Government bonds to be allocated before mid February

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has ordered ministries, cities and provinces to complete the allocation of government bonds for projects before February 15.

Priority will be given to projects scheduled to finish within the year, transitional projects which need to accelerate their progress to finish in 2012, and key projects to boost regional economic development.

The Prime Minister also asked ministries, cities and provinces to carefully review projects that used the government bonds in the 2003-2010 period, remove projects that are not feasible or that need to adjust their total capital investment to comply with the Ministry of Planning and Investment instruction.

Forestry programmes promote sustainability by market incentives

Awareness of illegal logging, sustainable forest management, and requirements of international certification have increased significantly as part of a three-year project begun in December 2007.

The "Linking Trade Demand and Sustainable Forest Management" project aims at achieving sustainability through market incentives via Viet Nam's thriving export-oriented furniture industry.

The project has been organised by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development's General Department of Forestry (DoF), the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO).

"Particularly in the context of our country trying to cope with climate change, we require sustainable economic development," said Cao Chi Cong, general director of the DoF's Forest Use Department.

Since 2005, a group of four Vietnamese industry leaders have taken part in WWF's Global Forest and Trade Network (GFTN).

The project helps two State forest companies in Gia Lai Province and a group of poor rural acacia farmers in Quang Tri Province to achieve independent forest certification under the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), the world's leading certification scheme for responsible forest management.

The number of GFTN members in Viet Nam has increased from four to 11.

In addition, the farmer co-operative Quang Tri Forest Certification Group was awarded the first FSC group certificate in the country.

They were able to sell the first timber harvest to GFTN member Thanh Hoa Co Ltd at a significantly higher price.

Furthermore, the State forest companies Ha Nung and Sopai in Gia Lai were issued official land use certificates (red books) and met important pre-requisites for sustainable forest management.

"Although there were some limitations, especially in the area of reforming State-owned forest enterprises, I was impressed by the fact that the project was so successful in utilising market forces to drive biodiversity conservation goals," said Professor Matthew Auer, an independent evaluator commissioned by SECO.

Brigitte Bruhin, deputy country director representing SECO in Viet Nam, said that SECO's continuous engagement supported sustainable trade by linking local producers with international markets, and pro­mo­ting internationally accepted certification procedures.

Year-end discounts spark fashion shopping frenzy

Large year-end discount sales at several fashion shops in HCM City have seen droves of fashionistas flocking to buy discounted items.

Fashion shops on Hai Ba Trung, Le Van Sy and Tran Huy Lieu streets are offering a big sale of 50 to 70 per cent while Big C, Maximark, and Co.op Mart supermarket chains are running 20-50 per cent sales promotions.

Traders in fashionable goods say sales have gone up by 60 to 70 per cent or even double that of normal days.

In strong demand are trendy items in footwear, bags and handbags, as well as garments which are being offered at sharp discounts at this time.

Le Phuong Nga, owner of a fashion shop on Phu Nhuan District's Le Van Sy Street, said that purchases were rising strongly because several on the street were offering discounted prices.

"During this sale period, if a shop maintains its original prices it will not attract shoppers," Nga said.

Nga said that all of her shop's stockpiled goods were on display three days ago at discounted prices.

High-priced imported items were being offered at 35-60 per cent discounts while a 35 per cent discount was applied to footwear and bags, she said.

"The increase in purchasing power for Tet holiday is too low, so we have to reconsider (our business strategy) by providing reasonable discounts, which has immediately led to soaring demand," she said.

The volume of goods sold had risen by nearly 100 per cent since early this week, Nga said.

City traders said that most fashionable products on the market, which were given a 50-60 per cent discount, were mainly imported from mainland China, the US and South Korea.

Handbags and footwear items imported from China, Malaysia, Hong Kong and the US were strongly discounted at roadside shops and trade centres, such as Parkson and Zen Plaza.

Customs develops on-line procedures

The Viet Nam General Department of Customs has set a target of having between 18 and 20 provincial and city customs departments apply e-customs procedures in 2011.

To realise the goal, customs will carry out five measures, the most important of which is setting up a common e-customs declaration system backed by hi-tech equipment that will create favourable conditions for export enterprises in completing their customs declaration procedures.

The sector will also intensify investment in building technological infrastructure facilities to expand the application of e-customs in new areas and establish standards on data exchange with business enterprises.

Investment priority will also be given to purchase equipment used for the implementation of e-customs procedures including rapiscan machines, cameras, and radioactive detectors.

Another task the customs department has set itself is to formulate specific capital disbursement processes suitable to each customs agency to ensure that capital sources are allocated and used effectively.

This year, the customs sector will also focus on monitoring the implementation of e-customs procedures at various-levels to find shortcomings and take appropriate remedial measures.—

New transport plan given thumbs up 

A transport development plan for the southern key economic zone has been approved by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.

The plan calls for improved infrastructure and growth rates of 7-9 per cent a year in passenger and goods transport.

The plan to 2020, which extends to 2030, calls for building 580km of new expressways and major provincial roads, as well as upgrading existing roads.

Under the plan, 80 per cent of rural roads would be paved by 2020.

The zone comprises HCM City and neighbouring provinces of Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Tay Ninh, Long An, Dong Nai, Binh Phuoc and Tien Giang.

It targets transporting 1.3-1.4 billion passengers a year by 2020, with an annual growth rate of 8-9 per cent a year.

The zone plans to reach an annual goods transport growth rate of 7-8 per cent, transporting about 500-550 million tonnes of goods a year.

Of that figure, 265-306 tonnes of goods would be transported via seaports.

To meet the targets, the plan calls for the development of deep-sea ports in Vung Tau City, Dong Nai Province and HCM City and completion of the task of relocating existing ports on the Sai Gon River.

It will also upgrade the zone's inland waterways and existing airports to meet transport demand and complete the construction of and operation of the first phase of the Long Thanh International Airport in Dong Nai Province.

When completed, the first phase of the Long Thanh International Airport will have for a capacity of 25-30 million passengers a year.

The plan also calls for the completion and upgrading of the north-south railway route section in the zone, with the HCM City railway system linked with other provinces' railway systems in the zone.

It will give priority investment to expressway projects, including the HCM City – Long Thanh – Dau Giay; the expansion of National Highway No 51; and the building of ring roads No 3 and No 4 and elevated roads in HCM City.

The plan will also generate investment capital from all sources at home and abroad, including the State budget, Official Development Assistance loans from foreign donors, private investors and public-private partnerships.

Commercial banks post high profits

Local commercial banks had high profits last year despite turbulences in the currency market.

According to the StoxPlus Financial Media, among companies listed on the Ha Noi and HCM City stock exchanges, the ratio of revenue and profit of banking sector was 39.6 per cent, ranking second after the financial sector and much higher compared to other sectors, including consumer goods (19,2 per cent), industrial sector (14.5 per cent), oil and gas and consumer services (8.8 per cent).

Leaders of many commercial banks said that most profit was from credit activities.

Many commercial banks, including Techcombank, Eximbank, Maritime Bank and Sacombank, have also posted positive profits for last year.

While credit activities have brought big profits to commercial banks, businesses have faced many difficulties due to high lending interest rates last year.

Cao Si Kiem, chairman of the Viet Nam Small – and Medium-sized Enterprises Association, said the average profit margin of its business members was about 20 per cent, while the lending interest rate was about 17-18 per cent and even higher.

Profits at some enterprises were too low to pay the interest rate on bank loans, he said.

Tran Huu Chinh, chairman of the board of management of the HCM City Fisheries Development Corporation (Fideco), said high lending interest rates had caused many companies to shrink their operation scale or cut back on production, waiting for a better time.

If the interest rate would not fall soon, it could severely affect economic growth since businesses would not dare to start new projects or widen their scale of production, he said.

Cao Tien Vi, chairman of the board of directors for Sai Gon Paper Joint-Stock Company, said interest rates had lowered profits and made it more difficult to do business, but the company in the short-term had no other choice than to borrow money from the bank to ensure its operations.

"The company's business strategy last year as well as this year is how to ensure the company's operation, ensuring employment for our workers. We dare not expect to earn high profits," he said.

Pham The Anh, an economic expert at Thang Long Stock Company, said the money markets last year witnessed a lot of fluctuations.

To minimise risk on the money market, banks had widened the spread between deposits and lending interest rates, so the more credit growth a bank achieved, the more profit it earned, he explained.

Besides offering loans to businesses, large banks earned a lot of profit from inter-bank lending since the inter-bank lending rate during some periods jumped to 15 per cent or even 20 per cent, he added.

Dinh Vu IZ welcomes first 2011 investment

The Hai Phong Economic Zone (EZ) Management Board on Friday granted licence to Hong Duc Industry Joint Stock Co to build the infrastructure of an industrial and maritime service park in the zone.

The VND505 billion (US$26 million) project, the first of its kind in zone, covers an area of 1.3 million square metres. The company committed to starting construction of the project in the first quarter of this year and finishing basic infrastructure facilities in the next two years.

Coffee export value increases in January

Coffee export was estimated to reach 140,000 tonnes during the first month of this year, down by 3.7 per cent year-on-year, according to the General Statistics Office.

However, due to higher coffee prices over the same period last year, the export turnover increased by 30.4 per cent to US$266 million, it said.

Da Nang licenses $174m complex

Ben Du Thuyen Da Nang Limited Co on Friday received the go-ahead from the Da Nang People's Committee to develop US$174 million complex of building, trade centre and tourism complex in city's Son Tra District.

The construction of the 110,000ha complex is expected to begin this year and is slated for completion in 2018.

SGI selected as Global Growth Company

The Saigon Invest Group (SGI) has been selected as a member of the World Economic Forum's Advisory Council for Global Growth Companies, becoming the first Vietnamese firm to gain such a position.

The move shows that the world appreciated and valued Viet Nam as a country with high growth and potential opportunities for development, SGI chairman Dang Thanh Tam said.

The HCM City-based group is one of the leading developers of industrial parks, high-tech parks, urban zones and other business fields in Viet Nam.

PV