VietNam Business: cent

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Thursday, February 17, 2011

President praises An Giang for becoming economic ‘hub'

AN GIANG — President Nguyen Minh Triet yesterday congratulated An Giang Province for becoming a key economic hub in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta.

"You're now leading the nation and the region in rice growing and fresh fisheries breeding," Triet, a member of the Communist Party of Viet Nam's Politburo, told the ninth An Giang Party Congress yesterday.

Triet said that in the last five years, most targets set at the last Provincial Party Congress had been achieved or surpassed.

However, he noted that economic development was not yet sustainable and called for infrastructure development to be sped up to attract more investors and to raise the province's competitive index.

Regarding the next five-year development plan, President Triet urged the province to pay more attention to agriculture and rural development.

He said the application of science and technology in agricultural production could add value to produce.

A political report delivered by the An Giang Party Committee said in the last five years, on average the province recorded annual gross domestic production (GDP) growth of 10.34 per cent against the target of 12 per cent.

Of this, the service sector increased by 13.46 per cent, industry and construction increased by 13 per cent and agriculture by 3.77 per cent.

Per capita income in the period under review increased by 2.5 times the 2005 figure.

The political report said the most striking success in the last five years was the impressive increase in total social investment in the province – VND 87.4 trillion (More than US$5 billion).

Export turnover in the last five years stood at $3 billion against the target of $2.68 billion, three times higher than the 2001-05 plan.

Reviewing the movement to follow President Ho Chi Minh's moral example, the report said much progress had been recorded by many individual and collective role models, particularly among party members.

The An Giang Congress closes today. — vns

Friday, February 4, 2011

Business confidence index rises

Manufacturing super light bags for pupils in Ladoda Production Service Trading Leather Products Co. — VNA/VNS photo Tran Viet

HA NOI — The business confidence index (BCI) rebounded in the third quarter this year after it increased three points over the second quarter and 37 points against the same period in 2008.

"This survey attracted the participation of 262 companies from 11 primary sectors and industries in Viet Nam," said a representative from WVB FISL. "More than 70 per cent of the companies are small- and medium-sized enterprises."

With respect to current economic conditions, about 70 per cent of the participants thought overall economic conditions had improved compared to one year ago. About 25 per cent of the participants agreed that there was no change with the current economic conditions, and 4.2 per cent said that current economy conditions had not improved.

About 84.35 per cent of the participants said they believed the economy would continue to improve and 15.65 per cent said they believed there would be no change.

Optimistically, about 72 per cent of the individuals questioned said they believed their enterprises' profits would likely increase during the next 12 months.

As many as 60 per cent of the participants said they expected their employment and investments in fixed assets to increase.

During the last quarter, the number of businesses that were concerned about their revenues and profits was up 0.06 per cent and 1.96 per cent, respectively.

The survey also showed that many domestic businesses were still concerned about inflation and fluctuations in the exchange rate between the US dollar and Vietnamese dong.

Most participants surveyed said they believed foreign investors would focus on four major areas including real estate, consumer product manufacturing, information technology, and mining.

Nearly 20 per cent of them believed that foreign investors would pour money into the information and technology sectors, while 31.27 per cent said the real estate sector would receive more investments.

The survey also found that many businesses believe that the tourism, footwear, garment and pharmaceutical sectors will continue to gain momentum and receive increased investments in the future.

The quarterly survey was conducted by the Viet Nam World Vest Base Financial Intelligence Services (WVB FISL) and PetroVietnam Finance Investment and Consultancy Company (PVFC Invest). — VNS

Air travel surges 20% in 9 months

HA NOI — The aviation market in the first nine months saw a year-on-year increase of more than 20 per cent in the number of air travel passengers, estimated the Civil Aviation Administration of Viet Nam.

The administration estimated that roughly 15 million passengers went through the country's airports in the first nine months of this year, of which Vietnam Airlines, Jetstar Pacific and Viet Nam Air Service Co (Vasco) accounted for more than 11 million.

In the first nine months, the administration also estimated that roughly 340,000 tonnes of goods were transported via air, an increase of 36 per cent over the same period last year.

Industry insiders forecast the country's aviation market in the last quarter would continue to surge due to an increased number of flights licensed by the aviation authorities for foreign airlines including Turkish Airlines, Poland's LOT and Qatar Airways.

Vo Huy Cuong, director of the administration's Air Transport Department, attributed the steady growth to the continuing strong expansion of the domestic segment backed by flagship carrier Vietnam Airlines.

Cuong said that Vietnam Airlines and its subsidiary Vasco still accounted for the lion's share of around 80 per cent of the domestic market while the rest was covered by Jetstar Pacific.

With the introduction of Air Mekong and Blue Sky Air recently, which lifts the number of operational airlines in the country to nine, it was expected that the competition in the domestic aviation market would increase.

The administration expected that the country's overall aviation market would grow roughly 20 per cent in 2010, higher than the 14 per cent figure it had projected earlier this year, thanks to more domestic services and a significant increase in the number of international visitors.

The administration's statistics showed that roughly 26.2 million passengers and 445,800 tonnes of cargo were transported by air last year, four times higher than in 2000. — VNS

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

IFC to buy 10% stake in Vietinbank for $190 million

HA NOI — Vietinbank agreed yesterday to sell a 10-per-cent stake in the firm to International Finance Corporation (IFC) for US$190 million. The deal makes Vietinbank the first partly equitised State-owned bank to become part-owned by a foreign strategic investor. It made its initial public offering 22 months ago.

The price was set by the Government, the Ministry of Finance and the State Bank of Viet Nam.

IFC will support Vietinbank with technologies, international business development and management.

Viet Nam's largest partly-private lender announced yesterday its total assets at the end of August had risen nearly 30 per cent from the end of 2009 to VND320 trillion ($16.41 billion).

In the first eight months of this year, the Ha Noi-based lender raised more than VND290 trillion in deposits and lent VND199.5 trillion. Its bad debt stood at 1.05 per cent of all loans, below an annual target of 2.5 per cent for 2010.

The bank plans to pay a dividend of 20 per cent of its shares' face value of VND10,000 for 2010, higher than its initial target of around 15 per cent, the statement said, without giving profit figures for the eight-month period.

Vietinbank expects to increase its charter capital to VND23 trillion ($1.18 billion) by the end of the year, and the figure is slated to reach VND35 trillion ($1.8 billion) next year.

"By helping Vietinbank build up its capacity and strengthen its products and services, IFC will assist the bank in reaching more small – and medium-sized enterprises through its nationwide network," said Simon Andrews, IFC regional manager for Viet Nam, Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand.

"The proposed engagement will help Vietinbank further develop as a leading SME and underlines IFC's support for the Government's equitisation programme in the financial and banking sectors."

The Ha Noi-based bank also plans to sell a stake of 15 per cent to Canada's Bank of Nova Scotia to raise its registered capital by 35 per cent to VND15.1 trillion. The deal is expected to be finalised in December.

Shares of Vietinbank (coded CTG on the HCM City Stock Exchange) closed last Friday at VND18,700 per share.

Vietinbank went public in December 2007, becoming the first State-owned bank to do so.

However, it has struggled to find a foreign strategic investor. — VNS

Monday, January 24, 2011

Project to boost exports to Africa

Rice, which accounts for roughly 40 per cent of the country's total export turnover to Africa, is packed for export at the HCM City Food Company. The Ministry of Industry and Trade has approved a project to help exporters better exploit the African market. — VNA/VNS Photo Dinh Hue

HA NOI — A project to boost exports to Africa, a location considered to be a potential market for Vietnamese goods in the wake of saturation in traditional markets, was ratified by the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT).

Under the project, the ministry will select a number of large exporters to focus on Africa specifically and they will be grouped together to focus on exporting special products to key markets in the region.

MoIT will also ask the Government to introduce policies to encourage small- and medium-sized businesses to do more business in Africa.

Besides rice, apparel, coffee, footwear, electronics and construction materials, the ministry will also urge exporters to ship goods that are in high demand in Africa, such as household utensils, consumer goods, food, plastics, mechanical goods and medicine.

Africa is the world's third largest continent with 54 countries and a total population of more than 1 billion. As the continent's economy is forecast to expand by about 4.5 per cent this year, they will likely need to import various necessities and a greater volume than in the past.

Currently, Vietnamese products are present in 53 African countries. The key export markets are Egypt, South Africa, Angola, Nigeria, Ghana and Algeria.

Strategic gateway

Two-way trade between Viet Nam and Africa has grown by an average of 45 per cent per annum. Last year, Viet Nam's exports to Africa reached US$1.56 billion, an increase of 20 per cent compared to 2008, of which South Africa accounted for roughly 30 per cent.

Do Quang Lien, commercial counselor to South Africa, said Vietnamese businesses should strengthen their investment and exports to South Africa as it is the continent's largest economy and a strategic gateway for trade between the continent and other countries.

Viet Nam's main exports to Africa include rice, consumer goods, textiles and garments, electronics, plastic and wooden products, coffee, motorbikes, dairy products, seafood and processing foodstuff. Currently, rice accounts for roughly 40 per cent of Viet Nam's total export turnover to Africa and it is forecast that the product will remain at the top of Viet Nam's exports to Africa for the next five years.

Although trade between the two countries has increased, Vietnamese exporters to Africa are still facing challenges, including incomplete legal policies, poor infrastructure, an undeveloped banking system and a lack of information about African countries in general.

Apart from Africa's remote location, which bumps up transport costs, the difficulty in making payments is a daunting one. Le Thi Thai Hoa, deputy director of the Ministry of Industry and Trade's African Market Department, said several African countries were saddled by outdated payment facilities, which deter Vietnamese enterprises from penetrating this market.

To deal with this, Hoa suggested businesses should actively contact her department and Viet Nam's trade offices in African countries to seek help, avoid fraud and minimise risk.

This year, Viet Nam targeted a 3-per-cent increase to $1.6 billion in export revenue to Africa. — VNS

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Markets sort mixed economic signals

HCM CITY — Mixed macroeconomic signals and continued lateral movement of stock markets continued in September, but one of the most positive signs was estimated GDP growth of 7.16 per cent for the third quarter, according to a monthly review released by the company Viet Nam Asset Management yesterday.

The GDP rate during September contributed to the combined growth of the first nine months to 6.52 per cent.

The full-year GDP growth target was revised up to 6.7-6.8 per cent, given that the last quarter is usually the most robust period of economic activity.

For the first nine months, industrial production was up 13.8 per cent while retail sales revenue soared 25.4 per cent compared to the same period last year.

While economic growth is edging up, inflation and exchange rates are likely to become issues in the last three months of the year.

The September consumer price index (CPI) came in at 1.31 per cent month-on-month and 8.92 per cent year-on-year.

This was the first month-on-month increase of over 1 per cent since this February.

The sharp acceleration was driven by higher prices of foods, construction materials, gas and education fees, with the latter caused by a seasonal effect.

The exchange rate is another concern, as the unofficial rate, after months of converging with the official rate, suddenly heated up in September, trading at 1 per cent above the upper limit of the official trading band.

The recent fluctuation of the exchange rate in the unofficial market was primarily attributed to strong increases in gold prices in the last two months, accelerating inflation and widening the trade deficit.

The mix of a record-high gold price, an unexpected rise in September's CPI, and the divergence of official and unofficial exchange rates has once again sparked fears of inflation and further devaluation toward the year-end.

The securities market continued its prolonged lateral movement when the VN-Index closed the month at 454.52, almost flat against September.

The report suggests that despite the potential catalyst from corporate earnings in the third quarter, investors will likely remain cautious in October because of a stocks oversupply and mixed macroeconomic signals.

"We are still upholding our long-term interest in the consumer, IT, telecom and pharmaceutical sectors. For short-term seasonal play, we are closely watching natural rubber and some high-dividend defensive stocks. Overall, we strongly advise investors to look closely at individual firm's performances rather than choosing a specific industry," the report said. — VNS

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Energy-saving products grow in popularity

HCM CITY — Energy-saving air-conditioners and compact-flourescent lights have become more and more popular in the HCM City market, experts have said.

At the beginning of the year, local and international producers, including Panasonic, Sanyo, Samsung and Hitachi, launched inverter-technology products that save up to 20-60 per cent of electricity consumption.

From January to August, 546,654 air conditioners with a capacity of up to 15,000BTU have been sold in HCM City. Of those, 35-50 per cent used inverter technology, according to figures compiled from electronic-goods shops.

At the HCM City-based Wonder Buy electronic-goods centre, 35 per cent of all air conditioners sold were of the inverter type, while at Best Carings 60 per cent of air-conditioner sales had inverter technology.

Like energy-savings air conditioners, compact-fluorescent lights that can help save power are also popular in the market.

Compact-fluorescent light bulbs, which can cut energy use from 40W to 38W, are widely on sale.

Customers are now becoming familiar with the use of compact-flourescent lights instead of the more common incandescent bulbs.

Five years ago, Dutch-based Philips Viet Nam introduced compact-flourescent lights to the market. Most of them can save at least 10 per cent of electricity consumption.

Recently, the Dien Quang Company has also focused on making compact lights that can help save power.

Nguyen Thanh Toan of HCM City Power Saving Centre said total energy savings would depend on the customers' use and other factors.

Toan said that, for instance, an air conditioner works of 9,000BTU capacity and power consumption of 750W per hour could save up to 30 per cent of electricity consumption.

Toan also said that some air conditioners could save up to 60 per cent of electricity consumption.

The owner of the Cong Danh air-conditioner shop in Go Vap District said the price of an air conditioner with converter technology is about VND2 million – VND3 million (US$100) higher than other air-conditioners.

But savings over the long run would compensate for the higher initial price, he added.

The price of compact fluorescent lights is not expensive, but it has high quality and is popular with customers, according to the owner of Huynh Nga electronic shop in the city's Thu Duc District. — VNS

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Export staples join $1b club

HA NOI — With export turnover of more than US$1 billion each by September this year, coal, rubber and steel joined the country's $1 billion club, according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

The new additions lifted the number of the country's export staples with turnover of more than $1 billion to 13. The others include garments, footwear, crude oil, seafood, gemstones, wooden products, electrical goods, computers, machinery and vehicles.

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Thanh Bien said the increasing cost of many export staples helped raise the country's total export turnover in the first nine months of the year to $51.5 billion, up 23.2 per cent year-on-year.

During the period, around 48 per cent of Viet Nam's exports went to the Asian market, followed by America with 23 per cent and Europe with 22 per cent.

Bien attributed the export growth to the State Bank of Viet Nam's decision to lift the inter-bank rate by 2.1 per cent in August as part of the effort to boost exports and curb the trade deficit.

Industry insiders forecast the trade sector would meet the Government's export target of $61 billion this year, given a number of key export industries including apparel still had fresh orders coming in.

To meet the target, the Ministry of Planning and Investment has asked customs officials to scrutinise current procedures to ease the import of materials for export production.

Besides capitalising on advantages created by Free Trade Agreements, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has also boosted other bilateral and multilateral negotiations to help exporters enlarge their markets. — VNS

Saturday, January 15, 2011

City targets 12% growth in 2011-2015

HCM CITY — Le Thanh Hai, secretary of the HCM City Party Committee, has said the city will try its best to attain an annual GDP growth rate of 12 per cent during the 2011-15 period.

In a political report delivered at the 9th Party Congress of HCM City, Hai said the city targeted an annual value-added growth of 13 per cent for its service sector; 11 per cent for the manufacturing sector and 5 per cent for agriculture.

Hai said in 2015, the service, industrial and agricultural sectors would account for 57, 42 and 1 per cent of the city's GDP, respectively.

Other targets contained in the report include maintaining the city's birth rate at less than 1.1 per cent per annum.

By the end of 2015, per capital income in the city will reach US$4,800 compared with $2,800 in 2010.

The city will create 120,000 new jobs every year compared with nearly 118,000 per year in the 2006-10 period.

Hai also said that by the end of 2015, skilled workers would make up 70 per cent of the city's workforce.

The number of families under the poverty line of VND12 million/person/year would drop to below 2 per cent of the city's population, he said.

By the end of the next five-year plan, the city's doctor-patient ratio would be 15 for every 10,000 residents.

The number of households in urban areas accessing clean water would reach 98 per cent.

The city targets building 39 million square metres of new housing, raising the per capita housing area in the city to 17 sq.m in 2015 from 14.3sq. m in 2009.

Green development

Hai said 100 per cent of solid waste and wastewater generated by city enterprises would be collected and treated by the end of the next five-year plan period, and all industrial parks and export processing zones without exception would have central wastewater treatment systems.

He added that the city would pay a lot of attention to envionmental protection by promoting green production and improving development quality.

It would also give priority to developing its service sectors including financial, banking, commerce, transportation, post and telecommunications, warehousing and port services.

Due attention would be paid to the development of the ITC, real estate and tourism industries, as well as the health, and education and training sectors, Hai said.

The city would focus on developing public transportation, including urban railway projects, expressways and beltways to connect the city with the Mekong Delta and other localities in the country, he added.

Authorities would spare no effort to curb traffic jams and prevent flooding. A programme covering 100sq.km had been mapped out to stop flooding in inner districts and to prevent flooding elsewhere.

The city would continue its efforts to create a level playing field for companies from different economic sectors and to assist small- and medium-sized enterprises to access loans, technology and new markets, Hai said. — VNS

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Ha Noi commercial property booms

HA NOI — The Ha Noi real estate market saw optimistic development in the third quarter and the growth trend is expected to continue to the end of this year, Savills Viet Nam real estate agent reported yesterday.

"Good economic recovery in the third quarter helped the office and retail sectors in the property market," said Pham Thanh Son, Savills Viet Nam economics expert.

Ha Noi's office occupancy rate average increased to 91 per cent, a 4 per cent jump, in the second quarter, according to Savills associate director and head of research and consultancy Tran Nhu Trung.

The average occupancy rate in the city's shopping centres remained high at 94 per cent and many new shopping centres opened in this quarter.

The serviced apartment sector average dipped slightly to 91 per cent from 92 per cent in the third quarter but average rental rates increased by 0.4 per cent to US$26 per sq.m per month, Trung said.

Son reported challenges to credit acquisition for the capital property market, which include depreciating dong, high interest rates for loans and Decree 71, which contributed to a decline in mobilised capital.

Son also asserted that the increased price of gold and the higher exchange rate attracted more investors to the financial market so available capital for property projects has declined. — VNS

Poor fuel management costs millions

HA NOI — Poor fuel forecasting and lack of communication had caused Viet Nam to spend valuable foreign currency on importing petrol while domestic petrol was in oversupply, the Ministry of Industry and Trade said this week.

It has also contributed to Viet Nam National Petroleum Corporation (Petrolimex) losing US$41 million in exchange rates so far this year.

Deputy Minister Nguyen Cam Tu said only 9 out of 11 petrol enterprises had bought petrol produced by Dung Quat Oil Refinery this year, using only 30-40 per cent of its production capacity.

Petrolimex, which accounted for 60 per cent of the country's market share of petrol, had been expected to buy 28 per cent of Dung Quat's output, but had only bought 19 per cent.

Tu explained that the reason for the high imports was a shortfall last year when the new refinery had failed to reach its production target due to teething problems and as a result petrol traders had had to import petrol in order to ensure supply.

This year, traders had again signed contracts to import fuel, hedging against the same thing happening again at the refinery, but the plant had ironed out its problems.

Since August it had been producing to its design capacity, which was equal to 6.5 million tonnes a year, or 30 per cent of the country's needs, exceeding its own yearly plan by 25 per cent.

Thus while local production was up, local demand was down as domestic traders would suffer heavy losses if they cancelled their import contracts.

The differences in exchange rates had already caused Petrolimex a loss of VND800 billion (US$41 million) since the beginning of the year.

To address the problem, PetroVietnam would plan and work with petrol traders to limit stockpiled petrol and restrict imports.

In the meantime, Petrolimex had targeted to double petrol consumption from the refinery in the next three months and six out of 11 petrol importers had sought to reduce their imports to 700,000cu. m.

To date, the plant had processed 4.98 million tonnes and sold 4.74 million tonnes; in particular 4,500 tonnes of aviation fuel Jet A1 fuel was sold to PB Singapore Petroleum Company.

The country had imported 7.84 million tonnes in the first nine months, or 67.6 per cent of its forecast consumption for the year. — VNS

Friday, January 7, 2011

Garment exports on target

Workers make clothes for export at a factory in the northern province of Ninh Binh. The textile and garment industry is on track to reach its annual export target of US$10.5 billion by November. — VNA/VNS Photo Tran Viet

HA NOI — The textile and garment industry will meet its annual export target of US$10.5 billion by November, said vice chairman and general secretary of the Viet Nam Textile and Apparel Association (Vitas) Le Van Dao.

Dao estimated that the industry would earn more than $1 billion each month in the fourth quarter.

September was the third consecutive month the industry fetched more than $1 billion from exports, bringing the sector's total export value in the first nine months of this year to more than $8 billion, a year-on-year increase of 20.6 per cent, according to the General Statistics Office.

Dao said many garment exporters had orders for the end of this year and even for the beginning of next year.

Over the past nine months, exports to the big markets have recorded high growth. Exports to the US increased 22.1 per cent to $3.94 billion while the rising figures to the EU and Japan were 6.7 per cent and 14.3 per cent to $1.18 billion and $691 million, respectively.

Exports to North Korea surged 64 per cent thanks to the impact of its Free Trade Agreement with ASEAN.

However, Pham Xuan Hong, Vitas deputy chairman, said the garment industry was facing a shortage of labour and an increase in the price of transport and power.

A surge in the price of cotton on the world market also had a negative impact on the industry. A tonne of cotton has risen 45 per cent since the same period last year to $1,900-2,000 while the industry has to import up to 95 per cent of its cotton. The industry imported 260,000 tonnes of cotton in the first nine months of the year and estimates that figure will reach roughly 370,000 tonnes by the end of the year.

Hong said garment exporters were seeking new sources from Japan and ASEAN countries in order to enjoy preferential taxes.

To fulfil the target of $19 billion from exports by 2015 and $25 billion by 2020, the garment sector is actively implementing programmes related to cotton cultivation to increase domestic supplies and develop human resources to meet the increasing demands of the sector.

The sector is also promoting its trademark and setting up distribution networks nationwide to take a firm foothold in the domestic market. — VNS

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

US reduces dumping duties on shrimp

The US Department of Commerce has decided to cut anti-dumping tariffs it had imposed on 31 Vietnamese shrimp exporters by 0.01-0.69 percentage points.

The move followed feedback to the department's fourth administrative review conducted between February 2008 and January 2009 of shrimp imported into the US by Nha Trang Seafood Joint Stock Co, Minh Phu Seafood Co, and Minh Hai Seafood Co.

Under the revised tariffs, the duty on shrimps imported by Nha Trang will be reduced from a maximum on 5.58 per cent to 4.89 per cent. Minh Phu will see a reduction of 0.01 per cent to 2.95 per cent, while the others will be subject to a duty of 3.92 per cent, reduced from the previous 4.27 per cent.

The Viet Nam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) continued to complain, however, that Vietnamese companies were subject to higher duties than Indian exporters, which paid duties no higher than 4.44 per cent.

Last April, Viet Nam asked the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Dispute Settlement Body to set up a panel to review US anti-dumping measures imposed on frozen warm-water shrimp from Viet Nam. WTO general director Pascal Lamy recently appointed three members to the panel.

After six months, the panel was expected to make a final report, clearing the way for further legal action between the parties. If it proceeds, this would constitute Viet Nam's first trade lawsuit against a WTO member

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

US reduces dumping duties on shrimp

Farmers harvesting shrimp in southern Bac Lieu province's Vinh Trang Dong Commune_VNA/VNS photo Huynh Su

HA NOI — The US Department of Commerce has decided to cut anti-dumping tariffs it had imposed on 31 Vietnamese shrimp exporters by 0.01-0.69 percentage points.

Viet Nam urges US lower trade barriers

GENEVA — The US needs to minimise trade barriers and participate more actively in the multilateral trade system, said Ambassador Vu Dung, head of Viet Nam's delegation to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and other international agencies in Geneva, at a session at WTO headquarters last week to review US trade policies.

Dung, leading a delegation of officials from the Vietnamese ministries of Foreign Affairs and Industry and Trade, voiced concerns over US trade barriers that have resulted in anti-dumping duties against frozen shrimp, tra (pangasius) fish, and plastic bags imported from Viet Nam.

Viet Nam expected the US to re-examine its imposition of anti-subsidy and anti-dumping tariffs before making decisions affecting other WTO members, Dung said.

The US became Viet Nam's leading export market in recent years, importing US$11.5 billion worth of goods in 2009 – a fifth of Viet Nam's total exports. — VNS

Monday, January 3, 2011

Retail sales soar 25% in first nine months

Customers shop at a supermarket in the northern province of Bac Ninh. September's retail sales revenue increased 2.93 per cent against the previous month to nearly VND134.9 trillion ($6.9 billion). — VNA/VNS Photo Tran Viet

HA NOI — Total retail sales revenue of commodities and services in the first nine months of the year increased 25.4 per cent year-on-year to more than VND1,146 trillion (US$58.7 billion), according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).

September's revenue alone increased 2.93 per cent against the previous month to nearly VND134.9 trillion ($6.9 billion), the GSO said.

The trade sector reported a year-on-year revenue surge of 26.4 per cent to VND905.1 trillion ($46.4 billion), accounting for 79 per cent of the country's total sales revenue during the nine month period.

The hotel and restaurant sector saw a rise of 21.8 per cent to VND126.25 trillion ($6.47 billion). The increased figures for the tourism and service sectors were 37.4 per cent and 20.5 per cent to VND12.16 trillion ($625.6 billion) and VND102.6 trillion ($5.26 billion), respectively.

The surge's retail sales revenue was due primarily to the organisation of promotional programmes, including the Sales Promotion Month 2010 in HCM City, one of the country's largest shopping centres.

The HCM City's September programme saw the participation of nearly 600 businesses, mostly involved in garments and textiles, food and beverages, home utensils and tourism services, with roughly 2,000 sales promotion points. Roughly 1,500 products received 10-50 per cent reductions, 90 per cent of the products were high-quality Vietnamese goods.

According to the HCM City Department of Industry and Trade, sales of businesses taking part in the Sales Promotion Month increased 10-15 per cent compared to the same period last year. The number of consumers also rose sharply.

Director of the Ministry of Industry and Trade's Domestic Market Department Truong Quang Hoai Nam said foreign investors continued to consider Viet Nam a promising investment destination.

Meanwhile, global ratings agency AT Kearney predicted that Viet Nam's retail industry would grow over the next few years, and that consumer spending would rise above its current level of 70 per cent of household income.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade forecast that the country's retail sales and services revenue would soar 22 per cent from a year earlier to $78.9 billion. — VNS

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Target to hold prices and curb power cuts

HA NOI — The Government will instruct relevant agencies to carry out synchronous measures to control prices, while overcoming power shortages, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said at the Government's regular monthly meeting yesterday.

Participants at the meeting were told that the Prime Minister would soon issue an instruction on price controls in an attempt to stabilise the market up to early 2011.

Dung said a nationwide conference would be held on implementing the instruction in a bid to fulfil this year's socio-economic targets, such as controlling inflation.

He stressed the need to maintain a stable prime rate, to manage the monetary system in an active but flexible way and to keep the price of essential commodities and medicines stable.

The Prime Minister asked ministries, cities and provinces to reserve enough goods to serve public demand during the lunar new year celebrations.

In an attempt to overcome power shortages, Dung urged electricity suppliers – particularly the Electricity of Viet Nam – to take drastic measures to speed up the construction of power plants, while buying electricity from neighbouring countries and cutting down on waste.

Participants at the meeting heard that the socio-economic situation had developed positively in the first nine months of this year. The economy had recovered fairly quickly after the global downturn and performed better than the same period in 2008 and 2009.

Specifically, the gross domestic product growth averaged 6.52 per cent in the first nine months, while industrial production was higher than the whole year's plan.

Export turnover was about US$51.5 billion in the first nine months, an increase of 23 per cent compared with the same period last year and four times higher than the National Assembly's approved target of over 6 per cent.

Total import turnover was $60 billion, an increase of 22 per cent compared with the same period last year. The trade deficit continued to narrow down and stood at $8.5 billion – equal to 16.7 per cent of the total export turnover.

The consumer price index rose 8.64 per cent compared with the same period last year.

Despite much progress, the economy was still facing many difficulties, the conference heard.

The price of consumer goods had increased, as had the price of gold. The sluggish performance of some major world economies continued to affect the country's export growth.

Production and trading enterprises were still finding it difficult to borrow money because of high interest rates, the Prime Minister said. Making matters worse, the country also has to cope with natural disasters such as typhoons, flooding and epidemics.

To overcome these difficulties, the Government has asked ministries, industries, cities and provinces to ensure there are enough supplies of commodities and that prices are stable, while disbursing investment capital for projects using Government bonds and the State budget.

The meeting reviewed socio-economic development in the first nine months and discussed strategies for the remainder of 2010. — VNS

Thailand-VN ties grow significantly

THAILAND — Co-operation between Viet Nam and Thailand had significantly developed in the past years, particularly in trade and investment, said Nguyen Thanh Bien, deputy minister of Industry and Trade.

Bien was speaking at a conference on business and investment opportunities in Viet Nam held in Khon Kaen Province, Thailand, on Wednesday.

The stable political situation was a decisive factor in the growth of investment, as was the attractiveness of the country, Bien added.

He said Viet Nam was in the process of perfecting its legal system in accordance with international standards, while streamlining administrative procedures by as much as 30 per cent and improving the country's infrastructure to make it more attractive to foreign investors.

From 2007-09, bilateral trade grew annually by 10.6 per cent. Last year, despite the global economic downturn, two-way trade topped US$6.1 billion and is expected to hit $10 billion over the next few years.

In the first half of this year, Viet Nam's exports to Thailand rose 4 per cent, while its imports increased by 43 per cent.

As of August, Thai businesses had invested $34 million in 12 projects in Viet Nam, making it the 18th biggest investor in the country. — VNS

Friday, December 24, 2010

Industrial production surges past annual target

HA NOI — Industrial production in the first nine months of the year surged 13.8 per cent year-on-year, higher than the Government's 12 per cent annual target, to reach roughly VND574.5 trillion (US$30.24 billion), according to the General Statistics Office.

In September alone, industrial production valued VND70.7 trillion ($3.7 billion), up 15.1 per cent over the same period last year.

With a growth rate of 17.4 per cent in the January-September period, foreign invested enterprises topped the list, creating value of VND241.8 trillion ($12.7 billion). Private businesses followed with a surge of 12.7 per cent to VND201.1 trillion ($10.59 billion). State-owned firms faired the worst, churning out an output of only VND131.5 trillion ($6.9 billion).

The GSO reported that the processing industry accounted for nearly 90 per cent of the country's total industrial production value in the first nine months, noting that the industry's 14.7 per cent growth rate contributed significantly to the country's growth rate of 13.8 per cent in January-September.

The significant growth of the processing industry was, according to the GSO, due to the world's economy recovery, which had helped industrial producers, especially foreign invested firms, to enlarge their production in the wake of rising consumer demand.

Sport shoe production saw a robust surge of 25.2 per cent year-on-year, churning out 146.3 million pairs. Glass production also rose 22.8 per cent to 69.2 million sq.m. Cement, fridges, vans and motorbikes also reported significant increases between 16.4 per cent and 21.1 per cent.

However, the mining industry in the first nine months of the year reported a modest 3.8-per-cent growth over the same period last year, with coal only rising 1.4 per cent to 32.4 million tonnes. Crude oil exploitation even reported a 13.8-per-cent decrease to only 11.1 million tonnes in the first nine months.

Deputy director of the Ministry of Industry and Trade's Planning Department Nguyen Thanh Hoa said the industrial production's growth had surged and remained stable at more than 13 per cent since April.

Besides the global recovery, Hoa also attributed the positive results to the effective implementation of Government policies including the encouragement to use Vietnamese products and the measures to limit the trade deficit.

With the increasing rate, Hoa forecast that the country's industrial production would rise roughly 14 per cent this year. — VNS

Sunday, December 19, 2010

A brighter economic future

Goods are exported from HCM City's Cat Lai Port. Viet Nam's economic growth was expected to reach 6.7 per cent in 2010 thanks to Government steps to stablise the economy. — VNA/VNS Photo Kim Phuong

HA NOI — Viet Nam should maintain macroeconomic stability in response to its new status as a middle income country, the Asian Development Bank said yesterday as it boosted the nation's 2010 growth forecast.

Viet Nam's economy was expected to grow 6.7 per cent in 2010, up from the bank's 6.5 per cent forecast earlier this year, following the Government's steps to stabilise the economy, the Manila-based bank said in its twice-yearly economic forecast.

The country's expected growth boost was in accordance with the expansion of Asian economies by 8.2 per cent, up from the previously estimated 7.5 per cent, as the region "recovered from the global (financial) crisis with remarkable speed and vigour", according to the report.

The bank also increased Viet Nam's growth forecast for next year from 6.8 per cent to 7 per cent. Inflation was projected to average 8.5 per cent this year, easing to 7.5 per cent next year on the assumptions that domestic macroeconomic stability is maintained and that global oil and commodity prices remain relatively steady next year.

Viet Nam, along with Thailand and Malaysia, would see an upswing in their exports, said the bank, which predicted Southeast Asian economies to grow 7.5 per cent in 2010, up from an earlier 5.1 per cent estimate.

Since the last forecast in April this year, "Viet Nam has consolidated its macroeconomic stability," the ADB Country Director for Viet Nam, Ayumi Koshini, told a press briefing in Ha Noi yesterday. "As a result, we are making upward adjustments in our growth forecast for both 2010 and 2011."

The steps taken by the Government to stabilise the economy had contributed to improvement in the external and foreign reserves positions, the Asian Development Outlook Update noted. With improvement in the capital account, the overall balance of payments would likely turn to a small surplus in the second quarter of 2010 after recording deficits since the start of last year. The bank predicted quick economic growth in the second quarter.

Viet Nam was recently upgraded to a Middle Income Country as the GDP per capita reached US$1,024. In order to prepare for the next ten year period as a new Middle Income Country, Viet Nam needed to be cautious about maintaining macroeconomic stability and effectively communicating relevant policies to the public while accelerating reforms, the bank said in its report.

The country is preparing a new 10-year Strategy and a new five-year Socio-Economic Development Plan as a new ‘middle income country'.

"It will be critical for Viet Nam to keep an eye on the global economic scene," said Koshini who warned that the transformation of China from the ‘factory of the world' to the ‘largest consumer market in the world' would certainly change the regional economic map, together with the establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community by 2015.

The bank advised the Government to continue its efforts to ensure a better public understanding of its policy stance, supported by greater and timely availability of information and statistics which should be applied not only to the Government but also to the corporate sector.

The ADB report noted that the two laws approved by the National Assembly in June 2010 – the laws on the State Bank of Viet Nam and on Credit Institutions – together with various legal documents issued by the State Bank of Viet Nam (SBV) and other agencies, marked important progress in strengthening the framework for monetary policy implementation and safeguarding the stability of the banking system.

The Asian Development Outlook and its Update are ADB's primary economic reports analysing the economic conditions and prospects in Asia and the Pacific. They are issued in April and September, respectively. — VNS

Agricultural exports rise 22.3% in first nine months

Workers process pineapple for export in Ninh Binh Province. Agricultural exports reached US$14 billion in the first nine months of the year. — VNA/VNS Photo Huy Hung

HA NOI — Agricultural export value reached US$14 billion in the first nine months of the year, an increase of 22.3 per cent over the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Of the total, seafood accounted for $3.47 billion – an increase of 14.2 per cent over the previous year – while forestry products accounted for $2.6 billion, a whopping 36.3 per cent increase.

Remaining agricultural exports totalled $7.2 billion, an increase of 21.1 per cent, of which rice earned $2.56 billion, an increase of 14 per cent.

The sector as a whole generated 27 per cent of the nation's total export value in first nine months of the year, the ministry said.

Nguyen Viet Chien, director of the ministry's Centre for Information and Statistics, said the increases were due both to high demand and rising global prices.

Among leading cash crops, rice exports totalled 5.5 million tonnes during the nine-month period, an increase of 12 per cent, while rice prices rose to an average of $470 per tonne, 3 per cent higher than last year and nearly comparable to the average price for rice from Thailand, where rice production was effected this year by natural disaster.

Despite gloomy forecasts earlier this year that coffee exports would not reach $1 billion during 2010, coffee exports rose 4.2 per cent in the first nine months to a volume of 925,000 tonnes, while export value has already surpassed $1.3 billion.

Rubber exports climbed to 531,000 tonnes in the first nine months, an increase of 10.9 per cent, earning $1.45 billion – double last year's value.

Tea exports rose 4 per cent in volume during the period to 100,000 tonnes and 16.7 per cent in value to $146 million, while cashew exports jumped by 10 per cent in volume to 143,000 tonnes and by 30 per cent in value to $780 million.

Favourable conditions on world markets have made it likely that total agricultural export value would exceed $16 billion by the end of the year, Chien said. — VNS

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