|
BUSINESS
IN BRIEF 22/5
Dinh Vu
closes on deep sea access
Deep-sea port
access will soon become a reality for Dinh Vu Industrial Zone in the northern
city of
The Dinh Vu
Industrial Zone will soon benefit from direct sea access for 100,000 DWT ships
Construction is now
underway on a deep sea port connection between Dinh Vu Industrial Zone (DVIZ)
and
This infrastructure
project is part of the development of the Dinh Vu-Cat Hai Economic Zone,
focusing on transportation links to and from the DVIZ, which also benefits
from the economic zone package, the best tax package available in
The project will
provide direct access to the
The Dinh Vu-Cat Hai
sea-crossing bridge connecting the existing DVIZ to the deep-sea
Linked with DVIZ,
these important projects will provide easy access to transportation links for
businesses in the DVIZ Industrial Park Zone.
Japanese
contractors built the bridge, with the access road constructed by a domestic
firm. This link will facilitate the transportation and distribution of
materials and products in DVIZ to and from the Lach Huyen deep sea port to
the rest of the world.
The Lach Huyen deep
sea port is being constructed by international developers. Upon completion in
2016, Lach Huyen will cater to vessels of up to 100,000 DWT. This crucial
development will compliment
In other words,
Dinh Vu-Cat Hai Economic Zone will be a strategic location for investments
with convenient access to local markets and direct access to countries in the
region and further afield.
The critical
features of this project have pointed towards a comprehensive development
picture of Dinh Vu-Cat Hai Economic Zone, differentiating DVIZ from other
industrial zones and bringing success to DVIZ’s clients.
To date, DVIZ has
welcomed 54 projects from Europe,
DVIZ has proven to
be a well-considered location in the eyes of international and local
industries thanks to its advantages in terms of transport, utilities,
workforce, economic issues and tax benefits.
DVIZ is an
industrial park developed by a consortium of international developers
together with the city of
Nam Van
Phong refinery still in infancy, six years on
Six years since
being licensed, the Nam Van Phong oil refinery is still calling for
investment capital as its scale has nearly doubled requiring a total $8
billion investment.
Located in the Nam
Van Phong Economic Zone in Khanh Hoa province, the refinery is on the list of
127 large-scale projects calling for foreign investment through 2020.
The local investor
in the project is Vietnam National Petroleum Group (Petrolimex), which is
calling on foreign investors to join under the joint venture model.
When the project
was approved by the government in 2008 it had an expected investment of $4.4
to $4.8 billion with a capacity of 10 million tonnes per year. It was planned
to start construction in 2011 and go operational by 2013.
After it received
the license, Petrolimex was instructed by the government to conduct an
investment plan and feasibility study for the project.
The government also
suggested the investor carefully conduct the environmental impact assessment,
implement appropriate technologies, design a careful capital structure, and
find appropriate partners who could supply crude oil over the long-term.
Near the end of
2011, it was reported that
To this day, the
refinery is still calling on investors with total needed capital doubling
since 2008 to $8 billion.
The slew of
refineries and petrochemical complexes in the pipeline has roused concerns
from the public of excessiveness.
However, at the end
of last year Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung confirmed that the government
would strictly manage the efficiency of these projects.
The only refinery
currently operational in the country is the Dung Quat, while the Nghi Son
started construction just last year. The remaining projects are still in the
preparation phase. Can Tho oil refinery is behind schedule and local
authorities have proposed revoking its investment license.
Already in
Meanwhile, also in
the Nam Van Phong area, last year the Khanh Hoa People’s Committee decided to
put a stop to a $1.3 billion oil service centre invested in by Sao Mai-Ben
Dinh Joint Stock Company (under PetroVietnam) as the firm failed to source
the needed capital.
Waste not,
want not incentives offered
“The mechanism,
effective from June 20 this year, will be one of the most important pillars
to support renewable power projects generated from solid waste. It will help
attract investors in this type of renewable energy,” said Nguyen Duc Cuong,
head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s (MoIT)
The incentive
feed-in-tariff for renewable power generated from solid waste-power plant
will be 10.05 US cents per kilowatt hour. This is higher than the tariff of
7.8 US cents fixed for wind power plants.
MoIT’s Deputy
Minister Le Duong Quang said that the waste-to-power model contributed to
Le Anh Hung,
chairman of Ecotech
He said his company
was currently consulting on the establishment of waste-to-power projects in
Although
In past years,
several private investors proposed building renewable energy projects
generated from solid waste, but most of them were not actually built due to a
lack of support mechanisms. Australian-based Trisun International Development
proposed a $400 million waste-to-power project, as did Vietnam Waste
Solutions Company, however neither of these projects made it off the ground.
The $30 million waste-to-power project in
All investors have
proposed a feed-in tariff of around 10 US cents per kilowatt hour. Trisun
International Development even proposed a feed-in-tariff of 12 US cents per
kilowatt hour.
Before the
provision of support mechanisms for power generation projects using solid
waste in
Its project is
scheduled to go into operation in 2014 with the capacity to treat 75 tonnes
or 30 per cent of
The northern
region’s busiest port at
In the initial
public offering (IPO) last week for the Vietnam National Shipping Lines
(Vinalines) owned
This amounts to
5.41 per cent of the port’s total shares compared to the initial target of
11.51 per cent. The total value of sold shares reached VND238 billion at an
average selling price of VND13,507 per share. The highest bidding price
reached VND17,000 per share. The auction saw the participation of just one
institution and 77 individual investors.
“The disappointing
results for the Hai Phong Port IPO probably don’t come as much of a surprise
given the current turmoil in the domestic stock markets,” the Ho Chi Minh
Securities Company (HSC) commented in its newsletter to clients last week.
Post-IPO, the
port’s expected chartered capital should reach VND3,269 billion ($172
million).
According to the
Vinalines restructuring plan for the 2012-2015 period, the corporation will
sell 25 per cent of the state stake in the port.
Meanwhile,
Vietinbank has requested that Vinalines seek approval from the Ministry of
Transport to allow them to become a strategic partner of Vinalines’ port
members once equitisation is complete.
Via a debt-equity
swap with the ownership portion and swap ratio for each outstanding loan to
be agreed via negotiation.
Vietinbank’s total
outstanding loans to Vinalines and its related entities amount to VND4,982
billion ($237 million), equivalent to 1.3 per cent of the bank’s total loan
book, of which loans to Vinalines total VND2,051 billion ($97.6 million) and
subsidiaries and associates are valued at VND2,931 billion ($139 million).
According to
This year, the
parent company is targeting net revenues of VND1.4 trillion ($66.6 million),
up 3 per cent year-on-year and net profits of VND178 billion ($8.47 million),
down by 7.3 per cent year-on-year, while consolidated net profits are set at
VND215 billion ($10.2 million), down by 25 per cent. This would generate a
forward EPS of VND658 ($0.031) and a forward PE of 20.5xs.
Gas-fired
power prices may sharply increase
The recent gas
price increase would lead to
The price of
non-contract gas increased from April 1. Gas sold to the power sector for
production reached a value of 70 per cent of market price plus transportation
and distribution expenses and this level will be later revised up to entirely
meet the market price plus transportation and distribution costs from 2015.
The market price is
set at 46 per cent of the average FO oil prices on the
At present there
are only three gas purchase contracts signed with the state-owned Electricity
of Vietnam (EVN), Mekong Energy Co which manages Phu My 2.2
build-operate-transfer (BOT) power plant and Phu My 3 BOT power plant,
meaning other gas-fired power plants mainly source non-contracted gas for
production.
A power firm based
in Nhon Trach district in the southern
Before the decision
on the new gas price from April 1 took effect, the gas price at Nhon Trach
power plant was about 40 per cent more expensive than that of power plants in
Phu My which use contract-based gas.
Gas costs often
account for about 70 per cent of power production costs. Therefore, the
higher non-contract gas price would inevitably lead to a jump in power
production costs at gas-fired plants.
“This additional
cost will inevitably be added to electricity prices,” said the firm.
In the southwest,
the Ca Mau 1 and Ca Mau 2 power plants, with the combined capacity of 1,500
megawatts, source gas from MP3-CAA and Cai Nuoc gas-fields and the gas price
here is equal to the Singaporean market price (46 per cent of average FO oil
prices). The gas here is currently priced at about $8 per million BTU.
The southeast hosts
the Phu My power centre which comprises EVN’s power plants, Nhon Trach 1 and
2 power plants which have huge investment from the state-run PetroVietnam and
some BOT power plants operated by foreign investors. This power centre source
gas from the Cuu Long and
Here, the price of
gas sold to those power plants is set following two mechanisms, for
contract-based gas volumes and for non-contract gas volumes.
The gas from Nam
Con Son basin to feed those power plants was reported at 6.05 billion cubic
metres in 2012.
Of this,
contract-based gas volumes accounted for 58 per cent of the total, tantamount
to about 3.55 billion cubic metres.
The price for
contract-based gas was reported at $3.68 per million BTU and subject to a 2
per cent price adjustment annually. This means the gas price will be nearly
$3.9 per million BTU within this year. Meanwhile businesses using
con-contract gas have to pay about $5.39 per million BTU.
According to the
National Load Dispatch Centre’s figures,
More credit
opportunity for home buyers
Individual and
institutional investors will be allowed to use their homes of the commercial
projects that are under construction or will be developed as collateral to
take out bank loans as stated in a recent joint circular.
Circular 01/2014,
issued by the central bank and the ministries of Construction, Justice, and
Natural Resources and Environment, clarifies owners of apartments, villas and
attached houses at the housing projects will be eligible for bank loans from
June 16 this year.
A number of banks
and property companies have expected that the circular, which was issued to
provide guidelines for the Government’s Decree 71/2010/ND-CP featuring
guidelines for Housing Law, will give a boost to credit growth in the real
estate sector and accelerate disbursements of the VND30-trillion home loan
program.
The projects to
benefit from the circular should have designs approved, foundation
construction completed, contracts signed between the seller and the buyer,
units handed over to the buyer although the ownership certificates have not
been issued by authorities among others.
If housing projects
have been used as collateral for bank loans, the investors must settle their
payments with the lenders; otherwise, these projects and their customers are
not subject to the benefits of the circular. This is considered a bottleneck
as the investors cannot pay bank debts easily at a time when the country’s
real estate market is not showing clear sign of recovery.
Speaking to the
Daily, representatives of some banks said that the new circular would leave
little impact on credit growth for the real estate sector.
Nguyen Dinh Tung,
general director of Orient Commercial Bank (OCB), said that banks had already
allowed clients to take out loans when they used their future apartments as
collateral as this already existed in a number of legal documents.
However, Tung
acknowledged the new circular provide more details for banks to follow and
transact more confidently with the clients who use their future property to
take out bank loans.
Tung noted that
risks still loomed large for banks if they were not strict with their lending
procedures. Banks should disburse their loans depending on the construction
pace of the projects used as collateral and business plans of the investors.
Le Hoang Chau,
chairman of the HCMC Real Estate Association (HoREA), said the content of the
new circular was actually what the association had proposed to the Government
in previous years.
Chau expected the
circular would facilitate fast disbursements of the VND30-trillion home loan
package, which is said to progress at a snail’s pace.
Nguyen Phuong Chi,
board member of Binh Chanh Real Estate Commercial JSC, was concerned that if
the legal document was not executed transparently, certain banks and their
close property clients could benefit.
But Chau said banks
had the right to chose projects for lending based on their business
relationships with investors.
Agriculture
needs drastic restructuring
Minister of
Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat has underscored an urgent need
to restructure the agriculture sector toward applying more scientific and
technological advancements to large-scale production and increase quality
exports to global markets.
Phat told a seminar
on application of high technology to large-scale agricultural production in
However, things
have changed and the agriculture sector needs drastic structural changes.
Phat said that like other sectors, the agriculture sector was facing fiercer
competition with imported products right on the domestic market when the
nation was opening its doors wider to imports to fulfill commitments to
bilateral and multilateral trade agreements.
Phat stressed a
restructuring overhaul for the agriculture sector rather than just small
changes to help it improve competitiveness.
“Restructuring
covers not only technological changes but also policies for finance, trade,
land and labor. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development itself
cannot do with those policies but needs help from other ministries and
agencies,” Phat said.
Nguyen Van Binh,
governor of the central bank, told the seminar that old and small production
methods, coupled a lack of effective general orientations, were major
barriers to
“Therefore, the
agriculture sector needs restructuring to add value, apply modern technology
and achieve large-scale production goals,” Binh said.
Binh said the
central bank, the ministries of Agriculture and Rural Development and of
Sciences and Technology had worked together to select effective models to
connect enterprises with households and apply pilot financing to production
of key farm produce for export, including seafood, rice, vegetables and
livestock.
The central bank
plans to trial the production for two years before expanding it throughout
the country.
Nguyen Viet Manh,
director of the central bank’s credit department, said the pilot lending
program focused on helping farmers reduce input costs by soft-interest loans
and offering loans without collateral if farmers and enterprises secured
contracts.
The program would
allow enterprises to use the low-interest loans to supply seeds and materials
to farmers to cement ties between the two sides, Manh said.
Central
bank spends big on core banking
The State Bank of
The package, which
is also known as SG3.1 in
The information and
modernization program of the central bank costs US$71.83 million and financed
by the World Bank. FPT IS won the package through an international
competitive tender.
FPT IS will begin
work on the package next month and will complete stages of demand analysis,
system design and development, quality test, system operation and support,
including training for the bank within 24 months.
When put in place,
SG3.1 will facilitate the central bank’s core banking, financial governance
and budgetary planning in compliance with international standards. It will
enable the central bank to better connect to credit information and deposit
insurance facilities in
NA deputies
question efficiency of bauxite projects
National Assembly
deputies still questioned the economic efficiency of Nhan Co and Tan Rai
bauxite mining projects in the Central Highlands.
Presenting a report
on the two projects to the committee on Saturday, supervisors said that the
loss-making duration would be shortened by one to two years compared to the
earlier estimate.
However, the
committee still urged caution in evaluating impacts of the projects.
According to a
report of the Ministry of Industry and Trade in February, investment capital
for each of the two projects has soared by 30%. Tan Rai project is predicted
to rack up losses of VND176-258 billion a year while Nhan Co would suffer
losses from 2015 to 2020.
The ministry still called
for more incentives for the investor - Vietnam Coal and Mineral Industries
Group (Vinacomin), proposing that environmental fees and compensation for
site clearance should be reduced. Therefore, the NA Standing Committee
requested a review of the projects.
Phung Quoc Hien,
head of the NA Finance and Budgetary Committee, insisted on economic
efficiency of the projects as over 70% of the total capital was sourced from
credit.
With total
investment of VND15-16 trillion for each project while revenue is only VND7-8
trillion a year, it was necessary to reconsider the projects.
Deputy Prime
Minister Vu Duc Dam will attend the 20th International Conference on The
Future of Asia in
The annual
conference organised by Nikkei Inc. attracts top governmental and business
leaders from around the world, discussing the maelstrom of issues related to
the socio-economic development of Asian countries.
Dam is scheduled to
meet with Japanese leaders on the sidelines in search of ways to promote the
strategic partnership between the two nations.
SBV vows
vigilance as forex, gold prices tumble
The price of gold
at commercial banks declined sharply on May 20 after the State Bank of
Vietnam (SBV) announced a commitment to stabilising the gold and forex
market.
Central bank
leaders stressed that they continued to monitor the situation of the gold and
forex market closely and were willing to take any measures needed to
stabilise the market.
On May 20, the
forex rate continued to decrease by 30-40 VND per US dollar.
Currently, the rate
is between 21,150 VND and 21,160 VND per US dollar for selling while buying
price hovers at 21,070 VND to 21,110 VND per US dollar.
Vietcombank's
morning rate sank between 20 VND and 30 VND to stand at 21,100 VND per US
dollar for buying and 21,150 VND for selling.
The US dollar price
at the Bank of Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV) was listed 30-40
VND per dollar lower, finishing at 21.100 VND and 21.150 VND respectively.
VietinBank also
significantly reduced its buying price. Its greenback note was listed at
21,100 VND for buying and 21,155 VND for selling.
Similarly,
Agribank's price was 21,095 VND per dollar for buying and 21,150 VND for
selling.
Other commercial
banks such as Techcombank, ACB and Dong A Bank also reduced their buying and
selling prices. However, Eximbank and Sacombank did not. Their rates for
buying and selling stayed at 21.080VND/21.160 VND and 21.080 VND/21,170 VND
respectively.
The average inter-bank
exchange rate was maintained at 21,036 VND per US dollar and the Central
Bank's interest rate also hovered at 21,100 VND and 21,246 VND.
The nation posted a
19.5 tonne increase in gold demand in Q1 this year, including 4.5 tonnes of
jewelry and 15 tonnes of gold bullions with a value of 810 million USD, a 5
percent rise compared to the same period last year, according to the latest
report of the World Gold Council.
Last year, the
nation ranked seventh worldwide in terms of gold consumption, importing 92.2
tonnes of gold worth 4.16 billion USD.-
Royal City
receives Asia Pacific Property Awards
The Royal City
Complex of Vingroup Joint Stock Company has won top honours at the Asia
Pacific Property Awards 2014 in two categories: Best Retail Development
Vietnam and Highly Recommend for the Mixed-Use Development Vietnam.
The Asia Pacific
Awards are only presented to real estate projects that meet the highest of
international standards based on the criteria of architecture, unique
planning and humanities, safety, security, sustainability and innovative
technology, environmental protection and the provision of services to people.
To achieve the
awards,
Since 2008, the
number of candidates competing for Asia Pacific Property Awards has steadily
increased. This year, the organizing board received more than 1,000 entries
from nearly 300 companies across the region, competing in more than 40
categories including architecture, development, real estate, design,
consulting and interior.
Last year, an
ecological residential area of Vingroup Joint Stock Company received the
“Best Complex Project in Asia-Pacific” of the International Property Awards.
The prospects for
bilateral economic, trade and investment ties between
He pointed out that
the sound relationship between the two countries, as well as a forthcoming
free trade agreement between
He noted that
despite the fact that the current trade between the two countries accounts
for only 1 percent of Vietnam’s trade revenue and 0.5 percent of Russia’s,
the figure is expected to surge thanks to the joint efforts of both sides.
Sharing Hai’s
opinion, Russian Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Evtukhov Viktor
Leonhitdovich stated that
He said the growing
cooperation between the two countries will bring about good opportunities for
Vietnamese enterprises to promote their exports to
At the conference,
participants were introduced to the Hanoi-Moscow multifunctional cultural
centre and hotel in
Last year, two-way trade
between
Currently,
Businesses
eye rural market
The 2014 Nielsen
Vietnam Rural Study of 700 rural consumers nation-wide said the rural
community, which accounts for 68 percent of the country's 90 million population,
is investing in education and enjoying similar income growth as its urban
counterpart.
Vaughan Ryan,
managing director of Nielsen
Rural consumers
account for half of the domestic spending on Fast-Moving Consumer Goods
(FMCG) – products that are sold quickly and at relatively low cost goods, yet
they are not just purchasing the cheapest offering but looking for value for
money, he said.
The rural consumer
wants more and wants it fast, he said.
"They want
their kids to live a better life than they did and they aspire for them to
have more choices. They see education as a key vehicle to making this happen
as more of them have regular incomes."
The study found
that traditional channels continue to play a pivotal role in rural regions
though the number of modern retail outlets is increasing.
Wet markets are the
most popular retail channel in rural
Modern outlets such
as grocery stores experience between six and nine visits a month on average,
while supermarkets trail below at just one visit every two months.
A shopper spends 655,200
VND (31.2 USD) a month on average at traditional outlets and only 175,000 VND
(8.3 USD) at modern outlets.
Shoppers tend to
buy items such as personal and household care products, beverages, seasoning,
and dairy products from modern trade outlets and fresh foods, seasoning, and
some household items from traditional outlets.
The study also
found that retailers' recommendations are a powerful brand endorsement as 90
percent of retailers recommend products to shoppers and 31 percent of the
latter follow the recommendations.
With rural
consumers' aspirational outlook and fascination with urban lifestyles, there
is opportunity for growth in categories that appeal to the desire for
progress and lifestyle changes, in particular health and beauty and household
cleaning products, according to the study.
Rural consumers
also show a thirst for new products – 77 percent want to try new products and
95 percent appreciate having a wide range of products to choose from.
The study also
pointed out that television is the key to reach and connect with rural
consumers as 99 percent watch TV on a regular basis and 69 percent claim to
obtain product information from this source.
Television viewing
accounts for 88 percent of total media consumption.Vaughan said more and more
consumers were willing to buy Vietnamese-made and -owned products. The
perception of quality remained for certain internationally made products, but
even this was changing, he said.
"The real
concern for rural consumers is more around products imported from within the
region with unclear origins and low quality, which are perceived to be far
inferior or even a threat to the health and safety of their families."
Fakes and copies
are rife in
The study, carried
out from January 1 to 18 this year, was aimed at providing an overall picture
of Vietnam's rural areas for firms who have been or are going there, research
consuming habits, and measure the purchasing capacity of people there. It
used qualitative (interview) quantitative (questionnaire) and retail methods
(watch on retail market at rural areas).-
Young
people encouraged to start up new businesses
The Vietnam Chamber
of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) experts recommended that the government
should make greater effort to encourage people to start up their new
businesses.
According to a VCCI
survey, four in every 100 adults in
Most of these
business activities were on the processing field and performed on a small
scale.
The number of young
people engaged in the first stage of business cycle was high. Business
starters aged between 25 and 34 remained the highest percentage.
Establishing new
businesses would create new jobs, thus helped promoting economic growth.
However, the educational programme at high school level has not offered
business development, creativity and self-confidence and guiding market
principles for students.
Business support
services such as consultancy, law, accounting and audit have not been
commensurate with the country’s economic growth. Vietnamese infrastructure
has remained backward and financial services have not met development
requirements.
To promote business
development, experts recommended that the state should publish transparent
policies, creating favourable conditions for doing business. In addition, the
state should create fair competition between economic sectors and strengthen
the dissemination of information to people in terms of market needs.
Building the
educational system at high school level towards creativity, independence and
teamwork ability is mentioned. In addition, the state should put some
business knowledge into curriculum for students and popularise business
awareness programmes.
The state should
also develop business centres based on technology, encourage the development
of the manufacturing industry and support industries.
Improving the
transport system, waste water treatment plants and industrial zones,
completing network of business support services and giving new products in
accordance with businesses’ characteristics are underlined.
Domestic
fibres boost
Domestic fibre
supply has increased in recent years because local enterprises have expanded
production to improve the competitiveness of garment products.
The Vietnam Textile
and Apparel Association (Vitas) announced that the domestic enterprises have
many large projects to expand fibre production for the manufacturing of local
garments and to reduce imports of fibre, reported Dau tu (Vietnam Investment
Review) newspaper.
Last year, Nha
Trang Textile and Garment Joint Stock Company, with a total charter capital
of 185 billion VND (8.8 million USD), invested 80 billion VND (3.8 million
USD) in fibre production with a capacity of 16,000 tonnes a year, said
company chairman Pham Xuan Trinh.
The investment also
helped the company gain revenue of 1.304 trillion VND (62 million USD) last
year, 100 billion VND (4.76 million USD) higher than the previous year.
Pre-tax profit
reached 45 billion VND (2.1 million USD), an increase of 5 billion VND
(238,000 USD) against the previous year, he noted.
This month, the
Century Synthetic Fibre Corporation started a fibre producing project in
Trang Bang Industrial Zone, Tay Ninh province, with a total investment of
33.9 million USD.
Dang Trieu Hoa,
chairman of the company, stated that the company planned to put the factory
into operation from the third quarter of 2015, and the factory will run its
full capacity of 50,000 tonnes of draw textured yarn (soi xo dai) each year
from the first quarter of 2016.
The factory would
help the company have enough fibre products to take advantage of the Trans
Pacific Partnership agreement.
This would also
enable it to co-operate with other partners to expand production to the
fields of textile dyeing, completing its supply chain, Hoa noted.
Phu Nam Fibre Joint
Stock Company located in Thua Thien Hue province said this year that the
company would continue investment to increase its capacity by more than
30,000 units of whorl.
Last year, the
company had 30,000 whorls to supply fibre for domestic and foreign markets.
Vitas noted that
the increase in local fibre products had reduced imports and even led to
exports.
The association
added that exports of material and sub-material products of
Each year, local
textile enterprises imported fibre worth 1.3 billion USD from
Meanwhile, the
local textile and garment industry had 3,700 enterprises, including about 630
textile enterprises supplying 40 percent of the local demand of fibre.
Therefore, the
local fibre market was still a potential market for foreign firms, the
association claimed.
TPP meeting
fails to reach final agreement
Ministers and heads
of delegation of 12 countries involved in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)
were unable to reach a final agreement at their freshly-concluded meeting in
During the two-day
ministerial meeting, they regained momentum for resolving thorny issues of
tariffs and market access.
“There has been
some progress. Of course it is not entirely satisfactory. We have some way to
go on market access issues,” Malaysian Trade Minister Mustapa Mohamed said
after the meeting on May 20.
According to the
“In a series of
positive meetings we cemented our shared views on what is needed to bring
negotiations to a close. In order to further build on the momentum of
negotiations, we have decided on a pathway of intensified engagement over the
coming weeks on market access and rules,” he said.
The meeting agreed
that chief negotiators will meet in July while ministers will continue to
engage bilaterally to direct negotiations, coordinate, and tackle the most
challenging outstanding issues.
“Our negotiations
during this most important period will continue to reflect our long-standing
commitment to deliver an ambitious, comprehensive and high-standard agreement
consistent with the instructions of our Leaders,” they said in the joint
statement.
“We will also
continue to be guided first and foremost by our shared desire to create jobs,
economic growth and opportunity for the people of our countries,” it added.
Ambassador Michael
Froman, head of the
The TPP agreement
talks are involved 12 countries bordering the Pacific Ocean, namely
Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru,
Singapore, the United States and Vietnam.
Irish
businesses encouraged to invest in ‘dynamic’
The
recently-published
A profile in the
publication wrote that
The yearbook also
hailed
The country is
regarded as one of the top investment destinations in the region, attracting
an estimated 6.5 billion USD in foreign direct investment in each of the past
five years.
The feature noted
that an Ernst & Young report 2012 on rapid growth markets called
According to the
yearbook, infrastructure, agriculture, energy, information technology and
human resource development continue to be the sectors that will offer the
best opportunities for Irish businesses both over the short and long-term.
It commented that
the ongoing equitisation of state-owned enterprises enables foreign investors
to join in the restructuring of its economy.
As the 150 th
member of the World Trade Organisation,
Source: VEF/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/Dantri/VIR
|
Thứ Tư, 21 tháng 5, 2014
Đăng ký:
Đăng Nhận xét (Atom)
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét