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BUSINESS
IN BRIEF 13/3
Vietcombank
to exceed credit limit for PVOil
Prime Minister
Nguyen Tan Dung has approved a proposal under which Vietcombank can grant
credit exceeding currently prescribed limits to the PetroVietnam Oil
Corporation (PVOil) and affiliated parties this year.
A report in the
Thoi bao Ngan hang website (Banking Times) yesterday said the move aimed to
support stable development of the nation's oil and gas industry.
The decision
enjoins State Bank of
Vietcombank, a
partly-equitised bank in which the State has a 77.11 per cent stake, will be
responsible for all the loan agreements that it signs with PVOil.
The report said the
loans will provide additional working capital that PVOil, a state-owned oil
marketer under the Viet Nam Oil and Gas Group (Petrovietnam), needs to
complete plans that will ensure crude oil supply to the Dung Quat Oil
Refinery.
The five-year-old
US$2.2-billion refinery, which produces 130,000 barrels per day, will be
closed for comprehensive maintenance from May to June this year.
Consequently, the
plant is expected to produce 5.1 metric tonnes (MT) of oil products worth
VND113.6 trillion ($5.4 billion), down 24 per cent against 2013.
PetroVietnam
produced 6.6 million MT of oil products last year, up 17.8 per cent from
2012. In 2014, the group aims to produce 4.6 million MT, down 30 per cent
from 2013 due to the planned maintenance work at Dung Quat.
The national flag
carrier Vietnam Airlines on Monday received two new Airbus A321 aircraft at
As part of its
fleet expansion plan, the carrier in 2007 and 2009 signed contracts with
Airbus to purchase a total of 26 Airbus A321 planes for delivery during the
2011-2015 period. It has received 21 planes thus far.
The airlines
operates a young fleet of 83 aircraft, which includes mostly Boeing 777,
Airbus A330 and Airbus A321.
HSBC was the lead
arranger for the US$112 million credit for the purchase, with a loan from
Deutsche Pfandbriefbank AG.
The transaction was
supported by Euler Hermes, the global credit insurance company based in
Pham Ngoc Minh,
president and CEO of Vietnam Airlines said: "The agreement for the
purchase of two A321 aircraft is really a remarkable deal which enhances our
operation efficiency on routes worldwide."
"The new two
aircraft will support us to carry out our fleet expansion, meeting the demand
for passengers and cargo transport in the long run," said Minh.
Previously in 2009,
HSBC acted as co-financier in a multi-bank deal providing financing of US$120
million to purchase six ATR72-500s, and in 2011 it acted as joint mandated
lead arranger for US$447 million in financing to purchase six Airbus A321s.
Vietnam Airlines
became an official member of SkyTeam Alliance on June 10, 2010 and also the
first representative of the alliance in
Cienco 6
sets IPO date
Cienco 6, a
transport engineering leader in
On March 6 the
company held a brief meeting to unveil the IPO plan.
According to Cienco
6 chairman Bui Phi Hung, the move would help the company boost its financial
strength and competitiveness to better execute major transport infrastructure
projects throughout the country.
“In respect to
strategic partners, our firm is actively searching for firms that are
financially strong as well as technology advanced to help foster our
development in the post-equitisation period,” Hung said.
The registration
process and deposit payments for the IPO started on February 24 and will
continue to March 13. Registrants can sign up with auction agents following
auction rules enacted by the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HOSE).
The auction is
slated to take place at 9pm at the HOSE on March 21.
According to Deputy
Minister of Transport Nguyen Hong Truong, the ministry (MoT) will ramp up
efforts to accelerate the equitisation of transport sector businesses this
year to fulfill the prime minister’s commitment.
Besides Cienco 6,
large-scale transport contractors are also planned to board the restructuring
bandwagon this year.
Cienco 6 has been
involved in major projects in the south and central regions such as the Vung
Tau petrol depot, Saigon port complex, Tan Thuan terminal, Nha Be port,
After its IPO,
Cienco 6, with an estimated chartered capital of VND600 billion ($28.5
million), will continue playing a major role in key transport projects such
as the Ho Chi Minh-Long Thanh-Day Giay highway, expanding the Dong Nai port,
and building an elevated section and depot for the Ben Thanh-Suoi Tien metro
line.
This year the
company envisions revenue and post-tax profit targets of VND2.662 trillion
($126 million) and VND37.7 billion ($1.8 million), respectively. The share
dividend this year is estimated at around 6 per cent, which is planned to
gradually increase to reach 10 per cent by 2016.
Tea and
coffee make its debuts at food and drink expo
Nearly 500
individuals from twelve Vietnamese enterprises have registered for the event
so far, including representatives from Highlands Coffee who participates in
the FHA Barista Challenge 2014 and employees from Sheraton Hotel who takes
part in the Asian Pastry Cup.
The organizing
committee confirmed that, nearly 2,800 companies from 70 nations and
territories worldwide have participated in the large-scale exhibition,
covering an area of 100,000 square metres.
Hundreds of chefs
from around the world will join the FHA Culinary Challenge and high profile
speakers will attend the FHA International Conference, focusing on topical
issues such as human resources.
Stephen Tan, Chief
Executive of Singapore Exhibition Services said FHA and WSA is a
comprehensive event, aiming to introduce new technology and the latest food
products. It is also an ideal place for participants to share ideas,
knowledge and experience as well as provide practical demonstrations to
customers.
Businesses
receive recognition for outstanding achievements
As many as 82
Vietnamese companies have been presented with the 2013 National Quality
Awards.
Among the honoured
enterprises, 20 were awarded gold, while the remainder received silver,
revealed Tran Van Vinh, Deputy Director of Directorate for Standards,
Metrology and Quality (STAMEQ).
Many businesses
have developed their trademark in the market by providing high quality
products to consumers including Viglacera Corporation, Bac Giang Chemical And
Fertilizer Co Ltd, Binh Dien Fertilizer Joint Stock Company, and Military
Joint Stock Commercial Bank (MB).
In addition,
Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Industry and Trade (Vietinbank) and
Traphaco Joint Stock Company were presented with the Global Performance
Excellence Award (GPEA) by the Asia-Pacific Quality Organisation (APQO).
The National
Quality Awards aim to honour outstanding enterprises and organisations for
their significant achievements in product quality, business operations and
services.
The event also
provided an excellent opportunity for Vietnamese companies to sharpen their
competitive edge, strengthen capacity and boost international integration.
The agreement
covers personnel training and the development of food crop models to help the
African country boost its agricultural production, thus raising rice
productivity and reducing rice imports.
Both nations will
pilot models of planting soy bean, sweet potato and vegetables to ensure food
security and increase income for local farmers.
Minister of
Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat affirmed that the Vietnamese
Government hails cooperation with
Mozambican Ambassador
to Vietnam Gamiliel Sepulveda Joao Munguambe said he believes that the
project will contribute to developing
Finance
ministry circular details new pricing model for goods, services
On 17 February,
2014, the Ministry of Finance issued Circular No 25/2014/TT-BTC outlining the
common methods for determining the prices of goods and services
("Circular 25").
Under Circular 25,
the two methods such as comparison and cost methods have been defined for
determining the prices of goods and services. Based on the characteristics
and the use value of each type of goods and service; the material conditions
on manufacture, trading, market, circulation of material goods, and service,
organisations and individuals have the right to choose a suitable method for
determining the prices of goods and services.
The comparison
method is used for determining the price of goods and services by analysing
and comparing its price and economic and technical characteristics with
significant impacts on its price with those of similar assets, goods, or
services, which are traded in the domestic market and, concurrently,
referring to regional and world market prices (if any).
The cost method is
based on reasonable and valid actual manufacturing and operating expenses and
estimated profits (if any), which are suitable with the market price and the
state's policies affecting the price of goods and services to define their
prices.
In general,
organisations and individuals will be empowered to choose the apt method for
determining prices as similarly prescribed in previous regulations. However,
it is noteworthy that Circular 25 further points out that fees which are not
part of the calculation and considered as reasonable fees for price
determination, is a clause that was not part of the previous regulations.
Another significant
change is the regulation on predicting the reasonable profit rate (if any) of
the organisations and individuals for avoiding overpriced determination as
compared to the market price of the products or services.
This Circular takes
effect on 15 April, 2014, and replaces the Circular No. 154/2010/TT-BTC
promulgating the regulation on the pricing of assets, goods, and services.
On January 27,
2014, the Industry and Trade Ministry issued a circular detailing several
articles of a decree on implementing the Commercial Law.
The Circular No
04/2014/TT-BCT describes various articles of Decree No 187/2013/ND-CP
regarding international goods sale and purchase, processing, and transit
agency activities with foreign countries ("Circular 04").
Under Circular 04,
items added to the list of consumer goods that are prohibited for import into
This Circular came
into effect on 20 February, 2014, and replaces Circular No 04/2006/TT-BTM,
dated April 06, 2006, of the Ministry of Trade providing guidelines for the
implementation of Decree No 12/2006/ND-CP of the Government dated January 23,
2006, which provides detailed regulations for the implementation of the
Commercial Law with respect to international purchases and sales of goods,
agency for sale and purchase, processing and transit of goods involving
foreign parties.
Cao Bang
border gate economic zone established
Prime Minister
Nguyen Tan Dung on March 11 signed a decision to set up the Cao Bang Border
Gate Economic Zone in the northern mountainous
Accordingly, the
new zone is formed on the basis of merging three existing border gate
economic zones, namely Ta Lung, Tra Linh and Soc Giang.
It has a total area
of over 30,130 hectares, covering 37 communes and three towns from Thach An
district to Thong Nong district.
Under the decision,
the Cao Bang Border Gate Economic Zone will include a non-tariff area and
functional areas such as international border gates, industrial parks,
financial and administrative centres, and urban and residential areas.
Cao Bang is a
province located in the northeastern part of
The zone is
expected to help turn the country’s mountainous areas into an economic,
commercial and service hub in the integration process between ASEAN and
Vietnamese,
Russian companies ink LNG deal
The PetroVietnam
Gas Corporation (PV GAS) and
The two sides began
negotiations on this deal in 2012 within the framework of the comprehensive
strategic cooperation between their parent companies, the Vietnam National
Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) and Gazprom.
Gazprom M&T is
the first LNG provider PV GAS has signed such a contract with to ensure LNG
supplies for the Thi Vai port warehouse project.
This is an
important project of PV GAS which aims to realise its strategy to diversify
gas supplies as well as make up for gas shortages in the coming years.
The project has an
annual capacity of 1 million tonnes of LNG and is expected to become
operational in 2017.
Vietnam – a
place to invest in, say
Potential investors
should consider
In an interview
granted to Vietnam News Agency’s Singapore-based reporter on the sideline of
the “Doing Business in
Law becomes more
and more predictable and generally it seems to be quite friendly. That
combines with a vast market and the ASEAN economic framework coming into
place in 2015 to provide very good opportunities for potential investors, he
said.
Addressing the
seminar, Daniel Pok, Investment Promotion Manager of Sembcorp Parks
Management Pte Ltd, affirmed that
Sembcorp is one of
Low Beng Tin, Vice
President and Chairman of ASEAN Regional Business Group of Singapore
Manufacturing Federation (SMF), said that “long term is good” for doing
business in Vietnam and “we have joint ventures with Vietnamese companies and
they are good now”.
He affirmed that
the SMF will provide businesses with information to easily go to
According to Low,
the seminar helps SMF members know more about how to do business in
Vietnamese
Ambassador to Singapore Tran Hai Hau assured about 80 businessmen taking part
in the event that in the medium and long run,
“We will do our
utmost to ensure a competitive and transparent business environment, to
create more favourable conditions for Singaporean enterprises,” he said.
In 2013,
Two-way trade
between
She expressed her
hope that the figure will increase by between 10 and 15 percent this year.-
The process of
selecting capable contractors to develop a major stretch of elevated road in
the west of the capital has begun.
The Ministry of
Transport has approved the go-ahead for bidding on the packages.
Package 1 includes
a one-kilometre Mai Dich-Co Nhue section costing VND2,435 billion ($116
million), while package 2 will include a 3.3km stretch along Co Nhue-South
Thang Long valued at VND2,041 billion ($97 million).
These two packages
will select contractors via international competitive bidding practices
featuring the one envelope procurement method with a pre-qualification round
based on Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA) procedures.
The consultant
supervision package valued at VND262 billion ($12.4 million) will use a two
envelope procurement method following donor regulations while the three
remaining audit and insurance packages are subject to open domestic bidding
following the one envelope procurement method.
However a decision
on contractors won’t be made rapidly, with Deputy Minister of Transport
Nguyen Hong Truong confirming that “the selection of contractors will be
implemented from the second to the fourth quarter of 2015.”
The success of the
Mai Dich-Phap Van flyover section was regarded as the main reason for MoT to
go ahead with the project using official development assistance (ODA).
MoT will build a
5.3km road, including the Mai Dich-South Thang Long flyover section, as part
of
The project
consultants, Oriental Consultants-Kei (
The project will
cost VND5.3 trillion ($254 million) with around VND3.7 trillion ($176
million) to be offset by Japanese ODA funding from JICA. The construction
will take 28 months, the consultancy unit predicted.
“The project is
unique as it won’t require site clearance though relocation and compensation
may take place at some points. In this case, compensation work will be
overseen by a sub-project to be handled by relevant localities,” Truong said.
The project should
boost links with the North Linh Dam-North Thang Long elevated highway, link
national highways 1, 5, 6, and 32 to Noi Bai international airport and reduce
traffic volumes on
Absolute is
rebranding a range of properties under its U identity
In its latest
announcement, the Absolute Hotel Services group CEO Jonathan Wigley announced
a major beach front property to be developed in conjunction with the
domestically-owned Duyen Ha Company Limited. The hotel will be branded as
Eastin Duyen Ha Resort Cam Ranh with the target opening date of first quarter
2017.
The Eastin Duyen Ha
Resort will consist of 250 superior, 100 deluxe, 2 penthouse, 70 garden
deluxe and 28 garden suites with high-end facilities including restaurants,
an outdoor swimming pool, bars, gym and spa facilities, and a 1,200 square
metre ballroom.
“This is exciting
news for AHS and as it currently stands as our largest Eastin brand project.
Cam Ranh is another hot destination and located very close to Nha Trang,”
said Wigley.
Wigley added that
with the current and future infrastructure developments, beautiful unspoilt
beaches, excellent climate and proximity to Cam Ranh International airport he
was confident in attractiveness of the investment would grow further.
AHS also announced
their re-branding of the already well-established Hoi An Beach Resort at the
end of last year.
The resort is
currently undergoing renovation and re-branding and will be ready to be
re-launched as U Hoi An late this year.
The 121-room resort
is located near the UNESCO world heritage town of
Apart from Eastin
Duyen Ha Resort, AHS is also managing U Sapa in the
U Sapa is located
in the heart of the former French colonial mountain station.
The 57-room resort
will consist of 48 deluxe rooms and 9 suites which will include high-end and
leisure facilities.
AHS currently
manages the Eastin Easy GTC and Eastin Hotel Hanoi which is now closed for
renovation and planned to re-open by mid this year in the capital.
Hanoi People’s
Committee has approved the proposal on the adjustment of function of Parcel A
commercial area within the masterplan of Yen So Park.
The Festive Retail
will add values to
According to a
local government source,
Deputy chairman of
Hanoi People’s Committee Nguyen Van Khoi requested the city’s Department of
Planning and Investment report on the development’s progress to the local
authority and prime minister.
Khoi said Hoang Mai
district People’s Committee would resolve site clearance issues in the second
quarter of this year.
The gigantic
The entire project
covers 500 hectares in the capital’s Hoang Mai and Thanh Tri districts.
The developer
earmarked 73ha for the
“We are offering
plenty of privileged benefits for potential tenants and we will start to open
registration as of March 2014 ,” said Cheong.
The club house is
80 per cent completed. “The shop houses and club house in
Work is also busily
under way to conclude construction on a retail centre, located next to Yen So
Park and
The first 364 units
of terraced and semi-detached houses will be handed over by the end of March
2014.
Work starts
on major power station
Vietnam Electricity
Group (EVN) on Sunday began construction of a 1,200MW thermal power plant
worth some US$1.3 billion in
Vinh Tan 4 Thermal
Power Plant is among the four projects which will have to be urgently
implemented in the 2013-2020 period in the Vinh Tan power generation complex
in the commune of the same name with a combined capacity of 5,600MW.
Therefore, the
project enjoys special policy incentives concerning investment preparation,
engineering design, site clearance and compensation, contractor selection and
financing arrangement.
The coal-fired
facility will generate 7.2 billion kWh of power a year for the national grid
and help ease power shortages in southern provinces in the coming time.
The plant will have
its first generator connected to the national grid in 2017 and the second
generator commissioned in 2018.
Vinh Tan 4 will
need more than 3.7 million tons of coal imported a year.
According to EVN,
to meet the coal demand for power plants, EVN will finish work on Vinh Tan
port this month to supply coal for the Vinh Tan power center.
The first 622MW
generator of Vinh Tan 2 power station came on stream in mid-January this
year. This facility has two generators of same capacity and costs around
VND24 trillion.
The nation’s power
consumption grows at an average of 13% a year. By 2020 national power
consumption is forecast to amount to nearly 300 billion kWh, treble the 2010
figure.
Dai-ichi
Life VN gets fund manager license
Dai-ichi Life
Vietnam received an establishment license for its fund management company,
Dai-ichi Life Vietnam Fund Management Company Limited (DFVN), in Japan on Wednesday.
The license award
ceremony took place on the occasion of the Vietnam Ministry of Finance
delegation’s official visit to Japan.
Headquartered in
HCMC, DFVN will manage investment of pension products, universal products,
and unit link products, and seek to maximize profit from the management of
securities investment funds, securities investment portfolio and securities
investment consultancy.
Koichiro Watanabe,
president of Dai-ichi Life Japan, said in a statement released on Thursday
that Vietnam is an important market to Dai-ichi Life in Asia. The license
marks a milestone and affirms the insurer’s long-term commitment to this
country.
Dai-ichi Life
Vietnam has provided financial products and services to nearly 950,000
Vietnamese customers through the network of 575 staff and 20,000 financial
consultants. Total assets under the company’s management have exceeded VND4
trillion.
Consortium
signs 30-year lease of Thi Vai Port
A consortium of
five enterprises clinched a deal last Friday with the Vietnam Maritime
Administration to lease the Thi Vai international terminal in the southern
province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau for a period of 30 years.
The consortium
consists of Saigon Port Co. Ltd., Phu My integrated oil service company,
Vinacommodities Joint Stock Company, Southern Salt Group and Hung Thai
petroleum and maritime service company.
Both sides at the
signing ceremony declined to reveal the value of the leasing contract.
However, the Ministry of Transport earlier approved a fixed package leasing
price of over US$130.5 million for 30 years.
If the consortium
chooses to pay on an annual basis, the price might be different depending on
a lot of factors like revenue and profit.
According to the
administration, the Thi Vai terminal has two piers able to handle ships of
50,000 DWT. It has a capacity of 1.6-2 million tons per year.
Earlier, Saigon New
Port Corporation won a tender to operate Cai Mep port for 30 years.
The Cai Mep-Thi Vai
international port complex is the first project to be put up for bidding with
private operators participating. Such bidding is expected to reduce monopoly,
increase competitiveness and improve service quality.
The Cai Mep-Thi Vai
port complex was commissioned in late January 2013 after four years of
construction. The VND13 trillion project was financed by Japan’s official
development assistance (ODA) loans and Vietnam’s reciprocal capital.
With two piers of
600 meters in length, the Cai Mep terminal can handle vessels of up to
100,000 DWT and has annual throughput of around 700,000 TEUs.
Bayer
Vietnam promotes environmental awareness
Bayer Vietnam has
started a program called “Eco-talking events” for pupils in remote areas in
the Mekong Delta region this year, to further raise awareness on climate
change, empowering them to take their action.
Long An was the
first destination of the series of Bayer Vietnam’s “Eco-talking events” for
pupils in remote areas in the delta, which is surrounded by thousands of rice
farmer households.
The company in
conjunction with student volunteers from “Be Change Agents” Network, under
the Centre of Live and Learn for Environment and Community (Live &
Learn), late last week hosted the Eco-talking event, addressing more than 200
students from primary schools Thai Binh Trung and Thai Tri in Vinh Hung
District in the province.
“Eco-talking
events” are part of children book project “What’s up with the Earth?”
launched by the company together with its partner First News Publishing
Company to further raise awareness among Vietnamese children on climate change,
empowering them to take their action, whether big or small, to make their
meaningful contribution to protect the earth.
Scientific
knowledge on climate change topic was presented in a fun and
easy-to-understand way for children via a play which was based on content of
“What’s up with the Earth?” In addition to the play and games, simple
hands-on experiments performed by volunteers provided children with an
interactive approach toward scientific topics, triggering their curiosity on
the world and things happening around them.
On this occasion,
Bayer Vietnam donated 600 print copies of the book “What’s up with the
Earth?” and learning tools to the children. Forty special rewards were also
presented to children who are in a difficult situation but have yet to have
outstanding academic performance.
Phan Thiet
golf course to become urban area
The government of
Binh Thuan Province has agreed on converting Ocean Dunes Golf Club in Phan
Thiet City into an urban area due to its operational inefficiency, provincial
chairman Le Tien Phuong said at a meeting last week.
Ocean Dunes Golf
Club located at 1 Ton Duc Thang Street, a prime land site in Phan Thiet City,
is managed by Rang Dong Co.
According to Rang
Dong Co., since it was put into service in 1997, the golf course has racked
up big losses, Tuoi Tre newspaper reports. Moreover, costs to maintain and
operate the golf course are high while the number of golfers there is small.
As calculated by
Rang Dong Co., if the golf course is converted into an urban area, business
operations could be improved and over VND1 trillion could be paid to the
State budget. It is expected that the urban area would consist of villas,
garden houses, townhouses, high-rise buildings, public works and other
infrastructure facilities.
However, there are
mixed views on this issue.
Nguyen Duc Hoa,
director of Binh Thuan Province’s Department of Planning and Investment, said
that the golf course had operated inefficiently while contributing almost
nothing to the State budget and providing few jobs for local people. “The
conversion is necessary in this period,” Hoa is quoted by Thanh Nien
newspaper as saying.
Sharing the same
opinion, Nguyen Huu Quy, chairman of Binh Thuan Nature Conservation
Association, said changing the golf course into an urban area was needed
given the project’s poor performance.
Nguyen Van Thu,
former vice chairman of Binh Thuan Province, disagreed on the plan, saying
that Phan Thiet City would lack green space without the golf course.
“If the golf course
is changed into a residential area, it will be stuffy. Revenues could be
generated from the golf course conversion but over 62 hectares of project
land could not,” Thu said.
According to Nguyen
Van Thanh Binh, chairman of the Binh Thuan Architect Association, Phan Thiet
City has only a beautiful park and it is unreasonable to destroy a green park
with a big lake inside.
If Binh Thuan
Province wants to change the use purpose of the golf course, there should be
at least a council consisting of planning experts. Besides, the province
should listen to local people, former provincial chairman Dang Van Hai was as
quoted by Thanh Nien newspaper as saying.
Two more
firms receive customs incentives
Datalogic Scanning
Vietnam Co., Ltd and Samsung Electronics Vietnam Thai Nguyen on Thursday
received certificates from the General Customs Department to receive special
customs incentives.
According to a
representative of Datalogic Scanning Vietnam, since being recognized as a
priority enterprise on February 12, the firm’s operations and export-import
activities are made easier and quicker, thus enhancing its competitiveness.
Besides, Vietnam’s
customs is modernized with the automated customs system to be applied from
April 1, which helps relieve foreign investors of time-consuming administrative
procedures when investing in Vietnam, he added.
Nguyen Duong Thai,
deputy director of the General Department of Customs, said that recognized
priority enterprises were those having fully complied with laws and having a
modern control process of production and product management.
According to the
general department, there have been only 16 out of 40,000 export-import
enterprises being given the incentives.
This is a program
carried out by the Ministry of Finance since 2011 to make a list of enterprises
meeting certain requirements and providing them with the priority. Such
enterprises will be granted the certificates and can enjoy incentives in
their export and import activities such as fast-track customs.
On August 15, 2013
requirements for priority enterprises were lowered to enable more enterprises
to receive the incentives.
Under Circular 86,
enterprises with special incentives will be subject to fewer customs
procedures and fewer routine checks, have tax refunds upon claim before
checks are made later, have quick goods clearance via 24/24 e-customs
procedures, and others.
According to Nguyen
Ngoc Tuc, head of the General Department of Customs, the general department
offers such incentives for enterprises to recognize their contributions to
the economic development. Such a move reflects trust in enterprises’ legal
compliance in the future, and is also a way to reform administrative
procedures in customs.
New CIS
campus opens at Phu My Hung new urban area
The Canadian
International School (CIS) on Sunday held the grand opening of its new campus
on Nguyen Luong Bang Street, Phu My Hung urban area, District 7, HCMC.
In harmony with the
Bilingual Canadian International School (BCIS) campus across the street, both
campuses create a large-scale, modern and advanced educational complex in the
country.
The campus complex
of CISS at Phu My Hung consists of two phases and covers 39,000-square-meter
with the estimated investment capital of VND950 billion (US$46 million), with
the 13,000-square-meter first phase for the BCIS completed in November 2012.
The second phase, the new CIS campus with the Maple Leaf Stadium which is for
students of the whole system, covers around 26,000-square-meter and will be
the new home for CIS students (previously studying at the Binh Chanh campus).
Together, these two
campuses will create a full campus complex for the whole CISS, including CIS,
BCIS and the Canada-Vietnam Kindergarten (CVK).
The new CIS campus
at Phu My Hung offers students the best facilities for the comprehensive
educational aim. They include a library with capacity of 700 students and
nearly 13,500 books; cafeteria that can serve 2,000 students at the same
time; grand swimming pool with international competition-standard size;
1,250-seat indoor sport stadium and competition flooring that meets the
standards of FIBA (International Basketball Federation); two 2D and 3D
cinemas, each with capacity of nearly 400 seats/cinema; Japan-standard seat
systems in cinemas, indoor sport stadium, cafeteria, classrooms.
Besides the
chemistry-biology-physics laboratories that were designed based on lab
standards of IB (International Baccalaureate Organization) with all
equipment, materials and chemical substances imported from USA, Canada and
Europe to ensure complete safety and highest quality for students.
Nguyen Thi Kieu
Oanh, chairwoman of Khoi Nguyen Education Holdings Corporation (KNE) and
Canada International Primary school-Secondary school-High school JSC –
investors of CISS, said this March also marked the fifth birthday of CIS.
Currently, the whole CISS has 1,350 students from 26 countries and regions
studying kindergarten, elementary and secondary grade at CIS, BCIS and CVK.
HSBC:
Manufacturing keeps growing but at slower pace
Vietnam’s
Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), a composite indicator designed to provide a
snapshot of operating conditions in the manufacturing sector, posted 51.0 in
February, down from 52.1 in January, but still signaling an improvement, HBSC
Bank said in a report.
Business conditions
have now strengthened in each of the past six months. Further rises in
output, new orders and employment were recorded.
Vietnamese
manufacturing firms recorded a further increase in production during February
but the rate of expansion eased to the slowest since last October. Where
output did rise, this was linked by respondents to higher new orders.
Client demand has
been improved while staffing levels have now risen in each of the past seven
months, the bank said.
Trinh Nguyen, Asia
Economist at HSBC, said that the manufacturing sector continues to be
Vietnam’s bright spot with output and employment expanding. Weakened external
demand, especially in China, however, is a concern.
“This means that
although we continue to expect output to continue to expand on higher orders
and reduced inventories, Vietnam faces strong headwinds. With inflation
manageable and domestic demand weak, we expect the central bank to keep the
open market operations (OMO) rate on hold at 5.5%,” she said.
HCM City’s
company accused of violating labor law
A group of
employees at Hoang Vinh Kim Ltd., in HCM City sent letters to local
authorities in seek of help after they were suspended for asking for a labour
contract.
The dispute started
in late January, when employees received what they saw as an unfair Tet
bonus. The company also refused to pay overtime and paid annual leave.
“When we asked for
the reasons behind the company's decision they just said that we do not have
any contract and are not entitled to the benefits we were asking for. But, in
fact, we have asked several times for a contract," said one employee.
The company then
called the workers in to sign a contract, including a minimum wage and a pay
scale dependent on skills and seniority. When the employees complained that
the contract was unfair because many would actually have had to take a cut in
wages and benefits, they refused to sign.
“Then company sent
a letter of resignation for us to sign. We refused. Then, while we thought we
were still in negotiation, the company suspended all six of us. There are
even guards that prevent us from entering the premises," the employee
said.
According to Tong
Thi My Linh, an employee at the firm, the company made efforts to restrict
their employment from other companies in the area.
A company's
representative named Nguyen Thi Thuy Huong said that they invited the
disgruntled workers to return after the dispute, but the suspended employees
were unwilling to work under the original terms, even with pay for days for
which they were on suspension.
“We were wrong for
not having signed a contract with these employees. We intend to sign
contracts with them from the time they started working. We will even cover
their social insurance expenses," said Huong.
She added, however,
that the company would be unwilling to raise the minimum wage to the demands
of the suspended employees. They would, she said, be willing to adjust the
pay scale depending on skill and seniority.
As far as overtime,
she said that there is no way to calculate the figures at this point, and any
employee with a complaint should bring it to court.
However the company
has made known its attempt to pay the group of employees less than the
minimum wage under current regulation.
Nguyen Anh Dung,
Deputy Head of District 12 Office of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs,
said the suspended staff are in fact employed on a long-term and regular
basis and that it is illegal for them not to have labour contracts.
“Payments should be
based on bilateral negations. If the two sides fail to reach an agreement,
payment must be in accordance with the regulations on payments for staff,”
Dung added.
Technical
infrastructure completed for e-customs system to commence
A national
pilot project to develop efficient border procedures using e-customs
technologies was inaugurated at a ceremony in Ha Noi yesterday.
The event marked
the completion of the project's Phase 1, which saw the Ministry of Finance,
the Ministry of Industry and Trade, and the Ministry of Transport connect to
the e-customs system.
Phase 2 will start
this year and see three more ministries connected to the network – the
Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, and
the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.
The e-customs
system is designed to be the core of the National Single Window (NSW) system
Vietnam is building under its commitment to join the ASEAN Single Window
(ASW) network by 2015.
This programme
allows trade and transport-related parties to declare information and
documents just once at a single location to complete all legal requirements
concerning import, export and transit, thus greatly reducing waiting times
and complicated administrative procedures.
Meanwhile, the ASW
is a regional initiative that connects and integrates NSWs of member states
of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), with the aim of
expediting cargo clearance, as the bloc looks to establish the ASEAN Economic
Community by 2015.
Addressing the
ceremony, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Van Ninh, head of the National Steering
Committee for NSW and ASW, requested that involved ministries and agencies
continue to streamline administrative procedures related to the NSW. He also
urged them to coordinate closely in building a database on administrative
procedures for the NSW.
That same day,
Deputy PM Ninh chaired the fourth plenary session of the National Steering
Committee for NSW and ASW. He instructed agencies to focus on completing the
legal framework for Phase 2 of the NSW, as well as ensuring the smooth
operation of the NSW technical infrastructure.
Industrial
production on recovery path
The index of
industrial production (IIP) saw a 5.4 per cent growth in the first two months
of this year in comparison with the same period in 2013
The General
Statistics Office (GSO) reported that at the same time, the index of
inventory in the manufacturing and processing sectors accounted for 75 per
cent of the entire industrial production. It rose 12.7 per cent year-on-year.
In January alone, the index of inventory was up 9.7 per cent.
According to GSO
economists, the domestic industrial production has been recovering amid the
many challenges still being faced by the global and local economy.
The growth of IIP
in the first two months showed that businesses had invested strongly in
production to keep pace with the economic recovery.
The processing and
manufacturing industry, especially, has seen a handsome growth of 7.8 per
cent in the first two months, compared with the 5 per cent growth in the same
period last year.
Many industries
also saw high growth in the first two months, such as garment and textile
which was up 21.1 per cent, leather by 19.2 per cent, ready-made garments by
15.3 per cent, electronics and computers by 10.4 per- ent, television production
by 38.3 per cent and rolled steel by 22 per cent.
However, some key
industrial products saw low or reduced growth such as crude oil which was
decreased by 1.4 per cent, electricity equipment by 1 per cent and motorbike
production by 11.2 per cent.
In addition, some
industries saw high inventory. The volume of the stockpile of drugs and
medicinal herbs rose by 104.8 per cent, of chemicals and chemical products by
43.6 per cent and leather products by 36.8 per cent.
VNPT
restructuring for sustainable telecom development
The Ministry of
Information and Communications is determined to restructure
telecommunications businesses this year including splitting the mobile
service provider MobiFone from the Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group
(VNPT) and establishing a mobile information corporation, reported the online
Vietnam Economic News.
Pham Hong Hai, head
of the ministry's Telecommunications Department, said that the
telecommunications sector in Vietnam had grown robustly for years, becoming
the world’s fastest as a result of impressive growth of many businesses.
However, telecommunications networks have problems in terms of quality and
stability.
Three giants –
Viettel, VinaPhone and MobiFone - account for 95 percent of the Vietnamese
telecommunications market, while other businesses share a modest 5 percent,
making them unable to compete. “For this reason, the Vietnamese
telecommunications market needs to be restructured to promote sustainable
development,” said Hai.
Former Deputy Minister
of Information and Communications Mai Liem Truc said that one owner should
not have many subsidiaries which compete with each other. He also said that
the Vietnamese telecommunications market was not really competitive as it had
been managed by State agencies via their administrative decisions.
CMC Group Joint
Stock Company General Director Nguyen Trung Chinh said a monopoly existed,
and that new brand names such as Gtel’s Beeline and Hutchison’s HTMobile had
been defeated due to unfair competition and a State monopoly. Opportunities
for small and non-state businesses remain insufficient.
Hai said that the
ministry had submitted a telecommunications market restructuring scheme to
Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung with a focus on streamlining the VNPT by splitting
MobiFone and forming a new, independent business.
He also said that
as MobiFone is strong and more independent than VinaPhone, splitting it from
the VNPT would facilitate the implementation of the Government’s policy to
equitise businesses (i.e. transform them into joint stock companies), while
at the same time make the VNPT grow in a more rapid and dynamic manner in the
near future. Following the scheme, a minimum of three strong businesses would
be established providing sustainability for the competitive market.
VNPT General
Director Tran Manh Hung said that his group submitted a VNPT restructuring
scheme to the Prime Minister in May 2012. Following the scheme, the VNPT
would separate MobiFone so as not to concurrently manage two mobile networks and
to make the group grow faster in the years to come.
MobiFone Chairman
Le Ngoc Minh said that once MobiFone is separated, it will become an
independent business and have opportunities to expand and diversify its
telecommunications and information technology services, rather than existing
mobile services as its core business. “MobiFone is a well-established brand
name with a strong and skilled workforce and is therefore able to compete in
the Vietnamese telecommunications market,” he said.
Source: VEF/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/Dantri/VIR
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Thứ Tư, 12 tháng 3, 2014
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