Business in brief 10 Oct 2011
Nearly 150 Vietnamese businesses will showcase their products at an exposition to be held in Cambodia’s northeastern province of Battambang on November 24-28. On display at the HCM City Expo 2011 will be processed food, plastic household appliances, agricultural materials, interior décor, textiles and footwear, as well as electronic appliances and building materials. The expo aims to help Vietnamese businesses increase their market share in Cambodia and promote trade between the two countries.
Vietnam Airlines and the Vietnamese Consulate General in Osaka, Japan, on October 7 held a seminar to promote tourism of Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar in Japan. The seminar entitled “Four nations – one destination” was also aimed at boosting cooperation between the four countries in tourism and aviation. Representatives from Vietnamese and international travel agencies, including Cambodian tourism ministry and Angkor Air, attended the event. They spoke about their efforts in implementing the program “Four nations – one destination” and discussed measures to increase the efficiency of the tourism program. Besides Japan, Vietnam Airlines is carrying out promotion programs in Europe to attract more visitors to Indochina and Myanmar.
The Ministry of Finance is mulling over a draft on a tariff reduction schedule for automobiles imported from ASEAN countries, as part of the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA) during the 2012-2014 period. According to the draft, an import tax rate of 70 per cent would be imposed on all Completed-Building-Unit passenger cars imported from ASEAN countries by 2012. The tax rate would be reduced by 60 per cent and 50 per cent by 2013 and 2014, respectively. Special vehicles would enjoy a zero tax rate while trucks would face a 5 per cent tax rate during the next three years. An import tax rate of 75 per cent would also be imposed on motorbikes and electrical bikes by 2012. The rates would be slashed by 60 per cent and 50 per cent by 2013 and 2014
Auto sales in the first nine months rose 3 percent from the same period last year to 80,678 units, VAMA said. Vietnamese car maker Truong Hai retained its position as the leader in terms of sales among the 17 manufacturers in Vietnam, with January-September sales rising 29 percent from a year ago to 23,413 units, VAMA said. Truong Hai assembles vehicles including South Korean Kias and buses. Toyota ranked second, with 22,106 units, up 27.4 percent against the first nine months of 2010, VAMA said.
Plans to stockpile coffee in Vietnam, the world’s largest producer of the robusta variety, may limit exports early in the season, according to Morgan Stanley. Exporters in the Southeast Asian nation agreed to stockpile 420,000 metric tons of beans in 2011-12, Luong Van Tu, chairman of the country’s Coffee & Cocoa Association, said Sept. 27. Vietnam will produce 1.25 million tons in the season that started this month, Nicolas Tamari, managing director at Sucafina SA, a Geneva-based green-coffee trader with offices in Vietnam, said in a Sept. 30 interview. “The government plans to stockpile coffee beans to prevent a repeat of last year’s stock-out could reduce early season exports,” Hussein Allidina, head of commodities research at Morgan Stanley in New York, said in a report e-mailed today. Prospects for the crop are “generally favorable on good weather and a larger cultivated area,” he said.
Sixteen Vietnamese businesses, along with more than 6,500 others from 100 countries have attended the Anuga Food and Drinking Fair in Cologne, Germany. These are large exporters of agriculture, seafood and food from Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Binh Duong, Tien Giang, Dong Thap, Can Tho, Nghe An, and Ninh Binh. They showcase a wide range of fruit, vegetables, agricultural products, seafood, processed food, drinking, and spices. The Anuga fair is held biannually to introduce new products, trends and development in the food, foodstuff and drinking sector. The fair is expected to attract around 150,000 visitors from now until October 12.
Vietnam, the world’s second-largest rice exporter, shipped 5.92 million metric tons from the start of the year to Oct. 6, the Vietnam Food Association said. Shipments were 36,977 tons from Oct. 1 to Oct. 6, the association said in a statement on its website today. Vietnam may ship 7.52 million tons of rice in 2011, the country’s agricultural ministry said in an Oct. 3 report. The nation exported 6.75 million tons of rice last year, according to the association.
Santos Ltd. (STO.AU) said Monday that oil production has commenced at its Chim Sao project offshore southern Vietnam, and that the project was completed on time and under budget. Oil production will commence from six wells and the gross production rate is expected to level out at around 25,000 barrels per day, Santos said in a statement. The development includes a platform and floating processing, storage and offloading vessel. The company didn’t disclose the cost of the project.
The four-day Ha Noi International Fair 2011 (Hanoi Expo 2011) kicked off last Friday in the capital. About 400 domestic and foreign enterprises, involved in finance, insurance, banking, information technology, software, food and beverages, garments, leather shoes and crafts, are showing their wares in over 800 stalls. The annual event is co-organized by Ha Noi Trade Promotion Centre and Bac Ha Trade and Media Group.
