Companies in the plastics industry should apply advanced technologies to maintain competitiveness after the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) takes effect by year-end, speakers at a seminar said on September 17.

Le Ngoc Trung, Deputy Head of the Ministry for Industry and Trade's Southern Operation Department, said that plastics small- and medium-sized enterprises must map out long-term business strategies.

The seminar, held by the Vietnam Business Forum in collaboration with Chan Chao Company, discussed how the plastics industry could adapt to the AEC, a single market with 600 million consumers.

Nguyen Thanh Binh, Director of the Business Information Centre of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that tariffs slated for elimination under the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement would be made ahead of the originally scheduled time in 2018.

Tariff rates would drop to zero percent for 80 percent of tax lines. At least 13-15 percent of tariffs would be removed. The rest will be removed gradually until 2018.

The AEC aims to establish a single common market and production base for ASEAN-member countries which will enable the free movement of goods, services, capital and skilled labour within ASEAN. Vietnamese businesses will be able to take advantage of the AEC to import goods at competitive prices and participate in the regional supply chain.

To improve competitiveness, however, the country must use advanced and environmentally friendly technology and take part in R&D activities.

The plastics industry should modernise by gradually eliminating old equipment and technologies and replace them with massive automation, speakers at the seminar said.

This would help pave the way for innovative changes in manufacturing.

Last year, Vietnam imported 3.4 million tonnes of raw materials for plastic goods, accounting for more than 80 percent of demand.

Quach The Phong, consulting director of Ipsos Market Research Ltd Co, said the heavy reliance on raw-material imports made it difficult for Vietnamese manufacturers to lower production costs, thus leading to poor competitiveness with other countries.

The production capacity of domestic plastics manufacturers is not large enough, and has many limitations as well, including mass production capacity, technology, machinery and labour. As a result, companies cannot accept big orders.

Another challenge is a lack of labour, especially skilled workers who can operate new-generation equipment.

About 150,000 labourers work in the plastics industry, but only 70 percent of them can operate modern equipment.

Dong Tao big-drumstick chicken have collective trademark

Northern Hung Yen province’s Dong Tao commune is now boasting its special chicken as a local collective trademark.

Distinctive for its rough, gigantic drumsticks, Dong Tao chicken features heavy figures, thick skin and red meat. The delicacy has long been popular among gourmet groups across the country.

The trademark recognition is the result of a project coordinated by Hung Yen’s Department of Science and Technology and the Investip company since May 2013. Under the project, a local association was set up to protect the rights of its 60 members who follow strict farming and processing criteria of the copyright product while launching market promotion.

The association’s head, Le Quang Thang, said the initiative has equipped his members with breeding and farming techniques as well as facilitated local farmers to access different markets.

As such, 2,000 households in the commune are raising 40,000 Dong Tao chickens that generate considerable annual revenue through trading.

According to Ngo Xuan Thai, Director of the provincial Department of Science and Technology, another project on preserving and developing the species is also underway in a bid to expand its farming model in Dong Tao to other parts of the province.

VPBank offers preferential loans

Vietnam Prosperity Bank (VPBank) is offering a preferential programme for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with the aim of helping them access loans for production and business.

Under the SME Success 2015 programme, which is running from August 24, 2015, to February 24, 2016, the bank will lend SMEs up to 2 trillion VND (88.8 million USD) at preferential interest rates of 1.8 to two percent less than the normal rate. The programme will reportedly help importers to take advantage of the low-cost loans for their operations during the last few months of the year.

In addition, SMEs can also access preferential loans in US dollars for an average annual interest rate of 3.2 percent. The loans are expected to help local firms in import-export payments.

A VPBank representative said they hoped the programmes would give support to businesses' production and trade activities based on low-cost loans at special preferential rates.

BIDV named as best foreign exchange provider for third time

The Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV) has been named as the best provider of foreign exchange services in Vietnam by Asiamoney magazine, becoming the third-time recipient of the prestigious award voted by financial institutions and businesses.

The bank has also been named the best for foreign exchange research and market coverage in Vietnam by the Asian leading regional financial publication.

The annual award, voted by 394 financial institutions and more than 1,900 businesses, is to honour financial institutions across Asia-Pacific in foreign exchange and financial analysis.

In 2012, BIDV was picked as the best overall domestic cash management services and best overall cross-border cash management services by the magazine.

Also during the year, the world’s leading financial magazine, Euromoney, named the bank as the best domestic trade finance provider in Vietnam.

BIDV’s total assets rose 85 times from 8.7 trillion VND (399 million USD) in 1995 to 730 trillion VND (33.4 billion USD) in 2015, making it one of the largest banks in Vietnam.

The bank's mobilised capital increased 337 times from 1.7 trillion VND (77.9 million USD) to 574 trillion VND (26.3 billion USD); its credit rose 100 times from 5.3 trillion VND (243 million USD) to 535 trillion VND (24.5 billion USD), while its charter capital jumped from 247 billion VND (11.3 million USD) to 31.4 trillion VND (1.4 billion USD).

The bank's pre-tax profit also rose from 221 billion VND (10.1 million USD) to 6 trillion VND (275.2 million USD) after 20 years of transition into the commercial bank model.

It has contributed 12 trillion VND (550.46 million USD) to the State budget so far.-

IT plays vital role in tax reform

The application of information technology was one of the key reforms needed for the administration of taxation and customs.

This was stated at the 2015 Vietnam Finance Conference, which opened in Hanoi on September 17.

Time and costs spent on completing procedures in taxation and customs had already been significantly reduced thanks to a series of measures promoting administrative reform, including the application of IT in tax and customs management, said Deputy Minister of Finance Tran Van Hieu.

Online tax filing was implemented by 63 out of 64 localities nationwide. And more than 600 local tax departments and all customs agencies nationwide applied electronic customs procedures for import-export products, he said.

"These efforts contributed to improving the business environment, national competitiveness and efficiency of State management," he said.

Apart from promoting IT application, the ministry also reviewed all legal documents and procedures to cut inappropriate administrative procedures to reduce burdensome for businesses.

Deputy Director of Vietnam's General Department of Customs, Nguyen Cong Binh, said IT has been widely applied in administrative reforms, including customs, import-export tax collection, risk management and examination after customs clearance.

He said the reforms had brought tangible benefits to businesses as well as enhancing the effectiveness and efficiency of State management over customs.

He added that they had helped shorten the time of customs clearances, reduced paperwork, simplified business records, and reduced inspections and the need for supervision.

Binh said the application of the automated customs clearance system (VNACCS/VCIS) and single-window system marked an important milestone in the process of reform and development of the customs service. So far the system had been implemented at all 34 local customs departments nationwide.

More than 99.65 percent of export declarations are now completed through VNACCS. In the first year of implementation (from April, 2014, to March, 2015), a total of 56,000 companies filed declarations via the system.

Customs monitoring is done by electronic methods, which helps reducing congestion at port gates.

The customs sector technically connected with the ASEAN-one door policy from September 8.

The present time for customs clearance of goods has, on average, fallen from 21 days to 14 days for exports and 13 days for imports.

This helped reduce 10-20 percent of the costs as well as 30 percent of clearance time for businesses.

The technological solutions have helped cut compliance costs by 705 billion VND (31.2 million USD) per year for import and export businesses, Binh said.

Deputy Head of the Tax General Department, Nguyen Dai Tri, said IT application was considered a key foundation in all steps of tax management, from tax registration, tax filing and tax payment.

Positive signs had been recorded in the field of taxation, he said, adding that more than 510,000 businesses had electronic tax filing at present, accounting for 98 percent, and more than 25 million online records.

The time required to pay taxes for each business was cut by 370 hours to 167 hours per year from early this year. The country targets to reduce taxpaying hours to 121.5 hours by the end of this year.

Export tax payments were now done automatically through the exchange of information on budget and revenues between customs and commercial banks, Tri said.

However, participants said infrastructure, equipment and transmission lines had not met all requirements for the deployment of electronic tax.

Vietnam Finance includes an exhibition showcasing the latest technology solutions, products and services for the finance industry.

The annual event is co-organised by the General Department of Taxation, General Administration of Customs, Department of Instamatics and Statistics Finance and International Data Group (IDG Vietnam).

Hyundai Corp keens to invest in Vietnam’s agriculture

A delegation from Korean Hyundai Corporation led by its president Mong Hyuck Chung made a fact-finding tour of vegetable and fruit growing areas in the Mekong delta provinces of Long An and Tien Giang on September 17 to seek investment opportunities in Vietnam’s agriculture.

In the previous day, the delegation visited fresh and frozen vegetable and fruit production lines of Lavifood Corporation at Phu An Thach industrial zone in Ben Luc, Long An and pineapple growing farms in Tien Giang province.

Lavifood Director General Pham Ngo Quoc Thang said after the first visit to the company six months ago, Hyundai Corporation decided to make a field survey before choosing a vegetable and fruit supplier.

Lavifood which has a total investment capital of US$25 million, specialises in vegetable and fruit processing. In the first stage which is valued at US$6 million, productions lines with an annual capacity of 15,000 tonnes of products will be put into operation on September 21.

Vietnam builds a $1.7 billion port

More than six years since its opening, a VND40-trillion (US$1.75 billion) deep-river port complex in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau is still struggling to reach its designed capacity.

Statistics from the province's transport department showed that a total of 1.16 million TEUs were handled at Cai Mep-Thi Vai last year, or just 17% of its capacity, even after freight growth averaged 20% a year, Tuoi Tre newspaper reported on September 17.

Although all its seven ports are designed to handle container ships of up to 85,000 DWT, just a few of them receive enough large vessels , Tran Van Danh, chief of the province's customs office, was quoted as saying.

The others are now handling small boats carrying farm produce, iron and steel products, and one of them was almost neglected, Danh said.

Cai Mep-Thi Vai has also failed its mission of becoming a key transshipment port for long distance ships.

Initially 16 vessels left the ports for the US and Europe every week, but by 2012 shipping lines had reduced them to eight ships, the newspaper reported.

One of the two busiest ports within the complex, CMIT currently sees three ships sailing to the US every week.

Nguyen Xuan Ky, deputy CEO of the port, said local goods destined for the distant markets have yet to be shipped through Vietnamese ports.

Instead, they are often sent to transshipment ports in Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan through feeder ships.

Over the years, local experts and officials have had different explanations for the lack of success of Cai Mep-Thi Vai.

At a meeting with the Japan International Cooperation Agency last month, Deputy Transport Minister Nguyen Thu Cong said, with an annual growth of around 6%, the Vietnamese economy should be seeing a sharp increase in freight transport, but it is not.

Some experts said with ports in nearby Ho Chi Minh City expanding since 2008, Cai Mep becomes much less competitive due to a lack of a complete transport infrastructure network.

Official statistics showed that more than 10 million TEUs passed through Vietnamese ports last year, about 70 percent of which were handled at southern ports, with those in Ho Chi Minh City receiving the majority.

Without a coordinator balancing goods flows, Cai Mep will continue operating below their designed capacity and will incur losses until at least 2020, Nhu Dinh Thien, general secretary of Vietnam Ship Agents and Brokers Association, told the newspaper.

Thien's association estimated that if Vietnamese goods are handled and shipped directly from a local port, without being first sent to another regional port, the country's gross domestic product will increase by more than US$2.2 billion a year.

Global economy affects Vietnam

Changes in the global economy had affected Vietnam's farming, forestry and fishery exports, experts said at a seminar on the country's agricultural trade in Hanoi on September 17.

Nguyen Do Anh Tuan, head of the Institute of Policy and Strategy for Agriculture and Rural Development, said the latest change in the world economy was the economic slowdown in China. China's economy is large so the slowdown will have a major impact on the world economy, including Vietnam.

20% of Vietnam's farming products had been exported to China, he said.

According to statistics, China is a large export market for different kinds of local farming products, including rice, which accounts for 36.7% of total national rice export value; rubber with 47%; and fruits and vegetables with 36.2%; in addition to fertilisers which account for 55%.

Meanwhile, national farming, forestry and fishery products have reduced their competitive ability in prices against other rivals on the world market because some countries have devalued their currencies. These countries are China, Brazil, and India, in addition to Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, according to Tuan.

The devaluation of those currencies has reduced the prices of goods and services, including prices of Indian and Thai rice, Brazilian and Colombian coffee, along with Thai, Indian and Indonesian shrimp, and Indonesian and Malaysian rubber.

Nguyen Trung Kien, acting head of the institute's Market and Goods Research Department, said Viet Nam had gained strongly in trading agricultural products over 25 years of economic reforms. But, the growth began to drop from 2011 up to now and it had depended mainly on export of farming products.

Key farming products also saw a sharp drop in exports recently, including a decrease of 14% in the value of coffee exports and 16% in seafood exports.

However, Nguyen Huu Dung, deputy chairman of Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), said the reduction in export of local seafood products was not mainly due to the Chinese market because Vietnamese seafood exported to China accounted for 7% of the total national seafood exports.

Other kinds of farming products such as cashew and pepper have also not had high export volume to China.

Dung said the local export enterprises should have new and strong products to create breakthroughs in exports. These enterprises should create advantages in competitiveness for export products.

Kien said local firms should promote farming exports including seafood, coffee, and pepper, along with cashew, wood and wooden products to the US as a rise in US dollar will help Vietnam's export value increase.

For rice, the local firms should seek export contracts in Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia because those countries were forecast to receive reduced supply of rice this year, he said.

For the long-term, the State should support local firms to diversify the rice export markets to Africa, Europe and other Asian countries.

Workshop seeks to better SMEs’ integration capacity

A workshop was held in Hanoi on September 17 to discuss ways to improve capacity of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in accessing global and regional markets.

Co-organised by the US Agency for International Development, the US-ASEAN Business Council (US-ABC), and the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), the event attracted representatives from over 130 SMEs operating in various fields in Vietnam.

Speaking at the workshop, Chairwoman of the Vietnam Women Entrepreneur Council and the ASEAN Women Entrepreneurship Network Nguyen Thi Tuyet Minh, it’s time for SMEs in general and those owned by women to determine their position in global supply and value chains, thus defining their right direction to integrate successfully.

According to the Asian Development Outlook 2015 of the Asian Development Bank, there is 36% of Vietnamese SMEs joining production network oriented to exports, while those taking part in global supply chains only account for 21%.

VCCI Vice President Hoang Quang Phong stressed the formation of the ASEAN Community by the year-end and free trade agreements between Vietnam and partners would bring opportunities to Vietnamese enterprises to deeply integrate into global supply and value chains, in order to expand their export markets and attract more investments from foreign countries.

However, domestic SMEs face challenges and difficulties as their competitiveness, management and integration capacity remain limited, he noted.

Enterprises will have many chances to promote themself if they understand how to tap their strengths and advantages, Phong said, suggesting that the State should design appropriate policies to facilitate businesses.

At the workshop, experts from US multinational companies such as FedEx, Microsoft, MasterCard and Baker & McKenzie shared issues related to supply chain management, cloud technology, digital payment, and legal procedures in business activities.

The event was part of the chain of workshops and training programmes of US-ABC in Southeast Asia.

Japan hopes to raise beef cattle in Ha Nam

Asao Kunio, director of Hayabusha Co, Ltd, Japan on September 17 held a working session with leaders from northern Ha Nam province to conduct a survey about raising beef cattle.

Kunio said Japanese beef have become famous in the e world due to its tenderness and good smell. However, prices and cost of  raising cattle are very high.

In the short-term, the company expressed their  wish that Ha Nam will create more preferable conditions for the company to raise 10 beef cattle under Japanese standards, technology and using quality control procedures. After  successful experiment outcome, the company would continue to expand its scale to 100 and eventually 500 beef cattle.

Mai Tien Dung, Secretary of Ha Nam Party Committee agreed to facilitate Hayabusha raising cattle in the province on a scale of 20-25 beef cattle. Upon completion, the company will expand the scale of production to help train and transfer technologies to local farmers.

Dien Bien Phu Airport plans redesign for larger airplanes

The Civil Aviation Administration of Viet Nam (CAAV) has asked the Ministry of Transport to redesign Dien Bien Phu Airport by 2020-2030.

The new layout aims at increasing the frequency of flights and to allow the airport to handle larger aircraft, such as the Airbus A320/A321.

Explaining the need for redesigning the airport, the CAAV's Director, Lai Xuan Thanh, said the airport currently only handles smaller aircraft traveling to Ha Noi – Dien Bien or Hai Phong – Dien Bien, as opposed to mid-level flights to Da Nang-Dien Bien and HCM City – Dien Bien.

Further, the airport only sees four arrivals and departures per day, said Thanh.

Flights are affected by local weather conditions and outdated navigational equipment.

Additionally, the airport's runway is close to National Highway 12, causing safety concerns, said Thanh.

According to Thanh, at present many airlines, such as Vietnam Airlines, Vietjet Air and Jetstar Pacific, plan to purchase Airbus A320/321 and larger aircraft from 2020 to 2030.

"However, the current infrastructure of the Dien Bien Phu Airport does not meet the requirement for developing the airlines, as well as the demands of passengers and goods being transported in the future", he said.

As planned, the redesign will include a new runway and extending the current runway, said Thanh.

The airport plays an important role in the economic development for Dien Bien Province and the northwestern region of the country.

SMEs must seek place in global supply networks

The domestic small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) should define positions in the global supply chain to gain success in integrating into the world economy.

Nguyen Thi Tuyet Minh, chairwoman of the Viet Nam Women Entrepreneur Council (VWEC) and also chairwoman of the ASEAN Women Entrepreneur Network, made this remark at a workshop on improving SME access to regional and global markets, yesterday in Ha Noi.

The event held by the United States Agency of International Development (USAID), the US-ASEAN Business Council (US-ABC) and the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) attracted 130 SMEs operating in many business sectors in the country.

According to the Asian Development Bank's Asian Development Outlook, only 36 per cent of Vietnamese enterprises have joined the global production and export network against 60 per cent in Malaysia as well as Thailand. Meanwhile, 21 per cent of Vietnamese enterprises have joined the global supply chain compared with 30 per cent of Thai enterprises and 46 per cent of Malaysian companies.

In fact, Vietnamese firms have assembled, processed and supplied alternative components but not produced main products.

At the seminar, Hoang Quang Phong, VCCI deputy chairman, said establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) by this year-end and free trade agreements between Viet Nam and its partners would be a golden opportunity for local enterprises to integrate with the global supply and value chains for expanding export markets, attracting investment and receiving technological transfers.

Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Dang Huy Dong said that with the trend of globalisation and economic integration, the local SMEs are considered the sector with great potential in joining further into the regional and global supply chain.

However, Phong said the local firms, especially SMEs, must face challenges due to low competitiveness, management at low level and limitation in integration ability.

Therefore, local firms need the State's policies to create good conditions for the development of the enterprise, Phong said.

Dang Phuong Dung, deputy chairwoman and general secretary of the Viet Nam Apparel Association, said joining the global and regional markets has forced local enterprises to reform and increase competitiveness for the remaining businesses in the market.

The local firms must meet standards in the origin of goods, reduce spending of enterprise and improve competitiveness when joining the global supply chain, Dung said.

Nguyen Binh, senior manager of FedEx Indochina and Myanmar, said Viet Nam has joined the global supply chain and that has promoted Viet Nam's economy.

However, local firms should improve further to get more chances to join the global supply chain and increase their competitive ability on the world market, Binh said.

The local firms need good managers with knowledge of integration and the market to take a chance on business and measures to increase production of the enterprise in the chain, he said.

For the long-term, the firms should improve product quality, productivity and production efficiency to reduce production cost and increase the competitiveness of products.

Meanwhile, Dung said local firms should promote co-operation to create a production chain among them.

During the seminar, experts from multi-national companies United States, such as FedEx, Microsoft, MasterCard and Baker&McKenzie shared their experiences in many issues such as supply chain management, cloud technology, digital payment and regulations in business.

Vietnam mooncake sellers running sale though Mid-Autumn Festival’s still days away

Many mooncake traders in Ho Chi Minh City are now selling behind “Buy 1 Get 1 Free” or “50% Off” signs while the Mid-Autumn Festival, when people celebrate the full moon while enjoying the cake, is still ten days away.

Booths selling mooncakes, or the round, baked pastries with such fillings as red beans, lotus seeds, chicken, Chinese sausages, and salted duck eggs, are normally seen across Ho Chi Minh City and other Vietnamese localities one to two months ahead of the festival, which falls on September 27 this year.

But traders in the city have complained that business is becoming dampened this year as consumers seem to prefer homemade products to those offered by popular brands.

They thus have to run promotional campaigns to attract buyers.

Customers will get one freebie for every cake they buy, or enjoy a 50 percent discount, when they visit mooncake booths on Ly Thai To Street, District 1.

But buyers are still hard to find, some traders told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Wednesday.

“It has rained during six out of seven days of the past week and customers are too lazy to get outside [to buy mooncakes],” Tin, who manages a mooncake booth on To Hien Thanh Street, District 10, explained.

“As the festival is drawing near, I have no choice but to bargain the cakes away.”

Tin could only manage to sell ten boxes of mooncakes, and around 15 to 20 single cakes, per day at most, a business result that is way worse than last year, when “a sea of customers visited [our] booth,” he said.

Mooncakes that fetch from VND250,000 (US$11.16) to under VND1 million ($45) per four-piece box are the bestsellers this year, according to traders.

In recent years Vietnamese consumers have complained that mooncakes mass-produced by local confectionery makers are oversweet and more expensive than their real value.

Homemade mooncakes, or products made by home bakers, have thus emerged as a better choice as they are made of natural ingredients and therefore taste moderately sweet and healthy.

Mai Hanh, one such home baker, said she had received orders for 4,000 cakes for the coming festival, compared to only 1,000 last year.

“I had to lease a baking facility to fulfill the huge orders, as I could not make 4,000 cakes in my kitchen anymore,” she said.

The Mid-Autumn Festival falls on the 15th day of the eighth month in the lunar calendar.

People celebrate the fest, considered a special occasion for family reunions, by getting together to enjoy mooncakes, the festival’s indispensable treat, over fragrant tea while admiring the full moon.

The mooncake is gradually losing its meaning in Vietnam, as the delicacy is no longer meant for kids, but for adults to build relations.

In big cities in Vietnam, mooncakes are mostly exchanged between adults as gifts, and their prices keep unreasonably skyrocketing festival after festival.

There is also a paradox in the country: those who buy mooncakes will not eat them, and those who eat the cakes do not have to buy them.

Apartment sales remain strong in Da Nang

The Da Nang apartment market continued to show positive signs in the second quarter with absorption at 18 per cent compared to 11 per cent in the first quarter of this year.

A report from real estate consultancy Savills Viet Nam showed that projects by well-reputed developers and those near the beach and downtown generated good sales in the first half.           

Savills said with another 13 villa and 21 apartment projects set to finish, 1,350 villas and townhouses and 17,600 apartments would hit the market in the remaining period of this year. Hai Chau District would remain the main location for apartments with a 75 percent market share and Son Tra peninsula would continue to have the largest villa supply.

Two villa projects, Premier Village Da Nang resort and Naman Residences, are offering for sale 150 more units in their latest stage in the second quarter.

This has increased the villa inventory to 890 units in 16 projects, of which the primary market accounted for 450 in 10 projects.

The property consultancy said villa absorption was 12 per cent due to the good sales performance by Premier. The average price was VND27.5 million (US$1,300) per square metre, up 9 per cent quarter-on-quarter (QoQ).

Most purchases were in the nature of investment or buying to lease.

The central city saw a 25 per cent year-on-year (YoY) increase in tourist arrivals in the first half to 2.23 million. The number of international visitors was 600,000, an increase of 33 per cent, while domestic visitor numbers rose 22 per cent.

A view of De Bay hotel in the Ba Na Hills Mountain resort in the central city.

In the hotel segment, there were 7,050 three- to five-star rooms, a 10 per cent QoQ and 32 per cent YoY rise.

The increase was a result of the official ranking of eight hotels.

Three-star hotels accounted for 3,050 rooms, accounting for 43 per cent, followed by five-star (34 per cent) and four-star (23 percent).

The average rental rate (ARR) increased by 8 per cent YoY to VND1.78 million ($84.7) per room per night, while revenue per available room (RevPAR) grew 13 per cent YoY. ARR and RevPAR increased across the board.

The overall occupancy rate increased by 4 percentage points YoY to 74 per cent, while the three-star segment achieved the highest occupancy, followed by five- and four-star.

In the second half of this year 38 developments with approximately 8,570 rooms are expected to be completed.

By 2017 another 2,400 rooms would be added by eight new hotels, six of them in the beach area.

The number of visitors arriving in Da Nang by air in the first six months was 268,275, double the number in the same period last year.

The city has 23 direct international flights to destinations in Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, China, Hong Kong, Cambodia, and Europe.

In the second quarter the total stock of office space was 86,500sq.m in 25 buildings, a 13 per cent increase QoQ and YoY.

Busy Hai Chau District continues to be the main supplier with 63,000sq.m in 20 buildings.

In the second quarter the average occupancy was 83 per cent, a 3ppts fall QoQ, while the average rent was down 2 per cent to VND213,500 ($10.1) per square metre per month.

The average grade A rent increased by 1 per cent QoQ, while both grades B and C saw a 1 per cent fall.

The Premier Village Da Nang resort relaunch its villa project in the central city. The city's village absorption was 12 per cent increase in the second quarter this year.

In the first six months of this year 1,495 new businesses were started with a registered capital of over VND6.06 trillion ($269 million).

Savills estimated that around 266,000sq.m in 18 projects would come into the market starting in the second half of this year though many have yet to announce launching dates.

In overall, only one new project is expected to enter the city's office market in 2015, supplying approximately 20,400sq.m

In the second quarter the retail sector saw a 24 per cent increase QoQ and 30 per cent increase YoY with a total availability of 167,000sq.m.

The figure was due to the entry of Vincom Ngo Quyen Da Nang, a mall on the Han River with an area of 40,000sq.m and costing VND900 billion (US$43 million).

Imported car market booming

Vietnam Customs has reported that Vietnam imported 10,794 completely-built-unit (CBU) automobiles in August worth $200.75 million, a 13.8 per cent increase in number but a 4.2 per cent decline in value against July.

Total imported CBU automobiles from January to the end of August stood at 75,236 units worth more than $1.9 billion, representing an incredible 101.7 per cent growth in number and 133.2 per cent growth in value compared to same period of 2014.

Figures for 2014 showed that Vietnam imported 72,000 CBU automobiles worth $1.57 billion, meaning the first-eight month result has already exceeded last year’s total and growth in the annual figure is likely to be in the triple digits.

The Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers' Association (VAMA) earlier reported that total August sales, for imports and locally-assembled vehicles, were 18,236 units, a 10 per cent decline against July but 45 per cent higher than in August 2014.

Inspectorate targets BOT projects

The Government Inspectorate has issued a decision on inspecting a number of investment projects under the build-operate-transfer (BOT) form in the fields of transport and the environment.

Under the decision signed by Deputy General Inspector Ngo Van Khanh on September 14, within 75 days it will inspect the legal observance by projects under BOT in traffic and the environment in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City carried out from 2010 to June 2015.

Other projects outside of this timeline may be inspected if deemed necessary.

The inspection team is to have 18 members, including members from the Government Inspectorate, the Ministry of Transport, and the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

Minister of Transport Dinh La Thang recently assigned relevant agencies to conduct inspections of 26 transport projects under the BOT form.

There are 22 national highway BOT projects, of which 20 are from Hanoi to Can Tho province and two from Hanoi to Lang Son province.

Agencies have already prepared plans to inspect 19 projects, with the three others not inspected as yet as they have only just begun.

PTI insures Vinpearl Luxury Da Nang

The Vinpearl Luxury Resort in Da Nang has taken out an insurance policy with the Post & Telecommunication Joint Stock Insurance Corporation (PTI), with coverage totaling VND1.17 trillion ($52.3 million).

The policy includes asset insurance, fire insurance, business interruption insurance, and public liability insurance.

The public liability insurance covers personal injury or property damage to a third party.

Business interruption insurance will insure the gross profit of the Resort and any higher operating costs caused by damage to insured property.

Vinpearl Da Nang is a five- star luxury resort that includes a 200-room hotel and 39 villas on Vietnam’s central coast.

PTI also insures urban areas and major resorts such as Vinpearl Luxury Nha Trang, Sun Spa Resort, and the Splendora urban area, among others.

Foreign banks join e-tax registration system

As of late August, the online tax filing system was deployed in 63 provinces and cities nationwide, according to the General Department of Taxation.

The Department said over 510,000 enterprises submitted online tax documents, accounting for 98% of the total number joining the system.

Localities having high rates of e-tax filing were Da Nang (100%), Ha Noi (99%) and HCMC (99%).

So far, more than 422,000 enterprises have registered for electronic tax payment at the General Department.

The General Department of Taxation also reported that it had signed agreements to provide e-tax payment service with 42 commercial banks, including 13 foreign ones, of which 22 have officially offered the service.

Ban on deposits for social housing

Investors of social housing projects are banned from collecting deposits from home buyers, the Ha Noi Department of Construction said.

The department has recently issued an announcement for home buyers, suggesting that they should carefully study the regulations and procedures while buying or renting an apartment in a social housing project. This will help them to avoid losing money on real estate transaction floors.

The buying and renting of property should follow regulations in Decree 188/2013/ND-CP, dated October 20, 2013, and Circular 08/2014/TT-BXD, dated May 23, 2014, on the development and management of social housing projects.

Accordingly, households and individuals should submit their applications only to addresses published on the department website soxaydung.hanoi.gov.vn and the official websites of the investors, but not on estate transaction floors. It also said home buyers should not accept illegal transfers in social housing projects.             

The announcement was issued as some investors and property transaction floors in the capital have asked home buyers to pay deposits and prices higher than the stipulated levels.

The money will be their first payment after the signing of the purchase contract; if they decide not to buy the apartment, they lose the deposit.

However, many people registered to buy apartments in social housing projects, and then decided not to proceed with the purchase. This made investments in such projects risky.

There are regulations on deposits for commercial house purchases, but none for social housing.

Recently, several social housing projects were put on sale on property transaction floors with deposits of VND50 million to VND70 million per apartment.

For example, the Dai Kim social housing project in Hoang Mai District, built by Handico 5, announced that it would accept applications from home buyers from September 3 to 17. However, some estate transaction floors offered the project's apartments for deposits of VND50 million to VND60 million each.

The transaction floors said the deposit would be considered as a commitment to ensure that buyers were eligible to buy such apartments.

The municipal People's Committee has asked the construction department to help investors conclude home purchase contracts and grant certificates of land-use rights to social housing projects.

The department will review the sale and rent amounts at social housing projects so certificates can be granted.

In addition, it will push investors to organise apartment conferences to complete technical and social infrastructure in each project.

The department has also been asked to review projects that were converted from commercial to social housing. The licences of those that have delayed construction will be revoked and the projects handed over to other investors. The review will be submitted to the People's Committee this month.

VEF/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/Dantri/VET/VIR