Business in brief 5 Oct 2011
Vietnam, the world’s top robusta producer, has cut its annual coffee export projection for the calendar year 2011 to 1.12 million tons or 18.7 million bags, from a previous forecast of 1.17 million tons, the agriculture ministry said. August’s export volume of 36,000 tons was below previous forecasts, leading to the downward adjustment for the whole of 2011, the ministry said in a report. Early last month the ministry lowered its forecast for coffee exports this year to 1.17 million tons, from 1.20 million tons projected in early August.
Vietnamese businesses shipped more than 5.8 million tons of rice worth over US$2.8 billion in the past nine months of this year. Last month the country exported 560,020 tons to earn US$291.5 million, according to the Vietnam Food Association (VFA). Vietnam’s rice export markets continue to be expanded as some Southeast Asian nations are importing large volumes of Vietnamese rice, said Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Thanh Bien on October 4. The country expects to export 7 million tons of rice this year, the highest volume for a year so far.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will continue supporting Vietnam`s program for nuclear development, the Agency`s Chief Yukia Amano said during his meeting with Vietnam`s Vice Prime Minister Vũ Văn Ninh in Hanoi. Russia’s energy corporation, Rosatom, will help Vietnam implement its first nuclear power project. Rosatom chief Sergei Kiriyenko said that the works will be monitored by the IAEA.
Vietnam’s arabica output in 2011/12 (Oct/Sep) is forecast to rise by 25% from the previous season to around 833,000 60-kg bags due to an increase in both planting area and average yields, said Nguyen Van An, Chief Executive of the country’s leading arabica exporter Thai Hoa Vietnam Group. The harvest this year is a little bit behind schedule because of rains during the flowering period. By early October 2010, farmers in Vietnam’s northern province of Son La had harvested 30-40% of their arabica crop, while this year they have just started picking, An said. Son La, 300 km northwest of Hanoi, is the only province in Vietnam’s northern region that grows catimor, a variety of arabica coffee. While Vietnam’s robusta harvest usually begins in late October, picking arabica normally starts in July or August.
The Prime Minister has allowed the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) to consider a plan to re-import beef from the US. The PM asked MARD to work with the US Embassy in Hanoi, demonstrating Vietnam’s goodwill toward the opening of its door to the import of US beef. The PM assigned the Ministry of Health to lay down criteria on food safety and hygiene for this product to be penetrated and circulated in the country. This is the first time Vietnam has allowed the import of US beef following food poisoning cases caused by the mad cow disease in 2003.
The number of new phone subscribers reached 8 million in the first nine months of this year, a 16.8 per cent decrease compared to the same period last year. Of the new subscribers, 43,900 were for fixed-telephones and 7.9 million for mobile phones. At the end of September there were 129.7 million phone subscribers nationwide. Meanwhile, the General Statistics Office reported that there were 4.1 million new internet subscribers in the first nine months of the year, 18 per cent more than the same period last year. There are now 31.7 million internet subscribers nationwide.
In the fiscal year 2011-2012, Australian government will finance some 18 million AUD (or $145 million) in ODA for Vietnam, according to Australian Embassy. The agency said that it began receiving application dossiers for Direct Aid Program (DAP) in 2011-2012 for projects in the northern region, including provinces of from Thua Thien Hue to the north. The deadline to receive application is October 28, 2011. DAP is a partly support together with the Australian government’s bilateral funding program. DAP funds for small-scaled development projects with the aim of reducing difficulties and promoting development in the difficult communities. DAP program is designed for individuals, community organizations, nongovernmental organizations, research institutes, libraries, museums and other organizations involved in development activities in Vietnam on the basis of non-profits.
Refrigeration Electrical Engineering Corp., the Vietnamese maker of Reetech air-conditioners, expects profit and sales to rise 15 percent next year as it invests in hydropower and real estate to pare its reliance on manufacturing. The company also expects to rebound from less-than-forecast first-half earnings to meet its 600 billion dong ($29 million) target for pretax profit this year as falling interest rates boosts earnings at affiliates. Vietnam’s economy expanded 6.1 percent in the third quarter, quickening from a 5.7 percent growth in the preceding three months. REE dropped 1.8 percent to 11,100 dong in Ho Chi Minh City yesterday. The company has fallen 37 percent this year, compared with a 14 percent decline for the benchmark VN Index. The company expects to achieve its 200 billion dong full- year pretax target for investments. Company-wide pretax profit was 211.6 billion dong in the first half, according to a financial report on REE’s website. For the whole of 2010, the company made a pretax profit of 467.8 billion dong, according to its annual report.
The 11th Vietnam Agriculture Trade Fair (AgroViet) is to be held by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) in Hanoi from November 11-14. The information was released at a press briefing in Hanoi on October 4. The exhibition will feature nearly 400 stands displaying agricultural products, machinery and equipment, raw and processed food, and new types of seeds and livestock. A scientific conference and a program for Vietnamese businesses to seek international partners will also be held as part of the event.
Ha Noi has established a plan to increase production in its building material industry by 2020. Under the plan, the industry would grow by five times between now and 2015 and six times by 2020, accounting for 6 per cent of the capital’s total industries and providing jobs for 12,000 laborers. In addition, non-burnt brick production units would be constructed in an effort to boost brick production by 40 per cent for an annual capacity of more than 3 million bricks by 2015. Safer and more efficient materials such as composite and insulating materials that do not contain asbestos would be used to develop 26.7 million square meters of ceramic and decorative tiles per year. The plan also targeted investment in modern stone processing technologies and the use of recycled materials to reduce environmental pollution.
