BUSINESS IN BRIEF 16/11 HCMC signs safe food agreement         Officials from the HCM City Food Safety Management Board and Saigon Co.op check fisheries products at Mười Tuyền Co., Ltd in Bình Thuận Province. To find a safe food supply source for the city, Food Safety Management Board of HCM City and Saigon Co.op, in collaboration with the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Binh Thuan Province, carried out a fact finding trip to the province and signed agreements to produce and buy agricultural and aquatic products meeting food safety standards. The FSMB and the department signed an agreement to create safe supply chains for agricultural and fisheries produce, create favourable conditions for suppliers of the products to distribute their products in the city and co-ordinate for food safety oversight and inspection. Meanwhile Saigon Co.op also signed an agreement with Muoi Tuyen Co Ltd of Binh Thuan to buy around 100 tonnes of seafood a month for its retail systems. Pham Khanh Phong Lan, head of the FSMB, said the city’s agricultural production meets only 20-30 per cent of demand and the rest is supplied by other provinces and cities. Therefore, the agreements are very important to ensure that farm and fisheries produce supplied to the city are monitored at every stage from production to processing, she said. Mai Kieu, director of the Binh Thuan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said the province has difficulty finding steady demand for its products and so co-operation with HCM City to build a production and consumption chain for its farm and fishery produce is very important. Nguyen Thanh Nhan, general director of Saigon Co.op, said ensuring hygiene and food safety through the safe food supply chain not only benefits consumers but also helps suppliers build brands. Besides seafood, Saigon Co.op also wants to buy other products from Binh Thuan Province for its safe food supply chain, especially its speciality products like dragon fruit, he said.  Vietnam Food Expo 2017 opens in HCM City The Vietnam Food Expo 2017 opened at the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Centre in Ho Chi Minh City on November 15 with an aim of supporting food enterprises to promote trade and expand markets both at home and abroad. Opening the event, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai said that Vietnam’s food industry is developing rapidly with increasing contributions to the country’s GDP and export revenues. He noted exports of Vietnam’s agro-forestry-aquatic products hit 22.4 billion USD in 2016 and 21.3 billion USD in the first 10 months of this year, up 17.1 percent year on year and accounting for 12.3 percent of the country’s total export earnings. In the coming time, the enforcement of new-generation free trade agreements and the dynamic development of the world economy are also expected to create new chances for Vietnam’s food industry. Meanwhile, Bui Kim Son, Director of the Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, said that the event is a good chance for Vietnamese firms to promote their products and seek new partners. Son said that the two previous exhibitions have contributed to Vietnam’s food industry, adding that last year, the expo connected Vietnamese firms with Italian partners who later decided to build three agricultural product processing factories in Vietnam. The Vietnam Food Expo 2017 drew 600 booths of 450 enterprises of Vietnam and 20 countries and territories. France, which sent 30 leading firms in the food processing industry to the exhibition, was chosen as the honorary country of the event. On the occasion, the organizing board also held a number of conferences and trade promotion programmes. The expo will last until November 18. Vietnam able to master parent shrimp production Vietnam could become self-sufficient in parent shrimp production from now to 2020. The country’s shrimp sector has so far heavily depended on foreign markets, importing most of parent shrimp from the US, Singapore and Thailand. It has stayed passive in preventing diseases for parent shrimp. Therefore, the successful production of parent shrimp by the Vietnam-Australia Group is expected to open up opportunities for the sector to become self-sufficient in the work. At a launching ceremony of the group’s parent shrimp programme in Ho Chi Minh City on November 11, a representative said the outcome was attributed to the application of technology and careful selection for many years to create disease-free and high-quality parent shrimp. The group is now able to produce 50 billion breeding shrimp per year, accounting for 25 percent of the total breeding shrimp in the country. Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Vu Van Tam said the shrimp industry aims to gross 10 billion USD in exports by 2025 and produce 1.1 million tonnes of shrimp on 750,000 hectares. To realise this goal, Vietnam needs about 500,000-600,000 parent shrimp. Particularly, Vietnam has big demand for rapid-growth and disease-resistant black tiger and white-leg shrimp for extensive farming to create a huge amount of products which are able to meet strict requirements on food safety and quarantine from markets. The ministry is implementing a national action plan to develop Vietnam’s shrimp industry through 2025 and a project to develop national brackish shrimp products, he noted. Apparel firms advised to increase technology application Applying new technologies to reduce production cost and increase competitive edge is the urgent solution for the garment-textile industry given global fiercer competition. It is also necessary for businesses to seek more markets outside the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and reinforce its niche on major ones such as the US, the EU, and Japan to maintain growth. Another potential markets are countries from the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), particularly Russia. Whereas the Republic of Korea continues to be a fertile land for enterprises to explore since the Vietnam-RoK free trade agreement has come into force. As the number of orders is likely to decline without price hike, businesses are warned to make full use of modern equipment to reduce production cost and increase competitiveness. Director General of the Vietnam National Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex) Le Tien Truong said the application of new technologies will help increase productivity and use less labour.  Besides opportunities, the fourth industrial revolution also poses challenges regarding investment, restructure and labour, he said, adding that the appropriate technological access and the clarification of self-potential will help businesses choose the most efficient way to penetrate into foreign markets. According to the Vietnam Textile & Apparel Association (VITAS), the garment-textile exports increased nearly 10 percent year-on-year to reach 19.8 billion USD in the first eight months of 2017. The US is making up the biggest proportion of 51 percent of Vietnam’s total apparel exports. The garment-textile export in 2017 is expected to hit 30.5 billion USD, much higher than that of the previous year (28.1 billion USD). Hai Phong develops tourism into spearhead economic sector The northern port city of Hai Phong is striving to make tourism a spearhead economic sector and turn itself into one of the nation’s key tourism destinations. According to the municipal People’s Committee’s action programme on tourism development from 2017 – 2020 with a vision through 2030, the city hopes to receive 8 million tourists and earn 3.5 trillion VND (154 million USD) with expected annual average growth rates of 8.2 percent and 8.9 percent, respectively. The city has invested in and brought into use an international wharf and developed Cat Bai island into a national tourism destination with smart and environmentally-friendly ecotourism models. By 2025, Ha Long Bay-Cat Ba island complex is hoped to be recognised by UNESCO as the world’s natural heritage while Cat Ba island will become an international tourism destination, and Do Son district a national tourism area. By 2030, Hai Phong aims to become a national tourism hub, with Do Son district and Cat Ba island able to compete with regional and international tourism sites. To that end, Hai Phong has focused efforts to raise the awareness among local authorities, sectors and people of the importance of tourism development. The tourism sector will also be restructured to ensure sustainable development in the market-oriented economy and international integration. Favourable policies will be developed to support tourism investment and development. According to Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Le Khac Nam, relevant bodies have been assigned with specific tasks in implementing the targets under the action programme. Over the past three years, Hai Phong has gained positive achievements in tourism development thanks to its potentials and favourable traffic infrastructure. In the first ten months this year, the city received nearly 5.7 million visitors, up 14.4 percent year on year. Top legislator asks for Deloitte’s technical support National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan asked for Deloitte Global’s technical support in completing a legal framework for independent audit in Vietnam while receiving Deloitte Global Chairman David Cruickshank in Hanoi on November 13. Vietnam hopes for Deloitte Global’s sharing of knowledge and experience to help NA deputies improve the capacity of financial verification and supervision, she said. She asked Deloitte Global to continue recruiting Vietnamese staff and training quality human resources for Vietnam’s financial sector. Lauding Cruickshank’s attendance at the APEC CEO Summit in Da Nang city, Ngan expressed her belief that as a large audit organization with 180-year experience and network covering 150 countries, Deloitte will make positive contributions to the growth of the Vietnamese economy. She highlighted the indispensible role of the Vietnamese independent audit sector in the national economy, saying it has become an important component of the macro management tool system for economy and finance. She praised the development of Deloitte Vietnam, formerly the Vietnam Audit Company (VACO), the first independent audit firm of the Ministry of Finance, and one of the largest of its kind. The top legislator held that amidst the international integration, with the active engagement in free trade agreements of Vietnam, the role of independent audit and audit firms like Deloitte is increasingly important in improving transparency of business and investment activities, raising the value of the economy as well as people’s income. For his part, Cruickshank thanked Vietnam for backing Deloitte Vietnam, a member of the Deloitte Global. Expressing impression on Vietnam’s economic growth, he pledged that Deloitte Global will pay more attention to Vietnam and provide advanced technology and international experience as well as high quality audit services for businesses operating in the country. The firm will also give advice to Vietnamese Government agencies and the private sector, while assisting enterprises in mobilizing capital, he stated. He also asked for Vietnam’s cooperation in sharing experience in the field to the world. Vietnam – potential market for Deloitte Global: Deputy PM Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue has described Vietnam as a promising market for Deloitte Global while meeting with its Chairman David Cruiskshank in Hanoi on November 13. He said the Vietnamese Government moves to expand financial auditing for public service units, adding that this is essential to ensure governance transparency. He called on Deloitte to strengthen support for Vietnamese enterprises to make public financial reports in accordance with international standards and issue bonds on domestic and international markets. The official also hoped the global organisation to share experience with Vietnam’s Ministry of Finance in designing simple auditing and tax calculation programmes for start-up enterprises. Cruiskshank congratulated Vietnam on the successful organisation of the ministerial meeting for countries joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) – which now has the new name of Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). He said he saw numerous cooperation opportunities in Vietnam in the coming time.  With experience in defining the value of equitised enterprises and issuance of corporate bonds, Deloitte is willing to support and cooperate with Vietnam in the field to increase transparency and back start-up activities, he affirmed. HCM City, RoK’s Daegu forge stronger business collaboration Ho Chi Minh City and Daegu city of the Republic of Korea (RoK) should work together to optimise their cooperation potential in trade and investment in the future, said Le Thanh Liem, Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee, at a business forum between the two cities on November 13. Liem noted that the RoK is the largest investor and among three biggest trade partners of Vietnam. The Vietnam-RoK free trade agreement, which goes along with tax exemption and reduction for RoK products, will create more opportunities for RoK products in the Vietnamese market, he said. At the same time, Vietnamese farm produce, seafood, garment and textiles have also enjoyed a good chance in the RoK, said Liem, adding that the target of 70 USD in two-way trade by 2020 is feasible. Liem also pointed out that HCM City is hosting over 1,400 RoK-invested projects worth more than 4.6 billion USD. HCM City and Daegu city signed a cooperation and friendship programme in 2015, he said, adding that activities fostering business communities of both sides and promoting trade and investment ties have been conducted in both localities. For his part, Mayor of Daegu Kwon Young Jin said that businesses from Daegu hope to expand operation in HCM City. The RoK side will soon launch a direct air route linking the two cities, while banks and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Daegu will open their representative offices and branches in the city. Meanwhile, Pham Thiet Hoa, Director of the HCM City Investment and Trade Promotion Centre, introduced the investment environment in the city, highlighting that the city is the largest economic and financial hub of Vietnam and one of the most dynamic cities in the ASEAN. He also underlined advantages of the city in transportation connectivity with other countries as well as tourism, calling for RoK firms, especially those from Daegu, to increase trade exchange with local enterprises. He also pledged to continue administrative reforms and create optimal conditions for businesses from the RoK as well as Daegu city. Fair promotes wooden furniture The Vietnam Furniture and Home Furnishing Fair (VIFA Home 2017) will return to HCM City this month, promoting locally-made wooden furniture, home decor and handicraft products in the domestic market. VIFA Home 2017, to be held in District 11’s Phu Tho Sport Centre from November 23-26, will feature 487 booths set up by 87 local and foreign firms involved in wood processing, interior decoration, handicrafts, sanitation equipment and supporting services for the wood processing industry. The fair will offer opportunities for customers to shop for furniture and interior and exterior furnishing items that meet export standards, according to the Handicraft and Wood Industry Association of HCM City (Hawa). To be held by Hawa in collaboration with Hawa Corporation, the fair offers designers, manufacturers and distributors a good chance to co-operate and provide the market with the best quality products at reasonable prices. Huynh Van Hanh, Hawa’s standing deputy chairman, said consumption of wood products in the domestic market has enjoyed a growth rate of 6-10 percent per year and is expected to reach 2 billion USD this year. Vietnam-Korea IT Cooperation Centre officially opens Vietnam-Korea IT Cooperation Centre was officially established on November 13 by Korea's Ministry of Science and Information, Communication and Technology in collaboration with Vietnam's National IT Industry Promotion Agency (NIPA). The centre is considered an important bridge in promoting bilateral co-operation in IT and communication. Establishing the centre remarks the first international co-operation of Yoo Yong Min since he was assigned as the Minister of Science and Information Communication and Technology. Before joining the opening ceremony, Minister Yoo had a talk with Minister of Information and Telecommunication Truong Minh Tuan. Both ministers affirmed that the information science and technology sector is important for creating new industries as well as improving living standards. Thus, Vietnam and the Republic of Korea are booth looking to increase co-operation in this sector. During the past years, the governments and enterprises of the two countries developed numerous exchange programmes to work on IT-related policies and apply technology. As a result, Vietnam became the second largest IT export partner of the Republic of Korea. Speaking at the opening ceremony, the representative of NIPA said that during the past five years, the Republic of Korea welcomed over 100 Vietnamese experts to join training and experience sharing programmes. Besides, every year, NIPA sent 10 policy experts to Vietnam to work with public administrators to share NIPA’s experiences. Especially, in the framework of the Global Young Entrepreneur Contest orgainsed by NIPA, young Vietnamese entrepreneurs gained impressive prizes. Japanese apparel firm acquires leading Vietnamese fashion brand NEM On November 8, Stripe International, a Japanese apparel manufacturing giant, announced the acquisition of NEM Group’s apparel brand after the firm’s official announcement on August 8 to schedule the business acquisition. Stripe Vietnam JSC has been appointed to handle the acquisition. Stripe International targets to advance into Southeast Asia, where the thriving economic growth will play an important role in corporate strategy aiming for further penetration of the Vietnamese market. Thanks to this acquisition of womenswear production lines, the Japanese apparel will land the first time in Vietnam. According to the firm’s official press release regarding the acquisition, it stressed that Vietnam is a strategic market in the ASEAN that the firm intends to conquer. NEM Group expanded its women’s casual brand “NEM” to 44 stores as of October, mainly in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. To date, the NEM fashion brand has been a clothing outlet beacon for working women in their 20s to 40s. In recent years, the Vietnamese ladies’ fashion brand has managed to open over 10 stores each year, which so far earned over 20 per cent of the brand’s profits and are forecast to make a revenue of $26 million by the end of 2017. “It (womenswear) is a power product with high popularity in Japan. We will utilise the know-how of NEM Group. By promoting the opening of domestic NEM stores, we will further expand our NEM business in Vietnam, building on the country’s remarkable economic development,” said Stripe International’s spokesperson. Earlier in 2016, Stripe International successfully acquired a ladies’ clothing provider called Alphabet Pastel and a kids’ clothing brand called Smarby. The NEM brand was launched in 1997, growing to $26 million in size since. The brand is mainly developed in Hanoi. Stripe International was founded in February 1995, aiming at the market segment of apparel clothing manufacturing and retail sales. Stripe Vietnam JSC was founded in October 2017 with the chartered capital of VND175 billion ($7.7 million). Recently, on November 8, Spanish apparel label Zara and the Sweden-based multinational clothing retail company H&M made their debuts in Hanoi to break open the market of fast and affordable fashion for men, women, teenagers, and children.      MC-Bauchemie cracks open Vietnamese construction chemicals market Germany's MC-Bauchemie, one of the leading international producers of building chemical products and technologies, marked its official entrance to Vietnam today by setting up a joint venture with a local partner. MC-BIFI Bauchemie is the joint venture between the German firm and Vietnamese partner BIFI. It aims to become one of the leading construction chemical groups in Vietnam. "Our company now operates in 40 countries. We have already been present for some time in Southeast Asia, in Taiwan, Singapore, and Malaysia. We now decided to tap into Vietnam’s fast-growing economy, and BIFI fits very well to us," Nicolaus Muller, managing director of MC Group, told VIR. "In addition, Vietnam still has many infrastructure projects that need working on. It is a highly attractive market with numerous potential industries, including the energy industry, with both renewable and coal energy," he added. Established in 2004 with a focus on producing admixture for concrete, cement grinding aids, and mortar, BIFI is now one of the leading construction chemical companies in Vietnam. BIFI now operates three factories with a total area of over 10,000 square metres in the southern and northern regions. Their key products have been used in many important national hydro-power, bridge, road, and oil refinery projects. "First we will strengthen MC-BIFIs position in the concrete market by introducing additional solutions for ready-mix and precast companies. We will enhance our product range of admixtures and introduce technical additives," he added. Industry hits a peak in October The manufacturing and processing sector rose to a record level in October, pushing up the whole country’s 10-month industrial production, a key driver for reaching the whole-year economic growth target.  The government last week reported that in October, the manufacturing and processing sector, which creates 80 per cent of Vietnam’s industrial growth, rose by a record 22.3 per cent year-on-year, doubling the rate of 11.9 per cent in the same period last year. The manufacturing and processing growth has led to a 13.6 per cent rise in this sector’s first-10-month figures, and a record 17 per cent ascension in the country’s October industrial growth – against the 7 per cent industrial growth of last October. This record growth has also created an 8.7 per cent rise in the country’s 10-month industrial growth, higher than the 7.7 per cent climb in last year’s corresponding period, and also higher than the 7.9 per cent of this year’s first nine months. Pham Van Can, director of Van Phu An JSC – specialised in producing garments and textiles in the northern province of Hai Duong – told VIR that in this year’s first 10 months, his firm’s total investment value increased 20 per cent year-on-year to about $6 million, with an export turnover surging up by 23 per cent year-on-year. “The economic situation is getting far better than that of previous years. We have benefited from the government’s pro-business policies since early last year,” Can said. This firm’s optimism is also reflected in the General Statistics Office’s (GSO) statistics that the local textile and garment sector – one of the key manufacturing and processing industries in the economy – has witnessed a year-on-year increase of 16.3 per cent in production and 32.8 per cent in consumption in this year’s first 10 months. Other industrial sectors have also strongly ascended in this year’s first 10 months, such as electronics and computers (29.3 per cent), steel (24.8 per cent), metal (18.6 per cent), and fertiliser (15.7 per cent). GSO stressed that electronics and computers contributed the most to the economy’s industrial growth. In October, the segment grew by a record 70 per cent year-on-year, with key driver Samsung – which is expected to generate an export turnover of about $54 billion this year – accounting for 26.73 per cent of Vietnam’s estimated $202 billion export turnover. The Korean giant’s contributions have also helped drive the 10-month industrial production growth of several provinces, such as Bac Ninh (32 per cent) and Thai Nguyen (18 per cent), which are home to Samsung projects worth about $8.7 billion in total. According to the government, the economy is likely to reach its 6.7 per cent growth target, thanks to strong growth in the economy’s key sectors this year, including in agro-forestry-fishery (up 3 per cent – a fourfold increase against 2016 to hit a record $35 billion in export turnover), industry and construction (up 7.17 per cent), and service (up 7.25 per cent – the highest rise since 2008). The manufacturing and processing sector is expected to rise by a record rate of 12.8 per cent year-on-year. And if the mining sector were not to suffer its projected decrease of 5.9 per cent, the economy’s growth figure would likely be 7.24 per cent, the government said. In this year’s first 10 months, the mining sector went down by 7.4 per cent year-on-year, while the exploitation of crude oil and natural gas decreased 9.6 per cent year-on-year. Moroccan companies keen on Vietnam Moroccan companies are very much interested in investing in Vietnam, primarily in agri-food, information technology, pharmaceuticals, and tourism, Ambassador of Morocco, H.E. Dr. Azzeddine Farhane, told VET recently. The Moroccan Office for Promotion of Trade and Export has undertaken a series of trade and B2B missions to Vietnam in order to establish contact between Moroccan and Vietnamese enterprises and explore opportunities for cooperation. These exploratory missions, along with the support of the Moroccan Embassy, have identified strategic industries in Vietnam in which Moroccan companies are interested. Ambassador Farhane also emphasized that Morocco and Vietnam have substantial potential for cooperation in investment and trade. The two have signed more than 15 agreements to enhance the legal framework for investment in myriad fields. He said that in recent years Vietnam’s economy has faced many challenges, such as the global economic recession and rapidly changing economic conditions. “Nevertheless, Vietnam remains a success story in terms of strong economic growth, among other markets that were floundering during the economic downturn,” he said. “I am confident that Vietnam will continue to offer remarkable opportunities to investors.” He added that Vietnam’s recent raking in the World Bank’s Doing Business Report 2018, where it was in 68th place, is testimony to the country’s improved business environment, thanks to its broad-based growth, low wages, and strong economic outlook. “Vietnam continues to be an attractive destination for investment,” he believes. The Doing Business 2018 report ranked Morocco 69th among the 190 countries surveyed, with a score of 67.91 points, consolidating its leadership in North Africa compared to Tunisia (88th), Egypt (128th), and Algeria (166th). It also ranked third among countries in the Middle East and North Africa, behind the United Arab Emirates (21st) and Bahrain (66th), and for the first time overtaking Oman (71st). The results achieved by Morocco are down to its attractive business environment, tax advantages, business creation, simplification of procedures, and improvement and strengthening of online services for the benefit of business and cross-border trade. Vietnam’s dynamic business environment is due to its young population, changing consumer behavior, and greater urbanization, which offer investors the right ingredients to invest and establish projects in the country. Ambassador Farhane expects there will be more companies from around the world investing in and boosting the strengths of both Vietnam and Morocco. M&As increasingly appealing to South Korean businesses Economic cooperation between Vietnamese and South Korean businesses will be much more diversified in the future, especially in the fields of support industries, services, and education, Mr. Kim Jae Hong, Chairman of the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA), told the Vietnam-Korea Business Partnership 2017 program held on November 10 in Hanoi. He also pointed out that more and more South Korean businesses are interested in mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in the country. Through M&A, the two sides will have the opportunity to cooperate in technology transfer and establish joint ventures. “When South Korea boosts technology transfer to Vietnam, the two countries can together penetrate into other countries through free trade agreements signed by Vietnam,” he said. “Trade between the two countries in the first three quarters of this year was $47.2 billion, and I expect the figure to exceed $50 billion in 2017, or more than 100 times the 1992 figure,” he added. Vietnam is South Korea’s largest investment market in ASEAN and this trend will continue into the future, he said. Many M&A experts have said that South Korea’s M&A deals with Southeast Asian countries are increasing annually in both volume and value. However, South Korean businesses in Vietnam also face a host of difficulties in terms of financial reporting and a lack of advisors and experts with knowledge of Vietnamese businesses to negotiate M&A deals.  The Vietnam-Korea Business Partnership 2017 program targeted opening up favorable conditions for the two countries’ enterprises in terms of technology, trade, support industries, M&As, intellectual property rights, and corporate social responsibility. It comprised a series of events, including one-on-one business meetings between Vietnamese and South Korean enterprises, gathering together 100 Vietnamese companies and 17 South Korean firms operating in the fields of information technology, electrical machinery, components automation, chemicals, construction equipment, and industrial materials. M&A activities targeting Southeast Asia so far this year have reached $53.5 billion in 290 deals, increasing in value by 23.1 per cent compared to the same period of 2016. This is the second-highest value in the first three quarters of a year, according to Mergermarket data. In Vietnam, there were 37 deals in the period worth $1.218 billion. M&A deals in Vietnam hit an all-time record of $5.8 billion in 2016, growth of 11.92 per cent compared to 2015, according to a report released at a press meeting to launch the M&A Forum 2017 in July. South Korea and other countries, including Thailand, Singapore, Japan, mainland China, and Hong Kong are the Top 5 buyers in Vietnam. Kepco & Marubeni to build coal-fired power plant South Korean utilities provider the Korea Power Electric Corp. (Kepco) has signed a $2.3 billion deal to build a coal-fired plant in Vietnam, the company said on November 9. A consortium involving Kepco and Japanese trading firm Marubeni will be in charge of construction as well as the operation of the 1,200 MW plant at the Nghi Son 2 Economic Zone in the north-central province of Thanh Hoa, about 200 km south of Hanoi. The State-run Kepco and Marubeni will both hold a 50 per cent share in the project. Kepco expects to receive around $13.2 billion through the plant’s operations over a 25-year period. Construction will begin later this year with completion targeted for the end of 2021. The consortium signed a turnkey-basis contract with Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction to build the coal-fired plant, the company added. The Export-Import Bank of Korea will invest 75 per cent of the $2.3 billion needed for construction, Kepco said.  The two-turbine project with total capacity of 1,200 MW has been approved by the Vietnamese Government, who selected the two companies as investors under the build-operate-transfer (BOT) mode following an international public auction. The project is expected to supply electricity for the economic development of the northern region while ensuring national energy security. Vietnam’s annual power consumption is about 162 billion kWh, according to estimates by Electricity of Vietnam (EVN). It has some 20 coal-fired plants and plans to increase the number to 32 by 2020 and 51 by 2030. This means that, by 2020, the country’s coal plants will be producing 49 per cent of its electricity output by burning 63 million ts of coal. This would then reach 129 million tons by the time it has all 51 plants in operation. Its revised National Power Development Plan for 2011-2020 (PDP XII) makes it clear that thermal power will be the mainstay of its energy mix. CMC opens company in Japan One of Vietnam’s largest telecoms operators, the CMC Corporation, officially opened CMC Japan in Yokohama city, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, on November 7. CMC Japan will provide high quality software engineers and world-class, comprehensive IT solutions and services to customers in Japan. The company will be based in Yokohama city, Kanagawa Prefecture, which has a range of supportive policies for new companies such as CMC Japan. This is an important starting point, creating stable development for CMC Japan in the time to come. It is expected that, by 2020, CMC Japan will have 1,000 employees. Mr. Kuroiwa Yuji, Governor of Kanagawa Prefecture, said there are many Vietnamese companies now operating in the prefecture. “Kanagawa always welcomes all companies to Japan,” he said. “I want this relationship to grow closer and be ‘win-win’.” Ambassador of Vietnam to Japan, H.E. Nguyen Quoc Cuong, congratulated the corporation on the occasion of its arrival in Japan and hoped that all cooperation between the two sides will grow strongly. “The APEC Summit is taking place in Vietnam and shows the stable relationship between Vietnam and Japan,” said Mr. Nguyen Minh Hong, Deputy Minister of Information and Communications. “In the past, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications of Japan has always cooperated closely with the Ministry of Information and Communications. The presence of the CMC Corporation in Japan continues to affirm this close partnership.” CMC Corporation has over 24 years of development, with ten member companies in Vietnam and overseas. Its core services are systems integration, telecommunications - internet, software services, and manufacturing and distributing ICT products. It has been providing ICT products and services to many major multinational corporations in 21 countries around the world, such as Japan, South Korea, the US, the UK, and Singapore. In Vietnam, it is a partner in many ICT and telecommunications projects relating to the government, education, treasury, customs, insurance, electricity, and banking and finance. NFSC: 10M credit growth at 13.5% Total credit in Vietnam’s banking system expanded 13.5 per cent in the first ten months of the year, up from a 12.16 per cent increase in the first nine months, the National Financial Supervisory Commission (NFSC) wrote in a monthly report. Medium- and long-term loans accounted for 53.7 per cent of total lending, down from 55.1 per cent at the end of 2016, while shorter-term loans made up the remaining 46.3 per cent, compared to 44.9 per cent ten months earlier. Notably, lending in foreign currencies picked up 11.5 per cent in the ten-month period; higher than the 4.4 per cent in the same period last year, buoyed by larger imports. The weight of lending for real estate has now fallen to 15.5 per cent of total credit from 17.1 per cent in 2016. Consumer lending soared 58.6 per cent between January and October, “in line with the uptrend of consumption in the economy,” the report noted. The commission said that capital mobilization grew by an estimated 12 per cent from end-2016; lower than the 14.7 per cent expansion in the same period last year. It noted that bank liquidity remained stable at low levels in October, evidenced by interbank interest rates sliding 20 basis points from the previous month, with rates of overnight, one-week, and one-month loans being 0.9 per cent, 0.9 per cent, and 1.5 per cent per annum, respectively. Liquidity was supported by the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) pumping in around VND130 trillion ($5.72 billion) since the start of the year. Since August, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has called for an increase in credit growth to 21 per cent from the SBV’s target of 18 per cent this year to help the country hit its economic growth target, potentially adding to concerns over the pace of new lending. In July, the SBV sprang a surprise on markets by reducing the refinancing rate, rediscount rate, overnight electronic interbank rate, and the rate of loans to offset capital shortages in clearance between the central bank and domestic banks by 25 basis points. The cuts, which come three years after the previous move, reduced the refinancing rate to 6.25 per cent and the rediscount rate to 4.25 per cent and were aimed at stimulating the pace of economic growth towards the 6.7 per cent target for 2017. Vietnam-US trade and investment thriving since normalisation The trade and investment relationship between Vietnam and the US has been thriving since normalisation in 1995 with the US having been the largest importer of Vietnamese goods. According to the General Department of Customs, bilateral trade reached US$42.13 billion in the first ten months of 2017, of which Vietnam’s exports to the world’s largest economy were worth US$34.53 billion. Among the 37 categories of Vietnamese exports to the US, nine have revenues of at least US$1 billion, notably garments and footwear. Vietnam’s imports from the US also include animal feed, raw materials, computers, electronic products and machinery. Besides trade, US foreign direct investment has also been a considerable contribution to Vietnam’s economic growth. Data released by the Foreign Investment Agency shows that US companies have invested an estimated US$10 billion in Vietnam, ranking 9th out of 128 countries and territories investing in Vietnam. According to James W. Fatheree, a vice president of the US Chamber of Commerce, Vietnam-US cooperation will further prosper in the time ahead and the US business community is very interested in Vietnam’s market because of its young population, rapid growth and progresses in economic reform. In the Vietnam-US joint statement on November 12, President Tran Dai Quang and President Donald Trump pledged to deepen and expand the bilateral trade and investment relationship through formal mechanisms. The two leaders also welcomed the announcement of more than US$12 billion in new commercial agreements during President Trump’s visit. Budget revenue meets 80.2% of the year’s estimate during Jan-Oct Vietnam’s total budget revenue reached VND972.6 trillion (US$42.8 billion) in the first ten months of 2017, equivalent to 80.2% of the year’s estimate and up 13.8% compared to the same period last year, announced the Finance Ministry (MOF) on November 10.  Domestic revenue during the period was at VND776.8 trillion (US$34.18 billion), making up 78.4% of the estimate, an increase of 12.7% year on year. Of the figure, collection from production and business activities was estimated at VND605.7 trillion (US$26.65 billion), equal to 77.4% of the estimate, up 10.1% over the same period in 2016. Revenue from crude oil was at VND37.86 trillion (US$1.66 billion), equal to 98.8% of the estimate, up 16.1% annually, whilst collection from import-export activities reached VND237 trillion (US$10.42 billion). According to the MOF, between January and October, about 47 of 63 provinces had their budget revenue exceed 81% of the year’s estimate; 58 of the 63 localities collected more than the same period of last year; and five provinces recorded lower revenue compared to 2016, mainly due to objective reasons. The government spending in ten months was estimated at VND1.01 quadrillion (US$44.57 billion), accounting for 72.9% of the year’s estimate, up 7.1% over the same period in 2016, making the central budget deficit during the period at roughly 69.6% of the estimate. Local budget balances witnessed a difference as revenue was greater than expenditure. In the remaining months of 2017, the MOF said that it will continue to work with relevant agencies to strengthen collection management, prevent loss of revenue, and combat trafficking, trade fraud and price action. The ministry will also focus on handling and recovering tax arrears, striving to exceed the State budget revenue estimate set for 2017 at the highest level. Continuous efforts will be made by the MOF to closely control public debt and restructure the list of public debts in orientation towards sustainability. In addition, the ministry will negotiate and accelerate the progress of signing and disbursing foreign loans as planned, whilst closely following the development of the world’s petrol and oil prices in service of the regulation of petrol prices in line with current regulations. Mekong Delta needs over $5.28 billion for green growth by 2025 The Mekong Delta needs about VND120 trillion (US$5.28 billion) for public investment to ensure green growth in the phases of 2016-2020 and 2021-2025, reported the Ministry of Planning and Investment at a workshop yesterday.  That workshop discussing an action plan for green growth in five Mekong Delta provinces was held by the Ministry of Planning and Investment and relevant agencies in Phu Quoc island, Kien Giang province yesterday. Capital demand is expected to reach VND105 trillion in the phase of 2016-2020. According to the ministry, the plan aims at making the Mekong Delta a motive power in socioeconomic development in association with the environment and ecosystem protection, focusing on connectivity models and limiting negative environmental impacts. At first, the plan will be implemented in five provinces namely Kien Giang, Soc Trang, Hau Giang, Ca Mau and Bac Lieu. In the upcoming time, relevant agencies will build and adjust plans to adapt to climate change, invest in infrastructure, urban and traffic development to suit climate change as per the region’s plan. Low cost apartment supply scarce amid increasing demand in HCMC Half a million of households in HCMC have no houses and many are in need of low cost apartments. Still supply has increasingly reduced especially for the last one year because of land fund scarcity and high land prices after an eventful period.  For a long time, businesess in HCMC’s real estate market had paid much attention to high class and forgot low cost apartments. For the last few years, the later one has created vitality for the market.  Sometimes the high class segment met with difficulties or even became frozen, low cost products still had good liquidity. Few years ago, apartments were priced VND1 billion but the price has increased to swing around VND2 billion. Most projects have been well received by customers recently. Mr. Doan Chi Thanh, chairman of Hoang Anh Saigon Real Estate Company, told SGGP Newspaper that the company recently offered for sale over 500 apartments at Son Ky 1 project, Tan Phu district. They were sold out within two months. At that time, an apartment measuring over VND50 square meters was sold at VND700 million, which has doubled so far. Low cost segment has not only seen the attendance of small but also large companies such as Him Lam Land which has developed some projects with the price of VND1.5 billion an apartment. Him Lam Phu An in District 9 with nearly 1,100 apartments have nearly been sold out. Previously, customers bought all 500 apartments of Him Lam Phu Dong in Thu Duc district. At the lastest, Vingroup has participated in the segment with VinCity apartments priced from VND700 million for medium income people, said deputy chairman of the group Le Khac Tiep. The company planned to provide 200,000-300,000 VinCity apartments in seven large cities nationwide in the next 3-5 years. In HCMC, projects will be implemented in District 9. According to a survey by HCMC Construction Department and HCMC Institue for Development Studies, HCMC now has half a million households have no houses and their housing demand will strongly increase in the future. Deputy director of L&L Group Company said that apartments priced around VND1 billion used to be the major supply source in HCMC. Still, it has been difficult to seek these products for the last one year because of land fund scarcity and high land prices, which have rocketed input costs of projects. In addition, long lasting administrative procedures, land use fee instability and up loan interest rates have furthered hike low cost products’ prices and made supply fewer. Mr. Do Van Manh, director of Dat Xanh Mien Nam Company, said that the price of low cost apartments would set a new high in the upcoming months because supply was short of demand. Projects in outskirt areas with the price of below VND20 million a square meter has been fewer and fewer. Chairman of Dat Lanh Property Company Nguyen Van Duc said that the Government should issue more policies of openness for businesses to facilitate businesses’ attention in the segment. He suggested permitting companies to develop low cost projects like social housing projects in term of land use coefficient, construction density, and apartment area. Chairman of HCMC Real Estate Association Le Hoang Chau said that of 1.74 million people have been in housing difficulties. Of these, 40 percent urban households earn less than VND8.8 million a month and 60 percent earn below VND11.9 million a month. They are affordable for apartments priced around VND1 billion. Besides savings approximating 20-30 percent of apartment value, they can get bank loans to pay the remaining amount. The demand for VND1 billion apartments will highly surge by 2020, he predicted. At present, the market has seen only some low cost projects eligible for sale such as Riverside City in Thu Duc with 1,700 apartments and price of VND1.2 billion an apartment, Saigon Gateway in District 9. Besides, Thai Bao Company will continue offering for sale apartments at The Avila 2 project, District 8 with 3,738 apartments. An apartment of 50-77 square meters is expected to be sold at VND16-18 million a square meter or VND VND800-1 billion on average. VN Foodexpo opens in HCM City       More than 450 exhibitors from 31 Vietnamese cities and provinces and over 20 countries are displaying their products at the four-day annual Vietnam Foodexpo that opened in HCM City on Wednesday. The country’s biggest exhibition of agriculture, seafood and food features among others vegetables, beverages, food ingredients, processed foods, and food processing technologies and equipment. Speaking at the opening ceremony, France’s ambassador to Viet Nam, Bertrand Lortholary, said this year, France is the Country of Honour and has 33 companies introducing their best processed meat, dairy and farm products and food processing equipment. France would also organise seminars on “Food Taste, Quality and Safety”, “How to reduce animal feed related risks to consumers’ health in Viet Nam” and “Bonjour French Food”, he said. “I hope that the free trade agreement between Viet Nam and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) will be completed next year, creating favourable business conditions for Vietnamese, French and European firms.” Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai said Viet Nam’s food industry is developing rapidly. The Vietnam Foodexpo, with the theme this year of “Better Food, Better Life”, would contribute to the overall development of the country and promote food industry businesses and products and services. “I believe it will create a favourable environment to promote business opportunities and trade and investment match-making in the fastest and most effective way for Vietnamese food companies.” According to organisers, the Viet Nam Trade Promotion Agency, the first two days of the expo are only for business visitors and the public can visit after that. There will be many big names such as Habeco, Satra, Vissan, Bibica Confectionery, Mekong Fishery, K-Coffee and Vinasoy. An exclusive area for large supermarket chains like Hapromart, Lotte Mart and Big C to directly meet with suppliers will also be set up. The exhibition is expected to attract 20,000 visitors while the foreign exhibitors are from promising export markets including South Korea, Japan, China, the United States, France, the EU, Singapore, Malaysia and the Middle East. The event is being held at the Sai Gon Exhibition Centre in District 7. Pangasius, vegetable prices highly hike in Mekong Delta Long lasting rain in combination with high tide for the last recent days has largely impacted farming production in the Mekong Delta, caused supply scarcity and rocketed pangasius fish and vegetable prices.  Pangasius prices have surged to the record high of VND27,000-28,000 a kilogram, bringing breeders a profit of VND4,000-6,000 a kilogram, according to agriculture and rural development departments in the Mekong Delta. Despite the high prices, supply has been limited as farmers did not broadened farming area owing to losses in previous crops. Businesses say that pangasius fish import demand will increase from now until the end of 2017 to serve Christmas and New Year seasons. Therefore, export will be advantageous and prices will remain high. Many traders in Dong Thap, An Giang province and Can Tho city said that they were paying as much as VND25000 a kilogram of tomato, VND15,000 a kilogram of pumpkin and VND15,000-18,000 a kilogram of cabbage. The prices of other vegetables have raised by VND5,000-10,000 a kilogram. Rambutan and durian prices have also strongly moved up in Ben Tre and Tien Giang provinces. Mr. Bui Thanh Liem, head of Agriculture and Rural Development Department in Cho Lach district, Ben Tre province, says that Thai rambutan is priced up to VND40,000-45,000 a kilogram and durian VND80,000-85,000 a kilogram. China's Alipay enters Vietnam Alipay, one of China’s most popular mobile payment solutions, is now available to use in Vietnam. On November 10, the leading online payment platform under Alibaba from China has signed a a strategic partnership agreement with National Payment Corporation of Vietnam (Napas) in Hanoi. Under the cooperation, Alipay in Vietnam will provide an online application for Chinese travelers currently staying in Vietnam to enable cross-border payments. The service is expected help users to save time and transaction costs. Established in 2004 by Alibaba Group, ,Alipay currently has over 520 million userswith the service supported in 200 countries and 18 popular currencies. VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/TT/TN/Dantri/VNEVET