Local property market continues strong recovery in November

The domestic real estate market continued its recovery in November, and conditions are expected to last into the New Year, experts said.

The Housing and Real Estate Market Management Department under the Ministry of Construction reported that the Hanoi property market in November gained a year-on-year increase of 11 percent with 1,550 successful business transactions.

In the first 11 months of this year, successful transactions in the capital city's property market showed a year-on-year surge of 80 percent with 17,750 transactions.

Meanwhile, the number of successful transactions in the HCM City property market in November reached a year-on-year high of 23 percent with 1,600 units, while it gained a year-on-year increase of 92 percent in the first 11 months of this year with 17,050 successful transactions, the department reported.

During the first 11 months of this year, the total value of property inventory on the national market reached 53.24 trillion VND (2.37 billion USD), a reduction of 3.04 trillion VND against the first 10 months of this year.

Tran Ngoc Quang, General Secretary of the Vietnam Real Estate Association, said that both demand and supply had increased and a huge volume of capital had entered the property market. Meanwhile, property enterprises had changed the way they do business and were recovering lost ground after a long and difficult period.

The confidence of customers in the local property market has also increased, he said.

Quang expected the establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) to support the local property market during its recovery in the coming years. Mergers and acquisitions on the local property market would increase strongly in the 2016-2017 period, the Thoi bao Kinh te Viet Nam newspaper reported.

Now, the local real estate market has entered a new phase and is seeing positive changes in payment and policies, but property enterprises should have specific development strategies and improve quality of their products, he said.

Nguyen The Diep, Chairman of Reenco Song Hong property market, said property investors must have real ability in terms of capital along with knowledge of regulations and laws about real estate to make the right decisions on investments. Buyers should also choose carefully the investors and property segments to invest in.

Economic expert Le Xuan Nghia said the number of investors in the real estate sector had increased on the world market and Vietnam too would see an upward trend in property transactions. The Trans Pacific Partnership deal (TPP) would promote urbanisation in Vietnam and that would increase the demand in properties in the future.

There would no bubble in the local property market because the market would be more transparent and have closer management, he said.

Soc Trang reforms investment climate

In recent years, the Mekong Delta coastal province of Soc Trang has made a Trojan effort to appeal to investors, yielding encouraging results. Huu Phuc reports.

The province’s An Nghiep industrial zone has accommodated major projects of both domestic and foreign investors, such as the Long Phu 1 thermal power plant by Vietnam’s state-run oil and gas group PetroVietnam, and foreign-invested textile projects by Tuntex, Best Way and Textray.

Many other investors have registered to do business in the province, such as India’s Tata Power with the Long Phu 2 thermal power plant project, and a wind farm project spearheaded by local investor Phu Cuong.

In the first six months of this year, 42 investors met with the provincial authorities in search of investment opportunities. A total of eight investment projects received investment certificates valued at VND376 billion ($17.2 million) in the total committed capital, and four other investment proposals were approved. Of the former, four projects were licensed by the Soc Trang People’s Committee, valued at VND123.4 billion ($5.6 million) and the remaining four projects were issued certificates by the Soc Trang Industrial Zones Management Authority, worth $252.6 billion ($11.5 million) in the total investment capital.

During 2009-2014, the Soc Trang Department of Planning and Investment, in co-operation with other authorised agencies, met 265 investors representing 267 projects. A total of 33 projects received approved investment proposals, and four others completed the survey process, valued at more than VND165.8 trillion ($8.2 billion) in the total committed investment capital. During this period, the province licensed eight foreign invested projects worth more than $79 million and 93 domestic investment projects valued at nearly VND29 trillion ($1.3 billion). The projects focus on fertiliser and packaging production, aquaculture and processing of agro-fishery products.

In recent years, Soc Trang has posted noteworthy results in attracting domestic and foreign investors to the province, making positive strides forward in the province’s socio-economic development plan during 2011-2015. New projects going into operation have created a large number of jobs, helping people improve their income as well as their quality of life.

The province’s socio-economic infrastructure has also seen remarkable improvements, as has local awareness about the importance of investment promotion activities to help lure investors to the province.

These outcomes, however, are still below expectations, relative to the province’s actual potential and its ever-increasing development needs. This subdued improvement is partly because the province is far away from Ho Chi Minh City – Vietnam’s largest economic hub. Also, crucially, its transport infrastructure leaves much to be desired.

In addition, the provincial authorities have room for improvement in terms of preparing a clear space for investors, as well as effectively supporting businesses to finalise investment procedures.

To ameliorate this situation, according to director of the Soc Trang Department of Planning and Investment Mai Phuoc Hung, the province will ramp up its efforts to better its investment climate.

Soc Trang recently enacted Plan 33/KH-UBND on measures and tasks to further improve its business climate and competitiveness, pursuing governmental Resolution 19/NQ-CP which presents major tasks and solutions to continue improving the business environment and national competitiveness from 2015 to 2016.

With this in mind, the province will expedite a raft of tasks and solutions to achieve these goals.

First, it will increase the publicity and transparency of investment projects, programmes and planning schemes, while stepping up legal support to help businesses grasp new laws, particularly the new laws on Investment and Enterprises, which came into force from July 1, 2015.

Second, businesses will get greater support in product sale and market expansion. In the upcoming time, the province will strive for effective implementation of the agricultural sector restructuring plan, focusing on linking products to the output market, and boosting trade promotion efficiency, with a priority given to local specialty products.

Third, efforts will be made towards accelerating administrative procedure reforms, primarily shortening the time required to process administrative business procedures. For instance, the time for business registration will be shortened from three working days to two, and from 30 days to 20 days for licensing planning schemes. The time to process construction permits, land permits, and permits for fire prevention will be cut by 10-30 per cent. The time for business tax declarations will be shortened to 121.5 hours per year, compared to the current 152 hours per year.

The province will also strive for a better quality of business support. Specifically, the province will continue improving the operational efficiency of the Soc Trang Investment Promotion and Business Support Centre in respect to information, advice, and training service provision to provincial-based businesses.

The centre’s other tasks are to ensure effective usage of funds to support small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) under a project on supporting SME development, and to effectively operate a fund on credit guarantee for SMEs.

In a bid to simplify administrative procedures that will benefit businesses and investors alike, the centre was tasked by the Soc Trang Department of Planning and Investment to act as a central agency in meeting and directly supporting investors and businesses searching for investment opportunities in the province.

At the centre, investors will be able to receive advice and support, as well as submit their investment proposals. The centre will help them move along this process until they receive their final results from the Soc Trang Department of Planning and Investment. This policy of helping investors save time and costs has been praised by the business community.

Mekong improves transport capability

Rapid development of transport system in the last five years in the Mekong Delta has improved passenger and cargo transportation and contributed to regional growth.

Since 2010, total regional passenger transportation has reached 4.6 billion, an annual increase of 4.4 per cent and 468 million tonnes of cargo, an annual growth of 4.9 per cent.

During the 2010-2015 period, the central government invested around VND59 trillion (US$2.6 billion) for transport construction in the Mekong Delta.

In addition, other financial resources were channeled into transport and infrastructure construction, including five ODA projects with a capital of VND39 trillion (nearly $1.73 billion) to link Rach Gia city, Mekong Delta provinces of Kien Giang and Ca Mau , Vam Cong and Cao Lanh Bridges in Dong Thap Province.

Seven other projects under the BOT model at a total investment of VND23 trillion ($1.02 billion) are under construction.

The Ministry of Transport has finished four aviation projects at investment of VND5.4 trillion ($240 million), with annual growth of 16.5 per cent for passengers and 187 per cent for cargo in airline transport.

The completion of Can Tho and Phu Quoc International Airports has created favourable conditions for Mekong Delta to approach the rest of the world.

"In the past, waterways were the most popular means of transportation from the Mekong Delta region to HCM City and other regions. But now, local residents can fly abroad from Can Tho or Phu Quoc. It's fantastic," Nguyen Van The, secretary of Soc Trang Province's Party Committee, was quoted as saying in the Sai Gon Giai Phong (Liberated Sai Gon) newspaper.

"If the Mekong Delta wants to develop, transport infrastructure must be good enough, especially for domestic waterways, the strength of the Delta," Deputy Prime Minister Vu Van Ninh said.

He said the seaport system and waterway routes were the most convenient and cheapest transportation.

In the coming time, the Government will continue to invest in important construction projects in the region, and complete a legal framework to lure more social capital.

During the 2016-2020 period, public investment will be reduced and more ODA and other capital resources will be sought. Total needed capital will be VND86.5 trillion ($3.8 billion), of which VND65 trillion ($2.88 billion) will be spent for road systems.

Domestic waterways will receive more attention, and a railway system will possibly be built in the region.

Hanoi-Moscow trade centre inaugurated

The Hanoi-Moscow trade centre, part of the Hanoi-Moscow Complex (Incentra) was inaugurated in Moscow, Russia on December 19.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Russia Nguyen Thanh Son said the event manifests efforts made by Vietnamese people in Russia as well as the valuable and effective assistance of Russian authorities and people to Vietnam.

Stanislav Odinokov, a representative from the Russian administration, also hailed the fruitful economic cooperation between Vietnam and Russia and the inauguration of the trade centre.

Incentra was built in 2010 by INCENTRA JSC of Eurowindow Holding at a cost of nearly 240 million USD on an area of 40,000 sq.m.

The complex, housing a modern shopping mall and a 21-storey apartment-hotel building, was inaugurated in 2013.

A pagoda built after the One-Pillar Pagoda, one of Hanoi’s symbols, was also included in the complex.

Argentina press praises Vietnam’s reform

The Argentinean news agency Telam on December 18 ran an article extolling Vietnam on its significant achievements after nearly 30 years of “Doi Moi” (reform).

Writer Horacio Rana, also head of Telam’s world news department, said with an open economy, Vietnam’s attainments in the field have been internationally recognised.

He quoted Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Helen Clark as saying Vietnam’s achievements in gender equality, education, employment and health care are impressive.

The ratio of poor people slashed to 4.3 percent in 2010 from 63.7 percent in 1993. More than 97 percent of Vietnamese households have been provided with electricity for daily activities. In 1990-2010, the average growth of Vietnam reached 7.3 percent.

Clark suggested Vietnam continue to push ahead with economic restructuring and foreign investment attraction to further improve local living standards.

The article also quoted Professor Yoshiharu Tsuboi from Japan’s Waseda University as saying Vietnam has actively integrated into the region and the world via its engagement in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement.

In the next 50 years, Vietnam needs to increase its role and position in ASEAN and the global arena, he recommended.

Journalist Horacio Rana received Vietnam’s first National External Information Service Award in 2014.

Vietnamese businesses receive Trusted Brand Index certificate

As many as 186 Vietnamese businesses received the certificate of Trusted Brand Index (TBI) at a ceremony held in Ho Chi Minh City on December 19.

The event was co-organised by the Vietnam Enterprises Institute (VEI) and Germany’s InterConformity Assessment and Certification Company.

According to the TBI Report 2015, 149 Vietnamese enterprises have made outstanding achievements in following the provisions of the TBI Management System and 37 others have proven themselves excellent in meeting the Sustainable Development System’s requirements.

The TBI was launched in 2004 with the aim to help businesses improve their capacity in quality management, establish their best relations with partners and customers, and raise their competitiveness through a third party’s independent surveys and assessments.

As of 2015, the programme has conducted surveys on and updated information for 12,000 businesses on the database of the Vietnam Enterprises Network, said VEI Vice President Tran Minh Khue.

Japanese apples re-enter Vietnamese market

Vietnamese consumers have chance to enjoy succulent apples imported from Japan as the fruit is being sold at Aeon’s 75 stores across the country, said Nagahisa Oyama, managing director of Aeon Vietnam Co., Ltd.

He made the statement at a ceremony held in Aeon Mall Long Bien, Hanoi on December 19 to mark the event that Japanese apples are allowed to re-enter Vietnam after an import ban was imposed four years ago.

Apart from Aomori apple, Fuji, Jonagold and Sekai Ichi apples, among others, were also introduced to Vietnamese people.

Nagahisa Oyama highlighted that nice taste, eye-catching appearance and hygiene safety help Japanese apples receive appraisal and welcome from customers in Taiwan (China), Hong Kong (China), Thailand, and other countries.

He hoped that the fruit will be favoured in Vietnamese market.

Meanwhile, Atsusuke Kawada, head of the Hanoi office of the Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO), stated that the organisation is giving support to the export of Japanese agro-fishery-forestry products to Vietnam.

Tax reform in Vietnam accords with international practice

The Vietnam General Department of Taxation is pushing head with tax reform in line with international practice, said Deputy General Director Nguyen Dai Tri at a workshop in Hanoi on December 18.

He noted that the sector has worked to simplify administrative procedures and apply information technology. However, the reform is not simple and easy at all, he said, citing time-consuming tax payment process and modest improvements in tax facilitation.

Joanna Nasr, an expert from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and co-writer of the IFC and World Bank’s business environment report 2015, pointed out the fact that Vietnam is ranking second in Asia-Pacific in terms of tax payment time.

She also cited limitations in tax inspection, information collection, supplementary document preparation, and payment methods.

To solve these problems, deputy head of the General Department of Taxation’s reform division Hoang Thi Lan Anh said the tax sector moves to build database for risk management and appoint staff to receive feedback from customers on e-tax payment and declaration.

According to Tri, the Prime Minister has also approved a tax reform strategy between 2011 and 2020, which urges the tax sector to reduce time for completing administrative formalities and become one of the five leading countries in Southeast Asia leading in tax facilitation in 2015.

Panama’s businesses wish to establish rice-production ties with Vietnam

Panamanian enterprises want to cooperate with Vietnamese counterparts in rice cultivation and distribution, as heard at a rice trade promotion workshop held recently in Chiriqui province – Panama’s largest granary.

More than 70 local businesses attending the workshop said they expect the signing of a letter of intent between a relevant Vietnamese agency and Chiriqui’s rice producers association.

The pact would allow the implementation of a pilot field covering approximately 3,000 hectares, with rice strains, technical support and experts supplied by Vietnam.

The Chiriqui’s rice producers association will assist Vietnamese rice to gain easier access to Panama’s market.

According to former Minister of Agricultural Development Guillermo Salazar, 87 percent of rice farming area in Chiriqui is cultivated in only one crop a year, yielding a mere four tonnes per hectare.

Panama is capable of meeting 75 percent of domestic demand for rice. The remaining 25 percent or 100,000 tonnes of rice need to be imported, he said.

The ex-minister said Panama is willing to work with Vietnam and seeks assistance for experts, strains and fertilizers in a bid to boost local productivity.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Panama Vu Ngoc Minh highlighted that Vietnam could work with Panama in food development project as well as selling rice to Panama at more competitive prices.-

Origin of VN wood should be ensured for EU exports

Vietnamese exporters of wooden products should meet regulations on legal origins of the material to promote exports to the European Union, experts said at a seminar in Ha Noi late last week

The theme of the seminar was trading of wood and wooden products between Viet Nam and the European Union (EU).

The EU is the fourth largest market of Viet Nam's wood and wooden exports, after the US, Japan and China, with the demand for wooden products accounting for one fourth of the global wood product consumption, Nguyen Ton Quyen, deputy chairman of the Viet Nam Wooden and Forestry Product Association, said at the seminar.

Last year, the export value of Viet Nam's wood and wooden products to the EU reached US$703 million, $100 million higher than in 2013. The key domestic exports to the EU included chairs and interior wooden products for bedrooms and offices.

In the first eight months of this year, the total export value to the market stood at $442 million. The United Kingdom, Germany and France were majors markets in the EU for Vietnamese wood exports, accounting for two-thirds of the total.

Quyen said the EU was an import market for Vietnamese wooden products and also an exporter of wooden material for Vietnamese exporters.

Domestic enterprises have imported wooden material from the EU to process products for home and foreign markets. The major imports from the EU included timber, sawn timber, veneer and plywood. Viet Nam had a total import value of $111 million for wooden material from the EU.

However, some domestic enterprises have used timber with unclear origins, according to a report on wood and wooden product trading between Viet Nam and the EU, released by the Forest Trends Organisation at the seminar.

To Xuan Phuc, the representative of Forest Trends, said integration was a chance for Viet Nam's enterprises to open their export markets and bring in more investments to the domestic wooden processing industry.

Meanwhile, integration would also bring challenges to the local wooden product processors, including risks related to the legal origins of the wooden material they use, he said.

To reduce the risk, Phuc said, the domestic wooden product exporters to the EU, as well as other wooden product makers, should increase the responsibility on using legal wood material in their manufacturing.

That action would support the domestic wood industry to remain in the EU market and have sustainable development in the future, he said.

The government and the association should encourage the enterprises to increase transparency in export products by stating the origins and legal factors of the wood.

They should also provide the EU regulations on the legal origins of the wood that are used to process export products as well as Viet Nam's regulations on production, processing and consumption of wooden products for domestic enterprises, he said.

Under the framework of Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT), the Government of Viet Nam has been negotiating the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) with the EU.

In the future, when the agreement is signed, the Vietnamese government would have closer mechanisms and policies to ensure the legal origin of wooden products exported from Viet Nam to the EU, he said.

Da Nang's firms fail to invest in tech

Only two out of 15,000 enterprises in the central city have invested in technological research in production.

Director of the city's Science and Technology Department Le Quang Nam said it was rare for companies to be given technological enterprise status.

This means most companies in Da Nang are yet to reserve funds for technological research in production.

"It is rare of companies to attain the standard or regulation on technological status. The requirement for that is businesses have to reserve funds for scientific and technological research to produce marketable products with a hi-tech ratio," Nam said.

"Technology is seen a pivotal factor that will help businesses survive in the tough competitive market, when Viet Nam joins the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the ASEAN Economic Community," he said.

Nam said the city's policy in giving priority to technological and scientific research was yet to lure enterprises.

Vice-Chairman of the city's people's committee Vo Duy Khuong said technological and scientific research was the weakest point of the enterprises in Da Nang.

"The products of local businesses cannot compete against those from Thailand or Malaysia in ASEAN due to poor investment in technological research, while TPP is a tough challenge for Vietnamese businesses as it will bring stricter regulations on hi-tech standard production," Khuong said.

"The number of manufacturers investing in science and hi-tech research can be easily counted year on year. Da Nang's Pharmaceutics joint-stock company (Danapha) was the only local business that invested in the city's Hi-Tech Park with international production standards," he said.

Vice-Chairman and General Secretary of the city's Small-and Medium-sized Enterprises Association (SMEs) Nguyen Van Ly said 90 per cent of the businesses were small or medium scale, with capital starting from VND500 million (US$24,000).

"Most local businesses operate in services and trading, and there are several manufacturers in the garment, rubber, cement and steel as well as furniture sectors," Ly said.

"That's one reason why enterprises could not allocate funds for developing technology."

Chairman and General Director of Danapha Nguyen Quang Tri said his company reserved an annual fund of VND2 billion ($95,000) for technological and scientific research to produce hi-tech and competitive products for the global market.

He said Danapha has completed research on a nanotechnology-based cancer injection, which could lead to cheaper drugs for cancer treatment.

"TPP will really bring tough competition in technology. We decided to invest in the Hi-Tech Park with focus on cancer drugs production," Tri said.

Director of the city's industrial and trade department Phan Van Kha said capital was the greatest barrier for businesses that wanted to improve production technology.

"Local enterprises still use poor production lines. They need to import or boost co-operation with foreign partners in technology transfer. However, their small-scale investment capital prevents them from approaching hi-tech production," Kha said.

He said a Korean business offered local enterprises co-operation in technology transfer, but only two out of 30 local businesses were eligible.

Nguyen Duc Tri, general director of Hoa Tho textile and garment joint stock corporation, said deficiency in raw material, design and technology were huge problems being faced by his enterprise for participating in the TPP.

"Participating in the TPP would be a huge opportunity for us to restructure our production and make investments in advanced technology," Tri said.

"Although the company earned $100 million per year in exports, its production is still dependent on imported materials. A small change in the price of the material would lead to weaker competition against rivals in the export market," he said.

Only foreign direct investment (FDI) companies operating in the city have strategies on technological and scientific research.

The city has 90 FDI companies with 305 projects, worth $3.5 billion, of which 174, worth $2.19 billion, are in the services sector.

The city has 25 FDI projects in tourism real estate, 54 per cent of the total FDI capital in the city.

FDI businesses contributed $70 million in 2014, equivalent to 21 per cent of the city budget.

Rice exports may surpass 2015 target

Viet Nam's rice exports are likely to exceed the target set for 2015 by 200,000 tonnes to 300,000 tonnes, hitting around 6.5 million tonnes for the year.

A strong end to the year has been attributed to the sector's success.

According to the Viet Nam Food Association, the country had shipped 5.807 million tonnes of rice as of November this year, and the figure for December is forecast to reach about 700,000 tonnes.

Additionally, rice exported through unofficial channels across the borders is estimated to be between 1.6 million tonnes to 1.8 million tonnes, which is expected to lift the yearly exports through both official and unofficial channels to about 8 million tonnes.

Vietnamese rice exporters have recently won bids to supply 450,000 tonnes of rice to the Philippines and one million tonnes of rice to Indonesia, helping raise the price of rice in the domestic market.

Viet Nam has around 4.1 million ha of paddy fields, 53 per cent of which are concentrated across the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta.

In 2014, the country exported 6.3 million tonnes of the 45 million tonnes it produced, making it the world's third largest rice exporter after India and Thailand.

In the first ten months of this year, Asia maintained its position as Viet Nam's biggest rice importer, despite an annual decline of 11.2 per cent in the market share to 71.58 per cent. Africa, Australia, and Europe showed greater demand for Vietnamese rice with higher imports recorded during the period.

Experts urge start-ups to develop plan

Young people should work three to five years at organisations to understand how a business run before starting their own company, delegates said at the Viet Nam Young Leaders Forum 2015 held in HCM City Friday.

Tran Vinh Du, CEO of TNK Capital Partner and chairman of Viet Nam-America Vocational Training College, said people at start-ups should be patient.

"Start-ups usually have limited capital, so you need to prepare detailed plans to call for investors as well as specific plans on what you will do if you receive money from investors," he said.

"I have seen start-ups in Viet Nam that did absolutely nothing to prepare before trying to convince investors to fund them," he added.

Many young startups thought that their ideas were excellent and worthwhile, but as speakers at the forum said, ideas contributed only 1 per cent to success, while execution represented more than 90 per cent of success.

Nguyen Trung Tin, CEO of Trung Thuy Group and Dreamplex's founder, said: "The most important factor to help a start-up project succeed is market opportunities. If you have a good start-up idea but lack good market opportunities, it will be difficult to succeed."

He recommended that young people conduct market research before starting their own businesses.

Organised by the Business Start-up Support Centre in collaboration with the HCM City Young Businesspeople Association and Viet Nam Youth Federation in HCM City, the forum attracted the participation of more than 600 young people and company executives.

At the forum, Le Thi Tuong Vy, representative of the Business Start-up Support Centre, encouraged young people to consult the centre about their ideas so they can seek opportunities to convert their projects into reality.

Sugar farmers reduce crop amid low prices

Tay Ninh Province authorities have instructed relevant agencies to monitor the measuring of commercial cane sugar (CCS), a disagreement over which has led to disputes between sugar refineries and farmers.

Nguyen Manh Hung, deputy chairman of Tay Ninh People's Committee, said the disagreement between refineries and sugarcane growers over measuring CCS is one of the causes behind the reduction in the area under the cane crop in Tay Ninh in the last few years.

The administration has approved a proposal from the association of Tay Ninh cane growers to buy CCS measurement tools, and with the equipment the association would co-operate with the province agriculture department to measure CCS in sugarcane delivered to the sugar mills.

It means the farmers will no longer be at the mercy of the sugar plants for measuring the CCS.

This is one of the measures taken by Tay Ninh after hundreds of hectares of sugarcane fields in the southern border province have been left unharvested since farmers do not want to sell the crop to sugar mills, who have also not hiked buying prices as promised.

Nguyen Dang Thuan, a farmer in Tan Bien town who signed a contract to grow and sell sugarcane to Bien Hoa Refinery, said he had harvested his crop in November and delivered 1,300 tonnes to Bien Hoa Refinery.

Technicians at the refinery said since the average CCS of the cane was 8.3 and it had 5 per cent impurities, a 2 per cent reduction in price would be made.

However, Bien Hoa Refinery suspended operations and Thuan was told to sell his sugarcane to Thanh Thanh Cong Refinery in Tay Ninh's Tan Chau District. There he was told the CCS of the cane was only 8.0 while it had 7 per cent impurities, said Thuan.

Thuan said with the new sugarcane variety and technical know-how he had used, he had expected to achieve average CCS of 9.0.

Thanh Thanh Cong's assessment meant Thuan got only VND770,000 per tonne for his crop.

With around 60 tonnes per hectare harvested, he said he would suffer losses of VND9 million per hectare.

Meanwhile, traders from nearby Long An Province are buying cane for VND960,000 per tonne, he said.

He told Vietnam News Agency that he has stopped harvesting to ask Thanh Thanh Cong for higher prices.

Nguyen Van Trien of Tan Bien District, also in Tay Ninh, said: "Last year when sugar prices went down, we shared losses with refineries by selling cane for VND950,000 per tonne.

"But now that sugar prices have been rising by VND2,000 to VND3,000 per kilogramme, refineries in Tay Ninh Province have not raised cane prices as they had promised.

"We are in no hurry to harvest and can wait for changes in sugar refineries' sugarcane buying prices."

Most Tay Ninh farmers suspended their harvest a month ago, and sugar refineries are feeling the pinch.

Nguyen Viet Hung, deputy director of Thanh Thanh Cong, told Vietnam News Agency that one possible reason for lower CCS could be harvesting on rainy days.

Power centre

Tan Tao Energy Joint Stock Company (TEC), a subsidiary of the HCM City-based Tan Tao Group, has resumed work on a thermal power plant in Kien Giang Province after a six-year hiatus.

Last week Tan Tao Investment Industrial JSC, another subsidiary, and the Ministry of Industry and Trade's General Department of Energy signed a memorandum of understanding on building the Kien Luong No 1 plant under BOT (build-operate-transfer) mode in Ha Noi.

According to Tan Tao, the agreement will create a legal framework for negotiations over building and operating the plant, which is expected to go on stream within the next 10 years.

Located in Kien Luong District, the two-turbine plant is part of the Kien Luong power centre and built under the Government's master zoning plan for power development between 2011 and 2020.

Since 2014 Tan Tao has discussed the project with many prospective foreign investors.

Thai Van Men, general director of Tan Tao Investment Industrial JSC, said investors from South Korea, Japan, and Australia have evinced interest.

TEC has paid land compensation, cleared the site and built technical infrastructure for the plant.

According to the MoU, Kien Luong 1's first turbine will generate electricity in August 2024 and the second in February 2025.

In 2008 Tan Tao was licensed to build the US$6.7 billion plant project, which will have a total capacity of 4,400 – 5,200 MW when all phases are completed.

Tan Tao Group had planned to begin work in late 2009 and commission the plant in 2013 after the Government had approved in-principle credit guarantees for it.

However, hit by financial problems, the company could not continue with the work for five years. In 2013 Kien Giang Province authorities asked the Government to scrap the licence.

But the company said it hoped to continue with the project since as it has invested $240 million in it already.

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Le Duong Quang said Tan Tao Group could indeed have a second chance since it had spent heavily on preparatory works.

But the company decided last year that it would be a BOT rather than the build-own-operate (BOO) project it had originally envisaged.

Housing recovery

A report from the Ministry of Construction's house and real estate management department reveals that the total unsold property market inventory has fallen sharply, indicating things are looking up for the market, especially the housing segment.

The recovery in demand for apartments helped attract more investment into the housing market in 2015. In the third quarter of this year 10,114 apartments were offered for sale in HCM City, thrice the number in the same period last year.

Of them, 7,862 were sold, a year-on-year increase of 88 per cent, and prices rose by 2.5 per cent on average.

Besides, the development of infrastructure has helped sell resorts in coastal areas like Ho Tram in Ba Ria- Vung Tau and Mui Ne in Binh Thuan.

Dang Hung Vo, a former deputy natural resources and environment minister, said property prices in Ha Noi and HCM City have "returned to their true values" since 2014, encouraging buyers to make decisions rather than wait for lower prices.

The number of transactions is expected to increase further, he said.

Together with the increasing foreign direct investment, the VND342 trillion ($15.2 billion) lent to the property sector this year has helped its recovery.

HCM City is expected to get 50,000 new apartments next year and Ha Noi, 24,000.

"Based on macro-economic factors, I can say there will be no bubble in the real estate market in 2016."

He forecast the market to grow further next year.

Vo said many housing investors target the luxury segment while ignoring the medium- and low-priced ones.

In 2016 – 18 nearly 80,000 houses and apartments will come into the market, over 70 per cent of them in the luxury segment, he said.

CapitaLand looking to invest in Vietnam's office segment: exec

Singapore's CapitaLand Ltd is looking to invest in Vietnam's office property segment, its country head said, as the real estate developer seeks to grow its portfolio beyond residential and serviced apartments in the fast-growing economy.

Besides land, the company is looking to buy completed office buildings and upgrade them, Chen Lian Pang, chief executive officer of CapitaLand Vietnam, told Reuters.

"If there is a potential to do asset enhancement, this is a kind of prime target that we are looking at," Chen said.

Vietnam is currently recovering from a property market bubble that burst four years ago, helped by the government's moves to restructure the banking sector and ease restrictions on overseas buyers.

The recovery has prompted CapitaLand and other foreign developers such as conglomerate Keppel Corp's unit Keppel Land, Amata Corp Pcl and Nishi Nippon Railroad to expand in that country's property market.

Opportunities offered by FTAs for Vietnamese economy

In 2015 Vietnam signed free trade agreements with the Republic of Korea and the Eurasia Economic Union and completed European Union FTA and Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement negotiations.

The trade deals are expected to increase exports, attract foreign investment, and offer new opportunities for Vietnamese economic growth.  

Unlike previous FTAs that focused on trade and commodities, the free trade agreements Vietnam has signed or completed negotiations on this year have a wider coverage not only in goods, services, and intellectual property, but also in state-owned enterprises, public procurement, customs, sustainable development, and non-commercial issues.

For instance, once the EU-Vietnam free trade agreement takes effect in 2018, more than 99% of tariff lines will be removed; Vietnam’s GDP will likely gain an additional 0.5%; and exports will increase up to 6% each year.

The biggest opportunity offered by FTAs is to expand markets thanks to tax reductions and removal of trade barriers to deal with the current limited purchasing power and Vietnamese enterprises’ competitiveness shortage.

Former Minister of Trade Truong Dinh Tuyen said, “We have set a target of earning about US$20 billion from garment and textile exports. But when we participate in FTAs, our earnings can reach US$40 billion.

That amount of money means many new jobs. Farm produce is also a promising area once Vietnam can export agricultural items to TPP markets, because we won’t have to compete with major exporters like Thailand and India.”

Recently many foreign groups in garments and textiles, fibers, leather footwear, and wood processing have expanded their existing projects in Vietnam as a way to welcome new investment flows offered by FTAs. And the world’s leading corporations have invested in high-tech production like computer microprocessors and smart phones.

According to Nguyen Ngoc Hoa, Deputy Director of Ho Chi Minh City’s Department of Industry and Trade, “the signing of FTAs will open new opportunities for the Vietnamese economy.

In particular, the TPP deal will help Vietnam restructure its export market and reduce its reliance on markets in East Asia, China, and ASEAN which account for up to 60% of Vietnam’s export revenue and 75% of its imports.”

The free trade agreements to which Vietnam has been and will be a signatory require a comprehensive reform, specifically market-oriented economic reforms, one of Vietnam’s strategic breakthroughs, according to Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang.

Hoang added, “The advantages and benefits brought by FTAs will play an important role in Vietnam’s international integration, and economic restructuring in line with growth model renovation. The agreements will help Vietnam raise its profile in the international arena.”

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