Forum discusses ways to boost food safety, quality
 
The international community said it would continue assisting Viet Nam to improve the quality of its agricultural products as the country struggled to find markets and abide by international quality requirements.

The commitment was made yesterday at a forum in Ha Noi organised by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to discuss food safety and other quality issues.

Nguyen The Phiet, head of the ministry's International Co-operation Department, said the Vietnamese agricultural sector continued to play a critical role in ensuring national food security.

Since July 1, Viet Nam had implemented the Law on Food Safety, which was expected to help in maintaining social security and enforcing environmental protection.

A month earlier the Government had approved the national project to increase the management quality of agricultural and fishery products.

At the forum, participants pointed out the difficulties in applying international requirements for Viet Nam's agricultural products. These had to do with the domestic agricultural sector being so fragmented, no effective supply chain and a limited market for products.

Minister Cao Duc Phat stressed the industry would focus on managing food safety, detection and risk management.

Phat also ordered the animal husbandry department to check on the use of growth stimulants.

Draft decree puts white-legged shrimp farmers at risk

A draft government decree is feared to put white-legged shrimp farmers at stake as it would impose hefty fines on those rearing non-native creatures deemed as environmentally harmful, which include white-legged shrimp.

Farmers raising creatures in the list of banned species as provided by the draft decree prepared by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment would be fined from VND50 million to VND500 million and forced to either re-export or destroy them.

If the draft decree was approved, white-legged shrimp farmers would face fines of at least VND50 million as this kind of crustacean is classified as environmentally harmful in Circular 22/2011/TT-BTNMT issued by the ministry, effective from August 15, said Nguyen Thi Kim Anh, deputy head of the agriculture ministry’s legal department.

If white-legged shrimp is proven harmless and of high economic value, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development should request the environment ministry to remove it from the banned list, she added.

The now-defunct Ministry of Fisheries used to ban white-legged shrimp farming for fear that it could spread diseases to tiger shrimp. The consequence was 17 white-legged shrimp farmers in the Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang were fined VND3-4 million each in 2007.

However, concerns over diseases were dismissed when the Research Institutes for Aquaculture No. 2 and No. 3 proved this was unlikely to occur.

Moreover, Minh Phu Seafood Group Joint Stock Company in Ca Mau Province, also in the Mekong Delta, succeeded in farming white-legged and tiger shrimps together in an area of 20 hectares without disease infections reported.

Therefore, the agriculture allowed locals to farm white-legged shrimps after nearly ten years of dispute.

While the decree was being drafted, the agriculture ministry last April wrote to the environment ministry requesting for exclusion of white-legged shrimp from the banned list.

However, this shrimp still appears in the list of the draft decree, together with newly-added Pacific oyster, which is also of high economic value.

A member company of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) said the on-and-off policy toward white-legged shrimp farming was a glaring indication of policymaking flaws.

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment had no reaction when the former Ministry of Fisheries did away with the ban. Now the agriculture ministry allows white-legged shrimp cultivation but the environment ministry wants to reinstate the prohibition, the company said. It added if the ban was reintroduced, farmers and firms concerned would face huge economic losses.

The agriculture allows farmers to raise white-legged shrimp as tiger shrimp has been hit by diseases recently. VASEP has estimated this year’s shrimp export will reach US$1.8-1.9 billion, with one half coming from white-legged shrimp.

Truong Dinh Hoe, general secretary of VASEP, said smaller volume of white-legged shrimp than that of tiger shrimp was exported but it brought higher export revenue thanks to its higher added value.

Vinamilk’s New Zealand plant begins operation

The country’s largest dairy company, Vinamilk, said yesterday that a milk powder plant in New Zealand in which it has a stake has become operational.

Vietnam Dairy Products Joint Stock Co, as it is formally known, has a 19.3 percent stake in the NZ$90 million (US$74.43 million) Miraka Milk Powder Plant owned by the New Zealand-based Miraka Limited.

The plant, which is located in North Island and is Vinamilk’s first overseas investment, would buy fresh milk from farmers in the Taupo region and produce dairy products for exports, Vinamilk said.

It has a capacity of 32,000 tons of milk powder and 210 million liters of milk a year.

The Miraka project is part of Vinamilk’s long-term strategy to achieve its target of becoming one of the world’s 50 largest dairy producers by 2017 with annual revenues of $3 billion.

The company reported sales of $497.75 million in the first half and targets $1 billion for the whole year.

Vietnam central bank raises US dollar prices

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) on Wednesday raised the interbank average forex rate by VND10 to VND20,628 a US dollar after keeping it stable for 14 consecutive days since August 10.

This is the second hike this month after the VND10 a dollar rise on August 9 when the central bank officially approved the imports of 5 tons of gold to cool down the domestic market, extending the dong fall of 0.97 percent so far in August.

The bid and ask forex rate at the central bank's transaction office today is VND20,600 and VND20,924 a US dollar, up 10 dong in the selling price and remaining unchanged for the buying price from yesterday.

With the new adjustment, commercial banks today also raised VND10 in both the US dollar buying and selling price with the US dollar selling price hitting the ceiling price.

Accordingly, the ceiling forex rate applied to commercial banks is adjusted by 1 percentage point, or VND20,924.

The bid and ask forex rate at Vietnam Commercial Joint Stock Bank for Foreign Trade (Vietcombank-VCB), the Vietnam Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV), Asia Commercial Joint Stock Bank (ACB) is quoted at VND20,830 and VND20,834, VND20,820 and VND20,834 and VND20,810 and VND20,834 respectively.

Black market’s forex rate hit the VND21,000 mark again yesterday evening.

Some private shops in Hanoi today listed the bid and ask forex rate at VND20,990-21,000 and VND21,020-21,020 a dollar respectively.

Nguyen Van Binh, the governor of the State Bank of Vietnam, said Tuesday that the SBV has bought $6 billion since April, enabling the central bank to intervene to stabilize the forex market in any circumstances and will keep the dong-dollar exchange rate stable from now to the end of 2011.

Binh admitted that the dong-dollar exchange rate may be under certain pressure of gold price volatility, especially when local gold prices have high premium to the global ones, according to newswire VnExpress.

“Gold import will lead to higher dollar demand and if gold is imported through official channels, Vietnam will lose official dollar holding, if gold is illegally imported, dollar prices in the back market will rise,” the newswire quoted the governor as saying.

Analysts said the higher dollar demand and price hike also comes from due dollar loans and the import peak season at year-end.

August CPI hits 0.93pct, 11-month lowest

Vietnam consumer price index (CPI) this month hit an 11-month low at 0.93 percent, according to the General Statistical Office (GSO) based on data for the first 23 days of the month.

Vietnam's CPI (consumer price index) in August increased 23.02 percent from last August and is up 15.68 percent from December 2010, bringing CPI in the first 8 months of this year to 17.64 percent year on year.

Three out of 11 groups of commodities used to calculate CPI saw a rise of over 1 percent including restaurant and catering services, education and other goods and services.

The group of restaurant and catering services posted the strongest rise of 1.35 percent from previous month, of which, food is up 0.46 percent, foodstuff (1.55 percent) and restaurant (1.59 percent).

The group of post and telecommunication is the single item seeing a month on month CPI fall of 0.06 percent whereas remaining groups increased less than 1 percent.

Excluded from the commodities basket to calculate CPI, the gold price increased 8.7 percent from July and surged 38.76 percent from December 2010, while the US dollar price increased 0.26 percent on month and 9.91 percent over December 2010.

The CPI of urban area in August increased 0.91 percent from previous month while the CPI in the rural area surged 0.94 percent.

The released August CPI is in line with expectation of an under-1-percent rise by some local economists who say Vietnam CPI is likely to see the lowest month-on-month increase and the peak year-on-year rise in August.

Vietnam in July adjusted its targets to curb inflation at 17 percent this year from 15 percent set one month earlier and 7 percent set by the end of 2010.

Expert suggests forming assn to protect livestock farmers

The domestic livestock industry is developing in an unstable way, badly affecting farmers and consumers, Vu Manh Hung, head of the Poultry Association of the southern province of Binh Phuoc, told Tuoi Tre.

He said although the Vietnamese livestock industry is being dominated by the foreign businesses, which are holding most of the animal feed and livestock breeding market share, it is the domestic companies, especially the feed manufacturers that should bear the blame.

“They have missed the chance to spread their control over their home market,” he said, adding that it was also because the foreign firms are more experienced as well as having better business strategies.

For instance, he said, the foreign feed manufacturers will not begin setting up factories until they finish doing comprehensive market research and building marketing strategies.

Meanwhile, the domestic firms often build production facilities first and have to struggle for the product outlets later, which will put their business at high risks.

“Moreover, since Vietnamese companies do not have effective management policies, their production costs are always higher than those of their foreign counterparts,” he added.

He said however that what most worried him is the unstable development of the industry, which put negative impacts on food prices and caused difficulties for both consumers and farmers.

This is the consequence of the government’s inadequate consideration and attention to the livestock industry, he said.

“The government has spent a large sum on policies such as providing compensation to farmers when they have to destroy their livestock herds due to diseases or supporting them to develop breeders,” he said. “But none of such yielded positive results.”

He said livestock farmers were badly in need of a better protection from the government, as they were sometimes forced to buy feed and breeders at high prices.

Farmers need a powerful livestock association to connect them with the feed and breed manufacturers, the slaughter companies and consumers, he said.

“Such association will act as an intermediary in case livestock farmers are forced to buy at exorbitant prices,” he explained. “The association will help farmers to negotiate for a more reasonable price or recommend them to buy from other feed manufacturers.”

He said this will help farmers ensure the stability of input costs, and thus contribute to the stable development of the industry as well as enabling consumers to buy food at competitive prices.

Hence, he suggested setting up an animal husbandry association in the southern region -- the country’s largest livestock farm -- to support farmers.

“The government should also have supporting policies and set up necessary facilities to ensure the effectiveness of the association,” he added.

Saigon Co.op set for $2.5 mln sales campaign

Vietnam’s leading supermarket chain Saigon Co.op said it would begin the year’s largest shopping campaign next week, spending VND50 billion (US$2.5 million) on freebies and others to promote Vietnamese goods.

Nguyen Thanh Nhan, its deputy CEO, told Tuoi Tre that the “Pride of Vietnamese goods” promotion month would offer consumers discounts of up to 50 percent on more than 1,500 items besides lucky draws and 10,000 coupons to buy Vietnamese-made goods.

The program will last from August 29 to September 25 at 50 Co.op Mart and 22 Co.op Food outlets around the country.

It will include 20 outlets in Ho Chi Minh City, including on Cong Quynh, Hau Giang, Nguyen Dinh Chieu, and Dinh Tien Hoang Streets.

While only businesses winning “Vietnam high quality goods” awards used to take part in the past, this year other Vietnamese manufacturers would also join, he said.

Saigon Co.op would also organize 200 sales trips to the industrial parks, export processing zones, and remote areas to reach workers and poor people, he added.

US retailer Gap to make debut in Vietnam

US clothing and accessories retailer Gap Inc Tuesday announced plans to open its first stores in Vietnam as part of its strategy to expand in the Asia Pacific.

The first Gap store would open next October followed by the first Banana Republic store in 2012, the San Francisco-based company said in a press release.

Both will open in Ho Chi Minh City under a franchise agreement with Imex Pan Pacific, one of Vietnam’s largest business groups, while more stores are also planned for Hanoi next year.

Gap and Banana Republic are among the company’s five primary brands besides Old Navy, Piperlime, and Athleta.

“Vietnam’s rapidly growing economy provides ample opportunity to introduce the Gap and Banana Republic brands to local consumers,” Stefan Laban, managing director of strategic alliances for Gap, said in a statement.

Gap is one of the leading global retailers, with a presence in over 90 countries.

Shipping firms put vessels on sale to cut losses

With businesses negatively affected by the economic turbulence caused by high lending rates and soaring costs, many companies in the domestic shipping industry have to sell their vessels to cut losses.

According to Sai Gon Tiep Thi newspaper, most of the businesses in the shipping sector are operating with negative profits.

The Vietnam National Shipping Lines, for instance, last month posted the H1 loss of VND660 billion (US$33 million), the first loss ever in 16 years of operation of this state-run company.

The Transport and Chartering Corporation also incurred a VND28 billion negative profit in the second quarter of this year, while the South Vietnam Container Shipping JSC (VSG) this year targeted a … loss of VND31.5 billion after suffering a bigger loss of VND40.6 billion in 2010.

VSG posted a VND20.1 billion loss in the first half of this year.

Analysts attributed the shipping sector’s losses to skyrocketing interest rates and fluctuating fuel prices.

There were not many goods to carry due to the economic downturn, while freight fees also dropped, they said.

Moreover, most of the vessels of the shipping industry are old and degraded and have low loading capacity, which make the domestic companies less competitive than their foreign counterparts.

Despite gaining negative profits, many businesses have managed to avoid losses by putting their vessels on sale.

For instance, Vietnam Ocean Shipping JSC sold its Vinh Long vessel, earning a VND21.3 billion profit, which contributed to its after-tax profits of VND805 million in the second quarter of this year.

Similarly, the Transport and Chartering Corporation covered its negative profits of VND28 billion in Q2 with the money earned from ship selling.

For its part, Marina Hanoi also decided to sell all of its ships for debt clearance and switched to earning profits mainly from its Hai An Port and Hai An Office Building in the northern province of Hai Phong.

Unicharm to buy Diana Vietnam

The Japanese Unicharm Group will buy all shares worth about US$128 million of Diana Vietnam Company this year to expand its market in Asia, Nikkei announced on August 25.

Diana Joint Stock Company located in Vinh Tuy Hanoi specializes in medical and sanitation products.

Unicharm has many factories and sales networks operating in the Asian market, but it is facing fierce competition from local businesses and others from the US and Europe.

Unicharm has just decided on its first business deal with Diana Vietnam Company whose annual turnover is around US$64 million, accounting for 30-40 percent of total napkin and toilet paper production in Vietnam.

Vietnamese goods on sale in Cambodia

The second Cambodia-Vietnam Trade and Investment Fair opened in Kampot, Cambodia on August 24.

The fair has attracted more than 50 Vietnamese and Cambodian businesses to display their high quality products, such as garment, footwear, food, chemicals, electronics, plastics and handicraft products.

The aim is to help Vietnamese businesses develop their distribution network and improve their operational efficiency in Cambodia, especially in remote rural areas and also to encourage more Cambodian people to use Vietnamese products.

The Vietnam Trade Office in Cambodia said that two-way trade turnover between Vietnam and Cambodia amounted to nearly US$1.6 billion in the first half of this year, up 59 percent compared to the same period last year. Vietnam’s exports to Cambodia were estimated at more than US$1.315 billion.

Trade deficit falls back in August

The General Statistics Office (GSO) has estimated the country’s trade deficit atUS$800 million in August after gaining a trade surplus last month for the first time since 2009.

According to the office's preliminary statistics, export turnover in August decreased by 10.9 percent over the previous month to US$8.3 billion. In contrast, imports rose 10.7 percent to US$9.1 billion.

The office attributed the deficit to a sharp drop in the export of precious metals and gemstones in August. Export turnover of the products, which mainly contributed to help the country enjoy a trade surplus of US$1.1 billion last month, decreased sharply by 82 percent to US$200 million in August.

Besides the decline in export of precious metals and gems, the GSO said that an export reduction in the country's several key export items also caused the trade deficit.

Textiles and garments were the only export items that earned a turnover of more than US$1 billion in August. Other key export staples include crude oil (US$750 million) and seafood (US$590 million).

The main commodities imported in August were petrol (US$967 million), cloth US$540 million and electronic products and computers (US$600 million).

The GSO estimated the country had a trade deficit of US$6.22 billion in the first eighth months of the year, equal to 10.23 percent of the country's total export turnover. The country bagged an export earning of US$60.8 billion, up 33.7 percent over the same period last year, while spending US$67.02 billion on imports, a 25.4 percent surge over the same period last year.

The GSO noted that State-owned enterprises during the first eight months made up nearly a half to the country's total export turnover with US$28.1 billion, up 32.6 percent over the same period last year. The businesses, for their part, spent US$36.9 billion on imports.

25 countries join Vietnam Medi-Pharm Expo

Nearly 200 companies from 25 countries and territories attended the 11th Vietnam Medi-Pharm Expo which opened in Ho Chi Minh City on August 24.

The exhibition introduced the latest medical and pharmaceutical achievements of Vietnam, as well as others, and displayed pharmaceutical products and modern medical equipment.

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Ho Thi Kim Hoa said the event provided a good opportunity for businesses involved in the healthcare sector to share experiences, display their products and expand cooperation.

Meanwhile, Vietnamese businesses will have the chance to access modern machinery and equipment and advanced technologies from the countries with more developed healthcare systems.

During the exhibition, a wide range of activities will be held, including a seminar on Vietnam’s medicine and pharmacy market, fact-finding trips to pharmaceutical producers and hospitals in HCM City, and seminars on medical speciality.

The exhibition will run until August 27.

Can Tho to host 2011 International Trade Fair

The 2011 International Trade Fair, themed ‘New products and technologies stimulate consumption, integration and development’ will be held in the southern province of Can Tho from August 30-September 5.

This was announced by the fair’s organisation board on August 24.

The event will attract more than 400 businesses and organisations from cities and provinces across the country, as well as globally. Delegations from Japan, Thailand, Taiwan, Germany, China, Indonesia, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Laos, Peru, India, Australia and France will be present at the event.

Many different products will be on display, including information technology, communication and electronic goods, machinery, handicrafts, furniture, cosmetic products, garments, textiles and shoes, and food and drink.

Other activities including trade promotion, conferences and contract signing ceremonies will also be held as part of the fair.

The event will provide opportunities for domestic businesses to seek local and global partners and access modern technology to help improve their competitiveness both in ASEAN and international spheres.

Supporting Vietnamese goods to penetrate Russian market

The Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Ho Chi Minh City (VCCI HCMC) held a seminar on August 24 to help Vietnamese goods penetrate the Russian market.

Russia is one of Vietnam’s key markets, with the import-export value in 2010 rising by 1.29 percent to reach US$1.827 billion.

Two-way trade turnover hit US$984 million in the first half of this year and is expected to reach US$3 billion in 2012 and US$10 billion in 2020.

Vo Tan Thanh, VCCI HCMC director, said promotional activities are being carried out to help Vietnamese businesses grasp opportunities to gain access to the market. Businesses will be provided with information about the Russian market, and its challenges, barriers, tariff regulations, food hygiene and safety criteria, payment methods and credit support.

Dang Hoang Hai, Head of the European Market Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, introduced trade and investment relations between Vietnam and Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan and highlighted the significance of signing free trade agreements with these countries.

Russia is a huge market with high demand for many of Vietnam’s main export products, such as seafood, rice, spices, fruit, coffee, tea and cashew nuts.

Hanoi to host craft village goods and agriculture fair

Agricultural and craft village products will be on display at a fair set to take place in Hanoi on September 9-14.

The event will attract 100 businesses across nearly 300 stalls. On show will be craft village goods such as pottery, fine arts, embroidery pictures, silk and decorative items.

Agricultural products from various regions will also be avaliable, including honey, fish sauce, tea and coffee.

The fair aims to honour and advertise trademarks for businesses operating in the fields of craft and agriculture in the northern region of Vietnam.

Vietnam facility among Intel’s best worldwide

Intel Products Vietnam’s chip assembly and test facility is one of the factories of highest efficiency in the world, said Rick Howarth, general manager of the company.

Howarth’s assessment is based on results of a comparison between Intel’s factory in HCMC and those in other countries. The Vietnam facility has a low ratio of defects, punctual delivery, high productivity, access to advanced technology and fervent local engineers.

Speaking at a ceremony in HCMC on Monday for the first wrap-up of the company’s human resource development and training program from 2006 to 2011, Howarth said that among 250 engineers working at the factory of the company in the Saigon Hi-Tech Park, 28 Vietnamese had graduated from Portland State Universities (USA) while the remainder had been recruited mainly from local universities.

He appreciated the Vietnamese engineers’ capacity, saying the Intel factory would employ a maximum of 800 engineers from a total of 4,000 employees at the factory when it operated in full swing.

Howarth pledged to continue further investment in Vietnam’s education after Intel had spent VND87.7 billion (US$8.3 million) over the past five years sending 52 students to Portland State Universities (USA), granting scholarships to 555 students, training 78 lecturers under the Higher Engineering Education Alliance Program (HEEAP), 24 lecturers under the Equipment Skills Acquisition Program, and over 85,000 teachers under Intel Teach.

According to Howarth, the educational and training programs Intel has implemented in cooperation with Vietnam over the past years are a long-term commitment of Intel to contributing to training hi-tech employees and developing Vietnam’s education as a whole.

Those receiving local and overseas scholarships of Intel are the company’s engineers, he said, adding he hoped those young people would become scientists who will play a vital role in the future of Intel and Vietnam.

HEEAP comprises partners, namely United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Arizona State University (ASU), Intel, Siemens, and Danaher, and works with Vietnamese universities to train teachers in compliance with the standards of Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) of the U.S.

This program lasts three years from 2010 to 2013 with a total investment of US$5.5 million, of which Intel contributes VND46 billion, or some US$2.5 million.

Over the past five years, Intel has signed memorandums of understanding with nine local universities and colleges in HCMC to grant scholarships for local and overseas study, exchange lecturers between the partner universities and their U.S. peers, host the Asia Academic Forum (AAF), offer equipment for upgrade of laboratories, and develop and improve textbooks for Equipment Skills Acquisition Program.

In October 2010, Intel commissioned the US$1 billion chip assembly and test facility, the biggest in Intel’s global production system, on 46,000 square meters.
 
Binh Thuan titanium exploitation suspended

Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai has asked the Environmental Ministry and Binh Thuan Province’s government to halt licensing titanium ore exploration and exploitation in the locality.

In a document released by the Government Office on Tuesday, the suspension will be applied to any project in the industry scale until the Government approves new planning, excluding areas approved before.

Hai earlier instructed the Ministry of Industry and Trade to complete a zoning plan of titanium exploration and exploitation until 2020 and 2030, based on results of the prospect of titanium-zircon placer of the red sand formation in Ninh Thuan, Binh Thuan and Ba Ria-Vung Tau provinces.
 
International visitors to HCMC on the rise

Despite the low season, August has seen a month-on-month increase of 28.2% in foreign tourist arrivals in HCMC at around 264,000.

This is a turnaround in the city’s tourism sector that saw July’s international arrivals falling by 44,000 visitors from the previous month.

A report by the HCMC Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism says the number of foreign travelers to the city surged 10% from the same period last year. In the year to date, the city has welcomed 2.12 million visitors.

Some representatives from hotels ranging from three to five stars in the city all agreed that the average occupancy of hotels was at a high level.

For instance, occupancy of Renaissance Riverside Saigon has ranged from 70-80%, said Nguyen My Phuong, sales manager of the five-star hotel. Notably, the majority of clients are foreign travelers, she added.

Meanwhile, occupancy of the five-star Rex Hotel has also reached a high of 80% with most customers coming from Australia, America, France, Japan and Russia. “Our occupancy rate always remains 80% these days and Japanese clients are in the top five,” Tao Van Nghe, general director of the hotel, told the Daily.

Similarly, three-star hotels have shown optimism with encouraging occupancy figures ranging from 70-80% in August.

“We accept a lower profit margin by offering reasonable prices and promotional services to customers, leading to occupancy of over 80% in August,” said Do Dai Ba, marketing and sales manager of Lavender Hotel.

According to the tourism department, the city’s tourism revenue in August is projected at VND3,600 billion, up 20% from the same period last year and the figure for the first eight months is seen amounting to almost VND30 trillion, up 23% year-on-year.
 
Infrastructure projects run out of capital

Capital for infrastructure projects, especially major ones, is now almost exhausted as the total capital for the whole year was issued within the first seven months, according to the Ministry of Transport.

The January-July period’s capital disbursement for infrastructure projects exceeded the allowed plan, said the ministry in a meeting on Monday.

The proceeds from Government bond sales for financing these projects amounted to VND9 trillion of the total VND11 trillion. Besides, the total amount from build-operate-transfer projects and extra budgets was VND3,514 billion.

Some of the large infrastructure projects that kicked off this year included Co Chien Bridge in the Mekong Delta, Hanoi’s belt road No.3, the road linking Noi Bai Airport and Nhat Tan Bridge and part of National Highway 1A in Thanh Hoa Province.

Meanwhile, several existing major projects have fallen behind schedule due to slow progress and site clearance such as Hanoi-Haiphong, Trung Luong-My Thuan or Bien Hoa-Vung Tau expressways.

The ministry has checked and slowed down the progress of 68 projects funded by Government bonds, aiming to reduce public investment and focus on almost-complete, disaster-recovery or urgent projects.

Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai has asked transport agencies to continue monitoring and provide capital for urgent projects and ones nearing completion.

The ministry should also ensure a flexible management mechanism for build-operate-transfer, build-transfer, and public-private partnership investments to attract investors, Hai added.

PV