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BUSINESS IN BRIEF 22/8
C.
bank drafts rule on gold custody service
The
central bank has announced a draft circular guiding operations of gold bar
custody service of commercial banks under which banks and customers have to
reach agreement on gold bar return.
The
draft circular regulates that banks will either return to customers gold bars
they have deposited before or return them products of the same brand, quality
and quantity. For the first choice, banks will have to note serial numbers of
the gold bars on the transaction certificates with customers when receiving
and returning gold to depositors.
The
draft decree also prohibits banks from paying interests for the gold custody
service, and service fees must be published. Besides, lenders are not allowed
to entrust other organizations and individuals to provide the service or
provide the service through agents.
Banks
qualified to provide this service must list the business in their operation
licenses and must have standard facilities for gold bar storing. They have to
report on provision of this service in the previous month to the central bank
before the fifth day of each month.
Some
12 banks in the country have won licenses to provide gold bar custody service
but just half of them have offered this service to customers.
Water
treatment has good chances for investors
Potential
in
Truong
Khac Hoanh, general director of Saigon Water, told the Daily on Monday that
the sector of treating and distributing clean water in
Saigon
Water on Monday cut the deal to issue 18.37 million shares worth VND400
billion to Manila Water. The local firm expects to have stronger financial
capability and more experiences in water treatment after the deal.
HCMC
Infrastructure Investment Joint Stock Company (CII) and Manila Water are two
major shareholders of Saigon Water.
In the
coming time, Saigon Water will build Pleiku water plant in Gia Lai Province
and Du Long plant in Ninh Thuan Province which are worth a combined VND400
billion and have respective treatment capacities of 30,000 and 15,000 cubic
meters per day.
Besides,
Saigon Water is preparing to develop Tan Hiep 2 water plant which is expected
to treat 300,000 cubic meters of water per day in HCMC’s outlying district of
Hoc Mon. The firm has received approval from the city government to implement
the project which will be kicked off next year.
According
to Gerardo C. Ablaza, CEO of Manila Water under the
Ablaza
said that via Saigon Water, Manila Water would continue to invest in clean
water treatment projects in HCMC, and will eye wastewater treatment projects
in neighboring provinces and clean water supply projects in
Fernado
Zobel De Ayala, chairman of Ayala Corporation, noted the wide investment
chance in the clean water treatment sector in
According
to Saigon Water Corporation (Sawaco), water in HCMC is supplied by Thu Duc,
Binh An, Tan Hiep, Trung An, Kenh Dong and Tan Phu water plants having a
total treatment capacity of nearly 1.7 million cubic meters per day.
Sawaco
targets to increase the treatment capacity to 3.4 million cubic meters,
upgrade over 1,500 kilometers of water pipelines, build a water supply
management system and reduce the water loss to 25% in 2025. However, such
projects will need up to US$2.5 billion, to be mainly sourced from official
development assistance (ODA) loans.
Price
rise agreement propels wind power growth
The
domestically-owned Cong Ly Company has received support from the Ministry of
Industry and Trade to sell electricity from its Bac Lieu wind power project
at a price higher than regulated by the government.
The
Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), in a document sent to the prime
minister late July which has been seen by VIR, proposed that the power tariff
at the Bac Lieu project should be set at 11.5 US cents for 1 kilowatt per
hour during the first ten years and 9.8 US cents during the four following
years. From the fifteenth year of the project, the power tariff should be at
6.8 US cents.
The
proposed tariff is much higher than the 7.8 US cents fixed by the government
under Decision 37/2011/QD-TTg.
According
the MoIT, the higher tariff would make the Bac Lieu project effective given
its expensive initial investment costs. However, the tariff that the MoIT
proposed is still lower than Cong Ly’s original demand. The power investor
previously proposed a tariff of 12 US cents for the first ten years and 10 US
cent for four following years.
Cong
Ly’s general director To Hoai Dan told VIR that although the MoIT’s proposed
tariff was lower than he had hoped he thought it was an “acceptable” level.
“We understand that we also have to share the burden with the government,” he
said.
The
wind power project, situated in southern
The
Bac Lieu project has total investment capital of around $45.8 million and a
design capacity of 99.2 megawatts. Cong Ly has installed 10 turbines in the
first phase and is planning to install an additional 52 turbines during the
second phase.
“As
this project is located on the coastline we had to spend lots of money on
constructing the foundations for the turbines. We also used the most advanced
turbines, which pushed up our investment costs,” said Dan.
He
revealed the second phase of the project would start in May, 2014 and be
completed in April, 2015.
“This
is the first wind power project to be implemented on the coastline and is the
first project of its kind in the Mekong Delta. Its success will pave the way
for the development of more wind-power projects in the region,” Dan said.
According
to the municipal Statistics Office, transport services saw the highest price
rises of 1.24%.
Slight
price increases were seen in housing, electricity, and fuel (up 0.58%),
beverages and cigarettes (up 0.28%), culture, entertainment, and tourism (up
0.28%), garments, textiles, headwear, and footwear (up 0.19%), food and
restaurants (up 0.19%), household appliances (up 0.03%), and medicine and
healthcare (up 0.02%).
Postage
and telecommunications saw no price rises while the price of education edged
back 0.01%.
The
gold price dropped 0.48% during the month while the US dollar fell 0.41% from
July.
Seminar
promotes inter-locality ICT links
The
central city of
Themed
“Promoting IT Infrastructure for Socio-economic Development”, the event is
intended to encourage linking cities, provinces, and economic zones, boosting
ICT application and development.
Delegates
can present their ideas and share their experiences of using ICT in
administrative reforms responding to the demands of the nation’s businesses
and citizens.
Le Sy
Minh, Director of Thua Thien-Hue province’s Department of Information and
Communications, said the seminar will focus on familiar topics like future
directions for ICT infrastructure, applying IT advances at a national level,
establishing e-government services, and using ICT in education, healthcare,
and banking.
The
seminar also encompasses a science and technology product exhibition, an
equipment presentation to disadvantaged Thua Thien-Hue tertiary students, and
tours of model provincial management and production agencies capitalising on
IT’s potential.
Samsung
factory to take shape in Thai Nguyen
Samsung
Electro-Mechanics is expected to build a factory to produce intergrated
circuits and electronic components in the
The
US$1.2 billion project is scheduled to start this October and enter operations
in August 2014, by that time the total investment of the Samsung Group in
Phan
Manh Cuong, Deputy Head of the provincial Industrial Zones Management Board,
said that Samsung submitted the documents requesting an investment
recognition certificate for the Samsung Hi-tech Complex in the Yen Binh
Industrial Zone and the group expects to receive the certificate in
September.
The
new factory is Samsung Group’s third investment project in
The
finding was part of new survey results released on August 20 by the American
Chamber of Commerce in
In a
poll of 475 senior executives from US companies operating in the 10 ASEAN
countries, 43 percent of all respondents said they have plans for business
expansion in
Of the
69 respondents in Vietnam, 61 percent expect their workforce to increase in
the country in the remaining months of 2013 and in 2014 as 62 percent expect
profits to increase in 2013 and 85 percent, in 2014, 59 percent speak highly
of availability of low cost labour, 55 percent of personal security and 55
percent of sentiments towards the US.
They
indicate dissatisfaction in
As
many as 42 percent of respondents in
Vietnamese
goods week to be launched in Dong Nai
A
Vietnamese goods week is set to take place in the southern
According
to Director of the provincial Department of Industry and Trade Le Van Danh,
the week aims to promote Vietnamese goods and provide local high-quality
products to consumers with reasonable prices.
More
than 300 supermarkets, shops, trade centres and manufacturers will showcase
their products during the week, which will also feature a 350-stall
high-quality Vietnamese goods fair.
In
response to the programme to bring Vietnamese goods to rural areas, Dong Nai
province has organised a wide range of activities, including market days for
farmers and workers.
Between
now and the year-end, the province plans 27 shipments of Vietnamese goods to
rural areas and factories.
Foreign
gaming company seeks investment chance
Austria-based
gaming company Casinos Austria AG on Monday had a meeting with HCMC Vice
Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Hong to discuss its casino and computerized lottery
plan in HCMC.
According
to Karl Stoss, CEO of Casinos Austria, the company has worked with HCMC
Lottery Company on supporting technology and developing new products such as
bingo and scratch card. In addition, Casinos Austria has signed a cooperation
agreement with HD Bank and a memorandum of understanding with Savico.
Casinos
In
response to Stoss, Hong said that the city did not have authority over such
projects and lottery was managed by the Ministry of Finance.
Casinos
Austria AG established in 1967 is one of the leading international gaming
companies. Together with some partners, Casinos Austria AG is operating 40
land-based casinos in 16 countries, eight shipboard casinos, 750 gaming
tables and over 7,600 slot machines.
Many
Many
projects invested by Singaporean enterprises will be implemented and put into
operation this year, according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment’s
Foreign Investment Agency (FIA).
Sembcorp
will start work on the urban-industrial-service complex in
The
complex consists of 600 hectares of industrial land in Dung Quat Economic
Zone and 520 hectares of urban-service land near
Besides,
Sembcorp has received approval from the Government to study a thermal power
plan worth around US$2 billion and having a capacity of 1,200 MW in
Meanwhile,
Hoa Lam-Shangri-La Healthcare, a joint venture between
In the
education sector, KinderWorld Education Group will build Pegasus
International UniCollege in Danang and other schools of the kind will be then
built in Vung Tau, Nha Trang and HCMC.
Such
moves are positive signals showing that
According
to FIA,
Regarding
freshly licensed projects in the seven-month period,
The
sectors
In the
healthcare sector, Chandler Corporation has officially entered
Meanwhile,
Bien
Hoa bypass expanded right in first phase
The
section of
The
Ministry of Transport has approved the project’s investor Dong Thuan
Investment Joint Stock Company to expand this road section to six lanes to
ease the traffic load on the backbone highway.
Nguyen
Van Khang, director of the firm, said the expansion will cost an additional
VND75 billion and one more month of construction compared to the previous
design. However, in return the capacity of the bypass will increase
dramatically.
The
bypass’ foundation and drain system have been completed, but around 200 households
living near two ends of the road have not yet been relocated.
Khang
said that if site clearance was finished in October, the bypass could be put
into use in next year’s first quarter.
After
completion, the bypass will help reduce traffic congestion in
The
project invested under the build-operate-transfer (BOT) model has a length of
12.2 kilometers, starting from Tra Co Church in Trang Bom District and
connected to National Highway 51 in
The
project will need VND751 billion for construction costs and two resettlement
areas, not to mention a supplementary VND75 billion when it is expanded to
six lanes.
Kicked
off in July, 2010, the project scheduled for completion at the end of last
year has fallen behind schedule due to slow site clearance.
According
to the investor, the project’s payback period via toll collection will be 23
years and 11 months.
Old
projects introduced at Vietbuild 2013
Just a
few real estate enterprises joined Vietbuild 2013, the international
exhibition on real estate, interior and exterior design, and construction
materials, while most projects introduced at the fair were those already
launched earlier.
In
previous years, there were quite many enterprises joining the annual
exhibition. But this year, due to scant participation, exhibitors had chances
to lure visitors to their booths at the fair, which took place in HCMC from
August 14 to 18.
Hung
Thinh Land Company introduced three condo projects, including a project on
Pham Van Hai Street with apartments priced from VND1.7 billion each, Phuc Yen
2 project in Tan Binh District at VND1.2 billion each and Chuong Duong Garden
in Tan Phu District at VND13.5 million per square meter.
Meanwhile,
Phuc Khang Construction & Investment Joint Stock Company continued to
introduce to investors the
The
enterprise also offered
Minh
Vinh Khang Trade Joint Stock Company offered special sale for Bao Loc
residential area in
A
staff of the enterprise said the houses previously were offered at VND1.6-1.7
billion each. So, the enterprise expected to speed up sales with the special
discount.
Vietbuild
2013 took place at the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Center in HCMC’s
District 7. Around 800 local and international enterprises featured 2,200
booths at the fair.
HAGL
restructures portfolios to cut debts
Hoang
Anh Gia Lai Group (HAGL) is refraining from hydropower projects to focus
resources on farming and real estate in a move to cut debts that have
exceeded its charter capital, said the group’s chairman Doan Nguyen Duc.
Duc
told the company’s investors meeting here on Monday that the restructuring
plan would also include the establishment of one more enterprise to solve the
bad debts, which hit VND16 trillion as of December 31, 2012 compared to its
equities of VND10 trillion.
“The
goal is to reduce debts to less than VND10 trillion while spurring the
group’s equities to VND13 trillion later this year,” he said.
The
restructuring plan focuses on agriculture and real estate sectors as the
group’s two core business activities. The target agricultural area of HGAL
comprises of sugarcane-sugar and rubber-palm oil while the group considers
investments in
Meanwhile,
the hydropower industry, which used to be HAGL’s strategic business in the
past due to its high investment efficiency, will now be forsaken.
Duc
said that after four years of operation, four hydropower projects of HAGL
have posted low profits while the firm now sees many better choices. It
therefore decides to transfer hydropower schemes in
HAGL
has almost completed necessary procedures to transfer its hydropower projects
in Vietnam, Duc said, adding the transfer value plus the reduced bank loans
of his firm totaled nearly VND4 trillion.
At the
same time, HAGL will separate subsidiaries owning apartment projects from the
parent company, especially those with housing schemes with low economic
efficiency.
Similarly,
the mining projects will also be downscaled and then be transferred by HAGL.
As the current three iron mines in operation in
Regarding
the woodworking and stone industries, Duc said his company would transfer
stakes of its enterprises in the sectors to employees who have been working
for the group from the very beginning. The group will retain a 20% stake
only.
Specially,
HAGL will formally establish An Phu Company to tackle the present bad debts
as a way to clean up the parent company’s financial sheet.
In
fact, An Phu was established some two years ago but has not been formally
inaugurated, said Vo Truong Son, deputy general director of HAGL.
An Phu
would have a charter capital of VND360 billion.
Under
the scheme, Hoang Anh Housing Development Company as an offshoot of the group
will sell stakes in An Phu to the parent firm HAGL, which will hold a stake
of up to over 99% in the new firm.
Hoang
Anh Housing Development Company will transfer its stakes in other
subsidiaries to An Phu such as Dong
An Phu
will borrow funds from the parent firms to acquire stakes mentioned above,
and will also issue shares to investors.
Hoang
Anh Housing Development Company will use sums from the stake transfer to
refund loans of over VND3 trillion for the parent firm.
With
all the restructuring and stake transfer, it is expected that the parent firm
by the end of the year will have a clean balance sheet, said Vo Truong Son.
Incentives
for supplementary pension insurance
The
Department of Social Insurance on Monday suggested the State to provide tax
incentives for supplementary pension insurance to encourage local enterprises
and laborers to join the program.
Specifically,
supplementary pension insurance premiums paid by employees will be exempted
from personal income tax while those paid by employers will be considered as
reasonable expenses for corporate income tax deduction.
Besides,
retired employees will not pay taxes for retirement pension they receive each
month. They will only pay taxes if they take their entire pension as a lump
sum.
Speaking
at a meeting fielding suggestions for the Government’s draft decision on
piloting the pension policy in HCMC on Monday, Pham Truong Giang, deputy head
of the department, said that enterprises will join the insurance program on a
voluntary basis and will negotiate with employees on payment ratios.
The
program aims to help employees receive higher retirement pensions and reduce
pressure on the State budget and social insurance fund. At present, whenever
the State revises up minimum wages for civil servants, basic retirement
pension must follow suit.
When
employees have received supplementary pensions, it will enable the State to
separate minimum wage increase from pension increase, reducing State budget
spending on pension increase, which is standing at around VND3 trillion each
year.
The
department expects to field suggestions for the draft decision from now to
the end of this month and submit it to the Government in November. The
program will be piloted early 2014, beginning with State-owned groups and
corporations and other enterprises with demands.
The
pilot program is expected to last three years to help managing agencies
complete legal framework for the insurance policy.
Employees
are estimated to contribute 5-22% of monthly wages to the supplementary
pension fund. Enterprises and employees will negotiate on payment ratios but
the premium will be no higher than VND5.06 million a person each month and
VND60.7 million a year.
SSC
supports issuing shares under par value
The
State Securities Commission (SSC) from now until the end of the year will
continue to help listed firms in issuance of shares under the par value based
on the decisions of such firms’ annual general meetings.
Initially,
listed enterprises that do not belong to conditional business sectors are
allowed to issue shares under the par value if they have sufficient capital
surplus to offset the shortfall, said sources from SSC.
According
to a draft circular guiding issuing shares under par value, one of the
conditions is that companies must have enough capital surplus or retained
profit to make up for charter capital losses due to the issuance.
However,
the circular has not been released as it is not aligned with current laws.
Therefore, SSC has sought to delay issuance of the circular and will study to
supplement the conditions to other legal documents, said SSC chairman Vu
Bang.
“We
are in a tough position. As SSC just implements regulations and doesn’t
release legal documents, the capability of solving legal problems is
limited,” Bang said.
However,
SSC has granted approval for several enterprises to issue shares under the
par value in recent times.
At
present, over half of total stocks listed on the two local exchanges have
their market prices under the par value of VND10,000 each. Truong Thanh
Furniture Corporation (TTF) has recently obtained approval to issue shares
under the par value, opening the door for enterprises thirsty for capital or
mired in financial difficulties.
According
to SSC, the number of newly-listed firms has declined sharply given economic
difficulties and stricter listing rules, especially in information proclamation.
Meanwhile, the number of delisted enterprises has also reached a record high.
Seven
new enterprises debuted on both markets in the first six months of this year
while 21 firms and one investment fund were delisted. There are around 737
enterprises trading shares on both exchanges, excluding 135 firms on the
UPCoM, the market for unlisted public companies.
The
total mobilization via share issues, share and government bond auctions in
the year’s first half reached nearly VND115 trillion, up 37% against the same
period of 2012. However, mobilization via share issues plunged 58%
year-on-year to over VND2.3 trillion.
Zalo
attracts four million users
VNG
Joint Stock Company says the number of users of Zalo social media website has
reached four million after just one year of deployment.
With
the four million users, Zalo has become the second most popular free calling
and messaging service or over-the-top content (OTT) after the U.S.-based
Viber which has more than five million users in
Some
40 million text messages are sent via Zalo daily, VNG said, adding that a
version of the service for mobile application running on Windows Phone has
now been available while the other for Android and iOS operation systems has
been updated.
Equipped
with the locking application feature to protect users’ privacy, the new
version allows users to set up a four-character password to access Zalo.
Besides, with the version, all incoming and outgoing messages are encrypted
in line with the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), a security method
recommended by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology.
Commenting
on the local OTT market, Vuong Quang Khai, deputy general director of VNG,
remarked that this was a highly potential market with tough competition between
local and foreign technology firms.
The
Vietnamese market so far has welcomed foreign-invested companies like
OTT
players now are directly competing with telecom service providers such as
Viettel, MobiFone and VinaPhone who have seen their revenues falling as a
result. A number of OTT application providers like Zalo, Viber, Line or Kakao
Talk have also expressed a desire to cooperate with the telecom companies.
Regarding
this issue, Bui Quoc Viet, spokesman of VNPT Group, said OTT applications
like Viber, Zalo or Line have cut into the revenues of MobiFone and VinaPhone
by up to 30% at certain times.
Similarly,
Tong Viet Trung, deputy general director of Viettel, affirmed OTT had
resulted in a serious revenue decline for his firm.
Telecom
experts believe that with the current strong growth of OTT applications,
telecom companies will have to join hands with OTT service providers to offer
new service packages. They expect telecom firms to soon launch new 3G service
packages with OTT services.
The
HCMC government will exclude from planning or change the functions of some
industrial clusters in residential areas that have no infrastructure
developers and lack facilities such as roads and power supply.
In the
industrial cluster development plan until 2020 with the vision till 2030 sent
to the Ministry of Planning and Investment last week, local authorities
suggested eliminating nine industrial clusters out of planning. These are
Binh Dang, Hiep Binh Phuoc, East of National Highway 1A, Hiep Thanh, Tan Thoi
Nhat, Tan Hiep A, Tan Hiep B , Dong Thanh and Phu My with a total area of 342
hectares.
The
city also suggested eliminating Long Son, Tan Thoi Nhi and Binh Khanh
clusters, with the total area of 209 hectares. The city will also revise down
areas of some industrial clusters, of which Tan Tuc will have its area shrink
from 40 hectares to 29.8 hectares, Xuan Thoi Son A from 38 hectares to 21
hectares, and Nhi Xuan from 230 hectares to 54 hectares.
Besides,
certain industrial clusters like that of Saigon Agriculture Corporation, Da
Phuoc, Pham Van Coi and Bau Tran have been suggested to be upgraded to
industrial zones.
Meanwhile,
local authorities also suggested adding some industrial cluster projects into
the planning. The projects are expected to cover a total area of 450 to 500
hectares to facilitate industrial development in the 2025-2030 period.
According
to the plan approved by the Government in 2004, HCMC would develop 30
industrial clusters on the total area of 1,900 hectares. The city up to now
has set up planning for 27 industrial clusters on over 1,600 hectares. Of
which, there are 16 active industrial clusters that have attracted around 600
projects and created 32,000 jobs.
According
to local authorities, some 13 out of the 16 industrial clusters have no
infrastructure developers. Most industrial clusters have yet to finish
infrastructures and just a few enterprises have invested in private
wastewater treatment systems.
Fertilizer
maker helps farmers’ children continue schooling
PetroVietnam
Fertilizer and Chemicals Corporation specializing in urea fertilizer
production has donated more than 17,500 presents to students who are children
of needy farmers in 19 provinces with a total value of up to VND5.5 billion.
With
the program “Supporting farmers’ children in schooling,” the company wants to
assist farming households facing financial troubles by creating favorable
conditions for their children to continue schooling. The firm cooperates with
its subsidiaries, local study promotion associations and schools to hand over
gifts including notebooks and cash to the target students.
Presents
for primary students include notebooks worth VND100,000 and VND200,000 in
cash, while high school students receive notebooks valued at VND200,000 and a
cash sum of VND300,000 each. Besides the presents, the fertilizer maker also
supplies teaching equipment for 44 schools, with each school given VND10-20
million.
The
donations to needy students are aimed to help farmers who have suffered from
falling prices of farm produce this year.
The
company has actively carried out many direct supporting programs targeting
troubled farmers, including the donation of fertilizer to farmers in eight
provinces in the Mekong Delta in July. It is looking to finance a total of
around VND100 billion for social welfare programs this year, with some VND60
billion set aside for the education sector.
Opportunities
and challenges created by TPP
Since
November 2010, Vietnam has been involved in official TPP negotiations
together with New Zealand, Brunei, Chile, Singapore, Australia, Peru, the US,
Malaysia, Canada, and Mexico.
The
18th round of negotiation in
Once
reaching consensus in November and signing an agreement by the end of 2013,
TPP will be established, becoming one of the world’s largest trade regions
with a total population of 792 million that contribute nearly 40% to GDP and
account for one third of the global trade value.
The
garment and footwear sector is expected to receive a boost in export growth
from US$133 billion at present to US$165 by 2025, up 45.9% year on year.
Tran
Viet, head of the External Relations Department of the Vietnam Textile and
Garment Association (Vinatas), said
Previously,
experts had predicted that
Vietnamese
State President Truong Tan Sang paid a visit to the
President
Obama said: “We are making efforts to complete the TPP agreement in 2013 as
it can generate jobs and increase investment in the region, as well as in
both countries.”
The
two leaders then released a joint statement affirming their strong determination
to complete negotiations on the TPP agreement in a comprehensive and
efficient manner in the earliest time this year.
TPP is
not an absolutely open market as it provides a common list for the opening of
the service sector that
Dr. Le
Doang Doanh, former Head of the Central Institute for Economic Management
(CIEM), said
However,
Professor Nguyen Mai, former Deputy Chairman of the State Committee for
Cooperation and Investment (SCCI) (now the Ministry of Planning and
Investment), voiced his concern over Vietnam’s more open market and its
ability to balance export revenue, which was currently higher than GDP.
Moreover, he said,
Specialists
worried about technical problems, the role of State-owned businesses, and
organizations of workers. The TPP agreement requires the independent
organization of workers which connects to other relevant agencies across the
country to protect legitimate rights of employers. At present,
Above
all challenges, the TPP agreement is considered a good playground for
potential economies like
Making
Chu Lai Open Economic Zone a preeminent economic hub
Deputy
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has asked Quang
Phuc
issued his urging during an August 17 ceremony commemorating the 10th
anniversary of the zone’s establishment and awarding it the Labour Order,
Third Class.
Chu
Lai has thus far granted investment licenses to 89 projects capitalised at
US$1.514 billion, a tally including 21 foreign-invested projects. Sixty-two
out of 82 planned projects have already been implemented with total
investment capital of US$783 million.
Some
of the zone’s most notable successes are the Chu Lai Truong Hai automobile
mechanical industrial park, the Chu Lai Float Glass Plant, and the Chu Lai
Soda Production Factory.
Its
2013 projects range from a US$25 million German-funded Chu Lai Nui Thanh
urban area waste water treatment project to developing
The
Prime Minister has selected Chu Lai Open Economic Zone as one of five leading
national economic zones deserving preferential attention over the 2013–2015
period. The zone generates nearly 50,000 jobs in the province.
In
addition to the zone’s Labour Order, its management board was also licensed
to invest US$1.6 billion in an international port and Doctor Thanh industrial
park.
Vietnam
and Laos have signed an August 16 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in
Vientiane confirming plans to work together on a Tuan Chau island luxury
resort in Quang Ninh province’s Ha Long City.
The MoU’s
signatories were
The
MoU specifies the resort will be constructed on four hectares of land
following a collaborative design and architectural process and legal and
contract formalities. The project is scheduled for investment licensing in
September and construction to begin in October.
At a
reception held earlier for Tuyen,
The
Deputy PM expressed confidence in Tuan Chau Group’s expertise and declared
the project will only consolidate the special relationship between the two
countries.
Mr
Tuyen pledged to spare no effort in ensuring the project is effectively
realised and honours the venerable history of Vietnam-Laos solidarity and
cooperation.
Garments,
textiles maintain stable growth
During
the reviewed period, with a contribution of 13.2 percent to the country’s
total export revenue, the sector maintained its high position in the US$1
billion club, only mobile phones and spare parts stand before it.
The
industry is expected to rake in over US$8 billion in the remaining months of
the years, fulfilling the target set by the Government.
Despite
its stable growth, the sector is facing a range of difficulties in material
production, according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment.
Statistics
show that the garment and textile sector spent more than US$7.6 billion
purchasing materials from foreign countries in the past seven months, up 18.2
percent year-on-year.
Given
this situation, domestic and foreign businesses are pouring huge sum into the
fibre supply chain, weaving and dyeing in order to raise the sector’s
competitive edge while minimising its dependence on imports.
Joining
the move, the Vietnam National Textile and Garment Group kicked off the
construction of Phu Hung fibre plant at the
Hong
Kong-based Texhong Group recently put into operation the first phase of its
fibre plant in the northern province of Quang Ninh.
Le
Tien Truong, Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association,
said the sector is now confident it can compete in overseas markets.
The
Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, once signed, together with other
bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements, is expected to stimulate
the sector, he said.
Vinacomin
targets sustainable coal and mineral industry
The
Vietnam National Coal and Mineral Industries Group (Vinacomin)’s visions of
sustainable development for the nation’s coal and mineral industries will
require mechanizing production as much as possible and focusing on mine
exploitation.
Delegates
reached this general consensus at an August 16 seminar in Quang Ninh
province’s Ha Long City.
Discussions
emphasised Quang Ninh province’s important contributions to developing
Vietnam’s coal and mineral industries.
Swedish
Ambassador to Vietnam Camilla Mellander said the coal and mineral sector
presents excellent opportunities for Vietnamese and Swedish cooperation.
As a
leading European mining nation, Swedish can help Vietnamese businesses
negotiate the partnerships that can fuel the industry’s technological
innovations.
Major
Swedish companies such as ABB, Scania, and SEK are willing to commit to
long-term partnerships with Vietnamese colleagues working towards building an
advanced mining industry.
Both
sides used the seminar to strategise cooperation capable of assisting
Vietnamese mining’s development.
Exports
to France surpasses US$1 billion
Vietnam’s
exports to France hit more than US$1 billion in the first half of this year,
up 6.3% on the same period last year.
According
to the Trade and Industry Information Centre (TIIC) under the Ministry of
Industry and Trade (MoIT), products exported to France are diverse, such as
footwear, garment, utensils, agriculture, forestry and seafood products,
electrical equipment, electronics and rubber.
Telephones
and its components topped the list of export commodities with more than
US$383 million in revenue (up 25.1%), followed by computers, electrical
products and components with US$112.7 million (up 156.9%) and footwear with US$109.8
million (down 15.3%).
Some
other items also achieved high export growth, such as garment, pepper,
confectionary and cereals.
Vietnam
is currently negotiating Free Trade Agreement with the EU in an effort to
reduce import taxes for some of its products.
Source:
VEF/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/Dantri/VIR
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Thứ Tư, 21 tháng 8, 2013
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