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Business in brief in 23 March

Date: 3/26/2012 7:49:50 AM

(Sourced from various news agencies)

Vietnam has entered the top 50 Best Countries for Business Ranking, announced Bloomberg on March 21. In Southeast Asia, Singapore ranks 9^th, Malaysia 32^nd, and Vietnam 46^th. Bloomberg Rankings measured 160 markets on a scale of zero to 100 percent based on six factors. These included the costs of setting up business, hiring and moving goods; the degree of economic integration; less tangible costs such as inflation and corruption; and the readiness of the local consumer base, a category comprising the size of the middle class, household consumption and gross domestic product per person. Vietnam’s economic integration got a high score of 64.5 percent, followed by labor cost (45.7 percent) and the cost of setting up business (28.6 percent).

Vietnam appointed Standard Chartered Bank Plc (STAN) to advise on improving the country’s sovereign debt rating, as it seeks to attract foreign investment, the lender said in an e-mailed press release today. “We will assist the government in its strategic initiative to engage actively the rating agencies and, through them, the broader investor community,” Louis Taylor, Vietnam chief executive for Standard Chartered, said in the release. Moody’s Investors Service has a B1 credit rating for Vietnam, four levels below investment grade. The New York-based company downgraded Vietnam’s long-term foreign-currency rating in December 2010, as did Standard & Poor’s. Finance Minister Vuong Dinh Hue on Dec. 20 announced that Vietnam would establish a working group tasked with improving the country’s sovereign ratings.

The HCM City Housing Development Bank has become the HCM City Development Joint Stock Commercial Bank, effective from March 16. It has also adopted a new logo and slogan but retained the acronym HDBank. The bank said the name change was aimed at facilitating its development strategy and enhancing its image. HDBank, incorporated in 1990, has a network of 65 branches, which is likely to increase to 90 this year.

The 4^th International Livestock, Dairy, Meat Processing and Aquaculture Expo (ILDEX Vietnam 2012) opened yesterday at the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Centre in District 7. Organized by the Department of Livestock Production, N.C.C. Exhibition Organizer Co, and Minh Vi Exhibition and Advertisement Services Co Ltd, the biennial event has attracted 178 exhibitors from 26 countries to display their products and technology. The event, which will close on Saturday, also includes conferences and seminars to discuss animal-husbandry and aquaculture issues, including disease prevention and control. The 2012 ILDEX Vietnam, to be called "Bringing International Expertise to Satisfy Local Needs" this year, will offer visitors opportunities to evaluate innovative solutions that can help them improve cost efficiency and product quality, according to the organizer.

The Japanese government has decided to grant Vietnam a non-refundable package worth US$33 million to help the country develop an electronic customs clearance named VNACCS/VCIS using Japanese technology. An agreement to this effect was signed by Deputy Finance Minister Do Hoang Anh Tuan and Chief Representative of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Tsuno Motonori in Hanoi on March 22. Accordingly, the customs project will include transferring the VNACCS/VCIS software and the corresponding hardware and equipment. Under the project, Japan will help the Vietnam customs operate the system and exercise the one-stop shop mechanism nationwide.

The International Livestock and Dairy Expo (ILDEX Vietnam 2012) opened at the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Centre in HCM City on March 22. The three-day event has attracted 175 businesses from 26 countries over the world. On display are advanced cattle-breeding, diary production, meat processing and aquaculture technologies. Besides, a seminar will be held to discuss technological solutions to hot issues concerning aquaculture and breeding livestock presented by domestic and foreign experts, and new technology used by Nam Hoa, De Heus, CJ and Anh Minh companies. ILDEX 2013 will be held in Hanoi on June 6-7 and ILDEX Vietnam 2014 in HCM City from March 19-21.

State Bank Governor Nguyen Van Binh officially asked five State-run commercial and joint-stock banks to slash their business costs between five and ten per cent while cutting their lending interest rates, said The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) on Thursday. The banks include: Vietnam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development, Vietnam Commercial Bank for Industry and Trade, Vietcombank, Bank for Investment and Development, and Mekong Housing Bank. The State Bank also requested these banks to report their specific measures and reduction levels to the State Bank and the Ministry of Finance prior to April 10. Earlier, SBV decided to lower the annual interest rate ceiling by one per cent to 13 per cent. Overnight loan, discounting and refinancing interest rates stand at 15 per cent, 12 per cent and 14 per cent, respectively, 1 per cent lower than before.

Vietcombank (VCB) has lately announced the document for its coming AGM (annual general meeting) whereby the lender targets pre-tax profit of 6.59 trillion dong in 2012, up 15% year on year and after tax profit at 4.929 trillion dong, a year on year increase of 17%. The bank also targets to reach total assets growth of 18% by the end of 2012, credit growth at 17% and total deposit growth at 18% on year. Vietcombank’s bad debts ratio in 2012 is expected to be kept at below 2.8% against 2.03% in 2011. The bank also expects a dividend payment of12% this year. The bank’s director board will submit the AGM its plan to list 1,787,023,116 shares belonging to the state holding in VCB on the stock market, accounting for 77.11% of the bank’s chartered capital in 2012.

The State Bank of Vietnam on March 21 issued a document allowing Eximbank (EIB) to lend for rice purchase for storage in the winter-spring crop 2011-2012. Accordingly, Eximbank will have to balance enough capital for lending to rice traders assigned by Vietnam Food Association (VFA) to buy rice for stockpile with the maximum volume of one million tons in the winter-spring crop 2011-2012. The highest lending interest rate will be 14% per year. The state budget will support 100% for the lending interest rate during the rice purchase. The time to lend and disburse is from March 15 to April 30, 2012. The lending time with maximum support is three months since March 15 to June 15, 2012.

A delegation from Ukraine’s AVEC Group, led by Parliament member Alexander Feldman, paid a three-day working visit to central Da Nang City to seek investment opportunities. The group, operating within the commercial real estate market of Ukraine since 1994, is one of the most influential players in the country’s field. As scheduled, the group will have a working day with leaders of the city’s administration and visit the SOS Village today. A seminar on the Asia Trade Park project will be held in the city tomorrow. The central coastal city has attracted 215 projects from 30 countries and territories with investment capital of $3.18 billion, of which 76.86 per cent consist of real estate and service projects, in the first quarter.

Cargill Vietnam, a wholly owned subsidiary of Cargill Incorporated, inaugurated its 9^th animal feed plant, worth US$18 million, in the Dong Van II Industrial Zone of Ha Nam Province on March 22. With a production capacity of 240,000 tons per annum, the 4-ha plant will apply international standard technology to manufacture poultry and livestock feed. The plant is expected to be operational in the 3rd quarter of this year, contributing to the country’s total capacity of 1 million tons per year, making up 10 percent of the market share nationwide.

An exhibition of Thai products opened in Haiphong city on March 22 with 130 stalls put up by 100 companies from Thailand. On display are different kinds of food, fresh fruit, household appliances, garment and textile, jewelry, electronic products, healthcare services, make-up, automobile spare parts, interior decoration, gifts, tourism and aviation services. The exhibition, organized by the Department of International Trade Promotion (DITP), under Thailand’s Ministry of Commerce, in co-ordination with the Thai Embassy in Hanoi and Vietnam Trade Fairs and Advertising Company (Vinexad), will last until March 25.

(Source:Agencies)

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