Airports make expansion plans

HA NOI — Tan Son Nhat Airport in HCM City is to be expanded to create space to service 10 additional passenger jets, while Ha Noi's Noi Bai Airport also has plans to add more space for aircraft to meet an explosive demand for air travel.

The Southern Airports Corporation has submitted their plans to increase the capacity of Tan Son Nhat Airport to the Civil Aviation Administration of Viet Nam (CAAV).

Nguyen Nguyen Hung, general director of the Southern Airports Corporation, said that capacity at Tan Son Nhat Airport is just enough to serve 20 million passengers a year, or 54,800 passengers a day. However during the traditional Tet holidays, Tan Son Nhat Airport received in excess of 58,000 passengers a day.

Under the new plan, Tan Son Nhat's present 42 bays will be increased to 52.

Noi Bai Airport currently has 24 parking bays, receiving nearly 90 flights a day. Nevertheless, the airport can become overloaded, meaning aircraft must queue up to take off or land, which leads to delayed flight or cancellations.

However, those plans were only a temporary solution while waiting for the construction of Long Thanh Airport in the southern province of Dong Nai. The project is expected to begin in 2011 and its first phase is expected to be completed by 2015.

Over the next few years, the national flag carrier, Vietnam Airlines and Jetstar Pacific Airlines plan to increase their fleets to over 100 aircraft. These companies and hundreds of other overseas airlines face major problems due to the country's limited aviation capacity. Two private airlines, Air Mekong and Blue Sky, are also set to join the domestic air market.

In 2009, Viet Nam's airports handled over 26 million passengers and 445,800 tonnes of cargo, a four-fold increase on 2000.

In the first seven months of this year, air passenger numbers rose 33 per cent over last year to 12 million, and this figure is forecast to increase by 35-40 per cent this year alone.

Lai Xuan Thanh, deputy head of CAAV, said that his agency was working with carriers to formulate five and ten-year development strategies to install extra aircraft bays.

Forty-five domestic and foreign airlines are currently operating on 55 international air routes to and from Viet Nam. Vietnam Airlines and Jetstar Pacific also service 40 routes nationwide. — VNS

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Industrial design sector set to develop

HA NOI — Increased investment from the Vietnamese Government and companies would be a breakthrough in the development of the country's promising industrial design sector, said the Korea Institute of Design Promotion (KIDP) chairman Kim Hyuntae at a conference yesterday in Ha Noi.

From 2005 to 2009, the South Korean Government invested an average of over US$30 million in this sector, which created over 50,000 jobs.

These figures suggest that industrial design had proven to be a crucial space in the current economy, Kim noted.

He called on Viet Nam to establish an office that would oversee the development of growth strategies for this sector.

Broadening this space could also create a channel for the country to receive new technologies. Korean firms at the conference agreed that industrial designs proved more significant as market competition increased. "Stellar designs can enhance company recognition and reputation by consumers," said Yong-il An, director of Samsung's Design Research and Planning Centre.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was reached yesterday between the KIDP and the Ministry of Industry and Trade's Trade Promotion Agency that will facilitate the exchange of relevant policies as well as the latest information concerning the sector, including seminars and international fairs focused on design. The document also has the potential to foster co-operation between these two business communities. — VNS

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Power plants create opportunities

Phu My Power Plant No3 is part of the Phu My Industrial Zone 1. The industrial zone located in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province consists of five power plants with a combined capacity of up to 3,900 MW. — VNA/VNS Photo Ha Thai

HA NOI — Viet Nam will have a large market for domestic equipment manufacturing with the planned development of 70 coal-fired power plants within the next 15 years, according to mechanical engineering experts.

Under the national electricity development plan for 2006-15, more than 40 coal-fired power plants with capacity of 600MW or more will be constructed in the country.

Between 2015-25, another 30 coal-fired power plants will begin producing power. With this considerable development, demand for coal-fired power plant devices from now to 2025 will increase.

On December 26, 2002, the Prime Minister approved a development strategy for Viet Nam's mechanical engineering industry with the priority goal of developing key mechanical products.

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Huu Hao said the domestic mechanical engineering industry has seen significant growth in equipment manufacturing for thermal power, reaching capacity of 600MW.

Vietnamese and foreign experts have done all the basic designs for the industry.

Domestic businesses, such as the Corporation for Industrial Machinery and Equipment and Viet Nam Engine Agricultural Machinery Corporation, have made a number of important devices such as engines, gear boxes and fan pumps.

The domestic mechanical engineering industry has built around 50 to 70 per cent of the country's standard equipment needs, such as lifting buckets, conveyor belts, storage devices and dust filtration equipment.

Although Vietnamese enterprises have the capacity to produce a significant portion of the equipment needed for coal-fired power plants, generally only 40 per cent of the equipment used by the coal-fired power projects that are under construction are from domestic enterprises, accounting for only 25 per cent of the total value.

If domestic enterprises do not develop, they will fail to take advantage of a great opportunity.

Ngo Van Tru, deputy director of the Department of Heavy Industry under the Ministry of Industry and Trade said domestic firms without an understanding of design would not be able to contribute anything. Domestic firms need time to study in order to participate in power plant design.

Director of the Centre for Design and Machinery Manufacturing Technology under the Ministry of Industry and Trade Hoang Van Got outlined some local production schemes and added that rather than becoming sub-contractors for foreign contractors, domestic firms should plan to work with foreign partners to design and manufacture boilers.

Domestic firms could also manufacture the auxiliary devices for turbine generators with support from foreign consultants. This plan could lead to domestic production of 40 per cent of project value, he said.

He also proposed measures to assign domestic joint venture companies as Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contractors to ensure active implementation of Build and Transfer Technology plans.

Engineering enterprises have also proposed an increase in domestic production of supplies for thermal power plants in Viet Nam.

Incentives should be offered by including required conditions in international bidding and encouraging the establishment of centres for mechanical equipment manufacturing. — VNS

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EATOF members show strengths in tourism

The strength of the connectivity among East Asia Inter-Regional Tourism Forum (EATOF) members is vital for the tourism sector’s developments in the context of global economic difficulties, said Quang Ninh Provincial People’s Committee.

Addressing the EATOF mayors’ meeting in Ha Long City in the northern coastal province of Quang Ninh on Wednesday, vice chairwoman Nhu Thi Hong Lien suggested EATOF increase the exchange of information through fairs and major events of each country and promote bilateral cooperation among EATOF member provinces.

EATOF member nations should select typical programs of each locality for exchanging experiences, she said.

For his part, Vice mayor of South Korea’s Gangwon Province Kang Ki-Chang, suggested changing tourism environments, upgrading tourism infrastructure and increasing coordination among EATOF member countries as solutions to developing tourism.

EATOF member countries should preserve and bring into play cultural and tourism values with a focus on green tourism and tourism for the community’s interest while updating tourism information and advertising tourism on the Internet, he said.

The participants also put forward recommendations to boost connectivity and cooperation within EATOF.

At the meeting, the mayors voted for Ha Long Bay as a world natural wonder and signed a joint declaration for sustainable development in East Asia.

EATOF bilateral meetings between member provinces also took place on the same day.

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Aussie bank seeks 20% stake in VIB

HA NOI — Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) will seek approval to increase its stake in Viet Nam International Bank (VIB) to 20 per cent, according to a CBA statement quoted by Dow Jones on Tuesday.

"Consistent with the strategic partnership agreement signed earlier this year, Commonwealth Bank intends to request an increase in the VIB investment to 20 per cent at the earliest opportunity – the maximum investment allowed by the State Bank of Viet Nam," said the statement.

No financial details of the transaction were disclosed.

VIB yesterday refused to give any comment on the statement but confirmed that all procedures had been finalised to sell a 15-per-cent of stake to CBA under a strategic partnership agreement announced last April.

CBA's acquisition of a 15-per-cent interest added VND600 billion (US$30.8 million) to VIB's charter capital, bringing the total to VND4 trillion ($205.2 million). VIB's assets have also increased by an annual average of 40 per cent over the past five years.

CBA is the exclusive foreign strategic shareholder of the Ha Noi-based bank and was expected to help VIB improve its performance in such critical business areas as retail banking, risk management, human resources, IT, and finance.

Commonwealth Bank has quietly been enlarging its footprint in Asia over the past decade. It is now one of the leading international banks operating in Indonesia, and it also has investments and partnerships in two Chinese banks – Qilu Bank in Jinan and the Bank of Hangzhou. — VNS

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State President meets Nidec Corp CEO

State President Nguyen Minh Triet Wednesday received in Hanoi Nagamori Shigenobu, President of Nidec Corp, the investor of the hi-tech zone project in Ho Chi Minh City.

President Triet praised Nidec, particularly its president, for implementing the commitment on investment in this major infrastructure project.

He affirmed that Vietnam’s economic development policy was looking towards a sustainable economy with priority on developing hi-tech zones.

Vietnam has been creating most favorable conditions for projects in this field, the State leader said, adding he wished that Nidec and other investors would continue to invest and reap successes in Vietnam.

Exchanging views with officials of Nidec, President Triet expressed his pleasure at the rapid development of cooperation between Vietnam and Japan and spoke highly of the Japanese government’s assistance in providing ODA to Vietnam.

Nagamori Shigenobu briefed President Triet about the development of the hi-tech zone project in HCMC, saying the slow speed of the implementation of the project in 2009 was due to the global economic and financial crisis. He pledged in 2010 the corporation would strictly implement its commitments, including the commitment to invest US$500 million.

The Nidec CEO also recommended the development of supporting industries at hi-tech zones and priorities for small and medium investors in the processing of components for assembly industries.

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China says pressure on yuan will not help

An employee counts Renminbi yuan banknotes next to US dollars at a branch of Bank of China in Hefei, Anhui province September 15, 2010.

Photo: Reuters

BEIJING - Pressuring China about its yuan exchange rate could backfire, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Thursday, maintaining that Washington is wrong to blame the yuan for US economic woes.

"I want to stress that appreciation of the renminbi would not resolve the problem of the deficit between the US and China and will not resolve the US domestic unemployment problem," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told a regular news conference, using the currency's formal name.

"Trade and economic cooperation between China and the United States is mutually beneficial and a win-win proposition. We have always maintained that problems in trade and economic relations between our two countries should be appropriately resolved through consultation on an equal basis. I believe that pressure not only would fail to solve the problems; on the contrary, it could have the opposite effect."

Jiang's comments were Beijing's first official statement on the yuan after sharpened criticism from US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who said on Wednesday that the appreciation of the Chinese currency has been too slow and limited.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry does not have a direct hand in setting exchange rate policy, and can only voice broad official positions on the issue.

US lawmakers are considering a tough new trade law aimed at pressing Beijing to raise sharply the value of the yuan, which many of them say is behind the gaping US trade deficit with China, worth $226.9 billion in 2009.

Asked about US Congress bills on the yuan, Jiang said China had been improving the currency's flexibility since June, when Beijing announced it was ending a currency peg. The yuan has risen about 1.4 percent against the dollar since then, most of that coming in the last 10 trading sessions.

"I can tell you that since June China has been advancing reform of the mechanism of renminbi exchange rate formation based on domestic and external economic and financial conditions and China's international balance of payments, and has been enhancing the elasticity of the renminbi," she said.

"The direction of reforming the renminbi exchange rate that we're adhering to will not change," Jiang added.

Geithner said he wanted China to achieve a "significant, sustained appreciation over time" and for the yuan to "fully reflect market forces."

In recent days, the yuan has scored its fastest rise since February 2008 -- a move that some analysts view as a concession to growing US rancor over the issue.

This year, Beijing and Washington have also gone through bouts of tensions over Chinese Internet censorship, US arms sales to Taiwan, Tibet and human rights, and China's disputed maritime territorial claims.

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