BUSINESS IN BRIEF 13/4 VinaWealth launches open-ended fund VinaWealth Fund Management Company JSC has launched the VinaWealth Equity Opportunity Fund (VEOF), under the IPO granted by the Vietnam State Securities Commission on March 14. The VEOF is VinaWealth's second open-ended fund and is focused on equities listed on It is a type of managed mutual fund that is popular in other markets. A mutual fund pools money from many investors into a basket of different instruments, which may include stocks, bonds, valuable papers, and other assets. The fund's scale allows it to diversify the portfolio of assets. This increases the likelihood of generating higher returns while mitigating risks. VEOF is managed by a team and support from the VinaCapital Group, According to Andy Ho, chief investment officer of VinaCapital Group and board member of VinaWealth, "now is a good time to launch an open-ended equities fund. In 2013, the "According to our analysis, "Furthermore, foreign investors continue to show interest in Banks cut rates on capital surplus Many banks have slashed interest rates to below the ceiling level of 6 percent regulated by the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) amid abundant capital. Deposit interest rates listed at the Vietnam Export Import Bank (Eximbank) for the term ranging from one to three months has been cut to 5.7 percent from the previous 6 percent rate. The deposit interest rate for the 4-5 month term has also been slashed to 5.98 percent from 6 percent. Sacombank has also cut the deposit rate for the term of between seven and 11 months. The annual rate of 6.55 percent has been applied to the 7-8 month term, while 6.7 percent has been set for a 9-10 month term and 6.8 percent for the 11-month term. According to the central bank, credit in the first quarter this year rose only 0.01 percent, showing that banks are enjoying a surplus of capital. Despite the abundant capital, interest rates are still above the deposit rate ceiling in some ailing banks, according to the Phap luat TP HCM newspaper. Deputy Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam Nguyen Phuoc Thanh said that the interest rates over the deposit rate ceiling had greatly reduced, showing that in spite of solid liquidity in some aspects of the banking system, it was not a uniform trend. He explained that the liquidity of some ailing banks was so restricted that it was forcing them to try to attract depositors with interest rates above the ceiling rate. Thanh said that the central bank would plan to boost competition in the banking sector by solidifying the banking industry through restructures and weeding out weak banks. In a foreacast on credit sector trends in the second quarter of this year released last week, most credit institutions said deposit and lending rates in Vietnamese dong would continue to decline this year.- Draft The Steering Committee for Hanoi Capital Metropolitan Planning and Construction Investment is seeking opinions from the Government, localities, ministries and branches to complete the Hanoi Capital Metropolitan Construction Planning to 2030, with a vision to 2050, according to the Vietnam Business Forum. The Steering Committee recently met with central agencies to assess the draft to the Hanoi Metropolitan Region Construction Planning. Accordingly, The expanded metropolitan construction planning, according to Decision 1758/QD-TTg of the Prime Minister, covers nine provinces and original To complete the scheme, the consultant - Urban and Rural Planning Institute - has worked with nine provinces and Under the draft planning, by 2050, the metropolitan region will be an integrated multi-polar megalopolis with development driving complexes like the high-tech training, research and development centre, the industrial development centre (Thai Nguyen), industrial - service - ICD - logistic development centre (Bac Giang and Bac Ninh), and the human resources training centre. The new triangle will be formed by Remarking on the consultant’s orientation to Ring Road 5, Transport Deputy Minister Nguyen Hong Truong said that the direction towards the south of Phu Ly is more appropriate as it helps expand the space of the metropolitan region. He added that Ring Road 5 should not go further than Tam Dao Tunnel since it is related to conservation areas, national defence, security and high cost. Representatives of many localities suggested that the scheme need regular industry and sub-region planning updates to make necessary changes to suit actual situations. A representative from Vinh Phuc province said that, according to the overall planning of Vinh Phuc province, the area of industrial parks is 7,000 ha but the metropolitan region plans only 6,000 ha. Thus, the consultant necessarily takes a review and points out the area and location of industrial zones to be shrunk. Nguyen Van Khoi, Vice Chairman of Hanoi People’s Committee, said the consultant needs to update and assess the current state of socio-economic development of To this point, the metropolitan region planning has been going for five years. Therefore, it is very essential to assess what has been done to draw experience. With respect to financial and investment resources, the Ministry of Finance asked the consultant to make this matter clearer in order to help localities with a legal basis for implementation and study investment roadmap and phasing because this is a long-term planning. Conference discusses cooperation with French locality Bright prospects are visible in the Vietnam-France cooperation in general and between Addressing the event, Deputy Mayor Christophe Bouchet said that his city sees great opportunities for cooperation with The French city has increased activities to step up the bilateral cooperation, hoping He also noted that cultural exchange activities between the two sides have been boosted through photo exhibitions, film screening programmes, and Vietnamese art troupes’ programmes in Ambassador Duong Tri Dung briefed participants on the development of bilateral cooperation between the two countries, especially economy, noting that two-way trade reached 3.5 billion EUR (4.86 billion USD) last year. He also highlighted the two countries’ great potential of economic cooperation, and encouraged businesses in Indre et Loire department to invest in The conference also heard a report presented by commercial counsellor of the Vietnamese Embassy in France Nguyen Canh Cuong, focusing on investment opportunities and the country’s promising fields, including garment and textile, footwear, aquatic products, machinery and infrastructure. In another move, Chairman of the Touraine-Vietnam Friendship Association Jean-Jacques Rousselle introduced the 2014 Vietnamese Spring in Ambassador Dung thanked the association for its contributions to the Vietnam Year in The Japanese Government has said it will increase its support to improve the investment climate of Southeast Asian countries by helping them perfect their legal systems and management of business activities, according the Nikkei newspaper. This year, "Buy Vietnamese Goods" receives warm welcome in Lao Cai Launched 3 years ago, the "Buy Vietnamese Goods" campaign in the According to Lao Cai’s provincial Steering Committee on the Buy Vietnamese Goods campaign, the provincial Department of Industry and Trade, and the Investment and Trade Promotion Centre have coordinated with the local media agencies to advertise the campaign. In addition, Lao Cai province also instructed and assisted 35 enterprises to label their products. The local businesses have actively responded to the campaign in various forms such as adopting scientific and technological applications to improve product quality, saving costs and reducing prices in a bid to increase competitiveness. Distributors and supermarkets in Lao Cai have also enhanced sale promotion activities and commercial programmes to attract consumers' attention to their locally made products. In addition, collaboration between Lao Cai and other provinces like The programme attracted 35 enterprises with 60 booths such as shoes, clothing, ceramics, handicrafts and food. The total number of customers visiting these booths climbed up to over 20,000, lifting sales revenues to over 1.5 billion VND. To stabilise the market and protect consumer interests, Lao Cai’s Department of Industry and Trade coordinated with market management forces to tighten market control over contraband or fake goods. After more than three years of the campaign, Lao Cai’s market management forces have tackled 436 violations with total value of more than 500 million VND. The campaign has changed consumer awareness and behaviour towards Vietnamese goods while improving the awareness of the domestic business community about the importance of the local market. Many local producers have continually improved quality and designs, reduced prices and developed brands to raise competitiveness in the market like Lao Cai Pharmaceutical Company and Apatit Vietnam Company. The campaign also contributed to boosting production and easing the country’s economic slowdown in general. Until now, according to statistics of the Lao Cai’s provincial Buy Vietnamese Goods Steering Committee, locally made textile and garment, clothes, footwear, automobiles, motorcycles and electronic equipment have accounted for 60 percent of all commodities of those kinds in the province while toys and learning tools for kids have accounted for 70 percent, office stationary accounted for over 72 percent and drugs and medical service accounted for over 63 percent. Apart from positive results, the campaign is still facing a lot of challenges as Lao Cai is a border province and Vietnamese goods here have to compete fiercely with smuggled, fake or imported products from Therefore, according to Lao Cai’s Department of Industry and Trade, the province will continue introduing the campaign to all villages and districts in the area, raising local people's awareness on the quality of Vietnamese goods and services. Dong Nai determined to create sound investment climate The southern The province now has 1,080 valid projects valued at more than 20 billion USD after 25 years of FDI attraction. Although the number of FDI enterprises accounts for one tenth of all businesses operating in the province, foreign-invested firms have contributed 92 percent to the locality’s volume of exports, generating jobs for over 450,000 labourers. However, the province still has around 10 green-field (FDI) projects that have not been implemented after more than a year since receiving investment licences, said Mai Van Nhon, deputy head of the provincial management board overseeing industrial parks (IPs). To date, the province has also seen 47 FDI projects valued at more than 100 million USD in total, abandoned by their investors. Most of the projects were in debt to their partners, local commercial banks and labourers, causing negative impacts on the province’s investment environment. Since the 1990s, it has withdrawn investment permits granted to 186 FDI projects with a total investment capital of nearly 1.3 billion USD. Nhon said the majority of the projects whose investment licences were revoked by the province are small-scale, adding that this is one of the measures to improve the local investment climate. He added that the management board has worked with relevant agencies to handle the assets and land rented by 17 FDI projects abandoned, withdrawing their investment permits. The province is also considering other measures to tackle the remaining abandoned FDI projects. By attracting FDI in a selective manner, the province has drawn a number of projects in high technology and support industry, like Pegasus-Shimamoto Auto Parts Vietnam Co., Ltd, Fuji Vietnam Co., Ltd, and Inoue Rubber Vietnam JSC. To fulfil this year’s target of attracting around 900 million USD in FDI, Dong Nai promulgated many investment incentives. Particularly, newly foreign-invested projects and those with additional investment will be exempted from corporate income tax in the first two years of operation and get a 50 percent reduction in the four subsequent years, while the common tax rate imposed on investment projects in local IPs will drop to 22 percent from 25 percent. In addition, the province has established an office to directly support foreign investors and provided small and medium-sized FDI enterprises with special assistance related to investment licences. Nhon also affirmed that Dong Nai has completed the construction of infrastructure in IPs and will give priority to high-tech, environmentally friendly projects and those in the fields of services and infrastructure investment. Mexico looks to import seafood from An Giang A delegation of Mexican businesses made a fact-finding visit to the Mekong Delta The delegation inspected the farming and processing of the fish and learned about An Giang’s export directions, aiming to import tra fillets and fast food. Alex Orozco, an executive of Mirpac Norte Fish products, especially tra/basa fillets, and rice are key exports of An Giang at present. The province farms about 300,000 tonnes of tra fish every year while 17 of its businesses ship aquatic products to nearly 100 countries and territories worldwide. According to the provincial Department of Industry and Trade, An Giang gained 93.5 million USD from exporting 38,600 tonnes of frozen seafood in the first quarter of 2014, up 10 percent in value and 5 percent in volume from a year before. Quang Ngai calls for more investment in industrial zone Quang Ngai, the central province in During an online dialogue with the Cong thuong newspaper regarding the development of the industrial sector in Quang Ngai held in Hanoi on April 8, Pham Nhu So, the vice chairman of the People's Committee of Quang Ngai province and the head of the management board at Dung Quat Economic Zone, noted that after 15 years of development, the Dung Quat Economic Zone has promoted economic development in the province and is considered one of the most successful and swiftly developing economic zones in Vietnam. The economic zone has attracted 113 projects with a total registered capital of 8.5 billion USD and disbursed capital worth 5 billion USD for 73 projects operating in the zone. The first heavy industrial centre of Last year, the total value of industrial output and commercial services in the Dung Quat Economic Zone reached 130 trillion VND (6.19 million USD). Therefore, the province has invested heavily into infrastructure at industrial zones and economic zones and has targeted to achieve a growth rate of 17-18 percent each year in the industrial sector by 2015, So remarked. Quang Ngai plans to expand some existing economic zones to attract 5 billion USD more in investment capital to the industrial zone, he added. The province has hired a Japanese consulting company to review a plan of the Dung Quat 2 deep-water port to further develop its industrial sector. A Singaporean group has conducted an investment study in the province in order to build an electric project with a total investment of 2 billion USD and a Japanese investor also has a plan for building a steel factory, So added. Tran Dinh Thien, the director of Vietnam Economic Institute, stressed that Quang Ngai is one of the most attractive places for investment in the central region. According to the provincial competitive index (PCI) in The Quang Ngai province has the advantage of having deep-water ports, attractive investment incentives, and has restructured its economy to attract more investment, Thien claimed. Ryuhang Ha, the general director of Doosan Vina Company, emphasised that the company has chosen the Dung Quat Economic Zone to develop its project of producing heavy industrial equipment for the sector of electricity, water, and chemical treatment, since the zone offers favourable conditions in providing services related to deep-water ports that the company needs. Dung Quat offers fast site clearances and investment incentives for enterprises, including corporate tax and individual tax, he reported. Vu Quang Vinh, the senior marketing director of Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park (VSIP), stated that VSIP has invested in Quang Ngai for developing an industrial park because the province is an ideal place for manufacturing products for the markets in north and Nguyen Manh Quan, the head of the heavy industrial department of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, remarked that Quang Ngai has a geographical disadvantage, but its heavy industrial sector has developed and has large projects because the province has created conducive conditions in infrastructure, policies, and administrative procedures. As the nation’s key rice producer, the Mekong Delta has been tasked with ensuring the country’s food security, according to the Southwestern Steering Committee. From now to 2030, the region is growing rice on an area of 1.8 million ha, more than half of which is for export. It is also striving to maintain an annual output of 24-25 million tonnes of rice. Coastal provinces in particular will apply a model that combines rice cultivation and fish and shrimp breeding on an area of 200,000 ha in the future. They plan to use more than 110,000 ha of land for growing maize and soya bean to supply materials for the domestic processing industry. Local authorities and scientific agencies have worked together to create new high yielding varieties that are able to adapt to climate change and are disease resistant. They have also promoted the mechanisation of farm work, popularised sustainable farming techniques, and expanded areas for clean rice, altogether to cater for the increasing demand on local consumption and export. From 2015 onwards, the region plans to multiply cultivation under the Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) standards to achieve at least 40 percent clean rice, as well as reform technology to generate high returns from processed rice products. According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, total rice consumption will be increased to 35 million tonnes by 2020 and 37 million tonnes by 2030 as the nation’s population is estimated to rise to 100 million and 110 million respectively. The Mekong Delta region comprises of 12 provinces and a centrally-run city with a total area of 40,000 square kilometres and a population of 18 million.- Rubber group opens new representative office in Laos The Vietnam Rubber Industries Group (VRG) has inaugurated its new representative office in Addressing the launching and licence granting ceremony on April 10 in Tran Ngoc Thuan, VRG General Director, thanked the Party, State and people of Laos for supporting the firm’s investment in the country, contributing to speeding up poverty reduction in Laos, upgrading the infrastructure system and improving the living conditions for locals in the group’s project sites. He tasked the office to well perform its role as the face of a major Vietnamese state-run group in the host country, helping consolidate the special relations and comprehensive partnership between FDI to increase despite sharp decline in first quarter Foreign direct investment (FDI) in According to the latest statistics from the Foreign Investment Department under the Ministry of Planning and Investment, The investment capital comes from 252 new projects with total registered capital of 2.046 billion USD (accounting for 64.1 percent of what a year ago) and 82 ongoing projects which increased their capital by 1.287 billion USD (39.3 percent). The Foreign Investment Department said that the decline in FDI in the first quarter of this year was because Vietnam gave investment licences to several very large projects in the first quarter of last year such as the Samsung Electronics Vietnam Thai Nguyen Co. Ltd.’s 2 billion USD project and the Nghi Son Oil Refinery Co., Ltd.’s project in the Nghi Son Economic Zone in Thanh Hoa Province which increased its capital by 2.8 billion USD. However, Specifically, the largest FDI projects registered in the first three months of this year have investment capital of just over 200 million USD each. For example, the Canadian-invested Hai Duong-based Dai An Vietnam-Canada International Hospital Co. Ltd. project has capital of 225 million USD. The Japanese-invested Binh Duong-based Wonderful Saigon Electrics Co. Ltd. project has increased its investment capital by 210 USD million manufacturing and assembling semiconductor equipment. The Hong Kong-China-invested project to build apartments and shopping facilities in Ward 22, Binh Thanh district, Although FDI in the first quarter of this year fell sharply from the same period last year, Foreign Investment Business Association Deputy Chairman Nguyen Van Toan said that the decline did not reveal anything as businesses were busy making financial reports in the first quarter of the year and would really begin strong investment in the second quarter. FDI projects disbursed 2.85 billion USD in the first quarter of this year, a 5.6 percent increase from a year ago. Foreign businesses have invested in 15 areas in the country. Of these, the processing and manufacturing sector has received the largest amount of new and supplementary capital (2.332 billion USD) accounting for 69.9 percent of total FDI registered capital. International organisations also said that the Vietnamese investment environment had obviously improved and that foreign investors had increased their confidence in the Vietnamese investment environment. A recent report from the Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) indicated that 70 percent of Japanese businesses which were operating in Similarly, the European Chamber of Commerce’s 14th survey of European businesses in Vietnam, regarding the business competitiveness index (BCI) in the first quarter of this year, showed that European business confidence in the Vietnamese investment environment increased by nine points to 59 points against the last quarter of last year. The survey revealed that 78 percent of European businesses in In this light, the sharp decline in FDI in the first quarter of this year does not mean that FDI in Foreigners interested in listed firms in Vietnam International investment funds and financial institutions expressed strong interest in Vietnamese listed enterprises introduced at the Invest ASEAN 2014 Conference in Maybank Kim Eng under Maybank Group, the organizer of the two-day conference, said seven Vietnamese listed firms took part in the event. The companies are active in the fields of real estate, insurance, seaport, logistics, pharmaceutical and construction. The number of Vietnamese companies was fewer than those from Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia, but more foreign investors registered to meet the participating Vietnamese firms, indicating that Vietnam has drawn much attention from foreign investors. A representative of Bao Viet Holdings said over 30 investors and organizations had signed up for working sessions with the firm to sound out investment opportunities. They included France’s BNP Paribas, Notably, investors paid attention to Nguyen Vinh Tran, general director of Nam Long Investment Joint Stock Company, said over 20 foreign companies and organizations wanted to meet Nam Long, including Fullerton Fund Management, Everest Capital Pte Ltd, Hansabay Pte Ltd, Nikko Asset Management Asia Ltd, NTAsset and Atlantis Investment Pte Ltd. Nam Long has participated in many similar international conferences but this event is different as investors there show strong interest in Nam Long. The reason may be that Nam Long successfully raised funds from six organizations and enterprises last year, including three foreign organizations – International Finance Corporation (IFC), Switf Current Offshore Ltd and Switf Current Partners L.T, Tran said. On the other hand, the local real estate market holds larger growth potential than in regional countries such as Joining the event is a preparatory step of Nam Long to raise capital for an urban development project in Long An Province, in which Nam Long has invested over VND1.2 trillion. The firm plans to develop the project this year with US$50 million estimated for the first phase, Tran added. Bui Thi Thu Huong, finance director of Gemadept Corporation, said the firm is seeking strategic partners because Gemedept is active in seaport, forestation and real estate sectors. At the conference, over 20 financial institutions and investment funds expressed interest in the company. Four other Vietnamese firms joining the conference were Cotec Construction, DHG Pharmaceutical, Hoang Anh Gia Lai and Vingroup. Investors and economic experts at the conference pointed out strong points of Ministry urged to speed up progress on 60W bulb ban Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai has ordered the Ministry of Industry and Trade to evaluate the progress of implementing a government policy aimed at restricting and banning the use, importation, and manufacture of old-style 60-watt incandescent bulbs in the country apparently because it has been behind schedule. In 2011, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung approved a list of electronic devices and appliances that should be labeled “energy consuming,” in his Directive No.51/2011 released on September 12. The directive was issued following a suggestion by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, which had proposed to enact measures to implement the law on economical and efficient energy consumption, according to news website Dan Tri. The 60-watt bulb was then included in the list and was expected to be completely banned by the end of last year, the newswire said, citing the fiat. But the plan has apparently failed to meet schedule, prompting the Deputy Prime Minister to ask the ministry to evaluate its implementation of the directive. “The ministry has to propose a roadmap to first limit, and later prohibit, the production and distribution of incandescent bulbs,” the deputy premier said in a statement released by the Government Office on Tuesday. Governments around the world have passed measures to phase out incandescent light bulbs for general lighting in favor of more energy-efficient lighting alternatives. Among them are A ban on incandescent light bulbs in the Consumers can choose from several more energy-efficient options, including halogen, LED and CFL bulbs, which consume less energy compared with traditional incandescent ones and thus result in smaller utility bills, the newspaper said, citing experts. HSBC: Production improves for 7th straight month The HSBC Vietnam Manufacturing PMI rose to 51.3 in March compared to 51 in the previous month as a sign of improvement in overall business. The index pointed to a seventh consecutive monthly improvement in operating conditions in the manufacturing economy. In a report released on April 1, the bank said growth in the Vietnamese manufacturing sector regained momentum at the end of the first quarter of 2014. Both output and new orders increased at faster rates than the previous month and new export orders returned to growth. However, employment decreased for the first time since June 2013. Meanwhile, the rate of cost inflation slowed and firms lowered their selling prices marginally, the bank said in the report. Growth of new orders led manufacturing firms to increase production for the sixth month running. Moreover, the rate of expansion quickened from that in the previous month. Increased output requirements led manufacturers to raise their purchasing activity. Input buying grew for the seventh successive month and at a solid pace, which was only slightly weaker than the series record seen in January. Despite this, stocks of purchases continued to fall marginally as inputs were consumed in the production process, HSBC said. Employment at the Vietnamese manufacturing firms decreased in March, ending a seven-month sequence of job creation. But, the rate of job cuts was only slight. Panelists indicated that the main reason for the fall in staffing levels was that employees had left in order to find jobs elsewhere, the bank said. Meanwhile, the rate of input cost inflation slowed for the third consecutive month and was weaker than the series average. Although shortages of some raw materials had led suppliers to raise prices, falls in commodity prices in world markets had reportedly been behind slowing inflation. Despite the continued rise in input costs, manufacturers lowered their output prices marginally amid reports of strong competitive pressures. Trinh Nguyen, Asia economist at HSBC, said the rise of output for the manufacturing sector reflects “We expect the manufacturing sector to continue to benefit from rising foreign investment into manufacturing, slowing input costs and improved Western demand,” she said. Suppliers’ delivery times were broadly unchanged. Where an improvement in vendor performance was recorded, this was linked to requests from firms for faster deliveries. On the other hand, material shortages had led to delays in some cases. New VAT rule makes life hard for business start-ups Newly-registered enterprises are struggling with a new rule on value added tax (VAT) as it requires them to have assets worth more than VND1 billion (US$47,440) to enjoy VAT deductions or else they will have to pay the full tax rate. They said the rule, which was issued by the Ministry of Finance in December last year and came into force on January 1 this year, will lead their products prices to climb and erode their competitiveness. The director of a wooden furniture firm specializing which was set up in January said the rule makes it hard for his company to sell products. He explained that if his firm cannot fulfill the requirement of having VND1 billion worth of assets, it will have to pay the full VAT for its inputs, which will result in its production costs surging. The tax will make business start-ups less competitive on both domestic and export markets than those enjoying a lower VAT, he said. Pham Ngoc Hung, vice chairman of the HCMC Union of Business Associations, told the Daily that many enterprises are asking the association for help to deal with the new VAT regulation. Hung said the new regulation on VAT of the Finance Ministry is unworkable since business start-ups in the services sector do not need huge investments. The requirement is not fit for processing enterprises as many of them do the outsourcing for their customers, he said. Although the new ministry’s new rule is designed to thwart the illegal trading of VAT receipts, Hung said, the tax authority should find ways to tackle those dishonest and fraudulent firms, instead of all enterprises. Foreign engineering firms keen to explore local market Foreign engineering companies have expressed their keen interest in expanding to Speaking at the opening on April 1 of the three-day International Precision Engineering, Machine Tools and Metalworking Exhibition and Conference (MTA) in Switzerland-based Bystronic which specializes in laser and water jet cutting machines is also participating in the exhibition. Philip BC Loh, managing director of Bystronic for Loh said the company was considering building a factory in Takahito Otsu of Mazak “So, the demand for precision engineering equipment is very high,” he said. Mazak now has factories in Sixteen companies from the Companies of the “We can provide equipment and technology for Realty firm wants clear guidance for social housing projects Local real estate developer Hoang Quan has listed a lack of guiding documents as one of the hindrances to investment and sales in social housing projects. The concern was raised by Truong Anh Tuan, chief executive officer of the HCMC-based corporation at a meeting on Monday with deputies of the National Assembly and representatives of the Ministry of Construction and the HCMC People’s Committee. Tuan said the ministry has yet to issue a circular guiding the implementation of Government Decree 188/2013/ND-CP that regulates the development and management of social housing projects in the nation. The decree, effective from January 10 this year, has replaced all the provisions on social housing development in Decree 71 which was issued in 2009. It also repeals a series of previously-issued decisions and policies regarding construction of houses for low-income earners in urban areas. This makes realty companies confused when they develop low-cost social housing. Tuan suggested the ministry soon issue guidelines on appendixes and forms which the authorities can use to confirm the home ownership state of those eligible to benefit from social housing projects. Tuan said 300 customers have signed up for buying apartments of A loan of VND540 billion from the Government’s VND30-trillion home loan program has been approved for Hoang Quan and VND186 billion of which has been disbursed for this corporation. The low-interest lending program was launched in June last year to help the property market and participating banks in HCMC had disbursed around VND300 billion by mid-March. Corporate and individual investors can enjoy an annual interest rate of 5%, much lower than the commercial rates applied by banks. By then, 584 applicants had registered to benefit from the program but disbursement had been slow due to complicated procedures, especially for corporate borrowers. Nguyen Viet Manh, director of the State Bank of Policies fish for fresh cash sources The state will renew policies related to domestic and foreign investment in the local fishery industry because of inefficiency in attracting investment to the industry at present. This was stated by officials of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD). According to the MARD, by the end of 2013, Chu Tien Vinh, former deputy director of Fisheries Department under the MARD, said high risk and unattractive investment incentives had made domestic and foreign investors shy away from investing in the local fishery industry, reported Dau tu (Investment Review) newspaper. Investors had made minor investments in the seafood trade segment and in feed for the industry, while the industry had mainly state investment, he said. However, the state investment in the industry had also not met the industry's demand, he added. During the period of 2006-10, the investment to the fishery industry accounted for 3 per cent of the total investment in the agricultural sector. The MARD has increased the investment to 7 per cent for the period 2011-15 but it is still low. The MARD expects to increase the investment in fisheries to 10 per cent of the total investment in the agricultural sector for the period of 2016-20. Nguyen Thi Hong, head of the MARD's Planning Department, said in the future the structure of investment to the fishery industry would be restructured in the direction of cutting investment from the state budget and increasing investment from preferential credit, policies on calling private and FDI capital, and public-private partnership (PPP) projects. The department has cooperated with large foreign corporations, including Metro Cash and Carry Viet Nam, Cargill and Fresh Studio, for implementing PPP projects in the fishery industry and has gained positive results. Deputy Minister of agriculture and rural development Vu Van Tam said the ministry would review plans of fish ports across the nation to adjust and add investment policies for submitting to the Prime Minister in the coming time. The ministry would also act as an advisor to the government and provinces to set up specific plans for developing large fish centres in Hai Phong, Meanwhile, the fishery industry will also change structure of investment to give priority in capital for infrastructure, logistics service, large regions of developing fisheries and fisheries varieties of the industry. The industry will focus on intensive production, application of hi-tech for it and cooperation in production and business. Do Thu Trang, from general research division under the Planning and Investment's Development Strategic Institute, said the provinces with a developed fishery industry should have long-term plans to attract investment to the industry and cooperate in promoting investment among regions. Source: VEF/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/Dantri/VIR |
↧
Article 6
↧
Article 5
VietinBank to take over PG Bank Petrolimex Group Commercial Joint Stock Bank (PG Bank), owned by
PG Bank's board of directors found VietinBank to be the most suitable partner for the plan. The two banks will swap shares but keep their current organisation structures and names so that PG Bank will become VietinBank's affiliate. PG Bank will ask its shareholders to allow VietinBank to issue more shares before carrying out the share-swapping plan. Afterwards, Vietinbank will own a 99% share at PG Bank. It is expected that around 0.82 of a share of PG Bank will be equal to one share of VietinBank. According to PG Bank, the plan is in accordance with government's master plan for the restructuring After the takeover, Petrolimex's shares in PG Bank will be reduced to 20% by 2015. If PG Bank shareholders approve, the plan will be submitted to the authorities and then to its general meeting of shareholders for final decisions. Along with the restructuring plan, PG Bank also submitted its operation plan for 2014, in which total outstanding loans are expected to be allowed to rise by 6%. PG Bank's goal for revenue is five times higher than last year, and they hope to reduce the bad debt rate to 3%. They sold VND752 billion of bad debt to Vietnam Assets Management Company (VAMC) and dealt with another VND629 billion. By Nguyen Hien, dtinews.vn |
↧
↧
Article 4
Red-headed cranes leave Most of the members of the red-headed crane flock have left  Dr. Tran Triet. This information has been released by Dr Tran Triet, Coordinator of the South East Asia Program of the International Crane Foundation (ICF), who stressed that the number amounts to just 5 percent of the total cranes “residing” in both Vietnam and Cambodia In late March 2014, ICF conducted a survey on red-headed cranes in The latest calculation is disappointing: there are 21 cranes in Dong Thap, 19 in Kien Giang and four in Long An provinces. Triet, who keeps watch over the crane population, notes that the number of cranes dropped dramatically in this year’s survey, to its 14-year deepest low. The problem is that most cranes have decided to stay in Triet affirmed that humans are the proximate cause of the disappearance of the cranes. The wetlands, their favored habitat, have been encroached upon by humans. In what little is left, the cranes no longer feel safe. In the Ha Tien area of Similarly, a large protective forest, covering an area of over 3,000 hectares, once thrived in the Hon Chong District of Kien Giang Province, providing sanctuary to cranes. That has been completely eliminated, with the land now being exploited for shrimp hatcheries. The 5,000 hectare protective forest in the Lung Lon area of Kien Luong District has also been overtaken by humans, mostly turned into rice fields. And the surrounding area around Lung Lon, once the “residential quarter” of cranes, has turned into a brown coal exploitation site. And the grasslands in Phu My have also suffered. This despite the fact that ICF, in coordination with the local authorities, has been running a project on crane conservation over the last 10 years. Humans have driven the cranes away to use the land for rice fields. The project’s board of management only has the authority to offer technical support, while it is not in a position to prevent farmers from engaging in practices which harm the crane population. The Prime Minister in January decided to develop Phu My into a sanctuary, which means that the area will be put under strict control. However, the area has already been devastated by local people, well before the administrative procedures to officially make Phu My a sanctuary have been put in place. Mai Chi, |
↧
Article 3
|
 |
60 years after the landslide victory, Dien Bien province has seen rapid development in all aspects. |
Son said the most important highlights in the sequence of activities to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the historic victory are a special art performance on May 6; the national march and parade on the morning of May 7 at Dien Bien Stadium, and a firework display to be staged at the provincial Culture Conference Centre.
These activities will be broadcast live on both radio and television, he added.
Earlier from March 13-15, Dien Bien successfully organized Dien Bien Culture and Tourism Week, attracting a large number of tourists and ethnic minority people.
For construction projects welcoming the 60th anniversary of the Dien Bien Phu victory, provincial leaders have provided guidance and urged investors to accelerate the progress of construction and ensure the project quality for timely completion for anniversary celebrations.
Among these projects, the Dien Bien Phu victory museum project is seen as the most important work for the landmark anniversary.
 |
"The work shows gratitude of future generations for the heroic martyrs who laid down their lives for national independence and freedom. With that sense, we are striving to complete the project on schedule to serve visitors at home and abroad ", the provincial chairman said.
Along with that, Dien Bien has called on all provinces and cities from across the country to support it in communication activities and the province has received a positive response and support of provinces and cities nationwide.
Along with that, Dien Bien has called on all provinces and cities from across the country to support it in communication activities and the province has received a positive response and support of provinces and cities nationwide.
To support the media agencies’ activities during the anniversary celebration period, the provincial People’s Committee has decided to establish a press centre aiming to facilitate dissemination of information about the important event.
Through these centres the Vietnamese and people of the world can obtain a heightened awareness about the value of the Dien Bien Phu victory as an omnipresent symbol of the overall success of all peace-loving people, Chairman Son said.
VOV
↧
Article 2
Irishman, Vietnamese reunited 21 yrs after crossing Pacific on bamboo raft  The reunion of former sailor Luong Viet Loi (1st left), Irish explorer Tim Severin (center), and Vietnamese translator Do Thai Binh at Binh's house in  Vietnamese translator Do Thai Binh (1st left), Irish explorer Tim Severin (center), and former sailor Luong Viet Loi look at photos depicting the process of making their bamboo raft in Sam Son Town, located in central Vietnam, 21 years ago at Binh's house in Ho Chi Minh City. Picture taken April 2, 2014. Thoai Tran  Luong Viet Loi (L) and Tim Severin take a look at a map showing the itinerary of their journey across 5,500 miles of the An Irish explorer has just been reunited with the Vietnamese sailor with whom he traveled 5,500 miles on a Vietnamese-made bamboo raft across the A three-hour talk early this month between Tim Severin, 74, and Luong Viet Loi, 56, conjured memories of the 105-day sea trip in 1993 when the two men sailed with five other sailors through the vast ocean on a raft made of Vietnamese bamboo and rattan ropes. After leaving They made several stops, including those in The seamen, led by Severin, were just short of their goal to make it to Severin looked younger than expected during his meeting with Loi in He conducted nine expeditions throughout every continent from 1961 to 1999, when he was 59 years old. The Irishman strode down cruise ship Crystal Symphony on a sweltering afternoon in the southern city in 36-37 degree-Celsius heat wearing a gray shirt, black trousers, a gray baseball cap, and a pair of rubber-soled brown shoes. The cruise ship, accommodating about 1,000 passengers, arrived at "This is the second time I have visited Severin dropped by The two also wanted to organize an event to introduce the Vietnamese version of Severin’s book to local readers but they could not do it eventually. The translation, "Bè tre Việt Severin gave his book that title because he originally wanted to set off from But the explorer failed to find a bamboo raft in The Irishman took his advice and went to the Southeast Asian country to seek someone who could build and steer the bamboo raft safely throughout the His eyes glittered as he recalled his time living in the coastal town to build the bamboo raft in preparation for his historic journey across the Pacific. Severin supervised the building of the raft in Sam Son from December 1992 to March 1993 during which the number of builders ranged from 20 to 100, depending on which section they were working on. “The Vietnamese I worked with were very intelligent, diligent, and passionate. Once they had determined to do something, they would spare all efforts for their goal regardless of any hardships,” he told the reporters about the process of making the bamboo raft. He never knew he would be reunited with Loi, his sailor 21 years ago. Thoai Tran - Binh Minh,Tuoitrenews |
↧
↧
Article 1
Social News Headlines 13/4 Doctors to examine killer skin disease As many of 300 reports on dermatology and venereology, including 60 reports from Steven Chow, secretary general of "This RCD has been held the first time by "Trainees and dermatologists will take advantage of this special opportunity to attend various teaching courses and workshops at the conference," he said. Chairman of Viet Nam Society of Dermatology and Venereology, Associate Professor Tran Hau Khang told a press conference the same day that the biennial conference would attract more than 1,000 doctors from 30 countries. "It's the biggest opportunity for local doctors and experts to share experience, knowledge and studies of scientists and dermatologists from all over the world, as well as plastic surgery and laser therapies on preventing skin ageing," Khang said. Of the 60 reports to be presented by Vietnamese dermatologists, two reports will focus on a particular skin disease, similar to dermatitis, that affects the palms and soles of the feet. The condition was fatal for 24 people out of a sample of 240 infected with the disease after it first appeared in Ba To District of Quang Ngai Province in 2011, Khang said. A resident was diagnosed with the condition last month, following no outbreaks of the disease for 11 months. Local and foreign experts, including those from the World Health Organisation, have yet to find the cause of the disease or devise an effective treatment method, which has been mostly found to have infected residents of Ba To District. Khang said local doctors have been in discussions with experts from the He also said "Leprosy has been controlled in 51 provinces and cities. We'll up efforts to eliminate the disease in the remaining 12 provinces from now to 2015," said Khang, who is also the director of Viet Nam National Hospital of Dermatology and Venereology. "The country has seen increasingly fungi-related dermatitis and infections, which result from environmental pollution and unhygienic living conditions, as well as sexually transmitted diseases (STD)," he said. The conference organisers also said the event was incorporated with the 6th Annual Meeting of the AADV, focusing on best practices in clinical and cosmetic dermatology. The conference wraps up this Saturday. Acute water shortage for hundreds of households Hundreds of households in the Hoi Trung resettlement area in Ha Tinh Province have been facing serious shortages of clean water as the water in the area is heavily contaminated. Nguyen Quoc Le, a resident of Nguyen Thi Dieu, a resident in Kim Tho Village, said whatever they use to contain water turns black after a few days. "I clean these cups every day but they still look dirty," she said. Her son-in-law has to get clean water from elsewhere when he goes on business trips once a week. Several households are more lucky, as the water in their area is not contaminated. People from other neighbourhoods come and ask for clean water. However, these households are also worried because the clean water pumps have become unstable. One local said, "Over the last three months, the pump has been giving out less water than before. I had to spend money in order to bring in water from the stream even though I know it's where buffaloes bathe." Authorities have tried to use disinfectants but this proved to be ineffective; meanwhile 137 have moved to the Hoi Trung resettlement area giving land to Ngan Tuoi-Cam Trang irrigation project. About 138 wells were dug, yet two thirds of them cannot be used. According to the chairman of Huong Quang Commune People's Committee, 51 wells are now contaminated and several others have already dried up. Test results showed that iron levels are 26 times higher than what is considered acceptable. Tran Ngoc Hung, deputy head of the site clearance team for Ngan Tuoi-Cam Trang irrigation project said, "We conducted surveys on the water sources. Our consultants provided four solutions but we chose to drill wells at the people's request." Hung said that the problem can be solved if the water is left sitting outdoors for two hours, but he did not know the reason for the contamination. "We are seeking permission from the authourities to give financial support for the people to build water tanks. In the future, they will use water from the reservoir." Student arrested for blackmail through fan pages A student in Nguyen Van Tien, now a fifth year student of the Hanoi University of Technology, is from the According to the initial investigation, on August 30, 2013, Tien used his Facebook account to create a number of different fan pages using the logos of the agencies and companies in question. He also published his mobile phone number on the pages so that the firms and agencies could contact him to buy the fan page domains at prices ranging from VND100,000 (USD4.76) to VND1 million (USD476). However, after receiving no offers Tien started to commit libel in order to put pressure on the companies to buy his pages. Besides Dantri/DTiNews, many other organisations, such as Hoa Phat Group, Vingroup, Oceanbank, Vinacafe and PetroVietnam have become victims to the scheme. An official from the “He hoped that some companies would not understand the technical side and would spend the money to get rid of the problem,” the official added. Old downtown market to relocate next year A 40-year-old market in the heart of HCMC will relocate next year, instead of this year as earlier planned. Authorities of District 1 and Ben Nghe Ward where the market is located announced in June last year that some time this year they would relocate the market that occupies a section of Ton That Dam Street in District 1. However, vendors have proposed giving them more time to prepare, so the authorities have decided to let them have one more year to move. Vo Quoc Hung, vice chairman of Ben Nghe Ward, told the Daily early this week that a plan to relocate the spontaneously-formed markets throughout the city, including Ton That Dam Street market, had been approved by the city government. Financial support for vendors at Ton That Dam market cannot be publicized for now, Hung added. Since the year’s beginning, the district and ward authorities have yet to have meetings with the affected vendors. According to Trinh Van Them, head of Ton That Dam market management unit, there are currently 212 food stores, cooperatives and stalls at the market. Most goods sellers at the market said they did not receive a notice about relocation support from the management unit or the relevant authorities. Ton That Dam market was located on Ham Nghi Street before 1975 and then spontaneously moved to Ton That Dam Street after that year. Under Decision 17/2009/QD of the HCMC government on market management, in the 2009-2015 period the city will reduce the number of markets in the city downtown. Construction of new markets in other areas would only be approved when market needs are proven. Ton That Dam market is the first to relocate, which will be then followed by Nguyen Van Trang and Co Giang markets. Local authorities in the central city of Danang have recently warned parents and students about the rising number of cases where students were kidnapped in the city. Kidnappers often wander around primary schools when schools finish and claimed to be the students’ relatives to pick them up. On April 1, a student of the fourth grade of a primary school in Thanh Khe District was walking home after school when a man riding on a scooter claimed to be the student’s relative, picked up the student and ran away. The student, however, tried to resist and was screaming on the way, forcing the kidnapper to drop the student before fleeing. The school’s principal has confirmed that they received a claim from the student’s family and reported the case to the district office of education and training. Earlier on March 3, another kidnapping case was recorded in the same district. While two students of the third grade were waiting for relatives to pick them up, two face-masked young men riding on a motorbike approached them, and claimed to be their relatives and picked them up. When these students resisted and screamed, these men shut them up by cloth and took them to a deserted alley waiting for another young man. These men robbed the two students of their jewelry and ran away. The students’ families have reported the case to local police to call for help and police are investigating into the case.  There were 16 instances of eroding riverbanks in More riverbanks in Districts Hoc Mon, Cu Chi, Binh Thanh, Thu Duc, and 2 face a high risk of erosion from flooding caused by high tides and rain. The rainy season normally begins in the first week of May. Besides, on five occasions high tides exceeded alarm level 3 to rise above 1.5m last year and breach embankments in four spots, affecting more than 570 households. Accidents at sea like collision of boats and drowning, workplace accidents, and gas leaks killed 15 people and left 31 others missing. Le Hoang Quan, chairman of the city People's Committee, ordered related agencies and departments to check all embankments and dykes in the city to prevent erosion. Speaking at a conference to review flood and storm prevention and control and search and rescue yesterday, he urged local chiefs to immediately mobilise all available resources for search and rescue efforts before asking for support from higher agencies. Last year the city spent VND208.7 billion (US$9.9 million) on building embankments and dams and repairing storm shelters for fishermen. New school model discussed in Quang Ninh How to improve efficiency of the new school model for Vietnam (VNEN) in the Red River Delta and northern mountainous and midland provinces was the focus of a workshop held in northern Quang Ninh province on April 11. At the workshop, participants discussed ways to increase efficiency in implementing the VNEN project as well as shared their experience in teaching and renovating the training method in provinces applied the VNEN. They said that it is necessary to intensify popularisation, while calling for public involvement in activities at schools, in which the coordination between family, school and society will play a core role. The participants emphasised the importance of managers and teachers to promote the educational reform in the country, while proposing the Ministry of Education and Training organise more refresher courses for teachers in the coming time. Speaking at the event, Deputy Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Vinh Hien praised the localities’ efforts and positive results reaped in performing the model. In order to overcome difficulties in applying the model, provincial education and training departments should take the initiative to apply new teaching and learning methods, Hien stressed. The VNEN project focuses on reforming teaching method and assessment to student in line with new standards. With the new model, students play a central role in the class while teachers serve as their facilitators and companions, which is different from the traditional pedagogic method. The model was applied at 1,447 schools across the country in 2012. In the 2013-2014 academic year, the model has been performed at more 600 primary schools in the country. Viet Nam is above the global average of seven hours of multiscreen time per day, with a majority of users favouring smartphones and laptops as their preferred device, according to a 2014 AdReaction Report. The report, which surveyed 30 countries, was conducted by Millward Brown, a global communications service group specialising in advertising, marketing communications, media, digital and brand-equity research. Users in The figure in Vietnamese users clocked among the highest number of laptop minutes – an average of 160 minutes a day – compared to other markets in the Asia-Pacific region. In contrast to other countries, TV remains the least-consumed screen in Smartphones and laptops dominate the screen the rest of the day, except for early evenings when TV takes centre stage in usage in The report also surveyed consumer receptivity to advertising on TV, smartphones, laptops and tablets, with 12,000 global samples, including 3,000 in Asia-Pacific (with 669 of that number in The findings can help advertisers make sense of the multiscreen world for brand-building by taking advantage of the capabilities and effectiveness of each screen. The report found that most Vietnamese were still highly receptive to TV advertising compared to other formats, although TV no longer represented the largest media opportunity due to limited screen minutes. Digital receptivity in Int’l seminar on assisted reproductive technologies Leading doctors, scientists and reproductologists from around the globe will be gathering in The event –Learning Initiative for Fertility Experts (LIFE 2014)–expected to attract at least 150 domestic and international delegates, will include lectures by the world’s leading experts, many of whom are Vietnamese. Dr. Ho Manh Tuong, General Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility Association (HOSREM) said that LIFE 2014 is an important advancement for Earlier, a delegation of 40 Vietnamese doctors attended the 5th Congress of the Asia Pacific Initiative on Reproduction, ASPIRE 2014, in The success rate of in vitro fertilization (IVF) method in Danang hosts regional dermatology conference The 21st Asian-Australasian Regional Conference of Dermatology (RCD) was held in the central city of Danang on April 10, drawing the participation of nearly 1,000 dermatologists from nations around the world. At the conference, delegates shared experiences, topics and listened to speakers dilate over the latest scientific studies which are capturing the attention of the international scientific community, including The latest studies address issues related to an array of hard to diagnose dermatological diseases, which are as difficult to diagnose and treat as many sexually transmitted diseases (syphilis, gonorrhea, HIV/AIDS...). Dermatology is a highly specialized field and dermatological diseases have major impacts on human health and quality of life. Particularly in Vietnamese dermatologists presented 60 out of 300 scientific reports and two reports about the two strangest diseases (hand-foot dermatitis syndrome at Ba To district, Quang Ngai province). Accordingly, leading dermatological experts discussed ways to determine the optimal treatment protocol. The biennial dermatology conference (first held in Ass. Prof. Dr. Tran Hau Khang, Director of the Central Hospital of Dermatology and Chairman of the Vietnamese Society of Dermatology and Venereology said this is the first time the international conference of large scale and prestige of dermatology has been held in This offers a good opportunity for Vietnamese professors and doctors to update the latest knowledge and exchange views with their international counterparts about skin diseases such as leprosy, HIV / AIDS ... and some strange disease appeared in Earlier on April 9, three specialized dermatology classes were held in the framework of the conference, attracting 100 Vietnamese dermatologists and Asian-Australasian dermatological experts. The conference will run until April 12. Foundation named after Phong Nha-Ke Bang explorer A social foundation has been named after Howart Limbert, who has led a team of the British Cave Research Association to explore caves in the Nguyen Chau A, Director of the Oxalis Travel Company Limited, on April 10 said the Limbert Foundation will grant scholarships for students in Minh Hoa district to encourage them studying and working for Quang Binh’s tourism sector. It will also invite tourism experts to train local tourism staff and build community-based tourism programmes. Limbert and his wife will act as advisors having the decisive say in scholarship recipients and community-based tourism programmes, A said. As the organisation’s founder, Oxalis plans to spend 200 million VND (over 9,500 USD) in 2014 on helping two local households provide homestay services and presenting scholarships to 10 students in Tan Hoa commune, Minh Hoa district. The foundation will also offer a training course on food safety for residents living by tourism in the park this year. Covering an area of 85,754ha, the Its core zone subject to strict protection is located in Bo Trach and Minh Hoa districts, while the buffer zone covering 20,000ha spreads out over 13 communes in three districts - Bo Trach, Minh Hoa and Quang Ninh. The property contains and protects over 104 km of caves and underground rivers, making it one of the most outstanding limestone karst ecosystems in the world. The karst formation has evolved since the Palaeozoic period (some 400 million years ago) and as such is the oldest major karst area in The park is also home to a large number of faunal and floral species, including threatened species such as tiger, Asiatic black bear, Asian elephant, giant muntjac, Asian wild dog and the recently discovered sao la.- Quang Binh officials meet overseas Vietnamese Senior officials of the central Deputy Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Tran Tien Dung, at the event, recalled the local recovery after the 2013 storms which was partly attributable to the support of OVs at home and abroad. He expressed his hope that they will offer more help to the locals in the coming time. On the occasion, the guests also donated 40 million VND (1,900 USD) to the Duc Ninh centre for children with disabilities, plus gifts to the provincial chapter of the Vietnam Association of Victims of Agent They also offered incense and laid a wreath at the tomb of General Vo Nguyen Giap in Quang Trach district, and later toured several tourist attractions in the locality.- Proper policies needed to reduce transport costs Transport costs of cargo and passengers by road always have a huge impact on the price of other commodities and services, in which freight charges account for a large amount of expenditure of the state budget. According to the Vietnam Business Forum, a weekly magazine of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Auto transport rates generally are not controlled by the state. Enterprises carry out self-declaration on transport freight rates under the guidance of the Ministry of Finance which makes freight rates often fluctuate, or even not suitable to goods' price, directly affecting the operation of the whole society. At the conference "Transport Costs in Most of the transport firms are running with a small scale, some of them own only one or two cars. It is quite hard for them to establish their brands because of their small scale; therefore, they mainly operate seasonally based on a modest quantity of patrons. Plus, small transportation firms become passive with passengers’ needs which leads to the fact that they cannot be proactive in making up business plan, thus, the efficiency of using means of transportation is not high. Besides, the small-scale transport brands do not often have business networks or information channels to access to their customers. This restriction leads to low operational efficiency of cargo transportation as not carrying out two-way transportation as well as low operational efficiency of passenger transportation due to low tonnage coefficient. According to Vietnam Automobile Transportation Association, passenger transport tariffs by cars along fixed routes, under the signed contract and tourists transport in Major freight companies in Hai Phong and Deputy Minister of Transport Le Dinh Tho said that until now, there are no official statistics on the value of transportation in It is necessary to reduce transportation costs with the aim of decreasing prices of other products and services and ensuring social security. According to the Vietnam Automobile Transport Association, to decline road transport costs, The Directorate for Roads of Vietnam said Besides, it is possible to build a large-scale truck station system, goods’ wholesale and distribution in big cities or centres of goods production and consumption to collect small quantities of goods which need long-distance transportation into an enormous quantity to transport by heavy trucks. When the wholesale system is put into operation, it will help to minimise the transportation of long-distance goods by small trucks, decrease costs per unit of transporting outputs and reduce traffic density on highways. In particular, representative of Directorate for Roads of Vietnam recommended that Electricity causes most blazes: City fire chief All commercial and domestic users should exercise greater caution with electricity, which is responsible for most of fires in Speaking to the media on Thursday, Lieutenant Tran Trieu Duong said: "Companies, organisations, and households should be equipped with safety equipment like gas leak warning systems and extinguishers to put out fires as soon as they break out." In the first quarter of this year, there were 94 fires in the city, 47 per cent fewer than in the same period last year, in which three people were killed and three others were injured. There were also two explosions in which four people died. The department received 360 fire calls, half down from a year earlier, with 222 of them caused by burning grass and waste. From companies and organisations, it collected fines of VND1.6 billion (US$780,000) after checking for fire safety equipment. "We are always focused on education," Duong said. "In this quarter over 50,000 people have taken part in 3,500 hours of training in fire safety." The city plans to upgrade its firefighting ability to match the rest of the region, he added. VNA/VOV/VNN/Dantri/VNS |
↧
Article 0
Sapa Tourism Week to kick off this month Sapa Tourism Week to kick off  April 29 to May 4 is a Sapa Tourism week set aside to celebrate everything about the traditional culture of ethnic minority groups from the northern mountainous A wide array of festivities, including traditional music and dance performances and folk games of ethnic minority groups, are set to get underway at the Ham Rong mountain eco-tourism site. Other events dotting the hamlets, villages and small towns in the region, include numerous cultural festivals of the Mong, Dao and Giay ethnic minority peoples, a bonsai exhibition, and a trade fair introducing novelty items produced by local residents in the region. The Lao Cai provincial People’s Committee has launched a tourism e-portal translated into the Vietnamese, English and Chinese languages to attract more international visitors. Trinh Xuan Truong, Chairman of Sapa District People’s Committee, said preparatory work for the week has been completed, adding that hotels and guesthouses have been fully booked. Truong stressed the need to ensure food hygiene and safety and increase the quality of tourism services to meet the increasing demand of both local and foreign tourists during the peak season. Last year, Lao Cai welcomed more than one million visitors, or over 20% higher than the yearly set target. The province is expected to receive 1.2 million arrivals as the National flag carrier Vietnam Airlines has announced that it will add 342 domestic flights on 16 routes on April 30 (country reunification) and May 1 (Labour Day). The flights will serve an expected increase of 58,700 travelers during the coming holiday. From April 25 to May 5, Vietnam Airlines will add 308 flights with 53,700 seats in total to the The Airlines recommends passengers adjust their flight schedule to avoid overloading on these routes. VN takes part in table setting expo The Vietnamese embassy in Organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ladies Association, Ton Thi Ngoc Huong, minister counsellor, said it was According to travel agencies, the upcoming Reunification Day and International Labour Day on April 30 and May 1 will see a tourist influx into the central city of The city plans to stimulate tourism through attractions like the inauguration of the Four Season Flower Garden, the first cable railway system called Ba Na – Bynight, The city has ideal destinations for the summer holidays like My Ke beach, one of the six most beautiful in the world, and others like Ngu Hanh Son, Son Tra, and Lien Chieu. Tourists can also enjoy tours for less than VND1 million per person a day. The city hopes to welcome 3.6 million visitors this year, including 820,000 foreign travellers. Beach town targets 2.7m visitors The beach town of The town will ensure the prices of all products and services are clearly indicated so that tourists can enjoy their trip without the fear of being ripped off. Sam Son Tourism Week will be celebrated from April 30 to May 5 with a Sea Tourism Festival and badminton, table tennis, tennis, and other sports events. Jetstar offers “Golden Days Discount” Jetstar Pacific Airlines is offering a promotion called “Golden Days Discount” for domestic flights as low as VND 68,000 from 2 p.m. on April 11 to 6 p.m. on April 14. One-way route between HCM City-Da Nang will be VND68,000; HCM City-Nha Trang will cost VND199,000; HCM City-Buon Ma Thuot will cost VND320,000; HCM City-Hai Phong will be VND750,000; and HCM City-Hanoi will cost VND800,000. These prices do not include tax. The special rates will be applicable for flights in April, May, September and October. Ana Mandara Villas Dalat offers special promotion Ana Mandara Villas Dalat is putting on a Highland Escape package for two at VND2.69 million that includes one-night stay in a Villa room and daily breakfast, 60-minute body or facial massage, round trip airport transfer, welcoming special ginger tea, personal butler services and complimentary internet besides a 10% discount on F&B and Excursion. The promotion valid from now until July 31 applies to bookings of a minimum two-night stay. There is a surcharge of VND630,000 on weekend and public holidays. A surcharge of VND420,000 applies for upgrade to a next category. Rates are inclusive tax and service charge. For enquiries, email to reservation-dalat@anamandara-resort.com or call (063) 3555 888. VNA/VNS/VOV/SGGP/ND |
↧
Article 10
Businesses seen as foundation for economic growth in 2014 (VOV) - Businesses that struggled to survive between the years 2011 and 2013 are now leaders in terms of both business administration and independent business strategy. Stabilizing the national economy and controlling inflation in 2013 will facilitate economic growth in 2014 and subsequent years. According to economist Dr Vu Dinh Anh, the overall economic picture is brighter in 2014 than in previous years, provided economic restructuring is further accelerated. The national economy grew at a rate of more than 5.4% in 2013. Excess stock levels and bad debts were reduced. The economy’s total credit increased 12.5% with lending interest rates equivalent to 2005–2006 levels, indicating business vitality despite ongoing difficulties. Dr Le Danh said macroeconomic conditions suggest the Vietnamese Government will proceed with economic stabilisation and inflation control. Danh attributes Some of the instability and weaknesses from 2013 and earlier are expected to carry over into 2014.
The 61,000 businesses that were dissolved or ceased operations in 2013 pushed the three-year (2011–2013) cumulative total to 16,000. This has restricted market supply, budget revenue collection, production, employment, purchasing power, and inventory liquidation. Economic restructuring hoping to fuel investment growth relies on private businesses and foreign investment. Dr Anh believes building an equitable investment environment that rewards efficiency is absolutely crucial. Anh stresses foreign investors want to see a Vietnamese investment environment promoting international economic integration and according with international standards of fairness and transparency. The Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) says recent studies conducted by domestic and foreign organisations reveal Vietnamese and foreign investors have renewed confidence in the Vietnamese economy’s mid and long-term prospects. . Out of 500 leading Vietnamese businesses, 60% reported 2013’s performance was better than a year earlier, and 80% have plans to expand operations in 2014. Many major foreign groups have similar expansion ambitions. The |
↧
Article 9
Mekong hydropower dams:  The comment was made by Nguyen Viet Dung, Deputy Director of PanNature, a Vietnamese not-for-profit organization dedicated to protecting and conserving diversity of life and improving human well-being. Dung believes that what needs to be done immediately is to provide reports on the possible impacts of the hydropower dams on the Quick, quicker The second summit of the International Mekong River Commission has ended with a satisfactory outcome. Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Ha Kim Ngoc said that Dung, applauding Lao goodwill, has urged Vietnamese scientists to carry out the research and make public the result of the research to confirm the dangers to the people in the “This would be really a big challenge for Vietnamese researchers, who need to clarify what are the impacts to be caused by hydropower dams and what are the impacts to be caused by other factors,” Dung commented. “Only by clarifying the issues, will How to make the research outcome recognized? However, worries still exist. A scientist said the next question is whether the conclusions reached by the research team will be accepted by Dung, agreeing with the opinion, stressed that the research must be conducted with the active participation of representatives from Recent surveys have all shown that The Mekong river section running across Mekong has been playing a very important role in Thien Nhien |
↧
↧
Article 8
As  Workers collect latex from tabbed rubber trees into buckets at a farm in southern After years of massive expansion, tearing up forests and swallowing land in neighboring countries to create rubber plantations, Later this year rubber farmers will tap maturing trees from new plantations, but with global oversupply and limited storage capacity, With little prospect of government intervention to support prices, Vietnam's rubber farmers will have little choice but to sell, shrugging off industry pleas to hold back and making other leading suppliers, Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia, nervous. "Of course we are worried," said Edy Irwansyah, executive secretary of the North Sumatran branch of the Indonesian Rubber Association, which groups exporters in the world's second-largest producer after In 2001, a rebound in rubber prices from 30-year lows of sub-50 cents a ton inspired In just seven years, the aggressive state-sponsored rubber campaign has seen output rise by 60 percent from 2007's 606,000 tons, according to data from the Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries (ANRPC), in which This year, output is forecast to hit nearly 1 million tons, said the International Rubber Study Group, which includes rubber producing and consuming countries and forecasts supply-demand outlook. And "In the next five years ( Price war? Traders well remember 2001 when "I wonder if you could see this kind of discipline in the rubber market. I doubt it. It's still a fairly new industry for them and they still haven't as much money," said Macquarie analyst Kona Haque in Dealers say there could be price war among the main growers as production rises, with farmers possibly scrambling to cash in before any further fall in prices due to oversupply. "They need cash to feed the family, and they can't afford to hold back because they are smallholders," said an exporter in Rubber farmer Nguyen Bao in "We do not have alternatives, no other business, so we will have to stick to rubber. Yield has fallen, but I will not sell my rubber land," said Bao, who has farmed around 3 hectares since the 1980s. But efforts to revive prices could hit a snag without participation from "We have sent a letter to Vietnam Rubber Association, and they replied, supporting our effort not to sell rubber at low prices," said Irwansyah at the Indonesian rubber exporters group. "But whether Tran Ngoc Thuan, chairman of the Vietnam Rubber Association, said the association had proposed that members and domestic entrepreneurs cut natural rubber production in 2014 and avoid selling at levels lower than international prices. State media reported last month that many farmers were cutting down rubber trees in the Central Highlands Prices under pressure Although global demand for natural rubber is forecast to grow by 4 percent in 2014, the market will see a surplus of 373,000 tons this year, a fourth year of oversupply, according to Worries over economic growth and demand from The tyre-making industry makes up about 60 percent of global rubber consumption. Rubber is also used to make gloves, condoms and products in transport, construction, health and mining. The global rubber price benchmark on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange is also languishing near 18-month lows because of similar fears. The ANRPC expects Vietnam's exports to fall slightly in 2014 to 1 million tons from 1.08 million tons in 2013, and while it said domestic consumption will rise, Vietnam's closing stocks may hit a four-year high at 54,200 tons this year. And there is no sign production will ease. Top exporter the Ho Chi Minh City-based Vietnam Rubber Group said in a March statement it plans to expand rubber planting by nearly 10 percent to 430,000 hectares (1.06 million acres) by 2015, with at least 100,000 hectares in |
↧
Article 7
BUSINESS IN BRIEF 14/4 Economy recovering but demand improving slowly The country’s economic recovery has started to gain traction but aggregate demand has yet to strengthen, according to the National Financial Supervisory Commission. A report by the commission on forecasts for the first quarter and the whole year said the pace of consumption recovery is slow with retail sales of goods and services (the price factor excluded) rising only 5.1% reported in quarter one, not much higher than in the same period of previous years (4.5% in 2013 and 5% in 2012). Private investments have not improved much, which is evident in a credit contraction in quarter one. Credit growth was 1.17% and 0.22% in the first quarter in 2013 and 2012 respectively. Meanwhile, spending on investment development declined 4.9% in the quarter while last year’s first quarter saw a slight drop of 0.3%. Economic growth is thus quite low compared to economic potentials. Agriculture, especially rice, is facing difficulties in output and price. Although rice farmers have a bumper harvest, consumption of rice is still tough given the mounting pressure from Growth momentum depends much on the foreign investment sector. Export revenues (crude oil excluded) of the sector leapt 18.9% in the first quarter while those of the domestic sector edged up a mere 2.8%. The report points out that it is necessary to continue stimulating consumer demand, supporting farmers in terms of produce prices, lowering interest rates, and helping enterprises and producers gain easier access to bank loans. Besides, disbursements of investment capital sourced from the budget and government bond sales should be accelerated. Prices of essential goods and services, the exchange rate and aggregate demand should be regulated in harmony with monetary and fiscal policies, said the report. However, the report showed optimism, saying the economy is back to the growth trajectory although the rate is modest. Economic growth is forecast to be higher in the coming quarters, so the possibility of achieving 5.8% growth is high. Vietinbank may acquire Petrolimex's PGBank PGBank, a small in-house bank of Petrolimex, may sell 99 per cent of its stake to the second-largest bank by assets, Vietinbank, as part of its restructuring process. The acquisition plan, which was presented in a report prepared for PGBank's annual shareholder meeting next Friday, is viewed as "the most advanced." If approved by PGBank's shareholders, Vietinbank will issue additional shares to acquire PGBank. The share swap ratio of PGBank and Vietinbank is expected to be no less than 0.82:1. Accordingly, PGBank will become a banking unit under Vietinbank, yet will continue to retain PGBank's trading brand and the operation system and management will remain unchanged. PGBank plans to quadruple its pre-tax profit to VND250 billion (US$11.85 million) . Last year, the Petrolimex bank recorded a total outstanding loan of VND13.86 trillion ($657 million), up 0.6 per cent against 2012. Bad debt ratio recorded at the end of 2013 was brought to 2.98 per cent, from 9.81 per cent by the end of last September or 9.09 per cent in 2012. As of December 31, 2013, the bank's total assets were recorded at VND24.87 trillion ($1.2 billion), up 29 per cent against 2012. The restructuring process at PGBank is part of the government's direction that aims to reduce the ownership of the major fuel importer and marketer, Petrolimex, from 40 per cent to 20 per cent next year. Petrolimex will have to withdraw its investment in PGBank. The plan of PGBank and Vietinbank is not the first proposal of its kind. Since the beginning of this year, Southern Bank and Sacombank, Mekong Housing Bank and Maritime Bank also went through similar restructuring. More border gates benefit from tax breaks The Ministry of Finance has issued Circular 40/2014/TT-BTC, which guides the application of preferential import tax on goods from As compared with the previous Circular 82/2012/TT-BTC, the latest circular mentions more details and more product lines in the list of imported goods allowed to enjoy a preferential import tax rate of zero per cent. In addition, seven border gates are permitted to enjoy clearance for imported goods with preferential tax rate of zero per cent for products from The circular came into effect from January 1, 2014, and will expire on December 30, 2015. Laos Petro to invest in bonded warehouse, oil pipeline Laos Petro Join Stock Company plans to invest US$200 million in a bonded warehouse and oil pipeline from Hon La of Laos Petro Join Stock Company has proposed this investment plan to the Quang Binh Provincial People's Committee of Viet Nam. The project includes the bonded warehouse, with a capacity of 300,000-500,000 cubic metres, used for temporarily handling imported gasoline that will be re-exported to Ministry wants new housing projects stopped The Ministry of Construction has made a proposal to Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung about requiring localities to stop allowing new residential projects this year. The ministry said the proposal was being made due to a large inventory in the property market, and that the supply of high-end housing was higher than the supply of low and middle-level segments. Reports from 61 localities from across the country showed that there are around 3,200 housing projects being constructed, accounting for 81 per cent of the total with an area of 81,500ha. Fifty-two provinces and cities in the country have requested adjusted planning of 45 projects with an area of 21,000ha. Ariston Thermo opens new plant in Bac Ninh Ariston Thermo, Italian heating and water heating manufacturer, opened a new manufacturing plant in Tien Son Industrial Park of Bac Ninh Province. This is the company's first plant in "With today's opening, we strengthen our production capacity within the countries of Southeast Asia, an area of strong growth in which With the new plant, Ariston Thermo has set a goal expanding its business in the local market and in other countries of Toyota Viet Nam (TMV) said it is preparing to recall 42,772 units of Innova and Fortuner for checking and replacing the spiral cable of driver's airbag. The malfunctioning spiral cable may prevent the airbag from opening in the event of a crash. The total number of vehicles that the TMV plans to recall includes 40,241 Innova units produced from January 7, 2006, to January 19, 2010, and 2,531 Fortuner units produced from February 1, 2009, to January 19, 2010, the Japanese-invested car maker said in a statement sent to Viet Nam News. The move follows a global recall of vehicles, due to faulty airbags, by Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) that effected 3.5 million vehicles produced in North According to the TMC, the driver's airbag module in the vehicles in question contains electrical connections housed in a spiral cable assembly, which includes a Flexible Flat Cable (FFC). The FFC could contact a small point of the retainer and become damaged when the steering wheel is turned. This damage could occur to a circuit on the FFC that provides connectivity to the driver's airbag module. If the connectivity is lost, the airbag warning lamp will light up and the driver's airbag can get deactivated, causing it to not deploy in the event of a crash. Under detailed guidelines from the TMC, the TMV will carry out the checking and replacing of the spiral cable of driver's airbag free of cost. The TMV said it has been reporting the details of the campaign to recall the vehicles to Viet Nam Register as well as managing logistics to facilitate an early recall. "Immediately after approval by Viet Nam Register, the TMV will send official and detailed information of the campaign to customers and mass media in Last December, Toyota Motor Viet Nam also recalled 126 Land Cruiser Prado and Hiace for checking the valve springs. In November 2012, it recalled 5,299 units of the Corolla Altis and Vios to check and repair faulty power-window master switches. While the TMC – the world's biggest automaker - sold nearly 10 million vehicles last year, its Tran Van Viet, an expert from the National Assembly's Economic Committee, said agriculture should not only used to feed people, but to feed them properly. "Food security, climate-smart agriculture and green growth have become the motivation for the farm sector in recent years," he said. Nguyen Van Bo, director of the Viet Nam Academy of Agriculture Sciences (VAAS), said it was not possible to look at food security, poverty, hunger, climate change, and environmental sustainable development separately. He said A model for smart agriculture was initiated in 2011 with support from the Food and Agriculture Organisation. It was held in the three Viet said the term "green growth" had become a development strategy in Nguyen Do Anh Tuan, deputy director of the These include shifting from protecting rice-planting areas to protecting agricultural land and from developing rice production to improving food quality. He also recommended that instead of expanding agriculture areas, Tuan also mentioned the need to invest in technology for the post-harvest period instead of focusing only on production and to organise large-scale regional production instead of small-scale, scattered production. Another important suggestion that Tuan made was that the Government support farmers from vulnerable groups so that they could make higher profits. Besides, he said, the Government should let the market run its own course instead of intervening and should help the country focus on its strengths in order to boost international integration. Vietnam’s cooperative potential introduced in France Evaluating the huge potential of cooperation between The event, part of activities marking the Vietnam Year in Speaking at the seminar, Tours Deputy Mayor Christophe Bouchet, said that “Exploiting the advantages to their fullest and capitalizing on the benefits of cultural heritage, the Loire Valley region of Tours has boosted cooperative activities to become a dynamic and long-term economic and trade partner with Vietnam,” he said. Cultural exchanges have been held through photo exhibitions, art performances and film screening in the framework of activities of the Touraine-Vietnam Friendship Association, further bolstering cooperation between the two nations he added. At the seminar, leading governmental and business officials of Indre Et Loire introduced programmes to support For his part, Vietnamese ambassador to The Vietnamese diplomat highlighted huge economic potential between the two nations and encouraged businesses of Indre Et Loire to invest in Nguyen Canh Tuong, Vietnamese embassy trade counselor in Road maintenance to cost $332m The National Road Maintenance Fund needed more than VND7 trillion (US$332 million) to repair and upgrade roads this year, Chief of the fund's Central Council Le Hoang Minh has said. Of this amount, VND4.6 trillion ($218 million) is expected to come from vehicle registrations. The rest will be provided by the State budget. Figures from the council show that more than VND1 trillion ($47 million) was collected from registration stations nationwide in the first three months of this year, accounting for 23.5 per cent of the estimated amount for the whole year. Nearly VND5.4 trillion ($256 million), which will account for 65 per cent of the fund, will be spent on managing and upgrading national highways. The rest will be allocated to provinces and cities to help them maintain and upgrade roads. Out of the nation's 63 cities and provinces, 62 have set up their own road maintenance funds and 47 have councils to manage the funds. Last year, the National Road Maintenance Fund, which was established in 2012, collected nearly VND7 trillion. It spent VND6.4 trillion ($303 million) on regular road maintenance and management, buying toll collection rights for a toll station on National Highway No.1 and establishing mobile truck weighing stations. Statistics from the Ministry of Transport last year showed that there were more than 37 million motorbikes and two million cars in The amount of road maintenance fees vehicle owners are required to pay is decided by provincial and municipal People's Committees. Lending rates at 2005-2006 levels Lending rates currently hover at 2005-06 levels, less than half the 2011 rates, according to the State Bank of Lending interest rates in Vietnamese dong are currently at 8 per cent for the five prioritised sectors (agricultural producers, exporters, small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), supporting industries and hi-tech businesses). Other sectors are charged lending rates of 9-10.5 per cent for short-term loans and 11-12.5 per cent for medium- and long-term loans. Businesses with healthy and transparent financial positions and viable business plans can borrow at 6-7 per cent per year. Last year, SBV Governor Nguyen Van Binh called on credit institutions to cut lending rates below 13 per cent for existing loans. Loans with rates of 13 per cent, which are mainly for consumption, currently account for roughly 17-18 per cent of banks' total outstanding loans, much lower than the rate of 31 per cent from late June last year. The Government asked the banking industry last month to further lower interest rates on existing loans to remove difficulties for enterprises. SBV Deputy Governor Nguyen Phuoc Thanh said that the banking industry would follow this directive, trying to cut interest rates of existing loans to roughly 10 per cent from the current 12-13 per cent. If lending rates remain as high as 13 per cent, firms will not be able to repay loans and will be forced to close, Thanh said, so banks should cut rates to save not only firms but also themselves. Fuel prices slashed, petrol stays unchanged The ministries of Finance and Industry and Trade yesterday asked retailers to cut price of all kinds of fuel except petrol. Accordingly, the diesel price was cut by VND90 per litre to VND22,510 (US$1.07) while that of mazut and kerosene was reduced by VND100 and VND130 per litre to VND18,660 ($0.88) and VND18,360 ($0.87) respectively. The price of petrol remained unchanged at VND24,690 ($1.17) per litre. The ministries also wanted the use of the price stabilisation fund for petroleum products to be minimised. The fund, built on contributions from the firms' selling prices, is mostly used to offset losses during delays to adjust local prices after international prices increase. Accordingly, the payback on petrol was reduced from VND200 to VND50 per litre, while that on diesel, kerosene, and mazut remained unchanged at zero dong per litre. The cut in payback on petrol prices was based on the estimation that traders were making a profit of nearly VND200 per litre on petrol at current prices. According to the Ministry of Finance, the petrol price stabilisation fund stood at VND840 billion ($39 million) at the end of the first quarter of this year. It noted that the fund balance at the end of this quarter of Viet Nam National Petroleum Group (Petrolimex) and the Military Petroleum Corporation was VND649.3 billion ($30.9 million) and VND154 billion ($7.3 million) respectively. The HCM City Oil and Gas Company and Thanh Le import-export company have a fund balance of VND100 billion ($4.7 million) and VND109 billion ($4.8 million) respectively, while Hai Ha Waterway Transportation Company has VND26 billion ($1.23 million). SBIC not ready for equitisation The Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (SBIC) is asking the Government for a special mechanism to deal with debts and negative equities of its subsidiaries before equitisation in the next 20 months. SBIC's Chairman Nguyen Ngoc Su made the revelation at a recent training workshop on equitisation. Most of the SBIC subsidiaries are suffering cumulative losses and grand negative equities. "Currently, the key challenge is that big negative equities are at a complete standstill during the debt restructuring processes. It is mandatory for companies to turn equities into a positive status before equitising," Su pointed out. Accordingly, SBIC expects the Government to allow its subsidiaries to transfer debts to the mother corporation. Debt compensation will be provisionally made by revenues from initial public offerings (IPOs). If IPOs fail to settle the debts, SBIC will seek the government's continued support throughout the debt restructuring and loss compensating process. SBIC, formally known as Vinashin, intends to privatise four one-member limited companies, such as Vinashin Corrugated Iron Company, Five others slated to go public next year are Thinh Long, Sai Gon Shipbuilding and Marine Industry Company, Sai Gon Shipbuilding Industry Company, Bach Dang, and Pha Rung shipbuilding companies. In SBIC has completed its first phase of the restructuring process. In the second phase, the government has permitted the restructuring of debts including the Government-guaranteed debt, debt from the official development assistance, and the amount lent to Vinashin. Therefore, SBIC has VND21 trillion (US$1 billion) of domestic debt and about $35 million of foreign debts. In October last year, The move was aimed to help the State-run Vinashin cover a foreign loan worth $600 million, which was considered crucial for the group to repay the foreign debts and enable it to accelerate the much-needed restructuring of the corporation. The bonds will be issued for 12-year terms with an annual interest rate of 1 per cent. The restructuring of Vinashin was ordered in 2010 after government inspectors uncovered the group's financial malpractices. By the end of 2009, the company was neck deep in debts amounting to more than VND86.7 trillion or $4.1 billion. The municipal People's Committee said it has completed the sale of State-owned houses in the city to meet the urgent demands of families and beneficiaries of social policies. Statistics from the city showed that it had sold 93,600 State-owned houses till date, accounting for 98 per cent of the total. In 2010, the city sold 92,500 similar houses with a total area of 5.1 million square metres for VND5.86 billion, or US$279 million. The money has been reinvested in housing projects. The city has 102,000 State-owned houses. Banks cut rates on capital surplus Many banks have slashed interest rates to below the ceiling level of 6 per cent regulated by the central bank amid abundant capital. Deposit interest rates listed at the Viet Nam Export Import Bank (Eximbank) for the term ranging from one to three months has been cut to 5.7 per cent from the previous 6 per cent rate. The deposit interest rate for the 4-5 month term has also been slashed to 5.98 per cent from 6 per cent. Sacombank has also cut the deposit rate for the term of between seven and 11 months. The annual rate of 6.55 per cent has been applied to the 7-8 month term, while 6.7 per cent has been set for a 9-10 month term and 6.8 per cent for the 11-month term. According to the central bank, credit in the first quarter this year rose only 0.01 per cent, showing that banks are enjoying a surplus of capital. Despite the abundant capital, interest rates are still above the deposit rate ceiling in some ailing banks, according to the Phap luat TP HCM newspaper. Deputy Governor of the State Bank of Viet Nam (SBV) Nguyen Phuoc Thanh said that the interest rates over the deposit rate ceiling had greatly reduced, showing that in spite of solid liquidity in some aspects of the banking system, it was not a uniform trend. He explained that the liquidity of some ailing banks was so restricted that it was forcing them to try to attract depositors with interest rates above the ceiling rate. Thanh said that the central bank would plan to boost competition in the banking sector by solidifying the banking industry through restructures and weeding out weak banks. In a foreacast on credit sector trends in the second quarter of this year released last week, most credit institutions said deposit and lending rates in Vietnamese dong would continue to decline this year. Vinatex announces investment plans Viet Nam National Textile Garment Group (Vinatex) will invest VND4.8 trillion (US$228.5 million) in three projects in the central According to information published on Vinatex's website, the projects that were granted licences were a fibre plant and a garment factory in Quang Phuc Ward, Ba Don Town and a garment factory in the Gia Ninh Commune, Quang Ninh District. In addition to the three projects , the group has signed a memorandum of cooperation with the Quang Binh Province for four other projects, such as the research and development of cotton and eucalyptus materials for the group's spinning mills, investment research for the construction of a fibre plant in Quang Ninh District, investment research for a fibre weaving and dyeing complex in Bac Quan Hau Industrial Park, and an investment survey related to garment factories for export in the Le Thuy and Quang Trach Districts. According to Vinatex, On April 5, New power calculations Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has issued a decision on electricity retail prices that will apply to six price levels instead of the current seven levels. The decision, which will take effect from the beginning of June, stipulates that power tariffs for households consuming 0-50kWh will be 92 per cent of the average price, 95 per cent for 51-100kWh, 110 per cent for 101-200kWh, 138 per cent for 201-300kWh, 154 per cent for 301-400kWh and 159 per cent for more than 401kWh. The current regulation divides power retail prices into seven levels. Accordingly, the first level of 0-50kWh has been established for poor households, while the remaining six levels have been applied to all households. Customers would therefore enjoy cheaper prices if their consumption fell into the fifth bracket of 301-400kWh. Retail power tariffs will also be adjusted for industrial activities. The new decision stipulates a common price for two groups of production and water-pumping sectors instead of the current two levels of pricing. The new tariff will be one per cent higher than the current price. Retail prices applied to businesses will also be reduced by five per cent during normal business hours, three per cent during off-peak hours and eight per cent during rush hours for 6-22kV. Stable price initiative a success The city's market stabilisation programmme, with its diverse, high quality products and reasonable prices, has become an effective way to regulate and stabilise market prices. Speaking at a conference yesterday, Le Ngoc Dao, deputy director of the city's Industry and Trade Department, said the programme had promoted trade co-operation between Last year, the city did not use the State budget to support enterprises in the programme but invited credit institutions to provide preferential interest rates on loans. Five credit institutions and 59 enterprises joined the programme in 2013. They provided VND860 billion (US$42.5 million) in short-term loans with an interest rate of 6 per cent per year and VND1.1 trillion ($53 million) for medium- and long-term loans at 10 per cent per year. The programme accounted for 25-40 per cent of market demand, an increase of 15-30 per cent in comparison with 2012. Selling prices for products in the programme were 5-10 per cent lower than market prices. The programme comprises four groups, including basic foodstuff, milk, essential medicine, and goods for students. The basic foodstuff includes rice, sugar, cooking oil, meat, eggs, processed food, vegetables, fruit and seafood. Enterprises have provided 350 kinds of food and the total value for products of the programme in 2013 and Lunar New Year 2014 was VND12.5 trillion ($600 million), an increase of 46 per cent compared to 2012. Many participating enterprises have expanded their production for the programme because of increased capital and soft loans provided to them. For example, the Sai Gon Trade Corporation now has cold storage with a capacity of 21,000 tonnes for goods at the Binh Dien wholesale market. Meanwhile, the Sai Gon Co-op has invested in three storage and delivery centres in Hau Giang and Binh Duong provinces and has updated equipment for their logistics system. In addition, the Ba Huan limited company has invested in an 18-ha farm for poultry and eggs. The programme aims to bring essential food for all customers in supermarkets, shops, traditional markets, industrial and processing zones, and restaurant owners who provide meals for enterprises, factories and schools. The programme has 8,200 points of sale, an increase of 1,270 since its inception. The number of selling places in the city outskirts has increased from 54 in 2008 to 815. Student uniforms, notebooks and schoolbags have been provided to 2 million students in the city under the programme. In 2013, 13 enterprises joined the programme, with turnover of VND411 billion ($20 million), an increase of nearly 11 per cent compared with 2012. Many promotion campaigns were carried out, including cuts in prices by 25-30 per cent, and donations of notebooks to poor students in rural areas. There are 769 selling places around the city. Milk was included in the programme for the third year, with participation of the companies Vinamilk and Nutifood, which have taken 30 per cent of market share. These two companies have provided 32 types of products with nearly 15,000 tonnes and revenue was VND1.26 trillion ($60 million), an increase of 45.5 per cent compared with 2012. Vinamilk's products were tested as having the same quality as imported products, but the price was half of the latter. Milk products purchased in the programme were brought to 1,563 schools, 284 factories and 31 enterprises in industrial and processing zones This is also the third year that essential medicine was included in the programme. In 2013, there were 13 local leading pharmaceutical companies with 392 products taking part in the programme, an increase of 307 compared with 2012. There were 2,756 selling points for drugs, an increase of 732 compared to 2012, at 2,054 private pharmacies, 108 hospital pharmacies and 594 enterprises' shops. "The programme has improved enterprises' abilities and encouraged customers to use and buy local products," Dao added. The current programme implementation end on March 2015. Japanese investors eye IT business opportunities in Da Nang The central city of These companies are involved in, for example, producing electronic components, developing software outsourcing, manufacturing pulp and nets for export, and processing seafood and agricultural products. They have created over 25,000 jobs for local residents. The Vice Chairman of the Japan Information Technology Service Industry Association (JISA), Mr Takashi Igarashi, said that after Ha n oi and Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang was Viet n am’s third most attractive location in 2013, as perceived by JISA. He also expressed his belief that Japanese businesses would seek more investment opportunities and partners in the city’s IT sector in 2014 and in the years ahead. These positive results have been attributed to the city’s favourable investment climate. Technology Company, Mr Michio Saruhashi, said that his company had made the right decision when it chose the Hoa Khanh Industrial Zone in He also remarked that the city was attractive to his company due to the very favourable conditions for foreign investors which have been created by the local authorities. He added that recommendations from existing city-based Japanese businesses was another reason for encouraging his company to invest here. A representative of the Mabuchi Motor Da Nang Company said that his company decided to invest in Grasshoppers attack crops in Cao Bang Swarms of grasshoppers are threatening crops in many localities in the northern mountainous The worst affected are Hoa An and Thong Nong districts, with 11 out of 21 communes and towns in Hoa An, and 7 out of 11 communes in Thong Nong reporting large numbers of the insect. The grasshoppers are swarming along banks of streams and rivers, with an average density of 200-300 individuals per square meter, and even 1,000-1,500 grasshoppers every square meter in some locations, according to local authorities. The pests have destroyed 12 hectares of plants, and start attacking corn and rice fields. The province has set up a steering committee to coordinate efforts to deal with the pests. Vietnam shares environmental protection with Laos Vietnamese environment officials shared experience in natural resources management and environmental protection with the Lao National Assembly’s representatives in At the working session, attended by NA Chairwoman Pani Zathotu and vice chairpersons, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Nguyen Minh Quang briefed his hosts on the management of land, mineral and water resources and the environmental protection in He also spoke of challenges and lessons drawn from the reality so that the country can make timely polices and laws on natural resources management and environmental protection, thus boosting its socio-economic development on a right track. As the two countries share similarities in natural conditions and socio-economic institution, The minister also expressed his wish that the two sides will increase cooperation and professional exchanges in State management in general and in the management of natural resources in particular. The Lao representatives appreciated Landville given final warning Ninh Thuan province has told the South Korean firm to make clear its intentions Photo: Le Toan The provincial committee, in an announcement sent to the company late last month, said that it would not extend the timeline for Landville Energy’s feasibility study, and that Landville Energy should file an investment application to the committee no later than June 2014. Landville Energy received the green light from the province to conduct a feasibility study into the project in August 2013. The investor had to complete the study and submit its investment application to the provincial committee within six months. The details of the project such as investment cost and capacity were not unveiled. “The company has not yet completed all the procedures and has failed to complete its feasibility study on time. Therefore, the provincial committee may reject the proposal,” the Ninh Thuan Provincial People’s Committee said in the announcement. The local authorities have also ordered the company to make a commitment to put the wind farm into operation by the first quarter of 2016. “If Landville Energy fails to meet the June deadline for filing an investment application, the provincial committee will assume the company no longer wants to invest in this project, and the committee will withdraw its in-principle approval from the project,” the committee stated, adding that the province would not compensate any costs relating to the feasibility study. The threat by the Ninh Thuan Provincial People’s Committee reflects the province’s policy to weed out weak investors from potential wind farm projects in a context where many domestic and foreign investors in the renewable energy sector are planning to flock to the province. Located in the southern-central coastal region, Ninh Thuan is said to be an ideal site for wind power. According to a World Bank survey, the province boasts ideal 7-7.5 metre per second gusts of wind at a height of 65 metres. The Ninh Thuan Provincial Department of Planning and Investment reported that five investors had received licences to develop wind farms with the total capacity of 344 megawatts (MW) in the province so far. Covering an area of 553 hectares in Thuan Nam and Ninh Phuoc districts, Enfinity’s project has the total capacity of around 124.5MW, making it one of the largest wind power projects in Vietnam. Vinexad building sale faces shareholder doubts Late last week, Vietnam Trading Expo and Advertising Joint Stock Company (Vinexad) faced strong disagreement from its shareholders over a proposal to sell its office building on The shareholders argued the company’s management board did not provide information on the sale, such as the potential buyer, the price of the building, how its value had been appraised or plans for the capital raised by the sale. They said the lack of information made them feel the sale was not transparent, or feasible. According to Nguyen Khac Luan, chairman of Vinexad, the board only wanted in-principle approval from shareholders and then once approved would take the aforementioned steps. According to some shareholders, the proposal was not in their best interest. Others claimed that if the proposal was approved, the management board would be given total control of the sale and shareholders would only informed after it was complete. At a meeting last week held in Vinexad has claimed its financial difficulties stem from inefficient operations, caused in part by the building’s old age which makes it undesirable for potential tenants. The 1,500 square metre building has a lease contract through 2026. It has been plagued by vacancies since 2013 when the rental market slumped. Vinexad added that building could not be redesigned as a high-rise as it is faced by the limited height requirements for properties around the lake. The proposal to sell the building was finally approved by the stakeholders in-principle but the board is required to make a detailed plan which it will propose at the next meeting for further consideration. Vacant villas overtaken by squatters According to a survey conducted by Lao Dong newspaper, a range of villas valued in the billions of dong in residential areas such as Xa La, Van Quan, Me Tri, Co Nhue and Viet Hung are unused. These areas are located along new, expanded streets, have convenient transport access, and are near public facilities such as schools, supermarkets and hospitals. But for several reasons they lacked paying tenants and have been occupied by the homeless. According to Nguyen Van M, the owner of a villa in Xa La in “I am luckier than many others whose villas are unused and have deteriorated,” M said. As well as the above districts, villas in the urban areas of An Sinh My Dinh 2 in Tu Liem district and Phap Van-Tu Hiep in Hoang Mai district are also sitting unfinished and have become the haunts of thieves and drug addicts. According to the Hanoi Municipal People’s Committee, in 2013 The committee plans to map out fines or taxes to force owners to finish construction. But many developers don’t have the capital resources to do so. Dang Hung Vo, senior consultant of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, said the vacant villas were a result of the property boom and bust. “These villas are owned by wealthy people who bought them for speculation, but not living,” he added. Vo said this was because |
↧
Article 6
Many coins gleaned on spice market will make a fortune The ready-made spice market has been growing more rapidly than one could imagine. [Ready-made spices are mixtures of different spices and dried herbs, sold in packets. Each type of ready-made spice is usually targeted at a particular recipe, or set of recipes.] A market surprisingly large  Nguyen Thanh Nguyet, an office worker in “My children like roast meat very much. I have tried several times with the recipes I found on Internet, but the food was not as delicious as expected. I was advised to soak the meat in ready-made sauce to make it tastier,” she explained. Nguyet, like the other older housewives, has always tried to make dishes with traditional recipes. However, she has recently realized that ready-made spices could also be a perfect choice for her cooking. Nguyet, along with younger Vietnamese women, have become more accustomed to ready-made spices, which allow them to prepare meals more quickly. These are the customers that spice producers are targeting. The Maximark chain has reported an average growth rate of 20-30 percent per annum in the sale of spice products. The retail chain alone distributes the products of 300 suppliers. According to Maximark Cong Hoa’s Director Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, 50 percent of the products available at the supermarket are imports from the Thao confirmed that spices have been selling well, especially the spices for making roast meat. Housewives need a lot of different kinds of spices to make roast meat, therefore, they would rather buy ready-made spices for easier cooking. Meanwhile, spices for making braised pork or fish have been selling more slowly, because they are useful only to those who don’t have much experience in cooking. The cook of a well known restaurant in The ready-made spice market, though small, offers hundreds of products. Housewives, for example, have tens of choices for making pork and beef dishes. Big opportunities for all In the thoughts of many, the spice market is the playing field for only small enterprises. In point of fact, it is large enough for everyone to make money. A representative of Lee Kum Kee, the Lee Kum Hee’s 200 products are available in the Vietnamese market, and it still plans to expand its business here. It has been developing 25 sauce products in Nguyen Thanh Nhan, Deputy General Director of Saigon Co-op, the biggest retail brand in the south, noted that more and more spice products are being put on supermarket shelves to satisfy the increasing demand of Vietnamese who need to prepare meals, both traditional and foreign styled ones, within a short time. K. Chi, |
↧
Article 5
Procurement law set to lock in domestic bias for drug salesA new regulation on drug purchase priorities in the revised Law on Public Procurement will help protect local drug producers.  The new law on public procurement seems to clearly favour domestic pharmaceutical producers Photo: Le Toan Adopted by the National Assembly last November and to take effect on July 1, the law stipulates that all locally-made drugs meeting the Ministry of Health’s requirements on treatment, prices and supply can be put out to tender and that equivalent imported drugs will not be allowed to go to tender. Last year “Any bidding dossier that includes imported drugs will be rejected. As we can now produce many types of drugs locally, we will not allow the same products from foreign manufacturers,” said Ministry of Planning and Investment’s Public Procurement Department head Le Van Tang. Under Article 50, drug tenders will receive incentives when they engage in local or international bidding to supply drugs of which domestic production cost is at least 25 per cent of the products’ total cost. Drug producers with at least 25 per cent female or 25 per cent wounded veterans or disabled people as a proportion of their workforce would also be given priority, as well as small and medium-sized enterprises. “The government will describe these priorities in more detail,” Tang said, adding “These regulations will have local drug producers rejoicing, but will enrage drug importers.” “We are happy with this regulation, as it helps protect locally-produced pharmaceuticals, which have faced serious competition from imported products,” said Le Van Truyen, former Deputy Minister of Health and a representative for SAVI Pharmaceutical Joint Stock Company. A representative from Lynh Pharma, which imports around 40 types of drugs into “All active elements for drug making in She said According to her, in the coming months local authorities will apply regulations on examining all imported drugs before they receive customs clearance. The new regulations are expected to be a big challenge for importers, as it will take several months for the complete examination of a single drug. “These examinations are going to be a major burden on importers,” the representative said. Under According to London-headquartered proprietary data, analysis and ratings provider Business Monitor International, By Thanh Dat, VIR |
↧
↧
Article 4
Political News Headlines 14/4 Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov visits Vietnam Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will pay an official visit to Lavrov’s visit takes place at a time when both Before flying to US senator to visit Vietnam The President pro-tempore of the US Senate Patrick Leahy will lead a The visit is made at the invitation of National Assembly (NA) Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung, announced the NA Committee for External Relations on April 13. Party leader visits Laos for New Year Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong paid a two-day visit to The visit was made at the invitation of General Secretary of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party (LPRP) and President of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic Choummaly Sayasone. Trong extended his best New Year wishes to LPRP leader Sayasone in the south-eastern At the meetings with Lao officials in the two provinces, he expressed belief that under the leadership of the LPRP, the people of He noted with satisfaction the traditional friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between the two parties, states and peoples. He confirmed in any circumstances Further, the Lao officials congratulated Local authorities in the two provinces also informed the Vietnamese Party leader about the social and economic development, as well as their cooperation with Vietnamese localities. During his stay, Trong also visited the Vietnamese Consulate in the southern region of He met with the Vietnamese community in the four provinces and Vietnamese entrepreneurs who are investing in the region. President backs support industry President Truong Tan Sang has asked the The President made the request at a meeting with key provincial leaders during his visit to the province last Saturday. He also emphasised the need for Vinh Phuc, and the nation as a whole, to develop automotive manufacturing industries and increase the amount of official development assistance (ODA) being received. He also asked the local authorities and residents to make more efforts to successfully implement the Resolution of the 11th National Party Congress, in a bid to transform the country into a modern industrial nation by 2020. Also on Saturday, President Sang attended and delivered a speech at the congress of the provincial association of revolutionary soldiers who were detained by enemies during the war. Additionally, he visited several businesses operating in the support industry, including Cosmos Technology Co. Ltd and Jahwa Vina Co. Ltd based at the Argentine province keen on all-round links with Vietnam Governor of the Argentine north-western Meeting with Vietnamese Ambassador Nguyen Dinh Thao, who was in the locality on April 11-12 to enhance bilateral cooperation and seek for business opportunities, Aperovich hailed the diplomat’s working visit and said he expects to visit During his stay in the province, Ambassador Thao attended a business forum held by the Economic Federation of Tucuman and visited a production facility of S.A San Miguel citrus processor and exporter. On the occasion of the ambassador’s visit, a HCM City keen on cooperating with India Le Manh Ha, Vice Chairman of the HCM City People’s Committee, made the statement while meeting with a group of Indian business representatives in the city on April 11. Ha emphasised that fine political and diplomatic ties between According to the Vice Chairman, the city has made contributions to the Vietnam-India all-around relations, especially in the trade and economic fields with two-way turnover reaching over 700 million USD in 2013. For his part, Indian Consul General in HCM City Deepak Mittal said that to further develop cooperative relations between the city and Indian partners, the Indian Business Association in Representatives from the Indian Business Association in Vietnam proposed that HCM City offers good opportunities for Indian partners to implement projects for mutual benefits, adding that, Vietnamese businesses can seek promising business opportunities in India by opening a representative office there.- VNA/VOV/VNS |
↧
Article 3
Art & Entertainment News Headlines 14/4 Veteran actor Trinh Thinh dies People's Artist Trinh Thinh, one of the great names of Vietnamese revolutionary cinema, died at age 88 in "My father had been critically ill for the past ten years, and twice was within an inch of his life. He had been bed-ridden since 2012 as a result of a heart attack," said Thinh’s eldest daughter, Trinh Thi Hang. The noted artist was famous for the upright, unpretentious roles he portrayed, though he was not professionally trained. "I starred alongside Thinh in just one film Lua Rung (Forest Fire) in 1965 by Pham Van Khoa. I played Thinh's wife. I was unmarried, but he already had four daughters at that time. During our field trips, Thinh took them along. He did hard work as he acted and took care of the children at the same time," said famous actress Tra Giang. With his rich lifestyle, gift, and hard training, Thinh set himself as one of the most senior actors in the country's cinematography. He indulged his love for cinema beginning in his childhood, but later became a bank clerk. He began his first acting job in 1954. In his life-time career, Thinh was usually invited to portray a rustic elderly character, or those vividly imprinted with images of Director Pham Ky Nam invited him to play a part in the first movie in Vietnamese cinema Chung Mot Dong Song (Sharing the Same River). He was also famous due to a series of popular feature pictures, including Vo Chong Anh Luc (Mr and Mrs Luc), Chi Dau (Mrs Dau), Loi Nguyen Mot Dong Song (A River's Vow), Thi Tran Yen Tinh ( Besides these movies, Thinh was also known for his role in comedies, where his acting was described as natural. He also caught the attention of foreign directors. He acted in a supporting role in Cyclo (1995) with Vietnamese French director Tran Anh Hung and in Indochine (1992), directed by Regis Warginer. Thinh's funeral will be held at 2:45pm on April 15 at the National Funeral Hall, 5 Tran Thanh Tong, National Fine Arts Exhibition calls for budding artists to contribute Vietnamese citizens creating high-quality applied fine arts products during the last five years are encouraged to join the third National Exhibition for Applied Fine Arts in the capital in November. The works or groups of works should be original and not copied from existing designs or improved from old versions and can be made from various materials including lacquer, porcelain, ceramic, gold, silver, copper, wood, and cloth. Each work should be less than 2 metres in length. New designs related to fashion, interior decoration and graphics can also be part of the exhibition. Each participant can send up to five works for selection. Competitors should firstly send the photographs of their works to Exhibition House 29 Hang Bai Street, Ha Noi between August 25 and August 29. The jury will select the shortlisted entries and inform the authors to send the real works in October for the exhibition. After the exhibition, the jury will confer three sets of prizes to applied art works, applied products, and designs. Each set will include a first prize of VND15 million (US$720), two second prizes, three third prizes, and 10 consolation prizes. British Council launches fashion and design competition Emerging fashion designers are being encouraged to compete for the Young Creative Entrepreneur (YCE) Fashion and Design 2014 Award in The country competition, launched by the British Council and supported by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, aims to celebrate young talent working in creative industries. The candidates must present their own achievements, have an understanding of the industry and describe why they consider themselves a fashion or design entrepreneur. The country winner will participate in a shared tour of the There will also be a specially curated programme of networking events and master class sessions which will introduce the YCE winner to peers and media experts in the The deadline for submitting the application is May 31. First picnic music festival held in HCM City  Over 40,000 music fans attended Yan Beatfest, which took place in Yan Beatfest, organized by YANTV - the leading youth channel in Visitors to the event were impressed by outstanding performances by famous British singer Shayne Ward (the winner of the second series of The X Factor) and international DJ Scott Kirby. Shayne Ward took part in an exchange programme with local fans and spoke in Ward sang five songs namely “If that's ok with you”, “Just be good to me”, “Nobody knows”, “No U Hang Up”, and “No promises”. He also joined Vietnamese female vocalist Phuong Vy in the hit song “Get lucky”. Well-known Vietnamese singers, such as Dam Vinh Hung, Phuong Thanh, Le Hieu, Vy Oanh, MTV band, Dang Khoi, Pham Quynh Anh, Tuan Hung, Ho Quynh Huong, Dinh Huong, Noo Phuoc Thinh, Trung Quan, and Thai Trinh also joined the festival. Hundreds of birds twitter in As many as 600 white-eyed red-whiskered bulbuls, a tropical songbird native to Asia with a conspicuous three or four note call, participated in a singing contest in The distinctive species with its whitish underparts, buff flanks and white eyes are popular with Vietnamese bird lovers because of their melodious twitter, and can often be heard in the early morning hours throughout Despite the hot weather, hundreds of local people and visitors watched the birds from different clubs across the country compete for most of the day to identify which bird could sing the most notes in an allotted time. Finally, a white-eyed red-whiskered bulbul owned by Vo Quang Cuong from Ngu Binh Hue Club of Nguyen Thanh Thung from Hue White Eyes Club emerged the winner of the competition. The competition, part of the ongoing Hue Festival 2014, aims to promote a cultural tradition of caring for ornament birds. Fundraising music show reaches out to the disabled A fundraising music show, the 11th of its kind, took place in Hanoi on April 13, on the occasion of Vietnam Day for People with Disabilities (April 18). The annual event was also to honour outstanding philanthropists, such as Most Venerable Thich Dinh Tanh who has cared for 210 orphans and the physically-handicapped at Cam Phong Pagoda in the southern Those achieving life successes despite their disabilities and agony of lost parents also won praises. Along with television reports and face-to-face exchanges, audiences were treated to a feast of repertoire by popular singers and junior dancers. The show was a joint effort among the Sponsor Association for Disabled and Orphans, the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, and the Vietnam Television. The proceeds collected from the event and the recent charity walk in Ho Chi Minh City, worth over 10 billion VND (476,000 USD), will be spent on free eye surgeries, vocational training and wheelchairs for people with disabilities and orphans nationwide. Artists pay tribute to victims of typhoon Haiyan Twenty six artists from Haiyan devastated portions of Southeast Asia last November, particularly the Sau Con Bao, or After the Storm, is being co-organised by Asia Art Link and Hanoi University of Culture and features 24 large-size paintings and three installations made of steel, paper bags and cartons. "The art collection depicts images of recovery, resilience and strength of spirit, and, most importantly, of hope, friendship and humanity," said the Philippine Ambassador to "Many people from all walks of life have shown their concern for the Asia Art Link has organised five displays in "My exhibit, Farm of Hope, belongs to the HOPE series. It displays two contrary factors: the peaceful clouds against the stormy weather," said Thong, explaining his drawing of a farmer and his buffalo ploughing a white cloudy field against the background of a grey sky. "It not only presents the Haiyan victims' hope for a better future, but the hope of farmers who represent the poor in any nation for a better life," added the artist. Thong also has his work, entitled The Last Leaf, displayed at an on-going exhibition in the Similar to the idea of Thong, Noel Pama from the "Children are the future of a nation. I use symbols and graphics, like transmitter graphics on a boy's head, which means children often absorb everything around them, even though it is good or bad, as they are flying to success," said Pama. As the name of the exhibition says, the majority of works tell the story of strength and recovery, while some portray the stormy devastation in order to remind people of what happened. "Vietnamese artist Pham Tuan Tu's painting It Went Through struck my eyes as it vividly illustrates the heart-rendering and deadly destruction of the disaster. Haiyan was gone, leaving behind deadly dolls sprawling in a place similar to a cemetery. It's scary to look at, but it's true," said a visitor, Tran Tuan Long, eyes looking at the painting framed by black and white, silk ribbons and flowers. "I'm also impressed with the oil-on-canvas Vines by Norman Dreo. I like the graphics and the message that it conveys, that the inferno is gone and life has returned and will continue. New sprouts are rising, fish are swimming, birds singing, fisherman set sail for a new voyage and family reunion," Long said. The display runs until April 17 at the Vietnam Museum of Fine Arts, Khmer cultural, sport festival going vibrant The fifth Khmer cultural and sport festival took place in the Mekong Delta In the limelight was a Ngo boat racing competition - a traditional sport event among the Khmer community, drawing four teams from the districts of Tam Binh, Tra On, Vung Liem and Binh Minh township. A “Tam ban” (Sampan) boat race unique to the southern region was also held for the first time with 13 teams taking part. Notably, a traditional culinary festival of Kinh, Chinese and Khmer ethnic groups drew eight teams who competed in cooking their traditional dishes. Over 10 special dishes were on offer ultimately. Community events like music and dance performances, photo exhibitions and folk games also entertained visitors.- Festival honours Lang Co as world beautiful bay The central Lying between Lang Co was recognised as the 30th member of the “World’s Most Beautiful Bays” club (Worldbays Club) in 2009, and it is The festival will include activities to promote economic and cultural values of Lang Co Bay, as well as its tourism potential. VNA/VNS/VOV |
↧
Article 2
Tea industry urged to adopt VietGAP
HA NOI (VNS) - Tea growers and enterprises should step up application of national quality standards and improve product packaging and design if they are to reverse a first quarter decline in exports, experts say. A report in the Industry and Trade newspaper cited the experts as saying the failure to adopt VietGAP (national Good Agricultural Practice) standards has hurt the industry, with Vietnamese tea fetching lower prices than the produce of other countries. VietGap sets criteria for selection of varieties and rootstocks, land management, application of fertilisers and additives as well as chemicals (including crop protection products). The report quoted Doan Xuan Hoa, deputy head of the Agro-Forestry Processing and Salt Industry Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, as saying policy incentives were needed to have more farmers and enterprises adopt VietGap standards for their tea plantations. According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, in the first quarter of 2014, tea exports fell year-on-year by 15.4 per cent in volume and 14 per cent in value to 24,000 tonnes and US$37 million respectively. Tea exports to Nguyen Huu Tai, chairman of the Viet Nam Tea Association (Vitas), blamed the "unsatisfactory" export performance on several difficulties faced by exporters in buying, distributing and shipping tea products. For instance, the unstable political situation in major importing countries like Tai also said he remained optimistic despite the first quarter decline in exports. Vitas estimates The association plans to help its members participate in several international tea exhibitions in the UAE and |
↧
Article 1
Foreign investment funds’ tough days over After experiencing their toughest days in the period of 2008 to 2011, foreign investment funds saw the “light at the end of the tunnel” in 2012. And now they confidently say that the worst days are over. Brighter days ahead  VinaCapital, Dragon Capital and Mekong Capital are preparing to raise new funds as the Vietnamese stock market has warmed up after a long period of “hibernation”. Analysts once predicted that many foreign investment funds would have to shut down in 2008-2011, when the VN Index fell dramatically and brought losses to investment deals. However, the prediction did not come true. In fact, the funds have revived amid the strong recovery of the stock market. A report of Edmond De Rothschild, a British securities company, disclosed that about 10 foreign investment funds in Vietnam had their NAV (net asset value) increase by more than 22 percent in 2013 – the growth rate of the VN Index in that year. Despite tasting bitterness in 2011, the funds poured money into Vietnamese private businesses, and achieved considerable growth rates in 2012 and 2013. The Vietnam Enterprise Investment Limited’s (VEIL) NAV, managed by Dragon Capital, for example, dropped by 20.4 percent in 2011, but then grew by 21.4 percent in 2012 and 29 percent in 2013. The Vietnam Growth Fund Limited (VGF), also managed by Dragon Capital, saw a NAV decrease of 19.6 percent in 2011, but increases of 29.8 percent in 2012 and 23.9 percent in 2013. Meanwhile, the funds managed by Vina Capital, including the Vietnam Opportunity Fund Limited (VOF), have reported a 15 percent NAV growth rate per one treasury stock in 2013. In the latest report, VOF’s Managing Director Andy Ho attributed the growth to improved efficiency of the investment portfolios. In 2013, Vinamilk’s shares, which accounted for 15.4 percent of VOF’s NAV, saw their price increasing sharply, by 132 percent, bringing a hefty profit to VOF. The values of the shares VOF holds in Hoa Phat Group (5.7 percent of NAV) and Kinh Do (4.9 percent of NAV) have also increased significantly thanks to the stock price increases. A second opportunity? Vinamilk (dairy producer), FPT (technology group), Hau Giang Pharmacy, REE (refrigeration engineering) and Kinh Do (sweets manufacturer) now have no more “room” for foreign investors because the foreign ownership ratios in the companies have hit the ceiling. Therefore, analysts believe that the foreign capital flow will head for Vietnam Airlines (air carrier), Vinatex (garment and textile), VinaCement (cement manufacturer) and MobiFone (telecom), the “major players” which are slated to soon be equitized. Analysts see this as the second opportunity for the Vietnamese capital market. The first one was missed when However, Dominic Scriven, from Dragon Capital, noted that it is always very difficult to raise funds for investments in Mekong Capital and Vina Capital also failed to set up new funds with hundreds of millions of dollars in 2012-2013. |
↧
↧
Article 0
Sports News Headlines 14/4 Vietnam triumphs at futsal championship in Spain  Vietnamese men’s futsal team won the championship at a friendly four-team tournament in Naron, Spain on April 13 after trouncing the host’s Cidade de Naròn FS 4-3 in the final. The team, u nder the guidance of head coach Bruno Garcia Formosa, is in Spain for a short-term training course in preparation for the finals of Asian Futsal 2014, which is slated for late April in Ho Chi Minh City. The team has set a target of entering the list of top eight Asian futsal teams. Martial artists face stiff challenge The tournament will kick off on Wednesday at the Can Tho City's Indoor Stadium. "Countries will send their best athletes to the tournament, because this is an excellent occasions to put their athletes to the test before the 18th Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, next September," Can Tho's coach Nguyen Anh Tuan said. "Athletes from A rough estimate of 300 martial artists from seven countries – Brunei, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and host Viet Nam – will compete for 39 sets of medals to be distributed among three age groups, 14-15, 16-17 and 18-and-above. While Ngan has been unrivaled for years in the women's individual kata (performance) event, Anh has yet to find a worthy opponent in the women's kumite (combat) 50kg event. This is the first time the Mekong Delta city has hosted the event, though it has sent several talented young athletes, such as Kieu Oanh and Pham Hoang Nhi, who are expected to retain their titles this year. The country has set a goal of finishing in second place. VN to compete at Youth Olympics Beach volleyball athletes Nguyen Thi Thu Van and Phan Thi Bich Vi of The duo took part in a qualification tournament held in U19 squad plays friendly match with students in Belgium During their one-month training in The match took place in a cozy atmosphere thanks to strong support by the Vietnamese students in Vietnamese students were impressed by the match although they were defeated by the more experienced strong U19 opponents. The U19 squad expressed their pleasure with their current training in Long An levels 2-2 against Nghe An Dong Tam Long An went home with one point from their V-League 2-2 draw against former champions Song Lam Nghe An yesterday. Phan Thanh Giang of Long An fired his first goal at the 21st minute and closed the game with another goal for his side in the additional time. His teammate, Tran Hoai Nam, tapped in an easy ball in the last second of the first half, while Nghe An's Tran Phi Son converted a low shot into a goal four minutes after the break. The draw did not help either team in the ranking table. Long An is still in the second from the bottom, while Nghe An remain in seventh place. In Saturday's fixture, Dong Nai ended Thanh Hoa's winning streak, as they showed their most brilliant win of 8-0. They also sent Thanh Hoa to second place. Thanh Hoa played with 10 men from the 10th minute, as goalkeeper To Vinh Loi was sent off because of a serious fault. "I was not surprised about the win, I just did not think there would be an 8-0 result," said coach Tran Binh Su of Dong Nai. "We deserved to win because we were the better team with suitable tactics," he said. "I knew them. What we needed to do was block their best players, Nastja Ceh and Danny van Bakel." Coach Mai Duc Chung said: "This loss is a lesson for my players. It shows that we were not as strong as people thought. We lost because we could not manage the game, while Dong Nai were too good." The win brought Dong Nai into the tournament's top three with 19 points. Becamex Binh Duong won 2-0 over hosts Hai Phong and jumped to the top position with as many 23 points, as Thanh Hoa still has one game to spare. In another match, former winners SHB Da Nang beat Quang The latest match of the 12th round will kick off today between bottom-placed Hung Vuong An Giang and defending champions Ha Noi T&T. The match will be aired live on VTV6 channel. Tennis team contest kicks off The National Teams Tennis Championships began yesterday, as In the men's draw, Da Nang 2 beat Vinh Phuc 2-1, while Military 2 won 2-0 over HCM City 2. On the women's event, Military beat Hai Duong 2-0 and entered the first semi-final match, where they are to meet The national tournament attracted 50 men and women to compete in the men's and women's team categories. The finals are scheduled on April 17. VNA/VNS/VOV |
↧
Article 9
Long An rice, dragon fruit certified in US Cho Dao fragrant rice (Source: VNA) Chau Thanh dragon fruit and Cho Dao fragrant rice from the Mekong Delta province of Long An have received certified trademarks from the United States Patent and Trademarks Office (USTPO), an official has said. According to Mai Van Nhieu, Director of the provincial Department of Science and Technology, the certificates will be valid for 10 years. The trademark protection certificates will ensure three rights for their holders. They will prohibit any production units with the same business line in the country using the trademark; have the right to transfer the rights use to any partner in the country; and have the right to request legal enforcement agencies to protect their trademark if any one violates the copyright. Cho Dao hamlet in My Le commune, Can Duoc district - the only area in the province that can cultivate the fragrant rice - has 500 hectares of farmland. It produces over 1,500 tonnes of rice per year. Meanwhile, Chau Thanh district has nearly 2,200 hectares of dragon fruit cultivation, with the average annual output of over 30,000 tonnes. Dragon fruit growers in the locality recently have applied production process following the Vietnam Agriculture Practice (VietGAP) and Global Agriculture Practice (GbobalGAP) standards to ensure the quality of its products for export. Long An province is intensifying its introduction of local specialities and trade promotion to seek more markets for its products both in and outside the country. It is also paying attention in maintaining the extension of trademark protection certificates abroad and in the |
↧
Article 8
 The Challenge Program on Water and Food- (CPWF) Mekong dams database provides the locations of every known commissioned, under-construction and planned dam in the Construction of a giant controversial dam in Opponents of these projects said their commencement would also kick off the construction of the 9 other dams planned by Regional leaders have continued to beat the drum of safeguarding the mighty river, but in reality, the rhetoric has been more prominent than action, environmental activists say. They say that although it is still not too late to put a brake on the damming frenzy and devise a plan to promote the sustainable development of the But apparently, “powerful commercial interests have been allowed to ransack the In November 2012, A technical review released in March 2011 by the Mekong River Commission (MRC) - a regional body established to coordinate dam projects on the river - on the Xayaburi dam is considered the most comprehensive analysis of its potential impact. It warns that more than 50 studies are still required before regional governments reach a consensus over whether the Xayaburi and other But last September, A regional summit that ended recently in “While [we are] pleased that Mekong leaders recognize the negative environmental and social impacts that hydropower development poses to the mainstream, we are disappointed that leaders did not condemn the current rush of dam building on the Mekong mainstream,” Ame Trandem, Southeast Asia program director for International Rivers, said in a statement issued after the Mekong River Commission summit wrapped up April 5 in Ho Chi Minh City. “Words without actions are meaningless,” Trandem said. “The Lao government must stop its free reign of Business as usual Viraphonh Viravong, Landlocked “The Lao government sees hydropower as something of a silver bullet to lift the country out of poverty and genuinely believes there is no alternative,” Philip Hirsch, director of the Australian Mekong Resource Center at the University of Sydney, told Thanh Nien News. But given that the power to be produced by the 260-megawatt Don Sahong dam is quite small, experts say an important question, in this context, is which are the more and less damaging sites for dam construction. “Building a dam that blocks the major fish migration route in the model of one of the world's most significant artisanal freshwater fisheries does not seem like a very sensible priority,” Hirsch said. Environmental groups warn that the impacts posed by the Don Sahong dam bring a new level of risk to the biodiversity of the Viraphonh shrugged off such concerns. “We are very confident that there will be no significant impact on the downstream of the river,” Viraphonh said, adding that But those in the opposing camp do not buy into this assurance. They say these claims are based on models which have never been tested in the “The stakes are high and continuing to build ‘Right to develop’ While Viraphonh, the Lao energy official, bristled at criticism that his country has provided no information to its neighbors about how it plans to address the serious impacts that experts expect to see on important migratory fishes species, saying He maintained that for a small project like Don Sahong, only notification would be needed. But, more importantly, he stressed that “  A Cambodian fisherman who lives by the Muddy the Addressing an Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in "It would not be over-exaggerating... to view the water resources of the 21st century as the oil of the 19th and 20th centuries," Sang said. Environmental activists say Laos’s “unilateral” move to plow ahead with the construction of two controversial dams highlights the urgency to give the 1995 Mekong Agreement more teeth. “Because the [treaty] and its procedures are riddled with ambiguities, the Meanwhile, experts have lamented that International Rivers, a US-based nonprofit group that works to protect rivers, has been collecting information on In Southeast Asia alone, it said, the number of Chinese dams that are under construction or are proposed include 10 in Cambodia, 26 in Laos, and 55 in Myanmar. Of them, four are to be built on the mainstream Mekong - three in In the meantime, Given the scale and size of these dams, experts say there are certainly other environmental impacts like withholding sediment and changed flow volumes and quantity on the lower They also say there are well-grounded fears that “China itself doesn't need the power but stands to gain in two ways: First, work for Chinese dam-building and engineering companies,” said Richard Cronin, director of the Southeast Asia program at Stimson Center, a US-based research institute. “Second, |
↧