|
BUSINESS
IN BRIEF 30/3
Enterprises
advised to prepare for FTA with EU
Speakers at a
seminar in
When the pact takes
effect, there will be over 90% of
Enterprises should
proactively learn about benefits and relevant information from the Vietnam
Chamber of Commerce and Industry as well as from partners like the Wallonie
Delegation and the Belgian Embassy to
Le Ky Anh, trade
and economic officer at the Delegation of the EU to
Anh said that the
current tax rates
FTA will bring
better market access and more incentives compared to GSP with the zero tax
rate on at least 90% of the products, Anh stressed.
According to the EU
Delegation to
Goods benefiting
the most from FTA are
Once FTA becomes
effective, a strong flow of investment from the EU will also run into
Besides, the EU’s
target is not only in the Vietnamese market but also in ASEAN and if the FTA
is signed, it means the EU finds a place for boosting production activities.
“If goods made in
According to
experts, these are visible and tangible benefits
The Belgian
government plans to offer many incentives concerning land, capital and
equipment to enterprises of ASEAN countries to open offices in the Wallonie
region to get access to the EU market.
According to the
Foreign Investment Agency, Vietnam has had 815 overseas investment projects
with total registered capital of over US$18 billion, but 40 of them are in
the EU market with US$110 million (1%).
Few
provincial decisions on investment incentives get beyond limits
Last year saw few
provincial governments deciding to offer greater incentives for investors
than permitted by law to attract new capital, according to experts of Vietnam
Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI) 2013.
Edmund Malesky,
lead researcher of PCI 2013, said the spirit of moving beyond the regulatory
restrictions among provincial authorities to fuel growth has been waning.
This used to help Binh Duong, Dong Nai and Binh Phuoc provinces gain
impressive growth but it was on the wane.
Speaking to the
Daily at a ceremony held in
Creativity is still
out there but at a slower pace, he said.
Malesky noted a
number of local governments have made information about land and land use
much more accessible.
Dau Anh Tuan, a
member of the research group, noticed another breakthrough, saying
However, Tuan said
it is not easy to run the model as it heavily depends on local government.
“I’m afraid this model would continue to be in place when present leaders
take up new jobs,” he said.
According to the
report, provincial authorities have reached limits in simple reforms such as
issuing business registration certificates and processing market entry
procedures. In many localities, it takes investors just one day to get an
investment certificate.
Vu Tien Loc,
chairman of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), said that
while the easiest reforms have been almost exhausted, the reforms that are
deemed as most difficult have remained undone.
Nearly 10 years
ago, 33 provinces and cities offered investment incentives beyond regulatory
limits set by the central Government to lure investors but central
authorities prevented them from doing that, he said.
Speaking at the
announcement of the PCI report, business executives expressed concerns over
the issue, saying the active and pioneering spirit of provincial authorities
in favorable treatment towards the private sector has declined steadily since
2007.
They said they were
concerned that the private sector has yet to enjoy a level playing field.
Enterprises having connections with local authorities, especially joint stock
companies and those whose leaders used to be state officials, often have
priority to gain access to land and capital, and win contracts.
Small
disbursements of low-cost home loans
A mere VND1.32
trillion of the VND30 trillion amount the Government has approved to make
cheap loans for those in need of owning an affordable home has been
disbursed, the central bank said in a statement.
Though this
disbursement accounts for just 4% of the total committed, it is up 64% from
late last year.
In the year to
March 15, 2014, banks had pledged to lend VND2.9 trillion to 3,048 clients,
with VND1.32 trillion disbursed for 3,023 borrowers.
Regarding corporate
clients, Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam,
Late last year, the
amount pledged was nearly VND1.24 trillion (13.8%).
According to the
central bank, it has taken a host of measures to increase disbursements of
low-interest home loans such as lowering the lending rate to 5% per year,
considering extending the loan duration from ten years to 15, and relaxing
borrowing requirements.
However, this
housing loan program is a large and unprecedented one, so unexpected problems
cannot be avoided in the implementation process, said the central bank.
Therefore, the statement says, the program has yet to meet society’s
expectations.
For instance, the
program is originally intended to back low-income people but supplies of
budget and commercial apartments measuring less than 70 square meters each
and priced at below VND15 million per square meter are falling short.
The Ministry of
Construction has released a list of 81 projects permitted to benefit from the
VND30-trillion program but many of them have yet to get through the approval
process, making it impossible for banks to lend to them.
The central bank
also said in the statement that it would continue to coordinate with the
Ministry of Construction and relevant agencies to deal with the problems that
have arisen from the lending process.
Besides, the
central bank suggested that provinces and cities should accelerate the
process of project approval to increase supply of budget and commercial homes
that are smaller than 70 square meters each and offered at less than VND15
million per square meter to meet demand of individuals eligible to benefit
from this home loan program.
Many banks have
attributed the insufficient home supply to the low percentage of loan
disbursement.
Automakers
launch new cars to increase sales
Auto assemblers and
importers are racing to attract customers and achieve sales targets by
launching new car models amid poor sales in the early months of the year.
Most recently
Vios is considered
one of the best-selling models of
In addition, to
maintain its leading position on the Vietnamese market,
Meanwhile, Ford
EcoSport which will
be assembled at Ford Hai Duong factory will help create a competitive
advantage for Ford
According to Ford
At an event held to
introduce Kia New Sorento 2014 last week, leaders of Truong Hai Auto
Corporation (Thaco) mentioned the tough competition to get customers. It
costs VND998 million while the price of the completely built-up Hyundai Santa
Fe is VND1.3 billion and that of the domestically assembled Toyota Fortuner
is around VND900 million.
According to Thaco,
in addition to unveiling New Sorento, it will launch many products equipped
with new technology like Mazda 6, Mazda All New, Kia Morning and Peugeot
3008.
Thaco targets to
sell 34,000 units in total this year, with 11,500 Kia units, 7,500 Mazda
units and 400 Peugeot units.
The launching of
new models or new products, according to automakers, always attracts the
attention of customers and pushes up sales.
The competition in
the luxury segment is no less fierce. Notably
Since the year’s
beginning, this German automaker has unveiled four new products, including
S63 AMG, S400L, A45 AMG and G63 AMG, and received positive feedback from
customers. Besides, the production volume of S400L and S500L cars is not
sufficient for demand and many customers have to wait until July to take
delivery.
According to
Michael Behrens, CEO of Mercedes-Benz Vietnam, eight new car products
introduced last year helped it obtain sales growth of 65%, making Vietnam a
market with the fastest growth of Mercedes-Benz in Asia.
BMW, Audi and Lexus
will also import new products to meet the increasing demand of customers in
the high-end segment.
Vietnamese
consumers snub local plastic products for imported fare
Locally-made
household plastic products were losing market share to imported products due
to their poor designs and R&D activities, reports the Ministry of Trade
and Industry
For example, jn
just a short period, a high-class brand of Korean plastic appliances has
flooded supermarkets. The brand is competing directly with Vietnamese
products, reports Doanh Nhan magazine.
Kim Anh, the
manager of a restaurant in District 1,
A representative
from Maximark said local products were 20 to 30 per cent cheaper than imports
of similar quality but with well-known brand names, imported products still
attracted local consumers.
Tran Phuoc An,
sales director with Duy Tan Plastics Company, said domestic manufacturers
were likely to focus on the low-end of the market. They produced large
volumes so that they could offer better prices..
An said that
high-end plastic products from overseas relied mainly on marketing and
advertising to push their products. He added that many consumers bought
imported high-end products because they were convinced they were made from
safe materials, which they usually were.
Ho Duc Lam,
chairman of Rang Dong Plastic JSC and a member of the Viet Nam Plastics
Association, said domestic firms were reluctant to invest more in this
segment because of low profit.
He said the
association estimated that tens of thousands of billions of dong had been
spent on design, plastic moulds and on purchasing new machinery and equipment
to make quality products to compete with the foreign imports. However, only a
few businesses had enough funds for improvement.
Trinh Chi Cuong,
General Director of Dai Dong Tien Plastics Company, said that since 2008 his
company had set up an R&D section to produce ecofriendly products every
year.
Duy Tan Plastics
Company produces at least 10 new products every year. However, most of these
new products are improvements on the old design and the firm rarely has a new
line of innovative products to compete with the imports.
According to Nguyen
Hoang Ngan, General Director of Binh Minh Plastics JSC, the technological
innovations made by the local plastic firms had been more than other
industries. However, these firms spent mostly on renovated technology and
equipment, while the R&D activities remained neglected.
Cashew
needs new answers
The cashew industry
has achieved impressive growth in recent years, with increasing exports, but
a fall in the area under cultivation and other problems threaten its
continued development.
To develop in a
sustainable manner the industry requires appropriate development strategies,
according to the Department of Crop Production.
Speaking at a forum
on sustainable cashew development in Binh Phuoc Province last Thursday,
Nguyen Nhu Hien, deputy head of the department, said Viet Nam had been one of
the world's largest cashew exporters since 2006.
Exports were worth
US$1.65 billion last year, the fourth largest agricultural export after rice,
coffee, and rubber, he said.
But the industry
now faced challenges, he said.
"Area under
cashew shrank by 129,900ha in the last seven years to 310,000ha last
year," he said, adding that "output dropped by 27,400 tonnes in the
period."
Domestic production
only met 30 per cent of the processing capacity in the country, he said.
"Cashew output
has reduced relentlessly in recent years since farmers chopped down cashew
trees to plant other crops for higher profits."
In addition, ageing
trees and abnormal weather patterns had decreased yields, he said.
Phan Huy Thong,
director of the National Agriculture Extension Centre, said: "Previously
we thought that cashew trees should be planted in areas that are not suitable
for other crops."
With seedlings and
crop care not getting proper attention either, productivity was very low at
around 900 kilogrammes per hectare, he said.
Nguyen Van Hoa,
another department deputy director, said: "Farmers feared that cashew
trees cannot have yields and so felt insecure to invest in them.
"However, in
reality, productivity will see a big change if they receive sufficient care,
fertilisers, and water."
Vuu Thi Mai, a
cashew grower in Dong Tien commune in Binh Phuoc Province's Dong Phu District,
who has 12ha of cashew, said she and other farmers joined hands to form a
cashew production group with 330ha.
By applying farming
techniques provided by agricultural experts, their productivity reached two
tonnes per hectare on average, she said.
The farmers in the
group also intercrop cocoa and other short-term crops with the cashew to
increase incomes, she said.
Delegates at the
forum suggested many measures to sustain the development of the cashew
industry and improve incomes for farmers.
They suggested that
the Government develop high-quality seedlings, support farmers to replace
ageing cashew trees, and develop inter-cropping models.
Hoang Quoc Tuan,
director of the Agriculture Planning Centre, said advanced technologies
should be used in cashew cultivation to improve productivity and quality.
He also called for
developing linkages among cashew growers and between growers and businesses.
The industry should
consider grafting high-yield cashew seedlings with ageing and low-yielding
trees, Hoang Trong Thuy, a cashew grower in Bu Gia Map District, Binh Phuoc,
said.
New
circular regulating e-customs procedures to imports and exports
The Ministry of
Finance has issued a circular regulating e-customs procedures to commercial
imports and exports, which comes into effect on April 1, reported the
Government news portal.
Accordingly, the
procedures are applied to imports and exports in accordance with contracts of
sale and to realise processing contracts with foreign traders.
Those, which are
imported as materials to produce exports, to implement investment projects
and for processing businesses, are also mentioned in the circular.
Digital signatures,
which are used in e-customs procedures, must be equivalent to authenticated
digital certificates recognised by authorised authentication organisations in
accordance with Decree 170/2013/ND-CP.
The digital
signatures must be registered with the Customs before use.
If the customs
procedures are carried out by trustees, the trustees must use their accounts.
Any changes,
amendments or supplements to the signatures, which are accepted nationwide,
must be informed to the customs.
The circular
regulates that customs procedures must be conducted to exports after they are
transported to informed locations or within eight hours after they are
exported.
The procedures must
be implemented before imports arrive at border gates or within 30 days from
their arrival at border gates.
The arrival date is
the date of the customs' seal on the import declaration or the primary
declaration at border gates; or the date of documents recognizing the
transport vehicles’ pass through border gates.
If the vehicles
enter the country by implementing e-customs procedures, the imports’ arrival
date will be the date of the vehicles’ entry.
New
agriculture stimulus discussed
The State Bank of
As of now, details
about the value of the package, incentives, and lending conditions are yet to
be revealed. Major stakeholders are seeking lending mechanisms that can
reassure banks to offer loans to farmers and use the Government's support policy.
Although presently
the State Bank encourages credit institutions to offer loans to farmers, they
are hesitant because of high risk and the borrowers usually do not have
collateral.
In a cabinet
meeting last month, the Government requested the State Bank to work with the
Ministries of Agriculture and Science and Technology to outline a credit
program for the agriculture sector that provides preferential loans for
models that promote the linkage of farming production chains, scientific and
technological application, and the linkage between production and export.
Director of State
Bank's Credit Department, Nguyen Viet Manh, stated that time and detailed
regulations were needed to launch a new stimulus package for agriculture.
"To ensure the
effectiveness of the package, they have to review planning on the sub-farming
sectors, production areas, and the linkage of input and output," he
noted, adding that comprehensive examination can lead to sustainable
financing or even banks will be able to offer loans to borrowers without the
need for mortgage.
The package will
also target large-scale production models and land consolidation.
Vice Director of
State Bank's branch in
Chairman of Viet
Nam Farmers' Association Nguyen Duy Luong remarked that although since 2010,
the government has passed a decision on credit for agriculture, rural areas,
and farmers, the crediting was still limited.
Beneficiaries
somehow failed to show interest in such preferential loans due to limited
access.
For instance, banks
will not offer another loan if the borrowers did not pay the previous ones,
Luong reported, noting that the requirement was too strict.
Former governor of
State Bank Cao Sy Kiem stated that a lending mechanism based on production
chain was new but reasonable, as it can meet the capital demands of farmers
and farming enterprises and will help the banks to recover the issued loans.
This will help to
avoid scattered loans, he remarked.
This year, loans
for agriculture are expected to be worth VND35-37 trillion (US$1.67
billion–1.76 billion), about 70-85 per cent higher than that of last year.
Currently, the interest rate for agriculture loans are less than nine per
cent per year and the State Bank is encouraging banks to lower the rate.
Lax firms
suffer as their brands are duplicated
Poor vigilance by
Vietnamese companies has allowed the trademarks of their well-known products
to be mimicked by foreign competitors—a situation that is likely to escalate
if left unchecked.
Some 25 per cent of
Vietnamese enterprises don't allocate a budget for branding, while 70 per
cent invest a little without forming any strategies and 5 per cent run
comprehensive strategies for branding and marketing.
The case against
fake trademarks spoofing Buon Ma Thuot coffee in
Other major brands
such as Trung Nguyen Coffee and Phan Thiet Fish Sauce, Vinataba, were also
illegally registered abroad to cash in on their fame. It is also extremely
expensive and time-consuming for Vietnamese firms to fight against trademark
infringement.
These notorious
incidents have set a precedent for trademark nfringement against
If enterprises
don't make a concerted effort to invest in the development and protection of
their brands, they may have to pay a much heavier price later on.
However, it seems
that Vietnamese companies have not fully understood the significance of this
issue, said Vo Tri Dung, an industry expert.
The bulk of the
country's exports, including rice, fruit, and fisheries products, lack major
brand names, stated Tran Huu Hiep, head of the South-West Region Steering
Committee's Economic Department.
Hiep noted that the
task of creating location-specific brand names for key products with
co-operation between the government, farmers, scientists, and corporations
had been attempted in the past but had not been very successful.
On the global
market, products that are made in
Their intellectual
property rights are infringed upon by competitors, or they get exploited in
foreign markets.
The Viet Nam Trade
Promotion Agency (Vietrade) under the Ministry of Industry has suggested that
building a national programme to increase awareness and support local enterprises
in building, protecting, promoting and developing their brands is an urgent
and strategic requirement.
On the other hand,
cooperation between the state and the business community also plays an
important role in promoting a common image for Vietnamese products, which is
seen as a cost-effective, time-saving way to facilitate penetration and to
gain a strong foothold in foreign markets for individual Vietnamese brands.
Speaking on issues
affecting the export of local products, Fabienne Berger-Remy, a lecturer in
marketing and brand management at IAE Paris, pointed out that culture and
location were important factors in brand building, which explains why
adaptation is necessary when approaching a new market.
However, she
warned, enterprises should be very cautious in determining the degree of
adaptation they will follow while retaining the signature style of their
products. L'Oreal, IBM, Coca Cola, and Apple, as well as Disney are icons of
success that Vietnamese companies nurturing dreams of international branding
can emulate.
Stable 2014
pepper output predicted
The country's
pepper output is expected to equal last year's yield, which was
120,000-125,000 tonnes, according to the Viet Nam Pepper Association (VPA).
However, in Binh
Phuoc Province, one of the country's largest pepper cultivation areas, output
is expected to be 5,000 tonnes this year, down 20 per cent against last year.
But two of the five
provinces in Tay Nguyen (Central Highlands) will have a higher output, with
Dak Nong Province at 3,500 tonnes, up 25 per cent against last year, and Dac
Lak Province at 800 tonnes, up 5 per cent.
The average price
of black pepper has remained stable this year at VND120,000 (US$5.7) per
kilogramme.
Harvest yield as
well as the buying and selling prices of pepper remain similar to last year's
levels, and in some cases are tending to rise, according to the VPA.
Most pepper
orchards in Binh Phuoc, Dong Nai, Ba Ria - Vung Tau, Dak Nong, Dak Lak and
Gia Lai provinces, which have had pepper plants for seven to 10 years, have
had a declining yield. The yield is expected to continue to fall next year.
In Gia Lai
Province, hundreds of hectares of pepper cultivation could disappear within
the next two to three years because of disease outbreaks that have occurred
on a large scale.
However, in
provinces like Dak Lak and Dak Nong, which have favourable natural conditions
as well as farmers with financial means, the area for pepper orchards has
expanded.
VN
priotises investment in scientific, technological researches
Total funding for
science this year will reach an estimated 13.666 trillion VND (about 510,000
USD) as the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) has decided to focus
investment on a number of key scientific activities.
In a recent working
session with MOST, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam said that to make the
whole society more aware of the role of science and technology, it would be
better to focus on key scientific sectors than to spread the investment.
Vietnam had achieved
several outstanding scientific and technological achievements such as rice
genome decoding and oil and gas drilling rig manufacture. These were
evidences for a good scientific investment and organisation model that
Vietnam should continue to develop.
According to
Director of Agricultural Genetics Institute Le Huy Ham, previously scientific
investment resources are limited and assigned to many universities,
institutes, and science and technology centers.
1,670 existing
science and technology organisations in Vietnam, a country with GDP under 200
billion USD, are too many and wasting investment, according to Japanese
experts.
“Instead of
spreading investment to thousands of research institutes, universities, and
centers, Vietnam should focus funding on several best ones and on two or
three key industries. For example, the Australian Research Council used up to
66 percent of its scientific and technological funding to fund for five top
universities in Australia and finally these five entered the list of 50 world
leading universities,” said Rector of Hanoi University of Agriculture Tran
Duc Vien.
Recently, capital
and development expenditures such as salaries and regular operational
spending in more than 1,000 public science and technology organisations have
accounted for nearly 90 percent budget funding. Thus, just more than 10
percent budget funding was actually spent on scientific and technological
researches and applications.
Research projects
should be prioritized in terms of investment especially the most potential
projects. Long-term research projects should be subject to periodic
inspection on implementation. “Business and social communities will only be
persuaded by specific products with obvious commercial value,” emphasised
Pham Thanh Huy, Director of Advanced Institute for Science and Technology,
Hanoi University of Technology.
According to
Minister of Science and Technology Nguyen Quan, experience of the most
successful countries in the world indicates that the right investment level
and time for education and science and technology will create a strong
incentive for socio-economic development.
Therefore, MOST in
collaboration with the Ministry of Planning and Investment and relevant
ministries is preparing a scientific and technological development master
plan to submit to Prime Minister, focusing on reduced rates of scientific and
technological development investment, and increased investment rates in
scientific and technological researches and applications until 2020, with a
view to effectively reduce the financial burden for the state budget.
The spending on
scientific and technological researches and applications will be allocated
according to the principle of reasonable investment thresholds for some key
scientific and technological tasks, the most important for the overall
development of the country, such as the national technology innovation
programme and scientific and technological product development programme.-
Textile
exports predicted to leap this year
Some major firms in
the apparel industry have predicted the industry’s export value this year to
grow by a staggering 30% this year given the strong demands in Vietnam’s
traditional markets.
Nguyen Van Thoi,
board chairman of TNG Investment and Trading Joint Stock Company as a major
apparel exporter, told the Daily that he had observed greater demands, and
the growth rate of Vietnam’s textile industry is expected to hit 30%.
According to the
Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS), the industry last year
obtained export revenues of US$20 billion, a rise of 18.7% against 2012. Of
all, textile and garment shipments accounted for US$17.9 billion while yarn
fetched US$2.1 billion.
The turnover is
projected to reach US$26 billion this year, Thoi said, adding many
enterprises have had full orders for 2014.
Foreign clients
consider 2014 a golden year for Vietnam’s enterprises because many buyers of
Vietnam’s apparel products had cleared all stocks last year.
TNG’s export
revenues climbed to over US$70 million last year, with exports to the U.S.
representing 60% of the company’s total export sales. Thoi expected his
company’s apparel exports to fetch nearly US$100 million this year.
Bui Van Tien, CEO
of Viet Tien Garment Joint Stock Company, also expressed his surprise over
the fast-growing rate in the industry.
“More and more
orders are flowing to Vietnam. At the moment, we can choose better ones
instead of taking them all with low prices previously,” said Tien.
Even though things
have turned out to be more optimistic, fierce competition in prices is also a
concern. Therefore, firms with low capacity may run into difficulty.
VITAS said
Vietnam’s exports to the U.S., the EU and Japan last year generated US$8.6
billion, US$2.7 billion and US$2.3 billion respectively, all showing
double-digit growth rates.
Small tax
debts collected
Despite efforts by
customs officers, the amount of tax arrears collected is tiny compared to the
total, with more debts categorized as irrecoverable now from being termed
recoverable.
According to the
latest report of the HCMC Customs Department, as of February 28 the total tax
debts that must be recovered in the city amounted to VND1.65 trillion and are
all overdue debts. The amount categorized as recoverable accounts for VND719
billion while VND904 billion is seen as irrecoverable.
Compared to
December 31, 2013, recoverable debts declined while others increased sharply.
However, only
VND25.5 billion was collected among the debts incurred between July 1, 2013
and February 28, 2014, equivalent to 2.62% of the target set by the General
Department of Customs.
The HCMC Customs
Department admits that such an amount is small and accounts for only 1.6% of
the total tax arrears (VND1.572 trillion). Meanwhile, with debts incurred on
January 1-June 30, 2013, VND4.316 trillion was collected.
A leader of the
department told the Daily that it could be seen that debts were moving
around, reflected by the dropping recoverable debts and the increasing amount
of potentially unrecoverable debts.
It is because
recoverable debts if not being collected will become potentially
unrecoverable debts, which will affect revenues for the State budget.
According to the
department, HCMC’s import turnover reached US$5.3 billion in the year’s first
two months, up US$270 million from last year’s same period. Meanwhile, the
export turnover rose by US$587 million to US$5.48 billion.
The amount of
budget collected from export-export business in the period was VND12.85
trillion, rising by 39% and equivalent to 17% of the target.
Lotte Mart
to open four more supermarkets this year
Since the opening
of the first supermarket in Vietnam in 2008, Lotte Mart has now had six
supermarkets and commercial centers, but it will speed up the tempo by
opening four more retail outlets this year.
Lotte Mart Dong Da,
the seventh supermarket-commercial center of Lotte Mart, will be opened on
March 27 in Hanoi City’s Dong Da District. This retail outlet has five floors
with a total area of over 20,000 square meters.
Besides, the
Korean-invested retailer plans to open one at Pico Plaza in HCMC’s Tan Binh
District on August 8, one at Hanoi Center in Hanoi’s Ba Dinh District on
September 2, and another in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province’s Vung Tau City on
November 30.
A Lotte Mart
supermarket will be present in HCMC’s Go Vap District early next year but its
location has not been revealed.
As a result, the
Lotte Mart system will have 11 supermarkets-commercial centers in Vietnam
after seven years.
Lotte Mart entered
Vietnam in 2006 via Lotte Vietnam Commercial Center Co., Ltd, a joint venture
with privately held firm Minh Van Trading and Production.
Lotte Mart became
wholly foreign-owned in October, 2012 after buying the entire stake of Minh
Van. Besides, Lotte Mart adjusted charter capital of Lotte Vietnam from US$65
million to US$120 million.
The South Korean
retailer targets to open 60 supermarkets nationwide until 2020 instead of 30
as announced when entering the Vietnamese market.
FDI
enterprises ignore re-registration
Numerous
foreign direct investment (FDI) enterprises in HCMC have failed to
re-register their business with authorities though their investment licenses
have expired and they have been given an extended deadline by the Government
to do so, said the city’s Department of Planning and Investment.
The department said
that as of end-January, 2014, up to 90 FDI companies in the city had their
business terms expired but only two of them had renewed the operation as
regulated.
Even the department
is unknowledgeable whether such enterprises have stopped operations, have
dissolved business, or simply have ignored the rules.
Data from the
department show three companies have been completing dissolving procedures,
which are VikoTrade, Newell Nha Be Vietnam, and Viet Quoc Construction and
Decoration.
The department has
posted notices to expired FDI enterprises but half of the letters sent had
been returned as the enterprises were no longer at the given addresses.
However, some FDI
enterprises that failed to re-register still operate as usual such as the
OSCAR Saigon Hotel, which has been running business at 68A Nguyen Hue
Boulevard in District 1 though its license has expired since November, 2009.
As stipulated in
the Government's Decree No. 194/2013/ND-CP, all FDI projects that have
expired but not yet re-registered will have their licenses revoked.
Therefore, it is illegal for FDI enterprises to still do business, and thus
any contract they sign with clients after expiration are deemed null and
void.
When an FDI
enterprise is re-registered, it will be granted a new Investment Certificate
and operates in accordance with the 2005 Enterprise Law.
On the national
scale, some 3,000 enterprises out of 6,000 foreign-invested companies set up
in accordance with the Foreign Investment Law had failed to renew their
operations as regulated by the 2005 Enterprise Law. Such enterprises had
total investment of US$18.5 billion and employed 446,000 laborers as per
reports from the Ministry of Planning and Investment.
Without
re-registration, they are facing the risk of being revoked and this fact
would endanger the investment environment.
According to the
newly amended Law, any FDI enterprise incorporated under the Investment
License granted prior to July 1, 2006 has had its operational duration
expired. Those that had yet to be dissolved but wished to continue operation
in Vietnam had to re-register operations no later than February 1, 2014.
Private
sector needed to help reduce hospital overload
Increasing the
number of inpatient beds is the top measure to reduce overload in the local
hospital system, and participation of the private sector is an effective
solution to the issue, said Health Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien.
To facilitate
cooperation between public and private hospitals, Tien said there should be a
flexible mechanism for patient transfers among hospitals, private and
State-run alike, she said at a conference on spurring cooperation between
public and private hospitals on Monday.
Besides, private
hospitals may serve as satellites for public hospitals so that physicians of
public hospitals can give professional support to private ones. Both sides
can also cooperate in checkup facilities and equipment.
Speaking at the
conference, Luong Ngoc Khue, director of the Department for Medical Checkups
and Treatment Management, said the nation now has 1,200 hospitals, including
170 private ones.
Between 2004 and
2013, the number of hospitals increased by nearly 50%, while the bed number
almost doubled from nearly 127,000 to 215,000. The ratio of private beds
accounts for 4.2%.
According to
statistics in 2013, private hospitals made up a modest ratio of health
checkups and treatment, at 6.7% for outpatient treatment, 5.7% for inpatient
treatment and 10.7% for surgeries. Private hospitals served less than 4% of
the total number of 73.4 million health insurance checkups.
Most private
hospitals have good facilities, technical equipment and professionalism but
they are running under capacity. Around 57% of private hospitals have seen
bed occupancy under 60% while 22% have seen 60-85% occupancy.
Meanwhile, public
hospitals in HCMC are running at high capacity. Cho Ray Hospital reported
135% occupancy last year while the HCMC Cancer Hospital was 350% utilized,
meaning that 560 patients had to share 160 beds, Minister Tien said.
Aside from legal
issues hindering public-private cooperation, there are problems related to
different hospital fees and quality of technical services between the two
sectors.
Nguyen Nam Lien,
deputy head of the planning and financial department under the Ministry of
Health, said public hospitals are serving many types of patients, so private
hospitals must build up a mechanism with various service fee levels to meet
demand of all patients.
However, Tien said
the biggest problem is that overload public hospitals are still reluctant to
transfer patients to private hospitals.
Financially
independent public hospitals normally take as many patients as possible to
generate as much revenue as they can. Therefore, the most important thing is
the spirit of sharing between public and private hospitals, she explained.
Rice
exports rely too much on government policy: expert
Government policies
encourage the production of low-quality rice at the expense of high-quality
rice producers, affecting the country’s competitiveness, according to one
expert.
Dr. Alan Phan, a
well-known overseas Vietnamese fund manager, said, “The government focuses on
producing low-quality rice for export to China, leaving the country
struggling to find new market as demand from China falls."
Currently, Vietnam
is facing fierce competition to find markets for rice exports as Thailand
opens up its rice store with a capacity of 20 million tonnes and the country
may sell its rice at prices much lower than Vietnam’s. This would obviously
affect Vietnam’s rice export market, especially in the major market of China.
Several other
countries in the world have also boosted rice exports, addition to the
competition.
“The government
meddles too much in the rice export markets and rice exports are controlled
by too many agencies and complicated procedures,” Alan Phan said.
According to him,
the government should slacken its control over rice exports in order to
intensify the country’s competitiveness.
Concerning the fact
that Cambodia plans to expand its rice export markets into the US and South
Korean markets, Alan Phan said these are market-based economies, so those who
meet consumers’ demand would win in those markets.
“It’s necessary to
operate in line with the market rule and consumer demand instead of being
controlled too much by government policies,” he emphasised.
He went on to say
that when a country succeeds in applying the market rules and Vietnam wants
to follow suit the country needs to learn their experience to increase its
competitiveness and increase its rice export market share in the world.
VN stock
market attractive to foreign investors
More foreign
capital would make its way into Vietnam’s stock market this year compared to
last year, predicted Ong Seng Yeow, Executive Director of Maybank Kim Eng
(MBKE) Research.
“We think 2014 will
be a Vietnam year in terms of attracting foreign capital flows against its
regional peers thanks to three reasons,” said Ong Seng Yeow, Executive
Director of Maybank Kim Eng (MBKE) Research, according to Vietnam Investment
Review.
“Firstly, the
Vietnamese stock market’s valuation is relatively cheap versus competing
nations such as Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand. Secondly, Vietnam’s
macro-economic picture is significantly improved. Finally, Vietnam is nearly
immune to external volatilities such as Quantitative Easing tapering in the
US or political unrest.”
Addressing a stock
market workshop in Ho Chi Minh City on March 8, Yeow forecasted Vietnam’s
benchmark VN Index would reach 600 points or so this year, thus supporting
further gains.
The index is
currently just over 580 and has increased by around 16 percent so far this
year.
According to MBKE,
foreign investors are showing more and more interest in the Vietnamese
bourses.
“Specifically, our
institutional research team has welcomed numerous offshore institutional
investors to Vietnam so far this year,” Yeow continued.
He explained that
this year foreign investors are tending to diversify their assets to stable
and higher potential markets and they were keeping a close eye on Vietnam.
When asked about
which sectors, the researcher said investors showed more interest in
industries bound to Vietnam’s economic growth such as consumer goods and oil
and gas. They had less interest in the banking sector “as it seems they’re
aware of the difficulties it faces.”
Other good news for
the market is Vietnam’s considering raising the foreign ownership limit from
49 percent to 60 percent, he added.
“We think the
market will see even greater improvement once the foreign ownership cap is
raised. As you can see, market breadth is getting tighter and tighter because
so many good fundamental stocks have already hit the foreign ownership limit.
This restricts foreign investors’ options in putting their money in the market.”
Yeow provided
examples where MBKE’s offshore institutional investors showed interest in
FPT, Binh Minh Plastics and some other blue chips. But all are already at the
ownership cap. Therefore, if this is lifted it is likely that Vietnam would
see a surge of new capital inflows.
Dong Nai
gives special support to foreign-invested SMEs
The southern
province of Dong Nai has decided to offer special support to small and
medium-sized foreign-invested projects in the locality, a provincial senior
official has said.
Phan Thi My Thanh,
Vice Chairwoman of the Dong Nai provincial People’s Committee, said new
foreign-invested projects valued at less than 100 billion VND (4.7 million
USD) with fewer than 300 employees will receive support in administrative
procedures and fees.
They will be
financially assisted in finalising documents for investment licences,
registering their seals and tax codes and completing environmental impact
reports, she said.
The programme, with
an estimated budget of 1.9 billion VND (89,300 USD), will run for two years.
As many as 70 enterprises will benefit, said Thanh.
The move, with the
purpose of attracting more FDI in the SME sector, targets investors who may
have previously been put off by the difficulties in accessing local
administrative bodies and overcoming the language barrier, she added.-
Pepper
production predicted to reach 125,000 tonnes
The Vietnam Pepper
Association (VPA) has forecast that the country’s production of the spice in
2014 will hit up to 125,000 tonnes, just equal to last year’s figure.
The association
specified that the southern province of Dong Nai will see a 20 percent rise
to 2,500 tonnes, while Ba Ria-Vung Tau will enjoy a 30 percent increase to
3,500 tonnes.
Contrastingly, Binh
Phuoc southern province will see its pepper yield drop by 20 percent to 5,000
tonnes and the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai is predicted to face a
30 percent plunge to only 8,000 tonnes.
So far, the pepper
hub of Binh Phuoc has finished harvesting in three quarters of its total
pepper area, while Central Highlands localities have harvested one third.
VPA also reported
that pepper prices have remained stable, with no remarkable difference
compared to the same period last year.
At the same time,
the association warned of a sharp drop in pepper production in the next
several years when a large area of pepper trees become old and stunted.-
Source: VEF/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/Dantri/VIR
|
Thứ Bảy, 29 tháng 3, 2014
Đăng ký:
Đăng Nhận xét (Atom)
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét