Vietnam Industrial Parks InfoGate ! Industrial Zones ! Export Processing Zones ! Business in brief 26 April 2013

Vietnam has so far this year raked in more than 760 million USD from shipment of over 1.73 million tons of rice, according to the Vietnam Food Association. Currently, the rice price in the Mekong Delta, the country’s largest granary, continues to drop 100 VND (about 0.05 USD) a kilo compared to the last week’s figure. Prices of dry unhusked rice in the Mekong Delta hover from 5,000 VND (around 0.25 USD) to 5,100 VND (0.25 USD) per kilo. According to the association, provinces of the Mekong Delta have harvested about 10.5 million tons of unhusked rice from the winter-spring crop 2013. Meanwhile, local farmers have sowed over 480,000 hectares out of 1.6 million hectares planned for the upcoming summer-autumn crop. To ensure stable rice production and supply as well as profits for local farmers, the construction of a storage system capable of storing up to 4 million tons of paddy rice in the Mekong Delta is underway. The facilities are expected to be operational by the end of this year.

The State Treasury mobilized 6.45 trillion VND worth of Government bonds through a tender organized by the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX) on April 25. The HNX put forward Government bonds worth 7 trillion VND in total for tender on the day. The mobilized money included 2 trillion VND in two-year bonds with an annual interest rate of 7.37 percent, 2 trillion VND in three-year bonds with an annual interest rate of 7.68 percent, 1.65 trillion VND in five-year bonds with an annual interest rate of 8.45 percent, and 800 billion USD in 10-year bonds with an interest rate of 9.1 percent. The State Treasury has so far this year mobilized over 67.9 trillion VND worth of Government bonds via tenders, including over 15 trillion VND in April alone. (VNA)

Vietnam’s garment and textile export saw strong growth in several new markets in the first quarter of this year, with the rate as high as 134 percent in Norway and 120 percent in New Zealand, according to statistics from the General Customs Department. Garment export to Cambodia also increased by 103 percent in the period, hitting 45.7 million USD. The ASEAN as a whole also bought more garment and textile products from Vietnam, generating a total turnover of 111.4 million USD, up 44.4 percent. Vietnam earned 3.7 billion USD from the export of garment and textile in the January-March period, up 18.3 percent.

Up to 300 world leading aviation strategists gathered in HCM City on April 25 to map out action plans for developing Vietnam’s aviation logistics sector amid the global economic recession. Industry insiders and experts discussed issues relating to aviation transport logistics such as opportunities and challenges for newly-emerging markets, aviation logistics connectivity, aviation logistics amid an economic recession, training and security. The event created a venue for domestic operators to develop service supply chains with international partners, penetrating deeper into the global supply chain. It was also a chance for foreign companies to seek partnerships with their Vietnamese counterparts. According to the Vietnam Civil Aviation Administration, Vietnam’s aviation industry transported 17.5 million passengers and 201,000 tons of cargo in 2012, a year-on-year increase of 5.2 percent and 1.98 percent, respectively.

Nearly 3,000 businesses in the capital city have halted production so far this year, including 108 businesses that changed their field of business, according to the Ha Noi Taxation Department. The closures were attributed to the slow global economic recovery, rapidly increasing bad debt, large volume of inventories and high lending interest rate. Deputy director of the Ha Noi Taxation Department Thai Dung Tien said that in the first quarter this year, tax declarations and payment from businesses were much lower than in the same period last year. By April, the city’s total revenue is estimated to reach more than VND40.2 trillion ($1.915 billion)–83.3 per cent of what it was last year. Next month, the city tax department will review first quarter tax collection.

The south-central province of Ninh Thuan has pledged to priorities, offer assistance to, and consider the requests of any Japanese businesses investing in the locality. Ninh Thuan Provincial People’s Committee Chairman Nguyen Duc Thanh confirmed the commitment at a conference in Hanoi on April 25. Ninh Thuan is currently home to 22 projects sponsored by the Japanese Government with capital investment totalling more than VND552 billion, Thanh said. He announced the Vietnamese Government’s plan to invest in several national key projects that will improve Ninh Thuan’s connections with south-central provinces and the southern key economic zone. He also raised Ninh Thuan’s hope to receive additional Official Development Assistance from the Japanese Government.

The Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam began to issue BIDV-Manchester United debit and credit Visa cards yesterday with over credit cards being issued already. It is planned that BIDV-MU debit cards will be released starting in July. The co-operation will help the bank expand operations, boost its brandname and its market share, said BIDV deputy general director Tran Xuan Hoang. It will also help promote the image of Vietnam outside the country via the club’s global fans, he said. BIDV is targeting the football club’s huge fan following in Vietnam, estimated at 25 million, of which 2.4 million are judged to be ardent ones. Cards holders will enjoy several benefits including discounts on purchases made at the MU website and reduction in the club’s annual membership fee, among others.

Sacombank’s (STB) profit last year declined due to large provisions, mainly for its subsidiary Sacombank Securities (SBS), the bank said yesterday during its shareholder meeting. Last year’s net profit reached VND987.4 billion (US$47 million), around 52 per cent less than in 2011. Sacombank announced that SBS owed over VND2 trillion ($95.2 million) to the bank as of last June. This was because the bank bought SBS’s convertible bonds, which had not been approved by the central bank. At the same time, Sacombank also violated the regulation prohibiting banks from lending to securities companies under their control. Sacombank’s losses totaled VND821 billion ($39 million), according to the central bank.

SPi Global, a leading globally recognized full-service BPO provider, has won an award for best BPO service in Vietnam for the third consecutive year after having won the judges’ approval during the 2013 Sao Khue Awards given by the Vietnam Software Association (Vinasa). This year, SPi Global’s ePublishing application was recognized for innovativeness in dealing with clients’ challenges in converting digital files for publication of physical books to eBooks. "We are honored by this recognition from Vinasa," said President and CEO Maulik Parekh. "This achievement has been made possible by the dedication and focus of our employees in Vietnam as supported by the employees in our various locations worldwide. This is also a testimony to the creativity and innovation that we try to promote in our organization." The Sao Khue event was attended by representatives of some of the biggest and most innovative companies in Vietnam.

The Binh Dien Fertilizer Joint Stock Company exported 100,000 tons of fertilizer to Cambodia in 2012, earning around US$60 million. Le Quoc Phong, the company’s CEO, said successful operations in Cambodia will help the company penetrate Laos and Myanmar in the near future. Cambodia’s YETAK group signed a cooperation agreement with Binh Dien in 2003 to import fertilizers from the Vietnamese company, and its imports have since increased 20 percent annually. YETAK General Director Huk Chuon said Binh Dien fertilizers are now popular with Cambodian farmers, besides products imported from Thailand and the Philippines. Quality products, reasonable prices and technical assistance are primary factors in winning local farmers’ trust, Chuon said, sharing the experience in penetrating the Cambodian market.

The Airports Corporation of Vietnam held a ground-breaking ceremony for a passenger terminal in Vinh city, the central province of Nghe An, on April 26. The VND800-billion project is scheduled to be put into operation on September 2, 2014 to receive A320s, A321s or ATR72s and serve 1,000 passengers during peak hours. The terminal was designed by Singapore-US joint venture contractor CPG-PAE that has developed designs and provided consultations for many large airports across the world. Once operational, it will serve more domestic routes and a number of short-distance routes to Bangkok (Thailand), Vientiane (Laos), Cambodia and Hainan (China). The current Vinh passenger terminal receives A320s, A321s and Boeing 737-400s. It is conducting 20 flights per day on domestic routes: Saigon-Vinh-Saigon, Hanoi-Vinh-Hanoi, Vinh-Buon Ma Thuot-Vinh, Vinh-Danang-Vinh.

The first farm producing the famed weasel coffee in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong has opened its door for visitors to see the entire process of making the coffee with the help of domesticated animals. The two-hectare farm at 135E Hoang Hoa Tham Street, Da Lat city, is keeping as many as 120 weasels (a type of civet) with the permission of the local forest management agency, and can produce an average of 500 kilograms of weasel coffee every year. According to the farm’s owner Nguyen Minh Quoc, every coffee crop, the civets are fed with highest quality Arabica coffee berries. The coffee beans which are relatively undigested and intact in their droppings were then collected, cleaned and processed for sale.