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London chamber official: Vietnam, an investment destination
Peter Bishop, deputy chief executive of LCCI was telling British businessmen about the reasons why Vietnam would be chosen as an investment place at a meeting hosted by his chamber in London on November 3.
Representatives of 28 Vietnamese companies operating in a wide range of areas including petroleum, chemicals, construction, plastic packaging and garments joined 30 British businesses at the event.
Vietnam’s economy grew 5.3 percent in 2009, making it one of the top expanding economies in the region despite the global financial crisis and “Its economy is predicted to carry on at a very decent level for years to come.”
“The country has got an educated, vibrant and young workforce,” Peter said, adding that “LCCI is keen to introduce businesses to come to countries which are thriving, prosperous, which are keen to do business on global stage. Vietnam fits that field perfectly.”
“The economy and political system in Vietnam provide a stable matrix for businesses to investigate the market,” Peter noted.
Vietnamese Ambassador to the UK Tran Quang Hoan told the meeting that this was not the first time LCCI organised such the event but it was the first one held after a joint declaration was signed in early September this year to establish a strategic partnership between Vietnam and the UK. The Ambassador said that under the joint declaration, the two governments agreed to make efforts to increase two-way trade value to 4 billion USD and foreign direct investment from Britain to 3 billion USD by 2013.
According to Vietnamese Commercial Counsellor to the UK An The Dung, two-way trade between the two countries increased 8 percent, reaching over 2.2 billion USD last year. The UK mainly imported garments, footwear, wood furniture, rice, coffee, cashew nuts, seafood and plastic products from Vietnam.
The British companies invested 1.5 billion USD in projects in Vietnam, making the UK one of the largest EU investors in the country, the counsellor said and named some of businesses which have been doing business successfully in Vietnam including BP, Shell, Glaxo Smith, Prudential, HSBC and Unilever.
“This will be a good opportunity for British investors to look for partners today as the Vietnamese delegation represent a wide range of sectors and businesses come from various localities throughout the countries,” Dung said.
Peter Bishop said a number of activities would be taken to help businesses to take investment chances. He said these included “hosting and organising more meetings like this, making people more aware of the opportunities in Vienam by publishing stories about this event in our magazine and taking a delegation of interested businesses to Vietnam next year”.
Steel exports double in 10 months
Vietnam exported about 1.5 million tonnes of steel during the first 10 months of the year, which is almost twice as much steel that was exported during the same period last year, reported the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
Steel manufacturers increased their production capacity and upped investments this year.
Manufacturers invested in upgrading their infrastructure and exported steel to new markets in Brazil , the US , Japan and Cambodia .
Consumption in the domestic market during the final days of October surged. Analysts estimate that about 390,000 tonnes would be purchased domestically, which is more than 100,000 tonnes over figures from September.
The price of steel also increased by 100,000 VND per tonne against the last week of October to 13.2 million VND (670 USD) per tonne.
The price of steel ingots on the world market increased slightly, said Dinh Huy Tam, general secretary of the Vietnam Steel Association (VSA).
The depreciation of the Vietnamese dong directly affected steel prices because raw materials used to create the commodity were imported, said Tam.
Production expenses, including the price of electricity, coal and petrol, increased in October. Tam predicted that steel prices would continue to increase for the remainder of the year.
The VSA also affirmed that there were no steel shortages on the domestic market. Steel manufacturers nationwide have stocked about 270,000 tonnes of steel.
State to step up auditing
The State Audit of Vietnam has proposed to focus on auditing activities in 34 provinces and cities next year, an increase of two compared to the number that were audited in 2010.
They would include key national programmes, economic groups, corporations and facilities in the defence and security sectors.
The National Assembly Finance and Budget Committee agreed with the auditing programme and proposed that activities should also be increased in the offices of companies that manage large State-owned capital and assets.
The committee said the audit office should look at financial reports and State budget balance-sheet to appraise their integrity and also assess the effectiveness of the management and use of capital from the State budget and state assets.
Ministries and sectors using official development assistance should be audited to appraise the effectiveness of their investments, the committee said.
Funds for the restructure and equitisation of State-owned enterprises, use of economic stimulus packages and large economic groups should also be added to the audit programme next year.
HSBC Vietnam wins award for cash management
The Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) Vietnam Ltd has been selected by Euromoney as "Best Bank for Cash Management in Vietnam in 2010".
The award was presented in recognition of the bank as a pioneer in cash management through surveys at enterprises and financial institutions.
This was the latest international success of the bank this year, after other prestigious titles such as best foreign bank in Vietnam in 2010 for the five consecutive years, awarded by Finance Asia, and best online bank in Vietnam in 2009 awarded by Global Finance magazine.
HSBC Vietnam’s Head of Global Payments and Cash Management Puneet Gupta, said that the bank will continue to invest both in human resources development and technique for global payments cash management in order to provide best services to customers.
Thai group expands market in Vietnam
The Thai Siam Cement Group (SCG) on November 3 announced a strategy to expand construction materials market in Vietnam and other Southeast Asian countries.
Under its strategy, the SCG will increase the number of business network, sales turnover and Vietnamese consumers’ awareness of SCG’s products under the brand name of SCG and Cotto.
The group expects to earn 12.8 million USD from the sale of products in Vietnam by 2011. In 2010, its sales turnover is estimated at 9.1 million USD, an increase of 30 percent over 2009.
Dong Nai hosts int’l agriculture exhibition
An international agriculture exhibition and fair opened in Bien Hoa city of the southeastern province of Dong Nai on Nov. 3.
On display in 550 pavilions at AgroViet 2010, the largest event of its kind, are agro-forestry, fisheries and handicraft products as well as production technology and machinery made by Vietnamese, Swiss, Japanese, Spanish, Chinese, Singaporean and US businesses.
The six-day exhibition will also showcase processing, harvesting and preserving technologies, services, seeds and high-quality agricultural products that won prizes at the international agriculture exhibition.
The fair will introduce Vietnam ’s agricultural achievements, traditional craft villages and its outstanding farm products.
Seminars on agro-forestry, fisheries and production equipment in Vietnam and an agricultural promotion and national agriculture forum on solutions to animal husbandry diseases will also be held during the event.
Rubber exports bounce towards 2 billion USD
Vietnam’s rubber exports are estimated to reach 1.8-2 billion USD in 2010 as export prices continue rising to over 4,000 USD per tonne, said Vice President Tran Ngoc Thuan of the Vietnam Rubber Association (VRA).
At a seminar on the future of the natural rubber processing industry, that opened in HCM City on Nov. 3, Thuan, who is also head of the Vietnam Rubber Industry Group (VRG), said Vietnam now ranks fifth in the world in terms of rubber cultivation acreage and fourth in terms of natural rubber export volume.
Vietnam’s rubber has been exported to 39 countries, with China making up 60 percent of the country’s export volume, he added.
Secretary General of the International Rubber Study Group (IRSG) Dr S. Evans highlighted fierce competition between natural and synthetised rubber industries, as natural supply has failed to meet demand.
There are big advantages as well as challenges to Vietnam and other natural rubber producers, he stressed.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade said that Vietnam’s natural rubber output increased from 220,000 tonnes in 1996 to 550,000 tonnes in 2007.
The nation exported almost 732,00 tonnes of rubber in 2009 and is expected to ship abroad 750,000 tonnes this year, said the ministry.
Rubber is considered a plant of the national afforestation, hunger eradication and poverty reduction programme and its acreage is being expanded in northwestern and central coastal regions.
The country’s rubber sector is striving to raise rubber acreage to 800,000 ha by 2015 and its output to 1.2 million tonnes in 2020.
The nation’s rubber acreage is shrinking in traditional areas, said the VRG leader, adding that the group has had to plant rubber in border areas and cooperate with Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar and a number of African nations in rubber cultivation.
However, he said, families and localities are encouraged to raise other plants with higher economic value.
The group has committed to planting rubber trees together with preventing soil erosion and fighting floods, he said.
The two-day conference, the first of its kind in Vietnam being held by the VRA and Malaysia, is a forum for domestic and foreign businesses to exchange information and experiences and seek investment cooperation opportunities.
An exhibition of Vietnam-made tyres and rubber products is being held together with the conference.
Source: VNA
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