BUSINESS IN BRIEF 10/11 First Cat Chu mangoes hit shelves in Japan The first batch of fresh Cat Chu mangoes from Vietnam hit shelves at an Aeon supermarket in Chiba prefecture, Japan on November 7. According to Trade Counselor to Japan Nguyen Trung Dung, about 3.5 tonnes of Cat Chu mangoes were exported to Japan in the first shipment. The mangoes are scheduled to go on sale at more than 200 Aeon grocery stores throughout Japan and sell for 429 to 645 JPY (3.48 to 5.24 USD) each. More than 80 tonnes of fresh mangoes will be shipped to the island country by air and sea by the end of 2015. Mangoes are loved by many Japanese people, but they are very expensive when grown in Japan, and can cost from 5,000 to 10,000 JPY (40.6-81.2 USD) each, a representative from Aeon said, adding that Cat Chu mangoes will enjoy good sales thanks to their affordable price. In addition to mangoes, red-fleshed dragon fruit will make its way to Japan. Vietnam, Italy enhance economic cooperation Visiting Italian President Sergio Mattarella emphasised the important roles of businesses, associations and universities in materialising reforms and innovations, and strengthening cooperation between Italy and Vietnam. He addressed the Vietnam-Italy Strategic Dialogue in Ho Chi Minh City on November 8. Deputy Prime Minister Vu Van Ninh, and ministry and university representatives and businesspeople from the two countries attended the event. President Mattarella said Vietnam has made strong commitments to modernising and liberalising trade, investment, the banking system and the real estate sector. Vietnam and Italy could improve the efficiency of international integration as part of efforts to deepen their cooperation, he said, advising them to utilise current potential and create new opportunities with foresight. He noted that similarities in small and medium-sized enterprises’ structure and difficulties caused by globalisation could help connect the two economies. According to Mattarella, successful Italian businesses will act as spokesmen for Italy’s cooperative models and cooperation commitments in Vietnam. For his part, Deputy Prime Minister Ninh said that despite global economic setbacks, Italy’s trade with Vietnam rose 15 percent last year, making the country its fourth largest EU trading partner. The countries’ two-way trade hit 4 billion USD in 2014, a 17-percent increase from 2013. Investments from the European country, however, remain modest. By the end of 2014, it ranked ninth in the EU bloc and 28th among foreign investors in Vietnam, Ninh said. He noted that the time was ripe for both to elevate their economic connections. He suggested they hold frequent discussions on related measures and facilitating links between small- and medium-sized businesses, as well as those from regions and localities for cooperation in Italy’s strengths of infrastructure, transport, energy, manufacturing and processing. According to the Deputy Prime Minister, businesses should design long-term strategies and prepare for changes that occur when bilateral and multilateral trade agreements take effect. He said the Vietnamese Government is stepping up the completion of its socialist-oriented economic market institution, economic restructuring and administrative reform to make the business and investment environment more suitable for local and foreign businesspeople. He pledged that the Vietnamese Government will ensure that the legitimate, legal rights and interests of foreign businesspeople and investors in Vietnam are observed in line with Vietnamese law and international commitments. Participating businesspeople and agency representatives discussed trade liberalisation and potential partnerships across sectors, focusing on education, science and technology. The visiting Italian President met with municipal People’s Committee Chairman Le Hoang Quan on November 7. He said Ho Chi Minh City is placed the centre of Italy’s cooperation with Vietnam, citing the European country’s opening of its Consulate General in the southern metropolis. Along with the affiliation between the city of Torino and HCM City, Italy always shows its full support for collaboration between other localities, he said. Apart from the economy, Italy is keen to join hands with Vietnam in fields like technology, research and culture, the guest noted. For his part, Quan said following the two countries’ establishment of strategic partnership in 2013, HCM City inked a cooperation agreement with Torino and will seek cooperation with other Italian localities in the future. The official noted his hope that after the President’s official visit, relations between Vietnam and Italy will be brought to the next level. The same day, host and guest attended a performance by Italian and Vietnamese artists to welcome the President’s visit. HCM City businesses cry foul as tax refunds take unconscionably long Deputy Minister of Finance Do Hoang Anh Tuan has instructed tax offices in Ho Chi Minh City to review businesses' applications for tax refunds and resolve possible problems that have been delaying payments. He issued the order at a recent meeting after many businesses complained of being greatly vexed by tax offices' continued failure to refund taxes. Vu Thi Hoai Son, CEO of food company Tan Nhat Huong, said her company has been waiting for more than two months for VND21 billion (US$928,000) worth tax refunds, and her almost daily visits to the local tax office have been in vain. In response to Son's question about the delay, a manager from the tax office reportedly said the city's revenues were lower than expected this year due to the sharp decline in crude oil prices. The finance ministry would provide VND1.7 trillion ($75.15 million) to the city, but since approved tax refunds totaled VND1.8 trillion, the city has prioritized projects of national importance and producers who export 100 % of their goods first, the manager was quoted as saying further. An executive from farm producer and exporter Uniexport Co.,Ltd. also said his company’s refund of more than VND20 billion ($884,000) has been delayed since the beginning of this year. Tuan assured businesses that the city still has over VND900 billion ($39.78 million) earmarked for tax refunds and that his ministry would protect their rights. He said some businesses had to wait long to get their refunds possibly because they operate in sectors that require more scrutiny than others. Some might have failed to furnish all the necessary documents to get the refunds, he speculated. But he did not deny the possibility that some tax officials deliberately delayed payments to extract bribes, and promised that wrongdoers would be punished. He said the General Department of Taxation is working to make public all applications for tax refunds by January 1 next year to keep businesses updated about their status and thus head off corruption. At the meeting, Ho Chi Minh City businesses also complained about inconsistent and unclear tax regulations. Nguyen Van Be, chairman of the association for businesses in Ho Chi Minh City's economic zones, said while it is "progress" that tax authorities have begun to accept tax declarations online, businesses do not know how to make the declaration correctly, and the huge number of related legal documents and officials are of no help at all. Businesses cannot run the gauntlet of possible mistakes in declarations, since that would entail huge fines even if they are detected many years later, he added. Be also pointed to a "huge" failing in customs' recently-launched program to reduce red tape, the "national single window." It aims to reduce customs clearance times through online paperwork, but it is still often time-consuming because businesses still have to get certificates from other agencies to clear shipments, he said. For instance, it takes businesses one week to get a chemical test certificate in Hanoi, he said. "It is a single window that has a lot of locks, and businesses have to run around to get keys." Airport unlocks northern potential The expansion and upgrade of the Cat Bi international airport in Haiphong is an essential part of the socio-economic development plan for the north of Vietnam. Construction of the airport’s new runway, which requires the total investment of VND3.6 trillion ($170 million), started in March 2013. By year end, the expansion of the runway will be completed and ready for testing. Operations will commence in the first quarter of 2016, allowing the airport to accommodate B777, B747, B767, A321, and similar aircraft with eight new aprons. Two other components of the airport’s upgrade – namely the passenger terminal building, financed by  Airport Corporation of Vietnam, and the air traffic control tower with Vietnam Air Traffic Management Corporation as the investor – are also on schedule.   Construction of the VND1.6 trillion ($75 million) terminal started in January this year, and will be finished by the end of 2016. By then, the new terminal will be able to accommodate five million passengers per year, increasing to eight million passengers per year by 2025.  Meanwhile, the new air traffic control tower with the total investment capital of VND80 billion ($3.8 million) is also due for completion by the end of this year. The Cat Bi international airport upgrade follows the expansion of the Noi Bai international airport, for which a new international passenger terminal was opened in January this year, boasting an annual handling capacity of 10 million passengers.  Once the upgrade is completed, the Cat Bi international airport will be one of five airports in Vietnam where there are direct flights to Europe, joining Noi Bai, Tan Son Nhat, Phu Quoc, and Danang.  Together with the Noi Bai international airport, Cat Bi will form a two-leg system to increase the reliability and capacity of air transport in the north of Vietnam. The combination of all important infrastructure projects in Haiphong, including the Haiphong international gateway port, the Tan Vu-Lach Huyen bridge, the Hanoi-Haiphong expressway, and the Cat Bi international airport, will increase the competitiveness of the north of Vietnam.  In total, these infrastructure projects represent investments of over $3.2 billion surrounding the Dinh Vu-Cat Hai economic zone, indicating the strategic importance of this area in the overarching state development plan. Vietjet provides 300,000 cheap tickets To welcome festive holidays and celebrate its newest routes, Vietjet will launch its new promotional week from November 11 to 18. Accordingly, the carrier will give away 300,000 promotional fares just from VND0 for a grab on all domestic routes and international routes connecting to Bangkok, Singapore, Taiwan, Seoul and Yangon. Travel periods are from December 1, 2015 to May 20th, 2016 with terms and conditions applied. Tickets can be booked at www.vietjetair.com (also compatible with smartphones athttps://m.vietjetair.com) or at www.facebook.com/vietjetvietnam (just click the “Booking” tab).  Payment can be easily made with Visa, MasterCard, JCB, American Express, and ATM cards issued by 24 Vietnam banks that have been registered with internet banking.  Quang Ninh pledges maximum support for investors in border gate EZ The northern province of Quang Ninh pledged to continue its effort to further improve the investment environment in order to support investors in the province’s Mong Cai Border Gate Economic Zone. Speaking at the forum on improving the investment and business environment and raising the Provincial Competitiveness Index, held on November 7 as part of the conference to announce the prime minister’s decision approving the master plans of the Mong Cai Bordergate Economic Zone, Duong Van Co, Chairman of the Quang Ninh People’s Committee said the province was going to optimise administrative procedures to enable investors to access information and complete the necessary steps to invest and do business more easily. According to Dr. Nguyen Anh Tuan, editor-in-chief of Vietnam Investment Review, who chaired the forum, the master plans approved by the prime minister will open up many opportunities for the Mong Cai Bordergate Economic Zone because the plans make use of the unique advantages only the zone has, most importantly its being part of the Vietnam-China cooperation region. “As Vietnam integrates more into the global economy, the zone presents great opportunities for investors,” he said. “But in order for investors to make use of these opportunities, the province has to continue improving the investment environment.” At the conference the Mong Cai Bordergate Economic Zone Management Authority gave the investment certificates to two projects in the zone, signed an agreement to receive the support of BIDV to build schools and signed memoranda of understanding with investors of seven projects. The total value of the ten projects was VND9.7 trillion ($450 million). The Mong Cai Bordergate Economic Zone is considered to have strategic importance as the zone is going to be the gateway for China to trade with Vietnam as well as the bigger ASEAN region. The development of the zone is going to greatly contribute to the growth of Quang Ninh. Quang Ninh lies along the northeastern coast of Vietnam and borders China. The home to World Heritage Site Halong Bay, as well as many other tourist attractions such as the Co To island, Tuan Chau island and beautiful beaches including Tra Co and Bai Chay, the province has the potential to become a hotspot of tourism in Vietnam. Recent and upcoming infrastructure projects in the region are making traveling to and from the province more convenient. That coupled with efforts of the local government to improve the investment environment has resulted in a recent increase in investment into the province, with big investors such as Vingroup and Sungroup. Baoviet Fund launches $44 million fund The Baoviet Fund kicked off the VND1 trillion ($44.72 million) Bao Viet Value Investment Fund (BVIF) on November 6. The new fund is currently preparing to utilize investment opportunities in merger and acquisitions and the restructuring of State-owned enterprises (SOEs) and attracting new capital flows from the TPP. Its business strategy is targeted at initial public offering of SOEs and their divestment phases, with the aim of becoming the major shareholder in firms and becoming involved in their management. Depending on market conditions BVIF will also investment in other assets to increase the net asset value of the fund. General Director of the Baoviet Fund Dau Minh Lam said that in the future the company will introduce other funds. Baoviet Fund is 100 per cent owned by Bao Viet Holdings with total assets under management estimated at VND28 trillion ($1.25 billion). In the first half of this year Bao Viet Holdings earned revenue of VND9.7 trillion ($422.4 million), a 7 per cent increase year-on-year, with after-tax profit of VND731 billion ($33.07 million), a 13 per cent rise compared with the same period last year. Dung Quat ahead of production targets The Dung Quat Oil Refinery in central Quang Ngai province has received 40 million tons of crude oil since operations began in February 2009, producing 36 million tons of oil products, according to Mr. Nguyen Hoai Giang, Chairman of the Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical Company Limited (BSR), which owns Dung Quat. Although certain factors have had an influence on operations, such as the fluctuating crude oil price, export and import tax policies, and exchange rates, the refinery has maintained a production rate of 103 per cent to 107 per cent of designed capacity. “In the last ten months the refinery has produced 5.6 millions tons of products, representing 96 per cent of the annual plan,” Mr. Giang said. “It sold 5.52 millions tons, or 94 per cent of yearly plan. Its State budget contributions were VND18.3 trillion ($818.37 million), or 114 per cent of annual expectations," he said. BSR has signed a Front End Engineering Design contract with Amec Foster Wheeler Energy Limited and a Project Consultant contract with Quad Personnel Consultants on expanding the refinery. During the process of expanding and upgrading, Mr. Giang said, improved technology will be adopted to use cheaper oil sources from the Middle East, working under the Euro 6 environmental standards. In the future the refinery will import about 20 per cent of its crude oil supply to mix with sources from the Bach Ho oil field. SMEs in need of capital Vietnamese small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) need greater cooperation among ministries and associations to better access capital, according to experts and company representatives attending a forum on enhancing the ability of SMEs to mobilize capital held recently by Finance Magazine and the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI). Mr. Cao Si Kiem, President of Vietnam Small - Medium Enterprises (VinaSME), said domestic SMEs must grapple with a range of issues but accessing capital is the most pressing. Many solutions have been discussed but results have been modest to date. “ "The fact is that SMEs mostly rely on bank borrowings,” he added: "but only 20 per cent are able to meet the requirements for loans, primarily because of their scale and lack of assets." "Even though the government has many policies to encourage the supply of capital the outcome has fallen short of expectations. Borrowers and lenders have difficulties in finding common ground," he said. Mr. Nguyen Tien Dong, Director of the Credit Department at the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), said that as at August 31 outstanding credit to SMEs stood at VND977.08 trillion ($43.69 billion), an increase of just 4.11 per cent compared to December 31, 2014.  He identified three factors making it difficult for SMEs to approach capital sources from financial institutions. Firstly, the economy, markets, policies, and mechanisms are far from ideal, and there is an absence of cooperation among ministries, associations, and financial institutions. Secondly, SMEs lack transparency in their financial reports, making valuations problematic for financial institutions. Finally, Vietnam’s financial market remains undeveloped, with short, medium and long-term capital needed from financial institutions while deposits are mostly short term. Mr. Dong suggested more support policies from the government toward SMEs, in particular creating mechanism for providing SMEs with guarantees when borrowing from SMEs Development Funds. People’s committees also need to simplify procedures and improve the legal framework for handling collateralized assets.  Business community expects stronger tax, customs administrative reform The business community hopes for stronger determination from tax and customs sectors in administrative reform, said Vo Tan Thanh, Vice President of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI).  Many enterprises agree that despite the sectors’ recent efforts, tax and customs in administrative reform progress has yet to meet expectations or the country’s socio-economic development, Thanh said during a dialogue between the Ministry of Finance and the business community in Ho Chi Minh City on November 5.  According to a recent VCCI report on the tax sector’s operations, 49 percent of 2,500 surveyed enterprises in 63 localities nationwide complained that they find administrative procedures troublesome.  Besides, 92 percent of the firms said they saw positive changes in tax laws in the past five years, especially in value-added tax and corporate income regulations.  The sharpest cuts in the duration of administrative procedures were seen in land use, natural resources and special consumption taxes, the report said.  Meanwhile, most of the questioned businesses recognised impressive outcomes in customs renovation. However, they also pointed to a lack of synchrony between old and new procedures, which poses difficulties to businesses during implementation, Thanh said.   He said enterprises in the southern region wanted the tax and custom sectors to simplify administrative procedures and expand information channels while shortening duration and becoming more transparent.  At the same time, Deputy Minister of Finance Do Hoang Anh Tuan said stagnation during the implementation of laws in some tax and customs departments was among the main reasons some policies were inefficient.  The Government’s Resolution 19 on tasks and solutions to improve the business environment and national competitiveness in 2015 and 2016 has enabled the tax and customs sectors to make positive changes, he said, but the sectors should make more efforts in the field.  Currently, e-taxation systems have been applied in 36 localities, benefiting 506,000 enterprises. As of November this year, total businesses registering for e-tax payment reached 457,504, or 90 percent of operating firms. Japanese-invested firm gets green light for furniture making project An investment certificate was granted to a Japanese-invested company with a multi-million USD wooden furniture manufacturing project in southern Ba Ria Vung Tau province on November 5.  Through its subsidiary – the Nitori Ba Ria – Vung Tau Co. Ltd, Japan’s Nitori Holdings Co. Ltd will spend 150 million USD on a 40-hectare plant in the Phu My 3 Industrial Zone, according to the Ba Ria – Vung Tau Industrial Zones Authority.  The plant will manufacture 8,000 interior and exterior wooden furniture items and decorations for export a day. With construction starting in 2016, it will become operational one year later.  Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Nguyen Van Trinh described Nitori Holdings Co. Ltd’s investment in Ba Ria – Vung Tau as a demonstration of its trust in local potential and business climate.  The province pledges the best possible conditions for the firm to carry out its project, he noted, adding that he believes in the project’s success that will help the locality realise its socio-economic targets.  Nitori Holdings Co. Ltd currently owns more than 400 furniture supermarkets in Japan, Taiwan (China), mainland China and the US, and earns an annual revenue of 3.8 billion USD.  It is the 25th Japanese company that has invested in Ba Ria – Vung Tau, bringing the country’s total investment there to 2.25 billion USD. Local company exports salted duck eggs to Brunei Vietfarm Ltd Company in HCM City shipped the first container of salted duck eggs (120,000 eggs) to Brunei on November 5, said company director general Dam Van Hoat. Hoat added that in order to enter Brunei, the company had to redesign its production line to meet Halal standards (used in reference to foods and drinks that are permissible for Muslims to eat or drink under Islamic Shariah law). If Brunei customers find the salted duck eggs suit their taste, Vietfarm will get a monthly order of around 2-3 containers, Hoat revealed. He said that Vietfarm is completing necessary procedures to reexport salted duck eggs to Singapore and Malaysia late this month after several years of disruption due to epidemics and food hygiene and safety related reasons. The company plans to ship around 20-24 containers of salted duck eggs monthly to these three markets. Decree on support industry development issued The government has recently issued Decree No. 111/2015/ND-CP on the development of support industries in the country. Individuals and organizations conducting production research and developing products on the priority list of support industry products can access assistance, funds, and other sources for research, development, and training. They will also be considered for partial assistance in the cost of research and development from a development program for the support industry for independently-developed technology that results in effective application. The government also commits to providing 50 per cent of funding for pilot production projects in support industries. Organizations and individuals that conduct technology transfer in producing support products on the priority list will receive incentives on technology. Projects with cooperation between manufacturing enterprises and those transferring technology will receive partial financial assistance. The cost of manufacturing a prototype product on the priority list will also receive assistance of up to 50 per cent. The government will also cover up to 75 per cent of the cost of technology transfer for projects using more than 85 per cent of raw materials from domestic minerals processing, including metallic ores, non-metallic ores, and petroleum products. The decree also states that projects producing industrial products on the list of products for support industry development will be funded from industrial development programs to assist in the training of human resources. Projects on the priority list can also receive assistance from the government in training programs. Individuals responsible for the development program for support industries will be trained in Vietnam or a foreign country under the training program of the government. Products on the priority list will also have priority in appearing in trade promotion programs. The government will partially cover the costs of registering trademarks, attending domestic and foreign exhibitions, and accessing market information, as well as other costs. The Decree takes effect from January 1, 2016. Processed coffee exports on the up The Vietnam Coffee and Cocoa Association (Vicofa) has predicted processed coffee exports will increase 25 per cent this year compared to 2014.  Vietnam has recently focused more on the export of processed coffee (roasted, soluble coffee). Figures from Vietnam Customs put exports in the first nine months of the year at 52,000 tons worth $226 million. A 25 per cent increase against 2014 would bring the total to 68,000 tons for the year, worth $300 million. Exports of coffee beans, meanwhile, have been up and down in recent times. In 2012 1.7 million tons were exported, falling in 2013 to 1.2 million tons before rising to 1.6 million tons in 2014. In the first nine months of the year the figure stood at only 900,000 tons. Vicofa identified two main reasons for the decline in coffee bean exports. The first is inclement weather affecting last season’s harvest, with crop yields falling 20 per cent, and the second is foreign firms buying coffee processing plants along with the development of many small companies processing coffee, cutting into exports of coffee beans. Few countries have recorded such impressive growth in processed coffee exports like Vietnam. The association has forecast that the current trend will continue, with coffee bean exports falling and being replaced by processed coffee exports. SCIC to exit entirely from Kim Lien JSC The Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX) has announced a full auction of the shares held by the State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC) in the Kim Lien Tourism Joint Stock Company (KLC). 3.6 million shares will be auctioned, or 52.4 per cent of the company’s charter capital, at a starting price of VND30,600 ($1.3) per share. The total value of the divestment is around VND112 billion ($5.04 million), with the auction expected to take place on December 22. Other major shareholders in the company include GPBank, with 21.6 per cent, PTFinance with 6.7 per cent, and GP Invest with 6.6 per cent. KLC primarily operates in the field of restaurant and catering services. In 2014 it recorded revenue of VND127 billion ($5.7 million) and after-tax profit of VND13.5 billion ($607,500). The company also manages the Kim Lien Hotel in Hanoi, which has a long history in the capital and sits on 3.5 ha in Dao Duy Anh Street, Dong Da district. It was opened in 1961 and was formerly known as the Bach Mai Hotel. The hotel has nine buildings, 437 rooms, and five restaurants. VIB offers VND500,000 to new accounts Vietnam International Bank (VIB) has officially launched a promotion program entitled “Receive VND500,000 when opening a VIB current account online”. From now to the end of January VND500,000 ($22.4) will be transferred to the first 100 customers opening a new current account online via VIB’s website and e-banking and activating the account at a VIB counter. In addition to the convenience of opening a current account online, customers will also enjoy many other benefits, including free account management fees for the first six months from the issuance date. From the seventh month onwards customers will continue to be subject to no fees if their previous monthly average account balance was at least VND200,000 ($8.96). Cash withdrawal fees for VIB Values card holders will also be waived for the first three months from the issuance date. From the fourth month onwards customers will continue to be free from fees if their previous monthly average account balance was at least VND1 million ($44.8). Free transfer fees within the VIB system and free interbank transfers via VIB Internet Banking and MyVIB are also available if their previous monthly average account balance was at least VND1 million ($44.8). Customers are also not subject to fees when making electricity, mobile phone, and internet bill payments. Dong A Steel JSC inaugurates US$150 million coated steel sheet factory in Binh Duong The Dong An Steel Joint Stock Company put the first phase of a factory manufacturing high-quality coated steel sheets into operation at the Dong An II Industrial Zone in Thu Dau Mot city, Binh Duong province on November 5. Work on the US$150 million factory started in 2014 on an area of 12.58 hectares, with the first phase having a designed capacity of producing 400,000 tonnes of products per year. The factory, the second one of its kind in Binh Duong, has been fitted with the most advanced technological lines from Europe and Japan. At the inaugural ceremony, the Dong A Steel JSC also announced and kick started construction over the second phase of the factory with a total capital of VND1.7 trillion (US$76.5 million). The whole project is scheduled to be put into operation in 2016-2017, increasing the factory’s capacity to 800,000 tonnes of products per year. According to Nguyen Thanh Trung, General Director of the Dong A Steel JSC, the factory will contribute to meeting the diversified requirements of the domestic market as well as for exports, with its state-of-the-art products, thereby satisfying the demands of consumers and contributing to the development of Vietnam’s coated steel sheet industry. Trung also noted that his company will achieve an estimated revenue of VND450 trillion in 2015. Challenging export targets In the two remaining months of the year, exports have the opportunity to grow thanks to the economy’s stable growth, controlled inflation, increased credit and businesses’ eased difficulties despite facing the challenges of rising protectionism and tough competition from other exporters - especially those who have devalued their currency against the US dollar. According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, exports maintained growth over the past ten months, bringing in US134.62 billion, an 8.5% year-on-year rise, while the import volume was estimated at nearly US$138.7 billion, a 14.3% year-on-year increase. Agricultural and seafood products faced tough competition as crude oil, fuels and minerals were kept at low prices. The category of agro-forestry and seafood saw a 9.7% year-on-year fall in export value, decreasing US$1.82 billion, while the category of fuels and minerals fell by 46.5%, equivalent to US$3.65 billion. The National Assembly set a target for exports in 2015 to grow by 10%, and the trade deficit over the export turnover less than 5%. Accordingly, the export value was expected to reach US$165 billion. However, over the past 10 months, the export volume fulfilled merely 81.6% of the set plan, thus the average export growth in the two remaining months of the year should be around US$15.2 billion per month. This is a challenging target and significant difficulty in the current situation. To realise the above-mentioned target, resources should be focused to ease difficulties for businesses, support production, boost exports, speed up nearly-completed projects, follow up fluctuations of exchange and interest rates in the country and the world, evaluate impacts, seek solutions and lift trade barriers. Meanwhile, related sides should develop the export market, effectively exploit traditional markets and open new potential ones; promote exports among importers and foreign distributors; and update and provide information about importing markets to associations, industries and businesses. In addition, communication on free trade agreements (FTAs) should be enhanced to help businesses to take advantage of the pacts. Tariff preferences from the FTAs will become meaningless if businesses do not fully grasp the regulations and conditions. Many non-tariff barriers will arise if businesses do not study and actively respond to FTA regulations. Moreover, appropriate internal legal documents should be developed and the system to issue certificates of origin via the Internet should be operated effectively and connected to the National Single Window (NSW) and the ASEAN Single Window (ASW). The country should also facilitate trade, improve the business climate, enhance national competitiveness, simplify administrative procedures, reduce charges and fees on exports, and boost the effectiveness of specialised examination over exports. Meanwhile, drastic measures should be taken synchronously together with efforts from the business community and millions of workers to fulfill the set target for export this year. Time-consuming procedures delay metro project in city Metro projects in HCMC have fallen behind schedule due to time-consuming and complicated procedures for design changes and legal differences applied by Vietnam and foreign donors for tenders held to select contractors for components of the projects. HCMC vice chairman Nguyen Huu Tin pointed out the procedural problems for the metro projects financed by official development assistance (ODA) loans at a recent meeting in the city. The meeting was attended by representatives of relevant ministries and agencies, including the Ministry of Transport. Tin said it takes the city too much time to complete required procedures for components of the metro projects if their investment costs have to be revised up. On top of that, the city has to wait long for guidance of relevant ministries and follow different rules applied by Vietnam and foreign donors. It often takes three to six months to settle the difference of rules applied by Vietnam and foreign donors for such tenders as well as site clearance and compensation for metro projects in the city. Tin said the city government also has to cope with similar problems for other projects funded by ODA loans. “We expect relevant ministries and agencies will report the problems to the Government and help find solutions,” Tin said. Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Ngoc Dong said the city needs to make thorough preparations for investment stages of such projects before submitting these projects to competent authorities to save time. Dong called for the city government to learn from problems with the first two metro lines to ensure other metro projects including Metro Line No. 5 will progress smoothly. Dong noted the city should weigh felling trees at Tao Dan Park in the downtown area to make room for construction of a station of Metro Line No. 2 and trees will only be chopped down if necessary. Earlier in July, Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai agreed the HCMC government to approve the basic and technical design of Metro Line No. 1 stretching from Ben Thanh to Suoi Tien Theme Park in District 9 to accelerate work on the project, which has been fallen behind schedule for years. New service to promote cooperation of UK and Vietnamese IT firms A UK-funded website is scheduled to be launched in mid-November to link information technology (IT) enterprises of Vietnam and the UK as well as help boost trade and investment ties between the two countries. UKAsiaTechHub will assist Vietnamese companies, especially small and medium enterprises, in promoting their products and services to foreign markets. UKAsiaTechHub is supported by the UK Minister of Trade and Investment Francis Maude and built and operated by Harvey Nash, a British provider of IT outsourcing services. Paul Smith, chairman of Harvey Nash Outsourcing, a subsidiary of Harvey Nash Group, said the website will enable technology enterprises of the two countries to cooperate with each other to develop new ideas for bussiness activities. Vietnamese enterprises can make the most of new business opportunities from the UK and vice versa. According to Smith, UKAsiaTechHub will assist the UK enterprises in looking for partners in Vietnam. Moreover, enterprises of both sides will be able to exhange information and expertise via chat and message tools on the website. UKAsiaTechHub is a free-of-charge service launched to help small and medium IT enterprises of the UK and Asian countries to promote and strengthen business and investment ties. Vietnam is the first country picked for the service before it is launched in other Asian countries.  Harvey Nash will finance and operate this website for 12 months and help create chances for Vietnamese enterprises to find suitable business partners. After a year, a dependent group of Vietnamese and UK experts will run the website with the British government. Interested firms can register to benefit from the new service at www.nashtechglobal.com/ukasiatechhub. Jan-Oct tra fish exports drop The outbound sales of tra fish in the January-October period reached US$1.3 billion, down 12% against the same period last year, according to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP). The fall in tra export revenue was recorded for major markets including the United States, the European Union (EU), ASEAN and Brazil, with year-on-year decreases of 1.3-40.6% in the 10 months. Exports to other markets, excluding China and the U.K., were not positive. VASEP attributed shrinking tra fish exports to the volatile exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and Vietnam dong, more supplies of fish in export markets, fiercer price competition and inefficient promotion of tra fish products in the markets. So far, promotions have mainly targeted importers and consumers in the export markets still hesitate to buy Vietnamese tra fish as they have not been informed much of this product, according to VASEP. Earlier, the Government approved the proposal of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to delay the enforcement date of regulations in Decree 36/2014/ND-CP on the moisture and ice-to-fish ratios of tra fish fillets to support enterprises in the sector to weather difficulties. The regulations require that the ice-to-fish ratio must not exceed 10% and the maximum moisture content is 83% of net weight of tra fish fillets instead of the respective ratios of 86% and 20%. Such regulations will come into force from January 1, 2019. The Government also approved extending the deadline for tra fish farms to obtain the Vietnamese Good Agriculture Practice (VietGAP) standards and international certificates for tra fish products until December 31, 2016 instead of December 31 this year. Jan-Oct farm produce, mineral exports down Outbound sales of agro-aqua-forestry and mineral products in the first 10 months of this year fell by a total of US$5.47 billion year-on-year though the country’s total exports grew in the period. Figures of the Ministry of Industry and Trade showed Vietnam earned US$134.6 billion from exporting products from January to October, increasing 8.5% or US$10.5 billion compared to the same period a year ago. However, export revenues of agro-aqua-forestry and mineral products were down a combined US$5.47 billion in the period due to lower export prices, including US$1.82 billion for agro-aqua-forestry shipments and US$3.65 billion for mineral exports. Products with sharp export declines included coffee (down over 30% year-on-year), coal (down nearly 76%) and fertilizers (down 26.2%). Vietnam looks to total exports of US$165 billion, rising by 10% versus last year. To achieve the target, the country should post monthly export revenue of nearly US$15.2 billion in the remaining months of this year and the ministry said this is not easy to realize. Steering agency for agricultural production in delta proposed * The Steering Committee for the Southwestern Region has proposed establishing a steering agency for agricultural production in the Mekong Delta to address lingering problems for the sector. Nguyen Quoc Viet, deputy head of the committee, made the proposal at a review meeting on agricultural production in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho last week. He said a Deputy Prime Minister or the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development should chair the agency to ensure efficient operations. Viet pointed out the absence of supply chain, weak regional cooperation and selection of seedlings as major problems of the agricultural sector in the Mekong Delta. He gave an example that the region is the country’s largest granary but questioned the proportion of farmers who have used paddy varieties with clear origins to turn out rice. Therefore, the steering agency should be set up to help the agricultural sector in the Mekong Delta solve the problems and improve yields of crops grown in the region. At the meeting, Viet called for the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and localities to review agricultural restructuring to find solutions to solve remaining problems as farmers in the Mekong Delta have not followed the zoning plan for the sector and the orientations of agricultural restructuring. According to the ministry, there were many challenges for farm produce exports in the first 10 months of this year as the outbound sales of agro-aqua-forestry products went down 3.8% year-on-year to US$24.61 billion. The period saw rice exports falling by 11.7% year-on-year to US$2.26 billion, coffee by 31.4% to US$2.13 billion, rubber by 15.8% to US$1.22 billion and seafood by 17.7% to US$5.37 billion. However, rice output of the Mekong Delta has grown significantly this year. The Cultivation Department quoted data of agricultural agencies in the region as reporting that the region is expected to harvest nearly 25.7 million tons of rice, up over 429,000 tons over last year. Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Quoc Doanh said Vietnam can earn US$2 billion from shipping abroad fruits and vegetables this year, increasing US$500-600 million against last year. “Vietnam has exported fruits to choosy markets; for instance mango to Japan and longan and thanh long (dragon fruit) to the United States,” Doanh said. U.S. maintains anti-dumping tariff on VN wind towers The U.S. will continue imposing a high anti-dumping duty on wind towers imported from Vietnam, according to Vietnam Competition Authority under the Ministry of Trade. The authority said the Department of Commerce (DOC) last September announced final results of the first Period of Administrative Review (POR 1) with anti-dumping tariffs imposed on Vietnamese wind power towers. The results showed the only compulsory defendant CS Wind Vietnam did not sell its wind towers in the U.S. at unfairly low prices. However, the U.S. still decided to keep imposing an anti-dumping duty margin of 58.54% on wind towers exported by other companies in Vietnam as the U.S. still considers Vietnam as a non-market economy. The U.S. determined to slap the anti-dumping tariff after a probe into wind towers imported from Vietnam in late 2012. In 2011, Vietnam exported wind towers worth US$79 million to the U.S. while the wind tower exports from China stood at US$222 million. Enterprises in Vietnam have dealt with a number of trade defense cases filed by companies in the U.S. For instance, U.S. businesses including Bull Moose Tube, Exltube, Wheatland Tube, and Western Tube & Conduit have recently proposed an anti-dumping lawsuit against circular welded carbon-quality steel pipes imported from Oman, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Pakistan, the Philippines and Vietnam. The companies have sought an anti-dumping duty margin of 103.83% on the steel product imported from Vietnam. Vietnamese defendants include Sujia Steel Pipe Co. Ltd., Vietnam Pipe Co. Ltd. and SeAH Steel Vina Corporation. The Vietnam Competition Authority said there have been six trade defense cases against Vietnamese steel products in the year to date. HSBC: SOE reform should focus on quality HSBC Bank has thrown support behind the Government’s effort to speed up the equitization of State-owned enterprises (SOEs) but stressed that the focus should be on the quality rather than the quantity. In a report released on November 4, HSBC said the Government is under pressure to accelerate SOE reform in preparation for a final Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) deal. The Government planned to equitize 289 SOEs this year but only 94 had gone public as of September. While equitization has been proceeding slowly, the focus on numbers is misleading. Instead, the real test is the degree of equitization the Government is willing to achieve, and the extent of foreign ownership permitted. For example, in last year’s Vietnam Airlines initial public offering (IPO), the enterprise only offered for sale 3.48% of its equity. Things may be changing, however. In a directive dated October 14, the Government announced that it will divest all of State stakes from 10 enterprises held by the State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC). The target companies include “quality” firms already listed on the stock exchanges such as dairy giant Vinamilk and software producer FPT Corporation. “Though the timeline for the Government’s withdrawal from these firms is unclear, we think the focusing on SOE reform efforts on the quality, rather than the quantity of enterprises is a step in the right direction,” HSBC commented. In the end, the Government’s decision to speed up divestments may be tied to its budget woes. According to media reports, the sale of the above 10 SOEs are estimated to bring as much as US$4 billion to the State coffers. The funds are expected to be used for vital public investment projects at a time when the Ministry of Finance is struggling to issue more debt papers as the sales of shorter-term government bonds have not been approved by the legislature this year. But a compromise of sorts has been reached in the National Assembly (NA). The NA’s Financial and Budgetary Committee has proposed that the State Treasury be permitted to issue bonds with tenors equal to or longer than three years. The new rules are expected to come into effect on January 1, 2016. The Ministry of Finance is still requesting that the NA permit government bond issuance across all tenors, and there is still a chance that the Ministry of Finance will regain full flexibility in its bond issuance, which would be the ideal solution. HSBC also noticed that Vietnam’s manufacturing sector continues to be affected by weak external demand. The good news is that, with oil prices still weak, domestic demand remains well supported by low inflation. Domestic activity has also been fuelled by a steady revival in credit growth, which has risen 10.8% year-on-year as of September and will likely approach 17% in 2015 (versus 14.2% in 2014) as banks accelerate lending in the months ahead. Against the backdrop of stronger growth, wages are likely to rise, setting the stage for revived core inflation in 2016. For now, low inflation and a benign outlook for global energy prices should allow the central bank to keep rates steady. But with price pressures building up next year, HSBC expects the State Bank of Vietnam to deliver a 50-basis-point hike in the third quarter of 2016, taking the open market operations (OMO) rate to 5.5% from 5% currently. IT experts share data experience Dealing with big data is the theme for a two-day national symposium on information and communications technology (ICT) problems which closed yesterday in  HCM City. "The national symposium is an annual forum for researchers, managers, lecturers and programmers to exchange learning and application experiences as well  as seek co-operation," Dr. Nguyen Manh Hung, principal of Nguyen Tat Thanh University, said during his opening speech. Dr. Fang-Pang Lin, director of the division of Cloud Computing and System Integration for the Taiwanese National Centre for High-Performance Computing,  delivered a presentation titled Development of Cyber-Infrastructure from Sensing to Understanding. "Cyber-infrastructure has been widely used to describe ICT infrastructures that are pertinent to the internet, which is strongly related to high performance  computing in the ICT community," he said. In the era of grid computing, the community focuses on connecting geographical heterogeneous computing silos to form a virtual organisation with resource  sharing for big science. This is then involved in cloud computing, utility computing, big data computing and ubiquitous computing with the popular notion of the Internet of Things in  order to meet real economic and social needs. Professor and Dr. Ho Tu Bao from the Japanese Modern Technology and Science Institute and HCM City National University's John Von Neumann Institute  shared challenges in research for big data exploitation. "Big data has been repeatedly mentioned for several years. It relates to most fields but challenges are ahead," he said. This year, 300 ICT experts presented 96 reports at nine sub-committees, including network and cloud computing; software; database; language processing,  ICT for society and economy;database exploitation; and multimedia and simulation. The Viet Nam Academy of Science and Technology, Information Technology Institute and Nguyen Tat Thanh University co-operated to organise the symposium.  Fair shows off special foods Special agricultural products across the country are on display at the 15th international agriculture trade fair or AGROVIET 2015 in the capital city. Launched at 489, Hoang Quoc Viet Street with nearly 400 stalls of domestic and foreign businesses, the event showcases the country's agricultural  achievement in the past 70 years, a key economic area in Viet Nam, and focusses on food safety and creating opportunities for businesses to exchange and  seek partners. It will conclude on November 9. Product sectors on display include fresh and preserved fruits and vegetables, poultry, seafood, and meat and processed meat products, in addition to edible  oil, dairy products, health food, and frozen prepared food. The trade fair also displays canned and baked food, coffee and tea, and juice and soft drinks, apart from condiments and confectionery. It also introduces latest machines and technology for agriculture and rural development, including a packaging and preservation system for agricultural products  and beverage, agricultural materials such as fertilisers, insecticides and preservative, and veterinary drugs and biochemical products, apart from breed and  supporting services of varieties of plants, animals, and supporting services for agricultural development. Special products at the fair include Bao Minh rice, Thai Nguyen tea, and San Nam dried fruits and fresh fruits from northern, central and southern regions of Viet  Nam, such as guava, Vinh orange, buoi hong da xanh (green-peel and pink-flesh) grapefruits, and Nam Roi grapefruits, in addition to seafood and Phan Thiet  sauce. The country's agriculture has developed rapidly in the past year and obtained satisfactory results. It has seen environmentally-friendly production, and met the  requirements of quality and food safety. Last year, the country earned an export turnover of about US$30 billion, 11.2 per cent higher than 2013. The domestic agricultural production faced many difficulties in 2015 due to the impact of natural disasters, epidemics on animals and poultry, and especially  fluctuations in the market. In the first ten months of this year, the country earned $24.6 billion from exports, a year-on-year decline of 3.8 per cent. Speaking at the opening ceremony of the fair themed "Strengthening processing and food preservation" on November 6, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and  Rural Development Tran Thanh Nam said market expansion was seen as the most important task to help the sector overcome its difficulties and continue  development. Nam said the fair's activities were aimed at disseminating an agricultural brand name, introducing products, apart from sharing experiences, information and  advanced technology. These would help develop international relationships and increase competition of agro-products and seafood in domestic and foreign  markets. The fair, which was also attended by businesses from Japan, South Africa, Malaysia, and China along with India, will include a dialogue between Vietnamese  and foreign businesses, technical exchange between scientists and farmers and seminars on strengthening co-operation in the production chain, and  consumption of agro-products, in addition to pushing up high-tech applications in preservation and processing.  VEF/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/Dantri/VET/VIR