Vietnam, China boost ties in technology transfer

Ministries of science and technology of Vietnam and China jointly held a symposium on technology application and transfer on Monday.

As part of activities in celebrations of the Vietnam-China Friendship Year and the 60th anniversary of Vietnam-China diplomatic ties, the seminar aims to further bolster cooperation between the two countries in the field.

The seminar offered the two sides an opportunity to exchange information and experiences in the promotion of technology transfer and transaction. It also helped intermediary organizations seek out cooperative opportunities.

The participants at the event touch upon the role played by intellectual property and its impacts on the process of technology transfer and application. They proposed the setting up of an information network of science and technology between the two countries.

Addressing the seminar, Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Nguyen Quan spoke highly of cooperative ties between the two nations as well as the achievements China has recorded in the field of science and technology after more than 30 years of renovation.

He put stress on the need to regularly organize similar seminars to deepen cooperation between the two sides in the area.

Vietnam and China have so far established information networks of science and technology, between governmental agencies, research institutes, enterprises and intermediary organizations.

A project, which has been carried out since 2002 by the two countries and focuses on the expanding of typical technologies in agriculture, has developed nearly 80 varieties of rice and vegetables for planting on a trial basis at the Hanoi University of Agriculture.

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Vietnam to relax bank lending rules to boost loans

Photo: Tuoi Tre

HANOI - Vietnam's central bank said it would let commercial banks lend money from a wider array of sources as of Oct. 1 to assuage concerns that new regulations would dampen lending and possibly hurt the economy.

However, a senior government adviser said the measures did not go far enough.

Bankers had voiced concern about the original rules, arguing they would hinder their ability to boost credit and lower interest rates. In response, and under pressure from the government, the central bank issued amendments late on Monday.

These allow banks to lend up to 25 percent of non-term deposits raised from economic institutions instead of keeping them as reserves. Banks can also lend money they have borrowed from the interbank market for terms of three months or longer.

A central feature of the new rules -- raising banks' capital adequacy ratio to 9 percent from 8 percent -- remained unchanged.

The benchmark Vietnam Index gained 1.1 percent on the news, but share traders remained wary. Many analysts had flagged the original set of rules as a potential damper on the market and economy, and had hoped for bigger changes.

"The market is unlikely to see a big rally because traders are still cautious and they will look at how commercial banks react to the new circular in the near term," said Doan Tran Phuong Phi, a broker at Ho Chi Minh City Securities.

Le Xuan Nghia, deputy director of the National Financial Supervisory Commission, said the amendments would not really help banks expand credit or cut interest rates. "The changes are not large enough to boost lending," he said.

Central bank Governor Nguyen Van Giau has defended the original rules, saying they would make the banking sector safer. He also warned even stricter rules would take effect from January because of amendments to the law on credit institutions.

Earlier this year the central bank asked banks to restrict their interbank borrowing to less than 20 percent of deposits.

Dong lending rates range from 13 percent to 15.5 percent, although the government wants them cut to 12 percent. Banks promised in May to get nearer that level by the end of September.

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Philippines remains Vietnam’s largest rice importer

The Philippines remains Vietnam ’s largest rice importer which
accounts for nearly 41 percent of the country’s total export value,
according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).

In the first nine months of this year, Vietnam
shipped a record 5.55 million tonnes of rice worth 2.56 billion USD, up
nearly 12 percent in volume and 14.5 percent in value.

The price of Vietnamese rice in the first eight months reached 470
USD per tonne, up 3 percent over the same period last year. The price
hike was attributable to scanty supplies resulting from consecutive
natural disasters in large rice consumers and exporters such as China ,
Thailand and Pakistan .

The Vietnam Food Association (VFA) forecast that Vietnam is likely to export 7.2 million tonnes of rice this year.

According to the MARD’s Cultivation Department, the country’s total
rice output in 2010 is expected to exceed 39 million tonnes. Of which,
around 1.5 million tonnes of rice will be reserved for exports.

At present, it is necessary to encourage rice exports as the domestic rice supplies are abundant, the department said./.

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High-tech multinationals invest in VN

Many giant corporations like Intel of the US , Nidec of Japan and
Robert Bosch of Germany are pouring more money into the high-tech
field in HCM City.

Intel Vietnam , for example, has
opened its plant, one of the largest in the Asia-Pacific region that
makes and tests electronic chips.

The plant, which is
located in the Sai Gon Hi-Tech Park (SHTP) in District 9, began
operating its first production line for test purposes earlier this year.

Le Thi Thanh My, deputy head of the management board of
the SHTP, said since July Intel had exported goods for more than 30
orders.

In addition, Germany Robert Bosch Vietnam next
month will put into operation the Centre for Research and Production of
Software, one of only two centres of the company in the Asia-Pacific
region. The other centre, located in India , employs 70,000
engineers.

Vo Quang Hue, managing director of Robert Bosch
Vietnam Company, said the company had also disbursed 24 million EUR
(31.2 million USD) out of the total committed capital of 55 million EUR
(71.5 million USD) for a project to develop an assembly-line plant to
make automatic automobile gear boxes.

The plant, in Dong Nai southern province's Long Thanh district, has a capacity of 2.3 million products per year.

Robert Bosch Vietnam will develop the second phase of the project
and disburse the entire capital of 55 million EUR by 2015.

Vietnam is the only market in Southeast Asia in which Robert Bosch
has invested in all three areas of operation, including sales,
production and research.

According to Lu Thanh Phong,
deputy director of HCM City 's Department of Planning and
Investment, of the 3,000 foreign direct investment (FDI) projects with a
total capital of 37 billion USD in the city, Japanese businesses
account for 397 projects. They operate in mechanics, spare parts
production, food processing and others.

Japan has been cautious in expanding its investment in the hi-tech field in HCM City due to limited capital resources.

However, many Japanese corporations that produce semi-conducting spare
parts had increased their investment in HCM City recently, Phong
said.

According to Nagamori Shigennobu, chairman of the
Japan-based Nidec Corporation, Nidec will continue to invest in research
and development at the SHTP.

Nidec has developed three
projects and recently received a licence for another project. Total
capital for the projects at the park is 500 million USD.

Nagamori Shigennobu has also committed to encouraging small and
medium-sized Japanese businesses to invest in the park. Most of the
businesses make spare parts for Nidec products.

With more
high-tech projects in the pipeline, Vietnam has more opportunities
to promote investment and enhance its competitiveness capacity in the
field.

Hue said Vietnam has advantages over other
countries in the region due to its low labour costs and good location
for transporting products to other countries in Southeast Asia and
other parts of the world.

Vietnam should create the most
favourable conditions for foreign corporations so that they can produce
and export hi-tech products here, Hue added./.

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SCIC to sell capital in 90 State-owned enterprises

The State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC), the representative of
state-owned capital at state-owned enterprises, expects by the end of
this year to sell capital at 90 state-owned enterprises, the corporation
said.

The 90 enterprises are small and medium-sized companies with capital of no more than several billions of Vietnamese dong each.

The plan to sell the state-owned capital for the remainder of the year,
is expected to be carried out successfully as the global economy
recovers. This year, the corporation has targeted to sell capital at 170
state-owned enterprises.

However, a representative from
one of 15 securities companies that trade in stake divestment, said the
SCIC should ensure more diversity and flexibility in selling capital,
especially after the experiences gained in divestment in previous years.

At present, the SCIC sells state-owned capital under
public auctions and securities companies act as consultants and trading
agencies at the auctions.

To have effective auctions, the
corporation has been urged to improve production and business at
enterprises to ensure the quality of securities before they are sold at
auction. The timing of auctions is also crucial.

In coming
years, the selling of state-owned capital would be one of the major
tasks of the corporation as state-owned capital at state-owned
enterprises is reduced in industries that do not need a great deal of
State control.

The State plans to focus capital spending on key economic industries, said SCIC deputy director Hoang Nguyen Hoc.

The corporation's target is to hold state-owned capital at only 100 state-owned enterprises by 2012.

So far this year, the corporation has sold capital at 81 state-owned enterprises.

Last year, the corporation sold state-owned capital at 238 enterprises,
a record high against previous years. It gained the good result because
the state created favourable conditions for the sales./.

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Securities companies do extra work to survive

Securities companies have chosen to gear their operation to other businesses such as real estate development, financial services or overseas investment to survive amidst the prolonged gloomy situation.

The President of the Trang An Securities Co Executive Council, Le Ho Khoi, explained the company’s investment of almost 15 percent of a property project as an extra source of incomes from 2012 when it is inaugurated.

Project “Complex Building of services, trade and electronic assembly workshop”, consisting of 15 stories on a compound of over 5,000 square meters, has a total investment of VND200 billion (US$10.2 million). It is mainly invested by the Fortika Joint Stock Co.

Another giant, the An Binh Securities Co, together with two other affiliates of the An Binh holding company, has signed an agreement on strategic cooperation with the Vietnam Aviation Insurance Joint Stock Co (VNI) to develop new financial services.

Some other leading companies in this field have decided to try their chances abroad with a plan to open overseas branches.

The Sacombank Securities Joint Stock Co (SBS) is preparing a plan to enter into a joint venture with the Lao Development Bank (LDB) to set up a securities company in Laos named Lanexang Securities Public Co Limited, or SBS-Laos.

SBS said the establishment of the SBS-Laos, scheduled for the fourth quarter of this year, would offer an opportunity for investors from the two countries and contribute to economic development in both countries, especially Laos, which is making great efforts to open their market.

After reaching its peak of 1,300 points in late 2007, the stock market in Vietnam began the falling trend due to the negative impacts of the global economic crisis and domestic difficulties.

Despite great efforts made by the State Securities Commission, the market has still been painting a dim picture with VN-Index fluctuating between 400 and 450 points. The situation has forced a number of securities companies to gear to other businesses for survival.

Experts remain pessimistic about the market fate, saying there were no signs of taking off for the market in the near future.

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No recall of Hyundai Sonata cars in Vietnam

Photo: Photo Courtesy of Hyundai Motors

The Hyundai Sonatas imported into Vietnam do not suffer from the defects in the steering wheel that led to a massive recall in the US, the Korean firm’s official dealer in Vietnam said.

Hyundai-Thanh Cong Vietnam Co explained that the 139,500 cars recalled in the US were made in Hyundai’s plants in Alabama, the US, while those imported into Vietnam are assembled in Korea.

The US cars had problems with the steering wheel that could cause a loss or reduction of control.

Korea’s biggest automaker Sunday announced the recall after the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration began a probe into steering problems in August, though no accidents or injuries occurred as a result of improper assembly or loose steering connections, according to wire service Reuters.

In February Sonata recalled 47,000 other vehicles in Korea and the US due to a front door lock fault.

The Vietnamese dealer of another Korean carmaker, Kia Motors has also announced a recall of 427 Sorentos in Vietnam.

Truong Hai Auto Group will fix the faults in a section of the door wiring loom that controls the "mood" lighting inside in cars imported from Korea and the US.

Hyundai owns about 40 percent stake in Kia.

Kia Motors’ co-chief executive, NAME, resigned earlier this month after taking responsibility for the recall of nearly 86,000 cars.

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