Vietnam Industrial Parks InfoGate ! Industrial Zones ! Export Processing Zones ! Business in brief

Standard Chartered has released a short report about Vietnam’s economy, which predicts that the GDP growth rate of Vietnam in 2009 will be 4.2%. The UK-based bank said that the target of 6.5% GDP growth rate in 2009 is unlikely to be reached. Vietnam’s inflation is forecast to drop dramatically to 6.5% from 22% last year, and to 4% in 2010. Despite the current difficulties, Viet Nam remains an attractive destination for international long-term investors. Political security, cheap labour costs and the large domestic market prove to be the big advantages of the country. On March 18, the World Bank lowered the GDP growth rate forecast for China to 6.5%, 1% lower than the 7.5% it forecast in November 2008.

BP PLC will withdraw from exploration blocks 5.2 and 5.3 offshore Vietnam, a company official said Friday. "This decision was made on the company’s business consideration," said the official, who declined to be named. "BP Vietnam is in discussions with PetroVietnam and partners to progress the withdrawal during 2009," she added, without giving an exact time frame for the withdrawal. BP holds a 55.5% stake in Block 5.2 and a 75% stake in Block 5.3, where natural gas prospects were found in 2006, said a PetroVietnam official. BP is the biggest foreign producer of natural gas in Vietnam, with its operations focusing on Block 06.1 in the Nam Con Son Basin.

Thirteen Vietnamese companies have joined 3,000 travel businesses worldwide at the 16^th Moscow International Travel and Tourism Exhibition (MITT) in Russia from March 18-21. Ho Hong Lien, an expert from the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, said despite the global economic crisis, Vietnamese companies still come to the event as Russia is a potential market for Vietnam’s tourism sector. Representative of the Saigontourist Travel Service Company Ho Huu Loc said his firm is offering special promotion programmes for foreign tourists, especially Russians, adding that Russian holiday makers currently account for 10 percent of the company’s customers. Saigontourist has been attending the MITT since the 11^th event and the number of Russian travelers choosing the company service keeps rising year on year, Loc said.

Foreign investors were net buyers of VND37 billion ($2.17 million) of Vietnamese stocks Thursday out of a total VND639 billion traded, the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange said. Volume traded totaled 32.2 million shares, with foreigners accounting for 9.2% , the stock market operator said. In the month to date, foreign investors have been net sellers of VND187.9 billion of Vietnamese stocks.

Vietnam National Coal-Mineral Industries Group, or Vinacomin, and China Southern Grid Corp. will start building a 1,200- megawatt power plant in Vietnam, Vietnam’s Ministry of Planning and Investment said Friday in a statement. The coal-fired plant will be part of the Vinh Tan complex, which will have a combined capacity of 4,400 megawatts, the ministry said. It said it will cost $6.1 billion to build the whole complex, which is located in Binh Thuan province, 200 kilometers northeast of Ho Chi Minh City. Construction of the plant is slated for completion by 2011, the ministry said.

China has announced it will offer a soft loan worth $300 million to Vietnam, Vietnamese state media said Friday. The announcement was made at a meeting Thursday in Hanoi between Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo and Vietnamese Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem, the Saigon Giai Phong newspaper said, without providing further details. Vietnam and China have set themselves a target to raise bilateral trade to $25 billion a year by 2010 from $20 billion in 2008, the Vietnamese government said Friday on its Web site.

About 300,000 jobs will likely be cut this year in Vietnam due to the global financial crisis, the labor minister said Friday at a National Assembly meeting. Most of the cuts will be made by enterprises, such as garment and footwear companies, that produce goods for export, Minister of Labor Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan said. Ngan said 85,000 jobs were cut in 40 provinces and cities in January, and more jobs have been lost in February and March. The crisis has also forced many overseas workers to return early. In the year to March 15, nearly 6,200 overseas workers had to return to Vietnam. Ngan predicted more than 10,000 overseas workers may have to return before their contracts expire.

Vietnam’s Ministry of Finance has decided to increase import tax on fresh and frozen cattle meat in a bid to help local food producers, according to the information center of Ministry of Industry and Trade on Thursday. According to the new tax rate, which will be effective as of Friday, the import tax on fresh and frozen beef will increase from current 17 percent to 33 percent, while that on fresh and frozen pork will rise from 24 percent to 28 percent.

Vietnam has earned over US$454 million from exporting 1.15 million tonnes of rice so far this year, according to the Vietnam Food Association. In the first half of March, rice traders have exported more than 203,000 tonnes of rice, earning US$79 million. Currently, farmers in the Mekong river delta are harvesting the winter-spring crop. Unhusked rice is currently bought at VND 4,800 a kilogramme.

Devices that are imported into Vietnam for the first time and that involve a new diagnostic or treatment method must undergo clinical testing in at least three government-designated hospitals. An application for clinical testing must be submitted and approved before the device can be imported, Jade Le Bich, Pacific Bridge Medical’s affiliate partner in Hanoi, said during a webcast on Vietnam’s device market.

Although Vietnamese exports to traditional markets have decreased sharply, China is emerging as a lucrative importer of shrimp, said the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers. The increase has made China fourth among Vietnam’s top shrimp importers. Since the beginning of this year, shrimp exports to China have reached 1,000 tonnes, valued at US$12 million, and accounting for 8.2% of total shrimp exports. Seafood experts say that China is a high-potential market for Vietnamese shrimp thanks to favourable geological conditions and customers preference. General Director of Minh Phu Seafood Company Le Van Quang remarked that apart from China, Vietnams shrimp exports to other primary markets is likely to fall over the next few months; this years shrimp exports are forecast to decline by 30% against last year.

Utica Converters plant manager John Gorman said Thursday that while the newer, shorter building is for sale, the expectation is that it will be to another investor who will continue to run the plant. Gorman acknowledges that some heavy machinery is being moved from the plant to Vietnam, and says that while no layoffs are planned, the company re-evaluates its position and needs on a monthly basis. 90% of the cord they make goes into car tires. So, when the auto industry suffers, they suffer.

Active Travel Asia (ATA) launches the Summer Promotion 2009 in Vietnam and Cambodia. ATA offers great Promotions regularly so travelers can afford their travel anytime of the year. These promotions are guaranteed by luxurious adventure tours, add-on values and good prices with 15-20% discount. The diversity of the adventure types: biking, trekking/hiking, motorcycling, kayaking…with their special offers guarantee the guests satisfaction for the next times. Each tour in Vietnam or Cambodia has the unique and special highlight as its name.

A canned beverage factory with an annual capacity of 8 million boxes of products was put into operation in Binh Duong province on March 13. The 18 million USD factory, invested by the Kian Joo Canpack Vietnam Co, Ltd and equipped with Japan’s modern technologies and production lines, will turn out various types of canned beverage such as coffee, tea, non-gas energy drinks and fruit juice. According to a Kian Joo Canpack Vietnam official, in the coming time, the company plans to add two production lines for the Binh Duong-based factory and build one more similar factory in Hanoi. The Kian Joo Canpack Vietnam Co, Ltd is a joint venture between Malaysia’s Kian Joo Can Factory and Japan’s Nihon Canpack. This is Kian Joo Can Factory’s third factory in Vietnam

Vietnam exported more than 203,000 tonnes of rice for 79.08 million USD in March, said the National Food Association. This helped bring the total volume and value of rice exports so far this year to 1.15 million tonnes and 454 million USD, respectively. The nation has to date shipped more than 1,000 tonnes of shrimp to China , grossing 12 million USD, the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Processors (VASEP) has revealed. According to the association, Vietnamese shrimp is still sold well in China despite the fall in its fisheries exports to the market. VASEP predicted that the nation’s shrimp exports are likely to drop by 30 percent compared with 2008

Local enterprises are preparing for a fair featuring Vietnamese exports, the first of its kind, in Russia from September 15-18, aimed at promoting trade to the European market. Around 50 domestic companies from 10 sectors such as agriculture, aquatic products and light industry, are expected to take part in the fair. Russia is a high-potential market for Vietnamese commodities, particularly seafood, farm produce, apparel and footwear, as demand for these products is on the rise in the European market. Vietnam and Russia have seen a surge in bilateral trade in recent years, marked by a record of 1.5 billion USD in two-way revenues in 2008. Of that amount, Vietnam exported 672 million USD, an increase of 67 percent year-on-year, and plans to increase that figure to 1 billion USD in 2009.

The Vietnam Machinery Erection Corp. (LILAMA) on March 18 put into operation a large-scale shipyard in northern coastal Hai Phong city. The shipyard which is part of a master plan shipbuilding industry development till 2010 approved by the Prime Minister has a total investment of 260 billion VND. The shipyard will be directly managed by the Hai Phong Equipment Manufacturing and Shipbuilding Company (LISEMCO) under the LILAMA, expected to build annually five new vessels and repair nine others with a loading capacity of 6,500 DWT each. LISEMCO general director Tran Viet Khanh said the yard has been planned to become a national top industrial equipment manufacturing centre, capable of building 10,000 DWT-capacity vessels.

Dong Nai Province entered an agreement with the Bretagne Region of France to develop a full livestock industry, including breeding, slaughtering and processing. Under the co-operation, Bretagne will assist Dong Nai Province to promote investment in the industry, introducing advanced breeding models to ensure food safety and increase product value. Assisting with human resources for the industry development is also part of the co-operation. Four domestic and foreign companies have received approval in principle from the Ministry of Planning and Investment to develop a project called Agro Park. The park is expected to attract domestic and foreign investors in general and those from Bretagne in particular in areas of breeding, slaughtering and processing.