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BUSINESS
IN BRIEF 18/8
Agriculture
ministry: 50% of cooperatives profitable
The Ministry of
Agriculture and Rural Development said only half of the 10,000 cooperatives
in the country are running at a profit with average annual earnings of VND133
million.
Statistics from the
ministry showed although cooperatives can earn annual revenue of VND1 billion
each, only 50% of them are in the black while 40% break even and 10% run at a
loss.
Among the
profitable cooperatives, 97% earn profits from transfer of new technologies,
irrigation services, plant seedlings and fertilizer, and the remainder are
producers and products suppliers.
A survey conducted
by the ministry at 850 cooperatives in 26 cities and provinces as of June
this year indicated 10% of 286 seafood cooperatives are in the process of
being dissolved and salt cooperatives can post annual revenues of VND40-50
million.
Most of the
cooperatives are small and have 10-20 members, while their working capital is
just several hundred million dong.
According to the
ministry, the majority of cooperatives operate inefficiently and
perfunctorily due to capital shortages and weak governance. Only 10-20% of
the cooperatives operate fairly well while the rest are ranked lower than the
average level.
To improve the
situation, the ministry will spend VND128 billion providing training and
refresh courses for executives of cooperatives and draw up new operation
models to help them run at a profit.
Toyota Motor
Vietnam (TMV) announced that its sales volume reached 3,759 units in July, up
25% compared to the same month last year, and this was the highest sales
growth in the first seven months of this year.
TMV said there were
1,836 units (49%) sold in the northern region, 419 units (11%) in the central
region and 1,504 units (40%) in the southern region. The Japanese automaker
said last month’s sales grew 10% over the month before.
Last month, the
company sold 2,230 passenger cars, up 35% versus July last year. The Vios
2014 continued bringing a new record sales volume with over 1,100 units
consumed, up 87% over the same period last year and 41% against June.
After more than
four months available in this market, there have been over 3,700 units of
Vios 2014 delivered to customers and over 2,000 have been contracted. July
was the third consecutive month that Vios had been TMV’s best-seller in this
market.
The company
reported sales of commercial vehicles last month rose 14% year-on-year to
1,529 units. The total number included 600 Innova units, up 36% against the
same month last year, and 704 Fortuner units.
For completely
built-up (CBU) autos imported and distributed by TMV, sales of the Yaris 2014
grew 40% month-on-month to 298 units. Last year, Yaris’s average monthly
sales totaled 70 units.
There were 179
Lexus cars sold in
TMV made remarkable
sales volumes of Hilux pick-ups (125 units) and Hiace minivans (57 units)
last month, surging 229% and 128% respectively compared with July last year.
The company’s sales
in the first seven months of this year exceeded 20,410 units, increasing 14%
compared with the same period last year.
Land auctions
to add VND4 trillion to city budget
HCMC is expected to
obtain nearly VND4 trillion from auctions of land at some prime locations,
which will make sizeable contributions to the city’s budget for capital
construction that is estimated at a total of VND11.7 trillion this year.
An auction of a
land lot at
The municipal
authorities in July last year approved a plan to select developers for this
9,800-square meter lot bordered by Nguyen Du, Dong Khoi, and Ly Tu Trong
streets and
The land lot will
be developed into a commercial and residential complex that costs more than
VND7 trillion by a consortium comprising Sumitomo Realty & Development
Co., Ltd. and Toshin Development Co., Ltd. from Japan, and Hong Kong Land
International Holdings Limited from Britain.
Meanwhile, Bitexco
Group has been approved to construct The One, a 55-storey tower shaped after
the twin dragons at another land lot that covers 8,600 square meters opposite
to District 1’s Ben Thanh Market.
Apart from the land
recovery costs, the group will contribute VND300 trillion of land-use fees to
the city budget this year.
This project got
off the ground two years ago and is scheduled for completion next year. The
tower will provide 31,800 square meters for retail sale, 17,300 square meters
for offices, 350 serviced apartments and five-star Ritz Carlton Hotel with
250 rooms.
Besides, as much as
VND2 trillion will be reimbursed by developers in Thu Thiem New Urban Area
for the city budget as the city government has earlier advanced this sum for
developing this new urban center.
The HCMC government
in a report on its municipal bond issuance plan sent to the Ministry of
Finance said the city’s outstanding loans had exceeded VND11 trillion as of
end-July. As planned, the city can mobilize a maximum VND6.1 trillion for its
capital construction this year.
The city will also
issue as much as VND3,000 billion worth of bonds, divided into two phases
with VND1,500 billion intended for each. The first will be conducted in late
August or early September while the last phase will be in late September or
early October this year.
Viettel 3G
services to be faster after upgrade
Viettel will
provide faster 3G service with a maximum transmission speed of 42Mbps after
finishing its infrastructure development.
The faster service
will be first made available in 13 cities and provinces in the Mekong Delta.
As scheduled, Viettel will make this high-speed 3G service available
nationwide in early 2015.
The speed upgraded
to 42Mbps allows users to download a 5MB song within one second only.
Currently, this
mobile operator is providing 3G services at a transmission speed of 21Mbps,
three times faster than before.
Subscribers can
experience the faster service at technology exhibitions between August and
December at six Viettel stores in major cities of
Nguyen Manh Hung,
deputy general director of Viettel Telecom, said the company now owns the
nation’s most extensive 3G infrastructure with 26,000 base transceiver
stations since it started offering 3G services in 2010. In the first seven
months of this year, the number of Viettel’s 3G service subscribers has
increased to nine million.
Thieu Phuong Nam,
country manager of Qualcomm for Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, said only a
quarter of Vietnamese are using 3G services, while others know nothing about
3G technology or how to use 3G on their smartphones. Therefore, Qualcomm
wants to support mobile service suppliers to boost the penetration rate.
Coach fares
for National Day holiday up 30-40%
Coach operators
have registered to increase fares by 30-40% for long trips to and from HCMC
during the National Day holiday on September 2.
They said they will
adjust up ticket prices by 30% for the routes from Mien Dong Coach Station to
Binh Duong, Binh Phuoc, Dong Nai, Ba Ria-Vung Tau and Binh Dinh provinces,
and the
Thuong Thanh Hai,
deputy director of Mien Dong Station Co. Ltd., said transport firms are
allowed to raise ticket prices for holiday services by a maximum of 30%
compared to normal days. They are required to submit their fare adjustment
plans to authorities and list new fares on the quotation board at the station
in Binh Thanh District.
However, Kieu Nam
Thanh, general director of Mien Tay Station Joint Stock Company, said coach
operators will likely hike fares by up to 40% for the trips from this station
to the Mekong Delta during the holiday to offset the cost of taking their
almost empty coaches back to the city before the holiday.
The companies said
fares for the coaches departing from the largest coach stations in the city
during the upcoming holiday will increase at the same rates compared to the
year-earlier period.
Hai said people
will have four days off for this year’s National Day holiday and forecast the
busiest days for coaches departing from Mien Dong Coach Station will be from
August 29 to 31. The number of passengers will jump on the routes linking
tourist sites such as Vung Tau, Dalat, Phan Thiet and Nha Trang.
The overall number
of passengers going through coach stations in HCMC during the upcoming
holiday is projected to be the same to that of a year ago, and the daily
figure on the busiest days could reach 32,000 passengers.
Thanh forecast
August 30 and 31 would be the two busiest days at Mien Tay Coach Station in
District 6 and the daily number would range from 43,000 to 45,000 passengers,
up 5-7% compared to the National Day holiday last year.
To meet this rising
demand, transport firms will add 230-430 services a day during the holiday.
More passengers
will get on trains for their trips to tourist sites or back home for family
reunion during the holiday. Thai Van Truyen, deputy chief of Saigon Railway
Station, said there will be an additional 10 train services between HCMC and
the coastal city of
The Ministry of
Transport said
“The country falls
short of container ships while the fleet of vessels for bulk cargo is
redundant,” the ministry said in a report released last week.
According to
statistics from the Vietnam Maritime Administration, local enterprises
operate nearly 1,700 vessels for cargo transport with a total of 6.9 million
DWT. Of which, there are 28 container ships, 172 vessels for bulk cargo, 940
mixed-use vessels, 150 chemical and oil tankers, nine vessels for liquefied
petroleum gas (LPG) transport, and 37 passenger ships.
The ministry said
the current structure of vessels is imbalanced as the number of container
vessels is far lower than that for bulk and general goods transport.
Development of
Vietnam’s vessel fleet is also a great concern as the annual expansion of
container vessels worldwide in the past four years is estimated at 6.8% while
that of Vietnam is a mere 1.1%.
The vessels
operated by foreign enterprises but owned by Vietnamese firms are 75 with a
total of 1.3 million DWT and account for 18% of the fleet bearing the
Vietnamese flag. Of the number, there are six container ships and 51 for bulk
cargo.
About 400 of the
1,700 vessels run on international routes with the majority linking
The ministry
calculated local vessels can handle only 10-12% of export and import goods
transported by sea while the rest is in the hands of foreign ships.
According to some
traders in An Giang Province, the price of fresh rice was hovering around
VND4,700-5,400 per kilogram on Monday, falling by VND100-200 against early
this month. However, compared to the Mekong Delta region’s average price of
the 2014 summer-autumn crop, at VND4,370 per kilogram, farmers still gained a
profit of over 30% on average.
The global rice
market, according to VFA, is unstable and unpredictable.
Regarding
One-third of
615,800 tons of rice exported in July was shipped to
Nguyen Duc Thanh,
director the
According to Le Van
Banh, director of the Cuu Long Delta Rice Research Institute, farmers in the
Mekong Delta region have harvested half of the summer-autumn crop but all
harvested volumes have been consumed.
However, Banh
stressed that though the impact is currently not high, Vietnamese enterprises
should be cautious about trading via unofficial channels with
Vo Hung Dung,
director of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Can Tho branch,
shared the same view, saying that
The State-owned
Vietnam Railway Corporation (VRC) has said it will divest all its capital
from 10 joint-stock companies this year and next to focus on railway
transport as its core business, and sharply reduce its stakes in several
others.
The divestment
decision was just made by the chairman of the company’s board of members in
Resolution No. 16-14/NQ-HDTV.
Under the
resolution, Vietnam Railway will divest all investments from My Trang Stone
JSC, Hanoi Investment and Construction JSC, Hanoi Investment and Construction
Consulting JSC No. 1, Vinh Nguyen Investment Construction Trading Development
JSC, and Vietnam Railway Signal Telecommunication JSC.
In addition, it
will also sell all holdings in Hanoi Rail Tour, Danang Construction JSC,
Railway Construction and Engineering JSC, Construction No.2 JSC and Railway
Infrastructure Development JSC.
Apart from all-out
divestment from these 10 enterprises, VRC will maintain less than 30% of
chartered capital at three other companies namely Investment and Construction
JSC No. 3, Railway Construction Corporation JSC and Construction JSC No.6. It
will also reduce its stake to less than 20% at Transport Investment and
Construction Consultant Joint Stock Company.
Previously, based
on the restructuring scheme of VRC in the 2012-2015 period approved by the
Government last year, the corporation must withdraw capital from six
enterprises.
After rearranging
the corporation, it will hold 100% of chartered capital at 23 one-member
limited joint stock companies and stakes of 50-65% at two others.
In addition, the
conglomerate will hold stakes of less than 50% at 22 other subsidiaries.
Based on the
restructuring plan approved by the Government, Vietnam Railway is active in
railway transport business and related spheres such as railway infrastructure
management, and manufacture and maintenance of railway facilities.
To boost the
restructuring process of the corporation, Transport Minister Dinh La Thang
and his deputy Nguyen Ngoc Dong are holding weekly working sessions with
leaders of the group.
Gov’t
advances funding for ODA projects
Prime Minister
Nguyen Tan Dung has signed a decision advancing reciprocal funding totaling
more than VND3.59 trillion for official development assistance (ODA)
projects, the Vietnam News Agency reports.
The Government decided
to advance the sum, extracted from the Government bond funds for next year,
for the ODA projects proposed by the Ministry of Transport and provinces and
cities.
The advanced money
will be disbursed prior to the end of March next year.
The Prime Minister
also demanded the Ministry of Planning and Investment quickly send to the
Government the list of ODA projects and information about the amount of
counter capital for each project as well as guide relevant departments on
giving advances for investors.
From 2015, the
ministry will have to start withdrawing the Government’s advanced funds and
secure sufficient counter capital for all ODA projects as pledged with
donors.
Late last month, PM
Dung had signed a decision approving the plan on improving the implementation
of ODA projects and concessional loans in the 2014-2015 period.
According to the
plan, the Ministry of Planning and Investment is tasked with building a
scheme to attract, manage and implement ODA loans and concessional loans in
the 2016-2020 period, allocate investments for projects under implementation
that are expected to use ODA loans or concessional loans, and report to the
Government in the fourth quarter next year.
The PM also
required relevant ministries and deparments to complete the legal framework
for ODA loans and concessional loans, ensure the progress of projects as
pledged with ODA donors, improve the project management, increase
transparency in implementing projects as well as fight corruption and enhance
monitoring and evaluating activities.
More and more
agricultural produces imported into
Nguyen Xuan Hong,
director of the Plant Protection Department, had a talk with Sai Gon Giai
Phong newspaper on testing procedures of agricultural produces.
According to the
regulation set by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development,
importing countries must send the registration to the relevant agencies. Then
agencies will check the process to plant vegetables and fruits, pesticides,
and preservation.
Staffs of relevant
agencies will take 10 percent of samples from produce batches in the border
gates for testing. If samples meet the standard, it will be get customs
clearance.
However, if samples
are discovered to have pesticide residue exceeding the limitable level and
violate food safety regulation, they will be kept in the border gates for
further testing.
Then, commodity
batches of violating importers will be tested thoroughly. Inspectors will
take 30 percent of the batch for testing and the batch will be kept in ten
days. During this time, if the batch meets the standard, it will go through
customs check; however, if it does not meet the standard again, it will be
exported back to the original country.
The most current
challenging matter is that
Vinalines
seaports become joint stocks
Five seaports under
the Vietnam National Shipping Lines (Vinalines) have been equitized while
seven others are rushing to launch their initial public offerings (IPO) by
the fourth quarter this year and early next year.
That is from
reports at a meeting chaired by Minister of Transport Dinh La Thang on
Vinalines restructuring and equitization on August 13.
The five ports
changing into joint stock modal include Khuyen Luong, Quy Nhon, Hai Phong,
Nha Trang and
Quang Ninh, one of
the two largest seaports in the north, is going to transfer into the joint
stock modal.
Besides, five other
seaports including
They are expected
to conduct stock market launch by the end of this year.
Vinalines plans to
announce its value on October 24 and equitization method in December, and
launch an IPO by the first quarter next year.
About debt
restructuring, Vinalines director general Le Anh Son said that it is facing
difficulties because there is no mechanism for the Debt and Asset Trading
Corporation (DATC) to purchase Vinalines’ debts at banks.
The State Bank
doest not permit the creditors to convert their loans into equity in
Vinalines or its seaports and investment projects.
The holding rate of
state capital at the seaports maintains high at 75 percent, which is among
factors hindering Vinalines' debt restructuring. Some of the banks only agree
to make their loans into equity if the Government reduces the capital holding
rate to 51 percent or lower.
To boost
equitization and restructuring at Vinalines, Mr. Son proposed authorized
agencies to soon assign DATC to purchase the company's debts from banks that
are in demand to sell the debts.
He also sent the
proposal to the Government to permit Vinalines to keep the funds from IPOs of
seaports and the parent company, and DATC to convert debts into equity in
Vinalines when it launches IPOs.
Stainless
steel producer SHI to hold new share issue
Stainless steel
product maker SonHa International Corporation (HOSE: SHI) is issuing 10
million new shares to raise the liquidity of its stock.
Of the 10 million
shares to be issued, SHI is selling 6 million to existing shareholders and
the rest to strategic partners. “This increase in the holding of financial
investors will help raise the liquidity of SHI shares,” deputy director Dam
Quang Hung said.
SHI shares currently
have very low liquidity, because large shareholders have bought up 70.7 per
cent of the 26.7 million shares listed on the bourse.
As a result, SHI’s
stock value is way below the par value of VND10,000/share, now hovering at
around VND5,500/share, despite the firm’s strong performance. SHI shares
ended the day on August 12 at VND6,300/share, up 1.61 per cent.
Hung said the low
liquidity is partly due to SHI being a manufacturing firm, and its shares are
not of particular interest to speculative investors.
SHI mainly imports
stainless steel coils or sheets, and then rolls or cuts them to produce
stainless steel products such as sinks, pipes, kitchen appliances, and solar
energy water heaters. It sells 100 per cent of its consumer products in the
domestic market, and almost all of its industrial products internationally.
SHI’s revenue grew
by an average 14.28 percent per year in the 2009-2013 period. Revenue growth
for the 2014-2018 period is expected at 15 per cent per year.
The firm is
targeting the rural market and big government projects, such as those aimed
at supplying clean water to rural areas.
As well as making
stainless steel products, SHI also operates in retail and real estate and
carries out environmental projects. According to the firm’s leaders, it and
two foreign investors are negotiating to co-operate in running SHI’s
supermarket chain Hiway, with the deal likely to be completed by the end of
September.
Seedstars
World to be launched in Vietnam
The only global
startup competition for emerging markets, Seedstars World (SSW), will appear
officially in
The jury of SSW’s
competition in Vietnam this year includes Mr. Raphael Dana, CEO of Galixo;
Mr. Christopher Zobrist, Deputy Director of John von Neumann Institute; Ms.
Hang Do, Ivivu and Mr, Alan Jiang representative of Uber.
The competition
originates in
Following the
success of its first time in 20 countries in 2013, SSW is planning to launch
to more than 30 countries worldwide in 2014. According to regulations
of the competition, in regional round, 20 startup companies have to prove
their ability in the limit of 6 minutes and answer questions of the jury
including specialists and representative of SSW.
The winner of each
regional event will be invited to
Milk
producers try to get around price regulations
Milk companies have
been changing their labeling for children's formula in such a way that would
make them exempt from the new taxes levied by the Ministry of Finance to put
an end to price-gouging in the industry.
A number of brands,
including Pediasure and Dielac Pedia have been using new labels for the same
nutritional formulas they were selling before.
Recently, dairy
products were made subject to government control, but food supplements and
nutritional products are not. After the ministry created regulations to
control the overpricing of milk products, especially those marketed for
children, the companies printed that their products contained a lower
percentage of milk, technically qualifying them as supplements instead of
milk products.
Grow Plus, a brand
produced by NutiFood, markets dairy products both in liquid and dry form,
While their dry product is still sold as "milk formula" their
liquid canisters have changed. It is now called a "nutritional
supplement" for one to three-year-old children.
Dr Vu Dinh Anh,
deputy head of Institute for Research on Market and Price said, "The
regulations contain many loopholes. In the next six moths, it looks as if
companies will re-brand their products just by adjusting the labels."
In response, the
Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Health decided to subject nutritional
products and supplements to the same price stabilisation policies. The
ministries will put ceiling on wholesale distribution prices for these
products. However, many consumers have expressed worry over the authorities'
ability to manage and control prices of children's formula on the real
market.
Last year, the
Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Health were jointly blamed for
inordinately high prices of imported milk products. According to statistics
from the General Department of Vietnam Customs, the import price is only
USD4-5, but the retail prices reach as high as USD20-43.
Firms owe
total of USD523-million in social insurance
Companies in
In late July, there
were about 62.8 million individuals in
However, the
overdue payments amount to VND11 trillion, or just over 6% of all payments by
companies into the fund. The late payments have had an effect on workers, and
localities have been asked to increase oversight of businesses, and even to
pursue legal actions against those who fail to pay.
The situation has
been blamed on a number of reasons, including the economic downturn. However,
50% of the debt is owed by the government.
Also, many
companies avoid fulfilling duties to employees, even though employees'
salaries are garnished if they have insurance. Many businesses attempt to
make up for the cost of benefits by making their employees work longer hours.
Punishments for
violators remain weak and the social insurance agencies do not have a clear
legal framework of regulations to conduct effective investigations.
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.
Moon cake
supply up 10-15% this year
The volume of moon
cakes made by domestic leading firms like Givral, Kinh Do, Nhu Lan, Bibica
and Brodard for the coming Mid-Autumn Festival ranges from 170 to 2,800 tons
each, up 10-15% compared to the same period last year.
Moon cake producers
said their prices remain unchanged or increase by 7% depending on types of
cake for this year’s festival which falls on September 8.
In addition to
traditional fillings like roasted chicken, lotus seeds and green peas, makers
also supply cakes with new flavors and of different categories to meet the
diverse demands of consumers.
This year, Kinh Do
will provide the market with 2,800 tons of moon cakes, up 15% over the same
period last year, according to deputy general director Nguyen Xuan Luan. The
firm will export to the
Luan said Kinh Do
neither sells moon cakes online nor offers discounts throughout the
Mid-Autumn season to guarantee its customers are provided with products of
same quality.
Meanwhile, Bibica
has opened an online sales channel as well as offered consultation on
nutrition of moon cakes in addition to putting up sales counters across big
cities.
To have quality
moon cakes, consumers are advised to buy at official agents and sales
counters of well-known makers or at supermarkets.
Dai-ichi
Life
Dai-ichi Life
Insurance Company of
The Japanese life
insurer’s total premium income reached nearly VND1 trillion in the
January-June period, a 38% year-on-year increase, doubling the average growth
rate of the life insurance market.
Between January and
July, the insurer opened 10 new general agencies, taking to 130 the total
number of offices and general agencies in the country.
Last month,
Dai-ichi Life Vietnam launched its “Health Care Rider” product, a
comprehensive medical insurance plan combining benefits of in-patient,
out-patient and dental care, with the total sum assured up to VND630 million
for each disease.
The enterprise is
now serving over one million customers in
Local
currency firmer against greenback
The value of
At Vietcombank, the
dollar has been traded at VND21,230 this week, VND30 lower than late last
week. The rates at Eximbank and Techcombank are VND21,225 and VND21,240
respectively.
Greenback prices
are lower than several days before the central bank revised up the
dong-dollar exchange rate by 1% on June 19, when banks quoted the dollar at
the ceiling price of VND21,246.
With a trading band
of 1% on either side, banks are allowed to sell a dollar at the ceiling price
of VND21,458 and the floor price of VND21,034.
According to an
expert who spoke on condition of anonymity, dollar supply on the market is
now ample. The inter-bank interest rates for dong have increased in the past
few days as banks are inclined to sell dollar funds for dong, making the
greenback supply plentiful.
The expert forecast
the dong-dollar exchange rate to stay at VND21,250 this year.
A report by the
central bank indicated after the exchange rate adjustment in June, the
inter-bank exchange rate was stable and liquidity on the forex market was
good. The number of daily foreign exchange transactions was equivalent to
that in the first months of the year.
The greenback was
firmer against dong between late June and July’s first half. To prevent the
forex volatility, the central bank slightly devaluated the local currency to
VND21,200 per dollar from VND21,100 to support exports, fuel economic growth
and increase the country’s foreign reserves.
The report said
after the rate was adjusted, the forex market continued to be stable and the
central bank bought dollars on some days after two months of suspension.
Nevertheless, on July 31, the dollar was traded at VND21,200-21,250 at
commercial banks, much lower than the ceiling level.
Jan-Jul
capital for traffic projects doubles
Capital
disbursements for traffic projects nationwide are estimated to exceed VND57.5
trillion in the first seven months, doubling the amount recorded a year ago,
according to the latest report of the Ministry of Transport.
The expanded parts
of National Highway 1A and Ho Chi Minh Road in the Central Highlands alone
have already got nearly VND11.2 trillion out of a total cost of VND17
trillion estimated for such projects.
The ministry said
disbursements for most projects have been in line with schedule. However, for
some other projects, disbursements are already finished but they are still in
dire need of funding to continue construction, especially the project to
widen a section of
As much as VND11.4
trillion out of the planned VND30 trillion has also been disbursed as counter
capital for official development assistance (ODA) projects. The ministry
attributed the low rate of disbursements to the slower-than-scheduled
progress of a number of ODA projects such as Danang-Quang Ngai and Ben
Luc-Long Thanh expressways,
The ministry
projected the capital disbursements for traffic projects to reach more than
VND116.7 trillion this year. This ample capital supply will help contractors
avoid taking out loans for their construction while regulatory agencies can
also reduce the amount of debt owed to contractors of capital construction
projects.
The Government has
recently issued a directive ordering all ministries, local departments and
sectors to refrain from capital construction debt from next year while the
remaining arrears should be handled thoroughly by the end of this year.
If the capital
construction debt recurs, agencies concerned should be held responsible and
imposed penalties in accordance with the Law on Public Investment.
A report sent to
the National Assembly by the Government said the Ministry of Transport owed
the most capital construction debt, at VND1.212 trillion as of mid-2013.
Visa
appoints new country manager
Visa has appointed
Sean Preston to the position of country manager for its operations in
Having been with
Visa since 2009, Preston was previously country manager for
He has a diverse
international career covering credit card portfolio development and
management, loyalty, marketing, sales, operations, project management, and
vendor management.
Prior to his
appointment at Visa, he was national manager for cards business at ASB Bank
Limited in
“I had the pleasure
of working right across Southeast Asia in my previous role with Visa, and I
can say from experience that
Central
region holds the key to economic growth
Endowed with beautiful
beaches and modernised seaports, the central region has many advantages to
transform into a thriving and prosperous coastal urban area, said Deputy
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.
Phuc made the
remarks while addressing a central region economic forum held in Danang city
on August 15, drawing the participation of many senior officials and leading
economic experts nationwide.
The Deputy PM
affirmed that the central region is seizing tremendous opportunities but
simultaneously facing numerous challenges caused by territorial disputes at
sea, including, but not limited to,
Thanks to its
favourable geographical location, the region enjoys convenient sea routes
conducive to boosting foreign trade in the region and the world as a whole,
Phuc said.
He stressed the
need to improve the cohesiveness of
Phuc’s view was
echoed by Party Central Committee's Commission for Economic Affairs (CEA)
Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue, who suggested fostering cooperation among localities
to increase investment efficiency and create a healthier business climate in
the region.
It is also
essential to complete institutions for regional economy development and boost
economic restructuring process in line with the shift of growth model,
Dr. Tran Dinh
Thien, Director of the Vietnam Economic Research Institute, spoke of the
important role the central region play in speeding up the pace of national
economic development apart from the country’s two largest economic hubs –
He highlighted the
central region’s enormous potential for tourism development. With its
beautiful natural landscape, intimate beaches and mountains, the central
region should cooperate with the
Thien described
central
He also cited ocean
tuna fishing following Japanese technology as another advantage for sea-borne
economic development in the central region. To effectively explore sea
potential, more support should be provided for local fishermen who also play
an important role in protecting the national sovereignty over sea and
islands, Thien noted.
Economist Tran Du
Lich placed special emphasis on establishing island economic zones on Cu Lao
Cham, Ly Son, Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) in order to combine
economic development with national defence.
The central region
should focus on developing coastal urban areas in a number of tourist
attractions such as Chan May, Danang, Hoi An, Can Tuong, Quy Nhon, Tuy Hoa,
Nha Trang and Phan Thiet, he elaborated.
To this end, Lich
said it is necessary to speed up the development of the Danang high-tech park
and increase the effectiveness of key economic zones, including Chan May-Lang
Co, Chu Lai, Dung Quat,
Sea-based tourism
development is pivotal to the transformation of the central region as the
spearhead economic sector, he said, adding that the region should invest
heavily in developing high quality entertainment services on a par with
international standards.
Most
In the first half
of this year, the economic growth rate in nine
In the reviewed
period, Thua Thien-Hue, Quang
Cashew
nuts, tea a hit at
Vietnamese tea and
cashew nuts were amongst the most sought after products at the jointly staged
Hong Kong International Food Exhibition and Tea Fairs, which kicked off on
August 14.
Vietnamese Long An
Food Processing Export JSC (LAFOOCO) reports that its cashew nuts were of
interest to people of
Meanwhile, Tan
Cuong-Hoang Binh Tea JSC in Thai Nguyen showcased a series of its finest tea
products, which also garnered a great deal of attention from fairgoers.
The two events
organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) are taking place
from August 14-18 with the participation of more than 1,400 businesses from
dozens of regional countries and territories.
Source:
VEF/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/Dantri/VIR
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Chủ Nhật, 17 tháng 8, 2014
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