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BUSINESS IN BRIEF 27/11
This will
be the first time the country chairs the meetings as chairman of the IAEA
Board of Governors.
The
meetings will take place from November 25-29, in
The TACC
will review the agency’s activities in the field so far this year and examine
a proposed technical cooperation programme for 2014-2015, including five
projects with
Meanwhile,
the plenary session will focus on the IAEA action plans on nuclear safety,
including its assessment report and forecast in early emergency response at
nuclear power plants, as well as inspection activities in the Democratic
People’s
The Board
of Governors generally meets four times per year in March, June, September
and November.
Since
joining the agency in 1978,
Ocean
Mart reheats retail market
Ocean
Mart, a subsidiary of Ocean Retail, on November 23 opened a new Starbowl
supermarket on
All of
the marts cover vast areas of up to 8,000 sq.m in favourable locations such
as
Before
the end of the lunar year, two more of its kind will be built, raising its
series of supermarkets nationwide to 70 by 2015.
Ocean
Mart advocates the supply of high-quality and reasonably priced products and
professional personnel in order to build a made in
Ca
Mau moves to attract more investment
The
southernmost
Since the
beginning of this year, the provincial Department of Planning and Investment
granted investment certificates to 13 projects with a total capital of 1
trillion VND (50.9 million USD) in the fields of health, sports, education,
seafood processing and forestry.
The
department also suggested the province set up a new list for investment,
especially focusing on infrastructure, to promote sustainable economic
development in the locality.
However,
Ca Mau meets difficulties in attracting investors. Most domestic projects are
small, thus yet to meet the locality’s demands. Meanwhile, from 2010-2012 the
province has lured only five foreign direct investment (FDI) projects with a
total investment of 9 million USD. The implementation of the projects has
been very slow and none of them has become operational so far.
The
reasons behind the situation are the geographical distance, the limitation of
infrastructure and the global economic crisis. In addition, the provincial
authorities have not taken breakthrough policies in attracting internal and
external investment.
In order
to overcome the difficulties, in the coming time Ca Mau will implement a
series of measures to improve its business environment, thus attracting more
investment into the province, said Mai Huu Chinh, direc t or of the
provincial Department of Planning and Investment.
The
department plans to have a meeting with domestic and foreign investors next
month to introduce projects as well as preferential policies on capital and
tax.
Ca Mau is
particularly seeking investment in transport infrastructure, agro-fishery and
tourism, especially eco-tourism.-
Nghe
An attracts over 700 million USD from ODA projects
The
central
Of that
figure, ODA capital accounts for 76 percent while the remainder is from the
Vietnamese side.
Nghe An
has so far this year attracted nine ODA projects in education and training,
agriculture and rural development, water drainage and hospital construction.
However,
problems have arisen in the implementation of such projects, such as the
province’s low budget, slow site clearance, poor management of ODA capital,
and a shortage of high-quality officials.
In 2014,
Nghe An plans to attract more ODA projects approved by the Government in line
with provincial priorities.-
Hai
Phong port handles most goods in northern, central regions
An
estimated 24 million tonnes of goods have been transported this year via Hai
Phong port in the northern city of the same name, generating 1.9 trillion VND
(90.5 million USD) and confirming the port as the busiest of the northern and
central regions.
As of the
end of October, the port handled 17 million tonnes of goods, including more
than 740,000 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) containers.
To reap
such an outcome, the port has proactively discussed everything with clients,
offered competitive fees and provided high-quality services.
General
Director of Hai Phong port Nguyen Hung Viet said that the managing board has
bettered infrastructure of the port’s Tan Cang terminal, equipped more
loading equipment and streamlined administrative procedures.
Tan Cang
terminal is part of the Dinh Vu port system, which is part of an expansion of
Hai Phong Port.-
FDI
companies in Vinh Phuc generate more jobs
The
majority of FDI enterprises in the
According
to the management board of industrial parks in Vinh Phuc, it is managing 114
operational projects including 77 FDI ones, equivalent to 84 percent of the
province’s total number of investment projects.
In the
first ten months of this year, local businesses have recruited around 4,000
new workers, which helps raise the number of labourers at the industrial
parks to 49,000 people. Of which, 44,700 at the FDI firms receive an average
monthly salary of 4 million VND (190 USD).
The
Republic of Korea–invested Daewoo Apparel
The FDI
firm always makes efforts to ensure the rights of its employees, observing
legal and safe production practices and quality meals for staff.
Thanks to
its bid to improve equipment and technology, Daewoo Apparel
Vina
Korea Co., Ltd is another outstanding example. Despite facing drastic
competition from Chinese and Indian partners, the RoK-invested enterprise
still affirms its position in the market of garment and textile exports.
The
majority of FDI businesses in Vinh Phuc underline investments in labour
safety and the improvement of working conditions for employees. These firms
have applied environmentally friendly and modern technologies to reduce
production costs.
To help
local businesses maintain stable production and attract labourers, the
province is striving to speed up the construction of social housing and other
social facilities for workers while continuing to perfect the infrastructure
of the industrial zones, especially electricity networks.-
Businesses
optimistic about
Businesses
are optimistic about
Conducted
in the fourth quarter of 2013, the 10th biannual survey, “Private Equity in
Up to 43
percent of the respondents had bright views on
The
survey also shows a sharp decline in negative outlook to 13 percent this
time, from 27 percent, 51 percent and 31 percent in the last respective
quarters.
In
particular, 46 percent of the respondents said they plan to increase their
investment in the country, while another 44 percent will maintain the current
level.
According
to the Foreign Investment Agency under the Ministry of Planning and
Investment,
Such
results are believed to indicate that investors have regained their confidence.
Nonetheless,
investors are still concerned about business obstacles in
Meanwhile,
red tape and cumbersome procedures are viewed as the second constraint by 76
percent of the respondents. These problems cause difficulties for not only
businesses but also the Government’s efforts against corruption.
The
survey also looks into such issues as investment allocation, hands-on
involvement with portfolio companies, and key factors to be considered when
investing.-
Countryside
inventor milks coconut success
Growing
demand for coconuts pushed a co-operative leader in the Mekong delta
Le Tan Ky
is the chairman of the VietGap co-operative, which provides pomelos and
coconuts for domestic and foreign markets.
He has
also earned a reputation for inventing an automatic coconut-shelling device.
These
machines have proved their worth by making production more efficient and
replacing traditional methods which were unsafe and slow.
"I
dropped out of school for military service, and then I left the army to
continue my studies. I had the opportunity to try various jobs in many
places. In 2009, I decided to return to my homeland to get involved in the
sale of pomelos and coconuts to buyers in
As things
settled down, Ky started to receive more and more orders, but he was unable
to process them quickly enough because everything was done by hand.
The
dilemma pushed him to invent a coconut sheller. After days of pondering and
experimenting with different ideas, Ky finally completed his machine.
At the
end of 2011, his coconut sheller was finally finished. The machine is 1.2m
high with two knives. The coconut is placed on six fixed pointed heads, and
with two sharp twists, the shell falls off.
According
to Ky, the main advantage is the speed of the machine.
"It
can cut open a coconut in 30 seconds. A machine costs 15 million VND, much
cheaper than those imported from foreign countries," adds
The birth
of the device has enabled his workshops to overcome the shortage of workers
and handle more orders. Ky has also registered to copyright his invention,
and he's excited by the interest he has received.
"I
have sold 13 machines in
Cu Van
Thanh, director of the Luong Quoi Co Ltd, has bought two of the machines.
"We
have only used them for a short time so it's hard to evaluate their
effectiveness. However, the initial results are good and it takes us half the
time to shell the coconuts than it does by hand, enabling us to meet our
orders with foreign partners," he said.
Ho Vinh
Sang, chairman of the Ben Tre Coconut Association, spoke highly of Ky's
invention and his commitment.
"The
annual coconut output of Ben Tre is 60 million. Farmers depend on different
varieties of coconut, and each has its different costs, so they must focus on
the kind of fruit the market needs."
"Domestic
entrepreneurs have made deals to export green coconuts which bring high
profits, but that means a lot of hard work. I hope this machine will speed up
the process, but I still think a few adjustments are needed to make it work
more effectively," says Sang.-
Teamwork
needed to improve fishing output
The
Fishery General Department reported remarkable growth in sea catches in the
April - September season despite extraordinary weather and the increase in
oil prices, with more than 1.5 million tonnes of seafood brought ashore, 4.24
percent above target.
Head of
the Aquatic Resource Exploitation and Protection Department Dao Hong Duc
attributed the growth to the establishment of fishing teams and co-operative
groups and the linkage between fishermen and logistics service providers.
Duc also
noted that many localities have encouraged their fishermen to use new fishing
technologies and provided them with more information about fishing grounds.
As the
October-March fishing season begins, local fisheries agencies are concerned
about unfavourable weather and high oil prices.
They
asked the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to give more
assistance to fishermen in terms of technical transfer and training in
upgrading ships and post-harvest preservation.
The
Fishery General Department said it will build an off-shore fishing master
plan and promote the model of “parent-subsidiary” ships among off-shore
fishermen.
Deputy
Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Vu Van Tam affirmed that marine
fishing has created sustainable jobs and income for thousands of Vietnamese
labourers, thus contributing to developing the country’s economy and
defending national security and sovereignty at sea.
Vietnam’s
authorities at all levels, enterprises, social organisations and people
should join efforts to take advantage of opportunities the Trans-Pacific
Partnership (TPP) agreement will create and overcome challenges brought on
from the agreement to promote the country’s economic growth, a senior
government official has said.
Minister
of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang told a recent conference in
Instead
of enhancing price competition, the enterprises should pay more attention to
promoting non-price competition through improving quality, design and service
of products, while applying advanced technologies and using skilled workers
in their production and business activities.
According
to Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Quoc Khanh, TPP member
countries have participated in 19 official rounds of negotiations, the last
one taking place in August this year. The negotiations are expected to wrap
up by the end of this year.
Khanh
affirmed that when the TPP is put into place,
In
addition,
To
overcome the challenges that will face the country once the TPP is realised,
it is necessary to take measures to support small and medium-sized
enterprises, while implementing effectively specific target programmes and
perfecting its social welfare system, said Vo Tri Thanh, deputy head of the
Central Institute for Economic Management.
There are
currently 12 TPP members including
They
account for 40 percent of global GDP and 30 percent of world trade.-
FMCG
segment rises in cities, unchanged in countryside
The
fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) segment remains unchanged in urban markets
while it experiences strong growth in rural areas, according to the market
research company Kantar Worldpanel.
In
particular, the FMCG market in urban areas has struggled to maintain growth of
11 percent while the market in rural areas had grown firmly with a rise of 14
percent in value, observes the company’s report quoted by The Saigon Times
Daily.
Kantar
Worldpanel made its survey during a 12-week period ending on October 6,
expecting the FMCG market to partly regain growth motives to continue the
high growth if the economic situation keeps showing positive signals from now
until the year-end.
According
to the enterprise, except for traditional markets, all major retail channels
had maintained double-digit growth rates.
Manufacturers
make huge investments annually in developing new products to meet the rising
diversified demand of consumers, said Kantar Worldpanel. This explains why
the speed of launching new products is pretty impressive, with one new item
introduced every two hours.
The
company studied shopping habits of consumers for over 100 types of FMCG at
2,350 urban households in
Meanwhile,
the study of nearly 300 new products of 25 big FMCG items in the last five
years indicates that a new product will attract one among 15 households or 7
percent of the total number and that 28 percent will purchase the item again.
Statistics
released by the General Statistics Office (GSO) on October 24 show that the
consumer price index (CPI) rose by 0.49 percent in Octover over the previous
month, led by a surge in food prices after flooding in central region and
adjustment in school fees. The figure represented a rise of 5.14 percent
against December last year, and 5.92 percent year-on-year.
CPI in
the country's two largest cities continued to increase in October due to
surging food prices after floods and heavy rain.
The GSO
said that the commodities price in
State-funded
construction investment will be accelerated and businesses will also expand
production to serve the year-end shopping season.
Sumitomo
red tape tangle delays power plant project
Three
years after announcing new investment in a coal-fired power plant in Van
Phong economic zone, Sumitomo Corporation remains engulfed in red tape.
A source
at
Because
Sumitomo Corporation registered to invest in the coal-fired power plant under
the BOT investment model, it needs to sign a BOT contract with MoIT before
being awarded an investment license for the project.
“We
informed MoIT we are ready to negotiate, but they responded that they had not
yet arranged time for the talks,” said the source. He added that all Sumitomo
could do now was to wait.
In
November 2009, Sumitomo officially announced it would embark on the Van Phong
1 Thermal Power Plant project in Khanh Hoa province’s Van Phong economic
zone. At the same time, the corporation also signed an MoU with the ministry
for developing the project. The investment was expected to cost $2.19 billion
at the current exchange rate.
According
to Sumitomo the power plant would include two 660-megawatt boiler turbine
generator units, supplying Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) over a period of 25
years. The power plant was slated to primarily use coal imported from
Initially,
Sumitomo aimed to complete plant construction and start commercial operations
in 2015. But due to the slow pace of negotiations, the corporation will
obviously miss this deadline.
In a
meeting with Khanh Hoa People’s Committee two weeks ago, Sumitomo announced
it expected to start the construction of the plant in April 2015, with
commercial operations to start in 2019, four years later than initially
planned.
Although
the investment plan has been delayed, the source said Sumitomo was still very
interested in the project because of the growing demand for power in the
country. So far, Sumitomo has already prepared negotiations with coal
suppliers and EVN for a power purchasing agreement.
Early
this year, Khanh Hoa People’s Committee announced it had spent around VND150
billion ($7.2 million) on land compensation and site clearance for the
project since 2010.
If this
project is implemented, it will be the second power plant Sumitomo has been
involved in
BIDV
listing likely in early 2014, value may deter investors
If
approved by the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange, BIDV may list in the first
quarter of 2014 under the trading code BID, noted a report from the Ho Chi
Minh Securities Corporation.
BIDV
submitted documents to be approved for a listing license from the exchange
(HOSE) last October. According to the Ho Chi Minh Securities Corporation
(HSC), once it gets the green light the bank would need three months of
preparation, and therefore there is a high likelihood the bank will list in
early 2014.
BIDV is
one of
Compared
to other top banks, including Vietcombank and Vietinbank, BIDV reported
strong business results in the first nine months of this year. It saw pre-tax
profits of more than VND4 trillion ($193 million), 86 per cent of the annual
target. Its bad debt ratio stans at 2.34 per cent, 0.61 per cent below that
of the second quarter.
Vietcombank
and Vietinbank’s non-performing loans increased in third quarter this year
from 2.4 to 2.98 per cent and from 1.46 to 2.46 per cent, respectively.
The HSC
forecast BIDV would take in profits of VND4.3 trillion ($202.4 million) this
year, a 9 per cent on-year increase and 90 per cent of the year plan. It
estimated the lenders credit growth at 17 per cent with bad debts of 2.5 per
cent.
In its
initial public offering (IPO) in December 2011, just under 85 million shares
were bought at an average price of VND18,483 per share. The bank plans for
the debut price to at least match 1.5 times its IPO value.
“If it
achieves this price level, the expected price-to-book ratio of BIDV will be
1.54x in 2013 and 1.42x in 2014, rather expensive compared to the average of
listed banks, 1.2x. If BIDV really wants to list at the IPO price, it will be
very difficult for the bank to attract investors,” the report concluded.
Ministries
bombarded with complaints
The
Ministry of Finance (MoF) and the Ministry of Industry and Trade faced public
adversity concerning the transparency of their decisions.
Vietnam
Petroleum Association (Vinpa) filed complaint to the Prime Minister, saying
that the Ministry of Finance has been wrongfully collecting VND350 billion
(USD16.8 million) of tax arrears from them.
According
to the MoF, a huge volume of commodities, which were temporarily imported for
re-export since early 2012, were converted for domestic use. The ministry
then issued a decree at the end of 2012 in order to force companies to pay
taxes for those goods.
However,
because
According
to Vinpa, they already made a balance sheet for 2012, so every excess cost
would have been added to 2013. The MoF's decision to collect tax arrears will
make other people think that firms are attempting tax evasion. Vinpa has
asked the MoF to return the money.
Recently,
Vinpa also made comments against MoF's decision to control the commission
fees for retailers at the highest rate of VND430 per litre. Vinpa said it
takes at least VND550 per litre for retailers to recover capital and make
some profits.
The
Ministry of Industry and Trade also encountered problems. In July, companies
opposed the plan to apply separate power prices for the cement industry
and the steel industry, which is 2% to 16% higher.
The
deputy minister of Industry and Trade said that cement and steel industries
consume over 10.5% of total energy produced, due to outdated equipment. In
response, firms pointed out that even electricity sector is also using
outdated technology and demanded fair treatment.
The plan
to separate power prices was later cancelled.
The 2013
Mekong Delta Economic Cooperation Forum (MDEC 2013) kicked off in Vinh Long
province on November 25 with Deputy Prime Minister Vu Van Ninh in attendance.
Addressing
the opening ceremony, Ninh, who is head of the Steering Committee for the
Southwestern Region, stressed that the forum aims to foster the linkage and
investment attraction between the regional localities with other cities and
provinces nationwide and abroad.
Through a
series of activities at the forum, the business community will see the strong
commitment of the 13 localities in the Mekong Delta region to build a stable
and attractive investment environment.
The
forum, held by the Steering Committee for the Southwestern Region from
November 25-28, also gives the chance for authorised agencies and businesses
to meet, select potential projects and exchange information and policies
related to investment to solve existing difficulties.
Through
the event, the region hopes to attract investors to 138 key projects worth
21.3 billion USD.
At the opening
ceremony, the committee granted investment licences to three projects with
the registered capital of 1.144 trillion VND (53.7 million USD) and gave over
719 trillion VND donated by businesses to social welfare activities like
building schools, hospitals and roads and presenting scholarships to
outstanding students in the region.
The
Mekong Delta region comprises of 12 provinces and one centrally-run city with
a total area of 40,000 square kilometres and a population of 18 million. It
is the largest granary of the country.-
Jewelry
management circular raises questions
Enterprises
in HCMC during a conference last Friday raised many questions over the
Circular No. 22/2013/TT-BKHCN on jewelry quality management of which many
were concerned that stricter rules would cause challenges to small firms.
Nguyen
Van Dung, chairman of the Saigon Jewelry Association, the organizer of the
conference giving instructions on implementation of the circular, said that
the circular will be the legal foundation to restore order on the gold
jewelry and fine arts market and protect benefits of consumers.
Vo Dinh
Lien Ngoc from the HCMC Department of Science and Technology said that the
circular will help reduce substandard gold on the market while managing
agencies will have the legal tool to tackle violators.
Earlier,
many gold quality measurement and examination regulations had been released.
However, agencies had met challenges in application due to inconsistency of
these rules.
A local
enterprise told the Daily that it is still unclear how substandard jewelry
already produced will be handled after the circular becomes effective. It
will be costly for enterprises to reprocess the jewelry products while
inspectors will have no foundation to define the manufacturing date of the
products to punish producers.
While the
circular will bring about benefits for consumers, a lot of small enterprises
will face challenges. In fact, most jewelry items produced by small firms are
substandard and have lower prices compared to those of large companies. If
small firms want to produce high-quality products, they have to raise prices,
and thus cannot compete with large firms, he said.
Tran Phi
Hung, owner of Tan Binh An gold shop in District 8, was concerned that there
would be differences between gold measuring scales of enterprises and those
of inspectors. In addition, it is time consuming for enterprises to test
their gold scales every week.
Can
Tho calls for investment in 27 projects
The
Mekong Delta city of
The city
is calling for investment to develop the infrastructure system in O Mon
Industrial Park (IP) on an area of 317ha with a total capital of 864 billion
VND (40.6 million USD), the second phase of Thot Not IP with an area of 400ha
and costing over 3 trillion VND (about 141 million USD).
It is
also encouraging investors to pour money into a high-tech agricultural area
in Thoi Lai district with an investment of 464 billion VND (21.8 million
USD), a plant for manufacturing agricultural machinery and engines with a
total capital of 570 billion VND (26.7 million USD), and a 30.12km road
project worth 10 trillion VND (470 million USD).
In
addition, the city invites investment in the Thot Not urban-industry-service
complex along the
In order
to facilitate investors’ operations in the projects, the city plans to issue
preferential policies on capital and the land rental.
It will
also provide financial assistance for investors when they participate in
promotion activities in the fields of investment, trade and tourism in the
locality.-
Mekong
Delta leaders on November 25 held a meeting with representatives of
diplomatic missions from 10 countries and territories and several
international organisations as part of the 2013 Mekong Delta Economic
Cooperation Forum in Vinh Long province.
Through
joint and group discussions, the Vietnamese officials briefed the guests on
the potential, strength and preferential policies of the region and each
locality within.
They
noted that despite great efforts to attract investment, the region has to
date received about 4 billion USD in official development assistance (ODA),
accounting for 7 percent of the total ODA capital that countries, territories
and international organisations have poured into Vietnam.
The
region’s foreign direct investment also occupies only 2.2 percent of the
total capital attracted to
During
the meeting, regional representatives expressed their wish for more foreign investment
to enable upgrading infrastructure, building schools and hospitals,
implementing projects to deal with climate change and developing an industry
based on the strength of agricultural products
The
Mekong Delta region comprises of 12 provinces: An Giang, Bac Lieu, Ben Tre,
Ca Mau, Dong Thap, Hau Giang, Kien Giang, Long An, Soc Trang, Tien Giang, Tra
Vinh and Vinh Long, and one city - Can Tho, with a total area of 40,000
square kilometres and a population of 18 million. It is the largest granary of
the country.-
Nearly
200 deals inked at agriculture, trade fair
Nearly
200 deals were made during the agriculture and trade fair that took place in
Tan An city of the Mekong Delta province of Long An from November 20-25.
The deals
together with 16 memoranda of understanding signed at the event totalled over
34 billion VND (1.6 million USD).
A wide
range of products from agriculture and seafood to machinery, timber products
and handicrafts were showcased by 165 domestic businesses at 334 pavilions,
attracting more than 72,000 visitors.
A number
of activities were organised as part of the event, such as seminars on new
kinds of fertilisers and farming techniques.
The fair
was held by the Long An Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and
the municipal Department of Industry and Trade.
Forum
seeks ways to develop safe food production
An annual
forum was held in
This
year’s forum, co-organised by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural
Development (MARD) and the International Support Group (ISG) is themed
“Market Development for Safe Agricultural Products”.
Speaking
at the event, MARD Deputy Minister Nguyen Thi Xuan Thu said that although the
safe vegetable trademark and certification has been developed in several
localities, this kind of product has not yet been widely consumed.
This
shows the insufficiencies in the production and supply chain, as well as
problems with technical standards, she added.
Experts
said
According
to the MARD Deputy Minister,
However
maintaining the projects once they are complete will be difficult due to a
lack of finance.
Thu
called for more international support in building a sustainable safe
agricultural production chain.
Statistics
from MARD’s Department of Processing and Trade for Agro-Forestry-Fisheries
Products and Salt Production show that
Despite
having a large diversity of vegetables, the area set aside for safe vegetable
production in
Farm
produce export earnings hit US$25 billion
Despite
market fluctuations and adverse weather, the agricultural sector’s export
earnings rose 1.5% in the past 11 months to US$25.25 billion, according to
the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
However,
the export of major export items such as rice, coffee, tea and cassava
decreased in both volume and value.
The
export value of key farm products was estimated at US$12.05 billion, down
11.3%, whereas seafood and forest product exports rose 9.1% and 24.4% to
US$6.11 billion and US$5.12 billion respectively.
The
biggest fall was seen in coffee exports, with 1.18 million tonnes shipped
abroad for US$2.51 billion, down 24.4% in volume and 24.8% in value.
Rice
exports also declined 16.1% in volume and 18.8% in value to 6.29 million
tonnes and US$2.78 billion.
On the
contrary, cashew nut, pepper, and wood processors maintained steady export
growth in the past 11 months.
Cashew
nut businesses exported 238,000 tonnes for US$1.49 billion, up 17% in volume
and 10.1% in value.
Seafood
exports secured an impressive growth rate of 9.1% to hit US$6.11 billion in
value.
The
Japanese
firms seek investment opportunities in Binh Duong
A
Japanese enterprise delegation led by Nakagaki Yoshihiko, Vice President of
the International Friendship Exchange Council of Japan (FEC), had working
session with
People's
Committee of
They
inquired into the local economic development over the years, requirements for
foreign investment and electricity supply for industrialization and
urbanization.
Le Thanh
Cung, Chairman of the provincial People's Committee, answered all their
questions and confirmed that the province is giving priority to the key areas
such as electricity, electronics, precision engineering, basic chemical
industry, and support industries, medical - pharmaceutical equipment, and
high-quality food processing.
He added
that the province is clearing about 4,000 ha of land for projects, mostly
involving Japanese businesses in 2014.
The
Japanese delegation made a fact-finding tour of the Investment and Industrial
Development Corporation ( Becamex IDC) in the province.
Currently,
Development
partners will continue to help
Development
Bank (ADB) at the 7th Aid Effectiveness Forum (AEF) in
The forum
is an annual event organised by the Ministry of Planning and Investment
(MoPI) on the threshold of the Vietnam Development Partnership Forum (VDPF).
Vice
Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen The Phuong spoke highly of
relevant agencies’ efforts in building and implementing the Busan Partnership
Document (BPD) and Vietnam Partnership Document (VPD) to make development
cooperation and aid more effective.
AEF-7
participants discussed
Donors
and foreign non-governmental organisations (NGOs) said although
They
discussed the medium-term plan (2014-2016),
They
agreed on the AEF’s message to the VDPF which is due to open in
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and Windows Phone mobile devices.
Currently,
Microsoft IT has deployed more than 50 applications on Windows Azure, manages
more than 40,000 email boxes and 18,000 personal Microsoft SharePoint sites
on Microsoft Office 365, and is expanding the number of employees who are using
Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online. Since its release in 2010, Windows Azure have
been deployed and implemented with the impressive global growth:
approximately 1,000 new Windows Azure signing up every day; over 50 per cent
of firms from Fortune500 list have deployed Windows Azure, and more than
200,000 customers currently using the Windows Azure platform .
Focusing
on development rather than the challenges of business, Windows Azure enables
businesses to create and store applications and services network with
flexible, quick, adaptable model. Business operation will be managed with the
skills and tools that software development teams and IT staffs already known
and deployed every day.
“Microsoft
has begun to deploy cloud services more than a decade ago. Currently,
thousands of cloud developers, millions of customers in more than 40
countries are using the services of Microsoft cloud computing every day,”
said Vu Minh Tri, country manager, Microsoft
The
Techdays 2013 highlight is the introduction and demo live shows of the new
operating system - Windows 8. . Not only collaborating with the partners to
launch the latest Windows 8.1 devices, the leading Microsoft experts also
demonstrated the advanced features of Windows 8.1 to business community and
end users in Vietnam.
Windows
8.1 will help to create simultaneous experiences for users whether they are
at work, at home or on the move. Windows 8.1 successfully demonstrates the
vision of
Windows
on personalisation, and at the same time strong commitments to meet the rapid
technological development demands. By releasing the Windows 8.1 Microsoft
has
marked a new wave of advanced devices for users and enterprise in terms of
features and flexibility for laptops , the productivity enhancement for
tablets, two or all-in-one devices. Most of the new devices will be
touch-based with power, battery life and design improvement, available in a
wide price range.
Trusted
by 40 million worldwide business client, Microsoft's Office 365 is the cloud
versions of the most trusted email, integrated with collaboration products
and unified features such as Exchange Online, SharePoint Online and Lync
Online which brings the productivity experience for users. Office 365 is
considered a perfect cloud solution, providing the best performance by
simplifying the way of communication with expertise sharing and deep
understanding of business as well as an excellent information browser.
By
deploying the new Office, business is able to enhance its strength to
transmit the influential experiences via computer, phone , Internet browser,
and boost productivity at present or in the future with the new productivity
tools. Despite of using traditional way on the server, with a modern yet user
friendly interface and many new features Office 2013 applications also have
the ability to sync with the "cloud ".
Office
2013 is designed to be intuitive, supportive for both Windows 7, Windows 8
and Windows 8.1 touch-based devices and PCs. The most obvious change in Office
2013, in addition to full touch-based devices support, is that closely
associated with the SkyDrive cloud storage service to avoid data loss risks.
SkyDrive allows users to access their documents on many different devices.
"Office
update and new version, will take into account productivity while maintaining
great flexibility for not only individual customers but also business client.
This is a cloud service, and it will shine when combining with Windows 8. In
fact, Windows and Office when combined together will not only serve the needs
of working and learning with the highest efficiency but also provide perfect
entertainment experiences for users," said Hong Phuoc Pham, chief
editor, Digimart Magazine.
Microsoft
SharePoint introduction is also another highlight of 2013 Techdays. This
solution is perfect for information sorting out, sharing and storage of
enterprise.
"Microsoft
SharePoint Server 2013 provides a comprehensive solution for information
connecting to allow users transforming their way of working while still
maintaining the benefits from process requirements, compliance, and current
IT infrastructure investment. At PV OIL, this solution is optimised to
respond to new work style, providing the user a user-friendly tools,
information consistency, team work environment and processes implementation.
It also becomes strong compatible platform for software supporting business
operation and manufacturing activities to deploy applications at PV OIL
system,” said Bui Dinh Dung, IT director of PV OIL.
Vietnam
targets US$67 bln in border trade in 2015
Vietnam
is striving to raise its border trade turnover to US$60 billion with China,
US$ 2 billion with Laos, and US$5 billion with Cambodia in 2015.
A
seminar, organized by the Ministry of Industry and Trade on November 26, the
Steering Committee for Border Trade said that the border trade between
Vietnam and its neigbouring countries in recent years has seen many positive
changes.
Vietnam’s
total export-import turnover through its border gates reached US$72 billion
from 2008 to last September, up 10% year by year.
The
Government and ministries have created favourable conditions for buying and
selling activities across the borders.
The
country’s imports and exports through the border gates in 2012 hit US$13.1
billion, up 27% compared to the previous year and accounting for 5% of its
total trade turnover.
Mekong
Delta receives investment boost
The
government of Vietnam will continue finalising policy and improving its
business environment to turn the Mekong Delta into a reliable investment
destination.
Deputy
Prime Minister Vu Van Ninh made the commitment at an investment promotion
conference in the Mekong Delta province of Vinh Long on November 25.
He told
700 domestic and foreign delegates attending the event that the Mekong Delta
has great potential for agricultural production, aquaculture, and sea-borne
economic development, citing its convenient transport system as one of its
advantages.
As of
September 2013 the region had attracted 802 operational projects capitalised
at US$11 billion, of which US$4 billion was in official development
assistance.
The
government has paid special attention to the Mekong Delta planning, by
building and upgrading its infrastructure constructions such as airports,
roads and seaports, as well as water and power supplies, making it easier for
investors to undertake projects.
As a
result, the region has achieved an annual economic growth rate of nearly 12%
over the past decade, with its GDP increasing three fold and annual per
capita income more than doubled.
However,
Ninh noted its development is not on a par with its potential, strength and
resources. Its economy has not developed sustainably and the quality of
growth, productivity and competitiveness is still relatively low. It has
therefore not managed to attract high numbers of investment projects,
particularly foreign directed investment (FDI).
To make a
breakthrough in development, the Deputy PM suggested the region should
diversify investment promotions, further improve its investment environment,
and speed up licensed projects.
In
addition, he said the Mekong Delta should make more flexible use of policies
to encourage investment into areas suitable for each locality’s potential and
strength. Priority will be given to infrastructure development, support
industry, bio-technology, processing industry, agricultural production,
tourism, services, and human resource training.
Ninh
assured investors that the central government will pour more investment into
the transport system, increase dialogue to address investor concerns, and
guarantee their legitimate rights in the region.
He urged
localities to minimise difficulties and barriers to help investors feel
secure in engaging in long-term business in Vietnam.
The
Mekong Delta Economic Cooperation Forum (MDEC) encompassed direct meetings
with future businesses, business portfolio introduction, and exchanges with
diplomatic corps.
Thirteen
Mekong Delta provinces appealed for VND416 trillion and US$1.89 billion in
138 projects. They also granted investment licenses to 126 projects worth
VND7,453 billion.
Source: VEF/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/Dantri/VIR
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Thứ Ba, 26 tháng 11, 2013
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