HCM City exchange welcomes number 153

The Binh Duong province based Mirae Joint Stock Company on June 30 became the 153 rd company to list on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HOSE).

The company, coded KMR on the bourse, recently delisted from the Hanoi Securities Trading Center .

Formerly a wholly Korean-owned company, Mirae became joint stock last year and has a charter capital of 133 billion VND (8 million USD). The Korean founding members hold around 46 percent of its stakes, and four institutional investors, including Hanoi Financial Investment Joint Stock Company and Kim Long Securities Company, together hold 20 percent.

The company makes cotton sheets for blankets, pillows and other items, besides other textile and garment products.

Last year it recorded a net profit of 21 billion VND and the figure is expected to reach 30 billion VND this year.

“We plan to set up a new factory in Cambodia and open a branch in Danang,” its president, Young Sik Shin, said.

“Listing at HOSE will help promote our company’s image not only in Vietnam but in Korea as well,” he said.

Also on June 30, the company signed a memorandum of understanding with Tong Yang Investment Bank.

With Tong Yang acting as advisor, Mirae is expected to list on the Korean stock exchange in the second quarter of next year.

Vietnam Rubber Group eyes Africa

Vietnam Rubber Group (VRG) has announced that it will send a delegation to various African nations this month to study the rubber growing capacities of countries such as South Africa, Uganda and Namibia.

Le Quang Thung general director of VRG said that after the study-tour, the group would build a specific plan to invest in rubber plantations in these areas, as their climates were excellent for growing rubber.

An official of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said that land was abundant in many parts of Africa, and the governments of these countries had offered preferential policies on administrative procedures, land and human resources to develop the agricultural sector.

Last year, Vietnam exported 715,000 tonnes of rubber, worth around 1.4 billion USD. Rubber still holds third place in the country’s export turnover tables, and is one of the 10 products with an export turnover of over 1 billion USD.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, this year the country has set a target to export 780,000 tonnes of rubber worth 1.45 billion USD, an increase of 9.1 percent in quantity and 4.1 percent in value compared to last year.

Hanoi backs spare auto parts industry

Hanoi is ambitious to become a centre of support industries for Vietnam’s car makers, despite the fact that the car industry is operating below potential.

As pointed out in a plan for automobile development for the next two years, auto parts are considered one of the nation’s eight key mechanical sectors.

Planners say it is vital for Vietnam to develop the industry because of its links to other industries and thus to modernisation.

According to Hanoi’s Department of Industry and Commerce, the city now has 16 automobile spare-parts and assembly companies, mainly for lorries and buses.

Most of these spare parts makers have the same complete knock down (DKD) technical background (a complete assembly kit) with low, localised rates, according to Pham Duc Tien, deputy director of Hanoi ’s Department of Industry and Commerce at a conference last week.

Vietnam manufacturers make simple auto products, such as mirrors, glasses, chairs, radio and tires. But 70 to 90 percent of components come from China and the Republic of Korea .

Fierce competition among auto makers has hindered the development the industry in Hanoi.

The auto spare-parts industry uses products from many other sectors, ranging from mechanical items to semi-conductor technology, power and informatics and materials.

Bui Ngoc Huyen, General Director of Xuan Kien Auto Joint Stock Company (Vinaxuki) said spare-parts enterprises should cooperate to promote the development of this sector.

The auto-parts industry has not been given any preferential policies as it is not viewed as a hi-tech sector.

However, the Department of Industry and Commerce in Hanoi has set up a promotion programme to help auto spare-parts makers specialise. Forty enterprises will be initially involved.

An auto specialist argued it would be difficult for Vietnam to export complete built units (CBU) cars in the near future. However, he said Vietnam was in a good position to continue to export spare parts because its skilled workers could produce them cheaply.

So, it seems that, with a little bit of help from the Government, Hanoi’s auto-parts industry could really take off.

Rainbow trouts find new home in Central Highlands

Rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus) has become a new speciality of the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong besides vegetables and flowers.

Only arriving in the province in April 2006, rainbow trouts raised at farms in K’ Long K’ Lanh Highland appeared on the table of restaurants in the resort city of Da Lat and Ho Chi Minh City by the end of that year. Local farms have difficulties filling orders from not only eateries but tourists as well.

However, Lam Dong is not only the only place in the country to raise the fish. It was the mountain resort town of Sapa in the northern province of Lai Chau that provided the first home in Vietnam to the imported fish. Under a 100,000 EUR project funded by the Finish Government, the Fisheries Innovation Centre of Finland (FIC) and the Aquaculture Institute 1 of Vietnam brought trout eggs to Sapa, where the climate suits the needs of the cold water fish.

Finnish experts said rainbow trouts at farms in Sa Pa grow even faster than those raised in Finland .

Chief Cook Jurgen Kauz of Hanoi’s Melia Hotel, which buys 450 kg of rainbow trouts a month, said that the quality and meat colour of Sa Pa-raised fish is as good as imported fish.

So far, Sa Pa is the only place in Vietnam where rainbow trout eggs can be hatched. Fish fries are then transferred to Lam Dong farms for raising.

Several businesses in Lam Dong and Ho Chi Minh City are planning to invest in the fish, including the Ha Quang company with an 8 billion VND project and the military company 7.5 with a 44 billion VND scheme.

Lam Dong has zoned off about 50ha of water surface for raising the cold water fish by 2010, in the hope of winning a great share of the domestic rainbow trout market which currently imports 1,500 tonnes of the products a year.

However, there remains remarkable difficulties as farmers have to depend on imported egg supply and fish feeds. In addition, the raising of rainbow trouts requires strict technical conditions and major start-up investment which is out of reach for most local farmers.

Rice export earning doubles

Vietnam’s earnings from rice exports reached 1.5 billion USD in the first half of this year, almost double the figure of the same period last year, though the rice export volume was up by only 6 percent to 2.5 million tonnes.

According to the General Statistic Office and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, rice is now Vietnam’s fifth largest foreign currency earner, representing about 20 percent of the country’s total agriculture, forest and aquatic product export value.

The bumper harvests in both southern and northern regions promise a total output of 37 million tonnes of paddy this year, more than 1 million tonnes over last year. Therefore, the government is likely to raise rice export quota this year to 4.5 million tonnes, equal with the figure of last year. The domestic rice market is also expected to cool down.

Businesses have signed contracts for exports of 3.5 million tonnes of rice in the first nine months of this year.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has asked the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to assist businesses in purchase and export of rice.

Commercial banks are also required to ensure capital for rice exporters.

Rice production became one of the hottest issues in the first months of this year as farmers in northern provinces faced many challenges, including serious droughts, the most severe cold spells in the past 40 years and the increases of materials prices.

The government earlier this year had to order a temporary stop to the signing of rice export contracts to ensure national food security.

Seafood exporter gets five int’l certificates

Hai Viet Corporation, a seafood processor known as Havico, has become the first business in Vietnam to obtain five international certificates from URS-UKAS, an UK accreditation service provider.

The certificates include the ones on Sanitation Standard Operating Procedures (SSOP), Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) and British Retail Consortium (BRC), recognising Havico’s good practices to ensure food safety.

The company has also gained SA 8000:2001, the most widely-recognised global standard for managing human rights in the workplace.

Havico General Director Phan Thanh Chien said as a producer of instant foods, Havico gives top priority to ensuring food safety.

Set up in 1991, Havico has always reported the highest export value in the fisheries sector in southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau province.

Havico’s products are being sold to the US, Australia, Hong Kong and Taiwan, bringing about an export value of 40.6 million USD in 2007 and nearly 16 million USD in the first five month of this year.

Millions visit Hanoi in six months

Hanoi welcomed 3.8 million visitors, including 655,700 foreigners in the first half of the year, a year-on-year increase of 12.4 percent.

The number of holiday-makers from China , Thailand , the US and Australia increased sharply, leading to the shortage of hotel rooms.

The city is expected to welcome 7.6 million visitors with 1.4 million foreign tourists by the end of this year.

Ho Chi Minh City in the period welcomed around 1.5 million foreign tourists, seeing a year-on-year increase of 16 percent.

The central region also saw brisk tourist activities as the number of foreign visitors travelling by sea to Nha Trang and Da Nang cities and by land via international border gates of Lao Bao and Cau Treo swelled.

Wide-scale advertisement programmes also helped the World Heritage Site of Ha Long Bay in northern Quang Ninh province attract more foreign visitors. In June alone, the UNESCO-recognised world heritage site welcomed 213,000 tourists, including 130,500 foreigners.

Foreign experts: inner strength helps Vietnam stabilise economy

Vietnam’s inner strength and suitable policies will enable the country to stabilise the macro-economy, said participants to the Global Meeting of the Emerging Markets Forum 2008 in Hanoi on July 1.

The World Bank said it saw signs that the Vietnamese Government’s solution package to stabilise the national economy had taken effects, citing the slow-down in the price hike of non-food products in June and in monthly import growth rate as well.

The Vietnamese Government has revised this year’s GDP growth rate of 8.5-9 percent down to 7 percent in addition to cutting public spendings, postponing ineffective State-funded projects and new projects and applying a more flexible exchange rate.

Thirachai Phuvanatnaranubala, Secretary-general of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Thailand , agreed that the Vietnamese Government’s policies are on the right track.

“I have a strong confidence in the country and the measures introduced by the Vietnamese Government are already the right methods,” Thirachai told a Vietnam News Agency reporter on the sidelines of the meeting.

Thirachai said his confidence is based on the Vietnamese authorities’ eagerness to learn from international best practice and introduce international standards into the local market.

According to Bimal Jalan, former Governor of the Reserve Bank of India , Vietnam’s attraction of foreign investment and acceleration of production will help the country overcome current difficulties, including high inflation and trade deficit.

In the first six months of the year, Vietnam attracted 31.6 billion USD in foreign direct investment, 3.7 times higher than the same period last year. The country’s industrial production value rose 16.5 percent in the period.

However, Colin Grassie, Chief Executive of the Asia-Pacific region of Deutsche Bank, warned of a decline in emerging markets, including Vietnam, in the medium term, due to the effects of surging prices around the globe at present.

Thep Viet Capital, Malaysian firm sign strategic cooperation pact

Vietnam ’s Thep Viet Capital on July 1 signed a strategic cooperation pact with the Inter-Pacific Capital Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of the Malaysian Berjaya group.

Under the pact, Inter-Pacific Capital will become a large shareholder of the Thep Viet Capital, involving in fund management, investment and business development.

Inter-Pacific Capital General Director Kuok Wee Kiat said he believed that the many recent initiatives by the Vietnam Government to instill market confidence and combat inflation, and measures to maintain a stable currency and improve the overall balance of payments will succeed.

Thep Viet Capital, a leading private company in Vietnam , earned a revenue of 450 million USD in 2007 from steel production and distribution. Meanwhile, Berjaya has invested in five projects in Vietnam , including the project the 3.5 billion USD international university urban area in Hoc Mon district, Ho Chi Minh City.

Senior planning official points to difficulties ahead

Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Duc Hoa on July 1 warned of big difficulties facing the national economy in the second half of the year while noting upbeat achievements in the first half.

At a press briefing on the country’s socio-economic situation in the first half of the year, Hoa pointed to the threats of a continued rise in consumer price index, widening trade deficit, big waste from ineffective State-funded projects, and complex developments of weather to the country in the next six months.

“The Government will persistently deploy measures to tighten the monetary market, manage trade activities, improve market forecasting capability, push up local production, and implement social welfare policies to deal with those difficulties,” he stressed.

The deputy minister estimated that the GDP growth rate in the second half of the year must be 7.4 percent to enable the yearly GDP growth rate to reach 7 percent as approved by the National Assembly.

According to the General Statistics Office, Vietnam attracted 31.6 billion USD in foreign direct investment in the first half of the year, 3.7 times higher than the same period last year, with each project’s capital averaging at 64.7 million USD.

Coupled with the record high in foreign investment attraction was the slow-down in consumer price index, and impressive growths in exports and industrial production value, the GSO said.

Deputy Minister Hoa attributed such outcomes to the Government’s solutions to rein in inflation and its managerial experiences that have shown to be efficient.