President Tran Dai Quang welcomed in Cambodia An official welcome ceremony was held in Phnom Penh on June 15 for President Tran Dai Quang who is on a two-day State visit to Cambodia at the invitation of King Norodom Sihamoni.  The ceremony was followed by a meeting between the Vietnamese State leader and the King. The same day, the President and his spouse laid wreaths at the Independence Monument, the statue of the late Cambodian King Norodom Sihanouk and the monument dedicated to Vietnamese volunteer soldiers who laid down their lives in the country. He is scheduled to meet with Senate President Samdech Say Chhum, President of the National Assembly Samdech Heng Samrim and Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen on the day. President Tran Dai Quang’s State visit aims to affirm the importance Vietnam attaches to the friendship and comprehensive cooperation with Cambodia as well as the country’s wish to continue working together with the neighbour to consolidate and further develop the bilateral relationship in line with the motto of “good neighbourliness, traditional friendship, comprehensive, sustainable and long-term cooperation” for the sake of their people and for peace, stability, cooperation and development. Vietnam has been Cambodia’s third largest trade partner with two-way trade reaching US$3.37 billion in 2015 and US$944.6 million in the first quarter of this year. The two countries are striving for US$5 billion in bilateral trade in the coming time. Cambodia is Vietnam’s 16th largest export market with steel, fertilizer, garments, equipment and machinery, plastics making up a major proportion. Vietnamese investments have been present at 16 out of 25 Cambodian cities and provinces. By May 2016, Vietnam ranked fifth among 50 countries and territories investing in Cambodia with 172 projects, mostly in agro-forestry, energy, finance-banking-insurance, post and telecommunications, healthcare and construction, among others. VNA |
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Pilot still missing after Vietnam's Russian-made fighter jet loses contact  The Russian-made fighter jets Su-30MK2 of the Vietnam People’s Air Force. One pilot has been brought to safety while another remains missing after a Russian-made fighter jet of the Vietnam People’s Air Force went off radar during a training session on Tuesday morning. Nguyen Huu Cuong, 39, who was one of the two pilots operating the aircraft Su-30MK2, has been rescued by a local fishing boat, Senior Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Cong Luc, deputy chief of the Nghe An Border Guard, confirmed to Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Wednesday morning. Cuong was found at a location 28 nautical miles northeast of where the Russian-made warplane first disappeared, according to Luc. The pilot was discovered in a stable health condition and will be transferred to a rescue craft to be brought ashore. Search and rescue teams are now exerting all efforts to look for Cuong’s co-pilot, 43-year-old Tran Quang Khai. Tuoi Tre has made contact with the fishing ship of Phan Van Le, who saved Cuong, and had a brief talk with the pilot. He said that he and his partner both managed to eject before the plane went down.  The fighter jet Su-30MK2’s flight path is marked yellow on the map. Photo: Tuoi Tre Senior Lieutenant Colonel Khai and Major Cuong were steering the Su-30MK2 during an exercise above the sea area off the north-central province of Nghe An when they lost contact with their operators at around 7:30 am. The fighter jet departed the Sao Vang airfield in nearby Thanh Hoa Province at around 6:30 am the same day. Le Van Cuong, a fisherman from Thanh Hoa, reported that he saw a plane crashing at a location about four to six nautical miles northeast of Mat Islet off Nghe An while he was operating in the area. Following the incident, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc issued a document ordering the Ministry of National Defense and authorities in Nghe An and Thanh Hoa to carry out an emergency search mission. The Vietnam People’s Air Force dispatched four rescue aircraft and dozens of vessels to potential areas to search for the two pilots. The Nghe An Border Guard, upon being informed of the situation, sent three ships carrying 35 officers to look for the victims, urging local authorities as well as fishing boats operating near the maritime area where the jet lost contact to assist the search and rescue efforts.  A vessel carries supplies for the search and rescue teams. Photo: Tuoi Tre The Ministry of National Defense, in coordination with the provincial People’s Committee, established a command center on Mat Islet to supervise the mission. The 1st Regional Command of the Vietnam People’s Navy also sent a vessel to transport food and water to the rescue teams, along with five experts and a black-box detector. According to Nguyen Sy Hung, deputy chief of the Nghe An search and rescue committee, a total of 15 ships of officers and local fishermen were searching the seaway where an oil slick was spotted. TUOI TRE NEWS |
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Promotion of former Minister’s son questioned The Vietnam Association of Financial Investors (VAFI) on June 13 sent a list of questions to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), including one about the appointment of former Minister Vu Huy Hoang’s son to key positions at some big State-owned firms.  Vu Quang Hai. VAFI also sent the document to the Central Inspection Commission, Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue, the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government Inspectorate and tens of central agencies. Hoang’s son - Vu Quang Hai - was appointed as a member of the Board of Directors cum the Vice Chief Executive Officer of the Saigon Beverage Corporation (Sabeco) in early 2015, at the age of 28. Thus, Hai is the representative of the State’s VND12 trillion in Sabeco. Hai took office at Sabeco while his father Vu Huy Hoang was serving as Minister of Industry and Trade. Earlier, in 2011, he was appointed as the CEO of the PetroVietnam Finance Investment JSC (PVFI), at the age of 25. In 2011-2012, under Hai’s management, PVFI made losses of up to VND220 billion ($10 million) out of its total chartered capital of VND300 billion ($13.5 million). Despite the huge losses, a year after the losses was reported, he was moved to the MoIT’s Vietnam Trade Promotion. At this time, according to VAFI, PVFI was almost paralyzed while, whether it is a public company, all information about PVFI was hidden. After only about one year working at the Trade Promotion Department as deputy director of the Center for Export Support, Hai was promoted to the Vice CEO at the giant firm Sabeco. According to VAFI, Hai couldn’t be appointed as Vice CEO of Sabeco as he was legally liable for the massive losses accumulated during his time at PVFI. "The public is wondering why Vu Quang Hai was too young, with no experience in the financial sector, was assigned such a great responsibility? People explained that because Vu Quang Hai is the son of Mr. Vu Huy Hoang, but the appointment is entirely contrary to the provisions of the state", VAFI wrote. "Vu Quang Hai served as a public servant for merely a year, did not know anything about policy making and was still under penalty (according to current regulations, the CEO of the firms making losses in two consecutive years is dismissed) but he was promoted. This is a completely wrong decision that is contrary to government regulations," VAFI wrote. For the equitisation of MoIT’s subsidiaries, VAFI raised doubts that why to date the Ministry has not yet transferred the Hanoi Beverage Corporation (Habeco) and Sabeco to the State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC) as regulated although these firms have been equitised for nearly eight years. “Would this be because if former Minister of Industry and Trade Hoang had handed Sabeco to the SCIC, his son would have had no chance of becoming Sabeco’s leader?” VAFI questioned. "If Minister Vu Huy Hoang transferred to Sabeco to SCIC in accordance with the regulations, the appointment of Mr. Hoang’s son and secretary to the most powerful positions in Sabeco would have not happened," VAFI wrote. According to Article 100 of the Enterprise Law, if a ministry is the representative of a State stake in an enterprise, the minister is banned from appointing his wife, parents, children or siblings as director or general director of this enterprise. In addition to questioning the former Minister of Industry and Trade, VAFI also questioned the role of the official who was assigned to manage Habeco and Sabeco - Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Ho Thi Kim Thoa – in signing the decision to appoint Hai to the key positions at Sabeco. Finally, VAFI proposed that Hai and those who made the decision on the appointment shall be liable to pay damages to shareholders of PVFI. Sabeco’s after-tax profit in 2015 has been reported at nearly $153 million, a 25.5 per cent increase against 2014. Its 2015 full-year turnover increased 2 per cent to $361 million, according to the company’s consolidated financial report. Sales rose 2 percent to $335 million, pushing up gross profit by 2.5 per cent against 2014 to more than $26 million. Revenue from financial operations stood at $163 million, a year-on-year increase of 21.3 per cent. According to a report from the Vietnam Beer Association, in 2015 the Vietnam’s beverage industry produced over 3.4 billion liters of beer, an increase of 40 per cent compared to 2010. Vietnam currently has 129 breweries, most of which are in large cities and provinces such as Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Thua Thien Hue. The majority of the market is still controlled by Sabeco, Habeco and multinational breweries like Heineken and Carlsberg. The country’s beverage industry is forecast to have a capacity of 4.25 billion liters of beer, 9.2 billion liters of non-alcoholic beverages, and 360 million liters of spirits by 2020. What does the former Minister say?  Former Minister Vu Huy Hoang. Former Minister Hoang claimed the proposal to appoint his son was a Sabeco proposal, and it had also been approved by the ministry’s party organization. He explained that the Sabecome chairman Phan Dang Tuat had sent a letter to the MoIT in late 2014, asking for the appointment of Hai for the position to fill the vacancy. “Based on Sabeco’s request, Hai is qualified, so we decided to move him to the firm”, Hoang said. Regarding the $10 million losses at PVFI, Hoang claimed that this was accumulated from previous years before his son was appointed in 2011 by PetroVietnam, so, it was not his responsibility. Hoang also said there was a document signed to prove the losses resulted from the old director when Hai took his position at PVFI. Under his son’s leadership, PVFI’s losses were curbed and during the 2012-2013 period, the firm made a small profit. “Until now, I’ve not yet received any document from VAFI. I have not done anything unclear and for the individual purpose, so, I’m unafraid of answering any questions. I’m willing to accept responsibility if I made any mistakes,” the former minister said. Compiled by Khuyen Bui, VNN |
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WHAT'S ON JUNE 15-30 (DAILY UPDATE) Exhibition “Breath of Life” by Trinh Thang Opening: Sun 26 Jun 2016, 10 am Exhibition: 26 Jun – 09 Jul 2016 Exhibition House, 16 Ngo Quyen, Hanoi The exhibition “Breath of Life” by Trinh Thang will feature 45 among more than 200 painting of him, marking his creative breakthrough over the past year. Trinh Thang’s artworks are initially quite self-absorbed and innocent. He unintentionally simulates anything but not ignores the flow of life. Trinh Thang obviously stands between two extremes: one side is the innocence and the other is the responsibility of those who understand life. He seems to have been able to describe this state of living in each painting. Looking at his paintings, we are free to feel, express and draw conclusions but never should we confine them to any certain extreme. ‘ Let his artworks drift and express itself freely as a breath of life, just like the title of the exhibition. SEA Pride Music Festival 2016 Sat 25 Jun 201, 10 am – 11 pm American Club 19 – 21 Hai Ba Trung, Hanoi SEA Pride is the most fantastic music festival for the youth in this summer 2016 in Ha Noi! Following the success of ASEAN Pride 2015 – Celebrating Family, SEA Pride 2016 comes back with the best preparation and scale. Thousands of people will gather at American Club (21 Hai Ba Trung) to immerse themselves in the dynamic and wonderful melodies. This time, SEA Pride 2016 wants to deliver a message “Color with your music” to young people who desire to live in a respected and equal atmosphere. No matter who you are, once you are music lover and have fair attitude toward different features, come to join us! Program: – Morning (10:00am – 12:00am): DJ ABLI from Britain and NIBIRU band from the Philippines – Afternoon (14:00 – 17:00): DJ ABLI, NGỌT Band and Rock bands: PARASITE, ORINGCHAINS, MICROWAVE. – Night (19:30 – 23:00): Music Festival with both International and Dosmestic artists: DJ Lina (America), DJ SAMEED (Britain); Noo Phuoc Thinh; Fashio Designer Caroll Tran; Oplus band, Hang Up to the Moon and Ngu Cung Band… Tickets: 200.000 VND (from 10:00 to 23:00) 80.000 VND (from 10:00 to 17:00 only) Book online via ticketbox Ticket distributors will be announced next week. A Night of Haydn and Brahms Wed 19 Jun 2016, 8 pm HCMC Opera House No. 7 Lam Son Square, D.1, HCMC HBSO proudly presents an exclusive “HAYDN & BRAHMS NIGHT SHOW”, which will take place at 8 pm, June 19 at the HCMC Opera House. The concert will bring on stage high quality performances from HBSO Symphony Orchestra under bandmaster HONNA TETSUJI and oboe guest Hoang Manh Lam. Franz Joseph Haydn was a prominent and prolific Austrian composer of the Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the piano trio and his contributions to musical form have earned him the epithets “Father of the Symphony” and “Father of the String Quartet”. Born in Hamburg, Germany, on May 7, 1833, Brahms was the great master of symphonic and sonata style in the second half of the 19th century. He can be considered as the protagonist of the Classical tradition of Joseph Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven. The most famous works of the two greatest composers: Brahms’s Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 68, and the Theme and Variations by Haydn/Salzedo will be featured in the concert. Program PART I: Johannes Brahms-Haydn – Variations (19 min.) Josef Haydn – Oboe Concerto in C Major (20 min.) Oboe: Hoàng Mạnh Lâm PART II: Johannes Brahms – Symphony No. 1, in C Minor (44 min.) Tickets Ticket price: 400,000 – 350,000 – 200,000 – 80,000 VND (for students only) Booking and delivery: 08 38237419, Ms. Huong 0989874517, Ms. Huong Ly: 0908057972 At HCMC Opera House, 7 Lam Son Square Online Booking: www.ticketbox.vn Film Screening “Timbuktu” Film screening with Vietnamese subtitles: Fri 17 Jun 2016, 8 pm Film screening with English subtitles: Sun 19 Jun 2016, 6 pm L’Espace 24 Tràng Tiền, Hà Nội Director: Abderrahmane Sissako Casting: Ibrahim Ahmed, Abel Jafri, Toulou Kiki Abderrahmane Sissako’s tragic fable about religious intolerance is full of life, irony and poetry. The film is not suitable for children under 16 years old. Film synopsis: Not far from the ancient Malian city of Timbuktu, proud cattle herder Kidane (Ibrahim Ahmed aka Pino) lives peacefully in the dunes with his wife Satima (Toulou Kiki), his daughter Toya (Layla Walet Mohamed), and Issan (Mehdi Ag Mohamed), their twelve-year-old shepherd. In town, the people suffer, powerless, from the regime of terror imposed by the Jihadists determined to control their faith. Music, laughter, cigarettes, even soccer have been banned. The women have become shadows but resist with dignity. Every day, the new improvised courts issue tragic and absurd sentences. Kidane and his family are being spared the chaos that prevails in Timbuktu. But their destiny changes abruptly. Language: On 17 Jun: French with Vietnamese subtitles On 19 Jun: French with English subtitles Tickets: Ticket price: 50,000 VND Special price for members of L’Espace and students: 40,000 VND Tickets are available at L’Espace. First MeetUP of Knowmads UP! Sat 18 Jun 2016, 2 – 4 pm ClickSpace No 15, lane 76 To Ngoc Van, Tay Ho, Ha Noi After more than 2 years running with 5 successful teams, Knowmads Hanoi is happy to introduce a brand-new Knowmads UP! program. This is a 2-weekend learning journey designed specially for participants at the age of 35-50 years old. During the program you’ll have the chance to work with other great people exploring two crucial questions: Who am I? and What do I want to contribute or change? You might be facing some struggles, or you might be very happy with your work and life so far. But if you got to a moment where you started wondering “What else is possible?”, or “What’s next for me after all those years?”, then this might be something for you! Check out this post for more information. If you are curious what this is, and what you will get from Knowmads UP!, or if you simply wants to enjoy a nice afternoon being surrounded by like-minded people – who are also in a quest of looking for their inner-selves and next steps in life, come and join us in our first MeetUP! for Knowmads UP! this Saturday at ClickSpace. During the event, you will learn more about Knowmads UP! and the people behind it, as well as get to know our community and share your time with other people through meaningful conversations. Film Screening “Learning from Light: Vision of I.M. Pei” Sat 18 Jun 2016, 3 pm Hanoi: Heritage Space 1st Floor, Dolphin Plaza 6 Nguyen Hoang (for car) | 28 Tran Binh (for bike), My Dinh 2, Hanoi HCMC: Salon Ca phe thu bay 19B Pham Ngoc Thach, Ward 6, Dist 3, HCMC You are invited to the documentary film screening “Learning from Light: The Vision of I.M. Pei” (2009). Ieoh Ming Pei is 99 years old and is considered the last architect of the modern architecture movement alive today. Program: . 14h30 – 15h00: Meeting . 15h00 – 16h30: Film screening . 16h30 – 17h00: Discussion Watch the film’s trailer on vimeo. Plot summary: For three years award winning directors Bo Landin and Sterling Van Wagenen have followed 92 year old IM Pei in his work to complete the Museum of Islamic Art in Qatar. Their documentary film tells the story of a man who has transformed architecture around the world. His work with the Louvre in Paris, and the introduction of the glass pyramid that upset some and fascinated many, is just an example of his insightful bravery to cross cultural divides and bridge worlds that has so much to learn from each other. [imdb] I. M. Pei was born on 26 Apr 1917 in Suzhou, Jiangsu, into an elite Chinese family. Due to his father’s work, the family had to move around, first to Hong Kong, then to Shanghai. Shanghai’s open policy in the 1920s which created a boom in construction had a great influence on Ieoh Ming Pei. Language: English with Vietnamese subtitles Free entry. Concert with Hanoi New Music Ensemble 18 and 19 Jun 2016 Goethe Institut 56-58 Nguyen Thai Hoc, Ba Dinh, Hanoi The Goethe-Institut Hanoi and DomDom, the hub for experimental music and art, present a second concert with contemporary music. The Hanoi New Music Ensemble (HNME) was founded in 2015 by the initiative of composer Vu Nhat Tan, violinist Pham Truong Son, composer Tran Kim Ngoc and American conductor Jeff von der Schmidt. The new group is eager to bring Vietnamese and international contemporary music to a broad Vietnamese public. HNME is currently supported by DomDom, which is the hub for experimental music & art in Hanoi. The group has recently organized “Endless Thread” – a chamber concert with songs by contemporary composers of Vietnam and the world through the ages. At the evening of the concerts, contemporary compositions from all over the world will be presented with special emphasis on works of Vietnamese composers. The extraordinary style of the artists gives the music scene of Vietnam a new and unique voice. Besides instruments of the European classical music the traditional Vietnamese Dan Bau is also used to interpret contemporary music. Free admission Special Concert with Yale Alumni Chorus from America Tue 21 Jun 2016, 8 pm Hanoi Opera House 1 Tràng Tiền, Hà Nội Come to a special concert with the famous Yale Alumni Chorus from America’s leading University with the performance of: – Conductor: Jeffrey DouMa – Piano Soloist: Scarlett Zuo – Andy Berry – Tenor – John Rouse – Bass – Nguyen Thu Quynh – Alto – Tran Thi Trang – Soprano with the Orchestra and Yale Alumni Chorus Program W. Mozart – Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 23 in A major Interval W. Mozart – “Requiem” with Yale Alumni Chorus Tickets Ticket prices: 200,000 – 400,000 – 600,000 VND. All tickets available at Hanoi Opera House or can book online at ticketvn.com. For free delivery call: 0913489858, 0983067996. New Soul Concert 2016 “Music of Stories” Sun 26 Jun 2016, 7.30 pm Dai Nam Theater 89 Pho Hue, Hanoi Each film is a story and in every type of films, music is an indispensable and inseparable part. It expresses a part of the film and sometimes becomes the soul of that film. A lot of songs and film soundtracks have become famous and attracted many people. New Soul Concert 2016 embraces a theme about films with the title “Music of stories”. In this program, we will enjoy the music that has been used in films. The students will bring us the stories we want to hear with music. This is a great chance for the children to express their talents, and also an opportunity for us to enjoy the famous soundtracks. Tickets Ticket prices: 80,000 VND – 100,000 VND, discount 20% for pupils, students Hotline: 01652344125 Hanoi Collective Orchestra Workshop calls for Workshop Members Application deadline: 23 Jun 2016 Time of workshop: 02 – 17 Jul 2016 Japan Foundation Center for Cultural Exchange in Vietnam 27 Quang Trung, Hoàn Kiếm, Hà Nội Hanoi Collective Orchestra Workshop calls for Workshop members ●Application deadline: 23 June, 2016 ●Contact information (for inquiry, application) : Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoa Center for Cultural Exchange in Vietnam, The Japan Foundation Tel.04-3944-7419, e-mail: hoant@jpf.org.vn Hanoi Collective Orchestra workshop, held for the second time in Hanoi, is one of the art projects in which participants perform “musical instruments” as a member of an Orchestra. Participants create “musical instruments” using tools, materials that we use in our everyday life. Participants will create new instruments and perform as part of a large, impromptu orchestra. With this impromptu orchestra and the multitude of different ensembles created by the participants and varied sounds drawn from Hanoi’s streets, a new kind of “music without musicians” will be born in Hanoi. To produce the second concert, 2 weeks workshop will be held with Otomo Yoshihide – a musician, Suzuki Akio – a sound artist, and facilitators of Vietnamese, Thai and Japanese nationalities. Participants for workshop will search for sounds from the street, from life in Hanoi, and create musical instruments. “Workshop members” are the individuals who will create the ensembles and orchestra by joining the guest artists, guest advisors and facilitators in searching for sounds and instrumental materials for the “Hanoi Collective Orchestra,” as well as participating in experimental ensembles. They will also create instruments for the ordinary participants to play prior to the main performance. ●Schedule: 2 July (Sat.) – 17 July (Sun.) ●Number of the Participants: 30 people ●Activities: 1) Group work to create musical instruments from usual, common materials from our everyday life and play them. 2) Create musical instruments for audience of the orchestra’s performance on the 17th, and help them to create musical instruments by themselves. *Guest artists, guest advisors and facilitators will give advice on what musical instruments that you can create. ●Venue: The Japan Foundation Center for Cultural Exchange in Vietnam 27 Quang Trung, Hoan Kiem, Hanoi ●Conditions to participate: 1) Capable of communicating in Vietnamese 2) Participating in activities all weekends during the concert’s period (July 2, 3, 9, 10, 16, 17). Hopefully, be able to participate in the activities between 17:00–19:00 from 12–15 of July. **Please check following schedule sheet. ●Age: around 16 to 40 years old ●Fee：Free ●Application：send the e-mail to the Japan Foundation with following information. 1) Name 2) Sex 3) Age 4) School, Affiliation (if any) 5) Motives of participation 6) Mobile phone number 7) The days you cannot participate 8) Language you can speak (other than Vietnamese) (In case of receiving too many applications, we will screen the applications in advance). Hanoi Collective Orchestra Workshop Schedule 02 July (Sat.) [Required to participate] ［Workshop］ 14:00～18:00 Orientation, making activity’s plan, presentation from facilitators 03/07 (Sun.) [Required to participate] ［Workshop］AM Searching materials to create music instruments. ［Workshop］ 14:00～18:00 Advice from Tran Luong, workshop by facilitators 04/07 (Mon.) – 08/07 (Fri.) [Voluntary Participation] ［Sound Bar］17:00～19:00 Facilitators open “Sound Bar” at the Japan Foundation to give advices on materials and making music instruments for participants. 09/07 (Sat.) [Required to participate] ［Workshop］ 14:00～18:00 Lecture by Suzuki Akio, workshop by facilitators 10/07 (Sun.) [Required to participate] ［Workshop］ 14:00～18:00 Lecture by Morinaga Yasuhiro, workshop by Facilitators 12/07 (Tue.) – 15/07 (Fri.) [Voluntary Participation] ［Sound Bar］17:00～19:00 Guest artists and Facilitators advise creation Otomo Yoshihide will join from 12th 14/07 (Thu.) [Voluntary Participation] ［Workshop］ 10:00～15:00 venue will be announced later Workshop with Tran Luong. 16/07 (Sat.) [Required to participate] ［Workshop］ 14:00～19:00 Practice for ensembles performance, sound recording, meeting 17/07 (Sun.) [Required to participate] ［Workshop］ 14:00 ～16:00 Create music instruments for audience, practice to play with them ［Ensembles Performance］ 16:00 ～17:00 Group Performance (by workshop participants) ［Orchestra Performance］ 17:00 ～18:00 Performance with audience Music Night with Aqatuki [Japan] & Squid Eye Sat 18 Jun 2016, 8 pm ATK 73a Mai Hac De, Hanoi Space is the place as sonic astronauts AQATUKI make their Hanoi debut on June 18. Inspired by the industrial futurescape of their home town Amagasaki, the Japanese four-piece meld psych-rock, dub and electronica in a sprawling astral groove that is guaranteed to get feet moving. With bright guitars, an undercurrent of blues and a nod to the summer soul of Shuggie Otis, AQATUKI are as uplifting and intoxicating as they are eclectic. Definitely one show not to miss this month. About the band Instrumental band, AQATUKI was formed in Amagasaki city, Hyogo in 1997. Their sounds express the roaring sound sound-scape that switched the landscape of the industrial area of Amagasaki that is the hometown of the member by a twin guitar formation and rhythm machine. Furthermore, a synthesiser and DUB MIX by Real-Joe have joined.The sound lumps which it is simpler and adds to depth, and were kneaded overflow in blues music original humanity, and the explosive power that the impulse spouts out is a thing of the one and only. It is Crazy Horse of Amagasaki! Dark horse which you do not know! Tickets: 150,000 VND at the door First Announcement of Quest Festival 2016 Quest festival 2016 04 – 06 Nov 2016 Quest returns for 2016 and we’re taking it up several more levels yet again! Rated as one of the most scenic festivals in the entire world and as one of Asia’s premiere music festivals (Mixmag, Buzzfeed), get ready to party like you’ve never partied before. Quest brings the international festival concept to Vietnam, combining over 150 of the very best local and international acts across 4 beautifully crafted stages, alongside cinema, workshops, street performance, team activities, live and installation art, and much more Set in the beautiful surrounds of Son Tinh Camp, ba Vi, Quest is a 3-day escape, a communal celebration of music, arts and interpersonal connection amongst nature. Come to Quest to experience: CAMPING IN NATURE Set against a backdrop of beautiful mountains and surrounded on all sides by a lake perfect for swimming, Son Tinh camp is the ideal place to spend 3 days in another world. Son Tinh camp features showers, bathrooms and plenty of beautiful flat grassy space to set up your tent if you are camping. MUSIC With a solid roster of emerging local talent as well as trail blazing international talent we have a lot in store for you. Genre wise we will be blasting you into the hardest realms of rave whilst at the same time, elsewhere you will be free to swim through deep rivers of funk and groove. We will continue to bring you an incredible live music line up with a dedicated stage bringing you the cream of talent that Vietnam has to offer as well as introducing some international acts from South East Asia and beyond. Expect to be surprised, expect to hear something completely different and expect to dance the night away to the best local and international acts! WORKSHOPS AND PERFORMANCES Festivals are about much more than just music, we believe in sharing ideas and skills. Our workshop program is expanding even further this year to provide a whole host of experiential activities for the Questlings. Beloved mainstays such as yoga, crafts and meditation will be on offer alongside some much more unusual classes. FOOD What good would such a delicious selection of music, arts and performance be without an equally delicious selection of food? This year, a range of Hanoi’s leading restaurants will be personally on site to keep your tummy satisfied. Details will be updated soon! ARTWORK, INSTALLATIONS AND STAGES Each year Quest improves the experience from the previous edition, this year will bring 4 complete stages, each designed and built with the experience for audience and performers in mind. There are huge plans to step things up again this year, expect to be surprised. The site will take on even more intricate beauty as we create visual delights through installations, live art and those little touches which let you know you are at Quest. COSTUMES For many the weekend is a chance for personal artistic expression, and this is something we wholly support. Creative attendees will be exalted and rewarded. Our theme will be announced shortly. For the most creative among us is the hallowed Quest Catwalk awaits. The chance to strut the fruits of your labour down the catwalk, and perhaps take home the ultimate prize. A lifetime ticket to Quest. QUEST CINEMA For the first time ever, Quest will be featuring its own dedicated cinema space. This space will feature adapted film festival content, artist-curated music video showcases, philosophical exegesis of cat videos, and audio-visual workshops. Working with Vietnam’s leading film orgs and visual artists, and liberally sprinkled with comfy cushions, the space will add a more relaxed dimension to the Quest experience. VNN |
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Social News 15/6 Asia’s largest cruise ship docks at Phu My port The Asia’s largest cruise ship Ovation of the Seas with 4,300 passengers on board docked at Phu My Port in Ba Ria-Vung Tau province on June 14. This is the first time Ovation of the Seas cruise has visited Phu My Port and the second time the newest super cruise has docked at the port, after Quantum of the Seas last year. Passengers from the US, UK, Australia, Canada and Singapore will join Saigontourist tours to discover Vung Tau and Ho Chi Minh City. A Saigon tourist representative said the company constantly welcomed world’s leading cruise ships like Star Cruises, Hapag-Lloyd Cruises, Royal Caribbean International. Around 91 ships with more than 120,000 visitors from the US, Canada, Europe, Australia and Asia have visited Vietnam since early this year. Close to 2,000 trade fraud cases brought to light in Hanoi The Hanoi Departments of Public Security and Industry and Trade have coordinated in handling nearly 2,000 cases of trade fraud and counterfeit products in the city. Deputy Director of the industry and trade department Chu Xuan Kien revealed the information at a conference in Hanoi on June 13. He said the two departments commenced criminal proceedings against 20 cases and 35 violators, adding that close to 87 billion VND (3.9 million USD) was collected for the State budget. After more than one year of collaboration, the two sides have defined fields targeted by trade fraud and smuggling of fake goods as well as crime hot spots, thus building prevention and combat plans. Deputy head of the Hanoi Market Management Sub-department Nguyen Cong San said despites the efforts, there are shortcomings in the field due to a lack of staff and loopholes in the export business. The two sides will increase regular information exchanges on administrative punishment against violators in the coming time, while promptly disseminating legal documents on crime prevention and combat to agencies and businesses, and building plans to crack down on major trafficking rings, he added. Kien Giang: Khmer people without arable land to get support The Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang has offered support to Khmer minority ethnics who have no lands for farming, as part of its efforts to improve local ethnic livelihoods. According to Dang Tuyet Em, Vice Secretary of the provincial Party Committee and Chairwoman of the provincial People’s Council, the province allocated production land for over 2,000 Khmer households, gave preferential loans to families without arable land to shift to other jobs, while providing jobs for over 10,180 labourers. However, some 7,870 Khmer families still lack arable farming land as they mortgaged their fields and are not able to redeem their land from buyers. The province has paid heed to reallocating agricultural land, ordering the withdrawal of land inefficiently used by organisations and enterprises, as well as reclaiming cultivable wastelands into arable land in a bid to provide more production areas for those in need. In addition, agricultural and non-agricultural vocational trainings have been given top priority to ensure stable jobs in industrial parks for ethnic people without production land. Kien Giang province is home to more than 216,850 ethnic Khmers, accounting for 12.5 percent of the provincial population. Most of them reside in remote and border areas such as Chau Thanh, Giong Rieng, Go Quao, Hon Dat and Giang Thanh districts and Ha Tien town. Northern, central regions to experience heat wave  The northern region and the central coast will continue to experience high temperatures in the next 3-4 days, according to the National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting. The highest temperature during the daytime will hover at around 35-37 degrees Celsius. Some areas will experience temperatures of 38-39 degrees Celsius, including Hà Nội. The temperature will stay above 35 degrees Celsius for 11-17 hours per day, the centre said. The northern and central coastal regions have been baking in the hot weather for the past several days, with the temperature increasing to around 36-37 degree Celsius. Earlier this week, outdoor temperatures were recorded at 40 degree Celsius at noon in some places. Hanoi prepares for scorching temperatures Hanoi People’s Committee Chairman Nguyen Duc Chung has called on agencies to prepare for a long hot spell as temperatures in Hanoi are forecast to rise to 40 Celsius on June 14. According to the National Centre for Hydro-meteorological Forecasting, the heat wave will cover the northern and central regions with Hanoi and Hoa Binh City's temperature continue to increase by one to two degrees to reach 39 Celsius on June 14. Outdoor temperatures at noon may top 40 Celsius. With humidity of around 45%, Hanoi will remain hot from 7am to 8pm. On June 13, Chairman Chung issued an official document on the local government response to the long hot spell. The Department of Health was asked to implement necessary measures to prevent diseases and increase inspections on food hygiene. The Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs must ensure good conditions at children’s homes and elderly care centres and heighten awareness over swimming in dangerous areas. Meanwhile, the Department of Construction is responsible for fresh water supply as well as the green spaces in the city. Electricity Vietnam was asked to ensure that there should be no power outages during the peak of the hot spell. The chairman also asked Fire Department and the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to raise people's awareness and make fire prevention plans. Health experts take more phenol contaminated fish for testing The Department of Food Safety in the central province of Quang Tri and police officers yesterday took more fish from a batch of 30 tons of Phenol contaminated frozen mackerel scads for testing The frozen fish were found contaminated with phenol last week and reported to the province People Committee by the province Health Department. The batches were sealed on June 11. Inspectors divided the batches into five parts and took five samples each 1.5 kilogram for testing. Testing will be carried out in standard laboratories. Before, authority in Quang Tri Province has taken samples aquatic products in the province. The batches of 30 tons of frozen mackerel scads were reportedly bought by store's owner Le Thi Thuoc soon after fish began to die on mass in the central region. Phenol, or carbolic acid, is primarily used to synthesize plastics and related materials. The substance may cause harmful effects on the central nervous system, heart, liver and kidney, resulting in dysrhythmia, seizures and coma. Perfect development planning critical to Can Tho: PM The completion of the development planning is the focal task of Can Tho city as it is the capital of the whole Mekong Delta region but also the one most vulnerable to climate change among the big cities in Vietnam. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc made the remark at a working session with municipal officials on June 13. He applauded Can Tho’s performance in maintaining fair growth over the last decade, especially in industry and agriculture, despite economic difficulties and serious climate change impacts. It has also ensured social welfares, created jobs, and alleviated poverty, helping to enhance people’s trust in local authorities. The city should step up agricultural restructuring and other aspects while making the best use of natural features as well as opportunities brought about by climate change to improve farmers’ income. It needs to become a start-up hub, especially for hi-tech companies, and encourage scientific – technological application in business and production activities, the PM noted. He told Can Tho to beef up cooperation with foreign businesses to expand markets, improve officials’ capacity and attract skilled personnel, particularly Vietnamese expatriates, to help with national development. Meanwhile, it should foster partnership with other provinces and cities in Vietnam, in the region and the world to learn from their experience and tap into their potential. The Government leader said more open mechanisms are necessary for the city to make breakthroughs, adding that authorities at all levels there to promote their renovation while performing their duties. At the working session, local officials reported that Can Tho has advantages in agriculture, aquaculture along with geographical location, which is favourable for developing urban and transport facilities, hi-tech agriculture, processing industry, tourism and support industries. In the first half of 2016, Can Tho recorded the gross regional domestic product (GRDP) at over 28.75 trillion VND (1.29 billion USD), up 6.82 percent year on year. Production and business indexes were also relatively high compared to the same period last year. It ranked 14th of the 63 provinces and cities in terms of the provincial competitiveness index. The number of businesses in the city increases by 9.12 percent a year. Also on June 13, PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc visited the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta Rice Research Institute, which is based in Can Tho.- HCMC Department of Transport proposes ads on buses The Department of Transport in Ho Chi Minh City yesterday proposed to the city People’s Committee a plan allowing advertisement on 40-seater buses in a bid to increase income and reduce governmental subsidizes on bus operation. The Department launched a pilot plan in April on 171 buses collecting over VND14.6 billion (US$654,000), exceeding the department's original expectations by 40 percent. After implementation of piloted time, many companies registered to put advertising on buses. It is predicted that the city will collect an amount of VND170 billion (US$7,643) a year if it allows a mass advertising on 2,344 40-seater buses. The collected amount is expected to reduce state subsidizes on bus operation. In 2015 the government spent VND927 billion (US$41.6 million) on subsidizing bus operation. In 2002 and earlier, bus enterprises allowed placing advertising on bus and they enjoyed the payment. Since the government subsidized bus operation from 2002 now on, advertising on buses halted. Until 2015 in many meetings with the Economic and Budgetary Committee under the city People’s Council, representatives from related agencies said that tardiness in advertising on buses caused loss to compensate state budget which had been spent on bus subsidizes. In bus advertising, buses and their related infrastructure are used by advertisers to reach the public with their message. Usually, this takes the form of promoting commercial brands, but can also be used for public campaign messages. Prime Minister urges efforts to expand health insurance coverage The Prime Minister has assigned the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs to promptly make a list of underprivileged coastal and island communes which are subjects to free health insurance during 2016-2020. The list must be submitted to the PM for approval before June 30, he said, asking the Ministry of Finance to partner with the Ministry of Health to build a mechanism and a roadmap for health insurance coverage sourced from the State coffer. The Vietnam Social Insurance (VSI) was tasked with drawing up suitable mechanisms, policies and solutions to speed up the expansion of health insurance. It was also requested to launch a network of distributors in charge of collecting health insurance premiums paid by organisations and units, and streamline administrative procedures to make it easier for people to take out insurance. The Government leader called for efforts to accelerate communication work to encourage the widespread participation of health insurance under the form of households. At the same time, the People’s Committees of centrally-run cities and provinces should allocate their State budgets and mobilise all resources to support people in joining health insurance. The Health Ministry was urged to swiftly roll out a plan adjusting prices of health care services in order to ensure equality between health insurance card holders and others. Regarding the computerisation of health check-ups and treatment and payment, the PM asked the ministry to build, issue and update a set of codes for medical services jointly used by modern and traditional medicine, technical services and medical materials. Medical centres must update all information about health check-ups and treatment for those covered by health insurance on the national e-network no later than June 30, he said. Vietnamese woman taken in for sending workers to China illegally Border guards in Thai Binh Province in northern Vietnam have arrested a local woman for allegedly running a trafficking gang that smuggled people into China to work illegally. Nguyen Thi Thuy, 32, was taken in for questioning after her human cargo of 32 workers was found on June 9. Police have opened a case to investigate her for sending people to work in China illegally. They were on a bus to Lang Son Province to cross the border. Eighteen of these people were returning to China after a home visit while the rest were going for the first time. The workers look for jobs on their own. It is not known how much Thuy charged each for transporting them. Few projects in HCM City recieve criticism from scientists Only a very small number of projects in HCM City has been put forward for science-based criticism, according to a top scientist. According to Prof. Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Giao, President of the Union of the HCM City Science and Technology Associations, said the number of projects getting consultation and criticism from scientists is too small in regard to the number of projects being implemented in the city. Some big projects belonging to the city’s overall planning have yet to have the participation of the union, Giao said, adding that the criticism of projects should be institutionalised with specific criteria such as scale, capital and affected population. In order to make criticism effective, scientists said the union has to get involved in a project from the beginning, while the city needs to have systematic and science-based instructions and a financial reform mechanism for scientific research activities. Dinh La Thang, Secretary of the city People’s Party Committee, said the city has real demand for social consultation, criticism and appraisal as the city heads towards a higher level of development. Thang appreciated the union’s contribution to the city’s development and stressed that the city would continue creating favourable conditions for scientists to make their contributions. Centrally-run cities to halt analogue terrestrial TV broadcasting The broadcasting of analogue terrestrial television is scheduled to cease in centrally-run Hanoi, Ho Chi Chi Minh City and Can Tho on June 15, and in Hai Phong city on August 15. It will be replaced by digital terrestrial television, which will provide a greater number of channels and better quality of picture and sound. The move is in line with a national project approved by the Prime Minister in 2011 to digitise terrestrial television broadcasting throughout the country. The four-phase project aims to switch to digital terrestrial television broadcasting across the country by the end of 2020. Writing contest marks Vietnam-Denmark diplomatic ties The Danish Embassy in Vietnam and the Vietnam – Denmark Friendship Association presented awards to winners of the writing contest “Denmark in Your Eyes” in Hanoi on June 13. Pham Tam Dan, a ninth-grade student at Nguyen Sieu private school, won first prize with a two-week scholarship programme at Niels Brock business school in Copenhagen. Chairman of the Vietnam-Denmark Friendship Association Tran Hong Ha highlighted the contest as a practical event to celebrate 45 years of the two countries’ diplomatic ties. Most of the candidates do not have opportunities to visit Denmark, but they have rich knowledge about the Danish culture, people and life. He described the youngsters as the best diplomats for cooperation between the two nations, especially in the fields of energy, environment, climate change and green growth. Danish Ambassador to Vietnam Charlotte Laursen said she was very impressed by the imagination of the Vietnamese students. Pham Tam Dan’s performance really touched the jury board for successfully capturing the mutual trust of Danish people, she added. This contest, the first of its kind, drew 50 entries from students in Hanoi. Contestants collected pictures from different sources on Denmark and enclosed with them an essay in English explaining why the pictures inspired them, what it was about the European country. A similar event will be continue to be held in the future, the Ambassador said. The Danish Embassy in Vietnam took this occasion to announce the establishment of a network for Vietnamese and Danish students, which will host culture, education and business events. Central Highlands looks to vegetables, fruit trees amid water shortage Farmers in provinces in the Central Highlands region have shifted to growing vegetables and annual fruit trees on areas that have been facing water shortages in 2016, according to the Central Highlands’ Steering Committee. As many as 7,200 hectares of rice cultivation have been replaced with other crop so far this year. Of which, Dak Lak province alone accounts for 2,570 hectares, which are now growing corn, French beans and watermelon instead of rice. According to the committee, the change not only reduced the effects of the damage caused by drought, but also boosted incomes for ethnic minorities. Illegal drug transport cases detected in Tan Son Nhat Airport Several illegal drug transport cases have been discovered at the Tan Son Nhat International Airport in HCM City recently, according to the airport customs division. The latest case involved a man, 32, from South Africa, on a flight from Doha, Qatar’s capital city, to Tan Son Nhat, who illegally transported 1.7 kilograms of cocaine. According to initial confessions, the man said he transported the drug in return for 3,500 USD. Further investigation into the case is getting underway. In recent times, the airport customs division has discovered 1.2 tonnes of ‘khat’ leaves containing cathinone from Africa, three kilograms of heroin intended for Australia, three kilograms of methamphetamine, and two kilograms of cocaine hidden inside the abdomen of an eagle from South America. Workshop boosts fresh lychee exports via Lang Son border gates A workshop was held on June 13 to boost lychee exports to China via border gates in the northern mountainous province of Lang Son. The event, the third of its kind, was jointly organised by the Vietnamese provinces of Bac Giang , Hai Duong and Lang Son, and the Chinese town of Pingxiang in Guangxi. Vice Chairman of the Lang Son People’s Committee Nguyen Cong Truong said the province has instructed the Management Board of Dong Dang Border Gate Economic Zone , and the Van Lang district authorities to work with relevant Chinese bodies to facilitate lychee exports to China. Efforts include expanding customs clearance hours and delivery storage sites in a bid to ease the load in the key border gates of Tan Thanh and Coc Nam. Additionally, relevant bodies are asked create favourable conditions for enterprises to ship their lychees via the local border gates during ha r vest time. According to the management board, comprehensive infrastr uc ture facilities have been developed in local border economic zones and border gates to meet storage demands. Meanwhile, Deputy Director of Lang Son province Customs Department Vy Cong Tuong called on enterprises to connect with farmers to ensure lychee quality and supply for exports. He also underlined the need to establish an association of lychee exporters to support the sector. According to the Bac Giang province People’s Committee, the total output for the province in 2016 is expected to reach 130,000 tonnes of lychees, a fall of 30 percent from 2015. Some 60 percent of the output is estimated to be consume d by the domestic market. China is the major importer of Bac Giang lychee s , mostly via border gates in Lao Cai, Ha Giang and Lang Son provinces. Hai Duong province has a mere 11,000 hecates of lychee trees, producing 50,000 tonnes. Between 25-3 0 percent of the volume is shipped abroad. More support for fishermen affected by mass fish deaths Fishermen in four central provinces affected by mass fish deaths will get aid equivalent to up to 70% of the value of fish which have been dumped over safety concerns, the Directorate of Fisheries under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said. According to the ministry’s Document 3441/BNN-TCTS, fish caught in the waters within 20 nautical miles off mainland Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue provinces is now put under strict food safety surveillance. Meanwhile, fish caught offshore will be checked and certified if they meet safety criteria. In case fish are found unsafe, they must be dumped and fishermen will get aid up to 70% of their total value. Circular 187/2010/TT-BTC and Decision 49/2012/QD-TTg specify ways to help people affected by calamities and diseases. The Directorate of Fisheries said competent agencies launch an inspection into fish caught within the 20-nautical-mile waters every day and fish in farther fishing grounds every two or three days after mass fish deaths were found in the central coast in early April. At present, competent agencies have yet to decide when such inspections stop. A source told the Daily that the ministry is drawing up a program to support affected fishermen in the four provinces. Two draft support schemes are being passed around for comment in the localities. The first scheme would support fishermen to increase the capacity of their fishing ships or acquire new offshore fishing boats. Under the second scheme, fishermen would be assisted to find other jobs. The final scheme would be soon submitted to the Government. Vinatex to build VND100-billion factory in HCMC Vietnam Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex) has got approval from HCMC to develop a fiber and garment factory in Tam Thon Hiep Commune in the outlying district of Can Gio. The factory will go up on an area of 10 hectares and employ more than 1,500 people when it comes on stream. Vinatex is allowed to take out low-interest loans to finance the VND100 billion (US$4.45 million) project as it has been added to the city’s investment stimulus program. The city government told Vinatex to put into operation the factory installed with modern equipment at the end of 2016. The project will comprise a kindergarten and an entertainment area. Vinatex will work with local authorities over plans to survey the number of employees in the textile and garment sector and provide training for local people, including those moving out to make room for construction of the factory. Vinatex has unveiled a plan to shift its production model from the cut, make and trim (CMT) to the original design manufacturer (ODM) to earn higher profit. The group expected to increase the ODM model to 20% by 2020 from the current 8%. To raise local fiber supply, Vinatex has invested heavily in a number of projects, such as fiber plants in the northern province of Nam Dinh and in the southern province of Dong Nai with respective annual capacities of 4,770 tons and 6,000 tons. Other investments made by its affiliates include fiber plants Dong Van 1 in Ha Nam Province and Thang Binh in Quang Nam Province as well as textile and dyeing facilities. Vinatex has made the investments to benefit from the free trade agreements Vietnam has signed and will sign, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and an FTA with the European Union. Textile and garment exports fetched almost US$27.5 billion last year. This year’s target is US$30 billion. Govt rules out power price stabilization fund The Government has disapproved a Ministry of Industry and Trade proposal to establish a power price stabilization fund. In a recent announcement, the Government detailed measures to stabilize the market and rein in inflation in the final months of 2016. In particular, the Government requested the ministries of industry-trade and finance to tell Vietnam Electricity Group (EVN) to cut power generation costs, stabilize retail prices and draw up an appropriate roadmap for price adjustments. The establishment of a power price stabilization fund was mentioned in Decree 69/2013/TTg providing a mechanism to adjust the average electricity retail prices. The fund would operate in much the same way as the operational fuel price stabilization fund. Accordingly, a certain amount of money would be added to the planned power price stabilization fund for each kWh of electricity sold. When the average power price is lower than the production cost, power companies could subtract a certain amount of money from the fund to offset the differential. The decree took effect three years ago but the power price stabilization fund has not been formally set up due to concerns over the operation mechanism and transparency of the fund. The establishment of the fund was again proposed in the draft of Decree 69 prepared by the General Department of Energy under the ministry in late 2015. However, the Government ruled out the fund and bill payments by electricity consumers would not be used by EVN to offset the power production cost which has remained non-transparent. Chungdahm, Egroup partner to teach English in Vietnam Chungdahm Learning, an education company based out of the Republic of Korea (RoK), has announced plans to partner with leading Vietnamese adaptive learning company Egroup to create English learning products. “With Egroup we can develop advanced digital learning products that are specifically tailored to meet the needs of students, aged six to 14,” said Kim Young Hwa, president of Chumdahm. “We plan to invest US$10 million in the joint venture and use Egroup to enhance our portfolio of products that students use both at home, in the classroom, and within after-school study programs.” “We look forward to working with Chumdahm to create learning materials for students in Vietnam as well as the Asia Pacific Region,” said a representative of Egroup. “We’ve witnessed a growing demand for adaptive learning technology among publishers across Vietnam and the Asia-Pacific and believe we can bring more personalized learning materials to more students.” Founded in 1998, Chumdahm’s mission has been to fulfil the needs of 21st century learners. CHUNGDAHM develops digital learning solutions, including its CREO smart classroom solution and its digital curriculum solution for schools globally. Chumdahm currently operates over three hundred learning centres throughout the RoK, specializing in mathematics and English language acquisition and has opened several educational centres in China, Japan, Indonesia, Brazil, the US, the Philippines and Canada. Commune officials accused of stealing public money A VND 27 million small border dyke irrigation project in a poor commune in the central highlands province of Gia Lai was reported to have cost over VND 1 billion with local officials guilty of appropriating the difference. Inspectors at Phu Thien District have recently uncovered substantial evidence of serious wrongdoings relating to finance management by former chairman of Ia Peng Commune, Nguyen Thanh Cuong. Cuong, who is now deputy party secretary cum chairman of the neighbouring Ia Piar Commune, has been accused of appropriating VND 970 million (USD43,419) when carrying out a small dyke project in Ia Peng during 2013 and 2014 when he was head of this commune. The dyke, which was only 20 centimetres wide and some hundred metres long, had 40% of its funding sourced from the district's budget, with the remainder funded by local residents. The inspectors found out that the project cost only VND 27 million (USD 1,208) but the commune’s final account reported a total of VND 1.01 billion (USD 44,762). Chairman of Phu Thien District's People Committee, Ro La Ni, has asked local police to prosecute and order Cuong to return all the appropriated money. Meanwhile, Cuong told DTiNews on June 13 that he had submitted a resignation letter because he was so angry at the results from the inspectors. "It was my fault for letting this happen but I didn't take the money," Cuong claimed. "My only mistake in this case was lack of responsibility because I did not supervise the project carefully." Cuong explained that during that time his was not feeling well so he authorised the commune's vice chairman, Do Hong Son, to take over the work. Rice research institute urged to develop rice varieties against climate change Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has suggested experts at the Cuu Long Delta Rice Research Institute (CLRRI) develop varieties that are effectively resistant to climate change in the Mekong Delta. The PM held a working session with the CLRRI in Can Tho on June 13 during his tour to the Mekong Delta provinces. Speaking at the event, the government leader praised efforts by the CLRRI during its 40 year development with important contributions to turn Vietnam into one of the largest rice exporters in the world. The institute has researched and put into production 165 rice varieties, including some with outstanding features. Among ten rice varieties commonly planted in the delta, eight have been bred by the institute, accounting for nearly 80% of the planting area. The creation of new rice varieties has contributed to bring the Mekong Delta rice production from 4.2 million tonnes in 1976 to 25 million tonnes in 2015, up more than six times, helping the country's rice yield lead ASEAN (at the average yield of 5.8 tonnes/ha, 1.5 times compared to Thailand's rice). It has also built 11 cultivation processes which are widely recognised at the national level and bringing high economic efficiency. PM Phuc noted that the Mekong Delta is currently affected by a record severe drought and salinisation, requiring a high need for salt and pest resistant rice varieties to adapt to the situation. He also required developing plans to improve Vietnam’s rice quality for both consuming and exporting and to be competitive in the economic integration process, while urging the institute to accelerate scientific research and technology transfer in association with market demand. VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/TT/TN/Dantri |
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Hanoi greenlights Disney-esque parkThe Hanoi People’s Committee has approved the plan to build 198-hectare Kim Quy (Golden Turtle) Amusement Park, inspired by Disneyland Hong Kong, in Dong Anh district, according to newswire VOV.vn.
The amusement park is one of the 25 parks that will be built in the capital in the next five years. Five of these parks will reach international standards. Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee Nguyen Duc Chung said that Kim Quy, as well as the four other international-standard parks, would be attractive destinations for visitors, offering modern entertainment facilities. Chung also said that building parks was necessary because the city currently lacked green areas with green trees, lakes, and entertainment areas. Along with building parks, the city plans to plant more than one million trees by 2020, expecting to create a greener home for city dwellers. Hanoi currently has five large-scale parks, including Thu Le, Thong Nhat, Hoa Binh, Nghia Do, and Cau Giay. According to the Hanoi Capital Construction Master Plan to 2030 with vision to 2050 issued in March 2014, Hanoi will have 60 parks and urban flower gardens, including 18 new and enhancing 42 existing parks and urban flower units. Being a world-famous amusement park and resort system, Disneyland are present in six countries, including the US, France, Japan, Hong Kong, China, and the Bahamas. By Ha Vy, VIR |
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Ministry tells pedagogy schools to merge As only 10 teacher training establishments are under the control of the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET), it is difficult to control the number of teachers being trained.  MOET has sent a dispatch to provincial and municipal authorities, requesting them to reconsider teacher training plans, based on their teaching staff and facilities. The dispatch was sent after the ministry discovered an oversupply of teachers in many provinces and cities. A report showed that 70,000 pedagogy school graduates were jobless. Therefore, it is necessary for pedagogy schools to gradually scale down the training from 2017 to reduce the unemployment rate. According to Bui Van Quan, president of Thu Do University, pedagogy schools will produce 19,200 primary school teachers every year by 2018, 18,700 secondary school and 23,000 high school teachers.
Vietnam won’t not use all the teachers by 2020, even if the ratio of students to teachers increases to the level equal to that in developed countries. By that time, Vietnam would have an excess of 41,000 primary school teachers, 12,200 secondary school teachers and 19,600 high school teachers. The excess of teachers is attributed to the over-expansion of teacher training establishments. Pedagogy schools have mushroomed, while many junior colleges (3-year training) have been upgraded into universities (4-year training), though they cannot satisfy the requirement on teaching staff and material facilities. Nguyen Ngoc Vu, director of MOET’s Planning & Finance Department, said restructuring pedagogy schools is the only solution to settle the problem of teacher supply. Also according to Vu, MOET every year gives warning about the teacher overabundance and requests schools to restrict the enrollment scale. However, MOET does not grant enrollment ‘quotas’ to schools anymore, and pedagogy schools determine how many students to enroll after considering their capability. As for other training establishments, they will either be merged with each other, or become affiliates of universities. In some cases, community schools will be established to provide disciplinary training. At present, only 10 schools, or 10 percent of the total pedagogy schools in the country, are put under MOET’s management. Therefore, it is nearly impossible to control the enrollment scale by setting up the numbers of students to be enrolled in schools every year. In nearly all cities and provinces, except Dak Nong, there is at least one teacher training establishment. Nineteen training establishments are located in the northern mountainous and mid-land areas, 26 in Red River Delta and 14 in Mekong River Delta. Besides, there are 23 training establishments in the northern part of the central region and coastal areas in the southern part, eight in the Central Highlands and 18 in the eastern part of the southern region. NLD |
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Vietnamese people have lost confidence in Chinese contractors Many key projects in Vietnam with big problems in quality were implemented by Chinese contractors.  The word ‘Chinese contractors’ has become ‘sensitive’ to Vietnamese. Any decision by local authorities or state management agencies to let Chinese contractors implement infrastructure projects would face strong opposition from the public because Vietnamese people have lost confidence in Chinese contractors. A report released by the National Assembly’s Finance and Budget Committee in 2014 showed that 90 percent of EPC projects (engineering, procurement, construction) are undertaken by Chinese contractors. These include 30 national key projects.
Many of the projects have been going at a ‘snail’s pace’ despite warnings from Vietnamese management agencies. The Cat Linh – Ha Dong elevated railway project is a typical example. Kicked off in October 2011, the project was initially scheduled to be put into operation in November 2013. However, no one now can say for sure when the project implementation will be completed. The slow implementation, plus some changes in the design, have pushed the total estimated investment capital of the project from $552.86 million to nearly $900 million. The Chinese contractor in late April reported that the project had been going slowly because of the lack of drawings. Many completed construction items have been removed because they did not fit the design. The project on expanding the Thai Nguyen iron and steel mill still cannot be completed though it started 10 years ago because the money has run out. Initially capitalized at VND4 trillion, the investment capital has increased to VND8 trillion The Chinese contractor has ‘abandoned’ the project, leaving workshops, machines and equipment lie in the open air under the sun and rains. This is estimated to cost the loss of VND30 billion a month. The Chinese contractors at many large thermopower projects, namely Duyen Hai 1, Duyen Hai 3, Vinh Tan 2, expanded Uong Bi No 2, Hai Phong 1, Hai Phong 2, Quang Ninh 1 and Quang Ninh 2 reportedly ‘frightened’ Vietnamese investors when threatening to leave the projects’ sites. Most of the projects have been several years late in comparison with the initial plans. Delays and slow project implementation pace are not the only concern. Chinese contractors have become well known for poor construction and installation quality. The $69 million My Dinh National Museum, which became operational in September 2003, has shown serious degradation. Cracks appeared on the wall, while the athletics run way could not be exploited. Tens of billions of dong have been spent to fix the problems. The government inspectors have discovered that the Chinese contractor signed outsourcing contracts with sub-contractors at very low prices to be able to pocket millions of dollars. Bizlive |
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Development planning critical to Cần Thơ: PM
CẦN THƠ - The completion of development planning is the focal task of Cần Thơ City as it is the capital of the whole Mekong Delta region, Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc said yesterday. Speaking during a working session with municipal officials, Prime Minister Phúc also said Cần Thơ City is one of the most vulnerable among the big cities in Việt Nam to climate change. He applauded Cần Thơ’s performance in maintaining fair growth over the last decade, especially in industry and agriculture, despite economic difficulties and serious climate change impacts. It has also ensured social welfare, created jobs, and alleviated poverty, while helping to enhance people’s trust in local authorities. The city should step up agricultural restructuring and other aspects while making the best use of natural resources as well as opportunities brought about by climate change to improve the income of farmers. It needs to become a start-up hub, especially for hi-tech companies, and encourage scientific and technological applications in business and production activities, the PM noted. He told Cần Thơ to beef up co-operation with foreign businesses to expand markets, improve the capacity of officials and attract skilled personnel, particularly Vietnamese expatriates, to help with national development. Meanwhile, it should foster partnership with other provinces and cities in Việt Nam, in the region and the world, to learn from their experience and tap into their potential. The prime minister said that more open mechanisms are necessary for the city to make breakthroughs, adding that authorities at all levels are there to promote the revamp while performing their duties. At the working session, local officials reported that Cần Thơ has advantages in agriculture, and aquaculture along with geographical locations, which is favourable for developing urban and transport facilities, hi-tech agriculture, processing industry, and tourism, in addition to support industries. In the first half of 2016, Cần Thơ recorded a gross regional domestic product (GRDP) of over VNĐ28.75 trillion (US$1.29 billion), up 6.82 per cent year on year. Production and business indexes were also relatively high compared to the same period last year. It ranked 14th out of 63 provinces and cities in terms of the provincial competitiveness index. The number of businesses in the city increased by 9.12 per cent a year. Also yesterday, PM Nguyễn Xuân Phúc visited the Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta Rice Research Institute, which is based in Cần Thơ. – VNS |
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Inspection to probe industry & trade ministry nepotism Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh has requested an investigation into how the son of former minister Vu Huy Hoang was appointed to key positions in major firms owned by the ministry.  Industry and Trade Minister Vu Huy Hoang Former Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang has been questioned for promoting his son Vu Quang Hai for being Deputy Director of Saigon Beer, Alcohol and Beverage Joint Stock Corporation (SABECO) despite Petrovietnam Finance Investment JSC (PVFI) racking up losses of VND220 billion (USD10 million) between 2011 and 2012 under Vu Quang Hai. Current industry and trade minister Tran Tuan Anh has requested ministry personnel departments and agencies to review the entire appointment process. The minister also asked PetroVietnam to re-check the documents related to the assignment of Hai as general director of PVFI. SABECO has also been asked to also review Hai’s appointment as deputy director. A from the Vietnam Association of Financial Investors (VAFI) said that Hai couldn’t be appointed as deputy director of SABECO as he was legally liable for the massive losses accumulated during his time at PVFI. The association has also urged Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh to dismiss Hai from his current position at the firm. Speaking to DTiNews, Hai said that he couldn’t be responsible for the huge losses at PVFI because they were accumulated from previous years. He claimed he had tried to reduce the firm’s losses. Regarding to his position at SABECO, Hai said that the corporation had headhunted him and proposed his employment to the Ministry of Industry and Trade to fill a vacancy, not because he was given the priority because of being the son of the minister. Former SABECO chairman Phan Dang Tuat who sent the proposal to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, asking for Hai’s appointment claimed that it was totally legal. At that time almost all the firm’s leaders were going to retire. So he needed to choose young and supposedly qualified people who had studied abroad and were good at foreign languages. Dtinews |
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Article 7
Social News 16/6 Rare animals rescued in Hanoi  Wild animals are rescued yesterday, thanks to reports from Education for Nature - Vietnam (ENV)’s volunteers. - Photo courtesy of ENV Education for Nature - Vietnam (ENV), together with the Hà Nội Environmental Police Department, rescued 40 wild animals being transported from northern Lạng Sơn to the city for consumption. Among the rescued animals were a pygmy slow loris, weighing 1.5 kilogrammes, four spengler’s turtles, and 35 green frogs. The animals were taken to the city’s wildlife rescue centre. This is the second pygmy slow loris rescued in the past week, thanks to reports from local residents and volunteers. Two persons were arrested. One admitted purchasing wild animals in northern Lạng Sơn Province and transporting them to Hà Nội for consumption. The case is under further investigation. The pygmy slow loris is among those wild animals threatened with extinction in Việt Nam. The animal is now ranked in the Vulnerable level (VU - High risk of endangerment in the wild) in the Vietnam Red Book. KOICA helps Vietnam recover from post-war bombs, mines The Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) will offer 20 million USD in non-refundable aid to the Vietnam National Mine Action Centre (VNMAC) for post-war bomb and landmine recovery efforts in the country. An agreement on a project to this effect was signed in Hanoi on June 14 between Deputy Defence Minister and member of the Steering Committee for the National Action Programme on overcoming post-war bombs and mines (Steering Committee 504) Nguyen Chi Vinh and KOICA Country Director Chang Jea-yun. Managed by the Defence Ministry and conducted by VNMAC, the 2016-2020 project aims to improve the management capacity of VNMAC, clear bombs and mines on a site of 8,000ha in the central provinces of Quang Binh and Binh Dinh, raise public awareness of bombs and mines’ dangers and help victims re-integrate into the community. Both sides will establish monitoring and management boards for the project and launch regular consultation mechanisms throughout the process. Speaking at the signing ceremony, Deputy Minister Vinh hailed the move as a significant beginning to realise the commitments in a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in post-war bomb and mine recovery signed in 2014, and the framework agreement on non-refundable aid signed between the two governments in 2009. The project reflects the goodwill to cooperate in humanitarian and development issues between the two governments in the spirit of the strategic cooperative partnership built by the two countries, he said. Korean Ambassador to Vietnam Lee Hyuk, for his part, pledged to help victims of bombs, mines and explosives with rehabilitation and raise public awareness of how to avoid those accidents. Thailand donates 100,000 USD to Vietnam’s drought sufferers Thailand has donated 100,000 USD to Vietnamese people living in areas struck by drought and saltwater intrusion. The donation, made by its government, people and 10 enterprises operating in Vietnam, was handed over to President of the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) Central Committee Nguyen Thien Nhan by Thai Ambassador Manopchai Vongphakdi in Hanoi on June 14. Ambassador Manopchai Vongphakdi said Thailand understands the drought and salinity-triggered challenges facing people in Vietnam’s southern region as it is using Mekong River water resources with the region. He noted his country’s willingness to share experience in tackling drought and salinisation with Vietnam given it has also been affected by the disasters. For his part, VFF Central Committee President Nguyen Thien Nhan thanked Thailand and its donors for the relief they delivered. He told the diplomat that drought and saline intrusion have struck more than 420,000 Vietnamese households and caused about 6.4 trillion VND in economic losses over the last ten months. Over 1.5 million people are suffering water poverty for daily and farming activities, Nhan said, adding the issue is likely to last long in Mekong delta provinces. The VFF has raised funds to provide water tanks and filters for affected families as well as books and clothes for their children. Rice varieties with better tolerance to drought and salinity are being developed in response to the problems, the official noted. New ambassadors asked to enhance people-to-people diplomacy The Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations (VUFO) met with new ambassadors and heads of Vietnam’s overseas representative agencies on June 14, asking for their greater efforts to help with people-to-people diplomacy. At the meeting in Hanoi, VUFO Chairman Vu Xuan Hong said his organisation has worked with thousands of foreign partners around the globe while stepping up activities to promote peace, solidarity and friendship. It has brought into full play its core role in such events as the Asia-Europe People’s Forum, ASEAN Peoples’ Forum, and the Vietnam Peace and Development Foundation. Over the last five years, the organisation has worked with foreign non-governmental organisations whose financial aid went to war legacy settlement, poverty alleviation, infrastructure building, medical and educational issues, environmental protection, natural disaster response, and sustainable development. Through Vietnam’s overseas representative offices, the VUFO has popularised the country’s images and called for international cooperation, Hong added. He asked the diplomats in the 2016 – 2019 term to help promote cooperation, solidarity, friendship, people-to-people exchanges, and NGO affairs. Duong Chi Dung, Ambassador and head of Vietnam’s permanent delegation to the UN, the World Trade Organisation and other international organisations in Geneva (Switzerland), said people-to-people diplomacy enabled Vietnam to set up partnerships across politics, economy, culture-society, security and defence – a result attained with the great help of the VUFO. At the event, the new diplomats said they will work closely with the VUFO to effectively implement diplomatic tasks assigned by the Party and State and the people-to-people diplomacy. Vietnamese-funded military facilities inaugurated in Cambodia Two office buildings of the Cambodian army were inaugurated on June 14 with funding from the High Command of Military Zone 7 under the Vietnam People’s Army. The facilities serve as the headquarters of the Tbong Khmum province Military sub-Region and Infantry Brigade 21 of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces. Addressing the ceremony, Lieutenant General Vo Minh Luong, Commander of Military Zone 7 expressed his hope that the facilities will contribute to enhancing the working condition for the units’ soldiers and officers. For his part, General Choeun Sovanth, Deputy Commander of Infantry and Commander of Military Region 2 said the assistance Vietnam’s Military Zone 7 has provided for Cambodian military units has contributed to the development of the Cambodian Royal Armed Forces. EVN Hanoi launches hotlines on power use The Electricity of Vietnam’s (EVN) Hanoi Power Corporation (EVN Hanoi) has launched 24 hour hotlines 042 2222000 and 19001288 to acquire feedback and queries about power use in the capital city. In the recent hot spell, EVN Hanoi has been receiving about 1,000 phone calls per day on average, up 20 percent from usual. Operators are answering questions about power outage schedules, power bills and offer advice about how to use air conditioners in an economical way. It also requested relevant units to minimise power cuts from May-July to ensure sufficient power supply for high school graduation and university entrance exams. Units were also asked to arrange staff to work on shift to guarantee power transmission. According to EVN Hanoi, the total power consumption from April-July will rise to 6.7 billion kWh, much higher than the 5.6 billion kWh consumed last year. Trade liberalisation of fertilizser impacts rural labour Trade liberalisation policies, as indicated by the increased use of chemical fertilizers, have significant effects on labour reallocation in the rural parts of Vietnam. Doctor Hoang Xuan Trung from the Institute for European Studies under the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences revealed the analysis on June 14 as part of the Vietnam Living Standards Surveys conducted by a group of local and European researchers. He said the trade liberalisation of fertilizers encourages increased labour (number of people and hours) in the agricultural sector, but results in a decrease in the non-agricultural sector. The percentage of rural households participating only in farm activities has been decreasing over time, from 66.33 percent in 1993 to 57.25 percent in 1998 due to increased urbanisation and industrialisation. However, the percentage of rural households engaged in both farm and non-farm activities increased during the same period, from nearly 21 percent in 1993 to almost 25 percent in 1998, suggesting that rural households are increasingly diversifying their revenue streams. The researchers found that an increased volume in the use of chemical fertilizers leads to increased involvement of rural households in agriculture. More specifically, a 10 percent increase in the volume of chemical fertilizers decreases by 0.021 the number of household members participating in non-farm activities and reduces the number of non-farm working hours per week by 1.08. Increased use of chemical fertilizers also increases the use of organic fertilizers (a 10 percent increase in volume of chemical fertiliser correlates with a 5.42 percent increase in volume of organic ones). The price of chemical fertilizers has a greater effect on farm participation in households that moved into agriculture between 1993 and 1998 than in those that were already farming in 1993. The liberalisation of chemical fertilizers provides more on-farm labour opportunities for small holders than it does for owners of larger farms, because small holders tend to have a surplus of on-farm family labour. With more than 70 percent of the population living in rural areas and depending on agriculture for their livelihoods, the potential effects of trade liberalistion on labour reallocation should be considered carefully, Trung said. He suggested strongly reducing tax on intermediary products such as machines, equipment and technologies, while simplifying administrative procedures to reduce production costs and increase domestic competitiveness. He suggested the Government provide more support in vocational training to facilitate the transition of labour between sectors as an impact of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement. Outstanding blood donors praised at Hanoi ceremony A ceremony was held in Hanoi on June 14 to honour 100 outstanding blood donors in Vietnam, an event in response to World Blood Donor Day. The exemplars are from the 63 provinces and cities along with ministries and central agencies. They include Nguyen Huu Thuan who has donated blood 84 times, Ta Minh Dat (71 times) and Venerable Thich Thien Anh (63 times). The eldest person is Nguyen Van Hung, 63, from Tay Ninh province. His family donated blood 76 times, including 24 times by Hung. He has also encouraged about 100 other people to participate in blood donation campaigns. The youngest credited donor is Truong Thien Ho Thuyen, 20, from Can Tho city. She and her family have voluntarily given blood 15 times. At the ceremony, Politburo member and Chairwoman of the Party Central Committee’s Mass Mobilisation Commission Truong Thi Mai said the persons honoured should continue to be role models and encourage their relatives, friends and colleagues to join them. June 14 was chosen as World Blood Donor Day in 2004. This year’s event is themed: “Blood connects us all.” In Vietnam, the national steering committee for voluntary blood donations and the National Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion, have held various activities from June 12 – 14 to give credit to blood donors. A donation campaign in Hanoi on June 12 collected 1,184 units of blood. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health presented insignias for those who have made great contributions to voluntary blood donation. HCM City: Mugger posing as police caught The Ho Chi Minh City Investigation Police Agency on June 14 detained a man on suspicion of posing as a police officer to steal property from foreigners. Dang Tuan Thanh, 21, from the southern province of Tay Ninh , admitted that he successfully conducted seven muggings by claiming to be a criminal police officer and stopping foreigners for random checks before robbing their belongings. The police searched Thanh’s house and seized one motorbike, nine handbags, two watches, a laptop, three packets of methanphetamine and a fake police card. The case is under further investigation. RoK supports Vietnam develop transport The Ministry of Transport (MT) and the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) in Vietnam signed a record of discussion on the project for development experience exchange partnership in the transport sector, in Hanoi on June 14. The project aims to establish a regulation foundation for the development of Vietnam’s railways while enhanching the professional skills of specialists in the area, through providing the RoK’s technologies and experience under human resource development programmes. Speaking at the ceremony, Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Ngoc Dong spoke highly of Vietnam and the RoK’s fruitful cooperation over the past two decades through various collaboration programmes, including transportation which has actively helped to improve the transport system in the Southeast Asian country. The official highlighted that the project is significant in perfecting the country’s legal system and manpower training in developing its railways. Head of KOICA in Vietnam Chang Jae Yun said the project is expected to seek measures to attract more investment from the RoK Government, and civil organisations into Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) projects on road and railway infrastructure in Vietnam. The project will run from 2016 to 2019, with the RoK Government’s funding of an amount not exceeding five million USD . The RoK is Vietnam’s second biggest sponsor in transportation. Pilot project helps sex workers re-integrate into community International Care in Vietnam has piloted a project to help sex workers re-integrate into the community over the past two years, as heard at a conference in Ho Chi Minh City on June 14. Launched in November 2014, the Care project has provided prostitutes who want to quit the trade with full access to knowledge about the law, gender equality, social skills as well as job opportunities. It has been carried out in Ho Chi Minh City, the northern province of Quang Ninh and the southern province of Can Tho. Le Thi Ha, deputy head of the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs’ Department for Social Vices Prevention, called for spreading the model and increasing collaboration between ministries, departments and trade unions throughout the process. Vice Director of the municipal Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Huynh Thanh Khiet, who is also head of the project management board in Ho Chi Minh City, said more members will be admitted to Sen Xanh women’s club and a second similar club will be launched in the third quarter of this year, focusing on job opportunities, health care, legal and psychological consultation and support in re-applying for personal identification documents. Sen Xanh club currently groups more than 470 women. Over the past two years, it has sent 120 to HIV testing and HIV/AIDS treatment clinics, 135 to testing for sexually transmitted diseases and offered 35 million VND to each member in support of vocational training. The project has also raised funding for assistance in health insurance subscriptions, free gynaecological check-ups and starting small-sized businesses. Regional conference highlights international law A regional conference themed “International Law and a Dynamic Asia” was opened in Hanoi on June 14 by the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam (DAV) and the Asian Society of International Law. Speaking at the event, DAV Acting Director Nguyen Vu Tung said that Asian countries are facing numerous new challenges which requires their deeper understanding of international law. This two-day conference focuses on many aspects of international law, including intensifying regional cooperation in trade and investment, addressing maritime and sovereign disputes by peaceful means, increasing the protection of intellectual property rights, as well as the legal effects of the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, and the opportunities and challenges facing the region after the formation of the ASEAN Community, he stated. Ambassador Nguyen Thi Thanh Ha, former head of the Law and Treaty Department under the Foreign Ministry, said that as a peace-loving nation, Vietnam continuously pursues the foreign policy of being a friend, trusted partner and responsible member of the international community. Vietnam always abides by all basic principles of international law, including articles on a ban on using or threatening to use force, and on the peaceful settlement of sovereignty-related disputes among nations, she added She also stressed the importance of strictly following international commitments which Vietnam continually makes efforts to implement and considers as a lodestar for its international integration. Participants, who are both domestic and international experts and lawyers, are expected to discuss trade and investment law, international environmental law, human rights, intellectual property rights, maritime law, and the obligation of nations to enforce international law. Vietnam prepares legal foundations for power wholesale market Regulations on a competitive power wholesale market are scheduled to be completed in June 2017, heard a workshop held by the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) in Hanoi on June 14. Nguyen Anh Tuan, head of the MoIT’s Electricity Regulatory Authority, said the set of regulations, which will be submitted to authorised agencies for issuance, is important to operate the competitive power wholesale market. He underlined the need to lay a legal foundation for the market, develop infrastructure for relevant units and set up a staff knowledgeable about the electricity market. At the workshop, a representative from Australia’s IES/SWA consulting company described the legal documents as a prerequisite for the official operation of the competitive power wholesale market from 2019. The units involved should upgrade their technologies and equipment necessary to run the market and improve capacity for their staff members, the representative suggested. The competitive power wholesale market has been piloted in 2016 to help electricity corporations be familiar with competitive trading. Over the past six months, the MoIT has instructed the Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) to hand over a number of power contracts to corporations to purchase electricity wholesale. Under a detailed design for the competitive electricity wholesale market, approved by the ministry last year, all units owning 30-megawatt (MW) power plants and above can join the market. Below-30MW power generators can also take part in the market if they meet infrastructure demands. Meanwhile, build-operate-transfer projects can engage in the market either directly or through a representative unit from the EVN. Imported electricity and wind, solar and geothermal generators, as well as below-30MW hydropower plants, are not subject to the market. Buyers will be grouped into five corporations – Northern, Southern, and Central Region; Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City Power Corporations. The roadmap for the implementation of the competitive electricity wholesale market consists of four periods, with the initial pilot operation period beginning in 2016. The official launch of the market-proper is slated for 2019. Ben Tre calls on residents to save water The Mekong Delta province of Ben Tre called on local residents to store rainwater and fresh water for their daily use and production amid the impacts of climate change at a conference on June 14. Vice Secretary of the provincial Party’s Committee Tran Ngoc Tam said local residents need to store rainwater and fresh water to adapt to drought and saltwater intrustion from now on. He also called on Vietnam Fatherland Front committees at all levels and social organisations to mobilise different resources to support disadvantaged households in building water containing facilities. On the occasion, over 5.6 billion VND (250,000 USD) was raised by banks, enterprises and funds for local poor households. Drought and salinity have damaged 20,000 hectares of rice, thousands of hectares of other crops and over a million seedling trees in the province, causing a total loss of over 1.4 trillion VND (63 million USD). The locality is home to over 44,000 poor households suffering water shortages.- Cat Bi int’l airport suspends operations for repairs Flight operations at a taxiway of Cat Bi International Airport in the northern city of Hai Phong have been suspended on June 14 and 15 for repairs. Taxiway N is closed from 0:01 am to 6 am on the two days, to have subsided ground and cracked surfaces repaired. While the repair work is being carried out, Cat Bi airport will not handle flights, except for emergency cases. On May 28, the airport was also closed for repairs because the abnormally hot weather had peeled off a piece of asphalt from a runway. Cat Bi became an international airport in mid-May after more than two years of upgrading. It is designed to serve 4 million passengers a year and accommodate large airplanes such as Boeing 747’s and Boeing 777’s. Việt Nam hosts international law meet Regional co-operation on issues relating to keeping the peace and protecting security, human rights, international trade and investment, and environmental protection were discussed at the two-day regional conference of the Asian Society on International Law (Asiansil) in Hà Nội yesterday. The Hà Nội regional conference, entitled “International Law and a Dynamic Asia”, attracted more than 50 speakers including academic experts, governmental officials and international legal scholars. “The conference will provide great opportunities for all participants to benefit from exchanges of ideas, to learn from each other, to reinforce their understanding of recent developments in the region, and to enhance their capacity to cope with legal aspects of these developments,” Prof Nguyễn Vũ Tùng, acting President of the Diplomatic Academy of Việt Nam, said at the opening. According to Paik Jin-hyun, president of the Asian Society of International Law, Asia is a dynamic region with its rapid economic development and accompanying political and social changes. Dynamic Asia gives rise to many challenges for the State in the region, ranging from how to increase regional co-operation in various fields to the urgent task of managing potential conflicts and disputes that could threaten peace and stability, he said. “International law may not be able to resolve all those challenges, but it can and should be an effective instrument in overcoming many of them,” he said. “I therefore believe that it is time for international law to address various challenges facing dynamic Asia.” “This is the first time Việt Nam has hosted this conference and it is very meaningful in the context of Viet Nam’s international integration,” said Ambassador Nguyễn Thị Thanh Hà, member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague and former director general, Department of International Law and Treaties, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Việt Nam. “The strong commitment of Viet Nam to international law compliance is clear evidence that Việt Nam strives to become a responsible member of the international community,” she told Việt Nam News. Việt Nam also hopes to have more legal means to implement foreign policies for peace, stability and sustainable development, Hà said. The conference is also focusing on aspects of development, including how to further promote regional co-operation in international trade and investment, to manage and peacefully settle potential territorial and maritime conflicts and to enhance protection of intellectual property rights. The legal impacts of the newly signed Trans Pacific Partnership trade deal, as well as the opportunities and challenges of the region after the recent establishment of the ASEAN Community, will be thoroughly discussed. National Press Awards for 92 works Ninety two outstanding works by journalists throughout the country, winners of the National Press Awards 2015, will be given prizes on the 91st Vietnamese Revolutionary Journalism Day (June 21) – falling next Tuesday. It was announced by Deputy Chairman of the Việt Nam Journalist Association, Hồ Quang Lợi, yesterday at a press conference held in Hà Nội. At the award ceremony, eight works will be granted the A prize, the highest prize achievable at the National Press Awards, 25 works the B prize and 40 others given the C prize. Lợi said the works covered various topics including economics, society, national defence and national sovereignty over seas and islands. The works vividly reported matters of culture as well as major issues facing the country, contributing to the cause of building and defending the nation. There isn’t a big gap between the quality of press works at central and local levels, or between print media and broadcast news, he said. However, the common weakness of these works was a lack depth and a failure to reach the heart of the matter, he said. Organised by the Việt Nam Journalist Association, the annual National Press Awards this year attracted 1,660 entries from 169 organisations and individuals. Entertainment programmes mark national journalism day Entertainment programmes for journalists in HCM City are being organised on the occasion of National Revolutionary Journalism Day (June 21). The Journalist Family Programme with more than 60 games will be held on June 18-19 at Vietopia, an indoor entertainment and education centre, in District 7. Vietnamese food will be on offer, and cook Võ Quốc will talk about nutrition and various dishes. Last Saturday, journalists at 21 newspapers, television and radio stations in HCM City and Đồng Nai Province competed in singing, dancing, plays and a fashion show as part of the Điểm Hẹn Tháng 6 (June Rendezvous) programme. Thirteen of the works will be chosen for the contest’s final round, which will be broadcast on HTV9 channel on June 17. Firer’s hat-trick for new home in National Cup Ivan Firer scored a hat-trick in his first match for Becamex Bình Dương as they beat Hoàng Anh Gia Lai 5-3 in the National Cup yesterday at Gò Đậu Stadium. The Slovenian forward had signed a contract with Becamex Bình Dương last week after being fired by FLC Thanh Hóa who said the former player of the Europa League could not adjust to the football environment in Việt Nam. Nsi Amougou, another foreigner for the team, scored a double within six minutes of the start. Hoàng Anh Gia Lai’s replied with two goals by Nguyễn Phong Hồng Duy and Trần Minh Vương after Becamex Bình Dương’s Nguyễn Xuân Luân scored an own goal at the 18th minute. With seven goals scored in the first half the two sides set up a record in the national tournament. It was the second time in a row that Hoàng Anh Gia Lai suffered a defeat. Earlier, they lost 0-5 to the defending champions in the V. League last month. In another match, Nam Định successfully held Hà Nội T&T to a goalless draw on their home turf in Thiên Trường Stadium. Nam Định were moral victors, since they were a First Division team and at a much lower level compared to their premier league rivals, who have set themselves the target of taking home the National Cup, which is the only title they do not have in their collection. Nam Định played a strong defence and blocked all the way leading to goalkeeper Đinh Quang Phán. Both sides raised the tempo after the break and spiced up a crackling atmosphere with some fast-paced football. However, all of their efforts were wasted on a hot afternoon where the temperature reached 41°Celsius. At Lạch Tray, hosts Hải Phòng also had a disappointing 1-1 result against Quảng Nam. Quảng Nam, who are at the bottom half of the V. League after the first leg, scored the opening goal through Diao Sadion just 19 minutes into the match. Hải Phòng, who are on top of the league, however, had to chase the entire time and worked very hard before their Jamaican striker Andre Diego Fagan netted the equaliser four minutes before the final whistle. Quảng Ninh Coal were tied 1-1 by visiting Long An on their Cẩm Phả Stadium in the last match of the quarter-finals. Huỳnh Trần Đức Thịnh netted for the visitors with a powerful straight shot in the 38th minute, while Quảng Ninh’s striker Mạc Hồng Quân found goalkeeper Nguyễn Tiến Anh just eight minutes after the interval. The second leg matches will be played on June 29. Korean man fined for smoking on flight to Hanoi Vietnam’s Northern Airports Authority has fined a Korean passenger VND4 million (US$180) for smoking on a flight to Hanoi. Lee Byounghun was found smoking in the toilet of a Korean Air aircraft at 9:10 p.m., just 15 minutes before it was scheduled to land at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi. The flight from Incheon took more than four and a half hours. According to a Vietnam government decree, in-flight smoking is subject to a fine of up to VND5 million ($231). Vietjet Air offers 3,000 tickets from zero VND on domestic air routes Vietjet Air has offered 3,000 tickets from zero Vietnam dong (excluding tax and other fees) on the occasion of the Da Nang International Tourism Fair 2016, which is scheduled for June 24-26. The low-cost airline has also co-ordinated with other travel companies to offer discounts for tours from Da Nang to HCM City, Hanoi, Hai Phong and Can Tho. Apart from Vietjet Air, several airlines and travel companies have implemented tourism stimulus programs to attract international and domestic tourists to Da Nang city. Vietnam Airlines plans to present a discount code of 20% to 200 first passengers taking part in the fair on the route between Da Nang and Hanoi, HCM City, Buon Ma Thuot, Pleiku, Da Lat and Nha Trang. Meanwhile, Jetstar Airline has also offered a discount on air tickets from just VND99,000 during the fair. International Da Nang Sun Peninsula Resort has also launched tourism programs with a discount of 20% while Asia Park under Sun Group has also implemented a program named Happy Tuesday with a discount of 25% from now to December 31. 4, 300 int’l tourists arrive in HCMC The Royal Caribbean International's newest cruise ship, Ovation of the Seas carrying 4, 300 international passengers from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and Singapore docked at Phu My Port in Ba Ria- Vung Tau province on June 14, starting their tour from Vung Tau and Ho Chi Minh City. The Ovation of the Seas in collaboration with Saigontourist for the first time brought international tourists to Vietnam. The Ovation of the Seas is the newest cruise super-ship with its capacity of 168, 666 tons and 4, 900 passengers. Earlier, Quantum of the Seas arrived in Vietnam on June 15, 2015. During the tournament, Royal Caribbean International Group will work with leaders of provinces having the largest sea ports of Vietnam, aiming to strengthen investment and development of infrastructure to be able to receive the big international tourist ships to Vietnam in the near future. In past two years, the new ships of Royal Carribean International bringing hundreds thousand of international arrivals visited famous tourist sites in HCMC, Vung Tau, Hue and Da Nang. Celebration marks Vietnam-Philippines diplomatic ties Friendship and cooperation between Vietnam and the Philippines were highlighted at a ceremony in Ho Chi Minh City on June 14, which aims to celebrate the 40th founding anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two nations. Addressing the event, Philippine Honorary Consul General in HCM City Le Thi Phung reviewed key milestones in the bilateral relationship, saying this has developed fruitfully in recent years, with promoted cooperation in all fields, especially food industry, pharmaceutical production, culture and education. In his speech, Chairman of the Municipal People’s Committee Nguyen Thanh Phong shared his joy at the fine development of the relationship, which was upgraded to a strategic partnership last year. Regular exchanges of visits between the two countries’ leaders reflected their efforts to foster bilateral activities, thus further promoting cooperation programmes, Phong stressed, adding that the enhanced political relations create momentum for cooperation in other fields. HCM City always takes the lead in carrying out cooperative programmes with the Philippines, contributing to strengthening the connection between the two nations, he noted. He expressed his belief that the Vietnam-Philippines relations will reach new achievements in various areas, bringing practical benefit to the two peoples. The Philippines has so far run over 60 investment projects in Vietnam, including 30 ones in HCM City. In the first three months of this year, two-way trade between Vietnam and the Philippines reached 737 million USD. The figure is hoped to reach 3 billion USD this year.- VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/TT/TN/Dantri |
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Article 6
BUSINESS IN BRIEF 16/6 Firms await more incentives to invest in HCMC  Business executives are of the opinion that more incentives are needed to encourage firms to invest more in HCMC and thus help the city become a leading economic and financial center in the region. The city needs to develop infrastructure and offer stronger policy support in terms of human resources, finances and taxes to make the goal into a reality, heard at a meeting between the city’s chairman Nguyen Thanh Phong and members of the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO) on June 13. To bring multinational corporations and financial institutions to Thu Thiem New Urban Area, the city should offer incentives such as income tax cuts to encourage them to come, said Vo Sy Nhan, general director of NP Capital Partner Limited. Phong said some large financial groups from the U.S. have expressed interest in developing Thu Thiem into a major financial center. The city plans to attract big corporations, he added. Don Lam, CEO of VinaCapital Group and chairman of YPO Vietnam, said investors involved in infrastructure projects in HCMC are facing so many disheartening problems such as lengthy negotiations on site clearance compensation. Most foreign investors want the city to offer them cleared land so that they can quickly carry out their projects. Meanwhile, Nguyen Quoc Khanh, chairman of the Handicraft and Wood Industry Association of HCMC (Hawa), requested the city government to support developing a research center for wood processing. He also proposed a bigger exhibition and convention center than the existing one in District 7, as it is small (around 20,000 square meters) and does not have enough space for big events. Phong said the city government is seeking the Prime Minister’s approval to give a no-bid contract to a consortium to develop an international-standard exhibition center covering 12 hectares in Thu Thiem. Phong said the city has set aside 80 hectares at Hiep Phuoc Industrial Park in the outlying district of Nha Be to construct multi-storey buildings with workshops measuring 50-100 square meters to meet the needs of investors for small workshops. Such workshops have already been up and running at Tan Thuan Export Processing Zone in District 7 and leased out to Japanese enterprises. According to Phong, the city is focusing on making the investment environment more favorable for businesses. As for human resources, general director of Talentnet Corporation Tieu Yen Trinh suggested the city introduce special policies to attract talent from foreign countries, including overseas Vietnamese. The city should pay more attention to retaining talent, providing free education for children of foreign experts, attracting foreign investment in education and developing quality educational institutions, Trinh said. “If we can do all these, I believe everyone will be dreaming of working in HCMC in the next 5-10 years,” Trinh said. YPO, founded in the U.S. in 1950, now has 24,000 members in 130 countries. Total sales of YPO members make up around 15% of global gross domestic product (GDP). YPO Vietnam was established in 1996 and currently has 31 members. Government to continue investment in Vung Ang EZ infrastructure After ten years of building and development, the 22.78 hectare Vung Ang Economic Zone has gradually been built into an industrial, commercial and service center and a modernly and sustainably developed urban area in the north central province of Ha Tinh, said the provincial Economic Zone Management Board. The Government will continue giving capital priority to building of technical infrastructure of the key coastal economic zone in the phase of 2016-2020, according to the board. The Vung Ang is now home to over 500 businesses and 109 projects which have been licensed with VND46,146 billion (US$2.07 billion) and US$11,469 million in registered capital. Projects at the zone have been implemented and operated with a growth in production and trading. The Vung Ang EZ submitted VND12,571 billion to the state budget in the phase of 2011-2014. The contribution amount was VND8,027 billion in 2014 and VND7,470 in 2015 accounting for 62 percent of the province’s total budget revenue. As of April this year, the zone has had 21,860 workers with the average income of VND6.8 million a person a month. In the future, the Vung Ang is expected to be a steel refining center with its capacity of 22.5 million tons a year, thermal power center with the capacity of over 7,000 MW and oil refinery center having the capacity of 16 million tons a year. In addition, the Son Duong deep seaport complex will receive vessels of up to 300,000 tons. The total investment capital in Vung Ang EZ is expected to approximate US$30 billion. VAMC to use cash to buy NPLs The Viet Nam Asset Management Company (VAMC) this year will use cash, departing from the usual practice of using only special bonds, to buy non-performing loans (NPLs), officials said. Online newspaper Infonet quoted the company's chairman Nguyen Quoc Hung as saying that the new measure was aimed at accelerating the bad debt resolution process and supporting commercial banks so they have enough capital to boost their lending. Under current regulations, VAMC issues special bonds in exchange for bad debts, which banks may use as collateral to secure funding from the central bank. As most of the NPLs purchased from commercial banks are still stuck at the VAMC, experts expected that the step would help resolve the bad debt instead of moving it around. Despite praising the new measure, however, experts are still concerned about the application, saying the size of the bad debts is large while the VAMC's capital source is limited. Banking expert Can Van Luc told Infonet that the use of cash to clear the bad debt was very good for boosting the bad debt resolution process, but it was unclear whether VAMC had sufficient funds to buy the bad debts or whether this was just the first step to creating the next catalyst. According to VAMC, the company plans to settle roughly VND30-35 trillion (US$1.33-1.55 billion) of purchased bad debts this year through retrieving the debts and selling them and mortgaged assets. The amount is nearly double that of last year. Besides cash, the company will also issue roughly VND40 trillion of special bonds to buy bad debts from credit institutions this year. On Thursday, Director of the State Bank of Viet Nam's (SBV's) HCM City branch To Duy Lam said that NPLs in HCM City in the first five months this year rose 4.46 per cent against the end of last year, of which potentially irrecoverable debts accounted for 72.8 per cent. Nguyen Van Dung, director of the Banking Supervision and Inspection Agency in HCM City, said the rise was due to better debt classification. Previously, the debt classification was inaccurate and the authorities are now trying to make the domestic classification meet international standards. In a government-sponsored project to restructure the banking system in the 2011-15 period, Lam said only two out of 12 joint stock commercial banks and a financial leasing company had failed to complete the approved restructuring plans as they were restructuring in accordance with the central bank's requirements. According to the SBV's HCM City branch, the city's capital mobilisation in the first five months rose 4.46 per cent, while credit increased by 5 per cent. Textile exports inch up 6.1% in first five months Garment and textile industry exports in the first five months of this year rose 6.1 per cent to US$8.6 billion, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade. The rise was lower than the targeted growth of 10 per cent this year. In May, the industry earned $1.75 billion, up only 3.8 per cent. The United States was the largest export market of the industry, with $3.4 billion, up 6 per cent. The European Union, Japan and South Korea followed with $936 million, $845.17 million and $677.2 million, respectively. Industry insiders are concerned with meeting the industry's export target of $31 billion this year due to falling export prices and difficulties in finding new export contracts, especially for shirts, pants and jackets. Than Duc Viet, deputy general director of the Garment No.10 Corporation, said this year's business results for local textile and garment exporters, especially among small- and medium-sized firms, were not as good as expected due to rising input costs and falling demand. The chairman of the Viet Nam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS), Vu Duc Giang, said some traditional customers of Viet Nam's garment exporters were moving their orders to Laos and Myanmar, which have preferential tax rates for exports to the United States and European Union. Currently, the tax imposed on Viet Nam's textile and garment exports to the United States averages 17 per cent, while the rate to the European Union is nearly 10 per cent. The taxes are expected to drop to zero by mid-2018 when the Trans-Pacific Partnership and Viet Nam-EU Free Trade Agreement take effect. Giang said domestic textile and garment exporters will therefore have to compete fiercely against producers from Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia and Bangladesh. VITAS said export growth rates among these producers were rising faster than in Viet Nam. It offered Cambodia as an example. Viet Nam's textile and garment exports to the European Union were valued at 2.53 billion euros in 2014 and 3.13 billion euros in 2015. Meanwhile, the European Union imported textiles and garments worth 2.26 billion euros in 2014 and 2.97 billion euros in 2015 from Cambodia. Vinatex eyes export growth The Viet Nam Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex) is expecting the export turnover to grow by 10 per cent this year to US$2.6 billion. At the annual shareholders' meeting in Ha Noi yesterday, Vinatex General Director Le Tien Truong said that the group would focus on supporting its subsidiaries in trade promotion to enlarge export markets to meet the target. The group would also set up research boards on free trade agreements to take up the initiative in building effective business and investment strategies, Truong said. Vinatex has invested in developing supply chains from materials to finished products over the past year. After launching operations of the Kien Giang project in 2015, the group is completing the Phu Hung Fibre Plant and a yarn dyed cloth project. Besides, the group has also developed the Supply Chain Development Centre (SCDC) to be dependent on material sources. So far, the SCDC has eight regular customers for garment products and has been developing 20 customers in the United States, Europe, South Korea and Japan. The centre has had 10 customers for cotton and fibre and has been developing 30 customers for its products in Chile, China, Thailand, and Malaysia, in addition to South Korea. Vinatex gained good business results last year with high growth rates from 7 per cent to 13 per cent from most of its large export markets. The group reported an export value of $2.37 billion and a pre-tax profit of VND628 billion last year. Illegal business conditions must end: conference Vietnam should terminate illegal business conditions to boost competitiveness, lawyer Truong Thanh Duc proposed at a conference hosted by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) in Hanoi on June 14. According to Duc, who is also Chairman of law firm Basico, thousands of business conditions included in various circulars issued by ministries, ministry-level agencies, people’s councils and all-level people’s committees in the past ten years are basically illegal. Clause 5 of Article 7 of the Enterprise Law issued in 2005 stipulates that such regulations are beyond the authority of these bodies, he said, adding that the number of unlawful regulations has soared to approximately 6,000. If the law is not fully respected by authorities, the local business climate cannot truly progress, he noted. Head of the VCCI Legal Department Dau Anh Tuan said conditions do not concern enterprises, but the lack of their transparency does. Head of the VCCI quality assessment office Nguyen Huu Dung noted policy planning requires consistency and innovative ideas, which would help underpin the economy. Russian revenue from tours to Vietnam on the rise Revenues from tours to Vietnam will rise by 8-10 percent this year, Russia-based Sputnik News quoted press-secretary of the Russian Tourist Industry Union Irina Turina on June 13. A large number of Russian holidaymakers have chosen Vietnam over Turkey and Egypt, Turina said, adding that the most popular destinations in Vietnam during summer are beach resorts in Phan Thiet city of Binh Thuan province, Nha Trang city in Khanh Hoa province and Phu Quoc island off Kien Giang province. Many local hotels are offering discounts of 10-12 percent to boost demand while Russian tour operators are promoting tours running between summer and the beginning of this autumn. The press-secretary noted that Vietnam is a safe and peaceful country with good customer services. In addition to that, Russian visitors are allowed to enter Vietnam without a visa for 15 days, she said. The visa-free policy for Russian people is in accordance with the exemption agreement between the two countries. About 130,000 Russian people holidayed in Vietnam last year. The country hopes to welcome at least 400,000 Russian visitors this year and about one million by 2020. Vinamilk’s organic products meet US standards The Vietnam Dairy Products Joint Stock Co. (Vinamilk) on June 14 launched its organic milk products meeting the US Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s standards. Vinamilk organic products meet all requirements of the USDA National Organic Programme’s standards, which means they are free of the residues of pesticides, chemical fertilizers, growth hormones, antibiotics and genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Vinamilk Marketing Director Phan Minh Tien said Vinamilk is the first Vietnamese milk supplier to introduce organic products that meet US standards to the domestic market. Vinamilk is shipping its products to 42 foreign markets. The company owns 13 plants across Vietnam and has invested in New Zealand, the US, Cambodia and Poland to increase its global market share. Its turnover reached over 40 trillion VND (1.8 billion USD) in 2015, up 15 percent year-on-year. During 2010-2015, Vinamilk saw an average sales growth of 38 percent in the Middle East. 200 Vietnamese firms to join CAEXPO 2016 About 200 Vietnamese enterprises will attend the 13th China –ASEAN Expo (CAEXPO) which is scheduled to be held from September 23-26 in Nanning city in the Chinese province of Guangxi. The information was revealed by Yang Yanyan, deputy secretary general of the CAEXPO Secretariat, at a press conference to introduce the event in Hanoi on June 14. The Vietnamese businesses will display their products in an area of 5,000 square metres, forming the largest exhibition space among the ASEAN nations at the expo. This year, Vietnam is named as the Country of Honour, which is a mechanism first introduced at the CAEXPO 2007 in order to make it easier for a country to popularise its images during the event. It is chosen alternately among the 10 ASEAN member countries, which include Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Vietnam will also co-host sideline activities to celebrate the 25th anniversary of China-ASEAN Dialogue Relations. The annual CAEXPO was first held in 2004 under the Chinese government’s initiative with the consensus of ASEAN member countries at the seventh ASEAN-China Summit. To advertise the CAEXPO, the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Trade Promotion Agency in collaboration with Guangxi’s authorities will organise the 2016 CAEXPO Vietnamese Exhibition from June 16-18 in Hanoi. The exhibition is expected to attract the participation of about 160 Chinese leading businesses displaying products, including industrial machines, electricity device, hi-tech products and construction materials. The event will offer the two countries’ businesses a chance to strengthen cooperation and take advantage of the ASEAN-China Free Trade Agreement, said Ta Hoang Linh, deputy head of the trade promotion agency at the press conference. Vietnam may have new agency to manage state enterprises The Vietnamese government is considering setting up a new agency to manage state-owned enterprises more effectively, but some economists have questioned the necessity of such a plan. If the plan goes through, this will be the second agency after the sovereign fund State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC) to manage Vietnamese SOEs, whose combined assets were estimated at nearly US$250 billion. The new agency will take over companies which are directly under the management of ministries and government agencies, while SCIC will manage the rest, according to the plan being prepared by the Central Institute for Economic Management. The institute reports to the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI). A ship of state-owned Shipbuilding Industry Corporation, formerly Vinashin. The company was restructured in 2013 amid corruption and debt scandals. The establishment and operation of the new agency will be discussed by the government before the final plan is submitted to the National Assembly next month for approval, Nguyen Dinh Cung, chief of the institute, told Thanh Nien. The new agency is "urgently" needed, considering SOEs lack transparency and are not managed efficiently, with many costly but unsuccessful projects going bankrupt, Cung said. However, the plan has drawn criticism from several economists who dismissed the plan for another manager of state holdings as "unnecessary." Economist Ngo Tri Long urged the government to consider the plan thoroughly, arguing that a new agency means more resources for administration, which goes against the goal of reducing public spending. Figures from the Ministry of Finance show that the government's expenses were VND376.62 trillion (US$16.66 billion), or 44.2% of the total spending in 2010. The ratio jumped to over 70% last year when the expenditure was estimated at VND704.4 trillion (US$31.16 billion). Nguyen Hoang Hai, general secretary of the Vietnam Association of Financial Investors, said the government should focus on speeding up selling stakes in state-controlled businesses. Or it can just give SCIC more power to save money and time involved in establishing a new agency, Hai said. SCIC now has stakes in 197 companies which have a combined market value of nearly VND95.7 trillion (US$4.22 billion), local media recently reported. The fund reportedly earned around VND5.06 trillion (US$223.42 million) in dividends last year, or nearly half of its revenue which also included proceeds from selling shares. Latest official figures show the combined revenues of 781 businesses owned wholly or partly by the government grew only 1% in 2014 to VND1,709 trillion (US$75.61 billion). Their net profits fell 1% to nearly VND187.7 trillion (US$8.3 billion). Australia suspends cattle supply to Vietnam slaughterhouses Australia has suspended cattle supply to a feedlot and several abattoirs in Vietnam amid an investigation into alleged animal cruelty, according to media reports. The ABC reported on June 13 that the live export industry has enforced the ban as the Federal Department of Agriculture is investigating footage of alleged animal cruelty obtained by Animals Australia, which shows animals being killed by sledgehammers. Alison Penfold from the Australian Livestock Exporters Council said it has not been given access to the footage, but the industry takes the allegations seriously. “They’re serious allegations and could well involve livestock which we’ve exported,” she said, as cited by the ABC. The Australian agriculture department said in a statement to ABC that it received the footage late on June 10 night and is still working through it. Penfold said the suspended feedlot in Hai Phong in northern Vietnam was owned by the importer Animex, which had been suspended within the past year due to animal welfare breaches. She said that if the allegations are proven, it would be “disappointing” as the facility has not only breached the contractual obligations but the good faith extended to give it the second chance. “I’d doubt they’ll receive cattle again.” Australia exported more than 360,000 cattle to Vietnam in 2015. Animex alone imported 75,000 between 2012 and the start of 2015. Animals Australia in May last year lodged a complaint to Australia's agriculture department, saying it has “shocking and distressing” footage showing slaughterhouse workers in northern Vietnam give Australian cattle repeated blows to the head with a sledgehammer. But Australia did not suspend cattle exports to the country at the time. Australia announces conditions on mango imports Australia’s Department of Agriculture and Water Resources officially announced conditions on the importation of Vietnamese mangoes on May 27, according to the Vietnamese Trade Office in Australia. Prior to the importation of goods into Australia a valid import permit issued by the Department of Agriculture is required. Imported mangoes must be produced in Vietnam in accordance with the relevant conditions and work plan. To demonstrate compliance with this requirement, export enterprises must have a phytosanitary certificate stating “The fruit in this consignment has been produced in Vietnam in accordance with the conditions governing the entry of fresh mango to Australia and in accordance with the Work Plan ‘Export of Irradiated Fresh Fruit from Vietnam to Australia’”. Fresh mangoes from Vietnam must undergo mandatory irradiation with a minimum absorbed dose of 400 Gy (Gy is an abbreviation for gray, the SI unit of the absorbed dose of ionizing radiation) at a treatment facility approved by the relevant Vietnamese authority. The maximum absorbed dose for mangoes must not exceed 1 kGy as per Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code (FSC) requirements. The FSC is administered by Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ). An original phytosanitary certificate must accompany each consignment and be correctly completed. Information in this regard can be found on the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) website. Consignments must be free from pests and diseases (other than those that will be neutralized by the approved dose of irradiation). The consignment must also be free from contaminants, including refuse such as leaves, stem material, soil, weed seeds, splinters, twigs and other plant material. Consignments must be securely packaged at origin prior to treatment. Packaging must be synthetic or highly processed if of plant origin. No unprocessed plant material such as straw may be included in the packaging. A Treatment Facility Code (TFC) and a Treatment Identification Number (TIN) must be printed on each carton. The Australian Government requires that treated product must be protected from pest contamination at all times during and after packing, treatment, storage and movement between locations. Containers must have been inspected by the Vietnamese authority prior to loading, to ensure pest freedom and that vents are covered to prevent the entry of pests. Consignments must be inspected and cleared by bio-security officers at the first port of entry. No air or land bridging will be permitted until the fruit have been released from quarantine. If any bio-security risk material is detected that may not have been mitigated by the irradiation treatment, the consignment must be held at the importer’s expense and subjected to either appropriate treatment to address the bio-security risk or returned or destroyed. Should any discrepancy be found with the produce or certification (indicating a possible system breakdown), the produce will be detained until an Import Services Team can determine the cause of the breakdown and provide advice on the appropriate remedial action. Remedial action in Australia may include further inspection, treatment, destruction or export. Consignments that have a phytosanitary certificate that is not correctly endorsed or where the original phytosanitary certificate has not been sighted by the Department of Agriculture will be held pending presentation of a correctly filled out and original phytosanitary certificate. The Department will accept appropriately amended or re-issued phytosanitary certificates (including faxed or scanned copies transmitted directly to the Department from the certifying authority). The Department may review the import policy any time after trade begins or if Vietnam’s pest or phytosanitary status has changed. Once bio-security requirements have been met it is the importer’s responsibility to ensure that all imported food complies with the Imported Food Control Act 1992. Binh Dinh woos Taiwan investors The government of Binh Dinh has pledged to create favorable conditions for Taiwanese firms to set up shop in the south-central province. At a meeting in HCMC with about 100 Taiwanese firms operating in Vietnam over the weekend, Ho Quoc Dung, chairman of Binh Dinh, said that Taiwan has big corporations in the areas where the province needs investment, including road, port, airport, electricity, high-tech, finance and banking. In addition, the province called for Taiwanese companies to invest in trading and services; tourism; assembly and production of machines, auto parts, motorcycles, bicycles and industrial equipment; food processing; electronics and telecommunications; and medical equipment. Dung said that compared to other provinces, Binh Dinh has huge land resources for industrial production and developed infrastructure for enterprises in electricity, water, waste treatment, and telecommunications. The province has streamlined licensing procedures for investors. The province applies low land rent and supports investors to train local workers. The province’s leaders are ready to solve problems faced by investors, Dung said at the meeting, which was jointly organized by Binh Dinh, the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV) and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in HCMC. A representative of the Taiwan Business Association in HCMC said Binh Dinh has a favorable location for transportation to the south and the north. However, the province should learn how to attract investors as Dong Nai, Binh Duong and HCMC have done by developing roads and industrial infrastructure since Taiwanese investors prefer sites with good infrastructure. According to the Taiwan Business Association in Dong Nai Province, a majority of Taiwanese enterprises are small and medium and they often follow in the footsteps of large firms. Therefore, the province was asked to take this into account and find ways to attract major Taiwan investors. For Taiwan companies, stable supply of local workers is an important part of their investment decisions. Replying to these concerns, Dung said Binh Dinh’s infrastructure has been improved with new roads, railways and air routes in place to meet travel demands of business and leisure travelers. Binh Dinh is home to the country’s third largest seaport system which facilitates cargo transport between the province and other parts of the world. Dung said Binh Dinh has over 900,000 people of working age, more than 50% of them skilled workers. In addition, new living and entertainment facilities, including resorts and hotels, can meet the demand of investors and tourists. According to TECO in HCMC, Vietnam is one of the strategic destinations for Taiwanese investors. Taiwanese firms have mainly invested in southern provinces but a number of them are expected to come to gauge the investment environment in Binh Dinh after the meeting. By the end of May, Taiwan had got involved in nearly 2,530 projects in Vietnam with total registered capital of over US$31.8 billion. ANT animal feed factory worth US$3 million is the only Taiwanese-invested project in Binh Dinh. Vien Phu puts up organic farm for sale Vien Phu Organic & Healthy Food Joint Stock Company (JSC), the owner of HoaSuaFoods brand, has announced a plan to sell a 320-hectare organic farm in Ca Mau Province. Vo Minh Khai, director of Vien Phu, said that having operated the farm in the Mekong Delta province for 15 years, the company now wants to sell it given the lack of support from the Government and partners. Khai said priority will be given to investors who continue using the available infrastructure of the company to develop organic farming. Vien Phu has spent big growing organic products under the HoaSuaFoods brand, including black, white and red rice, basil, cilantro and fish. These products are sold via an extensive distribution network covering most provinces and cities in the south. The company got an organic rice certificate from BIO Organic in 2012. Earlier, Khai said the company had had difficulty finding finances for the farm. Le Thanh Tung from the Cultivation Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said this was a sad ending of the organic farm of Vien Phu because Khai was a pioneer in organic farming and had been successful in building a strong HoaSuaFoods brand for organic products. Tung acknowledged this was due partly to a lack of policy support. Organica, a producer of certified organic vegetables, said investment in organic farming is tough. Apart from policy issues, many consumers are not yet fully aware of the benefits of organic products. Other producers of organic goods have also complained it is difficult to sell their products on the local market. Prices of organic goods are always higher than normal items. Drug firm to launch IPO next week State-owned Vietnam Pharmaceutical Corporation (Vinapharm) looks set to launch an initial public offering (IPO) with 42.5 million shares (18%) offered at the starting price of VND10,000 each on the Hanoi Stock Exchange on June 22. After Vinapharm goes public, the State will hold 154 million shares (65%) while 40.2 million shares will be sold to strategic investors and 103,000 shares to employees. According to data of the northern bourse, Vinapharm is attractive to investors thanks to its efficient operation. It specializes in pharmaceuticals, functional foods and medical equipment, as well as research and development (R&D) activity. Vinapharm is using 9,900 square meters in the center of Hanoi. The company is cooperating with Viet Land Corporation and Song Hong ICT Company to develop an office and apartment complex at 95 Lang Ha Street. The company is joining forces with Vinaconex-PVC Construction Investment Company to implement a commercial and apartment project at 60B Nguyen Huy Tuong Street, Thanh Xuan District, Hanoi. The project will be up and running at the end of 2017. Vinapharm is headquartered at 12 Ngo Tat To Street in the capital city. In HCMC, its office is at 178 Dien Bien Phu Street and its showroom at 126A Tran Quoc Thao Street. Vinapharm’s revenue has risen sharply over the past three years, with VND117.3 billion in 2013, VND139.7 billion in 2014 and VND204.1 billion in 2015. Its respective after-tax profit reached VND80.7 billion, VND136 billion and VND129 billion. In the 2015-2020 period, the company plans to implement a number of projects on R&D, medicinal herb farming, and treatment. Vinapharm will operate as a joint stock company in 2020 and concentrate on R&D, sales, warehouse-logistics services, advanced technology, medicinal herb farming and packaging. In 2016-2020, it looks to attain revenue of VND258 billion to VND1,559 billion and after-tax profit of VND41.2 billion to VND115.7 billion, and pay dividends at 2-4% per year. In the five-year period, Vinapharm will invest in an R&D-pharmaceutical material center on 30,000 hectares meeting Good Agricultural and Collection Practices (GACP) standards and a factory to extract medicinal herbs meeting Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) standards. Another plant to produce specialty drugs meeting GMP standards will be built by Vinapharm to help reduce prices and meet demand of patients. Industrial production cools in Jan-May Vietnam’s index of industrial production in the January-May period was lower than in the same period last year, showed a report of the Ministry of Industry and Trade. The report on trade and industrial production released last week indicated the index grew 7.5% in the first five months, well below 9.2% in the same period of 2015. The industrial index of the mining sector declined by 1.2% over the same period last year, with crude oil and natural gas dropping by 2.4% as the world oil price fall led to lower output. Meanwhile, the processing-manufacturing sector surged 9.7% but the growth was still lower than 9.9% in the same period last year. Growth of some key industries, including electrical devices, chemical and leather, eased in the period due to weaker demand in the first months of this year. However, the ministry is pinning hopes that industrial production will grow strong in the coming months since the world oil price has bounced back. Many enterprises in the apparel and footwear sectors have won contracts for the third and fourth quarters. Demand for domestically-assembled autos remains high, having expanded over 30% in the first five months. In addition, higher sales of beverages, electronic devices and home appliances in summer support production. This year’s industrial growth is put at 9-10%, according to the ministry. HCMC to bury 1,800 more kilometers of power cable HCMC Power Corporation has proposed a plan to underground 650 kilometers of medium-voltage cable and 1,150 kilometers of low-voltage cable between now and 2020 to free the cityscape from the ugliness of tangled power lines. The corporation will focus on undergrounding wiring in inner-city areas, including districts 1 and 3. Speaking at a meeting last week with Vietnam Electricity Group (EVN), the parent firm of HCMC Power Corporation, HCMC chairman Nguyen Thanh Phong said all power lines are buried in new urban areas, but tangled overhead power lines exist in many parts of the city. Phong asked EVN to make its units speed up the undergrounding of power lines and work with corporations and the Ministry of Information and Communications to strictly handle telecom firms that have not undergrounded their wiring. Apart from EVN, military-run telecom group Viettel, HCMC Telecommunications, Saigontourist Cable TV (SCTV), and FPT Telecom are burying their cables. In the 2013-2015 period, about 228 kilometers of telecom wiring was undergrounded in the city, mainly in the downtown area, administrative and commercial centers, and the main roads connecting outlying and linner-city areas. In late 2015, the HCMC Department of Information and Communications submitted to the city government a plan to underground telecom cables in 2016-2017. Accordingly, the city will implement multiple works to bury telecom cables and dozens of power lines in the two-year period. Consistent policies urged for budget housing projects Property experts are of the opinion that HCMC needs to apply consistent policies for housing and infrastructure development, instead of relying solely on interest rate subsidies as a major way to develop housing for low-income people. The policies were discussed at a conference jointly held by Thanh Tra newspaper and the Vietnam Association of Real Estate on opportunities for low-income people to buy social and budget homes. Economic expert Tran Du Lich said a reason behind enterprises’ reluctance to invest in low-cost apartment projects is that land is too expensive in the city, especially in inner-city areas. High land prices have led investors to focus on high-end housing projects to ensure profitability. Lich said affordable housing projects are inconsistent to the city’s infrastructure and road development plans. For instance, Metro Line No. 1 connecting Ben Thanh Market in the central business district and Suoi Tien Park in District 9 will not run through any low-cost housing development projects. It is necessary to extend the city’s transport systems to outlying areas to encourage investors to build low-income homes in places where land is cheaper. Lich forecast demand for affordable housing in HCMC will be huge in the next five years as the city is proceeding with plans to clear 22,000 slum houses along the canals and rebuild 474 old apartment buildings. Finance-banking expert Nguyen Tri Hieu shared Lich’s view, saying that interest rate subsidies are not enough to fuel the development of the budget housing market. Preferential credit packages are only short-term solutions. Apart from the VND30-trillion home loan package, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has allowed the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies to provide cheap loans for buyers of low-priced apartments. An annual interest rate of 4.8% applies to borrowers who meet the requirements provided in the Government’s Decree 100/2015 on development and management of social housing projects until the end of 2016. However, Hieu said banks have their own regulations to protect their capital. People who use their assets as collateral and have sources of stable income can borrow more while people with no assets for collateral and monthly salaries of VND4-5 million may find it hard to buy a house. Therefore, there should be rules specifying groups of borrowers and loan terms rather than just focusing on interest subsidies. Nguyen Thanh Hai, head of the housing and office building management division under the HCMC Department of Construction, said the city has approved 51 social housing projects having 48,587 apartments and occupying 150.9 hectares. Of them, a dozen with a total of 3,886 apartment units have been completed while the remaining 39 projects will be up and running in the 2016-2020 period. Vietnam prefers ‘amicable solutions’ to trade defence In the face of heightened competition brought about by the emergence of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) and other free trade agreements— many voices across Vietnam are advocating the nation start backpedalling to protectionism. In the name of shielding local businesses from being so-called “robbed of revenue, earnings and jobs”, these individuals advocate misusing trade defence measures as a disguised method of avoiding competition. Nguyen Phuong Nam, deputy head of Vietnam Competition Authority (VCA) under the Ministry of Industry and Trade is one of those who says not so fast. At a recent workshop in Hanoi, Mr Nam openly acknowledged that many foreign countries are using trade defence measures such as anti-dumping lawsuits to gain an unfair competitive advantage against Vietnamese imports. Though he considers these actions deplorable, Mr Nam does not advocate that local companies retaliate by following suit and initiating spurious lawsuits against multinational companies looking to export to Vietnam. Local businesses should not fear head-to-head, fair and honest competition, said Mr Nam. But on the other hand, antidumping actions should legitimately be utilized as a punitive action against a multinational company that sells its product in the Vietnamese market at below the local industry’s cost. In other words, if it costs the local industry US$10 to produce a widget, then a foreign company who is exporting widgets to Vietnam and selling them at US$9 each is dumping (selling at below cost) and an anti-dumping action is warranted. “If local companies don’t file anti-dumping actions in situations like these where foreign companies are flagrantly selling their exports at below cost they’ll go bankrupt,” said Mr Nam. Safeguard measures, on the other hand, are much more complex but essentially involve restricting all imports of a product temporarily if a domestic industry is seriously jeopardized or threatened with serious injury caused by a sudden surge in imports. Generally, it is the affected domestic industry which urges the government to take up safeguard measures against importing companies. In order to stop protectionism from escalating into trade wars, instruments for administered protection such as anti-dumping and safeguard measures must be restricted to the purposes they are designed for, said Pham Chau Giang, deputy head of Trade Remedies Board of the VCA. “If local companies improperly use anti-dumping and safeguard measures as a way to disguise protectionism, the consequences could be devastating to the economy as a whole, as it’ll negatively impact all imports and cripple manufacturing,” she said. To date Vietnamese companies in collaboration with the government have only filed one anti-dumping action, said Ms Giang, as the government prefers to resolve these types of predicaments through ‘amicable solutions’ brought about by diplomacy. Another Vinachem plant announces huge losses State-run Vietnam National Chemical Group’s (Vinachem) fertiliser subsidiaries have had difficulty in selling products due to oversupply, leading to continuous losses. Another subsidiary of Vinachem, named Ha Bac Nitrogenous Fertiliser and Chemical Company Limited (Hanichemco), suffered huge losses worth VND700 billion ($31.3 million) in 2015 alone. The loss is considered more serious than Ninh Binh nitrogenous fertiliser plant’s loss of VND500 billion ($22.3 million). The plant made a loss after the expanded plant, upgrading its capacity to 500,000 from the initial 180,000 tonnes per year, started operation in June 2015. The golden age of urea nitrogenous fertiliser was in the 2011-2012 period, and the market was quickly saturated when a series of nitrogenous fertiliser plants came into operation. The most noteworthy contenders on the market are Ca Mau fertiliser plant with a capacity of 800,000 tonnes per year, Ninh Binh nitrogenous fertiliser plant with an annual capacity of 500,000 tonnes, and the expanded Ha Bac plant with an annual capacity of 500,000 tonnes. According to experts in the fertiliser sector, the domestic demand for urea fertiliser is currently approximately two million tonnes per year, while the total supply amounts to 2.65 million tonnes, leading to an extremely out-of-balance the oversupply situation. Along with the saturation, the domestic fertiliser manufacturing sector also needs to compete with imported products, especially low-price Chinese fertiliser which take up 49 per cent of the total imported fertiliser volume in Vietnam. Furthermore, Vinachem’s fertiliser plants in general and the Ha Bac plant in particular have difficulties competing in price with other plants’ products, because most fertiliser plants are fuelled by gas, while Vinachem still uses coal. While gas fuel prices are on a continuous decrease, coal prices are immobile, leaving the Ha Bac plant unable to compete. In late March, Ninh Binh nitrogenous fertiliser plant was forced to call a temporary halt to its operations by its continuous losses. The company temporarily laid off 400 of its 1,100 workers, paying the monthly unemployment allowance of VND3.1 million ($139.37) to each in order to convene them when the plant opens its gates again. Vinachem has submitted 11 plans to deal with the above difficulties to the government and the Ministry of Industry and Trade, one of which is closing the plant. VPBank Securities wins ‘Best Investment Bank and M&A House in Vietnam 2007-2016’ award VPBank Securities just won the ‘Best Investment Bank and M&A House in Vietnam 2007-2016’ award from Alpha Southeast Asia Magazine. This was one of eight awards presented by Alpha Southeast Asia to financial institutions in Vietnam this year. Following a review of more than 200 submissions from locally-incorporated brokerages, commercial and investment banks, and a select number of foreign banks from throughout the region, the award winner was selected based on a combination of criteria – evaluated over the entire period from 2007 until present. The criteria covered the firms’ comprehensive financial advisory capabilities in the equity market, bond market, and mergers & acquisitions, as well as other corporate advisory services. Other factors, such as the value and volume of transactions, the role played in the structuring of deals and financing arrangements, the types of investors, and customer feedback, were also carefully considered during the evaluation. Alpha Southeast Asia is the first and only institutional investment magazine purely focused on and totally devoted to Southeast Asia. This year is the 10th Annual Best Financial Institutions Awards honouring the best securities firms and investment banks, and is the first year in which institutions have been honoured for their achievements over a period of 10 years – from 2007 to the present. This is the third consecutive year in which VPBS has received a prestigious award from Alpha Southeast Asia. In 2014, VPBank Securities won the ‘Best Bond House in Vietnam’ award, and in 2015 was named ‘Best Investment Bank in Vietnam’. VEF/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/Dantri/VET/VIR |
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Owners of big properties in downtown Saigon change The ownership of real estate projects in downtown Ho Chi Minh City has changed quietly, including the Legend Hotel, Vincom Center A, Diamond Plaza .... Singapore’s Mapletree buys Kumho Asiana Plaza  MapletreeInvestments has acquired Kumho Asiana Plaza Saigon in District 1, HCM City from Kumho Industrial Company and Asiana Airlines, at a cost of US$107 million. Kumho Asiana Plaza is a prime mixed-use asset with close to 146,000 square metres (in gross floor area. It comprises Grade A offices, highly-rated serviced apartments and a hotel managed by InterContinental Hotels Group, as well as a variety of food & beverage offerings. Occupancies for the office and serviced apartment components, as well as the F&B podium, have been consistently above 90 per cent, Mapletree said. The asset is located along Le Duan Boulevard and Hai Ba Trung Street in the heart of Ho Chi Minh City's central business district. It is also close to the city's major landmarks and tourist attractions such as the Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica of Saigon. Mapletree began investing in Vietnam in 2005, and today owns and manages a portfolio comprising office, retail, industrial, logistics, and serviced apartment assets. Including Kumho Asiana Plaza, the group now has over S$1 billion in assets under management in the country. Lotte buys into Diamond Plaza, Legend Hotel  Legend Hotel Saigon South Korea’s Lotte Group last March replaced Posco as the foreign investor in a joint venture which owns and operates the Diamond Plaza, a commercial, office and apartment complex in downtown HCM City. Lotte has joined the management of the Diamond Plaza after acquiring 70% of the project. Diamond Plaza was inaugurated in August 2000 with 22 floors, including two basements. The building, which overlooks the landmark Notre Dame Cathedral in HCMC’s District 1 and had an initial investment of some US$60 million, was the joint venture between Construction Corporation No. 1 (CC1) and Posco Engineering & Construction Co. (Posec) under Posco Group. The Diamond Plaza deal is yet another move of Lotte to deepen its involvement in Vietnam’s real estate market, particularly the commercial property segment, via mergers and acquisitions (M&A). In 2013 Lotte bought a 70% stake of Japan’s Kotobuki at the Legend Hotel Saigon and the remaining 30% is now held by Hai Thanh Company, according to foreign property service providers. The five-star hotel was renamed Lotte Legend Saigon in April last year and is now under the management of the hotel and resort arm of Lotte.  Diamond Plaza. The group is expanding its presence in supermarkets and other areas as well. Retailer LotteMart has opened a commercial center in the Pico Plaza building in HCM City’s Tan Binh District. Earlier, a Pico shopping center in Hanoi was turned into a Lotte property. At present, Lotte is proceeding with a US$2-billion property complex in District 2, HCMC. The Korean group will cooperate with Japanese investors to develop the Eco Smart City project in Thu Thiem New Urban Area. The group has invested billions of U.S. dollars in projects in hotel, food, supermarket, cinema, construction and home shopping sectors in Vietnam. VIPD buys Vincom Center A  In a deal worth VND9.823 trillion, Vingroup, which is owned by the richest stock millionaire Pham Nhat Vuong, transferred the project to VIPD, the Vietnam Infrastructure and Property Development Group, in June 2013 making a profit of VND4.3 trillion. Vincom Center A is located at No. 53 Le Thanh Ton, 171 Dong Khoi, 6A Le Loi and 116 Nguyen Hue in the central district No 1 in HCM City. It’s comprised of six basements and 9 stories, including three basements for car parking, while the other three basements and four stories have been used for shopping mall and an amusement area. A five star hotel is situated on the 5-9th floors. Vincom Center A was inaugurated in October 2012. GMD Tower sold to CJ  HoSE-listed Gemadept Corporation in December 2014 sold the 22-floor Gemadept Tower in Ho Chi Minh City to four subsidiaries of Korean CJ Group. Instead of selling the asset directly, Gemadept founded the wholly-owned firm Marproco, using the tower as paid-in capital, then sold its interest in the newly-established concern. However, Gemadept only sold 85 percent of Marproco. Gemadept’s moves to sharply increase Marproco’s charter capital to VND936 billion ($44.3 million) from the previous VND6 billion ($284,158), has caused Vietcombank Securities (VCBS) to estimate the building’s value at VND930 billion ($44 million). As the asset has input costs of VND218.4 billion ($10.3 million), the deal has earned the company VND711.6 billion ($33.7 million). The building earned Gemadept more than VND64 billion ($3 million) from office leasing in the first nine months of 2013, figures unchanged against the same period last year. GMD Tower, located at No. 6 Le Thanh Ton Street, District 1, is a class A office building with total area of 16,000 m2, 22 floors and 2 basements. Compiled by Khuyen Bui, VNN |
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Da Nang mulls building Vietnam’s second submarine tunnel  Buildings are seen across the Han River in Da Nang City, located in central Vietnam. A central Vietnamese city is expected to join Ho Chi Minh City as the only Vietnamese localities to have an underwater tunnel beneath a major river. The plan to build a tunnel under the iconic Han River in Da Nang, Vietnam’s central hub, was first unveiled late last year. Since then, the municipal administration has been taking steps to realize the ambitious, and costly, megaproject. More details of the proposed construction were revealed during a meeting between the city’s administration, a construction consultant, Bridge and Tunnel Engineering Consultants (BRITEC), and other relevant departments and agencies on Wednesday. According to the consultant firm, the Han River tunnel will connect the 3/2 – Dong Da intersection in Hai Chau District with the Van Don roundabout in Son Tra District. Hai Chau is the main district of Da Nang, housing the city’s administrative center, while Son Tra sits east of the Han River on the edge of the East Vietnam Sea. The construction is expected to cover a total of 1,315 meters, with the submarine path measuring 900 meters long and able to accommodate six lanes of traffic. The project will cost Da Nang VND4.08 trillion (US$182.14 million). BRITEC said the project will take approximately three years to complete, with the groundbreaking slated for the last quarter of this year. After the BRITEC’s presentation, Vu Quang Hung, director of the municipal construction department, questioned the consultant about the tunnel’s connectivity with the existing traffic system, safety precautions during construction, operational and maintenance costs, and emergency response plans. In the meantime, the municipal administration underlined the importance of considering natural factors such as storms and floods during construction to ensure the project is completed on time while still meeting quality standards.  A BRITEC representative responded that the annual maintenance cost for the tunnel is estimated at VND24 billion ($1.07 million) and emergency response units will be established at the two ends of the tunnel, once opened to traffic, to take action if emergencies arise, the company added. Concluding the meeting, the city’s chairman Huynh Duc Tho asserted that the underwater tunnel will be the most complicated traffic infrastructure to have ever been developed in Da Nang. Tho therefore requested that all relevant parties, from consultation to development and operation, must complete their jobs adequately and carefully in order to optimize the project’s implementation. Citing concerns about the capital needed for the project, Tho said the city will try to allocate money from the municipal budget, as well as putting some coastal land plots up for auction to raise funds for the project. The Han River tunnel planning, however, has generated mixed responses from local residents and experts questioning the project’s cost and necessity. Supporters of the project say the tunnel will be icing on the cake for Da Nang, already known for its beautiful beaches, clean environment, and peaceful lifestyle, factors that contribute to its role as the leading tourism hub in central Vietnam. However, the Da Nang administration has been accused of wasting money just to ‘compete’ with Ho Chi Minh City, home to the Saigon River Tunnel – Vietnam’s first-ever submarine tunnel and arguably the largest of its kind in Southeast Asia. Other naysayers believe the project is an unnecessary addition to the six bridges already crossing the Han River, including such well-known structures as Thuan Phuoc, Han River, and Rong (Dragon) Bridges.  The six bridges on the Han River (Click on the photo to see in full size) TUOI TRE NEWS |
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Breakfast @ Tuoi Tre News – June 16  Here are the leading news stories about Vietnam you should not miss today, June 16: Politics -- Vietnam will try its best to foster the neighborly friendship, solidarity and comprehensive cooperation with Cambodia, Vietnamese State President Tran Dai Quang said during meetings with leaders of the Cambodian legislature and government in Phnom Penh on Wednesday. -- Visiting Lao Minister of Science and Technology Boviengkham Vongdara called on support from Ho Chi Minh City authorities to facilitate joint science and technology projects, as he was received by the city’s deputy chairman Le Thanh Liem on Wednesday. Society -- The administration of the central city of Da Nang is expected to build a VND4 trillion (US$178.57 million) underwater tunnel beneath its iconic Han River. -- The hot spell in the northern region of Vietnam, which roasted Hanoi with a peak at 40 degrees Celsius, is forecast to end today, June 16, according to the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting -- Fifty ships were dispatched on Wednesday to search for the missing pilot of a Russian-made fighter jet of the Vietnam People’s Air Force, one day after it went off radar during a training session. -- Vietnam’s traffic police unit and the Vietnam Post closed Wednesday an agreement that will allow traffic violators to pay fines and get back their temporarily seized papers at the nearest post offices. Business -- Vietnam’s oil revenue in the first five months of this year topped VND15.89 trillion ($709.38 million), meeting only 29.2 percent of the full-year target and dropped 50 percent from a year earlier, mostly because of a five-month average price as low as $38.1 a barrel, the country’s taxman said Wednesday. -- Dozens of hectares of peanut crops in the southern province of An Giang have reached harvest time with no nuts at all, even though the aboveground parts of the plants are growing well. Lifestyle -- Hundreds of domestic and international tattoo artists will have a chance to exchange experience and ideas on the art of tattooing at the maiden International Tattoo Convention in Hanoi from June 23 to 24. Education -- The Vietnam National University - Ho Chi Minh City (VNU-HCM) jumped 54 notches to enter the Top 150 of the QS University Rankings: Asia, an annual ranking of top universities in the region. The Vietnamese university stood at the 147th place in the list, topped by the National University of Singapore. Sports -- Vietnam has so far secured 20 Olympic berths at the upcoming Rio 2016 in Brazil this August, exceeding its target of 16-18 tickets, according to the General Department of Sports and Physical Training TUOI TRE NEWS |
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Vietnam's government exceeds spending limit again  Discussions on weak fiscal discipline began to pop up again after new data revealed that the government in 2014 did not just spend more than it had, but also broke an overspending cap imposed by legislators. At a meeting with the Standing Committee of the National Assembly on Wednesday, Finance Minister Dinh Tien Dung reported a state budget deficit of more than VND260.14 trillion (US$11.5 billion) in 2014, or 6.61 percent of the country's gross domestic product, local media said. That was an increase of 16.1 percent from the maximum deficit level approved by the National Assembly that year. Legislators wanted the deficit to stay below 5.7 percent of GDP. Explaining the higher-than-allowed spending, Dung said many infrastructure projects had to be sped up and the government had to borrow more. He urged the legislature to approve the spending figures so that the government can wrap up accounting work for the year 2014. This practice of breaching expenditure limits is not rare in Vietnam. But this time, many top legislators demanded the government present a detailed report on its spending, otherwise official fiscal figures will not be accepted. "Our finances are not transparent with many unaccounted expenses," Phan Trung Ly, chairman of the National Assembly's legal committee, was quoted as saying at the meeting. "We need to abide by laws; there must be no leniency," he said, calling on the legislature to carefully consider the figures. In 2013, the state budget deficit amounted to more than VND236.76 trillion, or 6.6 percent of GDP, exceeding the 5.3 percent cap set by the National Assembly. Under existing rules, the government is allowed to borrow money to make up for its deficit. This year, for instance, it plans to borrow VND254 trillion ($11.23 billion). Latest figures released by the government last month showed Vietnam's public debt was equivalent to 62.2 percent of GDP. It will rise to 63.8 percent at the end of this year, and then 64.7 percent in 2018, or slightly lower than the threshold of 65 percent, according to the World Bank's projections. |
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Abuse of antibiotics should net fish farmers prison time The biggest sellers of fish and seafood in Japan have decided to greatly reduce the number of antibiotic-treated marine products they purchase from Vietnam, a move that's expected to a deliver a huge financial blow to the aquaculture industry.  Le Van Quang, president and CEO of Minh Phu Seafood Corporation, said the situation has given him one too many ‘headaches’ as foreign importers have told him straight up they don’t want what he is peddling. “My customers in Japan are telling me they prefer shrimp from Indonesia and the Philippines,” said Mr Quang. “They would prefer to buy their seafood due to concerns of overuse and abuse of antibiotics by Vietnamese farmers and they are more than willing to pay an extra premium of US$2.5-US$3 per kilo to get a quality product.” “Fish farming in Vietnam has gained an increasingly bad reputation with both Japanese and EU customers saying the fish and seafood are fatty, dyed, polluting and stuffed with antibiotics,” said Mr Quang. “The fundamental problem is that our waters here are filthy,” said Mr Quang. “There are simply too many aquaculture farms in Vietnam. They’re all discharging water here, fouling up other farms.” Farmers have coped with the toxic waters by mixing illegal veterinary drugs and pesticides into fish feed, which helps keep their stocks alive yet leaves poisonous and carcinogenic residues, posing health threats to consumers. “It contributes to an increase in superbugs, or microorganisms that have grown resistant to antibiotics, posing a severe threat to human health and as well negatively affecting the taste,” said Mr Quang. Environmental degradation, in other words, has become a food safety problem, said Mr Quang, with mounting scientific evidence that consuming contaminated fish and seafood leads to higher rates of cancer and liver disease as well as numerous other afflictions. In recent years, both Japan and the EU have imposed temporary bans on Vietnamese fish and seafood because of illegal drug residues. The US has even gone so far as to block imports of several types of fish after inspectors detected traces of illegal drugs linked to cancer. Threat of shutdown and prison “The solution may be that the Vietnam government needs to force shut down and liquidation of seafood companies that violate the law and fail to pass Japanese and EU seafood inspections for illegal veterinary drugs,” said Mr Quang. “For far too many years,” said Mr Quang, “we’ve blindly emphasized economic growth over quality and sustainability. The single-minded pursuit has been GDP, and now we can see that the water turns dirty and our seafood in turn gets dangerous.” “Antibiotic problems are plaguing the fish and seafood segment of agriculture and are clearly a bad omen for the industry.” “Seafood producers themselves exacerbate the problem,” said Mr Quang. Large aquaculture farms concentrate fish waste, pesticides and veterinary drugs in their ponds and discharge the contaminated water into rivers, streams and coastal areas, often with no treatment. He said this in turn necessitates increased levels of antibiotics, which just aggravates the problem. Aquaculture has led to seafood from fish farms producing more than from the sea in Vietnam, said Mr Quang, and it has also helped to feed an increasingly prosperous population, a longstanding challenge. But now, serious environmental problems have begun to emerge compounded by increased manufacturing plants moving into the country, which has resulted in waters that are unfit for fish farming, swimming or any contact whatsoever with the human body. As water quality declines, farmers who often fill their ponds with too much seafood are fighting off disease and calm stressed fish with an array of powerful, and most often illegal, antibiotics and pesticides. Mr Quang said a possible solution to the water woes is to move aquaculture well offshore and utilize newer technology that allows for deep-water fish cages served by automatic feeding machines. An alternative is long prison terms for those who violate the laws on the use of antibiotics governing fish and seafood trade. According to Penal Law 2015, the use of antibiotics or chemicals in aquaculture is punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine of US$9,000. Farmers who intentionally violate the law could be subjected to a 20-year sentence and fines of US$45,000. VOV |
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Farmers, retailers join hands to compete with foreign goods Nearly 250 Vietnamese businesses have decided to work with each other to bring high-quality products to Vietnamese consumers, a move that will help them compete with foreign goods flooding the home market.  Under the cooperation agreement signed by the enterprises on June 1, Vingroup, the retailer, would be responsible for distributing products made by Vietnamese enterprises in seven fields, including food, cosmetics, toys, stationary, household-use goods, fresh food and fashion to consumers in 18 provinces and cities throughout the country. Within one year, manufacturers can bring their products to Vinmart and Vinmart+ retail outlets under preferential conditions. The suppliers of fresh food, including meat, fish, poultry, vegetables and fruits, will enjoy the discount rate of zero percent. Vingroup will help manufacturers sell products and get no profit, while manufacturers can retain the discounts to make re-investment and upgrade their products’ quality so as to satisfy the strict requirements on food hygiene. This will benefit both manufacturers and consumers in the long term, because manufacturers will sell their products better, while consumers can restore their confidence on Vietnamese goods. Pham Chi Lan, a renowned economist, commented that the cooperation of 250 businesses will be the solution to the existing problems Vietnamese goods are encountering in the home market. Lan said she was once asked what she felt most worried about Vietnamese businesses. Her answer was the lack of Vietnamese businesses’ cooperation to create competitiveness.
“The cooperation of Vietnamese businesses has been my biggest desire in the last 50 years,” Lan said. The alliance of retailer and manufacturers has been established in the context of the stiff competition between Vietnamese goods and foreign products in the domestic market. Some analysts are pessimistic about the prospects of Vietnamese goods, saying that foreign products, empowered by foreign-invested retail networks, will dislodge Vietnamese goods from their home market. Vu Kim Hanh, chair of the ‘Vietnamese high-quality Products’ Club, while warning that the products from ASEAN countries have been flooding the supermarkets in Vietnam, said that Vietnamese businesses need to join hands to heighten the positions of Vietnamese goods and build up national brands. Since Vietnamese have limited financial capability and weak brands, the best way for them is to unite for development. Le Ha Chi, managing director of the Nha Be Garment Company, one of the 250 enterprises, shows her optimism about the cooperation. Nha Be, like many other garment companies, though being a big exporter, is meeting big difficulties in the domestic market. “The cooperation is hoped to help us approach Vietnamese consumers,” she said. With Vingroup having joining hands with 250 manufacturers, analysts commented that the great war between Vingroup, a Vietnamese retail chain, and foreign-owned ones, has begun. Phap Luat |
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BUSINESS IN BRIEF 17/6 Vietnam attends tyre exposition in India Vietnamese-based Da Nang Rubber Company (DRC) is showcasing its made-in-Vietnam products at the Tyrexpo India 2016, which is being held in New Delhi between June 14 and 16. The fair gathers together nearly 100 businesses from India, the United Arab Emirates, the UK, Thailand, Indonesia, China and Vietnam. DRC is the only company in Vietnam to have acquired an ISI certification mark for industrial products that conform to the Indian Standard. Only ISI products are allowed to enter the Indian market. Products by DRC are available across 63 provinces and cities in Vietnam and 35 countries worldwide. Vietnam hopes to expand economic ties with RoK: Deputy PM Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue has affirmed Vietnam’s wish to further elevate its comprehensive economic partnership with the Republic of Korea (RoK), during a roundtable on business cooperation between the two countries in Hanoi on June 15. He called on RoK businesses to invest more in areas like the manufacturing industry, electronics, automobiles, finance &banking, high quality services, creative products development and infrastructure, as well as startup projects. The Deputy PM expressed his hope that giant RoK corporations’ investment will encourage small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as high technology firms from the country to do more businesses in Vietnam . Deputy PM Hue noted that the two countries are experiencing a peak development in their relationship in all fields, with the RoK being the second largest ODA provider of Vietnam . Since 2014, the RoK has always been the largest foreign investor in Vietnam with a total investment of over 49 billion USD in 5,300 projects, he said. In the first five months of this year, the RoK was also the largest investor at 3.4 billion USD in 420 projects. This shows the confidence of the RoK’s business in Vietnam’s economic prospects, he commented. At the same time, the RoK is the third largest trade partner of Vietnam, with two-way trade reaching 36.5 billion USD last year, he added. Deputy PM Hue also pointed out that the Vietnam-RoK free trade agreement and the ASEAN-RoK free trade deal have laid the foundation for bilateral trade and investment ties in a win-win spirit. Deputy PM Hue said he believes that two-way trade will reach 70 billion USD in 2020 in a balanced direction. Vietnam wants to export more seafood, fruit, consumer goods, electronic products and accessories to the RoK, he said. Together with efforts to complete its legal system, the Vietnamese Government is working hard to stabilise the macroeconomy and restructure the economy with the focus on State-owned enterprises and banking reform, alongside settling bad debts and public debts; thus creating a new status for the country to integrate into the world community and join regional and global production chains, stated the Deputy PM. The RoK’s Ambassador to Vietnam Lee Hyuk held that specific efforts should be made to seek ways to further boost bilateral ties, suggesting that a cooperation axis should be created across politics, diplomacy and security to match the sound bilateral economic ties. He proposed that the two countries focus on partnerships in the manufacturing industry, infrastructure and information and telecommunication technology, health care, and science and technology. Meanwhile, Kang Seong Cheon, a representative from the RoK’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, said that it is necessary to expand investment affiliation activities to fully tap the advantages from free trade agreements, while continuing to create favourable business investment opportunities for enterprises from both countries. Seminar discusses development of private sector Business players and experts discussed ways to develop the private sector towards realising the country’s goal of becoming a modern industrialized country by 2035 during a seminar held in the central city of Da Nang on June 15. To achieve the goal, the Vietnamese government and the World Bank drafted the Vietnam Report 2035 last July, which recommended six key transformations that Vietnam should make to reach upper-middle income status, including enabling economic modernisation with a productive and globally competitive private sector. Economist Pham Chi Lan, in her speech, urged for a favourable environment to enhance the private sector’s competitiveness and productivity, comprehensive reform of State-owned enterprises, market-oriented agricultural reform, tapping external trade opportunities, and joining global value chains. General Secretary of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) Pham Thi Thu Hang pointed out low productivity and the weakness of the private sector as hindrances to Vietnam’s economic growth. She said the weakness partly has its root in limited institutions, which once improved will create more development space for businesses, particularly those in the private sector. Tran Thi Lan Huong from the World Bank suggested laying a legal framework for the people to exercise their basic rights and create mechanisms to ensure state agencies’ transparency and accountability to the public. The seminar was co-hosted by the VCCI and the WB. Int’l fairs to connect support industry firms An agreement to hold international fairs and business connectivity programmes for Vietnam’s support industry was signed in Ho Chi Minh City on June 15. Signatories were the Ho Chi Minh City Investment and Trade Promotion Centre, the Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) and the Reed Tradex company of Thailand. Isara Burintramart, Reed Tradex Executive Director, said Vietnam is a destination attractive to foreign investors with more than 16,300 valid foreign-invested projects worth 238 billion USD. JETRO Chief Representative in Ho Chi Minh City Hirokata Yasuzumi called for raising domestic supply, adding that JETRO will give priority to new exhibitors who are yet to join any support industry’s business alliance fairs, not only those from Ho Chi Minh City but also adjacent provinces. Apart from firms in Vietnam, those from ASEAN and Japan are expected to join fairs as buyers, including the International Machine Tools & Metalworking Solution Show (Metalex Vietnam), the Business Alliance for Supporting Industry exhibition, Vietnam’s Only Exhibition on SMT, (Testing Technologies, Equipment, and Supporting Industries for Electronics Manufacturing) – Nepcon Vietnam, Industrial Components and Subcontracting Vietnam (ICSV) slated for October 6-8 at the Saigon Exhibition & Convention Centre. The exhibitions and fairs are also expected to boost ties between the ten ASEAN member states and China, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand and Australia. Romania looks to invest in transport infrastructure in HCM City Romanian businesses want to invest in Ho Chi Minh City, particularly in transport infrastructure and urban development, said Vlad Vasiliu, Romanian State Secretary of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Business Environment. He made the statement when leading a senior delegation to meet with Tran Vinh Tuyen, Vice Chairman of the HCM City People’s Committee, in the southern city on June 15. The State Secretary said he highly values the role that the southern hub plays in the relations between Vietnam and Romania. He noted that the two countries’ traditional relationship is progressing, laying the foundations for bilateral trade partnerships. Room for further engagement remains extensive in the future, he said. For his part, Tuyen welcomed the visiting Romanian delegates, who are in Vietnam to attend a session of the Vietnam-Romania intergovernmental committee. He said the delegation gathers representatives from ministries and leading companies in trade, agriculture, telecommunication and energy, which also are sectors within which HCM City is calling for investment. He said cooperation between Romania and HCM City still falls short of its potential, adding that the city is willing to create favourable conditions for Romanian investors. More Vietnamese catfish exporters qualify for US market Another 12 Vietnamese catfish exporters are now eligible to ship their products to the US, pushing the total number of eligible firms to 57. The National Agro-Forestry-Fisheries Quality Assurance Department said there are four more firms on the waiting list, and the agency would work with the US Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service to speed up the verification process. The US is the biggest import market for Vietnamese Tra fish with a stable demand and good prices. As of May 15, Vietnam shipped 130 million USD worth of Tra fish to the US, up 7.6 percent compared to the same period last year. The export volume is expected to see a year-on-year increase of between 10 and 15 percent in the next quarter.- ADB to provide more trade finance support in Vietnam The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Orient Commercial Joint Stock Bank (OCB) on June 15 signed an agreement under which the ODB will join the ADB’s Trade Finance Programme (TFP). Accordingly, the TFP will provide guarantees of up to 20 million USD a year to support trade in Vietnam. The participation of the OCB means the TFP now has 12 bank partner in Vietnam. Under this agreement, ADB and OCB will support exporting and importing companies, including small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), said Steven Beck, Head of Trade Finance at ADB. In the past few years, Vietnam has consistently been one of the top five most active among the 20 developing markets where the TFP operates. To date, the programme has conducted 4,479 transactions, supporting over 6.9 billion USD in trade in Vietnam. Of these, roughly 75 percent were for trade financing for SMEs. Along with providing loans and guarantees in Vietnam, the TFP will conduct workshops and seminars to increase knowledge and expertise on trade finance which should result in more support to exporting and importing companies. Since 2009, the TFP has supported more than 8,000 SMEs across the region, with about 11,500 transactions valued at over 23.2 billion USD, in sectors ranging from commodities and capital goods, to medical supplies and consumer goods. Vietjet welcomes 40th aircraft Vietjet’s brand-new A320 aircraft, coded VN-A675 arrived at Tan Son Nhat International Airport on June 15 after flying from Toulouse, France. This is Vietjet’s 18th aircraft under an agreement signed between the low cost carrier and the European aircraft maker Airbus on acquiring and leasing 100 aircrafts. Previously, Vietjet received a new A320 aircraft coded VN-A676 from Toulouse and an A321 aircraft coded VN-A673 from Hamburg, Germany. With this addition to its fleet, Vietjet now operates a fleet of 40 A320s and A321s to meet the increasing travel demands of passengers and has expanded its network domestically and internationally. To welcome this event, Vietjet announced a three-day promotion providing 1 million super-saving tickets from only US$0. The promotion is available to online passengers who book tickets via www.vietjetair.com from 12:00 to 2:00 pm from June 14 to 16. It applies to all domestic flights departing between August 10, 2016 and December 31, 2016 except national holidays. Currently, Vietjet boasts a fleet of 40 aircraft, comprising A320s and A321s, and operates 250 flights each day. It has already opened 50 routes in Vietnam and across the region to international destinations. The airline has carried about 25 million passengers to date. Successful integration needs stable economy, good social welfares Fruitful economic stabilisation and restructuring along with ensured social welfares are the prerequisites for successful international economic integration, Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue has said. At a seminar in Hanoi on June 15, he noted that international integration, which focuses on international economic integration, is a consistent and long-term policy of the Vietnamese Party and State. With the ASEAN Economic Community already formed and 13 FTAs signed, Vietnam has free trade relations with 55 countries, including all G7 nations and 15 of the G20 countries. Those FTAs, especially the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement and the EU-Vietnam FTA (EVFTA), are considered the agreements of the 21st century. They have opened up huge opportunities for Vietnam, particularly in trade and investment, Hue noted. The Vietnamese Government will submit the TPP to the National Assembly for ratification in the next few months. It has reviewed the legal system and will overhaul existing regulations or issue new ones to realise integrational commitments and create the right conditions for successful integration. The Deputy PM quoted Resolutions No. 19 and 35 as examples of the Cabinet’s efforts. While Resolution No. 19 aims to improve the business climate and national competitiveness, the Government has asked ministries and localities to robustly implement Resolution No. 35 on supporting Vietnamese businesses. Vietnam hopes to have at least 1 million enterprises by 2020, almost doubling the current figure, he noted. At the seminar, World Bank Regional Vice President for East Asia and the Pacific Victoria Kwakwa said integration into the region and the world has played a crucial role in Vietnam’s economic transition. The country has become an FDI magnet and a growing export economy. Vietnam will remain attractive to foreign investment and continue to attain good growth rate thanks to strong exports. It now has a great chance to capitalise on benefits generated by the FTAs like the TPP and the EVFTA. She added that the World Bank Group pledges to help Vietnam optimise the new-generation FTAs to achieve a high growth rate, create and share prosperity, and sustainably provide high-quality jobs for its young population. At the event, participants discussed such issues as grasping opportunities and minimising risks from the TPP and the EVFTA, the road map for reforming trade-related laws, and the FTAs’ significance to local agriculture. Hung Yen’s enterprises get updates on FTAs Top officials and enterprises in northern Hung Yen province were provided with relevant information on the free trade agreements (FTAs) Vietnam has joined, in a conference on June 14. The conference was organised by the Ministry of Industry and Trade and local authority. It also gave attendees an overview of Vietnam’s global economic integration as well as opportunities and challenges for Vietnam as a member of the Vietnam-EU FTA and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). The trade deals will allow Vietnam to boost its Gross Domestic Products (GDP) by 23 billion USD in 2020 and over 33 billion USD in 2025 while the country also expects to add approximately 70 billion USD into its export revenue. Vietnam is likely to be the biggest winner of the TPP as the reduced custom duties will trigger more exports of Vietnamese products, particularly garment & textile, footwear, seafood, farming and forestry products. The pact is also pressuring the country to make institutional reforms, restructure its economy and draw more investment into knowledge-based industries. Speaking at the event, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Quoc Khanh said an increasingly integrated global economy presents many challenges for Vietnam. He urged localities across the country to be more aware of the impacts of TPP and be prepared with economic restructuring plans in order to be more adaptive to the changes in business climate. Local authorities need to provide information about TPP to more businesses while enterprises should also actively learn about the trade deal, especially in terms of tariffs, code of conduct and technical barriers to trade, Khanh added. Hung Yen lies in the northern key economic region which encompasses the economic triangle Hanoi – Hai Phong – Quang Ninh, an advantage for the province to attract more investors. Better access to information about the FTAs will motivate enterprises in the province to shift towards hi-tech sectors so that they can utilise the benefits of the pacts and reduce the negative impacts of global integration, he noted. Supporting industries need Gov't Government incentives and support measures as well as promotions are necessary for the development of the supporting industry, according to the chief representative of the Japan External Trade Organistion's (JETRO) HCM City office. Speaking at a signing ceremony to co-organise four exhibitions related to the supporting industries in HCM City yesterday, Hirotaka Yasusumi said, "The Vietnamese Government's ‘policy for supporting industries' does not seem so effective." A decision issued at the end of last year related to the development of supporting industries does not seem to be working well, he said. Most Vietnamese companies in supporting industries are small- or medium-sized and many lack funds to invest in modern technologies or human resource training, he said. Since they do not know much about the policy or how to use it, it is not effective, he said. According to a 2015 JETRO survey, the local sourcing ratio for Japanese companies in Viet Nam is 32 per cent, much lower compared to China, or Thailand, he said. JETRO has organised many business-matching events, exhibitions and others to boost co-operation between Vietnamese and Japanese firms in supporting industries for more than 10 years, he said. Four expos planned Yesterday JETRO, the Investment and Trade Promotion Centre of HCM City (ITPC) and Reed Tradex Co, Ltd signed a contract to jointly organise four international supporting industry exhibitions, Metalex Vietnam, Industrial Components and Subcontracting Vietnam, Nepcon Vietnam and the Business Alliance for Support Industry in HCM City in early October. Isara Burintramart, managing director of Thailand's Reed Tradex Co, Ltd, said: "With more than 16,300 active FDI projects accounting for a total of US$238 billion, Viet Nam is the destination of choice for foreign investors." Reed Tradex Co will organise machine tools and metalworking solutions exhibition Metalex Vietnam, Industrial Components and Subcontracting Vietnam, and measurement and testing technologies for electronics manufacturing exhibition Nepcon Vietnam. JETRO and ITPC will organise "the Business Alliance for Supporting Industry in HCM City expo", where Japanese manufactures will display parts, equipment and supporting services and Vietnamese suppliers will display their components and equipment. The simultaneous organisation of the four expos would enable transfer of new technologies and expansion of business networks that are vital to sharpening the competiveness edges of supporting industry, Burintramart said. Nguyen Tuan, deputy director of ITPC, said supporting industries are in the early stage of development in HCM City and Viet Nam. Demand for supporting industries' products is high and the potential for development these industries is huge, he said. The city is drafting development policies for supporting industries, especially in high-tech industries, he added. Successful integration needs stable economy Hue told a workshop on "Viet Nam's participation in TPP and EVFTA: Seizing the Opportunities of New-Generation Free Trade Agreements" that international integration, which focusses on international economic integration, has been a consistent and long-term policy of the Vietnamese Party and State. With the ASEAN Economic Community already formed and 13 FTAs signed, Viet Nam has free trade relations with 55 countries, including all G7 nations and 15 of the G20 countries. Those FTAs, especially the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement and the EU- Viet Nam FTA (EVFTA), are considered the agreements of the 21st century. They have opened up huge opportunities for Viet Nam, particularly in trade and investment, he noted. The Vietnamese government will submit the TPP to the National Assembly for ratification in the next few months. It has reviewed the legal system and will overhaul existing regulations or issue new ones to realise integrational commitments and create the right conditions for successful integration. The Deputy PM quoted Resolutions No 19 and 35 as examples of the Cabinet's efforts. While Resolution No 19 aims to improve the business climate and national competitiveness, the Government has asked ministries and localities to robustly implement Resolution No 35 on supporting Vietnamese businesses. Viet Nam hopes to have at least 1 million enterprises by 2020, almost doubling the current figure, he added. He said the Vietnamese Government is determined to build a transparent and clean government, maintain macro-economic stability and accelerate economic restructuring in order to better serve enterprises and the people. In return, businesses also have to pro-actively move ahead on the basis of renovation and creation. World Bank Regional Vice President for East Asia and the Pacific Victoria Kwakwa said that integration into the region and the world has played a crucial role in Viet Nam's economic transition. The country has become an FDI magnet and a growing export economy. Viet Nam would remain attractive to foreign investment and continue to achieve a good growth rate thanks to strong exports. It now has a great chance to capitalise on benefits generated by the FTAs like the TPP and the EVFTA. Not only containing traditional market access issues in regards to goods, trade services and investment, the two trade pacts also cover new areas, either not covered by or go much deeper than those signed on the framework of the World Trade Organisation, such as e-commerce, labour, environment, small- and medium-sized enterprises, State-owned enterprises and regulatory coherence, Kwakwa said. She said these new-generation agreements are expected to generate considerable benefits for Viet Nam in terms of trade, investment, growth and job creation, but they are also accompanied by a number of big challenges and, without careful implementation of commitments, many of the benefits might pass the country by. She added that the World Bank Group has pledged to help Viet Nam optimise the new-generation FTAs to achieve a high growth rate, create and share prosperity, and sustainably provide high-quality jobs for its young population. At the workshop, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Quoc Khanh gave a briefing on the situation of Viet Nam's TPP and EVFTA ratification as well as its plan to enforce the two agreements. The participants discussed issues such as grasping opportunities and minimising risks from the TPP and the EVFTA, the road map for reforming trade-related laws, and the FTAs' significance in local agriculture. Footwear exports reach nearly 5 billion USD The leather and footwear sector’s exports reached nearly 5 billion USD in the first five months of this year, up 6 percent against the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade. In May only, exports of leather and footwear products were valued at 1.15 billion USD, a year-on-year decrease of 0.6 percent. The production of leather footwear products in May saw an 6.2 percent decline to 19.3 million pairs. In the January-May period, the sector produced 93.8 million pairs, down 2.9 percent compared to the same period last year. This year, the sector sets a goal of 17 billion USD in export value, of which 13-13.5 billion USD are from exports of footwear. Last year, Vietnam gained a high growth rate in export value from the leather and footwear industry at 15 billion USD, an increase of 16 percent year-on-year, according to the Vietnam Leather and Footwear Association (Lefaso). Of the value, 12 billion USD were from footwear. Vietnam welcomes Canadian businesses The Vietnamese Government always tries to create the most possible favourable conditions for foreign businesses and investors to operate in Vietnam, including those from Canada, affirmed Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue on June 15. Receiving a group of Canadian businesses who are on a visit to Vietnam to seek investment opportunities, Hue said the Vietnamese Government has taken measures to increase macro-economic stability and restructure key sectors such as finance and banking, State-owned businesses, industrial production, agriculture and public investment, along with drastic efforts to improve the business and investment environment to improve national competitiveness. He encouraged Canadian businesses to invest in the fields of consultancy, finance and credit to support small- and medium-sized businesses, and called for foreign private risk investment funds to assist start-up activities in Vietnam. President and CEO of Northstar Financial Group Scott Shepherd said Northstar was active in providing finance for small- and medium-sized businesses and wished to cooperate and share experience with Vietnam as the two countries are implementing new free trade agreements. He expressed willingness to help Vietnam in importing spare parts and machine products from developed countries. The group plans to set up an export credit agency to support Vietnamese businesses in their export activities, he said.- ADB trade finance programme increases Việt Nam presence The trade finance programme (TFP) of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide guarantees worth up to US$20 million a year to support trade in Viet Nam. The ADB said in a news release on Wednesday that it had signed an agreement on support with the Orient Commercial Joint Stock Bank (OCB), which means the TFP now has 12 bank partnerships in Viet Nam. "Under this agreement, ADB and OCB will support exporting and importing companies, including small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)," Steven Beck, the head of trade finance at ADB, said. "This agreement will help create economic growth and jobs." ADB said Viet Nam has consistently been one of the top five most active among 20 developing markets where the TFP operates. The programme has conducted nearly 4,500 transactions, supporting over $6.9 billion in trade in Viet Nam. Of these, roughly 75 per cent were for trade financing for SMEs. Viet Nam's economic growth has been increasing since 2012, with the gross domestic product (GDP) expanding 6.7 per cent in 2015 – its strongest in seven years. The growth has been propelled by a surge in foreign direct investment and export-oriented manufacturing. However, at least 70 per cent of the country's GDP is generated in cities and serious development challenges remain to make growth more inclusive, according to ADB. For instant, SMEs' access to trade finance remains limited with Việt Nam's banking sector not yet as developed as in other regional markets such as Malaysia, the Philippines or Thailand. As such, international banks either have limited or no appetite to take risks on Vietnamese banks. Backed by ADB's AAA credit rating, the TFP provides guarantees and loans to over 200 partner banks to support trade, enabling more companies throughout Asia to engage in import and export activities. Since 2009, the TFP has supported more than 8,000 SMEs across the region, with about 11,500 transactions valued at over $23.2 billion, in sectors ranging from commodities to capital goods, to medical supplies and consumer goods. Cover warrant rules due to be published shortly The State Securities Commission (SSC) will soon complete and issue guidelines for trading covered warrants and the new product will be available next year, Nguyen Son, director of the SSC's Market Development Development Division, said at a meeting on Tuesday. Covered warrants allow holders to buy or sell a specific amount of equities, currency or other financial instruments, usually from or to a bank or a similar financial institution, at a specific price and time. The development of covered warrants is the first step to prepare investors and derivatives market for more complicated products, including options, he said, adding that securities companies have improved their finance and risk management during the past few years to provide customers with high-value and reliable products and services. Vietnamese investors are afraid of making big investments, so covered warrants would be suitable for investors who are not adventurous and have modest incomes, thus attracting more investors, Son said. There are now two types of covered warrants, he added. The US covered warrant allows holders to trade before and during the due date, while Europe's covered warrant only allows holders to trade during the due date. If Viet Nam satisfies the requirements of the trading systems, those two types of covered warrant may be traded, but the Europe-style product is still preferred to the US-style, he said. The trading of covered warrants will boost trading liquidity on the stock market as holders can trade a specific amount of underlying assets, including equity, with securities firms at a specific price on or before a specific date, said Tran Thi Anh Dao, Vice Director General of HCM Stock Exchange (HOSE). HOSE has developed a guideline for the market and investors, and the southern agency has also developed a training programme for securities firms, she said. The SSC should remove the regulation requiring securities firms to report and publish warrant trading activities within 24 hours that could have big impact on shareholders' rights, because those activities should be announced by public companies, Sai Gon Securities Inc's representative said. If public companies do not bring their trading activities to the public, securities firms will not publish the information about the trades as it could violate the code of information security, and securities firms will also not publish information already announced by public companies, he said. Covered warrants should be traded within the trading day to increase the market's trading liquidity and draw more investors, suggested Trinh Hoai Giang, vice director general of HCM City Securities Corp. The price margin of the warrant could be much higher than that of other underlying assets, and the price step should be smaller than that in the trading of shares and ETF notes as the face value of warrants is smaller than that of shares, he said. Fruit export surges in first five months Fruit export brought home US$967 million in the first five months of this year, a 147% surge against the same period last year, according to the agricultural sector. During the period, the country shipped 3,400 tonnes of fruits to major markets, including 2,500 tonnes of dragonfruit to the United States, Japan and the Republic of Korea (RoK), 230 tonnes of mango to Japan and the RoK, 160 tonnes of rambutan and 500 tonnes of longan to the US. Exports of dragonfruit, rambutan, longan and lychee into the US increased three-fold against the 2015 figure to 2,000 tonnes. Mango and starfruit will enter the market in June. According to Nguyen Trung Kien from the Institute of Policy and Strategy for Agriculture and Rural Development, of agriproducts for export, vegetables and fruits will grow at the fastest pace. Besides the US and Japan, there is a lot of room for Vietnam to export vegetables and fruit to Australia, New Zealand, the RoK, the EU, India and Chile. Quarantine is an important step to overcome technical barriers in many markets, besides restructuring production process to produce fruit of consistent quality, said Hoang Trung, Head of the Department of Plant Protection. Fruit export is expected to hit more than US$2 billion this year, up 11% compared to 2015, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. Vietnam is currently exporting fruits to more than 40 countries and territories worldwide. Vinapharm IPO announced to June 22 Vietnam’s largest pharmaceutical, Vietnam Pharmaceutical Corporation (Vinapharm), will launch its initial pubic offering (IPO) on the Hanoi Stock Exchange on June 22, offering 42.5 million shares equalling 18% of the corporation’s chartered capital. Vinapharm’s shares will be traded at the initial price of VND10,000 (US$0.45) apiece. After the sale, Vinapharm expects to acquire VND2.37 trillion (US$106 million). The Ministry of Health (MoH) will retain the remaining 154 million shares, equalling 65% of Vinapharm’s chartered capital. After the IPO, the corporation will invest VND3 trillion (US$133.7 million) to develop nine projects, including pharmaceutical production and processing plants, warehouses and logistics systems, a pharmaceutical cultivation area, and a research and development centre, in the next ten years. Vinapharm was established in 1971 and was transformed into a single member joint stock company in 2010. The corporation specialises in trading pharmaceutical products, functional foods, and medical equipment. In addition, the corporation invested in four subsidiaries and 11 joint-venture companies, with a total capital of VND1.547 trillion (US$68.9 million). As of the end of 2015, the corporation had a total asset value of VND6.785 trillion (US$302.5 million). In 2015, its revenue reached VND7.281 trillion (US$324.6 million) with a net profit of VND350 billion (US$15.6 million). The revenue is expected to increase by an average of 70% per year during the 2016-2020 period. Vinapharm is currently the owner of prime real estates in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, with 3,280 square metres on Lang Ha street and 2,670sq.m on Nguyen Huy Tuong street. It also has a sizeable land on Dien Bien Phu street in Ho Chi Minh City. Mounting debts spell doom for Bisuco Hundreds of employees at Binh Dinh Sugar JSC could be losing their jobs as the company is proving increasingly unable to deal with its towering debts and falling short of cash to renovate its production equipment. Binh Dinh Sugar JSC’s (Bisuco) trade union has been sending documents to competent authorities reporting that the company has been falling behind with payments to its employees and subsequently pushing these workers to the point where they could lose their jobs permanently as their have not received their wages due. The document noted that Bisuco has no work for their staff in the time to come and its accounts are running too dry to repair the factory’s equipment. Bisuco is known to be indebted to their employees, including VND1.5 billion ($68,807) in wages, over VND2 billion ($91,324) in employees’ social insurance, and some VND1 billion ($45,662) in purchases of sugarcane from farmers. According to Tran Chau, Deputy Chairman of the Binh Dinh District People’s Committee, after several meetings, Bisuco has agreed to pay for sugarcane worth some VND16 billion ($730,593) purchased from local farmers. On top of the unpaid wages and social insurance, the company, however, has yet to pay sugarcane farmers in the Central Highlands’ province of Gia Rai province, as well as fall behind schedule to pay for a number of its basic construction sites. In 2006, over 90 per cent of Bisuco’s stakes were acquired by Indian-owned NIVL JSC. During the past three years, Bisuco has constantly been in debt to its sugarcane farmers who supplied the raw ingredient to the sugar factory. Bisuco leaders once explained that its arrears in terms of wages, social insurance, and sugarcane purchases were a result of the company’s losses derived from the heavy investment in its large-scale plant in Cambodia. In addition, the dropping price of sugar products and refused loans from banks also contributed to the company’s mounting detbs. In 2014, Binh Dinh sent a formal request to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to work with the Embassy and the Consulate General of India in Ho Chi Minh City to resolve the liability of NIVL JSC and help the sugarcane farmers in Binh Dinh. The debt issue, however, has not been completely resolved up until now. Due to economic difficulties, the sugar factory has in fact offered to pay farmers in the Central Highlands regions with refined sugar, in exchange for the sugarcane supplied. NIVL JSC, meanwhile, is also indebted some VND56 billion ($2.56 million) to sugarcane farmers and merchants in Long An province, VND16 billion ($733,944) of which is due for the 2016 season, while the remainder was accumulated over the previous seasons. However, an anonymous source disclosed that the arrears could be as high as VND95 billion ($4.35 million), with a number of households being owed some VND3-4 billion ($137,600-183,480). According to this source, the unpaid amount adds up to VND9 billion ($412,844) for a number of households. In 2014, NIVL was besieged by local farmers to perform on unsettled and overdue bills altogether worth VND150 billion ($6.88 million). NIVL subsequently managed to repay the furious farmers in instalments, yet its debts continued building up over the harvests until the current crop. On April 27 and 28, various employees of the NIVL factory went on strike to demand the full payment of overdue wages. A NIVL representative then met up with the workers to discuss their demands, promising to look into their complaints on the company’s remuneration and medical insurance policy, as well as unfulfilled bonuses. To date, no specific steps have been taken by the sugar factory. In the same month, NIVL was fined by the Long An Provincial People’s Committee for discharging untreated toxic wastewater into the Vam Co Dong River. The fine imposed was VND350 million ($17,500), the highest ever inflicted on an environmental violator in Vietnam, according to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment’s Vietnam Environment Administration Department. VinaCapital and DEG enter into wood industry VinaCapital’s Vietnam Opportunity Fund (VOF) and DEG, a subsidiary of Germany’s KfW Group, have announced a $30 million investment in the An Cuong Wood Working Joint Stock Company, one of Vietnam’s leading wood-working and decorative materials companies. VOF will contribute 70 per cent of the investment capital and DEG 30 per cent with two phases involved. Disbursement of $18 million in the first phase will be implemented immediately, with disbursement in the second phase to be made according to the business plans of An Cuong. An Cuong has committed to revenue growth and to meeting European and especially German environmental standards. “We are delighted to welcome VinaCapital and DEG as strategic shareholders,” said Mr. Le Duc Nghia, CEO of An Cuong. “One of the reasons we have entered into this transaction is because these two organizations bring not only capital but also expertise and a track record of working with investees.” Mr. Don Lam, CEO of VinaCapital, said that An Cuong has been on its radar for some time. “We are pleased to be partnering with DEG to help An Cuong further build on its leading position in the industry and enter a new phase of growth,” he said. VinaCapital is a leading investment and asset management firm headquartered in Vietnam, with a diversified portfolio of $1.4 billion in assets under management. DEG finances investments in private companies in developing and transitional countries. It promotes private business structures to contribute to sustainable economic growth and improved living conditions. DEG’s current portfolio in Asia amounts to $2.9 billion. The An Cuong Wood Working Joint Stock Company has been a leading player in wood-working and decorative materials in Vietnam since 1994 with a range of well-known brands from the US, Germany, Italy, Spain and Australia in wood and plastic-based panels widely used in the interior decoration of houses, apartment buildings, schools, supermarkets, and offices. According to a report from the Vietnam Timber and Forest Product Association (Viforest) in coordination with Forest Trends Organizations, Vietnam imported 4.79 million cubic meters of timber worth $1.66 billion in 2015, to cater to the wood processing industry. The importation of raw wood plays an important role in Vietnam’s wood processing industry meeting growing demand in domestic and foreign markets. In 2015, wood and wood product exports earned $6.9 billion in revenue, an increase of 10.71 per cent year-on-year, according to Vietnam Customs. Exports of wood and wood products are expected to earn $7.2 billion to $7.3 billion this year, for growth of 8 to 10 per cent. Vietnam’s wood and wooden products are found in 37 countries around the world. The US was the largest export market in 2015, with turnover $2.6 billion, followed by Japan with $1 billion and China $982.6 million. Citi launches voice biometrics authentication For Citi’s consumer banking customers in Asia Pacific, remembering multiple PIN numbers and responding to a series of questions to verify their identity when they call into the bank will soon be a thing of the past. Voice biometrics authentication has now been implemented in Singapore, with Australia, Hong Kong and Taiwan to follow in the coming weeks. It will be rolled out throughout the region in 2016 and 2017 to cover all 12 of Citi’s consumer banking markets in Asia Pacific, including Vietnam, which represent more than half of the bank’s 19 consumer markets globally. Citi will be the first financial services firm to deploy voice biometrics authentication across Asia Pacific as the bank builds further on its successful innovation in retail banking in the region. Citi has around 15 million consumer banking customers in the region and the bank expects to have at least 1 million customers actively using voice biometrics authentication in the next 12 months. Within three years it expects the number of users to grow to 3 million. Once available, customers who call into the bank’s contact centers will have their identity automatically verified within 15 seconds or less as they explain their reason for calling. This is a reduction from an average time of around 45 seconds currently. The voice biometrics authentication capability identifies customers through their voice print, which, similar to a fingerprint, is unique to each person. Citi clients can opt to enroll by recording their voices, which the bank will use to generate and store their voice prints for matching subsequent calls to Citibank. Each voice print will be uniquely tagged and cannot be reverse engineered once stored. “The voice biometrics authentication capability underscores Citi’s focus on technology to better serve our customers,” said Ms. Anand Selva, Asia Pacific Head for Consumer Banking at Citi. “We know that remembering different PINs and answering multiple questions can make the process frustrating. With this new capability, we offer our customers a faster and more secure authentication for a better customer experience.” “Biometrics will play a critical part in the future of banking and we are excited to be paving the way for Citi globally,” said Ms. Natasha Ansell, Citi Country Officer for Vietnam. “Today, our call centers receive increasing numbers of calls annually, of which a large portion are manually verified. With voice biometrics authentication we will make the verification process easier, faster, and more secure for clients.” Asia is an important region for innovation at Citi. Six years ago the bank launched its new branch design - called Smart Banking - in Asia for the first time. The Smart Banking concept involves using technology, architecture and design and new retail channels to connect customers to their money and provide them with a better way of banking. Over 200 such branches have since been rolled out globally since the Asian launch. UNDP partners with HATCH!VENTURES The UN Development Programme (UNDP) announced a partnership with the startup incubator HATCH! VENTURES to facilitate youth innovative action for social good in Vietnam by signing an MoU in Hanoi on June 14. The collaboration will focus on three game changing areas of common interest: innovation for development, mobilization of young people into innovative action towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and partnerships with the private sector. “Young people are the most important stakeholder to drive the sustainable development agenda forward,” Dr. Pratibha Mehta, UNDP Resident Representative in Vietnam, said at the signing ceremony. “Through this partnership we shall bring innovative technology and the development agenda closer and encourage new ideas, prototypes and creative solutions that increase access, reduce costs, and enable citizen participation and feedback.” The agreement builds on the initial partnership in 2015 around the Hackathon for Social Good, which mobilized more than 100 young people into action towards delivering sustainable development goals. The competition resulted in two innovative ideas promoting citizen voices, namely “For People” (the 4P) app on mobile phones to collect citizen feedback on public services, and “GT-101”, an educational tool to encourage citizens to report any misconduct by traffic police. In 2016, UNDP will collaborate with HATCH! VENTURES in the Social Innovation Camp and the Social Innovation Summit to identify and scale up innovation for development solutions. UNDP will challenge campers to come up with innovative solutions to tackle issues under five of the 17 SDGs, namely SDG12 - Responsible Consumption and Production, SDG13 - Climate Action, SDG14 - Life Below Water, SDG15 - Life on Land, and SDG16 - Peace and Justice. “How the 2016 Social Innovation Camp differs from the previous competition is that it will stimulate sustainable innovative solutions for social issues that can be scaled up to make a difference around the country,” said Mr. Pham Quoc Dat, Director of HATCH! VENTURES. The Camp will take place in August in three cities - Hanoi, Da Nang, and Ho Chi Minh City - to facilitate participation nationwide. Dr. Pratibha hopes it will yield more innovative ideas and galvanize thousands of young people into creativity to speed up information sharing and promote citizens’ participation and transparency for SDG implementation. Five month import-export turnover reaches over US$133 billion Vietnam’s total import-export turnover is estimated at US$133.246 billion in the first five months of the year, with two import groups of commodities and one export group reaching US$10 billion. Of the total, Vietnam reported US$67.444 billion in export revenue, a year-on-year increase of 6.2%, and US$65.8.5 billion in import revenue, down 1.7% over the same period last year. Thirteen groups of commodities posted an export value of over US$1 billion each, with telephones recording the highest export revenue of US$14.254 billion, up 19.1% over the same period in 2015). Garments and textiles stood second with export revenue of US$8.613 billion, followed by computers, electronic products and components at US$6.376 billion and footwear with US$5.049 billion. Foreign direct investment (FDI) enterprises accounted for US$47.133 billion, representing nearly 70% of the total national export revenue, a year-on-year increase of 9.4%. The group of machines, equipment and parts posted the highest import revenue at US$10.59 billion, followed by computers, electronic products and components with US$10.441 billion. The import revenue of the FDI sector was US$38.796 billion, accounting for nearly 59% of the country’s total figure. As of May, Vietnam posted a trade surplus of US$1.639 billion. VEF/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/Dantri/VET/VIR |
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19 Vietnamese individuals, businesses named in Panama Papers verified The authorities have found information related to 19 individuals and organizations in Vietnam named in the Panama Papers, which were unveiled in early May.  Speaking to the media about the investigation of 189 Vietnamese people and firms in the Panama Papers on June 15, Nguyen Van Phung, from the Tax Administration of the Ministry of Finance, said investigators have found information relating to 19 individuals and organizations. The investigating group has identified 30 organizations connecting to these individuals and organizations. "The working group is checking information only and we have no basis to conclude whether these individuals and organizations committed violation or not," Phung said. He said the information in the Panama Papers is sketchy, including the English names and the addresses of these people and organizations in Vietnam, which are not found in Vietnam. To check out these people and organizations, the investigators had to divide them into small groups to identify each name mentioned in the dossier and match them with the existing data, using manual methods. From the 189 names listed in the Panama Papers, the working group had to review about 300,000 names, as they had to change the order of words to pair the new names. Finally they found information related to 30 names. The search is continuing in order to identify the organizations that have connection to these names. "Not everyone named in the documents are bad and committed laundering and tax evasion. This issue must be conducted in a very cautious manner, ensuring the principle of respect for law and transparency, but it does not harm the investment environment in Vietnam," Phung emphasized. Nam Nguyen, VNN |
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