|
BUSINESS
IN BRIEF 3/11
VN economy
improving: CBRE
By the end of
August, as reported by the State Bank of
However, credit
growth projected for the first eight months was only 4.5 per cent
year-on-year, half of the target for 2014 and despite government efforts to
gradually lower lending rates from 20 per cent in 2011 to the current 13 per
cent.
Some banks in the
first few months even offered lending rates as low as 7.5 per cent to 8.5 per
cent.
The Viet Nam CCI
(consumer confidence index) followed the trend of the stock market (VN-Index)
closely, with both increasing since January, according to a consumer survey
conducted by ANZ – Roy Morgan.
Almost 60 per cent
of respondents expect economic conditions in
A recovery in
consumer confidence may be a good sign for credit growth in the last three
months of the year, according to CBRE.
The performance of
the economy is also supported by investment in the manufacturing sector,
which remains the most significant sector for foreign investment, accounting
for almost 70 per cent of total FDI.
Following
manufacturing, the real estate sector is ranked second in FDI, accounting for
11 per cent, equivalent to $1.2 billion. Large amounts of money are expected
to flow into southern realty.
There are several
large real estate projects, including Smart Complex by Lotte in
CBRE said there
would also be additional investment in ports in
VN urged to
step up reforms
Participants in the
conference urged businesses to actively research the AEC and put forward
measures to increase competitiveness and participate in the region's supply
chain.
Addressing the
event, Head of the Party Central Committee's Economic Commission Vuong Dinh
Hue said that once it is formally set up, the AEC will help Viet Nam grow
more rapidly, generate more jobs, attract more investment, increase
production capacities and improve its standing in ASEAN and international
forums.
However, he noted
that the country will face challenges during the AEC integration process as
there is still an economic development gap between
He called upon all
ministries, sectors and enterprises to prepare for the opportunities and
challenges involved in joining the regional arena.
According to expert
Yoshifumi Fukunaga from the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East
Asia, participating in the AEC will help
The AEC is
scheduled to be shaped in late 2015. From then onwards, ASEAN will be a
common market on which goods, services, capital and labour can be exchanged
freely.
Agroforestry,
seafood exports bring in $2.28b
The turnover
represents a year-on-year increase of 11.2 per cent, according to the
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).
Agriculture and
Rural Development Minister Cao Duc Phat said the MARD has predicted that,
given current trends, export turnover from agroforestry and seafood would
likely reach more than $30 billion this year.
Figures from the
MARD showed that in the past 10 months, rice exports reached 5.68 million
tonnes worth $2.59 billion. This represents a 2.7 per cent decrease in volume
and 1.2 per cent increase in value year-on-year. The increase in value is
attributed to the 3.6-per cent increase in export price from 2013.
Coffee exports
reached 1.49 million tonnes worth $3.1 billion. This represents a 37.1-per
cent increase in volume and 33.5-per cent increase in value year-on-year.
Recently, the Belgian market witnessed an increase in coffee imports from
Cashew nut exports
reached 257,000 tonnes worth $1.68 billion. This represents a 20.5-per cent
increase in volume and 24.4-per cent increase in value year-on-year.
Pepper exports
earned $1.1 billion, mostly from the five largest pepper importers: the
Rubber exports
remained the most valued item, posting a turnover of $1,767 per tonne or a
year-on-year decrease of 25.46 per cent. In spite of the increase in rubber
export volume, the value is likely to fall compared with the same period last
year.
In contrast, tea
exports posted a six-per cent year-on-year increase.
To date, seafood
exports brought in $6.48 billion, a 20-per cent year-on-year increase, while
agroforestry exports brought in $5.24 billion, a 13-per cent year-on-year
increase.
Binh Duong
runs trade surplus
The southern
According to the
provincial General Statistics Office, exports fetched more than $12.7
billion, a year-on-year rise of 15.2 per cent. Of which, over $10.5 billion
was generated by foreign investors, up by 16.2 per cent compared to the same
period last year.
Footwear, garments,
and timber were the key earners, bringing more than $1 billion to the
province, while computers, electronics, and textiles also recorded rapid
growth.
According to the
provincial Department of Industry and Trade, as many as 111 foreign-invested
projects increased their investment capital to a total $757.6 million.
Bac Ninh
welcomes smartphone plant
Microsoft will
build its second largest smartphone manufacturing plant in the world in the
The group’s leaders
recently met provincial officials in
“Microsoft will
triple its employees from 5,000 where it currently stands to 15,000 in the
near future,” Deputy Chairman of the Bac Ninh Provincial People’s Committee
Nguyen Van Nhuong told VIR. “The total additional investment capital has yet
to be revealed, but it will be very big. Microsoft is aiming to employ an
additional 500 new workers every week.”
Nokia
Nhuong said
Microsoft would gradually narrow its mobile phone manufacturing in
According to the
committee, Microsoft will also apply state-of-the-art environmentally-friendly
technologies. With its sizable investment and high technology, that group
will be entitled to a 10 per cent corporate income tax exemption for the
first four years of operations and a 50 per cent reduction for another nine
years. This incentive is in line with the government’s incentives for hi-tech
projects. Samsung also enjoys this incentive.
“Additionally,
based on its own incentives for these projects, the province will give
another a 50 per cent reduction for another four years to Microsoft,” Nhuong
said. “We highly value this investment.”
Nhuong said
Microsoft would support the province in producing skilled workers and
developing e-government.
Nhuong also said
the province was deploying many investment promotion programmes to attract
foreign firms operating in the supporting industries, thanks to Samsung and
Microsoft’s presence in the province.
In 2009, Samsung
inaugurated a $670 million Samsung Electronics Vietnam (SEV) factory to
produce mobile phones in Bac Ninh. After that, the total investment capital
was raised to $2.5 billion.
In March 2014,
Samsung started operations of its $2 billion hi-tech complex in the
SEV’s exports in
2013 were valued at $23.9 billion. Together the two factories are expected to
achieve an export value of $35 billion this year.
Early this month,
Samsung also received an investment certificate from
Anti-flood
projects, left idle for six years, now cost six times more
Many of
The information was
released at a workshop jointly conducted by the
Speaking at the
event, many experts said that the irrigation plan for inundation prevention
was approved six years ago, but most of the projects under the plan have yet
to be developed.
Therefore, due to
the escalation of prices over time, the initially estimated investment in
these projects has increased from VND11,531 billion (US$542.7 million)
to VND67,655 billion ($3.18 billion), or 5.86 times higher (according to
commodity prices in 2013).
The city’s
rainwater drainage systems have become obsolete and ineffective, and are not
able to cope with the impacts of climate change, experts said.
They need to be
replaced by the projects included in the plan, but due to climate change many
of these developments need to be modified to match actual conditions and
survive future changes.
For example, the
embankment along the Tham Luong-Ben Cat-Nuoc Len canal needs to be built
higher than initially designed.
Experts also
suggested that the program on management of flood risk be included inthe
city’s urban development plan.
Also yesterday, Le
Hoang Minh, deputy director of the HCMC Transport Department, and other
officials from concerned agencies visited a number of areas where water
currents have been restricted due to the ongoing renovation of the Tan Hoa-Lo
Gom canal.
The inspectors
found that the construction of roads and embankments around the
“The obstruction of
the outlet does not directly cause flooding on
At other
construction sites related to the project, such as the Ong Buong 2 and Tan
Hoa bridges, the respective construction units have enlarged the currents,
but the drains have yet to be improved, the inspectors said.
The city’s Urban
Upgrading Works Investment Management Board must ask relevant contractors to
arrange pumps at the construction sites to drain water during heavy rains,
Minh said.
At the same time,
contractors must also continue to widen currents and dredge canals to improve
water drainage to ease flooding in flood-prone areas.
At a meeting on
October 21 with the department and other relevant agencies to discuss urgent
solutions to the city’s ongoing flooding issues the city People’s Committee
Vice Chairman, Nguyen Huu Tin, requested that the department eliminate all
areas vulnerable to inundation within the next year.
According to the
transport department, the city now has 27 flood-prone areas.
Keeping
public debt at a safe level
Public debt could
reach 60.3% of GDP by the end of the year, according to official figures
reported by the Government to the National Assembly Standing Committee.
On the basis of
expected State budget deficit and expenditure, experts estimate that public
debt is capable of reaching almost 64% of GDP by the end of 2015. Some also
assumed that if the State budget had to cover bad debts by State-owned
enterprises, public debt would probably exceed the safety threshold of 65% of
GDP.
However, recent
events visibly show that foreign investors remain confident and continue
pouring capital into
Specifically, the
Government can target revenue worth tens of trillions of VND from taxes,
fees, and land use costs that were not fully and promptly paid to the State
budget. It is necessary to instill a strong sense of respect of the laws and
social responsibilities in businesses and entrepreneurs to ensure the State
budget balance.
The Government can
also swiftly identify others revenue sources worth trillions of VND that can
be obtained from the process of SOEs restructuring, such as equitisation and
non-core business divestment. These sources should be affirmed as national
assets and need to be counted during budget balancing procedures.
At the same time,
it is also necessary to improve the legal system to effectively manage
revenue sources to the State budget.
In the fight
against corruption, there also exist measures for higher recovery of
significant funds through investigation and trials of cases.
Combining a range
of measures ─ including ensuring effective operation of the State budget,
covering all sources of revenues, and exercising expenditure savings, as well
as promoting the role of the State Treasury ─ could help control the budget
deficit and keep public debt from exceeding the safety threshold.
The
question of new motivation for economic growth
The question of
which sector of the economy holds the largest potential for the national
economic growth attracted much attention from economic experts at the Autumn
Economic Forum held last month.
Aggregate demand is
on the road to recovery, the total export revenue has seen a year-on-year
increase of 14%, and the gross domestic product (GDP) over nine months surged
5.62% against the same period in 2013, exceeding the estimate figures of
5.3-5.4%.
Most notably, the
macroeconomy has maintained long-term stability, inflation has been kept in
check, the consumer price index (CPI) is stable, and the country can boast
high foreign currency reserves.
However, it can
still be said that the
Economic experts
shared the same assessment on the slow and not-yet sustainable recovery of
the national economy: weak domestic demand has led to an economy vulnerable
to external shocks and lack of a motivation for a breakthrough in such a
quiet period.
The question is,
what is the driving force for
Boosting aggregate
demand is a way to recover the economy in the short term and prevent economic
decline.
The Government has
made considerable efforts to enact operating policies to reduce interest
rates, spur credit growth and promote public investment projects. These
solutions have brought about positive results, helping the economy emerge
from the most difficult periods.
But demand stimulus
is only a supporting solution and it cannot solve systemic problems in the
economy. The fiscal space for expanding public investment is very limited due
to constraints on overspending and maintaining safe public debt, leaving
narrow room for implementing a demand stimulus policy.
As such, a stimulus
policy should not be in place so long as to cause a threat to the safety of
national finances and trigger inflation.
Improvement to
supply will be a fundamental solution to the growth of the economy in the
coming period as it helps deal with current economic issues including
improving social productivity, enhancing investment efficiency and bettering
the competitiveness of the economy.
Supply side
policies are carried out through restructuring programmes aligned with the
renovation of growth models. And as long as the restructuring programmes have
not yielded practical results and new growth models with higher productivity
have not been formed, economists have reasons to believe that the economy
does not have the momentum to make a breakthrough.
So, which sector
will be the driving force and motivation for the national economy?
Much research shows
that the State-owned enterprise sector no longer operates effectively, with
its investment efficiency declining. Indicators of capital productivity,
investment performance and employment elasticity in this sector are all
second to non-state sectors.
The FDI sector is
forecast to continue attracting more investment and expanding further in the
future, making more significant contributions to Vietnam's economy,
particularly when Vietnam completes the signing of free trade agreements
(FTAs) including the Vietnam - EU FTAs, Vietnam - Republic of Korea FTAs,
Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement and others.
However, the facts
indicate that the private sector is indeed the sector recording the highest
investment efficiency with capital efficiency two times higher than that in
the State-owned enterprise sector. Its contributions to the nation in tax
payment and GDP growth are even higher than FDI sector.
These analyses show
that it is time to give more priorities to the private sector. It is
necessary to put the focus of the strategy on enhancing the productivity of
the national economy on this sector as it is absolutely the motivation for
stronger economic growth in the future.
To achieve the
target,
Processing
& manufacturing industries grow sharply
In the first ten
months, the industrial production index (IPI) was estimated to go up by 6.9%
against the same period last year, said the General Statistics Office (GSO).
The IPI's quarterly
growth rates were 5.3% in Q1; 6.9% in Q2 and 7.8% in Q3.
The GSO on October
27 reported that the processing and manufacturing sectors achieved an
expansion of 8.4% and 7%, respectively.
Electricity
production expanded by 11.5% (the rate of 8.6% was made last year); followed
by water and sewage treatment with 6.4% and the mining industry 0.7%.
Production of some
products went up sharply including mobile telephones, up 54.6% against the
same period last year; automobiles up 28.5% and fresh milk 21.6%.
Large-scale
production centres included Long An province (up 12%); Hai Phong city (up
11.8%);
In October, the IPI
saw a month-on-month increase of 4.6% and year-on-year surge by 7.9%.
As of late
September, consumption index of the processing and manufacturing industries
went up 10.1% against the same period of 2013.
As of October 1,
inventory level of the processing and manufacturing industries picked up 2.4%
against last month and 10.9% against the same period of 2013.
Trade
surplus in 10 months: Satisfactory but unsustainable
The GSO argued that
foreign trade activities generated low added value and were
unsustainable.
In October, export
volume was estimated at US$ 13.2 billion, seeing a month-on-month increase of
4.5% and year-on-year surge of 5.5%. The FDI sector earned US$ 8.9 billion in
export revenue (including crude oil) (up 2.8%); while the domestic sector
made US$ 4.3 billion (up 8.2%).
Biggest hard
currency earners included garments and textiles (up 21.3%); computers and
spare parts (up 15.5%); footwear (up 11%); coffee (up 72.9%).
In the
January-October period, export turnover was estimated at US$ 123.1 billion,
representing a year-on-year increase of 13.4% of which the domestic sector
contributed US$ 40.6 billion (up 12.9%) and FDI sector US$ 82.5 billion (up
13.6%).
In the reviewed
period, the
Meanwhile, in
October, import turnover was estimated at US$ 13.6 billion, up 2.9% against
the same period last year of which the FDI sector contributed US$ 8 billion
(up 1.2%) and the domestic sector US$ 5.6 billion (up 5.5%).
In the first ten
months, Viet Nam imported US$ 121.2 billion of goods, posting a year-on-year
increase of 11.2% of which the FDI sector contributed US$ 68.7 billion (up
10.7%) and the domestic sector US$ 52.5 billion, up 12%.
Biggest imports
included machines, equipment, and spare parts with US$ 18.3 billion (up
20.4%); fabric US$ 7.7 billion (up 13.4%).
In the
January-October period,
Pepper
traders warned of hasty contract signing
The global pepper
market is forecast to face a supply shortfall next year which will certainly
drive prices up, so local traders should not hastily sign contracts with
buyers to avoid losses, the Vietnam Pepper Association (VPA) suggested.
Tran Duc Tung,
office manager of VPA, said farmers usually sell pepper in bulk at harvest time
in the first quarter to cover investment costs and other expenses on Lunar
New Year holidays. Therefore, selling prices are often low in the first
months of year.
Currently,
Tung said the
export pepper price hovered around US$6,500 per ton in the first half of this
year, but traders have almost emptied their pepper stocks at this low price.
The total amount of
pepper export in the first six months was equal to that of 2013. However,
when the pepper price shot up to more than US$8,000 per ton in July, there
was little left.
Many local
businesses suffered losses because they had signed contracts at low prices
and found it tough to secure sufficient pepper for delivery. The losses are
all the deeper now as the export price is approaching US$10,000 a ton.
“Pepper is a
commodity with wild price volatility. Therefore, businesses should avoid
signing futures contracts. Contracts should only be signed when traders have
secured 70% of the volume in stock,” Tung suggested.
“VPA gives such
recommendations based on production and trading situations so that farmers
and businesses can avoid losses,” he said.
Statistics from VPA
showed the export price of pepper was US$6,500 per ton in the first quarter
before going up to US$8,335 in July and over US$9,000 in September, rising by
US$1,800-2,500 per ton in just a few months.
The local price has
also risen accordingly, from VND149,000 a kilo in the first quarter to
VND190,000 in September. Pepper price in the market on October 28 was
VND182,000-189,000 per kilogram.
According to the
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), the continuous increase
helped raise the average export price in January-September to US$7,558 per
ton, up 14% year-on-year. The export volume in the first 10 months of the
year was 145,000 tons worth more than US$1.1 billion, rising 18.5% in volume
and over 35% in value compared to the previous year.
MARD is organizing
an international pepper conference from October 27-30 in HCMC with the
participation of major pepper producing countries such as
Vietnamese
flock to
Around 10,000
Vietnamese come to
Some 130
representatives from 45 local travel agencies and 30 hotels and travel firms
from
An executive of a
local travel agency told the Daily before the seminar that Japan tours have
been selling well in recent times thanks to reduced prices and that his
company now arranges regular trips for Vietnamese to visit Japan rather than
seasonal tours in previous years.
“The number of
Vietnamese visitors to
As scheduled, the
Consulate General of Japan in HCMC will next month announce information about
criteria for the travel firms subject to lax visa procedures when they
organize package trips for Vietnamese travelers to
According to the
Japan Tourism Agency, more than 84,000 Vietnamese came to
The agency expected
the number of Vietnamese tourists will grow higher thanks to favorable
conditions in travelling, strong partnerships between companies of the two
nations to offer more tours at lower prices, and Japan’s aid in promoting
destinations in that country.
Earlier this year,
Next month,
According to local
travel firms, the loosened visa requirements will lead tour prices to
Minister
Vinh says falling FDI approvals no cause for concern
Though foreign
direct investment (FDI) approvals have declined sharply in the
January-October period, Minister of Planning and Investment Bui Quang Vinh
said the drop is not a major concern given the challenges companies around
the world are coping with.
Vinh raised the
point before the General Statistics Office (GSO) released an updated report
containing figures about FDI. Accordingly, more than 1,300 FDI projects had
been licensed in the year to October 20 with combined registered capital of
US$9.95 billion, up 24.4% in number but down nearly 24% in investment capital
year-on-year.
The report said the
investors of 469 projects licensed in previous years had registered
investment increases of nearly US$13.7 billion, tumbling by 28.8% over the
same period last year.
Despite strong
declines in both fresh and additional FDI approvals, the minister told the
“Citizens Ask, Ministers Answer” program aired Vietnam Television (VTV) over
the weekend that Vietnam has done whatever it can to create the most
favorable business environment to attract investors and the decisions to
invest in Vietnam are in the hands of foreign investors.
Vinh said many
foreign investors have been affected by different factors, including
difficulties of the parent companies which make them unable to proceed with
their investment plans overseas.
Vinh assumed that
five years would be an appropriate time for
He said registered
FDI investment capital reached US$22 billion last year when many huge
projects were licensed. Investors had surveyed the country for years and
waited until last year to apply for investment licenses like the project of
Samsung or the Nghi Son refinery project.
“This year we don’t
have many big projects like last year and we will be confused if we continue
comparing the FDI attraction with that of last year,” Vinh said and expected
that FDI approvals would stand at US$15-16 billion this year.
Vinh said the UAE
group Sama Dubai mulled a project to develop a special economic zone but the
project has not translated into reality due to the global economic crisis.
There are also a number of projects whose investors are financially
incapable.
“Therefore, I can
say that the implementation of FDI projects depends not only on us but also
the investors themselves and the economic, political situations in their
countries,” he said.
The GSO has
estimated the amount of realized FDI in the ten-month period at US$10.2
billion, up 5.9% against a year earlier.
In the
January-October period, the processing and manufacturing industry has total
registered FDI approvals of nearly US$9.7 billion, accounting for 70.8% of
the total pledges. The respective figures of real estate are 8.9% and US$1.23
billion, construction 7.5% and over US$1 billion.
Among 47 localities
with FDI projects licensed in the January-October period, HCMC takes the lead
with investment capital pledges of US$2.66 billion, or 26.7% of the total.
But the updated figure announced by the HCMC government is US$2.9 billion.
HCMC is followed by
Tra fish
farming expands strongly in Q3
The total area for
tra fish farming in the Mekong Delta rose by 1,000 hectares in the third
quarter this year to 7,000 hectares, which is the largest area for tra fish
in the region ever, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said.
By summing up
statistics of each province in the delta, the ministry estimated a total tra
fish area of over
7,000 hectares and a combined output of 890,000 tons in the January-October
period. The expansion is attributed to the increase in prices of tra fish,
which has helped growers earn profits.
Statistics from the
agriculture department of
In June, tra fish
prices in the delta fell to VND21,500-22,000 per kilo, which were lower than
production costs at between VND22,500 and VND23,500 per kilo. The price
declined after the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) slapped an anti-dumping
duty of US$0.42-1.2 per kilo on
The punitive tariff
hit the whole tra fish sector in the delta and reduced the fish farming
acreage in the region to 5,800 hectares, along with total output of 489,000
tons at that time.
But farmers have
boosted farming following the price hikes.
The expansion and
reduction of tra fish farming area in the Mekong Delta in the past years have
depended on the fish prices. When the price is lower than the production
costs, growers will halt their business and when it is higher, they will quickly
expand the farming area.
According to the
agriculture ministry, total seafood export revenue in the January-October
period rose 20% year-on-year to US$6.48 billion.
The
Seafood export
value to other markets also increased in January-September with exports to
For tra fish, ASEAN
nations and the
Gov’t
continues tax support
Deputy Prime
Minister Vu Van Ninh said the Government will continue providing support tax
incentives and to local enterprises to help them ride out difficulties
despite possible adverse impacts on the State budget.
Ninh told reporters
on the sidelines of the ongoing National Assembly (NA) session in
Adverse impacts on
the State budget are inevitable but the Government needs to stand by
enterprises and give them a helping hand to overcome difficulties. This is a
long-term goal to nurture budget collections, Ninh said.
However, it is
necessary to balance collection and spending. In the current context,
collection is important but the Government must calculate spending as well to
secure financial sustainability, he stressed.
To increase budget
collections, the Government will work toward recovering tax debts in many
provinces and cities. At present, the Ministry of Finance is going to report
tax debt settlements to the NA.
Many experts
worried about shrinking development investments given the current
collection-spending structure. However, Ninh said the problem is not too bad.
Firstly, the nation
is developing sources for investment. Aside from direct investment from the
State budget, the NA has approved capital mobilization through bond issues.
Secondly, though
domestic debt has increased sharply, foreign debt is not a big concern due to
long tenors and low interest rates. The most important thing now is to
restructure debts to reduce repayment pressure.
Provincial
debt worrying
The overall picture
of public debt looks gloomier following a just-released report of the central
Government on debt owed by provincial governments, which has increased five
times over the past four years.
In a report sent to
the National Assembly Finance-Budget Committee, the Government said
provincial governments’ debt has risen almost five-fold in the 2010-2013 period.
Specifically, the
total amount of such debt soared from VND6.77 trillion in 2010 to VND10.88
trillion in 2011, up to VND24.5 trillion one year later and VND30.01 trillion
last year. The amount is predicted to surge to VND33.5 trillion by the end of
this year and VND38 trillion in end-2015.
HCMC is the biggest
debtor with VND12.42 trillion as of the end of 2013, with VND10 trillion
arising from the issuance of municipal bonds, followed by Hanoi with VND4.65
trillion, with VND4.4 trillion from bond issues. Danang and Quang Ninh also
face big amounts of debt, at VND1.65 trillion and VND1.55 trillion
respectively.
Although provincial
governments cover their investment with different sources of capital,
municipal bonds have emerged as the preferred option in recent years. Most
projects funded by municipal bonds are underway or yet to be developed, so it
is difficult to assess their business efficiency.
In many localities,
debt owed by provincial governments to contractors of capital construction
projects is still sizeable, and authorities have to set aside part of their
annual State budget to service such debt.
Transport
charges unchanged after fuel price cuts
While fuel prices
have been adjusted down significantly, prices of essential items and
transport charges have remained almost unchanged despite their earlier
increases being triggered by the previous fuel price hikes.
Ta Long Hy, deputy
general director of Vinasun Corporation, told the Daily that the leading taxi
operator in HCMC did not raise fares when fuel prices went up in the first
months of this year. Moreover, as the average minimum salary rose at the
beginning of this year, Vinasun now has to spend more on social insurance for
its taxi drivers.
Ho Huy, chairman of
Mai Linh Group, said his company is considering whether to adjust down taxi
fares or not after eight rounds of fuel price reductions this year.
Do Xuan Phu,
director of Minh Lien Transport Company, said the enterprise has plans to
revise down transport fees as fuel prices dropped by a total of VND1,000 per
liter after the two recent cuts of fuel prices. However, the director
declined to elaborate on the plan.
Prices of
necessities and some vegetables have also stayed steady despite fuel price
drops.
Veggie prices at
Pham Van Hai Market in HCMC’s Tan Binh District are the same to the time
before the latest fuel price cut last Thursday. A kilo of green cabbage is
sold at VND17,000, carrot at VND27,000 and waxy pumpkin at VND10,000.
Meat prices are
also stable, with the price of pork hovering around VND85,000-120,000 a kilo.
A kilo of beef fillet and beef thigh stands at VND230,000-250,000, shrimp at
VND100,000, codfish at VND180,000 and red tilapia fish at VND50,000.
Traders at Pham Van
Hai Market said prices of necessities are not affected by the decline in fuel
prices but by weather and supply factors.
Jan-Oct CBU
auto imports surpass US$1 bil.
Completely built-up
(CBU) automobile imports have exceeded US$1 billion in the January-October
period, nearly doubling the figure a year ago.
Data of the General
Statistics Office indicated that the volume of CBU autos shipped to
Notably, though
automobiles are in the list of products subject to import restriction, the
quantity of imported CBU autos has still surged in the year to date.
Industry insiders
attributed the strong rise in imported autos to soaring domestic demand in
the period as total auto imports were only US$709 million last year.
The demand for
locally-assembled autos has also increased sharply from January to October.
Auto traders said
2014 is a bustling year of the local auto market after a long time of
dropping sales.
The Vietnam Auto
Manufacturers Association (VAMA) forecast 145,000 autos will be sold this
year, 35,000 units higher than its estimate earlier this year and up 32%
versus last year. This revised projection would be equal to the figure of
2011 but still lower than 160,000 units in 2009.
Leading economists
have forecast pepper exports to remain at high levels this year, amounting to
150,000 tonnes in volume and raking in more than US$1 billion in total
revenue.
At a four-day
international pepper conference, which concluded in
They also estimated
Those in attendance
discussed measures for sustainable development of the local pepper industry,
with a focus on increasing product quality and export value, building the
Vietnamese pepper trademark, and meeting requirements of importers from the
US, Europe and Japan.
They reported
Despite its high
export volume, the pepper export value of
Chairman of the
Vietnam Pepper Association, Do Ha
He hoped that the
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, relevant agencies and local
authorities would soon implement practical measures to help the pepper
industry grow faster in the future.
The cost of leasing
office space in the third quarter of the year jumped 2% in
Savills said the
office rental index for the
In
However, Savills
said construction of many high-rise buildings is expected to be completed
over the next few quarters, which will exert downward pressure on the office
rental market in
Flower
growers prepare for Tet
Major flower
growers in the Central Highland city of
Workers for the 11
growers have begun busily cultivating the fields planting the flowers on an
area spanning 72 hectares, which is 23 hectares more than last year.
The varieties
imported included Soebone, Tiber, Manisa, Yellowen, Benlla, Robina
andConcador, mainly coming from the
There were also a
few breeds imported from
Source: VEF/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/Dantri/VIR
|
Chủ Nhật, 2 tháng 11, 2014
Đăng ký:
Đăng Nhận xét (Atom)
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét