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BUSINESS
IN BRIEF 29/9
Hanh Phuc
gets assisted reproductive tech from foreign partners
Nguyen Thuc Anh,
chief executive officer of the hospital in
Hanh Phuc inaugurated
a fertility center in October 2011, which last month got RTAC accreditation,
an international recognition and endorsement of high standards it maintains
for the patients and their procedures. Anh said the center continued to seek
to improve services and technology by joining forces with international
partners in fertility, including the two foreign partners.
“The partnership
(with Genea and Superior A.R.T.) is another milestone in Hanh Phuc’s history
- to offer couples who have difficult conceiving in Vietnam and neighboring
countries the hope of becoming parents through advanced science and
technology,” Anh said.
Sarayuth
Assamakorn, managing director at Superior A.R.T said the company has
outstanding assisted reproductive techniques and know-how as a result of its
affiliation with Genea and their standards in protocols, procedures and
training, as well as cutting-edge research and development.
“This venture
projects our vision of Superior A.R.T. and its collaborative partners, such
as Hanh Phuc, being a fertility hub in
Genea has built a
reputation for fertility treatment and assisted reproductive techniques and
technology.
Steven McArthur,
scientific director at Genea, said in a statement that Genea takes 25 years
of clinical insights at Genea Fertility and combines them with almost 25
years of investment in research and development to create and commercialize
in vitro fertilization (IVF) laboratory technology for the global fertility
market.
Hanh Phuc started
operations in January 2011 as a women’s & children’s hospital and has
been granted a multi-specialty hospital status. The hospital continues to
focus on and expand its services for obstetrics, gynecology and pediatrics,
with specialist clinics for women cancer, fertility and cosmetic surgery.
E-customs
services yet to help speed up clearance
Despite the
much-touted shift to e-customs services, goods clearance remains stagnant due
largely to complicated procedures and poor Internet connection, traders said
at an online dialogue held in HCMC last week.
The online dialogue
was held by the HCMC Department of Customs to answer local firms’ inquiries
relating to the Vietnam Automated Cargo Clearance and Port Consolidated
System (VNACCS).
Many enterprises
complained that they had paid export and import taxes but information about
their tax payments was not timely updated at customs offices, which imposed
sanctions by refusing to clear goods for such enterprises.
Meanwhile, the
clearance process via the green or yellow channel based on the VNACCS/VCIS
system also confused enterprises.
For instance,
HCMC-based Thai Thuan Stainless Steel Company raised a question about how to
choose a channel for steel products that must undergo special tests.
In response, Nguyen
Thi Bong, an official at Saigon Port Customs Office, said the VNACCS/VCIS
system will carry out this task automatically. Although steel products must
go through special tests, they could still be categorized into the green or
yellow channel if the company can prove that the code applying to such
products is in line with current regulations.
Other enterprises
said customs officers asked them to present relevant documents although their
goods was categorized to be in the green channel. Nguyen Duc Khanh, deputy
head of Tan Son Nhat International Airport Customs Office, said that
companies can contact the warehouse inspection team to take delivery of goods
and do not need to show those papers to the team in charge of goods clearance
procedures.
In case the
clearance form fell into the green channel and enterprises already paid tax
but data was not updated, they can show relevant documents to the team
responsible for goods clearance procedures to quicken the process.
The HCMC Department
of Customs has reported to the General Department of Customs about the slow
Internet connection linking banks, treasuries and the general department to
update information timely and help enterprises save the time for goods
clearance.
Nguyen Thi Thu
Huong, head of the HCMC Department of Customs, said her office has
implemented the VNACCS/VCIS system since June and this system is now
available at 12 offices, which has helped clear nearly 600,000 batches of
goods.
Although having
faced difficulties at the beginning, customs officers and enterprises are now
more familiar with the VNACCS/VCIS system, she said.
French firm
wants to become strategic investor of ACV
The France-based
airport management firm Aeroport de Paris (ADP) has expressed its interest in
becoming a strategic investor of Airport Corporation of Vietnam (ACV) when
the latter goes public.
Frederic Dupeyron,
general director of ADP, put forward this proposal at a meeting with Minister
of Transport Dinh La Thang last week.
According to the
Ministry of Transport, the two sides also discussed the big-ticket
The general
director believed the equitization of ACV will help attract more investment
into airport construction in
He also expressed
his desire to become a strategic shareholder of ACV in its equitization, as
well as to financially contribute to the construction of Long Thanh airport.
Regarding the
equitization, the transport minister informed ADP that his ministry has
required ACV to proceed with its asset evaluation. The assessment will be
completed within this month, and the equitization will be carried out from
the first quarter of next year.
Meanwhile, the
investment report for
Currently, ACV
operates and manages 22 airports nationwide.
The company’s
revenue last year amounted to over VND8.4 trillion and its before-tax profit
totaled VND1,350 billion. More than half of this revenue came from Tan Son
Nhat and Noi Bai international airports.
At the end of
fiscal 2013, ACV’s chartered capital was nearly VND14.7 trillion. The state
will hold a 75% stake after the equitization, according to the transport
ministry’s plan.
ACV’s equitization
in 2015 is expected to help the company mobilize a large amount of capital
for Long Thanh airport construction.
Hai Duong
sees sharp rise in investment
The
According to Deputy
Director of the provincial Department of Planning and Investment Nguyen Xuan
Doan, the province saw 29 new investment projects worth 343.4 million USD.
Major projects
include the 225 million USD Dai An Vietnam-Canada international hospital, a
19.5 million USD project by SD Global and a 13 million USD project by Chung
Ley, he noted.
Doan added that Hai
Duong was striving to attract an additional 510 million USD in investments
and a disbursement of 213.2 million USD by the end of this year.
To this end, the
province will run investment promotion campaigns targetting large and
multinational groups, and work with central ministries to attract
investments.
Meanwhile, the
province will also step up its administrative reform, create better
conditions for investors to operate in, and strengthen links with investors
to increase their confidence, said Doan.
So far, Hai Duong
has implemented 282 foreign-invested projects from 24 countries and
territories around the world, with a total registered capital of 6.3 billion
USD. FDI projects in the locality have disbursed 2.83 billion USD, meeting 44
percent of the province’s target.
The projects have
also created jobs for 136,000 direct and thousands of indirect employees,
Doan added.-
Rice plays a key
strategic part in
The country
continues promoting rice exports, maintaining its position as one of the
world’s leading rice exporters, it added.
The value of rice
production is expected to reach 120 million VND (5,714 USD) per hectare by
2020.
In addition to its
traditional markets,
To realise the
goals, the sector will use high-yield, high-quality crop varieties to supply
its export markets, Deputy Director of the Department of Cultivation, Pham
Dong Quang, told a recent conference on cultivation restructuring in
The Mekong Delta,
the country’s biggest rice producer, will focus on export-oriented
cultivation, while the Red River Delta is geared towards the domestic market,
he added.
Additionally,
According to the
Vietnam Food Association (VFA),
As planned, rice
exporters nationwide are working to ship 6.2-6.5 million tonnes of the grain
this year.
Work starts
on 9.4 mln USD habour in Dong Nai
A ground-breaking
ceremony for a 200 billion VND (9.4 million USD) habour has been held in the
Go Dau Port area in Long Thanh district, the southern
Once operational in
September 2015, the harbour is able to receiving 30,000 tonne ships, meeting
the increasing needs on good handling of enterprises in Dong Nai and the
southeastern region.
Nguyen Thi Bach
Mai, General Director of the Dong Nai Port Co. Ltd, the construction of the
harbour will take full advantage of the province’s natural features and pave
the way for the Dong Nai port to become one of the country’s 10 most
important ports.
The Dong Nai port
system comprises
As set out in the
master plan approved by the Prime Minister, the Dong Nai port system will be
designated a national port.
Ascendas-Saigon
Bund Ltd Co. received an investment licence for its OneHub Saigon complex
project on September 25.
The ceremony was
attended by Former Prime Minister and Emeritus Senior Minister of
The OneHub Saigon
complex, valued at 130 million USD, is a joint venture between Singaporean
enterprise Ascendas and Saigon Bund Capital Partners Ltd Co. It will span
11.9ha in the Hi-Tech Park, becoming the first OneHub venture in
Le Hoai Quoc, Head
of the Hi-Tech Park Management Board said Onehub Saigon will be an urban
complex that follows regional and international development trends,
attracting high-quality human resources and adding value to the park.
With its unique
design and plans, OneHub Saigon will act as an architectural focus for the
park and the eastern part of the city, Quoc added.
Le Hoang Quan,
Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City’s People’s Committee, believes the OneHub Saigon
project will be successful thanks to Singapore’s expertise in hi-tech park
development and Ascendas - Saigon Bund Ltd Co.’s understanding of the city.
Currently, the City’s Hi-Tech Park, including OneHub Saigon, has attracted
2.5 billion USD from over 60 multinational companies, such as Intel, Nidec
and Sanofi.
Action
plans for prioritised industries announced
The Central
Institute for Economic Management held a workshop in
In total, six
industries have been prioritised for development, including the shipbuilding
and automobile industry, and spare parts production.
They are set to
become
The action plans
mentioned above were approved by the Prime Minister last August.
Cao Bao Anh from
the Heavy Industry Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT)
said the new plan would encourage farmers to apply agricultural machinery
whilst promoting the production of necessary equipment and creating a healthy
business environment.
Regarding the
environmental and energy conservation sector, Dao Xuan Diep from MoIT’s
Science and Technology Department stressed the importance of fine-tuning
policy and creating a productive business environment that attracted more
investments to the sector. At the same time,
Meanwhile, to
develop the agricultural and aquacultural processing industry effectively,
the sector needed to focus on products of strength, ensure sustainable high-quality
supplies, and connect processors and farmers better, a representative from
the Agriculture-Forestry-Fishery Processing Department under the Ministry of
Agriculture and Rural Development said.
Vietnam
bond market fastest growing in East Asia
The Government bond
market in Vietnam has obtained an average annual growth rate of 23% in the
past five years, the most rapid expansion in emerging East Asia and the
ASEAN+3 regions, said the State Securities Commission (SSC).
An unidentified
person holds Government bonds in this file photo. The Government bond market
in
SSC unveiled the
growth rate at a conference held in
Since September
2009, the
Since 2012, bond
auctions have become a major channel for raising capital, with mobilization
value rising gradually. Last year, VND194 trillion was mobilized, or 18% of
total investments in the economy.
In addition, there
has been significant change in product quality with the number of bond codes
falling from over 300 to 90. Each code has seen average scale improving to
VND4 trillion.
Liquidity on the
market has also improved strongly from VND365 billion a session in 2009 to
more than VND2.7 trillion a session in the first six months of this year.
Treasury bill
auctions at the State Bank of
At present, banks
are the main investors on the G-bond market, holding 86% of the bond
portfolio value. Insurance firms, fund managers and foreigners have also
joined the market.
Since 2011, the
ratio of foreign participation has increased to 20-30% in the secondary
market and 12% on the primary market.
In a related
development, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in a recently released report
said that emerging East Asia’s local currency bonds have performed well so
far this year but an earlier-than-anticipated
According to ADB,
emerging East Asia comprises China, Hong Kong (China), Indonesia, South
Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
The administration
of
Should the project
be halted now, it will never begin, Le Son, deputy chairman of the Tan Binh
People’s Committee, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper in an interview published
Tuesday.
Tan Binh market,
one of the largest fabric wholesale markets in the city, is poised to be
replaced by a six-story market, as Son said the facility has become “severely
deteriorated.”
“It is the traders
who will suffer the worst damage in case of a fire, explosion, collapse, or
storm,” Son said.
The proposed new
Tan Binh market is scheduled to break ground in May 2016, and expected to
open to traders in November 2018.
The revamp plan
will affect 2,956 traders in the more than 50-year-old market, which receives
10,000 shoppers a day.
Traders complain
that they have never been asked to provide feedback on the plan, and that
they will lose frequent customers if they relocate to the new market.
But the district
official said traders were informed of the demolition plan as early as 2009.
“We delivered
survey sheets to all traders and received around 60 percent of them back,”
Son asserted.
Son said most of
the traders responded that they supported the plan, as the market was
deteriorating.
He added that as
the government is the manager of the market, it reserves the right to
refurbish or rebuild it.
While traders
currently sell on the ground floor of the market, their booths will be
relocated to the second floor, and higher, at the new facility, raising
concerns that customers might be hesitant about having to go from floor to
floor while shopping.
Son admitted that
people are not used to going to multistory markets, but added that “in the
longer term, it will benefit both traders and customers.”
He called on
traders to “share the difficulties with the government.”
“Traders should not
oppose the project just because of these short-term challenges,” he said.
Tan Quang Co Ltd, a
Vietnamese investment-construction firm, has won the contract to develop the
new Tan Binh market, according to the district’s government. The company said
investment is projected to be around VND2 trillion ($94.14 million).
The current Tan
Binh market sits on a 22,000 square meter land plot facing Ly Thuong Kiet,
Phu Hoa, Tan Tien and Le Minh Xuan Streets in the crowded district.
The proposed new
market will only occupy 15,000 square meters, while the remaining 7,000
square meter land lot fronting
Son, from the
district’s People’s Committee, said the ‘prime location’ is dedicated to the
trade center, instead of the new Tan Binh market, because the modern shopping
center “is the image of the district.”
The high-rise trade
center will be developed by a joint venture between the Tan Binh Public
Utility Services Co Ltd and Tan Quang Co, while the people’s committee
retains possession over the land lot where the building will be erected, Son
said.
“Profits generated
from the trade center will be added to the state budget, not the public
utility company,” he underscored.
Duties on
cigarette, beer, wine to be increased
The National
Assembly Standing Committee (NASC) agreed to the suggestion of the Ministry
of Finance on raising excise taxes on cigarette, beer and wine during its
September 25 session.
Accordingly, the
current 65% tax on cigarette will be increased to 70% from January 1, 2016
and 75% from January 1, 2019.
The excise tax on
beer, which is currently 50%, will be 55% from July 1, 2015, 60% from January
1, 2017 and 65% from January 1, 2018.
Meanwhile, the duty
on wine over 20 degrees will be raised from 50% to 65% and that on wine below
20 degrees, currently at 25%, will be 35%.
Chairman of the NA
Committee on Finance and State Budget Phung Quoc Hien said that the tax
increases would not negatively affect businesses’ production but help raise
the State budget collection and reduce the number of smokers.
However, Deputy
Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai said that the Government studied
the rises as it could lead to increased cigarette trafficking and decreased
State budget collection.
Hien also suggested
a rise of the excise duty on casino business from 30% to 35%.
In addition, the
Government planned to suggest the NA remove personal income tax on casino
players.
The NASC also
agreed to the Government’s suggestions on removing the excise tax on several
sustances used for gasoline blending and aircraft used for national defence
and security, and supplementing prioritized tax on bio-fuel products.
The draft
amendments and supplements to the Law on Excise Tax are scheduled to be
approved in a NA session and come into effect in mid- 2015.
Overview of
trade activities in Jan-Aug period
As of late August,
total trade turnover touched nearly US$ 191.4 billion, representing a
year-on-year increase of 12.5% or up US$ 21.31 billion in value, according to
the General Department of Viet Nam Customs.
In the
January-August period, export volume valued US$ 97.23 billion, marking a
year-on-year increase of 14.4% or US$ 12.24 billion.
Up to 10 groups of
commodities joined the US$ 1 billion export club including garments and
textile (US$ 13.61 billion); telephones and spare parts (US$ 15.18 billion);
footwear (US$ 6.69 billion); crude oil (US$ 6.22 billion); aquatic products
(US$ 5.03 billion); coffee (US$ 1.27 billion);peanut (US$ 1.29 billion);
rubber (US$ 1.03 billion); rice (US$ 2.04 billion) and computers and spare
parts (US$ 6.51 billion).
Meanwhile, import
turnover exceeded US$ 94.16 billion, representing a year-on-year increase of
10.7% or US$ 9.07 billion.
Major imports
included machines and spare parts (US$ 14.19 billion); computers (US$ 11.16
billion); petrol (US$ 5.72 billion); iron and products (US$ 4.74 billion);
fertilizers (US$ 2.49 billion); materials for garments, footwear (US$ 11.2
billion) and automobiles (US$ 806 million).
Trade
Capacity Enhancement Project launched
The Viet Nam
Association of Foreign-Invested Enterprises cooperated with the Small and
Medium-sized Enterprises Association in the South to launch the Trade
Capacity Enhancement Project (TRACE II) in Viet Nam on September 23.
The project will be
invested with €525,000, of which €472,000 is sponsored by the EU.
The project aims to
accelerate integration of the nation in the international trade system and
enhance the trade relations between
The project
includes enhancement of trade and investment capacity, establishment of a
Trade Advisory Committee to increase the capacity of associations to make
greater contributions into the national-level policy consultancy and trade
and investment policy-making and setting up a trade model for the
participation of SMEs at localities.
Sugar
mills, growers on tenterhooks
Both sugar plants
and growers have had many worries at the start of a new sugarcane crop as
sugar inventories have doubled compared to the same period last year and
sugar prices are falling.
The sugar in stock
as of mid-August had been nearly 370,000 tons in the country, according to
the Department of Processing and Trade for Agro-Forestry-Fisheries Products
and Salt Production.
Nguyen Thanh Long,
chairman of the Vietnam Sugarcane and Sugar Association and general director
of Can Tho Sugar Joint Stock Company, said the local sugar sector has never
been in much trouble like now. A kilogram of sugar in the Mekong Delta city
of
Long calculated
with the current price of VND900 per kilogram for the average commercial cane
sugar (CCS) rate of 10% with delivery at the company’s mill, sugar plants can
make profits if refined sugar products are priced higher than VND12,000 per
kilogram (exclusive of VAT).
The after-tax
average price of grade-one sugar ranged from VND12,300 to VND13,000 last
month, down VND100 from July. Now, sugar prices are on the decline, pulling
down sugarcane prices.
Le Van Chi, a
sugarcane grower in
With such sugarcane
quality, the possibility of increasing cane prices is less likely.
According to the
government of Ca Mau Province, Thoi Binh sugar mill in Thoi Binh District has
incurred losses for many years and has not been able to invest in a
wastewater treatment system as required. The Ministry of Natural Resources
and Environment has therefore proposed shutting down the facility in the
2014-2015 crop.
More than 1.5
million tons of sugar was produced in the 2013-2014 sugarcane crop, up around
65,000 tons against the previous season.
This year, though
the area of sugarcane has shrunk, the sugarcane output has increased
significantly. This is a firm ground for industry insiders to forecast that
the nation’s sugar output will reach 1.6 million tons in the 2014-2015 crop.
However, Long said
the figure is no longer meaningful as much sugar is still being smuggled into
Work starts
on artery road for Van Don Economic Zone
Management of Quang
Ninh Economic Zone has cooperated with Van Don District’s authorities to
break ground for a 20-kilometer road costing VND1 trillion, which links major
functional areas of Van Don Economic Zone.
A seven-kilometer
section of the road, connecting Provincial Road 334 to Van Don Airport, will
be constructed with a width of 32 meters, while other auxiliary works such as
sidewalks, drainage and light systems will also be built in the first phase.
This phase,
requiring VND700 billion, will be implemented within 18 months by a
consortium comprising Cuong Thinh Thi Investment and Construction JSC, Thanh
Trung Trading and Construction Co. Ltd., and Phuong Dong Investment
Construction Trade Co. Ltd.
The project plays a
vital role in enhancing transport in the economic zone, and connecting the
functional areas together and to Ha Long-Mong Cai Expressway in the coming
time.
The Prime Minister
approved the zoning plan for Van Don Economic Zone development as an international
transportation and trading hub and a luxury tourist and entertainment center
in the northern key economic zone.
As per this zoning
plan, the economic zone will cover an area of over 2,170 square kilometers
with a population of 150,000 people by 2020. In addition, the annual number
of tourists there is estimated at 1.7 million.
The Government this
month has also agreed to construct
The VND5.1-trillion
airport will cover an area of 285 hectares, and it will service both civil
and military flights.
In the first phase,
the airport is envisaged having a parking area for four Boeing B777 and
Airbus A321 aircraft, and handle two million passengers and 10,000 tons of
cargo a year in 2020.
By 2030, the
airport will have its aircraft parking area expanded to accommodate at least
seven planes and will be able to serve five million passengers and handle
30,000 tons of cargo per year.
The Government has
told Quang Ninh’s authorities to coordinate with the ministries of
planning-investment, transport and defense as well as relevant agencies to
map out and evaluate the feasibility study of the project.
PM urges
removal of troublesome business procedures
Prime Minister
Nguyen Tan Dung has called on relevant agencies to do a comprehensive review
and simplification or abolishment of unnecessary administrative procedures to
support businesses and investors in the country.
According to the
Government portal chinhphu.vn, the Prime Minister has ordered the fast
streamlining of administrative procedures related to business establishment,
re-arrangement and dissolution, and the gradual lifting of huddles to
business and investment activities.
The Prime Minister
wants the time for processing paperwork to be halved in the fields of
business registration, re-arrangement and dissolution prior to December 31
this year.
The Ministry of
Planning and Investment has been told to review and remove all procedures
that make life hard for businesses, and improve the process and formalities
required for business dissolution to make it easy for those who want to get
out of the market.
In addition, the
Government has told the agencies concerned to speed up the application of
information technology and improve the capacity of staff responsible for
business registrations.
The national
business registration information network must be enhanced and the one-stop
mechanism must be expanded to enable quick market entry for businesses.
The Government
leader has also required the ministry to quicken the improvement of the
Investment Law and revise existing legal regulations to clarify the
prohibited business and conditional areas.
The Prime Minister
has got the nod to a proposal by the Ministry of Finance on some tax
solutions to help local businesses out of difficulties.
Earlier, the
Ministry of Finance submitted the Government a number of tax measures to
remove obstacles for enterprises. These are planned to be presented to the
National Assembly for consideration and approval at the eighth session of the
legislature starting next month.
The ministry
proposed removing the filing of sold or purchased goods invoices with respect
to the taxes being declared every month or quarter as the declaration is named
as one of the main reasons for time-consuming tax procedures in
To assist
businesses with advertising and marketing to boost sales, the ministry also
proposed amending the regulations on advertising and promotional costs with a
view to abolish the advertising cost cap or only control advertising
expenditure rather than promotional and marketing costs.
A corporate income
tax rate of 20% is applied this year and next to enterprises operating in the
agriculture sector, employing over 300 workers and purchasing farm produce
from farmers who do not live in poverty-stricken areas. From early 2016,
these firms will enjoy a tax rate of 17%.
However, as the
ministry said few businesses will be able to meet the 300-employee
requirement, it proposed the rule be removed.
The HCMC government
has plans to advance around VND662 billion from its 2015 capital construction
budget for executing the Ben Luc-Long Thanh Expressway project that passes
through the city’s outlying districts of Binh Chanh, Nha Be and Can Gio.
Binh Chanh will get
an advance of VND513 billion for site clearance and residential relocation,
while Nha Be and Can Gio will obtain respective sums of VND140 billion and
VND9.5 billion.
Work kicked off on
July 19 on the first package of the expressway which will connect the Mekong
Delta province of Long An with the planned Long Thanh International Airport
in Dong Nai and Cai Mep-Thi Vai seaports in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province nearby.
The project is expected for completion in mid-2018.
Speaking at the
ground-breaking ceremony two months ago, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said
Ben Luc-Long Thanh Expressway will play a crucial role in boosting
socio-economic development because it helps link provinces in the southeastern
and southwestern regions together.
As it takes four
years to prepare and another four years to build the entire expressway, the
Prime Minister told authorities of HCMC, Long An and Dong Nai provinces to
pay close attention to site clearance, carry out the project on schedule and
take care of the displaced citizens.
The four-lane
expressway stretching a total of 57.1 kilometers is designed for vehicles to
run at a maximum speed of 100 km per hour.
Of the total
projected funding of nearly US$1.6 billion for the first phase of the
project, US$636 million will come from Asian Development Bank (ADB), US$635
million from the Japanese government through Japan International Cooperation
Agency (JICA) and the remaining US$337 million from the State budget.
The HCMC government
has thrown its support behind a project to build
Tan Son Nhat
currently covers 1,500 hectares with around 590 hectares used for civil and
military aviation activities but this international airport is located in an
area of high population density, which makes expansion unviable.
The airport’s
current capacity is around 20 million passengers per year, so the transport
system connected to the airport is frequently overloaded, according to a
recent report sent by the city government to the Ministry of Transport.
The report was sent
after Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV) draw up a plan to expand Tan Son
Nhat airport to make it possible to handle 26 million passengers per year
pending construction of Long Thanh airport.
According to the
city government, if the airport’s annual capacity is to be raised to 50
million passengers, it will have to be expanded to the north, with around 640
hectares to be cleared at an estimated cost of US$9.15 billion.
With such expansion
envisioned, the transport system around the airport would be overloaded,
resulting in severe congestion, said the city government.
In addition,
expanding Tan Son Nhat airport would affect the environment as noise
pollution and exhaust emissions would exceed permissible levels. Other
factors concerning planning and airspace management of the Ministry of
Defense would be impacted, the city government reasoned.
Therefore, the Tan
Son Nhat airport expansion plan, in the view of the city government, is not
cost-effective, so the city supports the Ministry of Transport’s plan to
start work on
According to a
report of ACV, the maximum capacity of Tan Son Nhat is 25 million passengers
per year. The airport is forecast to be overloaded in the 2016-2017 period
while the first phase of Long Thanh airport with an annual capacity of 17
million passengers cannot be finished until 2023.
If so, in the
six-year period between 2017 and 2023, Tan Son Nhat fails to meet the demand
and this will leave an adverse impact on the city’s socio-economic
development.
To minimize such
negative impacts, the HCMC government has proposed the Ministry of Transport
consider adjusting the implementation schedule so that Long Thanh can be put
into operation sooner.
HCMC authorities
have proposed an annual interest rate of only 3% for the most preferential
home loans to benefit the poor, and seek the Government’s approval to extend
the disbursement of the VND30-trillion home loan package up to 60 months.
In a document just
submitted to the Government, the city also suggested that poor people be
subject to the so-called “social housing” policy, enjoying the 3% interest
rate for loans of up to 15 years. This policy will help ease difficulties
faced by low-income earners, workers and college students in the city.
The VND30-trillion
credit package currently offers homebuyers a lending rate of 5% per annum,
and the package was initially set to wind down within 36 months. However,
only 10% of this credit line has been disbursed for both homebuyers and
housing developers after more than 15 months of implementation.
Le Hoang Chau,
chairman of the HCMC Real Estate Association (HoREA), told the Daily that the
association earlier proposed the Government lower the annual interest rate
for buyers of budget homes to 3-3.5% and offer a three-year grace period.
In the document,
municipal authorities called for accelerating the disbursement of the
VND30-trillion credit package by allowing enterprises to mortgage their land
ownership certificates and projects as collateral.
The city also
suggested establishing a support fund for individuals to buy, rent and repair
homes.
Enterprises should
be allowed to take out loans to build budget housing projects and convert
commercial homes into budget ones. They should also be allowed to invest in
housing for workers with zero interest loans.
Individuals and
households who want to buy budget houses for lease and sale to workers,
low-income people and students, among others, should be allowed to borrow
from the credit package in line with Resolution 61/NQ-CP.
In related news,
the Credit Department under the State Bank of
Despite economic
difficulties, industry and trade sectors have recorded positive results in
In the first nine
months of 2014, industrial production value in the region was estimated at
1,430 trillion VND, an increase of 8.92 percent compared to the same period
last year, and equal to 70.28 percent of the annual plan.
Export value in the
first nine months of this year reached 45.87 billion USD, up 21 percent over
the same period last year and met 75 percent of the annual plan. As many as
21 out of 28
The region has
developed an effective distribution network which has met the local
consumers’ consumption demand.
According to
Director of the Industrial Policy and Strategy Institute Duong Dinh Giam
northern localities should create industrial development zones based on local
strengths.
Member of the
Northwest Steering Committee Dao Trong Chuong was quoted as saying that
industry and trade sectors played a key role in terms of poverty reduction,
especially in mountainous areas, and people’s living standard improvement.
However, it was needed to further promote modern agriculture and goods
distribution channels.
Deputy Minister of
Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh said in the coming time, northern cities and
provinces should work together to tackle with their difficulties and promote
restructuring of state-owned enterprises in line with the government’s policy
towards the formation of a regional value chain.
The northern region
includes 28 provinces and cities with total area of 149,887.15sq.km, adjacent
to
One day cut
on customs procedures saves US$1.6 billion
If the time on
export import procedures reduces one day, businesses will be able to save
US$1.6 billion, according to calculations by the United States Agency for
International Development's Governance for Inclusive Growth Project (USAID
GIG).
It was announced at
a seminar on implementation of the Government’s Resolution 19 on export and
import procedure simplification, hosted by the HCMC Investment and
The resolution
issued in March aims to improve business environment, and simplify export
import procedures by cutting the time on customs clearance to 14 days.
According to the
Mr. Pham Quang Vinh, an expert from the project, it now takes 21 days to do
customs clearance for a cargo container and only 13-14 days in the ASEAN 6.
Surveys show that
up to 60-80 percent of export and import commodity lists must come under
specialized examination in
Six decades after
liberation,
In the early days
after taking control of the city from the French,
During the first
Five-Year Plan (1961-1965),
During 1965-1975,
when the American war was in its most violent phase,
Only after the 6th
Party National Congress in 1986 did
For the first time,
local factories were able to access new technology from developed countries,
such as Xuan Hoa Bicycles, Viet Ha Beer and Hanoi Soap. Foreign direct
investment (FDI) enterprises began to build factories and
In early 2000, the
presence of big Japanese corporations such as Yamaha, Canon and Panasonic in
the
Over the past 60
years,
In addition,
International
integration allows
The value of
exported manufactures now account for 30% of total industrial output,
including high value added products such as IT products, machines and
electrical equipment. The Hanoi Capital Region appears on the global
industrial map as a major manufacturing centre of mobile phones, printers,
scanners and motorbikes.
About 60% of
industrial enterprise managers have Bachelor degrees or higher. Enterprises
have been adopting advanced production management and quality control systems
from the
Currently there are
over 500 enterprises with their respective annual revenue exceeding VND100
billion (US$4.7 million). In the future, the city will focus on developing
high-tech industries, so as to transform
Source: VEF/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/Dantri/VIR
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Chủ Nhật, 28 tháng 9, 2014
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