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BUSINESS IN BRIEF 8/1
Clothing discounts fail to lure buyers
Fashion shops offered enticing discounts as the year ended,
but they failed to attract customers, showing that consumers are keeping
their wallets zipped during the economic recession despite big discounts.
Nguyen Nhu Mai, owner of online shop Maccy Fashion, slashed
prices by 30-50 per cent with the hope that people would buy new outfits to
welcome the Lunar New Year next month. But even prices of VND100,000-200,000 (US$4.7-9.5)
were not enough to lure new customers.
On the capital's "fashion streets", the situation is
similar. Mai Thi Hue, owner of a shop on
"I earned less from selling clothes than I paid to rent
the shop," she said.
Office worker Nguyen Thu Hien, 35, said she went to a shop on
"However, the clothes with a 10 per cent discount were
still too expensive for me, whereas the ones that were 50 per cent off were
out of date and even too old and dirty to buy," she complained.
Branded goods in
"I think that to attract customers with discount
campaigns, sellers should not mix low-quality and old clothes with normal
ones and then advertise it as a sale. If customers don't see quality goods,
they won't come back to the shop."
Customers would do better to order online from foreign websites
during their year-end sale campaigns, she suggested. "That way, you can
get products at high quality for reasonable prices."
Abbott Laboratories appears to monopolise distribution in
Vietnam
US-based Abbott Laboratories and its exclusive Vietnamese distributor
3A Nutrition Vietnam Co., Ltd. appear to be monopolising the
distribution of the vanilla-flavored Ensure original shake in
At the beginning of 2013, Abbott Laboratories started printing
on the label of the vanilla-flavored Ensure original shake this line, “Not to
be sold in
Meanwhile, the vanilla-flavored Ensure original shake
continued to be imported into
The steering committee then asked Abbott to clarify about the
quality of the vanilla-flavored Ensure original shake with the line “Not to
be sold in
The steering committee also asked the Ministry of Health to allow
other firms to import the original shake in order to prevent monopoly to
protect the right of consumers.
Hiway opens first Sapomart, offers discounts
The Hiway Vietnam Joint Stock Company (Hiway) opened its first
Sapomart supermarket in
Customers shop in Hiway's first Sapomart supermarket in Ha
Dong district. Close to 95 per cent of Sapomart's goods are made-in-Viet-Nam
items. - Photo hiway.com.vn
On the occasion, the company announced discounts on thousands
of items in the supermarket and free delivery within a 10km radius. In
addition, they will accept payments made with all kinds of bank cards.
Hiway's Chairman of board of directors Le Hoang Ha said that
the company plans to construct 10 Sapomart outlets between 2015 and 2016. He
said that two Sapomarts will be opened in Ba Dinh and Tay Ho districts of Ha
Noi towards the end of January.
On the same day, Hiway announced that the company has changed
its SuperCenter supermarket brand name to Sapomart, with an aim to provide
better services to customers.
"The change of our brand identity is expected to help
customers recall it more easily. We hope that the brand's new colour and
design will seem friendlier to customers of all ages," Ha added.
Close to 95 per cent of Sapomart's goods are made-in-Viet-Nam
items, including food, household utensils, electronics and garments.
Luxury Parkson shopping centres in HCMC deserted
Even though many stores have hung up the 50% sale off signs,
the Parkson shopping centres in
Parkson has six commercial centres in
"Business has become sluggish in the late two months. We
only sold two pairs of shoes last week. If this continues, we may have to end
the rent here to find another place," said a shop owner at Parkson
Flemington Centre.
Many other shop owners at the centre confirmed that usually,
they cannot even sell a single product.
Other centres such as
Meanwhile, store owners at Parkson Le Thanh Ton complained
that the rental fees are too high. The store owners' incomes went down by
20-30% compared to the same period last year.
"Our income this year is down by 20-30% than last year
but the monthly rental fee for a 16-square-metre store stays at USD1,300. The
fee for similar store on the street is only USD1,000 and it's easier to sell
there," a store owner said.
Parkson is the retail arm of Malaysian Lion Group. On January
2, the Parkson Landmark in
Banks increase foreign exchange rate
In response to the State Bank’s decision to increase the
inter-bank average exchange rate by one percent on January 7, numerous banks
have increased the US dollar exchange rate.
The selling prices ranged from 21,420 VND to 21,450 VND and
purchasing prices were set at between 21,510 VND and 21,520 VND to one US
dollar at commercial banks including Vietcombank, Vietinbank, Eximbank and
Techcombank.
This is the first time this year the State Bank has adjusted
the exchange rate, a move aimed at actively leading the market in line with
the international and domestic financial market climate, and stabilising the
foreign exchange market.
The central bank will work to simultaneously carry out
measures and policy instruments to stabilise the exchange rate and foreign
currency market on the new rate platform.
During a conference on banking sector responsibility in 2015,
Governor of the State Bank Nguyen Van Binh stressed that one of the sector’s
targets this year is to continue to maintain the stability of the foreign
exchange market and to keep rate fluctuation below 2 percent, though he added
it is not an easy target.
Accordingly, total condominiums for sale amounted to 16,200 in
the full year, more than doubling that of 2013.
In the fourth quarter of 2014 alone, 3,990 condominium
transactions were successful, 48 percent of which came from the mid-end
segment and 37 percent from the low-end segment. With this, a total of 10,700
apartments were sold during the year, rising 60 percent year on year.
Nguyen Hoai An, senior manager of CBRE Vietnam's Hanoi branch,
said residential projects in urban districts continued to reel in buyers over
the last three months in 2014 with highest price increase recorded in the
high-end segment.
CBRE experts forecast the capital’s property market, including
the condominium market, will maintain its momentum in 2015, particularly in
the high- and mid-end segments.
The growth is expected to be contributed by the amended Law on
Housing which will take effect on July 1, 2015, with regulations allowing
foreigners and Vietnamese people residing abroad to hire and own real estate
in
Oil import tax raised as global prices fall
The Finance Ministry has issued a circular guiding the
increase of preferential import duty on oil and petrol by 7 to 11 percent.
Under the Circular 03/2015/TT-BTC, which took effect on
January 7, 2015, the import duty will be raised to 35 percent on petrol,
kerosene and mazut, and 30 percent on diesel.
The adjustment was in line with the maximum preferential
import duty speculated in the directive 17728/BTC-CST of the Ministry, under
the World Trade Organisation’s commitments in 2015, among other regulations.
According to the General Statistics Office, last year
The global market oil price has recently sunk to below 50 USD
for the first time since 2009.-
Garment firm targets 115 mln USD revenue in 2015
The Garment 10 Corporation has set its annual revenue of 2.45
trillion VND (over 115 million USD) for 2015, 12 percent higher than that of
the last year, said Director Nguyen Thi Thanh Huyen.
During the first days of this year, all employees working at
the firm’s headquarters in Long Bien district,
Le Tien Truong, General Director of the Vietnam Textile and
Garment Corporation noted that in order to take advantage of the Free Trade
Agreements with the Republic of Korea and the Russia-Belarus-Kazakhstan
Customs Union that will be signed in early 2015, officials and workers of the
company need to further promote their creativeness so as to improve labour
productivity and competitiveness of goods, which will help win major orders.
In 2014, the corporation enjoyed 2.18 trillion VND in revenue.
It earmarked a lot of money for improving its productivity, bringing a
sustainable growth to the firm.
Aquatic exports face substantial challenges in 2015
Nguyen Huu Dung, Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Association of
Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) said that last year’s significant
increase in seafood export revenue stemmed from the acquisition of over 1
billion USD of imported aquatic raw materials, noting that this led to the
reliance on imported materials from foreign markets as well as expanded the
imbalance of aquatic rearing and processing.
Vice Chairman Dung also confirmed that Vietnamese exporters,
especially those specialising in shrimp and tra fish, will be hampered by
food security and anti-dumping tariffs imposed by the
He added that in a bid to prevent diseases which threaten
aquatic product productivity, it is necessary to control breeding animal
quality and build a natural environment for aquaculture.
Aquatic exports in 2015 will be hugely affected by current
market factors generating an increase in import prices, including the plunge
in oil prices and currency depreciation. As such, the Ministry of Agriculture
and Rural Development and VASEP recommend the affected enterprises prepare
measures to counteract these challenges to accessing import markets,
especially
Despite these challenges, aquatic export revenue is expected
to reach 8 billion USD in 2015, a 1.5 percent increase from 2014.
Government adopts Vinamotor’s state capital sale
Deputy Prime Minister Vu Van Ninh decided to sell the all
state capital at the Vietnam Motors Industry Corporation ( Vinamotor ), which
accounts for 97.7 percent of the firm’s chartered capital.
At present, the corporation’s total chartered capital is over
876 billion VND (41.17 million USD).
The number of shares owned by Vinamotor’s employees and its
trade unions makes up 0.51 percent of the chartered capital. Other investors
hold 15,702 million VND or 1.79 percent of the total.
Vinamotor specialises in manufacturing coaches, city buses,
trucks with Transinco and Vinamotor brands. The firm also pays attention to
developing other fields for transportation.
Vietnam’s rubber firm exports tyres to US
The Southern Rubber Industry JSC (Casumina) on January 5
reached an agreement with its
Accordingly, Casumina will ship 200,000 tyres worth US$57
million to the
Representative from the rubber company said in an attempt to
obtain the order, the company has invested in technology and equipment to
produce all-steel radial tyres.
Casumina is one of the leading domestic makers of car tyres in
The VND3.38 trillion (US$161 million) factory, the most modern
of its kind in
HSBC:
The Purchasing Managers’ Index™ (PMI™) of
Growth has now been registered for 16 months in a row. The
upturn in operating conditions stemmed primarily from strengthened growth in
output and new orders.
Trinh Nguyen, Asia Economist at HSBC said that the demand for
Vietnamese goods rose, both externally and domestically.
December’s survey showed a second successive monthly increase
in inventories of input purchases, while there was also an increase in stocks
of finished goods.
Companies reported that delays in the delivery of completed
goods led to a build-up of stock in warehouses.
The survey data also indicated that average input costs paid
by Vietnamese manufacturers continued to fall.
Companies reported that supplier prices, shipping costs and
the price of fuel had all fallen when compared to November. Latest data
showed that average input prices declined to the greatest degree since July
2012.
Faced with a reduction in their input costs, manufacturers
chose to lower their average prices charged in December.
Competitive pressures and efforts to stimulate demand also led
to the sharpest fall in output charges for a year -and-a-half.
Commenting on the Vietnam Manufacturing PMI™ survey, Nguyen said
She also believed that the manufacturing sector will benefit
from both wage cost competitiveness and lower input prices, thanks to
declining global brent costs.
Major sales growth for e-commerce in 2014
As the TET holidays and the busiest selling period of the year
approaches,
A recent study of e-commerce by Bizweb found that sales orders
in
A typical business posts some 300 items for sale on their
website with the largest website offering more than 1,000 items.
The first online shopping Black Friday in
Tran Trong Tuyen, CEO of Bizweb, said if enterprises are not
actively participating in the hectic market, they will find it difficult to
be competitive with the others that do in the coming time.
Government resolution on this year’s development plans
The Vietnamese government has issued a resolution on
socio-economic development plans for this year which include stabilizing the
macro-economy and removing obstacles to business production.
Other plans include implementing strategic breakthroughs,
restructuring the economy, changing the growth model, improving
competitiveness, and achieving a growth rate higher than in 2014.
The plans will also focus on boosting administrative and
judicial reform, protecting the environment, combating corruption and
wastefulness, strengthening national defense, political security and public
order, protecting national sovereignty, and accelerating international
cooperation and integration.
The government asked the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) to
coordinate with ministries and localities to adjust monetary and fiscal
policies to control inflation, boost economic growth, and mobilize capital
for development investment.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade was asked to expand the
export market by focusing on high growth export items, removing market
barriers, and negotiating more free trade agreements to make it easier to
export Vietnamese agricultural, forestry and fishery products.
The government directed ministries and People’s Committees to
tighten market and price controls toward reducing the bad debt ratio to less
than 3% in 2015, speeding the equitization of state-owned enterprises (SoEs),
reforming self-managed public agencies, and reducing hospital overloading.
Aussie wool producers eye Vietnamese market
Australian wool producers have set their sights on the
Vietnamese producers have in the past traditionally imported
wool yarn from
The manufacturers are making efforts to increase ties with
Vietnamese businesses to help them access their natural wool products as well
as
Andrew Patridge, an expert from Techwool Trading said the
expansion of new outlets in Asia is a decisive orientation for the Australian
wool industry to reduce its dependence on
The Tay Nguyen Central Highlands posted a GDP growth rate of
12.2% in 2014, while per capita income in regional localities ranged from
VND31.4 million to VND44.8 million (US$2,105) per year, according to the
Steering Committee for the Central Highlands.
The national programme on building new-style rural areas
contributed greatly to lifting socio-economic conditions in the region,
particularly the adoption of new production models in agriculture, which can
be seen most clearly in the formation of animal breeding farms instead of the
old household-based practice. The building of rural infrastructure including
roads, irrigation systems, power supply network, schools and markets in line
with criteria for new rural areas also surpassed the national average level.
Central Highlands provinces also focused resources on
addressing the lack of housing and farming land for poor ethnic minority
households. They have to date allocated 57,748 hectares of land to poor
households and assigned 140,915 hectares of forest to 7,320 households for
care and protection. At the same time, thousands of ethnic workers have been
given jobs in agro-forestry companies.
Ethnic groups in the region also benefited from many
preferential credit policies of the State and local authorities. They are
provided with loans to invest in production or build clean water and
sanitation facilities.
As a result, 117,360 households escaped from poverty in 2014,
bringing the poverty rate in the region down by 2.7% against that of the
previous year.
At the same time, educational and health care services in the
region saw remarkable progress in terms of both quantity and quality. The
number of ethnic students leaving school has decreased dramatically and more
boarding schools have been built. The region now has 82 provincial- and
district-level hospitals, while 704 out of the 722 wards and communes have
medical facilities, with 66% of which meeting national standards for
grassroots clinics.
In a bid to further reduce the rate of poor households by at
least 3% in this year, the region will focus on speeding up vocational
training and generating more jobs, while continuing with production
investment and preferential credit policies for disadvantaged groups.
This year, the region continues to consolidate the great
national unity and make full use of its advantages in order to maintain
political stability, promote growth and improve the lives of ethnic
minorities.
The Tay Nguyen Central Highlands region comprises five
provinces, which are Dak Lak, Dak Nong, Gia Lai, Kon Tum and Lam Dong
provinces.
Cement
industry expects to face steep export hurdles
Le Van Toi, Director of the Department of Building Materials
under the Ministry of Construction was quoted as saying by online newspaper
vov.vn that Vietnamese cement enterprises have been unable to sign long-term
contracts, even though their value is higher than short-term contracts.
Toi added that local producers had thought that exporting
cement was seasonal work or a temporary solution for the problem of low
consumption in the domestic market.
Data from the ministry showed that last year,
Cement consumption in the domestic market has touched 50.9
million tonnes, posting a 10 per cent year-on-year increase.
After four years of exporting cement, local producers have
learnt their lessons by exploiting markets, indulging in contract
negotiations, and especially by connecting with each other.
Toi said cement consumption this year will depend on the
extent of construction, which has been heavily impacted by the current
economic situation.
He also predicted that demand for Vietnamese cement
consumption in both the domestic and foreign markets will hit between 71 and
73 million tonnes and rise from 4 per cent to 7 per cent, compared with 2014.
Exports will remain at the same level as last year. In 2013,
cement and clinker exports had touched 15 million tonnes.
Flamboyant apparel sector looks to higher export revenue
The apparel sector, buoyed by its strong export performance
last year and the country’s upcoming signing of free trade agreements with
other countries, has set an ambitious target of obtaining US$28-28.5 billion
in outbound sales this year.
The sector’s 2014 exports amounted to nearly US$24.5 billion,
a year-on-year improvement of 16%. Its major markets were the
The
According to the Vietnam National Textile and Garment Group
(Vinatex), the industry will continue stepping up shipments to those key
markets this year, with exports to the
Last year,
For the European market, when a free trade agreement (FTA)
between
Nguyen Dinh Truong, vice chairman of the Vietnam Textile and
Apparel Association (VITAS), said at a recent textile and apparel industry
exhibition in HCMC that Vietnam’s signing of FTAs with South Korea, the EU,
and Eurasian Customs Union, and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)
agreement, probably early this year, could result in the sector doubling its
production in the next 10 years.
However, those deals will require local firms to quickly
integrate and make good preparations such as improving product quality;
otherwise, they may be left behind, he said, suggesting the industry should
increase output, product quality, production and price competitiveness.
Foreign investors have been scaling up investments in the
domestic textile and apparel sector since early last year in anticipation of
grasping the business opportunities which the FTAs will certainly bring. Most
of them are from
VCCI: Growth in
The Mekong Delta’s economic growth last year, as estimated by the
General Statistics Office (GSO), was 9%, three percentage points higher than
the nation’s level, but the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI)
said its growth is not sustainable.
The GSO-calculated growth rate is lower than the figure that
is based on data of the delta’s provinces but it is still questionable as the
national economy achieved growth of a mere 5.98%, said Vo Hung Dung, director
of VCCI in Can Tho City.
To prove his point, Dung said VCCI had reviewed data of the
GSO about incomes, standards of living, labor productivity and agricultural
output but had found no economic breakthroughs that helped the delta grow
higher than the country did.
“Data between 2004 and 2014 revealed the average income per
capita in the delta was 10-15% lower than the national average,” Dung said,
adding the delta’s trade surplus is not what the region should be happy with.
The delta’s exports are estimated to amount to US$11.5 billion
while its import bill was a slight US$5.4 billion.
In major cities, strong import activities can bring hefty
import tariff revenues and lead the services sector to develop, thus fueling
their economic growth, Dung said.
The number of firms active in the delta is 38,000-40,000, only
8% of the nation’s total, well below the 23% recorded shortly after the
introduction in 2000 of the historic Enterprise Law.
He said this explained why the Mekong Delta provinces’ budget
revenues had been running low.
The Mekong Delta has attracted the least foreign direct
investment capital (FDI) in the country with around US$1.2 billion of FDI
approved annually, less than 5% of the country’s total.
He noted poor infrastructure, low-quality human resources and
financial constraints had been and would continue to be three major
impediments to economic development in the delta.
My Thuan and Can Tho bridges are among the major achievements
in the delta’s infrastructure development drive but the delta still has a
long way to go to complete its infrastructure networks.
For instance, work on two sections of an expressway linking
HCMC and the delta’s Can Tho City has dragged on. The 51-kilometer section
between Trung Luong of
The delta is facing a labor oversupply due to the limited
number of enterprises, so many youngsters have left their hometowns for HCMC,
Binh Duong, and Dong Nai, which are home to a lot of industrial parks, to
look for jobs.
Another issue involving labor is its low quality. A research
project undertaken by VCCI Can Tho shows the delta seriously lacks skilled
workers, even those having a mid-level skills set.
The delta has long relied on rice, seafood and fruit as major
revenue generators. But, Dung said, the export of these items has contributed
little to the delta’s economic growth as rice export brings US$3 billion and
seafood around US$4 billion a year.
Though the sales of motorbikes slowed down, the automobile
market saw signs of rebound, especially during the late 2014 compared to the
same period of 2012 and 2013, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen
Cam Tu told a conference to review the ministry’s 2014 performance and launch
its tasks for 2015.
Truong Thanh Hoai, head of the Heavy Industry Department
attributed the significant car sales to a 2 percent cut in registration fee
from 12 percent, adding that trucks assembled at home are gaining popularity,
especially light-weight category.
Last year, 3.3 million cars and 128,000 motorbikes were
manufactured, the ministry reported.
About two million cars and 37 million motorcycles are on the
roads of
Restructuring crucial to 2015 economic development
Restructuring State-owned enterprises (SOEs), credit
institutions, securities market, and the farming sector is part of
socio-economic development measures for 2015, as stipulated in Resolution
01/NQ-CP recently issued by the Government.
Ministries, agencies and localities are requested to keep
carrying out an overall plan on economic restructuring and submit their own
well thought out restructuring schemes to authorities concerned no later than
the end of the second quarter.
SOEs will focus on equitising and withdrawing capital from
non-core businesses, while working on additional plans for the post-2015.
In the meantime, credit institutions are tasked with improving
their governance, risk management, auditing and technology capabilities while
keeping up to international practices, towards embracing Basel II capital
standards step-by-step.
The restructuring of the securities market will continue in
line with a government’s blueprint set previously, making it easier to lure
investment in and outside the country and deal with bad debts.
The farming sector’s rearrangement covers across cultivation,
animal husbandry, aquaculture, forestry, processing, and services. The new
rural area construction programme is required to be stepped up towards set
goals. Investors are encouraged to involve in agriculture and rural
development.
Industries having a high level of technology, added value, and
localisation rate will be boosted, especially the support industry, renewable
energy, electronics, engineering, information and bio-technology, oil and gas
exploration and processing, and environment, among others.
Exchange rate increases by one percent
The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has decided to raise the
VND/USD exchange rate by one percent from 21,246 VND to 21,458 VND per USD
from January 7.
Under the adjustment, the exchange rate at banks will range
from 21,243 VND per USD to 21,673 VND per USD.
The move aims to realise Resolution No.1/NQ-CP issued on
January 3 stipulating tasks and solutions to fulfil the country’s
socio-economic development plan and the State budget estimates in 2015, the
bank said in its website.
The central bank will continue to flexibly manage the monetary
policy in a close relation with the fiscal policy to control inflation,
ensure macro-economic stability and boost economic growth.
Despite fluctuations in the global financial market in 2014,
the SBV guaranteed a stable exchange rate with the only one increase of 1
percent in June.
The outcome was attributed to the bank’s effective management
of the monetary and remittance policies in addition to its commitment to
further stabilising the exchange rate to enhance confidence in Vietnam dong.
Tien Giang targets 1.6 billion USD in export turnover
The Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang strives to earn 1.6
billion USD from exports in 2015, a year-on-year increase of 8.1 percent.
The locality also aims for an average annual export growth of
23 percent in the 2011-2015 period, surpassing the set target by 5-7 percent.
To realise the goal, Tien Giang will continue to lure
investment in industrial parks and clusters as well as help investors address
difficulties and complete procedures for the scheduled implementation of
their projects.
It also plans to encourage businesses to diversify their
exports and take measures to improve product quality and competitiveness
while providing them with updated information on export markets.
Last year, the province’s export value hit a record of 1.48
billion USD, exceeding the set target by 26.5 percent and up 23.8 percent
against 2013. Major exports were garments, processed seafood and plastic
products.
According to a report by the provincial industrial zone
management board, in 2014, local industrial parks attracted five new projects
and saw four others added investment with a total capital of over 71.6 million
USD.
The four industrial clusters of An Thanh, Song Thuan, Trung An
and Tan My Chanh were fully filled with 83 projects, creating 12,000 jobs.
During the year, businesses operating at the industrial parks
exported more than 1 billion USD worth of commodities, almost doubling the
2013 figure.
Dong Nai, together with Binh Duong, Tay Ninh, Ba Ria-Vung Tau,
Binh Phuoc, Long An and Tien Giang provinces and Ho Chi Minh City, form
Vietnam’s southern key economic region.
Vietcombank posts impressive results by reducing NPLs
The Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam's (Vietcombank's)
non-performing loans (NPLs) fell to 2.3 percent at the end of last year, from
3.09 percent in Q2 of 2014.
Online newspaper VnEconomy quoted a report from the bank,
saying that Vietcombank successfully handled more than 1.8 trillion VND (84.5
million USD) in NPLs last year, doubling the amount seen in the previous
year.
Vietcombank's risk provision fund also reached 4.535 trillion
VND (212.91 million USD) by the end of last year, which nearly equivalent to
the bank's total NPLs. The fund expanded by 29.2 percent, compared with 2013.
The bank attributed its success in handling NPLs to economic
recovery, an improvement in firms' businesses, production performance,
effective policies, as well as timely support lent to for customers in terms
of access to credit.
Additionally, the bank's measures for handling NPLs included
direct participation of leaders and staff at the bank's headquarters that
also helped it report a high record for activity. Earlier, only the bank's
branches had taken part in handling NPLs.
The experience of handling NPLs contributed to the bank's
significant post-tax profits last year, which reached 5.68 trillion VND
(266.66 million USD), higher than the previous year and exceeding the bank's
target set in early 2014.
Return on equity (ROE), return on assets (ROA) and the capital
adequacy ratio (CAR) of the bank also improved, touching roughly 10.5
percent, 0.9 percent and 12 percent, respectively.
Last year, Vietcombank also reported a good result in credit
growth, which was 18 percent, higher than the 15 percent targeted in early
2014.
The bank's deposits also surged by about 26 percent last year,
despite an interest rate cut. The bank consecutively reduced deposit interest
rates and implemented the lowest rate in the banking system last year.
Shares of Vietcombank (VCB) jumped 37 percent last year,
closing at 31,900 VND (1.497 USD) per share, the highest price level among
banks listed on the stock exchange.
Dong Nai province looks towards green production
The southern province of Dong Nai will realise its green
production target from now to 2020 with special focus on support industries
and hi-tech projects that are environmentally friendly.
To pursue sustainable development, the province will boost
economic growth in combination with ensuring social security and
environmental protection, said Director of the provincial Department of
Planning and Investment Bo Ngoc Thu.
Therefore, the locality aims to attract only 1 billion USD in foreign
direct investment (FDI) this year, she said, adding that it will continue to
help businesses overcome difficulties as well as streamline administrative
formalities and create a favourable investment climate to lure foreign
investors.
In 2014, Dong Nai attracted over 1.6 billion USD in FDI, half
of which went to hi-tech and support industry projects.
The outcome was attributed to local efforts in supporting
enterprises through regular meetings and accelerating administrative reform
via the application of the one-stop-shop mechanism, Thu said.-
Vietnam targets 6.2 percent economic expansion for 2015
Vietnam targets a gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 6.2
percent and a 10 percent rise in export value in 2015, according to
recently-issued Government Resolution 01/NQ-CP on key tasks and measures to
realise the 2015 socio-economic development.
The consumer price index is expected to increase by 5 percent
while total investment for socio-economic development will make up 30-32
percent of GDP.
The nation-wide rate of poor households is forecast to fall
1.7-2 percent and roughly 1.6 million jobs will be created.
These targets were approved by the National Assembly,
according to the resolution.
To do that, the resolution asks for strengthening
macro-economic stability by clearing business hurdles, going forward with
strategic breakthroughs and economic restructuring in tandem with shifting to
a new growth model and improving the national economy’s competitiveness.
More attention is to be paid to the development of
socio-cultural life, education, science-technology, environment protection
and public well-being, the acceleration of administrative and judicial
reforms, especially the fight against corruption and wastefulness.
The government has set to strengthen defence-security, firmly
safeguard national sovereignty, and ensure political security and social
order.
It will also improve external relations work and continue the
path of international integration and cooperation.-
Rice sector restructuring to be prioritised in 2015
The restructuring of the rice sector will be accelerated this
year in an attempt to increase production efficiency and farmers’ income.
Under the restructuring plan, 104,000 hectares of rice farming
area will be covered by other crops, mainly maize, pushing the year’s total
rice cultivation area down to 7.68 million hectares with an estimated output
of 43.85 million tonnes.
In addition, the plan will create favourable conditions for
farmers to shift from growing rice to some fruit trees such as orange and
banana.
The country’s rice production was estimated at 45 million
tonnes in 2014, up almost 800,000 tonnes over the previous year, according to
the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
Vietnam, Algeria target 470 mln USD in two-way trade in 2015
Vietnam and Algeria are aiming for 470 million USD in two-way
trade in 2015, up 20 percent against last year, Commercial Counsellor Nguyen
Van Mui said.
To achieve the target, Vietnam should hold more trade and
investment promotion activities in the country, Mui said.
He also called for bettering connection between the two sides’
businesses via exhibitions and trade fairs in both countries, in a bid to
help them find partners and opportunities.
According to the official, there are great potentials for
bilateral cooperation in the fields of construction, agro-fishery product
processing, consumer goods, pharmaceuticals and tourism, as Vietnam has
strong businesses and good experience while Algeria also wants to attract
investment in these fields.
An oil and gas joint venture between PetroVietnam and Algerian
partners is expected to start exploitation in the first quarter this year,
with daily output of about 20,000 barrels.
In addition, Vietnam hopes to send 1,000 workers to the African
country this year.
The two countries have set the target of 1 billion USD in
two-way trade by 2020, and increase the number of Vietnamese skilled workers
and technicians working in Algeria to 1,500-2,000.
Bilateral trade turnover reached a record 370 million USD in
2014, up 30 percent against 2013. Most of the trade value came from Vietnam’s
exports, including 135 million USD worth of coffee, 95 million USD worth of
phones and parts and 28 million USD worth of rice. Algeria’ exports to
Vietnam stood at only 800,000 USD.
Source:
VEF/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/Dantri/VIR
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Thứ Tư, 7 tháng 1, 2015
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