The money will be used to increase production, shore up dwindling exports, foster investment and promote consumer spending.

Economists say investment priorities should be given to projects that are about to be completed and to others that would increase business production and help economic competitiveness.

Eligible projects could include those that would help spur consumption of products made by small -and medium-sized enterprises.

Building housing for low-income families and intensifying investment in infrastructure development in rural and mountainous areas could also be given priority, experts have said.

To stimulate consumer spending, a series of measures should be implemented simultaneously, they suggested.

The proposed measures include lowering prices for consumer goods, raising wages, reducing personal and corporate income taxes, increasing consumer lending, extending debt, and increasing support for social security.

Policies lowering the financial burden on the poor would also help stimulate the economy, experts said. The poor should be able to access unemployment insurance, better job training and pay lower school tuition and hospital fees.

Aid to ethnic minorities and families affected by natural disasters could also be offered.

The government has also been urged to minimise any influence of outside forces on the domestic financial and banking systems.

Experts said public spending should be closely controlled and the legal framework improved on the operations of major business groups, State-run corporations and those that use capital from the State budget.

They emphasised that prices must follow the market and administrative reform should be strengthened to curb inflation and corruption.

Still advertising

To cope with the global financial crisis, many Vietnamese companies have cut back on expenses, but have maintained their advertising budgets. As a result, advertising companies have seen higher revenues this year.

Tran Thi Thanh Mai, general director of TNS Media Viet Nam, said the growth rate in revenue had slightly dropped compared to in 2007.

This year, Vietnamese companies spent US$500 million on advertising, a year-on-year increase of 17 per cent. The growth rate in 2007 was 18 per cent and in 2006 40 per cent.

Television is the preferred medium, accounting for up to 76.9 per cent of total advertising costs. Meanwhile, print publications accounted for 22.8 per cent and radio for the remaining 0.3 per cent.

Companies that spent the most on advertising included businesses involved in healthcare and cleaning products, electronics and electrical appliances, medical products, and beverages.

Among the companies with high advertising budgets were Unilever Viet Nam, P&G Viet Nam, Thien Khanh Pharma (Pharmacy), Vinamilk, Dutch Lady Viet Nam, VMS-MobiFone, Tan Hiep Phat (beer and soft drinks), Nestle Viet Nam and Vinaphone.

Nguyen Hoang Anh, director of Golden Advertising Company, said spending this year remained robust because many companies followed their advertising budgets that were drawn up in 2007.

Another reason is that some companies spent more on advertising this year in an aim to increase market share and meet consumer demand.

Contributing to advertising growth was the sharp increase in foreign direct investment (FDI), which reached $60 billion this year, three times higher than the 2007 figure. The increasing number of major foreign retail groups locating here also affected growth.

Experts estimate that the industry’s growth rate in 2009, however, will likely reach only 8 per cent compared with this year, as many enterprises have already planned to cut advertising expenses.

Convenience stores double

Within only one year, the number of convenience stores has doubled in HCM City.

The G7Mart leads the race with 30 stores in addition to 200 set up under co-operation with partners and the company. Sai Gon Co-op now has 67 stores and Vissan 50.

Other chains such as Shop&Go, Speedy, Supermart 24H and Best&Buy have also increased their number of stores.

In addition, many companies have invested billions of dong to transform retail shops into convenience stores to promote their brandname.

Next year more companies plan to open similar stores.

Sai Gon Co-opMart is expected to open a chain of food shops late this year. And Satramart (Satra Supermarket) and Southern Food Corp will open hundreds of convenience stores.

Independent market watchdogs said the explosion of convenience stores had occurred because of continuing urbanisation and anticipated demand.

Nguyen Thi Tuyet Hoa, general director of Sai Gon Co-op, said most convenience shops were selling at lower prices to compete with supermarkets.

Shipping firms cut costs

Ocean shipping companies are cutting costs as demand drops and the global financial crisis continues.

Viet Nam’s export value in November was $4.8 billion, down by 4.8 per cent compared with the previous month. Import value stood at $5.3billion, a decrease of 7.5 per cent.

In early December, a 40-foot container with goods scheduled to be shipped from HCM City to Los Angeles was charged less than $2,000, compared to $2,500 and $2,600 in previous months.

The charge for the container from HCM City to New York fell from $3,700-$3,800 to $3,100-$3,200.

Costs for routes from Viet Nam to major ports in Europe, including Hamburg, Germany, Rotterdam, Holland, Taranto, Italy and Antwerp, Belgium are also lower.

Early this year, the shipping charge for a 20-foot container was $1,200 and is now only $300, a 75 per cent decrease.

To further cut costs, many shipping companies have plans to reduce the number of operating vessels.