Tuan Chau International Port to open

The Vietnam Maritime Administration has issued a Decision on opening the Tuan Chau International Passenger Port this month, which is owned by the Au Lac Quang Ninh Co. Ltd and located in Ha Long city. The port has modern facilities of international standard to welcome tourists coming to Vietnam by sea.

Located in the southeast of Tuan Chau Island, the port included two wharves, the first being 4,441 meters in length and the other 1,443 meters. It falls within the detailed planning for northern ports.  

The Decision also contains conditions on permitting large vessels to dock at the port, as regards safety, water depth and maritime fairways. The management board of the port is also permitted to collect fees in accordance with law.

The Quang Ninh Provincial People’s Committee also noted that the Au Lac Quang Ninh Co. Ltd can cut its fees to attract cruise ships and other vessels to the port and can close Bai Chay Tourist Wharf, with vessels now using it to begin using the new port.

The Tuan Chau tourism area is located on an area of 1,200 ha and is 2 km away from the center of Ha Long city. It includes a complex of 50 five-star villas, 300 hotel rooms, restaurants and other entertainment facilities, such as performances by dolphins, seals and sea lions, martial arts, and a musical fountain park.

Furama Villas offers cash-back deals

Furama Villas Danang will grant guests VND5.5 million ($245) to VND11 million ($490) in cash for bookings from September 1 to September 19, with the minimum being equal to 50 per cent of the lowest rate on a villa for one night. Guests can use the cash for food and beverages at Furama Resort Danang.

Situated to the south of Furama Resort, Furama Villas is a complex of spacious villas with private pools, overlooking the white sandy beach and is at the gateway to the “World Heritage Road” that includes Hoi An ancient town (20 minutes away), My Son Sanctuary (90 minutes) and the former imperial capital of Hue (2 hours).

Each luxurious villa features an elegant decor, polished wood floors, and a marble bathroom, making an unforgettable impression to all who stay there.

Rates on villas start from VND11 million (about $490).

Resettlement apartments in Hanoi going to waste

Despite Hanoi being in dire need of resettlement housing for families relocated by new infrastructure, residential, or industrial projects, there are almost 600 apartments specifically built for this purpose that are currently empty, according to the Hanoi People’s Committee and the Hanoi Department of Construction. Many were built decades ago and handed over to families who chose not to live in them, representing a major waste of the city’s investment capital.

The Department explained that many people are concerned about the quality of these apartments. The General Secretary of the Association of Cities of Vietnam, Mr. Vu Thi Vinh, said that their quality is generally worse than commercial apartments.

The absence of associated infrastructure is another reason why people choose not to live in them. There are also many problems in operating and managing the apartments, which appear to be anything but clear.

Establishing a management board is also too slow. The Deputy Director of the Housing Development and Investment Corporation, Mr. Nguyen Tu Quang, said that the corporation has been managing 18 resettlement buildings since 2013. Of these, 2,204 resettlement apartments are in the Nam Trung Yen urban area, including 1,836 that are occupied and 47 that are empty. There are also 321 apartments that have not been handed over because there is no management board or maintenance fund, with the latter seeing them fall into a state of disrepair.

The Hanoi Department of Construction said there were no maintenance funds because there are no legal guidelines on managing and operating resettlement buildings and there are limits placed on collecting fees from those who live there.

It added that it is now clarifying the situation to identify solutions and is consulting with city authorities so the housing no longer goes to waste. Department Director Le Van Duc said it has asked investors to give 147 unoccupied apartments to the city.

Other unoccupied apartments and those where there are no plans to find occupants will be taken over by the department.

Vietnam is in top destination of South Korea’s investors

Vietnam currently ranks third position among top destinations of South Korea firms after the United States and Singapore.

In the first six months of the year, investment capital of South Korean firms into its foreign markets reached approximately US$ 17, 5 billion.

South Korea enterprises invested into the United States, Vietnam and Singapore has been increasing by 20,5%, 82,2% and 161,6% respectively.

The economic growth rate is due to achievement of a sustainable economic recovery in the United States  and many countries in Asian region this year.

Garment, textile, footwear sectors anticipate TPP

The garment, textile and footwear sectors brought in nearly US$38 billion, becoming one of the key export sectors of Vietnam in 2014. The sectors have taken different measures to anticipate opportunities brought by the conclusion of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

The sectors’ growth has helped stimulate sustainable development and create over four million jobs, contributing to implementing hunger eradication and poverty reduction, ensuring social welfare and shifting agriculture and forestry economic structure in several regions.

Aside from the various opportunities, the sectors still face challenges when taking part in free trade agreements, including the European Union-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and TPP. While unequally competing with multi-national enterprises which have advantages in finance and advanced technology, local medium and small-sized businesses have to run under pressure of environmental impacts.

The sectors used to be in the last steps of cutting and sewing in the production chain with minimum technological requirements or processing skills, and impact the environment less than the processes of weaving, dyeing and starching.

To gain further added values and improve competitiveness in production, garment and textile businesses should have larger investment in the production process, which cause greater impacts on the environment due to the consumption of water and energy resources, most alarmingly; there can be severe pollution if there is no close control.

TPP is seen to boost the development of the garment, textile and footwear industry, thus it is required to have solutions on managing environmental risks which appear to be faster and larger in scale.

TPP regulates that lowered taxes will be applied for garment, textile and footwear products from Vietnam if all production steps are conducted in the country. As a result, local activities of dyeing and starching are forecast to increase sharply. In addition, a massive foreign investment wave, focusing on producing materials for the industry, is rising thoughout the country.

The textile and dyeing industry is causing severe environmental pollution and affects people’s daily lives due to the difficulties of eliminating consequences.

In the future, numerous new or used machines and equipment will be brought into the country for production. Risks of environmental pollution may increase as technologies used in the final production steps will be conducted inside the country.

Specific technical criteria should be built to tightly monitor the technologies of businesses’ application for investment to limit environmental pollution caused by projects using dyeing and starching technologies. In addition, there should be a disclosure mechanism and stricter implementation of legal regulations to avoid overlooked violations causing negative effects on the environment and society.

Trade deficit with China fetches over US$19 bln. in Jan-Jul

Viet Nam imported US$4.36 billion of goods from China in July, bringing the total import value to US$28.4 billion in the first seven months, according to the Viet Nam Customs.

Meanwhile, Viet Nam’s shipment to its neighboring country was US$1.34 billion in July and US$9 billion in the first seven month. Thus, Viet Nam ran a trade deficit of over US$3 billion in July and US$19.3 billion in January-July period.

In the reviewed period, Viet Nam shipped 37 groups of commodities to the neighboring country with the export value of computers, electronic products, and spare parts standing US$1.45 billion. Noticeably, exports of petrol and crude oil fetched US$99 million and US$369.3 million, respectively.

Meanwhile, major imports include machines, equipment, utensils, spare parts (US$5.29 billion), telephones and accessories (US$3.88 billion), fiber (US$2.98 billion), computers and electronic products (US$2.81 billion)./.

Nearly 4.5 million tons of export rice contracted

Member companies of the Vietnam Food Association (VFA) had struck deals to export 4.45 million tons of rice in the year to end-July, down 9.27% year-on-year, said a source from the Can Tho Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Around 24% of the volume belonged to government-to-government contracts, and the remainder was under commercial contracts.

In the year to July 31, VFA member enterprises had exported 3.3 million tons of rice worth a combined US$1.37 billion, down 8.73% in volume and 12.43% in value compared to the same period a year ago. The average price reached US$414.22 per ton, down US$17.51 against the year-ago period.

Local exporters will deliver over 1.1 million tons of rice, with government-to-government contracts making up 135,000 tons and commercial contracts the remainder.

Ngo Ngoc Yen, director of Yen Ngoc rice company in HCMC, said unprocessed IR 50404 rice has been hovering in the range of VND6,250 and 6,350 per kilo at Ba Dac wholesale market in Cai Be District in Tien Giang Province.

IR 50404 rice in the Mekong Delta has remained stable in the past two weeks and traders bought fresh paddy (unhusked rice) at VND4,200-4,300 per kilo.

Domestic companies offer 5% broken rice at US$340-350 per ton while the respective prices of 25% broken and jasmine rice are US$325-335 and US$485-495 per ton at the moment.

Domestic firms care little about risk management

Vietnamese enterprises have paid little attention to risk management even though it plays a key role in business operations, experts told a conference in HCMC late last week.

Tieu Yen Trinh, general director of Talentnet Corporation, told the conference on risks in business administration that a survey of 522 companies done by Talentnet shows only 43 of them have a risk management department.

Most of the 43 firms are banking and financial services providers. But it does not mean all banks have a risk management department or can manage risks effectively.

Even banks, where risk management is of utmost importance, care little about risk management, said Do Hoa, general director of IME Vietnam, so it is hard to find enterprises in other sectors, especially small ones, which attach importance to risk management.

Risks exist outside or within an enterprise, he said, adding internal risks may come from sales, marketing, human resources or communications department.

Nguyen Ngoc Bach, general director of AsiaInvest, said risk is understood as any event or situation which may make an enterprise’s business objectives unobtainable.

Explaining why Vietnamese enterprises disregard risk management, Hoa of IME Vietnam said business leaders lack awareness and tend to avoid speaking about bad luck in doing business.

Sharing Hoa’s view, Bach said improving risk management should rest with business leaders because if they are not aware of the importance of risk management, it would be hard to manage risk factors in their companies.

Business unheard in legislation drafting process

The Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) has said the voice of the business community often goes unheard in the legislation drafting process.

Drafting agencies neither consult nor take into account company feedback on draft laws and regulations.

Dau Anh Tuan, head of the Legal Department at VCCI, said at a conference in Hanoi last week that 78% of surveyed companies said State agencies did not collect their comments in the drafting process though some regulations would leave direct impact on their operations.

Tuan said 66% of respondents described policy risk as one of the biggest concerns.

According to VCCI, 70% of 1,000 legal documents issued by ministries and agencies at both local and central levels affect enterprises’ operations. For instance, Decree 60 on publishing requires domestic importers of paper cutting machines to apply for a license in Hanoi City only.

“The regulation has caused confusion among 3,000 businesses in the publishing sector,” Tuan said.

He said a State agency planned to issue a regulation forcing importers to place a deposit equivalent to 80% of a scrap shipment’s value at banks with an interest rate for call deposits.

“Things would have been better if businesses had been allowed to comment in the drafting process,” Tuan said.  

Tran Van Loi of the Department of General Affairs on Legislative Development under the Ministry of Justice said though government agencies post draft legal documents on their websites for comment, few are aware of this. Therefore, draft laws and regulations usually attract little or no comment from the  public.

In addition, these drafts have hundreds of pages, so no one has the patience to read them through.

Loi said the ministry had uploaded many draft laws on its website but received little feedback.

He said the public ignorance of draft regulations and laws put forth by ministries and agencies for public comment had caused concerns about the effectiveness of these regulations and laws when in force. For instance, the National of Assembly recently issued a resolution revising Article 60 of the Law on Social Insurance though the law had been passed but is scheduled to take effect early next year.

Marks & Spencer unveils second store in town

The second fashion store of Marks & Spencer (M&S), one of the leading British retailers, in HCMC was inaugurated over the weekend.

The store at Crescent Mall in HCMC’s District 7 features the latest fashion collections of women’s wear, lingerie and beauty products. It is operated by Marks & Spencer’s long-term franchise partner Central Retail Corporation (CRC) - a member of Central Group.

Customers can find all M&S collections designed and developed by a team of international in-house designers based in London.

The first M&S store covers an area of 1,200-square-meter at the Vincom Center Dong Khoi in HCMC’s District 1 and offers full M&S lines for men, women, kids and lingerie designs.

Gerard McGurk, senior vice president of Central Group Vietnam who is in charge of fashion division, said the group first opened M&S in Thailand in 1993 and was present in Vietnam in 2011.

The new store is among the 20 shops that the British retailer plans in Vietnam by 2020.

McGurk also announced 50 scholarships for disadvantaged students in District 7.

Founded over 130 years ago, M&S now has over 800 stores in the UK and more than 460 international stores across 56 markets in Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

Vietnam improves environment to facilitate investment

Vietnam commits to improving investment environment and creating favourable conditions for businesses, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Van Ninh affirmed business leaders at a forum held by Forbes Vietnam in HCM City on August 17.

The event themed “Taking The Lead” gathered top minds among policy makers and the business community from Vietnam and the region.

The forum discussed the competitiveness of Vietnamese enterprises, opportunities to take the lead in the most dynamic economic sectors, and to share ideas and vision on how to get to the top.

Participants pointed out opportunities and challenges confronting Vietnamese businesses, especially small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) whose labour productivity is much lower than that of other regional countries. Currently, the SMEs are unable to get involved in the global supply chain while foreign direct investment (FDI) enterprises have not combined strength with local businesses in economic development.

Some foreign businesses mentioned continuous changes in Vietnam’s taxation, customs and land policies which have greatly affected their activities.

Addressing the forum, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Van Ninh affirmed that Vietnam commits to improving investment environment and creating favourable conditions for businesses.

Vietnam will complete the socialist-oriented market mechanism and continue its economic reforms, especially in taxation, customs, investment licensing, insurance and land use, emphasized Deputy PM Vu Van Ninh

Fifty best listed businesses in Vietnam were honored by Forbes Vietnam on the occasion.

Yarn-forward rules spur investment in textiles

Vietnam’s textile industry has continued to be a magnet for attracting inward foreign direct investment (FDI) in the seven months leading up to August, according to the latest official statistics.

At least US$1.12 billion out of the nation’s total estimated US$5.85 billion worth of pledged investment for the January-July period was designated for manufacturing and processing projects in the textile industry.

Leading experts have stressed that foreign-invested transnational companies, particularly those related to yarn manufacturing, are rushing to shore up their supply chains in anticipation of free trade agreements in the offing.

Specifically, the yarn forward rules of origin do not allow for Vietnam based textile, garment or footwear manufacturers to benefit from the reduced tariffs of the proposed Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) unless all yarn is manufactured in Vietnam or another of the 11 other TPP nations.

Similar provisions are applicable to other free trade agreements and these same experts have suggested the complex rules of origin provisions are driving higher levels of inward FDI into the yarn industry in Vietnam.

In other words, if a Vietnam based textile company imported yarn from China, it could not avail itself of reduced tariffs for product shipments to the US or any of the other TPP member nations.

One of the new projects for the period was a US$660 million yarn factory in southern Dong Nai province of an investor from Turkey.

Another US$300 million project was listed by a British investor in Ho Chi Minh City and yet a third was a US$160 million project in Tay Ninh province by a Hong Kong investor.

According to the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS), once the TPP is fully implemented, Vietnam based manufacturers would enjoy tariff free exports when exporting textile and garment to other TPP member nations in lieu of the current 17-30% tariff, subject to the rules of origin limits.

The biggest problem Vietnam based textile manufacturers currently face is the heavy reliance on imported materials.

A recent report showed they need to import 50% of their raw materials, mostly from China.

Seminar discusses ways to optimise Vietnam-EAEU FTA

A seminar was held in Ho Chi Minh City on August 19 to discuss measures that domestic enterprises can apply to minimise impacts and optimise benefits from the free trade agreement between Vietnam and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) that was signed in late May this year.

According to Duong Hoang Minh, Deputy Head of the European Market Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the FTA is expected to become operational in early 2016.

Minh noted that the EAEU has committed to tax cuts to zero percent on nearly 90 percent of tariff lines, equivalent to 90 percent of the import value from Vietnam of the EAEU countries, which presents a great opportunity for Vietnamese products, especially seafood, apparel, footwear and farm produce.

For example, he said, over 71 percent of seafood product types will enjoy tariff exemption immediately after the agreement becomes effective.

However, Minh also warned that enterprises should carefully study the exemption and reduction of specific tariff lines as well as regulations on origin to maximise the cut’s benefits.

Deputy General Secretary of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers Nguyen Hoai Nam held that seafood is among products set to receive special preferential treatment in terms of tax, domestic material ratio and origin regulations.

He noted that Vietnam’s seafood exports to the potential Russian and EAEU markets are currently modest at 110 million USD each year, accounting for only 1 percent of the sector’s total export value.

He added that without support from State agencies, enterprises will face difficulties in making full use of opportunities in the markets.

Nam also noted that one of the obstacles for Vietnamese enterprises is the ambiguous food safety and quarantine rules in the Russian market.

Statistics showed that 400 Vietnamese seafood producing facilities have been recognised by the European Union as meeting export standards but only 30 of them are allowed to ship seafood to the EAEU.

According to Minh, major traditional Vietnamese export markets such as the US, EU and Japan have different regulations on quality management from those in Russia and the EAEU.

During the seminar, participants also discuss the resilience of the steel sector against the competition of EAEU members, especially strong steel manufacturers of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan that offer competitive prices.

According to Nguyen Van Sua, Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Steel Association, Vietnamese steel firms should enhance their competitiveness by renovating their technology and building trademarks to secure the domestic market.

Private firms encouraged to invest in PPP infrastructure projects

The door to investments is always open for private businesses who want to engage in public-private-partnership (PPP) infrastructure projects.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is scheduled to make a mid-term investment plan for 16 PPP projects worth nearly 6.4 trillion VND (293.3 million USD) from 2016-2020.

Meanwhile, the education and training sector plans to mobilise 81.6 percent of capital from private enterprises to invest in PPP projects worth over 6.1 trillion VND (279.5 million USD) for the next five years.

According to the Ministry of Transport, 48 PPP transport projects are being carried out in Vietnam. Last year alone, the capital mobilisation from private firms reached nearly 43 trillion VND (1.95 billion USD).

From now to 2020, the sector needs some 960 trillion VND (43.44 billion USD) for infrastructure investment, including approximately 400 trillion VND (17.96 billion USD) for PPP projects.

Capital resources for PPP projects are considerably huge, but the issue lies in harmonising the interests of the State, investors and customers.

Regarding the matter, Head of the Auction Management Department under the Ministry of Planning and Investment Le Van Tang said the provision of public services must follow State requirements and conditions.

The selection of investors will be conducted through auctions to ensure equality, he said, adding that the State will have specific regulations to support investors in the field.

Government Decree 15/2015/ND-CP on PPP issued in February 2015 has created a legal mechanism to attract investors to PPP projects via tax incentives.

After the decree came into effect in April this year, the number of PPP projects has increased considerably, including the Dau Giay-Phan Thiet highway, An Nghiep sewage treatment plant, Nhon Trach inter-port road and other water supply projects for rural areas.

Steering committee for industrialisation strategy established

A steering committee for Vietnam’s industrialisation strategy will be set up as part of a cooperation agreement with Japan by 2020, according to a recent decision by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.

Under the strategy approved by the PM in 2013, six industries will be prioritised for development in Vietnam as key to the national economy: electronics, agricultural machinery, agricultural and seafood processing, ship building, the environment and energy conservation and manufacturing cars and spare parts.

The industries are said to be able to stimulate domestic and foreign investment, especially from Japanese enterprises and spread ‘technological seeds' to other industries and the economy in general.

The steering committee for the strategy will be led by Deputy PM Hoang Trung Hai while Minister of Planning and Investment Bui Quang Vinh will act as Deputy Head.

The committee will also consist of the Minister of the Information and Communications, deputy ministers of eight other ministries, and a vice chairman of the Government Office. Meanwhile, guest members will include the Japanese Deputy Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry and the Japanese Ambassador to Vietnam.

The committee is tasked with helping the PM direct ministries, sectors and localities to design and implement relevant action plans, mechanisms and policies.

It is also assigned to cooperate with Japan to promote Japanese investment in the six prioritised industries while working with authorised agencies to tackle obstacles and monitor and evaluate the strategy realisation.

In the first seven months of 2015, Japan was the fifth largest foreign direct investor in Vietnam with 176 new and 82 expanded projects with combined capital of 716 million USD, according to the Foreign Investment Agency under the Ministry of Planning and Investment.-

Mekong Delta province reviews industry-trade performance

Industrial production of the Mekong Delta province of Hau Giang expanded by 7.3 percent in the first seven months of this year and the total trade of goods and services reached over 17.5 trillion VND (833 million USD), a year-on-year rise of over 4.3 percent, according to a local report.

Import-export turnover was estimated at over 260 million USD, fulfilling over 52 percent of the yearly target, while the rate of households using electricity was over 98 percent as of August 2015 (the proportion in rural areas was above 95 percent), said the report delivered at a working session on August 18 between the local authorities and a delegation of the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

The province has successfully organised the 2015 spring trade fair, the Hau Giang trade promotion fair, the Mekong Delta industry and trade fair, and market days selling locally-made products in rural areas.

Besides encouraging and consulting businesses to develop industry, the locality has also intensified market management inspections to deal with any violations promptly.

A number of construction projects have been expedited, including construction of the Song Hau 1 thermal power plant, the Nha Be-Hau Giang industrial garment-textile factory and the Hau Giang beer factory.

However, several setbacks remain in the processing industry, sugar industry, seafood processing and sale of rural products.

Speaking at the working session, Minister Vu Huy Hoang hailed Hau Giang for proactively grasping opportunities and calling for investment to develop industry.

He highly valued local industry planning, which he said is headed in the right direction, feasible and appropriate with the local potential.

The Minister agreed with the provincial proposal to upgrade four current industrial clusters into industrial parks and build an agricultural mechanisation centre.

He directed the provincial Department of Industry and Trade and People’s Committee to coordinate with the Steering Committee for the Southwest Region to organise the Mekong Delta economic cooperation forum in Hau Giang next year.

Agriculture minister expedites safe tea production

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat called for the reorganisation of safe tea production to increase its value as well as farmer income at a conference held in the northern province of Thai Nguyen on August 18.

Although Vietnam is the fifth largest tea exporter globally, its tea quality has not been appreciated, the minister underscored, adding that efforts must be made to ensure hygienic and safe tea products.

The country is currently home to 132,000 hectares of tea plantations with the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong being the biggest producer, followed by the northern provinces of Thai Nguyen, Ha Giang, Phu Tho and Yen Bai. Stellar growth in tea productivity has been seen in Thai Nguyen, Lam Dong, Tuyen Quang and Nghe An provinces.

Some 197 tea producing bases nationwide with over 9,300 hectares have received VietGAP certification. However, techniques for safe tea production have not proved efficient as little attention has been paid to input materials, especially protection products in tea leaves.

Nguyen Xuan Hong, Head of the Plant Protection Department, said that it is crucial to reorganise tea production given pestilent insects on tea leaves should not be difficult to eliminate.

Material collected through numerous intermediaries not only results in high production cost but also affects tea quality, reducing the competitiveness of Vietnamese tea in foreign markets. In addition, tea production training for farmers has not been a priority in many localities, restricting tea production quality and safety improvements.

Minister Phat said that localities and enterprises need to support farmers to reorganise tea production while offering practical solutions to improve tea hygiene and safety.

Hi-tech park to get training, support from S Korean centre

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

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 Viet Nam'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, South Korea and Thailand to discuss business, expand networks and seek more market share in Viet Nam 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 Ha Noi'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.

Investment climbs in property sector

Investment inflows into the property sector has surged, especially credit from banks, said Nguyen Tran Nam, former deputy minister of Construction and chairman of the Viet Nam Real Estate Association (VREA).

Nam made his statement at the debut of the Viet Nam Association of Property Brokers in the southern region on Tuesday in HCM City. The association represents individual brokers, real estate trading floors and brokerage companies.

"The market would find it hard to have a bubble situation, as it has seen sustainable development. Estate brokers have been especially more cautious, resulting in property prices becoming more stable," he added.

However, he said Viet Nam should remain cautious about the situation.

Statistics from VNREA showed that property transactions had sharply increased in the second quarter of 2015. In the first half of the year, Ha Noi had more than 9,200 successful transactions, and those in HCM City reached over 8,700, which was double those during the same period last year.

The association further said this increase was because other investment channels, such as gold, securities and savings have become less attractive, while the property market has surged.

Additionally, the chairman said estate prices have been relatively stable or increased by 1 to 2 per cent at some projects, despite a surge of successful transactions.

"It means that banks, people, foreign companies and investment funds have seen property as a good investment channel, which could bring high profits," he said.

In the banking sector, outstanding loans for the estate industry reached VND360 trillion (US$16.07 billion), double the figure in 2009 when the market came witnessed a crisis.

The average overseas remittances into the country were $11 to 12 billion a year, while just in the property sector, overseas remittances accounted for 25 per cent of the total.

Binh Duong, magnet for South Korean investors

South Korean investors remain interested in Binh Duong as a business destination, South Korean executives told leaders of the southern province at a meeting with them on Tuesday.

Binh Duong officials said in the year-to-date, South Korean companies have invested in 25 new projects and expanded 14 existing ones, bringing in a little over US$134 million to make South Korea the third largest investor.

There are 515 Korean projects in Binh Duong with a total investment of $2 billion.

For many years Binh Duong has been a magnet for foreign investors thanks to its dynamic business environment and good infrastructure and human resources.

Besides, local leaders attentively listen to and resolve investors' complaints.

On Tuesday they met dozens of executives from local South Korean companies to assuage their concerns related to human resources, taxes, salaries, intellectual property, and others.

Earlier they had met with Japanese investors.

The regular meeting with investors is deeply appreciated by the companies since it leads to a quick resolution of their problems.

Foreign direct investment has for years played an important role in the province's development. Foreign firms account for nearly 42 per cent of total investment, 69 per cent of industrial output and 82 per cent of trade.

SSC declines plan for non-voting depository receipts

Following consultations, the State Securities Commission (SSC) has confirmed it will not adopt a proposal by the HCM City Stock Exchange to allow companies to issue non-voting depository receipts (NVDR).

The plan, first proposed by the HCM City Stock Exchange two years ago, was based upon its study of the Thai Stock Exchange, in which a similar plan was enacted in a bid to lure foreign investment to their domestic stock market.

The plan was prompted by concerns that foreign investors could not invest in many companies because foreign ownership in these firms had reached the limit of 49 per cent, as stipulated in the current law. Thus, NVDRs would have offered an alternative option for foreign investors who are interested in arbitrage and financial benefits, such as dividends, rights issues or warrants.

The possibility of allowing for NVDRs remained open until last week when SSC's vice chairman Nguyen Thanh Long said that the commission would not adopt this solution.

According to Long, allowing foreign investors to hold NVDRs could lead to risks that a company could not hold annual shareholders' meetings due to low participation rates or create imbalanced voting rights between domestic and foreign shareholders.

Further, he presented an example in which a group of foreign investors were holding 49 per cent of the company's charter capital, while another group of foreigners held 30 per cent of stakes in the form of NVDR's.

"Who will represent the voting rights of these 30 NVDR shares? If this problem is not solved, it can affect the organisation of its shareholders' meeting," Long said.

The current regulation stipulates a general shareholders' meeting shall only be conducted if the number of shareholders reaches at least 65 per cent of total voting shares.

In addition, the existing legal system had yet to allow the establishment of a body responsible for issuing and selling NVDRs to investors, Long added.

"Since NVDR does not help attain all the targets set out, we shall not implement this solution," Long told reporters at last Thursday's meeting to provide detailed information on Decree 60, which details new rules for foreign ownership in public companies.

In Thailand, the Stock Exchange of Thailand set up Thai NVDR Co Ltd, which is responsible for issuing and selling NVDRs to investors and performing the purchase or sale of those listed company shares whose investors wish to trade through NVDRs. Thai NVDR reserves the right to attend shareholders' meetings, but cannot vote.

The value of foreign trading, including both buying and selling, accounts for 20 to 30 per cent of the total market value on the HCM City exchange, averaging some VND580 billion ($27 million) per session in the last 12 months.

This figure was much more modest on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, making up 10 to 15 per cent of the market's value, with an average of just VND31 billion ($1.4 million) per day since early this year.

By July 6, there were some 40 listed companies in which foreign ownership had reached, or nearly approached, the limit of 49 per cent, accounting for just 6 per cent of total stocks listed on the two exchanges.

However, most of these are hot stocks, such as dairy giant Vinamilk (VNM), software giant FPT Corp (FPT), Mobile World Investment Co (MWG), DHG Pharmaceutical (DHG), Refrigeration Electrical Engineering (REE) and HCMC Securities Co (HCM).

Second Lotus Residences sale to heat up market

As the resort property segment has been heating up since the beginning of this year, property developers are gearing up their sales, offering appealing and guaranteed profits to buyers.

Syrena Viet Nam, a member of the BIM Group, and G5 Property Trading Floor Alliance will on August 23 jointly open a second-phase sale of Van Lien (Lotus Residences), its luxury resort property project in the prime location of Halong Marina Urban Area.

The sale will be held in Ha Noi as potential buyers in the capital city and neighbouring provinces are showing great interest in the project.

According to Syrena Viet Nam, the first sale organised in Quang Ninh Province's Ha Long City in June attracted an unexpectedly high number of investors, many of them from Ha Noi.

Potential buyers were seeking luxury resort projects that would not only be appropriate to their own holiday demands but also generate profits, Syrena Viet Nam said, adding that the quality and capacity of the developers were two important factors that attracted buyers.

Syrena Viet Nam guarantees a profit of eight per cent of the value of Lotus Residences' townhouses in the first three years in operation, worth a total VND1.7 billion ($77,980) if the owners join the rental pool programme, which is a management model in which the parties involved share rental income from property as well as the expenses associated with its ownership and maintenance.

The construction of Lotus Residences began in the middle of May. It will cover 40,000sq.m along Ha Long Beach, with 159 four-storey townhouses designed to combine retail and tourism purposes.

Lotus Residences, with high-end amenities such as an all-season swimming pool, modern gym, park and playground, became the spearhead project of the BIM Group in Halong Marina Urban Area this year.

The BIM Group is among the leading property developers in Quang Ninh Province, with a 248ha Halong Marina Urban Area that stretches along 3.8km of Ha Long Beach, and has developed infrastructure and good connectivity with tourist and recreational centres nearby.

GM Vietnam introduces Chevrolet Cruze 2015

General Motors Vietnam (GM Vietnam) today launched the new Chevrolet Cruze, which is available in LT and LTZ trim levels.

GM Vietnam has begun accepting pre-contracts, with vehicle deliveries starting on September 1.

Cruze is GM’s best selling car. As of July of 2015, GM has sold more than 3.5 million Cruze’s around the world.

Together with the Cruze, today the company also launched the Chevrolet Complete Care programme, which includes 24/7/365 roadside assistance, express service, a warranty for up to one year or 25,000 kilometres (whichever comes first) for genuine parts and accessories and a warranty for up to three years or 100,000km (whichever comes first) for new Chevrolet buyers.

This is the first time GM brought the programme, which is present in many countries around the world, to Vietnam.

“Chevrolet has a lineup of high-value, high-quality vehicles in Vietnam. They include the Spark, Aveo, Cruze, Captiva, Orlando and Colorado,” said Wail A. Farghaly, managing director of GM Vietnam. “With Chevrolet Complete Care, we are delivering an outstanding ownership experience to match.”

GM Vietnam has headquarters and a manufacturing facility in Tu Hiep commune, Thanh Tri district in Hanoi. It has an annual assembly capacity of 30,000 vehicles and operates a nationwide sales and service network of 17 dealer facilities in major cities.

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