Prince Andrew returns to deepen UK-Vietnam ties

HCMC - Prince Andrew will come back to Vietnam tomorrow to represent the United Kingdom at the 1,000th grand celebrations of Thang Long-Hanoi and to further speed up bilateral trade and investment relations with Vietnam.

The UK Embassy in Hanoi said on Thursday that Prince Andrew would visit Vietnam from tomorrow to next Wednesday in his capacity as the UK Special Representative for International Trade and Investment.

The Duke of York’s upcoming visit aims to raise the UK’s profile as a major trading and investment partner of Vietnam, about one month after the UK and Vietnam inked a strategic partnership to spur multi-faceted cooperation.

As scheduled, Prince Andrew will attend a gala dinner tomorrow and the parade at Ba Dinh Square the day after in Hanoi. As a guest of the Vietnamese Government, he will call on the country’s President and Prime Minister and be at a lunch hosted by Deputy Prime Minister cum Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem.

The dignitary will attend the opening of the British University of Vietnam and the launch of the Duke of York Scholarship as well as the inauguration of the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit at the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases, of Standard Chartered Bank’s latest branch and Savills’ new premises.

Prince Andrew will deliver the closing remarks at a seminar on public private partnerships to help promote the concept and the expertise of the UK as a provider of PPP solutions before traveling to HCMC next week to meet with municipal authorities.

In HCMC, Prince Andrew will have meetings with British companies on urban development, financial services and the oil and gas industry. Also on the agenda is a meeting with Vietnamese entrepreneurs, which also highlights further investment opportunities for British companies in Vietnam, and encourage Vietnam to regard the UK as the main business gateway into Europe.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung’s first-ever visit to the UK in March 2008 laid a firm foundation for further UK-Vietnam cooperation. Last year saw UK's imports from Vietnam reach some US$1.8 billion and exports to this country stand at about US$348 million.

The UK is Vietnam’s third largest European Union investor after France and the Netherlands, with 126 projects worth over US$2.2 billion as of June 2010, according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

Prince Andrew was in Vietnam in October last year to meet with Prime Minister Dung and other high-ranking officials and to launch the third UK-Vietnam Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO) meeting in Hanoi.

He also visited Vietnam in 1999, 2006 and then 2008 when he witnessed a ceremony awarding local incorporation licenses to Standard Chartered and HSBC banks.

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Hundreds of companies told to register prices

HCMC – The Ministry of Finance has announced on its website a list of more than 150 companies that are required to register prices for their products in compliance with a circular on price stabilization.

The listed companies must register with the authorities the prices of their products, including imports in accordance with Circular No.122/2010/TT-BTC issued on August 12, and are obliged to stick to the registered prices.

In the list, there are seven companies providing dairy products for children under six, including FrieslandCampina Vietnam, Nestlé Vietnam Ltd., Mead Johnson Nutrition Vietnam and Meiji Vietnam.  

The list also comprises many manufacturers of cement, steel, liquefied petroleum gas, chemical fertilizer, plant protection chemical, veterinary medicine, salt, and sugar, and service providers like seaports and aviation.  

The ministry said it had made the list of the companies and sent announcements to them before the circular took effect on October 1.

The full list is available on the ministry’s website at http://www.mof.gov.vn/portal/pls/portal/docs/1080266.DOC.  

Earlier, Nguyen Tien Thoa, director of the ministry’s Price Management Department, was quoted on the Government’s website in September as saying that the circular did not contradict the country’s commitments to the World Trade Organization. The comment was made after foreign-invested companies and some ambassadors to Vietnam complained that the price management regulations would discourage investors.

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Grand celebrations, floods cause scarcity of air tickets

VALC gets fourth ATR72-500

HCMC - Air tickets for flights between HCMC and Hanoi have become scarce as demand for air travel on this route is rising because of the ongoing 1,000th birthday festival of Thang Long-Hanoi and flooding impacts in central Vietnam.

Vietnam Airlines on Thursday started to increase flight frequencies between the two biggest cities of Vietnam, especially those from HCMC to Hanoi, where the grand celebrations are taking place until October 10. For this reason, the airline adds 13 flights to this route until Monday.

The national flag carrier operated two more flights from HCMC to Hanoi on Thursday, five on Friday, one on each of Saturday and Sunday, and four more services from Hanoi to HCMC on October 11.

Besides the millennial celebrations, Vietnam Airlines has decided to increase frequencies because flooding in certain parts of central Vietnam has impacted travel by road and rail in the region, pushing the demand for air travel higher.

Vietnam Airlines said that with the extra services, it operated 32 daily flights on average on the HCMC-Hanoi route until Monday and offered 8,860 seats a day to the market.

Jetstar Pacific will not increase flight frequencies on the HCMC-Hanoi route as this low-cost carrier cannot arrange its aircraft reasonably on the fact that the demand is much higher for air travel from HCMC to Hanoi than the opposite direction on the same days.

A Jetstar Pacific executive told the Daily on the phone on Thursday that it had sold out all the air tickets for its flights from HCMC to Hanoi until October 9, and the tickets for the services on October 10 are running out. Almost all the tickets for the flights on the opposite direction on Monday and Tuesday have been booked.

Jetstar Pacific operates 10 flights between HCMC and the capital city, using Airbus A320s with 180 seats and Boeing 737-400s with 168 seats. The country’s second largest airline now has one Airbus and five Boeing aircraft.

Air Mekong cannot give much help in the air ticket shortage as the start-up airline will launch services this Saturday, with around two flights for the HCMC-Hanoi route using Bombardier CRJ-900s configured with 90 Deluxe and Economy-class seats.

The private airline is expected to receive an air operator certificate (AOC) from the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam in Phu Quoc Airport in the Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang on Friday, and announce its maiden services on Saturday.

Initially, Air Mekong will conduct 26 daily flights by four Bombardier CRJ-900s before increasing frequencies to 34 daily services flights on 10 domestic air routes to the airports in HCMC, Hanoi, Phu Quoc, Con Dao, Pleiku, Buon Ma Thuot and Dalat, and the central city of Danang.

* Vietnam Aircraft Leasing Join Stock Co. (VALC) on Thursday took delivery of a fourth ATR72-500 plane in France’s city of Toulouse as part of a batch of five aircraft of this type the local company already ordered from manufacturer ATR.

VALC will get the fifth ATR72-500 in December this year in the US$100 million-plus deal between the company and French Avion de Transport Regional (ATR). All the aircraft will be leased to Vietnam Airlines.

Tran Long, general director of VALC, said the company was completing procedures to receive 10 Airbus A321-200s from the European aircraft maker in 2012 and 2013. Again, these planes will be put into service by Vietnam Airlines.

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Japan stands firm on FX, China lets yuan rise

Photo: Reuters

TOKYO - Japan said it will continue to intervene to curb a strong yen if necessary, just hours before G7 and IMF officials meet to discuss escalating tension over currency policies, and Thailand is also poised to act.

China, which has rebuffed calls from the West to let its currency rise faster, allowed the yuan to firm on Friday to its highest against the dollar since a revaluation in July 2005.

Traders said Beijing may be making some concessions ahead of International Monetary Fund and World Bank meetings this weekend. But they said any further rise would be limited so as not to harm its exports.

With positions entrenched, expectations for any meaningful agreement in Washington are low although fears of a global currency war have jumped to the top of the agenda.

"We are approaching a G7 meeting, but regardless of this, Japan will take firm measures, including intervention, when needed," Japanese Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda told reporters when asked about the yen's rise to another 15-year high on Thursday. "This is Japan's basic stance."

Japan, worried a strong yen would hit its vital export sector, intervened in the market for the first time in six years last month, drawing criticism from its peers.

Prime Minister Naoto Kan sounded a little more conciliatory, saying Tokyo wanted to cooperate with its Group of Seven peers on currencies, but in the same breath reiterated the message that the authorities would take "decisive steps" if needed.

G7 leaders hold a closed-doors dinner on Friday.

Emerging anger

Global policymakers have been clashing over the dollar's broad-based decline, with emerging economies stepping up efforts to cap their currencies, actions which developed nations argue could derail economic recovery.

Thailand's finance minister will propose measures to handle the baht's strength at a cabinet meeting next week, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said on Friday.

The baht, which has risen about 11 percent against the dollar this year, the second-best performer in Asia after the yen, slipped after the comments.

Russian Deputy Finance Minister Dmitry Pankin said Brazil, China, India and Russia -- the so-called BRICs -- see the current moves in emerging markets currencies as a deeper problem that cannot be solved through a free float.

"Free float is not an exit prescription, it's not a prescription for all illnesses," he told reporters after a meeting of deputy finance ministers in Washington on Thursday.

Chinese premier Wen Jiabao, in Europe this week, politely rejected calls to let the yuan appreciate faster and Brazil on Monday doubled a tax on foreign investors buying local bonds, trying to curb a currency rally.

Yi Gang, a deputy governor of the People's Bank of China (PBOC), was quoted as saying on Friday that while China would continue to reform its exchange rate regime a sharp rise in the yuan would harm its economy.

Entrenched positions

Despite low expectations for the weekend talks in Washington, moves are afoot to create a more effective forum to tackle currency issues.

France will start talks on overhauling the global monetary system during its forthcoming G20 presidency to improve policy coordination and stem capital flows distorting exchange rates, Economy Minister Christine Lagarde said.

"If you look ... at the latest moves that are taking place, whether from Brazil or from Japan for instance, let alone from China, you really wonder what kind of coordination there is," she said.

German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported that IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn plans to present the lender's members with a "systemic stability initiative" which will bring together the world's leading economic powers in a regular forum aimed at resolving currency issues.

Participants would include the United States, large European countries, Japan, China and other emerging market countries that are important for the global financial system, the newspaper said without citing sources.

Officials from developing markets say ultra-low interest rates in rich countries are fueling massive fund flows into their markets, pushing up their currencies and inflating prices of stocks, property and other assets.

Japan cut interest rates to zero this week and the US Federal Reserve is also expected to ease policy further.

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Vietnam grants new gold import licenses, quotas

Photo: AFP

HANOI - Vietnam's central bank granted permits for gold imports to several firms on Thursday, giving each a quota of 200-300 kg in a bid to narrow the spread between gold prices in the country and in world markets.

The licenses were issued on Thursday afternoon and are valid through Oct. 12, according to a report on Vneconomy.vn, the online version of the Vietnam Economic Times.

Vietnam effectively banned gold imports in mid-2008 to help tackle a trade deficit as the economy overheated, but the central bank has granted import quotas on a selective basis since then.

A source with direct knowledge of the licensing and quotas said nine firms were part of the arrangement, which would put the total volume somewhere between 1.8 and 2.7 tons.

There was no immediate comment from the State Bank of Vietnam, which earlier published an interview on its website quoting a senior official as saying the central bank would consider granting new licences if the price on the domestic market rose "unreasonably high".

Spot gold which has risen some 8 percent over the past month, hit an all-time high for a third straight session on Thursday, rising above US$1,360 an ounce, as a weak dollar pushed investors into bullion in the face of economic uncertainty and speculation of further monetary easing by central banks.

The import licenses were the first granted by the State Bank of Vietnam since February, and came in reaction to a widening spread between onshore prices and those on world markets.

Although the volume is limited it will have "a positive psychological effect" on the market, Vneconomy quoted Nguyen Thi Cuc, deputy director of importer Phu Nhuan Jewelry Co, as saying.

In Vietnam, gold in Hanoi had eased to VND32.77/32.85 million per tael by Thursday evening after rising as high as VND33.07/33.15 million earlier, according to Saigon Jewelry Co Ltd, the country's top dealer. One tael equals 1.21 troy ounces.

The unofficial exchange rate was quoted earlier at around VND19,800/19,850a per dollar at a major Hanoi gold shopa putting the gold price in Vietnam at a premium then of about $20 to global prices.

Markets will be tight

Earlier, the central bank's website quoted Nguyen Quang Huy, director of the foreign exchange department of the State Bank of Vietnam, as saying new imports might be permitted "at appropriate volumes and times, to stabilize the market".

Dealers in Asia said the Vietnamese comments helped nudge the price of gold up on the international market.

"People are going to focus on the fact that the Asian physical market will be tight. Last time Vietnam opened the door to gold imports, gold went up $20.

In percentage terms, it could translate into $30 today," said a Singapore-based trader after

Foreign exchange dealers have said the rise in global gold prices, and curbs on imports, had fed smuggling. Demand for dollars to buy this gold overseas was pushing down the value of the dong.

A similar scenario unfolded a year ago, leading the authorities to issue gold import licenses then, too. The pressure on the dong continued, however, and the central bank devalued the currency and raised interest rates just weeks after relaxing the import ban.

Traders said gold was being smuggled into Vietnam from neighboring countries and Thailand.

Nguyen The Hung, chief executive officer of Vietnam Gold Corp, said domestic supply was limited as investors had sold and businesses had increased gold exports when prices hit VND29-30 million per tael.

Speaking before the new licenses were announced, he said the differential between domestic and world gold prices had to be addressed. "The gap requires measures from the central bank."

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Petrol stockpiled as imports continue

Photo: Tuoi Tre

The quickest way to help lower stockpiles of refined petroleum products produced by the Dung Quat Oil Refinery would be to minimize petrol imports, PetroVietnam general director Pham Dinh Thuc said on Thursday.

Domestic petrol consumption has ended up 10 percent lower than predictions for this year, while production at the Dung Quat Oil Refinery was now exceeding the year's plan by 25 percent, Thuc said.

In the fourth quarter of this year, the refinery was expected to produce about 1.9 million tons of petrol, while domestic petrol distributors such as PVOil, Petec and Petrolimex have registered to buy only 430,000 tons from the refinery.

As a result, stockpiles have reached 75,000 tons and are predicted to mount to 727,000 tonnes by the end of the year.

Domestic importers could revise their signed contracts to import fuel and buy up the difference from Dung Quat, Thuc suggested.

However, Petrolimex deputy director Dam Thi Huyen said PetroVietnam should anticipate petrol consumption needs in light of import contracts already signed by domestic distributors, who would have to pay heavy damages if the breached the agreements.

Thuc suggested these importers might be able to re-export products to other buyers, even if they can't break their contracts.

The Dung Quat Oil Refinery faced difficulties during its first period of operation, and it had been expected to operate at only 80 percent of initial capacity this year. PetroVietnam has urged importers to prepare to receive locally-produced petrol in the near future.

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Economic recovery helps businesses increase salaries

Better business results and the recovery of the economy after the global economic crisis are the main reasons for businesses to increase salaries for their employees.

The results of a salary survey conducted by Mercer, one of the world leading providers of human resource consultancy services and Vietnam’s TalentNet Corporation announced Thursday showed that the average salary increase in 2010 is 12.4 percent, nearly 0.2 percent higher than last year’s figure.

Chemical and banking sectors saw the highest salary increase of 13.9 percent, followed by the pharmaceutical sector with 13.5 percent.

The survey, which was conducted at 253 joint venture and foreign-invested companies, also reported that salaries increases were seen in almost all businesses.

The rate of surveyed businesses that did not increase salaries for employees dropped to 0.79 percent from 13 percent in 2009. This shows that companies are now paying more attention to salary policies as well as methods to attract and keep human resources.

The voluntary resignation rate in 2009 also fell 3.1 percent compared to the previous year to 13.3 percent, proving the stability of the labour market.

The Mercer salary report, which has been conducted in Vietnam since 1999, provides businesses with bases to compare their salaries with the market in order to put forth more effective salary polices.

 

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