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BUSINESS IN BRIEF 7/8
Heated
stock auction anticipated for Thang Long GTC
Possessing
land use rights over many golden places in
On
August 13 more than 33.8 million stocks of the Thang Long GTC Company
Limited, equivalent to a nearly 27.6 per cent stake, will be sold at a public
auction with a starting price of VND10,600 per share, a little over face
value.
The
company is a member of major property developer BRG Group which possesses a
chain of leading hotels and golf courses in the country, such as the Hilton
Opera Hanoi, the Hilton Garden Inn, the Doson Seaside Gold Resort, the Legend
Hill Gold Resort and the Kings’ Island Gold Course.
According
to the Thang Long GTC prospectus, the company, also a member of Hanoi Tourism
Corporation, operates chiefly in export-import, tourism as well as hotel and
real estate leasing services, while its 2011-14 financial statements showed
that the company has been reporting fairly stable business with stable
year-on-year revenue growth. Their annual profit ranged from VND20 to 50
billion ($1-$2.3 million).
Besides
the stable business performance and upbeat development prospects, the company
is known for its land use rights over numerous golden places in
The
Hanoi Management Authority has allowed the company to include their assets
established on land as well as their long-term financial investments in the
enterprise value when embarking on equitisation.
Accordingly,
as of October 1, 2014 the company’s revised enterprise value was set at over
VND1.37 trillion ($63.8 million) which was VND494 billion ($22 million)
higher than the previous evaluation based on the company’s financial books.
Thang
Long GTC has used their land use rights to become joint venture partners in
InterContinental Hanoi Westlake (Tay Ho district), Hilton Hanoi Opera Hotel
(Hoan Kiem district), Pan Horizon Hotel, Times Square Hanoi, the Big C Thang
Long supercentre (Cau Giay district) and the Giang Vo compound (Ba Dinh
district). All of these occupy spacious areas at prime locations in the
capital.
Out of
these holdings, the company stakes in the two five-star hotels InterContinental
Hanoi Westlake and Hilton Hanoi Opera Hotel are $6.95 million and $7.41
million, equal to 25 and 30 per cent of the respective hotels’ total
chartered capital. Meanwhile, the current market value of these hotels is set
at over $171 million and $117 million by Bao Viet Securities, based on the
recent M&A transaction figures of the hotel industry.
The
company also possesses the land use rights of other prime estates with long
leasing terms, such as the land area at 27 Quoc Tu Giam street which currently
hosts the three-star Eastin Easy GTC Hotel, or that at 94 Ly Thuong Kiet
street which has been rented by VinaCapital for 20 years to implement a hotel
project.
According
to the company’s chairman and general director Ta Minh Hung, the company
envisages an annual 20 per cent jump in revenue and profit targets as well as
offer as high as 50 per cent in annual dividend rates to shareholders.
Several
investment funds have shared with VIR that they are considering stocking up
on Thang Long GTC shares after they have been offloaded on the unlisted
public company market (UpCom) three months after their IPO.
Rise
in point-of-sale payments
Point-of-sale
(POS) payment usage is rising in
Ha Vi,
who runs a clothes shop in
"Many
customers want to buy a lot of things but do not carry sufficient cash with
them. They will be more confident while spending, thanks to the POS
devices," she said.
Vu
Hong Du, director of Agribank's Ly Thuong Kiet branch in the city's District
10, said many banks are stepping up the development of such services since
more and more customers now use bank cards to pay their shopping, restaurant
or make-up bills.
The
banks are competing in providing these services, not only at trade centres
and big stores but also at beauty salons, souvenir shops, hospitals and
clinics, he said.
He
added that his branch installed about 60 POS machines at different places
this year, earning VND750 million (US$34,400) in the related service
revenues. The branch has installed about 300 POS devices so far.
According
to the State Bank of
The
number of bank cards are now around nine million citywide, with the annual
growth rates of card turnover averaging 10 per cent in the last few years.
Nationwide,
there are more than 16,000 automated teller machines (ATMs) and 170,000 POS
devices, providing payment services for a variety of areas including
electricity and water rates, internet and broadcast charges, as well as
insurance premiums.
While
the SBV expected about 250,000 POS machines to be available nationwide by the
end of this year, serving 200 million transactions annually, banks and
enterprises are reportedly continuing to promote customers' use of card
services.
Agribank
and jewellery firm Doji have cooperated in a promotional prog-ramme, offering
a price discount of 27 percent to customers who buy Doji products using the
bank's Visa and MasterCard services.
Accommodation
booking site Agoda is also favouring VietinBank's international credit card
users, who book hotel rooms in
Online
service provider M_Service said more than 80,000 people have been using its
"MoMo electronic wallet" to pay electricity, water and internet
charges, as well as for cinema tickets and telephone bills, since the
"wallet" was launched in June 2014.
About
500,000 downloads have been registered for this mobile application, which is
connected with 23 domestic banks, the provider said.
Meanwhile,
industry insiders advised that customers should carefully check their card
payment invoices, and compare these with their accounts at banks, to assure
that any electronic payment is accurate and secure.
Thai
firms seek investment opportunities in Ho Chi Minh City
A team
of representatives from 60 firms in
The
event was co-organised by the Ho Chi Minh City Enterprises Association and the
Department of Industrial Promotion under
Deputy
Director of the Department Prasoong Ninbamchong said the team included
outstanding firms in support, food and beverage, cosmetics, garment-textiles,
footwear, handbags and logistics.
They
sought to connect with businesses in
Le
Hung Quoc, Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Union of Friendship
Organisations, said the Thai businesses’ visit reflected active preparations
for the formation of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
Community by the end of this year.
He
also urged the city to maintain its positive momentum as a national leading
economic hub to fully tap its potential in international integration.
In
2014, the trade value between
The
figure continues to grow given that in the first half of this year, the
figure has hit around 5.2 billion USD, up 8 percent from the same period last
year.
Jetstar
Asia opens direct flight from Singapore to Da Nang
Singapore-based
Jetstar Asia Airways introduced new direct services from
Flight
schedules and ticket bookings also became available for purchase the same day
for flights beginning on November 27.
The
carrier will operate three flights a week – on Tuesday, Saturday and Sunday –
on the 180-seat Airbus A320 aircraft.
Ticket
fares begin at 1,408,700 VND (65 USD). The low-budget airline is offering
free return tickets for all bookings from 11:00 am on August 4 to midnight on
August 6 for flights between November 27 and December 10, 2015 to celebrate
the new route.
Anthony
Gill, Director of the Central Coast of Vietnam Destination Marketing
Organisation, said international tourist arrivals to the central coast of
Additionally,
Vietnam’s visa waiver for several European countries will welcome more
international travels to Da Nang city via Singapore, he added.-
Managers,
experts and representatives from businesses gathered at a forum in
As
part of activities in the programme “Proud of Vietnamese trademarks”, the
event was organised by the Trade Promotion Department under the Ministry of
Industry & Trade and the Vietnam National Trademark Council .
According
to Lai Tien Manh from Brand Finance—a firm specialising in the valuation of b
rands and intangible assets, Vietnamese companies’ trademark value in 2014
totalled 172 billion USD, up 30 percent against the previous year. Within
ASEAN,
However,
Vietnamese businesses have yet to pay adequate attention to building
trademarks, especially in the context of integration and increasing
competitiveness.
Manh
stressed that enterprises should increase investments in the field given the
importance of national trademarks in improving competitiveness and gaining
consumer confidence.
Trademarks
can greatly impact the balance of payments by influencing investment and
capital attraction as well as raising market demand and promoting exports, he
noted.
Meanwhile,
Chairman of the Northern Liquefied Gas Trading Company Tran Trong Huu
underlined the need to support enterprises in developing trademarks in
accordance with each sector through trade associations and intensify
promotion activities at international trade events.
He
shared his enterprise’s experience in developing trademarks, saying that
support in trainings and consultations are necessary to improve enterprise
production capacity and competitiveness.
Director
of the Trade Promotion Department Bui Huy Son said his agency will continue
to assist Vietnamese businesses in meeting national trademark standards.
SBV approves
Military Bank's capital increase
SBV
approves Military Bank's capital increase Customers use Military Bank
services. The bank plans to increasse its equity to US$734 million. -- Photo
vinacorp.vn
The
State Bank of
The
plan to increase the capital was approved during a meeting of the Military
Bank's shareholders in April. It will be implemented through separate share
issuances for existing shareholders, strategic investors and employees.
The
bank's shares closed up 0.2 points at VND16,200 (74 cents) per share on July
23 on the HCM City Stock Exchange./.
Ceiling/floor
import tax regulations prove outdated
In the
context of increasing economic integration and the tax liberalization rate
exceeding 90 percent, the existing regulations on ceiling and floor import
tax rates in the Export and Import Tax Tables are no longer appropriate.
According
to the current Import and Export Tax Law, the Import Tax Table is currently
applied to 1,224 categories of goods, with the ceiling tax rate of 150
percent. 314 categories of goods currently apply minimum tax rates from over
zero to 50 percent including several kinds of tariff-quota goods such as
sugar, tobacco leaves and eggs.
The
existing Import Tax Table with both ceiling and floor rates has provided an
important basis for the government and the Ministry of Finance to impose
specific Most Favored Nation (MFN) preferential import tax rates on each
category of goods to timely adapt to changes in price in the global market,
thus contributing to stabilizing domestic prices (for example, adjusting the
import tax on gasoline and oil), while ensuring the appropriateness of the
Import Tax Table with more than 10,000 items which must be changed every five
years in accordance with the regulations of the World Customs Organization
and the ASEAN Secretariat.
According
to the statistics, goods subject to preferential import tariffs were valued
at US$147.85 billion in 2014, including US$107.07 billion worth of imports
from countries and groups of countries which have concluded FTAs with
According
to the Ministry of Finance, the Export and Import Tax Tables under the
current Import and Export Tax Law must be modified since it currently is
inappropriate, inflexible and unstable, thus not helping businesses actively
calculate efficiency.
G-bond
sales jump in July
Capital
raised for the State budget from Government bond sales on the Hanoi Stock
Exchange (HNX) rose by 88.9% in July against June, the highest month-on-month
growth rate in seven months.
Nearly
VND15.65 trillion (US$718.4 million) was raised through 24 G-bond auctions at
the HNX last month. Of the total amount, the State Treasury made up around
VND14.75 trillion and the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies VND900 billion.
The
annual winning coupon for three-year bonds was 5.98-6%, and those for
five-year and 10-year bonds were 6.39-6.4% and 6.7% respectively.
The
winning rate for the 15-year tenor hovered in a range of 7.64% and 7.8%.
The
G-bond yields for three-year and five-year tenors were unchanged from June
while those for 10-year and 15-year tenors inched up 1.1 percentage points
and 0.16 percentage point respectively.
In the
year to July, the State Treasury had mobilized over VND90.05 trillion from
G-bond auctions on the HNX. The figure is small compared to the whole year’s
target but capital raised from treasury bill sales was used to finance
short-term budget spending.
Trading
of treasury bills has been positive in recent weeks as over 80% of total
treasury bills offered are new. Treasury bill sales have brought in over
VND65 trillion since treasury bills were offered for sale on a weekly basis
on June 15.
Treasury
bills of the 28-day tenor attracted many buyers, and an average 30% of 56-day
and 14-day bills found investors.
Tran
Kim Van, deputy general director of the State Treasury, said earlier that
G-bonds worth some VND60 trillion would be put up for sale in the third
quarter of 2015 to raise funds for the State budget and investment projects.
Notably,
the State Treasury will issue VND4 trillion worth of 20-year G-bonds via
auctions on the
The
State Treasury has fulfilled just nearly half of the year’s target for G-bond
sales in January-July but the State budget had capital for short-term
spending owing to good treasury bill sales.
The
State Treasury is expected to raise bond yields to attract more buyers and
mobilize more funds for the State budget in the rest of the year.
Ministry
backs tightened lending to BOT project investors
The
Ministry of Transport has thrown support behind the central bank’s decision
to apply stricter regulations on lending to investors involved in
build-operate-transfer (BOT) and build-transfer (BT) projects.
Minister
of Transport Dinh La Thang explained the right decision would help prevent
financially incapable investors from joining transport projects.
Thang
told the Daily on the phone last week that the ministry will review all BOT
transport projects to make adjustments and only approve projects whose
investors prove financial capability to pay bank loans.
Thang
said banks have been more careful with their assessments and now spend five
or six months assessing each project before they sign lending agreements with
the project investors.
BOT
transport projects have attracted many investors in the past three years.
Some successful projects already opened to traffic include the expanded
sections of
At
present, the ministry is preparing 50 traffic projects with a combined
investment of VND160 trillion (around US$7.3 billion) to call for investors.
Most of them are planned for BOT implementation.
Experts
said many companies have rushed to invest in BOT projects in recent years and
borrowed bank loans for most of the capital needed for those projects and
added interest to the total investment. This has led to high investment costs
of BOT projects and longer periods of toll fee collection.
Given
the high risks of BOT investments and rapid growth in the number of toll
stations, the State Bank of
The
central bank will keep a close watch on local lenders of projects having high
risks, especially transport infrastructure projects, as they require long
periods to recover capital.
The
central bank also told local lenders to carefully assess the financial
capability of main investors and only provide loans for those who can
guarantee a certain proportion of their own capital for projects in line with
the current regulations.
Forum
highlights brand development
The
2015 Vietnam Trademark Forum was held on August 4 in
The
forum focused on issues on the brand development for enterprises, national
branding and products’ brand name among managers, experts and business
representatives.
Brand
Finance representative Le Tien Manh said the value of Vietnamese trademarks
have increased 30% to US$172 billion in 2014. In the ASEAN bloc,
Tran
Trong Huu, President of The Northern Liquefied Gas Trading Company emphasised
the need to promote a brand of products through international trade events.
Bui
Huy Son, deputy head of the Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency (VIETRADE) said
despite Vietnamese businesses having raised awareness about the building of
trademarks, there still remains some limitations. Therefore, VIETRADE will
need to continue to support Vietnamese businesses’ participations in national
branding programmes and training courses on the development of trademarks in
order to share experiences.
Thai
businesses promote trade links with HCM City
A Thai
business delegation visited
The
delegation comprises of more than 60 companies involved in the support food
and beverage, plastics, cosmetics, garments and textiles, footwear, bags and
logistics industries.
Thai
businesses hope that through such events, they will set up partnerships with
Vietnamese counterparts so as to enhance future trade ties between the two
nations.
Le
Hung Quoc, President of the HCM City Union of Friendship Organisations,
emphasized that
To
conquer the 60 million people market requires ASEAN member countries to
overcome many challenges and difficulties. Thai businesses’ trade promotion
programmes in
Quoc
explained that
He
asked domestic businesses to raise their awareness on integration and devise
proper investment strategies in-line with
The
total trade volume between
Both
nations have set a target of raising two-way trade turnover to US$20 billion
by 2020.
Tin
Nghia forms joint venture with
Tin
Nghia Corporation has joined forces with Japanese and local partners to set
up a construction and workshop leasing joint venture in the southern
Japanese
Small and Medium Enterprises Development Joint Stock Company (JSC) made its
debut at Nhon Trach 3 Industrial Zone in the province’s Nhon Trach District
last week. The joint venture has a total investment of VND772 billion, with
55% of it contributed by Tin Nghia, 35% by
The
venture manages factory buildings totalling 101,480 square meters for lease
to about 100 firms. Its target tenants are
The
venture’s chairman Quach Van Duc said the ready-for-lease workshops in the
industrial park have been equiped with electricity, water and waste treatment
facilities to support operations of tenants.
The
industrial park also offers cargo transport, security, banking, construction
consulting and customs services for enterprises.
Supermarkets
help export Vietnamese products
Large
supermarkets in Vietnam like Lotte Mart, Co.op Mart and Big C have become a
powerful channel to help export local products to overseas markets,
especially the Republic of Korea (RoK), the EU and Japan.
This
trend not only helps promote Vietnamese products to the world but also
creates a stable outlet for domestic enterprises.
Although
the value of shipment orders is still small and not commensurate with the
potential of the Southeast Asian country’s goods, supermarkets are considered
an effective export channel in long-term plans.
Tran
Huu Tri, a representative of Hoang Hung Co. Ltd. in the south-central
province of Binh Dinh, asserted that the firm’s furniture, such as desks,
chairs, beds and cabinets, have been exported to European countries and
Brazil in the last two years thanks to Big C’s distribution channels.
Around
100 containers of Hoang Hung goods are exported to European countries each
month and the orders have increased three to five times compared to last
year.
The
strength of local firms while exporting products through large supermarket
chains is that they can communicate with Vietnamese staff, which helps make
information exchange and payment easier, not to mention that the
supermarkets’ reputation also allows the goods to be shipped to big markets
like Europe, the US and South America.
A
French customer tries Vietnamese fruit samples at an exhibition in
Photo:
Tuoi Tre
Le
Hong Thang, CEO of Duc Thanh Joint Stock Company, which specializes in wood
products, said that the firm’s export sales in all markets reach around US$10
million each year.
Thirty
percent of the exported goods have been bought by Korean consumers.
In
2014, the firm shipped a large volume of wooden kitchen utensils to the East
Asian country through Lotte Mart, a Korean company.
“Korean
consumers prefer wooden kitchen utensils. In a recent meeting, our business
partners said they are really interested in round chairs and clothing racks,”
Thang said.
Duc
Thanh wood products were initially sold in the Lotte Mart supermarket chain
in
All
the goods are now transported directly to Lotte Mart in RoK without going
through any intermediate distributors.
Another
type of goods displayed in foreign supermarkets which attracts many customers
is fruit and agricultural products.
Ho
Quoc Nguyen, external relations director of Big C, said that such fruits as
mangosteen, passion fruit, rambutan and dragon fruit draw particular interest
from consumers.
Big C
is a French-owned supermarket brand.
“Most
of the customers decided to buy the fruit right after they tried it. In
addition, they also bought packaged items like tea bags, prawn crackers,
cake, frozen fish fillets and frozen prawn,” Nguyen said after returning to
Vietnam from an exhibition held in France.
According
to retailers, the selection criteria on which they base orders of Vietnamese
products include quality, price, customers’ preference and imported
standards. Some even consider the reputation of the firm in
Kim
Tae Ho, strategic director of Lotte Mart in
The
order was worth from US$500,000 to US$1 million at first, but is expected to
increase rapidly as there will be an exhibition of Vietnamese products in
October at more than 100 Lotte Mart stores in
Last
year, Lotte Mart also organized an exhibition to support 24 Vietnamese firms
to export their goods to RoK, of which there were up to 101 types of
products.
Big
C’s export growth in the first six months of 2015 reached more than 20% over
the same period last year, mainly in the sector of exterior decoration and
handicraft products, seafood and shopping bags.
Those
were exported to several countries including
Big C
is currently seeking more business partners to ship domestic products. The
total revenue from rice sent to several African countries like
According
to Kim Tae Ho, several Vietnamese products which will see an increase in
exports to RoK include agricultural commodities such as pepper, cashew,
coffee and wooden kitchen utensils.
The
Lotte Mart supermarket chain does not buy Vietnamese products directly for
export, but instead goes through a department which introduces the products
and sends samples to it.
After
checking the samples, the firm will directly contact the Vietnamese
manufacturer if it accepts the goods’ quality and price.
The
products will later be exported directly to Lotte Mart in RoK by that
Vietnamese firm.
Some
products which have been shipped regularly to the East Asian country include
chairs, wooden hangers, frozen shrimp, rubber gloves, latex pillows and
quilts, and frozen coconuts.
The
list of exported products at Big C supermarkets reaches up to 700 items from
more than 60 providers.
Big C
also supports domestic manufacturers in managing quality standards and
promoting the shipment of agricultural and industrial commodities.
However,
retailers have said that there are many difficulties in the export process,
as the only strength of Vietnamese products is their cheap price, while
quality is still limited, which leads to small orders.
Tapioca
farmers seek tariff relief
The
Ministry of Finance on Monday proposed that the Prime Minister temporarily
stop collecting export tariffs levied at five per cent on tapioca chips since
the business was facing difficulties.
The
ministry said it had received reports from enterprises dealing in these chips
that they were saddled with a large inventory because of the export tax
imposed on the product on June 20.
Later,
the ministry investigated places having large tapioca chip inventories.
As a
result, the export tax, which went up from zero to five per cent, led to
dried tapioca chip inventories bulging to a whopping 500,000 tonnes, the
ministry said on its website.
Therefore,
the ministry has put forward a proposal to scrap the five per cent tax to
help enterprises and farmers deal with a difficult situation and ensure a
viable cassava business this year.
The
ministry will continue tracking the market to come up with a proposal to
reasonably adjust the export tariff on the product, based on production and
cassava business statistics and their impact on the domestic market to serve
the interest of the state, enterprises and farmers.
In
May, the ministry had proposed five per cent export tariff on tapioca chips
to ensure enough supply of plants producing ethanol for processing ethanol
petrol for the domestic market.
Tapioca
chips are a main ingredient for producing ethanol and are one of the
important materials for processing bio petrol.
Their
export has increased sharply in the recent past.
Tapioca
chip exports rose by 35.4 per cent year-on-year in volume to 2.89 million and
30.9 per cent year-on-year in value to US$886 million in the first seven
months of this year.
Processing
industry contributes 78% of exports
The
processing industry earned approximately US$71.9 billion from exports in the
first seven months of 2015, up 18.7% from last year and contributing 77.9% of
In a
conference on August 3, Head of the MOIT’s Planning Department Nguyen Tien Vy
said that products with export growth include cattle feed (up 16%), plastic
(11.3%), footwear (22.3%), and phones & components (28.2%). Goods seeing
dropping export earnings were seafood (down 15%), coffee (33%), rice (8.7%)
and iron & steel (15.7%).
The
ministry’s report on trade and export revealed that the country shipped
abroad US$14.5 billion worth of goods in July, a 1.2% increase from the
previous month and 10.8% against the same period last year. The figure has
brought export revenue over the past seven months to roughly US$92.3 billion,
up 9.5% year on year.
The
trade deficit hit US$300 million in July and nearly US$3.4 billion over the
seven month period, equivalent to 3.7% of the total exports.
The
devaluation of the EUR has fuelled imports of many overseas materials.
According
to the MOIT, the monthly export revenue amounted to an average of US$13.18
billion during the period. For the remaining months, the country needs to
boost its monthly export earning to US$14.5 billion to meet its target of 10%
growth this year.
The
Index-Industry Products (IIP) of the first seven months rose by 9.9% annually
with several key contributors including the processing and manufacturing
sector (up 10.1%), mining (9.2%), power production and supply (11.5%), and
water supply and waste-wastewater treatment (7.1%).
Industries
with high growth include mobile phones (up 56.9%), automotives (57.8%) and
oil & petroleum (37.9%).
Feedback
strives to align draft tariff law with open trade climate
A
workshop was held in
The
draft law is scheduled to be submitted to the National Assembly for approval
this October and take effect on July 1, 2016.
Vu
Ngoc Anh, Deputy General Director of the General Department of Vietnam
Customs, said it is time to overhaul the existing law, which took effect ten
years ago and includes some regulations that are not in line with commitments
made in existing or pending free trade agreements with partner nations.
Amendments
should facilitate exports, especially goods with high added value, while
curbing the shipment of raw material and appropriately protecting domestic
products, he added.
Lo Thi
Nhu, Director of the General Department’s Import – Export Duty Department,
considered the extension of export tax payment deadlines for a number of
prioritised companies as a fundamental reform. Accordingly, businesses could
pay duties once a month and would not be subjected to guarantee fees or late
payment penalties.
However,
participants pointed out that only 35 of more than 50,000 importers and
exporters are eligible for such priorities and they are considered compliant
with legal regulations.
Almost
all enterprises eligible for monthly payments are major firms, given one of
the criteria for prioritised firms is a minimum trade turnover of US$50
million - US$200 million annually, an unrealistic target for small and medium
companies, said Pham Thanh Binh – an expert of the Governance for Inclusive
Growth Programme of the US Agency for International Development.
He
noted businesses in some countries could pay duties 10 days after their goods
are cleared instead of the pre-clearance payments currently implemented
locally.
At the
workshop, some opinions urged the long-term stability of revisions to
minimise risks for enterprises. Others said some regulations in the draft law
are still not in accordance with the International Convention on the
Simplification and Harmonisation of Customs Procedures. The draft also fails
to address many issues relating to tax exemptions and ways to encourage firms
to comply with laws.
More
foreign giants to set up its own airline in Vietnam
With a
Russian company recently revealing its plan to establish an airline in
Russian
travel giant Pegas Touristik, which has brought around 500,000 Russian
vacationers to Vietnam over the past four years, is seeking support from
Vietnamese agencies to set up its own airline to facilitate the service, The
Saigon Times Online has reported.
Pegas
Touristik has been cooperating with local partners to bring tourists to
If the
Pegas Touristik carrier becomes a reality, the Russian company will be in
charge of a complete series of services, from attracting tourists in
Few
Vietnamese firms will be able to join in the chain, except for providing food
and other local transportation services, Saigon Tiep Thi reported.
Most
Pegas Touristik customers choose to visit Nha Trang, a famed resort city in
the south-central
A
It
took Pegas Touristik only four years to go from a Russian partner of local
firms to a strong competitor with a huge presence in the Vietnamese tourism
market.
But
such a development path is now a trend among major multinational firms,
according to experts with knowledge of the matter.
These
foreign companies will at first cooperate with local partners to get to know
the market.
Once
they are accustomed to the market, the foreign players will set up
subsidiaries to cater to their own customers instead of using domestic
service providers.
Vietnamese
businesses say they will face difficulty in competing with these strong
multinational competitors.
Local
tourism firms must acknowledge the risk of losing on home soil, and prepare
to deal with the tough game now, according to some businesses.
The
director of a major Vietnamese travel firm said even though local businesses
have to “fight against the giants,” there are still ways to survive the tough
game.
“Local
firms today have to compete not only with each other, but also with
multinational rivals on home turf,” he told Saigon Tiep Thi.
“But
Vietnamese players still have advantages in this new kind of competition, if
they manage to perfect service quality.”
The
director said Vietnamese firms must prove that they are “the best service
providers” in their locales.
“We
must show foreign firms that it is better to use our services, instead of
spending money setting up their own subsidiaries,” he said.
“Local
firms must shake hands with each other to provide the best service at the
most reasonable price, as this is the only way they can they survive the
battle with the giants.”
National
Tourism Year offers opportunities for
Golden
opportunities will open up for the Mekong Delta region to promote its marine
and island tourism as the 2016 National Tourism Year themed “Exploring the
Southern Land” is scheduled to take place in the locality next year.
The
region has outstanding landscapes to further tourism development. However,
only Tien Giang, Vinh Long, Can Tho, Kien Giang and its
In
2014, the region welcomed over 22.4 million vacationers with 1.83 million
foreigners and earned 6.36 trillion VND (296.2 million USD) from the tourism
sector. However, the number of foreign tourists to the Mekong Delta is only
half that of
In a
bid to tap tourism potential, stimulate the economy and welcome the National
Tourism Year, Kien Giang province has accelerated the completion of several
infrastructure projects such as
It
also plans to push eco-tourism forwards with historic and cultural relic
sites and craft village tourism. New tours will become available, such as
those to U Minh Thuong and Ba Lua Island, Singapore-Phu Quoc and Russia-Phu
Quoc tours. The province is also championing the tourism programme “Three
countries, one destination” with
As the
National Tourism Year brings huge advantages to the host locality, Kien Giang
needs to promote its image through meticulous preparation of both contents
and human resources.
Director
General of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism Nguyen Van Tuan
asked Mekong Delta provinces to speed up tourism product development, foster
regional links and enhance tourism promotion in both domestic and foreign
markets.
Meanwhile,
Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Hoang Tuan Anh said that
comprehensive coordination among localities in the region has a staple role
in creating an effective National Tourism Year.-
Dai-ichi
Life
Dai-ichi
Life Insurance Company Vietnam Ltd. (Dai-ichi Life Vietnam), one of the
leading life insurance providers in Vietnam, just announced strong sales
results in the first half this year as its new business premium surpassed
VND525 billion ($24.4 million), a 35 per cent jump on-year.
Similarly,
its total premium came to about VND1.39 trillion ($64.6 million), an increase
of 35 per cent on-year and total paid-out benefits to customers exceeded
VND231 billion ($10.7 million).
“I am
happy with Dai-ichi Life
“This
is a testimony of our success in sustainable growth strategy, as well as our
competence and commitment in providing advanced products and services to meet
customers’ diversified financial needs. We will strive more for a new
breakthrough in the last six months of the year,” Quan added.
During
the first months this year, Dai-ichi Life Vietnam continued the expansion of
its office network to better serve the customers with its impressive opening
of 14 new general agencies across the country, increasing the total offices
and general agencies to 142 in the whole country.
This
showcases its third position in business network scope in the industry.
Besides
the traditional agency channel, with the aim to expanding the distribution channel
and diversifying the product portfolio, this May Dai-ichi Life
Apart
from that, in early June the company launched a premier unit-link product, An
Thinh Dau Tu, a harmonious combination between life insurance protection
benefit and wealth growth opportunities through the flexible choice of
different portfolio investment.
Dai-ichi
Life
During
the first six months this year, Dai-ichi Life Vietnam continued its
charitable and social programmes with the aim of improving the quality of
life for the local community, such as blood donation, bridge building in the
rural areas, funding charitable eyes operations for needy patients in
different provinces, just to name a few.
Dai-ichi
Life
Rise
in disbursed FDI mirrors investors’ growing confidence
Despite
a seven-month decrease in newly-registered and expanded foreign direct
investment, a significant rise in disbursement of this type of capital has
reflected foreign investors’ climbing confidence and contribution to
Last
week, the Ministry of Planning and Investment’s Foreign Investment Agency
reported that the newly-registered and expanded foreign direct investment
(FDI) in this year’s first seven months hit $8.8 billion, down 7.6 per cent
year-on-year. The total figure included $6.9 billion in newly-registered
businesses, and $1.88 billion in expanded investments.
The
three biggest FDI attractors were the processing and manufacturing ($6.14
billion), property ($1.7 billion), and construction ($194 million).
However,
the seven-month disbursed FDI was estimated to be $7.4 billion, up 9.6 per
cent year-on-year.
Prominent
economist Nguyen Mai told VIR that
“We
shouldn’t be too worried about the decrease in newly-registered or expanded
FDI, because disbursed FDI is the most important. If an investor registers
$100 million for his project but he fails to implement the project, the
registered $100 million is meaningless. Therefore, a rise of nearly 10 per
cent in seven-month FDI disbursement is very good, especially amid local
enterprises’ poor performance,” he said.
As of
late July 2015, tghe total registered FDI in
“I
think it may take ten more years for the undisbursed $120 billion to be
disbursed,” Mai said.
The
Vietnamese economy witnessed a trade deficit of $3.96 billion in this year’s
first seven months, equivalent to 4.75 per cent of the total export turnover.
“Without
FDI, the trade deficit may soar to more than $20 billion. This will seriously
affect the country’s balance of payments and macro-economic monitoring,” Mai
said.
FDI
accounted for 24 per cent of
Mai
further highlighted the importance of FDI by saying that it had developed
“During
Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung’s official visit to Thailand on July 23, the
two nations signed three colossal projects worth about $30 billion including
the oil refinery in Binh Dinh province’s Nhon Hoi Economic Zone, an oil
refinery in Ba Ria-Vung Tau province, and a 2,400 megawatt thermal power
project,” Mai revealed.
The
Foreign Investment Agency’s director Do Nhat Hoang also said foreign
investors were showing great confidence in
“
According
to
“Previously,
it would take 30-45 days for a project to be licensed. Now, the time is only
15 days,” Hoang said.
Source: VEF/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/Dantri/VET/VIR
|
Thứ Sáu, 7 tháng 8, 2015
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