BP CEO says may sell Vietnam assets to TNK-BP

Photo: Reuters

NEW DELHI - BP may sell its main Vietnam assets worth around $1 billion (631 million pounds) to its Russian joint venture, TNK-BP , without inviting other parties to bid, Chief Executive Bob Dudley said on Monday.

"It could be transferred to one of our affiliates," Dudley told reporters, adding TNK-BP was such an affiliate.

TNK-BP decided on Friday to make the British major an offer for its Venezuelan and Vietnamese assets, a source familiar with the decision said.

PetroVietnam, Vietnam's state oil and gas company, has said it may be interested in buying the assets, as has India's Oil and Natural Gas Corp.

Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company (KUFPEC) is also interested in buying the stake in the Nam Con Son gas project off the coast of Vietnam, a Vietnamese newspaper reported on Friday.

BP has a 50 percent stake in TNK-BP, Russia's third-largest oil producer, and a private sale would allow BP to raise cash to help pay for its Gulf of Mexico oil spill, while retaining an interest in the assets.

Dudley told reporters it was too early to say how much the safety measures BP was introducing in the wake of the oil spill, which some US lawmakers have said was caused by the company's cost-cutting measures, will lift BP's operating costs going forward.

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High gold price fails to deter shoppers

Demand for gold jewellery on the domestic market has not significantly
changed despite the fact that the cost of gold has climbed to its
highest ever level, according to industry experts.

"In recent days, we have had a large number of customers across the
country, " said General Director of Bao Tin Minh Chau Joint Stock
Company Vu Minh Chau.

Chau added that as the wedding season approached, his company had seen no change in customer volume.

Sai Gon Jewellery Holdings Company (SJC) reported business had remained unchanged.

"The number of people buying wedding jewellery still remains high.
However, the number of customers shopping for everyday jewellery is down
20 percent," said Tran Thi Ngoc Suong, head of SJC's Jewellery
Department.

To maintain customer volume, gold companies have designed a variety of new products comprising less gold.

"Our company has introduced many new products. We cut down the gold
weight so that more customers can afford them," said Chau.

He added that with only about 1 million VND (52 USD), customers could buy a wedding ring.

"We use modern technology, which helps us produce light weight gold jewellery," he added.

The company has also organised a number of discount promotional programmes.

These new methods seem to be working for the gold companies, attracting large numbers of mid-income earners.

"It is a clever choice to buy cheaper wedding jewellery with good
design when the gold price is so high," said Van Anh, a customer.

The price of gold on the domestic market has significantly increased.
Yesterday afternoon, it climbed to 31.64 million VND (1.600 USD) per
tael (1.2 troy ounces)./.

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Shares plunge on active trades

The volume of trades on the nation's stock markets picked up on Oct. 4,
but benchmark indices closed down on both exchanges.

On the HCM Stock Exchange, the VN-Index slid 1.3 percent from Oct. 1's
close to end Oct. 4's session at 445.83 points. But volume increased by
nearly 39 percent over Oct. 1's level to 49.45 million shares, with a
value of almost 1.19 trillion VND (61 million USD).

Ocean Group (OGC), which operates in the fields of banking and real
estate development, continued to be the most-active share, with over two
million traded. OGC closed off 4.74 percent to 30,100 VND (1.54 USD).

Of the 10 leading shares by capitalisation, only
three – Bao Viet Holdings (BVH), Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAG) and Hoa Phat
Group (HPG) – posted gains. Overall, decliners outnumbered advancers by
an overwhelming 219-18.

On the Hanoi Stock Exchange,
the HNX-Index plunged by 3.89 percent to close at 120.92. However,
market volume rose by 92 percent to over 44 million shares, while the
value of trades increased by 68 percent to 931.1 billion VND (47.8
million USD).

Shares declined in value across the
board, with losers outnumbering gainers by 279-19, with all of the 10
leading shares by capitalisation declining in value.

PetroVietnam Construction (PVX) continued to be the most-active share
nationwide, with 5.3 million exchanged, but PVX declined by nearly 4
percent on Oct. 4 to close at 22,000 VND (1.13 USD) per share.

The number of new shares issued in the third quarter was nearly on par
with those issued in the first half of this year, the State Securities
Commission has reported. The value of shares made through public offers
reached more than 34.6 trillion VND (1.77 billion USD).

Foreign investors continued as net buyers on both exchanges on Oct. 4,
picking up over 4.8 million shares, worth a combined 162 billion VND
(8.3 million USD)./.

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Coffee prices to be stable in 2010-11 crop

Experts have predicted little changes in the prices of Vietnamese coffee in the 2010-2011crop with prices between VND24,000-29,000 (US$1.2-1.5) a kilogram.

By the end of September, 2010, coffee growers in the Central Highlands of Tay Nguyen, Vietnam ’s largest coffee-growing area, sold their beans harvested in the 2009-2010 crop for VND31,000 a kilogram - the highest price recorded in the past two years.

According to the Vietnam Coffee and Cacao Association (Vicofa), although output of a large coffee-growing area in Vietnam, which is currently the world’s second largest coffee exporter, is likely to be affected by dry October weather and ageing.

The International Coffee Organization (ICO) has forecast that the world’s coffee output in the 2010-2011 crop is likely to reach 133 million 60-kilogram bags, a rise of 7 million bags compared with the 2009-2010 crop.

In the past nine months, Vietnam shipped abroad 925,000 tons of coffee beans for US$1.32 billion, which represented rises of 4.2 percent and 0.9 percent in terms of volume and value year on year.

Vietnam’s largest coffee market is Germany, accounting for 13.5 percent of total export volume, followed by the US, which takes 12.7 percent of Vietnam’s coffee exports.

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Garment exports on target

Workers make clothes for export at a factory in the northern province of Ninh Binh. The textile and garment industry is on track to reach its annual export target of US$10.5 billion by November. — VNA/VNS Photo Tran Viet

HA NOI — The textile and garment industry will meet its annual export target of US$10.5 billion by November, said vice chairman and general secretary of the Viet Nam Textile and Apparel Association (Vitas) Le Van Dao.

Dao estimated that the industry would earn more than $1 billion each month in the fourth quarter.

September was the third consecutive month the industry fetched more than $1 billion from exports, bringing the sector's total export value in the first nine months of this year to more than $8 billion, a year-on-year increase of 20.6 per cent, according to the General Statistics Office.

Dao said many garment exporters had orders for the end of this year and even for the beginning of next year.

Over the past nine months, exports to the big markets have recorded high growth. Exports to the US increased 22.1 per cent to $3.94 billion while the rising figures to the EU and Japan were 6.7 per cent and 14.3 per cent to $1.18 billion and $691 million, respectively.

Exports to North Korea surged 64 per cent thanks to the impact of its Free Trade Agreement with ASEAN.

However, Pham Xuan Hong, Vitas deputy chairman, said the garment industry was facing a shortage of labour and an increase in the price of transport and power.

A surge in the price of cotton on the world market also had a negative impact on the industry. A tonne of cotton has risen 45 per cent since the same period last year to $1,900-2,000 while the industry has to import up to 95 per cent of its cotton. The industry imported 260,000 tonnes of cotton in the first nine months of the year and estimates that figure will reach roughly 370,000 tonnes by the end of the year.

Hong said garment exporters were seeking new sources from Japan and ASEAN countries in order to enjoy preferential taxes.

To fulfil the target of $19 billion from exports by 2015 and $25 billion by 2020, the garment sector is actively implementing programmes related to cotton cultivation to increase domestic supplies and develop human resources to meet the increasing demands of the sector.

The sector is also promoting its trademark and setting up distribution networks nationwide to take a firm foothold in the domestic market. — VNS

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Foreign firms look to raise City investment

HCM CITY — Small- and medium-sized foreign firms in HCM City are looking to increase their capital because they see potential for expansion and growth.

The Dau Tu (Viet Nam Investment Review) newspaper quotes the HCM City Department of Planning and Investment as saying 65 FDI projects operating in the City have raised their investment capital to US$168.9 million in the first nine months of this year.

These projects are mainly in the manufacturing, industrial, service and retail sectors.

Fastfood chain Lotteria Viet Nam Ltd Co has decided to invest an additional $7 million to expand its chain, while sporting goods manufacturer Adidas Viet Nam has decided to raise its investment by a million dollars to $3.9 million.

Retailer Giant South Asia has poured an additional $15 million into its distribution network and warehouses, raising its total investment capital to $20 million.

Lu Thanh Phong, DPI deputy director, said FDI businesses in the city had, compared to previous years, increased investments in manufacturing, processing and industrial production over the last two years.

Nguyen Tan Phuoc, deputy head of HCM City Export Processing and Industrial Park Authority, said the capital increase showed trust in the market's development potential and stability.

Yuki Viet Nam Ltd, a company that produces industrial sewing machinery, has invested an additional $5 million this year, bringing its total investment capital to $20 million. This is the third time it has increased its capital investment in the city.

Tsunoda Shinji, general director of the company, said the increase in capital aimed to expand its domestic market share, instead of focusing on exports. Currently, the company earns $16 million per year from the domestic market, and it aims to increase this to $24-26 million a year in the near future.

A representative of Australia's RMIT University said it had invested more than $15.1 million to build a dormitory for its students in Viet Nam.

Merilyn Liddell, director of RMIT Viet Nam, said the investment aimed to expand the school area by 2013 to meet rising demand for international standard education in Viet Nam.

However, many FDI businesses had also complained that they were hampered by the lack of skilled workers, and were having to provide the needed training by themselves, the newspaper reported. — VNS

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Gear up for printing your own invoices, firms told

HCM CITY — Businesses should immediately begin preparations to print their own invoices so that they can begin to use them in 2011, a tax official said.

Decree No 51, which takes effect next year, allows most businesses to print their own invoices instead of having to obtain them from tax agencies.

The HCM City Taxation Department said it would call a halt to the sales of the "red invoice" issued by the Ministry of Finance starting from January next year.

It also asked companies using them to report the number of invoices they are likely to use until year-end to avoid waste.

They would be allowed to use their invoice until the end of the first quarter next year but should make preparations to print on their own, it said.

Tax agencies will continue to sell the invoices until the end of next year to non-commercial organisations and businesses in poor areas that cannot afford to print them.

Those eligible must ensure the software used for the printing must be secure, among other things, said Tran Thi Le Nga, head of the department's Publicity and Tax payers Support Office.

Businesses were required to inform tax agencies about plans to begin using their own invoices and send samples of the invoices at least five days before they begin, she said.

Failure to do so would mean the invoices would be treated as illegal, she warned.

Printing firms were allowed to take orders to print invoices if they had certain equipment like automatic numbering equipment, but many do not, the department said.

HCM City has more than 1,000 printing presses but only a few of them met the requirements, it added.

The General Taxation Office and the city Taxation Department would publicise the list of presses eligible to print invoices soon so that businesses could sign contracts with them. Starting on October 14, tax agencies in the city would organise training courses for workers involved in printing invoices, Nga said. — VNS

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