BUSINESS IN BRIEF 15/6 Commercial banks to support WB projects      Sai Gon-Ha Noi Bank (SHB) and Viet Nam Technological and Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Techcombank) have been assigned to support projects signed between Viet Nam and the World Bank. The decisions were issued by the State Bank of Viet Nam (SBV). Accordingly, SHB will support the project "Medium Urban Development" - Financing Agreement for Additional Financing Credit 6070-VN and Financing Credit Code 6071-VN, signed on December 15, 2017. In addition to this, SBV also assigned Techcombank to serve “Sustainable development of Da Nang City” - Financing Agreement for Additional Financing Credit 6032-VN, signed on September 29, 2017. The general directors of SHB and Techcomback are responsible for implementing the provisions of Decree 16/2016 /ND-CP dated March 16, 2016, of the government on the management and use of official development assistance (ODA) and preferential loans of foreign donors, guiding documents of the SBV and the Ministry of Finance, as well as the guiding regulations of the World Bank to better serve the implementation of the project. These decisions are effective from the signing date on June 6, 2018.  Phuong Nam Cultural plans to sell stakes      Phuong Nam Cultural Joint Stock Corporation has proposed a plan to shareholders to sell its stakes in CJ CGV Vietnam Co Ltd, which operates Viet Nam’s largest multiplex cinema, CGV. The decision to sell its stakes comes in the wake of financial distress faced by the corporation. Phuong Nam plans to sell 12.5 per cent stakes in CJ CGV Vietnam to Black Diamond Investment Joint Stock Company. If implemented, the move will reduce Phuong Nam’s holding in the cinema operator from the current 20 per cent to 7.5 per cent. The divesture, expected to bring in VND160 billion (US$7 million), will be used to repay its debt to the CJI Group, which includes $7 million in principal and VND18.5 billion in interest, and is due on June 30 without debt extension. According to the management board, the company is forced to sell investment to mitigate the risk of insolvency. In May, it sought shareholders’ approval to raise the charter capital but was rejected. The company could not borrow from the bank due to the lack of collateral and was unable to get loans from other organisations and individuals under the agreement with the CJI Group. Shareholders are requested to reply in writing by June 27. In 2017, Phuong Nam earned VND606 billion in revenue, up by 12 per cent year-on-year. However, it reported a loss of VND67 billion after paying taxes, raising the two-year loss to VND106 billion. In the first quarter of this year, the cultural company’s revenue grew by 28 per cent over the same period last year, but it still recorded a loss of VND1.8 billion against a profit of VND3.4 billion in the first quarter of 2017. Its shares, which are trading on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange with the code PNC, are currently under special control for reporting losses for two consecutive years. It will probably be forced to delist if losses exceed the owner’s equity. Its short-term debt as of March 31, 2018, exceeded the short-term assets by VND195 billion. Its total liabilities amounted to VND321 billion as of May 18. Meanwhile, CJ CGV Vietnam reported positive business results, with total sales reaching VND1.46 trillion in 2017, making up more than 45 per cent of the total sales of films in Viet Nam and exceeding the combined sales of four other major cinema operators, including Lotte, Galaxy, BHD and National Film Centre. CGV’s film distribution also makes up 60 per cent of the market. The Viet Nam Film Distribution Association has petitioned to the Competition Authority under the Ministry of Industry and Trade for possible violation of the competition law. They fear that the Vietnamese film market is being aggressively taken over by foreign companies. VEAM to list on HOSE   The Viet Nam Engine and Agricultural Machinery Corporation (VEAM) will present to shareholders a plan to list on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HOSE). The proposal will be presented at a shareholders’ meeting on June 29. VEAM has a chartered capital of VND13.3 trillion (US$580 million), of which 88 per cent is held by the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT). The company has been equitised since 2016 but has yet to be listed or registered for trading on UPCoM despite having been granted the stock code VEA in 2017. According to its financial statement for the first quarter of 2018, VEAM achieved consolidated revenues of nearly VND1.8 trillion, while gross profits from sales and services reached VND104.5 billion. The company’s after-tax profit reached over VND1 trillion and basic earnings for each share stood at VND775. VEAM is a large corporation specialising in the production of all kinds of engines, agricultural machines, components, and spare parts, as well as manufacturing and assembly of automobiles and motorcycles. The company is one of the MoIT’s most profitable enterprises. It currently owns 30 per cent of Honda Viet Nam, 20 per cent of Toyota Viet Nam, and 25 per cent of Ford Viet Nam. VEAM also has large land ownings spread across Ha Noi, HCM City, Hai Phong, Dong Nai, and Vung Tau, many of which are in prime locations, such as the 2,734 sq.m VEAM building in Ha Noi’s Tay Ho District and a 3.6ha lot in Ha Dong District.  Vocarimex to focus on industrial customers      Viet Nam Vegetable Oils Industry Corporation (Vocarimex) on June 12 said it plans to expand sales to business customers as well as exports this year. At its annual general meeting in HCM City yesterday the company said through the expansion plan it targets revenues of VND4.8 trillion (US$210 million), a jump of 9 per cent from last year. Its pre-tax profit target is VND300 billion ($13 million). Nguyen Thi Xuan Lieu, general director of the company, told the meeting that vegetable oil is not only used in households but also restaurants and industries. The consumption of oil by the latter category would grow at 8-11 per cent in 2016-22, she said. The company supplies oil to industrial customers making 11 product categories including instant noodles, dairy, confectionery, and processed foods. Lieu said Vocarimex is the leading exporter of seasame oil to Japanese market and the company plans to explore more possibilities. “Research will be strengthened to create specific products to meet the demands of various customers. The shipping methods will also be improved to expand exports,” Lieu said. The company reported revenues for 2017 of nearly VND4.4 trillion ($192 million), while profits were VND300 billion ($13 million), or 150 per cent of the target. Sales to industrial customers grew by 52.6 per cent and exports by 15 per cent. The company attributed its success last year to a restructure focused on industrial customers and export markets.  Fintech firms offer banks cost-effective solutions      As many as 72 per cent of Vietnamese fintech companies were opting to co-operate with local banks instead of competing, according to Le Anh Dung, director of the Payment Department under the State Bank of Viet Nam. Dung told a conference on the Fourth Industrial Revolution and updates in the financial and banking sector held in Ha Noi on Tuesday that fintech and banks were co-operating to provide services and products to customers. Fintech, or financial technology, covers different sectors and applies new technology such as cloud computing, big data, artificial intelligence and biometric systems. Dung said that the banking sector had been slow and lacked flexibility in terms of applying new technology, resulting in high transaction costs. “Fintech is a rapidly developing sector, a combination of technology and financial services. It is evidence of the affects of what the Fourth Industrial Revolution could have on the finance and banking sector,” he added. Sharing the idea, Prof. John Wong from the Paris Corporation University said the operating costs for banks could fall by up to 80 per cent if they used fintech. Wong said banks could reduce the number of branches and ATMs by co-operating with fintech firms. Visa and Mastercard could be replaced by smartphones using fintech. However, Nguyen Dinh Thang, chairman of LienVietPostBank’s management board, said commercial banks would face major challenges in developing the digital banking system, including the legal environment; capital; human resources and risk management. Thang said the current legal regulations had not kept up with new technological developments, thus deterring hi-tech applications and digital banking. These could cause risks to banks and fintech companies when they deployed hi-tech applications. In addition, the cost of research and development would be high. Dung from the central bank said the SBV recognised the risks of network security with the rapid development of new technology. Commercial banks should enhance security measures to prevent illegal withdrawals that would affect their reputation and the banking sector in general, he added.  IoT changing business landscape      The internet of things (IoT) is growing rapidly world-wide ushering in momentous changes and huge opportunities for businesses, a conference heard in HCM City on June 12. Leigh Madden, vice president of IT consulting, Asia-Pacific, for Bosch, said across the world billions of devices such as cars and smart phones are already interacting and sharing information, and things are increasingly becoming an active part of the internet. “Every ‘thing’ in the world can transmit data to the web and communicate with every other ‘thing’ in order to perform a variety of tasks for its owner. On the internet of things, the physical and virtual worlds are fused.” According to the Gartner, the world’s leading IT research and advisory company, some six billion devices are already connected, and by 2020 this number is expected to exceed 20 billion. As early as 2020 the IoT market will be worth some US$250 billion, Leigh Madden said. Bosch has used IoT technology to create smart containers (to monitor food condition during transportation), community-based parking (transmitter vehicles within a community send data about free parking lots as they drive by and a parking area map is created), Kuri, a home robot, smart railway, and others, he said. At the conference, Bosch exhibited some of its innovations in smart agriculture, connected buildings, factories of the future, and urban mobility. Mallikarjuna Guru, managing director of Bosch Vietnam, said Viet Nam is in the process of industrialisation and international integration, and IoT provide great opportunities for it to develop its economy as well as industrial sector. “For some years now, we have steadily expanded our software and engineering expertise and capacity in the areas of connectivity. “Moving forward, we strive to make HCM City one of the key IoT solutions hubs for Bosch in the Southeast Asia region through our Bosch Software and Engineering R&D centre.” The German company had organised the first conference on the internet of things in the city last year. Bosch is a global supplier of technology and services with a presence in the Vietnamese market since 1994. In the 2017 fiscal year, it recorded over 17 per cent growth in Viet Nam, with consolidated sales reaching $114 million.  Vincom Retail appoints new chairwoman The Vincom Retail Joint Stock Corporation, a member of property developer Vingroup, has appointed Thái Thị Thanh Hải as its new chairwoman, starting on June 7. The appointment was made on Tuesday during the first meeting of the company’s board of directors (BOD) for the 2018-23 period. Vincom Retail held its annual shareholder meeting for 2018 on June 7. The newly-elected BOD consists of nine members, including Thái Thị Thanh Hải, Mai Thu Thủy, Trần Mai Hoa, and Nguyễn Thị Dịu. Other members of the board include Jeffrey David Perlman, Timothy Joseph Daly, Brett Harold Krause and Phan Thanh Sơn. Vincom Retail’s BOD also confirmed that Daly, Krause, and Sơn are independent members of the board. Prior to Hải’s appointment as Vincom Retail chairwoman, Mai Thu Thủy was the head of the company’s BOD from March 2018. Mai Linh group cooperates in passenger transport with Japan’s Willer Japan’s Willer, Inc. and Vietnam’s Mai Linh group have signed a memorandum of understanding on business cooperation in the transport of passengers. Senator of the Japanese parliament Takei Shunsuke and Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Van Cong witnessed the signing ceremony in Tokyo on June 12. CEO & President of the Japanese group Shigetaka Murase said Willer will partner with Mai Linh to complete infrastructure for the express bus route between Ho Chi Minh City – Can Tho and satellite cities in the Mekong Delta. Willer will train officials for managing traffic safety management and operating the transport connectivity system, he said. Chairman of Mai Linh group Ho Huy said the group will send more drivers to Japan for advanced training to further improve its taxi service quality.   The two sides will also work together to improve traffic safety and help address transport congestions in Vietnam via launching such services as e-booking, card payment, operation of bus stations and bus stops according to Japanese standards, he added. The main goal of Mai Linh and Willer is creating unique values in passenger transport, meeting a wide range of demands for high-quality services. Vietnam – India defence industry businesses gather in Hanoi The Indian Embassy in Vietnam together with the General Department of Defence Industry organised the 4th Vietnam – India defence industry business get-together in Hanoi on June 13. In his opening speech, Major General Ho Quang Tuan, deputy head of the Vietnamese department, said the gathering, which takes place during Indian Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s official visit to Vietnam, is an activity to implement the defence cooperation policy agreed between Vietnamese and Indian governments and defence leaders.  It provided a chance to boost mutual understanding and trust for partnership formation between defence businesses of the two nations, while enabling participating units and businesses to access updated information on cooperation contents of their interest and to come up with more suitable orientations and action plans for their joint work. At the event, the two sides discussed a wide range of topic including research collaboration, design – manufacturing, technological transfer, defence goods purchase, and cooperation in defence industry and human resources training. Sixteen companies from India introduced their outstanding research studies in suggestion for bilateral partnerships. Speaking at the gathering, Rajib Kumar Sen, Joint Secretary & Economic Adviser at India’s Department of Defence Production, said Vietnam – India defence ties were built based on their time-honoured traditional relations. Effective joint activities have been carried out by the two defence ministries, he said, adding that the Indian Government attaches importance to the defence industry and has invested heavily in it.  The official expected the event will connect Vietnamese and Indian defence businesses in developing their new cooperation paths. Binh Son refinery reports high profit in six months The Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical Company (BSR) estimated a profit of 2.947 trillion VND (129.66 million USD) in the first half of 2018, meeting 84.7 percent of its target for the whole year. BSR is a subsidiary of the Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) and the operator of the 3 billion USD Dung Quat Oil Refinery in the central province of Quang Ngai, the first oil refinery in the country. With the achievement, which accounted for 30 percent of PetroVietnam’s total profit during the period, the company is the second biggest earner in the group. According to BSR General Director Tran Ngoc Nguyen, thanks to smooth operation, the productivity in the reviewed period was estimated to hit 3.56 million tonnes of the company’s products, exceeding by 11.4 percent of the target set for the first half of the year.    BSR also sold 3.6 million tonnes of its products, surpassing by 11.5 percent of its target set for the reviewed period. The outstanding performance was partly attributable to the company’s optimisation of management work and efficiency. Nguyen said in the remaining half of the year, BSR set the goal of producing and distributing more than 3.17 million tonnes of products, earning a pre-tax profit of 1.754 trillion VND (77.176 million USD). Power plant lacks capital A lack of capital has made the Thái Bình 2 Thermal Power Plant fall behind schedule to pay credit loans even as the deadline approaches, reported Vietnam Finance newspaper. Petro Vietnam (PVN), the project’s main investor, plans to release bonds as a possible solution. The Thái Bình 2 Thermal Power Plant project includes two machine units with a designed capacity of 1,200MW. The project has an investment of nearly VNĐ41.8 trillion (US$1.8 billion) and is featured in the list of emergency electricity power projects issued in 2013 by former Prime Minister Nguyễn Tấn Dũng. The project is expected to provide 6.7 billion kWh of electricity to the national power grid per year, for which it will consume an estimated three to 3.5 million tonnes of coal. The disbursement values of the project during its start in 2011 and its completion in 2017 were some VNĐ10 trillion ($440 million) and VNĐ29.3 trillion ($1.3 billion), respectively. Regarding foreign loans, PVN, in its latest report to the government, said the total loans signed were valued at $937 million. Until now, $432 million have been disbursed while $81 million of the original debt have been paid. The remaining $505 million are yet to be allocated. According to PVN, the final disbursement deadline mentioned in the contract is September 28, 2018, which was based on the completion of the project’s two machine units. Decision No. 428 on the national electricity development plan during 2011-20 approved by Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc in 2016 says the Thái Bình 2 Thermal Power Plant will put machine unit No. 1 and No. 2 in operation in 2017 and 2018, respectively. However, PVN asked to extend the deadline to June 2019 for machine unit No. 1 and September 2019 for the other. The proposal is yet unapproved. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Finance (MoF) recently issued a debt reminder document for the disbursement of loans to credit institutions by September 2018. MoF said since it did not allow the extension of loan contracts after September 28, PVN had no choice but to find an alternative. PVN said it would be a huge challenge for the company to allocate capital without government guarantee. To solve the crisis, PVN has proposed releasing bonds valued at VNĐ10 trillion to related agencies. More shoppers in Hanoi buy fresh food online An increasing number of consumers are buying fresh food online, according to the Hanoi Department of Industry and Trade. The department said that food, especially fresh food, was previously difficult to market online, but it is picking up now. Most online stores compete with traditional markets by trading organic foods produced in clean processes. In particular, thanks to the development of technology, shop owners can post their product images online directly, enabling both sellers and buyers to interact more quickly. Tran Hoai Thu, a Techcombank staff, started selling food online after buying clean pork at an online store on Facebook. Finding it delicious, she introduced friends to it and ordered for them. When the number of buyers increased, Thu decided to build a trading website to provide clean pork. Selling clean food online can save the cost of rent and involves less capital, flexible time, and cost, therefore, profits can be 15 percent to 30 percent higher. In addition, selling food online is convenient for consumers. "I have heard of a lot of unsafe food, so I am afraid to buy fruits and vegetables, which have no origin in the market. Off late, I have been buying food at supermarkets or online, where the products have a clear origin," said a customer in Hai Ba Trung district. Customer Ngan Anh in Hoang Mai district said that she often buys food online due to her busy working hours and workplace, which is located far away. Food is shipped to her house or office, and therefore, it helps save time.  However, there are still many individuals doing online business through websites and social networking sites without quality and origin licences, posing a risk of unsafe food, affecting the health of consumers. According to Hanoi’s Market Management Department, it found many online food businesses without documents of origins and no assurance of food hygiene and safety. Therefore, consumers should choose to buy clean food at reliable addresses to avoid “spending money and getting worse food.” Dragon fruits dominate Vietnam’s fruit exports Dragon fruits have dominated Vietnamese fruit exports in the first four months of 2018 with total exports reaching 427 million USD, a year-on-year increase of 9 percent. According to the General Department of Vietnam Customs, dragon fruits accounted for 32 percent of the total export value of Vietnamese vegetables and fruits. The export value of dragon fruits was nearly four times higher than the two fruit exports ranked below it – longan, which had an export value of 121 million USD, and mangos, whose export value stood at 104 million USD. Dragon fruit exports also outperformed the vegetables group, which had an export value of 143.8 million USD, and processed products, at 143.6 million USD. Thanks to favourable exports, prices of different variations of dragon fruits in the raw materials sector have remained high since the beginning of the year. The price of white dragon fruits currently stands at about 20,000 VND (0.87 USD) per kg while red dragon fruits are sold for 40,000 VND per kg. In addition to Binh Thuan, called the “dragon fruit capital,” the fruit is now being grown in many southern provinces in Vietnam, specifically Long An and Tien Giang. Aside from dragon fruit, mango exports also made a strong impression by doubling its export value in the first four months of the year compared to the same period last year, reaching 104 million USD and pushing its market share from 5 percent in 2017 to nearly 8 percent from January to April 2018. Mangoes are mainly exported to China, the Republic of Korea, Australia, and Japan. The value of mango exports to the Chinese market during the same period reached 95 million USD, up 119 percent over the same period last year and accounting for 91 percent of Vietnam’s total export turnover of mangoes. According to statistics from the Department of Farm Produce Processing and Market (DFPPM) under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, fruit and vegetable exports from January to May reached 1.62 billion USD, an increase of 16.4 percent against the same period last year. China remains Vietnam’s largest importer of vegetables and fruits. In the first five months of 2018, Vietnam’s total vegetable and fruit import value reached 575 million, a year-on-year increase of 15.3 percent. In order to maintain the export growth of vegetables and fruits and avoid devaluation, the DFPPM said Vietnam’s fruit and vegetable industry must maintain control over quarantine and food hygiene and safety, especially pesticide residues.  In addition to inspecting and speeding up the processing of factories every year, they must coordinate with localities to concentrate on reinforcing the raw materials sector to ensure the quality of raw materials for production and processing for export, the DFPPM said. Soc Trang works to tape coastal economic strengths Bestowed with more than 72 kilometres of coast and three estuaries, the Mekong Delta province of Soc Trang has built a master plan to develop its coastal economy until 2020 with vision until 2030. Per the plan, four coastal localities including Vinh Chau town and Tran De, Long Phu and Cu Lao Dung districts will be zoned off to form a marine economic region, covering 1,182 square kilometres. Its core activity will be to develop seaports for import-export activities. The province is asking for the Prime Minister’s approval to construct a deep-water seaport in the locality and encouraging investors with strong financial capacity to get involved in the project. The province will prioritise connectivity among the seaport system, urban areas, industrial parks and tourism sites along the Hau River, while developing spearhead economic sectors like aquaculture cultivation, sea tourism, energy industry and thermoelectricity. As aquaculture is a major pillar in local economic development, the province will build a pilot irrigational model for specialised shrimp farming in Tran De district and Vinh Chau town. Soc Trang is home to more than 74,000 hectares of aquaculture land, 50,000 hectares of which were set aside for brackished-water shrimp breeding, mostly in coastal areas.  According to Luong Minh Quyet, Director of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, alongside calling for investment in aquaculture breeding, the province will support local businesses in rearranging aquaculture production towards intensive farming, while linking farmers with processing and export companies. Soc Trang province also poses potential to develop clean energy. According to the province’s wind-power development plan, some 37,340 hectares in Tran De district, Cu Lao Dung district and Vinh Chau town will be zoned off for wind-power development. Earlier this year, the Super Wind Energy Cong Ly Soc Trang Joint Stock Company began building a wind farm in Lai Hoa commune, Vinh Chau town. The project has a total capacity of 98 MW and is invested in three phases at a total cost of more than 5.39 trillion VND (237 million USD). The project aims for long-lasting and sustainable benefits, not only contributing to power resources in the Mekong Delta, but more importantly, contributing to the economic restructuring of the region and boosting tourism. Regarding tourism development, the province has joined hands with Con Dao district in Ba Ria-Vung Tau province to operate a speedboat connecting the two localities. In addition, investment has been promoted at many eco-tourism sites like Ho Be-Vinh Chau and Mo O-Tran De. Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Tran Van Chuyen said the province will roll out the red carpet for both domestic and foreign investors who commit to clean, green and sustainable development. Vietnam – India defence industry businesses gather in Hanoi The Indian Embassy in Vietnam together with the General Department of Defence Industry organised the 4th Vietnam – India defence industry business get-together in Hanoi on June 13. In his opening speech, Major General Ho Quang Tuan, deputy head of the Vietnamese department, said the gathering, which takes place during Indian Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s official visit to Vietnam, is an activity to implement the defence cooperation policy agreed between Vietnamese and Indian governments and defence leaders.  It provided a chance to boost mutual understanding and trust for partnership formation between defence businesses of the two nations, while enabling participating units and businesses to access updated information on cooperation contents of their interest and to come up with more suitable orientations and action plans for their joint work. At the event, the two sides discussed a wide range of topic including research collaboration, design – manufacturing, technological transfer, defence goods purchase, and cooperation in defence industry and human resources training. Sixteen companies from India introduced their outstanding research studies in suggestion for bilateral partnerships. Speaking at the gathering, Rajib Kumar Sen, Joint Secretary & Economic Adviser at India’s Department of Defence Production, said Vietnam – India defence ties were built based on their time-honoured traditional relations. Effective joint activities have been carried out by the two defence ministries, he said, adding that the Indian Government attaches importance to the defence industry and has invested heavily in it.  The official expected the event will connect Vietnamese and Indian defence businesses in developing their new cooperation paths. Expositions focus on rubber, paper, coatings, paper ink industries Domestic and foreign firms operating in the fields of rubber, paper, coatings and paper ink are displaying their products at international expositions that synchronously kicked off in Ho Chi Minh City on June 13.  The expositions - Rubber & Tyre Vietnam, Paper Vietnam and Coatings Vietnam 2018 - draw the participation of 250 units from 15 countries and territories worldwide like India, Japan, the Republic of Korea, China, Malaysia, Singapore, the US, Germany, the UK and Vietnam, said Min Shui, a representative of the organising board.  On display are machines, equipment and materials used in the paper, rubber, tyre, coatings and printing ink industries. The events offer an opportunity for businesses to explore new products, services and technologies, while seeking partners.  Rubber & Tyre Vietnam 2018 focuses on machines and technologies in the rubber production sector.  Paper Vietnam 2018 is the only international exposition on the paper and pulp industry in Vietnam.  Meanwhile, Coatings Vietnam 2018 is the most professional expo on the coatings and printing ink industry in the country.  Vo Hoang An, Vice President and Secretary General of the Vietnam Rubber Association, pointed out challenges caused by the integration process to the domestic rubber sector.  Given this, associations have proactively stepped up trade promotion activities under different forms, including trade fairs to introduce new products and technologies, and connect producers and consumers, he said.  K. Srikar Reddy, Indian Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City, said up to 50 Indian businesses are participating in the events to introduce their products and set up partnerships with Vietnamese firms, looking towards the target of advancing the trade venue between the two countries to 15 billion USD in 2020.  Within the framework of the expos, there will be symposiums with the participation of many domestic and foreign experts.  The events will last until June 15. Thai Nguyen ready for investment promotion conference The northern province of Thai Nguyen will host an investment promotion conference in early July 2018 to introduce its potential, strengths and policies to international investors and organisations.  During the event, the province will call for investments in four key fields and in Quyet Thang hi-tech industrial zone; Yen Binh, Song Cong I, Song Cong II industrial zones and industrial clusters.  In agriculture, the province mapped out projects in concentrated tea growing zones, organic agriculture and large-scale paddy fields.  While in tourism, Thai Nguyen will appeal to investors for investment in Nui Coc lake national tourism site, the north of Tam Dao national garden, the western urban area, and Yen Binh hi-tech industrial, agricultural and service complexes.  Director of the provincial Department of Planning and Investment Hoang Thai Cuong said preparations for the event has been basically completed, adding that the province has issued a portfolio of 65 priority projects in need of capital in industrial zones and clusters, agriculture, infrastructure for trade, culture, sports and tourism, transport and urban areas, health care and education.  Thai Nguyen has made a list of qualified investors for five projects worth over 3.4 trillion VND (149.7 million USD), and granted licenses to eight projects valued at more than 1.8 trillion VND (79.3 million USD).  During the conference, the province will sign cooperation agreements with investors on 23 projects worth more than 12.43 trillion VND (547.8 million USD).  Lying at a strategic location in the northern mountainous mid-land region with abundant natural resources and modern infrastructure, the province has 7 out of 9 district-level units offering waive and exemption of land tax and corporate income tax.  Apart from government incentives, the province also supports investors in agricultural and hi-tech projects.  For large-scale projects, the province pledges to work with investors to ask for the government’s permission to adopt preferential policy. Mekong Delta province to shift rice fields to aquaculture The Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang, the country’s largest rice producer, plans to shift 86,625ha of unproductive rice fields to aquaculture and cultivation of other high-value crops from now to 2020. Of the rice fields, 3,420ha will be used to grow perennial trees, 10,492ha for short-term crops, and 72,713ha for rotating shrimp and rice or fish and rice on the same field, according to the province’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. Mai An Nhin, Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, said the conversion of rice fields was being done to suit the ecology of each area. This will increase income for farmers and establish concentrated agricultural and aquaculture areas that meet market demand, he said. The province has instructed agencies to set up detailed plans to convert the rice fields and has also encouraged the establishment of agricultural co-operatives to produce a large quantity of agricultural products and improve profits for farmers. In the 2017-18 winter- spring rice crop, about 150 rice co-operatives signed contracts with 10 companies to grow more than 32,000ha of rice, and were guaranteed outlets.    The province has improved the transfer of advanced techniques to farmers so they can produce high-quality agricultural and aquatic products for export. In the past, Kien Giang specialised in planting only rice, and in recent years, under the encouragement of local authorities, more farmers have rotated shrimp and rice in fields which lack fresh water in the dry season.   The province now has nearly 90,000ha devoted to the shrimp - rice rotation model, the largest area of its kind in the delta. Duong Tuyet Nga, who has rotated farming shrimp and rice in her field in Hon Dat district’s Tho Son commune, said the model had helped her family escape poverty. “Rotating shrimp and rice has a higher profit than planting only rice, so many households have switched to this model,” she said. Under the model, farmers plant rice in the rainy season and breed shrimp in the dry season on the same field. The model offers farmers an average profit of 21 million VND (925 USD) per ha for a rice crop and an average profit of 29 million VND (1,300 USD) per ha for a shrimp crop.   Dao Xuan Nha, head of the Hon Dat District Division of Agriculture and Rural Development, said the model had reduced pollution and disease among shrimp. The province’s shrimp-rice farming model includes one crop of black tiger shrimp and one rice crop a year, and two crops of white-legged shrimp and one rice crop a year. The model produces clean rice and shrimp as farmers use less chemicals and the shrimp eat natural food in the fields. The model is suitable for areas affected by saltwater intrusion in the dry season. The model produces about 300 - 500 kilo of shrimp and four to seven tonnes of rice per ha a year. However, irrigation systems at shrimp-rice farming areas have not been perfected, so saltwater intrusion has entered deep inland. In addition, farmers’ profits from a shrimp crop are much higher than that of a rice crop, so many farmers breed two shrimp crops in their fields and do not grow a rice crop. The province plans to focus on investing in infrastructure and farming techniques for the shrimp-rice farming model and establish a brand name for these areas, according to its Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. The province aims to have 90,000ha devoted to shrimp-rice rotation by 2030. Soc Trang works to tape coastal economic strengths Bestowed with more than 72 kilometres of coast and three estuaries, the Mekong Delta province of Soc Trang has built a master plan to develop its coastal economy until 2020 with vision until 2030. Per the plan, four coastal localities including Vinh Chau town and Tran De, Long Phu and Cu Lao Dung districts will be zoned off to form a marine economic region, covering 1,182 square kilometres. Its core activity will be to develop seaports for import-export activities. The province is asking for the Prime Minister’s approval to construct a deep-water seaport in the locality and encouraging investors with strong financial capacity to get involved in the project. The province will prioritise connectivity among the seaport system, urban areas, industrial parks and tourism sites along the Hau River, while developing spearhead economic sectors like aquaculture cultivation, sea tourism, energy industry and thermoelectricity. As aquaculture is a major pillar in local economic development, the province will build a pilot irrigational model for specialised shrimp farming in Tran De district and Vinh Chau town. Soc Trang is home to more than 74,000 hectares of aquaculture land, 50,000 hectares of which were set aside for brackished-water shrimp breeding, mostly in coastal areas.  According to Luong Minh Quyet, Director of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, alongside calling for investment in aquaculture breeding, the province will support local businesses in rearranging aquaculture production towards intensive farming, while linking farmers with processing and export companies. Soc Trang province also poses potential to develop clean energy. According to the province’s wind-power development plan, some 37,340 hectares in Tran De district, Cu Lao Dung district and Vinh Chau town will be zoned off for wind-power development. Earlier this year, the Super Wind Energy Cong Ly Soc Trang Joint Stock Company began building a wind farm in Lai Hoa commune, Vinh Chau town. The project has a total capacity of 98 MW and is invested in three phases at a total cost of more than 5.39 trillion VND (237 million USD). The project aims for long-lasting and sustainable benefits, not only contributing to power resources in the Mekong Delta, but more importantly, contributing to the economic restructuring of the region and boosting tourism. Regarding tourism development, the province has joined hands with Con Dao district in Ba Ria-Vung Tau province to operate a speedboat connecting the two localities. In addition, investment has been promoted at many eco-tourism sites like Ho Be-Vinh Chau and Mo O-Tran De. Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Tran Van Chuyen said the province will roll out the red carpet for both domestic and foreign investors who commit to clean, green and sustainable development. VNN