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BUSINESS IN BRIEF 22/4
Jewelry rule backs PNJ market share expansion
A leader of Phu Nhuan Jewelry Company (PNJ) told shareholders
at a general meeting in HCMC on Wednesday that a circular of the Ministry of
Science and Technology has made it possible to expand the firm’s market share
in the past years.
Nguyen Thi Cuc, deputy general director of PNJ, credited the
company’s market share expansion to Circular 22/2013/TT-BKHCN issued by the
ministry in September 2013 to govern the quality of jewelry gold.
Cuc said thanks to the circular, PNJ and other jewelry
enterprises with large-scale production and wide distribution networks have
grown well in recent years.
PNJ saw its jewelry market share rising to 21% last year from
14% in the previous year. With an additional 18 retail stores opened in 2014,
the company had had a total of 169 jewelry shops as of the end of last year,
and plans 35 new stores this year.
PNJ’s profit rose strongly owing to good jewelry gold sales
last year though the World Gold Council (WGC) said the demand for gold on the
Vietnamese market dropped 8%.
According to its audited report, PNJ obtained consolidated
revenue of nearly VND7.3 trillion last year, falling 4% year-on-year and 20%
lower than the year’s target. However, its jewelry sales surpassed VND5.27
trillion, up 23% against 2013 or 1% higher than the target.
Its after-tax profit amounted to VND255.8 billion, rising 51%
over 2013.
Retail sales of jewelry gold totaled VND2.28 trillion last
year, up 42% year-on-year and accounting for 31% of total revenue and 74% of
total gross profit of PNJ Corporation, which consists of PNJ and other
subsidiaries.
However, both turnover and profit from gold bar sales plunged
last year against the previous year, making up just 28% of total revenue and
2% of total profit. This was the result of PNJ’s long-term business strategy
adjustment to focus more on jewelry trading. Fewer local buyers wanted gold
bars as the global price has been moving sideways in recent times.
PNJ chairwoman Cao Thi Ngoc Dung said the enterprise targeted
revenue of some VND8.23 trillion and consolidated profit of VND976 billion
this year, 13% and 24% higher than last year, and paid a 2015 dividend for
shareholders at 20%.
PNJ has spent VND45 billion importing equipment from
PNJ Corporation, whose subsidiaries include CAO Fine Jewelry
and PNJL Assessment Limited Company, divested VND37 billion from Saigon Fuel
Joint Stock Company last year.
Farmers benefit little from rice storage program
Local enterprises have virtually bought one million tons of
rice of the 2014-2015 winter-spring crop for temporary stockpiling as
approved by the Government but experts said that farmers have earned little
from the program.
The Vietnam Food Association (VFA) said 128 selected
enterprises and cooperatives had fulfilled their targets for the rice storage
program, which lasted from March 1 to April 15. The program aimed to stop
rice price drops during the peak harvest time and ensure high profit for
farmers.
However, Le Minh Duc, former director of Long An Province’s
Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said the annual program has
not brought about as many benefits to farmers as expected. This year, rice
and paddy prices in the Mekong Delta inched up by around VND100-200 per kilo
during the first days of the program but then declined gradually.
Many agricultural experts has raised concern over the problem
for years. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development also organized a
number of meetings to better the program but failed to reach a solution.
At a conference in March, leaders of the agriculture ministry
admitted that the program was just a measure to intervene in the rice market
rather than providing direct support for farmers.
However, Vo Thanh Do, deputy head of the Agro-Forestry and
Fisheries Processing and Salt Industry Department, said the program was a
situational measure but would remain a suitable solution in the next five
years as the Government has not found a better measure.
This year, the Government has spent around VND200 billion
subsidizing part of the bank loan interest for enterprises participating in
the program.
Rice prices have moved in different directions in parts of the
region in recent days.
Ngo Ngoc Yen, director of the HCMC-based rice company Yen
Ngoc, said the rice price in
Meanwhile, rice prices in
Rice exporters have offered 5% broken rice at US$360-370 per
ton and 25% broken rice at US$340-350 per ton. Fragrance rice has been sold
at US$475-485 per ton, up US$5 versus a week ago.
As of April 10, VFA member enterprises had shipped over one
million tons of rice with the combined free-on-board (FOB) value of around
US$446 million.
Few cooperatives consume farm produce
A small number of agricultural cooperatives in the Mekong
Delta region have been able to buy produce from farmers, heard a seminar on a
new cooperative model in Can Tho City on Wednesday.
The Mekong Delta had had 1,928 active farming cooperatives as
of the end of last year but a mere 8% of them could purchase products of
their member farmers and only 18% could supply agricultural materials for
them.
Nguyen Thien Nhan, president of the Central Vietnam Fatherland
Front Committee, said limited supply of farming inputs like fertilizer and
plant protection drugs and low consumption have made it hard for farmers to
earn higher incomes.
According to Nhan, individual farmers are unable to negotiate
to buy agricultural materials at competitive prices and find it hard to sell
their products to modern sales channels such as supermarkets.
“A single household cannot do this but a cooperative can,”
Nhan said.
Agricultural cooperatives in other countries have done a much
better job than their counterparts in
For instance, cooperatives in
Huynh Van Thon, chairman of An Giang Plant Protection Company
(AGPPS), said cooperatives need to join value chains with support of
enterprises to get easier access to agricultural materials at reasonable
prices and bank loans.
Meanwhile, Nhan said farmers should be supported to send their
products to supermarkets and other modern distribution channels.
Therefore, the goal of establishing a new cooperative model is
to restructure ineffective cooperatives and have five new cooperatives in
every locality in the region from now until 2016. The region is expected to
have 30 new well-performing cooperatives in the 2017-2020 period.
Fuel import tax range removed
The Ministry of Finance has abolished the fuel import tax
range for fuels based on crude oil prices.
Late last year, the ministry issued Decision 17728/BTC-CST on
the preferential tariff range for fuels to impose higher import tariffs on
finished fuel products if the crude oil price falls. Accordingly, when the
price of WTI oil is below US$60 per barrel, gasoline, kerosene, diesel and
heavy fuel oil would be subject to a maximum tariff of 40%.
With the current crude oil price of US$53.29 per barrel, the
import duty on fuels should be 40%. If the crude oil price ranges between
US$60 and US$75 per barrel, the import tariffs on kerosene-gasoline and
diesel-heavy fuel oil would be 35% and 30% respectively.
The respective import tariffs will drop to 25% and 20% if a
barrel of crude oil is quoted at US$75-95. In case the crude oil price
exceeding US$95 per barrel, the highest rates will be 20% and 15%
respectively.
The abolition of the import tax bracket is in line with
Circular 48/2015/TT-BTC on adjusting the fuel import duties that the ministry
issued on Monday. The ministry lowered the import tax rates from 35% to 20%
for gasoline and kerosene, from 30% to 20% for diesel, from 35% to 25% for
heavy fuel oil and from 25% to 10% for jet fuel.
The ministry said in a statement yesterday that it decided to
reduce the import tariffs on fuels after weighing many factors and to benefit
consumers.
The environmental protection fees on fuels except kerosene
will triple from May 1 this year. With the fuel price adjustment cycle of
every 15 days and fuel trading firms required to stock up on fuels in 30
days, the import tax cuts from Tuesday will help prevent a possible fuel
retail price spike after May 1.
The tax reduction was made in accordance with
ACCA
The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) in
Most of the new members are employees of foreign-invested
enterprises. Of them, some 90% of the members in HCMC work for
multinationals, including auditing and accounting firms Deloitte, Ernst &
Young, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers.
A few of the new members are employees of Vietnamese
enterprises like Vietnam Dairy Products Company (Vinamilk) and An Giang Plant
Protection Company (AGPPS).
In all, ACCA Vietnam has a total of 800 members, much lower
than around 11,000 members in
Le Thi Hong Len, chief representative of ACCA Vietnam,
explained that almost all the attendees of ACCA’s courses are staff of major
corporations and are supported by their employers to get further training.
To get ACCA’s certificates, learners must complete 14 basic
and advanced subjects and an online course on professional ethics, and have
three years’ working experiences.
HAGL targets 300,000 cows next year
Hoang Anh Gia Lai Joint Stock Company (HAGL) has set an
ambitious target for 300,000 cows next year in a new strategy to accelerate its
foray into cow farming.
HAGL chairman Doan Nguyen Duc unveiled the strategy at a
general meeting in HCMC on Wednesday.
At the annual meeting, HAGL general director Vo Truong Son
said the company targets its net revenue this year would grow 75%
year-on-year to over VND5.34 trillion, and cow farming will contribute 46% of
it, or over VND2.47 trillion.
Last year, HAGL posted net revenue of VND3.054 trillion, or 9%
lower than the target of over VND3.37 trillion.
Towards the year-end, the Gia Lai Province-headquartered
enterprise will strive to increase its dairy cow herd to 13,000 and sell
60,000 cows. Its total herd is expected to rise to 100,000 cows at the end of
the year.
As for rubber and sugarcane planting, the enterprise will
retain the farming area at 42,500 hectares and 6,000 hectares respectively.
But the enterprise will grow an additional 13,000 hectares of
palm this year and finish the building of a palm oil processing plant in
This year, it will also focus more on resources on projects in
HAGL hoped real estate and construction would contribute
VND769 billion (14%) and VND785 billion (15%) to its net revenue in 2015.
Son said HAGL aims for pre-tax profit of VND2.1 trillion this
year, a year-on-year increase of 18%.
At the meeting, HAGL proposed a 2014 dividend of 10% but many
shareholders wanted 15% provided that its profit last year jumped 70% to
VND1.773 trillion from VND999 billion in the previous year.
However, Son feared that a higher dividend would affect the
price of HAGL shares.
Duc said this year HAGL would invest more in cow farming and
if this new sector bears fruit the enterprise will pay a high dividend in
cash.
Nevertheless, with the hand vote, the number of shareholders
opting for a 2014 dividend at 15% outnumbered those agreeing on 10%.
HAGL International Agriculture Joint Stock Company, formerly
known as HAGL Rubber Joint Stock Company, will be listed on the southern
bourse in the middle of this year.
Expert warns of substandard macadamia saplings
A former leader of the agriculture ministry’s Cultivation
Department has sounded alarm bells over the poor quality of macadamia
saplings on the domestic market, saying growers could be affected in the long
run.
Nguyen Tri Ngoc told a recent seminar in
Ngoc called for agriculture agencies to intensify their
management of macadamia saplings to ensure good yields and avoid causing
losses for farmers in the future.
Bui Huu Hoa, an experienced macadamia grower, pointed out that
many farmers have bought substandard and even fake macadamia saplings due to
little or no knowledge of this plant.
“Many farmers have grown macadamia for 5-7 years but have
reported no yields while they are in debt. They have lost a lot and we have
to warn them of the reality,” Hoa said.
Hoa said a substandard macadamia sapling is sold at some
VND30,000 while the price of a quality one is VND70,000.
Hoa said he is lucky as his macadamia farm in Lam Ha District
in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong has produced fruit with revenue
reaching VND295 million last year.
Quach Dai Ninh, deputy head of the forestry development
division at the General Forestry Department, said State agencies should
inspect macadamia sapling farms and only license suppliers of quality young
trees. Low-quality saplings should be discarded.
It is a huge problem if more than 50% of the macadamia
saplings available on the market are of substandard quality, Ninh said amidst
concerns that more farmers in different parts of the country have rushed to
grow the plant, particularly in the Central Highlands, and that the unchecked
growing of the plant could end up losing like other certain crops.
Earlier this month, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural
Development proposed the Government approve a plan to grow only 10,000
hectares of the subtropical plant by 2020 in regions where weather conditions
are appropriate for it due to a lack of sufficient scientific data.
The planned area is much lower than the 200,000 hectares
forecast by scientists and enterprises for the next five years.
The ministry made the proposal years after macadamia was
planted on a trial basis in 16 provinces in
The ministry warned that large-scale farming of macadamia can
be implemented if there are processing facilities and stable outlets for its
fruit.
The government of HCMC will break ground for a number of key
transport projects to ease chronic traffic congestion at road bottlenecks in
the city.
The projects include an overpass at Go Vap Roundabout in the
district of the same name, upgrade of
A steel overpass will be built to connect Nguyen Oanh, Nguyen
Kiem and Pham Ngu Lao streets. The project requires an investment of VND406
billion and will be opened to traffic after seven months of construction.
Luong Dinh Cua and Tran Nao streets will be upgraded this
month to build better connections between the downtown area of HCMC and Thu
Thiem New Urban Area.
The first phase of
The
The city also plans to build an overpass or a tunnel at My
Thuy Roundabout in District 2, which is also plagued by traffic jams. Thai
Son Investment Development Joint Stock Company under the Defense Ministry and
Tuan Loc Construction and Investment Company have suggested the HCMC
government allow them to advance over VND2.8 trillion to implement the
project, and the city can return the sum to Thai Son later or let them use
some land in the city.
Gov’t wants BOT power projects on fast track
Deputy Prime Minister Hoang trung Hai has told the Ministry of
Industry and Trade to accelerate implementation of power plant projects under
the build-operate-transfer (BOT) format.
The BOT power projects are important as they will help meet
increasing local demand for electricity consumption and fuel the country’s
socio-economic development, heard a recent meeting between the Deputy PM and
representatives of relevant ministries and agencies in Hanoi.
Around 20 major BOT power projects have been approved with a
combined generation capacity of 24,000 megawatts (MW). Of which, Phu My 2.2
and Phu My 3 have been put into operation and the first generator of Mong
Duong 2 has been commissioned
The remaining projects are currently at different stages of
preparations. Relevant agencies are looking for funding for Hai Duong and
Vinh Tan 1 while tenders seeking contractors for Nghi Son 2 have been
organized, according to the Government’s portal chinhphu.vn.
At the meeting chaired by the Deputy PM, agencies bemoaned a
host of challenges related to prolonged negotiations, Government guarantees
for foreign currency conversion, common rules for disputes and payment when
calling for private investments in the BOT power projects.
However, Hai emphasized the importance of private investments
in infrastructure development, especially the energy sector. The Deputy PM
ordered the industry ministry to review preparations for the power projects
and find proper solutions to the problems with them so that work on these
projects can start soon.
He urged the industry ministry to collaborate with agencies to
quicken negotiations over and implementation of the BOT power projects under
preparation this year, particularly Nghi Son 2, Nam Dinh, Hai Duong and Vinh
Tan 1.
The Deputy PM told relevant agencies to improve legal
documents to attract more investors and facilitate the implementation process
of BOT power projects.
A number of big-ticket power projects nationwide have been
making progress in recent times. For example, Vietnam National Oil and
Gas Group (PVN) last week clinched a contract to select Vietnam Machinery
Installation Corporation (Lilama) as the engineering, procurement and
construction (EPC) contractor for Song Hau 1 thermal power plant project in
Chau Thanh District in
The project has two generators of 1,200 MW and requires total
capital of more than VND43 trillion (around US$1.99 billion). Lilama plans to
transfer the plant to the investor PVN in 2019 after commissioning the
generators.
The first 540MW generator of Mong Duong 1 thermal power plant
came online earlier this year. The VND33.62-trillion facility in
According to Vietnam Electricity Group (EVN), local power
consumption grew 12.3% last year to 128 billion kWh and is projected to rise
by 10.4% this year to 142 billion kWh.
Long-term growth of Vietnamese peppercorn faces challenges
Despite the remarkable growth recorded in the peppercorn
sector in the last three years, local farmers are enduring damage fuelled by
unsustainable development.
Rapid plantation expansion, intensive farming and increasingly
destructive insects lie at the root of the issue.
Do Ha
It is the right time for the Vietnamese pepper sector to focus
on improving processing technology to increase the quality of pepper and meet
global food safety standards,
According to Dr Le Ngoc Bau, head of the Central Highlands
Agriculture and Forestry Science Institute, the organisation of the current
pepper production model requires a shakeup in a bid to group scattered
small-scale family-run farms.
Working together will make it easier for those households to
access bank loans, technological advances and related service providers, he
explained.
Dong Nai speeds up SoE equitisation
The southern province of Dong Nai plans to equitise five
State-owned enterprises (SoEs) and divest non-core business projects in 11
joint stock companies and three banks in 2015, said an official.
Deputy Director of the provincial Department of Finance Huynh
Van Hue underlined the need to build specific restructuring plans while
outlining measures to improve production and business performance.
To facilitate the reshuffle, he asked for intensifying
inspection in order to promptly deal with arising problems during the
process.
State conglomerates should renew their corporate governance
while applying standard finance-accounting practices, he said.
Dong Nai aims to equitise about 50 SoEs from 2014-2020.
During 2012-2014, Dong Nai recorded one equitised firm, 10
merger and four divestment deals.
As of December 31, 2014, it had 11 State-owned enterprises.
In 2014, the equitised firms enjoyed stable production,
earning a total revenue of 28.1 trillion VND (nearly 1.3 billion USD), up 1.7
percent against 2013.
Local SOEs have worked to accelerate their restructuring and
better define targeted investment fields.
Equitisation is a process in which private investors can buy
stocks in formerly State-owned businesses. It helps make enterprises more
effective, profitable and stable.
A delegation led by Minister of Agricultural and Rural
Development Cao Duc Phat attended the Asian Development Forum that opened on
April 19 in Jakarta, Indonesia.
The event is part of the framework for the World Economic
Forum (WEF) on East Asia, which is taking place from April 19-21 in
Addressing the event, the minister highlighted the
achievements
They include the successful implementation of sustainable and skillful
agricultural production through cooperation between some 10,000 farmers and
international groups, including Unilever, Nestle, Metro Cash and Carry, and
Pepsico.
The approach has proven effective, with a great number of
Vietnamese agricultural products having penetrated international markets,
Phat said.
In another meeting the same day, the minister told
participants about
He said that through creative and long-term thinking, the
sector aims to increase productivity and profit, while minimising water use
and greenhouse gas emissions.-
2015
The 2015 Vietnam Trademark Forum opened in
Participants called on the National Branding Programme to help
in enhancing enterprise capacity of building, marketing and protecting their
brand names via practical actions.
Several opinions proposed that domestic firms should deliver
post-sale services to every outlet and consumer rather than relying on
publicity campaigns.
Nguyen Hoang Ngan, General Director of Binh Minh Plastics Jsc,
urged Vietnamese companies to fix weaknesses in resources to sustain their
brands, especially in the adoption of technological advances to catch up with
the ongoing international economic integration trend.
Last year, as many as 63 firms were honoured with the National
Value Awards for strong brands, an increase from 30 in 2008, deputy head of
the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Trade Promotion Agency Do Kim Lang said
while presenting achievements of the National Branding Programmes for the
2003-2014 period.
He also pledged branding support for firms via training and
counseling while developing brands characteristic of each locality and region
between now and 2020.
Vietnam works towards new development stage: Deputy PM
Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc made the statement
while addressing the World Economic Forum on East Asia 2015, which opened its
plenary session in
The Deputy PM added that
According to the Deputy PM,
He highlighted that sea disputes must be solved by peaceful
measures based on international law, including t he United Nations Convention
on the Law of the Sea .
He continued affirming that
Addressing the event, Indonesian President Joko Widodo
underscored the importance of cooperation among East Asian countries for
prosperity in the region.
The forum is an annual event held with the goal to increase
and expand economic cooperation among countries in the region and between
East Asian countries with other regions in the world.
Italian businesses boost investment in Binh Duong
Carlotta Colli, Italian Consul General in
Apart from business and production projects,
She said she believes that the visit by provincial leaders to
For his part,
He concurred with the Consul General’s proposals to
strengthening collaboration in cultural exchange, education and tourism.
He expressed his hope that the Consul General will do her
utmost to link Italian businesses with Binh Duong through introducing
information and provincial regulations on attracting investment.
Foreign companies seek investment opportunities in Long An
A number of foreign companies had a meeting with the Mekong
Delta
Companies from
Long An currently has 28 industrial zones with a combined area
of 10,000 hectares; 16 of the zones are operational with occupancy rates of
50 percent.
The province has attracted 600 projects from 34 countries and
territories with a total registered capital of 3.6 billion USD to date.-
RoK company produces antennas in Ha Nam
A factory producing wireless antennas and filters used for
smartphones will be built in the
The factory will have an initial investment of 70 million USD
and use 3,000 employees, ultimately increasing to 100 million USD and 5,000
workers.
Construction of the factory will commence in July across 12.5
hectares at the Dong Van 2 industrial zone in Duy Tien district.
Agro-fishery firms explore Finnish, North European markets
Vietnamese firms were instructed to export agro-fishery
products to Finnish and North European markets during a conference in
According to Tran Viet Cuong, Deputy Head of the Vietnam
Sanitary and Phytosanitary Notification Authority under the Ministry of
Agriculture and Rural Development, the agro-fishery sector’s export value
depends more on volume than price.
The majority of Vietnamese agricultural enterprises are small,
with under-10-employee firms mounting to 44 percent and over-300-employee
businesses accounting for only 3.47 percent, he noted, adding that 82 percent
of companies have less than 20 billion VND (926,000 USD) in capital.
Cuong held that the project to support the export of
Vietnamese agro-fishery products to
The project is expected to give technical assistance and
market information to Vietnamese enterprises, enabling them to reach their
partners more easily, he said.
Agro-fishery exporters across the nation will benefit from the
project, especially those in
During the conference, Vietnamese and foreign experts also
provided businesses with basic information and practical guidelines in export
activities for aquatic products and fruit to the targeted markets.
They also introduced activities to support Vietnamese firms,
including seeking Finnish partners through the Finnartnership business
connectivity programme, sponsoring them to expand investment and operation as
well as develop their capacity to meet international commercial practice
requirements.
By the end of 2014, trade between
Major Vietnam earners included garments and textiles,
computers, electronic products and spare parts, machineries, plastic
products, and footwear materials and leather. The country imported electronic
products and spare parts, machineries, equipment, paper, chemicals and steel from
By the end of March this year,
Viglacera to issue additional shares
The Vietnam Glass and Ceramics for construction Corporation
Viglacera plans to shoot up its capital to nearly 3.1 trillion VND (142.8
million USD) by issuing additional shares, as heard at the 2015 annual
shareholders congress in
According to the plan, the corporation will taper state ownership
from 91.48 percent to 75 percent by listing shares in the stock market once
approved by the Ministry of Construction.
In 2015, it targets a minimum growth of 6 percent for each key
production business. It also plans to implement a stable and sustainable
development strategy while fostering investment in building and real estate.
Viglacera will focus on highly-competitive, hi-tech and
“green” products such as energy-saving glass. The company will also pay
attention to increasing the quality of its current products such as
Autoclaved Aerated Concrete and clinker bricks, and using environmentally
friendly production materials.
In the real estate sector, Viglacera will invest and exploit
technical facilities and services in 997 hectares of current industrial zones
and closely watch progress on new construction.
The company will also invest in a number of industrial parks
and develop social housing and luxury apartment projects.
Duyen Hai Thermal Power Company established
A ceremony was held on April 20 in the Mekong Delta
The company, located in Dan Thanh
The Duyen Hai Power Centre, covering nearly 880 hectares in
Dan Thanh commune, Duyen Hai district has a capacity of roughly 4,308
megawatts.
The project, at a cost of more than five billion USD invested
by EVNGENCO 1, includes four units using coal fired traditional condensed
steam turbine technology and the largest coal port in the Mekong Delta.
Construction of the 622.5-megawatt-capacity turbine No. 1 has
been completed and it is connected to the national power grid on a trial
basis.
The turbine will officially be linked with the national grid
on July 25.
Dong Nai attracts over 925 mln USD from FDI projects
The southern
The figure generated during the three and a half months
surpassed the annual target by 25 million USD, said the provincial Department
of Planning and Investment.
Of the amount, 791 million USD was poured into 28 new projects
and 134.77 million USD went into 22 existing projects.
According to the industrial park (IP) Management Board, the
Investors have primarily employed green and
environmentally-friendly technologies in accordance with the province’s
long-term plans.
To date, the province has licensed 1,479 FDI projects with
total investment capital of 27.03 billion USD, 1,127 of which are operating
with total capital of 22.54 billion USD.
Director of the provincial Department of Planning and
Investment Bo Ngoc Thu said the substantial amount of FDI during the first
half of 2015 is attributable to an improved investment climate and reformed
administrative procedures, facilitating operations and attracting investors.
With this positive outcomes, Dong Nai expects to attract over
one billion USD in FDI capital in 2015.
Telephone, parts top export list in Q1
Phones and phone parts posted 6.7 billion USD worth of export
value in the first quarter of this year, topping the export list, according to
the General Department of Customs.
Coming second was textile and garment with 4.9 billion USD,
followed by computers and electronic products and parts with 3.6 billion USD
and footwear with 2.6 billion USD.
The export of industrial commodities was on the rise with
higher growth rates than national averages.
However, key agricultural and seafood exports tumbled,
including seafood, coffee, rubber and rice (with decreases of over 30
percent), costing the country 500 million USD during the period.
Total export turnover for Q1 stood at 36.3 billion USD, up
2.93 billion USD from the previous year. The foreign-invested sector
accounted for 67.5 percent of the national export value.
Meanwhile, the imports were valued at more than 38.7 billion
USD, up 20.1 percent compared to the same period of 2014.
The country’s leading imports were machinery, equipment,
computers, phones and spare parts.
The statistics showed a trade surplus of 873 million USD in
the FDI sector, down 57.3 percent. Meanwhile domestics businesses suffered a
trade deficit of 3.27 billion USD, up about four-fold compared to last year.
In the reviewed period, imports from
EU agreements a chance to eradicate illegal timber trade
Final negotiations to complete a Forest Law Enforcement,
Governance and Trade (FLEGT) and Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA)
between the European Union (EU) and
Enactment of the agreements is expected to offer additional
opportunities for
The agreements aim to ensure the legality of timber and timber
products entering 28 countries in the EU market, while helping to maintain
and expand the export of timber and timber products from Vietnamese
enterprises, which is subject to changing EU market requirements as of March
2013.
Nguyen Tuong Van, director of the steering committee of
VPA/FLEGT, said that following negotiations, she expected that timber exports
to the
EU market would considerably increase, reported Thoi Bao Tai
Chinh online.
Van added that the great challenges in the negotiations
included following the TLAS - Timber Legality Assurance System to ensure
Vietnamese timber products meet international standards on the origin of
timber.
She said that apart from efforts made by authorized bodies,
timber processors and exporters needed to join this "play-ground"
by focusing on their product quality and conducting business in compliance
with the law.
They also needed to have certain knowledge about VPA and to
consider it to be a "visa" for Vietnamese timber products to enter
the EU market, while understanding that this is an opportunity to eliminate
illegal timber trading and unregulated timber companies from doing business
in Vietnam.
According to a report on the negotiations between
Last year, the country earned US$6.2 billion from the export
of wood and wood products, a year-on-year increase of 11.5% compared with
US$5.4 billion in 2013, and ranked second among countries exporting furniture
in
Over the years, the export of timber has seen significant
improvements in its quality, especially as domestic enterprises have
increased their market share to match those of FDI enterprises, according to
the vice chairman of the Handicrafts and Wood Industry Association of HCM
City (Hawa), Huynh Van Hanh.
He noted that wood and timber exporters still faced difficult
times, especially due to "barriers" from strict requirements in
major markets, including the EU.
Van said under the State's regulation on forest management, in
compliance with FLEGT, it is required that any timber products exported to
the EU must receive chain of custody certification. Further, no illegal
timber products or unverified products are allowed to be added to exported
timber products.
As the fact that local raw materials can now meet about 40 to
50% of input materials for export processing, while the remainder still
relies on imported raw materials. Therefore, local processors have
difficulties in determining whether imported timber is reliable, she said.
According to Van, most of the wood processing enterprises in
Vietnam are small and medium-sized enterprises. No record of wood procurement
is kept by processors, as they just hand over hand written notes to verify
their purchases. This has been recognized as a major problem that must be
quickly solved.
Nguyen Ton Quyen, General Secretary of the Vietnam Timber and
Forest Products Association (Vietfores), has said that the General
Administration of Customs statistics showed that, last year,
Vietnam imported raw wood materials valued at US$1.639 billion.
Clearly, as the importation of raw materials and shipping
costs were increasing, Vietnamese wood processing companies will find it
difficult to compete with companies, such as those in China or Malaysia.
Q1 textile, garment exports fail to meet high expectations
Though exports for textile and garments in the first quarter
(Q1) reached US$4.75 billion, industry insiders said the figure was worse
than forecast, the Hai quan (Customs) newspaper said.
Late last year, the textile and garment industry expected to
raise its textile and garment production by 20% in order to boost the
sector's export value by US$4 billion to US$28.3 billion this year.
The Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Textile and Garment
Association Pham Xuan Hong said exports to the industry were often optimistic
during the first and last months of the year. However, exports in the first
quarter of this year were slow.
Many domestic exporters also said their export contracts,
especially for small and medium-sized firms, had declined sharply in Q1 this
year.
Some even reported a drop of up to 20%.
Phi Ngoc Trinh, deputy general director of the Ho Guom Garment
Joint Stock Co, said the drop was the steepest seen in the past 15 years.
Hong attributed the decline to the devaluation of the Euro
against the dollar.
He said more than 20% of Vietnamese textile and garment
producers had currently shipped their products to European markets. The
devaluation of the Euro against the greenback had led to Vietnamese exports
becoming costlier and less competitive.
Similarly, Vietnamese exports to Japanese and Russian markets
were also negatively impacted due to the volatility of the countries'
currencies, Hong said.
Besides, domestic exports had faced other difficulties related
to input costs and raw material sources.
Admitting these difficulties, the General Secretary of the HCM
City Association of Garment Textile Embroidery and Knitting, Bui Trong
Nguyen, said he expected the situation to improve during the next quarter
when European customers signed more export contracts.
Besides exports, Vu Quang Tung from the Song Hong Garment Co.,
said his company had also stepped up sales in the domestic market to offset
the loss.
Source : VEF/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/Dantri/VIR
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Thứ Ba, 21 tháng 4, 2015
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