Cashew sector to need VND11 tril.

HCMC – The local cashew industry will need around VND11 trillion to sustain development within the next ten years.

The sum will help the sector expand growing areas, modernize production and invest in research, according to the 2011-2020 cashew development plan devised by the Vietnam Cashew Association (Vinacas).

The fund will be mobilized from banks, corporate bond sales, share issues and the State budget.

Vinacas plans to pass the project to relevant ministries and submit it to the Government in the fourth quarter of this year for approval. The industry will spend VND4.5 trillion in the 2011-2015 period and VND6.5 trillion until 2020.

The industry is facing difficulties due to unstable material sources as farming families have switched to growing rubber or cassava for higher profits. Besides, cashew export in the coming years will be affected by a labor shortage and higher input costs.

According to Vinacas, the capital will help to ensure a stable cashew material cultivation area of 315,000 to 360,000 hectares in the country, 200,000 to 250,000 hectares in Cambodia and 50,000 to 100,000 hectares in Laos. Through this financing, enterprises can also train workers, improve processing technology and promote business at home and abroad.

Vietnam is the world’s leading cashew exporter but 30% of unshelled cashews are imported from Africa. As African nations plan to process cashews in the future as well, the local processing industry will certainly suffer a material shortage.

Related Articles

• Cashew sector to need VND11 tril.
• Cashew traders yet to embrace trading center system
• S Africa looks to reinvigorate ties with VN
• IFC: Vietnam needs to increase PPP to support economy
• PM sets agenda for insolvent shipbuilder

Steel firm acquires Lilama’s zinc-coated steel plant

HANOI – Vietnam National Steel Corporation (VNSteel) has cut a deal to buy a stake of 85% in a zinc-coated steel sheet factory under Lilama Hanoi, the broker of the deal said. 

VPBank Securities Co. said that it has succeeded in consulting the merger & acquisition deal worth VND579 billion, or US$30 million, between Lilama Hanoi and VNSteel.

Under the deal, VNSteel via another legal entity buys the controlling stake in the factory in Quang Minh Industrial Park in Hanoi City.

Ngo Cong Cuong, general director of Lilama Hanoi, said that given the deal, Lilama Hanoi could retrieve capital to invest in its core business of construction while VNSteel can save time to invest in infrastructure as well as can take advantage of the company’s existing distribution network in the north. 

Nguyen Lam Dung, deputy general director of the securities company, said that this was a typical consulting deal conducted by the company this year.

“VPBS has suggested a reasonable scheme for the deal satisfying each of the two participants and ensure economic benefits for the new enterprise established from the M&A deal,” he said.

Related Articles

• Steel firm acquires Lilama’s zinc-coated steel plant
• Gold firms get import quotas amid price rally
• Greenback firmer on signs of rising demand
• Oil refinery slips up on poor market forecast
• Vietnam grants new gold import licenses, quotas

Steel firm acquires Lilama’s zinc-coated steel plant

HANOI – Vietnam National Steel Corporation (VNSteel) has cut a deal to buy a stake of 85% in a zinc-coated steel sheet factory under Lilama Hanoi, the broker of the deal said. 

VPBank Securities Co. said that it has succeeded in consulting the merger & acquisition deal worth VND579 billion, or US$30 million, between Lilama Hanoi and VNSteel.

Under the deal, VNSteel via another legal entity buys the controlling stake in the factory in Quang Minh Industrial Park in Hanoi City.

Ngo Cong Cuong, general director of Lilama Hanoi, said that given the deal, Lilama Hanoi could retrieve capital to invest in its core business of construction while VNSteel can save time to invest in infrastructure as well as can take advantage of the company’s existing distribution network in the north. 

Nguyen Lam Dung, deputy general director of the securities company, said that this was a typical consulting deal conducted by the company this year.

“VPBS has suggested a reasonable scheme for the deal satisfying each of the two participants and ensure economic benefits for the new enterprise established from the M&A deal,” he said.

Related Articles

• Steel firm acquires Lilama’s zinc-coated steel plant
• Gold firms get import quotas amid price rally
• Greenback firmer on signs of rising demand
• Oil refinery slips up on poor market forecast
• Vietnam grants new gold import licenses, quotas

Theme park builder concerned about nearby waste complex

HCMC – The developer of the Disneyland-style Happyland Vietnam project in the southern province of Long An on Wednesday expressed grave concern over a nearby, huge waste treatment project still under preparation.

The US$2 billion Happyland Vietnam tourism and recreational project is to be developed by a subsidiary of the HCMC-based Khang Thong Group. This theme park, expected to cover 300 hectares along the Vam Co Dong River in Ben Luc District, suddenly finds itself located in close proximity with what will become a dumpsite nearly six times larger.

This huge “land of happiness” is expected to start construction early next year and to open from April 2014 with an estimated 14 million visitors a year, said Nguyen Anh Diep, CEO of Happyland Entertainment Development Joint Stock Company under Khang Thong Group.

Diep told the Daily on Wednesday that “the company is very concerned about negative impacts on his Happyland project because of bad odor from the Thu Thua Waste Treatment Complex” some 3km away.

The waste treatment site – which is still in the process of making the feasibility study – is to be developed by Vietnam Waste Solutions Company Limited (VWS), also the developer of Da Phuoc Waste Treatment Complex in HCMC that has already caused huge grievances to local residents.

“Environmental pollution could be occurring like what has been happening at Da Phuoc Waste Treatment Complex. If air is to be polluted, millions of visitors at the tourism area would suffer,” Diep said.

The future operation of the huge dumpsite will also damage the view of the park, he said.

Diep explained Happyland Vietnam was designed with a riverfront section stretching some 3.7 kilometers along the Vam Co Dong River, so it will be very inconvenient for visitors to see waste being transported from HCMC to the waste facility on barges passing by the river everyday.

Talking to the Daily on the phone on Wednesday, a leader of Long An Province said the province would strictly oversee the waste treating process of the Thu Thua Waste Treatment Complex to control environmental pollution when it starts operation. However, the leader gave no further comment on negative environmental impacts on the tourism project.    

The dumpsite investor, meanwhile, is proceeding with the project, and is to hold a press conference on Thursday to announce the feasibility study including treatment technologies and investment capital.

Pham Thi Thuy Nga, communications manager of VWS, told the Daily on Wednesday that the company was expected to spend some US$700 million on this huge waste treatment facility over a period of 20 years.

Earlier, the Ministry of Construction and authorities of HCMC and Long An had given approval for VWS to develop the waste treatment area in Tan Thanh and Thu Thua districts of Long An to help treat large amounts of household waste for both Long An and HCMC.

The plan for developing Thu Thua Waste Treatment Complex was agreed upon in 2002 by Long An and HCMC governments. Meanwhile, the investor of Happyland Vietnam project got an investment certificate for the tourism and recreational site around two years ago.

Related Articles

• Theme park builder concerned about nearby waste complex
• Charm Engineering to build huge complex in Binh Duong
• Government vows to bail out insolvent shipbuilder Vinashin
• PM sets agenda for insolvent shipbuilder
• East Asian university forum opens in Hanoi

C/O fraud prevention council to debut next week

HCMC – A council responsible for preventing certificate of origin (C/O) fraud will be launched in Hanoi on October 14, said an expert in the industry.  

Tran Thi Thu Huong, director of the trade documents attesting center of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), told the Daily on the phone that the VCCI-affiliated council would issue early warnings about suspected C/O fraud.

The launch comes at a time when many experts are warning of rising C/O fraud in other countries where companies want to evade anti-dumping tariffs.  

“Enterprises should take caution when signing commercial and investment cooperation contracts with partners for products having high risk of being imposed anti-dumping tariffs,” she said, adding the council would work companies via industry associations.  

The forthcoming council will also work with the Ministry of Planning and Investment to provide advice for foreign companies before they set up shop in Vietnam if their products belong to the list of goods already subject to anti-dumping duties. It aims to prevent the possibility that their products don’t meet requirements for C/Os.

“An early warning will help investment licensing agencies that will in turn let investors know whether their products are eligible for certification of origin or not,” said Huong. “This procedure can prevent foreign investors from building factories without a single production line in Vietnam or with pro forma production facilities just to apply for C/Os.”

Related Articles

• C/O fraud prevention council to debut next week
• Woman receives life for property fraud
• Party Central Committee 13th plenum to focus on development, personnel
• Assoc insists on power price hike despite protests
• IFC: Vietnam needs to increase PPP to support economy

C/O fraud prevention council to debut next week

HCMC – A council responsible for preventing certificate of origin (C/O) fraud will be launched in Hanoi on October 14, said an expert in the industry.  

Tran Thi Thu Huong, director of the trade documents attesting center of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), told the Daily on the phone that the VCCI-affiliated council would issue early warnings about suspected C/O fraud.

The launch comes at a time when many experts are warning of rising C/O fraud in other countries where companies want to evade anti-dumping tariffs.  

“Enterprises should take caution when signing commercial and investment cooperation contracts with partners for products having high risk of being imposed anti-dumping tariffs,” she said, adding the council would work companies via industry associations.  

The forthcoming council will also work with the Ministry of Planning and Investment to provide advice for foreign companies before they set up shop in Vietnam if their products belong to the list of goods already subject to anti-dumping duties. It aims to prevent the possibility that their products don’t meet requirements for C/Os.

“An early warning will help investment licensing agencies that will in turn let investors know whether their products are eligible for certification of origin or not,” said Huong. “This procedure can prevent foreign investors from building factories without a single production line in Vietnam or with pro forma production facilities just to apply for C/Os.”

Related Articles

• C/O fraud prevention council to debut next week
• Woman receives life for property fraud
• Party Central Committee 13th plenum to focus on development, personnel
• Assoc insists on power price hike despite protests
• IFC: Vietnam needs to increase PPP to support economy

Market rallies to over 460 points

HCMC – The local market continued the uptrend, gaining almost ten points in the VN-Index in the second straight rising session Wednesday given strong rallies of many large caps. The VN-Index added 9.76 points, or 2.76%, against the previous session to close at 460.72.

The market opened higher and climbed slowly until the end of the second matching phase when buying suddenly accelerated and the index rose sharply to close at the daily high of 460.72.

Bids on the Hochiminh Stock Exchange were almost unchanged from the previous day at 72 million shares while offers rose 18% to over 64 million shares. Ending the session, there were 38.3 million shares worth VND1 trillion traded, rising by 15.3% and 25% against the session earlier respectively.

Advancers far outnumbered losers at 210 to 26, including 35 stocks hitting the ceiling prices and four others plunging to the floor prices.

Sacombank (STB) took the lead in terms of liquidity and it ended the day up 0.6% at VND16,900 per share on the volume of two million shares. Tan Tao Investment Industry Corp. (ITA) came next, surging 4.8% from the day earlier to VND17,400 with 1.4 million shares traded.

Foreign participation was also strong as the investors acquired 7.5 million shares worth VND271 billion and offloaded 2.6 million shares worth VND100 billion. They accounted for 26.8% and 9.9% of the market’s buying and selling value respectively.

The Hanoi market made further gains on Wednesday but in lower turnover of VND639 billion. The HNX-Index rose by 2.82 points, or 2.31%, from the previous session and ended the day at 124.84.

There were 273 stocks rising while 39 stocks dropping, of which 20 stocks went to the ceiling prices while three stocks dropped to the floor prices. Foreigners were net buyers and accounted for 1.5% and 0.7% of the market’s buying and selling value respectively.

HCMC Securities Corp. (HSC) in its comment on Wednesday said the market rebounded further as foreigners continued to buy blue-chips fairly aggressively. Turnover was a little higher overall although this was entirely due to an increase in trading in the southern bourse. For the second consecutive day, foreigners were very active buyers and this pushed the VN-Index higher.

“The market has turned around quite abruptly with blue-chips leading the way and apart from the earnings news perhaps some investors are also hopeful that interest rates can indeed fall by the October 15th deadline announced by the Vietnam Banking Association. That would indeed be wonderful news but we remain a little cautious given the upside pressure on CPI (consumer price index) from faster money supply and credit growth and a weaker currency.

“However, for the next day or two, we are likely to see some further upside but we would caution investors not to chase up prices. We keep our medium to long-term positive stance but still think that the fourth quarter will be a tricky time for stocks,” the broker added.

Related Articles

• Market rallies to over 460 points
• Market rises for third straight day
• Oil refinery slips up on poor market forecast
• Market moves up sharply
• Hanoi T&T win first V-League after scoreless draw