January FDI plunges to $187.6 mln

Foreign direct investment is estimated to have dropped more than 84 percent year on year in January to $187.6 million, according to the General Statistics Office of Vietnam.

Forty new foreign projects worth $182.3 million were licensed while five existing ones hiked their investment by $5.3 million.

The processing and manufacturing sector remained the most attractive area for foreign investors, receiving $70 million, followed by construction with $63.6 million.

Ba Ria-Vung Tau remained top among 64 cities and provinces in attracting FDI in January, accounting for $78.4 million, followed by Ho Chi Minh City with nearly $43 billion, and Ha Tinh and Hung Yen with $20 million and 18 million.

Singapore led the list of foreign investors with $56 million. It was followed by Korea ($49.9 million) and Japan ($26.3 million).

Actual disbursement of money, mostly of FDI committed last year, was an estimated $420 million, a 5 percent rise.

The Ministry of Planning and Investment has set a target of $20 billion in FDI commitments and $11.5 billion in disbursements.

Last year the respective figures were $18.59 billion and $11 billion.

Petro Vietnam to stabilize fertilizer market 

More than 280,000 tons of nitrates have been transported to Northern Vietnam to stabilize the market as per the Petro Vietnam Fertilizer and Chemicals JSC Company, in addition to maintaining 700,000 tons of fertilizer in its stock.  

Price of fertilizer has shot up as farmers in the Northern provinces begin preparation for the winter-spring crop.

According to statistics, the country requires around 800,000 tons of fertilizer for the winter-spring crop. Currently companies have over 750,000 tons of stock ready to meet the increasing demand without inflating the price.

Fertilizers are not being imported at the moment as the country has enough stocks to meet with demands both in the North and South of Vietnam.

50 percent of the nation’s demands for fertilizer are met by PVFC Co, while the rest is imported from China, Middle East, Russia and Ukraine.

Fund plans to sell government stake in 170 firms

Vietnam’s sovereign fund, the State Capital Investment Corp, plans to sell stakes in 281 state-owned companies, including the entire government stake in 170 firms, according to newswire VnEconomy.

Lai Van Dao, SCIC’s CEO, said the corporation will also diversify its portfolio and asset classes this year.

Last year SCIC offloaded the government’s stake in 97 firms for VND642 billion (US$32.9 million) compared to their book value of VND278 billion, media reports said.

The corporation’s portfolio has shares in 538 enterprises in its.

Last year it reported a pretax profit of VND2.445 trillion on revenues of VND2.753 trillion.

Turkish Airlines begins HCMC-Bangkok flights

Turkish Airlines began a Ho Chi Minh City-Bangkok service January 27, increasing the total number of flights on the route to 90 per week.

The Turkish carrier uses a 270-seat Airbus A340-300 aircraft and flies four times a week.

Huong Giang Travel, the carrier’s general agent in Vietnam, said the round fare starts at US$163.79.

The carrier began flying to Vietnam in July 2008 with flights from HCMC and Hanoi to the Turkish capital Istanbul.

Flower exporters eye greater share of Asian market

Vietnam hopes to increase its share of the Asian flower market, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

The biggest import markets are China, Japan, Singapore, Australia, and Saudi Arabia, and the Ministry said Vietnamese exporters can take advantage of lower transport costs thanks to the geographical proximity and improved preservation facilities.

Vietnam also has long-term plans to enter the North American and the Central European markets.

The Ministry has urged flower growers to use advanced technologies to increase productivity, improve quality, and minimize costs.

According to the Da Lat Flower Association, the area under flowers and output have been constantly increasing while exports have remained unchanged. It blamed this on the small scale and unplanned nature of farming as well as the failure to improve quality.

Vietnam’s exports were worth $60 million last year, with the Da Lat region accounting for the biggest share.

Fruit prices slump after Tet

Fruit prices have slumped during the past few days after Vietnamese Tet holidays, according to wholesalers at the Vinh Kim wholesale market in the southern province of Tien Giang.

Grapefruits have witnessed the most drastic dip in price with the green-skin variety going down from VND25,000 (US$1.28) to VND18,000 ($0.92) per kilo and the Nam Roi type costing VND3,500 ($0.18) per kilo, VND3,000 cheaper.

Prices of Lo Ren Vinh Kim star apples have also dropped 42 percent to VND50,000 ($2.56) for a set of 14 despite a low harvest.

Meanwhile, mangoes have slightly fallen in price with a kilo costing VND65,000 ($3.33) at the moment.

Huynh Van Sang, deputy head of the Hoa Loc Mango Cooperative, said his collective is set to ship 100 tons of the Hoa Loc mangoes to Japan as previously agreed.

Vietnam sellers import 5,000 iPhone4s

Telecom giants Viettel and Vinaphone are set to import 5,000 iPhone4 cell phones in the next few weeks.

Vinaphone said its consignment of 2,500 phones will arrive within 15 days. Viettel is speeding up procedures so that it can receive the phones in the next few days.

Viettel and Vinaphone are the iPhone distributors in Vietnam.

Vinaphone will also distribute iPad and Apple’s other future product lines.

The two have so far sold around 20,000 iPhone4s.

Customs authorities have placed the iPhone 4 on their list of price risk management items.

According to the list, it costs US$547 for a 16GB iPhone4 with charger, earphones, and USB cable, and US$ 647 for a 32GB iPhone 4.

The price list is compiled to prevent importers from avoiding tax by declaring lower prices.