Kyomi now in Vietnam

Japan’s  Kiyomi Paper has just established its representative office in Vietnam in order to supply Kiyoma’s trademark compressed tissues, tissue papers, diapers and  paper showers fresh for Vietnam and neighbouring countries.

Takayuki Fukui, Kiyomi’s regional representative in Southeast Asia, said that the products were made from 100 per cent natural cotton with a double folding technique, resulting in a very soft and skin-friendly product, which could be used directly or with the addition of water, as a wet tissue.

He added that Kiyomi means "pure beauty” and the company remains committed that their products are manufactured in line with ecological/environment friendly charcoal technology.

Kiyomi Papers Vietnam has also signed distribution agreements with a number of major partners in Vietnam to supply its products in the Vietnamese market.

Kiyomi Paper is a subsidiary of Hideki Group which was established in 1991.

Property awards triumph for VinaLiving in Ho Chi Minh City

VinaLiving, the property development arm under fund manager VinaCapital, was just honoured at the first ever Vietnam Property Awards 2015 in Ho Chi Minh City last week.

The ceremony at the Intercontinental Asiana Saigon- organised by Ensign Media and supervised by BDO, the fifth largest accountancy firm in the world- was the first event of its kind in Vietnam.

Acknowledging excellence in location, construction, design and innovation, the annual event recognises top industry professionals who plan and construct quality new developments.

On offer were 21 prizes across four categories for the best developer, development, and design, followed by the “best of the best” category.

VinaLiving was the recipient of two awards- Best Condo Development (resort) in Vietnam for The Ocean Apartments at Danang Beach Resort and highly commended award for Best Villa Development (resort) in Vietnam for The Point at Danang Beach Resort.

"These two awards reaffirm VinaCapital as a recognised real estate development team, and verifies the superior standard of quality and expertise we bring to each project we are involved in,” said David Blackhall, VinaCapital Real Estate managing director.

“Our approach of offering buyers a product that meets international standards at a competitive price and under one master brand sets VinaCapital apart from its competitors not only in Vietnam, but also across the region,” Blackhall added.

Winners of the awards are now eligible to compete with regional peers in the grand finale at the fifth annual South East Asia Property Awards 2015, to be held at the Shangri La Hotel in Singapore in October 2015.

Presented by Asia's industry-leading Property Report magazine, the annual event serves as a unique networking venue for professional realtors in Vietnam to meet industry leaders and stay in touch with their peers.

Textiles seeing FDI wave

In the first seven months of this year the textile sector has attracted the second-highest amount of foreign direct investment (FDI) capital, with $1.12 billion, or more than 20 per cent of the total flowing into the country.

According to the Foreign Investment Agency under the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the three largest projects included one producing and processing fiber, owned by Turkish investors in southern Dong Nai province with total investment of up to $660 million, which was the highest investment ever. It was followed by a project producing support products for the textile industry, invested by Polytex Far Eastern Co. from Taiwan with $274 million, and a project of the Lu Thai yarn factory, owned by a Hong Kong investor, with investment capital of $160.8 million.

Many experts believe that as Vietnam’s garment sector has improved its strengths over recent years more FDI has come as a result. Vietnam has also signed on to eight trade agreements, including those with major countries such as the US, Japan, South Korea and the EU, which are all key textile export markets for the country.

Analysis from the Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency under the Ministry of Industry and Trade showed that textile export turnover to the EU is only some $300 million a year but when the EU - Vietnam Free Trade Agreement takes effect it may grow by some 50 per cent in the first year and 20 per cent annually in subsequent years. And if the TPP is adopted Vietnam’s textile exports to the US will hold greater competitive advantages.

From such free trade agreements Vietnam’s textile sector is quickly becoming a destination of potential for foreign investment.

Hanoi announces urban area planning in Hoang Mai

The Hanoi Department of Planning and Architecture, in cooperation with the Hoang Mai District People’s Committee, has announced detailed construction planning for a new urban area in capital’s southern district.

Located in Thinh Liet ward, the urban area has an area of 60,323 square meters and will house 4,500 people.

According to the department, upon completion the urban area will address the city’s housing demand, at the same time providing public services, schools, and kindergartens, and contributing to enhancing the environment and quality of life of people in the area.

The urban area is designed as an ecological urban area with many green zones, providing a modern and convenient living environment to residents. High-rise buildings are located in the north and west of the urban area, with low-rise buildings in other areas.

Construction planning for the urban area is part of Hanoi’s general construction planning to 2030 and vision to 2050.

SVB to crack down on banks violating housing loan regulations

Deputy director of the Ho Chi Minh City branch of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) Nguyen Hoang Minh yesterday said that they had reviewed all loan documents related to the social housing credit package VND30 trillion (US$1.35 billion) and would handle any bank breaking loan regulations.

All commercial banks under the program have been asked to send their loan reports to the branch, which will examine the reports and compare them with other information sources.

Banks not complying with loan regulations will be handled as per Government’s Decree 96/2014 on penalty in monetary and banking field.

Those loaning wrong objects of the program will see their loans or interest reclaimed.

According to Mr. Minh, the inspection will not only penalize banks providing false loans but also find whether investors of social housing projects have abided by regulations related to the package.

The branch will list names of violators and send it to authorized agencies to handle.

By the end of July, commercial banks in HCMC have pledged to loan VND3.3 trillion, of which VND2 trillion has been disbursed.

About 97 percent of loan documents and disbursed fund have been provided by three giants including the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam, Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam and Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Industry and Trade.

HCM City agencies urged to improve SEZ establishment plan   

HCMC chairman Le Hoang Quan has told relevant agencies to quickly improve a plan to establish a special economic zone (SEZ) to spur the city’s economic growth in the coming years, the Vietnam News Agency reports.

The HCMC government expects the SEZ will help it make the most of potential and advantages, create a new driving force for production, business and import-export, and attract more investments in commercial and service sectors and infrastructure development in the city.

The city plans to develop the zone on an area encompassing districts 7, Nha Be, Binh Chanh and Can Gio to give a new boost to the development of the city, especially in the southern part.

Quan said the SEZ project was of paramount importance to the city’s future development, according to announcement of the HCMC People’s Committee.

To have a viable SEZ development plan, Quan asked the group responsible for the project to analyze the urgent need, objectives and scale of the zone in the context of Vietnam’s deeper international integration.

The group should identify priority sectors crucial to the development of the zone and propose incentives and capital mobilization plans for the project. Meanwhile, the HCMC Institute for Development Studies is told to review legal documents and policies related to land, funding, tax and human resources in Vietnam and other countries for the SEZ model to suggest proper measures to implement the project.

The HCMC Department of Planning and Investment should look into all zoning plans for the area for the SEZ and propose plans to develop the zone in connection with the master zoning plans for Hiep Phuoc port-urban area and Phu My Hung Urban Area.

Quan stressed the city government was determined to develop the zone though it knew that most of SEZs could come to fruition at least five years after they were established.

The HCMC government unveiled the SEZ development project in the middle of last year in hopes that it would support the city’s sustainable development for 2016-2020 with a vision toward 2030.

In 2013, the Government approved a master zoning plan for HCMC’s socio-economic development until 2020 with a vision towards 2025. This plan consists of satellite urban areas, industrial clusters, commercial areas and special economic zones.

The city will develop its economy based on a service-industry-agriculture structure with priorities given to value-added and key industries, including engineering, electronics and information technology, chemistry-rubber and food processing, biotechnology, green industry, garment and footwear fashion design.

500 Startups to increase investments in Vietnam

U.S.-based venture capital fund 500 Startups has hired two venture partners in Vietnam, Edward Thai and Tran Quoc Binh, as part of its strategy to invest more in local startups.

The partners will support 500 Startups to find local startups in the technology sector to invest. Thai said the fund would make a maximum investment of US$250,000 in each startup when they are working on prototypes.

“In the short term, we are venture partners of 500 Startups but a new fund for the Vietnamese market would be set up in the coming time,” he said.

Binh quoted Khailee Ng, 500 Startups’ Southeast Asia-based managing partner, as saying that 500 Startups is willing to invest in Vietnam and the matter is whether venture partners in the country are ready or not.

“We are ready now,” Binh said.

Headquartered in Silicon Valley in the U.S., 500 Startups focuses on investments in technology startups. Earlier, the venture capital fund poured money into three Vietnamese startups, namely Ticket Box, BabyMe and Tappy.

Thai graduated from Harvard University and got an MBA degree from Yale University. He was former director of strategy and corporate development of CJ CGV Vietnam and former chief executive officer of Vietnam Accelerator Fund.

Binh has 20 years of experience in the technology sector and was a co-founder of four startups, including Klout in 2008. The firm was acquired by Lithium Technologies at a cost of US$200 million last year.

Klout is a website and mobile app that uses social media analysis to rank its users according to online social influence on social networks.

Taiwan gets back Vietnam caretakers of elderly people

The Department for Overseas Labor Management is carrying out a pilot plan to bring Vietnamese laborers back to Taiwan to work as caretakers of the elderly and the sick and members of inshore fishing vessels.

By last Friday the department under the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs had selected 61 enterprises eligible for sending local laborers to Taiwan to do the jobs to recommend them to Taiwanese authorities for consideration.

The department said Taiwan had agreed to get back Vietnamese guest workers for the jobs since June after 10 years of suspension since a high porportion of workers had not returned home after their labor contracts ended.

Currently, the department is getting and processing applications to select more firms for sending Vietnamese people to Taiwan for employment.

On July 23, the department issued Document No. 1063/QLLDNN-DL-CM guiding firms in providing employees with training courses on foreign languages and essential knowledge of working as caretakers for families in Taiwan.

The department reported that 12,350 Vietnamese went abroad for guest work last month. Taiwan took the largest number of Vietnamese guest workers with 5,717, followed by Japan with 3,407, South Korea with 1,071, Malaysia with 1,045, Saudi Arabia with 202 and Macau with 85.

The first seven months of this year, 68,523 Vietnamese including 21,059 females were sent overseas for guest work, meeting 72.13% of the year’s target and up 6.5% year-on-year.

The ministry hoped 90,000 Vietnamese workers would be sent abroad in the second half of this year.

Riot-hit Taiwan firms wait for financial aid

The Council of Taiwanese Chambers of Commerce in Vietnam has petitioned the Government and relevant ministries to offer support as promised, including financial aid for enterprises that suffered from the worker protests against China’s illegal deployment of an oilrig in Vietnam’s waters last year.

The chairwoman of the council underlined five major requests regarding the Government’s support for Taiwan businesses to cope with the aftermath of the riots sparked by ill-intentioned elements during the protests.

First, riot-hit Taiwan firms want to get land rent rebates. The council said though provincial governments pledged to cut or exempt land rent, Taiwan companies have yet to receive the refunds from tax agencies.   

Second, local authorities pledged to cover transport, hotel and related charges arising from the incident for affected enterprises and they are now waiting for payments.

Third, the council wants tax agencies to deduct 70% of wages paid for laborers who had to stay away from work due to the protests from corporate income tax.

To implement Document No. 1202 issued by the Government Office on July 7 last year, the governments of Binh Duong and Dong Nai provinces ordered tax agencies to deduct 70% of employees’ wages during that period from corporate income tax for the most suffering firms but yet to recover operations until July 1 last year.

However, the council claimed the document was different from Document 300/TB-VPCP dated July 30, 2014 signed by Deputy Minister Hoang Trung Hai as the latter said a maximum 70% of workers’ wages could be deducted from corporate income tax.

Fourth, the Government pledged to offer corporate income tax exemptions for two years and a reduction of 50% in the following four years for firms reinvesting in production facilities. A dozen businesses under the council have proposed the Ministry of Planning and Investment do this but have yet to get approval, the council said.

Fifth, the council said insurance enterprises have not completed payouts for the firms which were hardest hit by the riots and this slow process has affected their operations. According to the council, six companies – Bor Yueh Vietnam, Alhonge, Viet Hsing, Diamon Vietnam, Saigon Daryar and Hung Nghiep Formosa – signed contracts with Vietnamese insurance firms.

Meanwhile, three other enterprises – Vision, Long Huei Vietnam and Apparel Far Eastern Vietnam – bought insurance from Taiwan companies.

The council said Taiwanese had not withdrawn capital in Vietnam as they trusted the Government’s support and the country’s investment environment.

The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Vietnam also asked the Government and relevant ministries to support the riot-affected businesses as pledged.

Competent agencies have considered supporting firms after receiving documents of the Taiwan organizations. The Ministry of Finance requested the governments of Binh Duong, Dong Nai and Ha Tinh to meet requests for land rent reduction and payments for transport, hotel and related charges to the firms suffering from the incident.

HCM City determined to develop supporting industries

HCMC will set aside 500 hectares of land at industrial parks (IPs) for projects in supporting industries in 2015-2020 as part of a strategy to support the development of these industries, according to the city government’s recent report.

The areas reserved for supporting industries include 50 hectares at Saigon Hi-Tech Park (SHTP) in District 9, and 369 hectares at Hiep Phuoc and Le Minh Xuan IPs and an IP for auto enterprises.

HCMC will develop multistory workshop buildings with total floor space of 100,000 square meters for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in supporting industries.

The city will focus more on supporting industries in the hopes that its index of industrial production would grow 7% annually in the next five years.

The city government will attract more SMEs to four major industries – manufacturing and engineering, electronics-information technology, chemical-plastic-rubber, and food processing.

The city government said other countries considered SMEs as a driving force for the development of their supporting industries. About 95% of enterprises in HCMC are SMEs and policies are needed to make supporting industries strong.

Most SMEs have difficulty finding materials for production as they have to import 70% of materials and components from foreign markets, and getting access to bank loans.

Meanwhile, the Government’s policies and incentives for supporting industries have not been of great help for SMEs due to complicated procedures.

Bad debt grows in banking sector

Bad debt rose steadily in the banking sector in the first three months of the year, according to the State Bank of Vietnam.

January’s bad debt made up 3.49% of total outstanding loans at local banks and the percentage edged up to 3.59% in February and to 3.81% in March.

The central bank announced the bad debt updates on its website after the Credit Information Center (CIC) had checked and compared the bad debt ratios reported by credit institutions to the figures the center had.

Credit institutions are required to check the classifications of their customers and compared them with those of CIC in line with Circular 02/2013/TT-NHNN and Circular 09/2014/TT-NHNN issued by the central bank. Earlier, banks had to report bad debt ratios based on their own customer data only.

The central bank said the bad debt ratio of the banking system was 4.83% in December 2014, above the 3.81% in March this year.

The central bank said since March this year, bad debt has accurately reflected the real situation of credit institutions and there has been no difference between the figures released by banks and management agencies.

The bad debt ratio of 3.81% by March was equivalent to VND155.28 trillion.

VietnamPlas 2015 to kick off next month

The Vietnam International Plastic and Rubber Industry Exhibition 2015 (VietnamPlas 2015) will kick off at the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Center (SECC) in HCMC’s District 7 on September 16.

The organizers of VietnamPlas 2015 told a press conference in HCMC on August 18 that the four-day international exhibition would attract exhibitors from many countries and territories, including Vietnam, Taiwan, Iran, India, Korea, Singapore, Malaysia and Italy.

Of 386 booths at the forthcoming event, Vietnam firms will occupy 102, the second largest number after that of Taiwanese exhibitors.

The event will feature advanced machinery, equipment, services and raw materials in the plastics and rubber industries. The exhibits include plastic injection molding machines, plastic granulating machines, molds, bottle blow molding machines, automatic PET glass blowers, hydraulic and pneumatic, conveyor manufacturing machines, tire manufacturing machines, rubber vulcanization compressor and rubber blowers.

Local and foreign enterprises will have the opportunity to expand their markets, establish business links, improve production quality, and boost exports.

The event will be jointly organized by the Vietnam National Trade Fair and Advertising Company (Vinexad) and Taiwan’s Chan Chao International Co. Ltd.

HCM City to save land for support industry

City authorities plan to reserve 500ha of land for the support industry at several industrial parks until 2020.

The city also plans to build an additional 100,000 sq.m of warehouse space which will be leased to small-and-medium-sized enterprises in the support industry.

The city will also invest in the support industry in an aim to increase the rate of industrial growth by seven percent within the next five years.

The Sai Gon VRG Joint Stock Company has begun building a multi-story warehouse in Cu Chi District's Dong Nam Industrial Park and Binh Chanh District's Le Minh Xuan 3 Industrial Park.

The three-to-eight storey warehouse will have monthly leasing fees of US$3 – $5 per square metre, and management fees of $1 – $2 per sq metre each month.

The deputy chairman of HCM City's People's Committee, Nguyen Huu Tin, has signed a zoning plan to build Le Minh Xuan 3 Industrial Park on 231ha of land in Binh Chanh District.

The VND1.2-trillion ($54.5 million) project is invested in by Sai Gon VRG Joint Stock Company.

The industrial park will focus on electronics, information technology, and food and beverage. It is expected that enterprises in the industrial park will employ 20,000 people.

A new industrial park is necessary, as other parks are using outdated technology that cause pollution, Tin said.

Besides the Le Minh Xuan 3 Industrial Park, other enterprises plan to build more warehouses in the city.

Last year, the city approved 29 FDI projects in industrial parks and export processing zones in the city.

Ministry to regulate sea transport charges

The Ministry of Transport has asked the Prime Minister to arrange for a list of sea transport fees and port charges to be published to stop ship owners from over-charging.

Deputy minister Nguyen Van Cong on Tuesday said shipping firms relied on a lack of printed information to fleece goods owners.

Publicity on official sea freight fees and port charges is expected to help rectify the situation.

The move would also create a base to punish violators, Cong said.

According to Viet Nam Leather and Footwear Association, it spends about $110 million or one per cent of its import-export value a year on extra shipping fees. The fees sometime rise by 20 per cent a year, affecting revenue - and even survival.

Transport Ministry reports show that Viet Nam has 32 container ships that operate mostly on inland waterways and routes within Southeast Asia.

About 40 foreign sea transport firms also operate in Viet Nam, carrying up to 88 per cent of goods exported/ imported to Viet Nam.

Trinh The Cuong, head of the Maritime Transportation and Services Division under the ministry's Viet Nam Maritime Department, said that ports usually imposed container service charges (CSC) of US$35-46 for a 20-foot container and $45-68 for a 40-feed containers.

The CSC are additional costs on top of sea freight charged by shipping companies for the handling of containers at container terminals before being loaded onboard a vessel.

However, when shipping companies billed their customers, they usually charged $90-$110 in container service charges per 20-foot container and $120-$145 per 40-foot container, Cuong said.

The shipping companies said the overcharge for other container-relating fees besides loading fee that they paid to port manager.

Most shipping firms agreed that sea transport fees and port service charges needed to be more transparent.

A representative from APL, a container shipping company, said early this month in HCM City that publicising transport fee and port service charges would provide goods owners with official information to select shippers.

Tour operators worry about weaker dong

Tour operators are concerned that the Vietnam dong devaluation by another 1% and the widening of the dong/dollar trading band from 2% to 3% would eat into their revenue and profit.

Director of Viking Travel Company Tran Xuan Hung said a weaker dong would rattle tour operators as they found it difficult to cope with such a sudden change. He bemoaned the company had lost VND10 million for a contract arranging a six-day trip for 20 tourists to Hong Kong due to the dong fall. This is because his firm now has to spend more buying the same sum of dollars to pay for tourism services in Hong Kong.

Hung said the company would keep a close watch on exchange rate fluctuations and report price updates of outbound tours to customers.

However, Hung and the directors of several other tour companies remain hesitant to announce new tour prices. Some firms have made a compromise by slightly increasing tour prices and at the same time reducing profit margins to stay competitive.

Many tour operators said that the rate hike is unlikely to help them improve competitiveness in attracting international tourists.

Hung said that to a certain extent, the Vietnamese currency devaluation would help lower inbound tour prices and encourage international tourists to spend more in Vietnam.

General director of Saigontourist Travel Service Company Vo Anh Tai said this could relatively increase the competitiveness of tours to Vietnam but if regional countries devalue their currencies as well, this advantage would disappear. In reality, except for the Singapore dollar, the currencies of many other regional countries have dipped significantly against the dollar.

More investment projects land in Tien Giang province

The Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang has granted investment certificates to two new projects worth 17 million USD in total at the provincial industrial parks since the outset of this year.

The province has also allowed four existing projects to add 30 million USD in investment.

Tien Giang is currently home to 73 projects worth 1.37 billion USD, 47 of which are foreign direct investment ones valued at 182.7 million USD.

The results have been spurred by improvements in policies as well as administrative procedures, contributing to promoting an industrialised economic structure.

According to Nguyen Thanh Liem, Deputy Head of the local Industrial Zones Authority, enterprises operating in the province’s four industrial zones My Tho, Tan Huong, Long Giang and Soai Rap Petroleum Service are creating jobs for over 65,000 labourers.-

Northern localities seek business climate upgrades

Representatives from State departments and enterprise associations of provinces and cities in the Red River Delta shared their localities’ experiences in improving the business climate and provincial competitiveness index (PCI) at a meeting in Bac Ninh province on August 20.

At the function, also drawing those from the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the US Agency for International Development, participants looked into high-interest matters such as the role of information transparency, associations and people-elected agencies in bettering the business environment.

They also discussed administrative procedure reform, the responsibility of the heads of agencies in receiving and settling enterprise petitions, and localities’ responsibility in promoting the local business climate and national competitiveness.

Vice Chairman of the Bac Ninh People’s Committee Nguyen Huu Thanh said the province has employed an array of measures like reforming administrative procedures, holding dialogues with companies and issuing support policies to create an open, transparent and attractive business environment.

Bac Ninh was among the few localities sustaining high positions in the national PCI rankings for six straight years, he said, noting that it placed 10th in the 2014 list with 60.92 points.

The province is currently the third biggest foreign investment destination in Vietnam with many global leading groups such as Samsung, Canon, Microsoft, PepsiCo and Sumitomo, the official added.

Bac Ninh is located in the northern key economic region, which also comprises Hanoi, Hai Phong city and the provinces of Quang Ninh, Hai Duong, Hung Yen and Vinh Phuc.-

Thanh Hoa to host 2015 Autumn Economic Forum

The 2015 Autumn Economic Forum will be held in the central province of Thanh Hoa on August 27, announced Nguyen Van Phuc, Head of the National Assembly’s Economic Committee on August 20.

Themed “Vietnamese Economy - Integration and Sustainable Development,” the event aims to prepare contents for a National Assembly Standing Committee report at the upcoming session in September, focusing on assessing Vietnam’s integration progress since the country joined the World Trade Organisation.

The forum will also evaluate the results of bilateral and multilateral commitments that Vietnam has been involved in or is set to join.

Two keynote speeches will be delivered by representatives from the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the World Bank, concentrating on an overview of the international economic integration, WTO commitments and their impacts on the country’s socio-economic growth and prospects for a more comprehensive growth model.

Launched in 2012, the forum is held twice a year in spring and autumn. The 2015 Autumn Economic Forum will be the last one held during in the 13 th National Assembly.-

RoK firms hunt for opportunities in Vietnam

The Korean Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (Kotra) in Hanoi will organise a meeting between local firms and 10 companies from the Republic of Korea (RoK) on September 8.

The business delegation coming from Daegu city comprises specialists in several sectors such as foodstuff, home appliances, textile and garment, medical equipment and IT.

The Vietnam-Korea Free Trade Agreement, inked in May, has opened huge opportunities for enterprises from the two countries, the agency said, adding that it planned to organise more than 10 business-matching forums and three large-scale exhibitions in Hanoi this year in order to act as a bridge linking enterprises together.

According to the Ministry of Planning and Investment's Foreign Investment Agency, RoK was Vietnam's largest source of foreign investment with 4,459 projects capitalised at more than 39.15 billion USD as of June 20.

First Vietnamese bank honoured by TDWI

VPBank has become the first ever Vietnamese business to have received the 2015 Best Practices Award in the Enterprise Data Management Strategies.

The award, given by the US Data Warehousing Institute (TDWI), the premier source for in-depth education and research on all things data, honoured the bank for its pioneering vision and implementation approach for managing data.

The Data Governance Programme of the bank, initiated and managed by BI Competency Centre (BICC), was adjudged top-notch compared to other applicants' entries vis-à-vis the judging criteria of business impact, relevance, maturity and innovation.

TDWI also highly valued the bank for applying experiences from other developed countries in the world to build a roadmap for data management in each phase under international standards.

VP Bank's representative said in addition to developing and renovating products as well as improving services' quality, the bank has always focused on investment in information and technology, building data management capacity to maximise available resources.

This could help ensure operation, enhancing security and competitiveness as well as risk management for the bank.

The award has confirmed the validity of its development target.

It would continue to renovate products and services to bring outstanding benefits to customers and make it an international standard bank.

"TDWI is honoured to present this year's awards to winners who exemplify visionary innovation, dedication, and commitment to excellence in their respective industries," said Steven Crofts, president of the TDWI. "These awards showcase the depth and breadth of agile strategies, implementation, and technologies that address old challenges and also promote new solutions."

Winners were chosen by a panel of independent judges with expertise in BI, data warehousing, and analytics.

For 20 years, TDWI has provided individuals and teams with a comprehensive portfolio of business and technical education and research about all things data.

As of 2014, VPBank had almost 8 billion USD in assets and aims to become one of the five leading joint-stock commercial banks and one of the three leading retail joint-stock commercial banks in Vietnam by 2017.

Dong Nai’s footwear sector sees strong growth

The southern province of Dong Nai has seen strong growth in footwear production and export over the past two years, according to the Vietnam Leather, Footwear and Handbag Association.

Local major footwear producers have strongly expanded their operation in a bid to fully tap potential offered by international integration, said the provincial Department of Planning and Investment.

Big names include Taekwang Vina and Changshin Vietnam of the Republic of Korea, and Pouchen Vietnam and Pousung Vietnam – subsidiaries of Taiwan’s Pouchen Group. Together, they have contributed more than 80 percent of the sector’s total export value.

The Pouchen Group is developing additional production lines in Pousung Vietnam in the Bau Xeo Industrial Zone in Trang Bom district, creating jobs for 5,000 labourers.

In a similar move, Taekwang Vina Joint Stock Company (JSC), operating in Dong Nai since 1994, also plans to recruit additional 3,000 workers to serve its production capacity increase by the year’s end.

Dinh Sy Phuc from the company said with some 28,000 employees, the company is currently producing roughly 90,000 pairs of shoes per day.

So far this year, it has exported 12 million pairs of shoes, earning 300 million USD, up nearly 27 percent from the same period last year.

Meanwhile, the other RoK footwear producer Changshin Vietnam targets to produce 650,000 pairs of shoes per week by June 2016 and 1 million by 2018.

In the first seven months of this year, the local footwear sector has earned 1.5 billion USD from export, up 18 percent year-on-year, according to the provincial Statistics Department.

Director of the provincial Department of Industry and Trade Le Van Danh said the province’s export value is expected to hit 14.3-14.6 billion USD this year, up 10-12 percent from last year.

Of the export value, that of the footwear sector is estimated at 2.5 billion USD, securing its leading role among local foreign currency earners, Danh said.

RoK firm to build solar energy plant in Can Tho

Vetco Vina, a firm owned by investors from the Republic of Korea (RoK), that specializes in renewable energy and hospital management, proposed a plan to build a solar energy plant in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho.

During a working session between representatives from Vetco Vina and the municipal People’s Committee on August 19, the representatives said the company intended to spend 1.2 trillion VND (53.6 million USD) to construct the 130MW project on an area of 50ha. They also committed to using RoK latest technology for the project.

Municipal People’s Committee Chairwoman Vo Thi Hong Anh said the plant is very suitable for Can Tho, one of the three localities in Vietnam with the highest light intensity.

Vetco Vina should choose the location of its plant carefully so it could bring electricity not just to Can Tho but to other southwestern localities as well, she said. The company also needs to pay attention to issues like environmental protection and technological application so it could maximise the plant’s capacity.

The representatives said the company hopes to co-operate with Can Tho in other fields such as healthcare and education. They also revealed a plan to build a hospital up to international standards in the near future.

Hi-tech park to get training, support from RoK centre

The Vietnam Training and Examination Center at the Hoa Lac Hi-Tech Park (HHTP) should now expect to receive modern technologies from the Republic of Korea's Kyungpook National University LINC Centre after the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on August 19.

The Korean University Centre – a member of the Asian Science Park Association (ASPA) – will also support the Vietnamese unit with training and education for hi-tech development.

"The purpose of the two-day meeting is to ensure cooperation between ASPA and Vietnam's science and technology parks, particularly at HHTP", said Seung Ho Kim, Dean of LINC Center.

The MoU secured agreement to improve cooperation between Vietnamese companies and their partners in ASPA, Kim said.

Director of HHTP's Management Board, Pham Dai Duong, said he highly appreciated the cooperation with its new partner.

He said that the meeting was a great occasion for 50 local companies and 23 foreign companies from Japan, the Republic of Korea and Thailand to discuss business, expand networks and seek more market share in Vietnam and other countries.

Duong admitted that HHTP needed to improve its facilities and policies to meet the standards of hi-tech member companies of ASPA.

He said HTTP used Japanese Official Development Assistance (ODA) to begin building new facilities on June 26, and expects it will finish at the end of 2018.

The Board is also developing policies to submit to the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Government next month, he added. Such policies would create attractive corporate income tax, individual income tax and land-rental fees to reduce investment costs for hi-tech companies interested in the park, Duong said.

HTTP was founded in 1998 to develop hi-tech research, training, manufacturing and product trading. Located on a 1,500ha spread across Hanoi's Thach That and Quoc Oai districts, it now employs more than 10,000 labourers.

HHTP became a member of ASPA in 2008 and a member of ASPA's Management Board in 2010.-

Exchange rate adjustment has no immediate impacts on exporters

Vietnamese export enterprises said they are not likely to be affected by the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV)’s adjustment of the average inter-bank exchange rate between the VND and USD and the extension of the trading band for commercial banks in the immediate future.

According to Dang Phuong Dung, Vice President and Secretary General of the Vietnam Textile Association (VISTA), although the adjustment benefits domestic enterprises’ export activities, enterprises will have to import input materials such as raw cotton and chemicals for dyeing at higher prices.

Fortunately, prices for those materials have been pegged in business contracts from the outset of this year, which protects the enterprises from exchange rate risks, Dung said.

The Hanoi Trade Corporation (Hapro) – which is seeking foreign markets for its agricultural products – also benefits from the exchange rate surge, said Hapro Managing Director Nguyen Thi Thu Hien, highlighting that the company gets payment in USD from exports while purchasing agricultural products for processing in VND.

Appreciating the exchange rate adjustment as a timely response to the Chinese yuan’s devaluation, Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Processors (VASEP) Nguyen Hoai Nam said the move would partly help domestic exporters compete against counterparts in India and China where the governments have reduced short-term lending interest rates or adjusted exchange rate.

He added that however, the adjustment is still modest and thus its impact is not so obvious.

Meanwhile, Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Steel Association Nguyen Van Sua believed that the move is a double-edged sword, likely to cause substantial issues for the steel sector, which is suffering from a trade deficit.

Vietnam’s steel sector imports over 9 billion USD worth of materials every year. In the first six months of this year, the country bought more than 6.9 million tonnes of steel from foreign markets at a cost of over 3.82 billion USD, yet it only gained 873,000 USD from exporting 1.2 million tonnes of steel.

According to Sua, while the current adjustment of 1 percent is yet to pose a big problem for the sector, difficulties will arise when more similar moves are taken in the future.

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