BUSINESS IN BRIEF 18/9 Increasing income for small households in the mountainous north-western region by enhancing competitiveness and market approach for temperate zone fruits. The project, with total funding of AUD1.4 million provided by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), is set for implementation over the four year period from 2014-2018. It aims to assess opportunities at localities and finalise plans to control the development of temperate and semi-temperate fruits in the north-western region. The goal of the project is to apply advanced techniques and varieties to develop a market based on the consumers’ demand to connect to markets which can make greater profit. Speaking at the seminar, Deputy Prime Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Quoc Doanh said the north-western is the poorest region in The Deputy Minister said developing temperate zone fruits is one of the orientations to help farmers in the region reduce poverty. However, there remain difficulties and challenges such as lack of information about the market, the application of cultivation techniques and post-harvest management. Doanh in turn expressed hope that the project will help the region seek economic solutions to connect farmers to the market and offer opportunities for growers of fruits to increase their income. For his part, Australian Ambassador to The ambassador affirmed the project will adopt a new approach to promote a dialogue and information sharing to develop temperate fruits in accordance with characteristics of each locality. Seminar discusses Vietnam-RoK construction cooperation A seminar was held in Nguyen Noi, deputy head of the Foreign Investment Agency (FIA) under the Ministry of Planning and Investment said the RoK ranks second among 101 nations and territories investing in Vietnam with 3,930 projects capitalised at US$32.845 billion with a focus on such fields as manufacturing, real estate, construction, art and entertainment, and transport. Mr Noi said to lure RoK investment, During the seminar, experts discussed the Construction Law 2014 and related policies, the RoK’s investment capital for the Vietnamese construction sector, financial management, and investment formalities. Moreover, businesses discussed prospects for cooperation among construction businesses of both nations. President of the Additionally, the event helps Vietnamese businesses seek partners from the RoK businesses, bolster cooperation in the construction field and contribute to the development of both nations. Kim Kyungil, head of the Prime Minister’s office affirmed the RoK has always considered Amplifying export market share in Northeast Asia Thanks to favourable legal frameworks from free trade pacts, geographical advantages, and traditional ties Vietnamese companies have ample opportunity to expand exports in The two countries are currently negotiating a free trade agreement between The Republic of Le An Hai, Deputy Head of the Asia-Pacific Market Department, reveals the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) has an elaborate marketing plan in the works to carry out a wide foray of activities to stimulate trade in the two markets in the near future. In recent years, a host of successfully negotiated important economic agreements have created favourable conditions for Most notably the ASEAN-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership (AJCEP) Agreement and the Vietnam-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (VJEPA) have provided increased incentives for Vietnamese exports to Likewise, the ASEAN-Korea Free Trade Agreement (AKFTA) has actively facilitated Vietnamese exports to the RoK in recent years. Many exported products have achieved robust growth as a result. However, not all products fully capitalise on incentives brought by trade agreements. RoK commitments to Vietnamese advantaged products like tea, pepper, coffee and fruits remain severely limited. Quarantine and technical standards are the major barriers restricting Vietnamese exports to the RoK. In the current negotiations of a Vietnam-Korea Free Trade Agreement (VKFTA), Garments are one of the RoK success stories, having fully exploited incentives and propelled exports upwards. In the first 7 months of this year, garment exports to the market skyrocketed 36%. Due to different crop and weather patterns plenty of opportunity exists to export agriculture products to the Japanese market but there are snags in complying with the stringent food hygiene and safety requirements of the Japanese market. Official statistics show impressive growth rates in recent years ranging from 10-30% annually, however the overall agriculture export value is still modest, and remains only a fraction of its fullest potential. Le An Hai says As a case in point, Hai cites the deal to export fresh mango and dragon fruit to the two markets, which took Vietnamese products have barely scratched the surface of the Japanese market Satoshi Nakajima, Japanese Consul General to Despite huge potential, local businesses have not been able to effectively tap into the market due to weak capacity and competitiveness. A representative from Thang Long Company says Vietnamese Trade Offices overseas should support businesses by supplying information about market trend and taste and lists of strong partners as if they access the information their competitiveness should improve. In addition to market promotion programmes, local businesses should pay more attention to approaching Japanese and Korean retailers who are operating in The most important thing is businesses must ensure the quality of products and grasp opportunity to access purchasers to boost exports. Trade surplus hit over US$3 billion in eight months Impressive performance of the foreign-invested businesses in August helped Customs statistics show In the reviewed period, FDI businesses earned US$59.64 billion from exports, and spent US$52.83 billion on imports, obtaining an export surplus of US$6.81 billion. In the second half of August alone, they enjoyed a trade surplus of US$770 million thanks to a boom in exports. By contrast, the domestic economic sector suffered an import surplus of US$3.8 billion between January-August. Local seed companies lose ground to foreign giants Foreign giants hold over 80 percent of Production of the 14 million vegetables needed as much as 8,000 tons of seeds worth US$500 million. However foreign companies are the main seed providers in Six out of ten leading seed companies who provide 70 percent of the world vegetable seeds have been present in Seed production requires large investment capital and high technology and brings huge profit, said Mr. Ngo Van Giao, chairman of the Vietnam Seed Trade Association. Dr. Nguyen Quoc Vong, who used to study in Japan and worked in Australia for several years, said that foreign companies hold the main market share in Vietnam because their hybrid seeds have high resistance ability against diseases and weather changes. Foreign seeds have better quality, high sprouting ratio, short harvest time and high output. Study and production of vegetable seed is time-consuming and costly, which foreign companies with qualified human resources are affordable. As a result, they have focused on producing seeds for food crops and taken the command of ten varieties including rice, maize, coffee, rubber and pepper and popular vegetables like water morning glory, mustard greens, beans or water melons. Professor Tran Dinh Long, chairman of the Vietnam Seed Association, proposed that the Government should create clear policies to attract local investors. Seafood exports likely to hit 7 billion USD in 2014 The Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) estimated that seafood exports would reach about 7 billion in 2014, 4.5 percent more than last year, reported the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Vietnam Economic News. According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s sources as saying that seafood exports came to an estimated 679 million USD in August 2014, taking the total to 4.95 billion USD in the first eight months of this year, up 25.4 percent from the same time in 2013. Shrimp exports alone amounted to 2 billion USD in the first seven months of 2014. The Previously, the fact that According to VASEP, Tra fish exports to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries reached 87.5 million USD from January to mid-August 2014, up 13.3 percent from the same period last year. ASEAN was the third biggest importer of Vietnamese Tra fish, after the EU and the Tra fish exports to the VASEP said that since last year, Tra fish exports to major markets such as the US and Europe have faced many difficulties and therefore Vietnamese seafood exporters are interested in shifting to smaller markets. With reasonable prices and good quality, Vietnamese Tra fish is loved in these markets. About 100 Tra and Ba Sa fish farms in Vietnam, totaling more than 2,800 hectares of water surface, accounting for about 40 percent of Vietnam’s total Tra and Ba Sa fish farming area, have achieved VietGAP, ASC, BAP, and SQF 1000/2000 CM certifications. Notably, 2,000ha of the 2,800ha were awarded the GlobalGAP certification. According to VASEP, shrimp exports in 2014 will likely exceed 3.5 billion USD if disease control is well implemented and good sales to markets are maintained, and Tra and Ba Sa fish exports will probably reach 1.8 billion USD in 2014, taking the country’s total seafood export revenue to 7 billion USD this year. Taxpayers with bank accounts at BIDV, Vietcombank, Vietinbank, Agribank and MB Bank can use the service. All the documents will be verified via digital signatures. This year, BIDV is offering the service for free. Businesses are required to register online at http://kekhaithue.gdt.gov.vn. Once they have set up an account, they need to sign in and follow the instructions, a representative from the General Department of Taxation said during the initiative’s launching ceremony in The initiative moves This alternative tax filing method is optional. Advanced tuna fishing methods to be expanded The People’s Committee of the central Speaking at the seminar, Chairman of the People’s Committee Nguyen Huu Loc requested the joint efforts of local bodies and fishermen to increase the use of advanced technology and improve the efficiency of tuna fishing. He urged authorities to submit a plan of action in September to address the sector’s shortcomings. The province pledged to provide credit assistance for local fishermen to equip vessels with better bait and tools, safety kits, and refrigerated storage. Training courses will be conducted in The advanced technology will also be applied to 15-20 vessels, mainly in Hoai Nhon and Quy Nhon district. Binh Dinh province has the big tuna fishing fleet in the country, and is also the first to apply modern technology in tuna fishing. According to a report presented at the seminar, very few tuna fish caught by local residents m eet the quality standards for the Japanese market. In fact, data shows that only ten out of 57 caught tuna fish were exported to This failure to export high quality tuna is attributed to a number of reasons, including inappropriate fishing and hauling techniques, delayed processing, lack of refrigerated storage and long transportation times.- Berli Jucker Plc, Aswin Techajareonvikul, chief executive officer of Berli Jucker Plc (BJC) paid a visit to “The quality of goods from He added that the transaction between BJC and Metro AG would be confirmed with the local authorities next month and be concluded by the end of this year. However, BJC remained vague about expansion plans, business predictions or a potential name change which Techajareonvikul said were all under discussion. He also said that Metro Cash & Carry Vietnam employed 4,000 people and currently boasted 19 cash-and-carry outlets in 14 major cities across “$879 million is a suitable price for the Metro chain here,” underlined Techajareonvikul. Last month, the eurozone’s second-largest retailer signed an agreement with BJC to sell its Techajareonvikul revealed that after merger, BJC would employ 14,000 people including 7,000 Vietnamese. BJC will select quality goods from Actually, the very first step that BJC took in the distribution adn retail business in Vietnam was when it acquired a 75 per cent share of Thai Corp, one of the domestic leading distribution companies with the network coverage of 314 sub-distributors, 1,800 wholesalers, 220 supermarkets and minimarts and 50,000 retailers. Standard Chartered offers online services Standard Chartered Bank is boosting its online banking services in This move is in-line with the fact that clients and customers today expect maximum simplicity in their transactions from the comfort of their homes or through their smartphones. They also expect their transactions to be processed efficiently, error free and with the highest level of security, while banks have to strike a balance between client needs and regulatory requirements. “The biggest obstacle for banks is their mindset. The new digital generation thinks and behaves very differently than we did in the past. Internet, smartphones and social media have revolutionised the whole paradigm of banking and payments,” said Standard Chartered Vietnam’s CEO Nirukt Sapru. Investment and growth into digital banking is now at the top of Standard Chartered’s agenda worldwide and in “This clearly established Standard Chartered as the leader in the digital arena. Standard Chartered Vietnam reported that it has consistently upgraded its digital platform for online and mobile banking, SMS, and ATMs. Customers can now make local and overseas transfers, create term deposits, pay bills at ATMs, and sign up for automatic payment of their phone, mobile and internet bills. They can even apply for personal loans online and get approval in 24 hours. “With digital, any person with a mobile phone can be a customer, it’s that simple. The digital platform also drastically reduces the time and cost of doing banking, which can then be passed on to customers through fee reductions. It’s a win-win for both banks and customers,” said Nirukt. Experts say market demand core to agricultural production Market demand is of crucial importance to developing agricultural production and raising farmers’ income, experts stressed at a meeting held in the Mekong Delta Professor Vo Tong Xuan, rector of Nam Can Tho University, told the Daily on the sidelines of the meeting that it is important to determine what the market really needs and to adjust production accordingly. As for rice farming, enterprises after sealing contracts with importers should join forces with farmers to make products meeting buyers’ demands in terms of category and quality, Xuan added. However, the professor also noted that there are two decisive factors, namely the active participation of enterprises and the Government’s support. “For certain firms that have yet to find outlets, I believe they will be able to do so if the Government gives them a helping hand,” Xuan said. Meanwhile, some delegates at the meeting said there should be supportive incentives for farmers to establish cooperatives that are capable of fulfilling enterprises’ orders in line with Good Agricultural Practice (GAP). Nguyen The Ha, a consulting and investment specialist at Bui Van Ngo Industrial & Agricultural Machinery Co., Ltd, said enterprises should strongly invest in post-harvest technology in addition to their market expansion and collaboration with farmers. Professor Xuan also suggested the need to develop a full value chain to make the most of rice. For example, apart from rice as the main item, husk can be processed to make fuel for thermal power plants, while rice bran can be processed to make oil for domestic consumption and export. Straw is used to feed cattle and grow mushrooms. Meat from the animals is provided to markets while their dung is used to make compost. This method can be also applied to fruit and seafood processing industries, Xuan added. BJC says US$879 million for Metro “US$879 million is a reasonable figure, neither expensive nor cheap,” Aswin Techajareonvikul, president and CEO of BJC, told the Daily at a meeting with reporters in HCMC last week. Techajareonvikul said BJC and Metro reached an agreement on the price after over a year of negotiations with consulting assistance of the Both sides will submit dossiers to the HCMC Department of Planning and Investment next month and the deal is expected to be concluded in the first half of next year. As part of the deal, BJC will be allowed to use Metro brand for 18 months afterwards. Clarifying the spending in the deal, Techajareonvikul said BJC sees huge potential in product and service distribution in Metro’s foundation and structure are suitable for BJC, so it can help BJC grow faster than a new business start-up. In addition, nearly 4,000 well-trained Vietnamese staff of Metro is also an important factor to back this growth, he said. After BJC announced to take over the entire business operations of Metro in However, Techajareonvikul said BJC will prioritize Vietnamese goods, but the products should suit the needs of local consumers. “We don’t have plans to restructure or change suppliers. However, their products should meet requirements of local consumers,” he said. “Quality is the top priority of BJC in our history of over 132 years in BJC has expanded its business quickly in Last year, BJC spent around US$4.5 million acquiring a 75% stake of Ichiban, a tofu producer and distributor in In 2011, BJC and Ball Corporation established TBC-Ball Beverage Can Vietnam Limited in The enterprise also set up tissue manufacturer BJC Cellox in 2011. In the same year, it became a partner of Sabeco in Malaya Vietnam Glass Limited and also acquired a 75% stake of Thai Corp., a leading distributor in Techajareonvikul said the Metro deal is just a beginning and the company will boost investments in Last year, BJC obtained revenues of 42 billion Thai bahts, or nearly one billion euros. BJC is one of the affiliates of TCC Group, which owns Melia Hotel in Construction Ministry: Too many housing projects licensed Nguyen Tran Nam, Deputy Minister of Construction, told a conference on Vietnam’s real estate market in HCMC last week that if the projects were executed, they would provide the market with more than 416 million square meters of housing, equivalent to nearly three million apartment units with 520,000 in Hanoi and 570,000 in HCMC. However, only 17% of the investments of the approved projects have been realized as many investors lack capital. As of August 20, realty inventories were estimated at less than VND82.3 trillion, down around VND12.2 trillion or 12.88% compared to late last year. The figure included 17,000 apartments valued at some VND26 trillion and land lots of over 8.7 million square meters worth VND28,500 billion, He said in the first seven months of this year, there were nearly 10,000 successful property transactions in Exporters reluctantly register tra fish export contracts Despite reluctance, many exporters have registered their tra fish export contracts with the Vietnam Pangasius Association (VN Pangasius) in accordance with Government Decree 36/2014/ND-CP. Vo Thi Thu Huong, secretary of VN Pangasius, said the association received around 400 registration forms from tra fish exporters on September 11 and 12, as a circular guiding implementation of the decree on farming, processing and export of tra fish took effect. Nguyen Viet Thang, chairman of VN Pangasius, said the registration requirement via VN Pangasius instead of the General Department of Customs aims to ensure the sustainable development of the industry. He noted exporting firms had to comply with the regulation on ice content that was required to account for less than 10% of product’s weight. Earlier, the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) repeatedly objected to the tra fish export contract registration requirement due to their concerns over exposure of confidential business information. Nguyen Huu Dung, vice chairman of VASEP, described the requirement on the ice rate as unnecessary as each country provides a different rate. Gov’t pledges continued support for Vietnam Airlines after IPO All incentives for Vietnam Airlines will remain in place after the national air carrier goes public, as indicated in the airline’s initial public offering plan recently approved by the Government. The IPO plan still refers to the Government’s guarantees for Vietnam Airlines when the carrier takes out bank loans, a special incentive that will make it more attractive to foreign investors. The airline has been allowed to launch the IPO in November this year. After the IPO, the State owns 75% of the carrier’s chartered capital of VND14.101 trillion, while investors can possess 20% and the remainder goes to the company’s employees and the public. The airline is also offered preferential policies to facilitate a divestment of 20% of State capital at a time when the aviation market has become less appealing to investors. In particular, the Government allows the airline to use the amount earned from the IPO to increase the State capital when it raises its chartered capital. According to book value, the State capital at the firm is currently VND10.57 trillion. According to the plan submitted previously, the price of each share would be VND22,300 and 20% of the total number of shares would be offered to strategic investors, 3.46% to the public via auction, and nearly 2% to the airline’s employees at a preferential price. If the IPO goes as well as planned, the carrier is expected to gain a surplus of VND4,172 billion which will be later used to increase its chartered capital and to purchase aircraft. Given the Government’s guarantees, Vietnam Airlines will be sufficiently financed with commercial loans and export credits to buy jetliners between now and 2020. It has plans to purchase ten Airbus 350s, three Airbus 321s and eight Boeing 787s from now until 2019. Financial institutions in Europe and the Export-Import Bank of the Besides, as the State will maintain a majority stake of 75% in Vietnam Airlines upon the IPO and later it will be reduced to 65%, it will be difficult for the carrier to persuade its strategic shareholders to provide loan guarantees. Thanks to the all-out guarantees by the Government to buy aircraft, the carrier will have advantages when implementing contracts signed previously or those to be sealed in the coming time. Authorities discover large fake coffee production factory A large workshop in According to the Dak Lak Agro-Foretry-Fisheries Quality Assurance Department, the facility did not have business license. Using substandard equipment and ingredients, it churned out up to one tonne of instant coffee a month. Most of the coffee was sold to other business in surrounding provinces under different brand names. During the inspection, the authorities did not find any coffee beans, only corn, soy bean and some unidentified chemicals. Corn and soy beans were ground to make the 'coffee powder, and other chemicals added to produce flavour and foam. The facility's owner admitted that he did not know exactly what the chemicals were. Tran Ngoc Thanh, head of the department, said, "We gave a warnings to this facility in early 2014 but they went unheeded. We have suspended operations of the facility and seized 100kg of instant coffee, branded as Nhat Thien Coffee." An ex-employee said he quit because he felt it was not right. He went on to say that it is actually more complicated to produce fake coffee powder that the real coffee. "No matter how minimal the danger of those chemicals are, overexposure to them must still be bad," he said. The leader of a large coffee company in Dak Lak said their products are for export and contain 80% coffee. They could not compete with other domestic products because of the prices. Samples from the seized materials have been sent for testing at the Central Highlands Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology. The case will be referred to police if no coffee substance is found. Vietnamese suppliers not up to standard for Samsung While the Samsung Group plans to significantly increase their investment in Speaking at a recent meeting with nearly 200 Vietnmese enterprises, all seeking partnership opportunities, Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment (MPI) Nguyen Van Hieu said Samsung’s registered investment capital in Vietnam would reach as much as USD10 billion by the end of this year, with a network of nearly 100 suppliers. However, Nguyen Mai, chairman of the Association of Foreign Investors, said, “Among the nearly 100 suppliers for Samsung’s operations in the country, only seven are Vietnamese, and these only supply packing and printing services. There are very few Vietnamese companies with the technical capacity to qualify for component contracts with the Samsung, and they are small companies and trade through intermediaries." According to Shim Won Hwan, general director of Samsung Complex, said, “ After Samsung announced eight strict criteria for companies seeking direct partnership, Do Nhat Hoang, director of the MPI’s Foreign Investment Agency, said that none of the 200 enterprises represented at the gathering met the requirements of becoming "level 1 suppliers". Jang Hoyoung, general director of purchase at Samsung Electric Vietnam, said, “It would be very difficult for any Vietnamese company to immediately acquire the technologies needed to provide Samsung with the quality of supplies required. Currently the company must make most of its components for in-country production directly." One anonymous expert in the field said that it would be unrealistic to expect Samsung to readily transfer its technologies to Vietnamese suppliers, as the company has spent billions of USD in R&D developing them. He suggested that Vietnamese enterprises take a gradual approach and become secondary suppliers first, with an aim to work their way up to "level 1 suppliers". Meanwhile, Several experts have said that In the years preceding 2010, it seemed that enforcement efforts were effective, with huge amount of cigarettes were destroyed. However, since then the amount of smuggled tobacco has increased by 50%. One official from Market Control Department commented that their staff, customs officials and police were discouraged because of low funding. According to the Vietnam Tobacco Association, 30% of There are some who argue that revenues from tobacco sales contribute a great deal to state coffers, and that ways should be found to support the domestic industry, which would aid in the anti-smuggling efforts. One suggestion was that smuggled tobacco of genuine origin be re-exported after it is confiscated, instead of being destroyed. They claim that this could save the state budget up to VND100 billion in expenses for destroying smuggled tobacco, not to mention the funds from re-exportation. Many experts have gone on record as saying the best way to fight tobacco smuggling is to improve the domestic industry. There is somewhat of a consensus that the government should create more favourable conditions so that Vietnamese producers can compete with foreign brands. HCM City offers business incentives to Samsung Group Authorities of In June, Samsung announced that it will invest USD1 billion in the construction of an electronics production factory in A representative of Samsung said the incentives from Provincial authorities in Thai Nguyen offered four years of tax exemption and a 50% reduction of taxes for the next 12. Samsung was given a 50% reduction in land use fees in exchange for fulfilling all the positive contributions expected from a high-tech company, including technology transfer, investment in domestic research and development and a minimal environmental impact. The first project of the company in A spokesperson for Samsung said the number of projects showed that the company has long-term business plans for ETF rebalancing seen boosting liquidity Securities firms predicted that liquidity would remain healthy this week as exchange traded funds (ETFs) would boost trading to finish their quarterly portfolio rebalancing. Last Friday was another good day for oil and gas stocks following recent news reports about multi-billion-dollar foreign investments in Vung Ro and Nhon Hoi oil refineries on the country’s central coast. Nearly 40% of the Hanoi market’s total trading value concentrated on PVC, PVS and PVX and four of the five most actively traded stocks also belong to PetroVietnam affiliates. The three former oil and gas stocks contributed the bulk of the HNX-Index’s 1.09- point gains to close at 89.49. The VN-Index also ended the week in positive territory on the back of VIC and KDC, closing at 632.5, up 0.56% against the previous day. However, Viet Capital Securities Company noted flows were mainly focused on small and mid cap stocks. Turnover on the HCMC market dropped 6.4% at VND2.4 trillion while volume increased 11.3% at 144 million shares. On the northern bourse, volume reached 88.6 million shares worth VND1.2 trillion, up 18.4% and 20% respectively. The combined turnover of both exchanges declined around 4% from the previous session. Market breath expanded as gainers outnumbered laggards by almost 2-to-1. Foreigners were net sellers of roughly VND56 billion on the HCMC and Viet Dragon Securities Company (VDSC) said that after a session of deep correction early last week, the VN-Index recovered to 630 points in the last session. Money continued to flow into the stock market, showing the strong confidence of most investors. Notably, many pennies of fishery and oil/gas industries shot up to the ceiling prices, such as PVL, CMX and AVF. VDSC said investor sentiment would remain positive this week because liquidity had been high in recent sessions. This week will be the last week of ETFs review, so this Friday is expected to see a strong surge in liquidity. “We are also afraid that if positive sentiment could not help the VN-Index break out of the current range in the upcoming sessions, a correction could occur again. Thus, short-term investors should be watchful to reduce T+ risk,” it said. Binh Duong to lower state-financed lending The southern Mai Hung Dung, director of Binh Duong’s Department of Planning and Investment, was telling the media about this lending shift on the sidelines of a meeting held last Friday on a revised comprehensive socio-economic development plan by 2020 and with a vision toward 2025. Foreign investment will still account for a staggering 50% by then, equivalent to the rate of 2010. Loans from the State budget and local companies will make up 10.5% and 26.4% respectively, Dung said. In the revised plan, foreign investment will continue to be a major source of capital in the province. Investment credit from the State will be channeled to vital socially beneficial projects. Up to now, Binh Duong has attracted US$1.3 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI), mostly from operational projects. The revised plan for 2016-2020 puts the province’s economic growth at around 13.3% per annum. Fragrant rice exports grow strongly Exports of fragrant rice have registered double-digit growth this year though shipments of normal rice types have slid, according the Vietnam Food Association (VFA). The latest report of VFA shows that member enterprises of the association exported more than 4.2 million tons worth over US$1.8 billion in January-August, down nearly 9.2% in volume and more than 8.5% in value over the same period last year. The association said shipments of 5% and 15% broken rice decreased but fragrant rice shipments soared. VFA vice chairman Pham Van Bay said the association’s member enterprises had shipped 800,000 tons of fragrant rice as of end-August, up 36% year-on-year. In the year to date, they have already clinched contracts to sell the rice of this type to foreign markets. “Therefore, our member enterprises will deliver at least 400,000 more tons of fragrant rice to partners towards the end of this year,” Bay said. Exporters credited the strong increase to their success in boosting consignments to the markets with high demand for fragrant rice, including Pham Thai Binh, director of Trung An Co. Ltd. based in the Mekong Delta city of Firms in the Mekong Delta said export prices of fragrant rice have stayed high and stable in the year to date, with a ton of jasmine rice sold at US$580-590. Source: VEF/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/Dantri/VIR |
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