Vietnam Industrial Parks InfoGate ! Industrial Zones ! Export Processing Zones ! Business in brief 19 Nov 2012

The US International Trade Commission (US ITC) has announced that the US will not impose anti-dumping duties (AD) on welded carbon-quality steel pipes imported from Vietnam. The US ITC confirmed that Vietnam’s welded carbon-quality steel pipes present no harm to the US steel industry. The latest decision officially ends the US’s year-long anti-dumping lawsuit against steel pipes imported from Vietnam. Earlier, the US Department of Commerce (DOC) admitted SeAH Steel Vina Corporation and Vietnam Haiphong Hongyuan Machinery Manufactory Co. Ltd. did not receive any government subsidies as the US had previously accused. The US’s anti-dumping lawsuit against steel pipes imported from Vietnam was subsequently officially withdrawn. The two firms named above make up 70 percent of Vietnam’s steel pipe export turnover in the US market.

HCM City hosted an exchange on November 16 to promote trade and investment between Vietnam and Germany. The delegation from Germany’s Sachen state featured companies operating in the field of new and renewable energy component production, mechanical engineering, software development and information technology services, health equipment, security, and consumer products and services. Sachen state wants to collaborate with and invest in Vietnamese across a variety of sectors including mechanical engineering, energy, garments and textiles, environmentally friendly products, the information technology industry, and construction materials. Local German authorities have promised favorable conditions for Vietnamese businesses who decide to expand their operations into Sachen state.

Vietnam wants Japan to increase its investment and cooperation to help industrialize and modernize Vietnam’s agricultural sector, including aquaculture, an agriculture official said. During the visit, the Vietnamese officials attended a working session with leaders from the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Social Welfare. The two sides exchanged views on bilateral cooperation in the management of agro-product quality, and measures to improve the quality of Vietnamese seafood exported to Japan. The Vietnamese officials asked the Japanese side to consider raising the acceptable level of Ethoxyquin content, an antioxidant, found in Vietnamese shrimp exported to Japan. The Japan Food Safety Committee began proceedings to consider the request on November 6. The Vietnamese delegation also held working sessions with the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Japan Fisheries Association, where it introduced Vietnam’s 2020 fishery strategy and called for Japanese investment in the sector.

Samsung Electronics Vietnam is struggling to build a research and development facility in Hanoi that will enable the firm to be officially recognized as a hi-tech one in Vietnam. According to a document sent by Bac Ninh People’s Committee to the State President’s Office, all of the locations Hanoi People’s Committee suggested to Samsung Electronics Vietnam were not favorable to the mobile-phone maker. If Samsung Electronics Vietnam cannot find a location, it would fail to meet the R&D criterion so as to be labeled as a “hi-tech” firm. Only when recognized as a hi-tech firm Samsung could enjoy the highest corporate income tax incentive of 10 per cent, against the standard rate of 25 per cent. If Samsung does not meet the criteria, the world’s leading mobile-phone-maker would have to return all tax incentives it has received in the first three years of operation.

Viettel Corporation may exceed the combined earnings this year of rival VNPT Group, operator of two major mobile service providers, Vinaphone and MobiFone. Viettel deputy director Le Dang Dung told the website VnEconomy that Viettel has projected earnings this year totaling VND140 trillion (US$6.7 billion) and expected to post a profit of VND22-23 trillion (over $1 billion). It currently enjoys average daily revenue of nearly VND400 billion (US$19 million). In 2010, VNPT Group earned over VND100 trillion ($4.8 billion), about VND10 trillion ($480 million) higher than Viettel’s earnings for the year. Last year, VNPT’s earning were VND120.8 trillion ($5.6 billion), but Viettel followed closely on its heels, with revenues of VND117 trillion ($5.5 billion). With the narrowing gap between two telecom giants, industry insiders were expecting Viettel to soon outrun VNPT.

Vietnamese investors have ranked third among foreign investors in the Lao stock market, said Vathana Dalaloy, secretary general of the Lao Securities and Exchange Commission. Dalaloy made the comments during her working visit to Vietnam’s State Securities Commission earlier this week. She said the Lao stock market is in the early stage of development, focusing on market development and completing the legal framework for the stock market to ensure its World Trade Organization commitments. Laos has drafted a law on the securities market after consultations with the Vietnamese side, and the legislation is expected to be issued later this year. Earlier, the two commissions signed a memorandum of understanding on boosting co-operation on information exchange.

Nearly 300 Vietnamese and Chinese businesses attended the Vietnam-China Economics and Trade Forum as part of the 2012 Vietnam-China People’s Friendship Festival, in Liuzhou City in the Chinese province of Guangxi on November 18. Addressing the opening ceremony, Deputy Mayor Jiao Yaoguang of Liuzhou City briefed participants on the socio-economic development situation as well as the province’s investment policies. Vietnamese ambassador to China Nguyen Van Tho said the forum was of great significance as it offered an opportunity for businesses of both countries to strengthen cooperation and contribute to developing cooperative relations for the benefit of both sides.

The Vietnam National Coal and Mineral Industries Group (Vinacomin) and HCM City Housing Development Bank (HDBank) last week signed a comprehensive co-operation agreement in Ha Noi. Under the agreement, HDBank will provide Vinacomin and its affiliates with loans and other products and services to boost production, do business as well as make large-scale investments in the industry. Vinacomin meanwhile, will give priority to HDBank’s participation in process of preparing, consulting, sponsoring and co-sponsoring projects invested in by the group. The two sides also plan to jointly develop capital-related products like improving cash flow management between parent and subsidiary companies.

Doosan Heavy Industries Vietnam shipped boilers to the 1,370 MW Raipur Thermal Power Plant, India, the company told Vietnam News yesterday. Two 685 MW boiler units manufactured in Vietnam were set to be installed in the thermal plant 1,176 km southeast of New Delhi.

A delegation of 20 leading firms from Japan’s Hyogo prefecture led by Governor Ido Toshizo, visited southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau province to seek investment cooperation opportunities. During a working session with the Japanese delegation last Friday, provincial leaders briefed the visitors on the province’s potential and investment policy. They asked the Japanese to help their province develop and manage seaport system. Ido Toshizo affirmed that Hyogo is very interested in the Vietnamese market, especially the key southern economic region, including Ba Ria-Vung Tau. He said that after the visit, his prefecture will draw up specific cooperation plans with Ba Ria-Vung Tau.

Work started yesterday on a tunnel route under the Ca Pass that will link the two central provinces of Phu Yen and Khanh Hoa as well as reduce traffic accidents along National Highway 1A. The tunnel road, from Phu Yen Province’s Hao Son Commune to Khanh Hoa Province’s Co Ma Commune, will be 13.4km long. The maximum speed for vehicles travelling along the route will be 80kph. The project has total investment capital of VND15.6 trillion (US$748 million). On completion, the tunnel route is expected to reduce traffic accidents on National Highway 1A and contribute to the development of large economic centres, industrial zones and tourism sites in the central region.

Vietnam’s leading information technology company FPT Software recently opened software outsourcing operations in Germany, aiming to develop it into one of its three key markets besides the US and Japan. The company now has a presence in 12 countries. Company general director Nguyen Thanh Lam said that the launch of the German branch was in line with the company’s strategy to develop services and new markets to achieve growth. FPT in Germany would operate in the fields of consulting; managing and developing information systems; producing and distributing packaged software; developing application software; and training software engineers. Truong Gia Binh, chairman and CEO of FPT Corporation, said that 50 per cent of FPT’s software outsourcing business currently came from Japan and they hoped to replicate the same model in Germany.

Japan’s Aeon Group will cooperate with Vietnamese producers and suppliers to bring domestic products to its global retail network, said Yasuo Nishitohge, general director of Aeon Vietnam Co. Ltd. Speaking at the scholarship granting ceremony in HCMC last week, Nishitohge said that Aeon had held a meeting for suppliers in the city early this month as a first move to secure local supply. The enterprise will pay attention to export products Vietnam has advantages such as apparel, footwear and plastic. Aeon-Celadon Tan Phu shopping center is expected to start operating in 2014 with the invested capital of US$100 million while 20 more centers will be opened countrywide before 2020. Each center will need 2,000 staff.

The Republic of Korea’s T.H.T limited company officially held a ground breaking ceremony of an urban area in Hanoi with a total investment of $2.5 billion. The Starlake project will be built on the area of 207.66 ha to the west of the West Lake, with 89 ha intended for roads, parks and planting trees and 46 ha reserved for building commercial projects, financial center and offices. A land area of 26 ha is specialized for high rise apartment buildings, houses and villas to serve for around 25,000 people. The project is jointly implemented by Daewoo E&C Group and the Korea Development Bank.

Coffee output from the 2012/2013 harvest in Daklak, Vietnam’s top growing province, may shrink less than 5 percent to 465,000 tons, or 7.75 million bags, a provincial report said, well below an earlier projected fall of around 10 percent. The latest forecast was released on Friday by the Daklak People’s Committee, the local government, which also forecast it would export 350,000 tons of coffee this crop year, a rise of 17 percent, the Daklak trade promotion center said. On Tuesday, a Daklak agriculture department official told Reuters the province’s output may fall around 10 percent to between 440,000-450,000 tons.