Small banks look to make bigger waves

Small banks are weighing up whether to hike their chartered capital to foster strength.

But, whether their plans are feasible in the current context of market vulnerabilities remains an open question.

The plan to hike its chartered capital from current VND3 trillion ($143 million) to VND3.7 trillion ($176 million) was once again submitted at NamA Bank’s recent general shareholder meeting after failing to turn into reality in the previous two years.

The bank’s management argued the move was important to scale-up NamA Bank’s financial competitiveness.

NamA Bank shares, traded on the over the counter market, have often fallen below the face value VND10,000 per unit.

One shareholder suggested completing the plan through resorting to support from strategic foreign partners.

Similarly, Southern Bank’s management sourced shareholders’ approval to hike capital from VND4 trillion ($190 million) to VND4.5 trillion ($214 million) this year at the bank’s general shareholder meeting in April through share issuances.

In fact, it took a long time for the bank to wrap up its capital hike to VND4 trillion.

Lately, VietA Bank’s general shareholder meeting passed a plan to hike its capital from minimum level VND3 trillion ($143 million) to VND3.5 trillion ($166 million) in 2013 to scale up strength. The bank’s capital supplemental plan, however, had delayed for two years.

This year, some banking sector big players also mulled enriching capital sources. For instance, Sacombank envisions hiking an additional 53 per cent, with 20 per cent sold to foreign partners, or Eximbank by 10 per cent.

So, how banks will use their additional capital?

Of the VND500 billion ($24 million) stated above, Southern Bank will use VND390 billion ($18.5 million) for lending and the remainder for purchases of fixed assets and equipment, according to a bank source.

In the face of banking sector’s poor credit growth so far the year, it would be hard for the bank to ensure efficient capital usage.

Besides, this year Southern Bank was allocated a 5 per cent credit growth target only against 15 per cent last year.

VietA Bank is mulling using additional capital amount to expand market share and operational areas through network expansion.

Accordingly, the bank is contemplating opening five new transaction offices, adding the capital source for fixed asset purchases and feeding the bank’s business shake-up plan.

National Financial Monetary Policy Advisory Council member Tran Hoang Ngan assumed banks’ hiking capital sources would be quite challenging in current context as there are still no signs for stock market’s marked improvement while small banks’ mergers and acquisitions are forecast to surge in the months ahead.

VietJetAir’s big Bangkok special

Low-cost carrier VietJetAir is promoting its new Hanoi-Bangkok air route with tickets going for little more than $10.

“We are celebrating the upcoming launch of our second international route connecting Bangkok with Hanoi, which will debut on June 1,” said Desmond Lin, business development director of VietJetAir. “But we want to share the joy around so we’re running this promotion for our Ho Chi Minh City-Bangkok route too, when it comes to having fun in the sun, this summer the best solution will be flying VietJetAir,” he added.

The promotional price is valid for flights from June 1 to June 30, 2013 and the booking period will end on May 31.

VietJetAir’s daily round trip between Ho Chi Minh City and Bangkok has been a great success since opening on February 10 earlier this year. The Hanoi-Bangkok connection will also operate daily, departing from Hanoi at 10:50am and landing in Bangkok at 12:40am. The return flight will depart from Suvarnabhumi Airport at 1:35pm and arrive at Noi Bai International Airport at 3.25pm.

“We are delighted to launch our second international service to Bangkok just four months after successfully opening the Ho Chi Minh City-Bangkok route. We have established ourselves as the fastest growing and most dynamic carrier in Vietnam by expanding our domestic network and introducing our high-quality, comfortable flights to the international market,” said Lin.

VietJetAir has become known as the fun, friendly airline of choice for holidaymakers travelling to some of the country’s most famous beach and holiday destinations including Nha Trang, Danang and Phu Quoc Island. The carrier has prepared for the summer by adding an extra 1,600 extra flights – equivalent to 300,000 seats – to its schedule to better serve passengers travelling from mid-May until the end of August.

Binh Duong holds dialogue with Japanese businesses

The Customs Department of southern Binh Duong province coordinated with the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) to organise a dialogue with nearly 100 Japanese businesses operating in the locality on May 10.

At the event, the businesses mentioned issues relating to customs procedures, tariff policies and certificates of origin. Most of their queries were cleared up by officials from the Customs Department and VCCI during the dialogue.

According to Yamamoto, a Japanese business representative, it is good that such a large number of Japanese businesses are involved in the dialogue. In the future, there will be more businesses from Japan to invest in Binh Duong since its infrastructure satisfies their demands.

Japan is one of the biggest investor in the province with 170 valid projects worth more than $3.2 billion. Many Japanese businesses operate effectively and implement Vietnam’s policies, contributing to local economic development and the improvement of employees’ lives.

Vietnamese entrepreneurs in Russia discuss future plans

As many as 30 prominent entrepreneurs representing the Vietnamese business community across Russia have gathered in Volgagrad city to discuss their future direction and orientation.

The conference, organised by the Vietnam Business Association in Russia (VBA) on May 10, aimed to help VBA review its operations in 2012 and work out new plans for 2013.

Addressing the event, VBA President Tran Dang Chung emphasised that the association always pays due attention to trade promotion assistance as well as ties with relative departments and sectors in both Vietnam and Russia .

It also organised tours to Russian localities for Vietnamese businesses in order to help them gain access into the Russian market and seek investment opportunities, he added.

Participants at the event pointed out a number of challenges posed by the global economic recession, Russian participation into the World Trade Organisation (WTO), and local authorities’ policy changes.

These above-mentioned challenges require all VBA members to intensify their linkage, and information and experience exchanges in order to take full advantage of their available strengths and potentials.

The VBA also needs to work closely to further strengthen the Vietnamese community in Russia and contribute to the national cause of construction and protection.

On the sidelines of the conference, Vietnamese entrepreneurs met with business representatives from the province of Volgagrad to promote trade and investment opportunities.

Vietsovpetro to complete Tho Trang 01 oil rig sooner

Vietsovpetro, a joint Vietnamese-Russian enterprise for oil and gas exploration, has set out its goal to complete the installation work of Tho Trang 01 (White Rabbit 01) oil rig 15 days ahead of schedule in July.

The Trade Union of the Vietsovpetro joint venture on May 11 launched a contest in central Ba Ria – Vung Tau province for an earlier operation of the platform which was previously scheduled on July 15.

Located 7.5km away from the Bach Ho (White Tiger) oil field to the northeast in lot 09-1, the 3,200-tonne platform is expected to yield 700,000 tonnes of oil per day. The output would help the joint venture fulfill its plan to tap 5.4 million tonnes of oil this year.

Tho Trang 01 is the newest among the fourth generation of its kind totally designed and installed by Vietsovpetro.

From 2006 until 2012, Vietsovpetro has successfully put into operation eight new generation oil rigs.

Central bank cuts key interest rates

The State Bank of Vietnam has cut key interest rates by 1 percent, applicable since May 13.

Under the decision, the refinancing and discount rates will be lowered to 7 percent and 5 percent, respectively.

Meanwhile, the overnight rate in the inter-banking electronic payment will be reduced to 8 percent from the current 9 percent.

The maximum rate on short-term Vietnamese dong loans for agriculture, rural development, exports, supporting industries, small- and medium-sized enterprises and hi-tech businesses will be brought down to 11 percent per year instead of the current 12 percent.

Earlier on March 25, the central bank also cuts benchmark rates by 1 percent to support businesses. Accordingly, the refinancing and rediscount rates were lowered to 8 percent and 6 percent from 9 percent and 7 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, the overnight inter-bank rate was cut down to 9 percent.

The move was made after the General Statistics Office had reported that March’s consumer price index decreased by 0.19 percent against the previous month.

Slow growth to put pressure on Budget

State budget collection will likely be difficult this year and the Government needs to outline effective measures to ease difficulties in production and recover economic growth.

This opinion was shared by economists at a seminar held on May 10 in Hanoi by the National Assembly’s Finance and Budget Committee.

According to Nguyen Minh Tan, deputy director of the National Assembly Office’s Department of Finance and Budget, the amount collected for the budget in the first four months was far lower than that collected in previous years.

Tan attributed the decline to the slow recovery of the economy and State measures on tax reduction and tax deferral.

Sanjay Kalra, resident representative of the International Monetary Fund in Vietnam , said that the economic growth of Vietnam this year would remain low, so the GDP growth rate would be similar to 2012 or even lower. This would put tremendous pressure on the State budget collection.

Nguyen Hong Son, Rector of the University of National Economics , agreed, emphasising that the process of economic restructuring in Vietnam would be difficult, as it required a huge budget. Economist Tran Du Lich, a deputy of the National Assembly (NA), said that despite the fact that tax collection remained difficult, solutions were needed to promote business and production and support the market.

Lich noted that reducing the corporate income tax to 20 percent would further decrease the State budget, but said that this was a "necessary measure to spur economic development in the mid-term period", adding that he "persistently insisted on reducing it to 20 percent instead of the current 23 percent".

In addition, the economist said, the State also needed to ensure that taxes were collected from other business sectors such as import and export as well as individuals.

The National Assembly’s Resolution on the State Budget targets an increase of 10 percent for the total State budget revenue in 2013 and estimates that State budget spending will increase 8 percent over the estimated spending in 2012.

Exhibition backs support industries

Thailand's Reed Tradex will join Japan's External Trade Organisation (Jetro) and the Ministry of Industry and Trade's Trade Promotion Agency to organise exhibitions on support industries in Ha Noi from September 4-6.

They include the Reed Tradex-hosted Viet Nam Manufacturing Expo 2013, the fifth Viet Nam-Japan Exhibition on Support Industries co-organised by Jetro and Vietrade, and the Japanese Monozukuri Technology Exhibition.

The managing director of Reed Tradex, Chainarong Limpkittisin, said that many foreign investors believed that the development of support industries helped to foster a nation's manufacturing sector and the whole economy.

Continued foreign direct investment (FDI) in Viet Nam was also effective evidence that the manufacturing and support industry here not only had a bright future but also played vital roles in the health of the economy, Chainarong said.

Saigontourist receives award

The HCM City-based Saigontourist Holding Company has received the Labour Hero title from the Government.

The award, made in recognition of its outstanding achievements from 2002 to 2012, was presented at a ceremony held in HCM City on Tuesday.

A leading firm in the country's tourism industry, the 38-year-old company specialises in hotels, resorts, restaurants, travel services, entertainment and training.

With 87 subsidiaries, Saigontourist annually provides services to 2 million travellers, earning sales turnover of over VND13 trillion (US$620 million) a year.

Software firm wins $1 million Laos contract to develop network centre

FPT IS, a subsidiary of software giant FPT, has announced it has won a US$1 million software contract from Lao Telecommunications Company to develop a network operation centre in Laos.

To win the contract, FPT IS had to overcome bids by leading telecommunications providers from China and Thailand.

The centre is a software application developed by FPT that will open up opportunities to deploy the overall operating systems for all telecoms companies in the region.

The centre is expected to be finished within five months. The new software application will help Laos to focus on managing its whole telecoms network, including wireless, core and transmission.

Talent quest focus: information technology with a green theme

The ninth annual Vietnamese Talent award competition this year will focus on the theme of environmental awareness, organisers said in HCM City on Wednesday.

Up to VND180 million (US$8,400) in cash prizes will be given to the first-, second- and third-place winners.

This year, the competition will honour successful IT products, IT products with high potential, and IT applications for mobile devices.

For the last eight years, the Vietnamese Talent contest has honoured thousands of talented people in IT, natural sciences, healthcare, education, transport, post and telecommunications, construction and business management.

The deadline for this year's prize is August 31, and the awards ceremony will be aired on VTV on November 20.

All-touch BlackBerry available in two colours: black and white

The new all-touch BlackBerry Z10 smartphone is powered by a re-designed, re-engineered and re-invented platform that creates a new mobile computing experience.

Available in two colours, black and white, and with Vietnamese UI and input support, the smartphone is the fastest and most advanced yet.

It features a 1.5 GHz dual core processor with 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, and an expandable memory card slot that supports up to 32GB cards.

The smartphone includes the latest enhancements in high-density pixel and screen technology to display clear, sharp and vivid images.

The suggested retail price is VND15.5 million (US$730).

Anti-virus centre releases new version of software

The Bach Khoa Anti-virus Centre (BKAV) has launched its 2013 version of anti-virus software with a series of new technologies that can fully protect computers for users.

More than 1 million BKAV customers have been upgraded to the new version.

The new software is based on the BKAV Community – base protection online system, real-time rootkit detection, virtual keyboard, safe run, USB protection and a host- intrusion prevention system.

The software is priced at VND299.000 ($14) per year.

Bank merger talks continue

A possible merger between HCM City Development Bank and DaiABank revealed two weeks ago was ignored at DaiABank's annual shareholder meeting yesterday.

Only 52 per cent of shareholders attended the function in southern Bien Hoa City, but major shareholders were noticeable by their absence. Talks are expected to re-open on May 29, said a spokesman for DaiABank.

According to Quach Van Duc, DaiABank's chairman, the important news was not announced because negotiations are still underway.

Meanwhile, on April 25, Le Thi Bang Tam, chairwoman of HDBank, told media the two banks were set to wrap up the legal formalities for the merger, which has been approved by the State Bank.

Tam said her bank hired an unidentified consulting company to advise on the merger and find a foreign partner for the merged entity.

Dai A Commercial Joint Stock Bank, based in southern Dong Nai Province since 1993, has capital of VND3.1 trillion (US$147.6 million) while the HDBank, set up in HCM City three years earlier, has capital of VND5 trillion ($380.9 million).

According to SBV Governor Nguyen Van Binh, mergers are expected to make smaller banks financially stronger.

The merger of Western Bank and PetroVietnam Finance (PVF) was announced in March. Three smaller banks also merged into the Saigon Commercial Bank last year.

In 2011, a merger also took place between First Commercial Joint Stock Bank, Vietnam Tin Nghia Commercial Joint Stock Bank, and Sai Gon Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SCB). Two banking giants, Eximbank and Sacombank, also plan to merge in the next three to five years.

Top shrimp exporter to delist

Shrimp processor and exporter Minh Phu (MPC), Viet Nam's biggest shrimp company, plans to delist its shares in order to charge higher prices for them.

"Listing is meant to raise funds, but for us it's like being caged," Minh Phu chairman Le Van Quang told the Saigon Economic Times.

The shrimp industry's troubles began in 2011, when the shrimp price increased constantly. In early 2012, when disease destroyed shrimp in Viet Nam and Indonesia, importers thought the price would not decline any further so they made purchasing contracts for the whole year in advance.

However, in June, as the European debt crisis hit, Europe bought less shrimp and the price again decreased. Meanwhile, exporters from India and Bangladesh reduced their prices thanks to abundant supply. Indian shrimp prices fell rapidly from US$14.5 for a pound of shrimp to $6.7.

"Big partners did not offer letters of credit, while some importers declared bankruptcy so they would not have to implement the signed contracts," Quang said.

GreenFoods, Japan's largest shrimp distributor, closed a week after prices bottomed. Although Minh Phu did not work with GreenFoods, only with its partners, the closing indicated just how disastrous the market had become to do business in.

Minh Phu lost nearly VND100 billion (US$4.7 million) last year due to dead shrimp. Other activities helped cover the loss, but net profits reached a mere VND16 billion ($761,000) compared to VND284 billion ($13.5 million) in 2011.

Japan and South Korea are the second and third-largest importers of Minh Phu shrimp, meaning the devaluing of the yen and won hit hard.

"When the customers asked for a reduction in price as they were also having a tough time, we could not make it harder for them," Quang said.

The company's exports in the Japanese and South Korean market continued to rise last year, but profits were lower.

The company's short-term loans last year increased to nearly VND3.45 trillion ($164.2 million), adding to its long-term debt of VND828 billion ($39.4 million). Despite its efforts to cut corporate management costs, borrowing costs hit VND413 billion ($19.6 million), eating most of the company's profits.

Minh Phu wanted to sell 30 million shares to foreign partners. Although Thailand's investor CP Foods agreed to buy them at VND50,000 ($2.38) per share, the deal failed, as MPC shares on the HCM City Stock Exchange were traded around VND25,000-30,000 ($1.19-1.40) and Minh Phu could not legally issue the shares for more than 5 per cent higher than the market value.

If the company sold 30 million shares to CP Foods at VND30,000, it would get only VND900 billion ($42.8 million). Meanwhile, if it delisted and sold them at the negotiated price, it would receive VND1.5 trillion ($71.4 million).

"Our company will list shares again if necessary, but right now we need to mobilise capital," Quang said.

As the leading shrimp exporter in Viet Nam, Minh Phu is quite attractive to foreign firms. Partnership with a foreign partner would help the exporter expand into new markets and solve the problem of capital.

If Minh Phu's planned delisting is approved, the exporter will be able to offer private placement to foreign investors by next year.

Hard times put accountants out of work

The growing number of bankrupt enterprises has led to many chief accountants being thrown out of their jobs in Viet Nam.

Some facing financial difficulties have even lowered their salary level to try and get work.

Nguyen Kieu Linh told VnExpress online that she worked for a trade and service company in HCM City as a chief accountant for more than four years.

Recently the company told staff about its financial difficulties, so many began seeking new positions. Linh, who has been unemployed for three months, said she has sent dozens of job applications to companies in the city offering to cut her salary by 30 per cent. To date, she has received no feedback.

The National Financial Supervisory Commission recently produced an economic report showing that as many as 16,600 enterprises had stopped operations because business had come to a standstill in the first four months of the year.

The number was 16.9 per cent higher than for the same period last year.

Accounting was considered a "hot" job only a few years ago. Figures from the HCM City Centre for Human Resources Forecasting and Labour Market Information reveal that the number of accountants and auditors seeking jobs was the highest of any profession.

At present, more than 4,200 are seeking work but there are only 1,700 positions.

Nguyen Hong, former chief accountant for a shipping company once earned VND30 million a month, but he has not found work since leaving the company in March. He is doing accounts for several companies to pay the bills. "It's really difficult to find a company which pays as highly as my old company", he said.

The City Centre's deputy director, Tran Anh Tuan, suggested that it would be easy for chief accountants to find jobs if they sought positions at lower paying small and medium enterprises.

Cashew industry faces crunch

Cashew processors and exporters are facing problems like short supply, high raw material prices, and falling export prices, Thoi bao kinh doanh newspaper reported.

This year's cashew harvest was completed last month, with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development saying output was down 20-50 per cent from a year ago due to unseasonable rains at the end of last year.

Besides, cashew farmers have been switching to other crops because of declining yields, volatile prices, and low or no profits.

As a result, after Tet domestic raw cashew nut prices were up by 10-15 per cent year-on-year.

But export prices dropped 14.6 per cent to US$6,036 per tonne.

The Viet Nam Cashew Association (Vinacas) said they paid VND27 million (US$1,280) for a tonne of local raw cashew. Consequently, processors suffer a loss of $330 per tonne.

But importing cashew yields them a profit of $150-180 per tonne, and it is encouraging its members to import, it said.

"If any cashew processing enterprise or exporter has not purchased and stocked raw materials by May, it will just close down," it said.

Though Viet Nam is the world's largest cashew exporter, 50 per cent of the country's raw cashew needs are imported from Africa, Cambodia, and Indonesia.

But it could reduce this year since, according to Nguyen Duc Thanh, chairman of Vinacas, African countries are planning to invest in processing and stop export of raw cashew nuts.

Dang Hoang Giang, general secretary of Vinacas, said the shortage of funds to buy raw materials has been resolved with support from ACB and VietinBank.

ACB has earmarked $100 million for cashew businesses and exporters in the first half-year at an interest rate of 5.6 per cent.

Giang said the cashew industry needs around VND7.5 trillion ($360.5 million) and $300 million in this year to buy raw materials and for processing costs respectively.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said cashew exports in the first four months topped 61,000 tonnes, an increase of 9.7 per cent year-on-year. But revenues were down 1.8 per cent to $374 million.

Viet Nam's major export markets were the US (25.1 per cent), China (19.9 per cent), and the Netherlands (11 per cent).

Japan to invest in industries

The Japanese Government has pledged to invest in six key industrial sectors in Viet Nam.

The money will go towards household electricity, food processing, shipbuilding, agricultural machinery, environment and energy saving and the automobile and spare part production industry.

Nguyen Thi Tue Anh, head of the Central Institute for Economic Management's Business Environment and Competitive Capacity Department, said the selected sectors fell under Viet Nam's industrialisation strategy in their co-operation programme with Japan.

Accordingly, a range of support industries serving for the six key sectors would also be considered for financial assistance.

Viet Nam and Japan have built a supervisory system to monitor the programme. Plans have also been made for the establishment of two industrial zones in the north and the south of the country in order to attract more Japanese investors.

Anh told the Vietnam Investment Review that each sector will choose two or three sub-areas where the support is most needed. An action plan for each will then be designed.

She said the food processing, agricultural machinery and shipbuilding industries have been unproductive and uncompetitive despite their potential.

In comparison, the household electricity and automobile sectors have seen rapid growth, contributing to exports and attracting many Japanese investors.

However, these sectors have focused mainly on the assembly phase due to a lack of support in other areas of operation. Meanwhile, the environment and energy industry has displayed huge potential for producing energy saving products.

Anh said that the expansion of the sectors should be closely linked with rising value, and supervised by the Government through industrial policies.

The selected industries were targeted so that they would be in a position to adapt to competition when the tariff barrier in the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) is lifted by 2018. The six sectors were chosen from a group of 39, all with long-term growth potential.

Hirohoko Sekiya, chief consultant of the Japan Economics Research Institute, said Japanese businesses have paid a great deal of attention to four sub-units including seafood, rice, coffee and vegetable processing.

He told the newspaper that if Viet Nam could improve these products then it would increase its exports sharply. For example, vegetables could be sold in higher quantities to foreign markets if road infrastructure was improved and transport time shortened.

Slow growth to put pressure on Budget

State budget collection will likely be difficult this year and the Government needs to outline effective measures to ease difficulties in production and recover economic growth.

This opinion was shared by economists at a seminar held yesterday in Ha Noi by the National Assembly's Finance and Budget Committee.

According to Nguyen Minh Tan, deputy director of the National Assembly Office's Department of Finance and Budget, the amount collected for the budget in the first four months was far lower than that collected in previous years.

Tan attributed the decline to the slow recovery of the economy and State measures on tax reduction and tax deferral.

Sanjay Kalra, resident representative of the International Monetary Fund in Viet Nam, said that the economic growth of Viet Nam this year would remain low, so the GDP growth rate would be similar to 2012 or even lower. This would put tremendous pressure on the State budget collection.

Nguyen Hong Son, Rector of the University of National Economics, agreed, emphasising that the process of economic restructuring in Viet Nam would be difficult, as it required a huge budget. Economist Tran Du Lich, a deputy of the National Assembly (NA), said that despite the fact that tax collection remained difficult, solutions were needed to promote business and production and support the market.

Lich noted that reducing the corporate income tax to 20 per cent would further decrease the State budget, but said that this was a "necessary measure to spur economic development in the mid-term period", adding that he "persistently insisted on reducing it to 20 per cent instead of the current 23 per cent".

In addition, the economist said, the State also needed to ensure that taxes were collected from other business sectors such as import and export as well as individuals.

The National Assembly's Resolution on the State Budget targets an increase of 10 per cent for the total State budget revenue in 2013 and estimates that State budget spending will increase 8 per cent over the estimated spending in 2012.

Delta eyes development progress

Viet Nam attached great importance to sustainable development both in and out of the country, said Vu Van Chung, vice head of the Foreign Investment Agency under the Ministry of Investment and Planning.

Chung said that all Vietnamese enterprises had to adhere to laws and regulations in their partner countries, ensuring the harmonisation of economic growth and the improvement of local livelihoods, poverty alleviation and sustainable development.

He was speaking at the second Mekong Resource Forum held in the northern province of Vinh Phuc late last week.

According to the ministry, Viet Nam's FDI flow goes into 60 countries and territories with total registered investment of US$13.5 billion.

The country has 335 projects with registered capital of $7 billion in the Mekong sub-region, mostly in Laos and Cambodia.

Vietnamese enterprises usually invest in sectors which heavily rely on natural resources including rubber, sugarcane, bio-fertiliser, hydro-power and mining.

The ministry warned of the challenges Vietnamese foreign investors faced to minimise negative impacts on natural resources and the environment.

Chung said the Mekong River had an enormous ecological and environmental impact on riverside-countries, including Viet Nam.

Projects involving hydro-power plants, irrigation, aquaculture and waterway transportation on the upper part of the river could have severe impacts on the country, including water shortages and large scale salt water intrusion, according to People and Nature Reconcilitation (PanNature).

"Viet Nam acknowledges that our social-economic co-operation for the sustainable development of the GMS region is both a goal and a responsibility," said Chung.

Dr Cao Van Ban from the Viet Nam, Laos and Cambodia Association for Economic Co-operation Department said that the development of the triangle faced difficulties including slow infrastructure construction and insufficient co-operation.

Additionally, most partner provinces in the development triangle are mountainous or highland areas, which made transportation and trade difficult.

The president of the Viet Nam Assoiation of Foreign-invested Enterprises, Nguyen Mai, said that to some extent, trade was short-term and investment was long-term, and investment was crucial to global development.

"As we are targeting to develop a low-carbon and green economy, investors need to ensure benefits not only for their business, but also the nations we are investing in," he said.

Chung said that cooperation among countries in the region was needed to build mutual programmes and action plans attracting supports and investments from international institutions and using the capital efficiently.

He added for sustainable foreign investment, Viet Nam would also continue reviewing and enhancing the implementation of relevant conventions and agreements while developing new agreements.

During the forum, participants exchanged views on environmental and social impacts of investment activities that include Viet Nam's participation in hydro-power development in the Mekong River basin and hydro-power development in the Sesan, Srepok and Sekong basins, and resource exploitation in the Mekong River and its impacts.

Co-organised by PanNature, Viet Nam's Association of Foreign Invested Enterprises (VAFIE), the Viet Nam-Laos-Cambodia Association for Economic Cooperation Development (VILACAED) and Forest Trends and Foreign Investment Review, the forum aimed to intensify dialogue between organisations in GMS countries.

The first Mekong Resource forum was held in Ha Noi in 2011.

Bau Bang bids for industrial development

Land has been cleared for investment projects in Bau Bang, a new residential and industrial zone in the southern province of Binh Duong, according to Becamex Investment and Industrial Development Corporation (Becamex IDC), the zone's investor.

"The zone was built in the northern part of the province with the main aim of reducing pressure at industrial zones in the southern part," said Nguyen Van Hung, chairman and CEO of Becamex IDC.

"All of the land in the zone has been cleared and we are ready for investors," Hung told Viet Nam News.

Covering an area of more than 2,000ha, the investor used half of the zone's square for industrial development and the other 1,000 ha for services and urban residential development.

Hung said the zone was built with outstanding advantages that were based on experiences obtained from the establishment of the Viet Nam-Singapore Industrial Park and the My Phuoc Industrial Park.

He said that investors' top concerns were human resource, infrastructure inside and outside the zone, and that administrative procedures were now less important to them.

Thus, his company would focus on developing civil infrastructure to attract more investors and assist local residents.

To date, the zone has attracted 40 foreign-direct-investment (FDI) projects, worth a total of US$240 million.

On Friday, a new South Korean company, KyungBang Viet Nam Ltd, opened in the zone with a $140-million plant, considered to be the biggest textile plant in the region.

According to Lee Kap Soo, general director of the KyungBang Viet Nam Ltd, the plant will be built in three phases. The first phase has been completed and put into operation.

"The second and the third phases will be carried out soon. Construction of the second may start in September or October," he said.

Lee said that the plant's first phase has an investment of $40 million and a capacity of 550 tonnes per month.

The second phase would be the same as the first, and the third phase would see a doubling of capacity and investment.

"About 90 per cent of the plant's products will be sold to Vietnamese garment companies. Others will be exported to markets such as Indonesia and Malaysia," he added.

The plant operates with many advanced technologies, and its raw materials are imported from Brazil, the US and Australia.

EU drops ban on VN fruit & veg

The European Union will lift a 12-month ban on the export of five types of fresh fruit and vegetables from Viet Nam. The ban will be lifted on June 30.

One year ago, Viet Nam stopped issuing quarantine certificates for goods sent to the EU because the produce failed to meet the stringent hygiene and safety regulations demanded by the union.

Nguyen Van Nga, director of the Plant Protection Department's Regional Plant Quarantine Sub-department II under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said on the sidelines of the Congress of the Vietnamese Fruit and Vegetables Association in HCM City yesterday that the temporary halt of the export of basil, sweet pepper, celery, bitter gourd and coriander would be lifted.

However, EU agencies have already warned that more violations of hygiene and safety regulations will result in a ban on all fruit and vegetables from Viet Nam. To avoid this, domestic exporters are advised to purchase fruit and vegetable cultivated in line with Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) standards.

Sugar surplus deals bitter blow to traders

The local sugar inventory has snowballed to a record high of over 600,000 tonnes, according to Chairman of Viet Nam Sugar and Sugarcane Association (VSSA) Nguyen Thanh Long.

VSSA said for the sugarcane crop year 2012-13, the country's sugarcane output reached around 1.5 million tonnes, while national demand stood at 1.1 million tonnes and the amount of sugar exported from the beginning of the year reached just 25,000 tonnes.

By May 3, sugar refineries' inventories had reportedly reached 579,818 tonnes. Adding the inventories of trade companies which are members of the sugar association, estimated at 28,000 tonnes, the total inventory exceeded 600,000 tonnes.

VSSA admitted it will be hard to clear the stock before the new crop is ready at the end of August.

Furthermore, with a global inventory of 5.86-6.18 million tonnes, world sugar prices have also been on the decrease.

On May 1, white sugar was being traded at US$501.2 per tonne, but the price fell rapidly to $496 per tonne on May 3 and continued down to a nadir of $487.2 per tonne on May 9.

With high inventories, the price cut is easy to understand. However, retail sugar prices remain unchanged despite the drop in wholesale.

According to the Ha Noi Supermarket Association, white sugar retail prices in the capital still stood at VND21,000-22,000 ($1.005-1.053) per kilo despite wholesale prices at factories falling to VND15,600-16,600 ($0.75-0.8) per kilo.

In some markets and retail shops, the prices even reached VND24,000 per kilo. So, prices for consumers were VND4,000-5,000 ($0.19-0.24) higher than wholesale, even VND7,000 ($0.33) per kilo in some instances.

This price behavior is due to the fact that the factories have no formal distribution networks and prices are controlled by middle men traders, said representative of VSSA in Ha Noi, Ha Huu Phai.

To ease this situation, VSSA and the Department of Agro-forestry Processing and Salt Industry under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will this year establish a joint decree on sugar and sugarcane management that will clearly stipulate sugarcane growth planning and policies to protect the profits of both farmers and producers, he said.

On the other hand, the Government needs to develop measures to fight sugar smuggling which is damaging the domestic sugar industry.

Sugar should be added to the list of commodities not allowed for temporary import for re-export to combat trade fraud, he recommended.

US$404 million to be spent on stimulating industrial production

The Ministry of Industry and Trade has proposed a State investment of VND8.5 trillion (US$404.7 million) to develop the industrial sector during the 2013-2020 period.

The State funds set aside for the development of both the large and small-scale industrial sectors is 10 times as much as invested during the 2007-2012 period.

Of the sum, VND5 trillion ($238 million) will be allocated to the ministry to manage and implement programmes aimed at stimulating industrial production. The rest will be used to build national and local industry promotion centres.

The new National Industry Production Stimulation Plan until 2020 will see a change in that the ministry also proposes the funds to be used to encourage enterprises to apply clean production technology to protect the environment.

Polluting enterprises will be given financial support to move to industrial zones and complexes.

The plan targets to create 300,000 jobs at rural industry establishments, and construct waste water treatment systems for 215 industrial complexes.

Oyster deaths leave farmers with losses

Aquaculture farmers in the central province of Thanh Hoa have seen large numbers of their oysters die since the beginning of last month, leaving them tens of billions of dong out of pocket.

The deaths wiped out 60-80 per cent of oysters raised across hundreds of hectares of aqua farms at coastal communes in Quang Xuong, Hau Loc, Nga Son and Hoang Hoa districts.

Tran Thi Hien, a farmer in Quang Xuong District's Quang Nham Commune, said the oysters died due to polluted water being discharged into Quang Nham's waterways and fishing areas.

In addition, workers harvesting jelly fish have seen the animals die after drifting into tidal areas. Polluted water filled with dead jelly fish also exacerbated the oyster deaths, she said.

More than 30 households raised oysters in Quang Nham Commune. Each household has 1-3ha of oysters. For each hectare, local farmers invest VND450-500 million (US$21,400-23,800) to buy baby oysters and run their business.

Le Van Thuan, a farmer in Hau Loc District's Hai Loc Commune, blamed polluted water discharged in the Kenh De River for the oyster deaths. A number of livestock and poultry farms have been set up along the river.

Thuan said he has 7ha of oysters but dozens of tonnes of them died and he suffered a loss of VND700 million ($33,300).

Cao Thanh Tho, head of the Thanh Hoa Department of Agriculture and Rural Development's Aquatic Product Breeding Division, said samples of water, soil and dead oysters were sent to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development's Department of Animal Health for tests.

No parasite causing diseases were discovered on the oysters.

However, the amount of ammonia in the water and soil exceeded regulated levels by ten times.

Tho said oysters were selling slowly this year so oyster farmers had large stocks in their ponds.

The density of oysters in aqua farms was more than 300 per square metres, while the regulated density is only 150-200 per square metre. The high density resulted in a lack of food for the oysters, which may also have led to the deaths.

An additional factor was that oysters were currently in their reproductive season, a time when their immunity is weak. Meanwhile, the weather in the province has been erratic, said Tho.

Do Quoc Canh, chief of the provincial People's Committee secretariat, said that the committee had received reports and proposals on support for farmers in Hau Loc and Hoang Hoa districts.

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