|
BUSINESS IN BRIEF 11/5
ADB agrees to issue infrastructure loans
The State Bank of
The deals were signed by SBV governor Nguyen Van Binh and
Tomoyuki Kimura, the ADB's
The first was for an additional loan of $147 million to
complete the
The 244km highway will mark the completion of the Kunming-Hai
Phong Transport Corridor, a vital conduit for trade between
The additional assistance would ensure the project fully met
its goals of supporting economic growth and employment in the northern
mountains of
The second agreement was for a $12.58 million loan for
preparations for Beltway No 3 in
The loan will also enable Vietnamese agencies to make
technical plans for the Tan Van – Nhon Trach section and the road to connect
this section with the National Highway No 1.
Speaking at the Accessing the Indonesian market towards ASEAN
integration conference held by the Investment and Trade Promotion Centre of HCM
City (ITPC) and the Indonesian consulate on Friday, Nguyen Anh Ngoc, deputy
chairman of the Viet Nam-Indonesia Friendship Association, urged local firms
to export items like rice, fruits and vegetables to Indonesia.
Ho Xuan Lam, deputy director of the ITPC, said with a
population of 253 million and insufficient production,
The country was the fifth largest market for fresh food in the
world, making it a good opportunity for Vietnamese food firms, he said.
Ngoc said trading and retail also offered potential for
Vietnamese enterprises to capitalise on.
Bilateral trade had increased by 25 per cent in the past five
years to nearly US$5.4 billion last year, he said.
Before 2010
But others pointed out that
Donna Gultom of the Indonesian Ministry of Trade said
exporters should furnish documentation on product origin and quality and
label food products in Bahasa Indonesia.
Abdulla Abdulrohman, director of Halal Viet Nam Export and
Import Co Ltd, said as most Indonesians were Muslim, Halal certification was
like a passport for Vietnamese goods to penetrate the market.
Supermarkets to replace
Vo Hoang Anh, marketing director of Co.opMart supermarket,
said the supermarket had imported US chicken and sales had been relatively
good.
However, the supermarket has stopped importing poultry and
poultry products from the
Ho Quoc Nguyen, PR director of Big C supermarket, said it had
not imported US chicken, and only distributed chicken from domestic
enterprises, mainly from Son Ha Company.
Lotte supermarket said previously the supermarket imported
frozen chicken from the
The supermarkets would not reveal the amount of US imported
chicken each month.
Nguyen Xuan Binh, director of the Ministry of Agriculture and
Rural Development's Animal Health Agency Zone VI, said to protect local
consumers, the ministry issued a ban to temporarily suspend poultry imports
from the
The ban, which covers live poultry, frozen and processed
poultry meat and eggs, took effect on May 1.
Virulent H5 avian influenza strains have spread to 14 states
over the last five months and affected about 26 million birds in the worst
outbreak of the disease in
Binh said in the past,
This is not the first time that
Sugar industry in balance struggle
The domestic sugar industry is struggling to gain a balance
between supply and demand, after years of grappling with high inventories and
plunging oil prices.
According to the Department of Processing and Trade for
Agro-forestry-Fisheries Products and Salt Production under the Ministry of
Agriculture and Rural Development, sugar inventories totalled more than
560,000 tonnes, sliding 141,500 tonnes over a year ago.
As of April end, 19 of 41 domestic sugar factories recorded
more than 1.24 million tonnes of total production in 2014-15; this was
218,440 tonnes lower than the same period last year.
The Viet Nam Sugar and Sugarcane Association said sugar
plantation area decreased by 261.5ha against the previous crop, as plunging
sugar prices and unfavourable weather conditions deterred many farmers.
Ha Huu Thai of the association noted that the production and
consumption of sugar in the domestic market had been unstable during recent
crops, pushing the industry into a difficult situation of supply exceeding
demand.
The association hopes that the ASEAN Economic Community will
put pressure on the domestic sugar industry to restructure and enhance its
competitiveness, when the tax rate will be cut to zero by 2018.
Enhancing production capacity and technology is critical for
the sugar industry to lower sugar prices as the current production costs of
Vietnamese sugar, averaging about VND12 million (US$550) per tonne, remained
higher than that of many countries, including Thailand, Brazil, and India.
Higher prices made Vietnamese sugar unable to compete in the world market.
The world's sugar production has been predicted to be around
183.8 million tonnes this crop and consumption demand expected at 182.5 million.
Mobistar launches new range of phones
The Vietnamese mobile phone producer Mobistar yesterday
officially launched its KIM Series with a metal and glass design, along with
a series of upgrades for customers.
The smartphone in the KIM Series is designed with luxury metal
and glass and has a 5-inch screen, 8-core chipset and a superior 13 MP camera
focusing on selfies.
The KIM Series includes three smartphones: Lai Y, Prime Xense
and Prime X, priced from VND3.2 million (US$150) to VND8 million ($380).
Jetstar takes control of HCM City-Chu Lai route
Low-cost carrier Jetstar Pacific Airlines, 69 per cent owned
by Vietnam Airlines, will take over the HCM City-Chu Lai route from Vietnam
Airlines and its fully-owned subsidiary VASCO starting May 19.
The move is part of Vietnam Airlines' strategy to develop both
brands.
Jetstar will fly three times a week — on Tuesdays, Thursdays,
and Saturdays — using an A320 jet.
Customers who have booked on Vietnam Airlines can opt for a
refund or get a Vietnam Airlines ticket to
Those booked on VASCO can get a refund.
In March, Vietnam Airlines had handed over the HCM City-Tuy
Hoa route to Jetstar.
Taiwanese investors eye Vietnamese market
Taiwanese investors have shown an increasing interest in the
Vietnamese market, Director General Berton BC Chiu of the Department of
Investment Services under the Ministry of Economic Affairs in
The investors are paying particular attention to the local industries
of agriculture, garment and textiles, IT and vehicular spare parts, he said.
Foreign apparel-making enterprises are eager to build plants
in
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.
He suggested both sides optimise mechanisms provided by
central Governments and local authorities to turn their cooperation into a
role model of Vietnamese-Italian relations.
Emilia-Romagna’s exports to Vietnam now stand at EUR121
million (US$135.87 million) with 40% from machinery, said Palma Costi – an
official of the region – at the May 6 function, deeming the figure modest.
She also highlighted the observable 27% increase in her
region’s shipments to
Cooperation between
Laura Barberi from the Italian Ministry of Economic
Development declared
The European country prioritises partnering with
Presenting his province’s advantages, Chairman of the Binh
Duong People’s Committee Tran Van Nam said the province is located in the
southern key economic region – the most active and developed economic region
in
Binh Duong has focused on comprehensively developing
socio-economic and transport infrastructure, especially facilities connecting
the locality with nearby economic hubs, he added.
Vietnam
accepts invitation to join ITRC
A Special Meeting of the International Tripartite Rubber
Council (ITRC) attended by officials from
During the meeting Douglas Uggah Embas, the Malaysian
Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities (MPIC) extended an
invitation to Minister Phat to become a full member of the ITRC.
Minister Phat graciously accepted the invitation and said he
was confident that the four countries working collaboratively would be able
to establish up a common trading platform to halt the declining global price
of rubber.
The four major rubber producing countries –
The price of natural rubber has dropped over the past year,
negatively affecting sustainability of the industry.
Footwear
makers told to improve quality, design
Local footwear manufacturers should improve the design and
quality of their products to attract local customers after bringing the local
footwear market under free trade agreements, said experts.
According to the Vietnam Leather Footwear and Bag Association
(Lefaso), local demand for footwear reaches 150 million pairs per year and
local producers have met only 40% of the demand, reported Dien dan Doanh
nghiep newspaper.
Local footwear mainly cater to rural and remote areas that have
people with low incomes. Therefore, large footwear manufacturers often make
footwear products for exports and have left the domestic market to small and
medium enterprises, the association noted.
Meanwhile, the domestic leather and footwear industry does not
have any standard for the use of chemical residues in products. It does not
have quality verification centres to ensure the quality of raw materials or
finished products.
Nguyen Van Khanh, general secretary of the HCM City Leather
Footwear Association, said Vietnamese footwear producers should pay more
attention to the design of their products to attract more local customers.
They should build a trade mark and distribution system as well
as take flexible marketing measures, Khanh said.
Tran Van Tac, general director of the Tuan Viet Ltd Company
and the owner of Tuvi's footwear brand, said some of the major factors for
developing the domestic footwear market were quality, design, and price.
The Lefaso, along with the Vietnam Leather Footwear Institute
and other related agencies, will build a system to ensure product quality
standards for protecting the domestic footwear industry and market and to
help them compete with imported footwear.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade has also submitted to the
government a decree to help the support industry in various sectors,
including leather and footwear. Support industries are expected to ensure the
sustainable development of sectors in the domestic market.
Vietnam agriculture, forestry and aquatic exports in the four
months leading up to May dipped 5.1% on-year to US$8.5 billion, renewing
pressure on the government to get the stalled sector moving.
At a recent conference in Hanoi organized by the by the Ministry
of Industry and Trade (MoIT) to address concerns over the slowdown, experts
said though the overall decline was modest there were a number of key exports
that dropped in the double digits that are cause for concern.
In particular, coffee was off 38.3% on-year and there was
general consensus the decline was largely attributable to an overreliance on
traditional markets and failure to focus sufficient attention on exploring
and nurturing ‘emerging’ new markets including the domestic market.
De said far too many domestic producers have patently ignored
the local market and there needs to be an immediate push to bolster the
domestic market share for not only coffee but all agricultural products.
Seafood and other marine exports to the US, one of the largest
foreign markets, were off 44% on the back of the imposition of antidumping
tariffs said Nguyen Hoai Nam, vice general secretary of the Vietnam
Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).
Here again, domestic businesses in the industry have become
too complacent, relying on key markets to carry the day and not proactively
seeking supplementary markets to spread market risk around over a diversified
customer base.
In addition, lack of access to bank financing to fund
investment in installing the latest in machinery and equipment and implement
new technologies remains a critically important obstacle to growth noted
Nguyen Viet Vinh, secretary of the Vietnam Coffee and Cocoa Association.
The most sure-fire way to boost the agricultural sector is to
improve on the quality and productivity of agricultural, forest and marine
products by investing in the application of science and technology— and the
lack of access to credit puts the industry at a huge competitive
disadvantage.
There was general agreement the sector also encountered
difficulties related to the fluctuation of the VND/USD exchange rate during
the early months of the year that negatively impacted the volume agricultural
exports to a limited extent.
Tran Tuan Anh, deputy minister of the MoIT, said the ministry
is in charge of market promotion but the agency cannot tackle the task alone,
as it needs to be a joint effort in collaboration with the Ministry of
Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).
MARD generally limits its focus to agricultural output while
the MoIT pays more attention to value, while exporters are primarily
interested in profit only. These groups need to get coordinated and freely
exchange information and devise cohesive policies for the development of the
sector, said Nguyen Huu Dung, VASEP Vice President.
Le Van Anh, Chairman of the Vietnam Vegetable and Fruit
Association (Vinafruit) stressed the need for the MoIT to increase the
overall effectiveness of trade promotion programmes.
For his part, General Secretary of the Vietnam Coffee and
Cocoa Association Nguyen Viet Vinh suggested the MoIT should organize
substantially more trade promotions and hold them in conjunction with trade
fairs.
Deputy Minister Anh of the MoIT underscored the importance of
coordination and communication among the ministries, trade counsellors and
businesses.
The fact is trade counsellors spend a great deal of time
seeking information, however, the information hasn’t been disseminated to the
right people in a timely manner thus enabling them to act and use it to their
advantage.
The People’s Committee this week ordered the Department of
Planning and Investment and other relevant agencies to simplify the process
of approving investment applications, news website VnExpress reported.
For example, the department has been asked to skip consulting
with district authorities before approving licenses to foreign investors.
According to the committee, the deadline for the approval of
investment applications is often not met, with delays of up to a year
sometimes. Therefore, the city is striving to settle this problem.
Starting this May, the committee will send apology letters to
foreign investors if the deadlines for their applications’ approval are
missed.
The status of investment applications will also be publicized
on the websites of relevant departments and agencies, so that investors will
know if their applications have been passed a certain stage or still pending.
The reasons for delays will also be given.
Pepper exports likely to set new record
Last year, 156,396 tonnes of pepper were exported worth US$1.2
billion, the highest figures so far in both volume and value, chairman Do Ha
Nam told a review meeting in HCM City yesterday.
This represented a year-on-year increase of 16.38% in volume
and 34.72% in value.
With a forecast of pepper to fall significantly over the last
year due to unfavourable weather and disease, export volume would fall by
about 10% to 144,000 tonnes this year, he said.
In the first four months of the year, export volume dropped by
24% over the same period last year, with only 57,000 tonnes of the spice
exported, but export revenue went up by 2.1% to reach $521 million.
According to the International Pepper Community, there had
been little change in both supply and demand for the spice in the world
market, which had kept prices high, he said.
Pepper export prices had increased from earlier this year, and
were expected to be 20% higher year-on-year, he said.
But despite its achievements, Vietnam's pepper industry faces
a number of challenges, such as stunted plants and overexploited pepper farms
with more disease and decreased productivity. Climate change has also
affected farms.
High prices have persuaded farmers to expand cultivation
without any planning, according to Nguyen Mai Oanh, the association's deputy
chairwoman. The overuse of fertilisers of farmers has caused the plants to
degenerate quickly and become vulnerable to disease.
"Pepper prices might remain high in the short term, but
if production is not monitored carefully, there could be a glut," said
Hoang Phuoc Binh, deputy chairman of the Chu Se Coffee Association.
With import markets like the US and EU demanding higher food
safety requirements, the association and delegates at the meeting called on
farmers, processors, and distributors to focus more on safety and hygiene
norms.
Ha Huy Thang, general director of Petrolimex International
Trading Joint Stock Company (Pitco), one of the leading companies in
processing and exporting pepper, said the Government and the Ministry of
Agriculture and Rural Development should develop measures to control the
planting of pepper without advance planning and impose strict punishment on
those using banned plant-protection drugs.
In addition, the agricultural sector should offer more instruction
to pepper farmers who follow good agricultural practices (GAP), he said.
"Improving value and quality is the target for Vietnam's
pepper industry," Nam said.
To mitigate risks in production and trading, the association's
members and farmers should produce more "clean" spices to satisfy
demand of import markets, he said.
Vietnamese pepper products are exported to 97 countries and
territories, with the US and Singapore, United Arab and India being the
largest buyers.
The country has around 80,000ha under pepper, 52,000ha of
which can now produce harvests, with an average output of 2.4 tonnes per ha.
Ministers of rubber producing countries meet in Malaysia
The Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries (ANRPC)
agreed to work towards a common trading floor in a bid to take control of
supply sources and regulate the market for the sake of rubber growers at its
ministerial-level meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on May 8.
Founded in 1970, the ANRPC is an inter-governmental
organisation grouping 11 countries - Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia,
Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand,
and Vietnam. In 2014, overall production of its members accounted for 92
percent of the rubber yield worldwide.
Participating ministers agreed that the association needs to
become an official latex-related information source and work with other
organisations, such as the International Rubber Research and Development
Board (IRRDB), to promote joint-study outcomes.
Given the decreasing rubber price effects on growers’ incomes,
the ministers reached a consensus to establish a market research group, which
is to put forth effective solutions balancing supply and demand, including
the setting up of the common trading floor.
On the sidelines of the meeting, Malaysian Minister of
Plantation Industries and Commodities Douglas Uggah Embas, expressed his hope
that Vietnam, the world third largest natural rubber producer, will soon join
the International Tripartite Rubber Council (ITRC) which currently consists
of Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia.
According to Uggah, Vietnam recently agreed to collaborate
with the ITRC members in efforts to raise rubber prices. Vietnam and the ITRC
members together make up 75 percent of the total global rubber production.
Vietnamese Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Cao Duc
Phat said, Vietnam, as a major rubber producer in the world, should
participate deeply in activities of international rubber alliances, including
ITRC.
Such participation will produce positive impacts to the global
rubber market, he said.
Concerning the domestic market situation, Phat shared that
Vietnamese farmers should be equipped with suitable rubber planting models
and technologies rather than focus on expanding plantation and increasing
yield.
Ministry suggests increasing export tariff on 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 percent on tapioca chips used to
produce ethanol and 3 percent 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 Vietnam (Vietnam
Economic Times) newspaper.
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 percent year-on-year in volume to 1.37
million tonnes in the first quarter of this year and 7.91 percent
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.
Vietnam 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 China.
Central Highlands keen to boost trade with Cambodia’s localities
The Steering Committee for the Central Highlands has called
for incentives to facilitate trade cooperation between the region and
Cambodian border areas.
The Committee also suggested relevant bodies work with
Cambodian authorities on specific labour cooperation regulations to create
favourable conditions for Vietnamese enterprises.
Local businesses have made active contributions to social
security, vocational training and job creation for Cambodia’s northeast
provinces, according to the Committee.
They have invested in developing infrastructure facilities in
the area, including road systems, power grid networks, schools, workshops and
markets.
The two sides have organised delegation visits, people
exchanges and other cooperative activities.
Since 2012, annual trade between Central Highlands’ provinces
and Cambodia’s northeast provinces exceeded 180 million USD, annual increases
of 10 percent.
Major export earners in the Central Highlands region are
equipment, construction material, petrol and gas, pharmaceuticals and
seedlings.
The region has 20 projects operating in northeast Cambodia
with 970 million USD in total registered capital, mostly in forestry and
agricultural production.
Da Nang property growth leaps by 12 percent
Da Nang city has approximately 76,300sq.m of office space
stock spread across 21 buildings and has remained unchanged
quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) but increased by 12 per cent year-on-year (YoY).
According to a report from Savill Vietnam, a property
consultancy firm, with approximately 55,700sq.m from 17 projects, Hai Chau
district in the downtown continues to be the main supplier of office space,
accounting for 73 per cent market share. Thanh Khe district has 20,600sq.m
from four projects.
The average occupancy rate during the first half of this year
was 86 percent, up three points (ppts) QoQ but down minus 1 ppt YoY. Grade
A's occupancy was 97 percent, with QoQ remaining unchanged but YoY increasing
three ppts. Grade B occupancy rate was at 84 percent, up 5 ppts QoQ, while
Grade C was 85 percent occupied, up 1 ppt QoQ.
Do Thu Hang of Savills Vietnam said: "Although it is
still adjusting to new developments, Da Nang's real estate market is
considered to have great potential for a number of factors. Da Nang now has
an international airport offering many direct flight services. It also has
golf courses, casino, and a lot of large-scale entertainment centres, in
addition to beautiful coastlines and several heritage sites in the centre of
Vietnam. With the Amended Housing Law coming into effect from July 2015,
demand is expected to soar."
The report also revealed that the total area leased was
approximately 65,400sq.m, up 4 percent compared with 2014. At 75 percent,
demand for office space in Da Nang was mostly focussed in Hai Chau district.
According to the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry
(VCCI), Da Nang has continuously ranked first on the Provincial
Competitiveness Index (PCI) 2014, reflecting its attractive investment
location.
Savills Vietnam expects that from the second quarter, some 15
projects will offer some 93,600sq.m of office space. However, their launch
dates are unclear because of the slow pace of the construction of a number of
these projects.
In 2015, one new project is expected to enter Da Nang's office
market, supplying some 20,400sq.m
Meanwhile, in the residential sector, no new villa or
apartment projects were introduced in the central city during the first
quarter this year.
Villa stock remained stable at 927 dwellings from 16 projects,
unchanged since 2012. Compared with the second half of last year, the primary
market saw 11 projects with 395 dwellings, down minus 5 per cent and the
secondary market introduced 16 projects with 532 dwellings, up approximately
4 percent.
There were approximately 3,100 apartments across 14 projects
and 678 units across 12 projects in the primary market, down minus 14 percent
against the second half of 2014. The secondary stock consisted of 2,431 units
from 14 projects, up approximately 49 percent against the second half of last
year.
Despite the good performance, the villa absorption rate
remained soft at 4 percent due to a low market sentiment. The average villa
price was approximately 25 million VND (1,190 USD) per sq.m, up 11 percent
against the second half of 2014.
The apartment absorption rate was 11 percent during the first
quarter of this year due to transactions in central and affordable projects
with prices below 20 million VND (952.4 USD) per sq.m. The average price was
up 17 percent against the second half of last year. The prices of apartments
in and around the city's centre ranged from 13 million VND to 51 million VND
(619-2,428 USD) per sq.m, while beachside apartments ranged from 21 million
VND to 73 million VND (from 1,000 USD to 3,476 USD) per sq.m.
According to the real estate consultancy company, some of the
key factors that may affect buying decisions include developers' reputation,
construction status, price and location. Several recent purchases had been
done by foreign or buy-to-let investors.
The company has noted that starting 2015, 1,300 dwellings
offered by 12 villa projects and 16,870 units across 15 apartment projects
will enter Da Nang's market. While Son Tra district continues to have the
largest future villa supply, Hai Chau district remains the top future
apartment supplier. Most future villa and apartment projects are in the
planning stage and do not have clear construction schedules; this makes it
difficult to forecast their launch dates.
The total retail stock in the first quarter remained at
approximately 136,000sq.m, up 5 percent (QoQ) and stable year-on-year (YoY),
due to the entrance of Parkson Vinh Trung Plaza.
Modern retail zones are centred across three districts: Thanh
Khe with 41 percent share, Hai Chau with 35 percent share, and Cam Le with 24
percent share.
In the first three months of this year, both occupancy and
average rates improved QoQ but fell YoY. Occupancy rate was up 5 ppts QoQ
thanks to the good performance of Parkson Vinh Trung Plaza, but down minus 1
ppt YoY. The average rent increased 6 percent QoQ and minus 7 percent YoY.-
Binh Duong draws investors’ attention in Belgium
A workshop promoting investment potentials of southern Binh
Duong province was organised in Brussels, Belgium, on May 8.
Binh Duong is among top five Vietnamese provinces that attract
more than 20 billion USD of foreign direct investment. It contributes over 40
percent to overall national GDP.
Piet Steel, who is the first Belgian Ambassador to Vietnam,
lauded the fast and stable growth of the southern economic zone and believed
that it will attract a great number of investors, including Belgian
businessmen.
Ambassador to Belgium and Luxembourg Vuong Thua Phong
presented the Vietnamese Government’s favourable policies for foreign
investors, such as reduced corporation tax and preferential land leasing
prices for foreign-funded enterprises.
CEO Bart Milloen of Molenbergnatie Vietnam Limited Company,
which provides all-in supply chain management service, including the coffee
export facilities, told participants that his company has chosen the province
for its advantageous location connecting the central and Central Highlands
regions with Ho Chi Minh City.
That location feature also enables Binh Duong to link coffee
production plants in the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak with the
European distribution centre via sea ports, he added.
At the workshop, Vietnamese business representatives gave
details of the local infrastructure system and answered relevant queries.
Can Tho draws more 5.5 million USD to industrial zones
Industrial zones in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho have
drawn more 5.6 million USD, according to the management board of the city’s
industrial zones.
The figure, which comes from four new projects and capital
increases of three existing projects, represents a six percent increase from
the same period last year.
Currently, the city’s industrial zones have 214 valid projects
with a combined investment capital of 1.91 billion USD, 192 of which are
operational and 22 are under implementation.
The board said industrial zones in Can Tho plan to produce an
industrial and commercial value of 1.5 billion USD with an export value of
620 million USD in 2015.
The zones are expected to generate 3,500 new jobs and contribute
2 trillion VND (92 million USD) in tax.
In the first four months, the industrial value produced by the
industrial zones reached 400 million USD, up 10.9 percent against the same
period.
Tuna export value likely to fall 5 percent in 2015
The Vietnam Association of Seafood Producers and Exporters
(Vasep) forecast that the export value of tuna will decrease by 5 percent
this year, bringing in an estimated 123 million USD for the second quarter of
the year.
Vasep predicted a drop in turnover because of a recent sharp
decline of the world price of tuna, coming in below 1,000 USD per tonne. The
global increase in tuna production, and the depreciation of the euro and
Japanese yen against the US dollar are listed as causes.
Declining demand in major markets was also listed as a factor
of the price disturbance. However, unstable sources of raw tuna, was listed
as the primary reason for falling tuna exports, Vasep said.
According to Vasep, tuna exports got off to a rocky start over
the past three months dipping by 9 percent to 104.3 million USD.
Exports to the US, the leading importer of Vietnamese tuna,
declined by 1.2 percent to 38 million USD for the quarter. Exports to the EU
–the second largest market – slipped more by 15.5 percent to total 28.23
million USD. Shipments to Japan - the third largest market – saw the most
dramatic yearly decline of 43.2 percent to only 4 million USD.
Experts had already predicted a rocky first half of this year
for tuna since no signs of recovery in tuna consumption-demand and tax
pressures on Vietnamese exporters remain high, especially in the major import
markets of Japan, the US and the EU.
According to Vasep, management and data collection on tuna
exploitation remained weak and must be enhanced to meet the requirements of
demanding importers.-
Mekong agricultural producers receive VietGAP certificate
As many as 15 vegetable and fruit production establishments in
the Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang have been granted Vietnam Agriculture
Practice (VietGAP) certificates for their safe farm products.
The certificates were presented at a ceremony held by the
Management Board of the “Quality and Safety Enhancement of Agricultural
Products and Biogas Development” (QSEAP) project and the provincial Centre
for Agricultural Development Promotion in the locality on May 8.
The awardees included 13 agricultural cooperatives,
specialising in planting guava, grape fruit, durian, dragon fruit, clean
vegetables and pepper as well as two dragon fruit-producing farms.
According to Tran Thanh Phong, Director of the Centre, the
implementation of safe vegetable models in the locality helped local farmers
access advanced technologies thus creating high-quality products meeting
VietGap standards.
The models also contributed to build a consulting network for
expanding agricultural production models in line with the VietGAP production
process in the future, she noted.
Tien Giang boasts the largest fruit-tree area in Mekong Delta
with over 85,000 hectares generating an annual yield of 1.3 million tonnes.
It is also home to over 43,000 hectares of vegetables.
The province hopes 80 additional hectares of dragon fruits and
durian will be granted Global Good Agricultural Practice (GlobalGAP)
certificates in 2015.
HCM City to host first food industry fair
The first Vietnam International Food Industry Exhibition
(Vietnam Food Expo 2015) will be held in Ho Chi Minh City from May 13 to 16,
aiming to boost consumption of Vietnamese food in both domestic and export
markets.
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 Vietnam 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 Vietnam's 36 cities and provinces and 19
other countries and territories, including India, Belgium, Cuba, Taiwan
(China), the Republic of 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 Vietnam international conference on the food industry,
where participants will discuss solutions to raise the value of Vietnamese
food products, improve competitiveness, and enhance the ability of Vietnamese
enterprises to join the global value chain.
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.
Ben Tre province eyes 1 million tourists this year
The Mekong Delta province of Ben Tre hopes to attract 440,000
international visitors and 560,000 domestic visitors this year and earn
revenues of VND700 billion (US$33 million), according to the provincial
Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
The province encourages tourism and travel companies to invest
in community-based tourism in riverside communes in Chau Thanh district and
is focusing on completing work on two specific projects – Forever Green
Resort and the Ho Chi Minh Trail by Sea Monument Park.
It is also upgrading cultural-historical relics and developing
tours of trade villages.
Source : VEF/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/Dantri/VIR
|
Thứ Hai, 11 tháng 5, 2015
Đăng ký:
Đăng Nhận xét (Atom)
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét