Business in brief in 01 Aug 2012
Vietnam earned US$1.131 billion from exports to Indonesia in the first half of this year, US$60 million more than its import from the island nation. Most notably, Vietnamese coffee exports gained US$78.2 million, up 7.5 times compared to the same period last year, while ore and minerals fetched US$0.61million, up 3.86 times; mobile phones, US$134.7 million, up 155 percent; and electric wires and cables, US$5.8 million, up 151 percent. Vietnam and Indonesia have agreed to strengthen bilateral trade and investment, aiming to raise two-way trade to US$5 billion by 2015. Both countries are preparing to upgrade their relationship to a strategic partnership in the future.
Vietnam’s bonds gained, pushing the five-year yield to the lowest level in three weeks, on speculation banks have more funds to buy debt as an economic slowdown saps demand for loans. The yield on the benchmark five-year notes fell four basis points, or 0.04 percentage point, to 9.80 percent in Hanoi, according to a daily fixing from banks compiled by Bloomberg. The overnight interbank deposit rate slid for the eighth day, falling 36 basis points to 1.47 percent, data from lenders show. The economy grew 4.66 percent in the three months to June from a year earlier, and Deputy Prime Minister Vu Van Ninh said last month full-year expansion may fall below the government’s 6 percent target.
Vietnam has won a US$60 million contract to export 30,000 tons of Tra fish to Russia, worth, from now to the end of this year. Duong Ngoc Minh, Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Association Seafood Exporters and Processors (VASEP), said the country has also signed other contracts worth US$300 million in total to export tra fish, shrimp and cuttlefish to Russia by the end of 2013. However, stocks of Tra fish are dwindling on the domestic market with the average price hovering between VND22,000 and VND22,500 per kilogram.
International tourist arrivals in Vietnam last month dropped 7.9% year-on-year to 466,000, marking the third monthly decline in a row, according to the General Statistics Office. In the year to date the nation has attracted over 3.83 million international visitors, up 10.8% from the same period last year. However, this growth mainly results from a large number of tourists coming in the early months of the year while the number of foreign tourists has steadily fallen in the past three months. According to the office, there were around 278,000 international tourists coming to Vietnam for leisure travel, down 11.9% from a year ago. Vietnam’s top ten source markets are China, South Korea, Japan, the U.S., Taiwan, Cambodia, Australia, Malaysia, France and Thailand. However, tourists from South Korea, Japan and Malaysia increased last month with respective growth of 17.2%, 12.7% and 14.5% while other markets fell.
Saigontourist expects to welcome around 80,000 international tourists, mainly Chinese, traveling on the cruise ship SuperStar Aquarius from November this year to March next year. Some 80 trips of SuperStar Aquarius of StarCruises will bring tourists on the routes from China’s Sanya to Halong Bay and Danang city during the period. The ship owner arranges three-day and two-night tours linking Sanya to Halong Bay and four-day and three-night tours taking in Sanya, Halong Bay and Danang. Each week, Saigontourist will welcome three cruise trips in Halong Bay and one in Danang. Foreign cruise travelers will enter the country on passports and laissez-passers. This year is the booming time for the cruise tourism segment with estimated year-on-year growth rate of 25-30 per cent. “We anticipate the number of cruise tourist arrivals will amount to 130,000 in this year and 80 per cent of the plan has been completed,” Thang said.
Many Vietnamese companies will take part in an exhibition and conference on scientific equipment, technology, instruments, and laboratory to be held in Bangkok from September 26 to 28. The exhibition (Thailand Lab 2012), organized by VNU Exhibitions Asia Pacific, will showcase the latest innovations in bio-technology, analysis, diagnostics, and laboratory technology and equipment. Nguyen Ba Vinh, representative of the Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau in Vietnam (TCEB), said TCEB will offer incentives for exhibitors as well as visitors taking part in the event.
Vietinbank has officially deployed nine automatic toll service stations nationwide. The stations are intended to help reduce traffic congestion because drivers will no longer need to stop to pay tolls. The station can automatically calculate the appropriate toll based on the distance the vehicle has traveled. The 9 stations will include Cau Gie in Ha Nam Province, Luong Met in Lang Son Province, Binh bridge in Hai Duong Province, Phu Bai in Hue city, northern Hai Van tunnel in Da Nang city, Gianh bridge in Quang Binh Province, Da Nang and Tan Son Nhat airports and T1-toll service station in highway 51 southern Bien Hoa city.
Leading non-bank remittance firm iRemit is planning to establish presence in Vietnam and India to further widen its reach and create new income streams. “We have long been targeting India but just couldn’t penetrate it. We’re hopeful though it can still happen. They are a bit protective of their turf,” said Bansan Choa, chairman and president of iRemit on the sidelines of the company’s annual stockholders’ meeting yesterday. Choa said the company is aggressively expanding to various markets across the globe with the aim of serving non-Filipino money senders as well. Aside from India, iREmit is also looking at Vietnam as site for future expansion given the nation’s high economic growth.
Vietnam will allow distributors of petrol and other oil products to set their own selling prices, following a request by several distributors to raise retail prices, state-run Vietnam Television said on Wednesday. The ministry of finance has given its approval for the move, the TV station said in a news bulletin without elaborating.
Cooking gas distributors today raised prices by VND52,000 (US$2.5) to an average price of VND367,000 ($18) per 12kg canister following a global increase in prices. The distributors included Saigon Petro, MT Gas and Pacific Petro, amongst others. After a period of falling prices, imported gas has risen to US$775 per ton, $177.50 higher than early July. According to HCM City’s market watch team, gas prices were prone to fluctuations. Violations were widespread throughout the market, so the team would tighten inspections in the near future. In July, the team inspected 22 gas shops and agents, and 14 were found to have violated regulations such as illegal gas extraction and falsified weights.
Debt-ridden Binh An Seafood (Bianfishco) has been rescued after signing a co-operative agreement with two banks on Sunday to restructure the company. Bianfishco had signed agreements with Saigon-Hanoi Commercial JSC (SHB) and the Vietnam Development Bank (VDB) to stabilize production and ensure the rights of workers, farmers and other shareholders, according to Tran Van Tri, general director of Bianfishco. Under the agreement, SHB will guarantee payment of Bianfishco’s loans from VDB. VDB has also committed to releasing Bianfishco’s mortgaged property of which 50 per cent is owned by CEO Pham Thi Dieu Hien. The agreement stipulates that SHB is recognized by the Can Tho Planning and Investment Department as taking control of a 50 per cent stake in Bianfishco from Hien.
Shareholders of Kim Eng Vietnam Securities Joint Stock Company (KEVS) approved the change of its corporate name to Maybank Kim Eng Securities Joint Stock Company during its general meeting last Friday. The new name reflects Maybank’s acquisition of Singapore’s Kim Eng Holdings Ltd. after Nomura Singapore Limited, a subsidiary of Maybank, had bought a 44.6% stake in the financial service firm on January 6. The board of directors has been reshuffled, with Shahrul Nazri Bin Abdul Rahim replacing Lam Hoang Loc as chairman of the enterprise. Meanwhile, Tan Pei San and Soon Su Long have replaced Ronald Anthony Ooi Thean Yat and Nguyen Thi Thanh Hien in the board. The enterprise at last year’s general meeting also agreed to double its chartered capital to VND600 billion to supplement capital for operations in the coming time.
The Singapore-Malaysia joint venture enterprise VFM Wilmar began construction on a US$47-million wheat flour mill on July 31. The mill, covering more than 3.4 hectares, is located in Cai Lan Industrial Zone, Ha Long city, Quang Ninh province. It will employ 200 workers and produce 500 tons of flour and flour-based products each day. This is one of three projects that were granted licenses by the province at the Quang Ninh Investment Promotion Conference last February. The mill is expected to contribute over VND200 billion per year to the provincial coffers.
An illegally built, US$10 million Wolfram refinery, funded by the Hoang Thai Joint Stock Company, has been closed down in Quang Nghia Commune in northern Quang Ninh Province. More than 4,000 tons of wolfram ore stored at the refinery for processing has been removed from the site. Authorities have demanded that the environment be restored to its original state. It’s reported that the company bought 4.9ha of land from Nguyen Van Phat, a resident in Quang Nghia Commune, in 2011. The land was owned by the city and it was given to Phat to grow trees. While waiting for approval to build the tungsten plant, the company carried out site clearance and built roads and houses for workers. When this was discovered, Mong Cai City authorities immediately told the company to stop construction and investment.
Ten new fresh food markets have been built in the south-eastern province of Dong Nai since 2011, and 12 others will be opened by the end of next year to improve food safety. The total funding is US$1.1 million, which came from the national Livestock Competitiveness and Food Safety Project (LIFSAP) implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development with financial support from the World Bank. In a meeting between the provincial People’s Committee and the project management held yesterday, participants claimed that the markets have attracted a large number of customers.
The People’s Committee of the central province of Nghe An has proposed that the Prime Minister offer incentive policies to the US$1 billion Kobelco Vietnam Co Ltd’s sponge iron factory. Under the proposal, the province suggested the Government to provide the project with a 50 per cent corporate income tax reduction within 15 years since operation and a waive of import tax in first five years.
Vietnam ranks fourth in instant noodle consumption worldwide, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade. An average Vietnamese person consumes one to three packs of instant noodles per week. The country has 50 producers, resulting in an annual output of 50 billion packs.
