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BUSINESS
IN BRIEF 19/5
Plastic
sector targets export growth
Over the past three
months, plastics exports had experienced a year-on-year rise of 19 per cent
to approximately US$485 million, the Viet Nam Plastic Association said.
It noted that
During the reviewed
period, exports of
Domestic plastic
producers were facing tough competition from other countries in the region,
especially when
Lam encouraged
firms to continue investing in technology innovation, improving product
quality and designs as well as regularly updating with global market trends.
They would then be
better equipped to meet the demands of customers, he added.
Moreover,
businesses needed to focus on environment-friendly and safe products for
sustainable growth in exports, he said, calling for closer links between the
firms in exploiting and conquering export outlets.
According to the
association's statistics, in 2013, the export turnover from plastic products
was above $1.8 billion, surging 13.3 per cent against a year ago.
Last year, up to 20
plastic products were shipped to foreign markets, and six of these products
generated a turnover of more than $100 million each.
In particular, the
exports of plastic bags, films and garbage bags generated a turnover of over
$150 million last year. Plastic bag exports posted an increase of 27 per cent
in 2013 over the previous year, while the growth in exports of plastic
decorative products was 26.4 per cent.
Vietnam
attends APEC Trade Ministerial Meeting
A Vietnamese
delegation led by Minister of Trade and Industry Vu Huy Hoang on May 17
attended the opening of the 20th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)
Ministers Responsible for Trade (MRT-20) in Qingdao, China.
On the agenda for
the two-day meeting are matters pertaining to the implementation of APEC
priorities in 2014 and preparations for the 22nd APEC summit to be held in
Beijing, China this coming November.
On the occasion,
Hoang illuminated
On the sidelines of
the meeting, Hoang met with Chinese Minister of Commerce, Gao Hucheng on May
16, informing him that
He mentioned that
in recent times, a significant number of Vietnamese workers at the sites of
foreign-invested projects have vehemently expressed their opposition and
outrage at China’s East Sea violation, causing social disorder and property
losses.
Most Vietnamese,
however, have reacted in a rational and restrained manner keeping their
conduct within the constraints of decency and due respect for the law, he
noted.
At the meeting, the
two ministers expressed their desires to strengthen economic, trade and
investment cooperation for the mutual benefit of both nations.
Minister Hoang also
met on the sidelines with United States Trade Representative (USTR) Michael
Froman in addition to Korean Republic Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy
Sang Jick and leaders of the American Independent Business Alliance (AMIBA).
Equitisation
gains momentum
The Ministry of
Construction will complete equitisation of all its enterprises next year.
Prime Minister
Nguyen Tan Dung had accepted plans offered in a joint proposal from the
ministry and the Ministry of Finance.
Accordingly, Dung
required the construction ministry to submit equitisation plans for the Viet
Nam Machinery Erection Corporation and the Construction Machinery Corporation
by the end of the year.
He also agreed to
equitise the Da River Corporation and the Housing and Urban Development
Corporation by the end of next year.
The three
corporations together with the Urban and Industrial Zone Development
Investment Corporation will be responsible for equitising their subsidiaries
and their parent companies.
The PM has also
asked the construction ministry to advise its State-owned enterprises to
accelerate equitisation plans.
The ministry
manages 16 corporations. Last year, it was instructed to equitise five
corporations.
Minister of
Construction Trinh Dinh Dung has also approved equitisation plans for five
corporations this year and five next year.
The ministry will
have no State-owned enterprises by the end of next year.
Four of the
ministry's corporations have made initial public offerings. However, the
State still holds a controlling stake in the corporations. It will sell a
stake in the firms to reduce controlling rights when the market improves.
Dang Van Long, head
of the ministry's Business Management Department, said that after
equitisation, the role of the State, managers and labourers would improve.
VN shrimp
exports to US jump in Q1
Vietnamese shrimp
exports to the US registered impressive growth in the first quarter of this
year due to zero tax and competitive pricing.
In the first
quarter of this year, export value of local shrimp products to the
The increase was
due to poor supply from
Additionally,
shrimp traders in
According to the US
Department of Agriculture, in the first two months of this year, shrimp
imports surged 139 per cent in volume and 74 per cent in value from
The association
also said shrimp exports from
Therefore, the
export value of shrimps saw a year-on-year increase of 87.9 per cent to
$798.1 million, in the first quarter of this year.
VASEP said that
last year total shrimp exports reached $3 billion and many farmers registered
huge profits from growing shrimps for export.
This year, the rise
in export of shrimps is expected to continue and the area of developing
shrimps, especially the white-leg variety, would also increase, the
association said.
This year, the
total export value of shrimps is expected to reach $3.5 billion, it said. To
achieve the target, the state, enterprises and farmers should plan for
reasonable development of prawns and white-leg shrimps, control disease and
improve quality of seeds and products for export.
Phu Quoc
island approves another 200 projects
Some 194 investment
projects, mainly in tourism, have been granted licences on
The projects will
be built on an area of 4,214 ha with a total investment capital of VND101
trillion (US$ 4.7 billion). Of the 194 projects, 13 projects worth VND4.2
trillion have been completed and are operational, with 16 projects worth VND7
trillion under construction. The remainder of the projects are being
finalising investment procedures.
Kien Giang Vice
Chairman, Nguyen Thanh Nghi said that enterprises can enjoy many investment
incentives that will be applied for the first time, such as preferential
policies on land, corporate income tax, high-income earner tax and import
taxes.
The island is
expected to become a centre of tourism, science and technology in
Power
supply to keep up with demand: official
Director of the
Electricity Regulatory Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s
(MoIT) Dang Huy Cuong has claimed that
He ensured with the
VIR that enterprises and the public will be supplied with sufficient
electricity for production and living, adding that the MoIT had carefully
calculated power demand and the power industry’s capacity this year.
“From now until the
end of the year, there will be additional 1,800-1,900 megawatts supplied to
the national grid, because many new power projects will be put into
operation,” Cuong was quoted as saying.
The Pleiku-My
Phuoc- Cau Bong 550kV transmission line was integrated into the national
power grid earlier this month. Run by the Vietnam National Power Transmission
Corporation, the line passes through five provinces: Gia Lai, Dak Lak and Dak
Nong in the Central Highlands, and Binh Phuoc and Binh Duong in the south.
“The operation of
this line is very important for transmitting power to the southern region
which has frequently been hit by power shortages. It will also allow the
import of electricity from
Last month, the
second 42 megawatt turbine of Song Bac hydroelectricity plant in Ha Giang
province was also put into operation.
Businesses have
continuously lodged complaints with the government and local authorities in
recent years, claiming that power cuts have had a detrimental effect on
Late last month,
Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai ordered the power industry to find ways
to supply sufficient electricity for the public and enterprises this year,
against a backdrop of a looming energy shortfall.
Hai said
construction of the 1.244MW Vinh Tan 2 thermal power plant in Binh Thuan
province, and Tra Vinh province’s 1.245MW Duyen Hai 1 and 1.200MW Duyen Hai 2
thermal power plants, and the 220 kV Dak Nong-Phuoc Long-Binh Long
transmission line running through Dak Nong and Binh Phuoc provinces must be
accelerated.
EVN claimed the
Vinh Tan 2, Duyen Hai 1, 600MW Nghi Son 1 thermal power plant in Thanh Hoa
province, and 1,200MW Hai Phong 2 thermal power plant would be put into
operation this year.
Some 5.8 billion
USD would be invested by EVN into building five new power projects with total
capacity of 2,555MW, including Thai Binh, Vinh Tan 4, the expanded Duyen Hai
3 thermal power project, and the expanded
According to the
MoIT, in this year’s first four months,
In April,
Figures for April
revealed that 35.6 percent of power was generated by hydropower projects, 34
percent by gas turbines, 27.7 percent by coal-fired thermal power projects
and the rest was from other sources.
Preparations
for Long Thanh airport project underway
The Japanese
Airport Consultants (JAC) has been urged to update and complete studies on
the
The request was
made by Vice Chairman of the Dong Nai provincial People’s Committee Tran Van
Vinh during a working session with the JAC in Dong Nai on May 14.
JAC representatives
said that the Japanese Government takes interest in the project because it is
relating to the use of
Japanese
consultants also focused on auxiliary facilities such as transport system,
waste liquid treatment, water supply and drainage, electricity, telecoms and
other services, they said.
Vinh, meanwhile,
said the Long Thanh airport project was added in the province’s master plan.
Dong Nai will undertake site clearance, compensation and resettlement for
residents in the project area. Total cost for the work is estimated at 20
trillion VND (940 million USD).
Dong Nai has made
plans for two resettlement areas which cover 280 hectares each. The province
also mapped out a project area of 21,000 hectares surrounding the airport,
while the Transport Ministry has been carrying out the construction of
transport system connecting the airport to road, railway and waterway.
Samsung
looks to boost investment in Vietnam
The
The group said on
May 14 that the total volume of its mobile equipment produced in
It will focus on
improving the quality of products and personnel competence in the coming
time.
Entering
US
abolishes anti-dumping tax for one Vietnamese seafood business
The US Department
of Commerce has scrapped a US$0.03 per kilogram anti-dumping tax on tra fish
products exported to that country by
The department
announced its decision following a review (POR9) of anti-dumping duties on
tra fish fillet imported from
The antidumping tax
on Hung Vuong Company’s products remains unchanged at $1.2 per kilogram.
The rate for
voluntary respondents was increased to $1.2 from $0.42.
Other businesses
still pay $2.11 per kilogram.
Two major fairs
will be held annually in
The Departments of
Industry and Trade and Culture, Sports and Tourism announced May 15 that
there would be a sales promotion fair from August 28 to September 3 to draw
the attention of local and foreign shoppers to high–quality goods at
reasonable prices.
The other fair will
be held from December 17 to January 1, with business showcasing new products
under the campaign exhorting people to use locally made products.
The two expos will
be supported by public funding.
Firms
invited to showcase clean-tech solutions
Vietnamese startups
and small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the clean energy and
climate technology sectors are invited to submit their business ideas to a
contest organised by the Vietnam Climate Innovation Centre.
Local climate
technology innovations and solutions would enable
In anticipation of
the launch of the
Successful
applicants in the competition will be eligible for grant funding of up to
VND1 billion to develop, launch and/or scale up a product or a service. They
will also have preferred access to the Vietnam CIC program and its full range
of advisory services (training, mentorship, facilities and access to
finance).
Successful
applicants will also have the opportunity to showcase their innovative
concepts at the official Vietnam CIC launch and related media events.
Through its
programmes, activities and financing, the Vietnam CIC and its network of
partners will provide a regionally driven approach to solving climate, energy
and resource challenges, and will support economic development through job
creation.
The Vietnam CIC is
supported by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and the
Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).
SHB, Tan
Hoang Minh team up to offer home loans
Saigon-Hanoi
Commercial Bank (SHB) has signed a cooperation agreement with Tan Hoang Minh
Group to provide home loans for customers of D’. le Pont D’or project in
SHB will offer
homebuyers a fixed interest rate of 8.68% per annum in the first 12 months,
in which Tan Hoang Minh will cover a rate of 3.68% per annum. Therefore,
clients will have to pay a fixed interest rate of 5% in the first 12 months
and the rate will be revised three months in the following years.
The lender also
clinched a comprehensive cooperation deal with Urban Infrastructure
Development Investment Corporation (UDIC) last week. In the coming time, SHB
will give preferential home loans for UDIC’s customers who buy apartments at
the high-rise commercial and condo complex in Hai Ba Trung District.
Fake
products worry foreign hi-tech firms
Representatives of
foreign hi-tech companies have expressed concerns over fake products on the
domestic market.
Nguyen Khanh Binh,
general director of Schréder
Binh said most of
those fake products were made and distributed by domestic enterprises, which
imported parts from
Coping with such
copycats is a big headache for the firm, he said.
Representative of a
renowned cellphone firm at the exhibitions confirmed the availability of many
fake products bearing this firm’s brand on the market. There are always
copies of the new products the company launches in
Despite the
counterfeits, most of the foreign firms agreed the local market is holding
high growth potential for high-tech products as
The HCMC government
has told leaders of State-owned enterprises (SOEs) under its helm to boost
divestment from their non-core operations in 2014-2015, with the target for
this year set at nearly VND1.5 trillion.
Last year, 14 SOEs
in the city withdrew their investments from non-core sectors with a combined
value of around VND30 billion. The process has been moving at a snail’s pace
as the SOE restructuring scheme was just approved late last year.
However, the city
will speed up the process in 2014 and 2015, and SOEs are requested to divest
from the fields of banking, securities, insurance, real estate and investment
funds.
For instance,
Saigontourist in the next two years will have to take back VND157 billion it
has poured into Saigon Real Estate M&C Joint Stock Company, VND27 billion
in Eximland Company, VND40 billion in Jetstar Pacific Airlines and nearly
VND12 billion in Saigon Medical Investment Joint Stock Company.
Meanwhile, Ben
Thanh Company will have to withdraw VND246 billion from banking and real estate
sectors this year. Saigon Trading Group, or Satra, will have to take back its
investments in non-core sectors with a total value of VND507 billion,
including VND406 billion in the banking sector, over VND24 billion in
securities, VND32 billion in investment funds and VND45 billion in the real
estate sector.
According to the
city government, SOEs, especially unlisted enterprises, and the firms that
have yet to trade shares on the UPCoM, a market for unlisted public
companies, have had difficulty finding partners for share transfers.
Given the city’s
scheme, 15 SOEs will go public this year and 15 others next year.
From 2014 to 2015,
the city has plans to dissolve seven firms, order nine to be dissolved, sell
five and restructure four.
Trade
ministry denies being civil plaintiff in Vifon case
The Ministry of
Industry and Trade has again denied its role as a civil plaintiff in the
Vietnam Food Industries Joint Stock Company (Vifon) graft case.
At an appeals
hearing that the Supreme People’s Court in HCMC opened on May 13, the jury
said the ministry refused to appear as the plaintiff as it confirmed the case
had not caused any losses for the State.
At the
first-instance court in November last year, the HCMC People’s Court
identified the ministry as a plaintiff but the ministry said no to this. An
official of the ministry did show up at the hearing in his capacity as a
representative of a competent agency to observe the case and report it to
leaders of the ministry.
However, the
appeals court shared the first-instance court’s view that the ministry’s
refusal as a victim was groundless as investigators had determined the State
faced asset losses as stated in the indictment. Furthermore, when the
embezzlement case arose, Vifon was still a state-owned enterprise so the
lower court’s verdict that identified the ministry as a victim was accurate.
Before the appeals
hearing started, as the ministry confirmed there had been no damage to the
State, defendant Nguyen Bi, 65, former chairman and former general director
of Vifon, and another defendant, Nguyen Thanh Huyen, 59, former deputy
general director of Vifon, and their accomplices appealed against their
sentences and asked for leniency.
According to the
lower court verdict announced on November 27, 2013, from 2002 to 2006, Huyen
abused her power during Vifon’s equitization process to order her
subordinates to falsify payment bills and money recipients so that she could
appropriate nearly VND10 billion of Vifon and then took over the company when
it was still a state-owned firm.
After the company
was equitized, Huyen continued using the tricks to tell her accounting staff
to intentionally falsify documents to embezzle VND3.5 billion from
shareholders.
Huyen claimed that
she had given all the money to Bi but the later said he just took around
VND2.3 billion and that Huyen had to take full responsibility for the
remaining sum she took.
Bi is defined as an
accomplice in the case as he signed all the false bills, making it easy for
Huyen to appropriate the money. He also asked Huyen to illegally transfer
US$290,000 from Vifon’s reward fund to seven leaders while the sum was for
the whole staff of the company at the time.
At the
first-instance trial, the HCMC People’s Court sentenced Huyen to 30 years in
jail for her embezzlement and abuse of trust to appropriate State assets, and
Bi to 22 years in prison for asset appropriation and intentional violations
of State regulations on economic management causing serious consequences.
The other three
defendants, including the former accountant and cashier of Vifon, were handed
down 7-8-year prison terms for intentionally violating the State regulations
on economic management causing serious consequences.
The appeals court
is set to last eight days.
Vietnamese
goods to be promoted in Europe
The Ministry of
Industry and Trade will continue holding week-long events at supermarkets in
The promotions of
Vietnamese products will take place at Metro supermarket chain in
Hai told the
Vietnam-European Union (EU) annual conference in HCMC yesterday that
Vietnamese
companies were encouraged to participate in the promotion program by
displaying their products at the supermarkets. They will meet and discuss
business opportunities with representatives of those supermarkets.
Hai said the idea
of promoting Vietnamese products at foreign supermarkets had been translated
into reality for three to four years and there existed a governmental-level
project to help Vietnamese companies sell their products directly to
supermarkets in the EU and other markets.
In recent years,
there have been a number of promotion weeks for Vietnamese products at some
big supermarket chains in
He told the Daily
that many Vietnamese firms had been able to ship their products to
supermarkets in the EU, including Casino store chain, and clothing accounted
for a majority. However, he said the ministry had not known exactly revenues
of Vietnamese firms from those supermarkets.
To Ngoc Ngoi,
general director of (VinaFor Saigon JSC, advised local enterprises to have
contacts in charge of buying their goods because different groups of items at
the supermarkets were managed by different people.
Therefore, the
Government needs to support Vietnamese firms to make contact with the right
persons responsible for purchasing at supermarkets.
Last year, VinaFor
Saigon earned around US$2 million from selling indoor and outdoor furniture
to three supermarkets in Europe, including Rusta in
However, Ngoi said
it was not easy to sell goods directly to supermarkets in foreign markets.
“Enterprises must go through different contacts to exchange information and
work with supermarkets before they accept to import their products,” Ngoi
said.
Ngoi also insisted
the products bound for
He noted local
companies would learn customers’ demand and goods criteria in the countries
where their partnership supermarkets are located, but would have to face
challenges in relation to price negotiations and in-bulk supplies.
Demand for Chinese products falls sharply
Local demand for
goods imports from
The sharp fall in
local demand has led to reduced imports of vegetables from the neighboring
country. Traders at Thu Duc Agricultural Wholesale Market estimated the
volume of Chinese produce at this market in Thu Duc District had halved
compared to a month ago.
They said Chinese
vegetables, including carrot, potato, garlic and broccoli, accounted for 250
tons of 2,800-3,000 tons available for daily trading at the market previously
but had now plunged to 100-150 tons.
The demand for Chinese
fruits is also down. Traders at the market reported high stocks due to weak
demand, said Nguyen Thanh Ha, deputy director of Thu Duc Market.
Traders at other
markers in HCMC have also complained about declining sales of Chinese foods,
foodstuffs and consumer items as many local consumers have walked away from
Chinese products for fear that these products contain harmful substances.
“I assume that
sales of Chinese products will decrease dramatically on the Vietnamese
market,” Ha said.
Nguyen Thi Hong, a
retailer at Ben Thanh Market in District 1, shared Ha’s view, saying she saw
decreasing demand for Chinese garlic and Shiitake mushroom available at her
stall.
“Customers always
prefer domestic products to Chinese items if they have alternatives that suit
their pockets,” Hong said.
The management of
Pham Van Hai Market in Tan Binh District said despite the absence of specific
updates, it had learned that the volume of Chinese products at this market
had fallen strongly as retailers had suspended or reduced their imports from
Supermarkets have
also cut supplies of Chinese products and added Vietnamese goods to their
counters.
Ho Quoc Nguyen,
external director of Big C supermarket chain, said 95% of the products at
this chain were produced in
Enterprises
spend little on technology
Vietnamese
enterprises have earmarked only 0.2-0.3% of their revenues for new technology
compared to the rates of 5% in
Speaking at a
seminar on technological application, Duong Minh Tam, deputy head of Saigon
Hi-tech Park’s management board, said that slow technological improvement and
investments resulted in low productivity at local enterprises. The labor
productivity in
According to Tam, the
number of enterprises spending on modern equipment accounted for a mere 10%
while up to 52% of enterprises use outdated technology.
Deputy Minister of
Science and Technology Tran Van Tung, said for years enterprises had
preferred spending on stocks and real estate to technology.
Tung said that
However, experts
said the number of scientific and technological enterprises in
These enterprises’
main activities are to sell the products manufactured from commercialized
studies and to perform scientific and technological duties.
Tam said that even
in HCMC – the country’s economic hub, there were only 14 scientific and technological
enterprises, which are poorly compared to the hundreds of thousands of
enterprises operating here.
G-bond
yields seen lower
Government bond
yields are expected to keep going down while local banks with big amounts of
surplus capital will continue investing in G-bonds.
On Tuesday, the
winning coupons of two-year government bonds issued by the State Treasury
stood at a seven-year low of 5.58% per annum. Meanwhile, those of three and
five-year bonds dropped to record lows of 6.07% and 7.1% per annum
respectively.
Normally, banks
purchase G-bonds to earn the difference between deposit rates and G-bond
yields and to wait for bond prices to increase.
The first goal does
not make sense now as deposit rates are higher than bond yields. However,
lenders have rushed to purchase bonds as they are not compelled to make risk
provisions for bond investment.
Foreign investors,
meanwhile, have increased G-bond sales due to falling yields. They have net
sold VND2.2 trillion worth of bonds since early this year, according to the
Hanoi Stock Exchange.
Foreigners now hold
around 5% of total bonds on the market, banks hold 80% and the remainder
belongs to insurers, finance companies and funds.
A foreign bond
investment organization said the bondholder structure is not sustainable as
when banks make a move with bonds, others will follow suit. Besides, banks
often hold bonds until they fall due and trade bonds on the open market. They
rarely transact bonds on the secondary market, so the local bond market has
low liquidity.
Some foreign
organizations find it hard to inject around US$500 million into Vietnamese
bonds due to an undersupply.
Vietnamese bond
yields are now equivalent to those of the
Foreigners usually
take profits after holding bonds for six months and reaching a profit of 3%
during the period. They do not hold bonds for a long term due to exchange
rate risk.
It is difficult to
provide exchange rate insurance for options or forwards contracts as
Vietnamese banks charge high interest rates and fees for the contracts.
Many organizations
expected that bond yields would keep inching down as the nation’s consumer
price index in the Jan-Apr period grew only 0.88% against late last year and
4.8% from the same period of 2013. One-year bond yields may drop to 4% per
annum while the two-year tenor may be 5% per annum.
Six banks
finance local firms
A representative of
Sacombank signs credit contracts with enterprises based in HCMC’s Cu Chi
District on May 15 as part of a bank-business finance connectivity program
arranged by the city government. Six banks – Agribank, Vietinbank, DongABank,
Sacombank, ACB and MHB – on May 15 agreed to lend nearly VND429 billion to 22
enterprises and individuals in the district on May 15. - Photo: Courtesy of
Sacombank
Rohto-Mentholatum
opens second plant in Binh Duong
Rohto-Mentholatum (
Built on more than
21,000 square meters, the new US$15-million facility turns out skincare
products to meet increasing demands of local and overseas customers.
With the second
plant in place, Rohto-Mentholatum has raised its total investments in
The company set
foot in the Vietnamese market in 1996 and commissioned the first plant in
F&B
ingredients expo to open next week
The Food
Ingredients Vietnam (Fi
The organizer,
Thailand-based UBM Asia which is a leading exhibition organizer in Asia, said
around 150 food and beverage additives and ingredients from different parts
of the world would participate in the three-day event featuring food and
beverage additives and ingredients from many nations.
The highlight of Fi
Vietnam 2014 is to showcase special ingredients, flavoring and chemical
substances and additives used for producing foods and beverages. This,
according to the organizer, will help visitors to the exhibition easily meet
potential suppliers and partners.
Rungphech
Chitanuwat, business development director of UBM Asia, said a number of seminars
on additives in food and beverages would also be held as part of the
exhibition.
“We will hold a
seminar on safe use of additives for food and beverage production to provide
information about trends and market prospects of the ingredient industry,” she
said.
Chitanuwat also
said
Over 300
firms to join city’s sale promotion fairs
More than 300
enterprises will showcase their products at 500 booths at major sale and
consumption promotion events in HCMC in August and December respectively,
heard a meeting on May 15.
According to the
center for business consulting and support under the HCMC Department of
Industry and Trade, the participating enterprises in the two fairs are active
in different fields ranging from consumer goods, electronics, apparel,
cosmetics and pharmaceutical to banking and travel services.
The fairs are aimed
to boost consumption of locally-made products among Vietnamese and shopping
demand of citizens and visitors for reasonable items as well as support
producers and the country’s economic growth.
During the events,
consumers will be given environmentally-friendly shopping bags and advice on
how to identify fake products.
Hoang Tho Vuong,
director of the center, said organizers of the events would issue a shopping
guide that provides consumers with information about enterprises and products
for the events.
As part of the
city’s 2014 trade promotion program, the big sale fair is scheduled for
August 28-September 3 while the consumption promotion fair is set for
December 27-January 1 at Phu Tho Stadium in HCMC’s District 11.
Haiphong
Port raises VND238 billion from IPO
Haiphong Port
Company Limited sold 46% of its shares in an initial public offering (IPO) on
May 14 with a combined value of VND238.65 billion.
According to the
Hanoi Stock Exchange, 78 individual and corporate investors acquried 11.51%
of 37.6 million shares on offer.
The highest and
lowest bids were VND17,000 and VND13,500 per share respectively but the
average price was VND13,507.
The IPO found no
foreign investors.
Prior to the IPO,
VietinBank has
proposed converting the debt that Vinalines owes to it into shares at the
ports under Vinalines, including
SBV to get
tough on card payment surcharges
The State Bank of
Vietnam (SBV) has announced to take bold measures to facilitate non-cash
payments in the country and will impose heavy fines on stores, entertainment
areas and restaurants imposing surcharges on card payments.
The central bank in
a statement released yesterday said that it has added the new rule to a draft
decree stipulating administrative fines in the monetary and banking sector.
The agency will impose fines VND30-50 million on price discrimination against
card users and the violators will be forced to surrender incomes from this
violation to the State.
This is part of the
central bank’s move to beef up non-cash payments in the country. For
operators of points of sale (POS) terminals violating the rule, they will
have their contracts with payment banks terminated and have to compensate for
any losses incurred.
Payment banks are
regulated to stop the contract with violating POS operators for one year. The
duration may be increased to three to five years if the POS operators are
found to repeat the infringement.
The central bank is
joining hands with card switching companies and member banks to build a
single intra-network fee for domestic card payment services to encourage
cardholders to transact more via POS.
International card
issuing organizations such as Visa and MasterCard have also monitored
surcharge collections for card payments to take sanctions against violators.
As of May 2013, the
nation had over 14,100 automated teller machines (ATM) and more than 100,150
POS terminals, 39.3 million domestic cards and 3.6 million cards for
international payments.
Local banks have
opened over 48 million accounts, a strong rise from the 100,000 accounts in
2000 and five million in 2005.
Banks’
profit growth unsustainable
Major indicators of
the banking sector such as assets quality and equity improved in the first
quarter of this year but lenders still found it hard to sustain profit
growth.
Statistics of the
State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) showed that total assets of the banking system
added nearly 1% between January and March, equity 0.64% and chartered capital
around 1%. However, the capital adequacy ratio (CAR) had dropped to 13.24% as
of March 31 from 13.37% a year earlier.
The ratio of
short-term capital used for medium- and long-term lending increased from
16.51% to 18.03% but the loan-to-deposit ratio (LDR) declined from 86.22% to
83.64% in the period.
Last week, local
banks announced mixed business results in the first quarter of 2014. The Bank
for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV) reported positive growth,
obtaining over VND1.9 trillion in pre-tax profit, rising 28.6% against the
same period last year, while its net profit surged 34.8% to over VND1.5
trillion.
Techcombank
attained VND673 billion in consolidated pre-tax profit, a 69% increase from
the same period last year. The lender reported profit of VND878 billion in
all of 2013.
Vietnam
International Bank (VIB) posted up pre-tax profit at VND52 billion in the
January-March period, excluding government bond reserves.
DongABank,
meanwhile, saw its net profit tumble 57.6% year-on-year to nearly VND88 billion.
Sacombank’s gross profit also dropped 19.2% to VND889 billion and Asia
Commercial Bank (ACB) reported an after-tax profit of VND250 billion, down
18.6% year-on-year.
Eximbank estimated
its pre-tax profit at VND441 billion in the period while that of PGBank was
VND51.3 billion.
National Citizen
Bank, formerly Nam Viet Bank, gained a modest pre-tax profit of VND3.15
billion compared to VND21.8 billion in the same period of last year.
Major banks
Vietcombank and VietinBank have yet to announce their business results in the
first quarter.
Notably, many banks
have seen their health declining despite steady total asset pickups.
Source: VEF/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/Dantri/VIR
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Chủ Nhật, 18 tháng 5, 2014
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