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BUSINESS IN BRIEF 21/7
Ban
Phuc, the only nickel project in
The
ministry in the draft said that nickel duty ranges from 7-25%. However, it
suggested maintaining the current duty on nickel at 10% as the Son La
Province-based project had lost around US$55 million by May 30.
Therefore,
a tax increase in the current circumstances will severely impact the company
and investment environment, the ministry said.
Ban
Phuc Nickel Mines Co. involves Asian Mineral Resources Limited (AMR) - a
global mining group listed in
The
US$136-million project started operating in July 2013 with a capacity of
360,000 tons of nickel ore and 70,000 tons of refined nickel ore a year,
mainly for export.
According
to a report issued by the National Assembly Standing Committee in October
2012,
Investment
in a nickel refiner is infeasible due to high cost and an effective project
requires nickel reserves from 18 million tons. There are 12 nickel refining
projects in the world, including one in
In
2008, when the project started construction, raw nickel fetched US$28,890 per
ton. It slipped to a mere US$19,640 in 2012 and further plunged to US$13,216
in mid-2014.
In
June 2014, the enterprise reported to the ministry that it would lose nearly
US$20 million in the year alone due to tumbling world prices. Besides, taxes
and fees in
The
ministry at the time rejected the firm’s proposal for an export duty
reduction, saying the Government did not encourage exports of natural
resources.
Last
year, Ban Phuc’s refined nickel ore export was 74,800 tons worth US$87.3
million, with export tax totaling around VND375.6 billion. Domestic nickel
demand is expected to stay low, at around 5,300 tons in 2020 and 6,700 tons
in 2025.
Nickel
price is estimated to remain low this year. On June 30, it stood at US$10,795
per ton on the London Metal Exchange, the lowest since April 2009.
Listed
firms report mixed earnings results
Listed
enterprises reported mixed business results in the first quarter of this
year, with firms on the
Ending
the first quarter, enterprises listed on the Hochiminh Stock Exchange (HOSE)
saw their after-tax profit growing 2.25% against the same period of 2014
whereas the total profit of firms on the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX) surged
31.9%.
According
a recent report of HOSE, member enterprises reported revenue rises of 9.05%.
However, enterprises in the VN30 group reported a 9.84% decrease in profit.
Besides,
the return on asset (ROA) of companies on the southern bourse dropped 10.2%
year-on-year and that of VN30 tickers lost around 22.5%. But the return on
equity (ROE) of the entire market increased 2.85% and that of the VN30 group
rose 2.92%.
Explaining
the profit decrease of VN30 companies, Tran Anh Dao, deputy general director
of HOSE, said many listed enterprises raised capital in the first quarter, so
profit indexes (which are calculated based on capital) fell. Besides, net
profit growth of this group also decreased mildly.
Enterprises
in the VN30 basket reported ROA and ROE at 0.62% and 2.92% at the end of the
first quarter. While the combined profit of VN30 enterprises lost 9.84%,
their total assets and equity surged 16.3% and 31.6% respectively.
The
indexes were calculated on data of 184 out of 301 enterprises listed on HOSE.
Meanwhile,
HNX said that 355 out of 362 listed enterprises saw profit surging 31.9%
year-on-year in the first quarter.
According
to a report of HNX, enterprises continued to post better business and
production results than 2014’s first quarter. Aside from positive impacts of
the macro economy, enterprises took measures to cut management costs and
focus on core businesses.
Enterprises
in the report obtained over VND2.99 trillion (US$137.4 million) in after-tax
profit, surging by 31.9%. Of which, 302 profitable companies registered total
net profit of over VND3.1 trillion, up 20.6% year-on-year, while 53 firms
reported total losses at over VND163 billion, falling 53%.
Businesses
in the industrial sector had the most positive results with 100 firms
reporting gains, followed by the finance sector with 25 firms and the fuel and
mining industry with 22 companies.
Among
loss-making firms, the industrial sector made up the largest ratio with 12
enterprises losing VND40.7 billion, followed by finance and construction with
VND39.1 billion and VND38.9 billion respectively.
Additional
20 FDI projects land in Haiphong
The
northern port city of
The
province also agreed to add a combined US$139.96 million in capital to nine
projects.
According
to Mai Xuan Hoa, Deputy Head of the Hai Phong Economic Zone Management Board,
most of the FDI projects invested in Vietnam- Singapore Industrial Park
(VSIP) and Trang Due industrial park are small-scale supporting industry
production to provide spare parts for other groups like LGE, Kyocera and Fuji
Xerox.
Heangsung
Electronics Co., Ltd’s project assembling electronic circuits is the largest
new project with US$100 million in investment across 10 hectares.
In a
bid to fulfil the 2015 FDI attraction plan, the municipal People’s Committee
has requested the management board and the Investment Promotion Centre
further their promotion activities and supportive services to lure more
investment to the city.
In
addition, the Hai Phong Economic Zone is upgrading its web portal to offer
English and Japanese along with Vietnamese with a focus on the investment
climate in the city as well as in industrial parks and economic zones.
Vice
Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Dan Duc Hiep said that the city
has implemented a number of key projects, creating breakthroughs in
infrastructure and serving as driving forces to motivate socio-economic
development.
The
projects include the Lach Huyen port and the upgrades of Cat Bi International
Airport and the Hanoi-Hai Phong highway.
More
efforts needed to increase use of local goods
Despite
consumers increasingly placing their trust in products made in Vietnam, a
number of barriers are holding local products back on the domestic market,
heard a seminar in Ho Chi Minh City on July 16.
Vice
Minister of Industry and Trade Ho Thi Kim Thoa told participants that after
five years of implementing Instruction 494/CT-TTg on the use of locally-produced
materials and goods for State-funded projects, Vietnamese enterprises have
increased the use of locally-manufactured goods, thus reducing their
production and business costs.
According
to the Vice Minister, the instruction contributed to reducing the trade
deficit-export turnover ratio from 17.47 percent in 2010 to 10.16 percent in
2011, and achieving a trade surplus from 2012 onwards. It also helped to
improve the competitiveness of Vietnamese goods.
In the
first six months of 2015, the manufacturing and processing sector grew by 9.6
percent compared to the same period last year.
Huynh
Dac Thang, Deputy Head of the Planning Department under the Ministry of
Industry and Trade (MoIT), said the Instruction had helped boost the
production of a number of new products to replace imported ones.
The
instruction has been well implemented in State-run corporations and helped
change investors’ attitudes towards domestically-produced goods.
The
business community, however, pointed out a number of challenges faced in
selling products and winning contracts.
According
to Dinh Van Thanh, General Director of the Bach Khoa Mechanical And
Refrigeration Engineering Company Limited, most enterprises which produce
equipment for the entire beverage industry are too small in scale to be able
to compete effectively with international contractors.
The
quality and design of local products often does not meet investors’
requirements. In this regard, Thanh suggested that the country should remove
technical barriers and create support policies to reduce the cost of
technological transfers in a bid to improve Vietnamese products.
Meanwhile,
Tran Tho Huy, General Director of the Thien Nam Elevator Joint Stock Company,
said local manufacturers and suppliers still faced challenges in winning
tenders given that many investors required goods to be of foreign origin.
Huynh
Dac Thang emphasised that increasing the effectiveness of Instruction 494 in
the future was key to increasing the country’s strengths and competitive
edge.
In addition
to enterprises’ efforts to improve the quality and diversify products, Thang
said Government agencies would create a legal framework to promote and assist
the development of local supporting, manufacturing and hi-tech industries
An
international conference was held in the central coastal
The
event attracted the participation of more than 200 managers and leaders of
major domestic and foreign enterprises operating in the sector.
Delegates
at the event outlined challenges hindering the sector’s progress such as
epidemics, climate change, drought and high prices of raw materials, which
account for 70-80 percent of the production prices.
According
to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development,
Pham
Hong Duong, a representative of the Thanh Thanh Cong Group, said
Business
policy overhauls lead to positive outcomes
A
string of recent moves to reform mechanisms and tax and customs policies have
resulted in encouraging outcomes, evidenced by a number of improved business
indexes.
Dang
Phuong Dung, General Secretary of the Vietnam Textiles and Garment
Association, said cumbersome customs and payment procedures which once
hampered the sector’s exports have been simplified and processed via
e-channels.
The
piloted granting of certificates of origin through the Internet, conducted by
the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the General Department of Vietnam
Customs, has also helped businesses save time and expenses, she said,
considering the reforms as initial steps to be expanded upon.
Deputy
Director General of the General Statistics Office (GSO) Pham Quang Vinh said
the number of newly established companies increased significantly,
demonstrating the business circle’s effective efforts and the efficiency of
measures taken by the Government, ministries, and sectors to improve the
business environment.
In the
first half of 2015, 45,406 enterprises registered for establishment with a
total registered capital of over VND282.39 trillion (US$12.98 billion),
representing respective gains of 21.7% and 22.3% from a year before.
The
number of those suspending operations or dissolving was equivalent to only
5.9% of the total operational firms, much lower than the usual figure of
between 12 and 14%, data from the GSO shows.
According
to a recent GSO survey, 40.5% of the 3,389 companies questioned perceived
their business situation in the second quarter to be more positive than the
previous three months. Another 39.4% said the situation remained stable while
the remaining 20.1% reported difficulties.
Director
of the GSO’s Industrial Statistics Department Pham Dinh Thuy partly
attributed such an upbeat situation to the promulgation of the amended Law on
Enterprises which breaks down regulation obstacles.
He
considered 2015 a business recovery period fostered by the implementation of
Government Decree 19/NQ-CP dated March 12, 2015 on solutions to improve the
business climate and national competiveness.
Three
months since the decree’s enforcement, the Ministry of Planning and
Investment proposed the removal of nearly 3,300 business conditions
stipulated in 170 ministerial circulars and decisions, Minister Bui Quang
Vinh said.
Relevant
agencies also streamlined 4,431 of 4,723 administrative procedures specified
in 25 Government decrees, accounting for 93.8%. A number of ministries and
sectors have also connected to the national single-window system and applied
information technology in handling procedures.
Business
associations expect more concrete solutions from the Government, such as
reducing taxes and rescheduling tax and charge payment deadlines, to help
them reduce input expenses. Authorised agencies should also avoid unannounced
policy changes and facilitate companies’ access to concessional bank loans.
Deputy
Prime Minister Vu Van Ninh said the Cabinet is willing to engage in dialogues
with enterprises to provide support as practically as possible.
Experts
highlight need to increase information on integration
Government
officials and economic experts came together for a conference in
The
event also provided updates on a number of free trade agreements (FTAs)
recently signed between
Deputy
Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Cam Tu stressed that the plan would
analyse the limitations and shortcomings in the field and propose priorities
and directions for the future.
The
plan is expected to help local enterprises and citizens gain an insight into
integration, thus helping them develop appropriate business strategies, Tu
said, adding that ministries, sectors, localities and businesses should
cooperate together closely in the field.
Participants
underlined the need to renew methods used to inform the public of the
country’s ongoing international integration process. They urged the Ministry
of Industry and Trade (MoIT) to intensify its efforts in this regard.
Vice
Chairwoman of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee Nguyen Thi Hong said
FTAs with strong and comprehensive commitments on trade, services, investment
and institutional reform would provide opportunities as well as challenges to
Vietnam’s integration efforts.
The
Government, ministries, sectors and localities should collaborate to map out
specific measures to help enterprises and trade associations take advantage
of FTAs and deal with challenges effectively, she stressed. Hong also stated
that the municipal People’s Committee was working hard to provide assistance
in and information on the integration process.
Traditionally,
cattle were not reared for their meat in
Today
however, the beef cattle industry is the third largest money maker in the
livestock industry, after pigs and poultry, and as such, makes an important
contribution to the rural economy.
According
to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), the nation’s
largest and more advanced beef cattle farms (with herds in excess of 100
head), are mainly located in the south eastern provinces of Binh Phuoc, Binh
Thuan and Ninh Thuan and in the
These
commercial cattle fattening operations have largely been well funded and
primarily aimed at servicing the strong demand for beef that exists in the
However
with the advent of
According
to official statistics,
More
specifically, the country imported 70,000 head in 2013, 150,000 head in 2014
and 115,242 head in first quarter of this year, with plans to import a
cumulative total of 460,000 head for 2015.
The
government levies an import duty of 5% on live cattle imports as opposed to a
much higher 15-20% duty on frozen beef. However, the sales price of
Australian beef on the store shelves is generally about the same as
Vietnamese beef.
According
to MARD, this has arisen because a change in demand from the urban area
markets has resulted in better pricing for crossbred cattle of these advanced
beef cattle farms that can meet specific purchasing criteria on minimum body
weight, lean meat content and animal age.
MARD
has also forecast this trend will continue and likely intensify into the long
term, driven by more sophisticated demand of the food service industry,
modern trade retailers and the modern domestic consumer (middle income and
younger), who is more focused on food health, safety and quality.
Local
cattle no longer are in demand in the lucrative urban area markets like
Visan,
a leading Vietnamese supplier of meat, began importing Australian beef in
September 2013.
“The
biggest advantage Australian beef has over Vietnamese beef is consistency in
both quality of the meat and size of the animal,” a representative of Visan
recently told a reporter.
“Australian
beef is generally of a better quality,” he said adding on average the weight
of domestic cattle is roughly 250 kg on the hoof while that of Australian
cattle is twice the size at 500kg.
Australian
beef is also more widely available in the larger cities and can be found not
only in the larger restaurants and supermarkets but also in smaller shops and
traditional markets.
Australian
beef had a 60-70% share of the market in
Fresfoco
revealed that it will start supplying Vietnamese customers ‘speciality’ beef
products like omasum (beef stomach) and open a chain of steakhouses featuring
Australian beef in the coming time.
Although
no one knows exactly what the future will hold, it certainly appears that for
now at least, Australian cattle ranchers have got a solid grip on the
Pacific
Rim nations drive growth in
Vietnam’s
clothing and textile exports to the 12 Pacific Rim countries currently
negotiating the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement have thrived in the
five months leading up to June, spiking nearly 70% against last year’s
corresponding period.
Statistics
from the Vietnam Textile and Garment Association (VITAS) show that shipments
to the 12
The
sharpest growth was seen in the
Economists
at VITAS have forecast the sector will set a record for 2015, generating
total revenues of US$27.5-28 billion for the year.
The 12
Pacific Rim nations include Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan,
Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the US and Vietnam.
The
Vietnam-Thailand joint committee on bilateral trade will meet in
The
Thai Ministry of Commerce has said that the two countries are aiming for
US$20 billion in two-way trade turnover by 2020.
During
the 3-day meeting,
The
meeting will be held on the eve of a visit to
Lam
Dong’s Oolong tea meets int’l standards
A
recent inspection acknowledged that all kinds of Lam Dong’s Oolong tea
exported to
The
Lam Dong provincial Plant Protection Department said on July 15 that
At a
recent inspection, the Taiwanese side took 148 samples from 968 tonnes of tea
made by 40 tea processing and production companies in Lam Dong to analyse
pesticide residues.
The
results showed no excessive pesticide residues.
Earlier
in late April, the Taiwanese management agency warned that tea imported from
State
budget collection to reach 20 pct of GDP
State
budget collection for the next five years is expected to make up 20-21
percent of the GDP, Deputy Minister of Finance Do Hoang Anh Tuan said at a
meeting of the Ministry’s Party Committee on July 17.
Tax
and fee collections are expected to range between 19-20 percent of the GDP
and domestic collection (excluding collections from crude oil) is set to
reach 80 percent of the state budget revenue by 2020, according to Tuan.
The
sector also aims to keep the budgetary overspending at four percent of GDP
and the public debt below 65 percent of GDP by 2020.
In
order to realise the targets, the sector needs to pursue a tight and
effective fiscal policy, improve the management of tax collections to reduce
the impact of decreasing budget revenues from natural and mineral resources,
Tuan said.
He
also underlined the importance of the private sector in increasing investment
resources for the society.
Meanwhile,
Minister Dinh Tien Dung highlighted the opportunities and challenges faced by
the sector in international integration from 2015-2020.
The
sector needs to build synchronous and transparent financial institutions in
line with the development of the market economy and international
integration.
Administrative
procedure reform in the financial sector is a priority of the period to
ensure a favourable business climate and enhance the competitiveness of the
economy, Dung said.
He
also urged science and technology application in the sector to improve
effectiveness in tax collections, customs and stocks as well as strengthening
the role of monitoring and supervision of public finances to ensure security
of the public budget and prevent corruption and waste.
Reports
at the meeting showed that state budget collections from 2011-2015 nearly
doubled those from the previous five-year period.
Power
development offers both opportunities and challenges
Opportunities
and challenges to electricity development in the Mekong Delta region were
discussed at a conference held in Can Tho city on July 17.
Thanks
to its favourable terrain and convenient water transport, Mekong Delta
provinces have focused on building a raft of thermo-electricity plants to
serve the increasing demand of local residents and ensure energy security in
the region and its vicinity, according to Nguyen Quoc Viet, Deputy Head of
the Steering Committee for the Southwest Region.
However,
the construction and operation of thermo-power plants has had great impacts
on the environment and local lives, he added.
At the
conference, scientists and experts overviewed the blueprint to develop
electricity by 2030 in the country and the Mekong Delta region as well as the
influences of coal-fuelled power plants on community health while
recommending alternative energy sources to protect the environment.
Nguyen
Duc Cuong, Director of the Centre for Renewable Energy and Clean Development
Mechanism under the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s
He
added that the region has huge potential to develop renewable energy plants
using biomass resources such as rice husk, sugar cane bagasse, wind and sun.
Wind
farms with a total capacity of 16 megawatts are being operated in the region;
additional turbines will be installed to bring the total capacity to 83
megawatts. Nine other biomass plants with a combined capacity of 30 megawatts
are to be constructed in the locality.
According
to Tran Dinh Sinh, Vice Director of the Green Innovation and Development
Centre (GreenID), air pollution caused by power plants in the Mekong Delta
region indirectly leads to 8,000 deaths every year as a result of higher
risks of heart strokes, lung cancer and respiratory diseases.
He
said that while planning power, industrial and transport development,
relevant authority need to evaluate plan impacts on the environment and
resident health. He also recommended the Government further invest in clean
energy and installing equipment to control emissions.
Long
An border gate economic zone plan announced
The
Ministry of Construction, in collaboration with the People’s Committee of the
southern
Accordingly,
the 13,000-hectare economic zone bordering the Cambodian
By
2020, land used for construction in the zone is intended to reach 1,000
hectares with a population of 58,000 people.
This
is expected to increase to 2,000 hectares with a population of over 100,000
people by 2030.
The
economic zone is hoped to become one of the most important commercial and
industrial hubs in the Mekong Delta region.
SVB
interest rate management benefits businesses
The
State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has flexibly managed the interest rate policy to
suit the market and currency exchange demand and support businesses, stated
SBV Deputy Governor Nguyen Thi Hong.
Currently,
interest rates are at an ideal level, the same level as in 2005-2006, she
noted, adding that both deposit and lending interest rates have dropped
compared to those at the end of 2014.
Specifically,
deposit interest rates fell 0.2-0.5 percent per year, mostly for over
six-month terms, while lending interest rates declined by 0.2-0.3 percent per
year, standing at about 6-9 percent annually for short-term loans and 9-11
percent for middle- and long-term ones.
Recently,
inter-bank interest rates have decreased sharply to about 3-3.5 percent per
month, which is relatively low and stable, she said.
Through
the rest of the year, the SBV will continue flexibly introducing and
withdrawing money from the market for banks to boost credit growth and better
meet market demand, said Hong.
The
bank will also keep interest rate at a stable level while keeping a close eye
on the operation of commercial banks for timely monetary adjustments,
ensuring management targets set earlier this year.
Hong
re-affirmed that the SBV will keep fluctuations of the VND/USD exchange rate
at a maximum of 2 percent in 2015, as set in its policy for the year, despite
the fact that the rate has already been adjusted by 1 percent twice this
year.
This
is part of efforts to guide the market and help import and export enterprises
actively define their production plan in line with developments of the
domestic and global currency market.
Hong
said that although the devaluation of the VND may benefit exporters, it would
negatively affect manufacturers of export products made from imported
materials, since the cost of raw materials will be higher.
She
noted that the textile and garment sector had to import 82.5 percent of
materials in 2013, the wood sector - 70 percent, and footwear - 60 percent.
Although
the devaluation might benefit farmers in exporting agro-forestry and fishery
products, it would also raise the price of fertilizers, pesticide and
agricultural equipment and machinery. As such, exchange rate adjustments to
improve price competitiveness would only be slightly effective in supporting
exports, she held.
At the
same time, total imports of
Statistics
show that about 90 percent of
After
careful analysis and assessment, the SBV will stick to the policy of
maintaining the fluctuation of the VND/USD exchange rate in 2015 at 2 percent
as set earlier this year, Hong concluded.
Seminar
discusses challenges for oil
Oil
and gas industry players should optimise operations and costs to sustain
their margins as prices continue to decline, Steven Yap, consulting firm
Deloitte's Southeast Asia energy and resources leader, told a seminar in
While
a number of oil and gas operations would be suspended temporarily, others
could increase production as the cost of input services tend to reduce due to
the impact of the falling oil prices, he said.
"Companies
drilling for oil and gas in
"A
more sustainable strategy would be to pursue innovative means of investing
and managing capital and operational expenditures that would include stress
testing current processes and collaboration through multiple means."
He
reminded participants, who were from the oil and gas industry, service
providers and bank, that they should consider mergers.
Pham
Van Thinh, country managing partner of Deloitte
"The
challenge is how to cut costs while maintaining the efficient performance of
a project as prices have declined more than 50 percent but the opportunity is
that as input costs reduce, the operating costs will also be lower.
"Despite
the price fall that began in late 2014, M&A activities in the industry
have been hectic."
He
said businesses could suspend or defer some projects to focus on key ones to
replenish funds for investing when the marker recovers.
"The
cycle of an oil and gas field is relatively long, which requires a large
capital source for investing in exploration and development before gaining
profit.
"Though
the short- and medium-term goals are cutting costs to improve efficiency,
businesses need to think of sustainable growth."
The
seminar, titled "Managing the New Challenges of Oil and Gas
Projects", was organised by Deloitte
Countries
in RCEP will have a combined GDP of 21 trillion USD, accounting for 29
percent of the world's GDP, said Nguyen Anh Duong, Deputy Director of the
Central Institute for Economic Management (CIEM).
Speaking
during a workshop held in
Negotiations
on RCEP officially began in 2012 with six countries:
According
to Duong, RCEP is expected to offer major opportunities to
The
pact could also help
Sectors
such as seafood, agriculture, construction, garments and textiles, as well as
leather footwear, would have additional opportunities for growth, he added.
For example, the country would have major opportunities in distribution and
in the hotel and restaurant business in the countries in RCEP, especially in
However,
Vo Tri
Thanh, CIEM's deputy director, said RCEP and TPP would not clash but support
each other to help
"The
two pacts have a common feature of commitment to freedom in trading goods and
services, and in investment. Talks on both RCEP and TPP are expected to end
this year," Thanh said.
In
RCEP, ASEAN is looking for cooperation and equal development. The TPP is a
free trade agreement aimed at resolving the issues of labour standards, a
competitive environment, State-owned enterprises, State purchases and
intellectual property.
"Some
people thought that TPP and RCEP will compete with each other and overlap.
However, in my view, the two pacts could supplement each other," Thanh
added.
Earlier,
an ANZ Bank report said that
Thanh
suggested that
BTA,
TPP: important deals to strengthen Vietnam-US trade
The
signing of the Vietnam-US bilateral trade agreement (BTA) in 2001 marked the
start of booming trade between the two countries, which hit 35 billion USD by
the end of 2014 from only 1.51 billion USD in 2001.
Twenty
years since the normalisation of diplomatic ties between the two nations,
According
to Nguyen Dinh Luong, former Head of the negotiating team on the Vietnam-US
BTA, the content of the agreement focused on goods trade, intellectual
property, investment relationships and service trade and was designed based
on the principles of the World Trade Organisation.
Thanks
to the BTA,
Besides
trade,
In the
first quarter of this year,
The
number of US visitors to
While
the BTA laid the foundation for bilateral economic-trade ties, the pending
Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement is hoped to give a new boost to the
ties. It is expected to help
The
two countries are aiming to complete bilateral negotiations of the TPP and
sign the deal by the end of this year.
The
American Chamber of Commerce in
Speaking
at a forum held at the Washington D.C.-based Centre for Strategic and
International Studies (CSIS) in March this year,
The
TPP is a great opportunity for
According
to
On the
occasion of his recent visit to the
Vietnam
fosters trade ties with Paraguay
The
trade representatives are looking to promote the export of Vietnamese
footwear, electric home appliances, garments, rubber, coffee, cashew nuts and
pottery and ceramic products to the South American market.
At the
same time, the Trade Office also wants to seek Paraguayan partners who can
sell high quality cows, soy bean, green bean, and cotton to
The
annual Expo 2015 held in
Last
year, the event saw the signing of a great number of deals, worth a total of
200 million USD.
In
2014, trade value between
For
the first five months this year,
MobiFone
H1 profit hits 182 million USD
The
MobiFone Telecommunications Corporation's aggregate income in the first half
of this year is estimated at 18.7 trillion VND (860 million USD), a
year-on-year increase of 7.85 percent.
The
corporation's aggregate profit reached 3.96 trillion VND (182 million USD),
increasing 7.96 percent year on year, MobiFone's General Director Cao Duy Hai
said at a conference on July 15 to review the firm's first-half performance.
The
company has earned 49.28 percent of the profit it has targeted this year, Hai
said.
The
market share of MobiFone has increased by 0.4 percent compared to the same
period last year, with the company attracting 5,937,905 new subscribers,
taking the total number of its subscribers to 48,998,091.
The
corporation aims to develop five million new subscribers in the last six
months of this year and earn a profit of 3,340 billion VND (153.6 million
USD).
However,
the corporation faces some challenges in the second half of the year. They
are related to implementing 4G (fourth-generation network) technology,
completing its plan to issue shares, diversifying its products and services
and expanding its international business, Le Nam Tra, chairman of the
corporation, said.
Power
development offers both opportunities and challenges
Opportunities
and challenges to electricity development in the Mekong Delta region were
discussed at a conference held in Can Tho city on July 17.
Thanks
to its favourable terrain and convenient water transport, Mekong Delta
provinces have focused on building a raft of thermo-electricity plants to
serve the increasing demand of local residents and ensure energy security in
the region and its vicinity, according to Nguyen Quoc Viet, Deputy Head of
the Steering Committee for the Southwest Region.
However,
the construction and operation of thermo-power plants has had great impacts
on the environment and local lives, he added.
At the
conference, scientists and experts overviewed the blueprint to develop
electricity by 2030 in the country and the Mekong Delta region as well as the
influences of coal-fuelled power plants on community health while
recommending alternative energy sources to protect the environment.
Nguyen
Duc Cuong, Director of the Centre for Renewable Energy and Clean Development
Mechanism under the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s
He added
that the region has huge potential to develop renewable energy plants using
biomass resources such as rice husk, sugar cane bagasse, wind and sun.
Wind
farms with a total capacity of 16 megawatts are being operated in the region;
additional turbines will be installed to bring the total capacity to 83
megawatts. Nine other biomass plants with a combined capacity of 30 megawatts
are to be constructed in the locality.
According
to Tran Dinh Sinh, Vice Director of the Green Innovation and Development Centre
(GreenID), air pollution caused by power plants in the Mekong Delta region
indirectly leads to 8,000 deaths every year as a result of higher risks of
heart strokes, lung cancer and respiratory diseases.
He
said that while planning power, industrial and transport development,
relevant authority need to evaluate plan impacts on the environment and
resident health. He also recommended the Government further invest in clean
energy and installing equipment to control emissions.
Source: VEF/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/Dantri/VET/VIR
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Thứ Hai, 20 tháng 7, 2015
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