060617Intellasia Finance Vietnam giants 40 Uber, Grab conquer airport taxi market 41 Vissan unveils...

6 June 2017

finance & business news

FINANCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1Reference exchange rate kept stable 1Banking sector sees 6.53pct in credit growth 2SBV forecast to raise credit growth by 1-2pct 2Inflation low, but can central bank cut interest rates? 3New guidelines issued for debt trading 5Bond interest rates fall 5How much capital is real estate market borrowing from banks? 6Vietnamese banks favour Japanese partners 7Non-life insurers gather resources for bancassurance 8TPBank licensed to expand network 96.7pct GDP growth rate not impossible: minister 10Nation to exert political will to reach growth targets 10Govt pledges high investment to attain GDP growth target 12Intelligent policy leads to IIP growth 13Vietnam-US trade turnover increases by 11pct 14Investments in HCM City rise strongly 14WB okays funds for Da Nang infrastructure 15Seafood exports to Japan go by leaps and bounds 15Aquaculture production picks up in May 15Ministry considers hiking environmental tax on fuels 16Petrol prices increased to VND17,366 per litre 17Power consumption hits record high as Vietnam swelters

under heat wave 17No plan to hike power tariff: MoIT 18Mass lobster deaths in south-central Vietnam remain a mystery 18VN aviation attracts private firms 19Organic product demands keeps rising 20Cement export tax burdens domestic firms 21Industry Ministry admits failure in developing auto 22Vietnam's rising middle class drives car market forward amid

regional slowdown 23Downtown land scarcer for BT investors in HCM City 23Binh Dinh sees rise in domestic, foreign investment flow 24Kien Giang strives to develop sustainable tourism 24Nghe An wants businesses' stronger role in seaport development 25Prime minister meets Japanese entrepreneurs 25Bilateral prospects are strong 26

BIZ NEWS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27Business Briefs Jun 06, 2017 27

Blue chips boost VN Index 28VN Index above 740 points 28Brokerages predict better cash flow 29Bank stocks sustain market growth 30Liquidity on HNX increases 17.8pct in May 30Foreign investors flock to Vietnamese stock market 31Hoa Phat to issue over 250 million shares 31Unsold real estate value drops 10pct from late 2016 31Real estate sales up slightly in May 32Property inventory stands at nearly 28tr dong 32Real estate transactions in Hanoi increase 14pct in May 33Government backs investment in industrial, craft village clusters 33Passenger vehicles seeing rapid growth 33Hau Giang to build 1.5 trillion VND logistics centre 34Lotte opens duty-free store in Vietnam 34Resort investors in Ke Ga get compensation 35Vietnamese ginseng recognised as National Brand 35Finance ministry makes Suntory Pepsi tax ruling 36MUL funds Vietjet's aircraft purchases 36French Decathlon starts Vietnamese retail chain 37Can Tho-Bangkok chartered flights resumed 37Thai budget carrier launches daily Da Nang-Bangkok route 387-Eleven to open in HCM City in June, first in Vietnam 39TH Group cement cooperation with Japanese partner 39MobiFone gets the edge by teaming up with global

technology giants 40Uber, Grab conquer airport taxi market 41Vissan unveils pork promotion to boost consumption 42Sun Group adds new masterpiece to Phu Quoc Island 42HCM City agrees to expand capacity of Tan Son Nhat airport 43HCM City launches Green Consumption campaign 43Workshop explores challenges to Vietnam's energy policy 44Hoi An prepares for international silk and brocade 44Visa waiver extended for Western European tourists 45Foreigners' top choice for real living in Hanoi 45Driver hurt in grab, Uber, taxi price war 46Dekalb Vietnam nurtures young talents at An Giang 48Sai Gon Zoo opens flamingo garden, water park 48

FINANCE

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FINANCEReference exchange rate kept stable

06/JUN/2017 INTELLASIA | VNA

The State Bank of Vietnam continued maintaining its reference VND/USD exchange rate at 22,403 VND/USD on June 6.With the current +/- 3 percent VND/USD trading band, the ceiling exchange rate is 23,074 VND per USD and the floor rate is 21,732 VND per USD.At opening hours, major commercial banks made slight increases to their rates.Vietcombank listed its buying rate at 22,680 VND/USD and its selling rate at 22,750 VND/USD, up 5 VND from the day ago.

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Vietnam finance & business 6 June 2017

Vietinbank also offered its buying and selling rates at 22,680 VND and 22,750 VND, per USD, up 5 VND.BIDV set its buying and selling rates at 22,680 VND and 22,750 VND, per USD, up 5 VND from June 5.http://en.vietnamplus.vn/reference-exchange-rate-kept-stable/112843.vnp

Banking sector sees 6.53pct in credit growth


Vietnam's total loans by May 25 grew 6.53 percent from the end of 2016, which sup-ported domestic production and business in the context of slow public investment dis-bursement since the beginning of the year.Deputy Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) Nguyen Thi Hong made the re-mark on June 5.The monetary market remained positive in the first six months of the year and interest rates have been stabilised thanks to the SBV's regulation, Hong said.Credits were continuously prioritised for production and business development while those for real estate slowed down, she said.The SBV Governor guided financial institutions to control credit risks and ensure cap-ital balance and the banking system's safety.As for foreign exchange, the central bank has kept a close eye on fluctuations of the do-mestic and foreign markets and launched rational daily reference exchange rates. The official exchange rates between the Vietnamese Dong and the US Dollar has surge 1 percent from the outset of this year, Hong said.The SBV has joined hands with relevant ministries and branches to finalise a draft on bad debt settlement among credit institutions, the highlight of which is the establish-ment of a bad debt market. Accordingly, the Vietnam Asset Management Company (VAMhttp://en.vietnamplus.vn/banking-sector-sees-653-percent-in-credit-growth/112813.vnp

SBV forecast to raise credit growth by 1-2pct

06/JUN/2017 INTELLASIA | VNS

The central bank is likely to raise credit growth target by 1-2 per cent from the original 17-18 per cent for 2017, the Bao Viet Securities Company (BVSC) said.The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) may do this to support growth, as the GDP was rel-atively low in the first quarter of 2017. Vit Nam posted a year-on-year GDP growth of 5.1 per cent in the first quarter of 2017 due to slowdown of agriculture, forestry and aquaculture, slower than the previous two years at 5.48 and 6.12 per cent, respectively.The forecast has been made in the scenario that inflation in the remaining months of the year is expected to stay under control, the BVSC said, in a report titled "Inflation and its impact on monetary policy", which was released recently.The General Statistical Office (GSO) has reported that Vietnam's month-on-month con-sumer price index dropped 0.53 per cent to a 10-year low in May because of the plum-meting prices of many items, especially foodstuff, which brought down the year-on-year inflation index at the end of May to 3.19 per cent, down sharply from 4.3 per cent in April.One of the biggest concerns for inflation this year is the impact of the revised rates of medical services. However, as per observations, as of end May, the roadmap for in-creasing the prices of drugs and medical services under step 2 of Joint Circular No.37, issued by the health and finance ministries, was completed.As per BVSC's statistics, this is likely to be the final adjustment in the rate of medical services, which was being revised as per the two-step roadmap since the beginning of 2016 till now. In the remaining seven months of 2017, healthcare products will not have a sudden impact on inflation, the report said.The BVSC has adjusted the year-on-year inflation forecast for Q2 to 3 per cent, com-pared to 3.2 per cent at the end of Q3 and 3.5 percent at the end of Q4.Meanwhile, credit growth has been accelerating rapidly since early 2017. The system's loan growth as of end of April reached 5.76 per cent, up 1.73 percent from the end of

Intellasia 6 June 2017 2 / 48

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Q1 and significantly higher than the same period in the past three years.At the end of Q1, many banks had outstanding loans that exceeded the overall growth of the system. For example, Vietinbank saw credit increase 5.6 per cent from the end of last year, while Vietcombank saw 8 per cent and VIB 5.7 percent.The acceleration of credit since early 2017 may lead to two scenarios. In the first sce-nario, banks will have to consider slowing their growth momentum, and tightening their lending activities in the remaining months to stay within the credit growth target set by SBV, especially leading banks that have a large lending scale.In the second scenario, banks may ask the central bank to raise the credit growth target, and banks that have dealt strongly with bad debts and have healthy lending are likely to be allowed to do so.However, as per analysis, increasing credit growth should be done with caution. The whole system is just recovering, and many banks are still burdened with bad debts. So any impetus in growth resulting in a decline in asset quality must be closely monitored by the central bank, BVSC recommended.http://bizhub.vn/banking/sbv-forecast-to-raise-credit-growth-by-1-2_286651.html

Inflation low, but can central bank cut interest rates?


The Hanoi Statistics Department reported that consumer prices were up 0.12 per cent in April.Nine out of the 11 baskets of goods that make up the capital's consumer price index (CPI), saw their prices rise. Garment, footwear and hats reported the highest increase of 0.44 per cent. Food and foodstuffs followed with a rise of 0.32 per cent.However, the prices of housing and construction materials slid for a third consecutive month, with the department attributing it to the two cuts in petrol prices by a total of VND280 per litre.In contrast, HCM City's CPI inched down 0.04 per cent, according to the city statistics department.Five out of the 11 baskets of goods in the CPI saw their prices fall in April. The prices of housing and construction materials saw the highest decline of 1.24 per cent.After a decline of 0.35 per cent in March, food prices again dropped, by 0.52 per cent this time, due to a global price decrease and high supply.Market observers also expect the country's CPI to fall in May to below 4 per cent for the year because food and foodstuff account for 42.85 per cent of the index and the price of pork plunged by 40 per cent from last year's average rate.Other factors affecting May prices are the falling global oil prices, which have been de-clining since late April, and the downward trend in the FAO Food Price Index since the beginning of this year.The trade ministry's plan to amend electricity prices has yet to be carried out, meaning the prices of many goods will remain steady.Analysts said the decline in the CPI and some other positive changes in the economy are vital conditions for the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) to think of lowering the inter-est rate.The government and the SBV have always attached top priority to cutting interest rates on bank deposits so that lending rates can also be brought down.Analysts reckon that the central bank is now quite able to reduce the deposit interest ceiling by 0.25-0.5 percentage points while still ensuring positive real interest rates on deposits.To bring down the deposit interest rates, the central bank can reduce the deposit interest rate ceiling or lower the interest rates on open market operations (OMO).As of now the interest rate ceiling is being kept at 5.5 per cent for deposits of up to six months, and the OMO rate is 5 per cent.So the real interest rates the difference between the nominal deposit interest rates and in-flation --could climb to 1-1.5 per cent if the CPI declines in May.But analysts pointed out that while low inflation is a necessary condition, it is not the sole criterion for the central bank to cut interest rates, and there are other factors too at play.


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They include the banking sector's liquidity, the central bank's determination to keep exchange rates steady, the trade deficit, and banks' bad debts, both on and off their bal-ance sheets.Liquidity at many banks, particularly small ones, is not as plentiful as it was last year.Credit growth is higher than deposit growth, and lowering deposit interest rates would see money flows shift to real estate and securities, putting even greater pressure on liquidity.The central bank is making great efforts to keep the dong steady against the US dollar, and any lowering of deposit interest rates at this time would only encourage individ-uals and banks to turn to the greenback.Banks' bad debts were estimated unofficially at 8.86 per cent at the end of last year, or nearly VND500 trillion (US$22.03 billion), and they have to set aside a huge amount of money for risk provisioning.Foreigners eye takeover of VN food companiesOn May 21 the shareholders of the Cau Tre Export Goods Processing Joint Stock Com-pany approved the decision to change the company's name to the CJ Cau Tre Food Joint Stock Company.At the end of last year South Korea's CJ CheiJedang Corporation increased its stake in the company to 47.33 per cent by buying shares from three big shareholders, surpass-ing SATRA, which owns 45 per cent, as the biggest shareholder.By March CJ increased its ownership to 51.6 per cent.Then, last April, the company bought a 20 per cent stake in SATRA in a public auction, taking its holding in Cau Tre Company to 71 per cent.Recently another Vietnamese company also changed its name to reflect its majority ownership by CJ. In April the Korean company wrapped up a $13.4 million deal to ac-quire 64.9 per cent of Minh Dat Food Processing Company and changed its name to Minh Dat CJ.Minh Dat has the largest share of the country's meatball and fish ball market.The change in Cau Tre Company's name has caused disappointment in some Vietnam-ese since it has been a famous food brand.Vietnam's food processing industry holds great attraction for investment funds and foreign businesses in this sector thanks to its advantages.Vietnam has a market of over 90 million consumers, half of whom are under 30.Its food consumption is projected to grow at 18.6 per cent annually until 2019, it is blessed with abundant raw materials, while the government offers investment incen-tives and there are export advantages arising from the country's many free trade agree-ments.According to Business Monitor International (BMI), the food processing market grows annually at 10-15 per cent.This year food consumption is expected to be worth $29.5 billion.But the domestic food processing industry fails to meet the demand, thus creating a huge opportunity for investors entering the sector.There have been an increasing number of mergers and acquisitions involving foreign food processors in the last three years.Vissan, for instance, is very attractive to investors. It is one of Vietnam's leading com-panies in the food sector with a huge distribution network of 130,000 sales points at su-permarkets, convenience stores and showrooms.When Vissan announced its IPO plan in March 2016 the number of shares that inves-tors registered to buy was 5.6 times the number on sale. The IPO price finally settled at 4.7 times the starting price.Anco and Proconso, which are subsidiaries of Masan Group, and CJ CheilJedang, a subsidiary of CJ Group, all hoped to become Vissan's strategic shareholders. Anco won this contest and paid VND2.13 trillion to acquire 24.9 per cent of Vissan.The foreign investors in the Vietnamese food sector are mostly from Asia such as Thai-land, Taiwan, Malaysia, Korea, and China.What are the options for local food processors in the face of the strong onslaught by


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foreign investors?They can restructure to improve their capabilities and survive on their own. Or, they can sell out to foreign investors as Cau Tre did.Analysts say these companies are facing an unequal competition due to their limited financial capacity and the lack of professionalism and global relationships.Due to the poor infrastructure, particularly in logistics, food producers are unable to make long-term strategies, according to the analysts.If the businesses do not have a thorough understanding of the situation and fail to take effective and appropriate measures, they will be easy prey for hostile foreign suitors, they warn.http://bizhub.vn/banking/inflation-low-but-can-central-bank-cut-interest-rates_286643.html

New guidelines issued for debt trading


The Ministry of Finance has issued a circular to guide the implementation of Decree 69/2016/ND-CP on conditions for debt trading.Under Circular 53/2017/TT-BTC, which will take effect from July 3, debt traders must meet regulations issued in Decree 69/2016/ND-CP, dated July 1, 2016.As per the decree, debt traders must have at least VND100 billion (US$4.38 million) in charter or investment capital.Besides, debt buyers and sellers must not be related parties under the Enterprise Law; and debts cannot be used as collaterals for civil liabilities at the time of debt trading.The trading of debts must also be under written contracts, which must specify the rights and obligations of debt buyers and sellers.Debt trading companies must not receive loans or guarantees of credit institutions and foreign bank branches to buy debts from these lenders' other borrowers.Finally, debt buyers and sellers and related parties must observe current regulations on foreign exchange management, in case the debt trading has a foreign lending/bor-rowing link and requires foreign currency in transactions.As per the new circular, debt trading enterprises that were set up before July 1, 2016, when Decree 69/2016/ND-CP took effect, must meet the decree's requirements before June 1, 2017, and report it to the business licensing agency. If they fail to meet the con-ditions, they must stop operations and report the closure to the agency.http://bizhub.vn/banking/new-guidelines-issued-for-debt-trading_286654.html

Bond interest rates fall 06/JUN/2017 INTELLASIA| BAO DAU TU

As per Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX), last month, the mobilising rates for Treasury bonds decreased for all terms.Accordingly, in May 2017, HNX organised 28 bidding sessions, mobilising a total of 23.836 trillion dong bonds, down 4.97 percent from April 2017.The bid winning ratio compared to bid value reached 74.5 percent. Of which, the State Treasury mobilised 21.816 trillion dong compared to 2.020 trillion dong of the Social Policy Bank.The bid winning interest rate of 5-year tenor bonds was 5.03-5.4 percent/annum com-pared to 5.34-5.5 percent/annum for 7-year tenor bonds; 5.91-6.41 percent/annum for 10-year tenor bonds; 6.64-7.15 percent/annum for 15-year tenor bonds; 7-7.09 percent/annum for 20-year tenor bonds; and 7.55-7.63 percent/annum for 30-year tenor bonds.Compared to April 2017, the bid winning interest rate for State Treasury bonds fell for all terms with 0.17 percent/annum for 5-year term; 0.14 percent/annum for 7-year term; 0.08 percent/annum for 10-year term; 0.1 percent or 15-year term; 0.1 percent/annum for 20-year term; 0.08 percent/annum for 30-year term.On the secondary bond market, in May 2017, the total trading volume of government bonds under outright method touched more than 863 million bonds, equal to the trans-action value of more than 92.4 trillion dong, up 36.7 percent in value compared to April 2017.The total transaction volume of government bonds under repo method hit more than


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926 million bonds, equal to the transaction value of more than 90.3 trillion dong, up 5.03 percent in value compared to April 2017.The outright purchase value of foreign investors was more than 5.8 trillion dong, to-talling over 6.1 trillion dong. The repo sales value of foreign investors was more than 510 billion dong and there was no repo purchase transaction.

How much capital is real estate market borrowing from banks?

06/JUN/2017 INTELLASIA| TBCK

Real estate financing is a risky area not only because of the slow capital recovery, long lending period but also being affected by the state's regulations on control. These risks increase opportunity costs and make banks be more cautious when making decisions on lending.Real estate financing is an area that most banks have to continuously consider the pro-portion in the current total lending because this is a highly risky business which is highly dependent on market factors. Almost all banks have this product in the lending portfolio but many banks also have always limited their outstanding loans from this sector at a very low level.Statistics from the financial statements of seven banks in 2016 show that the total lend-ing for real estate business was estimated at over 113 trillion dong. At the same time, the risk appetite and choice of each bank for real estate business was completely dif-ferent.Of which, Techcombank and VPBank were the two leading banks in lending propor-tion in this sector. The proportion of real estate business loans in 2016 of these two banks were 17 percent and 12.3 percent respectively. These two banks were assessed to favour "risks" the most in the system.In remaining banks such as BIDV, Vietinbank, ACB, MBBank and SHB, the proportion of lending in this sector was less than eight percent, the lowest was in ACB with 2.2 percent. ACB was one of the banks considered to have low risk appetite in real estate business sector with not many associated real estate projects.Currently, in order to control the real estate market, the State Bank has implemented stricter control over the credit growth in this sector especially in real estate business. At the same time, the State Bank asked banks to be cautious when considering, ap-praising projects and making decisions on lending new projects especially high-end commercial housing projects, resorts, and projects with low liquidity.Besides, the State Bank also issued Circular 06 on amendment and supplementation of some articles of Circular 36 on limits, safety ratios in the operation of credit organisa-tions. Of which, two important points are: the ratio of short-term capital for medium and long-term loans is adjusted down from 60 percent to 50 percent and risk propor-tion in real estate business is adjusted up from 150 percent to 200 percent.Therefore, banks that have hit the ceiling of short-term capital for medium and long-term loans will have to consider and select projects to lend, if not, they have to increase the mobilisation of medium and long-term capital to lend.The bigger risk in real estate business will cause banks to limit real estate loans because of increased opportunity costs. Banks will have to make decisions on lending more cautiously or consider the lending growth in other areas.As per the report of the National Financial Supervisory Commission (NFSC), in 2016, credit for real estate investment and business was slow, increasing only 12.5 percent compared to the end of 2015, much lower than the growth of 28.3 percent in 2015. Cor-respondingly, credit for real estate investment and business only accounted for 8.4 per-cent of the total, down slightly from 8.8 percent in the previous year.Credit for real estate business and investment focused mainly on the demand for building, repairing and purchasing houses to live, buying houses to live and to rent (34.3 percent); urban area construction (19 percent); investment in other properties such as restaurants, hotels for sale, for rent (21.8 percent).However, an on-going situation is the shift of real estate credit. Although, real estate investment and business slowed down in 2016 but consumer credit increased sharply, of which, nearly 50 percent focused on real estate.


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The figures on real estate business in financial statement did not represent all real es-tate loans. They are mainly loans to such customers as project investors, contractors who are organisations that contribute capital to invest in real estate. Loans for the pur-pose of buying houses, repairing houses for individuals were not included in this item.In fact, the credit granting in banks also show that many individual customers who borrowed to purchase houses, repair houses, even to invest in real estate were granted with credit for consumption purpose. Consumer loans for home purchase, repair of-fered with high limits and long duration (about 10 years) have become familiar to cus-tomers.This is a form of spleening by credit organisations in order not to be affected by regu-lations of the State Bank. If all outstanding loans for the purpose of buying real estate, building houses, repairing houses were included, lending amount in real estate sector was much higher than this number. As a result, the data collected by the State about this lending field were not accurate and affected the policy direction and administra-tion.

Vietnamese banks favour Japanese partners

06/JUN/2017 INTELLASIA| BAO DAU TU

Mizuho is one of the first Japanese banks to invest capital in the banking sector of Vi-etnam in 2012. So far, the 570 million USD investment of Mizuho has doubled in value. At the recent meeting with leaders of the Commercial Joint Stock Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank), Yasuhiro Sato, general director of Mizuho Financial Group expressed his satisfaction by saying that among Mizuho's investment partners, Vietcombank is the most successful investment deal.Sato also shared that after the success of the five-year corporation between Vietcom-bank and Mizuho in the banking sector, he hoped that the partnership will be expand-ed to other areas such as securities and finance companies, making Vietcombank to become a strong financial group of Vietnam.Despite not having as optimistic result as Mizuho's because the 225 million USD in-vestment into Export Import Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Eximbank) has declined by more than half, the Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group has not intended to withdraw from Vietnam. Pouring capital to gain 15 percent ownership in Eximbank very early in 2007, Sumitomo once succeeded as the bank earned a profit of trillions dong.At the meeting with deputy prime minister Vuong Dinh Hue held in the recent time, Ryuji Nishisaki, Managing director and Chair of Sumitomo Mitsui Bank in the Asia-Pacific Region said that Sumitomo Mitsui is very interested in the restructuring proc-ess of Vietnamese credit institutions (CIs). In addition to focusing on successfully re-structuring Eximbank, Sumitomo Mitsui said it is ready to put its subsidiaries on the derivatives market and bond market of Vietnam. In addition to the veteran investors such as Sumitomo Mitsui, Mizuho, and Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFI (BTMU) etc., many other banks from Japan are also looking for partners in Vietnam. Most recently, the Commercial Joint Stock Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV) has sold 49 percent of its financial leasing com-pany to Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank (SMTB). Previously, Military Commercial Joint Stock Bank (MB) successfully called for capital from Shinsei Bank through its finance company.It can be said that Japan is currently the largest shareholder of the Vietnam's banking system. Most of these relationships bring high efficiency for both sides, making Viet-namese banks to increasingly prefer Japanese partners. Certainly, with the wave of in-vestments of Japanese enterprises in Vietnam, the capital contribution deals will increase in the field of banking and finance.Not only do banks prefer to cooperate with Japanese investors, local banks have also diversified the cooperation channels with Japanese banks and Japanese localities a way to approach Japanese enterprises investing in Vietnam.Last week, the Commercial Joint Stock Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Agribank) signed a cooperation agreement with the leading agricultural machinery group of Japan Yanmar. In addition to this deal, many contracts worth 20 billion USD


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have been signed between enterprises and localities of Vietnam and Japan on the oc-casion of prime minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc's visit to Japan. This record number is ex-pected to create a new wave of investment by Japanese investors in Vietnam in the coming years.In fact, Japanese customers have been targeted by local banks since 2012, when the Jap-anese investment wave strongly increased in Vietnam. In the end of February 2017, BIDV signed a cooperation agreement on serving Japanese customers in Vietnam with Fukuoka Bank the 16th largest banks in Japan. Similarly, the Commercial Joint Stock Bank for Industry and Trade of Vietnam (VietinBank) and Vietcombank also signed cooperation contracts with dozens of banks from Japan. In particular, Vietcombank has signed contracts with about 60 Japanese banks. The Japan Desk has become famil-iar with many banks such as Vietcombank, Vietinbank, and BIDV, etc.The strong investment trend of Japanese enterprises in Vietnam and the cultural sim-ilarities are making the cooperation between banks and enterprises of the two coun-tries to be increasingly promoted.

Non-life insurers gather resources for bancassurance

06/JUN/2017 INTELLASIA| DTCK

One year after promoting cooperation with banks and marking impression, some non-life insurance companies said they will continue to focus on bancassurance channel in 2017. However, no figures of this area have been published by insurers this year.According to Military Insurance Company (MIC) the company targeted a doubled sales revenue growth through banks in 2017 compared to realised figure in 2016. MIC's leader expected that the determination of MIC and partner banks in cross-selling prod-ucts will help MIC complete the assigned plan.In 2016, the revenue from bancassurance of MIC accounted for 10 percent of its total revenue, recording a 30 percent growth compared to 2015. From the beginning of the year, MIC has coordinated with Military Commercial Joint Stock Bank (MB) to hold numerous training courses for its employees on cross-selling insurance products through banks.Having two major shareholders which are banks (Saigon Commercial Joint Stock Bank -SCB and Export Import Commercial Joint Stock Bank- Eximbank), Bao Long Insur-ance said it will further develop the traditional retail network in 2017 on the basis of building seven retail pillars, including bancassurance, in order to contribute to bring the company's insurance premium revenue to exceed one trillion dong (estimated at 1.008 trillion dong), up by 25 percent compared to the realised number in 2016.According to Bao Long Insurance, the company has also cooperated with other banks such as Lien Viet Post Commercial Joint Stock Bank (LienVietPostBank), Tien Phong Commercial Joint Stock Bank (TPBank), and Asia Commercial Joint Stock Bank (ACB) to further develop bancassurance channel.Despite not disclosing detailed data, the Petrolimex Joint Stock Insurance Corporation (PJICO) said that in addition to promoting sales channels via insurance brokers and fo-cusing on the implementation of the contract with the Commercial Joint Stock Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank), PJICO will negotiate and sign cooperation agreements with some new banks, in line with the company's bancassurance orienta-tion.According to PJICO, the continuous promotion of sales via large banks brought fairly good revenue in 2016, exceeding 150 billion dong. Specifically, in 2016 PJICO's entire system cooperated with Vietcombank, exclusively partnered with Hochiminh city De-velopment Joint Stock Bank (HDBank) in car and personal housing products, cooper-ated with the individual customer division of Vietnam Prosperity Commercial Joint Stock Bank (VPBank), cooperated in health care insurance products with Maritime Commercial Joint Stock Bank, and cooperated in car insurance with Vietnam Prosper-ity Commercial Joint Stock Bank (VPBank).Meanwhile, Chair of the Board of directors of Agriculture Bank Insurance Joint Stock Corporation (ABIC) Dinh Viet Dong said that in 2017-2020 period, the company with strengthen and develop bancassurance distribution model between ABIC and the


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Commercial Joint Stock Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam (Agribank), striving to have over 20,000 qualified agents by 2021.Although results of bancassurance channel has not been officially released, according to information of Dau tu Chung khoan newspaper, the close cooperation with banks and certain milestones in 2016 have motivated non-life insurance companies to strong-er penetrate this segment in 2017, especially with the insurance units in which bancas-surance channel holds a significant proportion.For Post & Telecommunication Joint Stock Insurance Corporation (PTI), bancassur-ance channel in 2016 recorded over 514 billion dong in revenue, accounting for 17 per-cent of the total revenue, completing 120 percent of the set plan. In the revenue structure of PTI, bancassurance stands behind other channels (38 percent) and VN Post channel (20 percent) but in front of brokerage channel (12 percent), showroom channel (10 percent), Telesales (2 percent) and registry (1 percent).According to PTI, in addition to having more Korean customers and opening five member companies, the significant increase of its brokerage channel, and the 150 per-cent growth of Telesales channel (thanks to the investment in sales programmes, the bancassurance channel (including the expansion in exploitation via Shinhan Bank) contributed to PTI's completion of 2016 business plan. In 2016, the revenue growth of PTI reached 26 percent, equivalent to over 3.096 trillion dong.Similarly, PVI Joint Stock Company (the parent company of PetroVietnam Insurance) said that year 2016 was a successful year for diversifying distribution channels of the company, especially bancassurance channel, as the cooperation with banks has been lifted. Specifically, 10 banks and CIs have signed contracts with PVI, recording 210 bil-lion dong revenue, up by 80 percent. That contributed to help the retail sales system rise sharply by 20 percent and complete the set plan, offsetting the reduction in reve-nue and profit in traditional market (petroleum market).

TPBank licensed to expand network

06/JUN/2017 INTELLASIA| BIZLIVE

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has recently approved TPBank's opening of a repre-sentative office in HCM City; new branches in Kien Giang, Bac Ninh, Nam Dinh, HCM City and new transaction offices in Quang Ninh, Nghe An, Binh Duong and Dong Nai.TPBank's new branches and transaction offices are located in the system of modern, multi-functional transaction systems of international standards with convenient serv-ices for customers.Based on economic conditions in localities where TPBank is located, the branches and transaction offices will have specific financial products for each sector and geographi-cal areas to ensure TPBank's growth as well as to support and promote the local eco-nomic development.To receive the State Bank's approval for the expansion of new locations, TPBank has fully met the conditions set by SBV including growth targets; the compliance with reg-ulations on safety; the non-performing loan (NPL) ratio at less than three percent of the total outstanding loans; the debt classification and sufficient provision of NPL ratio as prescribed; an internal audit department and an internal inspection and control sys-tem as stipulated by the State Bank, etc.TPBank is one of the banks that have invested strongly and received very high praise from reputable organisations and large numbers of customers in the digital banking industry. Apart from strong local shareholders, TPBank also receives the investment from SBI Ven Holdings, International Finance Corporation (IFC) and commercial sponsorship from Asian Development Bank (ADB).Apart from spacious branches and transaction offices, and modern technologies, TP-Bank is currently the only bank that owns the automated banking system of LiveBank. The new generation automatic bank can carry out most transactions like a traditional bank branch, while demonstrating the excellence in several features such as opening payment account and savings book with just about five minutes, counting 100 million dong to send into account within 25 seconds only, etc. with high security.In 2017, TPBank targets to raise the total assets to 130 trillion dong and earn more than


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780 billion dong profits.

6.7pct GDP growth rate not impossible: minister

06/JUN/2017 INTELLASIA | VIETNAMNET

"GDP growth has important significance for Vietnam as it creates resources for invest-ment & development, generates jobs, and increases the budget revenue to spend more on investment and social welfare, contributing to political stability," Nguyen Chi Dung, minister of Planning and Investment (MPI), said recently in an interview with Thoi Bao Kinh Te Sai Gon.With economic results in the first four months of the year below the average perform-ance in previous years, the National Assembly (NA) is afraid that GDP growth in 2017 can hardly meet the 6.7 percent target.However, the government will not propose NA to adjust the economic growth target in its third session.He said the government still targets GDP growth rate of 6.7 percent this year, although economists and NA deputies doubt the plan's feasibility.2017 is the second year of the 5-year economic development plan. In 2016, Vietnam had a growth rate of 6.21 percent, and if it cannot reach 6.7 percent GDP growth rate this year, it will be more difficult to carry out the 5-year plan."If Vietnam does not grow rapidly, it will lag behind other regional countries. In some aspects, we already lag behind, and we have to speed up," Dung said.He said he agrees with economists that it is necessary to stabilise the macroeconomy and curb inflation. However, once Vietnam does this, it needs to accelerate develop-ment."We need to maintain macroeconomic stability, and we need to develop more rapidly as well. This is the principle," he said.The minister said there are signs of positive international economic and trade recov-ery. International organisations all predict that the world economy is recovering in short term.He said that domestic conditions are not as bad as they were last year when provinces in the central region had to face severe drought, saline intrusion and epidemics. Agri-culture has recovered considerably while consumption is good.Foreign direct investment (FDI) and domestic investment have improved. The number of tourists has increased sharply. Exports have increased rapidly. And the manufactur-ing sector has been growing well.The government will not try to reach 6.7 percent growth rate at any cost and it won't exchange the environment for economic growth.However, the government wants to take full advantage of the opportunities and po-tential Vietnam has to speed up development."6.7 percent growth rate is difficult, but it is not an impossible mission," Dung said.In order to obtain 6.7 percent growth, agriculture & forestry must obtain 3.05 percent growth, industry & construction 7.91 percent and services 7.19 percent.http://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/business/179579/6-7-percent-gdp-growth-rate-not-impossible--minister.html

Nation to exert political will to reach growth targets


Prime minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has called for strong political will and feasible measures to achieve growth targets set for each sector this year.Addressing the monthly cabinet meeting in Hanoi on Saturday, he emphasized the concerted effort needed to achieve the targeted 6.7 per cent growth set for this year.He mentioned targets for key sectors including agriculture, 3.05 per cent, with farm produce exports of $33 billion), industry, 7.91 per cent, mining, manufacturing and en-gineering, electricity and construction, up 10.5 per cent; services, 7.19 per cent, with tourism revenues up more than 30 per cent, welcoming over 13 million foreigners.The PM also called for capital disbursement and equitisation of State-owned firms to be speeded up.He asked cabinet members to propose ways to remove business obstacles and oversee


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how State groups and corporations were complying with policies and directives is-sued by the Party Central Committee, National Assembly and government.The Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) reported at the meeting that a record 50,500 new firms were established in the first five months of this year. During this pe-riod, inflation was brought under control, and growth was seen in FDI inflow and tourism revenues.From May 12, the finance ministry began offering VAT refunds online, marking a big step forward in administrative reform.For the first time, the government did not delay the submission of its reports to the Na-tional Assembly (NA), and submitted 13 bills to the 14th NA's third session for consid-eration.The PM also briefed the cabinet on the outcomes of his freshly-ended US visit, saying Vietnam was one of the 16 countries running a trade surplus with the US. He said both sides discussed a range of issues, from trade to national defence-security, including the East Sea issue.The visit also marked a significant milestone in investment promotion, with the sign-ing of deals worth around $12 billion, he said.He added that intellectuals, overseas Vietnamese and US Congressmen had expressed their support for Vietnam's multilateral policy, particularly its current drive for deeper global integration.Phuc called for strict handling of land erosion in the southwest, the medical incident in Hoa Binh provincial general hospital and pavement encroachment in several local-ities.May was goodThe prime minister also hailed the socio-economic performance in May as the best since early this year.He asked a government working group to oversee the implementation of Directive 24 on measures to achieve the 6.7 per cent growth target for the year, with ministries and relevant agencies working hard to clear business obstacles.The State Bank of Vietnam was told to achieve credit growth of more than 18 per cent this year by offering suitable packages for housing and consumption sectors.He urged ministries and agencies to give feedback on the resolution on disbursement for basic construction projects so that it could be adopted soon.Phuc agreed with the MPI's proposal to establish a group to inspect private and for-eign-invested projects in different localities.He said another Directive will be issued soon for removing obstacles faced by busi-nesses.In compliance with the Resolution adopted by the 12th Party Central Committee's fifth plenum, the PM requested the MPI to prepare an action plan to fine-tune socialist-ori-ented market economy mechanisms and another Resolution on developing the private economy.Phuc asked the finance ministry to prepare an action plan to carry out the Resolution on restructuring, renovating and improving the efficiency of State-owned enterprises.The ministries of Public Health, Home Affairs and Planning and Investment were asked to pay attention to the progress in preparing reports for submission to the Party Central Committee's sixth plenum.Press conferenceAlso on Saturday, Head of the government Office and government Spokesman Mai Tien Dung chaired a government press conference informing reporters of socio-eco-nomic development issues in May as well as in the first five months of the year."As for the socio-economic situation, we have reached almost half of our 2017 path. As you know, the recent rises in GDP growth in the firstquarter were lower than the same period last year. Thus, the government and the prime minister has tried, drastically directed and managed with determination to reach the 6.7 per cent target set for the whole year," said Dung.The government official particularly highlighted an increase in the number of newly


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established enterprises, which continued to set a recordwith more than 50,000 newly registered enterprises.Total new and additional registered capital reached nearly VND1.2 trillion, showing an improved business environment, according to Dung.Administrative reform and institution completion grossed fruitful achievements, Dung said.The spokesman cited some examples for such success, including the latest reform in the Ministry of Finance and the general Department of Taxation in launching electron-ic refund system nationwide.He said this was a big step in building e-government.Dung and representatives from many ministries, such as the ministries of Information and Communications, Finance, Industry and Commerce,Planning and Investment, Transportation, Agriculture and Rural Development, Edu-cation and Training, Culture, Sports and Tourism, Health, Natural Resources and En-vironment, and the State Bank of Vietnam spent time answering reporters' questions about different issues, including potential of business and economic cooperation be-tween Vietnam and the US after PM Phuc's recent visit to the US, electricity price in-crease, tax on environmental protection, the operation of Uber and Grab taxies and illegal drug production in the country.http://bizhub.vn/news/nation-to-exert-political-will-to-reach-growth-targets_286647.html

Govt pledges high investment to attain GDP growth target

06/JUN/2017 INTELLASIA | THE SAIGON TIMES

The government has set a ratio of investment in the economy at a record high of 34-35 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), a move which is aimed at realising the GDP growth target of 6.7 percent this year, according to Directive No. 24/CT-TTg signed on Saturday by prime minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.The 2017 GDP is estimated to be around VND5,013 trillion, or roughly $220 billion, ac-cording to calculations by the Ministry of Planning and Investment. Therefore, the to-tal investment capital in the economy will be equivalent to VND1,750 trillion, or a proportion of 34.9 percent of GDP. This is the highest ratio in recent years, according to the General Statistical Office.The government leader has assigned the Ministry of Planning and Investment to come up with short-term solutions which are aimed at mobilising and disbursing invest-ment in the rest of the year.In addition, the ministry should soon carry out a plan to allocate and disburse funds from government bonds; speed up the disbursement of public capital; as well as take effective measures to prop up private and foreign direct investments.The State Bank of Vietnam is told to draw up a detailed plan to reduce interest rates for production and trade, especially towards enterprises active in processing and man-ufacturing sectors, while keeping a cautious eye on inflation and bad debt.Besides, the central bank is asked to promote economic development by expanding credit growth to more than 18 percent this year.Earlier, the National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee convened a session to look at the pre-feasibility study for the North-South Expressway project submitted by the government. The NA committee agreed to forward the government's report on the project for the NA's consideration at the third meeting session.At the government's monthly meeting that wrapped up on Saturday, the prime minis-ter stressed that ministers and heads of government agencies would be held account-able if economic areas under their administration failed to achieve the growth targets assigned to them.It must be pointed out "who are responsible for the growth target in each sphere" ex-cept in cases of force majeure such as natural calamities, PM Phuc is quoted in the gov-ernment website as saying.Phuc urged the government Office and the prime minister's task force to closely super-vise the implementation of Directive 24/CT-TTg on economic growth at all ministries


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and localities. Ministries and localities must regularly update the socio-economic situ-ation in the country, and have measures ready to cope with any difficulties arising dur-ing the process of implementation. "This must be the focal political task" of all ministries and localities, the prime minister said.http://english.thesaigontimes.vn/54313/Govt-pledges-high-investment-to-attain-GDP-growth-target.html

Intelligent policy leads to IIP growth

06/JUN/2017 INTELLASIA | VIR

Despite a decline in the mineral sector, production in Vietnam is gaining momentum, thanks to improved business sentiment in response to the government's favourable policies.According to the General Statistical Office (GSO), the five-month index for industrial production (IIP) grew 5.7 percent on-year."Though this rate is lower than the 7.1 percent rise in last year's corresponding period, it is higher than the 5.2 percent climb in this year's first four months," GSO stated in a report on the country's five-month socio-economic situation.Sectors with high increases in production include metal (36.2 percent), fertiliser (18.5 percent), cloth (15.3 percent), paint (12.2 percent), and electricity (10.3 percent).However, according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment's Department for In-dustrial Economics, the five-month IIP could have been higher without the govern-ment's controlled decrease in the exploitation of natural resources, especially crude oil.In this year's first five months, the mineral sector went down by 9.1 percent, leading to a 2 percent reduction in IIP growth. Exploitation of crude oil and natural gas decreased by 12.3 percent.These reduction rates are much higher than those in last year's corresponding period, when the mineral sector shrank by only 1.2 percent, resulting in a 0.2 percent reduction in the IIP growth, and exploitation of crude oil and natural gas decreased by 2.4 per-cent year-on-year.State-owned PetroVietnam reported that in April 2017, its crude oil and gas output hit about 1.3 million tonnes, down 11 percent year-on-year. In this year's first four months, the group's total crude oil output hit about 5.25 million tonnes, down 12.9 percent, or 780,000 tonnes, year-on-year.The petrol giant plans to exploit about 14.2 million tonnes of crude oil this year, a number far lower than last year's 17.23 million tonnes. Also, PetroVietnam expects its total revenue this year to be around VND437.8 trillion (US$19.9 billion), lower than last year's VND452.5 trillion (US$20.57 billion).Prime minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc last week said that the economy is gradually recov-ering, with enterprises becoming more optimistic about doing business in Vietnam, thanks to the government's friendlier business policies."The number of newly-established enterprises is rising, and local and foreign firms are showing greater confidence while doing business in Vietnam," he said.According to the GSO, this year's first five months saw about 50,540 newly-established enterprises registered at $22 billion, up 13 percent in terms of quantity and 39 percent in terms of capital. In last year's first five months, the number of newly-established en-terprises reached 44,740 registered at $15.9 billion.Also in this year's first five months, operational enterprises added $32.3 billion to their investments. Thus the economy's total newly-registered and newly-added capital was $54.4 billion, higher than the $45.7 billion in last year's corresponding period."In Vietnam, private consumption is expected to grow strongly. Consumer sentiment remains buoyant, as indicated by a November 2016 survey showing that 43 percent of businesses expected retail sales to improve in 2017 and another 39 percent expected conditions to remain stable," said Aaron Batten, country economist from the Asian De-velopment Bank while commenting on firms' confidence in Vietnam's existing eco-nomic situation.Last week, EuroCham released the results of its Business Climate Index (BCI) for 2017's first quarter. According to the index, 67 percent of the respondents described their cur-


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rent business situation as 'excellent' or 'good'.EuroCham members that intend to maintain their investment in Vietnam represent 42 percent of the total answers, up 2 percent from the last quarter of 2016. Also, intentions to increase investments also remain substantial, with a 4 percent rise from last quarter in those looking to invest significantly.http://english.vov.vn/economy/intelligent-policy-leads-to-iip-growth-350956.vov

Vietnam-US trade turnover increases by 11pct

06/JUN/2017 INTELLASIA | SGGPNEWS.ORG.VN/

Two way trade turnover between Vietnam and the US reached $15.47 billion in early May this year, up 11 percent over the same period in 2016, reported the general De-partment of Vietnam Customs.Vietnam-US export import now accounts for 12.3 percent of the country's total turno-ver.In April, the two sides' turnover reached $4.57 billion. Of these, Vietnam's export to the US topped $3.8 billion, up 13.9 percent over the previous month. Vietnam's import from the US hit $767 million, down 2.6 percent against the previous month.Vietnam-US goods trade balance saw a surplus of nearly $3 billion in April, taking the two sides' four month goods trade balance to $9.4 billion in the first four months this year, accounting for 75 percent of total export import turnover.http://sggpnews.org.vn/business/vietnamus-trade-turnover-increases-by-11-percent-67130.html

Investments in HCM City rise strongly


Both domestic and foreign direct investments in HCM City rose by around 50 percent in the first five months of the year, according to the municipal Department of Planning and Investment.Foreign direct investment (FDI) surged by 45.8 percent in the five-month period, the department said in a report. Specifically, authorities issued investment certificates to 283 fresh projects worth $342 million in January-May, while investors of 81 operational projects injected an additional $287 million.In addition, HCM City authorities approved 775 foreign investors to contribute funds into local enterprises or acquire stakes in mergers-and-acquisitions deals with a total value of $742 million in the period.As such, between January and May, HCM City has attracted $1.37 billion in foreign funds, a year-on-year increase of 45.8 percent.The Department of Planning and Investment said that foreign investment committed into the manufacturing and processing sectors accounted for 35.9 percent of the total in January-May. This is a low ratio as the national average is 70 percent in the period, but the department stated that the investment flow is aligned with the city's develop-ment trend, as municipal authorities are seeking to attract foreign funds into high-tech industries and the service sector.In the past five months, foreign investment into wholesaling and retailing as well as auto repair accounted for 27.1 percent, while foreign funds into the property sector made up 11.8 percent of the total.Regarding domestic investment, the Department of Planning and Investment said as many as 15,500 enterprises were established in the January-May period with combined capital of nearly VND193 trillion, or roughly $8.53 billion, rising by 10.4 percent and 54.2 percent year-on-year, respectively.In addition, in the first five months, over 22,000 local enterprises in the city registered to increase their capital by a combined VND259.8 trillion, according to the department. The total amount of new domestic capital, therefore, rose by 2.4 times to over VND453.5 trillion.The city's business development is expected to grow faster in the rest of this year, as authorities have been making strong efforts to improve the business environment.http://english.thesaigontimes.vn/54314/Investments-in-HCM City-rise-strongly.html


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WB okays funds for Da Nang infrastructure


The World Bank (WB) has approved a loan of $72.52 million for infrastructure projects in Da Nang from its International Development Association.The city said the fund would help support the city's infrastructure projects, including a separated sewage discharge system for coastal tourism sites of My An and My Khe area in Son Tra Peninsula.The fund will also support integrated bus and Bus Rapid Transit network and Intelli-gent Transport System (ITS) projects and upgrades to the bypass road system of the Da Nang-Quang Ngai Expressway in Hoa Vang District.The city also asked the WB to increase its funding for wastewater treatment and drain-age channel projects.The city's efforts to treat wastewater have been lacking, with seven of 15 wastewater gates discharging water into the sea untreated.Da Nang has met deadlines for development projects funded by the WB over the past many years.In 2013, the WB agreed to provide $202 million for a $272 million sustainable develop-ment project to help improve the city's Bus Rapid Transit network, build new roads, and revamp the existing drainage system.http://bizhub.vn/news/wb-okays-funds-for-da-nang-infrastructure_286646.html

Seafood exports to Japan go by leaps and bounds


Japan has overtaken the US and the EU to become the largest buyer of Vietnam's sea-food with $468 million worth of shipments in the first five months of the year, up 29.3 percent year-on-year, according to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).Meanwhile, seafood exports to the US and the EU fell to $461 million and $448 million respectively, a decrease of 12.7 percent and 0.7 percent respectively.VASEP explained that shrimp shipments to the US plunged due to the anti-dumping duty stateside. Meanwhile, Japanese demand for shrimp increased thanks to the ap-preciation of the Japanese yen against dong, making Vietnamese shrimp more compet-itive there and attracting more domestic shrimp processing enterprises.In addition, tra fish exports to the EU fell sharply, contracting 21.5 percent to $49.9 mil-lion in the first quarter of 2017, leading to a year-on-year decrease in Vietnam's seafood export to the region.In the first five months of 2016, Japan was Vietnam's third largest seafood importer with $362 million behind the US with over $528 million and the EU with nearly $451 million.According to VASEP, the total seafood export turnover reached $2.76 billion in Janu-ary-May, up 7.5 percent year-on-year, of which shrimp exports fetched nearly $1.15 billion, up 4.1 percent, and tra fish more than $665 million, up 2.4 percent. Other sea-food products also saw exports rising, such as tuna with nearly $216 million, up 20.3 percent, and mollusks nearly $239 million, up 35.6 percent.http://english.thesaigontimes.vn/54321/-Seafood-exports-to-Japan-go-by-leaps-and-bounds.html

Aquaculture production picks up in May


Vietnam's aquaculture output reached 370,000 tonnes in May, a year-on-year increase of 3.3 percent, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.The total output for the first five months this year was 1.235 million tonnes, up 2.4 per-cent year-on-year.In the period, the total output of Tra fish in the Mekong Delta provinces hit 465,900 tonnes, up 11.1 percent from the same period last year, while aquaculture area was es-timated at 3,092 hectares, falling 6.2 percent. The sharpest increase of Tra fish output was recorded in Can Tho city, by 50.1 percent, followed by An Giang, by 11.9 percent, and Dong Thap, 3.2 percent.The price of Tra fish slightly dropped in May, to around 24,000 26,000 VND per kilo-


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gram. The price of Tra fish foy also fell, ranging from 27,000 50,000 VND (1.2 2.2 USD) per kilogram.The nation's total shrimp raising area was estimated at 597,000 hectares, up 6.8 percent from the same period last year, with total output topping 144,000 tonnes, increasing by 46.2 percent. Shrimp prices ranged between 85,000 VND 340,000 VND (3.7 15 USD) per kilogram.In the period, the output of fish catch topped 1.327 million tonnes, up 5.2 percent year-on-year, of which 1.264 million tonnes were caught at sea, up 5.5 percent. The total out-put included 311,000 tonnes caught in May, according to the Ministry.Thanks to favourable weather, fishermen in the central provinces of Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien Hue took longer offshore fishing trips.The total output of tuna hit 10,050 tonnes, up 5.8 percent year-on-year, including 2,789 tonnes caught in Phu Yen, dropping 5.2 percent; 5,296 tonnes in Binh Dinh, and 2,092 tonnes in Khanh Hoa, up 14.9 percent and 6.1 percent, respectively.http://en.vietnamplus.vn/aquaculture-production-picks-up-in-may/112799.vnp

Ministry considers hiking environmental tax on fuels


A higher environmental tax imposed on fuels will help increase budget revenues in the context of fuel import tariffs being reduced in accordance with trade commitments with other countries, said deputy minister of Finance Tran Xuan Ha."Higher environmental tax will help restructure the State budget when fuel import tax falls to zero," Ha said at a meeting of the government on Saturday.The tax framework on environmental protection is issued by the National Assembly while the specific tax rates are decided by the Standing Committee of the National As-sembly. The current tax bracket is VND1,000-4,000 per litre.Ha said petrol prices in Vietnam are lower than in neighbouring countries, leading to fuel smuggling. Therefore, the Ministry of Finance suggested the government expand the tax bracket on environmental protection.According to the ministry, environmental tax is not just used for environmental pro-tection.Speaking to the Daily, head of the Department of Tax Policies under the Ministry of Finance Pham Dinh Thi said according to the Law on State Budget, environmental tax is a component of budget revenues and can also be used for socio-economic develop-ment, especially for projects having great impacts on the environment like wastewater treatment and transport development.According to Circular 02/2017/TT-BTC dated January 6, 2017, the budget for environ-mental protection shall account for no less than 1 percent of the annual total national expenditures.Thi said the government has planned to increase the budget for environmental protec-tion to 2 percent of the total budget expenditures in accordance with the national en-vironment protection strategy until 2020 with a vision towards 2030.Also at the meeting, deputy minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai said there are no plans to hike electricity prices in the foreseeable future due to the current gloomy economic outlook.Hai said power and petrol are key inputs for the economy and play an important role in economic development. Any changes in prices of these inputs will have great im-pacts on production and people's life. Therefore, any adjustment of power and petrol prices must be carefully weighed.http://english.thesaigontimes.vn/54316/-Ministry-considers-hiking-environmental-tax-on-fuels.html

Petrol prices increased to VND17,366 per litre

06/JUN/2017 INTELLASIA | AFP

The domestic retail price of petroleum increased by VND303 to reach VND17,366 (77 US cents) per litre as of 3pm on Monday, the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) said.The price of E5 RON 92 biofuel also rose by VND283 to VND17,154 per litre. The prices


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of diesel and kerosene went up by VND225 and VND326 to VND13,485 and VND12,118 per litre, respectively. The price of fuel oil (FO) was VND11,035 per kilo-gram, an increase of VND139.The MoIT and the Ministry of Finance also decided to keep using the price stabilisation fund for petroleum unchanged at VND639 per litre. Usage of the fund for E5 RON 92 biofuel remained at VND672 per litre, while diesel was VND846 per litre, kerosene was VND1,029 per litre and fuel oil (FO) was VND323 per kilogram.The retail petrol price in Singapore the main petrol exporter for Vit Nam was $62.7 per barrel. This was $2 per barrel higher than the previous price adjustment on May 20.The local retail price of petrol has increased three times and decreased four times this year.Earlier during the National Assembly session on Saturday, deputy minister of Indus-try and Trade D Thng Hi said petroleum prices were regulated by the market mecha-nism. This has been shown by transparency in announcing prices and supply resources with 30 local direct importers, thus ensuring healthy competition."The management of the petroleum market under the Decree No 83 has also improved its effectiveness with the price adjustment carried out every 15 days, thus creating transparency. The retail petroleum prices have been calculated based on taxes, fees and average price in the Singaporean market," Hi added.http://bizhub.vn/news/petrol-prices-increased-to-vnd17366-per-litre_286658.html

Power consumption hits record high as Vietnam swelters under heat wave

06/JUN/2017 INTELLASIA | VNEXPRESS

Air conditioners and fans have been going at full blast as locals take cover.Vietnamese people have been draining the national power grid in an effort to keep cool over the past few days as temperatures climb to record highs, especially in the north.Nationwide power consumption was measured at 630 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) last Friday, up 11.8 percent over the previous week, according to the country's power monopoly Vietnam Electricity (EVN).In the north, electricity output reached 290 million kWh that day, up 10 percent from last year.In Hanoi, the hottest part of the country since early June, local residents used up to 70 million kWh of electricity last Saturday, an increase of 8 million kWh from two days before.This is a 163-percent rise compared to the average level for May and a 127-percent rise against the same period last year.EVN has made preparations and there will be no power shortages, said Nguyen Duc Ninh, an EVN official."This is just the first heat wave to hit this year, and EVN predicts higher power con-sumption as the temperature rises," Ninh added.But he also calls on local residents to use electricity efficiently and economically to re-duce the pressure on the power sector.On Saturday the Ministry of Industry and Trade said the government has no immedi-ate plan to hike power prices.The demand for cooling devices has also been growing alongside the temperature over the past few days.Data from Google Trends revealed that key words for such devices, including air con-ditioners and steam cooling fans, surged over the weekend in Vietnam."Sales of air conditioners rose 4-5 times to 120 units per day over the past week," the owner of a store on Ha Dong District told VnExpress.On Saturday afternoon, the temperature in Hanoi hit 41.5 degrees Celsius, the highest since 1971.On Monday morning, a 70-year-old woman fainted while driving a motorbike on Xa Dan Street in Hanoi and died just a few minutes later.Doctors at Bach Mai Hospital said the intense heat in the city may have been the cause of her sudden death.Meteorologists forecast that the heat wave in Hanoi will last until Tuesday.


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No plan to hike power tariff: MoIT


The government is not considering a hike in power tariffs, said Do Thang Hai, deputy minister of Industry and Trade (MoIT).Hai told the National Assembly session on Saturday that electricity and petroleum are key items that affect all sectors, production and people's lives. So any change in the rate of these items, especially a price hike, should be calculated carefully, he said.If the Electricity of Vietnam (EVN), which is under the MoIT, proposes a tariff hike, the ministry will review the proposal thoroughly before submitting it to the prime minis-ter for approval."The government has instructed that the retail price of electricity should not be in-creased this year because of difficulties in the economy," Hai said. "If EVN proposes a hike, the ministry will carefully assess its impact on other products as well as its effect on economic growth and the consumer price index (CPI)."Earlier, the government had asked the ministry to instruct EVN to complete reports on its overall production, business, costs and retail prices in 2016, as well as its plans for 2017. Based on these reports, EVN will propose a power price mechanism this year.Deputy prime minister Vuong Dinh Hue has asked the national power company to propose tariffs based on actual production costs this year. The move aims to ensure that EVN makes profits, create favourable conditions to attract investment in renewa-ble energy, and curb inflation at the same time.According to the General Statistical Office, if power tariff increases by 3 per cent, it will raise CPI by 0.081 per cent. The CPI will rise by 0.189 per cent and 0.243 per cent if the retail electricity price rises by 5 and 7 per cent, respectively.EVN calculations show that its total production cost in 2017 is expected to increase to VND7.2 trillion (US$316.7 million) because of the fluctuation in coal, gas and oil prices. Input costs, especially of coal, have been increasing continuously since 2015, but they have not been incorporated into the power tariff. Coal prices, which have risen 7 per cent since December 2016, account for around VND4.7 trillion of the total spending.In addition, the consumption of electricity has been growing rapidly, at 12 to 13 per cent a year, putting pressure on the power sector.The last hike in power tariff was two years ago when prices went up by 7.5 per cent to an average retail price of VND1,622 per kWh.http://bizhub.vn/news/no-plan-to-hike-power-tariff-moit_286650.html

Mass lobster deaths in south-central Vietnam remain a mystery

06/JUN/2017 INTELLASIA | TUOITRE NEWS

While authorities maintain that high stock density was to blame for the recent lobster deaths in south-central Phu Yen Province, locals believe they were killed by pollutants from nearby factories.Lobsters raised at farms in Xuan Dai Bay in Phu Yen began dying on May 24 after a heavy downpour that followed a long period of heat.The change in conditions is alleged to have depleted the bottom water oxygen level, causing the crustaceans to die from aquatic hypoxia, according to initial statements by local officials.Since then, over 770,000 lobsters from farms in Phu Yen have died, accounting for nearly 40 percent of the province's commercially farmed lobster population.According to a report by Phu Yen's Department of Agriculture and Rural Develop-ment, long hot days prior to the deaths had resulted in increased organic decomposi-tion along the bottom water layer in Xuan Dai Bay.The warmer water created conditions that allowed algae to bloom underwater, the de-partment said, using up oxygen in the area at night and causing the lobsters to die from aquatic hypoxia.Inspections by local authorities also found that lobster farmers had installed three times as many lobster cages as were approved by the provincial planning department for aquaculture, according to Luong Minh Son, deputy Party chief of Phu Yen."There are obviously extreme risks involved when you completely disregard official planning, and in reality there has been density-related damage [to the lobster popula-


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tion] over the past few years, though never on the scale as we're seeing this year," Son said.Local lobster farmers, however, insist that only pollution caused by the illegal dump-ing of wastewater from nearby factories could have killed so many lobsters at once.According to Trinh Thi Bo, owner of a lobster farm in Phu Yen, oxygen depletion-re-lated lobster deaths have occurred in the past, but only in very small numbers.There was no way aquatic hypoxia could have caused these lobsters to die in such droves, Bo said.Bo's claim was echoed by fellow farm owner Nguyen Van Tao, who demanded an in-vestigation into the wastewater discharged by factories in the area to determine whether human error was at fault.Tran Huu The, deputy chair of the Phu Yen People's Committee, took responsibility for the lack of management that had resulted in the unusually high density of farmed lobsters in the province.He said huge profits earned from lobster farming had led local farm owners to disre-gard planning and raise lobsters in numbers far exceeding the recommended level.Authorities have, however, collected water samples from local factories and food processing facilities to be tested for any signs of harmful pollutants, The confirmed.The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Ministry of Natural Re-sources and Environment have agreed to assist the investigation and discover the cause of the lobster deaths.http://tuoitrenews.vn/business/41315/mass-lobster-deaths-in-southcentral-vietnam-remain-a-mystery

VN aviation attracts private firms


The domestic aviation market is expected to see changes in 2018 with the participation of new and big private investors, experts said.The demand is still more than the supply in the market, thus there is a need to attract more investors. Statistics show that the rate of Vietnamese people travelling by air is lower in comparison with other countries in the world and the region. The rate in-creased from 0.5 per cent in 2012 to 0.8 per cent in 2016.Experts told Nguoi Lao Dong (The Labourer) Newspaper that of the current seven air-lines operating in Vietnam, only four belonged to the country. Vietnam Airlines and Vietjet Air were leading the market by holding more than 40 per cent of market shares each.The participation of new airlines could help increase the competitiveness in the mar-ket, thus benefiting the people, experts said.Picking on the trend, private companies have been rushing to establish their own air-lines.On May 31, giant property FLC Group announced the establishment of the Viet Bam-boo Airlines Ltd Co., laying the foundation for the formation of an airline under the name of Bamboo Airways. The airlines with charter capital of VND700 billion (US$31.2 million) would be eligible for operating 10 aircrafts.According to Dang Tat Thang, director general of Viet Bamboo Airlines Ltd Co., FLC was finalising its project on the airline with the aim of launching it by the end of 2018.Thang said Bamboo Airways would take a different path from its domestic counter-parts, elaborating that it would focus on direct services connecting international mar-kets with emerging tourist destinations in Vietnam, instead of major urban areas where the aviation infrastructure is already overloaded.He added that priority would be given to localities where FLC has built major tourist complexes, including Quang Ninh and Hai Phong in the north, Thanh Hoa and Quy Nhon (Binh Dinh Province) in the central region, and Nha Trang (Khanh Hoa Prov-ince) and Phu Quoc (Kien Giang Province) in the south.Thang said Bamboo Airways would be a "hybrid" airline, which would blend low-cost traits with those of traditional, or full-service carriers.Currently, 21 airports are operating across the country, but the two major facilities in


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Hanoi (Noi Bai International Airport) and HCM City (Tan Son Nhat International Air-port) alone account for 75 per cent of the total passenger output. Meanwhile, many air-ports in localities with great tourism potential are operating under capacity.The operation orientation of Viet Bamboo Airways is expected to help better exploit the existing aviation infrastructure while avoiding overloaded airports, the company said.The establishment of Viet Bamboo Airlines means that the market has three airlines waiting for either licence or adjustment in their licence to expand their operation scale, including Hai Au, Viet Bamboo Airlines and Vietstar Air.Vo Huy Cuong, deputy head of the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV), said the authority had not received an application from FLC and Hai Au. Vietstar Airlines, with charter capital of VND800 billion, had not been given licences for its operation, as it was waiting for Tan Son Nhat's expansion, despite having announced the flight plan since the beginning of last year.Hai Au's representative told the newspaper that it had implemented the necessary le-gal procedures to adjust its operation scale from seaplane to a joint airline with inter-national flights. It was expected that Hai Au would officially submit application to the CAAV in the next two months to become operational in 2018."Our flying plan does not relate to adjustment of Tan Son Nhat's expansion, so the time for granting licence will not be extended," the representative said, adding that their flight network would focus on international flights from Hanoi and Da Nang to South-east Asian and Asian countries.Meanwhile, Vietstar Air still expected to become operational in 2018 by reducing its scale by a half.http://bizhub.vn/news/vn-aviation-attracts-private-firms_286642.html

Organic product demands keeps rising


Demand for organic farm and other products has increased significantly both in Viet-nam and globally, and this is good news for businesses investing in the field, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.Deputy minister Tran Thanh Nam said many countries had begun to adopt organic ag-ricultural practices, and the area under organic farming is increasing."In Vietnam the area has increased by 3.6-fold since 2010 to more than 76,000ha now."Though it is still very modest compared to the total farming area, businesses and or-ganisations apply international organic standards, and certified organic products are exported to many markets, including the US and EU, he said.According to the Vietnam Organic Agriculture Association, the country exports small quantities of organic products like tea, shrimp, rice, cinnamon, anise, and attar.There are also some successful organic models to grow tea and vegetables by Ecolink and Ecomart, vegetables by Organik Da Lat, a unique thick-skinned orange in Tuyen Quang Province, rice by Ca Mau-based Vien Phu Green Farm and others.In the domestic market, organic-certified products and products with environmental-friendly certification are increasingly seen in supermarket shelves, shops and web-sites, with cosmetics, milk, fruits and vegetables, attar, spices, coffee and tea being the most popular.For instance, Organica, which sells imported and local fruits, vegetables and many other products, is a familiar address to many consumers in HCM City and Da Nang.Lotte Mart now has shelves for displaying organic products, mainly shampoo, facial cleansing milk and shower cream.To meet the increasing demand for organic products, domestic retailers and business-es are seeking collaboration and investment opportunities in the organic agriculture sector to reduce costs.Saigon Co.op recently unveiled four groups of products under the Co.op Organic brand: rice; cucumber, squash, tomato; choy sum, mustard green, water spinach; and basa fish fillet and black tiger shrimp.The company invested in a 300ha organic farm in Ca Mau Province growing agricul-


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tural produce certified by the USDA, JAS of Japan, the EU, and Naturland, Diep Dung, Saigon Co.op chair, said.The cooperative recently signed agreements with Vinamit JSC, Germany's Binca Group, international organic certification organisation Control Union, Peterson Con-sultancy, and Vietwatch to develop its organic products to international standards.Nguyen Lam Vien, general director of Vinamit Joint Stock Company, said signing the deal with Saigon Co.op would help promote locally-made organic products.Dung said Saigon Co.op would continue to expand its list of both food and non-food organic items, and seek to become a leader of the organic production-processing-dis-tribution- consumption chain in both the Vietnamese and export markets.According to market research company Nielsen, more consumers want products that are good for their health and do not hurt the environment.Experts said organic agriculture offers advantages like lack of pesticides residues, helping increase the value of agricultural and aquaculture products and having a greater likelihood of being accepted in choosy markets.But companies in the field also face many challenges, they said.ChallengesThere is no domestic certification organisation for organic products and growers have to depend on foreign organisations.Prof Dr Pham Van Bien, former director of the Institute of Agricultural Science for Southern Vietnam, said "Vietnam still lacks national standards and a comprehensive legal framework for production, certification and quality control of organic agricultur-al products. The government should soon have in place policies, mechanisms and a na-tional standard system to make it easy for businesses and farmers".Nam said his ministry had worked with relevant ministries to counsel the government in setting up a legal framework and national standards for organic farming to boost organic agriculture and building brands for organic products.The country has enough natural and social conditions to develop organic farming, es-pecially products like vegetables, fruits, rice, tea, and fisheries, he said.Existing and proposed free trade agreements would bring opportunities for exports, especially of organic produce, he added.http://bizhub.vn/news/organic-product-demands-keeps-rising_286637.html

Cement export tax burdens domestic firms


The imposition of 5 percent export tax on cement is weighing down the industry, which has been facing a severe surplus of supply over demand in the local market.Under Decree No 122/2016/ND-CP, which took effect from September 1, 2016, if spending on natural resources and energy for production accounts for 51 percent of a product's price or higher, the product will be subject to an export tax of 5 percent. The decree was raised with an aim to limit the export of natural resources and minerals. Cement is currently subject to the tax.The National Assembly Finance and Budget Committee has asked the Ministry of Fi-nance to review this regulation, adding that it was difficult to verify the volume of nat-ural resources producers are using and the costs of energy they are incurring, making the regulation infeasible and burdening export firms.The Committee said the appropriateness of this regulation in reality must be evaluated to propose amendments and remove difficulties for firms.According to Nguyen Quang Cung, President of the Vietnam Cement Association, there is currently no basis to verify the content of natural resources and energy costs. He said that they still rely on the declaration of producers, which is a loophole that firms could ex-ploit to avoid tax.In addition, such tax imposition on cement would discourage the application of new tech-nologies in production to reduce prices. Modern technologies would help create econo-mies of scale, thereby reducing total production cost, while spending on natural resource materials is unchanged. Therefore, the percentage of natural resource cost could exceed 51 per cent and it is possibly that they would pay much more tax, Cung said.


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If tax imposition on cement aims to prevent the export of natural resources, other tax calculation methods such as partially progressive tariff like what is applied for the per-sonal income tax should be applied rather than a fixed tax rate, he added.He said that the export tax was undermining the competitiveness of the cement indus-try, which was struggling with a stockpile in the domestic market.The association said that the current production capacity of domestic cement plants to-talled 88 million tonnes per year and expansions and new plants were forecast to boost production capacity to between 120 million and 130 million tonnes by 2020.Meanwhile, domestic consumption demand was anticipated to reach only 82 million by 2020.http://en.vietnamplus.vn/cement-export-tax-burdens-domestic-firms/112798.vnp

Industry Ministry admits failure in developing auto


The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) has admitted that the plan to develop an automobile industry of Vietnam has failed, but it still insists on protecting domestic as-sembling enterprises which work for foreign invested enterprises.MOIT said the car selling price is twice as much as the price in other regional countries, while the locally made content ratio is still lower than the targeted level.The localisation ratio, according to Nguyen Khac Trai from the Hanoi University of Technology, is just 5-7 percent.Tran Huu Nhan from the HCM City University of Technology believes the reason be-hind the failure of the automobile industry development was inconsistent policy.When developing automobile industry, state agencies needed to calculate the output and foresee market consumption. Meanwhile, the Vietnamese market is small with many product lines."Our policies cannot settle the problems to the every root," he said. "Vietnam needs to have new thinking in developing the automobile industry."Vietnam should not try to undertake all steps of the automobile manufacturing proc-ess. It would be better to focus on certain links in the process."Instead of trying to create a product bearing Vietnamese brand, Vietnam should only get involved in some links of the value chain," he said. "If Vietnam still insists on mak-ing cars from A to Z, it will never catch up with developed countries."While many analysts criticise foreign-invested automobile enterprises for breaking commitments on gradually increasing the localisation ratios and helping develop the Vietnam's automobile industry, MOIT still intends to continue giving investment in-centives to enterprises.At a meeting with automobile enterprises in February 2017, MOIT put forward three solutions to develop the automobile industry in the time to come.First, creating a market for domestic automobile manufacturers and protecting the market in a reasonable way. Second, supporting manufacturers to cut production costs and improve competitiveness. Third, developing supporting industries.Nhan commented that protecting and giving incentives to domestic automobile man-ufacturers is not a good choice for now.Elaborating on this, he said though the policies may benefit enterprises, no break-through would be made in the automobile industry if the products are not welcomed."The policies on local production protection and enterprise support are not likely to bring high efficiency to the industry," he said.Meanwhile, Trai from the Hanoi University of Technology, said only when the econo-my develops with better human resources will the automobile industry develop."In the current conditions of Vietnam, we cannot have an automobile industry. I think it will only form in 20 years," he said.http://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/business/179515/industry-ministry-admits-failure-in-developing-auto-industry--so-what-s-next-.html


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Vietnam's rising middle class drives car market forward amid regional slowdown

06/JUN/2017 INTELLASIA | VNEXPRESS

Cars are also a status symbol favoured by a new generation of Vietnamese consumers.Vietnam's car market has been growing at the fastest rate in Southeast Asia, boosted by the rapid growth of middle-income earners yearning for a status symbol, according to marketing and consulting firm Solidiance.Although sales in the country still lag behind neighbouring countries, the market grew faster than other regional peers, at an annual growth rate of 36 percent last year, the company said in a report released last week.That compared to 5 percent in Indonesia while sales in Malaysia, where car density is more than 20 times that of Vietnam, dropped 13 percent. In Thailand car sales also fell 4 percent last year.The report forecasts that the car market in Vietnam will remain strong in the next four years although growth will slow down to 13 percent a year, on average, through 2020.It attributed the surging demand in Vietnam to strong economic growth of above 6 percent and tariff cuts.Vietnam has one of the region's fasting growing middle-income groups, defined by an average income of above $1,000 per month. The national average for the whole year is $2,200, according to official statistics.The middle class, which has been growing 15 percent annually, is shifting from motor-bikes to cars, not just as a means of convenient transport, but also as an important sta-tus symbol, the report said.Vietnam's largest and wealthiest cities, Hanoi and HCM City, account for 45 percent of all 1.1 million passenger vehicles registered in the country.Markets for luxury passenger vehicles in Vietnam, such as Mercedes, are one of the world's fastest growing markets among the affluent Vietnamese income group, the re-port said.Yet it said the market is also challenged by increasing consumption taxes, which could be meant to generate revenue as well as to reduce pollution and congestion, given un-derdeveloped infrastructure.Hanoi and HCM City are both seeking solutions to crippling congestion problems. De-bates have been going on for years as blame is passed between cars and motorbikes.Both crowded cities are trying to modernise their public transport systems with metro lines and river buses, but time and money remain tough challenges.http://e.vnexpress.net/news/business/vietnam-s-rising-middle-class-drives-car-mar-ket-forward-amid-regional-slowdown-3595079.html

Downtown land scarcer for BT investors in HCM City


Land in downtown HCM City is becoming scarcer for those Build-Transfer (BT) inves-tors who want to develop infrastructure projects in HCM City, said the city's Chair Nguyen Thanh Phong.Speaking at a meeting last Saturday with 120 enterprises active in urban infrastructure investment to discuss the urban development orientation of the city in the near future, Phong said the city wanted private funds to develop infrastructure facilities. However, BT investors should consider land in outlying districts in exchange for infrastructure.At the meeting, the municipal government called for stronger investment in four sec-tors that have great impacts on people's livelihood, including transport, environment (garbage and wastewater treatment), urban upgrade and flood control.For transport infrastructure development alone, HCM City needs over VND553 tril-lion (nearly $24.5 billion) in 2020-2025. director of the city's Transport Department Bui Xuan Cuong said due to limited finances, transport projects have failed to meet the de-velopment demand of the city.Bui Duong Dung, chair of the board of Licogi 16 Joint Stock Company, said informa-tion on land lots in exchange for BT projects should be published and site clearance should be timely handled.In response, Chair Nguyen Thanh Phong said the city will establish two teams respon-sible for promptly replying to all of investors' questions on investment and construc-


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tion. However, land in Thu Thiem and the downtown area has become scarcer, so investors should consider areas in outlying districts.New urban areas in outlying districts such as Nha Be and Cu Chi will be given priority for investment as the city planned to ease the strain on inner-city districts' infrastruc-ture.Meanwhile, vice Chair of the city Le Van Khoa said the city is running out of land in prime locations to hand over to investors in BT projects. Therefore, investors in impor-tant projects will be prioritised to avoid the situation where so many investors ask for land in good locations.At the meeting, Vo Van Be, director of Thuan Viet Construction and Trade Company, asked for the city's approval to build an underground commercial centre along Le Loi Street to take advantage of Metro Line No.1 being developed. Chair Phong said that the commercial centre is part of the metro project and the central government has com-mitted to give investment priority to the Japanese partner.Wrapping up the meeting, the city's Party Committee Secretary Nguyen Thien Nhan said the city will revise and publish information about land planning on the Internet, improve investment environment, promote public-private partnership investment and support enterprises investing in urban infrastructure.http://english.thesaigontimes.vn/54318/-Downtown-land-scarcer-for-BT-investors-in-HCM City.html

Binh Dinh sees rise in domestic, foreign investment flow


The south central province of Binh Dinh saw a surge in both domestic and foreign in-vestment in the first five months of 2017, said Nguyen Thuc Dinh, director of the pro-vincial Department of Planning and Investment.The province welcomed 47 domestic projects with total registered capital of 12.24 tril-lion VND (538.8 million USD), up 12 projects against the same period of 2016.Projects with large registered capital included a residence-trade-service complex val-ued at 1.39 trillion VND (61.2 million USD) and Cam Van new residence area (in Nhon Hung ward, An Nhon town) worth 421 billion VND (18.5 million USD).Binh Dinh province also lured six foreign direct investment (FDI) projects valued at 92 million USD, up 3 projects compared to the same period last year.Among them are Binh Dinh pig breeding farm project with registered capital of 21.2 million USD and a 64 million-USD wind and solar power project.Chair of the provincial People's Committee Ho Quoc Dung said in 2017, Binh Dinh will continue increasing investment promotion activities to attract more domestic and for-eign investment to Nhon Hoi economic zone and other local industrial parks.The province will carry out activities to study and assess its potential for attracting for-eign and domestic partners while building database and documents for investment promotion.Binh Dinh will also focus on popularising its investment environment and opportuni-ties and supporting local investors and businesses in participating in conferences in Vietnam and other countries.http://en.vietnamplus.vn/binh-dinh-sees-rise-in-domestic-foreign-investment-flow/112811.vnp

Kien Giang strives to develop sustainable tourism


The southern province of Kien Giang has stepped up efforts to turn tourism into its key industry by 2020.According to the provincial Tourism Department, Kien Giang welcomed more than 2.4 million tourists in the last five months, 42.4 percent of year's plan and up 3.6 percent year-on-year. Of the number, foreign visitors increased more than 13 percent.Kien Giang hosted the National Tourism Year Phu Quoc Mekong Delta in 2016, which helped the province to improve its tourism products and attract more visitors.Tran Chi Dung, head of the department stressed that the province is striving to build on the momentum from the National Tourism Year. The province has called for more


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investment as well as improvement in services and human resource quality, along with building tourism products.In the first five months of 2017, more than 850,000 tourists came to the province's Phu Quoc island, a rise of 30 percent year-on-year, said Huynh Quang Hung, vice Chair of the People's Committee of Phu Quoc district.Phu Quoc is expected to receive about two million people this year, mostly during Miss Grand International 2017 in October, Christmas and New Year 2018, Hung add-ed.Kien Giang province has built its tourism brand as a safe and friendly destination for domestic and foreign visitors. It also hopes to complete a tourism development plan and carry out essential infrastructure.In addition, the province has focused on mobilising resources to improve key tourism zones and repair local relics, as well as build more cultural and sport centres.http://en.vietnamplus.vn/kien-giang-strives-to-develop-sustainable-tourism/112805.vnp

Nghe An wants businesses' stronger role in seaport development


The central province of Nghe An is calling on businesses to come to build, manage and operate local seaports.In the seaport system of Nghe An, Cua Lo is aimed to become an international seaport with some major specialised wharves being under construction.Among them, Vissai wharf is being built by the Song Lam Cement Joint Stock Compa-ny to serve the transportation of cement, clinker and coal. Meanwhile, a wharf of the Thien Minh Duc Joint Stock Company will handle the shipment of gasoline and oil once it is put into operation.A wharf for 30,000 dwt ships and another for 50,000 dwt vessels are also being con-structed at the deepwater seaport of Cua Lo. Two other facilities of the Cua Lo Port Co. Ltd there are set to become operational in the near future.Cua Lo port is oriented to handle at least 12 million tonnes of cargoes a year.At the Dong Hoi port area, the vicem Hoang Mai Cement Joint Stock Company is building a wharf for the shipment of cement and construction materials. The Thanh Thanh Dat Co. Ltd is building a road to Dong Hoi Port and plans to inaugurate a wharf for 30,000 dwt vessels at this port in 2020.Nghe An's seaport development plan was made in line with the socio-economic devel-opment plans of the province and the northern central region, as well as the seaport system plan of Vietnam, according to local authorities.However, Nghe An is also facing difficulties in investment attraction, capital sources and site clearance in the implementation of seaport projects. Therefore, it wants busi-nesses' stronger engagement in the field.http://en.vietnamplus.vn/nghe-an-wants-businesses-stronger-role-in-seaport-devel-opment/112804.vnp

Prime minister meets Japanese entrepreneurs


Prime minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc met representatives of many major Japanese enter-prises in Tokyo on Monday, as part of his official visit to Japan.The Japanese business representatives appreciated Vietnam's development potential in various spheres, noting with satisfaction the thriving extensive strategic partnership between the two countries.An executive of J-Power introduced the group's strength and capacity, along with its modern and environment-friendly technologies, and said it wanted to continue invest-ing in coal electricity in Vietnam.Leaders of Capital Partners Securities and Daiwa Securities noted they had carried out a number of projects in securities and finance, along with cultural exchanges in Viet-nam. They hoped the meeting would create favourable conditions for their investment and cooperation activities with the country in the future.The Japanese entrepreneurs also voiced their hope that PM Phuc would continue facil-


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itating their firms' production and business activities in Vietnam.At the meeting, minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh applauded J-Power's intention to expand investment in energy, adding that coal power was important to Vi-etnam, as other energy sources were nearing the limit level, while renewable energy was in the initial phase in the country.He noted the special attention given by the Vietnamese government to environment protection while developing coal power.Speaking at the working session, PM Phuc said it was a good time for Japanese enter-prises to invest in Vietnam, as the two countries had reached high-level agreements on boosting cooperation.He said that Japan was the top supplier of official development assistance, the third largest source of tourist arrivals and the fourth largest trade partner of Vietnam, and bilateral cooperative potential between the two remained huge.Vietnam is striving for rapid and sustainable development, so that the demand for en-ergy and finance for economic growth is extremely high, he said, adding that the Viet-namese government was pursuing the goal of a transparent and constructive Cabinet which would best serve investors.The PM assured the Japanese business community that Vietnam considered the pri-vate sector and foreign direct investment important resources for the development of the country.He asked Japanese firms to work closely with the Vietnamese ministries of Planning and Investment, and Industry and Trade to accelerate projects in Vietnam, particularly those regarding infrastructure and power energy for production and consumption.Urging Japanese investors to engage in equitisation of State-owned enterprises in Vi-etnam, the leader said the government was carrying out the policy to reduce State con-trol and withdraw capital from many areas, including energy, finance and banking, which would open up many opportunities for Japanese investors.PM Phuc also hoped to promote cultural cooperation between the two countries.Later, the PM hosted receptions for Yuji Nakamine, a member of the board of directors and general director for Asia, Europe, Pacific, the Middle East and Africa of Mazda, and President and CEO of Route Inn Katsutoshi Nagayama.http://bizhub.vn/news/prime-minister-meets-japanese-entrepreneurs_286653.html

Bilateral prospects are strong


Vietnam and Japan are experiencing an all-time high in terms of trade and investment cooperation. On the occasion of prime minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc's official visit to Ja-pan from June 4-8, Japan's Ambassador to Vietnam, Umeda Kunio, shared his views with VIR's Thanh Tung about the two countries' prospects in these areas.What impact will the visit of prime minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc have on the promo-tion of investments in Vietnam?A large-scale investment promotion conference is planned to be held in Tokyo on the occasion of prime minister Phuc's visit to Japan. Some concrete achievements in for-eign direct investment (FDI) projects will be announced on this occasion. We believe that FDI from Japan to Vietnam will continue to increase, primarily focused on the manufacturing and energy sectors. Also, there is a possibility that collaboration be-tween Japanese small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and Vietnamese compa-nies will be accelerated, promoting the supporting industry in Vietnam, to which the Vietnamese government attaches strong importance. Still, to strengthen the links be-tween Japanese and Vietnamese companies, it is strongly suggested that Vietnam con-tinue to improve its business climate and carry out further reforms. Therefore, on this special occasion in Tokyo, it is very important that prime minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc makes a commitment to this endeavour.What are the current trends for Japanese investments in Vietnam?Over the past three years, FDI from Japan has continued to increase in terms of the number of projects, however the overall amount of capital invested remains almost the same. FDI from Japan has been diversifying. Most Japanese companies entering Viet-


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SVietnam finance & business 6 June 2017

nam still focus on export-oriented manufacturing, benefitting from Vietnam's abun-dant, cheap, and high-quality labour force. But others have set their sights on expanding within Vietnam, particularly in the rapidly growing retail sector.In addition, some Japanese companies that have been operating in Vietnam for quite a long time have launched products such as instant noodles (Hao Hao) or rice crackers (ICHI) that were developed by research and development (R&D) teams led by Viet-namese staff, reflecting Vietnamese tastes while using Japanese production tech-niques.The two countries are also fostering agricultural projects in Vietnam. What is the out-look for this type of Japanese investment in Vietnam?In the agricultural sector, based on the framework of the Japan-Vietnam Agriculture Cooperation Dialogue, both governments are currently promoting a connection be-tween economic cooperation and private investment in order to establish an organised value chain for food in Vietnam.Some Japanese agricultural groups and firms have started farming in Da Lat in Lam Dong province and the Moc Chau area of Son La province where the weather is cool. Hence, Japanese agricultural technologies can be easily applied to the geography and meteorology of Vietnam.Based on this, more and more Japanese firms are interested in the agriculture sector in Vietnam. Therefore, we would like to continue to work closely with the Vietnamese side in this field.What are the achievements and challenges in the Japan-Vietnam Joint Initiative to im-prove the business environment in Vietnam?The Japan-Vietnam Joint Initiative to improve the business environment in Vietnam that was launched in 2003 is now in its sixth phase. The initiative has achieved various successes.Currently, we are having a series of discussions with relevant ministries in seven areas, including labour, wages, legal institutions in such areas as investment and corporate law, pharmaceutical imports, and more. In order to further improve the investment cli-mate in Vietnam, we believe that two major and fundamental issues have to be urgent-ly dealt with.First, it is necessary to improve the government's structure to carry out policy objec-tives. It is advisable that the Vietnamese government establish a government structure that enables the steady implementation of their policy objectives.The second issue is related to business costs, particularly so-called "informal fees" that occur in the process of administrative procedures. Such informal fees have negatively impacted the business climate and transparency in Vietnam, and could be a factor that impedes productivity growth in the country.Low salaries in the public sector can also be attributed to this issue. In order for Viet-nam to achieve substantial economic growth in the future, it is a vital step to overcome this.http://www.vir.com.vn/bilateral-prospects-are-strong.html

BIZ NEWS

Business Briefs Jun 06, 2017

06/JUN/2017 INTELLASIA |]

* Coteccons Construction Company (CTD) has signed a contract with Hoa Phat Group (HPG) for the design and building(D&B) works of HPG's Dung Quat steel complex. According to HPG's plan, the total investment of the two phases is VND52 trillion, of which construction cost is VND6.4 trillion for the first stage and VND3.9 trillion for the next stage. HPG expects to com-plete the project by the third quarter of 2019.* Saigon Water Infrastructure Corporation (SIl) has approved a plan to issue 6.15 mil-lion shares in a private placement to Manila Water South Asia Holdings Pte. Ltd, a unit of Manila Water Company Inc. SII will sell the shares at VND16,900 each. The sale will help SII raise its registered capital

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to VND688 billion. Manila Water has been expanding its presence overseas. In Viet-nam, it is runningThu Due Water Holdings Pte. Ltd and Kenh Dong Water Holdings Pte. Ltd The State Securities Commission has limited the foreign ownership in SII to 43.63 percent from the earlier 49 percent. SII aims to become the first fullyintegrated water services firm in Vietnam, providing clean water and wastewater treatment service, engineering, operation and management services. In 2017, the com-pany targets a net profit of VND59.3 billion from revenue ofVND701 billion, up 2.7-fold and l.77-fold against the previous year, said Viet Capital Securities Company.* Individual investors Nguyen Nhu Pho and Le Thanh Liem have transferred nearly 14 million shares of NovaLand Investment Group Corporation (NVL) to Credit Su-isseAG.* Binh Thanh Import Export Production and Trade Company (GIL) has chosen June 15 as the ex-dividend date to pay a 2016 dividend in cash for shareholders at 25 percent.* Superdong Fast Ferry Kien Giang Company (SKG) has announced June 22 as the record date for its 2016 dividend payment,including a cash dividend ofVNDl,OOO each share and a share dividend at a 10:4 ra-tio. The cash dividend will be paid on July 14 while the share dividend is likely to be implemented within two to three months. To pay the 40 percent share dividend, SKG will issue 13.7 million new shares, lifting the total outstanding volume up to 48 million shares.

Blue chips boost VN Index


Shares rebounded on Monday morning, driven by the growth of large-cap stocks.The benchmark VN Index edged up 0.76 per cent to 744.45 points.On the HCM Stock Exchange, 21 of the top 30 shares by market value and liquidity ad-vanced; only five declined. Major stocks in banking, steel and food-beverage sectors increased.The biggest contributors to the market growth were Vinamilk (VNM), PV Gas (GAS), Vietcombank (VCB), Vietinbank (CTG), lender BIDV (BID), insurer Bao Viet Holdings (BVH) and Petrolimex (PLX).Overall, the number of rising shares was slightly higher than the declining ones (133-116); 80 remained unchanged.The main losers were brewery Sabeco (SAB), budget airline Vietjet (VJC), Domesco Medical Import Export (DMC), Mobile World Group (MWG) and agro businesses Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAG) and Hoang Anh Gia Lai Agribusiness Investment (HNG).On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, the HNX Index rose 0.91 per cent to 95.22 points.Around 158 million shares worth VND2.9 trillion (roughly $128 million) were traded on the two local exchanges.The afternoon session starts at 1pm.http://bizhub.vn/markets/blue-chips-boost-vn-index_286648.html

VN Index above 740 points

06/JUN/2017 INTELLASIA | VNECONOMICTIMES

All main indexes close higher on June 5.All main indexes on Vietnam's stock market gained ground on June 5.On HSX, the VN Index increased 4.68 points (0.63 per cent) and the VN30-Index 3.41 points (0.47 per cent).On HNX, the HNX-Index closed up 0.56 points (0.6 per cent), the HNX30-Index 0.57 points (0.33 per cent), and the UPCoM-Index 0.14 points (0.25 per cent).Liquidity on HSX reached VND3.5 trillion ($154 million), virtually the same as last Fri-day, and on HNX was VND626 billion ($27.5 million), 3 per cent higher.The VN Index opened at 738.81 points and fluctuated until mid-session before increas-ing sharply to 742.2 points. It then fluctuated again until late in the session before again increasing sharply to close at 744.5 points. In the afternoon, it hit its peak of the day of 745 points early on before falling to 742.2 points mid-session and then recovering slightly to close the day at 743.49 points.In food and beverages, VNM increased 1.9 per cent, KDC 1.6 per cent, MSN 1.4 per


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cent, and SBT 1 per cent. SAB closed at its opening price while BHN fell 0.1 per cent.In banking, BID and VCB increased 2.5 per cent, STB 2.4 per cent, and CTG and MBB 0.5 per cent, while EIB closed at its opening price.In energy, PLX increased 2.4 per cent and GAS and CNG 1.1 per cent, while PGD lost 3 per cent.In real estate, KDH increased 2.9 per cent, NVL 1.5 per cent, and QCG 1.2 per cent. VIC and FLC closed at their opening price and KBC lost 0.6 per cent.Among other large caps, BVH and FPT closed at their opening price and ROS fell 2 per cent, VJC 0.8 per cent, and HPG 0.2 per cent.ROS saw the highest liquidity on HSX, with VND819 billion ($36 million), followed by HPG with VND138 billion ($6 million), VNM with VND114 billion ($5 million), and HSG with VND94 billion ($4.1 million).On HNX, PHP increased 2 per cent, SHB 1.4 per cent, VCG 1.1 per cent, VCS 0.7 per cent, PVS 0.6 per cent, and ACB 0.4 per cent. PVI and VNR closed at their opening price while NTP lost 1.8 per cent.Foreign investors net sold on HSX by VND26 billion ($1.1 million) and net bought on HNX by VND64 million ($2,817).http://vneconomictimes.com/article/banking-finance/vn-index-above-740-points

Brokerages predict better cash flow


The market saw turnover tumbling last week amid investor caution, but securities ex-perts have forecast cash flow will improve in the near future thanks to supportive mac-ro information.The VN Index closed last week down 0.62 percent at 738.81 points while the HNX-In-dex gained 0.72 percent at 94.36. The HCM City market reported an average matching volume at 192.8 million shares per session, down 10 percent against a week earlier, while that on the Hanoi exchange shrank 11 percent to 60.8 million shares.Phan Dung Khanh, head of investment consultancy at Maybank Kim Eng Securities Company, said that the market has hit new highs repeatedly since early this year. Turnover has also increased despite some weeks of decline.Foreigners have maintained their net buying position. Besides, cash flow has been staying in the market but mainly circulating among certain sectors and stocks.Therefore, the market still sees positive cash flow outlook in the short term. Besides, it has received supporting news as the prime minister strongly called for US investment at the recent official visit, with many US firms expressing interest in the Vietnam mar-ket, Dung said in Dau Tu Chung Khoan website.In a recent meeting with local businesses, the government showed a strong determina-tion to realise this year's gross domestic product (GDP) growth goal of 6.7 percent.In case the target is met, the stock market will get a strong boost. Otherwise, it will not be a bad scenario as investors will be more confident at supporting policies for enter-prises and the entire economy and impacts of the measures in the long term.In addition, given factors such as foreign net buying, stable market psychology, good business results of some companies and positive economic tendencies in Vietnam and worldwide, the stock market is still able to reach new highs in 2017, Khanh predicted. Hoang Thach Lan, head of individual client analysis at Viet Dragon Securities Compa-ny, said that the government is likely to attain the GDP target in the third quarter if supporting measures are put in place soon. The stock market will benefit from a number of policies in the near term, via direct impact such as credit and indirect im-pact such as public investment.However, obtaining the GDP target does not mean qualitative economic growth. In re-cent years, strong GDP growth has resulted in high inflation and soaring public debt, thus causing exchange rate instability and bad credit quality. Therefore, it is difficult to predict market movements in the long term, Lan addedhttp://english.thesaigontimes.vn/54331/Brokerages-predict-better-cash-flow.html


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Bank stocks sustain market growth


Both stock indices rebounded on June 5, driven by a recovery among bank stocks, as traders sought bargains after a short decline last week.On the HCM Stock Exchange, the VN Index edged up 0.63 percent to close at 743.49 points. The southern market index decreased 0.6 percent last week following a five-week rally.On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index inched up 0.60 percent to end at 94.93 points. The northern market index rose 0.73 percent last week.Overall market condition was positive with 246 stocks rising, 208 declining and 250 re-maining unchanged on the two exchanges.However, while shares in the banking, mining, fertiliser and rubber sectors recorded growth, shares in construction, real estate and plastic manufacturing industries con-tinued to decline.For banks, eight out of nine listed lenders advanced and only Eximbank (EIB) closed flat. BIDV (BID), Vietcombank (VCB) and Sacombank (STB) were the biggest gainers with each seeing rises of around 2.4 percent.Major large-cap stocks contributing to the market rise also included dairy giant Vinamilk (VNM), petrol retailer Petrolimex (PXL) and PV Gas (GAS).On the negative side, both Hoang Anh Gia Lai Co (HAG) and its agribusiness arm Hoang Anh Gia Lai Agriculture Investment Co (HNG) dropped by the maximum rate of 7 percent allowed on the HCM Stock Exchange, following news that London-based FTSE exchange-traded fund removed HAG shares from its portfolio in the second-quarter review.HAG and HNG are two of the top 30 largest shares by market value and liquidity on the HCM Stock Exchange.Foreign traders sold net two million HAG shares on June 5, putting heavy pressure on the share price. Saigon Securities Inc has estimated FTSE ETF may sell over 10.2 million HAG shares in the future.Late last week, FTSE EFT reported it would remove HAG, insurer Bao Viet Holdings (BVH) and PetroVietnam Power Nhon Trach 2 Co (NT2) from its portfolio in the next quarter while adding shares of real estate Novaland Investment Group (NVL) and Sa-combank (STB).BVH closed unchanged while NT2 increased by over 1 percent.According to analysts at BIDV Securities Co, the VN Index may overcome the short-term resistance level of 750 points if liquidity continues to be steady and large-cap stocks sustain growth.A total of 285.6 million shares worth over 5.8 trillion VND (255.6 million USD) were traded in the two markets.http://en.vietnamplus.vn/bank-stocks-sustain-market-growth/112838.vnp

Liquidity on HNX increases 17.8pct in May


In May 2017, HNX-Index reached 93.91 points at the closing time of May 31, up 4.8 per-cent compared to the end of last month, Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX) reported.Notably, the market liquidity increased 17.8 percent over the previous month, with the total transaction volume of 1.336 million shares and the corresponding value of 14.312 trillion dong.On average, the transaction volume reached 63.66 million shares/session and the trans-action value was 681.56 billion dong/session, up 10.6 percent and 6.6 percent respec-tively over the previous month. Foreigners were net buyers in May 2017.Also in the month, while the listed stock market did not have newly listed shares, UP-CoM had 18 newly registered shares, bringing the total number of companies regis-tered to transact in this market to 542 units with a total transaction value of 185.215 trillion dong.The UPCoM-Index reached 58 points at the closing time of the trading session on May 31, up 0.6 percent from the previous month. The market capitalisation of UPCoM stood at 415.540 trillion dong.


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The entire market had 242.89 million transferred shares, equal to the transaction value of over 4.531 trillion dong. On average, the transaction volume touched 11.56 million shares/session and the transaction value hit 215.78 trillion dong/session, up 7.5 percent and 9.4 percent respectively over the previous month.

Foreign investors flock to Vietnamese stock market


Along with strong trading, the number of foreign investors participating in the Viet-namese stock market has been steadily increasing with a record number of over 230 transaction codes licensed in May.Specifically, according to the Vietnam Securities Depository (VSD)'s announcement, transaction codes have been issued to 232 foreign investors including 198 individuals and 34 organisations in May. This was a record figure in seven recent years (since 2011), surpassing the previous record set in March 2017.At the same time, VSD has approved to cancel transaction codes for five institutional investors.As of the end of May 2017, a total of 21,230 transaction codes were issued to foreign investors, including 17,912 codes to individuals and 3,318 codes to organisations.In May, foreigners net sold 6.63 million shares, compared to 28 million shares net pur-chased in the previous month. However, the total value was still the net buying of 1.487 trillion dong, down 37 percent compared to the previous record (nearly 2.365 tril-lion dong).

Hoa Phat to issue over 250 million shares


Steelmaker Hoa Phat Group (HPG) plans to issue over 250 million shares to raise cap-ital for investment in the second phase of Hoa Phat Dung Quat iron and steel produc-tion complex.HPG will sell those shares at a price of VND20,000 (US$0.8) per share, expecting to earn more than VND5 trillion through the issue.A part of the mobilised capital will be aimed at raising the company's working capital.The subscription period is projected to fall from June 27 to July 17 or will be notified by the Vietnam Securities Depository (VSD) after Hoa Phat completes the list of share-holders purchasing the shares.Hoa Phat Dung Quat iron and steel production complex has an annual capacity of four million tonnes of steel, of which two million tonnes are long steel and two million tonnes are hot rolled coils. The project is divided into two phases with fixed capital re-quirement of VND40 trillion.The first phase was commenced in February, and the second phase is expected to start in August.Hoa Phat Group Joint Stock Company is engaged in manufacturing and trading four main product groups, namely steel, other industrial products, real estate and agricul-ture. The company's scale of operation is spread throughout the country but mainly in the North.Steel has been one of the core products of HPG, since its inception. The company is one of Vietnam's leading steel producers, with an annual capacity of two million tonnes per year.http://bizhub.vn/markets/hoa-phat-to-issue-over-250 million-shares_286652.html

Unsold real estate value drops 10pct from late 2016


Unsold properties nationwide were valued at about 27.89 trillion VND (1.23 billion USD) as of late May, down 10 percent from the end of 2016.The figure declined 474 billion VND (20.87 million USD) from April, according to the Ministry of Construction's department of housing and property market management.Unsold land for housing accounted for more than 3.37 million square metres worth 13.2 trillion VND (581.33 million USD), the biggest proportion of total unsold property value.It was followed by low-rise housing (3,492 units worth 7.38 trillion VND or 325 million


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USD), condominium apartments (3,325 units worth 4.83 trillion VND or 212.7 million USD), and land for commercial purposes (648,140 square metres worth 2.48 trillion VND or 109.2 million USD).Although unsold properties continued to decrease, the rate of decrease slowed down. Most of the unsold land is part of uptown projects lacking infrastructure, the manage-ment department said.The value of unsold real estate in Hanoi was still higher than in HCM City in May. It was estimated at 5.45 trillion VND (240 million USD) in Hanoi and 5.18 trillion VND (228.13 million USD) in HCM City, down 23 billion VND (1 million USD) and 100 bil-lion VND (4.4 million USD) from April, respectively.http://en.vietnamplus.vn/unsold-real-estate-value-drops-10-percent-from-late-2016/112793.vnp

Real estate sales up slightly in May


Real estate sales in May rose slightly month-on-month and compared to the first quar-ter this year, according to the Ministry of Construction's Management Agency for Housing and Real Estate Market.Successful transactions were mostly in mid and hi-end segments while affordable ones were not sold well due to limited supply.During the month, the capital city of Hanoi recorded nearly 1,200 successful deals, up around 14 percent against last month, raising the five-month volume to about 5,400.In southern metropolis HCM City, nearly 1,300 deals were reached, marking a 12 per-cent increase. In January-May, up to 5,870 transactions were successful.Brokers said successful deals are mostly those lying near the downtown. Buyers also take into account transport convenience, facilities, apartment design, payment progress and value appreciation over time.In Hanoi, major sales were predominant in the southwest, such as The Golden Palm in Thanh Xuan, Gelexia Riverside in Hoang Mai and Gemek Premium in Ha Dong with synchronous infrastructure.Hi-end projects in HCM City also sold well such as Vinhomes Golden River Ba Son in district 1 and Ha Do Centrosa Garden in district 10.Low-rise housing in Lucasta Khang Dien in district 2 and Thu Thiem Garden in district 9 saw considerable sales.Tourism and resort properties in coastal localities such as Da Nang city, Nha Trang city in central Khanh Hoa province and Phu Quoc in southern Kien Giang province be-come attractive to investors at home and abroad.http://en.vietnamplus.vn/real-estate-sales-up-slightly-in-may/112815.vnp

Property inventory stands at nearly 28tr dong

06/JUN/2017 INTELLASIA| NDH

There remained nearly 28 trillion dong real estate inventory. Of which, the highest in-ventory value focused in ground land segment with 13.203 trillion dong equal to 3,375,871 m2.Next came low-storey houses with 3,492 units, equivalent to 7.379 trillion dong; 3,325 condo apartments with the value of 4.832 trillion dong; commercial land with 648,139 m2, equal to 2.480 trillion dong.Compared with the end of 2015, the total value of real estate inventory fell by 22.995 trillion dong (over 45 percent). Compared with 2016, the inventory value decreased 3.129 trillion dong (about 10.09 percent). Although the value of real estate inventory continued to fall, the pace has slowed down. The inventory was mainly ground land in projects far from the centre with in-sufficient infrastructure.Comparing between the two major cities, the total real estate inventory in Hanoi was still higher than HCM City. The inventory value in Hanoi was about 5.451 trillion dong, down only 23 billion dong from the previous month. Similarly, in HCM City, the amount of inventory was about 5.183 trillion dong, down 100 billion dong compared to April 2017.


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Real estate transactions in Hanoi increase 14pct in May

06/JUN/2017 INTELLASIA| NDH

As per the reports of some investors, real estate trading floors in Hanoi, in May 2017, there were about 1,200 successful transactions, up about 14 percent from the previous month.Since the beginning of this year, Hanoi has had about 5,400 successful transactions. The successful transactions were mainly apartments located near the central area, with convenient transport, variety of utilities; flexible apartment design, reasonable pay-ment schedule, and price increase potential in the future.Notably, the projects opened for sale and recorded a large number of transactions still focused mainly in the southwest districts of the city such as Thanh Xuan, Ha Dong, Hoang Mai with complete and consistent infrastructure.Some projects had large number of transactions such as The Golden Palm in Thanh Xuan district, Gelexia Riverside in Hoang Mai district, Gemek Premium project in Ha Dong district.In terms of price, in May 2017 and the beginning months of 2017, the housing price in Hanoi did not have much fluctuations. The housing price in the central business dis-tricts (CBD) in some high-end and medium apartment projects having favourable po-sitions, consistent infrastructure, good construction progress, prestigious investors, attractive sales and promotion policies saw the selling price to increase slightly by about 3-5 percent, even 10 percent compared to 2016.

Government backs investment in industrial, craft village clusters


The government has issued a decree containing preferential policies to support pro-duction, trading and infrastructure development in industrial clusters and craft villag-es.Decree No 68/2017/ND-CP calls for providing investment projects preferential credit of up to 70 per cent of cost.Projects in industrial clusters are exempted from land rents for seven years, which goes up to 11 years for technical infrastructure projects.In craft village clusters, projects are exempt for 11 years and 15 years.Local budgets will support the relocation of enterprises, cooperatives, households and individual-owned businesses from craft villages to craft village clusters.The central and local budgets will prioritise support for technical infrastructure in craft village clusters.The decree takes effect on July 15 this year.http://www.vir.com.vn/govt-backs-investment-in-industrial-craft-village-clus-ters.html

Passenger vehicles seeing rapid growth

06/JUN/2017 INTELLASIA | VNECONOMIC TIMES

Recent Solidiance report puts growth in sales of passenger vehicles in Vietnam at high-est in Asean.Vietnam's passenger vehicle market has witnessed rapid growth compared to its Asean peers in recent years, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of ~38 per cent during 2012-2016, while sales are expected to reach ~225,000 units by 2020, according to Solidiance's latest white paper, "Driving Vietnam: Is Vietnam's Passenger Vehicle Market Shifting Gears?", which explores the growth drivers and challenges of the market and also highlights key issues that will shape the future of Vietnam's pas-senger vehicle industry.The country's increasing population and rising middle class with disposable income have fueled demand for passenger vehicles as consumers begin to move away from a traditional reliance on two-wheeled transportation.The surging demand for passenger vehicles has been driven by a number of factors, including macroeconomic growth, sociocultural trends, and an increasingly liberal-ised trade environment, with tariffs falling from 50 per cent in 2015 to 0 per cent by 2018 on passenger vehicle imports among Asean member countries.Driven by strong economic growth of ~6.2 per cent in 2016, Vietnam has one of the re-


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gion's fastest-growing middle-income groups, which is now shifting towards four-wheelers.Furthermore, passenger vehicles also serve as an important status symbol, evident in the strength of luxury brands. The market for luxury passenger vehicles such as Mer-cedes in Vietnam is one of the world's fastest growing.But despite these opportunities, Vietnam's passenger vehicle market faces certain bar-riers, including high taxes and fees levied to protect the local passenger auto industry as well as to reduce pollution and congestion; new regulations that will only favour small engine capacity passenger vehicles; and local manufacturing being limited by a shallow supply base, resulting in an increased reliance on imports.Solidiance is a leading Asia Pacific-focused management consultancy trusted by For-tune 500 and Asian Conglomerates. They advise CEOs on make-or-break deals, on de-fining new business models, and on accelerating Asia growth.http://vneconomictimes.com/article/vietnam-today/passenger-vehicles-seeing-rapid-growth

Hau Giang to build 1.5 trillion VND logistics centre


The Mekong Delta province of Hau Giang plans to build a logistics centre at a cost of over 1.5 trillion VND (66.03 million USD), aiming to reduce logistics cost in the region and improve competitiveness of regional products in both domestic and foreign mar-kets.The centre will cover 80 hectares in Song Hau Industrial Zone in Chau Thanh district. It comprises a wharf area, goods storage and warehouse, along with a control building, support areas and roads.In the 2017-2020 period, the project will build quay, warehouse and office serving lo-gistics activities on a 30-ha area.According to Ho Thi Thu Hoa from the HCM City University of Transport, the centre has a favourable location near many industrial parks and road system connecting to the Mekong Delta key economic region and neighbouring countries.Once operational, the centre will play a core role in goods distribution and transporta-tion, boosting the socio-economic development of the whole region.By 2025, it is expected to create jobs for 1,000 people.http://en.vietnamplus.vn/hau-giang-to-build-15 trillion-vnd-logistics-centre/112832.vnp

Lotte opens duty-free store in Vietnam


Lotte Duty Free, a subsidiary of South Korea's Lotte Group, has partially opened its first duty-free store in the central coast city of Danang, which will operate in full steam in August, according to Yonhap News.Yonhap cited a statement of Lotte Duty Free as saying that Lotte has joined forces with a Vietnamese company to establish Phu Khanh Duty Free Trading Co Ltd on a 60-40 footing to operate the duty-free business.Lotte decided to open the Phu Khanh Company at Danang International Airport be-cause Danang is considered a popular destination for Korean tourists to Vietnam.Lotte Vietnam Shopping Co Ltd, another subsidiary of Lotte Group, has confirmed the opening of a duty-free store in Vietnam. However, the number of duty-free stores to be opened in Vietnam has not been revealed.Lotte, the third largest duty-free company in the world after Dufry of Switzerland and DFS of the US, is the first Korean firm to tap the Vietnamese duty-free retail market.Lotte Vietnam has opened 13 supermarkets and commercial centers across the coun-try. Lotte Department Store, another subsidiary of Lotte Group, has two large commer-cial centers in Vietnam: Diamond Department Store in HCM City and Lotte Hanoi centre in Hanoi.http://english.thesaigontimes.vn/54319/Lotte-opens-duty-free-store-in-Vietnam.html


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Resort investors in Ke Ga get compensation


Resort investors in Ke Ga area in Binh Thuan Province have received compensation from the Vietnam National Coal and Mineral Industries Group (Vinacomin) for losses as their projects were halted a decade ago due to the group's Ke Ga port project.In 2007, Binh Thuan Province's government required 12 resort investors in Ke Ga in Ham Thuan Nam District to stop their construction to make room for the Ke Ga port, prompting those resort investors to lodge complaints to Binh Thuan authorities saying they suffered losses of hundreds of billions of dong. Vinacomin suspended the port project in 2013.Speaking to the Daily, the owner of Thanh Dat resort said the resort has received a compensation amount of VND3.9 billion (US$171,000), way below VND26 billion he demanded.Some other resort investors informed that they have just got compensation only for lost revenues and labour costs in 10 years since their projects were suspended.A representative of the Department of Finance of Binh Thuan Province told the Daily that the total compensation of VND65 billion (about $2.86 million) from Vinacomin has been delivered to eight resort investors whose projects are affected by the Ke Ga port project.http://english.thesaigontimes.vn/54320/-Resort-investors-in-Ke-Ga-get-compensa-tion.html

Vietnamese ginseng recognised as National Brand


Ngoc Linh ginseng, grown both in Nam Tra My district in Quang Nam Province and the central highlands Kon Tum, has named a National Brand.Chair of Nam Tra My district, Ho Quang Buu confirmed to Vietnam News yesterday, saying that the recognition will promote ginseng root products in Quang Nam and Kon Tum.Buu said Ngoc Linh ginseng are often grown 1,400m above sea level, in forests in Nam Tra My district in Quang Nam and Tu Mo Rong district in Kon Tum province.He said the national brand will lure more investors and producers to the district in farming, infrastructure, tourism and ginseng trade.Last year, the ministry of science and technology and the Intellectual Property Agency of Vietnam recognised the Geographical Indication (GI) of 'Ngoc Linh' (Panax vietna-mensis, or Vietnamese ginseng) for ginseng root products in the two provinces.Ginseng was first found in the late 1960s on Ngoc Linh Mountain in the middle of Quang Nam and Kon Tum Provinces.However, the ginseng has yet to see much investment for mass global export produc-tion due to a lack of funds and poor infrastructure by the two provinces.In February, Nam Tra My district introduced the first Medical Herbs Centre to grow Ngoc Linh ginseng seeds and herb seedlings for farming.The project is planned on 15,000ha in seven mountainous communes in the district for 2030.Ginseng has been planted on 70ha by local farmers in the district.Last year, seven investors agreed to invest $221 million to farm ginseng and process plants of essential oils, cosmetics, tonic drinks and capsules from ginseng in the dis-trict.According to the district, more than 42,000ha of primary forests have been well pre-served in development of the ginseng and native herbs.In 2015, Nam Tra My District and Hamyang County in South Korea signed a Memo-randum of Understanding (MoU) on tourism, agriculture, conservation and the devel-opment of Ngoc Linh ginseng.Quang Nam Province has listed the Ngoc Linh ginseng as one of eight precious and endangered flora genes including Ba Kich (poor man's ginseng, pepper, cinnamon, large-size rattan and white corn in the provincial conservation programme in 2014-20.http://bizhub.vn/news/vietnamese-ginseng-recognised-as-national-brand_286661.html


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Finance ministry makes Suntory Pepsi tax ruling


The branch of Suntory Pepsico Vietnam Beverage Company in Can Tho City is subject to taxes as an expansion but not as a new investment, the Ministry of Finance has an-nounced.The decision was published in a recent document sent to the alliance between PepsiCo Inc. and Suntory Holdings Limited to respond to the company's proposal for tax incen-tives as a new investment.The ministry said that the branch of Suntory Pepsico in Can Tho City must be taxed as an expansion following the Law on Corporate Income Tax.In 2008, HCM City based Suntory Pepsico Vietnam invested in a new a plant in Can Tho City's Tra Noc Industrial Zone, which was granted an investment certificate. Un-der the certificate, the plant in Can Tho would enjoy tax incentives as a new invest-ment, including a corporate income tax rate at 15 percent for 12 years of operation, exemption from the corporate income tax for three years and 50 percent discount in payable for the seven following years.However, after an inspection in 2012, the general Department of Taxation said that the plant in Can Tho was the subject to tax as an expansion investment. Accordingly, the plant must pay an additional 18 billion VND (789,500 USD) in corporate income tax for 2012 and 2013 and a fine of 3.5 billion VND for late payment.In April, the company sent a document to propose taxation as a new investment, as per the investment certificate.http://en.vietnamplus.vn/finance-ministry-makes-suntory-pepsi-tax-ruling/112797.vnp

MUL funds Vietjet's aircraft purchases


Mitsubishi UFJ Lease & Finance Company Limited (MUL) will finance Vietjet's acqui-sition of three brand new A321 aircraft, worth $348 million.The loan followed an agreement inked between the two sides in Tokyo on Monday in the presence of prime minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and high-ranking dignitaries from Vietnam and Japan.The three aircraft are part of the A320 family aircraft contract signed between Vietjet and European aircraft manufacturer Airbus.Vietjet will receive the aircraft this year to meet expansion plans for the airline's flight network. The airline has so far taken delivery of more than 20 brand new A321s and A320s.Under the agreement, Vietjet and MUL a member of Japan's leading finance group Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group will also work together to share best practices for the operation of airlines.On the same day, Vietjet announced a three-day promotion, with 800,000 promotional tickets priced from zero dollars available from Tuesday.The discounted airfares will be applied for all international routes from Vietnam to Seoul and Busan (South Korea), Hong Kong, Kaohsiung, Taipei, Taichung and Tainan (Taiwan), Singapore, Bangkok (Thailand), Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), Yangon (Myan-mar) and Siem Reap (Cambodia) with travel time from August 1 to December 31.Customers successfully booking tickets at www.vietjetair.com with instant payment from now to June 15 will also join the lucky draw for the gifts of mobile phone top-up cards and air ticket promotion codes at summerwin.vietjetair.com.http://bizhub.vn/corporate-news/mul-funds-vietjets-aircraft-purchases_286659.html

French Decathlon starts Vietnamese retail chain


French retailer Decathlon just announced that it is waiting for the approval from the HCM City People's Committee to set up a 5,000-square metre supermarket at Rach Chiec National Sport Complex in District 2.This first Decathlon supermarket is only the start for a series of 50 supermarkets na-tionwide in Vietnam, according to Decathlon's general director Lionel Adenot.At a meeting with Nguyen Thi Thu, deputy Chair of the HCM City People's Commit-


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tee, Adenot said that Decathlon's long-term strategy in Vietnam was to expand its cur-rent activities from manufacturing and distribution to developing a chain of supermarkets.Decathlon is a group which specialises in the manufacturing and distribution of sports equipment. The firm has been present in Vietnam since 1995, and the country is now the second-largest manufacturing base for the corporation, with more than 200 million products every year, creating jobs for 75,000 labourers and 300 white-collar staff.According to Adenot, the incoming supermarket will combine a space for retail with a free "playground" for customers' sporting activities.The Vietnamese retail market has seen increasing interest from foreign investors re-cently. Before Decathlon, Sweden's Hennes &Mauritz (H&M) also announced that it will open its first outlet in Hanoi in 2017. Meanwhile, Zara from Spain opened its first outlet last year, joining its competitors US-based Gap and compatriot Mango.Japanese investors have also joined the Vietnamese retail market, with famous brand name Aeon that opened a chain of supermarkets in Hanoi and HCM City.Takashimaya, another giant, opened its first shopping centre in HCM City last year. According to Tatsuo Yano, managing director of Takashimaya Singapore, the HCM City unit was the third overseas department store for the Group."This development has come about through years of cultivated retail experience be-tween Japan and Singapore. We aim to create a store that will become a sought-after shopping destination for customers in HCM City," Yano said."The retail store expansion in global markets, mainly the Southeast Asian countries, is an integral part of our development strategy," he added.Meanwhile, Korea's Lotte Group is planning to increase its number of 13 supermarkets in Vietnam to 60 by 2020.According to the latest report issued by The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) earlier this year, a large number of foreign investors are showing interest in the Vietnamese retail market.EIU forecast that foreign companies will continue expanding their business activities in the coming years. The country's retail sector receives increasing attention as it post-ed a strong growth of 13 per cent per year in 2012-2016, according to EIU.The report also forecasts local consumer spending to rise sharply in the next five years, as Vietnam has a population of around 94 million people, one-third of whom are aged under 35 years.According to EIU, per capita spending an important figure for retail growth will rise from $1,450 last year to $1,840 in 2021.http://english.vov.vn/economy/french-decathlon-starts-vietnamese-retail-chain-350954.vov

Can Tho-Bangkok chartered flights resumed


Can Tho-Bangkok chartered flights will be resumed on June 27 to meet the travel de-mand in the summer holiday, according to World Transportation Services JSC (WorldTrans).At a press conference in Can Tho City last week, a WorldTrans representative said that Thai Vietjet Air will use Airbus 320 aircraft configured with 180 seats to operate flights on a four-day interval from June 27 to July 29 with a flying time of 90 minutes.Flights depart from Can Tho at 09:05 and arrive in Bangkok at 10:35. Tourists can get return flights taking off in Bangkok at 07:05 and arriving in Can Tho at 08:35 after four days.Air tickets are available for booking at the website www.worldtrans.vn and ticket of-fices of travel companies in Can Tho and other provinces in the Mekong Delta. Return tickets including taxes and fees cost VND4.5 million (US$197.95) for a tourist in groups and VND4.8 million for individual tourists.According to data of WorldTrans, more than 900,000 Vietnamese visited Thailand in 2016. The number is expected to reach over one million this year excluding tourists go-ing to Thailand for work, study and cultural and economic exchange. Data show 10


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percent of tourists are from the Mekong Delta who will depart from Can Tho Interna-tional Airport to save four hours required when they go to Thailand via Tan Son Nhat International Airport in HCM City.WorldTrans general director Tran Truong Huy told the Daily that the company launches chartered flights in the peak season only. The Can Tho-Bangkok route, launched in July 2015 by WorldTrans and Vietravel, was suspended after two months of operation.WorldTrans continues offering chartered flights this summer and expects to launch chartered flights to Taiwan, South Korea and Japan.According to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, 13 provinces in the Mekong Delta welcomed more than 7.6 million visitors in 2016, up 15 percent against 2015 including 900,000 international tourists, an increase of 27 percent. The region's tourism revenue was VND9.7 trillion (US$0.43 billion), 12.4 percent higher than in 2015.http://english.thesaigontimes.vn/54324/-Can-Tho-Bangkok-chartered-flights-re-sumed.html

Thai budget carrier launches daily Da Nang-Bangkok route


Thai budget carrier AirAsia has launched a new route between the central city of Da Nang and Bangkok, Thailand seven days a week, starting from June 9th.The city's tourism promotion centre said it's the third airline operating the Bangkok-Da Nang route after Bangkok Airways and Vietnam Airlines.Daily flights will depart from Da Nang at 12pm and arrive in Bangkok at 1.20pm, while the flights from Bangkok will depart at 10.10am and arrive in Da Nang at 11.30am.AirAsia began offering a Kuala Lumpur-Da Nang route, with four weekly direct flights, in 2014.According to the centre, the new route would offer more chances for tourists travelling between Vietnam's central region and Bangkok.Last year, Bangkok Airways operated four flights per week with 144 Economy class seats on an Airbus 319.In 2014, local travel firm Viettravel also offered direct charter flights between the city and Bangkok on Thai Vietjet.According to the city, import-export turnover between Thailand and Da Nang reached $30.2 million, of which $28.5 million were exports from Thailand.Thailand has only had one investment project in the city so far with total value of $10,000.The city hosted a mere 24,000 tourists from Thailand 1.4 per cent of total foreign tour-ists visiting the city in 2016.Da Nang has hosted the annual East-West Corridor Trade Fair since 2007, which at-tracted businesses from Thailand, Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam.The city, which is situated at the end of the East-West Economic Corridor linking My-anmar, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam, is connected by 25 international routes with over 5.6 million tourists in 2016.http://bizhub.vn/news/thai-budget-carrier-launches-daily-da-nang-bangkok-route_286662.html

7-Eleven to open in HCM City in June, first in Vietnam

06/JUN/2017 INTELLASIA | VOV

7- Eleven, Inc, the globe's largest convenience retailer with some 56,400 stores world-wide, has announced its first store in Vietnam will open this June in HCM City.The entry of 7- Eleven into the country aims to enhance the convenience-shopping ex-perience for Vietnamese customers and contribute to modernising small retailers in the globe's 13th most populous country, say company representatives.The store is being opened pursuant to a signed master franchise agreement between the Dallas, Texas based retailer and Seven System Vietnam Co Ltd to develop and op-erate 7- Eleven(R) stores in Vietnam.


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The new master franchisee plans to construct 7- Eleven stores, convert existing loca-tions to the 7- Eleven brand supported by enhanced infrastructure, and eventually franchise operations to local businesspeople.Internationally popular products like Slurpee(R) frozen carbonated beverages and Big Gulp(R) soft drinks, as well as immediately consumable fresh foods, with recipes de-veloped for regional tastes, will be part of the convenience offerings.7- Eleven and its parent company, Seven-Eleven Japan, will provide start-up support for its newest master franchisee by assisting Seven System Vietnam in implementing a successful strategy of market concentration, team merchandising and item-by-item management.Vietnam will be the 18th country or region where 7- Eleven stores operate.About 7- Eleven, Inc.7- Eleven, Inc. is the premier name and largest chain in the convenience retailing in-dustry. Based in Dallas, Texas, 7- Eleven operates, franchises or licenses nearly 10,500 7- Eleven(R) stores in North America. Globally, there are more than 56,400 7- Eleven stores in 16 countries.http://english.vov.vn/market/7eleven-to-open-in-hcm-city-in-june-first-in-vietnam-350988.vov

TH Group cement cooperation with Japanese partner


TH Group, a large Vietnamese fresh milk producer well known for its TH true MILK brand, has expanded its business and investment cooperation with Japanese partner in the medical and health care sector.On June 5, 2017, the group's TH International Medical Development Joint Stock Com-pany inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Japan's International Total Engineering Corporation (ITEC) to develop a 40-hectare high-tech health care complex in Hanoi. The signing was conducted on the occasion of prime minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc's June 4-8 official visit to Japan.ITEC, the first health service management consultancy firm in Japan, was established in 1981 to meet the drastic changes taking place in the Japanese healthcare field.Under the MoU, ITEC will cooperate with TH Group in supplying management, op-eration, and human resources training services for the Hanoi complex. All doctors and nurses of the complex will receive ITEC training.The 50-year project, expected to be the most modern healthcare facility in Vietnam, will include four main areas.The first area embraces an e-hospital/centre, which will be specialised in early diagno-sis through electronic chips, which will help monitor the expansion of diseases four months in advance.This hospital also offers electronic medical records, allowing doctors quick access to patients' information to choose the most suitable treatment methods. This will help pa-tients save time and costs significantly.The second area will be a five-star hospital equipped with the world's most modern treatment technology. Notably, this hospital will house a centre specialised in the early diagnosis and treatment of cancer. Within several hours, the centre can successfully test for 11 types of cancer. This area's first stage is expected to have about 300 beds, which will be raised to 1,000 beds in the second stage.The third area will encompass a sanatorium and a rehabilitation centre using Western and Vietnamese treatment methods. The facility will be surrounded by green trees and offer complete comfort for recuperating patients.In addition, the complex will also be home to a special centre specialised in medical consultancy as well as research and development.Thai Huong, chairwoman of TH Group, said that the project is "aimed to build an ex-emplary, international-standard health care model, with the best services made avail-able for patients.""We want to cooperate with Japanese partners in the sectors of high-tech agriculture, processing technology, and health care," she said.


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ITEC president Johtaro Seki also stated that, "I believe 'trust' is the most important el-ement of our business, because trust can only be gained through satisfactory results of professional consulting services. We will continue to make every effort to provide the very best services to clients in the corporate spirit of self-discipline, reinvention, and creativity."Nguyen Duc Chung, Chair of the Hanoi People's Committee, recently granted TH Group a land title-deed for the project. Construction is expected to last for three years and to start within 2017.Since 2009, TH Group has also been operating a $1.2 billion, 37,000-ha high-tech con-centrated dairy and fresh milk production project in the central province of Nghe An's Nghia Dan district.Besides, while constructing a similar $2.7 billion project in Russia, TH Group is also considering the construction of another similar, major project in the Republic of Bashkortostan, a federal subject of Russia."We will also continue providing investment consultancy for many other projects in-volving safe vegetables, fruits, fish and meat, medical herbs, and forest plantation. They will not only benefit investors, but also the society," Thai Huong said.http://www.vir.com.vn/th-group-cement-cooperation-with-japanese-partner.html

MobiFone gets the edge by teaming up with global technology giants


MobiFone's newfound cooperation with international technology companies is en-hancing its influence in the Vietnamese market and may also benefit the company's upcoming initial public offering (IPO).Cooperation with technology giants in the worldOf all the network providers in Vietnam, MobiFone pioneered cooperating with large-scale international technology companies, with the aim of inducing new products and services for Vietnamese customers.Recently, MobiFone has teamed up with Google to introduce a new payment service in Google Play on MobiFone accounts. Accordingly, MobiFone subscribers will be able to easily purchase applications, games, and other content in Google Play without using credit cards. The cost of these purchases will be directly deducted from the customers' mobile phone accounts.In May 2017, MobiFone entered into a cooperation with a number of individuals and organisations to invite Dr Timothy Chou, an Internet of Things (IoT) expert to talk to a Vietnamese audience about IoT commercial solutions, future business chances, help companies make business development plans and discover chances for global connec-tion, as well as set up plans on investment and production of IoT products based on each company's specific strengths.Besides Apple, MobiFone also cooperates with Facebook and Google. On May 25, 2017, MobiFone teamed up with Facebook to introduce the service of Free Basics and Facebook Flex, so that MobiFone subscribers can use Facebook without consuming their data plans.Enhancing customer experienceMobiFone's cooperation with Facebook is like a present for subscribers, while the rela-tionship with Google is more meaningful and realistic. With the Google partnership, payments are easier for MobiFone subscribers and increase liquidity for game and app producers.Nguyen Thanh Binh, general director of TBT Technology Company, said that this co-operation is a big step forward. Previously, Vietnamese customers who wanted to download applications or games in Google Play Store had to have a VISA credit card or MasterCard. This was a big barrier between suppliers and users, as not everyone has one of these cards. MobiFone account holders' ease in downloading applications and games thereby increases the liquidity for start-ups in Vietnam."A good thing of purchasing applications and games in Google Play through a Mobi-Fone account is that it increases safety in the Internet environment, because customers do not have to provide a wide range of personal and banking information when mak-


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ing transactions," Tran Cao Hung, a MobiFone subscriber said.By teaming up with Google, MobiFone not only allows customers more access to Google Play, an abundant source of applications, it also promotes start-ups to create new applications, which will raise their revenue. All of these will contribute to creating a transparent and modern technology environment.In addition, this movement can be considered one of MobiFone's wiser strategies be-cause teaming up with famous brands in the world may give them a competitive edge. This is an advantage for MobiFone's customers, and it will help raise the company's brand value, especially after its nearing IPO.http://www.vir.com.vn/mobifone-gets-the-edge-by-teaming-up-with-global-technol-ogy-giants.html

Uber, Grab conquer airport taxi market


Uber and Grab have begun providing taxi services at airports, the market that tradi-tional taxi firms typically have dominated.Uber launched a service package at the flat price of VND150,000 to carry passengers from any location in the inner city of Hanoi. In HCM City, Grab sometimes has a pro-motional fee of VND20,000 for trips to the airport."You will have to pay VND130,000 for every trip to the airport with traditional taxi service, while it'll take you VND70,000 to go with Grab, and sometimes the fee is just VND20,000 when Grab runs sale promotion campaign," Tin, a passenger said.Uber, Grab cars flood airportsQuang Huy in Cau Giay district, Hanoi said the service fee of VND150,000 set by Uber is 'very reasonable' which is much lower than the fee of VND200,000-250,000 he has to pay to traditional taxis."I wonder if Uber gives any support to taxi drivers, so they can charge so little. How-ever, as a customer, I really like this. And Uber's services are acceptable," he said.However, some passengers complained that it is difficult to catch Uber taxis. Uber drivers tend to refuse to serve passengers, saying that the VND150,000 service fee set by Uber is too low, which cannot bring profit to them.Uber drivers confirmed that they won't serve passengers at the service fees set by Uber.Hieu, a driver, said with the fee, drivers pocket VND40,000-50,000 for every trip to the airport after paying for fuel and other expenses. He would rather serve passengers within the city to get more profit.Reporters also tried to hail Uber taxis and all drivers refused to serve when asked to go to Noi Bai Airport.Airport taxi firms complain about incomeTraditional taxi drivers complained that their income has become unstable, though it is now the high season: children are finishing their academic year and people are be-ginning to travel.Quang Truong from Bac Ninh province, an airport taxi driver, said the appearance of Uber and Grab has badly affected his job. He could serve 10 trips a day on the Hanoi Noi Bai route, but the number has been cut by half.However, Truong doesn't think Uber and Grab drivers have better income."More taxis in the market means higher competition and lower income," he said.http://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/business/179580/uber--grab-conquer-airport-taxi-market.html

Vissan unveils pork promotion to boost consumption


Vissan Co. Ltd will cut VietGap pork prices by 30-42 per cent under a promotion from June 6 to 10 to stimulate consumption to support farmers.It will roll out the promotion at all its fresh meat sales points like Vissan shops, Saigon Co.op's retail system, Vinmart supermarkets, Vinmart+, Satrafoods, Aeon Citimart, Giant Hypermarket, Auchan, Cocomart, Queenland mart, HQC Mart, and others.It is part of a programme called "Support Farmers Price Subsidy to Consumers"


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launched by the Central Committee of the Vietnam Youth Federation to help pig farm-ers sell their stocks.Since there is an oversupply of pork in the country, the company has already stopped imports and instead buys and slaughters an extra 500-600 pigs a day, raising the total number of pigs slaughtered at its facilities daily to 1,600-1,800.It has also cut the prices of pork and processed foods.http://bizhub.vn/corporate-news/vissan-unveils-pork-promotion-to-boost-consumption_286660.html

Sun Group adds new masterpiece to Phu Quoc Island


On June 10, 2017 at Melia Hotel (44 Ly Thuong Kiet Street, Hoan Kiem district, Hanoi) and June 11, 2017 at InterContinental Asiana Saigon Hotel (82, Hai Ba Trung Street, Ben Nghe commune, District 1, HCM City), Sun Group will officially launch Sun Pre-mier Village Kem Beach Resort.Only on the days of the events, customers will receive a 5 per cent discount on their purchases as well as enjoy attractive financial incentives.Specifically, customers will have access to a 0 per cent interest loan on 70 per cent of the value of a purchased villa with a grace period of up to 24 months.The minimum committed interest rate from the timeshare programme is up to 9 per cent per year for 15 years. Customers will also enjoy 225 nights of vacations in Sun Group's resort system, including InterContinental Danang Sun Peninsula Resort, JW Marriott Phu Quoc Emerald Bay, and many other leading holiday resorts in the coun-try.Sun Premier Village Kem Beach Resort is part of the Kem Beach resort complex. Kem Beach is the most beautiful location of South Phu Quoc Island, with azure sea water, a long sandy beach (just like cream), and gently sloping hills.Stretching on 59.6 hectares, building structures only accounts for 17-21 per cent of the area the golden proportion for an international standard resort. The landscape design company, Aedas Landscape Ltd from Hong Kong, took full advantage of the beauty of Kem Beach.The resort was designed as an exclusive village separated from the rest of the island by water canals surrounding the resort. This is a breakthrough in landscape designing, a perfect combination between international standard resort design and the natural beauty of the island.The resort uses as much local materials as possible. The villas have one or two stories and are kitted out with a dome, a yard, a private swimming pool, creating an elegant resort atmosphere."Sun Premier Village Kem Beach Resort is unlike any resort currently in Vietnam. Two-story villas with their own yard landscape and private swimming pools fit as-toundingly well with the surrounding environment, giving off a vibe of individual re-sort islands lying in a tight-knit yet separated cluster they are all resorts within a larger resort," said a representative of Dark Horse Architecture, the design company behind the project.Another unique highlight of Sun Premier Village Kem Beach Resort is that each small-er resort village within the bigger village has their own facilities, including restaurants, bars, pool clubs, and gym.Sun Group is working on turning the south of the island into a resort paradise. It de-veloped resort masterpieces that put Kem Beach on the international map of super lux-ury tourism. At the end of 2016, the 5-star ++ JW Marriott Phu Quoc Emerald Bay was launched. Nearby, Premier Village Phu Quoc Resort and Premier Residences Phu Quoc Emerald Bay are getting close to completion.The trans-sea cable system linking An Thoi town with Hon Thom, which carries an in-vestment capital amount of VND4.9 trillion ($215.9 million) in its first phase only, and Hon Thom sea entertainment complex will start operation soon. Sun Premier Village Kem Beach Resort is another addition to this world class vacation paradise.Not only changing the island lanscape, Sun Group's billion dollar projects will attract


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millions of tourists and create a breakthrough for tourism. Opportunities will only come to investors who seize the initiative in time.http://www.vir.com.vn/sun-group-adds-new-masterpiece-to-phu-quoc-island.html

HCM City agrees to expand capacity of Tan Son Nhat airport


The HCM City People's Committee has notified the Ministry of Construction that it agrees with the ministry's master plan to boost capacity by up to 40 percent at the Tan Son Nhat International Airport.According to the master plan, the Tan Son Nhat Airport would add a runway, a termi-nal (T4) with a capacity of 15 million passengers and an air plane parking and technical maintenance area to welcome 43-45 million passengers each year. About 32.5 million passengers passed through the airport in 2016.The city requested information from the ministry about managing the impact the ex-pansion will have on urban traffic after the airport successfully expanded by 2024.In addition, because the current urban infrastructure won't be able to serve 43-45 mil-lion passengers a year coming through Tan Son Nhat Airport, the city has required the Ministry of Transport to ask the prime minister to give permission to the city to adjust urban traffic around the airport.This move is expected to ensure traffic flow around the airport, while best using the airport and minimising the impacts to current residential areas.The city also suggested the Ministry of Transport consider the Hy Vong canal as the main water drainage for the Tan Son Nhat Airport because the A41 canal that was built is able to handle a limited amount of water.http://en.vietnamplus.vn/hcm-city-agrees-to-expand-capacity-of-tan-son-nhat-air-port/112789.vnp

HCM City launches Green Consumption campaign


HCM City last week launched 2017 Green Consumption campaign to promote envi-ronment-friendly development and discourage enterprises with operations harmful to the environment.More than 1,000 volunteers will take to the street to help HCM City people identify green products between June 4 and 24. Organisers will offer coupons valued at VND30,000 (US$1.32) each to participants to encourage consumers to use green prod-ucts and those of enterprises good at protecting environment.Nguyen Thanh Nhan, general director of Saigon Co.op, said Co.opmart will issue green consumption coupons for invoices of at least VND200,000, cooperate with green enterprises to carry out direct discount programmes and encourage consumers to use eco-friendly bags and participate in environmental protection activities at Co.opmart.Nguyen Van Phuoc, director of the Institute for Environment and Resources under Vi-etnam National University HCM City, there is unfair competition between green and black enterprises. The green enterprises have invested heavily in modern equipment and production technology, while expenses that should have been spent on waste treatment system of black ones are included into their profit and wastes are directly discharged into the environment.http://english.thesaigontimes.vn/54326/HCM City-launches-Green-Consumption-campaign.html

Workshop explores challenges to Vietnam's energy policy


A workshop on perfecting Vietnam's energy policy, towards ensuring national energy se-curity, was held recently by the Association of Vietnamese Scientists and Experts (AVSE) and the Association of Electrical Engineering and Energy (AEEE) in Paris, France. Themed "Challenges of Vietnam's energy policy", the event gathered Vietnamese and French ex-perts working in the energy sector and engineers and postgraduates studying and work-ing in French research institutes and energy firms.The event also aimed to learn from France's experience in developing renewable energy to reduce dependence on energy produced from fossil fuels that cause carbon emissions.


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As part of activities within the research project "Energy Planning for Vietnam's sus-tainable development" (VENPLAN) performed by the AVSE and AEEE from June to December this year, the workshop helped France's organisations understand more about Vietnam's energy sector, towards establishing research cooperation with the country.It also gave recommendations for Vietnam's energy planning.In his speech, Vietnamese Ambassador to France Nguyen Ngoc Son applauded the workshop and implementation of VENPLAN, saying that they help tap Vietnam's in-tellectual resources in France, contributing to Vietnam's energy development.Le Tuan Phong, vice Chair of the Vietnam Clean Energy Association briefed partici-pants on Vietnam's national energy development strategy.The Vietnamese government wants to develop all energy sources from thermoelectric-ity, hydroelectricity, wind and solar energy, while strictly managing resources to en-sure energy development and environmental protection.Vietnamese experts stressed the need to invest more in renewable energy.Meanwhile, French experts introduced low emission technologies and roadmaps to cut emissions.Participants agreed Vietnam faces difficulties such as a shortage of capital and nega-tive impacts caused by climate change in energy development.They noted that Vietnam should take advantage of natural resources to develop the energy sector and minimise the impact of the energy industry on the environment, to-wards developing an environmentally friendly energy sector.According to Tran Duy Chau, a key member of the VENPLAN, the project seeks new ideas, while performing thematic studies on urgent issues for Vietnam's energy devel-opment.http://en.vietnamplus.vn/workshop-explores-challenges-to-vietnams-energy-policy/112790.vnp

Hoi An prepares for international silk and brocade


The central town of Hoi An is preparing for the 2017 International Silk Brocade Festival at Silk Village from June 11 to 13 to honour artisans, traditional craft villages and fa-mous silk and brocade making sites at home and abroad.Hoi An City is preparing for the 2017 International Silk Brocade Festival at Silk Village from June 11 to 13 to honour artisans, traditional craft villages and famous silk and brocade making sites at home and abroad.Part of the sixth Quang Nam Heritage Festival, it will see silk producers from Vietnam, China, South Korea, Japan, Thailand, Italy, Germany, Australia and France showcas-ing their latest silk and brocade products.Local and foreign designers are expected to introduce their new fashion collections at the event.Visitors will also have the opportunity to watch silk fashion shows featuring 18 collec-tions by local and foreign designers.The sixth Quang Nam Heritage Festival will take place from June 7 to 14 in the towns of Tam K and Hoi An and some other parts of the province.It will include an international chorus contest from June 7 to 11 featuring more than 1,000 artists from 10 countries and territories, an international kite festival from June 8 to 11, the Quang Nam Heritage Fair from June 9 to 14, the World Windsurfing Cham-pionships from June 11 to 14, and an international food festival from June 12 to 14.http://www.vir.com.vn/hoi-an-prepares-for-intl-silk-and-brocade-festival.html

Visa waiver extended for Western European tourists


The government has approved an extension of the visa waiver for citizens from five Western European countries the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain for the third time.Nguyen Thi Thanh Huong, deputy general director of the Vietnam National Admin-istration of Tourism (VNAT), told the Daily last weekend that the visa waiver exten-


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sion will take effect for one year from July 30 pursuant to a newly released government decision. Tourists from these countries will not have to apply for a visa if they stay for 15 days or less.Previously, Vietnam launched the visa exemption policy for citizens of these five coun-tries valid from July 1, 2015 until July 30, 2016, and extended it to next July.Enterprises have proposed a longer period of visa exemption and a 30-day visa waiver to attract more tourists.The number of international tourist arrivals in the country is expected to increase 30 percent this year, according to Directive No. 24/CT-TTg of the prime minister.The government has assigned the Ministries of Culture, Sports and Tourism and Fi-nance to propose capital replenishment solutions for the Tourism Promotion Fund to attract 13-15 million foreign visitors this year.In addition, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will have to coordinate with relevant agencies to develop a visa exemption policy and grant e-visas for tourists.According to data by the VNAT, more than 10 million foreign tourists came to Vietnam last year. The country welcomed over 5.25 million international arrivals in the first five months of 2017, up 29.6 percent.http://english.thesaigontimes.vn/54329/-Visa-waiver-extended-for-Western-Europe-an-tourists.html

Foreigners' top choice for real living in Hanoi


There are more than 320,000 foreigners living and working in Vietnam, mostly in big cities, such as Hanoi and HCM City, which is why the Vietnamese government has cre-ated several new policies to help foreigners take ownership, transfer and rent real es-tate properties in the country.According to experts, many foreigners are looking to seize the opportunity to invest in the Vietnamese real estate market after the revised Housing Law came into effect on July 1, 2015.However, foreigners still face challenges when shopping for their place in the sun. Lim Serene shared her experience of moving to Vietnam from Hong Kong with us. Accord-ing to Lim, although life in Vietnam is comfortable, finding a quality place to live is not easy because of the language barrier.According to her, most Vietnamese developers and landlords do not understand the needs of foreigners, such as the weight they place on a safe and convenient living en-vironment. In addition, the terms and conditions of tenancy in Vietnam are not always clear, and most property management boards do not provide sufficient support for foreign tenants.These are common difficulties that foreigners encounter when shopping for a place to call home in the country. For example, although Hanoi is bustling with real estate projects that are available for rent, only a few are known for their high-quality and are suitable for foreigners. In particular, Mulberry Lane, a Singaporean real-estate project by Capitaland, is among the most highly coveted residential projects among foreign-ers.Mulberry Lane Apartment the right choice for foreigners in VietnamForeigners living in Mulberry Lane appreciate the modern living environment, top-notch 24/7 security, and convenient services. For example, after one-and-a-half years of staying at a Mulberry apartment in Block A, Myung Lim Kim from Korea said that her family is satisfied with the quality of the apartment and finds it extremely conven-ient, quiet, and clean similar to her place in Cairo, Egypt, where she used to live earlier. In addition, she especially loves the rooftop garden, where her 19-month-old son can freely play and explore in a safe and eco-friendly environment.Sung Sik Oh, a resident of Block E, shared similar experiences as Kim, saying Mulberry Lane is one of the best places to stay in Hanoi because of its high standard. His prefer-ences in choosing a home included the quality of the surrounding space and the apart-ment's comforts. Mulberry Lane satisfies his needs with its clean atmosphere, the many trees outside the complex, as well as the modern facilities in the apartments. Fur-


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thermore, Mulberry Lane's location is convenient for the commute to work and suits his lifestyle since there are major shopping centres, such as BigC and Lotte, and a bus-tling Korean community in Keangnam and Trung Hoa Nhan Chinh living close by.If Kim and Oh were attracted by the green spaces and world-class living standards of Mulberry Lane, Serene from Hong Kong, owner of an apartment in Block E, is pleased with the security of the complex. Safety and privacy are her highest concerns when choosing a place to live, and no other project in Vietnam fulfils these demands as well as Mulberry Lane.There are security guards working around the clock in the complex and there are cam-eras installed at every corner of the building to create a multifaceted surveillance sys-tem. In addition, there is an emergency system in every house, assuaging her concerns about safety.Also, in comparison with other properties in Hanoi, the paperwork to rent an apart-ment is simple and quickly processed with the help of landlords, management agents, and brokers, making the move for her family easy and comfortable.Mulberry Lane provides its residents a high quality, modern and civilised environ-ment to stay, making it feel like home for most foreigners in Vietnam. Some 20 per cent of Mulberry Lane residents are foreigners from Korea, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and other countries. The property is under the management of JLL, an American cor-poration, which is an important factor to help making Mulberry Lane a "second home" for expats in Vietnam.In general, with the positive macroeconomic environment, stable politics, and rosy in-vestment climate, the prospects of the Vietnamese real estate market are nothing short of dazzling.http://www.vir.com.vn/foreigners-top-choice-for-real-living-in-hanoi.html

Driver hurt in grab, Uber, taxi price war

06/JUN/2017 INTELLASIA | AFP

Price competition between traditional taxis and ride hailing companies like Grab and Uber has become fierce, but it is mostly the drivers on both sides who are suffering the biggest losses.Grab and Uber continue to offer huge discounts to passengers to grab market share from traditional taxis.They are 25 50 per cent cheaper than traditional taxis, and passengers are informed before the ride how much it will cost them."Grab and Uber have changed the public transport market," Le Trong Thanh, a tradi-tional taxi driver, said."Traditional taxis have to follow many regulations and pay lots of fees, but not Grab and Uber."Dao Van Long, another traditional taxi driver, said, "With their current prices, Grab and Uber put up with losses to eliminate traditional taxis."Under intense price pressure from Grab and Uber, many traditional taxi companies have also changed their policies. Like Uber and Grab, traditional taxi companies now rent out their taxis instead of signing labour contracts with their drivers. The drivers thus lose their benefits like social and health insurance.Vinasun, one of the biggest taxi companies, has recently signed contracts renting its cars to drivers."I've just re-signed a contract with Vinasun," Nguyen Hung Tuan said, worried."From now on every day I have to pay VND800,000 (US$35) to the company."He revealed that if drivers rent the cars before May they would get VND100,000 ($4.5) per day in support from company."Vinasun's turnover has reduced by 30 per cent because Grab and Uber undercut its prices," Ta Long Hy, director of Vinasun, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper.He revealed that his drivers' incomes have also fallen by 30 per cent and now they only earn VND5 6 million ($220-250) a month."Twenty per cent of our drivers have quit."Another major taxi company, Mai Linh, encourages drivers to buy a new car and run


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it under the company's colours."All these have put pressure on drivers, and customers are benefiting," Nguyen Thanh Hung, a traditional taxi driver, said."Taxi drivers will not be able to buy accident insurance."With the financial pressure of renting their taxi, drivers have less time to rest and this could cause more accidents, he said.Ride hailing drivers too face riskThe number of cars signing up with Grab and Uber has increased sharply, causing a severe loss of income for drivers.When Grab and Uber first came, many people borrowed money from banks to buy cars and sign up with them. In the beginning they could earn VND20 30 million a month ($900-1,200), but incomes have since gone down sharply.Bui Tan Cao quit his job at a construction company a year ago, borrowed VND300 mil-lion ($13,300) from a bank, and signed up with Uber.A year later his income has fallen 30 per cent to around VND800,000 ($35) a day be-cause there are too many Grab and Uber cars.Cao drives for both Grab and Uber to make a living.Nguyen Phuong, owner of a transportation company in District 2, is worrying about his 12 cars which used to run for the two ride hailing companies.Last year he sold his two trucks, borrowed some money from a bank and also persuad-ed some friends, which added up to 12 cars. In the first few months he could earn VND30-40 million ($1,200 1,800) a month, but sine then his income has fallen and 40 per cent of the drivers have quit. Now he rents out his cars for VND400,000 800,000 ($17 -35) a day, yet only four of them are running. The other eight remain in the garage."I drive 16 hours a day and only earn VND300,000 ($12) a day after expenses," Nguyen Minh Phong, a Grab driver, said.Public transportation pressureIt is undeniable that Grab and Uber have benefited customers, but they have also con-tributed to worsening traffic by having many cars operating on the streets."The severe traffic congestion around Tan Son Nhat airport is partly caused by Grab and Uber cars, many of which cruise around to wait for customers," a Southern Airport Authority official said.Ta Long Hy, director of Vinasun and chair of the HCM City Taxi Association, demand-ed equal treatment for traditional taxi and ride hailing companies.He said since 2010 only 11,000 taxis were licensed in HCM City, but now it allowed 20,000 cars to be operated by Grab and Uber.Do Quoc Binh, chair of the Hanoi Taxi Association, made a similar point.Economist Ngo Tri Long said: "This is an opportunity to create a fair business environ-ment for taxis."Grab has been licensed on a trial basis for two years in five cities and provinces Hanoi, HCM City, Da Nang, Quang Ninh, and Khanh Hoa.Uber was allowed to operate on a trial basis by the Ministry of Transport but the com-pany has yet to complete incorporation procedures and is now operating "illegally".http://bizhub.vn/news/driver-hurt-in-grab-uber-taxi-price-war_286636.html

Dekalb Vietnam nurtures young talents at An Giang


Dekalb Vietnam visited An Giang last week to provide support for financially disad-vantaged, but extraordinarily talented students.The CSR programme Young Talent Nurture is the latest in a series of activities by Dekalb Vietnam, a subsidiary of Monsanto, to celebrate International Children's Day.Huynh Di Trac, the representative of Dekalb Vietnam, in Southeast Vietnam and the Mekong Delta region, told VIR that the programme has granted 56 gifts, including school bags and books to support students in need at Da Phuoc Secondary School and Khanh An Primary School."We strive to improve the lives of children and families in the locality where we culti-vate the weed- and insect-resistant Genuity corn seeds. This CSR programme aims to


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motivate students to pursue education in the next school years. Dekalb Vietnam plans to replicate this programme across the province to bring more happiness to the needy and contribute to local social development."In response to the visit, a teacher at Da Phuoc Secondary School commented that the school receives more than 100 bright but underprivileged students every year. "We are grateful for Dekalb Vietnam and their sponsors who contribute to giving needy chil-dren a fulfilling education and a better future. We hope that the programme will be ex-panded to inspire more children from low-income families in the locality."Meanwhile, a teacher at Khanh An Primary School said that the school is located in the remote region and many families are poor and illiterate. "We hope that more similar events will be organised to encourage impoverished students to study, contributing to the development of local education."Vu Ngoc To Nhu, a middle school student at Da Phuoc said that, "The programme is meaningful to me and my friends who are in need. After receiving the gift, I am com-mitted to studying harder to become a doctor in the future."In addition to Young Talent Nurture, Monsanto has organised many activities to im-prove the local communities. Monsanto has joined forces with US-based Room to Read to improve education and gender equality for more than 80,000 children from farmer families in Vietnam.The Monsanto-Vietnam National University of Agriculture (VNUA) scholarship pro-gramme has been fostering young talents in the agri-biotech area with a fund of VND1.5 billion ($66,000) in the 2014-2018 period.http://www.vir.com.vn/dekalb-vietnam-nurtures-young-talents-at-an-giang.html

Sai Gon Zoo opens flamingo garden, water park


The Sai Gon Zoo and Botanical Gardens (Sai Gon Zoo) in HCM City's District 1 on June 1 opened a new flamingo garden, mini water park and eatery area for visitors.The 2,300sq m flamingo garden has many kinds of precious birds, including red storks, swans, Indian peafowls and silver pheasants. It is also used as a breeding area for fla-mingos.The new mini water park is part of a 2,000sq.m multi-functional playground area for children that includes the zoo's existing water playground and half-moon lake.At the eatery area, visitors can watch giraffes, zebras and ostriches nearby. They will also be able to walk with silver pheasants and peafowls.http://www.vir.com.vn/sai-gon-zoo-opens-flamingo-garden-water-park.html End


060617Intellasia Finance Vietnam giants 40 Uber, Grab conquer airport taxi market 41 Vissan unveils...

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