BUSINESS IN BRIEF 27/7 French businesses satisfied with French businesses that are currently operating in Fleur Pellerin, Secretary of State for Foreign Trade, Tourism Promotion and French Nationals Abroad of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development, hailed the city’s dynamic development during a July 21 reception given by Le Hoang Quan, Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee. She said she will ask the French Development Agency (AFD) to closely work with the city to draw up cooperation programmes, especially between the two business communities. She welcomed effective cooperation between Lyon city of the Rhône-Alpes region and Briefing the guest on the city’s key infrastructure projects, Quan expressed his hope that the French government and businesses will assist the city in providing financial and technical assistance for these projects. He said HCM City and France have great potential for increasing cooperation in the areas of French strength such as transport infrastructure, education, health care, urban management, culture and arts. The city will do its utmost to create favourable conditions for the two sides’ businesses to promote investment cooperation for mutual benefit, he affirmed. Pellerin is leading a delegation of French companies to Property sector FDI rises in 2014 Bui Ngoc Suong, acting chairman of the Vietnam Tourism Property Association (VnTPA), told online newspaper bizlive.vn that real estate tourism has been a special sector. Developers have to invest in both property and high-quality services. Statistics from the Ministry of Planning and Investment showed that the country attracted 6.85 billion USD in FDI in the first half of the year. The FDI poured into the property sector was 692.3 million USD, a 65 percent increase year over year, and accounting for 10 percent of the total. Suong said FDI in the sector was mainly from international tourism groups and tour operators, such as from For example, the central Khanh Hoa province received two FDI tourism projects, namely the 300 million USD Alma and 89 million USD Flowers. Sharing his opinion, Robert McIntosh, Executive Director, CBRE Hotels, Asia Pacific, said He said this meant that foreign investors were attracted by the investment opportunities in However, the country's tourism industry had relied on the potential of its long and beautiful coastline, but had not done enough to help its development, he said. He added that the sector needed synchronised investment while ensuring transparency on information, policies and the business environment. Vietnamese enterprises should promote joint-venture models in the sector to learn from the management and operational experiences of foreign investors. This could help CBRE's survey based on views and prospects of private investment in Footwear giants transfer orders into Vietnam Footwear giants like Nike, Adidas and Puma have been moving their orders from The moving rate is 25 percent higher than the same period last year. Besides, Target Sourcing Services who is among the world ten largest distributors and Dansu Group are planning investment in Companies that used to order in Timberland and Puma want to expand production in Japanese investors keen on coal power projects Many big Japanese companies are interested in BOT coal-fired power projects in Watanabe made the statement at the second Vietnamese-Japanese high-level dialogue on boosting public-private partnership projects on July 16, which was co-chaired by him and Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Dao Quang Thu. Japanese firms are negotiating with Vietnamese partners to invest in projects such as the Nghi Son 2, Vung Ang 2 and Van Phong 1. “These projects are feasible and meet According to the National Master Plan for Power Development for the 2011-2020 period, The Vietnam National Coal-Mineral Industries Holding Corporation Limited (Vinacomin) has forecasted that NA members call for better use of state capital Many National Assembly members have suggested that the law on management and usage of state capital invested into enterprises’ production and business specify a concrete new model for state capital ownership in enterprises. The National Assembly’s Economic Committee’s chairman Nguyen Van Giau told a National Assembly Standing Committee meeting last week that the draft of this law, currently under discussion, should allow the establishment of an independent agency under the government’s control to manage and supervise all state capital in enterprises. “This solution will help create a breakthrough in managing state-owned enterprises (SOEs), thereby separating state bodies’ management function from their function as enterprise owners,” Giau said. “Such bodies should focus on making mechanisms and policies for enterprises, rather than doing business. They also should transparently access the effectiveness of enterprises’ usage of state capital.” However, the law’s drafters proposed that the existing model for state capital ownership in enterprises be maintained as currently prescribed in the draft law’s Article 5 on representatives of state capital ownership. Under this, the prime minister, ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government agencies and people’s committees would continue exercising some rights to and responsibilities for representing state capital ownership in enterprises that they establish. “The removal of the current model will mean a set-back in state capital management, because it will create a new administrative apparatus,” said Nguyen Hanh Phuc, Chairman of the National Assembly Office. But Giau argued that “The maintenance of this model will not help remove chronic weaknesses in SOE management.” For example, when the Vinashin scandal was uncovered several years ago, the Ministry of Transport, which manages Vinashin, was not held responsible. Many other National Assembly members have echoed the committee’s view, saying that the existing model must be removed as soon as possible. Deputy Minister of Finance Nguyen Van Hieu said that the ministries of Planning and Investment and Finance were weighing the pros and cons of three scenarios for a new model. “We are considering whether we should establish a ministerial-level body or a department in charge of SOEs’ capital and assets. We also wonder if we should maintain the existing model or not,” Hieu said. “If we maintain the existing model, society will not be able to advance, because state capital largely comes from people, while it is being used wastefully by SOEs. At present, all ministries have their own enterprises which compete with one another. This will reduce the economy’s competitiveness globally,” said the National Assembly’s Council of Ethnic Affairs’ Chairman Ksor Phuoc. “I totally with the Economic Committee’s proposal that there must be an independent body in charge of representing state capital in enterprises,” he said. National Assembly vice chairwomen Tong Thi Phong and Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan also gave the thumbs-up to the proposal. “There should be an independent body that can help overcome the weaknesses of SOEs. However, what model should be used will need further discussion,” Ngan said. A good example of rural finance model The country has completed three rural finance projects with total capital of US$548 million. The World Bank provided US$200 million for the 3rd one. The objective of the 3rd project is to raise economic benefits to rural private enterprises and households by enhancing their access to finance. The expected outcomes include: improved access to financial services for rural entrepreneurs, increased capital investment made by the rural entrepreneurs as well as increased employment, and increased lending, particularly term lending to the rural private sector for capital investment by all participating financial institutions on market-based terms. Between 2009 and 2013, this project has effectively contributed to increasing medium and long-term finance for rural economic development, poverty reduction and job creation. Specifically, over 135,000 rural households and enterprises, including 70,000 poor households could access to the World Bank-funded capital. More than 140,000 new jobs were created within the reviewed period. World Bank Country Director Victoria Kwakwa noted that The 1st project, deployed in 1996, provided 600,000 loans for low-income and poor households, and created 410,000 new jobs for rural residents. Speaking at the workshop, Deputy PM Hoang Trung Hai highly valued the importance of the capital granted to Ministry tightens regulations for second-hand machinery imports The import of second-hand machinery will be allowed if its quality is 80 per cent as good as a new one, according to the Ministry of Science and Technology. The remaining quality is based on technical parameters of used machinery in comparison with that of a new one. The circular 20/2014/TT-BKHCN, issued last week, also regulates that the machinery, equipment and technology, if imported, must be in use for less than five years. The rule for machinery and equipment less than three years old is applied to those used for agricultural production, beverage manufacturing and post services. Minister of Science and Technology Nguyen Quan said Accordingly, documents showing the machinery's technical standards and quality-control certificates must be submitted to the customs for clearance. The regulation will come into effect on September 1. This move was aimed at preventing the inflow of obsolete machinery and equipment which would turn the country into a landfill for the world's discarded technologies. In 2012, the Government temporarily put a halt to the import of outdated second-hand machinery, equipment and production lines in response to information about the closure of 2,250 companies in Beer plant left unfinished A beer plant under construction in the centre of Ha Tinh City has become a pasture for local residents to graze oxen. Hoang Van Son, deputy director of the central city's Department of Planning and Investment, said that construction on the Toan Cau Beer Plant started in 2004 and was essentially finished in 2006. However, after construction began, local residents worried about pollution proposed moving the plant from the city centre, according to chairman of the city People's Committee Tran The Dung. "Sooner or later the beer plant will be moved from the city, as the city's plan does not allow a beer plant to be built in the city centre," said Son, explaining that when provincial authorities first instructed the company to move the beer plant, they received no response. Dung said that the Viet Trung Investment and Co-operation Corporation had not moved the plant because of economic difficulties and because "the city and province's guidance was not strong enough". Lao dong (Labour) newspaper reported that the plant's basic infrastructure was complete and equipment for beer manufacturing was present, although it had rusted due to rain and sun. The Viet Trung Investment and Co-operation Corporation invested more than VND262 billion (US$12.4 million) to build the plant, which was expected to have a capacity of 50 million litres per year and create jobs for 250 workers. Vietnamese businesses urged to boost exports to S Korea Vietnamese enterprises should make greater efforts to accelerate trade promotion, improve production capacities and sharpen their competitive skills to further tap into the lucrative South Korean market. According to the Vietnamese Trade Office in They also preferred environment-friendly foods and were paying increasing attention to the country of origin of foods, with top priority being given to Korean-made goods. Thus, in order to successfully penetrate into Korean markets, Vietnamese exporters should ensure the quality of their products with a focus on food safety and hygiene as well as make their goods different from those already available in the market, the office said. According to the office, Meanwhile, Vietnamese exports to In the first half of this year, The department noted that exports of Vietnamese agricultural goods and foodstuff to different markets were also increasing. Trade experts attributed the encouraging results to efforts by domestic enterprises in exploiting the market and the positive influence of the ASEAN-Korea Free Trade Agreement, through which Credit growth rises in two largest cities Total outstanding loans this month of Ha Noi-based credit institutions are estimated to inch up 0.5 per cent to nearly VND927 trillion (US$43.52 billion), according to the Ha Noi Statistics Office. The July credit growth of the capital was lower than the 2 per cent rise last month. In detail, short-term outstanding loans of credit institutions in the capital are estimated to drop 1.3 per cent over the previous month and 8.3 per cent from December 2013, while medium and long-term loans are estimated to rise by 4.1 per cent over the previous month and 12.1 per cent against December 2013. In July, Ha Noi-based credit institutions are also estimated to have mobilised nearly VND1,140 trillion ($53.52 billion), up 2.7 per cent over the previous month and 8.9 per cent from December 2013. Meanwhile, the HCM City Statistics Office reported that the city's credit is estimated to rise 2.2 per cent from the previous month to VND979.9 trillion ($46 billion). Medium and long-term outstanding loans accounted for 46.5 per cent, surging 14.5 per cent year-on-year, while the short-term outstanding loans accounted for 53.5 per cent, rising 5.6 per cent year-on-year. The city's credit institutions are also estimated to mobilise a total VND1,205.6 billion ($56.6 billion), up 2.8 per cent as compared to June, and up 14.4 per cent year-on-year. According to the latest survey on business trends of credit institutions, released last week by the State Bank of Viet Nam (SBV), 90 per cent of credit institutions expect deposits and loans of the whole banking system to grow 3.6 per cent in Q3 and 14.2 per cent in 2014. Officials have so far shown optimism despite the slow credit growth of 3.52 per cent over the past six months, which had raised concerns over the banking system's ability to reach the credit growth target of 12 to 14 per cent this year. SBV Deputy Governor Nguyen Dong Tien said that credit growth will possibly meet the target as it is usually slow in H1 and accelerates in H2. Besides, Tien said, domestic production and businesses have shown signs of recovery. Some key sectors saw a high rate of growth, including exports, supporting industries and the hi-tech sector. Social and agriculture programmes also reacted positively. The central bank will continue to closely monitor credit institutions, make appropriate adjustments and quickly deal with any problems, Tien said, adding that it will also ask the Government to revise credit policies in rural areas and the agricultural sector. CPI increases in Ha Noi, HCM City The consumer price indices (CPI) in the country's two biggest cities in July continued to rise, according to the statistics departments of Ha Noi and The Ha Noi Statistics Department reported that the capital's CPI in July rose up by 0.18 per cent over June. The department said the two surges in petroleum retail selling prices at the end of June and the beginning of July, pushed transport costs higher, thus contributing to the rise in the CPI. Ten out of the 11 baskets of goods, which contribute to the calculation of the capital's CPI data, saw an increase in prices this month. Among these, beverages and cigarette groups rose by 0.55 per cent, housing, electricity, water and building material saw a 0.53 per cent increase and transport rose by 0.51 per cent. The department added that tightening of truck loading capacity raised costs on transportation of building material. In addition, the surge of people attending the university entrance examinations also made demands on accommodation, food, room rentals and other services. Gold prices rose 1.97 per cent in comparison with the previous month and reduced 2.51 per cent over the same period last year. The US dollar saw 0.56 per cent month-on-month rise and 0.76 per cent against the corresponding period last year. HCM City Statistics Department also reported an increase of 0.12 per cent in the city CPI for July against the previous month and represented a 7.89 per cent year-on-year increase. However, this has been the lowest CPI rise in months which increased so far this year. Of the 11 baskets of goods that saw a rise were food (0.25 per cent), garments and textiles (0.05 per cent) and warehouses (0.03 per cent). Others that rose were transport (0.4 per cent), posts and telecommunication (0.01 per cent), and goods and other services (0.29 per cent). Beverage and tobacco saw a 0.06 per cent decrease while that of housing, water and electricity was 0.07 per cent, education 0.12 per cent and entertainment 0.34 per cent. Pharmaceutical and healthcare services remained unchanged. The department said the factors that caused the CPI increase in July was a rise in prices of meat, egg and vegetables, and especially the recent rise of petroleum products selling at a record level of VND25,640 (US$1.22) per litre. Retailers offer special deals on school supplies As the new school year approaches, producers and distributors of school supplies participating in the city's price stabilisation programme have increased supply and launched promotions to boost sales. The Huong Mi Handbags Co Ltd, for instance, said it was assigned to offer stablised prices on 600,000 backpacks and schoolbags, up 30 per cent over last year. Besides providing products under the city's price stabilisation programme, the company has also supplied products to other provinces and cities nationwide, said Nguyen Ba Dung, the company's deputy director. The company's employees have been working under high pressure to guarantee supplies, he said, adding that sales had been good. Many shops under Minh Tien Bag Manufacturing Company, which takes part in the programme, have received many customers, especially at night. Sales of school bags and backpacks are expected to increase strongly until the middle of next month, according to sellers at these shops. They are offering discounts of 20 per cent for all products until August 15. In addition, Tuan Viet Shoes Co Ltd has introduced many kinds of shoes, priced 15 per cent lower than market prices. Many supermarkets and bookstores have launched promotions on stationery and other items. The Co.opmart supermarket chain is offering discounts of up to 50 per cent on more than 1,500 items, including student uniforms, school bags, notebooks, pens and other school supplies, until August 3. French supermarket chain Big C is also running a discount programme called "Vui mua sam, don tuu truong" (Happy shopping, welcome back to school) until July 28. The programme offers special discounts of 5-50 per cent on more than 500 items including notebooks, pens, uniforms and school bags. Many bookstores in The city's price stabilisation programme for school supplies this year has the participation of 15 enterprises with about 500 items at stabilised prices, meeting 35-40 per cent of demand, according to the city Department of Industry and Trade. Ministry issues provisions on apartment building The Ministry of Construction issued Circular No 03/2014/TT-BXD (February 20, 2014) and Circular No 05/2014/TT-BXD (May 9, 2014) on calculation of the area of an apartment and contributions to the fund for operational management of the commonly owned area of an apartment building based on the area of the apartment. Calculation of use area of an apartment The use area of an apartment is calculated based on net measurements and must be recorded in the certificate issued to apartment purchasers. The use area of an apartment includes the area of walls partitioning rooms within the apartment, and the area of balcony and loggia attached to the apartment, but does not include the boundary walls of the apartment building, the walls dividing the various apartments, the areas of the floor column and the technical box inside the apartment. The area of balcony is calculated in the entire floor area. If the balcony contains an area of common wall, the calculation is made from the inner edge of the common wall. Once handing over an apartment, the parties must specifically record the use area of the apartment that is actually handed over and the area recorded in the signed apartment sale and purchase contract ("Contract") in the minutes of apartment handover or in the Contract appendix. The minute of apartment handover or the Contract appendix is an integral part of the Contract. Calculation of fund for operational management of an apartment building: Provincial People's Committees regulate a framework of general expenses for the operational management of apartment buildings within their locality. The framework of general expenses is the basis for calculating and formulating funding for operational management. If the apartment building does not yet have a management committee, the investors in the apartment building can calculate and collect the same from the owner and users. If the apartment building has the management committee already, the apartment building operational management enterprise calculates applicable fees and they are reported by the management committee to the Apartment Building General Meeting for passing. The contribution to the fund for operational management of an apartment building is calculated on a monthly basis, and allocated according to the net area of the apartment and other parts of the building not the apartment (including the garage) under private ownership of each apartment owner. Who funds the operational management of an apartment building? If the apartment building is owned by a single person, he or she must pay the fund for operational management of the apartment building, unless the owner and users have a different agreement. If the apartment building is owned by multiple owners, the owners and the users must pay the fund on the principle of ensuring a sufficient budget for the operational management of the apartment building. Apartment sale and purchase contract before April 8, 2014 Regarding the Contract signed before the effective date of MOC Circular No 03/2014/TT-BXD (April 8, 2014), in which the parties agreed to calculate the use area of apartment based on measurements made from the centre of the thickness of walls, the contribution to the fund for the operational management of the apartment building is allocated based on the net area of the apartment beginning the effective date of Circular No 05/2014/TT-BXD (June 25, 2014). Water transport potential untapped The Cuu Long ( The region has more than 26,500km of rivers and canals and 13,000km of them are used for waterway transport. Pham Minh Nghia, chairman of the Viet Nam Inland Waterway Transportation Association, said the delta is considered to have among the highest density of rivers and canals in the world, but this advantage has not been exploited well enough for transportation. Zoning plans and prioritised projects for developing waterway transport were created long ago, but investment in them has been very low, he said. Le Hoang Linh, director of the Tan Cang Waterway Transport Joint Stock Company, said 80 per cent of the delta's containers meant for export have to be transported to The cost of carrying them by road transport is 10 -60 per cent higher than by waterway, he pointed out. More investment is needed in waterway transportation and connecting it with other transport modes to ensure economic effectiveness, he said. The delta is the country's largest seafood and agricultural producer. It has many old bridges that only allow narrow boat navigation lanes and low clearance, according to the Viet Nam Inland Waterway Administration. It also has more than 2,500 ports and boat stations each with a capacity of handling 50,000 tonnes to two million tonnes of goods a year, but loading and unloading facilities there are not modern. Roads leading to these ports and boat stations are not in good condition. Tran Thanh Man, secretary of the Can Tho Party Committee, said the problem was that investment was not simultaneously made in all related aspects of waterway transport, citing the example of ports that lack channels for large vessels to pass through. For instance, Can Tho's Minister of Transport Dinh La Thang said to resolve the delta's waterway problems and capitalise on its potential, awareness needs to be raised among authorities and businesses about the effectiveness of waterway transport and link up various transport modes. He instructed Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Van The to work with the Southwest Region Steering Committee and authorities in the region to review strategies and zoning plans for developing waterway transportation. He ordered the Viet Nam Register and the Viet Nam Inland Waterway Administration to publicise waterway transport routes by this quarter. The Ministry of Transport is set to create a marine route from HCM City to Long An, Tien Giang, Dong Thap, An Giang, and Kien Giang Provinces in the delta. When it is completed, vessels weighing 500-1,000 tonnes can ply directly to and from Work to expand the Cho Gao Canal, which links the region with HCM City, will be finished by the end of the first quarter of next year. The Quan Chanh Bo Canal, which is being dredged, will allow large vessels to reach the These projects would improve waterway transportation in the delta, Thang added. Shrimp exports to Nearly 62 per cent came from white-leg shrimp and 30 per cent from black tiger prawns, according to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP). With a population of over 80 million, the largest European economy is forecast to see increasing demand for imported shrimp and other aquatic products in the future. Central EZs, IPs draw $310m in H1 Industrial parks, export processing zones and economic zones in central coastal provinces and cities attracted 23 domestic and foreign investment projects with total capital of US$310 million in the first six months of this year. Binh Thuan and Ninh Thuan, two provinces that recently joined the Co-operation and Development Coastal Centre Region Group, were set to build tourism centres as well as wind and solar power plants. Ninh Thuan also plans to construct a nuclear power plant. Regional industrial parks attracted 943 projects with total capital of over US$1.3 billion, of which 775 involved foreign direct investment. Buon Ma Thuot coffee registers in EU The Central Highlands The move aims to protect the brand in this large, lucrative market. The price of coffee products with GI certification is about 15 per cent higher than that of their non-certified counterparts. Early this year, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce revoked the patent of a company in EU experts have organised seminars and training courses to help Dak Lak complete the complex process in three years. The Buon Ma Thuot Coffee Association is currently putting the final touches to a dossier to be submitted to the EU. Vinamilk cattle farm certified by GAP Viet Nam Dairy Joint Stock Company (Vinamilk) received a certificate from the Global GAP Control Union last week for meeting international Global Good Agriculture Practices (Global GAP) standards. Vinamilk's cattle farm in central Nghe An Province was the first in ASEAN to be certified by Global GAP and one of three Asian farms to meet these international standards. The five Vinamilk farms previously received a certificate from the French Certification Organisation of Bureau Veritas. Global GAP standards were introduced to meet the demands of domestic and international markets to produce high-quality and safe products, enrich farmers, develop rural areas and preserve the environment. Vinamilk plans $470m share issuance Dairy giant Vinamilk (VNM) will issue a maximum of 167 million shares to raise charter capital from VND8.34 trillion (US$395.3 million) to VND10 trillion ($474 million). The rate is 20 per cent, or each holding of five shares will be given one additional share. The deadline for shareholders to register to participate in this issue is August 15. Last year, the company paid shareholders a high cash dividend rate of 48 per cent. It has set an ambitious target of cash dividends of no lower than 50 per cent this year. Hoa Sen forecasts Q2 profits over $5m Steelmaker Hoa Sen Group (HSG) estimated revenue would be more than VND4.32 trillion (US$204.8 million) and net profits VND111 billion ($5.3 million) in the second quarter of this year. The group sold 237,000 tonnes of finished products, 36 per cent of which was for export and lower than the average of 46 per cent in the first six months of the fiscal year. VinGroup to create building, fashion companies Construction giant VinGroup (VIC) will contribute VND94 billion (US$4 million) to establish Vincom 2 Construction Company with a total charter capital of VND100 billion ($4.7 million). Recently, the group decided to release their treasury share (re-acquired stocks) to make additional capital contribution to Vinpearl, an affiliates focusing on travel and hospitality services. The contribution mounted up to VND2.443 trillion ($115.8 million). It also plans to contribute VND14 billion to set up a fashion company with a charter capital of VND20 billion ($948,000). Steel pipe maker to sell 10m shares Son Ha International Coporation (SHI), a manufacture of stainless steel welded pipe, registered to sell 10 million shares at a price of just VND5,000 (US$0.24) per share, below the par value of VND10,000 a share. Two-way trade between Vietnam’s export to the island country reached over 1.9 billion SGD (1.57 billion USD), up 34.2 percent year-on-year, with mobile phones, spare parts, oil and gas, coffee and tea as staples. Meanwhile, the country spent over 8.1 billion SGD (6.5 billion USD) purchasing mobile phones, accessories, plastic, oil and gas, among others from the market. During the period, Singaporean firms poured about 732 million USD, both newly-registered and additional investment, into As of June, LaoVietBank buys US$30 million worth of The Lao Viet Joint Venture Bank (LaoVietBank) will buy US$30 million worth of Laos Government bonds in 2014. An agreement to this effect was signed between Laos Ministry of Finance and LaoVietBank in Laos Finance Minister Lien Thikeo said that through the buying of Laos Government bonds, the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV), parent bank of LaoVietBank, continues to contribute to both the stability of LaoVietBank was established as a joint venture between BIDV and Banque Pour Le Commerce Exterieur Lao (BCEL) with 65% of its equity capital owned by BIDV. It is now one of the most modern banks in LaoVietBank began to invest in Laos Government bonds in 2012 and its total investment so far has reached nearly US$60 million. Vinalines’ joint-venture ports restructuring debt The joint-venture ports of Vietnam National Shipping Lines (Vinalines) are struggling to restructure debt while the State-owned giant has yet to find an effective way out for its massive debt. Since 2013, Vinalines has been pursuing an ultimate goal of restructuring debt and revitalizing business operations. While its 100% State-owned and joint stock ports have made modest profits, joint-stock ports have continued racking up losses. In the first six months of this year, Vinalines boosted debt restructuring at its joint-venture ports. Representatives of Vinalines’ holdings at the joint venture companies tried to negotiate with creditors to extend debt payment deadlines, according to a report of Vinalines. SSIT Port, a joint venture between Saigon Port and the U.S.’s SSA Port, has clinched an agreement with the creditor to reschedule bank loans and write off the additional interest until 2016. At SP-PSA, a joint venture of Vinalines, CMIT, a joint venture between Vinalines and The report did not mention specific debt and losses at the joint venture ports. In the January-June period, Vinalines estimated its revenues at over VND9.7 trillion, meeting 44% of its whole-year target and dropping 1% from the same period last year. The firm has incurred losses for the fifth straight year, with this year’s losses put at VND775 billion. For Vinalines’ core business operations, ports remained the most stable with throughput up 4% year-on-year. The still-good business results were reported at Vinalines’ non-joint venture ports and those Vinalines were trying to reduce State holdings and undergo equitization. In general, port operators are facing difficulties as the Transport Ministry’s tight controls on overloaded trucks since April has led cargo backlogs to pile up at ports. Operations have also increased while shipping firms have forced ports to cut service charges and extend payment times, triggering tough competition in the industry. In the second half of the year, Vinalines looks to raise its throughput to 67 million tons. It will work out more equitization plans to launch the initial public offerings (IPO) of Cam Ranh, Nghe Tinh, Can Tho and Nam Can ports. Yamaha Motor Yamaha Motor Vietnam (YMV) has unveiled its new scooter model called Nozza Grande 125cc in HCMC and plans to introduce more scooters to this market in the future. Hoang Ha, YMV director of sales and marketing in the north, said the company would launch more models of luxury scooter equipped with the Blue Core engine later this year at competitive prices. Compared to the old Nozza scooter model, the new one has some differences, including a higher saddle, a wider trunk container and the fuel-saving engine Blue Core 125cc. Last month, YMV introduced the motorbike engine Blue Core for a new scooter model the company intended to launch on the domestic market this month. The company boasted the Blue Core engine could save up to 50% of fuel consumption compared to normal engines. The Nozza Grande scooter is designed for women and has many functions to meet their needs. It comes up with seven colors and retails for VND40 million and VND42 million a unit. French businesses keen on infrastructure projects in city French enterprises are looking forward to getting involved in large-scale infrastructure projects of HCMC, said a French official. At a meeting with HCMC chairman Le Hoang Quan on July 21, Fleur Pellerin, French Minister of State for Foreign Trade and the Promotion of Tourism and French Nationals Abroad, said French enterprises operating in HCMC were satisfied with the investment environment here. Introducing major infrastructure projects such as metro, sanitation and airport developments, Quan said that HCMC is urgently implementing those projects and expected to receive financial and technical assistance from the French government and enterprises. According to PVN’s after-tax profit drops slightly Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PVN) has reported around VND192.4 trillion in consolidated revenues in the January-June period, equivalent to the same period last year, but its after-tax profit declined slightly. PVN said in a statement released on July 21 that its consolidated revenues reached VND192.4 trillion in the first six months. Its after-tax profit was VND23.6 trillion, or 19% higher than the January-June target but lower than the group’s VND27.5 trillion over the year-ago period. As of this month, PVN’s capital adequacy ratio reached 1.07 times and the debt to total asset ratio was 0.25. In the first half, PVN paid VND85.5 trillion in taxes to the State budget, which was 27.2% higher than the target set by the Government and down 3.3% from the same period last year. However, the VND85.5 trillion included VND5 trillion belonging to last year’s tax payments. In the current situation, PVN has taken steps to closely monitor the implementation of oil and gas projects in the The group has also asked enterprises to thoroughly inspect and safely operate the systems transmitting gas to Ca Mau 1, Ca Mau 2, Nhon Trach 1 and Nhon Trach 2 power plants. According to the Ministry of Finance’s report on operations of State groups and corporations submitted to the National Assembly last December, PVN’s overdue debt amounted to over VND2.17 trillion as business activities depend much on loans. Besides, its debt to equity ratio was around 60%. SJC opens largest jewelry center in south Saigon Jewelry Company (SJC) on July 21 inaugurated a building in HCMC’s District 3 that incorporates its new headquarters and biggest jewelry wholesale and retail center in the south. Covering 4,000 square meters with two basements and 10 stories, the center offers customers a safe place for gold and jewelry trading and a wide selection of quality products and services, Vietnamplus reports. SJC general director Do Cong Chinh said the opening of the new building is a new stage of SJC’s development. The goal of SJC in the coming years is to focus on making and trading jewelry items and applying advanced technologies to improve product designs to meet high demands of customers. Southern hydropower firm debuts on HOSE Southern Hydropower Joint Stock Company (SHP) floated 93.7 million shares on the Hochiminh Stock Exchange (HOSE) on July 21 at a reference price of VND12,000 each. Closing on July 21’s session, SHP rose to VND13,800 per share with a volume of over 507,000 shares. Earlier, SHP was listed on the UPCoM, a market for unlisted public companies. The firm is considered one of the attractive tickers on the southern exchange. Last year, SHP obtained nearly VND104 billion in after-tax profit, up 14% against the previous year. Its revenue mainly sourced from Dasiat and Da Dang 2 hydropower plants. Ending the first quarter of 2014, the company obtained VND60.7 billion in revenue and VND7.3 billion in after-tax profit. The firm’s total assets last year inched up 15.5% against a year earlier, Nguyen Van Thinh, general director of the company, told reporters on July 21. Currently, the firm is running Dasiat, Da Dang 2 and Dambri plants with a respective generation capacity of 13.5 MW, 34 MW and 75 MW. Securities experts appreciated SHP as institutional investors hold a 71.4% stake in the firm versus a private stake of 28.54%. Saigon Beer-Alcohol-Beverage Joint Stock Corporation (Sabeco) now owns a 20.2% stake, or nearly 19 million shares. Organizations and foreign investors are interested in Sabeco’s stake at SHP as Sabeco will have to divest from non-core business operations in the coming time. Source: VEF/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/Dantri/VIR |
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Report awards promote transparency Most of listed companies in The most outstanding result over the past seven years of the annual contest had been the improved awareness of the need for transparency and determination to deliver credible reports among listed companies, Tam told this year’s awards ceremony last Saturday. The event honoured the best 50 annual reports out of nearly 700 entries from companies listed on HOSE and Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX). Among the winners, 38 companies are listed on HOSE and 12 on HNX.  Vinamilk, the country’s biggest dairy company, came first with the highest score. It also secured the Best Corporate Governance prize, which was introduced this year for the first time. Bao Viet Holdings came second after securing the top prize in 2012 and 2013. The Sustainability Reporting Awards, also part of the competition, comprised of one first prize, one second prize and three consolation prizes. Bao Viet Holdings took the first, Vinamilk the second, while the three consolation prizes went to Hau Giang Pharmaceuticals (for completeness), Sacombank (for reliability) and Imexpharm Drugs Co. (for layout). The World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the British-based Association of Chartered Certified Accountants joined the judging of the sustainability reporting, selecting five of the 58 annual reports that included sustainable development issues. Tam, head of the organising committee and the selection board, said this year saw a narrowing in the quality between the top 50. “The weaknesses often seen in previous years have been clearly addressed. For example, business activities received deeper analysis, with reasons and solutions included. The contents included risk issues, with typical risks analysed in detail. Development strategies and plans and objectives were outlined,” she remarked. Dominic Scriven, CEO of Dragon Capital said “There’s still a long way to go before the annual reports reach international standards, but the programme and its communication campaigns and the winning entries will continue to create more milestones for the improvements in reporting quality, helping promote market transparency.” However, he claimed the annual reports by large provided Dragon Capital with roughly a third of the information the firm needed for its investment analyses. Therefore, in order to know more about the companies, the firm has to use other channels such as the media, partners and direct dialogue with the companies. ACCA member Nguyen Viet Thinh, consulting partner at PwC Vietnam and team leader for judging sustainable development reporting, said there had been greater attention to detail this year, and more information was provided on the parties involved, including employees, local communities and suppliers, marking a wider focus than seen in last year’s reports that only highlighted charitable and social activities. He added the competing companies used IFC reporting guidelines on sustainable development, and the Global Reporting Initiative’s guidelines on sustainable development reporting. Many reports mentioned the IFC and GRI criteria. “Some companies used G4 standards as references for the first time,” Thinh said. The Vietnam Annual Report Awards competition has been organised seven times by HOSE, VIR’s sister publication Dau Tu Chung Khoan and HNX, with Dragon Capital as the sole sponsor. The programme is technically supported by IFC, ACCA and independent experts. The eighth competition will kick off in early 2015. Tam, chief of the organising board, said integrity, transparency, professionalism and creativity would continue to be key benchmarks, while corporate governance and sustainable development would carry on their significance. By Tuong Thuy, VIR |
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Article 4
Photos: Unique and expensive dishes in Vietnam Kobe beef noodle, King crabs, turtles and Dong Tao chicken feet are unique and expensive dishes in Vietnam.
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In early May 2014, a restaurant on Nguyen Chi Thanh road in Hanoi sold dishes processed from Dong Tao chicken at the price of VND1.1 million/kg and VND500,000 ($25) for one Dong Tao chicken foot.↧
Article 3
Firm evidence proves China’s recent unilateral acts in the East Sea, particularly its illegal placement of the Haiyang Shiyou-981 oil rig in Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone and continental shelf, seriously violated Vietnam’s sovereignty and international law, threatening peace, stability, security, safety and freedom of navigation in the East Sea. To vindicate its wrong actions, In this article, we provides readers with historical and legal evidence of Legal historical evidence of Vietnam’s sovereignty over Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagoes Due to many reasons, such as historical circumstances, wars and poor preservation conditions, many historical documents relating to The “Tuyen tap Thien Nam Tu Chi Lo Do Thu” (A Route Map from the Capital in the Four Directions) drawn by Do Ba in the 17 th century gave a very accurate description of the two archipelagoes and confirmed that the Nguyen Lords established the Hoang Sa Flotilla to exploit Hoang Sa islands in the 17 th century. “During the last month of every winter, the Nguyen Lords send a flotilla of 18 boats to Bai Cat Vang (Hoang Sa) to collect goods, and they brought back a large amount of gold, silver, coins, guns and ammunition. It took one day and a half to sail from Dai Chiem river mouth to the islands, but only half a day from The book also cites some writings from the third part of the “Hong Duc Ban Do” (Hong Duc Maps) collection dating from the 15 th century, which read, “In Kim Ho Village, there are two mountains on the two banks of the river, each mountain has a gold mine run by the State. Offshore, an archipelago with long sandbanks rise above the sea, called “Bai Cat Vang” (Golden Sandbank), which is about 400 “li” (a unit of measurement used in ancient Vietnam equivalent to about half a kilometre) in length and 20 “li” in width, facing the coastline between Dai Chiem river mouth and that of Sa Vinh. During the South-West monsoon season, foreign commercial ships sailing along the coast of the sandbanks are often wrecked and run aground there; many boats suffer the same fate during the North-East monsoon season. All those who land on the islands after their ships sank starve to death and the cargo piles up.” The document indicated that Hoang Sa and Truong Sa were also recorded in detail in some ancient bibliographies, especially the official documents of the Nguyen Dynasty. “Phu bien tap luc” (Miscellaneous Records of Pacification in the Border Area), written by Le Quy Don in 1776, mentions Vietnam’s exercise of sovereignty over Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagoes in the 18 th century. “In Quang Ngai prefecture, offshore An Vinh commune, Binh Son district, there is a mountainous island called Re, which is 30-“dam” wide (dam-an old measurement unit in Vietnam, equivalent to half a kilometre). It takes four “canh” ( “In the past, the Nguyen lords set up the Hoang Sa Flotilla with 70 crew members who were selected among An Vinh villagers. They took turn to sail to sea every March on five small boats, bringing along food quota for six months. They used to reach the islands after a voyage of three days and three nights. In addition, there was a Bac Hai detachment whose members were recruited from Thu Chinh commune in Binh Thuan province or from Canh Duong village. It was sent to Bac Hai areas, the This document shows that the Hoang Sa and Bac Hai detachments exploited the two archipelagoes from the 17 th to the late 18 th century. Their activities were conducted systematically. The detachments performed their tasks in the islands for eight months each year. Sailors were recruited and paid by the royal court, and performed the tasks at the order of the royal court. Today, which is hundreds of years later, in the second and third lunar months every year, people in Ly Son Island, central Quang Ngai province, still maintain rituals in commemoration of Hoang Sa soldiers. The annual “Le khao le the linh Hoang Sa” (Feast and Commemoration Festival for Hoang Sa Soldiers) pays tribute to the men enlisted in the flotilla to perform missions at the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagos. They tapped the area’s natural resources and defended national island sovereignty. Activities organised by the Nguyen Lord to exploit Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagoes and other islands were also recorded in many other books and documents. Some of them are: · “Kham dinh Dai Nam hoi dien su le” (Dai Nam Administrative Repertory) and “Lich trieu hien chuong loai chi” (Classified Rules of Dynasties) compiled by Phan Huy Chu · “Viet su cuong giam khao luoc” (A Brief History of Vietnam) by Nguyen Thong · “Hoang Viet dia du chi” (Geography of Imperial Vietnam) and “Dai Nam nhat thong chi” (History of the Unified Dai Nam) by the National Historiographer’s Office of the Nguyen Dynasty · Official documents of the Nguyen Dynasty under the reigns of King Minh Menh (1820-1840) and King Thieu Tri (1841-1847) Many historical documents also record In 1833, King Minh Menh ordered the planting of stone steles, trees and poles as well as the building of a temple on Hoang Sa archipelago. Volume No. 104 of the “Dai Nam thuc luc chinh bien” states, “In the eighth month, during the autumn of the Year of the Snake, the 14 th year of the Minh Menh reign (1833), the king issued an edict to the Ministry of Public Works which read,” In the waters of Quang Ngai, there is the Hoang Sa strip. From a distance, the sky and the sea there have the same colour, which makes it difficult to estimate the depth of the sea. Recently, many trading boats had gone aground there. Now you should prepare junks, and next year send people to the area to build a temple, erect steles and plant trees on this land. When the trees grow up, it is easy for people to see them from afar, thus avoiding running aground. This will benefit many generations”. Volume No. 122 of the collection wrote, “In the Year of the Horse, the 15 th year of the Minh Menh reign, the king ordered Captain Truong Phuc Si and more than 20 sailors to sail to Hoang Sa to draw a map of the archipelago…”. Volume No. 154 recorded that in 1835, the building of the temple and the planting of stone steles had been completed. Volume No. 165 wrote, “The King approved a proposal by the Ministry of Public Works and ordered a Suat Doi (Commander) of the Navy, Pham Huu Nhat, to command a fleet and bring ten wooden steles to be used as markers in the area. Each wooden stele is five “thuoc” long, five “tac” wide and one “tac” thick (one thuoc equivalent to 40cm and one tac, 4cm), and is engraved with the words: “In the 17 th year of the Minh Menh reign, the Year of the Monkey, Commander Pham Huu Nhat of the Navy, complying with the order to go to Hoang Sa for management and survey purposes, arrived here and therefore placed this sign.” Under the Nguyen Dynasty (the 19 th century), the measurement of sea routes and drawing of maps of Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagoes were conducted annually by the Ministry of Public Works. In particular, in 1834, the Nguyen court, under the reign of King Minh Menh, completed and officially announced a national map called “Dai Nam nhat thong toan do” (The Complete Map of the Unified Dai Nam). The map featured Before the Minh Menh reign, Hoang Sa and Truong Sa was considered as a single archipelago called Hoang Sa or sometimes Van Ly Truong Sa. However, after King Minh Menh sent working teams to survey and measure the islands, the later map (which is the “Dai Nam nhat thong toan do”) recorded two different names for the two archipelagoes. In addition to ancient books and official documents, many old maps also indicated that Hoang Sa and Truong Sa belong to Internationally recognised historical and legal proof of From the 16 th century, there were many publication and maps drawn by Western navigators which depicted the archipelago in the middle of the East Sea called “Pracel”, “Paracel” or “Paracels” as belonging to Vietnam ’s sovereignty. The “World Map” of Mercator, published in Maps drawn by Bartholomeu Lasso in 1590 and between 1592-1594 which were published in the “Les Portugains sur les cotes du Vietnam et du Campa” collection of P.Y.Manguim in Paris in 1972, and a famous map drawn by Van Langren in 1598, which is included in the “Iconographie Historique de l’Indochine” by P. Boudet and A. Masson, published in Paris in 1931, all show a stretch of coastline corresponding to the area from the Dai Chien river mouth in Quang Nam province to Sa Ky river moutn in Quang Ngai province, under the name of “Costa da Pracel” (the Coast of Paracel). A map drawn by Jodocus Hondius in 1613 shows the ‘Pracel’ (Hoang Sa) archipelago as encompassing all islands of Vietnam from the south of the Tonkin Gulf to the end of the country’s southern waters, except for Pulo Condor (Con Dao) and Pulo Cici (Phu Quoc) which were drawn separately. In particular, “An Nam Dai quoc hoa do” (The Map of the Great Country of An Nam) made by Bishop Jean Louis Taberd and published in 1838 is said to reflect in-depth and precise knowledge of Western people about the relationship between Hoang Sa archipelago and Dai Viet, which the author called An Nam Dai Quoc (The Great Country of An Nam) from the 15 th to early 19 th centuries. The map affirmed that Cat Vang (Hoang Sa) is the Paracels and is located within the waters of “The Times Atlas of the World”, or the Atlas in short, includes a map clearly named as “the map of the Dang Trong area” (the central part of Maps in the atlas demonstrate that Thus, Vietnam’s sovereignty over Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagoes is acquired by two means: the historical right deriving from the long-lasting use and occupation of an ownerless territory under the time of the Nguyen Lords from the 17 th to the 18 th century and the sovereignty formed from the official occupation and uninterrupted exercise of sovereign under the Nguyen Dynasty in the 19 th century. Following the Nguyen Dynasty’s exercise of sovereignty, during the period of French colonisation in Vietnam (from the late 19 th century to the first half of the 20 th century), in the 1945-1975 period, and since national reunification in 1975, Vietnam has always maintained its exercise of sovereignty over Hoang Sa and Truong Sa as well as its real management and exploitation of the archipelagoes. The truth about the sovereignty claims of Facing historical and legal evidence provided by Vietnam to prove her sovereignty over both Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagoes, several Chinese scholars and officials have quoted ancient documents in an attempt to prove their country’s discovery of the archipelagoes and the exercise of sovereignty there. They cited books such as “ Hou Han Shu ”(Book of Later Han) and “ Yi Wu Zhi ” (Records of strange things) from the Han era and “ Zhu Fan Zhi ” (Notes on foreign countries) (the 13th century), “ Hai Lu ” (Oceanic records) by Yang Ping-nan (1820-1842), Nanzhou Yi wu zhi (Exotic things of the Southern region), Daoyi Zhilue (Overview of barbarous island countries), Guangdong Tongzhi (General Records of Guangdong province)… to prove that China discovered and exercised its sovereignty in Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagoes from an early date. But in fact, the excerpts extracted from Some later historical sources described inspection, expeditionary and exploration trips It was noticeable that China’s ancient documents, such as Qiongzhou fu zhi (Geography of Qiongzhou), Guangdong sheng zhi (1731-Geography of Guangdong), Hoang Chao Yitong Yudi Zongtu (Chinese map of the unified empire) in 1894.., all described and stated clearly that China’s southernmost point was Hainan. In the Zhongguo Sihixue Jiao Keshu (Chinese Textbook of Geography), published in 1906, page 241 reads “the southernmost point of China is the Jie Zhou coast, Qiongzhou island, at 18 degrees 13 minutes north latitude”. More than that, there are documents that implicitly acknowledge the link between these archipelagoes and Recently, China has quoted a number of speeches and documents of Vietnam, in particular Prime Minister Pham Van Dong’s diplomatic letter dated September 14, 1958 addressed to the then Premier of China Zhou En Lai and argued that Vietnam had acknowledged China’s sovereignty over Hoang Sa archipelago. In fact, the late Prime Minister Pham Van Dong’s diplomatic letter did not mention territorial and sovereignty issues relating to Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagoes. It only acknowledged and approved How did Historical and legal evidence has proved Source: VNA/VNN |
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Article 2
China carrying out more drills across East, South China Seas  A Chinese navy vessel fires its cannon during a naval drill outside While the scale of the current drills is bigger than in the past, it’s a coincidence the annual exercises are being held at the same time, Beijing News reported today, citing Zhang Junshe, a researcher at Navy Military Research Institute. President Xi Jinping has been expanding the reach of Nine-dash line China claims much of the South China Sea, which may be rich in energy and mineral deposits, under its “nine dash-line” map first published in 1947, which extends hundreds of miles south from China’s Hainan Island to equatorial waters off the coast of Borneo, taking in some of the world’s busiest shipping lanes. In the East China Sea, With the current drills “what’s different from the past is that Rimpac drill In a rare sign of military cooperation with the two countries, China is participating along with the U.S. and Japan in the five-week-long Rim of the Pacific Exercise that runs through Aug. 1 in waters off Hawaii. The current Chinese military activity is having repercussions on the mainland. China Southern Airlines Co. said today that its flights in the eastern part of the country might experience large-scale delays because of “special activities.” Airlines last week were ordered to cut a quarter of their flights at a dozen airports, including two in Military and civil aviation authorities have taken steps to minimize the impact of the new drills, the ministry said in the statement. That order was issued a week after the People’s Liberation Army began three months of live-fire drills in six regional military commands, including the one that oversees Shanghai, state-run Xinhua News Agency reported. Some training sessions would be conducted under a “complex electromagnetic environment,” the report said. The Chinese military controls about 52 percent of the airspace in eastern |
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Article 1
 Vietnamese Prof. Dr. Mai Hong Quy (R, 1st), president of the Ho Chi Minh City University of Law, and Professor Alexander Yankov (M) speak to a Vietnamese expert during an international conference held in Ho Chi Minh City on July 26, 2014. T.T.D./Tuoi Tre  Jeanne Mirer (L, 2nd) and Professor Alexander Yankov (R, 1st) are pictured during an international conference held in More than 30 scholars and experts from many countries in the world together with a number of local pundits partook in the “Legal issues regarding the incident of “The conference aims to create a forum for scholars and experts in the region and in the world to exchange views on the legal issues relating to China’s placement of the Haiyang Shiyou 981 oil rig in the East Sea and provide satisfactory solutions for relevant parties to settle the problems and eventually settle conflict to preserve the East Sea as an area of peace, cooperation, and prosperity,” the Ho Chi Minh City University of Law and the Vietnam Lawyers’ Association, the co-organizers, said. Most of the attendees said that Many expressed concerns that Don’t postpone legal fight till tomorrow Professor Alexander Yankov, member of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), said According to Professor Yankov, there are two most significant instruments to help “ Speaking to Tuoi Tre News, Jeanne Mirer, President of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers, said “I’m happy to be here. It is always good to share ideas about how to resolve the problem and to see perspectives of many parties,” said Mirer. “I think this is an unprecedented conference where so many people have been brought together around the desire to make sure that this dispute does not escalate into military confrontation.” Mirer also committed her support to what In case of failure, do it again Chito Sta.Romana, a former China Bureau Chief of ABC News where he worked as a journalist for 21 years, said the Since no progress has been made after more than 17 years of consultations (from 1995 to 2012) to achieve negotiated solutions to the maritime dispute between the two countries, the Philippines filed a 4,000-page memorandum including 10 volumes in March last year to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea to ask for China’s clarification of its nine-dotted line that claims most of the East Sea, according to Sta.Romana who is a Filipino. But According to Sta.Romana, if “Even we win, we do not know how to enforce the ruling. Probably, we will talk to Sta.Romana also expressed his support for But he also warned that Meanwhile, Swiss lawyer Pierre Shifferli advised “As a lawyer, I see that Shifferli said there are three possibilities for “You should apply all these measures in parallel,” Shifferli told Tuoi Tre News, adding, “Over the last years, Quynh Trung/Tuoi Tre News |
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BUSINESS IN BRIEF 28/7 Opportunities await rice exporters Experts said opportunities are waiting for Vietnamese enterprises to boost rice exports in the final months of the year as the Philippine government plans to import an additional 400,000 tons of rice and China’s demand is bouncing back. According to the National Food Authority (NFA) of the Vietnam News Agency cited Francis Pangilinan, President Assistant for Food Security and Agricultural Modernization, as saying that the government would work with NFA soon to finalize the rice import plan to prevent a domestic price hike. Speaking to the Daily, Lam Anh Tuan, director of Thinh Phat Co., Ltd., a member of the Vietnam Food Association (VFA), said the Philippines has high demand for rice though the country has yet to decide where to import. Nguyen Cong Khanh, a rice trader in the northern city of Rice prices in the Mekong Delta region have continued to hike in the past days due to the higher demands of domestic enterprises. Unprocessed rice prices in Tien Giang and Dong Thap provinces were VND7,200-7,300 per kilogram of IR 50404, VND8,400-8,500 for IR 50404 rice and VND8,900-9,000 for the processed rice of OM 5451 and OM 4218 on Sunday, up VND200-300 per kilogram from around five days ago. The price of IR 50404 fresh paddy in the region has inched up to VND4,600-4,700 per kilogram compared to VND4,400-4,500 offered by traders some days ago. A kilogram of long-grain rice is sold at VND5,000-5,100, up VND200. As the domestic rice prices have increased significantly in recent days, some Vietnamese traders have turned to Duong Van Men, a rice trader in According to VFA, its members have signed contracts to sell nearly 5.2 million tons of rice as of this month, with commercial contracts accounting for nearly 3.6 million tons. Besides, VFA members have exported over three million tons of rice at FOB price, with total revenue of US$1.3 billion this year, down 13.71% in volume and 13.77% in value compared to the same period last year. The average export price is US$431.5 per ton, down US$0.31 per ton. The rice inventory at VFA members is over one million tons, with Vietnam Northern Food Corporation (Vinafood 1) accounting for 114,500 tons and Vietnam Southern Food Corporation (Vinafood 2) for 281,570 tons. Vietnamese auto industry aims high by 2020 This is part of the goals under a master plan on Under the plan, nine-seat cars will make up 60 percent of the total production by 2020 and 70 percent by 2030. Those with more than 10 seaters will account for 90 percent and 92 percent by 2020 and 2030, respectively. By 2020, trucks and special-purpose automobiles will make up 78 percent and 15 percent. As many as 20,000 will be made for export while spare parts exporters are expected to bring home 4 billion USD at this time. Support industry for automobile manufacturing will satisfy 30-40 percent of home demand. By 2025 and 2030, the figure will be 45 and 50 percent. To achieve the goals, the government will make it easier for industry players to access preferential credit and incentives, especially manufacturers of eco-friendly automobiles. It will also encourage the public use by offering the lowest taxes on 16-24 seat coaches. Vehicles of nine seats and more will be subject to maximum taxes while models with an engine capacity of more than three litres will face high environment fees. Foreign funds seek to invest in local tech firms Two foreign investment funds Monk’s Hill Ventures and Digital Media Partners will look for opportunities to pour their money into new Vietnamese technology firms taking part in Tech in Asia Arena, which kicked off in The Saigon Times Daily said the two funds are expected to invest approximately 30 million USD in the five technology startups chosen to make presentations at the event. As scheduled, Monk’s Hill Ventures director Kou-Yi Lim and Digital Media Partners president Khor Chieh Suang will participate in Tech in Asia Arena. Tech in Asia Arena gives firms the opportunity to call for funds and learn how to expand their presence to The event also includes seminars for seasoned investors to share expectations from technology business startups and experiences for companies to expand their operations to the region and the world. Monk’s Hill Ventures intends to invest 1-5 million USD and Digital Media Partners plans from 500,000 USD to 1 million USD in each of the firm they pick at the event in the initial time. Digital Media Partners will add 3 million USD to every of its chosen firms when they expand. The transport of goods and passengers on road will hold a respective market share of 54.4 percent and 93.22 percent. National Highway 1A linking Land for urban traffic will make up 16-26 percent with priority given to public transport, especially in The project also aims to upgrade the north-south railway system and consider building hi-speed railways connecting Lao Cai and By 2020, domestic transport of goods and passengers by sea aims for 32.38 percent and 0.17 percent of market share, respectively. Along with major routes, river lines linking the Mekong Delta with National shipping operators will reach a 25-30 percent increase in the handling of exports and imports. The development of national seaports and international gateway ports in key economic zones will continue with Lach Huyen and Cai Mep – Thi Vai seaports in Hai Phong and Vung Tau being put into the best use. At the same time, foreign investment will be drawn to Van Phong international transhipment port. About aviation services, budget airliners will broaden their market shares by extending their links with regional and global partners. Besides traditional markets in Southeast Asia, Northeast Asia, International airports such as Noi Bai, Tan Son Nhat, This year, the national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines will be equitised with the State holing a stake of 65-75 percent. MOST promotes post harvest technologies of seafood, fruits The Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) has decided to boost the application of post-harvest technology in agricultural production to be able to gain stronger foothold in global markets, the Vietnam Economic News reported. Minister of Science and Technology Nguyen Quan said post-harvest preservation and processing technology is an important phase to improve product quality and competitiveness of agricultural products. The project on application of post-harvest technology in producing surimi for export has brought an encouraging result. This project aimed at exporting surimi to hard-to-please markets like Japan (100 tonnes) and the Project director Le Duc Manh said “in the future, products of the project will surely be exported to Another successful project was the application of heat pump drying to reduce tea material losses by10-15 percent compared with the old technology. This processing method met the standards regulated by the Ministry of Health. At present, these products started to be supplied to institutes of traditional medicine and medical centres nationwide. In addition, many advanced technologies in preserving woods, mushrooms, fresh milk and seafood have also been applied and produced good results. The MOST has recently carried out a project applying In the future, more post- harvest technologies are expected to introduce to the preservation of Seven-month CPI sees lowest rise in 13 years The consumer price index (CPI) in July rose only 0.23 percent over the previous month, driving the seven-month figure up 1.62 percent, the lowest increase in 13 years. The July figure also represented a rise of 4.94 percent compared to the same period last year, announced the General Statistic Office (GSO) on July 24. In the month, all 11 groups in the commodity basket experienced price hikes ranging from 0.04 percent to 0.44 percent. The highest was recorded in transport services as a result of petrol price increases in late June and early July. Meanwhile, culture, entertainment and tourism services registered the most modest price rise. Prices of restaurants and catering services continued to see a remarkable increase of 0.26 percent. Medicine and health services had their prices unchanged. Experts forecast the CPI will continue to rise in August as the new school year begins. Green infrastructure for small and medium sized cities discussed Mega-cities and big cities have endured dangerous impact from climate change, but small- and medium-sized towns will suffer the most, according to experts. Like many other towns of its size in the world, Can Tho has faced many challenges, including rapid urbanisation, climate change and increasing urban population, Assila Pathirana, representative of the Netherlands-based UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education, said. Pathirana spoke at an international conference held in Can Tho on climate-change adaptation and green infrastructure for medium-sized cities on July 23. Can Tho, with a population of 1.2 million, is located on a land depression in the Water is a rare resource but also a potential threat to the city, Pathirana added. In recent time, the Climate change, which has increased the average temperature, has caused more thunderstorms and whirlwinds. "However, daily human activities have also been responsible for severe flooding, as well as dry weather, land erosion and saltwater intrusion," said Ky Quang Vinh, Director of the Can Tho Climate Change Co-ordination Office. "Therefore, stabilising livelihoods for the local resident community and developing a green economy is required, which Can Tho's authority will put into practice," he added. Vinh also said the Can Tho City People's Committee has set up a steering committee for climate change and a climate change co-ordination office. International experts from the Bangladesh Delta Master Planning Project said that managers and scientists should learn from real experiences of global cities to build development plans and solutions for a sustainable future. Sharing and learning experiences from studies about several medium-sized cities in the world would help cities increase their own capability in flood prevention and green infrastructure development, while maintaining economic growth and the local community's livelihood, Pathirana said. According to a report from the Netherlands-based UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education, the world has had the fastest urbanisation rate in human history in recent times. Around 50 percent of the global population now lives in cities and the rate is increasing. Urbanisation is continuing to occur rapidly in poor and developing nations, and in small- and medium-sized towns, where 70 percent of the world's urban population lives. Urbansation is putting pressure on cities and town authorities to develop solutions to accommodation, public services, environmental pollution, flooding and climate change impact. Major coastal apartment and resort projects in Danang stalled Many projects in what Vietnamese investors once termed the "golden land", along coastlines in The Da Phuoc New Urban Area Project in Hai Chau District, The complex was to include a resort, an 18-hole golf course, a marina, an large hotel, a meeting hall, high-end offices, trade centres and villas. The total cost was estimated at USD 300 million. However, only the site clearance phase has been completed, leaving the entire land unused for years. The Hon Ngoc A Chau project on The project initiated in early 2010 with a spectacular ceremony. However, to date the high-end apartments and villages have remained on paper for nearly four years. The construction site has been abandoned and materials are aging. Dozens of other projects in Danang and When asked about the situation, leaders from the Danang municipal Department of Environment and Natural Resource confirmed that they would seek for approval from the municipal government to revoke land from stagnant projects. In early 2014, the city’s Party Committee requested the municipal government to scruntinise all investment projects citywide and to revoke investment licenses of incompetent investors. In March, the municipal Department of Environment and Natural Resources had requested that the investors of three sluggish coastal projects sign commitment agreements. They intend to ask around 20 more project investors to do the same. “We’ll seek city government approval for revoking the investment license of any stagnant project,” said an official from the department. After 41 old trees in front of the Opera House were felled to make room for construction of Metro Line No. 1, the HCMC Urban Railway Management Unit said it will replant trees in the area after the first station is completed. Le Khac Huynh, deputy head of the unit, explained that the area would be excavated to move in equipment and machinery to build underground works for the four-floor metro station. According to Huynh, the trees on Che Dinh Ly, deputy director of HCMC National University’s Institute of Environment and Natural Resources, told the Daily that the lines of trees in front of the Opera House are not rare species and so chopping down the trees for the metro line development is necessary. However, Ly recommended that trees to be replanted should not be the ones with taproots as they may affect the station. According to HCMC Green Tree and Park Company, to facilitate construction of the underground station of Metro Line No. 1 and upgrade Fuel firms earn much profit as import prices down Local fuel trading firms are making much profit though the domestic prices of diesel, kerosene and heavy fuel oil were revised down last week thanks to lower fuel prices from the main suppliers of petroleum products for A fuel price chart posted on the website of the Vietnam Petroleum Association indicated the price of RON 92 petrol in Singapore fell to US$117.02 per barrel on Monday, the lowest in the past month and down nearly US$2 per barrel against last Friday. The RON 92 price had gone down by Monday but inched up to US$118.13 on Tuesday. The association reckoned the 30-day base price used to calculate fuel retail prices in The world’s average 30-day price was US$122.45 per barrel on Monday and US$122.26 per barrel on Tuesday. With the current base price and VND670 per liter extracted from the national fuel price stabilization fund, local trading firms can earn VND128 per liter of RON 92, VND135 a liter of diesel 0.05S, VND143 a liter of kerosene and VND103 a kilogram of heavy fuel oil. These earnings exclude a pre-calculated profit of VND300 per liter for the fuel trading firms. NHO begins work on Binh Duong condo project National Housing Organization Joint Stock Company (NHO) has started work on its First Home Premium condo project with a total investment of VND582 billion (US$27.45 million) in the southern The project on an area of 9,740 square meters comprises 952 apartments measuring 49-73 square meters each and priced at around VND13 million per square meter. NHO chairman Lawrence Tham said the housing project consists of two buildings with each having 18 stories and will be ready two years after its groundbreaking on Tuesday. Home buyers of the project are offered loans worth up to 85% of an apartment’s value and with an annual interest rate of 8% from the Bank of Investment of Development of Vietnam (BIDV) and Vietnam International Bank (VIB). Located on NHO is a joint venture between Singapore-based TAG JSC and HCMC-based NIBC Investment Co., Ltd. Report on market-oriented economy completed The Party Central Committee’s Economic Commission has completed a final report on developing a market-oriented economy for Vuong Dinh Hue, head of the Economic Commission, told a meeting in The report has been sent to a limited number of agencies under the Party Central Committee responsible for reviewing the renovation period in the country. The Economic Commission has also finalized another report on boosting industrialization and modernization in The commission will complete a draft version of another report on five years of implementing Resolution 6 of the 10th Party Central Committee on further improvements of the market-oriented economy for submission to the Politburo. The authority said last Monday, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) announced to initiate anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigations into the oil country tubular goods (OCTG) shipped from The decision of CBSA came after two Canadian steel firms Tenaris This is the first time Previously on July 11, the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) announced its final decision confirming dumping margins for the OCTG imports from Steel firm SeAH Steel Vina Corporation, one of the two compulsory defendants in Vietnam subject to the U.S. investigations, was imposed an anti-dumping duty of 24.22% while Hot Rolling Pipe must pay a general anti-dumping margin of 111.47% for steel exporters in Vietnam as it refused to fill in DOC’s questionnaire. The rate levied on Hot Rolling Pipe and other companies in By August 25, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) is expected to decide whether the Cho Dui Trading and Services Co., Ltd., a unit of Hoa Lam Corporation, and its partners have organized a topping-out ceremony for Lim Tower II in HCMC to mark the completion of the shell building of the office and trade center project. The project is scheduled to be up and running in the first quarter of next year. The property at the corner of Vo Van Tan and Cach Mang Thang Tam streets in District 3 consists of three basements and 18 floors with total floor space of more than 25,460 square meters. Tran Thi Lam, chairwoman of Cho Dui Trading and Services Co., Ltd., said when in place, Lim Tower II would set aside some 12,700 square meters for lease to banks and companies in other sectors. The building also has three basements covering 6,255 square meters able to service about 120 vehicles. Lam added there are 12 elevators and escalators, including four high-speed lifts for office workers installed at the second The first McDonald’s Vietnam says no meat imported from China McDonald’s McDonald’s Vietnam takes food materials from the global suppliers of McDonald’s, Nguyen Huy Thinh, director of McDonald’s Vietnam, told the Daily after a Chinese firm was reported to supply expired meat for fast-food restaurants. According to Reuters, In addition to chicken imported from Thinh said McDonald’s Vietnam does not require the franchisee to buy material from producers of the fast-food chain and the franchisee can use material meeting quality standards of McDonald’s but the U.S. fast-food chain has a team in charge of supervising this. McDonald’s Another reason for the low ratio of local material used by McDonald’s Once McDonald’s Draft rule on State agencies’ IT outsourcing remains unclear A draft rule allowing State agencies to use outsourced information technology (IT) services was released early this week but it fails to stipulate important issues such as payment mechanism, evaluation methods and supplier selection. The Ministry of Information and Communications has published the draft on its website to field suggestions from enterprises in the industry. Given the draft rules, IT firms will provide software products and technology systems under the mode of service packages to State agencies. The systems will run on the suppliers’ platforms. Customers can order the services they want and pay for service packages, while the service providers will take the responsibilities for all the stages of the service deployment, from operation to maintenance. Therefore, State agencies can cut expenses, save time, improve productivity and reduce labor cost. However, many enterprises have raised questions on the draft, saying this is just a general frame regulating IT services that can be offered to State agencies. The draft has yet to make clear key issues such as payment, financial sources for agencies to use the services. Do Cao Bao, chairman of FPT Information System Company, said that relevant agencies must give specific instructions to State agencies. Nguyen Xuan Hoang, general director of Misa Joint Stock Company, said the Government should have a mechanism allowing State agencies to use the service, and instruct them to choose suppliers. It is necessary to create a legal foundation for data assets. For instance, cloud computing-based data must bear ownership verification, Hoang said. The ministry in the draft also proposed two projects encouraging State agencies to use the services. The Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Planning and Investment and local authorities will take responsibility for balancing budgets and arrange annual financial resources for State agencies to use the service. Booth rent discount offered to local exhibitors at VSI Expo Local firms will be given a 50% discount for booth rent when they put their names down to join VSI Expo 2014, an exhibition for supporting industries to take place in HCMC on September 17-20. This large-scale exhibition, which will be held in the city for the first time, has been recognized by the Ministry of Industry and Trade as part of the national trade promotion program, said Nguyen Phuong Dong, deputy director of the HCMC Department of Industry and Trade, the organizer of the event. Dong told a press conference in HCMC on Tuesday that participating local enterprises will pay rent of only VND6 million for a nine-square-meter display booth, just half of the normal rent for exhibitors at the event. The four-day event will be organized at HCMC’s Tan Binh Exhibition and Convention Center (TBECC) for enterprises of the sectors of apparel-footwear, electronics-information technology, automotive, engineering and high technology. The objective is to prop up development of supporting industries. The exhibition is also expected to help build a strong bridge between enterprises, establish a value chain for industrial products, find outlets for supporting industries, and increase ratios of local content and added value of locally-made products. Dong said the event will create opportunities for domestic supporting-industry enterprises to improve product quality, spur exports, join the global supply chain, and reduce their reliance on accessory and component imports. Around 200 companies will introduce their products and services at more than 300 booths at VSI Expo 2014 to local and foreign partners. Also on the agenda will be seminars on the Government’s policies and incentives as well as solutions for development of supporting industries in The Prime Minister has recently approved a number of master plans and strategies for development of industries and supporting industries that are deemed as crucial for sustainable development of the industrial sector. Agricultural Ministry seeks measures to develop dairy breeding The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on July 23 held a conference discussing measures and policies to develop dairy cattle breeding industry to reduce reliance on foreign milk in Deputy Minister Vu Van Tam said that After 13 years, milk productivity averaged 5.18 tons per cow, higher than that in other countries in the region. It is 3.2 tons in Large domestic companies have joined in milk processing industry like Vinamilk and TH True milk. Hoang Anh Gia Lai Group has built a project to breed 100,000 milk cows in 2014-2016 and work with three large companies from Some businesses in the southeastern region have planned to convert some low-yield rubber areas into dairy farms. However Deputy Head of the Livestock Department Nguyen Xuan Duong proposed to develop not only large-scale dairy farms but also household breeding to increase output and reduce imports. Private breeders will be gathered and managed under cooperatives to ensure food safety and facilitate consumption, he said. Betting on the future of Vietnamese dairy industry There is at least one official of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) who is not optimistic about the prospect of milk processing factories in Vietnam. The dairy industry in This week MARD, in conjunction with the U.S Diary Export Council, held a meeting on new technologies and the development of La Van Thao, an official from MARD’s Department of Animal Husbandry said that selling prices for dairy farmers in Thao added, "In the long-term the situation for milk processors in the country does not look bright since Vietnamese consumers are becoming more aware and prefer fresh milk to reconstituted milk products. Also, domestic processing factories rely largely on imported milk powder." Relevant ministries, including MARD, Ministries of Health, Science and Technology, Industry and Trade and the police should intensify inspection to test the accuracy of the amount of fresh milk advertised on labels. Nguyen Xuan Duong, deputy dector of the Department of Animal Husbandry, said that after recent drastic measures, labeling of fresh milk has become more accurate and transparent. Duong also commented that He noted that one of the biggest challenges to “If we really want to foster sustainable development of our domestic diary industry, it’s important to increase the size of dairy farms. Currently the average dairy farm is just five cows. This should be increased to 25 to 35. Farmers must also take an active role in the industry. This way we could increase production and generate jobs," he noted. SCIC says hard to transfer State stakes The State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC), in a recent report on its operation in this year’s first half, said that it encountered many difficulties in receiving, selling and transferring State stakes. The firm received documents from some ministries and provinces which wanted to transfer State stakes in State-owned enterprises under their management to SCIC, but many issues remained to be solved before SCIC could take over such stakes. SCIC has assessed and identified numerous issues and demanded that such issues be made transparent in the process of equitization before the Government’s finance arm could receive such stakes, but no progress has been made, according to a report released by SCIC’s general director Lai Van Dao. The report gives the names of administering agencies that want to transfer State stakes to include the ministries of Industry and Trade; Agriculture and Rural Development; and Transport; as well as Lai Van Dao said that the progress of transferring State-owned shares from ministries and localities has been slow. Regarding the selling of State stakes held by SCIC, the corporation has divested State stakes in 31 companies, including sales of entire State stakes at 26 firms and partial stakes at five enterprises. SCIC collected VND863 billion from such transfers, meeting 65% of its target and surging 47% year-on-year. However, SCIC said that the number of companies where State capital has been transferred is still far smaller than its target due to recent difficulties in the economy, the stock market and the investment environment. On the other hand, SCIC has contacted some State-owned groups and corporations to obtain information on their plans to divest capital from non-core businesses, and SCIC will consider whether to take over those stakes. Some big State-owned enterprises have sent their information to SCIC to help it consider stake transfers, including Vietnam Rubber Group (VRG), Vietnam Electricity Group (EVN), Vietnam National Oil and Gas Industries Group (PVN), Vietnam Coal and Mineral Industry Group (Vinacomin), and Vietnam National Shipping Lines (Vinalines) among others. As of now, SCIC has invested VND12 trillion in many projects and enterprises and is eyeing more investment plans this year in financial, transport infrastructure, and medicine areas. Relating to financial investment, SCIC has sold corporate bonds issued by Development Investment Construction Corporation (DIC), which helped it regain VND350 billion in its initial investment and VND154 billion in profit. As of June 30, SCIC’s portfolio had included stakes in 335 enterprises with the value of over VND15 trillion and combined chartered capital of VND65 trillion. As of December last year, the value of State-owned capital managed by SCIC at 349 companies had reached VND71 trillion or 6.8 times higher than the book value of VND10.5 trillion. SCIC will withdraw capital from 376 enterprises, according to its restructuring plan toward 2015. Steel makers hike prices to offset rising input costs The Vietnam Steel Association (VSA) said steel producers in the country have started to increase their prices in the third quarter of this year to offset rising input costs following decisions of Government agencies to allow higher fuel retail prices and a slight devaluation of the local currency. Pomina Steel Joint Stock Company will increase its selling prices by VND100,000 a ton of steel from today and this is the company’s second price hike since the beginning of this year. The company sells a ton of steel at around VND14.9 million in HCMC. Do Duy Thai, general director of Thep Viet Steel Corporation, the parent company of Pomina, said the price rise resulted from soaring input costs, including those for transport and raw materials. VSA said more steel makers will increase their prices towards the year-end although demand for this product has not improved remarkably, particularly in the third quarter as construction activity is usually low in the rainy season. In the first half of this year, local companies turned out nearly 2.6 million tons of construction steel, up 4.6% year-on-year. VSA estimated The association projected 12 million tons of steel would be consumed this year, a year-on-year increase of 5-7% over last year. Currently, steel supply still outpaces demand and this is why local construction steel mills run at only 40-60% capacity, according to VSA. Farmers unwilling to sell sugarcane to refineries Farmer in the Mekong Delta are not willing to sell their sugarcane to local refineries due to low buying prices and the different practices of sugarcane delivery. The Hau Giang Department of Agriculture and Rural Development estimated farmers in the province have grown sugarcane on around 16,000 hectares in this year’s crop and have already found mills for their products. Can Tho Sugar Company, which has agreed to consume the cane grown by farmers in However, grower Nguyen Van Dua in Phung Hiep District in Nguyen The Tu, head of the Agriculture and Rural Development division of Phung Hiep District in Hau Giang Province, calculated the production cost is VND760 per kilogram of sugarcane for this year’s crop and farmers will not earn profits if they have to transport their sugarcane to the company at a price of only VND830 per kilo. Tran Van Tam, head of the Agriculture and Rural Development division of My Tu District in Soc Trang Province, said Long My Phat Sugar Company has agreed to purchase sugarcane produced on 700 out of 2,400 hectares in the locality. Tam said Long My Phat will buy a kilogram of sugarcane at only VND700 at growers’ fields, which is lower than their production cost. Agriculture authorities said farmers in Hau Giang, Soc Trang and other provinces in the Mekong Delta start to harvest their sugarcane of the 2014-2015 crop in the middle of September this year. Statistics of the Vietnam Sugar Association showed farmers yielded 1.58 million tons of sugarcane in the 2013-2014 crop from more than 289,000 hectares. HCMC needs 17,000 workers in August Employers in HCMC are predicted to need about 17,000 laborers next month, according to the HCMC Center for Forecasting Manpower Needs and Labor Market Information (FALMI). The demand for manual workers and workers of intermediate vocational level is the highest with approximately 5,100 in each segment, while the demand for college graduates is estimated at 4,250 people. The demand for skilled workers and those of basic vocational level makes up the balance. Tran Anh Tuan, deputy director of FALMI, said employers will still focus on recruiting employees with skills and qualifications in the final months of this year. Therefore, new graduates from colleges and universities should equip themselves with useful knowledge and skills to meet enterprises’ demands. In the third quarter, the city’s labor demand is estimated at 55,000 in a wide range of areas including manufacture, business – retail/wholesale and information technology (IT), the last-named sector needing more skilled workers due to the expansion of the foreign IT companies in Vietnam. Tuan estimated the city will need 150,000 laborers in July-December, in which the demand for seasonal workers is estimated at 40,000. The labor demand will continue to rise in the sectors of business, services, textile-garment, leather-footwear, tourism, consulting and real estate. Firms support rice farmers to shift to higher yield crops A number of enterprises have teamed up with research institutes and agricultural promotion centers for pilot schemes to support farmers to shift their low-yield paddy fields to corn and other high-yield crops. The enterprises and organizations have joined forces after the Government has a policy to provide finances for farmers to buy seeds to replace their poor paddy production with high-yield crops. As a result, corn is proved as one of the alternatives for farmers. Syngenta Vietnam Co., Ltd. said in a statement that the company has cooperated with the Institute of Agricultural Science for Southern Vietnam to develop a model in support of corn production on 20 hectares of former paddy field in My Hanh Bac Commune, Duc Hoa District in Long An Province. The company said one hectare could bring average output of 8-10 tons of corn and farmers could gain profit of VND8.4 million per hectare higher than rice production if a kilogram of fresh corn is sold at VND4,000. Dekalb Vietnam has worked with the Agricultural Encouragement Center of An Phu District in An Giang Province over a pilot program on crop change. Initial results indicated farmers could yield 10.8-12.3 tons on one hectare for two harvest seasons of a year and earn VND50 million per hectare, including profit of nearly VND24 million. This profit is three times higher than that farmers can obtain from rice production. According to the Cultivation Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, some provinces in the Mekong Delta such as Dong Thap, An Giang, Tra Vinh, Soc Trang and Long An have carried out programs to replace rice with corn to help farmers improve earnings. Nguyen Thanh Tung, director of the Agricultural Encouragement Center of Long An Province, said the province considers corn as the most important option in the program, followed by sesame and peanut. Tung said more corn would be grown on low-productivity paddy fields and the firm Ecofarm has invested in a complex of facilities to dry and process corn in preparation for buying all the corn produced by local farmers. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development estimated around 112,000 hectares of low-yield paddy field in the Mekong Delta will make room for corn and soybean farming. To facilitate fast changes, the Government will provide farmers with VND2 million to buy seeds for each hectare. The Government issued the policy on the fact that rice farmers have not been able to obtain a 30% profit margin as targeted and Vietnam has to spend US$4.5 billion importing corn, soybean and other materials for animal feed production every year. The ministry expected shifting from rice to corn and soybean will help the country reduce imports. The “We encourage farmers to change low-productivity rice production to other crops to improve their incomes,” said Le Quy Kha, deputy rector of the institute. Source: VEF/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/Dantri/VIR |
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Foreign investors pour 13 billion USD into VN stock market Vietnam's stock market has attracted 13 billion USD from foreign investors, both individual and institutional, according to an official. Minister of Finance Dinh Tien Dung, speaking at the ceremony celebrating the 14th anniversary of the HCM Stock Exchange (HOSE) on July 26, the first securities exchange in Beginning operations in late July 2000, the exchange had only two listed companies and no participation from foreign investors. Indeed, in 2003, foreign investors' daily trading value stood at 41 million VND (2,000 USD), while this figure has since risen to 250.6 billion VND (10.2 million USD). Currently, 700 companies are listed at HOSE and the exchange in "The market capitalization of all listed shares is 52 billion USD, around 32 percent of the GDP, and bonds are 17 percent," said the minister. He added that the share trading value in the first six months went up 58 percent, compared to the same period last year. Currently, HOSE represents some 70 percent of the total market trading value. "As the first stock exchange in the country, HOSE has been increasingly improving itself in terms of trading and supervision systems, information releases, product development and upgrading its infrastructure and operation management," said Vu Bang, Chairman of the State Securities Commission. HOSE also inaugurated its new building, the Together with the older building, HOSE now occupies more than 32,000 sq.m. During the ceremony, 50 listed firms from almost 700 entries from the Annual Report Awards 2014 were honoured with best annual reports, including 38 from HOSE and 12 from HNX. Vinamilk, Bao Viet Holdings, DHG Pharma and Sai Gon Securities Inc. were among the top honourees. Meanwhile, first prize for the Sustainability Reporting Awards went to Bao Viet Holding, and second prize to Vinamilk. Three consolation prizes were granted to DHG Pharma, Sacombank and Imexpharm. HOSE, in coordination with Dau Tu Chung Khoan (Securities Investment), a publication of Vietnam Investment Review and Hanoi Stock Exchange, have organised this annual contest since 2008.-VNA |
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Social News 28/7 Students gain vital employment skills Nearly 400 students have benefited from a programme designed to provide students with soft skills like communication and problem-solving. Co-organised by Nestle Viet According to the Ministry of Education and Training, 63 per cent of graduates could not find a job. Workplace accident kills two in Vung Ang A workplace accident occurred on the morning of July 27 in the Vung Ang Economic Zone (EZ) in central Ha Tinh province, claiming two lives and injuring three others. According to initial reports, the incident occurred while a group of workers were building a water plant of a Taiwanese-invested Formosa Project. The victims who died were identified as Bui Viet Thao, 23, from northern Ha The three injuries are currently in critical condition and receiving treatment at Ha Tinh provincial hospital. The cause of the accident is under investigation. Police nab murder suspects Police in the central province of Ha Tinh yesterday arrested four people on suspicion of murder - Pham Van Nghia, Dinh Van Hoat, Le Van Anh, all 19, and Le Cong Suc, 21, from neighboring Thanh Hoa province. Police said they were in a boat that became entangled in and and tore off a fishing net from another boat. A fight broke out between the four and the owners of the fishing net, fishermen Nguyen Van Phuong, 48 and Nguyen Ba Quang, 43. Quang fell into the sea after being hit by bricks, logs and bowls. His body was found a day after with wounds on the head. Forensic analysis concluded that Quang died from traumatic brain injury and drowning. Scaffold collapse leaves two dead Scaffolding at a construction site in the central The collapse occurred at about 7:30 am at a The three injured workers, who suffered brain injuries and broken arms and legs, were immediately taken to Ky Anh District General Hospital and then transferred to the provincial general hospital for better treatment. They are now in stable condition. Police seize 20 pangolins in Thanh Hoa Police rescued 20 pangolins that were being illegally transported in a taxi belonging to the Van Xuan Company on a stretch of National Highway No 1A through Police caught the taxi driver speeding while transporting the animals. One man was found in the back of the taxi with the animals. The pangolins were handed over to the provincial Forest Management Department. The case is under investigation. ‘Sovereignty protection’ malware is of Chinese origin: The malware recently spread via email, disguised as a document promoting The malicious software mainly sent to Gmail addresses has the subject line “Protecting airspace and waters in the defending of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,” with a Microsoft Word document attached. The document, named QTtacchienA-6-2014.doc and titled “Solutions for waters protection,” conceals a remote access trojan, Vu Ngoc Son, deputy chairman of research and development of Hanoi-based Bkav, warned. The malware covertly opens a backdoor on the victim’s computer, allowing cybercriminals to remotely access it and steal personal data, Son said. A backdoor is a method of bypassing normal authentication, securing illegal remote access to a computer and obtaining access to plaintext while attempting to remain undetected. Once executed, the malware will automatically install three files, namely m.exe, msi.dll, and m.dll.mov into the system of the infected computer. The trojan then opens the backdoor and connects the computer with the hacker’s server, hosted at moit.dubkill.com, according to the Bkav expert. The server is registered with a Chinese company, Bkav asserted. The infected computer is then put under control of the hackers, who can freely access its data, capture screenshots, and install or remove applications. “Hackers usually take advantage of recent news to spread malicious software,” Son warned. “Events such as the tension in the Computer users are advised to install antivirus software or update their existing software to ensure security. HCM City People's Committee yesterday honoured 4,665 distinguished students who have won international, national and city contests in the 2013-2014 academic year. At a ceremony organised with the Department of Education and Training, the committee recognised eight students who won international contests, including Mathematics, Chemistry, Biology and Physics Olympiads, and in an International Science and Engineering Fair. A total of 299 students won prizes in national contests, including internet Mathematics and English Olympiads, and four students who had the highest test scores on the high school graduation examination. The remaining students won contests at the city level. Le Hong Son, the department's head, told online HCM City Giao Duc (Education) newspaper that the city had paid more attention to investing in students studying to prepare for contests, especially international students. However, many parents are reluctant to allow their children to take part in contests because they could fear that the time should be used to study material for their exams. More dropouts in Binh Phuoc An increasing number of students are dropping out of lower secondary school in At a meeting held on Thursday, the provincial People's Council questioned the department representatives about the continuing problem at local schools. Nguyen Van Hung, the department's head, said the department had asked schools to offer extra free classes for students with poor learning results and given tuition remission fees to families with financial difficulties and to ethnic minority households. Schools had also been told to require teachers to meet with parents and discuss their children's' problems. However, many parents did not show interest and even became angry when teachers spoke to them about their children. In the 2013-2014 academic year, 632 of 57,758 lower-secondary school students (sixth through ninth grades) in the province dropped out. At least 305 high school students dropped out. The number of students dropping out increased by 100 over the previous year. The main causes behind the dropout rate were family financial difficulties, and the distance from students' houses to schools. In addition, some students drop out when their family has a new crop to harvest. Hung told the council that the department had banned extra teaching at home for primary school students and for students studying during the day. He said that students at some schools were paying unnecessary fees that are not included on the local education department's list of eligible fees. Vang Anh Kindergarten, for instance, collects fees for water, phone and allowances, which are then given to teachers, many of them are not on the permanent staff of the school. The department has ordered schools to stop collecting these unnecessary fees and to fine violators. Apartment buyers denied land rights More than 36,000 apartment buyers in Ha Noi have been denied vital land-use right certificates because the sellers have not completed legal documents, said vice director of the city's Natural Resources and Environment Department, Nguyen Huu Nghia. Without the certificates, owners cannot legally live in their own premises. According to the department's statistics, 112,150 finished apartments were recently handed to home buyers in the city, but only 36,110 buyers have been granted land-use right certificates. In a new urban area north of National Highway 32 in Hoai Duc District, 551 out of 784 houses and apartments completed two years ago have been handed to home buyers, but not one has received a certificate. A similar situation happened in the city's first affordable housing project – CT1 Ngo Thi Nham in Ha Dong District. Although 328 apartments were handed over to buyers in 2011, they have not yet received certificates. The lack of certificates shows a gap between practice and policy as Ha Noi wants to promote affordable housing projects for low income earners. Accordingly, as soon as home buyers receive ownership certificates from housing developers, they can apply for land-use right certificates. Vice director Nghia said that some investors refused to give buyers a "contract-completion certificate" or "value- added invoices". This prevented them from being able to complete procedures to obtain a land-use right certificate. Former deputy minister of Natural Resources and Environment Dang Hung Vo said it was unreasonable for home buyers to be forced to bear the consequences of faults made by developers. "Home buyers should be granted land-use right certificates as soon as they fulfill their financial obligations," he said. Housing projects and land-use right certificates should be considered two separate processes, he said. Previously, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and the municipal People's Committee agreed that the responsibilities of sellers and buyers should be kept separate so that buyers did not have to pay for the seller's mistakes or problems. Vice chairman of the committee, Vu Hong Khanh, said that the city would speed up the granting of land-use certificates and any violations or wrongdoings detected would be punished strictly. People's Committees at districts were asked to work with investors of housing projects to find solutions to the problems. The names of investors unwilling to co-operate will be reported to inspectors for further examination. Violators will have their bank accounts frozen or be prevented from carrying out other projects in the city. Electricity supply fully resumes in storm-hit areas Electricity supply fully resumed by late July 25 in the northern provinces which were badly hit by super storm Rammasun nearly a week earlier, the Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) group reported. The group said the storm caused heavy damage to the local power transmission network, cutting supply to 246,853 customers. Total losses and repair costs amounted to 21.4 billion VND (around 1 million USD). Storm Rammasun swept through the northern mountainous provinces on July 19, unleashing flash floods, landslides and lightning strikes, with Ha Giang, Lang Son and Lai Chau provinces worst hit. The storm killed at least 27 people and caused economic losses of around 125 billion VND (5.87 million USD), according to the Steering Committee for Flood and Storm Prevention and Control and Search and Rescue. A total of 7,000 houses were submerged or had their roofs blown down while 4,000 ha of rice and other subsidy crops were inundated. The ferocious storm also left at least 46 people dead in Education experts discuss leadership Higher education worldwide is in a period of transition affected by globalisation and internationalisation which requires each institution to change or improve its leadership to ensure development, Dr Le Van Hao, head of Leadership and management should be clearly separated at some level in the context of higher education in At Vietnamese universities, rectors and officials act as both leaders and managers, a mix of responsibilities that forces them to spend most of their time doing management work, according to Hao. As a result, their devotion to leadership work such as building a vision and goals is often limited. The separation does not mean that more people should be involved in either, just a proper separation of the tasks. Ideally, rectors and deans should be seen as "leaders" and vice rectors or deputy deans should be regarded as "managers," he added. After being affected by the centralised governance system for long, the leadership at most of universities in It was very important that leaders should be good communicators and active listeners, incorporate the ideas and thoughts of other members of the institution into a larger overall goal, and "know how to help the team members meet their personal goals," he said. They should pay attention to the development of the locality where their institutions are situated and co-operation with other domestic and foreign institutions, he said. There are many reports, papers, and research focusing on the limitations and challenges facing higher education in The conference agenda also featured other topics like expectations in learning and teaching and creating links between institutions and communities/enterprises. It was organised by the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organisation's Regional Training Centre in Authorities order investors to supply clean water to residents Ha Noi People's Committee chairman Nguyen Quoc Hung asked the investor of Me Tri residential area to provide clean water to the hundreds of households living in the area by the end of this month. Inspections will confirm that the request was implemented. More than 700 households in Me Tri suffered clean water shortages since they moved to the area in 2006. Few water pipelines connected Me Tri to the city's clean water supply system, so these households were forced to buy water from wells built by the Housing Renovation and Development JSC, the investor of the area. In 2009, Viet Nam Clean Water Investment and Construction Corporation (Viwaco) built pipelines in the area. The city authority asked the investor to let residents use the water. However, after five years, the investor has done nothing and residents are still drinking well water. Pham Xuan Khoa, who lives in the area, said that many meetings between representatives of the residents and the investor had taken place, but that the investor had steadily ignored the wishes of residents, claiming it had not yet been decided who would pay the pipeline costs. So the residents were still purchasing well water at the cost of VND4,000 ($0.18) per cubic metre, he said. Nguyen Tien Doan, general director of the Housing Renovation and Development JSC, said the company had only signed a contract with Viwaco to supply clean water to the area's water container; residents had to sign their own contracts with Viwaco to get the pipes connected to their apartments. The committee asked the Department of Construction to review the situation and propose a solution to the committee before August 20. As many as 182 women living The event is part of the activities to mark the 67th anniversary of Speaking at the ceremony, Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Le Thanh Hai showed his deep gratitude to the women, saying that the title is to honour their sacrifice for the national liberation and reunification. In recent years, the municipal authorities have taken practical actions to look after heroic mothers. As many as 3,108 women in the city have so far been presented with the title. Invalids and Martyrs remembered nationwide War Invalids and Martyrs Day, held annually on July 27, is a day set aside where we remember and appreciate all the soldiers who were injured or died serving The Hanoi Youth Union, in coordination with other youth organizations in the capital city, offered incense at Mai Dich Cemetery on July 26 evening to mark the special day. The event demonstrates the younger generation’s deep gratitude for those who sacrificed for national defence. More than 2,000 youth union members offered incense at the cemetery, the final resting place for many Party, State and Government leaders. They also visited and presented gifts to heroic Vietnamese mothers, a number of war invalids, and families of fallen soldiers. The same day, similar events were held at many other cemeteries throughout An incense offering ceremony with thousands of flickering candles took place at Nearly 1,000 people were present at the event, which also included an art performance in commemoration of fallen combatants. On the occasion, more than VND850 million was donated to Quang Tri province in support of social policy beneficiaries. About 100 gifts worth VND1 million each were also presented to poor families of war veterans. Many other activities were held in Quang Tri ancient citadel to celebrate Martyrs’ Day, including a floral tribute, a music programme, a lantern release on Thach Han river. The Central Highland The province has over 48,000 social policy beneficiaries. Since 2009, i thas mobilized nearly VND38 billion for the “Paying debt of gratitude” fund to support needy people. Vietnamese war heroes commemorated abroad, at home A delegation from the Embassy and other representative offices of The delegation offered incense and a one-minute silence in honour of those fallen volunteer soldiers whose sacrifice has contributed to nurturing the fine friendship and solidarity between During the wars, tens of thousands of Vietnamese soldiers and experts lost their lives while undertaking international missions in The two countries are working hard towards the completion of the search, gathering, repatriation and re-interment of the martyrs by 2020. On the occasion of On July 26, leading officials of Minister of Public Security General Tran Dai Quang visited and presented gifts to war invalids, who are under treatment at August 19 hospital in Hanoi. Festival reinforces student solidarity in Italy Large numbers of Vietnamese students in The annual event, the third of its kind so far, was organized by the Vietnam Students’ Association in Italy (ASVI) with the assistance of the Vietnam Embassy and the Vietnamese Business Association in At the opening ceremony, Ambassador Nguyen Hoang Long hailed ASVI’s activities over the past years as a contribution to helping promote exchange and strengthen solidarity among Vietnamese students in He also expressed his pleasure at fruitful education cooperation between the two countries. He noted that during a recent visit to Long also took the occasion to raise funds in support of Vietnamese marine police, fishermen and surveillance forces who are making constant efforts in protecting the country’s sea and island sovereignty. Since it began operations in August 2007, ASVI has launched numerous significant events for Vietnamese students in Red Journey 2014 volunteers descend on Hanoi Thousands of youth volunteers from across the nation began arriving in The final festival of the blood drive dubbed “Red Journey” aims to mark the 67th anniversary of Vietnam's War Invalids and Martyrs Day (July 27) to commemorate fallen soldiers who sacrificed for national independence. Diverse activities will be staged during the event such as art performances and camping activities. Around 2,500 units of blood were collected during the first day of the festival. Last year, the Red Journey campaign was organized for the first time in 15 localities nationwide. This year, the drive has attracted 120 volunteers travelling to 25 provinces and cities. More than 45,000 units of blood have been collected so far thanks to Red Journey 2014, according to statistics from 25 provinces and cities participating in the journey. US helps disabled people with community integration The Addressing the donation ceremony in The project aims to help disabled youngsters better integrate and more confidently communicate with members of the community as well as raise public awareness about the obstacles disabled and invalid youngsters face in their daily lives. It will include a series of events, training courses on making handicrafts for sale, and art performances. Le Minh Hien, the Centre’s director said that since its establishment in 2002, the Centre has aimed to provide handicapped youngsters with vocational training and necessary life skills to protect their health. Tests complete at Chemicals Olympiad Competitors at the 2014 International Chemicals Olympiad (IChO 2014) sat for a five-hour theoretical examination on July 25, following a five-hour practice test on July 23. After the test, Karol Rzad from A Vietnamese competitor, Do Viet Hung from The 46th annual International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO) opened in Hanoi on July 21 with 291 high school students from 77 countries and territories worldwide taking part. This is the first time The prizes will be announced on July 28. At the 45th IChO held in IFAD funds climate change adaptation project in A climate change adaptation project funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) kicked off in Tra Vinh province on July 25. The project will be implemented from 2014 to 2020 in 30 villages of 7 districts in the province, benefiting 15,000 poor households. Its total investment is VND521 billion, of which VND233.5 billion is sourced from an IFAD loan, VND126.5 billion comes from IFAD non-refundable aid, VND79.5 billion is from the Vietnamese Government and VND81.5 billion is contributed by beneficiaries. The project aims to build sustainable livelihoods for poor rural people in the context of changeable environment and improve their ability to adapt to climate change impact. Beneficial localities will be assisted in building management mechanism for climate change adaptation in agriculture and rural areas, making socio-economic plan in combination with climate factors, managing natural disasters’ risks and community-based adaptation, developing infrastructure and conducting research on sustainable agricultural production models. It will set up support funds to help poor households access preferential loans for production to escape poverty sustainably. Tra Vinh is most vulnerable to climate change in the Mekong Delta region. During the 2011-2013 period, whirlwinds, tidal surges, salt infiltration and coastal erosion caused an estimated property loss of more than VND325 billion. The province has invested VND10 billion in fortifying its sea dykes and preventing landslides, however, climate change has caused increased saltwater intrusion, coastal erosion, tidal surges, landslides, and droughts, threatening agricultural production and aquaculture. More fallen soldiers remains repatriated from Cambodia Tay Ninh province and the Military Zone 7 High Command held a ceremony on July 25 to lay in their final resting place the remains of 206 volunteer soldiers killed in the war in The remains were located by the K70 and K71 search teams of the Military Zone 7 and the Provincial Military Command during the 2013-14 dry season. Since 2001, the two teams have unearthed and collected 2,908 sets of remains of volunteer Vietnamese soldiers who laid down their lives in A similar ceremony took place at a cemetery in Hon Dat district, Kien Giang province the same day. Fifty-eight remains were discovered by K92 team of the Military Zone 9 during the 2013-14 dry season with significant assistance from Cambodian friends. K92 has collected a cumulative total of 1,803 sets of remains since 2001 and all have been repatriated to Kien Giang province. The ceremonies express Vietnamese philosophy “When drinking water, remember the source” and the spirit of great national unity epitomized by the nation’s unbending determination to return soldiers who died in battle to their homeland. The Cancer Centre of Japan’s Kanagawa prefecture will assist the In three years from now, the Vietnamese side will send its doctors, nurses and technicians to the Kanagawa centre for one-year refresher courses, while the centre’s experienced staff will come to Danang with technical consultancy. At the signing ceremony in the presence of Kanagawa Governor Yuji Kuroiwa, Chairman of the Danang People’s Committee Van Huu Chien said his city hopes to receive more support from the prefecture in the promotion of medical workforce capacity and the procurement of advanced equipment. Yuji Kuroiwa voiced his hope that the cooperation between the two establishments will actively contribute to the partnership between Kanagawa and Danang in the future. Over the past years, Notably, Japanese experts have trained caregivers and midwives of the US$3.9 million for landmine clearance in Quang Binh The Mine Advisory Group (MAG) – a not-for-profit organisation clearing landmines, unexploded ordnance (UXO) and other remnants – will provide US$3.9 million for a landmine clearance project (5th phase) in the central province of Quang Binh. The donation was part of a recent memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between MAG and central Quang Binh province. Under the MoU, the MAG-funded project will be implemented from January 2015 to December 2017, aimed at minimising negative consequences caused by UXO and landmines left over from the war, as well as helping boost the local socio-economic development. Since MAG’s operation in From 2003 to 2014, MAG has cleaned up nearly 1.9 million square metres of contaminated land in more than 1,200 hamlets. About 86,000 explosive ordnance and landmines have been removed. Over 1.4 million people have benefitted from the project so far. Source: VNN/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/ND |
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Article 10
Production rise hints at recovery
HA NOI (VNS) - The nation's industrial production from Jan-July 2014 saw a 6.2 per cent year-on-year increase, a positive sign of recovering production at enterprises, noted the General Statistics Office (GSO). The index of industrial production (IIP), in the first seven months, registered the highest growth rate so far this year, noted the GSO, compared to 3 per cent in January, 5.4 per cent in the first two months of the year, 5.2 in the first quarter and 5.8 per cent in the first half of the year. The IPP during Jan-July 2014 is also higher than the IPP during the same period last year, according to the GSO. The office attributed the high IIP growth rate to the 8.1 per cent surge in the processing and manufacturing sector, which accounted for 70 per cent of total industrial output. Industrial products with the highest growth rate in the period include mobilephones, with 77 million units, up 37.8 per cent; rolled steel with 2 million tonnes, up 23.8 per cent; televisions with 1.8 million, up 23.3 per cent; shoes with 150.4 million pairs manufactured; and electric output with 72.3 billion Kwh, up 11.9 per cent. Meanwhile, other products that reported lower growth rates include steel, at 1.7 million tonnes, up 0.8 per cent; and NPK fertiliser, with 1.4 miilion tonnes, up 1.4 per cent. Some products with declining output included motorbikes, with 1.85 million units, down 12.9 per cent; liquified petro gas (LPG) with 365,000 tonnes, down 10.7 per cent; crude oil with 8.7 million tonnes, down 1.9 per cent; and chemical paint with 275 tonnes, down 1.2 per cent. GSO experts attributed the low consumption to a slow rebound of the world economy, as well as low demand in the domestic market and a high inventory index. The July 1 inventory index of the processing and manufacturing industry posted a month-on-month increase of 12.8 per cent and a year-on-year surge of 13.2 per cent. Other sectors reporting higher inventories than the same period last year were electronics, computers, tobacco products, medicines, pharmaceutical products and materials, leather, and paper. Businesses optimistic Although the Vietnamese economy is facing numerous difficulties, many businesses are said to be hopeful about business activities in the second half of this year. Businesses, further, estimated that profits would increase by three points in the first six months of this year. Although this growth is modest, it shows progress in production and trading, according to the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) 's survey of 800 outstanding businesses nationwide. The survey also indicates that most domestic businesses felt good about the level of access to market information, technology and the demand in the international market. They also said it was easier to obtain loans in the first six months of this year, as a result of lower interest rates and greater transparency of loan procedures. Businesses added that their total revenue growth increased from 0.3 points in the last six months of last year to eight points in the first six months of this year, causing them to be optimistic about increased employment, in the short term. Meanwhile, according to the Viet Nam Academy of Social Sciences' Centre for Analysis and Forecasting, several macro economic factors would be affected in the final six months of this year, particularly investments, exports and imports, and the money market, which were likely to impact economic growth in the last half of the year. However, experts said that with timely response measures and effective implementation of newly-amended laws, it is expected that production and trading would help mitigate negative impacts on our economy in the second half of the year. - VNS |
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Article 9
RoK – a leading foreign investor in Statistics from the Foreign Investment Agency (FIA) of Lotte-Sea Logistics, Lock& lock, Simone, Vina-Seafoods Pride, Quanon, Young Chemical Vina and Magic Vina were among the many Korean investors that attended a recent dialogue with the managing board of the Long Hau Industrial Zone (IZ) in Long An province, discussing FDI attraction and IZ support policies. Such dialogues with Korean investors have become increasingly more common in recent times.
RoK businesses consider They universally regard Experts caution, however, it is important that the cash inflows are utilised efficiently and effectively to their greatest advantage to achieve sustainable economic development that benefits the national social welfare. Without an effective localisation process, the national domestic industry and The country should aim to realise the long-term benefits of developing a self-reliant domestic industry focused on creating high added value products and avoiding at all costs transforming itself into a nation that just does outsourcing, easily exploited for its cheap labour and natural resources. According to the FIA, not only RoK investors but also those from Hong Kong and For instance, Hong Kong ranks second after the RoK among foreign investors in The FDI sector continued to enjoy an export surplus in July, bringing its total export surplus to US$9.78 billion in 7 months. The manufacturing and processing industries drew the greatest attention from foreign investors with 448 projects worth US$6.66 billion (making up 69.9%), followed by real estate with US$1.13 billion and construction with US$547.58 million. VOV |
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Article 8
Political News 28/7 Ambassador confident of stronger Peru-Vietnam ties Strengthening economic-trade ties with Tsuboyama told Vietnam News Agency in a recent interview that bilateral relations have developed considerably in all realms, from economics, investment and trade to science and technology since both countries established diplomatic ties in 1994. They have signed a number of agreements on economic and trade cooperation. The two governments recently decided to boost cooperation in the areas of their strength, including agriculture, industry, aquaculture and mining. The diplomat noted the military-run telecom group (Viettel) of In turn, However, Tsuboyama said bilateral economic cooperation is yet to match the two countries’ potential. He also pointed out challenges for trade exchanges, including high transport costs and a lack of information on each other’s markets. He affirmed that the Peruvian embassy in The diplomat expressed his belief that PM Dung affirms close Vietnam-Japan ties Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung was speaking at a reception in Dung hailed the result of Yuji’s working sessions with several Vietnamese agencies and localities, which he said will make a positive contribution to boosting cooperation between He assured his guest that the government of The PM voiced his support for Yuji’s proposal to build an industrial park in He encouraged Kanagawa to soon make a survey and decide on the location for the park in For his part, Yuji said he expects stronger economic cooperation between Kanagawa and Vietnamese localities and businesses. With a wealth of experience in agricultural production, Kanagawa is willing to help train Vietnamese agricultural engineers and receive Vietnamese nurses, orderlies and hi-tech engineers to work in the locality, he said. Legal experts analyse lawsuit mechanisms International legal experts from 12 countries, including representatives from diplomatic agencies, international organizations and Vietnamese researchers, analysed mechanisms for filing a lawsuit against China at an international seminar in HCM City. The seminar themed “Legal aspects regarding the incident of Scholars affirmed that the Judging from objective and scientific analyses, scholars shed light on international legal issues relating to the incident. They performed in-depth analysis on regulations of international legal documents relating to the peaceful settlement of international disputes through political and diplomatic measures. They also discussed the possibility of applying legal measures to resolve the current disputes as well as conditions and lawsuit mechanisms, and legal values of judgement of international court and arbitration on the issue. Professor Dr. Mai Hong Quy, HCM City University of Law Rector said: " Japanese FM honours Vietnam’s Japan Alumni Chairman The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan (MOFA) on July 25 presented a certificate of merit of its Minister to the Honorary Chairman of the Japan Alumni of Vietnam (JAV), Nguyen Ngoc Binh, in recognition of his contributions to boosting Vietnam-Japan relations. As Vice Chairman of the JAV, Binh had made great efforts in promoting connections among former Vietnamese students in Since he assumed the role of JAV Chairman in 2004, he has led the association to make positive contribution to fostering exchange and mutual understanding as well as the friendship and relations between the two countries. In 2006, after joining the ASEAN Council of Japan Alumni (ASCOJA), JAV’s position in the region has been raised. In 2013, Binh has also cooperated with Japanese partners in organising workshops on Japanese study or contests of eloquence in President Sang tours Quang Ninh island districts President Truong Tan Sang had working visits to island commune of Ngoc Vung, and island district Co To to inspect socio-economic, national defence and security tasks of Quang Ninh province on July 26. Ngoc Vung island commune, Van Don district, lies in a strategically important area in terms of national defence and fisheries logistics center. After three years of responding to a nationwide campaign on new rural development, it has met 11 out of 19 national criteria for new-style rural areas. Besides raising annual seafood output to 1,000 tonnes, the commune is developing community-based tourism services targeting thousands of visitors. President Sang asked local authority to further study its proposal of a special development mechanism, making it easier for agencies concerned to consider for approval. Working with Co To local authority, the leader asked for a mechanism to develop its economy, saying that he believes Co To will become a fisheries logistics and tourism centre in the foreseeable future. He also requested local authorities to build a strong political apparatus, ensuring sea and island sovereignty. The President also said island districts in the province should work together to build a coastline of peace and friendship for mutual benefit. Co To has three administrative communes and over 5,000 residents living mainly on fisheries. Last year, it welcomed 56,000 visitors and is expecting to greet 100,000 this year. In Ngoc Vung and Co To, the State leader offered incense at memorials dedicated to late President Ho Chi Minh. During his working trip, Sang also visited Mong Duong 1 and Mong Duong 2 thermo-power plants and paid floral tributes to war heroes in Ha Long city. Meeting marks Northern Tuyen Quang province on July 26 celebrated the 61st anniversary of the attack on Moncada Barracks that led to the victory of Cuban armed forces against the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista. In his speech, provincial People’s Committee Vice Chairman Vu Thi Bich Viet recalled the two countries’ traditional friendship that had been nurtured by late President Ho Chi Minh and leader Fidel Castro. “Vietnamese people, including those in Tuyen Quang, always remember and are grateful for Cuba’s valuable support for Vietnam’s past struggle for national liberation as well as its current national construction and defence.” she said. Liurka Rodríguez Barrios, Chargé d’ Affaires at the Cuban Embassy greatly valued the sound Vietnam-Cuba relations, saying that bilateral ties have been further strengthened through exchange visits by senior leaders. Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, President Truong Tan Sang and Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung have extended congratulations to Cuban leaders over the 61 st anniversary of the attack on Moncada Barracks (July 26) that culminated in the victory of Cuban armed forces against the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista. The congratulations were sent to First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba’s Central Committee, President of the Council of State and President of the Council of Ministers Raul Castro Ruz. On the occasion, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh also cabled a congratulatory message to Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla. Indian seminar marks 60 years of Geneva Accords The Vietnam Embassy in Ambassador Nguyen Thanh Tan highlighted the significance of the Geneva Accords, saying it asked The signing of the agreement created a firm legal foundation for the Vietnamese people’s struggle for national liberation and unification, he said. The diplomat noted that The country’s active participation in regional and international organizations (ASEAN, APEC, ASEM and the UN) has enhanced its role and prestige in international arena, Tan underscored. Indian Deputy Foreign Minister Anil Wadhwa took this occasion to praise the Vietnam-India relationship, which said has been nurtured and strengthened by generations of the two countries’ leaders. The bilateral strategic partnership is currently developing despite challenges. “ Senior leaders pay tribute to fallen soldiers A high-level Party and State delegation on July 25 laid a wreath and offered incense to commemorate fallen soldiers at the Monument to Heroic Martyrs on The ceremony was part of commemorative activities marking the 67th anniversary of Memorial Day for War Martyrs (July 27). The delegation also paid a floral tribute to late President Ho Chi Minh at his mausoleum. Senior leaders included Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, State President Truong Tan Sang, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, National Assembly (NA) Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung, former Party General Secretary Le Kha Phieu, former NA Chairman Nguyen Van An and other politburo members. The same day, delegations from the Ministries of Defence, Public Security, Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, the Source: VNA/VOV/VNS |
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Article 7
Art & Entertainment News 28/7 Tien Giang man creates soil maps  Tien Giang native Vo Van Hai has made three "After dying, people turn into dust. So I wanted to use soil at cemeteries to honour soldiers who sacrificed their lives to protect the country," Hai said. "I have spent three years on travelling through 63 cities and provinces, islands of Con Dao, Phu Quoc, and Truong Sa to get soil and complete the maps," he added. The 59-year-old artist used 54 square-shaped pieces of wood to make frames for the maps, and decorated them with18 Lac birds, a kind of bird found in Vietnamese stories. He said the pieces of wood symbolised the country's 54 ethnic groups, and the Lac bird symbolised the 18 Hung Kings. The smallest map was transferred to Truong Sa Islands yesterday, while the second one was placed at Hoa Lam in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta The largest map will be presented to the "I hope my works remind them of the older generations' sacrifices to protect the country, as well as the traditional patriotism of Vietnamese," Hai said. Hai, who had been working as a vendor and motorbike taxi driver before becoming involved in art, has created several works from wood. In 2013, Hai completed a collection of stamps made of wood. The stamps were based on images of The return of T-ara and 2NE1 to The two famous Korean girl band 2NE1 and T-ara have confirmed their return to T-ara has announced on their official Facebook that the six girls will hold a fan meeting on August 2. Although this is their third time coming to This event is no normal fan-meeting session, as T-ara will perform 7 to 8 hit songs - making it almost like a mini-show. A representative revealed that there will also be new changes to refresh the event, something that is totally different from previous showcases and meetings that T-ara held before. The ticket price for T-ara - The 1st Fan-meeting in The venue is at Lan Anh Club in While T-ara is back for a meeting, 2NE1 has another purpose of visiting The four girls will perform in Young teacher collects wartime objects A young teacher from Ha Nam Province has spent the last decade amassing a collection of more nearly 1,000 wartime objects. Pham Van Diep, 29, is a physical education teacher at “When I was a little boy, I had some chances to listen to war veterans who told me stories about their fights using simple tools. Each object has its own story and is connected to the lives of solders and young volunteers. So I decided to collect these objects when I was studying at secondary school,” Diep said. His collection is quite diverse, ranging from everyday solders’ tools like knives, water-bottles and compasses to mortar shells, bicycles, old stamps and solders’ personal papers. He carefully organises the objects in a room in his house, which now looks like a small museum. He has travelled to several places in search of such objects and has spent his own money buying them. He regularly has to negotiate with the owners of the objects. “Many of these souvenirs were significant to soldiers’ lives, so they are invaluable. Sometimes, I ask dozens of times to buy something, but still get no for an answer. Surprisingly, many were willing to give things to me when they learned what I was trying to accomplish,” he said. When he acquires a new object, he carefully labels it information about the former owner, the time and location of the find along with any stories related to how he got the object. “I want to take careful notes of important information related to each object in order to avoid any mistakes. I’m really happy to share the information with visitors,” he stated. His collection includes some objects that originated very far from his hometown, including an Italian Marelli fan that he bought from a mandarin who lived through war in He also places several exhibits belonging to the feudal period. In order to preserve these objects he cleans them whenever he has free time and keeps the room where they reside dry. Creating such a comprehensive collection on a modest teachers salary has been no small feat, leaving many to wonder why he would put so much of his time and money into such a project. “I plan to open a private museum or a solders’ café in order to share them with interested visitors. I hope this will help young people understand how hard our forefathers worked to build and defend our country. My hope is to instill a gratitude for our peaceful time and respect for those who made it possible,” he added. Chronicle of The Vietnam Writer's Association (VWA) officially introduced the first volume of a chronicle of VWA’s activities at a ceremony in The work is composed by Lai Nguyen An, Tran Thien Khanh and Doan Anh Duong, reproducing the life of Vietnamese literature from 1957 to 1975 with literary work published or announced in newspapers and literature and arts magazines year by year. According to literary critic, Lai Nguyen An, writing and announcing literary work are the most important activities, helping readers visualize the true face of literary life. The first volume also records literary events and phenomena taking place each year, to help reader research activities. In the chronicle’s introduction, An said that what he wrote must be of concern to others, since literature history is created by works which are welcomed and evaluated by the public while being received and inherited by authors of future generations. Book on Cham cuisine released A book on the cuisine of the Cham people by young poet Kieu Maily was officially released this week in The 184-page book, Doc Dao Am Thuc Cham (Unique Cham Cuisine), features Cham culinary techniques that have been transfered from older to younger generations for many years. Cham's popular dishes such as muthin ritong (rice served with fish), lithei jrau (rice mixed with meat and vegetables), abu mutham (gruel served with fish and traditional vegetables), kari cam murong (curry served with chicken or beef), and ruou (liquid made from rice), are highlighted in the book. The Cham people are an ethnic minority group, those mostly live in Published by the Phuong Nam Publishing House and HCM City Arts and Literature Publishing House, the book also includes 106 colour photos to display 96 dishes. Film on navy police to hit screens A feature film on the work of the Viet Nam Marine Police and Border Defense Force is set for release early next month. The 90-minute work, titled Mo Gio (The Power of Wind), is being made by Viet Nam Feature Film Studio, the country's leading State-owned production house belonging to Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. Based on a screenplay by Le Manh Cuong, a navy policeman, it tells about the life and work of young navy policemen . Nguyen Huu Phan, the film's director, said the crew began filming in HCM City and Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province two months ago and and then in southern provinces of Binh Thuan and Bac Lieu and Ca Mau. "Through our film, we wanted to spotlight brave officials' remarkable work for keeping our sea peaceful while there are still so many challenges ," said Phan, who spent two years to prepare for filming. Phan said that his crew had received support from the navy police force to perfect their film. The film's post-production work will be done this month. Fashion exhibition shows young designers' ambition Eight young graduates from the The exhibition will provide an opportunity for the aspiring designers to showcase their inaugural collections and creativity. The exhibition will feature eight collections by seven Vietnamese designers and Dutch designer Danielle G Gaanderse-Rustwijk. Visitors will have the opportunity to see differently styled collections inspired by Dong Ho paintings, water puppetry and the ocean. College lecturer May Cortazzi says the exhibition provides a valuable opportunity to launch the careers of young designers in the fashion industry. "Young designers can get their names on the catwalk for the first time, to create a fashion installation based on their concept and inspiration," she said, adding that: "to prepare for the show, they have a chance to collaborate with photographers, film makers and editors in producing fashion films and videos". The outfits will be shown by 30 leading models, including Nguyen Thi Loan who won More than 20 firms from the garment industry will attend the event to scout for promising up-and-coming designers. The event will take place on August 2-3 at Ha Noi's Melia Hotel. About 200 children from The event, entitled Vong Tay Ban Be 2014 (Friends' Arms 2014) will feature a range of activities. The participants will meet municipal leaders and visit well-known destinations in the city, such as the Ho Chi Minh Museum, the A cultural programme and art performances by Vietnamese, Lao and Cambodian children on Wednesday at the city's Cultural Youth House in District 1 will be the highlight of the event. "The cultural exchange among children from the three countries, the third event of its kind, has been organised to promote international solidarity and friendship, particularly to improve the relations between "In addition, it aims to introduce to the young delegates [from the other two countries] the history, cultural tradition and socio-economic development of JW Marriott Hotel Hanoi hosts first wedding fair The JW Marriott Hotel in The demand for lavish weddings has increased in At the event, visitors will have the occasion to learn about the latest in unique ideas of wedding organization, obtain discounts on jewellery, wedding flowers and cards, along with promotional specials for honeymoon getaways. The organizing board has announced that wedding parties which are booked within the fair will be given a special discount offer of 10%. A “Love Story” competition will also be staged with valuable prizes, such as a two night stay in the JW Marriott Hotel along with free dining in the exquisite French and Chinese restaurants in the hotel. The JW Marriott Hotel commenced operations in November 2013. It has been named the Best New Hotel Construction and Design in the Asia-Pacific region at the 2014 International Property Awards. Essay contest marks 20 years of Vietnam-Peru relations The Embassy of Peru in All Vietnamese residents, especially students, are encouraged to participate in the writing contest by submitting a 3,000-5,000 word essay in Spanish or English from now until August 22. There are no restrictions on the topic, thus, participants are encouraged to show off their creativity and writing skills. Entrants can send their essays to the following link: vietluan.peruembassy.vn or access the website http://www.peruembassy.vn to get further information. The jury, including representatives from the Peruvian Embassy and the Vietnam Ministry of Education and Training, will select the best three essays to award first, second, and third prizes. The awards ceremony is scheduled to take place on September 10. Le Cong Tien, Deputy Director of America Department under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, emphasised that the competition is an opportunity for Vietnamese people, especially youth, to learn more about the country and people of Busan Day kicks off in HCM City Thousands of local people on July 25 attended the opening ceremony of Busan Day in They had the chance to take part in folk games, explore the Korean paper folding art (Origami), pose for photos with the traditional costume of Hanbok, watch Taekwondo performances, and enjoy dances. Alongside stands introducing Busan’s achievements, cosmetics stands were crowded with people, especially youth who want to test high quality products. Le Manh Ha, vice chairman of the municipal People’s Committee, said relations between Since the two cities established their twin relationship, bilateral cooperation has been strengthened, primarily in the exchange of personnel, training and security. Kim Jong-hae, vice mayor of Busan, said the festivities will help people of the two cities better understand their cultures, so as to cement their ties and seek ways to develop them in the future. Source: VNS/VNA/VOV/Dantri/SGGP |
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Article 6
Banyan Tree seeks casino approvalSingaporean resort developer Banyan Tree Holdings is expecting to receive the Vietnamese government’s approval to open a casino at its existing Laguna Lang Co resort in the central  The provincial people’s committee last week stated that Ho Kwon Ping, executive chairman of Banyan Tree Holdings had asked provincial leaders to allow the developer to open a casino at the resort. The casino, if given the go-ahead, will play an important role in the development of Laguna Lang Co – Banyan Tree Holdings’ first project in Nguyen Ngoc Thien, Chairman of the Thua Thien-Hue Provincial People’s Committee, was quoted in the announcement as saying that the province supported Banyan Tree’s casino proposal at Laguna Lang Co, as he believed it would benefit both the province and the developer. However, as the Ministry of Finance was currently drafting the nation’s first legal framework for casino businesses, Thien said the developer would have to wait until the National Assembly ratified the decree. Languna Lang Co, which opened in March last year. The 280-hectare resort is located near Lang Co Bay, and framed by a three kilometre beach in the Chan May region. This development includes Banyan Tree and Angsana branded hotels and spas, an 18-hole championship golf course designed by Nick Faldo, private villas and residences available for sale, convention facilities and a plethora of recreational activities for guests of all ages. A representative of Laguna Lang Co, in an email sent to VIR last week said that “any future enhancement would expand our offerings, building up Laguna Lang Co as a world-class destination in Thua Thien-Hue.” However, Laguna Lang Co refused to unveil any detail of the casino project, because it is in “very early and preliminary stages.” Since 1992, 50 electronic gaming facilities and seven casinos have been licensed nationwide. All of them are only open to foreigners due to the legal ban on Vietnamese nationals gambling. Other resort developers are also seeking permission from the Vietnamese government for opening casinos. For example, in April, the Danang Municipal People’s Committee also asked permission from the prime minister for two casinos to be licensed in the city and to allow the expansion of the central city’s only existing Asset management firm VinaCapital also wants to build a large-scale casino in the central province of Quang By Ngoc Linh, VIR |
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Article 5
BUSINESS IN BRIEF 29/7 The The average price of rice for the six months hovered around US$452 per tonne, a year-on-year of 2.4%. Total rice exports for the first seven months of 2014 are estimated at 3.86 million tonnes worth US$1.75 billion, down 7.9% in volume and 4.8% in value over the same period last year. Experts expect 6.27% economic growth rate in second half “ There should be uniform solutions to reach the set target” they said. In the first half of the year, GDP growth rate increased 5.18% against the same period last year with a low inflation rate and trade surplus reaching US$1.3 billion. These figures have shown positive signs of economic recovery, which will open up opportunities to fulfill macro-economic targets as scheduled. Most notably, the Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) remained high in the past six months, which shows that businesses are regaining their motivation thanks to improved production conditions. However, local businesses are facing difficulties in production activities. In addition, the low demand for business loans to expand operations has reduced these businesses’ competitive capacity. Talk sheds light on Young researchers from the Argentine Council for International Relations and the International Research Network in Vietnamese ambassador to Argentina Nguyen Dinh Thao introduced He said that in the context of According to At the meeting, ambassador Thao also rebuked Participants expressed undaunted support for Jan-Jul agricultural exports rise 11.8% Agro-forestry-fishery exports for the first seven months of the year jumped 11.8% year-on-year to US$17.43 billion, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD). Major agricultural product exports (rice, coffee, rubber, cashew nut, tea, pepper, wood and wood products) hit US$8.31 billion during the seven month period, up 5.9% against last year’s same period. Seafood exports surged 24.5% on-year to US$4.2 billion, along with forestry products up 13.2% to US$3.52 billion. The Ho Chi Minh City Export Processing and Industrial Zones Authority (HEPZA) and the Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) on July 25 announced the establishment of the Vietnam-Japan Supporting Industry Forum (VIETPANSIF). JETRO Ho Chi Minh City office director Hirotaka Yasuzumi said local suppliers can meet 32.2% of the demand of Japanese-invested enterprises in Therefore, the VIETPANSIF will work to connect enterprises and make policy recommendations relating to the supporting industry, he said, adding that the forum’s executive board plans to organize an event every quarter of the year to this purpose. According to HEPZA Director Vu Van Hoa, the forum’s establishment aims at facilitating cooperation and mutual assistance between government agencies in charge of support the business circles of both countries towards promoting the development of the supporting industry in State budget spending in 2012 exceeds estimates by 8.3 percent The State Audit of Vietnam (SAV) on July 25 announced the result of its 2013 report, which shows that state budget spending in 2012 exceeded estimates by 8.3 percent, or VND2.07 trillion (US$97.3 million). Meanwhile, budget revenues were 1.9 percent higher than the set target. The report also showed a decrease of over VND1.6 trillion in public debts, compared with the figure in a Finance Ministry report. The audit of financial reports of the State Bank of Vietnam, the Vietnam Development Bank, and three commercial banks of Vietcombank, Vietinbank and Agribank showed they all registered profits in business activities. However, bad debts in the banking sector remained high. According to reports of 125 credit institutions, as of December 31, 2012, the average rate stood at 4.08 percent. While auditing, the SAV also discovered wrongdoings in collecting student fees at many universities. The Ministry of Planning and Investment (MoPI) has pledged to create favourable conditions for Japanese businesses, including those from Kanagawa prefecture, to operate efficiently in MoPI Deputy Minister Nguyen Van Trung made the commitment at a Vietnam-Kanagawa investment seminar in “I do believe that cooperation with Kanagawa and its businesses will bring more benefits for He revealed the MoPi will support Kanagawa’s businesses in investing in health care, education-training, as well as in recruiting Vietnamese trainees to work in the prefecture. The ministry will prioritise technology investment in Yuji echoed Trung’s view, saying about 40 businesses from Kanagawa are operating in In 2013 Kanagawa’s GDP reached US$307.6 billion, accounting for 5.63% of the country’s total. The prefecture houses many leading Japanese businesses operating in electronics, mechanical engineering, information technology, and biological technology. At the seminar, Trung and Yuji signed a memorandum of understanding on bilateral cooperation. DOJI celebrates its 20th anniversary DOJI Gold & Gems Group Joint Stock Company recently celebrated its 20th anniversary and was presented the second class Labour Order for the company’s contributions to the homeland. Addressing the ceremony, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc hailed the staff’s great efforts and their contributions to economic growth and job generation. Phuc asked the company to focus on applying science and technology into production to create high quality products which can compete in both the domestic and international marketplaces in the coming time. He also urged the company to boost exports of its unique jewelries, generate more jobs and pay special attention to social welfare activities. Established in 1994, DOJI has developed strongly with a famous jewelry trademark in Last year, the company grossed revenue of VND35,000 billion and expects to fetch VND40,000 billion this year. Heightened prospects for Vietnam-South The Vietnamese embassy in Addressing the seminar, Ambassador Le Huy Hoang highlighted great opportunities to deepen all-around cooperation, especially in economics and trade. Last year’s two-way trade turnover reached over US$1 billion, up 20 fold compared to 2002’s figure of US$54 million. Ambassador Hoang expressed hope that the seminar will provide fresh impetus to promoting bilateral economics and trade cooperation. For her part, JCCI President Fay Mukaddam expressed delight at the growing Vietnam-South Africa relationship over the years, stating that JCCI will do its utmost to boost investment and trade between the two nations. The Ministry of Industry and Trade’s African and West and South Asian Market Department Director Tran Quang Huy said that In the future, apart from traditional goods such as farm produce and seafood, garment and textile, footwear, Meanwhile, Business Network International debuts in Laos The Business Network International (BNI) made its debut in Speaking at the ceremony, BNI Vietnam Chairman Ho Quang Minh said the organization plays a strategically important role in assisting companies in expanding their business connections, creating more favourable conditions for them to penetrate the global marketplace. He added that BNI Vietnam always stands ready to share experiences with Lao businesspeople, and provide assistance to their neighbour in improving the quality and effectiveness of international integration. On the same day, BNI Vietnam held exchanges with Overseas Vietnamese (OVs) in the capital of Chairman Minh said he hopes OVs in Concerns mount over low credit growth Many commercial banks are raising concerns that cheap money has not led to the growth-igniting investment spree the monetary policy was designed to encourage. Credit growth remained sluggish in the first half of the year at 3.52% and commercial banks are cautioning the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) decision to continue lowering lending interest rates to stimulate credit growth and spending is likely to be ineffectual. SBV Governor Nguyen Van Binh optimistically said the entire banking system may achieve an overall growth rate of 12% - 14% by the end of this year. However, a more conservative prediction is that it will peak at slightly over 10%. The Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank) recently reviewed its operations for the first six months of 2014 and announced that its growth rate was above the national average. Vietcombank Director General Nghiem Xuan Thanh said the bank’s capital mobilization was estimated at VND378,780 billion in the first half, up 14.2% compared to early this year and threefold the whole banking sector’s average growth rate (5.3%). As a result, Vietcombank’s pre-tax profit hit VND5,178 billion in the first six months of 2014, nearly 14.2% higher than last year's same period. The bank also enjoyed remarkable achievements in resolving bad debts, which is currently hovering around 3.06%, much lower than that recorded in the whole banking sector. Additionally, the bad debt reserve ratio is moving in a positive direction, approaching 90%. Tien Phong Commercial Joint Stock Bank (TPBank) in turn reports it has earned more than VND263 billion in profits since the beginning of this year, fulfilling 60% of its annual plan in spite of encountering numerous challenges in its restructuring process. Saigon Thuong Tin Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Sacombank) Director General Phan Huy Khang said since January 2014 its total assets have risen 10.8%, with its profit meeting 50% of the set target for the year. Khang attributed the bank’s successful operations to high demand for capital from industrial and processing zones in For a number of reasons, some other banks, such as the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV) and the HCM City Development Joint Stock Commercial Bank (HDBank), are hesitant to reveal their profits. Many commercial banks are concerned low credit growth may result in the central bank reducing interest rates further. In the present economic climate with the inflation rate is in line with deposit rates, further reduction of interest rates will be counterproductive and adversely affect the economy as a whole. Lower interest rates on bank loans require banks to lower the interest they pay on customer deposits which disincentives savings and does little, if anything, to stimulate spending, bank leaders say. Lower interest rates are quite simply not the key to encouraging businesses to borrow and spur expansion of their operations, they say. At a recent meeting to review banks’ operation in the first six months of 2014, SBV Governor Nguyen Van Binh underscored that the banking sector’s decision to reduce interest rate by 0.5% resulted in commercial banks having to cut deposit rates by 0.5% - 1% to maintain their liquidity. Binh revealed credit growth is set to be controlled at 12% - 14%, with a view to serving both investors and bankers. Currently, there’s a rising demand for bank loans, he said, adding this is a positive signal for improvements in credit growth. According to the SBV Governor, the credit growth in the second half is usually higher than that recorded in the first half. He forecast growth rate in the second half will hit 7% to bring the entire year’s figure to over 10%. Binh pledged to strengthen cooperation between the SBV and relevant ministries and agencies to remove obstacles and help businesses and credit organizations iron out their snags in operations. Vietfish 2014 to attract global companies More than 170 domestic and foreign companies have registered to take part in the 2014 Vietnam Fisheries International Exhibition (Vietfish 2014) to be held in Leading consumers of Vietnamese seafood such as the European Union, Participating businesses will showcase products and advanced seafood processing technologies at more than 300 stands covering a total of 10,000sq.m at the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Centre (SECC). The fair aims to promote links between domestic and foreign businesses in seafood production, processing and export. It creates a forum for businesses to share information, increase cooperation, and help promote the brand of Vietnamese seafood globally. Within the framework of the exhibition, conferences and workshops will be organised with the participations of many international scholars from the Global GAP, Global Aquaculture Alliance (GAA), World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF) and VASEP. Vietfish has been held annually since 1998. FDI hits US$9.53 billion in 7 months Inflows of foreign direct investment (FDI) dipped 19.90% in the first seven months of 2014 year-on-year to US$9.53 billion, according to) the Ministry of Planning and Investment’s Foreign Investment Agency (FIA). The FIA reported that as of July 20, FDI firm’s total disbursements were estimated at US$6.8 billion. They generated an export turnover of US$55.83 billion and incurred around US$46.04 in imports, resulting in a trade surplus of US$9.78 billion. In the reviewed period, as many as 889 FDI projects were licensed with total registered capital of US$6.85 billion. About 300 projects increased their investment by US$2.67 billion. The processing and manufacturing industries took the lead in FDI attraction with 448 newly-licensed projects, followed by the real estate and construction sectors. At present, 46 countries and territories are investing in They are operating companies in 45 provinces and cities across the country, and many are keen on northern Bac Ninh province that led the country in FDI attraction with US$1.33 billion. Malaysia’s CIMB bank eyes expanding into Vietnam Malaysia’s second largest bank, CIMB Group, is planning to obtain banking licenses in Vietnam as part of its drive to expand into the fast-growing Southeast Asian market, according to Reuters. The group has embarked upon an ambitious plan for opening branches in all Southeast Asian nations by 2015 coinciding with the establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), reports ChannelNewAsia. At present, CIMB is the fifth largest bank in the region in terms of total assets. The Kuala Lumpur-based bank has an estimated 40,000 employees in 17 locations throughout ASEAN and the Asia-Pacific region In Vietnam, Malaysia’s largest bank Maybank is also entrenched in investing in the Vietnamese market. Maybank is now a strategic shareholder of An Binh Bank (ABBank) which has opened two branches in Hanoi and HCM City. As of the end of 2013, Vietnam had five wholly foreign-invested banks with 100 branches and representative offices. Seminar discusses preferential rules of origin A seminar was held in HCM City on July 24 to assist businesses better understand the ‘preferential rules of origin incorporated in free trade agreements (FTAs) so that their export products are eligible for preferential treatment. Speakers at the seminar explained, preferential Rules of Origin are concerned with determining the nationality of goods. When a product is manufactured in Vietnam in accordance with the rules, it becomes what is called a Vietnam ‘originating product’ and is eligible for tariff reductions when exported into another member country. In summary, the rules help maintain the delicate balance between facilitating trade liberalisation and preventing trade fraud. With certificates of origin and preferential tariffs, businesses’ production and export activities will be promoted, helping boost the national economy and expanding international trade relations. Therefore, businesses should devise strategies to learn more about certificate of origin (C/O). At the seminar, businesses were updated with specific information on trade agreements that Vietnam signed with other nations and territories around the globe and the tariff reductions qualifying Vietnam originating products receive when exported to other member countries. Monopoly in railway sector set to go Vietnam Railway Corporation will no longer hold monopoly in the railway sector once the Government approves a decree that prohibits those entities managing the railway infrastructure from doing railway transport business. According to the draft decree meant to provide guidelines for the Railway Law, enterprises assigned to manage national railway infrastructure facilities will be barred from directly doing railway transport business, or joining forces with other entities to do so on railway sections under such enterprises’ management. Meanwhile, all other local or foreign companies who meet requirements as per the law could engage themselves in railway transport business or related business, and will not face any discrimination when they rent the railway infrastructure invested by the Government. The nation’s railway infrastructure will mainly be leased for operating trains, but other associated facilities can also be leased, such as train stations, train stations’ surrounding areas, warehouses, and signal cable systems. The Ministry of Transport which helped prepare the decree said that it will create a competitive environment for all enterprises without any discrimination with an aim to attract capital from the private sector and ease pressure on the State budget. Once the new rule takes effect, Vietnam Railway Corporation could only choose to manage the railway infrastructure, or to do railway transportation business. Currently, the State-owned giant is allowed to do both functions. Customs uses GPS to track goods transport All import-export shipments transported by containers are now officially tracked by customs agencies via Global Positioning System (GPS) devices following a decision by the General Department of Customs, effective from this month. The General Department of Customs issued Decision 2031/QD-TCHQ introducing regulations on the use of GPS in managing and inspecting containerized goods that are transferred from port to port, temporarily imported for re-export and transited in the country. In June the department told its customs offices to strengthen management and supervision using this technology. GPS devices will be installed on container trucks to avoid smuggling and commercial fraud during the transportation process. GPS chips are capable of transmitting warning signals when containers are unsealed or opened, as well as locating the truck position on its journey from port to port. This monitoring system will record the entire routes of containers and immediately send warning messages to the customs agencies if the trucks are in the wrong direction or exceeding the parking time limit. It also reports information about the container trucks’ journey, time schedule, parking location and so on. At first, the customs departments in Haiphong City and Quang Ninh Province will run a pilot project of using GPS devices in their cargo inspections. After the trial use in these two locations, the General Department of Customs will expand the use of GPS to HCMC, Hanoi, Lang Son, Vung Tau, Danang, Quang Tri and other regions. Stringent rules imposed on imports of used machinery Used machinery, equipment and production lines can be imported into Vietnam from September 1 if they can meet the strict conditions of the Ministry of Science and Technology. In Circular 20/2014/TT-BKHCN, the ministry states that second-hand machines in most cases can be imported if they have been in use for less than five years and their quality is equivalent to 80% of new machines. However, the ban remains in place for many types of secondhand machines, especially medical and electronic devices as well as motorbikes and automotive components. The circular provides specific conditions for the import of secondhand machines. Used machines and equipment for agriculture and beverage as well as those for postal services must have been in use for less than three years and have quality 80% assured. Old machinery in the fields of geological and mining; shipbuilding, ship repair and infrastructure construction; and printing will be approved for importation if their quality is 80% assured and they have been in use for no more than seven, ten and 15 years respectively. Besides, customs procedures required for importers are also more stringent. In particular, importers have to submit all relevant dossiers proving such used machinery meet the criteria. For second-hand production lines, requirements are similar to those applied to old machinery and equipment. In addition, the importer is also required to show projects in need of such used production lines that have been approved by competent authorities. By imposing stringent regulations on secondhand machinery and equipment, authorities clarify their stance of encouraging enterprises to use brand-new machinery, equipment and production lines with advanced technology. According to experts, Vietnam has been facing the risk of becoming “the world’s industrial dumpsite” due to the rampant import of outdated machinery, equipment and production lines with low quality and harmful to the environment. Investors still upbeat about earnings results The local market beat the 600-point resistance level for the second time this month after two days of consolidation thanks to solid earnings reports from several oil and gas companies. GAS again led the rally by adding 1.11 points to the VN-Index, followed by VNM and PVD. Other affiliates of PetroVietnam such as PVB and PVS also made strong gains, helping push the main index up 4.56 points, or 0.76%, from the session earlier to close at 602.06. As more companies announced second-quarter earnings results, trading volume and value on the Hochiminh Stock Exchange jumped 34% and 37% to 87.8 million shares worth nearly VND1.5 trillion. FLC continued to be the volume leader with more than 22 million shares traded. The ticker rallied for three days in a row after being added to the VN30 basket. Foreigners’ net share acquisitions amounted to VND118.5 billion on the southern bourse, including VND67.2 billion worth of PAN shares through block deals. They also bought VND20.2 billion of PVD shares and VND10.4 billion of PET shares. The Hanoi market was almost flat with the HNX-Index inching up 0.07 point, or 0.09%, to close at 80.42. The bourse saw 44.4 million shares worth nearly VND619 billion changing hands, up 15.8% and 39% from the previous day respectively. Foreigners net bought VND6.5 billion, in which they took VND12.5 billion of PVS shares and VND4.1 billion of VCG shares. According to vietstock.vn, positive signs were clear as 18 out of 24 sectors gained ground Thursday. Both stock indexes and liquidity improved strongly after some correction in previous days. Investors showed interest in speculative stocks after having offloaded the tickers in recent days. The mining group took the lead with a 2.13% rise, followed by construction, real estate and securities. Therefore, the market is expected to maintain its rally in the last session of the week thanks to good earnings results of blue-chips. Concerning the macroeconomic outlook, Viet Capital Securities Company said inflation would remain low although July’s consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.23% month-on-month mainly due to the recent gasoline price hikes. Meanwhile, food and foodstuff remain fairly subdued with foodstuff falling for the fifth consecutive month. “We should see a gradual acceleration of prices in the second half as the peak season nears. But the year-to-date figure, which now sits at a 10-year low of 1.62%, give us little reason to change our inflation forecast of 5.5-6% for 2014,” it said. Vietnam enjoys higher rice export prices than rivals Vietnam is offering rice export prices higher than other countries such as Thailand, India and Pakistan. According to www.oryza.com, a website on the international rice market, Vietnamese rice prices are US$455 and US$405 per ton for 5% and 25% broken types respectively, US$10-25 per ton higher than those offered by other countries. Explaining the issue, Nguyen Dinh Bich, a local rice expert, said Vietnamese exporters need not compete with rivals such as Thailand and India. At the moment, the government of Thailand has yet to finish its rice inspection program, so the country could not speed up rice exports. Meanwhile, India has also scaled down rice sales given concerns over El Nino impacts. Many rice importing countries have plans to increase stocks, including the Philippines that should improve food reserves in the aftermath of Typhoon Ramasun. Therefore, Vietnamese rice exporters still have their advantages until August or September. After that, rice prices may fluctuate in line with weather conditions, Bich said. Nguyen Hung Linh, chairman of the Vietnam Food Association (VFA), said rice price hikes followed market demands. As Vietnam now has no much rice to sell, it is reasonable for enterprises to offer higher prices. Local firms have signed contracts to export around 5.3 million tons of rice. Whether enterprises will consider signing new contracts or not depends on rice output in the upcoming crop, Linh said. Earlier, VFA set up a rice export target at 6.2 million tons for 2014, a decline compared to the previous year, due to market difficulties and tougher competition. Though local enterprises have gained an edge recently, VFA still sticks to its goal, Linh said. In the year to July 17, Vietnam had exported 3.26 million tons of rice worth over US$1.4 billion. In the local market, paddy prices in the Mekong Delta have been hovering from VND5,550-5,650 per kilo and long-grain type from VND5,750-5,850 per kilo. The prices of unprocessed rice used to produce 5% broken rice range from VND7,150 to VND7,250 a kilo and those for 25% broken rice from VND6,900 to VND7,000. FOB prices of 5% broken rice are VND8,600-8,700 a kilo, 15% broken rice VND8,100-8,200, and 25% broken rice VND7,650-7,750. Transport firms bemoan tight checks for truck registration The tight checks on trucks at registration centers have posed more challenges for transport firms in recent months and many firms take more than one week to complete procedures due to the remodeled trunk of their vehicles. Nguyen Van Hung, director of Binh Duong Province-based U&I Logistics, complained many procedural changes require his firm to have more time when having its vehicles registered and this has made the firm lack trucks to transport goods for clients as requested. The owner of trucks should remove the extended truck parts of their trucks otherwise they will fail procedures at registration centers, according to another transport firm which operates more 20 trucks and semi-trailer trucks. As a result, instead of using ten trucks to transport 300 tons of goods, transport firms now have to use more trucks to carry the same volume. However, some transport firms said the registration process of new trucks is easy than that for the old ones, especially the remodeled vehicles. To avoid a host of difficulties at registration centers, transport firms have invested in new trucks and this is why the demand to buy vehicles is surging and the truck price is up. Dinh Nam Dinh, vice chairman of the HCMC Cargo Transport Association, said truck purchases are now not as easy and buyers will have to wait four to five months to take delivery of new vehicles. Roads in Vietnam can normally handle trucks of 12-13 tons or 25 tons maximum while a semi-trailer truck’s load amounts up to 37 tons. Therefore, the truck cannot easily cross a bridge if it is carrying goods. This month, the Ministry of Transport, the Directorate for Roads of Vietnam and Vietnam Registry will deploy more measures to tighten controls on vehicle loads and at the same time find ways to help transport firms out of their difficulties. Finance ministry mulls tariff rises on fertilizer imports The Ministry of Finance plans to double the duties on imported urea and DAP fertilizer products to 6% from the current 3% in an effort to support sales of locally-made products and ease difficulties of local enterprises. According to the Vietnam National Chemical Group (Vinachem), fertilizer inventory in the country surged to 685,000 tons in the first four months of this year. Of which, the volume of urea in stock soared a staggering 900% year-on-year to138,000 tons. Vinachem estimated domestic fertilizer and insecticide output in the January-April period was down 5.8% in volume and 10.6% in revenue. As the group attributed the increase in fertilizer inventory to rising imports, it called for the ministry to impose higher tariff rates of 7% on urea imports and 8% on DAP. However, the ministry plans to impose a single tariff rate of 6% on the urea and DAP fertilizer imports based on Vietnam’s commitment to the global trade club WTO. The ministry will announce its final decision after gathering comments from the ministries of trade, agriculture-rural development, and planning-investment, and the Vietnam Farmers Association. Le Thanh Tung from the Cultivation Department under the agriculture ministry, warned of the possibility of supply surpassing demand which is around 900,000 tons of DAP fertilizer per year. Therefore, he predicted the Ministry of Finance will hike the import tariffs. Pham Van Quynh, director of the Can Tho Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, told the Daily that the tariff rise plan is a needed policy at the moment as it will help promote consumption of locally-made products despite possible protest from enterprises. “I think that the enterprises heavily dependent on fertilizer imports would react against the policy but this policy will place a possible impact on the local fertilizer industry,” Quynh said. Quynh said the duty rise in fertilizer imports will result in higher prices of locally-produced fertilizer products and more pressure on farmers. However, farmers will be able to cut input costs by properly spreading fertilizer on their farms. Tung noted fertilizer trading firms would take advantage of the tariff increases to push their selling prices to earn more profits and this would hit farmers if this is translated into reality. Tung proposed administering agencies tighten controls on the prices of fertilizer products on the domestic market if higher import tariffs are applied. Le Minh Canh, a fertilizer trader in Tien Giang Province, said local producers and trading firms usually peg their selling prices to those imported from China. For instance, if a 50-kilogram bag of Chinese urea fertilizer is sold at VND390,000, the prices of domestic fertilizer products are adjusted to make them the same or a little bit higher. Therefore, Canh assumed the possibility of local fertilizer prices rising is high if the import tariffs are up. On January 1 this year, the Ministry of Finance adjusted up the tariff rates from 0% to 3% for imported urea and DAP. Statistics from the agriculture ministry showed Vietnam spent US$547 million importing 1.73 million tons of fertilizer in the first six months of this year, down 32.1% in value and 13.6% in volume compared to the same period last year. Foreign funds seek to invest in local tech firms Two foreign investment funds Monk’s Hill Ventures and Digital Media Partners will look for opportunities to pour their money into new Vietnamese technology firms taking part in Tech in Asia Arena, which kicked off in HCMC yesterday. The two funds are expected to invest approximately US$30 million in the five technology startups chosen to make presentations at the event. As scheduled, Monk’s Hill Ventures director Kou-Yi Lim and Digital Media Partners president Khor Chieh Suang will participate in Tech in Asia Arena. Tech in Asia Arena gives firms the opportunity to call for funds and learn how to expand their presence to Southeast Asia. The event also includes seminars for seasoned investors to share expectations from technology business startups and experiences for companies to expand their operations to the region and the world. Monk’s Hill Ventures intends to invest US$1-5 million and Digital Media Partners plans from US$500,000 to US$1 million in each of the firm they pick at the event in the initial time. Digital Media Partners will add US$3 million to every of its chosen firms when they expand. Prior to Monk’s Hill Ventures, Lim was former chief executive officer of Singapore’s Infocomm Investments, a US$200-million venture capital fund for cultivating promising technology startups at the seed and early stages. Suang used to work at the Economic Development Board of Singapore for a project to develop the island state into a hub for technology startups. Later, she moved to Infocomm Investments and Nusantara Ventures. Cooking oil giant raises $24m in IPO Viet Nam Vegetable Oils Industry Corporation (Vocarimex) raised more than VND500 billion (US$23.6 million) from its initial public offering yesterday with 37.9 million shares sold. This was a successful IPO of a State-owned enterprise (SOE) after a large number of shares of many SOEs had failed to attract buyers at their IPOs recently. Vocarimex fetched between VND13,000 (US$0.61) and VND30,000 ($1.4) a share, averaging VND13,428 ($0.63) a share, which was 19 per cent higher than its initial price, by 42 individual and five institutional investors. Notably, investors registered to buy up to 84.4 million shares, 2.2 times higher than the offer volume. After the IPO, Vocarimex's charter capital would be at VND1.218 trillion ($57.4 million) with the State holdings of 36 per cent. The company also planned to sell 39 million shares, accounting for 32 per cent of its charter capital, to two strategic partners which were Kinh Do Corporation (24 per cent) and VPBank Securities (8 per cent). Vocarimex currently dominates the Viet Nam's cooking oil market with holdings in leading cooking oil companies, including Tuong An, Tan Binh and Cai Lan vegetable oil companies, which all together account for 85 per cent of the local market, according to Vietcombank Securities. FPT reports lower than expected revenue due to domestic difficulties Financing and Promoting Technology Corporation (FPT) has reported its business results for the first six months of the year. FPT reported a total profit of VND1.2 trillion ($56.338 million) before tax and VND1.04 trillion ($48.826 million) after tax, a decrease of two per cent compared to the same period last year. The company's total revenue was VND15.2 trillion ($713.615 million), an increase of two per cent and equal to 107 per cent of the six month target. Revenue from overseas markets rose 26 per cent to VND1.4 trillion ($69 million). The figures were less than expected due to negative effects in the domestic market, said the corporation. FPT has also completed its acquisition of RWE IT Slovakia, and is targetting a revenue of $80 million from Europe in the next five years. Campaign to support Taiwanese businesses in Viet Nam launched Taiwan Excellence – an international campaign co-ordinated by the Department of Foreign Trade and the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) – opened in Viet Nam on Thursday. The campaign was launched to support Taiwanese businesses to promote their brands and products in Viet Nam, and contribute to the development of the traditional relationship between Viet Nam and Taiwan. The 5th Taiwan Excellence campaign features 45 brands from various fields, including interactive activities. Viet Nam, Czechs move to boost ties Viet Nam and the Czech Republic have agreed to enhance the operation of their intergovernmental economic co-operation committee. They have also agreed to encourage firms to invest in an effort to boost two-way trade. The agreement was reached in Prague on Thursday at meetings between Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh and senior Czech officials, including Deputy PM Pavel Belobradek, Foreign Minister Lubomir Zaoralek, and Minister of Industry and Trade Jan Mladek. Minh suggested that the Czech side increase imports of rice, rubber, coffee and seafood. The Czechs offered to consider Viet Nam's bid to run for a seat in the UN Economic and Social Council for 2016-18 and the UN Security Council for 2020-21. They are also committed to an early conclusion of an EU-Viet Nam free-trade agreement. The hosts said Viet Nam had been a crucial factor in developing peace, stability and development in the region , adding that they considered Viet Nam an important partner in Southeast Asia. Regarding the East Sea issue, Zaoralek said the Czech Republic backed the settlement of all disputes by peaceful measures in accordance with international law, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. Minh thanked the Czech government for its recognition of the Vietnamese community there as the country's 14th ethnic minority group. Both sides said they hoped President Truong Tan Sang would pay an official visit to the European nation when appropriate. State Audit highlights public debt State Audit of Viet Nam (SAV) plans to hold an audit on public debt next year. SAV announced the plan yesterday as it released the national financial audit for the 2012 fiscal year. It examined records from 16 ministries and central agencies, 34 major cities and provinces, 32 State-owned enterprises and credit institutions. SAV reported that State budget collection in 2012 was more than VND1,058 trillion (US$50 billion), 1.9 per cent higher than planned. State budget spending was more than VND1,170 trillion ($55 billion ), 8.3 per cent higher than planned. The overspending accounted for 4.75 per cent of gross domestic production, 0.05 per cent lower than the rate approved by the National Assembly. Public debt in 2012 was more than VND1,642 trillion ($77.4 billion), accounting for 55.7 per cent of GDP, while the public debt in 2011 accounted for 54.9 per cent of GDP. Head of SAV's General Affairs Department Dao Van Dung said State-owned enterprises incorrectly reported revenues and taxable costs, thus paid less value-added tax and corporate tax. They were required to pay an extra VND3 trillion ($141.4 million ) to the State budget. By the end of 2012, 15 ministries, central and local agencies had debts of more than VND1 trillion ($47.1 million) each. Many localities reported the start of a large number of projects in 2012, but many projects proceeded slowly. After audits conducted in 2011, the SAV said violators should pay fines worth more than VND14.5 trillion ($683.5 million), but during 2012, just 65 per cent of this was collected. Last year, SAV audited State Bank of Viet Nam, Viet Nam Development bank and three commercial banks. Vietinbank, Vietcombank and Agribank claimed profits with 2012 pre-tax revenues of more than VND8 trillion, VND5.7 trillion and VND2.8 trillion respectively. Dung noted that the bad-debt rate of banks was high. By the end of 2012, bad debts accounted for 4.08 per cent of total loans, according to reports from 125 local credit institutions. The ratio increased to 4.46 per cent until June, 2013. BIDV, Vietravel to offer joint finance, travel products The Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam (BIDV) has signed a co-operation deal with tour operator Vietravel to offer finance and banking packages, travel insurance and a co-branded MasterCard. BIDV has committed in the agreement to offer Vietravel customers with financial evidence and promotional services. BIDV Insurance Corporation (BIC), a unit of BIDV, will provide customers with its international travel insurance in partnership with the International Assistance Company (SOS). Mobile app creation contest kicks off Vietnamese individuals and organisations, inside and outside the country, have been invited to take part in a contest on developing applications for mobile devices. The Viet Nam Internet Association and Microsoft Corporation in co-operation with TingWorld, a Vietnamese mobile application company, and Xa Hoi Thong Tin (Information Society) magazine have organised the contest, aimed at boosting the development of the Vietnamese mobile market. In a category for completed products, the board of judges will award VND50 million (nearly US$2,400) for the first prize, VND20 million ($950) for the second and VND10 million (nearly $480) for the third. Meanwhile, the board will give VND15 million ($700), VND10 million and VND5 million ($240) for the top three outstanding ideas, respectively. Organisers and sponsors will also present awards for exceptional products. Microsoft will give an award worth VND20 million for an app with creative solutions to solve issue in cities of Viet Nam. Mobogenie, an Android synchronisation software and applications developer, will grant VND20 million for the most downloaded app at the Mobogenie market. The same amount will also be given to the best ideas or products for the community by TingWorld company. The awards ceremony will be held in HCM City in the beginning of December. Participants are required to submit their complete products or ideas from August 1 to September 30 to Xa Hoi Thong Tin magazine, 10 Ha Hoi Street in Ha Noi. Source: VEF/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/Dantri/VIR |
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Behind the vague cow-tongue line established by After the  General Daniel Schaeffer, former French military attaché to Gen. Daniel Schaeffer said that before 2009, the Chinese government had never officially referred to the cow tongue line as the impregnable boundary of Chinese sovereignty in the They had always maintained the symbol of this line, from 11 to 9, and then 10 dashes, causing confusion over In 2009, in a note sent to the UN Secretary General, Back in 1909, the governor of The French learned a serious lesson from the vague behavior of The vertical map published by the Like the previous maps with the 11 and 9 dashes, the new map uses simplified Chinese and Latin, not ancient scripts. Gen. Daniel Schaeffer pointed out The French general who lived in Ton Van, a Chinese scholar at the Stimson Institute (US), has repeatedly announced to the world the absurdity of the cow tongue. She said: "Despite the lack of legal grounds, " According to Ton Van, the popular view of  A map ridicules the cow tongue in a Filipino newspaper by showing Also in Diplomatie, Daniel Schaeffer said that there are two "schools" of the U-shaped line in The first “School" is the progressive tendency in According to the French expert Daniel Schaeffer, Prof. Lihai has significantly contributed to the trend of denying Prof. Luc Tien of the In the article, the author concluded that the dispute in the In the South China Morning dated June 26, 2014, Prof. Ly Vinh Long, from the He said that although the Chinese government is determined to pursue the cow tongue, in the end the myth cannot last to force The Wall Street Journal quoted global military affairs commentator Wu Ge on his verified Weibo account: “If the |
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Social News 29/7 Khanh Hoa suffers factory pollution Residents in the central coastal Reports from the Khanh Hoa Department of Environment and Natural Resources pointed out that 246 private factories, responsible for the pollution, manufacture bricks, seafood, fish sauce, and other items and are located in built-up areas across the province. Also, the municipal Department of Industry and Trade has conducted random environmental inspections at some 29 manufacturers in the province. The results of these inspections revealed that the permitted noise and dust pollution levels were exceeded by amounts up to twice the permitted levels of pollution. Noise and dust pollution were mostly found in rice milling, textiles, charcoal factories and traditional brickyards in the province. "Fumes, dust and noise pollution coming from brickyards disturb our daily lives. Many residents have contracted respiratory infections and skin allergies," complained a Phuoc Lam village resident, Nguyen Tinh. Some 50 to 60 private slaughterhouses, located in built-up areas in Nha Trang city, failed to meet safety standards, with coliform bacillus levels reaching some 4800x106 times higher than the permitted levels. Further, the BOD (biochemical oxygen demand) level in the slaughterhouses exceeded the permitted level by 13,1 times. Despite being installed with a wastewater treatment system, dozens of seafood and fish sauce factories in Nha Trang and Cam Ranh cities continue to be the sources of serious environmental pollution to neighbouring areas. Officials note that the wastewater pollution level in Dai Cat Co., Ltd was found to exceed the permitted level by up to 2.2 million times. Khanh Hoa People's Committee has submitted a report to the municipal People's Assembly on the relocation of private manufacturers that release pollution to the province's industrial zones. But the plan was not approved due to obstacles in procedures and a shortage of funds. The People's Committee has also called upon those brickyards causing pollution in Dien Khanh, Cam Lam and Van Ninh districts, and Ninh Hoa town, including Ninh Phung and Ninh Xuan communes, to shut down in June. No sign of the close-down till now. However, Ninh Xuan Commune People's Committee Vice President Vo Huong said about one thousand workers would become unemployed if all traditional brickyards in the commune were shut down. He added that an upgrading of technology at the brickyards to manage the pollution would cost a very large amount of money, and "less than 15 per cent of the brickyards can afford to upgrade their technology ". "The province administration has to offer support in career changes for the residents when the brickyards are shut down and help them resettle as soon as possible", noted Huong. Project helps Tra Vinh adapt to climate change Authorities in the Mekong Delta Funding includes VND233.5 billion in loans from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), VND126.5 billion in non-refundable aid, VND79.5 billion from the Government and VND81.5 billion contributed by local people. The project aims to develop sustainable livelihoods for disadvantaged people living in rural areas who are most venerable to climate change and natural disasters. From 2014 to 2020, it will be implemented in 30 communes across Tra Vinh's seven districts to build climate change adaptation facilities, socio-economic development plans, agricultural production models and small-scale financial funds to provide capital to the poor. The project is expected to benefit 15,000 low-income households. Harmful industrial waste trade poses threat Hazardous industrial waste must be destroyed and has been banned from being sold for fear of heath risks and environmental pollution. Hazardous waste, however is still being sold in the southern Hazardous industrial waste trading centres can be found on some streets, such as Nguyen Ai Quoc, Bui Van Hoa and along Popular waste being sold includes plastic cans and containers that once contained chemical substances from companies and factories. These containers have a capacity of between 10-1,000 litres and are often sold to local consumers, who later use the containers to store water for daily use or agricultural production. Under current regulations, these containers must be collected and treated by authorised agencies with proper treatment technologies to ensure they will not spread harmful chemicals after treatment. However, the owner of a shop selling these containers on According to a representative from the provincial Department of Natural Resources and Environment, hazardous industrial waste, including different types of packing or wrapping, could cause health risks for consumers, such as cancer, gene mutation or affecting the users' reproductive health. The department regularly warns local residents not to purchase or use any types of hazardous industrial waste to store water or food. Further, the department's deputy director, Nguyen Ngoc Thuong, said the provincial People's Committee has urged authorities in the districts of Long Thanh, Nhon Trach, Trang Bom and The department would also increase inspections and tighten controls over industrial factories, waste collectors and transporters to prevent the spread of hazardous industrial waste, he said. Quang An early flash flood warning system using Machine to Machine (M2M) and cloud computing technology will be set up in the central province of Quang Nam as part of efforts to help local people effectively respond to natural disasters. The project will be carried out by the Post and Telecommunications Institute of Technology and the provincial Department of Information and Communications under the assistance of experts from The system, comprising of three water speed and flow sensors and a solar energy server, will be placed in the Nuoc Ui River in the mountainous Nam Tra My District, which usually suffers from flash floods and landslides in the rainy season. A hydro-meteorological station will be also built in the upstream area of the river to aid the system's flood forecasting capacity. Factory dumps waste in marsh Authorities in Thuy Nguyen District in the northern port city of Residents in Phuc Le Commune reported to Lao dong (Labour) newspaper that the Hai Phong Thermo-electric Joint-stock Company discharged its waste into the marsh in Phuc Le, Pha Le and Lap Le communes. On Wednesday, a reporter at the scene saw the company's waste-water reservoir leaking into the marsh through cinder bags. Later, the bags were removed and waste water from the reservoir poured into the marsh. The reporter phoned local authorities to come and catch the culprits red-handed. Pham Quang Thuy, head of the Phuc Le Commune Police, said that several months ago, the company signed a contract with the police to protect the marsh area for VND3.5 million (US$160) a month. Thuy, who once worked at the company, was told by workers not to eat fish in the marsh because it was poisoned. A year ago the company lowered the bank of the reservoir by 60 centimetres, and then put cinder bags on the bank to prevent water from overflowing. Cao Xuan Nhuong, deputy head of the company's Technology Division, claimed he did not know that water from the reservoir had overflowed into the marsh. Chairman of the Thuy Nguyen District People's Committee Nguyen Tran Lanh said that the district would wait for tests results on the water before deciding on what punishment to give the company. Lao Cai works hard to evacuate locals from dangerous areas Authorities of the northern mountainous The districts of Bac Ha, Bat Xat, Bao Yen and According to the provincial Steering Committee for Flood Prevention and Control, Lao Cai has so far fulfilled only 57 percent of its evacuation plan, while the disbursement for building resettlement facilities is also tardy, reaching about 50 percent from the arranged budget. Meanwhile, the northwestern region officially entered into the rainy season, worrying local households, especially those living in disaster-stricken areas. The provincial People’s Committee has asked district-level authorities to hasten the evacuation, so as to ensure safety for its locals in any case. Lao Cai is one of the provinces hardest hit by natural disasters during the rainy season. In 2008, a village in the province was swept away by landslides. Last year, flash floods and landslides caused by heavy downpours in Sa Pa’s Ban Khoang commune claimed tens lives and caused losses worth hundreds of billions of Vietnamese dong.- 157 medicine cabinets offered to Ha Tinh fisheries trade union Minister of Public Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien on July 27 presented 157 cabinets of medicines to the Fisheries Trade Union of Cam Nhuong commune, the central The cabinets contain various kinds of common medicines and medical tools, which will come in handy in case fishermen fail to visit any medical station. The event is part of a programme launched by the ministry on May 31 in an effort to improve medical care for fishermen, Tien said at the offering ceremony. On the occasion of the 67th anniversary of War Invalids and Martyrs’ Day (July 27), Tien also visited and presented gifts to three local war invalids before paying tribute to the late Party leaders Ha Huy Tap and Le Duan at Ke Go tourist site and Dong Loc historical relic site. New 500kV transmission line launched in northern region The National Power Transmission Corporation (EVN NPT) made a successfully test run of the Quang Ninh-Hiep Hoa 500kV transmission line on late July 26. The 139-km transmission line, which runs through three northern provinces of Quang Ninh, Hai Duong and Bac Giang, was built with a total investment of over 2.2 trillion VND (approximately 107 million USD) funded by World Bank loans and domestic counterpart capital. The line will ensure the transmission of electricity from the Quang Ninh-Mong Duong thermal power complex to the national grid, meeting the rising demand for power in the northern region as well as in the country as a whole. According to the EVN NPT, the power transmission system will be able to meet the economy’s demand for an annual amount of 145-150 billion kWh in 2015, and 265-275 billion kWh by 2020. The corporation will maintain and extend the 220-500 kV transmission system connected with Design contest launched for Gac Ma memorial park A contest was launched in The contest is co-organised by the The park will be constructed in Addressing the contest launching ceremony, VGCL President Dang Ngoc Tung said the best design must demonstrate the brave sacrifice and the unyielding spirit of the Gac Ma heroes. The contest is open to all domestic organisations and individuals including overseas Vietnamese. Contestants should register by August 25, while entries should be sent between August 1 and October 31 this year. The result will be announced in early November. Over 4.8 billion USD used for transport projects in Mekong Delta Fifty-three transport projects have been carried out in the Mekong Delta region since 2010 with a combined investment of over 103 trillion VND (4.84 billion USD), accounting for 22 percent of the country’s total investment for the sector. According to the Transport Ministry, 32 projects worth 37.8 trillion VND (1.77 billion USD) will be completed by the end of 2015. Several key projects using ODA capital include the development of transport infrastructure in the Mekong Delta, and construction of southern coastal roads and Vam Cong and Cao Lanh bridges. The ministry mobilised investment capital from the society. It called on a total investment of 7.1 trillion VND (333.7 million USD) from businesses to implement five projects under the BOT (build-operate-transfer) model. In the 2015-2020 period, the region needs around 87 trillion VND (4.08 billion USD) for its transport infrastructure projects. Son La works to support locals with housing The Northwestern mountainous Of the total, over 3,500 new houses will be built, while 6,000 others are to be upgraded, following the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 22/2013 QD/TTg approving the plan for 2014. Currently, work has been commenced on the construction of 1,057 houses at a cost of 43 billion VND (2.04 million USD) from the central budget, accounting for about 30 percent of the target. According to the provincial People’s Committee, local authorities have kept a close watch on the work to ensure the quality of the houses, whose floor space is from 30 square metres each. The province has also drafted a 2015 plan that will support 8,000 families having contributors to the national revolution with about 219 billion VND (10.4 million USD). Son La has implemented a housing programme since 2008 to benefit as many as 20,000 poor local households from ethnic minority groups with a total investment of 392 billion VND (18.6 million USD). The southern Tay Ninh shares a border line of 240 kilometres with Since the beginning of 2014, the provincial Border Guard Command has launched operations against drug smugglers, while strengthening the capacity of border guard and police forces. The local border guard has coordinated with other local forces and the Cambodian side in sharing information and experience and boosting communication campaigns in order to effectively prevent the crime. So far this year, local authorised forces have uncovered 67 drug cases involving 236 suspects, collecting 9.8 kg of heroin and nearly 16 grammes of synthetic drugs. Suspension bridge project to aid 28 mountainous localities The Ministry of Transport is striving to complete the construction of 186 suspension bridges in 28 mountainous provinces in the northern, central and Central Highlands regions as early as in the second quarter of 2015. As part of the project, four bridges are being constructed in the Outlined by the ministry, the scheme aims to help improve living conditions for inhabitants in mountainous and remote areas of the country and mitigate the risks of traffic accidents, especially during the flood season. The plan is also to deal with the fact that 40 percent of all the suspension bridges across the country are in need of urgent repairs or reconstruction, according to the ministry. Figures from the ministry indicate that there are about 1,950 suspension bridges in Nearly 4 million USD for mine clearance in Quang Binh The Mines Advisory Group (MAG), an international humanitarian organisation operating in mine clearance, will spend 3.9 million USD clearing unexploded ordnance (UXOs) in central Quang Binh province from January 2015 to December 2015. It was said in a memorandum of understanding on the implementation of the fifth phase of MAG’s project on detecting and clearing UXOs signed recently by representatives from the provincial People’s Committee and the group. The project aims to minimise the risk of casualties caused by bombs and mines left over from wars, and provide support for war-affected people in the locality, which was hard hit by bombings during wartime. MAG is a non-governmental organisation working actively to ensure safety for production and people living in localities plagued by UXOs in Under the project implemented in Quang Binh from 2002, MAG has cleared nearly 1.9 million sq.m of land and defused about 86,000 devices, benefiting more than 1.4 million locals. The consequences of war-era leftover UXOs still exist visibly nationwide, especially in the northern According to preliminary statistics, since 1975, mines and UXOs have claimed more than 40,000 lives and left about 60,000 injured, mostly rural people and children. The volume of mines and UXOs left by the war is now estimated at 800,000 tonnes, contaminating over 20 percent of the country’s land.- Khanh Hoa to build hospital in Truong Sa island district The central coastal Between 2016-2020, it will allocate an additional 25 billion VND (1.18 million USD) for developing Telemedicine models applying information-communication technology connecting mainland military hospital 87 and offshore Truong Sa hospital. Training courses will be also organised for medical staff working on cargo ships and oceangoing vessels to satisfy international medical regulations. The 115 emergency centre’s capacity will be also strengthened to be able to deliver emergency services and transport patients at sea. Khanh Hoa is home to 48 communes, wards and towns lying next to the sea. The Truong Sa island district consists of Truong Sa township and the communes of Sinh Ton and Song Tu Tay.- “City for peace” title gives Director of the Thang Long culture research institute Nguyen Viet Chuc made the remarks at a workshop on July 24 to review the capital’s achievements after 15 years of integration and development as well as mark the recognition and International Day of Peace (September 21). The city’s economy expanded by 7.4 percent in the period, driven by a 14.4 percent growth in exports. Inflows of foreign direct investment hit 583 million USD, up over 30 percent year-on-year. Recently, the city spent over 17.1 trillion VND (around 1.1 billion USD) building new-style rural areas, which covers building infrastructure and public works, protecting landscape and environment, and promoting local traditions and cultural identities. As a safe and attractive destination with many historical relics, The City for Peace recognition is not only the honour but also a challenge for the capital to promote these achievements and ease pressures from rapid urbanisation and environmental pollution, participants said. In 1999, Dau Tieng water safe for use Saigon Water Corporation (Sawaco) has reported water from The report was made following a study conducted with assistance from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Based on research findings, in the 2015 – 2020 period, Sawaco plans to construct a water pipeline to bring water from Thach told the Daily on the sidelines of a seminar on the water sector development taking place in HCMC yesterday. Previously, local media cited a report of the However, talking to the Daily, Thach affirmed: “In JICA’s research, the samples from Dau Tieng and Tri An lakes were collected two times and brought to Currently, Sawaco is treating crude water from the Under the water supply planning until 2025 approved by the Prime Minister in 2012, HCMC will use crude water sources from Tri An, Dau Tieng and Phuoc Hoa reservoirs as a backup in case Dong Nai and Saigon rivers suffer severe saltwater intrusion and worsening pollution. Most of the city’s existing water treatment plants such as Thu Duc, Thu Duc BOO, Binh An, and Tan Hiep 1 treat water pumped from the Dong Nai and Saigon rivers. In the near future, the city will build Thu Duc 3, Thu Duc 4, Tan Hiep 2, Tan Hiep 3 and other plants; these plants will tap 2.5 million cubic meters from Tri An Lake and one million cubic meters from Dau Tieng and Phuoc Hoa lakes every day. Special schools helping children with autism Public indignation grows after a three minute video clip about the nursemaids’ wicked acts to autistic students was released. The video clip showed the illegal private school's staff of the “Anh Vuong Special Primary School” in Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Binh District torturing and beating its autistic students including beating autistic students with wooden piece and clothes-hangers. Many people wondered why an illegal school have been operating over five years? After that, the city’s Department of Education and Training ordered to end the school's operation. 27 students at the The parents said that they don’t know where to send their kids. A mother complained she had searched many schools but there is as little as choice for autistic children. According to the Department of Education and Training, the city has 25 facilities for autistic children where receive more than 27,000 disabled children nationwide. Worse, some of schools are in poor repair without playing yards and special rooms for physical therapy treatment resulting in poor teaching and learning quality. A teacher of a special school in Phu Nhuan District said that in fact autistic children should study in normal schools to help them to integrate into other children. However, in reality, most primary schools refuse to get autistic students. Consequently, special schools for autistic children are overloaded. Le Thai Minh Hau, principal of Tran Quoc Toan Primary School in District 5, the only school welcome autistic students, said that he is determined to receive special students despite of outcry of parents. The project to help disabled people approved by the Prime Minister on August 5, 2012 pointed out that for the first phase, at least 60 percent of disabled children must access to education. It seemed that the project’s target is difficult to finish. Education authority should act quickly to bring unlucky children to education and integration opportunity. Students in culture universities receive exempted tuition fee The Prime Minister decided to give incentive to students who study traditional arts in universities and colleges with programs in cultural studies and related programs. Accordingly, in the academic year 2014-2015, university and college students following traditional studies and related program in state-run or private facilities will receive tuition fee exemption as well as bonus. Cultural studies include bandsman for tradition drama, instrumentalist for Students studying cultural studies or related programs in state-run facilities are going to receive 70 percent exemption of tuition fee while their counterparts in private schools will receive exemption which does not exceed the regulated level set by the government. In addition, students in these culture public schools will receive job incentive of 40 percent of scholarships per month and so do their peers in private schools. Foot-and-mouth disease strikes livestock in central Duc Tho District of the central Foot-mouth disease has affected multi domestic animals of four houses in An investigation showed that a cow in a herd of cattle of Bui Xuan Tiep in the village had felt in illness six days after being bought from the Local authority disinfected the environment in farms and issued warning that this is infected foot-and-mouth disease. Health watchdog acted quickly to vaccinate to more than 300 cows in the locality. Control stations were set up to forbid the sale, transportation and slaughter of diseased animals to other areas. Food poisoning alert in flood season The Food Administration of Vietnam under the Ministry of Health July 24 ordered its sub-departments to implement actions to ensure food safety before, in and after the flood during the rainy season. The food administration said that before the flood season, the departments of health nationwide should raise people’s awareness of food safety to prevent poisoning and food-borne diseases. Locals in vulnerable districts should pay attention to this year-period. Local authorities in the flood prone regions should urge residents to stock up on food, processed and non-perishable food, bottled water, medications, disinfectants and other essential items now in readiness for the oncoming wet season. People should add vitamins in their meals willingly. Earlier, health clinics were also urged to stock chemicals, equipment and personnel for preparedness to treat food poisoning or food-borne illness. Health watchdogs have intensified inspection and issued fine to businesses and companies, whose take advantaged of food shortage to release unsafe food in markets. Health watchdogs should guide people to conduct environment sanitation including clean and safe water supply, efficient and safe animal, human, and industrial waste disposal, protection of food from biological and chemical contaminants, and adequate housing in clean and safe surrounding after the flood. Ecopark to house new Work will officially start on a new British University Vietnam (BUV) multi-million main campus in The new university has an estimated total cost of US$60 million and construction will be divided into 3 phases, of which the US$12 million first phase is scheduled for completion by the end of 2014. The new BUV campus will be the first international university in the Once completed, annual student enrolment is expected to approximate 7,000 with an academic curriculum in finance-banking, international business administration, marketing management, and others, accredited by the Earlier, BUV held its Open Day 2014 on the university campus at The annual event provided parents and students with information on the It also covered recruitment criteria, tuition and fees, and explanation of scholarship programmes. Established in 2009, BUV is a successful educational cooperation model between Source: VNN/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/ND |
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Vietnam win two golds at int’l chemistry Olympiad Pham Mai Phuong is among the top three performers at the event (Source: VNA) Vietnamese students won two golds and two silvers at the 46th International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO) that closed in Two golds went to Pham Ngan Giang and Pham Mai Phuong both from Doan Quoc Hoai The competition has selected winners of 28 golds, 63 silvers, 92 bronzes and 10 consolation prizes. The prizes will be presented at a ceremony on July 29. In a recent interview granted to Vietnam News Agency, Rector of the According to Noi, Chairman of the IChO Central Committee Peter Wothers also paid Vietnam a compliment, saying that it is one of the most successful and professional competitions. The University of Natural Sciences and the Hanoi National University of Education was assigned to co-host the event for the first time, with 291 students from 75 countries and territories worldwide taking part. Earlier, The International Biology Olympiad is due to take place in the country in 2016.-VNA |
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VN asked to stabilize exchange rate to minimize risks of public/private projects  Hiroshi Wantanabe, general director of JBIC, the He said while the In principle, investors will consider the exchange rate fluctuation risks when calculating the prices of the products. However, with PPP mechanism, the risks should be allocated to the parties which can handle the problems in a best way. Therefore, he said, Wantanabe from JBIC also said that foreign investors want the State Bank of If policies change regularly without predictions in advance, investors find it difficult to calculate expected profits and figure out the measures to apply when necessary. The current strict regulations on foreign currency conversion have also caused foreign private investors to hesitate to implement projects in When developing thermal power projects in This means that investors will have to convert VND into foreign currencies to transfer profits abroad and pay bank debts. Meanwhile, they face many difficulties in converting dong into other currencies due to current strict regulations. This is the reason why foreign institutions have been insisting that the government of Le Van Tang, Head of the Bidding Management Agency, said the responsibility of the government of However, Tang said “We have referred to international laws and consulted with experts and found that no one can ensure the exchange rate would not fluctuate after 40 years, and that it is the job of investors to consider risks before making investment decisions,” Tang said. An expert who asked to remain anonymous also commented that no government in the world can commit to keep the exchange rate unchanged for many years. He said it would be better for investors to count on the exchange rate risks when calculating the contracts’ value. VNE |
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