Uncertified food detained at port

HCM CITY — Hundreds of food containers are being kept at HCM City ports as their owners have failed to produce papers, including food-safety certification, as required by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Cat Lai Port alone has kept more than 500 imported containers of frozen meat, dried food and materials for seafood processing.

Dozens of containers are piled up at other ports in the city. Each container weighs between 23 and 25 tonnes.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development's Circular 25 said that imported frozen meat, dried food and materials for seafood processing must have food-safety certificates as well as lists of production businesses issued by a responsible authority of each country.

The circular, which became effective on September 1, also asked businesses to have licenses for every import shipment and safety certification for imported food issued by the Vietnamese authorities.

Doan Ngoc Tho, who owns a frozen food import company in HCM City, said he did not have these papers and could not finish customs clearance procedures.

More than 20 food containers of his company have been kept at Cat Lai Port for a week.

"I lost more than US$2,000 a day in electric and cold storage fees, " Tho said.

Do Ha Nam, director of HCM City-based Intimex Company, signed a contract to buy frozen food from a foreign company months ago and each day 10 containers arrive at Cat Lai port.

"I lack certification required by the new circular, but I cannot cancel the contract with the foreign company right now," Nam said. More than 40 containers of his company are being kept at the port.

Many company representatives said that Viet Nam had no office responsible for issuing certification of food safety for imported food.

They contacted the ministries of Health as well as Agriculture and Rural Development, and both said they were not responsible.

Nguyen Xuan Binh, director of the Animal Health Zone 6 Centre that manages animal heath and animal products in the south, said officials of several ministries and services should meet to settle the problem and help clear food containers at ports. — VNS

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SMEs need to be better audited

HA NOI — Small and medium-sized enterprises should improve their auditing standards if they wish to access much needed capital, a conference in Ha Noi heard yesterday.

There are about 450,000 enterprises in the country, according to Dang Van Thanh, chairman of the Viet Nam Accounting and Auditing Association. He said about 96 per cent of those firms are SMEs, which contribute about 40 per cent of Viet Nam's total GDP.

However, he said almost every business in the country faced difficulties accessing credit.

Statistics from the State Bank of Viet Nam's Credit Department showed that just half of the 163,000 non-State enterprises had taken out bank loans, accounting for 27 per cent of the country's total debt.

"It means that half of the non-State businesses, most of which are SMEs, are suffering a capital shortage," he said.

Another investigation released by the Ministry of Planning and Investment's Development Department shows that just one-third of SMEs has access to bank loans.

Nguyen Minh Tuan, deputy head of the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry's Business Development Institute, agreed that accessing credit was a problem for SMEs.

Economist Nguyen Dai Lai said banks paid particular attention to production and business plans and capital ability when they considered loan applications.

"Financial transparency and demonstrating the ability to make a profit are vital for any business that wishes to get credit," Lai said.

To meet bank requirements, participants at the conference were told about the need for independent auditing.

"Independent auditing could increase the reliability and accuracy of businesses' financial reports," Lai said.

Nguyen Thi Huong Nga, ANZ Bank's country head of Credit Risk, said financial reports needed auditing certification because it increased confidence in the information provided.

"However, many SMEs are not aware of the importance of auditing in answering capital questions," said Le Thi Hong Len, head of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) Viet Nam

Nguyen Thanh Trung, general director of Mazars, said to access long-term credit businesses needed to provide financial reports.

"Auditing is not a compulsory requirement for SME's. However, it is helpful and makes accessing credit easier," he said. — VNS

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Construction begins on Thien Phu project

DAK NONG — Housing Investment and Trading JSC (Intresco) began work on the Thien Phu Trade, Service and Residence project in the Central Highlands province of Dak Nong on Wednesday.

The project, which carries an investment capital of VND500 billion (US$25.64 million), will occupy a 44-ha area and include hotels, a trade centre, villas, offices and exhibition centre.

OCB reaches $12m in profits this year

HA NOI — Orient Commercial Joint Stock Bank (OCB) earned VND250 billion (US$12.82 million) profit in the first eight months this year, the company announced.

The State Bank of Viet Nam has allowed OCB, which has assets of VND13.5 trillion ($692.30 million) to raise its charter capital to VND3.1 trillion ($158.97 million) from VND2 trillion ($102.56 million).

Can Tho launchese-customs procedure

CAN THO — Can Tho Customs Department launched an e-custom procedure on Wednesday.As many as 29 enterprises are using the service.

The procedure will apply to export and processing enterprises in the province. The department will provide information about products to enterprises.

MoIT debuts ‘Viet Nam energy star'

HA NOI — The Ministry of Industry and Trade's Energy Efficiency Office launched the Viet Nam energy star label.

Deputy chief of Energy efficiency Office Phuong Hoang Kim said household electronics products producers would use the label to raise their competitiveness and develop a trademark for their businesses. — VNS

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Savills offers UK luxury apartments in Vietnam

An artist’s impression of the Kensington High Street apartment project in London that is being offered to Vietnamese buyers.

Photo: Photo courtesy of Savills Vietnam

UK-based property firm Savills and St Edward Homes are offering luxury apartments for sale in London to Vietnamese buyers.

Built by St Edward, a joint venture between Berkeley Group and insurance major Prudential, the US$500 million development is situated on Kensington High Street in the British capital.

The first phase of the project comprises 155 luxury apartments with one, two, and three bedrooms and three-bedroom duplex penthouses priced at $1 million-$7 million.

The apartments range from 34.2 square meters to 144.7 square meters most will have access to a private balcony, terrace, or sky garden.

The penthouses will be more than 185 square meters and have a master bedroom with a walk-in dressing room, and two more bedrooms.

The apartments will be offered on a 999-year lease and customers will have to pay 4 percent for reservation and paper work fee.

The development is expected to be finished by the third end of 2014.

Foreigners buying property worth more than $1 million in the UK will be offered a visit visa to the country and those buying property worth $2 million maintaining their ownership for four years can apply for UK naturalization, newswire Vnexpress quoted James Talbot, Savills UK's international sales director, as saying.

The company has sold 80 apartments already to Singaporean and Malaysian customers and is set to launch its sale in Hong Kong.

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Global economic recovery is slowing

PARIS – Global economic recovery is slowing faster than expected and extra stimulus from governments may be needed, the OECD warned on Thursday.

Growth in the Group of Seven leading industrialised economies could slow to an annual rate of 1.5 percent in the second half of the year, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said in an interim assessment.

"Recent high-frequency indicators point to a slowdown in the pace of recovery of the world economy that is somewhat more pronounced than previously anticipated," the OECD said.

But the report also said that such an evaluation was subject to "great uncertainty" and that it remained unclear if the slowdown reflected temporary factors or whether it signalled deeper constraints.

It said that if the trend were deemed to be temporary, governments should withdraw their monetary support "for a few months" while continuing to curb public spending.

But on the other hand, if the latest sluggishness proved to be longer lasting, governments could boost stimulus measures, for example by continuing central bank purchases of corporate debt and maintaining interest rates close to zero.

The report added that if public finances permitted, planned budget cuts could be delayed.

The OECD said in the months ahead consumer spending, the principal motor in many advanced economies, could be constrained by unemployment and falling housing prices.

In addition, "a weak economy and uncertainty in sovereign debt markets might also affect adversely the financial system and private demand growth."

But the OECD also noted that the global economy could take advantage of several strengths, in particular robust corporate profits, inventory levels that should not warrant "a renewed rundown of stocks" and stablised overall financial conditions in most industrialised countries.

In its country-specific forecasts, the OECD foresaw growth in the United States of 2.0 percent in the third quarter this year and 1.2 percent in the fourth.

Japan should experience growth of 0.6 percent in the third quarter and 0.7 percent in the fourth.

For the eurozone, based on an average of the three largest members, Germany , France and Italy , the comparable figures are 0.4 percent and 0.6 percent.

 

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China cassava traders seek partners

More than 30 Chinese cassava importers and suppliers of cassava processing technology have met local businesses in Ho Chi Minh City to exchange information and seek business partners.

The meeting was arranged by the Trade Promotion Agency under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the China Trade Office in Vietnam , the China Cassava Starch Industry Association and the Vietnam-China Trade Promotion Centre.

Cassava, an edible root, has become an increasingly profitable export for Vietnam due to growing demand in foreign markets, said Le Xuan Duong of the Trade Promotion Agency.

Mainland China is the biggest importer of Vietnamese cassava, accounting for 90 percent of the industry's export volume, followed by the Republic of Korea and Taiwan , Duong said.

With the huge demand for cassava used to produce food, animal feed and ethanol-blended petrol, China every year needs to import more than six million tonnes of cassava to meet its production needs, he said.

Vietnam has more than 500,000ha under cassava cultivation and an output of more than nine million tonnes of fresh cassava a year.

Of this, it annually exports more than four million tons after meeting domestic demand.

Vietnam 's cassava exports are mostly starch powder and dried chips, Duong said.

Last year, the country earned US$800 million from cassava exports, double that of pepper shipment revenues.

However, Vietnam was only able to export 1.14 million tons of cassava worth $307 million in the first six months of this year, down 52.4 percent in volume and 12.8 percent in value compared to the same period last year.

Duong attributed this decline mainly to local traders setting prices too high, pushing importers to buy from other countries.

Wen Yu Ping, Chairwoman of the China Cassava Starch Industry Association, said China was a huge market for cassava chips and starch, but most cassava products in Vietnam were produced on a small-scale, making it difficult for Chinese importers to purchase in large volumes. She suggested that the Vietnamese Government regulates standards for cassava export and reduce the number of brokers involved in purchasing the products. These measures will facilitate import, export activities between two sides, she said.

Until recently, people were reluctant to grow cassava because they thought that it caused soil degradation and generated low profit, said Tran Cong Khanh, an expert from the Institute of Agricultural Science for Southern Vietnam .

The situation has changed after the introduction of new cultivation techniques and high-yielding varieties, he added.

Cassava is now an important source of income for small farmers in many provinces, Khanh said.

Cassava area and output have increased strongly in the last decade, from 234,000ha in 2000 to 560,000ha in 2009, with yields increasing from 8.6 tonne per ha in 2000 to 16.8 tonne per ha in 2009.

The crop has helped farmers in many areas escape poverty, Khanh said.

But the rapid development of cassava production has also raised environmental concerns because the soil is exhausted after two or three crops.

The sector therefore needs to adopt appropriate cultivation techniques to maintain output and protect the soil, Khanh cautioned.

 

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Gold rises to new record high

A customer buys gold jewelry at a shop of SJC. The gold price yesterday shot up to a new high of VND29.49 million per tael - Photo: Thuy Linh

HCMC – Local gold on Wednesday hit an all-time high of VND29.49 million per tael, up VND240,000 from the previous day, as global gold markets rallied.

The domestic price once jumped to VND29.5 trillion on Wednesday. A tael equals to 1.2 troy ounces. Despite the rally, gold companies said trade was as usual.

Nguyen Cong Tuong, deputy head of the sales department of Saigon Jewelry Holdings Co. (SJC), said demand surged early on Wednesday as the opening price was much lower than the world price, so some companies grasped this opportunity to export gold to enjoy a small margin of about VND50,000 per tael after tax and fee.

However, around an hour later local gold changed direction and moved up to a level almost equaling the global price, so buying energy got muted, he added.

SJC revised the price about 12 times on Wednesday as the yellow inched up non-stop from the morning to 3 p.m., then turned to decline. The gold trading house on Wednesday bought a total of 1,500 taels and sold 2,500 taels.

At Phu Nhuan Jewelry Co. (PNJ), buying and selling were quite balanced. Nguyen Thi Cuc, deputy general director of the company, said her company bought 1,400 gold taels and sold 1,200 taels by 5 p.m. on Wednesday.

Gold was traded on the European market by 6 p.m. on Wednesday at US$1,259.6, causing the local price to surge to over VND29.47 (fee and tax excluded).

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