British University Vietnam wants to open branch in city

HCMC – The owners of the Hanoi-based British University Vietnam are looking at conditions to open a branch in HCMC, the top executive of the school said.

Sir Graeme Davies, vice chancellor and chairman of the British University Vietnam, told HCMC vice chairman Hua Ngoc Thuan during a courtesy call on Tuesday that he was looking for a site to open the branch.

At the meeting, the vice chairman suggested to Sir Davies that the city government has earmarked a 137-hectare area in the outlying district of Cu Chi District to develop a university area. “If you want to have a look, we’re ready to arrange a sightseeing tour. You will be guided by leaders of the project management board,” said Thuan.

According to Sir Davies, the British University Vietnam was established in September 2009 as a wholly foreign owned institution. This university has five faculties including International Management of Business Administration, Banking and Finance, Marketing Management, and Finance and Accounting.

Sir Davies, who accompanied His Royal Highness (HRH) Prince Andrew to Hanoi to attend the anniversary of 1,000 Years of Thang Long – Hanoi, said the school’s grand opening was held in the capital city last week at the witness of the Prince.

“On this occasion, we are assigned by the Prince to launch his scholarship fund named the Duke of York Scholarship,” said Sir Davies, adding there would be three full scholarships in 2011 which costs US$30,500 each for Vietnamese students.

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British consultancy eyes HCMC IT education

Harvey Nash CEO Albert Ellis (L) at the meeting with HCMC vice chairman Le Minh Tri Thursday

Photo: Thoai Tran

Recruitment consultancy and IT outsourcing firm Harvey Nash Group has turned its sights to Ho Chi Minh City’s education and training sector due to its growth prospects.

The British company, which has had a presence in the city since 2003, plans to tie up with schools and IT training colleges and universities in the city, its CEO, Albert Ellis, told city vice chairman Le Minh Tri during a brief meeting Thursday.

Ellis is in HCMC for today’s inauguration of the British Council’s English teaching website for language schools.

Harvey Nash is also into financial consultancy in partnership with British insurer Prudential and with ANZ bank in Hanoi.

It employs over 2,500 IT professionals at its two facilities in HCMC and Hanoi.

“With a growing and youthful technology literate workforce, and an ambition to develop its software services, the country has become a natural home for many technologically sophisticated companies,” the company’s website says about Vietnam’s prospects.

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IBM commits more assistance to city’s development

IBM senior vice president Jon Iwata (L) at a meeting with HCMC vice chairman Nguyen Trung Tin at the City Hall on Tuesday - Photo: Kinh Luan

HCMC – IBM Corporation will continue to assist HCMC with some pilot programs being implemented in the city, said a senior executive of the company.

Jon Iwata, IBM’s senior vice president for marketing, communication and citizenship organization of the company, made the commitment in a meeting with vice chairman of the city Nguyen Trung Tin on Tuesday.

IBM will help move the pilot projects forward including projects building e-government, improving food safety, managing heath-care industry and water sources plus infrastructure and high technologies.

“We will find a way around the obstacles in the projects through discussion. IBM will help speed up the process, and learn from the pilots to be able to expand the scale of projects that follow,” said Iwata in his first visit to Vietnam to check the implementation of the cooperation projects that started in February.

This year, to deploy a global program called “Smarter City”, IBM has sent two groups of consultancy specialists to HCMC.

After studying the city’s development needs, IBM’s consultants recommended that the city’s authorities address the needs through three projects on food quality management, healthcare management, and public traffic safety.

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Post-crisis opportunities, challenges highlighted

Photo: AFP

Numerous managers, economists and businesspeople gathered at a seminar in Ho Chi Minh City Thurday to discuss the opportunities and challenges as well as Vietnam’s policies and measures after the economic crisis.

Co-hosted by the Vietnam Investment Review (VIR) and the Association of Foreign-invested Enterprises, the seminar also served as a forum for the delegates to analyse the factors affecting the flow of investment and trade.

VIR’s Editor-in-Chief Nguyen Anh Tuan said that the global financial crisis had many adverse impacts on Vietnam in terms of exports, foreign direct investment (FDI), the stock market, international tourism and other fields.

However, Vietnam has managed to stave off the worst of the economic recession and stabilise its macro-economy thanks to concerted efforts by the government and the business community, he said.

Professor Nguyen Mai noted that FDI is considered the brightest spot in the country’s economic picture over the past two years, but Vietnam needs to improve the quality of this capital source.

While discussing the knock on effects on the stock market, the Vice Chairman of the State Securities Commission Nguyen Doan Hung emphasised the need to stabilise the market before implementing long-term targets, including enhancing the quality of auditing, information and corporate administration, tightening the supervision and protection of investments and dealing properly with securities companies suffering losses.

Dr. Le Xuan Nghia, the Vice Chairman of the National Financial Supervisory Committee, said that Vietnam is likely to face more monetary risks in the medium term, citing its foreign exchange rates.

The slow recovery of the global economy could hamper the flow of capital into Vietnam , worsen the depreciation of the Vietnamese dong and weaken the country’s international balance of payments, said Nghia.

 

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Post-crisis opportunities, challenges highlighted

Numerous managers, economists and businesspeople gathered at a seminar
in Ho Chi Minh City on September 9 to discuss the opportunities and
challenges as well as Vietnam ’s policies and measures after the
economic crisis.

Co-hosted by the Vietnam
Investment Review (VIR) and the Association of Foreign-invested
Enterprises, the seminar also served as a forum for the delegates to
analyse the factors affecting the flow of investment and trade.

VIR’s Editor-in-Chief Nguyen Anh Tuan said that the global financial
crisis had many adverse impacts on Vietnam in terms of exports,
foreign direct investment (FDI), the stock market, international tourism
and other fields.

However, Vietnam has managed
to stave off the worst of the economic recession and stabilise its
macro-economy thanks to concerted efforts by the government and the
business community, he said.

Professor Nguyen Mai
noted that FDI is considered the brightest spot in the country’s
economic picture over the past two years, but Vietnam needs to
improve the quality of this capital source.

While
discussing the knock on effects on the stock market, the Vice Chairman
of the State Securities Commission Nguyen Doan Hung emphasised the need
to stabilise the market before implementing long-term targets, including
enhancing the quality of auditing, information and corporate
administration, tightening the supervision and protection of investments
and dealing properly with securities companies suffering losses.

Dr. Le Xuan Nghia, the Vice Chairman of the National Financial
Supervisory Committee, said that Vietnam is likely to face more
monetary risks in the medium term, citing its foreign exchange rates.

The slow recovery of the global economy could hamper
the flow of capital into Vietnam , worsen the depreciation of the
Vietnamese dong and weaken the country’s international balance of
payments, said Nghia./.

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High-value wear orders preferred on labor shortage

HCMC – Many local footwear and garment exporters have begun to go for orders for high-value items given a growing shortage of labor, said an industry expert on Tuesday.  

“Many enterprises are facing labor shortages, so they are choosing orders for products of high quality and value,” Diep Thanh Kiet, vice chairman of the Vietnam Leather and Footwear Association (Lefaso), told the Daily on the phone.

Kiet is also vice chairman of the Association of Garment-Textile-Embroidery-Knitting in HCMC.  

Vietnamese exporters in the footwear and garment sectors, two of the country’s leading export earners, are receiving many contracts from new and old partners. Orders for footwear has risen 16% this year, and 20% for garments. But Kiet said the sectors had been struggling with lack of labor. 

Kiet said annual growth in exports of footwear and garments ranged from 15% to 18%. In the first seven months of this year, footwear and garment exports expanded 14% and 17% respectively.  

Should productivity in the two industries remain unchanged, labor demand must be increased by 15-18%, or 500,000 workers per annum. The current labor force in the two industries is 2.6 million in total, but worse still, it has fallen by around 300,000 workers a year as jobs in these sectors are no longer attractive.  

Kiet said Vietnam footwear and garment producers had for years relied on foreign subcontracts, so they had gained some valuable experience in making items of high value and quality.

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