Business in brief 27 Sep 2011
One of the solutions to boost the country’s economic development is to restructure investment, said head of the Government Office Vu Duc Dam. Dam said inflation appeared to be on decline with CPI dropping to a record low of 0.82 percent compared to early this year. In the first nine months, exports continued to follow the upward trend while import surplus over export was reduced to a level, much lower than the laid down in the Government’s resolution 11. Mr Dam added that from now till the end of the year, it is important to focus on key projects to boost production and achieve an economic growth rate of 6 percent, he said as expected. In the short-term, the focus will be on maintaining monetary and fiscal policies, reducing public investment, and controlling prices in the local market. In the long-term, due attention should be paid to restructuring investment, business and financial and monetary operations.
The Vietnam Airline Corporation (Vietnam Airlines) on September 25 announced a 35 percent fare discount for customers who fly directly from Vietnam to France, Germany or Russia. The promotional program will last until October 30 for tours to Russia and until December 31 for those to France and Germany. The national carrier now provides three service classes for the direct flights to Paris (France), Frankfurt (Germany) and Moscow (Russia), with a frequency of 23 flights per week. Vietnam Airlines plans to increase the number of flights to 29 per week by December.
Vietnam’s coffee output is likely to reach 1.32 million tons in the 2011-2012 crop, thanks to favorable climate conditions and expanded cultivated areas, according to Bloomberg. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said that coffee-growing acreage has increased by 1.8 percent to 548,200 hectares. Bloomberg forecast that Vietnam’s coffee exports will rise sharply and prices will continue to fall by 23 percent compared to the highest level in March due to more supply than demand. The price of robusta coffee rose to US$2,672 per ton on March 18 at the London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange (LIFFE) – the highest over the past three years. However, it hit a record low of US$1,996 per ton on July 21 and then stood at US$2,043 per ton on September 23.
The Australian Chamber of Commerce (AusCham) in Vietnam said it would host its seventh Annual Business Awards function in HCMC in November to honor its member organizations that have made an outstanding contribution to the business environment in this country. AusCham will present the Overall Business Excellence Award to an organization that has achieved the most outstanding performance in their field, Hospitality Award to a candidate that excels in promoting hospitality in Vietnam, and Innovation Award to the best for advancement in product or process. Other honors include the Corporate Social Responsibility Award, the excellent Professional Services provider, and the Alumni Award to a graduate from any Australian higher education institution in Vietnam or Australia who has shown excellence in any given industry or occupation.
Vietnam’s year-end inflation will likely be 19 percent or 20 percent, Vo Tri Thanh, deputy head of Central Institute for Economic Management said in an interview in Hanoi today. “It depends on whether the SBV will be determined to continue to fight against inflation,” said Thanh, referring to the country’s central bank. “I see some signs the government is reluctant to continue to tighten.” Thanh, who said his figures are “quite realistic”, spoke while at an International Monetary Fund seminar hosted by CIEM. Vietnam is aiming to contain 2011 year-end inflation to about 18 percent, according to a statement posted on the government website Sept. 1.
Vietnam’s economy grew by an annual 6.11 percent in the third quarter ending this month, quickening from 5.67 percent in the previous three-month period, the government said. Measures to control inflation and stabilize macro economy have achieved preliminary positive results, Minister Vu Duc Dam who heads the government office was quoted as saying in a statement released late on Monday. The annual growth in the July-September period is above Vietnam’s full-year economic growth target for 2011 of 6 percent but is lower than the 7.18 percent in the same quarter last year, based on government data.
Vietnam’s national debt stood at 42 percent of the country’s gross domestic product at the end of 2010, Nguyen Cong Nghiep, deputy minister of finance, said at a press briefing in Hanoi today. Vietnam aims to limit its national debt to a maximum of 50 percent of gross domestic product, said Nghiep, without providing a timeframe.
Liverpool Chamber of Commerce has hosted two important overseas trade delegations. With the support of the City of Liverpool, parties from India and Vietnam have toured firms and met company representatives in a bid to cultivate trading links. The India delegation from the province of North Bengal included interest from the food, leisure, architecture, civil engineering and property sectors. Its leader and chairman and managing director of PCM Group of Industries, Kamal Kumar Mittal, said: “We are interested in contemporary technologies and opportunities to bring some new development into our own country.” The Vietnamese group numbered figures from the Ministry of Trade and Vietnam Airlines. Chamber international trade executive Elena Enciso said: “Vietnam remains a very attractive business destination, there are tax breaks and incentives for foreign businesses and companies are encouraged to research the potential for their own business.”
Taiwan was Vietnam’s largest market for tea by importing 8,900 tons, or US$11.1 million worth of tea from Vietnam in the first half of this year, according to statistics of Vietnamese customs authorities. The statistics show that Vietnam exported 53,300 tons of tea worldwide valued at US$78.3 million, in the six-month period, representing a decrease of 3.5 percent year-on-year in volume but an increase of 1.1 percent in value. Vietnam is the world’s fifth largest tea exporter, shipping to 110 countries in the world, according to reports on Vinanet.com.vn.
The Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs inaugurated Vietnamese Consulate in New York on Sept. 25, in the presence of Minister Pham Binh Minh. Vietnamese Ambassador to the US Nguyen Quoc Cuong and Head of the Vietnamese Permanent Delegation to United Nations, Ambassador Le Hoai Trung, also attended the inaugural ceremony. In addition to providing consular services, the consulate will protect the legitimate rights and promote the interests of the State, legal entities and citizens of Vietnam in the US. It will also strengthen relations between the US’s northeastern region and Vietnamese partners. The Vietnamese consulate in New York is the third consular agency Vietnam has opened in the US, after the consulates general in San Francisco of California and Houston of Texas.
Vietcombank, Vietnam’s second-largest partly private bank by assets, has reached an agreement to sell a 15 percent stake to Japan’s Mizuho Corporate Bank, a unit of Mizuho Financial Group , the chairman of the Vietnamese lender said on Tuesday. "The State Bank (of Vietnam) has agreed for us to sell our stake to Mizuho," Chairman Nguyen Hoa Binh said, but declined to provide the value of the deal. In July sources said Mizuho was expected to buy up to 20 percent stake in Vietcombank in a deal worth more than $500 million.
A talk was held in Buon Ma Thuot city in Dak Lak province on September 26 to discuss the expansion of e-customs applications. The event was co-organized by General Department of Vietnam Customs and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI). At the seminar, representatives from Vietnam Customs and the VCCI introduced an overview of e-customs and information technology (IT) to support businesses as well as the benefits that businesses can enjoy if they utilize e-customs applications. The seminar also answered questions about e-customs and introduced businesses to the advantages of e-customs and related incentives for businesses. According to Vietnam Customs, e-customs applications have been implemented in 13 customs departments and 80 branches nationwide and handling customs procedures for nearly 43,000 businesses.
German joint venture Fresenius Kabi Bidiphar Co, a market leader in infusion therapy and clinical nutrition, opened a new plant in Quy Nhon yesterday. The 15,000sq.m plant, which was two years in the construction, cost VND340 billion (US$16.5 million) and replaces German firm Fresenius Kabi’s existing production facility in Quy Nhon. It allows the company to almost double its manufacturing capacity for infusion solutions and liquid medications, mostly meant for the Vietnamese market. Nearly 380 employees will work at the facility. The manufacture of infusion solutions has already received a GMP (good manufacturing practice) certificate based on guidelines set down by the World Health Organization.
