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BUSINESS IN BRIEF 20/1
Ministry
maintains fuel prices
The
Ministry of Finance on Wednesday sent a document to domestic fuel wholesalers
directing them to maintain the current retail prices of petrol as Tet (Lunar
New Year) approaches.
The
ministry's calculations show that the retail prices of petroleum products are
currently lower than the base price by VND52-VND849 per litre.
Companies
have been asked to sell gasoline and kerosene without making any profit,
while the profit on diesel has been cut from VND300 per litre to VND250 per
litre.
The
move is aimed at stabilising the price of fuel, with the intention of
preventing food price hikes before the Lunar New Year.
The
ministry has also directed wholesalers to stop claiming money from the price
stabilisation fund for selling diesel. Moreover, the subsidy on kerosene was
slashed from VND890 per litre to VND520 per litre.
Local
petroleum wholesalers said they are suffering losses amounting to VND605 per
litre of fuel sold to consumers. In addition, they are losing VND52 and
VND849 per litre of diesel and oil sold, respectively.
BIDV
lends Vinatex $600m
The
Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam (BIDV) has signed an
agreement to lend the Viet Nam National Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex)
US$600 million in the period 2014-16.
The
agreement was signed on Wednesday in the central coastal
Vinatex's
borrowing resources include a short-term loan of $250 million and a medium
and long term loan of $350 million.
The
loans will be used for improving the efficiency of its production and
business operations in order to prepare for
Tran
Bac Ha, chairman of BIDV's management board, said that with BIDV's support,
Vinatex in particular and the Vietnamese textile industry in general will
prepare carefully for the participation in TPP.
At the
signing ceremony, Vinatex expressed its intention to build a weaving and
dyeing factory, manufacture 60 million products a year and invest $30 million
to construct eight to10 factories for manufacturing and export.
It
also plans to build a chain of supermarkets and direct selling in the
province's
Tran
Quang Nghi, general director of Vinatex, said that the corporation requires
$600 million to add to the working capital of its member companies and to
construct a textile complex in the province.
He
said that he expects the localisation rate of the textile industry to reach
60 per cent in 2015 and 70 per cent by 2020.
Leather
and footwear firms set to increase exports
The
leather and footwear industry exported goods worth US$10.3 billion last year,
an increase of 18 per cent over the value of exports in 2012.
Last
year's export value of footwear products was estimated at $8.4 billion, 15
per cent higher than the previous year, while the export value of handbags
surged 26 per cent from the previous year to $1.9 billion, according to the
Viet Nam Leather and Footwear Association(Lefaso).
Ngo
Dai Quang, director of the Viet Nam Leather and Footwear Research Institute,
was quoted by the Thoi bao Kinh Doanh (Business Times) newspaper as saying
that the exports of
Regarding
the
As the
industry increased the use of local inputs for production, it only paid $3.7
billion for raw material imports last year, which widened the trade surplus
to $6.6 billion, noted Nguyen Duc Thuan, Lefaso's chairman.
Local
firms are expected to export more products this year due to a growing trend
of shifting export orders from
Several
large companies, including Nike and Adidas, have increased orders in
To
benefit from preferential tariffs under various free trade agreements and the
Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement, several foreign companies of ancillary
industries have also made investments in
Thuan
said local firms would strive to expand investments, increase production
scales and improve the quality of their products to compete with
foreign-investor-driven firms in
The
export markets of
Currently,
the country is also targeting new export markets, such as Eastern Europe
countries, the Middle East and
Debt
collection efforts needed
Deputy
Prime Minister Vu Van Ninh has asked tax officials to continue designing
policies that reduce the difficulties faced by businesses and promote growth
in 2014.
Speaking
at a conference on Tuesday to review the success of tax collections in 2013,
Ninh said it is necessary to classify debts clearly and outline plans to
collect and settle persistent debts.
He
said increased efforts should be undertaken by those responsible for the
taxation system to prevent fraudulent transfer pricing, limit tax refunds and
hasten administrative reforms.
Efforts
should also be undertaken to apply information technology in tax management
and improve staff training, he noted.
Tax
officials and organisations should also continue to encourage coordination
with others and enhance dialogue with enterprises, he stressed.
According
to Bui Van Nam, General Director of the General Department of Taxation, in
2014, efforts will be made to exceed the target for state budget collections
by a minimum of 5 per cent, while intensifying tax inspections in at least
14.65 per cent of the total operating enterprises.
Efforts
will also be undertaken to enhance the control of tax refunds in accordance
with the law, especially in the case of value-added tax.
The
tax department will also strive to provide access to an e-tax service for 90
per cent of business taxpayers to enable them to submit their declarations
online,
He
said that negotiations for double taxation avoidance agreements with other
countries and territories will also be stepped up. There will also be greater
transparency in investments, equipment purchases and staff recruitment.
According
to the General Department of Taxation, VND676.696 trillion (US$31.8 billion)
was collected as tax in 2013, equivalent to 105 per cent of the target and
112.7 per cent higher than the tax collected in 2012.
Of the
total tax, the tax collected from crude oil sales was VND120.436 trillion
($5.64 billion), while domestic tax collections were VND556.260 trillion
($26.144 billion), equivalent to 102 per cent of the target and 17.8 per cent
higher from 2012's figure.
Forty-seven
of the 63 localities nationwide accomplished their targets, while tax arrears
collected after inspections amounted to nearly VND13.2 trillion ($602.4
million). The reduction in losses was estimated at VND11.4 trillion ($537.21
million), the department noted.
As of
November 30, 2013, 52 per cent of all tax debts had been collected, the
department added. A debt increase of over 30 per cent was seen in as many as
30 localities, while seven localities experienced a decline.
Foreign
investors dominate retail
Vietnamese
retailers risk losing the domestic market, which will soon be dominated by
foreign ones, the Lao dong (The Labour) newspaper reported on Wednesday.
Currently,
Officials
at the Ministry of Industry and Trade, say that the domestic commodity market
will see a growth rate of 14 per cent on average this year and next.
Looking
at projections for 2015, total retail sales through modern distribution
channels will have risen to 40 per cent, while traditional channels will
retain the majority, with 60 per cent.
Insiders
say
New
additions to the Vietnamese retail market from overseas, such as Lotte Mart,
Aeon, and Parkson, illustrate the increasing appeal of the market.
Aeon,
one of Japan's leading retail groups, recently opened its first branch in
Viet Nam at the Tan Phu Celadon Mall in HCM City's Tan Phu District. The
second branch, at the Binh Duong Canary mall is expected to open in October.
Established
Malaysian department store chain Parkson, recently opened its ninth outlet in
Do Van
Binh, chairman of Song Bac Joint Stock Co. said under the agreements of the
WTO, as of January 11, 2015, Viet Nam will allow foreign retailers to set up
businesses with 100 per cent foreign capital.
Moreover,
when
However
this will pose risks and challenges for Vietnamese businesses.
Vu
Vinh Phu, chairman of the Supermarket Association, said when TPP comes into
effect, domestic businesses must actively reinvent themselves to improve the
quality of their products and lower their prices to increase competition, if
they do not want to lose domestic market to foreign retailers.
But
similarly, Vietnamese businesses will be able to access advanced management
technology brought over by foreign retailers, he said.
Some
domestic retailers are increasing their expansion plans, such as the Ha Noi
Trade Corporation (Hapro) and Fivimart. By 2020, Fivimart plans to open 30
outlets throughout the country.
Imported
flower prices inch up at Tet
Due to
prolonged cold weather, local fresh flower prices are expected to rise
sharply for the Tet holiday, at up to 15-20% year-on-year, while a mild rise
in the prices of imported high-class flowers is foreseeable.
Nguyen
Hoang Xuan Danh, sales and distribution director of Dalat Hasfarm, said that
his firm still maintains the prices of imported flower species as normal.
According
to Danh, local demand for fresh high-end flowers is rising. Dalat Hasfarm’s
sales volume reached some three tons of flowers in the previous Tet, which is
expected to soar by two tons this year. Therefore, Danh’s company has
continued importing high-class flower varieties from the
Hoang
Ngoc Khoa, manager of the high-end flower store chain Flower Box, informed
that his enterprise has still imported foreign species like last year,
including
Flower
prices at Flower Box stores before Tet are stable compared to normal days,
exclusive of some rare species posting price hikes of 10-20%.
Trademark
strategy for
An
economist has called for a trademark strategy exclusively designed for the
Mekong Delta, plus a string of comprehensive policies ranging from planning,
investment, production to market connectivity in a bid to improve its brand
recognition both at home and abroad.
Tran
Huu Hiep, head of the Economics Department under the Steering Committee for
the South-western Region said at a workshop in the southern city of
As the
leading Vietnamese area in terms of rice, seafood and a variety of well-known
fruits, the Mekong Delta earns its reputation for such key brand names as Cho
Dao fragrant rice, Lo Ren star apple, Phu Quoc fish sauce, not to mention its
processed tra and shrimp products.
Regional
firms, which fail to make their own brands known, have fallen behind their
rivals in export markets.
Participants
pointed this to the fact that the Mekong Delta has yet to identify any
potential product or service that needs stronger investment. Added to this,
its enterprises tend to operate on their own, leading to weak connections
with their partners to establish strong trademarks.
Duong
Quoc Xuan, deputy head of the committee, said regional firms and localities
should learn more about building a trademark identification system via the
event.
He
urged the National Office of Intellectual Property to offer relevant
information while evaluating intellectual properties. According to him, there
should be a mechanism to protect and develop intellectual assets in the
region.
The
workshop was a joint effort between the Ministry of Science and Technology’s
National Office of Intellectual Property and the Steering Committee for the
South-western Region.-
Experts propose
border trading to enhance rice export
Following
the difficulties in rice export in 2013, experts are suggesting that border
trading could be a way for the sector to flourish in 2014.
According
to the Vietnam Food Association (VFA), last year the country shipped abroad
6.68 million tonnes of rice for nearly 2.9 billion USD, down 1 million tonnes
over 2012.
However,
the actual rice amount that
According
to Truong Thanh Phong, VFA Chairman, the difficulties encountered by
Vietnamese rice exporters last year were due to decreasing demand from
traditional markets in Southeast Asia. In the last six months of 2013,
Furthermore,
a high rice global inventory was another reason behind the drop in Vietnam’s
export, he said, noting that Thailand’s 2013 inventory was about 5 million
tonnes, while that of Indian was even higher.
In the
context of dramatic decrease in imports in Asian markets,
At the
same time, Vietnamese enterprises still purchased rice with high prices in an
effort to ensure at least 30 percent of profit for farmers, causing high
export prices and decreasing Vietnamese rice’s competitiveness against
Experts
predict that rice export will still face difficulties in 2014 due to both
price and quality, requiring changes in the rice sector.
According
to Lam Anh Tuan, Director of the Thinh Phat Food Company from the Mekong
Delta
Tuan
proposed that the Government design more support policies allowing enterprises
sell rice abroad through way of border trade when the inventory is high and
global prices fall.
Sharing
Tuan’s opinion, VFA Chairman Phong said despite difficulties posed by border
trade with high risk of trade fraud as well as tax refund and balance, the
method is also effective to ensure rice sales.
Besides,
VFA
also suggested that authorised agencies in localities increase communications
among farmers on decreasing the cultivation of low-grade varieties.
According
to Dr. Pham Van Du, deputy director of the Department of Cultivation under
the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the ministry instructed
localities to limit the cultivation of low-grade rice varieties to 5 percent
of total acreage, while encouraging enterprises to collaborate with farmers
to develop rice material areas and form rice production chains to increase
rice value.
Although
She
revealed that the ministry is also strengthening trade promotion to help
Vietnamese rice access new markets. The ministry also recommends enterprises
to be more active in expanding rice material areas to produce high quality
rice to ensure rice provision to partners.-
Hundreds
projects given go-ahead on Phu Quoc Island
The
Mekong Delta
The
authorities of Phu Quoc island district have introduced many policies to
solve difficulties facing investors and enterprises operating in the
locality.
Phu
Quoc has proposed that the Prime Minister establish a Phu Quoc Economic Zone
and issue clear guidelines for the development of the island.
Accordingly,
investors running projects on the island will receive the highest support for
industrial parks, export processing zones and economic zones.
During
the 2014-2015 period, investment will be poured into building the transport
system on the island, including a major axis connecting the northern and
southern sections with roads around the island, in addition to an airport and
a seaport. There are also to be a number of projects on socio-economic
development, health care, education and the urban environment.
Investors
in and outside the country are also being encouraged to inject money into
building waste and sewage treatment systems, high-quality hospitals, and
training centres for the trade and tourism sectors.
Work
to protect the environment and deal with climate change and rising sea levels
in connection with tourism development will be promoted during the period.
Kien
Giang province’s authorities will also focus on amending, adjusting and
completing plans to strictly manage land resources suitable with its
socio-economic development plans.
Industry-trade
ministry urged to remove difficulties for businesses
Prime
Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has instructed the Ministry of Industry and Trade
(MoIT) to give a shot in the arm to local businesses in 2014 as economic
restructuring continues apace.
Addressing
MoIT’s New Year conference in Hanoi on January 10, the PM said the ministry
should focus its full attention on introducing policies that assist the
building of domestic brands and fully develop support industries, thus
increasing the technological and local content of made-in-Vietnam products
and allowing a step by step switch from subcontracting and assembling to
designing and manufacturing.
PM
Dung suggested that the “Vietnamese people using Vietnamese goods” campaign
should be further expanded, while the ministry must play a more active role
in negotiating free trade agreements (FTA) and popularising already-signed
deals so that domestic enterprises can make full use of the available
preferential treatment.
He
also demanded that the ministry strengthen market management in order to curb
the abundance of fake goods, trade fraud and smuggling, while ensuring the
supply-demand balance for essential commodities.
The
leader noted that the application of a market pricing mechanism on
electricity, coal and petrol should continue to be implemented in line with
the set roadmap in a transparent manner, taking into account the need to keep
inflation under control. At the same time, there should be appropriate
policies to support the poor and beneficiaries of social welfare.
The
Government leader commended the MoIT for the work it had done in 2013 in the
context of the economic downturn. He said the ministry’s efforts have
resulted in quarterly increases in industrial production and sharp decreases
in inventory index. The domestic market has maintained a healthy growth while
exports have surpassed the set targets.
According
to reports at the conference, the industrial production index saw a 5.9
percent rise in 2013, compared to 5.8 percent in 2012. Total retail and
services revenues for the year rose by an estimated 12.6 percent from the
previous year. The country earned more than 132 billion USD from exports, up
15.4 percent from the 2012 figure and higher than the yearly target set by
the National Assembly.
The
ministry is resolved to continue with institutional reforms and completing
the legal framework for the industry and trade sector with the goal of
creating a fair business environment in line with the socialist-oriented
market economy and international practice.
Sustainable
development of export is also high on the ministry’s working agency for 2014,
together with restructuring industrial production and developing support
industries.
Rattan
exports hit 225 million USD in 2013
The
exports of the rattan industry climbed to nearly 225 million USD last year,
according to statistics from the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
The
ministry said that
The
Nevertheless,
The
Mekong delta city of
The
goal is 150 million USD higher than that in 2013, according to the municipal
Trade and Industry Department.
Duong
Nghia Hiep, vice director of the department revealed that the city plans to
export 1 million tonnes of rice, 140,000 tonnes above the volume recorded in
2013.
Rice
exporters have been directed to push up promotion activities and seek more
outlets in Asia, Africa, the European Union and
Meanwhile
rice businesses have invested heavily in modern processing, polishing and packaging
technology to raise the quality of their exported rice.
They
have proactively dealt with foreign customers and consumers to better serve
their needs.
In
seafood, Can Tho plans to sell 200,000 tonnes of mainly shrimp and tra fish
abroad, 30,000 tonnes higher than 2013’s figure.
In
order to increase the added value for the product, the city has reinforced
the monitoring of the quality and safety of exports to meet stricter
requirements of foreign markets.
The
city plans to expand its aquaculture area to 14,000 hectares along with
working with localities in the
Can
Tho has trade relationships with over 80 countries and territories from
across the world. Besides the traditional markets of
It is
currently leading regional localities in per capita income, with 62.9 million
VND (2,989 USD), 357 USD above last year’s level.-
TPP
lures swarms of garment producers
An
element of the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement is helping
Under
the TPP’s ‘yarn forward’ rule of origin, to be eligible for a 0 per cent
import tax rate – instead of the existing 17-20 per cent - all manufacturing
processes including yarn spinning, knitting, and dyeing must be carried out
in a TPP member country.
The
department’s deputy director Do Minh Tuan said Hong Kong’s Black Peony is
planning to build a $100 million jeans factory at
Development
Company and
In the
middle of last year, TAL director Roger Lee told
In
another report, in 2013 Quang Ninh authorities worked with
In
July 2013, Texhong started operating its $200 million first phase fabric
plant in Quang Ninh and began construction on its $400 million second phase,
to become operational within this year.
Quang
Ninh is not the only locality attracting foreign garment and textile firms.
Hyosung
president C.H. Lee Hyosung said this was to better serve the needs of
In May
2013, South Korean textile and garment maker KyungBang inaugurated a $40
million high-quality cotton yarn factory with 25,920 spindles in the southern
“Once
these factories are fully operational, other textile and garment firms will
be able to source input materials in
Hoa, a
Viet Capital Securities Company senior analyst who recently compiled a report
on the TPP’s potential impact on
According
to the report, if the rule is carried out,
At
current,
The
General Statistics Office reported that
The
TPP is expected to be signed in 2014 and is a multilateral trade pact of the pacific
region with 12 member countries including Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile,
Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the US, and Vietnam.
Once signed, the pact will cover nearly 40 per cent of global gross domestic
product.
BIDV
announces new timeline for HoSE listing
On
December 31 the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HoSE) announced it had
approved the listing documents for the Bank for Investment and Development of
Vietnam (BIDV). The bank will still need to finalise the documents to be
officially listed on the exchange.
A BIDV
representative said the bank was now finishing the documents and that details
will be officially announced at an appropriate time.
The
announcement comes as one in a series of delays in the listing of BIDV.
Observers expected the lender would be approved for listing in November 2013,
after filing its documents in October and that it would list within 90 days
of this approval.
According
to HoSE regulations, once a company’s documents are officially approved it
must list within 90 days.
As
such, if BIDV completes its final documents within January, as expected, it
must list by April at the latest.
The
bank completed a set of the documents over a year ago in September 2012, but
was asked to supplement additional information before receiving approval to
list and in
January
2013, the bank announced it would delay its issue due to unfavourable market
conditions.
BIDV’s
listing has been long awaited by the HoSE because of the large volume of
shares to hit the market. It is expected to become a pillar of the VN-Index,
together with GAS (PVGas), VCB (Vietcombank), MSN (
The
bank held an IPO in late-December 2011 at a price of VND18,600 ($0.88) with
the planned debut price to not be lower than 1.5 times that of the IPO price
– VND27,800 ($1.32).
However,
a report in mid-November 2013 by Ho Chi Minh Securities Company (HSC) argued
that BIDV’s IPO-based listing price would be a hard sell to investors.
HSC’s
estimation was based on BIDV’s business performance from the third quarter
2013 where its Price to Book (P/B) ratio was 1.54 with an expected drop in
2014 to 1.42, much higher than the average P/B of listed banks, at 1.2.
Currently,
BIDV shares on the over the counter market are going for around
VND13,000-16,000 ($0.62-$0.76). Vietinbank and Vietcombank stand at similar
levels with
January
3’s share prices at VND16,300 ($0.77) and VND 27,200 ($1.29), respectively.
Key
criteria for awards is transparency
This
year’s event was rolled out in
The
theme “Corporate Governance towards Sustainable Development” intends to
encourage listed firms to improve their business reports and the overall
quality of published materials on corporate governance, no matter how they
perform this management. As usual, norms, transparency, professionalism and
creativity continue to be the major focus of the awards.
The
competition is for all annual reports from enterprises listed on both the Ho
Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) and Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX). To enter, the
reports need to have been submitted to both of the country’s stock markets
and cover the 2013 fiscal year.
This
is the seventh year that the event has taken place with HoSE and VIR’s sister
publication Dau tu Chung khoan (Securities Investment) as joint organisers
and fund management company Dragon Capital as the sponsor.
At the
press conference to launch the event, VIR’s Editor-in-chief Dr. Nguyen Anh
Tuan said the competition would see two new points.
Judging
in the preliminary round will involve in-depth analysis on the contents of
the reports. It will focus on corporate governance reporting, especially
regarding community outreach and sustainable development.
Secondly,
starting from 2014, preliminary round marks will have a greater impact on the
final results, with the new proportions being 20 per cent and 80 per cent, respectively.
The
judging panel will consist of five members instead of a previous seven and
include representatives of World Bank arm International Finance Corporation
(IFC) who will continue their involvement.
This
year will also see a new award for the best corporate governance reporting,
in addition to the official Top 10, Top 30 and Top 50 awards.
HoSE
deputy CEO Tran Anh Dao said the organising committee expected the listed
companies to pay more attention to corporate governance reporting so that
they could build a firm foundation to deal with today’s economic
uncertainties.
Regarding
the Sustainability Reporting Awards (SRA) first introduced last year, this
year’s programme continues to see the IFC and the UK-based Association of
Chartered Certified Accountants’ (ACCA) participation. SRA aims at
encouraging listed companies to publicise issues related to the environment
and society, as well as to raise awareness over sustainable development.
SRA
also serves as preparatory ground for listed companies as
Nguyen
Viet Thinh from PricewaterhouseCoopers, chief of the SRA judging team, said
the assessment was based on how companies incorporate sustainable growth into
their business strategy.
Pham
Nguyen Vinh, business development director at Dragon Capital, the exclusive
sponsor for the programme over the past six years, said “This year’s
introduction of corporate governance awards is another milestone following
last year’s introduction of the sustainability reporting awards.”
This
year’s entries must be submitted to HoSE and HNX by April 21. The preliminary
round will finish by May 30 and final round completed not later than June 20.
The awards ceremony will be held in mid-July.
The
He
added that it had cost over VND200 billion (over $9.5 million) to build the
store and to install equipment, along with VND100 billion spent on stocking
product. Saigon Co.op’s Can Tho City Trading Company partner invested in
SCID
general director Nguyen Thi Tranh said another Saigon Co.op department store
would open in the nearby Mekong Delta
Saigon
Co.op and Mapletree Investments Pte Ltd (Mapletree), a fully-owned subsidiary
of
SC
VivoCity will feature up to 72,000 square metres of retail space, embracing
the attributes of
German
retailer Metro however is seeking buyers to sell it
Aeon
seeks to rapidly open more
Aeon,
At the
Aeon Mall Tan Phu Celadon grand opening in
Okada
said one of the key targets of Aeon in
“For
example, since our Aeon Mall Tan Phu soft opening on January 1, we’ve seen a
need to rapidly expand the parking lots here. One more thing is we need to
quickly develop our second and third malls in
The
second one is set for opening this October in nearby Binh Duong province, and
the third in
When
asked about Aeon’s specific strategies to deal with fierce competition in the
Vietnamese retail sector where foreign popular players have been operating
for years, Okada said: “We have our own strategies, whatever other retailers’
strategies are.”
The
first Aeon shopping mall in
one-third
are Vietnamese products, and the rest are other imports.
Aeon’s
$135-million Vietnam arm’s cores are retail, developing shopping malls, GMS,
export and import business.
The
group in 2013 shipped about $60 million worth of Vietnamese products to
Tax
department failure hurts energy project
The
Mong Duong II BOT Power Project has faced difficulties in importing process
because of a bureaucratic failure which has seen the contractor waiting
months for a $17.52 million VAT refund.
The
AES-VCM Mong Duong Power Company Limited, the investor in the Mong Duong II
BOT Power Project, has just sent a document to the Ministry of Finance (MoF)
and Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) raising difficulties it has faced
in importing goods for construction of the project due to late value added
tax refunds.
According
to the company, the Quang Ninh Department of Taxation agreed to a VAT refund
of VND230.29 billion ($10.97 million) in October, 2013.
The
department then agreed in December last year to provide an additional VAT
refund of VND137.5 billion ($6.55 million) to the company, bringing the total
refunded VAT the company was entitled to up to VND367.7 billion ($17.52
million).
According
to regulations on VAT refunds, companies should wait no longer than three
days, but this deadline has been ignored by both the local authority and the
General Department of Taxation.
David
Stone, managing director of the AES-VCM Mong Duong Power Company Limited,
said that the Quang Ninh Department of Taxation explained that the VAT refund
had been delayed as it exceeded the department’s tax refund budget for the
fourth quarter of 2013.
Therefore,
the department sent a proposal to the General Department of Taxation (GDT) to
supplement Quang Ninh’s tax refund spending limit.
Stone,
however stressed that the late VAT refund made it difficult for the company
to continue importing goods for the project due to cash flow problems caused
by the delay.
“The
project is now at its peak period, with construction and testing activities
to be carried out which need capital to pay contractors. In November and
December in particular, the company needed VND140 billion for payments,” he
added.
To
overcome these difficulties, while awaiting the GDT to resolve the issue, the
company also proposed the GDT allow it carry on with imports without having
to make VAT payment on the goods. He also asked that the company not be
subject to penalties for late VAT payments.
However,
this proposal was rejected by the General Department of Customs which said
that this was impossible and that the company must pay tax in accordance with
existing regulations, despite the department flouting its own legally
specified deadlines.
Profits
soar for Vietnam Airlines
The
domestic aviation market witnessed a strong rebound last year thanks to 21
per cent growth in passenger numbers and fierce competition between state
giant Vietnam Airlines and budget carrier VietJetAir.
National
flag carrier Vietnam Airlines is the only one of the country’s existing four
air carriers to have announced its 2013 business results so far, and despite
the tough business climate and limited airport infrastructure, the national
airline fared fairly well.
Vietnam
Airlines reported a 62 per cent increase in profits, totalling VND140 billion
($6.6 million), this was despite revenue standing at VND54.1 trillion ($2.5
billion) tantamount to 98 per cent of the company’s set target.
In its
core field of transport services, the airline saw marked improvements,
handling 14.71 million passengers, including 8.77 million local travellers,
up 17 per cent.
“The
efficient use of our resources reflected significant improvements, with
passenger numbers up 5.9 per cent and seat occupancy rates 2.8 per cent
higher than planned,” said Vietnam Airlines’ chairman Pham Viet Thanh.
Thanh
said with a seat occupancy rate surpassing 81 per cent on inland routes,
Vietnam Airlines had steadily developed in the recent years. With a near 50
per cent share of the passenger market on international and local routes,
Vietnam Airlines’ business indices were an important gauge of the Vietnamese
aviation market’s performance in 2013.
Statistics
by the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam (CAAV) showed that Vietnamese
air carriers transported an estimated 29.5 million passengers and 630,000
tonnes of freight last year, representing a 16.7 per cent and 19.6 per cent
on-year increase, respectively. A total of 14.5 million passengers flew on
domestic routes, a 19.3 per cent leap against 2012.
According
to Minister of Transport Dinh La Thang, last year had been a good year for
the domestic sector. The minister cited private budget carrier VietJetAir’s
announcement in the third quarter that the firm was already profitable.
CAAV
forecast the domestic aviation market would grow at a double digit rate this
year thanks to a rosier global economic outlook and
Thanh
added that market competition had ramped up as low-cost VietJetAir was trying
to garner a bigger market share via route and cabin crew expansion.
Construction
starts on StarLake
A
source from Tay Ho Tay Development said that the first infrastructure systems
will be started in March this year. The whole project’s infrastructure is
estimated to take two years to complete, while the first low-rise villas will
open in the fourth quarter of 2014.
In
November last year, the developer received a $200 million cash injection from
the Korean Development Bank for the project’s first phase, thus far totally
invested by Daewoo E&C.
According
to a high ranking official from the developer, the cash will enable Daewoo
E&C run the project over the next two years and have its infrastructure
systems up and running immediately after getting land clearance from the
Hanoi Municipal People’s Committee.
Hanoi
Municipal People’s Committee Chairman Nguyen The Thao said that StarLake,
which is expected to be complete by 2016, will make a significant contribution
to the capital’s landscape. However, the project has faced difficulties for
many years, including a lack of capital, zoning changes and land clearance
compensation. Thao now claims that the issues have been overcome.
StarLake
requires a total investment fund of around $2.5 billion and is planned to be
a modern, environmentally-friendly urban area by 2019, housing 25,000
residents. The project will include a promenade, parks, trees and lakes
alongside the more traditional urban structures, as well as 25 hectares of
open space devoted to public activities and a headquarters building.
The
developer hopes it will be a cultural hub and an international, commercial
and financial centre.
The
project spans the Tay Ho, Cau Giay and Tu Liem districts of
It
also plans to link up with a range of other key projects in
Source:
VEF/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/Dantri/VIR
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Chủ Nhật, 19 tháng 1, 2014
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