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BUSINESS
IN BRIEF 2/7
Five VN
companies in
Five Vietnamese
companies have been listed among Asia Pacific’s top 500 retailers in 2014,
according to the Retail Asia Publishing Pte and the Euromonitor (
They are Saigon
Union of Trading Cooperatives, with last year’s retail turnover of US$1,105
million, Big C chain under Casino Guichard Perrachon SA (US$534 million),
Nguyen Kim Trading JSC (US$490 million), Saigon Jewelry Co.Ltd (US$487
million) and Mobile World JSC (US$395 million).
Since 2004, the
Retail Asia Publishing Pte has worked with Euromonitor International to rank
the 500 leading retailers of 14 Asia-Pacific economies, namely Australia,
China, Hong Kong (China), India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, the
Philippines, Singapore, the Republic of Korea, Thailand, Taiwan (China), and
Vietnam.
They also choose
the top ten retailers of each economy based on retail turnover, growth,
retail floor area, and the number of shops.
Alongside the five
above-mentioned companies, others in the top ten Vietnamese retailers in
2014, are Phu Nhuan Jewelry JSC (US$225 million), Pico JSC (US$156 million),
Parkson Commercial Centre under Lion Group (US$133 million), Viet Thong A
Import Export Trading Production Corp (US$102 million) and Tran Anh Digital
World JSC (US$95 million).
Three outstanding
retailers of each economy will get gold, silver and bronze awards at a
ceremony in
Equitisation
of State-owned enterprises discussed
Breakthrough
measures are needed to boost the equitisation of State-owned enterprises
(SOEs), especially those proven ineffectual, said participants at a June 30
seminar in
Professor Le Quoc,
Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics and Public
Administrations (HCMA), emphasized that SOE restructuring should pay
attention to operation of different sectors and businesses, with a focus on
economic groups, adding they should strictly prohibited from expanding beyond
their core business areas.
According to a
Government Decree issued in May 2014, SOEs are subjected to strict scrutiny
in order to monitor law enforcement. The freshly issued decree aims to help
SOE owners and managers grasp accurate information on real situation of their
business operation.
However, many
experts raised concerns over the implementation of the Decree, saying that it
is essential to inspect business operations, take active role in preventing
risks, and map out appropriate solutions for ineffective businesses.
Dr. Nguyen Thi My
Dung from Financial University said the SOE equitisation process from 2014–
2015 is facing numerous challenges due to weaknesses in major State
corporations and groups’ operations and the strong impact from the removal of
tax barriers created by free trade agreements.
She stressed the
need to make thorough preparations for SOE equitisation to raise
competitiveness against imported products.
Other delegates at
the seminar suggested mobilizing social sources for economic development and
enhancing people’s role in building and mastering the economy might be a
workable solution.
A Vietnamese
delegation led by Deputy Consul General to Hong Kong and Macau Pham Van Cong
attended a seminar on maintaining stable and sustainable growth of the Asia –
Pacific region in China’s Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong on June
30.
The function,
participated by more than 100 experts, entrepreneurs and officials across the
world, took place amid the global economic climate’s modest growth and
downside risks.
It aimed to explore
viable means for maintaining stable and sustainable growth since it was
considered as a platform for representatives from the academic, business and
government sectors to examine how to promote and inject new impetus for
growth through cooperation in Asia-Pacific.
At the seminar,
participants shared their views on
They all agreed
that as a leading global financial hub,
They suggested its
authorities conduct more open policies so that
The seminar was
held by the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council, the Hong Kong Committee for
Pacific Economic Cooperation, and the China National Committee for Pacific
Economic Cooperation.
Aquatic
production expands in first half of 2014
Over the period,
the total output topped 2.86 million tonnes, up 4.4 percent from a year
earlier with a 3.4 percent increase in farming yield and a 5.5 percent rise
in fishing operation, statistics show.
The directorate
reported that good weather plus stable fuel and seafood prices facilitated
fishing activities.
However, the
sector’s performance has been affected by tensions in the
The agency has
worked with authorities of littoral provinces to update fishermen on
developments in the waters, legal regulations, and measures to avoid risks at
sea, it said.
At the same time,
by strictly following the farming schedule, diseases on grown aquatic
products were curbed and the productivity was kept stable, reports added.
For the rest of the
year, the directorate plans to step up the supervision over the observance of
shrimp and tra fish farming regulations, disease prevention, and the quality
of fry and animal feed.
Deputy Minister of
Agriculture and Rural Development Vu Van Tam said the agency should push up
trade promotion in key and new markets while working harder on negotiations
on bilateral cooperation in order to remove trade barriers to drive exports.
He also asked it to
continue to closely follow the
The municipal
Department of Industry and Trade said on June 30 that this year’s event will
feature 200-220 stalls showcasing a wide range of essential goods such as
foodstuff, beverages, garments, footwear, electronic and electric products,
household utensils, home interiors and handicrafts.
Besides
Organisers will
support businesses in trade villages and industrial complexes in bringing
their new products to the market, she added.
In response to the
“Vietnamese prioritise using Vietnamese goods” campaign, in 2013, together
with the first fair, the department organised 526 shipments of Vietnamese
goods to rural areas, industrial and export processing zones.
In the first six
months of this year, five Vietnamese goods market-days were held in
industrial zones, with the involvement of 64 businesses.
Between now and the
year-end, the department will organise more than 70 programmes to provide
made-in-Vietnam goods for rural residents and workers.
Sacombank
named “Best Emerging Market Bank”
Global Finance
Magazine has presented its prestigious the Best Emerging Market Bank 2014
Award to Saigon Thuong Tin Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Sacombank).
The honour is
conferred on banks based on criteria such as the ability to capture local
conditions and customer demand, the growth rate of assets, profitability,
strategic partners, product improvement, competitive prices, bad debt
management and efficient usage of technology.
The receipt of the
award confirms the solid development of Sacombank and is a motivating force
for continued improvement, a bank spokesperson said.
Global Finance is a
specialized magazine for CEOs, financial directors, and marketing staffs. It
currently publishes over 50,000 publications to readers in 163 countries
around the globe.
Economic
forum for central region due in August
An economic
development forum for the central region will be held on August 8 to fully
tap its potential and remove obstacles to tourism, industry, infrastructure
construction and human resources development.
The central key
economic region plays important role in socio-economic development strategies
of the central-Central highlands region but of the whole country.
The forum offers
policymakers and businesses a chance to examine new opportunities from the
establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) in 2015 as scheduled, as
well as the development of the sea-borne economy closely linked to industry
and services.
Policymakers will
review five years of implementing regional economic development planning to
bring into full play comparative advantages of each region and its
localities.
The event will be
held by the Vietnam Economic Times.
HCM City
promotes investment in Belgium
A Vietnamese
delegation, led by Le Hoang Quan, Chairman of the People's Committee of Ho
Chi Minh City is on a working visit to
During their visit,
the delegation will meet with representatives from the Belgian business
community in
They will also
discuss provisions for official development assistance (ODA) that
City chairman Le
Hoang Quan said he is highly appreciative of
Quan especially
singled out his favour for the ODA programme support which has helped
He also underscored
the point that
Addressing a
welcoming reception on June 28, Quan congratulated the third anniversary of
the founding of the Belgium– Vietnam Alliance and hoped that the two sides
will continue to implement more practical activities to further promote
bilateral relations.
He also informed
his hosts of
Quan called on the
international community to support
VSIP Quang
Ngai gearing up
The
Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park (VSIP) in Quang Ngai has attracted seven
foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs) since it officially opened in September
2013.
Three projects
capitalized at more than US$115 million have got off the ground and are due
to be put into operation in 2015.
Located in Son Tinh
district, VSIP Quang Ngai is expected to stimulate economic development in
the region and create tens of thousands of jobs, which is providing a
tremendous boost to social welfare.
For its importance,
the provincial administration has asked its relevant agencies and Son Tinh
district to speed up land acquisition and compensate displaced residents.
So far the district
has completed land acquisition and is currently building two resettlement
areas for displaced residents.
King Riches Vietnam
is currently erecting a footwear manufacturing facility in the industrial
park, specialising in outsourcing work for some of world’s most famous
footwear brand names such as Timberland,
The facility is
being constructed at an invested cost of US$30-35 million and will be fully
operational within the year.
The company’s
director, Mickey Chen, said the key factor in making the decision to invest
in the VSIP is the provincial leaders’ commitment to creating favourable
conditions for investment development.
Two other projects
– a US$35 million potato chip factory invested by the
Once fully
operational these two factories alone will provide good paying jobs for more
than 11,000 residents. At present, the two companies are actively seeking to
recruit more than 5,000 workers.
VSIP Quang Ngai
Director Anthony Tan attributed the initial success of the VSIP to the
province’s commitments and incentives, saying they are instrumental in
facilitating land clearance.
VSIP Quang Ngai is
highly appreciated by investors as it lies in the central key economic
region, near Chu Lai airport, railway, highway and deep-water port, Anthony
added.
Investors at the
VSIP enjoy preferential taxes that the Government granted for Dung Quat
Economic Zone. It will definitively be an attractive destination for both
domestic and foreign investors in the future.
Syrena
Syrena
The Ninh Thuan
Provincial People’s Committee reported that the developer had submitted an
investment plan asking for permission to develop its high grade Vinh Hy
tourism site in the province.
According to the
provincial committee, Syrena wants to invest around US$80 million in the site
to develop a project which will comprise of a five-star resort, 60 villas
with private pools, 40 guest chalets as well as restaurants and sport and
entertainment facilities.
The project covers
an area of 66 hectares and Syrena claimed it could complete the project
construction within 36 months after receiving an investment certificate.
“The developer has
not yet gained approval from the provincial committee because we want to
review whether or not the project suits the provincial development plan,”
said an unnamed official at the Ninh Thuan Provincial Department of Planning
and Investment.
Ninh Thuan, located
350 kilometres north of
If Syrena’s resort
and residential project is developed, it will contribute to boosting tourism
in Ninh Thuan and be the company’s second resort and residential complex in
the country.
Established in 2010
by BIM Group, with the chartered capital of US$119 million, the group’s
subsidiary is now developing a US$2 billion Halong Marina project in the
Strengthening
safeguard measures for businesses
Vietnamese
businesses are now facing an increasing number of risks in transactions with
foreign partners. However, they do not know how to protect themselves from
potentially devastating effects.
Foreign-related
trade disputes have increased in number alongside commercial growth in recent
years. Around 14,767 trade disputes were settled in courtrooms in 2013,
including 99 at the Vietnam International Arbitration Centre (VIAC), 51% of
which are related to foreigners.
The actual number
is much higher than reported. Around 15 Vietnamese cases have not been
dealt with in the
Professor Nguyen
Trong Dieu, President of the Vietnam Private Business Association (VPBA),
says, Vietnamese businesses struggled to survive the economic slowdown in
2013, with more than 60,000 businesses going bankrupt or halting operations,
mostly private owned.
Over the years,
private businesses have undergone rapid growth due to market volatility, and
they have therefore negated major factors for sustainable development,
including technology, creativity, management capacity and connectivity.
Sectors of Vietnamese strength, such as rice and coffee, have not brought
profits for producers.
Private businesses
are in danger of losing out to professional rivals when
Many other
challenges remain, such as complicated legislation, limited expertise, a high
expense for lawyers, language barriers, and lack of information about
partners and support from State agencies. These challenges put domestic
private enterprises at a disadvantage if a trade dispute arises.
Ho Quang Minh,
former director of the External Economic Department under the Ministry of
Planning and Investment, says domestic private enterprises receive almost no
support in international transactions. In addition, not all Vietnamese
lawyers are capable of being engaged in international disputes.
Currently, 75% of
trade disputes of Vietnamese businesses are handled by different methods
rather than legal actions. A lot of support systems for businesses have been
built but they have not paid off yet. Businesses still need experts and
lawyers who directly get involved in their performance, especially in dealing
with international transactions.
The fact is that
many foreign-related disputes have ended in deadlock due to loopholes in
contract terms, partners’ withdrawal or business bankruptcy.
Furthermore, the
legal system is too complicated. Domestic businesses do not have qualified
experts for international cases while it is quite costly to hire lawyers.
PhD Lan Anh
suggests that private businesses should have legal affairs departments and
send experts to take part in negotiations or sign contracts. When disputes
arise, enterprises should ask for immediate help from legal experts before
rivals go bankrupt or withdraw from
When a dispute
erupts overseas, businesses are encouraged to contact Vietnamese diplomatic
representative offices in that country to ask for professional or financial
support.
Cautious
consumer spending continues
Even five years
after the financial crisis, consumers still tightly controlled spending, with
purchasing power levelling off in the first six months of this year.
According to the
General Statistics Office (GSO), the total retail sale of goods and services
in the first half of this year was estimated at US$68.5 billion, up 10.7 per
cent over the same period last year.
However, excluding
inflation, the growth was only 5.7 per cent, just equivalent to the rate of
the five-month period and lower than the four-month period's 6 per cent, that
was showing signs of levelling off.
Retail sales, which
contributed three-fourth to the total value rose by 12.2 per cent – the
lowest level among four components including accomodation and restaurant,
retail sales, consumption and tourism services. The tourism service posted
the highest increasing rate of 20.5 per cent.
GSO said that the
economic difficulty still had its impact on employment, incomes and spending
of consumers.
Rising petrol and
power prices and health-care services in
Other indicators
announced previously also showed that industrial production was also in
difficulty with high inventories (nearly 80 per cent) in the first six
months, coupled with a rising number of companies being dissolved or being
forced to halt operations (up 16.3 per cent over the same period last year).
GSO said there
would be hardly any improvement in purchasing power in the coming months as
the aggregate demand had not improved, adding that a large part of consumers
were tightening their belts.
Spending on books
and school supplies were expected to rise, as the new school year would begin
in September.
MARD speeds
up agricultural revamp
The Ministry of
Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) has launched a restructuring plan
for agricultural production till 2020, which focuses on equitisation and
divestments by the state in corporations and groups.
Currently, MARD
manages 13 corporations and groups with total investment capital of up to
VND3.562 trillion (US$161 million).
Under the guidance
of the government on promoting equitisation in state enterprises, MARD has
boosted equitisation and state divestments since 2006.
Specifically, since
2012, all agricultural and forestry enterprises have been transformed into
single-member limited companies, agricultural joint stock companies or
protection forest management boards.
There are now six
groups and corporations with 145 agricultural affiliates, 148 forestry
affiliates, three joint stock affiliates, and 87 protection forest management
affiliates.
Under the
restructuring plan approved by the Prime Minister, six corporations under
MARD's management must complete settlement and conversion to joint stock
companies until 2016.
These are
Agricultural and Rural Development Construction Corporation, Viet Nam
National Sea Products Corporation and Viet Nam National Vegetable, Fruit and
Agricultural Product Corporation.
The other three are
Viet Nam National Tea Corporation, Viet Nam General Corporation of
Agricultural Materials and Viet Nam Forest Corporation.
MARD will continue
to divest 64 per cent stake in the Sugar Corporations I and II and hand over
the Viet Nam Livestock Corporation to the State Capital Investment
Corporation (SCIC). Companies of agriculture and forestry will be merged and
equitised with state-held controlling stake.
According to MARD,
reorganised agricultural companies have been developed in a stable manner
thanks to enhanced scientific and technical investment. Corporate revenue and
profits, and annual budget payments of many companies have increased rapidly.
After equitisation,
due to requirements of increased production to meet market demands, links in
agricultural production and product consumption must be developed in diverse
forms and in accordance with the production conditions of each region and
locality. However, these linkages grow slowly and with difficultly.
MARD said it will
promote building of sustainable link models on a voluntary basis and ensure
the harmonious legitimate interests of the companies involved in the models.
It will also focus
on the key role of involving investment companies and agricultural production
businesses to ensure the value chain from production, processing and
marketing of products.
Seafood production
sees steady growth in first 6 months
In that period, the
total output topped 2.86 million tonnes, up 4.4 per cent from a year earlier
with a 3.4 per cent increase in farming yield and a 5.5 per cent rise in
fishing operation, statistics showed.
Giving these
details at a conference, the directorate reported that good weather plus
stable fuel and seafood prices facilitated fishing activities.
However, the
sector's performance has been affected by tensions in the
The agency has
worked with authorities of littoral provinces to update fishermen on
developments in the waters, legal regulations, and measures to avoid risks at
sea, it said. At the same time, by strictly following the farming schedule,
diseases on grown aquatic products were curbed and the productivity was kept
stable, reports added.
For the rest of the
year, the directorate planned to step up supervision over the observance of
shrimp and tra fish farming regulations, disease prevention, and the quality
of fry and animal feed.
Deputy Minister of
Agriculture and Rural Development Vu Van Tam said the agency should push up
trade promotion in key and new markets while working harder on negotiations
on bilateral cooperation in order to remove trade barriers to drive exports.
wharfs for vessels to take shelter as the storm season is approaching.
S&P
rates
Standard &
Poor's affirmed its ‘BB-' long-term and ‘B' short-term sovereign credit
ratings on Viet Nam late last week, with the outlook on the long-term rating
being stable.
The rating agency
said that although the stabilisation measures undertaken over the past two
years have dampened growth, they have also restored macroeconomic stability,
resulting in relatively low and stable inflation, higher confidence in the
local currency, and a much improved external liquidity.
The sovereign's
external borrowings remain modest with low-cost debt and long maturity, and
S&P projects that the gross external debt will decline to about 30 per
cent of the GDP in the next three years, while the gross external financing
needs will remain in a comfortable range of between 80 and 90 per cent of the
sum of the current account receipts and usable reserves in this period.
"The favourable
outlook for
It said that
Exports are also
expected to get a further boost from recent and pending free-trade
agreements, the agency said.
The stable outlook
on the ratings reflects S&P's expectation that over the next 12 to 18
months,
The outlook also
incorporates S&P's expectations that the Government's key reform objectives
targeting the banking sector and State-owned enterprises will continue, and
the risks and inefficiencies posed by these sectors will reduce, S&P
said.
"We may raise
the ratings if there are indications that
Kinh Do
Corp eyes bigger market share
The leading
domestic confectionery producer, Kinh Do Corporation (KDC), yesterday said it
would expand production in new categories of noodles, coffee and edible oil
in an aim to enlarge its market share.
At its annual
shareholders' meeting in
Viet added that KDC
would continue to focus on growth and expansion in the coming year through
diversification into new categories, countries and consumers.
He said that KDC
would work with Sai Gon Vewong to sell a variety of instant noodle products
in
The company will
introduce its first new product in the third quarter, with the goal of
becoming one of the top three players in the instant noodle market.
It will also become
a strategic shareholder of Vocarimex and Phin Deli through an equitisation
process to make edible oil and coffee.
To fulfill the
goal, KDC will shift all of its activities related to confectionary
production to the Kinh Do Binh Duong Corporation.
After restructuring
the company, KDC will operate in eight main categories, including
confectionary, ice cream and dairy, noodles, oil, coffee and retail.
Last year, the
corporation posted revenue of nearly VND4.6 trillion (US$219 million) and a
pre-tax profit of VND619 billion ($29 million).
For 2014, it is
expected to reach revenue of VND5.2 trillion ($248 million) and pre-tax
profit of VND660 billion ($31 million), up by 13 per cent and 6.6 per cent
year-on-year, respectively.
This year, KDC will
share dividends by cash at a rate of 20 per cent per share.
First
domestic exchange-traded fund to track VN30 Index
Fund manager
VietFund Management is planning an initial public offering for the country's
first domestic exchange-traded fund early in the third quarter, providing
investors with a low-cost investment channel to expose to the attractive
Vietnamese equity market.
An ETF is a fund
traded on the stock market. And most ETFs track an index like stock and bond
indexes, a commodity, or a basket of assets like an index fund.
They are an
attractive investment because of their benefits like market exposure, low
costs, high transparency, no foreign ownership limit, and trading like a
single listed stock, Nguyen Thi Viet Ha, head of research and development at the
HCM Stock Exchange, said.
Tran Thanh Tan, CEO
of VietFund Management (VFM), said he had applied for setting up the first
local ETF.
"Our fund, the
ETF VFMVN30, will track the VN30 Index, which consists of 30 companies listed
on HOSE in terms of market capitalisation, free float, and liquidity."
The VN30 index
constituency currently represents around 55 per cent of the market cap and
50-70 per cent of daily trading value. The list includes blue chips such as
Vietcombank (VCB), Military Bank (MBB), Vinamilk (VNM) Kinh Do Corp. (KDC),
and the Financing and Promoting Technology Corp (FPT). About half of its
tradable market cap is at or near the foreign ownership limit.
"The
investment strategy of ETF VFMVN30 is to replicate the performance of VN30 as
closely as possible." Tan said, explaining that in the year-to-date the
VN30 Index has risen 18 per cent.
The ETF will trade
as a listed security on the HCM City Stock Exchange and investors could opt
to exchange the ETF units for component securities or vice versa.
Its indicative net
asset value (iNAV) will be calculated every 15 seconds during trading hours
(in developed markets it is done in real time). This iNAV will be listed on
the websites of HOSE, the fund management company, and securities companies.
Transparency
requirements for ETF listings ensure investors get easy access to information
like the number of units issued, portfolio companies, NAV, and its assets
structure.
According to the
HOSE research and development head, the ETF's cost is expected to be lower
than that of mutual funds - around 1 per cent compared to 2-2.5 per cent for
the latter.
Domestic ETFs are
allowed to invest in all kinds of shares while foreign ones are constrained
by foreign ownership limits. An investor with a modest sum of money can still
diversify their portfolio by acquiring ETF certificates.
Speaking to Viet
Nam News at a recent event in HCM City, Vu Bang, the chairman of the State
Securities Commission of Vietnam, said the SSC is considering applications
for two ETFs and the soonest it might issue a licence is this month.
"Once ETFs are
put in operation they will help diversify the products available on Viet
Nam's stock market, increase liquidity, and attract more capital flow thanks
to its advantages like low costs.
"Preparations
for the trading of ETF units have been carefully made at the Ha Noi and HCM
City exchanges. The legal work has been basically completed as well."
However, it would
take several years for ETFs to attain large size and liquidity, he said.
But he promised
that related authorities would improve policies and regulations to ensure
sustainable growth of the funds as well as the stock market.
VFM's CEO said the
ETF VFMVN30 would be listed after its IPO.
The fund's initial
chartered capital will be at least VND50 billion (US$2.35 million) raised
from authorised participants, local and foreign investors.
VietFund
Management, established in 2003, was the first fund management company to be
set up in Viet Nam. It offers diversified financial products and services to
local and international investors through investment funds and portfolio
management services.
The HCM
City-headquartered company currently manages four funds - Vietnam Securities
Investment Fund (VF1), Vietnam Blue-chips Investment Fund (VF4), Vietnam Active
Fund (VFA), and Vietnam Bond Fund (VFB) with total asset of US$95 million
under its management.
Four foreign ETFs
have invested almost US$1 billion in equities in Viet Nam. They are DB
X-trackers FTSE Vietnam, Market Vectors Vietnam Index, MSCI Frontier Markets
Index, and IShares MSCI Frontier 100 Index ETFs.
ETFs had their
genesis in 1989 with Index Participation Shares, an S&P 500 proxy that
traded on the American Stock Exchange and the Philadelphia Stock Exchange,
and have since witnessed a global boom.
VietJet launches mega promotion
VietJet has
launched another mega-promotion scheme with 2,500 air tickets for its new Da
Nang – Can Tho route from VND99,000 (US$4.7).
These super cheap
tickets are available from June 30 to July 6 for travel from July 22 to
December 31, 2014 (including public holidays).
The airline's new
route linking central Viet Nam's Da Nang with Can Tho, the biggest city in
the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta, will officially open from July 22 with three
round trips per week.
Work begins
on metal tank plant
Tamada Viet Nam
started the construction, last week, of the Metal Tank Production Plant in
northern Hai Phong City's Dinh Vu Industrial Zone (DVIZ).
Covering an area of
over 23,000sq.m, the project has a total investment capital of US$10 million.
The plant is expected to be completed by early 2015 and become operational in
September 2015.
The plant could
produce 5,800 tonnes of products per year, including tanks, ducting, silo and
accessories as well as fibre reinforced plastic (FRP) moulding products. It
is expected to create 80 direct jobs for local people.
DVIZ has attracted
over 50 investors from various countries and industries with the total
investment amounting to nearly $3 billion.
Central Highlands to shore up irrigation
Central Highlands
provinces plan to build more than 2,080 irrigation facilities and upgrade
nearly 700 in order to supply more water for the ethnic minority population,
both for daily use and production activities.
Construction, funded
by the State budget, will start immediately. The work will be completed by
2020, according to the Central Highlands Steering Committee. At that point,
the region will have more than 3,740 irrigation facilities, providing water
for 511,080 hectares of crops or 80 per cent of the region's farmland.
The region will
start by building 23 reservoirs and dams at key areas in the region such as
K'rong Pak Lake, Ea H'Leo, Ya Mo and Ia Bang in Dak Lak, Gia Lai and Kon Tum
provinces.
Many of the
region's 2,352 irrigation facilities, including reservoirs, dams and pump
stations, are seriously degraded. Some have been used for 25 years and not
maintained even once.
Moreover, they only
supply water to 50 per cent of the region's crops. The rest are irrigated
with water from wells, lakes and rivers.
Dak Lak province
received the most investment for irrigation facilities, but these will only
cover 70 per cent of the province's farmland.
Tra Vinh
club displays wares
Artisans from the
Tra Vinh Specialty Club and 32 companies are displaying their products at a
fair that opens today in Dong Thap Province's Hong Ngu District.
"Bringing
Vietnamese goods to rural areas," which will run until July 3, features
38 booths displaying products like food including specialties, confectionery,
textiles, household utensils, cosmetics, and stationery.
There will also be
other activities on the sidelines like the donation of gifts to poor people
including needy students, an agricultural forum on improving the efficiency
of fertilisers in rice farming, and art performances.
Organised by the
HCM City-based Business Study and Assistance Centre and Dong Thap
authorities, the fair will provide local consumers an opportunity to buy
quality goods at reasonable prices.
Construction
starts on new tunnel
A project worth
more than VND500 billion or US$23.8 million for building a tunnel at the
Nguyen Trai and Khuat Duy Tien intersection was inaugurated on Saturday.
The 980-metre-long,
14-metre-wide and four-lane tunnel would be completed in late 2015.
The project would
use the capital from the Japanese Government's ODA and would be built with
the joint cooperation of the Civil Engineering Construction Corporation No4
(CIENCO 4) and South Korea's Hanshin Construction Company.
Speaking at the
groundbrea-king ceremony, Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Hong Truong
said this was a complex construction project as the tunnel will be built
under the intersection which has a road and a skytrain running above.
He said the tunnel
would ease the traffic overload and reduce accidents on the intersection.
MobiFone to
get charter capital of $600m
MobiFone, the
second-largest Vietnamese mobile network operator, will have a charter
capital of VND12.60 trilllion or US$600 million.
This was announced
in Decision No 877 of the Ministry of Information and Communications, issued
yesterday.
The separation of
the firm from the Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT) will be
carried out based on its accounts documents, inventory and financial reports
of first six months of this year. The company is required to operate in five
main sectors, namely construction, running and providing telecommunications
and IT services, and assembling and producing electronic, telecom and IT
parts. MobiFone will be detached from VNPT and be under the management of the
ministry from today.
Central
city signs MoU on aerospace investment
The central city's
investment promotion centre and France's Advanced Business Events (ABE) have
signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on aerospace investment and
business in Da Nang.
The centre's vice
director Huynh Thi Lien Phuong told Biz Hub yesterday that following the MoU
which is valid till 2016, the Paris-based ABE will help attract investment in
aerospace, a new industry in the central region and Viet Nam.
Lien said ABE will
introduce the investment opportunities and the policies of priority of Da
Nang to aerospace businesses in Europe.
The central city
has developed six industrial parks, a high-tech park and information
technology (IT) Parks. Last year, the US's Rocky Lai &Associates Inc
invested US$278 million to build the IT park as the biggest ‘Silicon Valley'
in the central region of Viet Nam.
Kien Giang
approves 15 projects valued at $58m
The southern province
of Kien Giang has granted licences to 15 new projects worth over VND1.22
trillion (US$58.19 million) since the beginning of this year, according to
the provincial Department of Planning and Investment.
In order to attract
more investment capital, the province would continue to accelerate investment
promotions via meetings with new foreign an
According to the
provincial Department of Planning and Investment, almost all projects
licensed in the period are located in the industrial parks (IPs) of Thuan Yen
and Thanh Loc, and Phu Quoc Island .
Dak Nong
begins building largest trading centre
Work on a new
trading centre, worth VND53 billion (US$2.53 million) kicked off yesterday in
the Central Highlands province of Dak Nong's Gia Nghia District.
The centre, the
biggest of its kind in the province, is being financed by Saigon Co.Op. It is
slated for completion by April, 2015.
Vietnam
joins regional economic pact negotiation in S'pore
A Vietnamese trade
delegation has attended the fifth round of the Regional Comprehensive
Economic Partnership (RCEF) negotiation in Singapore.
The Vietnamese
delegation joined all meetings held at the plenary and the 11 working groups
and sub-working groups.
A bilateral meeting
was held between the Vietnamese and Japanese delegations at the request of
the Japanese side.
The fifth round of
the RCEP negotiation, held in Singapore from June 23 – 27, drew about 500
delegates from the 16 participating countries.
A media statement
by the Chair of the RCEP – Trade Negotiating Committee (RCEP – TNC) noted
that delegations continued their deliberations on some key issues under
negotiations, including trade in goods, trade in services, investment,
intellectual property, competition, economic and technical cooperation, and
legal issues.
According to the
statement, on trade in goods, further convergence was reached on key issues
such as modality for the tariff negotiations, non-tariff measures, Standard,
Technical Regulations and Conformity Assessment Procedures (STRACAP),
Sanitary and Phyto-Sanitary (SPS) measures, customs procedures and trade
facilitation (CPTF), and Rules of Origin (ROO).
On trade in
services, work has also advanced in building understanding and finding
possible way forward on some key issues such as the structure and elements of
the Services Chapter, scheduling of commitments, and the draft text of
services agreement. On investment, negotiators have also made progress
especially with regard to the approach to the scheduling of commitments and
possible elements for the Chapter on Investment.
The delegates also
discussed the preparation for the 2nd RCEP Trade Ministerial Meeting which is
scheduled for August 27 in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar. The ministers will assess
progress of the negotiation after five rounds and provide guidance to the TNC
to meet the target date of end-2015 for the completion of the negotiation.
The 6th RCEP
negotiation round is scheduled for December 1-5 in India.
The RCEP countries
include the 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members and six
partners, namely Japan, China, the Republic of Korea, Australia, India and
New Zealand.
Development
of irrigation infrastructure prioritised
Development of
irrigation systems nationwide is always prioritised in agricultural
restructuring, has said Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc
Phat.
The minister also
noted that a total of 28.8 trillion VND (1.35 billion USD) has been funneled
to build the networks between 2011 and 2014, equivalent to 79 percent of the
total investment in the sector.
The money has been
spent on constructing multifunctional irrigation facilities, serving aquatic
and industrial production, cultivation and breeding, and providing safe water
for residents. Notably, the building of key irrigation infrastructure and
dyke systems is always associated to benefits of aquatic farming.
The ministry has
also given priority to maintaining and upgrading small-size irrigation
facilities, connecting them with hydropower plants in mountainous areas, with
the aim of improving the efficiency of managing and using the work.
Between 2016 and
2020, it will continue to invest in expanding the existing networks and
building those dedicated to aquaculture production activities in the Mekong
Delta as well as irrigating industrial plants in the Central Highlands and
southeastern and northern midland regions.
The country has to
date built 110 medium-and large-sized irrigation systems, 6,500 reservoirs,
1,000 km of irrigation canals, helping guarantee water supply for
agricultural and industrial production activities and residents. Last year,
these facilities served 3.52 million hectares of land and 7.26 million
hectares under rice cultivation.
Source: VEF/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/Dantri/VIR
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Thứ Ba, 1 tháng 7, 2014
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