FM spokesman: ASEAN-China FMs’ special meeting positiveThe special meeting of ASEAN and Chinese Foreign Ministers has achieved positive results in a friendly, straightforward and constructive spirit, contributing to strengthening mutual understanding and trust, promoting cooperation and efforts to deal with common challenges.  Foreign Ministry’s spokesman Le Hai Binh made the statement in Hanoi on June 16 in reply to the Vietnam News Agency’s queries about the significance and outcomes of the meeting. Both sides agreed on orientations and measures to deepen the ASEAN-China strategic partnership, particularly in the fields of the economy, trade, investment, connectivity, education and people-to-people exchange. They underscored the importance of celebrations for the 25th anniversary and reached consensus on preparations for the High-Level Summit during which a joint statement for the summit and another ASEAN-China joint statement on cooperation in enhanced manufacturing capacity are expected to be adopted. On the East Sea issue, both sides straightforwardly discussed the latest developments and solutions. The ASEAN member states expressed concerns over the complicated developments in recent times which have exacerbated tensions and eroded trust. If improperly settled, such developments would trigger incidents affecting peace, stability and security in the region. The bloc affirmed its common stance and principles, by stressing the significance of maintaining peace, stability, and maritime and overflight aviation security and safety in the East Sea, peacefully settling disputes in line with international law and the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, fully respecting legal and diplomatic processes and refraining from the use or threat to use force, showing self-restraint, and the full and effective implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) and the early formulation of a Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC). The two sides committed to completing preparations for ASEAN and Chinese diplomatic officials to promptly launch a hotline about incidents at sea and to issue the ASEAN-China Declaration on the Implementation of the Code for Unplanned Encounters in the East Sea at the High-Level Summit, he said. VNA |
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Taiwan’s Formosa delays plant opening in Vietnam: report  Formosa Plastics Group has decided to postpone the launch of its steel mill in Vietnam with no new opening schedule, Taipei Times reported Thursday. The newspaper quoted Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Corp's Vice President Chang Fu-ning as saying that the No. 1 furnace of the steel complex, which is located in the Vung Ang Economic Zone in the central province of Ha Tinh, would not become operational on June 25 as scheduled. According to Taiwanese media, the delay was because Vietnamese authorities have demanded that Formosa pay US$70 million in unpaid taxes. In addition, the delay reportedly was because Vietnamese authorities needed more time to process an application filed by Formosa to begin production. Chang said his company has communicated with Vietnam’s Ministry of Finance over the alleged failure to pay taxes. Construction of the US$10 billion Formosa Ha Tinh steel complex started in December 2013. It has a projected annual capacity of 7.5 million tons targeted for domestic consumption and export to other Asian nations. The project includes a port and a power plant that are set to be completed by the end of 2020. The Taiwanese company has been in hot water after hundreds of tons of fish were washed ashore in April in Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue provinces, apparently killed by industrial effluents. Formosa Ha Tinh admitted it has a large sewage pipe going straight into the sea but claimed all its discharged wastewater had been treated. On June 2 Vietnamese authorities said they would reveal the cause of the mass fish deaths this month. It is not clear if the fish kill scandal is connected to the steel mill's delay in any way. |
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Powerful story of Thai-Vietnamese woman's fight against HIV shared at UN meeting  Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam (R) and Lu Thi Thanh at the plenary session of the 2016 United Nations High-Level Meeting on Ending AIDS in New York, United States June 9, 2016. Tuoi Tre Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam shared a powerful story of a Thai-Vietnamese woman who refused to give in to HIV infection during his speech at a UN meeting on ending AIDS last Thursday. Speaking at the plenary session of the 2016 United Nations High-Level Meeting on Ending AIDS in New York, Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Dam shared the story of a Thai-Vietnamese woman currently living HIV and working relentlessly to support the HIV community in Vietnam. The woman in question is Lu Thi Thanh, an ethnic Thai resident in a poor hamlet in Dien Bien Province in the northern mountains. “In order to end [the AIDS epidemic], we must increase our efforts. And we should do this together. This is not just the voice of my government, but also the voice of the most vulnerable,” the deputy premier said before introducing Thanh to the UN delegates at the meeting. ‘Please do not forget us’ In a moment of emotion, Thanh said briefly in Vietnamese to the international audience, “Thank you! Thank you so much for giving me back my life, my hope, and my future! Please do not forget us! Thank you!” Thanh was diagnosed with HIV in 2009 after the death of her first husband, and has since been under antiretroviral (ARV) treatment. She is now working to facilitate access to lab tests and other medical services for high-risk people in order to prevent the spread of the virus in Vietnam and provide better living conditions for the infected. In 2013, Thanh got married for the second time to another HIV carrier and took part in a prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission (PMTCT) program, the result of which was a healthy baby girl born without HIV infection. “This miracle was only made possible because of an internationally financed project, in partnership with the local government and community,” Dam said. “Without this, she would probably not be with us today.” “It’s not just [Thanh]. Many other people - women and children - would be infected, could not go to school, could not work, could not have families, and would not be alive,” the deputy prime minister added. Deputy PM Dam is also serving as chairman of Vietnam’s National Committee for AIDS, Drugs, and Prostitution Prevention and Control. Vietnam’s commitment to 90-90-90 treatment targets Deputy Prime Minister Dam said in his speech that HIV prevention and control are one of the highest priorities of the Vietnamese government, adding that the epidemic has been largely controlled in the country and HIV infection was no longer looked down upon by the community. “Despite the fact that the epidemic is stabilized, we are increasing resources for HIV prevention and control,” Dam said. “Vietnam was also the first country in the Asia-Pacific to commit itself to the 90-90-90 targets.” The 90-90-90 HIV treatment targets are the latest initiative by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS), which aims to have 90 percent of all people living with HIV knowing their HIV status, 90 percent of all people diagnosed with HIV infection receiving sustained ARV therapy, and 90 percent of all people under ARV therapy having viral suppression treatment by the year 2020. According to the deputy premier, the world is facing new concerns, ranging from climate change to migration issues, but “HIV and AIDS are still here,” and “without stronger partnership, many countries will be left behind on the fast track to ending AIDS, and there is a real possibility that the epidemic could rebound, could re-emerge as a global threat.” “Let us respond to [Thanh] and to the voices of the voiceless by re-committing ourselves with all our heart and soul to ending AIDS,” Deputy Prime Minister Dam concluded in the applause from the audience. “Let us join hands to achieve the 90-90-90 targets, with 100-100-100 commitment and even more!” TUOI TRE NEWS |
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Vietnam startup community concerned as criminalization of unlicensed online service looms An employee plays the game Flappy Bird at a smartphone store in Hanoi on February 10, 2014.AFP Vietnam’s new penal code planned to take effect next month includes some new rules that will send app developers, even household names like Flappy Bird developer Nguyen Ha Dong, into legal troubles. According to Article 292 of the 2015 Penal Code, providing unlicensed services on the Internet or through mobile networks will be deemed a criminal offense. Such regulation does not exist in the current 1999 Penal Code, set to be replaced on July 1. Pham Cong Ut, a Ho Chi Minh City-based lawyer, told newswire Tri Thuc Tre that Article 292 was prepared to accommodate several existing government decrees, and was added to the penal code to better manage online and mobile service sectors. According to Government Decree No.72/2013, an Internet- or mobile-based service, such as an online game, is considered lawful only when the provider is a legally registered business. Essentially, this means no individual is allowed to publish their own digital services. As for Article 292 of the 2015 Penal Code, any unlicensed provider of Internet- or mobile-based services who generates profits between VND50 million (US$2,232) and VND200 million ($8,929), or revenue between VND500 million ($22,321) and VND2 billion ($89,286), will be fined from VND200 million to VND500 million, or a suspended sentence of up to two years.  Young gamers are seen at an Internet café. Photo: Tuoi Tre Such regulations could be a nightmare for the startup community, particularly self-employed app and game developers, who are not likely to get a license to provide services on Internet and mobile platforms, as the current procedure is perceived to be rather complicated. According to decree No.72/2013, a game provider, required to be a company rather than an individual, must prove they have adequate financial capacity and digital infrastructure. Their game content and script must also be approved as part of the licensing paperwork. Case study: Flappy Bird As the effective date of the new penal code is drawing near, attention is now paid to Nguyen Ha Dong, the Hanoi-based app developer that rose to fame with his addictive Flappy Bird mobile game in 2014. While it is not clear if Dong, who pulled the game from all online platforms in February 2014, may face problems from the new penal code, the success he had with Flappy Bird is still considered an interesting case study.  Nguyen Ha Dong (L) and Google CEO Sundar Pichai shake hands in Hanoi on December 22, 2015. Photo: Tuoi Tre The 31-year-old game developer published the viral app in markets for iOS and Android on his own, reportedly raking in $50,000 a day from in-app advertisements and sales. The father of Flappy Bird breached both requirements of Article 292, lacking a license and surpassing the income threshold to be criminally punished. “Dong could be criminally charged for making illicit profits without a license,” lawyer Ut told Tri Thuc Tre. The lawyer said Article 292 is not meant to discourage creativity and innovation in technology, rather the article is intended to highlight that an app that can bring more than VND50 million to its creator is no longer considered non-profit, and therefore must be licensed to remain operational, he explained. “Nguyen Ha Dong should get a license to avoid any criminal investigation,” he advised. It is worth noting that Dong is still making other games, such as the low-profile Swing Copters, through his .GEARS studio. In the meantime, lawyer Le Thiep has a different view, saying the Flappy Bird creator is merely an app developer, not a service provider. “Dong does not have to obtain any license, something he must do only when he commercially trades his apps,” Thiep said. TUOI TRE NEWS |
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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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Vietnamese couple becomes parents for first time in their 50s  Tran Thi Phuc holds her first daughter, Tuong Vy, alongside her husband, Nguyen Van Manh, at the Hospital of Posts and Telecoms in Hanoi in June 2016 in this photo provided by the infirmary. A small family of a Vietnamese married couple has been filled with laughter since the day they gave birth to their first child in their 50s. Tran Thi Phuc, 53, and her husband, Nguyen Van Manh, 54, gave birth to their first daughter, Tuong Vy, about five months ago. The couple starts their normal days with Manh going to work till late in the evening while Phuc stays home and looks after their little baby. Despite having her hands full all day, joy can always be seen on Phuc’s face as she is finally able to know what it is like to be a mother after many years of hopelessness. Tying the knot in 2004 when Phuc was 41 and her husband 42, the pair experienced three miscarriages, resulting in them seeking for help at the Hospital of Posts and Telecoms in the Vietnamese capital in 2006. “I could not conceive even though doctors stated that my health was normal. I later decided to register for in vitro fertilization [IVF] at the infirmary,” Phuc recounted. Due to the lack of financial capacity, the woman was only able to undergo the IVF process twice in 10 years, both of which did not succeed. “I was frustrated, disappointed, and later became desperate as I was getting older. I was almost fixated on the thought that we were not blessed with a child in this life,” Phuc stated. “Thanks to the encouragement of my husband, we were about to get an adoption before the miracle finally occurred,” she continued. According to Nguyen Thi Nha, an obstetrician at the hospital, she never forgets the day Phuc first came to the facility as she was much older than the average age of other mothers who sought help there. Despite their tough living conditions, Phuc and her husband were always lively and full of optimism, Nha stated. God had answered the couple’s prayers as doctors informed that she had conceived, the doctor continued. She added that Phuc was healthy during her pregnancy and gave birth to Vy, weighing 2.7 kilograms, in early 2016. A special case Phuc’s story is rather special not only at the hospital but also across the country, as she is one of the oldest mothers who have been pregnant and given birth to their first babies, Nha said. “The couple was extremely lucky as we had too little hope for them after encountering countless setbacks,” she said. The family was invited back to the hospital earlier this week to share their stories with other infertile couples as well as being reunited with the doctors who helped them. Before leaving, the couple whispered to Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper reporters that they have not paid all the loans taken out to afford the IVF process. They will have to work much harder, the pair said, before adding that things would be fine with the precious daughter by their side. TUOI TRE NEWS |
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BUSINESS IN BRIEF 18/6 MoIT and UNIDO launch industrial development initiative The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) in concert with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) ceremoniously launched a three-year US$1 million project on June 17 in Hanoi. The Republic of Korea is also a stakeholder in the project and has agreed to provide US$980,000 of official development assistance for it, said Le Huu Phuc, director general of the MoIT’s International Cooperation Department at the launch. The overriding goal of the project, said Mr Phuc, is to advance responsible and sustainable business practices, and to bring greater coherence and integration to the nation’s industrial development. He said the collaboration marks the first initiative to address corporate sustainability in the context of specific segments of the economy in Vietnam in an overarching initiative to capture existing best practices and scale up sustainability while simultaneously addressing the UN broader goals of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption. By identifying and encouraging the adoption of international best practice in sustainable industrial development, the project is expected to boost investments in manufacturing, drive innovation and promote skills development in Vietnam. It will also promote global cooperation amongst national and international organizations through the adoption of inclusive and sustainable industrial strategies, said Mr Phuc, and contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. Most importantly, he said, it will enable international exchange of knowledge and technology, foster manufacturing capabilities development and promote global value chains across key manufacturing segments of the economy. 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. Romanian trade misses expectations Bilateral trade relations between Viet Nam and Romania still falls short of potential, a business conference heard yesterday in the capital. Nguyen Quang Vinh, the deputy general secretary of the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), blamed the unsatisfactory performance on inadequate information about each nation's enterprises, as well as on difficulties in customs and payment which firms from the two nations encounter. The two governments plan new practical measures to increase future two-way trade, Vinh told the Viet Nam-Romania Business Forum. Vlad Vasiliu, the Romanian State Secretary of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Business Environment, said businesses from his country want investment opportunities in electronics, electrics, telecommunications, information technology, agriculture, gas and petroleum in Viet Nam. Romania wants more Vietnamese investments in multiple fields, according to Oana Bizgan, Counsellor for the Minister of Economy, Commerce and Business Environment Relations of Romania. Bizgan's commented at a similar business forum on Wednesday in HCM City. Romania welcomes domestic and foreign investments and encourages enterprises to shift towards high-tech industries, Bizgan said. As the Eastern gateway to Europe, Romania is an appealing destination for foreign investors. Its advantages over other EU countries include lower labour costs and preferential tariff policies, she said. Two-way trade between the countries reached US$170 million in 2015, with approximately $102 million from Vietnamese exports. Trade reached a modest $46 million over the past four months. Viet Nam shipped mainly coffee, seafood, clothing, footwear, electronics and computers to Romania and imported wheat flour, machines and chemicals from the partner. Bilateral trade has not yet reached its full potential, so business communities should hold more joint trade promotion events and co-operate to complement each other, suggested Vo Tan Thanh, director of VCCI's HCM City branch. Vietnam attends Saint-Petersburg economic forum Hoang Quoc Vuong, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade, and other ministry officials attended the 20th Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum, which opened in the Russian city of Saint-Petersburg on June 16. Themed "Capitalising on the New Global Economic Reality”, the three-day forum attracted over 10,000 participants, including government leaders and business executives from 60 countries and territories worldwide. It saw the presence of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, among distinguished guests. Discussions at the forum focus on the global economic reality and the discovery of new sources for growth. In over 100 sideline events, about 200 leading experts and business managers are expected to discuss energy cooperation, investment, banking and high technology, among others. The Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum first took place in 1997 and it has since 2006 been held under the auspices of the President of the Russian Federation. Over the past decade, the forum has become a leading international venue for interaction among representatives of the business community. Agricultural sector focuses on recovering growth The agricultural sector must seek all possible ways to recover its growth, not only for the second half of this year but for years to come, said Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat at a meeting with the press on June 16. Between now and the year’s end, the sector will focus on overcoming the consequences of natural disasters and restoring production, while grasping market information and proposing solutions to maintain domestic and foreign markets, he said. He urged the Department of Crop Production to coordinate with local authorities to help farmers re-plant perennial trees, replacing those destroyed by drought and diseases. Meanwhile, the Department of Plant Protection must control diseases and recommend measures to ensure safe vegetables, tea and pepper in order to restore customers’ confidence in Vietnamese agricultural products, he stated. Minister Phat asked the animal husbandry should promote production in a sustainable manner while closely supervising the use of pesticides and antibiotics to prevent the abuse of chemicals in breeding. According to the ministry’s report, due to the impacts of El Nino and climate change, prolonged drought has damaged nearly 250,000 ha of rice, 18,960 ha of other crops, 30,500 ha of fruit trees, and 149,700 ha of industrial trees. As many as 1,355 cattle and poultry died and thousands others faced water shortages. By the middle of May, total losses caused by natural disasters amounted to over 6.7 trillion VND (433 million USD). More food transparency urged By voluntarily providing information about their products, food producers can win consumers' trust, thus enhancing their competitiveness, a seminar heard in HCM City yesterday. Speaking at the seminar on Aligning Efforts to Ensure Transparency and Traceability in National Food Supply Chains, Vu The Thanh, a food safety expert, said for most consumers transparent information about food from the input to the production stage is extremely important. The information should then be verified by Government management agencies, he said. He also suggested that food producers should provide warning labels (for example, the product could cause allergies to certain users) as is the case in many countries. Nguyen Thi Hong Minh, chairwoman of the advocacy committee for the establishment of Food Transparency Association, said unsafe food is still widespread in the market, directly affecting people's health. The use of plant protection chemicals in farming, antibiotics in animal breeding and preservatives in foodstuffs is still common, and authorised agencies seem unable to control it, she said. What is safe to eat and drink remains a concern for many people, she said. The ratio of producers meeting food safety and hygiene standards is low, she said. Many companies have invested in producing safe food products, but consumers do not trust them because the "inspection and certification system has problems," she said. "Achieving safe food certification is only half the work, and the other half consists of building trust, market education, PR and marketing, and all these responsibilities fall on the shoulders of food producers." Stand-alone farmers and producers do not have sufficient resources and even certified safe food producers cannot survive without support from the market, she said. Safe food producers need to collaborate to communicate, promote and market their products to win consumers' trust, she said. The Food Transparency Association would link up responsible players in the food production chain for the benefit of society and the environment, she said. Nguyen Phuoc Trung, director of the HCM City Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said the Food Transparency Association is necessary to bring food producers and traders together for building a safe food industry and improving the competitiveness of Vietnamese products, especially at a time of deeper integration. The city would increase inspections and deal severely with violations related to food production, processing and trading, 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. Credit growth surges 5.48% in first five months Credit in the first five months of 2016 grew 5.48 per cent compared to the end of 2015, the highest for the past few years, according to the State Bank of Viet Nam's Credit Department. Compared with the same period last year, the credit surged 17.59 per cent. Given this increase, experts expect the banking industry to meet the 18 per cent credit growth target this year. General director of Vietinbank, Le Duc Tho, said that lending growth in his bank, targeted at 18 per cent this year by the central bank, has been good so far, reaching 6 per cent by the end of May. Lending to small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) was the best. Many new SMEs have been set up and the economy has improved, helping boost the firms' capital needs, he said. Tho believes Vietinbank could meet the lending quota set by the central bank as it often rises sharply in Q3 and Q4. However, Tho said, depending on market demands, the bank could adjust the target after making a proposal to the central bank. Tran Van Tan, head of the Agriculture and Rural Development Credit Division, said the credit growth was made possible by the robust health of SMEs and their access to credit. While still requiring commercial banks to support businesses, the central bank has recently directed that monetary policies give top priority to ensuring the safety of the banking system and controlling inflation. "Credit institutions must balance their capital mobilisation sources and lending to ensure liquidity. Credit growth rates must be controlled in accordance with capital mobilisation and lending quotas allocated by the central bank to ensure safe credit growth and to help businesses with easier access to credit," according to the central bank. The central bank also asked commercial banks to be more careful with lending to industries that have witnessed high growth and high potential risks, such as real estate, Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) and Build-Transfer (BT) projects. State Bank of Viet Nam has ordered credit institutions and branches of foreign banks to report their lending, capital mobilisation and interest rates in Vietnamese dong every month going forward. The reports must be submitted to the central bank's Monetary Policy Department on the 20th of every month, starting from June and lasting until the end of this year. The move is aimed at cutting lending rates to support domestic businesses and production. Many banks, such as ACB, Sacombank, VP Bank and Eximbank, have also lowered their deposit rates by roughly 0.1-0.2 per cent per year for the first time this year since the end of May. This deposit interest rate reduction is expected to help banks further cut lending rates. State Bank of Viet Nam Governor Le Minh Hung recently pledged that the banking system would try to cut the lending rate by roughly 1 per cent this year. The central bank also affirmed it would regulate the inter-bank rates in accordance with the market interest rate. Chinese businesses attend China-ASEAN expo in Hanoi Nearly 200 top Chinese enterprises are showcasing their products at the 13 th China-ASEAN Expo 2016 (CAEXPO 2016), which opened in Hanoi on June 16. The event, jointly held by the Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency under the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the People’s Government of China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, sees the display of high-quality machinery, from food packaging machines and energy equipment to automobiles. Enterprises of the two countries will have the chance to enhance cooperation and advanced technology exchanges, while taking the advantages of the ASEAN-China free trade deals, contributing to promote competitiveness and efficiency in production. According to Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai, CAEXPO, an annual event organised in Nanning city, Guangxi province, serves as a venue to promote trade, investment and tourism between ASEAN and China. Meanwhile, Chinese Ambassador to Vietnam Hong Xiaoyong said that the event is held as part of the multilateral cooperation activities between ASEAN and China, which plays the host. This year, Vietnam is named as the Country of Honour, which is a mechanism first introduced at the CAEXPO 2007 to make it easier for a country to popularise its images during the event. It is chosen alternately among the 10 ASEAN member countries, including 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, which helps the country re-affirm its role in ASEAN-China relations. Around 200 Vietnamese enterprises will attend the same expo to be held in Guangxi in September. 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. Conference gives insights into TPP impact on Vietnam A three-day conference on impact of the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal on Vietnam convened in the southern province of Ba Ria – Vung Tau’s Vung Tau city on June 16. The event gathers representatives from the National Assembly (NA)’s Council of Ethnic Affairs, Standing Committee and Committee for External Relations, deputies from the south recently elected to the 14 th NA, experts and businessmen. Participants will delve deeply into the content of the TPP agreement, including chapters related to labour, intellectual property, technical barriers to trade, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, as well as rules of origin. They will discuss the role of the NA in ratifying the pact and overseeing its implementation. Vietnam’s commitments, legal gaps, law amendment options and the preparation of domestic firms are also subjects to be discussed. The conference will lay the groundwork for further discussion and for the vote on the ratification of the TPP, that is slated to take place at the first NA’s session in July. The event was co-organised by the NA Committee for External Relations together with the US Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Governance for Inclusive Growth Programme. The two agencies will continue their work together until December 2018 in a bid to encourage the participation of the National Assembly, ministries, businesses and social organisations involved in the national reform. JICA helps Vietnam with SOEs, bank restructuring Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue and Vice President of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Kenichi Tomiyoshi have discussed policies on the restructuring of State-own enterprises (SOEs) and the banking system in Vietnam during 2016-2020. The tabled issues are the two major research programmes the Japanese agency is working on to give advice to the Vietnamese Government. During the meeting in Hanoi on June 16, Tomiyoshi and other Japanese experts raised systematic, fundamental and breakthrough proposals for SOEs restructuring as well as the settlement of bad debts and commercial banks with poor performance in the next five years. JICA would provide Vietnam with technical assistance in building policies in order to complete a legal framework dealing with bad debts and weak credit institutions, and to improve the performance of large-scale SOEs by using loans granted by strategic investors or Japanese banks, they said. Deputy PM Vuong Dinh Hue affirmed that enhancing macro-economic stability, accelerating the transformation of the economic growth model in tandem with economic restructuring in major areas and concretising development targets in a more rapid and sustainable fashion are among goals set by Vietnam in the next five years. He described JICA’s research on Vietnam’s restructuring of SOEs and banks over the recent past as a significant policy aid and consultation helping the Vietnamese Government reach the set objectives. The Government will ask relevant ministries and agencies to closely coordinate with the agency to promptly complete policy recommendations, the official said. The Deputy PM noted his hope that the Japanese experts will base their recommendations on Vietnam’s reality when they assess the restructuring and compare it with solutions Japan had applied successfully in the past, especially to bad debts and bank restructuring. He displayed his belief that with strong political resolve, the endeavours of local ministries, agencies and localities and with the support of international friends like Japan, Vietnam will successfully fulfill its economic restructuring targets and make more rapid and sustainable developments, he said. The official also thanked the Japanese agency for its support to Vietnam in building infrastructure in service of the country’s industrialisation and modernisation, thus contributing to the extensive strategic partnership between the two countries. Vietnam to apply international financial reporting standards Vietnam will soon apply international financial reporting standards (IFRS), which will require businesses to be well prepared to adapt to, experts said in a workshop held in Ho Chi Minh City on June 16. The event was co-organised by the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HOSE) and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) to discuss challenges and experience in applying IFRS, which are employed by more than 100 countries. At the workshop, HOSE Deputy Director Tran Anh Dao said Vietnam’s economy is gaining momentum in its global integration, which has not only brought opportunities to domestic firms but also required them to comply with international standards. IFRS are now a challenge to Vietnamese enterprises, she said, adding that there have been only a small number of commercial banks and major companies listed on the stock market practicing the standards. Listed companies are the first groups required to apply IFRS by the Finance Ministry, in line with the body’s roadmap for IFRS application by 2020. According to Dang Thai Hung, head of the Finance Ministry’s Department of Accounting and Auditing Policies, the standards will help enhance comparability and transparency. The National Assembly has approved a new principle included in the amended Accounting Law draft to facilitate IFRS practice in Vietnam, Hung said. Great chance for Vietnam to enter next production revolution Vietnam is holding a big opportunity to enter the next production revolution, which is happening around the world, Deputy Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son has said. At a workshop in Hanoi on June 16, he elaborated that a new space for development has been opened thanks to intensive international integration and a young and industrious population able to quickly adapt to new technologies. The next production revolution, or the fourth industrial revolution, began at the same time with the breakthrough development of smart technology. It has been strongly developing in recent years amid a growing need for a new, more effective, and more sustainable production mode to efficiently cope with financial crises, climate change and aging populations, he noted. Son stressed after finishing negotiations on or signing new-generation free trade agreements (FTAs) like the Trans-Pacific Partnership or the bilateral FTAs with the EU and the Eurasian Economic Union, Vietnam has advanced to a very important stage of development that requires strong mindset reforms and high resolve to accelerate national industrialisation and modernisation. Alessandro Goglio, head of the Southeast Asia Division of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), said the next production revolution is just in the initial phase at present but critical to all countries, especially developing nations like Vietnam. The OECD is enhancing cooperation with Southeast Asian countries to boost bilateral dialogue, support the region’s connectivity and integration, and assist their policy priorities. Therefore, thorough studies and sharing information to identify the nature and impacts of the next production revolution are necessary, he added. At the workshop, participants mulled over the revolution’s features and its challenges to development, mindset and policy changes in the world, how to optimise opportunities and minimise the revolution’s reverse influence, and what Vietnam should do to tap into its potential amidst the revolution. Cover warrant rules due to be published soon The State Securities Commission (SSC) will soon complete and issue guideline 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 June 14. 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 Vietnam 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, Sagon 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. Khanh Hoa: Composite vessels reinforce tuna industry Composite vessel building for off-shore fishing, built under Government Decree No 67 in the south central province of Khanh Hoa, is enjoying robust growth as local fishermen and enterprises have realised benefits from such vessels, especially in the tuna catching industry. According to Deputy Director of the Institute for Ship Research and Development under the University of Nha Trang (Uniship) Phan Tuan Long, the institute launched four composite vessels in the first six months of this year. Reasonable price, low-maintenance costs, good velocity and better storage, as well as more flexibility compared to wooden ships for long off-shore trips have helped the orders for composite vessels surge against last year, he added. The province has the largest off-shore composite vessel fleet in Vietnam, operating mainly in the tuna industry. The province’s tuna catch reaches 23,000 tonnes a year, of which ocean tuna accounts for 4,000 tonnes. Deputy Chairman of Vietnam Fisheries Society (VINAFIS) and Chairman of Khanh Hoa Fishery Association (KHAFA) Vo Thien Lang said investing in post-harvest preservation techniques for composite vessel fleets will help to increase the value of tuna production. Decree 67, which took effect in August 2014, stipulates policies in investment, credit, insurance and tax incentives in support of fishermen and ship owners, who wish to build new or upgrade their existing boats and buy fishing equipment. The decree in practice is earning fishermen higher incomes. CIC - A flagship for sustainable cocoa development in Vietnam Vietnam is sitting on a big opportunity to expand its high-quality cocoa production and export, with a big boost from Cacao International Corporation (CIC), the first integrated agricultural company in Vietnam that has advanced sustainable cocoa production and sourcing methods. Over the past few years, cocoa remained one of the more stable agricultural commodities with a stable selling price. Specifically, since late 2014, while the prices of coffee and rubber were slashed by about $1,000, cocoa has produced an increase of about $1,000 to date. Cocoa prices climbed 25 per cent in 2013 and continued to rise in early 2014, reaching $3,355 per ton last July. Currently, the farm gate price of one kilogramme of cocoa is $3.0, far higher than the $1.5 charged for coffee. Vietnam produces 7,500 tonnes of cocoa annually, most of which is exported. Amid the rising global demand for cocoa products, Vietnam caters for a large segment of the market. The price of cocoa, therefore, is expected to increase stably in the future. Mr Dinh Hai Lam, former Cocoa Development Manager at Mars Incorporated possessing over a decade of experience with cocoa development in Vietnam, told VIR that being the major exporter of only fermented cocoa beans in Asia, Vietnam is well-situated to meet Asian chocolate manufacturers’ strategic need for high quality cocoa. By engaging in professional production, many Vietnamese farmers are now producing more than two tonnes of dried fermented beans per hectare every year. Tran Xuan Quang, a cocoa farmer from Ea Na commune, Krong Ana district, Dak Lak province has three hectares of cocoa. “Last year, the productivity was 2.5 tonnes per hectare and our total revenue from the trees reached VND400 million ($18,180), making a total profit of VND300 million ($13,636),” Quang told VIR. “Cocoa plantations are about 30-40 per cent more profitable than rubber or coffee, we prefer cocoa to coffee”, he said. Over the past decade, Vietnamese cocoa production remained modest. The country has yet to build up a sturdy cocoa industry as the opportunities have largely passed under government radars undetected and have yet to see a specific cocoa development incentive policy. Instead, most cocoa development projects in Vietnam are backed by non-governmental organizations. However, these projects aim to reduce poverty and benefit poor households, who can hardly engage in cocoa plantation due to their poor finances and limited experience. Additionally, firms are not interested in investing in cocoa plantations. Apart from several companies like Mars, Puratos Grand Place and Cargills making an effort to give farmers technical training, other companies only focus on purchasing beans from them. “Last but not least, cocoa has yet to become widely known as an economical crop by farmers and enterprises,” Lam shared. Research of other sectors, such as rubber, coffee, tea, sugar, etc., revealed that to sustainably develop a sector, it is critical to ensure the participation of businesses and institutional investors through the establishment of large-scale farming and developing close linkages with surrounding farmers. In this model, businesses play a leading role in technology transfer, provide planting inputs, and ensure sales outlets for small households. “I think that there is a significant opportunity to invest in cocoa production and processing in Vietnam by implementing modern agro-technologies and methods at both corporate farming and production linkages with small farmers. This can be done through business partnerships, training, and community development,” Lam shared. Building on his venerable experience in cocoa development in Vietnam, Mr Dinh Hai Lam, along with several partners, had set up CIC, the first integrated agricultural company with advanced sustainable cocoa production and sourcing methods in Vietnam. CIC aims to acquire concession over 2,000 hectare land area to establish cocoa corporate farms. It also plans to develop on an additional 10,000 hectare through contract growing with middle class farmers and cluster growing with smallholders. Corporate farms are the most essential part of CIC’s business strategy, which will be equipped with the best cocoa plantation technology. It is scheduled to have 250 hectares of cocoa planted in 2016 and target to have 2,000 hectares of corporate farms by 2022. For cocoa contract growing, CIC will create a unique system of production linkages with middle class farmers. In this system, farmers may receive credit from or arranged through CIC to buy planting materials, fertigation systems, inputs, and other technical services from CIC. The products of these contract growers will be off-taken and pre-processed at CIC’s concentrated fermenting centres. The above example well illustrates how CIC supports middle class farmers and it should serve as a model of long-term co-operation between enterprises and farmers in the future. Mr. Quang’s family had received such assistance from CIC in technical training, fertilizers, and building a modern irrigation system, making it more convenient to water and care for the trees properly. Meanwhile, other nearby households often had poor crops, while his family prospered. “All of this is thanks to CIC’s support, especially the drip irrigation. We save time, labour, and water. During the severe drought in the first months of this year, many families suffered great losses, but we remained safe by using the economic irrigation system”, he said. For cocoa cluster growing, CIC will promote cocoa to small household farmers through Cocoa Development Centre (CDC) and Cocoa Village Centre (CVC), following Mars Inc.’s CDC/CVC approach. CIC will also focus on developing advanced farming mechanisms for its own corporate farms and for service provision to contract growers. Notably, environmental and social responsibility will be a rule of thumb in every aspect of CIC’s operations. “CIC aims to become a leading company in the Asian cocoa upstream sector. We are providing Vietnamese cocoa growers and buyers a total solution package to make Vietnam an important and sustainable producer of high quality cocoa,” Lam stressed. Made-in-Vietnam industrial power generators exported to Cambodia A locally made power generator system produced by Sang Ban Mai JSC. (SBM) was exported to Cambodia at a ceremony held in the My Phuoc 2 Industrial Park, Ben Cat town, Binh Duong province on June 15. The exported system’s capacity ranges from 1,100KVA to 2,500KVA, for a total capacity of 8,600KVA with three 2,500KVA generators. The US$1.2 million generators were produced and installed by SBM from imported equipment of Perkins and Deepsea from the UK, Leroysomer from France and Mitsubishi from Japan. The system meets requirements of European standards and follows a test process in accordance with the international standard of ISO 3046 and the UK standard of BS 8528. At the ceremony, SBM CEO Tran Thanh Trong said that his company overcame other world-famous power generator producers to supply the products for Primalis Corporation of Cambodia, a leading high-quality rice processor in the neighbouring country. This proved that high-capacity power generators with good quality produced locally have created an important imprint and are competitive in the ASEAN market, Trong added. SBM is a local business producing industrial power generators, supplying over 300 generators with the SBMPOWER® brand name and 10-2,500KVA capacity. The generators are produced with a high localisation rate under strict conformity with quality standards and sold at reasonable prices, making it compete effectively in the local and regional markets. Lawyers describe business conditions in circulars as illegal Lawyers attending a conference in Hanoi on June 14 said the business conditions provided by ministries and ministerial-level agencies in their circulars run counter to the prevailing laws and rules. At the conference on business conditions held by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), lawyer Truong Thanh Duc said Clause 5, Article 7 of the 2005 Enterprise Law stipulates that ministries, ministerial-level agencies, people’s councils and people’s committees are not permitted to determine conditional business sectors and business conditions. However, around 4,000 business conditions have been found in circulars and other documents issued over the past years. Duc said those business conditions contained in circulars are against law. Lawyer Tran Vu Hai said the ministerial circulars containing business conditions would be converted into Government decrees from July 1 to make them compatible with the Enterprise Law. This is wrong as well, he said. Hai said that to ensure laws are respected, all business conditions in ministerial circulars must be eliminated. Ministries should discuss business conditions relating to national and social security and the final decision will rest with the Government. Nguyen The Hung, director of auto importer Ky Lin Trade Company, said Circular 20, issued in 2011 by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, stipulates that firms must be authorized by car manufacturers to import autos. This circular has since caused many local auto importers to go bust. He said the country had 200 auto importers in 2011 but the number has fallen to 20 this year. However, these small- and micro-businesses mainly trade second-hand cars. Dau Anh Tuan, head of the Legal Department at VCCI, said the circulars containing business conditions would be converted into Government decrees but VCCI has found no draft decrees ready for this conversion. Meanwhile, ministries and ministerial-level agencies do not have to collect comments from businesses when converting circulars. Lawyer Tran Huu Huynh from VCCI said Vietnam has the biggest number of business conditions in the world. The more businesses conditions there are, the fewer companies a country has. Gas traders bemoan business conditions Many gas trading firms in the northern region of Vietnam have complained that they have been hit by a slew of complicated administrative procedures and business conditions. Representatives of companies based in the northeastern and northwestern parts of the country claimed that the Government’s Decree 19 on gas trading and the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Circular 03 detailing certain articles in the decree have pushed many firms active in the field to the verge of bankruptcy. Ha Thanh Tung from Ha Giang Province-based Dong Tung Production, Trading and Service Co Ltd is one of the representatives. Tung said companies would find it hard to obtain a license if they closely observe Circular 03. In particular, under Article 9 of the circular, the application dossier for a license to bottle liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) must include copies of certificates of eligibility for LPG imports and exports, or certificates of eligibility for LPG distribution. However, as stipulated in Article 8, with the application for certificates of eligibility for LPG distribution, LPG distributors have to provide additional documents specified in Clause 4, Article 7. Those additional documents are in fact copies of certificates of eligibility for LPG bottling or contracts for LPG bottling. “We are aware that with such requirements, companies like us cannot get a license,” Tung said. Besides, Article 43 of Decree 19 says the certificate of eligibility will be granted to the applicant within 30 working days from the date of all required documents being submitted. If so, agents must wait for up to 135 days to get licenses for gas distribution, bottling and a general agent if they meet all requirements. Meanwhile, a previous decree required only seven days for the licensing duration. In addition to conflicting regulations, Tung also complained about the conditions, which he said are unrealistic for storage tanks and total capacities of LPG bottles for gas distributors. He said such requirements are not suitable for mountainous areas where consumption demand is lower than in other parts of the country. Food safety authority proposed for HCMC The HCMC Department of Home Affairs has proposed establishing a food safety authority which would operate under the city government. The proposed authority is deemed as crucial for the city to better control food safety. With a population of over ten million people, the city consumes a large amount of food a day and is a consumption center of domestically-processed and imported food. Every year, local dwellers consume around 287,000 tons of meat, over one billion eggs, one million tons of vegetables and 170,000 tons of seafood. However, local supplies can meet only 15-20% of demand, prompting people to rely on other sources with many of them having unclear origins and low quality. In its proposal sent to the city government, the department pointed out weaknesses in food safety management, overlapping functions of relevant agencies, inconsistent regulations on food inspection and quarantine, and mild punitive sanctions against violators. Therefore, the department said it is urgent for the city to improve control of food safety and solve inconsistent issues caused by relevant agencies. Food safety in HCMC is currently managed by the departments of health, agriculture-rural development, and industry-trade and district authorities. The city is expected to draw up an establishment plan in the third quarter of this year for ministries and agencies to comment before it is submitted to the the Prime Minister for consideration. The authority would be headquartered at 18 Cach Mang Thang Tam Street in District 1. Apparel firms struggling to find new orders Apparel exports grew well in the first five months of this year but many local enterprises in the industry are grappling with woes to secure new orders due partly to falling world demand, says a recent report of the Ministry of Industry and Trade. According to the report on industries and commerce, garment shipments amounted to US$8.6 billion in January-May, up 6.1% over the same period in 2015. However, the growth was ascribed mainly to foreign-invested firms while local enterprises had difficulty finding importers, especially of shirts, trousers and jackets. Pham Xuan Hong, chairman of the HCMC Association of Garment-Textile-Embroidery-Knitting (AGTEK), confirmed a lack of new orders for Vietnamese garment companies but said the situation was not too serious. Last year, local apparel enterprises pinned high hopes that the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement, which Vietnam and 11 other Pacific Rim countries signed in February this year, would bring more opportunities to them. But the market has not been as rosy this year as expected. Hong told the Daily that demand for apparel products on global markets has slid as consumers are tightening spending due to persistent economic uncertainties. In addition, importers have shifted a large volume of orders for simple products to other countries, including Bangladesh and Cambodia, to enjoy lower prices. That is why the apparel export target of US$31 billion for this year has been revised down to US$29 billion. According to the Office of Textiles and Apparel (OTEXA) under the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC), the U.S. imported over US$32.9 billion worth of apparel in the first four months of 2016, down 3.29% year-on-year. Of the 10 biggest apparel exporters of America, seven countries saw declines in export turnover from the U.S. in this period. For example, China, the largest apparel exporter to the U.S., shipped over US$11 billion worth of garments stateside in January-April, down 5.88% (equivalent to US$695 million) year-on-year. Meanwhile, imports from Vietnam, the second largest exporter to the U.S., stood at over US$3.5 billion, up 2.82% (equivalent to US$98 million) over the same period a year earlier. State capital divestments from major firms slow Divestments of State capital from major companies, particularly those making profits, have been woefully slow over the years. Last year, the Government told State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC) to withdraw State capital from a number of big enterprises but the divestment process has been moving more slowly than expected. The 10 enterprises from which SCIC has been allowed to take back State capital are Vietnam Dairy Products Joint Stock Company (Vinamilk), Bao Minh Insurance Corporation, Vietnam National Reinsurance Corporation, Tien Phong Plastic JSC, Binh Minh Plastics JSC, Vietnam Infrastructure Investment and Development JSC, Ha Giang Mineral and Mechanics JSC, Sa Giang Import Export Corporation, FPT Corporation and FPT Telecom JSC. SCIC has not unveiled specific plans to pull out capital from Vinamilk and Bao Minh Insurance. SCIC now holds a 45.06% stake in Vinamilk. The dairy firm announced at its general meeting last month that it is conducting procedures to raise foreign ownership, possibly to 100%. Dang Quyet Tien, deputy head of the Enterprise Finance Department under the ministry, said special mechanisms are needed to boost divestments of State capital from the 10 enterprises. However, he noted the divestments from these firms should not be done simultaneously as this may cause share prices to slump and leave negative impacts on the stock market. Many others that are profitable like Saigon Beer-Alcohol-Beverage Corporation (Sabeco) and Hanoi Alcohol Beer and Beverage Company (Habeco) launched their initial public offerings (IPOs) years ago. The State stakes in these enterprises are managed by ministries and agencies but they have yet to announce detailed plans to transfer State stakes to SCIC or to continue divesting State capital as required. In mid-September, the Vietnam Association of Financial Investors (VAFI) wrote to the Ministry of Industry and Trade saying that Sabeco and Habeco were equitized over eight years ago but they have not transferred State holdings to SCIC. The association cited the Government’s Decision 51/2014/QD-CP dated September 15, 2014 as showing that regarding enterprises transformed into joint stock companies before the date, representatives of State stakes in those businesses must coordinate with firms to complete procedures to list on the stock market and trade shares within one year after the decision takes effect. VEF/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/Dantri/VET/VIR |
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Article 3
Cycling the Hồ Chí Minh Trail
Virginia Morris is a security and defence analyst and author based in the UK. Her research specialty is asymmetric war and terrorism. Morris cycled the Hồ Chí Minh Trail with her husband and children in 2015. The trail is a thousand miles long and runs from Việt Nam through Laos and Cambodia. Her journey, which was later penned in a mini-series were published on Việt Nam New - Outlook magazine issues August, September and October last year won second prize of the national 2015 External Information Service Awards. Mrs. Morris shares with Việt Nam News some of the highlights of her journey. What was your motivation when you decided to take the Hồ Chí Minh Trail challenge? My husband and I walked approximately 500 miles along the Hồ Chí Minh Trail in Laos in 1998-99. After that we always wanted to cycle the full Trail in Việt Nam and Laos, which is about 1,000 miles long. We still dreamed of this — even though we now have children — Bluebelle 6 and Albion 3. In April 2015 we achieved our wish and cycled hundreds of miles along the Trail as a family. In the future we want more people to do the Hồ Chí Minh Challenge. So you explored the trials and learned about the lives of people who helped create the trails. What impressed you most? The bravery of the people who operated along the Trail during the war: not only because of the war but also because of the heat and the shortage of water, food and medicine. Please share with us some of your most memorable moments on the trails? The Trail runs through some of the most beautiful landscapes in Việt Nam and Laos. I loved the forest, the striking mountains, the vast rivers and the remote feeling to the place. People were always happy to see our group and were very kind to us. It was a long and challenging journey. Did you ever think of giving up? What kept you going and inspired you to finish the challenge? Our group faced many obstacles. The bike we brought from the UK broke on the flight over, but we got it fixed. It broke again, so we purchased a local one but it did not have gears. When the mountains grew too steep, we walked. When it was too hot during the day, we rode at 4am. Nothing stopped us from finishing because we were honoured to see this part of history. It is quite possible that in the future many adventure-seekers will take on the Hồ Chí Minh Trail challenge. What would you like to say to them as somebody who has “been there, done that”? Do not just think of doing the Challenge – JUST DO IT. It will be one of the most amazing experiences of your life. Is there a plan to revisit the country in the future or maybe another challenge to conquer? What other parts of Việt Nam would you like to see next? I would like to revisit Việt Nam. But I do not know when. I have always wanted to see Điện Biên Phủ and to explore the historic site where the French empire imploded. - VNS
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Article 2
New legislature to gather on July 20 Vietnam’s new National Assembly (NA) is expected to hold its first session on July 20, with the major focus being on electing a new leadership for the legislative body, the State, and the government.  The first session will likely last for ten days and end on July 30, with voting for a new NA Chairman, State President and Prime Minister, according to Mr. Nguyen Hanh Phuc, General Secretary of the NA. This will be the 14th tenure of the NA following the May elections, with 496 delegates. Some 160 delegates were re-elected. The current Chairwoman of the NA is Ms. Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, while the State President is Mr. Tran Dai Quang and the Prime Minister Mr. Nguyen Xuan Phuc. Ms. Ngan was previously Vice Chairwoman, Mr. Quang was Minister of Public Security, and Mr. Phuc was a Deputy Prime Minister. The new NA will also discuss the socioeconomic development plan in 2016 and other key issues such as public expenditure and the management of foreign loans. The NA is proposing the government to provide reports on the marine environment to delegates. Votes were cast on May 22 to elect 500 members of the new NA, 3,918 provincial councilors, 24,993 district councilors, and 294,055 commune councilors for the 2016-2021 tenure. Of the 870 NA candidates, 496 were elected, four short of the 500-seat plan, according to the National Election Council (NEC). The election results show that voters opted for younger officials, with 71 candidates under 40 years of age securing a seat in the legislative body, a 9.1 per cent increase from the last term. Over 60 per cent of elected NA delegates have a Master’s degree or higher and over a third have a university degree, while 1.2 per cent, or six delegates, have no tertiary qualifications. There are 133 female NA delegates, accounting for 26.8 per cent, while the target was at least 30 per cent. The number of non-Party NA delegates for the 14th tenure is 21, or 4.2 per cent of elected delegates and half the number in the 13th tenure, meaning 96 per cent of delegates are members of the Communist Party of Vietnam. Eighty-six delegates are ethnic minorities, equal to 17.3 per cent, while 182 were centrally-nominated candidates, or 36.7 per cent and 15 less than planned. Only two self-nominated candidates made the cut, while last term there were four. The two this time around are Mr. Nguyen Anh Tri, Director of the National Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion, and Mr. Pham Quang Dung, Chairman of the Tasco JSC. Seventeen new delegates are businesspeople, including Chairman of VietinBank Mr. Nguyen Van Thang, Chairwoman of TNG Holdings Vietnam Ms. Nguyen Thi Nguyet Huong, Deputy CEO of Becamex IDC Mr. Nguyen Van Danh, and Chairman of PetroVietnam Mr. Nguyen Quoc Khanh. VN Economic Times |
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Article 1
State budget use is big waste, with 7,000 public cars in excess On June 15, the National Assembly Standing Committee listened to Minister of Finance Dinh Tien Dung’s report on the implementation of the Law on Thrift Practice and Waste Combat in 2015, which pointed out waste in using the state budget. According to the report, waste was typical in the construction of public works. For example, the Museum of Hanoi worth hundred millions of USD has opened for nearly 5 years but it has failed to attract visitors. The expanded Thai Nguyen Steel Plant project worth nearly $400 million is still idle after almost 10 years of implementation. The dormitory for students in Hanoi and some provinces worth hundreds of millions of USD have been abandoned by students. As for public procurement, in 2015 state agencies bought 611 cars at a total cost of nearly $30 million while the number of state cars in excess is up to 7,000. Nguyen Duc Hien, Head of the National Assembly People’s Aspiration Committee, said that the use of public assets is an issue of public interest but the government report did not show all the shortcomings, particularly the use of state vehicles at government agencies. Nguyen Thanh Hai, Chairwoman of the National Assembly Committee for Culture, Education, Youth, Teenagers and Children, said there must be measures to handle and rectify waste in using public assets, specifically the use of public cars and public spending. National Assembly Vice Chairman Uong Chu Luu said the government must name the state agencies that cause waste for the state budget, not mentioning the waste in general. NA deliberates on budget spending The National Assembly Standing Committee has approved the setting aside of VND2.1 trillion ($94.14 million) for reorganizing the State salary system, paid for by using some of the VND5.46 trillion ($244.77 million) in unused State revenue from 2015. The decision on using the revenue is in response to a proposal from the government on increasing basic State salaries, pensions, and assistance to military and police veterans by 5-7 percent a year. Minister of Finance Dinh Tien Dung said the increase will bring the percentage of the budget expenditure used for salaries to 64 per cent. The allocation comes at a time when Vietnam is struggling to handle its budget deficit, which was over VND66 trillion ($2.95 billion) in the first five months of the year, which is quite high given that taxes and other State revenue are falling, according to the General Statistics Office. In 2015 basic State salaries increased by 8 per cent, with average salaries for workers at State-owned enterprises (SOEs) being the highest, at VND7.04 million ($331), according to Ms. Tong Thi Minh, Director General of the Department of Labor and Wages at the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs. The use of State revenue for increases to the basic State salaries obviously adds to the burden on State revenue spending on mass organizations or State-sponsored mass organizations, also known as socio-political organizations. According to the latest report from the Vietnam Institute for Economic and Policy Research (VEPR), the budget for these organizations in 2014 was VND1.261 trillion ($57.8 million), double the figure in 2006. “Support increased from VND781.3 billion ($34.9 million) in 2006 to VND1.8997 trillion ($85.08 million) for all State mass organizations, accounting for about 1.1 per cent of the total State budget for central ministries and central agencies in 2014,” VEPR wrote. This is equivalent to the amount of expenditures on the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the Ministry of Industry and Trade Moreover, according to analysis from the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV), budget expenditures in recent times have been unstable and have led to inefficiencies, as expenditures for operating activities is growing 18.44 per cent per annum while the expenditures on development activities is only 4.8 per cent per annum and falling. Of the remaining VND5.46 trillion ($244.77 million) in unused revenue from 2015, VND2.14 trillion ($95.93 million) will be used to cover the budget deficit, while VND1.12 trillion ($50.20 million) will go to cities and provinces earning higher revenue than planned, and VND88 billion ($3.94 million) will be reinvested in localities. SOE divestment to support poverty reduction While the use of unused revenue from 2015 has been decided, the VND10 trillion ($448.30 million) earned from SOE divestment is still up for discussion by the NA. Minister Dung has proposed that VND4 trillion ($179.32 million) be used to further tackle poverty, explaining that few sources are available for this important mission. Another VND6 trillion ($268.98 million) will be used for development expenditure, of which VND4 trillion ($179.32 million) will be used as reciprocal capital in key ODA projects while VND2 trillion ($89.66 million) will be used for saline intrusion projects in the southern region and the central highlands. A final decision on the use of the VND10 trillion ($448.30 million) from SOE divestment is still to come from the NA. VNN/VET |
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Ba Ria-Vung Tau must push ahead with sustainable development Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong (L) meets officials and residents of Dat Do district of Ba Ria - Vung Tau (Photo: VNA) Ba Ria – Vung Tau – Ba Ria – Vung Tau province must press on with sustainable development and focus on sea-based economic activities and marine sovereignty protection, Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong said. The Party leader had a working session with local officials on June 18 as part of his two-day tour of the southern province. He stressed that Ba Ria – Vung Tau, holding a strategic position, has made great strides over the past years and boasts huge potential for stronger development in the near future. He applauded the province’s sound development orientations that have tapped into local advantages in gas – power – fertiliser industries, seaport services, tourism, and agriculture. Mapping out appropriate development directions is critical, as is fine-tuning the orientations while realising them, he said. Ba Ria – Vung Tau should adopt only investment projects using modern technology, generating high added values and being environmentally friendly. It needs to ensure a stable investment climate where people’s strength is promoted, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong noted. He lauded the locality’s attention to the Party and political system reinforcement, along with studying and following late President Ho Chi Minh’s moral example. The Party chief asked the province to enhance personnel training and State officials’ sense of responsibility. At the working session, the provincial Party Committee reported that Ba Ria – Vung Tau is now home to 15 industrial parks covering 8,706ha. Local industrial production grew by more than 7 percent in the first five months of 2016. The province plans to have 57 ports, 28 of them have been operational and are able to handle 98.9 million tonnes of goods per year. It has applied itself to developing the Cai Mep – Thi Vai deep-water port system into an international transit port. Between January and May, the Cai Mep – Thi Vai port complex dealt with 19.7 million tonnes of goods and contributed some 5.72 trillion VND (256.9 million USD) generated from its activities to the State budget. Meanwhile, Ba Ria – Vung Tau welcomed 7.9 million tourists and collected 245 billion VND (11 million USD) in tourism revenue for the State budget. It has also ensured security – order, environment and food safety, local officials said. On June 17, Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong visited Long Tan commune which fulfilled all new-style rural area criteria in late 2014. He also laid a wreath and offered incense at the monument, temple and memorial house of Heroic Martyr Vo Thi Sau in Dat Do district.-VNA |
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7 dead in head-on bus crash on mountain pass near Da Lat One of the two passenger buses is pictured after the accident on Prenn Mountain Pass, near Da Lat, located in Vietnam's Central Highlands. A passenger bus lost control of its brake, crashing into a road worker and having a head-on collision with another bus, on its way down a mountain pass near the famous resort town of Da Lat in Vietnam’s Central Highlands on Sunday. Seven people, including the road worker and one children, were confirmed dead, while a person suffered brain death. An initial report said eight victims were killed. Thirty-three other passengers were hospitalized, with 18 in critical conditions due to brain injuries. At 11:15 am, a 42-seater passenger bus operated by travel firm Le My was traveling from Da Lat downward the Prenn Mountain Pass when the driver lost control of the vehicle. The Prenn Mountain Pass is some 3km from the center of Da Lat, the capital of Lam Dong Province. The Le My vehicle then crashed into the road worker and continued hitting a 32-seater passenger bus of travel company Thanh Lich, which was heading Da Lat, to its head. The accident occurred on the part of the mountain pass that is being repaired, with the road narrowed by a third compared to normal width. As the Le My bus was carrying no passengers at the time of accident, only its driver was killed. Besides the road worker, all of the five deceased passengers were of the Thanh Lich bus. Three of them are female teachers of a school in the south-central city of Phan Thiet, who were heading for Da Lat for a summer holiday. On Sunday afternoon, Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh, who leads the National Committee for Traffic Safety, requested the transport ministry and Lam Dong administration to identify the cause of accident. The Lam Dong administration has given the family of each deceased victim cash support worth VND10 million, those injured are given VND3 million each.    TUOI TRE NEWS |
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BUSINESS IN BRIEF 19/6 Organic farm produce firm attracts investors A number of investors have expressed interest in Vien Phu Organic & Healthy Food Joint Stock Company (JSC) since the owner of HoasuaFoods organic rice brand announced a plan to seek partners. Vo Minh Khai, director of Vien Phu, told the Daily that the company has attracted investment funds, including those from Japan and Singapore, as well as domestic corporate and individual investors after the company announced that it is seeking partners. “We are looking for a partner who can help Vien Phu expand operation and HoasuaFoods brand develop for the benefit of the community,” Khai said. Khai added that Vien Phu is in talks with partners to select the most suitable one for the company’s development strategy. Khai said the partner could invest or even acquire Vien Phu if it has a strong financial position and a long-term development vision to support HoasuaFoods brand to grow stronger. Vien Phu turns out organic products, including black, white and red rice, basil, cilantro and fish. The company sells these products via an extensive distribution network covering most provinces and cities in the south. Inter-bank rate remains low due to strong liquidity The inter-bank rate has been stable at a low level of roughly 2 per cent per year for the past month as a result of the banking system's liquidity. According to reports from the State Bank of Viet Nam, the average overnight rate last week stood at 1.65 per cent per year. The rates for one week and two week tenures were 1.9 per cent and 2.32 per cent, respectively. The inter-bank rate in the week ending May 27 even dropped sharply to 0.66 per cent per year, the lowest level for the past several years. While the rate sometimes dropped sharply over the past three years, it fluctuated around 1 per cent. The Bao Viet Securities Company (BVSC) attributed the drop to the significant improvement in the banking system's liquidity. According to BVSC analysts, the central bank bought roughly US$8 billion in the past three months to increase its foreign reserves. Thus, roughly VND178 trillion was pumped into the market, strengthening the liquidity of the banking system. Although the inter-bank rate inched up again in the first week of June, BVSC forecast the liquidity would remain positive. Institutional changes help boost economic growth, said experts Slow institutional change is seen as a ‘bottle neck' in boosting Viet Nam's economy and growth in the context of world development during the next two decades, according to Nguyen Van Vinh. Vinh, Vice director of Strategy Institute under the Ministry of Planning and Investment, made his remarks during a workshop entitled Viet Nam 2035 Aspirations: Development of Dynamic Private Sector and Need for Institutional Modernisation in the central city yesterday. Vinh emphasised that institutional reform in Viet Nam has yet to catch up with rapid changes in the world economy and trade, and the country can sometimes appear backwards, in comparison to other nations. Vinh, who is a member of the compilation council for Viet Nam's Report 2035 by the World Bank, said Viet Nam remains behind other countries in the region and world in economic development. "Viet Nam is a success story, following a 30-year renewal process, but we lag behind other countries economically due to different reasons, including the small scale economy, low income, poor productivity, serious environmental degradation and ineffective state owned sector investment," Vinh said, as the main speaker at the workshop. "Reform is always urgent and it's a key for Viet Nam's aspirations in 2035, in moving towards prosperity, creativity, equality and democracy," he said. Vinh stressed that the private sector and market economy will play a key role and focus in Viet Nam's economy in the future. Meanwhile, senior economic advisor Pham Chi Lan said per capita income in Viet Nam in 2013 remains less than 40 per cent of the world average, in terms of PPP (Purchasing Power Parity), and 20 per cent in terms of market prices. She pointed out that serious existing problems in the economy include low and decreasing productivity, weak innovation systems, and ineffective urbanisation related to growth, as well as ‘grey' growth and climate change. "Viet Nam has been seen as having the quickest growth and a stable economy, as well as the successful alleviation of poverty. However, total factor productivity (TFP) was seen as very poor, falling from 5.5 per cent per year to 3.4 per cent in early 2000," Lan said. She blamed ineffective investment in the public sector and state-owned enterprises, noting that this was one of the major reasons for ‘brown' growth in Viet Nam. Lan also said the Foreign Direct Investment sector, which contributed 70 per cent of the country's exports and 50 per cent of manufactured industry, has no link with domestic enterprises, since the FDI sector only uses 26 per cent of domestically produced materials. Meanwhile, the private sector – one of three major economic elements in Viet Nam – is operating with largely small and medium sized investments, noted Lan. She said the scale of investment in the private sector fell 50 per cent, in comparison to 2002, and the number of enterprises with over 300 labourers is rare. Lan added that the country issued many laws, but the enforcement of these laws is seen as being very poor. Tran Thi Lan Huong, from the World Bank, said institutional changes are a key for the country's growth in 2035. "Drastic institutional reforms would clear the way for Viet Nam's aspirations in 2035, along with more transparency and publicity. People and businesses have more rights to approach information from the Government in policy, planning and others," Huong said. She said corruption is still a challenge for Viet Nam's economic redevelopment. "A survey from the World Bank revealed that 91 per cent of businesses said they had to pay informal charges to access information regarding legal documents and investments from local administrations, while they still receive information about the Government's projects or plans through personal relations." Huong said appointments still depend on relations, and not only the capacity of proposed officials. The General Secretary of the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), Pham Thi Thu Hang, said Viet Nam needs to build new and flexible institutions to determine how to boost private sector and labour productivity. She said the development of domestic businesses must be linked to FDI and global supply chains, as well an enlarged investment scale. Hang said Viet Nam has 500,000 enterprises and 4.5 million household businesses, but the number of labourers in businesses has fallen from 49 to 25, on average. She also said Da Nang has been seen as a dynamic development city in Viet Nam, leading in the Provincial Competitive Index (PCI) for many years. According to the city's investment promotion centre, it takes investors only five days to obtain business licences in Da Nang. Of note, in 2013 the Viet Nam Tokai company's automobile and spare parts and accessories plant received a business licence in just one hour – being the quickest example in Da Nang. Banks required to report monthly interest rates State Bank of Viet Nam has ordered credit institutions and branches of foreign banks to report their lending, capital mobilisation and interest rates in Vietnamese dong every month going forward. The reports must be submitted to the central bank's Monetary Policy Department on the 20th of every month, starting from June and lasting until the end of this year. The move is aimed at cutting lending rates to support domestic businesses and production. Many banks, such as ACB, Sacombank, VP Bank and Eximbank, have also lowered their deposit rates by roughly 0.1-0.2 per cent per year for the first time this year since the end of May. This deposit interest rate reduction is expected to help banks further cut lending rates. State Bank of Viet Nam Governor Le Minh Hung recently pledged that the banking system would try to cut the lending rate by roughly 1 per cent this year. The central bank also affirmed it would regulate the inter-bank rates in accordance with the market interest rate. First phase of Hanoi water plant to kick off shortly The first phase of the Duong River Surface Water Treatment Plant will be finished by 2020, according to the Vietnam - Oman Investment Company (VOI). The project is a key national project in Hanoi’s 2030 water plan and vision to 2050 and is being developed by VOI, the New Technology Application and Tourism One Member Company Limited (NEWTACO), VietinBank Capital, and the Hanoi Water Limited Company (Hawaco). Construction is to begin this year or next at the latest. “The Duong River Surface Water Treatment Plant is one three major plants in the master plan of the government to provide a clean and reliable source of water to northern and southern parts of Hanoi, with a capacity of 300,000 cu m per day in the first phase and 600,000 cu m per day in the future,” said Sheikh Sultan Saif Hilal Al-Mahrouqi, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Oman to Vietnam, when the project was licensed on June 3. Diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Oman were established in 1992 but only recently have trade and investment cooperation deepened, including the setting up of the VOI joint venture between the two sovereign wealth funds of Oman and Vietnam - the State General Reserve Fund (SGRF) and the State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC). “The joint venture has invested throughout Vietnam with a strategy of focusing on sectors that are essential to long term economic development and to the benefit of the local population, such as infrastructure, healthcare, and consumer goods,” the Ambassador added. “This water treatment plant is in line with that investment philosophy.” Founded in 2009, VOI has bolstered its investment in Vietnam over recent times. It mainly focuses on long term and valuable investments in growth sectors such as power plants, toll roads, water supply, ports and logistics, consumer goods, healthcare, agriculture, and manufacturing. It has been involved in projects such as Vinmec International Hospital, the Vinh Son - Song Hinh Hydro Power Plant, the Toan My Highway 14 BOT JSC, the Ho Chi Minh City Infrastructure Investment JSC (CII), the Saigon Water Infrastructure Corporation (SII) in Ho Chi Minh City, and this project in Hanoi. Rice export slumps in second quarter Rice export volume in the first quarter this year posted a strong year on year growth but drastically dropped in the first two months of the second quarter, reported the Vietnam Food Association (VFA). Rice export volume and value grew 57.6 percent and 51.1 percent over a year back in the first quarter, high compared to annually average level for the same period. The increase was thanked to contracts signed in 2015, especially Government to Government (G2G) deals with Indonesia and the Philippines and a large number of commercial deals with China. According to the VFA, the strong growth in the first quarter and drought have affected rice productivity and output in the Mekong Delta and highly increased domestic rice prices. Therefore, exporters have offered higher prices than those from India, Pakistan and Thailand. Vietnamese rice price was US$10-20 a ton higher than Thai rice. This has caused many businesses hesitate and not sign new export contracts. Commercial contracts especially from China drastically fell while G2G contracts nearly ran out in April and May, resulting in volume drop to below the annually average level of 600,000. The strong fall has sent Vietnam to reduce rice export norm in the second quarter from 1.8 million tons to 1.5 million tons. However with current situation, the second quarter is likely to export about 1.3-1.4 million tons, the lowest for the same period of the last several years. The VFA forecast that the number will approximate only 450,000 tons in June. Total export volume thus might reach 2.7-2.75 million tons in the first half this year. 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. HCM City looks to open tech exchange in 2018 The HCMC government looks set to launch a tech exchange in 2018 to boost development and application of scientific and technological advances and innovations, and labor productivity. The exchange is part of a major scientific and technological development program for the 2016-2020 period approved by the city government on Tuesday. The program expects annual growth of 15% in sales of scientific and technological products and services in the next five years. The city will have the tech exchange connected to those of other provinces and nations in 2019. To this end, the city will develop a database of scientific and technological products, and provide information about inventions, online tools for technological assessments, reports on technological trends and successful transfers of technological models. In 2011, the HCMC Department of Science and Technology implemented a pilot scheme for a tech exchange model in the city. The department said around 15 Vietnamese officials were sent to Shanghai to learn about the operation of a tech trading floor early last year and more will go to China for this purpose. Besides the establishment of the tech exchange, the city looks to have 70% of total industrial production enterprises investing in new technologies in 2020 and their investments would account for 8% of their pre-tax profit. Over the years, the department has conducted a number of programs to promote commercializing research results and inventions but the effort has not been as successful as expected due to a lack of investors. US$170-million project proposed for Central Highlands road upgrade The Traffic Safety Project Management Unit has proposed a US$170 million project to upgrade part of National Highway 19 which connects the Central Highlands and the central region of Vietnam. The unit suggested the Ministry of Transport seek the Government’s nod for the project with funding sourced from the World Bank (WB), a Vietnam News Agency report said. The highway stretches 243 kilometers and links the Central Highlands and the south-central provinces of Vietnam and those bordering Laos and Cambodia. It starts from Quy Nhon Port in the central province of Binh Dinh and ends at Le Thanh border gate in the Central Highlands. A 77-kilometer-long section of the highway has been upgraded under the build-operate-transfer (BOT) format, and the investors have set up two tollgates in Binh Dinh and the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai to collect tolls in 20 years to recover capital. The remaining part of the highway is unattractive to BOT investors as they are not allowed to establish more tollgates on the highway since two toll stations on the same road must be at least 70 kilometers apart. Therefore, the ministry proposed building the remaining 140 kilometers of the highway plus 30 kilometers of bypass in urban areas, financed by the proceeds from Government bond sales and official development assistance loans. However, these two funding sources for the project are not feasible as Government bonds come with high coupons while the WB plans to stop providing low-interest loans through its lending arm International Development Association (IDA) from July 2017 so there will not be enough time for completing relevant procedures. Therefore, the unit suggested taking out loans from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) under the WB to execute the project as well as applying a special mechanism to turn it into a reality. Around US$150 million out of the US$170 million needed for the project is expected to come from the IBRD and the remainder from the State budget. If the Government approves the project, the unit can complete an initial investment plan for it this month and the pre-feasibility study in January 2017. The unit also wanted a no-bid contract for the consultant of the feasibility study. The project aims to give a boost to socio-economic development in the Central Highlands region. Emirates announces new country manager for Vietnam Emirates Airline on Monday appointed Haitham Al Battawy as country manager for Vietnam, effective from June 2016. Haitham Al Battawy, a UAE national, joined Emirates in 2006 as part of the UAE National Trainee Management Program, and was first appointed as a commercial manager. In 2009, he became country manager in Libya and started his journey across Emirates’ global destinations. He held this position in Oman, Iraq, and most recently in both Egypt and Libya. Haitham holds double bachelor’s degrees in Finance & Banking and Management from University of Dubai and a Master’s in Strategic Marketing from University of Wollongong Dubai. With a decade of experience in aviation industry, Haitham is expected to bring a strong leadership to Emirates’ Vietnam team, especially when the airline is going to launch a new daily service from Hanoi and Myanmar’s Yangon to Dubai on August 3. In this new role, he will be responsible for overseeing Emirates’ operations, optimizing revenue and expanding the airline’s footprint within the country. Emirates Airline flies to 155 destinations in 81 countries and territories across the globe. In Vietnam, Emirates started operating daily and nonstop flights between HCMC and Dubai since 2012. The airline will also launch a daily service to Hanoi on August 3. Passengers travelling with Emirates from either HCMC or Hanoi from August 3 will be on board Emirates' Boeing 777-300ER, including more than 2,000 channels of the latest movies, TV shows and music from around the world on the award-winning in-flight entertainment system. They also will be able to accumulate spending miles to exchange rewards, and benefit from a generous baggage allowance of 30 kilos in Economy Class and 40 kilos in Business Class. Cross-border e-commerce alliance along Mekong River to be established Companies and organizations from six countries along the Mekong River have established a business alliance, with a view to building a cross-border e-commerce platform. The information was announced at the forum on the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) held in Kunming, Yunnan, China. The alliance is expected to boost cross-border trade through e-commerce, said chairman of the alliance Yi Hong. The GMS Economic Cooperation Program was launched in 1992 by six countries along the Mekong River including Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Viet Nam with the aim of supporting regional infrastructure projects as well as promoting trade, investment and economic development. Members of the alliance include e-commerce institutions, trade promotion institutions and e-commerce companies. The platform will be available in six languages of the member countries and English, providing training programs to encourage new companies to focus on e-commerce transactions. As many as 100,000 commodity categories are expected to be traded in the early stage. Govt plans to borrow VND452 tril. this year The Government plans to borrow a hefty VND452 trillion (US$20 billion) and spend around VND273 trillion paying debt this year. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has signed Decision 1011/QD-TTg approving the Government’s borrowing and debt payment plan for this year. The Government expects domestic capital to be raised from bond issues, the social insurance fund and State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC) to amount to VND336 trillion. Official development assistance (ODA) and concessional loans are estimated at US$4.7 billion, or VND99 trillion, including VND43 trillion for re-lending and VND56 trillion for financing the budget deficit. The Government will also raise VND17 trillion from other sources such as selling bonds on global financial markets. Bonds in yen will be issued for the Japanese market if needed. Of the VND273 trillion for debt payments, direct payments will be VND154 trillion while payments for foreign loans used for on-lending and loan rescheduling are estimated at VND24 trillion and VND95 trillion respectively. The Government will implement the borrowing and debt payment plan based on the 2002 State Budget Law as the new law will not come into force until 2017. Under the new law, G-bonds will be counted as part of the budget deficit. A report of the National Assembly Financial and Budgetary Committee presented last March showed overspending had kept rising year after year. The budget deficit made up 4.4% of GDP in 2011 and the percentage rose to 5.4% in 2012, 6.6% in 2013, 5.64% in 2014 and 6.11% in 2015. As for budget spending in the 2011-2015 period, the committee said public debt is rising fast and approaching the ceiling approved by the legislature. The State budget still needs to allocate capital for many expenditures, especially social security. The proportion of routine expenditures has surged while development investment has declined, according to the committee. HCMC sees strong credit growth in Jan-May Credit expanded 5% in HCMC in the first five months of this year, the highest in three years, according to an updated report of the central bank’s branch in the city. The report showed total outstanding loans amounted to VND1,290 trillion in January-May, up 5% against the end of last year. Enterprises took out bank loans to implement their production and expansion plans. In January-April, credit growth stood at 4.2%, well above 3.5%, 0.7% and 1.7% in the same period of 2015, 2014 and 2013. Meanwhile, capital mobilization had exceeded VND1,630 trillion by end-May, a 4.46% pickup compared to the end of last year. Of which, residents’ deposits reached VND883 trillion, accounting for 54% of the total and rising by 7.84% against end-2015. The central bank’s HCMC branch said in the five-month period, interest rates were 5.2-5.3% per year for less-than-six-month deposits and 5.75-7% for deposits with tenors of six to 12 months. The rates for over-12-month tenors reached 6.6-7.2%, up 0.4 percentage point compared to the end of last year. A couple of banks offered the highest annual rate of 8% for these tenors. Interest rates of short-term loans moved between 6.7% and 8.9%, and those of long-term credit at 9-10%. A number of lenders hiked medium- and long-term rates to entice depositors amid rising demand of borrowers. In the first four months of this year, total outstanding loans with medium- and long-term tenors surpassed VND746 trillion, up 5.1% against end-2015 and making up 60% of total outstanding loans. Meanwhile, short-term outstanding loans inched up 3.12% in the period. The HSBC Global Research team in a report has expressed concern over Vietnam’s recent move to loosen credit to stimulate private sector and government spending. In early May, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc urged ministries and agencies to do whatever it takes to achieve the gross domestic product (GDP) growth target of 6.7% for this year while reining in inflation. However, HSBC said it is difficult to achieve the growth target, given the weakness of the first-quarter growth number and larger-than-expected headwinds to exports. But larger-than-expected headwinds to trade mean that domestic demand, in particular investment, will have to rise strongly to make the growth target a reality. The Government’s pro-growth stance suggests the central bank is likely to let credit growth, which had reached 17.3% year-on-year as of April 2016, to run closer to 20% in the second half of the year. Construction bank, debtor at odds over debt Vietnam Construction Bank has said bad debt owed by Futa Bus Lines Phuong Trang Inc (Futa) amounts to VND9.5 trillion (US$425.5 million) while the debtor has insisted the actual figure is just VND3.4 trillion. A source familiar with the matter said Futa’s debt including principle and interest at the bank totals VND9.5 trillion (US$425.5 million). At the end of last month, the bus operator wrote to the bank claiming that it had used real estate projects, 211 coaches and other assets as collateral with a total value of VND14 trillion. However, the construction bank said the assets had been valued at less than VND7 trillion before the institution was acquired by the central bank for restructuring. According to the bank, the enterprise has repaid just 0.3% of the principle in the past five years while interest and the major part of the principle have remained unsettled. The bank on Wednesday announced that it had filed a lawsuit against the enterprise over VND3 trillion (US$134.2 million) in unpaid debt. The lender said the loans were disbursed by its predecessor TrustBank. If the bank wins the case, it would liquidate Futa’s assets to recover debt which has been classified in group No. 5 of potentially irrecoverable debt. Both sides have met several times to help the borrower deal with difficulties and pay its debt but to no avail, forcing the bank to take legal action. Property investment is the culprit behind Futa’s financial woes, not bus services as its core business. High interest rates triggered by high inflation from 2009 to 2012 and the real estate market slowdown rendered the firm unable to repay debt. FutaLand, its real estate investment arm, then announced huge projects such as New Pearl in HCMC’s District 3, The Landmark City in District 1, Quang Thuan in Thu Duc District, Golden Gate in District 7 and others in Danang City on the central coast. The firm has been repeatedly restructured in recent years. Meanwhile, a source from Futa told the Daily it would sue the bank for damaging its image. According to the source, the bank has a list of many property projects which Futa has used to secure its loans and the projects are worth hundreds of billions of dong each. In the document sent to the bank, the enterprise accused the lender of providing inconsistent information about its debt. For instance, the bank in a document mentioned working sessions between the two sides to solve the problem but then said Futa had yet to arrange a meeting with it. Regarding the lawsuit over the VND3-trillion debt, the firm said its actual debt at the bank is just VND3.4 trillion. In 2012, it was the company which sought a lawsuit as per the Law on Credit Institutions to determine an exact debt figure. The enterprise suggested the bank give an answer for VND14 trillion worth of assets used as collateral for loans if it settles the VND3.4-trillion debt; otherwise it will sue the bank for the damage caused. Both sides are expected to meet on June 14, the source said. Last year, VNCB sold bad debt worth VND500 billion to Vietnam Asset Management Company (VAMC). This year, it will continue selling bad debt to VAMC and coordinate with competent agencies to find ways to collect big debts. VNCB was among the banks acquired by the State Bank of Vietnam at zero dong. Futa was set up in 2002 and now also provides taxi services and operates in the real estate sector. Vietnamese goods week successful in France A Vietnamese goods week themed “Honouring Vietnam”, the third of its kind, was recently held in the French city of Lyon, attracting nearly 100 French trade agencies and firms and 20 guest Vietnamese businesses. Goods from Vietnam were put on display at Casino Gambetta supermarket, including fresh fruits, frozen spring rolls, shrimps, beverages, rice and apparel, among others. Present in Lyon for the event, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Ho Thi Kim Thoa hailed the export of Vietnamese goods to European Union via distribution outlets, particularly those in France – a strategic partner of Vietnam, where nearly 400,000 Vietnamese are living and working. A leader from Casino giant retailer pledged to continue shipping goods from Vietnam to Casino supermarket chains in Europe and the world in the future. Last year, the group sold 30 million USD worth of Vietnamese goods, sourced from 60 Vietnamese suppliers On the occasion, the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Vietnamese embassy in France and the Rhone Alpes region’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry held a seminar featuring the strong growth of Vietnamese economy. Speaking at the event, Deputy Minister Thoa hailed France as a promising market of Vietnam and the two countries’ enterprises serve as a bridge to bring Vietnamese goods to the world and French goods to Vietnamese consumers. Vietnamese and French business communities should utilise bilateral free trade agreements to seek mutually-beneficial cooperation opportunities, she said, noting that the Vietnamese Commercial Affair office in France is ready to provide them with assistance. Francois Turcas, President of the General Confederation of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises of Rhone Alpes region, expressed interest in business opportunities in Vietnam – a vibrant economy and a gateway to ASEAN. Participants shared information about business climate, policies and legal regulations to boost two-way trade and attract French investment in Vietnam. French businesses operating representative offices in Vietnam spoke highly of reform in the country, suggesting that Vietnam should continue upgrading infrastructure to meet requirements for socio-economic development and urbanisation. Apart from the activities, Deputy Minister Thoa also held working sessions with representatives from retailer Auchan and several French businesses. PVI in Forbes Vietnam’ 50 best Vietnamese listed companies The PVI Holdings (PVI) has been honoured by the Vietnamese edition of Forbes Magazine as one of 50 best companies in Vietnamese stock market. PVI is among five companies listed on the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX) earning a place in the Forbes’ list for its standout business efficiency and robust growth in the finance and insurance sector in 2016. Last year, the company’s combined revenue stood at nearly 10 trillion VND (447.7 million USD) and before tax profit at 700 billion VND (31.3 million USD). The A.M.Best Company, the world’s oldest insurance rating and information source, affirmed the financial strength rating for PVI’s two unit members with a B++ (Good) for PVI Insurance Corporation and B+ for PVI Reinsurance Joint Stock Corporation. The company was also named as Vietnam’s most valuable brand by the Brand Finance-a London-based brand valuation and strategy. Formerly known as PetroVietnam Insurance Company, PVI was founded in 1996 and was one of the first enterprises in Vietnam to implement equitisation to become PetroVietnam Insurance Joint Stock Corporation in 2006. It was listed on the stock market in 2007 with stock code PVI. In August 2011, the company restructured successfully to operate on the parent company-subsidiary model. The parent PVI Holdings performs such main functions as capital management and investment, strategy management-planning, HR and brand and IT management. Forbes Magazine selected 50 companies of all sizes with the best business performance in 13 sectors, including multidisciplinary. The companies' market capitalisation reached 829 trillion VND (37 billion USD), accounting for 62.14 percent of the total market on the two bourses as of May 16, 2016. Their total revenue reached 475.5 trillion VND, or 37.77 percent of the total market revenue and their profit after tax reached 53.5 trillion VND, 53 percent of the total profits in the market. Most of the companies in this list were traded on the southern bourse of HCM Stock Exchange (HoSE). Compared to last year, 2016's list has 10 new companies. To formulate the list, Forbes Vietnam used its own method with the consideration of specific characters of local businesses under the basis of the audited financial statements in five years in a row and the fiscal year 2015 of all the companies. MoF to accelerate SOE equitisation The Ministry of Finance has planned to boost the equitisation of State-owned enterprises (SOEs) through rating the publicity and transparency of the enterprises’ financial statements, a finance ministry official said. Deputy General Director of the ministry’s Corporate Finance Department Dang Quyet Tien said that his department is working with securities exchanges and other relevant agencies to be able to implement the plan this year. Independent agencies and mass media would be also invited to take part in the rating to make it more transparent, Tien said. He said that the plan is aimed at affirming that SOEs are also equal to other firms in the economy, besides making investors secure. It, therefore, would help accelerate the SOE equitisation process. “If information is vague investors cannot be expected to feel secure,” Tien said. He expected the new plan to create a leap in the country’s SOE restructuring. The finance ministry made the move as a number of ministries and agencies still want to be dominant stakeholders of some their subsidiaries. He gave the example of the Vietnam Machinery Installation Corporation (Lilama) - a subsidiary of the Ministry of Construction. The Ministry of Construction currently still holds 90 percent of Lilama’s stakes while some investors expected to have a higher ownership. Meanwhile, without reforms, especially in corporate governance, it would be difficult for Lilama to compete against foreign rivals the next time. According to Tien, when investors pour their money into enterprises they would also like to make decisions related to the enterprises. Therefore, the opportunities to equitise the SOEs would be missed if the State still holds a majority stake in the enterprises. The Ministry of Finance on Monday announced that 37 SOEs received approvals for their equitisation plans in the first five months this year, including Machines and Industrial Equipment Corporation, Vietnam Engine and Agricultural Machinery Corporation, Vietnam National Construction Consultants Corporation, and Corporation 36, in addition to the Vietnam Forest Corporation, and Vietnam General Corporation of Agricultural Materials. The SOEs sold shares worth more than 2.08 trillion VND (92.85 million USD) in book value for 4.17 trillion VND in the period. The State Capital Investment Corporation(SCIC)also offloaded its shares in a number of companies during the period, earning more than 2.8 trillion VND from a total book value of 985 billion VND. VN leads in import of South Korean clothes Viet Nam took the lead in importing clothes from South Korea in 2015 with value at US$382 million, an increase of 132.5 per cent compared with five years ago. This is according to the latest statistics released by the Korean Customs Service (KCS). China is at second place with import turnover of $372 million. According to KCS's analysis, Viet Nam's import turnover has rapidly increased because the quantity of clothing accessories exported to South Korean businesses' factories in Viet Nam is going up. The information, quoted by the Korean Broadcasting System, revealed that the country's export turnover of clothes reached $1.94 billion, 4.5 per cent lower than the previous year. Boosting low-income housing The Government is continuing with its efforts to boost the social housing development. While the disbursement of the housing stimulus package worth VND30 trillion (US$1.43 billion) in preferential loans, which was due to be completed by the end of last month, was finally extended by the central bank, the policies for social housing development and purchase are now eyeing long-term measures. The VND30 trillion housing stimulus package, that began on June 1, 2013, was, in fact, meant to be a short-term solution by the Government when the real estate market had hit bottom, experts said. As the June 1 initial deadline for the disbursement of the housing stimulus package approached, it triggered worries among buyers and developers. Management agencies and experts during the past months calmed the market saying there would be other preferential loans. With the realty market on the path to recovery since the end of 2014 and proving to be more solid recently, the Government's policies for social housing development are still being continued through long-term measures with the promulgation of the Government's Decree 100/2015/ND-CP on social housing development and management, the central bank's Circular 25 on preferential loans for buyers of social housing projects and Document 9496/NNHN-TD ordering the Viet Nam Bank for Social Policies (VBSP) to provide preferential loans for social housing buyers. The orders came into effect in December. In the latest move, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc recently signed a decision on preferential loan interest rates provided by VBSP to buyers of social housing apartments as part of efforts to implement Decree 100. Accordingly, the rate until the end of the year will be 4.8 per cent annually, much lower than the popular rate of commercial banks for house purchases at some 8-9 per cent, and will be applicable for all existing outstanding loans. However, VBSP was waiting for more detailed instructions, Nguyen Tuan Ngoc from the bank's International Co-operation Department said. The Government's Decree 100 said the funds would partly come from the State and local budgets, and bond issuances. How the Government funded the VBSP in providing loans to develop the social housing sector remained a problem that would need to be explained more explicitly, Tran Ngoc Quang, general secretary of the Viet Nam Real Estate Association (VNREA), said. The problem currently is how to improve the supply of social housing projects as developers are still hesitating to invest in this segment, despite incentives, Tran Du Lich, deputy head of the HCM City National Assembly Delegation, said at a forum on Wednesday organised by the Thanh Tra (Inspector) newspaper in collaboration with the (VNREA). Since land prices in the downtown area (HCM City) are high, social housing projects are often developed on the outskirt areas, Lich said, adding that policies to improve infrastructure connectivity of social housing projects are of great importance. He said a transport planning mechanism should be developed. He gave as an example a residential area in Japan, deserted for 20 years, which turned into a bustling area once an urban railway was built. In addition, policies on land prices should be reviewed to encourage property developers to invest in social housing projects, Lich said. "The demand for social housing projects in the next five years remains huge." Viet Nam is undergoing rapid urbanisation with urban citizens anticipated to rise to 46 million, accounting for 45 per cent of the country's population by 2020. Low-income housing demand was estimated to total more than five million units within the next 10 years. Experts also urged low-income and social housing projects to go green with smart, energy-saving designs and improved infrastructure and facilities. VEF/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/Dantri/VET/VIR |
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Structure of 14th National Assembly deputies More than 67 million eligible Vietnamese voters across the country elected 496 deputies to the 14th National Assembly on May 22. Hereafter is the major structure of the new National Assembly in the 2016-2021 tenure.  VGP |
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Social News 19/6 HCMC proposes to demolish 14 old apartment blocks  Co Giang Apartment Block locating in district 1, HCMC has been downgraded seriously (Photo: SGGP). The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Construction proposed to tear down 14 old apartment blocks within the next five years at conference hosted by the Ministry of Construction in the city yesterday. HCMC has nearly 450 apartment blocks built before 1975. Most of them have the occupancy rate of only 30 percent and 12 blocks are estimated to be dangerous including 11 Vo Van Tan in District 3 and 6bis Nguyen Tat Thanh in District 4, the department reported. The conference was hosted to popularize the Prime Minister’s Directive 05 on reviewing and estimating the structural safety of old housing and public works in urban areas. According to the directive, cities and provinces must complete the review and estimation by the end of this year. VN Photos Exhibition & Film Week to be held in Slovakia Center for Press and International Communications Cooperation (CPICC) under Ministry of Information & Communications in collaboration with Vietnamese Embassy in Slovak Republic will launch photo exhibition and Vietnamese film week, aiming to introduce image of Vietnam to the world, contributing boosting the two countries' traditional, friendly and long-standing relations. Nearly 300 photos and over 100 documentary films produced by CPICC with themes of the relations between Vietnam and Slovakia; Vietnam -Integration and Development; Vietnam's Sea tourism; Vietnam -Country & People; World Heritage sites in Vietnam, Vietnamese cuisines; Vietnamese festivals...will be on display at the exhibition. Visitors will have chance to understand about Vietnam through films and photos. The event will start on June 20 to 26 in Bratislava capital of the Slovak Republic. Vietnamese housing projects to be granted EDGE green building certification Capital House and SGS (Société Générale de Surveillance) Vietnam is expected to sign a consulting contract on granting EDGE green building certification to the EcoLife Capitol project in Nam Tu Liem precinct and EcoHome Phuc Loi project in Long Bien precinct, Hanoi. EDGE (Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies) certification is initiated by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) – World Bank for emerging markets, aiming at providing on-site solutions for the construction of green buildings. Nguyen Trung Hoa, director of the Department of Science, Technology, and Environment under the Ministry of Construction emphasised that this trend will significantly reduce the cost of using natural resources and greenhouse emissions. Vietnam 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 June 15, 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% of the country's gross domestic product, local media said. That was an increase of 16.1% from the maximum deficit level approved by the National Assembly that year. Legislators wanted the deficit to stay below 5.7% 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% of GDP, exceeding the 5.3% 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 (US$11.23 billion). Latest figures released by the government last month showed Vietnam's public debt was equivalent to 62.2% of GDP. It will rise to 63.8% at the end of this year, and then 64.7% in 2018, or slightly lower than the threshold of 65%, according to the World Bank's projections. Only one in ten residents believes HCM City is safe: survey Only one out of ten respondents to a recent survey believes that Ho Chi Minh City is a safe place to live, with high crime rates seeming to be a huge factor in the dominance of negative feedback. A Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper contributor conducted a survey of 120 Ho Chi Minh City residents in order to evaluate the city’s security situation, with only 10.8% responding with the "safe" remark compared with 45.8% of respondents who said they believe the southern metropolis is unsafe. The surveyed city dwellers were adults residing in District 1, District 2, District 3, District 7, Binh Thanh District, Tan Binh District, and Go Vap District. Women were more pessimistic about the city’s security than men, accounting for 49.2% of the "unsafe" responses, most likely because most crime victims are female. There were also enormous variations in security optimism by age and residence. The older the respondents were, the more likely they were to give negative feedback with regard to the city’s safety. Similarly, those living in more central districts, such as District 1 and District 3, feel worse about their safety than those in more distant neighborhoods, such as Go Vap District or Binh Thanh District. More than a third of respondents said they witnessed at least one street robbery or bag snatching case in the city, with 37.5% of those living in central districts, compared to 26.8% in remote locations. Moreover, 17.5% of respondents said they were not just eyewitnesses but victims of street crime. More than half of this group of respondents said they felt panic and nervousness after the incident. “Falling victim to a robber was a frightening feeling,” one of the respondents said. “I felt psychologically hurt to see such brazen robbers in a modern city like Ho Chi Minh City and I am terrified whenever I have to go out in the street.” In tracking the root of robbery, 57.5% of the surveyed residents pointed to other social ills, such as drugs, illegal gambling, and online gaming. Another 52.5% of respondents blamed unemployment, and 15% believe the lack of surveillance cameras is a contributing factor. The respondents suggested solutions to curb street crimes, with 55.8% recommending imposing tougher penalties on robbers or bag snatchers and 47.5% calling for more police crackdowns. 45% of the surveyed city dwellers also advised people not to “show off their valuable assets” in public and 43.3% recommended people leave their home with “tools to protect themselves." Finally, 41.7% proposed “learning some basic self-defense techniques” to stay safe on Ho Chi Minh City streets. Curbing crimes is one of the top priorities of Dinh La Thang, secretary of the city’s Party Committee. On February 18, only a fortnight after the former minister of transport took the new position, Thang requested that Ho Chi Minh City police take steps to reduce crime rates over the next three months. The city’s police presented the results of the three-month campaign during a meeting with the Standing Committee of the Party Committee on Tuesday. Le Dong Phong, director of the municipal police department, highlighted at the meeting that criminal offences in March-May dropped 6.83% from the same period last year and 5.40% from the previous three-month period. There were fewer cases of robberies, asset snatching and burglaries. Murder cases were also resolved more quickly, contributing safety and security for the city, Phong said. However, the police chief admitted that these improvements still fail to satisfy both local residents and the police department. “Despite combating efforts, robberies and thefts are still predominant crimes, frequently occurring in many localities across the city,” Phong said. Local residents and tourists are still frightened by brazen robberies and sophisticated break-ins, he added. Phong said the police force will continue their efforts to reduce crimes. Commenting on the anti-crime campaign, Thang spoke highly of the efforts made by the city’s police, even though the crime rates were only modestly reduced. “What matters is identifying the reasons why criminals are unfazed by the added police effort,” Thang said. The party chief then pressed that the fight against criminals should also be viewed under other perspectives, such as economics, society, and education so that the “problems can be solved at their roots.” Burglar breaks into Hanoi police station, takes gun Police in Hanoi say they are investigating a burglary at one of their stations a week ago in which a gun and a motorbike were taken when all officers were out on duty. The motorbike belongs to Pham Van Chien, head of Nhi Khe Commune’s police station, local media reported. He kept a gun and handcuffs in the motorbike's underseat storage. “All the officers were mobilized to deal with a traffic jam nearby, and they forgot to lock the door,” Chien said of the incident June 8. District police are looking into the case. Education for hearing-impaired children improved The Intergenerational Deaf Education Outreach (IDEO) project has enabled hearing-impaired children from underprivileged families to access essential early education that boost their full growth. The IDEO project is funded by the Japanese Social Development Fund, administered by the World Bank, and implemented by World Concern Development Organisation. From 2011 to 2016, it provided home-based sign language lessons for 255 hearing-impaired children under six years old in Hanoi , Thai Nguyen, Quang Binh, and Ho Chi Minh City . It also helped train hundreds of hearing teachers and people in the use of sign language. The project also launched an interactive website ( http://ideo.org.vn ) to provide online sign language learning videos, sign language vocabulary, games, and other materials on deaf education for hearing-impaired children and their families, educators and the public. A series of short sign language videos is expected to be broadcast on the national education channel (VTV7) to reach out to a wider audience. The project was reviewed by the Ministry of Education and Training and the World Bank (WB) in Hanoi on June 16. Most of hearing-impaired children in Vietnam do not have access to early childhood education and their parents lack professional support, said Achim Fock, the World Bank’s Acting Country Director for Vietnam . According to him, the positive results of IDEO affirm that the support of learning in schools with trained hearing and hearing-impaired teachers and sign language interpreters is essential for the hearing-impaired children to develop to their full potential. Deputy Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Thi Nghia said that the IDEO project has opened a new and appropriate method to teach sign language for hearing-impaired children and also strengthened the participating schools and other relevant organisations in supporting education for hearing-impaired children in Vietnam . There are about 15,500 hearing-impaired children in Vietnam. Ka Don church comes second at sacred architecture competition Brimming with novel structures such as a tile roof and a wood-framed glass wall system doubling with a series of sliding doors, Ka Don Church in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong has won second prize at the 6th International Prize for Sacred Architecture for Christian Religious Buildings worldwide. The church, which features the culture of the Chu-ru ethnic minority group, was designed by architects Vu Thi Thu Huong and Nguyen Tuan Dung. Using simple local materials like pine wood, the church enhances its relationship with nature by the opening of spaces outward. The ecclesiastical building opened in July, 2014 after four years of construction, to offer a place of worship for the faithful. Previously, in 2011, the design of the church won the European Prize for Sacred Architecture. First prize in this recent architectural competition went to the church of San Sebastian in Spain, while the new Saint Trinitatis Church in Germany came in third place, after the Vietnamese entry. The award was held by the Frate Sole Foundation, which was created with the aim of stimulating awareness of the need for excellent churches and with the intention of giving active encouragement to their construction. Vietnam makes first presence in WHO anti-TB advisory group A Vietnamese representative was elected to the World Health Organisation Strategic and Technical Advisory Group for Tuberculosis (STAG-TB) for the first time during the group’s 16th meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, from June 13-15. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Viet Nhung, Director of the National Lung Hospital and head of the national anti-tuberculosis programme, was appointed by the WHO Director-General as one of 23 members of the STAG TB for the 2016-2018 period. He will have the opportunity to continue with the group until 2021. During the meeting, an important topic was to map out a new strategy to eliminate tuberculosis between 2016-2035, Vietnam was mentioned as a leading country in the efforts against the disease. Vietnam has showed strong political commitment to the work with a national strategy against tuberculosis approved by the Prime Minister in 2014, heard the meeting. Speaking to the Vietnam News Agency’s correspondent in Geneva after the appointment, Prof. Dr. Nhung said the STAG TB has set ambitious goals, with research and renovation being important pillars in the strategy to put an end to the disease. Vietnam , one of the leading countries in the field, will share lessons for the effective implementation of tuberculosis prevention and control, he said. Regarding the new role that Vietnam will play in global efforts against tuberculosis, he said that in recent years, Vietnam’s achievements in the field have been recognised internationally. Each year, over 100,000 tuberculosis cases are diagnosed and treated, with 90 percent of them recovering, he said. Since 2000, the number of cases has been reducing by 4.6 percent annually, higher than the world average drop. With updated treatment technology, nearly 6,000 drug-resistance tuberculosis patients have so far been successfully treated. In 2016, Vietnam started using a new treatment drug and course to tackle the fatal drug-resistance variants of tuberculosis. Highways to use more tech The Transport Ministry is promoting the use of technology in an effort to better manage the country’s highways, a ministry official said. Accordingly, technology will be deployed in non-stop toll collection and vehicle weight supervision. The ministry’s plans were presented last week by Vũ Anh Tuấn, deputy head of Việt Nam Expressway Administration, to ministry officials, the traffic police and transportation experts. So far, 12 highways covering 745 kms have been put into operation nationwide. However, all is not smoooth running. Residents have been removing road barriers, walking or waiting on highways and even opening food stalls along some roads. Controversially high toll fees are also among the problems, experts at the conference agreed. Transport Deputy Minister Nguyễn Hồng Trường said that highways help reduce travel time, cut down expenses and accelerate socio-economic development, security and defence in many regions. However, the management of highways is a relatively new job and has its own difficulties. Nguyễn Văn Nhi, deputy director of Việt Nam Expressway Corporation (VEC), management of the Nội Bài-Lào Cai expressway has been particularly difficult, including challenges in policies, sign systems and user awareness. VEC will continue to cooperate with local authorities to raise awareness among residents living along highways and stiffen punishments for theft and throwing rocks at vehicles, while clamping down on overloaded vehicles and those which pick up passengers illegally on the way, he said. Trịnh Văn Sỹ, deputy head of Hà Nội traffic police, suggested installing cameras to capture license plates of drivers violating traffic laws. Vietnam’s north-to-south trains soon back to full operation The north-to-south train service interrupted by the collapse of the Ghenh bridge on March 20 will be back in operation on June 26. Nearly three months ago on March 20, 2016, the Ghenh railway bridge located in the southern province of Dong Nai was hit by a passing barge and collapsed, causing mass interruption to many train routes. Trains heading toward Ho Chi Minh City from Hanoi have had to stop at Bien Hoa Railway Station in Dong Nai, while those going in the opposite direction have not been able to go further than Song Than Station in the southern province of Binh Duong. The Ghenh bridge in Dong Nai Province is being repaired. Since the incident, many agencies have been involved in the repair of the bridge and restoration of train operations. During the repair process, multiple solutions have been implemented such as a shuttle bus service from Song Than Station to Dong Nai. “Thankfully, the inconvenience caused by the collapse of the bridge will end soon,” Do Quang Van, branch director of Saigon Railways Transport Company, said on June 14, confirming that the Ghenh bridge is scheduled to be put back into service on June 26. According to Van, all routes named TN1, SE3, SE1, SE7 and SE5 will depart from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City on June 24 and June 25. The train SNT1 from the south-central city of Nha Trang and SE25 from the central province of Quang Ngai to Ho Chi Minh City will also commence running on June 25. All trains departing Saigon Station will be able to re-operate on June 26, and departure times will be put back one hour, according to Van. Crystal meth kits openly sold in HCM City An increasing number of street vendors and medical shops in Ho Chi Minh City have been openly selling tools used for smoking crystal meth, as authorities struggle to come up with a permanent solution. According to several users, the kits can be easily purchased from cigarette and drink vendors on the streets or at shops that sell medical equipment. At an outlet on Bui Vien Street, in the ‘backpacker area’ of the southern metropolis, users can acquire the tools simply by asking short, direct questions. One vendor quickly produced a glass pipe, about 20 centimeters long, contained in a paper box and offered it for sale at VND35,000 (US$1.6). Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper reporters approached another drinks vendor near the Le Dai Hanh roundabout in District 11 and were offered similar instruments for VND30,000 (US$1.3) each. The vendor in question even demonstrated how to fix cracks in the tools, adding that his shop stocked full kits for smoking crystal meth, consisting of a glass container and pipe, available for between VND120,000 (US$5) and VND150,000 (US$6.7) per set. Crystal meth pipes were also being sold by one sticky rice vendor on Cach Mang Thang 8 Street in District 10, for VND45,000 (US$2) each. “Take a quick look. All of them are the same,” the female dealer said after unwrapping the products. At another store trading in medical supplies on Thanh Thai Street, also in District 10, the instruments are offered for VND20,000 (US$1), with the shopkeeper saying that they were made in Vietnam. The tools for smoking the drug also come in different shapes and sizes, with prices varying dependent on the quality and design of the products. At a street stall selling cigarettes along Truong Chinh Street, Tan Binh District, one woman showed the undercover journalists a glass container that included a flashlight in multiple colors, available for sale at VND100,000 (US$4.5). According to the vendor, the tools are either produced in Vietnam or imported from China. Selling a premium version of the equipment at a much higher price, a nearby shopkeeper named To advertised his crystal meth tool kits with shapes ranging from tigers to a pair of dragons. The sets were being sold for between VND2.2 million (US$98.5) and VND22 million (US$985), To said, adding that they could be used for other stimulants, namely cocaine and marijuana. According to Senior Lieutenant Colonel Vo Van Trai, an official at the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Police, regular inspections have been carried out and penalties imposed upon those facilities that were selling the illegal items. First timers are slapped with a predetermined fine amount and given a warning while those who repeat the crime are punished depending on the severity of the individual case, the police official stated. HCM City steps up food safety inspection amid more poisoning cases Ho Chi Minh City authorities are planning to set up a major food safety agency as the number of food poisoning victims has been on the rise this year. The new agency, directly managed by the city's administration, will have more authority in coordinating with relevant agencies and handling violations, according to the plan. The current food safety agency of the city, managed by the Department of Health, has limited personnel and authority, the city’s Interior Department said in the plan. A total of 248 people were hospitalized for food poisoning in the first four months this year, according to the Food Safety Agency. That was nearly equal to the number of patients with food poisoning in 2015. An undated file photo shows workers of a factory in Ho Chi Minh City being hospitalized for food poisoning Nguyen Thi Huynh Mai, the agency’s vice chief, said food poisoning has been on the rise in the past five years, mostly involving school and factory meals. Last year, there were 171 cases of food poisoning, killing 23 and sending nearly 5,000 others to hospital. Official statistics show the city of around 10 million people consumes 287,000 tons of meat, 1 billion eggs, one million tons of vegetables and 170,000 tons of seafood a year. Food safety remains a major concern as many farmers and traders are not equipped with relevant knowledge while others deliberately engage in unsafe practices for higher profits. The city can supply up to 20% of its food demand and imports the rest from other localities and abroad, according to the food safety agency. Good luck finding these houses in HCM City If you think moving around in Ho Chi Minh City is tough with all the street crossing nightmares and the traffic rules that do not seem to apply to those running late for work, you clearly have not tried finding one of these houses. In Ho Chi Minh City, houses are numbered following a tree-root style, meaning your address will be determined by how many levels of alley down you are from the main street, with each new level represented by a slash (/). It seems at first glance to be a fairly simple numbering system to remember and follow, but wait until you encounter one of these addresses which reads ‘36/45/32/49/13/54’. That is an actual house number of a household on Bui Tu Toan Street in An Lac Ward, Binh Tan District, where several others are also struggling with the complexity of their addresses. Truong Cong Huan, head of the local neighborhood group, said the long and complex addresses have made it difficult for residents to receive delivery or postal mails. Huan said he had often had to walk all the way to the main street to receive deliveries, while all his mails had to be sent to the local post office, as mailmen could never find his house with such an address. “Not even local ‘xe om’ [motorbike taxi] drivers could find houses in this area, let alone strangers,” Huan said. On To Ky Street that runs through District 12 and Hoc Mon District, houses seem to be numbered at random, as house numbers can jump from 129 to 282, 350, and then drop down to 252 despite sitting next to each other. On several other streets in Nha Be District, Go Vap District, District 12, and District 2, house numbers do not follow any rule, and some homes can even have from two to three numbers. When asked for direction to a house on Nguyen Van Qua Street in District 12, a local resident advised, “You can search for it until next morning without any result if you only know the address. You’re better off staying at one place and call the house owner out to show you the way.” Nguyen Thanh Hai, head of the Housing and Office Management Division at the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Construction, attributed the problem to uncontrolled urbanization in the past when residents freely divided their land into an interlacing network of small alleys. Hai said local authorities are looking to address the problem by grouping small alleys into neighborhoods with a standardized numbering system. Anti-flooding project in HCMC waiting for approval The Economics and Budget Committee under the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Council and some agencies yesterday surveyed an anti-flooding project on the right bank of Saigon river that has been delayed since 2011. According to the HCMC Steering Center for Urban Flood Control Program, the project aims to cope with high tide triggered flooding in Saigon river and climate change to protect 1,600 hectares of urban land with about 25,000 citizens. The project will build 8.2 kilometers of concrete embankment together with drain system from Rach Ngang bridge to Thu Thiem new urban area at the total capital of VND993 billion (US$44.52 million). It locates in Truong Tho ward, Thu Duc and An Phu, Thao Dien and Binh An wards in District 2. Despite being approved since 2011, the project has not been carried out because of boundary overlapping with other projects in the area. Some adjustments have been made to reduce compensation and site clearance costs. Afterwards, the center has five times submitted the adjusted project to authorized agencies for approval with no success from October 2012 to December 2015 although the city People’s Council has approved the investment policy of the project. The center proposed to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to soon access and approve the changed project. Deputy head of the Economics and Budget Committee Nguyen Van Lam required the project’s investor to do more specific surveys and send a document to the city People’s Committee to apply sanctions to individuals and businesses with houses approaching land along the right bank of Saigon river. He asked the center to build the work in accordance with other projects that had been passed before in the area and dyke sections built by local citizens. In addition, the investor and management board of Thu Thiem new urban area should coordinate with investors of other real estate projects alongside the river to build the embankment encompassing Thu Thiem peninsular synchronously, he said. He also required the Department of Planning and Investment to consult for the city People’s Committee to facilitate the attendance by BT (Build-Transfer) investors in the project. Unsafe boats to be suspended operation: Ministry Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism has just sent a document to municipal and provincial people’s committees asking to guarantee the safety of tourists who travel on boats. The document said that lately, several serious accidents took place in river; for instance, the ship carrying foreign tourists burst into flames in Ha Long Bay in the northern province of Quang Ninh on May 6 and the ship capsized in Han River in the central city of Da Nang on June 4. These accidents resulted in losses and deaths. This may cause concerns among Vietnamese and international holiday-makers leading to negative impacts on the country’s image and tourism sector. To address the government’s management and ensure tourists’ safety in travelling in rivers, the Ministry urged chairpersons of people’s committees across the country to tighten regulation of river traffic. In addition, related agencies should quickly check the quality of tourist boats and harbors. Authorities must be determined to suspend the operation of the low quality of tourist boats. Over VND8.17 bil spent on reducing poverty in HCMC Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee has approved the project for Poverty Reduction in HCMC’s urban in 2016. As per the project, it will support the city’s Statistics Office to conduct a survey on the poverty rate and carry out Vietnamese people’s living standard including immigrants. In addition, it will list poverty households, families whose economic condition is close to poverty line. Moreover, it will build up data of poor households and support the government's all levels as well as issue new mechanism for the city’s living quality and modernization. The United Nations Development Program-funded project costs VND8.17 billion (US$366,285), focusing on supervising and analyzing poverty-related matters to provide information for adopting new policies, poverty-reduction program and eco-society growth from which effectively resolve poverty-related issues. If it is successful as planned, the project will be used to serve for new poverty reduction policies in other cities and urbans. Domestic violence increases in Vietnam Currently the public has raise voice over a question that why family violence in Vietnam has increased in modern time? The rate of divorce over marriage in big cities was 3/1 in 2014. The cause of divorce may be different views in lifestyle, including economic factors, adultery and family violence. Among them, domestic violence accounts for 60 percent of all cases. Domestic violence is culprit of criminal cases; for instance, a man drove the corpse of his son-in-law to police station to give himself up after he had killed his son-in-law because the son-in-law beats his daughter many times. According to statistics of the Committees for Social Affairs showed that 25 percent of spiritual violence takes place in Vietnamese families; around 15 percent women were beaten by her husband; nearly 80 percent of women were insulted by her husband, 70 percent of women were left abandoned and 30 percent of women were forced to have sex by her husband. The consequences of domestic violence caused spiritual hurt; suicide and other consequences. There have been several causes of family violence including drinking alcohol, drug addiction, adultery and difficult economic condition and even wrong conception of gender equality. Hue reinforces waterway safety and improve folk singing Local authorities in Hue has tightened management on waterways safety to prevent possible accidents and improve the quality of folk singing shows on boats. The authorities will inspect business licences, the quality of the vessels, permits as well as the captain's licence before letting boats leave the docks, especially from Thien Mu, Le Loi and Toa Kham docks. There are currently 128 boats on the Huong River that provide folk singing performances. In the coming time, those boats will be required to experience full maintenance every three years. In an attempt to improve the quality of folk singing performances on boats, the local authorities regulated that each programme must be at least one hour long, has at least three traditional instruments, seven to eight actors or musicians. Until now, 457 musicians in Hue City have been granted performance licences that are valid for three years. The local authorities ban boat owners from fighting for tourists, overloading their boats or illegally selling music albums on boats in order to make the folk singing service more professional. Statistics show that over 10,000 shows of Hue singing are held every year to serve 250,000 audiences on Huong River or at local attractions. HCMC to execute phase three of water environment improvement project Phase three of a project to improve the water environment and control floods in the basin of Tau Hu-Ben Nghe-Doi-Te canal in HCMC will be carried out at a cost of VND9.8 trillion (US$438.8 million), according to the city’s proposal sent to the Ministry of Planning and Investment. Components of phase three of the project consist of water drainage and wastewater treatment facilities in districts 7 and Nha Be, as well as rehabilitation and dredging of the Doi-Te canal from the Can Giuoc River to Tan Thuan. The third phase also includes building bridges and roads along the Doi-Te canal. Tran Xuan Soan, Ton That Thuyet, Luu Huu Phuoc, Hoai Thuong, and Nguyen Duy streets and roads running parallel to Pham The Hien Street will be upgraded and expanded. In addition, four bridges along the canal, two bridges spanning the Doi canal and two bridges spanning the Te canal will be also constructed. Total investment capital for phase three excludes VND5.7 trillion (US$255.2 million) needed for compensation, site clearance and resettlement. Relevant districts will be assigned to carry out these works. The project to improve the water environment in the basin of the Tau Hu-Ben Nghe-Doi-Te canal covers 3,060 hectares and comprises upgrading and building sewers, and developing wastewater pumping stations, wastewater treatment facilities and other auxiliary works. The first phase of the project on 910 hectares of the canal basin was completed in 2013. The second phase covering 2,150 hectares has been implemented since 2015 and is scheduled for completion in 2021. The project, which was proposed in the city’s master zoning plan for wastewater treatment systems until 2020, is one of the priority projects in HCMC. The project is expected to help the city better control floods and improve wastewater drainage. Flood control center says hard to employ qualified staff The HCMC Steering Center of the Urban Flood Control Program has complained that low wages have made it difficult to retain talent and recruit competent employees to efficiently carry out anti-flooding projects in the city. A report the center sent to the HCMC government last week said 70% of its employees earn less than VND4 million (US$179.96) each a month. “With this low pay, it is hard to retain qualified employees and attract experts,” the center said. The center’s director Nguyen Ngoc Cong proposed the city government raise wages for employees of the center. About 226 employees work at the center’s eight functional divisions comprising planning and investment, drainage system control, wastewater management, research and development (R&D) and public relations. It has four management units responsible for urban drainage and public construction. This year, the center has been allocated VND21 billion to cover operation costs, over VND713 billion to maintain the city’s drainage system and VND725 billion for development investment. The center bemoaned that flood control projects have moved slowly due to the 2014 Public Investment Law and time-consuming procedures. Bosch presents new tool for traffic accident prevention Bosch Vietnam said it had recently presented a new tool called ABS which can help prevent motorcycle accidents. Speaking at the ASEAN Automobile Safety Forum 2016/004 organized recently by the New Car Assessment Program for Southeast Asia (ASEAN NCAP) at HCMC University of Technology, Vo Quang Hue, managing director of Bosch Vietnam, said: “Vietnam has over three million registered motorcycles a year, hence there is a great need to promote safer riding in the country. An innovation such as motorcycle antilock braking system (ABS) is a crucial safety system that is able to reduce the fatality rate”. Analysis of accidents by GIDAS (German Accident Database, 2001-2004) shows that motorcycle ABS is able to prevent a quarter of all serious and fatal motorcycle accidents, the company said. This active safety system prevents wheels from locking, thus keeping motorcycles stable while ensuring optimal deceleration during braking. Motorcycle ABS therefore significantly reduces the risk of falling and shortens the stopping distance when braking hard or when braking on slippery surface. In many countries, motorcycle ABS has been mandated for all new vehicle types with an engine displacement over 125 cc. Currently, the Indian government has announced that motorcycle ABS will be introduced as a standard inclusion for all new vehicle types in India from April 2018. Similar legislation will also be applicable in Japan from 2018 and in Taiwan from 2019. In the Vietnamese market, Piaggio has opted for the Bosch ABS system in its Liberty ABS and Medley ABS, the new motor-scooter generation. Vietnam keen to develop intellectual property Up to 1,000 individuals from institutes, universities and enterprises will be trained on intellectual property from 2016-2020 under a programme which has just been approved by the Prime Minister. The programme aims to raise the awareness of intellectual property rights among units and individuals in the context of the country’s intensive international integration. Under the programme, intellectual property rights will be reserved, managed and developed for 70 signature products of trade villages across the nation. At least 100 enterprises and science-technology organisations will be assisted to build and implement an intellectual property rights management and development model and approved national brands will be helped to register intellectual property rights at home and abroad, among others. To that end, a database will be developed to facilitate the access of units and individuals to information on intellectual property rights. Numerous other activities will also be organised to promote and enhance the value and the competitiveness of Vietnam’s intellectual properties at home and abroad. Phan Thiet Airport construction speeds up South central Binh Thuan Province authorities have stepped up efforts to speedily acquire and clear land for Phan Thiet Airport. Nguyen Ngoc Hai, Chairman of the People’s Committee, said the work has been progressing at a snail’s pace, and ordered relevant agencies to quickly remove resolve all problems related to land compensation payments. The 543ha airport with a 5,000sq.m terminal in Thien Nghiep Commune in the north-east of Phan Thiet will be used for both civil and military purposes. It will be constructed in build-operate-transfer (BOT) mode in two phases with an initial cost of about 5.6 trillion VND (251 million USD). The Phan Thiet Airport will become operational in 2018, initially capable of handling small aircraft like ATR72 and F70 and 500,000 passengers annually. By 2030 it can handle large aircraft such as A320s and A321s and serve a million passengers. Binh Thuan has commissioned Rang Dong JSC to build the civil section of the airport at a cost of more than 1.64 trillion VND (73.5 million USD). The airport is expected to bring in more investors and tourists by connecting Phan Thiet City with the rest of the country. According to the chairman of the commune, Tran Tu Minh, local residents are looking forward to the construction of the airport because while the commune is mainly agricultural it can only grow one crop a year. “Construction of Phan Thiet Airport will create favourable conditions for Thien Nghiep Commune to develop tourism and other service sectors and revamp its production system,” he said. Ninh Thuan present gifts to poor households The Good Neighbours International (GNI) in Vietnam and Ninh Thuan People’s Committee presented gifts to poor households in Bac Ai and Ninh Phuoc districts. More than 500 gift packages of necessities for daily life were given to poor households in Phuc Trung commune in Bai Ai district, while households in need in An Hai commune in Ninh Phuc district received water tanks of 500 litres and primary schools and health centres got 10 tanks of 1,000 litres. According to the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, from the beginning of this year, many consecutive sunny months have left many localities in the province short of water for production and daily use. As of now, Ninh Thuan has over 1,600 households with 6,045 people in need of water for daily use, 31,433 households with 129,159 people in need of food aid, more than 9,600 hectares of land unfit to cultivate and 3,200 animals have died of dehydration. Earlier, the provincial People’s Committee decided to announce a state of drought disaster at 34 communes in Ninh Hai, Ninh Phuc, Ninh Son, Thuan Bac, Bac Ai and Thuan Nam.- VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/TT/TN/Dantri |
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Final plan for Noi Bai expansion still in air Nguyen Nhat, Deputy Minister of Transport, spoke to Vietnam News Agency about the need to expand Noi Bai International Airport.
Can you give us some information about the future expansion plan for Noi Bai International Airport? In 2009, the Government approved a master plan for the development of the country’s aviation industry by 2020 with a vision towards 2030. However, in 2015, Hoang Trung Hai, the then Deputy Prime Minister, assigned the Ministry of Transport to revise that master plan, which was called Plan 21, to make it more suitable to the country’s socio-economic development as well as to the development of the aviation industry in the future. The country’s rapid socio-economic development and its deeper and wider international integration have required Plan 21 to be revised. That’s why the Civil Aviation Authority of Viet Nam (CAAV) conducted research to revise Plan 21. It is expected that later this month, the revised Plan 21 will be ready to submit to the Prime Minister to consider and approve. During the revision of Plan 21, we realised the need to expand Noi Bai International Airport. The Ministry of Transport (MOT) came up with several options regarding the future expansion of the present Noi Bai International Airport. Under the old plan, by 2020, Noi Bai Airport would receive 20 million passengers. However, in reality, in 2015, it already received 17.5 million. Based on the two figures, during the discussion, all participants saw the urgent need to expand the Noi Bai Airport. The change this time will target a plan by 2030 and the following years. For example, if by 2030 the number of passengers who arrive at Nội Bài International Airport reaches 40 million, how big must the airport be so that it can cater to such a huge number of passengers? This is a question that needs to be discussed and addressed carefully. During meetings, we came up with five or six scenarios. But until now, which scenario is the best one remains up in the air. Of course, any changes to Plan 21 must be carefully reviewed by relevant ministries, sectors and localities before submitting to the Prime Minister for approval. I just want to stress that the plan to expand Noi Bai International Airport has just been put on the table for discussion. No final conclusion has been made, as it has been reported in the media recently. At present, Noi Bai International Airport has been surrounded by quite a few construction projects. What affect, if any, will these projects have on the future expansion of the airport? Following the approval of Plan 21 by the PM, the MOT developed a master plan for Noi Bai Airport. In this case, if the land reserved for the Noi Bai Airport as regulated in Plan 21 cannot cater to 70 million or even 80 million passengers a year, we have to expand the airport area. If this occurs, the expansion of the airport is a must, although it may affect residential areas surrounding the airport. In my opinion, the most important data we desperately need is reliable information on the number of passengers and cargo volume that will be handled at the airport by 2030. However, when we talk about the expansion of the airport, we cannot forget to consider a very important factor – is there any land available for the airport expansion? Do we have money to compensate the land owners and others affected? Perhaps we could build a new airport in another locality that is in a better location and costs less money than expanding the present Noi Bai Airport. This is food for thought! We have to put everything on the table, not only for the Noi Bai Airport, but for other airports as well. Does the proposal on the Noi Bai Airport expansion include a budgeting component? Of course! The budget is an essential component in any project. Whether a project is feasible or not, it needs matched efforts between the construction planning and budget estimation proposal. At the moment, the budget component for the adjustment of Plan 21 is being analysed by the consultant agency. VNS |
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BUSINESS IN BRIEF 20/6 Local suppliers find blocks to supermarket access Small local suppliers are being confronted with demands for huge trade discount rates and bribery in order to access supermarket distribution. At the workshop on the retail market, Pham Ngoc Hung, vice chairman of the HCM City Business Association, said in order to get products on display, firms are being arm-twisted into paying VND10-20m (USD454-909) for each type of product. They also have to bribe sorting and placement staff or their products won’t be displayed properly. Small sized firms aren’t in a position to pay huge amounts and also have to accept huge trade discount rates to get their products displayed, especially export firms who consider discount rates as marketing costs. As a result, this has encouraged even higher discount rates. Le Thi Thanh Lam, director of SaigonFood TM Company said foreign-owned supermarkets were asking for huge discount rates while domestic supermarkets were indifferent toward them. "Some supermarket haven't met us for five years," she said. In addition, local distributors are losing in competition and have not been able to prove their credibility. Last month, Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers asked supermarkets to lower the discount rate as several supermarkets had demanded a higher rate after their mergers and acquisitions. Big C Supermarket recently asked to raise the discount rate to 17%-25%, which was leading to several firms wanting to terminate contracts. Some even speculated that the Thailand's TCC Holdings Co Ltd., the new owner of Big C, were happy to see Vietnamese producers fail as they could source produce from Thailand. VASEP then asked Big C to keep the rate at 15%. Another pressing problem is that supermarkets are losing customers. A survey by the Vietnam Institute for Trade, under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, showed that even though Vietnam’s retail market is developing with over 700 supermarkets and convenience stores, customer trust is decreasing rapidly. Pham Nguyen Minh and Hoang Thi Huong Lan from the institute said people went to the supermarket due to guaranteed quality, and then hygiene, food safety, services, prices and convenience. But supermarkets were losing quality in terms of their products, marketing and even services because many products of unknown origin were found displayed. According to Minh, in order to earn consumer trust, supermarkets must reduce service costs and work more closely with distributors and marketing departments to make sure their prices are stable and products are in stock. Foreign investment in Hanoi increases by three times year-on-year Hanoi’s socio-economic situation posted positive progress in the first five months of 2016, according to the Hanoi municipal People’s Committee. The city’s industrial production index was estimated to increase by 7.7% over the same period last year. Export revenue in the first five months of the year reached US$4.314 billion, a year-on-year increase of 0.3%, while the year-to-date import revenue reached US$9.281 billion, down by 6.2% over the corresponding period last year. The capital’s consumer price index (CPI) in May posted a slight increase of 0.35% month-on-month due to raised petrol prices, which made the transportation category’s CPI surge. Nearly 9,400 enterprises were established with a total registered capital of over VND74.6 trillion, up 59% compared to the same period in 2015. Meanwhile, the number of enterprises suspending or terminating operation was only 460. The city’s State budget collection reached more than VND74.1 trillion (over US$3.3 billion), meeting 43.75% of the estimate for the year and total invested development capital was VND10.34 trillion (over US$447 million). The city has attracted foreign direct investment projects with a total registered capital of over US$1.6 billion, an annual increase of three times. The city has also recorded significant achievements in controlling inflation and ensuring social security. The consumer price index this year is expected to be controlled in single digits. Corporations divest VND 2,000 billion from non-core business State corporations and companies withdrew VND 2,086 billion in capital from non-core business lines and collected back VND 4,168 billion in the first five months of 2016. The State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC) alone withdrew VND 985 billion and gained VND 2,817 billion, according to the Ministry of Finance (MoF). The total State budget revenues in the five months reviewed was estimated at VND396,200 billion, accounting for 39.1% of the year’s plan and a year-on-year increase of 4.5%. Meanwhile, the total State budget spending reached VND466,300 billion, making up 36.6% of the year’s estimates, up 4.7% against the same period in 2015. As a result, the State budget deficit is estimated to reach VND 70,000 billion, equivalent to 27.6%. By May 20, e-tax payment services were provided in all 63 cities and provinces across the country. More than 535,000 businesses, or 99.59 percent of the total number, have declared tax online while more than 492,000, or 91.58 percent, have registered to pay taxes online. HN calls for investment into PPP projects Ha Noi is calling for investment in 52 transport infrastructure projects under public-private partnership (PPP) form in 2016-2020. This is the first time Ha Noi publicly has called for private sector participation in the construction of transport and infrastructure facilities under PPP form. Earlier, major projects of this kind have been carried out with State budget and Official Development Assistance (ODA) and the Build–operate–transfer (BOT) modal. The 52 projects will cost about VND338,725 billion, including 35 in infrastructure with four elevated urban railways lines listed as key projects in the set period which need a total investment of VND150,000 billion (US$7.1 billion). Urban railway line No.6 (from Hanoi's centre to Noi Bai internationsl airport) is estimated to require VND 14,282 billion. It is expected to promote the urban development and socio-economic development of the Northern part of the Red River Region. The urban railway line No. 3 (from Ha Noi station to Hoang Mai district) looks to reduce traffic congestion. It will need VND28,175 billion. The others are urban railway line No.4 phase 1 (Lien Ha-Vinh Tuy) whose total investment nears VND40,885 billion and urban railway line No. 5 which will cost approximately VND65,572 billion. In addition to infrastructure, Ha Noi has also called for investment into healthcare, clean water, industry, trade, services, parking places, parks, hospitals and social housing projects. Business bemoans high wages and social insurance Businesses, especially those in the labor-intensive sectors, have complained about rises in minimum wages and social insurance premiums. The Government’s Decree No 49/2013/ND-CP stipulates the base wage for the simplest job in normal working conditions must be based on the regional minimum wage, said Truong Van Cam, general secretary of the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS) at a dialogue last week with the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs. Jobs in the textile-garment sector are heavy, so salaries are normally at least 5% higher than the regional minimum level, and skilled or trained workers are paid even 7% higher. This means a garment and textile employee’s wage is at least 12% higher than the minimum wage. However, the current minimum wage is equivalent to 70% of the average income of salaried workers, around VND5.08 million (US$226.4) in the first quarter this year. This is putting pressure on employers. The ministry should simply require employers to ensure that wages are not lower than the minimum levels set by the Government, Cam said, and that is enough. Nguyen Xuan Duong, chairman of the Hung Yen Business Association, said the ministry should adjust the minimum living standards in a way that the minimum wage can be kept at an acceptable level. Deputy Minister of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs Pham Minh Huan told business executives at the dialogue that pending a law on minimum wages, the ministry would propose adding some provisions on minimum wages to the Labor Code. According to Luan, three factors for calculating minimum wages are needs, social and economic conditions, and average wages on the market but the National Wage Council is now focusing on the “needs” factor. Minimum wages have been revised up considerably in recent years, so negotiations over the 2017 minimum wages should delve into all factors including the correlation between areas and the endurance of enterprises. Besides minimum wages, employers are having difficulty with social insurance payments for their staff. Social insurance accounts for 24% of wages and allowances, compared to ASEAN’s highest rate of 18%, Duong said. Therefore, the percentage should be lowered. Previously social insurance is paid based on the wage stated in the labor contract, which is normally the same as the mandatory minimum wage. Rice exports forecast to rise in final months The Vietnam Food Association (VFA) has projected that rice exports would increase in the final months of this year owing to a rise in orders from key importing countries after a fall in the second quarter. VFA painted a rosy picture for the rice export sector at a conference held by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in HCMC on June 7 to announce a protocol on rice and rice bran exports to China. The protocol, which was signed in 2004 and amended on May 30 this year, and more contracts from other countries are expected to help buoy Vietnam’s rice exports. According to the Plant Protection Department under the ministry, the protocol was amended to make life easy for domestic firms to sell rice to the northern neighbor in the coming time. It is set to take effect in three years since the date of signing and will be renewed for another three years. According to VFA, rice exports in the first quarter this year rose 56% year-on-year to 1.5 million tons, supported by the contracts signed at the end of last year with the Philippines, Indonesia, and China. However, rice shipments went down in the second quarter. Earlier, VFA predicted outbound sales of rice would be 1.6 million tons in the period but revised down to 1.5 million tons and then 1.3 million tons. Falls in rice and paddy prices have extended in recent times although paddy output in the Mekong Delta has shrunk as a result of severe drought and saltwater intrusion in the delta, the country’s key rice producing area. A report of the Cultivation Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development showed that paddy output in the 2015-2016 winter-spring crop in the delta slid by 713,000 tons compared to last year’s winter-spring crop. Nguyen Van Hoa, deputy head of the department, said the farming area in the 2015-2016 winter-spring rice crop in the Mekong Delta exceeded 1.5 million hectares, up around 10,000 hectares compared to the previous winter-spring crop. Meanwhile, paddy output reached only 10.4 million tons, down 713,000 tons. However, lower paddy output in the the 2015-2016 winter-spring crop cannot support domestic rice and paddy prices to stay as high as expected. Nguyen Van Hai, a rice trader in Tien Giang Province, said fresh IR 50404 paddy is sold at VND4,000-4,100 per kilogram, dropping VND500-600 per kilogram over two weeks ago and VND1,000-1,200 per kilogram compared to the highest level recorded this year. Meanwhile, the current price of unprocessed IR 50404 rice stands at VND6,200-6,300 per kilogram, down VND400-500 per kilogram against a half month ago and more than VND1,000 per kilogram compared to the highest price recorded this year. Lam Anh Tuan, director of Thinh Phat Co Ltd in Ben Tre Province, said a higher level of moisture in paddy and the low quality of rice caused by rain are attributable to falling prices of paddy ad rice. For example, moisture of fresh paddy was 21-22% before rain but has risen to 30% at present. This is why the price of paddy has declined from VND4,700-4,800 to VND4,000 per kilogram. Rice traders said more supply projected for the 2016 summer-autumn crop and the suspension of rice exports to China via border trade have weighed on domestic paddy and rice prices. However, the export price of Vietnamese rice is forecast to go up as other rivals such as Thailand, India, and Pakistan have plans to adjust up their prices since protracted drought has sent supply down, according to Tuan. Tuan said although Indonesia, the Philippines, and Malaysia need to import rice, they are still keeping a close watch on other rice exporting countries. With the wait-and-see attitude of major importing countries, domestic rice exporters have to cope with mounting pressure on costs triggered by loan interest payments and storage charges, Tuan said. Ministry urges higher cashew productivity The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development wants the cashew sector to quickly increase productivity in order to reduce heavy dependence on unprocessed cashew imports. The ministry has requested the Department of Cultivation and research institutes find viable solutions and develop new seedlings to help achieve the target though the farming area is kept stable. Deputy Minister Le Quoc Doanh said in Dispatch No. 4509/TBBNN-VP dated June 4 that the policy to promote intensive farming and replant new high-yield seedlings over the past years has borne fruit, and it is expected that each hectare will produce two tons of cashew per season. According to the Vietnam Cashew Association (Vinacas), last year’s cashew output leapt by three quintals a hectare compared to 2013. The department said cashew production jumped from 8.5-9.5 quintals per hectare in the 2006-2013 period to 11.71 quintals a hectare in 2014 thanks to intensive farming, up 2.3 quintal a hectare and equivalent to 24.4% versus 2013. Though Vietnam has the highest cashew productivity worldwide, the current 300,000 hectares of farming cannot produce sufficient unprocessed cashew for domestic processors to turn out nuts for local consumption and export. Statistics of the ministry showed that the country spent US$1.12 billion importing 853,000 tons of crude cashew last year, up nearly 48% in volume and 73% in value year-on-year. In the first five months of this year, Vietnam imported 226,000 tons of raw cashew worth US$344 million, down 20.5% and 7.7% year-on-year respectively. Vinacas said the price of crude cashew has risen in recent months, so processing firms should consider adjusting the selling price of processed products to avoid losses. In 2006, Vietnam overtook India to become the world’s largest exporter of cashew nuts but the country has since been dependent on crude cashew from other countries. The ministry said cashew exports totaled 119,000 tons worth US$910 million in the first five months of this year, up nearly 2% in volume and 10% in value year-on-year. Wood exports expected to hit US$7 billion this year Vietnam wood and wood product exports increased by 10.7% to US$6.9 billion last year, helping the country become the world’s fourth largest wood exporter after China, Germany and Italy, according to the General Department of Vietnam Customs. Wood and timber products have penetrated 37 countries in the world. The US topped importers with a value of US$2.6 billion, accounting for 38.2% of total export value. Latest statistics from the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) showed that during the first five months of this year, wood and wood-based product exports hit US$2.68 billion, up 2.08% against the corresponding period last year. With the current growth rate, they are expected to increase by 3.5% during the first half of this year. The MoIT also forecast a positive growth of wood and timber product exports this year. According to Huynh Van Hanh, Vice Chairman of the Handicraft and Wood Industry Association of Ho Chi Minh City (HAWA), Vietnam has become a wood furniture manufacturers in the world as it has raw materials of legal origin and skilled and low-cost labour force. Exports of the products are expected to surpass US$7 billion this year. However, to obtain the result, wood processing businesses have to face numerous challenges. Tran Viet Tien, Director of Lavanto Home Décor Company said the advantage of low-cost labour will be lost to the fierce competition from regional countries like the Philippines, Indonesia and Myanmar. Meanwhile, Vietnam’s wood processing technologies and equipment are outdated comparing to those in European countries and China. Tien said another challenge for the wood processing sector is that many wood processing factories from non-TPP member countries or countries which do not sign free trade agreements with the EU will be moved to Vietnam to enjoy FTAs benefits. Vietnamese apartment buyers risk living in unfinished buildings Buyers of several apartment projects in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City have resorted to moving into unfinished buildings, saying it is still better than continuing to live in rented houses while waiting for sluggish constructions to be completed. As condo projects in Vietnam tend to reach completion behind schedule, some apartment buyers do not have the patience when developers repeatedly ask them to keep waiting. Consequently, some buyers have started moving in as soon as the unfinished buildings have the most basic utilities available, such as elevators, power and water supply. Such apartments, however, pose numerous risks as those residential features including things like water drainage or firefighting systems are yet to undergo a construction completion inspection. A man is pictured at the unfinished Cao Oc Xanh apartment building in Ho Chi Minh City. “At least we can save on the monthly rental, which could be as much as VND5 million [US$223],” V.T.N., a resident at the Cao Oc Xanh condo project in District 9, Ho Chi Minh City, said. N. moved in her new apartment more than a year ago, when only one out of three proposed blocks of the project, developed by the No. 8 Investment and Construction JSC, was basically completed. “We had to wait for nearly four years before moving in,” she said. “We took a risk to live there, so long as it had the power, water and elevator systems.” However, N. and other residents at Cao Oc Xanh are facing daily difficulties caused by the incomplete infrastructure. The whole block has only one elevator, which breaks down every three days, while the public yard is inundated whenever it rains, she said. There are no green trees around the buildings and no space for recreation for the elders or children. In Hanoi, 120 buyers of the Usilk City apartment complex in Ha Dong District are sharing the same hardship. The project, developed by Song Da – Thang Long JSC, broke ground in 2008 with an investment of VND10 trillion (US$446.43 million). The project was designed to feature 13 multi-purpose towers, including 2,800 apartment units and a modern trade center. Many people paid between VND2.5 billion (US$111,607) and VND4 billion (US$178,571), or 50% to 80% of the unit value, to purchase apartments there. However, eight years on, only 120 people have been able to move in, and the project is yet to undergo any completion inspection. “The project’s elevator and firefighting systems are uninspected,” said Nguyen Ngoc Thanh, one of the Usilk City residents. “It also lacks a main power supply system, and the drainage system is incomplete.” In the worst-case scenario, residents will be forced to leave those unfinished apartments, such as what happened to buyers of the Bay Hien Tower in Ho Chi Minh City last week. Located in Tan Binh District, Bay Hien Tower consists of 170 units and is developed by Long Hung Phat Co. Ltd. In late May, the developer transferred 14 units to buyers, allowing them to move in even though the construction company had yet to complete its utilities, posing a high risk of fire, explosion and accidents. On June 3, the city’s construction department issued a document, recommending that residents leave the unfinished building for safety reasons. The department recommended that buyers move to nearby rental properties, with the Bay Hien Tower developer forced to cover their rental fees. The city’s administration and construction department have had several meetings with the developer to rectify the situation, but Long Hung Phat executives had never shown up. The company did send some representatives to work with authorities, and said it agreed with the suggestion to have residents move out until the building is completed. EU, Vietnam free trade could ‘lift millions’ out of poverty The EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (FTA) should deliver strong future economic benefits and enhance the competitiveness of the nation’s private sector, says the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT). The FTA, which was signed late last year, will generate new growth and export opportunities for small, medium and large local companies when it comes into full force in 2018, said Trade Tran Quoc Khanh, deputy minister of the MoIT. Mr Khanh made the remark in response to queries from guests at a conference in Hanoi discussing the full ramifications of the trade deal. The Vietnam government has long been an advocate of bilateral and multilateral free trade, said Mr Khanh, and we are confident this new agreement once signed by Prime Minister and approved by the NA will deliver promising new channels of trade for Vietnam and EU economies. We are particularly pleased to see that the deal provides clear and simple rules of origin, as well as transparent and effective origin procedures to administer the rules without creating unnecessary barriers to trade. In addition, the FTA includes advance rulings on origin and tariff classifications, promotion of automated border procedures and an impartial and transparent system for addressing complaints about customs issues. The Vietnam government is committed to growing its trade partners with economies around the globe and is particularly focused on diversifying Vietnamese local companies exports to markets such as the EU, US, ASEAN and Eurasia. The government looks forward to the EU deal being finalized by all of the respective parties and to seeing precisely what specific international opportunities will be created as a result. Mr Khanh said he understands the concerns of many citizens regarding free market competition and potential threat to the nation’s local businesses. But he reminded guests at the conference that in the decade following the nation’s accession to the World Trade Organization exports more than tripled— and stood at US$160 billion last year. This vividly demonstrates that citizens and local companies have nothing to fear from open market competition, said Mr Khanh. He said he was confident the new trade agreement means the nation’s exports could see a substantial boost amid broader access to the EU— whose member-countries collectively represent one of the largest economies in the world. Key exports of Vietnam to the EU include telephones and parts, electronic products, footwear, textiles and clothing, coffee, rice, seafood and furniture, he said, but told the guests that as a result of the FTA the government would concentrate on enlarging the range of exports. The FTA will allow the nation to move away from the traditional export drivers and into other sectors of the economy, particularly the technology segment, a key to unlocking the full economic potential of Vietnamese, said Mr Khanh. In 2012, said Mr Khanh, the Vietnam government unveiled a broad, ‘three pillar’ economic reform program, in which it proposed to restructure public investment, state-owned enterprises and the banking sector. The FTA will help advance the economic reform begun in 2012 and play an instrumental role in setting the stage for economic stability that will reign for decades to come, said Mr Khanh. Most importantly, said Mr Khanh, the agreement will provide a hefty boost to an already bustling and robust economy that will continue to grow a larger middle class, lifting tens of millions of the nation’s citizens out of poverty. Vietnam struggles to re-brand its furniture industry The household furniture industry needs to undergo significant changes in the way manufacturers market their brands if they are to survive the onslaught of foreign competition, says the Vietnam Wood and Forestry Products Association (Viforest). Traditionally, consumers around the globe made the decision to purchase furniture based on the price, style and reputation of the retailer from whom the purchase was made, said Nguyen Ton Quyen, chairman of Viforest. This resulted in poor brand awareness by consumers, said Mr Quyen, but even more importantly it gave rise to a lackadaisical attitude among local manufacturers for developing their brands. Over the past decade, manufacturers in markets such as the US, EU, China, Canada, Taiwan, Mexico, and Italy have rapidly been establishing their own dedicated retail outlets and showrooms worldwide. In addition, every major manufacturer in the aforementioned markets now has a web site dedicated exclusively to marketing and brand building, said Mr Quyen, — and they have proven quite effective. Most of these manufacturers have no intention of selling direct to consumers via the Internet but have learned to use the Internet effectively to gain large-scale visibility that is impossible to obtain in traditional brick and mortar stores. This lack of brand development has severely handicapped local manufacturers when it comes to competing with the foreign rivals in the industry who have established household names the likes of UMA or IKEA. Vo Van Quyen from the Ministry of Industry and Trade agrees with Mr Quyen. Local manufacturers have also neglected the domestic market and wasted too much time trying to make inroads into China and other foreign markets, said Mr Quyen, adding that the outward approach has been unsuccessful for the most part because of their low brand recognition. “The failure to develop strong brand name recognition in the domestic market has created a huge opening for the foreign competition who are swarming onto the market as a result of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) formation,” said Mr Quyen. The AEC is going to bring about an even greater influx of less expensive imports making products such as those from Swedish home furnishing giant IKEA much more competitive and most likely allow for them to corner the domestic market. The household furniture industry in Vietnam consists primarily of producing wood and wood veneer sofas; dining tables; convertible beds; along with television, radio, phonograph, and sewing machine cabinets. Furniture manufacturers from China, Canada, Taiwan, Mexico, and Italy have dominated the global furniture market for the past several decades, accounting for in upwards of 75% of the market. Domestic enterprises' exported products increase 3.9% Vietnam recorded an export revenue of more than US$67.7 billion in the first five months of 2016, a 6.6% increase compared to the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade. Domestic enterprises exported US$19.44 billion worth of products - 3.9% more than in the same period last year - while foreign direct investment (FDI) enterprises exported US$48.3 billion in products, 7.7% more than in the same period of last year. Meanwhile, imports were estimated at over US$66.3 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 0.9%. Domestic enterprises imported products worth US$27.2 billion, up 0.7% compared to the same period last year, while FDI enterprises imported products worth US$39.1 billion, down 1.9%. China was the country’s largest import market in the first five months, accounting for US$19.2.4 billion in imports, a 2.9% decline compared to the same period last year. Other significant import markets include ASEAN with US$9.4 billion, down 4.2%; Japan, US$5.7 billion, down 6.4%; the European Union with US$3.8 billion in imports, down 3.7% from that of last year; the US with US$3.2 billion, a 4.4% rise; and the Republic of Korea with US$12.1 billion, up 6.4%. Key export products saw an increase in export value in the first five months. These included agro-forestry-fisheries with a growth of 10.1% to US$818 million; telephones and components, up 20.6% to US$14.4 billion; garments and textiles, up by 6.1% to US$8.6 billion; and electronics, computers and components, up by 5,4% to US$6.3 billion. HCM City leader hears difficulties facing local property developers Politburo member and Secretary of Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Dinh La Thang was updated with the current obstacles hindering the development of the local real estate market at a working session with the HCM City Real Estate Association (HoREA) on June 6. As raised at the meeting, the biggest difficulties were cumbersome administrative procedures and a lack of consistency between functional agencies and local authorities in granting construction licenses, evaluating projects, and land clearance and compensation. In addition, both enterprises and banks are lacking information on the local real estate market, which has made supply exceed demand and led to the unbalance from locality to locality. Speaking at the event, Secretary Thang hailed the significant contributions of the real estate sector to HCM City’s economic growth over the past years, affirming the city’s commitment to constantly supporting property businesses and proactively removing difficulties in terms of mechanism to boost the sector’s development. He urged authorised agencies and local authorities to make administrative procedures simpler, and more public and transparent, and immediately abolish unnecessary procedures in order to best serve enterprises and people. The city leader asked the Department of Construction to promptly identify the rights of the district-level authorities and local departments in the fields of construction and real estate, as well as review all the planning and projects across the city to make them known to businesses and citizens. Local producers urged to cooperate to face foreign competition Domestic producers and suppliers should join forces to build their retail and distribution systems in the wake of rising foreign competition on the home market, according to a seminar. At the seminar held last week by the HCMC Business Association, retail experts and enterprises threw support behind Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) members that have threatened to suspend supplies for a supermarket chain over its demand for more discounts. This is an effective solution to coping with demanding retail store chains with foreign investment, they said. The move has compelled this foreign retailer to meet suppliers for negotiations. A supplier said the chain had agreed to shelve its demand for higher discounts rates this year. Pham Ngoc Hung, vice chairman of the HCMC Business Association, underlined the need for closer coordination among local enterprises to deal with demanding foreign retailers. Le Thi Thanh Lam, deputy general director of Saigon Food, said Vietnamese businesses usually pay a 10% commission to domestic store chains but the percentage might be up to 30% for those with foreign involvement. However, domestic store chains and distribution systems are not as big and extensive as foreign-invested ones. Foreign-invested store chains are growing well while domestic ones are of small scale and not well connected, thus forcing local suppliers to depend on foreign retailers, Lam said. She added small suppliers tend to accept all requirements of foreign retailers due to their lack of information and connectivity. Therefore, Lam requested business associations to join forces to deal with high commissions for and other demands of foreign retailers. Many participants at the seminar agreed that enterprises should focus on doing the marketing in lieu of paying higher commissions. In addition to supplying supermarkets, local producers should pay more attention to traditional retail channels that still hold big market share. This way can help domestic suppliers depend less on supermarket chains that demand preventatively high discounts, according to Bibica’s general director Truong Phu Chien. Nguyen Ngoc Hoa, deputy director of the HCMC Department of Industry and Trade, was also of the opinion that local producers should shift their attention and focus to traditional markets and avoid dependence on a single distributor. Modern sales channels now make up one-fourth of the retail market and the figure is forecast to climb to around 40% in 2020, which means traditional channels are still dominant, said Hoa, the former chairman of Saigon Co.op., the owner of the Co.opmart supermarket chain. M&A is common trend in global integration: official Market opening and mergers & acquisitions are a common trend in global integration, said head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Domestic Market Department Vo Van Quyen in response to concern over intense competition from foreign rivals. In a teleconference by the ministry in Hanoi on June 6, Quyen said foreign retailers’ revenue account for three fourths of the total, primarily in the supermarket segment. Vietnam is committed to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and Free Trade Agreement’s terms and will take measures allowed by the WTO to defend domestic trade, he said, adding that the department will continue providing incentives, support for investment, training and technological advances, expanding the distribution system and responding to the campaigns: “Vietnamese prioritise Vietnamese goods” and “Domestic trade promotion until 2020”, Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh, for his part, called for building a retail strategy, that considers the characteristics of trade in rural and remote areas to submit to the Politburo, as well as working with associations and localities to find out about any shortcomings. He said the ministry will do its best to manage the domestic market in terms of price and facilitate macro-economic adjustment, and urged domestic retailers to enhance their competitiveness and keep track of market movements, particularly monitoring law-abidance by foreign rivals and report it to the ministry and government. VN total retail sales increase Việt Nam’s total retail sales and services revenue reached VNĐ1,430 trillion (US$63.4 billion) in the first five months of this year, a year-on-year increase of 9.1 per cent, officials said. If inflation is excluded, the amount marks an increase of 7.8 per cent, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO). Vũ Mạnh Hà, GSO expert, said the growth of the total retail sales and services revenue in the first five months of 2016, excluding inflation, was lower than the 8.2 per cent growth in the same period last year. This meant purchasing power was on the decline. The reduction was due to the impact of incidents affecting accommodation, catering and tourism services and of the mass fish deaths along Việt Nam’s central coastal provinces. The spending power of those offering such services in the coastal provinces fell strongly as they had to cancel their beach tours. Meanwhile, the purchasing power of goods retailers witnessed high growth of 9.5 per cent in the first five months, amounting to VNĐ1,920 trillion ($48.5 billion), accounting for two-thirds of the total retail sales and services revenue. Retailers of rice and foodstuff saw growth of 13.6 per cent; garment retailers, 10.9 per cent; and home appliance retailers, 9.6 per cent. Hà said the total retail sales and services revenue next month would increase further due to high demand for house construction and repairs and recovering demand for beach tours. GSO director Nguyễn Bích Lâm said purchasing power this year was expected to have a lower growth rate than last year because of the stability in prices, high supply and stable demand for most essential goods. Spending on some services, including accommodation, catering, tourism and entertainment, will not have a high growth rate as it did previously, Lâm said, because the people were worried about food safety and environmental pollution affecting the quality of the food. They tend to eat mostly home-cooked meals now and control their spending on entertainment and tourism services to save money. Casumina to raise capital to over VNĐ1 trillion Southern Rubber Industry JSC, or Casumina (CSM), planned to issue 29.6 million bonus shares to increase its charter capital as of yesterday. The shares worth VND10,000 (US$0.43) each will be issued to shareholders. After the issuance, HCM City-based Casumina would have another VND296 billion in charter capital, which will rise in value to over VND1 trillion. The firm's largest shareholder, Viet Nam National Chemical Group (Vinachem), which now owns over 51 per cent of stakes, will have another 15.1 million shares. At the current VND32,700, Vinachem will get nearly VND500 billion. Established in 1976, CSM is now among the leading producers of rubber tyre products in Viet Nam. It earns 63 per cent of revenue from local trading and 25 per cent from exporting for the regional and international market. Foreign investors' securities accounts increase The number of securities trading accounts of foreign investors in Viet Nam increased significantly this year, announced the Viet Nam Securities Depository. The number totalled nearly 18,400 at the end of May, including some 2,370 organisational accounts and more than 16,000 individual accounts. The depository reportedly granted transaction codes to nearly 500 individual foreign investors during the first five months of this year, an increase of 125 per cent over the same period last year. This is also the record high five-month figure recorded since 2010, when the depository began to provide investor statistics. In May alone, more than 130 foreign investors received the codes for domestic transactions, the highest monthly level since February. According to local stock exchange reports, foreign investors last week recorded a net buying value of around VND430 billion, or US$19.1 million. Analysts said the chance for a US interest rate increase in June has declined and bolstered foreign investors' confidence in local assets. Kido to buyback 26 million shares Foodstuff producer Kido Joint Stock Company (KDC) plans to buy 26 million shares at no more than VNĐ30,000 each, announced a document of the firm's shareholder meeting. Kido Group JSC, said it will continue to buyback treasury shares, in accordance with the Resolution of the Extraordinary Shareholders Meeting dated December 1, 2014, which says Kido will buyback 30 per cent of total issued shares, equivalent to nearly 77 million shares. To date, Kido has bought 51 million shares or 19.87 per cent of issued shares. So it will buyback the last treasury shares to fulfil the target. The firm targeted net sales of VNĐ1.8 trillion, down 43 per cent from 2015, and a before tax profit of VNĐ1.5 trillion, down 71.5 per cent from 2015. It also expected to pay 14 per cent of the 2015 dividend rate in cash and planned a cash dividend rate in 2016 of 16 per cent. The company attributed the downturn to its investments in new business segments, like cooking oil, instant noodles, and other foodstuffs. During the quarter the company did not earn a big contribution from its snack business, either, since it had sold 80 per cent of it to Mondelez earlier last year. Yesterday KDC shares rose 5 per cent to end at VNĐ27,300 on the HCM Stock Exchange. New microsoft cloud computing distributor Microsoft Việt Nam signed an agreement yesterday in HCM City with its new strategic partner CMC Telecom to provide Cloud Computing services in Việt Nam as a Cloud Solution Provider Tier 1. CMC Telecom will offer counsel, set up and provide IT solutions based on the international standard Microsoft's Cloud Computing foundation, with the aim of providing a solution package with secured services and savings of expenditures for domestic enterprises. "Demand for internet capacity and digital storage sizes has increased. At the same time, management requirements are also increasing and cloud computing is the answer for development trends," Ngo Trọng Hiếu, CMC Telecom general director, said. Microsoft's Cloud Computing Service will include Azure Opened Cloud Computing, Office 365, teleconference, OneDrive for data archive, governance solution CRM, Exchange Online, and Yammer. CMC is now the fourth largest telecommunication service provider in Việt Nam. Unleashing agriculture’s potential in Vietnam Vietnam agriculture has unparalleled opportunities for growth, but making the most of them will require more effective regional integration, says the Institute of Policy and Strategy for Agriculture and Rural Development. At a recent conference in Hanoi, speakers from the Institute, a think-tank for the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), addressed measures to bolster the competitiveness of agriculture. “Most importantly,” said Nguyen Trung Kien, “industry participants need to capture some of the economies of scale that their foreign counterparts enjoy from advanced fertilizers and seeds.” “Additionally, there needs to be more investment in agricultural research and technology development.” While increasing agricultural yields is essential, said Mr Kien, more attention needs to be placed on the downstream segment of the ag-food system – assembly, storage, processing, wholesaling and retail. For example, food processing companies located in Vietnam often prefer to import raw materials such as fruit juice concentrate, grains and vegetable oil rather than sourcing them domestically or developing substitutes based on local raw materials because local supply chains are too weak and fragmented to provide them reliably. Appropriate policies will vary by market segment, but broad efforts to upgrade small and medium sized businesses in the food processing segment of agriculture should be a policy priority. Strengthening the linkages between market-oriented family farms and their organizations with agribusiness of all sizes to enhance access to markets, inputs and support services should also be a top priority, said Mr Kien. He emphasized, in particular, that special attention should be placed in supporting both women and young entrepreneurs, who play a key role in the ag-food system from farming through the supply chain to retail. Lastly, he said the government should shift spending towards public goods such as roads, reliable electricity supply, research and schooling rather than towards subsidizing private goods such as fertilizer and tractors. Dr Sergio Rene Araujo-Enciso, an economist at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in Vietnam in turn shifted the subject to the expansion of overseas markets for Vietnamese fruit. Dr Rene said actors in the agriculture segment of the economy in Vietnam should pay particular attention to accessing foreign markets for dragon fruit, rambutan, and litchi because more and more people are interested in them. He said, however, consumers around the globe are highly concerned with the safety of Vietnamese fruit and vegetables— resulting in a reluctance to purchase them and that is a pivotal obstacle that needs to be rectified to unleash their potential. Strong growth in card payments boosting Vietnam's economy: report The higher use of electronic payments helped consumption grow 0.22% in Vietnam in 2011-15, which translated to an addition of US$880 million to its gross domestic product (GDP) over the years, according to a global study. That was equivalent to 0.14% of Vietnam's GDP, the highest rate in Southeast Asia, after Thailand's 0.19%, the US financial services company Visa said in the study co-authored with market research firm Moody's. Such GDP contribution equaled to the creation of around 75,000 jobs a year in Vietnam, Visa said. Latest figures released by the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) showed the number of debit, credit and prepaid cards in the country reached 101.94 million at the end of March, up 18.2% year-on-year. Card transactions were estimated at around VND70.07 trillion (US$3.09 billion) in the first three months, an increase of 60.4% from a year ago, the central bank reported. VEF/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/Dantri/VET/VIR |
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Vietnam has seven brands for franchises abroad Franchises are very popular in many countries but have not boomed until recently in Vietnam, with dozens of franchise brands. Notably, 7 Vietnamese brands have been franchised abroad.  A "Pho 24" restaurant in Jakarta, Indonesia. By early 2016, the Ministry of Industry and Trade granted over 150 franchise licenses. Some local groups have big networks of franchising, for example Golden Gate with 34 Kichi Kichi restaurants, 17 Sumo BBQ shops, 15 Vuvuzela restaurants, and five Ashima mushroom hotpot restaurants; Huy Vietnam with 60 Hue cuisines restaurants, 31 “Ong Hung” (Mr. Hung) pho restaurants; and Redsun ITI with 11 ThaiExpess and 34 King BBQ Buffet restaurants. Foreign investors have also been in Vietnam for many years and created big networks of franchises in Vietnam, particularly in the fields of food and beverage. Lotteria came to Vietnam in 1998 and this group has had 216 stores to date. Until 2014 it began giving franchises to local firms, with 17 restaurants of this kind. KFC came to Vietnam one year before Lotteria and it now has 140 stores in 19 provinces and cities with with average revenue of $30,000-$40,000 per month each restaurant. Starbucks entered Vietnam in 2013 and now it has 20 stores. It has just inaugurated the fifth in Hanoi. Many local brands are also doing franchise. Ca Phe Cong (Plus Coffee) built its first café in 2007 but now it has 25 stores across the country, including up to 21 shops in Hanoi. Trung Nguyen has the largest network of franchise shops in Vietnam, with over 1,200. This brand was developed in 1998. Another remarkable franchise brand of Vietnam is Pho 24 of Viet Thai International Company, with 38 restaurants at present and half of them overseas, including Australia, South Korea, Hong Kong, Macao ... Electronics store chains are also expanding the network, for example the World Mobile Company with over 700 shops, FPT Digital with over 290 stores and Nguyen Kim with 18 stores. Nguyen Phi Van, a founding member of the World Franchise Associates Company in Southeast Asia, said that international investors still eyed the franchise market in Vietnam because the country is still in the group of "developing markets", which began welcoming franchise brands from 2009-2010. In a recent interview with Forbes Vietnam, Van also said that the franchise market in Vietnam wad still in the stage of "sowing seeds". According to Van, when more foreign brands come to Vietnam, Vietnamese companies can learn from their experience to standardize and develop their own platforms before franchising. Van said so far there has been no successful franchising brand of Vietnam. She predicted that after franchises in the fields of food, retail, franchising in other areas such as services, entertainment, technology ... will develop in future. Nam Nguyen, VNN |
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Government declares closing of natural forests PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc speaks at the conference (Source: VNA) Dak Lak -Up to 2.25 million hectares of natural forests in the Central Highlands are not allowed to be open to commercial projects, said Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc. The Government leader announced the closing of natural forests at conference in Dak Lak province’s Buon Ma Thuot city on June 20, which aimed to seek solutions to achieving sustainable forest recovery in the region in order to cope with climate change during 2016-2020. Even thin forests will also not be replaced by industrial tree plantations, he said, explaining that the current area of rubber, coffee and industrial trees is enough. He required the entire political system, the business community and population to join hands in promoting sustainable forest recovery and development. The police, procuracy, court and army sectors are urged to team up with each other in the fight against deforestation. Facilities processing natural wood must be shut down under the supervision of competent agencies and the public. Besides, forest plantations should be revamped in a bid to better control the area of virgin forest, he said. In a parallel effort, the PM made an order to stop granting licences to hydropower projects that are subject to forest policies, and project owners who violate regulations on forestation. Describing deforestation, which occurred in 41 percent of the total forest coverage in the Central Highlands over the past three decades, as an alarming problem, PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc underlined the need to raise the awareness of all-level Party Committees and authorities of the issue. The key problem lies with forest ownership as only 4 percent of the total forest area was under the control of households. Meanwhile, the lost amount is managed by organisations and businesses, the leader noted. He called on localities to take more feasible and sustainable solutions in a bid to fulfill the target of raising forest coverage in the Central Highlands to 59 percent in 2020. The Central Highlands spans the southern part of Truong Son mountain range. Therefore, forest protection and development in the region is significant to water resources, ecological environment and socio-economic development of south central and southeastern costal provinces. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development reported that the total area of forest and land zoned for forestry in the region stood at nearly 3.4 million hectares. The area of forest land decreased 180,000 hectares compared with 2010. From 2010 and 2014, regional forest reserves dropped from 327.5 million cu.m in 2010 to 270.5 million cu.m in 2015. In 2015, competent agencies uncovered 6,034 cases of violations of regulations on forest protection and development, up 463 cases against the figure recorded in 2014.-VNA |
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Cashew industry: Time to make a bold move A recent national cashew forum in Hanoi sponsored by the Vietnam Cashew Association (Vinacas) focusing on ways to promote sustainability of the industry, attracted hundreds of stakeholders.  “Thousands are engaged in the cashew industry,” said Nguyen Duc Thanh, chairman of Vinacas, in a key speech at the forum. More than half are farmers who cultivate the crop, while the remainder are involved in import, export and processing activities in an estimated 1,000 businesses nationwide. Mr Thanh pointed out that though the industry has been a major player in the global market, accounting for a 40% market share of processed nuts, it currently lacks long-term profitability and sustainability. The primary constraint that stakeholders face, undermining their efforts to realize the full trade potential for cashews is lack of access to credit to obtain working capital to expand domestic production. This in turn has led to an overdependence on import of raw nuts from Africa, said Mr Thanh, which are more often than not, of low quality and riddled with contamination from aflatoxins. Over the past few years, the industry on the whole has imported well over half of its annual requirements for raw nuts from foreign markets, principally from the African continent. Last year, Mr Thanh said, official statistics show the industry imported some 800,000 metric tons of raw nuts. The African cashew industry is also, he observed, notoriously dogged by issues related to quality. Aflatoxins contamination, he noted, particularly as it relates to imports from Africa, is a trade issue that needs to be tackled with urgency, as it takes a heavy toll, imposing enormous industry-wide costs. “Since the beginning of the year, our company has been plagued by contaminated shipments of product from Africa,” said Ta Quang Huyen, director of the Hoang Son I Limited Company. At US$100-150 per metric ton, one contaminated shipment can be financially devastating and several can send a company spiralling into bankruptcy. Bach Khanh Nhat from Vinacontrol in turn pointed out that aflatoxins are difficult to detect without the use of complex technology, which most domestic businesses don’t have access to. Currently, available diagnostic technologies – including rapid diagnostic strips and ultraviolet absorption assessments – are not only expensive but are not portable enough to be used in the field. What’s needed, said Mr Nhat, is the newer technologies like infrared spectroscopy, an ‘electronic nose’ that can predict and semi-quantify aflatoxin levels using an application available on a mobile phone. In addition, as it now stands, stakeholders have little recourse against African companies who sell contaminated product— as there really are no practical legal remedies to get monetary refunds for the damages. The simple fact is that most African countries do not have policies, standards, or regulations to control aflatoxins, and those that do have them, lack adequate enforcement mechanisms. Currently, it is estimated that contamination damages from loses due to aflatoxin contamination costs the Vietnam industry in the hundreds of millions of US dollars annually. One possible alternative to developing a reliable source of raw product from Africa is for more Vietnamese investors that possess the financial wherewithal to take the bold move and invest in the cashew segment of the African economy, said the Chairman of Vinacas. Africa has a great need for high capacity cashew processing plants, warehousing facilities and technical assistance he said, and Vietnam is well equipped to fill that need with highly qualified entrepreneurial talent. The situation is ripe for the taking as there are many challenging, tremendous opportunities for enterprising Vietnamese business men and women to investigate and capitalize upon. Investment in the African cashew industry, he said, would bolster its sustainability, help diversify Vietnam agriculture, synergize trade efficiency between the two economies and boost incomes for farmers and other industry stakeholders. VOV |
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