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BUSINESS IN BRIEF 24/11
TPP
predicted to hit small farms
The
Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement which
According
to a report announced on November 18 at a conference on the livestock raising
sector structure and benefits for small farmhouses in
On the
other hand, animal feed companies on the local market also provide foreign
breeders which they said can grow well on their feed, Nguyen Van Giap,
director of the Southern Center for Agricultural Policy and Strategy (SCAPS),
one of the report’s writers, told the conference.
For
animal feed, which makes up the largest proportion of 70% of the breeding
sector’s value chain, foreign companies dominate half of the market, and with
more foreign-invested firms controlling the market, a monopolistic mindset
has appeared in the local animal feed market, he said.
Although
prices of materials for animal feed have stayed stable on global markets, the
volume of domestic animal feed has increased, and the Government has removed
the 5% value added tax on animal feed imports, local prices of animal feed
have still marked up, placing farmers in a difficult position.
However,
more challenges will arise when
In fact,
large farmhouses will expand their business operations and replace smaller
rivals which cannot survive the growing competition.
The
report pointed out that existing policies to support the development of the
livestock farming sector have only benefited large rather than small
farmhouses.
According
to the report, the livestock breeding industry should have a development
strategy, strictly control smuggled products, effectively put monopoly under
control and spur healthy competition in the animal feed market, tighten
controls on hygiene at farmhouses, manage the veterinary medicine market,
monitor food safety and hygiene in the meat slaughtering and distribution
processes, and establish a meat consumer association.
Money
transfer on Facebook, Google Plus
Techcombank
has launched a money transfer service on Facebook and Google+, becoming the
first Vietnamese bank to offer such a service in the country.
According
to Techcombank, the service is accessible to users of mobile phones using iOS
(version 6.1 or higher) and Android (version 4.1 or up) operating systems.
Customers can register and download “F@st mobile” app from Apple Store or
Google Play to use the service with the help of Techcombank’s transaction
offices.
This app
allows users to transfer money to relatives and friends who connect with
Facebook, Google+ or SMS attached with messages, images, video clips and
audio recordings.
To
transfer money, clients must log on the F@st mobile app, select “Social
network”, choose receivers from Facebook or contact list and type the amount
of money to be transferred.
Receivers
can get their money at transaction offices of Techcombank. They can also get
the amount from automated teller machines (ATMs) but have to report passwords
given by the bank via their cell phones earlier.
Techcombank
said it already considered security issues for those transactions. Senders
will create a passcode for each transaction to ensure that their money come
to the right person. Receivers are required to supply the correct passcode to
take delivery of money.
The
bank’s mobile baking service also allows customers to withdraw money from
ATMs without using ATM cards. They just need a mobile device connecting to
the Internet to transfer or receive money. This is an advantage especially
when clients do not bring their cards along or just have banking accounts but
ATM cards.
To
withdraw money, customers can click on F@st mobile app and select ATM
withdrawal. Techcombank’s system will give them a verification code. At ATMs,
he supplies this code and the sum of money needed to transfer. The bank’s
system will conduct an automatic call to a receiver to inform a second code.
The receiver can get money from ATMs when supplying this second code.
At
present, many banks are offering the mobile banking service with functions
such as checking balance in the account, transferring money within the same
bank and mobile charging.
Cocoa
sector in search of fresh way forward
The
agricultural sector, companies, and researchers should do more research into
the cocoa market, analysing its value chain and socio-economic impact, and
utilise the by-products of the crop to develop the sector, a seminar heard in
Le Duc
Thinh, deputy head of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development's
Department of Cooperative Economy and Rural Development, said not much
research is done into cocoa and the industry lacks professional researchers.
Most
researchers in the field are from other sectors, he said, and much of their
studies is impracticable, he told the seminar organised by the Cao Nguyen
Xanh Joint Stock Company.
They
focus on particular problems to cope with short-term challenges related to
production, improving quality, expanding cultivation area, and diseases,
while basic research to achieve greater understanding of the fundamental
aspects of the sector is lacking, he said.
The
Government has invested in research but that mainly focuses on seedling and
farming techniques, and few studies are done on developing the domestic cocoa
market, marketing strategies, or developing the value chain, he said.
This
should be changed, and the Government should collaborate with the private
sector for such research and strengthen co-operation with international cocoa
research organisations, he said.
Nguyen
Van Hoa, deputy director of the Department of Crop Production, said though
cocoa trees were introduced to
Since
cocoa is still a relatively new crop in
The area
under the crop has increased from 2,000-3,000ha in 2003-04 to nearly 20,000ha
now.
Those
areas applying proper farming techniques achieve very high yields, he said.
Experts
said the industry has new opportunities thanks to the growing global demand,
which is expected to cause a shortage of one million tonnes by 2020.
The
seminar was held as part of the "Cooperation for enhancing sustainable
cocoa development," a Viet Nam-Netherlands public private partnership
project for sustainable cocoa development, which aligns the public efforts
with those by Rabobank Foundation, Mars Incorporated, Cargill and others.
New
land price framework issued
A
recently issued decree on land price framework has regulated the maximum
price of VND 162 million (US$ 7,800) per square metre in urban areas in the Red
River Delta and the South Eastern Region.
The new
decree categorizes land as agricultural land and non-agricultural land.
The
minimal rate for fifth-tier urban land in the Central Coast Region will be
VND 40,000 per square meter.
Commercial
and service land in urban areas in the Red River Delta and the South Eastern
Region will be set between VND 120,000 to VND 129.6 million per square meter.
Meanwhile,
the lowest rural land price will be VND15,000 per square meter for
mountainous communes in the Central Highlands Region, and the highest will be
VND 29 million per square meter for communes in the Red River Region.
The
Decree shall come into force on December 29, 2014.
Thanh
Hoa golf resort to open in May 2015
A VND5.5
trillion ($261 million) resort and golf course complex invested by FLC Group
in the central province of Thanh Hoa plans to start operations in May next
year.
According
to Doan Van Phuong, FLC’s general director, the province’s largest golf and
resort complex took shape as part of next year’s National Tourism Year
programme, to be hosted by the locality.
Once
finished, the 400 hectare compound will include an 18-hole golf course and
high-end hotel and resort.
The
project will also offer 670 villas and 152 semi-detached houses for sale.
FLC Group
recently put on sale memberships at the project’s Fusion Maia Samson Golf
Links.
The
first memberships will include incentives such as free green fees, a discount
of 10 per cent at the Pro Shop, 10 per cent off all food and beverage
services, and free hotel stays.
Memberships
are valid through 2049.
Located
at Sam Son beach in Thanh Hoa, 135 kilometres from
The
Fusion Maia Samson Resort is planned to be managed by Serenity Holding Group,
a famous hotel management company with sub-brands such as Fusion, A La Carte
and
FLC’s
project is expected to turn Sam Son and Thanh Hoa into a popular tourism hub
in
Rising
demand for electricity to leave power plants short of coal
Facing
growing demand for electricity,
Coal
demand will rise to 67.3 million tonnes by 2020 and up to 171 million tonnes
by 2030, according to Government estimates. However,
"The
serious imbalance between supply and demand leaves the electricity sector
with no other way than importing coal," Viet Nam Energy Consultation
Centre Director To Quoc Tru told Hai quan (Customs) newspaper.
"Investing
in new foreign coal mines can cost a lot," Tru said, estimating that
investing in a coal mine in
He added
that
"
Tra
Vinh, Vung Tau and Tien Giang have been selected as possible locations for
such big ports but only Duyen Hai port in Tra Vinh is currently under
construction.
The
Vinacomin
also plans to co-ordinate with
Medi-Pharm
Expo 2014 to take place next month
The 21st
The fair
aims to link domestic and international firms in the pharmaceutical and
medical equipment sector.
Over 100
companies from 16 countries and territories will display pharmaceutical
products, dietary supplements, packaging and processing machines, analytical
and testing equipment and medical equipment at 150 booths.
Textile
businesses join Australian sourcing fair
A dozen
Vietnamese textile businesses are participating in the Australian
International Sourcing Fair (AISF), which opened on Tuesday in
On
display at the fair's two pavilions are products from major companies such as
GARCO 10, Ho Guom, Dong Xuan, Phong Phu, Thai Hoa and Thang Long.
Chairman
of the Vietnam Business Association in Australia Tran Ba Phuc described the
three-day event as an unparalleled opportunity for Vietnamese firms to
introduce their products to international friends.
Garment
and textile products are one of the key foreign currency earners of
Farmers
concerned over domination by FDI companies
Vietnamese
farmers are seeking help to reduce their dependence on foreign animal feed
suppliers.
Luong
Hong Doan, a farmer in
Nguyen
Van Giap, director of Insitute of Policy and Strategy for Agriculture and
Rural Development for the southern region, said animal feed suppliers were
mostly FDI companies who are monopolising the market.
CP
Vietnam Corporation, owned by the Thai Charoen Pokphand Corporation,
currently holds 19.5% of market share. In second place is Cargill
A group
of researchers said there were signs that large companies collude to fix
prices.
"Even
though material prices decrease, the feed prices don't move. This may cause a
loss of thousands of billions of VND each year. We need to improve
competition in the animal feed market," Giap said.
Unemployment
on the rise in Vietnam
Thousands
in
Each
day, the Hanoi Employment Introduction Centre (HEIC) receives hundreds of
people registering for unemployment insurance. The people run the gamut in terms
of age and professions.
Mr. Duc
said he worked at Big C supermarket with a salary of VND4 million (USD190.4)
per moth. However, in April the the firm started to scale down, leaving him
to be unemployed. Now he is living on the unemployment benefits of VND2
million (USD95.23) per month.
He said
that despite having experience, it is not easy for him to find a job as Tet
nears because Vietnamese companies usually recruit at the beginning of the
year.
Mrs.
Thuy, who worked for Duoc Khoa Company in
Nguyen
Toan Phong, director of HEIC, said in the first ten months of this year,
27,665 people came to the centre to register for unemployment insurance, up
5,837 from the same period of last year.
In the
ten-month period, the centre spent VND178.8 billion (USD8.5 billion) on
unemployment benefits. Mr. Phong added that the majority of people
registering work in the areas of processing, electronics and garments and
textiles. A high rate is seen at companies located at industrial parks and
export processing zones as well as foreign-invested firms.
According
to the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, up to 30-40% of
people who register unemployment have graduated from colleges and
universities.
Nguyen
Thi Kim Loan, head of HEIC’s Unemployment Insurance Board, said that economic
difficulties are the main cause of the rise in unemployment. Meanwhile,
according to Mr. Phong, the passivisation of state-owned companies has also
contributed to the problem.
So far
this year, the number of unemployed in
At least
15 taxi companies in
The move
followed instructions from the municipal departments of Finance and Transport
after a reduction in petrol prices.
Still,
some claim that the price reduction is modest, at between 1.6%-6.5% compared
to the current fee level. After the nine consecutive price cuts, the price of
Petrol A92 has dropped by VND4,250 per litre and the price of diesel fuel has
fallen 15 times for a total of VND3,580 per litre.
Khuat
Viet Hung, deputy chairman of the National Committee for Traffic Safety, said
that the petroleum price cut would help slash overall transportation fees by
5.6-8%.
According
to the Ministry of Transport, to date, 10 transportation firms in
Many
pilots employed by Vietnam Airlines have been opting to change to other
carriers because of low pay.
One
pilot said his fixed monthly income was about 90 million VND per month, but
if he switched to another domestic airline, he could triple his salary.
For
Vietnam Airlines pilots, the monthly salary ranges between USD8,000 to
USD13,000 depending on seniority and rank.
In just
one Vietnam Airlines flight team, ten pilots have left to work for other
airlines in recent months, and there are more resignation letters waiting to
be processed.
According
Vietnam Airlines policy, pilots are sent abroad for training on corporate
funds if they agree to sign a 15-year contract. The estimated amount for
training a pilot for the carrier is around 2.5 billion VND, not including
later courses. The investment is significant to the airline, and when pilots
decide to leave before the contract is up, it means a loss for the company.
Can
Tho’s aquatic exports witness twofold increase
Mekong
delta Can Tho City has exported more than 11,000 tons of aquatic products,
mainly shrimp to such large markets as the EU,
Over the
past 10 months of 2014, it earned US$500 million from exporting 55,000 tons
of aquatic products, accounting for 51% of the total export turnover and
representing a twofold increase compared to the same period last year.
The city
has provided a loan of VND8,000 billion for local businesses to purchase new
materials and promote consumption in large markets.
It also
cooperates with other provinces and facilitates enterprises' further
coordination in production and export with the aim of making an aquatic
export value of US$600 million for the full year.
Nafiqad
wants
The
National Agro-Forestry-Fisheries Quality Assurance Department (Nafiqad) has proposed
the Russian government abolish a rule that requires Vietnamese seafood
exporters to sign contracts with Russian importers in order to ship their
products to
An
inspectorate of
As many
as 64 local firms complying with regulations on food safety of
Meanwhile,
38 other enterprises cannot ship their seafood to
However,
as the firm’s products can fulfill food safety requirements, it is
unreasonable if those products are not allowed to enter the Russian market,
he said, adding that with permission from Russian authorities, it will be
easier for his firms to present products to Russian importers.
Enterprises
say the condition that seafood enterprises must secure contracts with Russian
importers is a barrier for them and that Russian consumers are those who will
suffer.
In the
past, the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers had a
management board to export seafood to
The
board then was blamed for making other enterprises lose their opportunities
to export to
On July
15, 2013, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development decided to
dissolve it. Such a move has helped increase the number of firms exporting
seafood to
Gov’t
revises up reference urban land tariffs
The
Government has issued a new decree on land prices, in which the reference
land prices in special-grade urban centers will double with the maximum of
VND162 million per square meter.
The
decree covering both agricultural and non-agricultural land stipulates the
prices of each type in each region, and has two groups. It is expected to
take effect at the end of next month to help relevant State agencies and
investors to establish a more agreeable price when it comes to compensation
for affected people.
In
accordance with the decree, prices of non-agricultural land in urban areas
will have the lowest value of VND40,000 per square meter for fifth-grade
cities in the north-central region, while the highest rate of VND162 million
per square meter for special-grade cities will be applied in the Red River
Delta and the southeastern region.
Prices
of commercial and service land in the Red River Delta and the southeastern
region will range from VND120,000 to VND129.6 million per square meter.
Meanwhile,
the maximum land price in the rural areas will have the highest value of
VND29 million per square meter in the Red River Delta, around 16 times higher
than the current one.
Previously,
many experts and property traders expressed concerns over a draft of the
decree announced by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to
double the current land prices in urban areas as it could result in the
higher costs for development of infrastructure, urban centers and housing,
and the low growth of real estate market.
However,
the ministry stated that the land price framework has existed for a long time
without adjustment and has not followed market prices, while land prices in
reality now are three to five times higher than those regulated in the land
price frames of localities.
Lawyer
Hoang Van Son at the HCMC Bar Association, who has received many claims on
land, said the Government should focus on reform of administrative procedures
and mechanisms on land as raising land prices for many times in the new
decree could not resolve existing land disputes.
Fuel
traders await price cut order again
Local
fuel trading companies again are waiting for a decision from administering
agencies to announce further retail price cuts as they are making good
profits from VND300-750 from each liter of fuel sold.
According
to the base price calculation list provided by fuel wholesale traders, they
have been gaining VND733 from each liter of gasoline sold, VND405 from diesel
oil and VND253 from kerosene as of early this week, not to mention a fixed
profit of VND300 a liter factored into the base price.
A fuel
trader in the South told the Daily that the base price has declined strongly
compared to November 7, when the Ministry of Industry and Trade requested
traders to lower retail prices given steady fuel price drops in
The RON
92 gasoline price on November 7 was US$91.58 per barrel, diesel oil 0.05S at
US$96.13 a barrel and kerosene US$99.14 a barrel. In the latest trading
session on Monday, the prices were US$85.43, US$91.95 and US$94.77 a barrel
respectively.
The
15-day average price from November 3 to 18 used to calculate the base price
of RON 92 gasoline was US$89.86 a barrel, diesel oil US$95.75 and kerosene
US$98.7.
Joint
Circular 39/2014/TTLT-BCT-BTC regulates that a team of officials from the
ministries of Industry-Trade and Finance is responsible for calculating and
announcing the base price and the difference between the current base price
and the preceding base price every 15 days.
At
present, the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s official website updated the
latest base price list on November 6 and import price from
Before
the retail price cut on November 7, fuel wholesale traders had been also
waiting for a decision of the ministries of industry-trade and finance to
revise down their retail prices following sharp crude oil price falls on the
global market.
In a
related development, local fuel trading firms reported huge profits in the
third quarter of this year.
Vietnam
National Petroleum Group (Petrolimex), which accounts for a lion’s share on
the domestic market, obtained VND406 billion in pre-tax profit in the third
quarter. Between January and September, it obtained a pre-tax profit of VND67
per liter or kilo of fuel sold.
Materials
- Petroleum Joint Stock Company (COMECO) reported an after-tax profit of over
VND9.8 billion in the third quarter, rising VND3 billion year-on-year. From
January to September, its after-tax profit surged 45% to over VND28 billion.
Saigon
Fuel Company (SFC) obtained over VND26.7 billion in after-tax profit in the
Jan-Sept period, rising by VND12.4 billion from the same period of 2013.
Incentives
for coach station investors
Individuals
and businesses developing coach stations would be exempt from land rent,
land-use fee and ten years of income tax, and would gain easy access to soft
loans, according to the draft of a decision to be issued by the Government.
The
draft specifies investors of all economic sectors involved in coach terminal
development projects would get preferential treatment.
In
specifics, investors of coach station projects included in the master plan
would be offered funding to build entrance and exit roads, and financial
assistance from the State budget to cover site clearance cost. They could
take out soft loans from local development funds.
As for
coach stations in the highlands and remote areas, the State budget would
cover supporting works such as restrooms, ticketing offices and waiting
lounges.
Land use
fee and tax would be exempted in the pick-up and drop-off areas, parking
lots, waiting rooms, ticketing offices, restrooms and access roads. Investors
would also be exempted from corporate income tax for ten years from the
operation date of a station.
The
Government would not relocate stations in the approved planning at least in
50 years and prioritize projects to connect stations to the road system.
As of
June, statistics from the Ministry of Transport showed 457 coach stations had
been operating in
However,
investors only pay attention to stations in large urban areas. Meanwhile,
small-scale ones are facing with difficulties in attracting investment.
PVN
urea arm to launch IPO
PetroVietnam
Ca Mau Fertilizer Company Limited will launch its initial public offering
(IPO) on December 11 with nearly 129 million shares offered at a reserve
price of VND12,000 each on the Hochiminh Stock Exchange.
The urea
manufacturing affiliate of Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PVN),
expecting to raise over VND3.1 trillion from this IPO, will spur its
chartered capital to nearly VND5.3 trillion, equivalent to 529.4 million
shares.
The
State will hold a 51% stake, equivalent to 270 million shares, while around
129 million shares (24.36%) will be offered to strategic investors and the
same amount to other investors. The company will sell nearly 1.5 million
shares (0.28%) to its employees.
After
deducting charges and fees from the expected proceed of over VND3.1 trillion,
the firm will hand over VND3.078 billion to its mother company
PVN.
The
company will also adjust its name to PetroVietnam Ca Mau Fertilizer Joint
Stock Company after the IPO. It said target strategic shareholders should
have long-term commitments to the company, pledge to supply it with gas at a
stable and competitive price and support the firm in the fields of
governance, technology, research and development and consumption. They should
have a strong financial capacity too.
PetroVietnam
Ca Mau Fertilizer Company Limited has seen its output increasing over the
past three years. It stood at 444,000 tons in 2012, 747,000 tons in 2013 and
an estimated 772,000 tons in 2014.
The
fertilizer maker said PVN will ensure the stable price of gas as feedstock
for the company in the 2015-2018 period so that it can earn an average return
on equity of 12% per annum. The company targets profit of nearly VND5.6
trillion in 2015, VND6.2 trillion in 2016, VND6.4 trillion in 2017 and VND7.4
trillion in 2018.
The
company, which operates Ca Mau urea plant in Ca Mau Gas-Electricity-Fertilizer
complex in Ca Mau Province, has its business portfolios including fertilizer
and nitrogen production, petrochemicals and fertilizer export-import,
logistics and finance investment.
The
government of HCMC will issue home ownership and land use right certificates
to home buyers who have finished payments to investors even though the
investors have not settled debt owed to banks.
Nguyen
Huu Tin, vice chairman of the city, said at a working session on November 17
that the move would help solve the long-running problem in which home buyers
have not received housing ownership and land use right certificates though
they have finished payments for their homes.
City
citizens usually complain that they have moved to their new apartments for
years but have not received certificates, Nguyen Van Lam, deputy head
of the economic and budget committee of the HCMC People’s Council, told the
meeting.
City
departments and district authorities at the meeting said the issue comes from
the intricate relationship between investors and banks and that between
investors and customers, and suggested the city government solve the problem
on a case-by-case basis.
However,
vice chairman Tin said the city should help all affected households, not on a
case-by-case basis.
Investors
have responsibility to pay debt using their own assets while banks should
monitor the flow of their capital to ensure they can take back their money.
Therefore,
it is unacceptable when home buyers cannot get certificates for land use
rights and home ownership after they have made payments to investors and
moved to their new apartments for a long time.
To
handle the problem, Tin requested authorities of the city’s districts to
inform investors and banks the city’s decision to issue home ownership and
land use right cerfiticates for buyers.
Within
15 days from the date of the decision being announced, if banks have any
questions, district authorities will instruct them to deal with investors’
debt and collateral in a way that banks can only take away mortgage assets
which investors own.
If banks
and investors agree on the solution, the authorities will complete procedures
to issue cerfiticates. For buyers who have finished 95% payments for property
developers, the city authorities will help investors collect the remaining 5%
and then issue certificates.
The same
solution will apply to projects which have been suspended by the authorities
as their investors have not been able to repay loans to banks, Tin said.
Sa
Dec flowers to be used for perfume production
The
Mekong Delta
Tran Thi
Thai, vice chairwoman of
“Under
this program, the French delegation plans to support Sa Dec to produce flower
seeds to supply other localities in
However,
the provincial government has not yet made an official decision on the
program. Therefore, she could not provide any details about the partner and
an expected economic outcome.
According
to the Sa Dec Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, more than
1,500 household businesses are growing over 2,500 species of ornamental
flowers on 400 hectares. More than 1,300 of these families are earning a
living from 240 hectares of ornamental flowers in Tan Quy Dong Ward.
Sa Dec
flower village provides tens of millions of ornamental flower baskets for
HCMC and the Mekong Delta a year, especially on Lunar New Year holidays.
It is
also an attraction for both local and foreign visitors. Sa Dec welcomed over
32,000 visitors, including 22,000 foreigners, in January-September.
Banking
system health improves
Basic
indicators released by the State Bank of
According
to statistics of the State Bank, as of September, the capital adequacy ratio
(CAR) of the entire banking system stood at 13.43%, up from the 12.94%
recorded on June 30, 2014.
Such CAR
did not count credit institutions with negative equity.
In many
countries, the minimum CAR at banks is set at 12% while credit institutions
in
At joint
stock banks, the ratio was seen improved with 12.48% in late September
compared to 11.77% in late June. Meanwhile, at banks with the State holding
majority stakes, including VietinBank, Vietcombank and BIDV, the ratio went
down to 10.07% from 10.44%.
CAR at
joint venture and foreign banks continued to take the lead with 31.27%
recorded in late September.
The
ratios of return on asset (ROA) and return on equity (ROE) were also seen
improving considerably.
The
banking system’s ROA picked up from 0.17% (in late March) to 0.36% while ROE
surged to 3.81% compared to 1.83% in late March.
However,
it should be noted that ROA and ROE were quarter-two data of credit
institutions and did not include ones having negative equity and people’s
credit funds.
In
addition, assets of the entire system totaled VND6,161,763 billion, or some
US$290 billion, up 6.12% against late last year.
The
ratio of short-term capital used for medium- and long-term loans as of the
end of quarter three amounted to 19.04% against 18.26% in late June.
The
loan-to-deposit ratio was 82.72% at the end of September compared to 82.30%
three months earlier.
New
growth markets for local firms
Kien was
speaking at a seminar held in HCMC last week on how to make use of the
commitments to the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), organized by the National
Committee for Economic Cooperation Office in collaboration with the
Kien
said convenient transportation and cooperation programs in the
Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam (CLV) and Cambodia-Laos-Myanmar-Vietnam (CLMV) regions
are offering opportunities for domestic businesses to tap these three
markets. Such joint programs can facilitate infrastructure development,
investment attraction, and trade in goods.
Last
year,
For the
Lao market, the country exported fuel, steel, fertilize and vehicles worth a
combined US$458 million and imported wood, mineral, ore and corn, among
others, with a total value of US$668 million.
Although
Bilateral
trade amounted to nearly US$250 million last year, up from the US$120 million
recorded in 2012.
Bui Thi
Thanh An, deputy general director of the Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency, said
Cambodia is an important export market for Vietnam with two-way trade growing
over 30% a year on average.
Revenue
from exports to
Eighteen
travel firms clubbed together
Eighteen
travel enterprises in HCMC have grouped together to form a new tourist group,
known as Travelink, with an aim to improve and expand their services for
independent travelers.
These
enterprises are of small and medium scale, such as Vietcircle, Lien Bang
Travelink, Vietnam Destination, Beautiful Asia Tours, Freetour, Lotus Travel,
Tourance Travel and Saigonzoom. They are now advertising and selling their
products on the website www.travelink.vn.
The
group currently offers some 30 domestic and international tours. It plans to
connect with more travel firms and introduce more new destinations in the
coming time.
“Small
companies do not have strong sales networks and operating capacity, so we
establish this group to improve services,” said Tu Quy Thanh, director of
Lien Bang Travel Trading Company Limited, who serves as the leader of the
group.
Thanh
said members can introduce and sell all tours of the group on their own
websites, and send travelers to his firm for group tours. Companies without
websites can use the group’s site to promote and sell their products.
Eight
enterprises in the city last year also created a group named Vietnam
Consortium Group to improve their services and attract more local and foreign
tourists.
As
HCMC’s power needs in recent years have been lower than previously forecast,
HCMC Power Corporation (EVN HCMC) has extended work on 18 power transmission
projects to avoid waste.
The
combined investment capital for the projects that will not be developed in
the 2011-2015 period is nearly VND11 trillion. In this period, the company
had planned to spend around VND21 trillion on power transmission projects.
According
to Pham Quoc Bao, deputy general director of EVN HCMC, when these power
projects were approved for development in 2011-2015, power consumption was
forecast to grow 12.9% a year.
However,
the actual rise in power consumption in 2011-2013 was only 6% a year.
Besides, commercial power output in HCMC rose a mere 4% compared to an
initially projected 7.6%.
Under
the city’s economic growth scenarios in the coming years, the maximum power
consumption would increase 8% annually and the maximum capacity of the power
system would reach 5,300MW by 2020. The current power system has virtually
met demand in the next few years.
If the
investments are made, debt would pile pressure as most of the power projects
are funded by official development assistance (ODA) loans, Bao said.
EVN
HCMC, he said, has also written to the HCMC government and the Ministry of
Industry and Trade proposing adjusting the city’s 2011-2015 power development
plan so that the plan for the 2016-2025 period the
Regarding
power supply in the 2014-2015 dry season, Bao said supply could be sufficient
when completing the 500kV Pleiku-My Phuoc-Cau Bong, Song May-Tan Dinh, Vinh
Tan-Song power lines and the 500kV Cau Bong substation to transmit power from
the central region to the south.
Besides,
work on Vinh Tan and Duyen Hai thermal power projects is being speeded up to
provide power for HCMC and other southern provinces.
Cyber
attacks in
Nearly
280,000 cyber attacks have been recorded in
Cybercriminals
have launched 275,816 attacks on Internet systems in the southern metropolis
this year, Le Quoc Cuong, deputy director of the municipal Department of
Information and Communications, said at the “Information Security and
National Sovereignty” conference.
“The 300
percent increase is an alarming figure,” Cuong said.
Many of
the attacks are from
“In 2013
Chinese IPs were recorded from more than 1,000 attacks, whereas the figure in
2014 is nearly 70,000.”
Nearly
25,000 attacks have come from the
Many
attacks were for political purposes, especially issues related to Vietnamese
sovereignty in the
“From
the end of August to November 17, 2,500 websites with the “.vn” domain name
have been attacked,” Vo Do Thang, director of Athena, an Internet security
training center, said, citing data from a foreign website.
“As for
government website with the “.gov” domain, 250 were compromised in the first
two weeks of this month.”
Thang
said this is only the recorded data, and the real number of attacks could be
much higher.
Dr.
Trinh Ngoc Minh, deputy chairman of the Vietnam Information Security
Association (VNISA), said the number privacy breaches in the Southeast Asian
country have also soared.
One of
the most noticeable cases was the discovery that an illegal phone tracking
app had been installed on more than 14,000 Android phones, allowing the
company behind the app to manipulate the secretly collected data.
Hanoi-based
tech company Viet Hong Co advertised its Ptracker app as being able to help
users track other people’s Android phones, read their SMS messages and
contact books, record their phone calls and even turn on features like the
camera, 3G or GPRS connections from the target devices.
But its
customers did not know that all of the data they covertly monitored from the
handsets has been transferred to the server computer of Viet Hong Co and is
at the disposal of the company’s employees, according to an investigation
report released in June.
“We can
say this is the most serious and largest data breach case in
Internet
security experts also pointed out hidden risks from social networks, as users
can lose their personal information to hackers and have their Facebook or
Twitter accounts stolen.
A report
by the southern chapter of the VNISA addressed the case of VCCorp, a
Hanoi-based communication center that was severely attacked by hackers last
month.
The
attack targeted a number of websites powered by VCCorp and left them
inaccessible for days, which cost the company some VND2 billion ($94,135) in
daily damage.
Even
though the cyber attacks targeting Vietnamese victims are becoming
increasingly dangerous, awareness on Internet security of local organizations
and businesses is decreasing, according to experts.
While
only 16 percent of the organizations and businesses surveyed by VNISA in 2012
said they did not know when their systems were compromised, the figure rose
to 33 percent this year, according to a VNISA report.
In the
meantime, the number of organizations who know that they had been attacked
dropped from 40 percent in 2012 to 33 percent in 2014.
Source:
VEF/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/Dantri/VIR
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Chủ Nhật, 23 tháng 11, 2014
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