|
BUSINESS
IN BRIEF 16/9
The Mekong Delta
targets reaching tra fish export turnover of US$2-$2.5 billion in 2016,
according to a master plan for tra fish breeding and processing in the
region.
Under the master
plan, by 2016 the areas under tra fish breeding in the Mekong Delta will be
less than 5,400ha, producing from 1.25 million to 1.3 million tonnes of tra
fish.
By 2020, the areas
under tra fish breeding will reach 7,600 to 7,800 ha, producing from 1.8
million to 1.9 million tonnes of tra fish.
By that time, 15 to
20 per cent of tra fish production will be processed to become value-added
export products. The value-added processing will help raise the export
turnover of the tra fish products from $2.6 billion to $3 billion.
The areas under tra
fish breeding, estimated to be from 1,700 to 2,500 ha, are zoned for
Quang Ninh
highway work starts
Prime Minister
Nguyen Tan Dung on Saturday gave the order to start construction of a highway
linking Ha Long city in the northern coastal
The 19.5km highway
will be built at a total cost of over VND6.4 trillion (US$300.8 million) from
The four-lane
highway has been designed for vehicles to run at a maximum speed of 100km per
hour.
When completed in
2016, it will shorten the distance between Ha Long and Hai Phong from 75km to
25km.
Dung hailed Quang
Ninh's efforts in mobilising resources for the project. He said this was the
first highway construction project started by a locality by mobilising local
resources.
He said it was
significant in economic, cultural and social development terms and also for
security and defence for the province and the nation.
Dung praised the
province for strictly complying with Government regulations on land clearance
and compensation.
He said by time
work started, all land clearance work had been fully completed. He also
expressed his appreciation to the more than 900 affected households for
co-operating with the project in the common good.
He asked the
Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Planning and Investment and other
relevant agencies to facilitate work with Japanese partners so that an early
start could be made on construction of the Bach Dang bridge that will link
the Ha Long-Hai Phong highway to the Ha Noi-Hai Phong highway.
Work on Bach Dang
bridge is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2015. The bridge will be
5.45km long and cost VND7.2 trillion (more than US$342.85 million) under the
build-operate-transfer form by Japanese group SE.
The new highway
will help increase the flow of goods between Quang Ninh and
Dung also attended
a conference in Quang Ninh to announce the province's seven strategic plans.
The plans, which
cover the period to 2020 with a vision until 2030, include overall socio-economic
development for the province, construction for areas within the province,
tourism development, environmental goals, land-use, scientific and
technological development, and human-resources development.
Dung praised
provincial authorities and people for their remarkable achievements in
socio-economic development. He cited the province's high annual GDP growth
rate of 9 per cent - and the sharp decline to 2 per cent in the number of
poor households.
At the same time,
Dung urged the province to ponder its failure to take full advantage of its
potential. As an example, he said agriculture contributed to only 6 per cent
of the province's GDP, yet it used 40 per cent of the province's workforce,
indicating that this mismatch was unsustainable.
He also said many
issues related to environmental pollution remained unsolved, and labour
productivity was still low.
Dung urged the
province to pay special attention to administrative reforms so prospective
investors would be impressed.
He also instructed
the province to build a strong, transparent and effective political system,
strengthen national defence and security, safeguard national sovereignty and
promote relations with neighbouring
TPP
negotiations making progress
Trans-Pacific
Partnership (TPP) chief negotiators have made important progress across a
range of issues as they continue their drive toward a comprehensive agreement
after 10 days of intensive meetings last week.
"We are
committed to a focused work plan, which will allow us to make continued
progress," said Barbara Weisel,
Through the TPP,
the
The
During last week's
session in Ha Noi, many issues were resolved between the US and its TPP
partners – Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia,
Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Viet Nam.
The teams made
important progress on State-owned enterprises, intellectual property,
investment, rules of origin, transparency and anti-corruption, and labour.
They also continued
to construct ambitious packages for preferential access to each other's
markets for goods, services, investment, financial services, and government
procurement.
The
Domestic
retailers struggle to compete
A lack of a master
retail plan has caused insecurity and confusion in the local retail sector,
leaving many of them losing market share to their foreign rivals, independent
market analysts have said.
According to the
"The Liveliness of Retail Markets in Asia –Pacific 2014" report
that CBRE recently released,
In CBRE's report,
Ha Noi and
Foreign retailers
had flocked to the country in recent years to take advantage of the
opportunities and enter the market at the right time.
Firms such as AEON,
Dunkin' Donuts, Auntie Anne's, Starbucks and McDonald's have all opened
outlets in the country.
The latest retail
group is
Although it is
easier for Vietnamese companies to find locations, they are having a
difficult time competing with their foreign rivals.
For instance,
Singaporean
Shop&Go, which arrived in 2005, became the leading convenience store
chain in
The
Nguyen Tien Vuong,
deputy general director of the Ha Noi Trade Corporation (Hapro), said
localities in the country had not developed retail plans suited to specific
areas and based on local people's demand.
Thus, domestic
retail firms were often unsure about where to locate shops and how to expand
their distribution networks.
"Retailers
like Hapro need specific policies from the Government that include planning
of retail activities for such locations as resettlement areas, new
residential areas and suburban areas, as well as information on consumer
demand of the residents who actually live there," Vuong was quoted as
saying in the Business Times newspaper.
"Also, because
of a lack of planning, some foreign retail giants have been allowed to put up
buildings next to domestic ones, which makes it difficult for locals to
compete," he added.
Pham Xuan Tiem,
former director of the Ha Noi Socio-Economic Research Institute (HSERI), said
that, due to a lack of master planning, most supermarkets and trade centers
were located in major cities, with 70 per cent of them in Ha Noi and
Moreover, most of
these modern retail establishments are in urban areas with high density,
while only a few are in rural areas, which have great potential, Tiem said.
"At present,
the number of first- and second-tier domestic supermarkets accounts for only
22 per cent, and those that are third-tier account for up to 46 per cent of
the total.
"Meanwhile,
small retail establishments often have a weak array of commodities, poor and
inconvenient displays, and mediocre services," he said.
Phan The Rue,
former minister of the Trade and Industry, said the domestic retail market
still had great potential for exploitation, but authorised agencies had not
surveyed consumer demand to discover the most appropriate development plans.
"The imbalance
among modern retail points between urban and rural areas has had a great
impact on socio-economic development. Many retail points in the same
locations not only waste human resources and land, but also create unhealthy
competition," Rue said.
Nguyen Van Nam of
the Viet Nam Economics Science Association said it was necessary to have
long-term coordinated development plans for all sectors, including the retail
sector, so that investors could be confident about their competitive ability.
"Foreign
retailers should be allowed to invest in the country based on master
planning, particularly when they want to open a second location for their
retail stores. This would ensure that that modern retail centers would be
more spread out and less dense," said Vu Vinh Phu, chairman of the Ha
Noi Supermarket Association.
Steelmaker
to get $48m from SCIC to expand production
Prime Minister
Nguyen Tan Dung has allowed the State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC)
to contribute VND1 trillion (US$47.6 million) to the Thai Nguyen Iron and
Steel Corporation (TISCO) to improve production.
The website
Tuoitre.vn reported that the capital will be invested in the second phase of
TISCO's production expansion project.
The project's VND4
trillion ($190.47 million) second phase is one of the seven important
projects listed in the Viet Nam Steel Industry Development Plan for the
2010-15 period.
TISCO is the first
and unique metallurgical zone in
Its products are
used in important national projects such as Hoa Binh, Yaly and Son La
hydroelectric power plants, the North-South 500 KV power line, My Dinh
National stadium, Thang Long and Chuong Duong bridges. It has also
successfully penetrated international markets, including those in
Demand for
imported beer surges
The domestic beer
market is expecting fierce competition from imported brews after it joins the
Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
Under the
agreement,
"The market
share for exported beers is sharply increasing," a staff member at Big C
in district 2 told vnexpress.net.
The demand for
foreign beer has risen sharply in recent years, with more imported beers
lining supermarket shelves.
"I used to go
to beer dealers to buy beer imported from foreign countries but now I can
find them at supermarkets near my house," said District 2 resident Pham
Anh Hoang.
Despite imported
beers being more expensive,
The market for imported
beer is also increasing. At the beer section of a Big C store in District 2,
imported beer accounts for two-thirds of the selection, including brands such
as
IN addition to a
growing supermarket presence, advertisements are also appearing online in a
bid to attract more buyers.
One beer dealer in
Binh Thanh District said they were distributing more than 20 varieties of
foreign beer.
"The number of
imported beers is much more than domestic brands. Although Heineken is
produced in
Nguyen Van Viet,
chairman of the Viet Nam Beer, Alcohol and Beverage Association (VBA) said
the country was one of region's largest consumers of beer with consumption
reaching 2.9 billion litres last year, up 2.5 per cent from the previous
year.
Lotte Mart
rolls out major promotion programme
Korean supermarket
chain Lotte Mart is offering big discounts on more than 1,000 items under a
promotion programme that opened last Friday and will go on for almost a
fortnight.
The products
include including fresh foods, fruits, kitchen utensils, fashion garments,
and electronic products, which are being sold at discounts of up to 41 per
cent.
Customers buying
items worth VND350,000 (US$16.5) can get a large environmentally-friendly bag
for just VND1,000. The supermarket plans to give away 4,000 such bags to
encourage customers to go green.
The promotion,
called "Hang Viet gia tot" (Good prices for Vietnamese goods), is
on from September 12 to 25. Lotte Mart, which came to
Finance
ministry seeks to remove advertising cap
The Finance
Ministry will present a proposal to the National Assembly next month for the
removal of some unsuitable taxes, fees and rules.
These include the
15 per cent cap on advertising costs.
The move is
considered to be one of the key tax and customs reforms urged by the
government to support the business community.
Currently, the
Corporate Income Tax Law restricts expenditures on advertising, marketing and
promotions to 15 per cent of the total legitimate costs, and any surplus
expenses cannot be deducted.
The cap on
deductible advertising costs has been effective for 14 years, allowing
enterprises to only deduct the costs of advertising if it is under 10 per
cent of the enterprise's total input costs. (For newly established
enterprises, the advertising expenses could amount to as much as 15 per cent
of the total expenses for their first three years.)
Deputy Head of the
Ministry's Tax Policies Department Pham Dinh Thi told Sai Gon Times that the
move will facilitate businesses to strengthen their image advertising and
competitiveness.
Since the draft
amendments to the Corporate Income Tax Law were introduced in June last year,
both domestic and foreign firms have stressed the need to remove restrictions
on spending on advertising, marketing and promotions as this is actually
calculated into their costs of sales and others. They said that if companies
did not pay high for advertising, marketing and promotions, they could hardly
compete with their rivals.
A survey conducted
by the ministry in 50 markets revealed that
The current law
limits the advertising costs, while there are no limits on spending on other
similar activities such as product introduction, fairs and exhibitions.
Vu Tien Loc,
chairman of the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), said this
is the best time to remove all of the above-mentioned fees and caps.
Advertising fees
are normal fees in production and businesses. Enterprises, therefore, should
have the right to allocate the fees, provided that they have not violated any
laws and engage in healthy competitiveness, Loc said, adding that he will
propose to remove the cap on advertising, promotions and marketing.
Travel experts from
Tadashi Yamaguchi
from the Japan Association of Travel Agents (JATA) said at a workshop held
last Friday in the city that the tourism products on offer were often
uninteresting.
"The city's
tourism sector needs to carry out various stimulation and discount programmes
as well as cooperate with other localities to diversify products," he
said.
He said that
The HCM City-Siem
Reap tour, the most popular tour for Japanese tourists, has seen a fall in
the number of bookings.
The workshop was
part of the 10th
More than 300,000
Japanese tourists visit
VN
investors eye
The conference was
jointly held by the Embassy of Viet Nam to
Cooperation between
the two countries has improved across sectors including diplomacy, security,
economics, trade and investment in line with a high-level agreement between
the two Parties.
A number of
Vietnamese projects have been put into operation in
Minister Counsellor
of
Vietnamese
investors at the conference urged for simpler administrative procedures,
better credit access and the establishment of an overriding investment
strategy by 2020.
In addition, the
State management should be tightened to weed out inferior or infeasible
projects.
Vietnamese
Ambassador to Laos Nguyen Manh Hung said that obstacles and measures to boost
Vietnamese investment in the country would be raised at the intergovernmental
meeting scheduled for the end of December this year.
Tran Bac Ha, president
of AVIL has previously said that
Banks
struggle to boost credit growth
Vietnamese banks
are likely to promote lending programmes that hopefully will help them to
either unleash idle capital or boost the sluggish credit growth toward the
end of the year.
State Bank of
Given the minimum
10 per cent rate, banks still need to add 5.5 per cent to make it up.
"Capital
demand may increase in the last few months of the year when businesses get
busy, preparing for Tet festival," said Cao Sy Kiem, chairman of the
management board of DongA Bank. "However, a 12 to 14 per cent target is
very difficult to achieve."
"The 10 per
cent target is only achievable if the government's programmes to bolster the
total demand are laid out clearly with every single effective step and taken
seriously, while banks and enterprises are able to work cooperatively to pump
and absorb capital," Kiem said.
Some bankers said
the competition was likely to become tougher that would keep all lenders on
their toes.
DongA Bank, which
achieved 4 per cent credit growth in the last eight months, now aims to
provide loans to borrowers from rural and agricultural businesses, private
sector and households who evidently have high capital demand, good capital
utilisation and low risk of bad debts.
Sacombank earlier
this week launched a priority package of VND2.5 trillion (US$118 million) for
importers, exporters, and those in aquaculture, pharmacy, gasoline,
transport, tourism, textile and garment, shoes, electronic components, food
and consumer goods sectors. The minimal lending rate is 7 per cent in the
first six months.
One of the big four
banks by assets, Vietcombank has just announced a VND3-trillion ($141.5
million) credit package, with the lending interest rate set at 7.99 per cent
per annum.
MaritimeBank offers
VND1 trillion ($47 million) loans to Ha Noi-based companies at a borrowing cost
of 7 to 8 per cent per year for short-term credit and 9 to 11 per cent for
mid and long-term loans.
Tran Xuan Quang,
CEO of SME Banking at Maritime Bank, said that banks were always willing to
help enterprises to overcome economic difficulties. However, enterprises
themselves needed to improve their financial management to get their money's
worth.
HDBank has made a
similar move by giving VND1.5 trillion ($70.7 million) to individuals, and
for consumer purposes and production plans, and by setting aside VND5
trillion ($235.8 million) for small and medium-sized enterprises.
ABBank has joined
the race by offering personal loans worth VND1 trillion ($47.07 million) at
8.5 per cent for the first 12 months.
LienVietPostBank
announced to lend VND2 trillion ($94.3 million) for various terms at interest
rates starting from zero per cent.
Under the current
circumstances, bankers expect an improvement in the total demand, purchasing
power and employment rate, which are important factors to bolster businesses
and production.
Currently, credit
institutions have adjusted the interest rate of old loans. As of August 14,
the outstanding loans in dong with an interest rate of more than 15 per cent
accounted for 4.45 per cent of the total number of loans, while the
outstanding loans with an interest rate of more than 13 per cent accounted
for 12.45 per cent.
Central bank's
Deputy Governor Hong said the lending rate of credit institutions was
expected to decline by 0.5 to 1.5 per cent in 2014.
Porcelain
makers reclaim market
Vietnamese
porcelain products, especially the high-end segment, have gradually regained
the domestic market thanks to technological investment, after years of losing
out to foreign products.
The country
currently has roughly 290 porcelain production establishments with the famous
trademarks of Minh Long, Bat Trang and Hai Duong.
General Director of
the Hai Duong porcelain company Nguyen Do Ha said that Minh Long products are
dominating the country's high-end porcelain segment, while CK and Hai Duong
products are also having large market shares of the lower-quality segments.
In 2012, the total
turnover of the country's porcelain market was roughly VND5.6 trillion
(US$262.9 million), of which Vietnamese producers accounted for only 30 per
cent.
Chinese porcelain
products used to flood the domestic market as they were cheaper than
Vietnamese products, even though the domestic samples were more diversified.
General Director of
the Minh Long porcelain company Ly Ngoc Minh said that some Chinese porcelain
products are cheaper as they are fired at low temperatures which cause them
to retain poisonous lead.
Minh explained that
in porcelain production, the firing process, which decides the durability and
quality of the products, was the most expensive stage.
He said while good
quality Vietnamese porcelain products are fired at a temperature of 1,2800C,
many Chinese products are fired at 8000C only.
Domestic porcelain
producers also admitted that they lost to foreign rivals as most domestic
establishments are small with outdated technologies.
To compete better
against foreign products, Vietnamese porcelain producers have done their best
to restructure and boost investment in technologies in recent years.
Minh Long, for
example, has spent more than VND100 billion ($4.69 million) yearly to upgrade
machines and equipment since 2010.
Thanks to the
investment, Minh Long currently has more than 15,000 designs, more than 3,000
of which qualify for exports.
The investment has
also helped Minh Long to increase its annual output and turnover by 20 to 30
per cent on average through productivity improvement and cut in sale prices
in the past few years.
According to Minh,
in the high-end homeware segment, his products currently account for 80 per cent
of the country's market share, while the remaining 20 per cent is claimed by
products from
Metro
provides customers business-support solutions
Metro Cash &
Carry Viet Nam kicked off its Horeca Fair last week to introduce
business-support solutions to their professional customers.
The one-month event
will take place in six stores nationwide in
Philippe Bacac,
managing director of Metro Cash & Carry Viet Nam, said the wholesaler
would provide customers with complete and efficient solutions covering food,
non-food and services to hotels, restaurants, caterers, canteens, cafes and
bars.
"We will not
only share knowledge and experience, but also provide specific solutions that
can help them operate their business more successfully," he added.
Giving solutions to support professional customers is one of the core
activities of Metro Cash & Carry Viet Nam. A few months ago, it completed
a hygiene and food-safety training course for 25,000 customers at its 19
centers.
Big C
renews MBA training agreement with CFVG
Supermarket chain
Big C yesterday renewed the agreement with the
The "Mini
MBA" programme for 2014-15 term is expected to cost VND2 billion
(US$94,400), with the French supermarket providing full scholarships as well
as subsidies for lunch and transport, and a monthly stipend for 11 trainees
chosen from 168 candidates, including its own staff.
The trainees will
study at CFVG and intern at Big C outlets during the course.
Circular
regulates deposit insurance
Depositors of
credit institutions that go bankrupt will be allowed to receive claim money
from the Deposit Insurance of Viet Nam within one month after the bankruptcy
declaration.
This is contained
in Circular 24/2014/TT-NHNN on bank deposit insurance, which the State Bank
of Viet Nam (SBV) issued this week.
The circular says
that claim money will be paid when a credit institution receives SBV
documents on either the termination of special control or termination of the
application or non-application of necessary measures to restore solvency but
is still unable to pay.
The amended
Bankruptcy Law, which the National Congress passed last June, will take
effect on January 1, 2015, once the President signs it. The law has a chapter
with provisions on bankruptcy procedures for credit institutions.
According to the law,
bankrupt credit institutions will consider the interests of depositors in the
disposition of their remaining assets after they have repaid special loans
from the SBV and other credit organisations.
The depositors will
also get claim money from deposit insurers.
During the
country's banking system restructuring process that began from the end of
2011, weak banks were handled through mergers, but none of them have gone
bankrupt.
However, to better
restructure the banking system amid rising bad debts, the National Congress
passed the amended Bankruptcy Law.
At the Government's
regular meeting last August, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung once again
ordered that the banking system's restructuring process be accelerated and,
if necessary, that weak banks be allowed to go bankrupt.
Maximum
land price to be increased
The State aims to
increase the price of land in
This will be 2.4
times higher than the current price of VND67.5 million per square metre, according
to a draft of the State's amended Decree on Land Price Framework.
The Ministry of
Resource and Environment has sought the views of city and provincial
authorities on the amended law. Under this law, the Government shall
promulgate a land price framework once every five years for each type of land
and for each region. City and provincial authorities will set up their
respective land price frameworks based on the Government framework.
Prices will be
based on the calculations of a price verification unit and must be in
accordance with market prices. The current land price framework is seen as
out of touch with the reality in the domestic market, and the land prices of
city and provincial authorities have often stood at only 20 to 60 per cent of
the actual trading price on the market.
According to the
draft, prices under the Government framework will increase for all kinds of
land, especially here and in
The new rate is
expected to increase to VND162 million per square metre for special urban
areas in the Hong (Red) River Delta and Southeast Regions while the lowest
rate for urban land will be VND40,000 per square metre.
The lowest land
prices for rural areas will be VND15,000 per square metre for mountainous
communes in the Central Highland Region, and the highest will be VND29
million per square metre for communes in the Hong (Red) River Region.
The Thoi bao Kinh
te
Dang Hung Vo,
former deputy minister of resources and environment, said the proposal to
increase land prices for the cities of Ha Noi and HCM was right because the
current land price framework was much lower than the actual trading prices on
the market.
The highest trading
price in the market is around VND500 million per square metre in Ha Noi and
HCM, but under the cities' land price framework, the price is only VND86
million per square metre and under the State's land price framework, it is
even lower, at VND67.5 million per square metre, added Vo.
Therefore, an
increase in the land price framework is needed to enable cities and provinces
to issue frameworks that closely follow the actual trading price on the
market, noted the former deputy minister.
Tran Ngoc Chinh,
chairman of the Viet Nam Urban Plan and Development Association, said the
increase in land price would affect the domestic investment environment and
real property market but would also make the property market more
transparent.
Tran Ngoc Quang,
general secretary of the Viet Nam Real Estate Association, agreed with
proponents of the amended law but said the increase should not be double that
of the maximum land price in the cities of Ha Noi and HCM.
A high increase
would have a negative impact on the property market in general and the
property companies in particular because it would lead to a surge in
construction costs and the selling price of property products, thereby
creating risk for the property market, Quang added.
He called for an
increase of five to 10 per cent against existing prices instead of double, as
indicated in the draft. The State should also schedule land price increases
to enable property investors to calculate construction costs and then fix a
reasonable rate of investment and business strategies, he added.
Tran Nhu Trung, deputy
general director of Tan Hoang Minh Group, said the increase would have
positive and negative effects. The positive effects include the efficient
collection of taxes on land price increases and property projects. The
negative effects include difficulties in site clearance activities, a surge
in input costs and a reduction in the competitive ability to attract
investments in the property market.
However, Vo said
the framework under the amended law would be applied mainly on the collection
of taxes on land and administrative fines while the calculation of the land
use fee, land rental for investment projects, compensation for the state's
site clearance and the value of land in the equitisation process would be
based on land value assessment for specific projects.
This means the land
price framework would not be applied in these cases, so the increase would
have little effect on the trading prices of land and property products on the
market, he added.
Trade
surplus forecast on export growth
If so, this will be
the third consecutive year that the country has achieved a trade surplus.
Figures from the
Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) showed that the country's trade surplus
in the first eight months of the year reached $1.7 billion, or 1.8 per cent
of total export value.
But the MoIT noted
that most of the exports came from foreign-invested enterprises.
In the first eight
months, Vietnamese enterprises reported a $10.16-billion trade deficit while
foreign-invested enterprises reported nearly $11.86 billion in surplus.
Vietnamese
exporters have to import a large volume of imported input materials. Although
Its dependence on
imports has incurred for the country a trade deficit with
To boost exports of
high value-added products, the MoIT said it was co-ordinating with the
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in adopting restructuring
measures to increase the added value of
The Government has
also issued a decree to enable domestic enterprises to invest more in support
industries so that components, equipment and machines produced at home could
gradually replace those imported from abroad.
Producers of the
country's key exports such as textiles and garments, mobile phone and
electronics products, footwear and agricultural products have so far remained
optimistic about their prospects in the last months of the year.
After surpassing
mobile phone and electronics products as the country's top export earners,
textiles and garments are expected to continue its leap into the last quarter
of the year, when demand is expected to rise sharply ahead of holidays such
as Christmas and New Year.
A good number of
garment export producers say they have cornered enough orders for the whole
year. The country's textile and garments industry targeted $23 billion in
revenues from exports this year. In the first eight months of the year, its
revenues reached $13.65 billion, a 19.7 per cent year-on-year increase.
Export value to major markets rose significantly by 36 per cent in
Industry insiders
say garments exporters are also benefiting from a decrease in the world price
of imported input materials such as cotton. In the
Producers of
agricultural exports are likewise optimistic. Tran Anh Tuan, MoIT deputy
minister, said rice exports this year would meet Government targets.
According to the
Viet Nam Food Association, rice exports this year will surpass the
6.2-million tonne export target and earn $1.83 billion.
With 4.2 million
tonnes of rice exported in the first eight months of the year and a forecast
of 1.9 million tonnes for the third quarter and 1.4 million tonnes for the
fourth quarter, the country's rice exports for 2014 will likely reach 6.3
million tonnes, excluding unofficial exports in small quantities through the
borders, the association said.
Rice demand in
import markets from now till year-end are also trending upwards, the
association added. It cited the
The Viet Nam
Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers also predict the industry's
export revenue this year to increase by 13 per cent more than that of last
year to $7 billion. Shrimp is expected to be the industry's biggest earner at
$3 billion.
Export
forum focuses on prospective markets
They also need to
focus on improving quality to meet the demands in importing countries,
according to attendees at the Export Forum.
Nakajima Satoshi,
the Japanese consul in
But to export
there, Vietnamese companies had to strictly follow its quality, hygiene, and
safety requirements, he said.
Bui Trung Thuong of
the Viet Nam Trade Office in
The Indian
Government annually adjusted its trade policy and so Vietnamese exporters
should monitor it, he said.
"Indian
consumption habits are quite different from that of
Others spoke about
the pros and cons of exporting to
But exporting to
the market is complicated, requiring many kinds of licences, and firms need
to understand its regulations.
Latin American
countries also have similar demand for consumer goods, but the lack of market
information, high transport costs, fierce competition with Chinese and Indian
goods, and trade barriers in some markets in the former are among
difficulties Vietnamese firms could face, Tran Duy Dong, deputy head of the
America Market Department, said.
More effort should
be made to provide Vietnamese exporters more information about these markets,
he said.
Delegates said
businesses should take part in foreign trade fairs and exhibitions to do
market research and look for new business partners.
Minh said they
should also invest in improving their design and packaging.
Free trade
agreements the country has signed or plans to sign offered great
opportunities for Vietnamese firms to boost exports, attendees said.
Guillaume Crouzet,
director of the French Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Viet Nam, said,
"Trade between the EU and Viet Nam will be boosted by the FTA under
discussion."
Delegates urged
Vietnamese companies to reform export-promotion activities and do research on
customer preferences.
While focusing on
exports, local firms should not ignore the domestic market either, Tran Du
Lich, member of the National Assembly's Economic Commission, said.
"A product
looking to compete in foreign markets must firstly be competitive in the
domestic market both in terms of quality and price," he said.
The problem now is
not that what products are to be exported, but how to create differentiation
of products to improve competitiveness, he said, adding that this is a challenge
to Vietnamese firms trying to expand exports.
They should
diversify exports to five key markets — the US, EU, ASEAN,
They should
continue to try and expand market share but not to excessive levels in any
market because that would then prompt the importing country to erect barriers
such as anti-dumping duties to protect local production, he warned.
The forum was
organised by the Investment and Trade Promotion Centre of HCM City.
According to the
Ministry of Industry and Trade, despite many difficulties
The ministry
promised to keep a close watch on the global economic situation and provide
information about export opportunities.
Trade deal
to widen access to EU
A bilateral Free
Trade Agreement with the EU will yield tangible and intangible benefits for
both
"The FTA
currently under negotiation targets to reduce at least 90 per cent of tariff
lines on Vietnamese exports," Dr Franz Jessen, ambassador and head of
the EU Delegation to
"This implies
that greater opportunities lie ahead for Vietnamese business to penetrate
deeper into the EU market."
Viet Nam's exports
to EU account for around a fifth of all its exports, but only 40 per cent of
them are tax free or subject to preferential lower rates while the remaining
attract ordinary import duties.
For instance,
Vietnamese producers could have saved 150 million euros (US$194.4 million) a
year on footwear products and 180 million euros ($233 million) on textiles in
each of the past three years if an FTA had been in place.
Footwear products
attract 3.5-4 per cent import duty and textiles, 9.6 per cent.
In return, European
drug producers pay import duties of 5 – 8 per cent on shipments to
"Furthermore,
the EU with advanced technologies, abundant capital, and management expertise
can offer what Viet Nam is not yet able to produce at home," Jessen
added.
"The FTA will
create wider impacts on
A study by the
EU-Viet Nam Multilateral Trade Project in 2011 found that an FTA between the
EU and Viet Nam would have a "largely positive impact on the country's
GDP" estimated at around 2.7 per cent a year in case of rapid
dismantling; in case of progressive dismantling, there will be a gradual
increase from the second year to 3.7 per cent in 15 years.
If the
implementation is properly managed, the FTA can trigger necessary reforms in
During a recent
visit to
Leading
businesspeople and representatives of EU member states and national business
groups attended the luncheon meeting.
In June 2012 the EU
and
The negotiations
cover tariffs as well as non-tariff barriers to trade and other trade-related
aspects such as public procurement, regulatory issues, competition, services,
intellectual property rights, and sustainable development.
It is expected to
be signed next month.
Source: VEF/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/Dantri/VIR
|
Thứ Ba, 16 tháng 9, 2014
Đăng ký:
Đăng Nhận xét (Atom)
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét