VietNam Business

Friday, October 1, 2010

Algeria: huge potential for Vietnamese farm produce

Algeria is seen as a huge potential market for Vietnamese
agricultural exports as almost all of its key farm products shipped to
Algeria are not grown in the African country.

According to the Vietnamese Commercial Counsellor in Algeria , Nguyen
Van Mui , Algeria is one of the African countries that has a large
demand for food and foodstuffs because its agricultural production and
food processing industry cannot meet domestic demands.

At present, 75 percent of food and foodstuffs consumed in Algeria
are imported, mainly grain, wheat, milk, sugar, coffee, tea, dried
vegetables and meat.

Algeria needs to import
almost 400 million USD worth of agricultural products annually from
Vietnam but the Southeast Asian country is only able to meet 22-25
percent of this figure, said Mui.

Vietnam ’s
export turnover to Algeria reached over 83 million USD in 2008 and
94 million USD in 2009, of which agricultural products accounted for 80
percent.

Large amounts of rice and coffee are
exported to Algeria, where Vietnam holds a 25 percent share of Algeria’s
coffee market with an export turnover of nearly 49 million USD and 70
percent of the country’s rice with a record 23.8 million USD worth
shipped last year.

In addition, Algeria imports
many other commodities from Vietnam , including pepper worth 1.3
million USD, which accounts for 60 percent of Algeria ’s market share
and copra at 1.6 million USD. Vietnam is now the second biggest
exporter of copra to Algeria .

According to
recent surveys, processed Vietnamese products such as roasted and
instant coffee, parboiled rice, rice paper, dry noodles, spices and
ground pepper also see an opportunity to enter this market.

In order to speed up the export of goods to Algeria, Mui has advised
Vietnamese exporters to take part in trade fairs in Algeria to study the
market and meet potential partners, including the Alger International
Fair in June and the International Agricultural Exhibition in November
each year./.

PetroVietnam to join Russia’s Eastern Gas Program

Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller

Photo: AFP

The Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) is likely to take part in the Eastern Gas Program coordinated by Russia’s energy giant Gazprom.

The issue was discussed at the first meeting of the Gazprom-PetroVietnam Joint Coordinating Committee, which concluded in Saint Petersburg on Tuesday.

Co-chaired by Gazprom Deputy CEO Alexander Ananenkov and PetroVietnam Vice President Nguyen Tien Dung, the meeting highly valued the joint work of both Gazprom and PetroVietnam on exploration of the continental shelf of Vietnam as well as prospects for bilateral cooperation in oil and gas projects in Russia and third countries.

Gazprom and PetroVietnam have effectively cooperated in a number of oil and gas projects in Vietnam and created a joint venture, Gazpromviet, to develop projects in Russia and third countries.

The Eastern Gas Program, which was approved in September 2007, is to create a single system of gas production and transportation in Russia’s Eastern Siberia and Far East with possible exports to the markets of China and other countries in the Asia-Pacific region.

The Program also includes the construction of the Sakhalin-Khabarovsk-Vladivostok transportation system, which will provide “green energy” for Russia’s Far East.

Asia stocks rise on China

Photo: Reuters

SINGAPORE - Asian stocks rose on Wednesday as investors cheered a manufacturing rebound in China and rosier-than-expected Australian growth, which halted the yen's advance towards a 15-year peak against the dollar.

Asian stocks shrugged off a flat lead from Wall Street, reflecting belief that Asia's economic recovery could hold up relatively well compared to the United States, which faces the possibility of a double-dip recession.

Leading European stocks opened 0.4 percent higher, while S&P 500 futures were flat.

China's manufacturing economy regained some momentum in August, while Australia's economy grew at the fastest pace in three years last quarter as households spent far more than expected while exports enjoyed an Asian-driven boom.

"The market is still concerned about the global recovery momentum, but based on fundamentals, some funds will flock from developed countries to Asia," said Daniel Chan, chief economist and wealth management strategist BWC Capital Markets in Hong Kong.

The MSCI index of Asia Pacific stocks outside Japan rose 1.5 percent, led by commodity-related shares due to optimism about Chinese.

But the MSCI Asia index is still down about 2.5 percent so far this year, compared to a 6.6 drop on the MSCI world-wide index, underscoring Asia's economic resilience.

Analysts expect increased volatility in Asian stock and bond markets as markets brace for a slowdown in the world economy.

Japan's Nikkei average rose 1.2 percent after briefly hitting a 16-month low, getting a boost from the Chinese data while technology shares crawled higher in reaction to a sharp fall the day before.

Australian stocks jumped just over 2 percent, the sharpest daily rise since early July, as investors applauded Australia's outperformance against sluggish global economies.

Australia and New Zealand Banking Group led in a rally in local bank shares, powering 2.4 percent higher.

South Korean stocks gained 1.3 percent, propelled by auto and retail counters including Kia Motors and Lotte Shopping, but key technology shares continued to fall amid persisting concern over global economic recovery.

"The market is being helped by gains in defensive, domestic consumption issues as investors seek safer bets," said Lee Sun-yeb, a market analyst at Shinhan Investment Securities.

U.S. Treasury yields rebounded slightly after the benchmark 10-year yield recorded its largest monthly drop in August since late 2008, when markets were reeling from the Lehman Brothers collapse.

Yen off 15-year high

The yen fell as upbeat Chinese and Australian data improved investors' appetite for risk. It extended losses after Japanese ruling party powerbroker Ichiro Ozawa, challenging Prime Minister Naoto Kan in a party leadership vote, said he would implement steps including intervention if the yen rose sharply.

The Australian dollar jumped 1 percent to 75.85 yen and the dollar edged up 0.3 percent to 84.40 yen.

Japanese government bonds fell as investors braced for a debt sale, and the yield curve resumed steepening as superlongs sagged on the underlying prospect of potential political change watering down the government's stance on fiscal austerity.

The 10-year yield was up 5 basis points at 1.010 percent while the 20-year yield climbed 7.5 basis points to 1.735 percent, heading back towards a seven-week high of 1.835 percent hit on Monday.

Gold prices hit a fresh one-month high at $1,250.55 an ounce, while crude gained 36 cents to $72.28 a barrel after tumbling 3.7 percent the previous day on signs U.S. stockpiles rose further last week and prospects of bad weather to suppress demand at the end of the driving season.

Asia stocks rise on China