180817Intellasia Finance Vietnam of Finance to cut taxes for all small and medium-sized firms 12 MoF...

18 August 2017

finance & business news

FINANCE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1Reference exchange rate kept unchanged 1Dong to continue devaluing in H2 2Government still wants to mobilise gold and dollars 3Deposit rates can be further reduced 4OK for new bond market plan 5Outstanding value of bond market targeted to reach 45pct

of GDP in the next three years 6Banks exposed to more security risks 7Banks' messy cross-ownership resembles 'bamboo shavings' 7ADB increases trade finance to $75m for TPBank 8VPBank lists over 1.3 billion shares on HoSE 8Hanwha Life Vietnam opens 100th customer service centre 9Moody's: Cambodia and Vietnam have strong growth prospects 10Government okays amendments to tax laws 11Ministry of Finance to cut taxes for all small and

medium-sized firms 12MoF considers excise taxes on soft drinks 12Tra fish exports steady after new US food safety rule 13New programme to tighten control of catfish exported to US 14US rescinds part of antidumping duty review on shrimp

from Vietnam 14Coal exports to Laos see sharp increase 15Ministry finds no proof of alleged pepper price scam 15First-half FDI approvals in Binh Duong beat full-year target 16Cabinet blamed for problematic budget estimating,

allocation planning 16Linking national and regional customs windows 17Govt calls for explanation about flight delays 19Real estate enterprises face difficulties in starting up

new projects 19Vietnam's aviation market still very attractive 20Cooperatives urged to reform, modernise 22Closer look at three companies to be divested by VNPT and EVN 22Why are foreigners' house purchases proceeding at a

sluggish rate? 24Reforms help M&A landscape to shine 24E-logistics: foreign rivals crowd busy market 26Foreign brewers eye Vietnamese beer market 26

Omnichannel marketing provides sales boost 27Van Don Special Economic Zone envisioned to be green,

modern urban 28Vietnam, Thailand vow to raise two-way trade value to

$20 billion 29MPI proposes permanent residence cards for foreign

investors on Phu Quoc 29BIZ NEWS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30

Business Briefs August 18, 2017 30Large caps send market up 31Markets fall on investor sentiment 31Only UPCoM-Index gains ground 32Five firms to sell stake in A Vng Hydropower 33VTVCab to keep previous value 33Traffic congestion in HCM City needs a long time to solve 33Transport Ministry slashes fees at Cai Lay tollgate 34HCM City's annual retail promotion month gets bigger 35Hundreds of households upset after parking lot closed 35Beach tops National Day travel picks 36Central coast in spotlight 37Ca Mau wants to build $3.5 billion seaport 39Redsun ITI launches first kimchi plant in town 39Anpha Holdings kicks off smart city project in HCM City 40Indian company builds instant coffee plant 40ExxonMobil to kick off multi billion dollar gas-to-power

complex in October 41$4 billion South Hoi An casino officially starts construction 42Masan Nutri-Science delivers 3F promise 42Deputy PM welcomes Kirin's stronger investment in Vietnam 44Rosneft offshore platform marks a flawless 15 years 45VSIP goes far beyond industrial parks 46Officials disciplined over Formosa incident 47Deputy minister of Industry and Trade fired 48Save 10pct when buying Vietjet fares with 32 local bank

ATM cards 49Apec Food Security Week takes place in Can Tho 50Top Thai brands exhibition begins in Hanoi 50Hundreds attend opening day of Thai trade show 51Vietnamese businesses attend Sourcing at Magic Show 51

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FINANCEReference exchange rate kept unchanged

18/AUG/2017 INTELLASIA| VNA

The State Bank of Vietnam kept its reference VND/USD exchange rate unchanged from August 17 at 22,450 VND/USD on August 18.With the current +/- 3 percent VND/USD trading band, the ceiling exchange rate is 23,123 VND per USD and the floor rate is 21,777 VND per USD.Major commercial banks kept their rates quite stable.Vietcombank listed 22,690 VND (buying) and 22,760 VND (selling), per USD, unchanged from the day ago.Techcombank maintained its buying rate at 22,670 VND and its selling rate at 22,770 VND, per USD.

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Vietnam finance & business 18 August 2017

BIDV offered 22,695 VND (buying) and 22,765 VND (selling), per USD, also un-changed from the day ago.http://en.vietnamplus.vn/reference-exchange-rate-kept-unchanged/116501.vnp

Dong to continue devaluing in H2

18/AUG/2017 INTELLASIA| DTCK

On August 11, the central exchange rate announced by the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) was 22,442 dong/US dollar, down one dong in both selling and buying prices from the previous session. The reference exchange rate at the State Bank's Stock Ex-change was 22,725 dong23,095 dong per US dollar (up two dong each).Meanwhile, in commercial banks, Vietcombank listed buying-selling prices for US dol-lar at 22,695 dong22,765 dong/US dollar, up five dong in both prices compared to the previous trading session. At Vietinbank, the exchange rate was 22,690-22,760 dong/US dollar (buying-selling). ACB bought at 22,700 dong and sold at 22,770 dong per US dol-lar.Talking to reporters of the local Newswire Dau Tu Chung Khoan, a senior leader of the National Financial Supervisory Commission (NFSC) said the dong/US dollar ex-change rate at commercial banks and on the free market is stable compared to the pre-vious time and dong continues the decreasing trend from the beginning of the year.NFSC's calculation proved the aforementioned assessment. Specifically, as of July 20, 2017, the exchange rate at commercial banks ranged around 22,730 dong/US dollar, down 0.13 percent from the beginning of the year.At the same time, the exchange rate on the free market closely followed that of com-mercial banks, trading at 22,780 dong/US dollar, down 1.14 percent from the beginning of the year. Meanwhile, the central rate was adjusted up 1.24 percent from the begin-ning of the year."The consecutive reduction of Bloomberg Dollar index caused dong/US dollar ex-change rate to lessen many pressures. The move to increase central rate of the State Bank was only to support export and avoid future shocks", said the NFSC leader.Agreeing with the aforementioned opinion, BIDV's senior leader said the foreign ex-change market has stable trend. The foreign exchange supply was abundant, and ex-change rate mainly went sideway.Specifically, the exchange rate in July 2017 increased slightly at the beginning of the month and then moved sideways around the buying price of the State Bank, ranging around quite narrow range of 22,725-22,760 dong/US dollar. Notably, in July, SBV bought exchange rate from the market with the estimated volume of about $475 mil-lion.Besides, though the difference in dong/US dollar exchange rate has narrowed and reached negative level for short terms from overnight to one week, the foreign ex-change market is said to have the strong support from the supply-demand balance and US dollar fluctuations in the international market.Specifically, the foreign exchange supply is still abundant. Though the trade balance in July is estimated to post slight trade deficit of about $200 million, the FDI disburse-ment still maintains positive growth momentum of about 6-7 percent from the same period last year, reaching about $1.33 billion. In addition, foreign indirect investment also happened vibrantly in both share and bond markets.Besides, the DXY index that measures the strength of the US dollar in the international market also continued to plunge 2.8 percent in July, in the context that the U.S's infla-tion continued to be below the expectation, causing the U.S Federal Reserve (Fed) to decide to remain the interest rates in the meeting on July 25 and 26.As per the NFSC's leader, during the remaining time of 2017, sharply rising foreign currency demand due to seasonal factor may affect the market. generally, in January-July 2017, Vietnam's trade surplus was $3.08 billion, equal to 2.7 percent of the total ex-ports."However, due to increased foreign exchange reserve and the increased difference in interest rate between dong and foreign currency is still more favourable to dong, it is forecasted that dong will depreciate at the same level as in the first six months of the year", forecasted the NFSC leader.BIDV forecasts that the US dollar/dong exchange rate will maintain stable trend in Au-gust 2017, ranging around 22,725 dong22,750 dong/US dollar as the supply continues to be abundant and the pressure from the international market is low. The cash flow from FDI disbursement is more likely to grow strongly in 2017 as Vietnam continues strong reforms and the government gives commitments on development of healthy business environment.

Intellasia 18 August 2017 2 / 51

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It is forecasted that the disbursement of foreign direct investment (FDI) in August con-tinues to maintain a high level of about $1.4 billion. This cash flow will accordingly off-set the trade deficit which is expected to be at low level, ranging around $200-300 million.Besides, the DXY index is expected to go sideways or decrease as the new government in the U.S still faces some difficulties in the adoption of policies to vigorously support the economy while there have had some downturn and recession signals of the U.S economy.A senior leader of BIDV said "The State Bank will not continue raising the buying ex-change rate in August 2017 when a large amount of foreign currency supply in the market is abundant and commercial banks have not sold to the State Bank".It is estimated that at the end of August 2017, exchange rate will be 22,750 dong/US dollar compared to 22,800 dong/US dollar at the end of Q3 and 22,950 dong/US dollar at the end of the year".

Government still wants to mobilise gold and dollars

18/AUG/2017 INTELLASIA| VNECONOMY

The government Office has just sent a document specifically to the Governor of the State Bank stating concrete requirements of the prime minister in order to contribute to the achievement of 2017 economic growth objective.The above mentioned document conveyed the prime minister's request on promotion of credit growth at a higher level.Specifically, the prime minister asked the State Bank Governor to strengthen the direc-tion, inspection and enhancement of the implementation of solutions and tasks in his field, including the credit growth of more than 20 percent along with credit quality as-surance.With the aforementioned requirement, this year's credit growth target of about 18 per-cent that the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) set at the beginning of this year needs to be raised significantly. The aforementioned request of the prime minister did not specify the maximum limit but must be more than 20 percent at least.Also in the above mentioned document, the task assigned to with the State Bank is to strive to continue reducing lending rates to remove difficulties for businesses, focusing credit on priority areas.Remarkably, the prime minister once again asked the State Bank Governor to "contin-ue focusing on doing researches and having appropriate solutions to mobilise sources of foreign currency and gold among the people to serve the development and invest-ment".Earlier, at the meeting with the prime minister's working group on July 18, the request to mobilise the sources of foreign currency, gold as mentioned above was emphasized. At the meeting, Governor Le Minh Hung also expressed his views on the mobilisation of foreign currency and gold from the people by means of stimulating transformation in recent time.The governor said that the overall macro-economic solutions of the past years were very successful, thanks to which foreign currency resources were transformed into dong. As in 2016, the State Bank of Vietnam bought nearly $10 billion to increase its foreign exchange reserve.A large part of which came from the foreign currency held by the people, thereby turn-ing into dong. Part of the resource was brought directly by the people into production and business while other part was sent to commercial banks."We think that this is the best solution to mobilise resources in our context but still keeps the macro stability, not to let fluctuations happening out of control.Even with gold, in the last few years we have not lost foreign currency to import gold, the people also do not pour resources to buy gold as before, but transform resources into the economy. We will continue to report to the government specific solutions to mobilise resources but still ensure the stability", the Governor said at the meeting.However, as in the latest document mentioned above, the prime minister still ask to continue researching to "have appropriate measures".


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Deposit rates can be further reduced

18/AUG/2017 INTELLASIA| DTCK

Based on macro analysis, economic experts believed that there is still room to further lower the rates to mobilise capital. The problem is how much they should be lowered in order to maintain positive real interest rate which can attract depositors and ensure liquidity for banks.Room to cut mobilisation ratesAt the regular meeting of the government in July 2017, the prime minister requested the banking sector to continue cutting lending interest rates for production and busi-ness investment, especially lending to processing and manufacturing enterprises, in line with the inflation developments; and to make measures to promote the credit growth for high-tech agriculture sector."There is opportunity to reduce interest rates", that was shared by a senior leader of the National Financial Advisory Commission (NFSC) with reporter of Bao Dau Tu Chung Khoan. The basis of his statement is that mobilisation rates on market 1 (residential market) are fairly stable. Lending rates are showing signs of declining after the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) cut operating rates and short-term lending caps for some pri-ority areas. In the last month of 2017, the reduction of interest rates has many support-ing factors.Firstly, the pressure from exchange rate is not very huge. The USD has fallen com-pared to the beginning of the year and the possibility of interest rate hike by the US Federal Reserves (Fed) in 2017 reduced to 50%, according to international analysts.Secondly, the inflation is likely to reach the target set by the National Assembly (4%).Thirdly, there is just about 25 percent of the government bond issuance target left to be completed in the last five months of 2017. The bond yields have also decreased across the terms by 0.2-0.3 basis points compared to late June, about one basis point lower than the same period of 2016 across the terms. This supports further interest rate cut for the banking sector.Dr Le Xuan Nghia, an economist, shared the same point of view that the banking sector still has chance to cut interest rates, considering macro level. According to Dr Nghia, interest rates and inflation are the two factors that go hand in hand. The increase of electricity and medical service prices since mid-2017 has raised concerns about an in-flation rise. However, the prices of the two services were raised and remain high, but the Consumer Price Index (CPI) is still maintained at low level.It is likely that the petrol price will rise again in the near future, but the increase will not be large. Perhaps the increase of electricity price and wages will affect inflation.Dr Nghia analysed that, the inflation in the last three years has been controlled at low level of 2%, while the steering interest rates and refinancing rates have been 6.5 percent and 6 percent per annum. That is a good signal for commercial banks which offer in-terest rates around this level. It means that the operating rates far exceed the interbank rates, higher than short-term government bonds, and eve higher than mobilisation rates on terms of less than six months, etc. It shows that the government and SBV still have expectation of high inflation."However, in fact, inflation is tending to drop sharply due to the fall of global market prices (mainly petrol), of agricultural prices, and the insignificant impact of service and medical prices, etc. This is the good condition for SBV to consider a roadmap to adjust operating rates to achieve the three goals", said Dr Nghia.The three purposes of lowering operating rates, according to Dr Nghia, including (1) the indication of a stable macroeconomic stability, especially inflation; indication for commercial banks to lower interest rate level in general; and (3) indication of the mar-ket relations between different types of interest rates, including operating rates of SBV, interbank rates, banks' mobilisation and lending rates, and government bond yields, helping to shape a benchmark interest rate curve for banks and enterprises to orient the long-term interest rates and make investment decisions.Dr Nghia recommended that SBV should have an interest rate cut roadmap with a time likely to be after the Fed's meeting in September, and the reasonable decrease lev-el is 0.5 basis point.


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Meanwhile, according to the NFSC's leader, the bottleneck in bad debt settlement now has favourable legal mechanism as the National Assembly issued Resolution 42 on pi-loting the settlement of bad debts, and the prime minister approved the Scheme to re-structure the system of credit institutions in association with bad debt settlement in 2016-2020 period dated July 19th 2017. This leader also suggested to lower interest rates by 0.5 basis point.The need to ensure positive real interest ratesFor the central banks of countries in the world, policy interest rates (basic interest rates) play a very important role in orienting the market related to other interest rate policies or deciding the issue of loosening or tightening monetary. However, in Viet-nam, the impact of the issues related to policy interest rates is not clear, because the market still has refinancing rate, rediscount rate, lending rates for priority areas, etc., while the basic interest rate is still maintained at 9 percent per annum. In fact, only the OMO interest rate of 5 percent per annum currently receives most attention of banks."Each bank has different risk appetite to calculate the input and output costs, thereby launching different interest rate level for each product and segment of customers. Banks cannot mobilise capital at overly high interest rate because when the input rate is high, the output rate must also be high, making it difficult to lend out capital. Mean-while, no bank wants to offer lending to high-risk customers who accept high interest rates", said a bank leader.Information shows that depositors are still expecting positive real interest rates, which means that mobilisation rates must offset the devaluation of the currency and offer real interest to some extent. Banks' mobilisation rates must be higher than the overall infla-tion rate, not the base inflation rate. For example, the overall inflation rate in the first seven months of 2017 was 3.91%, while base inflation rate continued to be maintained at low level of 1.49 percent compared to the same period of 2016.K.L from Thanh Xuan Bac district, Hanoi said that if real interest rate is not main-tained, she will shift from dong deposit rates to purchase foreign currency, gold or oth-er savings instruments.Regarding the issue of lowering interest rates and loosening monetary, economist Dr Nguyen Tri Hieu gave warning that to achieve credit growth of 20 percent this year, SBV must raise lending by nearly 130 trillion dong each month in the last five months of the year. This is a significant number.The government wants to speed up disbursement to promote growth, but the dis-bursement must have real effectiveness to the economy, and capital cannot be dis-bursed in secondary markets like securities and real estate. These sectors do not contribute to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), while they can push up prices, in-crease inflation, and can pose big risks in 2018 if careful considerations are not taken.

OK for new bond market plan


Prime minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has approved a plan to develop Vietnam's bond market in 2017-20 with a vision to 2030.The target of the plan, which was published on local media on Monday, is to create a stable, well-structured and balanced bond market that is more open to investors.The government also aims to increase the scale and the quality of the market, diversify products and services, and ensure trading activities are transparent, public and effi-cient, making Vietnam's bond market able to integrate with others and meet interna-tional standards.Under the new plan, the government hopes the value of Vietnam's bond market will be equal to 45 per cent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) by 2020 and 65 per cent by 2030.Of the total, the value of government bonds, government-backed bonds and local gov-ernment bonds is hoped to be equal to 38 per cent of the GDP by 2020 and 45 per cent in the next 10 years.In addition, the value of corporate bonds is expected to equate to 7 per cent of GDP by 2020, and increase to 20 per cent by 2030.


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The plan also sets the average maturity term of government bonds at six-seven years for 2017-20 and seven-eight years for the next 10-year period.In the next 13 years, the government expects to see the amount and value of govern-ment bonds held by insurance and social insurance firms, pension funds and other non-bank financial institutions to increase to 50 per cent of the total market in 2020 and 60 per cent in 2030.There are also a number of moves that aim to help the bond market reach its targets.Firstly, the government will improve and complete its legal framework to develop both secondary and primary bond markets.For the primary bond market, the government will diversify government bonds, gov-ernment-backed bonds and local government bonds to meet the demand of investors and issue those products via bidding to ensure trading activities are transparent.For the secondary market, the government will improve the trading market and sys-tem for government bonds, government-backed bonds and local government bonds at the two stock exchanges, enhance the accountability and capability of market mem-bers, and develop a portal to provide information about corporate bonds for investors.Under the new plan, relevant government agencies are required to develop bond de-rivatives products to meet the development of the market and demand of investors.http://bizhub.vn/banking/ok-for-new-bond-market-plan_288342.html

Outstanding value of bond market targeted to reach 45pct of GDP in the next three years

18/AUG/2017 INTELLASIA| VNECONOMY

The prime minister has approved the roadmap to develop the bond market in 2017-2020 period, with a vision to 2030.Accordingly, the government targets to bring the bond market outstanding value to reach about 45 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2020 and about 65 percent of GDP by 2030, in which, the outstanding value of government bonds, bonds guaran-teed by the government, and local government bonds reaches about 38 percent of GDP by 2020 and 45 percent by 2030. Meanwhile, the outstanding value of corporate bonds is expected to reach about 7 percent of GDP by 2020 and 20 percent of GDP by 2030.The average tenor of government bond issuance in the domestic in the period of 2017-2020 is targeted at six to seven years, and seven to eight years in 2012-2030 period. Meanwhile, the average trading volume per session of government bonds, govern-ment-guaranteed bonds, and local government bonds is expected to rise by 1 percent of the outstanding of listed bonds by 2020, and 2 percent by 2030. The proportion of government bonds held by insurance companies, social insurance companies, pension fund, investment funds and non-bank financial institutions is expected to be 50 per-cent by 2020 and 60 percent by 2030.To complete the above goals, in 2017-2020 period, the policy framework for bond mar-ket must be completed; while the development of primary and secondary markets, of the system of investors, and of intermediary institutions and market services should be focused.In particular, on the primary market, government bonds, bonds guaranteed by the government, and local government bonds will be diversified to meet the needs of in-vestors. Meanwhile, financial products and benchmark interest rate curve on the fi-nancial market should be established; and the issuance of government bonds and bonds guaranteed by the government under bidding method will continue to be fo-cused.For secondary market, there is a need to improve the market organisation model and the system for trading government bonds, bonds guaranteed by the government and local government bonds at the stock exchanges, in accordance with the nature of put through transaction, ensuring timely and accurate reporting system in order to build a standard interest rate curve on the market. Moreover, the accountability of members on secondary market in reporting of transactions should be enhanced. Research should be conducted to build a corporate bond information website at the stock ex-changes to launch information about the issuance and trading of corporate bonds, thereby accelerating the secondary trading of corporate bonds.


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Banks exposed to more security risks

18/AUG/2017 INTELLASIA| VNS

The shift to digital banking has helped banks to provide modern and convenient serv-ices to customers, but this has also exposed them to many security risks, experts said at a conference in Hanoi on Wednesday.The conference was jointly organised by the Information Technology Department un-der the State Bank of Vietnam and the Information Security Authority under the Min-istry of Information and Communications.The experts noted that the Fourth Industrial Revolution was taking place in many countries, bringing opportunities to effect far-reaching changes. This also applies to the banking system in terms of their asset size, capital and network, they said.In May this year, the prime minister issued Decision No 632/QD-TTg, under which the network information security of 11 key areas, including banking, would be prioritised.Nguyen Huy Dung, deputy director of the Information Security Authority, said that even though banking was a pioneering sector to invest in information safety, the loss of money still occurred because users themselves did not have enough knowledge and financial organisations did not instruct them properly on avoiding risks."Therefore, the Ministry of Information and Communications is completing a legal framework on information system security and will announce this in the coming month," he said.Nguyen Quang Hung, deputy director of the Information Technology Department un-der the State Bank of Vietnam, said many banks in Vietnam adhered to global infor-mation security standards like ISO 27001 and NIST 800-53.In addition, to ensure information security, the SBV Governor issued a directive on en-hancing security in electronic and card payments early this year, and recently, a deci-sion on security solutions regarding online and bank card payments.Speaking on information security in the Vietnamese banking system, Thanut Pim-hataivoot, an expert from NTT Data Thailand, said that the Vietnamese banking sector had developed security systems in accordance with international practices, but there were some organisations that had not fully abided by regulations, resulting in security incidents.Ha The Phuong, deputy general director of CMC InfoSec spoke of disadvantages re-garding information security at Vietnamese banks.Some projects investing in security focused on buying equipment, but without a cor-responding long-term strategy on human resources and training, he said. In many cas-es, employees in information and technology management lacked necessary security qualifications, he added.The expert from CMC InfoSec also mentioned advanced persistent threats (APT) fac-ing the banking information system.In the context of the increasingly complicated information security situation, banks, payment portal providers and financial institutions need to be more aware of the prob-lems, and develop measures in collaboration with security companies to counter threats and network attacks, experts said at the conference.http://bizhub.vn/banking/banks-exposed-to-more-security-risks_288340.html

Banks' messy cross-ownership resembles 'bamboo shavings'

18/AUG/2017 INTELLASIA| VIETNAMNET

The State Bank of Vietnam is determined to get rid of cross-ownership status at banks, but the achievements remain modest.Duong Cong Minh, former chair of LienVietPost Bank, before running for the post of chair of Sacombank, sold all the shares he was holding in LienVietPost Bank. And so did Him Lam Group.Him Lam, the founding shareholder and the largest shareholder in LienVietPost Bank which held 14.98 percent of the bank's charter capital (96.77 million shares), is no long-er a shareholder of LienVietPost Bank since June 24.Minh and his Him Lam Group had to divest from one bank before Minh became the chair of another bank as stipulated in the central bank's Circular 36 on the allowed ownership ratios. The number of banks with cross-ownership fell from seven to three.


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SBV recently took strong actions to reduce the cross-ownership at banksHowever, the cross-ownership still exists. Circular 36 stipulates that one bank can hold shares of no more than two other banks and the amount of shares it can hold is less than 5 percent of total shares.Before the circular was issued, Vietcombank held 9.8 percent of MBB shares, 8.2 per-cent of Eximbank shares, 5.26 percent of Saigon Bank and 4.6 percent of OCB shares. And by July 18, the bank still held 7.16 percent of MBB, 8.19 percent of Eximbank, 4.3 percent of Saigon Bank and 5.7 percent of OCB.Lawyer Truong Thanh Duc from Basico Law Firm commented that the settlement of cross-ownership has been going slowly because of the lack of serious measures. Circu-lar 36 clearly sets the deadline for banks to complete the cross-ownership settlement, but banks fail to meet deadlines.Explaining the slow process of divestment to reduce cross-ownership, Nguyen Tri Hieu, a banking expert, said it is not easy to divest shares now. Investors need to find those who accept their shares, since they cannot give back the shares to the banks they invest in.And the share selling prices must be at least equal to the prices at which they bought shares before. Investors don't want to sell shares once the market prices go down.Meanwhile, the current financial market is no more favourable than it was 10 years ago, which hinders investors' disinvestment plans.He went on to say that in some cases, members of the board of directors don't want to eliminate cross-ownership, because it gives them some power. They, for example, may dodge laws and borrow huge amounts of money though they cannot meet require-ments to be eligible for loans.http://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/business/183637/banks--messy-cross-ownership-re-sembles--bamboo-shavings-.html

ADB increases trade finance to $75m for TPBank


Tien Phong Commercial Joint-Stock Bank (TPBank) has received $45 million from the Asian Development Bank (ADB)'s Trade Finance Programme (TFP), bringing the total to $75 million.The additional trade finance will help to considerably improve TPBank's credit capac-ity in the market.Santosh Pokharel, TFP's relationship manager, said the additional trade finance was decided after ADB reviewed TPBank's details.TPBank general director Nguyen Hung said ADB increased guarantees for TPBank by 2.5 times in a very short time, showing the foreign bank's confidence in TPBank. Ear-lier, ADB provided TPBank with $30 million on May 24."The finance would help TPBank increase its presence in the international market, con-tributing to supporting its business customers to expand their transactions world-wide," Hung added.In addition to ADB, TPBank has been attractive to other foreign partners.Earlier, it received $18.3 investment from IFC.TPBank has total assets of some VND106 trillion (about $4.6 billion), 4,000 employees and an extensive network of 55 branches and transaction offices in Vietnam. Currently, with more than 1.5 million individual customers and businesses, TPBank has been as-serting its position as a strong, sustainable and healthy bank in the country.http://bizhub.vn/banking/adb-increases-trade-finance-to-75m-for-tpbank_288331.html

VPBank lists over 1.3 billion shares on HoSE


Vietnam Prosperity Joint Stock Commercial Bank (VPBank) on Thursday officially list-ed more than 1.33 billion shares on the HCM Stock Exchange (HoSE).The shares were listed at a reference price of VND39,000 (US$1.72) per share.In the first minutes of the at-the-opening-order (ATO) session, VPBank matched a total of 46 million shares with a reference price of VND39,000.


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This price helped VPBank earn a record of nearly VND1.8 trillion, of which, foreigners spent VND1.45 trillion on purchasing more than 37 million out of 46 million shares during the ATO session.Subsequently, the shares fluctuated from VND33,000 to VND36,000 per share.At the end of the morning session, VPBank shares were at VND36,000, down 7.7 per cent from the reference price. The trading volume of this stock reached VND1.9 tril-lion, accounting for 53 per cent of the total market liquidity in the morning session.VPBank is the 10th bank to list on the stock exchange and is the 423rd member of HoSE. It is also the private bank with the largest market capitalisation value of nearly VND52 trillion.Bank chair Ngo Chi Dung said VPBank marked the return of banking stocks to the stock market after nearly three years. Share listing was also a challenge in ensuring sustainable growth and business performance, he said. Besides this, VPBank was re-sponsible for ensuring transparency of information in accordance with national and international standards, he added.In the first seven months of 2017, VPBank posted some VND4.1 trillion in pre-tax prof-it.The bank has targeted pre-tax profit of VND6.8 trillion for the whole year.Next year, VPBank expects to earn net profit of nearly VND8.53 trillion, an increase of over 48 per cent against 2017 and dividend will be some 15 per cent, to be paid on pri-ority through shares.In the next five years, VPBank plans to concentrate on four key pillars -- consumer fi-nance, retail banking, small business credit, and small and medium enterprise credit.In addition, VPBank will focus on the retail sector, targeting the potential market of 95 million Vietnamese people with increasing incomes.http://bizhub.vn/markets/vpbank-lists-over-13 billion-shares-on-hose_288334.html

Hanwha Life Vietnam opens 100th customer service centre

18/AUG/2017 INTELLASIA| VN ECONOMIC TIMES

Latest centre, in Quang Ngai province, opened four months ahead of schedule.Hanwha Life Vietnam has announced the opening of a new general Agent Office in Duc Pho town, Quang Ngai province as part of its network development plan for this year, bringing its total number of customer service centers to 100 nationwide. The opening of its 100th customer service centers comes four months ahead of schedule and is an important milestone for the insurer in improving its distribution network, providing better customer care, and increasing its presence in Vietnam's life insurance market.Its customer service centre network covers Vietnam's northern, central, and southern regions. Back Jong Kook, Chair of the Board of directors and general director at Hanwha Life Vietnam, said the network expansion will give local people convenient access to the company's insurance products and services and will help boost the company's busi-ness performance."Hanwha Life Vietnam continually aims to become one of the leading quality life in-surance companies and we will continue to expand our customer service centers while increasing the size of our existing offices," he said.The 100th customer service centre opened four months earlier than planned thanks to careful preparations in expanding the network and efficient business performance since the beginning of this year. Hanwha Life Vietnam's latest business results reveal that, by the end of the second quarter of 2017, it had VND301 billion ($13.2 million) in new premiums this year, up 59 per cent year-on-year. It employs 28,000 consultants serving more than 200,000 customers.2016 was the first year the company recorded profit after eight years in Vietnam, of VND12 billion ($527,994).Hanwha Group, founded in 1952, is one of the Top 10 enterprises in South Korea and a "Fortune Global 500" company. It has 56 domestic affiliates and 226 global networks in three major sectors: manufacturing and construction, finance, and services and lei-


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sure. With a track record of more than 60 years of industrial leadership, Hanwha's manufacturing and construction businesses encompass a broad range of fields: chem-icals and materials, aerospace and mechatronics, total solar energy solutions, and glo-bal construction.http://vneconomictimes.com/article/banking-finance/hanwha-life-vietnam-opens-100th-customer-service-centre

Moody's: Cambodia and Vietnam have strong growth prospects

18/AUG/2017 INTELLASIA| THE SAIGON TIMES

Moody's Investors Service said Cambodia and Vietnam share some similar character-istics, including strong economic growth prospects and risks posed by their financial systems.However, Vietnam's larger, more diverse economy and higher incomes underpin greater shock absorption capacity while its institutions are stronger. Continued robust growth and broad economic and financial stability should cap the government's rela-tively elevated debt, it said in a just-released report on the governments of Cambodia and Vietnam.The report notes that Vietnam's larger, more diverse economy offers greater resilience to shocks and the country's exports are spread across a variety of products and mar-kets. Vietnam's reach into higher value-added products is reflected in higher income levels that bolster households' capacity to absorb economic shocks.By contrast, garment and textiles production and a few other low value-added manu-facturing dominate Cambodia's exports, which are largely destined for the US and the European Union, exposing the economy to sector- and market-specific shocks.Cambodia's institutions face greater challenges but reforms are in place. Its ongoing re-forms to reduce corruption and enhance the rule of law are positive, although they have yet to materially strengthen its institutions.The central bank has a track record of delivering economic and exchange rate stability which supports foreign direct investment inflows, but high dollarisation continues to limit monetary policy effectiveness.According to the report, strengthening government revenue collection in Cambodia, macroeconomic and exchange rate stability together with the authorities' efforts to ad-dress institutional weaknesses and diversify the economy should continue to support sovereign credit quality, although progress is likely to be gradual. The report is titled "Governments of Cambodia and Vietnam Vietnam's economic diversity supports stronger credit profile, despite higher government debt than Cambodia's."Meanwhile, Vietnam's stronger institutions and greater policy effectiveness have con-tributed to a more conducive business environment, which is having broad positive ef-fects across the wider sovereign credit profile.The overall fiscal strength of the two economies is similar, although it encompasses different constraints. Cambodia's smaller fiscal deficits, lower government debt and higher debt affordability, reflecting its larger concessional funding base, are credit strengths relative to Vietnam.However, Vietnam's increasing shift to domestic funding sources, although more cost-ly, reduces government liquidity risk and lowers the sovereign vulnerability to curren-cy depreciation.Vietnamese banks' sizeable legacy bad debts and very low capital buffers drive high banking sector risk.Such risks are lower in Cambodia, although persistently strong credit growth, which has outpaced nominal gross domestic product (GDP) growth and increasingly flowed into correction-prone, poses risks to economic and financial stability.Meanwhile, political risk is moderate in Cambodia, reflecting the potential for domes-tic political tensions to reduce the attractiveness of doing business there.http://english.thesaigontimes.vn/55624/Moody%E2%80%99s-Cambodia-and-Viet-nam-have-strong-growth-prospects.html


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Government okays amendments to tax laws


The Ministry of Finance on Tuesday announced a scheme for amending tax laws, in-cluding the laws on value added tax, personal income tax, natural resource tax and special consumption tax.The government has agreed with most of the adjustments proposed by the finance ministry, and asked the ministry to ensure transparency, said deputy prime minister Vuong Dinh Hue at an earlier meeting with related ministries and departments.The deputy prime minister agreed with the Ministry of Finance's suggestion to raise value added tax for some certain commodities from 10 percent to 12%. However, he asked the ministries to carefully review commodities that should be imposed 11-12 percent VAT.The government agreed to increase special consumption tax imposed on tobacco and certain autos. However, tax imposed on autos having less than nine seats should be re-viewed by the Ministry of Industry and Trade.The deputy prime minister agreed with the suggestion to reduce income tax rates im-posed on high-income earners, adjust natural resource tax imposed on water use and reduce corporate income tax rates for small and medium enterprises (SMEs).The Ministry of Finance was asked to review some current regulations such as the newly issued law on support for SMEs and regulations on real estate transfers when making amendments to the tax laws.The Ministry of Finance will pass the scheme around for public comment and send it to the Ministry of Justice for assessment in the next several days. The scheme will be submitted to the government in September for approval.The law amendment is aimed at reducing administrative procedures for tax payment, facilitate trade and manufacturing, and boost economic development.Second home tax still undecidedThe property tax levied on the ownership of the second home has not been decided al-though the tax was earlier proposed in a tax reform plan for the five-year period to 2020, said Pham Dinh Thi, director of the Tax Policy Department under the Ministry of Finance.At a press conference on amendments and supplements to tax laws on Tuesday, Thi said that the ministry and the National Assembly have issued resolutions on domestic revenues, including the property tax.In a report on collection of the land use and property tax and policies relating to the property tax, the ministry also proposed taxing land and landed assets. However, no regulations on tax collection methods, the base tax rate and asset evaluation methods have been issued.Previously, the Ministry of Finance has proposed three tax options for housing. In op-tion 1, the owner of a home measuring over 200 square meters is subject to a tax of VND1,000-4,000 per square metre per year depending on the type of house. In option 2, the tax would be collected based on the value of the house but if the value is more than VND1 billion, the tax sum would be equivalent to 0.03 percent of that value.For option 3, the property tax would be levied from the second and subsequent houses with an annual rate of VND1,000-4,000 per square metre per year. But those homes with two floors or fewer would be spared.Vietnam has no property tax as in other countries. The property-related tax policy has yet to create a stable source of revenue for the State budget since current land use tax revenue accounts for 0.03 percent of GDP and 0.15 percent of the nation's total budget revenues. Meanwhile, the property tax is a main source of budget revenue in some oth-er countries in the world.http://english.thesaigontimes.vn/55630/Government-okays-amendments-to-tax-laws.html


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Ministry of Finance to cut taxes for all small and medium-sized firms

18/AUG/2017 INTELLASIA| DTI NEWS

The Ministry of Finance suggested reducing corporate income tax for small and medi-um-sized firms which make up of 98 percent of total local firms.During the revision of Law on Corporate Income Tax, the Ministry of Finance has pro-posed to reduce the tax to be in more accordance with the newly-issued Law on Sup-port for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises.Small and medium-sized firms currently pay 20 percent in corporate income tax. If the proposal is approved, micro firms with less than VND3bn (USD132,000) annual reve-nue will have the tax reduced to 15%. Firms with VND3bn to VND50bn (USD2.2m) revenue will have to pay 17 percent of tax.Member companies, whose 25 percent equity owned by mother corporation, won't be allowed to enjoy lower taxes. The ministry also suggested solutions to help firms with various tax-related problems such as VAT and corporate income tax procedures.Small and medium-sized firms make up of 98 percent of the total local firms. They play an important role in socio-economic development and are considered the backbone of the economy. According to the ministry, in order to ensure the development of small and medium-sized firm as well as the competitiveness, it's necessary to revise corpo-rate income tax.The representative of the ministry said many other countries also had various support-ing policies for small and medium-sized firms. Chinese firms only have to pay 20 per-cent of corporate income tax compared to the average rate of 25%.http://dtinews.vn/en/news/018/52369/ministry-of-finance-to-cut-taxes-for-all-small-and-medium-sized-firms.html

MoF considers excise taxes on soft drinks


The Ministry of Finance (MoF) has proposed the addition of soft drinks to the list of goods subject to special consumption tax, including carbonated soft drinks, non-car-bonated soft drinks, energy tea drinks, and instant coffee.The proposal was introduced by the ministry at a press conference on August 15 an-nouncing the orientation in amending certain articles in the Law on Taxation.The MoF has submitted to the government two plans on special consumption taxes: one with a tax rate of 10 per cent from 2019 and the other with a tax rate of 20 per cent. "The imposition of the tax aims to regulate the consumption of sugar-based beverages according to international practice," it explained.The ministry also pointed to a World Health Organization (WHO) report that shows the abuse of soft drinks leads to obesity. The proportion of overweight and obese adults in Vietnam now stands at 25 per cent of the population.Obesity rates among children under five years old are also increasing rapidly and this puts them at future risk from cardiovascular disease, hypertension, stroke, atheroscle-rosis, and other ailments.The MoF seeks to follow the practice of many countries by imposing excise taxes to limit the consumption of sugar-based drinks. In Thailand, for example, non-alcoholic carbonated soft drinks are subject to a tax rate of 25 per cent and carbonated soft drinks 20 per cent. Laos imposes 5 to 10 per cent on soft drinks and Cambodia 10 per cent.A study by the Vietinbank Securities Company found in the 2009-2013 period, the in-dustry grew at 19.35 per cent and had 130 producers, with 2 million litres being export-ed. Growth is expected to reach 14.2 per cent from 2014 to 2018 with 135 producers.Vietnam's economy has faced difficulties due to the prolonged financial crisis and cus-tomers have tightened their purse strings. However, the population has reached 90 million, with a majority being young people who regularly consume soft drinks. Such factors attract soft drink producers to the local market, it said.According to Canadean, a world-class research company on the international soft drink and alcoholic beverage industries, growth in Vietnam's alcoholic beverage mar-ket has averaged 6.4 per cent per year over the last decade and 5.7 per cent over the last five years.The Vietnam Beer Alcohol Beverage Association said that many Vietnamese soft drink


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producers have upgraded their production capacity to compete with foreign rivals and have also focused on soft drink lines that improve the health of customers and in-crease market share.Meanwhile, foreign investors such as Coca-Cola, Pepsi, and Nestle, with its LaVie wa-ter, have also increased their share in Vietnam or conducted merger and acquisition activities with local firms to bolster their market share.http://dtinews.vn/en/news/017004/52371/-mof-considers-excise-taxes-on-soft-drinks.html

Tra fish exports steady after new US food safety rule


Exports of tra fish to the United States have remained stable after it imposed a demand that exporting countries demonstrate that their food safety control system is equiva-lent to that of the US.An announcement to this effect by the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) on Thursday has belied fears and reports that exports of the fish could be rejected or cancelled in the near future.Reports of rejection or cancellation of Vietnamese tra fish exports "has no basis," VASEP said in a note.It said that tra fish exports to the US had declined in the first quarter due to a shortage of raw materials, but recovered in the second quarter with an 8.4 per cent increase, thanks to rising demand and increase in supply of raw material.VASEP general Secretary Truong Dinh Hoe said while the equivalence process was not yet completed, it was prudent not to assume any possibility of Vietnam not passing such determination or speculate on suspension of ongoing exports."During the 18-month transitional period, both sides have worked out cooperative ap-proaches to common issues in question and US Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has also given close guidance on how to comply with its requirements," Hoe said.He also said that while Vietnam's tra industry is well developed with substantial and stringent food safety controls, he is concerned that an import discrimination policy by the US government may cause unfavourable and unfair decisions against Vietnam."VASEP hopes that there will be solutions reached by the two governments not to dis-rupt free trade between the two countries," the note said.In early July, the FSIS had announced that it would apply new import regulations for Siluriformes fish from August 2, instead of September 1 as stated earlier.Under the regulations, authorised agencies in the exporting country must submit to the FSIS documents to prove that its food safety control system is equivalent to that of the US.Following this, the Vietnam National Agro-Forestry-Fisheries Quality Assurance De-partment (NAFIQAD) has provided guidance on inspection requirements regarding labelling, detailed inspection content, testing parameters for chemicals residues and speciation to establishments eligible for exports to the US (as listed in https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/wcm/connect/eb3720e3-221c-4928-a018-028df5cc28b5/Vietnam_establishments.pdf?MOD=AJPERES)On August 15, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) launched Siluriformes Controlling Programme designed for Siluriformes fish and related prod-ucts exported to the US market.The programme aims to demonstrate equivalence and minimise rejection of fish batch-es exported to the US, thus reducing costs for enterprises.Starting from September 1, 2017, the programme will apply strict supervision on all stages of fish farming, processing and exporting. Qualified products must satisfy 85 criteria of the US regarding veterinary medicine, 106 criteria on pesticides, four on dyeing chemicals, 17 on metals and eight in biochemistry.In case a fish batch attracts warnings from an authorised US agency, NAFIQAD will request the seafood processor to trace its origins and investigate why it failed to meet food safety requirements. The department will also halt the concerned facility's Sil-


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uriformes fish export to the US, while handling its violations.NAFIQAD is also preparing a complete equivalence package to be submitted to FSIS on August 20, 2017. After that, FSIS will initiate the review process of the submitted documentation, and if the submission provides an initial basis for believing the coun-try to be equivalent, FSIS will do an in-country audit.http://bizhub.vn/news/tra-fish-exports-steady-after-new-us-food-safety-rule_288335.html

New programme to tighten control of catfish exported to US


The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) has issued a safety con-trol programme designed for Siluriformes fish (mainly tra and basa) and related prod-ucts exported to the US market as part of efforts to adapt to new changes in the market.The programme, starting from September 1, 2017, will apply strict supervision on all stages of fish farming, processing and exporting. Qualified products must satisfy 85 criteria of the US regarding veterinary medicine, 106 criteria on pesticides, 4 on dyeing chemicals, 17 on metals and 8 in biochemistry.In case a fish batch gets warnings from the US authorised agency, the National Agro-Forestry-Fisheries Quality Assurance Department (NAFIQAD) will request the proc-essor to trace origin of the batch, while investigating reasons why the batch fails to meet food safety requirements. The department will also halt the facility's Siluriformes fish export to the US, while handling its violations.In early July, the US Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced that it would apply new regulations in import under the inspection programme for Sil-uriformes fish from August 2 instead of September 1 as stated earlier.Under the regulations, authorised agencies in the exporting country must submit to the FSIS documents to prove that the country's food safety control system is equivalent to that of the US.The MARD's new programme aims to demonstrate the equivalence and minimise re-fusals of fish batches export to the US, thus reducing costs for enterprises.According to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), in the first six months of this year, the US remained the leading market for Vietnam's tra fish. However, tra fish export revenue in the US reached only $176.4 million, a drop of 5.7 per cent compared to the same period last year. Due to high anti-dumping tax rate, only three Vietnamese firms managed to export tra fish to the market with con-siderable volume and value.VASEP predicted that in the rest of the year, tra fish export to the US will continue fall-ing.http://bizhub.vn/news/new-programme-to-tighten-control-of-catfish-exported-to-us_288325.html

US rescinds part of antidumping duty review on shrimp from Vietnam


The US Department of Commerce has rescinded the administrative review, in part, of the anti-dumping duty order on frozen warm-water shrimp from Vietnam for the pe-riod from February 1, 2016 through January 31, 2017.The department published in the Federal Register a notice of initiation of an anti-dumping duty administrative review on Vietnam's frozen warm-water shrimp on April 10 this year, based on timely request for review of 55 companies by the Hoc Shrimp Trade Action Committee (the petitioner) and of 88 companies by the American Shrimp Processors Association (ASPA) and various Vietnamese companies.However, three Vietnamese shrimp producers withdrew their requests for review while the petitioner and ASPA also withdrew their respective review requests for these companies. In addition, a Vietnamese producer did not request a review of itself.So that, the department decided to rescind the previous review with respect to these companies. And the review remains active with respect to all other companies for whom a review was initiated.The department will instruct US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to assess anti-


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dumping duties on all appropriate entries at a rate equal to the cash deposit of estimat-ed anti-dumping duties required at the time of entry, or withdrawal from warehouse, for consumption, during the period.http://en.vietnamplus.vn/us-rescinds-part-of-antidumping-duty-review-on-shrimp-from-vietnam/116466.vnp

Coal exports to Laos see sharp increase

18/AUG/2017 INTELLASIA| VOV

In the first seven months of this year, coal exports to Laos skyrocketed 16-fold in vol-ume to 50,400 tonnes and 15-fold in value to $4.3 million against the same period last year, according to the general Department of Vietnam Customs.Vietnam shipped 140,100 tonnes of coal in July to get $17.7 million, down 16.2 percent in volume and 12.1 percent in value compared to June. This is the second month coal exports suffered a decline since early this year. However, exports in seven months still enjoyed a growth of 148 percent in volume to 1.1 million tonnes and 245.4 percent in value to $165.9 million.Asian countries are key importers of Vietnam coal. Japan makes up 48.2 percent of Vi-etnam's total export value with 568,800 tonnes valued at $71 million, trailed by Malay-sia with $151,200 tonnes worth $36.2 million.http://english.vov.vn/trade/coal-exports-to-laos-see-sharp-increase-356659.vov

Ministry finds no proof of alleged pepper price scam


The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) has not found evidene supporting accusa-tions by the Vietnam's Pepper Association (VPA) of price manipulation by foreign traders in the pepper market.VPA claimed on its website that domestic pepper prices had been fluctuating abnor-mally since late July due to price manipulation by Chinese traders.VPA said its members reported that Chinese traders ordered large quantities of pepper from domestic exporters, pushing them to deliver as soon as possible, which created the market signal of large demand. Therefore, many Vietnamese exporters had to buy pepper from farmers and agents at high prices in order to meet the terms of these con-tracts.However, they did not pay deposits on the signed contracts, claiming the money trans-fer was delayed due to bank paperwork.At the same time, the Chinese traders contacted local pepper supplying agents and promised to sell them pepper at below market value. The agents agreed, aiming to then sell it on to exporters. However, the Chinese businesses only sold them a small portion at a low price, then claimed the product was out of stock and raised the price sharply.The Chinese firms terminated the high-price contracts they initially signed with ex-porters, and local exporters were unable to contact them.After receiving information about the alleged scam, the ministry asked VPA to provide a list of local exporters affected by such transactions. However, VPA said it did not have suffiicient resources to list the enterprises. In addition, businesses would not share information about their partners."We do not have sufficient basis to conclude that foreign traders have been manipulat-ing the pepper market. However, we will cooperate with the departments of industry and trade to closely supervise the market and ensure a healthy business environment for pepper in particular and agricultural products in general," MoIT said.In the first seven months of 2017, Vietnam's pepper export volume was estimated at 145,000 tonnes and valued at $800 million, up 20.4 per cent in volume but down 18.2 per cent in value against the same period last year, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development reported.The pepper price on Thursday was hovered at VND90,000 ($4) per kilo in the southern region. In Dong Nai Province, the pepper rose by VND1,000 per kilo while that in Ba Ria Vung Tau Province was reduced VND1,000 to VND91,000 per kilo.The local pepper industry has been urged to apply agricultural standards for its sus-


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tainable development as well as meeting with the import markets' requirements.Many farmers have shifted into clean pepper production to penetrate into demanding markets.In the beginning of the year, VPA forecast the country's pepper exports this year would face difficulties. Most of its pepper importers would increase measures to con-trol imports' quality, especially in the EU and US.http://bizhub.vn/news/ministry-finds-no-proof-of-alleged-pepper-price-scam_288338.html

First-half FDI approvals in Binh Duong beat full-year target


Fresh foreign direct investment (FDI) approvals in Binh Duong Province in the first half of the year have surpassed the full-year target, according to Nguyen Thanh Truc, director of the provincial Department of Planning and Investment.Truc said at a dialogue with South Korean firms in Binh Duong on August 16 that new FDI pledges amounted to $1.72 billion in the six-month period, a year-on-year rise of 51 percent and 23 percent higher than the full-year target.The figure includes around $1.03 billion registered for 97 new projects and $670 mil-lion as additional funds for 62 operational ventures.He said 92.5 percent of new FDI pledges were injected into industrial parks, consisting of $965 billion in 72 fresh projects and $623 million in 37 operational ones.Notably, he added, Korean firms have poured more money into Binh Duong, while many have lately come to the province to sound out business opportunities.For example, they invested in 16 new and 17 operational projects capitalised at $306 million in the January-June period. As a result, the northeast Asian country ranked third in terms of capital, behind Taiwan and Singapore.Upon the receipt of investment licenses, some Korean investors have quickly carried out their projects, like the $220 million automobile tire factory of Kolon Industries Inc in Bau Bang Industrial Park.The director said South Korea has taken third place in investments in the province so far, helped by 623 projects worth roughly $2.7 billion.Binh Duong Province has around 2,500 valid FDI projects with total registered capital of over $27 billion, making it the second largest FDI destination in the country behind HCM City.Truc said the provincial government has been striving to improve its investment envi-ronment in a way to achieve stable growth. Many foreign investors have shown inter-est in some industries of its own strength such as electricity, electronics, pharmaceuticals, chemical, and e-commerce.http://english.thesaigontimes.vn/55620/First-half-FDI-approvals-in-Binh-Duong-beat-full-year-target.html

Cabinet blamed for problematic budget estimating, allocation planning


The National Assembly Standing Committee (NASC) has requested the government, ministries and sectors to learn from experience in budget estimating and allocation planning which have become problematic recently.At its ongoing 13th session, the committee on August 17 gave opinions on the govern-ment's adjustment to the central budget plan in 2017 and the allocation and use of part of the central budget left over from 2016.The government reported capital was unable to be allocated to some investment projects of five ministries and sectors and two localities since these projects failed to meet the set criteria or did not have demand for capital. Therefore, the government proposed the NASC revoke over 867.94 billion VND (38.2 million USD) to give to other ministries, sectors and localities that need funding.Verifying the Cabinet's report, the NA's Committee for Financial and Budgetary Af-fairs attributed the allocation failure and budget estimate revision to budget estimat-ing and allocation planning not in line with the set criteria and principles.As a result, there remain projects that are not included in the list of medium-term pub-


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lic investment or lack investment procedures but still receive funding.Many NASC members agreed with the capital revocation, adding that the government needs to order its ministries and sectors to learn from experience in budget estimating, while adhering to the allocation criteria and principles and the planned disbursement progress. They must also clarify the causes of slow capital disbursement so as to devise solutions.NA Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan also pointed out the responsibility of the Ministry of Planning and Investment, ministries, sectors, as well as the NA's Commit-tee for Financial and Budgetary Affairs and the NASC in project verification and sub-mission to the parliament for budget allocation approval.She stressed after budget estimates are made, new policies must not be issued to avoid an increase of needed capital.http://en.vietnamplus.vn/cabinet-blamed-for-problematic-budget-estimating-alloca-tion-planning/116496.vnp

Linking national and regional customs windows


The national one-door customs mechanism, first introduced in 2011, has considerably reduced time spent on customs procedures and facilitated import and export activities. This forms an important premise for Vietnam as it develops its National Single Win-dow (NSW) that will have to integrate with the Asean Single Window (ASW).Pham Duyen Phuong, deputy director of the Information Technology and Statistics Department under the general Department of Customs, speaks about this issue with Vnews, the television channel of the Vietnam News Agency.What are the results obtained in implementing the NSW from 2014 until now?The national single window customs mechanism is an information technology (IT) system operating in a legal environment, creating favourable conditions for fulfilling administrative procedures.This mechanism has been applied for procedures relating to exit, entry and transit of people, transportation means and goods. At present, many procedures are carried out under the national one-door mechanism, and this has delivered some good results.For the first time, Vietnam has made remarkable progress in investment environment rankings, including cross-border trading, in a World Bank (WB) survey.According to a WB survey on business environment in 2016, Vietnam reduced customs clearance time, including time required to prepare the clearance dossier for goods and time taken to transport goods from the border gate to the warehouse. This is in keeping with the government's resolution on shortening customs clearance time.For instance, when the Vietnam Register began participating under the national single window mechanism, customs clearance of motorcycles and specialised vehicles took much less time.For State agencies, the NSW ensures that all information will come from a single source and will be shared from a single source-based information technology system with high security, so accuracy and reliability of information will be much higher than processing with paper records.What has the general Department of Customs done over the past years to promote im-plementation of the NSW and ASW mechanisms?As an advisory body, the department has advised the government to set up a solid foundation for the national one-stop mechanism. It has also directly implemented the mechanism with several specific solutions for customs offices in simplifying proce-dures and automating them to reduce time for customs clearance and release of goods.The single window customs mechanism has been piloted at the Noi Bai Airport and will soon be applied at the Tan Son Nhat Airport. What are the difficulties experienced so far and what will your department do to ensure its success?So far, the pilot project has gone smoothly. While we wait for the legal foundations to be completed, we have worked with international airlines to test the technical options. We have not encountered any technical problems. However, we have forecast some problems that are likely to arise. First, when the prime minister's decision on applying


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a single customs window for the domestic airway system comes into effect, transaction volumes will increase greatly, so probability of trouble with the network infrastructure can occur at the same time.In addition, in the first stage, when enterprises deal with unfamiliar customs declara-tions under the single window mechanism, problems will certainly arise.As for the legal aspect, a new point in the prime minister's decision is that for the first time, Vietnam will receive full information in accordance with international regula-tions.Previously, Vietnam had only received information about passengers, luggage, flight and cargo. With the implementation of the single window customs mechanism, Viet-nam is required to add information about passenger reservations according to recom-mendations from some international organisations.This is a completely new point for Vietnam and domestic airlines are not ready to pro-vide the information. Therefore, the department foresees some problems in the initial stages.To solve the issue, the department has organised a lot of seminars to provide full in-formation about this issue.Second, we have signed mutual agreement, cooperation and support agreements with partners to provide all aviation information services for the airlines. The customs de-partment has also set up a 24/7 centre and hotlines for businesses so that they can get direct support from the centre based in the Customs Information Technology and Sta-tistics Department.I hope that with such solutions and our experience running the single window cus-toms system for other fields over many years, the system for the airways sector will work smoothly.What are new points and benefits of the single window customs mechanism?Information on the airlines has been provided to government agencies under many different regulations, including information about management of air transportation means and transportation at international airports. For example, the department has issued decrees and circulars requiring airlines to provide information on cargo, pas-sengers, luggage and flights. The border gate security administration and immigration management agencies are required to provide advance information about passengers.Previously, the information was provided on paper. Then, the government passed a decree asking the airlines to provide electronic information about passengers, but sharing of this information is very limited.Therefore, when the information is connected to the single window customs system, the first thing is that all documents are digital and all information is linked to the man-agement and monitoring systems of the border security agency, the immigration of-fice, the port authority and the customs office, to automatically share them. This is the first new point.The second new point is for the first time the general department of customs will ask for more information on passenger reservations, according to recommendations by many organisations such as the World Customs Organisation and Apec forum on se-curity.The third point is that when the information is sent to the system, it is automatically shared with all relevant agencies and it connects all the stages. At present, for the avi-ation industry, the information is poor, and this mechanism will solve this problem and better serve State management agencies. Especially for the customs department, when we have information, we will shorten clearance time and give support for logis-tics enterprises, transportation companies and import-export enterprises.The IT infrastructure is very important in implementing the single window customs system for the marine and aviation industries. What infrastructure investments have been made to create favourable conditions for trade activities and connections with the Asean Single Window?The IT system is the core aspect that will decide the success of implementing the na-tional single window mechanism. However, to ensure efficiency in development of the


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system, besides the budget, there will also be socialisation, public-private partnership or leasing of some IT services. All these measures are currently being tried out and the department will submit its recommendations to the prime minister for approval.http://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/business/183604/linking-national-and-regional-cus-toms-windows.html

Govt calls for explanation about flight delays


The prime minister has urged aviation firms and agencies to give reasons behind flight delays and cancellations, asking them to pinpoint whether it is due to inadequate in-frastructure or poor management.Minister and Chair of the government Office Mai Tien Dung on August 16 led a dele-gation to work with major airlines to identify reasons and find ways to cope with de-lays and cancellations of flights at domestic airports. Joining the meeting were also representatives of Vietnam Airlines, Vietnam Air Traffic Management Corporation (VATM) and Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV).Many questions were raised by minister Dung on behalf of the prime minister, urging the aviation companies to give answers to the government.The toughest question is whether to increase aircraft movements at airports. Dung asked the companies to clarify whether the low frequency of aircraft movements is due to poor infrastructure or poor management.The minister questioned the possibility to double the current capacity of nearly 25 mil-lion passengers a year at Tan Son Nhat International Airport by boosting aircraft movements. According to Dung, the country's busiest airport has been seriously over-loaded while the plans for expansion have not been concluded and Long Thanh Inter-national Airport project is still in the process of preparation.The minister also asked for solutions to delays and cancellations at airports. In the first seven months of 2017, the number of delays and cancellations of Vietnam Airlines fell sharply, but the figures of low-cost airlines were still high.According to a report of the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam, in the first half of 2017, domestic air carriers operated a total of 137,600 flights, up 7.2 percent compared to the same period last year. Flight delays and cancellations accounted for 12.2 percent and 0.5 percent of the total respectively, down 3.6 percentage points and 0.1 percent-age point year-on-year.Later-than-scheduled aircraft arrivals caused 70 percent of flight delays while airlines took responsibility for 19.2 percent of delays.Delays of less than one hour, one to three hours and over three hours accounted for 91.3%, 6 percent and 2.7 percent of the total flight delays respectively.In the year's first half, the aviation market posted strong growth with the number of air passengers totalling 30.3 million, up 19.5 percent year-on-year.During meetings with the prime minister's inspection team, the three major aviation units were also asked to take drastic measures to gain aviation growth of 17-20 percent and increase international arrivals by 30 percent to 13 million this year.Besides, more attention should be paid to aviation safety and security as well as infra-structure improvement.http://english.thesaigontimes.vn/55629/Govt-calls-for-explanation-about-flight-de-lays.html

Real estate enterprises face difficulties in starting up new projects


The number of property projects this year is much smaller than in 2016 due to numer-ous difficulties in starting up new projects, especially time-consuming administrative procedures and high land use charges, said Ngo Quang Phuc, vice chair of the HCM City Real Estate Association (HoREA).At a seminar "Solutions to promote the growth of the real estate market in the rest of 2017" in HCM City on August 16, Phuc, who is also deputy general director of Him Lam Land, said the real estate market has slowed down this year compared to two pre-vious years.


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The tightening of real estate credit has caused difficulties for investors. Besides, com-plicated administrative procedures are attributed to the slower growth of the sector.This year, Him Lam Land will launch only one instead of three new projects as planned due to obstacles to procedures, Phuc added.Nguyen Minh Khang, general director of LDG Investment Corporation, said it often takes 15 to 18 months to complete administrative procedures for a project excluding the time required for compensation and site clearance.In addition, land use charge is another obstacle to developing a property project as it is unpredictable. LDG acquired a land lot for VND120 billion (US$5.27 million), but the land use charge paid to the State alone amounted to VND115 billion. It means that real estate enterprises have to pay a large amount of money to the State, thus causing prices of houses to skyrocket, said Khang.Economic expert Dinh The Hien said the scarcity of land, site clearance difficulties and high land use charge in the city have caused the suspension of many projects.Data of the HoREA shows that houses offered for sale in the first half of this year de-creased compared to the year-ago period. The number of low-cost and high-end hous-es rose 1.9 and 1.8 times respectively while the number of houses in the mid-end segment went down by 42.1%. Some large investors in this segment had no houses to sell.A decrease in speculation was also mentioned as a reason of the stagnant market. En-terprises investing in the low-cost segment are expected to gain sustainable develop-ment in the future.Bui Quang Tin, another economic expert, said interest rates may go down in the five remaining months of this year as well as in the upcoming years, making life easier for those realty developers with access to credit.At the seminar, Vu Van Phan, deputy head of the Housing and Real Estate Market Management Department under the Ministry of Construction, said the Standing Com-mittee of the National Assembly has approved VND840 billion to build houses for pol-icy people and VND1,160 billion loans to build social houses as stipulated in Decree 100.The Vietnam Bank for Social Policies has also mobilised some VND1 trillion to develop social housing projects. A total of VND2 trillion will be disbursed this year to support enterprises and home buyers.http://english.thesaigontimes.vn/55623/Real-estate-enterprises-face-difficulties-in-starting-up-new-projects.html

Vietnam's aviation market still very attractive

18/AUG/2017 INTELLASIA| NDH

In Vietnam, Vietjet Air Joint Stock Company (VJC) and Vietnam Airlines (HVN) are still two dominant players in the aviation market.In the first half of 2017, VJC marked the milestone with the highest profit growth rate in the industry. Specifically, Vietjet's total revenue reached 16.390 trillion dong, up nearly 31 percent year-on-year; the pre-tax profit reached 1.900 trillion dong, and the net profit was 1.790 trillion dong, up nearly 45%.Meanwhile, HVN recorded the net revenue of 40.142 trillion dong, up 16 percent year-on-year. However, the net profit fell 54%, reaching more than 776 billion dong only due to the sharp drop in profits from other operations.At businesses in the aviation service industry, business results are also divided into two extremes.Southern Airports Services JSC (SAS)the unit that trades in duty free goods, handi-crafts, room services at Tan Son Nhat Airportachieved 1.142 trillion dong net revenue and nearly 132 billion dong net profit, up nine percent year-on-year and 42 percent year-on-year respectively.Besides, Aviation Import Export Joint Stock Company (ARM) also recorded revenue growth of 59 percent year-on-year, touching 115 billion dong but net profit only slight-ly increased to 4.1 billion dong.On the other side, Noi Bai Cargo Terminal Service JSC (NCT) and Da Nang Airport


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Services Joint Stock Company (MAS) have stepped back when profits fell 14 percent and 48 percent to 142 billion dong and 27 billion dong respectively.With the "giant" of Airports Corporation of Vietnam (coded ACV), in the first six months of 2017, ACV reached nearly 6.897 trillion dong net revenue and more than 2.076 trillion dong net profit.While other airlines have not been able to thrust into Vietnam aviation's passenger transport market, the "race" in the sky only has two "athletes" of HVN and VJC.Despite a slower start, VJC is gradually absorbing the domestic market share of HVN.VJC's number of passengers has grown well as this company opens more new routes. On the other hand, VJC's fare is about 30 percent lower than HVN for domestic flights, so VJC has gained the majority of new passengers using the service.Thanks to the lowest price strategy, people have more convenient choices than other means. Therefore, more and more people use affordable airline services.Vietjet's gradual domination of domestic market has proven the effectiveness of this model. Besides, the application of sale and leaseback strategy has helped VJC develop its fleet quickly to keep up with the passenger growth.As of the end of Q2/2017, Vietjet was operating a fleet of 45 aircrafts including 30 A320 aircrafts and 15 A321 aircrafts, an increase of 13 routes compared to the end of 2016; raising the total number of domestic and international routes to 73.For HVN, in 2017, the company is expected to increase the average number of planes to 91.2 units and the number of new aircraft (including four A350s and one B787) will be invested in the form of sale and leaseback.As per IATA's data, Vietnam's aviation market has the third fastest growth rate in the world with the average rate of 16.6 percent per annum in the period of 2001-2014. IATA also forecasts that Vietnam will be the world's fifth-fastest growing aviation market, reaching 150 million passengers by 2035.Vietnam's aviation industry is also the fastest growing industry in the Southeast Asian region (as per the study of the Asia Pacific Aviation Centre). Vietnam aviation's pas-senger volume has grown at an average of 14.9 percent in the period of 2010-2015 and will still reach 13.9 percent in the next five years.On the other hand, as per Viet Dragon Securities Company (VCSC), Vietnam is still in the period of golden population with young workforce. For this group, rising income will lead to the increase in demand for travel and air travel.Vietnam's GDP growth is expected to continue leading the region in the coming years, which means that there is still room for the growth of the domestic aviation market.Seeing the "delicious pie" of Vietnam's aviation market, many domestic and foreign businesses want to join the "game".At the end of March 2017, Hai Au Group shook hand with Malaysia's Air Asia to set up a low-cost airline joint venture in Vietnam with the charter capital of about one tril-lion dong.Air Asia expects that this new airline will take off in early 2018, but the licensing is still pending as the Ministry of Transport is tightening the new licensing for aviation trans-port business.Vietstar Airlines also sent a letter to the government to re-propose for consideration and approval of air transportation business licensing for the company to penetrate into the passenger transport market.With such a potential market like Vietnam, it is not difficult to understand when many new airlines intend to enter the "sky war". However, Vietnam airport infrastructure is still a difficult problem.General director of Vietnam Airlines, Pham Ngoc Minh used to emphasize that airport infrastructure in Vietnam did not meet the development of airline industries. The air-ports are facing congestion both in the sky and on the ground.Currently, the government and the State are directing the review and expansion of air-port infrastructure (including Tan Son Nhat Airport which is a hotspot) in order to re-move difficulties for airlines. This will also positively affect other aviation service businesses in the industry.


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Cooperatives urged to reform, modernise


The cooperative sector needs to give priority to structural reform as well as stimulate renovation to improve operational efficiency, adapting to current market conditions and the international integration process.Deputy director of the Ministry of Planning and Investment's (MPI's) Cooperatives Department Bui Nghi made the statement during a seminar held by the MPI on Thurs-day in Hanoi."Cooperatives were formed and developed in Vietnam long ago. However, the coun-try's socio-economic situation has changed, requiring cooperatives to renovate accord-ingly in order to operate more effectively," Nghi said.The 2012 Law on Cooperatives facilitated cooperative development in line with the country's economic development, associated with the process of international integra-tion, he said.However, he added, each cooperative should itself improve competitiveness and mo-bilise synergistic resources, applying advanced technology as well as improving man-agement effectiveness combined with branding and marketing.Cooperatives should be restructured and transformed into modern models, expand-ing the scale of production and developing production toward specialisation and pro-fessionalism, generating products of high quality and added value, meeting domestic requirements as well as joining the global value chain, he said.Foreign experts said Vietnamese cooperatives should also learn from international practices, including a number of cooperative development models of developed coun-tries such as Canada, the Netherlands and Germany.Cooperatives should be built on a voluntary basis, mobilising resources from each par-ticipant and distributing profits according to agreement reached between participants, the experts said.Vietnam has more than 19,500 cooperatives operating in various fields, from agricul-ture, fisheries, forestry, transport, credit and handicrafts. However, only one third are assessed as operating efficientlyAt a conference workshop, Tran Van Cung, chair of the Cooperative Alliance in the southern province of An Giang, gave examples of cooperation on rice production be-tween farmers and businesses in the province.Cooperatives represented farming households, receiving seeds, chemicals and fertilis-ers from enterprises and then providing them to farming households, he said. Coop-eratives received commissions according to agreements reached with farmers. In addition, cooperatives and technical staff supervise and support farmers in the pro-duction process, he said.http://bizhub.vn/news/cooperatives-urged-to-reform-modernise_288341.html

Closer look at three companies to be divested by VNPT and EVN

18/AUG/2017 INTELLASIA| VIR

In late August, Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT) and Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) will divest their capital in three major companies with a total charter capital amount of VND1 trillion ($44 million).Saigon Postel CorporationOn August 29, VNPT will sell all 10.26 million of its shares, equal to 8.53 per cent of all outstanding shares in Saigon Postel Corporation (SPT), at the starting price of VND12.487 ($0.55) per share.SPT was founded in 1995 and operates mainly in telephone, internet, and postal serv-ices. SPT's direct business units includes Saigon South Telephone Centre (SST), S-Tel-ecom, and Saigon Post (SGP), among others. SPT's charter capital is currently VND1.2 trillion ($52.8 million), with seven major stakeholders controlling 77.08 per cent of the total stakes.Reports showed that SPT has made profit in recent years, however debts from the S-Fone mobile network project (which ceased operations in 2012) has kept the company short on capital for operation as well as expansion. By the end of 2016, SPT's accumu-lated loss was more than VND100 billion ($4.4 million).


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Due to years of difficulties, SPT's revenue comes primarily from exploiting existing re-sources. As such, the company's resources, including the domestic and international transmission network, are dwindling.In 2016, SPT reported a revenue of VND804.1 billion ($35.4 million) and pre-tax profit of VN38.8 billion ($1.7 million), slight increases compared to 2015, meeting 80 and 26 per cent of its targets, respectively. This year, the company targets the revenue of VND1 trillion ($44 million) and pre-tax profit of VND150 billion ($6.6 million), similar to 2016.EVN Finance JSCEVN Finance JSC was founded in 2008 to arrange and manage capital for EVN's elec-tricity projects and to provide other professional financial services. The company's cur-rent charter capital is VND2.5 trillion ($110 million), 15 per cent of which is owned by EVN, 8.4 per cent by An Binh Commercial Joint Stock Bank, and 1.8 per cent by Refrig-eration Electrical Engineering Corporation.EVN is planning to divest all its capital in EVN Finance, equivalent to 37.5 million shares, on August 18 at the starting price of VND14,133 ($0.62) per share.In the last two years, EVN Finance's after-tax profit figures were VND134.9 billion ($5.94 million) and VND165.5 billion ($7.28 million), respectively. In the first quarter of 2017, it reported a profit of VND117.7 billion ($5.18 million), meeting almost 59 per cent of the annual target VND200.5 billion ($8.82 million).At the end of the first quarter of 2017, EVN Finance's total assets was 19 trillion ($836 million), but its total liabilities amounted to VND16 trillion ($704 million), accounting for 80 per cent of total assets and over five times as much as its stockholders' equity (VND3.1 trillion$136.4 million).A Vuong Hydropower JSCOn August 22, EVN is expected to auction 7.51 per cent of its charter capital (5.66 mil-lion shares) at A Vuong Hydropower JSC, currently held by five of its subsidiaries, starting at VND17,000 ($0.75) per share.A Vuong Hydropower JSC has a registered charter capital of VND1.12 trillion ($49.28 million), and by the end of 2016, its actual contributed capital was VND750.5 billion ($33.02 million). The A Vuong Hydropower project is located in the central province of Quang Nam, with a capacity of 210MW, and the total investment of VND3.87 tril-lion ($170.32 million).Additionally, the company also invested in other hydropower projects, such as Song Bung 3A, Song Bung 4A, and Dak Pring 2 Hydropower.A Vuong Hydropower's revenue comes mainly from selling commercial electricity. In 2015 and 2016, the company reported VND603 billion ($26.53 million) and VND597 billion ($26.27 million) in revenue with VND143 billion ($6.29 million) and VND122 billion ($5.37 million) in after-tax profit, respectively.Its financial targets for 2017 are VND573 billion ($25.21 million) in revenue and VND124 billion ($5.5 million) in pre-tax profit, decreasing 4 and 3.5 per cent, respec-tively, compared to 2016 targets.In the first quarter of 2017, A Vuong earned a revenue of VND187 billion ($8.23 mil-lion), pre-tax profit of VND94.2 billion ($4.14 million), and after-tax profit of VND92.8 billion ($4.08 million). Its total assets were $2.3 trillion ($101.2 million) and stockhold-ers' equity was VND1.14 trillion ($50.16 million), including VND341.5 billion ($15.03 million) in undistributed profit.For the third quarter and second half of 2017, many securities companies, such as SSI, PHS, and BSC, have recommended investors to pay attention to the divestment of state-owned enterprises and enterprises with large state ownership. Among the three divestments mentioned above, it is predicted that VNPT's divestment from SPT will have difficulties attracting investors.In fact, earlier this year, HCM City Party Committee Office has auctioned all its shares at SPT at the starting price of VND13,412 ($0.59) per share, but was unsuccessful as only a single investor participated in the auction.


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Why are foreigners' house purchases proceeding at a sluggish rate?


Since the Housing Law took effect in July 2015, 549 land-use right certificates (red books) have been issued to foreign individuals and institutions who have bought houses in Vietnam.A report shows that foreigners spent $153 billion to buy real estate in the US in 2016, including $3.06 billion spent by Vietnamese. A question has been raised about why the amount of money did not flow to Vietnam for house purchase deals.It took Vietnam tens of years to come to the decision on allowing Viet Kieu (overseas Vietnamese) and foreigners to buy houses in Vietnam.The 2014 Housing Law allowed more foreigners to buy houses in Vietnam.Doanh Nhan Sai Gon newspaper quoted sources as reporting that the number of ex-pats in Vietnam in 2016 increased to 320,000. The figure continued to increase in 2017, leading to more foreigner demand for houses.In HCM City, in the last six months of 2015 alone, more than 1,000 apartments were sold to foreigners, four times higher than the number of apartments sold to foreigners in the combined five years before.However, there are no official statistics about the number of houses/apartments sold to foreigners and Viet Kieu.The initial goal of the policy on allowing foreigners to buy houses in Vietnam was to create favourable conditions for individuals and organisations to live and work in Vi-etnam. Thus, the policy, at first, did not aim to influence the real estate market.However, the new Housing Law is praised as an important policy to defrost the real estate market, make the investment environment more attractive and help handle bad debt more effectively.In the past, expats in Vietnam could only buy houses if they lived in Vietnam for more than one year. But now, foreigners can buy houses in Vietnam if they are allowed to enter the country.However, despite the open legal framework, foreigners and Viet Kieu are still hesitat-ing to buy houses in Vietnam, partially because they fear changing policies. They also have to follow too many complicated procedures to buy houses.In HCM City, Phu My Hung urban area is the most attractive area in the expat com-munity. At least 40 percent of 30,000 people living there are foreigners from 20 coun-tries and territories.http://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/business/183638/why-are-foreigners--house-pur-chases-proceeding-at-a-sluggish-rate-.html

Reforms help M&A landscape to shine


With a burst of activity during the first eight months of 2017 in the property market, Vietnam real estate has recently become a preferred destination in the mega trend for mergers and acquisitions.Since the consolidation of governing Vietnamese laws to streamline capital flow from foreign countries while ensuring local business protection, the approaching merger-and-acquisition (M&A) landscape appears more flexible for both sides.Looking ahead, what can we expect from the ample projections for M&A deals in the investment market?In the first half of 2017, Vietnam continued to attract significant foreign direct invest-ment (FDI). FDI disbursement reached $7.72 billion, a rise of 6.5 per cent year-on-year, while registered FDI hit $19.22 billion, up 54.8 per cent.Much of the FDI increase, as usual, went to industrial development in the manufactur-ing sector.In May, Thailand's Hemaraj Land & Development's joint venture with local infrastruc-ture firm Cienco 4 gained approval for a $1 billion, 32,200 hectare industrial park in Nghe An province in central Vietnam.FDI has also been directed to other sectors of the property market contributing to growth and value. prime office and hospitality segments are showing high occupancy, increased office rents and healthy room rates. While these sectors are gaining more


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traction among developers, investor focus is still on operating assets except for prime location development opportunities in HCM City and Hanoi.With limited available stock we are seeing significant yield compression with recent transactions achieving record pricing levels.Japanese investors continue to be active in the market. Nishi Nippon Railroad and Hankyu Realty have partnered with local firm Nam Long with a total investment of $351 million in developing Mizuki Park, a 26ha residential project in Binh Chanh dis-trict of HCM City.Aeon Mall, the renowned Japanese retail group, has entered into a joint venture with BIM Group to develop their second Hanoi mall on a 16.7ha site, with a total estimated investment of $200 million.Local developer SonKim Land has also successfully completed their $100 million fund-ing round with Japanese investors.Savills also played a part in the maturing HCM City property market with a strata title office sale in District 1 in early 2017. The transaction set a market precedent by securing separate strata titles for office space and the hotel within a single property.This fresh approach demonstrates Savills Vietnam's ability to not just broker the most significant deals in Vietnam, but to advise on deal structuring for the most sophisticat-ed real estate projects.In addition to the office sector, the Savills team is currently focused on hospitality, as well as residential development and urban car parking projects.Last year, the improving hospitality market resulted in a number of successful trans-actions, for example, the sale of a premium four-star hotel located in the heart of Dis-trict 1.Savills was appointed as the exclusive agent for the vendor and delivered a transaction value significantly higher than expectations.The second quarter of 2017 should continue to see strong interest in residential devel-opment projects. China Fortune Land Development Group has acquired a stake for $65.3 million in the VinaCapital Dai Phuoc Lotus project.This is a residential township project on a 198.5ha site in southern Dong Nai province next to HCM City. VinaCapital also transferred their 65 per cent stake in the Hanoi-based Times Square mixed-use project to Elite Capital Resources Limited for approxi-mately $41 million.Opportunities and pitfallsM&As in Vietnam are also being nurtured by a number of international trade agree-ments.The Trans-Pacific Partnership now without US involvement is a giant free trade area (FTA) deal expected to eliminate tariffs on goods and services, remove many non-tariff barriers, and harmonise a host of regulations.As Vietnam joins such an FTA, it will see significant investment capital flow into sup-porting industries, value-added services, retail, industrial, and hospitality sectors.These sectors will boost Vietnam's competitive advantages and pave the way for an ac-celeration of M&A activities. The deep involvement of Vietnam in the Asean Economic Community (AEC), the recovery of the real estate market, and the new generation of FTAs are all key factors driving M&A activities.However, many M&A negotiations are very time consuming and the closing process is often difficult.It is important that investors seek professional advisors with experience navigating the legal environment and deal structures appropriate for the Vietnam market.With such advice, investors can approach the market with confidence and maximise their participation in the booming Vietnam M&A market.http://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/business/183588/reforms-help-m-a-landscape-to-shine.html


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E-logistics: foreign rivals crowd busy market


The forwarding market has been witnessing a boom since 2012 with the presence of many businesses, from post-based companies to young startups.In Vietnam, there are two models of e-commerce delivery service. First, service with goods delivered within 1-2 days to customers in Hanoi and HCM City, and within 3-7 days in other localities.Sellers will send goods to delivery staff or leave goods at consignment points. The goods will be gathered at forwarding businesses' storehouses and then distributed to customers.The service providers of this kind include Viettel Post, VNPost, SF Express, Giaohang-nhanh, LEX (Lazada Vietnam), Giaohangtietkiem, Ninja Van and Giaohangso1.Second, prompt delivery service. With the service, goods will be delivered within 1-3 hours. Deliverymen will come to get goods from sellers and deliver directly to custom-ers. AhaMove, Delivery Now, GrabExpress (Grab) and UberShip (Uber) are the best known names in the group.The demand for delivery is expected to boom, especially after the tariffs among Asean countries are cut to zero percent, which will help boost trade.In mid-July, German Deutsche Post DHL announced the launch of logistics service for e-commerce DHL eCommerce.DHL eCommerce is listed among the first group of service providers, while its CEO Charles Brewer said the company still doesn't have the intention to join the second group prompt deliverymen.The market entry of DHL, an enterprise whose 80 percent of revenue comes from B2B transportation, is a surprise.In Vietnam, as estimated by Euromonitor, the revenue from e-commerce in 2016 was $1 billion and from e-commerce delivery accounted for 10-12 percent, or $100-120 mil-lion. The figure alone will not attract new investments from DHL.Analysts commented that DHL targets cross-border e-commerce in SE Asia which is forecast to reach $3.4 trillion by 2020 with e-commerce delivery amounting to 5-8 per-cent, or $272 billion.AEC is an attractive zone with population just lower than China and India. According to Nomura from Japan, the B2C and C2C e-commerce revenue in the zone may hit $36.1 billion by 2020 with the CARG of 34 percent. The revenue from e-commerce de-livery is estimated to reach $7 billion.Chinese companies have also been aware of the importance of the market. Alibaba Group launched Cainiao Network in 2013. SF Express, which is called China's FedEX, has come to Vietnam. It stated that the goods ordered on Chinese wholesale websites would come to Vietnam within 1-2 weeks instead of 1 month as previously.Brewer said Vietnam's e-commerce now makes up 1 percent of revenue of traditional commerce and will develop rapidly in the time to come.http://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/business/183635/e-logistics--foreign-rivals-crowd-busy-market.html

Foreign brewers eye Vietnamese beer market


With the consumption level of 3.8 billion litres of beer a year, the third highest in the world and the highest in SE Asia, Vietnam is a highly attractive market for brewers.Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Corp (TTL), for example, plans to compete with Heineken and Budweiser in Vietnam, proof of the appeal of the local beer market.The manufacturer from Taiwan plans to introduce three brands in Vietnam: Golden Medal Taiwan Beer, Taiwan Beer Sweet Touch and pineapple flavor beer, slated for October.With the plan to launch fruit flavored beer, unparalleled in Vietnam, TTL hopes it will have the chance to increase the brand's presence in Vietnam.TTL plans to sell 38,000 tonnes, or 38 million litres a year, and hold one percent of Viet-nam's market share in the next three years.Carlton & United Breweries (CUB) also is showing an interest in the Vietnamese market.


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At a meeting with deputy PM Vuong Dinh Hue during his working visit to Australia on July 24, CUB's CEO January Craps said the company is considering buying Sabeco and Habeco shares to become strategic shareholders, when the state divests its shares in the two breweries this year.The enterprise is also considering expanding the brewery in Binh Duong province.In 2015, Anheuser-Busch InBev from Belgium set up a Budweiser brewery with the ca-pacity of 50 million litres a year in Binh Duong province and has raised the capacity to 100 million litres.Japanese Sapporo, which considers Vietnam the most important market in SE Asia, has raised the capacity of its brewery in Long An province from 40 million to 100 mil-lion. However, since its market share remains modest, Sapporo plans to acquire a stake in Sabeco and Habeco to boost sales in Vietnam.Frans Eusman from Heineken said Vietnam is one of the markets which brings biggest profits to Heineken.Danish Carlsberg, which has been in Vietnam since 1993, besides a brewery in Viet-nam, holds 17 percent stake in Habeco which gives it priority to buy Habeco stake when the State divests shares.In Vietnam, high-end products account for 7 percent of the market share, controlled by foreign brands such as Heineken, Tiger and Sapporo, while more common products account for 60 percent of the market share, controlled by Vietnamese brands including Habeco, Sabeco and Dai Viet.Analyts say that the Vietnamese beer market is getting more cramped with the pres-ence of over 30 international brands.Habeco, Hue Brewery, Sabeco and Heineken NV are the four names which dominate the domestic market, making up 90 percent of the volume of beer consumed in Viet-nam.http://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/business/183412/foreign-brewers-eye-vietnamese-beer-market.html

Omnichannel marketing provides sales boost


Vietnam Online Marketing Forum hears of latest trends and experience in different types of marketing.Omnichannel activities bring major sales to enterprises, CEO of Bizweb, Tran Trong Tuyen, told the Vietnam Online Marketing Forum (VOMF 2017) on August 17 in Ha-noi.Omnichannel is now a trend for businesses, conducted in preference to selling on a sin-gle channel and maximising the strength of the channel in raising revenue. Nguyen Truong Duy, Business Development manager at the VNG Corporation, told the gathering that both traditional marketing and online marketing methods support each other and have the best effect.He added that enterprises must look to products as well as targeted customer groups when choosing the most appropriate marketing method.Discussing outstanding online marketing trends in 2017, VOMF 2017 attracted over 1,000 e-commerce enterprises and over 50 online marketing providers, presenting op-portunities for those in attendance to seek cooperation.Speakers included reputable experts from leading organisations and businesses in the field of online marketing and research, including Nielsen, Google, Facebook, com-Score, Bizweb, and ZaloAd.Speakers presented new online marketing methods, including affiliate marketing trends and search engine marketing, programmatic marketing, multichannel market-ing, mobile marketing, social marketing, content marketing, and other online market-ing through email, livestream marketing, video marketing, and SMS marketing.Topics shared by speakers were extremely helpful to business owners, such as analys-ing and understanding customer psychology and user trends, resolving building and branding in the digital age, social networking skills, and livestream 360.Revenue from online advertising continues to grow significantly. Many business, es-


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pecially household and individual business, have taken advantage of online sales, which have contributed to growth in advertising on social media.VOMF 2017 featured sessions presenting an overview of Vietnam's marketing market, trends and experience in affiliate marketing and online marketing, automated market-ing and multi-channel marketing, mobile marketing, social media marketing, and con-tent marketing. A similar forum was held in HCM City on August 15.http://vneconomictimes.com/article/vietnam-today/omnichannel-marketing-pro-vides-sales-boost

Van Don Special Economic Zone envisioned to be green, modern urban


The northern province of Quang Ninh has envisioned turning the Van Don special ad-ministrative-economic zone into a smart and green island urban area, according to Sec-retary of the provincial Party Committee Nguyen Van Doc.The special administrative-economic zone is located in Van Don district, which has a total land area of 581.13 sq.km and sea area of 1,620 sq.km with a population of over 46,000.The district has a politically and economically important position as it lies on the stra-tegic transit route from East Asia to Southeast Asia and from Asean to China, in Viet-nam-China "two corridors, one belt" cooperation area, in Nanning-Singapore economic corridor, and in the extended Tonkin Gulf inter-regional cooperation area.Van Don is one of the three special administrative-economic zones designated by a government-approved plan; the other two are Van Phong in the central province of Khanh Hoa and Phu Quoc in the southern province of Kien Giang. The zones will pilot key new economic and administrative policies before they are applied nationwide to develop the maritime economy.Quang Ninh is working on a master plan of and a law on Van Don special administra-tive economic zone, guided by the aim to build Van Don into a dynamic economic cen-tre with focus on services, high-end tourism and high-tech industries. The zone is expected to become a centre for startups, innovation and international trade.The zone will apply an environmentally-friendly development model with a stream-lined administrative apparatus and competitive policies in order to tap the local dis-tinctive potentials to the fullest extent and to attract investment and talent.The modern zone is expected to spearhead the province's growth, consolidating Quang Ninh's position as a leading economy in the northern region while ensuring na-tional defence and security.The master plan of Van Don will define the local advantages with a view to pinpoint-ing goals and priorities for development, draft a long-term development strategy for the zone and propose management model and apparatus.The province organised a conference to collect advice from the Association of Viet-namese Scientists and Experts (AVSE) in France on the master plan and invited Kien Giang and Khanh Hoa provinces to a workshop on the special administrative-econom-ic zone master plan.Secretary Nguyen Van Doc stressed that the province hopes to put forward unprece-dented mechanisms and policies for the zone to give it competition edge internation-ally.He said that the province will hire foreign consultants to draw up socio-economic de-velopment plans for the zone and revise the blueprint for Van Don economic zone to suit the new status as a special administrative-economic zone as directed by the Polit-buro at Conclusion No.21-TB/TW on March 22, 2017.A line-up of domestic giant groups like Sungroup and FLC have been pouring invest-ment in Van Don district, including Van Don International Airport, Van Don luxury resort-entertainment complex with casino and many other high-end resorts.The master plan of and law on the Van Dong special administrative economic zone are scheduled to be submitted to the National Assembly's fourth meeting in October for consideration.


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Vietnam, Thailand vow to raise two-way trade value to $20 billion


PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc and his Thai counterpart Prayut Chan-o-cha affirmed their re-solve to increase the two-way trade volume to $20 billion by 2020 during their talks in Bangkok on Thursday.The two PMs committed to mutual support to turn the two countries into trade and investment hubs in the region and facilitating trade exchanges between the two coun-tries.Both sides agreed to foster the exchange of delegations at all levels and effectively op-erate the bilateral cooperation mechanisms, including early organisation of the 3rd meeting of the joint committee for bilateral cooperation, the 3rd ministerial meeting, the 3rd meeting of the trade commerce committee, and especially the 4th meeting of the Joint Cabinet.Underlining defense-security cooperation as one of the pillars of the Vietnam-Thai-land Strategic Partnership, the two PMs agreed to further exchange viewpoints and policies and strengthen cooperation between armed forces.The two sides also reaffirmed their commitment not to allow any individual and or-ganisation to use the territory of one country to conduct activities against the other.Both countries will enhance cooperation to address maritime issues, accelerate negoti-ations on agreement on extradition and mutual legal assistance in criminal matters.The two nations underscored the importance of fostering cooperation and experience sharing in a bid to prevent illegal fishingThai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha confirmed that he will attend the 2017 Apec economic leaders' week in Da Nang City this November and voiced support for Vietnam's initi-atives during the Apec year.The two PMs pledged to continue close coordination between themselves and with other Asean member States to consolidate solidarity, hold firm to positions and pro-mote the central role of Asean over issues related to peace and security in the region.They reaffirmed the importance of maintaining peace, security and stability as well as maritime safety and freedom in the East Sea; stressed the need for relevant parties to ensure full and effective implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea, build up, maintain and improve trust, respect self-restraint principles, settle differences and disputes through peaceful measures in line with international law, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.The two also leaders reiterated their support for Asean and China to soon reach a Code of Conduct in the East Sea.http://dtinews.vn/en/news/017004/52374/vietnam--thailand-vow-to-raise-two-way-trade-value-to-us-20 billion.html

MPI proposes permanent residence cards for foreign investors on Phu Quoc


Proposed draft law on special administrative zones includes a series of mechanisms to attract investment capital and foreign experts to Phu Quoc Island.Vietnam may issue permanent residence cards to foreign investors on Phu Quoc Island under a draft law on special administrative zones submitted to the government by the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI).MPI proposes a series of mechanisms in the draft to attract investment capital and for-eign experts to live and work in the Phu Quoc economic zone.Phu Quoc will be prioritised for investment to become a centre for trade, high-end services, and international procurement. It will be the only zone prioritised for the de-velopment of fisheries, aquaculture processing, and fisheries logistics.As with the other two special economic zones in Vietnam, Van Don in northern Quang Ninh province and Van Phong in south-central Khanh Hoa province, MPI has pro-posed a series of incentives for Phu Quoc, such as personal income tax exemptions for five years to 2030 for individual investors in the economic zone and then a rate cut by 50 per cent.Managers, scientists, and experts with professional qualifications earning incomes that are subject to personal income tax in the three special economic zones are also exempt-


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ed from tax until 2030 and then receive a 50 per cent reduction.In addition to introducing general incentives for special zones, the Phu Quoc economic zone has also proposed the introduction of a separate mechanism that will raise the level of allowances from 30 per cent to 50 per cent of basic salary for officials and em-ployees.In particular, to encourage investment, authorities will issue permanent residence cards to foreign investors who have investment projects of over $5 million, stay for more than five years in Phu Quoc, and do not break the law.Phu Quoc Island is emerging as an ideal destination for hospitality investment, with major advantages from its natural conditions, strategic location, and the support and investment from the local government and enterprises.International visitors accounted for 15 per cent of the total in 2014 and are estimated to account for 35-40 per cent by 2020, according the Kien Giang Department of Statistics and the Kien Giang Department of Culture, Sports, and Tourism.Under its revised general master plan to 2030, Phu Quoc Island will have three urban areas, 15 eco-tourism areas, two tourism complexes, and five golf courses. By 2020 it will be a special economic zone.It has to date attracted $16.7 billion in investment capital in a range of international-scale projects that have not only given the island a new look but also attracted other projects as well as tourists.http://vneconomictimes.com/article/vietnam-today/mpi-proposes-permanent-resi-dence-cards-for-foreign-investors-on-phu-quoc

BUSINESSZ NEWSBusiness Briefs August 18, 2017

18/AUG/2017 INTELLASIA |

* Pha Le Plastic Technology and Production Company (PLP) will float 15 million shares on the HCM City market on August 21 at the reference price ofVND12,000 each. It is running five quarrying sites, with two of them in Ninh Thuan Province and the rest in Nghe An Province. In the first six months of 2017, PLP reported VND24. 7 bil-lion in after-tax profit versus a VND3 billion loss in the same period last year.* Thien Long Group (TLG) will issue 750,000 shares in an employee stock ownership plan at VND30,000 each, far lower than its current market price ofVNDI04,000. TLG-wili use the proceeds to supplement its working capital. The shares will be not availa-ble for transfer within one year from the date of issuance.* Refrigeration Electrical Engineering Corporation (REE) has spent VND501 billion taking over Tin Hieu Xanh Construction Trading and Service Company. Theacquisition aims to facilitate REE's investment in the electricity and water infrastruc-ture sector.* Tien Bo Group (TTB) will seek shareholder approval to move to the HCM City bourse in the third or fourth quarter of 2017. It is trading 38.7 million shares on the Hanoi ex-change at around VND8,500 each. Between January and June, it saw its revenue up 11.6 percent year-on-year to VND 190.5 billion while its net profitslumped 25 percent atVND14.5 billion.* The Hanoi Stock Exchange has announced to delist Song Da Infrastructure Construc-tion Com- pany (SDH) from September 8 as the firm has racked up losses forthree years in a row. The SDH price is around VND2,300 per share, down 86 percent against the first trading day on the bourse.* Nguyen Minh Tuan, deputy general director of Viglacera Corporation (VGC), has registered to sell 400,000 VGC shares between August 21 and September 19.* Loc Troi Group (LTG) has issued VND220 billion.worth of unconvertible secured bonds via a private placement. The three-year bondhas a face value ofVND 1 billion with interest paid ev.ery six months.

Large caps send market up


Strong cash flow into a number of large caps drove up the stock market on August 16, with the VN Index adding a slight 0.33 percent at 773.57 points.SAB, Vietnam's top brewery, and national gas firm GAS pushed the main index up by


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SVietnam finance & business 18 August 2017

2.48 points as they jumped 2.5 percent at the close. Other large caps such as property giant VIC, consumer goods producer MSN and bank VCB also advanced nicely.In the banking sector, HPG climbed 2.2 percent to the intraday high of VND34,250 per share and ranked second on the HCM City market in terms of liquidity with over 7.3 million shares traded. Meanwhile, HSG, NKG and VIS rose between 0.7 percent and 1.6 percent each.On the other hand, VNM made the most negative contribution to the main index. The dairy firm lost 0.7 percent to the three-month low at VND147,500 a share.Among speculative stocks, OGC, TSC and HAI continued plunging to their floor pric-es due to strong selling. Financial investment group OGC was the most actively traded stock on the market with nearly 15.2 million shares changing hands while agricultural material enterprises TSC and HAI reported matching volume of over six million and 5.4 million shares respectively.On the Hanoi market, pillar stocks PVS, LAS and ACB drove the HNX-Index to the in-traday high of 101.74 points, rising 0.44 percent against the previous session.Bank stock SHB was the volume leader with 4.3 million shares traded, closing at the reference price of VND7,900 per share. KLF, which focuses on trading and food serv-ices, came second by liquidity with 3.3 million shares changing hands.Trading by foreign investors was modest as they net bought over VND27.4 billion of shares on the southern market and net sold VND6.4 billion of shares on the northern bourse.According to Saigon-Hanoi Securities Company, the market bounced back mildly on August 16 but technical signals still suggest a gloomy outlook in the near term. The VN Index is seen seesawing in a narrow range today and resisted at the zone from 777 to 780 points.Vietnam Investment Securities Company said the rebound proved the main index's ef-fort to keep the supporting level of 770 points and the recovery of some sectors. How-ever, the rise mainly relied on SAB while market turnover remained sluggish.In the current context, the main index should be above the supporting line to help stocks with high liquidity advance further. The market has made unexpected moves with the VN Index more volatile in recent times, creating an opportunity for investors to lock in short-term profit, it said.http://english.thesaigontimes.vn/55631/Large-caps-send-market-up.html

Markets fall on investor sentiment


Local markets were fragile on Thursday after gains in a day earlier, with both indices falling on weakening investor sentiment.The benchmark VN Index on the HCM Stock Exchange fell 0.77 per cent to close Thurs-day's session at 767.59 points. The southern market index increased 0.33 per cent in the previous session.On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index also edged down 1.23 per cent to end at 100.49 points. The northern market index rose 0.44 per cent on Wednesday.Large-cap stocks continued to impact the market heavily as 24 of the 30 largest shares by market value and liquidity on the HCM Stock Exchange declined and only six ad-vanced.Shares of most sectors were under high selling pressure, including banks, steelmakers, energy, construction and real estate companies.Except Vietnam Prosperity Commercial Joint Stock Bank (VPB) which closed flat on its first trading session on Thursday, all other six listed lenders on HCM City's exchange dropped between 0.5 per cent and 6.6 per cent.VPBank on Thursday began to trade its entire 1.33 billion shares on the HCM Stock Ex-change at a reference price of VND39,000 (US$1.72) a share. VPB dropped to VND33,000 in the morning session but recovered and settled at VND39,000 by the end of its first trading day, the most expensive bank share on the market.More than 58 million VPB shares were exchanged on Thursday, a record for a debut, and this amount accounted for 24.4 per cent of total trading volume on HCM City's ex-


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change on the same day.On the Hanoi bourse, only Nam Viet Bank (NVB) improved while Asia Commercial Bank (ACB) and Sai Gon-Hanoi Bank (SHB) dropped by more than 1 per cent each.Other losers included PV Gas (GAS), Hoa Sen Group (HSG), Hoa Phat Group (HPG), Bao Viet Holdings (BVH), VinGroup (VIC), FPT Corp (FPT) and Mobile World Group (MWG).On the bright side, companies in the food-beverage sector cushioned the market. The two biggest listed stocks in this sector Vinamilk (VNM) and brewery Sabeco (SAB) ad-vanced 0.9 per cent and 1.7 per cent, respectively.However, despite the rally of these two stocks, selling pressure in the entire market in-creased sharply in the second half of the afternoon session, further pushing down the indices in the final trading minutes."This movement indicated negative sentiment of investors about the market's short-term outlook," market analyst Tran Duc Anh at Bao Viet Securities Co wrote in a note on Thursday.According to Vietnam Investment Securities Co, the market depended heavily on some large-cap stocks while liquidity was unstable.Liquidity soared on Thursday with nearly 295 million shares worth a combined VND6.3 trillion ($277.5 million) traded in the two markets, up 39.2 per cent in volume and 73 per cent in value compared to the previous session.http://bizhub.vn/markets/markets-fall-on-investor-sentiment_288337.html

Only UPCoM-Index gains ground


All other indexes finish in negative territory on August 17.The UPCoM-Index was the only index on Vietnam's stock market to close higher on August 17.On HSX, the VN Index fell 5.98 points (0.77 per cent) and the VN30-Index 6.17 points (0.82 per cent).On HNX, the HNX-Index lost 1.25 points (1.23 per cent) and the HNX30-Index 2.93 points (1.55 per cent), while the UPCoM-Index rose 0.11 points (0.20 per cent).Liquidity on HSX reached VND5.2 trillion ($228.8 million) and on HNX was VND570 billion ($25.08 million).Sixty-seven stocks on HSX increased and 209 fell, while 54 rose on HNX and 136 fell.The VN Index opened at 773.57 points and fluctuated around the 773-point mark be-fore falling sharply and hitting its bottom of the day of 767.59 points at the close of trade.Notable today was the strong trade in the new bank stock, VPBank (VPB). Trade reached 58.2 million shares, accounting for 24.4 per cent of all trade on HSX, with for-eign investors picking up nearly 37.4 million shares.Most other banking shares fell: EIB by 6.6 per cent, BID 4 per cent, MBB 3.1 per cent, CTG 1.9 per cent, and VCB 0.5 per cent. VPB closed at its opening price and saw the highest liquidity on the market.In food and beverages, SAB rose 1.6 per cent, VNM 0.9 per cent, and MSN 0.7 per cent.In energy, PGD lost 5.6 per cent, PVD 2.6 per cent, GAS 2.1 per cent, and PLX 0.5 per cent.In construction and real estate, ROS increased 0.5 per cent while HBC fell 1.1 per cent, CTD 0.8 per cent, NVL 0.3 per cent, and VIC 0.1 per cent.Noteworthy on HNX was NTP falling a considerable 7.5 per cent, while VCS lost 1.6 per cent and VCG 1.5 per cent. CEO closed at the opening price.Foreign investors net bought on HSX by VND1.4 trillion ($61.6 million) and by VND16.7 billion ($734,914) on HNX.Shares with the largest trading volumes included VPB, OGC, HQC, DXG, and PVD.http://vneconomictimes.com/article/banking-finance/only-upcom-index-gains-ground


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Five firms to sell stake in A Vng Hydropower


Five companies will sell their stakes in A Vuong Hydropower Joint Stock Company via a share auction at the Hanoi Stock Exchange on August 22.The shareholders are the Central Power Corporation, the Power Generation Corpora-tion 1, EVN Hanoi, Hai Phong Power Company Limited and Da Nang Power Compa-ny LtdThe companies will offload more than 5.66 million shares in A Vuong Hydropower JSC, worth VND56.6 billion (US$2.5 million), at a starting price of VND17,000 (75 US cents) per share.A Vuong Hydropower JSC was founded in 2007 with VND1.12 trillion in charter cap-ital. The company is headquartered in the central province of Quang Nam.A Vuong runs several hydropower projects such as the A Vuong Hydropower Plant and the Song Bung Hydropower Plant, which generate 815 million kWh and 199 mil-lion kWh of electricity each year.In addition, the company provides testing machines for industrial factories and oil-fil-tering devices for hydropower plants.A Vuong hopes to earn VND573.8 billion in net revenue in 2017, VND124.3 billion in pre-tax profit and provide a dividend payout rate of 9 per cent.http://bizhub.vn/markets/five-firms-to-sell-stake-in-a-vuong-hydropower_288343.html

VTVCab to keep previous value


Deputy prime minister Vuong Dinh Hue has allowed the Vietnam Television Cable Corporation (VTVCab) to set its deadline for an initial public offering (IPO) on Septem-ber 30.Hue also asked VTVCab to keep its corporate value at nearly VND4 trillion (US$177.78 million), which was reported by VTVCab at the end of 2015, and the cable television provider is not required to adjust its value as per the report of the State Audit of Viet-nam (SAV).In May 2017, the SAV reported that the corporate value of VTVCab might have been undervalued and suggested the accurate number was VND4.27 trillion.According to the auditors, the value of the State capital in VTVCab also rose by VND278 billion to VND2.68 trillion compared to the previously reported number of VND2.4 trillion by VTVCab.The cable television provider was founded in 2012 under direct management of the Vi-etnam Television. The company mainly provides pay-TV services, advertisements and wired telecommunication services.In 2016, the company recorded VND2 trillion in net revenue and VND68.5 billion in post-tax profit.http://bizhub.vn/markets/vtvcab-to-keep-previous-value_288344.html

Traffic congestion in HCM City needs a long time to solve


The HCM City government finds it tough to solve traffic congestion and flooding in the short term, said Nguyen Thanh Phong, the city's chair, at a meeting of the National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee in Hanoi on August 16.The city leader told the committee that the rising population has a knock-on effect on the city's traffic infrastructure."The city is forecast to accommodate 10 million people by 2025. However, while statis-tics show the current number of residents totals eight million people, around 13 mil-lion people are living and working there in reality," he said.He noted the rate of natural population growth is modest, at 1.46 percent a year, while the migration growth rate is quite high, at 3.8%.He added the city has 7.6 million motorbikes and 70,000 cars, and some 30,000 vehicles are registered anew a year. However, the expansion of roads does not keep up with the rise of vehicles. As HCM City is the economic hub of the region, a huge number of ve-hicle users come to the city, piling great pressure on traffic infrastructure.


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"Traffic congestion is inevitable, given the rapid population growth and the fast in-creasing number of vehicles," he said.The chair commented traffic disruption which has an adverse effect on the city's eco-nomic growth is also a daunting challenge in the years to come.He said the municipal government has taken a slew of measures such as the construc-tion of ring roads, elevated roads and urban railroads, as well as the improvement of public transport in a bid to deal with the problem.In regard to reasons behind severe flooding in HCM City, he said, ineffective manage-ment of competent agencies and lack of environmental awareness among residents are attributable to the situation, besides rising flood tides and higher rainfalls.Traffic congestion and flooding have been more severe in major cities like Hanoi and HCM City, as many areas achieve strong growth but the implementation of construc-tion master plans is at a snail's pace. Besides, the quality of urban master plans is poor, according to deputy prime minister Trinh Dinh Dung.He said the government plans to streamline legal procedures on planning and devel-opment management to address this problem in the near future.Firstly, the government will review the laws on urban planning and construction in or-der to forge solutions to meet the demand for growth. The draft laws on urban devel-opment management and architecture will be promptly finalised for submission to the NA for consideration.Then, the government will speed up the planning on urban areas in an effort to en-hance the quality of master plans. The municipal governments are required to map out development plans in line with the three-year and five-year socio-economic develop-ment plans, and strengthen the inspection over the investment and construction of technical infrastructure.http://english.thesaigontimes.vn/55619/-Traffic-congestion-in-HCM City-needs-a-long-time-to-solve.html

Transport Ministry slashes fees at Cai Lay tollgate


Toll fees at the controversial Cai Lay tollgate in the Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang will be reduced from VND35,000-180,000 to VND25,000-140,000 from early next week.The transport ministry and the provincial government of Tien Giang held a meeting on August 16 in a bid to address the stalemate at the toll station of a build-operate-transfer traffic project on National Highway 1.In particular, the operator of the tollgate National Highway No.1 Tien Giang Invest-ment Co Ltd developed a 12-kilometer road bypassing Cai Lay Town, and gave a facelift to a 26.5-kilometer section of National Highway 1 across Tien Giang Province. The company then erected the tollgate on National Highway 1, triggering protests from drivers who want the tollgate be placed on the bypass.Drivers reasoned the investor had developed the bypass, so it only had the right to col-lect fees from those vehicles using the new road. It was illogical to charge vehicles us-ing the highway, let alone exorbitant toll fees.Scores of drivers used stacks of banknotes of small denomination to pay toll fees at the station on Sunday and Monday, keeping fee collectors busy and obstructing traffic in the area. Therefore, the investor halted its toll collection temporarily on Tuesday pend-ing the outcome of the meeting.Deputy minister of Transport Nguyen Nhat told the Daily that they had agreed on the proposal to reduce the toll fees, which will take effect on August 21.The toll for vehicles of fewer than 12 seats, trucks of less than two tonnes, and commut-er buses will be at VND25,000 per trip, down by VND10,000.The toll for vehicles of 12-30 seats and trucks of 2-4 tonnes will be VND35,000 per trip, down VND15,000. It will stand at VND40,000 per trip, down VND20,000, for vehicles of 31 seats and more, and trucks of 4-10 tonnes.Trucks of 10-18 tonnes and 20-foot semi-trailers will pay VND70,000 per trip, down VND30,000 while trucks weighing over 18 tonnes, or carrying a 40-foot container will


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be charged VND140,000 per trip from the current VND180,000.Especially, the deputy minister added vehicle owners who live in My Thanh Nam, Binh Phu, Phu An and Phu Nhuan communes of Cai Lay District will have their toll fees exempted or reduced by 50%.http://english.thesaigontimes.vn/55626/Transport-Ministry-slashes-fees-at-Cai-Lay-tollgate.html

HCM City's annual retail promotion month gets bigger


HCM City's annual sales promotion month from September until the end of the year is expected to boost retail sales and attract a large number of foreign visitors.According to the Department of Industry and Trade this year the event is expected to involve 3,000 trade centres, supermarkets, convenience stores and traditional markets and 5,300 business households, a significant increase from last year.They will organise around 12,000 promotions focused on consumer products, electron-ics, fashion, foodstuff, cosmetics, telecom services, interior decoration items, tourism services, hotels, and others.Besides offering discounts, participating establishments will also offer freebies, lucky draws and free samples.The department said all 24 districts had completed the task of putting up banners to promote the programme.There are usually many programmes during the annual promotion, including an on-line promotion week, a promotional month fair at the Phu Tho Indoor Stadium, the Diem hen Sai Gon (Saigon meeting place 2017) programme to introduce products made by traditional villages and craft artisans, and several others.Nguyen Phuong Dong, deputy director of the department, said the promotion month would begin with the Hoi tu hang Viet (the convergence of Vietnamese goods) event.To be held for the first time, it will provide Vietnamese companies with an opportunity to showcase quality products that meet export standards.Over the last 12 years the promotion month has become one of the city's key trade pro-motion programmes.It is also an important part of the city's "Vietnamese give priority to using Vietnamese products" campaign.http://bizhub.vn/news/hcm-citys-annual-retail-promotion-month-gets-bigger_288332.html

Hundreds of households upset after parking lot closed


Hundreds of households in Hanoi's Linh Dam Urban Area have complained after the biggest local parking lot was closed.There are tens of thousands of people living in the urban area but there is only one un-derground parking lot. When the apartment buildings opened in 2014, several firms reached an agreement with the investor to use unused land as parking lots for the res-idents.On August 15, the authorities suddenly announced that they would close the biggest parking lot in the area. Tran Toan, vice chair of Trung Liet Ward, said the lands are wrongly used so they asked related individuals and firms to remove all equipment and vehicles.According to the locals, if there were any violations the authorities should have banned or informed the firms immediately years ago. But after the locals bought more vehicles and all parking lots are full, the authorities and police started tightening man-agement.Phong, a local in the area, said the authorities had completely ignored the situation, but now as they couldn't manage it, they issued a ban.The locals and firms asked to keep the parking lot as the land was practically aban-doned for years, or give them time to end contracts and find new places.However, on the night of August 16, a fence was put up to prevent the locals from parking their vehicles inside. Those who were unable to find new parking lot had to


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park their vehicles on the streets.The representative of Hanoi's Steering Committee 197 for the implementation of traffic order and safety also agreed with the locals, saying that the city even issued three to six-month-permit for parking lots on the pavement to meet demand."Linh Dam urban area has 70 high rises but lacks parking lots. Local authorities should be more flexible to set up temporary parking lots for the residents," he said.http://dtinews.vn/en/news/017004/52372/hundreds-of-households-upset-after-park-ing-lot-closed.html

Beach tops National Day travel picks


Travel firms have reported an increasing number of tour bookings for the upcoming three-day holiday for National Day, starting September 2, with beach trips receiving the highest number of bookings.Beach resorts at Da Nang, Nha Trang, Phan Thiet and Quy Nhon cities as well as Phu Quoc and Con Dao islands are popular among local and foreign tourists.Three-day sea tour packages for two people have sold well, including bookings to Da Nang-Hoi An, priced from VND3.29 million (US$145) per person; Quy Nhon-Hon Kho Island for VND2.69 million (US$118) per person; Ha Long Bay for VND3.4 million (US$150) per person; and Free & Easy tours to Phu Quoc Island for VND 5.65 million (US$250) per person, according to Le Cong Nang of Hanoi-based Vietrantour.Tours to the Mekong Delta, including Can Tho- Chau Doc- Ha Tien and Can Tho-Bac Lieu- Soc Trang, and to Da Lat City in the Central Highlands are also popular.The number of bookings at Vietrantour rose by 5-10 per cent during the summer com-pared to the same period last year, especially Free & Easy tours and combo tours for two people, Nang said.Nguyen Cong Hoan, deputy director of Hanoi Redtour, said sales of tours at his com-pany grew 15 per cent year-on-year this month and for the National Day holiday.Sea tour packages are mostly chosen by groups of families, with destinations in the northwest favoured by younger people, according to Hoan.The Saigontourist Travel Service Company is offering a wide range of summer promo-tions with nearly 40 budget domestic tours for departures between May and Septem-ber.Cost-saving tours with destinations including Quy Nhon, Tuy Hoa and Da Lat, and five-day tours to the northwestern region and the six-day Northwest Region-Ha Long Bay tour are being offered.Two major bus stations in HCM City, Mien Tay (Western) Bus Station and Mien Dong (Eastern) Bus Station, railway stations and ferries will add more vehicles to meet the rising demand of commuters during the holiday.Kieu Nam Thanh, general director of Eastern Bus Station, said around 40,300 passen-gers would take short-distance trips to Vung Tau, Da Lat, Phan Thiet and Nha Trang cities on September 2.The station plans to add 100 buses during the holiday, but bus fares will remain un-changed during the period.Authorities at Western Bus Station said the number of commuters would rise 4-6 per cent year-on-year to reach 54,000-56,000 passengers on September 2.Bus trips from HCM City to Can Tho City and the provinces of Tien Giang, Ben Tre and Ba Ria-Vung Tau will see a rising number of commuters.A total of 30 buses will be added to serve rising demand during the holiday.The Cat Lai Ferry Station announced that it would double the number of ferry trips to 280 during the holiday.Do Quang Van, director of Sai Gon Railways Transport JSC, said a total of 11 trains would be added during the holiday, including five trains for Sai Gon-Phan Thiet routes and six trains for Sai Gon-Nha Trang routes.http://www.vir.com.vn/beach-tops-national-day-travel-picks.html


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Central coast in spotlight


Investors are seeking alternative opportunities in central coastal cities like Danang and Nha Trang, given the high property prices in Hanoi and HCM City. In anticipation of the trend, foreign developers with strong financial capacity have ramped up acquisi-tions or have been partnering with local developers to scale up projects there.Central Vietnam features a coastline of scenic beaches which have attracted a growing number of domestic and international tourists in recent years. Consequently, the coast-al cities of Danang, Nha Trang, and Hoi An have become popular second-home mar-kets, with completed infrastructure as well as a plethora of living and entertainment services.Many tourists, investors, as well as locals desire to own beachfront apartments or villas in the area to enjoy their weekend holidays. On top of this, coastal properties would make good potential investments in the future. In fact, many investors who invested in Danang's land plots have made a fortune when land prices have risen by 300-400 per cent after 5-7 years of investment.As market sentiment is improving, individual investors are cashing in on non-Central Business Districts (non-CBD), like the central province of Quang Nam near Danang or the suburban areas of Nha Trang.In June, Dat Quang JSC and CEN Group unveiled Ngoc Duong Riverside -- The Gar-dens in Quang Nam in the south of Danang. At the launch, hundreds of customers and investors made deposits to snap up land plots, half of whom came from Hanoi and HCM City.According to Giap Van Kiem, director of STDA Real Estate Project Supermarket Sys-tem in the central region (the sales agency of the project), a land plot at Ngoc Duong Riverside is priced at VND683 million ($30,052), which is a reasonable price for inves-tors. In addition, improvements to infrastructure and the transport system make Quang Nam's real estate market more appealing to investors."It is hard to find development sites in Danang's CBD, while the neighbouring areas have large land reserves and reasonable prices for private investors. As a result, Ngoc Duong Riverside continues to receive solid interest from investors, prodding CEN Group to pay more attention to this project," he added.According to statistics by the Nha Trang-Khanh Hoa Real Estate Association, property giants have secured a firmer foothold in the central province of Khanh Hoa and Nha Trang City in particular during the past three years. Consequently, the real estate mar-ket there has been transformed, thanks to an impressive line-up of old and new projects.Nguyen Xuan Thuy, chair of the association, noted that, "By the end of 2016, around 39 resorts were being constructed across Khanh Hoa, with a combined investment cap-ital amount of VND6 trillion ($264 million). Along with newcomers like Vingroup, oth-er professional developers are also flocking to the market, like Hung Thinh Corporation from HCM City, Duyen Ha JSC, Eurowindow Holding, and MBLand from Hanoi, as well as real estate agencies like Dat Xanh Mien Bac and STDA."The infrastructure improvements in Nguyen Tat Thanh Street, the main arterial road of the northern Cam Ranh Peninsula strectching along Bai Dai Beach, and the system of fish-bone roads leading to the sea were highlighted. A slew of projects developed by famous brands, like Movenpick Cam Ranh Resort, Fusion Resort Nha Trang, and The Anam Resort, are currently under construction.According to Pham Thi Khanh Ngoc, sales manager of Nha Trang Real Trade and In-vestment Co., Ltd, the 30-kilometre road running along Bai Dai Beach connecting Cam Ranh International Airport with Nha Trang is packed with 37 resorts under construc-tion. The resorts are set to open in the next few years, creating a new tourism complex along the road.The land plot segment is gaining traction alongside a growing hospitality market. Dat Xanh Mien Bac has taken over South Cai River township from Minh Phat Co., Ltd, while its branch company Dat Xanh Nha Trang is responsible for developing the project freshly renamed to Nha Trang Pearl. Strategically located in the gateway be-


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tween Nha Trang and Da Lat, Nha Trang Pearl boasts a panoramic view of the Cai Riv-er. After the acquisition, the project has made a big splash in the market.Tran Quoc Trung, general director of Dat Xanh Nha Trang, said that the 50-hectare project is developed with ample social infrastructure and modern technical infrastruc-ture. Nha Trang Pearl includes land plots for 288 villas, 644 garden houses, 346 town-houses, and five condominiums. The first phase of the project recorded a complete take-up of all products. In the secondary market, prices have been increased by several dozen percent, depending on each plot."Most of our clients are from the northern region. In particular, one investor from Ha-noi has acquired five plots at the same time. Each plot is priced from VND4.5 million per square metre. All units were usually sold out at the launching events," he said.It is notable that the Vietnam Real Estate Association has organised an event for real estate brokers in Nha Trang, which highlights the attractiveness of the market. In fact, most brokers at the event highly appreciated the potential in the city's real estate sec-tor.Similar to Nha Trang, Hoi An's bustling real estate market has been underpinned by a growing tourism sector and billion-dollar investments on international-standard re-sorts.Hoiana is the largest casino and resort complex in Central Vietnam, covering an area of 985ha. The $4 billion project held the groundbreaking ceremony in late April 2016. It includes resorts, luxury entertainment areas of five-star standard, cultural centres, commercial centres, shopping centres, villas, and marinas.The project is invested by a joint venture between Vietnam-focused asset management company VinaCapital and foreign partners. In the future, Hoiana Integrated Casino Resort is expected to turn the economically disadvantaged area to a popular leisure, tourism, and entertainment destination in the region.In the north of Hoi An, another billion-dollar project known as New Hoi An City is completing the final works to commence the first phase of operation. HB Group has injected $1.5 billion to develop premium coastal properties on an area of 400ha.Vietnam's leading property developer Vingroup also held the groundbreaking cere-mony for Vinpearl Hoi An Resort & Villas, representing a total investment capital amount of VND5 trillion ($220 million). The 200-ha project features Vinpearl hotel and villas, Vinpearl Golf Club, Vinpearl Land entertainment area, and a hi-tech agricultur-al park combined with VinEco tourism.Meanwhile, Dat Xanh Group will carry out the Opal Ocean View Resort project on a 185-ha site near South Hoi An. With an investment capital sum of VND4.6 trillion ($202.4 million), the project includes villas, a beach resort, and a hotel, with synchro-nised technical infrastructure.Many coastal property developments are underway in Hoi An, including Tam Ky-Nui Thanh coastal tourism complex (2,000ha), Tam Ky urban area (2,000ha), and Tam Hoa-Tam Anh urban area (2,240ha).New opportunities for those with visionAccording to Do Thu Hang, associate director of Research at Savills Hanoi, foreign in-vestors show more interest in projects with clean land reserves due to limited oppor-tunities in CBD. They are looking to acquire projects from other developers or set up joint ventures with companies holding land reserves."There is a new wave of M&A among foreign investors to take over projects in non-CBD to create new markets. The infrastructure in the areas is nearing completion, such as the development of the metro system and the expansion of belt roads. If investors can establish a new market in non-CBD, they will earn a fortune in the future as pio-neers," Hang said."Opportunities to acquire land plots are limited in CBD of gateway cities like Hanoi and HCM City and coastal cities like Danang and Nha Trang. Investors now seek al-ternative investment in non-CBD for more land plots with reasonable prices. The move shows a vision for the future among institutional and individual investors. However, it is crucial for them to acquire projects with full legal status and improved infrastruc-


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ture to give relief to potential homebuyers," she added.http://www.vir.com.vn/central-coast-in-spotlight.html

Ca Mau wants to build $3.5 billion seaport


The southernmost province of Ca Mau is seeking investment to develop a $3.5 billion seaport complex, which can receive vessels of up to 250,000 tonnes capacity, on Hon Khoai Island.At a working session with minister of Transport Truong Quang Nghia on Wednesday, Ca Mau Province proposed that the Hon Khoai Seaport should be considered one of the major national projects requiring investment.Nguyen Tien Hai, chair of the provincial People's Committee, proposed that the trans-port ministry adjust planning and scale of the Hon Khoai Seaport to enable it to wel-come vessels with capacity of up to 250,000 tonnes.Under the current approved plans, the Hon Khoai Seaport is capable of receiving ves-sels from 100,000 tonnes to 160,000 tonnes.Minister Truong Quang Nghia said calling for investment to develop the Hon Khoai Seaport from the State budget was not feasible, given the limited budget of the govern-ment.Nghia said the province needed to carefully study the feasibility of the project to call for investment, adding that the ministry would support the province in implementing this project.The Hon Khoai Seaport project has been calling for investment since July 2016.The province said Hon Khoai Seaport has several advantages. It will be a large deep-water seaport, which can attract a significant shipment volume and boost the region's economic growth.The seaport is expected to serve the Nam Can Economic Zone and the southern region with the transport of a number of goods, from coal, rice, agricultural and fisheries products, to petrol, oil and liquefied gas.Notably, Hon Khoai will be a "green" seaport with a preserved ecosystem.http://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/business/183603/ca-mau-wants-to-build--3-5 bil-lion-seaport.html

Redsun ITI launches first kimchi plant in town


Red Sun International Trading Investing Corporation (Redsun ITI) on August 16 inau-gurated a kimchi plant in HCM City, the first one with large scale production in Viet-nam.Covering a total area of 10,200 square meters at Hiep Phuoc Industrial Park, the plant developed at a total cost of VND250 billion (US$11 million) is equipped with modern facilities imported from South Korea. The plant is expected to produce nearly 15,000 tonnes of kimchi and other products a year.The investor said that the plant is Vietnam's largest kimchi producer, providing over 5,800 tonnes of kimchi, 2,800 tonnes of processed meat, and 2,500 tonnes of sauce a year to restaurants and consumers nationwide.In the first phase, Redsun ITI, which manages and operates 12 chains of restaurants in-cluding King BBQ, King BBQ Buffet, ThaiExpress, Seoul Garden, KhaoLao, Hotpot Story, Sushi Kei and Capricciosa, will focus on producing kimchi, meat, and sauce among other products to serve its customers.The plant will produce packaged products to supply supermarkets and the Horeca segment (hotels, restaurants and catering services) in the second phase set to com-mence in 2018.Beside the domestic market, Redsun ITI has plans to export its products to South Korea and Southeast Asia where the demand for kimchi products is increasing rapidly.Redsun ITI chair Pham Cao Vinh said that the corporation has signed a deal for kimchi production technology transferred from the Korean Kimchi Academy to launch high-quality products in local and overseas markets.After nine years of development, Redsun ITI, a member of Goldsun Group, currently


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has 12 mid- and high-end food brands with more than 140 restaurants across the coun-try in which 20 restaurants are franchised ones.The corporation targets to have 400 restaurants with 200 franchised restaurants by 2021, including many restaurants to be opened overseas by Redsun ITI in the near fu-ture. The company has opened its restaurants in Australia and Singapore, Vinh added.The plant in Hiep Phuoc Industrial Park will also serve as a manpower training centre. The centre is expected to supply 7,000 employees to its restaurants and exchange 2,400 staff with franchised restaurants.Goldsun Group started as a packaging manufacturer and trader and now operates in three main sectors food and restaurants, household goods, and packaging and print-ing. The group with 5,500 employees fetched more than VND2.5 trillion in revenue in 2016.http://english.thesaigontimes.vn/55628/Redsun-ITI-launches-first-kimchi-plant-in-town.html

Anpha Holdings kicks off smart city project in HCM City


Anpha Holdings, a Vietnamese real estate development firm, on August 16 com-menced work on a smart city project called SIMCity Premier Homes in District 9, HCM City.SimCity will be developed into a smart city with advanced facilities and covered with 4G and free wifi services. Advanced technology will be applied to the management and operation of the complex through iSim App developed by the group.SIMCity will include a park and a lake with a total area of over a hectare to serve res-idents of more than 300 high-end villas.Residents in SIMCity can use luxury services such as Floating Pool and Clubhouse, a gym centre, Business Lounge and Startup Incubation MegaCenter (S.I.M).SIMCitizen Apps, an Internet of Things (IoT) app developed on the basis of Salesforce and SalesCloud, is useful for residents to manage their payments, or control electric appliances in their homes.Located near the Saigon Hi-Tech Park, SIMCity is expected to attract many experts from many countries to work in this high-end technological complex.Anpha Holdings has been successful in developing many local projects such as Impe-ria Anphu in District 2, Villa Park in District 9, Park Vista and Saigon South, and Ascott Waterfront Saigon in District 1 and Sol Beach House Phu Quoc by Melia Hotels Inter-national.The group has also taken over Nova Galaxy Real Estate JSC, the investor of Novaland's Galaxy 9 project in District 4, HCM City.

Indian company builds instant coffee plant


Tata Coffee Vietnam, a member of India's Tata Coffee Limited, began construction of a freeze-dried coffee plant at VSIP II Industrial Park in Binh Duong's Bac Tan Uyen District.The 8ha plant has investment capital of nearly $60 million. It will supply instant coffee with a new flavour to Vietnamese customers and for export. This is the second project invested by Tata Coffee Limited in Vietnam.Speaking at the ground-breaking ceremony on Wednesday, Indian Ambassador Par-vathaneni Harish said bilateral trade between the two countries has witnessed impres-sive growth in recent years. In 2016, the two sides' trade turnover reached $5.4 billion.However, this result is still moderate compared with the potential of the two countries. Indian businesses have invested nearly $1.3 billion, of which the instant coffee plant in Binh Duong Province is one of the largest projects in Vietnam.Deputy Chair of Binh Duong People's Committee Dang Minh Hung said Tata Coffee Limited's investment matched with the province's policies and orientation of calling for investment. The province would always support and create favourable conditions for the company to develop business, he said.http://bizhub.vn/news/indian-company-builds-instant-coffee-plant_288329.html


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ExxonMobil to kick off multi billion dollar gas-to-power complex in October


ExxonMobil Corporation from the US is completing the geological survey and build the design of the pipeline installation, aiming to conduct the construction of the on-shore infrastructure of the Blue Whale (Ca Voi Xanh) gas-to-power complex located in Quang Nam and Quang Ngai.At a working session with leaders of the Management Board of Dung Quat Economic Zone, the representative of ExxonMobil confirmed that the corporation is preparing the necessary conditions to carry out the construction. At present, the corporation has carried out the land survey and took soil samples to conduct the environmental impact report.The investor urged relevant authorities to complete other procedures so that it can car-ry out the project soon.The exact amount of investment capital has not been released, but initial information suggested that the gas-to-power complex could carry a price tag of $20 billion. How-ever, Vietnam's state-run oil and gas group PetroVietnam, the co-investors of the project, referred to $10 billion.ExxonMobil and PetroVietnam signed a memorandum of understanding for the project in 2013. The project is believed to have high feasibility thanks to the good rep-utation of the investor and the readiness of the local authorities.According to the plan, the construction will be implemented in the two provinces of Quang Nam and Quang Ngai. Notably, the landfall location of the gas pipeline stem-ming from Blue Whale gas field and the gas processing plant will be located at Chu Lai Open Economic Zone (EZ) in Quang Nam. Besides, four more gas-to-power plants to be fuelled from the same field, with a total generation capacity of 3,000 megawatts, will be divided equally between Quang Nam's Nui Thanh district and Quang Ngai's Dung Quat EZ.ExxonMobil expects to exploit 8-9 billion cubic metres of gas per year, 1-3 billion cubic metres of which will go to Dung Quat refinery for processing.Once the complex comes into operation, it will create opportunities for economic de-velopment of Vietnam in general and Quang Nam and Quang Ngai provinces in par-ticular, as well as investment opportunities aiming to benefit from the Blue Whale project.Notably, according to the plan, PetroVietnam will invest a gas processing plant in Chu Lai Open Economic Zone, while the other gas fired power plants will be simultaneous-ly invested in both Quang Nam and Quang Ngai. No specific information about these projects has been released yet, however, it is sure that when the gas-to-power complex comes into operation, these projects will also be implemented.Singapore-based Sembcorp had planned to develop a coal-fired power plant with a to-tal investment capital sum of $2.5 billion in Quang Ngai. According to the initial plan, the construction will be kicked-off in 2017 so that the first generator can come into op-eration in September 2020, and the second unit in March 2021.However, when the investor found out about the Blue Whale project, it abruptly asked to change the project's implementation technology from thermal power to gas-fired power and delay the construction time at least until 2023 or 2024. This means that the pace of the project will be largely dependent on the progress of the Blue Whale gas project.http://english.vov.vn/economy/exxonmobil-to-kick-off-multibillion-dollar-gastopow-er-complex-in-october-356638.vov

$4 billion South Hoi An casino officially starts construction


Contractor Coteccons today began the construction of the first phase of the $4 billion South Hoi An integrated casino resort, now named Hoiana, located in the central prov-ince of Quang Nam.The project is invested by a joint venture of Vietnam-focused asset management firm VinaCapital, Macau-based SunCity Group, and Hong Kong-based Chow Tai Fook En-terprises Ltd


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According to the newest plan, the first phase, which covers an area of 163 hectares with a total investment capital sum of $500 million, will include an 18-hole golf course meet-ing international standard, resorts, a shopping centre, and other infrastructure facili-ties. The construction is expected to be completed within 19 months.Previously, in late April 2016, the investor held the ground-breaking ceremony. The plan for the first phase was to start operations in early 2019 and for the whole complex to be completed in 2035. Once the resort comes into operation, it will be the second largest casino in Vietnam, after The Grand Ho Tram Strip resort and casino complex located in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau.In December 2016, VinaCapital announced that the property would be called Hoiana.Licensed in 2010, the project was initially developed by VinaCapital and Genting Ma-laysia Berhad, and comprised of five-star hotels, villas, and a casino targeting foreign tourists.However, in September 2012, Genting suddenly announced its withdrawal in the midst of site clearance, forcing VinaCapital to find other partners to jointly develop the project.After over two years of searching, VinaCapital has finally found prestigious partners in SunCity Group and Chow Tai Fook Enterprises Ltd to replace Genting Group for their proposed $4 billion integrated casino resort.On March 23, 2015, the Quang Nam People's Committee officially granted an amended investment certificate for the project, officially recognising SunCity Group and Chow Tai Fook Enterprises as stakeholders working in conjunction with VinaCapital.Accordingly, Chow Tai Fook and VinaCapital are strategic investors and SunCity, which is 70 per cent owned by Chow Tai Fook, will cooperate with its mother company to manage and run the resort.Chow Tai Fook is engaged in property development, hotels, casinos, transportation, and jewellery. Meanwhile, SunCity is a casino operator at the world's largest casino hub, Macau.Regarding Coteccons, the company was the contractor of numerous large-scale projects, including Masteri Thao Dien, Vinhomes Thang Long, Vinhomes Metropolis, Vinhomes Golden River, Landmark 81, and The Grand Ho Tram Strip resort and casi-no complex, among others.http://www.vir.com.vn/4 billion-south-hoi-an-casino-officially-starts-construc-tion.html

Masan Nutri-Science delivers 3F promise


At first glance, the Vietnamese animal protein industry appears to have reached its full potential with a total market size of $18 billion, equivalent to over 9 per cent of the na-tional GDP. The entire value chain includes animal feed, farming, and end-consumer products, both fresh and processed meat.However, Vietnam is still far away from realising the full potential of this sector. The animal protein sector is not only fragmented, but also inefficient and unproductive compared to the developed world. To be more specific, Vietnamese farmers require 3.5 to 4 kilogrammes of feed on average to produce a kilogramme of pork, versus the 2.5 kilogrammes in the US.The result is that Vietnamese consumers pay 1.5-2 times the price of meat compared to the US, while GDP per capita is only one-tenth of that in the US. Affordability is a key issue. At the grassroots level, millions of Vietnamese people do not have the appropri-ate levels of daily protein intake required for good health.In particular, the rural population, which accounts for almost 70 per cent of Vietnam's population, consumes less than half of what is recommended by the World Health Or-ganization (WHO). Meat consumption in Vietnam is 40 kilogrammes per capita, which is substantially lower than China (60 kilogrammes), South Korea (65 kilogrammes), the EU (75 kilogrammes), and the US (over 100 kilogrammes). So, what is the key to trans-form and unlock the potential of the animal protein sector in Vietnam?The answer is that Vietnam needs to invest in innovation to close the aforementioned


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productivity gap across the entire value chain. This requires a fully-integrated 3F (Feed-Farm-Food) business model in order to ultimately transfer the benefits to end-consumers.According to Pham Trung Lam, CEO of Masan Nutri-Science (MNS), of the "3F" value chain, feed alone accounts for one-third, while farm and food together claim two-thirds of the remaining value.The successful integration of Vietnamese-French Cattle Feed JSC (Proconco) and Agro Nutrition International (ANCO) is just one facet of MNS' three-pronged approach. In order to become a major player in the meat value chain, MNS has to build out the other two pillars to bridge the gap between the Vietnamese meat sector and developed mar-kets.Transformation after M&AThe earliest signs of Masan's interest in consumer agriculture came when they ac-quired 40 per cent of Proconco and later 70 per cent of ANCO. Today, MNS owns 75.15 per cent of Proconco and 99.99 per cent of ANCO.Soon after the establishment of MNS, Masan grew to become the largest local animal feed company in Vietnam with a market-leading position in pig feed products (exclud-ing the captive market). The growth was driven by the launch of a new brand called Bio-zeem, an innovation that improves the feed conversion ratio for farmers.Bio-zeem is an umbrella brand for feed products that contain a proprietary enzyme which improves the feed conversion ratio (FCR), enabling farmers to sell their pigs 12 days earlier than market average. MNS' other products include Bio-zeem Super, which is free from antibodies, and Bio-zeem Mama, which increases yield by two piglets per sow per annum.Today, Bio-zeem represents the majority of MNS' pig feed sales. However, feed is just MNS' very first step to transform the entire meat industry with the ultimate goal to provide Vietnamese consumers with quality meat and meat products.Masan views its future pig farms as a centre of productivity to further improve the ef-ficiency of the meat value chain. Today, MNS is building a hi-tech pig farm called Ma-san Nutri-Farm in the central province of Nghe An with an output capacity of 230,000 pig heads per annum. When fully operational, it is poised to become the largest and most advanced pig farm in Vietnam. MNS' foray into meat production began by ac-quiring 14 per cent (now nearly 25 per cent) of Vissan, Vietnam's leading meat produc-er, through its subsidiary ANCO by public auction. Now Vissan's strategic partner, MNS can tap into Vissan's production pipeline and its nationwide distribution net-work to bolster its meat business.With these moves, MNS is building up its capabilities to fully integrate the 3F business model in order to ultimately transfer the benefits to end-consumers. Vietnamese peo-ple will not only benefit from lower prices, but they will be guaranteed safe, traceable, and affordable animal protein products.2014 was the first anniversary of Proconco and ANCO's integration and 2015 marked the first profitable year for MNS, with net revenue of VND14.054 trillion ($618.24 mil-lion) and net profit after tax of VND449 billion ($19.8 million).A consumer growth strategy2016 turned out to be MNS' most successful year, with net revenue of VND24.423 tril-lion ($1.074 billion), a 73.8 per cent increase year-on-year, making MNS legitimately a billion-dollar company by revenue. Net profit for the year 2016 was VND1.538 trillion ($67.7 million), a 243 per cent increase year-on-year due to effective input cost control initiatives and Bio-zeem feed products, which delivered high margins comparable to fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) categories."Our vision is to be the largest local feed producer with over 50 per cent of the market share and drive productivity along Vietnam's meat value chain. We want to enrich Vi-etnamese people's lives by providing real, delicious, and affordable animal protein products for each and every meal," said Danny Le, vice chair of MNS.In what is often considered a commoditised industry, Masan believes that the recent decline in the price of pork has further validated its FMCG-esque strategy focused on


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innovation, branding, and distribution. Recently, pig prices in Vietnam have declined significantly, going from VND42,000 to VND25,000 per kilogramme (from $1.85 to $1.10) and staying low for over three quarters. As a result, the company estimates that the pig feed market declined by 35-40 per cent within the first half of the year as farm-ers raised fewer pigs. However, Masan's Bio-zeem feed products only declined by ap-proximately 12 per cent. With the recent recovery in pig prices (now VND35,000-40,000 per kilogramme), the company believes it is now better positioned to further consolidate its market share. MNS' 2020 target is $4 billion in revenue and $400 million in profit.Top-tier financing and great validationMasan's financial prowess is immense, ensuring great capability to grow in scale. Ma-san has been able to raise funds from leading global financial institutions and strategic investors, with funds totalling well over $1 billion.MNS' market share expansion, capability for 3F integration, and consumer growth strategy prompted KKR, a leading global investment firm, to invest $150 million to ac-quire a 7.5 per cent stake in MNS, thereby effectively valuating MNS at $2 billion.Ming Lu, member of KKR and head of Asia Private Equity, said, "Masan is a world-class partner in Vietnam. We have witnessed the group develop a seasonings company into a $2 billion diversified consumer group and look forward to backing MNS again as it executes its growth plans in the meat industry."MNS has proved capable of raising large funds to effectively execute mergers and ac-quisitions in short timespans, thus consolidating its market share and becoming a lead-er in many consumer categories. MNS is now on track to grow even larger in scale by doubling down on its three-prong approach to lead both the meat and feed industries.http://www.vir.com.vn/masan-nutri-science-delivers-3f-promise.html

Deputy PM welcomes Kirin's stronger investment in Vietnam


Deputy prime minister Vuong Dinh Hue has hailed the Kirin Holdings Co. Ltd's in-vestment expansion in Vietnam as a right decision since the country's beer and bever-age market boasts huge potential.He made the remarks at a reception for Keisuke Nishimura, Executive vice President and Senior Executive Officer of the group, in Hanoi on August 17.The Vietnamese government is sparing no effort to improve business environment and increase competitiveness as well as create the most favourable conditions for both do-mestic and foreign enterprises, he said.It is also stepping up the equitisation and divestment of State-owned enterprises, he said, adding that such major brands as Habeco, Sabeco and Vinamilk are under the eq-uitisation plan from now to 2020.He hoped Kirin will expand investment in the field of beverages, especially those made from Vietnamese fresh fruits. The Vietnamese government encourages non-al-coholic and non-carbonated drinks.Keisuke described Vietnam is a large-scale market with strong development. As the Vietnamese government is equitising State-run businesses, Kirin wants to make long-term strategic investment in SabecoVietnam's leading beer producer, he said.He also hoped to cooperate with Sabeco in studying the development of fresh fruit juice in the future.Established in 1907, Kirin has become a global group with 188 subsidiary companies and around 40,000 employees. Specialising in the fields of food, beverages, pharma-ceuticals and bio-chemicals, the group posted a revenue of 18.7 billion USD in 2016.http://en.vietnamplus.vn/deputy-pm-welcomes-kirins-stronger-investment-in-viet-nam/116495.vnp

Rosneft offshore platform marks a flawless 15 years


Rosneft Vietnam, a subsidiary of leading global petroleum producer Rosneft Corpora-tion, has recently marked the 15th anniversary of its offshore operations of Block 06.1 a milestone that is accompanied by a flawless safety record.


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During the last 15 years of operation, Rosneft Vietnam has commissioned more than 30.3 million working hours and produced 53.5 billion cubic metres of gas to fuel ener-gy for approximately 20 per cent of Vietnam's electricity generation, and all of this without a single lost time injury (LTI).On the topic of this success, country president and general director Mervyn Goddings sent a note to staff members and contractors on June 22, 2017 expressing his delight at the daily report from the platform and the operations team, as the company that day achieved 15 years of operations without an LTI."Without doubt, this is a milestone to be proud of and is truly a world-class perform-ance. More important though is what it actually means, that despite the risks and haz-ards associated with offshore exploration and development, the logistics of offshore operations, and the production, treatment, and transport of hydrocarbons, every one of you has returned safely to your families after each shift at work. That is what really counts," Goddings wrote.He highlighted the company's safe working culture and explained how it developed from careful analysis and mitigation, good planning and communication, attention to details and shared values, and a relentless desire and effort to perform every task safe-ly."This is your achievement and legacy. Please continue to maintain and improve the very high standards you have set," Goddings continued.Apart from achieving a 15-year track record of safe operations, Rosneft Vietnam has also been making contributions to the community via a range of corporate social re-sponsibility (CSR) initiatives.In 2017, the firm financed $203,000 to carry out various CSR activities, bringing its total contribution to Vietnamese communities to $1.2 million in the past five years. The 2017 projects consisted of providing free heart surgeries for more than 60 childhood pa-tients, sponsoring advanced vocational training and English classes for 49 welders and electrical technicians, and donating laboratory equipment for scientific research and study at Hanoi University of Mining and Geology's Petroleum Department.Other donations were sent to the Vietnam-Russia Friendship Association to organise Russian language classes and musical performances to promote Russian culture. They also bought equipment for the blood collection vans used by the Blood Donation Cen-tre of HCM City.Safety and sustainabilityBlock 06.1, located 370 kilometres off the shore of Vung Tau, began operating in 2002. The facility, operated on the principles of "no accidents, no harm to people, no damage to the environment", has become a model of offshore operational safety.With its operating management system incorporating a range of industry safety rules, Block 06.1 has been certified by DNV to meet ISO 14001 and OHSA 18001 standards, and achieved over 99.5 per cent reliability.Lan Tay Platform is the front line in the gas production chain on Block 06.1. Around 80 engineers, technicians, and support staff are working to maintain an average produc-tion capacity of 10 million standard cubic metres per day. The team has complied with strict safety standards and continues to improve, organise training for staff and con-tractors, and conduct regular facility maintenance to assure the integrity of the system.Despite working in harsh offshore conditions, the team has always been provided with high-quality meals. After long working hours, they play sports, work out, and have en-tertainment activities. Employees feel comfortable on the platform, and it is often said that they consider Lan Tay their second home, with colleagues as close as family mem-bers.Ensuring a safe working environment is the responsibility of every Rosneft member, on-site or in the office, offshore or onshore. Vung Tau Supply Base (VTSB) is no excep-tion, as it provides support to the platform by co-ordinating crew change helicopters, transporting food and other essential items, and supplying vessels containing materi-als and other equipment to be used on the platform.Nguyen The Hung, a VTSB team leader who has worked for 25 years, is one of the two


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members who have served the company the longest. He said safety compliance is a continuous process to protect one's self, colleagues, and family.There have been over 2,000 safe flights, over 600 safe vessel trips, and about 10,000 line items efficiently managed and stored.The milestone of 15 years of safe operations in Vietnam is proof of a strong team who works and cares about safety at home and at work, strives for an appropriate work-life balance, and has built a base for sustainable growth.http://english.vov.vn/economy/rosneft-offshore-platform-marks-a-flawless-15-years-356553.vov

VSIP goes far beyond industrial parks


VSIP has developed world-class industrial estates across Vietnam with self-contained facilities to serve the needs of its customers. John Lim HM, head of Commercial & Res-idential Properties at VSIP JV Co., Ltd, shared with Thanh Van the group's vision to complement foreign investors' growth in the park.Following the success of industrial parks (IPs), VSIP has transformed into a developer of integrated townships and IPs. Could you highlight the advantages and challenges of this business model?Vietnam is a land of immense potential for growth. We realised early on that the coun-try possesses unique strengths, including abundant land and young, hardworking la-bour force, to attractinternational investment. VSIP was therefore established to attract foreign direct in-vestment (FDI) to the country, to help Vietnam recognise its immense manufacturing potential, to create employment opportunities, and to attract diversified sectors and industries to the country through products and services that meet international stand-ards.As Vietnam grows, the community's needs to evolve. This is why VSIP has trans-formed our core offering from standalone IPs to integrated township and IP models, enabling us to bring in comprehensive solutions to work, live, and play, and also ap-plying urban planning best principles in Vietnam. We believe that successful imple-mentation rests on a strong master plan that is backed by robust urban infrastructure and integrates utilities and facilities for enhanced living.Who are the target investors for VSIP commercial and residential complexes?VSIP has a lot to offer as an investment destination. Along with IPs, VSIP townships in Binh Duong, Quang Ngai, Nghe An, Bac Ninh, and Hai Phong are ideally located and prepared land for property investment and development with diverse options of townhouses, apartments, hotels, commercial areas, schools, and hospitals.With modern master plans that integrate the work, live, play, and learn elements at ar-eas outside of the city centres, we have been able to offer our customers solutions that meet their operating needs.What are your recommendations for foreign investors looking into the Vietnamese real estate market?While much attention is paid to big cities such as Ho Chi Minh, Hanoi, and Danang, where typical formal offers are high due to high entry costs, less noticed are the sur-rounding cities and provinces which have huge housing and entertainment demand. Although there is a large supply in residential real estate, almost always targeting the affluent segment, a lot of mid-income households find it difficult to find suitable hous-ing in first-tier or even in second or third-tier cities.According to the 2016 Vietnam Landed Property Spotlight from Savills Vietnam, the expansion of the affluent class outpaces the middle-income segment, while the number of affluent Vietnamese households (annual income over $20,000) is expected to double from 250,000 in 2016 to 530,000 in 2020. The number of middle-income households with annual incomes ranging from $9,000-20,000 is estimated to increase by half, from 3.16 million to 4.83 million over the same period.In the north, Hai Phong is the third biggest city in Vietnam, with a stable growing economy and huge potential growth in the future for tourism and commerce. In recent


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years, big groups from Japan and South Korea have chosen Hai Phong as an invest-ment destination thanks to the economic potential, improved investment climate, ge-ographical location, and administrative procedures. According to a CBRE report in June 2017, landed property is still the best option in Hai Phong, especially shophouses.About a two-hour drive from Hai Phong, right next to Hanoi, lies Bac Ninh, one of the top localities having the highest GDP in Vietnam. In the first half of 2017, Bac Ninh took the lead in foreign direct investment (FDI) attraction. There is a real housing de-mand for workers and expatriates who are working in the IPs in the province, while the supply seems to be falling short of demand.In Central Vietnam, Danang, Hue, and Nha Trang are great choices for resort property, hospitality, and leisure. Nghe An and Quang Ngai provinces are also good options be-cause of their advantages in natural resources, tourism potential, industrials, and the very limited supply of commercial and residential real estate.In the south, right next to HCM City, Binh Duong has been a rising star which recently made its way into the top five cities in Vietnam, taking the lead in FDI, GDP, and rapid urbanisation. With about 35 IPs (a number that will continuously grow), this province is one of the localities with the largest number of foreign workers (about 12,000 people) in the country. Besides, Binh Duong also attracts a lot of workers commuting from nearby cities and provinces.The limited supply and increasing demand has placed Binh Duong amongst the most attractive locations for real estate developers. For example, in August 2015, the first phase of the Habitat Binh Duong, comprising of two blocks with 267 apartment units, was completed and have almost been sold out by now. The shareholders are Singa-pore-based Sembcorp Properties, a subsidiary of Sembcorp Industries, MC Develop-ment Asia from Japan, a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Corporation, and VSIP JV Co., Ltdhttp://www.vir.com.vn/vsip-goes-far-beyond-industrial-parks.html

Officials disciplined over Formosa incident


Several former senior officials have had their past titles canceled under decisions by the prime minister on August 16 for their wrongdoing and responsibility in the For-mosa environment incident that wreaked havoc on marine life in central Vietnam.Vo Kim Cu, former vice chair and former chair of the People's Committee of Ha Tinh Province in the terms of 2005-2010 and 2010-2015 respectively, had all such titles stripped due to his wrongdoing in the Formosa incident, according to local newspaper reports.Previously, Vo Kim Cu, holding many important positions in the Party Committee of Ha Tinh Province, where the steel complex of Hung Nghiep Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Co Ltd was located, had to mainly take responsibility for violations and mistakes commit-ted by the provincial authorities.Local media reports that Cu had signed many documents in violation of regulations, such as granting investment certificates with terms longer than allowed by the law, leasing the sea surface to and allowing Formosa to clear land to build wastewater pipe-lines against the law. Cu was also accused of failing to supervise and inspect the im-plementation of the project.In April, the Party Central Committee's Secretariat relieved Cu of the titles he held in the Standing Board of the Party Committee of Ha Tinh Province in two tenures 2005-2010 and 2010-2015 meaning he retrospectively lost all senior Party positions in the province in the two periods, including of Party chief of Ha Tinh People's Committee, and deputy secretary and then secretary of the Ha Tinh Party Committee.In addition, the National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee on May 15 approved Cu's resignation from the 14th NA due to health problems.Disciplinary measures have been also taken against three other former leaders of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and Ha Tinh government involved in the Formosa incident.Nguyen Minh Quang, former Party Central Committee member, minister of Natural Resources and Environment from 2011 to 2016, and former Secretary of the ministry's


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Party body, was disciplined by warning in accordance with the prime minister's Deci-sion 1199/QD-TTg.Quang is responsible as leader for violations committed by the ministry's Party body in the 2011-2016 tenure.The government also canceled the title of former deputy minister of Natural Resources and Environment in 2011-2015 of Nguyen Thai Lai and Bui Cach Tuyen in two other decisions.Bui Cach Tuyen was accused of being irresponsible in approving environmental im-pact assessment reports and ignored warnings about impacts on the environment. He also showed his mismanagement over the construction of environmental protection facilities.Meanwhile, Nguyen Thai Lai was charged with his irresponsibility in verifying and approving licenses for Formosa's illegal wastewater discharge.The serious environmental pollution incident caused mass fish deaths in the central provinces of Ha Tinh, Quang Tri, Quang Binh and Thua Thien-Hue in April last year. Wastewater from a steel plant, including toxic substances, operated by Hung Nghiep Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Co. Ltd, was attributed to the pollution.The company later also admitted responsibility and made a compensation of VND11.5 trillion (about $500 million) to help solve the problem.http://english.thesaigontimes.vn/55622/Officials-disciplined-over-Formosa-inci-dent.html

Deputy minister of Industry and Trade fired


Minister dismissed for financial wrongdoings as four other senior officials disciplined over last year's pollution spill in Ha Tinh province.The Vietnamese government has sacked a deputy minister of Industry and Trade as the country continues its crackdown on malfeasance in the much-cosseted yet ineffi-cient public sector.Decision No.1203, signed on August 16 by prime minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, dis-missed Ho Thi Kim Thoa from her post as deputy minister. She will be assigned a dif-ferent role by the ministry, the government said in a statement, without elaborating further.The Communist Party sought Thoa's dismissal two weeks ago after the Party Central Committee's Inspection Commission found her responsible for several financial wrongdoings at the electricity firm Dien Quang Lamp and the illegal appointment of the former oil executive Trinh Xuan Thanh, who police said turned himself in on July 31 after a ten-month international manhunt.The Inspection Commission also said that Thoa had violated rules regarding land, eq-uitisation, share transfers, and asset declarations.Last February, Party Chief Nguyen Phu Trong ordered the Inspection Commission to investigate allegations that Thoa and her family held shares worth hundreds of billions of dong in Dien Quang Lamp, a State-owned concern, before it was equitised in 2005.According to media reports, last year Thoa and her family held close to a 35 per cent stake in the company, worth around VND700 billion ($30 million). Her 1.7 million shares in Dien Quang are alone worth VND100 billion ($4.3 million). Vietnam's aver-age annual income was around $2,200 last year.Shares in Dien Quang, where some of Thoa's relatives are still key stakeholders, in ad-dition to the Canada-based Enterprise Capital Management, have fallen about 40 per cent since last October. Thoa worked at Dien Quang for 18 years, during which time she served as Chairwoman and CEO before being promoted to the Ministry of Indus-try and Trade in 2010.On the same day, the prime minister also signed three other decisions disciplining four former officials after they were held accountable for the toxic spill by Taiwan's Formo-sa steel plant a year ago in north-central Ha Tinh province.Former minister of Natural Resources and Environment Nguyen Minh Quang re-ceived a warning while Nguyen Thai Lai and Bui Cach Tuyen had their positions as


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environment deputy ministers during the 2011-2015 period voided.After being found to have approved investment licenses and an illegal waste pipeline at the steel plant, the former leader of Ha Tinh province, Vo Kim Cu, had his positions of vice Chair and Chair of the Ha Tinh Provincial People's Committee during the 2005-2010 and 2010-2015 periods, respectively, voided, including his position as provincial party secretary.Their irresponsible leadership and lax management led to serious damage to the envi-ronment and affected people's lives. It also caused social instability, hit the investment climate, and tainted the reputation of the ministry and Ha Tinh province, where For-mosa still runs its $11 billion steel plant.http://vneconomictimes.com/article/vietnam-today/deputy-minister-of-industry-and-trade-fired

Save 10pct when buying Vietjet fares with 32 local bank ATM cards


Carrier running special promotion in cooperation with Napas from August 17 to 19.Vietjet Air has cooperated with the National Payment Corporation of Vietnam (Napas) to launch a three-day long promotion from August 17 to 19, enabling passengers to save 10 per cent on fares when paying via ATM cards issued by 32 Vietnamese banks that have joined Napas.The arrangement between Vietjet and Napas, Vietnam's most credited online payment supplier, aims to provide benefits to the holders of the more than 90 million ATM cards issued by the banks.The promotion is available for all online bookings for local and international travel made at www.vietjetair.com at from 12pm to 2pm (GMT+7) on the three days.Cardholders are recommended to select payments by ATM card via Napas and regis-ter for online payments under each bank's regulations, to optimise the process.With its high-quality services, special low-fare tickets, and diverse ticket classes, Viet-jet offers passengers enjoyable flights with a dynamic and friendly flight crew, comfy seats, delicious hot meals, and special surprises as part of its inflight activities.It was established in 2007 and now leads the domestic aviation market and is actively expanding its international flight network. The carrier has served nearly 40 million passengers and been awarded 32 domestic and nine international accolades, including being named one of the Top 500 Brands in Asia 2016, "Vietnam's Most Favourite Air-line", and "The Best Asian Low Cost Carrier 2015" at the TTG Travel Awards 2015, among others.Vietjet is a member of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and holds IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) certification. Its operational safety and techni-cal reliability rates have constantly been among the highest in the Asia-Pacific region and it boasts a modern and well-furbished fleet and amazing diverse and friendly services.It currently operates a fleet of 45 aircraft, including A320s and A321s, conducting over 350 flights a day on 73 routes in Vietnam and across the region to international desti-nations such as Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, South Korea, Malaysia, Cambodia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, and Myanmar.http://vneconomictimes.com/article/biz-traveler/save-10-when-buying-vietjet-fares-with-32-local-bank-atm-cards

Apec Food Security Week takes place in Can Tho


The Apec Food Security Week will kick off in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho on Fri-day, with numerous seminars focusing on the issue of food security against challenges posed by climate change, organisers said.The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will host the food security week and a high level policy dialogue on enhancing food security and sustainable agricul-ture in response to climate change as part of the 2017 Asia-Pacific Economic Coopera-tion (Apec) forum in Vietnam.These events, which are jointly held by the ministry, Can Tho City's government and


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the Apec Secretariat, are set to last from Friday to next Friday.The ministry said in a press release that national food security is a decisive factor be-hind economic growth and poverty reduction, so it requires comprehensive solutions, including agricultural development, environmental protection, and climate change adaptation strategies.The ministry noted tackling food and nutrition security, and poverty faces a slew of challenges around the world.In fact, around 800 million people globally are still suffering from hunger, and more than 160 million children of less than five years old are malnourished. Meanwhile, the acreage and fertility of agricultural land has declined, and water resources for agricul-ture are scarcer. As such, climate change poses increasingly severe risks for the sector.Vietnam is an agricultural country whose Mekong Delta is its largest farming region. Official development assistance (ODA) loans which are injected into the agriculture and rural development sector in Vietnam are mainly from Apec economies.Apec is the world's largest food producer and exporter, but among member countries there exists much difference in production, resources, technologies and markets, cre-ating barriers to the establishment of production chains, according to the ministry.Therefore, the high-level programmes in Can Tho mention food security issues for sus-tainable agricultural growth which focus on smart agriculture, post-harvest manage-ment, and hi-tech application.Can Tho City's vice chair Dao Anh Dung told the Daily on August 16 that the local gov-ernment will share its expertise in high-tech application in agriculture in response to climate change, and draw on other Apec members' experience in the issue.He said the city plans to introduce projects which are in dire need of investors to de-velop three hi-tech farming zones in the outlying districts of Thai Loi and Co Do. Can Tho also introduces its urban development strategies through the strengthening of re-silience and adaptation to climate change.According to the organiser, the event attracts about 1,500 delegates from Apec mem-bers, international organisations, research agencies, senior officials, policymakers and businesses.http://english.thesaigontimes.vn/55621/Apec-Food-Security-Week-takes-place-in-Can-Tho-.html

Top Thai brands exhibition begins in Hanoi


Vietnamese customers will get access to many of Thailand's internationally recognised brands at the Top Thai Brands 2017, which began in Hanoi on Thursday.The exhibition, formerly known as the Thailand Week trade fair, will continue till Au-gust 20.This year, two days of the event (August 17 and 18) is dedicated for trade, while the other two days (August 19 and 20) are open to the public, with the aim of creating fa-vourable conditions for trade promotion as well as for businesses to meet and intro-duce products and services resourced from Thailand.Jointly organised by the Department of International Trade Promotion under the Thai commerce ministry and the Royal Thai Embassy in Hanoi in cooperation with the Vi-etnam National Trade Fair and Advertising Company (VINEXAD), the fair is one among many collaborative activities between the two countries.Speaking at the opening ceremony, Wanthanee Viputwongsaku, deputy ambassador of the Royal Thai Embassy in Hanoi, said the 40th anniversary of the establishment of Thailand-Vietnam diplomatic relations was in 2016. The embassy had co-ordinated with Vietnamese State and private agencies to organise many activities in various fields to further tighten the cooperation between the two nations.This year, the embassy has been continuously organising various activities to continue promoting cooperation with Vietnam in all fields, strengthen partnerships and tighten trade ties, she said.Viputwongsaku said Thailand and Vietnam have been important economic partners of each other for a long time. The Top Thai Brands 2017 exhibition aims to create a plat-


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form for both Vietnamese and Thai enterprises to enlarge their networks and further develop strategic partnerships, she added.On August 19 and 20, the two days when the fair is open to the public, there will be 192 booths exhibiting various products and services from Thailand, put up by Thai companies and their agents in Vietnam. These will include food and beverages, house-hold products, baby products, fashion products, electronic appliances, automotive products, healthcare and beauty products and trade services.Other activities on the sidelines include fruit and vegetable carving, fresh flower hand-work, Thai cooking demonstration and Thai dances performed by professional artists from Thailand.The event is being held at the Hanoi International Exhibition Centre (I.C.E), Friendship Cultural Palace, on Tran Hung Dao Street, Hoan Kiem District.http://bizhub.vn/news/top-thai-brands-exhibition-begins-in-ha-noi_288330.html

Hundreds attend opening day of Thai trade show

18/AUG/2017 INTELLASIA| VOV

Hundreds of vendors were on hand for the opening of a Thai merchandise show in Ha-noi Thursday, August 17-18, at the Friendship Cultural Palace at 91 Tran Hung Dao Street, reported the Vietnam News Agency.The event will open to the public August 19-20.The trade show and fair features an estimated 200 stalls showcasing food, beverages, beauty care, household appliances, clothing, electrical appliances, and health care, among other products.http://english.vov.vn/economy/hundreds-attend-opening-day-of-thai-trade-show-356673.vov

Vietnamese businesses attend Sourcing at Magic Show


A Vietnamese delegation of 20 textile and garment businesses is participating in the Sourcing at Magic Show in the United States from August 11 to 21.MAGIC is the world's largest fashion marketplace, showcasing the latest in apparel, footwear, accessories, and manufacturing. Every February and August, the retail in-dustry convenes in Las Vegas to spot and shop the latest trends.With 21 booths, Vietnam has for the first time become the "focus country" of the Magic Show with many activities being held to provide information on the country's textile and garment industry, the Vietnam Textile and Garment Association (VITAS) said.The show aims to help businesses seek partners, develop foreign markets and set up stable cooperation with large US customers.Participants will have opportunities to exchange and cooperate with leading US im-porters and retailers as well as other producers in the region and the world, in addition to material suppliers and fashion designers from the US and other countries.The association has anually sent qualified Vietnamese garment and textile businesses to the Magic Show for the past 11 years. It has become an annual trade promotion pro-gramme of VITAS in the US and the America region.As for the display this year, Vietnamese booths were designed according to the coun-try's traditional characteristics, such as village gate and the lotus with green as the key colour to depict the environmentally-friendly trend and the potential of Vietnam's gar-ment and textile industry.Participating in the show are also businesses from the foreign direct investment block, which is expected to enhance connections in the industry's value chain.http://bizhub.vn/news/vietnamese-businesses-attend-sourcing-at-magic-show_288339.html End


180817Intellasia Finance Vietnam of Finance to cut taxes for all small and medium-sized firms 12 MoF...

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Transcript of 180817Intellasia Finance Vietnam of Finance to cut taxes for all small and medium-sized firms 12 MoF...