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BUSINESS IN BRIEF 1/4
New Vietnamese startups on the rise
The number of new business startups in the three months
leading up to April jumped by 3.8% compared to the same period last year to
19,049, according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI).
The companies listed startup capital of VND111,218 billion on
their registration forms, which is a reported increase of 13.5% compared to a
year earlier.
For the three month period, another 4,741 companies reported
supplementary capital of VND172,918 billion in total.
If these businesses turn out to be successful they would
hypothetically add 265,167 new jobs to the economy. During the same period,
the MPI said another 2,565 businesses were dissolved while 16,175 other
either stopped or temporarily ceased operations.
Ford brings the new Ranger T6 to Vietnam
Sales of new cars in
At the recent annual Bangkok International Motor Show (BIMS),
Ford Motor Company touted its latest model flagship pickup, the Ford Ranger,
which the company boasts will top Southeast Asia and Vietnam in sales for
2015.
According to a Ford representative, the formation of ASEAN in
2015 is expected to drive the vehicle manufacturer’s sales in the pickup
truck segment, having contributed to over 50 per cent of its total regional
sales last year.
The global premier of the Ranger T6 also aims to leverage the
company’s sales in ASEAN by taking advantage of its production facilities
located in
Other manufactures at this year’s BIMS suggested the four top
sellers this year for
Brett Wheatley, Vice President in charge of Marketing, Sales
& Service, Ford Asia Pacific, said the Vietnamese market for automobiles
is coming off a record high growth rate for last year and this year Ford is
bullish on the nation’s potential, expecting big things to happen.
Removing trade barriers for
Deputy Head of the Vietnam Competition Authority (VCA) Nguyen
Phuong
Doing so will enable these businesses to improve their
incomes, better support their families, grow the Vietnamese economy and
elevate the national Made-in-Vietnam brand, said Nam.
The largest proportion of non-tariff barriers encountered by
agro businesses to date have related to phytosanitary measures dealing with
adherence to regulations ensuring food security and preventing the spread of
disease.
“The number one problem agriculture and seafood businesses
faced resulted from the failure to pay sufficient attention to the quarantine
process and food hygiene and safety regulations,”
Businesses need to clearly understand that if they do not
comply with these regulations; their products will not be allowed to be sold
in foreign markets, he said, adding that they must innovate and bring their
cultivation and breeding methods in compliance.
Even more significant is the fact that agriculture businesses
have failed to fully grasp the World Trade Organisation (WTO) dispute
resolution process for matters related to alleged violations of the
phytosanitary or product labelling requirements.
Thus when lawsuits were filed they failed to realise that time
was of the essence and that they were required to file a timely response in
order to protect their rights.
Most often the failure to timely respond has resulted in a
preliminary presumption that the complaint lodged against them was valid.
If these businesses do not raise their awareness of the legal
requirements to do business in foreign markets and initiate policies and
procedures to assure they are in full compliance with them, then they stand
to lose their right to do business in those markets,
They will lose the right because the foreign market will
impose substantial tariffs on their exports making it cost prohibitive to do
business at a profit. It will also reflect negatively on and destroy
the international reputation of the Made-in-Vietnam brand,
First and foremost before carrying on any business in foreign
markets, agricultural businesses should establish an in house legal department
staffed with high first rate lawyers and legal clerks who understand the laws
of the proposed market.
Secondly they should seek the assistance of outside counsel in
the foreign market to insure they understand the intricacies of the law as it
relates to their business and put in place a management control system to
ensure those requirements are fully communicated to the businesses management
team.
Lastly,
Around 878,000 travellers visited the central coastal city of
Of them, 313,000 were foreigners, an increase of 14.7 percent
and 565,000 were domestic holiday-makers, up 18.9 percent compared to the
same period last year.
The revenue from tourism also rose 30.9 percent to 2.62
trillion VND (123 million USD), accounting for 22.2 percent of the yearly
plan.
In March alone, the city greeted 332,000 vacationers,
including 105,000 foreigners.
In order to promote the tourism sector in the coming time,
The city has been ranked sixth in the list of the world’s 10
most improved cities that tourists should visit in 2015 published by the
website ‘The Richest’.
The expansion and upgrade of its international airports, the
unique and newly developed hotels and resorts along the coast, and numerous
direct flights from Hong Kong (China) to Vietnam have created favourable
conditions for tourism development in Da Nang, cited the travel website.
In 2014,
Jetstar Pacific launches new air routes from Hanoi
Low-cost carrier Jetstar Pacific on March 30 officially opened
a direct air route between
The daily flights using Airbus 320 take off at 11:10am from
the
The flight takes 1 hour and 50 minutes each way.
This is the second route linking
Previously, the carrier inaugurated its service between
The airline has also announced it will operate one daily
return flight between
Successful real estate transactions sees strong surge in Q1
The volume of successful real estate transactions in Hanoi and
Ho Chi Minh City during the first quarter of 2015 increased nearly three
times from the figures recorded in the same period of last year, hitting
4,250 and 3,950 transactions, respectively, according to statistics from the
Ministry of Construction.
Thanks to high liquidity, property inventory nationwide
continued to drop, valuing at around 70.7 trillion VND (3.25 billion USD) as
of late March, a 45 percent reduction or a 57.8 trillion VND drop from the
first quarter of 2013.
At the same time, nearly 11 trillion VND worth of loan
contracts have been sign under the 30 trillion VND social housing credit
package, up 15.8 percent from the figure at the end of 2014. Of the loans,
6.28 trillion VND has been disbursed, a 33.3 percent increase after three
months.
Deputy Minister of Construction Nguyen Tran
Property trading floors across the country are bustling with a
series of new offered projects.
Experts said
Hau Giang plants king orange trees
The Mekong Delta
Farmers have received support to grow 4,000 seedless king
orange trees from the province's Agriculture Extension Centre and the Chau
Thanh District Agriculture and Rural Development Bureau. All of the seedlings
are expected to be planted by the end of July.
The seedlings were multiplied from first-line seedless
king-orange trees created by the Southern Fruit Research Institute.
Seedless king oranges are not new to the country, as they have
been grown in a few other provinces.
Nguyen Van Truong, deputy head of the bureau, said the
district looked forward to exporting the seedless oranges.
Over the past few years, farmers in Hau Giang have earned high
profits up to 700 million VND (33,300 USD) to 1 billion VND (47,600 USD) per
ha a year from growing seeded king oranges.
In Phung Hiep District's Hoa My Commune, for instance, all 19
farming households in Hamlet 3 switched from growing other crops to seeded
king oranges. Trinh Thanh Sang, head of Hamlet 3, turned his 1 ha of banana
trees into a king orange orchard, earning profits 20 times higher.
Previously, all families in Hamlet 3 planted mostly banana or sugarcane
plants.
However, the rapid switch to king orange cultivation while
farmers lack proper farming techniques and high-quality seedlings have
contributed to outbreaks of citrus-greening disease.
The province has nearly 10,000ha of seeded king orange trees,
mostly in
Growing trade deficit sparked by input demand
Low export growth and rising imports by foreign-invested firms
have contributed to
The Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) last week
reported that trade deficit topped US$1.8 billion in Q1, equivalent to 5% of
the total export turnover of US$35.7 billion.
While export grew just 6.9% on-year in Q1 compared to 14.1%
one year earlier, import rose 16.3% to US$37.5 billion against the 12.4% in
Q1 last year.
Experts at last week’s MPI meeting on
According to a Ministry of Industry and Trade representative,
one of the major reasons behind such a deficit was that
For example,
Meanwhile, coffee export value fell 37.3%, aquatic products
20.6%, and coal 64.3%. Garment and textile exports, which are
Meanwhile, according to the MPI, foreign invested enterprises
(FIEs) spent US$23.1 billion on imports in Q1, up 24.1% on-year and
accounting for 61.1% of the country’s total import turnover.
Domestic enterprises registered import turnover of US$14.4
billion, showing just a 5.7% rise.
The potential positive effects of free trade agreements with
the EU, the
“During our recent meetings with investors from the US, EU,
the RoK and Japan, they said they would shift their investments from China to
Vietnam to benefit from these FTAs, which are characterised by slashed import
tariffs,” said Nguyen Van Toan, vice chairman of the Vietnam Association of
Foreign-invested Enterprises.
“More imports will be seen from FIEs. There will be more
disbursed and committed foreign direct investment this year. Many major
foreign groups have also come to
Vina Kraft Paper attains FSC
Thai-backed Vina Kraft Paper, a subsidiary of ASEAN’s leading
conglomerate SCG, has attained the globally prestigious Forest Stewardship
Council (FSC) certificate.
The FSC certificate is considered the most rigorous and
credible forest certification recognised globally and is expected to help the
company fly to the position of a leading green producer in
This FSC means the company has made great efforts to minimise
impact on the environment by applying the 3Gs concept (a focus on Green
Product, Green Process and Green Mind) and deploying an environmental
friendly management system.
The kraft paper and packaging industry largely depends on
forests to provide the raw material for production. About 11 per cent of the
woods extracted around the world are used by the paper industry.
The FSC chain-of-custody certification system traces the path
of products from forests through every stage of the supply chain, verifying
that FSC-certified materials are identified or kept separately from
non-certified materials throughout production.
Any company in this supply chain, including harvesters,
processors, manufacturers, distributors, printers, retailers or anyone who
takes ownership of the forest product before the end user, needs to be FSC
certified to be able to label or promote their products as FSC certified.
Although currently in
Packaging companies therefore are under pressure to demonstrate
the highest environmental credentials. The FSC label on packaging shows that
the paper and board used are responsibly sourced. Compared to other packaging
materials, the paper and board have the advantage of being renewable,
reusable and recyclable.
“In
The company’s kraft paper products are
environmentally-friendly in their raw materials and do not cause pollution
during and after usage. The company has used over 95 per cent of its fibrous
raw material intake from recycled or waste paper which helps reduce the waste
and impact to the environment, he added.
Alongside green products, the company is also implementing a
green production process to ensure low levels of consumption, high level of
recycling and the optimal management of by-products and waste from
production.
The company has invested over $10 million into the effluence
treatment plant which can treat wastewater to achieve a level A Standard
before discharging. Combined with other big investments into high efficiency
paper machines and a power plan to optimise the usage of natural resources,
Vina Kraft does its utmost to satisfy the most rigorous environmental
requirements.
Vina Kraft Paper is one of the 21 subsidiaries of SCG in
The factory was established in 2007 and went into production
in 2009, with a production capacity of about 250.000 tonnes per year, with
over 95 per cent of the products being consumed domestically and five per
cent being exported.
Vietnam premier wants to finish privatizing 289 state-run
firms by 2015
Transforming state-run enterprises into joint stock companies
is now a top priority of the government and it should be done by the end of
this year, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung requested Thursday.
Vietnam has targeted to transfer the state ownership in 432
businesses to private investors between 2014 and 2015, and finished doing so
at 143 firms last year.
This means there is nine months left for 289 businesses to
complete their privatization, the premier said as he chaired a meeting on the
country’s plan for reforming state-owned enterprises in Hanoi.
“We should try to reach the target without making any mistakes
or hasty decisions,” Dung said, adding that the state-run businesses “should
not be bargained away.”
The prime minister said the state-owned enterprise reform plan
has been going on the right track, even though there are still issues to
solve.
“The performance of some state-run enterprises is still behind
their potential, while some others are making losses and have poor
productivity,” he elaborated.
The premier used mobile network operator MobiFone and beverage
producer Sabeco as good examples of strong companies that will easily find
buyers for their stakes.
“Investors are interested in MobiFone and Sabeco even though
they were only allowed to acquire small stakes in them, whereas there are
companies for which investors are hesitant to open their pockets due to their
poor performance,” Dung said.
The Vietnamese government still holds stakes in many
businesses which some industry insiders say do not need to be owned by the
state.
“We should be brave enough to surmount this obstacle,” the
premier said.
He also emphasized that no matter whether a company is owned
by the state or private investors, it is in the end a Vietnamese firm.
“So did we lose anything [from the privatization]?” he said.
“Everyone should join in developing the economy otherwise we will never be
able to achieve victory.”
The premier said the private sector should be considered
motivation for economic development and the government’s job is to “create
conditions, develop infrastructure, and set the rules” for businesses
operating in it.
Transport Minister Dinh La Thang also told the meeting that
some positive results have been gained from privatization in the
transportation sector.
Some transport businesses, and even hospitals, have improved
performance after privatization, he said.
“Some chief officials worried that they would lose their
managerial positions following the privatization, but the results have proven
them otherwise,” the minister said.
The transport ministry is considering privatizing the
country’s two largest seaports, the Hai Phong Port in the north and Saigon
Port in the south.
The plan faces objections from some insiders that these
facilities could become privately-owned ports, but Minister Thang said it is
not an issue.
“What matters is whether we can have bigger and stronger
ports, not whether they belong to the state or private investors,” he said.
Besides the Hai Phong and Saigon ports, the privatization plan
for MobiFone, the country’s second largest mobile service supplier, is also
receiving special attention from investors.
“The plan will be completed up to five months earlier than
expected,” said Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Bac Son.
The ministry-run MobiFone is slated to work with a consultant
agency about the plan next month and will finish the evaluation task by the
end of the third quarter of this year, according to the minister.
“Nearly ten foreign investors have shown interest in acquiring
a stake in MobiFone,” Minister Son said.
Tackling bottlenecks to boost bailout package
The VND30 trillion ($1.4 billion) bailout package to support
the real estate market has achieved little progress against the ambitious
targets set at its launching.
After nearly two years of implementation, the $1.4 billion
property-oriented bailout package could only disburse more than 16 per cent
of the total value, whereas the initial ambitious goal was to finalise
disbursement at the end of June 2016, three years after launching.
State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) figures show that by mid-January
this year, relevant banks have only disbursed nearly VND4.9 trillion ($229
million).
To bolster disbursement, early this year the SBV has
authorised ten more joint stock commercial banks to act as lenders to join
the programme, increasing the number of banks involved to a total of 15
(the first five banks being state commercial banks).
However, so far many banks have not been able to provide loans
to any customers from the bailout package.
Explaining the delay for such lending, Dinh Van Chien, head of
the Retail Banking section at TP-Bank, one of the new lenders joining
the programme, said, “Applications are still modest, maybe because we
are at an early period of the year, when people are reluctant to take
up loans.”
Chien said their bank has received 13 applications and has
disbursed capital for two of them in total.
Meanwhile, it took until early this month that Saigon-Hanoi
Bank (SHB) has officially deployed lending under the programme whereas
several other banks still keep silent about their plans to boost
lending under this $1.4 billion bailout package.
Head of the SBV’s Credit Department Nguyen Tien Dong has
attributed the low capital disbursement to insufficient social housing
supply sources and the fact that only a few customers have qualified to
borrow under the programme.
While the $1.4 billion incentive credit package is reported to
have low efficiency rates, the SBV has recently submitted to the government
another request of a VND50 trillion ($2.3 billion) credit package to
support the property market based on a Ministry of Construction proposal.
Earlier, another VND50 trillion credit package to stimulate
the property sector, which was marketed massively by the Vietnam Construction
Bank (VNCB) and the Thien Thanh Group, has reported failure.
Since its launching until recently (about a year ago), when
the VNCB was acquired by the SBV at zero dong, the package was yet to
be disbursed.
According to senior economist Nguyen Tri Hieu, the poor
outcome of the $1.4 trillion bailout package arose from the strict lending
requirements and the short lending period compared to the average
income of most prospective buyers of social housing.
Accordingly, with the current average income it may take 20-30
years for buyers to complete payments on debts instead of the 10-15 years
as proposed.
“The new $2.3 billion credit package might incur the same fate
unless these two obstacles are properly tackled,” Hieu commented.
Executives at many property firms have assumed that the
current 5 per cent annual interest rate on the $1.4 billion incentive package
is attractive, but carries little meaning because only a handful of
businesses could satisfy the lending requirements and they would willingly
accept higher (7-8 per cent) interest rates if borrowing conditions
were relaxed.
An official at state-owned VietinBank, which was regarded as
the most active player in the programme, said, “It has proven rather hard to
procure sufficient documents to become eligible for borrowing under the
$1.4 billion bailout package. In fact, many customers had retreated and
shifted into commercial lending with higher borrowing costs to meet
their needs.”
HCMC leaders inspect key infrastructure projects
Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Secretary Le Thanh Hai,
People’s Committee Deputy Chairman Nguyen Huu Tin and relevant agencies on
March 28 inspected the construction progress of Nguyen Hue
Street upgrading and Tan Hoa-Lo Gom cleanup projects.
Reporting to Secretary Hai, Mr. Tin said that the people’s
committee has instructed relevant sides to speed up construction and
complete upgrading Nguyen Hue Street before April 20.
Basically, the road face and alongside pavements have been
paved, drainage system has been built and underground technical
infrastructures have been installed. Trees have been planted along the
street.
Execution units are rushing to build final phases at Uncle Ho
Statue and fountain system in Nguyen Hue-Le Loi crossroads.
After hearing reports, Secretary Hai instructed the investor
and execution units not to run after the project’s progress and reduce the
work’s quality.
The city people’s committee and district 1 authorities should
work together to issue management regulations for the street to ensure
urban beauty.
The Department of Transport and relevant units should study to
build an automatic water spaying system to cool Nguyen Hue Street when outside
temperatures highly increase. They should grow trees with
suitable height and diameter and good figure.
Director of Tan Hoa-Lo Gom Canal cleanup project management
board Le Thanh Liem said that the project was began in 2010 with a
total capital of US$162 million. Of these World Bank has financed
US$129 million.
Many items have been done and reduced pollution and flooding
for 19 square kilometers of the canal valley area in Districts 6, 11, Tan
Binh and Tan Phu.
Box drain system has been installed and roads above them have
been accomplished. Other items such as pavements, tree plantation and
lightning system has also been done.
However the project’s pumping station item has run after
schedule with only 62 percent of the work volume having been built. This is
attributed to complicated geological conditions. The canal’s dredging
has also run slowly in the upper reaches because of narrow canal bed.
The project would improve not only environment and drainage in
the canal area but also the living quality of local residents, said Mr. Hai.
He prompted relevant sides to learn from experience in Nhieu
Loc-Thi Nghe Canal cleanup project to better implement the Tan Hoa-Lo
Gom project, especially in urban environmental hygiene.
The city People’s Committee should order districts to well
manage the work after all items are put into service, preventing people from
infringing pavements and parks along the canal to do business, he
asked. Urban designs in the area should be sped up for good urban landscape.
In conclusion, the Tan Hoa-Lo Gom Canal project must be
carried out better than Nhieu Loc-Thi Nghe Canal, he said.
Quang Binh seeks more investors
The Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Quang Binh,
the provincial Tourism Association and travel firms held a conference in
HCM City on Tuesday to promote tourism in the central province and seek
investment in the sector.
Tran Tien Dung, deputy chairman of the province People's
Committee, said Quang Binh had outstanding sightseeing and relaxation spots
like Phong Nha Cave, Thien Duong Cave, Nhat Le Beach, and Son Doong
Cave.
It was also an ideal destination for adventure tourism
activities like cave exploration, mountain climbing and kayaking, he said.
Transportation was also a strong point since the province was
situated on the north-south national highway and railway and Vietnam Airlines
had for long been flying from HCM City to the provincial capital Dong
Hoi, he said.
"Jetstar Pacific launched flights from HCM City to Dong
Hoi earlier this month, and VietJet will start its HCM City- Dong Hoi service
next month."
Pham Thanh Binh, deputy director of the department, said the
province's 4,000 hotel rooms could only meet 60 per cent of the demand, and
tour operators therefore took their customers to spend the night near
Hai Van Pass [situated between Thua Thien-Hue and Da Nang]. To turn tourism
into its main industry, Quang Binh is looking for experienced
investors in high-end hotels, restaurants, amusement parks, supermarkets, and
rest stops for tourists.
BIDV offered US$500 million on-lending grid development
project
The Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Investment and Development
of Vietnam (BIDV) has been approved by the Ministry of Finance to access the
on-lending US$500 million transmission efficiency project (TEP) provided by
the World Bank for electricity development in Vietnam.
TEP is the biggest World Bank power project in the country,
aiming to assist Vietnam’s transmission network growth during the 2015-2020
period.
The project targets to improve capacity, efficiency and
stability of electricity transmission systems in key economic areas and major
cities including Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Mekong Delta and the central
region.
Also in the framework of TEP, the National Power Transmission
Corporation under Electricity of Vietnam (EVNNPT) will develop a smart grid
by upgrading control systems of five 500kV and eleven 220kV stations in order
to protect equipment, enhance stability and reduce outages.
In addition, the project will also help strengthen EVNNPT
capacity through support measures enhancing self-operating and financial
self-management frameworks under power sector reform programmes.
With experiences in ODA and preferential foreign on-lending
projects, BIDV is entrusted by the Ministry of Finance to be in charge of
on-lending loans from international institutions like the World Bank, the
Asian Development Bank, European Investment Bank, the French Development
Agency, and the Nordic Investment Bank.
Especially in the field of power management on-lending, BIDV
is in charge of signing a large number of credit contracts with the power
sector, including the US$321 million power sector reform phase one development
policy operation programme funded by the World Bank, the US$120 million power
transmission in the northern region provided by ADB, and the power
transmission in the northern region expansion worth US$360 million from ADB
loans.
HCM City remains upbeat about economic growth
Ho Chi Minh City saw strong results in total retail sales and
service revenues while successfully curbing its inflation rate in the first
quarter, figures which are likely to trigger economic growth in the city over
the next few months, said the municipal People’s Committee at a late March
meeting.
According to municipal reports given at the meeting, the
city’s gross domestic product (GDP) posted an 8 percent rise in the first
quarter against the same period last year with 202 billion VND (9.4 billion
USD).
Meanwhile, total retail sales and service revenues increased
by 11.5 percent to 159.4 trillion VND (7.4 billion USD).
The city has carried out a number of programmes to tackle
challenges for enterprises, said Thai Van Re, Director of the municipal
Department of Planning and Investment.
He added that business loans for five prioritised
groups—agricultural and rural development, export production, SMEs, support
industry and hi-tech enterprises—reached 137.6 trillion VND (6.4 billion
USD), up 0.86 percent from 2014.
The industrial production index expanded 5.6 percent
year-on-year in the reviewed period.
The municipal budget also recorded positive figures; the city
raked in 68.3 trillion VND (3.2 billion USD) during January, accounting for
25.7 percent of the total revenue estimate in the first quarter alone.
Le Hoang Quan, Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee,
highlighted that in a bid to fulfil the yearly economic targets, the city
will improve its investment climate while fostering economic restructuring,
renewing economic models and enhancing growth quality.
Furthermore, the city will create linkages among banks,
enterprises and farmers as well as facilitate capital access for enterprises.
The city is also making necessary preparations to support
domestic enterprises ahead of the finalisation of the Trans-Pacific
Partnership (TPP) agreement and the establishment of the ASEAN Economic
Community (AEC).
Vietnam, Morocco bolster economic cooperation
The Vietnam-Morocco business forum was held in Hanoi on March
30 by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), the Ministry of
Industry and Trade and the Moroccan Embassy.
Moroccan business delegates at the event represented various
fields including metallurgy, chemistry, information technology,
telecommunications and pharmaceutical manufacturing.
In recent years, bilateral trade revenue has grown about 55
percent annually. In 2014, Morocco imported 147 million USD worth of goods
from Vietnam including industrial equipment, printers, apparel, and consumer
goods.
Mohamed Abbou, Minister Delegate to the Minister of Industry,
Trade, Investment and the Digital Economy of Morocco, said Vietnam will be a
gateway for Moroccan enterprises to enter other Asian markets.
The African country will create favourable conditions for the
two countries’ enterprises to develop trade, investment and cooperation
relations towards promoting their potential, Mohamed added.
Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh said
Vietnam considers Morocco a significant partner and the ministry will support
enterprises to expand business activities.
A cooperation Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed by
the Morocco’s export promotion agency and the Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency
(Vietrade) at the event.
Retail, service sectors post encouraging growth in Q1
The total retail sales and service revenue earned in the first
quarter this year was 790.8 trillion VND (37.13 billion USD), according to
data from the General Statistics Office (GSO).
The figure represents a 10 percent year-on-year rise, GSO
said, adding that the increase would be 9.2 percent if inflation was excluded.
The increase, however, is lower than the 10.7 percent for the
first two months, but it is fairly high compared to the 5-6 percent growth in
the final months of last year.
GSO statistician Vu Manh Ha attributed the high growth at the
start of the year to the sliding consumer price index (CPI).
The average CPI growth for the first three months was minus
0.03 percent.
The CPI saw four consecutive months of reduction with minus
growth from November in 2014 to February this year. It rose again by 0.15
percent this month.
Retail sales accounted for three fourths of total revenue,
reaching 604.5 trillion VND (28.38 billion USD) in the first quarter this
year, a rise of 10 percent compared to the same period last year, said Ha.
Meanwhile, the hotel-restaurant sector's total revenue
increased by only 8.8 percent, lower than the average. The total revenue for
tourism was down by 22.8 percent.
The gap between the increase in total revenue when inflation
was included and excluded was narrowed.
The gaps between the increase in total revenue when inflation
is included and excluded in the first two months were 11.4 percent and 10.7
percent, while that of the first three months were 10 percent and 9.2
percent.
The gap was often double or nearly double that of last year.
The gaps between the increase in total revenue when inflation is included and
excluded in 2014 were 10.6 percent and 5.5 percent and that for the first six
months of last year were 10.7 percent and 5.7 percent.
Binh Duong records strong growth in Q1
The trade surplus in the southern province of Binh Duong
reached 591 million USD in the first quarter.
Exported goods totalled 4.219 billion USD in value, an annual
increase of 15.6 percent. The foreign-invested sector contributed 81.8
percent to the sum, up 16 percent from 2014.
Major exports maintained momentum, including woodwork
products, apparel, footwear, handicrafts and electronic devices.
Meanwhile, Binh Duong imported 3.628 billion USD worth of
commodities, a 15.5 percent rise compared to the same period last year. The
foreign sector accounted for 79.2 percent of the total import value.
According to the provincial People’s Committee, State
initiatives to clear business hurdles took effect in Q1, with enterprises
recording strong and stable operations.
Most businesses have already signed goods contracts for the
second quarter, while some larger companies have completed deals for the
third quarter.
Binh Duong recorded Q1 industrial production value of almost
50 trillion VND (235.3 million USD), up 11.2 percent year on year.
Binh Duong, together with Dong Nai, Tay Ninh, Ba Ria-Vung Tau,
Binh Phuoc, Long An, and Tien Giang provinces, and Ho Chi Minh City, form
Vietnam’s southern economic region.
Vietnam’s FDI disbursement surges in Q1
Disbursement of foreign direct investment (FDI) increased 7
percent to end at 3.05 billion USD in the first quarter of the year,
according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment's Foreign Investment
Agency.
The amount attracted compared to last year fell significantly
however. As of March 20, the country licensed more than 1.83 billion USD in
FDI, equivalent to just 55.1 percent of the same period in 2014. Of the
total, 1.21 billion USD was poured into 267 newly licensed projects and the
remainder was added to 102 operating projects.
The agency's newest report noted that the first quarter saw
newly-registered FDI drop by 40.6 percent, while the amount of capital added
to existing projects fell by 51.8 percent.
Manufacturing and processing remained the most attractive
sector to foreign investors during the period, as it absorbed 1.4 billion
USD, accounting for 76.6 percent of the total capital registered in the
country. Estate trading ranked second, luring approximately 202 million USD,
and the wholesale and retail industry came third, attracting 123.4 million
USD.
From January to March, the Republic of Korea surpassed 32
countries and territories to become Vietnam's leading source of FDI with 491
million USD. It was followed by the British Virgin Islands (351.6 million
USD) and Japan (294.4 million USD).
The southern economic hub of Ho Chi Minh City attracted the
largest share of FDI with 540.2 million USD, following by the northern port
city of Hai Phong with 235.2 million USD and the southern province of Binh
Duong with 140 million USD.
According to the agency, the foreign-invested sector recorded
a trade surplus of 1.98 billion USD in the first quarter of this year. It
exported 25.08 billion USD in goods, up 12.9 percent year-on-year, while its
imports saw an annual rise of 24 percent to 23.09 billion USD.
VN aviation sector moves to bolster security following
Germanwings tragedy
The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) has urged
domestic airlines to continue their strict monitoring and supervision of
pilots in order to ensure the security and safety of all flights.
The authority has now officially requested stakeholders to
regularly review all physical and mental tests of pilots, and to ensure that
at least two crew members are always present in the cockpit of an airborne aircraft.
The CAV has also demanded that the Departments of Flight
Safety Standards and Aviation Security review their regulations on these
matters.
The move follows the tragedy of Flight 9525, belonging to
German budget airline Germanwings, which crashed in the French Alps on March
24, killing all 150 people on board. Details from investigation suggest that
the co-pilot, Andreas Lubitz, intentionally caused the plane to go down after
locking the pilot out of the cockpit.
Source: VEF/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/Dantri/VIR
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Thứ Tư, 1 tháng 4, 2015
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