4G licenses to be granted to five firms

Photo: AFP

The Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) has approved the applications of five companies seeking to run the Fourth Generation Mobile Network.

Under the license, these companies, which include Vietnam Post and Telecommunications Group (VNPT), Viettel Telecom, FPT Telecom, CMC and VTC, will be allowed to operate the 4G network over a trial period of 12 months.

4G, which refers to the fourth generation of cellular wireless standards, is a successor to the 2G and 3G networks. The nomenclature of the generations generally refers to a change in the fundamental nature of the service, non-backwards compatible transmission technology and new frequency bands.

According to telecom experts, using 4G will improve broadband significantly in comparison with 2G and 3G.

4G allows data to be transmitted at a higher speed of 1GB per second while in a static state and 100 MB per second in a mobile state. With its large broadband, the 4G also permits data, sound and mobile pictures to be transmitted in very high quality in a short time.

The 4G application will be used in teleconferences, online entertainment and for broadband Internet access.

Currently, several high technologies including Long-term Evolution, Ultra Mobile Broadband and WiMAX II have been considered pre-technologies for 4G. These technologies will be fundamental to building 4G standards.

MIC's Telecommunication Department director Pham Hong Hai said that after the one-year trial periods, companies will be required to participate in a frequency bid in order to be granted a 4G license under the Telecommunications Law. After receiving the license, they will be able to transfer frequency bands.

The MIC will organize a conference to gather telecom companies' opinions upon the 4G implementation in Vietnam soon.

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Vietnamese catfish makes list of US top 10 seafood

Vietnam’s tra and basa catfish have found a place among the 10 favorite seafood products in the US for the first time

Photo: Tuoi Tre

Vietnam’s tra and basa catfish have found a place among the 10 favorite seafood products in the US for the first time, according to the US National Fisheries Institute.

NFI’s president, John Connelly, also told officials from the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development at a recent meeting that the top 10 seafood products account for 88 percent of total consumption in the US.

Vietnam earned US$435 million from exporting seafood to the US in the first seven months this year. Catfish accounted for $80.8 million, a year-on-year increase of 14.2 percent, from shipments of 26,000 tons, the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Processors said.

For several years now, Vietnamese catfish exporters have had a hard time selling their products to the US.

Just last May Catfish Farmers of America claimed that Vietnam’s tra and basa are “dirty,” of low quality, and seriously violated food quality standards in the first quarter.

Its website carried a four-minute video about catfish production in the Mekong River titled “Dirty Waters, Dangerous Fish” which purports to show polluted waters and badly maintained fish-processing plants.

Vietnam rejected the charges, saying the fish are raised in floating farms that meet international standards like SQF 1000 and GAP.

The US Department of Agriculture recently revealed its intention to list Vietnamese tra and basa as “catfish” to bringing them into the list of products covered by the Farm Bill.

It highlights the fickle nature of US demands for, in 2002, the department did the exact opposite – it said Vietnam cannot export tra and basa to the US as “catfish” since it feared the domestic catfish industry will be hit.

As a result, Vietnamese catfish has since been labeled “pangasius.”

The Farm Bill promises to pose more hurdles for Vietnamese catfish exports.

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ONGC to finalize BP Vietnam asset valuation in few weeks

Photo: AFP

MUMBAI - Indian state-run explorer Oil and Natural Gas Corp will make a joint bid with PetroVietnam for BP's Vietnam assets after completing its evaluation of them in the next few weeks, Oil Secretary S. Sundareshan told reporters on Saturday.

"They are making an evaluation of the value of BP's assets, and once that is finalized they will make an offer in conjunction with PetroVietnam," Sundareshan said.

ONGC has a 45 percent share in Block 6.1 in the Nam Con Son basin, off Vietnam's southeast coast, operated by BP, which has a 35 percent stake. The remaining 20 percent is owned by state-run PetroVietnam.

Sundareshan said the valuation process is likely to be completed in a few weeks.

The stake would be a welcome acquisition for India, which has been lagging China in the hunt for natural resources as both countries seek to feed their fast economic growth.

UBS analysts have said BP's stake, which includes an interest in the Lan Tay and Lan Do gas fields, the Nam Con Son pipeline and the Phu My power generation project, is worth $966 million.

No decision on Cairn-Vedanta deal

Sundareshan also said the government had yet to decide on whether to allow Vedanta Resources to buy a majority stake in the Indian unit of Cairn Energy.

Last month, India-focused miner Vedanta said it had agreed to spend up to $9.6 billion to buy a majority stake in Cairn India from UK-based Cairn Energy.

The deal needs Indian government approval because Cairn India has production-sharing contracts with the government for oil and gas exploration blocks. According to the agreement, any ownership change will need federal approval.

"We have written to them saying they should seek these approvals and so far there has been no response. As soon as the requests come...they will be examined on merit and a decision will be taken," Sundareshan said on Saturday.

He also said India was planning a policy by which gas in the country would be uniformly priced.

"Maybe in the course of the next year we would move to a situation where there could be a pool pricing of gas irrespective of the source, international or domestic, and gas could be uniformly priced."

A policy to provide fuel at a similar price across the country could firm up in the next 8-9 months, he added.

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Forbes downgrades Vietnam’s business environment

The US magazine ranks Vietnam 118 out of 128 countries, five spots down, based on factors like trade and monetary freedoms.

Photo: AFP

US business magazine Forbes has ranked Vietnam 118 out of 128 countries in terms of business environment, five spots lower than last year.

The ranking is calculated based on a variety of factors like trade freedom, monetary freedom, investor protection, personal freedom, tax burden, and corruption, in which Vietnam ranked 105th, 125th, 120th, 103rd, and 95th out of 128 countries and territories.

But it does well in some categories like innovation and technology, ranking 52nd and 69th.

Vietnam has a public debt to GDP ratio of 53.7 percent, according to the study.

Forbes said that its WTO membership has provided Vietnam an anchor to the global market and reinforced the domestic economic reform process.

But the global recession hurt Vietnam's export-oriented economy, with GDP growing at less than the 7 percent per annum average achieved during the last decade.

Vietnam ranks only ahead of countries like Chad, Zimbabwe, Bolivia, Cameroon, Burundi, and Venezuela, which is in last place. It lags behind all the Asean members who find a place in the rankings – Singapore is in fifth spot, Malaysia in 31st, Thailand in 56th, Indonesia in 74th, and Cambodia in 115th.

Denmark tops the list, ranking No 1 in personal freedom, second in corruption, and fourth in science and technology.

While Hong Kong ranks second, mainland China is in 90th spot, 27 spots lower than last year. China’s trade freedom ranks only 89th, monetary freedom 81st, and personal freedom 124th.

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Denmark to help hone local SMEs

HCM CITY — Denmark will help Vietnamese small and medium-sized enterprises become innovative and adopt new technologies to increase their export competitiveness through its three-year Business Sector Programme.

The programme has two other components: helping the Central Institute of Economic Management, Institute of Labour Studies and Social Affairs and General Statistics Office improve its economic research and analytical capacity and providing support to strengthen the national system of occupational safety and health by improving working conditions, reducing pollution at the workplace, and preventing occupational accidents and diseases.

The VND422 billion (US$21.6 million) programme will be implemented next year in six provinces in the central region — Nghe An, Thanh Hoa, Khanh Hoa, Phu Yen, Lam Dong, and Dak Lak — and An Giang Province and Can Tho City in the south.

The programme is awaiting approval from the Vietnamese Government. The two countries are expected to sign the agreement in December enabling the programme to get under way in January. — VNS

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Milk circular ‘doesn't break WTO rules'

HA NOI — A new Ministry of Finance regulation on powdered milk price increases does not violate Viet Nam's commitments to the World Trade Organisation (WTO), said the director of the ministry's Price Management Department, Nguyen Tien Thoa.

Circular 122/2010/TT-BTC strictly adhered to Government Decree No 75/2008/ND-CP of June 9, 2008, which defined milk as a commodity in need of price stabilisation, said Thoa. The new regulation would amend the earlier Circular No 104 to prevent unreasonable price hikes of imported powdered milk.

The ministry has not promulgated any new policies, Thoa stressed.

Circular No 122, which takes effect on October 1, stipulates that importers and distributors must register and report the prices of powdered milk products for children under six years of age to the price management agency.

The ministry issued its explanation in response to several foreign-invested dairy distributors and the ambassadors of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the US and the European Commission.

In a common letter addressed to the ministry, the ambassadors said the new price control mechanism would interfere with Viet Nam's efforts to achieve a market economy as well as its compliance with WTO regulations.

It could also hamper the attraction of foreign investment and development of the labour market, the diplomats said. — 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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