High-quality Vietnamese products to be showcased

The Mekong Delta province of An Giang will host the 2012 High-quality Vietnamese Products Fair from March 6 to 11.

According to a press briefing on February 29, the fair will attract 160 companies to showcase their high-quality products on 500 booths.

The event aims to sharpen the competitiveness of domestic businesses and build up consumer trust in Made-in-Vietnam products.

During the six-day event, many cultural activities will also be held together with local festivals.

The most of bank shares lost value

Shares on the nation's two exchanges continued their losing streak this morning, but money flew into the market toward midday easing the pace of decline.

Of the nine listed banks on both bourses, only Habubank (HBB) advanced 4.2 per cent and Sai Gon – Ha Noi Bank (SHB) finished at ceiling price of VND11,400. Meanwhile, two others bottomed out, including Eximbank (EIB) and Sacombank (STB).

On the HCM Stock Exchange, the VN-Index retreated 0.67 per cent to 442.00 points. The value of trades reached VND1.15 trillion (US$54.8 million), a 35 per cent fall compared to the level yesterday morning. Trading volume fetched 84.7 million shares.

Software giant FPT, Vinamilk (VNM) and property developer Vincom (VIC) were the only three of the 10 leading shares by capitalisation to post gains between 0.5-2.7 per cent.

Eximbank posted the highest trading volume of 8.5 million shares, followed by Military Bank (MBB) with 7.6 million.

The VN30, which tracks HCM City's best 30 stocks, shed 1.1 per cent to rest at 502.62 points.

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index dropped 0.4 per cent to 74.92 points. Losers outnumbered gainers by 218-85.

Market value reached 59.3 per cent of yesterday morning's figure, totalling VND890.7 billion ($42.4 million) on a volume of 97.6 million shares.

With 23.7 million shares changing hands, HBB was the most active code nationwide, while SHB also saw a high trading volume of over 10 million.

The market will resume at 1.00 pm.

Retail sales decline 2.5% in February

The value of retail sales and services dropped by 2.5 per cent last month compared to January to VND186.463 trillion (US$$8.8 billion), announced the General Statistics Office (GSO).

February's total brings the value of retail sales and services to VND380.28 trillion (US$17.29 billion) in the first two months of this year, a year-on-year increase of 22 per cent against the same period last year.

However, when price increases were considered, the growth value was only 4.4 per cent against the same period last year, nearly equal to a half of the growth in the first two months of 2011, the GSO said.

GSO Trade Department experts said that the low retail sales growth during the period was due to the high consumer price index (CPI) of 16.85 per cent.

To cope with inflation and lower incomes due to the economic crisis, consumers have been forced to tighten their budgets.

Demand for paper and packaging experienced the highest slump at 39.4 per cent while consumption of wooden products followed closely with a 38.8 per cent decrease.

Demand for footwear, and textiles and garments fell by 21.7 and 14.8 per cent, respectively.

The GSO experts said there were no signals to ensure that demand for commodities and services would increase in the near future as incomes would remain stagnant while prices for many products would keep steady or continue rising.

Masan Group tycoon to sell four million more shares

Vice chairman of the food processor Masan Group (MSN) Ho Hung Anh registered to sell another 4 million shares of the company from March 9 to April 15 through negotiations, the HCM Stock Exchange announced.

Anh is currently holding nearly 20 million shares in MSN, equivalent to a 3.84 per cent stake in the company. By the end of last year, he had sold 2 million MSN shares and ranked as the fifth richest man on Viet Nam's stock exchange with the holdings worth over VND2.3 trillion ($109.5 million).

MSN dropped to the floor price of VND118,000 ($5.62) a share yesterday.

Mekong Seafood to pay 12% cash dividend

Mekong Seafood Co (AAM) announced it would pay a 12 per cent cash dividend for the third phase in 2011. AAM also paid a 30 per cent cash dividend for the prior two phases last year.

In 2011, the company earned US$27 million from exporting over 12,000 tonnes of seafood. Its total revenue reached more than VND640 billion ($30.5 million) and its pre-tax profit was VND78.2 billion ($3.7 million), surpassing its yearly profit target by 53 per cent.

Vincom plans $150-300m international bond issue

Real estate company Vincom (VIC) is drawing up a plan to issue international convertible bonds worth US$150-300 million with the maturity of five years, according to the company's filing with the HCM City Stock Exchange.

Funds raised from this bond issue will be added to VIC's working capital source and invested in the company's projects and other projects of Vinpearl Co Ltd. The issuing time will be determined by the general director based on market conditions.

Viet Nam Century Fund registers to buy HAG shares

The Viet Nam Century Fund, an investment fund managed by Jaccar Holdings, registered to buy an additional 11 million shares of property developer Hoang Anh Gia Lai Co (HAG) over the course of a month beginning tomorrow.

If the deal is completed, the fund would hold 15.56 million shares of HAG, or 3.33 per cent of its total charter capital. The fund's representative Vo Thi Huyen Lan is on the HAG board of directors.

On Monday, Deutsche Bank Trust Co Americas sold more than 12.4 million HAG shares, decreasing its holdings in HAG from 5.21 per cent to 2.54 per cent.

Viet Nam Century Fund registers to buy HAG shares

The Viet Nam Century Fund, an investment fund managed by Jaccar Holdings, registered to buy an additional 11 million shares of property developer Hoang Anh Gia Lai Co (HAG) over the course of a month beginning tomorrow.

If the deal is completed, the fund would hold 15.56 million shares of HAG, or 3.33 per cent of its total charter capital. The fund's representative Vo Thi Huyen Lan is on the HAG board of directors.

On Monday, Deutsche Bank Trust Co Americas sold more than 12.4 million HAG shares, decreasing its holdings in HAG from 5.21 per cent to 2.54 per cent.

Bien Hoa Packaging shifts listing to HCM City bourse

Bien Hoa Packaging Co (SVI) will start its first day of trading on the HCM Stock Exchange from March 12 at the reference price of VND18,700 (US$0.89) per share.

The Dong Nai-based packaging company last month received approval to shift its listing from the Ha Noi to the HCM City bourse. SVI closed its last trading day on the Ha Noi bourse on February 27 at VND18,900 a share.

Last year, SVI failed to reach its business targets, posting a total revenue of just VND695 billion ($33 million) and a total net profit of nearly VND54 billion ($2.6 million). This year its revenue and profit goals are projected at VND800 billion ($38 million) and VND55 billion, respectively.

Debt extension for cashew processors

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has sent a proposal to the State Bank Governor to extend loans for cashew processors in a move to help them overcome current difficulties.

Processors are having a hard time paying their debts because limited consumption has forced them to stockpile their products. They also face employee shortages and other problems stemming from the global economic crisis.

The proposal calls for the State Bank of Viet Nam to instruct commercial banks to extend payment terms by six months during the 2011-12 period and to offer lower interest rates on par with current rates.

Bank launches new cash advance service

The Sai Gon – Ha Noi Commercial JS Bank (SHB) has launched cash in-advance services for international cards at its nationwide automated teller machine (ATM) system.

Domestic and foreign cardholders carrying cards from the international card groups of Visa, Mastercard, JCB, American Express (Amex), Diners Club and Union Pay (CUP) can now withdraw cash through the bank's ATM system.

Rice processing plant debuts in An Giang

The An Giang Plant Protection Joint-stock Co (AGPPS) inaugurated its Thoai Son rice processing plant in Thoai Son District, southern An Giang Province on Sunday.

The VND212 billion (nearly US$10 million) plant covers 8.2ha and offers an initial processing capacity of 100,000 tonnes per year, including the ability to dry 500 tonnes of rice each day.

This is AGPPS' third rice processing plant and one of the three biggest facilities in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta.

Nation targets lower inflation
 
Curbing inflation and stabilising the macro-economy should remain top priorities, according to the two-day Government monthly meeting that concluded yesterday.

Other important tasks were to promote production and business activities, to prevent an economic recession and to ensure social welfare.

Chairing the meeting, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said the global economy this year would still be plagued with uncertainties and its volatility would have a direct impact on a deeply-integrated economy like Viet Nam, particularly in terms of prices and the export market.

In times of difficulties, he said, Viet Nam should make the most of its political and social stability to attract investment and develop the tourism and services sectors.

Dung set out particular tasks for relevant agencies to work on, such as stabilising foreign currency rates and creating a reasonable road map to adjust electricity and oil prices.

He also asked the State Bank of Viet Nam to continue phasing out the plan to lower interest rates to ensure credit growth, and at the same time to handle liquidity implemented via banking restructuring.

Dung said the auspicious development of the stock market was a good opportunity to speed up the restructuring and privatisation of State-owned enterprises.

He said the State budget should be responsibly managed to maintain the 2012 trade deficit at last year's rate of 10 per cent.

Dung directed all agencies and local authorities to continue removing impediments for enterprises in terms of manufacturing and selling products. He asked them to pay more attention to the domestic market, rural areas in particular.

Credit should be prioritised to labour-intensive and market-large sectors, while the growth target for this year should be 6 per cent.

In the first two months of the year, the country's socio-economy showed positive results.

The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) increased 3.9 percent over the same period last year. February's consumer price index was up 1.37 per cent over the previous month but much lower than the same period in 2011.

The foreign exchange market was stable and the country earned an estimated US$8.2 billion from exports, despite a downturn in some traditionally lucrative markets, including the US and the EU.

Deputy Prime Ministers Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Nguyen Thien Nhan asked ministries, sectors and localities to continue taking urgent measures to control traffic, reduce accidents and train human resources for working overseas.

Profit-taking drives down shares
 
Heavy profit-taking cut short the rally on both of the nation's stock exchanges yesterday, with the VN-Index declining by 2.67 per cent to close the session at 445.00 points.

Over 154 million shares were traded on the HCM City Stock Exchange, worth nearly VND2.2 trillion (US$104.7 million), but decliners outnumbered advancers by a margin of 152-105. Only six of the 30 stocks included in the VN30 Index posted gains, sending it down 3.15 per cent to 508.41.

Bank shares, which have led recent sessions, declined this morning, with four of the five listed banks bottoming out. Only Military Bank (MBB) closed up, becoming the most-active share on the southern bourse, with 15.8 million changing hands. MBB recently received approval from the State Bank of Viet Nam to sell a stake to military-run telecom Viettal and increase its charter capital by VND1 trillion to VND10 trillion ($476.2 million).

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index closed down by a less dramatic 0.8 per cent to 75.20.

Gainers continued to outnumber losers by 158-146 on the northern bourse, and the volume of trades remained high at over 183 million shares. The value of trades was nearly VND1.65 trillion ($78.6 million).

Habubank (HBB) was again the most-active share nationwide, with over 38 million traded. HBB closed at its ceiling price of VND7,100 per share.

Bao Viet Securities Co analyst Nguyen Xuan Binh predicted this new downturn could be sustained and substantial, but PetroVietnam Securities Co analyst Dao Hong Duong said that investors were likely to disburse some of their money as soon as the market retested a new support level.

"To reduce the risks, small investors might want to priortise high-liquidity stocks like VN30 stocks and bank shares," Duong said.

"In the medium and long term, the upward trend will remain," said VietCapital Securities Co analyst Nguyen Sy Ha.

Foreign investors shifted to being net buyers on both bourses yesterday by a combined margin of about VND132 billion ($6.3 million). Last week foreign investors ran up four sessions as net buyers but finally concluded the week as net sellers after unloading shares heavily last Thursday.

China halts imports of meat and poultry from Viet Nam

Testing General - Quarantine and the State Quality Supervision China has notified the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development that it will stop the importation of animal and poultry meat products from Viet Nam.

Pursuant to Chinese provisions of import and export guarantees, the decision would prevent the import of the products produced in Viet Nam or simply transiting through the country to China, due to diseases of cattle and poultry in Viet Nam.

The Chinese side also said that only the countries and regions included on their list of cleared meat sources would be permitted to export the products into China.

DEV Director highlights Vietnam’s socio-economic achievements

Vietnam is one of countries which have obtained many socio-economic achievements and made considerable changes in different areas, said the Director of the DEV Development Centre, Mario Pezzirri.

He was speaking on the occasion of the Vietnamese delegation’s upcoming visit to Paris, France, to attend the High Level Meeting on March 1.

The meeting is part of activities marking the 50th anniversary of the establishment of DEV which has co-ordinated with developing countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) since 2008. Vietnam is one of DEV’s 17 member countries.

Mr Pezzirri emphasized that OECD could lay a foundation for Vietnam to achieve further success and share its experiences with other nations.

Vietnam, however, should overcome obstacles to maintain its sustainable growth rate for long-term development, he said.

Mr Pezzirri said, OCED is not a capital provider but can help Vietnam outline a suitable roadmap for development.  

At the High Level meeting on March 1, the Vietnamese head delegation, who is also ambassador to France, Duong Chi Dung, will deliver a five-minute speech on OECD’s new development strategy.

With opinions collected from members of OECD and DEV, the draft on OECD's new development strategy will be finalised to submit to OECD’s Ministerial Meeting for approval next May.

WTO membership will boost global integration

Future economic integration will reap significant benefits from Vietnam’s joining the World Trade Organisation (WTO).  

This view was shared at a seminar entitled “Five Years as a WTO Member-To what extent of global trade integration Vietnam was and is to be”, held by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) in Hanoi on February 29, in the framework of the “Enterprises and International Trade Policies” programme supported by EU-Vietnam MUTRAP III.

At the seminar, which attracted hundreds of businesses, associations and domestic and foreign experts, many agreed that Vietnam had made great strides in economic development over the past five years since it first became a WTO member.

The country has established a market economy, focused on domestic and international trade, to keep the export sector growing at an average rate of 17 percent per year and lure more foreign direct investment (FDI), Senior Economist Pham Chi Lan said.

In particular, she said, the competitiveness of many Vietnamese products has improved significantly with about eight commodities earning over US$3 billion per year in revenue.

However, she noted, the biggest challenges to the country’s deeper integration into the global economy include the global financial crisis and the fluctuation in world energy and food prices. Affected by both the global crisis and existing weaknesses in the domestic economy, gross domestic product (GDP) growth has declined in the past few years.

However, Lan said, Vietnam’s economy will grow stable in the near future, with increasing benefits from its WTO commitments and efforts to carry out Trans-Pacific Partnership Negotiations and other Free Trade agreements.

Vietnam is forecast to achieve higher levels of economic standards in accordance with its WTO commitments, a foreign expert said.

Over the next few years, participants agreed that Vietnamese businesses must improve their competitive edge.

At the meeting, Vo Tri Thanh, from the Central Institute for Economic Management, said that the combination of integration commitments to promote the establishment and refinement of the market economy status is an important element in creating trust and development potential. Vietnam’s economic reform contributes to enhancing internal strength and investment, especially foreign direct investment (FDI), promoting business operations, expand foreign markets and better explore the domestic market.

He suggested that while utilizing comparative advantages, it is essential for Vietnamese businesses to move up along the value chain by diversifying or differentiating export products and strengthening non-price competitiveness, attracting efficient FDI or strategic partners and improving labour and management skills.

In addition, Tran Huu Huynh, president of the WTO Centre under the VCCI, said that the Government has issued an instruction requiring the WTO negotiation team to consult businesses and associations before negotiations.

Vietship 2012 helps develop Vietnam’s shipbuilding

Vietship 2012 offers a good opportunity for local businesses to seek opportunities to develop the domestic shipbuilding industry and maritime transport, said Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai.

He made this statement on February 28 at the opening of the sixth International Exhibition of Shipbuilding, Marine Technology, and Transportation (VietShip 2012) in Hanoi.

Deputy PM Hai said that the global economic downturn has directly affected the shipbuilding and maritime transport industry around the world, including Vietnam. Shipbuilding and maritime transport in Vietnam has also encountered many difficulties in terms of management, finances, and its technological capacity.

The Government has created a programme to overcome these challenges, restructure the country’s shipbuilding industry and devise a strategy to develop maritime transport in the future.

Accordingly to the plan, Vietnam will restructure shipbuilding businesses and create a healthy financial environment for them.

The Deputy PM said he hopes that international shipbuilders will become more involved in the restructuring to develop an advanced shipbuilding and maritime industry.  

He emphasized that if all the countries cooperate, the global economy will see a strong recovery and the shipbuilding and maritime industries will bounce back quickly.

Vietship 2012 has attracted many international groups from advanced shipbuilders such as Japan, the Republic of Korea, China, Poland, the Netherlands, France, Switzerland, Norway, Singapore, Russia and Spain.

The expo features showrooms of the world’s latest maritime technologies and equipment. Several seminars and forums on the future of the shipbuilding industry will be held during the event, which is open until March 1.

UK helps strengthen public finance governance

Vietnam and the United Kingdom have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to strengthen technical cooperation in the area of economic and public finance governance.

Signatories to the MoU in Hanoi on February 27 were Minister of Finance Vuong Dinh Hue and UK ambassador to Vietnam Atony Stokes.

The MoU covers five areas of cooperation, namely public debt management, Public Private Partnership in public management, financial regulations and financial market (securities, insurance and bonds), macro-economic stabilisation, sovereign credit rating.  

Both sides will make study tours of financial officials to exchange experience, organise workshops, and short training courses in either Vietnam or the UK, share economic analysis reports, and exchange information and materials on issues of mutual concern.

They agreed to jointly devise action plans to be approved every year to effectively implement this three-year MoU.  

Minister Hue said the signing ceremony marks a milestone in expanding financial activities between the two countries, and strengthening public finance government capacity of financial staff.

He said the Ministry of Finance will put forward a specific action plan soon to bring the MoU to life.

Ambassador Stokes expressed his hope that the two countries will expand bilateral cooperation in other areas, in addition to financial cooperation.

The UK wants to work with the Ministry of Finance to formulate effective policies to attract investment and boost trade, said the diplomat.

HCM City launches export promotion campaigns

The Investment and Trade Promotions Centre (ITPC) in HCM City has announced this year’s export promotion campaigns in seven key markets, namely the US, Europe, Japan, Cambodia, Myanmar, China and Laos.

The centre will also organize trips for businesses to visit exhibitions and fairs and conduct surveys in Indonesia and the Philippines.

The city’s competitive export staples are footwear, garment and textiles and processed seafood, which are expected to make up 35 percent of its total export revenues over the next five years.

ITPC will also set up a database of information on export businesses and their products and organize a series of business meeting for domestic enterprises to meet foreign partners in the food, furniture, handicraft, interior decoration, electricity-electronics, textiles and garments and footwear sectors.

The city will strengthen ties with several localities to help businesses access the latest market information by way of cooperating with international promoters and Vietnamese trade councils, consuls and embassies.

This year, the city plans to hold 12 meetings with state management agencies in its districts to improve production and business operations.

In addition, ITPC will hold more trade fairs in suburban areas, industrial parks and export processing zones to promote the domestic consumption of Vietnamese goods.

EU grants 11 mln euros to tourism development project

The European Union (EU) will provide 11 million euros for a five-year environmentally and socially responsible tourism (ESRT) development programme in Vietnam.

The figure was announced at a seminar on tourism law and developing Vietnam Tourism Occupational Skills Standards (VTOS) held in central Danang city on February 29.

The event, organized by the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT), drew the participation of provincial tourism officials, and representatives of travel agencies from the central and Central Highland regions.

The Vietnamese government will contribute 1.1 million euros to the programme that will be carried out by the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT).

The project is designed to step up the provision of ESRT services during the 2011-2015 period, thereby supporting the implementation of the Vietnam Tourism Development Strategy.

It will focus on building policies and institutions, improving competitiveness and public-private partnership, and promoting education and vocational training.

Food service prices shoot up in Ho Chi Minh City

Although food prices have cooled down since the Lunar New Year, many eateries and food services around Ho Chi Minh City have scrambled to increase their prices.

Many customers are shocked to see that prices skyrocketed by as much as 60 percent compared to the pre-Tet period.

Most eatery and food service owners reasoned that the price increase is due to rising input costs, including cooking gas, employee wages, or rental fees.

Such an answer was given to Nguyen Quoc Viet, a resident from Go Vap District, when he complained to an eatery on Hoang Sa Street, which charged him VND50,000 (US$2.5) for a breakfast dish which used to cost only VND30,000.

The price hike, which is more than 66 percent, is unacceptable, given the recently decreasing food prices, he said.

“It is impossible for a food commodity to have that drastic a price hike,” he said, adding he will now only choose to eat at establishments where appropriate prices are listed.

The prices at most other food services around the city have also skyrocketed, with owners always blaming rising input costs.

It is commonplace for eateries and food services citywide not to quote prices.

With many food services only informing their customers of prices orally, instead of showing them the menus with quoted prices, they can hike prices easily, escaping detection by both customers and authorities.

An eatery on Phan Van Han Street in Binh Thanh District even uses an old menu, with all prices erased, and charges customers the unlisted prices.

Nguyen Van Tung, residing in Tan Binh District, said he was recently charged VND120,000 and VND90,000 at an eatery on Pham Ngoc Thac Street for two dishes whose prices listed in the menu were only VND90,000 and VND70,000.

“The owner said the prices on the menu were outdated,” recalled Tung.

“She said that since food prices shot up after Tet, the restaurant has had to hike prices but had yet to update the menu.

“But they did not tell me about this price hike when I ordered the food.”

An official of the municipal Market Management Agency admitted that his institution has caught many eateries as not listing prices.

However, the agency only gave them warnings, rather than penalties, he said.

Crackdowns and penalties are only imposed on violators operating in the gold, construction material, and clothing markets, not the food services, he added.

“The market management agency has sanctioned 34 services for breeching price listing regulations last month, none of which were eatery or food services.”

Cashew industry targets $1.5b in exports
 
The cashew industry has set a modest target of exporting 170,000 tonnes of cashew nuts worth US$1.5 billion this year, up 11.1 per cent over last year, as it anticipates difficulties ahead, according to the Viet Nam Cashew Association (Vinacas).

Last year Viet Nam exported 166,109 tonnes of cashew nuts, earning $1.35 billion, a drop of 16.46 per cent in volume but an increase of 20.13 per cent in value.

The US remained the biggest importer of Vietnamese cashews, followed by the EU and Asia. China is the largest importer of Vietnamese cashews in Asia.

However, cashew processors and exporters are facing many difficulties this year, including a shortage of working capital and labour, and a fall in overseas demand, according to Vinacas Chairman Nguyen Thai Hoc, who spoke at a conference held in HCM City yesterday.

The ongoing economic crisis has hit global consumption demand, especially in the EU, leading to high inventories and a drop in prices.

In addition, India, the world's largest cashew producer and exporter, may increase exports this year because its domestic cashew consumption has fallen.

This would affect Viet Nam's cashew exports as well as the global cashew price.

A labour shortage and capital also continue to be problems for cashew processing and exporting firms.

Nguyen Duc Thanh, Vinacas deputy chairman, said that, with the current severe shortage of labourers, the target of exporting 170,000 tonnes of cashew could not be done if the industry did not have appropriate measures to solve the issue.

Although processing firms were equipped with automatic peeling machines, companies would need a large amount of workers in certain stages during the processing work.

Enterprises exported only 14,000 tonnes of cashew worth $107 million from January 1 to February 15, a low amount compared to the same period last year.

The average export price for the period has also been quite low, compared to the same period last year, according to Thanh.

Therefore, the export target set for this year of $1.5 billion would be hard to reach, he said.

Nguyen Van Chieu, general director of Long An Food Processing Export JS Company, said demand for cashews from China drops every year after the Lunar New Year holiday.

Exports to the EU market have fallen due to the economic crisis there.

"This time is the most difficult time for cashew exports, but prices are expected to improve from the second quarter of the year," he said.

Dang Hoang Giang, the association's general secretary, said many trade promotion activities would be carried out this year, including a customer conference in Nha Trang next May to help its members maintain exports.

The association plans to petition the Government and the State Bank of Viet Nam to seek measures to solve capital difficulties faced by enterprises.

Hoc said the cashew industry this year would focus more on improving quality and less on quantity growth in cashew exports.

The association plans to collect its members' ideas on imposing eligibility conditions on cashew exporters. This proposal would be submitted to the Government for approval.

This year, the volume of raw cashew imports is expected to be lower than last year, to around 250,000-300,000 tonnes, according to Thanh.

Vietnamese rice attractive in Hong Kong

Vietnamese rice is very appealing to Hong Kong consumers, Kenneth Chan, chairman of the Hong Kong Rice Merchants Association, said in an interview with Tuoi Tre during his business trip to Vietnam to seek local export partners.

The delegation includes 50 merchants from 25 different Hong Kong businesses.

Chan said that Vietnam has become an important rice exporting country to Hong Kong. In 2011, Vietnamese rice exports to Hong Kong enjoyed a 30-percent growth, standing at 100,000 tons.

“The figure is impressive, since Hong Kong only imported 320,000 tons of rice for the whole year of 2011,” he said.

However, he added that Hong Kong merchants still lack information on the Vietnamese rice market.

“The business trip, which brought businesses to meet with Vietnamese rice exporters and visit rice processing plants, is a chance for them to learn more about this market.”

Chan said the business delegation will focus on studying aromatic Vietnamese rice, since it is favored by Hong Kong consumers.

Vietnamese rice quality is still lower than that of Thailand, but so are the prices, he said.

“This is very important, as Vietnam’s rice prices have become increasingly more attractive than Thailand’s.”

The chairman said rice imported from Vietnam to Hong Kong is mainly intended for domestic consumption.

He advised that local rice exporters improve their product quality, as well as stabilizing the rice quality in export contracts.

He said Vietnam has become a major export partner to Hong Kong, and his association will make use of this business trip to better study the market.

“We hope to bear sweet fruits from the trip,” he said.

Japan investors sound out business conditions in city

Japanese enterprises are willing to make long-term investment in HCMC if their demands for industrial zone infrastructure, human resources and working conditions for their specialists are met, said Shigetaka Sato, chairman of the Osaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OCCI).
 
Speaking at a meeting with HCMC Vice Chairman Le Manh Ha at the City Hall on Monday, Sato sought information relating to the implementation of a industrial zone that the city had planned to develop for Japanese investors.

Sato is leading a delegation of 36 member enterprises in this business trip to Vietnam to survey the local investment environment. They are big corporations and companies specializing in the sectors of commerce and industrial production, including popular names such as Keihan Electric Railway Co, Marubeni Corp. and Konoike Transport Co.

Member enterprises of OCCI showed their keen interest in infrastructure, workshops and living conditions for Japanese specialists.

Vice Chairman Ha told the Japanese guests that the city government had approved since last ear a scheme to develop an industrial zone specially designed for Japanese investors, and the progress was fairly rapid.

“We will heed to your concerns including paying attention to the environment around the industrial zone. We will develop Le Minh Xuan 3 Industrial Zone into a green industrial park,” said Le Manh Ha.

Human resources came as the second issue drawing the attention of Osaka-based companies.

Moreover, Osaka also encouraged the city to send more local people to study and work in Japan like China did two decades ago, in order that they would get used to working style in industrial factories.

OECD highlights Vietnam’s achievements

Vietnam is one of the countries which have obtained many socioeconomic achievements and made considerable changes in various areas, said the Director of OECD Development Centre (DEV) Mario Pezzirri.

Pezzirri made the assessment on the occasion of the Vietnamese delegation’s upcoming attendance of the high-level meeting to mark the 50th anniversary of the establishment of DEV, which coordinates activities of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and developing countries.

Vietnam has been one of the 17 DEV member countries since 2008.

Pezzirri emphasized that the OECD could help Vietnam lay the foundation to achieve further success and share its experiences with other nations.

However, he said, Vietnam should address hindrances to sustainable growth rate to enable long-term development.

OCED is not a capital provider but can help Vietnam outline a suitable roadmap for development, he said.

Vietnamese Ambassador to France Duong Chi Dung, who is also head of the Vietnamese delegation, will deliver a speech at the high-level meeting’s discussion on the OECD’s new development strategy on March 1.

With opinions collected from members of OECD and DEV, the draft on the strategy will be finalized prior to submission to the OECD Ministerial Meeting for approval next May.

Straight-line air route study should be stopped

A department under the Ministry of Transport has proposed state agencies to put a stop to the study of a straight-line route for airliners proposed by Dr Tran Dinh Ba.

The Transport Department has sent a document to the ministry and relevant state agencies to clarify the study that is said to help the national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines (VNA) to reap more profits.

The document said Dr Ba has the right to continue his own study if he can get the financing from any local carriers which think the study is profitable for them.

The department, which chaired a meeting between relevant state agencies and Dr Ba on February 13, said the study is the same to that submitted to the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam three years ago by retired pilot Mai Trong Tan and former air commander Le Trong Sanh.

The proposal had been discussed in many seminars and conferences, after which the Prime Minister put an end to the discussion and research regarding the proposed straight air route.

The data about the flying distances in the study do not match the reality, said the department.

Regarding the formulas used in the study which are invented by Dr Ba, the meeting had concluded that the author should bring them to authorized scientific committees for verification.

Once those formulas are verified, the economical factors suggested by the study can be reconsidered, said the department.

If the study is realized, the flight routes from Hanoi-based Noi Bai Airport to the southern region will create at least 12 and 4 airway intersections across the borderlines of Vietnam and Laos-Cambodia respectively.

It will also create a minimum of 24 and 29 airway intersections for air routes within Vietnam and in the three countries respectively.

The opposite flight routes from the Ho Chi Minh City-based tan Son Nhat Airport will have 14, 4, 19, and 34 such airway intersections respectively.

The department has also sent a letter showing its gratitude towards Dr Ba for his research.

In the project titled “A profitable business plan for VNA under Tran Dinh Ba Methodology,” Dr Ba writes that if the current air routes are replaced with straight routes passing through the airspace of Cambodia and Laos, VNA could save a great deal of fuels, and make huge profits.

The new air route would bear the cost of only 5 percent of the total expense to pay the transit fee in Laos, and Cambodia, but could gain back 20 percent.
 
Japanese firms offer transport scholarships

Seven Japanese enterprises on Feb. 29 awarded scholarships worth $147,000 to students and postgraduates of the University of Transport and Communications in Hanoi.

The firms are Nippon Steel Group, Nippon Steel Pipe Vietnam, Kawakin Holdings Group, JGC Group, IHI group, Itochu Vietnam and A Chau Vietnam equipment solutions company.

Nippon Steel Group is the leading donor with 126,000 USD given to two lecturers to pursue post-graduate training in Japan. The rest will be used as annual scholarship for students.

The activity is an idea of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), aiming to help Vietnam train its human resources to meet the increasing demand for technology transfer between Japan and Vietnam.

JICA Chief Representative in Vietnam, Tsuno Motonori, pointed out that transportation is the largest sector using Japan’s ODA in Vietnam. Many key transportation works have applied Japan’s latest technologies. Japanese firms plan to transfer the most up-to-date technologies to Vietnam through universities.

JICA also pledges to create optimum conditions for Japanese enterprises and Vietnam’s universities to boost cooperation.

Coconut prices fall 75 pct; farmers in misery

With coconut prices recently slumping by as much as 75 percent compared to last October, many farmers in the Mekong Delta provinces have fallen into a tough spot.

Coconuts are now on sale at some VND30,000 (US$1.4) a dozen, while just four months ago, prices were as high as VND120,000 a dozen. Even with the cheap price, both farmers and traders still have to struggle to seek customers.

Thai Van Thanh, a farmer in Ben Tre Province’s Giong Tom District, said he used to sell around 5,000 coconuts a month last year, but now has tens of thousands of the fruit on stock.

“I will not earn a penny of profit even when I can sell out these coconuts,” he said. “Money is only enough to cover expenses.”

Truong Duy Hai, general secretary of the Communist Party Committee of Ben Tre’s Giong Trom District, said more than two thirds of the district’s agricultural areas are used to grow coconuts. Coconuts are thus the main means of livelihood for locals, he said.

Ben Tre Province is the country’s biggest coconut producer.

“With farmers even failing to buy fertilizer with the current prices, many of them have demanded to abandon coconut growing,” Hai said.

Meanwhile, Nguyen Van Hieu, chairman of the Ben Tre People’s Committee, said he was afraid that farmers could not survive these hard times.

For his part, Huynh Van Chung, a coconut trader in Ben Tre City, said he had incurred massive losses of tens of millions of dong, since he could not empty the stock he bought last month at VND60,000 a dozen.

Similarly, Nguyen Van Be Bay, another trader, suffered a VND100 million loss due to hundreds of thousands of unsold coconuts.

According to Ben Tre Department of Industry and Trade, the declines in export volumes of products made from coconuts have resulted in the plunging prices.

Besides, the multilayer chain from farmers to Chinese traders and businesses also forced prices to slump.

The Ben Tre People’s Committee has called on local coconut processing facilities to buy coconuts at higher prices to share the difficulty with farmers.

Coconut processing businesses have reached consensus on buying the fruit at no less than VND40,000 a dozen.

They also suggested stockpiling coconuts, as they did with rice, to assist farmers.

Int’l exhibition for Animal Husbandry opens in HCM City

The fourth international exhibition for Animal Husbandry opened in HCM City on February 29.

This is an opportunity for Vietnamese enterprises to seek partners to develop production and business activities.

On show are products from more than 300 businesses of 27 nations and territories around the world.

In addition, there will be seminars on the health situation of animals and ways to prevent blue-ear disease, and diarrhea in pigs and issues related to sustainable aquaculture.

Later, the 4th International Livestock, Dairy, Meat Processing, Aquaculture, and Bio – Energy Exposition (the ILDEX Vietnam) will be held in HCM City from March 22-24.

The event is co-organised by the Animal Husbandry Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Holland’s VNU Asia Pacific and Minh Vi Exhibition and Advertisement Services Co, Ltd.

Investors urge cuts in interest rates
 
The Viet Nam Association of Financial Investors (VAFI) has proposed several measures that would help lower interest rates on loans to under 10 per cent.

VAFI said it agreed with the State Bank of Viet Nam's (SBV) current measures to ask State-run commercial banks to take the lead in cutting lending interest rates and encourage joint-stock commercial banks to follow.

Pumping more money through open-market operations and adjusting interest rates on deposits are two other measures proposed by SBV, and agreed to by VAFI.

The association said these measures would help cut lending interest rates to between 14 per cent and 18 per cent per annum by late 2012.

VAFI, however, said these lending rates remained too high for most enterprises.

The VAFI, in one of its proposals, said the central bank should immediately cut deposit interest rates of organisations to 11 per cent per annum.

According to VAFI figures, deposits made by organisations or companies at credit institutions account for between 40 and 55 per cent of all deposits.

If the interest rates of these deposits are cut, it would enable lending interest rates to quickly fall.

The immediate drop in interest rates on organisations'deposits would not affect capital mobilisation in the commercial bank system or the foreign-currency market, according to the VAFI.

The VAFI also recommends that the central bank keep the interest rate of foreign-currency and gold deposits to under 1 per cent per year, and impose a maximum 18 per-cent lending interest-rate cap.

If this was done, interest rates on individuals' deposits would fall, according to the VAFI.

With this measure, VAFI estimates the lending interest rate would drop between 12 and 16 per cent, with the most common rate likely being between 14 and 15 per cent per year.

The VAFI also proposed that the government issue a draft decree on gold-trading management to stabilise the foreign-exchange market.

VAFI said the most important aspect of any future gold-trading management policy would be to issue regulations on value-added tax (VAT) and excise tax for gold trading activities.

This would ensure that these taxes reach 20 per cent, the level in line with Viet Nam's current taxation laws and appropriate to international practice.

The 20 per cent tax would help wipe out the hoarding of gold bullion that is done in anticipation of higher prices.

As a result, the value of the dong would increase, thus attracting a large flow of money into the banking system, according to VAFI.

The VAFI's general secretary, Nguyen Hoang Hai, told Sai Gon Tiep Thi newspaper that the association estimated that the SBV would likely collect US$5 billion, or VND100 trillion, from this capital source.

VAFI said that if lending and deposit interest rates fall, the bond market would recover and develop, giving the banking system more opportunities to mobilise long-term capital sources.

As a result, foreign currency and gold resources would flow into commercial banks, and the country's foreign exchange reserve would reach an estimated US$30 billion in the next three years.

Finance Ministry and SBV tighten co-operation

Representatives of the Ministry of Finance and the State Bank of Viet Nam yesterday signed an agreement to tighten co-operation and spur information exchange under the Government's direction.

They pledged to build financial and monetary policies with a focus on managing the State Budget, developing payment systems and controlling national debts and official development assistance (ODA) capital.

The two sides would jointly develop and supervise the financial market and manage taxation and customs affairs, especially as regards to tax collection through the banking system, the import and export of precious metals, and money trafficking and laundering.

They would also co-ordinate on the international stage, sharing viewpoints in bilateral and multilateral forums on financial and monetary matters and boosting exchange in scientific and training activities.

The ministry and the bank agreed to establish a mutual working party to assure the efficient implementation of the agreement.

"This is an important event," Deputy Prime Minister Vu Van Ninh said at the signing ceremony. "Financial and monetary policies can be considered the circulatory and nervous systems of the economy. I expect that with closer co-operation, the ministry and the bank can help the Government make the best decisions for the economy."

Ninh said the move was especially important now at a time when global economic conditions remain unpredictable and when the country needs to control inflation and stabilise the economy in the short term to lay a foundation for sustainable development.

Taxi firms to up fares in capital due to rising costs

Taxi fares in the capital are likely to surge in the next few days due to rising input costs, said Do Quoc Binh, chairman of the Ha Noi Taxi Association.

Binh said taxi firms currently had to spend on average three times the VND10,000 they previously had to pay in fuel costs to pick up customers since the municipal authorities ratified a plan to move parking areas out of central Ha Noi to minimise traffic jams.

Vung Tau industrial zones draw $450m in investment

The industrial zones authority in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau expected to attract 12 foreign and domestically-invested projects worth US$450 million in seven industrial zones this year.

To achieve this goal, the authority has urged the provincial People's Committee to speed up land clearance and reform administration procedures to attract investors.

Tra Vinh Sugar Co looks to boost production capacity

The Tra Vinh Sugar Co will invest VND20 billion (US$952,000) to expand production capacity this year from 2,000 to 2,500 tonnes per day. It also plans to build a sugar processing facility next year with a 3,500-tonne capacity, at a cost of VND230 billion ($10.9 million).

The company targets a revenue of VND600 billion ($28.5 million) this year, contributing to the State budget an amount of over VND33 billion ($1.5 billion), up 14 and 11 per cent respectively compared with last year.

Sai Gon Co.op Mart opens new outlet in Tra Vinh

Sai Gon Co.op Mart, one of the leading retailers in southern Viet Nam, opened a shopping centre in Tra Vinh Province last week, marking the chain's 59th retail outlet.

Built at a cost of over VND70 billion (US$3.33 million), the Tra Vinh Co.op Mart covers a 5,000sq.m area including supermarket, dining areas, amusement areas and other retail shops.

The supermarket sells over 30,000 products with 90 per cent sourced domestically.