E-payments easier for State, businesses

Electronic payments have improved the Government's ability to collect taxes and other duties, said deputy general director of the Customs Department Hoang Viet Cuong.

Cuong said the application has made the customs sector more effective and the tool has reduced the work load at customs offices.

Figures from the Information and Technology Department and Customs Statistics showed that the number of import-export businesses, customs declarations and annual tax revenues have rapidly increased.

There were more than 4.1 trillion customs declarations last year, while there were only 1.94 million in 1994.

The State budget increased from VND53.1 trillion (US$2.47 billion) in 1995 to VND181 trillion ($8.4 billion) last year.

The sector has been co-ordinating with financial institutions and banks with the hopes that the groups will be the foundation for implementing e-payments throughout the industry.

Deputy general director of the Viet Nam Bank for Industry and Trade (Vietinbank) Nguyen Viet Manh said projects between Vietinbank, Customs Department and the State Treasury have led to progress. More than VND100 trillion in tax revenue has been paid through Vietinbank since 2009.

During the pilot period of implementing the new method, the sector has signed bilateral agreements with three banks including the Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam (BIDV), Vietinbank and the Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Agribank).

Businesses have also responded to the application. A representative from FPT said using the application to pay for taxes could be immediately implemented within their company, which would help enterprises reduce their costs by VND10 million ($465) a month.

However, representatives from BIDV, Vietinbank and Agribank said electronic payments could hinder businesses.

BIDV's representative said transfers with the system could take up to five minutes.

The General Customs Department was expected to officially launch the pilot project for the State budget collection and tax guarantee at the Customs Agency of North Ha Noi and Ha Noi Customs Department today.

Airfare ceiling prices to go higher

A 20 per cent rise in airfare ceiling prices has been proposed to solve difficulties for businesses.

The proposal was discussed by the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Finance and a new ceiling price was expected by the end of next month.

The proposal follows approaches by the Viet Nam Civil Aviation Administration and many domestic airlines asking for permission to increase ticket prices to avoid losses due to the change in the exchange rate.

Department of Transport director Tran Ngoc Thanh said the depreciation of the dong had raised the amount paid for fuel and services at airports.

The Ministry of Transport had agreed with the proposal to increase the ceiling price by 20 per cent and would send it to the Ministry of Finance for appraisal, he said.

In its deliberations, the Finance Ministry would calculate how much of the burden business would have to share in accordance with Resolution 11 of the Government to curb inflation.

The new ceiling price would be applied by the end next month if the plan was approved by the Finance Ministry.

Export value to France well up in January

The turnover of exports to France showed a year-on-year increase of 34.3 per cent to more than 144.7 million euros (US$203.5 million) in January, a report from the Vietnamese Embassy in France said.

"France's economy has been developing so that Vietnamese exporters to France have many advantages," said commercial counsellor Pham Xuan Yen.

Under these conditions Yen expected the turnover in exports to France would continue to increase in the rest of the first quarter.

In January, most key exports to France showed high growth, such as in garment, electronics and timber furniture.

Viet Nam earned 25.13 million euros ($35.3 million) from garments exports, increasing by 34.47 per cent in comparison with the same month last year.

With a growth rate of 15 times, electronic exports reached 24.51 million euros ($34.5 million). Timber-based product export value increased by 12.62 million euros ($17.6 million), up 2.73 per cent.

Meanwhile, import turnover fell. Viet Nam spent only 36.27 million euros ($51 million) in January, to import goods from France, down 50 per cent compared with December and 35 per cent compared to the same month last year.

Reports from French Customs showed the country's electronics and pharmaceutical exports to Viet Nam declined by 37.11 per cent and 3.25 per cent respectively.

Aircraft and satellite equipment declined the most, being 96.4 per cent down compared with the same month last year.

Currently, Viet Nam has boosted projects and agreements between the two countries, including the upgrade of Long Bien Bridge and construction of the O Mon Power Plant.

Viet Nam has also attracted investment from France in the fields of pharmacy, health-care, food technology and aircraft.

Last year, the trade turnover between the two countries was nearly 2 billion euros ($2.8 billion), a year-on-year increase of 14 per cent.

France remains the biggest EU investor in Viet Nam. Up to the end of last year, about 300 French companies had been established in Viet Nam, mostly operating in the chemical, pharmaceutical and building industries.

Wood products industry faces challenges

Vice President Nguyen Thi Doan urged the Government to boost sustainable development of the domestic wood products industry, with the aim of making it an important economic sector.

Doan spoke at the opening ceremony of the first national wood products festival in the central city of Quy Nhon on Saturday. The three-day trade fair, with 110 domestic and foreign enterprises participating, is helping promote domestic wood products, boost investment and co-operation, and raise public awareness about the value of preserving forest resources.

With over 2,500 wood processing enterprises nationwide, including about 400 foreign-invested enterprises, the wood processing industry has become a major employer, creating an estimated 170,000 jobs.

Vietnamese wood products were now present in 120 countries and territories around the world, with the EU, US and Japan leading markets. Last year, the industry's export value grew 30 per cent to US$3.4 billion, and it is expected to increase another 17 per cent this year to about $4 billion.

Wood products have consistently been among the nation's top ten exports.

The rapid growth in the industry has boosted reforestation, and the nation's admission to the World Trade Organisation has opened even more markets for the industry, said Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Hua Duc Nhi, at a forestry forum yesterday.

Nhi also pointed out significant challenges facing the industry. The nation's plantation forests yield millions of cubic metres per year, but most is exported as raw materials with low-added value. Meanwhile, millions of dollars are spent on imported materials to meet domestic demand.

Since the industry imported around 80 per cent of needed materials, its average margin was only 5-7 per cent. As a result, the industry faced the risk of becoming a mere processing line for foreign firms.

Difficulties also included a lack of processing facilities and skilled workers, low export product competitiveness, limited product designs, market instability and the hikes in input costs due to world price fluctuations.

"Despite encouraging results in production and processing in recent years, many shortcomings remain for the forestry industry," said Tran Bac Ha, chairman of the Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam (BIDV), which provides major financing for the industry.

Despite relatively high export value, Viet Nam has nailed down only 0.78 per cent of global market share, Ha said.

"Sources of raw materials for production remain unstable, without clear master plans or long-term strategies, and insufficient attention has been paid to forest development projects," he said.

According to Ha, the country has only about 20 enterprises engaged in forestry. He suggested the Government provide more detailed guidance under the Land Law to give enterprises easier access to lands for reforestation, as well as to give export credits and other incentives to forestry investments.

The industry also needed to develop sources of wood that meet the high standards of international partners.

Viet Nam Wood and Forest Products Association chairman Tran Duc Sinh said the industry's margin had fallen to under 5 per cent due to the rising cost of raw materials, fuel, electricity, and labour.

The Deputy Director of the Hung Thinh Wood Products Joint Stock Co in the Central Highlands province of Dak Nong, Trinh Huu Hoa, said exports to Japan have dropped to two containers a month recently from six to eight earlier because of increased timber prices and insufficient supply.

In the last three months, the prices of wood imported from the US and Europe have risen by $100 per cubic metre compared with the same period last year, he said. The cost of locally-grown wood, meanwhile, has risen 35 per cent in the past two years.

La Thai Thuy Van, director of HCM City-based Danh Moc Wood Processing Co, said profits dropped from a margin of 7-10 per cent in past years to less than 5 per cent last year. To pay its workers, the company sometimes accepted contracts that represented no profit at all, she lamented.

Doan urged the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Viet Nam Timber and Forest Products Association and relevant agencies and sectors to study and propose more suitable policies to encourage the domestic forestry sector.

She suggested suitable funding be reseved for research and development to facilitate small- and medium-sized enterprises and encourage growers and forest managers.

"All of these are needed to promote the potential of the Vietnamese forestry industry in our economic development strategy, as well as environmental protection," she said.

In the national forestry development strategy for 2006-20, the country targeted to develop 825,000ha of plantation forests and reach $7 billion in wood products exports by 2020.

Milk, automobile imports rise

Imports of milk, dairy products and a number of goods subject to import restrictions have increased dramatically in March, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the General Department of Customs.

Around US$57.4 million was spent on imports of milk and dairy products, an increase of 29.5 per cent against February.

Automobile and motorbike imports rose $61.8 million, up 38.1 per cent and $7.2 million respectively, and the number of imported automobile and motorbike accessories also soared compared to last month.

Digital signatures discussed

Viet Nam Data Communication Company (VDC) held a conference on digital signatures, applications and methods for financial organisations on Thursday.

Digital signatures serve online transaction purposes in e-government, e-commerce, banking, online payments and online transactions.

Digital signatures help individuals and enterprises save money on printing and commuting while enhancing efficiency and protecting against forgery.

Sacombank to train workers

Sacombank and the HCM City University of Economics signed an agreement to develop a skilled workforce to meet a rising shortage of quality human resources.

Nguyen Thi To Uyen, human resource manager at the Sacombank, said the tie-up would encompass training, research, scholarships, internships, and recruitment.

Pham Van Nang, the rector of the university, said in 2009 and 2010 the university and the bank provided free training in sales skills to thousands of traders at traditional markets in the City.

The university, one of 14 major national universities, offered courses in economics and business administration, he said.

Intel winners to join US fair

Intel Viet Nam Co Ltd in collaboration with HCM City Department of Education and Training on Saturday organised the affiliated International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) to select two outstanding research projects for ISEF 2011 in Los Angeles, which will take place in May.

Forty-six research projects were submitted for the affiliate ISEF in HCM City this year. Thirty-two projects were chosen for an exhibition at Tran Dai Nghia Gifted High School.

The students are Tran Dai Nghia, Le Hong Phong, Nguyen Thi Minh Khai high schools, Pedagogy University's Practice high school, Ngoi Sao and Binh Tri Dong A secondary schools.

Manulife opens office in Ha Noi

Manulife Viet Nam has opened a new sales office in Ha Noi in an effort to expand its business and customer services in the city and the north.

Established in 1999 as the first 100 per cent foreign-owned life insurance company licensed in Viet Nam, the company is one of the top three life insurers in the country with more than 9,000 agencies nationwide.

Rubber sector puts future in focus

Upgrading processing facilities and offering training to farmers will help the rubber industry develop in a sustainable manner, said experts at a sustainable rubber development forum in Binh Phuoc Province last week.

The area of rubber tree plantations increased rapidly from 1980-2010, with an annual average rise of 7.7 per cent in area and 10.7 per cent in output, said Pham Van Tinh, deputy director of the National Agricultural Extension Center.

During the period, rubber yields also rose strongly from 703 kilos per ha in 1980 to 1,720 kilos per ha last year.

Rubber tree development has improved the incomes of more than 130,000 farm labourers and more than 143,000 farmer households, Tinh said.

Although the sector has flourished in recent years, the sector faces problems compared other countries in the region, he said.

The current rush to plant the tree, without suitable land for cultivation, coupled with excessive exploitation, may cause a lower yield and quality in the future, threatening sustainable development for the sector, he said.

"This requires localities to quickly create a zoning plan for rubber plantations and urge farmers to strictly follow a plan and not cultivate the tree on any land when there is a rubber-price surge," said Dr Nguyen Anh Nghia, head of the Rubber Research Institute of Viet Nam's Crop Protection Division.

He also urged localities to improve agricultural-extension activities and give instruction in proper plantation techniques for seed selection, plantation, and harvesting.

Demand for natural rubber in the world market is expected to continue to increase until 2012, however, the planting should not be done indiscriminately, said Tran Thi Thuy Hoa, VRA's general secretary.

Currently, the export price of Vietnamese natural rubber is lower than that of Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia because importers blamed the inconsistent quality of Vietnamese products, Hoa said.

"The country, therefore, should improve the quality management system for preliminary processing of natural rubber and support farmers to improve the quality of their rubber raw materials in line with national and international norms to enhance the sector's competitiveness," she said.

The world's natural rubber output this year is expected to increase by 6.2 per cent from last year but is still low compared to the demand for latex, Hoa said.

Supply shortage has pushed up rubber prices in recent years, she said.

Though the price slightly fell this month due to a political crisis in Libya and the earthquake in Japan, it still stands at more than US$5,000 per tonne.

Currently Viet Nam is the world's fourth largest exporter of natural rubber, exporting 782,200 tonnes last year, earning $2.28 billion.

China is the largest buyer of Vietnamese rubber, accounting for 59 per cent of the country's total rubber exports.

Besides latex, last year the country also earned more than $300 million from exports of rubber wood-based products, accounting for about 10 per cent of total wooden products' export revenue, she said.

The country last year had 740,000 ha of rubber plantations, an increase of 62,300ha over 2009, mainly located in southeastern provinces.

The Government has created a master plan to develop the industry until 2015 with a vision to 2020.

Accordingly, the country targets having 800,000ha under rubber cultivation by 2015, producing more than 1.2 million tonnes of natural rubber per year by 2020.

Phase two of massive road project breaks ground

The Thang Long Project's Management Board and South Korea's Samwhan Group and Transport Construction Corporation No 4 officially commenced Phase Two of Ringroad No 3 in Ha Noi on Saturday.

The construction will link Mai Dich Intersection in Tu Liem District and Trung Hoa Intersection in Cau Giay District at a total cost of more than VND1.4 trillion (US$65.8 million).

According to the contract, a 3.2 kilometre viaduct will be built on the divider of the current Ringroad No 3, consisting of 83 spans and 905 slabs.

The road is expected to open 30 months after the start of construction.

.The project will eventually link Mai Dich Intersection and Linh Dam Lake in Hoang Mai District and include 385m of paths and over 8.5kilometre of bridges, with a total investment of VND5.5 trillion ($255.8 million) from Japanese ODA loans.

Four lanes of urban expressway will allow commuters to travel at speeds of up to 100 kilometres per hour.

The project is divided into three stages. The first stage connecting Thanh Xuan Intersection and Linh Dam Lake Intersection started last June. The second stage linking Trung Hoa Intersection and Thanh Xuan Intersection is in the bidding process.

The project is expected to be completed in 2013, connecting Highway No 5, Highway No 6, Thang Long Highway and Noi Bai International Airport, and contributing to the socio-economic development of the capital in particular and the northern region in general.

At the ceremony, the Transport Construction Corporation No 4 donated VND266 million ($12,300) and Samwhan Group donated VND40 million ($1,860) to representatives of the International Co-operation Agency of Japan to help people in Japan overcome the consequences of the recent earthquake and tsunami.