its own channels.

Vu of AVG said the company had decided to invest in the pay TV industry because of its potential opportunities in Vietnam. There are over 20 million households watching TV across the nation but only two million of them are pay TV network subscribers.
 
New Hopes From New Planning

Electrical Power Plan 7, the latest version of national power planning, has addressed almost all problems of the previous scheme

A national plan for electrical power development in 2011-2020 with a consideration toward 2030 was ratified by the Prime Minister late last month. Shortly called Electrical Power Plan 7, the scheme is expected to remarkably relieve the pressure on ever-expanding power sources and coal supplies for thermal power plants if it can be implemented successfully. In relation to its predecessor, Electrical Power Plan 6, the new version has tackled the bulk of problems pointed out by energy scientists and economic experts over the past few years.

The most prominent change in the revised plan relates to a breakaway from catching up with demand at all costs. It focuses instead on the goal of upgrading technologies so that power can be more efficiently generated and consumed. In line with the new viewpoint, the ratio between energy usage and GDP will be reduced from the current 2 to 1.5 by 2015 and 1 by 2020. This change will drastically cut the investment needed to accelerate power generation after 2015. The Electrical Power Plan 7 sets the total additional capacity source for the 2016-2025 period at 62,376MW, way below the 212,424MW predicted in the previous plan.

Less electrical power demand will not only considerably relieve the pressure of capital needed to invest in the power sector but also effectively help solve the problem of coal supplies to thermal power plants. Despite the fact that coal-fired power plants will still account for 48% of the country’s total electricity generation by 2020, that also means coal demand for power generation will drop significantly. As outlined in the latest plan, the total coal volume required by the power industry by 2020 is 67.3 million tons which can be almost met by local supplies. Currently, Vietnam exploits some 45 million tons of coal every year. According to industry experts, with adequate investment in exploitation and waste reduction, Vietnam is able to raise her total yearly coal output to 55 million tons. If things go that way, by 2020, Vietnam’s coal import demand will be under 20 million tons instead of 44-56 tons as predicted previously by the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Another new point is that policy-planners have embraced in their plans a roadmap for renewable energy development. The new strategy also takes into account the potential for power generation from waste materials and excessive energy produced by various industries, as well as power import from neighboring countries. Of these, renewable power—which includes wind, solar and biological (biogas) energy—is prioritized.

That said, by 2020, of the 330 billion kWh to be produced, 46.8% will come from coal-fired generators, 24% from natural gas-fired power plants (4% will be from imported liquefied natural gas), 19.6% from hydro-power plants, 4.5% from renewable energy, 2.1% from nuclear power, and 3% from imports.

To generate this volume of power, Vietnam will need US$48.8 billion from now to 2020 whereby she will be able to raise the total capacity to 75,000MW, 3.5 times higher than the current capacity. Another US$75 billion must be sourced to boost the total capacity to 148,000MW during 2021-2030.

In Electrical Power Plan 7, the Government affirms that it will gradually raise retail power rates to reach 8-9 U.S. cents per kWh by 2020. The plan also confirms that the State will hold its monopoly of power transmission while leaving all other business fields open to all economic sectors.

Vietnam has also set ambitious goals for her electrical engineering industry, for instance, local manufacturers will produce 60-70% of equipment for thermal power plants by 2030.

The latest version of Vietnam’s power development shows a higher possibility of satisfying the power need of the economy. However, the core of the issue is whether these ambitious goals can be realized, the kingpin of which is how to reduce the ratio of additional charges of power plants. Failing to materialize this goal also means that all demand forecasts and planning will be shattered. Repercussions will be disastrous.

Aside from a complete overhaul of the power generation sector, the Government pins high hopes on higher power prices and gradual abolition of price subsidies which will exert a considerable pressure on household consumers and companies, compelling them to use power more efficiently.
 
Better market watch co-ordination urged to curb contraband

Lack of co-ordination among market-watch units allows contraband and fake goods to flood through the southern borders of Viet Nam.
 
Head of HCM City's Market Watch Department Dang Van Duc said it was common to see contraband cigarettes being transported on buses and motorbikes on highways stretching from Tay Ninh to HCM City.

Duty-free goods continue to be carried through by local people hired by smugglers to buy wine, cigarettes, mobile phones, electronic goods at duty-free superstores before travelling back to Viet Nam by bus.

Cambodian-passport holders usually buy as much as they can, given that they are not under an imposed-value quota.

Duc said contraband and fake products were illegally imported from Cambodia mainly at border gates in Tay Ninh, Long An, An Giang and Kien Giang Provinces.

Head of one market-watch team, Ly Ngoc Thang, said there were many fake products on the market.

He said some enterprises were wary of announcing this in the mass media for fear of their businesses losing prestige - and customers.

Market-watch departments in 19 southern cities and provinces reported more than 1,000 cases of fake products and intellectual property violations in the first six months of this year. The figure was released at a recent conference called to review six months of co-ordination between market-watch departments.

Deputy head of Dong Nai Province's Market Watch Department Tran Trong Ky said his department recently uncovered a manufacturer of counterfeit ink. The product was made in large volumes and sent to HCM City before being distributed.

However, Ky said the provincial department could not seize and impose fine on the manufacturer because it was the city authorities who had granted an operating licence to the business.

He said co-ordination between market-watch departments had not yet been fully implemented and stopped merely at passing on informing about places where contraband and fake products entered the country.

According to the head of a market-watch team in HCM City, Nguyen Lam, some regulations in Circular 60 are difficult for market-watch officers to process.

One regulation gives the owners of goods to provide invoices and legal papers within 72 hours of being questioned.

"This is enough time for violators to regularise all invoices," said Lam.

Yet, vice chairperson of HCM City People's Committee, Nguyen Thi Hong, said encouraging results had been made in co-ordinating market-watch departments.

No alumina transport on unfit roads urged

In the closing session of the National Assembly (NA) of Vietnam last Saturday, most deputies disapproved of alumina shipments until the roads chosen for this purpose have been improved.

Duong Trung Quoc, a deputy of Dong Nai Province, asked if it was safe for a 40-ton truck carrying alumina to cross a 25-ton bridge.

And he claimed that the Government approved bauxite exploitation without considering upgrading roads for shipments which has stirred up the current controversy.

Truong Van Vo, another deputy of Dong Nai, insisted the legislature should agree with local residents on halting alumina shipments.

Deputy Nguyen Ba Thuyen from Lam Dong Province proposed building new roads for alumina shipments. Due to the high frequency of trucks carrying alumina, it would be unsafe for other vehicles on the same road, he explained.

The proposal for a road improvement scheme had been mentioned in the previous term of the NA but nothing has been done since then.

On the other side of the fence, Tran Xuan Hoa, chairman of the Vietnam National Coal and Mineral Industries Group (Vinacomin) hoped the NA would give more incentives to encourage the implementation of bauxite extraction and alumina production projects.

Vinacomin has hired both local and foreign consultants for surveying roads for alumina shipments used before and after the construction of Ke Ga port, he said, and the findings were approved by the Ministry of Transport.

When Nhan Co alumina production factory is put into operation in 2013, the number of trucks carrying alumina running on Highway 20 and Highway 51 will account for 1.2% of all traffic, Hoa said. In 2012, the factory will operate at a 60% production capacity so it will only account for 0.7%.

PV