Venezuela, VN set up joint oil ventures

CARACAS — Venezuela and Viet Nam last weekend discussed the establishment of two oil joint ventures, said the director of PetroVietnam’s International Relations Department, Vu Khanh Truong, in an interview with Viet Nam News yesterday.

PDVSA (Petroleos de Venezuela) and PetroVietnam (Viet Nam National Oil and Gas Group) will work together to build the two companies, one to improve oil quality in Venezuela and the other to refine oil in Viet Nam, Truong said.

Truong declined to announce the contract date for establishing the two joint ventures.

However, he said that oil resources for the two refineries would be supplied by Venezuela.

In another move, Viet Nam and Venezuela are expected to announce on September 15 a new oil exploration agreement in the oil-rich Orinoco basin in eastern Venezuela.

As Latin America’s top oil producer and fifth largest oil exporter to the United States, Venezuela a year ago established a joint-ownership system of its oil reserves, giving PDVSA minimum control of 60 per cent for any foreign venture in the field.

Venezuela produces 3.3 million barrels of oil per day (bpd), 2.7 million of which are for export. The International Energy Agency, however, puts Venezuela’s oil production at less than 2.5 million bpd.

In addition, the two nations also plan to build a production facility to make energy-saving light bulbs in Venezuela, Energy and Oil Minister of Venezuela Rafael Ramirez, who also heads state-run PDVSA, said after a meeting with Vietnamese officials.

Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Commerce, Vu Huy Hoang, welcomed co-operation with Venezuela, saying it offered “many advantages and great challenges to worldwide trade barriers”. —

Joint venture to open $3.8b complex

A detailed plan of Long Son Island in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau. Construction of a $3.77-billion complex will begin in Vung Tau City’s Long Son oil and gas industrial zone on September 25.

HA NOI — A Viet Nam-Thailand joint venture will start building the first international-scale petrochemical complex, worth US$3.77 billion, in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau on September 25.

The 400ha Greenfield petrochemical complex will be developed at the Long Son Oil and Gas Industrial Zone (IZ) in Vung Tau City, close to Viet Nam’s third oil refinery.

The parties in the joint venture include two State-run corporations – National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam), Viet Nam National Chemical Corporation (Vinachem); and two subsidiaries of Thai Siam Cement Group (SCG) – Vina SCG Chemicals Co Ltd and Thai Plastic and Chemicals Public Co Ltd.

The joint venture has a charter capital of $1.5 billion. Of this, Thai partners hold a 71 per cent stake, while Vietnamese firms hold the remainder.

Construction and operation of the complex will be divided into two phases, with the PVC-related plants likely to begin operation in 2012 and the other plants in 2013.

In addition, an expanded project will be implemented by 2016.

When put into operation, the facilities in the complex will supply 1.45 million tonnes of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP); 730,000 tonnes of chemicals used to process polyvinyl clorua (PVC) and 840,000 tonnes of other chemicals used by the petro-chemical industry.

It is expected to satisfy 65 per cent of the total local demand of these products by 2017, helping ease the great dependence on imports of these materials, said a spokeman for the joint venture.

The complex will also contain infrastructure such as a port, storage facilities and utilities. Its products will be mainly supplied to the domestic market.

It is estimated that the complex will generate 10,000 jobs during the construction period and 1,500 jobs while in operation.

The spokeman said that the complex factories would use international standard, advanced and environmentally friendly technologies. —

VN-Index bounds back: 137 gainers

HA NOI — The stock market bounced back yesterday after losing points on Wednesday at both bourses. The VN-Index ended its last trading session yesterday by closing at 525.98 points, an increase of 17.51.

Trading volume, although lower than yesterday, maintained a high level. Nearly 24.8 million shares changed hands for more than VND1 trillion.

Of the total 160 listed stocks, there were 137 gainers against 12 decliners; 11 stayed unchanged.

STB of Sacombank continued to be the most traded stock yesterday with over 6.38 million shares changing hands.

It was followed by Phu My Fertiliser (DPM) with more than two million traded. Hoa Phat Group (HG) and Cables and Telecom Materials (SAM) saw 1.8 and 1.3 million shares changing hands respectively.

Lan warned that investors should not put high hopes on the strong recovery of the market in the immediate future as uncertainties remained in the economy. But she said they should keep a long-term vision on the market as it would prove to have great potential.

In the northern bourse, the HASTC-Index also experienced an increase, closing at 162.96, up 6.18 points.

Investors traded nearly 11.7 million shares listed on the bourse for a total VND551.2 billion. The bourse saw 120 gainers, 24 losers, two unchanged and one remained inactive.

Foreign investors were net sellers at 430,600 shares. They also purchased 317,600 shares.

In the Ha Noi bourse, ACB was the most active share with more than 1.9 million shares changing hands with an increase of VND5,500 to stand at VND82,200 per share.

Also yesterday, more than 5.2 million shares of Produce and Trading Metal Joint Stock Company (KKC) were officially listed on the Ha Noi bourse with an average price of VND103,100 per share. A total of 382,800 shares changed hands. —

Brokerages start securities ‘repos’ to boost liquidity

HA NOI — Securities companies have restarted their securities repossession services, or “repo”, aimed at further raising the market’s liquidity as the stock market rallies.

Colloquially, “repo” is used to refer to a financial institution taking possession, an object that was rented, leased, or used as collateral in a transaction.

In the securities sector, “repo” refers to an investor inking a deal with a securities firm to sell a share volume as mortgage in order to receive a certain money sum for securities re-investment.

Committed to the deal, the investor must then buy back the mortgaged shares at a pre-negotiated time and price. If the investor fails to buy back shares when they are due, securities firms have the right to trade the mortgaged shares.

During the 2006-07 period, repo services boomed with the robust growth of the market. But in the first months of 2008, securities firms temporarily halted this service as the market fell too low and too many investors failed to pay back mortgages. As a result, a significant volume of shares accumulated in banks and securities firms.

But as brokerages continue to receive positive signals from the stock market, the service has returned.

Recently, Sacombank Securities announced it would spend VND200 billion (US$12.12 million) in reopening this service.

An increase of the capital for repo is also planned if and when the market does fully recover.

Another securities firm in Ha Noi, VNDirect, has cooperated with the Bank of Investment and Development of Viet Nam (BIDV) to restart the repo service.

Nguyen Ho Nam, General Director of Sacombank Securities, said that the stock market had undergone its toughest period, and has been gradually recovering, thanks to the smoother nature of the economy at large.

“Along with enthusiastic sentiments of investors, the repo service will undoubtedly help raise the market’s liquidity,” Nam stated.

“We can say the economy has rallied, but we can’t say it has recovered. Thus a cautious process is necessary to avoid unexpected losses,” said Nguyen Huynh, an analyst in a Ha Noi-based securities firm which restarted securities repo service.

According to many firms, as the processing of repos must by nature be cautious, share portfolios and customers criteria for securities repo are restricted.

Huynh also said that unclear market trends and a high interest rate would cause risks for investors using this service. Thus making the restriction on clients to provide repos, essential.

However, Huynh declined to say what kind of clients provided this service. “We need longer to offer it to all kinds of customers when the market has truly recovered.”

Nguyen Son, Head of the Market Development Department under the State Securities Commission, said that securities firms re-opening this service at this time was normal. —

VN-Venezuela committee holds ground-breaking meet

Buenos Aires — The first session of the Vietnam-Venezuela joint committee opened in Caracas, Venezuela, on Wednesday.

The Vietnamese delegation was led by Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang.

The Venezuelan delegation included Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro, Minister of Energy and Petroleum Rafael Ramirez, Minister of Light Industries and Commerce William Contreras and Minister of Basic Industries and Mines Rodolfo Sanz.

The two sides discussed bilateral cooperation in construction of oil refinery factories in Vietnam, Vietnamese oil exploitation projects in Venezueala and the establishment of a common fund to promote bilateral cooperation in science and technology, economics, finance, commerce, industry, agriculture and culture.

They also considered the implementation of a memorandum of understanding on establishment of a joint venture to produce electricity-saving light bulbs.

The two sides agreed on Viet Nam’s supply and installation of public lighting systems in Venezuela, and information exchange between the Vietnamese national radio the Voice of Vietnam and the National Radio of Venezuela (RNV).

The first session of the joint committee follows of the Venezuela visit by General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nong Duc Manh last year. During the visit, the two sides inked a series of documents on bilateral cooperation. —

Viet Nam, Uzbekistan agree on need for joint investments

HA NOI — The potential for wider co-operation in joint-venture investment projects between Viet Nam and Uzbekistan was confirmed yesterday during the meeting by Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai and Uzbekistan First Deputy Minister of Foreign Economic Relations, Investments and Trade Nasriddin Najimov in Ha Noi.

Hai welcomed the Uzbekistan delegation for its working visit to the second meeting of the Vietnamese-Uzbek inter-governmental committee for trade economic and science-technology co-operation and emphasised that Viet Nam would encourage economic sectors to take part in joint-venture investment projects with Uzbekistan.

He said that the two countries had great potential for co-operation in many areas including the supply of cotton-fibre, coal-gas using technology, oil and gas industries, agricultural product processing and tourism.

Deputy Minister Nasriddin Najimov said he was impressed by Viet Nam’s economic development speed, especially as its foreign investment capital had increased by 2.5 times, compared with that of 2007.

Nasriddin reported the result of the Vietnamese-Uzbek inter-governmental commission’s session, in which the two countries’ enterprises had pointed out concrete co-operation methods.

He said the two countries’ enterprises needed to push up contact and exchange visits of delegations to update information, contributing to boosting the two countries’ co-operation.

At the session, the Uzbekistan delegation signed a co-operation agreement with the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry and another on oil and gas with Vietnam Oil and Gas Corporation.

The two sides agreed to draft and sign an agreement on visa exemptions for Vietnamese citizens with diplomatic passports, an agreement on plant quarantine and a co-operation agreement on agriculture. —

Leader sends sympathies to Spain over plane crash

This TV grab taken from Spanish TVE channel shows a plane crash survivor being carried on a stretcher to an ambulance at Barajas airport in Madrid. — AFP/VNA photo

HA NOI — Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet yesterday sent condolences to Spanish King Joan Carlos and the Spanish people over the huge loss of life and properties from a jet crash on Wednesday.

An MD-82 belonging to budget airline Spanair crashed after a failed takeoff at Madrid’s Barajas airport , killing 153 people and leaving 19 others injured.

Four of the 19 injured were in “very serious” condition in hospital yesterday while a Spanish minister said it would take two days to identify all the bodies of the 153 dead.

A spokesman for the regional health authority said that 19 people were in different Madrid hospitals. Four were in “very serious” condition, six were “serious”, eight were said to be improving and one suffered a light injury.

Transport Minister Magdalena Alvarez said it would take two days to identify all the victims, many of whom were badly burned.

“Up to now they have been identified with their fingerprints and in certain cases by there will have to be DNA tests,” the minister said on national radio.

Alvarez said that Spanair’s ground technicians had approved a second takeoff attempt after the pilot returned to the terminal complaining of a problem.

“In the first attempt, the pilot came out but returned because he detected something, which will have to be determined by commission of inquiry,” Alvarez said.

“The maintenance officials of the company concerned authorised the takeoff, assuming their responsibility which is precisely to examine the plane when the captain signals any kind of incident,” the minister added.

Asked whether there was any kind of negligence involved, Alvarez replied: “I would not dare say that.”

“It is above all the black boxes that will allow us to determine the causes,” she said. — AFP/

NA meets on State land, share sales law

Ha Noi — The National Assembly Standing Committee’s monthly meeting convened in the capital yesterday to discuss the report on law and policy implementation relating to land and share sales and purchases of equitised State-owned enterprises (SOEs).

Most committee members agreed on the need for a Law on Equitisation to complete the existing legal system.

In his report, Phung Quoc Hien, chairman of the National Assembly Committee on Budget and Finance, said that by June 30 this year, 3,786 SOEs had been equitised and 1,720 SOEs with total capital of about VND410,000 billion (US$24.8 billion) had not been equitised.

“The majority of these SOEs operate in State-monopolised fields,” Hien said.

He said during the equitisation process, the SOEs collected around VND78,000 billion ($5 billion) for the State.

“Generally speaking, productivity of most of the equitised SOEs has improved considerably, benefiting the State, investors and workers,” Hien said.

However, he mentioned that equitisation progress was slow due to constraints like finance and property settlements and debt and land valuation.

Regarding problems resulting from the equitisation process, he focused on limited legal knowledge on the part of both members of the management board and shareholders, as well as bad management practice.

“By June 25, the State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC) had ownership of State capital for 876 enterprises with a total sum of VND7,974 billion ($483 million),” Hien said.

He also mentioned the problem of delaying the transfer of money collected from selling shares to the SCIC, about VND1,600 billion ($97 million).

A few committee members asked the NA Standing Committee to make amendments to the land, enterprise, investment and securities laws to help eliminate problems with shares, land and financial management in equitised enterprises. —

Gang arrested on suspicion of stealing 243 TV’s in City

HCM CITY — Ho Chi Minh City Investigation Police arrested up to eight gang members who allegedly stole 243 Samsung televisions from container truck.

The contents of the stolen container was valued at VND 1.5 billion (US$93,750).

According to police, Huynh Quoc Vinh, the alleged mastermind of the crime, used a fake personal ID and driving license to get a job as a driver for the Minh Phuong Company in district 2.

On August 15, Vinh and a colleague named Thao were dispatched to a Samsung warehouse in the Linh Trung Export Processing Zone in Thu Duc District.

Vinh was to then transport the goods to Cat Lai Port in District 2 for export to Africa.

After deceiving Thao at the Mien Dong Bus Station, he drove the container truck to Highway 13 to meet his accomplices and conceal 60 TVs to sell, he confessed.

Because the goods were in bulk, the gang decided to divide them into smaller packages for retail trading in different locations.

After unloading the container, Vinh offered to sell the truck for VND120 million ($7,500), but to no avail as no one was willing to buy a truck of unknown origins.

He gave Nguyen Van Sang 70 TVs to hide and sell in Tam Phu Ward, Thu Duc District. Sang then got Mai Van Nong to sell them.

The contraband was sold for VND2.5 million ($156) to VND3.5 million ($219) each.

Nong was arrested at an electronics shop in District 1 trying to sell the TVs.

Based on Nong’s deposition, police arrested 7 others, including Vinh and Sang. —

Nine jailed for stealing cable

HA NOI — Ha Noi People’s Court yesterday gave a ring of nine criminals sentences from three to 14 years’ imprisonment for the crime of stealing telecom cable from the national network. The ring’s leader, Bui Van Viet, received 11 years in prison.

It’s reported that Viet used to be a seasonal cable installation worker and he knew the location of cables and under-ground cable lines. After leaving the job, he called for young people in his homeland in Ha Noi’s outlying district of Soc Son to illegally cut cable.

From April 2006 to June 2007, the ring carried out 34 cable stealing operations in six cities and provinces including Ha Noi, Bac Giang, Thai Nguyen, Vinh Phuc and Bac Ninh. They got away with almost 1,000 metres of cable worth VND150 million (US$9,090), seriously affecting telecommunication systems in these provinces.

They burnt the cable to extract bronze which they sold on to scrap-iron dealers. Phan Thi Hoa was one such dealer who bought the highest amount of bronze from Viet and his accomplices.

The criminals were accused of destroying key national security works. Nguyen Van Hung was given the highest sentence with 14 years in jail, and Hoa the lowest sentence with six months in prison for handling of stolen property and consorting with criminals. —