Experts call for new FDI strategy

Experts have called on authorities to provide strong, clear conditions, not merely open offers for foreign investors, before granting FDI licenses.

The new concept in luring foreign direct investment (FDI) was prompted by the fact that a number of major FDI projects have had their licences revoked or have been liquidated and shifted to other investors due to slow deployment or inefficient operations.

Prof. Dr. Nguyen Mai, the country’s leading expert in FDI, said the FDI strategy should focus on quality and efficiency, sustainable development, minimal carbon emissions and commitments to transfer advanced technology and skilled personnel.

He said that if advanced technology was applied to steel production, the industry may save up to 40 percent of energy and cut by half the emission of carbon to the environment.

These figures are very significant at a point when Vietnam is popular with the major world producers in steel production, which is always a leading energy guzzler, Mai pointed out.

Dr. Nguyen Minh Phong from the Hanoi Institute of Social Economy warned of risks if authorities care only about economic interests.

Management agencies and local administrations should take into account national security during the FDI project licensing procedures, especially in regard to those projects using vast areas of land, afforestation and mining located in strategic positions, Phong said.

For all these reasons, experts called on responsible agencies to make public both conditions and offers or take initiative in gaining information about foreign investors before granting licences.

These steps are necessary to avoid “bad” or “virtual” projects, and being able to apply incentives to those projects that are proven to be positive and sustainable, they argued.

The Foreign Investment Department estimated that Vietnam is expected to attract some US$21 billion in FDI and disburse between $14 and 15 billion in 2010.

 

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Power projects hit by drought

Many small and medium hydropower plants in the Central Highlands do not have enough water to operate efficiently although the rainy season is about to end.

Most hydroelectric companies in Dak Lak complain production has reached only about half of their targets because of the drought-like weather conditions.

Some small plants had to shut down temporarily to accumulate enough water, they said.

There are four hydropower plants on the Serepok River - the Buon Tu Srah Hydropower Plant with a 520 million cubic metres reservoir in Lak District; the Buon Kuop Hydropower Plant in Dak Lak Province's Krong No District; Dray H'Linh, Serepok 3 Plants in Dak Nong Province's Cu Dut District and Serepok 4 in Buon Don District, Dak Lak.

Tran Van Khanh, director of the Buon Kuop Hydropower Company which operates the Buon Tu Srah and Serepok 3 plants, said the extended drought resulted in record low water levels in the Serepok River. He said the Buon Tu Srah Dam, whose reservoir can hold 520 million cu.m of water, had just around 60 million cu.m water.

This was the lowest since the plant was inaugurated in September 2009. Inadequate water in the Buon Tu Srah Reservoir has caused downstream hydropower plants to operate perfunctorily because upstream reservoirs have to accumulate water, he said.

Khanh said the State had assigned his company to provide 1.28 billion kWh of power this year, but it has only been able to produce 480 million kWh, about 38 percent of the year's plan.

"Compared with the same time last year, this is a record low water level. The rainy season in the Central Highlands often ends in November, but there is not enough water to operate the plants even now. With this situation, I am afraid the company will not reach 50 percent of the target," Khanh said.

An official who works at the Buon Tu Srah Reservoir said last Friday that the dam could not accumulate enough water and the plant had to stay idle at daytime.

The Krong No River in Dak Nong Province is no longer fierce and deep as it used to be, and a drop of several dozen meters in water levels in the dam is clearly visible.

Ho Van Bay, deputy secretary of Duc Xuyen Commune's People's Committee, said water levels in streams that linked to the Krong No River were so low that people could walk to the other side.

Nguyen Van Than, director of the Dak Lak Electricity Company, predicted that the situation would worsen in the coming months.

Water levels at the Ialy Hydropower Plant on the Se San River in Gia Lai and Kon Tum Provinces have also been reported at critically low levels and output capacity of the dam is said to be at 50 percent.

Ta Van Luan, director of Ialy Hydropower Company, said the company's production in the first eight months of this year has reached 50 percent of that assigned by the Vietnam Electricity Corporation.

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Business tycoon sues province for taking back leased villas

One of Vietnam’s richest businessmen on Monday filed a lawsuit against the Finance Department in Lam Dong Province for taking back 11 villas that he said his company had leased to build a resort.

Doan Nguyen Duc, chairman of Hoang Anh Gia Lai Group, told local news website VnExpress that he was “shocked” when the authorities of the central highlands province made the decision.

“It’s funny because the 11 villas were taken back while my down payments for land clearance so far have been ignored,” he said.

According to Hoang Anh Gia Lai, the company began to pursue a plan to develop 20 old villas in the resort town of Da Lat into a four-star resort in 2002. It signed a contract with Lam Dong Province Finance Department to lease the properties, with a total area of nearly 46,000 square meters, for 50 years.

Fifteen of the villas were transferred to the company and construction work was finished on eight of them, Duc said.

The province, however, decided to take back 11 of the villas in September last year and assigned them to another company in Ho Chi Minh City.

Lawyer Le Thi Hoai Giang, legal representative for Hoang Anh Gia Lai, said the company demands that the Lam Dong Province's Finance Department fulfills its contract. In case the contract is terminated by the department, all financial obligations have to be paid, she said.

Director of the Finance Department, Nguyen Van Yen, told VnExpress that the decision to take back the villas was made “in accordance with legal regulations.”

Yen said the resort project was delayed and the conditions of the villas had deteriorated.

The villas were supposed to be put into business no later than 12 months after their transfer. However, some of them had been left untouched for nearly three years, Yen said.

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Business tycoon sues province for taking back leased villas

One of Vietnam’s richest businessmen on Monday filed a lawsuit against the Finance Department in Lam Dong Province for taking back 11 villas that he said his company had leased to build a resort.

Doan Nguyen Duc, chairman of Hoang Anh Gia Lai Group, told local news website VnExpress that he was “shocked” when the authorities of the central highlands province made the decision.

“It’s funny because the 11 villas were taken back while my down payments for land clearance so far have been ignored,” he said.

According to Hoang Anh Gia Lai, the company began to pursue a plan to develop 20 old villas in the resort town of Da Lat into a four-star resort in 2002. It signed a contract with Lam Dong Province Finance Department to lease the properties, with a total area of nearly 46,000 square meters, for 50 years.

Fifteen of the villas were transferred to the company and construction work was finished on eight of them, Duc said.

The province, however, decided to take back 11 of the villas in September last year and assigned them to another company in Ho Chi Minh City.

Lawyer Le Thi Hoai Giang, legal representative for Hoang Anh Gia Lai, said the company demands that the Lam Dong Province's Finance Department fulfills its contract. In case the contract is terminated by the department, all financial obligations have to be paid, she said.

Director of the Finance Department, Nguyen Van Yen, told VnExpress that the decision to take back the villas was made “in accordance with legal regulations.”

Yen said the resort project was delayed and the conditions of the villas had deteriorated.

The villas were supposed to be put into business no later than 12 months after their transfer. However, some of them had been left untouched for nearly three years, Yen said.

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Shippers council says will charge at ship-owners over fees

HCMC - Vietnam Shipper’s Council said it would step in to settle complaints by Vietnam goods owners who are being imposed “unreasonable charges” on their products in many ports across the country.

Tran Duc Minh, head of the council, told the Daily on the phone on Monday that he was gathering opinions of shippers and would organize a meeting in September with ship-owners as well as port operators in big cities to solve the matter. Details of the meeting have not been revealed yet.

From September, garment and textile exporters shipping goods through Hai Phong Port have had to pay congestion charges amounting up to US$100 per container imposed by ship owners. Local exporters disagree with the charge as their shipments have got stuck on the site due to bad infrastructure rather than their faults.

The Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association have then required the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry to help remove the congestion charge as well as to find long-term solutions for the matter.

Many importers and exporter have long questioned the “unreasonable charges” when shipping goods to foreigner buyers. Among the charges is the Terminal Handling Charge (THC) imposed by international ship-owners associations since mid July 2008 on exported goods, which has stoke tension among exporters.

According to local exporters, it is their foreigner trade partners who must be responsible for the payment as they hire the ships.

Under prevailing trade practices in Vietnam, local enterprises often import goods under the mode of CIF (cost, insurance and freight price) and export goods on FOB (free on board), which means foreigner buyers have to bear all costs and risks of loss of or damage to the goods onboard the ship.

However, many international ship owners have required local enterprises to pay for the THC charge, which is up to US$140 per container.

According to shippers, they have to bear too many unreasonable charges imposed not only by ship-owners but also by port operators. Those overheads will add to their transport cost and consequently reduce their profits.

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Fish exporter flags U.S. court action on antidumping tariff

HCMC – Dong Thap-based Vinh Hoan Joint Stock Company said that it may file a lawsuit against the United States Department of Commerce (DOC) if the company’s tra fish exports to the US incur anti-dumping duties.

The Vietnamese company made the announcement on its website at www.vinhhoan.com.vn on Sunday, five days after DOC made a preliminary decision on anti-dumping tariffs on Vietnamese seafood shipped stateside.

According to the decision after the sixth administrative review, Vinh Hoan would incur anti-dumping duties on exports to the U.S. from August 1, 2008 to July 31, 2009. The company had, however, been exempt from anti-dumping duty in the fifth DOC review.

A source who requested anonymity told the Daily that anti-dumping tariffs imposed on products of some Vietnamese seafood exporters may range from 0% to 136%. The source said DOC, in this review, used third-country market Philippines instead of Bangladesh as a benchmark for determining the anti-dumping margins for Vietnamese tra fish, resulting in the increase in the tariffs.

Despite the bad news, Nguyen Ngo Vi Tam, deputy general director of the company, still seemed optimistic, saying there was still a chance for change because the decision was preliminary not final.

According to a representative of the Vietnam Competition Authority (VCA), an agency under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the decision is made by DOC, so it’s legal for a company that is imposed an anti-dumping tariff to file a lawsuit against the authority to the US court.

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Fish exporter flags U.S. court action on antidumping tariff

HCMC – Dong Thap-based Vinh Hoan Joint Stock Company said that it may file a lawsuit against the United States Department of Commerce (DOC) if the company’s tra fish exports to the US incur anti-dumping duties.

The Vietnamese company made the announcement on its website at www.vinhhoan.com.vn on Sunday, five days after DOC made a preliminary decision on anti-dumping tariffs on Vietnamese seafood shipped stateside.

According to the decision after the sixth administrative review, Vinh Hoan would incur anti-dumping duties on exports to the U.S. from August 1, 2008 to July 31, 2009. The company had, however, been exempt from anti-dumping duty in the fifth DOC review.

A source who requested anonymity told the Daily that anti-dumping tariffs imposed on products of some Vietnamese seafood exporters may range from 0% to 136%. The source said DOC, in this review, used third-country market Philippines instead of Bangladesh as a benchmark for determining the anti-dumping margins for Vietnamese tra fish, resulting in the increase in the tariffs.

Despite the bad news, Nguyen Ngo Vi Tam, deputy general director of the company, still seemed optimistic, saying there was still a chance for change because the decision was preliminary not final.

According to a representative of the Vietnam Competition Authority (VCA), an agency under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the decision is made by DOC, so it’s legal for a company that is imposed an anti-dumping tariff to file a lawsuit against the authority to the US court.

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