Positive cash flows to keep uptrend going through week

The current uptrend is expected to continue this week as cash flows in the market remain positive, many stock analysts predict.

The benchmark VN-Index on the HCM Stock Exchange posted a cumulative increase of 0.24 per cent last week, despite losing sessions outnumbering sessions that finished ahead by three-to-two.

Further, large-cap stocks fluctuated during the week, but ended in green by the end of the week with the VN30, the tracker of the top 30 shares by market value and liquidity, rising 0.7 per cent to finish at 622.75 points.

Also, liquidity improved substantially on rising investors' optimism with the market's outlook. The daily trading volume grew 30 per cent, compared with the previous week, averaging 111.2 million shares, worth VND1.953 trillion (US$91.3 million) per session.

The market finished in the red on Friday as investors reacted negatively to information that electricity prices will rise by 7.5 per cent to an average VND1,622.05 per kWh, starting March 16.

Meanwhile, electricity utilities stocks were the largest gainers after the information was released. Thac Mo Hydro Power (TMP), PetroVietnam Power Nhon Trach 2 (NT2), Thac Ba Hydro Power (TBC) and Vinh Son-Song Hinh Hydro Power (VSH) saw significant growth of 2 to 4.7 per cent.

This movement was similar to the development of these stocks when Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) increased electricity prices in the past.

According to analysts at Viet Dragon Securities Co (VDS), the electricity price increase will not improve profit margins of power companies because selling prices were previously specified in contracts with EVN before the price hike.

However, production costs of many companies operating in the cement, steel, fertilizer and chemicals sectors will see sharp increases of some 10 to 20 per cent.

Further, the power price hike is expected to cause upward pressure on the consumer price index (CPI) in April. However, VDS's analysts believe the probable inflation growth would not be a problem, since the current inflation rate is relatively low. (CPI in February fell by 0.11 per cent against the previous month).

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index also added 1.18 per cent during the week, ending Friday's session at 86.79 points.

Trading expanded here as market volume rose 14 per cent over the previous week, averaging 45.2 million shares, worth VND579.4 billion ($27.1 million) per session.

According to analysts at Maybank Kim Eng Securities Co, the market is expected to remain in an uptrend in the short term. Despite a fall on Friday, the selling pressure was not strong while trading volume stayed above the average of the last 10 sessions, which showed cash flows in the market were still quite positive.

Another positive sign was strong purchasing from the foreign sector. Foreign investors concluded last week as net buyers on both stock exchanges, responsible for a combined net buy value of VND235 billion ($11 million).

Additionally, analysts expect movements by foreigners will continue to influence the market this week, involving trading in shares related to portfolio reviews of exchange-traded funds. 

Construction starts on Tay Nguyen’s first wind farm

Construction work started on the first phase of the Tay Nguyen wind farm on March 6 in Dlie Yang Commune, Ea H'Leo District in the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak.

The project, invested by HBRE Wind Power Solution Company (HBRE), will be implemented in three phases from present to 2020, with a total capacity of 120 MW and total investment of 6 trillion VND (281 million USD).

After the third phase, it will become the largest wind farm in Vietnam, producing 450 million kWh a year, equivalent to the demand from 200 thousand households.

Phase I with a capacity of 28 MW is expected to generate electricity in the second quarter of 2016.

According to a recent study by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Central Highlands of Tay Nguyen has great potential for wind energy, accounting for 25 percent of the country's total wind power capacity.

Viglacera expands Granite tile factory in Thai Binh

Viglacera Corporation, one of the leading companies in the building material industry, on March 6 began the expansion of its high-quality Granite tiles factory at Tien Hai industrial park in the Mekong Delta province of Thai Binh.

The expansion is scheduled to complete in the third quarter, lifting the total capacity of the factory to 3.5 million tonnes as well as creating more 150 jobs.

In particular, the new facility will operate in line with the ISO14000 standards on environment and will be issued a certificate of a “green factory” in the second quarter of this year.

The factory’s tiles products will be sold on the domestic market and exported to Europe, Taiwan, and Indonesia.-

HCMC committed to cutting red tape to aid foreign investors

The Ho Chi Minh City administration has promised to employ a series of measures to help foreign investors with more streamlined formalities, such as reducing the amount of time they have to wait to get an investment permit.

The southern Vietnamese hub will “do its best” to improve the investment environment, Party Secretary Le Thanh Hai told foreign investors during a meeting on Wednesday.

To this end, the city will continue fortifying its administrative simplification process, holding more meetings and dialogues to listen to investors, and issuing policies to facilitate businesses, Hai elaborated.

The city will also exert effort to simplify the paperwork for licensing and managing foreign-invested projects as much as possible, said Vu Van Hoa, head of the agency that oversees industrial parks citywide.

Foreign projects that are not required to seek ministry-level approval will be licensed in seven days, half the current time, whereas the time to license a construction project will also be cut by 40 percent to 12 days, Hoa said.

Investors in the field of environment will also be able to get an investment permit around 30 percent faster, he added.

Herb Cochran, executive director of the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Vietnam, said he is impressed by Hai’s commitment, and spoke highly of the changes the Southeast Asian country has made to its administrative procedures over the years.

The red tape has been cut not only in Ho Chi Minh City but also Vietnam in general, he said, while attributing the positive changes to the local leaders’ willingness to listen to feedback from foreign investors.

Daniel Miesle, a healthcare consultant from the U.S., said he did encounter problems in importing healthcare equipment to Vietnam, but is happy to see attentive Vietnamese leaders promise to change the situation.

Foreign investors and experts also took advantage of the Wednesday meeting to pinpoint other shortcomings of the business environment in Vietnam.

Yasuzumi Hitotaka, executive director of the Ho Chi Minh City branch of the Japan External Trade Organization, said in 2014 Japanese businesses operating in the city managed to domestically source 33.2 percent of their necessary materials, but Vietnamese firms only grabbed 14 percent of the cake.

The figure is far lower than the 21 percent in Thailand, according to the Japanese official.

Japan has had many commitments to assist Vietnam in developing its support industry, and the Southeast Asian country must try to improve its ability to join the global supply chain, he urged.

Cochran, from AmCham, said his organization remains committed to helping Vietnam become the No.1 investment environment in Southeast Asia in 2015.

But Sherry Boger, general director of Intel Vietnam, whose plant is located in the city’s District 9, said what matters is whether Vietnam is able to improve its hi-tech and semiconductor industries.

Intel is willing to collaborate to develop Vietnam’s support industry, but the effort from the Vietnamese side is not strong enough, Boger said.

She suggested that the Vietnamese government determine how it wants small- and medium-sized enterprises to be supported so that Intel will be able to provide high quality materials for them.

Vietnam demands commitment fulfillment report from Nokia

The Ministry of Planning and Investment has asked Nokia Vietnam to submit a report on how it has fulfilled its investment commitments so that local authorities can consider whether the firm is eligible to receive tax policy incentives.

Nokia Vietnam Co. Ltd., now known as Microsoft Mobile Vietnam Co. Ltd., began production at its manufacturing plant in the northern province of Bac Ninh in June 2013, according to the investment ministry.

Under its investment license, the company will be able to enjoy tax incentives only if it fulfills its commitments in Vietnam.

One of the commitments is to follow the highest standards in terms of business ethics and local laws, according to Hai Quan (Customs) newspaper, which is run by Vietnam Customs.

Nokia Vietnam must also ensure that it can provide invoices and receipts of its suppliers and cooperate with Vietnamese agencies in the event that the latter wants to check the transparency of its anti-transfer pricing policy.

The phone maker also promised to increase the localization rate, or the amount of materials that can be locally sourced, to 30-50 percent after three to four years of production in Vietnam.

It is also committed to only deploying modern technology and production lines imported from Europe at the Vietnam facility, and to posting profits with a reasonable ratio after the first year of operation, according to Hai Quan.

Nokia Vietnam will be able to enjoy the highest incentive in paying corporate tax if it meets these commitments.

The Nokia Bac Ninh plant exported 10 million products worth more than US$193 million in 2013. By the end of that year, Nokia had invested more than $157 million into its Vietnamese operations.

Nokia phone making facilities around the world have been transferred to Microsoft after the U.S. software titan bought the Finnish company’s devices and services unit in April 2014 for $7.2 billion.

Microsoft is reportedly shutting down two such handset plants it inherited from Nokia in China and relocating part of the manufacturing to Vietnam, media reports said Friday.

Mobile phones that bear the erstwhile Nokia brand name are still among the best-selling devices in Vietnam in terms of sales volume thanks to their affordable prices, according to Vietnamese retailers.

Sugar inventories go down

Sugar inventories have fallen significantly this year thanks to higher consumption and prices, which are in contrast to the situation in the previous year.

According to the latest report of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, as of February 15, sugar factories had produced 807,180 tons of sugar, down 27,850 tons from a year ago. The total sugar inventories at factories were 315,530 tons, 104,090 tons lower than the same period last year.

In addition to the inventory decline, sugar prices are up by VND500-700 per kilogram against the previous month and the wholesale price of white sugar is hovering around VND12,000 per kilogram.

According to the Vietnam Sugarcane and Sugar Association (VSSA), the sugar price increase has resulted from the rising sugar demand in the Lunar New Year break (Tet). But more importantly, the International Sugar Organization (ISO) forecast that sugar supply would continue falling in the coming crops, leading to possible sugar shortages.

As a result, many domestic and foreign enterprises are inclined not to sell sugar, pushing up its price.

Sugar smuggling has been strictly controlled in the past months and thus the sugar on the market is domestically produced. Therefore, sugar consumption surged last month at the highest pace ever.

The increasing sugar price has supported the sugarcane price. The buying price of 10 CCS sugarcane is quite stable with a ton costing VND780,000-810,000 in Nghe An, VND800,000-870,000 in Cao Bang and Son La, VND900,000 in Tuyen Quang, Hoa Binh, Thanh Hoa, Gia Lai and Tay Ninh, VND750,000 in the Mekong Delta region, and VND920,000 in Phu Yen.

In other localities, sugar factories are adjusting up the buying price by VND20,000-30,000 per ton of late harvested sugarcane.

Wood goods exports estimated at US$7.2 billion this year

The Handicraft and Wood Industry Association of HCMC (HAWA) projected exports of wooden products could reach US$7.2 billion this year, up 15% against 2014.

HAWA announced the figure at a news briefing held in HCMC yesterday to introduce the eighth Vietnam International Furniture and Home Accessories Fair (VIFA EXPO).

HAWA’s vice chairman Huynh Van Hanh said Vietnam earned export revenue of US$6.23 billion from wooden products last year, a year-on-year increase of 11.5%.

The country saw more wooden products shipped abroad. The United States, Japan and the European Union were among the top importers with respective turnovers of US$2.23 billion, US$952 million and US$740 million.

Over the past seven years, the country’s wooden exports increased by around 15% per year. Shipments neared US$1.05 billion in the first two months of this year.

Hanh noted that Vietnam has become the second biggest wooden products exporter to the U.S. “This is good but domestic firms will face risks if they focus on certain products,” he said.

There are around 3,600 wood processing firms nationwide. Of them, wooden products exporters number over 1,500, including more than 200 in HCMC.

VIFA Expo 2015 will be held by the HCMC Department of Industry and Trade, HAWA and HAWA Corporation at the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Center in the city’s District 7 from March 11 to 14.

The exhibition attracts the participation of 177 companies, up 25% over the previous year. Domestic and foreign-invested enterprises account for 82% of total and the foreign exhibitors are from 17 markets, including Australia, Canada, China, Denmark and France.

Furniture will make up 73.7% of total exhibits, handicraft products 2.6%, interior furnishing items 15.4% and industrial wooden products 8.3%.

Pearl Plaza to open this June

SSG Group looks set to inaugurate its commercial center Pearl Plaza in HCMC’s Binh Thanh District in June this year.

Pearl Plaza will supply over 20,000 square meters of luxury retail space, 30,000 square meters of grade-A office space and a convention facility able to accommodate 1,500 people at a time. The project has total investment capital of VND1.6 trillion (some US$75 million).

According to SSG Group, more than 80% of the commercial center has been leased out to hundreds of well-known fashion, food, cosmetics and furniture brands.

The commercial center at 561A Dien Bien Phu Street also houses a supermarket of over 4,000 square meters, modern entertainment facilities, childcare facilities and a bookstore.

State stake at Vinamotor turns attractive

A number of investors have recently expressed strong interest in buying a State stake of 97% at Vietnam Motors Industry Corporation (Vinamotor) although the scheme on State capital divestment at the auto maker and related conditions have not been announced.

TMT Automobile Company and Sacom Investment and Development Corporation (Sacom) have proposed acquiring the stake at the corporation immediately after the Government allowed the Ministry of Transport to withdraw the State capital totaling some VND855 billion (US$40 million) from Vinamotor.

At a general meeting on February 27, TMT announced a plan to issue bonds worth VND1.5 trillion to raise funds for expansion and purchase the State stake at Vinamotor. TMT, which gained after-tax profit of VND62.5 billion last year, is active in the auto industry and is now 20% owned by Vinamotor.

Meanwhile, Sacom chairman Do Van Trac told the Daily that the company would join the auction for the State stake at Vinamotor if it is organized. However, he declined to elaborate on the company’s stake acquisition scheme.

Another firm in the local automobile industry has written to the transport ministry asking for permission to buy the stake. Some investment funds are also keen to buy into Vinamotor.

Saigon-Hanoi Securities Company, the consultant for the transport ministry, is expected to complete the scheme on State divestment at the State-owned enterprise next month and will submit it to the ministry for consideration.

Lotte keen on billion-dollar project in Thu Thiem

South Korea’s Lotte Group is moving on with a US$2-billion property complex in HCMC’s District 2 while exploring investment opportunities in other sectors in the city, the group’s chairman Shin Dong Bin said.

Lotte will cooperate with Japanese giants including Mitsubishi and Toshiba to develop the Eco Smart City project in Thu Thiem new urban area. Once completed, the complex is expected to become a modern financial, commercial and service center.

At a meeting with HCMC’s chairman Le Hoang Quan yesterday, Shin said the project is among Lotte’s biggest projects abroad. Last April, Lotte and the Japanese consortium won approval in principle from the city government to develop the project in Thu Thiem, including shopping centers, hotels, serviced apartment buildings and offices.

In the first stage, the project will be developed on 6.85 hectares and the completed project will cover a total area of 16.5 hectares, according to the city.

Chairman Quan said he supports cooperation between Lotte and the Japanese investors to build the complex.

The group was told to finish procedures soon and kick off construction in September in coincidence with the 70th anniversary of Vietnam’s National Day.

Lotte has got involved in many property projects in the country, including Lotte Center Hanoi that started operating last September.

Bank deposit rates drop further

Some banks have cut their short-term deposit rates after the long traditional Lunar New Year holiday, or Tet, making this investment channel less attractive to depositors.

DongABank has lowered its one-month deposit rate from 4.8% to 4.3% per annum while those of three months and six months have dropped from 5% to 4.9% and from 5.9% to 5.3% respectively.

Meanwhile, Sacombank since mid-February has reduced its interest rate for one-month deposits from 4.65% to 4.3% per annum and three-month deposits from 4.9% to 4.6% per annum.

In January, most banks offered the rate for the 12-month tenor at 6% but now they have lowered it to 5.7%.

However, some small lenders have still applied higher rates than those of the banks with the majority State ownership. For instance, Vietcombank offers the rate for the six-month tenor at 5.3%, compared to 6.2% at Ocean Bank and 6.74% at Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB).

Nguyen Hoang Minh, deputy director of the central bank’s HCMC branch, said banks based in the city had reported a 0.53% decline in deposits in the first two months of this year against late last year.

Truong Dinh Long, deputy general director of Orient Commercial Bank (OCB), said individual and corporate clients had high cash demand for shopping, and wage and bonus payments before Tet, making banks less liquid. However, OCB has recently seen a recovery of deposits with over VND900 billion mobilized last month, up 6-8% against the previous month.

Some banks have reduced short-term deposit rates to cut costs and this may not leave much impact on their capital mobilization. Some lenders have also sped up lending to obtain credit growth of 13-15% this year, Minh said.

According to the HCMC Statistics Office, the city’s total mobilized capital had reached over VND1,300 trillion as of early February, falling 0.5% against the previous month but rising 17% versus last year’s early February.

HCM City banks report lending improvement

* HCMC-based banks reported slight credit growth in the first two months of this year, according to the central bank’s HCMC branch.

Ending February, local banks reported VND1,100 trillion in total outstanding loans, up 1.1% against late last year. This is a positive sign as banks often see negative credit growth in the first four or five months of year, said Nguyen Hoang Minh, deputy director of the central bank’s HCMC branch.

As this year’s Tet came late, at nearly the end of February, enterprises, small traders and individuals strongly took out bank loans to prepare for business activity and shopping, Minh explained.

Banks have also focused on seeking borrowers and loosened lending since early this year. Earlier this year, 19 banks in the country pledged to offer VND128 trillion worth of preferential loans to enterprises.

According to a bank leader, his bank has reported bustling lending activities this year thanks to promotional programs. The lender has focused on small businesses with good operations.

In recent times, many individuals have also taken out loans to buy properties and automobiles, the banker added.

Truong Dinh Long, deputy general director of OCB, said there have been signs for strong credit growth this year such as the stable macro economy, the recovery of the economy, the warming real estate market, and good exports and imports.

In addition, the Government has launched preferential credit programs for enterprises and plans to cut interest rates further. At present, short-term lending rates are around 7-8% per annum while medium to long-term rates (for individual borrowers) are from 10-11% per annum.

Enhancing national competitiveness

The Government in March last year issued Resolution 19 in a move to bring about substantial changes to administrative procedure reforms and enhance national competitiveness.

After one year of implementing this resolution, many key tasks for 2014 and 2015 have been effectively instituted, leading to improvements in the business environment and national competitiveness which are advantageous to both individuals and enterprises. Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has often cited the Ministry of Finance’s exemplary move to amend seven circulars to reduce tax payment time by more than 200 hours a year, affirming that these tasks are within reach and can produce immediate results.

However, there are still some obstacles to administrative reform — a number of ministries, agencies and local authorities have not considered the implementation of Resolution 19 a central task. More than half of the measures have yet to be implemented so the impact of Resolution 19 still falls short of expectations.

According to assessments by international organisations, despite marked improvement, Vietnam’s competitiveness remains low compared with other countries in the region. The customs system has not fully connected with other ministries and agencies while the sector’s reform effort is also not synchronous — each item of export and import is subject to different regulations. The procedure to access medium-voltage electricity, for example, has been shortened, but the transmission of power is dependent on many other issues such as site clearance and local planning. Moreover, the progress of administrative reform is also determined by the capacity of civil servants.

The next few years will be a the key period for Vietnam’s international integration as the country finalises negotiations and begins implementation of several free trade agreements with major partners. It is therefore urgent to improve the business environment and enhance national competitiveness so that Vietnam can fully take advantage of the benefits and opportunities from these trade deals. At a recent Government meeting, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung insisted that reforms be made with concrete and measurable actions. This requires synchronous implementation of measures, particularly heightening the sense of responsibility of civil servants and strengthening supervision and sanctions to strictly punish those involved in corruption.

The Government is planning to adopt a new resolution with the goal of bringing Vietnam’s business climate indices on par with, or exceeding, countries in the ASEAN-6 group. Vietnam aims to reduce the tax payment time to 121.5 hours a year from the current 247 hours, raise the number of enterprises using electronic tax declarations to over 95%, and increase the number of enterprises paying tax via electronic means to at least 90%. The country also aims to reduce the maximum time for establishing a new enterprises to six days and time for electricity access to 36 days, among other targets.

The new resolution will also emphasise the importance of greater co-ordination between different ministries, agencies and localities, so that goals set out in the resolution can be achieved in an effective manner, in addition to clarifying specific tasks and mandates of each agency and individual in the implementation of the resolution.

Only when these measures are taken aggressively can the Government’s policy bring about fundamental changes in enhancing national competitiveness.

PM discusses major expressway investments with Ha Noi leaders

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and four deputy PMs held a meeting yesterday with Ha Noi's leaders to discuss the capital city's socio-economic development for 2015.

At the centre of discussions was investment and planning for what will become the vital transit route in the city, the 11.7km long Nhat Tan – Noi Bai expressway. It will span over 2,000 hectares and requires VND33 trillion (US$1.5 billion) for site clearance. It is expected to be completed by 2025.

Chairman of the Ha Noi People's Committee, Nguyen The Thao, said the city created 140,000 jobs, successfully elevated 14,500 households from the poor-household category and maintained a growth rate of 8.8 per cent last year – for this year Ha Noi set a growth rate target of 9-9.5 per cent.

Regarding the Nhat Tan – Noi Bai project, the chairman said the city has finished preparing the legal framework and planning process as well as a detailed model by the Ha Noi Urban Planning Institute.

The project is to be divided into eight urban development projects under the supervision of a Project Management Unit for Urban Planning.

The city will select capable and experienced investors with sufficient funding to carry out land site clearance, infrastructure development, and has the ability to manage and operate the premises in the post-construction stage.

Regarding the Nhat Tan – Noi Bai route, the PM said the State would reclaim land and offer compensation to local residents, preferably in the form of relocation.

He ordered ministries and agencies to collaborate with the city to secure funding for the project from various sources such as Official Development Assistance (ODA) as well as the State and city's budget.

He urged the city to take additional measures to attract investment from public-private partnership if such ventures could be appropriately combined with the project.

The PM approved the city's proposal to make a budget adjustment to the 2016 – 2020 period which will allocate up to 45 per cent of the city's GDP, instead of the current 42 percent, to socio-economic development.

Tin Nghia Corp earns big profits from coffee beans

Tin Nghia Corporation exported 117,000 tonnes of coffee beans earning a turnover of $226 million, remaining the second biggest coffee exporter in the country, according to the Dong Nai Province-based company.

Tin Nghia Corp remains the second largest coffee exporter in Viet Nam. Photo sagaso.vn

The coffee business has made substantial contributions to generating profits for Tin Nghia. The company's revenue reached VND12.043 trillion last year, surpassing the target of 77 per cent. Its profit was VND121 billion.

In the coming time, the company will develop the logistics sector to take advantage of its strategic location in the southern key economic region.

 Idle cash streams into banks after Tet

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) in Ho Chi Minh City has reported that 12 joint stock commercial banks in the city have attracted a large amount of idle cash from residents after Tet holidays.

These 12 banks received up to VND13.5 trillion (US$632.19 billion) of deposited money within only a week after Tet. Their total deposit amount has reached VND785 trillion (US$36.76 billion) as of February.

The number of depositors has strongly increased recently at banks in the city.

Nguyen Hanh from District 3 said that she had the habit of depositing her family’s savings in banks after Tet holidays in the hopes of a prosperous and lucky year.

Minh Tri from District 7 who was sending VND30 million (US$1,404) in his Asia Commercial Bank account said that was a present from his children and grandchildren in the Tet holidays.

Deputy Director of individual customer division at Housing Development Bank Huynh Trung Minh said that banks have usually launched promotional programs to attract as many as depositors.

Phan Dinh Tue, deputy director of Saigon Thuong Tin Commercial Joint Stock Bank said they have mobilized over VND6.5 trillion (US$304.39 million) in the first two months this year.

According to Mr. Tue, deposit amount usually surge after the Lunar New Year Festival when many families have built up a large amount of cash from Tet bonuses and savings.

He forecast that residents would continue depositing their idle cash in banks this year because it is safer and more convenient than other investment channels.

Real estate market has gradually warmed up but not prospered, yet. Investment in the stock market is risky and just for experienced investors. Gold and foreign currency markets have been kept stable with low profitability, he analyzed.

Representative from SBV's Monetary Statistics and Forecast Department said that the capital mobilization ability of credit institutions has been stronger although last year the State Bank had cut deposit interest rate by 1.5-2 percent against the previous yearend.

The rate is expected to be stable or slightly reduced this year. However deposit amount at banks will continue rising because it is a safe and effective investment channel amid low inflation rate, he predicted.

Nghe An attracts 776 investment projects

People’s Committee of the central province of Nghe An in collaboration with the Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam held a conference in Vinh city on March 4, aiming to meet and listen to opinions from investors, companies.

Attending at the meeting were Chairman of National Assembly of Vietnam Nguyen Sinh Hung, leaders of departments, hundreds of domestic and foreign enterprises.

At the conference, Chairman of the People’s Committee of Nghe An province Nguyen Xuan Duong said that the province’s GDP growth rate in 2014 reached 7. 24 percent.

Up to now, Nghe An province has attracted 776 validity projects on investment, including 733 domestic projects with total capital of VND 164, 937 billion and 43 foreign projects with total capital of US$ 1, 61 billion.

On the occasion, Nghe An authority grantedgranted certificates for eight projects and concluded four cooperative agreements with total capital of VND 18, 540 billion and US$ 87, 5 million.

More people living near poverty line have health insurance

Vietnam tries to achieve 75 per cent health insurance coverage this year and 80 per cent by 2020, said Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung yesterday at a session to review the implementation of the Law on Health Insurance and the blueprint for universal health insurance.

The Ministry of Health reported that in 2014, health insurance covered 71.6 per cent of the population, realizing the target of more than over 70 per cent set in the blueprint, but falling short of the 75 per cent mandated by the National Assembly.

However, the proportion of families whose economic condition is living near the poverty line, farmers, employees of private companies or volunteered health insurance buyers is just 40 percent (or around 2.5 million).

Along with improved treatment quality, health insurance participants also enjoyed the high medical services.

The PM said that the achievement has greatly contributed to poverty elimination and ensured social justice. The health sector should continue encouraging people to participate in buying insurance, especially people who is living near the poverty line.

On the same day, the PM presided a meeting with health ministry leaders to assess the project to reduce hospital overloading in the period 2013-2020 and next year implementation. According to the Ministry, after two year implementation, the overloading in hospitals has been improved. 58 percent big hospitals pledged not to have two or more patients in one bed.

Mr. Dung said that since 2008, the government has invested over VND120 trillion (US$5,619,226,611) in the health sector.  The sector has implemented synchronous measures to fight overloaded hospitals in an attempt to increase nearly 39,000 beds, build new hospitals and transfer technology to medical clinics in districts to improve treatment quality.

The PM instructed the health sector to work with related agencies and local governments to promote the construction of new hospitals and submit the plan to build new hospitals for the period 2016 to 2020 to let the government calculate the state budget and call for social contribution.

The PM stressed that one of decisive measures to reduce overloading in hospitals  and improve treatment quality is that doctors from big hospitals transfer technology to their counterparts in district hospitals.

Mr. Dung approved hike in medical service attached with hospitals’ self-financing; which resulted in decreasing budget to hospitals. This amount will be used to buy health insurance for the poor.

Medical workers warn of return of seasonal diseases

Outbreaks of seasonal diseases such as measles, chicken pox and dengue fever were reported after a long Tet holiday ( the Lunar New Year).

Ten students of Primary School Nguyen Du in District 12 infected with chicken pox, said the Preventive Medicine Centers at a meeting with the Department of Health early this week. Dr. Nguyen Tri Dung, head of the center, said that his center in coordination with district 12 clinic carried out disinfection at the school. All infected students were asked to stay at home.

Earlier, in January, 2015, an outbreak of chicken pox appeared at a preschool in Binh Thanh District with eight pupils was recorded. Therefore, since the beginning of the year, 90 cases of chicken pox have been reported.

Dr. Dung warned that weather in the South is changing from cold to hot facilitating the development of flu, measles, mumps and chicken pox viruses; accordingly, people should be actively aware of this and take the children to hospitals for vaccination.

Children hospitals have seen increasing cases of chicken pox since last week. The Infection Ward of the Children Hospital No.1 has a room for infected children. In January and February, the hospital received 50 cases of chicken pox or 5 - 6 cases of chicken pox were hospitalized per day while there was no case of chicken pox in previous months.

Similarly, the Children Hospital No. 2 also received many cases of chicken pox lately with an average of two cases everyday. Medical workers said that the disease is entering its peak season and the number of chicken pox cases are forcast to be more and more next month.

According to the Preventive Medicine Center in Ho Chi Minh City’s report, the city recorded 150 dengue fever cases in January and 138 cases in February.  Hospitalized cases in February were 854 , a decrease of 4 cases compared to the same period last year.

The Department of Preventive Medicine under the Ministry of Health, announced an  outbreak of bird flu in the Mekong delta province of Soc Trang. Bird flu has been recorded in Vietnam since December, 2013 and caused losses to breeders.

Upon the complicated development of diseases, the Ministry said that it will intensify supervision to pandemic prevention mission and speed up vaccination in localities and schools for diseases  such as chicken pox, hand-foot-mouth, dengue fever, measles and rubella.

Worse enough, the World Health Organization has just issued warning of virus mutation and new cases of H7N9 virus in China; cases with virus H5N1 in Egypt and seasonal flu virus of H3N2.

Professor Tran Dac Phu, head of the Ministry’s Department of Preventive Medicine said, test results showed that the current flu virus circulating in the nations is A(H3) with 77.8 percent; A(H1N1) and B virus with 11.1 percent.

Le Thai Hoa, head of the Bureau of Food Safety in HCMC yesterday said that his bureau will strengthen control over food safety in schools this year as more cases of food poisoning have taken place in schools. For instance, in March 3, a food poisoning in Primary School Nguyen Thanh Tuyen in District 3 infected 64 students and one baby-sitter. All victims experienced headache and vomiting.

Medical workers have taken food samples for testing. Test result showed that coconut jam made by Phuoc Thanh Company in District 11 has high content of CaO and preservative content which exceeded the allowable limits. As a result, inspectors suspended Phuoc Thanh’s operation.

Temperature continues to rise in HCMC

Around three or four cold fronts are predicted to occur in the northern and northern central provinces during March, reported the National Hydrology Meteorology Forecast Center.

Accordingly, the temperature is forecast to continue to rise nationwide. Particularly, the Central Highlands and southern will have to face new heat spell.

The provinces will be sunny without rain. Rainfall in the central coastal region is forecast to reduce from 20 to 50 percent in comparison with previous years as total of rainfall in the Central Highlands and southern region reached less than 15mm.

The area of Ho Chi Minh City and the East Southern provinces continue to see hot weather with daily temperature of 36 degree Celsius until March 8.

Dong Tap buzzing with honey bee profit

Beekeepers in Dong Thap Province are gathering a bumper harvest from surrounding forests, with hives dripping with millions of VND worth of sweet melaluca honey.

Dong Thap has thousands of hives, which produce tonnes of honey worth VND200.000 a litre, with profitable side businesses in selling queens and beeswax.

The province is well-forested with melaluca trees, the flowers of which provide a year-round supply of rich pollen which the bees bring back to the hive and turn into honey.

Beekeeper Nguyen Van Hut said the climate in Dong Thap was perfect for bees, and as spring arrives he is moving his hives around to take advantage of the best trees.

Hut said he mortgaged his house and land and borrowed to set up his business. He started with 50 hives, which earned him tens of millions of VND a year. He now has 310 hives.

"Aside from the financial success, the bees help pollinate the trees and protect the environment," he said.

Local beekeepers said there was a lot of skill involved in maintaining a healthy hive because the quality of the honey depended on the strength of the queen and the health of the trees in bloom.

The Women's Union in Tan Cong Sinh Commune has developed a model to help many poor households maintain and harvest hives to supplement their incomes.

"We're trying a new model now and have seen great results," said Nguyen Thi Tu Nguyen, chairwoman of the union. " The hives will provide jobs to many people."

Nguyen said local people had previously relied on hunting wild animals, or stealing honey from wild bee hives, but used wood smoke to drive the bees away could lead to fatality and sometimes started forest fires.

"Now they have their own hives, they no longer have to go into the forest," she said.  

Nearly 6,900 new businesses set up in February

Around 6,900 businesses were established in February across the nation with a total registered capital of over 45.8 trillion VND (2.2 billion USD), up 0.47 percent and 44.6 percent from January, respectively.

According to the Business Registration Management Department under the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI), average registered capital per business expanded by 43.5 percent to 6.6 billion VND (309,000 USD). Meanwhile, 93,647 employees were registered with the new businesses, 9.5 percent lower than the previous month.

All regions of the country, with the exception of the Central Highlands, recorded an increase in the number of new firms compared to the same period last year. The Red River Delta experienced the highest growth of 41.9 percent.

The establishment of business in arts and entertainment, real estate, and agriculture, forestry and fishery was on the rise while fewer firms in health and social aid sectors were registered from the figure one year ago.

Meanwhile, over 1,060 businesses, most of which with registered capital below 10 billion VND (468,000 USD), were dissolved or stopped operation in February, up 6.9 percent from January, while nearly 4,400 temporarily closed during the month, a 55.1 percent drop.

The figure brought the number of temporarily closed companies in the first two month of 2015 up to 14,040, an annual surge of 25 percent.

During the same period, around 4,370 businesses returned to operation, up 20.2 percent from the previous year.-

100 businesses to receive top national products and services awards

As many as 100 businesses will be honoured with the 2014 Vietnamese top products and services brand awards at a ceremony in Hanoi on March 15.

The list of the winners will be announced on the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s portal www.moit.gov.vn , the Industry and Trade newspaper and www.baocongthuong.com.vn, as stated at a press conference in Hanoi on March 5.

The awards were organised by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) Central Committee, the Ministry of Information and Communication, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The honour is designed for businesses operating in industrial manufacturing and trade services which engaged in the five-year-old campaign “Vietnamese people prioritise Vietnamese goods” by the Politburo.

The categories include Top 10 Vietnamese product brands, Top 10 businesses using 60 to 70 percent locally-sourced components, and 80 outstanding Vietnamese brands.

This is the first time awards will be granted to businesses that made active contributions to the campaign, said Le Viet Nga, Deputy Head of the Domestic Market Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

She noted that winners are required to have impressive sales and be highly competitive in the domestic arena.

Launched in 2009, the campaign “Vietnamese people prioritise Vietnamese goods”, will come to an end in 2020.-

FDI approvals up 170 percent in HCM City

While Vietnam’s foreign direct investment (FDI) approvals dropped by 22.5 percent in the first two months of this year, new FDI pledges in Ho Chi Minh surged 170.5 percent year-on-year, The Saigon Times reported.

The city licensed 41 fresh projects with total capital of 421.7 million USD in January-February, up 180 percent in value against a year ago, the paper quoted sources from According to the municipal Department of Planning and Investment as saying.

Besides, the investors of 20 operational FDI projects registered to increase their capital by 84.6 million USD.

In all, the FDI capital pledged for new and operational projects in the first two months of the year amounted to 506.3 million USD, up a staggering 170.5 percent year-on-year.

The Foreign Investment Agency said the city attracted more FDI than other parts of the country in the period.

Experts projected that FDI approvals in HCMC will rise in the remaining months of the year.

Investments of domestic enterprises were notable in the first two months when 3,826 firms were established with total capital of some 18.298 trillion VND, up 58 percent in number and 34.7 percent in value.

Besides, about 6,660 enterprises expanded their business operations with additional capital of around 21.77 trillion VND, up 49.6 percent and 66.7 percent respectively.

Registered fresh and additional capital of domestic enterprises in the city in the period picked up 50.4 percent to over 40.07 trillion VND.

The number of suspended enterprises in the first month of the year declined 40.8 percent compared to the same period last year, according to the HCM City Department of Planning and Investment.-

Hanoi seeks to attract more investors

Hanoi is becoming an increasingly attractive destination for foreign investors thanks to the city’s efforts to improve its investment environment, according to Director of the Vietnam Chamber for Industry and Commerce Vu Tien Loc.

The city has been valued for its efforts in administrative reform and modernisation, business support, and enhancing information transparency, Loc said at a working session with municipal leaders on ways to advance the local investment environment and competitiveness on March 5.

According to the municipal People’s Committee, the city’s provincial competitiveness index was raised 18 spaces to rank 33 rd out of 63 localities nationwide in 2013, while the administrative reform index rose by two to stand at 5 th place.

Hanoi also ranks second in the IT application index, reported the committee.

Nguyen Ngoc Tuan, Vice Chairman of the Committee, said in a bid to build a positive image and attract investors, the city will renovate its administrative system alongside drastic changes in taxes and customs, among other fields.

The city has been a pioneer in shortening the duration of business licence granting to three days from five days previously, he noted.

At the same time, Nguyen The Thao, Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee, said careful consideration is essential in choosing suitable investors, requiring transparency and comprehensive renovation from processing investment procedure to supporting investors.-

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