Vietnam reaffirms no pangasius dumping, says spokesman

Vietnam has many times affirmed that its businesses do not dump tra and basa fish as well as other seafood products in the US market, said Foreign Ministry Spokesman Le Hai Binh.

Binh made the affirmation in Hanoi on April 3 while responding to reporters’ questions on Vietnam’s response to the US Department of Commerce (DOC)’s recent announcement of its final decision on the ninth results of its administrative review (POR9) for anti-dumping duties on tra fish fillets imported from Vietnam.

“We think that issues in the two countries’ trade relations should be considered in a fair and objective manner in line with the spirit of trade liberalisation as well as the developing bilateral economic-trade ties,” he stated.

Under the DOC’s decision, announced on March 31, Vietnamese frozen tra fish fillets exported to the US are still subjected to anti-dumping taxes, although they are lower than those announced in the preliminary POR9 issued last September.

Accordingly, the anti-dumping duties on products of two mandatory reviewed companies, Vinh Hoan and Hung Vuong, are 0.03 USD per kilo and 1.2 USD per kilo respectively, and for other companies it is 0.42 USD per kilo.-

Oman recognises Viet Nam's market economy

Viet Nam has, to date, received recognition of its market economy from 45 countries across the world, with Oman being the latest, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

This reflects the international community's acknowledgement of Viet Nam's efforts to reform its economy and foster international economic integration, and encourages other countries to make a similar assessment of Viet Nam's economy.

In the times ahead, the Vietnamese government will continue providing explanations of its market economy to several partners, including the United States, the European Union, Canada and Mexico.

Under the commitments to the World Trade Organisation, Viet Nam agreed to have its economy considered a non-market economy in anti-dumping cases. However, partners who recognise Viet Nam's market economy status will stop applying the "non-market" status to Viet Nam.

PVEP starts producing oil commercially in Peru

The PetroVietnam Exploration and Production Corporation (PVEP) began producing oil commercially from Block 67 off the coast of Peru on April 1, according to the Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PVN).

Block 67 is PVN’s second project in Peru, after Block 39 nearby, and the first overseas property of PVEP.

Earlier, PVEP negotiated with Perenco, an oil exploration and production group, to buy 52.6% of Perenco Peru Limited’s shares. The holding permits PVEP to earn 50% of profits from Block 67.

Initial oil output from Block 67 is 6,000 barrels a day, which will be shipped to a station 600km away to sell.

At an April 1 ceremony in Peru’s capital Lima, PVN General Director Do Van Hau said the commercial exploitation of oil from Block 67 is a landmark in the group’s exploration in such key areas as Russia, Southeast Asia, Northern Africa, the Middle East and Latin America.

Luis Ortigas Cuneo, Chairman of Peru’s national oil and gas group PeruPetro, said this is the first time in 40 years a foreign joint venture has exploited oil fields in Peru despite the geographical and geological difficulties.

Viet Nam's coffee exports to Algeria on the rise

Viet Nam has exported US$23.2 million worth of coffee to Algeria over the past two months, a surge of 94 per cent against the same period last year.

According to the General Department of Customs' statistics, this amount comprises 53 per cent of Viet Nam's total coffee export turnover. Algeria was considered a potential export market for Vietnamese agricultural products, the Ministry of Industry and Trade's Africa-West-South Asia Markets Department stated.

Among Viet Nam's exports to Algeria, coffee has always ranked at the top in terms of export turnover. Last year, coffee exports to the market brought Viet Nam a turnover of $57.3 million.

Invest ASEAN: Foreign companies keen on Vietnam

More than 100 foreign financial organisations showed their interest in the Vietnamese market during their working sessions with the country’s businesses on the sidelines of the “Invest ASEAN” conference held in Singapore from April 1-2 by the Maybank Kim Eng Group.

A representative from the Bao Viet Group said that many major corporations, including France’s BNP Paribas Management Partners bank and Japan’s Nomura Asset Management and Nikko Asset Management Asia Ltd, worked with the group to learn about it and seek investment opportunities in Vietnam.

Leaders of Vietnamese businesses all agreed that the conference offered a venue for investors to meet and seek partners.

John Chong, CEO of Maybank Kim Eng Group, said that Invest ASEAN drew 70 companies from six ASEAN member countries - Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

It also saw the participation of representatives of corporations from 17 countries with a total market capitalisation of 135 billion USD as well as funds totalling over 14 trillion USD in assets under management.

The event aimed to enhance investors’ awareness and understanding of the investment potential in ASEAN as well as spur investments into the region.

President and CEO of Malaysia’s Maybank Group Datuk Abdul Farid Alias expressed his optimism at Vietnam’s financial restructuring and state-owned enterprise equitisation, saying that the group has added 15 million USD to the Maybank Kim Eng Group’s activities in Vietnam.-

Agriculture trade complex for Hanoi to take shape

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Korean Pan Asia Co., Ltd. are jointly studying the model of an agriculture wholesale and trading complex for Hanoi.

The ministry will coordinate with the Industry and Trade Ministry and the General Association of Agriculture and Rural Development to modernise the distribution system of the seafood and farm produce in the capital city.

Equipped with IT auction system, the complex is expected to reduce the go-betweens in trade to create bigger bring economic efficiency for local farmers, and help stablise the market prices for their produce.

It is also hoped to supply quality goods for the 2019 Asian Sports Festival, and benefit exports via the remote auction system with the Republic of Korea and other countries.

Additionally, the Cold Chain System linking with the complex will be built to better the frozen food and materials distribution network.

A master plan for this project is scheduled to complete within this year.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Hoang Van Thang highlighted the Memorandum of Understanding on the complex signed between the ministry and President of Pan Asia Huh Sul during his March visit to Vietnam.

Thang added that the company has also inked a similar document with the General Association on cooperation in the management and operation of the complex and human resource training.-

Cambodia legislature passes investment protocol with Vietnam

The National Assembly of Cambodia on April 3 ratified a protocol on the investment promotion and protection agreement between the governments of Vietnam and Cambodia.

All 64 parliamentarians of the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) in the National Assembly approved the document.

Mok Mareth, Chairman of the Commission on Investment, Agriculture, Rural Development, Environment, and Water Resources at the National Assembly, said the document aims to enhance investor confidence and facilitate investment between the two countries.

Sok Chenda Sophea, Secretary General of the Council for the Development of Cambodia, said the protocol will help maintain, promote and facilitate investment ties between the two neighbouring countries.

The Association of Vietnamese Investors in Cambodia reports Vietnam is the fifth biggest investor in Cambodia, with 128 projects worth over US$3 billion by 2013.  

Strong FDI poured into HCM City’s IZs in Q1

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) poured into the Ho Chi Minh City’s export processing and industrial zones in the first quarter of 2014 hit 243.5 million USD, up 97.26 percent over the same period last year.

According to the HCM City Export Processing and Industrial Zones Authority (Hepza), it granted investment licenses to 12 new FDI projects with a total registered capital of 223.2 million USD during the period, up more than 8 times compared to the figure of the same period last year.

Meanwhile, nine ongoing projects of this kind in the City raised their existing capital by 20.34 million USD.

Internal capital inflow to the zones in the period reached almost 713.3 billion VND (33.91 million USD), registering a year-on-year increase of nearly 65 percent. The City also granted investment licenses to eight new projects in the period.

Hepza has to date licensed 1,293 projects with a total capital of over 8 billion USD, of which 514 are FDI projects worth 4.935 billion USD.

In the second quarter, Hepza plans to assist the Vietnam – Japan Techno Park project, work harder to attract Japanese enterprises and accelerate the construction and expansion of the An Ha, Dong Nam and Tan Phu Trung industrial parks.

This year, the southern economic and business hub aims to attract 2.5 billion USD in FDI capital, which is 20 percent higher than last year's figure.

Last year, it drew in 2.08 billion USD in FDI.

Nation on target to hit GDP growth target

The country’s economic growth will improve in the next quarter and the 5,8% GDP growth target will likely be met thanks to the Government’s measures to increase aggregate demand, according to the National Financial Supervisory Committee.

Growth will improve next quarter in the wake of an interest rate cut and Government bond investment increase that support aggregate demand, the committee said, adding that GDP is expected to continue rising for the next three quarters after a 4.96% surge  in Q1.

The 4.96% growth rate was higher than the same period of the past two years thanks to the recovery of the agriculture, forestry, fishery, construction and industrial sectors.

After a long decline that lasted from the beginning of 2011 until Q2 last year, GDP has steadily increased. Improved results were also seen in the macro-economy, the committee said.

The manufacturing and processing sector has risen since Q2 last year and continuously improve 7.3% year on year in Q1 while the country’s Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) reached 52.1, pointing to a fifth consecutive monthly improvement in business conditions in the sector- the second strongest in the survey’s history, just shy of the record achieved in April 2011.

High export growth in Q1 also contributed to the optimistic forecast. The country gained a trade surplus of more than US$1 billion in Q1, the highest level since 2010.

Inflation was also controlled at only 0.8% in Q1, the lowest rise since 2005. The inflation slowdown led to interest rate cut that helped credit growth and eased firm’s difficulties.

However, the committee noted that aggregate demand improvements remained slow. Excluding inflation, the retail sale value of goods and services in Q1 rose only 5.1%, not much higher than the rates of 5% in Q1 2012 and 4.5% in Q1 2013.

To meet the GDP growth target, the committee recommended that in addition to economic restructuring for long-term growth, the Government should pay attention to supporting aggregate demand, boosting consumption and aiding farmers and businesses through interest rate cuts and bank credit access.

It was also necessary to speed up the disbursement of investment capital from the State budget and Government bonds, the committee said.

ADB warns of widening economic divide in Asia

Impressive economic gains in Asia and the Pacific are otherwise diminished by still widespread poverty and growing inequality, calling for urgent implementation of inclusive growth approaches among the region’s countries, says the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on April 4.

Nearly 750 million people in the region still survive on less than 1.25 USD a day, while income inequality has risen more than 20% in the last 20 years. These levels hinder further economic advancement and even threaten the sustainability of an otherwise sharp reduction in poverty, according to a just-released study on ADB’s Support for Inclusive Growth by Independent Evaluation at the Manila-based financial institution.

Development organisations such as ADB, for their part, can step up efforts to integrate inclusive growth into their development strategies, says the study. ADB adopted inclusive growth as a strategic agenda in 2008, and seeks strong progress in making it an operational reality, it says.

“Inclusive growth is more than a desirable goal. By tapping the contribution of the lower-income groups as well, it becomes an essential ally for sustaining growth itself,” says Vinod Thomas, director general of Independent Evaluation.

A part of the problem is that lower-income groups have inadequate access to basic services in health care, education, or safe drinking water and sanitation. Case studies from Pakistan, the Philippines and Vietnam in the new report well illustrate this skewed distribution of services. The quality of these services also matters for inclusive growth.

At the same time, overall growth has failed to translate into similar improvements in average living standards. One of the indications that growth is not reaching a broad enough segment of the population is relatively weak household consumption. According to the study’s estimates, household consumption grew 5.7% annually in the 1990s in the region and 5.5% in the 2000s, well below gross domestic product growth of 9.0% and 8.2% in the two decades.

This is troublesome for countries attempting to expand domestic consumption as part of efforts to raise their economies to new levels of development and bring the benefits of growth to more people.

“Eliminating poverty in the region remains a major piece of unfinished business. Growing first and addressing social inclusion later does not seem appropriate any longer,” says Hyun Hwa Son, the principal author of the report.

The new report calls for efforts to forge better coordination and synergies among development organizations. It also pays to tailor inclusive approaches to the specific contexts and needs of countries because one size does not fit all. There is a clear need to go beyond simply financing projects, and toward integrating inclusion objectives into the design and selection of projects and country programs.

“Economic growth alone is not sufficient to improve people’s welfare: we need complementary measures to help translate growth into commensurate improvements in living standards. The best way to do that is to include progressively lower-income strata in the growth process,” says Thomas.-

VN-Index earns second best performing index

Vietnam's VN-Index ranks second, after Dubai's index DFM, in the list of top 20 global equity indexes in the first quarter of 2014.

This has been reported by Zero Hedgean economic and finance website. The website has taken Bloomberg data to make its own charts of best and worst performing indexes.

Accordingly, the VN-Index of Vietnam increased 17.49 percent, just behind DFM of Dubai, which jumped 33.98 percent over the previous quarter. The list of better-performing stock markets in Southeast Asia also included Indonesia's Jakarta Composite Index or JCI (ranked 14th with an increase of 11.72 percent) and the Philippines SE Index or PSEi,(ranked 20th with an increase of 10.23 percent).

According to the website, Q1 winners are mostly from the Middle-Eastern countries, including Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Egypt and Qatar. The website classified Japanese real estate stocks as "broadly speaking, the worst". It also ranked Russia and China as the other worst performers.

In December 2013, it put Vietnamese stocks in "the best longs for 2014", along with gold and gold shares, and forecast that the local market would continue to go up. On April 3, the VN-Index gained 7.77 points, or 1.34 percent, to reach 589.44 in Ho Chi Minh City.

Travel expo looks to sustainable tourism development

Vietnam International Travel Mart (VITM), the leading travel event for the country, kicked off in Hanoi on April 3 with 665 companies from 22 countries and territories showcasing their products in 508 stalls.

This is the second time the Vietnam Tourism Association (VITA) in coordination with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and Hanoi has organised the event, providing an opportune occasion for domestic tourism companies to promote trademarks, and sell products and services directly to customers.

At the opening ceremony, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam called on ministries, departments, associations and the Vietnamese public to join hands to develop a domestic tourism trademark and transform Vietnam into a premiere attractive, safe and hospitable tourist destination of the world.

He affirmed that the event contributes significantly to the development of sustainable tourism in the country, acknowledging that the sector has made strong progress in achieving sustainable tourism in recent years, despite the global economic slowdown.

The number of foreign arrivals to the country grew by more than 29% in the first quarter of this year and its turnover increased by more than 30%.

People in countries throughout the world, including Vietnam, should strengthen cooperation to promote sustainable tourism development, Dam concluded.

VITA Vice Chairman Vu The Binh said the fair is expected to attract around 3,000 companies seeking cooperation partners and around 50,000 consumers desirous of purchasing promotional tours and services.

The fair includes attractive consumer promotions with aviation agents offering 15,000 tickets costing from VND199,000 on international routes and VND330,000 on domestic routes, and travel agents offering 8,000 promotional tours with a 60% discount.

Hanoi forum boosts Francophonie economic cooperation

Officials, scholars and businesses of the International Organisation of Francophonie (OIF) began a two-day forum in Hanoi on April 2 to draw up a regional economic strategy to address global difficulties.

In his opening speech, Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Ha Kim Ngoc noted that with 77 member countries and governments and a population of more than 800 million, Francophonie is not only an important force in dealing with international hot issues, but a populous and dynamic community facing all the challenges and difficulties common to Vietnam and other nations in the Asia-Pacific Region.

He expressed hope delegates will evaluate the impact of the global economic slowdown on member state economies and set course for the community, to help Francophonie develop an economic development strategy for the Asia-Pacific region – one of the most dynamic regions in the world.    

Anissa Barrak, an OIF representative in the Asia-Pacific region, noted from its inception, economic cooperation has and continues to be the hallmark of the rich, vibrant and multi-faceted Francophonie community.

Anissa briefed participants on the activities of the community, such as teaching the French language, strengthening scientific research, improving judicial capacity, and running vocational training courses.

She spoke highly of the ASEAN dynamic economic region in the international economic cooperation arena, especially the four Francophonie members – Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Thailand.

Both Anissa and Ngoc expressed their conviction that delegates at the forum will bring fresh, creative and dynamic ideas for developing a comprehensive and much improved Francophonie community.

The two-day forum will address four main topics spanning improving the efficacy of the Francophonie economic strategy, specific characteristics of Asia-Pacific region and its impact on Francophonie economic strategy, sharing experience in economic cooperation, and closing ceremony.

Greece-Vietnam business council debuts in Athens

A business council has been established in Athens, Greece, in an effort to promote trade ties between Vietnam and Greece.

Among distinguished guests at the debut ceremony were Panagiotis Mihalos, Secretary General for International Economic Relations and Development Cooperation under the Greek Ministry for Foreign Affairs, and Vu Binh, Vietnamese ambassador to Greece.

In his address, Mihalos welcomed the establishment of the Greece-Vietnam Business Council (HVBC) as a significant contribution to the strong and long-term development of bilateral economic ties.

He expressed hope the two sides will work closer together to facilitate economic development in their respective countries.

At its first session, HVBC elected Constantinos Antonopoulos, CEO of Intralot Group - a Greek company that supplies integrated gaming and sports betting management, as its president.

Despite Greece’s austerity measures, two-way trade between Vietnam and Greece rose threefold to US$210 million in 2013 compared to 2010. Of the total, Vietnamese exports hit more than US$186 million.

Greece has placed orders for 8 Vietnamese built vessels worth US$240 million.

Vietnam, Japan seek to prevent misuse of ODA funding

Vietnam and Japan jointly held a meeting in Hanoi on April 3 to examine measures to prevent the misappropriation of ODA funding.

The meeting comes on the heels of the high-profile Japan Transportation Consultants, Inc. (JTC) scandal in which JTC was alleged to pay several Vietnamese transport officials JPY80 million in kickbacks in return for an ODA project in Vietnam.

Vietnamese and Japanese representatives exchanged ideas, and dilated on the differing types of abuses of ODA funds that can potentially occur and the specific control measures to be deployed to detect and deter them.

They agreed that enhancing transparency is one of the strongest measures that needs to be given effect in combating corruption along with a number of other practical measures.

There was also consensus that the measures should be timely implemented in the near future to restore confidence in the ODA funding mechanisms in Vietnam.

They agreed to hold another meeting pending results of the ongoing investigation into the JTC scandal.

Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Hong Truong revealed that the Prime Minister has authorised Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc to officially take charge of Vietnam’s investigation into the case and information will be released to the public as it develops.

Vietnam, Kazakhstan seek future cooperation

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) from Vietnam and Kazakhstan held a dialogue in Almaty City on April 3 with the aim of enhancing cooperation in the time to come.

The meeting was held after the freshly concluded fifth round of Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations between Vietnam and the Customs Union (Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan).

Delegates agreed Kazakhstan is a large country with an exponential potential for economic expansion.

The meeting garnered great interest of the business communities from both sides, as it provides an opportune occasion to lay the groundwork for future bilateral trade and investment after the FTA is signed.

Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang briefed Kazakhstan businesses on Vietnam’s socio-economic development and policies to promote cooperative relations with international friends in many fields, particularly economics and trade.

Hoang extended an open invitation to citizens of Kazakhstan and international trading partners to come and visit Vietnam, either on holiday or to do business.

Many Vietnamese people speak the Russian language and this is an effective tool for people-to-people exchange, Hoang said.

Anhia, a representative from a travel agency which often conducts tours of Vietnam, spoke of the great potential for bilateral cooperation, especially once the FTA is signed.

A Kazakhstan businessman who imports tea from many countries throughout the world said Vietnamese tea is delicious and inexpensive, but, there is no tea quite meeting the Kazakhstan taste.

He said he believes the problem can be ameliorated through dialogues and business exchanges, and hopes Vietnamese tea thrives in the marketplace of Kazakhstan subsequent to the signing of the FTA.

Phan Van Tuan, President of Lya Group and President of the Overseas Vietnamese Association in Kazakhstan said he is also desirous of successful negotiations on the FTA and believes Vietnamese products will be tremendously successful in Kazakhstan.

Kazakhstan businesses which attended the meeting are laying the first bricks to build a solid foundation for future bilateral economic and trade ties.

Hung Kings Fair attracts over 200 businesses

More than 200 domestic organizations and businesses are attending the 2014 Hung Kings Fair which was opened in the northern midland province of Phu Tho on April 3.

On display are different kinds of high-quality products, including household utensils, interior and exterior decorations, electronics, garments, fashions, agro-forestry and fisheries products, processed food, fertilizes, handicrafts and agricultural machines.

The fair offers participating businesses the chance to promote their products, seek partnerships and expand domestic markets. It also responds to the campaign “Vietnamese people buy Vietnamese goods”.

The fair, held by the Phu Tho provincial People’s Committee in collaboration with Ministry of Industry and Trade, is part of the 2014 Hung Kings Festival.

French textile enterprises ready for Vietnamese cooperation

French textile machinery manufacturers desire to establish long-term mutually beneficial relationships with Vietnamese businesses.

Evelyne Cholet, Secretary General of the French Textile Machinery Manufacturers Association (UCMTF), was speaking at a seminar in Ho Chi Minh City on April 3

She said that French enterprises want to become Vietnam’s reliable partners and are willing to help the country take advantage of opportunities in the textile industry.

In the fiercely competitive world market place, French enterprises still assert a competitiveness edge and have found an important niche in the market thanks to technological innovation and quality improvement, she added.

France is currently the world’s 6th largest textile machinery exporter with annual export turnover of approximately US$1.2 billion and its products available in 115 countries. .

For her part, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Ho Thi Kim Thoa said Vietnam is in the world’s top five textile and garment manufacturers.

The Vietnamese Government always creates the most favorable conditions for textile enterprises to expand their operations, and continues to increase investment in weaving and dyeing technologies.

She proposed that the Vietnamese and French business communities make the best of experience exchange and technology transfer to increase the added value of Vietnam’s textile sector and to boost commercial ties between the two countries.

Vietnam is not only an attractive destination for foreign investors but is additionally a gateway to the larger ASEAN market, she stressed.

Over the past 10 years, Vietnam’s textile industry has grown by 5% annually and generated 10% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). .

In the first quarter of this year, it grossed more than US$4.54 billion from export, a year-on-year increase of 20%.

Freelancers look at work from a fresh perspective

Following a three-year stint at various marketing and advertising agencies in Hanoi, Vinh Nguyen decided it was time to go out on his own.

"You don't have to belong to a major agency to be creative," said Vinh, who graduated from the University of Central Lancashire in Britain in 2007, majoring in creative advertising. "I can do my job without getting involved in so-called ‘office politics' or set working hours."

With about four years as a freelancer under his belt, the 30-year-old has done creative ads, websites, promotional materials, newsletters and graphic designs for about 30 clients ranging from non-profit organisations to health and fitness centres.

"The great thing about being a freelancer is that you get to choose your clients, decide on the quality of your work and pitch your ideas directly," he said.

Vinh is a member of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City's growing number of freelancers, who are carving out a new way of working in the nation's traditional nine-to-five economy and in a country where most young professionals prefer stability to flexibility.

But the challenges facing freelancers are also abundant: gaining the trust of clients, having on-time payments, meeting deadlines or dealing with projects that could turn upside-down.

Seeing such demand to connect freelancers with potential clients, in mid-2013, Tran Ngoc Tuan, an IT freelancer from Hanoi, launched Vlance.vn, one of the few Vietnamese sites targeting the growing freelancing community in the capital.

Tuan now employs a team of seven people to run the site, where freelancers can create their profile and clients can find those with suitable skills. Tuan said the site does not charge anyone and he claims already there are about 7,000 users.

"Most freelancers were previously skilled professionals, not untrained hopefuls," he said. "I think this generation is looking for something newer and more challenging rather than just working at a company and waiting for promotion."

According to Tuan, freelancing mostly appeals to those who previously worked as writers, photographers, consultants, website developers, programmers or copywriters, because basically these kind of works allow you to work on your own.

"The financial stress and lack of networking skills are the two biggest hurdles for those who take on the risks of freelancing," Tuan added.

At the same time that youngsters in many countries are facing tighter job markets, freelancing could be a sustainable and profitable career, said Evan Tan, regional director for Southeast Asia of freelancer.com, a global site for freelancing, outsourcing and crowd-sourcing marketplace.

"The young grew up with the Internet and see the vast potential of not just networking with people but also looking for niches where they can earn money," Tan said. "This is a growing market with a lot of potential."

A recent report released last week by the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs and the General Statistics Office suggests that, at the end of last year, there were about 72,000 people with some kind of college degree out of work.

Therefore, "those who have the guts to drop full-time jobs must prove they have something special to offer," said Pham Xuan Quy, a 25-year-old freelancer who specialises in organising events.

"Working as a freelancer does not mean you can sleep until noon. That is not what this is about. You have to wake up at the same time as your client and work to build up your skills and brand."

He is also part of a network that is called freelancerviet.vn, which connects freelancers with clients. Since being launched in September 2013, founder Pham Lan Khanh from Ho Chi Minh City said the total value of freelancing projects on the site had reached 1.5 billion VND (70,500 USD).

Khanh said some freelancers could not handle the financial stress and instability of working on their own and eventually returned to work as full-time office workers. So she and other co-founders frequently organise meetings in both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to talk about networking skills, individual branding, and techniques for negotiating.

"I believe that in the next two or three years more people will become engaged in freelance work due to the development of technology - and an economy that is becoming more digitalised as more businesses learn more about cost-cutting."

Jason Lusk, co-founder of ClickSpace, a community centre for freelancers in the West Lake area set up in March last year, agrees that the trend is taking off in Vietnam. Many foreign freelancers are also coming here and they need to find Vietnamese collaborators.

ClickSpace holds a monthly meeting called Hanoi Freelancers Meet-up, which attracts on average about 40 people per session, according to Lusk.

Quy admitted that in Vietnam, some people mistook freelancing as another way of saying one was unemployed. "On the contrary, you really have to be an expert on the services you offer. Otherwise, you won't survive," he said.

Experts urge Vietnamese firms to build online profiles

Just 20 percent of Vietnamese companies have registered international and local internet domain names, and the lack of web-based exposure could hurt other firms in the future, experts said at a seminar on March 28.

The seminar, held in the northern coastal city of Quang Ninh by the Vietnam Internet Network Information Centre, was titled "Protecting Vietnamese trademark with domain.vn".

According to the VNNIC, only 20 per cent of 500,000 companies in Vietnam have their own website with registered domain names.

VNNIC deputy director Tran Minh Tan said internet domain plays an important role in business operations now as it helps companies advertise themselves in the cyberworld.

"Nowadays, the success and fall of a company can partly be due to the way they do business in the internet world. I think Vietnamese businesses should consider the Internet an important part of their operation," Tan said.

The centre informed the seminar that over 90,000 new ".vn" domains were activated last year, bringing the total number of national domain names to 263,900.

The increase has helped the country keep its number one position in Southeast Asia for national domain registration and activation, it said.

Among these, domains with Vietnamese names accounted for 127,166, said the centre, which functions under the Ministry of Information and Communications.

The VNNIC said it earned revenues of 143 billion VND (6.8 million USD) from domain activation and subscription fees in 2013, exceeding its annual target by 15 percent.

According to the Ministry of Information and Communications, internet service providers (ISPs) in Vietnam earned 15 trillion VND (more than 714 million USD) in revenues last year, with 5 trillion VND (238 million USD) coming from 3G network services.

Between 2009 and 2013, the number of internet users increased by 170 percent, and broadband availability climbed 7.5 times compared with 2005-09.

Vietnam 's internet penetration is at 35.6 percent, and 40 percent of the country's online population are aged between 15 and 24, the seminar heard.

The number of internet users is expected to reach 60 million by 2018, and total revenue from internet services and content is expected to climb to 100 trillion VND (4.7 billion USD).

UAE tops phone importers' list

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is the biggest importer of Vietnamese phones and phone accessories, with growth of over 100 percent year-on-year since 2010.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Vietnamese cellphones to the UAE reached export turnover of 71 million USD in 2010, then jumped to 364 million USD in 2011, 1.5 billion USD in 2012 and more than 3 billion USD last year.

In a report released on March 28, the General Department of Vietnam Customs' online news site, www.baohaiquan.vn, quoted a department figure as saying that the UAE had paid nearly 520 million USD to import Vietnamese phones in the first two months of this year.

The figure represented over 81 percent of total UAE import turnover from Vietnam .

Also, according to the report, the export value to the UAE accounted for more than 15 percent of total Vietnamese phone export turnover in the first two months of the year, when Vietnam earned nearly 3.4 billion USD from phone exports.

The other major importers of Vietnamese phones in the first two months were the US with a turnover of over 284 million USD, Germany 184 million USD, the UK over 182 million USD, Hong Kong nearly 140 million USD, Russia 140 million USD, and Italy 120 million USD.

Last year, the UAE was the biggest importer of Vietnamese phones. Import value was 3.2 billion USD, accounting for 16 percent of Vietnamese phone and accessory export turnover, and representing 83 percent of the UAE's total import value from Vietnam .

The other main products that the UAE imports from Vietnam are computers, rice, garments and textiles. These imports have grown quickly, with growth in recent years of more than 100 percent year-on-year for each product.-

Reform committee claims success in enterprise transformation

The National Steering Committee for Enterprise Reform and Development helped reshuffle 101 state-run businesses in 2013 and privatise six others in the first three months of this year.

The figure was released during the committee’s meeting on March 28 to review its operations in 2013 and the first three months of this year.

According to a report at the event, the committee helped speed up the submission and issuance of 24 legal documents on the re-organisation and restructuring of state-owned enterprises.

Addressing the event, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Van Ninh, head of the committee, said in 2013 and the first three months of 2014, the committee recorded a strong performance.

It proactively coordinated with other agencies to help the government and the Prime Minister adopt proper policies on the re-organisation and reform of enterprises, he added.

He also asked ministries to reconsider a number of matters, including the salary management in joint stock companies using state capital, the accounting mechanism in state-owned firms, and the re-organisation of agro-forestry businesses to enhance their operational efficiency.

In the remaining nine months of this year, the committee will continue assisting ministries to submit proposals to the government and the Prime Minister on the issuance of policies, Deputy PM Ninh said.

He urged the Ministry of Information and Technology to promulgate organisational and operational regulations for the Vietnam Post and Telecommunication company, and the Ministry of Finance to review the financial management of major groups, including the Oil and Gas Group and the Vietnam Electricity.

He also directed the committee to inspect the restructuring of ministries, sectors and state-run economic groups and corporations.-

Denmark raises aid to Vietnam

Denmark will raise its aid to Vietnamese private enterprises in the fields of food safety and clean technology, the Danish Embassy in Hanoi revealed on March 28.

A business cooperation programme, funded by the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA), will raise its support towards Vietnam’s sustainable growth and job generation.

Since 1997, the programme has donated more than 74 million USD to 300 pilot projects and over 150 long-term partners in Vietnam, many of them still running their business in the country, even after DANIDA ended its financial aid.

Ambassador John Nielsen expressed his belief that the programme, together with other business support tools of the Danish agency, will contribute to reducing the number of local people living in poverty and boosting the country’s sustainable development.

The Danish Government and its businesses have been providing Vietnamese partners with knowledge in the fields of food safety and clean technology.

In the time to come, DANIDA will focus on supporting the country to see it grow in a more sustainable manner. This process will include green technology transfer, job generation and environmental improvement.

Hanoi heeds to improving farm produce quality

Hanoi municipal authorities have decided to spend 6.3 million USD on a master plan improving farm produce quality and safety, and developing biogas utilisation.

Of the amount, 5.4 million USD is funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and the remainder from the local budget.

The project is being carried out between 2009 and 2015, aiming at the sustainable production of vegetables and tea, generating jobs for the agriculture sector, improving farmers’ health and productivity, and developing biogas for their daily use.

It is also expected to zone off areas for organic agriculture production in five communes in the capital, build infrastructure and equip farmers with cultivation techniques.

CBRE: HCMC office rents to remain stable

Ho Chi Minh City’s office market will see steady rents this year thanks to limited new supply, says CBRE.

The real estate services firm has been tracking 175 new small and medium-sized mixed use commercial buildings in the southern economic hub, said Greg Ohan, national director for office services at CBRE Vietnam. Half the buildings are being built by State-run companies and 50 per cent are ready to be occupied.

Ohan said the tracking fund helps large tenants planning for an occupancy solution and that the market would remain tight until the end of 2014. “As a result, rent levels will remain stable until at least the first quarter next year when the next wave of supply comes online.”

In the first quarter this year, only one new Grade B office building is slated to be finished in the city. The MB Sunny Tower on Tran Hung Dao street in District 1 is opposite the five-star hotel Pullman Saigon Centre.

During 2013, unlike the Hanoi market where Grade A office supply continued to rise, particularly in outlying districts, the Ho Chi Minh City market was stable with limited new Grade A and Grade B office supply in both the CBD and further districts, Ohan said.

According to CBRE, the southern market offers few options for multinationals seeking international standard and quality buildings with large availability until the year-end. The reason is that in the CBD, just seven Grade A buildings and three Grade B buildings are able to provide 1,000 square metre spaces at adjacent levels. In particular, the Union Square complex is converting serviced apartments into offices.

As for last year’s leasing, the tracking fund showed the top five most active sectors were technology, manufacturing, finance, education, and retail. When it came to countries, Japan held the lead. Ohan said the statistics also showed relocation and expansion was and continued to be the major driver and this was expected to last through the end of this year.

Lotte Coralis receives security award

Le Jong Kook, general director of Lotte Coralis Vietnam – the owner of Lotte Centre Hanoi – represented all employees of the company on March 7 in receiving the certificate from the Hanoi Public Security Department for outstanding achievements in the area of protecting national security in 2013.

Lotte Coralis Vietnam is reportedly the only company in the real estate field in Hanoi to receive this certificate of merit last year.

The award demonstrated the appreciation of the Hanoi Public Security Department had for the efforts by officials, contractors, security forces and workers in protecting public security and order to ensure construction safety, not only in the area of their Lotte Centre building but also in surrounding areas.

Leaders of Hanoi Public Security Department also encouraged the staff to keep trying, striving, thus establish many achievements that contribute to the development of Hanoi.

Lotte Centre started construction at the end of 2009 and has undergone more than 11 million hours of labour safety with no accidents. It is expected to be completed by the end of June 2014.

Once finished, Lotte Center will include a Lotte Mart, premium department stores, Class A business offices, luxury serviced residences, a boutique hotel and observatory from its 45th floor.

World Bank experts share experiences with affordable housing

Vietnam’s fast pace of urban development is shifting toward affordable housing.

The country’s strategy, however, should be analysed carefully to avoid slums like other cities, experts have warned.

According to Victoria Kwakwa, World Bank country director in Vietnam, the country is undergoing a process of rapid urbanisation with nearly a million people moving to cities per year putting an immense pressure on housing demands.

“This growth is expected to generate enormous new housing demands, especially in the low and middle income segments due to large scale rural-urban migration,” said Kwakwa at a seminar held in Hanoi last week to share experiences with Vietnam about the development of affordable housing.

Kwakwa said Vietnamese authorities should better define and understand the housing deficit for poor urban households – the bottom 40 per cent or those below the median income.

“In this context we believe it is important to also consider the housing conditions of migrants, not only those of officially registered residents. It will also be important to think of ways of formalising those living in informal settlements. Vietnam is fortunate to not have the large slums seen in other large cities such as Manila or Jakarta,” she continued.

“Given the rate of rural to urban migration and the fact many new arrivals to the city work in the informal sector, there is a risk that informal settlements may grow rapidly. By addressing the issue of informality in the housing sector head-on, Vietnam would be able to avoid the expansion of slums,” she added.

Responding as to why the housing sector in Vietnam is currently embroiled in challenges, Kwakwa said there is an oversupply of high-end units and undersupply of lower cost units in urban areas.

“This mismatch suggests market failures in the housing sector. It is important to understand the causes of these market failures,” she added.

In countries where there is ample relatively affordable housing across income strata, the role of governments she said must be to ensure a level playing field for market participants with specific assistance provided to the poorest households.

“When governments focus on the enabling environment, resources from the private sector can be better leveraged to create a sound and sustainable housing sector,” she said.

Abhas Jha, sector manager of Urban, Disaster Risk Management and Transport, East Asia Pacific under the WB said that to avoid slumps, the government can proactively enable affordable housing without direct provisions by improving the land market and increasing accessibility and mitigating risk.

“Planning must be part of the integrated, long-term, risk sensitive land use and transportation planning,” Jha said.

Moreover, affordability should be considered including a range of interrelated expenditures, not just the cost of a housing unit, he added.

Construction Minister Trinh Dinh Dung said Vietnamese people have a high demand for accommodation but house prices are much higher than average income.

“Therefore, making houses affordable requires support from the government and even international organisations,” Dung added, noting that housing is determined as a priority in socio-economic development policy until 2020 with a view to 2030.

As such, a series of legal documents have been issued to support the development of the social housing market, notably the low interest VND30 trillion ($1.41 billion) loan package aimed at homebuyers and property developers.

The thing Vietnam must do first and immediately is increase the supply of affordable housing to disburse the above package from the government and therefore provide more and more affordable housing.

The second thing that must be done, Dung said, is continue reviewing the law related to this issue to transfer the package to the right receivers as soon as possible.

Vietnam has the goal of building 10 million square metres of social housing, mainly apartment buildings, by 2015 to meet low-income earners’ demands. It will provide support for 400,000 poor families in rural areas in need of houses.

Source: VEF/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/Dantri/VIR