BUSINESS IN BRIEF 22/5 Gaw Capital resuscitates plan for Park City project Gaw Capital Partners, a Hong Kong-based real estate private equity firm, is advancing plans to realise the Park City project in Ho Chi Minh City, which has been delayed for more than nine years. In mid-2015, Gaw Capital Partners announced that it had acquired existing real estate projects in Vietnam from property funds Indochina Land Holdings 2 and 3. Although the company did not specify how much was paid for each of these projects, Gaw Capital Partners said that it paid  a total of $106 million for the following four properties: Indochina Plaza in Hanoi, Hyatt Regency Danang, Malibu Villas Quang Nam, and Park City in Ho Chi Minh City. Of these, Park City is the largest, but has yet to be implemented. A representative from the real estate firm confirmed this news to VIR, saying that Gaw Capital Partners had successfully obtained its  business registration certificate, and the investment certificate had been submitted for amendment. “Our local team has attended regular meetings with local authorities and has submitted the revised project design to the Ho Chi Minh management authorities,” said the company spokesperson. Park City was initially granted an investment certificate in 2008 as a joint venture between Saigon Development Joint Stock Company and Saigon Entertainment Park Holding Pte Ltd from Singapore. The development was intended to be a multi-functional entertainment centre. The 49.5 hectare project’s investors were replaced by Indochina Land Holdings 2 and 3 in 2009, and in 2010 its function was changed into a trading centre and residential development. Faced with investor restructuring, difficulties in land clearance and compensation, and the downturn of the real estate market, the project has remained in limbo ever since. Located in front of Nguyen Van Linh road, the project is 20 minutes from the city centre. According to its investment certificate, which was amended on February 26, 2009, Park City had the total investment capital of $310 million and a lifespan of 50 years. The investment in Park City marks a significant move by Gaw Capital Partners to increase its presence in Vietnam. The real estate firm also announced last year its investment in a mixed-use project, the $1.2-billion Empire City development in Ho Chi Minh City, through its Gateway Real Estate Fund III. Gaw Capital Partners will implement this project via Empire City Limited Liability Company - a joint venture  between Tien Phuoc Real Estate, Tran Thai Real Estate, and Denver Power - a member of Gaw Capital Partners. Located in Ho Chi Minh City’s Thu Thiem new urban area, Empire City will consist of a deluxe shopping mall, a 5-star hotel, an office building, and a modern condominium, as well as an 86-story multifunctional tower, which would be the tallest building in Vietnam once completed. SSC fines stock traders   The State Securities Commission (SSC) has announced a decision issuing fines totaling VND550 million ($24,645) to certain stock market investors. Ms. Bui Thi Ngoc Yen from Pleiku, in the central highlands province of Gia Lai, is charged with having tried to manipulate stocks. From July to September 2015 she used nine difference accounts to trade the stock VID on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange with the purpose of price manipulation. The Vietnam International Securities Company (VIS), meanwhile, is to be fined VND125 million ($5,600) for permitting customers to conduct margin trading without reporting to the SSC. Mr. Duong Quang Chau from the Ho Chi Minh City Infrastructure Investment (CII) is being fined VND42 million ($1,88o) by the SSC after trading in CII’s stock without reporting to the SSC. Gas trade circular released The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) has issued Circular No. 03/2016/TT-BCT, regulating the implementation of certain articles of Government Decree No. 19/2016/ND-CP on the trading of gas. To take effect from May 15, the circular stipulates that wholesalers of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) can set wholesale and retail prices within their network. LPG retailers must then sell LPG at the price determined by wholesalers, and commissions are to be based on retail prices. Contracts between wholesalers and retailers must be in writing and have a maximum term of 12 months. Regarding registration for importing, exporting and processing gas, prior to every October 20 traders must submit plans for the year to follow to MoIT for a decision. Related documents include an application for approval on the import or export of LPG, LNG, and CNG, a copy of the business license, a copy of permits for using harbors, and copies of tank ownership or leasing licenses. Documents to be submitted for approval of LPG exports and imports also include a copy of licenses for bottling, a copy of the brand license, a copy of the license for refilling LPG bottles, a list of licensed retailers, and a copy of the license for supplying LPG to industrial customers and retailers. Those for LNG and CNG imports and exports also require documents on owning or leasing LNG and CNG tanks or LNG and CNG tubes, copies of licenses for supplying LNG and CNG, and copies of licenses for refilling LNG and CNG tanks on trucks. Japanese manufacturers eye Vietnam as export base, Nikkei reports With the signing of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), Japanese manufacturers are looking even more favorably on the ASEAN region and especially Vietnam as a base of operations, the Nikkei Asian Review reported on May 12. According to the review,  some 43.8% of respondents to of a survey by the Mizuho Research Institute cited ASEAN as the region where they plan to devote their greatest efforts moving forward. That is an increase of 2.3 percentage points over the survey conducted last year and the fourth year in a row that ASEAN topped the list. The review said  that the Mizuho Research Institute conducted the survey in February, targeting Japanese manufacturers capitalized at 10 million yen ($92,000) or more. The institute received valid responses from 1,100 companies. Increasing interest in Vietnam was clear from the responses. Asked to list the ASEAN countries in which they plan to focus, 53.5% of manufacturers cited Vietnam, up 4.9 percentage points over last year. Thailand, where auto industry growth is slowing, was cited by 59.7% of companies, but that is a dip of 2.2 points from last year. Interest in Indonesia waned 4.7 points to 41.5%, Nikkei added. With the signing of the TPP this February, Vietnam has gained attention as an export base for textiles and other products, the review said. Asked where they plan to expand investments among the 12 signatory nations to the agreement, 12.8% of respondents cited Vietnam, 10.7% cited Japan and 4.9% said the U.S. Meanwhile, manufacturers continued to pull out of China as the economy there slows. Only 67.4% of manufacturers said they have bases in China, which is a 2-point drop from last year and the second decline in a row, Nikkei reported. Frozen projects slowly handled in HCMC Clause 49 of the Investment Law 2014 regulate that projects running behind schedule for more than a year must stop operation, however many large projects in the center of Ho Chi Minh City have yet to be handled for many years. They include foreign direct investment (FDI) projects such as Berjeya Ky Hoa Lake which has been stationary and become a parking lot in District 10. According to the clause, responsibility to tackle frozen projects belongs to the Department of Planning and Investment. While the department said that there are many reasons for behind schedule projects including objective and subjective factors. If sluggish progress is due to investors’ weak ability, handing will not be complex. The department will just revoke projects and reclaim land for other investors to improve land use efficiency. Still, it has been difficult to put an end to those slow due to objective reasons or both objective and subjective causes. For instance, compensation costs are higher than profit, households propose too high indemnity level exceeding investors’ ability, authorized agencies slowly approve building project and compensation level, procedures to get building permit are too complicated, and inflation and the world’s financial and economic crisis raise capital difficulties for investors. In addition, the city has nearly 6,000 FDI projects but the agency managing post-licensing comprises only few officials, said the department. This has created a big challenge to supervise these projects and conducts steps to terminate sluggish ones as per regulations. Because of the above difficulties, terminating operation of behind schedule projects required coordination of many agencies and instructions by the city People’s Committee, the department said. Mercedes-Benz’s ROSA buses well received in Vietnam Up to 100 orders for ROSA buses, a Mercedes-Benz’s prestige commercial vehicle FUSO brand, have been made shortly after the company introduced the model in Vietnam. The FUSO brand’s four ROSA models, including Business, Exclusive, Executive, and School, ranging from 1.249 billion VND (roughly 56,000 USD) to 1.399 billion VND (roughly 63,000 USD), have been for the first time assembled outside Japan. According to General Director of Mercedes-Bez Vietnam Michael Behrens, FUSO invested nearly 10 million USD to build a factory specialising in assembling ROSA buses in Ho Chi Minh City’s Cu Chi district. The factory has a capacity of 1,000 units a year with local content accounting for 15 percent. Buses produced in Vietnam have the same quality as those manufactured in other Asian countries, he added. The ROSA buses completed a 20,000-kilometre country long journey to verify their quality before being introduced to customers. Besides advanced turbocharged engine and facilities, the model has a specious interior space and easy to move in the country’s streets. Dong Thap helps local enterprises enhance sales capabilities Business Research & Enterprises Support Center (BSA) said the Mekong Delta province of Dong Thap is one of the first provinces to invite experts whose will help local enterprises enhance the competitive capacity & improve the capability of sales. As planned, on May 14 over 100 local enterprises will take part in the training course titled “Solutions to improve distribution system; enhance the capability of sales staff”. The course is organized by Dong Thap Enterprise Association in coordination with BSA. Many oustanding experts will have talks to the provincial enterprises about the above mentioned topics. Four banks asked to provide loans to seafood businesses in central region The State Bank of Vietnam has instructed four commercial banks to provide businesses with low interest loan to buy and stockpile seafood in dead fish affected provinces in the north central region. The program is in accordance with the Prime Minister’s instruction on urgent aid to citizens in the four provinces and will cover owners of seafood businesses, traders and logistics vessels, who will buy and stockpile seafood products caught in waters determined to be safe by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. It will be applied to loans disbursed from May 5 until June 5 this year. Interest rate will be the lowest short term rate in priority fields and not exceed 7 percent a year. The state budget will assist businesses with 100 percent of the interest within six months starting on disbursement day. Loan deadline will be negotiated by the banks and their customers to suit the time to preserve and consume seafood. The four banks include Vietnam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Agribank), Bank for Investment and Development (BIDV), Bank for Foreign Trade (Vietcombank) and Bank for Industry and Trade (VietinBank). USD667-million fertilizer plant posts USD90m losses A fertilizer plant in the northern province of Ninh Binh which has a total investment of USD12 trillion (USD667 million) has incurred a loss of VND 2 trillion (USD90 million), forcing it to suspend operations just four years after being put into use. The Vietnam National Chemical Group (Vinachem) plant is located at Khanh Phu Industrial Park. Starting operations in 2012, the plant was designed to have an annual capacity of 560,000 tonnes of fertilizer. Until now, up to over 50,000 tonnes of fertilizer valued at VND300 billion remains in stock. Since 2012, the plant has made a total loss of USD90 million, including USD3.37 million in the first year, and the figure was estimated at USD34.12 million, USD22.48 million and USD16.63 million in 2015. Over the past month, it has had to halt its operations, which is attributed to higher production costs and slow sales. The plant’s production lines have also faced regular technical problems, leading to high maintenance costs. The company has temporarily laid off 400 out of its 1,100 workers, paying them unemployment allowance of VND3.1 million (USD139.37) per person. While the remainder worry they may not return to work. The plant plans to resume operations by the end of this month if half of its inventory can be sold. However, this seems unlikely, given the current market. Several months ago, the factory was found to have discharged untreated wastewater into the Day River. In October 2012, local authorities discovered the plant was discharging 5,000 cubic metres of untreated water an hour, leading to massive wave of death in fish stock and cattle in the surrounding area. The plant is often flooded when it rains heavily. VietinBank provides banking services for Lotte Vietnam Bank for Industry and Trade (VietinBank) has inked a memorandum of understanding to provide a full package of banking services for Lotte Members Vietnam Co Ltd. Under the deal, the lender will issue membership cards for shoppers and establish a membership management system for all retail firms operated by Lotte Vietnam. VietinBank-Lotte cards can be used as domestic debit cards for transactions and cardholders can enjoy membership benefits offered by the bank and the retailer. Cardholders can accumulate points through purchases and enjoy discounts. VietinBank will also cooperate with Lotte Members Vietnam in conducting programs to expand their customer bases and enhance strategic partnership between them. Thermal power firm in deal to sell coal ashes Duyen Hai Thermal Power Co in Duyen Hai District, Tra Vinh Province has signed a contract to sell coal ashes discharged by Duyen Hai 1 Thermal Power Plant to joint venture company Viet Long-Hoang Quy to make additives for cement and unbaked brick production. Nguyen Huu Phien, director of Duyen Hai Thermal Power Co, told the Daily that Duyen Hai 1 Thermal Power Plant consumes more than three million tons of 6a coal and discharges around one million tons of ashes a year. Phien said under the contract, the company would sell 400,000 tons of coal ashes at the thermal power plant to Viet Long-Hoang Quy at VND23,000 (US$1.03) per ton. Currently, the company is in negotiations with Nguyen Trinh Company in the Mekong Delta province over a deal to sell the remaining coal ash volume to makers of unbaked bricks. Duyen Hai 1 Thermal Power Plant has two generators with a capacity of 622.5 MW each and generates around six billion kWh for the national grid a year. The company is constructing Duyen Hai 3 with the same capacity as Duyen Hai 1 and plans to commission the first generator by the end of 2016 and the second in 2017. The Duyen Hai Power Center has four thermal power stations: Duyen Hai 1, Duyen Hai 2, Duyen Hai 3, and Duyen Hai 3 extension. Under a master zoning plan for the center, it will have around 100 hectares of landfill for coal ashes. Coal ashes from thermal power plants account for 35% of the total consumption of coal. Nguyen Van Tam, deputy director of Tra Vinh Province’s Department of Construction, told the Daily that the province has many thermal power plants, so the province is calling for investors to construct facilities to produce unbaked building materials using coal ashes. Three investors have shown interest in producing unbaked bricks from coal ashes, according to Tam. Demand for unbaked bricks in Tra Vinh is estimated at 230 million units a year by 2020. The province will create favorable conditions for enterprises to invest in unbaked construction material plants, Tam said. Regarding measures to reduce impact of coal ashes on the environment, the Government in August last year said that work on coal-fired power plant projects could start only after their investors map out plans for handling coal ashes to protect the environment. Earlier, coal ashes at Vinh Tan 2 Thermal Power Plant in Binh Thuan Province heavily polluted the environment, with thousands of residents around the plant affected. State stakes in Sabeco, Habeco proposed for sale The Vietnam Association of Financial Investors (VAFI) has proposed the Ministry of Industry and Trade sell the entire State stakes in Saigon Beer-Alcohol-Beverage Corporation (Sabeco) and Hanoi Alcohol Beer and Beverage Company (Habeco) to raise funds for several key infrastructure projects. The ministry, which currently manages a 90% stake in Sabeco and an 82% stake in Habeco, can collect over US$3 billion if it offloads all the stakes on the stock exchanges, according to the association.    VAFI petitioned the ministry to seek the Government’s approval to withdraw all capital from the two businesses via share auctions on the stock exchanges. VAFI proposed the ministry not allow put-through deals to avoid negative influence and create opportunities for big investors to participate in those auctions. The Government’s policy to divest State stakes in profit-making enterprises is clear, VAFI said, citing the Government’s directive for State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC) to withdraw from all State capital from 10 businesses. They include Vietnam Dairy Products JSC (Vinamilk), Vietnam National Reinsurance Corporation, Tien Phong Plastic JSC, Binh Minh Plastics JSC, Vietnam Infrastructure Investment and Development JSC, Ha Giang Mineral and Mechanics JSC, Sa Giang Import Export Corporation, FPT Corporation and FPT Telecom JSC. Therefore, the association called for the ministry to boost the process of selling State stakes in Sabeco and Habeco. VAFI said the proceeds of over US$3 billion are enough to build urban railways No. 3 and 4 in Hanoi. This will support the capital city to grow faster and develop public transportation, thus reducing the number of motorcycles on the street and keep the city clean. In a document sent to the ministry, VAFI said Sabeco and Habeco were equitized over eight years ago but they have delayed their listings on the stock exchanges. VAFI noted that Sabeco was stronger than Vinamilk and its profit doubled that of the latter 10 years ago. At present, Vinamilk’s profit triples Sabeco’s. Sabeco and Habeco have grown slowly since their equitization despite having huge growth potential.   The Government’s Decision 51/2014/QD-CP dated September 15, 2014 said regarding enterprises transformed into joint stock companies before the date, representatives of State stakes in those businesses must coordinate with firms to complete procedures to list on the stock market and trade shares. Consortium seeks to build tunnel, overpass at TSN airport A consortium of two local companies have proposed a project to build a tunnel and overpass linking Tan Son Nhat (TSN) airport and nearby roads to ease traffic congestion at the entrance of the biggest international airport in Vietnam. The consortium of Production, Construction and Trading Service Dong Me Kong Co Ltd and VIG Invest Co Ltd is seeking approval from the HCMC government to construct the underground tunnel and overpass at Truong Son Road. Under the proposed project, a Y-shaped overpass will be constructed with one branch of 100 meters in length leading to the domestic passenger terminal and the other of 219 meters to the international terminal. These branches are eight meters in width. The 390-meter-long, 6.5-meter-wide underground tunnel would connect the domestic terminal with Hong Ha Street. The project costing VND760 billion (US$34.1 million) is proposed to be built under the build-transfer format. According to figures provided by Tan Son Nhat airport, over 30,000 motorbikes and cars move in and out of the airport’s parking lots a day. The number does not include vehicles owned by 10,000 airport employees. Traffic congestion on the airport’s approach roads worsen on holidays, badly affecting travels of passengers to and from the airport in Tan Binh District. Apart from the overpass, the HCMC Department of Transport mulls a flyover at the roundabout of Nguyen Thai Son and Nguyen Kiem streets to reduce traffic jams there. Hau Giang to host economic forum in July The Mekong Delta Economic Cooperation (MDEC) will take place in the city of Vi Thanh in Hau Giang Province from July 11 to 15, with the delta’s achievements to be highlighted. Organized by the Steering Committee for the Southwest Region, MDEC Hau Giang 2016 will feature a conference on July 12 on the delta’s proactive integration and development, seminars on bank loans on July 12 and local enterprises on July 13, and conferences on hi-tech farming on July 13 and technological application and innovation on July 14. There will be a scientific conference on solutions to cope with climate change, drought and salination in the delta, heard a press conference in Can Tho City on Wednesday. Nguyen Phong Quang, permanent deputy head of the committee, hailed the scientific conference, saying it would be a good opportunity for experts to share ideas on how to deal with drought and saltwater intrusion. Earlier, Tran Cong Chanh, secretary of Hau Giang Province’s Party Committee, suggested adding the conference to the agenda of MDEC Hau Giang 2016. Chanh proposed scientists and experts at the ministries of science-technology and agriculture-rural development join the conference to suggest ways to mitigate the impact of water shortages and salination. Hau Giang Province will organize an investment promotion conference on July 11 and a review meeting between the Mekong Delta provinces and HCMC on market stabilization in the first half of 2016 on July 14. As part of the forum, enterprises in the region will showcase their products at 400 booths at a five-day trade fair slated to begin on July 11. Output in winter-spring rice crop slips Paddy (unhusked rice) output in the 2015-2016 winter-spring crop in the Mekong Delta totaled 10.4 million tons, down by 713,000 tons over the previous same crop. The decline was nearly four times higher than the estimate of 186,144 tons announced in late March, heard a conference on rice production in the Mekong Delta region in Long An Province on Wednesday. Nguyen Van Hoa, deputy head of the Cultivation Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, said paddy was planted on over 1.5 million hectares in the 2015-2016 winter-spring crop in the delta, up by 10,000 hectares from the previous winter-spring crop. But over 10.4 million tons of paddy was harvested, down by 713,000 tons. In the delta’s coastal provinces, the paddy farming area of the 2015-2016 winter-spring crop reached 896,000 hectares, rising by 6,000 hectares over the previous winter-spring crop, but paddy output dipped by 507,000 tons to more than 5.6 million tons. Hoa said the sharp fall in paddy production was attributable to severe drought and salination. The calamity hurt 93,989 hectares of the 2015-2016 winter-spring crop in the region, with a staggering 85,000 hectares entirely damaged. To compensate for the drop, the ministry wants to expand paddy farming in the upcoming summer-autumn and autumn-winter crops. A report of the Cultivation Department showed paddy will be sown on around 1.6 hectares in the summer-autumn crop and that paddy output is expected to near 9.3 million tons, increasing by 134,000 tons year-on-year. The farming area in the autumn-winter crop is around 900,300 hectares, up by 57,160 hectares, and output could exceed 4.9 million tons, up 361,000 tons from the same period last year. However, Cao Van Hoa, deputy director of Tien Giang Province’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said increasing the acreage to offset the output fall in the winter-spring crop should be weighed, particularly at a time when drought and salination are unpredictable. According to Hoa, the province plans to stop rice production in the upcoming crop in saltwater-affected areas and instruct farmers to switch to other crops to adapt. However, the plan is waiting for approval. Experts: HCMC needs transparency to stay competitive Speaking at a conference in HCMC yesterday, experts said the city should improve the transparency of administrative procedures to boost its competitiveness. To improve its Public Administration Performance Index (PAPI) and Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI), the city should streamline paperwork to facilitate business development. Nguyen Chi Mai from at the National Academy of Public Administration said the city government needed a comprehensive strategy to attract foreign direct investment, draw on experience from Danang City in training high-quality labor, adopt proper policies to woo talent, reduce poverty and deal with social problems. For infrastructure, she proposed the city boost road improvement, invest in bridge and road projects to support urban development, develop public transportation, control floods, make clear budget collections and expenditures at communes and wards, and introduce more channels to listen to local residents. The city should take bold measures to fight corruption and guarantee the transparency of recruitment of officials if the city wants to improve its competitiveness and management efficiency, Mai suggested. PAPI is a policy instrument used to evaluate the management efficiency of State agencies based on six dimensions – participation at local levels, transparency, vertical accountability, control of corruption, public administrative procedures, and public service delivery. Meanwhile, PCI is a tool to assess and rank each locality in terms of efficiency in business administration and environment for private firms. At the closing session of the 21st meeting of the HCMC People’s Council on April 21, HCMC Party chief Dinh La Thang urged an improvement of authorities’ service quality as participation at local levels and vertical accountability were below average. The city’s chairman Nguyen Thanh Phong said at a meeting on January-April socioeconomic performance earlier that district leaders should adopt measures for improving the city’s poor indicators in 2015. The city saw transparency falling to 17 from four, informal fees to 54 from 42, market access to 62 from 61, and labor training to six from five. Regarding governance and public administration, the city was ranked 47th out of the country’s 63 provinces and cities while fair competition and business assistance stayed unchanged. Vietjet continues its zero-fare promotion on international routes Vietjet continues its Big Sale, offering hundreds of thousands of air tickets priced from zero dollars this week to celebrate the ongoing "3D Summer" promotion. As part of the "12 p.m, It's Time To Vietjet" campaign, discounted airfares will be available on May 17, 18 and 19 at www.vietjetair.com for use on all international routes between Vietnam and the Republic of Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Myanmar, Singapore and Malaysia from August 15 to December 31. Also, passengers flying with Vietjet this summer will have the opportunity to participate in special promotions, such as virtual 3D technology games at airports, special gifts, in-flight performances and a 3D photo contest. Recently Vietjet launched three new routes from Hai Phong to Phu Quoc, Da Lat and Buon Ma Thuot in celebration of the opening of Cat Bi International Airport's new terminal. The airline said it plans to increase the number of flights on these routes to satisfy the demands of tourists, businessmen and residents. VIB offers preferential loans to garment enterprises Vietnam International Bank (VIB) is providing enterprises in the textile and garment sector with soft loans and 20 per cent reduction in trade financing costs from now until December 31. This practical programme implemented by VIB is in response to calls from the Prime Minister and the State Bank of Viet Nam (SBV) to reduce interest rates for businesses, the bank said in its statement on May 16. These firms will also receive gifts worth up to VND70 million (over US$3,100) each, VIB said. "VIB is committed to assisting the Vietnamese business community in general and garment enterprises in particular," Vuong Thi Huyen, VIB's head of Wholesale Banking Division, said. According to the document sent to SBV late last month, the bank has constituted three preferential credit packages totaling over VND4 trillion. Of this amount, a VND3 trillion package will be given to enterprises involved in manufacturing, importing and exporting garment products, while VND1 trillion will be set aside for businesses' auto loans. VIETWATER 2016 to bring latest innovations to HCMC Viet Nam's leading international water supply, sanitation, water resources and purification exhibition — VIETWATER 2016 — will be held at the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Centre (SECC) in HCM City. The event will be held on November 9-11 and the venue will be shared with the Viet Nam Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Exhibition 2016, or RE & EE Viet Nam, which is also scheduled on the same dates. Hosted by the Viet Nam Water Supply and Sewerage Association (VWSA), VIETWATER 2016 will address water-related issues such as water resource management, irrigation, wastewater treatment and water supply, as well as drainage and purification. This expo is an ideal business networking platform to connect 10,000 visitors with more than 400 exhibitors from the water industry, organisers said, adding that several key industry decision-makers, investors, managers and professionals, as well as consultants and engineers will gather at the event to discover the latest technologies and get updates on market information and trends. The exhibition will also showcase many strategic marketing promotion activities and attract trade buyers to those companies that display innovations, solutions, technologies and products. A series of conferences, in which leading players and experts in the industry share their practical experience and connect with the right industry partners and customers, will be organised on the sidelines of the expo. VWSA chairman Cao Lai Quang said he hoped the event would help the participating firms seek investment, business opportunities and new innovations, besides sharing managing experiences and market development trends. Vietnam rubber output to dip to six-year low for 2016 Natural rubber exports for 2016 could drop 12% compared to last year to a six-year low at around 1 million metric tons, according to an official at the Vietnam Rubber Association. The projected export volume would be the lowest since 2011, when Vietnam shipped 817,000 metric tons overseas to foreign markets. The reduction comes about as part of a national strategy to curb the global market supply in an effort to buttress higher sales prices, said the official. In addition, the ongoing drought has delayed the rubber latex process and reduced output, he said. Vietnam was last year the third-largest natural rubber producer in the world, trailing Thailand and Indonesia, according to official figures from the General Statistics Office (GSO). China, India and Malaysia were the top three export markets in descending order of magnitude. The GSO figures for the four months leading up to May this year show Vietnam has exported an estimated 312,000 metric tons of rubber, which is up 26.7% from a year ago. However, despite the apparent uptick in the January-April period, natural rubber demand and prices are expected to remain weak throughout the remainder of 2016, said the GSO, and increase only marginally in 2017. Earlier this year in February, the International Tripartite Rubber Council (ITRC) said members Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, the world top three rubber exporters, would cut exports for 2016 by 615,000 metric tons. The World Bank released a commodity report on April 26 that said thanks in large part to the ITRC export quota scheme that went into effect in March, natural rubber prices rose 4% in the early months of 2016 Over the longer term, the Freedonia Group projects the Asia/Pacific region to post the fastest growth in rubber consumption through 2019 and will account for nearly two-thirds of global demand in that year. Through 2019, six of the seven fastest growing national rubber markets worldwide will be located in the Asia/Pacific region.  Indonesia, India, and Thailand are expected to post the fastest growth. Demand for rubber in China, Malaysia, and Vietnam will also advance rapidly, benefiting from gains in manufacturing activity. China will remain by far the world largest rubber market, representing over half of the Asia/Pacific total in 2019.  Demand for rubber in Central and South America and the Africa/Mideast region will rise at solid rates also, benefiting from growth in their tyre industries. Demand for rubber will advance at below average rates in North America and Europe through 2019, said the Freedonia Group. Viettel rolls out 4G on domestic market The military-run telecommunication group Viettel officially started providing SIM cards incorporating 4G technology for new subscribers yesterday, a move towards its goal of widespread 4G usage. The 4G services will be available for postpaid subscribers in the first week. SIM card updates will be offered to all Viettel postpaid and pre-paid users from May 18. According to the group, the 4G SIM card, which has a capacity of 128 kb, is designed to fit all mobile phones in the market and is also backwards compatible for 2G and 3G technologies. Viettel piloted the new technology in Vung Tau City in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau last December, with an average speed of between 40 and 80 Mb/s, seven times faster than that of existing 3G technology. 4G is the fourth generation mobile data technology with a maximum speed of up to 1-1.5 Gb/s, hundreds of times faster than 3G. RoK firm invests 8 million USD in Ha Nam The northern province of Ha Nam on May 13 granted an investment licence to the HTC Group from the Republic of Korea (RoK) to build a factory producing home cleaning products and construction materials. The factory, covering an area of 20,000 square metres in the Dong Van 1 Industrial Park in Duy Tien district, has a total investment capital of 8 million USD. Once operational in the next 12 months, the project is expected to create 5 million USD in revenue per year, generate about 120 jobs, and contribute 1 billion VND (43,000 USD) to the local budget. It is licensed to operate in a period of 50 years. Speaking at the granting ceremony, Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Nguyen Xuan Dong affirmed that Hanoi will always stand side by side with investors so that they can operate effectively in the locality. Industrial parks in Ha Nam are now home to 230 active projects. Of this figure, 131 were invested by foreign businesses, with a total registered capital of 1.3 billion USD. Meanwhile, the remaining 99 domestic projects have a total registered capital of nearly 10 trillion VND (455 million USD). Currently, the province has eight industrial parks that cover an area of 2,000 ha. The industrial park Dong Van III, which is under construction and geared towards the supporting industry, will apply its own mechanisms and policies. The locality has approved the plans for 18 industrial clusters, spreading over an area of nearly 500 ha. VEF/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/Dantri/VET/VIR