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BUSINESS IN BRIEF 10/5
Weakened market hurts securities firms' Q1 profits
Securities firms have announced profits for the first quarter
compared to last year were less than expected due to a weakened market,
stockbiz.vn reported on Wednesday.
The total revenue of the 20 largest securities firms on the
market at the end of the quarter rose by 18 per cent to VND1.54 trillion
(US$71.4 million), but the total net profit was halved to VND442.7 billion
($20.5 million).
In the total revenue structure, the revenue from brokerage and
for-profit trading activity (securities firms make profit from trading shares
on the market) fell by 17.5 and 51.6 per cent, respectively, while other
revenue rose by 15.2 per cent to VND691.6 billion ($32 million).
The decreasing revenue from brokerage and for-profit trading
activity was caused by a downward trend in
During the quarter, Saigon Securities Incorporation (SSI) had
the highest pre-tax and after-tax profits of VND230 billion ($10.6 million)
and VND185.5 billion ($8.6 million).
Its profit was even higher than the total profit of HCM City
Securities Company (HSC), ACB Securities Company (ACBS) and Vietnam Direct
Securities Company (VNDS).
During the first quarter, SSI took the lead on all three stock
markets including HCM Stock Exchange (HoSE), Ha Noi Stock Exchange (HNX) and
Unlisted Public Company Market (UPCOM) with market share of 12.24 per cent,
8.58 per cent and 16.88 per cent, respectively. Noticeably, SSI's market
share on UPCOM doubled the second one.
Among 20 securities firms, only five had positive profit
growth rates, including KIS Vietnam Securities Company (KIS), VP Bank
Securities Company (VPBS), May Bank Kim Eng (MBKE), PetroVietnam Securities
Incorporation (PSI) and Bao Viet Securities Company (BVS).
KIS recorded an after-tax profit of VND10 billion ($463,000)
after the last quarter, 27 times the result for the same period last year.
Its revenue rose by 76 per cent to VND23.8 billion ($1.1 million).
In the company's revenue structure, other income tripled to
more than VND16.5 billion ($764,000), which resulted from increases in
capital, bank interest and customers.
Fifteen of the securities firms had negative profit growth
rates, particularly Kim Long Securities Company (KLS), which lost VND39
billion ($1.8 million) after the first quarter compared to a profit of
VND91.6 billion ($4.2 million) last year.
KLS said that during the last quarter, the company had to add
VND50.8 billion ($2.3 million) to the provision for share value decreases,
while during last year's first quarter, the company received more than
VND21.8 billion ($1 million) from this provision.
The first Viet Nam International Food Industry Exhibition
(Vietnam Food Expo 2015) will be held in
It also aims to help domestic firms involved in production,
processing and trading of farm produce, food and beverages to source right
production technologies in order to raise their productivity and quality,
said Ta Hoang Linh, deputy general director of the Viet Nam Trade Promotion
Agency (Vietrade) under the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
As a national trade promotion programme, Vietnam Food Expo
2015 is the largest of its kind in the country and will feature more than 500
booths of over 300 exhibitors from Viet Nam's 36 cities and provinces and 19
other countries and territories, including India, Belgium, Cuba, Taiwan,
South Korea, Singapore and Thailand.
A wide range of farm produce, seafood products, processed food
products, beverages, food processing technologies and machineries, food
preservation and packaging technologies, and others will be displayed at the
expo.
Held at the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Centre, the event
also includes the
Many other activities such as the Saigon International Cooking
Contest, business meetings, culinary demonstrations, and factory tours will
be organised during the show.
Organised by Vietrade and Adpex JS Company, the expo is
expected to welcome 30,000 visitors, he said.
Ministry suggests increasing export tariff on in-demand tapioca
chips
The Ministry of Finance has proposed to increase export
tariffs on tapioca chips and ethanol, considering their high demand in the
domestic market.
According to a draft proposal for adjusting tariffs on E5
petrol (ethanol petrol) and materials used for making ethanol petrol, export
tariffs should be increased from zero to 5 per cent on tapioca chips used to
produce ethanol and 3 per cent on ethanol made domestically.
The ministry said the increase of the export tariffs on
tapioca chips and ethanol will ensure enough supply for producing bio petrol.
Meanwhile, the state will encourage the people to use bio
petrol, according to a report in the Thoi bao Kinh te
Although tapioca chips is a main ingredient for producing
ethanol and one of the important materials for processing bio petrol, its
exports have increased sharply.
Tapioca exports rose 24 per cent year-on-year in volume to
1.37 million tonnes in the first quarter of this year and 7.91 per cent year-on-year
to 3.3 million tonnes in 2014, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and
Rural Development.
The increase in the exports of tapioca, the main raw material
for bio petrol production, has affected the industries that are manufacturing
bio petrol for selling it nationwide from December 2015.
Viet Nam has many high-capacity ethanol factories, including
Dong Xanh factory in Quang Nam Province (with an annual capacity of 120
million litres of ethanol), Tung Lam Factory in Dong Nai Province (72 million
litres), Binh Phuoc Factory (100 million litres), Dac To Factory (72 million
litres), Dac Nong Factory (45 million litres), and Phu Tho Factory (100
million litres).
If those factories run their full capacity, they will be able
to produce about 500 million litres of ethanol and process 10 billion litres
of E5 petrol and 5 billion litres of E10 petrol.
However, since they lack materials for producing ethanol, they
must produce moderate quantities.
The ethanol manufacturing industry, which is already troubled
by the high prices of raw materials, has to compete with traders buying
tapioca for exporting them to
MoF imposes new gold tax
Most domestic jewellery producers have ignored an increased export
tax imposed on gold jewelry, as the new duty does not affect their
businesses.
Under Decision 36/2015/TT-BTC, the Finance Ministry (MoF)
yesterday imposed a new export tax on gold jewellery, in which an export duty
on gold jewellery that is more than 95 per cent pure increased from zero to
two per cent. The decision, however, maintains zero per cent duty on gold
jewellery that is 95 per cent pure or less.
Previously, the Viet Nam Gold Trade Association asked the MoF
not to increase the duty, as it was concerned that a new duty would affect
local gold businesses. The association said that foreign competitors of
Vietnamese jewellery producers, such as
Representatives from Phu Nhuan Jewelry Co (PNJ) said that PNJ
only exported jewellery that is less than 18-karat gold, or 75 per cent pure
gold, so the new export tax would have no affect on the company.
In fact,
The country currently has three jewelry exporters of PNJ, SJC
and DOJI, however, exports account for a modest part of the firms' total
turnover.
The exporters noted that it would be increasingly difficult to
compete against other global rivals, as they have to pay a higher price for
raw materials for their production since they cannot import gold by
themselves to lower input costs. Since May 2012, SBV has been the only gold
importer in
To better manage jewellery trading, the Government instituted
stronger measures last year to control the trading. Further, large jewellery
producers with trademarks hope this would help them develop targets for
export, especially if the central bank allowed them to import gold for use in
producing jewellery.
Experts criticize
The Ministry of Finance has said Vietnamese consumers should
feel relieved as the petrol price increases on Tuesday were much lower than
they could have been, a view strongly blasted by local economic experts.
Retail prices of A92 and A95 petrol in
The Southeast Asian country imports around 70 percent of its
fuel demand, mostly from
The Ministry of Industry and Trade and its finance counterpart
are assigned to manage domestic fuel prices.
The two ministries have said the Tuesday price increases “had
been carefully calculated” so that they would not greatly affect local
businesses and consumers.
“The price increase slapped on A92 gasoline should have been
VND3,387 a liter if we really let [fuel prices] be driven by market forces,”
Vo Van Quyen, head of the industry ministry’s domestic market department,
told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Wednesday.
The ministries thus decided to earmark money from the fuel
price stabilization fund to reduce the scale of the increases, Quyen
asserted.
But Ngo Tri Long, former head of the Institute for Price and
Market Research under the finance ministry, said that the move only reveals
the ministries’ inflexible and poor price management.
The economic expert particularly criticized the higher
environmental tax imposed on fuel since the beginning of this year.
The Ministry of Finance has repeatedly asserted that the new
tax rate would not make fuel prices more expensive as it has also lowered the
fuel import duty to 20 percent from 35 percent.
“Even so, the 15 percentage-point decline of the import duty
is still lower than the 200 percent increase of the environmental tax,” Long
told Phap Luat TPHCM (Ho Chi Minh City Law) newspaper.
Every liter of fuel sold in Vietnam now ‘shoulders’ a VND3,000
tax, threefold the old rate.
Long said increasing Vietnam’s fuel prices is an inevitable move
as prices in the world market are also making rapid recovery, but what
matters is the “limited prediction ability” of the finance ministry.
“In June 2014, when global oil prices were shrinking, the
finance ministry forecast that they would recover slowly so it proposed
hiking the environmental tax and hoped that would not increase fuel prices,”
Long said.
Reality shows that such a prediction was wrong.
Another economic expert, Dr. Le Dang Doanh, also told Phap
Luat TPHCM that the finance ministry should have managed fuel prices in a
more flexible way to avoid “leaving consumers in shock” whenever they
announce a price hike.
Doanh said the increase in environmental tax should have only
been 100 percent, and the import duty should have been slashed further to
ease pressure on consumers when global fuel prices fluctuate.
As for the latest petrol price hike, the second this year,
Doanh said what the finance ministry should do is make it clear how much the
global fuel price and the environmental tax account for the increases.
The finance ministry always denies the link between the higher
tax and more expensive fuel price, “but things are still vague,” Doanh said.
The economic expert added that the finance ministry also
lacked a compelling reason for increasing the environmental tax by as much as
200 percent.
“It’s logical to hike the tax for the sake of environmental
protection, but the ministry has said it is to make up for the loss from the
lowered import duty,” he told Phap Luat TPHCM.
“The ministry was under pressure to increase state budget
collection when it set the new environmental tax, which is unreasonable.”
The new environmental tax rate will add some VND10.83 trillion
($504.71 million) to the state budget.
A92 and A95 gasoline now sell at VND19,230 and VND19,830 a
liter in
Petrol prices in the country constantly fell from July last
year from the record high VND25,640 a liter to the bottom of VND15,670 a
liter in January.
Bac Lieu seeks financial backing for 15 projects
The Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta
Construction of a local dyke on the western part of the Ganh
Hao sea gate in
Three of the projects involve developing residential and urban
areas, two are related to culture and tourism development, six involve
infrastructure, two are in the health sector - and two will boost
agricultural services.
Among the more notable projects are Ganh Hao sea port, which
needs an estimated investment of VND600 billion (US$27.7 million); the
development of Lang Tram Industrial Zone, which requires VND670 billion
($30.9 million); and another hi-tech agricultural production park, expected
to cost more than VND1.3 trillion ($62.9 million).
Ngo Quach Lam, director of Bac Lieu Investment, Trade and
Tourism Promotion Centre, said the province had worked hard to create the
most favourable investment climate for domestic and foreign investors.
He said top priority had been given to speeding up
administrative procedures, especially in investment management and taxation -
and accelerating the transparency of related information.
Despite efforts by local authorities, the inflow of investment
into Bac Lieu, especially from foreign investors, remained limited, according
to the provincial Department of Planning and Investment.
The Foreign Investment Agency's report revealed that the province
attracted only one foreign-invested project capitalised at $5 million in
2014.
This brought the total number of foreign-invested projects in
the locality last year to 19, worth a total of $94.55 million.
VKPC to invest US$126 million more in paper mill
Vina Kraft Paper Co. Ltd. (VKPC), a joint venture between
According to SCG’s report on quarter-one business results,
VKPC will invest around VND2.75 trillion, or US$126 million, to double the
existing packaging paper capacity of 243,500 tons per year.
VKPC commissioned its factory with an initial investment of
VND3.35 trillion (US$171 million) in 2010 and the facility is now the biggest
packaging paper factory in
With the additional investment, SCG’s total packaging paper
capacity in
SCG said the capacity expansion aims to tap into the growing
demand of packaging paper in
“Our investment expansion plan is still on track and we
continue to export our products to regional markets as we anticipate growth
in the ASEAN region,” Kan Trakulhoon, president and CEO of SCG, said in a
statement.
“We are confident that the region’s overall economy will
continue to grow… SCG will expand investments in the region.”
He said SCG in
According to the report, SCG in
SCG is one of the leading business groups in
UBS:
Vietnam is potentially one of the most exciting markets in
Asia, UBS Bank in a recent report said and suggested the nation address
issues such as share supply and foreign ownership limit to attract more
foreign investors.
In the report, UBS’s global research team gave a number of
advantages for
Competitive wages are attracting significant new foreign
direct investment (FDI), notably in electronics. Internet penetration of 40%
should support growth in ‘disruptive’ companies, which can boost
productivity.
Macroeconomic stability was restored in 2012 and interest
rates have fallen proportionately. While restructuring of the banking sector
and State-owned enterprises remains a work in progress, banks are lending
again and GDP growth in the first quarter of 2015 was above expectations, at
6%.
Looking ahead, UBS said
However, it said risks of Vietnamese equities include rising
public debt, a repeat of high inflation and a political transition in the
next 12 months.
“The biggest deterrent for foreign investors is not value, but
supply, in our view. There are almost 700 listed companies in
Beyond the foreign ownership limit, a number of companies have
small free floats. In the case of PetroVietnam Gas Corp., the largest
publicly-traded company in
In addition, the foreign ownership limit on Vietnamese
companies is 49%, and for many popular companies the limit is already full.
The absence of a foreign board where companies can trade at a premium the
local shares makes finding stocks difficult.
“A proposal by the stock exchanges to raise the foreign
ownership limit to 60% was blocked in early 2014. However, a number of
investors and securities companies we spoke with believe it is possible
“If it were to do so, it could unlock potentially significant
additional foreign demand, and lead to a re-rating of Vietnamese equities.
However, there is no indication of when, or if,
Secondly,
As a percentage of GDP, the total market cap of Vietnamese
equities is currently 30%. By comparison,
In February, Vu Bang, chairman of the State Securities
Commission (SSC), said that SSC was revising Decree 58 guiding the
implementation of the Securities Law. Foreign holding increase is the most
important issue of the decree.
SSC expected to issue the decree in the second quarter of this
year to better foreign capital attraction, Bang said.
Bitexco commissions hydropower plant
Nam Muc Hydropower Company, an arm of Bitexco Group, on May 6
commissioned the first generator of Nam Muc hydropower plant in
According to Bitexco, the 44-MW
The company will test-run the second generator next month.
A representative of Bitexco told the Daily that the group has
invested in 11 hydropower projects having a combined capacity of nearly 700
MW. These projects are mainly in the northern and central regions.
Bitexco plans more hydropower projects in the coming time.
According to Vietnam Electricity Group (EVN), many power
projects were hooked up to the national grid in January-March, such as the
first generators of Mong Duong 1 and Duyen Hai 1 thermal power plants.
The power load in quarter two will pick up 9.2-10.5% against
last year’s same period and can increase to 460-465 million kWh per day this
month and next, said EVN.
Local firms invited to attend regional business summit
Organizers of the third annual Medi-Ventures Aesthetic
Business Summit Asia 2015 are calling for companies in
They described the summit as a platform for regional medical
aesthetic companies to discuss new cross-border startups and funding
transactions between investors and operators, allow fostering of business
development and licensing opportunities and put together movers and shakers
in rapid fire case studies on emerging markets in Asia and intense
networking.
The summit is a chance for professors and developers to
exchange information about healthcare services in the Asian region, and
understand opportunities and obstacles when penetrating Asian markets such as
Dr Tran Quoc Bao, group business and marketing director of
TMMC Healthcare, will be one of the keynote speakers of the summit.
According to the organizers, as
First Somerset serviced residence opened in Haiphong
CapitaLand’s wholly-owned serviced residence business unit,
The Ascott Limited (Ascott), on May 6 inaugurated its first
The 132-unit Somerset Central TD Haiphong City is the first
international branded serviced residence in the northern city and reinforces
Ascott’s presence as the largest international serviced residence
owner-operator in
Mark Chan, Ascott’s country general manager for
Chan said
“Our target is to provide 4,000 apartment units in
Ascott currently has over 2,000 apartment units at 13
properties in Vietnamese cities.
Besides Somerset Central TD Haiphong City, Ascott operates
Somerset Grand Hanoi, Somerset Hoa Binh and
The company will open more properties in the country,
including Somerset West Central Hanoi,
More shrimp shipments blocked in major foreign markets
The number of
Nguyen Khanh Vinh from Nafiqad told a seminar on the impact of
free trade agreements (FTA) on shrimp exports and imports in Can Tho City
yesterday that the three major shrimp importers of
In particular, four batches were returned from the EU market
while the shipments denied by
Explaining the high number of returned shipments, Vinh said
controls on veterinary medicine and substances used to improve the farming
environment have not been conducted strictly.
A number of shirmp growers have not complied with the basic
principles on using veterinary drugs. Therefore, their shrimp still contains
higher-than-permitted residues of medicine, according to Vinh.
Meanwhile, corporate representatives said at the seminar that
local management agencies’ updates of new requirements applied by import
countries are late. This makes life tough for local exporters and might
negatively affect
Vinh said competent agencies normally get updated information
about new import requirements after a week after they come into force.
The
The HCMC Department of Industry and Trade will arrange a
meeting between local supermarkets and wholesale markets, and farmers of
The department unveiled the meeting plan after
Therefore, to promote consumption of Soc Trang onions, the
HCMC Department of Industry and Trade will organize the gathering for
enterprises and onion growers in Soc Trang to introduce their products to
distributors and retailers in HCMC like Big C, Lotte Mart, Saigon Co.op,
Vinatex and wholesale markets such as Hoc Mon, Thu Duc and Binh Dien.
Le Ngoc Dao, deputy director of the HCMC Department of
Industry and Trade, told a meeting with HCMC-based distributors and
wholesalers on Tuesday that the meeting aims to assist onion growers in the
province.
Both sides will negotiate the price and product quality.
Distribution systems and wholesale markets need to register with the HCMC
Department of Industry and Trade the volumes of onions they will purchase
from farmers.
Nguyen Thanh Ha, deputy director of Thu Duc Farm Products
Wholesale Market, said the huge stockpiles of onions in
A representative of Big C said this supermarket chain signed a
deal with Vinh Chau Onion Cooperative on April 26 to buy 30 tons of red
onions a week and will buy ten tons every week from Van Thanh Private
Enterprise.
On April 22, the Co.opmart supermarket chain struck a deal to
buy over 100 tons of Vinh Chau onions to help farmers weather tough times.
According to
The HCMC Department of Industry and Trade hoped producers and
distributors will discuss measures for stable consumption of not only onions
but also other farm products.
However, Dao suggested the Ministry of Industry and Trade and
localities cooperate in finding long-term solutions to farm produce
consumption.
More complaints about consumer goods heard
Consumers complained more about daily consumer goods and
sought advice on these products in the first quarter, according to a survey
by the Vietnam Competition Authority under the Ministry of Industry and
Trade.
Dairy products, confectionery, beverages and home appliances
got 28% of the complaints from consumers in the period, followed by the group
of cellphones and telecommunication services, which stood at the top a year
ago.
The group of home appliances such as fridges, televisions, and
watermill machines ranked third with 11%.
The survey found that complaints and requests for advice rose
significantly for the groups of health and beauty care products, transport
products, and financial, banking and insurance services.
Regarding cities,
The competition authority said it will focus more on those
groups of goods and services whose suppliers may infringe consumers’ rights.
It will popularize relevant regulations among consumers and businesses and
improve channels to receive more complaints from customers to protect their
rights.
Huntsman to open bonded warehouse for textile clients
Global firm Huntsman Textile Effects will inaugurate a bonded
warehouse at the Long Binh inland container depot (ICD) in
Paul G. Hulme, president of Huntsman Textile Effects, told
reporters in HCMC yesterday that the multi-user facility would be opened
later this month and is expected to operate at its full capacity of 250,000
tons early next month.
The Singapore-based company said in a statement that customers
in
“
Hulme said apparel exports contribute remarkably to
“We see opportunities for our products in
Chuck Hirsch, vice president of Huntsman Textile Effects, said
more Taiwanese and Korean companies have invested in dyeing and textile
projects in
Speaking to the Daily, the leaders of Huntsman Textile Effects
said a number of customers in the sector have plans to relocate their
operations to Vienam and this is a good opportunity for the company.
According to the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association
(Vitas), Vietnam needed 8.2 billion meters of cloth to turn out apparel for
export last year and a mere 1.7 billion meters of it was produced in this
country.
The U.S. is one of the key export markets for Vietnamese
apparel. It and Vietnam are among the countries actively involved in
negotiations over the multilateral trade pact TPP.
Huntsman Textile Effects said in the statement that Vietnam is
the second largest garment exporter to the U.S. and Japan. The industry
currently makes up 14% of Vietnam’s total exports and the country’s textile
value chain has strong growth fundamentals, with production poised to grow by
about 13% annually until 2020.
However, the country has challenges include import-dependent
sourcing of raw materials and tougher environmental regulations.
As a major supplier of sustainable and innovative dyes and
chemicals, Huntsman engages with customers through seminars to work towards a
sustainable textile value chain.
Huntsman Textile Effects is supporting the textiles sector in
Vietnam through its work with Panko Vina in implementing a Productivity
Improvement Program (PIP). The plant has adopted new technologies from
Huntsman Textile Effects to save energy and water.
Seafood exporters concerned about material shortages
Many seafood exporters worry about material shortages in the
third quarter as farmers have reduced their farming areas due to shrimp
diseases and lower prices of unprocessed shrimp and tra fish.
Nguyen Ngoc Hai, head of the Thoi An Tra Fish Cooperative in
Can Tho City, said tra fish and shrimp farms have shrunk because farmers have
not been able to earn profit in the past time.
Due to export difficulties, processing enterprises have bought
shrimp at only VND70,000 (US$3.5) per kilo compared to the previous
VND100,000, causing farmers to lose around VND5,000 for each kilo sold. Tra
fish prices have also fallen to VND21,500-22,000 per kilo, almost the same as
cost.
Farmers have to pay bank loan interest but enterprises settle
payments by installment lasting up to 20 months for their seafood materials.
Moreover, diseases have hit shrimp farms in the Mekong Delta.
Speaking to the Daily at a farm produce export seminar in
Hanoi City on Monday, Nguyen Hoai Nam, deputy general secretary of the
Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), said tough
exports have badly affected aquaculture this year. Some provinces and cities
have reported sharp drops in tra fish and shrimp farming acreage, leading to
fears of material shortage in the third quarter of this year.
Due to high production cost, local shrimp exporters are coping
with rising competition from India.
“In the near term, we cannot have solutions to lower
production cost and help local exporters compete with rivals in India and
Thailand. Besides, interest rates in the country are still higher than in
other countries,” Nam said.
According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the nation
fetched around US$1.9 billion in seafood export revenue in the first four
months of 2015, down 15% year-on-year. Of the total, exports to the U.S. accounted
for US$260 million, slumping 33.8% while shipments to Japan dropped by 15% to
US$192.7 million, South Korea down 5.2% to US$118.8 million and Australia
down 31.3% to US$36.5 million.
Duong Phuong Thao, deputy director of the ministry’s Export
Import Department, said the volatile exchange rate between Vietnam dong and
the U.S. dollar is hurting local exporters as 90% of export and import
contracts are denominated in the greenback.
Since early last year, the U.S. dollar has appreciated against
the euro and Japanese yen. Therefore, importers have negotiated to lower
prices while production cost and input material prices in the country have
stayed unchanged.
Besides, Vietnamese shrimp exporters are still at a
disadvantage due to anti-dumping duties, especially in the United States.
NZ to boost food and beverage exports to Vietnam
Foods and beverages have accounted for 60% of New Zealand’s
exports to Vietnam over the years and the country will further promote sales
of the products in the coming years.
New Zealand Consul General in HCMC Tony Martin told the Food
Connection event in Hanoi yesterday that Vietnam was among the key markets
for New Zealand’s food and beverage exports in the coming years as exports to
Vietnam have jumped.
The Food Connection attracted eight New Zealand corporations
and many local firms in hotel, restaurant and supermarket sectors. Half of
the eight firms are active in the wine industry and the others are dairy,
vegetable, beef and lamb suppliers.
New Zealand hopes the event will help build a strong bridge
between businesses of the two nations and help New Zealand companies sell
more products to the local market.
The Food Connection is part of New Zealand’s major program to
promote its foods and beverages in ASEAN markets.
New Zealand Ambassador to Vietnam Haike Manning said two-way
trade between Vietnam and New Zealand has grown strongly in the past five
years and the two nations wanted it to double to US$1.7 billion in 2020.
New Zealanders know about Vietnamese farm products like
coffee, pepper, cashew, thanh long (dragon fruit), mango and rambutan.
Vietnam Garment and Textile forum 2015: big opportunities
The Vietnam Garment and Textile Forum 2015 will be held in
Hanoi on June 25-27. It expects to attract the participation of world’s
leading garment and textile groups such as Puma, Levi Strauss, Li & Fung,
Tal Group and the United States Fashion Industry Association (USFIA).
During the event, foreign groups and leading economists will
share information on the international garment and textile market, the size
of Vietnam’s garment and textile industry and its market, the world trend,
and global supply chain of leading trademarks.
During the event, the participants will conduct a fact-finding
tour at Rang Dong Industrial Park in the northern province of Nam Dinh to
assess the favourable investment climate given to investors.
Vietnam’s garment and textile industry has rapidly developed
recently and become a world’s leading garment and textile exporter besides
China, India, Turkey and Bangladesh.
Last year, the industry’s export turnover surged nearly 17% to
US$24.5 billion and its products have been exported to 180 nations and
territories.
With more than 4,000 businesses operational, the country’s
garment and textile industry has generated 4.5 million jobs. The industry is
expected to enjoy preferential tariffs from the signing of Free Trade
Agreements (FTAs).
Le Tien Truong, Vice President of the Vietnam Textile and
Apparel Association (Vitas) said local businesses have seized opportunities
to expand market and attract foreign investment.
After nine years of joining the World Trade Organization
(WTO), Vietnam’s share in the US garment and textile market has increased
constantly from 3% to 10%, only after China.
Last year, Vietnam’s garment and textile export revenue
achieved an impressive growth in major markets with 17% in Europe, 12.5% in
the US, 9% in Japan and 27% in the RoK.
This year, Vietnam aims to earn US$28.5 million from garment
and textile exports.
Vietnam needs to ‘up its export game’
Vietnam’s economy faced increased downward pressure –
especially in agriculture, forestry and aquatic product exports – in the four
months leading up to May, according to officials at the Ministry of Industry
and Trade (MoIT).
Governmental agencies and the business community must stand up
to the downward pressure and implement far-reaching measures to modernize and
improve product quality, the MoIT said to avoid a negative impact on
employment and incomes.
In the January-April period, the export markets have hiccupped
but are in line with expectations and should rebound in the remaining months
of the year an official of the MoIT said, adding that downward pressure will
persist unless concerted remedial actions are undertaken.
The official called for speeding up reforms in the nation’s
rice industry – a centrepiece to the agricultural industry – to reach its
full potential, a market that has been stymied and lagging in growth.
The rice industry continues to suffer from poor transport and
infrastructure such as roads, railways, warehouses and handling equipment due
to the industry’s inability to attract foreign investment, he said.
Huynh The Nang, general director of the Vietnam Southern Food
Company (Vinafood II) in turn noted the African market has a great demand for
white and jasmine rice but the industry’s ability to fill that demand has
been hampered by a lack of modernized equipment.
If the industry was equipped with state-of-the-art milling
systems it could readily meet Africa’s and the international community’s high
quality standards Nang said.
Nang called for the timely launch of major infrastructure
projects in transport and water conservation with the support of financial
institutions and the government to reduce costs and thereby increase profits
and develop a sustainable industry.
The country needs a plan that focuses on the whole
chain—looking at how much farmers will get, how much millers will benefit,
and how much exporters will get, based on top dollar global market prices,
Nang stressed
Most importantly, the country must tap new markets and the
industry must act in concert to proactively implement effective and targeted
marketing campaigns to promote trade and develop a national rice brand to
increase competitiveness in the world rice market
In the short-term rice faces an oversupply compounded by
fierce price competition from Thailand and India but he added that the
long-term solution is for the industry to migrate towards higher quality rice
varieties, such as premium jasmine rice, to ensure output that meets the
strict requirements of demanding markets.
Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh said the
Government and MoIT should take drastic measures to help businesses speed up
exports and create the most favourable conditions to improve the quality of
rice exports.
Too many farmers still use chemical pesticides with cheap,
poor-quality seeds — practices the government is working to change through
education.
Trust within all sectors — from farmers to millers and
exporters — is not strong enough yet, he said. We have to figure out ways to
make businesses trust each other. This is the main obstacle we are facing.
When the industry has quality rice, it receives a good price.
Furthermore, the MoIT should direct trade offices abroad to
support the development of market, and establish a working group to timely
deal with difficulties for export businesses in all sectors of the economy.
At first, the MoIT should take concrete measures to reduce
production costs and control input costs to improve competitiveness and
profitability of export products adding that secondary focus should be placed
on simplifying tax and customs formalities.
For his part, Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and
Producers (VASEP) Deputy General Secretary Nguyen Hoai
He added that commercial councillors should serve as an
important bridge in speeding up agro-forestry and aquatic exports.
Source :
VEF/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/Dantri/VIR
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Thứ Bảy, 9 tháng 5, 2015
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