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BUSINESS
IN BRIEF 16/8
Vietnam
urged to grab opportunities when joining AEC
However, Vietnam
will be facing fierce competition from regional rivals in terms of consumer
goods, services and investment attraction, while low-cost production will be
no longer Vietnam’s competitive advantage, Tu warned.
During the seminar,
experts agreed that when the AEC is established in 2015, ASEAN will become a
single market without tariffs, non-tariff barriers will be removed gradually,
and the community will be more dynamic and competitive.
Tu said Vietnamese
businesses should be able to boost exports in many advantageous areas such as
electronics and components, means of transport, equipment and machinery and
steel after the AEC is realised.
He added export
businesses that have met the market demand will have greater opportunities
for stronger growth. In addition, deeper integration in the field of trade,
service and investment will open up prospects for economic development.
To fulfil the
tasks, there should be active co-ordination between management agencies and
businesses, Tu stressed.
Ministry of
Industry and Trade leaders also warned Vietnamese businesses need to update
information, improve capacity and build new policies to stand firm in a
highly competitive environment.
Southern region
to lure foreign investors
Each province must
define their competitive advantages and economic potential to assist the
government in its foreign-investment decision-making, heard a seminar held in
Can Tho on August 14.
The southern region
has the greatest economic proportion and largest contribution to the State
budget. It is necessary to know the potential development of each province,
Do Nhat Hoang, head of the Ministry of Planning and Investment's Foreign
Investment Agency said.
He was speaking at
a Foreign Investment Conference, attracting representatives of 21 southern
provinces' Planning and Investment Departments, Investment Promotion Centres,
Economic Zones, and Industrial and
As the Mekong Delta
has high potential in agriculture, seafood and fruit trees, each province
should give detailed information about the kinds of seafood or fruit it can
raise or grow best, he said.
"From such
details, the Foreign Investment Department will introduce and invite the
proper foreign investors," he added.
At present, the
department is trying to guide foreign investment into suitable industries in
order to ensure quality and effectiveness.
At the conference,
solutions to support enterprises in dealing with economic difficulties and
attracting more foreign investment were discussed.
Another topic
concerned guidelines for setting up new investment promotion programme based
on recent Government new decision (No 03) related to State management and
investment promotion.
Since early this
year to mid-July, 889 FDI projects have received investment licences with
registered capital of US$6.8 billion. Another 300 projects have expanded
their capital with more US$2.6 billion.
New and expanded
capital accounted for 80% of investment compared with the same period last
year.
The Foreign
Investment Agency targets US$20 billion in foreign investment for the year.
According to
statistics from the department, there are around 16,800 foreign invested
projects — with total registered capital of US$242.2 billion and disbursed
capital of US$118 billion – operating in
The manufacturing
industry comprises 54% while real estate is 20.6% and
agriculture-forestry-marine is 1.4%.
Good signs
for handicraft exports
A pick up in the
pace of handicraft orders from Japan and China have flooded the Vietnamese
market recently, creating an opportunity for the industry to achieve its
export turnover target of US$1.6 billion this year.
Do Kim Lang, deputy
head of the Trade Promotion Agency under the Ministry of Industry and Trade,
said that the influx of handicraft orders to Vietnam are attributed to the
impact of China’s minimum wage increase program, leading to a rise in production
costs.
In addition, long
time delivery and tough requirements of orders forced importers from
Le Ba Ngoc, general
secretary of the Vietnam Handicraft Exporting Association (Vietcraft) in turn
said that in fact, importers have placed increased trust in the quality of
Vietnamese handicrafts.
In recent years,
local businesses selected high-end and mid-end market segments to devise
investment strategies and sharpen competitiveness to improve product quality
and promote Vietnamese handicrafts to the world.
The US, EU and
Within the BRICS
bloc,
Ngoc warned that
small-scale businesses are likely to suffer losses if investing in low-cost
products. Therefore, to increase export turnover, he suggested they should
focus on the mid-end market segment in accordance with production capacity,
working skills and material sources.
Vietnam-UK
trade volume at record highs
Two-way trade
between
The Ministry of
Industry and Trade (MoIT) reports that key Vietnamese exports were garment and
textiles (US$246 million), footwear (US$265 million), mobile phones and spare
parts (US$670 million) and wood products (US$134 million).
The country’s
principal imports were machinery and spare parts (US$110 million) and
pharmaceuticals (US$60 million).
However, the
Vietnamese trade office in the
The
In addition, it
said, Vietnamese exports to the
To increase their
market share in the
Thai
products marketed in Hanoi
More than 150 Thai
leading businesses are showcasing their products at a fair in
As many as 180
pavilions at the Thai Retail Fair 2014 introduce food, drinks, fruits,
household utensils, garments and textiles, jewellery, electronics, cosmetics,
automobiles, decorations, souvenirs, and aviation equipment.
Addressing the
opening ceremony on August 14, Thai ambassador to Vietnam Panyarak Poolthup
affirmed that the four-day fair has opened up plenty of opportunity for
businesses of both nations to boost import-export turnover.
Ta Hoang Linh,
deputy head of the Trade Promotion Agency under the Ministry of Industry and
Trade said that over the past years, Vietnam-Thai trade ties have increased
impressively.
Two-way trade
turnover reached over US$1 billion in 2000 for the first time and amounted to
US$9.4 billion in 2013. In the first four months of the year, bilateral trade
was US$3 billion.
Time for
Vietnam should
undertake stronger economic restructuring measures, targeting a more
comprehensive and transparent effort, allowing for more effective allocation
of resources, according to Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Quoc
Khanh.
In terms of
multilateral relations,
In the region,
On bilateral
relations,
International
economic integration milestones have helped raise
Simultaneously
opening trade door for many partners will create high pressure on competition
and urgent needs for legal system reform and commitment enforcement.
The FTA with the EU
and the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) are new multilateral
agreements with higher liberalisation. When joining these agreements,
Deputy Minister
Khanh says to successfully integrate into the global economy,
Former Trade
Minister Truong Dinh Tuyen argues that international economic integration
should go along with domestic reform under which reform will create a premise
for integration and vice versa integration will help boost domestic reform.
Economic reforms
and integration should be considered as key tasks, Tuyen says adding that
reform should also expand to other social fields, especially in the political
system because political reform will pave the way for better economic reform.
Sharing the same
view, former WTO Director General Lamy said
Under a Prime
Minister decision issued in 2012 on consultation regulation, agencies
involving in international trade agreement negotiations have to directly
collect proposals from the business community or through VCCI.
However, the
business community’s proposals and contributions during international
negotiations have been limited so far, Trang says.
Businesses’
participation in negotiations and the implementation of bilateral and
multilateral agreements will be very productive to Government agencies in
negotiations on important agreements in the near future, she notes.
Secutech
Vietnam 2014 to kick off in HCM City
The 7th
International Security, Fire and Safety Exhibition and Conference (Secutech
Vietnam 2014) is set to take place at the Saigon Exhibition & Convention
Centre(SECC), in
The event,
co-organized by Vietnam Advertisement & Fair Exhibition JSC (VIETFAIR)
and Messe Frankfurt New Era Business Media Ltd, is expected to attract 200
booths of corporations and businesses from ten countries and territories
including the
The event will
showcase thousands of the latest products and applications in the fields of
security, safety, fire prevention, search and rescue including video
surveillance system, entry-exit controls, biometrics, electric locks, auto fire
alarm and intrusion detection systems and integrated solutions for the
industrial, transport, banking and retail sectors.
Secutech
Localities
play key role in international cooperation
All localities may
become an attractive destination for foreign businesses, said Japan External
Trade Organisation (JETRO) Chief Representative Atsusuke Kawada at a seminar
in
Recently, however,
investment has started to branch out into the less densely populated and
rural areas as evidenced by the construction of manufacturing facilities
in Quang Ninh, Thai Binh, Hoa Binh, Nam Dinh and Nghe An.
"Japanese
businesses are bullish on expanding investment throughout
Tomiyuki Kimmura,
Asian Development Bank (ADB) Country Director to
Two-way trade
turnover between the city and
“The impressive
figures demonstrate the important role of international cooperation in local
socio-economic development,” Linh said.
To iron out snags
in attracting investment capital at localities, Atsusuke said representatives
from provincial departments should coordinate with relevant agencies to deal
with difficulties in infrastructure and labour forces. In addition,
localities should actively promote their strength, incentive policies and
prominent features.
Vietnamese shrimp
exports to the
As of the end of
June, the RoK was the fourth largest export market for Vietnamese shrimp,
accounting for 7.7% of the sector’s total export value.
In the six month
period, exports of white-leg shrimp rose 17% while prawn exports declined by
17.9% and other shrimp products saw a modest rise of 1.2%.
The average price
of Vietnamese shrimp hovered around US$11 per kilo.
According to the
latest data from Korean Customs,
Vietnamese shrimp
imports were 3.6 fold higher than neighbouring
Plan to
lure foreign investors
Each province must
define their competitive advantages and economic potential to assist the
government in its foreign-investment decision-making, heard a seminar held in
Can Tho yesterday.
"The southern
region has the greatest economic proportion and largest contribution to the
State budget. It is necessary to know the potential development of each
province," Do Nhat Hoang, head of the Ministry of Planning and
Investment's Foreign Investment Agency said.
He spoke at a
Foreign Investment Conference with the attendance of 21 southern provinces'
Planning and Investment Departments, Investment Promotion Centres, Economic
Zones, and Industrial and
He said the Mekong
Delta had high potential in agriculture, seafood and fruit trees. Each
province should give detailed information about the kinds of seafood or fruit
it can raise or grow best.
"From such
details, the Foreign Investment Department will introduce and invite the
proper foreign investors," he added.
At present, the
department is trying to guide foreign investment into suitable industries in
order to ensure quality and effectiveness.
"We are trying
to reform the investment environment by reducing time and procedures for
investment registrations. We will make simple and precise procedures, but, of
course, will still be able to manage enterprises," he said.
At the conference,
solutions to support enterprises dealing with economic difficulties and
attract more foreign investment were discussed.
Another topic
concerned guidelines for setting up new investment promotion programme based
on recent Government new decision (No 03) related to State management and
investment promotion.
Since early of this
year to mid-July, 889 FDI projects have received investment licences with
registered capital of US$6.8 billion. Another 300 projects have expanded
their capital with more $2.6 billion.
New and expanded
capital accounted for 80 per cent of investment compared with the same period
last year.
The Foreign
Investment Agency targets $20 billion in foreign investment for the year.
According to
statistics from the department, there are around 16,800 foreign invested
projects — with total registered capital of $242.2 billion and disbursed
capital of $118 billion – operating in
The manufacturing
industry comprises 54 per cent while real estate is 20.6 per cent and
agriculture-forestry-marine is 1.4 per cent.
Law
strengthens tender process
The Revised Bidding
Law, which took effect in July, has ushered in great improvement in
monitoring bids for public projects and tackling violations, a seminar
organised by the Viet Nam International Arbitration Centre (VIAC) heard in
Dr Tran Trinh
Tuong, former director of the
It requires more
categories of projects to call for tenders than in the past — like public
firms — he said.
It stipulates that
winning bids should be based only on a full-package contract, which refers to
a fixed-price contract in which the bid must also include possible costs
emerging from risk factors and escalation of prices during the implementation
of the contract, he said.
This would stop
contractors from making very cheap bids that result in poor quality, he said.
Tran Huu Huynh,
president of VIAC, said, "This will also stop the practice of making
cheap tenders to win a contract and then negotiating with investors to adjust
prices."
The law stipulates
that assessment of tenders should be made based not only on price but also
bidders' technical competence and experience, he said.
"When looking
at bid results in the past time, we [realise] we mainly ran after cheap
prices. That would be completely wrong under the new law."
Enterprises should
learn about the changes to the law to change to their working methods and
avoid risks, he counselled.
Truong said the law
encourages application of international norms for bid applications and
contracts.
Soh Lip San,
partner at Singapore-based law firm Rajah & Tann LLP, and Chau Quang Huy,
a lawyer at the firm's
But since this may
cause disputes over contracts because of culture and language differences,
getting the contract well drafted right at the beginning is important, Soh
said.
Huynh said
Vietnamese arbitration centres are competent enough to settle disputes,
adding that businesses should take their disputes to them to get justice and
save cost and time.
Banks still
sceptical of corporate credit ratings
Corporate
creditworthiness rating is a good platform facilitating banks in risk
management, non-collateral loans and quick capital disbursement, but lenders
are still sceptical about the degree of transparency in ratings.
Late last month,
the State Bank of
Banks are
struggling to increase lending, which is indicated by a low credit growth of
only 3.68 per cent in the first seven months.
"Lending without
collateral is a decision made after many good transactions. It is impossible
to grant trust loans at first sight," Tran Dao Vu, Deputy General
Director of DongA Bank told baodautu.vn.
Enterprises might
also gain the confidence of banks if they improved transparency in their
financial reports, Vu said.
It is said that
companies prepare two financial reports, the bare copy for them and the other
one polished for banks, which they use to while applying for loans.
Banks said that
only 1 to 2 per cent of enterprises get financial reports audited.
Under current
regulations, only credit institutions, finance, securities and insurance
companies, foreign-invested companies and public companies must have reports
audited. There are only 1,200 public companies out of 400,000 companies in
In a situation
where bad debts are mounting, banks are more likely to insist on collateral,
preferably in the form of property.
Director of an HCM
City-based bank said that some enterprises didn't have many properties and they
would like to set stocks and input sources as collateral for bank loans.
However, there were risks like product circulation with this kind of
collateral.
From the company's
perspective, the requirement of collateral by some enterprises has made it
difficult to arrange funding.
Pham Van Dung,
Director of Hung Dung Honey Company in Ha Noi said that his company has a bad
debt-free status with banks. He could not borrow more money to expand his
business as banks already held his assets as collateral.
Tran Quy Lam,
Director of Phu Tho-based Trung Kien Bottled Water Company was quoted by
baodautu.vn as saying that since banks had so many bad debts they generally
tightened the loan disbursement process, which in turn had an adverse impact
on other performing companies.
In the document No
5342/NHNN-TTGSNH, dated July 24, the central bank urged commercial banks to
employ solutions to help enterprises get access to more capital to finance
production.
Experts said that
both, banks and companies need each other to spend capital, but they may have
to build trust before going any further.
Domestic
gold demand posts sharp drop in second quarter
The demand for gold
declined sharply by 42 per cent in volume and 48 per cent in value in the
second quarter over the same period last year.
According to the
latest report from the World Gold Council (WGC),
The country's
demand for jewellery was 2.8 tonnes worth $116 million, down 17 per cent,
while the figures for gold bars and coins were 16.5 tonnes worth $683
million, down 45 per cent.
The WGC's report on
global gold consumption in Q2 also showed that in the year ending June,
The WGC ranked
Experts said that
this trend clearly showed the increasing trust that the country's expanding
middle class had in the economy at large.
Traditionally, many
saw gold as the only safe way to store their money, but now they are much
more willing to keep their money in banks and invest in businesses, stocks
and other types of financial instruments.
Nguyen Thanh Long,
Chairman of the Viet Nam Gold Traders Association, said that this trend was
new to
Long explained that
when the economy was unstable and inflation high, people only trusted gold.
Now people are seeking investment in stocks and property, and even simply
depositing money in banks could give them good returns, so demand for gold
had dropped sharply, he said.
Experts forecast
that gold consumption in
Under the WGC's Q2
report, the world's total gold demand in Q2 was 964 tonnes, down 16 per cent
against the same period last year. Demand for jewellery accounted for half
that total.
Central banks of
countries worldwide in Q2 bought 118 tonnes of gold, up 28 per cent against
the same period last year.
Real estate
association against looser foreign property ownership rules
The head of the HCMC
Real Estate Association said authorities should not allow foreigners to buy
homes in
Le Hoang Chau,
chairman of the HCMC Real Estate Association, confirmed the association's
stand. According to Chau, many countries only allow foreigners to buy
apartments in specific locations during the first stages of opening their
markets.
"For the first
five years,
Overseas Vietnamese
and other foreign passport holders will be permitted to own apartments for a
maximum period of 50 years. The Ministry of Construction proposed allowing
foreigners buy more types of housing in order to relieve the real estate
market slump.
Minister of
Planning and Investment Bui Quang Vinh said that investment in the housing
market by foreigners could provide a huge boost to the sector.
"The maximum
term of ownership for residential property will still range from 50 to 70
years. A lot of people will buy homes if we open this market. We have about
130,000 South Koreans renting apartments in
Prime Minister
Nguyen Tan Dung also gave his support to the proposal.
Japan
quickly disburses FDI in Binh Duong
Most Japan-invested
projects are in the areas of high-tech, electronic outsourcing, medical
equipment, high-quality food processing, infrastructure and urban areas.
Mai Hung Dung,
Director of the Binh Duong provincial Department of Planning and Investment,
said Japanese investors strictly complied with their commitments to quickly
disburse FDI of projects which were licensed late last year.
Typical examples
include Aeon Binh Duong trade, services and real estate project with FDI
disbursements of US$95 million and Tokyu Binh Duong urban area with
disbursements of US$1.2 billion.
The Aeon Calary
Binh Duong Commercial Centre is in the final phase and is expected to enter
operation early November 2014. It was constructed on an area of 6h at a cost
of US$95 million. Once completed, it will generate stable jobs for more than
1,500 local workers.
Yasuo Nishitohge,
Aeon Vietnam Director General, said the project is carried out smoothly in
line with the group’s business and investment strategy.
The US$1.2 billion
real estate project (
According to the
provincial People’s Committee, Binh Duong has attracted more than 2,300 FDI
projects with a cumulative FDI of nearly US$19.8 billion.
PM advances
VND3.6 trillion to speed up ODA projects
Prime Minister
Nguyen Tan Dung has approved an advance of VND3.6 trillion (US$169.2 million)
as counterpart funding for projects financed by official development
assistance (ODA).
The money is
expected to expedite the progress of many transport projects which are
falling behind schedule due to a lack of counterpart funding.
The prime minister
asked the Ministry of Planning and Investment to quickly announce the list of
projects and their respective allocated funds as well as instructing relevant
agencies to implement the PM’s order in a timely fashion.
At a meeting on
August 2, Deputy PM Hoang Trung Hai stated that ODA disbursement in the first
half of 2014 has so far shown improvements from the previous year but the
distribution has not been even between all sectors and recipients.
Foreign-invested
firms dominate local wood market
Foreign-invested
enterprises currently hold a lion’s share of
Figures released by
HAWA at a seminar in HCMC last week showed each household in Vietnam spends
VND6 million (less than US$300) buying wooden products a year and up to 80%
of these products are made by foreign-invested enterprises in this market.
HAWA explained that
the local wood industry has developed dramatically with high export revenues
but local firms mainly outsource and semi-process wooden products due to
their small-scale production. This is the reason why their profit and added
value remain modest.
Doan Anh Tuan,
director of business development for small- and medium-scaled enterprises
(SME) at Vietnam Prosperity Bank (VP Bank), said SMEs account for 90% of the
nearly 3,000 companies operating in the wood processing sector in
Foreign-invested
firms make up only 10% of the total number but contribute 35% of the
country’s wooden goods export turnover, Tuan said at the seminar on
According to a
survey of the World Bank (WB), most enterprises in the wood processing
industry are household businesses with small-scale production and capital.
Therefore, they are easily affected by market changes and macro-economic
factors. Labor productivity at these firms is low as each Vietnamese worker
can make 1.9 chairs a day, much lower than
According to HAWA,
However, the local
sector has to import 80% of material needs.
Aid
packages remain out of SMEs’ reach
Small and medium
enterprises (SMEs) have found it difficult to benefit from the Government’s
financial assistance packages, heard a seminar held by the 2030 Businessmen
Club in HCMC last week.
At the seminar on
empowering SMEs to enter global markets, Nguyen Bach Phuc, chairman of the
HCMC Association of Consultants in Science Technology and Management
(Hascon), said local SMEs have not got sufficient support over the years and
dozens of trillions of dong in aid has been channeled into real estate and
construction giants or State corporations like Vinashin and Vinalines instead
of SMEs.
Phuc said it was
unreasonable to hear that an enterprise has recently sought to borrow VND1.5
trillion to buy fishing boats that have been in use for 30 years in
Sharing Phuc’s
view, Ma Thi Thanh, vice chairwoman of the business association in Soc Trang
Province, said around 70% of the enterprises in the Mekong Delta province
have not been able to find loans for their production and trading activities.
Thanh added that
SMEs have struggled to weather a host of difficulties and much pressure in
the past three years, and it is hard to say how long they can bear more if
there are no practical supporting policies for them this year.
In addition to
assistance from the Government, according to business people and economic
researchers at the seminar, SMEs have to join forces if they want to survive
and grow strong on both domestic and global markets.
Sunil D Sharma,
general secretary of the International Society for Small and Medium
Enterprises (ISSME), said it is inevitable for SMEs in
ISSME is a
non-governmental organization based in
250 firms
to attend Vietstock 2014
Around 250
enterprises from 30 countries and territories are expected to put their names
down to participate in Vietstock 2014 Expo & Conference, which is a major
feed and livestock event in Vietnam set to kick off in HCMC this October.
The 7th exhibition
at the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Center in District 7 from October 15
to 17 will feature products of the husbandry industry as well as technologies
for feed processing.
Organizers said
Vietstock 2014 Expo will be for local and foreign enterprises in the industry
to meet and explore opportunities for their partnership.
As part of the
exhibition, Vietnam Livestock Industry Awards 2014 will be organized on
October 15 to honor individuals and organizations having initiatives and
great contribution to the development of the country’s livestock industry.
Awards will be granted to 14 enterprises that have excellent achievements in
management and development of livestock, poultry, egg production, feed
production, and sales of livestock products.
Conferences will be
held in conjunction with the exhibition for delegates to discuss major issues
of the livestock industry, including prospects of the meat processing
industry in Vietnam, opportunities and challenges for the domestic livestock
industry when Vietnam signs the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement,
animal health, the effective monitoring processes for import and export of
animal feed and materials to minimize the use of antibiotics in animal feed.
Automakers
drum up sales promotions
A number of
automakers and dealerships have launched sales promotion and discount
programs to woo customers and obtain sales targets this month, which
coincides with the seventh month of the lunar calendar.
Automakers said
many people see the month of wandering souls as bad for buying things,
especially those of high value such as cars and homes. This is why automobile
manufacturers and assemblers have to carry out promotions to attract
customers.
Mazda assembler and
importer VinaMazda has decided to revise down the price of Mazda 6 2.0L by
VND126 million to less than VND1.16 billion and VND111 million to VND998
million for the 2.5L type.
In addition,
consumers are given complementary accessories, including DVD players with
bluetooth connection, global positioning systems (GPS) and automated door
lock devices.
Ford Vietnam has
reduced retail prices of Focus and Fiesta cars, with a VND20 million cut for
Titanium and 1.0 Ecoboost Fiesta, VND50 million and VND40 million for
Titanium and Sport+ versions of Ford Focus respectively.
The
On the occasion of
the 20,000th Civic car sold, Honda Vietnam is offering iPhone 5S smartphones
to the first 100 buyers of Civic cars and high-class leather bags to those
purchasing CR-V and City cars. Besides, the owners of Honda cars will get
free check services and a 10% discount on maintenance fee extension.
Mitsubishi
Purchasers of
Avante and Accent cars of Hyundai
Car dealerships
projected auto sales this month would retreat against previous months because
people tend to spend less on valuable products in the month of wandering
souls. Last August, auto sales decreased 16% compared to the preceding month.
The local auto
market is expected to bounce back in September and continue its upward
momentum toward the year-end as demand is always high in the final months of
a year.
Many enterprises in
HCMC have borrowed preferential loans amounting to a combined VND20 trillion
within the bank-business connectivity program organized by local authorities.
Last Friday, 39
borrowers including enterprises, traders and traditional wet market management
boards clinched credit contracts worth over VND3.5 trillion. This is part of
the program organized by the central bank’s HCMC branch and the HCMC
Department of Industry and Trade.
Nguyen Hoang Minh,
deputy director of the central bank’s HCMC branch, said there had been 22
credit contract signing ceremonies in 24 districts in the first seven months
of this year, with 649 enterprises, 41 family-run businesses and six
cooperatives lent over VND15.6 trillion.
Minh said the loans
carried short-term interest rates of 7-8% per annum and a maximum 11% per
annum for medium and long tenors.
In June, the
central bank’s HCMC branch also cooperated with the HCMC Export Processing
and Industrial Zones Authority (Hepza) to make arrangements for 23
enterprises to borrow VND917.6 billion.
Speaking at the
signing ceremony last Friday, HCMC vice chairwoman Nguyen Thi Hong said the
city wanted to see businesses taking out new bank loans totaling at least
VND10 trillion in the last five months of this year to bring the total in the
program to VND30 trillion this year.
The HCMC government
does not require a construction license for houses of up to 500 square meters
and no more than seven levels in urban and housing development projects whose
detailed 1/500 scale zoning plans have been approved.
The change is part
of a decision issued by the HCMC People’s Committee last week to regulate
construction licensing in the city. The decision will take effect this
Thursday.
The new rules
clarify licenses will also be exempted for construction works at export
processing zones, and industrial and hi-tech parks with scale 1/500 zoning
plans already approved.
Citizens can get
temporary licenses to build houses of no more than three levels outside the
areas already zoned for urban and residential areas with approved scale 1/500
zoning plans, but administering agencies have not issued any decision
withdrawing the land lots on which the houses are built.
The licensed
duration of these temporary houses should be from three to five years from
the date of the zoning plans for the areas are announced and depending on
annual land usage plans of local authorities.
Citizens will be
allowed to repair, renovate and build the houses which are partly or entirely
located in the areas already announced for the planned expansion sections of
transport projects, but relevant agencies have not issued decisions taking
back land in these areas. The licenses for such new houses are limited to
three years.
According to
statistics from the HCMC government, the city has 1,386 housing projects with
a total area of more than 11,770 hectares. Only 13% of the total area has
been completed, 15% under construction, 61.6% suspended and the rest taken
back or having investment certificates revoked.
Farm
produce exports to
The Africa, Western
and South Asia Markets Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade
said exports of Vietnamese agricultural products to the
Updated statistics
from the General Department of Customs indicated
The export revenue
included US$16.6 million from pepper contribution, US$3.8 million from
vegetables, US$3 million from rice, US$2.2 million from cashew nuts, and
US$2.1 million from tea, rubber and cassava.
The period saw
latex shipments to
The Ministry of
Industry and Trade said
Complexity
hinders local firms to capitalize on FTAs
A survey by the
Economist Intelligence Unit indicated term complexity is the top hurdle for
Vietnamese enterprises to make the most of bilateral and multilateral free
trade agreements (FTA) the nation has joined so far.
The HSBC-sponsored
survey found that 52% of respondents in
Following the term
complexity are unattractive markets to enter (40%), benefits not enough to
compensate for the difficulties in using the FTAs (38%), a lack of internal
expertise (30%), already duty-free access offered to respondents’ products
(29%) and no substantial new market access provided (24%).
The bank last week
released the findings of the survey, which the Economist Intelligence Unit
conducted among senior executives from 100 companies in each of
The companies
participating in the survey have annual revenues of between US$50 million and
US$150 million. They operate in information technology and telecoms, consumer
goods and retail, financial services and manufacturing among others.
Despite the term
complexity, up to 80% of respondents in Vietnam said the FTAs they used have
led to more trade facilitation and investment opportunities, followed by wide
client base (70%), new business opportunities (67%), entirely-opened new
markets (63%), wide choices of suppliers (58%), increased efficiencies in
supply chain, and better access to talent pool in key markets (43%).
According to the
survey, 37% of
In Asia, although
each FTA in the region is capitalized on by only 26% of exporters, 86% of
respondents said their outbound sales have jumped as a result of the FTAs
they use and 79% agree that singing more trade pacts will help push up their
exports.
The survey showed
78% of all respondents across
Source: VEF/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/Dantri/VIR
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Thứ Bảy, 16 tháng 8, 2014
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