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Government plans two new airports
Two new airports are going to be constructed in the southern province of Dong Nai and the northern city of Hai Phong.
A meeting chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai was held on Monday to guide the implementation of the two projects.
Construction of Long Thanh International Airport in Dong Nai will be divided into two phases. Phase one will be completed in 2020 and phase two should be finished by 2035.
After being put into operation, it will have a projected capacity of 80-100 million passengers and 3 million tonnes of cargo each year.
The total capital needed for the project is estimated to be US$6.74 billion. This is being mobilised from a number of sources including the State budget, official direct assistance (ODA) and other organisations and individuals.
Located in Hai Phong City, Tien Lang International Airport will replace Cat Bi Airport.
It will cover an area of 4,000ha across four communes of Tien Lang District.
The Ministry of Transportation has been assigned to carefully assess and study the exact location, capital and infrastructure conditions of the project.
When complete, it is hoped the airport will meet the demands for air transportation in the northeast region.
Yen Bai to host investment forum
Investment opportunities and the potential of the northwest region will be introduced to domestic and foreign investors at an investment promotion forum held in northern Yen Bai Province on December 10, according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment.
About 600 participants will have the opportunity to study projects in 12 north-western provinces and western parts of central Thanh Hoa and Nghe An provinces.
"The north-western region has great investment potential. However, the opportunities have not been effectively exploited," said Do Nhat Hoang, head of the ministry's Foreign Investment Agency.
More than 200 projects had been implemented in the provinces, with total registered capital of US$1.4 billion, Hoang added.
"This is a very small amount compared to figures for the whole country," he said.
"Through the forum, investors will directly share experiences and opportunities. They will also have the opportunity to exchange views with Government representatives in order to gain a greater understanding about the regional investment environment and Government policies for the region," Hoang said.
Weaknesses in the region will also be analysed by the forum in order to pinpoint improvements to the local investment environment.
Besides the forum, north-western provinces will organise exhibitions to highlight their investment potential and regional achievements.
The northwest region with a popultion of 11.5 million remins heavily disadvantaged. However, with the efforts of local authorites and people, the region hs achieved some significant results.
During 2005-10, regional domestic gross production increased from between 9-11 per cent per year. In 2010, domestic GDP is set to reach 10 per cent.
"These results are still modest, but marks a great increase compared with previous years. It is hoped that the region would be able to build additional hydroelectricity plants. A rich source of iron and coal and timber and building materials are another potential fields to exploit in the region," said deputy head of the Northwest Steering Committee Le Kha Dau.
"Investors will also benefit when transportation links are further improved," Dau said.
In 2008, a similar forum was held in northern Lao Cai Province. It attracted the participation of about 500 representatives from domestic and foreign companies and agencies. At the forum, 13 projects received investment certificates worth a total registered capital of $3 billion.
Steel corporation again raises prices
Viet Nam Steel Corporation has raised the price of steel from between VND150,000 (US$7.6) and 300,000 ($15.3) per tonne.
The rise follows an increase of between VND100,000 and VND150,000 per tonne late last month.
The Viet Nam Steel Corporation, VSA, attributes the rise to the rapid consumption of construction materials in the last months of the year.
Steel usually sells at between VND13.3 million ($682) to 14.15 million ($725) per tonnes excluding value added tax, it says.
But the fluctuating exchange rate between the dong and the US dollar had increased input costs from VND500,000 to VND600,000 per tonne, explained VSA deputy chairman Nguyen Tien Nghi.
Steel producers had not been able to immediately raise their prices to compensate for the higher costs, he said.
Construction-steel consumption increased dramatically against September to reach 448,000 tonnes and has continued.
The VSA estimates that it will now reach month than 400,000 tonnes for the last two months of the year.
But deputy chairman Nghi forecast that if the price of pig iron continued at below $600 per tonne and the price of scarp iron fetched no more than $400 per tonne, steel prices would increase only slightly.
A sudden increase in steel prices could not happen as before, he said.
VSA figures show that stockpiled steel totals 320,000 tonnes while steel makers have prepared about 580,000 tonnes for this month to prevent any shortage.
Index down as profit taking continues
Viet Nam's stock indexes continued to fall with accelerated profit-taking this morning.
In HCM City, the VN-Index slid 1.53 per cent to close at 426.89.
About 35.3 million shares worth VND732.9 billion (US$34.9 million) changed hands.
196 stocks declined; 37 rose and 41 were unchanged.
Many of largest-capitalised shares fell; these included Insurer Bao Viet Holding (BVH), down VND2,000; Ocean Group (OGC) VND900; Vietinbank (CTG) VND600; and software FPT Corp (FPT) VND500.
Property trader Quoc Cuong Gia Lai (QCG) and Sacombank Securities (SBS) were among the only major stock to advance at VND1,100 a piece.
Stocks that managed to gain were mid caps such Bao Minh Insurance (BMI) and Binh Duong Construction and Civil Engineering (BCE), each up VND700.
Vinafco (VFC) rose VND600.
In Ha Noi, the HNX-Index lost 1.06 per cent of its value to close at 97.44 points; losers outpaced gainers more than five to one.
But market volume rose 15 per cent to 26.9 million shares worth more than VND457.1 billion ($21.8 million).
PetroVietnam [PVS, PVX, PVA...] stocks underwent the slightest loss - 0.2 per cent, while Vinaconex [VC1, VCR,VCG ...] fell 0.5 per cent and Song Da Corp [SD9, SDG, SDH ...] dropped 0.8 per cent.
2010 exports to Latin America tipped to earn $1.8 billion
Bilateral trade turnover is expected to total $3.5 billion.
The ministry attributes the increase to the continuing recovery of the world economy.
Footwear exports are forecast to reach $325.5 million or as much as 25 per cent of all export revenue earned in Latin America.
Garments and textiles are also key exports earning more than $100 million each year.
Aquaculture produce, especially tra and basa fish, have become a favourite food in countries such as Mexico, Brazil and Columbia and earned millions of dollars.
Other popular exports to Latin America are electronic goods, cement, steel, and timber-based products.
Viet Nam trades with 33 nations and territories in Latin America.
In 1990, bilateral turnover between Viet Nam and the region was totalled in tens of millions. It increased to $145 million in 2000 and $2.4 billion in 2009.
Enterprises attest to benefits of e-commerce
About 50 per cent of respondents say that business benefit from participating in e-commerce (online) exchanges, according to a recent survey from the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT).
The survey collected opinions from 2,000 enterprises. Only 10 per cent of them underestimated the effectiveness of e-commerce on their businesses.
E-commerce costs were low, accounting for merely 5 per cent of investment capital, yet it brought total revenue up 33 per cent. In recent years, turnover from e-commerce has gradually increased.
It has helped companies attract more customers, promote company image, cut costs, and raise revenue and profit.
Tran Dinh Toan, deputy director of the OSB Company - operator of the website Alibaba.com - said e-marketing was key for companies to promote trade and investment and they had paid much more attention to marketing for e-commerce activities.
"Firms also tend to bolster trade by co-ordinating e-commerce with traditional methods to maximise effectiveness. For instance, before attending exhibitions or fairs, Vietnamese companies will email foreign partners to set up meetings," he said.
Business Director of OSB Co Bui Duc Tuan said this would help companies enter more countries and access foreign partners more quickly.
Nguyen Ngoc Lam, a representative of VNG Corporation - the operator of the website 123mua.com.vn - said that the MoIT should co-operate with the Ministry of Information and Communications to issue reports on internet development in Viet Nam, habits of users, data on e-commerce operations, such as the number of transactions and the revenues of the country's leading e-commerce websites.
The Prime Minister has ratified a plan for e-commerce development from 2011-15 to enhance the competitive edge of enterprises and the national competitiveness as well as speed up industrialisation and modernisation.
To realise the plan, the State will perfect legal systems on e-commerce, develop human resources, provide online public services and bolster applying IT to production and trade and services, among others.
Rice exports total $2.5 billion
Viet Nam has exported 6 million tonnes of rice this year, worth US$2.5 billion, reported the Viet Nam Food Association (VFA).
The association said the export price of Vietnamese rice within the last two weeks increased sharply by between US$5 and $20 per tonne to $450 per tonne for 25 per cent broken rice and to $495 per tonne for 5 per cent broken rice.
Head of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development's Plantation Department Nguyen Tri Ngoc said the demand for rice by the end of this year would increase sharply while global supply would decrease, so traders should sign export contracts soon to capitalise on the opportunity.
Domestic and international rice experts said the supply might increase next year because the Indian Government would resume exporting large quantities of rice. Therefore, export prices for rice would decrease during the next year.
The Government issued a decree detailing the conditions for export rice trading to improve the quality of export rice and management.
Under Decree 109/2010/ND-CP, eligible rice traders must have legal trading certification, one warehouse to store at least 5,000 tonnes of rice, one rice mill that can process at least 10 tonnes of rice per hour and will have to follow additional standards that will be mandated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
Professor Vo Tong Xuan, a rice expert, said the decree would help increase the value of Vietnamese rice and improve the product's reputation globally. The country expects to export 6.5 million tonnes of rice this year, reported the association.
Source: VNS
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