Tariff increase violates free trade agreement

The Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) has
confirmed that the US Department of Commerce (DOC) increase in its
antidumping tariff on Vietnam’s tra (Pangasius) fish runs counter to the
letter and spirit of the free trade agreements between Vietnam and the
US.

In an open letter sent to the Vietnamese
Government and the US Ambassador in Vietnam on Sept. 16, VASEP expressed
indignation and concern over DOC’s preliminary antidumping duty rates
in the sixth administrative review applied to Vietnam’s tra frozen
fillets exported to the US.

The duty rates are
in excess of 100 percent, far exceeding any prior rates in this unfair
dumping case lasting more than eight years, and clearly amounting to a
punitive tariff on Vietnamese fish fillet exports, said the association.

According to VASEP, the calculated dumping rates cannot be supported by the evidence and data submitted for this review.

VASEP expressed its particular concern at DOC’s unjustified change in
the surrogate country used to value raw material inputs, sudden
switching from Bangladesh to the Philippines after consistently
rejecting the Philippines in all prior administrative reviews due to the
poor quality of the pricing data, the lack of publicly available data,
the extremely small size of the Philippine catfish industry, and the
fact that the Philippines has not exported products of this fish
species.

VASEP said it believed the results are
politically motivated, coming after significant recent lobbying efforts
by the Catfish Farmers of America (CFA).

VASEP
and individual fish processors/exporters requested the Vietnamese
Government undertake a comprehensive review of the harmful impacts of
DOC’s determination and urge DOC and the administration of the US
to carefully reassess this decision, not allowing it to have a bad
influence on the well-developing bilateral relations between the two
nations.

At a press briefing in Hanoi on Sept.
17, VASEP Vice President Nguyen Huu Dung said the association and
Vietnam’s tra fish businesses will protect the industry by taking
essential legal action to request DOC to change the results of the sixth
administrative review which are expected to be issued in March 2011 in
accordance with the US law and the WTO agreement.

VASEP and businesses are striving to complete practical data on tra
fish prices and evidence proving Vietnam did not dump its tra fish in
the US market in order to send this information to the US next
month.

Both sides are expected to discuss the issue at a meeting slated for November this year.

VASEP has also sent two of the biggest tra fish exporters – Vinh Hoan
and Hung Vuong – to the US to meet US lawyers for consultation on
this disputed determination.

According to VASEP,
Vietnam’s tra fish export value is estimated at 1 billion
USD in the first nine months of the year and 1.5 billion USD for the
whole year, with the US being the second biggest tra fish consumer,
after the EU./.

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Vietnam looks to five million int’l arrivals this year

Foreign travelers take a diving tour off the coast of the central coast city of Nha Trang - Photo: Dao Loan

HCMC – Vietnam’s tourism authority is pinning hopes on a strong recovery of the inbound sector and aiming for a record high of five million foreign visitor arrivals in the country this year.

Vu The Binh, head of the Travel Department under the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, told the Daily on Thursday that the high expectation was based on the sector’s encouraging growth rate of over 30% in the year to date. Positive feedback from overseas partners for the high inbound tourism season by the year-end is another factor for optimism, Binh added.

The country welcome over 3.8 million international visitors last year, down 11% from the previous year, but international arrivals in the first eight months of this year reached 3.35 million, up 35.2% year-on-year.

In an original plan, the tourism authority expected 4.5 to 4.6 million international visitors to come to the country this year.

The tourism sector has been active in promoting the country’s image abroad, with promotions carried out in Germany, France and Belgium from late August to early this month. The country also plans to bring a tourism promotion program to some Chinese provinces next month.

In the promotion program for Europe, Binh said, the tourism sector found a good channel able to help Vietnam promote and sell tourism products to hundreds of thousands of overseas Vietnamese there.

Along with the promotions, the tourism authority is asking for policy incentives to spur foreign arrivals in the country, he said. “We’ve received approval from the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to extend visa-fee exemptions to international travelers.”

But the incentive for package tour takers will need a final decision by the Government, and might take effect next month, he said.

The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has put Vietnam in the list of Asian countries with strong tourism performance in the first half of this year.

The organization said Asia had once again shown a strong capacity for recovery with 14% growth in the period. Vietnam and Myanmar had the same growth of 35%, just behind Sri Lanka and Japan.

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United Pharma begins work on US$40-million factory

Benedicto Caleda (L, seated) of United Pharma (Vietnam) Inc. signs a development contract for the second facility with Hironobu Iriya, president and CEO of Toyo-Thai Corporation Plc., at the ground breaking ceremony in Binh Duong Province on Thursday - Photo: Mong Binh

HCMC - United Pharma (Vietnam) Inc. on Thursday started work on a US$40-million pharmaceutical factory at Vietnam Singapore Industrial Park 2 in the southern province of Binh Duong, and will inaugurate this facility in September next year.

The company’s general director, Benedicto Caleda, said the investment in the 3.5-hectare project would go to structure building, equipment, and training.

Caleda told reporters after the groundbreaking ceremony that the facility would produce a lot of general drugs for headache, cold, flu and cough as well as products for primary care, pregnant women, diabetes and heart.

About 80% of the output will for local sale and the rest for export, Caleda responded to the Daily’s question about the consumption markets for the second factory of United Pharma in the country.

The drug maker’s export markets include Singapore, Cambodia and Thailand, Caleda said. “Our objective is to have US$150-200 million (in turnover) in about three to four years’ time.”

Caleda said the upcoming facility would be the best among the 12 of Unilab Group, the parent company of United Pharma Vietnam in the region.

Caleda said this project would apply Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) and Pharmaceutical Inspection Co-operation Scheme (PICS), the latter being a global standard similar to the manufacturing standards of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and European countries.

Caleda said the demand in Vietnam was big but drug consumption was one of the lowest in the region. Therefore, there are a lot of opportunities for the country’s medicine industry to develop.

“The market is growing by about 20% and we are growing more than that in the last five years... So we see the market growing really so fast,” Caleda said.

Caleda said the second project marked the company’s investment and operation expansion in Vietnam. “We are bringing more investment to Vietnam because we believe in the economy of Vietnam.”

United Pharma built its first factory in HCMC in 1997 at a cost of US$5-6 million and in line with the WHO-GMP standards.

Pham Khanh Phong Lan, deputy director of the HCMC Department of Health, told the groundbreaking ceremony that Vietnam now had 98 GMP pharmaceutical factories, including 22 in HCMC. Lan said local production was able to meet only 49% of the demand for pharmaceutical products in Vietnam.

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Seafood body blasts preliminary DOC duties on tra fish

HCMC – The Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) has formally objected to the U.S. Department of Commerce’s about-face, saying it is unfair to switch from Bangladesh to the Philippines as a surrogate country to determine dumping margins for tra fish fillet imports from Vietnam.

In its sixth antidumping duty preliminary administrative review on certain fish fillets from Vietnam, the DOC selected the Philippines as a surrogate country to calculate the anti-dumping tariffs, so five Vietnamese exporters might be slapped prohibitive tariffs of over 100%. 

The DOC preliminarily determined the dumping margin for fish imports from Vinh Hoan, Agifish, ESS LLC and South Vina was US$4.2 per kg, and the remaining firm, Vinh Quang, US$2.44, during the review period, August 1, 2008 through July 31, 2009. Another firm, Anvifish, might be subject to a Vietnam-wide rate of US$2.11 per kg.

In the DOC’s preliminary results, the antidumping margins would rise to more than 100%.

VASEP asserted the use of data in the Philippines as a surrogate market economy country to determine the antidumping margins for fish imports from Vietnam was nonsensical.

Vietnam’s catfish farming industry is the world’s largest with an annual processing volume of over 1.2 million tons while the Philippine fish farming sector remains small and lacks a synchronous processing system, so its production cost is certainly higher than in Vietnam, according to a statement of VASEP.

The statement says VASEP will join hands with tra fish exporters to take necessary legal action to prove the legitimacy of the Vietnamese tra farming and processing sector so as to request the DOC to change its preliminary determination in March 2011.

Nguyen Ngoc Vi Tam, deputy general director of the Dong Thap Province-based Vinh Hoan Corporation, told the Daily on Thursday that if the DOC stuck to its preliminary review results in the next six months, Vinh Hoan would take the issue to an international court.

Vinh Hoan said about two weeks ago that it might file a case against the DOC if its tra exports to the U.S. incur anti-dumping duties.

Vinh Hoan ships US$30 million worth of tra fish fillets to the U.S. market a year, around 30% of its total export. Tam noted the company was searching for new markets in preparation for the worst.

The Can Tho City-based company South Vina has described the DOC’s preliminary determination as absurd. This action has resulted from the pressure of the Catfish Farmers of America (CFA), said Duong Viet Thang, deputy general director of the company. 

But Thang said the impact on his firm would be insignificant as its annual exports to America totaled about US$1 million, so it would be able to shift to other markets.

The agriculture ministry said this week that the Government would take action to prevent the higher antidumping duties from materializing as this would affect tra exports to other markets.

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Liquidity hits one-month low

HCMC – Trade on the southern stock market tumbled to a one-month low on Thursday although stock prices did improve slightly. The VN-Index inched up a mere 0.8 point, or 0.18%, against the previous session and ended the day at 449.52, but liquidity fell below VND1 trillion.

The market opened lower but made a quick recovery to hit a daily high of 450.85. It fell into the red once more after the second phase and then recovered a second time to close just into the black.

Investors bid for 70.5 million shares on the Hochiminh Stock Exchange, up 2.9% against the previous session, while the amount on offer shrank 15.4% to 56.6 million shares. Closing the day, the market’s total trading volume was 38 million shares worth VND989 billion, dropping by 1.5% and 3.3% from the day earlier respectively.

There were 112 stocks advancing on Thursday versus 90 others closing in the red, of which eight stocks went to the ceiling prices and four issues plunged to the floor prices.

Ocean Group Co. (OGC) remained the most actively traded stock, ending the day up 2.9% to VND35,000 with 3.2 million shares traded, followed by Eximbank (EIB), closing at the reference price of VND17,300 on the volume of over 950,000 shares.

Foreigner participation was much stronger, with 5.2 million shares worth VND192 billion acquired and 3.1 million shares worth VND123 billion offloaded. They accounted for 20.7% and 13.2% of the market’s buying and selling value respectively.

The Hanoi market recovered some ground on Thursday but turnover remained low at VND635 billion. The HNX-Index added 1.19 points, or 0.94%, from the previous session and ended the day at 128.4.

Some 124 stocks rose while 136 stocks declined, of which five stocks went to the ceiling prices while 13 stocks dropped to the floor prices. Foreigners were slight net sellers, accounting for 2.8% of the buying value and 2.9% of the selling value.

Fiachra Mac Cana, managing director of HCMC Securities Corp., said the markets endured another day of fairly lifeless trading with little movement and yet lower volumes.

The market did end the day slightly higher nut the level of interest continued to wane. Market breadth was higher though and foreign participation levels remain very high, he said.

“The central bank seems set to announce any amendments to Decree 13 sometime next week and given the short time between then and the October 1st deadline this would tend to support the consensus view that any changes at this late stage will be fairly minor. The markets will likely continue trade in the current narrow trading range before then. Medium to long-term investors can comfortably continue to buy,” Mac Cana added.

Au Viet Securities Co. said mind rallies of many stocks on Thursday were a positive sign for another rising session on Friday. “Buying power will be stronger when the VN-Index nears 455 points. We think that the correction phase is about to end and the market will improve on Saturday or next week,” the broker said.

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British consultancy eyes HCMC IT education

Harvey Nash CEO Albert Ellis (L) at the meeting with HCMC vice chairman Le Minh Tri Thursday

Photo: Thoai Tran

Recruitment consultancy and IT outsourcing firm Harvey Nash Group has turned its sights to Ho Chi Minh City’s education and training sector due to its growth prospects.

The British company, which has had a presence in the city since 2003, plans to tie up with schools and IT training colleges and universities in the city, its CEO, Albert Ellis, told city vice chairman Le Minh Tri during a brief meeting Thursday.

Ellis is in HCMC for today’s inauguration of the British Council’s English teaching website for language schools.

Harvey Nash is also into financial consultancy in partnership with British insurer Prudential and with ANZ bank in Hanoi.

It employs over 2,500 IT professionals at its two facilities in HCMC and Hanoi.

“With a growing and youthful technology literate workforce, and an ambition to develop its software services, the country has become a natural home for many technologically sophisticated companies,” the company’s website says about Vietnam’s prospects.

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Singapore firm set to ease north’s logistics woes

An artist's impression of Mapletree Bac Ninh Logistics Park

Photo: Photo courtesy of Mapletree

The Singapore-based Mapletree Investment will break ground for northern Vietnam's largest logistics center next week to serve the increasing needs of international and domestic manufacturers who are setting up bases there.

The $70 million center will be located at the Vietnam-Singapore Township and Industrial Park in Bac Ninh Province, 18 kilometers northeast of Hanoi.

The 55-hectare park will have bonded and non-bonded warehouse facilities and an inland container depot. When completed, it will have 280,000 square meters of modern logistics space.

Its construction begins at a time when many foreign investors like Canon, Panasonic, Samsung Electronics, Foxconn, Compal, and Piaggio, who have manufacturing factories in northern Vietnam, are facing a shortage of logistics facilities.

"There are several logistics sites developed in Bac Ninh and neighboring provinces, but all are small," Dau Tu (Vietnam Investment Review) newspaper quoted Vu Duc Quyet, director of the Bac Ninh Industrial Parks Management Authority, as saying.

With more and more manufacturers setting up shop in the region, the existing logistics facilities are overstretched, he said.

Korea's Samsung Electronics, which has a $670 million mobile phone manufacturing plant in Bac Ninh, recently sought permission to build its own logistics site.

Mapletree's site is close to major roads like National Highways 1A and 18 and the Hanoi-Hai Phong Highway, and near the border with China.

"Manufacturers can easily transport their cargo from the center to the capital, Noi Bai International Airport [in Hanoi], and ports in Hai Phong," Quyet added.

This is Mapletree's first project in the northern region and third in Vietnam after the 68-hectare, $110 million Mapletree Binh Duong Logistics Park and Mapletree Business City @ Binh Duong in Binh Duong Province near Ho Chi Minh City.

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