Vietnam Industrial Parks InfoGate ! Industrial Zones ! Export Processing Zones ! Business in brief 14 Oct 2011

Rubber price towards the end of the year will still be above $4,000 per ton despite continuous drops in price caused by the lower demand in China as Vietnam’s biggest rubber importer, according to Vietnam Rubber Association (VRA). Tran Thi Thuy Hoa, general secretary of VRA, told the Daily on Monday that Thailand has decided to cut 120,000 tons in output, aiming to buoy up the rubber price and stabilize the market. Indonesia, the world’s second rubber producer, has also followed suit. However, this country has yet to announce the amount of rubber reduction next year. “The current rubber price is $4,100 per ton and it is likely to be maintained at this level in the near future,” Hoa said. Any moves of Thailand and Indonesia, the world’s two biggest rubber exporters, in adjusting the annual production output will have an impact on the global price, according VRA. If Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia reduce rubber outputs to stabilize the price, Vietnam, the fourth biggest rubber exporter, will also do the same, Hoa added.

A trade mission comprising 40 Hong Kong travel agencies and the Hong Kong Tourism Association will come to Vietnam next month to look for local partners. Tran Vinh Loc, director of Lac Hong Voyages, which is arranging the visit, said the delegation would meet with about 100 local travel firms on November 17 and 18 in HCMC and Hanoi. Hong Kong is regarded as one of the ten key markets for Vietnam this year, Loc said, and this first such marketing trip to Vietnam by Hong Kong’s partners will pave the way for a series of tourism promotion programs to be carried out in Vietnam in the coming time. Hong Kong is paying attention to the Vietnamese market as it has recently launched tourism brochures for Vietnamese-speaking tourists, added Loc. According to the HCMC Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Hong Kong was one of the five most favorite destinations of local tourists in the first nine months of the year.

The 9^th Vietnam Oil and Gas Expo 2011 will be held at Giang Vo Exhibition Centre in Hanoi by PetroVietnam from October 27-29. This event is one of important events held on the occasion of 50th anniversary of the Vietnam Petroleum industry (November 27, 1961-2011). This bi-annual event, since 1991, has become a venue for various local and international oil and gas companies, manufacturers, service suppliers and distributors. This year’s event will provide a special forum for hosts and guests to share their experience and forward vision on development of the petroleum industry of Vietnam, the region and worldwide as well as to get updated information on new market trends. Products from various countries including France, Russia, Singapore, Norway and Vietnam along with 190 exhibitors from 19 countries and territories and modern technology and equipment of local and international companies will be exhibited.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of Vietnam on Oct. 13 signed a 293 million USD loan agreement for construction of a metro line to reduce critical traffic congestion in Hanoi. The ADB-supported 12.5-kilometer metro line 3 will run 3.6 kilometers underground with 8.9 kilometers of elevated and transition track. It will stretch from Hanoi Station, through Cau Giay, to Nhon. The loan will add ADB to the list of financiers supporting the development of Hanoi’s urban transportation system development. The metro rail line, also funded by the Government of France and the European Investment Bank, is an integral part of the first of four priority metro lines planned for the capital’s metropolitan area. Scheduled to be completed in 2015, the metro rail line is expected to transport initially more than 150,000 people a day, and almost half a million a day by 2030.

Foreign investors have been unloading shares on both national stock exchanges since August, negatively affecting the psychology of domestic investors, according to analysts. The net sell value by foreign investors on both bourses increased from VND200 billion (US$9.5 million) in August to nearly VND1 trillion ($47.6 million) in September, the fastest pace in the past two years. They sold off another VND161 billion ($7.7 million) worth of shares in the first week of October. Shares sold were concentrated largely in heavyweight blue chips such as insurer Bao Viet Holdings (BVH), real estate developers Vincom (VIC) and Hoang Anh Gia Lai Co (HAG), steelmaker Hoa Phat Group (HPG), software giant FPT and Vietinbank (CTG).

The two national benchmark indices surprised the market by adding value during this morning’s session. The VN-Index on the HCM Stock Exchange edged up 0.46 per cent to finish at 414.49 points. Gainers outnumbered losers by 140-71. Both market value and volume, however, decreased by 24.9 per cent from yesterday’s level to VND329.35 billion (US$15.9 million) on 21.8 million shares. Most of the 10 leading shares by capitalization managed gains of between 0.5-2.2 per cent. Meanwhile, three retreated – Eximbank (EIB), down 1.9 per cent; Vietinbank (CTG), down 1.3 per cent; and PetroVietnam Finance (PVF), down 0.8 per cent. The most active code was property developer Hoang Quan (HQC), with more than 1.7 million shares exchanged. It also hit the daily limit of 5 per cent to close at VND11,500.