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BUSINESS
IN BRIEF 30/6
Hi-tech
support industry: high demand, limited supply
Companies in the
Saigon Hi-Tech Park are in high demand of domestically made support
components however local firms have been unable to meet the demand.
Domestic firms can
supply simple components like packing and plastic trays while complex parts
of machines which require high accuracy are severely short, said Le Bich
Loan, deputy head of the park.
The US Intel Group
built their largest chip plant worth US$1 billion in the park in 2010.
Domestic firms provide only 10 percent of the plant’s component demand in
2013.
The number of
Vietnamese companies able to meet Intel’s requirements is too limited, said
its representative.
According to a
survey of Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), domestic suppliers can
supply less than 32 percent of support components for companies from
The country’s
Foreign Direct Investment reached US$22.4 billion last year and
Businesses have
spent much on import components and devices in the country’s major export
industries in recent years.
Imported components
occupy up to 58 percent of export value of electronic products, computers and
phones, equivalent to US$40 billion. Of this number, phone component import
approximates $20 billion.
The Government has
provided preferential policies to develop the support industry however they
are not enough and ineffective.
High interest rates
of 8-15 percent have affected the competitiveness of domestic companies in
this field, who are in small and medium scales, said Tran Tien Phat, CEO of
Datalogic Vietnam.
One-to-one
deal touted for renewables
As the Vietnamese
government’s subsidy on electricity has left prices below power firms’
expectations, foreign investors have proposed a trial process of selling
renewable power directly to end-users as a short-term solution.
At the bi-annual
Vietnam Business Forum (VBF), held in
When required,
these independent producers would pay distribution and transmission fees to
the state-run Electricity of Vietnam (EVN). Such fees would have to be agreed
upon as part of the competitive wholesale market, read a proposition prepared
by the VBF’s Energy Working Group at the forum.
While
The Vietnamese
government is planning for renewable energy to make up at least 5 per cent of
the nation’s total power supply by 2020, but this is becoming increasingly
unrealistic as private investors are reluctant to enter the market.
Statistics from the
New and Renewable Energy Department, under the General Department of Energy,
show that total renewable energy connected to the national grid is
approximately 1,500 megawatts, of which 1,466MW are generated from small
hydro-power projects. There are also two wind power projects in Bac Lieu and
Binh Thuan provinces. However, sources such as solar, biomass, biogas or
municipal waste power remain untapped.
Foreign investors
have been outspoken in their criticisms of EVN’s feed-in-tariff to
independent power producers, which is currently at just below 8 US cents per
kilowatt hour, as being too low to give investors profit or guarantee bank
loans.
“As EVN is
incurring major losses, no private foreign investor or bank is likely to
accept EVN’s plan to buy electricity from wind power plants unless guarantees
are offered by the Vietnamese government,” the proposition indicated.
“Professional wind
power producers that are reliable and have the necessary finance have had no
opportunity to enter the Vietnamese market as of yet,” it added.
However, foreign
investors believe that
“A power purchase
agreement directly signed between an independent wind power producer and an
end-user such as a multi-national company could be used to access loans via international
banks, and together with the producer’s financial resources, could ensure
continued wind power investment in
Disbursements
of VND30-trillion home loan package meager
Just more than 7%
of the VND30-trillion home loan package for housing projects and low-income
buyers has been disbursed one year after it was launched as one of the
measures to fuel recovery of the real estate market.
A recent report by
the Ministry of Construction showed that disbursements of the package had
totaled VND2.16 trillion as of May 31, or one year after the program kicked
off.
According to the
ministry, 5,378 households and individuals had registered to borrow over VND2
trillion from five participating banks, including the Vietnam Bank for
Agriculture and Rural Development (Agribank), the Bank for Investment and
Development of Vietnam (BIDV) and the Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank for
Industry and Trade (VietinBank). Of which, 5,368 borrowers had taken out more
than VND1.34 trillion.
Besides, more than
VND812 billion had been disbursed for 19 housing projects out of more than
VND1.89 trillion registered for 23 projects. In HCMC, only one social housing
project of Hoang Quan Real Estate Corporation got VND244.6 billion.
The ministry said
disbursements of the package jumped in the first five months of this year as
participating banks inked lending agreements worth VND1.76 trillion at the
end of last year but the figure amounted to over VND3.95 trillion as of May
31.
Nguyen Van Duc,
deputy director of the HCMC Real Estate Association (HoREA), said
disbursements of the VND30-trillion home loan package were too slow due to
complicated lending procedures and the lack of eligible housing projects.
Duc said that
property traders and firms had in the past one year voiced their concerns
over the complicated approval process but the Ministry of Construction and
the State Bank of
Nguyen Hoang Minh,
deputy director of the central bank’s HCMC branch, told the Daily that slow
disbursements resulted from little improvements in procedures applicable to
the package. He assumed individuals were waiting for lending procedures to be
streamlined before they took out loans from the program.
The ministry said national
real estate inventory decreased by 35% or over VND45 trillion in the first
five months of this year compared to the first quarter of 2013, with
staggering declines of 36% in
Tech
renovations urged to reduce reliance on China
HCMC chairman Le
Hoang Quan has called for State agencies and State-owned enterprises (SOE) in
the city to look for viable measures to fasten technological renovations and
diversify material supplies so as to reduce heavy reliance on
Quan urged the
agencies and local SOEs to take quick actions in the wake of rising tensions
in the
At a meeting with
representatives of local agencies and SOEs last week, Quan told them to
cooperate with universities, institutes and scientists to develop
technologies and seek new sources of materials.
Quan said the
quality of machines and equipment at small- and medium-sized enterprises
(SME) was low, with most imported from
Le Van Khoa,
director of the HCMC Department of Industry and Trade, said Chinese-made
machinery and equipment were cheap but not fuel-efficient. Enterprises have
to spend much more on equipment made in
According to Phan
Minh Tan, director of the HCMC Department of Science and Technology, many
enterprises in the city were keen on technological renovations. Twenty-nine
businesses have set up their science and technology funds with over VND380
billion and spent over VND124 billion on new and modern technology.
“This spending is
significant if it is compared to the city’s budget for science and
technology,” Tan said.
Tan said the
department had worked with 13 corporations and firms with plans on
technological renovation and the city would finance them to improve
performance.
The current labor
productivity in HCMC is quite low, equivalent to only one-fourth of
Mai Thanh Phong
from HCMC University of Technology said
According to Assoc.
Prof. Nguyen Thanh
Chairman Quan said
the HCMC government had a policy on technological improvements and called on
the departments concerned to have long-term strategies to link researchers
and enterprises.
Local science and
technology teams are now able to produce many different machines, and thus
the Department of Science and Technology needs to help enterprises approach
them and assist engineers.
The Department of
Industry and Trade proposed the city support enterprises import machines and
equipment to replace outdated ones and develop manufacturing facilities to
gradually reduce imports.
Quan said the city
would help build a strong bridge between enterprises, banks and universities
in order to research and turn out products.
Singapore
leads foreign investment in HCM City
In the three months
of 2014, the country’s economic hub granted licences to 71 foreign-invested
businesses with total investment capital of nearly 750 million USD, 4.5-fold
increase against the same time last year.
The total included
nine Singaporean enterprises capitalised at over 200 million USD, comprising
31 percent of the total foreign investment in the city, said Le Manh Ha, Vice
Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee.
Singaporean
companies have so far invested in over 667 projects capitalised at nearly 7
billion USD.
Along with existing
fields,
In 2013,
Norman Lim,
Chairman of the Singaporean Businesses’ Association, said this year many
Singaporean firms are eyeing on
Leow Siu Lin,
Consul General in
In regards to
social disturbances in May, she said the Singaporean Government and business
community highly appreciate the timely measures taken by the Vietnamese
Government, which showed the resolve to maintain a favourable, stable and
safe investment environment for enterprises.
Edlyn Khoo,
Director of International Enterprises (IE) at
She emphasised that
In addition,
ACE Life
opens first fund manager in Asia
ACE Life, the
global life insurance division of ACE Group, on June 19 announced the opening
of its first fund management company in
ACE Life Fund
Management Company (ACE Life FMC) will operate mainly in the securities
sector with the main business lines involving investment fund management,
portfolio management and investment advisory services. Its license was
granted by the State Securities Commission of Vietnam in 2013.
Lam Hai Tuan,
chairman and country president of ACE Life in
The opening of ACE
Life FMC proves ACE Life’s commitment to grow Vietnam’s economy via
contributing more to mobilizing domestic capital as well as attracting
foreign investment capital to the country, Tuan said in a statement released
on June 19.
One of ACE Life
FMC’s main objectives is to manage assets of ACE Life in
Building
materials market still in difficulty
The building
materials market has shown signs of slight recovery in recent months but
challenges still abound, according to many enterprises attending Vietbuild
2014, an international exhibition on property and building materials opened
in HCMC on Wednesday.
According to Tran
Van Huynh, chairman of the Vietnam Association for Building Materials, after
three tough years, the market has started to stabilize but is still far from
sustainable growth. The building materials market depends much on property
and construction.
Antonio Gigirey
Vieiro, director of Taicera Keraben Co., Ltd., a producer of ceramic bricks,
said the stagnation of the property market had dampened demand for building
materials.
In the past when
the property market was frozen, consumption of building materials declined
correspondingly. Moreover, domestic enterprises are facing fierce competition
from imported products.
Leu Van Nghia,
deputy director of Nam Long Aluminum Company in HCMC’s District 12, said the
company’s sales were heavily affected by the slowdown in construction
activity.
Chu Van Minh,
deputy general director of Building Materials Corporation No. 1, told the
Daily that the property market needed to focus on mid-end housing projects so
that building materials enterprises could supply those projects. This is also
a way out for both sectors.
Huynh did not pin
high hopes on the building materials market but expected it to be stable.
According to Huynh,
enterprises operating in the sector need to cooperate with each other as well
as focus on increasing the product quality and improving technology to better
compete with imported products. Besides, the State should offer incentives to
domestic building materials enterprises, enabling them to further participate
in big projects.
Vietbuild 2014
taking place until Sunday is attended by 800 domestic, joint venture and
foreign companies with over 2,300 booths.
The HCMC government
will propose the Government and ministries grant special incentives to
developers of industrial parks for textile and garment material production
and corporate tenants.
The objective is to
help textile and garment enterprises reduce their heavy reliance on material
imports from
Le Van Khoa,
director of the HCMC Department of Industry and Trade, told the seminar that
the city government has given approval to Vietnam National Textile and
Garment Group (Vinatex) and Saigon Agriculture Incorporation to develop an
industrial park for suppliers of materials for the textile and garment
sector.
The 80-hectare
industrial park in Binh Chanh District costs more than VND100 billion and
will have its infrastructure development completed in the next three to five
years.
Khoa said the city
government is seeking a number of special incentives including corporate
income tax exemptions for four years, 50% tax reductions for nine following
years, land rent breaks for 20 years and import tariff exemptions for the
goods which are not made domestically to support infrastructure developers.
For material
producers, the city wants corporate income tax exemptions for four years, 50%
tax reductions for nine following years, land rent breaks for 11 years and
import tariff exemptions for the machines and equipment which are not made in
“The city
government will submit the incentives to central-level agencies via the
Ministry of Finance. These incentives will likely be approved as the ministry
has okayed similar projects, including a project to develop supporting
industries for the textile and garment industry,” Khoa said.
Le Dong Trieu,
general director of Gia Dinh Textile and Garment Company, said apparel firms
have to import nearly 70% of their materials from
“Though we have
talked much about developing our own material sources to lessen dependence on
imports from
Gia Dinh Textile
and Garment has invested in a VND400-billion yarn factory with 40,000
spindles at
Le Quang Hung,
chairman of Saigon Garment Manufacturing Trading Company, said the most
concern of the sector is dyeing due to its high costs for treating chemicals
and wastewater.
Hung proposed the
Government have incentives for foreign enterprises with financial capability
and high technology to invest in textile and garment material production.
Vinatex forecast
apparel exports will reach US$23.5-24.5 billion this year compared to US$20.4
billion last year.
Ministries
asked to seek solution for pulp mill project
The Prime Minister
has asked the Ministry of Industry and Trade to coordinate with the Ministry
of Finance and Long An Province to support Phuong
The plan to deal
with the much-touted pulp mill must be submitted to the Prime Minister within
this month.
Transport and
Communication Development Investment Company (Tradico) under Civil
Engineering Construction Corporation No. 6 started work on the pulp mill with
an investment of over VND2 trillion in March, 2006. The State-funded project
was then hailed as capable of producing the best kind of pulp in
At the time,
farmers started growing jute over nearly 9,000 hectares in Thanh Hoa, Moc Hoa
and Tan Thanh districts in the province to supply feedstock for the mill.
The project was
suspended in 2009 due to many problems, including disagreement among farmers
over jute buying prices as well as machine malfunctions, resulting in hiccups
in operation of the mill.
After being
transferred to Vietnam Paper Corporation after that, the mill was upgraded
and started operation again but malfunctions remained.
A former investment
official of Long An Province who was invited to join the project management
but turned down the offer told the Daily that the decision to suspend the
project at this time was too late as many difficulties have arisen, so much
time wasted and huge losses incurred.
Besides, many jute
growers have been badly affected, he added.
He said he refused
to participate in the project due to its poor viability.
Tradico specializes
in constructing transport works and is not experienced in developing paper
projects. Moreover, the project’s material is jute, which has not been used
by any other paper projects in
In addition, the
project was mired in uncertainties then because many enterprises had to
struggle against imported paper despite receiving much assistance from the
State before
From a professional
perspective, the leader of a paper company said that the project ended in
failure due to the investor’s limited experience of the field.
The best solution,
according to many people in the field, is to find a new investor who can
continue the project, which is also the desire of the provincial government.
In fact, the
province has continuously proposed support from the State so that the plant
can continue operation and consume jute material in the province.
Phuong
Budget
apartments attract buyers
Real estate firms
and investors are focusing more on low-cost housing projects to boost
consumption this year, as budget condos prove more attractive to buyers.
The First Home as a
joint project between Gia Phu Cooperative and National Housing Organization
Joint Stock Company (NHO) is being given a push to meet the strong demand of
homebuyers.
Le Thi Hoa Duong,
marketing manager of First Home, or Thanh Loc condo project in HCMC’s
District 12, said 496 low-cost condos of the project have been all ordered
since May.
With construction
started last November, First Home with 14 stories aims to supply condos
measured from 42.5 to 61 square meters each at VND386-600 million a unit.
NHO recently
announced its plan to spend some US$1 billion building 14 housing projects
resembling First Home in HCMC,
Duong said
low-income buyers can access loans from the VND30-trillion home loan program
of the Government to own a First Home apartment.
Many other
investors in HCMC now are also launching budget housing projects that allow
home-buyers to borrow from the VND30-trillion package to buy apartments, such
as the Dream House project in Go Vap District,
Similarly, Nam Long
Investment Corporation and Thu Duc Housing Development Corp. (Thuduc House)
said they will invest more in the affordable housing segment with their
S-home and E-home brands respectively.
Nguyen Van Duc,
vice chairman of the HCMC Real Estate Association (Horea), said the real
estate market is now lacking affordable apartments but full of large and
expensive condos.
Many enterprises
have tried to split their large condos into smaller ones but have had
difficulty with administrative procedures, Duc said.
A leader of a real
estate company in the city said this year will be a bustling year for the
low-cost apartment market and the segment will attract most investments in
the coming time.
Le Chi Hieu,
chairman of Thu Duc House, said the competition has become fiercer in the
budget housing segment, adding that prices of some mid-end apartments have
been reduced to the same level of low-cost housing to boost sales.
According to the
Housing and Real Estate Market Management Agency under the Ministry of
Transport, by the end of the second quarter, the country had 98 budget
housing projects completed, including 35 projects with 19,000 apartments for
low-income buyers and 63 projects with 17,400 apartments for workers.
In the meantime,
129 other budget housing projects are being developed with 55,000 apartments
for low-income buyers.
Kinh Do
joins
Local listed
confectionery maker Kinh Do Corporation has revealed a plan to partner with
Through its joint
venture with Saigon Ve Wong, Kinh Do will launch spices and instant noodles
in the market under the OEM (original equipment manufacturer) form. Saigon Ve
Wong will produce instant noodles, rice porridge and pho (Vietnamese noodle
soup) for Kinh Do.
A representative of
Kinh Do told the Daily on Tuesday that the firm wanted to cooperate with
Saigon Ve Wong as the
As a newcomer on
the market, Kinh Do will not compete directly with other brands but will
focus on high-end products, said Kinh Do’s general director Tran Le Nguyen in
an earlier occasion. Nguyen was confident on the success owing to the
company’s wide network with 300 distributors and 200,000 retail stores.
He said the
corporation still has room to grow in the domestic instant noodle market
whose size is now estimated at around US$2 billion per year.
Statistics of the
World Instant Noodles Association show that
Demand of the
product on the domestic market, which is now mainly controlled by local
Acecook and Asia Food and
Kinh Do also plans
to expand its business in the cooking oil and coffee markets by acquiring
stakes of two domestic firms, but it has refused to elaborate.
As leader of the
domestic confectionery sector, Kinh Do said the market segment now is
approaching saturation with little room for expansion, so it is shifting its
investments to foods and essential products.
Customs
told to inspect goods transport by GPS
The General
Department of Customs has told its customs offices to use Global Positioning
System (GPS) devices for managing and inspecting goods transported by
containers to avoid theft and fraud during the transportation process.
Decision
1626/QD-TCHQ of the general department was made after the customs in some
localities found that certain container truck drivers intentionally switched
the trucks to other routes and unsealed containers to steal some goods
inside.
Exporters also
reported that in recent years many container truck drivers had stolen goods
when transporting them to seaports for export, and some firms only learned of
losses when importers informed of the lack of goods in such shipments.
If the GPS device
is installed on goods transported by container trucks, forwarding firms as
well as trading enterprises can keep track of the routes that the trucks are
following via high-tech devices such as a smartphone or a tablet.
Any malpractices by
drivers such as unsealing containers or changing routes can be uncovered.
Starting this
month, the customs departments in
After the trial use
in these two localities, the General Department of Customs will evaluate the
efficiency of the scheme before expanding the use of GPS nationwide.
This year’s ICT
awards offer chances for new products
This year’s HCMC
Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) Awards will promote new
products and services by putting them in the list of nominees.
Le Thai Hy,
director of the city’s Department of Information and Communications, said
that the sixth annual awards, themed “information security” as a preparation
for the building of the Law on Information Security, will be expanded with
new products and services in some categories.
The category of
hardware awards this year will include chips, smart cards, information
technology (IT), and electronic equipment integrated with embedded software.
Among the chips
nominated for the awards are products studied, developed and produced by
domestic firms to encourage local production and development, he said.
In the category of
best value-added service providers, the focus will be on over-the-top (OTT)
service and cloud computing. The organizer told the Daily that the judgment
board will evaluate the innovation of those products and services as well as
their growth on the market.
This year’s awards
feature six categories including enterprises having outstanding software solutions
and products, enterprises having the most popular hardware, enterprises
providing the best value-added services, organizations having outstanding IT
applications, organizations and individuals making great contributions to the
city’s IT development. and the best IT students.
Registration is
open until August 15. The first round will be held from August 15 to
September 15 and the final round from September 15 to September 25.
Major
warehouse center off ground in Haiphong
Work has started on
a major warehouse service center at Dinh Vu Industrial Park in the northern
city of
The ground-breaking
ceremony of C. Steinweg warehouse service center was attended by Prime
Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte on Tuesday, the last day of his
official two-way visit to
The center will
have three warehouses with a combined usable space of 30,000 square meters
and a cargo storage capacity of up to 70,000 tons a year.
Previously, the
Haiphong Economic Zone Authority licensed the project covering 150,000 square
meters and its first phase is scheduled to be put into service in August next
year.
More than 20,000
tons of goods worth US$40 million is expected to go through the warehouse
service center in the first year of operations.
The Dutch prime
minister told the ground-breaking ceremony that the project was a testament
of Dutch companies’ belief in the future of
Also on the same
day, he pressed the button to launch Damen ASD 3212 ship at Damen Song Cam
Shipyard in
The Dutch-invested
Damen Song Cam Shipyard has been developed with an investment of 65 million
euro and the first phase covers 40 hectares in Thuy Nguyen District.
Nguyen Van Thanh,
Party Secretary of
The Gioi Di
Dong to list on HOSE this month
The Gioi Di Dong
Investment Joint Stock Company (TGDD) will have more than 62.7 million shares
listed on the Hochiminh Stock Exchange late this month with an initial
reference price of VND85,000 per share.
At a news briefing
in HCMC on Monday, leaders of the company said that the over 62.7 million
shares are equivalent to VND627 billion and will be traded with a code of
MWG.
TGDD also announced
a website at www.mwg.vn for potential investors to look into opportunities at
the company. This website will be launched this Friday to provide information
about business performance and financial reports as well as events for
investors and shareholders.
Nguyen Duc Tai,
chairman and general director of TGDD, said that the company currently takes
half of the market share that mobile phone retail chains hold. The company
targets to raise its mobile phone retail segment share to 35-40%.
Tai said TGDD
obtained profit of VND170 billion in the first quarter of this year and its
profit in the January-May period exceeded last year’s figure.
The company has
expanded its brand Thegioididong to 63 provinces and cities in Vietnam and
has plans to open 15-20 new stores of 150-200 square meters each a month
towards the year-end.
The company will
also inaugurate 700-1,000 shops of 30-40 square meters each in rural areas.
Those C shops are expected to bring in around VND500 million in monthly
revenue.
TGDD earned revenue
of VND7.82 trillion and after-tax profit of VND250 billion last year. It
targets to increase the respective figures to VND13.021 trillion (up 37%) and
VND435 billion (up 68.3%) this year.
Sacombank
teams up with Dutch group
Saigon Thuong Tin
Commercial Bank, or Sacombank, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on
cooperation in the fields of food and agriculture with Rabobank Group of the
The cooperation was
inked when Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte paid a two-day visit
to
Marcel van
Doremaele, CEO of Rabobank
“With the MoU, we
expect to join hands with Sacombank to improve financial services and
products in rural areas, thus raising value and quality of food and
agriculture sectors in
Sacombank general
director Phan Huy Khang said
Rabobank Group is a
global financial institution with a presence in 41 countries. It targets
various client segments including farmers and small and medium-sized
enterprises.
Jardine
Schindler, Cao Thang cooperate in training
Elevator firm
Jardine Schindler
Under the program,
20 students of the first group of apprentices will be chosen for a three-year
course from June 2014 to April 2017. In the first year, students will have to
complete all the required subjects at Cao Thang and Jardine Schindler will
select the best students.
The selected
candidates will spend two years on dual training at the college and the
company, and then one year on intensive training at Jardine Schindler
The dual training
will help students get on-the-job experiences while they still study at the
college. They will be equipped with all the necessary knowledge and skills to
work for Jardine Schindler
Ashok Ramachandran,
managing director of Jardine Schindler
Ramachandran said
the output will be the core fitter team consisting of high-standard members
with robust craftsmanship expected to improve the serving quality for
customers.
Graduates from the
program will be awarded with a diploma in mechatronics technology issued by
the college plus a certificate in elevator installation and maintenance
issued by Jardine Schindler
Dao Khanh Du, rector
of
Urban areas
hard to woo FDI projects in H1
Despite a strong
rise in foreign direct investment (FDI) approvals in HCMC in the first half
of this year, Saigon Hi-Tech Park (SHTP) and a number of urban areas in the
city have not attracted any foreign-invested project in the period.
A report by the
HCMC Department of Planning and Investment indicated that more than US$900
million has been registered for 162 new and 49 operational projects in the
city from January to date, surging by 83.5% year-on-year.
However, most of
the new projects have been licensed in industrial parks and export processing
zones. SHTP, Thu Thiem and Northwest Cu Chi urban areas have lured none of
the projects approved in the first half of this year.
Le Bich Loan,
deputy head of SHTP, told the Daily that the hi-tech park has yet to have any
FDI project in the year to date, partly because it has not met investors’
demand for land leasing. Moreover, the high-tech park’s management has set
stricter selection criteria for newcomers who must be globally known, have
source technology and invest in research and development activities rather
than production only.
New investors
should prove what their value added contributions they will be able to make
before they are licensed. The objective is to stop investors from taking
advantage of incentives and low-cost labor.
However, Loan said
that a number of major investors are in negotiations to set up shop in SHTP
and are having their projects appraised before licenses were issued.
In the same
situation is Thu Thiem Urban Area in District 2. Trang Bao Son, deputy head
of the Investment and Construction Authority for Thu Thiem New Urban Area,
said several projects have been submitted to agencies at higher levels for
consideration and approval.
A source said
The management of
Northwest Cu Chi Urban Area said many domestic and foreign investors had
expressed strong interest in this area but they were unable to get a license
before a 1/2,000-scale zoning plan of this area is approved.
However, the city
government has recently passed the zoning plan to open doors wide to
investors to enter Northwest Cu Chi Urban Area. The management said
priorities would be given to investments in infrastructure, housing, hospital
and school.
Consumer
goods of global groups more favored, says Kantar
The Brand Footprint
2014 report released by Kantar Worldpanel last week shows that fast-moving
consumer goods (FMCG) manufactured by global giants are preferred by most
people in both rural and urban areas in Vietnam.
According to the
Brand Footprint 2014 ranking revealing the most chosen FMCG manufacturers,
Unilever took the top position in rural
Over 99% of the
households in rural and urban areas used products of Unilever at least once
in the past year, with P/S and OMO as Unilever’s top brands.
Meanwhile, Vinamilk
was the leading manufacturer in four key cities namely HCMC,
In rural areas,
Vinamilk ranked third with its products chosen by 82% of rural households.
Masan won the
second place in rural areas and the third place in urban areas, mostly thanks
to the widespread use of its two sauce brands - Nam Ngu and Tam Thai Tu.
Masan also owns other powerful beverage and food brands like Wake-up Café
Saigon and Kokomi, which achieved high growth in rural Vietnam.
Meanwhile, Néstle
jumped two places to sixth in the urban ranking. Néstle products were chosen
last year by 85% of urban households.
Kantar Worldpanel’s
Footprint 2014 was conducted in 35 countries. The complete ranking comprised
over 200 FMCG categories across the beverage, food, health and beauty,
homecare, alcoholic drinks, and confectionery sectors.
The data for the
ranking related to purchases was collected in 52 weeks between October, 2012
and October, 2013.
HCMC limits
condo split-ups in central area
HCMC vice chairman
Nguyen Huu Tin has told the Department of Construction to restrict the
division of commercial condos into smaller units, especially in the central
administrative area covering 930 hectares.
In outlying
districts, the department must consider infrastructure development and social
conditions before allowing investors to split up their apartments, Tin said
at a meeting with relevant agencies to deal with hindrances to the
VND30-trillion home loan package on June 17.
Nguyen Van Danh,
deputy director of the Construction Department, said investors in the city
are seeking approval to change functions of 32 projects, in which they want
to transform 11 commercial housing projects into budget ones and 21 others
into those with small or medium-sized apartments (70 square meters each or
less). Their goal is to meet requirements for the Government’s VND30-trillion
loan package for the real estate sector.
Moreover, many
developers have proposed dividing their condos, saying that the demand for
small units is huge.
Tin said the
department should be careful in approving the proposals to ensure fair
treatments among enterprises. Besides, construction of converted projects
should be sped up to improve housing supply in the city.
Nguyen Hoang Minh,
deputy director of the central bank’s HCMC branch, said local banks as of
end-May committed to lend VND989 billion to 799 individuals and one company
as part of the VND30 trillion home credit package funded by the Government.
However,
shortcomings in mortgage verification procedures have prevented citizens from
accessing the loan program or housing service, Minh said.
Tin, meanwhile,
said bank procedures are still complicated.
For instance, an
official who wants to benefit from the program must prove that he did not own
any home in the past. Nonetheless, the competent authorities can only certify
his current home ownership status. The regulation has spelled trouble for
homebuyers and relevant State agencies, he said.
“Besides, the
lending rate of 6% per annum is still high. For a normal civil servant with a
monthly income of VND8 million, he could set aside a maximum of VND2-3
million for housing. We should consider revisions so that borrowers could
afford budget condos,” Tin added.
HCMC chairman Le
Hoang Quan said the real estate market is facing an imbalance with many
high-class apartments but few low-cost units.
Related agencies
should deal with the problems to ensure housing services for local residents,
Quan said.
Vinamilk
announces five-month financial results
The Vietnam Diary
Product Joint Stock Company (Vinamilk) recently announced it earned VND1,240
billion from exports in the first five months of the year, and aims to raise
the figure to VND4,000 billion by the year-end.
A company
spokesperson also reported that the company’s total import-export revenue for
the year is forecast to jump 15% year-on-year to VND36,298 billion.
Vinamilk currently exports
infant formula, powdered milk, baby food, condensed milk, fresh milk, soya
milk, soft drinks, and yogurt to 31 countries and territories around the
globe.
Its major consumers
are Cambodia, Thailand, the Republic of Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Turkey, Russia,
Canada, the US, and Australia.
In early May 2014
Vinamilk broke ground for a US$23 million dairy product plant in
The company
recently received a license for a US$3 million project in
Over the next three
years, the company plans to concentrate heavily on expanding its markets in
the Middle East, Africa and the
Yamaha
recalls 35,850 motorbikes in
Yamaha Motor
Vietnam is recalling 35,850 motorbikes over faulty brake light switches, the
company announced Wednesday.
The brake light
switch defect has been detected on Sirirus Fi and Jupiter Fi models that were
manufactured between March 31 and May 22, 2014, Yamaha Motor Vietnam said in
a statement.
The switch was made
of substandard plastic, causing its cover to melt due to heat caused by
static electricity, the company said.
Yamaha Motor
Vietnam submitted a proposal to the Vietnam Register, which provides
technical supervision and certification for means of transport, on June 11 to
recall the affected vehicles for free part replacement.
Owners of the
affected motorbikes are encouraged to visit Yamaha dealerships across
This is the second
recall launched by Yamaha Motor Vietnam in a little more than a year.
In May 2013, the
company announced a nationwide recall campaign targeting the Yamaha Nozza -
1DR1 scooters over three technical errors.
The recall affects
83,000 Nozza scooters made between August 20, 2011 and March 30, 2013.
The technical
faults include the fuel pipe and the bearing frame and bolts for the pipe.
Source: VEF/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/Dantri/VIR
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Chủ Nhật, 29 tháng 6, 2014
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