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BUSINESS IN BRIEF 30/11
Can
Tho strives for hi-tech agricultural hub in Mekong Delta
Can Tho
city has set to become a hi-tech agricultural hub in the Mekong Delta region
by 2020, said Director of the municipal Department of Agricultural and Rural
Department Pham Van Quynh.
To reach
the target, the city is implementing a 3.6 trillion VND (170 million USD)
project on hi-tech agriculture development in the 2014-2020 period, striving
to bring the proportion of hi-tech agricultural production value to 10-15
percent by 2015 and 30-35 percent by 2020.
Under
the project, Can Tho will gradually form a hi-tech agriculture that focuses
on key products such as rice, vegetables, fruit, animal husbandry and aquatic
products. It will provide scientific and technological services for the whole
Mekong Delta region.
Between
now and 2020, the city plans to build three hi-tech agricultural areas where
projects in the field will be carried out.
In
addition, it will also build a centre for developing animals for breeding, provide
new breeding technologies for local residents and complete a high-quality
rice processing line under EU and US standards.
Vinh
Phuc on right track to develop craft villages
The
Currently,
the province has over 19,300 rural production facilities operating mainly in
the fields of agro-forestry-fishery product processing, handicrafts, stone
carving, ornamental plants and animals, and construction materials.
Some
trade villages that have their products shipped abroad include Hai Luu stone
carving village in Song Lo district, Trieu De rattan village in Lap Thach,
Thanh Lang carpentry village in Binh Xuyen, and Vinh Son snake and Ly Nhan
forge village in Vinh Tuong.
The
villages have created jobs for up to 60,000 rural labourers, with an average
monthly income of 1.7-1.9 million VND (80-90 USD) per person.
Their development
has contributed to boosting the local economic structure transfer and forming
closer links in production.
However,
trade villages in Vinh Phuc still face numerous difficulties as most of them
are running small-scale production with out-of-date technology and limited
markets.
To deal
with the situation, the province has applied a number of measures and
policies to maintain and develop the villages, including the formation of
industrial and crafts clusters.
It has
invested 219 billion VND (10.4 million USD) in developing eight crafts
clusters on an area of 81 hectares.
The
locality sets a target of establishing 24 industrial clusters by 2015 to
attract small and medium-sized enterprises and households.
In
addition, Vinh Phuc has also focused on training skilled workers, teaching
the crafts to young people, and assisting the villages in exporting their
products.
According
to Nguyen Van Kiem, Chairman of the Vinh Phuc Cooperative Alliance, together
with mobilising resources for crafts development, the province has set up a
fund to support the restoration and development of the traditional trade
villages.
Vietnamese
rice needs international brand name
This
requires an effective marketing strategy to raise consumers’ awareness of the
Vietnamese rice and to help the country surpass major rice exporters like
Deputy
Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Quoc Doanh emphasised the
need to increase the added value of rice for export, thus improving growers’
incomes.
To do
this, the country hopes to receive support and collaboration from foreign
partners, including the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and the
United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), in order to build
its own trademark for this product, he said.
With
IRRA support, the ministry is expected to soon build a feasible cooperation
framework for the local rice sector, he added.
Deputy
Director of the ministry’s Department of Crops Production Tran Xuan Dinh
suggested forging links between farmers and businesses, and called for IRRI
technical assistance in biotechnology and sustainable production.
The VFA
predicted 2015 to be a tough year for
Consultancy
firms from
The main
topics were how to increase productivity and reduce production costs, improve
management strategies and modernise technology.
Ko Jun
Seok, a representative from the Korean small and medium-sized enterprises
(SMEs) management department, said cooperation between the two countries in
business renovation is going well. He add that the RoK will increase funding
for activities in this field in
Deputy
Minister of Science and Technology Tran Viet Thanh said Vietnamese businesses
can acquire a lot of experiences from the RoK which boasts professional
consulting staff and system.
The
ministry has piloted a programme this year giving 10 domestic enterprises
access to RoK consultancy service, which has reaped initial success, Thanh
added.
On the
occasion, the National Agency for Southern Affairs under the Ministry of
Science and Technology and the RoK SMEs management department signed a Memorandum
of Understanding on cooperation in the field.
Intel
Intel is
gearing up for the completion of its CPU production line at its Ho Chi Minh
City-based assembly and testing plant by the end of November, according to
CEO of Intel Products Vietnam Sherry Boger.
With the
new CPU production line, 80 per cent of the semiconductor chips used in
computers around the world by this time next year will be made by Intel
New
system on chip (SoC) platforms designed for smartphones and tablets have been
produced at the
In July
2014, Intel successfully released its new fourth-generation core processors.
Boger
said: “These products will serve customers from all over the world and have a
positive impact on export turnover and the development of
The
chipmaker posted $1.8 billion in exports last year. According to Boger, Intel
From the
beginning of this year to June, Intel
Boger
stated that Intel planned to speed up growth and business development in
Additionally,
Intel
Intel
Intel
Corp first announced a $300 million investment for an assembly and test plant
in
FDI
investment certificate to be licensed online
Foreign
investors who apply online for permission to invest in
The move
is part of the National Information System on Foreign Investment to begin
operation in 2015, with the aim of creating favourable conditions for FDI
investors.
According
to the MPI, the operation of the information system will be an important
step, demonstrating the efforts of the MPI in building a system to
standardise and digitise FDI activity management in establishing a national
database on FDI enterprises and projects on a national scale.
The
system will assist State management agencies and FDI enterprises in online
handling of FDI records, applications for investment certificate, making
reports, and managing projects among others in a bid to cut time and costs
for enterprises and management agencies, contributing to accelerating
administrative reform.
The
Foreign Investment Department has so far held two training courses for
officials in charge of foreign investment management from 29 provinces and
cities on the new system. The remaining localities will be provided with
training courses by year's end to put the system into operation in early
2015.
The right
to collect a toll on the
Danny
Samuel, Head of Corporate Business Strategy at IL&FS, said the agreement
to transfer the toll right to the company was signed during Vietnamese Prime
Minister Nguyen Tan Dung’s visit to
Under
the contract, IL&FS will buy a 49% stake in the project while the
remaining 51% will be retained by the Vietnam Infrastructure Development and
Finance Investment Company (ViDiFi). The money will be transferred to ViDiFi
at the end of 2015.
IL&FS
will also have to pay 49% of the estimated interest during the period of 31
years in 2018.
The
company said it would employ new toll collection technology to avoid losses
and prevent overloaded vehicles from travelling on the expressway in order to
ensure road quality and minimise maintenance costs.
Economy
car manufacturers seek entry to Vietnamese market
Economy
automobile producers from Asian countries such as
Recently,
Suzuki
According
to some news sources, there will soon be three new economy models produced in
Southeast Asian countries sold
Honda
has already introduced the HR-V in
Meanwhile,
there are rumours of the launch of the Mazda 2 in
Proton,
of
Despite
these various plans,
Job
demand on the rise
As
Nguyen
Manh Cuong, director of the labor ministry’s Center to Support the
Development of Labor Relations, said Vietnam is about to sign the
Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, and the free trade agreements
(FTA) with the European Union and the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus, and
Kazakhstan.
Such
trade agreements will boost the flow of products on the global markets, raise
investments, and stimulate the economic development of participating
countries, leading to the rising labor demand, he said at the conference on wage
policies held by the labor ministry and the National Wage Council.
When
Sectors
having high recruitment demand are apparel, footwear, electronics, and wood
processing, which have strong potential for export.
Report
of the International Labor Organization showed that the establishment of AEC
will raise recruitment demand by 10.5% and demand for semi-skilled workers by
28% in specific.
Le Tien
Truong, chairman of Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association, said the apparel
sector over the past 15 years has continuously posted growth rate by around
15% a year, much higher than other industries, and once FTAs are signed, more
opportunities will be opened for the sector.
“However,
whether the salary will be raised or not depends on the laborers’ quality and
productivity. If firms raise salary for their staff but the labor quality is
not improved correspondingly, their products cannot compete with others on
the market,” he said.
Nicola
Connolly, chairman of the European Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said
enterprises in
Meanwhile,
the growth of wage should be slower than that of labor productivity, she
said.
Malte
Luebke, ILO’s senior wage specialist in the Asia-Pacific region, said
although the minimum salary in
Farm
produce prices expected to rise
Local
experts have projected that the prices of
Last
week, China’s central bank reduced the interest rate of one-year loans by 0.4
percentage point to 5.6% and this will enable more Chinese companies to take
out loans to import rubber latex and other farm produce for stockpiling.
An
executive of an agricultural product trading firm based in HCMC told the
Daily that the Chinese central bank’s interest rate cut will place a positive
impact on the world’s farm produce market in the short term as the reduction
is an opportunity for more Chinese firms to borrow money for goods and
material imports.
The
executive said there are signs that Chinese companies have increased rubber
latex imports for storage in
Flooding
in
“The
price of rubber latex will likely pick up in the short term and the rise will
depend on supply and demand,” the executive said. “As supply is higher than
demand on the global market currently, the price is unlikely to rise
sharply.”
This
week, a kilogram of RSS3 rubber sheets is sold at VND27,800 in southeast and
Central Highlands provinces and the respective prices of SVR10 and SVR3L stay
at VND22,700 and VND27,600. These prices are the same to the levels over the
weekend.
On
Higher
demand has also lifted pepper prices on the domestic market. Traders on
November 25 bought a kilogram of pepper at around VND194,000-200,000, up
VND1,000-2,000 against the previous day.
The
average export price of pepper in the January-September period was US$7,558
per ton, rising by 14% year-on-year.
Statistics
of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development showed that
According
to the Vietnam Pepper Association (VPA), local farmers harvested around
150,000 tons of pepper in the 2013-2014 crop.
More
local consumers attend to private brands
A report
of research company Nielsen has revealed that 84% of consumers in
The
ratios are 83% in
In the
2014 Nielsen Global Private Label Report released on November 25, Nielsen
said attitudes toward retailers’ private labels or store branded products are
improving throughout
Sentiment
is particularly high in the Philippines where three quarters of consumers
(75%) view private label brands as a good alternative to named brands (up 24
percentage points from 2010) and 69% feel the quality of private label brands
is on par with named brands (up 28 points). More than half (54%) believe some
private label products are as good or better than brand name products.
In
However,
the report said improving sentiment is yet to impact on private label sales,
with private label share remaining low across the region.
While
around two-thirds of Singaporean shoppers (66%) and 28% of Thai shoppers are
regular private label buyers, in both markets less than 10% of baskets
contain a private label product.
The
overall share of private labels in the region remains low, 6.3% in
When it
comes to private label pricing, perceptions around the value for money
offered by private label are less positive in all
Just 46%
of Indonesians believe private label brands offer good value for money, the
lowest in the region and the sixth lowest globally, followed by 55% in
Pete
Gale, head of Retailer Services for Nielsen in Asia Pacific, said an
expanding proportion is building a repertoire of private label products that
they like and will buy again, even at a more expensive price than a branded
alternative.
Private
brands refer to the products sold under the names of retailers. In
The
Nielsen Global Private Label Survey was conducted with more than 30,000
consumers in 60 countries throughout Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America, the
Middle East, Africa and
Vinalines
to divest all capital at Maritime Bank
Vietnam
National Shipping Lines (Vinalines) has announced it would divest entire
capital at Vietnam Maritime Commercial Bank (Maritime Bank) to implement the
restructuring plan as instructed by the Government and raise fund for debt
payment.
According
to Vinalines, the enterprise will held an auction on the Hanoi Stock Exchange
to sell over 20.13 million shares, equivalent to a 2.52% stake in Maritime
Bank, on December 8. The total proceed is estimated at over VND315 trillion
as the reserve price for each share is set at VND15,650.
Currently,
there is a bank wanting to buy all shares put up for sale and has registered
to be a bidder at the auction.
Vinalines
will use money raised from the auction to restructure its debts valued at
over VND16 trillion as of the end of 2013. The debt amount has declined
gradually as Vinalines has made efforts to sell debts and divest capital at
companies.
The
Vietnam Embassy in
At the
event, Ambassador to India Ton Sinh Thanh said the Vietnam government has
been involved in a wide range of industry activities, focusing on working
with suppliers, regulatory agencies and travel promotion bureaus to improve
the quality of travel related services for foreign visitors.
He spoke
highly of
For her
part, Girish Shanka, the Additional Secretary of India Tourism, said
Echoing
Thanh’s views, Shanka expressed optimism that bilateral tourism cooperation
and trade in all fields would further be promoted as a result of the direct
flights connecting
At the
event, representatives from Viettravel introduced tourism travel packages
touting
Participants
also had a chance to enjoy special art performance presented by Vietnamese
artists and artisans.
Seminar
to broaden
Since
the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1993,
At a
Vietnam-South Africa trade and tourism promotion seminar in Hue City on
November 27, Anh said Vietnam is strong at producing agricultural products,
handicrafts, garment, construction materials and seafood while South Africa
is a potential supplier of steel, mental, wood, and cotton.
However,
the two-way trade turnover between the two countries hits just a bit more
than US$1 million annually and does not match with the two countries’
potential.
South
African Ambassador to Vietnam Kgomotso Ruth Magau said
The
seminar provides a good chance for businesses from both sides, especially
those in Thua Thien-Hue province, to cooperate to exploit potential and
strength for mutual benefit.
Dinh
Khac Dinh, Vice Chairman of the Thua Thien-Hue provincial People’s Committee,
said businesses and tourism associations from two countries will get update
information about their land, people and potential to boost cooperation,
especially in trade, tourism, education, and culture.
Investment
Law stipulates subjects, sectors enjoying investment incentives
The
subjects will enjoy advantages in corporate income tax exemption and
reduction, tax preferences (including exemption of import duties applicable
to equipment, materials, transport means and land use privilege); exemption
and reduction of land tax, land rentals; period of land use.
These
five subjects include investment projects in priority sectors and
areas, investment projects with capital scale of at least of VND6,000
billion, investment projects in rural areas hiring more than 500 workers and
high technology businesses and science and technology enterprises and
organizations.
The Law
on Investment encourages investments in high tech, industrial products
supporting high-tech, research and development; production of new materials,
new energy, clean energy, renewable energy, products with value-added more
than 30% and energy -saving products.
Other
sectors such as the manufacturing of electronic products, key mechanical
products, agricultural machines, automobiles, automobile spare parts;
shipbuilding, industrial production support for the textile industry, leather
shoes; production of information technology, software, digital content are
also given incentives .
Regarding
the agricultural sector, investment incentives are applied to
agricultural-forestry-aquatic production and processing; forest planting and
protection, salt making, fishing and fishing logistics services, plant seeds
and animal breeds and biotechnology products.
In the
social, education and infrastructure sector, investment incentives are
offered to the fields of collecting, processing, recycling or reuse of waste;
development investment and operation, management of infrastructure projects,
development of public transport in urban areas; pre-school education, general
education and vocational education.
In the
healthcare sector, the incentives are given to medical examination and
treatment, drug production, drug materials, essential drugs, social diseases
prevention, vaccines, health products, herbal medicines, scientific research
on pharmacy and biotechnology to produce new drugs, geriatric and mental
health centers, treatment of patients with Agent Orange; nursing homes for
elderly people, people with disabilities and orphans as well as investment in
sports centers for the disabled or professional competitors and cultural
heritage preservation.
ANZ:
Fuel price cuts lift consumer confidence
ANZ Bank
in a report released on November 26 said that the confidence of Vietnamese
consumers has improved significantly after retail fuel price cuts in the past
months and the release of data on low inflation in the year to date.
The
ANZ-Roy Morgan Vietnam Consumer Confidence has risen by 6.2 points to 140.9
in November and is now well above the 2014 average of 133.
This
month’s strong gain in consumer confidence is primarily driven by increasing
certainty about economic conditions in the country in the next 12 months and
the next five years, according to the bank.
In terms
of personal finances, 29% (down four percentage points) of Vietnamese said
their families are ‘better off’ financially than a year ago compared to 23%
(unchanged) who said their family is ‘worse off’ financially.
Some 48%
(down five percentage points) of respondents expect their families will be
‘better off’ financially this time next year compared to just 5% (down two
percentage points) with financially ‘worse off’ view.
The
report showed respondents have significantly increased their confidence in
the economy with 63% (up a large 12 percentage points), saying Vietnam will
have ‘good times’ financially during the next 12 months (the highest on
record for this indicator) and just 5% (down 10 percentage points) expecting
‘bad times’ financially (the lowest on record for this indicator).
In
addition, 38% (down four percentage points) of Vietnamese said now is a ‘good
time to buy’ important household items compared to only 4% (down 10
percentage points) who said now is a ‘bad time to buy’ major household items
(the lowest on record for this indicator).
Glenn
Maguire, ANZ Chief Economist for
“We
believe the key dynamic that is driving consumer confidence in Vietnam is
slowing inflation, with the fuel price cuts over the past month, clearly
starting to free up disposable income and thus bolstering consumers’ own perceptions
of their spending power,” the expert said.
The fact
that consumer confidence has increased on the back of these fuel price falls
clearly indicates the potency of the Government’s policy to be able to
support the Vietnamese economy.
“Hence
this explains our confidence that this recovery profile currently in place
will continue, and if anything, risks may skew to a slightly steeper profile
if falling oil prices boost global capital expenditure and consumption - a
dynamic
Though
the fuel price reductions have clearly bolstered perceptions of current
economic conditions, expectations of a recovery are clearly gaining traction.
The strong gains in consumer confidence were primarily supported by
increasing confidence in
“In this
environment, the potential for consumption and domestic demand to perhaps
start strengthening is rising. We continue to assess the risk structure
around the Vietnamese economic outlook as coalescing more to the positive
side.”
Agriculture-aquaculture-forestry
exports up 12% in 11 months
The
agriculture-aquaculture-forestry exports in November reached US$2.66 billion,
bringing the total export turnover of the sector to US$28.2 billion over the
past 11 months of the year, up 12.1% compared to the same period last year.
Accordingly,
the export values of agricultural, aquatic and forestry products are
estimated at US$13.19 billion, US$7.22 billion and US$5.88 billion, up 10.5%,
19.3% and 12.9%, respectively.
Among
agricultural products, coffee took the lead with 72,000 tons, worth US$165
million, raising the total export volume to 1.56 million tons, valuing
US$3.26 billion, up 33.4% in quantity and up 32.2% in value.
The
nation earned US$1.162 billion, US$2.79 billion and US$206 million from
exporting 151,000 tons of peppercorns, 6.03 million tons of rice and 121,000
tons of tea in the reviewed period.
State
Treasury scales up G-bond issuance target
The
State Treasury for the second time this year has just revised up its plan for
Government bond sales, targeting to sell VND262 trillion worth of G-bonds
this year, a rise of VND30 trillion against the previous plan.
On
August 25, the State Treasury adjusted up the target for G-bond sales from
VND210 trillion to VND232 trillion.
In its
latest adjustment, the State Treasury focuses on long-term bonds.
It will
mobilize VND26 trillion worth of under-one-year bonds instead of VND40
trillion as planned in the year’s beginning, and reduce the value from VND55
trillion to VND34 trillion for two-year bonds and from VND65 trillion to
VND61 trillion for three-year bonds.
Meanwhile,
it will issue VND80 trillion of five-year bonds, VND41 trillion of ten-year
bonds and VND20 trillion of 15-years bonds, according to the latest plan.
In the
plan released early this year, it had projected to issue only VND67 trillion
of five-year bonds, VND10 trillion of ten-year bonds and VND5 trillion of
15-year bonds.
The
revision is in line with the new strategy in mobilizing long-term capital.
However,
the plan has aroused questions on the market because G-bonds have become less
attractive, especially in September when the State Treasury halted the
issuance of short-term bonds and therefore, the goal will be difficult to
reach.
Last
week, the State Treasury held an auction for five-year, ten-year and 15-year
bonds worth a combined VND4 trillion.
Ending
the session, only VND473 billion worth of bonds was collected at an annual
coupon of 4.8%. The amounts of five-year bonds and 15-year bonds were sold
only 14% and 26% of the targets respectively, and none of ten-year bonds was
sold.
Many
people are of the opinion that the G-bond sales will run slow from now until
the year’s end as credit has grown faster while investment portfolios of
businesses have little room left for more G-bond investments.
The HCMC
government and the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs will talk
with foreign direct investment (FDI) enterprises on problems that these firms
encounter when complying to the revised Labor Law and Trade Union Law on
December 4.
The
event will be joined by HCMC Vice Chairman Le Manh Ha and Deputy Minister of
Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs Pham Minh Huan, said Huynh Minh Quan,
director of NhanViet Management Group, the co-organizer of the talk.
Mai Duc
Chinh, vice chairman of
Through
the meeting, enterprises will have the chance to get answers for their
questions when new articles of the Labor Law and Trade Union Law are applied.
The
discussion will update latest information related to laborers in other laws
that will come into force from next year such as the revised Health Insurance
Law, Employment Law, and minimum wages.
The talk
is organized with an aim to help investors who are about to enter Vietnam and
those who have operated in the market learn more about the legal system in
the country so that they will know how to treat their employees in line with
the rules.
So far,
130 firms active in HCMC have registered to take part in the meeting.
Italian
enterprise opens coffee roasting plant in Binh Duong
The
subsidiary company of Massimo Zanetti Beverage Group (BZB Group) on Tuesday
inaugurated its first coffee roasting plant in
The
plant located in My Phuoc Industrial Park in
According
to the investment certificate issued by Binh Duong management board of
industrial parks, the 100% foreign-owned company focuses on roasting and
producing different types of coffee. This company sells 3-in-1 coffee,
black and white coffee, coffee compressed into pellets and packaged in bags,
as well as other products made from coffee.
Doan
Xuan Hoa, a senior official at the agriculture ministry, said the investment
of BZB Group in
“As far
as I know, many foreign corporations investing in the coffee industry will
try to support coffee farmers with special techniques to yield high quality
beans, meeting the taste of consumers all over the world,” said Hoa.
Hanwha
Life expands to Hue City
Hanwha
Life
The new
office brought Hanwha Life
Back
Jong Kook, general director of Hanwha Life
Established
in June 2008, Hanwha Life
Dai-ichi
Life offers special bonus to policyholders
Dai-ichi
Life Insurance Company of Vietnam Ltd. (Dai-ichi Life
The
company said the beneficiaries are those with policies still valid as of
November 14 this year. The special bonus will be added to the eligible policy
account value on top of other investment benefits as committed by the
Japanese-invested life insurance company in the policy contracts with its
customers.
This is
the third time Dai-ichi Life
Tran
Dinh Quan, general director of Dai-ichi Life
“Despite
economic difficulties, we are still maintaining the credit interest rate of
8% for all policyholders of the universal life products, and this additional
special bonus of VND21.6 billion for these policyholders once again affirms
Dai-ichi Life
In the
first nine months of this year, Dai-ichi Life Vietnam saw its new business
premiums rise by 33% year-on-year to over VND640 billion and total premium
income surge 36% to exceed VND1.69 trillion. The company posted preliminary
profit of VND160 billion in the period, or higher than the target it set for
the first three quarters of this year.
As part
of its business expansion and customer-driven strategy, Dai-ichi Life
Quan
said priorities towards the year-end are to invest in human resource
development, diversify distribution channels through cooperation with
strategic bank partners and expand the sales network.
Dai-ichi
Life
Employees
with Japanese fluency sought
Many
enterprises in export processing zones and industrial parks in HCMC are
currently in dire need of employees who can communicate in the Japanese
language, said Nguyen Thanh Tung of the HCMC Export Processing and Industrial
Zone Authority (Hepza).
The
director of the
The fact
showed that there is a severe short supply of employees with Japanese
competence, not to mention their job skills though Japanese companies are
willing to pay high to find qualified candidates.
Tran
Xuan Hai, director of the
A number
of employees fluent in Japanese told the Daily that they want to look for
stable jobs in
Ho Thi
Tu Trinh, who used to study and work in
The city
also lacks teachers of Japanese. A public relations executive at a company
licensed to train employees for Japanese enterprises said her company finds
it difficult to recruit teachers of Japanese.
AEON
looks for local suppliers
The
supermarket chain operator AEON Company Limited is looking for Vietnamese
suppliers for its global retail system and for its new private brand TOPVALU
to replace imports from
At an
international conference held by the Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency
(Vietrade) on November 26, the general director said Vietnamese suppliers are
supplying goods worth a total value of US$60 million per year for AEON. Main
products include shrimp, catfish, frozen eggplant, semi-processed frozen
fish, breaded shrimp and octopus, processed coffee and so on.
Currently,
more than 1,000 local suppliers are doing business with AEON
“AEON is
a leading retailer in
The
Japanese firm is now looking for suppliers for garment, seafood and
agricultural products. Nishitohge emphasized domestic businesses need to pay
more attention to product quality management because Japanese customers
demand safe products. For example, garment and household products must be
checked for strange objects, while foodstuff has to be tested in terms of
microbiological standards, plant protection drugs and chemical residues.
Enterprises
in each sector will have to follow specific criteria to become AEON’s
suppliers. Businesses having certificates of food safety, Global Gap, Viet
Gap and the like will be at an advantage compared to the others.
Exporters
to get permission to issue C/Os
Exporters
will be allowed to issue the certificates of origin (C/O) on their own for
goods bound for
Vuong Duc
Anh, representative of the bureau, said the ministry is drafting the circular
to lay down criteria for enterprises to issue the certificates on their own.
If
allowed, enterprises will have the right to certify the origin of products on
the bills instead of having to ask for the C/O for each of their shipment
from authorities. With the certificate, they can enjoy the preferential
export tax when shipping goods to the three countries.
In order
to earn the right, enterprises must be exporting products of their own and
must not have violated regulations related to products’ origins, tax, and
customs.
However,
to enjoy this incentive, enterprises may be required to have a certain level
of export revenue which is not yet decided, and have specialized staff understanding
the rules of origins of goods in trade agreements.
C/O
issuing enterprises must also be responsible for accuracy of the certificates
and customs agencies will check C/Os in case of suspicion.
Deborah
K. Elms, executive director of the Asian Trade Centre in
The
application of C/O self-issuing scheme in
After
receiving approval from the Government,
Anh of
the export-import bureau said the project will last for one year and after
that, ASEAN countries will discuss the self-issuing system before deploying
it on a large scale.
C/O
self-issuing scheme is a trend in free trade agreements that
Enterprises
resorting to the self-issuing mechanism will be able to save time and reduce
fees on C/O procedures but the scheme will prompt more responsibilities to customs
departments because certain enterprises may abuse the right to commit fraud.
Payments
of house purchases now specified
Property
developers can only collect the house payments of no higher than 30% of the
contract value from customers when the building of the projects’ foundations
are finished, according to the revised housing law passed on Tuesday.
Article
54 of the revised law permits property developers to sell or lease houses if
such houses are checked to be eligible for sale by the provincial
authorities.
If the
foundations of the housing projects are finished, property developers can get
only 30% of the house value. The following installments have to be in line
with the progress of construction but will not exceed 70% of the value if the
houses are not transferred to buyers.
If
property developers are foreign-invested companies and the houses are not yet
handed over, the payments will not be higher than 50% of the value.
In
addition, as long as buyers are not granted with the land use right
certificates or the home ownership certificates, the payment shall not exceed
95% of the contract value. The remaining payments will be made when buyers
receive the certificates.
Nguyen
Ngoc Thanh, vice chairman of the Vietnam Real Estate Association, said the
new regulation is now tighter, which helps prevent property developers from
randomly collecting money from customers in case the projects are moving
slowly or cannot be completed.
Meanwhile,
according to Nguyen Nam Hien, general director of
Hien added
before houses are sold or leased, developers have to report to the provincial
housing management bodies.
Within
15 days after receiving the notifications, the management bodies have to
respond to property developers.
However,
according to some property developers, under the Civil Code, property
developers and customers can negotiate with each other on the proportions of
payments as long as customers agree.
Lawyer
Nguyen Son Tung from Legal United Law Company rejected the view as a
misconception, as the Civil Code is comprehensive while the Housing Law is
specific to the property sector. Therefore, property developers have to
comply with the Housing Law, he added.
* HCMC’s
authorities are pressing ahead with a plan to apply more regulations on condo
building use and management early next year to effectively resolve disputes
between investors and residents at apartment projects in the city.
At a
conference in HCMC on November 26, a representative of the HCMC Department of
Construction said there are over 1,200 apartment buildings here in the city.
Since early this year, disputes among residents, management boards and
investors have been reported at 58 projects, including high-class buildings.
Condo
size and public area of apartment buildings are the main reasons behind such
disputes. In addition, there have been disagreements over fire fighting
activities, use of building maintenance funds, project quality, parking fees
and condo trading contracts.
Do Phi
Hung, deputy director of the department, emphasized the necessity of more
condo management regulations to clarify rights, obligations and
responsibilities of the parties involved.
At the
conference, HCMC vice chairman Nguyen Huu Tin told district-level authorities
to collect suggestions from residents at condo buildings to help the
department work out a draft of regulations, which could take effect in
January next year.
Regarding
condo building management fees, Tin said the new rules enable residents to
choose management units. The rules will also control water prices for condo
users.
Investors
have to make clear all conditions to homebuyers before they sign contracts.
On the other hands, residents can sue investors if they fail to follow the
rules.
The new
rules will not be applied to dormitories for students, workers, civil
servants, low-cost homes, resettlement projects with 50% of condos having
turned privately owned, and houses with multiple owners.
Source:
VEF/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/Dantri/VIR
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Thứ Bảy, 29 tháng 11, 2014
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