Farmers need more market information

BINH PHUOC — Farmers need to have better access to information on the changing demands of markets, according to a forum held yesterday.

The forum on developing the farming sector in southern Viet Nam was co-organised by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the People’s Committee of Binh Phuoc Province.

The forum in the southern province also gave an opportunity for farmers to express their views to senior officials. Some farmers called on the Government to plan more supportive policies for farm owners, especially to make it easier for them to get bank loans. In addition, they called for the Government to limit agricultural imports that can be produced domestically.

Better information access on farm product prices, the State’s development orientation and markets were also required by farm owners, so that they could more effectively adjust production scales and change production models.

According to Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Ho Xuan Hung, development of the farming sector was still modest.

“The connection between the farming sector and markets isn’t as good as it can be,” he said.

“In addition, many farm owners are stuck in old farming models, instead of newer farming-enterprise business models.”

According to Hung, the Government will launch many supportive policies in the coming time to develop the sector, such as new procedures on land allotment and policies on encouraging investment in science and technology.

Statistics show that Viet Nam has more than 116,000 farms, of which more than 44 per cent are in Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta. Every year, about 8,600 new farms are established, according to registrations.

About 49 per cent of the total number of farms are involved in cultivation of crops. Some 27 per cent are involved in aquaculture and 14.3 per cent in breeding.

Better livestock

The same day, another forum on developing local animals was held in Tien Giang Province by the National Agriculture Extension Centre with the participation of more than 300 delegates from six southern provinces.

The forum aimed at introducing effective models on raising local animals and providing information to farmers in the field. Participants also discussed ways to better connect farmers and scientists, enterprises and banks.

Scientists encouraged farmers to abolish old production modes, which lacked professional knowledge. Strategies raised at the meeting included establishing co-operatives with closer links to markets and better development of trademarks and processing products of high quality.

Up to early 2008, authorities of 19 provinces in the south noted that there were more than 1,900 farms that raised rare and speciality livestock such as porcupines, tortoises, pythons and crocodiles. —

Viet Nam needs to instill greener farming practices

Uncontrolled use of fertiliser and pesticides is creating more and more pollution throughout Viet Nam. — VNA/VNS Photo Lan Xuan

HA NOI — Viet Nam will carry out necessary solutions to ensure sustainable agricultural development, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Cao Duc Phat, said at a conference in Ha Noi yesterday.

At the meeting on rural and agricultural environments, the minister said the country could not ensure safe agriculture if its land, water and atmosphere were being polluted. He noted that most key areas of agriculture were leading to environmental problems.

Phat cited the cultivation sector as one example. Although cultivation was estimated to contribute an export turnover of nearly US$9 billion this year, it had caused serious pollution to the environment.

The agriculture sector has contributed 24 per cent of GDP and accounted for 30 per cent of the export turnover in the country, while creating jobs for more than 60 per cent of labourers nation-wide. In the past few years, the sector has progressed strongly and maintained an annually average growth rate of 3.5 per cent. That rate is especially strong considering recent incidents of epidemics and natural disasters.

Unfortunately, rural agriculture is growing increasingly worse for the environment from uncontrolled use of fertiliser and pesticides, and lax management of livestock waste, aqua-culture and waste from handicraft villages.

Deputy Director of the ministry’s Cultivation Department Pham Huy Thong said that the amount of pests had increased as farmers raised production. As a result, farmers had to lift the amount of pesticides and fertiliser used over the allowed level.

The breeding sector annually discharges about 73 million tonnes of waste. Only 30-60 per cent of it is treated, with the rest directly discharged into the environment. Of 16,700 breeding farms nation-wide, only around one-tenth have waste treatment systems.

Deputy Director of the ministry’s Science and Technology Department Nguyen Binh Thin said rural areas annually discharge around 100 million tonnes of untreated waste. The figure is predicted to reach 145 million tonnes by 2010.

Thin said the conflict between economic development demands and environmental protection was the biggest barrier to carrying out national level solutions.

Minister Phat said Viet Nam’s crop and livestock epidemics were harmful to both the environment and people’s health. The country would not continue to expand production if it failed to set up a systematic envi-ronment protection plan.

At the conference, Phat showed many environmental protection projects which would be adopted by the agricultural sector.

“First of all, the sector will build a policy to protect agricultural environments at different levels to increase information sharing and strengthen State management,” he said.

Phat said environmental protection planning in handicraft villages was vital to decrease pollution, improve the environment and protect bio-diversification. —

Gia Dinh bails out ailing firm

HA NOI — Gia Dinh Garment-Textile Corporation, which has a 30 per cent stake in Bach Tuyet Cotton Joint Stock Company (BBT), has decided to save the ailing cotton firm.

“Gia Dinh has approved of a plan of mobilising capital, but hasn’t decided ways to carry out the plan,” said Ta Xuan Tho, director of BBT.

Tho said at the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting in mid-July that the firm was on the edge of bankruptcy because it lacked working capital.

At the time, BBT was VND34 billion (US$2.15 million) in debt and had a short-term bank loan of VND15 billion ($910,000), which it was supposed to pay back by September as agreed.

Trading in the company’s shares was suspended on the HCM City Stock Exchange (HOSE) for six days because BBT had not made profits for the two previous years as required under state regulations.

Tho said the best way to raise a large amount of money now was to issue shares, but further discussion between the two parties was needed.

If plans are approved, the company can obtain VND65 billion (US$3.9 million) to pay its debts and restore production, which was halted on July 12.

BBT has nearly three months left to recover business activities and make profits, under the State Securities Commission’s requirements, otherwise it can no longer list shares on the stock market.

In a move to protect investors’ interests, trading of BBT shares was limited to the 15 final minutes of each trading day from September 29, as regulated by HOSE. This rule would continue to be applied until BBT fully restores production and business activities, HOSE said.

BBT, listed on the HCM City bourse, yesterday hit the ceiling of the regulated trading band to close at VND6,400 (38 US cents) per share.

Over the past weeks, the shares on some days hit remarkable highs. Some securities analysts said BBT’s strong showing was due to heavy purchasing by the company’s strategic partners who increased their stake to prevent the company from foreclosing. The price of the stock was also very attractive. —

Oil price drop helps ease index’s fall

Investors stare at trading boards at Wall Street Securities Co. The VN-Index yesterday closed down just slightly, backed by an increasing number of blue chips gaining points. — VNS Photo Truong Vi

HA NOI — The decrease of petroleum prices in the domestic market helped ease the fall of the VN-Index in the final session of the week.

The VN-Index yesterday closed down just slightly by 0.55 per cent to 382.51, backed by an increasing number of blue chips gaining points. They included STB of Sacombank, DHG of Hau Giang Pharmaceuticals and HPG of Hoa Phat Group.

However, they weren’t strong enough to pull the index up, as a significant number of selling orders were written up on other blue chips.

According to securities analysts, the VND500 price cut was not as much as investors expected.

“In comparison with the fall in the global market, the reduction of domestic petroleum prices was insubstantial,” said Phung Viet Long, head of the analysis and investment department at VPBank Securities. “It could not help much with securities investment.”

In addition, global fears of a spreading crisis from the US market still echoed in Viet Nam, making local investors hesitant to purchase shares.

“Today’s indices in regional and international stock markets rose, but only thanks to positive business performances of technology firms, not because of positive news of the US economic recession,” said veteran investor Nguyen Hai Quan in Ha Noi.

As a result, the rise was not fundamental, Quan said.

Trading volume yesterday was more than 5 million shares less than on Thursday, at 11.16 million shares worth VND362.05 billion ($21.55 million).

Familiar codes like STB, SSI of Sai Gon Securities Inc and HPG maintained the most activity. STB saw 1.26 million shares change hands, SSI saw 821,340 and HPG saw 479,770.

Ha Noi Securities Trading Centre’s HASTC-Index rebounded 0.84 per cent to 125.32, backed by the rebound of its biggest market-capitalised stocks like ACB of Asia Commercial Bank or VCG of Vinaconex Group.

Market volume was 6.15 million shares, 1 million shares lower than Thursday, equivalent to a turnover of VND178.79 billion ($10.84 million). —

Big groups seek large servers to store data

HCM CITY — Large Vietnamese companies in the near future will require an even higher capability of storing large amounts of data, according to a spokesman for EMC, a US-based information technology infrastructure company.

EMC’s systems architect for South Asia, Sal Fernando, was in Viet Nam recently to introduce the company’s entry-level CLARiiON AX4 and mid-tier CLARiiON CX4 servers.

Sal said that between 2006 and 2008, global data had increased 10-fold and 95 per cent of that data had been unstructured data.

Based on estimates of the devices that generate data, such as email and personal mp3 players, considerable growth in Vietnamese data would require more computer security and protection, higher levels of global compliance and long-term preservation, Sal said.

Dealing with this digital explosion was not a problem solely for the IT department, Sal said, adding that all business units of a company should collaborate on data policies and governance.

Such policies should regard data security as paramount, as well as the ability to preserve data and access it from within the organisation, he said.

Companies should also strive to meet the standards required of international organisations and companies, he added. —

IT giants plan future internet devices

HA NOI — Sixteen of the world’s leading IT and mobile phone companies have united behind an initiative led by the GSM Association (GSMA) to create a new category of permanently-online mobile broadband devices.

The technology, named Mobile Broadband, will give consumers the freedom to get online wherever, whenever they want while enabling operators to address a US$50 billion opportunity in both mature and emerging markets, says the GSMA, a global trade group representing more than 750 GSM mobile operators across 218 countries and territories of the world.

In the first phase of the plan, mobile operators, PC manufacturers and chipset providers will pre-install Mobile Broadband into a range of notebook PCs in 91 countries across the world, the association says.

The US$1 billion Mobile Broadband service mark is a new global identifier which will help consumers easily identify the array of ‘ready to run’ Mobile Broadband devices.

“Mobile Broadband is like a home or office broadband connection with one crucial difference: freedom. Freedom from hot spots, freedom from complexity and freedom from security concerns,” says Michael O’Hara, chief marketing officer of the GSMA.

“Today, 16 of the world’s largest technology companies have committed to changing the way people get online forever,” he adds.

The service mark is expected to be seen on several hundred thousand notebooks in the shops by the holiday season.

Integrating Mobile Broadband into notebook PCs is the first step in GSMA’s wider strategy to deliver wireless internet access and management to a whole range of previously unconnected devices – from cameras and MP3 players to refrigerators, cars and set-top boxes.

“The Mobile Broadband initiative is a timely one in that it leverages the increasingly widespread availability of high-bandwidth networks in both developed and developing economies,” says director of mobility research at International Data Corp (IDC) Shiv K Bakhshi.

“While there will always be a place for WiFi connectivity, the great merit of Mobile Broadband might be that it liberates the user from the spatial tyranny of the so-called ‘hotspot,’” Bakhshi adds.

Launch participants include 3 Group, Asus, Dell, ECS, Ericsson, Gemalto, Lenovo, Microsoft, Orange, Qualcomm, Telefinica Europe, Telecom Italia, TeliaSonera, T-Mobile, Toshiba and Vodafone – some of the world’s largest technology brands and operators serving more than 760 million connections.

As many as than 55 million people have subscribed to Mobile Broadband services in 91 countries – a number expected to grow by four million per month by the end of 2008, according to Wireless Intelligence. —

Telecom firms eye export zones

HCM CITY — Telecommunications companies are competing with each other to expand services to industrial and export processing zones, office buildings and residential buildings, according to several telecommunications companies.

The growing migration of enterprises to industrial and export processing zones is driving telecommunications companies there.

According to the Viet Nam Post and Telecommunications Group (VNPT), the average monthly phone bill for fixed services is VND700,000 (US$42) in an industrial zone, compared with only VND550,000 ($33) in an office building or VND360,000 ($22) in a residential building.

Thus, telecommunications companies are ramping up services in industrial zones with the hopes of higher turnovers and faster returns on their investments.

In the rush of telecommunications and information technology companies into the new markets, companies have devised various strategies to lure customers, with many discounting some of their more expensive services, according to a VNPT representative.

Many telecommunication companies have discounted their rates 10-12 per cent for buildings and tourist areas with high rates of telecommunications activity, with an addition 10-30 per cent off for expensive services.

Faced with dwindling customers, VNPT is responding to their competitors by signing contracts with large companies that have a high demand for telecommunications services, especially in the banking and construction sector, including the Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam (BIDV), the Mekong Housing Bank (MHB), Vinaconex Corp (VCG), Becamex IDC Corp and Vicom Join Stock Company.

Other companies are following suit, with Viet Nam Military Telecommunications Corp (Viettel) entering agreements with BIDV and the Ministry of Education and Training and CMC Corp signing with Geleximco Group and Bao Viet Group.

Under a regulation drafted by the Ministry of Information and Communication on repurchasing telecommunications services, businesses and agencies would be allowed to retail services from larger telecommunications companies with established network infrastructures.

Doing so would create greater competition among telecommunications companies, and would even out the divergent prices of various services. It is hoped that this competition will stimulate further development within the industry. —

Ha Noi calls for more Japanese investment

TOKYO — A senior Vietnamese diplomat has called upon Japanese businesses to increase their investment in Viet Nam, particularly in infrastructure, accessories industries and farm processing.

Ambassador Nguyen Phu Binh made the appeal at a seminar held in Tokyo on Wednesday to introduce the investment environment offered by Ha Noi since it was enlarged, tripling its area and almost doubling its population.

Binh told those at the event, which was attended by representatives of more than 100 Japanese businesses, that Viet Nam, which offered young, hardworking and creative workforce, socio-political stability and abundant natural resources, was a huge potential market with steadily increasing purchasing power.

“Similarities in culture between Viet Nam and Japan have facilitated cultural, economic and commercial exchanges between the two countries,” he added.

Furukawa Hiroki, a representative from Japan’s Integrated Technology Corporation, related his company’s experiences in establishing a joint venture with Viet Nam’s Interserco to operate in the Southeast Asian country.

The businessman supported Binh’s comments, citing low labour costs, socio-political stability and similarities in attitude between the Vietnamese and the Japanese as factors underlying his company’s move to expand its operations to Viet Nam.

The seminar was co-hosted by the Ha Noi Representative Office in Japan and the Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and Industry. —

VN shops make top 500 regional list

Ha Noi — The HCM City Trade Co-operative Union (Saigon Co-op) won a gold award in a list of the top 500 retailers in the Asia-Pacific region.

The Sai Gon Jewelry Holding Company and Sai Gon-Nguyen Kim Trading Centre were given silver and bronze prizes respectively, at the awards ceremony held in China’s special administrative region of Macau on October 16.

Being included in the “Retail Asia-Pacific top 500″ list is a criterion reaffirming the quality of service and prestige of the Sai Gon-Nguyen Kim Trading Centre in particular and Vietnamese retailers as a whole, the centre’s Marketing Director Pham Linh Phuong said.

The top 500 outstanding retailers among the Asia-Pacific region’s 14 economic members were rated by Retail Asia Magazine, in conjunction with Euromonitor, a market information supplier and KPMG, the world renowned financial consultants and auditors.

Retail Asia Magazine called Viet Nam’s retail market a “rising star” in the region. Meanwhile, the US consultancy firm A.T Kearney said Viet Nam has replaced India to become the world’s most attractive emerging retail market. The market would experience a further boom as of January 2009, when Viet Nam fully opens its retail market in accordance with WTO requirements, the firm predicted.

According to the General Statistics Office, Viet Nam earned US$45.5 billion in total retail revenue during 2007, and this figure is expected to reach $53 billion in 2010, with an annual growth rate of 20 per cent. —

VN beats US as good place for safe loans

HA NOI — As strange as it may seem, in Viet Nam, the risk of providing loans to buy land or completed buildings, including investment in apartment and office buildings, is far lower than in the US.

Le Xuan Nghia, head of the State Bank of Viet Nam’s Banking Strategy Department, said this was because banks in here loaned only 35 per cent or less of a property’s estimated market value.

However, in the US, banks often lent up to 90-95 per cent or even 100 per cent of the estimated value, Nghia added.

Besides, he said, property loans were not securitised in Viet Nam, but in the US, this was a widespread practice, one that has led the US, and the world, into the present economic crisis.

(Securitisation in the US is the packaging of cash-flow producing assets into a marketable security, such as blocks of land and apartments, or roads and bridges. The mortgage-backed securities in the form of bonds are sold directly into the capital markets. In effect, the lender and the debt, is transferred in what is referred to as sub-prime lending. Big superannuation funds and other major institutions are popular buyers of these bonds.)

In Viet Nam, enterprises get bank loans to invest in most types of property, but the loans cannot be transferred by the banks into bonds like in the US.

However, in Viet Nam, the banking sector might still be exposed to the risk of bad debts or losing capital, Nghia said.

Several months ago, Vietnamese banks tightened their credit policies because of inflation. This led to a significant drop in the number of loans for property projects, particularly in Ha Noi and HCM City.

Banks are still hesitant to issue loans, as their main concern is focused on collecting existing debt during difficult times.

However, there are signs that lending for property projects will resume in the near future.

The State Bank of Viet Nam said total outstanding loans for property by all banks to date this year was about VND615 trillion (US$37.27 billion), including VND115 trillion ($6.97 billion) in loans without collateral, and VND500 trillion ($30.3 billion) in loans backed by mortgages.

Nghia said this was a large sum and that if the property market collapsed, the national financial system would face huge problems and banks could be left with many bad debts.

Ho Huu Hanh, director of the State Bank’s HCM City branch, said to restrain credit growth, banks were still refusing to lend to large property projects, although they had resumed offering housing loans to consumers.

Asia Commercial Bank, for instance, is again offering loans for buying houses, but is not lending to builders or speculators.

As a result, outstanding loans against property as a ratio of total loans in HCM City has fallen from 10 to 9 per cent since the beginning of the year.

Many bankers said bank caution on lending for property projects was essential, however it caused hurdles for developers.

Nghia said, some commercial banks were reconsidering their lending policies for the property sector by restructuring loans. —