Download - 070617Intellasia Finance Vietnam - HKBAV · 2017-06-07 · At a recent meeting with Viet combank's leaders, Yasuhiro Sato, general director of Mi-zuho, said, "Vietcombank is our most

7 June 2017

finance & business news

FINANCE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2Reference exchange rate down by 2 VND 2Interest rates in inter-bank market drop for fifth week 2State-owned banks to be allowed to keep dividends 2Vietnamese banks drawing closer to Japanese partners 3Are banks ready to evaluate environmental risk as a credit risk? 4Which banks are boosting consumer loans? 5LienVietPostBank senior official returns after dismissal 6VN 2017 growth below mark: WB 7Japan, Vietnam set to bring TPP into force 7Vietnam's export turnover hits 79.3 billion USD in five months 8Vietnamese fruits conquer Japanese market 8China to buy half of Vietnam litchi output 8SCIC sells stakes in 13 companies 9Vietnam, Asian peers can unlock $5 trillion, 230 million

jobs via development goals 10SME support won't be in cash 10Vietnam back to list of top ten retail markets 11Savills: Property market active in Q1 12Green buildings to set new trend: Expert 12Going green: Clean energy generates giant investments

across Vietnam 13Where does competition by offering discounts lead 'giants' in

plastics industry to? 14PM Phuc woos Japan investors 16PM calls for Japanese investment in information technology 17Vietnam, Japan ink $22bn worth of trade deals at 'historic'

conference 17Vinh Long seeks to promote trade in Australia 18Is the door to US market narrowing for Vietnamese exporters? 19

BIZ NEWS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19Business Briefs Jun 07, 2017 19Markets continue upward trend as blue chips gain 20Bank shares lift VN Index over threshold 20VN Index breaks through 750 points 21

Product most challenging issue for derivatives market 22Three more companies trade on UPCoM 23Small securities firms still struggle despite changing ownership 23Ministry demands multiple incentives for N-S Expressway 24HCM City seeks to tax sales on Facebook 25HCM City to relocate cement plants 26PM approves plan to equitise state-run construction corporation 26Pangasius price increase not attract farmers fearing fluctuations 26FECON inks cooperation agreement with Japanese expressway

companies 27Hazardous waste treatment plant relocated to Cu Chi 27Vinalines, NYK Line consider developing logistics centre 28Viglacera introduces energy saving glass 28Vietnam's first BOT project juiced up with foreign investors 29Honda Vietnam to increase export of CBU vehicles by 12pct 30Sumitomo cuts deal to build $4 billion smart city in Hanoi 30Homedy gets funds from two foreign investors 31Co.opmart, Co.opXtra launch eco-friendly promotion 31InterContinental Danang Sun Peninsula Resort wins 4 World

Travel Awards 32Panasonic Vietnam receives National Environment Award 2017 32Phu My Hung Midtown second phase gets record 1,200 bidders 33CapitaLand breaks 22-year record with 11 Vietnam Property

Awards 34Kohler Vietnam proud to contribute to Vietnamese real

estate industry 35ASIA DMC wins big at World Travel Awards 2017 36Vietnam-Czech business forum opens in Hanoi 37Agriculture ministry to hold tra fish fair in Hanoi in October 38VN high-quality products fair opens in Da Nang 38Culture, tourism week set for Cai Chien Island 39HCM City proposes hiking sidewalk fees 39Volunteers fluent in foreign languages can serve as tour guides 40

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FINANCEReference exchange rate down by 2 VND

07/JUN/2017 INTELLASIA | VNA

The State Bank of Vietnam set its reference VND/USD exchange rate at 22,401 VND/USD on June 7, down 2 VND from the day ago.With the current/- 3 percent VND/USD trading band, the ceiling exchange rate is 23,072 VND per USD and the floor rate is 21,730 VND per USD.At opening hours, major commercial banks kept their rates stable.Vietcombank listed its buying rate at 22,680 VND and its selling rate at 22,750 VND, per USD, unchanged from June 6.BIDV also kept its buying and selling rates at 22,680 VND and 22,750 VND.Techcombank adjusted its buying rate down by 5 VND to 22,660 VND and kept its selling rates unchanged at 22,760 VND, per USD.http://en.vietnamplus.vn/reference-exchange-rate-down-by-2-vnd/112903.vnp

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Vietnam finance & business 7 June 2017

Interest rates in inter-bank market drop for fifth week

07/JUN/2017 INTELLASIA | VNS

Liquidity in the banking system has been positive as interest rates in the inter-bank market dropped for the fifth consecutive week.Reports from the Bao Viet Securities Company showed that overnight and one-month rates slid by 43 percentage points to 2.27 per cent and 2.47 per cent in the week ending June 2.During the week, the central bank made a net withdrawal of VND499 billion (US$21.89 million) via the open market operations.Thanks to the good liquidity, demands for loans in the inter-bank markets declined sharply.Nguyen uc Hung Linh, analysis director of the Saigon Securities Incorporation, said that the liquidity has been improved significantly, contributing to reducing interest rates.Interest rates for dong short-term deposits quoted at commercial banks have inched down by roughly 10 percentage points, Linh said.However, he said, the rates for longer term deposits have been unchanged as banks' demand for the loans has remained high to meet the central bank's regulations on cap-ital adequacy ratio.http://bizhub.vn/banking/interest-rates-in-inter-bank-market-drop-for-fifth-week_286697.html

State-owned banks to be allowed to keep dividends


State-owned commercial joint stock banks will be allowed to keep dividends which are supposed to be paid to the State budget so that they can increase their charter capital, State Bank of Vietnam's (SBV) Governor Le Minh Hung was quoted as saying.In a recently released report on State ownership in enterprises, the Politburo said this decision is aimed at improving the financial capacity of State-owned banks, Hung told Thoi bao ngan hang (Banking Times).The State currently holds stakes in Agribank, BIDV, Vietinbank, Vietcombank, Con-struction Bank, Ocean Bank and GP Bank.Till now, banks have not been allowed to keep their dividends. Representatives of State capital at State-owned banks often require to vote for dividend payout to be in cash at the banks' annual general meetings (AGM) so that the State receives money from dividends.In 2015, for example, the finance ministry received VND2.7 trillion (US$120.96 million) in dividends from BIDV as the State held 95.28 per cent of BIDV's charter capital.In the 2017 AGM season, Vietcombank, VietinBank and BIDV have so far made divi-dend payments in cash following the demand of majority shareholders, including the finance ministry, at 7-8 per cent.The Politburo's allowance will help banks increase their capital to meet the require-ments of Basel II, which is due to take effect in Vietnam this September, as part of a pilot programme in 10 banks. The remaining banks will follow two years later.To meet Basel II requirements, banks have been trying to increase capital, but it has been tough. This year, 16 banks announced plans to increase capital by a total of around VND37 trillion.Analysts said that despite their efforts, banks would find it difficult to increase their capital as bad debts remain the greatest hurdle, making investors apprehensive of putting their money in banks.The Politburo's report said the State would continue holding capital in Agribank, BIDV, Vietinbank and Vietcombank, with a controlling stake of not less than 65 per cent. This is an important factor in strengthening their potential and playing a domi-nant role in regulating the operations of the State-owned commercial banks, the Poli-buro said.http://bizhub.vn/markets/state-owned-banks-to-be-allowed-to-keep-dividends_286694.html

Intellasia 7 June 2017 2 / 40

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Vietnamese banks drawing closer to Japanese partners

07/JUN/2017 INTELLASIA | VIR

Japanese banks that have previously invested in Vietnamese banks are considering in-creasing the stakes, while others are looking for ways to join the budding Vietnamese market.Expanding Japanese investment in VietnamOne of the first Japanese companies investing in the Vietnamese banking industry was Mizuho Financial Group, which entered in the domestic market in 2012. Currently, Mi-zuho's initial investment of $570 million has doubled in value.At a recent meeting with Vietcombank's leaders, Yasuhiro Sato, general director of Mi-zuho, said, "Vietcombank is our most successful investment."Also, Sato said, after the last five years of successful partnership between Mizuho and Vietcombank in the banking industry, he hoped that the cooperation will be expanded to other fields, such as securities and financial companies, so that Vietcombank can be-come a strong financial group in Vietnam.Unlike Mizuho, the $225 million of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group's initial invest-ment in Eximbank has declined in value by over a half at present, however, the Japa-nese company does not plan to exit the Vietnamese market.Through its 15 per cent holding in Eximbank since 2007, Sumitomo used to have huge profits when this commercial bank earned trillions of VND.At the meeting with deputy prime minister Vuong Dinh Hue, Ryuji Nishisaki, CEO cum chair of Sumitomo Mitsui in Asia-Pacific, said that the group was closely moni-toring the restructuring process of credit institutions in Vietnam. Besides keeping an eye on Eximbank's restructuring, Sumitomo Mitsui also expressed its willingness to join the Vietnamese derivative and bond markets.Apart from experienced investors, such as Sumitomo Mitsui, Mizuho, and Bank of To-kyo Mitsubishi UFJ (BTMU), plenty of Japanese banks are looking for Vietnamese partners. Recently, BIDV has sold 49 per cent of its stake in its financial leasing compa-ny to Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, the largest trust bank in Japan. Previously, MB suc-cessfully called for investment from Shinsei Bank for its subsidiary Mcredit Consumer Finance Company.At present, Japanese investors are considered the biggest partners of commercial banks in Vietnam. Most of this partnership brings success for both parties, thus, Viet-namese banks have started to develop a taste for Japanese investors. With the increas-ing Japanese investment wave, it is likely that these funds will find their ways into areas other than finance and banking as well.Vietnamese banks dote on Japanese clientsCommercial banks in Vietnam are diversifying cooperation channels with Japanese banks. This is considered one way to approach potential Japanese enterprises who wish to invest in Vietnam.Agribank has signed a cooperation agreement with Yanmar Co., Ltd, a leading agri-cultural machinery company in Japan. Besides Agribank and Yanmar, many contracts with the total value of $22 billion have been signed between enterprises and local au-thorities in the two countries during prime minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc's visit to Ja-pan. This record number is expected to create a new wave of Japanese investment in the coming years.Vietnamese banks started paying attention to Japanese customers five years ago when incoming Japanese investments surged. At the end of February 2017, BIDV signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on serving Japanese customers in Vietnam with Fukuoka Bank, the 16th biggest bank in Japan. Similarly, VietinBank and Viet-combank have also signed dozens of MoUs with Japanese partners. In particular, Vi-etcombank has signed with approximately 60 Japanese banks.Following the trend, other commercial banks also seek Japanese partners and have even established a new service called Japan Desk to support clients form Japan. Viet-inBank, Vietcombank, and BIDV, Sacombank, HDBank, TPBank, and many others of-fer this service.The increasing Japanese investments in Vietnam and the cultural similarities are pro-


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moting cooperation among commercial banks and companies in the two countries.http://www.vir.com.vn/vietnamese-banks-drawing-closer-to-japanese-partners.html

Are banks ready to evaluate environmental risk as a credit risk?

07/JUN/2017 INTELLASIA| DAN TRI

As per new regulations from the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), lending activities of banks to customers must comply with regulations on environment protection. This means credit projects must not only be clean in credit relations but also protect the en-vironment.Under the provisions of Circular 39, since March 15, lending activities of credit organ-isations to customers are implemented in accordance with the agreement between credit organisations and customers, and regulations in this Circular as well as other relevant laws including the law on environment protection.To support the implementation of Circular 39, the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) coop-erated with the International Financial Corporation (IFC) to develop a toolkit for as-sessing socio-environmental risks in 10 specific sectors including agriculture, chemicals, construction and infrastructure, energy, food processing, textile and gar-ment, oil and gas, waste treatment, mining and non-metallic mineral products) in or-der to encourage credit organisations' implementation to serve the appraisal and the decision-making on credit granting.As per Dang Thi Thu Hai, Head of Bank Legal Department, the Compliance and Com-pliance Control Division of VPBank, Circular 39 has had regulations on credit organi-sations' appraisal of the compliance with legal regulations on environment, but because socio-environment impacts are not really paid attention to in Vietnam, the im-plementation of requirements on assessment and reduction of socio-environment risks upon credit granting can be hard to achieve the voluntary cooperation of all customers in the immediate future. Some customers may shift to other banks that do not require them to work out reports on socio-environment impacts or apply simpler evaluation criteria.Therefore, the issuance of a manual on socio-environmental risks in the credit granting by the State Bank is extremely necessary, helping commercial banks have a standard tool to carry out the assessment and evaluation. However, the implementation needs to be applied uniformly across commercial banks to ensure fair competition. If "the manual is issued as a non-compulsory guide, the State Bank needs to develop prefer-ential policies for commercial banks implementing tools in this manual", emphasized Hai.Le Duc Tho, CEO of VietinBank said "Competition among credit organisations in busi-ness activities is very strong. This pressure requires credit organisations to streamline this process, thereby leading to the fact that some credit organisations do not pay at-tention to or do not comply with regulations. Therefore, the supervision of credit or-ganisations must be strictly and seriously implemented.Taking the reality from Vietinbank's lending procedures, Le Duc Tho said "during the loan appraisal process, bank officials will directly visit the production facility to re-view and appraise socio-environmental impacts of the credit project. Through which, the bank requires that specific documents related to projects must carry out environ-mental impact assessments, and projects in different sectors must have different re-quirements.The cost to carry out measures to mitigate socio-environmental impacts is usually quite high. Therefore, customers who are project investors often find ways to reduce and limit this cost in implementing business projects. Meanwhile, communication ac-tivities, the monitoring and evaluation of impacts of professional agencies, the man-agement of social responsibilities as well as penalties, sanctions, etc. are still limited. This is the loophole causing the compliance of socio-environmental assessments not to be really concerned about.Nguyen Hong Quan, deputy CEO of TPBank also acknowledged that "it is quite com-plicated to develop policies and mechanisms to evaluate, appraise and give answers to businesses. At the same time, there will arise more costs for the development of a


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socio-environmental risk management system and experienced staff on socio-environ-ment risk assessment, etc.".Businesses wishing to access loans from banks for projects that are sensitive in socio-environmental factors will also have to accept higher capital cost and operating costs due to having to apply measures to limit socio-environmental impacts, and that may even lead to unprofitable projects and businesses will not invest anymore.Therefore, the State Bank and commercial banks should also consider this issue when building the legal corridor related to the management of socio-environmental risks when assessing and approving credit to customers of commercial banks.Pointing out difficulties of businesses in the implementation process, Le An Khang, CEO of Gia Lai Electricity JSC (GEC) said "In the first phase of implementing the sys-tem of Environment Safety Health Society under international standards, GEC faces many challenges in implementing socio-environmental commitments of investors and credit granting banks".However, with the target of becoming one of the most sustainable renewable energy developers in Vietnam, GEC assesses the importance of the management of Environ-ment, Health, Safety and Society and has gradually been completing management structure in 15 hydro power plants to control and take initiative in all situations when incidents occur and improving environmental, health and social performance".Though there still remains many challenges, the issuance of the manual on environ-mental impact assessment for credit projects is in line with development trend and is a positive step towards sustainable development, encouraging businesses to protect the environment, ensuring the safety of the working environment, and performing well their social responsibility. Nguyen Trung Anh, Research director of PAN Group said, many investors, customers, international organisations are very interested in this criterion when cooperating.

Which banks are boosting consumer loans?

07/JUN/2017 INTELLASIA| ZING.VN

Research results of the Institute of Business Administration (University of Economics Hanoi National University) show that 98.97 percent of respondents know about the consumer lending of banks and 65.55 percent of them are willing to borrow from this source when the need arises. The survey also points out that among credit channels such as consumer finance companies, insurance companies, pawnshops, black credit, etc., banks are still most trusted.In the current market, there are many lending packages provided by different banks. Depending on the duration of the loan (six months, 12 months, more than 24 months, etc.), customers enjoy the interest rate preferences ranging at 6.8-9 percent in the first period. In the following periods, the majority applies the 13-month savings rate cou-pled with an interest rate range of 2.8-4.5 percent/year.Based on specific needs, banks offer a variety of options to consumers. Depending on financial, income conditions, each person can find flexible and diversified options such as home purchase, business, car purchase, land purchase, consumer loans, etc.Le Anh Quan (Ba Dinh, Hanoi) said he chooses to borrow from PVcomBank under the programme namely "Lua chon thong thai Gat hai thanh cong" (or "Smart selecting reaping success") with a total loan limit of 9.3 trillion dong and the interest rate from 6.8 percent/annum only. He decides to borrow to buy a car because with the current income, it takes him three more years to be able to own the car he wants, while the cur-rent work needs it."I choose this package because of quick procedure i.e. just four hours. Bank staff has also advised me very clearly about the entire lending process. Though I enjoy prefer-ential interest rates in the first year, and want to repay before the due date in the fol-lowing year, the bank still does not apply penalty charges. Therefore, I decide to use the car purchase lending package", said Quan.Like Quan, Ngoc Anh (Thanh Xuan, Hanoi) also came to PVcomBank when having op-portunity to purchase a condo apartments at competitive prices. "After surveying at some banks, I choose PVcomBank. The bank's low interest rates in the first period


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helps us to "breath easily" after depositing large sums of money to buy a house. More-over, the lending period is relatively long so the money we save will be enough to cov-er monthly expenses", she analysed.The widespread support from banks contributes to boosting consumer credit market. On the customer side those who are embracing personal projects will be confident to carry out without worrying too much about the capital source.

LienVietPostBank senior official returns after dismissal


Nguyen Duc Huong has been voted to the chair's post of LienVietPostBank's board of directors for the term between 2013 and 2018, after a month's dismissal as its vice chair.The election was part of the senior personnel changes approved at the bank's second extraordinary shareholders meeting for 2017 held on Monday.The vote came after the shareholders meeting passed the dismissal of Duong Cong Minh from the board of directors' chairmanship.At the meeting, Pham Doan Son was also voted to the post of permanent vice chair of the board of directors cum director-general of the bank.Previously on April 26, LienVietPostBank's first extraordinary shareholders meeting removed Huong from permanent vice chairmanship of the board of directors. At that time, Huong's dismissal was aimed at making him a candidate for a position at Sacom-bank's board of directors; however, he then decided to withdraw officially from the list of Sacombank's candidates a month later.After the merger with the Vietnam Post Corporation (VNPost) in July 2011, LienViet-PostBank is a joint stock commercial bank with the largest network of more than 10,000 transaction offices at all 63 cities and provinces nationwide.The bank's total asset by May 31 reached nearly VND148 trillion (US$6.49 billion). The bank posted a pre-tax profit of nearly VND1.35 trillion last year, and the number for the first quarter this year was more than VND470 billion.As for Sacombank, the market is waiting for its senior personnel changes. The bank is due to organise its 2017 annual general meeting (AGM) on June 30, after postponing twice the AGM that was scheduled for April 28 and May 26, owing to incomplete prep-arations for electing the personnel of the board of directors and board of supervisors for the new term between 2017 and 2021.According to the recently announced resolution of Sacombank's board of directors and board of supervisors for the term between 2017 and 2021, candidates for the bank's top positions have gradually been revealed.In addition to the familiar names who are currently leaders of Sacombank, such as the Chair Kieu Huu Dung, vice Chair Nguyen Mien Tuan, Nguyen Van Cuu, or Nguyen Xuan Vu, the list of candidates included two names who were closely associated with LienVietPostBank brand Nguyen Duc Huong and Nguyen Thi Bich Hong (candidates for BOD's independent members), in which Huong is a highly appreciated name.However, after the withdrawal of LienVietPostBank's Huong and Hong, Sacombank on Monday said that it would nominate two other candidates as the board of directors' independent members to meet the deadline for its 2017 AGM in late June.http://bizhub.vn/banking/lienvietpostbank-senior-official-returns-after-dismissal_286687.html

VN 2017 growth below mark: WB


World Bank (WB) released its Global Economic Prospects report Sunday, forecasting a global 2017 economic growth rate of 2.7 per cent and a Vietnamese growth rate of 6.3 per cent, a rate lower than the 6.7 per cent goal set by the government.In Vietnam, strong exports are projected to help growth sustain itself at slightly below 6.5 per cent this year, according to WB's report.For Vietnam and other countries in the Asia Pacific region, commodity import growth remains generally robust. Therefore, solid domestic demand, strong infrastructure spending and FDI-led investment in manufacturing sectors and services will continue to benefit the country.


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After a period of financial market volatility in late 2016, global finance conditions have improved in 2017. Although real credit growth generally moderated on tighter regu-lations and higher inflation, it remained high in Vietnam and China.The withdrawal of the United States from the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), howev-er, could potentially withhold significant growth opportunities from Vietnam. Chang-ing trade policies would also affect certain economies in the Asia Pacific region, namely those with sizable exports to developed economies such as Vietnam, Cambo-dia, China, Malaysia and Thailand.As manufacturing and trade pick up, market confidence rises, and commodity prices stabilise, advanced economies' growth will accelerate to 1.9 per cent in 2017, which also will benefit developed countries' trading partners. Meanwhile, emerging market and developing economies' growth will increase to 4.1 per cent this year from 2016 number of 3.5 per cent."With a fragile but real recovery now underway, countries should seize this moment to undertake institutional and market reforms that can attract private investment to help sustain growth in the long term. Countries must also continue to invest in people and build resilience against overlapping challenges, including climate change, conflict, forced displacement, famine and disease," said Jim Yong Kim, World Bank Group President.In late March, the general Statistical Office of Vietnam announced that the country's first quarter GDP growth was 5.1 per cent from the same period in 2016. This slow growth is attributed to the manufacturing sector's underperformance. As such, the low percentage of this year's first quarter means a potential challenge to the National As-sembly's goal of a 6.7 per cent GDP growth rate by the end of 2017.Nonetheless, Vietnam Institute for Economic and Policy Research predicts that with a gradual increase in each quarter's GDP growth rate, the goal is still attainable.http://bizhub.vn/banking/vn-2017-growth-below-mark-wb_286677.html

Japan, Vietnam set to bring TPP into force

07/JUN/2017 INTELLASIA | XINHUA

Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe and his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Xuan Phuc agreed on Tuesday to bring the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement into force at an early date during talks in Tokyo.According to a joint statement released after the talks, both leaders reaffirmed that free and fair trade and investment are an important driver for the global economy and de-cided to work together in promoting open and free trade and investment against the backdrop of mounting anti-globalisation and protectionism in the world.The two countries vowed to cooperate in the discussion among TPP members to bring the agreement into force expeditiously, according to the statement.Phuc is on a five-day visit to Japan starting Sunday. The two countries signed a number of frameworks between their ministries, local authorities and businesses.http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1050342.shtml

Vietnam's export turnover hits 79.3 billion USD in five months


Vietnam exported about 79.3 billion USD worth of commodities in the first five months of 2017, an increase of 17.4 percent from the same period last year.According to the Agency for Foreign Trade under the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MoTI), the US remained the country's largest buyer, followed by the EU, China, Asean, Japan and the Republic of Korea.The trade deficit hit 2.7 billion USD, accounting for 3.4 percent of the export turnover, raising concerns that continuous trade deficit for months might harm the economy.But many economists believed the trade deficit was still within an acceptable level and it is normal for a developing economy like Vietnam while the country integrates more deeply into the global trade and joins free trade agreements. Furthermore, domestic production has rebounded, motivating imports.To gain trade balance, the MoTI plans to tighten control on goods of which imports are not encouraged and facilitate local manufacturing of similar items.


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It may also use trade remedies against several imported goods to encourage consump-tion of made-in-Vietnam products.http://en.vietnamplus.vn/vietnams-export-turnover-hits-793 billion-usd-in-five-months/112865.vnp

Vietnamese fruits conquer Japanese market


Thanks to their freshness and succulent tastes, Vietnamese dragon fruits, bananas and mangos are being sought-after at Japanese large supermarkets like Don Quijote, Daiei and Aeon.Before bananas, white-flesh dragon fruits and mangos were constantly shipped to the Japanese market. Meanwhile, red-flesh dragon fruits reached Japanese consumers in March shortly after they were licensed for export to the East Asian country.Hidekatsu Ishikawa, President of Vient Co. Ltd, a Japanese importer, said Vietnamese bananas suit Japanese people's taste and they are sold at competitive prices.To date, besides such key exports as garments, footwear and aquatic products, Viet-namese dragon fruits, mangos, frozen litchis and bananas have been present in Japan. Fresh litchis and star apples also see great potential in this fastidious market.According to Tran Thanh Hai, deputy director of the Agency for Foreign Trade under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Vietnam-Japan Economic Partnership Agree-ment (VJEPA) is entering a new phase, opening opportunities for Vietnamese exports.Vietnamese products, especially farm produce and aquatic products, will enjoy pref-erential tax rates in the Japanese market. Regarding aquaculture, tax will be cut down to 1.31 percent in 2019 from 5.4 percent in 2008. Thus, domestic enterprises should take full advantage to gain benefits, Hai stressed.He also recommended that exporters must ensure utmost quality for their products as Japan has put in place numerous technical barriers on agricultural imports.Meanwhile, a representative from the Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) also noted that packing and transportation should be paid special attention, ensuring that origin of agricultural products can be traced easily.-http://en.vietnamplus.vn/vietnamese-fruits-conquer-japanese-market/112864.vnp

China to buy half of Vietnam litchi output

07/JUN/2017 INTELLASIA | THE SAIGON TIMES

Vietnam is expected to ship half of its litchi output to China this year, while the re-mainder will be for local consumption and a tiny fraction for export to some choosy markets, said authorities of Bac Giang and Hai Duong provinces, the country's key li-tchi-growing areas.Tran Quang Tan, director of Bac Giang's Department of Industry and Trade, said the province has nearly 30,000 hectares under litchi cultivation in 2017 including 6,000 hec-tares of early harvest from May 20 to June 15, and 24,000 hectares of litchi of the main crop for harvest from June 15 to July 15.The province expects its litchi output at 100,000 tonnes this year, down 42,000 tonnes against last year due to unfavourable weather. This amount includes 26,000 tonnes of early-harvested litchi and 74,000 tonnes of litchi of the main crop, Tan said.Tan confirmed higher quality and thus better prices of the early-harvested fruit com-pared to last year. Specifically, the average price of litchi is VND35,000-40,000 a kilo, a year-on-year increase of VND10,000-15,000.Half of the output with packaging and traceability labels will be for domestic con-sumption, at not only wholesale markets but also supermarkets and retail stores in HCM City and Hanoi. The province will also expand consumption to central provinc-es.Meanwhile the remaining including 40,000 tonnes will be exported to China and 10,000 tonnes to other countries, Tan added.In late May, 100 Chinese enterprises attending a litchi promotion conference held by Bac Giang Province government highly valued the fruit.Relevant agencies will work to facilitate export of litchi to the neighbouring country through border gates in Lang Son, Ha Giang and Lao Cai provinces. Customs clear-


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ance will be executed longer hours, until 9 or 10 p.m. instead of 6 p.m. as usual, and the time needed for completing export procedures of each shipment will be reduced to only 15 minutes.Exports to other markets will also be stepped up.Beside Australia, some European Union (EU) countries and the US, Bac Giang has seen its litchi penetrate three new markets, Thailand, Canada and Dubai, which are waiting for litchi of the main crop.Meanwhile, litchi output in Hai Duong has also dropped this year.Luong Thi Kiem, head of the Cultivation Division under Hai Duong's Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said the province's litchi growing area totals 10,500 hectares in 2017, equivalent to 2016, but the output is estimated at 34,000-35,000 tonnes, down from 38,000 tonnes last year.Hai Duong's litchi is mainly exported to China and expected to be shipped to Australia by Red Dragon Vietnam JSC. The company has sent two shipments with 1.2 tonnes each to Australia.The US and the EU used to import Hai Duong's litchi last year. However, no enterpris-es have announced any shipments to these markets due to the fierce competition with China, Thailand and Mexico, Kiem added.http://english.thesaigontimes.vn/54345/-China-to-buy-half-of-Vietnam-litchi-out-put.html

SCIC sells stakes in 13 companies


The State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC) has successfully sold its stakes in 13 companies in the first five months of this year to collect VND148 billion (US$6.5 mil-lion).This was VND46 billion higher than their cost price.In May alone, SCIC collected VND53 billion by selling stakes in five companies.As of today, SCIC owns stakes in 141 enterprises with a total State capital worth more than VND18.9 trillion in book value out of the total charter capital of VND93.16 tril-lion.SCIC will continue to focus on improving corporate governance and restructuring to enhance the operational efficiency of the firms in its portfolio.The corporation reported a revenue of VND639 billion in the first quarter of this year, equivalent to 22 per cent of the revenue of the same period last year, with a pre-tax profit of VND584 billion.This year, SCIC has targeted VND11.2 trillion in revenue and VND8.33 trillion in pre-tax profit.http://bizhub.vn/markets/scic-sells-stakes-in-13-companies_286693.html

Vietnam, Asian peers can unlock $5 trillion, 230 million jobs via development goals

07/JUN/2017 INTELLASIA | VNEXPRESS

Asia's growth and stability are under threat from the impact of many environmental and social burdens.Businesses in Asia could unlock at least $5 trillion in market opportunities and create 230 million jobs by 2030 by implementing a few key development goals, global busi-ness and finance leaders said.Asia's unprecedented economic growth has helped to reduce poverty, but future growth, prosperity and stability "are all under threat from the impact of a swelling list of environmental and social burdens," according to a report released Monday by the Business and Sustainable Development Commission."There is the opportunity to shape a safer, more prosperous world," the report said.Asia, home to two-thirds of the world's population, is extremely vulnerable to weath-er-related disasters, whose frequency and intensity could worsen as a result of climate change.Meanwhile, more than 80 percent of the region's population live in countries where in-equality has risen over the past 20 years, according to the Asian Development Bank.Pursuing strategies in line with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals


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(SDGs) would turn these threats into opportunities and provide "the chance to consol-idate and sustain the region's regeneration", the report said.The 17-point SDGs, launched last year, include targets on eliminating poverty, provid-ing clean energy, creating better jobs and tackling economic inequality by 2030.The report identified four key areas with the most significant opportunities cities, en-ergy and materials, food and agriculture, and health and well-being and specific projects such as affordable housing, renewable energy, reducing food waste and sus-tainable aquaculture.In Vietnam, the potential of aquaculture has been recognised as an effective solution to alleviate poverty and strengthen external balances, it said.Two major constraints for the industry, in Vietnam and its Southeast Asian neigh-bours, are pollution from the excessive use of inputs and poor farming practices. These have led to severe production cutbacks in Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines, and contributed to the prohibitive cost of feed, the report said.The $5 trillion value is conservative and more value could come from other sectors in-cluding information and communication technologies, education and consumer goods, it added.The cost of realising these opportunities in the four key areas would likely require $1.7 trillion of annual investment, the report said.The commission said "blended financing," where public and philanthropic bodies take on high risk and more policy-sensitive investment, could fill the funding gap.The report follows an earlier study that identified $12 trillion in market opportunities and the creation of up to 380 million jobs globally in the same time frame. Asia ac-counts for more than 40 percent of these opportunities, the latest report said.Of the $5 trillion in business opportunities in Asia, around $2.3 trillion could be found in China alone, $1.1 trillion in India, and $1.1 trillion in developing and emerging countries, the report said. The rest are in developed countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and South Korea.http://e.vnexpress.net/news/business/economy/vietnam-asian-peers-can-unlock-5 trillion-230 million-jobs-via-development-goals-3595863.html

SME support won't be in cash


Support provided to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) will not be in cash, but rather take the form of favourable conditions in order for SMEs to grow, deputy minister of Planning and Investment Dang Huy Dong has said.Dong spoke at an online conference held by the government's e-portal on Tuesday, saying that the draft Law on Support to SMEs, which was under discussion by the Na-tional Assembly and is expected to be passed next week, would focus on three pro-grammes so as to realise the government's goal of doubling the number of firms to one million by 2020.Those include support to firms converting from business households; support to start-ups and the development of the ecosystem; and support to firms involved in the global value chain."Support provided in cash is inefficient and difficult to carry out, given the govern-ment's limited budget," Dong said, adding that SMEs would instead receive support in market information, administrative procedures, tax and credit incentives.According to Nguyen Van Phuc, former Chair of the National Assembly Economic Committee, this law was critical to the development of businesses but the issuance of this law would require changes in many policies, such as ones on land, to create a syn-chronous and consistent legal system to facilitate business operation.Phuc said that support should be specific to ensure it is applicable to reality and SMEs would benefit.To Hoai Nam, general Secretary of the Association of SMEs said that Vietnamese SMEs were struggling with land and credit access, technology, human resources, as well as market information.In the first four months of this year, the number of firms halting operations rose 9 per


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cent compared to the same period last year to 27,000, which was alarming.When the law is passed, drastic measures must be taken to ensure that the law works in practice and benefits SMEs.There are around 500,000 firms in Vietnam, 97 per cent of which are SMEs.http://bizhub.vn/news/sme-support-wont-be-in-cash_286709.html

Vietnam back to list of top ten retail markets


Vietnam has jumped five spots to sixth place in the Global Retail Development Index (GRDI) released on June 5 by American consulting firm A.T. Kearney.According to the GRDI results this year, Vietnam came behind such large markets as India, China, Malaysia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates but overtook some strong competitors in the region such as Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines.The results showed the Vietnamese market has regained its growth momentum. Viet-nam fell off the top 30 retail markets in the world in 2012 while it topped the list in 2008, and ranked sixth in 2009, fourteenth in 2010 and twenty-third in 2011.Vietnam's higher ranking this year is supposed to be driven by liberalised investment laws that have helped boost the country's attractiveness to foreign retailers. In partic-ular, the government has allowed 100 percent ownership by foreign retailers, and fa-vourable policies continue to attract them.This is demonstrated by the 12.5 percent growth in foreign investment in 2016. A.T. Kearney said the recently concluded free trade agreement with the EU would further boost investments in Vietnam.Retail revenue of the country has soared in recent years. Data of the general Statistical Office of Vietnam showed that total retail revenue in 2016 reached VND2.67 quadril-lion (US$118 billion), up 10.2 percent year-on-year."Vietnam's economy is shifting toward more privately owned businesses and higher-value exports, which are expected to boost incomes and consumption in the long-term," said Soon Ghee Chua, Partner and Head of Southeast Asia at A.T. Kearney.Chua added that with favourable government policies, a young population and an ex-panding middle class, and strong GDP growth estimated at 6.6 percent for 2017, for-eign retailers have good reason to be positive about the country.Convenience stores and minimarts are the fastest-growing segment. Circle K and Fam-ilyMart entered the market in 2009 and are expanding aggressively. FamilyMart plans to have over 800 franchised stores by 2020 and 7-Eleven plans to open its first store in Vietnam in 2018, with a target of opening 1,000 stores in the next 10 years.Supermarket and commercial centre segment also posted strong growth. Lotte Mart plans to expand its store chain from the current 13 to 60 stores by 2020. South Korea's leading retailer Emart has launched a $60 million shopping centre in HCM City while Japanese retailer Takashimaya has opened a 15,000-square-metre store in the city downtown, its first in Vietnam.The Vietnamese retail market still has room for further development as modern retail channels have just accounted for 25 percent of total retail revenue and supermarkets and commercial centers are mainly located in big cities.It is estimated that by 2020, Vietnam will have over 1,200 supermarkets, 300 commer-cial centers and thousands of convenience stores.The GRDI, which was first released in 2002, ranks the top 30 developing countries for retail investment worldwide. The index analyses 25 macroeconomic and retail-specific variables, helping identify the markets that are most attractive on June 6 as well as those that offer future potential.http://english.thesaigontimes.vn/54361/Vietnam-back-to-list-of-top-ten-retail-mar-kets.html

Savills: Property market active in Q1

07/JUN/2017 INTELLASIA | VNECONOMIC TIMES

Latest report notes dynamic investment in many sectors during first quarter.Vietnam's real estate market saw dynamic investment across many segments in the first quarter of 2017, according to the latest report from Savills.


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One of the most significant deals was the acquisition of a 0.6 ha commercial site in a prime location in HCM City's CBD by CapitaLand, to build their first international Grade A mixed-use project in Vietnam.The project will receive disbursements from a $500 million fund targeting commercial assets in Vietnam set up by the Singaporean developer in November last year.CapitaLand also announced the acquisition of a 90 per cent stake in a 0.8 ha project in District 2's Thao Dien, one of the most sought-after residential addresses in HCM City, to develop over 300 residential units.This was in line with its strategy to expand its residential development portfolio in the country.The report also noted that another Singaporean developer, Keppel Land, paid VND846 billion ($37 million) to increase its stake by 16 per cent in its mixed-use Saigon Centre project, located in the heart of HCM City.Among major activities, in March, Hongkong Land became a strategic partner of the HCM City Infrastructure Investment JSC (CII) in the development of residential projects in the locally-listed firm's land portfolio, including several hectares in the Thu Thiem New Urban Area.In another popular residential area of the city, An Gia Investment and the Creed Group from Japan continued to acquire the remaining five apartment blocks of the La Casa project in District 7 from the Van Phat Hung Group, for VND910 billion ($40 mil-lion). In the hospitality sector, the Malaysia-based Berjaya Land has locked in the dis-posal of its 70 per cent stake in a four-star resort property on Phu Quoc Island to Sulyna Hospitality for a total of $14.65 million.The report said that rapidly rising numbers of tourists in Vietnam are providing a huge boost to the hospitality sector. The tourism sector got off to a positive start this year, with approximately 3.2 million international arrivals in the first quarter, an increase of 29 per cent year-on-year.This follows a record number of tourists, of over 10 million, arriving in 2016, and the country is expected to welcome 11.5 million international tourists this year. Coastal destinations play a key role in drawing in the majority of these visitors from a broad cross-section of source countries.Vietnam is working towards fully harnessing its rich tourism potential in the years to come, as development of the tourism industry has now been made the Number 1 pri-ority of the government.

Green buildings to set new trend: Expert


Green buildings are expected to set a new trend in the wave of the fourth industrial revolution, said Nguyen Thai Hung, deputy secretary of the Vietnam Automation As-sociation.Addressing a press conference held in Hanoi last week to discuss the BMAM & GBR Expo Asia 2017, Hung said that green buildings ensured safety for people, as well as investment efficiency for real estate developers.Picking on the trend, the BMAM & GBR Expo Asia 2017 the 10th International Exhi-bition and Conference on Building Maintenance and Facilities Management will be held in Thailand for the Asia market on September 20.The three-day event will open the doors towards a wide range of products for the man-agement of building, factory and town, security, fire and safety, as well as plant and machine maintenance, work space management, pest management and all other pro-fessional services under one roof.It is held alongside GBR Expo Asia 2017 the 7th International Exhibition and Confer-ence on Green Building and Retrofits for the Asia Market. GBR Expo Asia 2017 features the latest update on green building trends, issues and knowledge, along with a panel discussion among industry players, making it attractive to developers and the build-ing and construction industry. Various case studies and presentations will also be pre-sented by industry speakers local and international with varied expertise and achievements.


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The expo has launched a new campaign "Unlock the Asean FM and Green Building Po-tential," targeting Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar and Vietnam for the purpose of bringing in buyers (government and association) from these countries.Do Dung from the IMPACT Official Representatives in Vietnam, the expo's organiser, said the event would help Vietnamese construction firms to pick up the new trend in the fourth industrial revolution to better integrate into the world.In addition, it would be a good opportunity for local companies to exchange experi-ences with others while seeking business cooperation.http://bizhub.vn/events/green-buildings-to-set-new-trend-expert_286688.html

Going green: Clean energy generates giant investments across Vietnam

07/JUN/2017 INTELLASIA | VNEXPRESS

It looks like investors are trying to cash in on incentives for green power projects.More large renewable energy projects are being registered in Vietnam thanks to lower manufacturing costs made possible in part by the government's preferential policies.Given its distinctive climate with a lot of wind and sunshine but low rainfall, the south-central region has emerged as a new hub for clean energy in Vietnam.Binh Thuan Province in April allowed investors to pour over VND90 trillion ($4 bil-lion) into 20 renewable energy projects.Highlights among those projects are three wind and solar power plants worth VND13.8 trillion being built by Duc Long Gia Lai Group.The biggest among the three will be built in Phan Thiet Town. It will have an annual capacity of 200 megawatts ( MW) and is expected to cost VND6 trillion.The company said this is the very first phase of its long-term plan to invest VND30 tril-lion in clean power from now until 2020.Power Generation Corporation 3, a subsidiary of the country's power monopoly Viet-nam Electricity (EVN), previously registered a solar power plant with a designed out-put of 350MW in Ninh Thuan Province.The company plans to spend VND9.57 trillion on the plant, which is scheduled for completion in early 2021.Khanh Hoa Province in March agreed in principle for EVN's Central Power Corpora-tion and a local firm to develop two solar power projects worth VND4.3 trillion.Last week, Binh Dinh Province also granted a license for Fujiwara Corporation to in-vest VND1.45 trillion in a solar and wind power plant.The Japanese company will start work this year and plans to complete the first phase of the project in 2019.Bamboo Capital, a Vietnamese firm with no previous background in clean energy, has plans to spend $100 million in this field, deputy CEO Nguyen Thanh Hung told VnEx-press.As planned, the company will build a 140- MW solar plant in the southern province of Long An and seek permission to launch more projects in the central region."We expect to be selling clean power within the next year and make it one of our major business by 2020," he said.The increasing demand for energy and the limited amount of fossil fuel are the first reasons for this renewable energy investment trend in Vietnam, said Nguyen Anh Tu-an, a senior energy official at the industry and trade ministry.With the development of new technologies, the cost for producing clean energy has dropped from VND3,500 to VND2,200-2,500 per kilowatt-hour (kWh), Tuan said."Privileges for solar power project investors are another reason for this trend. The gov-ernment has raised the buying price from 7.8 US cents to 9.35 US cents/kWh, offered investors tax incentives and cut land use fees," he said.Investors in wind power projects will likely have the same incentives in the near fu-ture, he added.Vietnam is trying to generate enough energy for growth and for the millions of people who still lack access to electricity while gradually shifting towards clean and low-car-bon energy.Last year, the government revised down its output target for coal-fired power plants


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to 53.2 percent of the total power generation by 2030 from the 56.4 percent previously projected.Vietnam is aiming to produce 10.7 percent of its total electricity through renewable en-ergy by 2030, mainly solar and wind energy, up from the 6 percent previously planned.http://e.vnexpress.net/news/business/economy/going-green-clean-energy-generates-giant-investments-across-vietnam-3595597.html

Where does competition by offering discounts lead 'giants' in plastics industry to?

07/JUN/2017 INTELLASIA| DTCK

The position of many "giants" in the field of construction plastics is being affected when some giants in other industries enter the market such as Hoa Sen Group, Tan A Dai Thanh.*Binh Minh Plastic sees declining profitsIn Q1/2017, Binh Minh Plastic JSC (coded BMP) a business that accounts for 50 percent of the plastic pipe market share in the South and about 25 percent of the country's plas-tic pipe market share recorded falling profits, despite increased sales.Specifically, Binh Minh Plastics reached 831.5 billion dong consolidated revenue, and 100.1 billion dong consolidated after-tax profits. Compared to the business result in the same period of 2016 with 722.5 billion dong revenue and 198.3 billion dong profits, Binh Minh Plastics' revenue in Q1/2017 surged but profits fell approximately 50 per-cent.Explaining about this, Binh Minh plastics said in the first quarter of this year, the cost of sales quadrupled, the price of major raw materials swelled nearly 25 percent year-on-year.The business result of Binh Minh Plastics show that the revenue deductions in Q1/2017 were more than 73 billion dong, compared to 18 billion dong in the same period last year. With this factor, the company's cost of goods sold (COGS) on net revenue in Q1/2017 was more than 77.2 percent, compared to nearly 61.6 percent in Q1/2016.*Tien Phong Plastic: profit rises but profit margin continues to fallWhile BMP's Q1/2017 profit slumped, the after-tax profit of Tien Phong Plastic JSC (coded NTP) increased. Specifically, the company earned over 1.030 trillion dong con-solidated revenue, 93.6 billion dong consolidated after-tax profit compared to the re-spective figures of 810.7 billion dong and 83.5 billion dong in the same period last year.Despite the increase in revenue and profits, the report on business results of Tien Phong Plastic also showed the pressures that the company is experiencing. In Q1/2017, Tien Phong Plastic accounted the sales cost of 201.6 billion dong, increasing sharply from the figure in the same period of 2016 at 135.7 billion dong while the revenue rose 271 percent. The company's COGS on net revenue was 65.4 percent, compared to 63.5 percent in the same period last year.Large inventories helped Tien Phong Plastic to have the lower increase in COGS on net revenue in Q1/2017 than Binh Minh Plastic but the increase in the plastic beads the ma-terial that accounts for about 80 percent of the company's cost of sales may affect its profits since Q2/2017.*Competitive pressure seen from the perspective of businessesAs a business that holds as much as 57 percent of market share in the North, 27-32 per-cent of the country's market share in the sector of civil pipes, Tien Phong Plastic itself is suffering great competitive pressures from the traditional rivals including Binh Minh Plastics and new market entrants.Tien Phong Plastic's 2016 annual report has partly reflected the competitive story that the company has to face as well as the industry's picture."The current market, with new competitors including Hoa Sen Group (HSG), Tan A Dai Thanh and competitors from Europe as well as in the region (especially Thailand) as Vietnam has been concluding bilateral and multilateral trade agreements, poses high risks of losing market shares as well as reducing profit margin".Binh Minh Plastic is still a heavyweight rival, which was previously the leader in the Southern construction plastic market. Binh Minh Plastic has participated in gaining


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market share in the North and will be a strong threat to Tien Phong Plastic though their factories in this area are not effective.Most recently, the acquisition of Da Nang Plastic JSC (DPC) is also a potential threat to the market share in the Central region of Tien Phong Plastic.With the ambition of achieving the profit margins like Tien Phong Plastic and Binh Minh Plastic, HSG has jumped into the construction plastic pipe in several recent years.Although it has not had "a voice" in the market, with the available production capacity along with strong and nationwide distribution channel built over decades, the compet-itiveness of HSG is impossible to underestimate".At the annual general meeting in 2017, Tien Phong Plastic's management board shared concerns about the challenges from new rivals. "After 3-5 years, whether Tien Phong Plastic can achieve the target of holding the leading position in both market share and profit or not depends on many factors.With the growing number of competitors, it is difficult to maintain the market share target by putting profit target as the first priority.Even rivals who are leading in profit target will gradually return to the industry's prof-it margins. Therefore, the balance between profit and market share is necessary", said Tran Ba Phuc, Chair of Tien Phong Plastic.Similarly, Binh Minh Plastic also demonstrates the competitive pressure that the com-pany is facing in its 2017 annual report."Trillions of dong invested in the construction of factories and equipment by experi-enced manufacturing units and new players in the plastic pipe market have created the most intense, most competitive environment than ever", commented Binh Minh Plas-tic."The market is like a battlefield which is increasingly intense. Competitors do not hes-itate to compete for customers and market share of Binh Minh Plastic with all kinds of tactics from discount policy to bad talks, spreading bad rumours, etc.", (quoted from Binh Minh Plastics' annual report).*Competing by big discountTalking to the local Newswire Dau Tu Chung Khoan, Chair of a real estate business said over the last period, the business has reached an agreement with a new market entrant in the field of civil plastic pipe, with the discount of 40-60 percent compared to the market."They invest in a big factory and have just entered the market, so they accept to sell very cheaply. Therefore, we have signed a package contract for all projects in the sys-tem. This type of competition is difficult for other businesses to follow", said the afore-mentioned Chair.In reality, discount for agents is the race of giants in the plastics sector.As per Tien Phong Plastic, high discount for agents is the way for the company to ob-tain and expand market share in the context of intense competition. Binh Minh Plastic has raised the discount rate to four percent in Q1/2017.Regarding shareholders' question about the information that Ton Hoa Sen applies dis-count policy amounting to 35 percent for plastics products, Le Quang Doanh, Chair of Binh Minh Plastic said "Binh Minh Plastic does not run after discount policy. Some businesses have offered 50 percent discount. Running after discount policy means no stop".However, some said that Tien Phong Plastic or Binh Minh Plastic are difficult to stand outside the discount race when the new players of this industry such as Ton Hoa Sen, Tan A Dai Thanh are likely to dominate the market very quickly thanks to the price policy.It is likely that only when the profit margin of giants falls to the industry 's average, can the competition by discount decline.

PM Phuc woos Japan investors


Prime minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc at the Vietnam Investment Conference in Tokyo on


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June 5 called for Japanese firms to do business in Vietnam, saying there are numerous opportunities for them to forge strategic ties with Vietnamese firms now that the two countries have broadened their strategic partnership.Phuc told 1,600 business executives, including 200 from Vietnam, attending the con-ference that the Vietnamese economy is now wide open for Japanese investors in all business spheres."We expect investment funds and corporations from Japan to invest in active projects in Vietnam, or set up new projects in areas such as infrastructure development, logis-tics, aviation, tourism, healthcare, biology, high-tech agriculture, and supporting in-dustries," Phuc was quoted by the Vietnam News Agency as saying at the conference.The government leader noted that Vietnam is stepping up mergers and acquisitions associated with the equitisation of State-owned enterprises in various areas including transport, infrastructure, food processing, telecom, construction and tourism. Such a process is offering great opportunities for Japanese companies to enter into strategic partnerships with Vietnamese firms, he said.Vietnam is also improving its legal frameworks to make it favourable for the execution of public-private partnership projects in infrastructure development, Japanese corpo-rations are known to have an edge in this investment format, the prime minister said. Phuc encouraged Japanese investors to work side by side with Vietnamese partners, especially in technology transfer, branding, enhancement of corporate governance, and supply chain development.He noted the current time is quite favourable for Japanese investors, as Vietnam has signed 12 free trade agreements with international partners and is about to sign four more trade deals with partners in the near future. Such developments make Vietnam an important link in the economic cooperation network involving 55 countries, includ-ing many under the Group of 20 and the Group of Seven advanced economies.Japanese firms at the meeting suggested the Vietnamese government develop high-quality manpower, especially Japanese-speaking staff, and loosen regulations on equipment imports.Phuc said the government would consider the proposals and revise policies in the near future. He noted that both nations have huge potential for cooperation ahead, express-ing his hopes for a new and powerful investment wave from Japan to the Southeast Asian country.Japan is Vietnam's fourth biggest trade partner, with two-way trade in 2016 hitting $30 billion. It is also the second biggest foreign investor in Vietnam, with $42 billion com-mitted in 3,200 active projects in the country.Vietnam and Japan have become strategic partners of each other, especially in the fields of economy, trade and investment. Vietnam will continue to do its utmost to sharpen the national economy's competitive edge and attract foreign investors includ-ing those from Japan, the leader said at the conference.Apart from economic cooperation, the two countries have also strengthened education cooperation. The Vietnam-Japan University has become a symbol for this cooperation, while the number of Vietnamese students furthering their studies in Japan has risen strongly and has reached 150,000.While in Japan for an official visit, PM Phuc on June 5 also attended the 23rd Interna-tional Conference on The Future of Asia organised by Nikkei Inc. in Tokyo.In his address at the conference, he stressed that "globalisation is an unavoidable trend, whether we support it or not." The prime minister added that after the United States withdrew from the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, both Vietnam and Japan are working with other partners to look for a viable way to advance the free trade deal.http://english.thesaigontimes.vn/54338/PM-Phuc-woos-Japan-investors.html

PM calls for Japanese investment in information technology


Prime minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has called on Japanese groups and companies to invest in Vietnam, especially in hi-tech and environmentally-friendly projects, when chairing a talk with representatives from 60 local businesses operating in information


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technology in Tokyo on June 6.Vietnam holds advantages and potential in developing IT, agriculture, tourism and human resources improvement, he said, adding that information technology is boom-ing in the country.In 2015, Vietnam entered Top10 Asian-Pacific and Top 30 world software outsourcing nations. In 2016, its export turnover of mobile phones, computers, cameras and spare parts exceeded 55 billion USD.About 52 percent of the population are using the Internet and 60 percent of under-35 people quickly get update on new technology, PM Phuc noted.The government leader told participants that Vietnam has actively carried out meas-ures to reform institution and law, better the business environment and promote start-up and innovation.He quoted the Japan External Trade Organisation's report as saying that 90 percent of Japanese enterprises believe in more profits when expanding operation in Vietnam, while 63 percent of businesses earn profits in 2016 and 66.6 percent plan to expand business in the country.The government leader took the occasion to invite Japanese businesses to participate in Apec Year 2017 activities in Vietnam, saying that this will be a chance to understand more about Vietnam, expand operation and seek investment opportunities in the country.At the event, participating businesses shared that they had gained success when run-ning business in Vietnam.They affirmed to contribute more to the two countries' relations and Vietnam's socio-economic development.PM Phuc affirmed that the Vietnamese government and localities will create all fa-vourable conditions for Japanese investors.http://en.vietnamplus.vn/pm-calls-for-japanese-investment-in-information-technolo-gy/112878.vnp

Vietnam, Japan ink $22bn worth of trade deals at 'historic' conference

07/JUN/2017 INTELLASIA | TUOITRE NEWS

Delegations from Vietnam and Japan have closed approximately $22 billion worth of trade agreements and business deals after what Vietnamese prime minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc called a historic conference in Tokyo on Monday.The event's organisers had to provide an extra 100 seats when 1,600 people showed up at the conference, held as part of the Vietnamese prime minister's June 4-8 visit to Ja-pan.The biggest ever conference on promoting investment in Vietnam was held by the Ja-pan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) in conjunction with the Vietnamese Minis-try of Planning and Investment, the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ (BTMU) and Vietnam's Vietinbank.PM Phuc delivered a keynote speech at the event, affirming Japan as a crucial export market for Vietnam since the 17th century and at the same time promoting Vietnam as a promising opportunity for Japanese investors.The Vietnamese head of government confirmed his belief that "nothing can prevent a new era of close and trustworthy cooperation between Vietnam and Japan."As of the end of 2016, there were more than 3,200 Japanese-invested projects in Viet-nam with total registered capital of $42 billion, accounting for 15 percent of the coun-try's entire foreign direct investment, according to the Vietnamese premier.Citing a recent JETRO survey, PM Phuc said that up to 90 percent of Japanese firms believe that business expansion in Vietnam will help them improve their profit mar-gin."Today we witnessed a historic investment conference between Vietnam and Japan," the premier told the 1,600 attendees."I can confirm that Japanese investment in Vietnam at this time meets all the crucial factors right time, right place, and right people."PM Phuc reiterated his trust in Japan as a strategic partner of Vietnam, expressing his


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belief that their close bilateral ties will be a foundation for prosperity in both countries.Following the keynote speech by his Vietnamese counterpart, Japan's prime minister Shinzo Abe said the two heads of government will continue their strong support for Japanese firms' investment activity in Vietnam, through high-quality infrastructure projects, investment improvement and personnel training.Vietnam and Japan will also step up their cooperation across multiple fields to rein-force free trade, according to PM Abe.Following the conference, the two heads of government witnessed the hand-over of contracts, investment licenses and agreements worth a combined total of $22 billion.http://tuoitrenews.vn/business/41326/vietnam-japan-ink-22bn-worth-of-trade-at-his-toric-conference

Vinh Long seeks to promote trade in Australia


Authorities of the Mekong Delta province of Vinh Long held a working session with Seraco international education consulting company on June 6 to discuss trade and in-vestment promotion with Australia.Seraco general director Dinh Van Vinh said apart from linking Vietnamese and Aus-tralian universities and colleges together, the company also serves as a bridge connect-ing businesses between the two countries.As scheduled, Seraco will complete a project on displaying Vietnamese goods in Aus-tralia later this year. Following the display, the firm will set up a showroom for long-term advertisement of the goods in the country, thus making it easier for Vietnamese goods to navigate the market.Vice director of the provincial Department of Industry and Trade Vu Ngoc Tu said Vinh Long is strong in fisheries, high-tech farm produce and handicrafts. In the near future, the department will work closely with Seraco to learn about regular exhibitions in Australia and its goods demand to submit a detailed trade promotion plan to the provincial authorities.In the first quarter of this year, the province will hold a national-scale trade promotion conference, affording Australian investors a chance to connect with Vietnamese firms, he said.Vice President of the provincial People's Committee Lu Quang Ngoi said Vinh Long will support the company in working with local units, thus facilitating its role as a bridge between the province and Australia, especially in human resources training and trade promotion.http://en.vietnamplus.vn/vinh-long-seeks-to-promote-trade-in-australia/112893.vnp

Is the door to US market narrowing for Vietnamese exporters?

07/JUN/2017 INTELLASIA | VIETNAMNET

The value of Vietnam's exports to the US increased from $1 billion in 2001 to $38.46 bil-lion in 2016, and it may reach $40 billion in 2017.Vietnam last year was the 13th largest exporter to the US, with export turnover increas-ing by 14.9 percent compared with 2015.However, many Vietnamese exporters complain it is becoming more difficult to export products to the US.Bich Chi, specialising in rice products, has stopped selling its goods to New York and has found it difficult to approach supermarket chains in other states in the US.Bich Chi exports $6 million worth of products to the US every year. However, its prod-ucts are mostly sold in small supermarkets owned by Vietnamese, or at Walong and Gia Thanh owned by Chinese.Walmart also sells Bich Chi's products, but it imports products through Japanese and SK collection companies.Analysts said exports to the US are growing, but they are likely to decrease because of the weak capability of predicting the market, changes in the US market, and weak ca-pability of Vietnamese to adapt to new circumstances and trade barriers.Moreover, as Vietnam's support industries have not developed well, the country has to import input materials in large quantities to make products. As a result, it will have


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disadvantages when global prices fluctuate.They warned that pressure on exporters will be worse in the time to come when the Trump administration implements two executive decrees on trade.Vietnam has been listed among 16 countries allegedly "stealing" US wealth. The coun-try has a trade surplus of $32 billion with the US.In March 2017, 98,000 jobs were generated in non-agricultural sectors in the US, while the unemployment rate fell to a 10-year low to 4.5 percent, according to the US Depart-ment of Labour.Thus, Trump will be more radical in implementing the "US first" policy to revive eco-nomic growth of 3 percent in the second quarter of 2017.According to Le Sy Giang, an expert who worked at the Competition Administration Department for many years, Vietnam has been named in a trade fraud list, which will have negative impact on Vietnamese enterprises doing business with the US.It is highly possible that the US will maintain strict monitoring over imports with rapid growth, instead of general monitoring as it did in the past. This will be applied to prod-ucts such as Vietnam's catfish.As a result, the growth rate of farm and seafood exports could slow down in the time to come.http://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/business/179735/is-the-door-to-us-market-narrow-ing-for-vietnamese-exporters-.html

BIZ NEWS

Business Briefs Jun 07, 2017

07/JUN/2017 INTELLASIA |

* Dream House Investment Corporation (DRH) will be selling 400,000 shares of Dream House Cuu Long Joint Stock Company at VND21,OOO each in the second quarter of 2017 to raise around VND8.4 billion. DRH will reduce its ownership at Dream House Cuu Long to 19.4 percent, or 1.94 million shares, after the sale.* Central Power Real Estate Company (LEC) has got approval to float over 26.1 million shares on the Hochiminh Stock Exchange.* The Hanoi Stock Exchange organised 28 government bond auctions in May with over VND23.8 trillion mobilised, down 4.9 percent from the previous month. In which, the State Treasury raised VND21.8 trillion from bond sales and the Vietnam Bankfor Social Policies mobilised VND2 trillion. The winning coupons dropped slightly from April, ranging from 5.03 percent to 5.4 percent a year for five-year debt, 5.34-5.5 percent per annum for seven-year debt, 5.91-6.41 percent for 10 year debt, 6.64-7.15 percent for IS-year debt,7 -7.09 percent for20-year debt and 7.55-7.63 percent for 3D-year debt.* Marine Supply and EngineeringService Company(MAC) has passed a plan to issue 60,000 inconvertible secured bonds with a face value ofVNDI million each. The papers come with a term of24 months and coupons of around 11-13 percent per annum. MAC expects to issue the bonds in two phasesand offer in a private placement to less than 100 institutional and individual investors. It will use the proceeds to supplement working capital and investina warehouse and port logistics project in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province.* Hoc Mon Trade Company (HTC) has got approval to invest in a housingprojectinH-CMCwith a total investmentofVND768 billion. HTC looks to develop the project in three yeprs to accommodate around 670 people.* Hoa Tho Textile and Garment Company (HTG) will begin trading 22.5 million shares on the market for unlisted public companies, or UPCoM, on June 14 at the reference price ofVND27,OOO each. It is active in apparel and material production, trading and export, tourism, transport and real estate. In the first quarter" of 2017, HTG reported revenue of VND859 billion, up 28 percent year-on-year, but its net profit declined 35 percent at VND6 billion, meeting 23 percent and 7.5 percent of this year's respective targets.

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Markets continue upward trend as blue chips gain


Shares continued to rally on the two local exchanges on Tuesday morning, boosted once again by large-cap stocks.The benchmark VN Index on the HCM Stock Exchange was up 0.42 per cent at 746.61 points.On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, the HNX Index also added 0.42 per cent to reach 95.32 points.Large-cap stocks continued to demonstrate their strength in supporting the market rise.Eight of the 10 largest stocks by market value and liquidity advanced, including sector leaders such as Vinamilk (VNM), PV Gas (GAS), Vietcombank (VCB), VinGroup (VIC), Vietinbank (CTG) and Hoa Phat Group (HPG).At the other end, lender BIDV (BID), private equity firm Masan Group (MSN) and Hoang Anh Gia Lai Agricultural Investment (HNG) and logistics company Gemadept (GMD) tumbled.A total of 133 million shares worth a combined VND2.4 trillion (US$106 million) were traded in the two bourses.Market analysts expect the VN Index to overcome its short-term threshold of 750 points, provided large-cap stocks continue to grow, and market liquidity remains pos-itive.The afternoon session starts at 1pm.http://bizhub.vn/markets/markets-continue-upward-trend-as-blue-chips-gain_286683.html

Bank shares lift VN Index over threshold


The benchmark VN Index overcame the threshold of 750 points on June 6, boosted by strong growth of the banking sector. Recently announced government support policies have led to positive predictions for the sector this year.On the HCM Stock Exchange, the VN Index increased 1.05 percent to close at 751.31 points, marking a new nine-year peak for the third time in the past month.On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index edged up 0.86 percent to end at 95.74 points. The northern market index rose 2.7 percent in the last five sessions.The banking sector remained the major support for the market as eight of nine listed lenders advanced, of which Sacombank (STB) and Nam Viet Bank (NVB) hit the ceiling prices.FTSE ETF late last week added shares of Sacombank into its portfolio in the next quar-ter together with real estate company Novaland Investment Group (NVL).Four of the biggest valued banks including Vietcombank (VCB), BIDV (BID), Viet-inbank (CTG) and Military Bank (MBB) leapt 1.6-3.9 percent each.Bank shares recorded an average growth of 3.26 percent, according to data on viet-stock.vn on June 6.The government's recent resolution on bad debt settlement and the central bank's al-lowance for State-owned commercial joint stock banks to keep dividends which are supposed to be paid to the State budget to hike their charter capital are expected to boost business results of banks this year.Growth of other large-cap stocks like Vinamilk (VNM), brewery Sabeco (SAB), Petrolimex (PXL) and PV Gas (GAS) also contributed to the market rise.Steel shares were on the uptrend given strong buys from foreign traders. Hoa Phat Group (HPG) and Hoa Sen Group (HSG), the two biggest listed steelmakers, were the two most purchased by the foreign sector.Net buy values on these two shares were 61 billion VND (2.7 million USD) for HPG shares and roughly 23 billion VND on HSG shares.According to analysts at Bao Viet Securities Co, profit-taking pressure is likely to dra-matically increase in coming sessions. With declining liquidity, investors should avoid new disbursement and wait for more signals from the market, they said.Liquidity decreased on June 6 with a total of over 261 million shares worth 4.8 trillion


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VND (211.5 million USD) traded in the two markets, down 8.6 percent in volume and 17.2 percent in value compared to the previous day's figures.http://en.vietnamplus.vn/bank-shares-lift-vnindex-over-threshold/112902.vnp

VN Index breaks through 750 points

07/JUN/2017 INTELLASIA | VNECONOMIC TIMES

All main indexes close higher on solid June 6.All main indexes on Vietnam's stock market gained ground on June 6.On HSX, the VN Index increased 7.82 points (1.05 per cent) and the VN30-Index 10.95 points (1.52 per cent).On HNX, the HNX-Index closed up 0.82 points (0.86 per cent), the HNX30-Index 0.43 points (0.25 per cent), and the UPCoM-Index 0.24 points (0.42 per cent).Liquidity on HSX reached VND3.6 trillion ($158.4 million), virtually the same as yes-terday, and on HNX was VND608 billion ($26.7 million), 3 per cent lower.The VN Index opened at 733.49 points then fluctuated for most of the morning until late on, when it rose sharply to close at 746.6 points. It then edged upwards all after-noon and finished the day at 751.31 points.In food and beverages, STB reached its ceiling in rising 6.9 per cent, while VNM in-creased 0.3 per cent and KDC and SAB 0.2 per cent. MSN and BVH fell 0.5 per cent and 0.1 per cent, respectively.All major banking shares increased, with STB reaching its ceiling in rising 6.7 per cent, while VCB gained 3.9 per cent, BID 3.7 per cent, EIB 2.6 per cent, CTG 2.1 per cent, and MBB 1.6 per cent.In energy, PGD increased 3.5 per cent, CNG 0.9 per cent, PLX 0.7 per cent, and GAS 0.4 per cent.In real estate, QCG rose 2.3 per cent, FLC 0.7 per cent, NVL 0.6 per cent, and VIC 0.1 per cent, while KBC closed at its opening price and KDH lost 1.2 per cent.Among other large caps, FPT increased 2.4 per cent, ROS 0.4 per cent, BVH 0.2 per cent, and VJC 0.1 per cent.ROS saw the highest liquidity on HSX, with VND384 billion ($17 million), followed by VCB with VND180 billion ($8 million) and STB with VND179 billion ($7.8 million). The largest cap, VNM, saw poor trade, of just VND36 billion ($1.6 million).On HNX, ACB increased 2 per cent, VCG 1.1 per cent, and VCS 0.4 per cent. PHP and VNR closed at their opening price while SHB lost 1.4 per cent and PVI and PVS 0.6 per cent.Foreign investors net bought on HSX by VND167 billion ($7.3 million) and on HNX by VND8 billion ($352,080).http://vneconomictimes.com/article/banking-finance/vn-index-breaks-through-750-points

Product most challenging issue for derivatives market


The Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX) has announced derivative trading guidelines for in-vestors. Accordingly, it is not difficult to join the market as investor only needs to open a sub-account in addition to the existing account. However, to conduct transactions and enjoy the new market, the parties need to make efforts.Peter Kolz, international expert on derivatives market, said that the interest of inves-tors in Vietnamese derivative products is practical, but it is an uneasy task to attract their participation.In fact, although the scale of Vietnam's stock market has risen rapidly since 2015 up to now, 99 percent of investors are individuals.Peter believed that in order to be useful, the products must match the taste of not only professional investors but the majority of investors on the market. The product issue is the biggest challenge for the Vietnam's derivatives market.After more than two years of formation, HNX said that the first product line to be trad-ed on the derivatives market is the futures contracts of the VN30-Index.At the same time, there will be four Contract Months for the trading of the VN30-In-dex, including the futures contract for the current month, futures contract for the next


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month, the futures contract for the last month of the latest quarter, and the futures con-tract for the end of the next quarter. The margin on this market is only 10 percent with an amplitude of 7 percent.Investors make profit on the derivatives market based on expectations and prediction of the volatility of the VN30-Index. For example, if forecasting that this index will rise or fall in the near future, investors will place a buy order for a futures contract. When the index rises or falls as expected, the investor then can sell that contract to make prof-it. It actually means that the investor makes an order to sell a futures contract of the same term with a holding contract, to balance the position with the existing contract and the total position at zero. The profit will be in cash. If there is no contract held pre-viously to balance the position, the sale of the new contract is actually a buy. Investor will have to pay (initial deposit) for a contract.The fundamental difference of the derivatives market is that both buyers and sellers interact with the Vietnam Securities Depository (VSD). VSD plays a central role, buys from people who want to sell and sell to people who want to buy the product.Investors will not have to worry about having no buyers or finding no sellers. VSD's Chair Nguyen Son shared that VSD is ready in all aspects (legal, infrastructure, and management capacity etc.) to act as a clearing partner on the Vietnam derivatives mar-ket.For individual investors, it is difficult to understand and identify derivative products. Leaders of many securities firms shared that they are still not know thoroughly after a few lessons about derivatives.For a new market with complex products, it requires a lot of work from many subjects to make it easy to be understood and help investors manage.The selection of V30-Index derivative product to be traded first also attracts the atten-tion of many people. Nevertheless, the reality is that many sophisticated financial in-struments, which are very much expected such as public fund certificates, and exchange traded funds (ETFs) etc., when being put into practice have not created the capital attraction as expectedSo far, the State Securities Commission has licensed six securities firms to operate on the derivatives market. Based on that, HNX has approved three of these six firms as trading members (including Saigon Securities Incorporation (SSI), Hochiminh city Se-curities Company (HSC), and VPBank Securities Company (VPBS). It took these firms at least two years to prepare for human resource, technical infrastructure and technol-ogy, etc. before being approved.At some units, the issue about joining the derivatives market is carefully considered, because the investment is not small, while the benefits need long time to be countable.For MB Securities Company (MBS), the participation in the derivatives market has been proposed by the Board of directors to the Shareholders Committee, to get a con-sensus as a major activity which needs long-term investment. According to MBS's Chair Le Quoc Minh, the provision of derivative products and services is part of MBS Development Strategy until 2020.The aspiration of MBS is to be in the Top three in brokerage market share by 2020. Ac-cordingly, in its core business model, the key products include financial products and services, and derivative products.Sharing with shareholders about the roadmap to build Vietnam's derivative products, MBS Board of directors recommended shareholders to consider and approve the busi-ness registration of derivative securities.Despite assessing that derivative business is a distant future, MBS's shareholders have supported this proposal. MBS, SSI, HSC, BSC, VNDS and VPBS are the first securities firms to receive trading licenses on the derivatives market from the authority.The issue about derivatives market is gradually being conveyed through the media, but in fact, this market needs the combined force of many subjects in a long-term vi-sion.International expert Peter Kolz said that the derivatives market will only operate effi-ciently if the base market such as bond market, stock market and currency market per-


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form well. These conditions also need a lot more time.

Three more companies trade on UPCoM


The Infrastructure Development and Construction Corporation (Licogi) officially be-gan trading 90 million shares on the Unlisted Public Company Market (UPCoM) under the stock code LIC at a starting price of 4,900 VND (22 US cents) per share on June 5.In April 2015, the corporation sold nearly 21.3 million shares during its initial public offering (IPO) at a starting price of 10,000 VND per share.The equity auction saw positive results, with the entire offering being sold to 106 indi-vidual investors. It brought in more than 212.8 billion VND (9.3 million USD) and in-creased the company's charter capital to 900 billion VND (39.6 million USD) following the equitisation.However, in 2016, Licogi reported a net loss of 293.4 billion VND, a negative cash flow of 142 billion VND and total short-term debt in excess of current assets by 803.5 billion VND.This year, the corporation set a target of 931.4 billion VND in net revenue and 29.4 bil-lion VND in after-tax profits.On the same day, the Ho Chi Minh Museum Construction Company (HMS) and the Viettronics Binh Hoa Joint Stock Company (VBH) also began trading stocks on UP-CoM at starting prices of 20,000 VND and 20,900 VND per share, respectively.http://en.vietnamplus.vn/three-more-companies-trade-on-upcom/112861.vnp

Small securities firms still struggle despite changing ownership


While large securities firms are busy preparing for the derivatives market which is about to be opened soon, small securities units are still struggling to find a way al-though their owners have been changed.Vietnam Construction Securities Company (VNCS) is the new name of Phuong Hoang Securities Company (PCS) after the change of ownership in 2016. VNCS has officially come into operation since February this year and been encountering various difficul-ties from the poor financial and business status of PCS.More than a year ago, in May 2016, 15 shareholders of PCS sold 100 percent of their shareholdings to three new individuals including Hoang Xuan Hung (60.1 percent), Nguyen Minh Trang (20 percent), and Nguyen Thanh Hai (19.9 percent). By the end of 2016, the company recorded 773 million dong of revenue, over five billion dong losses, and just over 26 billion dong of equity out of the total contribution of 35 billion dong. VNCS aimed to not suffer loss in 2017.According to general director of VNCS Nguyen Quynh Anh, the company is restruc-turing is operation and making investment in preparation for future development. VNCS is currently focusing on two main driving forces technology and human re-sources, in order to retain customers. Along with making investment, VNCS is striving to maintain its strength which is the relationship with foreign customers, especially in-vestors from China.Despite being ambitious in improving business situation, VNCS's general director also admitted that with the limited charter capital of 35 billion dong, the competitiveness of the company is very modest. VNCS is taking steps to raise the charter capital to 60 billion dong, contributed by internal shareholders.Prior to PCS, An Nam Securities Company had to sell itself to Shinhan Investment Company (belongs to Shinhan Financial Group from South Korea). The acquisition of An Nam completed in July 2015, but it was only officially renamed Shinhan Vietnam Securities Company (SSV) on February 4th 2016 under the license of the State Securi-ties Commission.After the change in ownership, SSV's business situation is also as difficult as VNCS, al-though the potential of Shinhan Group is not small. According to financial statement, SSV suffered loss of 3.85 billion dong in the first quarter of 2017.During the period, SSV only attained 1.4 billion dong revenue (doubled the same pe-riod) but mainly due to the revaluation of fair value through profit or loss (FVTPL). In


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addition, SSV gained only 20 million dong from brokerage and 40 million dong from financial advisory. By the end of March, SSV recorded an accumulated loss of over 15 billion dong of the charter capital of 146 billion dong. According to SSV, in the first quarter of 2017, the costs continued to sharply rise as SSV recruited more staff and in-vested in assets and equipment needed for business operation.Brokerage is the main business segment accounting for the core proportion of revenue and profit of securities companies. The brokerage shares are increasingly focused on large-scale securities units, especially when new products are introduced in the near future such as derivatives and T+0. With the conditions that securities parting in these type of trading must have at least 800 billion dong of charter capital, the opportunities for small securities firms is increasingly small, particularly those are operating poorly and merged or acquired in the period of accelerating restructuring of the industry.In the first months of this year, the trend of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) between securities has been ongoing. In March, the general Shareholders Meeting of Vietnam Investment Securities Company (IVS) approved the plan to merge with Japan Securi-ties Incorporated (JSI) to increase financial capacity and diversify customers.Accordingly, after the merger, IVS's charter capital is expected to increase to about 372 billion dong, and JSI will become the Sales Department of IVS exclusively for the Jap-anese market.Saigon Hanoi Securities Company (SHS) and SHB Securities Company also have plan to merge. They are currently carrying the same brand name of a bank and sharing com-mon shareholders. This deal is expected to be carried out in 2017.At the annual shareholders meeting this year, leader of SHS said to shareholders that the merger has more benefits than limits.SHBS's capital is small, bad debts were cleaned before the merger and the remaining is insignificant. Shareholders of SHS also questioned about the business situation of SHBS as its 2016 audited financial report has not been released.In the context of fierce competition on the market, while major securities companies are becoming more and more prominent with ongoing development and ambition to acquire market share, M&A trend to increase competitiveness of the remaining secu-rities companies is inevitable. However, to find their own way, maintain, and lift up after being merged or acquired remains a significant challenge.

Ministry demands multiple incentives for N-S Expressway


The Ministry of Transport has proposed a slew of incentive mechanisms for the North-South Expressway project.First, the ministry suggests that the government instruct the State Bank of Vietnam to come up with effective solutions to allow the big-ticket project's investors to access bank loans, especially those from the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank.Second, the ministry wants that only a preliminary environmental impact assessment is needed in the project's pre-feasibility study. Besides, it asks the government's ap-proval to raise toll fees in the project's feasibility study and contract.Third, the ministry wants to have the right to stipulate the process of owner's capital mobilisation in line with the progress of the project's implementation, and to apply various types of investment formats and contracts within the project that is divided into multiple component projects.Fourth, the ministry asks the government's permission to appoint consultants respon-sible for drawing up the project's feasibility study and technical design, as well as con-sultants offering appraisal services on the project in phase one.Finally, the ministry wants that the government delegate the power to it in negotiating with investors of National Highway 1 sections. In particular, investors of highway sections completed ahead of schedule under build-operate-transfer (BOT) projects will enjoy long-er toll collection periods.The large-scale project with four to six traffic lanes and allowing for speeds of 80-100 kil-ometers per hour requires total capital of VND312.4 trillion (US$13.7 billion). It will be di-vided into 20 component projects, with 17 of them under the BOT investment format.


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The main section from Hanoi City to HCM City has 1,622 kilometers in length, of which 123 kilometers has been opened to traffic, including the Phap Van-Cau Gie, Cau Gie-Ninh Binh, and HCM City-Long Thanh-Dau Giay sections. Besides, work on the 127-kilometer Danang-Quang Ngai section has been underway.In phase one, work on 713 kilometers is divided into 11 sub-projects, with eight public-private partnership (PPP) and BOT ones, and three others under the public investment format in 2017-2020. Site clearance for the period is split into 20 sub-projects and man-aged by local governments.Besides, around 659 kilometers is developed under nine BOT sub-projects from 2011 to 2025.The second phase from 2025 onwards is intended to extend the North-South Express-way in accordance with the project's approved master plan.The first phase requires total capital of VND243.3 trillion, with VND55 trillion sourced from the State budget.The major project affects more than 15,500 households, with a total area of 6,505 hec-tares to be cleared.The investors may enjoy an annual loan interest rate of 10.37 percent, equivalent to those offered by three State-owned commercial banks, according to the ministry's pro-posed preliminary financing plan.The return on equity is estimated at 14 percent a year, with a fee of VND1,500 per kil-ometer. The fee will be increased by 12 percent after every three years. Contract terms are expected to be less than 24 years.Earlier, the National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee convened a session to look at the big-ticket project, and agreed to forward it for the NA's consideration at the up-coming session.http://english.thesaigontimes.vn/54344/-Ministry-demands-multiple-incentives-for-N-S-Expressway.html

HCM City seeks to tax sales on Facebook


The HCM City government will seek measures to effectively collect taxes from indi-viduals and organisations selling goods on Facebook after they complete tax registra-tions, said the HCM City Tax Department.Nguyen Nam Binh, deputy head of the department, told the Daily that after calling for tax registration, the agency will have to determine revenues of vendors on Facebook. The money can be paid in cash or via wire transfer which requires cooperation of banks.Many solutions have been proposed to find ways to determine revenues of such ven-dors to ensure equality among different forms of business, Binh noted.http://english.thesaigontimes.vn/54341/-HCM City-seeks-to-tax-sales-on-Face-book.html

HCM City to relocate cement plants


The People's Committee of HCM City on June 5 sent a proposal to the Ministry of Con-struction for restricting cement production and moving the current cement facilities out of the city.The city has eight cement manufacturers operating nine cement plants with six of them located inside industrial zones. Some of the plants cause pollution and should be sus-pended.Therefore, in the master plan for cement industry development in the 2011-2020 period submitted to the government, the municipal government proposed not issuing new ce-ment manufacturing licenses in the city.The still-operational cement plants should be relocated in accordance with the road-map approved by the government. Only cement facilities meeting the environmental protection requirements can be operated in industrial zones. However, clinker burn-ing and cement grinding should be disallowed.The city government asked the Ha Tien 1 Cement Joint Stock Company to suspend its


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cement plant in Thu Duc District in 2016 due to pollution.Over the last ten years, some pollution-causing cement plants have still been opera-tional despite strong moves from the city government.http://english.thesaigontimes.vn/54351/-HCM City-to-relocate-cement-plants.html

PM approves plan to equitise state-run construction corporation


Prime minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has approved a plan to equitise the State-run Viet-nam Urban and Industrial Zone Development Investment Corporation (IDICO) which has chartered capital of 3 trillion VND (132 million USD).Under the plan, IDICO will sell 300 million shares at face value of 10,000 VND each.The government will retain 36 percent of total shares, or 108 million, while the corpo-ration's employees will be offered 0.56 percent of shares, or more than 1.69 million.Some 45 percent, or 135 million, will be sold to strategic investors while the remaining, 18.44 percent, will be put up for public auction.The PM assigned the Ministry of Construction to fix the initial public offering price of the shares and amend the chartered capital structure if necessary.The ministry was asked to transfer the ownership of State shares in the company to the State Capital Investment Corporation.The government plans to divest entirely from IDICO by December 31, 2018. The com-pany expects to issue new shares to raise capital in the futurehttp://en.vietnamplus.vn/pm-approves-plan-to-equitise-staterun-construction-corpo-ration/112852.vnp

Pangasius price increase not attract farmers fearing fluctuations

07/JUN/2017 INTELLASIA | SGGP NEWS

A kilogram of pangasius fish is priced VND24,500-26,000, bringing farmers in the Me-kong Delta a profit of VND2,000-2,500, still they have no longer broadened farming area amid up prices as they used to in previous years. Le Chi Binh, deputy chair of An Giang Seafood Breeding and Processing Association (SBPA), yesterday said that despite the profitable prices, farmers have not hurriedly increased farming output fearing material redundancy and price drop.According to Binh, current farming trend is to gradually reduce small scaled and spontaneous breeding, develop connectivity models with processing and export com-panies to limit oversupply and intensify technology application to improve fish qual-ity and reduce cost prices.At present, breeders have not resumed farming over 116 hectares of fish ponds in Dong Thap, the largest breeding province in the Mekong Delta, worrying unusual price fluctuations.Statistics by Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) show that the Mekong Delta bred pangasius fish in 3,092 hectares during the first five months this year, down 6.2 percent over the same period last year. Harvest output ap-proximated 466,000 tonnes.Export turnover topped $665 million, up 2.4 percent over the same period last year.Despite slight export increase, businesses have still faced barriers from the US and the EU and consumption demand has yet to recover much.China, Brazil and Mexico markets have strongly imported Vietnamese pangasius fish, contributing to the price hike.http://sggpnews.org.vn/business/pangasius-price-increase-not-attract-farmers-fear-ing-fluctuations-67151.html

FECON inks cooperation agreement with Japanese expressway companies


Two Japanese expressway companies will transfer their technology and management capacity in transport infrastructure to Vietnam's Foundation Engineering and Under-ground Construction Joint Stock Company (FECON).The move is part of a strategic cooperation agreement on investment and development of transport infrastructure projects in Vietnam signed between representatives of Jap-anese companies East Nippon Expressway Company (NEXCO) and Expressway Inter-


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national Company Limited (JEXWAY), and leaders of FECON and its subsidiary FECON Infrastructure JSC (FCI) in Tokyo today.The signing ceremony was witnessed by prime minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe at the investment promotion forum during Phuc's visit to Japan from June 4 to June 8.Under the agreement, NEXCO and JEXWAY will also connect FECON with other Jap-anese investors and partners, as well as create opportunities for investment in trans-port infrastructure in other countries in the region.In the first phase of cooperation, the two Japanese companies will buy 20 per cent stake owned by FECON in its BOT (build-operate-transfer) project that includes a bypass road on National Highway No 1 at Phu Ly town and reinforcement works at Km215+775-Km235+885 of the northern province of Ha Nam.NEXCO and JEXWAY will take part in managing and operating the project, as well as applying their experience and advanced management technology to this project.The two Japanese companies are the first foreign businesses participating in the BOT transport sector in Vietnam.Miyaike, chair and CEO of NEXCO, said the signing of the agreement and purchase of the stake marked the start of partnership cooperation with Vietnamese potential com-panies, such as FECON and FCI, as well as its official participation in a project in Viet-nam.Miyaike also committed that NEXCO would cooperate with FECON to conduct re-searches on expressway projects in the country.Pham Viet Khoa, chair of FECON, said the participation of NEXCO and JEXWAY in Phu Ly bypass road project would make a great contribution to its success and bring about Japan's scientific operation and exploitation method to Vietnam.The Phu Ly bypass road project was kicked off in 2014 and completed in 2016. The 43-km project had more than VND2.04 trillion (US$89.6 million) investment through a joint venture among FECON, Cotec Construction Joint-Stock Company (Coteccons) and Civil Engineering Construction Corporation 1 (Cienco 1) with ownership of 40 per cent, 35 per cent and 25 per cent, respectively.http://bizhub.vn/news/fecon-inks-cooperation-agreement-with-japanese-expressway-companies_286695.html

Hazardous waste treatment plant relocated to Cu Chi


HCM City Urban Environment Co Ltd will relocate the hazardous waste treatment plant with a capacity of 21 tonnes a day in Dong Thanh Commune in Hoc Mon District to Phuoc Hiep Commune in Cu Chi District alongside a plan to change treatment tech-nology.The company will also change the waste treatment technology and consider a plasma incinerator with a capacity of treating 100 tonnes a day.The city government has asked the company to ensure the treatment of toxic waste in the city during the relocation by early 2019. The city also approved a scheme to pay a hazard allowance of VND65,000 (US$1.76) a month to each local resident affected by the pollution Dong Thanh dumpsite.The 32-hectare Dong Thanh landfill has been operational since 1988, treating 300 to 3,500 tonnes of waste a day.The city authorities reported that the site has suspended operation for pollution con-trol. HCM City Urban Environment Co Ltd plans to close the site with soil.Previously, Go Cat dumpsite in Binh Tan District also stopped waste treatment from August 2007.The city discharges 8,000 tonnes of household garbage and hundreds of tonnes of med-ical waste, excluding industrial waste. Household waste is collected and transported to Da Phuoc in Binh Chanh District, and Vietstar and Phuoc Hiep in Cu Chi District for treatment.http://english.thesaigontimes.vn/54343/-Hazardous-waste-treatment-plant-relocated-to-Cu-Chi.html


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Vinalines, NYK Line consider developing logistics centre


Vietnam National Shipping Lines (Vinalines) and Japan's NYK Line Group will carry out a joint research on developing a transportation and logistics centre to serve indus-tries in Cuu Long Delta.The study will be conducted under a memorandum of understanding signed by the two companies on the sidelines of an investment promotion forum held in Tokyo on Monday.The NYK Line Group, established in 1885 in Japan, offers international transportation service with a fleet of 852 vessels, especially bulk cargo on big ships. It also has inter-ests in the real estate and energy sectors. The group has 67 representative offices in for-eign countries, including NYK Line Vietnam.Vinalines is a leading shipping company in Vietnam, and currently manages a fleet of vessels with a total capacity of around two million tonnes, which is 26 per cent of the national capacity.The corporation has around 13,000m of container terminals, occupying 20 per cent of the total length of ports nationwide, with an annual loading and unloading capacity of 70 million tonnes of goods, or 20 per cent of the country's capacity.In the future, Vinalines has said that it would focus on offering logistics package serv-ices to customers, including sea port, sea transportation and maritime services, which is an important factor for competing with other firms.Chair of Vinalines Le Anh Son said the two sides expected to boost cooperation on in-vestment and development in the area of transportation and logistic services for input materials needed at factories and industrial parks in Mekong Delta (Cuu Long) region.In January, prime minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc approved the corporation's IPO plan, according to which the State will hold 65 per cent of the VND12.3 trillion (US$540.42 million) registered capital of Vinalines, while investors will get the opportunity to hold the remaining 35 per cent stake. The IPO will be launched this December.http://bizhub.vn/news/vinalines-nyk-line-consider-developing-logistics-centre_286696.html

Viglacera introduces energy saving glass

07/JUN/2017 INTELLASIA | VN ECONOMIC TIMES

Latest product a "green" solution for modern buildings.Continuing its leading position in construction materials production, Viglacera Corp. has cooperated with Germany's Von Ardenne, a leading supplier of glass coating so-lutions and equipment, to launch a new range of products energy saving glass in a move to pursue a "green" technology development strategy.According to the US's Energy Information Administration (EIA), the energy used in the building sector for heating, cooling, and lighting accounts for 20.1 per cent of total energy consumption worldwide. Conserving and optimising consumption, therefore, has become a daunting challenge for administrators.Strictly complying with DIN EN 1096:2012 Standards, Viglacera's energy saving glass is manufactured with soft coating (or off-line coating) technology. This coating meth-od utilises Sputtering Magnetron, also known as Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD), a variety of vacuum deposition methods that can be used to produce thin films and coat-ings, with several layers of thin metallic and oxide coatings placed onto the surface of pre-cut float glass. The ultrathin compound coating system ensures a reduction in so-lar heat gain in the glass.To ensure maximised quality, clear float glass substrates are selected that meet Euro-pean standards, then cleaned in pure demineralised water. In the sputtering area, standard pressure can reach 1.0x10-6 mbar with complete vacuum pumps.Optical specifications are strictly controlled by Ex-Situ measurements to guarantee the homogenous status of every glass unit. There are two types of energy saving glass, known as solar control glass and low-e glass.Solar control glass is a hi-tech product that is ideal for hot climates. With an off-line ultrathin compound coating, solar control glass allows sunlight to pass through a win-dow or facade while reflecting and radiating a large amount of the sun's heat. The soft


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coating of solar control minimises the amount of absorbed heat and solar energy, max-imises natural sunlight, and keeps the indoor air cool.Low-e glass, meanwhile, is manufactured with a silver layer and an ultrathin com-pound coating system. In the winter, it is capable of preventing heat transfer from the indoor space through the glass, which makes the house warmer. In the summer, Vigla-cera's low-e glass blocks the sun's heat and UV rays, keeping the indoor space cooler.Viglacera's solar control glass and low-e glass help prevent up to 79 per cent of solar heat and 99 per cent of UV rays, allowing air conditioning costs to be cut by up to 51 per cent in the building sector. They are widely acknowledged as feasible solutions for sustainable development and environmental protection in cities worldwide.http://vneconomictimes.com/article/business-spotlight/viglacera-introduces-energy-saving-glass

Vietnam's first BOT project juiced up with foreign investors


Aquiring 20 percent stake of FECON Corporation in the Phu Ly Bypass project has made Japanese East Nippon Expressway Company Limited (NEXCO) and Japan Ex-pressway International Co., Ltd (JEXWAY) become first foreign enterprises to set foot in a Vietnamese build-operate-transfer project.This is part of a strategic cooperation agreement on developing traffic infrastructure projects in Vietnam signed at the forum on investment promotion in Vietnam held in Tokyo within the framework of prime minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc's official visit to Ja-pan.Accordingly, NEXCO and JEXWAY will join hands with FECON to transfer Japanese technology and management capacity in transport infrastructure while connecting FECON with other Japanese partners.NEXCO President and CEO Y. Miyaike affirmed that the strategic cooperation agree-ment is of significance that marks the beginning of the partnership with potential com-panies like FECON and its subsidiary Infrastructure Joint Stock Company (FCI).NEXCO will provide its 50-year expertise in the maintenance and management of ex-pressway for Vietnamese firms, he stressed.Meanwhile, FECON Chair Pham Viet Khoa said that NEXCO and JEXWAY's partici-pation in Phu Ly bypass project in northern Ha Nam province will make great contri-butions to the success of the project.http://en.vietnamplus.vn/vietnams-first-bot-project-juiced-up-with-foreign-investors/112873.vnp

Honda Vietnam to increase export of CBU vehicles by 12pct


Honda Vietnam (HVN) aims to increase the export of completely built-up (CBU) vehi-cles by 12 percent and introduce 10 new motorbikes to the market in the fiscal year 2018 (from April 2017 to March 2018).HVN director general Toshio Kuwahara revealed the plan a ceremony in Hanoi on June 5 to review the company's performance in the fiscal year 2017.The company expects to boost sales of products by expanding its agent systems and enhancing service quality.Customers will be provided with environmentally-friendly products with high fuel ef-ficiency, new cutting edge technology and better safety.HVN aims to open more safe driving courses for 3.8 million drivers of all ages and step up activities to sponsor education, environmental protection and community support.In the fiscal year 2017, the company produced nearly 3.14 million motorbikes, a year-on-year rise of 8 percent. It sold 2.17 million units, up nearly 7 percent and accounting for 69.3 percent of the domestic market share.It also launched more than 10 new products and exported 131,000 motorbikes, up 2 percent against the 2016 fiscal year, grossing 299 million USD in revenue.HVN sold 12,227 automobiles, representing a yearly increase of 44 percent, the firms highest annual sales so far.


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Sumitomo cuts deal to build $4 billion smart city in Hanoi


Hanoi City, Vietnam's BRG Group and Japan's Sumitomo Corporation on June 5 signed a cooperation agreement in Tokyo to build a smart city worth over $4 billion along Nhat Tan-Noi Bai axis route.The signing was witnessed by Vietnam's prime minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, who is in Japan for an official visit from June 4 to 8.In 2011, BRG was named the owner of the project to do the planning of scale 1/500 for the 2,080-hectare area. BRG coordinated with the Hanoi Urban Planning Institute and the Vietnam Urban Planning and Development Association to look for a consultant, and they finally chose P&T Consultants Co Ltd as consultant.The detailed planning of three sections stretching 11.1 kilometers along the axis route was approved last June, featuring impressive architecture of the northern gateway to the capital city.Before the tripartite signing in Tokyo on June 5, BRG and Sumitomo Corporation had signed a cooperation agreement covering various sectors for the smart city last year, and cut a deal on developing the smart city this April, BRG Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Nga said.Sumitomo with strong experiences in real estate projects is expected to help carry out the project successfully.The Japanese corporation, established nearly 100 years ago, set up Sumitomo Corpo-ration Vietnam Co Ltd in 2007, which has invested in many large projects such as Thang Long Industrial Park I in Hanoi City, Thang Long Industrial Park II in Hung Yen Province, a part of the HCM City Urban Railway Line 1 (Ben Thanh-Suoi Tien route) and Pha Lai, Duyen Hai 3 expansion and Phu My 2-2 thermal power plants.On June 5 also saw another agreement signed between Vietjet Aviation JSC (Vietjet Air) and Mitsubishi UFJ Lease & Finance Co Ltd (MUL) of Japan's leading finance group Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG). The deal is aimed to finance Vietjet's acquisition of three new A321 planes worth $348 million.Vietjet will receive the three aircraft, part of the A320 family aircraft plane contract signed earlier between Vietjet and European aircraft manufacturer Airbus, within this year to facilitate its network expansion plans.Vietjet and MUL will also cooperate to operate and manage airlines.Vietjet currently has a fleet of 45 planes and operates over 300 flights per day on 63 do-mestic and regional routes, including those to Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, China, Thailand, Myanmar, Malaysia and Cambodia. The airline has served nearly 40 million passengers in five years of operation.Aside from the two agreements, prime minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc witnessed the signing of numerous contracts between Vietnamese and Japanese firms with a com-bined value of $22 billion.http://english.thesaigontimes.vn/54339/Sumitomo-cuts-deal-to-build-US$4 billion-smart-city-in-Hanoi.html

Homedy gets funds from two foreign investors


Homedy, a startup that operates real estate portal Homedy.com in Vietnam, has said it has received investments from two foreign investors, Genesia Ventures and Pix Vine Capital.Launched two years ago by Nguyen Ba Duc and Vu Minh Hieu who have had many years' experience in information technology and digital marketing, Homedy is aimed at helping home buyers and renters search for useful information about the property market and make well-informed decisions.In 2003, Duc established an online music website at nghenhac.info and then he and his companion Hieu launched an online advertising company at Moore.vn which was ac-quired by Japan's Irep Corporation in 2014.Thanks to experience being gained over the past ten years, the founders of Homedy have won the confidence of foreign investors.Yuto Kono, a representative of Genesia Ventures, said in a statement that finding a


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suitable home could prove to be a challenge, so this startup is expected to help home buyers deal with it.At Homedy.com, people can find information about nearly 3,500 projects and over 150,000 housing properties nationwide.Kono told the Daily that Genesia Ventures had spent two months negotiating before it decided to invest in Homedy.Homedy did not announce the investment figures but said the capital would be used for the development of real estate portal, recruitment, and market expansion.http://english.thesaigontimes.vn/54346/Homedy-gets-funds-from-two-foreign-inves-tors.html

Co.opmart, Co.opXtra launch eco-friendly promotion


Co.opmart and Co.opXtra supermarket chains have launched a 'green product con-sumption month' with many promotions at all its outlets to encourage more environ-mentally-friendly consumer habits.To run until June 25, the programme will give away 180,000 coupons and bonus points to encourage consumption of green products, feature a Vietnamese farm produce fes-tival with big discounts on fruits and vegetables and offer discounts of up to 43 per cent on 2,000 products made by environment-friendly businesses.There will also be game shows to help enhance identification of green and eco-friendly products.The programme is part of the green products consumption campaign being run by Sai Gon Giai Phong newspaper, the departments of Industry and Trade, and Natural Re-sources and Environment, and Saigon Co.op.The programme seeks to call on people to consume more environment-friendly prod-ucts and encourage businesses to increase their responsibility towards the community and environment, Nguyen Anh Duc, deputy general director of Saigon Co.op, said.http://bizhub.vn/corporate-news/coopmart-coopxtra-launch-eco-friendly-promotion_286691.html

InterContinental Danang Sun Peninsula Resort wins 4 World Travel Awards


The InterContinental Danang Sun Peninsula Resort brought home four prestigious World Travel Awards for the fourth consecutive year, on the occasion of its fifth anni-versary.At the gala ceremony in Shanghai on 4th June, it was awarded Asia's Leading Luxury Resort 2017, Vietnam's Leading Resort 2017, Asia's Leading Fine Dining Hotel Restau-rant 2017: La Maison 1888 Restaurant, and Asia's Leading Luxury Hotel Villa 2017: Sun Peninsula Residence Villa."This recognition is a result of the thoughtful and world-class services and experiences that we deliver to our guests every day. It also reflects the fantastic vision of our own-ers who built the most impressive resort in Asia," Juan Losada, general manager of the InterContinental Danang Sun Peninsula Resort, said."The past 5 years have been fantastic for everyone involved and associated with us and we look forward to an even more bright future," Losada added.These awards reaffirm the resort team's commitment to excellence, which they have demonstrated ever since the first ribbon cutting ceremony was held on 1st June, 2012.Through the years, the iconic InterContinental Danang Sun Peninsula Resort has rede-fined the definition of luxury in Da Nang as well as Vietnam, and amassed numerous international awards.The Sun Peninsula Residence Villas have also been recognised as Asia's Leading Lux-ury Hotel Villa 2017 for extraordinary design and excellent service. Nestled in a se-cluded area for ultimate privacy, each villa spans up to approximately 1,000 square meters and features views of the private bay from all directions.Each unit includes two private pools and a large reception area as well as a fully equipped kitchen, making it perfect for both relaxation and entertainment. Each de-luxe bedroom comes with an expansive bathroom with two vanity areas, an enormous


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designer marble bathtub and an outdoor shower with the mythical Monkey Mountain as the backdrop.The World Travel Awards were launched in 1993 to acknowledge excellence in the travel and tourism industry. Currently in its 24th year, it has been heralded as the 'trav-el industry's equivalent to the Oscars' by The Wall Street Journal. The awards are de-cided based on votes by the public and travel professionals worldwide.http://bizhub.vn/corporate-news/intercontinental-danang-sun-peninsula-resort-wins-4-world-travel-awards_286698.html

Panasonic Vietnam receives National Environment Award 2017


Panasonic Vietnam was honoured with National Environment Award 2017 by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) for its contribution to-wards environmental protection in Vietnam on Sunday.In more than 10 years of operations in Vietnam, this is the second time that Panasonic's practical contributions towards environmental education of the young, environmental protection in the community and production of eco-friendly products have been rec-ognised by the country.Since 2011, Panasonic Vietnam has been conducting a series of eco-learning pro-grammes for around 13,000 students, in the cooperation with the MONRE, UNESCO, WWF and hundreds of schools across the nation.Through its annual tree-planting programme "For a Green Vietnam", organised to-gether with local communities, Panasonic employees have planted around 70,000 trees across four provinces.Masahiro Yamamoto, director of corporate planning and brand promotion, Panasonic Vietnam, said "Since starting business in Vietnam, Panasonic has focused on environ-mental protection and sustainable green development. We have constantly improved our technology to make efficient use of materials, save energy and create eco-friendly products."Panasonic employees are trained to become "active nucleus" in environmental educa-tion and communication activities in the community through the company's Eco Re-lay, Eco Learning and Earth Hour programmes, Yamamoto said.The award is presented every two years to encourage environment protection move-ments and sustainable economic and social development, and to honour those who are achieving these goals. Panasonic Vietnam is one of the two foreign investment compa-nies that has received the award this year.http://bizhub.vn/corporate-news/panasonic-vietnam-receives-national-environment-award-2017_286689.html

Phu My Hung Midtown second phase gets record 1,200 bidders


"The number of more than 1,200 is the biggest in history in terms of customers coming to any sales event of Phu My Hung" the corporation said.All condos and shops were sold out in just one morning.Phu My Hung Midtown, a magnet attracting foreign intellectualsSaying why they decided to buy in Phu My Hung Midtown, most customers explained that it is a modern complex with many amenities and services.Furthermore, all of these services and amenities are available at three different levels: in the apartment buildings, in the complex and in Phu My Hung City Centre.Not only locals but also foreigners like to buy condos with multiple amenities like this.Of those customers who bought condos at The Grande, and 20 per cent of them were foreigners. And foreigners also accounted for 25 per cent of the Symphony successful transactions. Some even flied from other countries like Singapore, Japan, Korea, Tai-wan, etc. to grasp the ownership opportunity at the first complex Phu My Hung coop-erating with three Japanese leading developers Daiwa House Group, Nomura Real Estate Group and Sumitomo Forestry Group.Foreigners said they like Phu My Hung Midtown thanks to its convenient living con-ditions and the fact they are going to be developed to the same standard as in devel-


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oped countries.To ensure that the project meets international standards, the developer has focused on each metre of the construction. Many materials are imported from the EU.Good security and after-sales service are also factors persuading them to buy.Furthermore, Phu My Hung Midtown is being developed near a healthcare hub that has international hospitals and clinics, international and domestic schools and a finan-cial centre.To create a civilised community, developer is careful in choosing its customers.Customers who want to buy condos at Phu My Hung Midtown have to send in an ap-plication with their information. The final list will be chosen by the developers."Three thousand applications have been received for The Symphony," the company said."But only 1,800 were chosen, and 1,200 of them were invited to the event due to the lim-ited size of the event hall. The remaining 600 will be transferred to the next phase launch."This careful filtering is reasonable since neighbours are an important consideration when buyers invest money in a house. Besides having safe living conditions with many amenities, customers also want to live in a community with friendly and civi-lised neighbours.The developer believes having an intellectual community is another advantage that has helped the project win over the market.This is an intangible but very important aspect, they said, considering why Phu My Hung City centre is the largest expats hub in HCM City with more than 15,000 foreign residents.http://bizhub.vn/property/phu-my-hung-midtown-second-phase-gets-record-1200-bidders_286684.html

CapitaLand breaks 22-year record with 11 Vietnam Property Awards


CapitaLand Vietnam broke its own 22-year record in Vietnam by bringing home more than ten awards from Property Guru Vietnam Property Awards 2017, including the "Best Developer in Vietnam" and various awards for its projects D1MENSION, Feliz en Vista, Seasons Avenue, and The Oxygen.The awards ceremony was held on Friday, June 2 at InterContinental Asiana Saigon in HCM City.A committed long-term real estate developer in Vietnam, CapitaLand Vietnam is guid-ed by a sustainable strategy that seeks to improve the economic, environmental, and social well-being of the communities it operates in. Its commitment has been once again recognised at this year's prestigious Property Awards, with an unprecedented landfall of 11 awards conferred to the Singapore-listed developer:CapitaLand Vietnam: Best Developer in VietnamD1MENSION: Best Luxury Condo Development (HCM City)D1MENSION: Best Condo Architectural DesignD1MENSION: Best Residential Interior DesignFelisen Vista: Best Condo Architectural DesignFelisen Vista: Best Residential Interior DesignFelisen Vista: Best Condo Landscape Architectural DesignSeasons Avenue: Best Green DevelopmentSeasons Avenue: Best High End Condo Development (Hanoi)The Oxygen: Best Retail Architectural DesignThe Oxygen: Best Retail Development"CapitaLand is honoured to be recognised by Property Guru Vietnam Property Awards as the "Best Developer in Vietnam" and to receive ten awards for our residen-tial and retail projects," Chen Lian Pang, CEO of CapitaLand Vietnam, said. "This is a strong affirmation of our on-going commitment to delivering high quality, interna-tional-standard developments to the Vietnamese population. Given Vietnam's strong growth outlook and positive market sentiments, we are committed to be a long-term


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developer in this country."D1MENSION is CapitaLand Vietnam's first luxury boutique development in District 1 of HCM City, with only 102 exclusive residential units for sale. Offering panoramic views of the city's skyline, it will be the first residential project in Vietnam to offer property management and concierge services by The Ascott Limited, CapitaLand's serviced residence arm and the world's largest international serviced residence owner-operator.Located in HCM City, Feliz en Vista is CapitaLand Vietnam's first project to receive the prestigious Green Mark Gold certification by the Building and Construction Authority of Singapore. The project features more than 100 facilities with unique and exceptional design for a mixture of resort and active lifestyle with the following "Star Facilities": Five-star resort-style swimming pools (saltwater swimming pool, hot spring jacuzzi), adventure water slide, outdoor movie theatre, treetop adventure walk bridge, and grand lobby for each tower.Seasons Avenue in Hanoi comprises of four residential blocks drawing inspiration from a four seasons concept with more than 60 facilities, such as an infinity swimming pool with spectacular view on the city, a wet play area for children, and calorie-burn-ing steps. Typical apartment sizes vary from 67 to 135 square metres, with two or three bedrooms designed to maximise natural lighting and ventilation.The Oxygen is a new community mall in District 2, HCM City, with a lively ambience and green landscape that make it the perfect place to unwind. It is a place where fam-ilies can enjoy outdoor activities, shop, pamper themselves, and relax, while giving their kids an opportunity to enrich their creativity.Property Guru Vietnam Property Awards is part of the long established Asia Property Awards to recognise the best practices in the domestic real estate sectors across the world. Asia Property Awards offers an unrivalled showcasing of the region's real es-tate industry, boosting awareness and highlighting top-quality projects at the same time.Nearly 130 entries were submitted for the extremely competitive Property Guru Viet-nam Property Awards 2017, with a total of 23 companies making the final cut follow-ing a rigorous nomination and judging process in the last six months. Thien Duong, managing director of Transform Architecture, once again headed the 10-member cen-tral panel that comprised of experts in the real estate sector and related fields."Property Guru Vietnam Property Awards offer quality projects in Vietnam great ex-posure to the local market as well as to foreign investors. Well-designed and devel-oped projects help to set higher standards for properties in Vietnam. Developers can be proud that they have made benchmark contributions to the built environment while giving high value for customers and investors' money. There is an opportunity for businesses in Vietnam which strive not only to profit, but to create brands that have long-term credibility," he said.The winners will compete at the Southeast Asia Property Awards 2017 in Singapore in November to represent Vietnam at the grand finals.http://www.vir.com.vn/capitaland-breaks-22-year-record-with-11-vietnam-property-awards.html

Kohler Vietnam proud to contribute to Vietnamese real estate industry


Vietnam Property Awards, though only three years old, has already proven itself as one of the most recognised and credible industry awards in the country, with the par-ticipation of the biggest names in real estate.This is the third year Vietnam Property Awards is organised. Kohler has been on the sponsorship list for two years, and is the title sponsor this year. What is the motivation behind this decision?As an American brand and a global leader in the manufacturing of kitchen and bath-room products, we are always seeking to cooperate with top-notch names in the real estate industry to approach and get a deeper understanding of our target consumers, with the ultimate purpose of providing them with the highest satisfaction when using


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our products and services.Kohler has been present in Vietnam for over a decade. Such a long time allows us to witness the ups and downs of the local real estate industry, from which we gain a bet-ter understanding of our consumers, namely real estate developers.In recent years, the rapid and stable economic growth has motivated the wave of in-vestment in high-end housing projects with sophisticated design and first-class amen-ities. Kohler's premium bathroom products have been selected to add value to many of these projects.By cooperating with PropertyGuru Group, the organiser of Vietnam Property Awards, we hope to become a bridge between our customers and consumers to provide more choices of comfortable living, as well as to contribute to the sustainable development of the real estate industry in Vietnam.As the title sponsor, what role did Kohler play in organising the award and selecting the winners?Kohler joined because we wanted to accompany the prestigious organiser Property-Guru Group to initiate a fair yet competitive playground to honour developers that have been ceaselessly working to develop the Vietnamese real estate industry. Besides, Vietnam Property Awards is also a bridge to connect the Vietnamese real estate indus-try with other regional markets. In all honesty, we are very proud to be the sponsor.We were not involved in the selection process, as Kohler highly respects and appreci-ates the professionalism of the judges, as well as the transparency in the evaluation cri-teria of the organiser.Moreover, the awards are also independently monitored by BDO, the fifth largest ac-counting and auditing firm in the world with approximately 60,000 staff working at 151 offices all over the globe. As BDO has rich and solid experience in monitoring nu-merous international competitions, participants can be assured of Vietnam Property Awards' credibility.Is there any difference between this year's event and the previous ones?Initiated in 2015 with 22 categories, the award came back with 32 categories this year and attracts candidacy from hundreds of real estate projects from reputable develop-ers.These facts and figures not only prove the quality and prestige of the award, but also show the vibrant and vigorous development of the domestic real estate market.Besides, the independent Board of Judges will offer several other awards, such as The Best Green Project, Certificate for Outstanding CSR Activity, and the Certificate for Sustainable Development. We highly regard these positive changes.Kohler is a global leader in the manufacturing of kitchen and bathroom products. Therefore, we have always focused on research and development to create products certified in sustainability in order to help housing projects attain Green Project or Sus-tainable Development certifications.Kohler is proud of our range of products that are certificated for sustainability, health and safety, and some of our most prominent achievements include the WaterSense la-bel and the Red Dot Design Award.Aside from research and development, Kohler often accompanies trustworthy organ-isations and experienced experts to host several seminars to provide knowledge on green architecture and sustainable design for practitioners in the fields of construction, architecture, and design.For instance, in December 2016, Kohler hosted the Kohler Design Forum with the topic "Sustainability: Architects and Designers tackle the challenge." In the near future, we are planning to organise more exclusive events for experts to discuss key issues related to sustainable development.Because of PropertyGuru Group's professionalism, the deep understanding and the willingness to catch the latest trends, we are extremely proud to be a part of Vietnam Property Awards this year.Will Kohler continue to accompany Vietnam Property Awards in the future?As long as the award is a fair and credible playground to honour the achievements of


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the real estate industry in Vietnam, Kohler will throw our wholehearted support be-hind it.I wish Vietnam Property Awards an even greater success to attract more and more at-tention from developers in particular and those who are fond of the real estate industry in general.http://english.vov.vn/economy/kohler-vietnam-proud-to-contribute-to-vietnamese-real-estate-industry-351030.vov

ASIA DMC wins big at World Travel Awards 2017


Hanoi-headquartered destination management company picks up awards in six cate-gories at annual Awards.ASIA DMC has been recognised at the prestigious World Travel Awards in an impres-sive six categories, cementing its position as the Asia region's leading expert in desti-nation management.The company was awarded Asia's Leading Destination Management Company 2017 and also received accolades as the leading destination management company (DMC) in Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and Myanmar.ASIA DMC founder Tran Thanh Nam attended the exclusive red-carpet gala ceremo-ny held at the Grand Kempinski Hotel Shanghai on June 4 to collect the awards, ac-companied by Group Managing director Linh Le and Indochina Managing director Nguyen Thi Tuyet."We are incredibly proud to have been named Asia's Leading Destination Manage-ment Company," said Nam. "These accolades reinforce our belief that tailor-made ex-periences and a dedicated customer focus combined with our recent regional expansion has set us on track for further success."In the past three months, ASIA DMC has appointed key representatives in the UK, New Zealand, and Australia, with prior appointments leading market development within India and the US. March also saw the launch of the HG Foundation, a special-ised arm of its parent company, HG Holdings, dedicated to sustainable tourism and social responsibility. The foundation has already launched a number of campaigns to support wildlife conservation and reforestation projects."ASIA DMC has achieved significant growth and success by delivering a unique, un-rivalled product that meets the needs of modern travellers combined with a business model that effectively supports local communities and helps develop destinations," said Le.ASIA DMC is an international award-winning DMC specialising in Southeast Asia and solely dedicated to B2B trade. Founded in 1997 in Hanoi, where the company is headquartered, ASIA DMC welcomes guests to Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar, and Indonesia, where it operates offices led by highly experienced interna-tional and local native-speaking professionals.Working with the world's top travel operators, it fulfils the service needs of trade part-ners, with an operational footprint soon to expand throughout Asia, to the Philippines and Sri Lanka. International guests from around the world include agency clients from the UK, Europe, the US, Asia, and Australia and New Zealand, making ASIA DMC a continental service provider for global businesses ranging from special interest groups, set departure groups and tailor-made trips for high-end experiential and inde-pendent private travel.ASIA DMC showcase's responsible travel experiences and solutions with creativity, passion, in-depth local knowledge, and expertise. Its product and corporate focus is dedicated to the celebration of Asia in an extremely trade and customer-centric way that also serves to protect local people, culture, and the environment by working close-ly with its in-house HG Foundation, which leads numerous community and environ-mental initiatives around the region.Established in 1993, the World Travel Awards acknowledges, rewards and celebrates excellence across all key sectors of travel, tourism and hospitality. Its annual pro-gramme is globally renowned as the most prestigious and comprehensive in the in-


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dustry. Each year the World Travel Awards programme culminates in a regional gala ceremony attended by the industry's key decision makers, as well as influential trade and consumer media.http://vneconomictimes.com/article/biz-traveler/asia-dmc-wins-big-at-world-travel-awards-2017

Vietnam-Czech business forum opens in Hanoi


The Vietnam-Czech business forum opened in Hanoi on June 6 in the presence of Czech President Milos Zeman, who is on a official visit to Vietnam.Speaking at the event, co-organised by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Indus-try (VCCI), the Confederation of Industry of the Czech Republic, and Czech Republic embassy in Vietnam, President Milos Zeman said as one of the minority ethnic groups in the Czech Republic, the 65,000 Vietnamese community have enjoyed all citizens' rights equally granted by the country.He noted with pleasure Vietnam's economic development over the past years with noted economic growth rate.The President, however, said he is regretful as there has not been any direct flight be-tween Hanoi and Prague, which has hindered trade and tourism ties between the two countries.He also suggested Vietnam exempt visa for Czech residents in order to boost the bilat-eral tourism and trade links.Deputy prime minister Vuong Dinh Hue said the Vietnamese government wants to boost cooperation with the Czech Republic in diverse areas, including energy, mining, infrastructure and transport, mechanical engineering, environment, national defence industry, hospital equipment and vocational training.Statistics showed that two-way trade between the two nations neared 250 million USD last year. In investment, the Czech Republic poured more than 100 million USD in 36 projects in Vietnam while Vietnam registered four projects worth 5 million USD in the Czech Republic, focusing on real estate.Deputy PM Hue said such results are encouraging but yet to match each side's poten-tial.He expressed his belief that the Vietnam European Union free trade agreement, which is expected to take effect in 2018, will be strategic to making a turning point in cooperative ties between Vietnam and the EU in general and Vietnam and the Czech Republic in particular.According to VCCI vice President Doan Duy Khuong, the Czech Republic is one of the strategic export markets of Vietnamese businesses.The Czech Republic is a gateway for Vietnamese goods to reach other European coun-tries, while Vietnam can help Czech goods access the 600 million Southeast Asian mar-ket, he said.The forum has created an opportunity for the two countries' businesses to exchange experience and expand the market.http://en.vietnamplus.vn/vietnamczech-business-forum-opens-in-hanoi/112900.vnp

Agriculture ministry to hold tra fish fair in Hanoi in October


The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development plans to organise a fair for Viet-nam's tra fish (pangasius) and seafood in Hanoi in October in an effort to promote their sales in the country's northern market, and expand exports, especially to China.China is a large buyer of Vietnamese seafood products, especially tra fish. Statistics of the agriculture ministry show Vietnam shipped seafood products worth around $2.8 billion to the northern neighbour in the first five months of the year, a year-on-year rise of over 10 percent.China overtook the US as the largest importer of Vietnamese pangasius fish in the first quarter of the year, according to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers.The period saw tra fish exports to the Chinese market soaring a hefty 57 percent year-


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on-year to around $70 million. On the contrary, revenue from tra fish shipments to the US declined by over 24 percent to $61 million.The association says the export of tra fish products has been hindered by a recent smear campaign against their quality on the European Union market.Therefore, the ministry considers the upcoming fair as a way to promote the image of local tra fish products abroad, thereby bolstering the sector's export growth.The association predicts the export turnover of Vietnam's seafood products will be around $7.4 billion this year, up 6 percent year-on-year.Local seafood companies have boosted their tra fish exports to China. As a result, the local price of tra fish has remained high, at VND24,000-26,000 a kilo, in the Mekong Delta, according to the ministry.Farmers in the area harvested around 466,000 tonnes of tra fish in January-May, a year-on-year increase of over 11 percent.http://english.thesaigontimes.vn/54340/-Agriculture-ministry-to-hold-tra-fish-fair-in-Hanoi-in-October.html

VN high-quality products fair opens in Da Nang


A Vietnamese High-Quality Products Fair opened in Da Nang's March 29 Square to-day with over 400 booths set up by 150 Vietnamese producers of high-quality goods.The six-day fair has a section dedicated to products meeting global standards.Organised by the High Quality Vietnamese Product Business Association, the fair will also feature other activities like a promotion offering over 3,000 different products at VND20,000 between 9:30am and 10:30am every day from June 7, game shows, and cu-linary and art performances.Visitors will get nearly 1,000 surprise gifts from a truck driving around the exhibition from 8:30am to 9:30am daily.A seminar on ways to raise the competitiveness of Vietnamese enterprises and a start-up exchange programme are also on the fair agenda.http://bizhub.vn/news/vn-high-quality-products-fair-opens-in-da-nang_286692.html

Culture, tourism week set for Cai Chien Island


Island off northern Quang Ninh province to host "Cai Chien Island Welcomes Summer 2017" week from June 9 to 15.A culture and tourism week entitled "Cai Chien Island Welcomes Summer 2017" will be held on the island of Cai Chien in Hai Ha district, northern Quang Ninh province, on June 9-15.The event will include a series of tourism promotion activities such as music shows, an MC competition, a one-commune, one-product (OCOP) trade fair, and beach sports, among others.According to the Hai Ha District People's Committee, full preparations have been made to welcome tourists during the summer season.Since the beginning of this year, the island has been visited by more than 8,900 domes-tic and international tourists. During the four-day national holiday from April 29 to May 2, it welcomed approximately 6,000 tourists.Cai Chien Island is famous for its wild and peaceful scenery with unbroken green space. The island has 500 ha of pristine forest with many ancient trees and wild ani-mals, such as monkeys, wild pigs, pythons, and numerous bird species. Protecting the forest ecosystem is considered a top priority by local people and officials.The eastern side of the island has a romantic atmosphere, with a long, white sandy beach. The beach in the Dau Rong area is the largest, covering 2 sq km. Along the beach are lines of casuarinas. After swimming in the afternoon, tourists can enjoy relaxing moments on hammocks under the casuarinas, with the rhythm of the sea whispering in their ear.Quang Ninh province is calling for investment from individuals, businesses, and or-ganisations to develop the potential of the island to the fullest.


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HCM City proposes hiking sidewalk fees


The HCM City Department of Transport has just mapped out a scheme for hiking the sidewalk usage fee to VND100,000 (US$4.41) per square metre per month and the parking fee on the roadside to VND20,000-50,000 each time.According to the department, the city allows temporary use of sidewalks or roadsides for parking lots on 345 roads.In particular, the sidewalks along 160 roads can be used for vehicle parking while those along 112 other roads can be used by vendors. There are 73 roads where vehicles can be parked on the roadside.The department said the sidewalk fee of VND12,000 (US$0.53) per square metre per month regulated in Decision 964/QD-UB is too low and is no longer suitable under the current circumstances.Similarly, the parking fee on the roadside in districts 1, 3 and 5 at VND5,000 per vehicle each time is too low, leading to the illegal use of road for parking.Therefore, the municipal Department of Transport suggested the new fees for using sidewalks for parking and trading in each district. In particular, the sidewalk usage fee should be VND100,000 per square metre per month in District 1, VND80,000 in District 3, VND50,000 in Districts 5, VND45,000 in District 10, VND40,000 in Phu Nhuan Dis-trict, VND35,000 in District 11, VND30,000 in districts 4 and Binh Thanh, and VND25,000 in districts 6 and Tan Binh.Meanwhile, the fee in the remaining districts is recommended to be VND20,000 per square metre per month.The department also suggested raising parking fees for cars of under 10 seats to VND20,000 during the daytime and VND40,000 during the nighttime in inner-city dis-tricts while that of the remaining districts should be VND15,000 in the daytime and VND30,000 in the nighttime.For cars with more than 10 seats, the parking fee shall be VND25,000 per car per day and VND50,000 per car per night in inner-city districts while that of outlying districts shall be VND20,000 per day and VND40,000 per night.The Department of Transport said sidewalk fees will not only help maintain urban or-der and make roads tidier but also increase State budget revenue.The department has asked the municipal government to pass the scheme to the Peo-ple's Council for approval in 2017.http://english.thesaigontimes.vn/54349/HCM City-proposes-hiking-sidewalk-fees.html

Volunteers fluent in foreign languages can serve as tour guides


Those people fluent in less-popular foreign languages but holding no relevant univer-sity decrees are now greenlit to accompany professional tour guides to serve interna-tional tourists in an effort to address the current labour shortage, according to a directive by deputy prime minister Vu Duc Dam.However, deputy PM Dam rejected the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's pro-posal for issuing temporary tour guide cards for these people.The reason is that if the National Assembly passes the revised Law on Tourism at its upcoming session, the requirements for guides for international tourists would be lower; those with vocational college degrees would be recognised as professional tour guides.The move is intended to enlarge the workforce in the tourism sector.Travel firms are facing a severe lack of tour guides fluent in Korean and Japanese among others. Therefore, volunteers and interpreters accompanying professional tour guides will partly remedy the situation, according to Pham Le Thao, deputy head of the travel department under the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism.The number of foreign tourists has been on the steep rise, especially those from China and South Korea. Many localities and tour operators have voiced their concerns over a severe shortage of tour guides.Notably, the HCM City government previously urged the Ministry of Culture, Sports


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and Tourism to relax the requirements for issuing accreditation cards for tour guides from university degrees to vocational college degrees, as the city faced a shortage of tour guides, especially those able to speak French, German, Russian and Japanese.She added tourism firms should change their remuneration mechanisms, and pay more attention to training courses in order to attract potential employees.http://english.thesaigontimes.vn/54350/Volunteers-fluent-in-foreign-languages-can-serve-as-tour-guides.html End
