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BUSINESS
IN BRIEF 13/9
Market info
will be richly available at export forum
Business
information about potential export markets will be richly available at the
2014 Export Forum this Friday in HCMC, with trade counselors from several
countries coming to answer enterprises’ queries, said the organizer.
The Export Forum is
the annual event organized by the HCMC Investment and Trade Promotion Center
(ITPC) to assist enterprises in exploring potential export markets, and
identifying trends and requirements of markets they want to penetrate.
According to ITPC,
its discussions with business associations and corporations in preparation
for the forum showed that textile, garment, footwear, woodwork and seafood
enterprises are boosting exports to traditional markets such as the
In particular,
textile and garment enterprises also eye markets that are to join the
Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and want to promote exports to ASEAN
countries.
Meanwhile, in
addition to increasing exports to the ASEAN market, woodwork enterprises said
they would seek ways to bolster shipments to Eastern Europe and the
Due to many changes
in the EU market,
The
In addition to the
Ho Xuan Lam, deputy
director of ITPC, said the organizer was aware of markets local enterprises
are targeting at, so it has invited to the 2014 Export Forum representatives
of foreign trade offices, Vietnamese trade counselors abroad and foreign
counselors in
Difficulties local
enterprises encounter and their proposals will be reported to the Ministry of
Industry and Trade, the HCMC government and relevant agencies, Lam said.
Sectors like
textile, garment, footwear and woodwork are growing well but supporting
industries are still inadequate, and thus enterprises will not be able to
make the most of new trade agreements Vietnam is about to sign.
Besides,
information about free trade agreements
Representatives of
relevant agencies and fuel trading firms in HCMC have met to discuss ways to
boost the sale of E5 bio-fuel at more filling stations here in the city.
There are around
three months left for the city to widely distribute E5 as told by the
Government, but only 29 out of 504 pumping stations retail the bio-fuel. Some
traders have had no station selling this fuel since 2010.
A report by the
HCMC Department of Industry and Trade showed that since a pilot scheme for
selling E5 was initiated in October 2010, a mere 29 filling stations citywide
have been selling E5. Local fuel trading firms have pledged to put into
service 29 more E5 filling stations towards the year-end, bringing the total
number to 58.
In fact, a number
of fuel trading firms in the outlying districts of Hoc Mon, Can Gio and Cu
Chi have had to shut down their E5 pumps due to losses in the past four
years.
Fuel trading firms
are now awaiting the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s detailed instructions
about a road map for E5 distribution in December to know if distributors and
agents get any support and whether the price mechanism of E5 is different
from that of other fuel products or not.
According to
petroleum wholesalers, the selling of E5 is costlier than the standard A92
petrol and they cannot force agents to sell E5 if agents make little profit.
Le Ngoc Dao, deputy
director of the HCMC Department of Industry and Trade, said the department
would continue asking the ministry to issue a guiding document on specific
mechanisms and support for firms selling the bio-fuel.
Fuel trading firms
said E5 should not be available together with A92 gasoline at the same
station because retailing different types of fuel would make it costly to
equip extra gas pumps.
Dang Vinh Sang,
general director of Saigon Petro, said the company and other wholesalers
wanted E5 to be sold like what
However, the
department questioned if fuel trading firms are able to supply sufficient E5,
but no fuel traders could answer that question at the meeting as they have
yet to know the real demand for E5.
The department
targets to have one or two filling stations selling E5 in each district
towards the year-end.
EVN says
extra 700MW for national grid this month
Vietnam Electricity
Group (EVN) said it would be putting into operation the second generator of
Vinh Tan 2 thermal power plant and the first generator of Song Bung 4
hydropower project this month to supply an additional 700MW for the national
grid.
Besides new
generators put in place, EVN will make the most of operational hydropower,
and coal- and gas-fired power plants in September to ensure power supply for
southern
Earlier this year,
the first generator of Vinh Tan 2 Thermal Power Plant in
EVN plans to sign
an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for the extended
Duyen Hai 3 Thermal Power Plant this month. This US$870-million project has
an initial capacity of 600MW and is scheduled to generate electricity from
2019.
Duyen Hai 3 is one
of the three power projects located at the
Cashew
firms decry shortage of material
Domestic cashew
processing companies have found themselves in hot water as many foreign crude
cashew suppliers have failed to make deliveries as contracted, prompting a
shortage of material for processing.
The Vietnam Cashew
Association (Vinacas) recently said many international raw cashew suppliers
did not observe the delivery schedules specified in the contracts, or the
quantity and quality of shipments are not aligned with signed agreements.
Parties made deals
when crude cashew prices were low. Therefore, foreign exporters had a
tendency to cancel contracts to avoid losses at the time of delivery as
prices climbed sharply.
Vinacas is now
waiting for reports about the shortfall of cashew compared to the signed
contracts from its members.
In a written
request sent to domestic businesses, this association also asked for the
names of discrediting cashew exporters to make a black list to warn the
business community worldwide.
According to the
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development,
In January-August,
The seven-month
export price of cashew nuts averaged out at US$6,438 per ton, rising 1.4%
year-on-year. The
Nam Con Son Gas
Pipeline Company on September 9 conducted a drill to fight a leak on its gas
pipeline around 300 kilometers off the coast of
Hoang Minh, general
director of Nam Con Son Pipeline Company, told the Daily that the national
energy security could be seriously undermined if any incident hit the gas
pipeline. Therefore, the company has practiced the drill simulating a real
gas leak to ensure the safety of the pipeline.
Minh recalled a gas
leak on the gas pipeline system in August last year. However, the operating
unit of the company had promptly fixed it within 48 hours owing to the
available process of activating the emergency response system.
Energy experts
noted that if the Nam Con Son gas pipeline had any unexpected supply
interruption, Vietnam Electricity Group (EVN) would be forced to resort to
oil to generate power with a cost of VND400 billion a day.
The Nam Con Son gas
pipeline with total investment of US$1.3 billion is now jointly operated by
PetroVietnam Gas Corporation with a majority interest of 51%, Russian oil
firm Rosneft with 32.67% and Anglo-French company Parenco with 16.33%.
The gas pipeline
conveys 22 million cubic meters of gas onshore a day to supply gas-fueled
power plants that are responsible for one-third of the nation’s electric
power output.
Draft
investment law bans 11 business areas
The latest draft
law on investment sent to the National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee for
discussion on September 9 lists 11 prohibited business areas compared to
eight banned areas in the earlier draft.
In fact, there are
only two more business areas added to the prohibition list: trading of
cultural products jeopardizing national security and breaching social
morality; and trading of counterfeit and toxic products harmful to human
lives and health, except for products listed in the conditional business
areas.
Meanwhile, the
banned area of human trafficking and prostitution mentioned in the initially
proposed list is now split into prostitution business and trafficking of
humans and human organs.
The updated draft
only suggests banning trading of GMO animals instead of GMO products in
general as proposed earlier, which means production of genetically-modified
plants such as corn can be approved.
Eleven business
areas which are to be banned include:
- Trading of
military weapons and equipment; specialized military and police vehicles;
military equipment for the armed forces; specialized components, parts,
accessories, equipment, specialized technology to produce such items, except
for ones produced on the State’s orders;
- Trading of drugs
prescribed in Appendix 1 of the law, except for the use for analysis,
testing, scientific research, medicine, criminal investigation under the
provisions of the State;
- Trading of
chemicals in Table 1 in accordance with the international conventions in
Appendix 2 of the law;
- Trading of
firecrackers, except for signal flares, toy crackers under the provisions of
the State;
- Prostitution
business;
- Trafficking of
humans and human organs;
- Trading of wild
plants and animals mentioned in Appendix 1 of the Convention on International
Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), endangered, rare plants and animals of
Group 1 mentioned in Appendix 3 of the law;
- Activities
related to human cloning;
- Trade in GMO
animals;
- Trade in cultural
products jeopardizing national security and breaching social morality;
- Trade in
counterfeit and toxic products risking human lives and health, except for
products listed in the conditional business areas portfolio.
Dairy
industry focuses on tech, product diversity
Vietnamese dairy
firms are stepping up investments in technology and manufacturing facilities
to diversify their products and enhance quality to meet the consumers’ rising
demand, heard a seminar in Hanoi on September 9.
Vu Ngoc Quynh,
general secretary of the Vietnam Dairy Association (VDA), was quoted by
Vietnam News Agency as saying “the local dairy industry has made remarkable
breakthroughs in terms of processing and cow breeding technologies.” He was
speaking at the seminar on development and diversity of dairy products for
public health co-organized by VDA and the Vietnam Association of Food Science
and Technology in
Many dairy plants
comparable to the world’s advanced dairy facilities have been established in
Vinamilk has also
built another plant producing powdered milk for children with an annual
capacity of 54,000 tons a year. It is also equipped with a closed automatic
production system meeting international standards.
Statistics of the
Ministry of Industry and Trade showed that powered milk output increased by
nearly 5.5% in the year’s first five months compared to the same period last
year. Meanwhile, the national herd is expected to increase to 240,000 dairy
cows next year and 400,000 in 2020.
However, he said
although Vietnam is a dairy exporter, the local dairy consumption remains
lower than in South Korea, Japan and other regional nations.
Figures recorded
last year indicated that every Vietnamese consumed an average 51 kilograms of
milk while a Japanese person consumed more than 81 kilograms. This is one of
the reasons behind the malnutrition of the Vietnamese people as seen in their
height far lower than the average in
Nguyen Quoc Khanh,
executive director of Vinamilk, said the company has policy to aid dairy
farming households in breeding dairy cattle and build large-scale and modern
farms with thousands of cows.
It also has a
number of dairy farms meeting GlobalGAP (Good Agricultural Practice) located
in the provinces of Nghe An, Lam Dong and Tuyen Quang.
One-stop
customs mechanism planned by year-end
National Single
Window, a one-stop customs mechanism, is expected to get into full swing in
December this year as part of the Government’s moves to simplify customs
procedures for enterprises.
As scheduled, the
ministries of Finance and Transport will prepare for the one-stop customs
mechanism to come online this November. In the initial stage, only certain
registration procedures for ship arrivals and departures will be applied.
The electronic
administrative system will be connected to the ministries of Finance,
Transport, and Industry-Trade in the first phase to be implemented until the
end of 2014 before other ministries and agencies.
Enterprises will be
allowed to send their files to the system so that ministries and agencies can
process them online and issue licenses in line with relevant procedures and
approvals by participating agencies.
Earlier, Deputy
Prime Minister Vu Van Ninh, head of the national steering committee for the
one-door customs mechanism, signed Decision No.56/QD-BCDASW assigning duties
to relevant ministries and agencies in preparation for the launch of the
system in December after informing businesses of their connections to the
system.
The new mechanism
enables individuals and organizations involved in import and export
activities to submit information and standardized documents to only one
address. Initially, it will be implemented on a pilot scheme for the import,
export and transit of cargo and transportation means in accordance with the
Customs Law.
Belgian
region keen to promote investment in Vietnam
A seminar was held
in
During the fair,
speakers described
With many
advantages,
Belgian Ambassador
to Vietnam Angelet Bruno emphasised that economic relations between
Mr Ralph Moreau,
Economic and Trade Counsellor for the Flemish Region from Flanders Invest
& Trade (FIT) said
Lawyer Luong Van
Ly, Adviser and Head of Investment and Trade Desk of VLT Lawyers introduced
participants about
This year,
Tokyo Keiki
launches new factory in High-Tech Park
Japan based Tokyo
Keiki Precision Technology on September 10 inaugurated a US$40 million 30,000
sq metre facility producing high tech electromagnetic switching valves and
high pressure pane pumps in the central city of Danang.
General Manger of
Tokyo Keiki Technology said the company decided to invest in Danang as a
result of sound relationship between
The company will
expand market share in developing countries in a bid to meet growing demand
for hydraulic equipment, he noted.
Minister of
Construction urges more low-income housing
Minister of
Construction Trinh Dinh Dung has asked contractors to prioritise invests in
low-income housing projects, as 90% of citizens can only afford the homes in
this sector.
According to Dung,
even though these domiciles are listed as homes for low-income people, they
are the only residences within the reach of most Vietnamese citizens. He said
that 90% of citizens have a need for apartments costing less than VND15
million (USD714) per square metre.
"We still
can't meet the huge demand. There are still many poor families in the cities
and in the industrial zones. I once saw a five-member family living in a
16-square-metre house," he added.
Dung proposed that
local authorities in
On September 9, the
minister, along with the authorities of Hanoi People's Committee, conducted
inspections of several social housing and dormitory projects. The minister
showed his approval with the quality and suggested that contractors also
provide furniture at low cost.
Nguyen Ngoc Tuan,
vice chairman of Hanoi People's Committee, said
However, Deputy
Minister of Construction Nguyen Tran
American
investors fired up over TPP
A wave of American
investments is hitting
According to the
2015 ASEAN Business Outlook Survey of American Companies recently released by
the American Chamber of Commerce in
In addition, 62 per
cent of respondents in
US-backed
agricultural firm Dekalb
Nguyen Viet Ha,
managing director of the
Expected to be clinched
next year, the TPP is a multilateral free trade pact between Australia,
Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore,
the US, and Vietnam. Once signed, the pact will cover almost 40 per cent of
global gross domestic product.
Under the TPP, all
tariffs for exported agricultural products would be reduced to zero per cent,
if 70 per cent of the products are sourced from TPP members.
Kevin Gardner,
senior director of Walmart Global’s International Corporate Affairs, told VIR
that Walmart was a strong advocate of the TPP negotiations which could
greatly benefit it in the Vietnamese market.
“This comprehensive
trade agreement provides market access and will bring a wide range of
Vietnamese goods and agricultural products to consumers in our key retail
markets in the US, Canada, Mexico, Japan, and Chile,” he said.
Also under the
survey conducted in May and June,
Specifically, 41
per cent of respondents select
Some 66 per cent of
respondents expected profits to increase in
The Ministry of
Industry and Trade’s draft decree on managing beer production and consumption
contains many unrealistic and infeasible regulations that need to be either
amended or omitted, local brewing companies said at a conference on Tuesday.
Vietnamese brewers
were invited by the ministry to the event to give feedback on the draft
decree, which aims to ban beer sales on the sidewalk and to people under 18
years old, as well as pregnant and lactating women.
The ministry has
also proposed forcing beer companies to place stamps on their products to
fight counterfeits, warn drinkers of alcohol abuse, and prevent tax evasion.
The draft document
was announced early this month and immediatelygreeted with objections from
brewers, beer vendors, and drinkers, who say it lacks feasibility.
The ministry thus
held the conference in
Nguyen Van Viet,
chairman of the Vietnam Beer Alcohol Beverage Association, said it is
impossible to tell whether a woman is pregnant or breastfeeding and refuse to
sell beer to her.
“We should not put
things we cannot control into a decree,” Viet said. “This should only be
stated in educational or warning documents.”
Lu Bang, from the
Department of Industry and Trade in the central coastal city of
Bang, however,
showed support for the ban on sales to people under 18, saying this is
“necessary for a civilized society.”
$75.31
million to stamp beer products
Meanwhile, Vu Xuan
Dung, deputy general director of the Hanoi Beer, Alcohol, and Beverage JSC,
blasted the regulation on stamping beer products as “too costly,” adding that
no country forces producers to place warning labels on liquor products.
Given that a stamp
costs VND160, the total expense for stamping every unit would be VND1.6 trillion
(US$75.31 million) a year.
“If a regulation is
costly and ineffective, we should consider whether or not applying it is a
good idea,” he said.
Nguyen Tien Sy,
deputy head of marketing of the Saigon Beer-Alcohol-Beverage JSC, calculated
that stamping its products would cost the company VND800 billion ($37.65
million) a year.
“This will greatly
affect our salary fund and social costs,” he said, adding that it could also
“create a market for fake stamps.”
Trinh Thi Hang Nga,
head of the legislation department under the Ministry of Transport, said she
wonders how regulatory agencies would detect breaches of beer regulations and
enact sanctions on the violators.
After hearing
feedback from the delegates, Phan Chi Dung, head of the Light Industry
Department, the main composer of the controversial draft decree, rejected the
notion that banning sidewalk beer sales is impossible.
“Some localities,
such as
Dung added,
however, that the regulation “will be reconsidered and may be omitted.”
As for the beer
stamp regulation, the official said that citing large beer production is a
weak argument, as cigarettes, whose annual production is around four billion
packs, are currently stamped.
“We will report
this to the government, and will enforce the regulation if it is
green-lighted,” he said.
Ethanol
fuel to go available nationwide next year
Ethanol gasoline
blend or bio gasoline E5 will be mandatorily used in seven provinces and
cities of
The seven provinces
and cities include
Gasoline E5 is a
blend of five percent ethanol and 95 percent traditional gasoline, said Dr.
Pham Huu Tuyen from the Hanoi University of Technology.
The bio gasoline
helps increase engine power, reduce fuel consumption and exhaust fume
emission. It has already been used in developed countries, aiming to protect
the environment, he said.
In
The Ministry of
Industry and Trade has proposed the Government to reduce some fuel tariffs
and fees, aiming at lower E5 gasoline price and demand stimulation of the new
fuel.
Eight more
enterprises receive customs preference
Eight more
companies have been granted priority enterprise status by the General
Department of Customs (GDC), giving them preference for customs procedures
over other companies.
The companies
include Samsung
According to the
GDC, these companies will be entitled to huge advantages including simplified
customs procedures, quick customs clearance, reduced charges, and increased
business efficiency.
GDC Deputy Director
General Hoang Viet Cuong said the priority enterprise programme reflects a
change of mindset, from considering enterprises as those to be administered,
to regarding them as partners.
Cuong said the GDC
would expand the programme in the coming period to also include logistics
firms.
So far the GDC has
granted priority status to 24 enterprises and is planning to raise the total
to 30 by the end of the year.
Local steel
firms concerned about Russian imports
Steel companies in
The VCUFTA is one
of more than 10 bilateral and multilateral FTAs which
In previous rounds
of negotiations, the parties concerned agreed on the general structure of the
FTA and its implementation roadmap. Due to little principle difference,
Chu Duc Khai, vice
chairman of the Vietnam Steel Association, said Vietnam is ready for
competition from various sides but the competitiveness of local enterprises
are still weak and are not at the same level although their production scales
have been improved over the past years.
The local steel
industry has seen supply far surpassing demand while many new projects will
be put into operation soon, make competition among local steel makers
stronger. Therefore, they will face hefty challenges if many FTAs are in
place while authorities have not given timely support.
The association has
been concerned about steel imports from
When tariff
barriers between
Khai clarified that
the steel industry will not ask for a protection mechanism but a tariff
reduction roadmap in five or 10 years. Besides, it is necessary to calculate
the list of steel products subject to tax incentives.
The Ministry of
Finance during the six rounds of negotiations suggested that the steel sector
enjoy a tax rate of 0% right after the FTA takes effect and other sectors get
tariff exemptions after a maximum of five years.
Meanwhile,
Experts said tariff
reductions for those products are being made gradually under the effective
FTA between
Visiting Speaker of
the Assembly of the Union of Myanmar Thura U Shwe Mann on Sunday called on
Vietnamese firms to strengthen investment and trade ties with
At a meeting with
the Association of Vietnamese Investors in Myanmar (AVIM) on Sunday during
his official four-day visit to
As many as 56
Vietnamese businesses have received investment certificates to do business in
These projects
included Hoang Anh Gia Lai Group’s complex of hotels, apartments and offices
worth US$440 million and Anh Sao Viet Pharmaceuticals Corporation’s drug
making facility worth US$23 million.
Tran Bac Ha, board
chairman of Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV) who also
serves as AVIM chairman, hoped to raise the association’s investment in
AVIM members at the
meeting proposed the
The association also
hoped
Established under
an initiative by BIDV, AVIM comprising of 76 members such as PetroVietnam,
Vietnam Airlines, Hoang Anh Gia Lai Group and Song Da Corporation has sent
nearly 5,000 Vietnamese businessmen to
Processors
to be forced to sign contracts with shrimp growers
Shrimp processing
enterprises will have to own shrimp farms with output accounting for at least
10% of their capacity and secure contracts to buy unprocessed shrimp from
farmers if a new shrimp farming and processing management plan is approved.
The Vietnam
Directorate of Fisheries is gathering comments on the plan aimed at better
managing shrimp farming, processing and export in the Mekong Delta region.
As explained by the
directorate, it is urgent to devise such a plan to fully tap shrimp resources
and change shrimp farming practices to reduce risks in environment, diseases
and market volatility.
The directorate
calculated there had been nearly 596,000 hectares under shrimp farming in the
Mekong Delta as of last year, nearly 91% the country’s total. Tiger prawn
made up over 580,000 hectares.
Shrimp bred in
brackish water in the region reached 431,570 tons, including 133,500 tons in
Ca Mau Province, 85,630 tons in
But the volume can
meet only 60-70% of the designed capacities of shrimp processing plants in 13
localities in the Mekong Delta as shrimp supply depends much on factors such
as farming season, disease and the gap between shrimp processing capacity and
farming. Enterprises have no choice but to count on imports of unprocessed
shrimp.
In fact, there are
few seafood enterprises able to develop their own material areas and in deals
to buy shrimp from farmers. Many other firms purchase unprocessed shrimp from
intermediaries.
Therefore, the
directorate has drafted requirements for processing plants to have shrimp
farms capable of meeting 10% of their capability in the plan. They will have
to buy the remaining shrimp for their processing from farmers in line with
contracts signed between the two parties and certified by competent
administering agencies.
VietGAP (Good
Agricultural Practices) standards will be applied to all shrimp farms in the
Mekong Delta region as required in the scheme, which is expected for adoption
from 2015 to 2020.
Bilateral
trade with
Total trade
turnover between
Urrutia was speaking
at a workshop on free trade between the two countries in Ha Noi yesterday.
Bilateral trade
reached $560 million in 2013, 55 per cent in favour of
The Ambassador said
that when he first arrived in 2010, the volume was only $334 million, 69 per
cent in favour of
According to
statistics from the Chilean Trade Commission, known as ProChile, between
January and May this year Chilean exports to
This was a trade
increase of 19.2 per cent compared to the same period last year.
A Free Trade
Agreement that took effect on January 1 created new business opportunities
for both sides and made it easier to access other markets within each region.
The agreement
covers more than 9,000 products. For
The FTA is focused
on the trade of goods, leaving negotiations about services and investments to
a second stage.
According to the
agreement,
ProChile statistics
of export turnover of Chilean goods to
Compared to
The capitalisation
of
"In these
particular markets, we expect to grow at a rates over 20 per cent in goods
that exclude copper," said Rivera.
The workshop was
organised by the Embassy of
Source: VEF/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/Dantri/VIR
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Thứ Sáu, 12 tháng 9, 2014
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