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BUSINESS IN BRIEF 17/1
The HCM City People's Committee on Wednesday approved the
increase in investment capital of two foreign direct investment (FDI)
projects.
The investors are Worldon Viet Nam Co, Ltd of the
Worldon Viet
Nobland Viet
Tat Thanh Cang, vice chairman of the committee, said that the
city appreciates the efforts and contributions of international enterprises
to bring advanced technologies into
National agency to check SOE health
The National Financial Supervisory Commission (NFSC) will
supervise several State-owned enterprises (SOEs)'s financial health this year
to ensure efficiency.
The proposal, currently in its initial stage, has been sent to
the Prime Minister for consideration, the NFSC's Chairman Vu Viet Ngoan said
on Wednesday, during a meeting to discuss the implementation of 2015's goals.
The monitoring of the financial health of SOEs is aimed at
enhancing their management and transparency.
Ngoan said restructuring the SOEs is crucial for reforming the
country's economy, due to which keeping tabs on the financial health of large
SOEs, is critical.
The supervision will also help determine whether the
restructuring process is on the right track of eliminating risks in the
financial system.
Ngoan revealed that some eight or nine corporations will be
placed under supervision in 2015, but their names will remain a secret,
online newspaper Infonet reported.
The NFSC's Chairman pointed out that the criteria for
supervision is based on international standards, adding that 2015 will be the
first year in the NFSC's three-year plan, where it applies new methods of
financial analysis, following in the footsteps of international standards.
The new method will also help provide a more comprehensive and
precise evaluation of the financial health of SOEs, which can be used for
making adjustments in the restructuring process.
During 2015, the commission will also continue to enhance the
efficiency of financial supervision while implementing deeper analysis of the
stock market, insurance market and potential risks in the financial market.
Ministry steps in on dairy dispute
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD)
yesterday ordered local departments to ensure that dairy companies honoured
contracts with farmers.
"Dairy companies should sit down and talk with farmers to
reach mutual understanding about problems experienced by both sides. In the
meantime, they must honour the contracts they have signed," said Hoang
Thanh Van, head of MARD's Department of Livestock Production.
Dairy farmers in Ha Noi, Lam Dong, Long An and Soc Trang
recently reported that local dairy companies did not fulfill their contracts
to buy milk from them, even if the milk was of acceptable quality.
Earlier this month, Kinh Te Nong Thon (Rural Economy) reported
that Dalat Milk JSC, a dairy company based in the central highlands
Farmers were disappointed since some of their cows produced up
to 20kg of milk and they did not know what to do with the surplus. Some were
so upset they decided to spill the milk in front of the dairy company as an
act of protest against the quota.
The dairy company's representative said the quota was
necessary to prevent farmers from buying milk from elsewhere at a cheaper price,
then selling it to them for a profit. The company was also having trouble
dealing with its own surplus.
The quota was removed on Tuesday after a meeting between the
agriculture ministry's representative and Dalat Milk JSC.
Local departments were told to improve the supply chain for
dairy products, starting with building support policies and mechanisms to
help dairy companies purchase milk produced by farmers, Van said.
National Assembly should tighten Uber taxi controls: Ministry
The Ministry of Industry and Trade wants an agency of the
National Assembly to tighten controls over the operation of Uber taxi in
In a recent report sent to the National Assembly’s Economics
Committee, the ministry called Uber taxi “unlabelled taxi” as it was merely a
mediator, and not an owner of taxis or employer of drivers.
The Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade, Cao Quoc Hung, said
Uber Company is not a passenger transportation company but just a technical
solution provider, and as such was obliged to comply with regulations on
e-commerce business in
If it were recognised as a transportation firm, its business
model would still make it high-tech support, a new area in
“The Ministries of Finance, and Transport should cooperate in
streamlining a solution to manage Uber’s fee calculation as well as its
commission policies for involved transportation firms in order to ensure
healthy competition with other transporation firms,” the Ministry of Industry
and Trade said.
As Uber applies payments by international bank cards without
any signature by the card holders, the ministry is worried about possible
risks for customers using Uber services.
The State Bank of
HCMC reduces prices of several subsidized items
Prices of several food items under Ho Chi Minh City’s price
subsidization program will be reduced from VND100 to VND3,000 a kilogram from
January 19, said head of the Price Division under the city Department of
Finance Nguyen Quoc Chien yesterday.
Normal rice price will slide to VND9,800-VND10,700 a kilogram
and Jasmine rice price will drop to VND13,400-14,700 a kilogram.
The price of slaughtered industrial chicken will drop from
VND46,000 to only VND43,000 a kilogram. A pork kilogram will cost VND74,500-99,500.
According to Mr. Chien, the reduced price will be fixed from
January 19 to March 19 to stabilize the market and stimulate shopping demand
in Tet holidays.
Two samples of drinks taken from a store under South Korean
fast-food chain Lotteria in Hanoi have been found to be contaminated, with
the restaurateur required to pay VND4 million (US$186) in fines, according to
the Vietnam Food Administration (VFA).
The
Test results found that the lemon tea sample was tainted with
coliform, whereas the cacao milk had an excessive amount of
enterobacteriaceae. Both of the bacteria could cause diarrhea, according to
the VFA.
The food safety watchdog thus levied administrative penalties
totaling VND4 million on the store for selling substandard food.
The lemon tea and cacao milk were still available at Nui Truc
Lotteria normally on Thursday, one day after the store was penalized,
according to newswire Kien Thuc (Knowledge).
The drinks are especially preferred by young customers, the
Hanoi-based news site said.
The store attendants told Kien Thuc they had no idea about the
issue as they “have not been informed by the managers,” so the products were
on sale as normal.
“I was wondering if the products are safe to drink or not,” a
25-year-old customer was quoted as saying. “I’m also concerned that the
attendants are in the dark about such a big issue.”
Lotteria, a subsidiary of multinational food and shopping
corporation Lotte Co. Ltd., was founded in February 1972 in
Its menu includes typical fast-food items such as burgers,
French fries, fried chicken, chicken wings, and chicken fingers.
Lotteria has expanded across
Banks lower borrowing rates
A number of banks have cut their borrowing rates amid ample
liquidity though experts said the rates are unlikely to dip further this
year.
The Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam has
adjusted down the deposit rates of under-one-year tenors by 0.15 to 0.55
percentage point, and lowered the annual rates for one-month and six-month
deposits from 4.55% to 4% and from 5.55% to 5.3% respectively.
However, the bank maintains the rates of deposits with terms
of more than 12 months.
Starting from January 5, the one-month deposit rate at
Eximbank fell from 4.7% per year to 4.5%, while the rate at VIB dropped from
4.7% to 4.25%.
On December 22, Vietcombank lowered its borrowing rates, with
the rate for one-month deposits slashed to 4% per year.
State banks like BIDV, Vietcombank and Agribank offer the
lowest rates for one-month deposits, around 4% per year. The rates are higher
at banks such as OCB with 5.3%, HDBank 5.8%, DongABank 4.8% and Techcombank
4.6%.
But Sacombank on January 14 slightly increased the rates of
short-term deposits, from 4.65% to 4.7% for one-month deposits and from 4.7%
to 4.75% for two months.
Though the one-month deposit rates are low, BIDV and
Vietcombank offer the rates of three-month and six-month deposits higher than
those at other commercial banks. OCB and HDBank still offer the highest
borrowing rates. The six-month rates at OCB and HDBank are 6.3% and 5.92% per
year respectively.
The overall mobilization rates of 12-month, six-month and
one-month deposits are 6-7%, 5-6% and 4-5% respectively.
Tran Hoang Ngan, vice president of the HCMC University of
Economics and member of the National Advisory Council for Financial and
Monetary Policies, said the deposit rates could hardly go down further but
the lending rates need to be lowered to buoy enterprises.
According to Nguyen Thanh Minh from the Banking University of
HCMC, the central bank buying stakes and joining the restructuring of
commercial banks may not be a right decision. At weak banks, the most
important thing is to reshuffle management, especially risk management. Such
a task is suitable for foreign banks which are good at managing risks.
As a result, letting foreign banks get involved in the
restructuring process will be an appropriate solution. The number of banks to
be restructured is small and it is unlikely that foreign investors will
dominate the local banking system.
Meanwhile, when changing the way risk is managed at weak
banks, the central bank will apply the
According to Minh, after restructuring, it is likely that the
central bank will divest and sell shares to domestic investors rather than
foreign ones.
Meanwhile, according to a source from the central bank, if the
central bank does not intervene in restructuring weak banks via share
purchases, losses would be huge as depositors would be affected.
Deputy PM urges faster SOE restructuring
Deputy Prime Minister Vu Van Ninh told relevant ministries and
local authorities to speed up the restructuring of State-owned enterprises
(SOEs) in order to realize the target for the 2014-2015 period, according to
a recent statement of the Government Office.
The Deputy PM demanded that priorities of the restructuring
would be to equitize SOEs and force SOES to divest from non-core business
operations.
SOEs should complete establishment of their steering committees
for equitization and asset evaluation in the first quarter this year for
announcement in the second quarter, and will have their equitization plans
approved in the third quarter.
For the enterprises which have already had such committees,
the Deputy PM requested them to conduct evaluations for announcement in this
quarter and have their equitization plans passed in the second quarter.
The Deputy PM also set the deadline for the SOEs which have
publicized their value to submit their equitization plans to relevant
agencies and the Government for consideration this quarter.
SOEs should launch their initial public offerings (IPOs) in
line with current regulations when conditions are ripe, or prepare procedures
for transformation into joint stock companies with shareholders being the
State, the State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC), labor unions,
employees, and investors to diversify share owners and provide more shares
for the stock market.
Deputy PM Ninh also requested relevant ministries, local
authorities, and leaders of corporations to take full responsibility for
realizing the SOE restructuring target in the 2014-2015 period. Strict
punitive sanctions will be taken against enterprise leaders who do not
fulfill the tasks of restructuring, equitization and divestment.
The Steering Committee for Enterprise Reform and Development
has to cooperate with the Ministry of Finance to enhance the SOE
restructuring management of relevant agencies, local authorities, and
corporations.
The Deputy PM noted that eligible enterprises would have to
list on the stock market after they go public. Those SOEs that have launched
IPOs but have not been able to sell as many shares as expected are required
to draw up plans to boost their share sales.
Relevant ministries and localities need to pick more SOEs
subject to equitization and divestment this year and sent the lists of those
entities to the Government within the first quarter. They should also submit
general plans for restructuring SOEs in the 2016-2020 period no later than
the third quarter.
According to the Steering Committee for Enterprise Reform and
Development, 143 SOEs went public last year, doubling the number of 2013. The
equitization target for the 2014-2015 period is 432 SOEs.
The committee said the equitization process is progressing
well at major State business groups and corporations such as Vietnam
Electricity Group (EVN), telecom group
SOEs had divested a total of VND8 trillion (US$374 million)
from 233 non-core businesses as of December 25, or nearly VND2 trillion
higher than book value, according to the committee. Of the total amount,
VND204 billion was from securities, VND297 billion from insurance, VND185
billion from real estate, nearly VND1.5 trillion from finance and around
VND1.3 trillion from banks.
First desalination system exported to Chile
Doosan Heavy Industries Vietnam (Doosan Vina) has shipped the
first ever sea water reverse osmosis (SWRO) desalination system made in
The 1,705-ton shipment is for the Escondida Copper Mine
located in the Atacama Desert of northern
The company said in a statement that the second shipment to
The SWRO desalination system will supply 220 million liters of
water per day when it is in operation.
Doosan Vina is the first company in
State Treasury raises VND3 trillion from G-bond sales
The State Treasury mobilized VND3 trillion (US$140.7 million)
from Government bonds via an auction at the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX) on
Tuesday.
The agency put up for tender five-year G-bonds worth VND3
trillion and ten-year G-bond worth VND1 trillion.
As many as 22 investors bid for five-year bonds with a total
registered volume worth over VND11 trillion and an annual coupon of 5.9-7%.
Closing the auction, the State Treasury mobilized VND3 trillion from
five-year G-bonds with the winning coupon of 6.01% per year, 0.18 of a
percentage point lower than the previous winning coupon at the auction on
December 29.
However, ten-year bonds found no buyers at the first auction
held by the State Treasury this year.
Businesses called to invest in telemedicine
Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam has called on businesses to
take the lead in e-health investment with its high potential as a large and
sustainable market.
Speaking at a conference in
Investments can be used to build electronic queue systems,
clinical records, and conducting online consultations, he cited as examples.
To this end, the Deputy PM asked the Ministry of Health and
the Ministry of Information and Communication to allow IT services provided
by businesses to be utilised within the sector.
All medical examination and treatment facilities across the
country must be connected and managed to ensure total access to health
insurance cards and accurate health status records, he added.
Last year, every hospital at the central level had clinical
software applications, but only 68 percent of provincial level facilities and
61 percent of district level facilities had used the solution, Deputy Head of
the Ministry of Health’s Information and Technology Department Nguyen Hoang
Phuong reported.
The Ministry of Health is piloting a project to upgrade
software management for six hospitals, the National Hospital of Paediatrics;
Establishing a software connection between clinics and
insurance companies is central to improving the quality of medical services,
reforming administrative formalities, and offering adequate health insurance.
The Ministry is also holding a number of telemedicine
activities, including online consultations, teleradiology, and health
check-ups and treatment from a distance, he said.
Japanese Hashima opens factory in Vietnam
Hashima
The factory will specialise in designing and producing
automatic machines and spare parts for the apparel industry. It also produces
and assembles other machines and equipment.
In the first phase of development, the factory covers an area
of 6,500 square metres and is expected to generate an output of around 2,500
products, including press machines for garment companies and metal-detectors.
The full-scale completed factory will extend across 18,000
square metres.
Dutch, Vietnamese localities eye fruitful partnership
Officials from the Dutch city of
Eindhoven Vice Mayor Mary-Ann Schreurs said her city will
cooperate with Binh Duong in fields of its strengths and share its
city-building lessons, expressing the wish for the early signing of a
partnership document.
In 2014, the Vietnamese province attracted 1.65 billion USD in
foreign investment, which came from 151 new and 126 existing projects. The
figure exceeded the yearly target by 65 percent, reported the provincial
Department for External Relations.
It has housed 2,375 valid FDI projects worth 20.38 billion USD
so far, becoming one of the five localities receiving over 20 billion USD in
foreign investment.
The
Vice Standing Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee
Tran Van Nam said Binh Duong is partnering with seven foreign localities such
as
The province gives priorities to projects with cutting-edge
technology that produce competitive and environmentally friendly products, he
noted, adding that it also pays attention to simplifying administrative
procedures in order to facilitate businesses’ operation.
Also on January 15, the
Deputy Head of the Reform Department under the General
Department of Taxation, Hoang Thi Lan Anh, stated that tax procedures have
been regularly renewed in recent years, with simplified policies and
paperwork and additional software and tools supporting tax declaration
available.
She shared that the General Department had proposed amending
several legal documents of the Government, National Assembly and Finance
Ministry in order to reduce the time lost for tax procedures. It will also
speed up the implementation of e-tax services on enterprises nationwide.
To decrease the duration of tax payments, the WB official
suggested simplifying regulations imposed on declaring and submitting value
added taxes (VAT), obligatory insurance, and corporate income tax, as well as
designing new tax software compatible with existing business accounting
software.
Reports released at the workshop reveal
Ho Chi Minh City’s budget collection in 2014 reached 252.1
trillion VND (over 11.8 billion USD), 111.44 percent of the yearly estimate,
and 11.4 percent above the 2013 collection, as released at a conference in
the city on January 15.
Speaking at the event, which was held to review the state of
the city’s financial sector in 2014, Deputy Director of the municipal
Department of Finance Tran Nam Trang said relevant agencies enacted a series
of measures to achieve the elevated level.
Management and supervision were intensified for import-export
tax collection, while administrative reforms in tax and customs fields were
also enhanced, noted Trang.
Nguyen Thi Hong, Vice Chairwoman of the municipal People’s
Committee, spoke of efforts made by the Department to realise the sector’s
2014 targets, saying that these contributed significantly to the city’s
overall socio-economic development.
She also reminded the Department to focus on solutions to
handle advance budget loans and recovery capitals to add to the city’s
sources for investment and development.
She stressed the necessity of providing increasing support to
local businesses to help overcome difficulties and contribute to the State
budget.
Hong urged the Department of Finance to team up with the
Department of Tax, the Department of Customs, and the State Bank of
Vietnam-Brazil trade revenue surpasses 3 billion USD
Bilateral trade revenue between
Last year,
Honda Vietnam achieves new record on auto sale in 2014
Honda Vietnam (HVN) sold as many as 6,492 automobiles in 2014,
up 41 percent from 2013, according to D irector of the Automobile Division at
Honda Vietnam Tomohiro Maruno.
The figure is the highest number of annual auto sales in
From the outset of 2014 , HVN boosted sales by offering
promotional programmes and launching catalogue products such as new
generations of the City and Accord as well as new versions of the Civic and
CR-V.
Accordingly, the fourth generation of Honda City and CR-V 2015
were the two best selling brands of HVN in 2014.
With 2,944 cars sold, sales of Honda City’s in 2014 were more
than double those of 2013, with an additional 2,918 CR-V’s sold, up 34
percent from 2013.
In December alone, consumers bought a total of 837 vehicles,
an 18 percent increase from the same period last year.
Japanese businesses, including those in
So said Osaka Vice Mayor Seigo Tanaka at a meeting with
Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee Le Hoang Quan on January 15
during his working visit to
Chairman Quan briefed his guest on
Over the past ten years, the two cities have organised a
number of mayor-level policy dialogues to boost their relations, he added.
Foreign food, sweets favoured for Tet
Foreign foods and confectionery products are proving tough
competition for local products in the run up to this year's Tet festival due
to higher quality, more diversity and increasing purchasing power of
consumers, and unless local producers work harder and smarter, they will
continue to lose market share.
“We’re selling both domestic and foreign products, but
imported products are better selling thanks to the wider diversity of
flavours and packaging," said Thu Thao, owner of a store at
Bich Khue, a small trader at Dong Xuan Market in Hanoi, said,
“Our store’s candy and jam revenues have reached nearly VND10m a day, mainly
foreign products, because they are becoming cheaper and are better
quality."
Groceries along several streets in
Major supermarkets such as Co.op Mart, Fivimart and Lotte have
few locally made products, in part due to the sale of two locally famous
confectioners -- Kinh Do and Bibica -- to US and South Korean investors.
Economist Nguyen Minh Phong said local confectioners were
failing to compete because they were not diversifying products despite higher
prices. “If the situation does not improve, more Vietnamese confectionery
trademarks would be sold to foreign investors in the time to come.”
Australian beef is proving to be popular this year at such big
supermarkets as Big C, Metro and Lotte. An official from Lotte said
Australian beef is priced about the same as Vietnamese products and is being
preferred because of its better quality.
Nguyen Dang Vang, chairman of the Vietnam Association of
Animal Husbandry, said the country imports some 100,000 tonnes of meat
annually, mainly fresh beef, a year. The Ministry of Industry and Trade
statistics show Australian beef priced at VND70,000 a kilo at
slaughterhouses, including taxes and fees while Vietnamese beef was VND80,000
a kilo.
“Domestic beef supply is failing to meet rising demand.
Vietnamese beef may fail to compete with imported products unless the country
modernises the animal husbandry industry to increase productivity and lower
selling prices,” Vang said.
Eight firms under health ministry to go public
The Ministry of Health plans to organize initial public
offerings (IPOs) for eight 100% State-owned enterprises under its management
from the second quarter to the last quarter of this year.
They are Vietnam Pharmaceutical Company, central
pharmaceutical companies No. 1 and No. 2, Vietnam Medical Equipment
Corporation, DK Pharma Company under Hanoi Medical University, companies for
vaccine and biological production No. 1 and No. 2 and Dalat Vaccine Company.
According to the ministry, the equitization is aimed at
improving issues such as corporate governance, finance and human resources at
the companies.
Last year, the ministry established a steering committee for
equitization of nine companies. It also held an IPO for Central
Pharmaceutical Company No. 3 and approved corporate value assessments of
central pharmaceutical companies No. 1 and No. 2.
Mong Duong 1 starts power generation
Vietnam Electricity Group (EVN) has announced that the first
generator of Mong Duong 1 thermal power plant in
Mong Duong 1 thermal plant project is worth VND33.62 trillion
and comprises of two generators installed by Hyundai Engineering and
Construction Co. Ltd. (Hyundai E&C). Each generator has a designed
generation capacity of 540MW.
The thermal power station will supply about 5.8 billion kWh of
electricity a year for the Northern Key Economic Zone when the second
generator comes online in June this year.
EVN statistics showed about 128 billion kWh was consumed last
year, up 12.3% against 2013. Power consumption grew 15.25% in northern
The electricity consumption growth rates were an important
indicator of industrial and trading development in the regions.
EVN has projected electricity consumption this year at 142
billion kWh, up 10.4% compared to 2014. The group pledged to meet the demand.
Although Mexico is not a major market for Vietnam’s rice, the
high import tax rates will make life hard for local rice exporters at a time
when competition on the global rice market has turned fiercer, according to
representatives of rice export firms in the Mekong Delta.
Lam Anh Tuan, director of Thinh Phat Co. Ltd. in
Tuan gave an example that if firms used to sell rice to
Tuan said what local rice export firms are concerned about is
that rice export prices have decreased sharply before the 2014-2015 winter-spring
harvest comes. There has been an intense price war from other rice exporting
countries such as
“So I think the situation will be very tough in the coming
time,” Tuan said.
Figures of the Vietnam Food Association (VFA) indicated that
According to the Mexican Rice Council (CMA), the area under
rice production in that country has declined sharply, from nearly 270,000
hectares in 2005 to more than 32,700 hectares in 2012, and its paddy output
fell from 145,000 tons in 2012 to 807,000 tons in 2005.
Sugar, poultry egg imports to rise in 2015
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) has
agreed with the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT)’s 2015 plan on import
quota of sugar, salt and poultry egg as part of efforts to realise WTO
commitments.
Accordingly, Vietnamese companies will be allowed to import
81,000 tonnes of sugar, 102,000 tonnes of salt and 555,600 poultry eggs this
year.
Among 102,000 tonnes of salt, the same volume as last year,
2,000 tonnes and 40,000 tonnes will be imported by firms operating in the
medical and chemical sectors, respectively. Chemical businesses are
encouraged to use domestically-produced salt for their production activities.
The MARD asked the MoIT to roll out measures to create
transparency and justice among importers.
Last year, the country bought 77,200 tonnes of sugar and 529,2
00 poultry eggs from overseas markets.
Experts at foreign property consulting firms expect the
property market in
The Savills Vietnam Ltd Company pointed out that six new
housing projects, with approximately 2,900 units, have been launched
recently. This reflects the highest number since the second quarter of 2013.
"The ‘apartments for sale' segment is recovering. Since
the first quarter of 2014, the number of apartments placed on sale has jumped,
while the inventory level has decreased," Do Thu Hang, the Head of
Research and Consultancy, Savills Hanoi, said on January 11.
"The number of sold apartments during the last two
quarters is at its highest since the second quarter of 2011. The total number
of sold apartments in 2014 was the highest since 2009."
There is continuing demand from end-users and investors on
projects with the following characteristic: good construction progress,
convenient accessibility and strong developer reputation, Savills
Some projects in the foundation stage are also reporting a
strong absorption rate due to the participation of speculators and
real-estate agents stepping up the premium on off-contracts.
Meanwhile, the CB Richard Ellis Vietnam (CBRE) Ltd Company
said sales momentum for condominiums has continued to grow firmly and
steadily. The market absorbed an estimated 3,990 units during this quarter
alone, which was reflected in the 47 percent growth from last quarter.
In total, 10,700 units were reportedly sold in 2014, which was
a 60 percent increase from 2013's record.
"With the market's recovery, the real-estate risk level
has decreased. Along with the disbursement from banks and other investors,
the real-estate M&A activities will become more intense," said
Nguyen Hong Son, Head of Savills Hanoi's Valuation and Feasibility Study and
Valuation.
"The property market in 2015 has been on the road to
recovery since 2014, and is expected to see a significant increase in the
residential sector. Also, the market should get a new target when the new
housing law becomes effective," Son noted.
"Moving forward, it is expected that the market will
continue to look positive in 2015," said Nguyen Hoai An, CBRE
Sales are expected to remain strong, while more launches of
new projects and re-started projects will be announced in the market,
especially during the first half of 2015, she added.
Luxury and high-end products will be sought-after as stock for
these products is diminishing, said An, adding that while foreign ownership
will be expected to stimulate demand, activities on this front will be slow
in near-term as new players take their time to assess the market's movement.
By the end of 2016, about 14,200 apartments from 25 projects
are expected to come online, Savills
The revised Housing and Real Estate Business Laws are also
expected to boost demand from foreigners and Vietnamese residing abroad.
The market is expected to grow in 2015, but could be hurt by
strong speculation.
Dong Nai Customs to speed up administrative reforms
Dong Nai Customs plans to contribute VND14.7 trillion (US$700
million) to the State budget this year, about VND1 trillion ($47.62 million)
more than the amount last year.
Procedures are processed at a Dong Nai Customs office. The
agency plans to contribute $700 million to the State budget in 2015. - Photo
vccinews.vn
The head of the agency, Huynh Thanh Binh, said that customs
officers of the southern province will speed up administrative reforms and
intensify supervisions against smuggling and trade fraud to achieve the
target.
He added that the agency has collaborated with 12 banks to
collect taxes, while all its branches have implemented electronic customs
systems, which serve 97 per cent of the enterprises involved in clearance,
and that 98 per cent of the value of goods are declared here.
VNPT ties up with phone retail giant Mobile World
The Gioi Di Dong (Mobile World) Joint Stock Company and Viet
Nam Posts and Telecommunication have entered into an agreement under which
the former's stores will offer VNPT's Vinaphone services while the latter's
outlets will sell Mobile World's phones and other products.
Last year the retailer had inked a similar deal with the
State-owned VNPT only in HCM City.
Now, following strong support from customers, the two have
decided to take their co-operation country-wide.
Banking sector to see major mergers in 2015
Vietnam’s banking sector will step up restructuring measures
in 2015, with the expected merging of several major banks, such as
Vietcombank with Saigonbank, and PGBank with Vietinbank, building on a
succession of mergers that have strengthened the banking system.
The new mergers follow the successful merger of PVFC and
Western Bank to make a new bank, PvcomBank, in early September 2013.
The State Bank of Vietnam said eight of nine weak banks have
merged or been acquired by a larger bank and their operations have been
significantly improved.
New customs rule causes cargo backlogs at HCMC ports
Cargo backlogs at the ports in HCMC mounted last week as new
customs regulations, which came into force on January 1, require further
inspections of import and export goods, thus slowing down the customs
clearance process.
An officer at Tan Cang-Cat Lai Port said backlogs had occurred
at the port in District 2 since January 7 and container trucks had had to
wait in long lines to pick up goods after animal health and food safety
inspections are complete.
Container trucks caused congestion on the streets leading to
the port over the weekend such as Mai Chi Tho, Belt Road No. 2, Dong Van Cong
and Nguyen Thi Dinh. Container trucks were seen in lines that were hundreds
of meters long in front of the road leading to Gate A of the port on Saturday
morning.
However, congestion had eased as of Saturday afternoon.
A leader of the HCMC Department of Customs attributed the
situation to certain kinds of goods subject to animal health and food safety
inspections. Enterprises are requested by the customs to leave their goods at
the ports for checks.
Article 35 of the Customs Law allows enterprises to have their
goods transported to designated places before inter-disciplinary inspections
are conducted, but the customs still wants to inspect goods at the port due
to unclear guidelines.
“Due to unclear guidance, customs officers do not allow firms
to transport goods away from ports because the customs has no sufficient
manpower and equipment to inspect goods outside the port,” he said.
Vu Viet Tien, head of the management and inspection division
at the Customs Department, told a review conference on the city customs
sector on January 9 that local customs offices had found it difficult to
implement Article 35 due to a lack of specific guidelines.
The article requires goods to be kept at the port for
inspections until customs clearance procedures are finished or enterprises
transport their goods to designated warehouses. Enterprises should take full
responsibility for keeping their goods in good condition before customs
clearance.
To solve the situation, the HCMC Department of Customs has
written to the General Department of Customs to report the situation and seek
coping solutions.
Vietnam, Italy boost banking and finance ties
Senior Vietnamese finance and banking officials recently met
with representatives from Italy’s Central Bank and Ministry of Economic
Development in Rome to discuss policies supporting small and medium-sized
enterprises (SMEs).
Representatives from the host country’s Central Bank shared
their experience in financing SMEs as well as in building a standard legal
framework for banking operations.
Officials from the Ministry of Economic Development suggested
close coordination between banks, enterprises and relevant agencies to the
development of SMEs.
Besides sharing practical experience, the hosts and guests
discussed measures to fortify collaboration between the banking and financial
sectors and to work towards realising the bilateral strategic partnership, which
was agreed in 2013.
Vietnam’s consistent policy to deepen bilateral ties with
Italy was reiterated by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung during his reception
in Hanoi on January 9 for former Prime Minister of Italy Enrico Letta.
Dong Thap: Rural sanitation improves through CHOBA programme
The People’s Committee of the southern province of Dong Thap
held a workshop on January 12 to evaluate the implementation of the Community
Hygiene Output-Based Aid (CHOBA) Programme in the locality.
As many as 7,300 sanitary toilets have been built under the
programme since 2012 in 45 communes of the province, accounting for 76.6
percent of the target.
Speaking at the event, Chairman of the provincial People’s
Committee said the project, which will run through this year, not only helps
the poor to improve hygiene but also has a deep social and economic meaning,
especially in building new-style rural areas.
CHOBA project, funded by East Meets West foundation, assists
poor, nearly poor, and disadvantaged families in building new sanitary
toilets to improve the environment, reduce waterborne diseases, and change
the people’s sanitary habits and behaviours.
The project does not support finance directly for the
households, but via award packs for families, which are delivered after they
build hygienic toilets with preferential loans. Communes with an increase of
30 percent in the number of sanitary lavatories will be presented with 64
million VND.
So far, the project has been conducted in 496 communes in 10
provinces nationwide, aiming to better hygiene conditions for 1.4 million
people in rural areas.
Vinafood 2 pledges to buy all flood-season paddy
Vietnam Southern Food Corporation (Vinafood 2) has announced a
plan to purchase all the flood-season paddy (unhusked rice) in the Mekong
Delta.
Huynh The Nang, general director of Vinafood 2, said in An
Giang Province last week that the flood-season paddy is a rare type listed in
the Red Book of Vietnam, so developing this rice variant in An Giang
Province’s Tri Ton District is important to its preservation.
Rice experts regard the paddy produced in the flooding season
as a kind of organic product which is good for the health of consumers.
Nang said HCMC Food Co. Ltd. and An Giang Food and Foodstuff
Co. under Vinafood 2 will collaborate with Ecofarm to purchase all the paddy
produced during the flooding season.
“We will distribute the organic rice at the stores of Vinafood
Mart from Danang southward to HCMC and Ca Mau Province,” Nang said.
Nguyen Minh Triet, general director of Ecofarm, said the
company would buy the paddy grown on 100 hectares this year at a price of
VND12,000 (56 U.S. cents) per kilo.
An
Nguyen Van Kien, head of the center for rural research and
development under An Giang University, said
VAMC to buy VND100trn in bad bank debt
Vietnam Asset Management Company (VAMC) plans to buy from
VND70-100trn (USD3.3-4.7bn) bad debts this year to help reduce the banking
sector's bad debt level to three percent of outstanding loans.
The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) reported that, as of November
2014,
The SBV said it would make an official report on bad debt
levels for 2014 at the end of January.
Nguyen Quoc Hung, chairman of VAMC’s member board, said that
in 2014, the VAMC had bought VND81.6tr worth of bad debt, and would buy
VND70-100trn more bad debt in 2015.
VAMC has asked the government to let it increase its
registered capital to VND2trn (USD92.3 million) so that it can issue
convertible bonds to increase its ability to acquire bad debt.
Source : VEF/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/Dantri/VIR
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Thứ Sáu, 16 tháng 1, 2015
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