Binh Dinh to host first forest product festival

The first Vietnam Forest Product Festival will take place in Quy Nhon,
the central coastal city of Binh Dinh province from March 26-29, 2011.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Vietnam Timber
and Forest Product Association (VIFORES) and the provincial People’s
Committee announced the event on September 28 in Ho Chi Minh City.

Le Huu Loc, deputy chairman of the provincial People’s Committee said
that over 400 domestic and international organisations are expected to
attend with 700 pavillions.

Besides, seminars to promote trade in this field as well as cultural and culinary festivals will also be held, he added.

Hua Duc Nhi, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development said
that the festival aims to highlight the contributions of the forestry
sector and step up the cooperation among forestry businesses both at
home and abroad.

According to the VIFORES, wood
products export is scheduled to reach 3.1 billion USD this year,
becoming one of five major hard currency earners of the country. Vietnam
currently ranks second in Southeast Asia in term of wood products
export. Its products are shipped to 120 countries worldwide./.

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Central Bank redefines circular

Banks will be allowed to lend up to 25 percent of their non-term deposits.

They will also be allowed to count their deposits at the State
Treasury and loans on a three-month or longer term basis with other
credit institutions as part of their reserves for lending. These
regulations are congruent with Circular No19/2010/TT-NHNN issued by the
State Bank of Vietnam last night to supplement Circular No 13.

The original circular would have restricted banks from issuing loans
from non-term deposits lodged by the State, State entities, the social
insurance fund or commercial credit organisations.

Banks now will also be allowed to lend funds raised from bonds and
deposits certificates. These moves are expected to free up the
inter-bank market and provide more capital to banks.

These regulations will come into effect on October 1.

Other regulations in the Circular No13 are kept unchanged as it
continues to prohibit banks from lending more than 80 percent of their
deposits. It also sets a 250-per-cent risk coefficient for all loans
secured against securities or real estate.

The capital adequacy ratio, CAR, for Vietnam 's banks is lifted to 9 percent – from 8 percent.

The central bank reported last Friday that 10 of 12 banks in Hanoi
have already raised their CAR to 9 percent. The other two would try to
meet the requirement before Friday.

National
Financial Supervisory Council deputy chairman Le Xuan Nghia said in an
economic seminar last week, "It's appropriate that the regulations in
the circular are close to the Basel 3 standards but it is unnecessary
for them to be stricter than Basel 3."

Basel
3 sets CAR at 8 percent and risk coefficient for all loans secured
against securities or real estate at 150 percent.

Deputy chairman Nghia worried that implementation of Circular No 13
would have a detrimental effect on the capital, securities and property
markets.

The Government said the purpose of Circular
13 was to ensure financial market stability and well-managed capital
circulation in the latter part of this year and early next year.

Some banks pledged at a meeting of the Vietnam Banks Association in
HCM City last week to simultaneously cut deposit interest rates 0.4
percentage points to 11 percent as soon as next Friday and no later than
October 15 if the amended circular came into effect.

Circular 13 is intended to address shortcomings in various risk-management provisions.

The Fullbright Economics Teaching Programme's Professor Huynh The Du
argues the changes proposed in the circular are necessary to Vietnam
's financial system.

The 9 percent CAR and a 250
percent risk coefficient would improve financial stability and prevent
banks from entering too deeply into risky lending, he said.

But Nghia said that the solutions to the pivotal problems of Vietnam
's financial market were not confined to a higher CAR but accurate
accounting, financial statements and the valuation of assets.

The Prime Minister first ordered the central bank to review the
Circular 13 which is intended to govern bank reserves about six weeks
ago./.

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Data boosts Monday markets

The indices on both of Vietnam 's stock exchanges closed slightly
higher on Sept. 27 after the publication of economic growth figures.

Gross domestic product (GDP) was reported to have
risen 6.52 percent during the first nine months of the year. Growth was
even more robust in major cities, reported at 11.2 percent in HCM
City and 10.6 percent in Hanoi .

On the HCM
Stock Exchange, the VN-Index continued in positive territory throughout
on Sept. 27's session, closing up 0.11 percent to 450.20 points.

The value of trades reached 951.3 billion VND (48.8 million USD) on a
volume of 37.4 million shares, an increase of 6 percent over last
Friday's session.

Decliners once again outnumbered advancers, however, by 129-77.

Ocean Group (OGC) remained the most-active share on the southern
exchange, with 2.48 million traded. OGC closed down by about 3 percent
to 32,400.VND (1.66 USD) per share.

Of the 10
leading shares by capitalisation, only three advanced, with Bao Viet
Holdings (BVH) and Sacombank (STB) reaching their ceiling prices.

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Apparel exporters to pass benchmark

The textile and garment sector's export value is expected to earn 7.5
billion USD during the first nine months, a 17 percent increase against
the same period last year, reports the Vietnam Textile and Apparel
Association.

The industry is likely to surpass its scheduled 10.5 billion USD benchmark for the year.

The sector's solid performance is attributed to an increase in orders
from foreign clients and the products' prices increased by 15-20
percent.

Export growth to the European market keep stagnant, while other markets remain accelerating during the period.

The country's export to the US market increases around 20 percent
and to Japan raises by 15 percent and to ASEAN nations goes up by 17
percent.

Especially, the trade agreement between
ASEAN with the Republic of Korea has helped boost Vietnamese
garments' export to the market with the sharp increase of 80 percent.

The association reported that many garment makers had
so far received enough orders for export this year, and signed contracts
for export next year.

However, the association
claimed that the early orders may shrink profit of the enterprises amid
on-rising prices of input materials, accessories and higher salaries.

To satisfy increasing demand of international
contracts, ten companies under the Vietnam National Textile and Garment
Group (Vinatex) have recently made production expansion investments to
meet increasing orders from foreign partners as well as higher demand at
the local market.

The Nha Be Garment Joint stock Co
has approved a plan to inject thousands of billions of dong to
implement tens of projects on textile, garment, washing and dyeing.

The Dap Cau Garment Joint Stock Co invested nearly 100 billion VND
(5.13 million USD) in a new factory in the northern province of Bac
Ninh. It was put into operation in February and has the capacity to
produce 9 million products annually.

Nguyen Dang
Luan, chairman of Dap Cau Co, said the new facility would help the firm
meet the rising number of export contracts.

"When
the factory was prepared to begin operating the first 16 production
lines the firm had already signed export deals for the whole year with
three partners, generating 1,800 jobs," Luan said./.

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Central bank holds steady on prime rate

The prime rate would be kept unchanged at 8 percent for the 11th
consecutive month as part of the ongoing effort to help commercial banks
lower lending interest rates, the State Bank of Vietnam said on
Sept. 27.

The refinancing and overnight rates for
electronic payments on the interbank market would also remain at 8
percent and the discount rate at 6 percent, the bank said.

Since the central bank gave the go-ahead for a negotiable interest
rate mechanism in March, the prime rate had not had direct impact on the
market lending interest rate that it used to, analysts said.

However, the benchmark interest rate was seen as a way of signalling
the monetary policy direction of the central bank at any given period.

The Government has ordered commercial banks to cut
lending rates to 12 percent and deposit rates to 10 percent in order to
help enterprises access credit.

Prevailing loan rates now range between 12-15 percent.

Many banks expected Circular No13's review to result in important
changes that would loosen credit requirements and help banks have more
capital on hand to make money and reduce interest rates./.

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BlackBerry unveils 'PlayBook' tablet computer

RIM President and Co-Chief Executive Officer Mike Lazaridis announces the new BlackBerry PlayBook as he delivers a keynote address at the BlackberryDevCon 2010 in San Francisco, California.

Photo: AFP

SAN FRANCISCO - BlackBerry maker Research in Motion is taking on iPad in the table computer game with a "PlayBook" aimed to capitalize on its strength -- the trust of business users keen on secure communications.

"It is the world's first professional tablet," RIM president and co-chief executive Mike Lazaridis said as he showed off the device in San Francisco.

The PlayBook is one of a number of tablet computers slated for release in a bid to challenge Apple's popular iPad and is the first foray outside the mobile phone realm for the Waterloo, Ontario-based RIM.

"They are kind of positioning it as the iPad for the suits," Gartner analyst Van Baker said of the PlayBook announcement.

The PlayBook has a seven-inch (17.8-centimeter) touchscreen, smaller than the 9.7 inches of Apple's iPad, and also plays Adobe Flash video software, which is banned from the Apple device.

"You are going to be able to get the full Web experience," Lazaridis said, stressing its integration with RIM's BlackBerry smartphone, a favorite among many professionals.

BlackBerry smartphone users can pair their handset with the PlayBook using a Bluetooth connection to view their email, calendar, documents or other content.

The PlayBook also features front- and rear-facing cameras to support video conferencing and allows multi-tasking between programs.

RIM expects to begin selling PlayBooks in the United States in early 2011 and rolling the tablets out to other countries by the middle of the year.

Lazaridis did not reveal how much RIM plans to charge for the PlayBook.

"RIM set out to engineer the best professional-grade tablet in the industry with cutting-edge hardware features and one of the world's most robust and flexible operating systems," Lazaridis said.

Positioning PlayBook as a business person's tablet could stymie its popularity in the sizzling consumer market dominated by iPad, according to Baker.

"RIM has a bit of a split personality; they struggle with whether they are a consumer or enterprise device company," Baker said. "Enterprise is their bread and butter, but consumer is the big market right now."

The fact PlayBook users can route data through BlackBerry smartphones instead of paying for separate telecom service should prove a selling point in the business and personal markets.

PlayBook tablets also promise help RIM challenge the increasing use of iPads in workplaces.

RIM said that in the coming weeks it would release a software kit so third-party developers can begin tailoring applications, or "apps," for PlayBook.

PlayBook debuted at BlackBerry DEVCON, a combined boot camp and pep rally for outside developers crafting programs for the Canadian firm's devices.

RIM introduced tools that make it easier to build applications for BlackBerry handsets and make money with ads or "in-app" purchases.

RIM is also launching a free analytics service that provides applications makers with feedback regarding how, when and where BlackBerry owners are using programs.

"We are enabling developers to better monetize their services and drive deeper engagement to create richer, more interesting social apps for BlackBerry," said Alan Brenner, senior vice president of the BlackBerry platform.

Approximately 35 million people use the BlackBerry "App World" shop, with 1.5 million programs downloaded daily, according to RIM vice president of global alliances and developer relationships Tyler Lessard.

RIM opened the door to more "social" applications that tap into phone features such as chat, instant messaging, and groups, according to Lessard.

Hip, fun or functional programs made by third-party developers have become vital to the popularity of smartphones and tablet computers.

Apple's App Store features more than 250,000 mini-programs for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.

Blackberry's App World has about 11,000 applications, but programs are also sold at other websites by developers.

Google has been aggressively expanding Android Marketplace, which boasts more than 80,000 apps for smartphones running on the California Internet titan's Android mobile operating system.

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Vietnam, China boost ties in technology transfer

Ministries of science and technology of Vietnam and China jointly held a symposium on technology application and transfer on Monday.

As part of activities in celebrations of the Vietnam-China Friendship Year and the 60th anniversary of Vietnam-China diplomatic ties, the seminar aims to further bolster cooperation between the two countries in the field.

The seminar offered the two sides an opportunity to exchange information and experiences in the promotion of technology transfer and transaction. It also helped intermediary organizations seek out cooperative opportunities.

The participants at the event touch upon the role played by intellectual property and its impacts on the process of technology transfer and application. They proposed the setting up of an information network of science and technology between the two countries.

Addressing the seminar, Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Nguyen Quan spoke highly of cooperative ties between the two nations as well as the achievements China has recorded in the field of science and technology after more than 30 years of renovation.

He put stress on the need to regularly organize similar seminars to deepen cooperation between the two sides in the area.

Vietnam and China have so far established information networks of science and technology, between governmental agencies, research institutes, enterprises and intermediary organizations.

A project, which has been carried out since 2002 by the two countries and focuses on the expanding of typical technologies in agriculture, has developed nearly 80 varieties of rice and vegetables for planting on a trial basis at the Hanoi University of Agriculture.

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