Int’l arrivals in high season recover in uncertainties

Foreign tourists join an outdoor activity to make artistic articles from clay in a tour in Vietnam arranged by Saigontourist Travel Service Co. - Photo: Hoang Long

HCMC – Local travel firms have reported recovery in international tourists in the high season of the inbound tourism, but most still refrain from predicting business outcome for the rest of the year, saying uncertainties are still ahead.

Saigontourist Travel Service Co. has reported a good number of foreign travelers in the January-September period at 180,000, up 11% year-on-year. The company’s deputy director Hoang Huu Loc said that it was still very difficult to talk about any estimate for the high season and the whole year.

“So far, we have some bookings for the whole year, but the majority of travelers tend to purchase tours some weeks or one month in advance. Based on current figures we can say the business is increasing at the moment but we can’t say about this year’s growth rate,” he said.

The company names France and Germany among the major source markets with good growth rates.

Normally, travel companies who receive tourists from long-haul destinations such as Europe and North America often close the tours in November or December, but now the companies are still open to requests from customers.

Asian Trails Co., Ltd., another major travel firm in the city, is also reserved about the year’s business.

“It’s hard to assess the market. It’s changing so fast. At my company, the number of tourists still has not recovered to the same level of 2007 or 2008,” said Bui Viet Thuy Tien, director of the company.

The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism has reported more than 3.7 million foreign visitor arrivals to the country during the January-September period, a staggering increase of 34.2% year-on-year.

HCMC as the country’s biggest tourism center said it has welcomed 2.2 million international visitors in the period, up 13% over the same period of last year.

However, local travel firms have reported a lower growth rate of real foreign arrivals, not only from long-haul but also short-haul markets like Japan and South Korea.

“At my company, Singapore, Philippines and China markets take the lead in the growth rate, but the growth rate is still lower than in the good year of 2007,” said Tran Vinh Loc, director of Lac Hong Voyages.

“We are still selling packaged tours as traditional tours to foreign travelers but we are following new trends of travel to make new products in the coming times,” Loc said.

Travel companies have found travelers tending to travel on free and easy tours as well as budget and short-day tours.

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Supermarkets report strong earnings in Big Sale month

Customers flood a food counter at the Big C Hoang Van Thu Supermarket. Food and cosmetics items were more sought after during the Big Sale month - Photo: Minh Tam

HCMC – Many supermarkets in HCMC have reported strong sales in September when the Big Sale month was launched citywide by the city’s Department of Industry and Trade.

Most supermarkets witnessed 15% to 30% growth in September sales against the previous month, but some saw the growth rate close to 50%. Store chain operators attributed the high growth rate to deep discounts – between 5% and 50% - on thousands of items during the month.

Saigon Co.op, which is the biggest domestic store chain operator, said its revenue surged 45% in September against August, and even 50% higher compared to that in the year-earlier period.

“Consumers spent more during the month,” said a representative of Saigon Co.op.

Maximark chain has not had the growth figures for its stores in HCMC, but the chain’s revenue from all stores including in Nha Trang and Can Tho expanded 15% year-on-year, said Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, head of Maximark Cong Hoa.

Thao said Maximart launched the promotion not only in HCMC but chain-wide.

Duong Thi Quynh Trang, external relations manager of Big C, said the number of shoppers grew by 30% in September. “This is quite an upbeat figure, proving the attraction of the promotion month to consumers,” Trang told the Daily.

During festive days like the National Day on September 2, all supermarkets saw a shopping spree, and many stores had to extend the working hour by another 30 minutes, or mobilized more cashiers.

Several traders attributed the revenue rise to a new trend being established in the city, saying the sales promotion month has been launched for years, thus helping customers familiarize themselves with the shopping seasons of big discounts.

Apart from supermarkets, other trade centers and commercial facilities have not yet reported their September figures. The HCMC Department of Industry and Trade expects to have the final figures about the promotion month in the next few days.

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Garments continue topping list of exports

Posting an export turnover of 8 billion USD in the first nine months of
this year, garments continued taking the lead amongst export staples
since the beginning of 2009.

The export of garments
to the Republic of Korea saw the highest growth rate of 84 percent,
mainly thanks to a reduction in tariff in line with the ASEAN-RoK Free
Trade Agreement, while the export to the US , which accounts for 55
percent of the industry’s revenues, also grew by 20 percent.

In particular, garment exports to the European market have bounced
back in the past three months, at 7 percent, following a long period of
dropping.

Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Garments and
Apparel Association (Vitas) Le Van Dao said a number of domestic garment
companies have received orders for the first half of 2011, plus prices
have risen by 10-15 percent year-on-year.

A
representative of the Ho Chi Minh City-based Viet Hung Garment Joint
Stock Company said the business has recently signed contracts to export
1.2 million items to Japan in early 2011.

Vietnam ’s garment firms will also have the opportunity to boost
exports and investments to Laos and Cambodia as the European Union
(EU) has decided to grant references in terms of material origin to the
two nations.

With these advantages, Dao said the
industry is likely to reach the yearly target of 10.5 billion USD in
export turnover right in November.

To achieve
sustainable development, garment businesses have also paid due attention
to the domestic market by participating in programmes which are
designed to encourage local consumers to use Vietnamese goods and bring
Vietnamese goods to rural areas.

Many supermarkets
under the Vietnam Garment and Textile Group have embarked on plans to
expand foothold in the domestic market in an effort to record a retail
sale growth rate of between 17-20 percent in 2010./.

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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

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Danang targets double-digit growth for next 5 years

DANANG – The central coast city of Danang has announced high development targets for the next five years, aiming at an annual gross domestic product growth rate of 13.5%-14.5% to reach a GDP per capita of US$3,200 by 2015.

In a report released at the opening session of the city’s Party Congress on Tuesday, the city boasts an average GDP growth rate of 11% in the 2006-2010 period. The GDP per capita this year is estimated at US$2,015, or 2.2 times higher than that in 2005 and 1.6 times that of the national average.

Nguyen Ba Thanh, secretary of Danang City Party Committee, told the opening session that Danang City would strive to create the growth momentum for the entire central region.

“Central authorities have assigned a challenging task to Danang City. Danang will have to push up development, not only for its own sake, but also for becoming the growth momentum for the central region,” Thanh said.

Thanh, who was re-elected secretary of the city’s Party Committee, said the city’s infrastructure has been developed quickly, meeting the demand of investors.

In the first half of this year, Danang attracted US$2.7 billion of foreign direct investment committed into 175 projects.

The municipal Party Congress will wrap up Thursday, after endorsing socio-economic development goals.

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GDP accelerates to 6.52% in three quarters

CPI increases 1.31 % in September

HCMC – Vietnam’s gross domestic product growth rate has accelerated to 6.52% year-on-year in the January-September period, and the economy is headed for 6.7% for the whole year, the Ministry of Planning and Investment said on Monday.

In its report released on Monday for a regular meeting, the ministry noted that the economy has gained growth momentum, with the GDP growth rate moving faster one quarter after another, according to local media covering the meeting.

In fact, the economy posted an annualized GDP growth rate of 5.83% in the first quarter, 6.4% in the second quarter, and now 6.52% for the three quarters combined. This rate is higher than the targeted 6.5% growth rate endorsed by the National Assembly early this year.

Construction and manufacturing as a whole posted the strongest growth, at 7.29% year-on-year in the January-September period, followed by the service sector with 7.24%, while agriculture inched up 2.89%. The growth rates of all the three sectors are higher than those in the same period of last year, according to the ministry’s report.

While maintaining an upbeat tone about the economy this year, the ministry also highlights challenges to be addressed in the rest of the year. These include the uptrend of prices at home and abroad -- which may stoke up inflation -- the high interest rate charged by commercial banks that makes life harder for enterprises, and high trade deficit.

* September’s consumer price index surged 1.31 % against the previous month, attributed mainly to a dramatic increase of education services prices and depreciation of Vietnam Dong against the U.S. dollar, the General Statistics Office reported on Friday.

CPI in August increased by 0.23 % over the previous month, so increases in September were earlier forecast at between 0.8 and 1 %.

CPI in this month rose 6.46% compared to December, 2009. Vietnam targets to curb inflation this year at 7% to 8%, but this target is difficult to reach due to an uptrend in commodities prices in the rest of the year and higher import demands.

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Taiwanese firms seek opportunities

HCM CITY — A 63-member Taiwanese business delegation seeking partners and investment opportunities met several Vietnamese enterprises in HCM City yesterday.

Wayne W Wu, deputy chairman of the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) said Taiwanese businesses specialising in consumer goods, green energy, electronics, cars and other sectors attended the meeting.

The Taiwanese delegation is in Viet Nam as part of a mission to Southeast Asian nations.

TAITRA plans to develop the high quality consumer goods market in developing countries, of which Viet Nam is an important part, Wu said.

Last year, Viet Nam was Taiwan's 13th largest trading partner. In the first eight months of this year, bilateral trade between the two sides reached US$5.6 billion. Taiwan's investment in Viet Nam has been $21.7 million so far.

Jerry S K Yang, director general of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in HCM City, said Viet Nam now faces serious electricity shortages, and this has had huge impacts on production and daily use.

Energy saving and renewable energy source development have therefore attracted much attention from the Government and local businesses, he said.

Taiwanese businesses can offer environmentally friendly products and technology to help Vietnamese firms increase their energy savings, he added.

He stressed that for Taiwan, Viet Nam was a strategic partner and one of its largest export markets after China and Hong Kong.

Vo Tan Thanh, director of HCM City Branch of the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry said with a high GDP growth rate of 7-7.5 per cent, Viet Nam was an ideal market for foreign investors, including Taiwanese businesses.

The nation's GDP growth rate reached 5.8 per cent and 6.4 per cent in the first and second quarters of this year. It is expected to reach 6.5-7.5 per cent by the end of this year. — VNS

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Chemical analysis labs need more domestic equipment

HCM CITY — Viet Nam should manufacture more machinery for chemical analytical laboratories as the market for such services is huge, experts have said.

Phung Minh Lai, deputy head of the National Agency for Science and Technology Information, said the annual growth rate of Viet Nam's chemical industry would be between 10 per cent and 15 per cent in the next few years.

As part of a chemical industry development plan, the government has set up production targets for the petrochemical and pharmaco-chemical industries by 2020.

The Ministry of Health estimates that the total value of drug consumption in Viet Nam this year could reach nearly US$1.5 billion.

The growth rate of the pharmaceutical industry has reached 15 per cent annually in recent years, but the scale of the industry still has been small.

The industry mostly produces typical pharmaceutical products with simple technology, according to Lai.

To reach the target, the Government will invest around 11 million euros (US$14 million) in the industry by 2015.

These include funds for many projects, including six phamarceutical production plants, some of which would make antibiotics and sorbitol products.

Moreover, pharmaceutical companies are looking for foreign partners to help them put biotechnology into actual practice.

For the petrochemical industry, Viet Nam has built three plants during the first phase, and the second phase will be implemented by 2015.

The government also will invest nearly 30 million euros ($38 million) in environmental-research projects, including water and sewage treatment as well as solid waste management.

Viet Nam has applied biotechnology in the agricultural and aquacultural sectors as well as the food processing industry.

Because water and food safety certification are two areas with high demand, where laboratories and modern equipment are necessary.

Currently, the State is investing in building 17 main laboratories, but Lai said this was insufficient.

Most of the equipment now in use was imported from Europe and Asia.

Nicole Klammer, head of the Analytica Viet Nam Project, said the country needed an outstanding platform for the analytical lab field.

Analytica Viet Nam on April 7-9 next year will hold a fair to display a variety of equipment that can be used in the country. — VNS

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Vietnam predicts GDP growth rate of 6.7 pct

An apparent recovery trend that the national economy has shown in the past eight months provides experts with the grounds to predict that Vietnam will achieve a GDP growth rate of 6.7 percent and rein in inflation to below 8 percent this year.

According to the General Statistics Office, the country raked in US$44.5 billion in export earnings in the past eight months, representing a year-on-year increase of 19.7 percent and a three-fold rise over the yearly plan.

In the review period, the country attained an industrial production value of over $504 trillion, showing a year on year rise of 13.7 percent which surpassed the yearly plan.

Seeing those positive signs and the recovery of the global economy, many cabinet members at their August meeting predicted that the country’s GDP would reach 7.18 percent in the third quarter.

They forecast that it would grow at 6.7 percent for the whole year, surpassing the 6.5 percent goal targeted by the National Assembly.

There is a favourable development in the CPI, as it rose just 0.23 percent in August over July, constituting a low growth rate in the fifth consecutive month. It rose just 5.08 percent compared with December, 2009.

If CPI growth is maintained at this speed and grows 0.7 percent a month from now to the end of this year, it is forecasted not to exceed 8 percent as set early this year.

Experts say in this difficult circumstance, reining in inflation is significant as it will enable policymakers to take bolder steps in managing the macro economy and make the life of people, especially low-income earners, more stable.

To fulfill the yearly growth targets and deal with elements that can drive prices up in the remaining months of the year, including natural disasters, diseases, and fluctuations in the world market, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has in the cabinet’s August meeting asked relevant ministries, sectors and localities to continue providing businesses with the best conditions they can to boost their production and exports and lure more local and foreign investment.

He also asked relevant agencies to intensify the management of prices, bank loan interest rates and the foreign exchange rate and make adjustments suitable for actual needs.

 

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Vietnam predicts GDP growth rate of 6.7 pct

An apparent recovery trend that the national economy has shown in the
past eight months provides experts with the grounds to predict that
Vietnam will achieve a GDP growth rate of 6.7 percent and rein in
inflation to below 8 percent this year.

According to the General Statistics Office, the country raked in 44.5
billion USD in export earnings in the past eight months, representing a
year-on-year increase of 19.7 percent and a three-fold rise over the
yearly plan.

In the review period, the country attained an
industrial production value of over 504 trillion VND, showing a year on
year rise of 13.7 percent which surpassed the yearly plan.

Seeing
those positive signs and the recovery of the global economy, many
cabinet members at their August meeting predicted that the country’s GDP
would reach 7.18 percent in the third quarter.

They forecast
that it would grow at 6.7 percent for the whole year, surpassing the 6.5
percent goal targeted by the National Assembly.

There is a
favourable development in the CPI, as it rose just 0.23 percent in
August over July, constituting a low growth rate in the fifth
consecutive month. It rose just 5.08 percent compared with December,
2009.

If CPI growth is maintained at this speed and grows 0.7
percent a month from now to the end of this year, it is forecasted not
to exceed 8 percent as set early this year.

Experts say in this
difficult circumstance, reining in inflation is significant as it will
enable policymakers to take bolder steps in managing the macro economy
and make the life of people, especially low-income earners, more stable.

To
fulfill the yearly growth targets and deal with elements that can drive
prices up in the remaining months of the year, including natural
disasters, diseases, and fluctuations in the world market, Prime
Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has in the cabinet’s August meeting asked
relevant ministries, sectors and localities to continue providing
businesses with the best conditions they can to boost their production
and exports and lure more local and foreign investment.

He also
asked relevant agencies to intensify the management of prices, bank loan
interest rates and the foreign exchange rate and make adjustments
suitable for actual needs./.

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Government keen to grow electricity industry

The Government will speed up programmes to generate electricity from
renewable energies and soon adopt a clear and favourable mechanism for
the electricity industry to grow as it is crucial for national
development.

The question of how to spur the development of the electricity industry
caught the special interest of cabinet members at their regular monthly
meeting in Hanoi on August 30-31 under the chair of Prime Minister
Nguyen Tan Dung.

The government’s plan for the issue is to
encourage all economic sectors to join hands with the State in investing
and boosting the growth of this important industry.

The PM asked the Ministry of Industry and Trade to focus investments on raising power output to prevent shortages in the future.

Discussing
the socio-economic development plan for 2011, which is the first year
in the next five-year development plan, and the 2011-2020 development
strategy, PM Dung said the general goal of 2011 is to strengthen
macro-economic stability to achieve a growth rate higher than that of
2010 and step up the economic restructuring.

The other goals are
to ensure social security and social welfare to further improve people’s
living conditions while assuring political security, social order and
safety, he said.

The PM proposed the Government target a GDP
growth rate of 7.5 percent, CPI year-on-year rise of 7 percent, and
trade deficit below 18 percent for 2011.

He underscored the need
to pay special attention to vocational training and considered it an
important index to serve the country’s economic shift in 2011.

PM
Dung also requested formulation of mechanisms and policies to support
national target programmes, and listed the rural development programme
as Government target for the 2011-2015 period.

At the meeting,
cabinet members heard about good performance of the national economy in
the last eight months with industrial production growing 15.2 percent
year-on-year.

CPI rose slightly - 0.23 percent in August against July - the Ministry of Planning and Investment reported.

Also
at this meeting, cabinet members heard reports on inspections, the
settlement of petitions and denunciations, the fight against corruption,
and administrative reform.

They debated a draft decree guiding
the implementation of several articles of the Enterprise Law, the draft
ordnance on management, and use of weapons, explosive materials and
supportive tools, and a bill amending the Cooperatives Law./.

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PetroVietnam targets stronger growth

HA NOI — The achievements of the Viet Nam National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) in the 35 years since it was established have made it one of the country's leading economic groups and helped it keep pace with other big petroleum corporations in the region and throughout the world.

These comments were in a letter from Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung to congratulate PetroVietnam on its 35 years of construction and development yesterday.

Dung wrote that employers and employees of the industry had attempted to overcome many difficulties and hardships to successfully implement the tasks assigned by the Party and State and contribute to the nation's achievements.

He said the organisation had developed rapidly and comprehensively in the areas of exploration, exploitation, transportation, and export and had developed many important technologies.

PetroVietnam had also actively protected national sovereignty, boundaries and social welfare, he wrote.

General Director of PetroVietnam Phung Dinh Thuc said Viet Nam ranked third in Southeast Asia in crude oil production with 15-17 million tonnes of oil and 8-10 billion cubic metres of gas each year.

PetroVietnam currently contributes around 20-30 per cent of the total State budget revenue and 18-20 per cent to GDP thanks to an average growth rate of nearly 20 per cent annually, according to Thuc.

The group also managed to increase its business through 49 investment agreements with a number of countries across the world, of which 22 contracts have been implemented in 13 countries.

PVN Chairman Dinh La Thang said the group had taken measures on human resources, science and technology and management of work to reach its target of becoming a strong economic corporation with an average growth rate of 18-20 per cent per year in the period of 2010-15. — VNS

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