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BUSINESS IN BRIEF 20/7
Ha
Nam province sees positive signs of FDI
Despite
the impact of the global economic downturn, the
The Ha
Nam Department of Planning and Investment says it has licensed 11 projects
with a total capitalization of US$78.4 million in the first half of the year,
bringing the province’s total valid projects to 77 with a combined registered
capital of US$669.6 million.
Among
several major foreign investors,
From
2001–2005, Ha
The
largest include a US$40 million project to build the Frieslandcampina Ha Nam
milk factory, Sumi Vietnam Wiring System Co. Ltd’s US$29 million project
specialising in producing small wire car and motorbike harness cables, and
Cargill Vietnam Co. Ltd’s US$15 million livestock feed project.
Since
2011, Ha
In the
first six months of 2013, the FDI sector generated around 15,600 jobs (up
15.4 percent) and contributed US$12.5 million to the state budget, (up 27.8
percent), and earned US$293 million in revenue (up 36.6 percent) compared to
a year earlier.
Some
of the newly-licensed projects include Myeongsung Vina Co. Ltd’s mobile
microphone production project and Finetek Vietnam Co. Ltd’s touchscreen panel
project in Phu Ly district and Keyrin Telecom Vietnam Co. Ltd’s advanced
electronics manufacturing project in Duy Tien district.
Apart
from
The
province is expected to welcome another 15–20 foreign investors with a total
registered capital of around US$120 million, generate an additional 18,200
jobs, and contribute around US$24.9 million to the state budget by the end of
the year.
Ha
In
addition, they have closely worked with the department of transport on the
opening of more bus services for commuting workers to ensure their safety and
productivity levels.
They
have always encouraged organisations and individuals, both foreign and
domestic to engage in attracting more foreign investment to the province.
The Ha
Nam provincial People’s Committee is set to upgrade infrastructure
facilities, improve the training of high quality human resources, and push
through administrative reforms at any cost.
Vietinbank
targets capital of over 1.7 billion USD
Vietnam
Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Industry and Trade or V ietinbank (CTG) said
it will increase its capital to more than 37.23 trillion VND (over 1.7
billion USD) by the third quarter.
Vietinbank’s
charter capital as of June 30 was 32.66 trillion VND (1.5 billion USD).
The
bank will carry out dividend payment in cash at the rate of 16 percent of the
charter capital for 2012 prior to the issuance of additional shares to
strategic shareholder Bank of Tokyo, Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd (BTMU), BTMU will not
receive each dividends for the fiscal year of 2012.
In
addition, Vietinbank will issue shares at par value to existing shareholders
at a rate of 14 percent of the charter capital (including the issuance to
BTMU).
In the
plan to increase capital, BTMU will buy more shares to maintain its
percentage of ownership in Vietinbank.
After
Vietinbank finalises its plan to raise its charter capital, State
shareholders will hold 64.46 percent, equivalent to around 24 trillion VND
(1.14 billion USD), BTMU will hold 19.73 percent, equivalent to nearly 7.35
trillion VND (346.6 million USD); and other shareholders will hold 15.81
percent or over 5.88 trillion VND (277.3 million USD).
Vietinbank
expects to use the additional funding to improve credit, expand its network
and invest in technology, new facilities and services while also boosting
mergers and acquisitions.
“Increasing
capital is the base for our bank to enhance its financial capacity, maintain
high growth and create more benefits for shareholders,” said Vietinbank
chairman Pham Huy Hung.
During
the meeting, Vietinbank also selected two new members of the board: BTMU’s
Asia and
Samsung
Vina opens enterprise experience center in town
After
succeeding in business with individual customers, Samsung Vina Electronics
Co. is now shifting its attention to corporate clients by opening the
The
center, located at the REE building at
Nguyen
Van Dao, vice president of the company, said that with the center, businesses
can experience overall solutions and use lots of Samsung devices such as
smart phones, tablet computers, printers and large format displays as well as
secure mobility solutions, mobile printing solutions, visual display solutions
and cloud display devices.
Other
solutions offered at the facility also include transparent displays suitable
for fashion outlets and flexible electronic payment mPOS appropriate with
enterprises having payment demand anytime and anywhere.
The
highlight of the center is a solution to display Video Walls which is able to
gather up to 100 single screens for many different types of companies.
Thanks
to the diversified technological strengths and the successes with
business-to-customer (B2C) products, Samsung will continue to provide
business-to-business (B2B) solutions for organizations and entities, Dao
remarked.
Samsung
has set a target of developing the B2B segment as its long-term strategy and
considers this as one of the key business activities. It is looking to
achieve global sale growth of 23% in 2020, with its subsidiary in
Banks
see profit targets beyond reach
Local
commercial banks are facing huge challenges in realizing this year’s profit
targets as credit growth remains low amid current economic difficulties.
While
enterprises still have low a demand for capital, most banks, especially small
lenders, have paid attention to restructuring, management capability
improvement or capital preservation rather than setting up high profit
targets.
Nguyen
Dinh Tung, general director of Orient Commercial Bank (OCB), said that the
lender fulfilled 50% of its full-year profit target in the first six months
because its target is low. In addition, OCB does not attach importance to business
results and instead it places focus on transforming itself into a retail bank
and strengthening its operation this year.
It is
possible that OCB can meet the profit target established early this year,
Tung said.
In
2012, OCB obtained VND304 billion in pre-tax profit, or 57.4% of the year’s
target. Therefore, the bank aims at a modest goal of only VND320 billion for
2013, or 5.3% higher than last year’s figure.
Other
banks such as SeABank and ABBank also told the Daily that 2013 is the year
for consolidation, improvement of governance and competitiveness, effective
and safe business while earnings are no longer the top priority.
Last
year, ABBank gained VND528 billion in pre-tax profits, rising from VND400
billion in the previous year but it was only 66% of the year’s target. This
year, the bank targets to attain VND650 billion in pre-tax profits while in
the 2013 annual report, the bank says it mainly focuses on restructuring,
governance and safe operations.
Meanwhile,
SeABank gained only VND69 billion in pre-tax profit in 2012 due to losses in
stock and foreign exchange investments. This year, the lender estimates to
obtain VND216 billion in pre-tax profits.
However,
profit targets will be a huge challenge for banks as the macro economy had
yet to see positive signs in the first half of this year. Banks, as the
intermediary channel for capital circulation in the economy, will suffer
adverse impacts from the economic slowdown.
According
to the central bank, the banking system obtained credit growth rate of nearly
3% at the end of May while mobilization increased 7%. Capital surplus has
forced banks to invest in government bonds and foreign exchange to improve
earnings.
Commenting
on the possibility of banks fulfilling profit targets this year, Viet Dragon
Securities Company (VDSC) said that most banks have been more reserved, which
is quite different from previous years.
The
Government has applied many measures to speed up credits such as the
VND30-trillion loan program for the real estate market and reduction of
interest rate ceiling. However, VDSC said that the solutions would not bring
about results in short term.
DHG
transfers brand to Thai partner
Hau
Giang Pharmaceutical Joint Stock Co. (DHG), has transferred the Eugica brand
of all pharmaceutical products and functional foods to
Doan
Dinh Duy Khuong, deputy general director of the company, confirmed last
Friday that the deal was worth US$6 million. This is the first brand transfer
from a local pharmaceutical enterprise to a foreign partner, Khuong, who is
also marketing director of the firm, told the Daily.
“DHG
hopes Eugica products will not only develop in
Eugica
is a cough medicine brand using 100% home-made materials which was studied
and launched onto the market by DHG in 2006. The company obtained VND250
billion in sales from Eugica products annually.
Khuong
expects sales of Eugica products to grow 15-20% annually after Mega
officially exports them in 2014.
DHG
now has about 50 functional foods. Mega, meanwhile, has been present in
Third
sale round of Hyundai Hillstate kicks off
Hyundai
last Friday began the third sale round of its project Hyundai Hillstate in
Hyundai
Hillstate is the first real estate project of
Hyundai
Hillstate introduces several policies to stimulate demand.
Homebuyers
only need to make a down payment equivalent to 30% of an apartment’s value to
receive the home and settle the rest within one year after signing the
contract with no interest charged. The project owner this time also offers
lower prices than in previous sale rounds in 2010 and 2011.
The
first sale round took place in late 2010 with 200 apartments and 62 villas on
offer sold out in just one day thanks to the then thriving property market.
The second round was held in November 2011, when the market slowed down,
leading to lukewarm response.
Hyundai
Hillstate is located on To
This
high-end apartment and villa project got off the ground in 2009. It covers an
area of 4.67 hectares and costs a total of US$200 million.
Hyundai
Hillstate comprises two main zones: the apartment zone with five buildings
supplying 928 flats and a commercial center, and the villa zone with 100
units.
The
project lies near the Cat Linh-Ha Dong metro line scheduled for completion in
2015. The apartment zone of Hyundai Hillstate is connected to commercial
infrastructure and public utilities of the new administrative area of Ha Dong
District. It is located next to Metro Ha Dong Hypermarket and Lotte Ha Dong
Cinema.
Accenture
suggests solutions to raising port efficiency
Global
management consulting, technology service and outsourcing company Accenture
has recommended measures to address the problems related to efficient
operations of ports in
Fox Chu,
Accenture’s director for infrastructure and transportation in Asia Pacific,
emphasized the importance of building strong connectivity to make ways for
cargo to be transported to the ports in
“So
there are two things: the road connectivity (to ports) and having the
vessel’s calls,”
Chu
highlighted a number of challenges that hinder advancement of the port industry
in
In his
presentation about trends, challenges and opportunities for ports in
To
attract more vessels to ports in
He
said policymakers and investors were very important to establish such a
market order in the port industry to set appropriate policies and make
fundamental investment in developing certain ports as hubs for cargo and
ships. It is also crucial for
The
world’s economic stagnation has made life difficult for port operators to
maintain high performance but there are ways to achieve this as suggested by
Accenture in its new research.
PAN
Services wins 2013 Vietnam Brands Competition award
PAN
Services has been honoured with the 2013 Vietnam Brands Competition’s “Famous
Brand” award in
PAN
Services Deputy Director Vu Thi Ngan said the award will spur on the
company’s 4,000 professional staff from PAN Services to invest greater
efforts in improving quality, rewarding the trust of customers, and raising
the profile of the PAN Services brand.
PAN
Services was deemed eligible for the award after meeting the organising
board’s assessment criteria, including territorial scope, brand longevity,
and cleaning service revenue.
The
2013 Vietnam Brands Competition’s “Famous Brand” award seeks to acknowledge
businesses’ achievements in improving their competitiveness, providing high
quality services and goods, incorporating sustainable development goals,
contributing to Vietnamese brand development, and promoting Vietnamese
products and services on international markets.
The
award has helped introduce Vietnamese trademarks to international friends and
demonstrated to domestic businesses the importance of protecting their
brands’ reputations.
Cooperative
economy promoted in Mekong Delta
A
seminar was held in Can Tho city on July 15 to consider building new-style
cooperatives in the Mekong Delta.
The
event was co-organised by the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) and
the Southwestern Region Steering Committee (SRSC).
In his
opening speech, MPI Deputy Minister Dang Huy Dong emphasised the significance
of the project to develop the collective economy.
The
aim is to promote the sustainable development of the collective economic
sector in the region, especially agricultural cooperatives to help improve
farmers’ economic, cultural and social lives, he said.
According
to Dong, the Mekong Delta region has developed the individual economic model
for years. However, the model has not yet proved its effectiveness and
people’s living conditions are still low with unstable incomes. The failure
of the model is due to lack of cooperation, management and guidance.
The
cooperative model is designed to deal with the problems facing farmers. By
joining cooperatives, they will be provided with low-cost input materials and
technical support as well as assistance in selling their products in the most
effective way, Dong said.
The
initial step will see the formation of three cooperative models in rice
cultivation, tra fish breeding and fruit growing, Dong added.
Duong
Quoc Xuan, Deputy Head of the SRSC said there are more than 1,300
cooperatives and 45,000 agricultural and seafood cooperative groups in 13
Mekong Delta localities, accounting for 14 percent of the country’s total
number.
Seminar
discusses
It
reviewed the status of economic cooperation between both nations’ business
communities and sought to promote trade activities in the future.
Tran
Bac Ha—President of the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV)
as well as the Association of Vietnamese Business Investors in Myanmar
(AVIM)—said AVIM has already dispatched 50 delegations and nearly 1,500
business representatives to Myanmar for market survey and collaboration
missions. BIDV leaders said the bank is eager to become the institutional
pioneer for investment in
Vu Van
Trung, Deputy Head of the Ministry of Planning and Investment’s Foreign
Investment Agency, highlighted the chance to capitalise on
The
Vietnamese business community told the Government of Myanmar that issuing a
regulation guiding the implementation of new investment laws would be a boon
to their trade and investment activities.
Telecom
Providers ask for hike in 3G service fee
Telecom
Company, Viettel, has said that it has sought permission from the Ministry of
Information and Communication to raise fees for 3G services, as the service
costs are presently too low.
Tong
Viet Trung, Deputy Director-General of Viettel, said while the numbers of 3G
subscribers are increasing rapidly and smart phones are becoming more
popular, the service costs have remained low.
At the
beginning, competition between mobile phone service providers was too fierce;
hence service providers resorted to low tariffs to attract subscribers.
But as
the numbers of users have increased substantially, Viettel will have to raise
prices as the current fee structure does not even cover production costs,
said Trung.
Another
reason is that the service provider has to upgrade the current network
capacity quality and rise in fees is needed for this huge investment.
According
to figures released, the price of 3G in the country is much cheaper than in
In
early April, two leading mobile phone service providers, MobiFone and
VinaPhone, announced a hike on 3G packages from VND40,000 (US$1.9) to
VND50,000 ($2.4) a month.
According
to the Ministry of Information and Communication, mobile operators in the
country have spent VND28 trillion ($1.3 billion) to upgrade 3G packages. They
also offered low 3G packages to attract more subscribers. For instance,
unlimited package costs only VND50,000 a month and package for students is
VND35,000 per month.
One
more thing that made service providers increase fee of 3G packages is the use
of Over The Top (OTT) services that allows subscribers to send free messages
and calls. The ministry said the country has 20 million 3G subscribers. If a
large number of subscribers use free OTT services, it would be a huge loss
for mobile operators.
Nguyen
Manh Hung, Deputy Head of Viettel, said that if their 40 million subscribers
use 3G and OTT services, the company would see 40-50 percent loss in revenue.
Do Vu
Anh from the Vietnam Posts and Communications Group said that free OTT
services are making losses for Vietnamese telecom operators and its
counterparts in the world.
As
rice cultivation has dropped in the last two years in the Mekong Delta,
farmers have switched to planting dragon fruit instead, which brings in two
or three times more income than rice.
Many
farmers in Tien Giang and Long An Provinces have happily switched to growing
the popular dragon fruit. Along streets in Long Tri, Duong Xuan Hoi Communes
of Chau Thanh District in Long An Province, dragon fruit is seen growing in
abundance. The district now plans to cover 2,500 hectares with dragon fruit
cultivation by 2015.
Moreover,
export processing services are also beginning to mushroom in the province.
Hoang Huy Company in Duong Xuan Hoi Commune has opened more warehouses for
storing and bought more freezers to store the fruit for export.
A few
kilometers from there is another factory using hot steam to treat dragon
fruit before shipping--the first factory of its kind in the region that was built
at a cost of US$1.5 million.
Vo
Mai, Vice President of Vietnam Gardening Association, said dragon fruit is a
key agricultural produce of the country for export. Entering the
Tran
Ngoc Hiep, Director of Thanh Long Hoang Hau Company in the central
The
Drug Administration of Vietnam has decided to withdraw 17 skin whitening
products made by
Nguyen
Viet Hung, Deputy Head of Drug Administration, said that the decision to
withdraw these cosmetic products was fear of Rhododenol, a quasi-drug
ingredient also known as 4HPB which cause white patches on the skin.
These
Japanese cosmetics products are imported and distributed by LK Commercial
Company located at
Health
watchdogs have ordered the importer to withdraw all products as well as send
a report of withdrawal to the Administration before July 30.
Earlier,
the health watchdog had sent a document to the Department of Customs asking
not to clear five cosmetics with Rhododenol content imported by the Logitem
Vietnam Company at
Ministry
lists jobs for minors
The
Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs has prepared a list of jobs
that will permit the hiring of children below the age of 15.
The
list includes jobs in the field of sports, singing, movies and handicrafts,
which will allow for the hiring of children from the age of 13-15.
The
Ministry has also asked local authorities to check on businesses hiring
minors. If any business hires labor that is below 15-years-of-age, they must
show their medical certificate and offer free medical treatment.
Nghe
An lures South Korean investors
Nghe
An has promised South Korean investors favorable conditions to attract them
into the province, especially those involved in the production of technology
products.
At a
conference on Korean investment promotion for Nghe An held in
In
recent years, the government of Nghe An has focused on improving the business
and investment environment and organized many direct dialogues with
entrepreneurs and investors to promptly resolve their difficulties.
The
province sees administrative reform as a key task, applying the one-door
mechanism, developing a multilingual website for investment promotion and
introducing preferential policies to support investors.
Nguyen
Xuan Duong, chairman of Nghe An, said the province had always appreciated the
efficiency of South Korean investment.
Currently,
“We
pledge to adopt our policies consistently, prepare cleared sites and
infrastructure at economic zones and industrial parks, prepare human
resources, upgrade airports, seaports, roads, railways and supporting
services so that investors can operate in the most efficient way,” said
Duong.
Jun
Dae Joo, South Korean Ambassador to
However,
the costs of investment in these cities are very high, especially land and
labor costs. Therefore, South Korean investors are looking at other
destinations, including Nghe An, said Jun.
Kwon
Kyoung Doug, deputy director of the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency
(KOTRA) said textile-garment companies from
However,
transport infrastructure is a weakness of Nghe An since it takes up to seven
hours to travel from
“If
the above weaknesses are overcome, there will be more South Korean firms
investing here,” said Kwon.
At the
conference, Nghe An signed a memorandum on cooperation with
* The
government of
The
municipal government in collaboration with the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce
and Industry (VCCI) last Friday held a conference on investment promotion for
At the
event, Nguyen Lam Thang, chairman of
At the
conference, memorandums were signed between Yen Bai City and the Korean
Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), the Taipei Economic and Cultural
Office, the Central Council of Vietnam Business Associations, Vietnam National
Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex), Hoa Sen Group, Ho Guom Garment JSC and
Cuong Thinh Thi Investment and Construction JSC.
The
apartment market in
A
report on the
Most
of the apartment projects in the western and southern districts like Ha Dong,
Hoang Mai and Hai Ba Trung are in the low- and mid-end segments. They have
always recorded a higher transaction volume than the projects in other areas.
The
projects with an average price of around VND20 million per square meter like
Do Thu
Hang, head of research and consultancy at Savills Vietnam, remarked the
apartment market in Hanoi was quite active in the second quarter, with eight
newly-launched projects supplying 2,100 apartments, taking the total primary
supply to 11,700 units, up 7% against the preceding quarter.
The
projects in the primary market had prices ranging from VND10 million to VND94
million per square meter, unchanged from the first quarter. The absorption
rate was 7%, up two percentage points over the preceding quarter, which is
attributed to good operations of the projects with fast development and
reasonable prices.
Meanwhile,
apartment offer prices in the secondary market went down due to low
liquidity. Tu Liem District recorded the sharpest drop of 7%, followed by
Long Bien, Ba Dinh and Cau Giay with a decline of 5%.
Though
the number of newly-launched apartments in the second quarter is higher than
in the first quarter, the number of flats going on sale in the first six
months was only 36% of the figure in 2012 and 14% of that in 2011, according
to CBRE Vietnam.
However,
the number of apartments completed in the first half of 2013 was 90% of the
total number in 2012. Thus, CBRE thinks investors are making great efforts to
finish their projects.
Metro
Line No.1 set for operation in 2018
Residents
in HCMC can use the Metro Line No.1 connecting Ben Thanh Market in District 1
with
The
HCMC Management Authority for Urban Railways and a consortium of
At the
signing ceremony, Nguyen Do Luong, director of the city’s Management
Authority for Urban Railways, said the project’s progress has been scheduled
for every year.
Work
on the scheme’s pickets along
The
work’s construction, including an underground section, will be completed in
2016 before the assessment and handover of the work in 2017. The line will be
commissioned in 2018.
Among
the three bidding packages of the line No.1, only the 2.6-kilometer
underground section running from Ben Thanh to Ba Son Shipyard is in the
process of preparations for a bidding round.
The
second package, which runs more than 17 kilometers, is being constructed as
an elevated route. Meanwhile,
The
construction of the metro line aims to lessen the chronic congestion at the
northeastern gate of the city where traffic flow from southern and central
provinces is huge.
When
in place with a maximum velocity of 80 kilometers an hour in the tunnel and
110 kilometers an hour on the elevated section, it will take about 20 minutes
to go from Suoi Tien to the downtown area, with an interval of five minutes
and a stopping time of 1.5 minutes at every terminal.
The
metro line is expected to transport some 620,000 passengers a day by 2020,
which is projected to rise to 1.02 million by 2040. The route will be
extended to
The
line No.1 was initially estimated to cost US$1.09 billion in ODA loans and
State budget but the cost has now swollen to US$2.07 billion due to foreign
exchange rate volatility.
Ha
Long to host young inventors’ festival
Quang
Ninh province’s Ha Long City is preparing to host the sixth national young
inventors’ festival over October 18–19.
The
festival will honour the best ideas and inventions designed and created by
Vietnamese citizens aged between 16 and 35, as well as young people’s
collaborative innovations in agriculture, industry, security and defence,
health, education, environmental protection, administrative reform, transport,
and post and telecommunications.
Ho Chi
Minh Communist Youth Union organisations in cities and provinces nationwide
will nominate and submit those responsible for their localities’ outstanding
ideas and inventions, focusing on projects already realized rather than
existing only in theory.
Over
half of Vietnam Steel Corporation’s subsidiaries make loss
Up to
seven out of 13 members of Vietnam Steel Corporation's (VnSteel) members are
operating at a loss, said corporation General Director Le Phu Hung.
He
said that five joint ventures involving VnSteel have also made losses, adding
that in the first half of this year, VnSteel’s output fulfilled only 42.4% of
the set target. Meanwhile, steel firms are facing higher production costs.
Huynh
Cong Du, Director of Phu My Flat Steel Company, said prices of steel
production materials and power are on the rise, meanwhile, the company is
facing difficulties in finding outlets for their products which also affects
their profits. Besides, local steel companies have to compete with massive
imports of steel from other countries.
According
to Bui Quang Chuyen, Deputy Head of the Heavy Industry Department under the
Ministry of Industry and Trade, not only steel billets and steel sheets
but also corrugated iron now see inventory. The market share of local steel
enterprises is on the decline, while that of joint ventures has increased.
The
inventory will result in more fierce competition and even bankruptcy risk
among steel firms. Therefore, steel companies have to find their own ways to
boost consumption and restructure their operations.
Tighter
control over pricing of airport services
The
Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam (CAAV) will request the airport
management board to tighten control over the prices and quality of all
services, said deputy head of the department, Luu Thanh Binh.
Airports
nationwide will be required to establish public hotlines to receive customer
complaints on the quality of their services.
Speaking
at a recent conference on aviation service quality, Binh said, following
recent reports about high prices and low quality of food at
At the
meeting, the Northern Airports Authority said they recently found that Hoang
Kim and Dai Thai Binh Duong companies sell expired products and without
listing prices at some airports.
Head
of the department, Lai Xuan Thanh, said that the department will issue a set
of quality standards, clearly stipulating things to do to improve services.
Based on these, Thanh added, authorities will be able to inspect, and if
necessary, warn service providers.
Duong
Tri Thanh, Deputy General Director of Vietnam Airlines, noted the importance
of the behaviour of staff members and their responsibility to serve customers
courteously. He added that Vietnam Airlines recently dismissed a staff member
for surfing the internet and ignoring passengers' questions about their
flight delay.
Vietnam
Airlines says they will try to reduce the rate of late flights that result
from unreliable weather forecasts, weak infrastructure and power losses.
Further
questions asked of Metro sturgeon origin
After
a week of controversy, Ha Noi Market Watch will check with suppliers over the
origins of sturgeon being sold at the Metro supermarket, the authority's
deputy director Nguyen Cong San has said.
Questions
were raised about the sources of the sturgeon last week when Le Anh Duc,
chairman of the Viet Nam Sturgeon Group, denounced Metro supermarket for
selling what he claimed to be illegal fish.
He
said the supermarket chain in the north imported between 50-70 tonnes of
sturgeon every month, while production in this area was unlikely to exceed
30-40 tonnes. Duc also believed that in the official documents, Metro's
sturgeon was said to have come from the
On
Tuesday, market watch officials checked sturgeon at two Metro supermarkets,
in Hoang Mai and Tu Liem districts. Labelling said the fish had come from
According
to a Metro representative, the enterprises that supplied the fish were
Seaprodex Ha Noi/Hasimex Company and Hieu Ngan Food Company.
The
Viet Nam Sturgeon Corporation estimates that up to 15 tonnes of unauthorised
fish are brought into
The
latest incident marks the second time this year that a foreign invested
supermarket chain has been pulled up for alleged infringements. In April, the
Big C supermarket in Tu Liem District was found to be selling green grapes
from Ninh Thuan province, but with a Chinese flag on the label.
Co-operative
model eyed at Delta meeting
A
meeting to review the implementation of a project on cooperatives designed to
help local residents move out of poverty was held yesterday in the Mekong
Delta city of
Organised
by the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) and the Steering Board for
the Southeast Region, the meeting was attended by representatives of the
Departments of Agriculture and Rural Development, Planning and Investment in
the Mekong Delta and the Union of Cooperatives of Viet Nam.
The
cooperative project is centered on the collective economic sector, especially
agricultural cooperatives.
Dang
Huy Dong, Deputy Minister for Planning and Investment, said the project also
helped local residents and members of the community understand the importance
of working together to improve their livelihoods.
According
to an MPI report, individual economies in the area of rice, fruit and
aquaculture cultivation have been successful, but many local residents in the
region are still poor due to low incomes.
The
causes of the low incomes were identified to be the lack of quality seeds and
breeding animals; outdated modes of cultivation and the low level of
technical know-how and the absence of modern machinery and equipment.
Also,
the lack of stable and quality materials for production, and low prices for
their products due to pressure from traders have also contributed to the
poverty levels.
Dong
said there had been a lack of close cooperation among households or private
enterprises, and a lack of support from organisations and units that can help
people conduct business more effectively.
"The
cooperative mode is a very suitable one to solve this problem," Dong
said, adding members are provided with input materials at soft prices and
support in technological production and consumption.
Because
of these advantages, cooperatives are critical in helping farmers become more
close-knit, thus improving their living standards.
The
Cuu Long River Delta has three types of cooperatives, one in rice
cultivation, another in catfish raising and a third in orchards. These are
all agricultural strengths of the region.
Duong
Quoc Xuan, deputy head of the South West Steering Committee, said the Delta
has 13 provinces with more than 1,314 cooperatives, employing 23,260 people.
There
are 45,000 cooperative groups involved in agricultural and seafood production
and 3,280 farms (accounting for 14 per cent of the country's total).
"The
local cooperative economic sector has made active contributions to
socio-economic development, poverty reduction and hunger eradication in local
provinces," Xuan said.
However,
he pointed out that some cooperatives were operating ineffectively, most of
which are located in rural and remote areas.
In
some localities, state management agencies had not yet paid sufficient
attention to carrying out the Government's cooperative development policies
as well as giving proper assistance to existing cooperatives, according to
Xuan.
As a
result, the products from these cooperatives have not been highly competitive
in the market.
Highway
project gets priority
Contractors
responsible for construction delays in the project to expand National Highway
1A should be replaced immediately.
At a
conference in Da Nang yesterday, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc urged
the transport sector to take such drastic actions if any construction delays
arouse. The conference focused on site clearance and safety issues related to
the country's two major highway construction projects.
"Site
clearance for the projects is a major issue and a key factor in meeting the
completion schedule by 2016," Phuc said.
He
also urged leaders from 23 provinces and cities, as well as contractors,
investors and officials from the ministry of transport to find more effective
methods for site clearance to ensure that the two projects are completed by
2016.
"Site
clearance, compensation and resettlement in the provinces and cities will be
crucial to helping ensure that the two projects are finished on time. These
are complicated issues and require hard work from local authorities,
contractors, investors and the ministry of transport," Phuc said.
"The
deadline for the completion of the two projects is fixed. We have only three
years to reach the target, so preparations for site clearance and the issues
of resettlement and compensation must be completed first."
He
also criticised some provinces and contractors for carrying out their
projects too slowly, pointing to the case of Quang Tri Province, which had to
spend five years to complete only five of the 13km section on National
Highway 1A, while Ha Tinh Province completed a similar project much faster.
The
deputy Prime Minister asked leaders from the provinces and cities to make
every effort necessary to catch up to the proposed time schedule.
Minister
of Transport Dinh La Thang said that involvement of local authorities would
be crucial for creating the conditions necessary to complete the projects
smoothly.
"Solving
the delays in site clearance is the primary responsibility for local
authorities. I ask the local authorities to create priorities for
contractors, investors and bidders and to ensure that they carry out their
projects on time," Thang said.
National
Highway 1A runs from the north to the south of the country. An expansion of
672km of its 1,887-km length is expected to be completed by the end of this
year. The 663-km Ho Chi Minh Highway Project through the Central Highland
region has a budget of VND533 billion (US$25.1 million) and requires 220ha of
land and the resettlement of 620 households.
Source:
VEF/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/Dantri/VIR
|
Thứ Sáu, 19 tháng 7, 2013
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