Sunday, December 19, 2010

Apparel exporters to pass benchmark

The textile and garment sector's export value is expected to earn US$7.5 billion 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 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 VND100 billion ($5.13 million) 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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IMF boss sees low risk of 'currency war'

WASHINGTON – The risk of a global currency war is "low" but cannot be ruled out, IMF managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said on Tuesday, following a spate of currency interventions.

Amid mounting anger that economic powers are pouring money into currency markets to make exports cheaper at the expense of rivals, Strauss-Kahn insisted the potential impact of an all-out currency war should give countries pause.

"I don't feel today that there is a big risk of a currency war. But that's part of the downside risk," Strauss-Kahn told reporters in Washington.

"I think the probability is rather low, because everybody can understand that too big conflicts... will have a negative impact. Nevertheless it may happen."

His comments come a day after Brazilian finance minister Guido Mantega vented his anger at the impact the rising Brazilian real has had on the country's vital export sector.

"We're in the midst of an international currency war," Mantega said in Sao Paulo hinting that intervention could come soon. "This threatens us because it takes away our competitiveness."

In recent weeks nearly a dozen governments from Colombia to Singapore have admitted to buying up local currency in the hope of driving down the price of the currency to make exports cheaper.

The dollar has fallen by about 25 percent so far this year against the Brazilian real.

"The talk of currency war is a bit exaggerated, I would say, but there is definitely a growing risk of a lower-level confrontation between countries trying to protect their exports in an unstable global economy," said analyst David Gilmore of Foreign Exchange Analytics.

But the latest rumblings come against a background of heightened tensions between the United States and China over the value of the yuan and as country's scramble to regain their competitive edge after the global economic slowdown.

The United States has complained for years that China has held down artificially the value of its currency, preventing it from rising to reflect the strength of China's foreign exchange earnings from exporting, notably to the US market.

US lawmakers were expected to vote on Wednesday to introduce sanctions against China if the undervalued yuan is not allowed to rise against the dollar.

The legislation enjoys strong support from Democrats and Republicans some five weeks before November elections shaped by deep US voter anger at the sour economy and historically high unemployment hovering near 10 percent.

The currency issue now looks set to feature prominently when finance ministers and central bankers gather in Washington next week for the IMF's annual meetings and at upcoming group of 20 summits in South Korea.

"I think it is one of the questions which will be very much discussed during the annual meetings and during the two meetings in Korea in October and in November," said Strauss-Kahn.

But according to one former IMF official the Fund is at least partially to blame for the the ratcheting tensions.

"The IMF has abdicated its surveillance responsibilities, it is a free-for-all out there, you can do whatever you want," said Morris Goldstein, former IMF official and member of the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

"If China can be intervening and and manipulating its exchange rate for seven or eight years in a row and the Fund does not say anything, then why shouldn't everyone else do it?"

 

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Imported Chinese toothpicks dominate domestic market

Workers make toothpicks in Dien Chau town in the central province of Nghe An. The higher price of domestic toothpicks have reduced their competitiveness. — VNA/VNS Photo Tran Canh Yen

Workers make toothpicks in Dien Chau town in the central province of Nghe An. The higher price of domestic toothpicks have reduced their competitiveness. — VNA/VNS Photo Tran Canh Yen

HCM CITY — The bamboo toothpick market in HCM City, once dominated by domestic producers, has been inundated with Chinese products.

The Sai Gon Customs Department Zone 1 reported that during the first eight months of the year, 911 tonnes of bamboo toothpicks were imported through the Cat Lai Port, 200 tonnes in August alone.

The imports reached a turn over of US$125,000.

Tran Van Phuoc, owner of a company that imports bamboo toothpicks in HCM City, said the imported products only cost VND2.6 million ($135) per tonne, which was half the price of their locally made counterparts.

"Because of the huge price difference, many businesses prefer to buy imported products," he said.

Chinese toothpicks are more diverse in price, packaging and appearance, with prices ranging from VND2,300 ($0.12) to VND23,000 ($1.2) for 10 packages.

Nguyen Lan Huong, a customer in Tan Binh District said "Chinese toothpicks are white, smooth and clean, while some Vietnamese-made products do not look clean and are even rough."

A representative from Tre Viet Enterprise in Central Highlands' Lam Dong Province said that Vietnamese producers often made toothpicks manually while Chinese companies used more advanced technology.

"Our labour is more expensive and the products do not look as good as Chinese ones," he said.

Leader Vu Ngoc Quynh of Dong A, another toothpick producer, holds a different view, however.

He said "toothpicks are most frequently used in restaurants in Sai Gon, not in households, and restaurant owners choose Chinese toothpicks because they are cheaper".

"We have lost about 30-40 per cent of our customers this year," Quynh said, adding that each month their company sells about four tonnes of toothpicks.

To compete with the imported toothpicks, Quynh said his company was planning to produce a cheaper variety to meet the needs of different types of customers.

"We will try to cut down on costs for large packages to restaurants and supermarkets," he said. —VNS

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A brighter economic future

Goods are exported from HCM City's Cat Lai Port. Viet Nam's economic growth was expected to reach 6.7 per cent in 2010 thanks to Government steps to stablise the economy. — VNA/VNS Photo Kim Phuong

Goods are exported from HCM City's Cat Lai Port. Viet Nam's economic growth was expected to reach 6.7 per cent in 2010 thanks to Government steps to stablise the economy. — VNA/VNS Photo Kim Phuong

HA NOI — Viet Nam should maintain macroeconomic stability in response to its new status as a middle income country, the Asian Development Bank said yesterday as it boosted the nation's 2010 growth forecast.

Viet Nam's economy was expected to grow 6.7 per cent in 2010, up from the bank's 6.5 per cent forecast earlier this year, following the Government's steps to stabilise the economy, the Manila-based bank said in its twice-yearly economic forecast.

The country's expected growth boost was in accordance with the expansion of Asian economies by 8.2 per cent, up from the previously estimated 7.5 per cent, as the region "recovered from the global (financial) crisis with remarkable speed and vigour", according to the report.

The bank also increased Viet Nam's growth forecast for next year from 6.8 per cent to 7 per cent. Inflation was projected to average 8.5 per cent this year, easing to 7.5 per cent next year on the assumptions that domestic macroeconomic stability is maintained and that global oil and commodity prices remain relatively steady next year.

Viet Nam, along with Thailand and Malaysia, would see an upswing in their exports, said the bank, which predicted Southeast Asian economies to grow 7.5 per cent in 2010, up from an earlier 5.1 per cent estimate.

Since the last forecast in April this year, "Viet Nam has consolidated its macroeconomic stability," the ADB Country Director for Viet Nam, Ayumi Koshini, told a press briefing in Ha Noi yesterday. "As a result, we are making upward adjustments in our growth forecast for both 2010 and 2011."

The steps taken by the Government to stabilise the economy had contributed to improvement in the external and foreign reserves positions, the Asian Development Outlook Update noted. With improvement in the capital account, the overall balance of payments would likely turn to a small surplus in the second quarter of 2010 after recording deficits since the start of last year. The bank predicted quick economic growth in the second quarter.

Viet Nam was recently upgraded to a Middle Income Country as the GDP per capita reached US$1,024. In order to prepare for the next ten year period as a new Middle Income Country, Viet Nam needed to be cautious about maintaining macroeconomic stability and effectively communicating relevant policies to the public while accelerating reforms, the bank said in its report.

The country is preparing a new 10-year Strategy and a new five-year Socio-Economic Development Plan as a new ‘middle income country'.

"It will be critical for Viet Nam to keep an eye on the global economic scene," said Koshini who warned that the transformation of China from the ‘factory of the world' to the ‘largest consumer market in the world' would certainly change the regional economic map, together with the establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community by 2015.

The bank advised the Government to continue its efforts to ensure a better public understanding of its policy stance, supported by greater and timely availability of information and statistics which should be applied not only to the Government but also to the corporate sector.

The ADB report noted that the two laws approved by the National Assembly in June 2010 – the laws on the State Bank of Viet Nam and on Credit Institutions – together with various legal documents issued by the State Bank of Viet Nam (SBV) and other agencies, marked important progress in strengthening the framework for monetary policy implementation and safeguarding the stability of the banking system.

The Asian Development Outlook and its Update are ADB's primary economic reports analysing the economic conditions and prospects in Asia and the Pacific. They are issued in April and September, respectively. — VNS

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Agricultural exports rise 22.3% in first nine months

Workers process pineapple for export in Ninh Binh Province. Agricultural exports reached US$14 billion in the first nine months of the year. — VNA/VNS Photo Huy Hung

Workers process pineapple for export in Ninh Binh Province. Agricultural exports reached US$14 billion in the first nine months of the year. — VNA/VNS Photo Huy Hung

HA NOI — Agricultural export value reached US$14 billion in the first nine months of the year, an increase of 22.3 per cent over the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Of the total, seafood accounted for $3.47 billion – an increase of 14.2 per cent over the previous year – while forestry products accounted for $2.6 billion, a whopping 36.3 per cent increase.

Remaining agricultural exports totalled $7.2 billion, an increase of 21.1 per cent, of which rice earned $2.56 billion, an increase of 14 per cent.

The sector as a whole generated 27 per cent of the nation's total export value in first nine months of the year, the ministry said.

Nguyen Viet Chien, director of the ministry's Centre for Information and Statistics, said the increases were due both to high demand and rising global prices.

Among leading cash crops, rice exports totalled 5.5 million tonnes during the nine-month period, an increase of 12 per cent, while rice prices rose to an average of $470 per tonne, 3 per cent higher than last year and nearly comparable to the average price for rice from Thailand, where rice production was effected this year by natural disaster.

Despite gloomy forecasts earlier this year that coffee exports would not reach $1 billion during 2010, coffee exports rose 4.2 per cent in the first nine months to a volume of 925,000 tonnes, while export value has already surpassed $1.3 billion.

Rubber exports climbed to 531,000 tonnes in the first nine months, an increase of 10.9 per cent, earning $1.45 billion – double last year's value.

Tea exports rose 4 per cent in volume during the period to 100,000 tonnes and 16.7 per cent in value to $146 million, while cashew exports jumped by 10 per cent in volume to 143,000 tonnes and by 30 per cent in value to $780 million.

Favourable conditions on world markets have made it likely that total agricultural export value would exceed $16 billion by the end of the year, Chien said. — VNS

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Czechs enter shipyard deal

HA NOI — Vietnamese and Czech enterprises agreed to co-operate in shipbuilding and ship repair industries as well as technological transfer at a business conference held on Monday in the capital.

The agreement is confirmed by a contract signed by PSJ and Nosco Vinalines, a memorandum of understanding between PSJ and Vinalines Shipyard and a protocol between CREA Hydro&Energy and Ha Noi Mechanical Engineeging Co (Hameco).

According to the vice chairman of the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) Doan Duy Khuong, Viet Nam views the development of trade and investment relations with the Czech Republic as an important endeavor.

The past few months showed stable development in the two-way trade, which topped US$156 million in 2009. Czech exports to Viet Nam stayed at $36 million and its imports at $120 million, most of which are agricultural products, seafood, footwear, garments, handicrafts and computer components. In addition, the Czech Republic has invested some $35 million in Viet Nam, with a focus on manufacturing crystal glass, beer, electrical devices and electronics.

These figures, however, failed to match the economic potential of the two countries, Khuong said, adding that the Czech Republic would be a gateway to a large and lucrative EU market, while Viet Nam would simultaneously introduce Czech products to ASEAN countries.

There were untapped opportunities for increased co-operation, said the minister of Industry and Trade Le Danh Vinh, citing Viet Nam's advantages in garments, footwear, agricultural production, food processing and consumer goods, as well as Czech strengths in the mining, pharmaceutical and IT industries.

He called for the frequent exchange of business delegations to foster transfers of trade and investment information as well as to find out new co-operation opportunities.

Vinh also proposes organising more business conferences and forums in each country. — VNS

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Italian businesses eye investments

HA NOI — A delegation of Italian engineering companies and contractors in transport, energy and environment sectors will visit Viet Nam from Sunday to Wednesday, Trade Commissioner Marco Saladini said in Ha Noi yesterday.

The purpose of the mission was to aid the nation's rapid development by improving the country's infrastructure, presenting Italian companies with co-operation opportunities, Saladini said.

Over the past five years, infrastructure investment in the country had not kept pace with the GDP growth of 7.3 per cent. To meet demand and development goals, it was estimated Viet Nam's overall infrastructure spending requirements over the next five years alone were in the range of US$165 billion, about $33 billion a year.

Italian Trade Commission research indicated initiated projects to be completed by 2015 in the three key sectors' infrastructure were worth $85 billion.

Even this smaller figure implied a strong acceleration from the current overall expenditure level of $5 billion or 9.4 per cent of the country's GDP, which was the average of the last few years, Saladini said.

The trade commission would conduct a seminar next Monday and Tuesday on infrastructure development and co-operation opportunities with Italian companies. — VNS

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