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BUSINESS
IN BRIEF 27/8
Dung Quat
Refinery gets largest-ever shipment
The single-point
mooring (SPM) system at Dung Quat refinery in the south central
The tanker brought
one million barrels of crude oil imported from
This is also the
first oil tanker the SPM system has received after a US$320,000 upgrade
several months ago, which allows it to receive oil tankers of up to 150,000
tonnes. Previously it could only accommodate 100,000-tonne tankers.
Boeing,
Microsoft boost co-operation with Viet Nam
Boeing and
Microsoft expressed plans to boost co-operation with
During the visit,
representatives of Boeing said the company would transfer its first Boeing
787 to Vietnam Airlines in 2015 to mark 20 years of normalisation of
In another visit of
the Ambassador to Microsoft, the company said it highly appreciated the
commitment of the Vietnamese Government in the Trans-Pacific Partnership
(TPP) negotiations, adding the corporation considered
Thanh Cong
plans to build new
The Thanh Cong
Textile Garment Investment Trading Joint Stock Company is planning to build a
new factory in the Mekong Delta
The investment
capital for the first phase of the garment and textile plant is US$8 million,
and the project is expected to bring in a revenue of $10 million next year.
The company
reported a revenue of VND1.306 trillion ($61.7 million) in H1, up 8.85 per
cent year on year, and a profit of VND83.68 billion ($3.9 million), up 47.6
per cent, representing 50.89 per cent of the company's yearly target..
New
incentive aims to lure investors to Van Tuong
The central
Under the decision,
investors will also get a 1 per cent discount on construction and equipment
fees. Total incentives will not exceed VND25 billion ($1.2 million),
according to the Dung Quat Economic Zone managing board.
Van Tuong Urban
Area, which covers 3,828ha, is one of five planned areas in the economic
zone. The first 650ha stage, intended to have a population of 800,000, is
scheduled to be built by 2015.
The province has 29
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) projects in effect with total capital of $4
billion, of which Dung Quat EZ drew 20 projects with $3.9 billion.
VN firms in
More than 300
overseas Vietnamese (OV) businesses and diplomatic missions in Europe, and
trade counselors from various regional countries attended the eighth Viet Nam
Business Forum in
According to Pham
Van Hong, head of the organising board of the three-day business forum, which
ended on Sunday, the event aimed to draw up an orientation outline for the
Vietnamese business community in
Through various
activities at the event, businesses had opportunities to meet and discuss
measures to boost their stable and sustainable development, he said.
At the same time,
they also shared experiences in grasping opportunities for expanding their
operations in European countries, said Hong.
Meanwhile,
Vietnamese Ambassador to Italy Nguyen Hoang Long said supporting the strong
connectivity of the Vietnamese business community abroad is one of the
country's focus areas.
He said he hoped
the development of OV businesses in the region would help promote
The event took
place in the context of a European recession that has dramatically affected
the operations of the Vietnamese business community there.
Hoang Manh Hue, a
businessman in
Participants at the
event also voiced the difficulties that they are facing, including the
tension in the Russia-Ukraine relations, as well as the poor linkage in the
Vietnamese business community abroad.
They also discussed
opportunities and challenges generated by the Viet Nam-EU free-trade
agreement, which is expected to be concluded this year. The next forum will
be held in
Trade
surplus hits $1.7b as exports see growth
The figures also
showed that the nation incurred a trade deficit, worth $100 million, only in
January, and began earning a surplus in February, at $244 million.
The surplus reached
$1 billion in the first quarter, $683 million in the first four months, $1.6
billion in the first five months and $1.3 billion in the first half. After
seven months, the surplus increased to $1.26 billion.
The nation's total
exports reached $97 billion in the first eight months, which was 14.1 per
cent higher than that of the same period of last year. The nation's total
imports reached $95.3 billion, which was 12 per cent higher than that of the
same period of last year. It mainly imported materials and sub-materials for
production.
The
Other significant
export markets include the European Union with $17.9 billion in exports, or a
13.3 per cent rise from that of last year; ASEAN with $12.4 billion, or a 0.5
per cent rise;
Foreign direct
investment (FDI) enterprises exported products worth $65.2 billion, or 15.6
per cent more than in the same period of last year, while domestic
enterprises exported products worth $31.8 billion, or 11.1 per cent more than
in the same period last year.
A number of key
exports achieved high growth in the first eight months of the year, including
seafood with $5 billion, a 23.6 per cent rise from that of last year;
textiles and garments with $13.65 billion, a 19.7 per cent rise; telephone
and telephone components with $15.23 billion, a 13.7 per cent rise; and crude
oil with $5.59 billion, a 14.3 per cent rise.
However, a number
of agricultural exports suffered a decline, including rice with $2.46
billion, a 3.7 per cent fall from that of last year; rubber with $992
million, a 31.7 per cent fall; and tea with $140 million, a 0.6 per cent
fall.
The GSO also
reported that the largest import market was
FDI enterprises
imported $53.4 billion worth of equipment and products, or 12 per cent more
than in the same period last year, while domestic enterprises imported $41.9
billion worth of equipment and products, or 13.4 per cent more than in the
same period last year.
Manufacturing
boosts production index
The nation's
industrial production saw a 7.1 per cent year-on-year increase from
Jan-August 2014, a positive sign of recovering production output at the
nation's businesses, noted the General Statistics Office (GSO).
Further, the index
of industrial production (IIP) in August registered the highest growth rate
this year, reported the GSO, compared to 6.2 per cent last month, 5.8 per
cent in the first half of the year and 5.2 in the first quarter.
The office
attributed the high IIP growth rate to the 9.1 per cent surge in the
processing and manufacturing sector, which accounted for 70 per cent of total
industrial output.
Industrial products
with the highest growth rate in the period included electronics, computers
and optical equipment, with 34.5 per cent; motorised vehicles with 20.2 per
cent; leather products with 20.2 per cent; shoes with 13.1 per cent; and
electric output with 11.2 per cent.
Two industrial
products with the lowest growth rates included cigarette production and
transportation equipment.
GSO experts
attributed the low consumption to a slow rebound of the world economy, as
well as low demand in the domestic market and a high inventory index.
Additionally, the
August 1 inventory index of the processing and manufacturing industry posted
a month-on-month increase of 1 per cent and a year-on-year surge of 13.4 per
cent.
Other sectors
reporting higher inventories than the same period last year were electronics,
computers, tobacco products, medicines, pharmaceutical products and
materials, leather, and paper.
Credit
growth slow in Ha Noi
The outstanding
loans of credit institutions in Ha Noi totalled about VND918 billion, or
US$43.71 million, in August.
According to the
municipal Department of Statistics, the amount increased 0.6 per cent over
July, but fell 2.9 per cent over last December.
The total deposits
in the capital reached nearly VND1.12 trillion, or $53.33 million, in August.
This was up 0.6 per cent over the previous month and increased 6.8 per cent
over the end of last year.
The lending interest
rates have fallen, but stock market reports showed that many enterprises
still suffered losses in the first half of this year. It will take more time
for the companies and the economy to recover, market observers said.
In
Lending in the
southern city increased 1.37 per cent in July alone, driven by prioritised
sectors including agriculture and development of rural areas, exports, small-
and medium-sized enterprises, high-tech firms and support industries.
Local banks saw
redundant liquidity, but faced significant obstacles in finding borrowers
earlier this year. However, municipal programmes linking banks and businesses
have improved the lending situation in recent months.
Nguyen Hoang Minh,
deputy director of the State Bank of Viet Nam's HCM City branch, said the
number of dissolved companies was about two-thirds the number of newly
established firms, and that the charter capital of enterprises also increased
this year.
But Minh warned
that bad loans tended to increase in the city. Debts facing risks of capital
losses amount to more than 7 per cent of the total outstanding loans in the
city, compared with the previous levels of 4.6 to 4.8 per cent.
The head office of
Vietcombank slashed the annual interest rates for dong deposits by 0.2
percentage point for almost all terms yesterday, reported news portal
VnEconomy.
The new rates are
4.8 per cent for a one-month term, 5 to 5.7 per cent for terms of two to nine
months, and 6.8 per cent for terms of 24 to 60 months.
The highest level
of 7 per cent no longer appears on the bank's deposit rate listing board.
This is the second
time that Vietcombank has proactively lowered dong deposit rates this year,
and it currently lists the lowest rates in the domestic banking system.
The adjustments
will reportedly help the bank cut operational costs and have better
conditions to maintain low lending interest rates, after it achieved
significant deposit growth in the first half of this year at 14.2 per cent.
The changes in
interest rates provide reference for Vietcombank branches to set new rates
based on their own conditions.
Quang
Central Quang
Addressing the
seminar,
He pointed out that
Quang Nam province is centrally located in
For his part,
He noted that
At the event,
representatives from the provincial People's Committee also provided more
detailed information on the province’s potential, investment opportunities,
investment procedures, and preferential policies to foreign enterprises
investing in industrial and economic zones in
Tea exports
expected to reach US$245 million
In the first seven
months of this year, tea exports have declined both in volume and value
compared to the same period last year.
However, the Vietnam
Tea Association (VITAS) forecasted that the sector could earn US$245 million
from exports this year.
According to the
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s preliminary statistics, in
the review period, the country exported about 70,000 tonnes of tea with total
value of about US$116 million, a drop of 6.7% in volume and 1.1% in value
compared to the same period last year.
VITAS Chief
Secretariat Hoang Vinh Long said green tea and OTD black tea remained major
tea exports with a volume of about 26,000 tonnes each type. OTD black tea,
and green tea were sold at US$1,387 and US$1,802 per tonne respectively.
Tea exports to
Pakistan continued to thrive with an increase of 56.4% in volume and 89.2% in
value in 7 months while its figures to Indonesia reduced by 56.6% in volume
and 54.56% in value compared to the same period last year.
Long explained that
in the early months of this year, the weather remained complicated with prolonged
drought and rain in some tea plantation areas. However, tea prices remained
stable. Ha Tinh Tea Company’s products were sold at the highest prices among
Vietnamese exporters, added Long.
However, tea
exports are experiencing some difficulties when export markets of
To be able to meet
its export target, the tea sector needs to focus on renewing trade promotion
activities. Moreover, tea businesses must diversify products, improve product
quality and reorganise production towards industry value chain.
During April and
May 2014, VITAS delegation took part in the International Tea Expo in
Farm
exports hit US$20.22 billion
Vietnamese exports
from agriculture, forestry and fishery in the first eight months of the year
jumped 11.9% on-year to US$20.22 billion, according to the Ministry of
Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).
Of the figure,
agriculture export gross revenues were US$9.49 billion, up 5.7% on-year.
Meanwhile, fishery and forestry product exports surge 25.4% toUS$4.95 billion
and 12.5% to US$4.06 billion, respectively.
During the reviewed
period, rice exports declined 9% in volume and 5.3% in value on-year.
The coffee sector
maintained growth with on-year increases of 26.8% and 22.3%, respectively.
Seven-month
exports to RoK increase 2.4%
Vietnamese exports
to the
Major export
products included crude oil, garments, seafood, coal, wood and wood products,
and rubber.
Garments took the
lead, grossing US$921.7 million in value, representing an increase of 36.7%
and accounting for one fourth of
They were closely
followed by seafood which raked in US$343.8 million, up 52.8% against the
same period last year.
Wood and wood
products placed third, earning US$267.8 million, up 47.4%.
Other products that
saw steady export growth were mobile phones and spare parts, machinery,
tools, electric cables, handbags, suitcases and umbrellas.
Troublesome
tax procedures to be axed
A lot of complicated
and time-consuming tax procedures will be removed or revised in line with the
Government’s Resolution 19 to improve the business environment of the
country.
Speaking at a
workshop in HCMC yesterday, Hoang Thi Lan Anh, deputy head of the General Department
of Taxation’s Reform and Modernization Department, said the department has
reviewed all tax documents in order to propose reform solutions to the
Government and the National Assembly.
One of the most
notable changes is that enterprises with annual revenues of VND50 billion or
lower should be allowed to file for value added tax (VAT) on a quarterly
basis, instead of monthly as currently. Earlier, only firms with annual
revenues below VND20 billion were allowed to file for taxes quarterly.
In addition,
businesses would make the final corporate income tax settlement once a year
and calculate taxable amounts on their own.
Currently,
enterprises temporarily make quarterly tax payments and make the final
settlement at year-end. It is rather time-consuming, Anh said.
The ministry will
also ask the National Assembly for approval to cap advertising expenses at
15% of total legitimate input costs while there would be no limits on
spending on marketing, promotion, commission, reception, brokerage and others
in support of production and trading activities of enterprises.
Besides, the
ministry is finalizing a draft circular revising six circulars on tax
management, personal income tax, VAT and tax invoice. The new circular is
expected to take effect on October 1 if everything goes as planned.
According to the
draft circular, all businesses are allowed to voluntarily register for VAT
refunds. At present, enterprises with investment under VND1 billion are not
eligible for VAT deduction.
Nguyen Thi Cuc,
chairwoman of the Vietnam Tax Consultants Association, said if the changes
applied, the tax payment time could be reduced by 201 hours a year.
The Government’s
Resolution 19 ordered tax authorities to streamline procedures and slash the
time for enterprises to prepare and pay taxes to an average of the ASEAN 6
countries (
However, Cuc said
that tax officials have been found to require unnecessary papers from
taxpayers.
Aside from
administrative reform, the Government should increase inspection and improve
transparency at tax agencies, Anh of the General Department of Taxation said.
Customs
clearance time to drop 30%
The Ministry of Finance
expects local enterprises to cut 30% of the time required for completing
customs procedures for their export and import goods next year as a host of
tax and customs reform solutions will apply.
Speaking at a press
briefing in
It will take goods
imports 13 days and exports 14 days to go through all customs procedures next
year. Currently, both imports and exports require 21 days for customs
clearance, Tuan said.
Tuan was quoted by
Tuoi Tre newspaper as saying that reducing customs time is not only the
responsibility of customs authorities but also of relevant agencies at
seaports and border gates, especially product quality watchdogs.
“Of the current
21-day customs time, businesses only have to work with the customs
authorities for around six days and the remaining time is to deal with other
agencies. What’s important is to minimize the time for the imports and
exports to undergo quality or quarantine tests while still maintaining the
accuracy of the tests,” he said.
Last year, 34% of
the goods imported into
Quality and
quarantine checks of imported goods should be made in accordance with eight
laws, 33 decrees and 134 circulars, Tuan explained.
Since July 20,
customs procedures at 34 customs departments and 170 border gates have gone
online, thus cutting the time for customs paperwork. On August 21 38,000 out
of 48,000 export and import firms in the country process customs declarations
online.
However, despite
efforts from the customs sector, Tuan said the customs clearance time could
not be reduced unless other relevant agencies join hands by reducing
paperwork and enhancing quality and quarantine tests.
It is not necessary
to test all imports from markets such as the European Union (EU) and
Tuan said on the
ministry’s website that a report on the business environment of International
Finance Corporation (IFC) and the World Bank showed that
Local businesses
spend around 537 hours preparing and paying taxes, with 217 hours involving
corporate income tax and 320 hours value added tax (VAT).
Domestic
cow herd in decline
The country’s herd
of cows has fallen steadily over the years due to unfavorable farming
conditions, and to offset a short beef supply, enterprises have been boosting
cow imports, especially from
According to the
General Statistics Office (GSO), the cow herd in
The domestic beef
output has thus tumbled. The supply of beef and buffalo meat reached around
382,000 tons in 2012, with buffalo meat accounting for 97,000 tons, but the
volume plunged to some 370,000 tons last year.
The reasons for the
declining herd, according to GSO, are rapid mechanization in agriculture and
shrinking grazing land.
In the past year,
enterprises have boosted cow imports to meet the domestic beef demand.
Nguyen Dang Vang,
chairman of the Vietnam Livestock Association, said Australian cow imports
have risen fast.
Only 3,000 cows
were imported from
Statistics of the
General Department of Customs showed that
This year’s total
number of Australian cows imported is forecast to reach some 150,000 for
domestic consumption. Besides, frozen beef imported from
Vang added the huge
import volume of Australian cows still meets only one-eighth of the current
consumption.
Citing statistics
of GSO, he said domestic consumption of beef and buffalo meat made up 6% of
the total consumption last year and is forecast to leap to 10% in 2020 by the
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
If so,
Van Duc Muoi,
general director of Vissan Company, said the current total demand is 3,000
cows nationwide a day, with the HCMC market alone consuming 600. Due to
insufficient and instable domestic supply together with high prices, Vissan
started to import live cows from
Muoi said the cost
of importing and slaughtering cows is around US$5 million. Vissan slaughters
50 cows a day on average to supply beef for supermarkets and fresh food
stores across HCMC.
Luu Son Thuy,
director of Thuy Ha Private Enterprise, said competitive prices, tenderness
and pleasant smell are key factors that make Australian beef sell well on the
local market.
According to Meat
and Livestock Australia (MLA),
However, MLA
forecast the export volume to
State
groups to buy VND71 trillion worth of products from one another
State-owned
business groups and corporations have clinched deals to buy VND71 trillion
worth of goods from one another nearly two years after the Ministry of
Industry and Trade told them to join forces to support their operations and
help boost sales of Vietnamese goods to reduce inventories.
The deals do not
cover electricity and petroleum contracts.
Statistics of the
ministry showed the State-owned enterprises have spent nearly VND4.2 trillion
on electrical equipment, VND5.2 trillion on construction steel and VND55
billion on labor protective clothes.
In 2012 when the
ministry issued a directive calling for State-owned groups and corporations
to help one another, inventories of various products remained high at most of
the enterprises due to poor competitiveness and designs of their products.
For example, the
inventories of processing and manufacturing industries jumped by 20.4%
against the previous year.
In October 2012, 16
State-owned companies clinched deals and 11 others signed memoranda of
understanding to consume one another’s products. So far, their inventories
have declined significantly.
When the directive
was issued, there were concerns that it would lead to unhealthy competition
between State-owned and foreign companies and enterprises of other economic
sectors and a lack of transparency in bidding packages, thus distorting the
business environment.
Although the
directive helped many companies, it is not considered a motivation for them
to develop operations. Domestically-made products are not diversified in
terms of designs and categories, and are of dismal quality. A number of
enterprises have found it difficult to secure quantity and quality as well as
delivery schedule.
Sasco to
launch IPO next month
Tan Son Nhat
Airport Services Company (Sasco), a subsidiary of Airports Corporation of
According to
Sasco’s equitization plan approved by the Ministry of Transport, the State
owns 67.06 million shares, equivalent to 51% of the company’s chartered
capital. The company will sell over 2.3 million (1.75%) shares to its
employees.
Sasco plans to put
up 31.1 million shares (23.65%) for public auction and sell 31.03 million
shares (23.6%) to strategic investors.
The auction will
take place on September 18 on the Hochiminh Stock Exchange. Notably, foreign
investors are permitted to buy all the shares on offer.
At least three
strategic investors have registered to buy shares of Sasco, with Imex Pan
Pacific Co., Ltd. proposing 21.04 million shares (16%), Au Chau Fashion and
Cosmetics Co., Ltd. about 3.42 million shares (2.6%) and Duy Anh Fashion and
Cosmetics Co., Ltd. around 6.58 million shares (5%).
Sasco now has 1,596
employees but the number of employees will drop to 1,586 after its
equitization.
Headquartered at
Sasco, Noi Bai
Airport Services Company (Nasco) and Danang Airport Services Company (Masco)
are the three big companies offering services at airports in
15% of
conditional business sectors proposed for abolishment
Agencies of the
Government agreed on a proposal by the Ministry of Planning and Investment to
axe around 15% of conditional business sectors at a meeting held in
The meeting took
place more than one week after the National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee
urged the Government to complete a list of prohibited and conditional business
sectors soon so that the legislative body can consider and approve relevant
amendments to the Investment Law at its eighth session later this
year.
To prepare for the
amendments, the Ministry of Planning and Investment has been told to
coordinate with other ministries and agencies to draw up a list of banned and
conditional business sectors and report it to the Government before
presenting it to the NA Standing Committee.
The planning
ministry reported at the meeting chaired by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung
that there are 386 conditional business areas overseen by 16 ministries and
sectors and regulated in 391 legal documents, including 56 laws, eight
ordinances, 115 decrees, 176 circulars, 26 decisions of ministers and two
documents of ministries.
Preliminary reviews
indicated that around 56 out of the 386 conditional business areas can be
eliminated.
The MPI proposed
abolishing the business sectors which no longer need controls; removing or
amending unnecessary, unreasonable and unclear conditions; and changing some
business conditions from license issuance to self-registration.
Government members
at the meeting agreed on removing 15% of unnecessary conditional sectors and
ministries and agencies to continue their reviews to ensure a list of conditional
business sectors for feasible implementation, business freedom and the
efficiency of the State management before presenting it to the NA Standing
Committee and the NA.
The planning
ministry suggested retaining only eight out of 51 prohibited business sectors
at present.
According to
Vietnam News Agency, the Prime Minister hailed coordination between
ministries and agencies in reviewing banned and conditional business sectors
as well as encouraging sectors and localities for investors. But, he insisted
limits on the rights of citizens should be made specifically in laws, and
people and enterprises can do business in the areas not prohibited by law.
“State management
is not for our convenience but aims to create favorable conditions for people
and enterprises to do business and to make investments,” the Prime Minister
said.
Online tax
declaration more popular among enterprises
Online tax
declaration has become popular among enterprises, with some major localities
reporting the penetration rate of over 90%, according to the General
Department of Taxation.
As of the first
half of the year, the online tax declaration service provided by the general
department is available in all the 63 provinces and cities nationwide with
nearly 400,000 businesses and organizations using it.
Over 90% of
companies in HCMC,
The General
Department of Taxation said that by the end of this year, 95-100% of
enterprises should have used the online tax declaration service, which is in
line with the Government’s target for improving administrative procedures
concerning tax payment.
Local tax
departments applying the value added tax (VAT) management system have to
encourage enterprises to do tax declaration online from October this year,
according to the general department.
After the central
tax management system is completed, all companies nationwide could use it to
fill out tax declaration forms, said the department.
Previously, the Ba
Ria-Vung Tau Tax Department ordered its sub-departments to deploy online tax
declarations while newly-established or operating organizations must register
their online signatures to do the tax declaration service from this year’s
second half.
Ties
between State groups marred by substandard products
Two years since
State-owned groups were directed by the Government to strengthen ties among
themselves, especially in consuming one another’s products, the results are
still not satisfactory as many products of one group have failed to suit the
demand of the other.
Experts and leaders
of many corporations at a review meeting on August 19 assessed domestic
products in many instances cannot meet high demand for quality and designs,
the Vietnam News Agency reports. Local producers need to focus on technical
improvement, cost reduction and to operate on the basis of market principles,
they said at the meeting held by the Ministry of Industry and Trade in
Nguyen Xuan Son,
general director of Vietnam Oil and Gas Corp. (PetroVietnam), said his group
prioritized products supplied by other local corporations. However, it is
difficult to further bolster this cooperation format because many domestic products
are unqualified.
The leader of
PetroVietnam stated his company had to import millions of tons of finished
steel products because the low-quality steel in local market cannot meet the
demand of high-tech projects. Even simple details like screws had to be
imported due to the poor corrosion-resistance of Vietnam-made products.
In fact,
PetroVietnam has shaken hands with Vietnam Electricity Group (EVN) to
construct power plants and use electricity generated by each other. It also
worked with Vietnam National Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex) to jointly
produce fiber, and purchase petroleum products of Dung Quat Oil Refinery
under Vietnam National Petroleum Group (Petrolimex).
Tran Quang Nghi,
general director of Vinatex, suggested that the Ministry of Industry and
Trade make comparisons of foreign and domestic products so that businesses
will feel more secure and reasonable when choosing local products of the same
quality and same price.
Two years after the
cooperation agreements to prioritize Vietnamese products in manufacturing,
many domestic firms have created a supply chain to clear stock and reduce
expenses.
In 2012, EVN’s
local purchases of materials and equipment accounted for 42%, but the rate
increased to over 48% in the first nine months of 2013.
This rate at
Vietnam Vegetable Oils Industry Corporation stood at 68% in 2012 and 88% in
the first nine months of 2013.
Domestic production
satisfied 35% of petroleum needs, 40% of mechanical engineering products, and
100% of building materials. The number is 50% for liquefied petroleum gas,
basic chemicals and pulp and 30% for scrap steel and fabric.
According to the
Ministry of Industry and Trade, products which are manufactured in the country
cannot compete with imports in terms of quality and design. Some are not
qualified enough to be used in hi-tech works.
To improve the
situation, the ministry is singling out 20 competitive product groups for
businesses to choose from instead of importing, said deputy minister Ho Thi
Kim Thoa. At the same time, other measures will be mulled to push up
the market and create a connection among local firms.
She also stressed
companies under the Ministry of Industry and Trade had to improve their
manufacturing, find solutions to cut costs and enhance competitiveness.
Farmers
advised to attend more to dragon fruit quality
Despite soaring
export revenue of the dragon fruit, many agricultural experts advised farmers
to focus more on quality rather than quantity to avoid sluggish consumption
that happened to watermelon earlier this year.
The local fruit
market has seen strong fluctuations since
Vietnam shipped
abroad more than 200,000 tons of dragon fruit worth US$150 million in the
year’s first half, rising 40% and 60% year-on-year respectively, said Luong
Ngoc Trung Lap, head of the market research department at the Southern Fruit
Research Institute (SOFRI).
Export of this
fruit to the U.S. fetched US$6 million followed by Japan with US$3.1 million,
Hong Kong with US$2.5 million and South Korea with US$1.5 million, showing
sharp increases of between 38% and 200%, while shipments to China generated
US$110 million despite volatility.
The SOFRI estimated
the fruit output at 650,000 tons with the export volume accounting for 420,000-450,000
tons for the whole year, up 20,000-50,000 tons against last year.
However, Lap also
expressed his concern over the quality of dragon fruit for export whereas the
volume of low-grade dragon fruit still remains high. Therefore, it is crucial
to attend more to the quality to meet the export standards.
Le Minh Duc,
director of Long An Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said
Meanwhile, Lap said
local exporters recently have further penetrated a number of choosy markets
requiring high quality such as the
Nguyen Huu Dat,
director of Post Entry Quarantine Center 2 under the Plant Protection
Department, advised local exporters to classify the fruit thoroughly together
with careful and attractive packaging before shipment.
L’Oréal
L’Oréal Group has
appointed Brendon Urlich as country managing director of L’Oréal
Since joining the
company in 2012, Urlich has spearheaded the strategy to develop Consumer
Product Division into a leading supplier in the grocery channels and is on
August 20 the No.1 supplier in the Health and Beauty category in
“L’Oréal
Before joining
L’Oréal Group, he had had an international career with British American
Tobacco that took him across ASEAN, South Eastern Europe, the Middle East,
Lam Dong promotes high-tech agricultural projects
The Central
highland
The Agriteck Japan
Company has received an investment licence to implement its US$2 million high
tech project on vegetable cultivation and livestock farming at Tu Tra
commune, Don Duong district.
Hankook Samgon
Company from the
The People’s
Committee of Lam Dong Province has also allowed
A 600-km section of
Gia Lai lies in the
region’s intersection connecting with the central coastal area where there
are six economic zones, 54 industrial parks and 13 seaports.
Contractors have
been speeding up construction of the section, which has a total investment of
16 trillion VND (752 million USD).
Once finished, the
section will stretch over 97 km through five districts and Pleiku city of
To benefit most
from the new road will be the province’s processing sector.
Gia Lai holds huge
advantages of industrial crop farming as it owns more than 100,000 ha grown
with rubber trees, nearly 80,000 ha with coffee plants, and about 10,000 ha
producing pepper.
Products from these
industrial plants as well as other farm and forestry items will see their
values rising because the highway will fix the existing poor transport
system, which has for long lowered prices of these products.
The road will
become an advantage of Gia Lai in luring more foreign and domestic
investments for exploiting its position in the Vietnam-Laos-Cambodia
development triangle.
In 2013 and the
first half of 2014, the province granted investment licences to and approved
149 projects valued tens of trillion VND. Notably, 52 projects with a total
investment of 5.85 trillion VND (274.95 million USD) have become operational,
while other 57 projects totalling 12 trillion VND (564 million USD) are
carrying out construction work.
The local tourism
sector has pinned much hope on the future road to strengthen its connectivity
wit neighbouring localities to fully tap a treasure of natural resources and
landscape held by the locality and the entire Central Highlands, such as
T’nung lake, Phu Cuong waterfall, Kon Ka Kinh National Park, Mang Den, and
Yok Don National Park.
Human
resource plays a key role in business growth
For a business to
be successful, focus should be on developing staff, participants said at a
panel discussion on "CEO perspectives on HR management" held in
Businesses depend
on many factors, including capital, technology and human resources, but of
these, HR plays a decisive role in success, said Nguyen Trong Dam, Deputy
Minister of the Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs.
If a business has
high-quality HR and a good management policy, it could promote their
employees' potential, he said.
Nguyen Ngoc Hoa,
Chairman of Saigon Co.op, said HR was even more important in the time of
economic integration.
HR practitioners
must understand the business operations of their companies and their staff in
order to develop appropriate HR strategies to maximise the latter's
potential.
"Besides
training, companies need to develop their business culture, and create a good
working environment to retain people," he said.
Delegates at the
event agreed that local companies were paying more attention to making their
HR management more professional.
Enterprises
investing in people and in HR management usually achieved great success, they
said.
Edward Foong, assistant
honorary secretary of the Singapore Human Resources Institute (SHRI), said
HR managers in
In
HR management in
A combination of a
relationship focus and standardisation would be better for the HR community
in
"The HR
community needs to continue to upgrade to be more confident, to earn the seat
next to the CEO of an organisation and not see yourself as an administrator
only doing transactions," he said.
"I see
A few years from
now, Vietnam HR community and Singapore HR community could be on par with
each other, he said.
To recognise HR
people as well as create a platform for HR practitioners to share experience,
the Talentnet Corporation and the Labour and Social Affairs newspaper on
August 19 launched the Vietnam HR Awards, the first of its kind in the
country.
Endorsed by the
Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, the awards aim to honour
organisations that have achieved overall effectiveness in their HR and people
management practices, and have established common codes for measuring HR
management, said Tieu Yen Trinh, General Director of Talentnet Corporation.
Based on the
professional methods of the Singapore Human Resources Institute (SHRI), the
awards also aim to connect enterprise owners and staff through raising
awareness about HR's role.
Any business
operating in
Registration is now
open until September 19, and awards will be presented in December.
Source:
VEF/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/Dantri/VIR
|
Thứ Ba, 26 tháng 8, 2014
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