Khanh Hoa wants 3 more golf courses

The central province of Khanh Hoa has asked to have 3 more golf courses for its Van Phong Economic Zone by 2020, said Tran Hoang Nam, deputy director of the provincial Department of Planning and Investment.

Of these 3, two 18-hole courses will be located at the Ho Na tourism site and in Tu Bong Town and one 36-hole course in the Hon Le-Tuan Ngang tourism area.

The new golf courses will meet the demand of tourists as international resorts will mushroom in the Van Phong Economic Zone, said Hoang Dinh Phi, deputy head of the Van Phong Economic Zone Authority.

Located in Ninh Hoa and Van Ninh districts, the Van Phong zone covers an area of 150,000 ha.

Golf course construction has become a controversial issue in Vietnam recently as critics point out that many provinces have unwisely sacrificed valuable agricultural land to build golf courses.

PetroVietnam urges EVN to repay debt

The Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) has asked the government to urge the Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) to repay its US $400 million debt to PetroVietnam timely.

In its written request to the government, PetroVietnam said its own foreign lenders are being worried about EVN’s VND8.2 trillion (US $400 million) debt.

They worry that if EVN doesn’t repay its debt to PetroVietnam, PetroVietnam won’t be able to repay its own debts to them, PetroVietnam said.

EVN’s debt to PetroVietnam includes VND7.7 trillion in electricity bills owed to PetroVietnam’s thermal power plants and VND422 billion of interest, said PetroVietnam in its request to the government.

In addition, EVN has yet repaid the VND895 billion it owes for running two thermal power plants of PetroVietnam, Ca Mau 1 and 2, from 2007-2009.

PetroVietnam has also sent a written request directly to EVN, stressing that the longer EVN prolongs its debt, the more difficult it will be for PetroVietnam’s member companies as well as fuel suppliers, maintenance service providers and lenders of PetroVietnam.

PetroVietnam isn’t the first one to send a request to the government about EVN’s debt.

Earlier, other creditors of EVN such as the National Coal and Mineral Industries Group (Vinacomin) and Ho Chi Minh City-based Hiep Phuoc Power Co. which sells electricity to EVN also submitted formal complaints to the government about EVN’s debts.

EVN owes Vinacomin about VND1.6 trillion. Hiep Phuoc Power Co. has also threatened to cut its power supply if EVN doesn’t repay its $36 million debt timely.

Long An creates industrial zones

The creation of seven industrial zones in southern Long An Province has been given the go-ahead by the Prime Minister, with 38 projects already approved for the province, including 22 foreign-invested.

The zones are on land that was previously zoned for industrial complexes. Priority will be given to speeding up construction to 2015.

Urban project to break ground

Housing construction in Dong La Commune, Hoai Duc District, Ha Noi, is set to begin at the former Dong La industrial complex.

The project is being undertaken by the Viet Nam Construction&Investment Consulting Joint Stock Company.

It was transformed to social housing by the Ha Noi People's committee, due to its unsuitability for industrial manufacturing under Ha Noi's construction master plan.

Import firm invests in golf course

A US$300 million urban area and golf course is to be built in Ha Noi's Quoc Oai District by Ha Noi General Import Export Joint Stock Company (Geleximco).

Development of the 461-ha project in Phu Man Commune will begin next year. It will contain residential, agricultural, commercial and sports areas, plus a resort.

Designers IMG Golf Course Services has designed courses in Da Lat, Phan Thiet, Ha Noi and Da Nang.

Vietcombank wins best trade bank

The Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade of Viet Nam (Vietcombank) has been awarded "Best Vietnamese Trade Bank in 2011" by the Trade Finance Magazine.

It is the third time in a row the bank has been awarded the title.

The magazine's voters selected institutions that "have truly met the needs of their clients".

Vietcombank is one of the largest commercial banks in Viet Nam and has won various international awards, including those by The Banker, Euromoney and The Asian Banker.

Industrial zones earn $1.9b in H1

Ha Noi's industrial zones yielded nearly US$1.9 billion in revenue in the first half of this year, a year-on-year increase of 17.6 per cent.

Export turnover was up 13.1% to $1.058 billion or 39.6 per cent of the city's export turnover. The Ha Noi Industrial and Export Processing Zone Management Board forecasts a second-half revenue of $2.2 billion and export turnover of $1.3 billion.

The board has helped enterprises complete contracts on loan and land rent agreements and mortgages. It has also called for priority for electricity production.

Vinacomin targets 15% higher earnings

The Viet Nam National Coal, Mineral Industries Holding Corporation Limited (Vinacomin) aims for VND91 trillion ($4.3 billion) revenue for the second half of the year, a year-on-year increase of 15 per cent.

The corporation will continue producing coal to suit market demands, controlling costs and applying advanced technologies.

During the first six months, the corporation reported a revenue of VND44.6 trillion ($2.1 billion), equal to 61.2 per cent of the year plan, up 21 per cent on the same period last year.

Chamber to host Japan forum

The Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry will organise a market survey and trade promotion forum from August 21 to 27 in Osaka and Fukuoka, Japan.

Fukuoka is a new and unexplored market, with thousands of small – and medium-sized enterprises working in the auto industry, environmental sectors, and the garment and textile business.

Vietnamese companies will have opportunities to expand their business, update their information about the Japanese market and create communication with the Trade Promotion Centre of Fukuoka.

Japanese firms may get dedicated zones

Viet Nam will consider establishing industrial zones solely for use by Japanese enterprises, Ministry of Planning and Investment's Foreign Investment Agency director Do Nhat Hoang has said.

During a seminar between Vietnamese businesses and their counterparts from Japan's Aichi Province in Ha Noi on Monday, Hoang spoke highly of the quality of projects carried out by Japanese investors.

Hoang said he hoped that not only Japan's major corporations but also small and medium-sized enterprises, especially those operating in support industries, would come to Viet Nam.

The Vietnamese Government and the ministry were studying proposals to adjust the law to better assist investors in support industries, he said.

Tsujio Yoshifumi, an advisor with the Japan International Co-operation Agency, said Japanese investors urged the Vietnamese Government to improve roads and address its labour shortage.

In the first half of this year, Japanese firms invested $303 million in 86 new projects in Viet Nam, lifting the number of Japanese projects in the country to 1,552 worth $21.36 billion.

Japan ranks fourth among countries and territories investing in Viet Nam.

Currently, 80 businesses from Aichi Province, one of the largest economic and industrial centres in central Japan, have invested in Viet Nam. Most have shown effective performances and several have expanded across the country.

Viet Nam's monetary policies and infrastructure for foreign-invested enterprises were among topics at the seminar, which aimed to help businesses exchange experiences and find trade partners and solutions to difficulties in investment and business.

The event was jointly co-organised by the agency and the Aichi Support Desk. The desk was established in 2009 under a memorandum of understanding between the Vietnamese Ministry of Planning and Investment and Aichi's provincial authorities. It assists the Aichi business community to obtain updated information about Viet Nam's socio-economic situation and policies.

Vn must curb prices next six months: Ministry  

Nguyen Loc An, deputy director of the Domestic Market Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, stated that Vietnamese manufacturers  should reduce cost of essential commodities to help curb inflation and ease the price hike during the last six months of this year.  
 
An was speaking at a seminar entitled “Price Movement in the First Six Months of 2011 and Forecast Prices for the Last Six Months of the Year” in Hanoi on July 12.

He also said that the national economy will continue to face difficulty in the second half of the year, especially with the high inflation, trade deficits and high interest rates.

CPI has increased by 13.29 percent since the end of 2010. Last month the government decided that the CPI should increase by 15 percent maximum in 2011. Economic experts believe that it is very difficult to set a target for CPI. They also think that 17 percent CPI in 2011 will be a reality.

A representative of the Price Management Department under the Ministry of Finance said that relevant organizations must control inflation to reasonable levels by prudently handling monetary policies that support targets for economic growth.

In addition, to control essential product prices, the Ministry of Finance needs to cooperate with relevant authorities to keep a close watch on prices in and outside Vietnam.

Experts who attended the seminar blamed the CPI increase on several causes, such as: global petroleum prices, construction material costs, high rice prices, severe drought and the high cost of agriculture farming.

City saves over 1 per cent in yearly power supply

Ha Noi managed to save around 50 million kWh of electricity during the first half of this year, equivalent to 1.12 per cent of the capital's yearly power supply, according to a municipal electricity company (EVN Ha Noi) report.

The country's second largest economic and financial centre consumes an average of 15 million kWh of electricity a day.

Power consumption usually soars between June and July, the city using 38.5 million kWh of electricity on July 6 alone and 30.8 million kWh on June 30.

EVN Ha Noi's sales department Director Nguyen Anh Tuan said that the increase in electricity consumption occurred due to the simultaneous use of appliances in hot temperatures.

"Families should not use multiple electrical appliances at the same time, particularly during peak hours, in order to ensure a stable power supply throughout the city," he said.

Local advertisers earn just small shares in market sales, say experts  

Many local advertisers fight for outdoor advertising despite it makes a small portion of the market’s revenue due to a shortage of skilled workforce, say experts. Television commercial, which has larger profit margin, is dominated by foreign enterprises with advanced equipments.

Figures from the Vietnam Advertising Association (VAA) show sales of the country’s advertising industry amounted to around US$1 billion last year, while the annual growth rate of the sector reached 20-30 percent.

“The advertising industry remains booming as local businesses are still eager to run ads despite economic turmoil. They have recognized the importance of advertising,” says VAA general secretary Tran Hung.

Statistics show there are 10 foreign advertisers in Vietnam, including Saatchi & Saatchi, Dentsu, TBWA, Riverorchid and Bates 141.

Most local advertisers are now focusing solely on outdoor advertising. According to VAA, outdoor advertising made up merely around 20 percent out of last year’s sales of $1 billion.

“Making outdoor ads requires many legal documents, in which local firms obviously have an edge over their foreign opponents,” a local advertiser’s director disclosed to Dau Tu Tai Chinh Newspaper.

“Therefore thousands of Vietnamese advertisers still favor outdoor advertising although it makes just a small portion of the market’s sales.”

Outdoor advertising, or out-of-home advertising, is essentially any type of advertising that reaches consumers while they are outdoor.

It is focused on marketing to consumers when they are "on the go" in public places, in transit, waiting at a medical office or a retail venue. Outdoor advertising formats fall into four main categories, including billboards, street furniture, transit, and alternative.

“Vietnam’s outdoor advertising remains underdeveloped as it is shackled by many regulations. Each province has different regulation on outdoor advertising,” says Nguyen Thanh Tam, director of advertiser MTN.

“Besides, advertising fee is increasing sharply. The cost of a billboard placed at downtown of the city soar to VND500-700 million ($35,000) per year from VND100 million per year.”

“Foreign advertisers overtake local firms to dominate television commercial as they have advanced equipments and technologies. Vietnamese advertisers still hesitate to buy those stuffs and also lack actors and directors for television commercial only,” says ARTI head Do Kim Dung.
 
Vietnam-US trade turnover hits US$8.3 billion

Trade turnover between the US and Vietnam in the first six months of the year reached nearly US$8.3 billion, up 21 percent compared to the same period last year, according to a report from the US Census Bureau.

The US Department of Commerce (DOC) said Vietnam’s exports to the US amounted to US$6.488 million, up 21.7 percent from the same period last year.

Vietnam’s five key export items included garments and textiles, up 18.8 percent with the highest turnover of US$2.512 million, up 18.8 percent, followed by footwear up 30 percent to US$787.4 million, wood products, up 4.6 percent to US$683.4 million, electrical equipment and seafood products, up 46.6 percent to US$265.5 million. US exports to Vietnam increased by 22 percent to US$1.786 million.

Cotton and fabrics topped the list of US export items to Vietnam, up 189 percent to US$246.7 million, followed by machinery, mechanical equipment and spare parts, up 8 percent to US$195.2 million, means of transport (US$161.1 million), and machinery, electrical equipment and spare parts and meat (US$105 million).

In the remaining months of the year, import-export turnover between the US and Vietnam is expected to increase by 10 percent from last year’s US$18.3 billion level.

Rubber exports likely to hit $3 billion in 2011

Vietnam is expected to export about 800,000 tonnes of rubber and earn US$3 billion in revenue in 2011 as its yearly rubber output has increased by about four percent, according to the Vietnam Rubber Association.

Economists predict that rubber prices will not drop to below US$4,000 per tonne as three major rubber manufacturers Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia are set to protect their rubber prices and the world demand for natural rubber keeps increasing by 3.8-4 percent.

Huge volume of litchi exported through Lao Cai border gate

Since mid-June Vietnam has exported 16,256 tonnes of litchi to the Chinese market at an average price of VND16,000 per kilo.

Over the past week, more than 1,000 tonnes of Vietnamese litchi have passed through the Lao Cai International Border Gate to China’s Yunnan province each year.

Last year, over 40,000 tonnes of Vietnamese litchi products were transported through this border gate to China.

VASEP determined to protect shrimp exporters

The Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) will pursue the country’s claim against US-anti-dumping measures on its frozen shrimp shipments, in order to protect the interests of Vietnamese shrimp exporters.

VASEP Chairman Tran Thien Hai made the statement on July 12 in response to information that the World Trade Organisation (WTO) on July 11 issued the final report of the panel to uphold two of three components in Vietnam’s claim.

“If Vietnam wins the case, it should bring a great benefit to competitiveness of the country’s frozen shrimp on the US market; at the same time, the position of Vietnam’s shrimp will be confirmed on the world market,” Hai said.

VASEP and consultants said if Vietnam won the case, frozen shrimp exports would enjoy immunity from paying advances related to anti-dumping scheme and exporters are likely to be fully exempted from anti-dumping tariffs.

VASEP reported that Vietnam had planned to earn US$2.1 billion from exports of shrimp in 2011. Last year, shrimp export revenues reached US$2 billion, with the US being the second-largest market after Japan.

Vinashin to build two ships for Norway

The Nam Trieu Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (Nasico) under the Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Group (Vinashin) on July 12 inked a contract on the building of two ships, each capable of carrying 6,900 cars, for the Blystad group of Norway.

The car carriers, which measure 199.9 m in length, 32.26 m in height and 10 m in draught, will be equipped with modern facilities and technology to meet the latest international shipping standards.

They will be built to a design of DeltaMarin of the Netherlands under the supervision of DNV of Norway. The first ship is expected to be completed and transferred in October 2013 and the other, in April 2014.

Addressing the signing ceremony, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung said the contract earned the trust of the Norwegian state and shipping companies in Vinashin.

He said the contract was a commitment of quality, time, trust and the brand of Vinashin to domestic and foreign shipping companies in the future. He asked Vinashin and Nasico to maintain and develop the Vinashin brand as well as contributing to celebrating the 40th anniversary of cooperation between Vietnam and Norway. Also at the ceremony, Nasico signed another contract with Hoegh Autoliner of Norway, under which Hoegh Autoliner will send 16 experts to help Nasico build the two car-carrying ships.

Nasico General Director Do Van Thau said that Vinashin and Nasico had previously signed with Hoegh Autoliner a contract to build the two ships. However, that contract was cancelled due to difficulties experienced by Vinashin and Nasico as well as global conditions.

The new project enjoyed active assistance from Hoegh Autoliner and Blystad.

More tourists visit Mekong Delta

The Mekong Delta has attracted more than 10 million visitors since the beginning of the year, up 720,000 compared to last year’s period and earning a record high of VND1,700 billion, said the Mekong Delta Tourism Association.

Can Tho City drew the most tourists in the region, followed by An Giang, Kien Giang, and Ca Mau.

The rise in tourist numbers is attributed to Mekong provinces and cities’ coordinating for training the human resources, establishing tourism promotion centres, launching a website providing tourist information and diversifying and improving the quality of tourism products.

In addition, the region has invested hundreds of billions of VND to upgrade infrastructure for the industry and encouraged diverse economic sectors to invest in tourism.  

The tourism sectors in Can Tho City and An Giang, Kien Giang, and Ca Mau provinces are also cooperating to develop tourism in the Mekong Delta key economic zones for the 2011-2015 period with a vision to 2020.

As the country’s leader in promoting orchard tourism, Can Tho has made great efforts to diversify its tourism products. The infrastructure of 20 ecological tourism areas has been upgraded and 154 new hotels have been built by different economic sectors to meet the demands of the growing numbers of visitors.

Indonesia continues importing Vietnamese rice

Indonesia has negotiated to import 400,000-600,000 tonnes of rice from Vietnam in the third quarter of this year, said Indonesian mass media.

The local media on July 10 quoted Indonesian Economic Minister Hatta Rajasa as saying that the country was ready to resume rice imports to ensure supplies during the Ramadhan, the Fasting Month for the Muslims, and deal with increasing inflation and escalating goods prices.

“The resumption of rice imports is necessary to ensure supplies and maintain stable prices,” he stressed.

At present, there are 1.6 million tonnes of rice in the stockpile of the Indonesian Bureau of Logistics (BULOG), he said.

The Indonesian Ministry of Agriculture forecast that rice prices in the country will increase by 5-10 percent in July and August this year.

Vietcombank wins best trade bank

The Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank) has been awarded "Best Vietnamese Trade Bank in 2011" by the Trade Finance Magazine.

It is the third time in a row the bank has been awarded the title.

The magazine's voters selected institutions that "have truly met the needs of their clients".

Vietcombank is one of the largest commercial banks in Vietnam and has won various international awards, including those by The Banker, Euromoney and The Asian Banker.

Vietnam Rubber Group active in Cambodia

Cambodian authorities will continue to create favourable conditions for the Vietnam Rubber Group (VRG) to implement projects signed by the two countries’ leaders in the spirit of friendly cooperation for the benefit of the two peoples.

Vice President of National Assembly of Cambodia , Nguon Nhel, made the statement at the reception for VRG General Director Tran Ngoc Thuan, General Director of VRG in Phnom Penh on July 12.

Nguon Nhel said VRG’s investment in Cambodia had contributed to developing industries and society as well as improving the locals’ lives.

Thuan said that VRG would build two pagodas as gifts for the Kongpong Thum province in the near future. He also requested local authorities to choose suitable locations and architecture for the projects.

VRG has carried out many rubber-growing projects in Cambodia since 2007. At present, 11 member companies have planted 26,000 hectares of rubber trees on 95,178 hectares of allotted land. The group plans to plant 100,000 hectares of rubber trees in the country by 2012.

So far, VRG has generated stable jobs for more than 7,000 Cambodian workers with average salaries of over 100 USD per month.

Additionally, its member companies have built over 1,500 houses for workers, and hospitals and schools for their children and provided financial assistance for the construction of rural roads and actively participated in social activities in the locality./.

Banks break rate cap to lure dollar deposits

Several banks have breached the 2% rate ceiling for dollar deposits, offering customers a much higher interest rate in an effort to attract more funds to meet the increasing corporate demand for dollar loans.

Bankers said the low lending rate for dollar loans had attracted many borrowers while mobilized dollar funds had tumbled lately, prompting banks to break the interest rate cap of 2% per year to lure deposits in foreign currency.

A businessman told the Daily that if a customer has US$5,000, he or she can negotiate with banks to enjoy a rate much higher than the 2% limit at this time.

“The interest rate of 2% for dollar deposits is too low,” said the source, who is chairman of a securities company. He said banks had offered him an interest rate of 4%-5% per year for big deposits in the U.S. dollar.

Meanwhile, an executive of a joint-stock bank’s corporate banking department admitted demand for loans in the U.S. dollar from enterprises was so strong due to the big gap in lending rates between Vietnam dong and the dollar.

At this time, despite ebbing a little, the lending rate for Vietnam dong for enterprises is still 20% or 21.5% per year, while the lending rate for the dollar is 5.5% to 8% per year. In addition, the expected forex rate stability in the rest of the year also boosts enterprises’ appetite for dollar loans.

Most exporters prefer loans in the U.S. dollar because of low lending rate and they also enjoy priority in borrowing capital in dollars under regulations of the central bank.

Meanwhile, importers who want to take out loans in the dollar must sign options contracts with banks to ensure that they can pay debts to banks in the future. This is a way banks advise importers to do when they want to borrow dollar funds as the central bank restricts dollar loans to importers.

Many enterprises borrow capital in dollar now and sell the greenback to banks to take Vietnam dong for business, which causes a surge in dollar transactions at banks at the moment. But uncertainties are ahead when such loans become due, prompting an upsurge in the demand to buy dollars from banks to pay debts.

Therefore, experts have showed concerns on the pressure piling up on the forex rate in the near term especially from the end of the third quarter when import demand increases for Tet season and most of dollar loans are due.

According to the central bank, by June 20, mobilization in the U.S. dollar had decreased by 3.62% month-on-month while Vietnam dong mobilization rose by 2.32%. Meanwhile, the credit growth in Vietnam dong as of June 20 had declined by 0.43% and that in the U.S. dollar rose by 2.43% month-on-month.

Compared to levels in late 2010, outstanding loans in the U.S. dollar had increased by 23.5% while that in Vietnam dong rose by only 2.76%.
 
S’pore, World Bank help city find proper PPP practices

International Enterprise Singapore (IE Singapore) and the World Bank have thrown their support behind HCMC’s efforts to look for the most appropriate practices for infrastructure projects to be developed via public private partnerships (PPP) and with private sector participation (PSP).

The two organizations struck a memorandum of understanding with the HCMC government on Monday to explore the options of a feasible PPP/PSP business model for Phase 2 of the Nhieu Loc Thi Nghe Environmental Sanitation Project, scheduled to be completed in 2017 if sufficient capital is guaranteed.

Nguyen Phuoc Thao, director of the Steering Center of the Urban Flood Control Program, said Phase 1 of the project would finish by the end of 2011 and the feasibility study was underway for the second phase. This phase comprises of a drainage system in the Nhieu Loc-Thi Nghe catchment area and District 2 as well as a plant able to treat 830,000 cubic meters of wastewater per day.

HCMC was doing its utmost to complete the feasibility study in December this year before selecting designs, equipment and technology for the second phase that requires at least US$470 million, Thao told the Daily in the Q&A session after he signed the MOU with IE Singapore and WB representatives.

Thao said HCMC was now in dire need of investment capital from various economic sectors for not only the second phase of the project but also wastewater collection and treatment facilities in the city to improve the water environment.

He said Singapore and the World Bank would help HCMC study the PPP practices and private sector participation in the second phase. He believed with their expertise and experiences, Singapore and the global lender would suggest the most suitable investment form and effective ways to attract more capital to the project and planned waste water treatment plants here.

Alain A. Barbu, manager of portfolio and operations at World Bank Vietnam, told the signing ceremony that the institution would continue to fund the second phase, which will also be financed by the Vietnamese Government, the Asian Development Bank and/or other potential investors.

HCMC began work on the project in March 2001, with US$200 million financing from the WB and followed by an additional US$90 million last year.

“Phase 1 of this project will be completed this year, and has already begun to deliver positive impacts to residents of the city in reducing flooding and improved collection of wastewater benefiting over two million people,” Barbu said.

Barbu said the second phase would further improve the benefits to the environment through wastewater treatment. He told the Daily after the event that the World Bank was considering US$200 million or more depending on the detailed financing plan for Phase 2 of the project.

Barbu noted the support from IE Singapore would provide important inputs into identifying the possible roles of the private sector in the project, another type of partnership that the Government has identified as part of it infrastructure development strategy.

Chua Taik Him, deputy chief executive officer of IE Singapore, said as Singapore had undertaken projects in water, transport, housing and e-Government through commercially-viable PPP models, the country was ready to share its experiences with Vietnam in infrastructure development.

“The MOU is a good start and sets the base for future collaboration,” Chua said. He told reporters after the signing ceremony that Singapore hoped that its companies would have the opportunity to invest in the second phase after the country had helped HCMC conduct a feasibility study on adopting a PPP model for this phase.

Bangkok-HCMC link proposed

Thailand will propose building a rail link between Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh City at a meeting of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) in Burma in December.

The route would run from Bangkok to Chiang Rai, Boten in Laos, Mohan and Kunming in China, and on to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam.

The route is one of four priorities under the GMS plan for rail development. It would complete a rail transport network from southern China to Thailand, linking to the 615-km standard-gauge line from Bangkok to Nong Khai and the 928-km route from Bangkok to Padang Besar.

The two routes are among 12 proposed China-Asean rail developments. The plan includes six rail links from Kunming to Singapore via Laos, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Phnom Penh.

The development of rail and road networks to link with neighbouring countries will be a significant task for the country over the next five years.

Arkhom Termpittayapaisith, the secretary-general of the National Economic and Social Development Board, said developing rail lines and roads in the region would enhance the logistics role of Thailand, especially given China's desire to use Guangxi, Guangdong and Hainan provinces as gateways to Asean.

Arkhom said roads to link China and Asean were under construction. They include two north-south economic corridors linking southern China to the north of Thailand and to Burma.

Thailand needs to develop a single national window for customs and other clearance procedures, Mr Arkhom said, and it should also develop new border towns to promote trade and tourism.

In 2010, border trade through 13 checkpoints totalled 749.52 billion baht.

Asean-China trade volume increased continuously from 2003-10, producing a trade surplus for China. Annual growth of exports from Asean to China averaged 24 per cent per year, while imports by Asean from China rose at a slower rate of 18 per cent.

Export growth from Thailand to China in the period averaged 22 per cent a year, while Thailand's imports grew at a 21 per cent rate.