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11 January 2018

finance & business news

FINANCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1Reference exchange rate donw 12 dong 1Vietnam's forex reserves exceed $53b 2Banks cut interest on priority sector loans 2Vietnamese PM asks banking sector to cut interest rates

to spur economic growth 3Cash withdrawal ratio reduced to 10pct by end of 2017 3PM urges Vietnam banking sector to prioritise regulating bitcoin 4SBV warns 15 banks against risky lending 5Will 'big waves' of banking sector continue in 2018? 6Will bank stocks be back to the 'throne'? 8First bank reduces loan interest rates in 2018 9Why only about 7pct of Vietnamese have insurance? 9Friends for life: Vietnam insurance demand rises 10MatchMove to provide digital payment solutions in VN 11Agribank's pre-tax profit touches $220 million in 2017 11SeABank honoured for most trusted savings product 12Bank tycoon tearful in court 12Vietnam to officially connect to Asean Single Window in 2018 13Buoyed by 2017 returns, Vietnam targets 6.7 per cent 146.7 per cent growth rate projected by World Bank 15Record export of VN fruits in 2017 16US repeals anti-dumping administrative review on Vietnam's

steel nails 16US producers seek to block Chinese aluminum shipped via

Vietnam 17Ministry assures E5 bio-fuel meets international standards 18Prices forecast to remain stable, even fall in 2018 19State capital committee takes charge of state assets in SOEs 19Vietnam's finance ministry tables conflicting proposals for

personal income tax shake up 20Ministry insists on excise tax on sugary drinks 21Ministry wants higher base salary for public servants 21Vietnam priorities energy security: Party official 22VN opens up logistics sector to foreign companies 22New players to re-shape pharma sector 23R&D comes to forefront for local pharma sector 24Aviation spreads wings towards far-flung goals 25Vietnam's 2017 automobile market below expectation 26Wood industry urged to embrace automation 27Agriculture revival with private funds 28The rules of the race to solar viability 29Special economic zones ready to launch 31

Businesses still concern about high costs 32HCM City, EuroCham step up cooperation 33Can Tho set to increase Japanese investment 34UK vocational education providers to seek partnership in Vietnam 34

BIZ NEWS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35Business Briefs 11 January, 2018 35VN Index rises for third day 35Market turnover improves 36P/E of over 20 times, does Vietnam's stock market remain

attractive to foreign capital? 37Real estate results transfer to bourse 38Securities firms seek margin lending funds 39US firm eyes 49pct stake in Dung Quat Oil Refinery 40EVNGENCO2 to launch IPO in June 40Habeco sets to raise turnover by 6.7pct to 322 million USD

in 2018 40Minh Phu sees little love on UPCoM 41Thai billionaire seeks to buy Vinamilk stakes 42Around 41,000 apartments sold in HCM City last year 42Vietnamese retailers set bar higher than national

standards to reduce 'dirty' food 42Govt urges quick plan for Tan Son Nhat Airport expansion 43ICT Innovation centre to be set up in Can Tho soon 44Binh Duong waste treatment complex put into use 45IFC provides $15.3m for tap water use 45Kon Tum approves project to grow over 4,600ha of Ngoc Linh

ginseng 46BRG Group seeks nod to build five-star hotel in HCM City 46PwC Vietnam and VNCERT form strategic partnership

for cyber security incident response 47Bosch and Ricons team up for real estate 48Govt demands tough sanctions against Khaisilk for trade fraud 49PVN realises all business targets, faces big challenges ahead 49German carmaker opens two more Hanoi showrooms 50MWG and TAG opened doors for further M&A 50LockLock offers Tet promotion 52Dozens of pupils faint from steel plant pollution 52Ex-HCM City Party Chief cites 'impatience' for violations 53Ho Tram's The Bluffs jumps up Golf Digest list 54Second Vietnam Economic Forum to open tomorrow in Hanoi 55HCM City to host international exhibitions on agriculture 55

FINANCE
FINANCEReference exchange rate donw 12 dong
11/JAN/2018 INTELLASIA| VIET BAO

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) set the daily reference dong/US dollar exchange rate for January 11 at 22,413 dong/US dollar, down 12 dong from yesterday.The opening hour rates at major commercial banks remained unchanged.

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Vietnam finance & business 11 January 2018

Vietcombank listed the buying rate at 22,675 dong/US dollar and the selling rate at 22,745 dong/US dollar, unchanged from the previous day.BIDV also kept both rates unchanged at 22,675 dong/US dollar (buying) and 22,745 dong/US dollar (selling).Vietinbank posted the US dollar price at 22,665-22,745 dong/US dollar (buying-sell-ing), the same as on January 10.

Vietnam's forex reserves exceed $53b

11/JAN/2018 INTELLASIA| VNECONOMY

Vietnam's forex reserve scale continues to set a new record right from the beginning of this year, according to information presented at the conference on implementation of banking industry tasks in 2018, held on January 9.Specifically, reporting to the prime minister at the meeting, State Bank Governor Le Minh Hung said, up to the present time, the forex reserve scale has reached more than $53 billion a historically high level.Remarkably, this scale has continuously been increasing in the last months of 2017 and in the first week of 2018.Earlier, at the end of 2017, deputy Governor Nguyen Thi Hong said Vietnam's foreign reserves reached $52 billion. This scale corresponded to the amount of foreign curren-cy bought by the State Bank last year with about $13 billion. At the end of last week, the figure updated by Governor Le Minh Hung was approximately $52.5 billion and earlier this week, it reached more than $53 billion.With a large supply of foreign currencies, the trading days at the end of 2017 saw a sharp change of the US dollar/dong exchange rate. Especially in the interbank market, for the first time since the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) reduced the buying price in US dollar, the transaction price of US dollar among members penetrated the milestone of 22,710 dongthe reference buying price of the State Bank's Exchange.Apart from the large supply of capital, from foreign direct investment, remittances and the conversion of foreign currencies into dong in the population, this is also the time when the capital conversion activities to meet the demand for dong increase in the sys-tem.In parallel, demand for dong has clearly improved in the interbank market at the end of 2017 and early 2018, with high interest rates. As for overnight interest rates in the inter-bank market, after a long time staying at low level, popularly below one percent/year, at the weekend and early this week, the increase exceeded 1.6 percent per year.

Banks cut interest on priority sector loans

11/JAN/2018 INTELLASIA| VNS

The Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank) and the Agriculture and Rural Development Bank of Vietnam (Agribank) announced on Wednesrday that they would cut interest rates on short-term loans in priority sectors this year.They said the cut followed up on the government's instruction to support domestic production and businesses.These are the first banks to make public their plan to cut interest rates as per a govern-ment Resolution (No 01/NQ-CP dated 01/Jan/2018) and instructions from the Gover-nor of the State Bank of Vietnam, to help ease pressure of high interest expenses for enterprises.Accordingly, interest rates for short-term dong loans will be lowered to 6 per cent per year. Apart from new loans taken this year, the rate would also apply to existing loans with interest rates higher than 6 per cent.The policy, which will be effective from January 15 to December 31 this year, will apply to the five priority sectors of agriculture businesses, firms producing goods for export, small- and medium-sized enterprises, enterprises operating in auxiliary industries, as well as hi-tech enterprises including startups.Also yesterday, Agribank reduced its annual interest rates for short-term loans by 0.5 percentage points from 6.5 per cent to 6 per cent, and those for medium and long-term loans from 8 per cent to 7.5 per cent.Earlier, on Tuesday, Vietcombank Chair Nghiem Xuan Thanh had said that the bank would save costs and enhance labour productivity to enable a 0.5 percentage point re-duction for short-term loans in the five prioritised sectors, which currently make up 42

Intellasia 11 January 2018 2 / 56

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per cent of the bank's total outstanding loans.Last year, Vietcombank had cut its rates by 0.7-1 percentage points for such loans.At Tuesday's meeting on tasks set for the banking industry, Nguyen Van Thang, chair of Vietinbank, said loans given to the five priority sectors accounted for up to 59 per cent of the bank's total outstanding loans. The bank would announce a detailed plan to cut interest rates soon after the meeting, he said.Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) Le Minh Hung said at the meeting that the central bank would also slash the lending rate in Open Market Operations (OMO) to help credit institutions.The central bank announced a credit growth target of 17 per cent for 2018, lower than the 18.17 per cent last year. It will, however, closely monitor the market to make suit-able adjustments from time to time, Hung said.SBV stated that lending this year would continue to focus on the five sectors prioritised by the government, while limiting capital lent to risky industries like real estate and securities.http://bizhub.vn/banking/banks-cut-interest-on-priority-sector-loans_291315.html

Vietnamese PM asks banking sector to cut interest rates to spur economic growth

11/JAN/2018 INTELLASIA| VNEXPRESS

The banking sector should slash lending interest rates by 0.5 percentage points this year, said prime minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.Vietnamese prime minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has called on all local banks to carry out "reasonable" interest rate cuts in a bid to boost economic growth."Together with the rate cut, banks should expand credit, prioritising loans for manu-facturing and processing firms, SMEs and exporters," Phuc said at a meeting on Tues-day.Vietnamese companies still rely heavily on bank loans, experts said. Banks now offer annual lending interest rates of 6.8-11 percent to manufacturing enterprises and busi-nesses.According to the National Supervisory Commission, macroeconomic factors such as inflation and foreign exchange rates are expected to remain stable this year, making it possible for banks to cut interest rates. The government has set a target of keeping in-flation below 4 percent in 2018.Accelerated bad debt settlements and improved liquidity in the banking system are also expected to allow banks to cut rates, said the commission.Bad debt in the banking sector was estimated at 9.5 percent last year, according to the commission, while credit expanded by an estimated 16.96 percent, according to the General Statistical Office.The government expects the economy to expand 6.5-6.7 percent this year after GDP growth hit a 10-year high of 6.81 percent in 2017.https://e.vnexpress.net/news/business/vietnamese-pm-asks-banking-sector-to-cut-in-terest-rates-to-spur-economic-growth-3696761.html

Cash withdrawal ratio reduced to 10pct by end of 2017


Vietnam saw a decline in cash withdrawals for the third consecutive year in 2017, with the rate reducing from 15 per cent in 2016 to 10 per cent in 2017, reports from the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) showed.Pham Tien Dung, director of the SBV's Payment Department, attributed the positive result to streamlined legal regulations and promoted information infrastructure serv-ices.The SBV has so far implemented a plan to develop card payment using card readers at points of sale (POS) and mobile points of sale (mPOS) from 2017 to 2020, which is aimed at boosting the non-cash payment in Vietnam, as approved in Decision 2545/QD-TTg by the prime minister. Accordingly, the ratio of cash to total payment instru-ments will be below 10 per cent by the end of 2020.The plan has set a target of gradually increasing the number and value of card pay-ment transactions using card readers. By 2020, the whole market will have more than


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300,000 card readers installed at POS to process some 200 million transactions per year.E-payment in e-commerce will also be promoted to achieve the targets of having 100 per cent modern supermarkets, shopping malls and distribution centres installed with card readers by 2020, which would enable consumers to make non-cash payments when purchasing goods.By 2020, 70 per cent of the electricity, water, telecommunications and communications service providers will accept non-cash payment of charges, while 50 per cent of indi-viduals and households in major cities will use non-cash payment instruments for their shopping and consumption activities. The percentage of people over 15 having bank accounts will also be targeted to be increased to at least 70 per cent by the end of 2020.Banking expert Can Van Luc said that up to 44 per cent of the bank's customers use digital banking services, such as mobile banking, internet banking, and make non-cash payment for e-commerce.Industry insiders forecast that the non-cash payment would see significant changes next time. They gave the example of the payment method using QR codes. Though launched for a short time, the payment method has surged sharply by 120 per cent in the first nine months of last year, with 5,000 POS accepting the QR code. The POS number is estimated to increase 10 times by the end of this year to 50,000 points.However, to further boost the non-cash payment methods, Vietnam still needs to fur-ther promote information infrastructure and continuously streamline suitable legal framework to support the activity, the insiders said.http://bizhub.vn/banking/cash-withdrawal-ratio-reduced-to-10-by-end-of-2017_291305.html

PM urges Vietnam banking sector to prioritise regulating bitcoin

11/JAN/2018 INTELLASIA| TUOITRE NEWS

Regulating cryptocurrency should be high on the agenda in the 2018 action plan of the banking sectorVietnam's banking sector should seek measures to regulate cryptocurrency and other digital assets, and mitigate the 'dark side' of technological advances, prime minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc requested on Tuesday.During these times of fast technological development, local banks should put those tasks on top of their agenda, in addition to continuously cutting lending interest, con-trolling inflation and resolving bad debts, the premier said during a meeting to kick-start the banking sector's 2018 action plan in Hanoi."The Fourth Industrial Revolution has brought about new issues such as cryptocurren-cy, which in turn creates new challenges for monetary policymakers, so the banking sector should proactively address these problems," PM Phuc underlined.He recommended that the banking sector should soon develop a set of measures to regulate bitcoin, a digital currency that uses cryptography for security, and other elec-tronic currencies and assets."Banks should also boost the development of modern applications to catch up with the Fourth Industrial Revolution and ensure security, limit risks that come along with technology," the PM added.In October 2017, the State Bank of Vietnam outlawed cryptocurrency as a means of payment, while the amended Vietnamese Penal Code, taking effect on January 1, also criminalises the issuance, supply and usage of cryptocurrency.Resolving bad debtsAt Tuesday's meeting, the prime minister also hailed the banking sector for their joint effort in several impressive economic performances Vietnam made last year, including a 3.53 percent inflation rate, which came out much lower than targeted, a record of $53 in billion foreign reserves and a decade-high 6.8 percent GDP growth rate."The macroeconomic stability and economic growth that exceeds targets indicate a sig-nificant contribution of the banking sector and illustrate that [our] monetary policies were a success," the PM underlined.The annual lending interest rate in Vietnam was cut by 0.5 to 1 percent last year, reduc-


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ing the cost pressures for businesses that had to borrow loans for production, but "banks should also consider cutting the rate by 0.5 percent this year for the public and national interests," PM Phuc said.The prime minister also pointed out several shortcomings of the banking system, in-cluding risks in lending to such fields as real estate, stocks and build-transfer-operate infrastructure projects, which may lead to nonperforming loans, or bad debts.PM Phuc thus requested that the banking sector should go on with keeping the foreign exchange rate stable, controlling the consumer price index at four percent and main-taining credit growth at 18 to 20 percent in 2018."Banks should continue to keep a watchful eye on credits given to risky sectors and re-solve bad debts," he said."We have learned costly lessons from previous wrongdoings, and I believe without ad-equate supervision, we will repeat the mistakes in 2018."https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/business/20180110/pm-urges-vietnam-banking-sector-to-prioritise-regulating-bitcoin/43535.html

SBV warns 15 banks against risky lending

11/JAN/2018 INTELLASIA| THE SAIGON TIMES

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has issued warnings to 15 commercial banks as they have offered too much credit for some high-risk sectors, news website Dan Tri quoted SBV deputy governor Dao Minh Tu as saying on January 9.At a conference on January 9 on the implementation of the banking sector plan this year, Tu neither name names nor point out the risky areas where loans were made. But real estate and stock trading have been repeatedly mentioned as the areas that may put banks at risk. He however noted credit grew 18.17 percent last year, nearly matching the target of 18 percent, and the majority of loans were offered for production and business sectors.As of November last year, loans rose by 22.13 percent in supporting industries, 20 per-cent in hi-tech enterprises, and 22.1 percent in agriculture and rural development, which are prioritised by the government.Lending to high-risk sectors was put under control. Loans for the real estate sector grew by 8.56 percent, accounting for 6.53 percent of total loans, lower than the respec-tive rates of 12.86 percent and 7.71 percent in the same period in 2016. In addition, loans for the securities sector made up a negligible proportion.Particularly, the government's programme to provide loans for priority sectors posted positive results. It was noteworthy that credit grew from early last year, helping sup-ply capital for production and business activities in the context of slow disbursement.Besides, the efficient management of SBV facilitated the issuance of government bonds with long terms and annual interest plunging by 0.57-1.89 percentage points.Despite achievements of monetary policies last year, SBV deputy governor Nguyen Thi Hong said the banking system should continue to improve its management to en-sure the sustainable development in the near future.The credit-to-GDP ratio remains high (130 percent), in which medium- and long-term outstanding loans accounted for large proportions while deposits at banks mainly come with short terms, putting pressure on the banking sector.Loans for priority sectors have grown well, contrary to loans for small and medium en-terprises due to their limited financial ability, prestige and production and business plans.Large amounts of foreign currencies have been bought to facilitate State capital divest-ments, meaning the injection of huge volumes of dong, which requires the close coop-eration of ministries and agencies in inflation control. Exchange rates and the foreign exchange market are stable but still fragile.Commercial banks have encountered numerous difficulties in settling bad debts while the margin between interest rates for loans and deposits is narrower than recommend-ed by prestigious international organisations, causing difficulties for SBV in reducing lending rates.This year, SBV will continue curbing inflation, stabilising the macro-economy and the


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currency market, supporting economic growth and ensuring the effective operation of the banking system. The central bank expects total money supply to increase 16 per-cent and credit 17 percent.english.thesaigontimes.vn/57952/SBV-warns-15-banks-against-risky-lending.html

Will 'big waves' of banking sector continue in 2018?

11/JAN/2018 INTELLASIA| ENTERNEWS.VN

The year 2017 seems to end with the outstanding success of VPBank in listing shares on the stock market and separately issuing more than 164 million shares to earn more than six trillion dong. However, in the end of 2017, it was HDBank that drew the at-tention of all investors.At the recent stock offering at the end of December, HDBank announced that 76 for-eign investors agreed to spend 6.8 trillion dong to purchase 21.5 percent stake. Like VPBank, HDBank also said the bid volume of foreign investors was three times higher than the offered volume, showing how attractive the stock is.At the same time, HDBank separately issued 98 million shares to existing sharehold-ers, earning nearly 3.2 trillion dong.After two rounds of offering to foreign investors and separate issuances, it can be seen that HDBank correctly applied "top-up" selling method to foreign investors like Vietjet Air (the private airline that has close relationship with HDBank) that used to be suc-cessful at the beginning of 2017.This means that existing large investors will first sell their stake to foreign investors and then buy back the stake at the same price of 32,000 dong per share through the sep-arate issuance to be subject to the regulation on restrictions of transaction within a year instead of foreign investors.After the issuance, HDBank also said it will soon list its shares on the stock market right from the beginning of 2018, becoming the sixth bank to list on the stock market since the beginning of 2017.Earlier, Bac A Bank, a medium scale bank attached to the name of the businesswoman Thai Huong listed 500 million shares on Upcom with the reference price of 20,000 dong per share. Not as noisy as VIB, LienVietPostBank or HDBank, Bac A Bank's decision to list surprised many people because it was almost published widely only in the last minute.However, the list of banks to list on the stock market in 2018 will not only stop there. At least, TPBank has confirmed to put shares on HCM City trading floor at the begin-ning of 2018. In addition, there may be other banks such as Techcombank, Nam A Bank and Maritime Bank.Details of listing plans on the stock market of these banks are still not available yet, but the warming of stock price has accelerated quite quickly since 2017.Not long ago, TPBank had even sold five percent stake to the Finland PYN Fund Man-agement, earning 880 billion dong. One year earlier, TPBank also sold approximately five percent stake to IFC and only gained more than 400 billion dong. This shows that TPBank's share price doubled in the past year.Shares of many other banks also equally heated up on the OTC market, which urged banks to speed up the process of listing on the stock market. At the beginning of De-cember, shares of Techcombank even reached 60,000 dong each, up four times from the beginning of the year.It has been a long time that the heat of bank stocks and listing plans created new waves on the stock market and attracted a large amount of capital to banks. Many investors believed that the golden age of "King stocks" will come back.The only reason why many investors are pouring money into buying bank stocks is huge profits shown in the financial statements of banks in 2017. Although the financial statements at the end of 2017 still have not been publicised, business results in Q3/2017 showed that banks will achieve record high profits in 2017.Leading banks having the highest profits in the first three quarter of the year was Vi-etcombank with 7.934 trillion dong pre-tax profit, Vietinbank with 7.232 trillion dong pre-tax profit, and VPBank with more than 5.6 trillion dong pre-tax profit. The profit-


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ability of other banks is also very impressive.HDBank said in the first nine months of the year, the pre-tax profit was more than 1.9 trillion dong, exceeding the 1.3 trillion dong as originally planned.Meanwhile, TPBank surpassed its target since October. According to the bank's CEO, the bank attained 950 billion dong pre-tax profit while shareholders approved the whole year target of 780 billion dong.According to the National Financial Supervisory Commission (NFSC), the after-tax profit of the aforementioned credit organisations was about 47 trillion dong, up as much as 39 percent compared to the same period of 2016. This is a rather strong growth compared to many years struggling with difficulties due to economic downturn and bad debt haunt.Analysts suppose that banks' huge profit in 2017 was thanks to the economic boom. But a further analysis shows that profits of banks are mainly thanks to the strategic shift of banks, which takes retail segment as the focus instead of competing for large corporate customers as previously.VPBank can be a typical case for this shift. In 2012, this bank changed its strategy and focused entirely on individual customer and small business segments. After five years, this bank has developed from a medium-sized bank to one of the three banks having the largest profit across the system after Vietcombank and Vietinbank. As much as 50 percent out of 5.6 trillion dong profit as of Q3/2017 of this bank came from FE Credit, a wholly-owned subsidiary of VPBank.HDBank, the bank that accelerated quite impressively in this year and is referred to as a "VPBank" also depends a lot on the growth of the retail segment. Like VPBank, rep-resentative of HDBank said HD Saison Finance Company has already been a "chicken laying golden egg" for this bank.Even such big banks as Vietcombank, Vietinbank, BIDV or Agribank also carried out the restructuring project, with the focus being the retail sector. This shift also aimed at removing the risk of "putting too many eggs into one basket" when focusing on lend-ing large customers. For individual customers, the loans are small but the large number of customers along with high profit margin makes the profit margin to be higher and risks being smaller.Representative of a joint stock commercial bank said retail is the most competitive seg-ment and also the most effective segment for many banks. Clearly, banks have clearly seen the potential in this segment and that is shown in the report of the National Fi-nancial Supervisory Commission (NFSC).In the report released in October 2017, this Commission said the total consumer out-standing loans in the first nine months of 2017 were estimated to swell about 59 per-cent from the end of 2016, of which, loans to serve the demand for purchasing houses to live; leasing, leasing purchase of houses; building and repairing houses; receiving land ownership right to build houses accounted for 52.9 percent (compared to 49.5 per-cent at the end of 2016); loans to purchase home appliances reckoned for 15.3 percent; loans to purchase vehicles made up 8.3 percent.One of the major drivers for other profits of banks is bad debt. Several years ago, bad debt was the burden of many banks, but now those burdens are becoming a "reserve" that is harvested and contributed significantly to profit.NFSC's report said in January-September, the system of credit organisations was esti-mated to handle about 45 trillion dong bad debt, of which, bad debt recovered from customers accounted for about 33.6 percent, equal to more than 13 trillion dong. The bad debt recovered from those customers was also equal to 1/3 of the total profits of banks.In this aspect, Vietcombank was the bank that is proving its ability to recover the "re-serve" most effectively. Since 2015, each year, this bank collected 1.5-2 trillion dong bad debt. In the first nine months of 2017, the bank gained 1.554 trillion dong. In the first nine months of the year, TPBank also recovered 135.3 billion dong bad debt, while VP-Bank recovered more than 700 billion dong in the same period. The ability to recover bad debt will be even better in 2018 thanks to the National Assembly's Resolution


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No.42 on bad debt settlement.Economist Vo Tri Thanh, former deputy director of the Central Institute for Economic Management said along with the plan on restructuring, business plan change, the pro-motion of bad debt settlement is making profits of banks to be better and profits of the system to be healthier. That is the reason why foreign investors tend to pay more at-tention to banks.According to Thanh, the newly released survey of experts and listed businesses by Vi-etnam Report also showed that more than 45 percent of respondents expect that bank-ing and finance shares have the highest potential to invest in 2018 because there were many stocks that grow and have the best profitability in the stock market in 2017.

Will bank stocks be back to the 'throne'?

11/JAN/2018 INTELLASIA| DIEN DAN DOANH NGHIEP

The strong credit growth in 2017 has enabled banks to increase sales, handle bad debt effectively, improve profitability, improve NIM (net interest margin), and contribute to growth of banking stocks in 2018.Positive economic growth, vibrant stock market and strong credit growth, the Resolu-tion No 42 of the National Assembly on promotion of bad debt settlement of the bank-ing system, etc. has been helping bank stocks be "polished" again.The reason to say that bank's stocks are being "polished" is because, compared with many other sectors, after five years of restructuring and two years of bad debt settle-ment, bank shares from King shares were only sought by investors "limitedly". The sudden growth of some banking stocks such as VCB, ACB, MBB, VPB, and HDB has opened new expectations in 2018.eEnding the trading session on January 8, 2018, the VN Index has reached 1,022.9 points, a record high level in 11 years. Compared to the beginning of 2017, the VN In-dex increased over 51 percent. This increase has brought the VN Index to the top 3 of the world's largest stock indexes and it also shows the "theory" that Securities are ther-mometer of the economy.According to the World Bank, in 2018 Vietnam will continue maintaining its growth rate at 6.5 percent and some industries and electronics production will be the main driver of growth.However, worries about bad debt of international institutions, are still there. The gov-ernment and the banking sector are still working to improve the current state of the money flow going "around and around" by strong solutions. VCB divested from MBB, EIB, OCB and Saigonbank; LienVietPostBank group when participating in the restruc-turing Sacombank had to withdraw capital from this bank.Back in 2017, the banks' practice of selling shares to foreigners at 30 percent was seen as a big momentum for banking stocks. Though VCB's sale of shares to the GIC of Sin-gapore was unsuccessful, the opportunity to sell capital of Vietnamese banks capital to foreign investors is very large.Along with the "shortage" of VCB, Vietinbank used to propose to increase foreign room to 40 percent. In November 2017, BIDV also planned to seek for shareholders' comments on the sale of equity to Keb Hana Bank.Thus, it cannot be denied that all three "giants" holding more than half of the credit market share in the entire market are looking for partnersbuyers of capital. The market reactions show that the strategic partner deals at banks, once about to become a reality or about to happen, waves of bank shares will increase suddenly.At private joint stock commercial banks, the demand for capital increase, the sale of shares also creates entirely large waves. VPBank, on the threshold of the listing, has implemented the spectacular scenario of capital increase share sale, with the full room interest of 30 percent. The same scenario occurred with HDBank when offering shares to foreign investors worth $300 million.The lockout of Techcombank's room at zero percent is no less spectacular and experts said that it will create extremely attractive room to strategic partners when this bank sold shares to foreign shareholders and list on the floor in this year.Whether or not bank stocks go back to the "throne", even when being distilled, inves-


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tors are still necessarily cautious when they come to find the answer because the aver-age price of the 13 listed banks is not as low as before 2017. The growth of stock prices and liquiditya factor that reflects the "vitality" of commodity stocks has also increased, although the average trading volume only concentrated in certain codes.Analysts say that investors are comparing profits of holding bank stocks over the last five years to filter out stocks that have higher growth rate than the average of the in-dustry and the entire market. In general, the market capitalisation growth of banks is still ahead and 2018 will be the race to "rearrange" the position of each bank, through competitive advantage, internal strength of bank and the expectations of investors. "There will be waves of bank shares taking place with each organisation and positive information for the industry, especially in the context that the market is still exciting. However, the banking sector is still facing many problems, improving and 2018 is just the start of a positive phase", one expert predicts.

First bank reduces loan interest rates in 2018

11/JAN/2018 INTELLASIA| VNA

Vietcombank said it will continue reducing its loan interest rates for five groups of pri-oritised borrowers in 2018 in accordance with Circular No. 39/2016/TT-NHNN dated December 30, 2016 of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV).The Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank) is the first commercial bank to announce its plan to lower loan interest rates as part of activ-ities to carry out the prime minister's Resolution No. 01/NQ-CP issued on January 1, 2018, and the SBV Governor's direction.Accordingly, interest rates for short-term loans in dongs will be no higher than 6 per-cent per year, applied for those who need capital for a number of economic sectors.The targeted groups are those who use loans for agricultural and rural development, exports, small- and medium-sized enterprises, supporting industry, and those using high technology.The preferential interest rates will be applied from January 15 to December 31, 2018.Over the past years, Vietcombank has continuously launched preferential short-term and long-term loans for necessary economic and social welfare projects, such as hi-tech and clean agriculture, clean water supply, exports, supporting industry, and health de-velopment.http://en.cand.com.vn/Business/First-bank-reduces-loan-interest-rates-in-2018-474181/

Why only about 7pct of Vietnamese have insurance?

11/JAN/2018 INTELLASIA| DTCK

This question was raised by a general director of an insurance company who has years of experience in the industry. In a recent discussion, he also raised another question that "Why life insurance companies still only compete in this 7 percent segment with-out going beyond the limit?"Those normal questions are a difficult problem in terms of market expansion. In fact, in the end of the year, life insurance companies are often "envious" of market share. This is right but sometimes it has been paid too much attention, because having more customers and wider coverage mean that the reputation of each company will be bet-ter strengthened.The above-mentioned leader also said that in Vietnam, life insurance products are of-ten sold to older people and young people who are married. Youngsters in general who like science, smartphone and social networks seem to rarely buy insurance. The customers are mainly from 35-40 years of age, and very few of them aged from 25-35.Currently, there are some changes. Some insurers have announced a longer-term strat-egy with the aim to make their customer base younger in the next four years from now until 2021. According to some statistics, the segment of young customers currently ac-counts for just 5 percent of the life insured people, and insurers plan to raise this pro-portion to 30 percent by 2021.However, to exploit the segment of young customers, insurance companies must have a long-term strategy and roadmap, in which digital technology is the link between in-


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surers and these targeted customers.To take the initiative and be ready to receive young customers, Prudential has built a long roadmap starting from 2017 with the testing of all digital channels such as chat box, myDNA, and Match Book, etc.Phuong Tien Minh, Marketing deputy general director of Prudential said that the com-pany aims to bring all digital technologies to customers not in a restrained way but in a gentle way and turn them into a topic that these customers will mention daily.Meanwhile, according to Dean A.Connor, Chair cum general director of Sun Life, in 2017, Sun Life has renewed its strategy. The focus of this strategy is to provide a better experience to customers and create a stronger emotional connection with them. He said that "we want to make it easier for our agents in working with us, to connect more frequent with customers, and to be quick in solving customers' difficulties when they encounter. If these goals are well completed, Sun Life has built a lifelong relationship with customers".Meanwhile, according to a specialist in the industry, the financial insurance solutions are not enough for young customers. This is easy to understand because the majority of the life-insurance agents operating in Vietnam's market are over the age of 35. "Therefore, along with changing the approach to young potential customers, rejuve-nating counselling staff is also essential for insurance companies to reach out to young-er customers, said the above expert.Assessing that the middle-class segment is rising sharply in Vietnam and is forecasted to reach a third of the population by 2020, Keng Hooi, general director cum Chair of AIA Group affirmed that there is no better time to invest in Vietnam than now.AIA's leader committed to continue investing in Vietnam by continuously introducing innovative ways designed specifically for the Vietnamese market. This will help AIA maintain close relationships with its customers and access the generation Y those who are in the age of 20-29 which now accounts for nearly 10 percent of Vietnam's popula-tion.

Friends for life: Vietnam insurance demand rises

11/JAN/2018 INTELLASIA| VIR

Life insurers are gearing up for a busy year ahead as the market for insurance products in Vietnam is expected to boom in the near future.2018 is slated to be a promising year for foreign life insurers in Vietnam. The life insur-ance market already grew by 30 per cent in 2017, backed by Vietnam's stable macro-economics, emergent middle class, and strong consumer demand. Industry insiders expect the same growth rate for this year, which is prompting insurers to up their game right as the business year begins.AIA Vietnam is one such example. The insurer signed a new bancassurance deal with Viet Capital Bank last week, following a series of partnerships with other lenders such as HSBC, DongA Bank, and VPBank in 2017.Wayne Besant, CEO of AIA Vietnam, told VIR that bancassurance will be an important distribution channel for the firm, as more Vietnamese open bank accounts and expect more sophisticated services from financial firms."We expect to 'walk on two strong legs', which means we'll continue the traditional agency distribution method as well as boost bancassurance partnerships," said Besant.The CEO revealed that in 2017, bancassurance was the fastest-growing channel for AIA in Hanoi and HCM City.It is easy to see that bancassurance will continue to be a buzzword for the industry in 2018. Traditionally, foreign insurers opt for agents, which still account for 90 per cent of new business premiums in Vietnam. However, the sector's over-reliance on agents, especially general agents without any exclusive ties to any insurer, has caused prob-lems in the agent selection process, staff turnover rates, and quality assurance. This has required life insurers to seek out bancassurance partnerships, in addition to this chan-nel helping the core mission of educating Vietnamese consumers on personal finance.Insurers hope that as more Vietnamese become acquainted with the concept of life in-surance, the insurance market will grow. Room for market expansion is huge, as only


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6 per cent of the Vietnamese population currently has an insurance contract, which is among the lowest rates in the Asia-Pacific region.Larry Madge, CEO of Sun Life Vietnam, believes that Vietnam's stable interest rates, strong GDP growth, and better financial literacy will bode well for life insurers. "We believe that in 2018, Vietnamese consumers will have stronger demand for tailored products on personal finance," Madge said.Similarly, managing director of Manulife Vietnam Paul Nguyen pointed out that Viet-nam's middle class is growing rapidly, which means more people will be willing to use part of their income to invest in retirement or financial protection solutions, including life insurance. The ageing population here will also drive up demand for wellness and retirement products.Nguyen said that in the next three years, Manulife Vietnam will strive to be "the trust-ed partner that helps people live positively". Unlike other insurers who use general agencies, Manulife Vietnam prefers to have a tied agency system in order to control the quality of its agents. Bancassurance will be another focus, with the insurer aiming to build an omnichannel approach with digital services."Vietnam is a key part of our Asian goal. Our plan to expand the office network to more cities across the country will help bring us closer to customers and serve them better. We are also investing in key initiatives such as new technology to improve the client experience," said Nguyen.http://www.vir.com.vn/friends-for-life-vietnam-insurance-demand-rises.html

MatchMove to provide digital payment solutions in VN


MatchMove, one of Asia's leading mobile and digital payment companies, will focus on digitising payments across sectors in the country, such as gaming, tourism, digital disbursement, retail and e-commerce."As more customers turn towards technology to conduct bank transactions, Vietnam offers a huge potential for digital banking," Priscilla Le, Senior vice President, Indo-China & Singapore, MatchMove, said."With more people having access to the internet, commercial banks have been devel-oping internet banking services on mobile devices to offer better services to its custom-ers," she said.MatchMove has been providing innovative enterprising solutions to help businesses monetise their user base, increase revenue and user engagement as well as build brand loyalty through the strategic use of secured, certified and customisable cloud-based platforms across Southeast Asia and multiple global markets.It is also one of the few worldwide mobile payment platforms (as a service) authorised by American Express and MasterCard to issue cards directly to users in approved ju-risdictions, or anywhere else in the world with partner banks.In Vietnam, MatchMove has been working closely with corporations such as Tien-Phong Commercial Joint Stock Bank and VTC Intecom.http://bizhub.vn/tech/matchmove-to-provide-digital-payment-solutions-in-vn_291308.html

Agribank's pre-tax profit touches $220 million in 2017


Vietnam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Agribank) reported a pre-tax profit of more than VND5 trillion (US$220 million) in 2017, posting an increase of 20 per cent against the previous year.The bank announced that its total assets reached some VND1.2 quadrillion, a year-on-year increase of 15 per cent. The capital mobilised was relatively high at VND1.1 quad-rillion, rising by 15 per cent from the previous year's figure.The bank also reported outstanding loans amounting to more than VND900 trillion, 17.6 per cent higher compared to 2016. Its loans have primarily focused on agricultural production and the farming sector, aiming to support rural areas in Vietnam.According to Agribank's chair Trinh Ngoc Khanh, the bank had achieved all business targets assigned by the central bank in 2017.


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Last year, Agribank implemented three preferential interest rate loan programmes, supporting over 2,000 corporate customers in high-tech agriculture, with a total amount of VND600 billion, said Khanh.In October, the bank had also signed a cooperation agreement with the Vietnam Asset Management Company to speeding up bad debt settlement. Accordingly, an amount of more than VND23 billion of non-performing loans was resolved under Resolution No. 42 of the National Assembly.http://bizhub.vn/banking/agribanks-pre-tax-profit-touches-us220 million-in-2017_291306.html

SeABank honoured for most trusted savings product


The Southeast Asia Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SeABank) has been listed in top 100 quality products and services which are trusted and used by consumers for the title of the most trusted and recommended savings product in Vietnam.The "Trust and Use Awards 2017" was organised by the Consumption Advisory Mag-azine under the Vietnam Economic Times.This was the seventh time SeABank has been named in the list, acknowledging the bank's efforts to offer the best retail products and services suitable for demands and financial capacity of each consumer, as well as affirming consumers' confidence in the bank's product and service quality.The "Trust and Use Awards" nominate products and services in seven fields: finance-banking-insurance, food and retail, fashion-cosmetics-beauty services, household ap-pliances-interior decor, pharmaceuticals and health care equipment, tourism-resorts-real estate and telecommunications-technology.The results are based from consumer votes on several criteria, including product qual-ity, safety, clean and energy-saving manufacturing, brand prestige and others.The awards have been presented annually since 2006.Recently, SeABank was also listed among the 15 Vietnamese banks in The Asian Bank-ers' AB500 ranking and survey of Asia Pacific's strongest banks, and awarded with the "sustainable business" title by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry.https://en.vietnamplus.vn/seabank-honoured-for-most-trusted-savings-product/124633.vnp

Bank tycoon tearful in court

11/JAN/2018 INTELLASIA| VN ECONOMIC TIMES

Third day of major banking trial sees accused banker downplay his role in fraud.The third day of the trial of 46 banking executives and staff accused of violating eco-nomic regulations that resulted in $400 million going missing in HCM City saw a former bank tycoon shed tears about giving loans to an acquaintance.Tram Be, 58, former vice Chair of Sacombank, and Pham Cong Danh, 52, former Chair of the Vietnam Construction Bank (VNCB), had known each other for some time. Ac-cording to Be, Danh had been a long-time customer during his time at Southern Bank, which merged with Sacombank in 2015. Be was also familiar with Danh's Thien Thanh Group and Trust Bank, which was rebranded as VNCB by the central bank in 2012.According to the indictment, Be helped Danh borrow VND1.8 trillion ($79 million), the limit Danh could borrow without Board approval, from Sacombank by using his posi-tion to sidestep banking regulations. He processed a loan application from Danh in just a day, taking an illegal deposit from VNCB as a guarantee.Danh spent VND1.7 trillion ($74.6 million) of the sum repaying debts to another local bank owed by six companies he owned and deposited the remainder in a personal ac-count. As the six companies did not conduct any business activities, Sacombank col-lected the principal loan of VND1.8 trillion ($79 million) and VND35 billion ($1.55 million) in interest from VNCB's deposit account at Sacombank.Be said he only viewed Danh as a customer with collateral assets when deciding to ap-prove the loans, citing the business plans of the borrowing companies and the interest to be earned from the loans."I thought there would be no criminal prosecution if I could collect the debt," Be said,


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adding that he did not know where the VNCB guarantee to Sacombank came from and was not personally interested in seeing the loans approved."I have reviewed the assessment by SBV about my wrongdoings, but I believe a bank can do what the law does not prohibit," Be said.According to Be, he stands where he is today because he declared that he had known Danh before the loan was granted. "Is honesty a crime?" he asked.According to prosecutors, former BIDV Chair Tran Bac Ha was also involved in a mul-ti million-dollar loss incurred by VNCB at BIDV, in which Danh used VNCB deposits as guarantees and repaid debts owned by his 12 companies, causing VND2.55 trillion ($112 million) in losses for VNCB.Ha signed 12 decisions approving loans for the purchase of building materials for Danh's companies, even though the decision did not mention what loan guarantees there were, and Ha himself did not directly approve the loans but transferred the re-sponsibility for processing the loans to BIDV branches.The results of the investigation so far have not been enough to determine links be-tween Ha and Danh, because there are no documents, evidence, or testimony on who knew about the borrowing companies, which were set up and operated by Danh.The court has received an application for absence from Ha, who was summoned for testimony, due to his treatment for liver cancer. A representative from the Supreme People's Procuracy in HCM City requested he show up at all costs to clarify the issues in the case.http://vneconomictimes.com/article/vietnam-today/bank-tycoon-tearful-in-court

Vietnam to officially connect to Asean Single Window in 2018


Deputy prime minister Vuong Dinh Hue chaired a meeting Hanoi on January 9, asking ministries and sectors to work harder to officially connect Vietnam with the Asean Sin-gle Window mechanism in 2018.He made the request at the third meeting of the National Steering Committee for the Asean Single Window, National Single Window and trade facilitation.The committee's standing agency reported that as of December 15, 2017, 11 ministries and sectors had implemented 47 procedures on the National Single Window mecha-nism, up eight procedures from 2016, and handled more than 790,700 dossiers submit-ted by about 19,980 businesses. From January 1 to December 15, 2017, over 554,500 dossiers were handled, up 272 percent year-on-year.According to a report of the World Bank in 2017, the time for direct customs clearance for export goods at ports of entry in Vietnam reduced by three hours while that for im-port goods were cut down by six hours. Costs for direct customs clearance at ports of entry for one batch of export or import goods declined 19 USD.Data as of December 15, 2017, show that businesses saved more than 205 million USD for customs clearance procedures, over 15 million hours of storage for exports and over 33 million hours of storage for imports.The Ministry of Finance said by December 2017, ministries and sectors had amended and supplemented 74 out of 87 documents on specialised management and examina-tion. Some documents were revised to facilitate businesses and reduce the time for cus-toms clearance, which was applauded by the business community.In 2017, the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) conducted a survey to find out how companies feel about customs activities. Accordingly, 25 percent of the 1,000 respondents said it was difficult and very difficult to carry out specialised exam-ination procedures while only 8 percent shared the view that it was easy and very easy to undertake the procedures.About 39 percent of the surveyed enterprises said there were too many regulations on specialised examination, making it difficult for them to comply with. Meanwhile, 98 percent perceived that many regulations did not match the reality, and 81 percent said it took a long time for examination.Addressing the meeting, deputy PM Hue said it is necessary to simultaneously facili-tate trade and fight trade fraud while preventing red tape caused in the name of trade


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fraud prevention.He asked ministries and sectors to carry out all 130 new administrative procedures in 2018 as registered in the master plan for implementing the National Single Window and the Asean Single Window for 2016-2020.The deputy PM also told them to remove at least 50 percent of goods from the list of items subject to specialised examination. They also have to reduce the rate of goods batches subject to specialised examination during customs clearance from 30-35 per-cent of the total batches at present to 15 percent in the second quarter of 2018.A competitive and transparent environment is also needed for many organisations to engage in testing, verifying and certifying goods, he added.https://en.vietnamplus.vn/vietnam-to-officially-connect-to-asean-single-window-in-2018/124642.vnp

Buoyed by 2017 returns, Vietnam targets 6.7 per cent


Fuelled by impressive growth in 2017 and optimistic international forecasts, the gov-ernment has targeted a growth rate of 6.7 per cent this year, on the backs of foreign di-rect investment and export key drivers.Prime minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc last week issued the government's Resolution No. 01/NQ-CP on socio-economic development plans for 2018, which states that the econ-omy is targeted to expand 6.7 per cent this year, building on the momentum of 2017's 6.81 per cent.Phuc said the driving forces of the growth will be a surge in local production, foreign direct investment (FDI), and exports.The Asian Development Bank predicted last fornight that Vietnam will grow 6.7 per cent this year, higher than the rates of most other countries in East and Southeast Asia. Around the same time, the World Bank also projected that Vietnam will grow 6.5 per cent this year."Stronger domestic demand, robust export-oriented manufacturing, and a gradual re-covery of the agriculture sector are driving Vietnam's economy forward," said the World Bank's lead national economist Sebastian Eckardt. "Besides, Vietnam has made significant progress in improving its business climate."Spain-based FocusEconomics, which provides economic news, indicators, and fore-casts for over 127 countries, told VIR that Vietnam will grow 6.4 per cent this year, which is higher than Asean's average (5 per cent) and the rates of Brunei (1.5 per cent), Indonesia (5.3 per cent), Malaysia (4.9 per cent), Singapore (2.6 per cent), and Thailand (3.5 per cent). "The economy remains on a solid trajectory. It is expected to grow at a strong pace in 2018, thanks to a record-breaking expansion of FDI inflows and a robust performance in exports," said the FocusEconomics forecast.In 2017, FDI inflows into Vietnam reached $21.27 billion, up 42.3 per cent year-on-year, with disbursement hitting $17.5 billion, up 10.8 per cent. The government's projections for 2018 stand at $28.5 billion and $17.5 billion, respectively.The government also forecast that Vietnam's total export turnover will increase to $231 billion this year, up from 2017's $214 billion.Maxfield Brown, senior associate from pan-Asian consultancy firm Dezan Shira & As-sociates told VIR that Vietnam's FDI picture will continue to thrive."Looking towards 2018 and beyond, Vietnam's understanding and policy regarding foreign investment will be more important than ever. The country's ability to meet the expectations of investors and to effectively transfer the benefits of investment inflows to its citizens will determine if Vietnam is able to continue to rise up the value chain effectively," Brown said.Under the new resolution, the government also stressed that improving productivity is one of the key solutions to furthering the economy's growth quality and competi-tiveness this year. Resolution No. 01 stipulates that a national programme on labour productivity growth be developed. This programme is charged with increasing labour productivity by over 6 per cent this year, up from a 5.29 per cent climb of 2016 and a 6 per cent rise of 2017.


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The resolution also targets a total-factor productivity (TFP) ratio in GDP of over 46 per cent, up from 40.68 per cent in 2016 and 44.13 per cent last year. The General Statistical Office reported that based on purchasing power parity in 2011, Vietnam's existing la-bour productivity was equal to 7 per cent of Singapore, 17.6 per cent of Malaysia, 36.5 per cent of Thailand, 42.3 per cent of Indonesia, 56.7 per cent of the Philippines, and 87.4 per cent of Laos.http://www.vir.com.vn/buoyed-by-2017-returns-vietnam-targets-67-per-cent.html

6.7 per cent growth rate projected by World Bank


What does 2018 hold for Vietnam's economy? Sebastian Eckardt, World Bank's lead economist for Vietnam, gives VIR an analysis of the country's positive macro-econom-ic performance in 2017, as well as prospects of the new year.In 2017, Vietnam experienced another great year of strong economic growth and broad macro-economic stability, and we expect the former to go up to 6.7 per cent this year.The driving forces behind last year's successes were higher domestic demand, robust export-oriented manufacturing, and a gradual recovery of the agriculture sector. Low inflation and rising real wages helped sustain buoyant domestic demand and private consumption, while a stronger global economy benefited the country's export-orient-ed manufacturing and agricultural sectors.Vietnam's export performance continues to stand out up 21 per cent in the first 10 months of last year making Vietnam one of the world's fastest-growing export econo-mies. Robust growth was accompanied by sustained macro-economic stability, rela-tively stable exchange rates, a balance of payment surplus, and an improved fiscal position.Job growth continued, with 1.6 million new jobs added in the manufacturing sector over the past three years, and 700,000 additional jobs in construction, retail, and hos-pitality sectors, in turn leading to higher aggregate labour productivity. Labour de-mand also contributed to rapid growth in wages, with average wage estimated to have increased by about 8 per cent in 2017.Regardless, there are a number of underlying challenges. Most importantly, while showing some tentative signs of recovery, productivity growth remains tepid, weigh-ing on Vietnam's medium-term growth potential, especially given weaker labour force and investment growth. The domestic sector in particular is lagging behind the strong performance of the foreign direct investment (FDI) sector, and linkages between do-mestic and FDI firms are relatively weak. Fiscal risks also remain pronounced, in par-ticular with regard to the quality and pace of fiscal consolidation, which could undermine investment in infrastructure and human capital needed for future growth.Despite progress, notably the adoption of Resolution 42 and amendments to the Law on Credit Institutions, there are also some remaining vulnerabilities in the banking sec-tor, including a still sizable stock of unresolved non-performing loans and relatively thick capital buffers at various banks. These vulnerabilities call for continued action, which should take place now while times are good.Overall, the outlook for Vietnam is favourable, especially if the current global recovery continues and domestic reform progress persists. We project growth to stabilise at around 6.5 per cent, accompanied by broad macro-economic stability. This favourable environment provides an opportunity for accelerating and deepening ambitious poli-cies that will raise economic resilience and support growth in the future.Macro-economic resilience could be strengthened by more exchange rate flexibility, a further build-up of foreign reserves, fiscal consolidation, and responsive monetary and macro-prudential policies that moderate credit expansion and bolster capital buff-ers in the banking sector.On the fiscal front, there continues to be a need for deeper revenue and expenditure reforms that lead to real efficiency gains, including broadening tax bases and strength-ening tax administration, right-sizing the public administration, and getting higher value for money in public investment and procurement of goods and services. Steps to solidify macroeconomic stability need to be accompanied with progress on structural


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reforms to lift productivity and potential growth, with steps to reform the state-owned enterprise sector, improve the regulatory environment, and enhance factor markets, including those for land and capital.http://www.vir.com.vn/67-per-cent-growth-rate-projected-by-world-bank.html

Record export of VN fruits in 2017


Vietnam's fruit and vegetable exports reached a record $3.5 billion for year-on-year growth of 43.02 per cent, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Develop-ment.The top 10 markets were China (75.6 per cent), Japan (3.64 per cent), the United States (2.94 per cent), South Korea (2.59 per cent), the Netherlands (1.81 per cent), Malaysia (1.43 per cent), Taiwan (1.33 per cent), Thailand (1.03 per cent), the United Arab Emir-ates (1.01 per cent) and Russia (0.85 per cent). Other markets accounted for 7.77 per cent, according to news site vneconomy.vn.In addition to the traditional markets, Vietnamese fruits also managed to enter de-manding markets like the United States, European Union, Japan, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.According to Nguyen Huu Dat, general secretary of the Vietnam Vegetables and Fruits Association, export has continued its strong growth this year, exceeding the export value of some key export products such as rice, oil and gas.He said in 2018 and beyond, besides improving the quality of vegetables and fruits, en-terprises should focus on processing to add value and extend exports throughout the whole year, and not just during specific seasons.Dinh Cao Khue, general director of the Dong Dao Food Export Joint Stock Company, said processed fruit products cost 10-20 times higher than fresh fruits.He said enterprises can only select 40-50 per cent of harvested vegetables and fruits for export on quality considerations, so the remaining quantity should be processed to get higher value from them.Dat said to have sustainability in vegetable and fruit export, the agriculture sector must have large-scale production, and individual households must join cooperatives. He emphasized that it was easy to improve quality and have uniformity of products with large scale of cooperatives, ensuring food safety and competitiveness of Vietnam-ese vegetables and fruit products in the global market.He further said the agriculture sector must develop associations in the production chain ranging from supply of seeds, cultivation, purchasing and processing to export. Especially fruit products that are exported to demanding markets must have stability in exports and meet standards of food safety, Dat said.Deputy minister of agriculture and rural development Nguyen Thanh Nam also said the agriculture sector should promote cooperation in production between enterprises and cooperatives, wherein the cooperatives would take up land and partner with en-terprises to ensure a stable supply of raw material for businesses.He said the region needs mechanisms and policies to ensure the quality and safety of raw material for export as well as domestic consumption.Vietnam has favourable climate and land to grow different kinds of fruits, so localities having these advantages must have development plans in place and support enter-prises in developing raw material for the export of fruits, Nam said.http://bizhub.vn/news/record-export-of-vn-fruits-in-2017_291314.html

US repeals anti-dumping administrative review on Vietnam's steel nails


The International Trade Administration under the US Department of Commerce (DOC) has published a notice announcing that the department rescinded the adminis-trative review of the antidumping duty order on certain steel nails from Vietnam for the period between July 1, 2016 and June 30, 2017.On September 13, 2017, the DOC published in the Federal Register a notice of initiation of an administrative review covering each of the 19 producers or exporters named by Mid Continent Steel & Wire, Inc. in its July 31 review request.


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However, on September 28, 2017, the petitioner withdrew its administrative review re-quest for each of the 19 companies.Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.213(d)(1), the DOC will rescind an administrative review, in whole or in part, if the party, or parties, that requested a review withdraws the request/s within 90 days of the publication of the notice of initiation of the requested review.As Mid Continent Steel & Wire, Inc. withdrew its request for review by the 90-day deadline, and no other party requested an administrative review of this order, the de-partment is rescinding this review.The DOC will instruct US Customs and Border Protection to assess the countervailing duties on all appropriate entries at rates equal to the cash deposit of estimated anti-dumping duties required at the time of entry, or withdrawal from warehouse, for con-sumption, during the period.https://en.vietnamplus.vn/us-repeals-antidumping-administrative-review-on-viet-nams-steel-nails/124665.vnp

US producers seek to block Chinese aluminum shipped via Vietnam


The Chinese company was accused of evading US duties by shipping aluminum via Vietnam.US aluminum products makers sought new trade protections against Chinese imports on Tuesday, accusing China Zhongwang Holdings Ltd and its affiliates of evading US anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties by shipping aluminum products through Viet-nam.In a filing with the US Commerce Department, the Aluminum Extruders Council said that aluminum extrusions from Zhongwang were being shipped to affiliate Global Vi-etnam Aluminum Co Ltd for conversion work before being exported to the United States.Duties on Chinese extrusions are currently a combined 106 percent, according to the Commerce Department.In response, Zhongwang told Reuters that the "allegations made are without grounds".The anti-circumvention petition follows a number of US actions to raise barriers to Chinese aluminum, including Commerce Department preliminary duties on Chinese aluminum foil and a rare US government-initiated investigation into imports of Chi-nese aluminum alloy sheet products.It also comes as the administration of US President Donald Trump is considering much broader global restrictions on aluminum imports on national security grounds.The Commerce Department is due to issue recommendations to Trump from its "Sec-tion 232" investigation into aluminum imports on January 22. Recommendations from a similar probe into steel imports are due on January 16, but it is not clear whether ei-ther report will immediately be made public.China's excess production capacity of both metals has emerged as a major trade irritant for the United States and Europe, prompting them to consider new steps to protect do-mestic industries and jobs from a flood of Chinese imports.In the Vietnam petition, the Aluminum Extruders Council said it provided evidence that Zhongwang's affiliate in Vietnam was changing the shape and form of Chinese ex-trusions in minor ways but claiming their origin as Vietnamese."These blatant attempts to evade duties and flood the market with unfairly traded Chi-nese aluminum extrusions must be halted," the trade group's president, Jeff Hender-son, said in a statement.In June, the Commerce Department ordered that fabricated aluminum pallets import-ed from China should be subject to the US duties after determining that they were part of a duty evasion scheme. The Aluminum Extruders Council argued that these prod-ucts are being shipped through Vietnam with minor changes.The Commerce Department has shown receptiveness to similar anti-circumvention cases in the steel sector. In December, the agency slapped steep duties on steel prod-ucts from Vietnam that originated as Chinese made hot-rolled steel.


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Ministry assures E5 bio-fuel meets international standards


The quality of E5 bio fuel in Vietnam is ensured and meets international standards. All features, capacity and fuel consumption remain the same, and in some criteria E5 is better than RON 92, officials said.Nguyen Phu Cuong, director of the Department of Science and Technology under the Ministry of Industry and Trade told a forum held in Hanoi on Wednesday that E5 is not a new fuel."The roadmap to replace RON 92 with E5 has been carefully prepared," Cuong said.The nationwide sale of E5 replacing RON 92 was implemented for two weeks. Con-sumers are becoming accustomed to using this environmentally-friendly bio-fuel. However, some consumers are still unsure of the quality of the fuel, as well as if the new E5 fuel suits their vehicles.The forum, with participation of authorities from ministries and the Vietnam Automo-bile Manufacturers Association (VAMA), therefore helped answer any questions.Cuong said the ministry in cooperation with relevant agencies and big petroleum pro-ducers collected opinions for the replacement in the 2007-12 period.The country has a Vietnamese national standard to manage the fuel's quality. It has been continuously updated to match global trends."The Ministry of Science and Technology was assigned by the government to take re-sponsibility for E5 quality management. Petroleum in particular and fuels in general are strictly managed under the Law on Standards," he added.Dr Pham Huu Tuyen from the University of Technology, took random vehicle models to test E5 gasoline, and said toxic components in the exhaust gas while using E5 bio-fuel were considerably reduced in comparison with RON92."This shows the effectiveness of using E5 in operation, thus improving engine per-formance and reducing emissions," he said.Pham Anh Tuan from VAMA provided a survey of its members showing that E5 pet-rol did not have bad impacts on vehicles which were produced after 1997. Some, which were produced before 1997, could see some negative impacts, but not affecting quality or safety."For vehicles sold in Vietnam, it is recommended not to use leaded petrol and metha-nol. E5 bio-fuel does not have an impact on the engine," Tuan said.Sharing this opinion, Nguyen Van Phuong, from Vietnam Register, said information from vehicle producers affirmed that most current vehicles are compatible with E5 and E10 petrol.E5 selling prices continue to dropAnswering a question about the surge in the price of RON 95 recently, which was ru-moured to force consumers to use E5 instead of RON 95, Cuong from MoIT said the government had not aimed to do that.The government only encourages the using of E5 by reducing taxes and fees, thus low-ering its selling prices.The retail price of E5 biofuel is about VND2,000 (8.9 US cents) per litre cheaper than that of RON92 petrol at VND18,243.Meanwhile, the retail selling price of RON95 petrol has been increased by VND760-810 per litre to more than VND20,690."The environmental protection tax of E5 is 100 per cent cheaper than RON 95. The min-istry is advising the government to continue reducing the tax on the E5 environmen-tally-friendly petrol," he added.After nearly two weeks of using E5, Do Huu Tao, head of the Technical Department of Vietnam Petroleum Group (Petrolimex) said it was estimated that 65 per cent of con-sumers were changing from RON 92 to E5 and this was increasing.Nguyen Van Khoi, from the directorate for Standards, Metrology and Quality said there were no reports of vehicles damaged by using E5 fuel. E5 fuel is a mix of A92 pet-rol (95 per cent) and biofuel ethanol (5 per cent).Ministry of Industry and Trade to announce basis price of A95 petrolThe Ministry of Industry and Trade said the global selling price of RON 95 has surged,


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pushing the country's retail price higher.The ministry sent a report to the deputy prime minister Vuong Dinh Hue, who is also head of the price management board of RON 95.RON 95 has not been subject to announcements of its basis price, and the ministries of industry and trade and finance did not use the price stabilisation fund to lower prices.It added that they announced basis prices of popular petroleum products which have high consumption in the market.Previously, consumers mostly used RON 92. Only some expensive, newer vehicles were recommended to use RON 95.This was the reason that the two ministries used RON 92 for the calculation of basis price in the local market, the ministry said, adding that it would report to the govern-ment on the announcement of the RON 95 basis price when the number of vehicles us-ing the fuel increased.bizhub.vn/news/ministry-assures-e5-bio-fuel-meets-intl-standards_291312.html

Prices forecast to remain stable, even fall in 2018


Prices tend to remain stable, even fall slightly in 2018, heard a workshop in Hanoi on January 9 to review prices in 2017 and make forecast for 2018.According to the Price Management Department under the Ministry of Finance, with an increasing supply of necessary goods thanks to higher domestic production capa-bility, and signed free trade agreements, Vietnamese people are enjoying an abun-dance of local and imported goods with more competitive prices.Post and telecommunication prices are expected to remain unchanged or fall slightly. Inflation rate is forecast to stand between 1.6-1.8 percent, while the exchange and in-terest rates are under control, helping reduce costs for enterprises.Nguyen Tien Thoa, vice President and Secretary general of the Vietnam Price Evalua-tion Association, highlighted the factors that might push up the inflation rate, such as credit and exchange rate extension, electricity price adjustments, basic salary increase, consequences of natural disasters, and unpredictable epidemics.He suggested addressing the root of inflation while restructuring the economy, re-forming the growth model, increasing productivity, quality and competitiveness, and stablising the macroeconomy.Comprehensive measures should be devised to regulate the inflation rate right from the beginning of the year, such as ensuring goods supply in any circumstances, Thoa said.Associate Prof Dr Ngo Tri Long, former head of the Ministry of Finance's Price Man-agement Institute, underlined the factors affecting prices in 2018, such as diseases, weather and climate patterns, saying it will be a challenge to keep the inflation rate at 4 percent.The inflation in 2018 will suffer pressure from prices hikes of public services and food-stuffs, he said.Long suggested enhancing price stablisation to curb inflation, thus ensuring the target of stablising the macroeconomy while monitoring closely CPI developments for timely adjustment.https://en.vietnamplus.vn/prices-forecast-to-remain-stable-even-fall-in-2018/124641.vnp

State capital committee takes charge of state assets in SOEs


In a bid to more effectively control state capital in enterprises, the government will es-tablish an official committee dedicated to manage it in the first quarter of 2018.Prime minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has recently issued Resolution No. 01/NQ-CP on key tasks and solutions to implementing the country's socio-economic development plan for 2018. The resolution states, "A committee to manage state capital in enterpris-es will be established this year."During a recent teleconference between the government, ministries, and localities, Phuc stressed that this committee, which represents ownership of enterprises' state


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capital, will be founded in 2018's first quarter, in order to more effectively supervise and manage state capital and assets, and to create a more transparent business climate.The Ministry of Planning and Investment's drafted plan to establish this committee was submitted to the government a long time ago, following many discussions and conferences."It will be a new agency, with personnel to be newly recruited. Some personnel will come from relevant ministries," Phan Duc Hieu, vice head of the Central Institute for Economic Management, which directly drafted the plan, told VIR. "We hope the new committee will help the government to control state capital in enterprises with greater ease."The committee will not manage state-owned enterprises' (SOEs) performance, instead purely looking at their state capital and assets. All enterprises will continue operating under the law and report their operational results to their relevant sector-specialised bodies such as finance, banking, environment, and industry and trade.The committee will take over state stakes in 30 economic groups and corporations, whose total capital and assets are valued at about $227.3 billion, equivalent to Viet-nam's GDP in 2017.Sebastian Eckardt, lead economist for the World Bank in Vietnam, told VIR that the es-tablishment of the committee "is a positive initiative". He added that it not only reflects good corporate governance practices of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development for SOE management, but also the potential to contribute to the gov-ernment's ultimate objective of enhancing performance and productivity in the SOE sector and the economy more broadly.According to Eckardt, separating ownership and regulatory functions is important for two main reasons. First, it mitigates potential conflicts of interest in sectors where the state operates as an owner and a regulator, and can help level the playing field and en-hance competition between enterprises, regardless of their ownership. Second, having a dedicated ownership agency also allows the government to professionalise the man-agement of its assets and ensure value maximisation and performance while reducing potential fiscal risks.Commenting on the establishment of the government-run committee, Aaron Batten, country economist from Asian Development Bank's Vietnam resident mission, told VIR that if established, the committee should target a number of key objectives, such as enhancing the accountability of SOEs and developing a clear line of responsibility with the centralised body and SOEs' objectives, and ensuring SOE reform is subject to clear targets and performance evaluations.The agency should also be focused on limiting political interference in the manage-ment of SOEs, and on professionalising and empowering boards of directors to oper-ate on a commercial basis, added Batten."The agency should also promote merit-based appointments within SOEs, including good incentives and environment to recruit and retain full-time, specialised, and skilled individuals," Batten said. "Furthermore, the agency should oblige SOEs to im-prove corporate governance arrangements, including providing data and information in a timely manner to the board, the centralised co-ordinating body, and the public."http://english.vov.vn/economy/state-capital-committee-takes-charge-of-state-assets-in-soes-366445.vov

Vietnam's finance ministry tables conflicting proposals for personal income tax shake up


One proposal would add $22.5 million to the state coffers, while the other would cause a loss of $58.5 million.In a draft amendment to Vietnam's personal income tax (PIT) law, the Ministry of Fi-nance has made two proposals that would either cut the state budget collection by VND1.3 trillion ($58.5 million) or increase it by VND500 billion ($22.5 million).Under the first proposal, which would cut the state budget collection by VND1.3 tril-lion, the new threshold for PIT would increase to VND10 million ($441) per month from the current VND5 million.


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People with incomes reaching VND20 million would have to pay tax of 15 percent in-stead of the current 20 percent.However, the Ministry of Finance said the first proposal would benefit the rich more than the poor. For example, the proposal would cut the tax paid by individuals with an income of VND10 million by VND250,000 per month, but it would slash payments made by those with an income of VND30 million by VND850,000 and those with an income of VND80 million by VND650,000.Under the second proposal, tax thresholds for people with incomes of VND10 million or less would remain unchanged. However, tax paid by people with monthly incomes of VND15 million-30 million would increase by VND250,000-400,000 per month. Those with monthly incomes of VND80 million would have to pay an additional VND650,000. The increases would raise state budget collection by an estimated VND500 billion each year, said the ministry.Assessing the two proposals, economist Bui Quang Tin from HCM City said the sec-ond proposal had a negative impact on more taxpayers. Under the proposal, those with monthly incomes of VND10-40 million would pay a 20 percent PIT. The current tax policy levies a tax for people with monthly incomes of VND10-18 million of only 15 percent. A large percentage of employees in Vietnam earn VND10-18 million, so the proposal would create a heavier burden on more people, he said.Deductions for dependents under the two proposals would remain unchanged at VND3.6 million per month.Tin said the first proposal was better because it would be less painful for low tax threshold payers.https://e.vnexpress.net/news/business/vietnam-s-finance-ministry-tables-conflicting-proposals-for-personal-income-tax-shake-up-3696992.html

Ministry insists on excise tax on sugary drinks


The finance ministry has insisted on levying a special consumption tax on sweetened beverages, except for dairy products, news website Vietnam Finance cites the minis-try's latest draft of the amended law on taxes.Last August, the ministry suggested sugary drinks be subject to a special consumption tax of 10 percent, and a value-added tax (VAT) of 12 percent, stoking strong objections from beverage makers and associations. Still, in this latest draft, the ministry has pro-posed sugar-sweetened beverages be subject to the excise tax.If approved, the proposal may see the tax imposed on carbonated and non-carbonated soft drinks, energy drinks, sports drinks and bottled instant coffee and tea next year.The ministry explains that about 25 percent of Vietnamese adults are overweight or obese. The obesity rate for children under five years old is also increasing fast, from 0.6 percent in 2000 to 5.3 percent in 2015. Notably, the percentage of obese kids in HCM City has risen to 10.8 percent, higher than the world average of 6.9 percent.The ministry also cites a recommendation of the World Health Organization as saying that sugar-sweetened beverages have adverse effects on human health.Around 40 countries have imposed special consumption tax on these kinds of drinks in a bid to reduce their consumption, according to the ministry.For example, many Southeast Asian countries have already imposed excise tax on sug-ary drinks. The current rate is 20-25 percent in Thailand, 5-10 percent in Laos, 10 per-cent in Cambodia, and 5 percent in Myanmar. The Philippines and Indonesia are also considering imposing the tax.Therefore, according to the ministry, the tax will help regulate the consumption of sweetened beverages in line with international practices.http://english.thesaigontimes.vn/57953/Ministry-insists-on-excise-tax-on-sugary-drinks.html

Ministry wants higher base salary for public servants


The Ministry of Home Affairs is consulting relevant ministries and agencies over a plan to raise the monthly base salary from the current VND1.3 million to VND1.39 mil-


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lion (US$61.2) for public officials and employees as well as armed forces.The base salary of VND1.3 million per month which has been applied since July 1 last year is close to earnings of people at the poverty line in urban areas in the 2016-2020 period, and equivalent to 41.43 percent of the average minimum wage last year, meet-ing only 35.53 percent of the minimum living standards. The real salary for public servants is determined by multiplying the base salary with a coefficient depending on the seniority of such people.In addition to the base salary hike, the National Assembly had issued Resolution 49/2017/QH14 to adjust pensions, social insurance benefits and monthly allowances as well. The resolution will come into force from July 1 this year.Ministries and State agencies will have to balance their budgets when the new base wage is applied. Meanwhile, centrally-governed cities and provinces will use 10 per-cent of regular expenditures to cover the pay rise and downsize their apparatuses.The draft decree is being passed around for comment until March 3.Meanwhile, prime minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has signed Resolution 01/NQ-CP on socio-economic development plan and the State budget estimates for this year, which includes provisions requiring State agencies to reduce the number of officials and civil servants by 1.7 percent and the State payroll by at least 2.5 percent over 2015. State em-ployees who fail to fulfill their obligations should be dismissed in accordance with pre-vailing regulations.The resolution is aimed at reforming and downsizing the State apparatus and restruc-turing the State payroll.Ministries and State agencies will have to closely control the number of civil servants and have plans to streamline the workforce.http://english.thesaigontimes.vn/57936/Ministry-wants-higher-base-salary-for-pub-lic-servants.html

Vietnam priorities energy security: Party official


Vietnam always attaches importance to energy security, considering it a top priority in the country's energy development policy and strategy, said Nguyen Van Binh, head of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee's Commission for Economic Af-fairs. At a reception for former US Secretary of State John Kerry in Hanoi on January 10, he said Vietnam wants to promote renewable energy development for power gen-eration, contributing to energy security, climate change mitigation, environmental protection and sustainable development.Stressing on the importance of energy, theme of the Vietnam Economic Forum 2017 held by the Commission for Economic Affairs, John Kerry recommended stronger col-laboration between the two countries in the field, including the development of renew-able and clean energies.He said he hopes that Vietnam will have policies to lure investors in the sector. He also affirmed to further efforts to promote the bilateral ties in any capacity.Binh said that as Vietnam is integrating intensively and extensively into the regional and global economies, the country always rolls out red carpet for foreign investors, particularly those from the US.He lauded contributions made by John Kerry to the Vietnam-US relations in trade, in-vestment and other fields that bring practical benefits to both countries' people.https://en.vietnamplus.vn/vietnam-priorities-energy-security-party-official/124673.vnp

VN opens up logistics sector to foreign companies


Foreign investors will be given the go-ahead to set up logistics companies in Vietnam, but with conditions on ownership and services, according to government Decree 163 on logistics services which will come into force on February 20.Foreign investors are given the green light to establish maritime shipping companies, except for domestic services.They are required to meet some requirements such as their vessels carrying the Viet-


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namese flag, their captains and first vice captains being Vietnamese citizens, and the number of their foreign crewmen being less than one-third of the total on board.Overseas investors who offer container loading and unloading services can set up their own companies, or hold a stake of below 50 percent in local enterprises.Those providing goods customs clearance services can also do the aforementioned services. However, they have the right to establish a commercial presence in the form of business cooperation contract only.Foreigners are allowed to set up companies specialising in goods shipping services by inland waterway and rail, or acquire stakes of less than 49 percent in local companies in the same sector.Those active in road cargo transport can set up their own companies, but all of their drivers must be Vietnamese citizens.According to the decree, they also must fulfill business investment requirements in line with regulations for their services. Besides, they must compensate their customers if goods become defective in their shipping process.Statistics of the Vietnam Logistics Association indicate Vietnam has around 3,000 local companies, with 1,300 being small and medium enterprises, in the logistics sector. However, they hold a market share of a mere 25 percent. Meanwhile, 25 foreign com-panies make up the remaining proportion, mainly in international transport services.The association said the domestic logistics sector has an annual growth rate of 15-16 percent. The Logistics Performance Index of the World Bank indicates that Vietnam was ranked 64th among 160 countries, and took the fourth place among Asean coun-tries behind Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand in 2016.However, logistics cost accounted for 20.8 percent of gross domestic product, totalling a whopping $41.26 billion in 2016.http://english.thesaigontimes.vn/57948/VN-opens-up-logistics-sector-to-foreign-com-panies.html

New players to re-shape pharma sector


Vietnam's pharmaceutical retail industry is forecast to see significant competition in 2018, with the entry of new players with strong financial capacity and experience in distribution.In the final days of 2017, Mobile World Investment Group (MWG) announced its ac-quisition of HCM City-based Phuc An Khang pharmacy for an undisclosed sum. How-ever, the annual shareholders' meeting in April approved a budget of VND2.5 trillion (US$110 million) for merger and acquisition (M&A) activity, of which VND500 billion will be pumped into pharmaceutical retail.Also in early December, chairwoman of FPT Digital Retail JSC Nguyen Bach Diep bought Long Chau pharmacy, HCM City's biggest drugstore chain. Though saying it was just Diep's private investment, the deal is speculated as an initial step for FPT Re-tail to enter the pharmaceutical distribution sector.Another big electronics retailer, Nguyen Kim Group, in November made a public bid for Lam Dong Pharmaceutical JSC's shares, following which it is ready to spend about $3 million to raise its ownership from 24 per cent to over 51.14 per cent. Apart from Lam Dong Pharmaceutical, Nguyen Kim Group is also investing in FT Pharma.Earlier in August, Digiworld Corp signed up with Vinamedic to distribute food sup-plements for men.A $5 billion marketVietnam's pharmaceutical retail sector is considered 'fertile ground' for big distribu-tors, with total revenues of up to $4.7 billion in 2017, up 13 per cent year-on-year, ac-cording to Business Monitor International (BMI), and is expected to swell to $7.7 billion in 2021 and $16.1 billion in 2026.Demand for drugs in the country is also rising stably in line with improved income per capita. The drug spending per capita in Vietnam rose from $9.9 in 2005 to $37.97 in 2015. With a rapidly ageing population, average spending on drugs is forecast to climb to $85 in 2020 and $163 in 2025.


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The market holds big potential for retailers to establish their dominance, in the context that drug distribution in Vietnam is still in the hands of private pharmacies with no one seizing a market share of up to 20 per cent.FPT Retail's chairwoman Diep in a FPT Retail roadshow in December said the compa-ny would make a 'pilot investment' in a new retail sector before making an official de-cision in 2018. She highly valued the pharmaceutical industry with its positive market growth potential.Meanwhile, Mobile World's chair Nguyen Duc Tai has targeted 500 stores nationwide through the acquisition of pharmaceutical brands, especially those with 10-15 stores. However, he said this is a specific industry which needs careful contemplation.Long-term raceAccording to Phan Van Hieu, chair of CVI Pharmaceutical and Cosmetics JSC, this year would not see any big change in the drug distribution market as now is still a pe-riod of exploration and evaluating market approach for new players."I think the pharmaceutical retail market is not an easy sector for even big distributors such as MWG or FPT. The pharmaceutical market has a lot of barriers and is different from other markets," Hieu was quoted as saying to the Dau tu chung khoan (Securities Investment) newspaper.Mai Hai Ninh, a founder of thuocvasuckhoe.com drugstore chain, said the biggest risk for drug retailers is the lack of medical expertise as drug sales depend on prescriptions or just a patients' declaration on their health status."The pharmaceutical industry is a specific industry, so from managers and salespeople need to have strong medical knowledge," Ninh said, adding that training of medical staff requires 2-3 years.The participation of retail giants with strong financial strength and modern technology and management is expected to create a big push for the drug distribution market but actual changes are expected to take place over the next 5-10 years.http://bizhub.vn/news/new-players-to-re-shape-pharma-sector_291313.html

R&D comes to forefront for local pharma sector


Vietnam's top-three pharmaceutical firms will give priority to the research of new drugs this year to increase competitiveness amid stiffening competition from multina-tional corporations and new domestic rivals.According to Vietnam Report's December 2017 survey of local pharmaceutical firms, 83 per cent of those surveyed ranked the research of new drugs as their predominant strategy in 2018."The trend will enable pharma firms to venture further into the profitable segment of ethical or prescription drugs, which is currently dominated by multinational corpo-rations, to cash in on the favourable conditions created in the Law on Pharmacy 2016," an analyst at BIDV Securities told VIR.Recent moves by top Vietnamese drugmakers Hau Giang Pharmaceutical JSC (DHG), Traphaco, and Domesco have seemingly confirmed the trend."Research and development (R&D) is the decisive factor for the future growth of our company. We spend about 5 per cent of our annual revenue on R&D activities. In 2017, we started to focus on a new product an eyedrop made at our new factory inaugurated in November 2017," said Vu Thi Thuan, chairwoman of Traphaco. "We plan to produce functional foods such as digestive ferments for children, and upgrade some produc-tion assemblies to EU-GMP/PIC/S-GMP standards in 2018."With the new factory, Traphaco aims to become the number one drug producer in Vi-etnam by 2020, with market capitalisation of VND10 trillion ($454.5 million), revenue of VND4 trillion ($181.8 million), and a distribution network of 40 branches nation-wide by 2020.Traphaco's major foreign shareholders are Vietnam Azalea Fund Ltd under Mekong Capital with a 25 per cent stake, Vietnam Holding Ltd (10.43 per cent), and Citigroup Global Markets Ltd (4.75 per cent).Vietnam's third-biggest listed drugmaker Domesco and the country's biggest publicly-


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traded drugmaker DHG have also already taken action. Abbott Laboratories is Domesco's biggest foreign shareholder with a 51.7 per cent stake, Taisho Pharmaceu-tical Holdings (24.5 per cent) and FTIF Templeton Frontier Markets Fund (12.95 per cent).Domesco launched a costly new drug factory in the southern province of Dong Thap in 2016. The new plant, the third of its kind developed by Domesco, meets European standards and is focused on research and production of medicines for cancer treat-ment.Similarly, DHG has big future plans for production. It will develop a biological prod-uct segment, focusing on types made from herbs and supplements. It will also expand distribution of products to multinational corporations, while cooperating with them in the production stages.DHG hopes to maintain an average growth of 15 per cent in its net revenue annually, to $300 million by 2020. In this way it aims to become Vietnam's biggest generic drug-maker its projections target 10 per cent of market share in locally-made drugs.Vietnam's pharmaceutical market is on track to grow on a steep curve. The 2017 turn-over of the domestic market was estimated at $5.2 billion, according to data from Busi-ness Monitor International, up approximately 10 per cent on-year. The industry is expected to continue its double-digit growth over the next five years. Pharmaceutical enterprises in Vietnam are placing great hope on potential business growth this year, with nearly 75 per cent of businesses anticipating industry growth of 10 per cent.http://www.vir.com.vn/rd-comes-to-forefront-for-local-pharma-sector.html

Aviation spreads wings towards far-flung goals


Depite growing interest, private investments in Vietnam's aviation sector remain be-low expectations. deputy minister of Transport Nguyen Ngoc Dong talked about the mechanisms to leverage private investments in the sector and plans to develop avia-tion logistics in the future.Could you give an overview of international cooperation in aviation, and the scheme to open direct flights to key destinations to promote business and investment?During 2006-2016, Vietnam's aviation sector witnessed 15.9 per cent growth in the pas-senger segment and 13.1 per cent growth in the cargo segment, making it one of the three markets with the highest growth in the Asia-Pacific region.In 2017, the country welcomed over 94 million air passengers, up 16 per cent on-year, while cargo volume rose 19 per cent to 1.34 million tonnes.The country has signed 67 bilateral agreements and nine multilateral international treaties on air transportation with countries and territories.Amid deepening global integration, Vietnam has completed a scheme to open direct flights to foreign countries and submitted it to the prime minister for approval. The scheme covers detailed requirements and targets for opening international air routes between Vietnam and each market.In the scheme, 12 key markets China, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Aus-tralia, Russia, the UK, France, Germany, the US, and India were selected as candidates for specific policies for the next five years. In addition, high-potential markets for trade, investment, and tourism cooperation like South Africa and the Middle East were named. The scheme is also among the basic steps in the country's policies to promote the development of the tourism industry.At present, the flag carrier Vietnam Airlines (VNA), Jetstar Pacific Airlines, Vietjet Air, and VASCO are operating 53 international air routes to 17 countries and territories, with a total fleet of 160 aircraft. More than 50 foreign airlines from 28 countries and ter-ritories are also operating 78 air routes to 21 Vietnamese airports.More international groups are interested in projects in aviation. What are the incentive policies to encourage private investment in the sector?The Ministry of Transport (MoT) has devised several tactics to attract domestic and foreign investment in the development of aviation infrastructure amid state budget constraints. They include the scheme to attract private investment in aviation infra-


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structure, especially service-related infrastructure.At present, MoT is working with the Ministry of Finance to complete a draft decree on management and operation of aviation infrastructure assets, which will then be sub-mitted to the government for approval.In addition, to make the sector more attractive to foreign investors, MoT has been working with the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) to amend Decree No.15/2015/ND-CP and Decree No.30/2015/ND-CP governing the public-private partnership (PPP) investment model. These amended decrees have been appraised by the Ministry of Justice and are expected to be approved by the government soon. The MPI is also preparing to build a law on PPP Investment.Currently, the expansion project of Tan Son Nhat International Airport in HCM City and the $16 billion Long Thanh International Airport project in the southern province of Dong Nai are attracting great interest among international groups, including those from South Korea, Japan, China, and the US.The Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam has selected foreign consultants and submitted the expansion plan to the prime minister last month. When approved, MoT will call on private investment for specific parts.For Long Thanh, the country might try to attract private investments in terminals and hangars related to service areas.VNA and Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV) will divest state stake next year. What do you think about the possibilities of attracting influential international groups?ACV will have to divest 20 per cent of its state stake in 2018 and 10.4 per cent in 2019 under the newly-issued Decision No.1232/QD-TTg. Meanwhile, VNA aims to cut its state holdings to 51 per cent of charter capital in the next three years, down from the current 86 per cent.Foreign investors often target large-scale firms and those that have operations related to foreign firms and international markets. ACV and VNA are among their targets.In 2016, ANA Holdings, Japan's largest airline group, became VNA's strategic partner with an 8.77 per cent stake buy-in. Meanwhile, the stake sales by ACV attracted great interest among multinational corporations, including France's Groupe ADP (formerly Aeroports de Paris), Singapore's Changi Airport International, and Japanese investors Taisei and JATCO.Aviation has still drawn the most attention among foreign investors thanks to its huge development potential. The country's passenger-population ratio is less than 1:1, com-pared to 4:1 or 5:1 in many more developed places, including Singapore, Hong Kong, and the US. Thus, there is much more room for potential investors.Amid growing demand, what are the plans to develop the sector and aviation logistics in the future?Despite the strong growth, the scale of the aviation sector remains small and has yet to convince many international carriers to open direct flights. In addition, only a small amount of private investments has been poured into aviation infrastructure.Under the adjustments to aviation development planning by 2020, with a vision to-wards 2030, a network of modern airports will be developed.We also aim to develop logistics service centres at Noi Bai, Danang, and Tan Son Nhat international airports by 2020, and others, such as Chu Lai and Long Thanh, by 2030.4http://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/business/193457/aviation-spreads-wings-towards-far-flung-goals.html

Vietnam's 2017 automobile market below expectation


The Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers' Association (VAMA) announced on January 10 that it sold 27,882 automobile units in December 2017, up 13 percent from the pre-vious month.Of the figure, 14,621 were passenger cars, up 14 percent; 11,889 were commercial vehi-cles, up 13 percent while 1,372 were special-use vehicles, down 6 percent month-on-month.


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Also in December 2017, up to 20,047 units were assembled at home, a month-on-month increase of13 percent and 7,835 others were imported, marking a 11 percent rise.Last year, a total of 272,750 units were sold, down 10 percent yearly. The sales of pas-senger cars, commercial and special-use vehicles decreased by 15 percent, 2 percent and 12 percent, respectively.As of late December, the sales of domestically-assembled units fell by 19 percent to 194,960 while imported ones increased 9 percent to 77,790.The falling sales were attributed to consumers' wait for decrease in automobile prices in early 2018 when automobile import tariff will slip to zero percent in accordance with the Asean Trade in Goods Agreement.In order to stimulate demand, almost all domestic assemblers and distributors offered a series of promotions and discounts. However, consumers still showed little interest.However, in mid October, the government issued Decree No.116/2017 ND-CP on tightening automobile manufacturing and trade.Later in November 16, 2017, it issued Decree No.125/2017/ND-CP on amendments and supplements to some articles of Decree No.122/2016/ND-CP on import tariff and pref-erential import tariff, list of goods and their flat tax, compound tariff and out-of-quota import tariff.Accordingly, flat and compound tariffs on imported secondhand automobiles will in-crease by thousands of USD from January 1, 2018.According to industry insiders, the market could see decrease in prices of domestical-ly-assembled automobiles this year thanks to zero percent import tariff on automobile spare parts and 5-percent reduction in special consumption tax on units with engine 2.0 and less.Thaco, Huyndai Thanh Cong and Toyota Vietnam are offering discounts on such kind of vehicles but their prices will not be cheaper than promotion periods in 2017.https://en.vietnamplus.vn/vietnams-2017-automobile-market-below-expectation/124675.vnp

Wood industry urged to embrace automation


Vietnamese enterprises, regardless of size, should use enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions to optimise their resources and improve their efficiency, heard a sem-inar organised by the Handicraft and Wood Industry Association of HCM City on Jan-uary 9.Phi Anh Tuan, deputy chair of the HCM City Computer Association and CEO of PAT Consulting, said ERP could be used to collect, store, manage and interpret data from many business activities.The challenge facing wood processing firms is to meet the increasing requirements of buyers in terms of quality, delivery time, and traceability, and cutting costs to improve competitiveness, according to Tuan.The more orders a company gets, the busier its managers are and they do not have time for planning strategy, considering measures to improve productivity and optimise production.With ERP, data is easily available and routinely updated and the management can make the best decisions for the company.They can also get a better overall picture of how the business is operating, which is vi-tal when it comes to responding to changes and improving overall financial planning of the business.Le Duc Nghia, general director of An Cuong Wood Working JSC, said at a time it had 700-800 workers the company had difficulties in managing things. Then its payroll grew to over 1,000 staff and revenue to 1 trillion VND (44 million USD), and the com-pany did not know how to manage, and restructuring became the only option, he said.But then it adopted SAP's ERP, and management had become smooth, he said.Now it had more than 5,000 workers and revenues of over 3 trillion VND, but manage-ment was no longer difficult, he said."Since applying SAP's ERP in January last year, our revenues went up by 40 percent,


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and I just need to work five days a week instead of seven as I used to."The solution allows him to manage his company's resources at any time and from an-ywhere recognise potential risks, and make decisions at every level quickly and pre-cisely.The solution is no longer just for large organisations and in fact ERP for small business-es is quickly becoming popular among organisations to look for greater productivity and more streamlined data that is available to all departments at all times.With proper use, an ERP system can boost productivity, reduce costs, streamline data flow, encourage collaboration, deliver business insights and improve decision-mak-ing, according to Tuan.If they streamline their management, Vietnamese businesses can save up to 76 percent of administrative costs.Hoang Dinh Trong, chair of PDCA Training Consultants Limited Company, said au-tomation would help liberate top management from mundane tasks to focus on their key mission of planning.However, the number of businesses embracing automation remains modest in the wood industry because at most companies the managers used to be skilled workers like carpenters who established a company and so sometimes lack management skills, he said.But many delegates agreed that businesses should definitely adopt appropriate ERP solutions.https://en.vietnamplus.vn/wood-industry-urged-to-embrace-automation/124621.vnp

Agriculture revival with private funds


A new wave of private agricultural investments has surged in the country, helping to super-charge the capital-poor agricultural sector.Over the next two weeks, locally-owned TH Group will start construction of a large-scale dairy farm and processing plant in the south-central province of Phu Yen, with total investment capital in the hundreds of millions of US dollars.Last week, the group's $2.7 billion dairy farm and dairy processing plant in Russia's Moscow oblast received the first 1,100 pregnant cows imported from the US.The group has also been investing billions of US dollars into expanding its agricultural projects in many other provinces."We also want to provide financial consultancy for firms that cultivate herbal plants," said Thai Huong, general director of BAC A BANK and chairwoman of TH Group.At last week's conference on Vietnam's agricultural development, attended by leaders of some major local firms, prime minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said that TH Group is "typical of local firms boosting their investment into Vietnam's agricultural sector.""I'm surprised that in 2017, a record number of nearly 2,000 enterprises were newly es-tablished in the sector, accounting for 35.7 per cent of the total number of agricultural firms in Vietnam as it stands," Phuc said. "We are expecting a new wave of local private investment in the sector, on top of the billions of US dollars invested in 2017."Two weeks ago, Nafood Group began construction on a $9 million facility in the north-ern province of Son La to process export-oriented vegetables and fruit. This 2ha facility will become operational in September 2018, with a capacity of 120 tonnes of product per day.Nafood holds over 10 per cent of international market share in condensed passion fruit products.Nguyen Manh Hung, chair and general secretary of Nafood, said the group will invest much more money into other projects and rent more land for production.Nafood recently signed a deal with Japan's Maruzen Co., Ltd, on deploying a high-tech project to cultivate and process organic ginger in Vietnam.This investment movement extends beyond consumer goods. Last week, Dabaco Group issued its production and business plan for 2018, aiming to reap VND9.3 trillion ($442.54 million) in total revenue, VND281 billion ($12.8 million) in pre-tax profit, and VND246 billion ($11.2 million) in post-tax profit.


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Dabaco operates in many sectors, including animal feed, poultry and cattle breeding, and foodstuff processing.The firm is currently working with several localities on its new projects.Dabaco has many animal feed mills and a $39 million oil-extracting factory in the northern province of Bac Ninh. The firm wants to produce one million tonnes of ani-mal feed over the next several years and build more large-scale hog breeding farms.Other firms are also planning to invest more and expand their businesses, such as egg producer DTK Phu Tho, Viet Phuc Export-Import and Production, FPT, Hoang Anh Gia Lai, and Hoa Phat.For example, DTK Phu Tho Company recently inked cooperation deals with three Jap-anese firms, including ISE Food Corporation, Hytem Corporation, and Nabel Corpo-ration. These deals concern projects to raise chicken and produce eggs in Vietnam, which will be exported to Japan and regional markets."DTK has purchased high technology from these firms for its $36.4 million egg-pro-ducing facility in the northern province of Phu Tho," a DTK source told VIR. "DTK will continue seeking more Japanese partners to expand its production in Vietnam, and its eggs will also be exported."Meanwhile, Viet Phuc has also clinched a cooperation agreement with Japan Agricul-ture Association about developing a high-tech agricultural investment complex in Vi-etnam.The People's Committee of the southern province of Bac Lieu also reported that the province will begin construction of a multi million-US-dollar high-tech shrimp pro-duction and research complex over the next two weeks."Twenty firms have registered to build their factories at the complex," said the commit-tee's Chair Duong Thanh Trung.Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong told the confer-ence that his ministry will combine with other ministries and localities to directly sup-port all agricultural projects which will be implemented this year."There has been a new wave of local investments in agriculture, and we will create all the best conditions for them," Cuong said.http://www.vir.com.vn/agriculture-revival-with-private-funds.html

The rules of the race to solar viability


Vietnam is among the world's fastest growing countries, and it is gearing up to emerge as a big market in the renewable energy sector, as the country shapes new policies to keep pace with its escalating demand for power. Managing partner Dang Duong Anh and associate Vaibhav Saxena of VILAF law firm describe the sector's coming oppor-tunities and challenges.Legal frameworkThe solar power sector enjoys investment incentives under the Law on Investment 2014. The prime minister's Decision No. 2068, dated November 25, 2015, provides for encouraging, promoting, and providing energy security. The prime minister's Deci-sion No. 428, dated March 18, 2016, lays down the revised national power develop-ment plan from 2011-2020, with a vision toward 2030. In April 2017, the prime minister's Decision No. 11 was issued, with an effective period from June 1, 2017 to September 30, 2019, providing a mechanism for the encouragement of development in solar power.Furthermore, on September 12, 2017, the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) re-leased Circular No. 16, effective from October 26, 2017, on project development and a standard model power purchase agreement (PPA) applicable to grid-connected and rooftop solar power projects. Solar power producers are allowed to participate in the competitive power market, but with such participation existing PPAs should be termi-nated. Decision No. 168, dated February 7, 2017, allows renewable energy projects to participate in the competitive wholesale power market, but lacks guidelines on the pre- and post-selection process for such projects, which are crucial in ensuring security and stability to the investor from the risk of being dumped back into the power market.


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Feed-in-tariffs- Grid-connected solar projects with a solar cell capacity of more than 16 per cent or a solar module capacity of more than 15 per cent qualify for a feed-in-tariff (FiT) of VND2,086 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) 9.35 US cents/kWh, keeping reference to the ex-change rate of VND22,316 to the US dollar as announced by the State Bank of Vietnam on April 10, 2017, applicable for 20 years from the commercial operation date (COD), if COD is achieved by June 30, 2019.- Rooftop solar projects are entitled to the same FiT as grid-connected projects. Rooftop projects shall carry out the net-metering mechanism using bi-directional metre sys-tems. Excess power carried forward to the next payment cycle shall be sold to Electric-ity of Vietnam (EVN) at the FiT rates stipulated in the PPA at the end of the year or upon its termination.Solar power master plans- An investor can prepare a solar project which is already included in a provincial or national solar power master plan (SPMP), or a provincial or national power develop-ment master plan (PDMP). Master plans are applicable only to grid-connected power plans. For solar projects outside national and provincial SPMPs and PDMPs:+ For projects of 50 megawatts ( MW) or less, the MoIT shall approve their inclusion in the relevant SPMP.+ For projects of more than 50 MW, MoIT will put a proposal for their inclusion in the relevant SPMP to the prime minister for his approval.Off-take and PPA- EVN will off-take all the electricity generated by solar projects. PPAs for these projects must be prepared as per the model PPA, though the parties are allowed to clarify their rights without amending the basic provisions therein.+ PPAs signed prior or post June 1, 2017 to follow model PPA. PPAs have a fixed term of 20 years from COD, and an extendable or new contract can be signed.Incentives- Import dutyvExemption from import duty on goods imported to create fixed assets of solar projects, in addition to the import duty incentives for other renewable energy projects, including exemption within five years from the start of production for raw materials, materials, and components which cannot be produced domestically.- Corporate income tax+ 10 per cent for 15 years, extendable up to 30 years with the prime minister's approval.+ Exemption for the first four years, and 50 per cent reduction for the subsequent nine years.- Land use fee/rental+ Solar projects are entitled to a land use fee or rental incentives at par with a similar renewable project in the preferential investment sectors. Subject to the solar project's location, it may be exempted from land use fee/rental on a single land lease document for a period ranging from three to 15 years, or for the whole term.- Loans+ The investors may seek a loan of up to 70 per cent of the solar project investment cap-ital from the Vietnam Development Bank. The maximum loan term is 12 years, or as approved by the prime minister.- government funding+ government funding may be available for research and technology with respect to pilot projects.DrawbacksSome of the key issues are:- Circular 16+ The scope of the national/provincial SPMP has not been clearly indicated, for bifur-cation and allocation of different solar projects with various scales/specifications to fall under national or provincial master plans.+ No timeline provided for issuance or publicity of SPMP/PDMP.


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- Model PPA+ Lacks a price escalation index to cover inflation risks, and is silent on adjustment of the FiT following the VND/USD exchange rate fluctuation for grid-connected projects.+ There is no recourse or remedy to the seller for securing an FiT of 9.35 US cents/kWh in case of grid unavailability for solar projects having achieved COD before June 30, 2019.+ The burden of grid connectivity construction is imposed on the seller without taking into account factors like distance from the grid or installation cost.+ Political force majeure and change in law events are excluded.+ There is limited compensation equivalent to the previous year's electricity generation price to the seller from EVN, without considering it to be an early/midterm breach as per the project schedule.+ Vietnamese law is the governing law, to the exclusion of international arbitration and governing law.+ Lacks important provisions on deemed commissioning, unforced outage, and liqui-dated damages. The model PPA provides definition of the COD at various stages where COD will be deemed as achieved. Furthermore, it states that if the COD does not occur within three months from the date of COD it will be a seller's breach on the part of the seller.+ No boost to increase creditworthiness of EVN being the sole off-taker.+ Lacks lender's step-in-rights and separated PPA directly between EVN and the lend-er.Challenges- Location+ Ample sunlight and funds for ground clearance tasks are also huge obstacles, as in order to produce 1 MW of power, it requires 1.5 to 2 hectares of land.- Finance+ The credit institutions seek more security with a bankable PPA to offer funds to the investor. Vietnam lacks research facilities and a workforce trained in solar energy and standards on its exploitation, and most of the equipment has to be imported at a high cost. Thus, the production costs remain high, with a relatively low price for selling the energy.- Mechanisms and policyvSynchronised policy with clear guidance on the development and implementation scheme is needed. There is no guidance on FiT post June 30, 2019 the expiry of Deci-sion 11. Investors are concerned due to delays in approval by the MoIT, which affects the project development schedule, posing uncertainties in achieving COD in time to avail of the FiT of 9.35 US cents/kWh.ConclusionsAlthough Vietnam has the advantage of being a tropical country when it comes to abundant solar resources, with the sun shining to almost its peak throughout the year, it remains to be seen whether or not the country will be able to tap into its full potential via necessary incentives and a supportive legal framework.http://www.vir.com.vn/the-rules-of-the-race-to-solar-viability.html

Special economic zones ready to launch


Special economic zones (SEZs) seem to be ready to launch after 20 years of waiting for the completion of the draft Law on Special Economic Zones. Meanwhile, consideration and appraisal have been carried out quickly to approve SEZ projects.Choosing a governance model for SEZsThe National Assembly (NA)'s Law Committee held a discussion on January 4, 2018 on the governance model for SEZs. There were several models proposed, but NA vice Chair Uong Chu Luu said, "The model could be different from current regulations, but must comply with the Constitution."The governance model of SEZs should be simplified, effective, and decentralised in or-der to quickly establish and develop SEZs. They will be the new growth momentum


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of the economy and become 'institutional laboratories'.Nguyen Si Dung, former deputy head of the NA Office said it is time to select a gov-ernance model as this law is expected to be submitted for approval in May 2018 at the fifth session of the 14th NA."In my opinion, the first option which suggests establishing a department of SEZ, but places governance outside the mandate of any people's council or people's committee is better. We need a process to select good men to organise, carry out, and develop SEZs," Dung said.This is also the government's priority and is widely propagated by experts and stake-holders. However, they are still concerned about the legitimacy of this model and the supervision of the office."It is time to end discussions and hammer out the mechanisms and policies in practice. I also agree with the first option, which is absolutely compliant with the Constitution. We cannot develop SEZs without an organisational apparatus commensurate with the outstanding SEZ policies," noted Hoang The Lien, former deputy minister of Justice.Nguyen Van Phuc, former deputy head of the NA's Economic Committee, also agreed with the first option, which would assign a wide range of duties and powers to the SEZ departments. The model lists 20 duties and powers for the government and prime minister, 35 for ministries and agencies, 12 for authorities of municipal and provincial people's councils, 52 duties and powers for municipal and provincial people's commit-tees and their chairmen, and 15 for departments.A timeframe for land allocationThe time period for land allocation for investors is also one of the most important is-sues. The draft proposes a 99-year land lease for investors, which will create a break-through in FDI attraction, according to minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung. This maximum time period is expected to be applied in some priority sec-tors.Agreeing with this proposal, Prof Dang Hung Vo, former deputy minister of Natural Resources and Environment, said that this provision is essential to incentivise and sta-bilise investment projects on the long run."The timeframe for land allocation is very important for investors to deploy long-term investment. Other countries' legislation allows to expand the timeframe by 75 or 100 years when investing in a SEZ. Thereby, the draft should add some more outstanding provisions in terms of land," Vo said.Vietnam has been considering real estate mortgage policies for foreign credit organi-sations but has yet to approve it, despite it being important to allow investors to access low-interest credit. Vo proposed including a mechanism for mortgaging real estate in the draft.Appraisal underwayAccording to Tran Duy Dong, director general of the Department of Economic Zones Management of the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Council of Appraisal has built up 12 criteria to appraise the three SEZs in Van Don, North Van Phong, and Phu Quoc. These criteria are related to the essentials facets of the projects, their foundation, structure, the establishment of SEZs, the SEZ sector's development orientation, and in-frastructural development. Additionally, specialised policies and mechanisms, human resources development, solutions for officers, and the deployment of the projects are also criteria to review an SEZ.According to plan, the council will appraise the project documents after checking ac-tual situation, then submit its findings to the government in February.http://www.vir.com.vn/special-economic-zones-ready-to-launch.html

Businesses still concern about high costs

11/JAN/2018 INTELLASIA| SGGP NEWS

Half of respondents in a recent survey expressed concern about the competitiveness of domestic goods, in which business cost plays a decisive role but it is still high.Logistic Association said that a 40 feet container from Lang Son province to HCM City must go through 29 toll stations with the total cost of VND4.8 million. Logistics cost


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now accounts for a high ratio in the business cost structure of Vietnamese firms.In a report to the government, the Ministry of Planning and Investment said that busi-ness costs in Vietnam reduced with lot of efforts last year although they were still high-er than that in other nations in the Southeast Asia and the world.One of the factors contributing to the cost decrease is the prime minister's approval of road toll cut from VND140,000 to VND120,000 to vehicles of group 4 and VND200,000 to VND180,000 to group 5.At the time of issuing the report, 35 out of 73 BOT (build-operate-transfer) projects had lowered toll levels.In addition, social insurance contribution rate to labour accident and occupation dis-ease funds has been slashed from 1 percent to 0.5 percent as per Decree 44.Credit institutions has cut short term loan rate by 0.5 percent a year in priority fields.The Ministry of Finance had sent 17 draft circulars to ministries and relevant sides to get their opinions about abolishing 10 types of fees and reducing 21 others by 5-25 per-cent. The new circulars are expected to be issued early this year.However, there are about 300 documents stipulating specialised inspections in agricul-ture, health and other fields with high and very high costs. For instance, certificating the origin of some seafood products exploited for export costs over VND700 million for 1,200 certificates to a medium scale tuna export firm.Moreover, busineses have to pay a slew of unofficial costs, much higher than the above official.According to the Statistics Office of Vietnam, 127,000 businesses were established last year with capital approximating VND1.3 trillion, a year-on-year increase of 15.2 per-cent in the number of businesses and 45.4 percent in registered capital.Registered capital per business averaged VND10.2 billion, up 26.2 percent.As high as 61,000 stopped operation, down 0.2 percent and 12,000 completed proce-dures to dissolve. Of these, 91.5 percent have the capital scale of less than VND10 bil-lion.http://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/business/193582/businesses-still-concern-about-high-costs.html

HCM City, EuroCham step up cooperation


The European Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (EuroCham) will carry out a number of cooperation programmes with HCM City and vicinal localities, with focus on pro-moting the city's economic potential among European enterprises, said Eurocham co-Chair Nicolas Audier.While briefing EuroCham's 2018 plans at a meeting with Nguyen Thanh Phong, Chair of the HCM City People's Committee in the city on January 9, Audier said the organi-sation will lobby parliaments of European nations to ratify the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and work with relevant agencies of Vietnam to introduce the benefits and importance of the agreement.Speaking highly of the city's potential for economic development, Audier expressed his hope that the two sides will increase cooperative activities for mutual benefits in the near future, particularly in the key sectors of European firms, such as smart urban construction, green and renewable energy development, transportation and logistics, pharmaceutical trading and auto industry.European firms are willing to cooperate and share with HCM City their experiences in developing a legal framework on managing investment projects in the public-private-partnership (PPP) form, and building procedures and standards for cyber security, he said.Phong lauded the fruitful cooperation between EuroCham and Vietnam in general and HCM City in particular.He expressed his belief that the economic cooperation, particularly in trade and invest-ment, between Vietnam and European nations will grow further, especially after the EVFTA takes effective.The municipal leader hopes that EuroCham will connect and call on European busi-


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nesses to invest in the fields that HCM City has paid heed to, such as transport infra-structure, smart urban construction, and urban environment issues.The city treasures and highly values foreign resources, Phong said, pledging to create favourable conditions for European firms to invest in the city.He suggested EuroCham cooperate with local agencies in organising trade promotion activities for local and European businesses, contributing to the development of the city in the future.https://en.vietnamplus.vn/hcm-city-eurocham-step-up-cooperation/124628.vnp

Can Tho set to increase Japanese investment


The southern city of Can Tho will take up a series of activities this year to strengthen cooperation with Japan and attract Japanese investors.Speaking at a conference of the city's working group on Japan-related issues (Japan Desk) on Tuesday, Nguyen Khanh Tung, director of the city's Centre for Investment, Trade Promotion and Exhibition, said one of the activities was the construction of an ICT Innovation Centre developed by the Brainworks Company.Other activities will include a trade and investment promotion conference in Japan's Hyogo prefecture, a meeting with Japanese investors in Hanoi and a dialogue with Japanese firms.In April, Can Tho will launch a model farm project, the first of its kind in the city.The project is jointly developed by the Can Tho College for Economy and Technology and Japan's VAIO Company. The aim is to impart high-quality training to agriculture experts in Can Tho and build facilities to apply agricultural technology similar to Jap-anese agri-businesses.A Vietnam-Japan Industrial Park will also be constructed, Tung said.Truong Quang Hoai Nam, vice chair of the People's Committee of Can Tho, said many Japanese investors were interested in Vietnam, but only a few Japanese firms were do-ing business in the city.Therefore, he said, Can Tho needed to make a breakthrough in attracting Japanese in-vestments.According to the Can Tho Centre for Investment, Trade Promotion and Exhibition, by the end of 2017, the city accommodated 77 projects with foreign investment worth $656 million. Its export and service revenue in the year hit $1.77 billion, exceeding the city's target by 5.9 per cent and representing a year-on-year rise of 13.9 per cent.http://bizhub.vn/news/can-tho-set-to-increase-japanese-investment_291301.html

UK vocational education providers to seek partnership in Vietnam


Leading providers of technical and vocational training and education from the United Kingdom will visit HCM City and Hanoi from January 15-18 to set up and extend part-nerships with local companies, schools, colleges, universities and government organi-sations.According to the British Embassy in Vietnam, the British delegation includes repre-sentatives from colleges, private training providers and companies specialising in pro-viding business solutions such as professional development programmes, vocational qualifications, teacher training, courses with industry recognised accreditation and management consultancy.With a young population and a dynamic business environment, Vietnam stands out as a country with great potential for partnership with the UK, which is a centre of excel-lence for technical and vocational training, said Ian Gibbons, British Consul general in HCM City and director of the Department for International Trade in Vietnam."I'm confident that the partnerships established will endure and help equip Vietnam's students, workers and companies with the 21st century knowledge and skills for them to prosper in the global marketplace", he stressed.The Department for International Trade Vietnam, in cooperation with the Vietnam di-rectorate for Vocational Education and Training, will organise seminars in HCM City on January 15 and in Hanoi on January 17.


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SVietnam finance & business 11 January 2018

The seminars will offer opportunities to share the UK's expertise in technical and vo-cational training and education and introduce its technology and equipment in the fields of automotive, textile-garment and construction, hospitality, English, ICT and soft skills to local stakeholders.In addition, B2B meetings with members of the delegation will also take place in both cities.https://en.vietnamplus.vn/uk-vocational-education-providers-to-seek-partnership-in-vietnam/124663.vnp

BUSINESS NEWSBusiness Briefs 11 January, 2018

11/JAN/2017 INTELLASIA |

* The board of directors of Mobile World Investment Group (MWG) has approved a private placement of 6,2 million shares, or 2 percent of total outstanding shares, as part of its acquisition of Tran Anh Digital World Group (TAG), These shares will be distrib-uted to nine parties who are the same sellers of a combined 95 percent stake in TAG to MWG, According to Viet Capital Securities Company, the issuing price is set at V D93,300 per share, compared to the current market price of around V D131,300.* Eximbank (EIB) will be selling over 5.5 million shares of Sacombank (STB) to meet the requirements provided in the State Bank of Vietnam's Circular 36 on tighter control on cross ownership among credit institutions. If the transaction is done, EIB would lower its holding in STB from 7,15 percent to 6.8 percent. Earlier, Eximbank offloaded over 123.4 million shares in the lender.* Hoang Quan Consulting-Trading-Service Real Estate Corporation (HQC) will spend VND19.4 billion buying back 4.85 million shares as treasury shares at no higher than VND4,OOO each. The HQC stock price is around VND2,600 per share on the HCM City market, down nearly 83 percent against the debut date.* Hau Giang Pharmaceutical Company (DHG) has registered to buy back 150,000 shares, or 0.1 percent of total outstanding shares, from January 15 to February 13. The share buyback is in line with DHG's 2017 annual general meeting resolution on the dis-tribution of 2016 earnings, in which the company will use 2 percent of its after-tax prof-it, equivalent to VND14 billion, to purchase shares and then allocate them to key employees.* Hoa Binh Construction Group Company (HBC) has decided to establish HalcyonHoa Binh Construction Company Limited in Myanmar with total chartered capital of $50,OOO. HBC will hold an 80 percent stake in the firm.* Saigon tourist will auction 3.63 million shares of Ham Rong Rubber Tourist JSC at the starting price ofVND 15,000 each on February 7, It expects to raise VND54.4 billion from the bidding.* Song Da 4 Company (SD4) has announced January 26 as the record date to pay its 2016 cash dividend at 15 percent, or V Dl,500 per share.

VN Index rises for third day


Vietnamese shares finished Wednesday on a mixed note, hit by strong profit-taking. Energy shares continued to benefit from rising oil prices.The benchmark VN Index on the HCM Stock Exchange climbed 0.44 per cent to close at 1,038.11 points, narrowing its growth from the intraday peak of 1.1 per cent.The southern market index has gained total 2.5 per cent after the last three trading ses-sions.Meanwhile, the HNX Index on the Hanoi Stock Exchange fell 0.18 per cent to end at 121.93 points. It had risen a total of 2.7 per cent in the previous two sessions.Market trading liquidity reached a record high with more than 464.3 million shares be-ing traded on the two exchanges. They were worth VND10.6 trillion (US$471.2 mil-lion).The trading figures increased by 12.3 per cent in volume and nearly 15 per cent in val-ue compared to Tuesday.The stock market was buoyed by strong growth of energy firms, whose share values were supported by the increase of crude prices.


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Brent crude added 0.4 per cent to trade above $69 a barrel, having gained total 12 per cent since mid-December and nearly 56 per cent since June 21, 2017.Vietnamese energy shares recorded strong growth rates, such as PetroVietnam Mud Drilling (PVC), PetroVietnam Drilling and Well Services (PVD) and PetroVietnam Technical Services (PVS).These energy firms saw their share values jump at least 5 per cent at the end of the ses-sion.Strong cash flow that boosted trading liquidity also assisted securities stocks to in-crease. FPT Securities (FTS) and Viet Dragon Securities (VDS) surged at least 6.5 per cent while other large-cap securities firms, such as Saigon Securities Inc (SSI) and VN-Direct Securities (VND), also ended positive.In the negative territory, banks, insurance companies and rubber producers underper-formed as investors locked in profits that resulted from recent growth in these stocks.Decliners among those stocks included Vietcombank (VCB), Vietinbank (CTG), Asia Commercial Bank (ACB), Bao Viet Holdings (BVH), BIDV Insurance Corp (BIC), Sao Vang Rubber JSC (SRC) and Da Nang Rubber JSC (DRC).According to Sai Gon-Hanoi Securities Company (SHS), the stock market has been hit by profit taking on three consecutive sessions."That could signal the market has reached its short-term peak and needs a few sessions to decline and settle down before going up again," SHS wrote in its daily report."But the new record-high trading liquidity and gainers outnumber losers, proving that investors are still trading positively and their sentiment remains upbeat."Thus, the VN Index is expected to rise and test the level of 1,040 points again on Thurs-day, SHS said.http://bizhub.vn/markets/vn-index-rises-for-third-day_291311.html

Market turnover improves


Stocks jumped for the second straight session amid strong turnover on January 9, with trading volume and value up 19 percent and 10.6 percent versus the previous session at 320.4 million shares worth VND8 trillion.The VN Index closed the day at 1,033.56 points, surging 1.04 percent against Monday. Market breadth was positive as gainers outnumbered losers by 164 to 124.Lender STB continued attracting investors, with 36.2 million shares matched. It ad-vanced 2 percent at VND14,850 a share. Other bank stocks also saw high turnover, in-cluding MBB with 8.9 million shares changing hands, CTG with 6.5 million shares and VPB with 4.8 million shares.VCB was the biggest gainer as it added 5.6 percent at VND58,500 a share with volume of 2.8 million shares, followed by EIB with a 3.6 percent rise at VND14,300 per share. In contrast, BID decreased 1.6 percent at VND27,400 per share.The property sector also drew investor attention. FLC was the volume leader in this group with 14 million shares traded while SCR went up to the ceiling price of VND10,150 a share with volume of more than 8.2 million shares.Notably, many steel firms increased strongly with HPG and HSG shooting up to the ceiling prices of VND52,900 and VND27,050 a share with 5.7 million shares and 10.4 million shares matched respectively. Other names like SMC, NKG, POM and TLH also closed up. SBT, a leading sugar producer, reported matching volume of over 10.3 mil-lion shares. The firm ended up 0.87 percent at VND23,100 a share.The HNX-Index rose 0.55 percent against the previous day at 121.74 points while trad-ing volume and value on the Hanoi market jumped 40 percent and 22.9 percent at 87.4 million shares worth over VND1 trillion.Lender SHB was the most actively traded stock with 24.9 million shares changing hands, gaining 5 percent at VND10,500 per share, followed by PetroVietnam Construc-tion Corporation (PVX), which went up to the upper limit of VND2,700 a share with volume of 17 million shares.Foreign investors significantly contributed to strong turnover on both HCM City and Hanoi bourses as they kept picking bank and real estate stocks.


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On the HCM City market, they net purchased 4.6 million shares worth around VND180 billion. They net bought VND16.2 billion of HDB shares, VND23.7 billion of BID shares and VND29.7 billion of VCB shares.Besides, they actively acquired shares of property firms VIC, DXG and KBC with re-spective net buying value of VND61.8 billion, VND42.2 billion and VND15.4 billion.On the Hanoi exchange, foreign investors net sold over 715,000 shares worth VND22.5 billion.http://english.thesaigontimes.vn/57937/Market-turnover-improves.html

P/E of over 20 times, does Vietnam's stock market remain attractive to foreign capital?

11/JAN/2018 INTELLASIA| DTCK

In 2017, foreign capital flows played an important role in the development of the stock market. With the current valuation, the market is no longer cheap compared to many countries in the region. The question is that what will be the factor that maintain the attractiveness of Vietnam's stock market with foreign investors?Price-Earnings Ratio (P/E) of Vietnam's stock market is higher than many markets.Data from Bloomberg and FinPro showed that, the P/E of the stock market of Vietnam by the end of January 8th 2018 was 20.2 times, higher than may many other similar markets in the region, such as Pakistan (P/E of eight times), Malaysia and China (P/E of 16 times), Thailand (P/E of 18 times); and close to the markets with the highest P/E in the region such as Indonesia and the Philippines (P/E of 22 times). general director of Maritime Securities Company Mac Quang Huy said that "the stock market of Viet-nam is no longer cheap in the region".Meanwhile, Nguyen Duc Hung Linh, director of analysis and investment consulting for individual customers at Saigon Securities Company (SSI) believed that many stocks are having higher increase in price than the profit growth of the businesses, leading to the rise in valuation and market risks.Linh questioned whether the market is still be attractive if it is no longer cheap in the region, while it much relied on foreign capital flows in 2017.Nguyen Tri Hieu, a finance and banking shared that "I look at the development of the stock market with caution. As working in the banking sector, I always evaluate from the risk side. The stock market grew well in 2017 but I do not think it was stable and sustainable growth. We have to do research on the investors who pour money in, how much, and from which country; how that amount of capital flows in and out, and whether the investors come to Vietnam to seek profit and quit when the market is un-stable?Opportunities remain hugeThe stock market of Vietnam may be less attractive as it is now more expensive than many regional markets, but Huy from Maritime Securities Company believed that there are new attractive factors to be added.Huy said that there are investment opportunities as the profit of listed companies is forecasted to continue rising sharply at about 20 percent in 2018, and some stocks are still priced at attractive levels. In addition, the plans to equitise and divest state capital of some large and effective companies will be good opportunities for investors in gen-eral and foreign investors in particular to seek profit this year.Thomas Felix Baden, Acting Chief Executive Officer of United Capital Management Joint Stock Company (Unicap) said that equitisation is a way that Vietnamese market is expanded to attract foreign capital."Vietnam has a lot of potential to attract foreign investors. In particular, the population of 95 million people creates a large consumer market. Vietnamese government is doing well its job in supporting foreign businesses in trade and investment. Since, Vietnam is moving from agriculture to industry, foreign businesses entering Vietnam can easily find hard-working and skilled workers, said Thomas.What determines the level of foreign capital attraction of Vietnam's stock market in the global investment capital flows?Huy believed that there are 13 factors influencing this capital flow. In particular, the external factors include the economic growth of other countries; the USD and US gov-


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ernment bond interest rates; the fluctuations of USD and other major currencies such as British Pound, euro, Chinese Yuan, and Japanese Yen; geopolitical volatility in the stressed regions of the world; the profitability of other risk-free assets including in-come from government bonds of developed countries; the expected return of the stock market, especially emerging markets.Internal factors of Vietnam include the GDP growth, the USD/VND exchange rate, the high profitability from investing in stock market for investors, the transparency and new investment opportunities, the ease of transferring capital in and out of Vietnam, the size of the stock market, market liquidity, and the improvement of new products.

Real estate results transfer to bourse


Real estate stocks are expected to return to the spotlight in 2018, as the sector recovers from its chronic issues and firms gear up for major merger and acquisition deals.Sky-high prices2018 is expected to be a good year for real estate stocks in Vietnam as investors make their way back to an industry that has been troubled with oversupply, price bubbles, and rampant speculation.One catalyst for this revival is low valuation, according to Truong Hien Phuong, direc-tor at the HCM City Branch of KIS Vietnam Securities. Phuong pointed out that the price-per-earnings ratio of real estate stock now stands below 10, which is much below the Vietnamese average of 17 or 18. Savvy investors could make use of this opportuni-ty to purchase stock at low prices.Indeed, some investors have already noted this and taken action, causing a boom in stock prices. According to figures released by KIS Vietnam Securities, in 2017, more than 80 per cent of real estate stocks have risen by at least 50 per cent in market value, some by 200 per cent.In notable cases, Dat Xanh Group's (DXG) stock increased by 95 per cent; Van Phat Hung Corporation (VPH) grew by 96 per cent; Thu Duc House (TDH) rose by 87 per cent; FLC Corporation (FLC) increased by 31 per cent; and Nam Long Group (NLG) expanded by 54 per cent.The number of listed companies in the real estate sector increased from 11 to 57 at the end of last year, the KIS report shows.Long-term appealHowever, low prices alone are not enough. The majority of investors will only buy into cheap stocks if they believe in the growth potential of the companies issuing these shares. In this case, real estate firms in Vietnam must have strong prospects to retain their long-term appeal.This growth potential seems likely to be fulfilled. Economist Bui Quang Tin said that the real estate industry is now backed by several supporting factors, including the country's good macro-economics, a stable interest margin, and an increasing amount of inbound foreign capital. These are necessary for the sector's sustainable growth."The economy is on the right track, individuals' savings are bigger, which supports the growth of real estate firms. And unlike before, real estate developers are now offering more suitable products to the market, making them easier to sell," said Tin.He believed that stocks of leading developers will continue their winning streak in 2018.Vietnam's growing middle class and rapid urbanisation are also cited as aiding realty growth, as noted in a recent report by Vu Huu Dien, fund manager at Dragon Capital. In 2017, the percentage of real estate stock in Dragon Capital's Vietnam Enterprise In-vestment Limited (VEIL) increased from 13 to 17.6 per cent. This is partly attributable to the strong performances of current holdings, and VEIL's participation in the share sales of major developers like IDICO and Becamex IDC.Last month, Dragon Capital also became Hai Phat Investment JSC's strategic partner with a 15 per cent stake purchase. At the same time, other two undisclosed foreign funds were reported to have engaged in three stock purchases with the real estate field Van Phu Invest.


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Real estate is also an industry of focus in 2018 for VinaCapital's main fund Vietnam Opportunity Fund (VOF), as the investor believes that this sector will benefit from Vi-etnam's ongoing urbanisation and economic growth. VOF used to invest directly in real estate projects, but has now switched to a more indirect approach by buying into listed firms in property.Opportunities are not for everyoneIt is important to note that despite the sector's rosy perspective, not all firms in real es-tate will become diamonds in investors' eyes. The attention will be reserved for com-panies with a wide land fund, strong experience, and good business development capacity, said Savills Vietnam's investment director Su Ngoc Khuong.Firms engaging in mergers and acquisitions (M&As) may also attract the attention of investors. Khuong highlighted that stocks of Quoc Cuong Gia Lai JSC have increased by 300 per cent and Phat Dat Real Estate Development JSC boomed by 187 per cent af-ter both companies conducted M&As and developed projects on their own."When the acquiring projects are eyed by major domestic and foreign firms, companies with big land banks would be at the greatest advantage. In the current busy M&A scene, with sellers dominating the market, those with land banks are in the best posi-tion," Khuong said.http://www.vir.com.vn/real-estate-results-transfer-to-bourse.html

Securities firms seek margin lending funds


Many securities companies have opted to issue corporate bonds to raise capital to fi-nance their margin lending service, following upbeat forecasts for the market in 2018.Vietnam's benchmark VN Index closed 2017 at over 984 points, a rise of 48 percent over the end of 2016. The local securities market value reached about 3.36 quadrillion VND (147.4 billion USD), equivalent to more than 74 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP).The boom on the securities market has helped brokerage companies expand their mar-gin lending, but also illustrates that their capital growth has not caught up with inves-tors' borrowing demand.To finance their lending expansion, many companies have decided to issue bonds.Saigon Securities Inc is seeking shareholders' approval for the issuing of a maximum 1.2 million convertible bonds worth total 1.2 trillion VND in 2018 at the rate of 4 per-cent per year. The bonds will likely be offered to less than 100 investors, excluding pro-fessional investors, with priority given to foreign financial institutions.According to the company, this issue is aimed at raising capital for its operation.In late December, HCM Securities JSC issued 800 billion VND bonds to seven investors in a private placement. These one-year non-convertible and non-warranty bonds were sold at the coupon rate of 9 percent per year.Earlier in October, Tan Viet Securities Inc (TVSI) also offered corporate bonds worth 150 billion VND to investors with an attractive interest rate of 9 percent per year for the first three months. The rates for the following terms were equal to the 12-month saving rate of Vietcombank plus 2-2.5 percent.According to market observers, some other companies may follow this step in the con-text of higher investor demand for fix-income assets, especially when corporate bonds are offering interest rates higher than banks' deposit rates.Demand for margin loans is expected to rise this year because of the bright market out-look. Corporate bond issuance will help the company raise capital for their lending ex-pansion, enhancing its competitiveness in the market.By the end of September 2017, total margin loans of all securities companies reached more than 36.16 trillion VND (1.6 billion USD), up 22 percent year-on-year.Five firms with loans of over 1 trillion VND included Saigon Securities Inc (SSI), Viet Capital Securities (VCI), MB Securities (MBS), VNDirect Securities (VND) and Viet Dragon Securities (VDS).Meanwhile, total equity capital of the 10 biggest brokerage companies on the HCM Stock Exchange reached about 25 trillion VND (1.1 billion USD).


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The three biggest firms were SSI with equity capital of over 8.9 trillion VND, followed by HCM Securities Co and Viet Capital Securities with equity of over 2.6 trillion VND each.http://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/business/193682/securities-firms-seek-margin-lend-ing-funds.html

US firm eyes 49pct stake in Dung Quat Oil Refinery


Polestar Inc, a firm specialising in oil and gas transport in Texas in the US, wants to acquire a 49 percent stake in Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical Company (BSR), the operator of Dung Quat Oil Refinery.At a roadshow to promote investment in BSR last weekend in Hanoi, Nguyen Thi Thanh Phuong, representative of Polestar in Vietnam, said the group is experienced in exploring and transporting oil and gas, so it wants to buy shares of BRS and PetroVi-etnam Oil Corporation (PV Oil) to supply crude oil for these two firms.The group will initial a contract with BSR to buy the shares at the end of this month. The group has plans to join the Dung Quat Oil Refinery expansion project, build a storehouse with fuel tanks, carry out customs procedures and participate in the fuel export sector wherein PV Oil is a monopolistic player.Vitol Group, a global energy and commodity trading company, also expressed interest in BSR shares, saying it wants to enter the Vietnamese fuel market.BSR planned to offer 7.79 percent of its shares on the Hochiminh Stock Exchange (HOSE) on January 17 at a price starting from VND14,600 per share. A 49 percent stake will be sold to strategic investors in the next phase, reducing State ownership to 43 per-cent.http://english.thesaigontimes.vn/57949/US-firm-eyes-49-stake-in-Dung-Quat-Oil-Re-finery.html

EVNGENCO2 to launch IPO in June


The Power Generation Corporation 2 (EVNGENCO2) is taking necessary steps to con-duct the first public offering (IPO) in June, according to newly-appointed director gen-eral Truong Hoang Vu.Vu mentioned the plan at the corporation's conference to review its performance in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho on January 10.The corporation has completed value evaluation and selected consultancies for devel-oping its equitisation plan, he said.EVNGENCO2, a member of the Electricity of Vietnam (EVN), produced more than 16.74 billion kWh of electricity last year, up 10.28 percent from 2016. It accounted for about 13.67 percent of EVN's electricity output and 8.49 percent of Vietnam's total power generation.Ending 2017, the company earned more than 22.9 trillion VND (916 million USD) in total revenue and nearly 3.14 trillion VND (125.6 million USD) in profit. It paid over 2.1 trillion VND (84 million USD) to the State coffer.The power producer sets the target of generating over 16.78 billion kWh of electricity this year, up 0.25 percent from 2017. It also plans to put Song Bung 2 Hydropower Plant into operation and join the country's competitive power market in 2018.https://en.vietnamplus.vn/evngenco2-to-launch-ipo-in-Jun/124674.vnp

Habeco sets to raise turnover by 6.7pct to 322 million USD in 2018


The Hanoi Beer Alcohol and Beverage JSC (Habeco) is set on earning 8.3 trillion VND (332 million USD) in turnover and 955.4 billion VND (83.2 million USD) in pre-tax profit in 2018, an increase of 6.7 percent and 0.3 percent from last year, said Habeco di-rector general Ngo Que Lam.He announced the firm's goals at the conference to review its performance in 2017 and outline tasks for 2018 in Hanoi on January 10.The brewer will also contribute an estimated 5.37 trillion VND (214.8 million USD) to the State budget.


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Ending 2017, Habeco reported total revenue of nearly 7.8 trillion VND (311.2 million USD) and paid more than 4.8 billion VND (192.5 million USD) into the State coffer.Headquartered in Hanoi, Habeco is the largest beer producer in the North and the third-largest beer company in the country, with popular brands such as Hanoi Beer and Truc Bach Beer. It owns 17 subsidiaries and six affiliated companies, with total production capacity of over 800 million litres of beer per year.The corporation will list 231.8 million shares, equivalent to the total listing value of about 2.32 trillion VND (103 million USD), on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HOSE) on January 19.Shares of the North's largest brewer are trading at some 128,000 VND per share on the Unlisted Public Company Market (UPCoM), which is under the management of the Hanoi Stock Exchange.By changing its listing to HOSE, which is the main bourse in Vietnam, with total mar-ket capitalisation of some 68 billion USD, Habeco is expected to improve its reputation and draw more investments.The company has become a 'phenomenon' on the UPCoM since its debut on October 28 last year, when its price shot up from an initial 39,000 VND per share to a peak of 225,800 VND per share on December 16.https://en.vietnamplus.vn/habeco-sets-to-raise-turnover-by-67-percent-to-322 mil-lion-usd-in-2018/124672.vnp

Minh Phu sees little love on UPCoM


Regardless of the appreciable rally in business performance over the first ten months of 2017, Minh Phu Seafood Corporation (MPC) saw little eagerness in the security trad-ing on Vietnam's unlisted public company market (UPCoM).On December 25, 2017, the market price of the ticker MPC shrank to VND52,900 ($2.32), which was 24.4 per cent down against the initially offered VND79,000 ($3.47) and 54.4 per cent down against the closing price of VND110,000 ($4.83) on the first trading session.In less than two weeks, the MPC stock saw a mild recovery as it rebounded to VND60,000 ($2.63) on January 5, 2018. Nevertheless, the average volume of matching orders was shy of 1,000 units per session, which critically crippled the stock's liquidity.As shown in Minh Phu Seafood's third quarter financial statement, during the first nine months of 2017, the seafood supplier earned a total revenue of VND10.88 trillion ($479.3 million) and an after-tax profit of VND430 billion ($18.9 million).Regarding the October business performance, the seafood processing firm grabbed a total revenue of VND1.78 trillion ($78.7 million) and after-tax profit of VND127.2 bil-lion ($5.6 million), equivalent to 16.5 and 29.5 per cent of the nine-month totals.In contrast, by the end of the third quarter of 2017, the firm was reported to have total debts worth VND7.13 trillion ($314.3 million), up 21 per cent against the firm's total debts recorded at the beginning of 2017.Additionally, the separate security issuance plan the purpose of which was to raise the firm's equity and diminish the debt over equity ratio appeared sluggish despite being approved by the annual general meeting in 2011. Earlier, MPC's total debt was report-ed to be nearly triple the firm's total equity.In particular, exported seafood volume over the first ten months of 2017 was 45,371 tonnes, up 24 per cent against the same category in 2016 and 1.1 per cent higher than the planned export volume for the entire year of 2016. Additionally, the soaring market price of prawns was instrumental in the latest notable upturn in the sales revenue of Minh Phu Seafood.Currently, the average export unit price of Minh Phu Seafood is $12.26 per kilo-gramme, a $0.44 increase against 2016 and a $0.36 rise compared to 2015.http://www.vir.com.vn/minh-phu-sees-little-love-on-upcom.html


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Thai billionaire seeks to buy Vinamilk stakes

11/JAN/2018 INTELLASIA| DTI NEWS

F&N Dairy Investments Pte Ltd, a subsidiary owned by Thai business tycoon Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, has spent millions of USD to buy stakes at Vinamilk after another subsidiary bought a USD4.8bn stake in Sabeco last year.F&N Dairy has reported to the HCM City Stock Exchange that it bought another nearly two million Vinamilk's shares. The transaction was carried out between December 8 to January 5. F&N Dairy now owns a 16.5 percent stake in Vinamilk.Even though it registered to buy 21.77 million shares, F&N Dairy said it could not meet the target because of unfavourable market conditions. It quickly registered to continue buying another 14.51 million shares. If successful, F&N will own 17.5 percent of Vinamilk.The next transaction is expected to take place from January 10 to February 8.F&N Dairy has registered to buy Vinamilk's stake seven times but failed to meet the targets all because of unfavourable market conditions. After two decreases, Vinamilk's price dropped to VND210,000 per share. It is still 70 percent higher than the lowest price in early 2017.F&N Dairy is a subsidiary of TCC Holdings owned by Thai billionaire Charoen Siri-vadhanabhakdi. In late 2016, F&N Dairy Investments and F&NBev Manufacturing bought 5.4 percent of Vinamilk's stake at the price of nearly USD500m.http://dtinews.vn/en/news/018/54676/thai billionaire-seeks-to-buy-vinamilk-stakes.html

Around 41,000 apartments sold in HCM City last year


The number of apartments sold in HCM City reached roughly 41,000 units last year, almost double that of Hanoi City at 21,000 units, according to the Vietnam Association of Realtors.Data of the association shows that around 79,000 apartments found buyers nationwide last year, of which about 62,000 units were sold in Hanoi and HCM City.HCM City saw the most transactions, with around 41,000 apartments sold, much high-er than the number of new apartments put up for sale at 37,000 units. The reason is that around 4,000 unsold apartments in 2016 also found buyers in the city last year.Medium-priced apartments took the lead with more than 15,500 units sold in the city, followed by luxury apartments with over 12,000 and affordable apartments with 8,500.Meanwhile, according to the association, the number of apartments offered for sale was more than 34,000 units in Hanoi, but the number of apartments sold reached a modest 21,000, including around 11,000 affordable units, over 8,500 medium-end ones, and around 1,300 luxury ones.Statistics also show that roughly 3,500 super luxury apartments were put up for sale in HCM City at VND45 million or more per square metre last year, and as a result, more than 4,500 units, including new and inventory ones, found buyers while no luxury apartment was sold in Hanoi, despite 330 units available for sale.The association said as many as 218 housing projects which were put up for sale last year offered more than 78,800 apartments, 13,500 townhouses and villas, 22,700 land lots, and 22,800 condotel units.Notably, condo apartments accounted for the largest proportion on the real estate mar-ket, with Hanoi and HCM City making up over 90 percent of the total.http://english.thesaigontimes.vn/57935/Around-41000-apartments-sold-in-HCM City-last-year.html

Vietnamese retailers set bar higher than national standards to reduce 'dirty' food

11/JAN/2018 INTELLASIA| TUOITRE NEWS

Farmers must now meet much stricter retail requirementsSeveral retailers in Vietnam are now insisting that farmers meet their own set of food safety requirements in order to become suppliers, as the country's national standards are failing to stop unsafe and dirty food from reaching consumers.As the 'middlemen' between food producers and consumers, retailers would previous-ly call on farmers to make clean, safe food, and would accept their goods if they met


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national food hygiene and safety standards or had Vietnamese Good Agricultural Practices (VietGAP).However, the national standard has loopholes that allow unsafe food to reach markets, leading to several food scares in Vietnam.Some retailers have shifted their strategy, meaning they can no longer rely on food producers to proactively make quality food. Instead, they have raised the bar for farm-ers who want to become their suppliers.This means that any food producer who wants to sell their goods in certain retail en-vironments must meet both the national food safety standard and other specific re-quirements set by the retailers themselves in order for them to range their products.'Pressing' food producers for quality goodsNguyen Kim Oanh, who distributes live pigs to a wholesale market in Hoc Mon Dis-trict, outside HCM City, said she had stopped sourcing stock from small-scale farms after the southern metropolis launched a traceable pork programme.Oanh now buys pigs from a farm run by food processing firm CP, which ensures that its animals are fully traceable and meet all standards."This will expedite the processes of transporting and slaughtering pigs and the sale of pork," Oanh explained."Vendors at smaller markets will also look to produce better quality meat as they will be fined if their pork is untraceable."Nguyen Van Cang, a farmer in the Central Highlands city of Da Lat, has switched from growing flowers to clean vegetables, applying strict agricultural practices set by a HCM City-based company, who buys all of his produce.Cang said all he has to do is follow the guidelines on growing, plant protection and harvest set by his HCM City partner."I am totally banned from using chemical fertiliser or pesticides on my crops," the farmer said, adding that these requirements are "even higher than those of VietGAP."Cang and Oanh are two examples of the trend of food businesses and retailers no long-er relying on national safety standards or VietGAP when sourcing their produce.They have now set their own standard, which suppliers need to meet in order to enter their 'new' market."This will ensure the reputation and quality of the businesses and retailers, which in the end will also fortify their competitiveness," Pham Duc Binh, deputy chair of the husbandry association of the southern province of Dong Nai, explained.Binh said that current food safety management is so ineffective that unsafe products continue to flood the market."A pig may be raised under VietGAP, but its meat, having gone through the slaughter-ing and transporting procedure, is no longer safe once it finally reaches the consumer," he added.Now that consumers are increasingly aware of the importance of quality and safety in their daily meals, retailers and businesses are demanding more from the vegetables and meat they source from producers.Bigger players in the retail sector, including supermarket chains like Co.op Mart and Big C, convenience stores like VinMart+, and shopping malls such as AEON, have also raised the bar for food suppliers, irrespective of current national standards.https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/business/20180110/vietnamese-retailers-set-bar-higher-than-national-standards-to-reduce-dirty-food/43530.html

Govt urges quick plan for Tan Son Nhat Airport expansion


The government has urged relevant agencies to quickly complete a plan to expand Tan Son Nhat Airport, which should take into consideration all possible scenarios to raise the airport's annual capacity to 70 million passengers. The plan must be sent to the government prior to next Monday.Deputy prime minister Trinh Dinh Dung asked the Ministry of Transport to direct ADP-I Engineering, a French consulting firm, to include all feasible options for the air-port expansion to both north and south of the airport, meaning the controversial golf


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course in the airport could be closed down. The consultant needs to clarify the need to enlarge and improve the airport to ease the rising overload at the airport and meet the demand for air transport, and the project to expand and upgrade the airport could be fast-tracked for completion within one to two years.The airport expansion must take into account the development of other airports in the southern region, especially Long Thanh International Airport scheduled to be put into operation in 2025.Deputy PM Dung told the Ministry of Transport to analyse the cost-effectiveness of a scheme to expand the airport southward compared to the northward expansion, with factors like total investment, construction time and connectivity between new and old facilities.However, the consultant should also clarify how to use land north of the airport, meaning the existing golf course, for the airport expansion.The government requires relevant agencies to assess the use of military land such as the golf course and land used by military units, and land for the aviation sector, hereby proposing the most feasible investment solution.Besides, the ministry and the consulting firm should assess impacts of noise and envi-ronmental problems owing to the airport expansion in accordance with the Vietnam-ese and international laws, and compare to environment protection regulations of other countries to conclude if the upgrade of Tan Son Nhat International Airport is suitable to the city in the future or not.Deputy PM Dung assigned the Ministry of Transport to consult relevant ministries and agencies and the HCM City government to finalise the plan for Tan Son Nhat In-ternational Airport expansion and upgrading and submit it to the prime minister prior to January 15.Currently, apart from the consulting firm ADP-I that is drafting the airport expansion and upgrade scheme, an independent group of aviation scientists and experts has been established by the HCM City government to map out the airport expansion plan.The Ministry of Transport had earlier submitted to the prime minister the adjusted air-port expansion plan to enable the airport to serve 43-45 million passengers a year and quickly tackle bottlenecks at the airport.Accordingly, more taxiways and passenger terminal T4 would be added in two to three years' time on the airport's existing land. However, scientists and experts later proposed using land from the golf course to expand the airport.To ensure transparency, the prime minister has assigned the Ministry of Transport to hire an independent international consultant to study and suggest a scheme for the long-awaited expansion of the airport towards the north where the operational golf course is located and the south to increase the capacity of the airport to 45-50 million passengers a year.http://english.thesaigontimes.vn/57945/Govt-urges-quick-plan-for-Tan-Son-Nhat-Airport-expansion-.html

ICT Innovation centre to be set up in Can Tho soon


Brainworks Corporation has plans to open an ICT Innovation centre in Can Tho City in April, which would help boost Japanese investment into the city and the Mekong Delta as a whole.At a meeting with the Japan Desk management on January 9, Nguyen Khanh Tung, director of the Can Tho Investment-Trade Promotion and Fair Centre, said the ICT In-novation centre will initially have five engineers and specialists responsible for off-shore software development, information technology research and market research.Noboru Kondo, chair of Brainworks Corporation, could come to Vietnam in the next three weeks to finalise the project.Speaking to the Daily, Nguyen Phuong Lam, deputy director of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry's (VCCI) Can Tho Branch, said the ICT Innovation centre was aimed at calling for more Japanese enterprises to invest in the city and the Mekong Delta, especially in information and communications technology in agriculture.


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According to Lam, the Japanese side has set up an advisory board comprising some experts and representatives from about 50 Japanese companies for the project. The cen-tre will be responsible for assisting Japanese firms in investing in and researching ICT in agriculture and some other sectors.VCCI Can Tho will also welcome 200 Japanese investors coming to the city to sound out investment opportunities this year.Truong Quang Hoai Nam, vice chair of Can Tho City, said in addition to the ICT Inno-vation Centre, two other projects, including the Vietnam-Japan Industrial Park and a model farm project, will also be kicked off in April. The projects will help attract Japa-nese investment.According to Nam, Can Tho City should offer special incentives to Japanese enterpris-es, especially those relating to land and technology. Particularly, VCCI Can Tho is co-operating with HCM City's Quang Trung Software City to support technology companies in Can Tho.Vietnam will also hold many other events to promote investment cooperation with Ja-pan this year such as a conference on investment and trade promotion in Hyogo Pre-fecture, a meeting between Vietnamese and Japanese businesses in Hanoi, and a dialogue between the Can Tho City government and Japanese businesses.http://english.thesaigontimes.vn/57951/ICT-Innovation-Centre-to-be-set-up-in-Can-Tho-soon.html

Binh Duong waste treatment complex put into use


The Binh Duong waste treatment complex, the second stage, was put into use in Ben Cat town, the southern province of Binh Duong on January 10 after 18 months of con-struction, four months ahead of schedule.The second stage of the project cost over 180 billion VND (8 million USD), nearly 131 billion VND of which came from Finnish official development assistance and the re-maining from the provincial budget.It included the construction of a biogas-fueled power generation complex with a ca-pacity of 820KW and an incinerator of hazardous wastes with a daily capacity of 100 tonnes, and the doubling of the capacity of a waste compost plant to 840 tonnes per day.Work on the 30.5 million USD complex, invested by the Binh Duong Water Environ-ment JSC, started in January 2004. The 100ha facility is now capable of handling 1,200 tonnes of household wastes, 400 tonnes of industrial wastes, 200 tonnes of hazardous industrial wastes and 3 tonnes of medical wastes.Once fully completed, it is expected to handle around 3,000 tonnes of household wastes and more than 1,000 tonnes of industrial wastes.According to environment experts, it is the most perfect waste treatment complex in Vietnam up to now.Deputy minister of Construction Phan Thi My Linh said the rate of solid household waste landfill nationwide accounts for 77.5 percent.There are 161 incinerators across the country at present, 22 of them have a capacity of 100 tonnes per day. It is targeted that between now and 2020, 2 percent of them use col-lected energy for electricity generation and another 2 percent for other purposes.https://en.vietnamplus.vn/binh-duong-waste-treatment-complex-put-into-use/124667.vnp

IFC provides $15.3m for tap water use


The International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group, on Tues-day announced it will provide a loan worth $15.3 million to DNP Water to expand the use of clean water among households in urban areas.DNP Water is a member of Dong Nai Plastics Corporation. The company plans to up-grade its water treatment and supply capacity by five times by 2025 to reach 1 million cu.metre per day.With IFC's loan, DNP Water would build two large-scale water treatment plants and


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buy stakes at equitised water supply companies.The IFC's lending for DNP Water could amount up to $24.9 million to support the growth strategy of the company.According to Kyle Kelhofer, IFC's Country manager, IFC's funding was expected to promote private investment in the water treatment and supply sector of Vietnam.By 2020, Vietnam would need $1 billion each year to invest in urban clean water sup-ply systems to meet demand. Currently, only 35 per cent of the country's population had access to tap water, according to estimates by the World Bank Group.With a limited budget, Vietnam was calling for private investment in producing tap water and expanding the water supply network.http://bizhub.vn/news/ifc-provides-153m-for-tap-water-use_291281.html

Kon Tum approves project to grow over 4,600ha of Ngoc Linh ginseng


Local authorities of the Central Highlands province of Kon Tum have approved a project to grow Ngoc Linh ginseng in Tu Mo Rong district, in a bid to preserve and de-velop the medicinal plant.The project, with an investment of over 4.93 trillion VND (217.01 million USD), will be implemented on an area of more than 4,600ha of natural forest in Mang Ri and Ngoc Lay communes of the district. It is expected to produce 500kg of fresh ginseng per year.It is hoped to ensure sustainable forest management and promote the growing and preservation of Ngoc Linh ginseng, while creating more products from the ginseng that meet domestic and international demand.In addition, the project will generate jobs for about 5,000 workers, mainly those from ethnic groups, raising local income and reducing poverty rate.Ngoc Linh ginseng was first found on Ngoc Linh Mountain on the border between Quang Nam and Central Highlands Kon Tum province and in the late 1960s.Vietnam's Ngoc Linh ginseng contains 52 saponins (saponin is the main component of ginseng. The more saponins, the better).Besides saponin, Ngoc Linh ginseng contains 17 amino acids, 20 trace minerals and 0.1 percent of attar. The ginseng has high effects in anti-stress and anti-aging conditions. It helps improve immunity, enhance liver function, and lower cholesterol. Besides, it also works well with antibiotics and diabetes medications.Ngoc Linh ginseng is one of the world's most precious ginsengs. It has been approved as a national product under the prime minister's Decision 787/QD-TTg.Quang Nam has zoned off over 15,000 hectares to plant the ginseng, with the partici-pation of over 1,000 households in seven communes in Nam Tra My district.In 2016, the Ministry of Science and Technology's Intellectual Property Agency recog-nised the Geographical Indication (GI) of Ngoc Linh for ginseng root products.https://en.vietnamplus.vn/kon-tum-approves-project-to-grow-over-4600ha-of-ngoc-linh-ginseng/124654.vnp

BRG Group seeks nod to build five-star hotel in HCM City


Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Nga of BRG Group met with HCM City Chair Nguyen Thanh Phong on January 9 to seek the city government's backing for a plan to build a five-star hotel called Hilton Garden Inn Saigon in District 1, HCM City.Nga said the hotel to be located at 23-25 Ham Nghi Boulevard would have 19-20 floors with 180 rooms, and if the city gives support, the group could put the hotel into service by 2020.BRG is asking for the city government's permission to build a high-rise hotel at the aforesaid site as the height limit for this area is 15 floors only. Nga said the city's De-partment of Planning and Architecture tends to give its support for the scheme."The HCM City Department of Planning and Architecture said our suggestion can be considered because there has already been a 42-storey tower nearby," Nga said at the meeting, which was also attended by a representative of Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. She was referring to The One Tower nearby.The Hilton Garden Inn Saigon project shall be kicked off this year and put into opera-


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tion in 2020, Nga assured the city's chair, saying her group has experiences in quickly completing building projects."We finished the Sheraton Grand Danang prior to Apec Economic Leaders' Week 2017 after just 14 months of construction. Therefore, it is possible to complete the Hilton Garden Inn Saigon in 2020 as the project site is ready," Nga said.Chair Nguyen Thanh Phong suggested the investor work with competent agencies, but said the project shall not break the city's urban planning. "Detailed components of the project will be discussed and finalised at meetings between the investor and rele-vant agencies. The outcome should be reported to the city government," Phong said.According to Phong, most world-class hotel brands have been present in the city but this will be the first one to be managed by Hilton.In addition to the Hilton Garden Inn Saigon, BRG has plans to develop several other hotel and office projects in HCM City like the five-star Crowne Plaza, a six-star office building in coordination with Japan's Sumitomo Corporation, and Conrad hotel in co-ordination with Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc.http://english.thesaigontimes.vn/57933/BRG-Group-seeks-nod-to-build-five-star-ho-tel-in-HCM City.html

PwC Vietnam and VNCERT form strategic partnership for cyber security incident response


In order to promote the development of national cyber security emergency response networks, PwC Vietnam is collaborating with the Vietnam Computer Emergency Re-sponse Team to strengthen training activities and raise the capabilities for timely re-sponse to information security incidents in Vietnamese organisations.PwC Vietnam and the Vietnam Computer Emergency Response Team (VNCERT) have entered into a strategic partnership in cyber security incident response during 2018-2020. Today, the two parties signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to officialise this partnership.As cyber-attacks grow more complex and sophisticated, it has become a strategic re-quirement for all organisations to equip themselves with the necessary talent, process-es, and technology to resolve and respond to cyber security incidents.Cyber security incident response can be considered the last line of defence in the IT system, aimed at minimising the damage to the organisation should attacks happen.Incident response is crucial to ensuring information security and requires collabora-tion and information sharing between many organisations and enterprises.Speaking at the signing ceremony, VNCERT's director Nguyen Trong Duong said: "Vi-etnam now has a nationwide network for cyber security emergency response, and as the national co-ordinator, VNCERT expects all organisations to join hands in promot-ing incident response activities and ensuring network security. Our cooperation with such a prestigious and professional firm as PwC Vietnam will be one of the first steps towards forging a network of incident response that involves all organisations, with an aim to safeguard information security in Vietnam."Robert Trong Tran, Cyber Security and Privacy leader at PwC Vietnam, emphasized: "Based on the international experience and local knowhow of our expert team, we are committed to helping Vietnamese organisations build up professional, timely, and ef-fective incident response capabilities that follow international practices."According to the MoU, PwC Vietnam and VNCERT will cooperate in organising train-ing courses and drills on a regional, national, and international scale; standardising in-cident response practices; as well as developing the market of information security products and services.In addition, both parties will co-ordinate in sharing cyber threat intelligence; develop-ing professional working guidelines for problem rescue teams (CSIRT/CERT); estab-lishing criteria for assessing and verifying the professional competence and ethical qualities of personnel involved in CSIRT/CERT.Dinh Thi Quynh Van, general director of PwC Vietnam, said: "The global PwC net-work is proud to be one of the pioneering professional services firms to offer informa-tion security solutions. We have assisted thousands of corporate and governmental


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clients across the world to respond to cyber incidents and carry out information secu-rity strategies over many years.""With this in mind, we firmly believe that the partnership between PwC Vietnam and VNCERT will produce many practical results and contribute to improving the infor-mation security systems of individual organisations and the nation as a whole," she stated.http://www.vir.com.vn/pwc-vietnam-and-vncert-form-strategic-partnership-for-cy-ber-security-incident-response.html

Bosch and Ricons team up for real estate


On January 9, Germany-based multinational group Bosch and Ricons, under the man-agement of Coteccons Group, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for comprehensive cooperation in the fields of construction and real estate development, which could enable the two firms to enhance the safety, security, and efficiency of their construction projects and buildings across Vietnam.Specifically, the MoU covers three key areas of cooperation where Bosch will provide the high-quality hardware, software, and services, leveraging its strength in numerous fields, such as the automotive aftermarket, drive and control technology, packaging technology, power tools, security systems, and thermo-technology.Guru Mallikarjuna, managing director of Bosch Vietnam, asserted that, "With our di-versified portfolio, international network, and local presence, Bosch commits to offer-ing partners a wide range of customised products and solutions. Therefore, we are confident to step into this new partnership with Ricons, one of the leading construction firms in Vietnam.""In the long term, Bosch can collaborate with Ricons in fostering integrated and con-nected solutions for high-tech products and services such as Smart City and Smart Campus as well as provide electric scooter (e-scooter) system solutions and other In-ternet of Things-based (IoT) solutions," Guru also added.In the early stages of the partnership, Bosch will provide Ricons with professional power tools, accessories, and spare parts, as well as a full package of services, includ-ing product consultation, technical training, health and safety training, and product maintenance.Regarding product maintenance, Bosch and Ricons considered to set up booths or small shops at key construction sites in order to provide workers with the direct and instant support when in need of frequently-used accessories, spare parts, and quick re-pairs.Besides, the firms also considered co-developing a scheme to monitor and manage the full circle of tool usage, using Bosch's software and sensor technology, which in turn could assist Ricons in promoting project efficiency and waste reduction as well as max-imising the utilisation of products and resources.Furthermore, Bosch committed to providing Ricons with products and solutions for the sake of security, safety, and communications with the target of protecting people's lives, assets, and enhancing the security of infrastructure. In particular, such products could range from video surveillance, intrusion and fire detection to voice evacuation systems as well as access control and management systems.As a supplier of real estate projects, Ricons was in search of reputable and professional partners with the intent to provide high-quality projects as well as to ensure the pro-ductivity of the equipment used in the construction progress. Ricons' operation activ-ities stretch over 100 construction projects nationwide, ranging from industrial parks, shopping malls, residential complexes, schools, hospitals, and office towers.http://www.vir.com.vn/bosch-and-ricons-team-up-for-real-estate-and-construc-tion.html


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Govt demands tough sanctions against Khaisilk for trade fraud


Deputy prime minister Truong Hoa Binh, head of the National Steering Board for Pre-vention of Smuggling, Trade Fraud and Counterfeit Goods, has asked the Ministries of Public Security, Industry-Trade, and Finance, as well as relevant agencies to strictly handle violations by Khai Duc Co Ltd, known for its silk brand Khaisilk.Earlier, the Ministry of Industry and Trade announced a slew of violations committed by the company such as illicit trade, production of counterfeit and prohibited prod-ucts, and infringement of consumer rights, the Vietnam News Agency reports.Data of the general Department of Vietnam Customs shows that the company import-ed fashion products from China and Thailand in the 2006-2009 period. However, it had no longer conducted the activity since 2009.The company had neither produced and outsourced fashion products nor placed out-sourcing orders from local clothes manufacturers since 2012.Instead, it had mainly purchased finished products from shops, household businesses, and other enterprises, and had sold them under the brands of "Khaisilk(R)", "Khaisilk cach dieu" (Stylised Khaisilk) and "Khaisilk Made in Vietnam."The company showed signs of violating the Penal Code for trading in fake goods. A quality inspection revealed that certain products of the company contain no silk at all while their labels indicate they are of 100 percent silk.The company was also found to breach the regulations on tax and invoice manage-ment. Some invoices were not issued and managed by tax authorities while others had the wrong names of goods declared.Notably, there were huge differences between accounting records and actual data at one branch of the company. The company also failed to explain the reasons for the dif-ferences, and present invoices for such products.In terms of its labeling, some products did not have labels, and some labels did not have as sufficient information as required by the government's decrees on goods labe-ling.The company also concealed information or provided insufficient and inaccurate in-formation for its consumers, and sold products with unclear origin.The Khaisilk scandal began with a complaint from a customer on Facebook in late Oc-tober. Dang Nhu Quynh bought 60 silk scarves on behalf of his company from a Khais-ilk store in Hanoi City, and found one with two different labels with one reading "Khaisilk Made in Vietnam" and the other "Made in China." He checked the other scarves and found remaining traces of "Made in China" labels.Given the accusation, the brand owner, Hoang Khai, admitted in local media that his company had traded in both Vietnamese and Chinese silk products for 30 years, all bearing Khaisilk brand at a proportion of 50-50. The admission prompted the Ministry of Industry and Trade to launch an inspection into the company's business practices days later.http://english.thesaigontimes.vn/57934/Govt-demands-tough-sanctions-against-Khaisilk-for-trade-fraud.html

PVN realises all business targets, faces big challenges ahead


Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PVN) said on January 9 it had achieved or beat all its business targets for 2017, but it is also facing daunting challenges of bailing out five large-scale loss-making projects and fulfilling the guarantee for full consumption of Nghi Son Oil Refinery products.At a conference on PVN's 2017 performance and its plans for this year held on January 9, PVN said though the crude oil price remained low, PVN obtained VND498 trillion (US$21.9 billion) in revenue and VND31.9 trillion in after-tax profit, exceeding the tar-gets by 13.8 percent and a staggering 92 percent respectively.The group also managed to raise its oil reserves to four million tonnes equivalent and discovered a new oil field called Ca Trich. It extracted 25.41 million tonnes of oil equiv-alent including 15.52 million tonnes of crude oil, 1.6 million tonnes and 1.32 million tonnes higher than expected.


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The huge challenge this year, said PVN, is that it will have to find solutions for the five projects incurring losses of trillions of dong, including three bio-fuel projects and a project to develop Dung Quat Shipyard without using State capital. Besides, the group will have to exploit 10 to 15 million tonnes of oil, and develop Ca Rong Do (Red Em-peror) and Ca Voi Xanh (Blue Whale) oil fields.Another hard nut to crack for PVN is to guarantee the consumption of fuel products of Nghi Son Oil Refinery and Petrochemical Co Ltd from this year.The oil refinery in Nghi Son Economic Zone in Thanh Hoa Province is a joint venture between PVN and several partners, including Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, Japan's Mitsui Chemicals Inc., and Idemitsu Kosan. The refinery has a processing capacity of ten million tonnes a year, using crude oil imported from Kuwait, and its petrochemical products are estimated to meet 40 percent of domestic demand.http://english.thesaigontimes.vn/57947/PVN-realises-all-business-targets-faces-big-challenges-ahead.html

German carmaker opens two more Hanoi showrooms


German carmaker Volkswagen on Tuesday officially introduced two new showrooms in Hanoi, taking its total number of showrooms in Vietnam to 11.The new showrooms, located in Pham Van Dong and Le Van Luong streets, are run by 4S VW AutoHaus, Volkswagen Vietnam's affiliate, that currently has nine 4S-standard showrooms in Vietnam."The 4S-standard showrooms have the largest scale among Volkswagen's showroom network in Vietnam, international-standard spare parts, equipment and service to meet customers' demands in repair, guarantees and maintenance," said Nguyen Minh Trang, director of VW AutoHaus.This is considered a long-term step in Volkswagen's strategy for its distribution system expansion and brand value improvement in Vietnam, said Vo Tuan Anh, general di-rector of Volkswagen Vietnam.Tuan Anh said the company was on track to bring the Volkswagen brand closer to con-sumers in Vietnam through the distribution network over the country.Three auto models were also introduced at the launch of the showrooms, including the Volkswagen Passat, priced at VND1.35 billion to VND1.45 billion (US$59,300-63,700).http://bizhub.vn/wheels/german-carmaker-opens-two-more-ha-noi-showrooms_291302.html

MWG and TAG opened doors for further M&A


Acquiring Tran Anh (TAG) is expected create additional diversity in the operations of Mobile World Group (MWG), while the M&A deal between the two largest local elec-tronic retailers also opens expectations for further M&A deals among competitors in the sector.High time to withdrawMWG's purchase of TAG has been official completed after MWG spent VND850 bil-lion ($37.4 million) buying 23.6 million shares, equalling 95 per cent of TAG's charter capital.According to TAG founder Tran Xuan Kien, the decision to sell came from his expec-tations of change in the electronic retail market through the impact of e-commerce. This is the second breakthrough of Kien as well as the Board of directors of TAG after the decision to change the operation model of TAG from computer to electronics retail.Notably, after the successful appearance of iPhone in 2007, the TAG Board of directors expected that the smart phone will grow more and more and meet almost all customer demand of checking emails or surfing the web that at the time only computers could supply. With this expectation, TAG decided to change its operation model from com-puter to electronics retail, paving the road to its success today.At present, TAG finds that e-commerce is growing fast across the globe and one of the sectors suffering the largest impact is electronics retail, a scene that is bound to play out in Vietnam as well. In reality, numerous electronics retailers on the world close


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hundreds of stores each year due to the competition of e-commerce websites like Am-azon.com, Alibaba.com, and JD.com. Thus, it is high time for TAG to withdraw from this market.However, instead of selecting Nojima Corporation, TAG's foreign partner with a 30.9 per cent stake, TAG selected MWG, its heavyweight competitor in the electronics retail sector.Kien stated that during the past four years of cooperation, Nojima made a significant contribution to TAG's development, however, it respects and agrees with TAG's deci-sion.Kien also added that MWG's acquisition of TAG will ensure MWG's development. No-tably, Dien May Xanh, one of MWG's electronics brands, is developed in districts and peri-urban areas with small-scale stores and mid- to low-price products. Meanwhile, TAG has been focusing on the central area of cities with large-scale stores and mid- to high-price products.Regarding MWG, Tran Kinh Doanh, general director of MWG said that at present, nu-merous electronics retailers are operating in Vietnam but it is difficult to find a firm op-erating as transparently as TAG. However, it is still too soon to affirm that this M&A deal will bring massive benefits as much rides on post-M&A management. Further-more, only 50 per cent of M&A deals in the world end in success.First M&A deal in the sectorNormally, it is difficult to affect an M&A deal between electronic retailers. However, in TAG and MWG's case, the leaders of the two parties only needed two meetings of one-three hours to negotiate a compromise. What makes the deal more unique is that it is the first such transaction in the Vietnamese electronics retail sector, promising to open the doors for further deals.Kien said it was difficult for him to issue the decision to sell TAG due to his concerns about the future of more than 2,000 employees. Furthermore, he was also sad when he found out that TAG will be renamed in 12-18 months. However, Kien believed that MWG will build and develop TAG successfully because MWG's capacity to manage store chains is better than that of TAG and other competitors.Setting foot in other business sectorAfter 15 years of managing a business in the electronics retail sector, Kien has experi-ence in developing a new business sector and close relationships with reputable part-ners and large-scale firms. Thus, after selling TAG, Kien, in collaboration with a number of other former leaders of TAG, is planning to set foot in the co-working space sector by opening a workspace renting service.Kien stated that co-working space is still new to Vietnam, however, this service has seen soaring growth across the globe. The Vietnamese market has potential to develop these services because 31 per cent of Vietnamese firms have fewer than 10 employees. Besides, there are 120,000 newly-established firms each year, all potential customers of the company.Kien expected that in the second quarter his company will open five co-working loca-tions at office buildings with the total rental area of nearly 10,000sq.m. This will in-crease to 15-20 locations with the total area of 30,000-40,000sq.m.By the end of 2017, nearly 1.2 million people across the world worked in a co-working space. While 60 per cent of all co-working spaces are not profitable, the trend has def-initely been huge in the last ten years.The majority of co-working spaces are concentrated in the hands of a few large provid-ers, with Regus and WeWork accounting for nearly 80 per cent (approximately 1.95 million sq.m) of total leased space. In 2018, MWG set a target revenue of over VND86 trillion ($3.78 billion), surprising the market. Notably, the corporation expected to earnVND86.39 trillion ($3.8 billion) in revenue and VND2.6 trillion ($114.49 million) in profit, up 36.5 and 18.3 per cent com-pared to the figures of 2016.Despite, the common view that the targets will be difficult to reach, Tran Kinh Doanh, general director of MWG, believed that they are is feasible.


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The basis for MWG's massive revenue target is the continuous growth of the Thegio-ididong chain. Besides, the Dien May Xanh chain has been extended in districts and peri-urban areas, while the Bach hoa Xanh chain is expected to start to bring profit from this year. MWG plans to open an additional 1,500 stores in HCM City by the end of this year.Acquiring TAG was also expected to contribute to increasing MWG's revenue and profit. Notably, after merging the electronic retail arms of the two sides, the new elec-tronic retail network will make up more than 30 per cent of the Vietnamese electronic retail market share. Accordingly, it will play an important role in realising the 36.5 per cent after-tax profit growth.In the first eleven months of 2017, MWG earned VND58.96 trillion ($2.59 billion) in revenue and VND1.99 trillion ($87.6 million) in profit, signifying increases of 49 and 38 per cent compared to the figures in the same period of 2016.http://www.vir.com.vn/mwg-and-tag-opened-doors-for-further-ma.html

LockLock offers Tet promotion


Korean kitchenware and household appliances maker LOCK & LOCK has launched a Tet promotion with discounts of up to 50 per cent on all products at its F2C warehouse in Long Hau Industrial Park in Long An Province from January 12 to 14.The discounts are offered on more than 30,000 household and kitchenware items, in-cluding air fryers, electric barbecue grills, induction cookers, tables and chairs, food containers, tea sets, bowls and plates, glass box sets, kitchenware, and household elec-tric devices.Besides, customers have a chance to win prizes worth over VND150 million through a lucky draw including Iphone X, bowl and plate sets, vacuum cleaners, induction cook-ers, and non-stick pans.Free shuttle buses are available for customers from Diamond Plaza (District 1), Park-son Cantavil (District 2), An Dong (District 5), Crescent Mall, My Khanh, Sky Garden (District 7) and Hoanh Anh Gia Lai 3 (Nha Be) to the LOCK & LOCK warehouse.http://bizhub.vn/corporate-news/locklock-offers-tet-promotion_291307.html

Dozens of pupils faint from steel plant pollution


About two teachers and 21 pupils at Quan Toan Secondary School in Hai Phong City fainted and had to be hospitalised after inhaling toxic gas from the local steel factory on January 8.Hai Phong Department of Natural Resources and Environment said they had let the pupils go home and brought sick teachers and pupils to Trang An Hospital. Hong Bang District People's Committee and Department of Environmental Protection quick-ly arrived at the Vietnam-Japan Steel Company for inspection.Chair assistant at Vietnam-Japan Company Nguyen Van Phi said that the dust filter bag accidentally caught fire and caused the incident.However, according to the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, the company uses scrap that contained impurities. Those impurities emit toxic gas, and the effects are particularly bad on humid or cloudy days. Vietnam-Japan Steel Compa-ny must take responsibility for not carrying out inspections or monitoring the ma-chines regularly.This is also not the first time that pupils in Quan Toan Ward fainted from inhaling toxic gas. The teachers, pupils and locals have been complaining about the pollution from the factory at night and early morning. They suggested relocating the factory to ensure a safe environment for the citizens.The Department of Natural Resources and Environment asked to halt the company's operation until the incident is dealt with. The company must promise to follow all reg-ulations about environment protection, and not use scrap materials with too many im-purities.Tran Minh Tuan, head of the Department of Environmental Protection, said that the industrial zone with seven steel factories was only 100 metres away from the residen-


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tial area. In last September, the Department of Construction was asked to relocate all seven factories out of Quan Toan Ward.Vietnam-Japan Company also wants to relocate their factory for sustainable develop-ment.http://dtinews.vn/en/news/017004/54685/dozens-of-pupils-faint-from-steel-plant-pol-lution.html

Ex-HCM City Party Chief cites 'impatience' for violations


Dinh La Thang tells court the pressure for project progress led to him acting unlawful-ly.The second day of the trial of 22 executives charged over losses totalling hundreds of millions of dollars at the State oil firm PetroVietnam saw a once-rising political star ad-mit to violating rules in appointing one of the group's construction subsidiaries as the contractor of a thermal power plant.Dinh La Thang, the first former Politburo member to face trial in decades, told the court that when he was PetroVietnam Chair he was tasked with directing members to approve its strategic direction, carry out Party guidelines and resolutions from the Board of directors, and sign documents on behalf of the Board.According to Thang, the government allowed PetroVietnam to provide investment and development services, under which the group was entitled to appoint member companies to the group's portfolios, including turning the PetroVietnam Construction JSC (PVC), where fugitive Trinh Xuan Thanh was Chair, into the construction arm of the group.According to the indictment, PVC was appointed main contractor of the Thai Binh 2 thermal power plant project despite facing financial difficulties, with Thang com-manding his subordinates to sign an expeditious engineering, procurement and con-struction (EPC) contract for PVC and on the same day make an advanced payment of $6.6 million and VND1.3 trillion ($57 million), of which VND1.1 trillion ($48.3 million) was then found to be used for the wrong purposes.The construction of the power plant began just four days after the contract was signed, which police said violated rules and procedures.Thang first denied making any command on the advanced payment, but later admit-ted his decision to pay 10 per cent of the power plant's construction costs to PVC in advance. "The appointment of PVC as the main contractor of the Thai Binh 2 power plant comes from the guidelines in the strategy of developing PetroVietnam into a multi-disciplinary group by 2025," he said.Regarding construction beginning quickly, Thang said that due to its heavy workload, PetroVietnam always directed its member companies to carry out projects comprehen-sively. "Pressured by the need for progress, I was hurried and impatient and acted too drastically, thus violating procedures," he said.The trial, which began on January 8, is part of a widespread crackdown on fraud and mismanagement in the energy and banking sectors spearheaded by Party general Sec-retary Nguyen Phu Trong.Of the 22 executives on trial, 12 are accused of "violations of State regulations on eco-nomic management causing serious consequences". Eight others are accused of em-bezzlement and two are accused of both.Thang is facing 20 years in jail, while Thanh, PVC's former Chair and CEO, faces the death penalty for property embezzlement and 20 years in jail for violating State regu-lations on economic management.Thang has three lawyers defending him at the trial, while Thanh has five.Thang was Chair of PetroVietnam between 2006 and 2011 before his political career took off as minister of Transport in prime minister Nguyen Tan Dung's cabinet and then Party Chief of HCM City.He was arrested on December 8 after being voted out of the Politburo, the Party's de-cision-making body, which came after being fired as the Party Chief of HCM City in May.


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Thang directly appointed Thanh as PVC's CEO in December 2007, before making many promotion, funding, or recruitment decisions, to boost Thanh's power and facil-itate the company's operations, investigators said.He was found responsible for Thanh's actions at PVC that led to losses worth more than VND119 billion ($5.24 million) at the Thai Binh 2 thermal power plant project and the embezzlement of VND4 billion ($176,000) at the Vung Ang-Quang Trach project.Last week, Thanh's family returned VND2 billion ($87,800) of the money he is accused of stealing from the State-owned oil giant, his lawyer said.Lawyer Le Van Thiep said Thanh's mother had handed over the money to Hanoi's Civ-il Case Enforcement Department under the Ministry of Justice ahead of his trial on Jan-uary 8. In a petition, the family said that "Thanh had agreed and requested his family to voluntarily return part of the government money that was appropriated."Lawyers say the family's actions may be aimed at helping Thanh escape the death pen-alty. Vietnam's revised Penal Code, effective from this month, allows those convicted of embezzlement to avoid the death sentence by returning at least 75 per cent of their ill-gotten gains.http://dtinews.vn/en/news/018/54678/-ex-hcmc-party-chief-cites--impatience--for-vio-lations.html

Ho Tram's The Bluffs jumps up Golf Digest list

11/JAN/2018 INTELLASIA| VN ECONOMIC TIMES

Vietnamese course vaults to No. 35 in latest World 100 Greatest Golf Courses rankings.The Bluffs, the golf course at The Ho Tram Strip, has retained its status as one of Golf Digest's best golf courses in the world.Only now it's 39 places higher than it was in 2016, when the planet's most widely-read golf publication released the follow-up to its inaugural "World 100 Greatest Golf Courses" rankings.Revealed last week, the latest edition has Vietnam's most acclaimed course at No. 35; five spots ahead of nine-time Open Championship venue Royal Troon in Scotland."It's been an astonishing past few months," said Sonia Huong Mai, general manager of The Bluffs, which was hailed by Vietnam's leading golf authorities in October and at the World Golf Awards in November. "We're fortunate to have an ownership group like Asian Coast Development Ltd (ACDL), which continually provide us with the re-sources and support necessary to make this world-class product better every day."Designed by legendary golfer Greg Norman, The Bluffs opened to great fanfare in Oc-tober 2014 when former US Open champion Michael Campbell played an exhibition match against two-time European Tour winner Robert Rock.A year later, the spectacular seaside links won "World's Best New Golf Course" at the World Golf Awards and served as the site of the Ho Tram Open, a $1.5 million Asian Tour event that attracted some of the biggest names in the game, including eventual champion Sergio Garcia.Despite its already lofty standing among the world's elite courses, The Bluffs is under-going a multi-faceted enhancement designed to further elevate its profile.In addition to reducing the amount of vegetation that has overtaken some of the dunes and removing excessive turf between and around many of the tee boxes, the mainte-nance crew is working with US-based turf specialist On Course Agronomic Consulting to improve the performance of the playing surfaces, especially the greens.The project is expected to be completed well before December, when the Asian Tour is scheduled to return to The Bluffs for the Ho Tram Players Championship."Our goal from the outset was to build a natural-looking, links-style golf course wor-thy of the global spotlight," said Michael Kelly, Executive Chair of ACDL, which owns the entire Ho Tram Strip, including the 541-room Grand hotel and casino, a prestigious residential development called The Gallery Villas, and a 244-key, nautical-inspired re-sort currently under construction. "It goes hand-in-hand with what we're doing here, which is making the Strip a world-class tourism destination and Vietnam's entertain-ment capital."


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Second Vietnam Economic Forum to open tomorrow in Hanoi


Continuing the success of Vietnam Economic Forum 2017, the second forum will take place on January 11 and 12 at Lotte Hotel (Hanoi), in order to provide general advice on socioeconomic development strategies and polices.The forum is held by the Central Party Committee's Economic Commission in collab-oration with ministries, branches, and institutes. At the forum, policy-makers and rep-resentatives of ministries and related agencies, the academia and experts, as well as private sector stakeholders and international organisations will discuss Vietnam's eco-nomic situation this year and prospects in the years ahead.They will also identify economic obstacles and raise solutions for sustainable economic development. Discussions at the forum will also provide solutions to carry out Reso-lution No.01/NQ-CP on major tasks and solutions guiding the implementation of the 2018 socioeconomic development plan and the state budget estimate.The economic conference with theme of "Vietnam's economy 2017 and prospects for 2018Towards fast and sustainable development" will take place in the morning of Jan-uary 11, 2018.In the afternoon, there will be three sessions:Session 1: "Technology, green energy, and sustainable development"Session 2: "Accelerating productivity in the context of industrialisation"Session 3: "Improving the business environment through credit risk management in trade and investment"On the second day, a high-level policy discussion will take place with theme "Fast and sustainable economic growth of Vietnam: challenges and new motivation."Last year, on June 27, the Central Economic Commission in collaboration with the Aus-tralian Embassy held Vietnam Economic Forum 2017 with theme of "Unleashing the potential for sustainable economic growth." With the participation of over 500 repre-sentatives, the forum featured many useful and significant discussions and recom-mendations, evaluated Vietnam's economic situation, and proposed medium- and long-term solutions for the Vietnamese economy.http://www.vir.com.vn/second-vietnam-economic-forum-to-open-tomorrow-in-ha-noi.html

HCM City to host international exhibitions on agriculture

11/JAN/2018 INTELLASIA| VOV

Agriculture Hub comprising three international exhibitions on livestock breeding, cul-tivation, and agricultural machinery and equipment, is set to take place at the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Centre (SECC) on March 14-16.Organised by Minh Vi Exhibition & Advertisement Services Co (VEAS) and its part-ners from the Netherlands, Thailand and China, Agriculture Hub converges the 1st ex-hibition and conference on Horticultural and Floricultural Production and Processing Technology, the 7th International Livestock, Dairy, Meat Processing and Aquaculture Exposition and the 1st international exhibition on agricultural machinery, equipment and techniques.Agriculture Hub is expected to lure around 420 foreign exhibitors from 35 countries around the world to showcase their products. It will offer a chance for domestic busi-nesses to seek partners for market expansion and update state-of-art technologies from world leading countries.http://english.vov.vn/economy/hcm-city-to-host-intl-exhibitions-on-agriculture-366374.vov End


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