BUSINESS IN BRIEF 24/4 Newest cement industry technologies displayed The latest cement industry technologies are on display at the three-day ASEAN Federation of Cement Manufacturers' Technical Symposium and Exhibition, which closes in Ha Noi today. Viet Nam is a vibrant and growing market where cement sales jumped by 16 per cent year-on-year to 64.5 million tonnes in the first 11 months of 2014, including 46 million tonnes sold in the domestic market. At this year's symposium, delegates discussed new technologies, waste treatment, recycled materials, capacity improvement and conserving energy and materials. With the rapid growth and development of the industry, technologies are constantly upgraded for sustainable development and environmental protection. There are 44 booths set up by companies from Germany, China, Singapore, Sweden, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan, Denmark, France, Italy, England, Spain, Indonesia, India, and Australia. Bank interest rates forecast to fall in Q2 More than half of credit institutions partaking in a recent survey conducted by the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) projected that interest rates would drop slightly in the second quarter of this year. According to the SBV's Monetary Statistics and Forecast Department, over 50% of local banks and foreign bank branches expected interest rates to drop by 0.6-0.7 percentage point. Around 60% of respondents forecast both lending and deposit rates would fall by an average 0.87 to 1.1 percentage points by the year-end against late last year, with steeper declines for lending rates. The survey found that 63% of lenders planned to keep product and service prices unchanged in the first half of this year, while 25-30% said they would cut prices, primarily lowering the net interest margin (the difference between interest income and interest expense, which is around 4-5% now), 80.5% would maintain stable service fees. By the end of 2015, 43% of credit institutions said they would maintain average prices compared to last year while 38% expected mild price reductions. Regarding the deposit structure, over 90% of banks said deposits with a tenor of one year or longer would increase in the second quarter and all of 2015, higher than expectations for tenors under six months. Some 75% of banks said deposits from six months to one year would rise in the second quarter and by end -2015, up to 95% said the deposits would improve, according to the survey. Besides, banks said that demand for banking products and services in the first two months of the year increased slightly against the previous quarter, with deposit demand posting the highest growth. Besides, credit demand has edged up since March. Banks now offer annual interest rates of 0.8-1% per annum for demand and below-one-month Vietnam dong deposits, 4.5-5.4% for one month to under six months, 5.4-6.5% for six to 12 months and 6.4-7.2% for over 12 months. Rates for U.S. dollar deposits are capped at 0.25% per annum for organizations and 0.75% for individuals. Meanwhile, dong deposit rates for priority sectors are 6-7% per annum in the short term and 9-10% per annum in the medium and long terms. Borrowers in normal production and business sectors are subject to short-term lending rates of 7-9% per year and medium and long-term rates of 9.3-11%. U.S. dollar lending rates range from 3% to 5.5% a year for the short term and 5.5-6.7% for the medium and long terms. Vietnam consumer confidence dips for second month - survey Vietnam’s consumer confidence has continued dropping slightly this month although the economy has shown clearer signs of recovery as reflected in a recent survey of ANZ Vietnam Bank. The ANZ-Roy Morgan Vietnam Consumer Confidence has fallen for the second month to 140.2, down 1.3 points, this month with the fall driven by small declines in four components of the survey. Despite the fall, the index remains well above its 2014 average of 133.3. In terms of personal finances now, 35% of Vietnamese, down one percentage point, said their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year compared to 19% (unchanged) who said their families are ‘worse off’ financially, the lowest for this indicator for more than a year since March 2014. Of the respondents, 57% of Vietnamese, down one percentage point, expect their families to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year compared to just 5%, up one percentage point, who expect to be ‘worse off’ financially. In addition, 55% of Vietnamese, unchanged, said Vietnam will have ‘good times’ financially during the next 12 months and only 11%, up two percentage points, expect ‘bad times’ financially. Finally, 47% of Vietnamese, up one percentage point, said now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items compared to 15%, up three percentage points, who said now is a ‘bad time to buy’ major household items, the highest for this indicator since September 2014. Glenn Maguire, ANZ chief economist for South Asia, ASEAN & Pacific, said though headline consumer confidence continued to pull back slightly in April, the details of the survey are consistent with an economy where the domestic components of growth are finally gaining surer recovery traction. “Our broad macro assessment is that the Vietnamese economy has now bottomed and we foresee an ongoing recovery for 2015 and 2016. Indeed, we recently revised our gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecasts for 2015 and 2016 to 6.5%,” Maguire said in the report. The transmission mechanism of a firming economic recovery to consumer confidence should be relatively straightforward. In the first quarter, industry growth posted its fastest pace of growth in the past three years in line with stronger growth in industrial production. “As this translates to firmer output and most probably employment, we would expect to see both confidence and aggregate income formation improving over coming quarters. The ongoing firming recovery should create an environment where households become more confident to spend, further strengthening the recovery in domestic demand,” the expert said. The obvious caveat is that for an emerging economy, this transmission mechanism may play out with uncertain lags or be only partially transmitted given high savings rates. Still, the Vietnamese economy appears to be entering a sweeter spot and both consumer confidence and spending will play a key role in ensuring that is where the economy is likely to stay in the medium term. HCM City attracts US$1.2 bln in overseas remittances The overseas remittances to Ho Chi Minh City in the first quarter of 2015 reached US$1.2 billion, US$200 million higher than the same period last year. As much as 74.2% of the figure was poured in manufacturing, 21.8% in the real estate sector and 4% going to senders' relatives. According to a recent research of the Central Institute for Economic Management, the overseas remittances to Viet Nam witnessed continuous increases over the past four years from US$9 billion in 2011, US$10 billion in 2012, US$11 billion in 2013 to US$12 billion in 2014. The increases are thanks to the stable policy in stabilizing the exchange rate, which helps banks provide promotions and preferential treatment to attract the hard currency source. One-stop-shop customs mechanism to be launched at sea ports in May Viet Nam Customs will officially launch the one-stop-shop customs mechanism at 9.00 am on May 6, 2015 at international seaports in the provinces of Quang Ninh, Hai Phong, Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Da Nang City and Ho Chi Minh City. Accordingly, all businesses operating in freighting and shipping will declare their procedures and the availability of additional information on the electronic manifest (e-Manifest) on the website of Viet Nam National Single Window https:// www.vnsw.gov.vn. The Viet Nam Customs issued a document to ask relevant ministries and agencies at these international seaports to deal with information on the Viet Nam National Single Window for 24/24 hours a day since 9.00 am on May 6, 2015. The national one-stop-shop customs mechanism was officially piloted at Hai Phong international seaport in November 2014. The application of the national one-stop-shop customs portal in customs procedures will help local businesses to save significant time and costs in their import, export and international shipping activities.  This will help them increase their trade revenue and foster administrative reform in local government agencies. Ceremony honours Vietnam’s top 500 fastest growing firms in 2015 Samsung Electronics Vietnam Co., Ltd topped the list of Vietnam’s 500 fastest growing companies (FAST500) in 2015, which was officially announced by the Vietnam Report Joint Stock Company (Vietnam Report) and the VietNamNet online newspaper in Hanoi on April 22. Vinacomin Power Corporation-One Member Limited Liability Company came in second place, followed by Vung Ang Oil and Gas Petroleum Joint Stock Company, Long Son Co., Ltd and the European Plastic Joint Stock Company. The FAST500 ranking list saw approximately 51.6% of its enterprises making the VNR500 table – featuring Vietnam’s 500 largest companies in 2014 – which was released by the Vietnam Report early this year. Nearly 72% of these fastest growing firms were private, and over 56% of them had made the 2014 FAST500 table. Addressing the ceremony, Bui Sy Hoa, Editor-in-chief of the VietNamNet newspaper, and Nguyen Minh Hong, Deputy Minister of Information and Communications, congratulated the FAST500 enterprises and hailed their significant contributions to national economic development. On the occasion, the Vietnam Report also released the top 50 enterprises with the best growth in the 2009-2014 period, and published another list of Vietnam’s 500 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with the fastest growth rates in 2015. In addition, the Vietnam Report introduced a bilingual report on Vietnam’s growth, which features intensive analysis on growth opportunities and challenges of key economic industries including telecommunication technology, food and beverage, and agriculture, and put forward recommendations to minimise possible risks and ensure rapid and sustainable growth in the next period. FAST500 is an annual ranking built independently and objectively and is internationally standardised with references of the Inc500, Fortune500 and Deloitte500 models. The rating’s criteria include the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of revenues in the 2010-2013 period and revenue prospects for 2014 and 2015, after-tax profits, total assets, and prestige in the media. Loan demand rises as from March Financial institutions have reported a rise in the demand for loans since the beginning of March, according to a survey conducted by the Monetary Forecast and Statistics Department under the State Bank of Vietnam. According to the survey, the respondents expect the banking system’s average credit growth will increase to 16.93 percent this year from the 14.57 percent forecast at the previous survey last December. Meanwhile, they anticipate slight decrease in both deposit and lending interest rates. Raising capital is forecast to increase by nearly 15 percent from the previous forecast rate of 14.35 percent, with capital mobilization in Vietnam dong to grow faster than that in foreign currency. Most of the financial institutions involved believe long-term deposits, particularly those of 6-month and longer terms, will increase in the second quarter towards the end of the year. Spring Economic Forum discusses investment environment reform Titled “Continuing to reform the investment and business climate in Vietnam: Turning Words into Action”, the 2015 Spring Economic Forum opened on April 21 in Vinh City, Nghe An province.   The two-day forum reviews the results of the 2014 socioeconomic development plan and proposes measures to implement socio-economic plans during 2015 and improve business environment. At the opening ceremony, Chairman of the National Assembly’s Economic Commission, Nguyen Van Giau, said the forum chose the theme of investment environment reform (considered a priority for 2015 and 2016) and slogan “Turning Words into Action” as a result of the NA’s consensus and creativeness. Giau proposed some issues for discussion related to society, culture, education, science, technology, environment protection, improvement of living conditions, acceleration of administration and judicial reform, anti-corruption, thrift practices and loss-prevention, defence and security. He further asked the forum to evaluate competitiveness through clear indexes, solutions for agricultural restructuring and production connectivity, public debts, ODA garnering, bad debts, import-export, employment, security, support policy for those who made contribution to the national development, insurance, health care and education. Another important issue slated for debate is international economic integration, including the impact of free-trade agreements and globalisation on Vietnam’s economy. Tran Dinh Thien, Director of Vietnam Institute of Economics, highlighted that 2014’s growth occurred as the economy continued to show signs of recovery and the post-quarter’s growth was higher than the pre-quarter. However, the recovery rate was low and the growth did not surpass 6%, much lower than the average growth during the 1990-2010 period. Vietnam’s export markets were diversified but the import markets were just concentrated. For instance, Vietnam exported products to many countries like the US, the EU, China and Japan but imported up to 29% of total products from China. Vietnam’s public debts were 46.9%, which was on a safe level proposed by the Ministry of Finance. However, public debt management Thien said, adds to the State budget deficit which has occurred and even increased in recent years. Vietnam’s agro export revenue drops 10pc Vietnam saw an abnormal 10 percent fall in agricultural and seafood export revenue in the first quarter of 2015, official said. Deputy Industry and Trade Minister Tran Tuan Anh said Vietnam had posted consecutive first quarter growth in agricultural export revenue for the 2011-14 period, but a sharp fall in prices of several key export items, notably rice, rubber and tra fish, dragged down the first quarter result. Geopolitical instability hit world demand. “Vietnam’s production of several agro products like rice, coffee, rubber and seafood products has sharply increased for recent years, and export capacity has reached saturation point," Anh said. "The country needs to take measures to boost exports,” he said. Vietnam reported a major fall in the exports of several key agro products including rice, rubber and coffee as a result of fierce competition in the world market. Several countries that import agro products from Vietnam have recently been trying to intensify local production to reduce reliance on imports. Rice exports to Indonesia and the Philippines have fallen. Seafood exports to Europe and America have been hit by anti-dumping tariffs, which hurt export revenues. “The stronger US dollar is gradually affecting demand in Vietnam’s major export markets, including seafood in Europe, and seafood and fruit to Japan,” Anh said. Weak competitiveness of Vietnamese products and poor trademark development will affect Vietnam’s agro products exports in the long term, he said. Singapore invests over US$33 billion in Vietnam Singapore has invested in nearly 1,400 projects in Vietnam with a total registered capital of US$33.05 billion as of March this year. Vietnam Singapore Industrial Park (VSIP) in Binh Duong province That was revealed at the 11th Ministerial Meeting on Vietnam-Singapore Economic Connectivity in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue last weekend, when the two sides talked about achievements obtained in six cooperation fields including banking-finance, information-communication, education and training, traffic, investment, trade and service. Singapore was ranked the third in nations and territories investing in Vietnam after South Korea and Japan. Average investment capital was US$23.75 million per project, much higher than that of foreign invested projects in Vietnam. At the meeting, the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism and the Singapore Tourism Board signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on tourist collaboration. Foreign Investment Agency under the Ministry of Planning and Investment and Singapore’s United Overseas Bank also contracted another MOU on investment promotion. Farmers concern about fruit price fluctuations in harvest season Orchards in the Mekong Delta provinces are about to ready for harvest, however, farmers are anxious as bad weather has caused low production while fruit prices are predicted to possibly drop when fruits are harvested profusely and vigorously. Farmers in Dong Thap Province’s Cao Lanh District and Cao Lanh City have started to harvest mango. Vo Van Ro, owner of a 10,000-square-meter mango orchard in Cao Lanh City, said that traders bought Chu mangoes at VND15,000 per kilogram at the orchard last month, but now as other orchards have also started to harvest their mangoes, the price has fallen to VND7,000 per kilogram. This year, mango yield fell by 30-40 percent due to unfavorable weather. Along with decreasing price, farmers have seen a low profit. Mango trees have been grown broadly in the province in recent years. Most farmers have switched from growing rice to Chu or Taiwanese mangoes. Despite the price of Chu mango currently has sharply dropped while that of Taiwanese mango has slightly slid to VND17,000 per kilogram, farmers will still earn higher profits from growing mangoes than from growing rice. Farmers in Tien Giang Province’s Cai Be District, where the well-known Hoa Loc mango trees are grown, said that they will have poor harvest because of bad weather and pests. Farmers in My Hoa Commune in Vinh Long Province’s Binh Minh Town are hurriedly harvesting Nam Roi grapefruits in order to sell to traders. Currently, grade-1 Nam Roi grapefruits are bought at VND22,000 per kilogram, and grade-2 ones are at VND18,000 per kilogram. This price level ensures profits for farmers; however, the price fluctuates every day, depending on market demand. Meanwhile, the price of dragon fruits in Long An and Tien Giang provinces has also changed constantly. According to Truong Van Doi, who has more than 1,000 red-flesh dragon fruit trees in Tien Giang Province’s Cho Gao District, the price of red-flesh dragon fruits has gone up and down swiftly  in the past two months. Sometimes, traders purchased at VND60,000 per kilogram, then at VND40,000 per kilogram, or even suddenly lowered the price to VND15,000 per kilogram. Now, the price is swinging from VND25,000 to VND30,000 per kilogram. As for white-flesh dragon fruits, the price is merely at VND10,000 per kilogram. Farmers still have profits at this price level though it is not as high as it was after Tet holidays. However, it is expected that the price will decline further when fruits are harvested profusely and vigorously, starting from May onwards. Bell fruit and guava growers are those who are underprivileged as they have to spend money to hire labor to pick fruits while they will be bought at extremely cheap price of VND2,000-4,000 per kilogram by traders. Data by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development shows that fruit trees are grown on an area of around 843,000 hectares across the country, of which southern provinces account for 466,700 hectares. Fruits grown in the Mekong Delta are various with many well-known varieties, including Hoa Loc mango, Chu mango, green-skin grapefruit, Nam Roi grapefruit, dragon fruit, Ri6 durian, Chin Hoa durian, longan, Lo Ren Vinh Kim star apple, and Lai Vung mandarin orange. The country’s fruits exports have continuously increased with turnover exceeding US$1 billion in 2013 and touching $1.5 billion in 2014. PhD Nguyen Van Hoa, director of Southern Horticultural Research Institute, said that Vietnamese fruits have penetrated into demanding markets such as Japan, the US, and EU. ‘This is a very big and promising step,’ he said. Nevertheless, in general, growing and exporting fruits still show many shortcomings. Farmers still cultivate fruit trees spontaneously and in small scale, leading to high cost, not to mention that the fruits are not of equal quality. When they see any kind of fruits that yields high profits, they will flock to grow that fruit cultivar which later will cause excessive supply and drop in price. In addition, pests and diseases on fruit trees have not been controlled well. There are only a few businesses that invest money in orchards and ensure consumption for fruits in the Mekong Delta. This is a huge disadvantage for improving fruit quality and fostering export of fruits. PhD Bui Thanh Liem, director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Cho Lach District in Ben Tre Province, said that agriculture has provided farmers with new high-yielding varieties and encouraged fruit orchards to adopt VietGAP and GlobalGAP standards. Farmers have realized that in order to enter demanding markets they have to produce clean and high quality fruits. However, it is necessary to have businesses to cooperate with farmers to develop fruit orchards sustainably. According to Le Minh Hoan, provincial party committee secretary of Dong Thap Province, fruit is one of the most important commodities in the agricultural restructuring project of the province. The province will encourage farmers to join cooperatives so as to have connection with wholesalers in Ho Chi Minh City and fruit exporters. According to the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetables Association, the country mainly exports fresh fruits while frozen fruits or canned fruits exports merely account for 10 percent. In the future, the country should promote export of processed fruits in order to expand market and bring in higher profits. Ministry targets at US$2.5 bln export turnover of construction materials The Ministry of Construction has set a target to reach an export turnover of US$2-2.5 billion in construction material sector by 2020 with the annual growth rate of 10-15 percent. According to a development project in the phase 2015-2020 with visions till 2030 which the ministry has submitted to the Prime Minister for approval, Vietnam will boost exports of materials that it has advantage. Specifically, it will export 20-28 million tons of cement a year, 100-130 million square meters of tile types, 6-6.7 million square meters of paving stones, and 6-8 million of proclaim bathroom accessories. Besides consolidating traditional markets, the country will expand exports to new markets. Hanoi: Multiple million-dollar FDI projects see slow progress As many as 37 out of 144 foreign direct investment (FDI) projects in Hanoi, with land use and a total registered capital of roughly US$6.6 billion, are facing sluggish progress. To clear difficulties for FDI enterprises and accelerate the implementation of FDI projects, the Hanoi People's Committee held a conference on April 22 to discuss measures to alleviate this hindrance. According to Deputy Director of Hanoi's Department of Planning and Investment Pham Van Khuong, all 37 FDI projects in the field of real estate, which use around 1,600 hectares of land, are encountering difficulties in land planning, clearance and handovers, resulting in slow progress. A representative from Singapore's SIH company, the investor of the Metrolis Hanoi project in Nam Tu Liem district, said that the project is waiting for an investment certificate but there remains many time-consuming barriers, including land valuation procedures. The representative from SIH suggested the city authorities allow them to pay a land rent in advance to carry out the project and latter recalculate the rent payment after the land valuation was completed. Many other FDI projects such as Phuong Dong General Hospital, Yen So Park, and West Lake Urban Area are running into difficulties in land clearance and handover. FDI enterprises recommended the city increase administrative reforms, and change the methods of collecting land taxes and the settlement of disputes with local people losing land. They also raised concerns over the poor infrastructure, sanitation and security of real estate projects. Vice Chairman of the municipal People's Committee Nguyen Ngoc Tuan said at the meeting that dialogues with enterprises to resolve their difficulties should be held regularly as the removal of business's difficulties is also the removal of hindrance to the economic development of the city. He asked all relevant departments and sectors to give answers to enterprises' enquiries before May 30. Hanoi granted licences to 80 FDI projects in the first quarter of 2015, including both newly-registered and expanded projects, with a total investment of US$160.2 million, two times higher than the same period in 2014. To date, Hanoi has attracted US$26.3 billion in FDI capital with 46.6% poured into real estate projects. Japanese-invested tool manufacturer in Dong Nai becomes operational The Japanese-invested Tone Vietnam Co. Ltd. commenced operations and inaugurated a factory producing handheld tools in the Nhon Trach 3 Industrial Park of Nhon Trach district on April 22. The company, located in the southern Dong Nai Province, has more than US$5 million in investments, and is an affiliate of Japan's Tone Co. Ltd., which has eight decades of experience in portable tool manufacturing. It had leased 2 hectares of land at the industrial park in 2010 to build its facilities. Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, the Chairman of the Dong Nai People's Committee, Dinh Quoc Thai, stressed that his province had offered favourable policies for Japanese investment over the past years, given the financial strength, cutting-edge technology and responsible staff of Japanese firms. He said Dong Nai had attracted $925 million in foreign direct investment (FDI) since the beginning of 2015, $25 million higher than this year's target. It currently houses about 1,230 active FDI projects, worth more than $22.5 billion. Among the 40 countries and territories investing in Dong Nai, Japan has nearly 200 enterprises with a registered capital of around $3.3 billion, Thai added. Dong Nai licenses $600 million fibre project The Dong Nai Industrial Zones Authority has granted an investment licence to Turkey's Hyosung Istanbul Tekstil Ltd. to develop a US$600 million fibre production project in the southern province. Dong Nai Province has attracted more than $960 million in FDI this year. Illustrative photothesaigontimes.vn The authority told the local media on April 21 that the Hyosung Dong Nai Company would build its factory in the Nhon Trach 5 Industrial Zone. The facility would process products, such as spandex, nylon and polyester, as well as steel fibres for making tyres, and most of them will be exported. With this project, Dong Nai had attracted more than $960 million in foreign direct investment this year. Ninh Van Bay seeks to transfer $45 million resort The Ninh Van Bay Travel Real Estate Company is seeking partners to jointly invest in the Six Senses Saigon River project in Dong Nai Province, or to transfer the project to improve its financial situation. Company Chairman Le Xuan Hai made the announcement as he presented a business plan to shareholders at their April 21 meeting. He said the domestic property market continued to struggle, suffering from fluctuations last year caused by global economic declines. Tourism and realty firms have also continued to find it difficult to mobilise capital with market demand dipping. According to Dau Tu (Vietnam Investment Review) online, Six Senses is a five-star resort, which will cost a total of VND950 billion (US$45.24 million) to build and will cover an area of over 55 hectares in Nhon Trach District. Company sources told the website that two major partners had expressed interests in the offer. At the shareholders meeting, John Joseph Ramos was voted into the Ninh Van Bay management board. John represented Singapore-based investor Recapital Investments Pte. and was finance director at Indonesia's Messa resort. Another representative from Recapital Investments, Bernardi Djumiril, was selected to join the Ninh Van Bay supervisory board. He served as the finance director of consulting firm Recapital Jakarta in Indonesia and as a member of the Aetra Air Jakarta auditing committee. Chairman Hai told shareholders that Ninh Van Bay aimed to report a turnover of VND212.70 billion ($10.12 million) and a pre-tax profit of VND9.10 billion ($433,300) this year. Last year's figures were VND210.68 billion ($10.03 million) and VND25.63 billion ($1.22 million), respectively. At the end of 2014, the company reported VND845 billion ($40.24 million) in equity and VND1.43 trillion ($68.10 million) in total assets. The firm's shares closed down 0.2 points at VND3,500 (17 cents) per share today on the HCM City Stock Exchange. Securities firms share risk management experiences at seminar Local securities companies exchanged their risk management experiences in the securities industry at a seminar held in the capital city on April 21. Local securities companies exchange risk management experiences in the securities industry in Ha Noi.VNS Photo The seminar, which was co-organized by the Ha Noi Stock Exchange and the Techcom Securities Company, was aimed at improving risk management, considering it is crucial for business survival, especially when Viet Nam's stock market has developed better in the past years. Nguyen Van Dung, HNX's deputy director, said the State Securities Commission had recently issued guidelines for local brokers on risk management. However, he added it was not easy to implement the management as many firms had not paid enough attention to the matter. Lim Ming Wee, 56, director of the E-securities project at the Techcom Securities Company, shared his own risk management experience after working in top positions in Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand and Japan. He divided the management levels from international organizations, such as IOSCO, IMF, World Bank, down to the national level company level. At securities firms, he said, there were a lot of potential risks present, especially in Viet Nam, where the competition in the market was growing. Wee said market volatility demanded greater vigilance for managing risk effectively, adding that firms should be more cautious while watching and managing risks when the market was growing faster with more competitors. The firms must also pay attention to the speed of the market reaction to events, as well as the system and process failures and fraud risks. Furthermore, Wee said it was very dangerous to have incomplete or incorrect implementation of laws. Thus, firms should build the market both in the depth and to a certain level of sophistication. Clear authorisation limits and procedures, clear identification of responsibilities in the firms would also boost management quality. With well-trained staff, the firms could be informed about potential risks before any special team recognized it. Firms should also exercise their own disaster plan, which would be used to improve them. Wee said if the attendees could follow all these suggestions, they would definitely have a good platform to raise capital and ramp up their profile and attract investors with investing opportunities in the capital markets. Volcafe inaugurates Dong Nai coffee processing plant Volcafe Viet Nam inaugurated a US$80 million coffee processing plant in the southern province of Dong Nai, Dau tu (Vietnam Investment Review) online reported. Officials visit Volcafe's plant in Dong Nai. The facility can process 100,000 tonnes of coffee per year. Photo baodautu.vn The construction of the plant began in mid-2014 and now covers four hectares in the An Phuoc Industrial Zone in Long Thanh District. It can process 100,000 tonnes of coffee per year, which is mostly exported. The company is a new entrant in the domestic market, which is seeing stiff competition among major firms, such as Trung Nguyen, Nestlé and Vinacafe. Nestlé had also opened an $80 million decaffeination plant in Dong Nai's Amata Industrial Zone in late March. Viet Nam is currently the second largest coffee exporter in the world, after Brazil, and its coffee products are sold in more than 80 countries and territories. Last year, it exported 1.73 million tonnes of coffee, valued at $3.62 billion, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said. Vietnam’s largest beer maker Sabeco is expected to reduce the stake the government possesses at the company by more than 50 percent this year, with its chairman preferring the new investor to be a domestic brewer instead of a foreign firm. The government still holds an 89 percent stake at the Ho Chi Minh City-based company, the maker of such popular brands as 333 or Saigon Beer, and the holding could be lowered to 36 percent, according to a proposal by the Ministry of Industry and Trade. The ministry has formed a steering board to be in charge of the reform plan. The board is expected to seek approval for its proposition from the government, as well as for the requirements to look for strategic investors for Sabeco. Investors are expected to join an auction to purchase the stake, which will likely be valued at VND70,000 (USS$3.26) per share, equal to the rate in the company’s public offering in 2007. The stake sale will add some $1 billion to the state budget. Sabeco, fully known as the Saigon Beer-Alcohol-Beverage JSC, has a 40 percent beer market share in Vietnam, which consumed some 3.14 billion liters of beer last year. Its chairman Phan Dang Tuat told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that the government could hold even a smaller stake at the company by 2018. “Sabeco is not on the list of businesses that must be owned the government,” he said in an interview published Tuesday. “In 2018, the 36 percent stake [of the government] could even become zero as per the country’s commitment to the World Trade Organization.” Tuat said selling the government stake in Sabeco is intended to restructure the company, increase the state coffers, and fortify its competitiveness at a time when the Vietnamese beer market is threatened by imports. And he wants the stake sale to be “quickly conducted,” saying it will benefit the company much more. “Should the company continue operating under the current mechanism, its competitiveness will go down and I never want Sabeco to lose [to international] rivals on home soil,” he said. Sabeco was privatized in 2007 but with nearly 90 percent of its stakes owned by the government, it is still a state-owned firm subject to many rigid regulations, Tuat said. “For instance, Sabeco cannot pay $3,000-5,000 a month to recruit high-skilled employees, which foreign-invested and private companies can do easily,” he explained. The Sabeco chairman said he is more concerned about who will purchase the government stake than how much the share should be priced. The real value of Sabeco is not only its financial capability but also the market share it is holding, he said. Tuat said foreign brewers are “extremely fond of” Sabeco, even though he cannot be sure whether they are interested in its brand or its large market share. “I don’t know whether they want to help strengthen the Sabeco brand or to turn those who drink Saigon beer or Vietnamese beer into drinkers of [foreign] beverages,” he said, adding the latter scenario “is extremely dangerous” and should be “seriously considered.” Tuat said if a foreign investor is to acquire the government stake at Sabeco, they will not spend money boosting its brand. “Why should they make Sabeco more competitive than their own brand in Vietnam, which in fact has a higher profitability ratio?” he said. “This will eventually ‘kill’ the Sabeco brand.” Tuat warned that foreign investors may transfer their profit out of Vietnam or even commit transfer pricing, affecting the Vietnamese state budget. “Selling the stake to foreign strategic investors may yield higher profit, and immediate benefits, but if you look further, things may not be what they seem,” he said. Tuat thus stated straightforwardly that he wants Sabeco’s strategic investor to be a domestic one. “I can assert that if a foreign investor steps in, they will do nothing to develop Sabeco,” he said. Additional chip manufacturing factory opened in HCMC The management board of HCMC Hi-Tech Agricultural Park has just granted an investment certificate to Hoang Nguyen Investment Company for its project of applying gene technology to chip-manufacturing, diagnostic services and pathology treatment. The project with a total investment capital of nearly VND 600 billion, which is located inside HCMC Hi-Tech Agricultural Park is targeted to build additional chip-manufacturing factory in accordance with the United States’ technology transfer programs, aiming to diagnose tuberculosis, cancer, deaf from birth, and thalassemia. As planned, the factory will be put into operation by 2020 with its capacity of 360, 000 chip type each per year. Young entrepreneurs encouraged to take part in ASEAN fair The Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Support Centre in the northern region’s recent press conference in Hanoi has called on Vietnamese young entrepreneurs to attend ASEAN Youth Creative Industry Fair (AYCIF). The fair acts as a bridge for ASEAN entrepreneurs to promote their products to the world and provides an excellent opportunity for them to exchange experiences, while establishing a partner network. AYCIF organizing board representative Gilang Ageng Sulistyo said that the event will help ASEAN young entrepreneurs expand the connection network among entrepreneurs. The fair themed “Seizing Opportunities within Harmony” is set to get underway in Jakarta, Indonesia on August 29-30, and hopes to attract creative industry players throughout ASEAN region and Japan to discuss, network, and showcase their works and products. To kick-start AYCIF's series of events, this press conference also marks the official opening for the registration of the Creativepreneur Competition. The competition is divided into 4 categories based on each sub-sectors in the creative industry: Fashion, Craft & Product Design, Games & Applications, and Movie & Animation. Online registration can be made at the following address: Aseancreativeyouth.org. Source : VEF/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/Dantri/VIR