BUSINESS IN BRIEF 13/6 Nojima buys more TAG shares Japan's Nojima Electronics bought another 3.7 million shares of Tran Anh Digital World JSC (TAG) on June 8, the Vietnam Securities Depository said. The buying of the shares, which belonged to Aureos Southeast Asia Fund and are equal to a 21 per cent stake in TAG, has increased the total holding of the Japanese corporation to 30.92 per cent, making it the largest foreign shareholder of TAG. TAG is one of the leading electronics firms in northern Viet Nam, with a chain of 15 stores. It plans to open seven to nine more stores to serve the northern region. In Q1, 2015, TAG earned VND872.67 billion (US$40 million) in revenue, an increase of 44 per cent over the same period last year and after-tax profit of VND3.9 billion ($178,899), up 11.5 per cent year on year. It plans to earn total revenue of VND3.3 trillion ($151.3 million) and net profit of VND7.8 billion ($ 357,798) in 2015. According to Bloomberg.com, Nojima Corporation operates consumer electronic chains that specialise in computers and communication products. The company also sells entertainment-related items such as game software and CDs, and household appliances, and has franchise stores in Kanagawa Prefecture. Each TAG share closed at VND24,000 ($1.1) on June 10 on the HCM City Stock Exchange. Vingroup launches retail specialty stores Vingroup has announced the launch of retail specialty stores BeautyZone, Sportsworld, ShoeCenter and Fashion MegaStore boasting an impressive assortment of fashion and accessories. The stores will carry brands from world-class to emerging designer labels, for both men and women all at every day prices, a spokesperson for Vingroup said in making the announcement. The first stores will open at the Vincom in Can Tho this July the spokesperson said, adding that in total Vingroup plans to open 74 stores over the next year and more than 300 stores nationwide within the next three years. Over 2 million tonnes of rice shipped abroad Vietnam earned around US$875 million from shipping nearly 2.1 million tonnes of rice abroad in the first five months of 2015, posting year-on-year declines of 10.7% in volume and 13.6% in value, according to the Vietnam Food Association (VFA). In May alone, the volume of rice exports posted a monthly decrease of 19%, mainly as a result of pressure to sell inventory and low-quality rice stemming from Thailand and India, the Nhan Dan newspaper quoted the source as saying. According to the VFA, the reasons are China’s adjustments to its import quota policies and limited transactions, even across the border, along with selling rice in stock of Thailand and India. Asia remains the biggest rice importer continent from Vietnam with 1.45 million tonnes, accounting for over 69% of the rice export value, followed by Africa and the Americas. Last month, Vietnam secured a number of important contracts with key markets such as the Philippines, Malaysia and Cuba while increasing its market shares in the Pacific Ocean and Africa. In 2014, Vietnam exported 6.32 million tonnes of rice and earned US$2.8 million, becoming the third largest rice exporter in the world after Thailand and India, according to the VFA. However, the country will face fierce competition in the coming time, which requires active measures to boost sales in traditional and major markets, said the Import and Export Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade. Tourism industry in need of facelift International and local experts on June 10 put forth solutions at a seminar in Hanoi to map out a strategy to transform Vietnam into an ecotourism paradise and top international tourist destination. The Institute for Tourism Development Research hosted the seminar funded by the EU in hopes of garnering innovative ideas to overcome shortcomings in the planning for the industry that Vietnam has experienced to date. Pham Trung Luong, deputy director of the institute, said problems such as the lack of smooth co-ordination among relevant ministries and localities can be overcome with well thought out plans. Dr Vu Tuan Canh, a tourism expert from the EU in turn said planning is critically essential if Vietnam is to elevate its image to that of a modern industrialized society in the eyes of the international community. There must be an effective national tourism plan in place if regional and local tourism is to flourish said Canh. Within the context of the national plan these lower tiers must work cohesively to enhance their image. The quality of the national tourism development and cleaning up the nation’s badly polluted environment are the two most significant factors for successful tourism development. Most importantly, understanding the target customers’ desires and providing the appropriate types of services and products to meet the demand is crucial to tourism, international expert Dr Martion Fontanary stressed. Vietnam, China bolster customs collaboration The second dialogue between the Customs Departments of three northeast provinces - Lang Son, Cao Bang, Quang Ninh - and Nanning, China, took place in Lang Son on June 10. Both sides noted that as a result of the first dialogue held in Nanning on April 26, 2012, their mutual support has increased with bilateral communication and collaboration occurring more often. However, according to Hoang Khanh Hoa, Head of the Lang Son Customs Department, the two’s engagement in exchanging information related to border management and preventing criminal activities, particularly drug and wildlife trafficking as well as fraudulent trade, is still limited. Thus, they agreed to strengthen their cooperation in line with the law and sovereignty of each country. Accordingly, they will coordinate measures to curb smuggling and counterfeit goods transactions while regularly informing one another about their bilateral import-export statistics and local customs regulations. Their cooperation is expected to accelerate customs clearance procedures in accordance with the Vietnam-China Agreement on Border Gate and Border Gate Management Regulations. Rice exports to Africa record considerable growth Vietnam’s rice exports to markets in Africa, West Asia and South Asia have shown signs of recovery in both volume and value compared with the same period in 2014 according to the Department of Africa, West Asia and South Asia Markets under the Ministry of Industry and Trade. However, average prices decreased due to competition with other major rice exporting countries. Statistics by the General Department of Customs show that the country's rice exports to most of the key markets in Africa bounced back again, as the Ebola epidemic has been under control, facilitating rice transactions to the West African region. Specifically, rice exports to Algeria rose by 32% in volume and 29% in turnover, to Angola by 49% in volume and 33% in turnover, to the Ivory Coast up 14% in volume and 22% in turnover, and to Ghana by 15% in volume and 12% of turnover. In West Asia, UAE and Saudi Arabia are the two largest import markets of Vietnamese rice. The two countries annually import approximately US$30 million in turnover of Vietnamese rice. Countries like Qatar, Jordan, and Syria each imports from US$3-5 million. Currently, Vietnam has exported rice to almost 40 out of 78 markets in Africa, West Asia, South and Asia, with a turnover accounting for 20% of the total value of rice shipped abroad. Vietnam has exported over 2 million tonnes of rice by the January-May period this year. Hanoi to get 3 new hi-tech zones Three new high-tech zones will be developed from local budgets and private capital by 2030, according to a master plan approved by the Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung. The zones to be created will be the Hanoi bio high-tech zone in the capital city, Dong Nai high tech zone specialising in biology in southern Dong Nai Province, and Ascendas-Protrade Zone in southern province of Binh Duong. The plan will add to the nation's existing three high tech zones in Hanoi, Da Nang and HCM City. The master plan aims to contribute to socio-economic development and enhance competitiveness by increasing technology content in production. It says that raising capital from the private sector will be one of the main ways to develop the new zones. The State budget will be used to prioritise the completion and modernisation of the three existing high-tech zones. The new plan will also undertake to develop human resources for the high-tech industry. In an attempt to develop high-tech zones, the Government had raised incentives for companies operating in them - including tax exemption, tax reduction and preferential tax rates Gov't advised on attracting foreign interest in SOEs The Capital Market Working Group yesterday suggested making changes to the restructuring of State-owned enterprises (SOEs) to attract more foreign investment. The suggestions were made at the mid-term Viet Nam Business Forum which began yesterday in Ha Noi. A working group representative, Nguyen Kien, said although the State Securities Commission had been actively building more favorable regulations to support investors, the obstacles impeding the development of the stock market required timely and solid action by Government. Viet Nam has a population of 91 million people and a modest stock-market capitalisation of about US$46 billion, equivalent to just 25 per cent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP). According to Kien, this value is much lower compared to similar figures for other ASEAN countries, such as the Philippines, which has market capitalisation of $184 billion, or 65 per cent of its GDP. And Thailand has a market cap of 112 per cent of GDP; Malaysia, 88 per cent; Singapore, 135 per cent; and Indonesia, 45 per cent. "This shows that the current Vietnamese stock market is not strong enough to support the country's SOE equitisation," Kien said. He said the total value of State enterprises to be equitised in the next three years would be about $25 billion. If the Government expected to sell 15 per cent of these stakes, the market would need $3.75 billion to absorb these shares. However, Kien said domestic funds could not afford to buy these shares and the market would need new foreign investment inflows. The working group suggested to the Government two issues, obligatory listing for equitised businesses and increasing the sales of SOEs' shares to 25-30 per cent through high-status and international securities brokers to boost liquidity. Foreign investors have been long awaiting for the Government to lift foreign holding limits in public companies, as well as to approve the amended Decree No 58/2012/ND-CP, which would bring some significant changes on conditions applicable to IPO (initial public offering) of enterprises and listing of public companies. Kien said Viet Nam should also make a bold move to remove the restrictive ownership limit of 49 per cent applicable to public companies to attract foreign inflows in the stock market and in newly equitised State businesses. This would be in line with the Viet Nam's commitments with the World Trade Organization (WTO) for servicing public companies, Kien said. He also suggested opening up the entire market by allowing wholly foreign ownership in companies operating in areas not covered by WTO commitments, except for conditional businesses including national security. According to the working group's report, foreign investment in the Vietnamese stock market this year was weak, with a net inflow of $113.3 million in the HCM Stock Exchange and just $5 million in the Ha Noi's exchange from the year to May 19. The Capital Market Working Group is one of the working groups under the Vietnam Business Forum. Integrated ASEAN can pack a punch Ahead of next month's meeting of the ASEAN Economic Integration task force, Netherlands-based consultancy TMF Group has published a briefing paper titled "The ASEAN Economic Community: Capturing the zeitgeist of rising Asia" exploring how international businesses can best harness the potential of this growing region. TMF's Asia-Pacific head Paolo Tavolato said 2015 would be a defining moment for Southeast Asian economies as the deadline for the formation of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) looms. "Given the great range of diversity in economic development, political systems, cultures and religions, many are wondering if the regions can actually be integrated into a unified economy. "As China's population ages and the workforce becomes more expensive, ASEAN can offer the full value chain to multi-national companies, from, say, research and development in Singapore, to labour-intensive manufacturing in Indonesia and Viet Nam, supported by Business process outsourcing in the Philippines." He said the diverse range of industrial specialisations in ASEAN would make the region suitable for a wide array of investors. The paper notes that Singapore and Malaysia specialise in electronic products, Thailand is the leading manufacturer of fast moving consumer goods and processed foods, while Viet Nam and Cambodia focus on garments. Indonesia, Brunei, and the Philippines are the main producers and exporters of natural resources such as palm oil, rubber, sugarcane, rice, cocoa, timber, petroleum, natural gas, coal, and tin. "The vertical and horizontal integration of Southeast Asia economies under the AEC would stimulate intra-regional investment, trade and business connections benefitting both foreign and local firms," Tavolato said. But the TMF Group highlighted the fact that a crucial step to this new era for the region would be the removal of non-tariff barriers (NTBs). According to the chairman's statement at the 26th ASEAN Summit in April, 458 out of the 506 high-priority measures outlined in the AEC roadmap have been fully implemented in all member countries. For the remaining deliverables, the ASEAN Economic Ministers have been tasked with identifying, prioritising and implementing measures that carry the highest economic impact in a bid to achieve 95 per cent implementation rate by year-end. "Among the remaining deliverables, the removal of NTBs is the hardest to implement as most are populist measures designed to protect strategic national industries," Tavolato said. A study by the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies shows that the total removal of tariff and NTBs in ASEAN could reduce the cost of doing business in the region by 5 per cent and increase its GDP by 5 per cent. According to the Asian Economic Journal, the establishment of the AEC could generate an extra US$280-615 billion (equivalent to 5-12 per cent of projected ASEAN GDP) in annual economic value by 2030. It is predicted that by 2025 more than half of the world's consumers would live within a five- to six-hour flight from ASEAN. Speaking on AEC, Suresh G Kumar, TMF Group Viet Nam's managing director, said, "Under the AEC's vision of creating a single market and production base, ASEAN member states have to find their unique competitive edges and further develop it in order to thrive in an integrated and open economy. "For Viet Nam, the strength is its strategic geographic location, ripening demographic dividend, low labour cost structure and growing foreign direct investments. It will enable the country to become a regional manufacturing hub and an alternative production base to neighbouring China." He said Viet Nam was already one of the region's manufacturing powerhouses. Sun Group to sell Hoa Xuan land plots Real estate developer Sun Group will launch the sale of 500 land plots in the Hoa Xuan urban ecological zone in the central city of Da Nang on June 18. Hoa Xuan Project will develop a five-star ecological urban zone in the city of Da Nang. VNS Photo The Hoa  Xuan project is expected to be one of the most worthwhile living spaces in central Viet Nam, the group's representative said. The group said the luxurious and modern zone has a beautiful location and favorable feng shui as it is located at the confluence of the Rivers Han, Co Co and Cam Le, and is also close to Ngu Hanh Son Mountain. Just 2km from Da Nang International Airport, the urban ecological zone is located adjacent to the 2-9 and Cach Mang Thang 8 main roads and next to a Metro supermarket. It is also just 2km away from My Khe beach, 1km from a 600-bed hospital and 700m from Chi Lang Stadium. Sun Group said the 450ha Hoa Xuan eco-urban project will have five-star green and ecological architecture with fully functional townhouses, ecological villas, marina and amusement park, besides commercial centres, hospital, international school and an international-standard, 36ha mud bath and spa zone. Sun Group said each plot costs upwards of VND437 million (US$20,045), and offered seven per cent discount to buyers who completed their purchase before June 30. The group has also organised a lucky draw, with attractive prizes amounting to several billion dong for customers, on June 18. The prizes include a Camry 2.5G car worth VND1.3 billion ($59,633),  two plots of 100sq.m worth VND500 million ($22,935) each, three land-purchasing vouchers of VND200 million ($9,174) each, and 20 SH Moze motorbikes worth 50 million ($2,293) each, besides 50 vouchers, worth VND3 million ($137) each, for stay at the French Village Heat wave allegedly drives Vietnam highway sections to subside Many sections, up to 10km long, of National Highway 1 in central Vietnam has sunk up to over 6cm, allegedly caused by the ongoing scorching heat that has melt the asphalt concrete on the road surface. According to a report of the Road Management Department II, the highway’s section linking the two towns of Dien Chau and Quan Hanh in Nghe An Province has subsided from 1 to 2.5 cm. This section is about 10km long and most of the sinking spots are in the lane for cars, triggering safety concerns, the report said. According to some locals, the road sinking was detected three or four months ago, but no repair has been made so far.    For fear of accidents, truck drivers had to steer their vehicles very slowly on these sunken sections, they said. Dinh Dang Khanh, deputy director of the Project Management Unit 85, under the provincial Department of Transport, said, “We are closely monitoring the situation and will have plans to repair the subsided section soon to ensure traffic safety.” Those sections that have been paved with asphalt concrete can be easily melted by the baking heat wave that is raging in central Vietnam, Khanh said. This asphalt concrete can survive the maximum heat of 60 degrees Celsius, while road surface temperatures may reach 73 degrees, Khanh explained. Another long section of the highway in Ky An Town in neighboring Ha Tinh Province has also subsided, even over 6cm, especially in the part that runs through Ly Phuong Commune. This road stretch was inaugurated five months ago, said Truong Duc Lien, who represents the local Traffic Safety Management Board. Lien blamed the sinking on the burning weather and overloaded trucks that continuously carry stones from quarries in the area. “The sinking happened during the prolonged heat wave. We are seeking ways to fix it,” Lien said. Similarly, the section of the highway running through Phong Dien in Thua Thien-Hue Province has come down 1-2cm only after two months of opening to traffic. This section belongs to a project to expand the highway, with its investor being Trung Phuong Co. Ltd. Tran Duc Thinh, director of the project management board, said that the construction unit might have used a lot of asphalt for paving the road surface, so when the temperature rose high, it melted the asphalt, causing the sinking. He added that the board has asked the contractor to repair the section. SOEs equitization must not become privatization: HCMC chairman State-own enterprise (SOE) equitization is to help businesses develop sustainably not to change into privatization and develop off that target, said Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee chairman Le Hoang Quan on Tuesday. At a meeting with agencies and businesses on the SOE equitization this year, he required relevant agencies to report operation conditions of 11 firms equitized last year. A representative of the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs said that these businesses had over 11,500 workers and equitization had reduced only 80 people. The workers’ rights have been fully conducted and ensured, he added. Average growth rate of the 11 firms was 10 percent--the minimum level set by the city, reported Head of the Business Finance Division under the Department of Finance Le Ngoc Thuy Trang. She proposed the equitized firms to quickly register to trade and list on the stock market to make their operation more transparent. Director of Home Affairs Department Truong Van Lam said that firms that are on the way of equitization should choose their strategic investors to be those who have been able to develop production and trade, not targeting land use rights. These investors should be prevented from using land using right for other purposes, he said. Therefore, the city authorities should hold a governing share portion in those locating in strategic positions, he said. Agreeing with Mr. Lam, chairman Quan said that many SOEs were headquartered in favorable positions. The equitization and capital withdrawal hence should carefully prevent some private businesses from owning major shares of these companies, taking control over properties and using them for other purposes. SOEs should divest from some fields that are out from their major investing fields, and increase investment on significant fields of the city, the chairman said. He ordered the Department of Business Finance and the Business Reform Committee to review and determine strategic land locations before SOEs conduct capital withdrawal. Deputy Director of the Department of Planning and Investment Nguyen Hoang Minh proposed a close coordination among agencies to assist firms equalizing behind schedule to solve difficulties. Mr. Quan instructed relevant agencies to review equitized firms’ situation to help them operate effectively. A steering group should be set up by June 15 for the purpose. SOE equitization must attach to restructuring and rearrangement for better business effectiveness and labor productivity. The equitized companies should develop in accordance with their registered fields and the city’s economic structure changes, he said. The process must not cause social disorder and must guarantee employment for workers, he added.  South Korea assists Vietnam to implement support industry projects South Korea will assist Vietnamese businesses to carry out projects to develop new support industry products in four fields including garment and textile, mechanical engineering, automobile, electricity and electronics this year. That was announced by the Heavy Industry Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, saying the assistance fall within the framework of Vietnam-South Korea cooperation program in 2015. South Korea will provide Vietnamese businesses with financial aids and send experts to study and successfully develop new technologies and products. The program will be implemented in one year with a total aid of KRW100 million (US$89,300) for a project. Businesses can submit their projects to the Heavy Industry Department, who will work with the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology to select the most feasible projects and suitable experts to carry out them. The department said that the ongoing program of transferring 100 Korean technologies to Vietnam would continue this year. Businesses can inform the Ministry of Industry and Trade of transferred technologies that they want and propose new ones for the next phase of the program. Farm produce exchange suggested for Mekong Delta Together with building strong regional linkages, the Mekong Delta needs to set up a trading floor for agricultural products to help farmers and enterprises get market updates, said a deputy head of the Party Central Committee’s Economic Commission. Le Vinh Tan told a meeting with the Southwest Region Steering Committee in Can Tho City last week that the trading floor would be an important channel to prop up sales of the products of which the region has advantages. “Enterprises and localities in the region are now looking for customers separately as the region does not have a trading floor to introduce foreign customers the quality products they can offer,” Tan said. According to Tan, producers need to find and get to know what customers need, and sell products via an exchange. Nguyen Van Hoa, director of the Southern Fruit Research Institute (Sofri), shared the same view, saying it is necessary to establish the farm produce exchange for the Mekong Delta region and sell the products the world really needs. “Such a trading floor for farm produce will help farmers follow market needs and adjust their products so as to avoid an oversupply,” said Tan. However, Tan said, to maintain the trading floor, there should be sellers of farm produce in bulk and with competitive prices and meeting consistent quality and food safety requirements. To meet the requirements, localities in the region will have to improve their farming models and product quality and get informed of market needs, Tan said. HCM City to get tough on Uber taxi service The HCMC Department of Transport has proposed the city government order relevant agencies to inspect passenger transport service providers using the Uber mobile phone app and fine those violating business regulations. The department made the proposal after it had detected and imposed fines on many illegal transport service providers using the Uber taxi-hailing app to make transactions with passengers for the growing ride-sharing service in Vietnam. The department said inspectors have found 169 violation cases and imposed combined fines of over VND670 million in recent times. Violators mainly failed to meet requirements for business registration, lists of passengers, contracts with passengers and installation of trip monitoring devices. Of the total violators, 69 did not register for passenger transport service and 34 vehicles did not have the Uber service label as required. The department also asked the HCMC Department of Tax to check Uber service providers to enforce tax payments. Quang Ngai approves more investment projects The government of Quang Ngai Province has just granted investment certificates to a number of projects worth thousands of billions of Vietnam dong. Such certificates were handed over to investors at an investment promotion conference in the central province over the weekend. The “Quang Ngai’s Potential and Opportunities for Investors” conference was part of the 2015 Vietnam Sea and Island Week organized by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and the provincial government.   The big projects include Phase 1A of the urban-service complex VSIP Quang Ngai worth over VND1.2 trillion (US$55.1 million), the Muong Thanh trade center and five-star hotel complex project valued at VND450 billion, the Muong Thanh Ly Son hotel project worth VND250 billion and the Shop House project with an investment of some VND500 billion, according to the Government’s portal chinhphu.vn. The province’s Dung Quat Economic Zone Authority awarded a revised investment certificate to the first phase of the urban-industrial-service complex VSIP Quang Ngai project. It will be expanded from 458 hectares to 660 hectares and has its cost adjusted up by US$14.5 million to US$139.8 million. The provincial government approved a mechanical devices and supporting components factory capitalized at VND50 billion. Dung Quat Economic Zone is home to some big-ticket projects such as Dung Quat Oil Refinery and Korean-invested high tech industrial complex Doosan Vina. According to the authority, enterprises have registered US$8 billion for 113 projects, including 13 foreign direct investment (FDI) projects worth over US$3.85 billion. Of the total, investors have disbursed US$4.8 billion (60% of total registered capital) for 71 operational projects. The Government approved a plan to expand Dung Quat Economic Zone by nearly 4.5 times, from 10,300 hectares to 45,332 hectares. Quang Ngai Province has had 300 projects approved with combined registered capital of VND144 trillion. Of which, there are 36 valid foreign-invested projects valued at over US$4 billion. BIDV supports clients in Central Highlands The Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV) has set aside VND7 trillion (US$321.7 million) to make preferential loans for individuals and households in the Central Highlands to fund their production and business projects, the news site Vietnamplus reports. In the program until December 31, clients can take out loans at an interest rate of 6.5% per year for a tenor of less than six months and 7.5% for 6-12 month loans . In addition, customers can enjoy a discount of 15% on premium of the BIC Binh An insurance product of BIDV Insurance Corporation and an additional 0.1% of deposit rates if they have savings accounts on BIDV online. They are exempted from some other charges and fees in the first year for services like BIDV Mobile and SMS Token. BIDV said its employees would give advice and help clients complete lending procedures smoothly. Borrowers can go to branches and transaction offices of BIDV in the Central Highlands to ask for loans. The Central Highlands has five provinces, namely Kon Tum, Gia Lai, Dak Lak, Dak Nong and Lam Dong, and is one of the six major economic zones in Vietnam. The region has great advantages in the agriculture sector. EU, Vietnam gear up for completion of FTA negotiations Vietnam and the European Union (EU) will conduct the next round of negotiations on Free Trade Agreement (EV-FTA) in Brussels, Belgium this week. The Ministry of Industry and Trade said negotiations will focus on remaining issues, such as intellectual property, government purchase and the implementation roadmap for Vietnam’s commitments. Negotiators are determined to complete EV-FTA negotiations within this year. Negotiations on the remaining issues had made significant progress at the 12th round of negotiations in Hanoi in March. The two sides basically went into details and devised solutions for key issues to develop the final commitment to opening goods and service market, investment, government purchase and issues related to intellectual property rights. EV-FTA is expected to help spur Vietnam’s exports to the EU by 30-40% as many Vietnamese products will enjoy import duties of zero when the FTA comes into effect. Three tonnes of litchi shipped to Australia The first batch of Vietnamese litchi weighing about 3 tonnes will be shipped to Australia on June 10. The litchis were collected by Rong Do Company from farmers in Thanh Ha district and Chi Linh town in northern Hai Duong province. The company has completed final procedures to transport litchis to Ho Chi Minh City, where they got irradiated parasiticides and undergo a quarantine process before being exported to Australia. Rong Do Company’s Director Mai Xuan Thin said they have a packaging factory in Viet Hong village, Thanh Ha district with a capacity of 40 tonnes per day. The products are thoroughly checked by Australian experts at the factory before being shipped to Australia, Thin added.  India, Vietnam eye leather business co-operation An Indian delegation comprising executives from six major leather companies that supply the footwear, furniture and automotive industries met around 20 Vietnamese counterparts in HCM City on June 9 to explore business opportunities. Speaking to the media on the sidelines of the event, D Gokulakrishnan, officer on special duty for the Council for Leather Exports of India, said Vietnam was one of the world's largest footwear exporters while India was also one of the world leading exporters of leather, leather products and footwear. "Vietnam and India can co-operate in many areas: for instance, Vietnamese companies can come to India to procure leather, leather upholstery, finished leather for shoes, and footwear components. "On the other hand, Indian footwear companies can come here to establish their units and tap the huge market potential here because Vietnam is going to sign agreements like the TPP and an FTA with the EU." Tran Doan Dong, director of Dong Thinh Shoes Joint Stock Company, said he came to the event to source good leather to make shoes for export. Gokulakrishnan said India's leather exports to Vietnam remained modest because of certain issues like transportation. But with frequent exchanges between the two countries, the bilateral leather trade was expected to increase by at least five to six times in the years to come, he said. The event was organised by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry's HCM City office and the Council for Leather Exports of India. Source : VEF/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/Dantri/VIR