|
BUSINESS IN BRIEF 15/10
Auto
sales enjoy sharp September rise
The
Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (VAMA) reports the domestic
auto industry sold 9,785 units in September, a 24% improvement on August and
28% more than a year earlier.
The VAMA
said September’s auto sales were the highest figure since the beginning of
the year. Revenue from cars rose 32% and from trucks 19%, compared to August.
Domestically
assembled units were estimated at 7,695, up 18%, while imported automobiles
hit 2,090, or 52% more than August.
VAMA
members sold 8,465 units in September, representing 20% growth since the
comparable period in 2012.
In the
past nine months, auto sales totalled 76,884 units—a year-on-year increase of
18%.
Nearly
20 Japanese businesses have conducted an October 11 visit to
The
Japanese delegation commended the city’s tech industry on its recent work
with semi-conductors, its qualified workforce, and its modern infrastructure.
Japanese
businesses expressed keen interest in HCM City Hi-Tech Zone and its
associated investment incentives.
The
high-tech zone currently contains 74 investment projects, 58 of which are
valid and capitalised at US$2 billion. A quarter of the projects underway are
in micro-electronics and telecommunications, information, and technology.
Business
representatives discussed the potential for initiatives developing
Daisuke
Yoshimitsu, a member of Kyushu Semiconductor Industries & the Electronics
Technology Innovation Association (SIIQ), said
He
noted it might take
The
Mekong Delta
Local
authorities are joining hands with enterprises in promoting the trade of farm
produces and fruit with large material zones that can ensure stable supplies.
They are trying to make the full use of traditional markets while searching
for new and major ones including
Besides,
efforts are also being made to accelerate the implementation of incentives
for processing enterprises working in the agriculture and fishery sectors
with a view to diversifying exports.
Director
of the provincial Department of Industry and Trade Nguyen Minh Tho said the
locality will achieve an export turnover of 350 million USD for this year,
only 85 percent of its yearly plan, attributing the fall to the difficulties
in the exportation of its key products.
The
Ministry of Industry and Trade has said that
Its
figures revealed that in the first nine months of this year, the country’s
export turnover was 96.46 billion USD, a 17.5 percent rise over the same
period last year.-
Central
province attracts FDI to advantageous fields
So far
this year, the central
Deputy
director of the provincial Department of Planning and Investment Le Dinh
Khanh said local authorities are striving to facilitate investment to such
advantageous fields as marine ecotourism, sea port services, urban
infrastructure, industry, processing, and education and training.
They
are also applying incentives to investors in the Chan May-Lang Co economic
zone in terms of tax, administrative procedures, land and labour.
Currently
the province counts 69 FDI projects that see an annual growth of 17.2 percent
in their revenue.
This
year, they expect to earn 10.1 trillion VND (474.7 million USD), pay 1.3
trillion VND to the State budget and provide jobs to over 15,000 workers.
Can
Tho reaps record rice harvest
The
total paddy output for this year of the Mekong Delta city of
Deputy
director of the department Nguyen Thi Kieu attributed the increase of 83,234
tonnes over the last year’s figure to the application of advanced technical
processes and models by farmers to their production.
The
official further said in the coming winter-spring rice crop, farmers will
continue to apply the large-field model as a main way to reduce production
costs, raise productivity and quality, and improve the product value as well
as profits.
The
Ministry of Industry and Trade has said Vietnam expects to harvest about 3.7
million tonnes of rice from now to the end of this year, ensuring sufficient
stock for export for 2013 and some for the same purpose next year.-
Coal
sale projected to rise in Q4
The
Vietnam Coal and Mineral Industries Group (Vinacomin) aims to increase sale
volume to 11.5 million tonnes in the fourth quarter, bringing the year’s
total figure to 39 million tonnes, despite the ongoing stagnation predicted
for both domestic and global economies.
The
figures are the result of the coal export tax cut to 10 percent on September
1, and that coal demand for power plants is expected to grow in the dry
season.
To
achieve its target, Vinacomin is enhancing coal sale at the beginning of October
to reduce its inventory. It also closely follows the market’s movements and
controls coal quality and shipment schedules.
In the
fourth quarter, Vinacomin is set to provide coal dust for domestic cement
manufacturers, thermal power plants,
In the
first nine months of this year, Vinacomin earned 68 trillion VND (3.2 billion
USD) in revenue and 1.5 trillion VND (71.4 million USD) in profit. Nearly 39
trillion VND (1.9 billion USD) of its revenue was from coal, representing 65
percent of the yearly target.-
Up to
date,
The
Government has urged Vietnamese investors to put their money into oversea
projects which help promote domestic production, services and exports, added
Thu.
According
to Thu, to lure more investors, the government will update market information
on politic climate or investment environment to Vietnamese businesses, while
simplifying administrative procedures for investors.
About
3 million motorbikes are sold in
The
website of a Japanese motorbike manufacturer in late August showed a piece of
news that SH Mode made by Honda Vietnam would be available in
It is
expected that some 3,000 vehicles of the SH Mode would be consumed in the
market every year.
Prior
to that, in March 2013, when launching Lead 125 into the market, Honda
Vietnam also stated that it would export the products to
As
such,
Masayuki
Igarashi, General Director of Honda Vietnam, said the company plans to boost
exports to
SYM,
the manufacturer from
Meanwhile,
Piaggio
The
motorbike consumption over the last two years has been decreasing
dramatically in the context of the economic downturn. Motorbike manufacturers
all said 2012 was a very tough year for them.
According
to Masayuki Igarashi of Honda Vietnam, the manufacturer sold 3.11 million
products in 2012, which was just equal to 93 percent of that in 2011.
Especially, Honda Vietnam had to spend 15 billion VND on a sale promotion
program, a biggest ever sum spent for such a program.
However,
despite the big difficulties, motorbike manufacturers still keep expanding
their production. The third factory of Honda Vietnam capitalized at 120
million USD in Ha
The
Yamaha project, worth 50 million USD, is raising the production capacity to
1.5 million products per annum.
Analysts
believe that the manufacturers’ move to scale up the production aims to serve
their plan to boost export instead of boosting domestic sales. The total
production capacity of the joint ventures in
They
have also predicted that with such a big capacity,
SJC’s
jewelry exports sparkle again after three years
Saigon
Jewelry Holding Co. (SJC) has resumed jewelry exports, after stopping the
business in late 2010 due to low competitiveness, according to the The Saigon
Times Daily.
SJC is
the second firm in the industry trying to ship jewelries abroad besides Phu
Nhuan Jewelry Company (PNJ).
Do
Cong Chinh, general director of SJC, said that his enterprise was sending
small batches to Europe to explore the market before executing larger orders
from foreign buyers. SJC will sign processing contracts with foreign partners
to make shipments with bigger values in the near future, Chinh said.
Many
foreign customers have already signed contracts with SJC after examining the
processing technology and prices offered by the local company.
SJC
has sought permission from the central bank to import materials temporarily for
re-export to process jewelry for partners. Chinh deems this practice as the
best way now as it is very difficult to compete with rivals from
PNJ is
a jewelry exporter with steady exports done over the years. However, Nguyen
Thi Cuc, deputy general director of the company, reported that jewelry export
revenue only contributed some 6 percent to her company’s total while the
export profits were low.
After
an export tax rate of 10 percent was slapped on jewelry products having gold
content of less than 99.99 percent, foreign customers have become lukewarm to
high-value home-made jewelry items.
PNJ
earns around 12.5-13 million USD from jewelry exports annually while its
jewelry exports generated up to 29 million USD in the first five months of
2010 when jewelry exports by local firms were strong due to softer domestic
gold prices then.
According
to the Vietnam Gold Business Association, as other Asian countries apply
jewelry export duties of zero percent, their export values of gold and
jewelry products always stay high. Gold jewelry exports by
The
city’s index of industrial production in the first nine months of this year
rose by 6 percent year-on-year thanks to an expansion in production scale.
Leather
and related products, medicine, rubber and plastics were among the industries
with high year-on-year growth rates, 10.9 percent, 11.2 percent and 10
percent respectively.
By the
end of September, the city’s total budget collection hit nearly 165.7
trillion VND (7.9 billion USD), fulfilling 69.51 percent of the yearly target
and 7 percent higher than the same period last year.
Nguyen
Phuong Dong, Deputy Director of the municipal Department of Industry and
Trade, attributed the results to the city’s prompt measures to remove
difficulties for businesses.
Since
the beginning of the year,
Despite
promising signals, the city still faces many difficulties due to the turmoil
in the global economy, large inventories and a stagnant property market, said
Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Le Hoang Quan.
In the
remaining months of 2013 and the following years, local authorities must
drastically implement socio-economic development measures, with priority to
be given to solving difficulties for businesses, he stressed.
He
said that the city will prioritise loans for the production of exported
goods, processing and support industries, and labour-intensive small- and
medium-sized enterprises.
Relevant
agencies should take measures to develop the market, assist businesses sell
their products and reduce inventories, especially in the property sector,
Quan added
Quang
Binh focuses efforts on new rural development
Central
Quang Binh province selected six communes in six districts to pilot the
national programme for building new rural areas. Local people have actively
become involved in the programme, and feel a high sense of responsibility.
The Voice of Vietnam Radio reports.
After
three years implementing the new rural areas programme, almost all piloted
localities, 70 communes in Quang Binh province, have achieved eight to 12 of
the 19 new rural criteria. As many as 100km of rural road have been built and
schools and public places upgraded. Tens of thousands of households donated
250,000sq.m of land for the programme.
In
Xuan Ninh commune, Quang Ninh district, the villagers are trying to complete
this year’s targets. Nguyen Truong Tien, Chairman of Xuan Ninh People’s
Committee, said the commune has successfully encouraged locals to join the
efforts. Villagers have donated 1,000sq.m of land and money to build and
expand inter-hamlet roads.
Tien
said the commune has set out to achieve all criteria by 2015. “The commune
began the national programme of new rural development in 2010. We have
completed nine creteria and are working on achieving the others. People here
support the programme. We aim to improve people’s living conditions."
In
Quang Phuc commune, Quang Trach district, where 90 percent of the population
are Christians, local people also voluntarily contribute land, money and
labour to build rural roads. Nguyen Chi Doai, a villager, said: “We are
delighted and sympathetic to the idea of donating land to build roads. The
countryside has been improved with good roads and multi-storey houses.”
Quang
Binh province has mobilised resources valued at nearly 25 million USD to
build new rural areas, including capital from the State budget, credit,
enterprises, and the population.
Hoang
Van Min, Deputy Director of the Quang Binh provincial Department of
Agriculture and Rural Development, said: “The province has prioritised part
of the State budget for communes which have nearly achieved all the 19
criteria. The communes and districts will encourage people to become involved
in building roads to ease transport issues and improve people’s living
conditions."
The
communes and districts have applied new production models and adopted new
animal and plant varieties. With the people’s consensus and the
administration’s effort, Quang Binh province has obtained impressive results
in developing new rural areas.
Central
regions see increase in rice production
The
southern central coastal and Central Highlands regions have grown more than
604,000 hectares of rice so far this year, yielding over 3.2 million tonnes
of unhusked rice, 1,300 tonnes more than the 2012 output.
The
figures were released at a meeting to review the regions’ rice production
which was held in central
In
2014, the localities in the region are instructed to maintain the rice
cultivation area while shifting to rice varieties that are in great demand on
the market.
They
are also urged to zone areas for high-quality rice, expand the application of
the Vietnam Good Agriculture Practices (VietGap), and apply advanced
technology.
In the
2013 – 2014 winter-spring crop, the regions are set to cultivate rice on more
than 257,370 hectares with a projected output of over 1.5 million tonnes of
paddy rice, 16,000 tonnes higher than the figure of the same crop last year.
At
another meeting in late September, southern provinces reported that the total
rice cultivation area in the region was over 4.7 million hectares with
average productivity of 5.72 tonnes per hectare in 2013.
Tight-fisted
fund fails to boost realty market
While
the Government is speeding up loan disbursement to help solve difficulties of
the real estate market, many enterprises said that the loans, which are
provided in dribs and drabs, will fail to revive the market soon.
Speaking
at the seminar in HCMC on Tuesday, Vinh Nguyen, representative of the U.S.
National Association of Realtors (NAR) in
Launched
three months ago, only VND142.5 billion out of VND30 trillion have been
disbursed to around 590 customers. The slow disbursement is attributed to
tight screening procedures, which hinder many people from accessing the fund.
Vinh
said a frozen realty market could hardly escape the gloom without strong
support from the Government, citing the case stateside.
Two
opposite attitudes showed up when the property market in the
Firstly,
the nation picked the first solution, letting the market struggle against
challenges so that good enterprises would survive the crisis. However, the
market failed to recover after two years, prompting the government to apply
bold measures to save enterprises.
Around
US$700 billion has been provided to help banks solve bad debts and give home
loans to people. Therefore, the market has seen improvements, Vinh said.
The
Le
Hoang Chau, chairman of the HCMC Real Estate Association (HoREA), said that
although measures have been applied, they would not fetch effects
immediately. Therefore, enterprises should try to find solutions to save
themselves.
Realty
enterprises at the seminar said that the market will only recover if it can
win back confidence from customers.
Vinh
of NAR said that information transparency is one of the factors that can
bring buyers back to the market. NAR will support Vietnamese firms by
introducing their projects on the website www.realtor.com as long as they can
give enough and transparent information of the projects.
This
is also a way for local enterprises to seek potential foreign customers.
Around 1.8 million Vietnamese are living in the
The
Australian Chamber of Commerce also held a seminar on Tuesday to update
information of the local realty market and the Government’s loosening
conditions for foreigners to own homes in
Homebuyers
now find it easier in taking out home loans as banks have cooperated with
investors to give supportive programs for customers.
However,
Industry
insiders also said that opening the door for foreigners is not the magic wand
to prop up the market, as only domestic customers could be the key driving
force.
Vietnam-Japan
trade gallops on economic partnership
Vietnam-Japan
trade has been expanding by some 20% a year since the Vietnam-Japan Economic
Partnership Agreement (VJEPA) was signed four years ago, a trade official
told a trade and investment promotion forum in HCMC on Wednesday.
Ho Thi
Kim Thoa, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade, said that bilateral trade
was projected to continue growing strongly in the coming time, having almost
doubled since 2009 when the partnership agreement took effect.
She
was speaking at the Vietnam-Japan trade and investment promotion forum that
attracted more than 200 Vietnamese and Japanese enterprises in the fields of
precision mechanics, supporting industries, electronics and farm produce
processing.
The
partnership agreement effective on October 1, 2009 has marked a new turning
point in the two countries’ economic cooperation and has strengthened
bilateral trade exchanges and investment promotions, Thoa said.
Two-way
trade was some US$13.8 billion in 2009, which picked up about 22% to US$16.7
billion in 2010 and 26.5% to US$21.2 billion in 2011, she said.
The
year 2012 witnessed two-way trade value reaching US$24.7 billion, jumping
16.5% year-on-year.
The
uptrend is maintained this year, seeing two-way trade in January-August reach
US$16.3 billion, with
The
structure of
Still,
Vietnamese dragon fruit, flowers, coffee, processed foodstuff and rice among
other farm produce have also won the hearts of Japanese buyers in recent
times.
Apart
from trade,
Investment
capital by Japanese investors totaled over US$4.7 billion in the first nine
months of the year, representing 31.6% of total registered FDI in the
country.
Overall,
Japan is the single biggest foreign investor in Vietnam, with total
registered capital of more than US$33 billion to date.
Experts
foresee increasing bank M&As
Experts
are adamant that banking sector restructuring via mergers and acquisitions
will be increasingly popular in the coming time.
Over
the last two years, banking sector liquidity has faced significant challenges
as underperforming institutions faced bankruptcy.
In
response, the government developed a highly prioritised restructuring plan.
There
is change afoot with the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) more closely regulating
underperforming banks.
According
to SBV supervisory body chief inspector Nguyen Huu Nghia, over the last two
years of restructuring banks’ liquidity has risen markedly, responsibility
has been upheld and risks have withdrawn.
“People
are confident in their deposits and state assets are secure. Banks that were
on the verge in 2012 have found their footing again thanks to the shake-up,”
Nghia said.
Mergers
& acquisitions (M&A) have been essential to this success.
At an
M&A focused forum hosted by Vietnam Investment Review in Ho Chi Minh City
last August the head of a department of the central bank Nguyen Thi Hoa said
the government’s restructuring plan facilitated the increase in M&A
deals.
Nguyen
Thuy Duong from Ernst&Young Vietnam asserted that M&A was highly advantageous
to local banks in both escaping crisis and pushing forward their
restructuring goals.
With
that all said, member of the National Financial and Monetary Advisory Council
Le Xuan Nghia said there was significantly more behind bank mergers over the
past year than policy.
Nghia
argued that the formation of fewer but larger institutions is a natural
banking system trend toward stability, strength and market share.
“Only
larger-scale banks will have the ability to meet the State Bank’s
increasingly international standards on non-performing loans and risk
management,” Nghia emphasised.
Banking
Academy’s expert Pham Tien Dat asserted that with bank restructuring on the
move and a likely influx of foreign investors M&As will be vibrant in the
coming time.
Assoc
protests suggested tax on gold jewelries
The
Vietnam Gold Business Association protests a proposal of the Vietnam
Association of Financial Investors (VAFI) for imposing a special consumption
tax on jewelries, saying the tax will throw members in the local jewelry
industry into troubles.
At a
time of the jewelry industry still facing tough competition, the imposition
of the special consumption tax to jewelry items will drive industry players
into hot water, said Nguyen Thanh Long, chairman of the gold business
association.
Long
argued that the tax rate of some 20% as suggested by VAFI is too high which
shouldn’t be applicable in the context that enterprises in the industry are
struggling with tough business conditions.
As
local jewelry items are facing difficulties in seeking outlets given the
overwhelming presence of Chinese products at home, the tax will
unintentionally make it easier for illegal Chinese items to further dominate
the local market, he explained. It is because Chinese-made jewelries are mostly
smuggled into the country and evade taxes.
Jewelry
companies are really in tough condition as they find it unable to import
materials while the prices of local materials are higher than those in global
markets, Long said. Furthermore, as enterprises are not allowed to borrow
money for gold purchase, the tax application will definitely deal a hard blow
to them, he noted.
While
other Asian nations attach importance to the jewelry industry and create
favorable conditions for its development, the local jewelry industry is now
facing hindrance from many State policies, Long remarked.
The
gold business association voiced the protest after VAFI had suggested
classifying gold bars and gold rings as items subject to the Special Tax
Consumption Law like beverages, automobiles and motorbikes as they are luxury
products that need to be regulated by the State.
Capital
for Long Son oil refinery project ready next year
Partners
in the consortium developing Long Son oil refinery project in the southern
coastal province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau are expected to secure capital for the
US$4.5-billion project by the end of next year, said a major stakeholder in
the project.
Kan
Trakulhoon, chairman of SCG with 28% interest in the project, told the Daily
on the occasion of the 100th birthday of his group in HCMC late last week
that shareholders would bear the responsibility of borrowing funds for the
scheme.
Reaching
consensus on the capital arrangement is an important step for the project
owners to develop the project and turn out products in 2018 as scheduled, he
noted.
Other
preparatory steps for the project are also being done smoothly, with more
than 400 hectares of cleared land area handed to project owners by the
provincial government in August, Kan said.
Similarly,
Qatar International Petroleum Marketing as the exclusive liquefied petroleum
gas (LPG) distributor of Qatar also signed a long-term contract with the
project owners to supply propane and naphtha for the grinding plant. PV Gas
under the Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam), meanwhile, is
committed to providing ethane for Long Son oil refinery complex.
SCG
now is a major stakeholder in the project, the others being Qatar Petroleum,
PetroVietnam and Vietnam National Chemical Group.
Long
Son oil refinery complex has a designed capacity of 1.4 million tons of
olefins with a flexible grinding technology using ethane, propane and naphtha
as input materials. It includes many other auxiliary components like a port,
a wharf, warehouses and a power plant.
With
the integrated grinding technology, the plant can make products such as
polyethylene (PE), polypropylene and vinyl chloride monomer for domestic
sale.
In
related news, the government of the central province of Phu Yen issued a
license on Sunday for the adjusted the Vung Ro oil refinery plant project of
Vung Ro Petroleum Co.
With
the adjusted investment certificate, the project needs roughly US$3 billion
compared to the registered capital of US$1.7 billion planned earlier, with
its capacity doubling the previous level.
The
project has a total area of over 1,000 hectares at Nam Phu Yen Industrial
Park in Dong Hoa District. It has an annual designed capacity of eight
million tons, turning out PE, benzene, toluene, xylene, propane and LPG among
other products.
Technologies
of new projects should face strict inspections
Assessing
technologies before granting investment licenses to industrial production
projects should be a compulsory regulation to avoid repeating the mistake of
attracting investment at any cost despite the harmful effects caused to the
environment, an official said.
At a
seminar on the draft amended Environment Protection Law in HCMC on Monday,
Ton Quang Tri, deputy director of the city’s Department of Industry and
Trade, said that the planning and investment ministry so far hadn’t regulated
technology assessment as a compulsory process when licensing an investment
project. That’s why the country is willing to lure investment at any price
and sacrificing the environment while competent authorities are only able to
tackle consequences later, he noted.
The
city’s authorities have recently asked the municipal departments of
science-technology, industry-trade and planning-investment to assess
technologies before issuing investment licenses to industrial production
schemes in the city, Tri said. However, he added that resulted in problems as
piloting the solution at some projects took too long, lengthening the license
issuance to investors. Besides, there is not any legal foundation allowing
relevant authorities to halt licensing when finding a project using backward
technology.
“Production
technology of industrial production schemes in HCMC is to meet labor demand
in the context that all projects make use of low labor costs and cheap power
prices citywide. Now is the right time to put factories with out-of-date
technologies under stricter management to avoid sacrificing the environment,”
Tri told the Daily on the sidelines of the seminar.
A
survey conducted a number of years ago by the science and technology
department at 800 companies at the city’s export-processing zones and
industrial parks unveiled that only 1% of the respondents used advanced
production technologies, 8% used good technologies and 40% applied average
technologies and 51% adopted backward technologies. It is noted that those
using old technologies include foreign-invested firms, according to the
survey.
A
report on the draft version of the amended law submitted to the National
Assembly by the Government on August 30 shows that the law issued eight years
ago exposes so many shortcomings.
Furthermore,
the renovation of policies designed to protect the environment remains slow,
failing to work in harmony with the market-driven economy mechanism. The
application of environmental taxes and fees only creates State budget revenue
while failing to minimize pollution actions and environmental deterioration
and boost green economic growth as expected.
Cement
price hikes projected to continue in Q4
Cement
prices will continue rising slightly in the fourth quarter due to higher fuel
and input material prices, the Building Materials Department under the
construction ministry forecasts.
After
eight months unchanged, cement prices picked up by VND90,000 a ton last month
under the impacts of power and material price hikes, the department said in a
report on the January-September production and sales situation sent to the
Daily on Wednesday.
Dang
Xuan Nhan, owner of a construction material store in HCMC’s Binh Tan
District, reported that cement volume consumed by civil housing construction
had risen since the start of last month compared to previous months.
Prices
of Ha Tien 1 cement products marked up by around VND120,000 a ton while
those of Holcim cement items also rose by VND100,000 a ton last month, Nhan
said. At present, cement prices of Ha Tien 1 and Holcim at building material
stores in the city hover around VND1.7 million a ton or VND85,000 a 50-kilo
pack, he noted.
According
to the Building Materials Department, the January-September cement sales
volume was estimated at 44.4 million tons, growing nearly 12% year-on-year.
In particular, cement exports totaled roughly 10 million tons in the
nine-month period, leaping 62% year-on-year.
The
local cement industry turns out about 66 million tons of products annually
while this year’s cement demand is projected at 56-57 million tons only.
As per
the department’s report, the number of local unsold cement products stays at
only 2.6 million tons, mainly clinker items, as production volumes of local
plants do not far exceed demand. Of the inventories that are equivalent to
two-week production volumes, Vietnam Cement Industry Corporation contributes
around 1.2 million tons of unsold products, including 0.3 million tons of
cement and 0.9 million tons of clinker equal to roughly 50% of the nation’s
inventories.
Besides
falling cement inventories, other construction material stockpiles also fall
in the context that local producers have carried out production based on
actual demand. Paving brick inventories are now 20 million square meters
while construction glass inventories stand at 12 million square meters at
home.
Loss-making
shipping firms to sell more vessels
Some
shipping enterprises have plans to sell more vessels before the
year-end to raise funds for their businesses.
Vinaship
Joint Stock Company will sell some ships with poor operations to supplement
working capital and restructure long-term loans at credit institutions. The
enterprise has incurred short-term debt of nearly VND356.8 billion while its
short-term assets are just VND120.4 billion.
Earlier,
Northern Shipping Joint Stock Company announced to sell Long Bien ship and
its barge fleet and return New Phoenix ship to Vinashinlines. From now until
the end of the year the enterprise will continue to sell more old ships to
balance its production and business scheme, and transfer some ineffective
projects.
The
enterprise expects to generate revenue of nearly VND371 billion but still
incur a loss of VND50 billion this year.
According
to the enterprises, the global economic crisis over the past two years has
dealt a hammer blow to the shipping industry. Shipping charges and transport
demands have declined strongly, seeing revenue and profits of enterprises
tumble.
However,
an expert in the industry said that shipping charges of some goods have been
stable this year while those for shipping rice, coffee and seafood have
declined sharply. In contrast, the demand for shipping apparel, footwear and
woodworking products has increased.
Another
reason for the heavy losses of the enterprises is that they have invested in
non-core businesses such as real estate, seaport construction and farm
produce trading over the past two years, the expert said.
Vietcombank
offers VND1 trillion of bad debts
Leaders
of Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam, or Vietcombank, have offered to sell
around VND1 trillion worth of book-value bad debts to Vietnam Asset
Management Company (VAMC).
However,
a source from VAMC said that the enterprise will buy only around VND500
billion worth of bad debts from Vietcombank before the end of the year.
Vietcombank
currently has the healthiest financial situation among State-owned banks in
the country, the source said.
Agribank,
which takes the lead in terms of total assets and network, has plans to sell
from VND5-10 trillion of bad debts to VAMC by the end of the year.
A
leader of the bank said that it could sell more to VAMC if there are no
problems in procedures. Meanwhile, VAMC targets to buy half of Agribank’s bad
debts.
Speaking
at a briefing in Hanoi City earlier this month, a leader of Agribank said
that the bank’s bad debt total was expected to be over VND33 trillion.
Last
week, Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV), which is said to
have a high bad debt ratio, asked its branches and transaction offices to
review bad debts that will be sold to VAMC. BIDV in a document sent to its
units told them to update debtors’ status, legal documents of loans and the
legality of mortgaged assets.
However,
BIDV and VietinBank have yet to set up bad debt lists and make official
offerings to VAMC.
Last
week, having worked with credit institutions in the country, the central bank
released a document on debt transaction. Banks that have debt ratio under 3%
and have no debt selling demand were told to explain bad debt situation and
handling measures to the central bank’s inspectors by last weekend.
According
to Viet Capital Securities Company, Vietcombank still maintained bad debt
ratio under 3% in the Jan-Sep period. Risk provisions of the bank totaled
VND3 trillion, up 17% year-on-year.
The
bank posted up credit growth rate of 3.9% during the period, or 5% if
corporate bonds were included. Meanwhile, its mobilization grew 6% against
earlier this year.
SBV
betters forex trading management
The
central bank will put stricter control over foreign exchange trading of 62
local commercial banks after launching Reuters Dealing, a system that
collects and extracts forex trading information on the inter-bank market,
into operation.
The
system was provided by Thomson Reuters under a contract signed between the
two sides in Hanoi City on Tuesday.
Right
after transactions are made, the system will count all inter-bank forex
transactions done via Reuters Dealing. The system has been used widely among
international banks to replace manual steps such as making transaction
reports, sending and summarizing these reports.
Nguyen
Dong Tien, deputy governor of the central bank, said that the system will
facilitate currency trading, support supervisors and secure healthy and
stable operation of the inter-bank market.
This
is also the foundation to evaluate effects of forex management policies, the
exchange rate and other policies of the central bank, he added.
Long
An leads Mekong Delta in industrial development
The
southern province of Long An leads the Mekong Delta region in industrial
development and investment attraction, with 16 industrial parks and 760
registered projects, attracting a total investment of almost 3 billion USD.
Of the
total, there are 251 foreign projects from 30 nations and territories with
capital totalling 1.7 billion USD.
The
fast development of industrial parks in the province over the past 15 years
makes it one of the country’s five leading provinces and cities in the number
of industrial parks.
The
province sees the operation of 145 foreign enterprises and 215 domestic
investors, creating jobs for over 70,000 Vietnamese workers and almost 1,000
foreigners.
At the
parks, internal and external businesses generated an export value of 428
million USD and over 50 million USD respectively, contributing over 25
million USD to the state budget in the 15-year period.
According
to Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Do Huu Lam, the management
boards of industrial parks give priority to resolving administrative
procedures to facilitate the implementation of investment projects in the
locality.
In the
coming time, Long An will continue to fully tap its potential and advantages,
while accelerating administrative reform, fostering investment promotion and
enhancing cooperation to further encourage socio-economic development.
FAO
asks private sector to support food-shortage trust fund
A
leading official of the Food and Agriculture Organisation has called on
private companies to further contribute to the worldwide effort against the
widespread food shortage.
"Many
of the companies that are here today are present in many countries. This is
important because what you do locally against hunger can quickly become
global", said FAO Director General José Graziano da Silva in a private
sector partnerships meeting held on October 10.
At the
meeting, the official announced that FAO has set up a multi-donor trust fund
to allow private sector companies to financially contribute to the
organization's work and support FAO projects and programmes. "I welcome
and encourage you to join this partnership and kick start this newly
established fund," he said.
He
explained that FAO members approved the Strategy for Partnerships with the Private
Sector, which focuses around five main strategic objectives. "These are
the areas where I would like us to work together."
Hakan
Bahceci, Chairperson of the Private Sector Mechanism (PSM) at the UN
Committee on World Food Security (CFS) in Rome, thanked FAO Director General
for giving representatives of more than 10.000 companies the opportunity to
meet and share priorities. He also expressed his support for the undergoing
transformation in FAO to enhance cooperation with the private sector. "We
share the five strategic objectives that FAO holds," he said.
This
is the second of a series of meetings with the private sector that started
last year and an effort to strengthen the working relationship that includes
the approval of a strategy and takes place in the framework of the Committee
on Food Security (CFS).
The
dialogue between FAO and the private sector has made significant progress,
including recent agreements with Rabobank Foundation and Grameen Foundation
to support smallholder farmers. Collaborations with long-term partners such
as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation are also expanding.
Graziano
da Silva underlined that although the new hunger figures recently released
show that undernourishment continues to fall and the latest estimates signal there
are nearly 26 million fewer hungry people in the world in 2013, "we will
need an exceptional level of collaboration between the public and private
sector to bring the hunger number down to zero and we need to work together
to make a significant change".
"Working
with the private sector is not only about receiving financial support, but
also benefiting from your dynamism, innovation and entrepreneurship at the
global, regional and national level," said Director General to
representatives of agri-food stakeholders ranging from trade, investment and
finance, food processing, livestock, bioenergy and crop production. He
stressed that the private sector was a key actor in building the political
consensus necessary to support the fight against hunger and highlighted the
importance of the sector's participation in the Committee on World Food
Security.
The
Director-Genral recalled that last year the CFS approved the Voluntary
Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and
Forests in the Context of National Food Security and expressed his hope that
a similar agreement could be found on the Principle for Responsible
Agricultural Investments. He noted that the Second Ministerial Meeting on
Food Prices held on October 7 had stressed the need to increase investment in
agriculture and the urgency of agreeing on the principles.
"Eradicating
hunger is about joining forces to scale up successful programmes and linking
actions for better results. In doing so, we need to work with small-scale
producers, helping them increase their production and productivity and
linking them to value chains and to functioning markets," he said.
Graziano
da Silva invited the private sector to support the upcoming International
Year of Family Farming in 2014 through joint advocacy, outreach and
communications campaigns with FAO. He pointed out that farmers themselves are
an important part of the private sector worldwide.
Central
bank wants bankers to settle gold loans
The
State Bank of Vietnam has told commercial banks to settle outstanding gold
loans early in a push to wipe the slate clean by the end of this year.
The
government is eager to prevent gold hoarding, a common habit among
Vietnamese, to boost liquidity in the fragile economy.
Banks
must actively negotiate with customers to either convert gold loans to dong
loans or repay them ahead of schedule, the central bank said.
Nguyen
Hoang Minh, deputy director of the central bank's Ho Chi Minh City branch,
said commercial banks in the city were yet to settle 150,000 taels of gold
loans (roughly 7 tonnes).
Despite
this, some industry insiders have claimed the amount of gold being kept in Ho
Chi Minh City banks is more than 45 tonnes.
Banks
reported only managing to cut two tonnes worth of outstanding gold loans
since early July, but claimed they were in active negotiations over
converting more into VND credits.
Southern
Bank, Sacombank, ACB, Eximbank, and VietA Bank are among the institutions
with outstanding gold credits.
According
to bankers, difficulties had arisen as gold lending contracts are primarily
long-term, while customers were understandably reluctant repay loans early.
Gold
lending contracts typically have terms of 10-15 years, while borrowers are
resisting making the switch from gold loans to dong loans as they are subject
to higher interest rates.
In
addition, many gold borrowers have found themselves in financial difficulty
resulting from the commodity's sharp price rise in recent years.
Meanwhile,
local lenders have all closed their position on gold deposits, having settled
deposit accounts worth 100 tonnes of gold by June 30, 2013.
To
date, the SBV has licensed 12 banks to provide asset-keeping services for
precious commodities such as gold.
Unlicensed
banks cannot provide gold-keeping services to new customers, but can keep
gold for existing clients who have yet to withdraw.
The
banks licensed to perform asset-keeping services are: Vietcombank,
Vietinbank, BIDV, Agribank, MHB, AB Bank, VietCapital Bank, BaoViet Bank,
TienPhong Bank, Lienviet Post Bank, ACB, and MB.
Source:
VEF/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/Dantri/VIR
|
Thứ Hai, 14 tháng 10, 2013
Đăng ký:
Đăng Nhận xét (Atom)
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét