Cassava exports total $590 million

An estimated 70,000 tonnes of cassava and cassava-made products were exported in June, increasing turnover to US$590 million for the first half of this year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

In the first five months, the exports totalled 1.56 million tonnes, fetching a total of $555.6 million.

Both product volume and turnover were higher than those of last year, increasing by 43.1 and 89.12 per cent, respectively.

Digital signatures get go-ahead

The Ministry of Information and Communications yesterday issued a licence to the CK Technology and Communications Joint Stock Co, Viet Nam's sixth digital signature authentication provider.

The company will be able to offer the service to agencies, organisations, individuals, websites and other software developers.

Minister Le Doan Hop called on the company to join hands with State management agencies to disseminate knowledge and legislation on digital signatures in an attempt to promote the use of e-transactions.

Digital signature authentication is now used in many developed countries to ensure the safety of public e-transactions.

The e-transaction market will continue its upward trend as e-government begins to be applied and the number of internet users is predicted to increase to 45-50 million users by 2012.

Previously, the Viet Nam Post and Telecommunications Group, the Nacencomm Technologies Joint Stock Co, the BKAV Network Security Co, the military-run telecoms group Viettel and the FPT Information System Corporation had been given the go-ahead to provide the service.

A master plan to develop e-commerce for the 2011-15 period approved by the Prime Minister in 2010 targeted official recognition from foreign digital-signature authentication organisations by 2015.

Firms form new group in Italy

The Vietnamese entrepreneur community in Italy's Verona City on Sunday set up the Association of Vietnamese Entrepreneurs in Italy (ASSOEVI).

The association aimed to unite and enhance the capability of each association member, and created an environment to co-operate and exchange information among Vietnamese entrepreneurs and businesses in Italy, founders said.

It would also promote Vietnamese products and services in Italy and contribute to strengthening bilateral cooperation between Viet Nam and Italy.

Dang Khanh Thoai, Vietnamese ambassador to Italy, said that ASSOEVI was needed to further co-operation between businesses and agencies in Italy and Viet Nam to better promote Vietnamese products among both Vietnamese and Italian consumers in the country.

Thoai also asked the association to counter strongly any wrong information that has been spread about the quality of Vietnamese products.

ASSOEVI should also organise exhibitions, workshops and other activities to create more and more opportunities to co-operate with Viet Nam, and introduce the country, people and culture of Viet Nam to the people of Italy, Thoai said.

Pham Van Hong, chairman of the association, said it would establish and develop relationships with organisations that support businesses in other countries.

More information about the association can be found at www.assoevi.org.

Binh Dinh to develop port strategy to 2020
 
The southern central coastal province of Binh Dinh aims at fostering the growth of existing ports and building a new seaport by 2020 to become one of the key economic centres of the area, officials said.

Promoting the positive potential of the Quy Nhon and Thi Nai ports is a key part of the strategy.

Le Minh Tien, deputy general director of Quy Nhon Port Holding Limited Liability Company, said the company had invested hundreds of billions of Vietnamese dong in recent years to upgrade and build new wharves, including container wharves.

They have also added 60-100 tonne cranes and expanded and built a storage system.

The company has improved its capacity in loading and unloading cargo from 12,000-17,000 tonnes a day to 21,000-25,000 tonnes, Tien added.

Turn-round of cargo has been shortened from four to five days to 1.5-2.5 days.

Quy Nhon port turnover reached 1 million tonnes of cargo in 1999, 2 million in 2003, 3 million in 2007, 4 million in 2009 and 5 million last year.

In the first half of this year, the port received 3.05 million tonnes of cargo.

Both Quy Nhon and Thi Nai ports handled over 3.372 million tonnes this year, up 22.5 per cent year-on-year.

The two ports are expected to achieve a record turnover of 6 million tonnes of cargo this year.

Nguyen Van Thien, Binh Dinh Provincial Party Committee Secretary, said the province would focus on investment in new seaports including Nhon Hoi, Dong Da and Tan Cang.

It expects to develop seaports to be able to handle cargo at 2-3 times higher than current capacity.

In the first phase (2011-15), VND90 billion (US$4.37 million) would be poured into upgrading ship-ways to receive cargo ships with weight capacity of 50,000 tonnes, Thien said.

Tan Cang Quy Nhon Company will invest VND500 billion ($24.3 million) to increase Quy Nhon port capacity for 30,000-tonne container ships, buy international equipment and build a 12-ha technological freight yard.

By the end of this phase, ports in Quy Nhon would be expected to handle over 10 million tonnes of cargo a year, Thien added.

Thien said the province was calling for investment into the 165-ha Nhon Hoi deep-water port for 30,000-tonne ship in the second phase (2015-20).

Also in the phase, a tariff port in Nhon Hoi Economic Zone will be built on an area of 119ha with a total port length of 2,117m to handle 20,000-30,000 tonnes of cargo ships.

The province will build a 937m-length port for 10,000-30,000 tonne ships.

It is also considering building Tam Quan Port in Hoai Nhon District and De Gi Port in Phu Cat District for 10,000-20,000-tonne ships.

Regulators draft new securities rules

The State Securities Commission is racing to complete the regulatory framework pursuant to the amended Law on Securities, which takes effect on July 1.

The commission is drafting a decree on administrative sanctions for securities violations and a circular on the organisation and operation of securities companies.

Compared to Government Decree No 85/2010/ND-CP of August 2, 2010, which it would supersede, the draft decree on sanctioning of administrative violations would impose stricter punishments on violators, including a fine of VND200-300 million (US$9,700-14,600) for acts of manipulating securities prices or colluding to create false supply or demand for securities. In addition, profits earned from these unlawful acts would be forfeited.

Listed companies which abuse a public offer to make an illegal private placement would face a fine of VND150-200 million ($7,300-9,700).

A securities company that uses individual accounts to deal in securities or allows individual investors to use its account would be fined VND70-100 million ($3,400-4,800).

The commission said that these regulations would help clarify the financial situation of securities companies which illegally place trading orders via client accounts to conceal profits or losses.

Securities companies would be also required to adhere to new organisation and operating rules under a draft circular to replace Ministry of Finance Decision No 27/2007/TT-BTC of April 2007.

Under the draft circular, securities companies providing investment consultancy services would be disallowed to directly or indirectly invest in securities on behalf of their clients, forecast stock prices, advertise that their analysis and methods are superior to others' or trade or invest in the same stock that they recommend to clients.

Industrial output hits record high
 
June's monthly Index of Industrial Production (IIP) hit a record high this year, surging 12.7 per cent against the same period last year, the General Statistics Office (GSO) reported.

June was the first month the IIP, which has been on trial for the last two years, was officially used to replace industrial production value that was calculated on the basis of the base year of 1994.

With a record high in June, IIP in the first six months of the year increased 9.7 per cent against the same period last year. This increasing rate was higher than that in the same period of the past few years. The rise in the first half of last year was 8 per cent and the figure in 2009 was 4.5 per cent.

Based on the old method, the country's industrial production value in H1 also surged 14.3 per cent against the same period last year to VND418.5 trillion (US$19.9 billion), higher than the Government's annual 14 per cent target.

GSO deputy director Nguyen Bich Lam said that manufacturing and processing industries, which account for nearly 70 per cent of the industrial sector's total added value, contributed the most to the nation's high IIP in June with a surge of 16.3 per cent, and helped the industries' IIP in H1 to surge 12.7 per cent.

Although the June sales figures are not yet available, GSO estimated that it would perform well after the optimistic results of last month. In May, sales in the manufacturing and processing industries surged 41.8 per cent from the same period last year, achieving the highest level in the past few years. May's figure lifted the industries' sales index in the first five months of the year to 17.5 per cent against the same period last year.

As of June 1, the stockpile index of the manufacturing and processing industries had only risen 15.9 per cent against the same period last year. The index as of early June last year surged up to 27.5 per cent against the same period of 2009.

In the first half of 2011, production and distribution of power, gas and water also increased by 14.3 per cent against the same period last year. Electric production alone reached 48 trillion kWh, up 10.4 per cent.

However, the petroleum and coal mining industries saw a slow growth rate of 2.8 per cent in the first six months. GSO also forecast the industry's production would continue at a modest rate in the coming years, in accordance with the Government's instruction to gradually reduce the exploitation of natural resources.

Despite the growth, the Ministry of Planning and Investment said that high input costs have reduced profits and caused a negative impact on business performance of industrial producers for the past six months.

Meanwhile, Ha Noi's industrial production value is estimated to reach VND57.89 trillion ($2.8 billion) in the first half of this year, increasing 12.8 per cent compared with the same period last year, the capital General Statistical Bureau data showed.

The non-State sector earned VND18.74 trillion ($912 million), an increase of 11.9 per cent.

Although facing with many difficulties, the sector had kept steady and still maintained good production, bureau director Cong Xuan Mui said.

Maintenance and growth of the sector, including limited and private companies, co-operatives, joint-stock and household businesses, had contributed to the development of the capital industry.

Production value in limited companies rose 11.3 per cent, joint-stock 13.5 per cent and household business 9.8 per cent.

Mui said production value from traditional handicraft villages remained stable.

However, in the first half of the year many villages, particular carpentry villages, had faced difficulties due to the price fluctuations and increases in the cost of electricity and gas.

This had caused many household businesses to delay investing in higher production.

HCM City declares victory on inflation

HCM City's efforts to tackle inflation are paying off, with the consumer price index levelling off.

The city government told a meeting held yesterday to review the socio-economic situation in June and the first half that the price rise in June, of 0.69 per cent, was the "lowest" in the last eight months.

It was 2.38 per cent last month.

The chairman of the People's Committee, Le Hoang Quan, attributed this to scrupulous application of the Government's Resolution 11 by city agencies.

Nguyen Thanh Tai, deputy chairman of the committee, said price-stabilised consumer goods were sold through 2,560 outlets at least 15 per cent less than market prices.

But the second half of this year could be more challenging, he warned.

To curb inflation, the city had suspended or slowed down 92 public projects costing VND441 billion (US$21million).

The slowing trend notwithstanding, first-half inflation remained high at 11.54 per cent compared to 4.88 per cent during the same period last year. The city had hoped to keep the whole year inflation to less than 7 per cent.

Yet, the economy achieved a 9.9 per cent growth as output rose to VND199.99 trillion (US$9.5 billion). The services sector accounted for more than 50 per cent of this.

Exports were worth $12.5 billion, an increase of 14.7 per cent year on year, while imports, mostly of food and medicines, $12.7 billion.

Quan said besides its efforts to stabilise the economy and curb inflation, the city also paid attention to the functioning of public firms, adding that most of them had achieved their trading and production plans.

It licensed 151 FDI projects worth $1.46 billion, a 9 per cent decline in the number of projects but a 66 per cent rise in capital

ASEAN, NZ and Australia talk on trade integration

The inaugural seminar of the Integration Partnership Forum of ASEAN, Australia and New Zealand was held on Saturday in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur to discuss the benefits of regional economic integration and multilateral trade deals.

The forum which was initially proposed by New Zealand Prime Minister John Key in discussions with ASEAN leaders last October. It was further developed by Key and Australian PM Julia Gillard in February this year.

The one-day seminar included presentations from senior figures in government, business and academia from Australia and New Zealand.

The new forum will share the Trans-Tasman experience of Closer Economic Relations (CER) with senior ASEAN officials responsible for ASEAN regional integration, said a joint press statement from the embassies of Australia and New Zealand in Ha Noi.

"CER has certainly been a Trans-Tasman success story, and this forum offers a valuable opportunity for New Zealand and Australia to share their experience with the countries of ASEAN," Tim Groser, New Zealand Trade minister, said in the statement.

"The building of a stronger and more prosperous ASEAN – a market of around 600 million people – will enable member nations to better take advantage of regional and global economic opportunities," he said.

Since CER was launched in 1983, total two-way trade in goods and services between Australia and New Zealand has grown at an average annual rate of 7.8 per cent. In the same period, total two-way investment has grown at an average annual rate of 15.9 per cent.

Australian Trade Minister Craig Emerson said regional economic integration was fundamental to fostering opportunities for businesses and the wider population.

Online bids may help VN suppliers
 
The wider application of online bidding might help increase the competitiveness of Vietnamese suppliers in terms of government procurement, said director of the Ministry of Planning and Investment's Bidding Management Department Le Van Tang.

Speaking at a workshop on government procurement in the context of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement in Ha Noi yesterday, Tang said many Vietnamese suppliers were falling behind in the race to win contracts to supply goods to the Government. The country is in talks with eight other partners with the hope of reaching a broad outline for the agreement by November.

"Unlike other Vietnamese commodities which may be competitive in other countries, when it comes to government procurement, Vietnamese suppliers had never prevailed even in the domestic market," said Tang.

Vietnamese suppliers were warned by Tang to expect a more competitive market.

"Sooner or later, we have to open up government procurement under the mandatory obligations of trade agreements, and Vietnamese suppliers have no choice but to adjust themselves to the new circumstances," he said.

Tang said online bidding had been implemented successfully in a limited pilot programme, but scaling up the implementation needed more time.

He said the wider implementation of online bidding would require each supplier to have reliable internet infrastructure and officers with a good command of information and communications technologies (ICT).

"In reality, many Vietnamese suppliers don't have staff qualified in terms of English and ICT skills to best utilise online bidding," he said.

Jean Heilman Grier, senior procurement negotiator from the Office of United States Trade Representatives, said while Viet Nam's commitments when joining the WTO did not include agreements on government procurement, the country was already on its way to joining the WTO's Government Procurement Agreement (GPA).

"We expect when Viet Nam joins the WTO's GPA, it is going to have very similar obligations to what is required in the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement," said Grier. "So in some way, the TPP agreement is like a stepping stone for Viet Nam to becoming a party in the WTO's GPA."

Grier said the benefits of being a party to the WTO Government Procurement Agreement would include cost savings with increased competition as well as increasing the government procurement system's efficiency and transparency, which in turn would make the country more attractive to foreign investment as well as reduce corruption.

Grier said the main challenge for Viet Nam was opening up procurement to foreign forums such as the TPP, and work towards fully opening up procurement needed to be carried out step-by-step so local suppliers would have time to adjust to greater competition.

"One of the things we are trying to do is help Vietnamese suppliers understand how they can participate in the US and how to fit into our market," said Grier. "But we believe there are going to be opportunities for Vietnamese suppliers in the US market and they will benefit from opening up their procurement."

According to US Department of Commerce economist Morgan Barr, Viet Nam had very limited access to US federal government procurement, but when the TPP entered into force, the federal purchasing prohibition on Vietnamese goods and services would no longer apply.

Grier said developing countries such as Viet Nam were subject to transitional provisions to help facilitate implementation of TPP obligations, yet those provisions were not automatic and were based on negotiations with other parties.

The transitional measures, including price preferences, offsets, higher temporary thresholds and phase-in of specific entities or sectors, would be tailored to each country's development needs.

VN-Switzerland trade, investment has much potential for expansion

Two-way trade and investment between Viet Nam and Switzerland has increased gradually and has potential to expand much further, said Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung yesterday while receiving out-going Swiss ambassador Jean-Hubert Lebet.

Dung said the two countries should create more favourable conditions for businesses from Viet Nam and Switzerland to invest in and penetrate each other's markets while boosting up joint projects.

He said he appreciated Lebet's efforts in advancing diplomatic relations between Viet Nam and Switzerland during his term as the ambassador to Viet Nam.

Dung said he also hoped that Lebet would continue supporting relations with Viet Nam when he returns to Switzerland.

Lebet said collaboration between the two countries in education had brought many fruitful results. He said in October, Viet Nam and Switzerland would co-organise a major event on education where universities from the two countries would participate and exchange ideas.

Switzerland is currently Viet Nam's second biggest business partner in the European Union, with two-way trade reaching US$2.6 billion in 2010.

Higher coal taxes hope to restrict exports
 
The Ministry of Finance plans to increase the export tax rate for coal in a bid to restrict exports of the fossil fuel.

The new export tax rate was expected to surge from the current 15 per cent to 20 per cent, the ministry said.

The measure was proposed after the Viet Nam Coal and Mineral Industries Group (Vinacomin) imported 9,500 tonnes of low-quality coal early this month from Indonesia to power thermo-electric plants in central and southern Viet Nam. The shipment from Indonesia was the first time Viet Nam, a coal exporter, imported coal.

Concerned over ensuring coal supplies, the ministry said it was the right time to raise taxes on coal exports to minimise depletion of the country's resources.

Experts have agreed with the move, which would also help improve the past situation of Vietnamese enterprises exporting high-quality coal while importing low-quality coal for domestic use, despite the fact that the use of the imported produced more pollution.

Nguyen Thanh Son, director of Vinacomin's Red River energy project, said increasing coal imports were a result of rampant coal exploitation and exports in Viet Nam during the past several years.

In the first five months, Vinacomin exported 6.64 million tonnes of coal worth US$638 million, a year-on-year decline of 25 per cent.

According to Vinacomin, Viet Nam would annually import 10 million tonnes of coal by 2012 and these imports would increase to 100 million tonnes per year by 2020. Meanwhile, the country would export 2 million tonnes of coal each year by 2012, increasing to around 20 million tonnes per year by 2020.

Earlier, the Ministry of Finance also decided to increase the export tax on iron ore to 40 per cent from the current 30 per cent from July 2. The decision was issued after steel makers complained about a lack of iron ore for domestic steel production.

Taiwan, VN co-operate on machinery for industry

Trade representatives from Taiwan and Viet Nam discussed co-operation potential in the industrial machinery sector at a meeting held yesterday in HCM City.

The Taiwan Trade Centre Inc's representative office in HCM City, in collaboration with the Taiwan External Trade Development Council and HCM City's Investment and Trade Promotion Centre, organised the meeting.

Reyming Tu, deputy executive director of TAITRA's Exhibition Department, said Taiwan's industrial machine production sector was relatively strong compared to many others.

Taiwanese business representatives said their high-quality machines would support Viet Nam's industrial sector development.

Vietnamese businesses were also urged to participate in exhibitions, including the Taipei International Machine Tool Show (TIMTOS), Taipei International Plastics and Rubber Industry Show (Taipei PLAS) and Taipei Manufacturing Technology Show.

Tu said this would help them seek partners and follow the world's latest trends.

In the first quarter of this year, Viet Nam imported Taiwanese-made industrial machines worth more than US$190 million, an increase of 26.3 per cent compared to last year.

The deputy director of ITPC, Nguyen Anh Ngoc, said more than 3,000 companies in Viet Nam manufacture, export or sell heavy industrial equipment.

Taiwan is the fifth largest key trade partner of Viet Nam, after mainland China, the US, Japan and South Korea.

Last year, total bilateral trade with Taiwan reached $8 billion, an increase of 28 per cent compared to 2009.

Vinamilk shares boost market

The VN-Index ended a three-day losing streak in trading yesterday on the HCM City Stock Exchange, ending the first session of the week at 434.25 points, a gain of 0.2 per cent over last Friday's close.

While the volume of trades rose just 16 per cent to about 25.5 million shares, the value of the day's trades soared to over VND1 trillion (US$51.5 million), doubling last Friday's value, thanks to the heavy buys by foreign investors of dairy producer Vinamilk (VNM).

Foreign investors yesterday bought 6.4 million shares of VNM worth VND725 billion ($35.2 million), accounting for 70 per cent of the total market value. The shares were bought through negotiation at the ceiling price of VND115,000 ($5.60) per share.

This also lifted the value of net buys by foreign investors on the HCM City market yesterday to over VND714 billion ($34.7 million) – the highest level since the beginning of the year.

Over 14 million additional shares – which VNM had previously issued to foreign investors and employees – were officially traded on the HCM City bourse for the first time yesterday, raising the foreign ownership ratio in VNM from 46 per cent to 49 per cent. VNM closed up 2.7 per cent to VND113,000 ($5.50).

Overall, many blue chips declined, including shares of real estate developer Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAG), steel producer Hoa Phat Group (HPG), Phu My Fertilisers (DPM), Masan Group (MSN) and insurer Bao Viet Holdings (BVH), with losses ranging from 1-3 per cent. Decliners edged advancers by 110-103.

Investors still kept a watchful eye for an uptrend following the release of some positive economic data last week, said independent analyst Pham Viet Hung.

"Economic policies used to be unpredictable in Viet Nam, and investors want to wait for clearer signals before making any investment decisions," said Hung.

Inflation in June was reported to rise just 1.09 per cent over May, its slowest pace since the beginning of the year, while growth in the trade deficit slowed, with the deficit being forecast to reach $6.65 billion in the first half.

The central bank also said that credit growth in the non-manufacturing sector dropped to 16.9 per cent of total outstanding commercial bank loans in June, well within the Government's 22-per-cent cap.

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange yesterday, the HNX-Index retreated by 0.2 per cent from the previous Friday to close at 75.63 points. Over 24 million shares were traded, worth VND293.6 billion ($14.3 million), while losers outnumbered gainers by 128-102.