Business in brief 30 Nov 2011
Vietnam Post and Telecommunications Group (VNPT) has discussed the cooperation possibility with Myanmar-based Myanmar-based Yatanarpon Teleport – YTP Co to develop telecommunications services, build telecommunication equipment manufactory and provide telecommunications industry products for Myanmar. The discussion was conducted during the Fair of Vietnamese goods taken place from November 17 to 20, 2011 in Yangon, Myanmar. At the same time, VNPT also provides information about the market and experience in products exports for Myanmar counterparts. Mr. Tin Win, CEO of YTP said that Myanmar Government is considering a development plan for 30 million new mobile subscribers in the next five years. This is a good opportunity for foreign telecommunication enterprises, including VNPT.
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra is steadily recovering from food poisoning and will not cancel her visit to Vietnam this afternoon, defense permanent secretary Sathian Permthongin said Wednesday morning. "Ms Yingluck has not fully recovered but she has insisted that she will make her official visit to Vietnam," Gen Sathian said after visiting the premier at Praram 9 Hospital. Government spokeswoman Thitima Chaisang said Ms Yingluck had instructed a deputy prime minister to chair a meeting of the National Energy Policy Committee in her place today. Ms Thitima said the premier will leave the hospital this afternoon to go to Hanoi immediately but might cancel a dinner with her Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Tan Dung. Ms Yingluck is scheduled to return to Suvarnabhumi airport tonight at 11pm.
The central province of Thua Thien Hue has decided to sell its 50% stake in Hue Brewery Co. to Denmark’s Carlsberg, giving the Danish firm a 100% stake in Hue Brewery, state media reported Wednesday, citing the provincial government. The deal is valued at VND1.875 trillion ($90 million), comprising more than VND700 billion for two breweries and the remainder for the Huda beer brand, said state-run Vietnam Television. Hue Brewery was set up in 1990, is now wholly owned by Carlsberg, the report said. The provincial government decided to sell its stake because it doesn’t have money to boost production to increase the company’s domestic market share, it added. Hue Brewery has an annual output of 200 million liters of beer, accounting for an 8% market share in Vietnam.
Hoi An town in the central province of Quang Nam, Vietnam has ranked sixth among the top ten Food & Wine Destinations in Asia. The lists of best hotels, resorts, beaches, destinations and food and wine destinations in the world in 2011 were announced by well-known online tourism worldwide web Tripadvisor recently, reported Vietnam news agency on Wednesday. Tripadvisor says, "The cuisine of Hoi An is lavish in both flavour and appearance. Western tourism has brought a shift toward fusion cuisine, but traditional Vietnamese fare like Cao lau, white rose, fried wontons and My Quang is abundant and tasty. No visit would be complete without a taste of crispy fried banh xeo pancakes". Hoi An, which was recognized bu UNESCO as a world cultural heritage in 1999, and the world natural heritage of Ha Long Bay in Quang Ninh province are among Asia’s top 25 tourist destinations.
The Vietnam Records Book Centre (VRBC) has recognized Western Union (WU) as the largest remittance payment network in Vietnam on November 29. VRBC Director General, Le Tran Truong Anh, said at a ceremony marking its 160th anniversary that the recognition of the company was based on its effective operations in most of the cities and provinces across the country. Since entering in Vietnam in 1994, the US financial services and communications company has set up 8,000 transaction offices providing the most effective money transfer services for overseas Vietnamese.
Vietnam harvested a record rice output of 41.8 million tons this year, 1.8 million tons higher than last year, according to Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD). The country has shipped abroad 6.8 million tons so far this year, earning US$3.5 billion, a year-on-year rise of 7 percent in volume and 16.7 percent in value, says the MARD. The MARD says that higher prices and the decline in supply in the world market have created favorable conditions for Vietnam to boost rice export. Indonesia is Vietnam’s largest rice importer, followed by the Philippines. The two markets consumed nearly 40 percent of the country’s total export volume. Vietnam is expected to sell more than 7 million tons of rice this year.
A seminar was held in Quang Binh province on November 29 to introduce its business potential to Indian companies. Located in central Vietnam, Quang Binh boasts Hon La port in the Hon La Economic Zone which is currently able to receive 20,000 DWT vessels and will increase its capacity to handle 50,000 to 70,000 ton ships in the future. The province also has National Highway 12A, offering the shortest transport route from Hon La port to Laos and Thailand. In addition, its Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park features an extensive and diverse system of natural caves which has great tourism potential. Representatives from the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) introduced the economic and trade ties between Vietnam and India, the ASEAN - India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA) and several industries in India.
Foreign invested enterprises (FIEs) in Vietnam are estimated to have run $5.85 billion trade surplus in Jan-November period, the General Statistics Office (GSO) said. Excluding crude oil, the sector is estimated to make $0.86 billion trade gap, GSO added. The FIEs are estimated to earn $49.35 billion from exports in the first 11 months of the year, making an on year rise of 40.7% while they spent $43.49 billion to import goods, making 30.8% year-on-year increase. In November alone, the sector exported $5.46 billion, increasing 4.61% on month and imported $4.6 billion worth of goods, rising 3% on month.
Although Vietnamese seafood is widely consumed in the US, many Vietnamese fruits are still unknown in the country because they lack opportunities to penetrate this market. American experts from USAID made this remark at a seminar on exporting Vietnamese farm produce to the US, which was held in Ho Chi Minh City on November 29 to introduce the USAID Surveillance Biosecurity kit. The experts said that Vietnamese fruit could have a good chance to enter the US market because of its originality, but Vietnamese exporters need to boost their marketing, establish contacts through channels on the internet, participate in trade fairs, and work with retailers to deliver their products directly to local consumers. In addition, Vietnamese exporters must also pay attention to US technical regulations, especially those concerning pesticide and fertilizer residues.
The central coastal province of Ninh Thuan has called for investments in 46 key projects, pursuant to its socio-economic development master plan until 2020 and a vision towards 2030. Despite geographic advantages and substantial potential for mineral exploitation, tourism and agricultural development, Ninh Thuan has found it difficult to attract domestic and foreign direct investment. To date, the province possesses only 23 foreign-invested projects, worth US$571 million. Ninh Thuan planned to offer tax incentives and lower land rental fees for investors in an attempt to draw more capital, said the provincial People’s Committee chairman Nguyen Duc Thanh. Ninh Thuan would focus on four key economic programs that would convert the province into a center for clean energy, tourism, food and beverage production, and education.
VietJet Air announced it would begin domestic flights from December 25, four years after it gained approval to become a privately owned airline in Vietnam. The low cost operator said it had scheduled daily return flights between HCM City and Ha Noi at 12.10pm and 5.30pm at a cost of VND900,000 each way. The airline will also fly HCM City-Da Nang from February with tickets VND455,000 one way. The airline’s four-year delay in takeoff was due to the global economic crisis. VietJet Air will be the fifth airline to operate in the domestic market besides Vietnam Airlines, Jetstar Pacific, Air Mekong and Vasco. VietJet Air was the first Vietnamese private airline to get a license but Indochina Airlines and Air Mekong, licensed in 2008 and 2009, were able to establish services earlier.
The Israeli government announced plans to invest an additional US$100 million in the TH Group’s TH True Milk industrial dairy farm project in the central province of Nghe An. Project development began in Nghe An two years ago with an initial investment of $1.2 billion. The first phase was capitalized at $350 million and will finish in 2012. When fully developed, the project will cover an area of 37,000ha. To date, approximately 20,000 cows, including 7,000 dairy cattle, produce 160 tons of fresh milk per day.
The fifth Vietnam-Cambodia Border Trade Development Co-operation Conference was held on Monday in Kongpong Cham Province, Cambodia. Co-organized by the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade (MIT) and the Cambodian Ministry of Commerce, the conference drew the participation of 250 officials and businesspeople from Vietnamese and Cambodian border provinces. The conference agreed to complete the Vietnam-Cambodia border market network development plan from 2010 to 2020, consider a project to build pilot Vietnam-Cambodia border markets for implementation in 2012, and build regulations on management of Vietnam-Cambodia markets.
A representative of Nguyen Kim Trading Joint Stock Company announced that the company planned to expand its network to 40 electronics stores nationwide in the next few years. The announcement was released as the company prepared to launch five new markets in the four cities and provinces of Da Nang, Bien Hoa, Vung Tau and HCM City in December. Nguyen Kim’s stores offer 10,000 electronic, refrigeration, home appliances, computing, entertainment, telecommunications products.
