Total SA plans to buy Exxon Mobil Corp.’s lubricant business in Vietnam, a newspaper reported, citing an agreement between the companies. The purchase includes a lubricant plant in the southern Vietnamese province of Dong Nai and Exxon’s base oil distribution network throughout the country, the newspaper said. Lyn Toh, Total’s spokeswoman in Singapore, confirmed the plan. She declined to provide details. Karen Wong, an Exxon spokeswoman in Singapore, said in an e-mail that the sale is a “confidential matter” between the companies and the sale doesn’t affect Exxon’s other businesses in Vietnam.

An increase in tuna exports from Vietnam to Canada has made the northern American country one of the top importers of the aquatic product. The Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers of Vietnam (VASEP) reported that tuna exports to Canada are experiencing double digit growth. Since mid June, exports have gone up 384% in volume and 107% in value from a year ago, while those to other countries have shown negative growth. With this result, Canada has become Vietnam’s fifth largest buyer of tuna after the United States, the European Union, Japan and Israel.

Britain’s Prince Andrew is to arrive in Vietnam on Monday (28 Sep 2009) to give a royal boost to his country’s trade and investment profile, British authorities said. During his two-day trip, the prince is to meet Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and other officials, and visit Vietnamese and British businesses including Rolls-Royce and HSBC, UK Trade and Investment said in a statement. His visit ’aims to raise the UK’s profile as a major trading and investment partner for Vietnam, highlight further investment opportunities for British companies in Vietnam, and encourage Vietnam to regard the UK as a main business gateway into Europe,’ it said. Britain is Vietnam’s third-largest European Union investor, with total projects worth USD2.1 billion (USD2.97 billion), the agency said. Bilateral trade was worth more than USD1.9 billion last year.

A fair featuring made-in Vietnam products opened in HCM City on October 02 by the HCMC Investment and Trade Promotion Centre (ITPC) in coordination with the People’s Committee of Can Gio district. The event in celebration of the Can Gio fishermen’s traditional festivals aims to help the locals gain access to high-quality products made by prestigious Vietnamese businesses through discounts and gift offerings. The fair is one of the activities organized by the ITPC to develop the domestic market and promote the use of Vietnam-made products. More such fairs are due to be held from now through the end of this year in HCM City’s outlying districts and surrounding provinces.

Quang Nam province authorities have issued a license to allow two U.S. firms to invest USD4.15 billion in an eco-tourism project, state media reported Monday, citing a provincial government source. Tano Capital LLC and Global C&C Inc. plan to build the Dragon Beach project in the province, which is 800 kilometers south from Hanoi, said the Thoi Bao Kinh Te newspaper. The project will cover 400 hectares and have sports facilities, hotels, commercial buildings and offices, it added. The newspaper didn’t says when the project will be built or when it is scheduled to start operating.

Rockingham Asset Management LLC has sought permission to invest USD2.2 billion in an airport in Quang Ninh province, a newspaper reported Monday. Rockingam plans to build the Van Don airport, located about 200 kilometers northeast from Hanoi, under a build-operate-transfer contract from 2010, the report said. The airport will be built in three phases, with an investment of USD552 million in 2010-2014, USD520 million in 2016-2020 and USD1.139 billion in 2026-2030, the report said.

The Ascott Group has signed a contract to manage a serviced residence property in Hai Phong. This latest addition to Ascott’s portfolio increases the number of units to 1,182 across seven serviced residence properties in three cities. Five properties are already operational in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, offering a total of 818 units. To be called Somerset Central TD, Hai Phong, this will be Ascott’s first serviced residence property in the coastal city and its seventh in Vietnam.

The new Somerset property is part of the landmark TD Plaza, a modern and luxurious mixed use development consisting of a five-storey shopping complex, which is already operating, an office block and two towers of residential apartments and serviced residences. Somerset Central TD, Hai Phong sits on a prime urban area in the city’s new Central Business District with strategic access to the airport, port and the old city centre.

The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) is planning to promote tourism services on the China market. The Head of the VNAT, Nguyen Van Tuan said that Vietnam has not yet paid enough attention to the huge potential of the Chinese tourism market. Due to a lack of information and high prices, the number of Chinese tourists visiting Vietnam is still limited. Many have preferred going to Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia. 2,7million international guests visited Vietnam in the third quarter of this year, a year-on-year decline of 16 percent with Chinese tourists making up the highest number of 338,600 people.

The Vietnamese Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) has launched a campaign called “Charming Vietnam” in London to promote foreigners to visit the country. Cabs, carrying images of Vietnam’s world heritage site Ha Long Bay, Vietnamese girls in white Ao Dai (long dresses) and information about Vietnam’s economic hub, Ho Chi Minh City, will be seen in the streets of the UK’s capital city over a six-month period. Speaking at the recent launch ceremony, the Vietnamese Ambassador to the UK, Tran Quang Hoan, said he hoped that this type of advertising would attract residents in London to visit Vietnam. Advertising by taxi has been used by many other countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand to promoting their tourist industries.

Vietnam’s first private cargo airline Trai Thien Air Cargo has received its operator’s license and is expected to begin operations in October next year, according to the country’s Ministry of Transport. The company has set its sights on serving the Northeast Asian and Southeast Asian markets with up to five Boeing 737 aircraft, although only one plane is expected to be put into service initially. Six other domestic Vietnamese airlines – Vietnam Airlines, Vasco, Jetstar Pacific, Indochina Airlines, VietJet Air, and Mekong Aviation - currently are licensed for both passenger and cargo transport.

Construction started on the solid waste treatment plant at central city of Da Nang’s Khanh Son dumping site October 3. This is the first waste treatment plant in Vietnam that uses domestic technology and facilities. Covering an area of two hectares, the plant has a capacity of 650 tons of waste a day. It can process non-biodegradable household waste, such as nylon bags and plastic products and tires, into industrial oil. The plant cost VND120 billion and is expected to open in September next year.

A number of businesses from Rome and Lazio in Italy gathered at a seminar in Italy to explore the investment opportunities and seek out trading partners in Vietnam and other Southeast Asian nations. Statistics provided by the European Union’s Statistics Office (Eurostat) revealed that the value of Rome’s exports to Southeast Asia rose by 28.5 percent and to Vietnam alone by 28.7 percent in the first quarter of 2009. However, Caltagirone said that in the face of Vietnam’s potential market, Italian businesses have not been very active in their investments and face tough competition from foreign rivals. Two-way trade reached 1.21 billion EUR in 2007 but rose by barely 3 percent in 2008 due to the global economic downturn, he said, adding that Italy’s exports to Vietnam fell by 12.2 percent and its imports from Vietnam went up by 15.6 percent.

Seven Korean groups, including Samsung, Daewoo, Ska, Kumho and Keangnam, will get involved in the building of urban railway route No. 5 linking the West Lake to Lang-Hoa Lac Road in Hanoi. The project will be built in the BOT and Planning Permission in Principle (PPP) formats under an MoU recently signed between the Vietnam Railway Department and the RoK investors. The USD1.2 billion route will have a total length of 33.5 km and 22 stations.

Viettel is keen on buying shares of Bangladesh’s State-run mobile phone company Teletalk Bangladesh Ltd and plans to invest USD250 million in the enterprise, said a spokesperson from the Bangladeshi Ministry of Telecommunications, Shafeyet Hossain, on October 01. If an agreement to this effect is reached between the two sides, Viettel will invest without taking profits for the first three years. As it does in Vietnam, Viettel will provide free Internet connection services for schools in Bangladesh. In addition, it will set up 19,500 telecom signal receivers, install 50,000 km of optical cables, put 3G technology into operation and provide Internet services for 3.5 million customers.

Protrade in southern Binh Duong province signed a joint venture contract to build a logistics centre along with Singapore’s YCH Group on October 1. This is the YCH’s first project in Binh Duong and has a total investment capital of USD14 million. The Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Le Thanh Cung said that fits in with the province’s development plan and investment plans. Once operational, the centre will help to improve the local logistics industry and increase the competitiveness of local logistics companies.