Samsung keen on Vietnam’s electricity sector

Samsung group plans to conduct a feasible study of a number of power projects in Vietnam this month to choose the best one for investment.

 The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT)’s General Department of Energy said that the Republic of Korean group will inspect five thermal electric power plants in central and southern regions before making its decision.

The five plants include Quynh Lap 2 in the central province of Nghe An, Vung Ang 3 in the central province of Ha Tinh, Quang Trach 2 in the central province of Quang Binh, Hau River 3 in the southern province of Hau Giang, and Kien Luong in the southern province of Kien Giang.

More than a month ago, Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai authorized the MoIT to consider and select one of the five power projects to cooperate with Samsung.

RoK supports chilli farming in Ninh Thuan

Ninh Thuan province on September 4 signed a cooperation agreement with CJ CHEIL JEDANG (CJ group) of the Republic of Korea to develop a chilli growing area and processing plant.

Under the deal, a growing area of 500-600 ha will be developed with an expected output of 12,000 tonnes of fresh chilli per annum. About 3,000 tonnes of dried chilli will be exported to foreign countries where the CJ group’s food processing plants are currently located.

The CJ group will help local chilli growers improve their farming techniques. It will also buy the entire chilli crop produced by local farmers at negotiated prices.

CJ group CEO Chang Bok Sang said his firm is cooperating with Ninh Thuan to implement a pilot project to import ten chilli varieties from China and the RoK to grow on a 1-ha area within the next year.

Once these chilli varieties have been examined for productivity and quality, they will then be grown widely in Ninh Thuan from 2014 to 2024. CJ group will build a plant to process and package the chillies before shipping them abroad.

At present, Ninh Thuan province has 562 ha under chilli, cultivation mostly in Phan Rang-Thap Cham city, and Ninh Hai and Ninh Phuoc districts, with an average output of 20 tonnes/ha.

London seminar promotes UK investment in HCM City

HCM City wants to attract more UK investors in the future, said Le Hoang Quan, Chairman of the HCM City People’s Committee, told a seminar in London on September 4.

Quan emphasized that HCM City continues to become one of the priority destinations for foreign investors in Vietnam thanks to its advantages, preferential policies and developed infrastructure.

He said with a population of around 10 million, the city is a major economic, cultural, educational, and scientific and technological centre in the southern key economic region.

The city has so far established trade ties with 228 countries and territories in the world. It is now home to 95 UK-invested projects capitalized at US$628 million and 120 representative offices of UK companies.

The presence of 70 UK businesses at the seminar demonstrates the investors’ special interest in the Vietnamese market in general and HCM City in particular, Quan said.

He assured the participants that HCM City highly values any business recommendations to further improve its investment climate so as to attract more foreign investment, especially from the UK and Europe.

Quan said HCM City wants to share development experience with the UK which has advantages in finance and banking and services, as well as in developing the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model.

Dr. Marcel Steward, WunderEnergy’s Director of Environment and Sustainability, affirmed Vietnam is an attractive destination for foreign investors thanks to its rising position regionally and globally.

The Executive director of Asia House, Michael Lawrence, also emphasized that the seminar offered UK businesses a special chance to connect and seek investment opportunities in HCM City.

Hanoi hosts Vietnam-Japan support industry exhibition

Vietnamese businesses expect to learn about Japan’s manufacturing technologies and support industry achievements at an exhibition which opened in Hanoi on September 4.

In his opening speech, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh noted that the manufacturing industry plays a crucial role in economic development, and Vietnam should therefore organise technological exhibitions to further strengthen its industrial development.

He laid strong emphasis on the development of the support and mechanical engineering industries in national industrialization and modernization, helping attract foreign direct investment (FDI), facilitate business operations, and create highly competitive and added value products.

Anh expressed his hope that a series of manufacturing exhibitions held simultaneously in Hanoi this time will offer domestic and foreign businesses operating in the support and mechanical engineering industries the chance to meet and seek cooperative opportunities.

Hanoi is scheduled to host the Vietnam Manufacturing Expo, the Japanese Monozukuri Technology Exhibition 2013, the International Exhibition on Industrial Equipment Manufacturing 2013 and the Vietnam-Japan Exhibition on Support Industries 2014 at the same time.

Shouei Utsuda, President of the Committee for Vietnam-Japan Friendship Year, said the exhibition, an activity to mark 40 years of Vietnam-Japan diplomatic ties, helps visitors gain a broad view of the technologies of 32 Japanese companies operating in Vietnam.

During the exhibition, which runs until September 9, Japanese businesses will introduce high technologies, and robots Honda Asimo and Murata Boy.

Duangdej Yuaikwamdee, Deputy Managing Director of Reed Tradex – ASEAN’s leading exhibition organizer, said through the event Vietnamese manufacturers can find partners, expand their export markets and access latest technologies to raise their competitiveness within the global value chain.

Yuaikwamdee revealed that in the coming years, Nokia plans to set up its biggest production base in Vietnam alongside the current Samsung Plant.

Vietnam sees rise in global competitive capacity

Vietnam has jumped five notches to 70th among 148 economies listed in the World Economic Forum’s 2013-2014 Global Competitiveness Report.

According to the report, Vietnam’s macroeconomic environment was improved considerably, rising almost 20% to 87th position. Inflation was brought under control to a single-digit figure in 2012, alongside improved quality of transport and energy infrastructure.

Vietnam also advanced in the goods market efficiency pillar, up 17 notches to 74th, thanks to lower trade barriers and a less heavy tax rate on businesses.

Despite these encouraging developments, the foundation of Vietnam’s economy and prosperity remains fragile, the report says.

The country ranked no higher than 57th in any of the pillars except the market size pillar (36th). It was down in several areas of the Index, including labour market efficiency (56th, down five) and financial market development (93rd, down five).

Another area of concern was technological readiness (102nd down four). Although new technologies are spreading amongst the population, Vietnamese businesses are particularly slow to adopt the latest technologies for their business use (128th), thus forfeiting significant productivity gains through technological transfer.

The top ten economies in the report are Switzerland, Singapore, Finland, Germany, the US, Sweden, Hong Kong, the Netherlands, Japan, and the UK.   

Viet Nam becomes more competitive

Viet Nam has moved up five positions to rank 70th on the 2013-14 global competitiveness list issued by the World Economic Forum, regaining half of the ground it lost last year.

The report said this progression was mainly the result of a slightly better macroeconomic environment, which was ranked 87th among world nations, up 19 positions.

After jumping to almost 20 per cent, inflation was back to single-digit levels in 2012, also strengthening the country's position and improvements to the quality of transport and energy infrastructures saw this ranking jump 13 places to 82nd.

Viet Nam also advanced in the goods market efficiency pillar to 74th, up 17 positions, thanks to lower trade barriers and a lower tax rate for businesses.

Despite these encouraging developments, the foundation of the country's economy and prosperity remained fragile. The country sits below 55th place in every criteria except for market size where it occupies 36th.

It lost ground in several areas of the Index, including labour market efficiency — down five to 56th — and financial market development at 93rd, also down five.

Another area of concern is technological readiness, where the country slipped four places to 102nd.

Although new technologies were spreading among the population, Vietnamese businesses were particularly slow to adopt the latest technologies in their sectors, thus forfeiting significant productivity gains through technological transfer.

As in previous years, this year's top 10 was dominated by a number of European countries, with Switzerland, Finland, Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom confirming their places among the most competitive economies.

Switzerland retained top spot again this year as a result of its continuing strong performance across the board.

Singapore remained the second-most competitive economy in the world, while Hong Kong and Japan placed 7th and 9th.

Farming sector fights back

The farming sector needs urgent solutions to overcome the current export slump and ensure a brighter future, experts have said.

The farming, forestry and fisheries sectors' export values saw a slight year-on-year decline of 1.1 per cent in the first eight months of the year to US$17.98 billion.

The reduction was due to economic difficulties, limited goods consumption and the impact of inclement weather on farming products, said Tran Thanh Hai, deputy head of the Import and Export Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Ho Van Nien, vice chairman of the People's Committee of southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province, said farming exports for this whole year were expected to fall short of their target because exports had slipped both in terms of volume and value since the start of this year.

This was the first time the province had faced farming export difficulties, with cashew and fisheries hit particularly hard, registering year-on-year export volume falls of 29.51 and 12.24 per cent, respectively.

Nien said the fisheries sector must faced the most issues due to lack of raw materials, low selling prices and high input costs.

Viet Nam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) general secretary Truong Dinh Hoe agreed, adding that the sector's export markets had shrunk due to the global economic downturn.

Meanwhile, coffee exports in the first eight months saw a year-on-year drop of 23.2 per cent in volume (to 974,000 tonnes) and 22.5 per cent in value to $2.09 billion, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Luong Van Tu, chairman of the Viet Nam Coffee and Cacao Association, said the reduction was due to fall 20 per cent in coffee output against last year.

Local coffee enterprises must also compete with foreign rivals in purchasing coffee on the domestic market, he added.

Hai said the instability of national farming exports had led to fluctuations in the volume and price of those products.

Therefore, the farming and fisheries sectors should focus on improving quality and developing product trademarks to build stronger reputations and increase competitiveness on the world market, he said.

Hai believed foreign partners had imposed unnecessary conditions on local export products and said the Ministry of Industry and Trade would promote negotiations with foreign countries to abolish unnecessary barriers for Vietnamese farming and seafood products.

The ministry has so far built mechanisms and policies to support consumption of high output commodities such as rice, seafood, coffee, cashew and pepper.

It will also improve the efficiency of market information and forecasts of commodities for producers and exporters, while disseminating information about commercial barriers for local exporters to increase exports and avoid risks around entering export contracts.

Truong Thanh Phong, chairman of the Viet Nam Food Association, said Viet Nam should review its target for exporting farming products, including rice, to focus on value instead of volume.

For instance, the country should limit rice export volume to six million tonnes per year and have solutions in place to increase the value of rice export products.

The planning sector should co-operate with farming and seafood associations to closely follow sales and demand of those commodities on the local and world markets so that the planning sector would have advice for farmers in planting crops and raising animals to ensure a high selling price, Phong added.

Trade expert Pham Tat Thang said if agricultural production continued to increase the number of export commodities, consumption of those products would be likely to wane at home and abroad due to excess.

The farming and fisheries sectors should restructure production and business operations to ensure sustainable development of export staples, he said.

Ha Noi backs support industries

Viet Nam gave priority to developing support industries because they played an important role in industrialisation and modern-isation, said the Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade (MoIT), Tran Tuan Anh.

Opening four exhibitions on support industries in Ha Noi yesterday, Tuan Anh said the State had issued several policies in recent years to help parts' makers and encourage technological transfer between local firms and foreign partners.

The four expos are the Reed Tradex Manufacturing Expo Viet Nam, the fifth Viet Nam-Japan Exhibition on Support Industries, the Japanese Monozukuri Technology Exhibition and the Industrial Components and Subcontracting Viet Nam.

The events would help accelerate the transfer of new technologies, know-how and the expansion of business networks, said managing director of Thailand Reed Tradex, Chainarong Limpkittisin.

Difficulties in purchasing parts was one of the major challenges facing Japanese enterprises in Viet Nam, said Jetro executive vice president Daisuke Hiratsuka.

A recent JETRO survey found Japanese enterprises in Viet Nam had a low localisation ratio in material and industrial components compared to other Asian nations.

A low localisation ratio means that investors have to import more overseas materials and components. This leads to high production costs in Viet Nam.

Nguyen Van Suu, vice chairman of the Ha Noi People's Committee, said the expos would enable parts producers to find new markets. The four events will end tomorrow.

Phuong Nam Food Co pays outstanding debt

Foreign clients resumed orders with Phuong Nam Food Processing Company in the southern province of Soc Trang after the company settled its debts.

Tran Van Tri, the company's vice chairman, told a local newspaper that the clients were the company's traditional partners who had returned because of the good news.

"New orders would help the company reach their goal of US$30 million in exports by the end of the year," he said.

The company, once in the nation's top ten, recorded an export turnover of more than $88 million in 2007 and supplied more than 3,200 jobs.

The company was left to wrangle with VND1.6 trillion ($76million) in debts after the former chairman, Lam Ngoc Khuan, failed to return from the US due to medical reasons. The debt had accumulated with seven banks and several trading partners.

The company has partially recovered with the help of creditors; agreeing to suspend the company's debts for three to five years with zero interest. As one of the banks, Lien Viet Post Bank provided new lending to the company to purchase raw materials.

Phuong Nam Company resumed business under new leadership from deputy chairman Tran Van Tri, the former deputy director of Lien Viet Post Bank, who became responsible for tackling the remaining VND238 billion ($11.3 million) debt.

In the first six months of the year, the company recorded a weak export turnover of $2 million; but turnover has quickly soared to more than $8.5 million with the export of 800 tonnes of shrimp in the last two months.

Tri said farmers have started selling shrimp to the company, bolstered by its improving finances, adding the company employs 2,000 workers who recently received a 20 per cent increase in their monthly salary thanks to higher production capacity.

Along with plans to return to the top 10 seafood exporters in Viet Nam by 2015 and generate $80 million in export turnover, Phuong Nam Company forecasts to have its debts settled by 2019.

The company continues to export to traditional markets including the US, Japan, the EU, Canada, South Korea and Malaysia.

Viet Nam's tea exports run hot, cold

Viet Nam exported 88,000 tonnes of tea in the first eight months of the year, earning US$140 million, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Last month alone, the country exported 14,000 tonnes of tea, bringing a turnover of $23 million.

The average price of exported tea reached $1,584 per tonne last month, representing a 4.9 per cent increase on the same period last year.

However, tea volume exported to Pakistan, Viet Nam's biggest customer, fell 19.2 and 19.15 per cent in terms of quantity and value respectively.

The ministry said tea exports saw a surge in the US (36.5 per cent), United Arab Emirates (43.2 per cent), Germany (7.9 per cent) and Poland (18.3 per cent) against the corresponding period last year, helping to cushion the blow.

Doan Anh Tuan, chairman of the Viet Nam Tea Association said tea production, processing and consumption had seen high growth in the past few years.

However, the sector had faced shortcomings due to its small production scale. Farming households, which accounted for 65 per cent of total tea growing areas, were only 70-75 per cent as capable as larger businesses.

Enterprises and farmers also lacked distribution networks, he added.

He said the sector should review its planning and arrange tea processing plants. Each plant should have plantations and policies to encourage farmers to become shareholders.

In addition, the country should build a centre to verify tea quality according to international standards.

Dung Quat 2 IZ reveals detailed plans

Dung Quat Economic Zone's Management Board yesterday announced the 1/2000-scale planning of Dung Quat 2 Industrial Zone (IZ) in central Quang Ngai Province's Binh Son District.

The IZ lays in the Dung Quat Economic Zone, the industrial zone for heavy industries, such as oil refinery, chemical industry, shipbuilding, steel refining, thermo-electricity as well as supporting industries in line with the Dung Quat 2 deep water seaport.

According to the plans, land for construction of factories, storehouses and service buildings accounted for 63 per cent, while 14 per cent is for traffic infrastructure and the remaining 23 per cent is to be left for green spaces.

Covering an area of nearly 2,820 ha, Dung Quat 2 IZ borders with Dung Quat 2 Port in the north-east, Van Truong New Urban Area in the north-west and Sa Ky Urban Zone in the south-east.

In addition, the planning of Sa Ky Urban Zone was announced yesterday. As a satellite urban zone of Dung Quat Economic Zone, it would provide accommodation and living facilities for workers and local residents. It will stretch over 400 ha into Son Tinh District's Tinh Hoa Commune and Binh Son District's Binh Chau Commune.

Dung Quat Economic Zone was among five coastal economic zones prioritised in receiving State investment in order to develop into an economic zone of multi-sectors with a focus on heavy industries and an open industrial city in the future.

The provincial authorities are speeding up construction of infrastructure to attract more investment into the zone.

Large-scale farms lead the way

New production models including large-scale farming that have been introduced and proven effective in recent years will drive the agriculture sector's growth in coming years, heard a seminar in Mekong Delta Can Tho City yesterday.

The seminar was held to review five years of implementing the Party Central Committee's Resolution No 7 on developing the agriculture and rural areas; and to assess impacts of the Government's investment policies on the agricultural sector, farmers' livelihoods and development of rural areas.

In attendance were Deputy Prime Minister Vu Van Ninh, Chairman of the NA Economic Committee Nguyen Van Giau, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat, many other senior officials, scientists, businessmen and farmers.

Giau said the seminar was a forum for multifaceted dialogue between enterprises, co-operatives, farmers, scientists and state management agencies that would help select the most effective agricultural production models and management methods in agricultural production for nation-wide expansion in the coming years.

Participants can also highlight difficulties arising out of current policies related to agriculture, farmers and rural areas so that the Party and Government are able to address them as soon as possible, he added.

In a report presented at the seminar, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) said large-scale rice farming is one of the new production models that have proven effective in recent times, since it has helped farmers earn higher profits.

The ministry claimed the new model has helped farmers reduce production costs while increasing productivity and quality, enabling them to raise profits by as much as VND2.2-7.5 million per hectare last year.

In the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta, known as the nation's rice basket, 20,000ha were placed under large-scale rice cultivation last year.

The figure is expected to increase significantly and reach 100,000-200,000ha by the end of this year, the ministry said.

The report said that other models, including a "closed chain" that covers production, processing, distribution and trading; co-operatives; and a co-operation arrangement between farmers and enterprises have also achieved high efficiency in agricultural production.

The seminar heard 20 presentations that focused on different aspects of new production models and new management methods in rural areas, including the role of farmers' associations in propagating them as well as measures that can help farmers escape poverty.

However, despite initial successes, there are difficulties that will hinder expansion of the new models, the ministry cautioned.

For instance, all localities, ministries and industries do not have the same view of large-scale rice cultivation, it said.

Efforts to establish linkages between farmers and businesses have so far concentrated on production phase and are yet to ensure stable outlets for farm produce, making it difficult for farmers to enjoy stable prices and incomes, it added.

The seminar was organised by MARD in collaboration with the National Assembly Economic Committee and the Viet Nam Farmers' Association.

Private money sought for infrastructure

HCM City authorities are giving priority for investments from the private sector, especially investments under the Public - Private Partnership (PPP) mode, for infrastructure development.

The announcement was made at a PPP seminar held by the HCM City Department of Planning and Investment on Tuesday.

According to Nguyen Thi Hong, deputy chairwoman of the HCM City People's Committee, the city has a plan to call for BOT (Build - Operate - Transfer) and BT (Build - Transfer) investments for 42 infrastructure projects that require capital of more than VND158 trillion (nearly US$7.5 billion) in total.

Between 2004 and 2012, the city mobilised capital for 25 BOT, BT and BOO (Build - Operate - Own) projects, amounting to a total of VND74 trillion ($3.5 billion).

These include the Phu My Bridge, which was built under the BOT form, and the Thu Duc Water Supply Plant, a BOO project, according to Hong.

Investments from the city budget accounts for 12 per cent of total investment for infrastructure projects, much lower than the 20 per cent of previous years.

"It indicates that the city authority has taken greater effort to mobilise capital [for these infrastructure projects] from the private sectors," Hong was quoted as saying in Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper.

The Agence Francaise Devellopement (AFD) and the World Bank have both provided loans to the private sector for these infrastructure development projects.

AFD's loans were provided to social welfare projects, such as hospitals, while the World Bank has focused on loans for infrastructure projects, she said.

HCM City has also submitted to the Ministry of Planning and Investment a list of six infrastructure projects calling for PPP investments to be approved by the Government.

These projects, mainly in infrastructure development and reduction of clean water losses, were capitalised at VND13.8 trillion ($654 million).

To better manage the PPP investment mode, HCM City has established a work team, aiming to promote PPP by enhancing the "one-stop" mechanism for this investment mode.

Vietnam’s August PMI still under 50 points

HSBC Bank has released the headline seasonally adjusted Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) in Vietnam which recorded 49.4 in August.

That was an improvement on July’s 48.5 and the best reading since April. However, it remained below the 50 no-change mark, signaling a marginal deterioration of manufacturing operating conditions.

An index reading above 50 indicates an overall increase in that variable and below 50 is an overall decrease.

New orders received by Vietnam’s manufacturers continued to fall in August, extending the current run of contraction to four months. Market activity remained slow, according to panelists, and customer demand soft.

Latest data showed that new export orders also continued to decline. The marginal fall was the third in successive months. Export market conditions were reported to have remained tough, but were showing signs of stabilization.

According to a survey, there was a record increase in employment as manufacturers signaled positive expectations for activity. Profitability remained under pressure, however, as output charges were little changed, but input prices rose at the sharpest pace since March.

Trinh Nguyen, Asia Economist at HSBC, said that Vietnam’s manufacturing activity continues to be hammered by weak external demand and sluggish domestic conditions, although the pace of contraction is significantly reduced.

“Global demand is expected to pick up towards the year-end thanks to a recovery from the U.S., the Eurozone, Japan and China. This should help the manufacturing sector. However, with input prices rising and domestic conditions still weak, we think the recovery process in Vietnam continues to be bumpy,” she said.

Foreign net selling extends for third straight month

Foreign participation in the local stock market in August marked the lowest level over the past six months while the investors stayed on the selling side for the third straight month.

Last month, foreigners bought around VND2.3 trillion worth of shares while they sold some VND3 trillion, resulting in a net selling value of VND700 billion compared to VND300 billion in the previous month.

Exchange traded funds (ETFs) Market Vector Vietnam and FTSE Vietnam were the drivers of foreign net selling since June due to concerns over the Chinese economy.

Foreign selling slowed down in July but shot up again late last month due to political uncertainties in Syria and concerns over Fed’s tapering of bond buying program. The two ETFs have strongly offloaded many large-caps in their investment portfolios such as VIC, BVH and VCB, touching on the nerve of local investors.

As a result, the VN-Index lost 19.15 points, or 3.9%, in August while market capitalization declined VND30 trillion to some VND787 trillion.

According to the director of a foreign investment fund, ETF sell-off in the coming time depends on developments of the world market.

If international investors kept withdrawing capital, stock markets in Vietnam and some Asian countries will suffer massive foreign sell-offs. The risk is high if the conflict between the U.S. and Syria turns worse, the director said.

Long-term investment funds in Vietnam such as Dragon Capital and VinaCapital will not heavily offload shares as they have invested in potential listed enterprises. However, facing the massive sell-offs by others, these funds and investors may sell shares in short-term, causing adverse impacts on the local market.

Few firms qualified for jewelry production

Only 58 enterprises in HCMC have obtained licenses for jewelry and fine arts production after Government Decree No. 24/2012/ND-CP took effect over a year ago.

The decree stipulates that local enterprises must obtain approval from the central bank to join the industry.

Nguyen Hoang Minh, deputy director of the central bank’s HCMC branch, said that 62 firms had applied for jewelry and fine arts production licenses as of the end of August, of which 58 have got approval from the agency. The figure was very modest compared to over 3,600 jewelry production and trading firms in the city, given statistics of the HCMC Department of Planning and Investment.

However, the statistics did not separate between jewelry trading firms and those with both production and trading activities.

Dinh Nho Bang, vice chairman of the Vietnam Gold Business Association, said that most jewelry producers have invested in workshops. The number of jewelry producers is equivalent to that of jewelry trading firms.

Currently, family-run businesses providing outsourcing services for other enterprises do not register to the central bank again.

Bang said registration is necessary to tighten management over jewelry production. Aside from the production license, enterprises have to register jewelry standards to facilitate quality control.

According to Decree 24, enterprises have to print codes, gold content, application standards and quantity on products and bear all responsibilities for information announced. However, just a few enterprises have registered production because many firms have left the business given the sluggish jewelry market.

Besides, many enterprises have focused on trading instead of production. They have used outsourcing service and stopped production at their workshops to save costs.

Jewelry and fine arts producers have met challenges in capital as banks have been banned from granting loans for gold trading. Enterprises are also not allowed to import material for jewelry production.

* Local enterprises who have demand to purchase material gold for jewelry production will be allowed to take out bank loans in the coming time whereas lending for gold bar trading is still prohibited by the central bank’s Circular 33/2011/TT-NHNN.

The circular prohibits banks from lending to gold purchases, except for cases approved by the central bank’s governor, including loans for gold purchase to process jewelries. However, jewelry enterprises have yet to gain approval to get bank loans for material purchase.

According to an official of the central bank, the barrier will be removed to help local jewelry makers borrow from banks.

However, enterprises must have sufficient documents to prove that the material would be used for jewelry production. The condition aims to prevent enterprises from taking out loans for gold bar trading, which is not encouraged by the Government.

In the coming time, the central bank will grant licenses for some enterprises to import material gold for jewelry production.

Dinh Nho Bang, vice chairman of the Vietnam Gold Business Association, said the prohibition should be lifted to encourage enterprises to invest in jewelry production. Currently, competitiveness of local jewelry products is still low compared to regional countries.

Saigon Co.op spends VND150 bil. on sale promotion

Saigon Co.op on Wednesday kicked off this year’s biggest promotion program at Co.opmart and Co.op Food chains with the total expenditure of VND150 billion, far higher than last year’s figure.

The “Pride in Vietnamese goods” campaign will last 28 days at Co.opmart, Co.opXtraplus Thu Duc and Co.op Food store chains in response to the movement of promoting Vietnamese goods and the 2013 promotion month of HCMC.

Nguyen Ngoc Hoa, chairman of Saigon Co.op, said that the retailer has cooperated with over 600 suppliers to give discounts on many necessities. There will be 2,000 product lines with discounts up to 50% available while customers will receive vouchers and bonus points in their accounts while shopping.

Many producers such as Vinamilk, Tuong An, Nam Duong, Safoco, Tay Ninh sugar, Bien Hoa sugar, Trung Nguyen coffee, Xuan Hong, My Hao, Viet Thy, Nha Be, Thang Loi and Kim Hang have participated in the program to provide products with high quality and reasonable prices to customers.

Saigon Co.op will also launch mobile sale programs from Ca Mau Province to Hanoi City to serve citizens in remote areas and workers of industrial parks and export processing zones. The programs aim to advertise Vietnamese goods and raise awareness in buying locally-made products.

Last year, the program took place in September at Co.op mart supermarket chain, generating revenue of nearly VND1.7 trillion, up 40% against the normal month.

Coffee exporters look to Chinese market

China has become a target market for Vietnamese coffee exporters as a younger generation in the country has developed a new habit of drinking coffee instead of tea.

To explore the over 1.3 billion people market, the biggest ever number of Vietnamese coffee makers have joined the ongoing 2013 ASEAN-China Expo (CAEXPO 2013) in Nanning city to advertise their products.

China has emerged as a charming market for coffee exporters with a yearly growth rate of 40-50% in coffee import, said a distributor of Trung Nguyen Coffee.

After one year of presence here, we are quite optimistic about the market prospect, he added.

Nguyen Tan Ky, CEO of Vinacafé Bien Hoa joint-stock coffee company said that even though Chinese people started drinking coffee, they are not easy customers. He advised coffee exporters to pay attention to local taste, product packaging, quality and instruction.

Do Thang Hai, Director of the Trade Promotion Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade revealed that coffee is the key product for trade promotion at CAEXPO 2013.

In the coming time, the Department would help connect hundreds of Vietnamese coffee producers with potential local distributors in order to successfully penetrate into the potential market and earn bigger export turnover, Mr. Hai said.

Viettel Post seals China partnership

Viettel Post Joint Stock Corporation has announced the start of a money transfer service between Vietnam and China.

The company announced that starting in August, the company began offering this service in conjunction with Chinese partner Guangxi EMS, which would also deliver postal parcels throughout China.

The inauguration of this service followed the April signing of the Vietnam-China bilateral co-operation agreement on the transfer of good and products between the two countries.

Under the agreement, Viettel Post will reciprocate in delivering Guangxi’s goods throughout Vietnam.

Viettel Post’s Vietnam-China postal rates are competitive, at around $12 per parcel, 50 per cent below that of international shipping companies. The prices are kept low by both countries using their local price structures rather than an international shipping premium. Time from send to delivery is around three days.

Viettel Post’s business in this area is mostly coming from express deliveries, parcels over 100 kilogrammes, logistics, and supporting services such as customs and clearance for goods imported from China.

FrieslandCampina Vietnam keen on Creating Shared Value

FrieslandCampina Vietnam, the owner of the Dutch Lady brand, Friso, Yomost, and Fristi, has continued to focus on the Creating Shared Value (CSR) with many activities launched, further deepening its social responsibility towards the community.

Recently, FrieslandCampina Vietnam has cooperated with the Ministry of Education and Training to launch a contest on nutrition for children at kindergartens. The kick-off meeting for launching the contest was held in Hanoi and was graced by the presence of the Deputy Minister of Education – Ms. Nguyen Thi Nghia, and attended by many senior education officials. Thousands of education officials nationwide were also said to participate in the meeting via tele conferencing.

As announced at the ceremony, the online contest is opened to over 10,000 kindergartens nationwide.

On the occasion, FrieslandCampina Vietnam has collaborated with the Education Ministry to publish a guidebook on nutrition for children at kindergartens, and built a website to provide updated information on nutrition for children.

In fact, the contest is just a part of a far-reaching CSR campaign for the education sector promoted by FrieslandCampina Vietnam over the years.

The company has highlighted CSR through projects to help the community and poor students. On April 25 2013 the enterprise inaugurated Nguyen Trai primary school, Phu Thien District, Gia Lai Province given the Den Dom Dom (Firefly Lantern). The Dutch Lady brand under FrieslandCampina Vietnam donated VND2.5 billion to this school to help equip each classroom with standard facilities.

Initiated in 2002, the Den Dom Dom Program has granted over 20,000 scholarships to students and built nine schools in remote areas in Hue, Ca Mau, Binh Phuoc, Ha Nam, Quang Ngai, Kon Tum, Quang Binh, Lai Chau and Gia Lai. The program expects to inaugurate the tenth school in Quang Ngai Province in the coming time.

After over 10 years of implementation, the study encouragement program has become a social movement, promoting the “sharing happiness” spirit among the community. Among 22 schools introduced in the school year 2011-2012, besides two schools repaired by the company in Quang Binh and Lai Chau provinces, local authorities, organizations and individuals in the country joined hands to repair or build 15 others. Citizens nationwide have also supported the program by giving donations directly or through the program’s official website.

Back to the latest campaign on the nutrition contest, FrieslandCampina Vietnam says the project has been initiated following a survey over the nutritional situation of Vietnamese children conducted by the National Institute of Nutrition under the Ministry of Health.

With an aim to improve daily diets of children and quality of human resources of the nation in the future, the project has drawn much attention from the Government and the society. It is also in line with the Government’s overall project on the development of the physical strength and stature of Vietnamese people in the 2011-2030 period.

With these activities, FrieslandCampina Vietnam has become the first dairy production and trading company in Vietnam to receive an Asia Responsible Business Award from the Asia Business Association, which recognizes the company’s significant achievements via its projects and community support activities. The award honors businesses for sustainable development and CSR in the fields of Green Leadership, Investment in People, Health Promotion, Social Empowerment, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise CSR, Responsible Business Leadership. Winners of the award are those who have overall viewpoint towards CSR and have proved their responsibility by protecting the environment, supporting the community, paying attention to social interests and complying with law during their production and business process.

Mark Boot, general director of FrieslandCampina Vietnam, says that the enterprise believes in establishing community values in Vietnam. “We pledge to stick to our business morality, sharing common values with the society and partners by offering the best products and helping improve daily life of local community,” Boot says.

The Asia Responsible Business Award proves FrieslandCampina Vietnam’s efforts in creating shared values for the Vietnamese community through the dairy industry development program.

FrieslandCampina is the leading dairy group in the Netherlands with a history of 140 years. During 17 years of operation in Vietnam, it has supplied over 1.5 billion milk portions under various brands such as Dutch Lady, Friso, Yomost and Fristi for local people each year.

Since 1996, the group has invested over US$135 million in expanding production in the country. Its factories in Binh Duong and Ha Nam provinces have been equipped with modern facilities to treat wastewater, make use of green energy and contribute to environmental protection.

HDBank acquires financial firm SGVF

HDBank has obtained approval in principle from the central bank to acquire 100% equity of Société Générale Viet Finance (SGVF), one of the largest foreign-owned consumer finance companies in Vietnam.

SGVF will become a subsidiary of HDBank. The transaction, the first one of its kind, will pave the way for other institutions in Vietnam to make acquisitions to form financial and banking groups and actively partake in the reduction of the number of financial institutions in the restructuring plans for banks in Vietnam.

However, HDBank did not disclose the value of the transaction.

SGVF, 100% owned by Société Générale, is a consumer finance company that was licensed by the central bank in 2007. Currently, SGVF has around 1,100 employees with a network stretching to 42 provinces across Vietnam.

SGVF has provided consumer finance services to more than 125,000 individual customers through 300 partners and over 800 service introduction points located at motorcycle and electronic vendors throughout the country.

HDBank plans to retain the whole system, business partners, customers and employees of the finance company.

Le Thanh Trung, deputy CEO of HDBank, said in a statement that this merger and acquisition (M&A) transaction is in line with international trends and within the restructuring plans advocated by the Government and the central bank.

HDBank will continue the pursuit of the ambitious development of SGVF in the consumer finance market and will maintain a similar human resources structure post acquisition, Trung added.

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