Hapro and Protrade Corp. report successful IPOs

Both state-owned Hanoi Trade Corporation (Hapro) and Binh Duong Producing and Trading Goods Corporation (Protrade Corp.), the owners of several golden land plots and industrial parks, conducted successful IPOs.

On March 28, Protrade, the third largest state-owned firm in the southern province of Binh Duong, offered 30 million shares for sale, equalling 10 per cent of its stakes, at its IPO with the initial price of VND12,000 ($0.53).

As a result, 63 investors joined the auction, four of whom won with the highest bid of VND21,000 and the lowest bid of VND16,600. The average selling price was VND17,474, which was 46 per cent higher than the initial price.

After the IPO, the state’s holding in Protrade decreased to 50 per cent, equalling 150 million shares. Besides, Protrade Corp. will put 119.7 million shares, equalling 39.91 per cent of the stakes, on sale to strategic investors.

Previously, Protrade Corp. also published the following criteria for strategic investors:

Interested investors, either domestic or foreign firms, have to be operating for at least ten years in one of the following sectors: garments and textile, wood processing or real estate. Besides, interested investors must have the financial potential to promote the development of Protrade.

Furthermore, after the deal ends, the strategic investor will not be permitted to transfer the bought stake for at least five years after Protrade receives the business registration certificate.

The offering price to strategic investors will be equal to the minimum successful bidding price.

So far, three firms applied to become the strategic investor of Protrade, including SACOM Investment and Development JSC applying to buy 13 per cent stake, U&I Investment Corporation (6 per cent), and Development Limited Company (20.91 per cent).

This morning, Hapro put 75.93 million shares or 34.51 per cent of its charter capital on auction with the initial price of VND12,800 ($0.56). It expected to acquire at least VND971 billion ($42.78 million) from the IPO.

The entire volume of shares on offer was sold for a total VND980 billion ($42.96 million), nearly VND10 billion ($438,440) higher than previous expectations.

The average winning bid was VND12,908 ($0.57), while the highest bid was VND20,000 ($0.88) and the lowest VND12,800 ($0.56).

Almost all of the shares were acquired by individual investors.

After the IPO, the firm will prepare dossiers to list its shares on the Unlisted Public Company Market (UpCOM).

Despite operating in the retail and import-export sectors and owning numerous golden land plots, in reality, Hapro is not a coveted asset for numerous reasons.

Notably, the corporation reported poor results in key business segments, including retail and export-import. The management capacity of the Board of Directors is still weak, which has been shown via consecutive decreases in revenue and profit.

Notably, in 2016, the revenue from trading and services decreased by VND500 billion ($21.92 million) against 2015 and VND1 trillion ($43.84 million) against 2014. In the past five years, the company’s highest profit reached VND40 billion ($1.75 million) per year. In 2017 alone, the figure was VND13.42 billion ($588,386) only.

Regarding Hapro’s golden land plots, almost all of them are relatively small, ranging between 500 and 1,624sq.m. Thus, it is difficult for the board of management and its strategic investors to develop large-scale real estate projects in the upcoming time.

It is expected that in the future, the success of Hapro will depend on the cooperation with Vietnam N.A Motor Co., Ltd. (N.A Motor), which was approved to become the strategic investor of Hapro.

Lach Huyen sails ahead with PPP port milestone

In what is anticipated to be the first public-private partnership port project in Vietnam, the first two foreign-invested terminals at Lach Huyen International Gateway Port will become operational next month, making conditions for seaborne transportation between northern Vietnam and neighbouring countries more favourable.

According to the People’s Committee of the northern port city of Haiphong, where the project is located, the operation of the facilities is in line with the schedule. The terminals are able to accommodate vessels of 50,000 tonnes and more.

“The beginning of operations marks an important milestone in the city’s transport development. It will help Haiphong increase port capacity as well as help businesses ease difficulties they faced in the past, when channel levels frequently fluctuated due to the build-up of sand,” Nguyen Van Thanh, Deputy Chairman of the Haiphong People’s Committee, told VIR.

The berths have been developed by a joint venture between Japanese firms and military-run Saigon Newport Corporation, which now holds 50 per cent of the country’s container handling market share.

They plan to hold a workshop to introduce their services when the terminals are put into operation.

With its favourable location, the infrastructure development of Lach Huyen Port also appeals to other domestic and foreign investors.

Vietnam’s shipping giant Vinalines is waiting for the prime minister’s approval to invest in terminals 3 and 4 of the Lach Huyen complex. It is also interested in investing in terminals 5 to 9.

US-invested Cargill Vietnam – among the three largest animal feed producers in the country – is also keen on the possibilities of co-operating with the Ministry of Transport in developing grain bulk handling facilities in the port to facilitate its business activities.

“We are seeking a policy decision from the government, thus enabling us to call on more investors to join the development of other terminals,” Thanh of the Haiphong People’s Committee added.

The Lach Huyen complex is currently under construction. Component A is to be funded by the state, while Component B is to be developed by private investors. Lach Huyen Port will have nine terminals to be built from 2020-2025, with the volume of handled goods expected at 35 million tonnes a year. The number of terminals will be increased to 23 by 2030, with the volume of shipped goods forecast at 118 million tonnes a year.

The project, if successful, is expected to be a good model for other public-private partnership projects in the port industry amid a number of barriers, including a lack of risk-sharing mechanisms on exchange rates and the absence of a revenue guarantee, which have been discouraging foreign investors from joining transport projects.

HCM City’s budget collection continues growing, but faces challenges

Ho Chi Minh City's State budget collection during January-March was valued at 90.8 trillion VND 

Ho Chi Minh City continued enjoying growth in State budget collection in the first quarter of 2018, however, revenues from several sectors, especially import-export activities are forecast to fall, affecting the city’s budget collection this year.

According to the municipal People’s Committee, the city’s State budget collection during January-March was valued at 90.8 trillion VND (3.98 billion USD), equal to 24.11 percent of the yearly forecast and up 2.47 percent against the same period last year. Of the total, domestic collection reached 62.1 trillion VND (2.7 billion USD), up 5.02 percent, while revenues from import-export activities were 23.6 trillion VND (1.03 billion USD), down 6 percent year-on-year.

On the contrary, local budget collection in the first quarter was 21.7 trillion VND (952.3 million USD), down 13.6 percent year-on-year.

Director of the municipal Finance Department Phan Thi Thang said that the city has supported tax payers, and sped up the collection of excise and remaining corporate income tax from the fourth quarter of last year.

Ho Chi Minh City will also continue intensifying measures to collect tax debts by publicising those who deliberately drag out their debts or have big debts, Thang added.

However, the city will face challenges in collecting taxes in the rest of this year.

According to the municipal Customs Office, revenues from import-export activities are forecast to reduce by 700 billion-1 trillion VND (30.7-43.9 million USD) each month, as import tax on 90 percent of tax lines fell to zero thanks to free trade agreements.

The finance department said that the city’s tax collection from goods imported from members of free trade deals will fall by 11 trillion VND (482.9 million USD) per year.

Its revenues from oil and petrol, iron and steel, fertilisers and automobile will also drop gradually. For example, the volume of oil and petrol imported through Ho Chi Minh City port is predicted to fall as importers are moving to Van Phong port of central Khanh Hoa province and Nghi Son port of central Thanh Hoa province.

Ho Chi Minh City’s 2018 State budget collection estimates are 376.7 trillion VND (16.5 billion USD), of which 256.2 trillion VND will come from domestic revenues and 108 trillion VND from import export activities. Meanwhile, local budget collection is estimated at nearly 82 trillion VND (3.6 billion VND) in 2018.

Ben Tre to push Xiem coconut exports     

The southern province of Ben Tre plans to develop its renowned Xiem coconut exports by increasing its market value and researching farming technologies and techniques.

Bui Duong Thuat, director of Mekong Impex Fresh Fruit Company Ltd, said that despite Ben Tre Xiem coconut receiving a geographical indication (signs to indicate that a product originates from a specific region and possesses its associated qualities) on March 17, it did not help improve the product’s competitiveness in markets abroad.

He said that Ben Tre’s coconuts still could not compete with Thailand’s coconuts, due to their higher quality and cheaper production costs. As of March 22, Thailand coconuts were sold at US$0.89 per coconut at supermarkets in California, while Ben Tre coconuts, which are considered to be of lesser quality, were sold at $0.6.

Ben Tre plans to increase its coconut’s brand power by creating a network between coconut farmers and businesses, reducing the cost of productions, providing funding for studying technology and techniques in coconut farming, as well as increasing land for coconut farming by 20 per cent.

Farmers are also urged to work with co-operative groups and abide to VietGap standards in their farming to ensure higher quality coconuts.

Ben Tre is famous for its coconuts, having around 70,000 hectares of land for coconut farming. Around 600 million coconuts are grown every year, yielding VND5.4 trillion annually.

Its coconuts are sold in several foreign markets, such as Canada, US and Australia.

High-quality products fair to promote safe foods this year     

The Vietnamese High-Quality Products Fair in HCM City early next month will have many new features, including a focus on introducing “Vietnamese High-Quality Products-Global Integration Standard” (GIS) certified products and others under the city’s food safety chain model.

Speaking at a press briefing in HCM City on March 27, Vu Kim Hanh, chairwoman of the Vietnamese High Quality Product Business Association, its organiser, said the fair would have 600 booths set up by 300 exhibitors.

Visitors can see “a strange garden” where they can see and touch quaint products made from Ben Tre Province’s coconut trees and fruits and grapefruits, which have been granted geographical indication certificates by the Ministry of Science and Technology, she said.

The fair would have a “Green-Nice Market” where farms, co-operatives and start-up firms showcase farm produce grown to safe or organic standards, she said.

The fair this year would also showcase activities to help local businesses further penetrate the global market through the association’s GIS project and a co-operation programme between the association and Saigon Innovation Hub, she said.

There will also be a promotion in which over 3,000 items will be sold at VND20,000 at 10-10.30am and 4-4.30pm daily, game shows, a cooking contest, and lucky draws with prizes of tours to Cambodia and destinations in Việt Nam.

For the first time the fair would be organised with the collaboration of the Food Safety Management Board of HCM City, and the two sides would organise an international seminar titled ‘Improving Quality Standards to Integrate into the Global Market’ on the sidelines of the fair, Hạnh said.

Sixty six Vietnamese food firms have obtained GIS certification, she added.

The fair will be held at the Phu Tho Stadium in District 11 from April 3 to 8. 

Cooling machine sales rise with heat     

An electronic supermarket in HCM City. Demand for cooling products is forecasted to continue to rise since hot weather will continue for at least two more months.

Shopping at an electronics shop on Xo Viet Nghe Tinh Street, Minh Truong of Thu Duc District said he was buying an air conditioner for his home to cope with hot weather.

Another customer at the shop, Hong Mai of Binh Thanh District, said she was wavering between a water misting fan and air conditioning tower fan.

Electronics stores in HCM City such as Nguyen Kim and Thien Hoa said demand for air conditioners and fans has recently skyrocketed with the onset of summer.

Tran Nguyen Tuan Anh, sales director at Thien Hoa Electronics Centre, said sales of cooling products have shot up by 40 per cent compared to earlier last month, and 20 per cent higher than the same period last year, despite the hot season just starting.

Anticipating that demand for cooling products such as air conditioners, fans and refrigerators will increase strongly in the hot season, electronics stores have prepared an abundant supply.

Among popular products are those that integrate smart and energy-saving technology such as water misting fans, air conditioning fans, and inverter air conditioners, with timer and touch control; and automatic refrigerators.

Small electronic shops also report higher sales of cooling products.

A shop owner on Hoang Van Thu Street in Tan Binh District said sales of fans, air conditioners, fruit juicers and blenders at her shop have risen significantly.

Demand is expected to continue rising in the coming months, with her stores forecasting sales to go up by 25-30 per cent, she said.

Both large stores and shops are offering promotions to boost sales.

In addition to offering discounts between 20-50 per cent on cooling products depending on the type, they have also applied their private promotions to attract customers.

Most electronic stores are offering free delivery and installation for cooling products and applying instalment payment with interest rate of zero per cent.

According to the Southern Hydro-meteorology Station, the average temperature in the city and south-eastern region from March to May will be 0.5-1 degree Celsius higher than the same period last year. 

HCM City launches I-Star Awards     

HCM City officials on Friday launched the I-Star Award 2018 competition on creativity, innovation and business start-ups.

Nguyen Viet Dung, director of the city’s Department of Science and Technology, said the organisers want to build a culture of innovation and start-ups in all fields and spread the spirit of creativity and innovation.

In recent year, startups have grown rapidly in the city, attracting domestic and foreign investors.

“We hope this annual award will encourage and speed up innovation activities, and that research results will be applied in the community,” he said.

Dung is head of the award’s organisation board, which includes officials from the city’s departments and divisions.

The awards are divided into four categories: business start-ups showing creativity and economic efficiency; organisations or individuals offering solutions that benefit the community; media work that has great impact in the community; and investors, consulting experts, and incubator organisations that support innovation and start-ups.

The contest will have 12 prizes, with three prizes in each category. The winners will be judged by a group of experts as well as online votes from the community.

Individuals and organisations can register online until August 31 by filling out the form at the website www.doimoisangtao.vn/giaithuong2018.

Participants should attach an article of no more 5,000 words, photos, videos and links featuring their work or projects.

People can submit their votes on the website until the end of September.

The awards ceremony will be held during the city’s Creativity and Innovation Week in October. 

Some 60 pct of local businesses expect better business in Q2

Some 60 percent of local enterprises in a survey expect their business to do better in the second quarter of 2018 against the first quarter.

The General Statistics Office (GSO) said this on March 29 while releasing the results of the survey on business trends of manufacturing and manufacturing enterprises in the first quarter of 2018.

According to the survey, 33 percent of businesses said they had better business performance in the first quarter compared to the previous quarter, while 24.6 percent of them faced difficulties in doing business and 42.4 percent of them said their businesses were stable.

In the second quarter of this year, 55.7 percent of surveyed enterprises expect their businesses to do better, while 10.4 percent of them predict difficulties and 33.9 percent of the enterprises expect stable business.

The GSO also said in the first quarter of this year, 26,785 newly established enterprises were registered, with a total capital of 278.5 trillion VND, up 1.2 percent in terms of the number of enterprises and 2.7 percent in terms of registered capital year-on-year.

Industrial production shoots up 11.6 per cent     

Viet Nam’s index of industrial production (IIP) in the first quarter of this year gained the highest year-on-year growth rate of 11.6 per cent in the past three years.

This was reported by the General Statistics Office (GSO).

The index saw a year-on-year growth rate of 9.3 per cent in the first quarter of 2015, 8.2 per cent in the first quarter of 2016 and 5.1 per cent in the first quarter of 2017.

Announcing the results of socio-economic development in the first quarter of 2018 at a press conference on March 29, GSO director Nguyen Bich Lam said the high growth of the industry contributed to maintaining the domestic economic development since the previous year.

The manufacturing and processing sector, accounting for 90 per cent of the industrial value, saw the strongest IIP growth at 13.6 per cent since 2012. The robust growth of IIP contributed significantly to the 7.38 per cent growth rate of the gross domestic product in the first quarter of this year, the best first-quarter performance in the last 10 years.

Lam said the manufacturing of electronic products, computers and optical products as well as steel production contributed strongly not only to the growth of the industry but also to overall economic development.

In the first quarter of 2018, the mining sector experienced a growth rate of 0.4 per cent in IIP due to the recovery of coal, metal and gas production, after two consecutive years of IIP reduction.

Electricity production and distribution had a stable IIP growth rate of 10.5 per cent, while IIP increased 13.7 per cent for the textiles and garment industry and 12.8 per cent for beds, wardrobes and tables.

Some major industrial products posted high growth in the first three months of this year, including raw steel, powdered milk, television and fish feed.

However, some other products recorded a low growth or reduction in IIP, such as animal feed, fertilisers and crude oil.

According to GSO, the high growth rate of industrial production in the first quarter of this year was partly due to the high growth rate of consumption market at 14.2 per cent year-on-year, with high consumption of pharmaceuticals, electronic products, computers and motor vehicles.

The high consumption supported lower growth in inventory at 6.4 per cent in the first quarter of this year compared to the growth rate of 13.5 per cent in the same period last year.

In the first quarter of 2018, the industry had low inventory of motor vehicles, electrical equipment, paper and paper products, leather and leather products, drugs and pharmaceuticals.

CEO Group aiming for the stars
     
CEO Group targets ranking at least 250th in the top 500 largest Vietnamese enterprises list (VNR500) and in the top 10 of private real estate developers in Viet Nam by 2021.

At its annual shareholders’ meeting in Ha Noi yesterday, the group announced that it is also targeting for this year at least VND2.2 trillion (US$96.5 million) in revenue, after-tax profit of VND370 billion ($16.2 million), and dividend payout ratio of 10 per cent.

By 2021, the CEO Group expects to be working in five key areas: real estate, resort property, construction, tourism and hotel management, and human resource development.

The group plans to create an SONASEA brand that would be listed among the top 10 hotel management systems in the country, and have 3,000 five-star hotel rooms.

It also aims to be one of the top 10 largest labour export companies in the country and one of the five largest companies exporting labourers to Japan.

Last year, the CEO Group increased its position from 442 in 2016 to 310 in the VNR500 ranking in terms of revenue.

The company sent more than 1,000 employees to the Japanese market, an increase of 29.4 per cent compared to 2016.

Currently, the CEO Group is one of the three biggest investors in the Phu Quoc Pearl Island in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta province of Kien Giang.

It plans to launch a Best Western Premier Sonasea Phu Quoc in December. The condotel project has total investment cost of VND1.5 trillion ($66 million), and will include 549 rooms and 16 villas.

The project won the Best Landscape Design Award at Dot Property Southeast Asia’s Best of the Best event last year.

Smart cameras vulnerable: Kaspersky
     
Kaspersky Lab researchers have discovered multiple security vulnerabilities in popular smart cameras that are frequently used as baby monitors or for home and office security surveillance.

They said these flaws could allow attackers to obtain remote access to video and audio feeds from the cameras, remotely disable the devices, execute malicious codes on them and do many other things.

Earlier analysis by many other security researchers had found that smart cameras in general tended to contain security vulnerabilities of various levels of severity.

However, the Kaspersky Lab experts uncovered something extraordinary in their latest research: that not just one, but a whole range of smart cameras are vulnerable to a number of severe remote attacks.

This is due to an insecurely designed cloud-backbone system created initially to enable the owners of these cameras to remotely access video from their devices.

By exploiting these vulnerabilities, hackers can execute attacks such as accessing video and audio feeds from any camera connected to the vulnerable cloud service; remotely gain root access to a camera and use it as an entry point for further attacks on other devices on both local and external networks; remotely upload and execute arbitrary malicious code on the cameras; steal personal information such as users’ social network accounts and information which is used to send users notifications and remotely “brick” vulnerable cameras.

Following the discovery, Kaspersky Lab researchers contacted and reported the vulnerabilities to camera manufacturer. At the time of publication, some vulnerabilities had already been fixed, and the remaining vulnerabilities are set to be completely fixed soon.

To stay protected, Kaspersky Lab strongly advises users to always change the default password, use a complex one instead, do not forget to change it regularly, and pay close attention to security issues on connected devices before buying a smart device. 

Panasonic talks energy efficiency
     
Many solutions were discussed at a workshop titled “Energy-saving solutions to improve air quality in buildings” in HCM City on Friday.

Organised by the Department of Science, Technology and Environment and Panasonic Vietnam, the event attracted around 100 experts, investors, contractors and consultants.

It heard that because of the impacts of climate change, large cities in Viet Nam are now facing increasingly severe air pollution mainly caused by traffic, construction and people’s daily activities.

In particular, indoor air quality is a major concern, delegates said.

Thus, finding solutions to save energy and improve air quality in a way that is energy-efficient without compromising microclimate comforts within buildings are major questions for the construction sector, they said.

Talking at the workshop, To Thi Loi of the Viet Nam Construction Environment Association said, “Many housing and office buildings have been built in urban areas and cities in recent years due to rapid urbanisation.

“Indoor air quality has strongly impacted people’s health and working capacity. So, solutions like suitable planning, design, and construction materials are needed for the indoor air quality in buildings.”

In 1990 the country had around 500 urban areas but by the end of last year the figure had jumped to 813, she said, adding that by 2025 half the population would be living in urban areas.

An expert from the Ministry of Construction told the workshop his ministry cares deeply about indoor air quality standards.

It has assigned the Viet Nam Construction Environment Association to study indoor air quality in buildings to amend regulations on building design and equipment so that the quality can be improved, he said.

Kazuhiro Matsushita, general director of Panasonic Vietnam, told the workshop: “Viet Nam is a modern, fast growing country. Ha Noi, HCM City and many other cities’ landscapes are changing every day with the development of new buildings.

“Viet Nam today has many issues that Japan is still facing, especially energy saving and air quality in buildings. From my experience, in the near future energy saving and high air quality will become major advantages for any building in attracting customers to buy a house or rent an office.”

Panasonic said it had introduced total solutions for buildings that integrate advanced construction methods and a consistent system of technology solutions and techniques.

The solutions not only help green and smart buildings achieve outstanding energy-saving performances but also ensure a comfortable, safe and healthy living environment, it said. 

VN firms urged to improve awareness on data protection
     
Vietnamese firms need to have greater awareness of information security and make clear plans before buying cyber security solutions, a seminar heard in HCM City on Friday.

Pham Tuan Anh of iDealogic, a software solutions company, said a report by IFSEC lists Viet Nam among the countries most exposed to cyber attacks in Asia.

Southeast Asian countries have the highest technology development growth rate, but their investment in cyber security is very low at only 0.06 per cent of GDP compared to 0.13 per cent globally and 0.35 per cent in the UK and Israel, he said.

Information security is becoming a hot issue around the world. In Viet Nam, the websites of many Government agencies and State-owned and private enterprises, and even the airport’s information system, were attacked recently.

Pham Anh Vu of Microsoft Vietnam said cyber attacks are not merely for money but also politically motivated.

Vietnamese firms, except those in the banking and financial sector, are not well prepared to combat cyber crimes, he said.

Many believe “they will never be hacked or there is nothing to be hacked,” Anh said.

Besides, many think information security is very simple and they just need to use anti-virus solutions, he said.

Many businesses buy security solutions but do not even know if they are appropriate for them or how to use them.

Paul Dols, co-founder of iDealogic, said in Viet Nam everybody buys security solutions instead of making good plans for their long-term future.

“You better look at what you have now and start planning instead of buying all kinds of solutions. You can start with buying solutions once you have an architecture in place.”

Businesses look at security as cost but should look at it as value and opportunity to do a digital transformation, he said.

Vietnamese businesses do not budget a lot of money like those in Europe or the US, but they should start planning to mitigate the high risk, delegates said.

Businesses should select consultants to help them make assessments for their internal data system, identify which part is a priority for protection, identify what data is priority for them to protect before expanding to other areas.

Le Thanh Nguyen, director of the Saigon Hi-Tech Park Incubation Centre, said local firms, especially start-ups, should protect their information systems.

“If start-ups, in the early stage of development, do not pay attention to information security, they face a high risk of losing data.”

Firms can consult the information security standard ISO 27001 or the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation to make sure their data is protected, Anh said.