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BUSINESS
IN BRIEF 31/7
Rice prices
surge to one-year highs
Rice prices in the
Mekong Delta have soared to one-year highs after spiking by around VND400 per
kilo in recent days.
A trader in the
region told the Daily that rice exporters in Dong Thap and An Giang provinces
are buying IR50404 rice for VND7,500-7,600 a kilo and long-grain rice OM4218
and OM5451 for VND7,800-7,900, increasing VND400 against last week.
Fresh paddy of the
type IR50404 sold for VND5,000-5,100 a kilo over the weekend in An Giang
Province and around VND4,950-5,000 elsewhere.
Nguyen Thanh Phong,
director of Van Loi 2 Company in
On the other hand,
specialist Nguyen Dinh Bich said rice prices would inch up slowly in the
coming time as
However, local rice
exporters have offered higher prices in the international market due to the
rising demand of importers and the limited supply on the home market.
The export price of
5% broken rice ranges from US$450 to US$460 per ton and 25% broken rice is
US$400-410 per ton, a rise of US$15-20 per ton against last week and a
year-on-year increase of US$60 per ton.
Meanwhile,
Vietnamese jasmine rice is offered at US$605-615 a ton, an increase of US$10
versus last week.
The Vietnam Food
Association (VFA) said that in the first three weeks of July, its member
enterprises delivered nearly 345,000 tons of rice to fetch US$150 million in
revenue. In the year to July 22, the country had shipped 3.3 million tons of
rice worth US$1.4 billion.
Specifically, as of
mid-July, Thailand topped the world’s rice export with 5.4 million tons, a
surge of 57% year-on-year; while India shipped 4.8 million tons, a decline of
11.5% year-on-year and Vietnam 3.5 million tons, a drop of 11% against the
same period.
Casino
prizes may now be paid in foreign currencies
The Governor of the
State Bank of
Currently, casinos
in
Now lucky customers
may have a few more options. In case players wish to receive their prize
money in a foreign currency via transfer, it can be transferred either to the
account of the player opened at a bank in
Banks are required
to keep careful records of all such transactions. The new regulation also
stipulates that casinos keep bank accounts in foreign currencies to
facilitate these transactions.
Contractors
start work on underground part of Metro Line No. 1
A consortium of
Shimizu-Meade contractors has begun work on a 1.8-kilometer underground track
from the City Opera House to Ba Son Shipyard in District 1, HCMC as part of
Metro Line No. 1.
This track belongs
to package 1B, which Tuoi Tre newspaper said costs more than US$229 million.
It is the second package of the 19.7-kilometer-long line to get off the
ground.
The line connects
Ben Thanh Market in downtown HCMC and
In August 2012,
work began on the elevated part of Metro Line No. 1 stretching 17.1
kilometers from Ba Son Shipyard to
Contractors
commenced construction of the station in front of the City Opera House and
are expected to complete it in March next year when Nguyen Hue Boulevard has
already been upgraded, according to the HCMC Management Authority for Urban
Railways.
The 190-meter-long,
26-meter-wide station comprises a waiting lounge, ticketing booths, automated
ticket scanning gates, restrooms and information corners on the first floor;
metro tracks on the second and fourth floors; offices for staff, a disaster
control center, engine and electricity management rooms, ventilators and
sewage pump systems on the third floor.
Escalators will be
installed for passengers to move up and down the station while lifts will
serve the disabled, the elderly and passengers with infants. There will be
also a direction guidance system for the blind.
After the
construction of the Opera House station, the contractors will build two pairs
of underground tracks linking the station and Ba Son Shipyard.
As scheduled, the
underground track will be completed within 56 months of construction.
A revised
Enterprise Law will motivate enterprises and create a transparent business
climate, policy-makers and economists have affirmed.
This was debated in
At the workshop,
delegates focused on the shortcomings of the Enterprises Law 2005, and
outlined proposals and petitions for its revision to make it more transparent
and fair for businesses and people.
Lawyer Vu Xuan Tien
said there is a need to revise and supplement some contents of the revised
Enterprise Law to create conditions favourable to enterprises and people who
are interested in doing business. Specifically, inspections should be
conducted on businesses a year after getting the certificate of business
registration.
Tien said that
State-owned enterprises should not be permitted to get directly involved in
advising and making policies or in controlling and regulating the market, and
performing other management tasks, so as to prevent monopoly. This is
damaging the interests of other businesses, as is the case at present.
Luong Minh Huan, of
the Institute for Business Development, attributed the dissolution or
temporary halt in production of a large number of businesses to poor
inspection after registration and limited support conditions.
Huan said, compared
with regional countries,
He added that apart
from simplifying the business procedures and making transparent business
policies, relevant bodies needed to enhance inspections after registration
and supervise business performances.
Pham Thi Thu Hang,
VCCI General Secretary, said after eight years of implementation, the
Enterprise Law 2005 still reveals deficiencies and limitations that needed
revamping if the quality of business has to be improved.
In the last three
years, the number of businesses that have shut down or dissolved remained
high. As of the first quarter this year, of the 790,000 newly-registered
businesses, more than 296,000 businesses were dissolved or had stopped production.
The problem
mentioned above has forced relevant bodies to reconsider the existing
business conditions to see whether the Enterprise Law facilitated business or
not, Hang said.
HCM City to
host livestock, feed expo in October
At the three-day
show at the Sai Gon Exhibition and Convention Centre in District 7, visitors
will be able to establish contact with major industry players, get hands-on
advice, and see the latest technologies and products.
They will also have
the chance to learn about the livestock and feed business through conferences
on urgent issues facing the sector.
Hoang Kim Giao,
director general of the Department of Livestock Production, said his agency
has been working with the expo since its inaugural year in 2004.
"Widely
recorgnised as Vietnam's premier feed, livestock, and meat industry event,
the 7th VietStock will be much more comprehensive and professional not only
in terms of size and scale but also because of the latest technologies that
will be introduced at the show and the gathering of big corporations,
companies, experts, and farmers from across the region."
This year's theme
is "restructuring the livestock industry for sustainable
development."
VietStock is
expected to attract 250 companies from over 30 countries and territories.
Truong Hai
Auto posts huge profit
Truong Hai Auto
Corporation reported a huge net profit of VND1.245 trillion (US$59 million)
in the first half of this year. This is even higher than last year's profit
of nearly VND1.140 trillion ($54 million).
In the second
quarter alone, Truong Hai Auto earned a pre-tax profit of VND743 billion ($35.2
million).
After six months,
the company has completed more than 67 per cent of its yearly profit target,
according to a report on the Tri Thuc Tre website.
Recovery of the
auto market helped boost sales. According to a report by the Vietnam
Automobile Manufacturers' Association, sales by members reached 54,986
vehicles in the first six months of the year, an increase of 27 per cent
year-on-year.
Truong Hai Auto led
the market with sales of 17,851 vehicles, a year-on-year rise of 40 per cent,
which accounted for 32.5 per cent of the market shares. It even outperformed
Despite huge
profits, annual corporate income tax filed by the company is very low and has
not exceeded VND40 billion ($2 million) a year since 2009.
Most of the
company's production and assembly is performed at the Chu Lai Economic Zone
where it enjoys preferential investment policies on corporate income tax,
personal income tax and import tariffs.
Ending June this
year, it paid VND807 billion ($38 million) in taxes payable to the State
Budget.
The corporation,
The corporation has
a plan of debuting shares on the stock exchange, but it has been delayed for
several years.
Pork prices
rise to ensure farmers make a profit
The Department of
Finance has allowed companies under the market stability programme 2014 to
raise prices by 5 per cent for five pork products from July 23.
The action was
taken due to an increase by 10 per cent in input prices. It complies with the
price adjustment policy.
The prices will be
kept stabilised until May 31 next year. They include VND96,000-kg for thigh
and VND87,000-kg for shoulder.
Farmers should make
profits with these prices and be motivated to improve their business after a
long period of loss, said the chairman of Dong Nai Breeding Association,
Nguyen Tri Cong.
There are a number
of business fields in HCMC where South Korean companies from Busan City can
invest, HCMC vice chairman Tat Thanh Cang said at a meeting with Busan vice
mayor Kim Jong-hae last week.
Busan investors can
explore opportunities in supporting industries, public transportation,
biotechnology, high-technology healthcare, metro development and other fields
where the Korean city is strong.
Cang said the two
cities have posted achievements in economic, cultural, voluntary healthcare
and sport cooperation in the past 20 years of their relations.
Kim expected both
cities will organize many more investment, trade and tourism programs in the
upcoming time.
VND30-trillion
urban area to go up at Saigon
Tan Lien Phat
Company under Vingroup Joint Stock Company (Vingroup) has broken ground for a
multi-functional urban area called Vinhomes Tan Cang at a total cost of VND30
trillion at the Saigon Newport site in HCMC’s Binh Thanh District.
High-class villas,
schools and a Vinmec international general hospital of the project covering
nearly 43 hectares are expected to go into operation next year. The entire
complex including the 81-storey Landmark tower will be inaugurated in 2017.
Vingroup boasted
that the Landmark skyscraper comprising serviced apartments and offices for
lease will be the highest building in
In February this
year, the HCMC government approved a detailed scale-1/500 zoning plan for the
project incorporating cultural and entertainment facilities and a
multi-functional urban area able to accommodate 16,000 residents.
Saigon Newport
Corporation has informed shipping lines and customers of a road map to halt a
number of services to facilitate construction of the modern complex. The
company has stopped taking empty containers at the terminal since the
beginning of this month and will stop all the warehousing services from next
May.
Vingroup was chosen
by Saigon Newport Corporation as the developer of the urban complex
overlooking
Vingroup said at
the ground-breaking ceremony last Saturday that the Vinhomes Tan Cang
multi-functional complex will have a construction ratio of 23% of the total
area, 13.8 hectares for greenery, areas for luxury apartments and villas,
offices for lease, serviced apartments, shops and other facilities.
Vingroup will also
open a 40,000-square-meter Vincom center in the new urban complex to meet the
needs of residents and visitors for shopping and entertainment. There will be
department store, food court, supermarket, swimming pool, cinema, and an
indoor skating rink, among others.
Vingroup said
residents of Vinhomes Tan Cang will be given free management service for 10
years plus complementary services for swimming pool, repair and household
services, and property lease.
For better
implementation of ODA programs, projects
PM Nguyen Tan Dung
has approved an Action Plan to improve the implementation of
programs/projects using official development assistance and preferential
capital between 2014 and 2015.
The Plan covers six
main tasks: Composition of strategies and policies on the ODA and
preferential capital, completion of the legal framework and mechanism on the
ODA and preferential capital, improvement of the quality of programs/projects
and progress of signing international treaties, enhancement of management
capacity of organizations in charge of project implementation as well as
responsibility of all levels in dealing with difficulties and obstacles,
strengthening transparency and anti-corruption and supervision and
evaluation, and acceleration of supervision and evaluation.
The Ministry of
Planning and Investment is responsible for developing orientations for
luring, managing and using ODA and preferential capital in the phase from
2016-2020.
The Ministry of
Foreign Affairs will design the PM’s draft Decision on acceleration of
signing and realizing international treaties on the ODA by the first quarter
of 2015.
The Ministry of
Natural Resources and Environment is in charged of regulations on site
clearance, compensation, resettlement applicable to programs/projects using
ODA and preferential loans.
The Ho Chi Minh
City local government has mapped out a plan to boost budget collections for
2015, with domestic revenues targeted to rise 14 -16 percent and earnings
from export and import to increase 6-8 percent, the Saigon Times Daily
reported on July 30.
The target was
pointed out in the city’s budget plan for 2015 issued by the
In 2014, the total
revenue of
The total revenue
this year to date has amounted to 148.5 trillion VND, or 14.3 percent higher
than the same period last year. Domestic sources generated 81.89 trillion VND
and export-import tax collections contributed 48.5 trillion VND, rising 17.2
percent and 15.8 percent compared to 2013, respectively.
According to the
HCM City Department of Finance, the increasing amount of tax collections is
attributed to greater efforts to attract foreign investment, high consumption
of consumer goods, cars, and oil and gas revenues. Other sources such as
personal income tax, registration charges and land use fees are also higher.
Besides, the
recovery of many manufacturing firms had positive impacts on the city’s
revenues.
Speaking at a
conference in June on the city’s socio-economic performance in this year’s
first half, Chairman of the HCM City People’s Committee Le Hoang Quan
expected the local economic recovery since 2013 will continue to gain tempo
in the coming years.
Fifth
fishing union set up in Binh Thuan province
The Binh Tan
Fishing Union, the fifth of its kind in the central coastal
The union gathers
150 fishermen working on 15 vessels so that they can help one another in case
of natural disasters and other problems arising at sea.
At the launching
ceremony, representatives from businesses and organisations presented gifts
in the form of ship and life insurance as well as equipment worth nearly 1.2
billion VND (57,142 USD) in total to members of the new union.
Binh Thuan has one
of the largest fishing fleets in the country with more than 7,000 high capacity
vessels and over 50,000 fishermen, who catch some 180,000 tonnes of seafood
every year.
Five fishing unions
have been set up so far in the province with 69 ships and 750 members.
Besides the newly-established Binh Tan union, the other four are operating in
Phan Thiet, Tuy Phong and Phu Quy island district.
German
businesses positive on VN’s economic outlook: survey
German businesses
overall are positive on the economic outlook in
German companies
have high expectations for sales, production, workforce demand and capital
expenditures in 2015.
Around 50 percent
of those in
Meanwhile, 60
percent of them intend to increase their workforce in 2015 and keep their
capital expenditure high.
The survey was
conducted amongst German companies in May 2014. The respondents in
The questions
focused on business confidence, growth expectations, investments, and company
indicators comparing the current situation with the past year and forecasts
for the year ahead. Respondents were also asked on their views of the current
overall economy.
Dong Nai:
footwear export fetches over 1.1 billion USD
The southern
According to
Director of the provincial Department of Industry and Trade Le Van Danh, in
July alone, the export of this product brought about 167 million USD to the
province, up 16.4 percent over the previous month and 5.1 percent compared to
a year earlier.
He said that growth
was seen in almost all markets, led by the
Local businesses
attributed the growth to the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) that the
European Union has granted to
In addition,
abundant human resources and product quality also helped the locality attract
orders from many giants such as Nike, Adidas and Puma.
Vietnamese
encouraged to use internet banking services
Vietnam is a
potential market for internet banking services, as there is only 22 percent
of its population that possesses bank accounts, said the Vietnam Business
Forum Magazine (VBF).
According to
statistics released by the State Bank of Vietnam, over 20 banks in Vietnam
are offering services like paying electricity bill, telecommunication bill,
taxes on behalf of enterprises and individuals so that they can save time and
costs.
According to
Vietnam Banks Association (VNBA), by the end of 2013, the number of
internet-banking users increased 45 percent compared to that of 3 years ago.
About 90 percent of banks are offering internet banking services and half of
them are providing mobile banking service.
The number of
enterprises paying through internet has sharply increased for the last years.
EVN plans to
discount electricity bills for any person paying bills electronically 5 days
before due time to encourage individuals and enterprises using the service.
At the beginning of
2014, General Department of Taxation informed that there were 366,000
enterprises declaring taxes via internet. They have cooperated with banks to
offer service of paying taxes electronically to 15,000 enterprises by the end
of this year.
Besides electricity
and tax payments, many enterprises in other fields accept transactions
through internet banking. Remarkably, there are projects of collecting and
managing tuition through “SSC school card” and E-Banking service of Ho Chi
Minh City Education and Training Department.
Seeing great
potentials of the market, many large banks like Vietcombank, Techcombank,
VPBank, ACB, Tienphongbank, etc have diversified their services. VPBank has
concentrated on developing internet banking since 2009 and chosen it as their
major business. The bank has completed a range of functions for “VPBank
online” service, coordinated with enterprises in fields of electricity,
water, insurances, aviation, consumption, etc. At the same time, it has also
developed high class facilities like giving deposits online to enjoy
attractive interest rates, collecting iCash to obtain gifts.
VPBank has also
participated into a system of the first 9 banks to provide inter-bank
super-express money transferring of Smartlink, helping customers transfer
money intermediately 24/7 with high limit and at low costs. For enterprises
alone, VPBank has signed with Vietnam Customs, Vietnam Treasury, and General
Department of Taxation to implement services of collecting money for the
State Budget, guaranteeing taxes for import – export goods electronically.-
Measures
discussed to develop tuna value chain
The Ministry of
Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) recenty held a workshop on how to
develop tuna value chain in the central coast province of Khanh Hoa as the
ministry said the whole chain of tuna production would increase added value
of the products and improve the living standards of fishermen, according to
the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Online Newspaper.
Tuna was sold to
freezer factories at 73,000 VND per kilogramme in the Phu Yen province while
tuna processed as Sashimi had been exported to
Fishermen often do
not pay attention to investing in processing technology because they can
easily sell their tuna by total weight to local buyers without strict
regulations related to quality control, health/sanitary guarantees as
required in the overseas markets.
Creating whole
chain of fish production is a matter of concern in
"The value
chain can’t be cut off. It must be managed by the MARD and provincial
people’s committees so that it can operate smoothly,” said Vu Dinh Dap,
Chairman of Vietnam Tuna Association.
The country now has
more than 3,500 tuna fishing ships with 35,000 labourers. According to
Minister of MARD Cao Duc Phat, in order to benefit from the value chain,
Minister Phat said
by providing fishermen with better equipment and technology would help them
improve their living standards.
To produce tuna in
the value chain, the development of a modern fishing fleet, combined with
marketing strategy and the construction of logistic fisheries services should
be implemented altogether, added Phat.
Central
Highlands to accelerate transport project progress
The Steering
Committee for the Central Highlands will closely supervise the construction
of transport infrastructure across the region to keep up the progress of
those projects in the second half of the year, the committee said at its
quarterly meeting with the press on July 29.
The Central
Highlands region groups Kon Tum, Gia Lai, Dak Lak, Dak Nong, and Lam Dong
provinces.
The committee will
particularly focus on the construction of
At the same time,
the board will work with central and local authorities to realise annual
socio-economic targets, raise the quality of poverty alleviation, and ensure
defence and security.
Coordination will
also be improved in promoting education and vocational training and executing
policies designed for ethnic minority groups, the meeting heard.
During the first
half of 2014, the region’s gross domestic product grew by 10.3 percent while
increases were recorded in export turnover and collection for the State
budget.
Thirteen projects
using Government bonds to build sections of
Meanwhile, five
traffic projects under the build-operate-transfer model are expected to be
completed in 2015 and 2016. Six other projects funded by Government bonds
will also become operational from now to 2016.
Covering some
54,474 square kilometres, the Central Highlands has a population of nearly
5.3 million from 47 ethnic groups. About 1.6 million people are of ethnic
minorities.
A new report has
shown that many enterprises are optimistic about
Locally-owned
Vietnam Report has conducted a survey of over 300 of
“The figures show
that most enterprises are confident in their performance and economic outlook.
They are also expecting significant business recovery this year,” noted the
survey.
According to the
results, priorities for this year included customer care (65.6 percent),
human resources development (60.7 percent), upgrading technology (50.8 percent),
local and overseas market expansion (45.9 percent), and research and
development (41 percent).
In late January,
US-backed global management consulting firm Boston Consulting Group reported
that the middle and affluent class in
Tibor Novakm,
country manager and chief representative of Hungarian-backed pharmaceutical
firm Gedeon Richter’s representative office in
“Vietnamese people
are spending more on medicine and we are researching the market. If it meets
our conditions, we might consider building a factory here,” he said.
The Vietnamese
pharmaceutical market was valued at 3.34 billion USD this year, up from 2.94
billion USD in 2012.
Anuvat Chalermchai,
brand director of
In this year’s
first quarter, SCG Vietnam earned revenue of 133 million USD, impressively up
76 percent on-year. This year SCG will market several new products and
technologies in
András Somos, CEO
of Hungary’s consulting firm SKC-Consulting also told VIR he was quite upbeat
about business opportunities for SKC in
State
budget and treasury misused and misallocated
The Government
Inspectorate has discovered several cases of malfeasance related to
accounting and dispersal of the state budget and treasury.
The agency has reached
the conclusion after conducting an audit of the treasuries of many cities and
provinces and transaction offices.
A total of
VND130.16 billion (USD6.12 million) was misappropriated from the state
budget.
The agency also
found that in some cases the state treasury’s accounting showed large
differences from the of expenses provable by receipts. Such discrepancies
sometimes reached hundreds of billions of VND.
Inspections also
showed that a number of localities misallocated a total of an estimated
VND78.6 billion (USD3.7 million) from the state treasure between 2010 and
June 2012.
Several cities and
provinces have advanced funding for investment projects but have yet to
allocate the funding.
A total of 468
projects in 17 cities and provinces were not approved for advances by the
Ministry of Finance but still received a combined VND1.176 trillion (USD55.36
million) from municipal and provincial governments.
While 148 projects
in 14 cities and provinces received advances totaling a combined VND328.1
billion (USD15.44 million) more than what the ministry had approved.
Twelve cities and
provinces got advances totaling VND2.46 trillion (USD115.81 million) and did
not disburse the funds to the approved projects, but added it to their
budgets.
More
investors to Phu Quoc island
The Southern
The island is now home
to 194 projects covering an area of 8,530 ha, said Head of Office for
Southwest Steering Committee Nguyen Thanh Hai.
Phu Quoc is
striving to create a favorable environment for investors by upgrading
infrastructure, especially road system and water supply and disseminating its
preferential investment policies.
The island’s
business environment has been given a big boost after it was connected to the
national power grid earlier this year.
Especially, after
PM Nguyen Tan Dung agreed on the establishment of the Viet Nam-Singapore
Industrial Park on the island, Kien Giang province has set up a advisory
investment and development team for projects on the island.
The locality said
it will encourage Singaporean investors to invest in ecological tourism and
high-tech industrial parks on the island.
As early as in
2004, the PM already approved an overall plan for development of
Raft of
mega projects lay idle
Many billion-dollar
foreign-invested projects in
In the north, the
$2.25 billion Hai Duong 1,200MW thermal power plant project, invested in by
Malaysia’s JAKS Resources Bhd, has seen little progress after three years of
so-called construction. The Hai Duong People’s Committee spent nearly
VND202.99 billion ($9.7 million) helping JAKS with site clearance and after
numerous requests by the committee, the firm still owes VND9.2 billion
($430,000) which it has refused to pay.
In the central
coastal
Meanwhile, the
people’s committee of the southern province of Ken Giang is about to revoke
the licence of Millennium Group’s (Hong Kong) $1.6 billion 520 hectare Bai
Dai Resort project on Phu Quoc island due to very little progress after more
than six years.
Many projects by
These are just a
few examples of numerous large-scale FDI projects in
Report
awards promote transparency
Most of listed
companies in
The most
outstanding result over the past seven years of the annual contest had been
the improved awareness of the need for transparency and determination to
deliver credible reports among listed companies, Tam told this year’s awards
ceremony last Saturday.
The event honoured
the best 50 annual reports out of nearly 700 entries from companies listed on
HOSE and Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX). Among the winners, 38 companies are
listed on HOSE and 12 on HNX.
Vinamilk, the
country’s biggest dairy company, came first with the highest score. It also
secured the Best Corporate Governance prize, which was introduced this year
for the first time. Bao Viet Holdings came second after securing the top
prize in 2012 and 2013.
The Sustainability
Reporting Awards, also part of the competition, comprised of one first prize,
one second prize and three consolation prizes. Bao Viet Holdings took the
first, Vinamilk the second, while the three consolation prizes went to Hau
Giang Pharmaceuticals (for completeness), Sacombank (for reliability) and Imexpharm
Drugs Co. (for layout).
The World Bank’s
International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the British-based Association of
Chartered Certified Accountants joined the judging of the sustainability
reporting, selecting five of the 58 annual reports that included sustainable
development issues.
Tam, head of the
organising committee and the selection board, said this year saw a narrowing
in the quality between the top 50. “The weaknesses often seen in previous
years have been clearly addressed. For example, business activities received
deeper analysis, with reasons and solutions included. The contents included
risk issues, with typical risks analysed in detail. Development strategies
and plans and objectives were outlined,” she remarked.
Dominic Scriven,
CEO of Dragon Capital said “There’s still a long way to go before the annual
reports reach international standards, but the programme and its
communication campaigns and the winning entries will continue to create more
milestones for the improvements in reporting quality, helping promote market
transparency.”
However, he claimed
the annual reports by large provided Dragon Capital with roughly a third of
the information the firm needed for its investment analyses. Therefore, in
order to know more about the companies, the firm has to use other channels
such as the media, partners and direct dialogue with the companies.
ACCA member Nguyen
Viet Thinh, consulting partner at PwC Vietnam and team leader for judging
sustainable development reporting, said there had been greater attention to
detail this year, and more information was provided on the parties involved,
including employees, local communities and suppliers, marking a wider focus
than seen in last year’s reports that only highlighted charitable and social
activities.
He added the
competing companies used IFC reporting guidelines on sustainable development,
and the Global Reporting Initiative’s guidelines on sustainable development
reporting. Many reports mentioned the IFC and GRI criteria. “Some companies
used G4 standards as references for the first time,” Thinh said.
The Vietnam Annual
Report Awards competition has been organised seven times by HOSE, VIR’s
sister publication Dau Tu Chung Khoan and HNX, with Dragon Capital as the
sole sponsor. The programme is technically supported by IFC, ACCA and
independent experts. The eighth competition will kick off in early 2015.
Tam, chief of the
organising board, said integrity, transparency, professionalism and
creativity would continue to be key benchmarks, while corporate governance
and sustainable development would carry on their significance.
The capitalization
of
The stock market is
expected to become a major capital mobilization channel of the economy by
2020, Minister of Finance Dinh Tien Dung said at the ceremony held on
Saturday to mark the 14th anniversary of the establishment of the Vietnamese
stock market.
The market is among
the 10 best-performing markets in the world, Dung added. Meanwhile, the size
of the local bond market is about 17 percent of the country’s GDP, he said.
In the first six
months of this year, there were more and more positive signals from the
market as the average transaction value increased by 58 percent over the same
period last year, he said.
The finance
minister also emphasized the need for further efforts from market
participants so that the market will become a major capital mobilization
channel for the economy in the next six years.
This is not a
simple task in the complex context of immediate and long-term prospects of
the local economy, Dung stressed.
On the occasion, Vu
Bang, chairman of the State Securities Commission (SSC), said one of the most
outstanding marks of the Vietnamese stock market’s development over the past
14 years is its increasing transparency which has enabled more local firms to
meet international standards in doing business and publishing their financial
status regularly.
"The
publishing of the financial statements of enterprises has become increasingly
more professional. Especially, in the last two years, many businesses have
paid more attention to building sustainable value chains besides their normal
business activities,” Bang added.
At the ceremony, 50
listed companies with the best annual reports were also honored, with Vietnam
Dairy Products Joint Stock Co (Vinamilk) winning the first prize in the
category.
The stock exchanges
of
Recently, the SSC
clinched deals on collaboration with securities and exchange commissions of
20 European countries to open the door for funds from the region
participating in the market.
Given that fact,
foreign investors may head to
In the meantime,
the stock markets of
According to
Bloomberg data, the Vietnamese stock market took the lead in net foreign
purchases worth over $50 million in December alone. The Thai and Indonesian
markets were worth $1.3 billion and 476.32 million in net sales.
For the whole 2013,
foreign capital flows into
Most of the stock
markets in the region are classified as Emerging Market on the global
financial map.
New
regulations allow cheaper strategic investor entry
New regulations
allowing state-owned enterprises (SOEs) to sell shares to strategic investors
before or at the same time as their IPOs are expected to streamline their
equitisation.
Decree 59/2011
effective on September 5, 2011 and Decree 189/2013 effective on January 15,
2014 as well as documents issued by the Ministry of Finance (MoF) allow SOEs
to sell shares to strategic investors before or at the same time as their
IPOs.
The price of shares
is either negotiated or determined by an auction among strategic investors,
but has to be equal to or higher than the initial price approved by
authorities.
The new regulations
replaced Decree 109/2007/ND-CP on the equitisation of SEOs, which stipulated
that strategic investors cannot pay below the average successful bidding
price of the IPO for an SOE stake.
SOEs hope the
change will make it easier for them to find strategic investors that can help
them increase their competitiveness.
In its IPO
scheduled for September 22, 2014, Vietnam National Textile and Garment Group
is going to sell 120 million shares, or a 24 per cent stake, to strategic
investors, deputy director Le Tien Truong said, adding that the firm will
have at most three strategic investors, including one in finance and two in
production and distribution.
Meanwhile, flag
carrier Vietnam Airlines hopes to sell a 20 per cent stake to strategic
investors in its IPO scheduled for the end of 2014.
The Vietnamese
government has set a goal of equitising 432 SOEs in 2014 and 2015 as part of
its economic reform for sustainable growth. Progress was poor in the first
half of this year, reported the MoF.
100-storey
hotel plot remains ground zero
Kinh Bac
Corporation’s $1 billion Diamond Rice Flower complex remains a dream as the land
plot still lies empty years after receiving a licence.
According to Kinh
Bac’s report for second quarter this year, the company had poured VND119
billion ($5.6 million) investment into the site, the result unchanged since
2012.
Located right next
to the National Convention Centre, the site is considered one of the most
lucrative land plots in new business district of Hanoi.
Ten years ago, the
area was mainly known for The Manor residential development, the National
Convention Centre and the Big C supermarket.
There was a race
between Japanese and Korean investors to win a license for the land plot.
Finally, a
consortium comprised of the Japanese Riviera Corporation and CSK Finance won
the site for a five-star hotel development.
In order to secure
the site, Japanese developers had to make a non-refundable deposit of $5.5
million with the city.
The loser in the
race for the site was Korean developers Keangnam Enterprise. As a consolation
they received the site of their current 72-storey
Meanwhile the
Japanese after gaining the licence announced that they were not able to
continue with the project only a year later and returned the site to the
Hanoi People’s Committee.
The withdrawal of
Japanese developers opened up new competition among local developers.
The winning bid
would have to cover the Japanese firm’s deposit and provide $25 million to
the city [equivalent to 10 per cent of the minimum investment capital], as
proof of financial capacity. The new developer was also required to submit
100 per cent of the land leasing fee in one payment.
Kinh Bac
Corporation secured the land in 2010 and received the dossiers from Japanese
developers. Kinh Bac hired famous London-based international architectural
firm Foster and Partners to design the complex, and Diamond Rice Flower Hotel
was born. The new complex would consist of a 100-storey building, an 80
storey building and another 15 storey building. However there has been no
movement since Kinh Bac took over the site.
CBRE’s most recent
reports have also added to gloom. The leading commercial property and real
estate services adviser reports that due to massive over-supply of office
property, 23 per cent of Grade A and 34 per cent of Grade B buildings remain
vacant.
CBRE expects that
projects in the west of
Source:
VEF/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/Dantri/VIR
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Thứ Tư, 30 tháng 7, 2014
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