Certificates of origin go electronic

The Ministry of Industry and Trade officially launched the pilot electronic certificate of origin (C/O) issuance system on Thursday, part of efforts to expand administrative reforms and assist exporters.

The system, available on the website www.ecosys.gov.vn, is being called a turning point in improving the nation's business climate and administrative reforms, as the electronic process will promote transparency and minimise time and expenses spent by businesses, said Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh.

It is also considered an important step in implementing the ASEAN one-stop customs mechanism and Viet Nam's commitment to regional integration, as neighbouring countries accelerate the formation of an ASEAN community.

The launch was prompted by Government Resolution 19/NQ-CP dated March 12, 2015 on improving the business environment and national competitiveness by the end of 2016.

Data indicated that some 11,000 companies have so far registered to have C/Os issued online. As many as 449,353 C/Os were granted online in 2014, increasing from 274,562 certificates the previous year.

Other import and export procedures are expected to be made available online in the future.

The European Committee has received the first electronic certificate from Viet Nam for seafood exported to the EU using the Trade Control and Expert System (TRACES).

This was announced by Viet Nam's National Agro – Forestry – Fisheries Quality Assurance Department (NAFIQUAD) on May 13.

The certificate was granted by NAFIQUAD.

Established in 2003, TRACES is a trans-European web-based network run by DG SANTE for veterinary health that notifies, certifies and monitors imports, exports and trade in animals and animal products around the world.

This system aims to ease the paperwork needed for trading in animals and animal products by generating documents and sending copies to appropriate authorities inland and abroad, saving traders time and effort.

The system also allows traders to obtain export health certificates and movement notifications of their dispatches. It further helps authorities meet health regulations and traders' needs.

Authorised agencies of countries will use this system to issue electronic certificates on food and health safety for animals and animal products imported and exported within the EU and imported from outside the EU.

On its official website, TRACES announced that Viet Nam has joined the system and suggested that EU control authorities at border gates be based on electronic certificates to carry out customs clearance procedures for products to enter the EU.

Currently, NAFIQAD is piloting the issuance of TRACES certificates at 17 businesses, and it said electronic certification would be applied to all processed seafood exported to the EU.

Quy Nhon becomes a magnet for tourists

A city in a central Vietnamese province has become a magnet for tourists and scientists on account of its green urban planning.

In recent years Quy Nhon, the capital of Binh Dinh Province, has emerged as a picturesque coastal city with rich tourism, economic and scientific research potential.

Despite its limited area, the city abounds in lush greenery.

At its very heart lies a six-hectare green urban space zone which is situated on Nguyen Tat Thanh and An Duong Vuong Streets and stretches to the beaches in Quy Nhon Bay.

The green space was created with help from the local government.

Ho Quoc Dung, chair of the provincial People’s Committee, said the urban green space is the fruit of the concerted resolve made by generations of provincial and municipal leaders for more than 20 years.

“Our predecessors were well aware that allowing short-term investment or rampant construction of high-rises would add money to the provincial budget, but at the permanent cost of the city losing its identity and tourist appeal,” he noted.

“It was a bold decision to turn the over-6-hectare plot at the primest location in the city’s heart into a lushly-vegetated square, considering its relatively dense population of between 15,000 and 18,000 heads per square kilometer,” Dung stressed.

Vu Hoang Ha, former secretary of the provincial Party Committee, said the Binh Dinh leaders during the late 1980s observed that despite Quy Nhon’s limited area of around 284 square kilometers, including the inner-city area of 1,000 hectares , the city is endowed with a vast area of mountains, lagoons and lakes.

“The leaders, including those who took office right after 1975, when the country was reunified, and those studying abroad and majoring in urban planning, made it a point to tap into the city’s favorable natural elements and turn it into the current alluring, eco-friendly locale,” he divulged.

The next generations of provincial leaders followed suit and further cemented the green-cherishing resolve.

Quy Nhon has become a “rendezvous” for local and foreign scientists because of the “green” vision of its leaders.

After conducting surveys in different places throughout Vietnam, Professor Tran Thanh Van, a revered Vietnamese-French physicist who is president of the France-based Rencontres du Vietnam (Meet Vietnam) Association, finally decided on Quy Nhon for the construction of the International Center for Inter-Disciplinary Science and Education (ICISE), which was put into use in August 2013.

Covering an area of 20 hectares, the center consists of a large auditorium, conference rooms, and a planetarium, and has become an international venue where scientists can meet and exchange ideas.

The professor organized the “Meeting Vietnam 2013” physics symposium, which was attended by five Nobel laureates and several other foreign scientists, in the same month.

The city has been put on the global scientific map since.

“I traveled to many cities in Vietnam and some European countries, but my wife and I finally went for Quy Nhon as the ICISE venue, for we both highly regard the provincial and municipal leaders’ visionary urban planning,” Prof. Van said.

“It took them a few decades to build the city with verdant greenery and heavenly beaches as it is now,” he added.

The city is taking steps to realize its dream of becoming an engaging scientific and cultural tourism destination.

Air India offers bonanza on Vietnam-India tickets

Aiming to draw more Vietnam tourists to the country, India’s national flag-carrier Air India has launched bonanza fares on its round trip Hanoi and HCM City to India routes.

Air India is offering highly competitive fares to and from Vietnam on its newest routes established during December 2014 effective immediately an airline representative announced.

Fares from Vietnam to Chennai-Mumbai India start at VND2 million (exclusive of taxes and surcharges) the representative said.

For the flights the airline uses the sophisticated modern state-of-the-art Boeing 787 Dreamliner, boasting the best of traveling comforts.

‘Capitalise on natural advantages'

Successfully utilising natural capital is essential if Viet Nam wants to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Such was the takeaway of the Institute of Strategy and Policy on Natural Resources and Environment's three-day workshop, which began on Thursday in Ha Noi.

Natural capital, defined as the net value of a country or region's natural assets, includes geological features, soil, air, water and all living things.

The National Strategy for Environmental Protection for 2020 gives recommendations for the country to effectively use natural resources. For example, demand for land use needs to match the potential of the land; the use of agricultural and forest lands for other purposes should be severely restricted; integrated water resource management at river basins should be promoted; and vamping up protection of natural forests.

The strategy blamed some of the dire environmental situation on the fact that a majority of the nation's citizens do not consider their lifestyles as part of environmental protection efforts.

Shortcomings and overlaps in policies were also blamed. The State Budget's funds for environmental protection are insufficient, the national strategy declared.

According to Nguyen Van Tai, director of the Institute of Strategy and Policy on Natural Resources and Environment, Viet Nam is now facing a number of environmental issues such as declining biodiversity and increasing environmental pollution. Viet Nam is also one of the countries hit hardest by climate change.

The strategy's findings showed that sections of rivers running through urban, industrial- production and mining areas contain pollutants in concentrations exceeding the permitted number by 1.5 to 3 times. Air quality is deteriorating across the country, especially in major cities. The area of coastal mangrove forests is now about 160,000 ha, reduced by 50 per cent compared to 1943.

"These are the reasons why we should focus on sustainability and the way the country uses its natural capital towards satisfying SDGs," Tai said.

The recently set SDGs focus on greater equity and sustainability in growth and development, protecting the environment, and promoting peaceful and inclusive societies. Of the 17 listed SDGs, 10 are related to environmental issues, signaling an increasing global awareness of the environmental issues countries like Viet Nam face.

Sanath D. B. Ranawana, senior natural resource management specialist of Greater Mekong Subregion's Core Environment Programme, said that SDGs served as a new framework for measuring the economic, social and environmental development of a country.

"In MDGs, we have one indicator for environment, but in SDGs we have four or five indicators that relate to the environment," he said, explaining that SDGs are progressions of MDGs. Enhancing natural capital would therefore play a big role in whether a country would achieve the SDGs, he said.

At the three-day workshop, participants also discussed the future of the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) countries' post-2015 sustainable development agenda.

Connected by the Mekong River, the GMS countries of Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Viet Nam all share similar environmental challenges and opportunities.

The workshop included policy makers and organisations working to establish a policy framework for regional co-operation aimed at enhancing natural capital for SGDs.

SDGs, a proposed set of targets relating to future international development, will replace Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) once they expire at the end of 2015. They were first formally discussed at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development held in Rio de Janeiro in June 2012 (Rio+20).

HCMC promotes consumption of litchi fruits

The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Industry and Trade on July 15 worked with a delegation from the northern province of Hai Duong, discussing measures to promote the consumption of  litch fruits in the city.

According to the department, HCMC will mobilize businesses, wholesale markets together with other distribution channels to facilitate consumption of the fruits.

At the meeting, supermarkets affirmed priority to consume seasonal farm produce including Thieu litchi for famers at profitable prices, for instance they will display the fruit at easy- to- see places.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade said that Thieu litchi output was expected to hit over 200,000 tons this year with 60 percent of these for local market and 40 percent for exports.

Hai Duong Province is well-known with litchi fruits named Thieu litchis that are planted in Thanh Ha, Chi Linh districts. This variety has also been planted in other areas in the north such as Dong Trieu in Quang Ninh and Luc Ngan in Bac Giang.

Vietnam posts trade surplus of US$150 million in April

Vietnam logged a trade surplus for the first time in 2015 as exports outstripped imports by US$150 million in April, according to the General Department of Customs (GDC).

Latest figures show the export value in April was largely the same as the previous month at US$13.35 billion, while imports fell 10.4% against March to US$13.2 billion.

Stronger exports in April helped reduce the trade gap in the first four months of the year to around US$2.07 billion, down nearly US$1 billion compared with an earlier estimate by the General Statistics Office.

According to the GDC, exports during the January-April period were US$49.69 billion, up 6.9% over the same period last year while imports rose 16.6% to US$51.77 billion.

A breakdown shows exports from foreign enterprises rose 16.3% in the four months ending in April to US$33.63 billion, accounting for two thirds of Vietnam’s total exports.

Its imports also made up 60.4% of Vietnam’s foreign purchases, reaching US$31.28 billion, a year-on-year rise of 23.1%.

In April alone, foreign enterprises exported goods worth US$9.08 billion and brought in US$7.71 billion of goods.

Hi-tech production soars amidst foreign investment

Production is booming in the tech sector as recent indications see Vietnam emerging as a major manufacturing base for Korean tech giants that  manufacture TVs and other consumer electronic goods, expanding beyond the limits of mobile phone assembly.

As planned, construction on the Samsung CE Ho Chi Minh City Complex (SEHC) will kick off this year at the Saigon Hi-tech Park (SHTP) with a  total investment of US$1.4 billion.

“The complex will be a cutting-edge zone of high technologies, where the latest high-end TV series will be manufactured, similar to other  

Samsung facilities in the northern provinces of Bac Ninh and Thai Nguyen, which produce items to serve the global market”, said Nguyen Van  Dao, deputy general director of Samsung Electronics Vietnam.

In addition to its scope for production, SEHC will also embrace research and development (R&D) of hi-tech consumer electronics goods.

The first-phase production will focus on consumer electronic goods, such as smart, LCD, and LED TVs. Meanwhile, the second phase will focus  on other electronic items.

Late last year, Samsung-widely regarded as the leading manufacturer of smart-phones in Vietnam- made efforts to source parts towards its  prospective plant based in SHTP where dozens of businesses have eagerly queued up with hopes of becoming the tech giants’ devices  suppliers.

Samsung first dropped anchor in Vietnam 20 years ago by building a TV production plant which was based in Ho Chi Minh City.

At that time, the project, valued at US$36.5 million in initial investment, was small in scale, mainly serving the domestic market.

On another occasion, Samsung had to form a joint venture with local partner TIE for the project’s deployment. In late July 2013, the company  spent over VND96 billion (US$4.4 million) to buy back the stake from TIE to become a wholly foreign-owned firm.

In respect to domedtic TV production, besides Samsung and other domestic manufacturers, LG-another tech giant from Korea-currently leads  this field in Vietnam.

In 2013, LG decided to pump US$1.5 billion into the northern port city of Haiphong and relocate its existing plants in Hung Yen and Hanoi to the  port city.

LG’s mega-production complex was launched in late March 2015.

Around the same time the company leaders unveiled their plan to shift TV production from Thailand to Vietnam to raise capacity and save costs.

LG is producing around 600,000 TVs per year in Thailand- of this about 100,000 units are bound for export.

According to market research firm Witsview’s statistics released early this year, Samsung and LG dominated the global LCD TV market in 2014.

Samsung produces 22.8% and LG 14.9% of the total LCD TVs that came onto the global market last year.

TH True Milk certified as Asia's biggest hi-tech cow farm

The India-based Asia Book of Records organization has recognized the dairy farm of Vietnamese milk producer TH True Milk as the biggest  hi-tech cow raising facility in Asia, with a certificate granted during a recent ceremony at the firm’s headquarters in central Vietnam.

The Vietnamese milk producer had to compete with many contenders from China, Mongolia, India, and Middle East countries to win the title of  Asia’s largest hi-tech dairy cow farm, Dr. Biswaroop Roy Chowdhury, general director of the organization, said at the ceremony in Nghe An  Province.

The large size of the herd and the application of technologies provided by Israel, the US, and Europe in raising cows and managing the farm  gave TH True Milk a very big advantage during the evaluating and voting process, Dr. Chowdhury said.

Vietnam’s Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat (R) gives the third-class Labor Medal to a representative of TH True Milk  on behalf of the state president during a ceremony at the Vietnamese firm’s headquarters in the north-central province of Nghe An on May 16,  2015.

After reviewing the track record of the firm in association with a field survey and actual evaluation from experts on dairy farms in Nghe An, the  organization finally decided to bestow the certification as the biggest hi-tech dairy cow farm in Asia on TH True Milk, he said.

Earlier this year, the Vietnam Livestock Association nominated TH True Milk as a candidate for that Asian record.

After drawing a comprehensive comparison with all dairy farms in Asia, the organization confirmed in February that it would certify TH True Milk’s  as the biggest hi-tech dairy cow facility in Asia.

The US$1.2 billion dairy farm, put into operation in October 2009, applies automatic and professional cow raising technologies from Israel and a  veterinary management process of New Zealand standards.

Currently, the farm has 45,000 cows, of which more than 22,000 are lactating at 30-40 liters per cow every day.

It aims to raise 203,000 cows by 2020.

TH True Milk was honored at the same ceremony with a third-class Labor Medal conferred by the state president for its operations and  contribution to the community.

Thai Huong, chairperson of TH Group that owns the TH True Milk brand, was included in the Asia's Power Businesswomen 2015 list of U.S.  magazine Forbes.

Huong was the newest representative of Vietnam in this list after entering the milk business in 2009 with a commitment to change the nature of  the industry in the country, according to Forbes.

Since that year, her TH Group has invested US$450 million in importing and raising cattle to produce clean milk using Israeli technology.

The group is rearing its cows on an 8,100-hectare area and planning to raise the area to 37,000 hectares, Forbes said.

TH estimated that its 2014 revenue exceeded US$200 million with a market share of one-third of the domestic fresh milk business.

Huong, 57, began her business in 1994 and is the founder of Bac A Commercial Joint Stock Bank. Today, she is still the chairperson of the bank.

FDI leads in electronics exports

Foreign direct investment (FDI) accounted for most of the nation's total electronic export turnover, according to a report from Vietnam Electronic  Industries Association.

At the same time, the number of FDI enterprises represent only one-third of electronic enterprises in Vietnam.

The country's quick development in the electronics industry has mostly occurred due to the efforts of the FDI sector, the Thoi Bao Kinh Doanh  newspaper (Business Times) said, quoting Luu Hoang Long, Chairman of the Vietnam Electronics Industries Association.

Export turnover of telephones and spare parts was US$24.1 billion last year, increasing by 13.4 per cent compared to that in 2013. However,  export turnover of telephones and spare parts within the FDI sector accounted for 99.6 per cent.

Further, the value of exported electronics, computers and spare parts last year totalled $11.6 billion. Yet, of this number, the FDI sector accounted  for 98.8 per cent.

Some electronics FDI giants accounting for a large proportion of market share in the total export turnover of Vietnam's electronic industry,  including Samsung, with factories in the northern provinces of Thai Nguyen and Bac Ninh, along with its electronics spare parts manufacturers  from KSD Vina Company, Morips Vina and Orientech Vina.

Canon and LG are also increasing their investments in Vietnam, turning Vietnam into one of the largest manufacturers of mobile phones, as well  as printing and photocopy machines for their brands.

Experts have said that FDI enterprises expanding their scale of production in Vietnam will be a premise for Vietnamese spare parts and service  providers to build large and long-term business plans.

Of the 90 satellite enterprises producing spare parts for Samsung, only six to seven Vietnamese enterprises produce such parts. These  enterprises provide mostly printing and wrapping products.

Vu Quoc Huy, deputy head of the Ministry of Planning and investment's Department for Economic Zones Management, said that Vietnamese  enterprises account for only 10 per cent of the total providers.

The participation of Vietnamese enterprises, in association with Canon, is unremarkable, involving mainly sectors that require simple technology.  

Spare parts and components requiring high degrees of accuracy are imported from other countries or produced by FDI enterprises, Huy added.

According to statistics from the Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) on the comparison of domestic spare parts and raw materials and ancillary materials provided for industrial products, while China and Thailand account for 50 – 60 per cent of the industrial production value,  Vietnam accounts for only 27.8 per cent. Therefore, the added value of Vietnamese products only stand between 15 and 30 per cent.

Further, customers who purchase a mobile phone from Sony see that only earphones are labeled as being "Made in Vietnam". Other parts are  produced by foreign producers.

According to experts, Vietnam's domestic electronics enterprises are weak in competitiveness in both domestic, regional and international  markets.

One of the reasons the electronics industry remains weak is that import taxes on spare parts remain high, while import taxes are lower (five or  zero per cent) for completely built products, which encourages enterprises to import the latter, instead of selling domestically- produced ones.

Despite the launch of the "Vietnamese Use Vietnamese Goods" campaign, enterprises, especially state-owned enterprises, always face  technical and non-technical barriers.

To increase added value and the gross domestic product (GDP) of Vietnam through the electronics industry, the country should not increase  labour costs, which will make the nation lose its initial competitive advantages, said Long.

He advises domestic enterprises to boost the manufacturing of spare parts for FDI providers. Boosting Vietnamese enterprises that manufacture  electronic products, information and technology for other producers will increase the value-added proportion of products made in Vietnam.

To enhance the competitive capacity of electronics enterprises, companies should carry out synchronous measures, from production to  distribution, as well as creating government policies supporting enterprises, said Long.

Vietnam launches maiden transnational online shopping platform

Buying from such famous platforms as Amazon or eBay might be no longer a big deal for most Vietnamese consumers, as an online shopping  portal has been launched.

At weshop.com.vn, local shoppers can now shop for goods from international retailers and distributors and have the purchases delivered to their  door, according to the businesses behind the platform.

WeShop Vietnam is jointly developed by PeaceSoft Group, a Hanoi-based software firm, Singapore’s WeShop Global Group, and the Republic  of Korean (RoK) Interpark Group, the Vietnamese company said in a press release.

The platform is the first-ever transnational online shopping portal in Vietnam and Southeast Asia, through which consumers can “shop for  high-quality products or those not available in Vietnam from suppliers in the US, RoK and other developed countries.”

weshop.com.vn boasts more than 200 million goods items of all kinds from popular US brands including Amazon, 6PM, Forever21, TopShop,  Disney, and ToysRus. There are also around 1 million products from RoK, supplied by Interpark, the largest e-commerce group in the East Asian  country.

The products will be shipped to Vietnam and delivered to buyers once purchases are made, according to PeaceSoft.

WeShop will deal with the sellers to resolve complaints or such issues as product return or refund on its customers’ behalf.

Prices are listed in Vietnamese dong and payment is accepted via bank transfer, credit card, or Ngan Luong, Vietnam’s popular online wallet  service.

PeaceSoft, which is partnered by Ebay to run the ebay.vn website in Vietnam, says there is also the cash on delivery option to facilitate  shoppers.

WeShop Global has launched similar online shopping platforms in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, and Vietnam has emerged as its next  important destination, according to Tran Mai Lan, director of operation of WeShop Vietnam.

Vietnam first quarter trade deficit better than expected

Surging exports in the latter half of April helped contain Vietnam’s trade deficit for the four months leading up to May to a manageable figure,  according to recently released statistics from the General Statistics Office of Vietnam (GSO).

The country’s total export revenue for the January-April period jumped 6.9% on-year to US$49.69 billion while its imports surged 16.6% to  US$51.77 billion resulting in a trade deficit of US$2 billion.

The GSO attributes the better than expected figures to a stronger export picture in the latter part of April, resulting in a much smaller deficit than  the US$3 billion it had forecast.

Export revenue took an unanticipated upturn during the second half of April (nearly US$7 billion) with telephones and components, crude oil,  garment, footwear and computer revenue tallies showing robust growth.

Meanwhile for the second half of April imports dipped 15.6% to US$6.08 billion. Key imported products witnessing decline were computers,  electronic products and components, equipment, tools and telephones.

Exports to India log biggest rise in years

A surge in exports with higher added value spurred Vietnamese exports to India to their biggest quarterly increase in years the Ministry of Industry  and Trade (MoIT) reported in recently released statistics.

Shipments by exporters from Vietnam to India in the three months leading up to April surged 30.52% on-year to US$644.46, propelled by mobile  telephones and components skyrocketing 41.37% to US$258.35 million.

All told, mobile telephones and components accounted for 40% of the total exports trailed by computers, electronics and components at  US$41.75 million, up modestly 1.31% on year.

Equipment, machines and tools ranked third on the list of exports for the January-March period at US$36.73 million, free falling down 34.25%  compared to last year’s corresponding period.

Other items that saw robust growth during the period included metal (up 172.97%), fibres (up 47.92%), animal food and material (up 69.97%),  ceramics (up 239.18%) and cashew nuts (up 299.59%).

Car buyers continue preferring imported vehicles

Vietnamese people have shown that they favor imported cars over locally assembled vehicles, as the debate about whether the local automobile  industry can withstand a possible collapse after 2018 has not ended.

Last month Mercedes-Maybach, the re-launched luxury brand from Daimler AG, reported that Vietnamese customers have ordered ten units of its  luxury Mercedes-Maybach S600 model, which cost VND9.6 billion (US$451,850) each.

Fifty Mercedes-Maybach S600 cars will be produced for the global market in 2015, the German carmaker said.

Official figures have also indicated that sales of imported cars in the first four months of this year were much better than expected, with 34,000  units worth some $883 million sold, an increase of 125.4% and 188.8% in volume and value compared to the same period last year.

According to a recent report by the General Statistics Office (GSO), about 9,000 automobiles, or completely built units (CBUs), were imported  into the country last month with a turnover of US$294 million.

The all-new Mercedes-Maybach S600 attracts interest after its unveiling at the LA Auto Show's press and trade day in Los Angeles Nov. 19,  2014. Vietnamese customers have ordered ten units of Mercedes-Maybach S600 model, which cost VND9.6 billion (US$451,850) each, among  50 cars to be produced for the global market in 2015.

Compared with the previous month, the importation of CBUs fell by 11% in volume, but rose 7.4% in value.

According to a recently released report of the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers' Association (VAMA), total sales of personal cars in Vietnam  reached 9,423 units in April, up 0.1% month on month.

The number of CBUs imported by VAMA members topped 4,200 vehicles, up 19% from the previous month.

While sales of locally assembled vehicles during the first four months rose by 58%, the sales of imported cars surged 73% compared to the  same period last year, according to the VAMA.

The Southeast Asian country last year spent US$1.57 billion importing 72,000 vehicles, rising 103.8% and 117.3% in volume and value  compared to 2013, respectively, the highest rates ever, the GSO said in its report in January.

As sales of domestically assembled automobiles, or CKDs, grew more slowly than the sales of CBUs, this reflects the trend that Vietnamese  people continued to turn away from the former.

In late April, local experts raised concerns about the survival of the automobile industry following Japanese carmaker Toyota’s threat to gradually  pull out of Vietnam if the government fails to provide it with financial and taxation support in the next three years.

By 2018, as soon as the import taxes slapped on many kinds of personal cars imported from ASEAN countries sharply drop or are exempted  altogether as promised by Vietnam when joining the ASEAN Economic Community, the prices of car imports will become cheaper than their  locally assembled counterparts.

The ASEAN members include Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam.

Toyota said the price of CKDs, as calculated by the Japanese automobile manufacturer, may be 15%-20% more expensive than CBUs by then.

Many luxury car brands, including Lamborghini, Jaguar, Bentley and Rolls-Royce, have established branches in Vietnam in recent years to offer  the rich a chance to own officially distributed cars and have their vehicles maintained properly via licensed service providers, which perilously  costs them much more.

Vietnam is projected to stand third in the group of countries with the fastest growth rate of affluent population globally, or New Wealth Builders  (NWBs), which are households with financial assets of US$100,000 to US$2 million, in the 2014-2020 period, according to a report released by  the Economist Intelligence Unit under The Economist magazine on March 23.

During the period, the Southeast Asian country will have about 347,000 NWBs, representing a 34.9% compound annual growth rate, standing  behind only India (47.4%) and Indonesia (41.2%), said the report.

Total assets of the Vietnamese group will top US$68.1 million, or about US$196,500 per household.

Meanwhile, according to the latest Wealth Report 2015 unveiled by British property consultant firm Knight Frank in March, Vietnam is expected to  have around 300 super-rich people, or ultra-high net-worth individuals (UHNWIs), by 2024.

The Southeast Asian country will also see the fastest growth rate in the number of UHNWIs at 159 percent in the 2014-2024 period, followed by  Indonesia (132%) and the Ivory Coast (119%), the report said.

In 2014, Vietnam had 116 UHNWIs, up 6% from 2013 and 231% from 2004.

As defined by Knight Frank in the report, UHNWIs are those with assets of US$30 million or more.

The Establishment Post news website quoted a report from Euromonitor International as stating that more than 100,000 Vietnamese in 2013 had  a disposable income of more than US$75,000 per annum.

A survey conducted by Nielsen concluded that Vietnam ranks third in the world in terms of fondness for branded goods, only surpassed by China  and India.

Moreover, 56% of the participants responded that they are willing to pay more for designer products than for less known brands with the same  functionality, the Establishment Post reported.

National Road 30 to be widened

More than 30 kilometres of National Road 30 will be widened under a US$52.5 million project that began yesterday in the southern province of Dong Thap's Cao Lanh City. The move aims to ease traffic congestion on the road.

The widening will be carried out across Dong Thap and neighbouring Tien Giang provinces so that vehicles can travel safely at speeds of 60 to 80 km per hour. It is expected to take 18 months.

Transport Deputy Minister Nguyen Van The asked local authorities and residents to co-operate on land clearance work for the project National Road 30 is a key transport route connecting several provinces in the Mekong Delta, including Dong Thap, Tien Giang, Long An and Can Tho.

Meanwhile, a new hydro-power plant was opened in the Mekong Delta province of Lam Dong on Saturday.

The Dong Nai 2 plant is expected to add about 263.8 million kilowatts a year to the national power grid. This is enough for about 250,000 people.

The plant was started on the Da Dang River in December, 2007 by the local-based Trung Nam Hydropower Co., JSC.

The total cost of the plant was about VND3.5 trillion ($162.7 million).

The Trung Nam Company had to pay compensation for more than 1,100 hectares of farming land taken from residents.

Most of the 1,200 affected households lived in the two districts of Di Linh and Lam Ha and were ethnic minority people.

Central Highlands given huge project boost

More than 30 socio-economic investment projects are planned for the Central Highlands provinces of Dak Lak, Dak Nong, Gia Lai, Kon Tum and Lam Dong, under commitments made at a conference yesterday in Lam Dong.

The Steering Committee for the Central Highlands, the State Bank of Viet Nam and the Lam Dong People's Committee held the event, the region's third conference on investment promotion and social welfare.

Tran Dai Quang, head of the steering committee, said that despite vast potential for development, the Central Highlands has remained underdeveloped, accounting for about 4.5 percent of the country's GDP.

The State budget alone could not meet the region's investment needs for development, he said, emphasing that capital should be mobilised from both domestic and foreign sources like official development assistance (ODA) and foreign direct investment (FDI).

The Central Highlands should also continue to reform its policies and administrative procedures, create a favourable investment environment, and improve infrastructure and human resources to attract investors, Quang said.

At the conference, five Central Highlands provinces granted investment licences to 13 projects worth more than VND16.6 trillion (US$768 million), mainly in agriculture, animal husbandry, services and energy.

Kon Tum attracted the highest investments, worth VND7.7 trillion ($357 million), while Gia Lai welcomed the largest number of projects.

The provinces and firms also signed 15 co-operative projects and three MoUs in hydroelectricity, transport and agriculture, with commercial banks pledging to lend VND15 trillion ($694 million) for their implementation.

According to the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Central Highlands received more than VND30 trillion ($1.4 billion) from the State budget and Government bonds between 2011 and 2015 to upgrade highways. The region mobilised more than VND28.4 trillion ($1.3 million) to improve local roads.

Between 2011 and 2014, the region received $410 million in ODA. From 2011 to April 2015, it secured 38 FDI projects worth $122 million. Lam Dong led localities with 29 projects worth nearly $75 million, accounting for 61.5 percent of the region's total investment.

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