High volumes of iron ore being shipped to China

Viet-Trung Metallurgy and Mineral Refining Company (VTM) in the northern province of Lao Cai has been exploiting the iron ore from Quy Sa mine for export to China in increasingly large volumes, according to a source from the Vietnam Steel Association.

An official of the association told the Daily on Tuesday that for nearly two years, VTM has exported the exploited iron ore from Quy Sa mine to China in huge amounts of some 500,000 tons each year.

Quy Sa is the second biggest iron ore mine in Vietnam with total reserve of 120 million tons after Thach Khe in Ha Tinh Province which has a total reserve of 450 million tons.

The official said the iron ore export of VTM was approved by the Ministry of Industry and Trade. The joint venture ships iron ore to China for the exchange of coal to bring back to Vietnam.

VTM is a joint venture established by Vietnam Steel Corporation, Lao Cai Mineral Company and the China-based Kunming Iron Group. The joint venture was established for carrying out the Lao Cai steel project with total investment of US$300 million.           

“In recent years, several enterprises have sought to exploit and export iron ore to other countries, but the association has never agreed to help curb the flow of country’s coarse ores to other countries,” the source said.

The association’s official said that the uncontrolled exploitation and export of the country’s iron ores has been depleting national resources as well as causing environmental pollution.   

Lao Cai steel project started construction in 2008 but had been delayed until the joint venture signed an agreement with VietinBank-Lao Cai for a VND2.2 trillion credit for the steel project. The facility is expected to be operational by late 2012 with a production output of 500,000 tons of ingots a year.

According to the association, domestic enterprises now need over 1.8 million tons of iron ore for their annual production, and the demand for iron ore of the country is increasing because there will be more iron casting companies to be established in the future.

“If the iron ore is still allowed for export, then the domestic iron casting companies will face a serious shortage of iron ore because the country’s iron ore is limited,” Pham Chi Cuong, chairman of the steel association, said in a document that was sent to the Government and related ministries to suggest banning the export of iron ore.
 
Almost 7,500 DEHP-tainted products sold in city

Incomplete statistics of the HCMC Market Monitoring Bureau shows that nearly 7,500 food products tainted with DEHP toxic substance have been sold in the city recently.

Dang Van Duc, head of the agency, told the Daily last Friday that the food came in various types of cans, packs and bottles. The number was calculated after a working session with four Taiwan-made food importers and nine supermarkets in the city.

There were nine enterprises and supermarkets reporting imports of over 62,700 food units from Taiwan that were confirmed to have DEHP while four other organizations had yet to give exact numbers.

The enterprises and retailers so far have withdrawn or kept over 57,800 products in warehouses, Duc said.

The working session aims to supervise the recalling of the DEHP-tainted products given instructions of the HCMC Food Administration as local importers currently are allowed to recall the products by themselves. In the future, related forces will carry out inspections and confiscate toxic products on the market and impose punitive sanctions.

The city’s administration on June 14 released a document to ask companies involved in the sales of drinks and food additives originating from Taiwan to make a report on infected products found and DEHP content testing results before  Monday. They are told to inform related agencies about the infected products within 24 hours, announce it to the public and withdraw them from shelves.

Three beverage importers in HCMC named Gia Thinh Phat, Nhat Phu Quy and Ha Thanh have so far reported that they have completed recalling DEHP-tainted products on the local market. They have withdrawn over 1,300 plastic bottles of 22 types of syrup and fruit juice.

The plasticizer DEHP is used in a type of food additive known as clouding agent that makes products more visually appealing to consumers. The substance is believed to cause cancer.
 
TPP with U.S. should boost apparel trade: experts

Representatives of many companies in the U.S. apparel industry agreed here on Friday that the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade agreement should boost trade in the apparel industry first.

A delegation representing high-profile associations stateside such as the American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA) and Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) had a meeting with many Vietnamese businesses in textile and garment industry. The aim of the conference in HCMC on Friday was to help Vietnam’s apparel enterprises learn more about the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade agreement that is under negotiation among countries concerned.

The conference was also meant for enterprises to get engaged in the trade agreement by raising their voices to the governments, said Stephen Lamar, executive vice president of AAFA.

Stephanie Lester, vice president of RILA, told local media that TPP was considered an opportunity to create new trade and investment in the apparel industry. Therefore, the association is having actions to talk to negotiators and the U.S. Congress.

Vietnam’s apparel export alone has contributed 61% of total tax collection of the U.S. from eight TPP countries in all products, said Stephen Lamar of AAFA.

“We want the tax contribution which is currently too high to be reduced as much as possible,” said Stephen.

Besides, Stephanie from RILA suggested that Vietnam be more transparent in customs documents to support trade, adding that she was really optimistic about potential opportunities the TPP will bring about for the apparel industry.

Last year, Vietnam exported US$6 billion worth of apparel products to the U.S. market, which accounts for 55% of Vietnam’s total textile and apparel exports.

The TPP is under negotiations by nine countries, and the seventh round of talks is to be held in Vietnam this month.
 
PMC may return Phu My Bridge to city gov’t

Phu My Construction Investment Corporation (PMC), investor of Phu My Bridge, has sent a document to the HCMC government to seek financial support, otherwise it wants to return the work to local government due to debt.

PMC chairman Nghiem Sy Minh in the document said only around 5,000 vehicles use the bridge per day, which means toll collection is too modest to pay debts. Capital for the project has been increased from VND1.8 trillion to VND3.4 trillion while forex rates and bank lending rates have soared in recent years, thus inflating the developer’s debts.

PMC suggested the city either extend the loan borrowed from HCMC Finance and Investment State-owned Company (HFIC) to 15 or 20 years instead of 10 years currently or lend it VND1 trillion to pay debts. Otherwise, PMC will hand over the bridge to local government.

PMC earlier suggested collecting tolls from motorbikes and suspending the toll station on Nguyen Van Linh Street to increase its revenue, but it was rejected. PMC added that many of its large shareholders are considering withdrawing from the company due to the unprofitable project.

Phu My Bridge was inaugurated in September 2009 to connect districts 2 and 7 while toll collection began on April 1, 2010. The bridge was erected to ease traffic pressure on the Saigon Bridge through the city center.
 
Vietnam Air ticks launch date for direct service to UK

Vietnam Airlines has set December 8 as the launch date of its direct flights to the United Kingdom, a fourth gateway in Europe that the national flagship carrier has chosen in its network expansion for the international market.

Vietnam Airlines told the Daily on Tuesday that the non-stop flights would be operated from both HCMC and Hanoi to Gatwick, said by the carrier as London’s second busiest by passenger traffic after Heathrow and some 46 kilometers south of Central London.  

Vietnam Airlines did not publicize the number of flights to London by the Boeing 777 aircraft in the initial period but said it would bring the frequency to seven services a week by 2014. Earlier this year, the carrier planned to initiate four flights a week from Tan Son Nhat and Noi Bai airports to London.

Pham Ngoc Minh, chief executive officer of Vietnam Airlines, said the Vietnam-UK route would help expand its international network coverage, especially in Europe where the airline already has flights to Paris, Frankfurt and Moscow. The new service will also consolidate Vietnam as the main gateway to Indochina.

Vietnam Airlines quoted sources as saying that the annual number of English visitors to Vietnam rose more than 20% on average and 14% to the CLMV bloc of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam. Currently, around 40,000 Vietnamese are living and working in England and about 7,000 Vietnamese students are studying in that country.

Vietnam Airlines will be the first operator of direct flights between Vietnam and the UK. To make this route a success, the airline is working with the British embassy in Vietnam, the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, and domestic and foreign travel firms for support to increase tourism and investment links between the two countries.

Vietnam and the UK struck a strategic partnership agreement in September 2010 with their expectations to elevate cooperation in bilateral relationships in trade and investment, sustainable socio-economic development, people-to-people links and other areas. The two countries expect two-way trade to exceed US$3 billion this year from the US$2 billion-plus in 2009.

During talks in Hanoi in May this year, officials of the UK and Vietnam revised an adjusted aviation pact signed more than 10 years ago and agreed to increase the weekly number of flights between the two countries to 14 instead of only three as said in the agreement the two sides inked in 1994.

Vietnam Airlines decided to cash in on the adjusted aviation pact and saw it as a fresh move to increase its overseas destinations to over 40 by 2015 from less than 30 at the moment. In its development strategy, the airline said it would expand its aircraft fleet to 115 by 2015 from the some 70 and 165 by 2020.
 
Air France maintains code-share service with Vietnam Air

Air France will continue to offer passengers six non-stop, code-share flights a week from Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi to Charles de Gaulle International Airport in Paris as part of its agreement with Vietnam Airlines.

Air France confirmed the number of direct code-share flights operated by Vietnam Airlines aircraft from Hanoi to Paris in a statement in which it also revealed a plan to raise its non-stop services between HCMC and Paris from three to five a week in the winter schedule. Both carriers are members of global airline alliance SkyTeam.

Currently, Air France conducts three weekly non-stop flights from Tan Son Nhat International Airport to Charles de Gaulle International Airport on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. The additional flights are scheduled on Mondays and Saturdays, starting from October 31 this year.

The rising demand for air travel between France and Vietnam, and the promising future of this Southeast Asian market encouraged Air France to perform more direct flights and to take further development steps for this market.

Figures from the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism’s website indicated almost 100,000 French visited Vietnam in the first five months of this year, a year-on-year increase of 9.4%.

Previously, the carrier flew four times to HCMC and three to Hanoi via Suvarnabhumi Airport in Thailand’s city of Bangkok.

Air France is now running a special promotion until June 30 for passengers to book tickets for travel between September 1 and December 15 this year from Hanoi or HCMC to Paris or onwards to most destinations in Europe. Return tickets exclusive of taxes cost from US$610 for flights to Paris or Amsterdam.
 
Thaco opens bus factory in Quang Nam

Truong Hai Auto Joint Stock Co., or Thaco, on Friday opened a bus plant at the Chu Lai Open Economic Zone in the central province of Quang Nam’s Nui Thanh district, after over a year of construction.

The new plant covering 15 hectares at the company’s Quang Nam assembly complex will assemble buses of various kinds under Thaco brand. The new plant’s products will include Thaco Mobihome, Thaco County, and Thaco Areo Town, Thaco Universe from 18 to 51 seats; and city buses from 30 to 80 seats with around 40%-46% of its parts being locally-made.

The VND600-billion new plant, including some VND400 billion for the first phase, has four main workshops comprising welding, assembling, painting, and storing facilities.

Thaco said the first phase of the new plant has a capacity of 1,500 units per year. The new plant will also assemble and produce specialized commercial vehicles upon the demand of customers like vehicles serving artistic companies and clinics.

Tran Ba Duong, chairman cum general director of Thaco, said that his company had started to assemble buses and sleeping buses since 2006 with the first order from Hoang Long Transport Company. After that, many other transport companies like Phuong Trang, Thuan Thao, Phuong Hoang, and Thanh Buou have used Thaco’s sleeping buses for long-distance transport.

Up to now, the company has sold nearly 1,100 sleeping buses, or a 95% market share for the segment.

Last month, Thaco also started assembling Hyundai commercial vehicles at the company’s Quang Nam assembly complex.

Hyundai commercial vehicles of various makes in the local market will be assembled at Thaco’s auto factory in Chu Lai Open Economic Zone. Thaco said the Hyundai assembly line at the factory has a capacity of 10,000 units per year.

The local automobile maker expects to sell at least 34,500 vehicles this year, or 8,600 vehicles more than last year, with a total revenue expected at VND12.43 trillion (US$600 million) and an after tax profit at VND800 billion this year.

Thaco targets a market share of 29.2% among members of Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (VAMA) this year. Last year, the company sold more than 25,830 vehicles in all, obtaining a total revenue of VND8.205 trillion and after-tax profit of VND666 billion.

Last year, the automaker paid more than VND360 billion in dividends, up 89.4% against 2009.

Design contest launched for huge theme park in District 9

The National Cultural-Historical Park Management Board in collaboration with the HCMC Association of Architects last week launched a contest to find designs for two large areas of the HCMC National Cultural-Historical Park in District 9, some 27 kilometers from downtown.

Cao Huu Nien, deputy head of the management board, said at the launch on Thursday that local architects and consultancy companies would be invited to enter the contest as organizers try to collect the best designs for the park’s gate and square, which covers an area of 19,500 square meters.

Nien said VND80 million would be offered for the contest winner; VND50 million and VND30 million would be given to the second and third placed designs.

Organizers are also calling for architects to present ideas for a new area of the park which will be dedicated to national hero Thanh Giong.

The area will be a tourist destination which will combine green landscape with a theme park focusing on the country’s history.

Organizers will give a first prize of VND100 million, VND70 million to the runner-up and VND40 million to third place.

Nguyen Truong Luu, deputy chairman of the HCMC Association of Architects, said the contest would not set a capital target but would instead let architects feel free to express their design ideas. The total investment capital will be calculated later.  

The two works are part of the HCMC National Cultural-Historical Park which covers 400 hectares, with most of the land located at Long Binh Ward in HCMC’s District 9 and 27 hectares part of Di An Town in Binh Duong Province.

The huge theme park project will be financed by the budget from the city government. It will be designed with sectors focusing on the long history of Vietnam from its formation to the modern area, as well as sections for entertainment and recreational activities.

At present, only the section featuring the Hung Kings’ memorial temple has been built and put into service. The entire project is scheduled for completion by 2020.
 
Bad pesticides ruin Delta rice crop

Farmers in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta, already hit by topsy-turvy weather, are in danger of losing their rice crop to fake pesticides, Lao Dong (Labour) newspaper reported.

The Chau Phu District Plant Protection Station in An Giang Province, for instance, reported strange signs like the unusual length of the internode and leaf (15cm) after a farmer used Asia Biochemical Co Ltd's pesticide known as BIM downy 75WP.

The province Plant Protection Department earlier reported 13 cases of production and distribution of fake pesticides, mostly of popular brands like Oshin 20WP, Chess 50WG, Atonik 1.8DD, Clincher 10 EC.

"Many [of them] had anti-counterfeit stamps," Bui Van Khai, the department's chief inspector, said.

Plant protection departments in Kien Giang and Dong Thap Provinces have also reported that many fake pesticide products are being sold.

"The producers do not focus on expensive pesticides that are easily detected [in case of fakes]," Nguyen Van Thien, director of the Dong Thap Plant Protection Department, said.

Agriculturists warn that the rampant sale of fake products is likely to be the last straw for farmers who are already grappling with unseasonable weather since planting their summer-autumn crop.

Nguyen Phuoc Tuyen, head of scientific research at the Dong Thap Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said: "Farmers spray plant protection chemicals when they find their paddy diseased.

"Most of them will spray again and again if they see no improvement."

"Most active elements and solvents in these fake medicines are toxic compounds which do not decompose, and are toxic for the environment," Tuyen said.

"They also exterminate fish and shrimp, and threaten the health of the sprayers."

Inspectors should intensify oversight of manufacturing points, he said.

They have for long focused on inspecting outlets selling pesticides, while the root of the problem – places where the spurious chemicals are manufactured – has not received attention, he said.

Inspection of manufacturing places should not be difficult, and fakes could be "easily discovered" in the transportation phase, he said

Vietnam attends rice conferences in Thailand

Vietnam together with world-leading rice trading nations are attending the World Rice Standard Summit 2011 in Nakhon Sawan province, Thailand, on June 22.

Earlier, Vietnam also had a chance to seek international trade partners at the Thailand National Rice Conference in Bangkok on June 20.

The two events are aimed at boosting rice production and assessing demand and supply across the world, Thai Commerce Minister Porntiva Nakasai told a press briefing on June 20.

Nguyen Thanh Hung, Commercial Counsellor at the Vietnamese Embassy in Thailand , who represented Vietnam at the events, said Vietnam’s rice exports increased by about 20 per cent in the first five months of this year and are expected to reach 7 million tonnes in the whole year.

Meanwhile, Thailand is forecast to reach its target of exporting 10 million tonnes of rice in 2011, reaping some 170 billion baht (roughly $5.6 billion), as compared with $5.34 billion the country earned from shipping abroad 9.05 million tonnes of rice last year, he said.

According to the commercial counsellor, Vietnam and Thailand have carried out a wide range of activities to boost rice cooperation such as organising exchanges for the two countries’ farmers, producers and exporters to share experience as well as information regarding the cultivation, production and export of rice in the region and the world as well.

The Thai Commerce Ministry and the Vietnam Ministry of Industry and Trade have also planned to organise the Vietnam-Thailand commercial summit, he said.

Steel firms feeling the heat

Economic vulnerabilities are hurting steel companies.

“Our stockpiled steel in early 2011 was 10,000 tonnes against 3,000 tonnes in the previous year. The sales volume saw a sharp decline while production curtailed by half,” said the director of a northern steel firm which came into being three years ago with an annual production capacity of 180,000 tonnes.

“Things could not be ameliorated unless the state loosens its tightening monetary policies to spur construction projects’ implementation,” he said.

He added that with banks’ current high lending rates of around 20 per cent, per year even commercial firms could not dare hoard products for sale because they would incur heavy losses.

A number of steel firms, however, are on the horns of a dilemma as they cannot stop operating amid the current stagnant market and huge steel stockpiles.

“Some companies with high borrowing costs have to sell products at loss to recoup capital and operate perfunctory production,” he continued.

Because the supply far outruns the demand, local firms critically oppose to the recent proposed Ministry of Industry and Trade’s (MoIT) draft to force businesses to put in reserve 3-5 per cent of their output.

This compulsory stockpile means businesses will have to let part of their finance remain idle in their current financial distress, said a Vietnam Steel Corporation’s financial expert, who wished not to be named.

Hoa Phat Group general director Tran Tuan Duong admitted his group’s steel sales figures in June saw a plunge compared to some previous months.

Duong said with Hoa Phat’s monthly capacity of over 50,000 tonnes, raw material reserves for production at the firm would be tantamount to the production capacity while for small firms such reserves would reach 20-30 per cent, much higher than the MoIT’s drafted requirement of 3-5 per cent.

“The possibility for the state to green-light interest subsidy to help firms keep stockpiles is unlikely in the current difficult market conditions,” Duong said.

Education coup for projects

The British Vietnamese International School- BVIS has recently announced it would open international schools at the Thanh Xuan district’s Royal City and Long Bien district’s Vincom Village in Hanoi with the first enrolment slated in December 2012.

BVIS is a member of the British International School which has been operating successfully in Ho Chi Minh City since 1997.

The agreement to develop the two schools was signed with the Hoang Gia Real Estate Investment and Development Joint Stock Company and the Sai Dong Investment and Urban Development Joint Stock Company (under Vingroup), developers of the Royal City and Vincom Village, respectively.

According to the agreement, BVIS will open schools that provide international quality education at both primary and secondary levels to the kids coming from Royal City and Vincom Village.

BVIS is the largest international school in Vietnam operating within the framework of the national curriculum for England and Wales, complimented by the International Primary Curriculum to meet the needs of the 50 + nationalities attending the school.

BIS is recognised by the Department for Education and Skills in the UK and is an accredited examination centre for Cambridge International Examinations and the International Baccalaureate Organisation. BIS provides a curriculum that is recognised globally as a pathway to the most prestigious universities around the world.

Nuclear energy staff training on crucial stage

Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan has been appointed to chair a steering board on nuclear energy human resource development in preparation for the construction of nuclear energy plants.

The board was established under a decision signed by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung on June 20. Minister of Education and Training Pham Vu Luan is the board’s deputy head.

The board has been assigned with a task to conduct research and submit to the Prime Minister orientations and measures to deal with major issues on nuclear energy human resources development.

Other tasks include examination and evaluation of the execution of a project to train 3,000 workers for nuclear energy plants by 2020, including 2,400 engineers and 350 master degree or doctorate holders in nuclear energy.