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BUSINESS IN BRIEF 17/11
VN,
The
consensus was reached at the sixth session of the Viet Nam-Kazakhstan
Inter-Governmental Committee on Economic, Trade and Scientific-Technological
Co-operation in Ha Noi on Tuesday.
During
the event, Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Le Duong Quang
spoke highly of bilateral relations between the two countries, especially in
trade and commerce.
He
said the visits of Government leaders had helped to open a new page in the
two countries' relationship.
In
order to facilitate bilateral ties,
The
Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade said that two-way trade had
experienced encouraging growth in recent years, reaching US$85.6 million in
2012, up 176 per cent year-on-year.
Over
the first half of this year, trade topped $74.7 million, surging over 200 per
cent against the same period last year.
In an
effort to create a legal framework for economic and trade co-operation, the
two nations have taken an initiative to start negotiations for a free trade
agreement between
They
have also accelerated co-ordination in tourism, aviation and investment with
the launch of direct flights from Almaty to
Firms
urged to plan for disasters
Most
Vietnamese businesses have ignored the necessary preparations to avoid and
reduce losses during natural disasters, according to experts.
"It's
time for the business community to increase awareness about how to manage
natural disaster's risks and in return support for society," said an
expert.
Nguyen
Thai Thuy Hoa, training manager of the Small and Medium Enterprises
Development Support Centre was speaking at a seminar held in
A
survey, carried out in 2011 by the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry
(VCCI) and the Asia Foundation, found that 85 per cent of businesses were
affected by storms, 45 per cent by floods and 12 per cent by whirlwinds.
"Most
businesses haven't paid attention to drawing up plans to manage the risks of
natural disaster. They should also be ready to support and assist the local
community as well," she added.
Around
57 per cent of Vietnamese businesses have not bought insurance for natural
disaster, 47 per cent have no plans to protect database and equipment, and 55
per cent have not thought about how to recover after a natural disaster.
Hoa
suggested that business leaders take the initiative and change awareness
about natural disaster's risk reduction by incorporating this in their yearly
business plans and corporate social responsibility strategy.
Next
week, a seminar on how to deal with natural disaster's risks will be held and
early next year, two training courses for enterprises will be organised,
along with consultancy support for businesses who want to make a plan.
"In
future, we will expand training programmes to all of Viet Nam; increase
information technology allowing enterprises to get more information; and
promote public-private partnerships and activities for natural disaster
risk-management, along with increasing social responsibility," Hoa
added.
The
HCM City Natural Resources and Environment Department has set up the
Enterprises Club Adapting to Climate Change in order to enhance the role of
enterprises in this endeavour.
The
club will exchange knowledge, skills and solutions to help each other cope
with climate change.
SSC
seeks extension for draft decree on derivatives market
The
State Securities Commission asked the Government to extend the deadline for a
draft decree on the derivatives market from the end of this year to next
year.
Although
While
the country's stock market has been operating for more than 13 years, there
is not yet a derivatives market. Such a market is expected to be introduced
in 2015.
Derivatives
include four main instruments: forward contracts, swap agreements, futures
contracts and option contracts. Currently, only stocks, bonds and fund
certificates are traded in
According
to chairman of the State Securities Commission Vu Bang as quoted by Dau Tu
Chung Khoan, the derivatives market would operate under the management of the
Viet Nam Stock Exchange merged from the two existing bourses.
The
commission proposed that only securities companies with minimum equity of
VND500 billion (US$23.8 million) and good financial status be allowed to join
the derivatives market.
Well-trained
human resources, a consistent and transparent legal framework and risk
control management are critical for the derivatives market's success, experts
said.
Vietnam-China
int’l trade fair in Lao Cai
The
13th
In his
opening speech, Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry Nguyen Cam Tu stressed
that the event is part of trade promotion program to promote cooperation in
economics, investment, tourism and services between the northwestern province
of Lao Cai (Vietnam) and the and the southwestern province of Yunnan (China)
in the economic corridor of "Kunming - Lao Cai - Hanoi - Hai Phong -
Quang Ninh ".
Domestic
goods on display include Thanh Kim wine, Tham Duong sticky rice, Lang Giang
eggs, agro-aqua-forestry products, machinery and equipment, and furniture and
handicraft products.
During
the fair, there will be exchanges between Vietnamese and Chinese businesses
and the signing of contracts estimated at US$240 million in total.
The
international fair will run until November 18.
Exports
to
Computers
and electronic products and components topped the list of key exports to
Malaysia, fetching US$882 million, followed by crude oil (US$785.3 million),
telephone and spare parts (US$501.5 million), rubber (US$367.1 million) and
steel (US$147.3 million).
In the
same period,
The
main goods imported from
As of
October 20,
Meanwhile,
Vietnamese investors are running nine projects worth more than US$800 million
in
Furniture
fair promotes locally made products
The
Vietnam Furniture and Home Furnishing Fair, called VIFA Home 2013, opened at
the Tan Binh Exhibition and Convention Centre in
It
aims to promote locally made furniture, home decor and handicraft products in
the domestic market.
VIFA
Home 2013, which will run until November 17, is of a bigger scale than last
year with the participation of 90 local firms displaying products in 435
booths.
On
display are indoor and outdoor furniture, outdoor garden decorations, gifts,
souvenirs, support services, handicraft items and lacquerware.
Huynh
Van Hanh, Deputy Chairman of the Handicraft and Wood Industry Association of
Ho Chi Minh City (Hawa), said sale of locally made furniture and handicraft
products in the domestic market has reduced significantly in the past years.
He
attributed the decrease to the slowdown property market, which accounted for
40% of the domestic wood demand.
With a
stable macro-economy this year as well as the Government's policies to warm
up the property market, recovery and growth should be seen from next year, he
said.
He
hoped furniture sales will recover in 2014 following the government's
measures to warm up the property market.
Vietnam,
EC step up support of SMEs
Minister
of Planning and Investment Bui Quang Vinh and Vice President of the European
Commission (EC) Antonio Tajani signed a Letter of Intent on fostering support
to small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in
Under
the document, the two sides will share their experience and policies to
support the expansion of the SME sector, as well as enhancing activities to
link domestic and EU firms together, with a view to promoting the
establishment and development of their linkage clusters and value chains.
Both
sides will also work together to raise their technical capacity to assist
SMEs, especially in high-tech applications, a strong point of the EU.
At an
earlier working session, Antonio Tajani, who is also Commissioner for
Industry and Entrepreneurship, said that many EU firms want to do business in
He
said SMEs have contributed greatly to economic development in
Minister
Vinh noted SMEs, which account for over 90% of the total number of firms in
Two-way
trade turnover between
As of
September 2013, the club had 1,800 valid investment projects in
The EC
Vice President is leading a business delegation on a visit to
On
November 12, he witnessed the inaugural of the EU-Vietnam Business Network
(EVBN) in
US$200
million ODA for Quang Tri’s East-West corridor
he
central
They
made up 32% of the total ODA projects and 52% of ODA capital in the province
in the reviewed period.
Among
the key large-scale projects investing in EWEC are the US$101.6 million Towns
Development Project in the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS), a US$123.6
million project on water sypply in Dong Ha city and adjacent areas, the
US$17.05 million Dong Ha Drainage and Wastewater Collection and Treatment
project, and a US$10 million project on water drainage and waste water
treatment system upgrade in Quang Tri township.
In
addition, more than VND150 billion in ODA was also invested in the
infrastructure development of the Lao Bao special trade and economic zone.
Goods
prices set for pre-Tet stability
The
prices of many key goods would stay unchanged in the months approaching the
lunar new year holiday, industry insiders have claimed.
The
reason behind this forecast is that people's purchasing power remains weak
and essential goods traders still have large inventories, they said.
According
to market research from Bien Hoa Confectionery Joint Stock Company (Bibica),
growth of purchasing power in the 2014 Tet holiday would represent a
relatively low growth rate of 5 per cent against last year.
"Customers
would be more selective in purchasing their goods," said Nguyen Quoc
Hoang, Bibica deputy general director.
Local
producers would be forced to focus on the quality of their goods and keep
selling prices stable, he said.
Hoang
said that this year, Bibica would increase confectionery output by 5-10 per
cent for the Tet holiday, lower than the 20 per cent figure of previous
years, in response to the lower purchasing power.
Vu
Vinh Phu, chairman of the Ha Noi Supermarket Association, said retail
revenues of goods and services in the first nine months of this year rose 5
per cent, a marked dip on last year's 6.5 per cent surge.
The
total value of goods for an average supermarket shop currently stands at
VND230,000, considerably lower than last year's VND270,000, said Phu, adding
that volume of goods had also fallen.
The economic
downturn would have a knock-on effect on consumption during the 2014 Tet
holiday, Phu said. However, some popular Tet goods such as pork, chicken,
vegetables and fruit would likely increase by 5-10 per cent in selling price,
while 30 per cent of confectionery would be cheaper due to their large
inventories, Phu said.
Ha
Noi's demand for certain foods and vegetables could surge by 20 per cent in
the month before Tet, the Ha Noi Industry and Trade Department said.
It
further predicted that total retail sales of goods and services were expected
to increase by 15-18 per cent to VND38 trillion (US$1.8 billion) against
other typical months.
PM
opens up to world credit ratings
National
agencies will provide more information to international credit rating bodies
to ensure accurate representations of
Currently,
no ministry or organisation in
Accordingly,
information needed to calculate the national credit rating will be handed
over, based on recommendations from ratings organisations in accordance with
The
mentioned information includes general socio-economic information, fiscal
data, monetary and banking data, external economic information, plus
political and other socio-economic information.
The
decision states that socio-economic general information includes mid-term and
long-term strategies, as well as annual solutions for socio-economic
development.
Data
on economic growth, national income, income per capita, savings ratio,
investment ratio, inflation, population, jobs and unemployment will also be
provided.
Ratings
agencies will also be able to access fiscal information such as policy and
mid-term financial budget plans; State collection, spending and budget
balance data; SOE reforms; Government debts; provisionary Government debt
liabilities; public debt and external national debt.
Monetary
and banking information on exchange rates, interest, compulsory reserves and
open market operation (OMO); performance of the State Bank of Viet Nam,
credit institutions and restructuring of the banking system; balance of
payments, foreign currency reserves, credit, non-performing loans (NPLs) and
strategies to reduce them will also be available.
External
economic information covers import-export figures, trade balance and overseas
remittances. Political information includes Government policies and
directions; Government personnel;
Under
the decision, the PM also calls for stronger co-operation between relevant
ministries and agencies to better implement the task.
Relevant
agencies will have to report the aforementioned information periodically to
the Ministry of Finance, which will be in charge of working with global
ratings agencies to sign agreements on providing relevant data and ensuring
agencies publicise the country's credit ratings, while making recommendations
on the issues at hand.
The
finance ministry will also co-operate with Government Offices; the ministries
of Planning and Investment, Foreign Affairs and Industry and Trade; the
National Committee on Financial Supervision and the State Bank of Vietnam, to
meet and provide socio-economic information for international investors,
financial and export credit organisations, plus ratings agencies to ease the
country's capital mobilisation in the global market and raise the national
credit rating.
In
addition, the Ministry of Finance is expected to launch a State-run credit
rating agency (CRA) next year in a move to create a government-run
institution able to reliably rate the country's stocks and companies.
The
purpose of the CRA will be to judge how likely it is that a company is able
to meet its financial obligations. It is projected to be backed by VND15
billion (US$714,000) in capital and will rate both private and State-owned
corporations, as well as financial, banking, insurance and non-financial
institutions.
Trade
deals can handicap farmers
Six
years after
Thu
said the sector had a trade surplus for years, even during economic
slowdowns, but still faced challenges. These included low competitiveness and
low quantities of value-added products.
Thu
blamed this on a shortage of proper studies, planning and legal or technical
support - as well as outdated policies.
As
part of free-trade agreements (FTAs) signed with 15 nations and economic
communities since 1996,
For example,
tariffs on products such as beef, dairy products and rice has been slashed
from 10 per cent to zero.
In
2011,
At a
workshop held on Wednesday by the agricultural ministry and Beyond WTO
Programme, the director of the
He
said this was likely to happen after 2020 if modern technology and systems
were not introduced because tariff elimination would help foreign products
enter the country with ease.
Last
year,
During
2000-06 before
However,
according to the agricultural institute, tariff elimination will eventually
help lift the export value of four key products - rice, vegetables and fruit,
cattle and dairy products as other farm products decline in value.
Meanwhile,
the cost of economic integration is being felt as the prices of materials
such as fuel and fertiliser increase. This will make production, particularly
of fish and aqua farm products, more expensive.
In the
past five years, the cost of fertiliser has more than doubled, helping push
the cost of producing rice up 120 per cent. The increase in fuel prices have
pushed the average cost of farm production up by 35-40 per cent.
Son,
the director of the agricultural institute, said that to cope with the
impacts of integration, the country needed more investment to process and
export agriculture products.
He
said that at present, support for farmers and enterprises was mostly
concentrated on production. However, they still lacked market information,
narrowing access to potential buyers.
He
said that more links should be established between farmers and trade
enterprises - and that public-private partnerships should be promoted.
According
to the report,
Do
Thanh Liem, chairman of Khanh Hoa Sugar Joint Stock Company, said that the
sugar industry provided jobs for about 1.4 million people, most of them
low-skilled manual positions. This was a barrier to the introduction of
higher technologies.
"Vietnamese
farmers are finding it hard to adapt to changes brought about by so much
integration, which has caught many of them unaware," Liem said. He
suggested more time was needed to prepare for any further changes.
The
report Assessments of impacts of implementation of WTO and regional
commitment on agriculture and rural development is part of the Beyond WTO
Programme funded by the Australian Agency for International Development and
the UK Department for International Development.
It
aims to strengthen Government capacity to manage
Product
quality causes concern for online shoppers
Only 5
percent of online shoppers in
According
to a study carried out by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, product quality
is the most worrisome factor when shopping online with 77 percent of those
surveyed complaining.
They
said that in many cases, the products they received were not as good as the
advertised ones they ordered online, according to the survey, which
questioned thousands of online shoppers from cities nationwide.
Meanwhile,
40 percent of them doubted the reasonability of prices, 38 percent were not
satisfied with the delivery service and 31 percent were worried about the
confidentiality of their private information while making online
transactions.
Aside
from the products themselves, 29 percent of those surveyed complained about
the complexity of the online ordering process, while 20 percent questioned
the professionalism of websites.
The
findings of the survey, entitled "Revision of e-commerce development in
According
to the survey, as many as 36 percent of
The
most common online products are clothes, footwear, cosmetics, high tech
devices, household appliances, air tickets, food, books, cinema tickets,
hotel bookings and games.
The
ministry in August established a portal to help consumers identify
trust-worthy e-commerce sites as well as provide a blacklist of sites that
have failed to provide good business practices.
According
to the ministry, the portal updates the list of trusted e-commerce websites,
which must register to offer e-commerce services and are required to meet
standards established by the ministry.
It
said customers can see if the websites are labelled with SafeWeb, a standard
system in e-commerce transactions in
According
to the draft, 350 billion VND (16.6 million USD) from the State budget will
be used for building a national e-payment portal, developing an integrated
e-commerce payment card and an online transfer management system.
The
money will also be utilised to help train enterprises in e-commerce and to
enable them to participate in trading floors inside and outside the country,
building online shopping solutions for small and medium companies, developing
e-commerce applications on mobile devices and improving on-line trade marks
for Vietnamese products and services.
The
upcoming 11th Vietnam International Trade Fair (Vietnam Expo 2013) in
More
than 300 firms from 15 countries and territories will display their products
at the event, scheduled for December 4 – 7.
Running
concurrently, the
Over
the past years, despites the world economic slowdown,
Since
2008, the country’s FDI has always stood at around 10 – 11 billion USD.
Aquaculture
exports buoyed by shrimp shipments
Of the
total, shrimp exports top the list with 2 billion USD, almost double the
firgure of tra fish.
Thanks
to the hike of 2-4 USD per kilogram in export price, the monthly average
export turnover of shrimp at from January to September enjoyed a surge of
from 19-66 percent year-on-year.
The
sharp increase was also attributed to a remarkable decrease in supply to the
Total
export turnover touched approximately 108 billion USD in the past 10 months,
higher than the annual figure of the years prior to 2011, the Vietnam
Government Portal reported quoting sources from the General Statistics Office
(GSO).
The
figure was estimated at 131 billion USD for 2013, soaring 14.4 percent
against last year, it said, adding that export has demonstrated itself as an
outstanding field, a momentum and a gateway for the economy.
Export
turnover of raw materials declined by over a third in 2005-2010, according to
the GSO. Specifically, crude oil export fell from around 18 million tonnes in
2005 to 9.25 million in 2012 (50 percent) and over 5.94 million in the first
10 months of 2013. Coal export dropped to over 9.8 million tonnes in
January-October in 2013 from 32.1 million in 2007 and 15.2 million in 2012.
According
to initial statistics, export turnover of raw materials and primary
commodities stood at 32.1 billion USD in the first 10 months of 2013,
representing almost 30 percent of export revenue, down around 4.5 percent
against the same period last year.
Especially,
coal witnessed the sharpest decline of 29.1 percent; followed by coffee 23.9
percent; rice 16.9 percent; crude oil 14.2 percent; and rubber 13.7 percent.
Meanwhile,
export of processed products valued around 75.9 billion USD, occupying over
70 percent of total export revenue and surging 26.3 percent against the same
period last year.
Overseas
shipments of telephones and spare parts, computers, chemicals, suitcases,
umbrellas, garments and textiles, and footwear were higher than the general
growth rate of 15.2 percent.
Of the
products, high-tech commodities gained higher growth rate and made up a
considerable proportion. The group of product earned over 35.44 billion USD,
making up 32.8 percent of total export revenue and picking up 44.2 percent
against the same period last year.
The
foreign direct investment sector contributed greatly to the shift in export
line structure as they mainly operate in high-tech and processing industries.
Experts
suggested the domestic sector seize the opportunities and accelerate the
development of the support industries in order to generate more jobs and
reduce heavy reliance on imports.-
Textile
exports weave stellar 2013 performance
Pham
Xuan Hong, deputy chairman of the Vietnam Textile and Garment Association
(Vitas), said the textile and garment industry, despite many challenges in
production and business, was one of the two industries reaching more than 10
billion USD in export value for this year's first nine months.
Hong
said the industry expected to achieve an annual growth rate of 15 percent in
export value for the year thanks to the Government's export promotion
policies and the textile and garment enterprises' efforts.
As a
result, it will add 1 billion USD to its initial export value target to bring
the industry's total export value to 20 billion USD for the whole year.
Nguyen
An, general director of the Saigon Garment Production and Trading Joint Stock
Company, said the company found new partners at a fashion fair held in the US
in August and it expected to get new export orders and expand production by
year's end.
In
addition, the localisation rate for export products has increased to 40-50
percent against the previous year's 20-30 percent, Hong said.
This
caused imports of material and sub-materials to fall, an advantage for the
textile and garment industry in export activities once
The
industry has paid attention to investment in design, production and new
production technology to improve the quality and value of those products.
However,
Hong said local producers must compete with rivals from other countries, such
as
Local
producers have also faced difficulties in sourcing and importing material and
sub-material for making textile and garment products due to competition with
other countries in the region.
The
Ministry of Industry and Trade's statistics show that in the first nine
months of this year, the textile and garment industry earned an export value
of 13 billion USD, up 18 percent from the same time last year.
The
US, the EU, Japan and the Republic of Korea are the biggest importers of
Vietnamese textiles and garments, with exports to these markets accounting
for 49, 15, 12 and 9 percent of the industry's export revenue, respectively.-
The
Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs’ Overseas Labour Management
Department, said, in the first ten months of the year,
Dao Cong
Hai, Deputy Head of the department, said the local labour export market has
been extremely slow this year, which came partially from the of South Korea
closing its job market to Vietnamese workers, which affected an estimated
13,000 in this country. In the last months of the year, 7,000 Vietnamese
labourers would have to be sent overseas in order to to fulfill the goal.
An
expert from the labour export sector raised doubts concerning the Overseas
Labour Management Department’s statistics between January and October,
especially statistics focusing on Vietnamese workers sent to
According
to the department, as many as about 4,550 Vietnamese workers went to
He claimed
that if the figures about labourers sent to
According
to a journalistic survey of some labour export firms, despite paying
different fees to the companies, many labourers have to continue to wait on
administrative procedures to be completed for months. This happens very often
in
For
Many
officials from Vietnamese labour export firms said the situation will not
improve in 2014. A general director of a labour export company in
One
reason it is difficult for Vietnamese workers to compete with those from
other countries, such as
At the
same time, “Airfare from
Sanyo
gauges plant sale deal
Japanese-owned
Sanyo OPT
According
to Nguyen Anh Quyen, head of the Bac Giang Industrial Zone Authority, Sanyo
OPT
Another
source from the authority, who declined to be named, told VIR the firm was
negotiating to sell its assets to a subsidiary of Panasonic, Sanyo OPT
Global’s largest shareholder.
Sanyo’s
factory opened in 2009 at
According
to Quyen, Sanyo was the province’s largest investor and was a good,
law-abiding company. The company attached special importance to building a
business culture and looked after its employees. Its workforce peaked at
7,000.
In its
notice suspending operations that was sent to authorities, general director
Hiroyuki Mita said “We very much regret our inability to continue operations
in Bac Giang. We have made this decision for reasons that are beyond our
control.”
Quyen
praised Sanyo’s behaviour despite the shutdown. “Sanyo acted graciously,
particularly in supporting the interests of its workers. We will provide as
much support as possible in their transfer of the business,” Quyen said.
Under
Vietnamese law, a project shall have 12 months to be transferred to another
entity since the date of stopping operation. The government can extend the
hand-over period to 24 months maximum.
84
delegations to take part in Tea Festival 2013
Eighty-four
delegations, including 3 foreign ones, will take part in the Second Thai
Nguyen Tea Festival 2013 from November 9-11.
The
Festival features a wide range of activities including a tea culture
festival, Thai Nguyen tea carnival, a workshop on tea products and investment
promotion, and a
Particularly,
the
Concurrently,
at this event, two records of Thai Nguyen tea will be announced, namely a
national record for “The most popular tea” and an international record for
"One of the best gifts in
The
second Thai Nguyen Tea Festival is held to introduce and honor Thai Nguyen
tea and tea growers, tea products and culture of Thai Nguyen tea in
particular as well as Vietnamese tea in general.
It
will contribute to the preservation and promotion of the tangible and intangible
cultural values of Thai Nguyen tea.
Vietnam
dong the third best performing currency in Asia
Citing
figures from Bloomberg, the CEO of HSBC Vietnam Sumit Dutta said that
He
said in a business luncheon with members of foreign associations in
By
August according to information given by HSBC, the Indian rupee had weakened
by 15.47% against the dollar, while the Indonesian rupiah depreciated by
12.68%. Meanwhile,
Trinh
Nguyen, an economist of HSBC, said that there were two reasons making
She
told the Daily that it was mainly because the Government had maintained such
policies as increasing interest rates and controlling credits since 2011
which dampened the domestic demand and also the import demand.
Secondly,
foreign capital flowing into
Although
“In
short term,
She
also said that in her opinion, the worst of
HSBC
forecasts from now to the end 2014,
Early
this week, a report of ANZ on
HSBC
has revised down its projection on
HSBC
also expects
While
ANZ in the recent report estimated foreign reserves of Vietnam at around
US$32 billion, HSBC forecasts foreign reserves of Vietnam would be US$30
billion by the end of this year and US$35 billion by the end of next year.
Local
firms have yet to fully tap
Speaking
at a seminar on Vietnam-South Africa trade and investment held on Wednesday
in Can Tho City, Adrian du Pisannie, first secretary of the South African
Embassy, said that two-way trade between the two countries has grown well in
the past years with steady export-import turnover rises year after year.
While
two-way trade was US$195 million in 2007, it rose to US$623 million last year
and is expected to hit US$1 billion in the next one or two years.
However,
Up to
60% of
According
to South African Ambassador to Vietnam Kgomotso Ruth Magau,
Explaining
the low export volume, Nguyen Truong Thinh, director of Luong Thoi Coconut
Processing Company Limited based in
According
to Le Minh Truong, director of Song Hau Food Company,
Although
Since
2010, Luong Quoi Coconut Processing Company Limited has exported 1,000-1,500
tons of grated coconut to
“We
will negotiate with some partners in
PPPs
foster sustainable agricultural growth in Vietnam
Public-private
partnerships (PPP) may be a good solution to attract private domestic and
foreign investment in agriculture in Vietnam, an official has said.
Vietnam
has set up a public-private task force on sustainable agricultural growth
which has shown considerable results over the past three years.
A
meeting was held in Hanoi on November 4 to review the implementation of five
commodity working groups after a three-year implementation period. The
meeting drew the participation of officials from the Ministry of Agriculture
and Rural Development (MARD), international organisations and officials from
15 trans-national groups such as Nestle, Unilever, Pepsico and Metro Cash
& Carry.
“This
is a really good chance for Vietnamese agriculture and the sector should
fully utilised it to intensify cooperation with foreign partners and bring
high quality Vietnamese products to the world market,” said Dr. Dang Kim Son,
Director of the Institute of Policy and Strategy for Agriculture and Rural
Development (IPSARD).
To date,
Metro Cash & Carry has built up a fish supply chain in Vietnam. Fish from
the Mekong Delta represents 60% of volume of METRO fish assortment.
It has
set up the Can Tho fish platform, which serves 19 METRO Cash & Carry
Vietnam stores nationwide. It has also trained and certified over 400 farmers
and collectors and ensured a basic income for farmers of VND9 million
(USD425.83) per month at the peak time.
As
Vietnam has a surplus of rice but is still an importer of corn and soybeans,
the commodities working group has been lobbying MARD to realise a plan to
convert 100,000 hectares of low yield rice fields in the northern mountainous
provinces to corn and soybean crops.
In
2013 about 1,000 ha of low output rice land has been covered to corn,
specifically in Lao Cai and Yen Bai provinces, providing farmers with incomes
five to six time higher than they previously earned.
In the
Mekong Delta, the task force has successfully converted 2,200 hectares of
rice to corn, and farmers earned VND9 million (USD425.83) per hectare, much
higher than what they earned growing rice, just VND2 million (USD94.63) per
hectare.
Meanwhile,
the tea task force aims to help increase annual tea procurement in Vietnam by
Unilever to 30,000 - 35,000 tonnes of Rainforest Alliance (RA) certified tea.
The
first phase of the project, from 2011 to 2012, has already helped quadrupled
import quantities from Vietnam to 12,000 and improved their quality. They
target to export between 30,000 and 35,000 tonnes of fully RA certified tea
by 2015.
In order
to increase the efficiency of the coffee supply chain, a coffee coordination
board was set up on July 31, 2013 with the membership of MARD, Ministry of
Industry and Trade, coffee firms, local authorities and coffee growers. The
board has helped map out development policies for the sector and desires to
create trade promotion programmes.
The
Global Sustainable AgroForestry Fund has been working closely with MARD to
ensure realisation of the ambitious goals of the 2011-2015 Green Growth
Strategy, which aims at transforming Vietnam’s agricultural sector to be able
to create a 20% reduction in emissions, 20% reduction in poverty and 20%
increase in growth.
“PPPs
have the potential to give the development of professional supply chains a
boost and ensure sustainable development of all stakeholders,” Son added.
Savills
denies Keangnam home owners’ accusation
South
Korea’s Keangnam Vina, developer of Vietnam’s tallest skyscraper, has been
accused of illegally using Savills to register apartment sales by a group of
apartment owners.
Buyers
also claimed they had signed purchasing contracts directly with Keangnam
Vina, which was confirmed by both sides.
The
Ministry of Construction requires every property transaction be made via an
authorised transaction centre.
Nguyen
Thi Hang Nga, a lecturer at the Justice Institute under the Ministry of
Justice and the group’s representative claimed that the transactions between
the customers and Keangnam were not valid as they weren’t done via a
transaction floor.
She
also noted that documents showing the transactions were done via Savills’s
trading floor were questionable as at that time, Savills had not even been
licensed to open a trading floor.
A
representative of Savills, when contacted by VIR, insisted they had followed
regulations. Nguyen Dieu Hong, director of the Savills Trading Floor also
said the buyers’ claims were untrue.
As the
exclusive agent for Keangnam’s Landmark Tower, Hong said Savills signed a
Residential Sales Agent contract with Keangnam Vina on January 25, 2008 and
provided the contract details and filing number.
“The
contract includes marketing and sales, initially provided services, and
marketing methods,” she explained.
Accordingly,
Savills was responsible for all sales activities and administration procedures
while potential buyers directly contacted Keangnam for information, selecting
an apartment and signing contracts.
“Savills
took part in crucial steps including confirming the selected apartments,
requisitioning, preparing and submitting documents, preparing documents on
deposits and managing payments,” she said.
The
owner group believed it was Keangnam, not Savills as was reported, that
signed the required advertising contract announcing apartment sales in
Vietnam Economic Times and Hanoi Radio Television. This, they said, violated
regulations and they doubted whether Savills was even involved at all in the
sale of apartments at that time.
Hong
said that the contract between Keangnam and Savills stipulated the latter as
the consulting agent for promoting the developers’ products as well as the
required notices of sale.
“All
advertising costs were signed under the developer’s name and they handled
implementation. Savills’ role was consultancy and preparation but all
documents were finally signed by Keangnam,” she added.
“According
to the contract which identifies Savills as the exclusive sales agent,
Savills is responsible for all sales activities. In this case, although
customers work directly with the developer, Savills is responsible for
organising the procedures mentioned,” she added.
Source:
VEF/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/Dantri/VIR
|
Thứ Bảy, 16 tháng 11, 2013
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