Thứ Năm, 19 tháng 3, 2015

BUSINESS IN BRIEF 19/3


Canadian exporters eye Vietnamese beef market
Canadian Minister of Agriculture and Agrifood Gerry Ritz yesterday said the Vietnamese market held great potential for the import of high-quality, flavourful Canadian beef.
Speaking at a press conference in HCM City, Canadian Minister of Agriculture and Agrifood Gerry Ritz said: "Canadian production and processing standards have been rigorously designed to ensure health and safety of our beef products. Our top priority is to make sure our customers always receive wholesome, top-quality beef."
Ritz is leading an agricultural trade mission to Viet Nam, South Korea and Japan to promote a variety of Canadian agricultural products, including safe, high-quality beef.
Last year, Canada's beef industry had total export value of over US$1.9 billion.
Asia has become one of its priority markets, with Viet Nam ranked as a market with high potential, he said.
Jack Hextall, chairman of Canada Beef, which is responsible for domestic and international beef and veal market development, said that Canada was a world leader in feed-grain production, including barley, wheat and corn.
Rob Meijer, president of Canada Beef, said initially Canada's organization and businesses would work with the food services segment and retailers in Viet Nam to promote products as well as study customers' tastes.
Canada is committed to serving the needs of the Vietnamese market and to supplying safe, high-quality food products, Ritz said.
The Animal Husbandry Association of Viet Nam said the number of cows raised in Viet Nam had fallen from 6.7 million in 2007 to 5.23 million heads last year.
Domestic cow production meets only 75-76 per cent of local demand.
To satisfy demand, the country had to import a large volume of beef and cows from other countries, Nguyen Dang Vang, the association's chairman, said.
Cow and beef imports in recent years have increased strongly, with more than 250,000 live cows and 26,000 tonnes of beef and buffalo meat imported last year.
Demand for beef is expected to increase while there will be few changes in production since the country does not have advantageous conditions for raising cows on large-scale farms.
The country expects to import a similar volume of live cows and beef this year to satisfy domestic consumption.
The event was organised by the Canada Beef International Institute and the Embassy of Canada in Viet Nam.
MoT okays sea sand for bridge work
Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Van Cong gave Civil Engineering Construction Corporation No 4 the green light to try using sea sand instead of river sand when building the Tan Vu – Lach Huyen Sea Bridge in Hai Phong.
The move came after the company had trouble collecting the 50,000 cubic metres of river sand it needed to build the roadbed of the bridge's approach before March 30, as scheduled.
Using sea sand from Hai Nam and Dinh Vu mines, which were close to the construction site, would also help reduce time and transport expenses, said Hoang Van Dao, the company's deputy director.
The project would first need to test the sea sand, to see if it could be used successfully instead of river sand. If it worked, it could be used more widely in the construction sector, he said.
However, sea sand gave way easier than river sand when vehicles drove over it, said Deputy Minister Cong. He told the company to prepare an alternative, in case its plan failed.
Civil Engineering Construction Corporation No. 4 needed to send its two detailed plans to authorised agencies by March 28, Cong said.
Tan Vu – Lach Huyen is the country's longest sea bridge. Construction started last February, with a completion date set for 2017.
The 15.6km sea bridge is a key national project that will connect eastern areas of the city to Lach Huyen Port, Dinh Vu Industrial Park and the Ha Noi – Hai Phong Expressway.
The construction of the bridge is being funded with more than VND10 trillion (US$466 million) in Official Development Assistance from Japan and VND1.8 trillion ($83.8 million) from the Vietnamese Government.
Quality awards bestowed on domestic firms
The Ministry of Science and Technology yesterday published a list of 65 Vietnamese enterprises that have been granted national quality awards.
Of them, 19 firms will receive gold awards, including Can Tho Sugar Joint Stock Company, Thanh Hoa Medical Materials Equipment Joint Stock Company, Trafaco Joint Stock Company and Information Technology of the Central Power Corporation.
The remainder of the firms will receive silver awards.
The award ceremony will take place in Ha Noi on March 22.
Ngo Quy Viet, director general of the ministry's Directorate for Standards, Metrology and Quality, said the awardees performed excellently in maintaining and improving quality systems, and in contributing to provincial and national economy. He also said in difficult conditions, enterprises needed to care about boosting productivity, technology and the quality of services and products.
Viet said the national quality awards would partly help the firms to take a relook at themselves to improve the quality of their services and products.
Established in 2009, the awards are granted by the Prime Minister, and are part of a system of the International Asia-Pacific Quality Awards of the Asia-Pacific Quality Organisation.
The firms are judged on seven criteria of leadership, strategic planning, customer service and market focus and measurement, as well as knowledge management, workforce focus and process management and results.
VNPT to divest $56.4m in first quarter
The Viet Nam Post and Telecom Group (VNPT) will divest VND1.2 trillion (US$56.4 million) from the joint-stock sector in the first quarter of this year.
Tran Manh Hung, general director of VNPT, said the group would also divest VND2 trillion from listed companies following a decision Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung signed in June last year to restructure VNPT. So far, the group has divested VND500 billion ($23.5 million).
The group was carrying out divestments in accordance with the decision, said Hung.
BIDV funds new Vissai cement factory
The Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam (BIDV) has approved a loan for the Vissai Cement Group worth VND6.3 trillion ($296 million) to build a cement factory in the central province of Nghe An.
The factory's total investment capital is estimated at VND10.5 trillion ($493.5 million).
Construction of the factory started in February, and is expected to take 18 months to complete.
The factory will have an output capacity of 18,000 tonnes of clinker per day, equivalent to 7.2 million tonnes per year.
MARD to examine rice storage problems
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) will establish an inspection team to deal with difficulties in the Viet Nam Food Association (VFA)'s rice-stockpiling program, the deputy minister Vu Van Tam has said to Tuoi Tre (Youth).
According to the VFA, efforts to encourage enterprises to buy 2014-15 winter-spring rice for storage has only managed to find storage for 12 per cent of the programme's target.
To deal with the lag, the VFA asked the central bank to work with commercial banks in creating favourable policies for enterprises that buy rice for storage, including attractive loans for buying the rice.
A rice expert complained that the VFA itself was partly responsible for the slow distribution of loans because of the VFA's allocation of quotas.
The VFA set rice-storage quotas for a list of large enterprises based on several factors, factors that might not reflect a business's current situation, such as how well they stored winter-spring rice harvests in the past.
In order to get the rice loans, businesses must be in a healthy financial situation. But, in fact, many businesses on the VFA's quota list are in poor financial situations and cannot get loans from banks.
Though many banks have started to offer these preferential loans for rice purchases, they continue to maintain their own minimum standards for offering loans.
A representative of Eximbank said many enterprises lost money when buying rice last year or businesses used loans for other purposes, making this year's loan scrutiny all that much higher.
Le Duc Tho, the general director of Vietinbank, similarly said the bank would only offer loans if it could be assured it can reclaim the loans from the enterprise.
The VFA has been faulted for not carefully reviewing the actual financial situation of enterprises on their quota list.
MARD had been tasked with fixing the current situation. However, if problems ran deeper than MARD's powers, they would reach out to the Prime Minister for help, said deputy minister of MARD Tam.
Vietnam, Myanmar need economic cooperation committee
Vietnam and Myanmar need to work on the establishment of a State committee on economic cooperation and the signing of a double-taxation avoidance agreement to boost trade, said President of the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) Nguyen Thien Nhan on March 17.
At his meeting with representatives of Vietnamese businesses and Myanmar managerial agencies in Yangon during his friendship visit to the ASEAN member state, the VFF President shared Vietnam’s experience in foreign investment management to help local authorities remove business bottlenecks.
He made it clear that Vietnam’s banking and telecommunications activities which are waiting for Myanmar’s operation licences, will neither affect local banking activities nor security, but help enhance positive competition.
Nhan suggested Vietnamese companies holding regular meetings with Myanmar government and ministry officials to timely report their operation problems while organising annual trade fairs to foster trading activities.
Vietnam now ranks eighth among foreign investors in Myanmar with seven projects worth US$513 million. Two-way trade reached US$480 million last year and enjoyed an average growth rate of nearly 40% between 2010 and 2014.
Myanmar is regarded as a potential market by Vietnamese businesses given its young population and cultural similarities. Trade between the two countries is expected to hit US$1.5 billion in the next two years and US$1.7 billion by 2020.
Officials from Myanmar’s foreign investment management agency said they noted down raised issues and will make proposals to improve the situation, adding that their country is striving to improve its infrastructure so as to facilitate investments.
As part of his visit to Myanmar, Nhan met with the Chief Minister of Yangon Region to introduce cooperation opportunities. He also pointed out some hindrances face by Vietnamese firms during their investment here and asked the Chief Minister to help solve these matters.
Fifty firms join Indian pharmaceutical expo
More than 50 pharmaceutical companies from India will participate in the two-day Indian Pharma Expo Buyer and Seller Meet 2015, which opens in HCM City on March 19.
Jointly organised by the Pharmaceutical Export Promotion Council of India (Pharmexcil) and Indian Chamber of Commerce (InCham) in Vietnam, the expo includes companies that specialise in formulations, active pharmaceutical ingredients, nutraceuticals, biologicals, herbal products, equipment and pharmaceutical machinery.
Indian pharmaceutical companies, which began supplying medicine to the Vietnamese market in the early 1990s, are a critical supplier of medicine to the country.
Imports of pharmaceutical products from India to Vietnam have maintained a good growth rate for the last five years. In 2009, imports totalled US$148.6 million, and in 2013, US$246 million.
Last year, import turnover from India reached US$267 million, gaining growth of nearly 8%.
Food safety – number one consumer complaint
A report by the Institute for Studies of Society, Economy and Environment made public at a recent consumer rights conference in Hanoi found that the number one customer complaint is still food safety.
Speakers at the conference said that despite the relatively high public profile of opinions and legislative action on the issue, there is a startling lack of understanding by shoppers about their rights and responsibilities.
The results of a sample of 1,200 adults who completed an online consumer rights questionnaire investigating attitude, knowledge and critical thinking ability of Vietnamese buyers showed that overall 90% of the group were not confident they knew enough about their rights and legislation.
The survey did find however, that most people pay attention to basic information, such as production date, price, trade mark and origin and that they most often chose products, based on the opinion of their relatives or friends.
Speakers at the conference said the levels of knowledge leave adults vulnerable to exploitation in the marketplace but that is not surprising as consumer education in Vietnam is still in the early stages of development and should be seen in the context of the rapidly changing society and the increasing influence of the marketplace.
Food safety remains the number one issue of consumers as the country has been gaining a national reputation for businesses selling rotten meat treated with chemicals to make it appear fresh or using chemicals to keep fruits and vegetables fresh, they said.
Shoppers also have a high level of concern over inadequate or the lack of disclosure of the origins of fresh the fruits and vegetables sold in supermarkets and other retail establishments throughout the country.
Unhealthy food has been flooding the market, but, most consumers don’t know how to go about filing complaints said Vuong Nghia Dan from the Hai Ba Trung precinct of Hanoi.
Only 2 to 3% of consumers have filed complaints when their rights were violated she said adding that even those who understood the process failed to do so because of concern about the cost and time involved.
Nguyen Manh Hung, vice chairman and general secretary of the Vietnam Standards and Consumers Association (VINASTAS) in turn said customers should form alliances with each other to enforce their rights.
In reality, boycotting restaurants or supermarkets selling poor-quality products has a stronger effect than punishments, Hung said.
He added that around 1,550 complaints were filed last year with VINASTAS, which is undoubtedly much lower than the actual number of complaints and that the association has an 80% success rate of resolving disputes favourably.
Hung suggested that the government educate consumers by better utilising the existing complaint mechanism to get the word out to consumers on the specifics of their rights and responsibilities.
Additionally, the administrative procedures involved in lodging complaints should be streamlined.
Customers are often much too passive in their response to violations. Consumers should seek out organisations to assist them in enforcing their rights and resolve consumer violation matters, he added.
To help consumers raise their voice, the Vietnam Competition Authority (VCA) under the Ministry of Industry and Trade has set up a free online consultancy hotline at 1800 6838.
Consumers can get expert support for their complaints about goods and services.
Other experts have proposed that there should be stricter fines for individuals and organisations which violate consumers’ rights and improvements in the Law on Protection of Consumers' Rights should be made.
Although the law was issued in 2011 there has still been no specific guidance for giving effect to  of some parts of the law, said Trinh Anh Tuan, VCA deputy head.
A number of measures will be undertaken to improve law enforcement and to promulgate the law to help consumers understand their rights and duties in coming time, Tuan revealed.
SeaBank receives int’l leadership award
Once again SeaBank has been selected to receive a World Quality Commitment Award for its dedication to high calibre worldwide innovation.
“It is a great honour for SeaBank to have been chosen to receive the prestigious Business Initiative Directions (BID) award for the fourth consecutive year in a row,” said Ms Le Thu Thuy, vice chairwoman of the bank’s board of directors.
She added that this year’s award is in recognition of the bank’s persistent drive to provide its customers with excellence in banking and financial services.
The award will be presented at a convention to be held in Paris on October 24th and 25th as part of the annual programme of BID Awards, designed to recognize the prestige of the outstanding companies, organizations and people in the business world.
The ceremony will be attended by companies from 74 countries, together with leaders from different business fields, professionals from the worlds of economics, the arts and corporate image, quality experts, as well as academic personalities and representatives from the diplomatic corps.
The event will be covered by reporters, television cameras and photographers for the media.
Italy’s Lazio businesses explore Vietnamese market
A number of businesses from the Lazio region in Italy, a major centre of diplomatic and commercial activities, have shown interest in the young, dynamic Vietnamese market.
Addressing a workshop on March 16, Vietnamese Ambassador to Italy Nguyen Hoang Long said the consumer demand in his country is increasing with made-in-Italy products soaring in popularity.
He called on Italian businesses to financially assist Vietnam in seed selection, technological application, manufacturing activities, trademark promotion and market penetration.
He said he hopes the active negotiations for the free trade agreement (FTA) between Vietnam and the EU and the separate agreements reached by Vietnam and Italy will help increase trade between the two countries.
The trade pact is expected to increase Vietnamese exports to EU countries by 30-40 percent, and EU exports to Vietnam by 20-25 percent, he noted.
Vietnam and Italy established diplomatic ties in 1973 and elevated their relationship to a strategic partnership in 2013. Since then, bilateral cooperation has been raised to a new height in politics, economics, culture, social affairs and education.
Noticeably, bilateral trade increased 17 percent to 4.1 billion USD in 2014.
Italy is the 15th biggest importer of Vietnamese products and Vietnam ’s 3 rd largest trade partner in the EU.
It is ranked 28th of 101 nations and territories investing in Vietnam with 56 valid projects worth over 300 million USD run by big companies like the Italy national oil and gas company (ENI), Piaggio, Ariston, and Gattonini.
The two countries held the first session of the joint committee on economic cooperation in November 2014 and organised a number of workshops and trade forums in the respective countries to support business players.
So far, Vietnam has opened three economic offices in Tuscany , Emilia-Romagna , and Lombardy in Italy , embracing the economic ties between the two.
Construction begins on pharmaceutical plant in Binh Duong
The Medochemie Far East company under the Cypriot Medochemie Group has broken ground on a new pharmaceutical plant at the Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park II A (VSIP) in Tan Uyen Town in the southern province of Binh Duong on March 17.
The 44,700 square-metre plant at a total cost of 16.1 million USD is scheduled to be completed by the end of this year. Once operations commence at the outset of 2016, its outputs will be used for domestic consumption and exports.
Earlier, Medochemie invested 14 million USD to construct a plant across 18,400 square metres in VSIP II.
Binh Duong province is currently home to 25 pharmaceutical plants certified by the “Good Manufacturing Practices” (GMP), accounting for 22.1 percent of the country’s pharmaceutical production.
Tran Thanh Liem, Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, said that the local authorities are willing to provide support and address any difficulties in a timely manner to create favourable conditions for investors in the locality to implement the project effectively.
European enterprises promote trade in HCM City
A number of trade promoting programmes to elevate business activities between Ho Chi Minh City and a delegation of European enterprises opened in the southern city on March 17.
The events were organised by the European Union Business Avenues Organisation and the HCM City branch of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
According to Jan Naplava, representative of the European Union Delegation to Vietnam, Business Avenues is a programme assisting small- and medium-sized European enterprises to seek business opportunities in the ASEAN region.
Under the programme, over 100 European companies have participated in trade promotion activities with a view to partnering with counterpart enterprises in Vietnam, Singapore, and Malaysia.
The participating European delegation operates mainly in manufacturing ceramics, interior design, and decoration.
The delegation praised Vietnam’s business advantages in comparison with other nations in the ASEAN region and highlighted its role as an important partner of the EU.
Looking forward, the EU Business Avenues intends to send additional delegations to the city.
Prime Minister receives top businesses in Australia
Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung met with a number of top Australian enterprises on March 17 during his ongoing visit to the country.
Meeting with representatives from Telstra, Australia’s largest phone service provider, PM Dung said Vietnam is carrying out equitisation of several telecoms companies beginning with Mobifone. He welcomed the conglomerate’s interest in investing in Mobifone’s shares and suggested the two should examine the idea together.
The Prime Minister also supported the cooperation between the Vietnam National Coal and Mineral Industries Group and Rio Tinto, one of the world’s leading mining corporations. The pair will collaborate in upgrading an Aluminium factory and improving the productivity of bauxite exploitation in Vietnam.
At the reception with Santos, a major company in oil and gas exploration and production, Prime Minister Dung suggested the company study demand in Vietnam for liquefied natural gas and prospects for investment in other fields.
When receiving representatives from the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, he declared Vietnam consistently provides favourable conditions for foreign investors in the banking sector and looks to continue working with international organisations in technical assistance and human resources training in this field.
At the meeting with the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ), he urged the bank to expand its operations in Vietnam and expressed his belief in the significant contributions resulting from its financial services to the country’s socio-economic development and to enhanced trade between Vietnam, Australia and New Zealand.
PM Dung also encouraged Origin Energy, Australia’s leading integrated energy company, to consider investment in Vietnam.
US bank lauds Vietnamese economic achievements
Chairman of the US Ex-Im Bank Fred Hochberg has lauded Vietnam for its macroeconomic stability, consistent high growth rate, and proactive international integration.
Fred Hochberg made the remark during a recent meeting with Vietnamese Ambassador to the US Pham QuangVinh at the bank’s headquarters in Washington D.C.
He said Vietnam and the US have made significant advancements in economics, trade and investment, highlighting the 36 billion USD in two-way trade between the two countries in 2014.
He affirmed that the bank will continue encouraging and supporting American businesses to invest in Vietnam.
For his part, Pham QuangVinh spoke highly of the bank’s cooperation on the infrastructure development in Vietnam.
He expressed his hope that the bank will continue financing projects in transportation, renewable energy, water treatment, and medical services.
Vietnamese processed food soars in popularity
The bustling life in modern Vietnamese cities has resulted in the rapid growth of the processed food industry, with domestic products dominating the market.
The strength of the local processed food producers is the ability to create a variety of products bearing Vietnamese tastes, helping to promote the cultural values of Vietnamese cuisines, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Ho Thi Kim Thoa was quoted as saying by the Dien Dan Doanh Nghiep (Business Forum) newspaper.
The newspaper also cited a survey conducted by the AC Nielsen market research company in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi which found domestic brands to be more popular than foreign ones due to particular tastes of consumers at home.
Meanwhile, the Business Monitor International (BMI) forecasts that the Vietnamese processed food industry will climb by 24.2 percent in volume and 48.7 percent in sales annually.
Strolling around the food stalls at supermarkets such as Co.opmart, Aeon and Big C, consumers are attracted by the diversity and convenience of processed products.
Chairman of the Saigon Co.op, Nguyen Ngoc Hoa, said stores in his chain offer more than 100 kinds of Vietnamese processed foods, and their sales record an annual growth of 20 percent.
Saigon Co.op is promoting investment in modernising its processed food pavilions and recruiting professional sales staff.
Deputy Director of the Saigon Food, Le Thi Thanh Lam, said its processed food is favoured by local consumers due to its reasonable prices and export-quality standards.
Recently Saigon Food invested in building a cold storage and processing plant in anticipation of rising demand, Lam added.
Despite the positive signs, experts warned that the multinational groups are eying this fertile market as part of their long-term strategies. With better established trademarks and more financial backing, these international companies are expected to provide local producers with fierce competition in the near future.-
Growing green-label trend in Vietnam
Finding favour with the government, a green tag trend marking eco-products has recently emerged in Vietnam.
A workshop on labelling systems between experts from Vietnam and Thailand—an experienced country that established its green label in 1997—was held in Hanoi, on March 16.
Nguyen Thu Ha, a representative from a research group at the Environmental Administration, said eligible businesses meeting the initial 14 criteria of the system would benefit greatly from the label.
She said approved green products will receive subsidies from the government and priority on the lists of commodities chosen for public purchase. Chosen companies will also be exempt from export duty.
Currently, there are only three accredited enterprises in Vietnam, including Dien Quang Lamp JSC, Jotun Paints (Vietnam) Co. Ltd, and Fuji Xerox Vietnam Co. Ltd.
According to Sirithan Pairoj-Boroboon, Executive Director of Thailand Greenhouse Gas Management Organisation, criteria for the eco-label in his country have increased to 97 specifications last year from 14 in 1997, and are expected to reach 103 this year. Each company is in charge of its registration procedure to obtain the certification, he said.
The workshop, part of a promotion campaign for a green tag in Vietnam, was co-hosted by the ASEAN Vinyl Council and the research group from the Environmental Administration.
Vietnam attends tourism fair in Russia
Vietnam is participating in the 10th International Travel Fair Intourmarket (ITM) 2015, which officially opened at the Crocus Expo International Exhibition Centre in Moscow, Russia on March 14.
Deputy Director General of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) led the attending Vietnamese delegation.
In ITM 2015, the VNAT is introducing the promotion campaign “Vietnam- Timeless Charm”, activities of the “Connecting World Heritage” National Tourism Year 2015, and specific tourism options such as sea and island tourism; oceanic cultural tourism; m eeting, incentive, convention, and exhibition (MICE) tourism ; and eco-tourism.
The annual fair, supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, the Russian Federal Agency for Tourism and the Moscow City Committee for Tourism and Hotel Industry, aims to create opportunities for Russian and international tourism businesses to exchange and partner.
In 2014, Russia was one of the top 10 visiting nations to Vietnam with nearly 365,000 travellers, up 22.4 percent from to 2013.
The ITM 2015 will run through March 17, 2015.
Credit growth reported in first two months
Vietnam recorded a 0.68 percent credit growth during the first two months of 2015, revealed the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV).
The central bank said the credit growth, attributable to efforts by the banking system, is a promising trend for credit activities in 2015, as the rate has traditionally shrunk during the same period in recent years.
The sector aims for 13-15 percent credit growth this year, which SBV Governor Nguyen Van Binh considers reasonable in comparison with other socio-economic factors and goals.
He pointed to the successful achievement of all credit growth targets set by the SBV over the past years.
In the first half of 2014, despite the prevailing fear that its annual credit growth target of 12-14 percent would be unattainable, the bank did not yield its objective and ultimately achieved 14.16 percent growth by the end of the year, he noted.
Exchange rates to remain stable in H1
The State Bank of Viet Nam will not adjust the exchange rate between the Vietnamese dong and the US dollar during the first half of this year (H1).
This has been forecast by Vietcombank Securities Co. (VCBS).
In a report on Viet Nam's February macro-economy released this week, VCBS forecast that the forex market would be continuously stable during H1, attributing it to the country's low inflation during the first two months of this year and also forecast that United States's Fed would not raise interest rate in H1.
It would also help reduce pressure on the devaluation of the dong, VCBS explained.
According to a report from the General Statistics Office, the consumer price index (CPI) in February dropped by 0.05 per cent, compared with January, and 0.25 per cent compared with last December.
VCBS also said that Viet Nam's trade balance had not been affected by the reduction in crude oil prices in the world market as the country's crude oil export value was almost equal to the import value of oil and petrol products.
"Trade deficit, if it does occur in the future, will be insignificant and will not affect the exchange rate strongly as the main motivation for the country's growth during the next few months is expected to come mainly from exporters, especially foreign direct investment firms," VCBS said.
Besides, VCBS also expects Viet Nam's foreign currency supply source to be stable with disbursed FDI capital touching US$1.2 billion in the first two months of this year, up 7.1 per cent year-on-year.
Viet Nam's remittance is also expected to continue growing this year. The remittance is currently pegged at more than $35 billion, equivalent to 12 weeks of imports.
The forex market was continuously stable in February, with the inter-bank rate maintained at VND21,458 per dollar. Commercial banks in the month listed the rate at VND21,355 to 21,385.
SBV mandates sale of NPLs
Credit institutions have been forced to sell their non-performing loans (NPLs) to national debt dealer Viet Nam Asset Management Company (VAMC) to meet regulated deadlines.
Online newspaper Vneconomy.vn cited a State Bank of Viet Nam's (SBV's) instruction sent to credit institutions this week, which directs credit institutions to sell at least 75 per cent of the NPLs they had registered for sale to VAMC by June 30.
The deadline for selling all NPLs is September 30.
Previously, the sale of NPLs to the VAMC was not compulsory.
According to credit institutions, the move is aimed at implementing a SBV directive issued earlier this year for handling the NPLs of credit institutions.
As per the SBV Governor's directive, credit institutions and VAMC have been given a strict schedule for resolving their bad debts as SBV wants to ensure that the banking sector is able to meet SBV's target for bringing down NPLs to below 3 per cent by the end of 2015, from the 4.7 per cent recorded at the end of the third quarter of last year.
As June 30 approaches, credit institutions will have to hastily sell their NPLs to VAMC in a bid to meet the deadline.
Resolving bad debts is among the key tasks of the banking industry this year. The Government is also expected to adopt a plan that will enable VAMC to trade debts through market mechanisms this year.
It has also asked the company to enhance its financial capacity and tighten links with credit institutions for recovering and restructuring debts, and create advantageous conditions for investors in debt and mortgage transactions.
SBV had recently allowed VAMC to issue special bonds, worth up to VND80 trillion (US$3.76 billion), to acquire bad loans from credit institutions this year.
VAMC plans to buy NPLs worth VND100 trillion ($4.76 billion), or 2.5 per cent of banks' total outstanding loans, this year.
Last year, VAMC had bought NPLs worth about VND96 trillion ($4.57 billion), raising the total bad debts it had purchased from 38 credit institutions to VND135 trillion ($6.43 billion), or 3.4 per cent of the total outstanding loans.
CPI to increase in March on back of higher power tariffs
The country's consumer price index (CPI) is expected to increase 0.26 per cent following the hike in electricity tariffs and petroleum, said Nguyen Bich Lam, the head of the General Statistics Office.
Electricity prices will increase by 7.5 per cent to an average of VND1,622.05 per kilowatt (kWh) from March 16, following the Prime Minister's decision to hike them, while petrol prices rose on March 11 by VND1,600 a litre.
Lam said the hike would result in the CPI for the whole year increasing by 0.46 per cent.
The Government said it would ensure that the GDP growth rate this year is 6.2 per cent and inflation is curbed to 5 per cent.
However, economists are still worried about the impact of these increases on the economy.
Economist Le Dang Doanh said the rise could result in massive costs for businesses, thus creating a new increase in goods' prices in the future.
Doanh added that the fuel hike was acceptable as it followed similar price surges in the world market. However, the rise in electricity tariffs had created a monopolistic situation. The Government's requirements for increasing productivity, reducing staff and stemming losses in transmission had also not been clearly explained.
He added the 7.5 per cent increase was too high, and would exert additional burden on enterprises using electricity.
Doanh suggested that the rise should have been 3 per cent each, and should have been gradually increased and forecast to help enterprises actively plan their production.
A survey by the Vietnam News Agency showed that price augmentation would hurt the big power-consuming industries the most.
Truong Quoc Huy, General Director of the Vicem But Son Cement Joint Stock Company, said his firm used about 100 kWh of electricity to produce one tonne of cement. Since power prices for manufacturing were higher than those for households, the power price hike was likely to affect production costs and selling prices.
According to Chairman of the Vietnam Steel Association, Ho Nghia Dung, electricity expenses account for about 7 per cent of steel billet production costs. Between 400 and 600 kWh of power are needed to produce one tonne of steel billets.
He estimated that the 7.5 per cent hike would raise steel production expenses by 80,000 to 100,000 VND (US$3.75 to 4.68) per tonne, adding that it would also act as a burden for steel makers amidst the array of challenges they are already facing, such as, decreasing prices of steel billets imported from China and Japan.
Dao Phuong Mai, a teacher in Ha Noi's Hoang Mai District, expressed her worry about a price hike in the near future, which might force her to tighten spending.
"Before the Tet holiday, goods and other services' prices were not reduced despite petroleum selling prices decreasing. The prices have risen rapidly, even though the salaries have not," Mai noted.
"It feels like I was pick-pocketed while going to the market."
Businesses asked to encourage ICT use
Management agencies and businesses should work together to promote the application of information, communication and technology (ICT), said deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam.
Dam told the representatives of ICT associations and businesses at the meeting held in Ha Noi on Thursday that the documents related to ICT development had been largely completed. However, the government should choose specific works to implement during each period.
The leading ICT enterprises should be active in participating in designing and implementing overall solutions as well as creating a foundation for other small-scale companies to join the application.
Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Minh Hong said this year that the sector would implement several important policies for its development to accelerate the application of ICT when dealing with the global market.
Hong urged businesses to continue making contributions to building policies for ICT development while enhancing co-operation among associations and firms in the ICT industry.
Truong Gia Binh, chairman of the Viet Nam Software and IT Services Association, noted that with support from the government, ICT companies would make efforts to put proposals into action this year to kick off a boom in projects, launching a new development period for the country's ICT industry.
Construction begins on Niwa casting factory
Japan's Niwa Foundry company has begun construction of its first plant at the city's Hi-Tech Park in Hoa Vang District with total investment of US$30 million.
The plant, which was built on an area of 3.11ha, will produce 480,000 engine castings a year.
The company's chairman Tatsumi Niwa said the company planned to increase capacity to 4.5 million products for domestic and export markets by 2019.
Earlier, Tokyo Keiki Inc. announced it had started construction of its $40-million plant, producing electro-magnetic and hydraulic equipment, at the 1,010-ha park.
Shipyard and Dutch Damen Group launch new tug
The Song Thu Shipyard and Dutch Damen Group launched an Azimuth Stern-Drive Tug (ASD) for export and signed a contract to build another four on Thursday.
The ASD Tug, which is 24m long and 11m wide, will be shipped to the Middle East.
In co-operation with Damen Shipyards Group from the Netherlands, the Da Nang-based shipbuilder has exported 30 vessels, including fast crew supply ships, rescue ships, salvage tugs, drive tugs and patrol boats for the Middle East, South America, Europe, and domestic market with an annual export volume of around US$55 million.
S Korean firm to build medical equipment plant
South Korean enterprise Shin Chang plans to build a medical equipment plant in the central province's Tam Ky City.
The project, which is scheduled to start later this year with total investment of VND200 billion ($9.50 million), will be built on 2ha and will create 250 jobs for local people.
It will be the first medical equipment manufacturing project in the province.
FPT Software train engineers in Japan
FPT Software company, under the FPT Corporation, sent 43 information fechnology (IT) engineers to train in Japan under a special programme.
The company said the trainees would receive six-month or one-year courses in Tokyo and work in Japan.
Last year, FPT started work on the first stage of the S$23 million FPT complex in Da Nang city.
Source : VEF/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/Dantri/VIR

Không có nhận xét nào:

Đăng nhận xét