|
BUSINESS IN BRIEF 6/7
SBV secures
loan for new metro line
The Asian
Development Bank will provide a loan package of US$500 million for
An agreement to
this effect was signed yesterday by representatives of the ADB and the State
Bank of Viet Nam (SBV).
This is the second
loan package for construction of a 11.3-km section of MRT2, which will run
from Ben Thanh Market in District 1 through
Nguyen Huu Tin,
Deputy Chairman of the HCM City People's Committee, said MTR2 will be 20km
long in total, starting from the Thu Thiem Area in District 2 and ending at
the Tay Ninh Bus Station.
Construction of the
line will be undertaken in two phases. The first one will cover the section
from Ben Thanh Market to Tham Luong; and the second will cover two sections -
from Ben Thanh to Thu Thiem and Tham Luong to the Tay Ninh Bus Station, said
Tin.
The first phase
requires an investment of around $1.38 billion, which will be sourced through
loans from the ADB ($540 million), the German Development Bank (240.75
million euros or $313 million) and the European Investment Bank (150 million
euros or $195 million). The Vietnamese Government will provide counter
capital of $326.5 million.
Agreements for the
project's first loan packages were signed in 2011 between the same parties.
Speaking at
yesterday's signing ceremony, SBV Governor Nguyen Van Binh appreciated ADB's
support for urban transportation development in
The city
authorities should be determined in implementing the project, especially in
site clearance, in order to avoid contruction delays that would make the
loans less effective, Binh said.
Tomayuki Kimura,
Country Director of ADB's Viet Nam Resident Mission, praised the decision of
the Vietnamese Government and the
He said this was
based on the recognition of challenges posed by the unwieldy development of
individual means of transportation, including traffic congestion and
accidents.
The project to
develop the metro system will help
Gold
auctions still attracting buyers
Despite the fact
that local banks now do not have to hunt for gold after completing settlement
of gold arrears as of Sunday as requested by the central bank, up to 80,000
taels of gold still found buyers in the two gold biddings earlier this week.
In a gold auction
held on Wednesday, the central bank only had 100 taels unsold among 40,000
taels on offer while the bidding on Tuesday sold out all the offered volume.
The central bank, meanwhile, earlier informed that local banks already had
enough gold to settle all arrears on Sunday.
As of Wednesday,
the gold volume launched onto the market via auctions totaled about 39 tons,
up nearly 10 tons from the initial forecast.
Gold buying demand
for settlement of gold arrears has been satisfied, Le Minh Hung, deputy
governor of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), said. However, he noted, many
lenders have bought gold via auctions to help gold borrowers repay the
precious metal to the banks before the due date as this is also one of the
ways allowing them to settle lending position.
Outstanding gold
balances stay at around 200,000 taels, equivalent to 7.5 tons. Gold buying
via biddings now is adopted by those banks having demand.
At present, Asia
Commercial Bank (ACB) is also negotiating with customers to convert gold
loans into
In the next few
days, gold biddings will still be carried out to meet demand from enterprises
and banks and SBV will stop doing the job when local appetite cools.
As for gold
deposits converted into gold custody services at local banks, Hung said SBV
had told banks to make reports, so specific data is not yet available.
The opening price
of one tael of gold quoted at Saigon Jewelry Holding Company was VND36.3
million for buying and VND37.1 million for selling on Wednesday morning,
which then picked up by VND500,000 per tael to VND36.8 million and VND37.6
million respectively at 4:30 p.m. on the same day. Global gold prices, in the
meantime, only inched up US$5.3 an ounce against the closing session in the
WB helps
spur
World Bank (WB)
experts made major recommendations to increase
They suggested that
According to the
experts,
However, they said
They highlighted a
number of potential obstacles facing
The experts said
success will require considerable and sustained effort by all stakeholders,
with the government playing the role of a facilitator and coordinator.
Political
commitment will be needed from the top leadership, given that the
recommendations will affect country competitiveness and directions of social
and economic development at large.
WB Vietnam Country
Director Victoria KwaKwa emphasised international economic integration brings
both opportunities and challenges.
She said improving
the quality of services, infrastructure, and trade will play an important
role in promoting the country’s key exports. To raise added value in global
supply chains,
Seminar
promotes Vietnam-Brazil business links
The Vietnam-Brazil
Friendship and Cooperation Association (VBFCA) has operated efficiently,
helping increase two-way trade turnover to US$1.6 billion in 2012.
The view was shared
by VBFCA Vice President Nguyen Thach Dinh and Brazilian Ambassador to Vietnam
Alice Cleaver at a seminar in
They asserted that
in addition to promoting bilateral friendship, the association bridges both
countries’ business communities to expand investment ties and cushion the
impact of the global economic downturn.
Experts at the
seminar summarised the origin of rock crystal, its scientific use, and the
best rock crystal selection methods.
Two-way trade
focuses on the import and export of cotton bags, cement, steel, footwear,
ceramics, rock crystal, coffee, food, soya beans, and frozen seafood.
Vietnam
joins ASEAN Competition Conference in Singapore
A delegation of the
Vietnam Competition Authority (VCA) is attending the 3rd ASEAN Competition
Conference in
Themed “Moving
Towards the Regional Integration of Competition Policy and Law”, the event
has brought together 200 government officials, scholars and experts from
ASEAN member countries and others.
Delegates heard a
report on competition legislation in
Speakers from Hong
Kong (
They also pointed
out potential challenges inherent in the regional economic integration
process, especially if the ASEAN Economic Community is established by 2015 as
scheduled.
Singaporean
Minister of Trade and Industry Lim Hng Kiang affirmed healthy competition
mechanisms will help boost the production capabilities and international
competitiveness of regional markets.
He called on ASEAN
members to develop their competition laws harmoniously, facilitating internal
ASEAN trade and investment and expanding the bloc’s presence on the global
market.
Five of the ten
ASEAN member nations have issued competition laws, with the remaining
intending to finalise this legislation by 2015.
Imported
steel under microscope
The Ministry of
Industry and Trade (MoIT) has decided to launch an anti-dumping investigation
into cold-rolled stainless steel imported from
The decision was
made on July 2 targeting imported steel products coded HS 7219.32.00;
7219.33.00; 7219.34.00; 7219.35.00; 7219.90.00; 7220.20.10; 7220.20.90; and
7220.90.10; 7220.90.90.
On June 5, the
Vietnam Competition Authority (VCA) received legal dossiers from local steel
producers Posco VST Co. Ltd and Hoa Binh Inox Joint Stock Company arguing the
above products should be liable to between 20–40 percent anti-dumping taxes.
Some steel
importers voiced concern over the anti-dumping investigation, noting
comparable Posco steel products are more expensive than their imported
equivalents.
The VCA said that
relevant investigation agencies will carry out legal proceedings against the
imported products according to
The investigation’s
concerned parties can register for updates regarding the case until 30 days
after the MoIT’s decision takes effect.
Exports to
According to
Statistics Singapore, four groups of major products recorded export values
exceeding SGD100 million - machinery, equipment, and tools (SGD436.7
million), phones and spare parts (SGD256.2 million), paper and paper products
(SGD134.5 million), and glass and glass products (SGD106.7 million).
Rice, produce, and
seafood exports were also higher than last year’s figures.
Two-way trade
turnover totalled SGD15.8 billion in 2012, of which SGD2 billion came from
Vietnamese exports.
Seminar on
Government draft vision to 2020
A seminar was held
in
This is part of a
project funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency
(SIDA) to build a roadmap for the implementation of the Vietnamese Government
vision.
The draft vision
covers issues related to the economic restructuring process in
Paul Collins, an
international advisor said the Vietnamese Government’s plan to bring 600
young intellectuals to remote areas shows its determination to narrow the widening
gap of development in these localities.
As a middle-income
country, he maintained,
CIEM Head Ass.Prof.
Dr Le Xuan Ba expressed his hope that participants will actively contribute
their opinions to the draft vision.
Consumers will have
the chance to select their favourite natural health products at an
international dietary supplements festival to be held in
Vietnam Association
of Functional Foods (VAFF) President Tran Dang told a July 2 press briefing
in
More than 100
producers, traders, and distributors will showcase their products ranging
from food supplements to medicines tailored for the elderly, children, and
pregnant women.
The festival also
encompasses a food supplements seminar discussing the industry’s outlook with
a vision to 2020.
The domestic food
supplements market is currently enjoying strong and stable development.
Around 6% of the population report using supplements regularly, with 43% of
these customers residing in urban areas. Around 2,000 businesses produce,
trade, and distribute more than 5,500 kinds of supplements.
With its emphasis
on natural ingredients, food supplements aim to improve general health and
immune system resistance and prevent non-infectious illnesses including heart
disease, hypertension, and cancer.
Farmland
owners may get housing construction permits
Owners of small
lots of farmland scattered in residential areas in HCMC may be granted
permits for building temporary houses, a move that will help relieve poor
people of difficulties in improving their housing conditions.
The city’s
Department of Construction has just completed a draft version on the cases to
be issued temporary construction licenses in line with the local actual
situation.
As such, farmland
is still considered for temporary housing development it is located among
residential areas and is unsuitable for agricultural farming. However, the
special treatment is only applicable to separate home construction for
individuals and households only.
According to the
construction department, there is still a lot of farmland scattered in
residential areas in the city but local people have been unable to get
permits to build houses there as the land is considered not eligible for being
turned into residential land.
Therefore, to
ensure legitimate benefits of local residents in these areas, the department
proposes the cases to be allowed for temporary construction.
Subsequently,
temporary construction permits will be issued to separate houses on
agricultural land among residential areas that households and individuals had
used in a stable way prior to July 1, 2006, with no disputes reported.
For houses which
had existed before the approval and announcement date of the 1/2,000 scale
planning but are found unsuitable for the planning later, temporary
construction permits will also be issued to legalize the housing works.
Houses which were constructed after the planning approval and announcement
date are only allowed for repair and upgrade without affecting the scale of
the current construction works.
Besides, the
department also proposes the issuance of temporary construction permits to
houses partly or entirely located on areas planned for road expansion as long
as competent State agencies have not issued decisions to recall such areas.
Regarding the scale
of the temporary works, the department suggests the construction of no more
than three floors. The temporary works will be allowed to exist for five
years from the date of the zoning plan being announced.
Neither
compensations nor supports will be given if the State recalls the land within
five years. However, after five years, any decision by State agencies to
recall the land will result in compensations and supports.
Loans for
The preferential
lending program for five prioritized industries in HCMC which began in early
2012 disbursed a total of around VND117 trillion as of June 6, growing 134%
from the period before the scheme’s launch.
Nguyen Trung Kien,
an official of the HCMC branch of the State Bank of
Before the city
introduced the credit program, enterprises in the five prioritized sectors
had difficulty gaining access to loans. During the program, the capital
volume that local firms borrowed surged up to 134% compared to the period
before the program’s introduction.
According to the
central bank’s HCMC Branch, the total amount of preferential loans taken out
by local entities were some VND117.12 trillion, accounting for 40% of total
outstanding loans in the city in the same period. Of which, outstanding loans
to small- and medium-sized businesses amounted to about VND74.58 trillion and
those to exports and agricultural and rural investment posted some VND17.83
trillion and VND20.54 trillion respectively.
In the meantime,
entities investing in supporting industries borrowed a combined VND7 trillion
while hi-tech firms took out credits totaling VND120 billion.
* Local firms still
find it difficult to take out bank loans as lending conditions are too
stringent while lending rates remain high, heard the seminar “Cash flow solutions
for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)” in HCMC last week.
At the seminar last
Thursday, Ngo Duc Hoa, chairman of Thang Loi International Garment Joint
Stock Company, said the central bank had already lowered the deposit rate but
local firms have still failed to borrow money from banks due to strict
conditions.
Hoa said he used to
apply for loans using machinery and equipment or inventories as collateral
but now this way is no longer accepted by lenders. He had asked many banks
for loans but these lenders all refused, saying they only provide loans to
enterprises with land as collateral.
Furthermore, the
current lending rates imposed on companies are still high, Hoa said, adding
his firm is still unable to access loans at the annual rate of 12% as earlier
committed by local banks.
Similarly, Mai Dinh
Kiem, director of Saigon Woolen Carpet Company, told the seminar that his
enterprise since early this year has secured several orders from foreign partners,
so the company applied for a VND5-billion loan to expand production capacity.
However, Kiem’s
company failed to carry out the plan as the lending rates offered by banks
are up to 13% annually.
“With such a
sky-high rate for long-term investment loans, I’m afraid that few entities
can afford. The most important thing is that numerous firms have missed good
business opportunities to overcome difficulties because of the hard access to
loans,” he remarked.
In response to
complaints from troubled enterprises, Dang Bao Khanh, general director of
SeABank, explained that there are many enterprises with bad debts at home, so
local banks cannot lend them.
Speaking at the
seminar, economist Tran Du Lich suggested lenders to review their lending
policies and offer easier conditions for cash-strapped corporate clients to
access loans.
30
provinces want to expand IPs
Up to 30 provinces
are seeking approval from competent authorities to expand industrial parks
(IPs) to continue luring investment and developing production and business.
This is the result
of a recent review and assessment by the Ministry of Planning and Investment
on reorganizing management and raising operational efficiency of economic
zones (EZs) and IPs in line with the Directive 07 of the Prime Minister.
Among 59 provinces
with IPs planning review and adjustment reports, 30 provinces proposed
expanding IPs compared to the previous plans, the Government reports on its
website at chinhphu.vn. Some 29 others, meanwhile, suggested maintaining or
reducing the existing facilities’ areas.
The provinces
ascribed their proposals to a great necessity to catch up with demand for
investment in large-scale schemes and specialized technology in sync with the
policy of calling for new investment appropriate with local conditions.
The planning
ministry says it will make an IP adjustment and supplement plan for
submission to the Prime Minister for approval based on comments from related
ministries and agencies. Besides, the adjustment schemes of these provinces
will be added into the national master plan which will be considered by the
Government as a foundation for the national IP development planning
adjustment with a vision to 2020.
The country now has
289 IPs on a total area of more than 81,000 hectares and 43 EZs, attracting
some 5,000 foreign-invested projects and nearly 6,000 local projects totaling
over US$100 billion and VND900 trillion.
As the
Leon Cheneval,
associate director of CBRE told VIR last week that there would be a lot of
interest from Vietnamese developers to go to
“We are seeing a
lot of Vietnam-based developers looking strongly toward
Nguyen Huyen Trang,
assistant to general director of Bac Son Development and Investment Joint
Stock Company revealed that the
Trang agreed that
However, “I do not
think that
Vu Duc Cuong,
manager of the project investment development office of the State Capital
Investment Corporation stated that in the context of
According to
Cheneval, the opportunities for Vietnamese firms to invest in
CBRE reported that
foreign developers investing in
According to CBRE’s
latest figures on the citywide supply of condominium units as of 2013’s first
quarter,
Regarding office
rents,
CBRE added that
occupancy in
Firms
outcry over price power hikes
Domestic steel and
cement makers are calling for fair treatment in retail power pricing scheme.
Associations
representing cement and steel producers have sent a document to the prime
minister objecting to the application of higher power tariffs for major power
consumers, including steel and cement plants.
Under the third
draft of the retail pricing scheme conducted by state-run Electricity of
Vietnam (EVN), steel and cement producers using power voltages of 110kV or
higher during peak hour would pay 10 per cent more than the asking price for
their normal power. Overall, the draft hands the power tariff hike of 2-16
per cent to steel and cement producers. The new rule is scheduled to take
effect on July 1, 2013.
“There should not
be any adjustment of power prices for the steel and cement industries. A
price change, if any, should ensure fair treatment for all manufacturing
industries, meaning power prices should not be increased for the steel and
cement sectors only,” said Pham Chi Cuong, chairman of Vietnam Steel
Association (VSA).
Cuong also pointed
out that the cost of power only represented about 2 per cent of the total
cost for making steel.
“It is not fair to
apply separate power prices for the cement and steel sectors,” agreed Nguyen
Van Thien, chairman of Vietnam National Cement Association.
The rational for
the increase is that these industries consume a large proportion of the
country’s total power production, particularly as the majority of steel and
cement factories are using outdated, high-energy consuming technology.
Thien said cement
plants recently improved their technology with improvements from G7
countries.
“The total designed
production capacity of
“Moreover, most
domestic cement firms are suffering due to the woeful real estate market. If
the power price increases it could push a number of them to the wall,” he
added.
Steel firms
presently fare no better. There are currently 30 large-scale steel producers
and some 100 smaller ones. To date, no steel manufacturer has declared
bankruptcy, but according to VSA, a large number of the firms cannot find
buyers for their products and have had to halt production.
Building a
future on hope
Foreign investors
are bravely backing
The details of this
investment plan have not been revealed, but the authority announced that Toto
wanted to expand production in
Lixil, another
Japanese firm, broke ground late last year on its $441 million factory in
southern Dong Nai province, which is expected to be operational by November
2013. The company now owns and runs 11 factories in
The investment
expansion of both Toto and Lixil is in stark contrast to the downward trend
of
However, in line
with
Toshimasa Iue,
president of Lixil Group, in a visit to Binh Duong last month, underlined
that the Vietnamese market retained its future potential, a major reason for
the firm’s desire to continue building factories in the country.
“
Prime Group was
previously the largest domestic private building material maker in
With SCG taking
over 85 per cent of shareholdings in Prime Group in April this year, Nghia affirmed
that the Prime Group’s strategy remained unchanged.
“We are focusing on
the domestic market and plan to gain more market share by launching new
products, improving our product and service quality and increasing capacity.
Due to our synergy with SCG, we can supply a greater product variety to
explore and serve a greater number of market segments,” said Nghia.
Lotte Mart
in landmark move to the capital
South Korean
retailer Lotte Mart has pushed back the date of its first Hanoi-based
supermarket to 2014’s first quarter.
A source from Lotte
Vietnam Shopping Co. Ltd. told VIR that Lotte Mart’s first outlet in
Thomas Hofer,
general manager of Mipec Service and Management Joint Stock Company, which
manages
“At present, Lotte
Mart wants to concentrate on investing in its two supermarkets in Binh Duong
and Phan Thiet that are expected to become operational in November and
December this year” said the source from Lotte Vietnam Shopping.
Hofer added that in
the tough economic climate, shopping centres were experiencing difficulties
in attracting customers, however “I do not think this will hurt this new
supermarket”.
Four Lotte Mart
supermarkets are operating in
Lotte Mart set up
its first retail outlet in
In November and
December last year respectively, Lotte Mart opened one outlet in Danang and
another in southern Dong Nai province’s Bien Hoa.
Lotte Mart Danang
is located in Hoa Cuong Bac ward, Hai Chau district on 10,000 square metres
with total investment capital of $30 million.
Meanwhile, Lotte
Mart Bien Hoa is located in Amata Commercial Complex covering 8,300sqm and
worth $40 million in investment capital.
The South Korean
retailer aims to expand its network in
The
In the reviewed
period, 10 FDI projects worth of over 47.4 million USD were granted new
licences. Meanwhile, eight existing projects received additional capital of
51.2 million USD.
The province
targets to attract 150 million USD in 2013.
Over the past six
months, Hai Duong has revoked one investment licence and canceled one
project.
From now to the end
of this year, the province will continue reviewing some other projects which
are still on paper or behind schedule to revoke their investment licences and
transfer land fund to other projects.
Hai Duong, located
in the Red River Delta, about 60 km from Hanoi on the way to Hai Phong city,
is among the most industrialised and developed localities nationwide and a
favourite destination of foreign investors.-
Vinamilk to
export products to US
The Vietnam Dairy
Products Joint Stock Company (Vinamilk) said it has been licensed by the US
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to export its products to the
According to the
FDA’s assessment
and license granting are initial obligatory procedures for foreign
enterprises to ship commodities to the country.
FDA may suddenly
inspect any Vinamilk production facility and this process takes place very
strictly.
Vinamilk products,
mainly powdered milk, baby food, condensed milk, fresh milk, soya milk and
fruit milk, have so far been exported to several countries, including
The company’s
export turnover reached almost 180 million USD in 2012 and the figure is 92
million USD in the first two quarters of this year.
Developer
hands over houses
EcoXuan, the
biggest ecological urban area in Binh Duong's Thuan An town, handed over to
buyers 100 per cent of the town houses it built in the first phase.
Despite the
difficulties in the property market, the handover was done a month earlier
than promised, said Leong Swee Chow, director of Setia Lai Thieu Ltd, the
main investor and a subsidiary of Malaysia's leading property developer S P
Setia.
But the company
refused to disclose the number of units, pleading "business
secret."
The three-phase
project, to cost around US$177 million, will also contain villas, luxury
apartments, and serviced residences when completed in mid-2014.
Export
taxes stifle local coal industry
The export tax on
coal will rise by 3 per cent to reach 13 per cent from July 7, prompting
Vinacomin to cut its shipments by more than half to between 400,000-500,000
tonnes a month.
This a drastic fall
compared to the 1.2-1.3 million tonnes currently being exported every month,
says Nguyen Van Bien, who is deputy general director of Vinacomin (Viet Nam
National Coal and Mineral Industries Group).
Bien said that with
the new increase in export tariff, in the last six months of this year, the
total amount of coal exported is estimated to reach 2 to 3 million tonnes.
This means that the
country's total coal exports for this year are expected to reach 10.5
million, or 4-5 million tonnes less than 2012.
He said that if the
current export tariff remained unchanged, the country's total coal export
volume could reach between 41.5-43 million tonnes a year.
Coal consumption
has seen a gradual decline as the fossil fuel has been hit with many kinds of
fees and taxes. For instance, the tax on natural resources, which affects
coal, has risen from VND230 billion (US$11 million) in 2007 to VND3,120
billion ($148 million) last year.
In addition, there
is no tax refund on the value added tax (VAT) paid on coal. Prior to 2005,
coal exports enjoyed a tax refund on VAT. As of 2009, this policy was not
applied to coal exports, therefore this resulted in coal for export becoming
VND150,000 a tonne more expensive.
Bien said
He said that if
export tariff on coal rise to 13 per cent, this would put Vinacomin's
business performance in jeopardy. Currently, most domestic coal is
unprofitable after a 10 per cent export tariff has been deducted.
The domestic coal
sector also still suffers from difficulties due to the global economic
slowdown while many countries have invested heavily in coal mining,creating
an abundant supply of coal on the global market.
Coal now also has
to compete with a range of new energy sources, some of them renewable. This
saw a sharp drop in global coal prices last year which has now panned out to
create a new price level.
However, coal
mining in
To cope with the
increase in production costs, Vinacomin has come up with a number of
solutions, including increasing productivity. However, this is a temporary
solution, and if it becomes prolonged, this will affect the sustainable
development of the coal sector in the future
As a result,
Vinacomin has had to slash its salaries by 5 per cent and a mass temporary
layoff is also being considered due to the low level of coal sales. Also, a 5
per cent pay cut across the board in the first half of the year would follow
last year's cut of 10 per cent.
According to the
Ministry of Industry and Trade, in the first half this year, coal consumption
stood at 21.5 million tonnes, an increase of 9.15 per cent against the same
period last year.
Dragon
fruit targets 1 billion USD in exports to US
Radio the Voice of
Vietnam (VOV) website quoted the Southern Fruit Research Institute (SOFRI) as
saying that there is an increasing demand for imported fruit in foreign
markets, including the
Dr. Nguyen Huu Dat
from the Department for Plant Protection said Vietnamese dragon fruit has
great opportunities to enter the
This year, dragon
fruit exports to the
Vietnamese rambutan
is also favoured in the
Over the past few
years, Vietnam’s fruit export turnover has increased considerably from 185
million USD in 2010 to 360 million USD in 2012.
Vietnam plans to
boost exports of mangos to Japan , Taiwan , the RoK and New Zealand . It is
also completing procedures to ship other types of fruit, such as litchis and
longans, to these promising markets.
Many
projects in hi-tech park moving slowly
Many projects in
HCMC-based Saigon Hi-Tech Park (SHTP) have made little progress under the
impact of economic hardship, said Le Bich Loan, deputy head of the SHTP
management board.
Due to the economic
downturn, many investors are facing financial distress and thus their
projects are falling behind schedule.
“The management
board has revoked some investment certificates. Meanwhile, a number of
investors have asked for permission to extend the project schedules or
postpone their projects. Notably, most of them are local investors,” said
Loan.
As of end-May, 16
projects licensed for development in SHTP had not got going. Among them, five
projects were granted investment certificates last year.
The SHTP management
board last year cancelled five projects, including the Taiwanese-invested New
City project, a workshop construction project of SHTP Development Company, a
project of Trancimex, a project of Vien Lien Company, and the Saigon College
project.
Unavailable
infrastructure is another reason why many projects in the park are moving at
a slow pace, said Loan.
With 300 hectares
in the first phase, SHTP now has no free space for lease. Meanwhile, over ten
investors have registered for investment in the park in the second phase with
an area of 613 hectares, but infrastructure is not available yet.
There has not been
a bonded warehouse in SHTP to serve export of technology products. The power,
water and traffic systems are still being completed, with traffic connection
to the park not yet convenient.
The second phase of
SHTP will be carried out until 2020 with total investment of over VND8
trillion as per the approval from the HCMC government in late 2012
To accelerate
infrastructure development, the SHTP management board has proposed the
municipal authorities to allow for participatory development. For example,
apart from the city’s budget, SHTP will mobilize other funding sources such
as loans, build-transfer (BT) capital and private capital to develop
infrastructure in the second phase.
SHTP so far has
attracted 71 projects with total registered capital of US$2.24 billion, in
which foreign-invested enterprises pledge US$1.8 billion.
By the end of this
May, 37 projects had been operational, three projects were still under
construction procedures and 16 projects had not got off the ground. In the first
five months, the SHTP-based companies exported US$1.07 billion worth of
goods, taking the accumulated value to nearly US$5.3 billion.
Last year, hi-tech
product exports from HCMC totaled US$2.46 billion, a three-fold increase from
2011. Intel alone exported US$1.9 billion worth of products.
The companies
operating in SHTP have created jobs for nearly 17,000 workers.
Banks keen
to sell bad mortgaged assets to VAMC
Banks want to sell
mortgaged assets that have deteriorated to Vietnam Asset Management Company
(VAMC), saying they can handle the not-so-bad ones themselves, heard a
conference on a draft circular regulating VAMC operations
The circular only
contains provisions on trading of secured debt, and does not mention
unsecured debt, whereas most lenders are having trouble dealing with the
latter, said a representative of Viet A Bank.
Sharing his
experience of debt settlement, a representative of Kien Long Bank said he
faced the biggest challenge when mortgaged assets deteriorated and debtors
moved away. However, the circular does not mention how to deal with such
cases.
“If mortgaged
assets were good, banks would have sold them out already,” he told the
conference held by the Vietnam Banks Association in HCMC last Thursday.
VAMC is set up to
buy the assets mortgaged for the loans that have turned irrecoverable, but
this company will eventually authorize banks to handle such assets.
A representative of
Orient Commercial Bank wondered if the authorized banks could freely choose
between negotiating with clients to liquidate such assets and putting them up
for auction. He also asked who would cover the costs of debt recovery.
“Who will watch
over mortgaged assets? In case VAMC failed to handle the mortgaged assets and
had to return them to banks, which party would be responsible if the assets
had deteriorated?” he questioned.
A representative of
Asia Commercial Bank noted VAMC could only do two jobs, taking bad debts off
the books of banks and accelerating the treatment of mortgaged assets under
Decree 53/2013/ND-CP. If bad debts could not be handled, they would
eventually be returned to the creditors, he said.
He suggested the
banks forced to sell bad debts to VAMC should be those with a bad debt ratio
of over 4%, instead of 3% as currently stipulated.
He added: “If banks
had a bad debt ratio of over 3%, but most of the bad debts were unsecured or
unqualified for trading, how could they sell debts to VAMC to lower the bad
debt ratio to below 3%?”
Varying comments
were given at the conference, saying what banks really need is an open debt
settlement process and simplified procedures for auction of mortgaged assets
to accelerate debt recovery. VAMC actually does not help much with debt
recovery, said participants in the conference.
Tran Thi Hong Hanh,
general secretary of the Vietnam Banks Association, said the association
would gather the comments of banks and submit them to the central bank and
the Government.
Source: VEF/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/Dantri/VIR
|
Thứ Sáu, 5 tháng 7, 2013
Business
Đăng ký:
Đăng Nhận xét (Atom)
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét