021117Intellasia Finance Vietnam · 2017-11-02 · Can Tho's export value hits 1.43 billion USD in ten months 15 Ha Tinh: Export revenue on strong surge 15 Export businesses need

2 November 2017

finance & business news

FINANCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1Reference exchange rate down by 2 dong 1Moody's: Outlook for VN banking system positive 2Vietnam Dong, among most stable in Asia this year: experts 2More than 330 million USD of G-bond mobilised in October 3Why Vietnamese banks rush to join forex trading business? 3Health insurance a new playground for life insurers 4Vietinbank's 9-month pre-tax profit reaches 37.4b dong 585 million shares of MBB to be traded from November 10th 6SHB attains record-high profit from service operation 6VPBank recruits over 5,000 personnel in just 9 months 6FE Credit allowed to open 8 more representative offices 7Vietnam's PMI in October decreases to 51.6 points, lowest

in 5 months 8VN's manufacturing PMI dips to 51.6 in October 8NA discusses economic development problems 9NA discusses growth goals, budget estimates 10Lawmakers urge strong boost to fruit & vegie export,

logistics sector 11Vietnam's business environment rating improves 12Lawmakers call for shake-up of FDI incentives 13Ways sought to boost honey exports to EU 14Coffee exports down 23pct in quantity 14Can Tho's export value hits 1.43 billion USD in ten months 15Ha Tinh: Export revenue on strong surge 15Export businesses need to meet stringent US standards 15Vietnam sugar industry begs to delay import tariff cuts 16Maritime authority proposes dumping dredged sediments

into sea 17Sugar sales struggling: association 17Domestic cement consumption declines 18Customs clearance payments to go online 18Quang Ninh puts forth solutions to deal with tax arrears 19Vietnam back on M&A radar 20Vietnam nutrition market to be worth $6b by 2020 20VN retail forecast to grow steadily 21Electricity sector gets BOT boost 22Foreign-backed local pharma surges 23Investors in VN's mining industry look for long-term returns 24Foreign investors still ignore SOE equitisation 25Few local SMEs join global trade 27SMEs seek global trade assistance 27Spurring more funds into startups 28

Dong Thap Muoi develops flood-adapted agriculture 29BIZ NEWS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Business Briefs 02 November, 2017 30VN stocks rebound driven by banks, energy firms 30HSX up, HNX down 31ROS sends HCM City bourse down 31MSCI upgrade not coming until 2020 32SCIC announces initial price of Vinamilk's share auction 33Vincom Retail to debut on HOSE in early November 33HCM City looks to expand solar power network 34Ha Giang seeks solutions to sustainable beekeeping

development 34Excavation of first tunnel of Metro Line No.1 complete 35NA deputy proposes building cable car system in Phong Nha-

Ke Bang 36Vietnamese allowed in casinos from early next month 36Japan boosts promotion of food products in Vietnam 37Apec 'a golden chance' for Da Nang firms 37SCIC under divestment pressure in Q4 38Tien Sa Port gets $7.9m loan to expand 39Saigon Times and RMIT co-organise roundtable on

interpretation job 40A domino effect in Hanoi's condotel scene 41Korean firm wants to build road under BOT in Can Tho 41EVNNPC produces over 5 billion kWh of electricity in October 42Uber and Grab asked for logo 42Vietnamese firm to export pork to Korea 43Software chain gets nod to admit associate members 43Vietnam Airlines promotion for SE Asian flights 44Vietnam Railways to pilot automated ticketing 44Lifestyle hotel brand Wink launched 45Lotte gets blessing for smart complex in Thu Thiem 45Viettel's N-Office software exported to Haiti 46Toro vending machine launched in VN 46Khaisilk restaurant chains and real estate projects falling

like dominoes 47Wholesaler caught in Da Lat produce fraud 47British trade envoy talks up Vietnam links 48Vietnam Property Awards back for 4th year 49Brandlaureate Awards to be held in VN for first time 50Tech Fest to link start-ups, investors 50Over 200 enterprises to participate in international jewellery fair 51

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FINANCEReference exchange rate down by 2 dong

02/NOV/2017 INTELLASIA| TIN TUC

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) set its reference dong/US dollar exchange rate at 22,466 dong/US dollar on the morning of November 2, down two dong from yesterday.With the current +/- 3 percent dong/US dollar trading band, the ceiling exchange rate is 23,132 dong per US dollar and the floor rate is 21,794 dong per US dollar.

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Vietnam finance & business 2 November 2017

The exchange rate at major commercial banks stayed stable.Vietcombank set at 22,675 dong (buying) and 22,745 dong (selling), per US dollar, un-changed from the previous day.Vietinbank offered the same rate as Vietcombank at 22,675 dong (buying) and 22,745 dong (selling) per US dollar, unchanged from November 2.Meanwhile, BIDV listed the greenback at 22,680-22,750 dong/US dollar, down five dong from the day earlier.

Moody's: Outlook for VN banking system positive

02/NOV/2017 INTELLASIA| VNS

Moody's Investors Service on Tuesday upgraded its outlook for Vietnam's banking system to positive for the next 12-18 months from stable, reflecting the country's strong economic prospects and the positive outlook for most rated banks."The change in outlookwhich expresses our expectation of how bank creditworthiness will evolve in this system over the next 12-18 monthsreflects Vietnam's robust econom-ic growth, supported by domestic demand, healthy exports and public sector invest-ment," Eugene Tarzimanov, Moody's vice president and senior credit officer, said."We forecast Vietnam's real GDP will grow 6.1 per cent in 2017 and six per cent in 2018, faster than the 5.9 per cent average for the previous five years.""Strong economic growth translates into positive conditions for banks' asset quality, but rapid credit growth, aided by accommodative monetary policy, can raise asset risks again," Tarzimanov said.According to Moody's the banks' operating environment will benefit from robust eco-nomic growth, based on ongoing improvements to infrastructure, favourable demo-graphics and the government's continued focus on reform to support foreign direct investment.The banks' asset quality will remain largely stable during the outlook with problem loan ratio at 7.1 per cent at end-2016, slightly lower than 7.5 per cent in 2015. Moody's further expects this ratio to decline to 5.8 per cent in 2018, driven by loan growth out-pacing the formation of problem loans and because of modest recovery in the property sector.However, rapid credit growth will continue to erode capital buffers and capitalisation will deteriorate as banks struggle to replenish capital against rapid loan growth. High provisioning expenses will undermine banks' abilities to generate internal capital, while options to raise external capital are limited.In addition, the growth in local-currency customer deposits, the main funding source for Vietnamese banks, will continue to be healthy, but it will lag behind credit growth, resulting in slightly tighter system liquidity.Profitability will remain stable with banks' pre-provision income growing steadily over the next 12-18 months on the back of strong loan growth. However, the improve-ment will be offset by high credit costs. Net interest margins will also likely decline fur-ther due to competition and government pressure to lower bank lending rates.At the same time, government support notching could increase for some bank ratings. Any upgrade of the government of Vietnam ratingwhich has positive outlookwill like-ly result in upgrades of a number of banks' ratings, which in some cases could receive greater uplifts from their baseline credit assessments.Moody's rates 15 banks in Vietnam, which together account for 58 per cent of banking system assets as of June 30, 2017. Three of the 15 banks Bank for Investment & Devel-opment of Vietnam (B1 positive, caa1), Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (B1 positive, b1) and Bank for Industry and Trade (B1 positive, b2) are owned by the government, while the other 12 are privately owned joint-stock commercial banking institutions.http://bizhub.vn/news/moodys-outlook-for-vn-banking-system-positive_289843.html

Vietnam Dong, among most stable in Asia this year: experts

02/NOV/2017 INTELLASIA| VNA

The Vietnam Dong (VND) is among the most stable currencies in Asia this year, said the US-based Bloomberg News, echoed by similar views from Vietnamese economists who were confident that the stability would remain until the year end thanks to the economy's positive signs.The currency has been kept stable, weakening about 1 percent against the US Dollar since the start of this year. An increase in remittances was behind this, said Can Van Luc, a member of the National Financial and Monetary Advisory Council.

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Remittances from Vietnamese living abroad were worth 13.4 billion USD in 2016, up 3 percent from the previous year, according to latest statistics by the World Bank. The remittances are forecast to grow 5-7 percent to exceed 14 billion USD this year, taking Vietnam to the top 15 countries with the biggest remittances, he noted.The rising remittances have helped the country ensure enough dollar supply to meet the domestic demand and allowed the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) to boost forex re-serves. "Such a high level of foreign reserves will allow us to step in to stabilise the money market when needed", said SBV deputy governor Nguyen Thi Hong on the sidelines of a meeting last month.The central bank has adopted a more market-based management mechanism with ref-erence exchange rates set on a daily basis since January 2016 in its effort to maintain the Vietnam Dong's value.Luc added that surge in foreign direct investment (FDI) has also helped stablise the currency. The Ministry of Planning and Investment's Foreign Investment Agency re-ported that Vietnam drew in 28.24 billion USD in FDI in the first 10 months of this year, 12 percent higher than the country's yearly target of 25 billion USD. The FDI disburse-ment was estimated at 14.2 billion USD during the period, up 11.8 percent year-on-year.In addition, Vietnam has also witnessed a growth in foreign indirect investment over the past several years. Foreign investors have poured 4.2 billion USD into the local stock market in the first three quarters of the year, a 3-fold increase from 2016, accord-ing to director of the Business Development Institute Le Xuan Nghia.HCM City led the way in both FDI attractions and remittances. The southern economic hub lured around 5.03 billion USD in the first 10 months, doubling the year-on-year figure. In 2016, overseas remittances to the city reached 5 billion USD, accounting for 57-58 percent of the national total, a year-on-year rise of 11 percent. It aims a 10 percent growth to 5.5 billion USD this year.More pressure will be likely on the Vietnam Dong at the end of the year due to the US Federal Reserve's forecast benchmark interest rate rise and higher demand for foreign exchange from importers ahead the Lunar New Year holiday.https://en.vietnamplus.vn/vietnam-dong-among-most-stable-in-asia-this-year-ex-perts/120401.vnp

More than 330 million USD of G-bond mobilised in October


The Hanoi Stock Exchange successfully held 15 auctions in October, mobilising over 7.51 trillion VND (330.6 million USD) of bonds issued by the State Treasury, up 45.5 percent over September.The ratio of winning bids reached 60.5 percent of the offerings.The coupon annual rates were 4.50-4.65 percent for five-year bonds, 4.83 percent for seven-year, 5.42-5.90 percent for ten-year and 6.20 percent for 15-year ones.Compared to September, the coupon rates of five-year and seven-year State Treasury bonds decreased, while those for 10-year term increased.Meanwhile, outright transaction on more than 952 million bonds worth over 104.6 tril-lion VND was made in the secondary market in October, down 10.9 percent over the previous month. Repo (repurchase agreement) transaction was also made on over 1.047 billion government bonds, valued at more than 106.1 trillion VND, up 17.7 per-cent over September.Foreign investors spent over 4.5 trillion VND on outright purchases and sold over 1.8 trillion VND, while making repo sale of over 345 billion VND and no repo purchasehttps://en.vietnamplus.vn/more-than-330 million-usd-of-gbond-mobilised-in-Oct/120431.vnp

Why Vietnamese banks rush to join forex trading business?

02/NOV/2017 INTELLASIA| DIEN DAN DOANH NGHIEP

Within the last 10 days of October 2017, the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has granted permission to supplement the trading and provision of foreign exchange (forex) serv-ices for eight domestic commercial banks.


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Most recently, on October 25th 2017, SBV issued a decision on amending and supple-menting the license of Tien Phong Commercial Joint Stock Bank (TPBank) and Kien Long Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Kienlongbank). With this decision, SBV's Gover-nor agreed to add the "trading and provision of forex services on domestic and inter-national markets within the limits set by SBV" to the content of these banks' activities.On the same day, SBV issued Decision 2238/QD-NHNN amending the operation con-tents of the decision on the establishment of Agriculture and Rural Development Com-mercial Joint Stock Bank (Agribank). Accordingly, the Article 3, Decision 280/QD-NH5 dated October 15th 1996 of SBV's Governor will be supplemented with "trading and provision of forex services on domestic and international markets within the limits set by SBV".Previously, on October 24th, Petrolimex Group Commercial Joint Stock Bank (PG-Bank) also received decision to supplement forex trading business. Not long ago, SBV also approved to add this content to the operations of many domestic banks such as Orient Commercial Joint Stock Bank (OCB), Saigon Commercial Joint Stock Bank for Industry and Trade (Saigonbank), Bac A Commercial Joint Stock Bank (BacABank), Maritime Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Maritime Bank), and Nam A Commercial Joint Stock Bank (NamABank), etc.Exchanging foreign currency is an indispensable requirement of those who plan to study, travel, work, or transfer money to relatives or settle abroad, etc. Previously, since forex business was less focused by commercial banks, customers having needs to conduct forex transactions often came to free market to directly buy and sell foreign currency, thus distorting the market and affecting the operation of the banking system.In the previous years, the forex business was mainly for big banks. However, along with the development of the economy, the demand for foreign currency of people is increasing rapidly. The foreign currency needs for the purpose of studying abroad alone is already three billion USD per annum, not to mention the foreign currency needs in tourism, work, medical examination, and settlement areas, etc. Seizing the ac-tual demand, some medium-sized banks have recently started to offer this service.The fact shows that lending, forex trading and services are the three main sectors that generate revenue for foreign banks, in which forex trading brings the most achieve-ment. Not only HSBC and ANZ, for most foreign banks operating in Vietnam, forex trading and services contribute very high proportion of revenue as well as profit. While the segment of services and forex business of many foreign banks accounts for over 50 percent of the profit, while for domestic banks, revenue from credit still ac-counts for 70-80%, and even 90 percent at some banks. The dependence on lending not only causes domestic banks to make less profit and suffer high bad debts, but also bear the risk of losing customers.Some people said that many Vietnamese banks are becoming old, as they operate in traditional ways and lack of diversified services to meet the needs of customers, espe-cially young customers who require high-technology. Therefore, retaining domestic customers is very difficult for these banks and they will surely lose on international playground.Experts also warned that to compete with foreign banks, domestic banks should not pursue credit growth which contains many risks like in the past time but should boost the strategy of raising revenue from services. This is not only the pressure of compet-ing with foreign banks but also the pressure from the 4.0 technology revolution, when the needs of consumers and customers are changing. These perhaps are the explana-tions for the expansion of forex business of many Vietnam banks (including state-owned banks and private banks) in the recent time, with the aim to capture this poten-tial market.

Health insurance a new playground for life insurers

02/NOV/2017 INTELLASIA| DTCK

As the economy develops and income level is gradually rising, people are paying more attention to health care. Thus, health insurance is the target that both non-life and life insurance companies pursue. The diversity of health-care products offered by both


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non-life and life insurers is creating more heat for the health insurance segment.Signing a three-year exclusive partnership with Tiki to offer free personal accident in-surance products to 100,000 customers of Tiki is the first step of FWD to introduce new online life insurance products to the market. This is an independent personal accident insurance which is in the group of health and accident products. FWD is also one of the first insurers on the market to be licensed to deploy this product line to individual customers.Accident and health insurance has been launched for fairly long time by both non-life and life insurers. However, for life insurers, this product line in the past was mainly sold as an additional product which is attached with a main contract of individual cus-tomers.One-year accident and health insurance products were often sold to employees of businesses. This group of services is also the strength of non-life insurers in both wholesale and retail segments.The segment of accident and health insurance may be the new competitive playground of the life insurance sector. Along with FWD, Chubb insurance company from the US has recently announced to receive the license for launching health insurance products and the firm is planning to provide this product to individual customers.Talking to Dau tu Chung khoan, some life insurers also said to have plans to develop this type of product. However, some other life insurance companies said they have no intention to develop independent health insurance product, but still offer it as a sup-plement that comes with main insurance policy of individual customers.The fierce competition in this segment is not a matter of concern for life insurance sec-tor, but making profit for self-interests and the compensation rate are the biggest con-cerns for each insurance company when deciding to engage into this product segment.However, according to experts in the industry, each insurance company will have dif-ferent way to measure the risks of the products. The way to measure as well the issu-ance of policy to each type of customer in this segment will also be calculated based on actual data, as well as the analysis on the product development of other companies."When life insurance companies launch health and accident insurance to individual customers, the market will surely become more vibrant. Certainly, since entering the market late, each life insurer will have different implementation", said a representative of a life insurance company. He added that this type of product will be a good supple-ment for the policy to expand national health insurance coverage."I personally think that the opportunity between non-life and life insurers in imple-menting health and accident insurance products is the equal, as the market is open and customers will the make their choice", said an expert in insurance sector.

Vietinbank's 9-month pre-tax profit reaches 37.4b dong

02/NOV/2017 INTELLASIA| NDH

Viet Capital Commercial Joint Stock Bank has recently released Q3/2017's financial statement with the profit margin to improve over the same period last year but still re-main very modest.The net interest income reached 184 billion dong in Q3 alone, up 9.89 percent year-on-year and the accumulated net interest income touched 456 billion dong, up 3.2 percent year-on-year. This is also the main "rice cooker" of this bank. The net interest from in-vestment securities brought about more than 10 billion dong in Q3, down 45%.Meanwhile, though operating cost slightly improved, it eroded the majority of income with more than 158 billion dong. After deducting tax expense and credit risk provi-sion, the bank's after-tax profit reached 22.8 billion dong. Meanwhile, in the same pe-riod last year, the bank suffered from the net loss of 11.7 billion dong.Thanks to Q3, the accumulated profit in the first nine months hit 35.8 billion dong, im-proving compared to the previous loss. With 300 million existing shares, the bank's 9-month EPS touched 119 dong per share. The bank plans to earn 25 billion dong profit in 2017. Therefore, its 9-month profit exceeded 48 percent of the year plan.The profit was improved in the context that deposits of Vietcapital Bank's customers slightly decreased 0.67 percent from the beginning of the year, to 24.445 trillion dong.


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Thanks to the loans in the interbank market, the bank's total debt asset reached 33.216 trillion dong.Meanwhile, Vietinbank reduced the lending in the interbank market. The outstanding credit as of September 30 increased 7.4 percent from the beginning of the year to 22.358 trillion dong.

85 million shares of MBB to be traded from November 10th


The Hochiminh city Stock exchange (HOSE) has made announcement on the listing and trading of shares of which the listing is adjusted for Military Commercial Joint Stock Bank (MBBank, code: MBB).Accordingly, all 102,764,454 shares will be additionally listed from October 30th 2017. This amount of shares is used to pay dividend and issue shares under the programme selected for MBB's employees.In which, for the 85,637,045 shares issued to existing shareholders to pay the second dividend in 2016, this amount of shares will be traded on November 10th 2017. The re-maining 17,127,409 shares to be sold to MBB's employees will be traded on October 21st 2019.The total value of listed shares, thus, has increased to over 18.155 trillion dong.MBBank has recently released the third quarter financial statement. In the first three quarters, the bank achieved 7.973 trillion dong of net profit. The income from services of the bank was also 2.25 times higher than the same period of 2016, bringing over one trillion dong. The bank's consolidated pre-tax profit after the first nine months of the year reached 4.002 trillion dong, completing 88 percent of the plan. The Earning per share (EPS) in the first nine months was 1,864 dong per share.

SHB attains record-high profit from service operation


Saigon Hanoi Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SHB) has released consolidated financial statement in Q3/2017. Accordingly, the bank's net interest income in Q3 reached 716 billion dong, not changing significantly compared to the same period last year.Other business activities had unexpected growth. Specifically, the securities trading and forex trading have had strong growth compared to the same period last year.Noticeably, the net profit from service operation was 844 billion dong, 15 times higher than the same period and exceeded the net interest income. This is the record figure in the entire banking system.In the past quarter, SHB's operating costs did not change remarkably compared to the same period, accounting for 630 billion dong. Meanwhile, the risk provisioning cost also improved strongly with 2.5 times higher than the same period to 620 billion dong.At the end of Q3, SHB recorded 528 billion dong profit, doubling the same period.Cumulatively, in January-September, the bank's pre-tax profit reached 1.330 trillion dong, up 68%. The after-tax profit remained at 1.071 trillion dong.As of September 30, 2017, SHB's total assets touched 264 trillion dong, up 13.3 percent from the beginning of the year. Loans to customers hit 191 trillion dong, up 18%. Cus-tomers' deposit stood at 193 trillion dong, up 16.2%.SHB's total bad debt was 3.670 trillion dong, reckoning for 1.92 percent of the total out-standing loans, up slightly from the beginning of the year (1.87%).

VPBank recruits over 5,000 personnel in just 9 months

02/NOV/2017 INTELLASIA| TRI THUC TRE

While in the first nine months of the year, the number of employees in Vietinbank de-creased 627 people, compared to 256 people in BIDV, a series of other private joint stock banks strengthened the recruitment of hundreds or even thousands of personnel.Compared to the beginning of the year, VPBank recruited as many as nearly 5,200 new staff. This figure is nearly five times larger than the scale of some small banks. This bank has also strongly recruited personnel in 2-3 recent years.Currently, VPBank is the second largest bank in the system in personnel scale with 22,500 people. However, only half of them are working for the bank while the rest are working for two subsidiary companies, mainly for FE Credit.


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Besides, such banks as MB, Sacombank, LienVietPostBank newly recruited more than 1,000 personnel while TPBank, Techcombank, Vietcombank, VIB, etc. newly recruited hundreds of personnel.In the opposite trend, two giants including Vietinbank and BIDV showed the decline in the number of employees. Specifically, in the first nine months, 627 Vietinbank's em-ployees left the bank compared to 256 employees quitting job at BIDV.Human resource of the banking sector is forecasted to continue being strengthened in the near future because in the last months of the year, a series of banks have posted recruitment information in large numbers.BIDV recruited more than 700 people to work at branches and transaction offices. Vi-etcombank and Vietinbank also announced to recruit hundreds of people working at branches and headquarters in October and November. Meanwhile, other banks such as MBBank, LienVietPostBank, etc. are also recruiting additional personnel.The common point is that most of the banks have strengthened the recruitment of per-sonnel to work at transaction offices and branches, focusing mainly in credit and cus-tomer relation segments. This is also understandable because banks now have directed to strongly develop the retail segment.Though many bank employees shared that working at banks goes along with a lot of pressures, stress, much time is devoted to work, etc. and they want to quit their jobs, the finance and banking sector is still considered to bring about higher income than al-most all other ones.Director of human resource management division of a joint stock bank said human be-ings are always the most precious asset. Therefore, the bank where she works is adopt-ing a new organisational model and building management processes including the KPI/Balance Score Card, payroll system associated with personal working efficiency, internal equity and competitiveness, laying solid foundation to meet business targets and strategic goals.She added that human resource surveys show that remuneration is just a very short-term tool to attract but a friendly working environment, where employees are respect-ed and encouraged to make decisions in their scope of work, are trained and have op-portunities to challenge and experience to succeed, etc. is the decisive factor in increasing employees' engagement with the organisation.

FE Credit allowed to open 8 more representative offices


On October 26, 2017 the State Bank Governor issued the document No.8727/NHNN-TTGSNH approving the establishment of representative offices in such cities as Hanoi, Hai Phong, Da Nang, Khanh Hoa, Dong Nai, Tien Giang, Vinh Long, Ca Mau of VP-Bank Finance Company (VPB FC FeCredit).Within six months since the signing date of this document, VPB FC must open repre-sentative offices in the approved provinces and cities. In case of failure, the State Bank's approval will become invalid.Specifically, VPB FC's representative office in Hanoi is located in 10th floor, Mipec Tower, 229 Tay Son, Nga Tu So wad, Dong Da district.In Hai Phong city, FeCredit will open the office at 6th floor, Akashi building, No.10, Lotte 2A, Nga Nam new urban area, Cat Bi airport, Dong Khe ward, Ngo Quyen dis-trict.The representative approved to be established in Da Nang is located at K294/35 Dien Bien Phu road, Group 50, Chinh Gian ward, Thanh Khe district.The representative office in Khanh Hoa is located at Suburb. IV, V 5th floor in VCN building, A1 road, Vinh Diem Trung urban area, Nha Trang City, Khanh Hoa prov-ince.In the southern area, the representative offices are approved to be established in four provinces including Dong Nai (K19, Vo Thi Sau road, Thong Nhat ward, Bien Hoa city); Tien Giang (09 Le Van Pham, ward 6, My Tho City); Vinh Long (71/46/6 Lotte A11, Bach Dan housing area, Hamlet 2, Ward 3, Vinh Long city); Ca Mau (No. 10 Trung Nhi, Ward No. 2, Ca Mau city).


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VPB FC is responsible for implementing legal procedures and complying with regula-tions in the Law on credit organisations, the State Bank Governor's decision No.01/2008/QD-NHNN dated January 9, 2008 on the opening and termination of branches and representative offices of non-bank credit organisations.

Vietnam's PMI in October decreases to 51.6 points, lowest in 5 months

02/NOV/2017 INTELLASIA| BIZLIVE

The Manufacturing Purchasing managers' Index (PMI) for the whole manufacturing sector in Vietnama composite index measuring the performance of the manufacturing sectorfell to 51.6 points in October from 53.3 points in September.This shows a slight improvement in business conditions and is the worst improvement in five months. However, Vietnam's manufacturing sector has continuously improved since December 2015, the Nikkei report said.Nikkei has not released the PMI for Asean in October. With 53.3 points, Vietnam led Asean countries in September.According to this report, the main factor causing operating conditions to improve more slowly in October was the slower increase in output. Output increased at the lowest level in the of production increase period that lasts for 12 recent months.The report shows that the number of new orders continued to rise sharply in October, although the growth was weaker than September. Meanwhile, the number of new ex-port orders increased faster and was the strongest growth in six months.As the number of new orders soared, manufacturers increased their purchasing power at a faster pace, although the increase was lower than the previous month.Companies are still optimistic that output will improve in the next 12 months, thanks to forecasts about market demand improvement and achievement of the company's plan. The level of optimism is higher than September."Vietnam's manufacturing sector has slowed down in October as output only in-creased slightly in the month. The number of new orders have also slowed down, but are still strong as the number of new export orders increase faster", said Andrew Hark-er, deputy director at IHS Markit, the company that collects survey results.Harker argues that the situation of material shortage affects the manufacturing sector, leading to increased input costs and longer delivery time."The production sector is still a strongly developed sector of the Vietnamese economy so far this year. Therefore, from October to the end of 2017, growth should increase again to reach the whole year GDP growth target of 6.7%. IHS Markit is currently fore-casting the growth at 6.5%," Harker added.

VN's manufacturing PMI dips to 51.6 in October


Vietnam Manufacturing Purchasing managers' Index (PMI) dipped to 51.6 in October, from 53.3 in September, with weaker increases in output, new orders and employ-ment, according to Nikkei's IHS Markit report.According to the report, released on Wednesday, this signaled a modest improvement in business conditions that was the least marked in five months. That said, the health of the sector has strengthened continuously since December 2015.Central to the weak improvement in operating conditions was a much slower rise in manufacturing output. Production increased at a marginal pace that was the weakest in the current 12-month sequence of expansion. Where output rose, panellists linked this to higher new orders. On the other hand, some respondents mentioned signs of softer demand."New orders continued to rise solidly in October, albeit to a lesser extent than Septem-ber. New export order growth, meanwhile, accelerated and was the strongest in six months. With new business increasing at a solid pace and output rising only margin-ally, manufacturers used inventories to help fulfill orders," the report states, adding that as a result, stocks of finished goods decreased for the fourth consecutive month. Rising new orders resulted in further accumulation of backlog of work, the fourth in as many months. This was despite solid job creation in October. Employment has now risen in each of the past 19 months, with the latest increase only slightly weaker than


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September's six-month high.After having risen at the fastest pace in over six years in the previous month, input costs increased sharply again in October and at a rate that was little-changed from Sep-tember. Where inflation was recorded, panellists often mentioned raw material short-age. Output price inflation was also broadly unchanged from the end of the third quarter as charges rose for the second month running.As well as pushing up prices for inputs, supply shortage also resulted in longer sup-pliers' delivery times in October. Flooding linked to storms also contributed to longer lead times as transport routes were affected.Manufacturers increased their purchasing activity at a solid pace, although it was weaker than the previous month. Stocks of purchases rose only marginally, with the latest accumulation the weakest in the current 16-month sequence of increasing pre-production inventories.Firms remained optimistic that output will rise over the coming 12 months, linked to predictions of improving market demand and meeting of company targets. Sentiment was more positive than in September."The Vietnamese manufacturing sector paused for breath in October, with output ris-ing only marginally during the month. New order growth also slowed, but remained solid amid a faster increase in new export orders. There was further evidence of mate-rial shortage impacting the sector, leading to higher input costs and delivery delays," Andrew Harker, associate director at IHS Markit, said."The manufacturing sector has been a strong performer within the Vietnamese econo-my so far this year. Therefore, growth will need to rebound from October's slowdown over the rest of 2017 to help meet the GDP target of 6.7 per cent growth. IHS Markit is currently forecasting a rise of 6.5 per cent," he said.http://bizhub.vn/news/vns-manufacturing-pmi-dips-to-516-in-october_289862.html

NA discusses economic development problems

02/NOV/2017 INTELLASIA| THE SAIGON TIMES

National Assembly deputies pointed out many problems with economic development in Vietnam and suggested solutions at the lawmaking body's session on the country's socio-economic performance on October 31.Hoang Quang Ham, a deputy of Phu Tho Province, said economic growth is often higher in the fourth quarter and then slows in the first quarter of following year. Viet-nam's economic growth rate in the fourth quarter of 2015 and 2016 was more than 7 percent and 6.6 percent respectively, but fell to 5.5 percent and 5 percent in the first quarters of 2016 and 2017.According to Ham, this is abnormal. He said although Tet (Lunar New Year), which falls in the first quarter, causes the country's production to shrink as workers have many days off, but consumption soars during the holiday. Therefore, economic growth in the first quarter should not be much lower than in the fourth quarter of pre-vious year."The government should take measures to buoy economic growth in the first quarter of 2018," he said.Besides, slower-than-expected disbursements for public investments have made sev-eral projects fall behind schedule.The National Assembly will adopt the plan for site clearance to facilitate the construc-tion of Long Thanh International Airport and the plan to build the North-South Ex-pressway at its ongoing fourth session. But in the public investment plan for 2018, the government has yet to allocate capital for these projects.Two national target programmes, including rural transformation and sustainable pov-erty reduction, have received more than VND37 trillion (US$1.63 billion) in three years, meeting 36 percent of the plan.Ham said although the State budget has faced a host of difficulties, investment capital allocated to localities has exceeded the ceilings. According to the State Budget Law, in-vestment allocated to localities should not exceed 30 percent of their budget, but the budget estimate for 2018 is more than 46%.


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He said the country's public debt would amount to VND4.2 quadrillion in 2020, and the State will have to pay more than VND100 trillion in interest a year.Ham suggested the government complete laws on State budget revenue and expend-iture, reform the State administrative apparatus, reduce the reliance of local govern-ments on the coffers of the central government, and effectively control the use of official development assistance (ODA) loans.At the session, deputy of Binh Duong Province Pham Trong Nhan drew attention to the economy's reliance on foreign direct investment (FDI), saying this situation will af-fect the sustainable development of the country.Nhan also pondered the real picture behind the FDI sector, as many FDI enterprises are reportedly deep in the red. Between 2015 and 2017, half of FDI businesses have re-ported losses, and many others have reported losses for years but still expanded pro-duction.Up to 46 percent of the biggest taxpayers in 2015 were FDI enterprises, but they con-tributed only 37 percent to total tax collections."FDI enterprises have received a lot of incentives like preferential tax rates, import duty exemptions for fixed assets, and reductions or exemptions of land rent. This is un-fair for domestic enterprises," Nhan said.He suggested the government focus on and offer more incentives for domestic enter-prises to make this sector the driving force of the country's economic development.http://english.thesaigontimes.vn/56837/NA-discusses-economic-development-prob-lems.html

NA discusses growth goals, budget estimates


The National Assembly (NA) on Tuesday started a two-and-a-half day discussion about the socio-economic development and budget estimates for 2018.Burning issues such as public debts, disbursement of public investment and solutions to boost growth were also brought to the table.NA deputy Hoang Quang Ham of the northern province of Phu Tho, said that GDP growth statistics had a problemoften low in the first quarters of the year, and then posting miraculous growth rates in the remaining quarters. "This is an abnormal and illogical performance," Ham said, urging the government to clarify it and come up with a solution to ensure substantial and efficient growth.Ham expressed concern over the tense budget situation and inefficient public invest-ment, adding that the sum of VND80 trillion (US$3.5 billion) allocated to major nation-al projects failed to be disbursed during the past three years. Or another clear example was that the project of Long Thanh International Airport had not been included in the capital allocation plan for 2018, although its feasibility study report was expected to be passed at this NA meeting.Ham said that public debt was at 62.2 per cent, nearing the ceiling, while budget col-lection might fail to fulfill the medium-term plan. Public debt was forecast to reach VND4.2 quadrillion by 2020 and 7-8 per cent of the total budget spending would have to be used for paying interest, estimated to average at VND100 trillion per year. By 2020, the country would have to borrow additional loans worth around VND262 tril-lion, given the tense debt repayment pressure if no improvements were made.Still, there was misspending, inefficient investments and stagnant projects. "The fiscal policies must be adjusted towards increasing collections, reducing expenses and pri-oritising paying debts," he said.NA deputy Duong Xuan Hoa of the northern mountainous province of Lang Son, said that it was necessary to have a comprehensive evaluation of the implementation of public investments, as well as clarifying accountability for low disbursements and in-efficient investments.Regarding foreign direct investment (FDI), NA deputy Pham Trong Nhan from the southern province of Binh Duong, said that Vietnam should not attract FDI at all costs but focus on quality. Nhan said that around 50 per cent of FDI companies reported losses but many kept expanding investments in Vietnam, citing Oxfam's statistics that


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the developing countries, including Vietnam, failed to collect $170 billion due to trans-fer pricing. In addition, many FDI projects used outdated technologies and caused se-vere environment pollution, he said.Meanwhile, FDI companies were provided with a number of preferential incentives, which domestic firms could not access. "Policies to boost the private economic sector must be enhanced to enable them to become drivers of growth," Nhan said, highly ap-preciating the government's effort in improving the business climate. "In attracting FDI, there must be strict regulations about technology transfer, local procurement rates and environment protection."During the morning session, NA deputies also urged the handling of loss-making projects to be sped up, the quality of equitisation of State-owned enterprises to be en-hanced, measures to improve and promote the participation of Vietnam into a global value chain to be improved and administrative reforms to be hastened.Disaster preventionNA deputies also urged the enhancement of the forecasting capacity of natural disas-ters and their prevention.Deputy Do Trong Hung of Thanh Hoa Province, said that it was critical to have a com-prehensive evaluation of the damage caused by recent natural disasters to the coun-try's economic growth, especially in the agriculture sector. Hung said that support must be provided to suffering localities.In the long term, the forecasting capacity must be improved, he said.NA deputy Ma Thi Thuy from the northern province of Tuyen Quang, said that natu-ral disaster prevention must be integrated into the socio-economic development plan. Thuy stressed that forest protection and plantation must be enhanced together with strict punishments for illegal deforestation.According to NA deputy Sung A Hong of Dien Bien Province, incentives should be provided to difficult localities to narrow the gap in socio-economic development with other regions, adding that mountainous provinces had poor infrastructure and trans-port connectivity, making it difficult to attract investments.Nguyen Thi Kim Be, NA deputy of Kien Giang Province, said that attention should also be paid to developing the transport infrastructure in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Riv-er Delta to promote regional linkages and enable it to cope with climate change.Working hour adjustmentsNA deputy Nguyen Van Canh from Binh Dinh Province proposed adjusting the work-ing hours of public sector employees in large cities.Canh suggested working hours should begin at 8:30 am rather than 7:30 am, and that lunch break be reduced from the current 90 minutes or two hours to one hour. Canh said that this would help reduce pressure on the transportation systems. Still, careful evaluation was needed, he stressed.The government's report about socio-economic development in 2017 projected that all of the 13 indicators would be fulfilled and even exceeded. The government said that the GDP growth rate target of 6.7 per cent this year would be within reach.Responding to worries of some NA deputies about the risk of missing the GDP growth target this year, minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung said that growth in the fourth quarter of this year was underway to reach 7.31 per cent to achieve the target for the full year. Dung stressed that the economic figures were reli-able.http://bizhub.vn/news/na-discusses-growth-goals-budget-estimates_289847.html

Lawmakers urge strong boost to fruit & vegie export, logistics sector


Some lawmakers have underscored major benefits to be gained from fruit, vegetables and flower export and logistics services, asking for more attention to boost the devel-opment of these sectors.They continued to discuss the country's socio-economic and State budget situation on November 1, part of the ongoing fourth session of the 14th National Assembly in Ha-noi.


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Deputy Nguyen Thien Nhan of HCM City said in 2016, Vietnam exported 2.4 billion USD worth of crude oil and 2.45 billion USD worth of fruit, vegetables and flower. This was the first time fruit, vegetables and flower exports had surpassed crude oil ship-ments. Meanwhile, crude oil exports were 31 times higher than fruit and vegetables ex-ports in 2005, 7.3 billion USD compared to 235 million USD.He analysed that fruit, vegetables and flower exports have grown by about 30 percent each year and are forecast to hit 9-10 billion USD in 2022. However, export turnover of crude oil has fallen by 900 million USD in five years and that of aquatic products has risen by just 5 percent annually.Fruit, vegetables and flower haven't been listed among the county's key agricultural export commodities which have included rice, catfish, and products from mushroom, coffee, brackish water shrimp and ginseng.Nhan, who is also Secretary of the HCM City Party Committee, proposed the govern-ment name fruit, vegetables and flower key export items.He said farming these products is a solution to reducing poverty in rural and moun-tainous areas, adding that each locality should cultivate typical fruit, vegetables and flower products that suit local conditions.Regarding logistics services, deputy Nguyen Quoc Binh of Hanoi cited data from the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Vietnam Business Logistics Association that the value of Vietnam's logistics market is equivalent to 21-25 percent of the country's GDP.Logistics services are an important economic sector that is able to fare well in the coun-try. This industry is a direct solution to helping boost GDP growth and the economy's competitiveness, he noted.He pointed out a fact that the logistics industry's contribution to the economy remains modest, only about 2-3 percent of total GDP. Logistics are considered a lucrative but still untapped sector in Vietnam because around 80 percent of the logistics market is being run by foreign businesses.While logistics costs are estimated at 7-15 percent of GDP in developed countries, they account for 21-25 percent of Vietnam's GDP, directly hampering economic growth. Therefore, it is important to cut down logistics costs and improve logistics services, he stressed.Highlighting advantages for logistics services development, Binh said Vietnam is lo-cated in the centre of the Asian-Pacific region in terms of maritime and air transporta-tion. It is a gateway to the East Sea, one of the world's busiest shipping lanes, for three of the four economic corridors in the Greater Mekong Sub-region. It also owns many locations favourable for building deep-water seaports and international transit air-ports.The deputy said logistics can become a spearhead sector in Vietnam's economy, and the country should work harder to optimise existing potential and advantages.https://en.vietnamplus.vn/lawmakers-urge-strong-boost-to-fruit-vegie-export-logis-tics-sector/120408.vnp

Vietnam's business environment rating improves

02/NOV/2017 INTELLASIA| DAN TRI

Under the World Bank (WB)'s report namely Doing Business 2018Reforming to Create Jobs, Vietnam ranks 68/190 economies evaluated in 2018, up 14 notches compared to the evaluation in 2017 (82/190 economies).Specifically, in Asean, Vietnam only ranks after four countries including Singapore (No.2), Malaysia (No.24), Thailand (No.26) and Brunei Daruxalam (No.56). However, Vietnam's business environment is higher than the six remaining countries in Asean including Indonesia (No.72), the Philippines (113), Cambodia (No.135), Laos (No.141), Myanmar (No.171) and Timor Leste (No.178).In the region, the leading economies still have the most favourable business environ-ment, not including Singapore (because of belonging to Asean). The report mentions the special economic zone Hong Kong China which ranks No.5 in the world in busi-ness convenience, and the teriority Taiwan which ranks No.15 and Japan that ranks


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No.34 in business openness.The report said Vietnam and Indonesia are the two countries that have carried out the most renovation in the past 15 years, with 39 renovations for each country. "Currently, it takes only 22 days and 6.5 percent per capital income for entrepreneurs in HCM City to register to establish a new business, compared to 61 days and 31.9 percent per capita income in 2003", said WB.The WB's business environment rating is based on 10 assessment criteria including business establishment, construction licensing, energy access, asset registration, loans, protection of minor investors, tax payment, international trade, contract implementa-tion, settlement of insolvency.Under the aforementioned report, Vietnam has eight out of 10 indexes to increase (ex-cept for asset registration and protection of minor shareholders). In particular, the in-dex of favourable tax payment jumped to No.86 at 14.78 points; energy access index ranked No.64, up more than 6.46 points; the loan ratio swelled five points compared to 2017, ranking at No.29.However, the evaluation index of construction permit settlement still ranked at No.20. Although the index increased, it is still the lowest among indexes with just 0.14%. The two indexes of asset registration and protection of minor shareholders did not increase compared to 2017.In 2017, the government carried out a series of policies to promote the improvement of business environment, enhancement of competitiveness by direct meeting and dia-logues with the private economic sector.Resolutions No.19 and No.35 on improvement of business environment and competi-tiveness, supporting small and medium businesses have been effectively implement-ed.Most recently, the Law on Small and Medium Enterprise Support has been approved; the policies that call for ministries, industries and localities to remove or reduce busi-ness conditions, small licenses have initially been implemented effectively.Especially, on October 30, the research unit on Private Economic Development (Unit 4) under the government's administrative reform advisory council was launched. The Unit will link with the prime minister's economic research unit to propose measures to discuss about private economy in particular and the economy as a whole, thereby putting it into the Resolution of the regular meeting so that the prime minister can di-rect the consistent implementation among ministries and localities.

Lawmakers call for shake-up of FDI incentives

02/NOV/2017 INTELLASIA| VN ECONOMIC TIMES

Vietnam offers many land and tax incentives to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) but the sector's contribution to the economy is still limited, National Assembly (NA) delegates have said.Despite accounting for more than 70 per cent of total export revenue, the sector's con-tribution to State coffers is estimated at 15-17 per cent, delegate Pham Trong Nhan told the ongoing NA session on October 31.He was also concerned about transfer pricing by foreign enterprises, which hurts the State budget. Even though business is booming in Vietnam, up to half of foreign-in-vested enterprises announced losses between 2007 and 2015.According to Oxfam, a global charity that fights inequality, Vietnam faces annual loss-es of $170 billion due to transfer pricing, Nhan said, stressing that the country should review existing policies, slash overly generous incentives for foreign investors, and of-fer local private firms equal treatment.In Vietnam, foreign investors are exempt from corporate income tax and get to use thousands of square meters of land at industrial parks for many years for free. Mean-while, local firms find it hard to even secure 100 sq m for their workshops."Why do we make it so difficult for local firms?", Nhan asked, adding that FDI should support the development of Vietnamese products instead of overwhelming local firms.Earlier, NA delegate Truong Trong Nghia warned against the undue dependence on


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overseas investors. Under international norms, FDI should account for only 5 per cent of gross capital formation, but in Vietnam it now makes up 25 per cent, which may pose risks to the economy."Economic development cannot rely on foreign firms, only local ones," Nghia said. Foreign investors, he explained, could leave Vietnam for other markets when the country no longer has a competitive advantage. Echoing him, Nhan added: "It is wor-risome when GDP growth depends on FDI enterprises."NA delegates are also concerned about the low rate of technology transfer in FDI projects, to the detriment of Vietnam, because most are labour intensive.In the 22 years since it arrived on Vietnam's shores, Samsung has almost single-hand-edly helped turn the country into an electronics manufacturing hub, with over $17 bil-lion in investment. HyunWoo Bang, vice President of Samsung Vietnam, told VET in an earlier interview that more than cheap labour costs, which are unavoidably increas-ing, it is the workforce that will play a crucial factor for Vietnam during the time to come.This means that Vietnam should have new tax policies and a new labour code to main-tain the competitiveness of its workforce. Besides, for Vietnam not to lose its appeal, "the government should decide to focus on specific industries," Bang believes. "Labour cost incentives do not work best for high technology investment projects, while corpo-rate tax exemptions may not be as beneficial for textiles and garments."Official data shows Vietnam received an estimated $14.2 billion in FDI in the first ten months of this year, up 11.8 per cent year-on-year. FDI pledges for new projects, in-creased capital, and stake acquisitions jumped 37.4 per cent from a year earlier to $28.24 billion, according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment's Foreign Invest-ment Agency.FDI inflows this year are expected to hit $16 billion.english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/business/189469/lawmakers-call-for-shake-up-of-fdi-in-centives.html

Ways sought to boost honey exports to EU


Vietnam has been allowed to export honey to the European Union (EU) since March 2013, but its shipments to the market account for a small proportion of the country's total honey exports.The information was heard at a seminar in HCM City on November 1 where partici-pants discussed ways to maintain and expand markets for Vietnamese honey in the EU.The seminar was hosted by the Vietnam Sanitary and Phytosanitary Notification Au-thority and Enquiry Point (SPS Vietnam) with the assistance of the European Trade Policy and Investment Support Project (EU-MUTRAP).By September 15, Vietnam exported around 29,000 tonnes of honey, of which only 1,469 tonnes was shipped to the EU.The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has carried out numerous re-structuring programmes in order to improve the quality and value of agricultural products.However, to help honey gain a firm foothold in the EU market, it is necessary to im-prove breeding, preservation and packing processes, participants said.They asked enterprises to raise awareness about promoting their products and im-proving Vietnamese honey brands.Dinh Quyet Tam, vice President of the Vietnam Beekeepers' Association, proposed Vi-etnam solve quality challenges in honey production and processing, including mois-ture, yeast, feed residue and honey colour.He advised enterprises and exporters to grasp market trends to meet European con-sumers' taste.https://en.vietnamplus.vn/ways-sought-to-boost-honey-exports-to-eu/120418.vnp


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Coffee exports down 23pct in quantity


The volume of coffee exports decreased nearly 23 percent since the beginning of 2017, dragging down overall revenue from overseas shipments of the products.Statistics showed that Vietnam exported 1.17 million tonnes of coffee for 2.69 billion USD in the first 10 months of this year, with the US and Germany being the top mar-kets.Coffee prices have soared by 28.5 percent, but the local sector has yet to seize the op-portunity.The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development recommended coffee-planted lo-calities to invest in high-capacity processing and stocking models and not to deliber-ately expand plantations.https://en.vietnamplus.vn/coffee-exports-down-23-percent-in-quantity/120385.vnp

Can Tho's export value hits 1.43 billion USD in ten months


The Mekong Delta city of Can Tho's goods and service export revenue reached nearly 1.43 billion USD in the first nine months of 2017, up 15.38 percent year-on-year.Of that sum, earnings from goods exports were estimated at over 1.12 billion USD, ac-counting for 85.1 percent of the annual target.The growth was buoyed by sharp rises in shipments of rice and aquatic products in the first ten months, said Nguyen Minh Toai, director of the city's Department of Industry and Trade.Local exporters have boosted the export of aquatic products to demanding markets such as the US, Europe, Japan and China, which accounted for 45 percent of the city's export value.Rice export, accounting for 26 percent of the city's export revenue, also recorded a strong growth in the reviewed period, amid the world's falling output and rising price.Can Tho has provided support for local rice and aquatic product exporters, particular-ly in ensuring supplies.https://en.vietnamplus.vn/can-thos-export-value-hits-143 billion-usd-in-ten-months/120428.vnp

Ha Tinh: Export revenue on strong surge


The central province of Ha Tinh earned a total 194.36 million USD in export revenue in ten months ending in October, a year-on-year hike of 97.3 percent and accounting for nearly 70 percent of the yearly plan.Shipments of Taiwan-invested Hung Nghiep Ha Tinh Iron and Steel Co., Ltd were val-ued at 103.7 million USD, occupying 53.3 percent of the total export revenue.Meanwhile, exports of traditional products like tea, seafood, fibre, and garment also experienced rosy growth. The province earned 2.61 million USD from selling tea abroad (up 22.28 percent), 7.48 million USD from fibre export (up 22.8 percent) and 2.19 million USD from garment export (up 91 percent).Main export markets included Southeast Asia, China, the Middle East and Japan.https://en.vietnamplus.vn/ha-tinh-export-revenue-on-strong-surge/120403.vnp

Export businesses need to meet stringent US standards

02/NOV/2017 INTELLASIA| VOV

For Vietnamese export businesses, the key to entering the US market is to obey the set standards and requirements, experts have said at a recent seminar held by the Ameri-can Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA) and Amcham Vietnam in HCM City.Product safety, responsible sourcing, adherence to all regulations and transparency are all key factors for a successful and trusted supply chain.Jon Fee, a senior trade consultant at Alston & Bird LPP, said that Vietnam remains the second largest apparel and footwear exporter for the US market second only to ChinaVietnam's export growth to the US has continued to surpass other rivals in the US clothing market although the country has not benefited from any trade preferences or any free trade agreement. In the 12 months leading up to August 31, 2017, the US im-ports of apparel and footwear from Vietnam increased 8.74 percent and 11.83%, re-


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spectively.US retailers and consumers appreciate the advantages of buying Vietnamese products because of good quality, reasonable price, and commitments of delivery on schedule.Vietnam's garments and textiles are taking the lead in export turnover to the US. Ac-cording to statistics from the general Department of Vietnam Customs, in the first nine months of this year, Vietnam exported $9.25 billion worth of clothing goods to the US, up 9.5 percent against the same period last year and accounting for nearly 30 percent of the country's total export value to the market.The country's footwear exports to the American market also surged an impressive 13.7 percent to $3.7 billion, making up 12 percent of total value of Vietnamese exports.Up until the end of September 2017, Vietnam has accrued a trade surplus of $24.1 bil-lion, equivalent to 78 percent of the country's total export turnover to the US market. Experts predict that Vietnam- US bilateral trade will grow steadily in the near future. The US has been the largest importer of Vietnamese goods over recent years. It is also the market that Vietnam has recorded the highest trade surplus.The country's total export turnover of goods to the US in the nine-month period surged 9.4 percent to close to $31 billion against last year's same period.Vietnam has eight groups of exported goods with turnover reaching more than $1 bil-lion, including garments and textiles, footwear, telephones and components, wood and wooden products, computers and electronics, machinery equipment, spare parts seafood, umbrellas and suitcases.Imports from Vietnam make up a small proportionIn 2016, Vietnam's total export turnover of goods to the US market increased 14.9 per-cent to $38.45 billion compared to a year earlier, constituting 21.8 percent of the coun-try's total export value. However, the figure is still low compared to the total value of goods imported by the US from other countries and the US is considered a potential market for more Vietnamese goods.According to statistics from the United Nations Statistics Division, in 2016, the total import value of the US stood at $2.450 billion with imported Vietnamese products only making up less than 2 percent of the total import value.Nate Herman, Senior vice President of Supply Chain under the American Apparel & Footwear Association said Vietnam's export turnover to the US market came 12th but total taxes levied on goods placed second, after China.In the first eight months of the year, Vietnam had taxes levied on goods amounting to $2.2 billion, ranking second among top 15 nations paying the highest import tax to the US market, again second only to China.China exported goods worth $318 billion and had to pay $8.85 billion. Vietnam is the second largest exporter of apparel and footwear to the US behind China.The total import duties Vietnam has to pay to the US made up 10.11 percent of the US total tax collections in the first eight months of the year. Many Vietnamese goods have suffered high import duties in the US market, in particular apparel goods, which see a high import tax rate of 17%.The US withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) could leave Vietnam be-reft of its biggest customer for exports, experts said. Therefore, the country needs to expedite negotiations on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and the Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement to help businesses enjoy preferential tar-iffs and increase export possibilities to more other markets than the US.In addition, businesses should pay greater attention to market criteria to seek more outlets going forward.http://english.vov.vn/economy/export-businesses-need-to-meet-stringent-us-stand-ards-361528.vov

Vietnam sugar industry begs to delay import tariff cuts

02/NOV/2017 INTELLASIA| DTI NEWS

Many sugar companies in Vietnam have been unable to sell sugar over the past two weeks although prices have reached a record low.According to Pham Quoc Doanh, chair of the Vietnam Sugar and Sugarcane Associa-


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tion (VSSA), a kilo of sugar is currently priced at VND12,000 (USD54.5 cent), the low-est level so far. However, lower sugar firms have seen slow sales or been unable to sell the product at all as their customers are waiting for lower sugar import tax.Under the Asean Trade in Goods Agreement, many duties on goods imported from Asean countries have been cut to 0 percent from 2018, including sugar imports. This is likely to put a lot more pressure on the already suffering domestic sugar sector.At present, the Vietnamese sugar industry is facing a flood of illegally-imported sugar, Doanh said. So, the situation will be more difficult due to the lower import tax.To help ease the difficulties, VSSA has proposed to the prime minister to delay the im-plementation of the trade agreement with Asean to 2020 at the earliest.The association has also recommended the Ministry of Finance to continue slapping a 5 percent tax on sugar imports from Asean countries after 2018 to help make domesti-cally-refined sugar products competitive.The prime minister assigned the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Finance to consider the VSSA's proposal and report to the government before October 30. However, the report has not yet been completed due to different opinions on the implementation of the Asean goods agreement.VASA reported that currently, Vietnam has 41 sugar plants with a total capacity of 150,000 tonnes per day, up 12.7 times against 1995.If Asean goods agreement takes effect from early 2018, small-scale plants with out-dat-ed technology will turn to importing raw sugar for refining and stop buying sugarcane from farmers.The agreed timetable for the implementation of the Asean trade agreement may see the domestic sector lose out to Thailand, while sugarcane farmers will be hardest hit. Sug-arcane is currently grown across on 300,000 hectares and employs 1.5 million workers.dtinews.vn/en/news/018/53563/vietnam-sugar-industry-begs-to-delay-import-tariff-cuts.html

Maritime authority proposes dumping dredged sediments into sea


The Vietnam Maritime Administration (VMA) has sought approval from the provin-cial government of Binh Dinh to sink around 439,000 cubic meters of waste from a pas-sage dredging project into the sea.The waste includes mud, sand and other sediments dredged from the navigation wa-terway of Quy Nhon in this central coast province, Tuoi Tre newspaper reports.Dang Trung Thanh, director of the provincial Department of Natural Resources and Environment, said in the newspaper that his department and VMA will work together to urge the consultant of the dumping plan to complete documents for approval.He said dredging layers of sediment and then dumping them back into the sea are meant to facilitate ship navigation through the Quy Nhon Port. However, he stressed that local authorities are highly cautious of the issue, as it can affect the environment and the lives of local residents.Tran Chau, vice chair of the provincial government, said Binh Dinh has suggested VMA instruct relevant agencies to strictly comply with current environment protec-tion regulations, and closely coordinate with competent agencies to inspect the dump-ing process.http://english.thesaigontimes.vn/56846/Maritime-authority-proposes-dumping-dredged-sediments-into-sea.html

Sugar sales struggling: association


The sale of sugar was facing difficulties since the beginning of October, causing prob-lems for sugar producers in recent days, according to the Sugar and Sugarcane Asso-ciation.Pham Quoc Doanh, the association's chair, said sugar plants produced some 10,000 tonnes sugar from October 10, plus 300,000 tonnes inventory. However, it was difficult to sell even one kilo although sugar prices were lownearing VND12,000 per kiloand despite increasing demand for sugar for the production of goods for the upcoming Tet


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(Lunar New Year) holidays.Doanh said firms appeared to be waiting until early 2018 to purchase sugar at low pric-es. Under commitments of the Asean Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA), from 2018, there will be no cap on sugar imports from member countries, with import tax rate at 5 per cent.Doanh was worried this would cause sugar prices to dip, pushing sugar producers into a lot of difficulties, especially small-sized plants that could face the risk of shutting down.The association previously proposed to the prime minister to extend the time for im-plementing ATIGA's commitments from 2018 to 2020, or even 2022.In addition, the association proposed that the tax rate for sugar import out of quota would be reduced by 50 per cent to 40 per cent for raw sugar and 45 per cent for refined sugar.In response, the prime minister asked relevant ministries to consider the association's proposals and submit its report before October 30.Sugar plants are preparing to harvest the 2017-18 crop, which will begin in early No-vember.There are 41 sugar plants with total designed capacity of some 150,000 tonnes per day. In the 2016-17 crop, more than 1.2 million tonnes sugar were produced.In the first nine months of this year, Vietnam exported 43,000 tonnes of sugar, worth $20.6 million, to 28 markets, according to the association's statistics.http://bizhub.vn/news/sugar-sales-struggling-association_289846.html

Domestic cement consumption declines


Domestic cement consumption has declined while outbound sales have risen in the year to date, the government news website reports.Data of the Building Materials Department under the Ministry of Construction shows the total cement consumption has reached an estimated 62.89 million tonnes in the ten-month period, rising by a slight 2 percent year-on-year and accounting for around 79 percent of the full-year target.Of this total, domestic cement sales have fallen 3 percent year-on-year to around 47.2 million tonnes, while outbound sales have shot up by a staggering 20 percent year-on-year to 15.6 million tonnes.Industry insiders ascribed the decline to unfavourable weather conditions like heavy rains which affect construction work, resulting in domestic demand shrinking.The situation may improve in the remainder of the year, as many large construction projects will get off the ground.http://english.thesaigontimes.vn/56853/Domestic-cement-consumption-declines.html

Customs clearance payments to go online


In the next few months, tax payments for customs clearance will be made available on-line, round-the-clock.This will allow enterprises to pay tax at anytime and from anywhere, provided they have internet access, said the general Department of Customs.The department said that it planned to expand the 24/7 online tax payment scheme to all 36 commercial banks, which signed collection agreements with the general Depart-ment of Customs, in November and December.The 24/7 online tax payment scheme had been initially piloted at five commercial banks, namely Vietcombank, Vietinbank, BIDV, MBBank and Techcombank, from late October with around 100 successful transactions in the past week.The department's statistics revealed that online tax payment via banks accounted for 90 percent of the customs' budget collection. However, many banks currently did not allow tax payments after the cut-off time, which would cause delays in customs clear-ance.Luu Manh Tuong, director of Import-Export Tax Department, said at a press confer-ence on October 31, that with the implementation of 24/7 online tax payment via banks


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and customs clearance projects, taxpayers can make payments at anytime, even during out-of-office hours, weekends or holidays, which will help reduce the time for com-pleting customs clearance procedures and reduce cash payments.For example, if a batch of goods arrived at 5p.m. on Friday and the firm could not pay tax because it was past working hours, it would have to wait until next week to pay tax for customs clearance. Now, with the 24/7 online tax payment, the firm can pay tax online immediately for customs clearance. With a registered digital signature and a let-ter of authorisation, firms can access the website, https://epayment.customs.gov.vn/epaymentportal/login, to pay tax online.As of March, 126 major customs procedures, or 70 percent of the sector's procedure counts, were conducted online and 42 others are scheduled to go online by the end of this year.From the beginning of this year to October 25, around 8.86 million files for customs clearance of 74,600 firms were handled online.http://english.vov.vn/economy/customs-clearance-payments-to-go-online-361574.vov

Quang Ninh puts forth solutions to deal with tax arrears


The Taxation Department of the northeastern coastal province of Quang Ninh has tak-en measures to deal with tax arrears of businesses in order to fulfil the state budget col-lection target this year.The department has assisted businesses, specially the Vietnam National Coal-Mineral Industries Holding Corporation Limited a big contributor to the provincial budget and enterprises located in economic and industrial zones and put forth specific solu-tions to solve corporate tax arrears.Meanwhile, the Customs Department has tightened post-customs clearance inspec-tions and boosted the implementation of automated customs clearance.Quang Ninh's total budget revenues reached almost 29.4 trillion VND (1.29 billion USD) in the first 10 months of this year, equal to 92 percent of the annual estimates or 94 percent of the figure in the same period last year.Of the total, domestic revenues were valued at 21.1 trillion VND (931 million USD), equivalent to only 80 percent of the annual estimates.Earlier, the province set a target of 39 trillion VND (1.71 billion USD) in total state budget collection in 2017, of which 29 trillion USD (1.27 billion USD) comes from do-mestic resources.Therefore, the province's total state budget revenues, especially domestic revenues, have yet to achieve growth as the set targets.Revenues failing to achieve average growth rates include revenues from mining li-cence granting (1.6 trillion VND or 54 percent of the annual estimates), import-export tax collection (8.1 trillion VND or 51 percent of the annual estimates) and from foreign-invested enterprises (1.47 trillion VND or 68 percent of the annual estimates).During the January-October period, Quang Ninh province's budget spending reached 12.7 trillion VND (558.8 million USD), equivalent to 67 percent of the annual estimates. Of the total, 6.27 trillion VND was worth of development investment and 6.42 trillion VND was regular expenses.Quang Ninh's economic growth in the fourth quarter of 2017 is expected to reach 11.7 percent and 10.2 percent for the whole year.To achieve a growth rate of over 10 percent, Quang Ninh has devised numerous meas-ures, focusing on collecting local budget funds, controlling budget spending, and re-forming administrative procedures.The locality will also work to remove difficulties for businesses and hasten the con-struction of infrastructure projects at industrial and economic zones and transport in-frastructure facilities as well as create trust among investors and people.In the first nine months of this year, the province gained important outcomes in vari-ous fields, with growth rising by 9.7 percent with the economic structure shifting to services.The business investment environment and competitiveness were improved, and total


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social investment capital increased 9.5 percent.The province launched the Business Cafe programme, built a survey tool for social net-working, and establishing hotlines at all departments and sectors as well as organising quarterly and monthly meetings with enterprises.In 2017, Quang Ninh had an initiative of implementing a social networking survey tool and building a fanpage to update businesses' reports on administrative procedures re-lating to economic organisations.The collection of opinions from businesses through the social network has helped au-thorities have more information to analyse and evaluate the business situation and build policies suitable with the local conditions.Furthermore, direct dialogues between local leaders and entrepreneurs in the Business Cafe programme have been conducted since 2016 to weather difficulties for business-es.https://en.vietnamplus.vn/quang-ninh-puts-forth-solutions-to-deal-with-tax-arrears/120423.vnp

Vietnam back on M&A radar


Strong deal growth seen during first three quarters in Vietnam and Southeast Asia, ac-cording to Mergermarket.M&A activities targeting Southeast Asia (SEA) so far this year have reached $53.5 bil-lion in 290 deals, increasing in value by 23.1 per cent compared to the same period of 2016. This is the second-highest value in the first three quarters of a year, according to Mergermarket data. In Vietnam, there were 37 deals in the period worth $1.218 billion."Vietnam's back on the radar for investors," said Mergermarket's SEA Office Chief Rid-dhima Saxena. "Consumer, healthcare, and education continue to be attractive given the population and growing consumption demand. The most active investors remain Japan and South Korea.""Private equity firms are also showing interest across the board," she went on. "Educa-tion in particular has been active and shows a strong pipeline of deals. Earlier this year, the Vietnam Australia International School was acquired by the US-based TPG Capi-tal. Similarly, English language training services company ILA Vietnam was acquired by Swedish private equity firm EQT."There were 97 deals worth $26.7 billion in Southeast Asia during the third quarter, an 81.8 per cent rise in value compared to the same period of 2016. Three of the region's top five deals ever were logged in the third quarter: Global Logistic Properties' $15.9 billion take over, Grab's $2 billion acquisition, and the acquisition of 47.5 per cent stake in Energy Development Corporation for $1.3 billion.The internet/e-commerce sector is spurring strong deal growth, seeing 13 deals worth $5.3 billion this year, or nearly four-times more in value than in the same period last year.Mergermarket is an Acuris company. In M&A, information is the most valuable cur-rency. Mergermarket reports on deals 6-24 months before they become public knowl-edge. With the largest network of dedicated M&A journalists and analysts, Mergermarket offers the most comprehensive M&A intelligence service available to-day. Mergermarket's reporters are based in 67 locations across the Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, and Africa.http://vneconomictimes.com/article/business/vietnam-back-on-m-a-radar

Vietnam nutrition market to be worth $6b by 2020


Following double-digit growth in the past five years the in-home fast-moving consum-er goods nutrition market in Vit Nam reached $4.1 billion last year and is forecast to reach $6 billion in 2020, offering great prospects for the sector, according to Kantar Worldpanel.The in-home FMCG nutrition market includes dairy and products from dairy, soya milk, tonic food drinks, noodles and soups, biscuits and cakes, canned foods, proc-essed foods, and frozen foods.


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Speaking at a discussion held by Nestle Vietnam in HCM City on Thursday, Nguyen Huy Hoang, commercial director of Kantar Worldpanel Vietnam, said the nutrition market has grown at a compounded annual rate of 10 per cent in the last five years compared to 9 per cent for FMCG. The former is forecast to continue growing faster than FMCG in the coming years.On average a Vietnamese household spends more than 3 per cent of its total monthly income on nutritional packaged foods and beverages, which are brought home to con-sume.Rural households are aware of the importance of nutrition and increasing their spend-ing on this in line with higher health consciousness and better education despite lower purchasing power, he said.This raises some interesting questions from those looking to take a bigger slice of this growing pie about why there is so much potential and how to tap into it, he said.Balanced nutrition is becoming more and more important to consumers.Dairy and nutritional products will continue to grow, especially in rural areas where the rate of stunted children is still big. In urban areas, obesity and short-sightedness are common problems for children, he said.Nutrition manufacturers must understand this to come up with suitable products, he added.Micronutrient deficientAccording to a general nutrition survey by the National Institute of Nutrition in 2015, deficiency of micronutrients like iron, zinc and vitamin A, was rife among pregnant women and children, with the rates being higher in rural areas.For instance, nearly 70 per cent of children under five suffered from zinc deficiency. Children in mountainous areas had the highest rate of nutrition deficiency of 80.8 per cent. The figures were 71.6 per cent in rural areas and 49.7 per cent in urban areas.Besides, 21.8 per cent and 13.8 per cent of children under five in rural areas were stunt-ed and underweight, while the rates were 12.1 per cent and 7.1 per cent in urban areas.In contrast many urban children were obese. This doubled the nutritional burden for Vietnam, according to experts.In the National Nutrition Strategy for until 2020, the government targets improving the nutritional status of mothers and children to reduce the stunting and underweight rates among children under fiver, improve micro-nutrient deficiency, and effectively control obesity.Le Thi Hoang Yen, communication and marketing support director of Nestle Vietnam, said the company has promoted labels based on Guideline Daily Amounts (GDAs), which inform consumers about the nutritional composition of a serving of food or bev-erage in terms of calories, sugars, fats and other nutrients.It has supported sporting events to address the problem of obesity and physical inac-tivity and encourage an active lifestyle and regular physical exercise, she added.http://bizhub.vn/news/viet-nam-nutrition-market-to-be-worth-6b-by-2020_289858.html

VN retail forecast to grow steadily


Vietnam's retail sector is forecast to be stable in the coming years, attracting invest-ment from many foreign enterprises thank to its large population, brighter economic outlook and greater purchasing power.This was announced by experts participating in a survey of Vietnam Report Company (VNR), released in Hanoi on Tuesday.Another study by HSBC, titled "Asean Connected 2016", showed that Vietnam's mid-dle class has the fastest growth rate in Southeast Asia and is expected to increase to 33 million by 2020.Consumer spending is on the rise thanks to an increasingly open economy with rising employment, business and income opportunities. Vietnam is currently ranked the sixth largest economy in the Asean region, following Singapore, Malaysia, the Philip-pines, Indonesia and Thailand.


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The General Statistical Office said Vietnam's retail revenue in 2016 increased by 10.2 per cent, faster than the 9.8 per cent in 2015. According to the Trade Research Institute under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, in the 2016-20 period, Vietnam's retail trade growth rate will reach 11.9 per cent per year and market size will be some $179 billion by 2020.In addition, the government's permission to foreign retailers to establish businesses with 100 per cent foreign capital since 2015 has made Vietnam one of the world's lead-ing investment attractions, especially in the field of modern retail.In recent years, large developers such as Aeon (Japan), Lotte (South Korea) and Central Group (Thailand) have expressed great interest, gradually expanding their presence through M&A deals and announcing long-term plans for the market.However, the local retail market has seen fierce competition and domestic firms have been forced to adopt new strategies to maintain market share and improve their repu-tation to compete with international competitors who have superior advantage in terms of capital, technology, experience and personnel.The demand of consumers in the future is expected to change significantly (towards high quality products with smarter spending), which is also a difficult issue for retail-ers. Retailers need to pay attention to product diversification to meet the needs of dif-ferent customer groups.According to VNR's online survey, the majority of consumers said diversification of goods was what attracted them to certain retailers.Retailers are changing the way they sell goods from traditional to modern and online channels to serve growing consumer needs. Targeting the customer and developing a compatible business strategy requires retailers to invest a lot of resources. However, with proper investment, retailers can take advantage of opportunities, build and pro-tect their reputation, thereby attracting customers and indirectly improving business results in the future.This was VNR's assessment, under its Vietnam Retail Sector 2017-20 Research Project Phase 1.As part of retail industry research, the top 10 most reputable retailers ranking is built on three main criteria financial capacity, media credibility and online survey.Accordingly, Big C, Vinmart and Co.op Mart are three most frequently mentioned re-tailers. Saigon Co.op is known as the retailer with the largest supermarket chain in Vi-etnam but is concentrated significantly on developing in the South, while Big C is expanding its brand in all three regions and developing equally. Vinmart, a new en-trant, is developing impressively, opening hundreds of convenience stores and dozens of supermarkets in just over two years after entering the market.In the section of durable goods, such as electronics, refrigeration and jewellery, there are a number of big names such as Dien May Xanh (25 per cent), Nguyen Kim (17 per cent) and PNJ (13 per cent) in consumers' minds. In 2017, the race of retailers in elec-tronics, gold and precious stones in particular and the durable goods market in general has become fiercer. Several companies have implemented plans to expand the market, opening more sales points in many provinces and cities in Vietnam.http://bizhub.vn/news/vn-retail-forecast-to-grow-steadily_289838.html

Electricity sector gets BOT boost

02/NOV/2017 INTELLASIA| VIR

Vietnam-based manufacturers are looking forward to a more stable power supply in the near future, with a series of build-operate-transfer power plants speeding up and coming online, and many foreign investors showing strong interest in the segment due to the high demand.Last week, the operators of the Chinese-invested, 1,200-megawatt ( MW) build-oper-ate-transfer (BOT) Vinh Tan 1 thermal power project reported to Vietnam's govern-ment that they will be finished 11 months ahead of schedule, as the $1.75 billion plant, located in the south-central province of Binh Thuan, is expected to start its first turbine in 2018 and the second in 2019.Jointly invested by China Southern Power Grid, China Power International Holdings,


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and Vinacomin Power, the Vinh Tan 1 thermal power project is one in a lineup of key power projects in the government's Power Development Master Plan VII, aimed at meeting Vietnam's dramatically rising power demand during 2010-2020, with a vision toward 2030.Vinh Tan 1 is the biggest power plant invested by a Chinese investor in Vietnam.Tran Viet Ngai, chair of the Vietnam Energy Association, said that the successful com-pletion of the BOT power project is a positive development, and has once again raised hopes on boosting other power investments under the BOT approach.The project also plays an important role in supplying power to some southern prov-inces, as there is concern over the power supply in said provinces due to delays in the Song Hau 1 and Long Phu 1 thermal power plants.The Long Phu 1 and Song Hau 1 projects in the Mekong River Delta provinces of Soc Trang and Hau Giang, respectively, are designed to produce 1,200MW each annually, but are now years behind schedule. Both of them are invested by Vietnam's state-run oil and gas group PetroVietnam.The Vietnamese government has pressed ministries to boost coal-fired projects and coal supplies in order to sufficiently power the southern provinces in the near future. This is currently considered one of the main challenges the government faces.Meanwhile, the Hai Duong BOT plant project spearheaded by Jaks Hai Duong Power Co., Ltd, a joint venture between Malaysian Jaks Resources Bhd and China Power En-gineering Consulting Group Co., Ltd, expects to come into operation over the next few years since it started construction in March 2016. The first 600MW turbine of the 1,200MW plant is expected to be put into operation in 2020.This is also the first foray of Malaysian firm Jaks Resources Bhd into Vietnam. Last week, company delegates also visited the southern province of Binh Phuoc to investi-gate opportunities for a 200MW solar project, with investment capital of $262.5 mil-lion.Another Malaysian company, Janakuasa Sdn Bhd, has signed four landmark docu-ments with Vietnam's Ministry of Industry and Trade for the development of the 1,200MW Duyen Hai 2 coal-fired power plant in the southern province of Tra Vinh, specifically a land-lease deal, a power purchase agreement, a BOT contract, and a gov-ernment guarantee.The project is one of four power projects within the Duyen Hai Power Centre, which has a combined generation capacity of 4,348MW, and uses imported coal as the feed-stock to generate power.A few months ago, a consortium including Saudi Arabian ACWA Power and Korea's Taekwang Power Holdings Co., Ltd officially received an investment certificate for the $2.3 billion Nam Dinh 1 thermal power project, making it the seventh foreign-invested BOT power project licensed in Vietnam. The project is scheduled to commence con-struction in early 2018. The first unit will enter commercial operations within 51 months.The list of foreign-invested BOT power projects will rise further as several foreign firms are currently in negotiations or are conducting feasibility studies for developing thermal power plants nationwide. They include Korea's Samsung C&T Corporation, India's Tata Power, Singapore's Sembcorp Industries, and Thailand's EGATI.http://www.vir.com.vn/electricity-sector-gets-bot-boost.html

Foreign-backed local pharma surges


Vietnam's pharmaceutical market continues to be a lucrative industry, evidenced by the huge profits reaped by leading drug makers in this year's first nine months, despite increasingly fierce competition from foreign rivals.Imexpharm (IMP), with foreign shareholders such as Balestrand Limited, Franklin Templeton Investment Fund's (FTIF) Templeton Frontier Markets Fund, and Kwe Beteiligungen AG, has pulled in VND250.7 billion ($11.36 million) in net revenue dur-ing this year's third quarter, up 16.5 per cent on-year.The solid July-September results contributed to a 16.5 per cent rise in the firm's nine-


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month net revenue on-year, totalling VND750.84 billion ($34.12 million) for Vietnam's fourth-largest pharma firm.IMP gained VND29.12 billion ($1.32 million) in profits during the period, up 26.27 per cent on-year, thus increasing its nine-month profit figure by 40 per cent.IMP's performance is attributed to its strong focus on key products. IMP-made prod-ucts account for 86 per cent of the total revenue.The drug maker expects that the upcoming bidding package for EU-GMP (good man-ufacturing practices) will further raise its end of the year profits."We are aiming for revenue growth of 15-18 per cent in the 2017-2021 period, while growth in terms of profit is set at 12-15 per cent," Nguyen Quoc Dinh, chair of IMP, told VIR.The year's first three quarters were also good for Vietnam's third-largest domestic drug maker Domesco (DMC), which has Abbott Laboratories as its biggest stakeholder with a 51.7 per cent equity stake.DMC generated a net profit of VND157.9 billion ($7.17 million) on net revenue of VND947.84 billion ($43 million) between January and September, up 23.8 and 5.8 per cent on-year, respectively.In the third quarter, the firm produced net revenue of VND336.66 billion ($15.3 mil-lion), up 10.22 per cent on-year, with its profit that reached VND51.1 billion ($2.32 mil-lion), up 10.07 per cent on year.These profit bumps came on the back of decreased selling expenses and lower corpo-rate governance fees. In addition, financial expenses decreased as well during the pe-riod, DMC said in a financial statement sent to the State Securities Commission in late October.Boasting a nationwide network of 12 distribution subsidiaries and 24 branches, Viet-nam's biggest publicly traded drug maker, Hau Giang Pharmaceutical JSC (DHG), made a net revenue of VND3.11 trillion ($141.36 million) in the first three quarters, up 20.54 per cent on-year.Although the drug maker saw tepid profits in this year's third quarter, this did little to damper its yearly profits, which jumped 225 per cent on-year to VND537.27 billion ($24.42 million).DHG currently has Taisho Pharmaceutical Holdings (24.5 per cent) and FTIF Temple-ton Frontier Markets Fund (10.55 per cent) as its foreign shareholders. DHG aims to increase its net revenue by 15 per cent per year to reach over VND6.6 trillion ($300 mil-lion) by 2020.Amid mounting competition in the over-the-counter channel, Vietnam's biggest drug makers are venturing further into the profitable prescription drug segment, which is currently dominated by multinational corporations.Together with growing interest among European investors, more influential Japanese firms have expanded into the lucrative Vietnamese pharmaceutical market, anticipat-ing its growing potential and the increasing spending power of local consumers.Vietnam is likely to see strong business and investment activities from multinational corporations in the future, driven by the enforcement of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement, which is expected to enter into force in 2018.http://www.vir.com.vn/foreign-backed-local-pharma-surges.html

Investors in VN's mining industry look for long-term returns

02/NOV/2017 INTELLASIA| BIZHUB

Although fluctuations in international demand and pricing have put pressure on re-turns from Vietnam's mining industry, the sector remains a magnet for foreign direct investment (FDI), a sign of confidence in its long-term prospects.Mining attracted FDI totalling $7.7bn in the first half of the year, representing 10.6 per cent of all FDI inflows during that period. Investment into the mining sector came sec-ond only to manufacturing at 66.7 per cent, according to a report by global lender HS-BC.This indicates strong interest by overseas investors in the industry's long-term pros-pects, despite short-term cooling in some segments.


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FDI levels could be lifted further if the government approves plans by India's state-owned National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) to acquire a stake in tungsten mining operations in Vietnam.In February NMDC announced it was in talks to purchase a share in the Nui Phao polymetallic mine from Vietnam's Masan Resources. This was followed on September 1 by a statement saying it was seeking permission to ink a memorandum of under-standing to begin the due diligence process.Decline in mining output weighs on industrial indexVietnam's industrial production index grew 6.7 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) in the first eight months of 2017, according to data issued by the General Statistical Office (GSO) in late August. This was slower than the annual rate of expansion seen both last year and in 2015.A 6.9 per cent decline in mining output contributed to slower growth on the produc-tion index, the GSO said.The contraction was milder than the 11.4 per cent drop in production in the first quar-ter of the year, suggesting improving sector conditions. However, the downturn may continue into next year, according to a forecast by the Ministry of Planning and Invest-ment in early September, unless conditions in the industry pick up further.The slower growth could also weigh on the broader economy, potentially making the ministry's economic top-end growth target of 6.8 per cent for 2018 harder to achieve.Domestic coal demand set to increase to 121.5 tonnes per annum by 2025One segment of Vietnam's extraction industry that has outperformed the sector is coal, with both output and revenue up in the first eight months of this year, according to a report issued by the Ministry of Industry and Trade on September 8.In the first eight months of 2017 the volume of coal exports rose by 142.1 per cent y-o-y to reach 1.4m tonnes. Earnings from outbound shipments of coal from January to Au-gust also increased by 228.5 per cent y-o-y to $188m.The majority of shipments were made by the state-operated Vinacomin, which ac-counted for nearly 62 per cent of total exports from January to August. However, do-mestic consumption represented 87 per cent of the company's coal output in the eight-month period, which stood at 24.6m tonnes.These results for the overall coal exports through to the end of August surpass end of the year results in 2016. Last year exports totalled 1.3m tonnes, down 27 per cent com-pared to 2015, with earnings falling by 23.8 per cent to $141m in that period, according to data from the Ministry of Industry and Trade.Domestic coal demand is projected to rise from roughly 86.4m tonnes per annum (tpa) in 2016 to 121.5m tpa by 2025 and 156.6m tpa by 2030, according to a government re-port released last year.The appetite for coal is being driven by its expanding role in the energy mix. More than half of the country's electricity requirements will be met by coal-fired plants by 2030, under the government's revised Power Development Master Plan VII, with 83 plants adding 55.3 GW to the grid.Coal dependence sparks environmental concernsThough demand for coal and minerals remains solid, environmental concerns could curb expansion or add to production costs.The increased dependence on coal for electricity generation will contribute to higher levels of air pollution unless advanced purification technology is deployed by the power sector. This will build on running costs for existing plants and raise the budget for plants not yet constructed.Environmental concerns could also see the closure of the largest iron ore mine in South-east Asia, with the Ministry of Planning and Investment announcing on August 30 it would push for the Thach Khe mine to be shut down due to its adverse environ-mental impact.These concerns, and the government's moves to rein in environmental damage caused by mining, could affect investments in the sector, though Vietnam's growing need for energy and metals should ensure mining remains a core industry.


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Foreign investors still ignore SOE equitisation


The large-scale state-owned enterprise equitisation has yet to lure strategic investors, especially foreign investors, due to problems related to procedures and the quality of business management and transparency in publishing information, among others.On October 30, Central Institute for Economic Management (CIEM) announced the re-sults of the report on "Strategic shareholders in the equitisation of state-owned enter-prises."With the intent of supporting the equitisation process and state divestments of equi-tised enterprises, CIEM conducted an independent research on the current situation and root causes of the inefficiency in the process of calling for strategic shareholders.Supported by the American Chamber of Commerce (Amcham), the research aims to offer recommendations on current policies in order to enhance the efficiency of the eq-uitisation and divestment of state-owned enterprises (SOEs).To date, Vietnam has been making efforts to accelerate and enhance the equitisation process at SOEs.Nguyen Dinh Cung, director of CIEM, asserted that one of the solutions to meet the target and turn the equitisation process more efficient as well as improve the manage-ment of equitised enterprises is to appeal to strategic shareholders, especially interna-tional strategic shareholders.The previous researches unveiled strategic shareholders not only generate new finan-cial resources but also added values for enterprises, such as advanced technologies, administrative skills, new networks and markets, which aid the growth of enterprises as well as contributes generously to the government budget and the growth of relevant industries.He also added CIEM conducted a research on such issues in order to find solutions to appeal to strategic investors and to improve the efficiency of the equitisation process.The research was carried out by consolidating research, analysing case studies, and conducting interviews with several SOEs that have been involved in the equitisation and state divestment process.The research reveals key causes, explaining why the equitisation process in SOEs has failed to appeal to strategic shareholders (investors), especially international investors.One of the causes is the reinforcement of regulations on the foreign ownership limit in specific industries.In addition, the determination of business value and transaction cost of shares does not match international practices and fails to reflect the real value of businesses. Addition-ally, the lack of transparency in publishing information throughout the equitisation and divestment process makes foreign investors hesitant to make investments.Besides, SOEs might be unattractive to foreign investors due to gaping internal weak-nesses, such as ineffective and scattered investments across multiple industries, poor management¸ large accrued liabilities, and incompetent staff.Moreover, the sluggish red tape in the complex equitisation process with infeasible re-quests drives foreign investors away from enrolling in the process.Based on the outcome of the research, CIEM provided several specific proposals re-garding current policies in order to enhance the attractiveness of equitisation and mo-tivate strategic investors to get involved.The first one is to clarify regulations related to the selection criteria of strategic inves-tors which suit the operation of SOEs in order to eliminate short-term investors failing to generate real added value.Secondly, the state should consider reaching out to foreign investors in different in-dustries and professions who hold primary shares, especially in industries and profes-sions unrelated to national security and sovereignty.Thirdly, the determination of business value should be conducted independently by experienced international and domestic agencies on the basis of current laws and in-ternational practices.Next, share values should be based on real business value instead of the transaction value listed on the stock exchange, as such value only represents a minority of the


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shares being traded and also depends on external factors and short-run market pat-terns.Lastly, information of equitised SOEs must be publicised in a sufficient time frame to allow investors to inspect the information and evaluate business value prior to the bid-ding process.http://www.vir.com.vn/foreign-investors-still-ignore-soe-equitisation.html

Few local SMEs join global trade


The number of local small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that have joined global trade networks and have trade relationship with international partners makes up a small proportion, lower than in regional countries, heard a seminar in Hanoi City on October 31.Held by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and Standard Char-tered Bank, the event was aimed at supporting SMEs to access international trade.VCCI general secretary Pham Thi Thu Hang said Vietnam has clinched a slew of bilat-eral and multilateral trade agreements. These are channels for Vietnam to join the glo-bal value chain.Such trade agreements have brought about huge economic benefits such as eliminat-ing tariffs, removing non-tariff barriers, and attracting foreigndirect investments, she said. However, only large enterprises are able to engage in in-ternational trade.Research by the Institute of Asian Studies shows the percentage of Vietnamese SMEs joining international trade is lower than in regional countries.In particular, though local SMEs account for a staggering 96 percent of operational en-terprises, they make up a mere 20 percent of the country's total export revenue. The figures for the Philippines and Thailand are 33 percent and 34 percent respectively.The proportion of local SMEs participating in global networks represents 21 percent while the figure for Malaysia is up to 46%.Pham Hoang Tien, director of VCCI's SMEs Promotion Centre, cited a survey of the chamber as saying that a whopping 65 percent of local SMEs are having trouble pene-trating foreign markets. Local SMEs also have difficulty gaining access to capital sources, and building business links with other enterprises at home and abroad.According to the research, around 14 percent of SMEs said they have customers from the FDI sector but FDI enterprises said their domestic purchases at about 26 percent of their demand are mainly from foreign partners operating in the country.At the seminar on October 31, Tien also briefed representatives of SMEs on incentives, including the Law on Support for SMEs, the Fund for SME Development, and other preferential policies provided for in government Resolutions 19 and 35.Meanwhile, bank representatives introduced their preferential credit packages for SMEs to help them take part in global trade networks.http://english.thesaigontimes.vn/56854/Few-local-SMEs-join-global-trade.html

SMEs seek global trade assistance


Though Vietnam has become increasingly linked to global trade networks, local small-and-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) struggle to integrate globally, said Pham Thi Thu Hang, general secretary of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VC-CI), at the workshop "Supporting international trade for SMEs" in Hanoi on Tuesday.Hang said that most small firms had not had the opportunity to join international trade activities. Research by the Asia Institute showed that the Vietnamese SMEs joined world trade at a lower rate than other countries in the region.SMEs' export turnover accounted for less than 20 per cent of the total, though they make up 98 per cent of the country's total businesses. In addition, the portion of local SMEs participating in world trade was still low at 21 per cent. In Malaysia, for exam-ple, the figure is 46 per cent.In order to take advantage of increasing opportunities to participate in world trade, SMEs need to update information of the macro-economy, improve financial capacity


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and international transaction ability.VCCI's figures show that only 14 per cent of Vietnamese SMEs have foreign partners and investors, while 65 per cent reported facing difficulties finding them."Given the SME sector is a key contributor to trade, employment and economic growth of Vietnam, it is critical that the sector receive adequate support to grow strongly and sustainably," she added.She said the government should enact policy reforms to help SMEs actively expand their business to the international market.Nirukt Sapru, CEO of Standard Chartered Vietnam and ASA Cluster Markets, said that Vietnamese SMEs had problems accessing loans and trade finance. He added that they faced a dearth of information, sale channels and experience in international trans-actions."For the last two decades, Vietnam has benefited greatly from the expansion of trade and investment links with various countries around the globe and SMEs play a crucial role in that process. As Vietnam continues to expand trade with the rest of the world, SMEs will be a key part of this growth: in particular SMEs will be critical to further in-tegrating Vietnam with global supply chains," he said.Pham Hoang Tien, director of VCCI's Centre for Supporting SMEs, said in recent years, the government had promulgated policies to support SMEs, such as improving the business environment to create more favourable conditions for international inte-gration.The country has already reformed regulations relating to special inspection of goods and updated import-export services following international standards.http://bizhub.vn/news/smes-seek-global-trade-assistance_289839.html

Spurring more funds into startups


Industry insiders are scrutinising a Ministry of Planning and Investment draft to the decree regulating investment into innovative startups that has recently been publi-cised to elicit comments from the public.According to Truong Ly Hoang Phi, director of the HCM City Business Startup Sup-port Centre, the decree has recognised the difference between innovative startup in-vestment funds and securities investment funds, so new regulations could help inspire reform and an innovative spirit.As of now, regulations only exist on the operation of securities investment funds based on the Law on Securities Business, paired with stringent associated mandates such as the one requiring that each public securities investment fund has to have at least 100 investors and a total value of sold fund certificates above the VND50 billion ($2.2 mil-lion) threshold.Some investors have already established firms that invest in innovative startups. But the regulations covering investment into startups are still not in place.Meanwhile, financial investments such as securities and investment into micro-finan-cial institutions as well as non-bank financial institutions are specified as conditional business fields entitled to specific licensing procedures."Capital is being put into innovative startups by investors, but in different forms as the investors are keen on this kind of investment. If legalised, investment into innovative startups will become a new investment trend luring new investment sources," Phi said.Do Tu Anh, deputy director of the Supporting Centre for Youth Startups (part of the Vietnam Youth Union), said, "Investment into innovative startups must be taken as ad-venturous investment, with the possibility for failure bigger than that for success, so investors need to be secure in the legal aspects."Representing the draft decree's compiling board, Bui Thu Thuy, deputy director of the Ministry of Planning and Investment's Business Development Department, said, "In-vestment into innovative startups does exist. Our principle in penning the decree is not to hinder what is doing well. Instead, we find it necessary to push up new capital sources. But to the compiling board, this is a new issue."In a recent workshop seeking comments to the draft decree regulating investment into


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innovative startups, Thuy had listed a series of issues in need of further consultation.For instance, the compiling board is considering whether or not there should be a reg-ulation that innovative startup funds must only carry out innovative investments, or they can diversify their holdings to include other forms of investment.Another question on the table is the quantity of startups that an innovative startup fund can manage. Can they invest in multiple or just one company?Cao Dang Vinh, an expert from the Ministry of Justice, thinks the regulations should carry an 'open spirit'. "As this is a new investment form, we need to stimulate investor engagement. Adjustments may come later when new issues arise in practice," Vinh said.He also added that one should neither limit operational scope of innovative invest-ment firms nor put a cap on the number of funds under management of innovative startup fund management companies.Huynh Kim Tuoc, director of Saigon Innovation Hub, stressed the authenticity of in-novative startup investment."In fact, innovative startup projects do not want big investment from funds to preserve their startup nature. Most negotiated investments stand below 20 per cent of firms' chartered capital only," Tuoc said. "It is now more essential to have in place a regula-tory framework helping to open the door to innovative investment. The practice will answer how to troubleshoot the remaining issues."http://www.vir.com.vn/spurring-more-funds-into-startups.html

Dong Thap Muoi develops flood-adapted agriculture


Dong Thap Muoi wetland stretching across the Mekong Delta provinces of Dong Thap, Long An and Tien Giang, formerly a solid revolutionary base during the war against French and US invaders, has sustainably developed agriculture in adaptation with flooding. The wetland covers a site of over 697,000ha, accounting for 17.7 percent of the region's total coverage.Nguyen Van Man, Chair of the People's Committee of Tan Phuoc district the only ly-ing in Dong Thap Muoi in Tien Giang province, said since the Dong Thap Muoi recla-mation scheme began in the late 1980s, the State has unearthed and dredged nearly 680km of major canals and over 1,100km of interior field canals to drain flood water and improve soil.Localities placed 135 anti-flooding sacks with a total length of nearly 400km and in-stalled 125 electric drainage stations capable of serving over 100ha each.Le Thi Yen, head of the Planning Office from the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development said the provincial agriculture sector partnered with agencies concerned to launch a comprehensive support programme for pineapple cultivation, including technological transfer, epidemics and pest control, farming under GAP standards, registration for trademark protection, among others.The district is so far home to over 16,000ha of pineapple, the largest in the Tien river and Tien Giang in particular, yielding nearly 300,000 tonnes per year.Farmers in Cai Be district have grown over 2,000ha of citrus, mostly oranges and grapefruits, raising the total area of fruit farming in the locality to more than 16,700ha.To help farmers cope with disasters, localities encouraged farmers to set up specialised cultivation areas and grow rice and raise fishes in rotation.The districts of Tan Hung, Vinh Hung, Moc Hoa, Tan Thach, Thanh Hoa and Kien Tuong township are considered the largest rice granaries in the Mekong Delta prov-ince of Long An with a total output of around 2 million tonnes per year.The province is embarking on a hi-tech agricultural development project, in which 20,000ha will be built in the above districts with a view to improving food safety, prod-uct value and economic competitiveness.Initially, a model of building 2,900ha of rice using advanced technology will be built, ensuring that extra 17,000ha will be expanded by 2020.Since 2014, Long An has launched an aquaculture facilitation programme in Dong Thap Muoi's districts, costing upwards 25 billion VND. There are over 1,700ha of aqua-


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culture in the localities now with a total output of more than 21,000 tonnes.The above programmes have initially produced positive results, contributing to rais-ing farmers' income.https://en.vietnamplus.vn/dong-thap-muoi-develops-floodadapted-agriculture/120409.vnp

BIZ NEWS

Business Briefs 02 November, 2017

02/NOV/2017 INTELLASIA |

* Pymepharco Company (PME) will float over 65_2 million shares on the HCM City market on November 8 at the reference price ofVND68,000 each. Stada Service Hold-ing B.v is the largest foreign shareholder at PME with a 49 percent stake. Meanwhile, Well Light Investment JSC holds a 10 percent stake and Truong Viet Vu, chair of Ph a No Pharmaceutical Company, owns 13.16%.* LienVietPostBank has announced to halt a convertible bond issue plan to secure its share sale in 2017. Earlier, the lender planned to issue 20 million bonds worth VND2 trillion for existing shareholders, staff and other investors. The issue aimed to meet capital demands oflong and medium- term projects and improve the bank's capital. Lien VietPostBank obtained over VND 1. 1 trillion in after-tax profit between January and September, up around 60 percent over the same period last year.* Some 43 individuals purchased 11.83 million shares of Thanh Le general Import- Ex-port Trading Corporation at a public auction yesterday. The average winning price was VND 14,823 a share compared to the highest bid ofVND17,500 and the lowest bid of VND14,100. The enterprise raised around VND175 billion from the bidding.* My Chau Printing & Packaging Holdings Company (MCP) made VND16.7 billion in net profit and over VND253 billion in revenue between January and September, up 108 percent and down 6 percent year-on-year respectively. In the last quarter of2017, MCP targets revenue ofVND140 billion and pre-tax profit ofVND15 billion.* An Phat Holdings Company has registered to buy nearly 1.5 million shares ofVinh Plastic and Packaging Company (VBC) from now to November 30. The investor is holding nearly 360,000 shares ofVBC, a 4_8 percent stake.* The State Treasury offered VND3 trillion worth of government bonds at auction on the Hanoi Stock Exchange last week, The volume included VND1.5 trillion worth of five-year bonds, VND500 billion worth of seven -year bonds and VND 1 trillion worth ofl 0- year bonds. Investors bought over VND2 trillion of bonds at the bidding. Since early this year, the State Treasury has mobilised overVND155 trillion from govern-ment bond sales.* Ecology Investment and Development Company has registered to sell over 4.7 mil-lion shares of Vinaconex Clean Water Company (VCW) from now to November 3.

VN stocks rebound driven by banks, energy firms


Shares rebounded on the HCM Stock Exchange on Wednesday morning, driven by banks and energy firms.The benchmark VN Index rose 0.59 per cent to close at 842.23 points. It fell 1.05 per cent on Tuesday.More than 88 million shares were traded on the southern bourse, worth VND1.8 tril-lion (US$802.3 million).The market breadth was balanced with 120 gaining stocks, 127 declining ones and 45 others closing flat. Shares of banks and energy firms continued to drive the market up, after they underperformed on Tuesday.Six of the seven listed banks on the southern exchange advanced, including Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BID), MBBank (MBB), Vietcombank (VCB) and Sacombank (STB).The two energy and energy-based services firms, PetroVietnam Gas (GAS) and Petro-Vietnam Drilling and Well Services (PVD), gained 2 per cent and 6.4 per cent, respec-tively.

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FLC Faros Construction (ROS) returned positive after it was hit by profit-taking on Tuesday. It surged 6.8 per cent on Wednesday morning.On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, the HNX Index closed at 105.16 points, unchanged from its ending level on Tuesday.More than 26.8 million shares were exchanged on the northern market, worth roughly VND290 billion.http://bizhub.vn/markets/vn-stocks-rebound-driven-by-banks-energy-firms_289849.html

HSX up, HNX down 02/NOV/2017 INTELLASIA| VN ECONOMIC TIMES

Mixed fortunes on first day of November.Main indexes on HSX rose as those on HNX fell on November 1.On HSX, the VN Index rose 5.43 points (0.65 per cent) and the VN30-Index 3.76 points (0.45 per cent).On HNX, the HNX-Index fell 0.18 points (0.17 per cent), the HNX30-Index 0.66 points (0.34 per cent), and the UPCoM-Index 0.20 points (0.39 per cent).Liquidity on HSX was VND3.21 trillion ($141.33 million) and on HNX was VND475.8 billion ($20.96 million).There were 108 shares increasing and 159 decreasing on HSX and 58 gaining and 129 losing on HNX.Oil and gas shares such as GAS, PVD, PVS, PVC, and PXS rose in the context of world oil prices recovering, while banking shares also saw positive trade.Real estate and construction shares, meanwhile, continued to be under pressure, with OGC, QCG, S99, PTC, HQC, and FDC hitting their floor.The VN Index opened at 837.28 points and fluctuated around 840 points before reach-ing 842.2 points at the close of the morning session. It fell to 839.8 points in the after-noon before closing at 842.71 points.In food and beverages, VNM increased 2.6 per cent, SAB 0.5 per cent, and MSN 0.8 per cent.Most banking shares increased: BID by 2.5 per cent, STB 1.8 per cent, BVH 1.2 per cent, VCB 0.5 per cent, CTG 0.3 per cent, and MBB 0.2 per cent.In energy, PVD increased 5 per cent, GAS 2.1 per cent, and PPC 0.7 per cent, while PLX lost 0.7 per cent and PVT 0.3 per cent.In construction and real estate, ROS hit its ceiling in rising 7 per cent and CTD gained 1.8 per cent and VIC 0.2 per cent. HBC fell 0.6 per cent and NVL 0.2 per cent.Foreign investors net bought on HSX by VND234.14 billion ($10.31 million) and on HNX by VND10.44 billion ($459,867).http://vneconomictimes.com/article/banking-finance/fbjbypv3-hsx-up-hnx-down

ROS sends HCM City bourse down


The VN Index of the HCM City exchange edged down 7.92 points, or 0.94%, at 837.28 on October 31 as ROS came under strong profit taking pressure after its 97 percent rally since early October.Construction firm ROS had hit its upper limit repeatedly in recent times, driving the index up to a 10-year high. However, having surged 97 percent against September 28 at VND209,700 a share, profit takers offloaded ROS shares on October 31, sending it down 4.6 percent at VND200,000 per share.According to the stock market news site at vietstock.vn, throughout the 23-session winning streak of ROS, the VN Index advanced in 15 sessions, jumping 4.9 percent from 805.63 to 845.27 points.Among 10 top stocks by market capitalisation, only property giant VIC managed a modest gain while seven others closed in the red. In the VN30 basket, steelmakers HSG and HPG and technology firm FPT made gains with each having matching volume of over three million shares.Trading volume on the HCM City market fell a slight 2.6 percent at 192 million shares while value dipped 10.4 percent at VND4 trillion. The put-through market saw 32 mil-


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lion shares worth over VND1 trillion changing hands, including 4.4 million shares of consumer goods firm MSN and five million shares of lender VPB.Many property stocks also lost ground, in which HQC and HAI reported matching volume of 9.9 million shares and 2.4 million shares respectively. FLC was the volume leader with 20.7 million shares traded, tumbling 5.4 percent at VND6,340 a share.Property firm HAG and its agricultural affiliate HNG maintained stable growth mo-mentum after announcing positive earnings results in the third quarter. The two saw 8.1 million shares and 1.7 million shares traded respectively.The HNX-Index of the Hanoi exchange fell for the second straight session, losing 0.77 percent versus Monday at 105.16 points. The Hanoi market saw volume rising 7 per-cent at 44.4 million shares but value declined 15 percent at VND497 billion.The HNX30 basket saw just six stocks rising, in which property firm CEO reported the highest matching volume, at over five million shares. KLF, a trading and food service enterprise, took the lead by liquidity with 6.7 million shares but slumped 5.1 percent at VND3,700 per share.Among the bank stocks, SHB and ACB saw matching volume of 3.8 million shares and 2.3 million shares respectively. However, the two lenders closed lower.Foreign investors were less active, net buying over VND14.5 billion of shares on the southern bourse, and net selling over VND1.3 billion of shares on the northern market.http://english.thesaigontimes.vn/56847/ROS-sends-HCM City-bourse-down.html

MSCI upgrade not coming until 2020


Vietnam could be classified as an emerging market in 2020 if its free-float rate increases and the market infrastructure becomes better at accommodating foreigners, according to the provider of stock market indexes and portfolio analytics MSCI.A 2020 visionFor the past few years, Vietnam's possible inclusion in the MSCI Emerging Markets In-dex has been a heated topic, attracting discussion from various market participants. As the stock market grows in size and liquidity, there are high hopes that Vietnam will soon graduate from its current status as a frontier market. However, the long wait con-tinues as MSCI's latest review in June once again excluded the country from its list of potential upgrades.At last week's investment seminar held by Saigon Securities Incorporation in HCM City, MSCI explained this decision in detail. Head of Asean Index Coverage at MSCI Valentin Laiseca pointed out that out of the 14 stocks currently listed in the MSCI Vi-etnam Index, 13 have already helped Vietnam meet the capitalisation requirement of $1.375 trillion for an emerging market.Liquidity is also doing quite well. MSCI's methodologies show that the 12-month li-quidity level for Vietnam is already 15 per cent higher than the emerging market threshold. Frequency of trading, which is the proportion of trading days where a stock trades at least once during the day, has also surpassed 80 per cent.The main problem, according to Laiseca, is the amount of free-floating shares in Viet-nam. Specifically, the number of Vietnamese shares available to external investors only makes up 21 per cent of the entire market. Only four stocks in the MSCI Vietnam Index meet the free-float requirement of $687 million."Four stocks are too close to our minimum requirement, and this can be a potential is-sue. We need more time to confirm that the free-float level in Vietnam is irrevocable, which means that in the future, Vietnamese companies won't suddenly slash the number of shares available to outside investors," said Laiseca.Other issues that the MSCI representative highlighted include the lack of information in English, as well as not having an offshore currency market for VND. The market classifier is also concerned that a commercial lender in Vietnam acts as the settlement agent for securities trading, not the central bank.MSCI's Laiseca said that his company is closely monitoring new regulations in Viet-nam. If the country gets placed under review in the June 2018 cycle, MSCI will then seek input from international investors for at least a year before implementing the de-


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cision."This means Vietnam can become an emerging market in 2020 at the earliest. Some-times it may take a few years of gathering feedback from investors before we can offi-cially upgrade a country. For example, Qatar was placed under review in 2010 but only got classified as an emerging market in 2014, as we wanted to see that market improve-ments there were irreversible," Laiseca said.Bolder actions already in storeIn response to MSCI's explanation, Tran Anh Dao, deputy CEO of the HCM City Stock Exchange (HoSE), said that Vietnam has already made great strides in the past year. For example, liquidity on the HoSE has gone up by 43 per cent compared to the end of 2016, and the daily trading volume has reached $180 billion.The stock exchange has also welcomed 27 new companies this year, including major firms such as Vietjet, VPBank, and the upcoming Vincom Retail. According to Dao, 17 firms on the HOSE have already scrapped their foreign ownership limit, including three with over 60 per cent of shares owned by overseas investors."About 20 out of the 30 largest companies on the HoSE have pledged to disclose timely information in English. The number of new accounts opened by foreigners has in-creased 17 per cent this year, and 40 per cent of institutional accounts remain active," said Dao.Aside from a new product called covered warrants, the HoSE is also learning from the Stock Exchange of Thailand to roll out non-voting depository receipts, which allow foreigners to invest in firms with a strict foreign ownership cap.Keith Pogson, partner at Ernst and Young Hong Kong, stressed that it all starts with the companies themselves."Business owners need to show that they are transparent and willing to cooperate with foreign investors. A diverse list of shareholders is also a good sign investors often wor-ry when they see a firm with a single majority shareholder, which is often the case in Vietnam and other developing markets," he said.The experts highlighted that most of the concerns pointed out by MSCI about Viet-nam's upgrade are technical and can be addressed with new regulations. The biggest issue, however, is the willingness of Vietnamese businesses to welcome foreign invest-ment. According to Pogson, this openness will form the biggest impression about Vi-etnam in investors' eyes, besides the official market status by MSCI.http://www.vir.com.vn/msci-upgrade-not-coming-until-2020.html

SCIC announces initial price of Vinamilk's share auction


The State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC) has announced the initial selling price of the competitive tender for Vinamilk's shares, scheduled on November 10 on the HCM Stock Exchange.The starting price is set at VND150,000 (US$6.61) per share, higher than the initial price of VND144,000 a piece a piece in the first sale that took place in December last year.Investors participating in the share auction must make a bid not lower than the start-ing price and not lower than the closing price of Vinamilk's shares traded on the HCM Stock Exchange on the auction date.In mid-October, SCIC announced it will sell 3.33 per cent of State's capital in Vinamilk on November 10.After the sale of nine per cent stake of Vinamilk in December last year, SCIC's holding in the dairy company is currently 39.34 per cent, equivalent to nearly 571 million shares.At the first sale, only Singapore-based dairy group Fraser and Neave Ltd (F&N) regis-tered to buy 78.4 million shares, equivalent to 60 per cent of the share offering. The re-maining 40 per cent was unsold.Vinamilk's shares have risen by 23.4 per cent in value this year, trading at some VND155,000 per share.http://bizhub.vn/markets/scic-announces-initial-price-of-vinamilks-share-auction_289863.html


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Vincom Retail to debut on HOSE in early November


Vincom Retail, the retail arm of the real estate conglomerate Vingroup, will debut on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange on November 6.Vincom Retail will trade more than 1.9 billion shares on the southern bourse coded VRE at a debut price of 33,800 VND (1.5 USD) per share. Share prices have a range of movement of 20 percent on the first day of trading.At that price, the company's market capitalisation will reach 64.25 trillion VND, equal to 2.8 billion USD, making it among the top 20 largest companies by market capitalisa-tion in Vietnam.The firm has charter capital of 19 trillion VND (around 837 million USD) and is the op-erator of Vingroup's 41 commercial centres with popular brands like Vincom Centre, Vincom Mega Mall and Vincom Plaza.The operation of commercial centres is among the most profitable segments of Vin-group. According to the corporation's first-half financial report, the retail segment con-tributed some 2.88 trillion VND (128.6 million USD) in revenue and 1.45 trillion (63.8 million USD) in pre-tax profit for Vingroup.Bloomberg reported in August that Vincom Retail held about 60 percent of total mar-ket share in the Vietnamese retail sector.Vincom Retail has two foreign shareholders Warburg Pincus and Credit Suisse AG which own 15.17 percent and 5.06 percent of the mall operator, respectively.In August, Bloomberg reported that Vincom Retail was planning a domestic initial public offering worth some 600 million USD, which could become Vietnam's largest-ever share sale in the private sector.The last debut offering that topped 100 million USD was from local budget airline Vi-etJet Aviation JSC at the end of 2016.Reuters on October 15 reported that Vincom Retail "launched its IPO in a deal worth up to 713 million USD," which consisted of "380.2 million shares in the institutional tranche and another 19 million for the retail tranche, offered in an indicative range of 37,000-40,600 VND per share."https://en.vietnamplus.vn/vincom-retail-to-debut-on-hose-in-early-Nov/120414.vnp

HCM City looks to expand solar power network


Sun power output in HCM City was estimated to grow an average of 2.5 times on an annual basis since 2014.In 2014, the output was recorded at 400 kilowatt peak. In 2016, it increased to 4 mega-watt peak in comparison to the national figure of 7 megawatt peak. Official surveys showed that more than 300,000 roofs are suitable to solar battery installation for the generation of more than 6.4 green watt power.Sun energy in Vietnam is consumed through grid-tied and off-grid systems, with price being at 2,086 VND per kilowatt hour (excluded VAT tax). A household or business using grid-tied solar power can reduce energy costs and even sell excess power back to the utility for money.The HCM City Power Corporation (EVN HCM City) has installed a 28.52-kilowatt-peak solar battery system on the roof of its headquarters, as a move to promote green energy for tall buildings.Currently, the EVN HCM City is installing the grid-tied system for 15 other EVN premises with total capacity estimated at 800 kilowatt peak.The provincial power sector will establish an energy service company (ESCO) to ena-ble access to grid-tied solar system for the Ton Duc Thang University, Anh Khoa's Brother company, offices building of the District 12 People's Committee and the Voice of HCM City radio station.https://en.vietnamplus.vn/hcm-city-looks-to-expand-solar-power-network/120400.vnp


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Ha Giang seeks solutions to sustainable beekeeping development


A forum held in Dong Van district, the northern mountainous province of Ha Giang on October 31 discussed how to branch out bee farming sustainably to ensure food safety.Representatives from the National Agricultural Extension Centre and many other agencies under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development shared experience in beekeeping, information about market prices and honey bee consumption.Advanced technology in bee farming, particularly genetic and breeding preservation, and cultivating techniques for mints, whose flowers are favoured by bees, on Dong Van Karst Plateau, were introduced to the event.The forum also created opportunities for the state, scientists, businesses and local bee-keepers to hold dialogues to handle challenges when keeping bees.Ha Thuy Hanh, deputy director of the National Agricultural Extension Centre, said that honey bee farming in the country has developed rapidly. The country is housing 1.5 million beehives.Some 90 percent of the honey is sold abroad and the remainder is consumed domesti-cally, she added.According to Nguyen Duc Vinh, director of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the province's 34,093 beehives produce over 193 tonnes of honey per year. Bee farming on mint fields is being developed in four mountainous districts of Dong Van, Meo Vac, Yen Minh and Quan Ba.Ha Giang's mint honey was known for its remarkable quality and at certain times, can fetch 1 million VND per litre. In 2013, the National Office of Intellectual Property granted Meo Vac Geographical Indication (GI) for the mint honey product made in the four districts.Mint honey product has been grown in stature among consumers. Beekeeping has helped ethnic people residing on Dong Van Karst Plateau alleviate poverty, he said.https://en.vietnamplus.vn/ha-giang-seeks-solutions-to-sustainable-beekeeping-devel-opment/120389.vnp

Excavation of first tunnel of Metro Line No.1 complete


The excavation of a 781-metre tunnel connecting Ba Son and Opera House stations of Metro Line No.1 was finished on October 31.The first tunnel stretches from the station at Ba Son shipyard to the station at the Opera House via Ton Duc Thang, Ngo Van Nam, Nguyen Sieu and Hai Ba Trung streets.This section had been excavated by a tunnel boring machine which is 70 meters long and weighs 300 tonnes since May 26. During the underground drilling, 3,900 rein-forced concrete slabs were installed to prevent overlying landslides.The machine has been disassembled and transported back to Ba Son station to contin-ue boring the second tunnel in parallel with the first one.Among four packages of the metro line project, package 1A to build a tunnel from Ben Thanh Market to the Opera House and Ben Thanh central station is 18 percent com-plete while over half of package 1B to build another tunnel between Ba Son and Opera House stations is done.In addition, the second package to build 17.1 kilometers of elevated track is 72 percent complete while the third package consisting of the purchase and installation of electri-cal systems, the rolling stock and rail is 22 percent complete.The metro line project is expected for completion and operation in 2020. However, the disbursement of capital from the central government has been stuck, so HCM City has already made three cash advances to pay Japanese contractors to make sure the project can be done on schedule.The 20-kilometer metro line, which connects Ben Thanh Market in District 1 and Suoi Tien Park in District 9, will pass through districts 1, 2, 9, Binh Thanh and Thu Duc in HCM City, and Di An District of Binh Duong Province. The project, which includes 2.6 kilometers of tunnel, requires a total investment of $2.49 billion, equivalent to over VND47 trillion.


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NA deputy proposes building cable car system in Phong Nha-Ke Bang


National Assembly deputy Tran Cong Thuat of Quang Binh Province has suggested building a cable car system in Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park in the province to attract more tourists to Vietnam, though similar proposals have been rejected earlier.Thuat said Quang Binh can develop tourism with its forests, beaches, heritage sites and especially Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park as a UNESCO-recognised World Natural Heritage site. The national park includes many caves and a diverse ecosystem over an area of more than 1,000 square kilometers.According to a government resolution and the Tourism Law, the province is eligible to develop tourism into a key economic sector, Thuat said at an NA discussion on Oc-tober 31.However, the province has faced numerous obstacles to boost tourism development, including a plan to develop a cable car system for Phong Nha-Ke Bang having been rejected.Though some people worry that the cable car project would affect the environment in the national park, such a project should be allowed to effectively tap tourism potential and put natural resources to good use, Thuat said.Quang Binh Province's government expects the support of the central government, rel-evant ministries and agencies, scientists and the press in promoting the value of Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park, Thuat insisted.Deputy Lai Xuan Mon of Bac Lieu Province said tourism is a key sector of the economy as the number of international tourists visiting the country has reached 10 million and may hit 13 million this year.At a recent discussion on socio-economic development by National Assembly depu-ties, deputy prime minister Vuong Dinh Hue said tourism development has helped raise the contribution of services including tourism to the country's gross domestic product (GDP). The service sector has contributed 3.2 percentage points to the estimat-ed GDP growth of 6.7%, higher than that of the construction sector, and is capable of offsetting a decline of revenue in the oil and gas sector, Hue said.However, developing a cable car system in a national park like Phong Nha-Ke Bang is a controversial topic.At a working session in Quang Binh in late August, prime minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc approved in principle a proposal by the provincial government to develop a cable car system stretching 5.2 kilometers to En Cave in close proximity to Phong Nha-Ke Bang Caves.However, many procedures will have to be done before the cable car project can be ex-ecuted, especially a procedure to obtain consent from UNESCO.In 2014, local investor Sun Group put forth a plan to develop a cable car system stretch-ing 10.6 kilometers starting from the entrance of Phong Nha Cave to the rear entrance of Son Doong Cave. The plan faced stiff objections from scientists and the general pub-lic.In early 2015, the government approved the master plan for long-term development of Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park, demanding that the natural heritage site be main-tained.Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park welcomes around one million visitors a year.http://english.thesaigontimes.vn/56843/NA-deputy-proposes-building-cable-car-sys-tem-in-Phong-Nha-Ke-Bang.html

Vietnamese allowed in casinos from early next month


Vietnamese citizens wanting to enter casinos under a new rule effective early next month must prove they earn regular monthly income of at least VND10 million (US$440).This regulation is included in the finance ministry's Circular 102/2017/TT-BTC guiding the implementation of the government's Decree 03/2017/ND-CP on casino business which came into force on March 15.To prove their eligibility, gamblers must produce proof of corresponding taxable in-


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comes, or monthly wage payments certified by their employers. They can also use oth-er certified copies of housing and asset lease agreements with monthly rent of over VND10 million, and bank savings accounts with monthly interest of over VND10 mil-lion.Decree 03/2017 states that Vietnamese gamblers are given the green light to enter casi-nos for a three-year pilot period since the first casino operator get the go-ahead. Then, the government will assess the effectiveness of the trial scheme in order to decide whether to continue with the scheme.Local gamblers must be 21 years old or above, have full civil capacity, and meet finan-cial requirements if they want to enter casino resorts. They are required to pay a fee of VND1 million for a 24-hour casino pass or VND25 million for a monthly pass.Notably, gamblers are not allowed in if their family members like parents, parents-in-law, spouses and children submit formal requests for preventing them from casinos.http://english.thesaigontimes.vn/56845/Vietnamese-allowed-in-casinos-from-early-next-month.html

Japan boosts promotion of food products in Vietnam


Japan is boosting promotion of its food products in Vietnam, said Takimoto Koji, Chief Representative of the Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) at the Japan Fair in HCM City on November 1.After the Japan Fair was launched by the JETRO in 2016, over 40 percent of the exhib-ited products have continued to be available for sale in Vietnam, Koji noted.According to the chief representative, this year's event, scheduled between November 2017 and January 2018, will promote 76 new made-in-Japan products that will be sold at affordable prices across 260 stores of FamilyMart, Ministop and AEON Mall.Japanese child books will be introduced for the first time besides the event's key prod-ucts like foods. Japanese food products, such as confectionery and ice-cream, have been well-received by Vietnamese young consumers, said Yamanouchi Hirohisa, head of the FamilyMart's products and marketing department.Made-in-Japan products accounted for about 10-20 percent of goods sold at Japan's re-tail stores in Vietnam. Japanese firms plan to give local consumers more choices with fresh fruits and supplementary foods.https://en.vietnamplus.vn/japan-boosts-promotion-of-food-products-in-vietnam/120412.vnp

Apec 'a golden chance' for Da Nang firms


The 2017 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) Summit is a crucial opportunity for businesses throughout central Vietnam to seek trade partners and export markets as representatives of foreign firms flock to the business forums at Apec from Novem-ber 5-11, Da Nang business people and officials say.Nearly 2,000 CEOs will attend the CEO Summit in the city. vice chair of the city's Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Association (DANASME), Nguyen Van Ly, told Viet-nam News that this would represent a rare opportunity for local firms to show off their capacity.The city has 21,000 businesses, of which 98 per cent are SMEs and super-small busi-nesses with registered capital of VND90 trillion (US$3.9 billion). They contribute 43 per cent to the city's Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP), and employ 60 per cent of the city's labour force. Eighty per cent of the city businesses operate in trade, service, hospitality, tourism property and retails, making international connections especially important.Da Nang has been a leader in Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI) for the past dec-ade. It has 408 domestic projects worth $4.5 billion, and 525 foreign direct investment (FDI) projects worth $3 billion.Tourism real estate remains an investment magnet in this central city, attracting 25 (FDI) projects worth $1.8 billion. But the city's business community faces challenges that the Apec Summit could help ameliorate.


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"We have been struggling in seeking a larger export market and long-term strategic partners in service and tourism as well as property. For us, building connections with giant foreign partners is nearly impossible," Ly said. "Our small and medium enter-prise community faces limited funds and technology, as well as little international ex-posure. That's why the Apec Summit is very important to the city's business community."Ly said he hoped that local businesses would be able to share experiences with CEOs from some of the world's top firms and join global production processes.He said the association had received a list of top 100 enterprises in the Apec's CEO Summit for business matching. Local businesses are particularly expected to connect with international firms operating in the fields of finance, hi-tech and human resourc-es.Tourism boonThe 2017 Apec Summit was a "diamond" chance for Da Nang's tourism industry in hosting the world's top economic leaders and CEOs, as well as officials from 21 mem-ber economies and partners, said the city's tourism association, Huynh Tan Vinh.Vinh said the city received an award for Asia's Leading Festival and Event at the World Travel Awards ceremony for tourism last year. He said that hosting the Apec Summit would confirm the city's tourism prowess.He said Da Nang was also the first city in Vietnam and the South-east Asian region to host a leg of the Clipper 2015-16 Round the World Yacht Race last year. Because of that event, the symbol of the Ngu Hanh Son Mountain (Marble Mountain) and the city's tourism logo, Fantastic City, travelled around the globe."The Apec Summit is a great promotional opportunity for the city's tourism industry," Vinh said. "We'll be able to offer international observers an introduction to the city through the first-hand experiences of 10,000 delegates, 2,000 CEOs and 3,000 journal-ists at the Apec Summit."He said the city had received huge investment from the central government and pri-vate sectors in infrastructure projects, including airport expansiona new terminal could host about 14 million tourists per yearconvention halls, accommodations, hu-man resource training and decoration projects."The city has developed 600 hotels and resorts to provide 26,000 rooms for hosting 15 million tourists per year in 2030," Vinh said.Yeon In Jung, the CEO and general director of South Korea's Doosan Heavy Industries Vietnam (Doosan Vina) said the Apec Summit was an excellent opportunity for Viet-nam to showcase its advantages and encourage firms to invest and open a branch or subsidiary in the country like Doosan did in 1995.He said the Apec Summit would provide long-term benefit for Vietnam, its people and businesses; the exposure that Vietnam would receive is tremendous."If you think of Vietnam in terms of a 'brand', hosting the Apec Summit will introduce key decision makers in government and business people from all over the world to what is possible in Vietnam, and that is priceless," he added."The VIP's that are coming will be able to see firsthand what companies like Doosan have done here and they'll be able to easily see the possibilities for investment. Anoth-er side effect will be the millions of people in the leaders home nations who will also be shown what it is like to visit and do business in Vietnam by their media, so the ben-efits from Apec will last long after the event and have a knock-on effect that will bring lasting value to Vietnam for many years to come," he said."I think all the factors for success are here and good businesspeople are sure to recog-nise that," he continued. "They will 'Carpe Diem' or seize the day and take a serious look at Vietnam."http://bizhub.vn/news/apec-a-golden-chance-for-da-nang-firms_289837.html

SCIC under divestment pressure in Q4


The State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC) is under pressure to complete its di-vestment scheme towards the end of this year with many large companies still in its


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portfolio.Characterised as the sovereign wealth fund in Vietnam, SCIC has planned to divest capital from 85 State-owned enterprises this year, of which it has completed proceed-ings for 20 companies.In a seminar with potential investors at the Gateway to Vietnam 2017 held by Saigon Securities Inc recently, the State capital corporation said it would strive to accomplish the plan on schedule with information of its future divestment plans being released by the end of November or early December.According to market observers, SCIC is under high pressure as many in its portfolio are big companies including Vinamilk (VNM), Binh Minh Plastics JSC (BMP), Tien Phong Plastics JSC (NTP), IT giant FPT Corp (FPT), Vietnam Construction and Import-Export JSC (VCG), Domesco Medical Import Export JSC (DMC) and Sa Giang Import Export Corp (SGC).SSI's current portfolio includes 132 companies with total market capitalisation of around 4.7 billion USD, of which its holding in Vinamilk is the most valuable at 3.82 billion USD, based on Vinamilk's share price on the HCM Stock Exchange on October 30.In mid-October, the sovereign fund announced it will auction a 3.33 percent stake in Vinamilk on November 10. The initial selling price has yet to be decided but SCIC Chair Nguyen Duc Chi said it would be close to the market price.Vinamilk's shares are being traded at around 152,000 VND (6.70 USD) per share, and its price has increased about 21 percent this year.Meanwhile, SCIC's divestment plan in FPT Corp and two big pharmaceutical compa-nies, Traphaco and DHG, has yet to be announced.Besides Vinamilk, Vietnam Construction and Import-Export JSC is likely to be SCIC's next major divestment in the context that it previously planned to offload the entire holding of 22 percent stake in this company.SCIC wants to promote the competitive bidding process (instead of selling a majority stake to strategic investors) to enhance transparency in the divestment process.This process usually involves hiring consultants, organising road shows (in both do-mestic and international markets), setting initial selling prices and launching auctions on the stock exchange.Its efforts to simplify procedures for investors to participate in auctions have been demonstrated in the next share sale of Vinamilk in November. Foreign investors can make deposits in the US dollar while the State Securities Commission allows extend-ing time for registering transaction codes for investors.Listed companies shall also be exempt from making a public bid but must send interest of purchase to the auction board seven days before the auction.In addition, SCIC is considering asking for the government's approval to sell a whole lot of shares for a better price.SCIC, established in 2006, operates with two main functions: representing the govern-ment's capital interests in State-owned enterprises and investing in State capital in key sectors and essential industries. About 1,000 enterprises have been transferred to SCIC since then, in which the government has completely withdrawn capital from 876 en-terprises.https://en.vietnamplus.vn/scic-under-divestment-pressure-in-q4/120413.vnp

Tien Sa Port gets $7.9m loan to expand


The central Da Nang City's Investment and Development Fund has agreed to provide a $7.9 million loan to the Da Nang Port joint-stock company to upgrade and expand the Tien Sa Port.Director of the port, Nguyen Huu Sia, told Vietnam News that the 13-year loan was to fund the building an international standard logistics centre in Vietnam.He said the loan was just 20 per cent of total investment capital ($49.3 million) needed to complete upgrading the port during the next two years.Sia said the company would also raise funds from its available funds and from share-


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holders as well as from the Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank) and the Bank of Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV).The expanded port has been able to handle 14 million tonnes of cargo, including 800,000 TEUs (20-foot equivalent unit), and become a leading international commer-cial gateway in the Asean region by 2025.The Tien Sa upgrade is the second investment project in Da Nang not to use Official Development Assistance (ODA) funds after the Hoa Lien Water refused non-refunda-ble ODA funds from Japan.As planned, the Tien Sa, the largest in central Vietnam, will be expanded to 86,674sq.m, raising the port's total area to about 29ha with total investment of $49.3 million.The port handled 7.25 million tonnes of cargo and 73 cruise ships last year. It is a key logistics port in Vietnam's central provinces and the Central Highlands, as well as the East-West Economic Corridor that links Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.Currently, Tien Sa Port allows access to only 30,000 dwt (deadweight tonnage) ships, and plans to be able to berth 70,000 dwt ships by 2025.According to the Ministry of Transport, Da Nang City's port system, including Tien Sa, Lien Chieu and Son Tra, will handle 29 million tonnes of cargo by 2030.http://bizhub.vn/news/tien-sa-port-gets-79m-loan-to-expand_289848.html

Saigon Times and RMIT co-organise roundtable on interpretation job


A roundtable on the shortage of skilled translators and interpreters as well as solutions for the problem, jointly held by the Saigon Times Group and RMIT University Viet-nam, takes place at the Pullman Saigon Centre in HCM City on November 1.Participants will dig deep into challenges and difficulties in the training of translators and interpreters, current labour demand in this sector, and measures to address the shortfall of translators and interpreters.At the conference, representatives from Manpower and Innotech will talk about the manpower shortage and the challenges they have faced in seeking competent inter-preters.Vietnam has signed many bilateral and multilateral trade agreements with countries and associations around the world in recent years, which has opened the door wider for foreign firms to come and set up shop, and for Vietnamese businesses to boost ex-port sales and invest overseas.As a result, Vietnam, especially HCM City as the country's economic hub, has huge de-mand for translators and interpreters. As the convergence point for many foreign busi-nesses and large corporations, HCM City needs more than 1,000 translators and interpreters a year.According to Tran Anh Tuan, deputy director of the HCM City centre for Forecasting Manpower Needs and Labour Market Information (FALMI) under the HCM City De-partment of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, there are many universities and col-leges having foreign languages faculties but many graduates from these institutions do not meet the requirements of employers.HCM City is facing a serious shortage of translators and interpreters who can work at business negotiations and conferences.With an aim to join hands in developing foreign language manpower for HCM City and Vietnam, Assoc.Professor Duong Thi Hoang Oanh from RMIT University Vietnam will talk about lin-guistics bachelor training and solutions for providing high-skilled interpreters to local organisations and businesses in the future.To provide the participants with a deep insight into the translation and interpretation job, Pham Xuan Hoang An, a specialist responsible for interpretation at high-level talks from the HCM City Department of Foreign Affairs, will share his experiences in the field.Orators and audiences will then have a chance to further discuss related issues.


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A domino effect in Hanoi's condotel scene


Experts have warned that if there is no breakthrough in development, the luxury apartment segment of the real estate market will become saturated.Bottleneck in high-end investmentAfter a long time, "big" real estate firms have started pouring capital into the high-end apartment line to exploit the huge potential in rental demand. At the moment, this trend is showing signs of slowing down.According to statistics from Savills, the property market in Hanoi will receive about 23,500 apartments in the second half of 2017, and nearly 64,000 apartments from 2018 onwards. However, high-end apartments account for only 30 per cent of this, decreas-ing significantly against the same period last year.Meanwhile, the report of HSBC showed that Vietnam ranked as the second best work-ing environment for foreign experts in Southeast Asia. Currently, more than 80,000 ex-perts, doctoral students, and foreigners come to live and work in Hanoi every year for three to five years, earning over VND2 billion ($88,000) per year.The demand from this customer group is not small, but their requirements for rental apartments are fastidious. Therefore, although the development potential of apart-ments for rent is large, Hanoi's market in particular has not been able to accommodate these discerning guests yet.According to experts, the root of these problems is that the supply does not meet mar-ket demand, resulting in delays in liquidity, and investors are not interested in the projects being launched.A survey of the market for high-class apartments for rent in certain districts, such as Dong Da, Cau Giay, and Thanh Xuan, has shown that fully furnished apartments with two bedrooms or more have selling prices ranging between VND45 and 55 million per square metre and renting rates go from $1,300 to $3,000. However, projects that meet all the requirements are now scarce. Meanwhile, although many new projects are be-ing launched, they are still unable to satisfy the market demand.5 Seasons the starting point of domino effectThe apartment segment remains stable and from the third quarter of 2017 it showed good signs with the launch of the 5 Seasons five-star apartment project. The 5 Seasons condotel has been built for investment purposes.5 Seasons is expected to be the starting point of a domino effect, promising to create a new momentum for the high-end apartment market in Hanoi.Catching up with new living standards, 5 Seasons has been developed with luxury ho-tel standards to meet the needs of "home-stay relaxation" for fastidious customers, es-pecially the affluent, businesspeople, and foreigner experts in Vietnam who do not have much time to look after themselves and their families.Not many projects in Hanoi devote nearly 70 per cent of the area for greenery. The 1,600-sq.m Manhattan Park and the nearly 100 synchronous, modern, and friendly en-vironmental utilities will ensure ample space for relaxation and a healthy life.Although a high-end project, the selling price of 5 Seasons apartments currently ranges from VND1.6 billion, with a discount of up to 6.6 per cent and big incentives from Mar-itime Bank. This is the best time for investors to seize a luxury apartment in the heart of Hanoi.A project that satisfies all customer needs formed the basis for investors to "quickly make decision to invest." The recent successful transactions at 5 Seasons have proved this.http://www.vir.com.vn/a-domino-effect-in-hanois-condotel-scene.html

Korean firm wants to build road under BOT in Can Tho


South Korea's Yakin Group (YK) plans to spend nearly VND15.1 trillion (US$714 mil-lion) building a new road that should be named National Highway 91C under build-operate-transfer (BOT) format.The 30.12-kilometer road including nine intersections and 25 bridges will be devel-oped in two phases, YK Group president Jang Sang Kyu told Can Tho City's leadership


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on October 31.The firm would complete a section from the intersection of Highway 91 and Road No. 922in O Mon District to Highway 61C in Cai Rang District in the first phase. The remain-ing section connecting Highway 1 at junction IC4 with the junction of South Hau River Street and a road leading to Cai Cui Port will be carried out in phase two.The road, 31 meters wide, would require VND791 billion for site clearance of more than 277 hectares.At a meeting between the group and Can Tho government on October 31, YK Group president Jang Sang Kyu said it might take 30 years for the group to recover capital. However, Can Tho chair Vo Thanh Thong said the time for capital recovery should be calculated based on the actual investment and toll fees.Apart from the road project, YK Group also wants to develop a 100-hectare golf course in the city including a five-star hotel and expects Can Tho authorities to throw its sup-port behind the project, said Jang Sang Kyu.Thong said the city has to ask the prime minister for approval. However, he promised to persuade the government to agree on the project to meet the city's development de-mand in the future.Thong also asked YK Group to complete procedures to be able to carry out the two projects.http://english.thesaigontimes.vn/56842/Korean-firm-wants-to-build-road-under-BOT-in-Can-Tho.html

EVNNPC produces over 5 billion kWh of electricity in October


The Electricity of Vietnam (EVN)'s Northern Power Corporation (EVNNPC) has re-ported that total commercial power it produced in October reached more than 5 billion kWh, up 11.45 percent over the same period last year.In the first 10 months of 2017, the firm's total production hit 47.56 billion kWh, up 12.36 percent year-on-year and equivalent to 82.44 percent of the yearly plan. Of which, 63.43 percent was supplied to construction and industry, a rise of 15.54 percent, while 30.23 percent was for daily use.In October, the corporation put into operation 14 new power supply works and trans-mission lines, raising the capacity and reliability of the power grid.Alongside, EVNNPC also completed all 14 customer service criteria, with service re-quest response taking only 5.15 days, down 1.85 days compared to the regulation. It informed power charges through SMS to 14.74 million customers in October and 157.13 million in the January-October period, an increase of nearly 34 million com-pared to the same period last year.The firm also took prompt measures to resume power supply to northern mountain-ous and central localities affected by abnormal floods in October.In November, the EVNNPC aims to continue solutions to ensure safe and stable power supply to customers, while reducing power loss and speeding up underway works.https://en.vietnamplus.vn/evnnpc-produces-over-5 billion-kWh-of-electricity-in-Oct/120427.vnp

Uber and Grab asked for logo


The Ministry of Transport (MoT) asked Uber and Grab to add their logo and a contact phone number on their cars' doors, following the proposal of the Hanoi Taxi Associa-tion, according to newswire Vnexpress.In a document submitted to the prime minister, the Ministry of Transport and the peo-ple's committees of five cities and provinces where Uber and Grab piloted their ride-hailing services, the Hanoi Taxi Association made a series of proposals aiming to cre-ate fair competition between traditional taxies and Uber and Grab.MoT considered the association's proposals and agreed with some. Accordingly, MoT asked design the general logo to be designed for Uber and Grab, while simultaneously asking the local departments of Transport to monitor the implementation of Uber and


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Grab.Regarding the proposal to stop increasing their car fleets, MoT said that ride-hailing is a type of contracted passenger transportation. Thus, MoT will propose the PM to con-sider asking the departments of Transport in the five cities and provinces to stop pro-viding badges for cars with fewer than nine seats.Besides, MoT asked Uber and Grab taxis to clarify fare as traditional taxis.Previously, the Hanoi Taxi Association started a vendetta against app-based taxis with a proposal submitted to the municipal departments of Transport to ban their rivals from roads traditional taxis are not allowed to use.According to Do Quoc Binh, the association's chair, currently taxies are banned from many streets in Hanoi. However, in reality, app-based cars such as Uber and Grab can still operate in these streets, which they claim is unfair competition.Binh claimed that the boom of Uber and Grab has added to Hanoi's already serious traffic jams, making it necessary to manage them like traditional taxis.Furthermore, the Hanoi Taxi Association asked to suspend ride-hailing services before the pilot schemes expire on December 31, 2017.The HCM City Taxi Association sent a document to MoT, declaring full support for the Hanoi Taxi Association's petition to urgently suspend the operations of ride-hailing firms Uber and Grab in Vietnam.The HCM City Taxi Association said Uber and Grab are carrying out numerous pro-motional programmes and offering extraordinarily low fares to eliminate traditional taxi services. However, there is no way to ensure that ride-hailing firms will keep fares low after they have monopolised the market.http://www.vir.com.vn/uber-and-grab-asked-for-logo.html

Vietnamese firm to export pork to Korea


The Bien Dong Trade and Investment Joint Stock Company has agreed in principle with a Korean food company to sell 2,000 tonnes of pork per year.This is being done to grasp opportunities to export pork to the South Korean market, Vu Trong Nghia, director of the Nam Dinh Province-based company, was quoted as saying by the Vietnam News Agency on Wednesday.He said that the company has also inked a Memorandum of Understanding with Ja-pan's Minami Kyushu University on cooperation in developing agriculture and trans-ferring technologies to process food.It has completed the building of a clean food processing and green breeding complex, while a slaughtering plant with a capacity of 300 pigs per hour and a cold storage with South Korean technology are due to be put into operation in November 2017.The company has two safe pig raising farms in the northern province of Nam Dinh. It has connected with the high-quality livestock breeding centre at Vietnam National University of Agriculture to acquire advanced technology for production.Nghia said through the VIETGO Company, his firm has received orders of importing around 9,000 tonnes of pork for the first year from Korean businesses.He hoped the State management agencies will soon open an export market for Viet-namese pork products.http://bizhub.vn/news/vietnamese-firm-to-export-pork-to-south-korea_289850.html

Software chain gets nod to admit associate members


The Quang Trung Software City (QTSC) chain can officially admit other software parks and centers into its chain, according to a decision of the Ministry of Information and Communications.Decision No. 1766/QD-BTTTT on organisation and operation of the QTSC chain shows that the chain can attract other concentrated information technology (IT) and software parks and IT centers under its umbrella to carry out IT business activities in line with the functions and duties of concentrated IT parks prescribed in a government decree.Lam Dong, Nam Dinh and Tien Giang provinces have expressed interest in centralised IT parks under the umbrella of the QTSC model. Specifically, another QTSC has been


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planned in Da Lat City of Lam Dong Province.QTSC will play the leading role in promoting the QTSC brand. IT and software parks are encouraged to join QTSC chain voluntarily and will be offered incentives applica-ble to centralised IT and hi-tech parks.During the operation, QTSC is entitled to admit new members meeting QTSC stand-ards.QTSC CEO Lam Nguyen Hai Long said QTSC is the first software city chain in Viet-nam. QTSC and the chain's members will learn from the model of software city chains in other countries, organise training courses, develop key products, carry out invest-ment promotion programmes and promote QTSC brand.The QTSC chain has four members, namely QTSC, QTSC 2, Vietnam National Univer-sity of HCM City's IT Park, and Quang Trung-Da Lat software park in Lam Dong Prov-ince. The chain expects to obtain total revenue of VND9-11 trillion from members and service revenue of VND15-17 trillion, and employ 35,000-40,000 people by 2020.http://english.thesaigontimes.vn/56844/Software-chain-gets-nod-to-admit-associate-members.html

Vietnam Airlines promotion for SE Asian flights


National flag carrier Vietnam Airlines has launched a special promotional programme for flights from Vietnam to Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia.Under the discount programme which will be valid until March 31, 2018, passengers can have a chance to buy the ticket for the routes from just VND799,000 (USD36.30).A second and third ticket on the route bought at the same time will see further dis-counts of 30 percent and 50%. However, tickets have the same passenger.Vietnam Airlines is providing daily flights from Vietnam to Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore with from 1-2 flights to Malaysia, five to Singapore and six to Thailand.To know more information, please visit the website www.vietnamairlines.com.dtinews.vn/en/news/017004/53573/vietnam-airlines-promotion-for-se-asian-flights.html

Vietnam Railways to pilot automated ticketing


Major train stations in Hanoi, HCM City, and the central city of Da Nang will pilot an automatic ticket system this month.The new system has been installed, with ten automatic ticket gates at Hanoi station, three gates at Da Nang station, and five gates at HCM City station.The move aims to upgrade train service quality, providing a more convenient and friendly service and ensuring security at the stations, according to the State-run Viet-nam Railways, which manages the country's north-to-south railway line. More new carriages will be added by the end of this year for the same goal, it said.Train passengers can scan their printed or electronic tickets at these automatic ticket gates to enter platforms and board trains. To support passengers using the new tech-nology, train staff will be on duty to provide help, especially to the elderly, the disa-bled, and pregnant women.There are also some changes in ticket checks, with conductors no longer checking tick-ets before passengers board a carriage. At other railway stations, such as Lao Cai, Hai Phong, Nam Dinh, Thanh Hoa, Vinh, Dong Hoi, Hue, Nha Trang, and Dieu Tri, pas-sengers now present their tickets before passing through the gate.There will be waiting areas in front of gates for relatives, friends, or people coming to the stations to farewell or pick up passengers.The new ticket system is expected to be introduced at other stations if the pilot proves successful.http://dtinews.vn/en/news/017004/53576/-vietnam-railways-to-pilot-automated-tick-eting.html

Lifestyle hotel brand Wink launched


Wink to strike harmony between modernity, innovation, efficiency, and the city vibe


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throughout Vietnam.Indochina Capital and Vanguard Hotels have teamed up for a new lifestyle hotel brand in Vietnam, Wink Hotels, through the joint venture Indochina Vanguard Hotels. The first Wink will open in 2019 in District 1, HCM City.Wink is a highly-defined brand designed for Indochina, a region on the cusp of the next stage of its evolution and clamoring for a hospitality experience unlike any before. A brand that believes in the tenacity of the Indochine mentality, Wink is a celebration of what the region has overcome and, more importantly, what it will become. Embrac-ing time-honored values, Wink strives to find harmony between modernity, innova-tion, efficiency, and the city vibe, ensuring guests leave with a vivid impression of the destination and brand."Vietnam deserves the best, and we look forward to bringing to this dynamic country the very best in the hospitality industry," said Michael Piro, Co-Founder of Indochina Vanguard Hotels and Managing director of Indochina Land. "We will be bringing vis-itors a consistent experience not only in key locations such as Hanoi, HCM City, and Da Nang, but also in other cities. Wink Hotels will be available throughout Vietnam."Wink Hotels are designed for the aspirational modern traveler, one who is open, in-quisitive, and acquisitive. These individuals associate themselves with brands that represent who they are and where they are going. These individuals are informed and empowered when it comes to travel. Regardless of why they travel, they will not settle for cliched experiences.Vanguard Hotels intends to become a leading owner and operator of affordable brand-ed hotels in Southeast Asia. It will provide dynamic, aspirational branding options to customers, evolving to meet their needs as they grow and change over time.It will work with high-quality foreign investors and local partner companies in each market to provide the right formula to arrive at a suitable hotel experience for custom-ers in that country.Vanguard Hotels aims to provide these hotels to customers at a price point and in an operating environment that allows for maximising the profit opportunity and provid-ing the highest possible returns to its shareholder partners.http://vneconomictimes.com/article/biz-traveler/lifestyle-hotel-brand-wink-launched

Lotte gets blessing for smart complex in Thu Thiem


The HCM City government has awarded South Korean conglomerate Lotte Group an investment registration certificate to develop Eco Smart City in Thu Thiem New Urban Area in District 2 with a total investment of more than $885 million, capping months of negotiations.Lottle Group will spend six years developing the project into a sprawling complex over some 7.5 hectares comprising commercial, financial and residential facilities.The license is good news for the Korean group, which has pursued this project since 2009. Lotte currently holds a diverse investment portfolio in Vietnam.Lotte started to sound out opportunities for the project in 2009 and in 2013, it proposed developing the smart complex project in Thu Thiem New Urban Area in District 2.In late April, the municipal government picked a consortium comprising Lotte's four affiliates, namely Lotte Asset Development Co. Ltd, Lotte Shopping Co. Ltd, Hotel Lotte Co. Ltd and Lotte Engineering and Construction Co Ltd to build the smart city project in Thu Thiem. At the signing ceremony, Lotte Group chair Shin Dong Bin said the group would develop Eco Smart City into a new landmark in the city.The project plays an important role in developing a finance, commerce, and services complex, and a multi-functional residential area. The project will apply information technology into the operational management and the improvement of living stand-ards, according to Investment & Construction Authority for Thu Thiem New Urban Area (Thu Thiem ICA).Of the total area of 7.45 hectares allocated for the project, the investor will develop var-ious buildings and auxiliary facilities on five hectares, while roughly 2.4 hectares will be set aside for technical and traffic infrastructure.


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Chair Shin Dong Bin earlier told local media that the group started doing business in Vietnam in 1996 through a confectionary manufacturing project. The group has ex-panded its investment portfolio to many other sectors, including commercial centre, supermarket, hotel and cinema businesses with total investment capital of $2 billion and employing about 24,000 people.In a related development, HCM City took the lead in FDI attraction in the year to Oc-tober with total capital pledges of $5.03 billion, accounting for 17.8 percent of the coun-try's total, followed by the northern province of Bac Ninh with $3.19 billion (11.3%), and Thanh Hoa Province with $3.16 billion (11.2%).http://english.thesaigontimes.vn/56841/Lotte-gets-blessing-for-smart-complex-in-Thu-Thiem.html

Viettel's N-Office software exported to Haiti


Natcom is a joint venture between Telecommunications d'Haiti S.A.M (Haiti) and Vi-ettel (Vietnam),This was the first cooperation service between Natcom and the government of Haiti, paving the way for the telecom provider to further develop an e-government project in Haiti.The document management software, N-Office, is a new version of the V-Office soft-ware, which has been upgraded and optimised in relation to language and functions. Once operational, the system will facilitate the administrative activities of agencies un-der the government of Haiti.The Haitian minister of Public Works, Transportation and Communications, Fritz Caillot, said that Viettel's product will help improve the ministry's task performance quality.Natcom CEO Ha The Duong said that the $60,000 N-Office project signals the begin-ning of further cooperation between the company and the Haitian authorities. This also proved the vision of Viettel in establishing a smart society, especially in develop-ing countries where Viettel is present, he said.In Vietnam, V-Office is successfully operating in units of the Nam Dinh Provincial Peo-ple's Committee.This has proved that Viettel can provide not only telecommunication services, but also software, to international markets.http://bizhub.vn/tech/viettels-n-office-software-exported-to-haiti_289866.html

Toro vending machine launched in VN


Kootoro Inc officially activated Toro vending machines at HCM City's Ton Duc Thang University last week and received a positive response from the students.Vietnam is growing rapidly with the technology being adopted at a fast pace by the young generation. In recent years, trade and purchase via smartphone is the latest trend. Capturing the trend, Kootoro has developed and launched a new product the Toro vending machine.Vending machines have long been popular in many countries. Japan, for example, has over seven million units for more than 140 million people. However, in Vietnam, these machines are uncommon.The unimpressive image in the past of a vending machine "sipping" cash will be re-placed by cool and colourful machines with outstanding advantages and a new format that has been launched for the time in Vietnam.The Toro vending machine system and Toromartstores linked with the new payment app will provide an extremely enjoyable experience for users.With a simple payment method, attractive promotion and product variety, Toro is be-coming a good companion of this generation.Kootoro was established in the United States and officially appeared in the Vietnam market in 2015.http://bizhub.vn/corporate-news/toro-vending-machine-launched-in-vn_289865.html


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Khaisilk restaurant chains and real estate projects falling like dominoes


The chains of restaurants and real estate projects under the Khaisilk brand in HCM City are facing a boycott as a result of the company's "Made in China" silk scarves scan-dal, according to newswire Dantri.Khaisilk's selling scarves imported from China as locally made products angered cus-tomers who in the past days have been boycotting every product of the Khaisilk brand.According to the latest news, a series of luxury restaurants, namely Au Menoir de Khai, Nam Phan, Cham Charm, and Trois Pommes, have become emptier after the scandal.Besides, a series of multimillion-dollar real estate projects in Phu My Hung urban area have faced devaluation as customers have started to complain about the quality of these real estate projects.After the initial success in trading in silk scarves, Khai, the founder of the Khaisilk brand, decided to expand his business operations in restaurants and real estate, and at present, the revenue from real estate projects contributes a large part of the group's to-tal revenue.Khai currently owns several projects in Phu My Hung urban area, including an office and shopping centre complex valued $35 million, the white castle TajamaSago valued $15 million, and the 18-storey Khai Tower.Khai plans to construct the 20-storey Price Tower near Khai Tower, which would bring the total value of the two towers to $40 million.Along with a loss of prestige and money, Khaisilk is facing a series of investigations following the "Made-in-China" scandal.Notably, according to newswire Vietnamnews, on October 30, minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh chaired a meeting with relevant agencies on resolving vio-lations by selling "Made in China" products under a Vietnamese trademark.The scandal broke out after a Khaisilk scarf was found bearing both 'Made in China' and 'Made in Vietnam' tags at one of the brand's outlets at 113 Hang Gai Street, Hoan Kiem district, Hanoi.Anh said relevant documents had been submitted to the police that will launch a crim-inal probe.In addition, a joint task force will be set up with the participation of police, customs, and tax officers, as well as representatives of the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Associ-ation and the Vietnam Standards and Consumers Association, which will launch an in-dependent probe into allegations against the brand.Anh also asked that the people's committees of Hanoi and HCM City instruct relevant agencies to cooperate with the task force to clarify the violations of Khaisilk Group, Khai Duc JSC, and its branch on 113 Hang Gai Street.The Department of Market Watch will collect information related to the scandal.Onle a few days after the scandal broke out did Khaisilk chair Hoang Khai admit in an interview with online newspaper zing.vn that half of the silk used by Khaisilk came from China, while the rest came from Vietnamese craft villages. However, he was ad-amant that his company always used high-quality material.All Khaisilk outlets in Hanoi and HCM City have been shut down following the scan-dal.Founded in the late 1990s, Khaisilk scarves are considered a premium product, popu-lar amongst local luxury consumers and international tourists.www.vir.com.vn/khaisilk-restaurant-chains-and-real-estate-projects-falling-like-dominoes.html

Wholesaler caught in Da Lat produce fraud

02/NOV/2017 INTELLASIA| TUOITRE NEWS

Over 100 boxes of dried vegetables and fruits weighing about one metric tonne were discoveredA large volume of dried vegetables and fruits of unknown origin have been discovered being disguised as specialties in Da Lat, a popular tourist city in Lan Dong Province, located in Vietnam's Central Highlands.


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Officers from the provincial Department of Police carried out a sudden inspection at a facility on Ho Tung Mau Street in the city at around 9:00 am on Tuesday.At the venue owned by 50-year-old Tu Bo Linh, several dried food products were be-ing packaged and labeled as "Da Lat specialties."Law enforcers confirmed that the produce was of no clear origin, while the business owner himself failed to present legitimate documents for the merchandise.At the warehouse location, officers found over 100 boxes of dried vegetables and fruits weighing a total of about one metric tonne.The facility also had packaging equipment along with thousands of labels with "Da Lat specialties" written on them.Several packages displayed their date of production as November 2017, despite it be-ing October at the time the inspection took place.Linh said the products had been purchased and transported from suppliers in HCM City, Hanoi, the southern province of Dong Nai, and the northern province of Hai Duong.After labeling the produce of unknown origin as local specialties, Linh would then sell them to shops in Da Lat and nearby areas.According to officers, paperwork regarding the operation of Linh's business had ex-pired.In addition, the venue has not been issued with a food safety certificate in accordance with the law.The relevant authorities have made a report of the case and confiscated the products to determine the facility's exact violations.https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/business/20171101/wholesalers-caught-in-da-lat-pro-duce-fraud/42354.html

British trade envoy talks up Vietnam links


British prime minister's Trade Envoy to Vietnam, Edward Vaisey, tells Vietnam News Agency's Pham Diem Quynh in an exclusive interview that one of his top priorities is to make sure the British government realises how important it is to conclude a free trade agreement with Vietnam because it is one of the fastest growing and most dy-namic economies in Asia.As the prime minister's trade envoy to Vietnam, what would you do to promote Brit-ish-Vietnam trade relations?I'm looking forward to representing the British government and working with the Vi-etnamese government to promote relations between our two countries. A lot of people have heard of Vietnam in Britain, but I don't think they understand quite what a dy-namic and amazing country it is. For example, very few British people realise how large Vietnam is and how many people live there. Few people know of the leading in-dustries in Vietnam, from coffee through to technology, and I think there are great op-portunities for our countries to work together.I would also like to promote tourism to Vietnam. I think a lot of British tourists would really enjoy visiting the country.The World Bank recently said that Vietnam would expand its economy at an average of 6.3 per cent in the next three years. What opportunities do you see for British busi-ness in term of trade and investment?We look at Vietnam and see an incredible, dynamic economy growing quicklyand we are envious. It's impressive and gives Britain opportunities to work in this dynamic market. Vietnamese have a great deal of respect for the British education system and I hope that our universities can increase their presence in Vietnam.British companies can work with a modern Vietnamese economy on technology and industrial issues, including new forms of energy and big construction and infrastruc-ture projects. We have good engineering companies in Britain. Many British compa-nies manufacture goods in Vietnam because we have huge respect for the skill and craftsmanship of Vietnamese workers. We hope that we can work with the Vietnamese government on these kind of issues.


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As Britain leaves the European Union, how do you see the prospect of a British-Viet-nam Free Trade Agreement?I hope we can conclude a free trade agreement with Vietnam. I know that the Europe-an Union is also looking to conclude an agreement, and it may be easy simply to look at what the European Union has done with Vietnam and for us to follow and conclude a similar free-trade agreement.One of my top priorities will be to promote trade between Vietnam and Britain and to make sure the British government realises how important this is. I would like to see much closer links between our two countries.Vietnam is preparing to host the Apec Summit. How do you see the event?Well, I think it's very exciting that the Apec Summit is happening in Vietnam. Twenty one member economies in Asia and the Pacific come together and look at how to in-crease trade.Our prime minister regrets the fact that the United States withdrew from the Trans-Pa-cific Partnership, but it is also clear that the region itself is so strong that it can take for-ward the Trans-Pacific Partnership and develop much closer trade links between these countries. And certainly I know Britain would want to have some involvement. We fa-vour anything that removes trade barriers between countries and leads to much more choice for people living in those countriesmuch better goods and lower prices.What is your view on the importance of maritime security in Asia-Pacific?Maritime security is one of the issues regularly raised with me, and obviously it is im-portant that we keep secure international waters and the ability for ships to move goods around the region. And obviously, Britain has a long history in maritime issues and its government will assist the region with any issues where they feel that our ex-perience might bring some benefit.bizhub.vn/business-insight/british-trade-envoy-talks-up-viet-nam-links_289864.html

Vietnam Property Awards back for 4th year


The fourth annual PropertyGuru Vietnam Property Awards was launched in HCM City on November 1.Applications are now open to nominate the best property developments in Vietnam, organisers said, adding they welcome entries from HCM City, Hanoi, Da Nang, Ha Long Bay, Phu Quoc and Nha Trang making it the biggest real estate awards in the country.Instituted in 2015, the awards are given away by PropertyGuru Group and Oriental Media Vietnam.Nominations would be accepted until April 20, 2018, and as usual there is no fee to en-ter in any category, the organisers said.For the fourth edition, official charity partner CARE International will present the CARE Special Recognition in Positive Construction Practices award to developers who demonstrate extraordinary commitment to occupational safety and well-being of con-struction workers, especially women, and provide equal opportunity, training and se-curity.New categories have been added this yearBest Resort Architectural Design and Best Resort Interior Design in acknowledgment of Vietnam's growing reputation as a top resort destination.The judges will also honour public facility and corporate headquarter design to de-serving companies and projects around the country."With continued strong GDP growth, further infrastructure development, improved connectivity and accessibility, and foreign direct investment figures to real estate mar-ket reaching 70 per cent year-on-year, we see a strong future for the Vietnamese real estate industry," Terry Blackburn, founder and managing director of the PropertyGu-ru Asia Property Awards, said."Hanoi and HCM City remain the sector's biggest draws, with their offerings of devel-opments at different price points, from affordable housing to luxury condominiums. It's also great to see other locations such as Da Nang, Ha Long Bay and Nha Trang tak-


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ing their place alongside the premier resort destinations of Southeast Asia."The nominations will undergo thorough screening and be visited by judges and local inspection teams sent by awards supervisor BDO Vietnam.The official shortlist will be revealed in the third week of May 2018, and the winners and highly commended companies announced at the fourth annual black-tie gala din-ner and awards ceremony in June 2018.bizhub.vn/property/vietnam-property-awards-back-for-4th-year_289860.html

Brandlaureate Awards to be held in VN for first time


The Brandlaureate Special Edition World Awards 2017 will be held in Vit Nam for the first time, with a gala awards dinner organised in December in HCM City.The brand awards recognises leaders in the business community via its international recognition platform. It will be exclusively reserved for leading brands in Vit Nam that have successfully built their brands.Top brands are well respected and admired in the business community and by con-sumers in domestic as well as foreign markets.Among the significant awards include the Brandlaureate awards for multinationals, public listed companies, transnational corporations, government-linked corporations and large corporations.The winners are evaluated and selected by a brand committee based on criteria which includes brand strategy, brand culture, integrated brand communications, brand inno-vation and brand performance.Each recipient will receive a 24k gold plated trophy and certificate which reflects the pursuit of brand excellence and the journey taken to achieve the company's leadership status.The Asia Pacific Brands Foundation is the world's only brands and branding founda-tion, dedicated to promoting excellent brands and brand culture in the business com-munity around the world. Founded in 2004, it is a non-profit organisation.http://bizhub.vn/events/brandlaureate-awards-to-be-held-in-vn-for-first-time_289859.html

Tech Fest to link start-ups, investors


More than 4,000 people, 200 start-ups, 130 international investors and investment funds and 80 big firms are expected to participate in one of the largest annual events for Vietnamese start-up community: Tech Fest 2017 at Grand Plaza Hotel in Hanoi on November 14 and 15.Tech Fest 2017, hosted by Ministry of Science and Technology with theme "Ecosystem connects", aims to create connections for domestic and foreign stakeholders in the start-up ecosystem to share useful information.According to the ministry, investment matching activities will take place before, dur-ing and after Tech Fest so that start-ups can access potential customers, investors, lead-ing tech experts and organisations supporting entrepreneurship. Meanwhile, the event enables big and medium enterprises to find innovative solutions from start-ups.According to deputy minister of Science and Technology Tran Van Tung, Tech Fest 2017 has more participants and new features compared with the festivals in 2015 and 2016.There will be six sectors, called villages: Community (organisations supporting start-ups with innovative solutions), AgriTech (Agriculture sector), EdTech (Educational technology), MedTech (Medical Technology), Tourism, Food and Beverage, Emerging Tech (containing potential start-ups) and Frontier and FinTech.Each village will set up its own content. The main activities include an exhibition of startup products and services, panel discussions and workshops, investment match-ing, the startup discovery competition and an awards ceremony for "Vietnam's inno-vative startups 2017".Deputy minister Tung said "2017 marks the development of a nationwide startup movement. Innovative start-ups have been developed by a range of ministries, sectors,


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localities, political-social organisations and associations".Tech Fest 2017 is part of national efforts to develop a robust and innovative start-up ecosystem in Vietnam by 2025."The highlight of the event is the launching of a portal which links start-ups, investors, policy makers and start-up assisting centres, techfest.vn," the deputy minister said. "The portal will provide a database about domestic and international inventions and technologies being developed in Vietnam. Start-ups can also find addresses of sup-porting centres and information about administrative procedures and policies needed when they start their businesses."Great expectationsComprehensive Energy Solutions Ltd Company is among the enterprises taking part in Tech Fest this year.Dr Do Ngoc Chung, Chair of the Members' Council of Comprehensive Energy Solu-tions Ltd Company, said, "There have not been many connections between enterprises and scientists. They have not placed confidence in each other."He hopes that Tech Fest will enable enterprises and scientists to build trust and net-work.Chung's two-year old company gathers young people who have passion in research and development (R&D). Chung and his colleagues hope to apply their scientific re-search to make useful products for consumers. The company has developed and sold out to the market clean vegetable and sprout growing machines, a funnel to avoid wa-ter overflowing and floods and chemical-free toothpicks made from polypropylene to protect consumers' health. Chung aims to develop his company into a leading R&D centre in Vietnam and export his products.Nguyen Thanh Hai, co-founder of Truong Sinh Company, which provides products made from ca gai leo (Solanum procumbens) to cure Hepatitis B, said, "For a young start-up like us, the difficulties are human resources and business strategy. The capac-ity of our core team is limited. We have to develop the project and at the same time develop the capacity of human resources management and financial management.""At Tech fest, we expect to introduce our products made from natural resources in or-der to promote Vietnamese medicines and contribute to the preservation of Vietnam-ese medicines," she said. "We also want to seek investment sources and receive market consultation from experts towards a slow but strong step in the future."Any concerned stakeholders can access the websites techfest.vn and investmatch.net for registration and to follow Tech Fest's activities.http://bizhub.vn/tech/tech-fest-to-link-start-ups-investors_289841.html

Over 200 enterprises to participate in international jewellery fair


More than 200 domestic and foreign enterprises will take part in the 26th Vietnam In-ternational Jewellery Fair (VIJF 2017), which will take place in HCM City from Novem-ber 8-12.Among the participants will be many famous international jewellery brands from the EU, Thailand, India and Singapore.They will introduce their latest products, technologies and services at over 200 pavil-ions.The fair will be divided into several different areas including one for jewellery; a zone for diamonds and precious and semiprecious stones; a display of machines, equip-ment and technology used in the field; pavilions introducing after-sales and warranty services; and an area for enterprises to conduct negotiations.At the 2017 VIJF, numerous attractive promotional programmes, as well as special care services, will be offered to customers who purchase products at the pavilions.Following over 25 consecutive years of organisation, the fair is considered as a tradi-tional festival for the gemstone and jewellery industry in Vietnam.The event will offer a chance for enterprises to seek more opportunities to expand their cooperation and business, as well as to promote their brands.In the near future, the organising board expects to organise the fair twice a year and in


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other provinces and cities, such as Hanoi and Can Tho, thereby creating favourable condition for consumers to access and buy high quality precious gemstones and jew-ellery.http://dtinews.vn/en/news/017004/53567/over-200-enterprises-to-participate-in-inter-national-jewellery-fair.html End


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021117Intellasia Finance Vietnam · 2017-11-02 · Can Tho's export value hits 1.43 billion USD in ten months 15 Ha Tinh: Export revenue on strong surge 15 Export businesses need