VAMC asks for five-fold increase in charter capital     

The Viet Nam Asset Management Company (VAMC) has proposed to raise its current charter capital from VND2 trillion (US$87.6 million) to VND10 trillion by 2020.

The amount is aimed to enhance the company’s financial capacity to buy and sell bad debts at prevailing market prices.

This is one of the proposals in an itinerary of raising capacity to solve bad debts from 2017 to 2020 period that VAMC has sent to relevant bodies recently.

Other proposals include setting up debt buying and selling market and building provisional funds.

VAMC was established in 2013 with the initial charter capital is VND500 billion, which was seen as modest in comparison with the total non-performing loans that the company has to deal with. In 2015, the Government raised the company’s charter capital to VND2 trillion.

In its proposal, VAMC also wanted to issue government-guaranteed bonds worth of about VND45 trillion which will come from domestic and foreign organisations and individuals. 

EVN and VCCI promote electricity-access index

Electricity of Việt Nam (EVN) and Việt Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) on Wednesday signed an agreement on evaluating the electricity-access index and customers’ satisfaction with EVN’s services.

Under the agreement signed in Hà Nội, VCCI will provide consultancy and information related to responses of the business community in Việt Nam about power supply to improve the index.

EVN will also provide information on the power supply situation in localities and the difficulties it faced in improving the electricity-access index in the country. The two sides will research and prepare proposals to revise regulations and policies aimed at improving the business environment.

In addition, the two sides will co-operate in education and training to improve management capacity to resolve disputes between business members.

The agreement is aimed at enhancing information exchange between the two sides to meet with the integration trend.

VCCI is a representative of the business community in Việt Nam. Over the past years, VCCI has proposed solutions to facilitate business development.

The co-operation will open new opportunities to better exploit the potential of each side. This could help EVN obtain objective information from its customers in particular and the business community in general.

The agreement is considered one of the solutions for EVN and VCCI to improve the business environment and the national competitiveness capacity according to the Government’s Resolution No 19-2017/NQ.

EVN is directly selling power to 24.8 billion customers nationwide. The group has expressed its intention to improve its service, which would be a decisive factor contributing to sustainable development.

It has implemented users’ requirements for electricity access according to international standards, making the index increase from 6.9 points in 2013 to 7.27 points in 2016.

Last year, the average time for power connection was six working days, significantly improving the electricity-access index. Việt Nam jumped from 156th position in 2013 to 96th position in 2016 for the index according to World Bank (WB)’s Doing Business report.

WB also recognised the reduced time for completing administrative procedures for registration to use electricity from 15 days in 2015 to 11 days in 2016.

The transparency of power supply and tariffs also reached the average level in the Asia-Pacific region.

Customs plans tighter checks on imported steel products

The General Department of Customs has just asked its officials to strengthen checks on imported steel products after a series of reports on steel firms submitting incorrect declarations about product codes.

All customs departments of provinces and cities have been ordered to direct their sub-departments to strictly implement regulations on sampling, analysing and inspecting imported steel products, and identify imported products with incorrect codes.

As per the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s (MoIT) Decision No 2968/QD-BCT dated July 18, 2016 on safeguards, the tax rate for imported steel billets is 23.3 per cent and for imported long steel products is 15.4 per cent (as of March 21, 2017).

From March 22, 2017 to March 21, 2018, the tax rate for imported steel billets and long steel products is 21.3 per cent and 13.9 per cent, respectively.

The MoIT has imposed additional tariffs on imported steel products as a safeguard against cheap imports that are believed to be threatening the domestic industry.

Also under the decision, imported products on which safeguards have been applied include alloy and non-alloy steel billets, and alloy and non-alloy long steel products coded: 7207.11.00; 7207.19.00; 7207.20.29; 7207.20.99; 7224.90.00; 7213.10.00; 7213.91.20; 7214.20.31; 7214.20.41; 7227.90.00; 7228.30.10; 9811.00.00.

Steel billets and long steel products that do not have these codes will be excluded from the tougher safeguards.

However, after the safeguards were applied, representatives of Việt Nam Steel Association said the import volume of the two types of steel have declined sharply, while the import volume of steel products with non-taxable codes has shot up. Officials suspect that local steel importers are changing product codes to avoid paying higher tax.

Bình Dương records highest FDI inflow in 2017

The southern Bình Dương Province’s People’s Committee on Wednesday granted investment certificates to 21 projects worth US$1.3 billion, the first batch of projects to receive the go-ahead this year.

Of these, 10 are new foreign direct investment (FDI) projects whose registered capital totals around $740.7 million, and eight are existing FDI projects that had applied for capital increase totalling $536 million. The remaining three projects are by local investors and have combined registered capital of VNĐ740 billion ($32.8 million).

Trần Thanh Liêm, chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, said the new projects and project expansion plans reflect investor confidence and long-term commitment to contributing to the province’s development.

So far, the province has attracted $27 billion of FDI from around 2,900 projects, ranking second in FDI capital scale, after HCM City. However, the amount of FDI capital flowing into the southern province has been higher since the beginning of 2017.

“We recognise and highly appreciate the contributions,” Liêm said, adding that the province is working constantly to be an attractive business destination for investors. To do so, provincial leaders and heads of agencies are focusing their efforts on completing the region’s technical infrastructure projects, making administrative reforms and increasing competitiveness, the chairman said.

The province will take timely measures to address the issues that enterprises face, Liêm promised.

“The business community plays an important role in contributing to the province’s socio-economic development, so we are ready to hear opinions and suggestions from associations and enterprises, as well as aspirations and desires, so that we can come up with suitable solutions to make our investment environment more friendly and efficient,” Liêm said.

Bình Dương ranks fourth among 63 cities and provinces nationwide in the Provincial Competitive Index, announced by the Việt Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Vietnamese telecoms speed up 4G race

While Vietnam’s three largest mobile carriers prepare to release 4G networks to the public, many mobile users are unsure if it is worth upgrading their data plans from the already expensive 3G.

Vietnamese mobile network operators are intensifying their preparations to offer as widely as possible coverage of the fourth generation of the wireless mobile communication network in the country.

Military-run Viettel, for instance, said that it had installed nearly 18,000 4G stations in nearly all districts across the country as of mid-March.

The company claimed that its 4G network would be available even in remote communes, border areas and islands, adding that the number of 4G stations will rise to 28,000 countrywide by the end of this month.

In the meantime, VNPT, the operator of Vinaphone, is also speeding up the pace of its infrastructure development.

The mobile carrier is testing the network in certain cities and provinces, and is set to offer the 4G service in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and ten other provinces by the end of April.

“By the end of 2017, Vinaphone will have had countrywide 4G coverage,” one company representative said.

The latest player, MobiFone, has plans to offer 4G in 53 out of 63 provinces and cities by the second quarter of this year.

It appears that the three mobile carriers will all launch the service no later than the first week of April.

4G is the fourth generation of wireless mobile telecommunications technology, succeeding 3G.

Theoretically, the peak speed for 4G can range between 1 Gbps and 1.5 Gbps (gigabit per second), however the 4G network in Vietnam is of Long-Term Evolution (LTE) standard, with a top speed of only 200-250 Mbps (megabit per second).

In reality, the service speed fluctuates between 20 and 30 Mbps, and in some specific areas, 30 and 60 Mbps.

These are still much faster than current 3G service speeds, from 3 to 5 Mbps.

Mobile carriers all claim that users will enjoy a better online experience by using the 4G network, though some are concerned that faster speeds will result in their data plans expiring sooner.

The most common 3G prepaid data plan in Vietnam is VND70,000 (US$3.13) a month for 600GB of high-speed data. Once the 600GB quota is used up, users do not have to pay more, but their data speed will be far slower.

Some Vietnamese users believe that with 4G, it will take merely minutes for their 600GB data plan to drain, leading to them paying more.

Vinaphone has reassured users that “on the same amount of data, 4G does not cost more than 3G,” while Viettel has also claimed that the cost per GB on the 4G data plan will be “cheaper” than 3G.

MobiFone said that a data plan is cheap or expensive depending on what users do online

“Your data plan will only drain faster if you use the 4G for services like watching HD movies online,” one company representative said.

Gia Lai rolls out red carpet for Czech investors

A delegation from the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai led by Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Vo Ngoc Thanh is visiting the Czech Republic to call for investment and promote trade and tourism.

At a working session with Borivoj Minar, Vice President the Economic Chamber of the Czech Republic in Prague on March 27, Thanh introduced his locality’s economic potential and investment incentives.

Located in the north of the Central Highlands with temperate climate, Gia Lai province holds favorable conditions for developing short- and long-term industrial plants and livestock farming, said Thanh, adding that it is now home to 79,700 ha of coffee, nearly 103,000 ha of rubber, over 17,000 ha of cashew and 14,500 ha of pepper.

The province has great potential to develop tourism and services as it boasts numerous historical and cultural relic sites, famous landscapes and especially the Space of the Gong Culture, which was recognised by UNESCO as a world cultural heritage of humanity  

Gia Lai is calling for investment in 61 projects in infrastructure, agro – fishery – forestry, education, culture, sports and tourism, Thanh said.

Borivoij Minar lauded Gia Lai province’s selection of the Czech Republic as a prioritised partner for investment and cooperation. 

He spoke highly of the province’s economic potential, saying that the Economic Chamber of the Czech Republic will provide Czech firms with consultancy on trade and investment opportunities in Gia Lai.

He also expressed his support for economic-trade cooperation between localities of both countries.

During their four-day visit which runs through March 30, the Gia Lai delegation plans to work with economic agencies of the Czech Republic and the Vietnamese People Association in the host country.

Vietnam attractive to intra-ASEAN investment

Vietnam would be an attractive destination for intra-ASEAN investment thanks to the Government’s determination to equitise and withdraw capital from State-owned enterprises.

Chief Executive Officer of Malaysia’s Maybank Kim Eng Group Dato John Chong made the remark at a recent Invest ASEAN 2017 Conference in Singapore, which attracted over 800 representatives from 126 global investment funds and 49 businesses in Southeast Asia.

“We are in the equity market, and we see there are a lot of fundraising demand for infrastructure projects. We also see opportunities in places like Vietnam and Indochina region, where the governments are working on the privatisation of some state-owned enterprises, so there may be some project financing opportunities,” he was quoted as saying in an article on The Edge Financial Daily.

He noted that the 630-million-strong Southeast Asian region needs an estimated of 600 billion USD in investment for infrastructure projects in 2016-2020. It is expected to be a fertile land for investors to explore, he added.

According to Maybank CEO Kim Eng, intra-ASEAN foreign direct investment (FDI) recorded an annual growth of 11 percent from 2008 to 2015.

It expects that six key markets in ASEAN, namely Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam will enjoy an annual growth rate of 4.8 percent, picking up from the estimated 4.6 percent in 2016, on the back of trade recovery, higher commodity prices and improved global electronics demand.

Vietnam is forecast to record a high growth rate of 6.3 percent in 2017 and 6.2 percent in the following year.

Merger expected to expand Savills Vietnam’s share in hospitality

Alternaty, a leading real estate consulting firm in Indochina, merged into Savills Vietnam, the largest property company in Vietnam, under a deal inked in Ho Chi Minh City on March 28.

Accordingly, Alternaty personnel will join Savills Vietnam’s Hotels and Leisure Division, while Mauro Gasparotti and Rudolf Hever, co-founders of Alternaty, will become Directors of Savills Asia Pacific’s hotels division. 

The moves aim to boost the development of hotel services in Vietnam and Southeast Asia.

Neil MacGregor, Savills Vietnam Managing Director, said that the capacity of Alternaty personnel will help provide better services for the development of the hospitality industry, and help select hotel managers for investors.

With a 26 percent increase in the number of foreign tourists to Vietnam, the merger is expected to help Savills access new opportunities on the hotel market in Vietnam, which is projected to record a growth rate of 15-20 percent in the short term.

At present, along with such major cities as Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, Da Nang city, Phu Quoc island in Kien Giang province and Khanh Hoa province’s Nha Trang city are also attractive to investors.

Total value of transactions in the hotel market reached 500 million USD during the past 24 months.-

Vietnam, Russia discuss anti-bribery in int’l business transactions

Officials from Vietnam and Russia gathered in a workshop in Hanoi on March 28 to discuss combating bribery of foreign public officials in international business transactions.

The workshop was held by the Trade Representative of the Russia Federation in Vietnam and the Russian Centre for Science and Culture with officials from the Ministry of Public Security and the General Department of Vietnam Customs and Russian enterprises in attendance.

During the event, participants exchanged views on matters concerning anti-corruption and anti-bribery of foreign public officials in international business affairs.

Head of the Russian Trade Representative Viacheslav Nikolaevich Kharinov said Russia has been undertaking drastic measures to implement the 1997 Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) which took effect in 1999.

Countries that have signed the convention are committed to criminalising the act of bribing foreign public officials, he added, stressing the importance of coordination between state authority and enterprises in tackling corruption.

Russia and Vietnam has a long-standing relation, so that the two countries should shake hands in anti-corruption projects and strengthen economic ties based on trust and openness, he proposed.

Delegates to the event also gave an overview of the Anti-Corruption Law of Vietnam and its practice in combating corruption in import activities.

Da Nang high-tech zone attracts nearly $160 million in FDI

A total of nearly $160 million in foreign direct investment (FDI) capital from seven projects has gone to the Da Nang High-Technology Zone.

The investment has come from major investors such as Danapha ($68 million), Tokyo Keiki ($40 million), and Niwa Foundry ($30 million).

The zone’s management board is actively promoting a number of large investors from Japan and South Korea. “We expect to have at least one more project licensed shortly, with capital of about $30 million,” said Mr. Doan Ngoc Hung Anh, Deputy Director of the Da Nang Department of High-Technology.

The department regularly holds meeting with investors at the zone to discuss challenges in manufacturing, with any problems resolved together.

A representative from Keiki Vietnam said that managers at the zone should cooperate with enterprises and have a clear document plan for investors, which will give them peace of mind when investing and operating.   

Mr. Hung Anh said that managers at the zone always take care of enterprises and put themselves in the business’s position to support investors and resolve issues as quickly as possible.

Zone managers have proposed a bus rapid transit (BRT) route from the city to the zone to facilitate the movement of workers. The route is being researched by the city’s Department of Transport and will be proposed to city leaders in the near future.

Da Nang was again ranked No.1 in the Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI) for 2016, released by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) on March 14. It scored 70 points out of 100 and topped the list for the seventh time and the fourth year in succession.

$16bn in new investment for Quang Nam

Quang Nam authorities granted investment decisions and licenses to 33 projects with total registered capital of $15.8 billion at an investment conference on March 26 attended by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

Investment is going to many sectors, including industrial production, urban development, tourism, training, and hi-tech agriculture, with strategic cooperation agreements also signed for the development of the automotive industry and mining and gas processing.

Prime Minister Phuc underlined Quang Nam’s advantages, in particular transport links with nearby Da Nang and potential in forestry and tourism.

He also emphasized a series of government policies for investors, especially a commitment to maintain a peaceful and stable environment on the principle of respect for Vietnam’s sovereignty.

Mr. Dinh Van Thu, Chairman of the Quang Nam Provincial People’s Committee, said that provincial leaders always support enterprises in removing difficulties and creating a favorable environment for investors.

Annual per capita income in the province has reached over VND53 million ($2,400), above the national average, the PM added.

He also hailed the province’s efforts in improving the investment environment, which has benefited the Truong Hai Auto Corporation - one of the country’s largest private companies.

He urged local authorities to continue focusing on developing sectors such as forestry processing, tourism, information technology, organic agriculture, and precision machinery.

Quang Nam attracted 30 projects last year, bringing the total number of valid projects to 135 with capital totaling nearly $2 billion.

Thanks to the will of the local people to turn the province’s sandy soil into fertile land, Quang Nam is now one of the Top 20 localities in Vietnam, with rising GDP, and ranks 10th among all cities and provinces in terms of budget revenues.

Ground broken for THACO-Mazda automobile manufacturing plant

PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc attended a groundbreaking ceremony of THACO-Mazda automobile manufacturing plant with a total investment of US$ 520 million at Chu Lai Open Economic Zone in Nui Thanh district, Quang Nam province.

THACO’s CEO Tran Ba Duong announced the project has a total area of 35 hectares including over 12 hectares of workshop and will come into operation in April, 2018.

Thanks to technology transfered and assistance provided by Mazda (Japan), this will become the most modern one of this kind of Mazda in particular and automobile assembling in ASEAN.

It has a designed capacity of 100,000 cars per year and robots controlling 70% of assembly work.

Mr. Duong hailed the project as an initial model of cooperation between THACO and Chu Lai Open Economic Zone.

Addressing the event, PM Phuc stressed the importance of the automobile industry. Accordingly, the PM had already proposed the National Assembly pass favorable policies in favor of Vietnamese automobile industry development. In the world, other countries with over 50 million population had the automobile industry. Meanwhile, Viet Nam has a population of nearly 100 million .

The PM lauded the cooperation between THACO and Mazda, calling upon the Japanese manufacture to transfer technologies of automobile spare part production to the Vietnamese producer.

The Government would create every favorable way for the automobile industry to thrive in the future, affirmed PM Phuc.

The Ministry of Finance was assigned to research overall policies on car imports in line with Viet Nam’s commitments to international laws in order to protect the domestic production.

Embattled Vietnam agriculture loses market share on home turf

Vietnamese agriculture, battling to retain confidence among consumers, is losing market share across the agriculture and food spectrum, once considered its unbreakable home turf.

Their arrival is a boon to local consumers, who benefit from the wider choices now available.

For local companies, however, the influx appears to be a death sentence says Nguyen Hoai Nam, deputy general secretary of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers.

Seafood farmers and producers, who are accustomed to dominant positions in the formerly protected market, suddenly find themselves waking up each day to face foreign competitors wielding a daunting array of advantages.

The free trade region created by the ASEAN Economic Community has resulted in foreign multinationals streaming across the border and taking over as a result of their substantial financial resources, advanced technology, superior products, powerful brands, and seasoned marketing and management skills.

The very survival of local seafood companies across the country is at stake, Mr Nam complains.

The situation has left, Mr Nam and many others just like him, calling on the government to reinstate trade barriers or provide some other form of support, which is tantamount to admitting they have no business savvy.

Some multinationals, such as Big C, don’t even want local seafood products on their shelves, Mr Nam says in disgust, noting that at one time they asked for discounts of up to 25% or told them to take their products elsewhere.

Still others in the seafood segment have simply sold out and left the business, Mr Nam moans.

The reason is twofold. The Thai owners of Big C have ready access to fish and seafood products from their home country and local consumers have more confidence in the food safety of Thai products than they do in those from Vietnam.

Fortunately for Vietnam, there are many like economist Vo Tri Thanh who believe there are other options for agriculture like those in the seafood segment who are facing stiff competition.

Mr Than, who has studied the successful strategies and tactics of other countries that faced similar situations to what Vietnam is now up against, understands fully that the situation is not dire and other country’s advantages are not as formidable as they may at first appear.

The answer, says Mr Than, is for agriculture to stay independent of the foreign multinationals and fortify their existing competitive assets. Local agriculture needs to beef up distribution and invest more in research and development to retake the home turf.

The segment as a whole must develop a comprehensive plan to restore consumer confidence in the food safety of its products and strictly comply with VietGap standards to ensure clean, safe products are consistently supplied to the local market.

Just as importantly, Mr Than asserts, the agriculture segment must globalize and develop its own strategy to do so. By developing a better understanding of how the country’s competitive advantages stack up against the international market they can better assess the actual strengths of their multinational rivals.

Agriculture, including fish and seafood, is an industry for which success turns first and foremost on meeting the particular demands of local consumers— and Vietnam agriculture  must learn how to establish relationships with their customers.

Foreign multinationals can’t compete in the Vietnamese market simply by selling standardized products at a lower cost. High transportation costs alone discourage a global presence.

The fundamental problem is that for far too long the agriculture segment in Vietnam has ignored the demands of consumers and it now will take a lot of hard work and effort on its part to gain their confidence and respect.

Vu Tien Loc, president of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, suggests it could take as much as 10-20 years for agriculture to turn itself around and adapt to a competitive environment.

Customer tricked billions of VND by bank employee

Nguyen Bach Mai, a customer from Hanoi's Cau Giay District, has filed a complaint with the National Citizen Bank twice after an employee cheated her out of nearly VND8.7bn (USD382,000).

From 2012 to January 6, 2016, Mai deposited over 8.7bn into her saving account at the National Citizen Bank (NCB). In 2014, receiving advice from Nguyen Thi Thu Ha, head of the bank's transaction office, Mai withdrew the money and deposited it as security for bank guarantee to enjoy an annual interest rate of 13%.

"She assured me that I could withdraw the money anytime I want so I agreed. I trusted the procedures as the bank still regularly sent the statements of the deposit and monthly interest to me," Mai said.

In mid-2016, Mai's family was in need of money so she called Ha, informing that she was going to withdraw all of the money. When Mai came to the bank in January 2017, she was shocked to know that her savings had been withdrawn. The documents have the signature of Ha and stamp of the bank. 

"When I deposited the money, Ha was still the head of the transaction office so the National Citizen Bank can't deny the fact that I deposited the funds with them, not to Ha personally. If anyone else was to receive my money on my behalf, they must have signed paper for that. The cameras of the bank can clearly prove whether I had come to withdraw the money," Mai said.

According to NCB, Ha had resigned since September 2016. After the money was transferred from the saving account, Ha hasn't carried out any action to account it in the bank's system. There were no detailed documents and NBC doesn't have guaranteed deposits. That's why from the bank's point of view, this is personal transaction between Ha and Mai.

"The papers given to Mai are made up by Ha, they didn't follow our official forms. In addition, Ha doesn't have authority over the stamp. The stamp holder had to go out for some businesses and asked Ha to look after it. We have documents for that," NCB representative said.

The bank has transferred the case to the police department of currency security and investment. It also denounced Ha for her fraudulent appropriation of customer's property.

However, Mai said the bank must take responsibility. Whether the bank transfers the case to the police or not is the problem between the bank and the employee.

Bac Giang eyes over 1 million tourists in 2017

The northern province of Bac Giang is striving to receive over 1 million visitors by the end of this year, according to Director of the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism Tran Minh Ha.

Diversifying tourism products, enhancing tourism services and building the safe and hospitable environment are part of measures to flesh out the locality’s target, Ha noted.

Together with pushing the popularisation of three tourism products: cultural-spiritual, historical-cultural and eco-resort tourism, the province will branch out resort tourism coupled with community-based and craft village tourism.

Bac Giang will also develop Tay Yen Tu as a tourism brand and draw plan to organise Tay Yen Tu Festival.

The “Ve nguon” (Bach to the Roots) tourism package will be set up by connecting places where the Yen Te uprising took place, ATK II (safe zone II) and police zone 12 relic site.

Meanwhile, local potential for tourism development will be nudged closer to domestic and international investors through conferences, fairs and exhibitions. The province will shape policy to facilitate businesses landing tourism investment in the locality.

It will join hands with Quang Ninh and Hai Duong provinces to connect tours from Tay Yen Tu to Dong Yen Tu and Con Son-Kiep Bac while encouraging local people to buy local tours.

In addition, enhancing capacity and efficiency in tourism management, examination of tourism business and promoting professional training of tour guides are also given top priority.

Bac Giang is currently home to more than 2,230 relics, including 680 recognised ones, for example, Vinh Nghiem pagoda is where a collection of 3,050 carved woodblocks recognised by the UNESCO as a world documentary heritage are kept. There is also Nuoc Vang-Luc Nam spring, Khe Ro-Son Dong natural preservation area and Dong Cao Plateau.

Since 2011, the province has spent thousands of billions of Vietnamese dong to build infrastructure in tourist areas.

It is now home to 316 lodging facilities with 4,500 rooms.

Last year, the province welcomed 525,000 visitors and earned 500 billion VND (21.9 million USD) from tourism services.

Quang Nam holds conference promoting investment

The central province of Quang Nam held a conference on March 26, calling for investments in the automobile support industry, garment-textile, and entertainment services in coastal areas, hi-tech agriculture, and pharmaceutical industry.

Addressing the event, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said Quang Nam has its own natural advantages to attract investors, such as favourable geography, rich forest and marine resources, and good infrastructure. 

The province has successfully lured 4.5 million tourists per year, nearly 70 percent of whom are foreigners. The figure could be 10 or 15 times higher if the locality works to promote tourism and build its brand name, he said.

He evaluated that the local business environment has become more attractive and stood in the country’s top list.

The PM asked local authorities to put forth more policies to draw big and highly-competitive businesses.

To obtain sustainable development, Quang Nam needs to diversify its budget collection, arrange population appropriately, and improve the efficiency of infrastructure investments, while making effective use of rivers, and have long-term vision and planning schemes, he suggested.

Additionally, the province should improve infrastructure quality so as to connect with other neighbours, like Da Nang and Quang Ngai, he said.

He and other officials witnessed the hand-over of investment certificates and decisions as well as banks’ investment credit pledges to projects, totaling around 15.8 billion USD.  

The same day, the PM attended a ceremony to launch the public administrative and investment promotion centre in Quang Nam, the second of its kind nationwide, after the first pilot one in the northern province of Quang Ninh.

He later participated in a ceremony to kick-start the construction of the THACO-Mazda automobile manufacturing plant at Chu Lai Open Economic Zone in Nui Thanh district.

The project worth 12 trillion VND (equivalent to 520 million USD) is expected to be put into operation in April 2018 with a designed capacity of 100,000 cars per year.

The PM said the Government will create all favourable conditions to develop the automobile support industry.

He also took part in a ceremony to commence the building of a Vinpearl tourism resort complex in Thang Binh district.

Quang Nam has so far attracted 126 foreign direct investment (FDI) projects capitalized at nearly 5.5 billion USD. In 2016, the province granted new investment licenses to 17 FDI projects worth around 122.8 million USD. 

HCM City Tourism Festival draws 350,000 visitors

The freshly-ended Ho Chi Minh City Tourism Festival 2017 attracted about 350,000 visitors, a rise of 20 percent over the previous year, according to the organising board.

The four-day event saw the sale of 6,000 tours with total revenue of 60 billion VND (263,340 USD).

Addressing a closing ceremony on March 26, Le Truong Hien Hoa, Director of the Ho Chi Minh Tourism Promotion Agency said that the event contributed to boosting domestic tourism, introducing new destinations and creating a chance for travel agencies and customers to meet and trade.

The festival also gave much space for the youth to meet travel companies, helping them sketch out career orientations practically and effectively, he said.

At the same time, the event also enabled other localities and businesses to access the Ho Chi Minh City market with a population of over 11 million, added Hien.

During the event, many tours in the northern and central regions where the film “Kong: Skull Island” were shot were introduced. 

Meanwhile, island tours, such as those to Phu Quoc, Con Dao and Ly Son as well as tours to western and central highlands localities were among best-selling products at the event, along with competitive tours abroad, mostly to the Republic of Korea, Japan, Taiwan (China) and Thailand.

RoK firm to build solar power plant in Yen Bai

The Solkiss Company of the Republic of Korea will invest in a solar power project in Thac Ba Lake in Yen Binh district, the northern province of Yen Bai, a local official said.

Director of the provincial Department of Industry and Trade Truong Ngoc Bien said the project will combine wind, solar and water energy to produce electricity. The province and the RoK Company signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the project early this year in Seoul.

According to the MoU, the province will assist the investor in conducting necessary survey and research as well as in implementing the project. The province will also negotiate with the Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) on electricity selling price.

The Solkiss Company will establish a Yen Bai-based Solkiss Company, and train local workers to work for the plant.

The company also pledged to bring more investors to explore investment potential in Yen Bai province.

President of the Solkiss Company Do Young Woo said the company will invest 25 trillion VND (1.1 billion USD) in building the power plant with a capacity of 500 MW.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade expressed support of the investment project in the document No. 40/TB-BCT issued on February 23, 2017.

Do Duc Duy, Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, called on the Government and relevant bodies to offer incentives for the project because it applies advanced and environmentally friendly technology.

He also pledged that the province will create the best condition for foreign investors, including Solkiss Company.

Wood glue quality to be more tightly controlled

Vietnam will soon issue quality and technical regulations for wood glues to better control this input material for the wood processing industry, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The move also targets to protect the health of wood product producers and users as well as to raise the quality and prestige of Vietnamese wood products in the market, said Nguyen Manh Dung of the ministry’s Department of Processing and Trade for Agro-Forestry-Fisheries Products and Salt Production.

With timber resources from natural forests shrinking, wood exploited from plantation forests has become a main source for Vietnam’s wood processing industry.

According to the zoning plan for the wood processing industry, the country targets to produce three million cubic metres of artificial board a year by 2020, of which fibre board accounts for 1.6-1.8 million m3, joined timber slabs about one million m3 and particle board between 100,000-320,000 m3.

The demand for different wood adhesives, including UF (urea-formaldehyde), PF (phenol-formaldehyde), MF (melamine-formaldehyde) and PVAc (polyvinyl acetate), is expected to reach 240,000-300,000 tonnes a year by 2020, Dung told a seminar on technical standards for wood glue quality held on the sidelines of the Vietnam International Furniture and Home Accessories Fair (VIFA-EXPO 2017).

Before 2010, producers of wood adhesives, particularly UF and PF, did not pay much attention in the quality of their products.

This was changed since 2011 when many businesses, especially foreign firms, began supplying the market many high-quality wood glues.

But many wood processors, particularly those producing MDF (Medium-density fibre board) and particle board, still produce the adhesives to serve their own demand, and many businesses imported poor quality adhesives for the domestic market.

In fact, many wood processors still use low quality adhesives to reduce their production costs, with their products mainly sold in the domestic market.

The quality of wood adhesives has great affected to the wood product quality as well as the health of producers and users.

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) with high vapor pressure at ordinary room temperature are included in wood glues such as formaldehyde and have adverse effects on humans and the environment.

This requires the country to quickly establish standards and technical regulations to manage and control the quality of wood glues, he said.

The department, in collaboration with universities and institutes as well as based on Singapore’s standard regulations, have compiled a draft on national technical regulation on the quality of wood adhesives.

The department is collecting comments from leading experts in the industry and relevant organizations to amend, adjust and complete the draft, he said.

Vietnam was among the world’s large producers and exporters of wooden products.

According to the Handicraft and Wood Industry Association of HCM City, the export of wood and wood products is expected to fetch 8 billion USD this year, up from 7.3 billion USD last year.

In the domestic market, consumption of wood products is forecast to be about 1.3 billion USD this year, said Huynh Van Hanh, the association’s deputy chairman.

Earning reports, foreign buys to boost stocks

Vietnamese shares will continue to rise this week, according to securities analysts and brokerage companies, as foreign investors buy local assets. Positive first-quarter earnings reports and macroeconomic indicators to be released soon are also expected to influence this trend.

On March 24, the benchmark VN-Index on the HCM Stock Exchange edged up 0.4 percent to close at 722.14 points, reaching a fresh ten-year high. The southern market index has gained a total of 1.3 percent in the last two days.

The HNX-Index on the Hanoi Stock Exchange advanced 1.6 percent, the highest daily growth since January 3, to end at 91.37 points. The northern market index has increased by a total of 1.8 percent in the past two sessions.

March 24’s gains also helped the VN and HNX Index finish up 1.6 percent and 3.4 percent, respectively, compared to the previous week’s closing levels.

Nearly 272.3 million shares were traded in each session last week, worth 5.1 trillion VND (226.8 million USD). Daily average trading liquidity rose from the previous week’s figures by 23.6 percent in trading volume and 13.5 percent in trading value.

According to securities analysts, positive foreign investor confidence in local stocks was the major factor that lifted the benchmark VN Index across the challenging level of 720 points.

Foreign investors last week recorded a net buy value of more than 1 trillion VND, 5.2 times the previous trading week’s figure. On the HCM Stock Exchange, foreign investors have a net buy value of 1.2 trillion VND so far in March.

“Foreign investors do not seem too concerned about the US Fed’s interest rate increases as they were when the previous rate hikes were made,” said Tran Xuan Bach, an analyst at Bao Viet Securities Company. “They have gotten used to those rate hikes. They have reacted and made moves in advance in order to prepare for the Fed’s rate increases at the end of each quarter.”

“Therefore, if nothing happens unexpectedly, the next two rate hikes will not have negative impacts on foreign investment in Vietnam’s securities market.”

The VN Index will also receive support from large-cap companies that are expected to provide good earnings reports for the first quarter of 2017, according to Nguyen Ngoc Lan, head of brokerage division at Agribank Securities Company.

For example, bank stocks trading liquidity increased strongly in the past week, Lan said. “Normally, the trending of bank stocks will last long and have widespread positive impacts on the stock market, therefore, local stocks will maintain positive growth in the short-term ahead,” he added.

Last week, bank stocks had impressive performances. Vietcombank (VCB) rose total 2.7 percent after five sessions, Asia Commercial Bank (ACB) jumped 8.1 percent, Sai Gon-Hanoi Bank (SHB) soared 7.8 percent, and Sacombank (STB) gained 10.7 percent.

Positive gains were also recorded in other large-cap stocks, such as dairy producer Vinamilk (VNM), consumer goods producer Masan Group (MSN), PetroVietnam Gas Corp (GAS) and Faros Construction Corp (ROS).

However, there are slight concerns over a chance the stock market could decline on profit-taking, which targets strongly-increased shares, and the re-allocation of investment among local assets.

“Investors could seek for possible profits in penny stocks as the increase of those share prices is not related to the improvement of those companies’ core businesses,” said Nguyen Huu Binh, head of analysis division at International Vietnam Securities Company.

According to Viet Capital Securities Company, investors tended to switch their attentions from mid-cap and small-cap stocks to blue chips and large-cap stocks, resulting in the decline of the VNMidcap Index.

The brokerage firm forecast that as small-cap and mid-cap stocks would suffer from the re-allocation of investment, there is a chance the stock market could fall and test the short-term support range of 715-718 points.

PM gives green light to build Song Cong IP in Thai Nguyen

The Prime Minister has approved a proposal on investment in infrastructure facilities for the Song Cong II Industrial Park (IP) in Song Cong city, the northern province of Thai Nguyen.

The plan aims to develop infrastructure facilities to lure more investors in the IP, particularly in machinery manufacturing, mechanical engineering, automobile production and assembling, electronic products, thus contributing to local socio-economic development.

The project, worth over 1,757 billion VND (77.3 million USD) will be implemented from 2017 – 2020 in Tan Quan commune, Song Cong city.

The provincial People’s Committee is to instruct the Thai Nguyen IPs Management Board to work with relevant bodies to complete the feasibility study of the project and submit it to competence agencies for approval.  

Shrimp exports expected to reach 5 bln USD by 2020

Vietnam’s shrimp exports are expected to reach between 4.5 – 5 billion USD by 2020, with an annual increase of between 9.5 – 12 percent.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said these targets are set in the national action plan on developing the shrimp sector to 2025 to be submitted to the Prime Minister.

By 2025, the sector aims to earn 10 billion USD and record a year-on-year increase of 12 – 14 percent.

It also plans to develop hi-tech shrimp production on large scale, with a total brackish-water shrimp raising area reaching 750,000 hectares, producing 1.1 million tonnes.

Vietnam is the world’s third largest shrimp exporter and the world’s leading exporter of giant tiger prawn.

Shrimp export accounted for nearly 50 percent of the total seafood export with the highest value of nearly 4 billion USD achieved in 2014.

The figure was 3.1 billion USD in 2016 and is expected to hit 3.4 billion USD in 2017.-

Phu Yen develops hi-tech agricultural zone

Phu Yen on March 27 announced a master plan of its high technology agriculture zone to 2030 to serve the production of the south central coastal province as well as other regional localities.

The zone will focus on cultivation, breeding, forestry, aquaculture, farm produce processing and preserving, and bio-product and animal feed production.

The zone will act as a centre for research, application, experiment, performance and transfer of technology for production and processing of agricultural products as well as personnel training for the agricultural sector.

In the first stage, the zone will cover 460 hectares in Hoa Quang Bac commune in Phu Hoa district, including 306.6 hectares of production area.

By 2020, the zone will receive an investment of over 520 billion VND to build its infrastructure system, including irrigation, water pipeline, road and light systems, a water supply station, and a waste treatment plant.

So far, the zone has drawn seven projects, including four operating ones, including a Taiwanese-invested high technology agriculture project.

New 70-ha racecourse opens in Lam Dong

Thien Ma – Madagui hipprodome was inaugurated in Da Oai commune, Da Huoai district, the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong, on March 25.

The 70-hectare racecourse was built by the Thien Ma – Madagui JSC in the 336-hectare Madagui Forest Resort, 150 kilometres away from Ho Chi Minh City and 145 kilometres south of Da Lat city, Lam Dong.

It includes three areas – Riding Club for training sport horses and equestrians for Olympic and SeaGames competitions; Racing Club for holding horse racing and trading breeding horses; and Polo Club.

The Racing Club has a 1,000-metre racetrack and will open another 2,000-metre track by 2018 while Polo Club is scheduled to be operational by the end of this year.-VNA

IFAD supports farm smallholders in Vietnam

The International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD) will provide Vietnam 43 million USD in soft loan to sustainably improve income and reduce climate vulnerability of farm households in northeastern Vietnam.

The credit agreement was signed between Vietnamese Ambassador to Italy Cao Chinh Thien and IFAD President Kanayo F. Nwanze in Rome on March 24.

The Commercial Smallholder Support Programme in Bac Kan and Cao Bang will be run from 2017 to 2020 with a total investment of 74.3 million USD, of which the IFAD finances 43 million USD, the Vietnamese Government funds 20.6 million USD and the project beneficiary provinces contributes 10.7 million USD.

The project aims to improve access of about 30,000 poor and near-poor rural smallholders in Bac Kan and Cao Bang provinces to commodity and labour markets and enhance their capacity to adapt to climate change.

IFAD Country Director in Vietnam Henning Pedersen said Bac Kan and Cao Bang are among the poorest in the country where local people are vulnerable to unexpected life events, climate shock and the degradation of land and water resources. Approximately 90 percent of each rural person’s total spending is to meet basic living costs, he noted.

According to the IFAD, Vietnam’s high economic growth has lifted around 30 million people out of poverty over the past two decades. However, it also contributed to income inequality and environmental degradation. Rural areas have less than half the average per capita income of urban areas. Bac Kan and Cao Bang provinces have more than 70 percent of their population living by agriculture.

The project will provide the farm households with financial support and technical training while financing rural infrastructure development.

The IFAD has to date provided Vietnam with 377.5 million USD in loans for 15 different projects and programmes, benefiting over 709,070 poor rural households across the country, since 1993.-VNA

Reference exchange rate goes down 3 VND

The State Bank of Vietnam adjusted the reference VND/USD exchange rate down by 3 VND from the day ago to fix it at 22,253 VND/USD on March 28.

With the current /- 3 percent VND/USD trading band, the ceiling exchange rate is 22,920 VND per USD and the floor rate is 21,586 VND per USD.

In the opening hours, commercial banks made slight changes to their rates.

Vietcombank listed the buying rate at 22,740 VND/USD and the selling rate at 22,810 VND/USD, down 5 VND from the previous day.

BIDV adjusted its buying and selling rates down 10 VND from a day ago, which are now 22,740 VND and 22,810 VND, per USD.

Vietinbak revised its buying and selling rates down by 15 VND to 22,725 VND and 22,805 VND, per USD.

Shares narrow gains on short-term risk

The VN-Index tapered its gains to 0.2 percent to close March 27 trade at 723.5 points on investor fears of a downward correction after the benchmark index reached a fresh ten-year high.

Some big banks retreated from the morning’s gains and restrained the market overall, such as Military Bank (MBB) dropping 1.3 percent, BIDV (BID) down 0.8 percent and Vietcombank (VCB) down 0.5 percent.

Only Vietinbank (CTG) and Eximbank (EIB) retained growth of 0.5 percent and 0.9 percent, respectively.

Overall, the banking sector booked an average loss of 0.3 percent on March 27.

Losers also included oil and gas stocks with the biggest listings like PV Gas (GAS), PetroVietnam Drilling and Wells Service (PVD) and PetroVietnam Technical Services (PVS) slumping on worries of a downward trend in global oil prices.

“The market is incurring high risk in the short term as the index approached the upper boundary of the resistance zone,” Tran Hai Yen, a stock analyst at Bao Viet Securities Co wrote in a note.

The VN-Index reached a fresh ten-year high of 722.14 points on March 24 and has gained 8.8 percent so far this year.

On the positive end, companies with positive earnings prospects in the first quarter or having received support information still advanced.

Hoang Anh Gia Lai Agriculture Investment JSC (HNG) hit the daily maximum rise of 7 percent on March 27, settling at 12,500 VND (0.55 USD) a share, after the Prime Minister approved a credit package worth 100 trillion VND (4.4 billion USD) to invest in the development of high-tech agriculture and new agricultural enterprises.

Healthcare service companies also posted strong gains yesterday, driven by optimistic earning prospects like DHG Pharmaceutical (DHG), Domesco Medical Import Export (DMC), Imexpharm (IMP) and OPC Pharmaceutical (OPC).

This stock group gained an average 2.63 percent on March 27.

According to Vietcombank Securities Co, investors bet on stocks with good business forecasts in the first quarter which will likely be announced in the upcoming shareholders’ meeting next months.

On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index closed nearly unchanged compared to March 24 at 91.4 points.

Overall liquidity on the two exchanges remained high with a total of 292 million shares worth nearly 4.9 trillion VND (213 million USD), up 7.4 percent in volume and 4 percent in value compared to the daily average levels last week.

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