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BUSINESS
IN BRIEF 6/8
$750M
project faces uncertain future after arrest of top officials
Authorities in the
central city of Danang have promised to promptly inform the press of the fate
of Thien Thanh Group Co. Ltd.’s $750 million Thien Thanh Danang Trade and
Service Complex project as charges are being filed against the chairman and
other leaders of the firm, dantri.com.vn reported.
The project,
located at the centre of the city, has seen no progress since construction
started in 2011. As of July 31, many residents located on the project site
had not yet been relocated.
Thien Thanh Danang
Trade and Service complex was planned to include six trade and service areas
as well as hospitals, schools, international-standard stadiums, convention
centres and residential housing with a total floor space of 1 million square
metres. Construction was expected to finish in 2016.
On July 29
Vietnamese police arrested three top executives of the Ho Chi Minh City-based
group, for alleged “deliberate acts against the state’s regulations on
economic management, leading to serious consequences.”
Hung Nghiep Formosa
Ha Tinh Steel Company has promised to speed up the implementation pace of its
steel complex in Ha Tinh Province after suffering considerable damage during
the worker protests in mid-May against
Wang Wen Xiang, an
executive at Formosa Ha Tinh, told reporters in
The Taiwanese
investor is expected to inject an additional US$2.1 billion later this year
before commissioning the first and the second blast furnaces in May 2015 and
June 2016 respectively.
Wang recounted on
May 14 when the protests occurred, there were 26,000 laborers working for
contractors on the construction site. The number included 900 Taiwanese
people and 3,600 Vietnamese people working directly for
However, there are
now only 19,000 laborers at the moment and the number is much lower than the
30,000 people as planned by the investor. “We are trying our best to regain
the previous implementation pace as the slower the project is, the more we
suffer,” he said.
At the press
briefing, Wang also explained to the issues of public attention. Concerning
the ownership of the project, Wang said nearly 95% of the Formosa Ha Tinh is
owned by Formosa Group and its subsidiaries and a nearly 5% stake is held by
China Steel, a Taiwanese steel maker.
He added that China
Steel has joined hands with
As for the
participation of Chinese contractors in construction of blast furnaces, Wang
clarified
Responding to a
question that a Taiwanese leader once said on BBC that
Wang said the
company wants to thank
Wang said the
company highly appreciates the efforts of the Government and Ha Tinh Province
to restore security and help construction at the project resume early.
Central
bank says money withdrawals at VNCB drop
The number of
clients withdrawing their cash from Vietnam Construction Bank (VNCB) declined
on July 31, days after three former leaders of the bank were arrested, said a
deputy governor of the State Bank of
Nguyen Dong Tien
told the Government’s regular press briefing on July 31 that many depositors
drew their money out of VNCB on Wednesday, one day after the detention of the
bank’s former leaders was announced.
“Only those who
lack trust in the bank have got their money out and these people are not
allowed to enjoy full interest,” he said and urged depositors to count on the
central bank to safeguard their interests.
At the press
briefing, reporters raised questions about the role of the central bank in
supervising VNCB and whether the central bank had detected irregularities at
VNCB or not before investigation police detained the former senior executives
of the bank.
Tien said that VNCB
is one of the nine banks entitled to restructuring and the central bank has
put it under close supervision and helped it avoid risks during the
restructuring period. Inspectors of the central bank have discovered some
irregularities at VNCB and taken measures to ensure its safe operations.
Government
issues resolution to spur production
Prime Minister
Nguyen Tan Dung on August 4 approved a Resolution on a string of steps to be
taken to clear business obstacles and spur industrial and agro-production.
Under the
resolution, reached by Cabinet members at their July meeting in
To improve business
climate and national competitiveness, relevant agencies are assigned to
refine the government’s draft taxation resolution.
The Ministry of
Industry and Trade must join efforts with other agencies to seriously deal
with fraud, especially the trade in alcoholic drinks, cigarettes and
fertilisers. Meanwhile, it will closely monitor cross-border trade activity,
and cases of temporary import for re-export.
The Ministry of
Agriculture and Rural Development is responsible for ensuring enough rice
supply for export while mitigating consequences triggered by natural
disasters.
For the State
budget collection going on well, the Finance Ministry will crack down on tax
evasion and fraud, and transfer pricing and closely watch over the refund of
high-value added tax.
It will rearrange
duty-free shops and non-tariff areas, address cross-border smuggling, adjust
import duties on fertilisers, and issue a more transparent market price
mechanism.
The Transport
Ministry is directed to supervise the quality and progress of key projects,
and drastically handle overloaded trucks and overload in several commercial
ports.
Ministries and
agencies concerned are in charge of offering social welfare services,
including education and health care, to the poor and families of war heroes.
They are required
to hasten the reform of administrative procedures, the combat against crime
and corruption, and the settlement of complaints and denunciations while
ensuring national defence and security.-
CEO Group
to build social housing
The municipal
People's Committee has approved the CEO Group's proposal to change Sunny
Garden Urban Area in Quoc Oai District from a commercial housing project to a
social housing purpose.
The VND242 billion
($11.5 million) project would include two nine-storey buildings of 432
apartments with areas of 48 to 66 sq.m. The selling price is expected to be
VND10 million per sq.m.
Home buyers could
borrow up to 80 per cent of their apartment value from the Bank for
Investment and Development of Viet Nam.
The project is
scheduled to become operational by the end of 2016.
Parkson to
rent
The Parkson Group
and Duc Manh Joint Stock Company have decided to rent out the Dragon Vinh
Trung trading centre in
The eight-storey
trading centre, which was financed by Duc Manh company with total capital of
VND400 billion (US$19 million) and covers an area of 24,500 sq.m, will boost
trading and shopping in the city.
It is expected that
the Parkson Da Nang will debut in the fourth quarter this year.
Parkson plans to
build a 40,000 sq.m shopping centre in co-operation with the VinaCapital
property group and Lotte in
Exports to
Export turnover to
This included a
number of high-valued products such as textiles and garments, which achieved
the highest export turnover of $283.2 million, an increase of 73.26 per cent.
Coffee products brought in $63.3 million, an increase of 140.32 per cent.
The Vietnam
Industry and
Experts
urge business environment reforms
If
Olin McGill, a
consultant for the USAID-funded Governance for Inclusive Growth (GIG)
Programme in
He suggested the
country focus on simplifying income tax compliance procedures, pointing out
that each enterprise in
Furthermore, he
said, cross-border trade inefficiency wasted at least 15 per cent of
A resolution issued
in March set as the goal that
To reach this goal,
State agencies plan to cut down administrative procedures and business
expenses in order to improve cross-border trade, taxation and access to
electricity.
At the workshop,
agencies including the General Department of Taxation, the General Department
of Vietnam Customs, Vietnam Social Insurance and the Vietnam Electricity
Group pledged to make every effort to raise these indices by 2015.
Deputy Minister of
Finance Do Hoang Anh Tuan said his ministry was amending some circulars so
that the procedure handling duration complied with international accounting
standards.
The ongoing tax
declaration change could help cut the tax payment duration down by 201 hours,
he said.
CIEM Director
Nguyen Dinh Cung said CIEM was working with USAID/GIG to facilitate foreign
investment and the growth of small- and medium-sized enterprises.
The workshop was
organised by the Central Institute of Economic Management (CIEM) in
coordination with the Governance for Inclusive Growth programme of the US Agency
for International Development (USAID/GIG).
Seminar
discusses cocoa sector
A series of
measures to develop the cocoa industry in the Cuu Long (Mekong) River Delta
were proposed at a seminar held in
Phan Thi Thu Suong,
deputy director of the Ben Tre Department of Agriculture and Rural
Development, said the area under cocoa in the province plummeted from more
than 10,000ha in 2012 to 5,100ha now.
Volatile prices and
low productivity due to poor farming practices and limited use of technology
were to blame for farmers chopping down cacao trees for other crops, she
said.
Le Thi Phi Van, a
cocoa researcher, said around 30 per cent of the cacao-growing area in Ben
Tre was not nurtured while another 40 per cent suffered due to improper
farming techniques.
The failure to
balance various fertilisers had affected yields, she said.
Despite being an
auxiliary plant, cacao trees needed proper caring in the form of irrigation
and fertilisers, she said.
Nguyen Vinh Thanh,
cocoa sourcing manager for Cargill Viet
Demand, especially
from
Nguyen Van Hoa,
deputy director of the Crop Production Department, said Ben Tre had suitable
conditions for growing cacao and intercropping it with coconut would result
in higher profits for farmers.
Since cacao was
still a relatively new crop in
More agricultural
extension programmes to teach farmers the skills and techniques needed for
growing, harvesting, and processing cocoa were required, delegates at the
seminar agreed, as were close links between various stake holders.
Each area should
draw up its own plans for cacao farming, they said.
Scientists and
agricultural research institutes should focus on creating new high-quality
strains and measures to prevent and control pests and diseases, they said.
Huynh Quang Duc,
deputy director of the Ben Tre Agriculture Extension Centre, said large cocoa
buying and processing firms should offer reasonable prices to encourage
farmers to grow cacao.
Hoa said
information about farming techniques, markets, and Government policies needed
to be transmitted promptly and precisely to the cocoa community to enable them
to understand and feel secure about growing the crop.
Cocoa bean prices
in the domestic market have increased from VND45,000 (US$2.1) per kilogramme
late last year to VND55,000-VND59,000 ($2.5-2.7) now.
Ngo Van Bu, a
farmer in Chau Binh Commune in Ben Tre's Giong Trom District, said
intercropping with his one hectare of coconut had improved his income
substantially.
"Earnings from
cocoa match that from coconut, and I did not need to hire people to harvest
cocoa as I do with coconut," he said.
But without much
experience in growing cacao, farmers remain wary.
According to Hoa,
the quality of cocoa grown in the province is rated among the best in
The seminar was
held as part of the
The project is
aimed at improving the lives of cacao farmers and their families and ensuring
the long-term sustainability of cacao farming.
Long An
promotes fragrant rice
The Cuu Long
(Mekong) Delta
The cultivation
area and quality of this rice variety has declined in recent years.
Le Minh Duc,
director of the province's Department of Agriculture and Rural Development,
said the area would produce Nang Thom Cho Dao with a consistent level of
quality.
Nang Thom Cho Dao,
one of the country's famous fragrant-rice varieties, is grown in Can Duoc
District's My Le Commune, where the soil is suited to the small and long
grain variety of the rice. If it were planted elsewhere, it would not have a
fragrant aroma.
Huynh Van Co,
chairman of the My Le Co-operative in My Le Commune, said that previously
farmers planted this rice variety one crop a year with an average yield of
1.3-1.7 tonnes per ha.
With the building
of dykes to prevent flooding in rice fields, the rice now has two crops a
year with an average yield of four tonnes per ha, which has reduced quality,
he said.
The building of
dykes around rice fields has impoverished soil as the water of the Vam Co
River cannot flow in and out the fields and bring in silt during the flooding
season, he said.
In addition, many
farmers have planted hybrid varieties of Nang Thom Cho Dao to get a higher
yield, he said, adding that these have also caused the quality of the rice to
decline.
Nang Thom Cho Dao
has a mature period of six months, two times longer than many rice varieties.
Because of the
long-term maturing period and low yield of Nang Thom Cho Dao compared to
other rice varieties, many farmers in My Le Commune have switched to other
rice varieties for better profits.
To attract more
farmers to grow this rice, the province's Department of Agriculture and Rural
Development has developed large-scale rice fields for Nang Thom Cho Dao since
the 2012-13 winter-spring crop.
Under this model,
participating farmers are taught planting techniques of this rice variety
under Vietnamese Good Agriculture Practices (VietGap). They are then
guaranteed outlets.
The model has been
carried out in more than 50ha, according to the Can Duoc District Bureau
Agriculture and Rural Development.
Duc said the
department has dredged canals in rice fields and opened more sluice gates to
drain water in rice fields to improve soil quality.
The province's
Agriculture Extension Centre is working with the National Plant Seed Centre
to improve the pure variety of Nang Thom Cho Dao, he said.
The supply of Nang
Thom Cho Dao pure variety seeds for cultivation is expected to meet demand by
2016, he said.
The province will
design a logo for the rice speciality, he said.
My Le Commune's Cho
Dao area has about 110ha of this rice variety with annual output of about
1,000 tonnes. It is also planted in My Le's other areas.
The trademark Nang
Thom Cho Dao rice has been protected under the National Office of
Intellectual Property since October 2005.
In April this year,
the United States Patent and Trademark Office granted a patent to Nang Thom
Cho Dao rice. The certificate is valid for 10 years.
Delta fruit
crops hit as disease spreads
With the Cuu Long
(Mekong)
In recent years the
disease, which causes an abnormal brush-like cluster of drafted, weak shoots
arising from or near the same point on branches and affects fruiting, has
infected large areas of longan in the delta.
Vinh Long was among
the worst hit during the peak outbreaks between September 2011 and March
2012, with 9,000ha out of its 9,840ha of longan affected, according to the
province's Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.
Nguyen Thi Anh, who
has grown rambutan on 3,000sq.m in her 8,000sq.m orchard in Long Ho District's
Hoa Ninh Commune, said that three years ago the disease hit her longan trees
and she had to cut them down and replace with rambutan.
This year the
rambutan began to fruit but had been affected by the disease, she said.
All 60 rambutan
trees in the 2,000sq.m orchard owned by Tran Anh Tuan in Hoa Ninh Commune
were severely affected by the disease during the flowering period this year.
The trees, which
yielded fruits for the last two years, are unlikely to do so this year
because the disease causes young rambutan fruits to fall.
"Would we have
to cut down the infected rambutan trees like we did with infected longan
trees since there is no effective treatment for the disease?" he asked.
More than 126ha out
of the commune's 550ha of rambutan are diseased, Doan Ngoc Niem, an
agricultural official in Hoa Ninh Commune, said.
Witches' broom is
caused by a bacteria whose vector is nhen long nhung (Eriophyes dimocarpi), a
tiny pest species that cannot be seen with the naked eye.
Authorities have
warned farmers to apply measures to stop the disease from affecting rambutan,
including cutting infected branches and using chemicals to kill nhen long
nhung.
Nguyen Van Liem,
deputy director of the Vinh Long Province Department of Agriculture and Rural
Development, said his department had instructed the Plant Protection
Sub-department to take measures to treat and prevent the spread of the
disease.
In the province, a
large area of longan crop remained affected by the disease, which has the
potential to spread to more rambutan trees, he said.
Therefore,
preventive measures should be taken to control the disease in both cases, he
said.
Public
firms ignore registration protocol
There is growing
concern that a number of enterprises listed as public companies that have yet
to register with State Securities Commission (SSC) are also deliberately not
disclosing information.
This week, Sai
Gon-Song Lam Beer Joint Stock Company was fined VND40 million (US$1,900) by
SSC for not registering as a public company, making the total number of
companies penalised for violating the registration procedure this year to
five, higher than the number of three in 2013.
The other four
companies included Vinacomin – Cam Pha Coal Joint Stock Company, Viet Nam
Power Development Joint Stock Company, Civil Construction Joint Stock Company
No 484 and Real Estate Construction Company Limited No 6.
Since 2008, when
the Law on Securities took effect, there were several companies fined for
violating it each year.
The law on
securities defines a public company as one of the three following types: (1)
company that offers shares to the public; (2) company with shares listed on a
stock exchange or securities trading centre; and (3) company that has at
least 100 shareholders and a charter capital of VND10 billion ($474,000) or
more.
At the same time, a
company must register with SSC within 90 days of becoming a public company.
In a move to
increase pressure that forced companies to comply with the law, the penalty
for violation also increased from VND10 million to VND40 million last year,
but to date there are a lot of unregistered businesses.
According to the
Commission, there are 1,257 businesses having registered as public companies
with SSC, of which 767 have yet to list shares on the stock exchange.
However, this number is far behind when compared to the number of equitised
State-owned enterprises (SOEs).
Since the beginning
of this year, about 3,700 SOEs have been equitised, or sold stakes to the
public, who are subject to the obligation of registration, according to data
compiled by the Dau Tu Chung Khoan (Securities Investment) newspaper.
11
The prestigious
financial magazine, The Banker, has listed eleven
The top five of the
11 Vietnam banks include – Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Industry
and Trade (Vietinbank), Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank), Bank
for Investment and Development of Vietnam JSC (BIDV), Saigon Thuong Tin
Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Sacombank) and Vietnam Export-Import Bank
(Eximbank).
Bao Viet Bank was
also cited among the top ten banks in
The world’s top
five banks included the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited
(ICBC), the China Construction Bank (CCB), the JP Morgan Chase & Co, the
Bank of America, and the Hong Kong-Shanghai Bank Corporation (HSBC).
Techcombank
receives two Asian Banker awards
The Technological
and Commercial Joint-Stock Bank (Techcombank) has been the only bank in
“The leading
Counterparty Bank in
This is the second
consecutive year Techcombank has been voted as the best trade finance bank in
According to the
magazine, Techcombank’s trade finance lending has increased by 125 percent
and revenues from this activity have regularly enjoyed a two-digit growth.
The bank has also
expanded cooperation with the International Financial Corporation (IFC),
becoming the most active member and the largest customer of IFC in the Global
Trade Finance Programme (GTFP).
Techcombank has
been the first Vietnamese bank providing an international payment service for
customers who conduct trade transactions overseas, known as a deferred
payment credit.
It has also
developed a network of 12,000 subsidiary banks and branches in 140 countries
and territories worldwide.
The two new awards
once again affirmed the prestige and quality of the bank’s products and
services, particularly trade finance service.
Since the beginning
of this year, Techcombank has received 15 awards from prestigious
international newspapers and organisations, including four awards for its
trade finance service from the Corporate Treasurer, the Global Finance, and
the Asian Baking & Finance Review.
By March 31, 2014,
Techcombank posted a total asset of over VND164 trillion (US$7.8 billion) and
a charter capital of VND8.8 trillion (US$420 million).
With a staff of
7,000 people, the bank boasts a nationwide network of more than 300 branches
and transaction sites and nearly 1,300 ATMs connected with more than 12,000
ATMs in the BankNet and Smartlink systems.
Currently, more
than 3.3 million individuals and over 45,000 businesses are using Techcombank
services.
US provides
public procurement
The US Trade and
Development Agency (USTDA) on August 4 signed a memorandum of understanding
(MoU) agreeing to provide public procurement training and technical
assistance to
Speaking at the
signing ceremony in Hanoi, Andrea Lupo, Director for Global Programmes at the
USTDA emphasised that the cooperation agreement aims to assist Vietnam
enhance international competition and play a vitally important role in
strengthening economic ties between the US and Vietnam.
The ceremony
coincided with the launch of training courses on public procurement in
Garment
sector tops nation’s exports
Garment and textile
exports jumped 11.1% on-month in July to US$2.1 billion, surpassing the
telephone sector as the nation’s leading export industry, reports the
Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT).
According to the
Ministry’s latest statistics, garment and textile exports outpaced the
telephone sector by US$ 0.5 billion.
In the first seven
months of the year, cumulative garment and textile exports increased 19.4%
on-year to US$11.48 billion. Garment exports achieved two-digit growth in
most markets including the
Regional
businesses hold expo
Businesses from
Thailand, Laos, Malaysia, the US and Vietnam will display their products at
the International East-West Economic Corridor Commercial, Tourism and
Investment Exhibition at Danang's Exhibition Centre from August 15-20.
The exhibition will
feature 260 pavilions introducing tourism services and investment
opportunities as well as conferences on the 2015 ASEAN Community.
Danang is situated
in the central region of
Outstanding
livestock businesses to be honoured
The forthcoming
International Feed, Livestock and Meat Processing Show (Vietstock 2014) will
honour outstanding businesses for actively taking part in the development of
husbandry industry, particularly the livestock value chain in
The information was
announced by Hoang Thanh Van, head of the husbandry department under the
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, at a press conference in
Fourteen awards
will be presented to the best-performing livestock enterprises in cattle and
poultry farming, animal feed production and milk processing according to
M.Gandhi, Managing Director of UBM ASEAN Company, the event’s organiser.
Themed
“Restructuring the Livestock Industry for Sustainable Development”, the expo
expects to draw over 250 domestic and foreign businesses showcasing the
latest products, technologies and equipment in the field.
A number of
workshops highlighting opportunities and challenges for the husbandry sector
when the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement is signed as well as
cattle health and nutrition will shape part of the event.
The expo, the 7th
of its kind, will take place on October 15-17 in
Experts
call for action on public debt
Economists have
suggested that the Government needs to change loans from short-term to
long-term and make a connection between internal and external (foreign) debts
to better manage public debts.
Vu Dinh Anh, an
economist with the
He was quoted by
Hai Quan (Customs) newspaper as saying that it was necessary to complete all
legal frameworks and tools to manage public debts.
"The
effectiveness of mobilising and using of loans, especially official
development assistance (ODA) needs to be enhanced to eradicate all
unreasonable processes in mobilisation and payment," he said.
"Meanwhile,
risk management and supervision of public debts must also be enhanced with
priority to research on building and implementing projects to solve
risks," Anh added.
He commented that
the Ministry of Finance should have necessary solutions to ensure the
security and safety of public debts by changing them from short-term loans
into long-term ones, issuing Government bonds for longer durations, reducing
deficit of the State budget and avoiding repayment of old debts through new
loans.
"However, the
Ministry of Finance cannot do all these tasks without directives from the
Government, the close supervision of the National Assembly and the
co-ordination of agencies, organisations and enterprises," Anh said.
Agreeing with Anh
on the importance of a completed legal framework on public debt management,
Dang Van Thanh, a senior economist of the National Assembly, said that legal
documents in
"There needs
to be a consensus on the notion of debts and debt management in the
documents, such as external (foreign) debt, short-term, medium-term and long
term loans and ODA along with Government's commercial loans, grace period,
and guarantee for a foreign loan," Thanh said.
He said that one
drawback in the public debt management system at the moment is the lack of a
connection between the management of external/foreign debts and internal
debts.
"There needs
to be a complete legal framework in these two managements, especially the
clue in income, debt information sharing and debt index supervision," he
said.
Dinh Tuan Minh from
the National Assembly Economic Committee's macro-economy consultation group
said that the Government should take into account all risks that could happen
to public debt.
"To better
manage public debt, it is necessary to sum up all sources that form these
debts," he said adding that right now the related law just counted
Government debts, those that Government guaranteed and those of local
governments as public debts.
"There are
other sources of public debts coming from loans of organisations which the
Government may be jointly liable for when organisations fail to repay
debts," he said.
He explained that
this was the result of state-owned enterprises failing to pay their debts,
forcing the government to bail them out.
"The analysis
and evaluation of debts of these organisations should be an important part of
reports on public debts," he said.
Previously, the
Ministry of Finance and Government had said that
Finance Minister
Dinh Tien Dung, in his Q&A session at the National Assembly in June, said
that the debt was at 54.1 per cent of the GDP last year, which was within
manageable levels.
New fleet
of tuna vessels to set sail in September
The Ship Institute
at the
The vessel, known
as the VIJAS Research and Training Vessel, is the first of 180 tuna boats to
be built for the
The project has
been organised by the Yanmar Company to lift fishermen's incomes and develop
a sustainable tuna fishing industry.
The new boat is 18
metres long and 4.5 metres wide and has an average speed of 11 nautical miles
per hour. It has eight holds for fish cellars and one ice cellar.
Worth VND6 billion
(US$285,700), it is expected to make its first fishing trip in September.
It is equipped with
the latest fishing equipment and Japanese technology for catching and
preserving tuna, Yanmar project director Yukio Kikuchi told the Vnexpress
e-newspaper.
The vessel can
store 6,000 litres of fuel and 3,000 litres of water, enabling it to stay at
sea for up to 20 days.
Composite boats are
said to be safer than those made of timber. They also consume 30 per cent
less fuel.
The company plans
to export 4,500 tonnes of Vietnamese tuna to Japan every year starting from
2015.
Kikuchi said the
company would set up 10 teams with 60 vessels in each province.
Chinese
tourists sees a drop in July
The number of
tourists from Chinese-speaking countries and territories continued to fall,
according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).
More than 123,000
Chinese tourists came in July, a decrease of 28.8 per cent compared to the same
period last year. Tourist arrivals from
VN boosts
exports to
Trade value between
Dong Nai
posts $120m trade surplus
Dong Nai
earned US$6.94 billion from exports in the January-July period while spending
$6.82 billion on imports, resulting in a trade surplus of $120 million,
according to the provincial Industry and Trade Department.
Director of the
department Le Van Danh said the province's export earnings rose 13.8 per cent
year-on-year thanks to local enterprises' success in new markets.
Many key currency
earners enjoyed strong growth, such as footwear (12.8 per cent), wood
products (9.4 per cent) and garments and textiles (7.9 per cent). Major
agriculture products also saw increases in both volume and value, with the
exception of rubber.
At the same time,
imports of consumer goods decreased remarkably. Purchases of yarns and fibre
from abroad dropped, as did imports of pesticides, computers, electronics,
spare parts and animal feed. Imports of some items increased, such as
machinery and spare parts (27.7 per cent), cotton (11.1 percent), cloth (6.7
percent) and footwear materials and accessories (9.1 percent).
Can Tho
eyes annual rice target
Authorities in the
Mekong Delta city of
To reach the goal,
they aim to achieve output of 317,000 tonnes in the upcoming spring-winter
crop.
The locality has
planted over 61,800 ha of rice, 11,000 ha more than the same period last
year, according to the municipal Department of Agriculture and Rural
Development. Vinh Thanh, Co Do and Thoi Lai districts, which have planted
40,000 ha, account for 65 percent of the total.
Director of the
department Pham Van Quynh said that 132 embankments were reinforced in these
districts and 56 km of internal ditches were dredged to prevent flooding,
which could significantly decrease output.
AIA profits
surge 15% in H1
AIA Vietnam announced
"tremendous growth" for the first half of 2014.
The company saw 23
per cent growth in the value of new businesses (VONB), which rose to US$792
million, and annualised new premiums (ANP), which went up 11 per cent to
$1.69 billion. After-tax profits rose by 15 per cent to $1.457 billion.
"Besides
diversified product portfolio development and quality improvement of customer
services, we continue to constantly invest in perfecting the professionalism
of the agency force," said CEO Stephen Clark.
FLC Group
to list on
FLC group has, in
Ha Noi, worked out the finer points with its Singaporean partners about its
plan to list on
It was the second
meeting between the group and the Singaporean financial consulting company
Putri Resources&Capital Pte Ltd and the United Overseas Bank (UOB) after
the first one in April 2014 with regard to the plan.
FLC chairman Trinh
Van Quyet said that the group has successfully listed on the local stock
exchange and it aimed to list in other countries to attract more investment
for its growing projects.
Quyet said
Meanwhile, Ernie
Yap, Director of Putri Resources&Capital said the financial reports
proved that FLC met all the requirements to be listed on
Daniel Lim Jin
Kong, Deputy Chairman of UOB, while appreciating what the group has achieved,
added that a listing in
In the first six
months, profit before tax and after audit of the FLC Group reached over
VND177 billion (US$8.428 million), completing 51 per cent of the whole year's
profit plan in 2014.
Since early this
year, FLC has kicked off constructions of the FLC Garden City in Dai Mo with
the total investment of VND3.5 trillion ($166.6 million), FLC Complex Pham
Hung at the cost of VND1.2 trillion ($57.1 million) in Ha Noi and
international standard FLC Sam Son Golf Links in Sam Son, Thanh Hoa with an investment
of VND5.5 trillion ($261.9 million).
NFSC report
hints at further rate cuts for H2
Credit institutions
could further cut interests on deposits and borrowing costs on falling
provisional inflation rates in the latter part of this year, a financial report
has suggested.
According to the
National Financial Supervisor Commission's latest report on the first
seven-month period, cited by Thoi Bao Kinh Te Viet Nam (Viet Nam Economic
Times), the average interest rate for Vietnamese dong deposits was an estimated
5.53 per cent yearly, down 0.6 percentage point over last December.
Annual lending rate
was about 10.08 per cent, 0.25 percentage point lower than the end of last
year.
"Inflation
forecasts see a stable low trend toward the year-end. Interest rates may be
additionally trimmed to support production and business," said the
report.
"However,
deposit interests may fall at a faster rate than borrowing cost," it
added.
In the first seven
months, overall inflation rates remained lower than 5 per cent, excluding
January for Luna New Year festivals. Core inflation, which eliminates certain
items that face volatile price movements or shocks such as food, food stuff
and public essential services, even went under 4 per cent.
In terms of
investment, NFSC reported that in H1, investment from private sectors
accounted for 10.3 per cent of the GDP compared to 11.1 per cent in the same
period last year. Foreign direct investment in the first seven months rose by
2.3 per cent while in seven months last year it was 6.4 per cent.
The commission said
that one of factors behind the low rate of investment was the ongoing
sluggish credit growth.
Banks are
struggling to increase lending, which is indicated through a low credit
growth of only 3.52 per cent in the first six months, of which dong loans
increased by 2.17 per cent, dollar loans up 12.3 per cent.
Steel
producers see sluggish sales due to economic woes
The domestic steel
market has continued to be quiet as consumption is at a low level, said the
Ministry of Industry and Trade.
The ministry told a
press meeting in Ha Noi yesterday that low steel consumption was due to the
economic slowdown.
The ministry also
said that raw steel output in July reached 311,300 tonnes, representing 21
per cent year-on-year increase. Rolled steel was 295,500 tonnes, rising 18
per cent over the same period last year. Steel bar output rose 1.5 per cent
in comparison with the corresponding period last year to 285,200 tonnes.
In the first seven
months of the year, raw steel output reached 708,900 tonnes, posting a 0.8
per cent year-on-year increase while that of rolled steel was 2.01 million
tonnes, increasing 24 per cent compared with last year.
Steel imports in
the period rose 5.8 per cent in terms of quantity and reduced 1.2 per cent in
terms of value.
In addition, shops
had not imported a large quantity of steel last month because of the rains
which were not suitable for construction, it said.
In July, steel
prices in the north showed a downward trend of VND100,000 to 200,000 per
tonne over the previous month. Several steel producers in the region reduced
prices through increased discounts and waiver of transport costs.
Selling prices in
the south were stable with some producers increasing the price from
VND100,000 to 200,000 per tonne due to the increasing input.
The ministry also
said in the first seven months of the year, the country enjoyed a trade
surplus of US$1.26 billion.
It said the garment
and textile sector saw a breakthrough as it surpassed telephone exports to
become the industry with the highest export turnover in the period.
Garment and textile
turnover in July reached $2.1 billion, increasing 11 per cent over the
previous month and representing a 17 per cent year-on-year rise. In the
January to July period, the product export turnover was $11.48 billion,
increasing 19 per cent against the corresponding period last year.
Answering the
question on the reduction of power bills last month after a surge in June,
Pham Quang Huy, deputy head of the Electricity Regulatory Authority of Viet
Nam (ERAV) said power consumption mostly depended on the weather.
Huy said the
ministry has asked the Electricity of Viet Nam (EVN) and power companies to
publish the power calculation method.
Last month, there
were 183,000 households with power bills reduced 1.5 times over the previous
month, 75,000 households reduced twice and 110,000 ones increased 1.5 times.
In June, 79,000
households had bills reduced 1.5 times against May and 42,000 reduced twice.
"It means that
each month there is the usual increase and decrease in power bills," he
said.
He added that the
weather in July was cooler than in June, resulting in a reduction in power
consumption. EVN Ha Noi also checked bills which claimed an increase.
Talking about the
possibility of a rise in electricity tariffs, Deputy Minister Do Thang Hai
said the ministry had not received any proposal from EVN, adding that there
would be no increase in the near future.
Exports to
HK see growth due to camera shipments
Vietnamese exports
to Hong Kong posted strong growth in the first half of this year, according
to
The department
reported that Vietnamese exports to
These export
products included camera and camera components, all kinds of telephones and
their components, computers, electronics and their components, machines, equipment,
tools, textiles, garment, seafood, farm products, materials and subcomponents
for textile, garment and footwear industries, wood products and electrical
goods.
The general
department of customs said that cameras and their components had the largest share
of the total value of exports to
The products which
had the highest growth in export value in the first half of this year against
the same period last year were computers and electronic products and their
components (up 86.6 per cent), fibre (up 90.7 per cent), handbags, packages,
hats and umbrellas (up 71.8 per cent), rubber products (up 54.5 per cent) and
fruits and vegetables (up 92.2 per cent).
According to the
Ministry of Industry and Trade's Industrial and Trade Information Centre,
In particular, Hong
Kong is a trade and investment bridge linking mainland
Source: VEF/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/Dantri/VIR
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Thứ Ba, 5 tháng 8, 2014
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