Cement exports not feasible despite glut

While exports seem to offer an escape route to the cement sector at a time when demand is far short of supply, some industry insiders reject the possibility, Saigon Times newspaper reported.

Production in the first seven months this year was 31 million tons while consumption was only 28 million tons, and the whole-year surplus is expected to be five million tons.

The general director of a cement company said what hinders exports is not the lack of markets but the inability to ship bulk goods from Vietnamese ports and the high transport costs.

This means Southeast and South Asia are the only viable markets but Vietnamese exporters could hardly compete with rivals from Thailand, China, Indonesia, and Taiwan in these markets, he said.

In the year to September Vissai Ninh Binh and Vietnam Cement Industry Corporation exported 2.8 million tons of cement and clinker to Bangladesh, Laos, and Cambodia, but at a price of US$55 a ton, or only 65 percent of the domestic retail price.

Vietnamese exporters still cannot break into markets such as the Middle East, Africa, and North America despite the huge cement demand there due to its poor shipping infrastructure.

A top executive at a cement company said to cover the cost of exports to such distant markets, exporters need to use ships with a capacity of 50,000 tons or more.

But there is no port in Vietnam capable of docking such large vessels, and the exporters had to transport the products by barge to vessels anchored offshore, he explained.

“It will take three months to just load the products and unload them at construction sites there.

“Since the shelf life of cement is only six months, this will lower the quality.”

But even if these problems could be overcome, many cement makers said, cement should not be exported because of its low value.

They urged the cement sector to instead review its development plans and call off or delay some cement-factory projects to reduce supply.

Car importer laments wrong tax calculation

Hyundai Thanh Cong Auto JSC is saying the Ba Ria-Vung Tau customs has calculated tariffs for its new imported cars based on prices higher than their actual import prices.

According to Sai Gon Tiep Thi Newspaper, Hyundai Thanh Cong, the official distributor of South Korea’s Hyundai Auto in Vietnam, said it had imported 240 new cars which arrived in Ba Ria-Vung Tau’s Cai Mep Port between May and July.

The provincial customs agency then calculated the taxes for these cars based on values higher than the prices Hyundai Thanh Cong declared, the company said.

For instance, it declared the import price of a Veloster AT 1.6 car to be US$6,020, but the customs used a new figure: $7,860.

Hyundai Thanh Cong said the price difference ranged from $500 to $1,800 per unit, which increased the tariffs it had to pay. But the Ba Ria – Vung Tau customs said the values it used were based on the prices of these cars in South Korea.

In response, Hyundai Thanh Cong said such reference was inaccurate. It said the imported cars had lower prices than those used in South Korea because they are of lower quality.

For instance, cars in South Korea have Euro 4 standard engines while those exported to Vietnam only have Euro 2 engines.

Hyundai Thanh Cong said another important reason explaining the lower prices of the imported cars was that Hyundai Korea had applied a 5 percent discount to them as incentives for large contracts.

Earlier Hyundai Thanh Cong also imported another batch of cars and the customs had accepted its declared prices.

Techcombank wins Finance Asia’s best bank awards

Vietnam Technological and Commercial Joint Stock Bank, or Techcombank, has become the first Vietnamese bank to receive three international awards from Finance Asia, one of the Asia’s leading banking-finance magazine.

Techcombank won three titles: “Vietnam’s Best Bank in 2011,” “Vietnam’s Best Cash Management in 2011,” and “Vietnam’s Best Trade Finance Bank in 2011.”

To be qualified for the awards, Techcombank has proved to have effective business strategy, professional administrative model with customer-centered services at international standards and good management over the market fluctuations, as well as achieving high growth rate and good business results in many consecutive years.

Jonathan Hirst, publisher of Finance Asia, said Techcombank deserved the awards since it was one of the most developed and sustainable commercial banks in Vietnam.

Techcombank’s General Director Nguyen Duc Vinh said the awards served as a great encouragement for the efforts of the staffs in the whole banking system.

U.S. agro-exporters eye bigger shares in Vietnam

The U.S. wants to expand the market share of its agro-products in Vietnam and bolster trade relationships between the two countries, said an U.S. official from the U.S. Department of Agriculture on his first visit to Vietnam.

The 90-million strong economy is a potential market for U.S. companies which can supply world-class quality and safe goods at reasonable prices, said Michael Scuse, Acting Under Secretary for U.S. Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services, leading a U.S. first-ever Agricultural Trade Mission to Vietnam.

“U.S. food and food suppliers are second to none in terms of quantity and quality globally,” he said.

The mission, the first official government-level initiative to boost agro-export from the U.S., includes 15 small- and medium-sized U.S. companies representing a wide range of food and agricultural products, from meat, poultry and seafood, consumer-ready food products, food processing ingredients, dairy and wood products to agricultural equipment.

They have met with 150 Vietnamese producers, importers, buyers, distributors, and investors to develop trade relationships and joint ventures.

“This is a unique opportunity for U.S. and Vietnamese businesses to build up partnerships for long-term development,” Scuse said.

“Vietnam is one of the world’s fastest-growing economies and an important market for U.S. agricultural products. The U.S. two-way agricultural, fish and forestry trade with Vietnam reached nearly $ 3.4 billion in 2010,” said the Under Secretary.

“Since 2006, no other major U.S. agricultural export market has grown as quickly as Vietnam. This is a significant and growing market for U.S. producers and a driver for the American economy, helping to support more than 28,000 jobs here in the United States through exports of American products,” he added.

Stressing on the importance of bilateral trade relations, which can only be realized through strengthened agricultural ties, Mr. Scuse said U.S. farmers, producers, processors, and exporters are well-suited to respond to the increasing food and fiber needs of Vietnam’s nearly 90 million consumers.

The mission’s affirmation of the U.S. commitment to supporting sector linkages and forming new partnerships in Vietnam also resonates with the host country’s hope of attracting more investment on product processing, packaging and distribution – a major drawback of the local agricultural industry.

Vietnam for years has been one of the world’s top exporters of rice (6.7 million tons in 2010), coffee, tea, pepper and others.

But most of its revenues come from exporting raw agricultural products.

With poor technology and expertise on processing, packaging and distributing, Vietnam’s raw agro-products fail to meet international standards and do not command a high price.

Coffee, the country’s main exported product, is sold at only 51.5 percent of the average world price and tea at only 52.8 percent.

Acting Under Secretary Scuse said the U.S. has helped to train more than 270 Vietnamese senior and mid-level specialists and administrators at its premier agricultural universities and looked forward to more private sector linkages and business growth.

Cooperation in genetic engineering and bio-tech in agriculture between the two countries is making good progress, he said.

As world population is expected to grow much faster in the coming decades, 2050 food output must surge 20 percent to keep pace with demand, and so we are in dire need of new tools and technologies to realize the goal, he said.

While in Ho Chi Minh City, Acting Under Secretary Scuse has also joined U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam David Shear to open the USA Pavilion at Food and Hotel Vietnam 2011, Vietnam’s most established bi-annual international food and hospitality trade event.

The opening ceremony is part of a series of activities held in honor of the department’s Agricultural Trade Mission in Vietnam to foster trade cooperation and develop joint ventures in the agricultural sector between the two countries.

The U.S. has run trade deficits with Vietnam in recent years, including $11 billion last year.

As one of the 15 biggest exporters of agro-products to the U.S. market, Vietnam’s export to the country in 2011 is expected to reach US$ 16 billion, while it will import only US$ 5billion worth of U.S. goods, said Christopher Twomey, representative of the American Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (AmCham).

Promoting investment in northern central region

The northern central region has so far attracted 243 projects with total capitalisation of nearly US$20 billion, accounting for 10 percent of the country’s total foreign invested capital.

The Overseas Investment Department under the Ministry of Planning and Investment, in coordination with north-central provinces, held a press briefing in Hanoi on September 29 to introduce an investment promotion conference for the northern central region to  be held in Vinh, Nghe An province on October 17.

The region includes six provinces - Nghe An, Thanh Hoa, Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue - which share a border with either Laos or Cambodia, creating ideal conditions for investment from the neighbouring countries. In recent times, the region has achieved high growth and attracted much investment capital both at home and abroad.

However, the region still hasn’t reached its potential in terms of investment, making the conference an ideal opportunity to help provinces introduce their capability to domestic and foreign investors.

Vietnam paves way for Malaysian investors

The Vietnamese Government will create all favourable conditions for Malaysian businesses to invest and do business in Vietnam.

State President Truong Tan Sang made this affirmation while attending a Vietnam-Malaysia business forum in Kuala Lumpur on September 29 as part of his three-day official visit to Malaysia.

Mr Sang expressed his wish that Malaysian businesses would increase investment and make more contributions to Vietnam’s socio-economic development.

Malaysian businesses highly valued the Vietnamese State and Government’s support for their operations to secure a firm foothold in the Vietnamese market. They said they are ready to invest in Vietnam and seek further cooperation with Vietnamese partners in the years to come.

On the same day, President Sang visited Malaysia’s national petroleum group, Petronas. He spoke highly of the close, effective and practical cooperation between Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) and Petronas over the past 20 years, which has brought great economic benefits to each country.

He suggested the two groups strengthen cooperation, especially in exploring and exploiting new oil and gas fields in both Vietnam and Malaysia.

On the occasion, President Sang received US$50,000 as a gift from Petronas to Vietnamese Agent Orange victims.

He also received the leaders of leading Malaysian businesses, including Jacks Resources Berhad, CIMB Bank, Proton automobile maker and Parkson retailer.

While visiting the Vietnamese Embassy in Malaysia, President Sang praised the efforts of the embassy staff in implementing the guidelines and policies of the Party and State. He urged them and other Vietnamese residents to further strengthening the solidarity, friendship and cooperation between the two countries.

Conference on financial restructuring held in Hanoi

The 2011 Vietnam Finance Conference and Exhibition themed "Restructuring national finance: policy challenges, and linking and integrating tendency" opened in Hanoi on September 29.

The annual event was jointly held by the Ministry of Finance (MoF) and the International Data Group (IDG Viet Nam).

The financial sector has developed rapidly in recent years. The completed legal system and financial policies have helped create a sound and transparent national financial system. However, the sector still poses some limitations, including an unstable financial market, a high budget deficit, and low efficiency and competitiveness.

In the financial roadmap for the 2011-2020 period, national finance plans will focus on some important pillars including effectively mobilising financial resources to serve the country’s socio-economic development, rationally allocating and using these resources and comprehensively developing the financial market and services.

The capacity of controlling the financial status should also be enhanced to keep government, national and public debts under safe limits. It is also important to gradually reduce overspending to only 4.5 percent in 2015 and to accelerate administrative reform in the sector.

Speaking at the conference, MoF Minister Vuong Dinh Hue stressed that in the new period of development, the Vietnamese financial sector needs to be restructured to ensure financial security, stability in the monetary market and fast and sustainable economic development.

He also said the conference provides a good chance for participants to discuss major issues and draws useful experiences to restructure the national financial sector.

Vietnam urged to step up export of aqua-products, coffee to Germany

Vietnam’s export sector holds great potential of meeting high German demand for quality aqua-products and coffee, said the State Secretary at Germany’s Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection.

Robert Kloos told reporters at the Food and Hotel Vietnam 2011 in HCMC on Wednesday that German consumers wanted aqua-products from different markets, including Vietnam. Therefore, he called for Vietnamese companies to speed up exports, particularly basa fish, to the German market.

Kloos said Vietnam’s basa was one of the products that German consumers favored.

Coffee is one of Vietnam’s major export earners in its trade with the biggest economy in Europe. Kloos said Germany was also interested in buying Vietnamese coffee.

Kloos demonstrated Germany imported more than 500 million euros worth of goods from Vietnam last year, including 160 million euros worth of aqua-products and 250 million euros of coffee. Sales of these two products rose 6% and 15% respectively over 2009.

Shipments of Germany’s agricultural products to Vietnam are still low compared to other markets in Asia. Last year, the European country earned about US$70 million from exporting food and beverages to Vietnam while Germany shipped agricultural goods worth around US$250 million and US$500 million to Hong Kong and Japan respectively.     

Therefore, Kloos said there remained much potential in the expanding Vietnamese market for German companies to tap and export more dairy products, meat and bread and other products. This is why he and other officials of the German government as well as German companies are taking part in the Food and Hotel Vietnam to promote products of their country.

Kloos pinned high hopes that Germany’s participation in the food and hotel show and his trip to Vietnam would help create a breakthrough in trade in this area between Germany and the emerging economy in the Southeast Asia.

Kloos said he had discussed with Vietnam’s Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development about use of high technology for the agricultural sector and that Germany was ready to assist in this area.

However, Kloos said Vietnam needed to meet certain conditions if the country wanted to develop a hi-tech agricultural sector. An example is a farm with about three employees and several cows is unable to apply high technology and should not do this, he noted.

Kloos also underscored the importance of greater efforts for human resource development in Vietnam for the agricultural sector and having consultancy from the countries owning high technology in agricultural production, and Germany had experiences in this.

Kloos said Germany had an advanced agricultural sector as it started to develop its agricultural sector 20-30 years ago. During this period, German companies have applied technological advances to diversify and turn out products that match consumers’ increasing demand for quality.
 
North-central region to jointly attract investments

Six provinces in north-central Vietnam in cooperation with the Ministry of Planning and Investment will organize a promotion conference in Nghe An Province on October 17 aiming to attract investments into this region.

This is the fourth region to have a promotion conference held by the ministry, after the Mekong Delta, south-central and north-west regions.

Huynh Thanh Dien, vice chairman of Nghe An Province in a press conference held in HCMC on Wednesday pledged to facilitate investors in exploiting potentials of north-central provinces, encompassing Nghe An, Thanh Hoa, Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue.

The region has an advantage in the marine economy with many seaports such as Nghi Son in Thanh Hoa, Vung Ang in Ha Tinh, Cua Lo in Nghe An, and Chan May in Thua Thien-Hue, and some famous resorts.

The north-central region does not have as many advantages in infrastructure facilities as northern and southern regions, thus investments are often poured into provinces such as Dong Nai and Binh Duong, said Do Nhat Hoang, director of the Foreign Investment Agency under the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

However, such southern provinces have started to run out of land, and human resources, prompting investors to seek new places to invest like the north-central region where East-West Economic Corridor and seaports are being developed, Hoang said.

However, administrative procedures, skilled workers and infrastructure facilities are the region’s three barriers hindering their investment attraction, Hoang added.

The north-central region has had 243 foreign direct investment (FDI) projects so far with registered capital of US$19.9 billion which accounts for 10% of the country’s total FDI capital.
 
VSIP to develop integrated township in Quang Ngai

The Vietnam Singapore Industrial Park Joint Venture Co. (VSIP JV) on Wednesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with authorities of Quang Ngai Province to build a 1,020-hectare integrated township and industrial park.

The signing took place in Singapore’s Istana on the occasion of the first state visit to the city-state by President Truong Tan Sang.

The agreement was signed by chairman of Quang Ngai Province Cao Khoa with the co-chairpersons of the VSIP Group, Low Sin Leng and Nguyen Van Hung, under the witness of the President Truong Tan Sang and Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

VSIP will conduct a comprehensive feasibility study for building the township that will comprise a 500-hectare industrial park located within Dung Quat Economic Zone. Separately, under consideration are 520 hectares of land zoned for commercial and residential purposes near downtown Quang Ngai City of the province.

Vu Quang Vinh, senior manager in charge of VSIP Group’s marketing, told the Daily on Wednesday that the company would would start compensation and site clearance soon so that development could start next year.

If the project is realized, VSIP in Quang Ngai will become the fifth integrated township and industrial park of the joint venture in Vietnam.

The first VSIP was established in 1996 in Binh Duong Province’s Thuan An District. In 2006, the VSIP was expanded to neighboring Ben Cat and Tan Uyen districts where the New Binh Duong Township is being developed.

In 2007, a third VSIP was launched in Bac Ninh Province near Hanoi while the fourth VSIP was established last year in Haiphong City.

In all, the four integrated townships and industrial parks cover 4,845 hectares and have since attracted 440 customers with US$4 billion of investments. More than 100,000 jobs have been created by operational tenants.
 
More vehicle buyers turn to Internet for information

Buyers of new vehicles in Vietnam are increasingly turning to the Internet to search for information, according to the J.D. Power Asia Pacific 2011 Vietnam Sales Satisfaction Index (SSI) Study.

The results of the study were released in a statement by Hyundai Thanh Cong on Wednesday.

The study found that seven in 10 new-vehicle buyers in Vietnam use the Internet to research vehicles during the shopping process. Buyers who have researched vehicles on the Internet have a greater propensity to shop across brands and dealerships, with 70% of them visiting at least one other dealer, compared with only 45% among non-Internet users.

“With growing Internet penetration and an increasing number of younger buyers, the Internet plays a critical role in influencing the vehicle purchase decision of customers in Vietnam,” Rajeev Nair, senior manager at J.D. Power Asia Pacific said in the statement. “The information buyers see on the Internet influences their perceptions and expectations. Manufacturers and dealerships that can proactively use this platform to engage customers stand to benefit from this trend.”

Now in its third year, this study examines seven factors that contribute to overall satisfaction with the new-vehicle buyer sales experience in Vietnam (listed in order of importance): delivery process, delivery timing, sales initiation, paperwork, salesperson, dealer facility and deal.

Among the six brands ranked in the study, Hyundai came first with an overall score of 875 on a 1,000- point scale, performing particularly well in six of the seven SSI factors: salesperson, sales initiation, deal, delivery process, dealer facility, and paperwork. Following Hyundai in the rankings are Honda (869) and Toyota (861). GM Daewoo improves more than any other brand from 2010.

Overall sales satisfaction has increased by 20 points from 2010 to an average of 861 in 2011. The industry improves from 2010 in all seven factors, with the largest gain in delivery timing.

“Customers are excited about their new-vehicle purchase and eagerly look forward to receiving their vehicle,” said Nair. “Dealerships that are able to best manage customer expectations on delivery time through accurate initial estimates and then meet the time promised to the customer benefit from increased customer satisfaction.”

The study found that among owners who are highly satisfied with their purchase experience at the dealership (SSI scores averaging above 910), 53% said they “definitely will” recommend their purchase dealer to a friend or relative. These owners are also three times more likely to repurchase the same brand in the future.

Almost 82% of customers indicated that when deciding which make and model to purchase, they asked for recommendations from their friends and relatives—the most commonly sought source of information.

“Satisfied customers can strongly support manufacturers’ branding initiatives through strong word of mouth recommendations,” said Nair. “Dealerships that provide customers with a delightful sales experience stand to gain from the positive recommendations they provide to friends and relatives who are considering a new vehicle purchase.”

The 2011 Vietnam Sales Satisfaction Index Study is based on responses from 900 new-vehicle owners who purchased their vehicle between October 2010 and June 2011. The study was fielded from May to July 2011.
 
Banks play down Gov’t credit growth, money supply targets

Several banks have played down the significance of the Government’s recent resolution to reduce credit growth and money supply targets, saying the move would not affect their operation simply because they do not have funds to boost lending.

The Government in the September meeting required the total money supply and credit growths to be kept at 12% and 15-17% respectively, meaning a contraction of three percentage points.

A banker in HCMC’s District 1 said the credit growth at his bank was zero as of end-September, and the lender focused more on collecting debts instead. In addition, deposits at the bank have dwindled by 10% since September 7.

Finding good corporate clients is not easy these days as they have been served at other banks, said Tran Phuong Binh, general director of Dong A Commercial Bank. Loans towards the year-end are mainly for old clients with rates lowered gradually, he said.

An Binh Bank also finds it hard to get a credit growth of 20% this year as the lending rate is still high, said general director Tran Thanh Hoa. The bank has tried to cut non-productive loan ratio down to 16% as required by the State Bank of Vietnam.

The cut of three percentage points in credit supply does not have much impact on banks. The money flow needs to be reconsidered to be in tune with the economy’s absorption capacity, otherwise it may cause inflation, she said.

A well-known stock expert also said the Government’s move was merely a response to the market condition.

Fiachra Mac Cana from HCMC Securities Co said the Government’s adjustment is not a tightening policy but a move reflecting the real growth rate from the year’s beginning.

“The credit growth year to date is around 8-9% only so the new target still allows generous room for expansion between now and the year-end…,” he said.

Steel firm seeks foreign partners
 
The Viet Nam Steel Corporation is seeking strategic partners following its reorganisation as a joint venture from October 1, according to the corporation's officials.

Under the equitisation process, 29 per cent of the firm would be offered to foreign strategic investors, leaving the State with a controlling interest of 65 per cent, said General Director Le Phu Hung.

"Next month, we will learn more about interest from some major Japanese steelmakers, including Nipon Steel, JSE, Tokyo Steel, Kobe Steel, Mitsubishi and Marubeni-Itochu," said Hung. "We plan to complete our search for foreign strategic partners in the fourth quarter of next year."

Viet Nam Steel has already received feelers from potential Russian investors such as Novolipetsk Steel Corporation and Evraz Group SA, he said.

The State-owned corporation would reorganise as a joint stock company next month, chairman Mai Van Tinh said on Tuesday, vowing no more delays to its equitisation process.

On June 10, the corporation offered 65.9 million shares, or a 9.7 per cent stake at the initial public offer (IPO) on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange for domestic investors. Shares had an opening price of VND10,100 (US$0.49). After the auction, 39.1 million shares, representing a 5.76-per-cent stake, were sold to investors.

"The IPO will help Viet Nam Steel verify sources of capital, especially from strategic partners," Hung said.

After equitising, VN Steel is expected to increase its charter capital to VND8 trillion ($384.6 million) from VND6.8 trillion ($326.9 million). The corporation would invest VND36.9 trillion ($1.8 billion) in 16 steel projects.

"We are in the middle of constructing the second phase of the Thai Nguyen steel project which will help increase capacity to between 1.5 and 2 million tonnes a year," Hung said, noting another project in Lao Cai that will produce 500,000 tonnes this year and double that when it is completed in 2012.

The corporation targets an after-tax profit of VND670 billion ($31.9 million) this year, VND882.5 billion ($42 million) in 2012 and nearly VND1.1 trillion in 2013. It is expected to pay a dividend of 7 per cent on this year's profits and dividends of 9 to 11 per cent over the next two years.

Vietnam takes part in coffee conference in London

Vietnam joined representatives from 80 other coffee importers and exporters worldwide at the 107 th session of the International Coffee Organisation (ICO) in London from Sept. 26-30.

During the session, the delegates discussed the apparatus of the ICO in the new tenure, accessed the situation in the world market and made forecasts on world coffee outputs in the 2011-2012 crop.

According to the ICO statistics, in 2010, the world’s total coffee exports reached 92.5 million bags (60kg per bag). Brazil is the largest coffee exporter in the globe with over 30 million bags per year, followed by Vietnam with 16 million bags per year.

The EU is known as the largest coffee importer with an average volume of 67.5 million bags per year in the recent four years.

Talking on the sidelines of the session, President of the Vietnam Coffee and Cocoa Association Luong Van Tu said that the world’s coffee output in the 2011-2012 crop is forecast to decrease due to the impacts of climate change and degraded coffee areas in some countries, including Brazil, Colombia and Vietnam.

Coffee supplies will not meet demands as more young people in the world take to the drink, he added.

According to Tu, the country is building a strategy to increase the proportion of processed coffee in the total annual output to 20 per cent by 2020.

During the conference, the Vietnamese delegation, led by Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Ho Xuan Hung, worked with the delegation of Brazil ’s Ministry of Agriculture on measures to strengthen cooperation between the two countries. The delegation also met with ICO officials and trade partners.

Can Tho city expands cooperation with France

Vietnam’s Mekong Delta city of Can Tho and Nice city of France have signed an agreement on their twin relations during a France working visit by Can Tho senior officials from September 24 to October 2.

In the framework of this agreement, four partnership agreements on tourism, hospital, tertiary and primary education cooperation were inked in Nice city, nearly 950 km south of Paris.

Under these documents, the two sides will strengthen the exchange of teachers and students between primary and secondary schools of Code d’ Azur region and Can Tho city, and between the Can Tho University and the Sophia Antipolis University.

The Nice side will encourage exchanges between French teachers of the two sides to improve their teaching methods.

The two sides will also enhance cooperation between the Can Tho General Hospital and the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire (CHU) of Nice city.

In the tourism sector, Nice is ready to help Can Tho train tour operators and hotel managers.

The Vietnamese city has been invited to participate in Nice city’s carnival scheduled for February 2012 and the International Fair in April 2012.

On September 29, the delegation, in coordination with the Vietnamese Embassy in France and the French Business Confederation (MEDEF International), hosted a seminar in Paris to promote investment in Can Tho city.

Participants were introduced about the dynamic development of Can Tho city, which locates in the centre of the Mekong River Delta, with an average GDP growth rate of 15 per cent and a per-capita income of $1,950 per year.

The city’s total export value reached $1.4 billion in 2010 with rice being its main export product.

To date, six French businesses have invested in tourism, liquefied gas and agricultural product processing, and opened consultancy offices in Can Tho city with a total investment capital of $13.7 million.

The city’s nine tourism and infrastructure projects calling for investment were introduced at the seminar.

French businesses showed their special attention to such fields as energy, urban development, tourism, environment, chemical industry, agricultural products and finance.

On the occasion, Nguyen Thanh Son, chairman of the People’s Committee of Can Tho city, granted investment licences to two businesses of France’s Casino Group to build a BigC supermarket and invest in real estate in the Mekong Delta city.

In the coming time, Can Tho expects the Accord hotel group to invest in a luxury hotel and resort project in the city.

PV