Obstacles to bad debt settlement

Economists are warning the slow progress in banking reform will increase the ratio of bad debts.    

The International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Permanent Vietnam Representative, Sanjay Kalra, recommends stepping up the restructuring of the banking system at any cost.

Judging by recent developments related to major banks in the country, the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) is considered capable of ensuring liquidity as it is prime for stable growth.

IMF Representative Sanjay Kalra is concerned about the lack of transparency in banking operations which he believes has led to instability and obstacles to further growth. Despite a credit growth boom, banks are faced with the rising bad debt ratios of State-owned enterprises (SOEs). The banking system is under heavy pressure from weak asset management and inadequate capital reserves, he says.

Many economists differ on the validity of bad debt figures only verified by management agencies and the banks themselves they think that commercial banks put bad debt ratios at 8 percent, but the real figure must be higher, Sanjay Kalra says.

As most bad debts are owed by SOEs and the real estate sector, he argues, bad debt ratios would rise higher if there were no drastic measures to intervene and push through banking reform.

SOEs have owed huge loans to the banks, and this means their bad debts can only be settled when they succeed in solving their own problems in the restructuring process. The first step is to show their real financial capacity through audited balance sheets and operation efficiency readings.

Some economists propose rearranging and merging weak banks. Others think the focus would be on establishing asset and debt management firms in conjunction wiowneth risk management measures.

It is urgent to inspect the real banking situation under a comprehensive strategy for bank restructuring.

Word Bank (WB) Vietnam Country Director, Victoria Kwakwa, says dealing with bad debts could be more time-consuming and costly if bank reform is slow-going. In some countries, spending on resolving financial issues accounts for 30–40 percent of GDP, she notes.

SBV Governor Nguyen Van Binh has revealed a commercial bank restructuring plan for 2013, saying the central bank will do all it can to ensure the effective operation of the whole banking system.

In 2013, the SBV will focus on implementing the Prime Minister’s Decision 254/QD-TTg (signed in 2012) on restructuring credit organisations during the 2011–2015 period. It will continue adjusting monetary policy and using more effective tools to control inflation and stabilise the macroeconomy. The main focus will be on lowering interest rates for the benefit of long-term stable macroeconomic growth, Binh elaborates.

In addition, the SBV will impose strict controls on credit growth and offer businesses easier access to bank loans, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and the agricultural, rural development, and support industries.

IceMos wants to build chip plant in city

IceMos Technologies, a designer and manufacturer SOI (silicon on insulator) wafers for hi-tech products of Apple, IBM, Sony, Casio, BMW and Omega, is looking to develop a chip factory in HCMC.

On behalf of IceMos, Samuel Anderson, chairman cum CEO of Great Wall Semiconductor (GWS), had a meeting with HCMC Vice Chairman Le Manh Ha on Monday to talk about this project.

IceMos’s plan for investment in Vietnam consists of two phases, starting with a contract for chip production at the factory of its Vietnamese partner Saigon Industry Corporation (CNS), Anderson informed.

“We will use the factory of CNS to process some kinds of chips for supply to IceMos’s customers around the world. Later, we will deepen our cooperation with the Vietnamese partner in order to expand the product range, and of course in the later period, IceMos will think of transferring technology to CNS,” he said.

IceMos is having its products applied in many areas, from Apple iPhone and iPod, Sony PlayStation video game consoles, Casio cameras, and Omega watches to Nike shoes, BMW car parts, IBM ThinkPad laptops and even NATO Eurofighter Typhoon.

HCMC Vice Chairman Ha said the city had always prioritized the investment projects in hi-tech areas. He believed the cooperation between IceMos and CNS would go smoothly and looked forward to attending the groundbreaking ceremony for the factory.

In related news, CNS is preparing for the development of an electronic chip plant with an annual output of 400 million units in the Saigon Hi-Tech Park in HCMC’s District 9. The firm intends to kick off construction by early 2014.

The chip plant requires total investment capital of US$270 million with all output for the local market. When in place, the factory will basically satisfy domestic demand for chips in automation, civil electronics, wireless connection, communications and information security.

More firms seek to get delisted

There have been more many listed companies seeking approval for listing cancellation from shareholders via extraordinary shareholders meetings due to different reasons.

The latest listing cancellation is of Viglacera Dong Trieu Company (DTC). The firm’s shareholders in a meeting last Friday ratified the voluntary cancellation of listing of four million shares on the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX) to shift to the market for unlisted public companies, or UPCoM, expected to take place next quarter.

The company has adopted the early withdrawal step as there is a high possibility that its listing will be canceled by the stock regulator due to the company’s accumulated loss of VND55.32 billion in the first nine months of the year, exceeding its chartered capital. It is even expected to suffer an additional loss of nearly VND12 billion in the fourth quarter of this year.

Similarly, Viglacera Thang Long JSC (TLT) has also got nod for canceling listing on HNX from the extraordinary shareholders’ meeting held last Thursday. The loss amount of the enterprise as of September was a combined VND118 billion while its chartered capital is only around VND70 billion.

However, not all listed entities deciding to leave the bourse are due to losses, which is proven by the case of Go Dang JSC (AGD) specializing in tra fish farming.

An executive of Go Dang said the listing cancellation is to mobilize capital from foreign entities. Panga Holdco, a foreign partner, has increased its stake in the firm to roughly 49%. Along with listing cancellation, the enterprise now is purchasing shares of small shareholders in a bid to raise foreign investors’ shareholding to more than 49%.

In the meantime, VINAFCO (VFC) now is performing procedures for delisting its shares owing to huge pressure form large shareholders. Even though the entity has done good business in recent years, its large shareholders including Golden Age with a stake of 25.25%, Mascon with 35.3% and Vietnam Investments Fund with 12.2% have agreed to cancel listing since the poor liquidity of its shares.

Le Dat Chi, head of the Financial Department of the HCMC University of Economics, told the Daily that the listing cancellation of local listed companies might be a necessary move at present. Several enterprises have no other choices but to cancel listing as prices of their shares have been in free fall, Chi explained.

But Chi noted with long-term visions, the solution is not good for the entities. Those companies withdrawing from listing with have their images damaged to some extents, making it harder for them to win the confidence of investors, he analyzed.

Trading on bourse in the long term will still remain an effective capital mobilization channel, therefore canceling listing also means that these firms will miss their opportunities, he said.

Low aggregate demand helps restrain inflation

Inflation does not pick up although the country has spent Vietnam dong buying US$10 billion this year as the aggregate demand of the economy stays low, according to the National Financial Supervisory Commission (NFSC).

The foreign exchange reserve has risen again, equal to 2.5 months of import at the end of the third quarter, as calculated by the World Bank (WB). As such, the forex reserve of Vietnam has significantly grown against 1.7 months of import at end-2011 and 1.8 months of import by the end of this year’s first quarter.

Ample foreign exchange reserve, less pressure on foreign exchange rate and proper balance of payments are results of export growth, import reduction and big remittance inflow.

The increase in foreign exchange reserve is attributed to the fact that the State Bank of Vietnam has used a huge amount of cash to buy U.S. dollar.

Specifically, the central bank has bought a considerable US$10 billion since this year’s beginning, meaning over VND200 trillion has been injected into the market, according to NFSC.

The foreign currency amount that the central bank has bought year to date is equivalent to the sum bought in the one-year period between 2007 and 2008, said WB and NFSC.

This poses a question why Vietnam does not suffer high inflation in 2012 like in the previous period.

The reason is seriously weakened aggregate demand, said WB and NFSC.

WB remarked the domestic demand was falling while inventory was shooting up, proven by the fact that import of raw materials and intermediate goods like fertilizers, animal feeds and cotton has been very weak.

NFSC added investment demand had sharply declined as credit capital flow was choked off.

Moreover, purchasing power in this year-end shopping season is still poor, slowing down the growth in total retail sales of goods and services.

The total retail sales of goods and services had increased 17.9% year-on-year by end-October and 16.4% as of end-November. Meanwhile, the year-on-year growth rate was 23.1% in last year’s October, 23.5% in November and 24.2% in December.

The decline in the aggregate demand and poor capital absorptive capacity are objective factors helping restrain the growth in the consumer price index this year.

The foreign exchange reserve of Vietnam, though having improved, remains low. According to WB, Vietnam’s foreign exchange reserve is equivalent to 2.3 months of import, versus 7.2 months of Indonesia, eight months of Singapore, 8.5 months of Malaysia and 13 months of the Philippines.

This is one of the many indicators that the macro-economy still has risks waiting ahead.

Lam Dong lures Japanese capital into agriculture, tourism

Lam Dong Province’s government in an investment promotion seminar held in HCMC on Monday called for Japanese capital into its advantageous areas namely tourism services and agriculture.

This event attracted around 130 local and international enterprises with two-thirds from Japan.

Nguyen Xuan Tien, chairman of Lam Dong Province, said that the Central Highlands province has many projects in the tourism and high-tech agriculture sectors. Meanwhile, Japanese enterprises have showed a strong interest in the investment environment of Vietnam.

Seven projects were introduced to Japanese investors in this seminar, focusing on the fields of travel, culture, sports and high-tech agriculture.

The province also introduced to investors the Dau Giay-Lien Khuong expressway project that connects Lam Dong with Dong Nai Province. The road is expected to stretch around 200 kilometers with the total investment of US$2.5 billion.

Tien said the province attaches much importance to the expressway project. If the project gets rolling, it will be easier for the province to lure local and overseas investment capital and speed up economic development.

Japan’s Consul General in HCMC, Hida Harumitsu, said that there is increasing investment of Japanese investors in Vietnam. Japanese capital accounted for roughly a half of the total foreign direct investment capital into the country in the January-November period.

Japanese firms have been shifting business into foreign markets such as Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand due to problems of the domestic market like Japanese yen appreciation, labor scarcity, high labor cost and the shrinking consumption market.

Vietnam in general and Lam Dong Province in particular should seize this opportunity to lure more Japanese capital flow, Harumitsu said.

Tien at the seminar pledged to continue improving investment and business environment in Lam Dong Province and supporting investors. The province will focus on completing infrastructures and manpower training.

Lam Dong will simplify administrative procedures to create favorable conditions for enterprises and investors, Tien added. The province will also tackle difficulties in land, capital access and site clearance to help speed up projects.

Besides preferential polices offered by the central Government, Lam Dong Province has launched many incentives for investors, especially those in the fields of vocational training, high-tech agriculture, farm produce processing and building material production.

Dong Nai beats target in FDI attraction

Although foreign direct investment (FDI) attraction of the whole country is forecast to fall sharply, the southern province of Dong Nai says its FDI is higher than the year’s plan and is much better than that of last year.

At a meeting to review the 2012 socioeconomic situation and the 2013 plans held in Dong Nai last Friday, Bo Ngoc Thu, director of the provincial Department of Planning and Investment, said total fresh and additional FDI in the locality has reached over US$1.2 billion to date. The amount is 34% higher than the year’s target and increases by US$272 million compared to the same period last year.

This year Dong Nai has 32 new projects worth a total US$653 million and 66 operational schemes raising their capital by over US$547 million.

The impressive result is owing to the fact that the local investment environment has increasingly been improved, investment promotion activities have paid off and supports of the local government towards investors have been stronger, Thu said.

FDI in Dong Nai has mainly come from Asian nations including Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia and China. Especially, Japan captures the top position with 21 fresh projects worth total registered capital of up to some US$516 million, accounting for 41% of the total number of projects and 79% of total new FDI capital in local industrial parks.

Besides, Japanese investors have also spurred capital for 16 projects in operation by about US$109 million. As such, total investment capital of Japanese enterprises in Dong Nai has amounted to US$624.8 million this year, or 52% of the total FDI in the province.

Most of new FDI projects by Japanese investors are in hi-tech areas such as dental and medical equipment and telecom devices, Thu noted. At the same time, Dong Nai has also welcomed other Japanese projects in supporting and precision engineering industries that are still underdeveloped at home, she said.

Given the current economic difficulties, the local authorities have set the target of luring from US$800 million to US$1 billion in FDI for 2013.

Dried seafood exports to Russia, S.Korea struggle

Dried seafood exports to Russia and South Korea have met a number of challenges as the two markets have closed the door or sharply scaled down the number of Vietnamese exporters.

Speaking at a seminar on trade between Vietnam and the Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia on Monday, Doan Ngoc Tram, director of Sai Gon Tam Tam Joint Stock Company, said that Russian firms since July have stopped importing dried seafood from her company and other large exporters.

Maxim Golikov, representative of Russian Trade Representative Agency in Vietnam, said on the sidelines of the seminar that the import interruption relates to safety problems. However, relevant agencies in Russia did not inform about the actual causes of this dried seafood import ban.

Some Russian companies still want to import dried seafood from Vietnam. Therefore, a working group from a relevant agency in Russia is expected to reach Vietnam next month, Golikov said.

Nguyen Khanh Ngoc, head of Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) division of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, said that FTA (free trade agreement) negotiations between Vietnam and the Customs Union are expected to take place in the first quarter of 2013. Vietnam will mention problems in dried seafood exports to Russia during the negotiations, Ngoc said.

According to the General Department of Customs, Vietnam exports an average of over US$100 million worth of seafood products to Russia each year, the third largest export value to the market after cellphones and apparel goods.

There were 36 Vietnamese enterprises exporting seafood to Russia as of May 9 this year, of which 12 firms exported dried seafood, according to the National Agro-Forestry-Fisheries Quality Assurance Department (NAFIQAD).

After the dried fish quality check of the Korea Food and Drug Administration in February and March, only 11 out of 28 Vietnamese firms were qualified to export this product to the nation from July.

Three firms were allowed normal imports, two had limited imports and six had conditioned imports.

Vietnam ranks third among nations exporting dried fish to South Korea with US$5.95 million fetched in 2011, according to statistics of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).

Russia and South Korea are the main dried seafood importers of Vietnam. Vietnam earns around US$100 million from exporting this product each year.

* Russia pledged to open the door for foreign enterprises in 11 sectors and 116 sub-sectors after joining the World Trade Organization (WTO) last August, which creates a big chance for Vietnamese enterprises.

Speaking at a seminar on prospects in Russia and free trade agreement negotiations with the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan held in HCMC on Monday, Duong Hoang Minh, vice head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s European Market Department, said Russia would lift the share proportion restriction of 49% in the telecom sector for foreign enterprises three years after joining WTO.

Besides, in the banking sector, foreign banks are allowed to establish subsidiaries, and the share of foreign enterprises in each bank is not limited. However, the total foreign investment in this sector can not exceed 50%.

100% foreign-invested enterprises can join the sectors of wholesale, retail and franchise right after Russia became a member of WTO.

In addition, foreign enterprises can register and operate under any legal forms in Russia.

At meetings between leaders of the two countries this year, Russia expected Vietnam to make investments in light industries, garment, footwear, and consumer goods production.

Vietnam and Russia have also set up a team to boost bilateral cooperation and investments and offered incentives to prioritized projects, Minh said.

According to the Foreign Investment Agency, Vietnam has invested in 16 projects in Russia with total investment of over US$1.7 billion, mainly in the sectors of oil, gas, seafood and garment.

Electronics short circuits

A challenging economy has pushed Vietnam’s electronic industry to its first market decline since 2008.  How will the market perform in 2013 and what should electronic retailers and producers do to deal with the situation?

Pessimistic forecasts prevailed for the electronic and IT products industry market this year at a conference help by Nhip cau Dau tu newspaper. The title of the conference theme: “Cooperate together in stimulating consumer demand by the end of 2012.”

“It is the first time the industry has experienced its negative growth rate for five years and there will no recovery sign by the second half of 2013,” said Huynh Phuoc Cuong, GFK Vietnam’s electronic and IT products division manager.

According to the results of the latest survey conducted by GFK Vietnam - GFK Market Insight October 2012, the average of sale units in the consumer electronics market dropped by 8.8 per cent while the average of value declined by 4.9 per cent year on year.

Only several home appliances including air conditioner and washing machines enjoyed positive growth rates whereas other electronic and IT products such as CRT TV, Plasma TV, camcorder, digital cameras, mobile computers and even smart-phones endured declines of sales, revenues and prices quarter on quarter.

Cuong thought that the downturn was mainly caused by the impact of the global economic crisis since 2008.

“The market is booming in 2008-2009 with a series of previous orders from foreign countries. However, after the global economic crisis, an amount of orders were canceled in 2009-2010. And this year we cannot export as well as previous years. Hence, total sale units and revenues sharply dropped,” said Cuong.

Steven H.L.Goh, chairman of Retail Asia Publishing, agreed with Cuong that impacts of the global crisis slowly came to Vietnam and this year the country was totally affected.

“At the time the burst of the 2008 global crisis, foreign investors came to other emerging markets like Vietnam and caused the bubbles in the stock and property markets of the nation. The recent deflation of the bubbles led the present dull of the nation’s economy and also hit the consumers’ confidence. As a result, the retail market, in which is the electronic market, is slowing down,” said Goh.

Goh believed that the market would recover if foreign investors come back. “We might see in 2014 but not 2013,” added Goh.

Nguyen Nu Tuyet Hong, director of client service quantitative of Nielsen Vietnam, also said that Vietnam’s consumer confidence index dipped 8 points to 87 in this third quarter, marking the lowest confidence since the first quarter of 2009. Around 73 per cent of Vietnamese stated this was not a good time to buy things they wanted and needed, and their cautious sentiments were predicted to increase more next year.

Nguyen Huy Vu, a representative from Nguyen Kim, one of the largest electronics and home appliance retailers in Vietnam said: “We thoroughly understand the challenges. However, it is not a time for waiting a miracle that the market would be recovered by itself. We call for cooperation of partners in stimulating customer demand to save the market and save all of us, too.” Vu said that Nguyen Kim would like to offer best prices and services to lure customers but it faced difficulties as it did not manufacture products.

“We sell washing machines but we cannot offer washing powders for them. We sell TV but we cannot decide the length of warranty. We sell mobile phones but we cannot discount their mobile fees. We lack a lot of thing,” Vu said. “That is the reason why we call for the cooperation of producers, service suppliers, and consultants to create a comprehensive sale policy that attract customers and benefit us.”

Hong from Nielsen Vietnam said that trying to offer low prices was good but it was not enough to lure customers.

“With the hard period of the economy, customers did their tightening monetary policies. Many of them tend to buy products with low prices but there is the same number of customers willing to pay at high prices so as to own premium products which are innovative, modern, have more value added initiatives and have good after-sale services,” said Hong.

“The evidence is that new generations of smart-phones, LED TVs, tablets and Ultrabook series with touch screen are hunted by customers and promises a healthy growth,” added Hong.

Representatives from Sony Vietnam, Samsung Vietnam and Intel Vietnam also agreed that customers currently are not easily satisfied with the normal products. They always request higher technology added in their goods and willing to order overseas to own new products of famous brands.

Mai Sean Cang, general director of Intel Vietnam, said that in the fierce competition among technology producers, it only tried its best to continuously launch new products with better quality, design and prices and ensure a good delivery to customers.

Hong emphasised that in the current climate, consumers and shoppers were more careful in their stores, brands and format choices with new lenses. Hence, retailers and producers should show them what their competitive features are and choose right advertisements.

“About 92 per cent of Vietnamese consumers are more likely to trust recommendations from people they know and 63 per cent are more likely to trust consumer opinions posted online. So caring about word-of-mouth – a pre-store source of information is really important,” said Hong.

“Besides, reputation of retailers, product quality, a wide range of products and counseling skills of sales persons are key drivers to select a store chain,” added Hong.

Gov’t to adopt specific resolution to unfreeze real estate market

The Government will adopt a specific resolution figuring out ways to unfreeze the real estate market, said PM Nguyen Tan Dung during his working session with Ho Chi Minh City authorities on Tuesday.

The Government chief also tasked commercial banks to focus on dealing with bad debts relevant to the real estate market by restructuring loans and designing financial institutions to support the market.

Weak enterprises will not be allowed to participate in real estate business and all projects currently undergoing site clearance or in appropriate to planning schemes must be terminated, PM Dung stressed.

He suggested the city should pay more attention to housing construction for the poor, students, workers in industrial parks, civil servants.

Real estate companies were asked to restructure and lower the prices of their products.

The Government chief also noted the necessity to perfect the legal system on urban housing development in line with market demand and economic capability.

PM Dung requested Ho Chi Minh City in particular and other localities to review their planning work-one of the weakest areas- and set specific strategies for real estate market development

Speaking at the working session, Minister of Construction Trinh Dinh Dung urged the city to suspend inappropriate projects and focus on social housing projects.

Meanwhile, SBV Governor Nguyen Van Binh asserted that the central bank is ready to provide credits for those who actually have demands for housing. In Q1 and Q2, 2013, SBV would direct commercial banks to deal with non-performing debts in this field.

At present, Ho Chi Minh City had inventory of 14,490 apartments worth of VND 24,500 billion. Meanwhile, housing prices are extremely higher than the average income levels of the majority of people. Speculation and high interest rates have made the problems worse.

Some years ago, the Vietnamese real estate sector was considered the most lucrative business field. However, since the real estate market has hibernated, apartments and houses have been left unsold.

The investors’ capital has been “buried” under the property projects. Though the real estate project developers have tried to boost sales by offering big price discounts, the sales still have been going very slowly, because the land in Viet Nam is still believed to be the most expensive in the world.

Amid the weak demand, real estate developers have to delay the implementation of their huge projects. Not only the housing market, but the office market has also become gloomy.

Wind power projects must be 300 metres from residential areas

The Minister of Industry and Trade has issued Circular 32/2012/TT-BCT regulating wind power development and power purchase contract forms for wind power projects.

Under the circular, wind power projects may only be built when they meet the conditions prescribed by law on the management of works construction investment and ensure regulated conditions. They must have an investment certificate and a power purchase contract signed with the buyer.

The circular also regulated that wind power projects must meet the requirements on environmental protection; specifically, wind power works must not impinge on archaeological and historical relics, cultural and religious sites, sensitive ecological areas or natural conservation areas. In addition, wind power works must be 300 metres away from residential areas and turbine and tower columns must be in a bright, non-reflective colour.

Besides, within twelve months of the date of issuance of the investment certificate, if the investor does not start construction on the main items of the project, the provincial-level People's Committee shall consider revoking the investment certificate and reporting to the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Within a maximum of twenty-four months from the date of commitment of operation on the investment certificate, if the project is not put into operation and generating power, the provincial-level People's Committee shall consider terminating the investment project and revoking the investment certificate, and will not take responsibility for compensation for damages to investors.

This Circular takes effect from December 27, 2012.

Sugar industry mired in troubles, awaiting help

While the Prime Minister has not replied to a proposal by the Vietnam Sugar Association for rescuing the local sugar industry, the industry players are further mired in troubles with declining prices.

It is forecast that 1.5 million tons of sugar will be produced in the 2012-2013 crop, plus the amount imported under the commitment to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the unsold volume.

Nguyen Hai, general secretary of the Vietnam Sugar Association, said the sugar industry was coping with oversupply, resulting in price freefall in the domestic market.

“If these problems were not timely resolved, the sugar industry of Vietnam including farmers and enterprises could not survive,” he said.

In late November, the sugar association sent a petition to the Prime Minister, seeking solutions for several problems in sugar production and consumption.

Specifically, the association called for the Government to strengthen the fight against sugar smuggling. In addition, sugar should be included in the list of goods banned or suspended from temporary import for re-export.

The association also sought permission to export sugar. The Ministry of Industry and Trade will likely approve export of 300,000 tons of sugar in the coming time, Hai said.

In addition, the association proposed the Government eliminate all policies related to sugar import, such as sugar import tax cut under Circular 157/2011/BTC of the Ministry of Finance or import quota grant under the ask-give mechanism.

Sugar prices in the local market are now VND15,000-17,000 per kilo, down VND8,000 over the same period last year and VND2,000-3,000 compared to a month ago.

The finance ministry has recently raised import tax rates for some sugar products in a bid to protect the local industry. Still, sugar import tax rates will likely be increased further in 2013.

A source from the tax policy department of the finance ministry told the Daily that the ceiling import tariff for refined sugar under WTO commitment is 60%, higher than the recently adjusted rate. Therefore, further import tax hikes are possible in 2013.

The finance ministry has revised the preferential import tax rate for raw sugar from 15% to 25% and the rate for other types of sugar from 15% to 40%.

Sugar import tariffs are increased in a bid to deal with unsold sugar of local traders. Unsold sugar had amounted to 87,300 tons by the end of November, versus 55,200 tons in the same period last year, according to the Department of Processing and Trade for Agro-Forestry-Fisheries Products and Salt Production.

Gov’t to take action to spur property market

The problems faced by the property market cannot be resolved if relevant ministries do not focus on seeking solutions, so the Government will issue a separate resolution for this market in the near future.

At a meeting with the HCMC government on Tuesday, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung stated bad debt, inventory and real estate were adversely affecting the economy. In the coming time, solutions will be worked out to cope with bad debt, thus helping the real estate market out of the doldrums.

Later this month, the Government will discuss specific solutions and a separate resolution for the property market, said Dung.

He informed bad debt had reached some VND400 trillion, including VND200 trillion to be restructured by banks. Of the remaining VND200 trillion, real estate debt accounts for 70%.

According to the Ministry of Construction, there are about 15,000 unsold apartments in HCMC, with a total value of VND30 trillion. In fact, the inventory value must be much higher as many project owners have mobilized funds and finished site clearance, but have yet to carry out their projects due to poor demand.

Another reason is that supply has far exceeded demand. Under its housing development strategy, HCMC needs some 66 million square meters from now to 2020, while new urban projects occupy a combined area of 80 million square meters, according to a report of the construction ministry.

Furthermore, property developers mainly focus on high-end large-size housing products. Of the 35,000 apartments completed prior to 2011, 37% are in the high-end segment, 38% in the mid-end segment and 25% in the low-end segment.

The high-grade apartment market has saturated, while affordable products for the majority of homebuyers are insufficient.

HCMC vice chairman Nguyen Huu Tin said the city had set up four working groups to survey property projects.

Many projects have been found suspended or moving at a slow pace. Some others are struggling with high inventories, leading bad debt to surge.

In comparison with late 2011, property prices and trading volume have dropped sharply.

TNK upbeat on business in Vietnam

Russia’s leading energy firm TNK strongly believed in their business prospect in Vietnam after it took over the stake from BP in an oil exploration joint venture one year ago.

Hugh J. Mcintosh, TNK Vietnam’s president and general director, stressed: “We are quite satisfied with the buyout of BP’s shares because it help us access business opportunities in Vietnam.”

“The assets, relations with the Government and partners, and skills that we inherited from BP all help laying a firm foundation for us to go further here,” he told the Daily on Monday.

TNK Vietnam has 32.6% of equities in the Nam Con Son Pipeline, which has also achieved 10 years of safe operations in processing and transporting about 45 billion cubic meters of gas from Blocks 06.1, 11.2, and 12W to Phu My and Nhon Trach industrial parks for power generation.

Hoang Minh, general director of Nam Con Son Pipeline Company (NCSP), added: “We highly appreciate TNK’s commitment to develop the country’s energy sector.”

Nam Con Son pipeline is an important part of the Nam Con Son gas project, one of the biggest foreign-invested projects in Vietnam with total investment capital of USS1.3 billion.

The Nam Con Son pipeline contributes to some 30% of total electricity demand in Vietnam. “I am so proud to say that NCSP has not only brought benefits to NCSP partners but also greatly contributed to the process of industrialization and modernization of Vietnam,” said Minh.

Minh revealed the Government’s plan to build the Nam Con Son second project worth US$1.3 billion in the coming time. Mcintosh, however, refused to comment on TNK’s involvement. “It is still confidential,” he said.

TNK Vietnam is part of TNK-BP Group, a 50/50 joint venture between BP of the UK and the AAR (Alfa Group/Access Industries/Renova) consortium of Russia. TNK Vietnam is involved in oil and gas exploration and production and entered Vietnam through the acquisition of BP’s upstream assets in October 2010.

Licensed to operate in Vietnam in October 2011, TNK Vietnam is operating a gas and condensate production project from Block 06.1, consisting of Lan Tay and Lan Do fields, and supplies about 22% of gas for Vietnam’s electricity generation.

Interest rates to go down soon

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung at a conference on removing the problems of the real estate market held in HCMC on Tuesday said the central bank would lower interest rates in the next few days.

The key condition for interest rate reductions is decelerating inflation.

“The Ministry of Planning and Investment has estimated a consumer price index (CPI) increase of less than 0.5% this month, so the whole-year growth will be only some 7%, laying a foundation for interest rate cuts,” said Dung.

However, lower interest rates will have no meaning to enterprises as long as the economy’s absorptive capacity is low, said Truong Van Phuoc, general director of Eximbank.

He said his bank was offering certain loans with an interest rate of only 7% per year, but no one had borrowed. Eximbank’s credit growth this year is forecast at minus 7%.

The current problem is that enterprises do not dare to take out loans for investment and production expansion in the context of global and local economic woes. Therefore, finding outlets is now more urgent than slashing interest rates, said Phuoc.

Nguyen Hoang Minh, deputy director of the central bank’s branch in HCMC, said credits of the city-based banks in the year to date had only grown 5.4%, while the target is 8-10%. Enterprises are not keen on borrowing at present, he remarked.

So far, loans for Tet goods producers under the VND200-trillion credit program of the city have mainly been given to price stabilizers. Many enterprises are worried about low consumption during the year-end shopping season.

“Bank liquidity this year improves a lot compared to last year. As credits flow out slowly, banks have to spend on bonds to avoid risks,” said Minh.

In anticipating the interest rate cuts, many banks have lowered their deposit rates for both short and long terms. The average long-term deposit rate is currently some 11%, versus 13% two months ago, while the ceiling short-term rate is kept at 9%.

Early this month, the National Financial Supervisory Commission said it had proposed the Government slash the deposit rate cap by one percentage point.

A banking expert said interest rate reductions must be accompanied with inspection of banks on their compliance, or else interest rates would remain high.

The central bank should consider lifting interest rate caps in 2013 to let interest rates be driven by the monetary market, said the expert.

Eximbank to build US$150-million headquarters

Vietnam Import Export Bank (Eximbank) on Tuesday cut a deal for developing its new headquarters called Eximbank Tower with project management consultant Turner and design consultant Nikken Sekkei.

The tower worth an estimated US$150 million will be built on a site of over 3,500 square meters at 7 Le Thi Hong Gam Street in HCMC’s District 1, where the old headquarters is located. When completed, it will become an architectural highlight of HCMC, says the bank at the contract signing.

Akihiko Hamada, senior executive officer of Nikken Sekkei, informed Eximbank Tower would be 163 meters high, consisting of 40 stories and over 60,000 square meters of floor space. The lower part of the building will be the headquarters of the bank, while the upper part will comprise luxury apartments and grade-A offices.

There will be spaces between windows and external parts for balconies, flowers and plants. The design maximizes the use of natural power of wind, sunlight and rain to make Eximbank Tower eco-friendly and reduce power consumption.

The tower is described as an “overhead flower park”, a symbol of green buildings and a signal for the start of a new architectural trend in Vietnam, said the designer.

“This design aims to establish solidity, safety and reliability, alongside growth and prosperity, which are basic features that a bank building needs,” said Hamada.

The project is scheduled for groundbreaking in the third quarter of 2013 and completion in 2017, said Le Hung Dung, chairman of Eximbank.

It is time for Eximbank to have a spacious headquarters building as its staff keeps growing year after year, said Dung. Eximbank will pay their partners in installments, so it will face no capital pressure, he added.

Choosing Nikken Sekkei as design consultant and Turner as project management consultant is a very important step for the project to be carried out in a systematic and professional way, he remarked.

Nikken Sekkei has recently completed the design for the new headquarters of Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, one of the biggest banks in Japan and a foreign strategic partner of Eximbank.

Eximbank is a big commercial bank in Vietnam with chartered capital of over VND12.3 trillion and total assets of more than VND180 trillion. It is operating a network of 207 transaction points nationwide and has formed relationship with 852 banks in 80 nations

After-tax profit and total assets of the bank have been growing well over the years. In 2012, despite many problems faced by the banking sector, Eximbank forecasts its pre-tax profit will be over VND3 trillion.

Credit growth likely to reach 6%

Credit growth of the entire banking system is put at 5.2-5.4% as of mid-November and will likely reach some 6% by the end of this year, much lower than the revised target of 10%.

This figure includes purchases of corporate bonds by credit institutions, said a source from the central bank.

This growth rate is more satisfactory than many credit growth forecasts of some 5% for this year. At the beginning of the year, the Government predicted credit growth of the whole year would stand at 8-10%.

At the regular press briefing of the Government in November, credit growth including investment in corporate bonds and trust funds was estimated at 4.15% as of end-November.

In HCMC, which draws the majority of loans, credits are forecast to pick up 5.4% by the year’s end, versus 7.7% last year, according to the central bank’s branch in the city.

Deposit growth of the entire system as of end-November had reached 15.98%. Data from the central bank show that total money supply (M2) had risen an estimated 15.3% by the end of last month.

The central bank has been improving foreign exchange reserve and injecting cash into the banking system. Money supply increase is one of the ways to stimulate GDP.

However, the credit profile has been changing since the year’s beginning.

According to the website of the central bank, the percentage of short-term funds used as middle- and long-term loans reached 17.36% on October 31, much higher than 7.58% on April 30. Meanwhile, the credit-to-deposit ratio stood at 91.13% on October 31, versus 94.73% on April 30.

The inter-bank dong lending rate on Sunday fell by some 100 basis points to around 2.5% per year for overnight to one-week terms, 3-4% for two to three weeks and 5-6% for one month.

According to the bond newsletter of Bao Viet Securities Company, the central bank withdrew some VND2.26 trillion last week (December 10 to 14), up VND218 billion over the preceding week, through issuance of treasury bills with terms of 28, 56 and 91 days.

As such, last week saw the second lowest bid winning volume since the central bank resumed treasury bill issuance via the open market on October 10. The interest rate picked up one point to 5.5% for the 28-day term and up 0.1 to 6.1 points for the 56-day term.

Meanwhile, the rate for the 91-day term remained unchanged at 6.8% per year. The low bid winning volume shows that most banks still have high demand for short-term funds.

Viettel offshore operations yield first profit

Vietnam’s military-run telecom firm Viettel has reported the first profit made in foreign markets, which proves its overseas investment strategy is on the right track.

According to Le Dang Dung, deputy general director of Viettel, the company’s operations in Cambodia have been successful over the past three years.

Viettel has so far invested US$40 million into Cambodia but it remitted home US$35 million in profit generated from Cambodia business operations last year. It also plans to bring home US$75 million in profit this year.

Viettel’s efforts in the Laos market have paid off as well. It is estimated that the company will repatriate millions of U.S. dollars from the Lao market this year.

In the meantime, Viettel’s business operations in Mozambique and Haiti are not as good but it expects to break even this year and gain profit in the two nations next year.

Viettel in 2011 achieved a profit of US$40 million from its foreign markets. The figure is forecast to double this year while Viettel is looking to obtain total revenues of VND140 trillion for the year.

Sources from Viettel told the Daily that the enterprise had received an investment license for providing telecom and Internet services in Cameroon, which has the largest population in Africa. This is the seventh foreign market Viettel has entered after Cambodia, Laos, Haiti, Peru, Mozambique and Tanzania.

“Viettel’s revenues in foreign markets now account for only 15% of its total but they will pick up year by year,” Dung said.

He ascribed the success of his firm to its aggressive investment plan. “Viettel’s offshore investments are part of its long-term development plan as there will be little or no room for business in Vietnam in the next 20 years,” he explained.

He underlined the importance of taking drastic and wise actions in a timely manner to turn the investment plan into reality.

Source: VEF/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/Dantri/VIR