TPP negotiation round in Canada fails

Another negotiation round for a Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement has recently wrapped up in Ottawa, Canada, without any deal, even on a date for the next meeting.

The reason was attributable to major differences held by the 12 participating State members over contentious issues, including those on intellectual property, State-owned enterprises and environment.

The negotiating countries agreed to continue holding meetings to address their differences but could not decide when their next sitting will be held.

TPP negotiations began in 2010 with the participation of nine nations.

It is now involved by 12 countries, including the US, Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore, Peru, Japan and Vietnam.

Once signed, the agreement will create a free trade area with an 800 million population, accounting for 30 percent of total trade turnover and nearly 40 percent of economic output of the globe.

Banks eye ways to convert deposit boom into lending

Commercial banks are seeking ways to boost lending as bank deposits have increased in the past few months.

By the end of June, Vietnam's credit growth in the first half of this year surged only 3.52 percent compared to last December, the State Bank of Vietnam reported.

Ho Chi Minh City-based commercial banks have launched several preferential credit programmes to boost their lending.

NamA Bank Deputy General Director Tran Ngoc Tam said his bank could not wait for businesses to ask for loans and had to find ways to boost lending by any means possible. The bank employees have to get access to potential borrowers and offer them suitable loan packages, reports Tuoi Tre (Youth) online.

An executive at the Sacombank acknowledged that apart from boosting lending for large-scale businesses, his bank also sought individual borrowers and small and medium-sized businesses. The businesses still wanted to maintain their production despite the difficult economic circumstances.

Sacombank has launched many credit programmes for small and medium-sized enterprises with a 1 billion VND maximum loan package. Loan application procedure will be processed within two days.

By the end of June, the individual loan packages of Sacombank rose 13 percent over the same period last year, he said.

A deputy general director at a commercial bank in HCM City District 1, who asked not to be identified, said his bank staffers have to get business in any way possible. For individuals, the bank has to approach borrowers through State offices, schools or buy information from shopping centres and insurance companies.

He said those who visit shopping centres are often high-income earners, thus making it easier for the bank to offer them services.

According to economist Nguyen Tri Hieu, household businesses and individual borrowers are those who are able to absorb loans in the current economic circumstances.

On the other hand, due to small loans, banks can avoid the risks of bad debts. Commercial banks get high lending interest rates from them as compared to lending interest rates offered to businesses.

He said businesses are still facing difficulty gaining access to cheap bank loans due to their "poor health" on account of bad debts and no assets to mortgage. Also, the banks do not want to face high ratio of bad debt lending.

A survey carried out by Vietnam Business Association found that 27 percent of businesses cannot take bank loans due to incomplete lending application procedures while 8 percent do not want loans. The remaining businesses are not qualified due to their existing bad debts and no assets to mortgage.

Economist Le Xuan Nghia said the most difficult thing now is that banks do not believe in businesses and want to insulate themselves from high risks.

Nghia noted that if this situation prevailed it would make an adverse impact on the country's economic recovery.

Nghia also attributed the low credit growth over the months to the sluggish recovery of bad debts in commercial banks. If no breakthrough was made to handle the bad debt issue soon, the credit growth would remain low, he added.

New plan for Vietnam's industrial development

Electronics and telecommunications, industrial processing and manufacturing and new energy development are highlighted in the master plan of Vietnam's industrial development to 2025 with a vision to 2030.

Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang said that for the first time, Vietnam has framed up a strategy and master plan of industrial development with specific orientations and directions, approved by the Prime Minister, to help the industry and trade sector to complete its assigned tasks and contribute to the industrialisation and modernisation of the country.

Under the master plan, the projected growth rate of industrial production value is expected to reach between 12.5 and 13 percent per year by 2020 and between 11.0 and 12 percent per year from 2021 to 2030. The industry and construction’s shares of the GDP are estimated to account for 42-43 percent by 2020 and for 43-45 percent by 2030.

By 2020, the proportion of industrial products and hi-tech products will reach 45 percent of GDP and by 2030, the proportion will reach 90-92 percent and above 50 percent, respectively.

Vietnam's industrial development will get along with modern technology, reasonable structure, competitive edge and global value chain participation.

By 2030, Vietnam's industrial sector will be developed with more advanced technology, international standardised quality, and in-depth involvement in the global value chain.

The master plan of industrial development has proposed 7 solutions in capital, technology, human resources, market and product development, supporting industry, inter-regional cooperation and coordination for development, industrial promotion, and supports for the development of small and medium enterprises.

It is expected that 70-75 percent of funding for implementation of master plan will be contributed from the businesses (attracting FDI of approximately 33-34 percent) while the state budget will finance approximately 3-4 percent of total funding, mainly on infrastructure, human resource development, research, and scientific and technological innovation.

Apart from three industries selected for development priorities, others are of the supporting industry category, electronics and computer science, engineering and metallurgy, textiles, leather shoes and the industries to meet the domestic demand and increase exports.

One of the important issues is to encourage local business development, foreign investment as well as promote sustainable development of the non-state sectors.

In addition, there will be focus on developing small and medium enterprises. The human resource issue is vital to determine the success of industrialisation, modernisation and development of industry which meets both environment and green technology requirements after 2020. At the same time, the development of large-scale raw material supply for the processing industry will be also put on priority.

The master plan also said it will focus on developing the midlands and northern mountains, Red River Delta, Central Coast, the Central Highlands, Southeast and Mekong River Delta.

Dung Quat oil refinery resumes full-capacity operation

The Dung Quat Oil Refinery in central Quang Ngai province has resumed operation at full capacity after the second major maintenance that last 56 days.

Nguyen Hoai Giang, General Director of Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical Company (BSR), which is in charge of Dung Quat, said on July 14 that about 4,000 experts, engineers and workers, including 400 foreigners, were involved in the overhaul.

Several major technical flaws were fixed during the process, and the single-point mooring (SPM) at the refinery was upgraded, allowing it to receive oil tankers of up to 150,000 tonnes. Previously it could only accommodate 100,000-tonne tankers.

From now to the end of this year, the refinery plans to produce about 2.6 million tonnes of products, contributing 12 trillion VND (564 million USD) to the State budget.

Put into commercial operation since 2010, the refinery has turned out more than 26 million tonnes of oil, petrol and gas products so far, meeting 30 percent of demand for petrol nationwide.

In 2013, it produced 6.6 million tonnes of products, 17 percent higher than its set target, and gained over 154 trillion VND (7.3 billion USD) in revenue and 2.9 trillion VND (138 million USD) in profit. It also contributed 28.4 trillion VND (1.3 billion USD) to the State budget.

Spain to invest in rubber latex factories in Binh Phuoc

Several Spanish investors have pledged to invest in rubber latex processing factories in southern Binh Phuoc province, Minister of Planning and Investment Bui Quang Vinh said during a meeting with provincial officials on July 14.

The minister said that the Spanish partners want to produce rubber products meeting the EU market’s quality standards at these factories, which will consume about 150,000 tonnes of rubber latex each year.

He asked local authorities to create favourable conditions for Spanish investors and facilitate the completion of administrative procedures for the project to start early.

Vinh also affirmed that in the time to come, the ministry will assist Binh Phuoc province in implementing its main tasks of the year, including a programme on regional economic development, and investment in transport infrastructure, the Dong Phu industrial-services-urban complex and the Bu Gia Map eco-tourism site.

Binh Phuoc tops the country in rubber planting area, with more than 230,000 hectares, 70 percent of which are under exploitation. Its rubber latex output is over 269,000 tonnes each year.

Basic GAP – feasible solution for safe crop production

Basic GAP (Good Agriculture Practices) process, deemed more helpful for Vietnamese farmers, was introduced by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) at a press conference on July 14.

The process, including 26 most basic criteria among 65 standards of VietGAP, has been built by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development with JICA support, aiming to facilitate safe crop production. Certification for Basic GAP application is not compulsory.

JICA Vice Chief Representative in Vietnam Okiura Fumihiko said most Vietnamese farmers are small-scale producers with their products mainly sold in the domestic market, making them hard to follow VietGAP and other higher standards.

Thus, Basic Gap may be the best choice for them to increase the quality and safety of their products, meeting higher requirements of domestic consumers, he said.

Yamamoto Satoshi, senior advisor of JICA, revealed that the process has been applied in six northern localities including Hung Yen, Ha Nam, Quang Ninh, Thai Binh, Hoa Binh and Hai Phong with a goal of raising awareness of technical staff and farmers in ensuring food safety.

Following Basic GAP, the farmers knew how to select safe and quality chemicals and agricultural materials, harvest crops effectively, and improve their production method towards sustainability, he added.

Nguyen Thi Vang, Deputy Director of the Ha Nam Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said producing safe vegetables under Basic GAP is suitable to local farmers’ conditions, helping them reduce input costs and protect the ecological environment.

Deputy Director of the ministry’s Department of Crops Production Tran Xuan Dinh said it is necessary to devise a strategy on expanding the model and help stakeholders make sense of benefits from Basic GAP application.

FDI to real estate surges 65 percent in H1

Foreign direct investment (FDI) earmarking for the real estate market hit 692 million USD in the first half of this year, a year-on-year increase of 65 percent, according to CBRE, one of the foreign property service providers in Vietnam.

A number of property projects emerging in the period included Alma Resort worth 300 million USD in central Khanh Hoa province invested by Israel’s Alma Group, a 234 million USD urban area in the western part of West Lake and a 200 million USD apartment building project of Hong Kong ’s Sun Wah Vietnam Real Estate Limited.

This shows that the country’s real estate market is attractive again to foreign investors. Resort projects have proven their advantages while housing ones have seen positive changes, mostly in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City , with increasing supplies and falling inventories.

In Hanoi , 79 percent of sold apartments were from completed projects. However, CBRE experts said the supply of apartments in Hanoi has not yet met the real demand.

They forecast that the segment of housing for middle income earners will become hot in the remaining months of the year.

From June 16, customers can mortgage the contracts they signed to buy apartments from projects which have had their foundations built to borrow bank loans from the 30 trillion VND loan package.

The Ministry of Finance recently issued Circular 48/2014/TT-BTC guiding the implementation of Governmental Resolution 01/NQ-CP regarding the extension of the payment of land use charges and the cost of buying state-owned housing. The circular took effect on June 10, 2014, allowing many real estate projects to delay the payment of land use charges within 24 months.

In the first six months of 2014, real estate ranked third among all economic sectors in terms of foreign investment attraction with nine new projects registered.

Vietnam, Israel seek stronger agricultural partnership

A Vietnam-Israel Commercial Committee made its debut on July 14 aiming to support future cooperation between the two sides’ firms.

The debut came as part of the Vietnam-Israel Agriculture E nterprise Forum held the same day in Hanoi.

Co-hosted by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and the Israeli Embassy in Vietnam, the event brought together leading businesses from both countries operating in agriculture, including Israeli firms from the hi-tech agriculture industry.

Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Quoc Doanh asserted that Vietnam always wants to work together with Israel, especially in agriculture, forestry and fishery.

Doanh said Vietnam attaches special importance to attracting foreign investment in agriculture, considering this as a vital leverage to promote the restructuring of its agricultural production and rural economy.

VCCI Deputy Chairman Doan Duy Khuong said Vietnam highly values Israel’s agricultural science and technology development, adding that the two countries’ governments should pay attention to building compact agreements, while reducing administrative procedures to facilitate their businesses’ operation.

Israeli Ambassador in Hanoi Meirav Eilon Shahar revealed that her country has a great interest in Vietnam’s agriculture.

She said the debut of the Vietnam-Israel Commercial Committee will greatly support business partnerships and expressed hope that the two governments will work closely to create the best possible conditions for their businesses’ growth.

According to VCCI, Vietnam’s agriculture has grown strongly over the past two decades, making the country the second largest rice exporter in the world.

Vietnamese agro-forestry and fishery products are now present in 160 countries across the world.

Meanwhile, Israel boasts an advanced agriculture that uses the state-of-the-art technology.

Two-way trade between Vietnam and Israel in 2012 hit 1.1 billion USD.

Timber shipments to Middle East surge sharply

Timber exports to the Middle East reached 37.3 million USD, up 37.1 percent in the first half of this year, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Between 2009 and 2013, Vietnam’s furniture exports to Middle Eastern markets increased three times with the total turnover for 2013 hitting a record of 54.6 million USD.

In the first quarter of 2014 alone, timber shipments surged by 38 percent to 18.6 million USD.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Kuwait and Israel are among key importers.

Over the past years, the UAE was the largest importer of Vietnamese wood products with the import value of 12.8 million USD in 2012, accounting for 36 percent of Vietnam’s total wood exports to the Middle East.

Meanwhile, Vietnam shipped 15.3 million USD of wood products to Saudi Arabia last year, making up 28 percent of the former’s total wood exports to this region.

According to the International Trade Centre, the region yearly imports nearly 6 billion USD of wood products.

So far, made-in-Vietnam timber products are present in over 120 countries and territories worldwide and have become a key export commodity.

Dong Nai focuses on SOEs equitisation

The southern province of Dong Nai is striving to complete the equitisation of almost all of its State-owned enterprises (SOEs) by the end of 2015.

Reports by the provincial People’s Committee say Dong Nai is now home to 53 SOEs. The province is speeding up the restructuring and equitisation of and divestment from SOEs in line with a plan on restructuring the SOEs approved by the Prime Minister.

Accordingly, the local authorities has urged a number of SOEs to finish their equitisation in the period of 2014-2015. Meanwhile, several enterprises have been also asked to withdraw their capital from non-core business.

In additions, in order to hasten the equitisation, local authorities proposed the Government to soon issue policies on recruitment, salary and bonuses of SOEs which hold over 50 percent of chartered capital.

Dong Nai’s exports to US to maintain growth

The southern province of Dong Nai’s exports to the US will stay strong in the near future, with garment and footwear items as key products, Director of the provincial Department of Industry and Trade Le Van Danh has said.

He revealed that the sectors have signed contracts through the end of this year.

The US is one of the province’s key importers, said Vice Chairman of the provincial Import-Export Association Nguyen Ngoc Tuan.

In the first half of this year, the value of the shipments to the market reached nearly 1.5 billion USD, including more than 280 million USD in June alone – up 86 percent against May, he cited.

The US mainly imports garment, footwear, wood, coffee and cashew nuts.

Local businesses, however, were warned of the US’s technical barriers as its market imposes stricter requirements ranging from materials to production stages.

A target of export growth of 10-12 percent this year remains a challenge for local firms.

Therefore, the department will hold regular meetings with businesses to help them promptly ease their difficulties and update them on trade activities and credit packages.

Agro-forestry-fishery businesses seek to boost domestic sales

Product quality and market expansion are vital to boost sales of agro-forestry-fishery products, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh told the Vietnam Economic News.

*We have recently talked much of the agro-forestry-fishery exporters’ difficulties. Can you tell us what measures has the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) taken to remove those difficulties?

Despite growth in the export volumes of agro-forestry-fishery products in early months of this year, the export revenue still fell. The main reason was low demand of these products caused by sluggish world economy.

To support agro-forestry-fishery exports, MOIT has focused on several solutions including restructuring production to bring higher value-added to products; applying technological innovation to enhance competitiveness of enterprises; training human resources, accessing low-interest loans to serve production and export; diversifying export markets and further strengthening trade promotion activities overseas.

In addition, MOIT also actively coordinated with related agencies to remove difficulties for agro-forestry-fishery exports. For example, in early June of this year, MOIT signed with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development a joint-action programme to boost exports of agro-forestry-fishery products.

*The poor quality is seen as one of the barriers that has impact on the agro-forestry-fishery exports. How will this problem be solved in the coming time?

There was a question why Vietnam had to depend on some certain markets rather than diversifying its export markets. This is partly because the product quality is not 100 percent guaranteed. In the current integration process, we must care about the product quality issue. This is also a vital factor for the integration and development of the economy.

*The lesson from recent litchi consumption showed that we should promote domestic market for consumption of agro-forestry-fishery products. So how should we develop the distribution network in the domestic market?

I have to admit that the domestic market has great potential with 90 million people. Therefore, along with boosting exports, the MOIT is also looking for solutions to promote distribution network in the domestic market especially in rural and remote areas. According to MOIT, in the first half of 2014, the export revenue of agro-forestry-fishery products was estimated at 10.78 billion USD, a 13.6 percent increase year on year and accounting for 15.2 percent of the total export revenue.

HCM City market attracts giant foreign retailers

The retail market in Ho Chi Minh City is getting set for major realignments as many of the world’s leading retailers in the food, beverage, and fashion industries formulate expansion plans to set up shop.

In early July, Singapore’s Mapletree Group announced it is expanding its presence in the city with a Vietsin Commercial Complex Development JSC joint venture development of a one-stop 'family-lifestyle-destination' mall for both the local and expatriate communities in Ho Chi Minh City.

The five-storey mall will offer the latest fashion, a hypermarket, a cineplex as well as lifestyle, entertainment, education, dining outlets, and other entertainment on an area spanning 21,270 square metres, located at SC Vivo City’s South Palace Complex.

Mapletree Group will be introducing international brands including CGV-one from the Republic of Korea, the largest multiplex cinema chain in the RoK which has branches throughout China and the US. Saigon Co.op and NTUC FairPrice have also signed deals to set up mega supermarkets in the SC VivoCity shopping centre.

Other international giants in including Starbucks, MOF, BreadTalk, ThaiExpress, Pepper Lunch and Shabu Ya are also lining up putting the final touches on negotiations to begin operation in the shopping centre in the near future.

Robins Department Store - a member of Thailand’s leading retailer Central Group recently unveiled its plan to enter Vietnam’s southern market this November. Following a successful opening of its first store in Hanoi, Robins Department Store announced it has rented four floors covering 10,000 square metres at Ho Chi Minh City-based Crescent Mall to launch its southern campaign.

Japanese retail tycoon AEON Mall will also officially making its debut appearance in the Vietnamese market in the remaining months of the year. The group inaugurated its first commercial centre in Tan Phu district, HCM City on January 1, 2014 and is continuing to expand its market share. The company is hurriedly preparing to expand into Binh Duong province which borders HCM City in the fourth quarter (Q4) of the year.

McDonalds’s, the world’s largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants opened its first franchise in eastern Saigon earlier this year just after the Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday. Then in Q2/2014, its second franchise opened in District 1. At the opening a representative of McDonald’s announced plans for a third and fourth franchise.

It appears McDonald’s is following the lead of its predecessor to HCM City, Starbucks, which has accelerated rapidly in the market and is on track to celebrate the grand opening of its 8th coffee shop in HCM City in Q3/2014.

Baskin-Robbins the international home of delicious cones, shakes, treats, cakes, and pies recently opened the doors for business of its 20th store in Q2/2014.

Dairy Queen, a US based franchise owned by billionaire Warren Buffett, opened its first ice cream outlet in January, 2014 with its first in District 1 and a second shortly thereafter within only a few months. As planned, over the next five years, Dairy Queen chain will massively expand to over 60 stores.

Caffe Bene, famous Korea coffee brand which currently operates in 12 countries has chosen Q3/2014 as the time to set foot in the Vietnam market. Recently, in Seoul, Caffe Bene Vina Company signed an exclusive franchise contract with Caffe Bene.

In the HCM City Q3/2014 real estate report, CBRE Executive Director Vietnam Marc Townsend predicted the landing of international retail brands in HCM City would be strong in the future.

The leading indicator of the growth he says came in a Nielsen survey, in Q1/2014. The confidence index of Vietnamese consumers was higher than the global average. This is one of the key factors that increased the confidence of international retailers and helped sway their decisions to invest in Vietnam.

Global Director of Leasing Services and Retail Consultants Cushman and Wakefield Mark Burlton recently commented that the global economic crisis created many changes in the retail market over the past five years.

Retailers no longer need to maintain a large number of stores like before in their country, he said, adding that instead, they are actively searching for opportunities to open stores in international markets, and they are particularly fond of Asia.

Currently, many international brands have their eye on the Asian market, and most particularly Vietnam.

Mark Burlton stressed that most of the products of brands making their appearance in Vietnam are readily available in other countries and have been for years. This gives them a competitive advantage as it is relatively easy to develop distribution channels and tie into their pre-existing networks.

However, prior to a retailer pouring direct investment into any project, they must always carefully weigh the pros and cons of the long-term venture.

One of the more prominent obstacles that foreign retailers coming to Vietnam face is the vast difference among differing parts of the country and the weather. When a foreign retailer enters Vietnam, it often chooses to open a chain instead of just one or two small stores and the varying factors complicate matters.

The process of finding good location is arduous work. Overall project quality in Vietnam is not equal in general. Vietnam does not have an abundance of good projects for retailers to choose from.

These are highly complex and significantly important issues that retailers coming to Vietnam must cope with, Burlton said.

Cushman and Wakefield leaders say that although many international brands are cropping up throughout the country, the number of brands has not matured as of yet.

In 2015, Vietnam is poised to fully open the retail market in line with World Trade Organization (WTO) commitments. The country should brace itself for exponential growth of the presence of foreign retailer giants in HCM City and throughout the nation in the coming time.

Truck market sees steady growth

The domestic truck market has seen significant growth since the Ministry of Transport's decision to increase control and oversight of overloaded vehicles and ensure the safety of all drivers on the roads.

The ministry in April said overloaded trucks were a major cause of traffic accidents and road damage.

The policy appears to have been successful, as the number of traffic accidents since April has decreased and the transport sector seems to be more competitive, especially the truck market.

According to independent market watchdogs, the tightened controls on overloaded trucks have caused a slower flow of goods, particularly at local ports.

An official of the transport ministry, who declined to be named, said that as many as 60 percent of container trucks owned by local firms are no longer eligible to carry containers, under the new policy.

Most of the owners of the trucks had initially registered their vehicles to carry far less weight than the actual load of their containers.

With such a change, transport firms have had to buy or arrange to use other trucks suitable for their goods.

Huynh Trung Thanh, director of a transportation cooperative in Thu Duc district, said: "We have had to lower the load of many vehicles to avoid being punished, so our carrying capacity fell by half. To meet our regular customers' demand, we are going to buy between five and 10 container trucks."

Dinh Nam Dinh, Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Cargo Transportation Association, also said that many local transport companies would have to purchase more vehicles if they wanted to keep their customers.

"Some companies will even have to double their number of vehicles to maintain their carrying capacity. The vehicles that they want to buy now will be those with high carrying capacity such as container trucks, heavy-duty trucks and medium-duty trucks," Dinh said.

According to several truck trading companies in HCM City, the number of both domestically assembled and imported trucks sold recently has increased significantly, particularly eight- and 10-tonne vehicles.

A representative of the Nam Viet Motor Company, a distributor of Japan's Hyundai Motor Company in Vietnam, said in May the number of Hyundai trucks sold was up 89 percent compared with the same period last year.

"In the first five months of the year, the company achieved a 130 percent growth in selling trucks," he said.

In addition to an increase in the number of sold trucks, the domestic market has also seen a sharp price surge of vehicles of this kind, analysts said.

For instance, the new price of heavy trucks is hundreds of millions of dong higher than it was before, while the price of container vehicles has also gone up by 300 to 400 million VND (14,120-18,800 USD).

Anticipating that the demand for trucks would rise following the ministry's decision in April, many major truck trading companies such as Thaco, Hyundai, Hino Motors Vietnam and Isuzu Vietnam began to make preparations to supply the market.

However, according to market watchdogs, both manufacturers and importers have not been able to meet demand due to the sudden increase.

Tran Tuan Hung, director of a transport company in Tan Binh, said he wanted to buy five medium-duty trucks that were domestically assembled but he was told that he would have to wait at least six months.

"I now have to buy imported vehicles, but I don't know if I can receive them immediately or not," Hung said.

Hanoi young entrepreneurs urged to be more creative

Head of the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) has highlighted the need for the Hanoi Young Entrepreneur Association to encourage its members to promote creativity in operation and grab business opportunities for effective performance in the current context.

President of the VFF's Central Committee Nguyen Thien Nhan made the remarks at the association’s 6 th Congress for the 2014-2017 tenure in Hanoi on July 12.

Nhan expressed his belief that the association will contribute to the development of the capital city’s young business circle with its motto “Pioneering – Innovation – Self-reliance.”

He also urged young businesspeople to raise their sense of corporate social responsibility.

Nhan was informed that during the three-year tenure, the association will accompany and support its members to overcome the economic difficulties, specifically assisting small-and-medium sized enterprises with science-technology innovation and administration.

Established since 1993, the association has made significant contributions to the construction and development of the capital and the nation at large.

Dong Thap greenlights fish value chain project

The Mekong Delta province of Dong Thap has approved a pilot programme to develop linkages between buyers and producers of pink tilapia fish.

The project aims to ensure a stable outlet for the fish as well as harmonising profits for all stakeholders involved in the value chain.

It would help farmers avoid a "price drop on a bumper harvest", according to provincial authorities.

Phan Kim Sa, Deputy Director of the provincial Department of Industry and Trade, said a close linkage between farmers and enterprises would gradually eliminate intermediaries involved in the trading of the fish.

Under the project, farmers will breed the fish following contracts with enterprises. Enterprises will then supply farmers with output materials and build a brand for the fish.

Through the project, the province wants to reorganise production of cooperatives so that they are able to sign contracts with enterprises, he said.

This year, the pilot model will be implemented in Binh Thanh commune in Cao Lanh district, with the participation of 21 farmers under the Binh Thanh Pink Tilapia Production and Consumption Cooperative and Hoang Long Seafood Processing Co Ltd.

This would be vertical linkage chain producing pink tilapia brood stock, mature fish, processing the fish and consumption.

Banks will increase the loan limit at preferential interest rates for cooperatives participating in the programme, while training courses will be organised to provide farmers with advanced farming techniques.

Vo Tuan Kiet, Director of Binh Thanh Pink Tilapia Production and Consumption Cooperative, said cooperative members were pleased that the programme would help them find outlets to sell their fish.

Rice and tra fish are two key products of the agricultural province.

The province for many consecutive years has led the country in output and export revenue of fresh water fish, with revenue from tra fish exports accounting for more than half.

High-value Japanese rice grows on northern farmers

Cultivation of Japanese rice varieties has expanded rapidly in the northern provinces of Thai Binh and Nam Dinh due to the high profits they fetch, but farmers are still learning how to grow what is an alien crop.

By the end of last year Thai Binh had 1,286 hectares under Japanese rice, four times the area in 2010.

"There are 10 companies cooperating with farmers to grow the rice and they are buying back all of it," Le Van Thang, Deputy Director of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, was quoted as saying by Thoi Bao Kinh te Viet Nam (Vietnam Economic Times) newspaper.

The rice varieties include Hana Akita Komach, Koshihirari, J01, J02, all of which are highly nutritious and are considered very good for children and women after delivery.

"All Japanese rice is grown for export," Thang said.

For this year's spring crop, Dong Phong commune in Thai Binh's Dong Hung district identified 35 hectares for growing Japanese rice by 200 farming households.

"This crop I cultivated 1.5 hectares," Phan Thi Nguyen, one of the farmers taking part in the programme, said.

"When signing the contract with the company, I got the seeds and fertilisers. After harvest, the produce was bought at a price of 22,000 VND per kilogram.

"I feel safe and do not need to worry anything like production expenses or falling prices; only focus on farming."

According to Thang, Japanese rice strains are totally different from traditional local strains because they are meant to grow in cold weather.

The export price for a tonne is 800–1,500 USD, two to four times the prices Vietnamese rice varieties fetch, he said.-

Private equity draws investors to Vietnam

Vietnam remains an attractive destination for private-equity investors, many of whom plan to increase their investment in the country, according to Grant Thornton Vietnam.

Speaking at a recent seminar in Ho Chi Minh City, Kenneth Atkinson, executive chairman of the auditing and consulting firm, said that in his company's bi-annual report on investment sentiment in private-equity in Vietnam, 51 percent of respondents said the country was more attractive than Myanmar or Indonesia.

They also said they would increase the allocation of funds to Vietnam in the next 12 months (starting in July).

About 48 percent nurture a positive outlook for Vietnam's economy over the next 12 months, compared to 43 percent in the fourth quarter of last year and 27 percent in 2012's Q2.

The retail sector was named the most attractive by 52 percent, followed by food and beverages (37 percent). Hospitality and leisure and property ranked third at 27 percent.

"Although Vietnam's economy still faces many challenges, there has been an improvement in macro-economic stability and some positive signals that its economy has begun to recover," Atkinson said, adding that foreign capital is expected to continue to flow into the country through merger and acquisition activities in the coming years.

Vietnamese have a very high level of optimism about the future that makes the outlook for Vietnamese consumer spending exciting, according to an economist from ANZ.

Glenn Maguire, the bank's chief economist for the Asia-Pacific, said 92 percent of respondents in an ANZ survey on Vietnam consumer confidence believed that their generation would lead a better life than that of their parents.

He was speaking at the July 11 launch of the bank's first monthly Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) for Vietnam.

It was done in the first half in partnership with Australian firm Roy Morgan Research, polling 1,000 people aged 14 or above in major cities and provinces like Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Hai Phong, Quang Binh, Da Nang, Nha Trang, and Can Tho.

Around 93 percent also believed that their children would have a better life than their own.

Vietnam ranked second only to Myanmar , whose rates were 96 and 95 percent respectively, and was above countries like China , Indonesia , Thailand , and Japan.

But Vietnam 's confidence level has been declining, with the CCI falling to 131 in June from 136.4 in February and March. But it was higher than April's 130 and May's 123, the lowest.

On the scale, 100 represents neutral.

This CCI is based on aspects in which respondents believe they were better or worse off this time last year and will be better/worse next year, their expectations about their financial status in the next 12 months, the status of Vietnam in the next five years, as well as whether it is a good or bad time for buying major household items.

In terms of personal finances, 48 per cent of Vietnamese (highest in the year-to-date and up 9 percent from May) expected their family to be better off, while 8 percent (down 6 percent) expect to be worse.

Around 32 percent (highest in year-to-date) said their family is better off than a year ago compared to 20 percent (down 7 percent) who said the opposite.

Almost 57 percent (up 5 percent) hoped they would have a "good time" economically in the next five years compared to 11 percent who await a "bad time".

Asked about the next 12 months, 49 percent said Vietnam would have good times financially while 16 percent expected bad times, with both rates remaining unchanged from May.

Over 38 percent (up 5 percent) said now is the good time to buy major household items while 14 percent (down 2 percent) considered it bad.

"Vietnamese consumer confidence has rebounded strongly over June on a number of factors, not just an abatement of China-Vietnam tensions," Maguire said.

"Though the sharp CCI decline in May aligned with the growing political tensions, we believe this was correlated rather than causal.

"One of the key determinants of the consumer confidence in Vietnam appears to be wealth effects derived from both the share market and the gold price, and consumer confidence has been tracking the evolution of financial assets closely since the beginning of the year."

He noted that this dynamic highlights the importance of income/wealth dynamics in driving consumer confidence in economies such as Vietnam that are transiting from low-income to middle-income.

Ca Mau to buy 100,000 tonnes of rice from farmers

A State-owned company in the southernmost province of Ca Mau will purchase 100,000 tonnes of rice from farmers at market or above-market rates this year, in a bid to help them earn more income and counter market manipulation.

In the January-June period, the Ca Mau Agricultural Products and Foodstuff company (Agrimexco) bought over 29,000 tonnes of rice, nearly 30 percent of its yearly target, with 8,000 tonnes from the Mekong Delta.

Agrimexco Director Nguyen Thanh Tuan suggested the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and local authorities open more cooperatives, making it easier to step up rice purchase in other areas.

More government funding is also needed to buy necessary equipment, he said.

The official, however, also warned of intense competition from regional countries such as Thailand and India which, he said has led to a sharp fall in export rice prices.

VASEP: US new antidumping tax on tra fish unreasonable

The US’s anti-dumping duties on Vietnamese frozen tra fish fillets will be reduced but still pose difficulties to Vietnamese exporters, according to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).

Under the preliminary findings on its 10 th administrative review for anti-dumping duties on tra fish fillets imported from Vietnam, the Department of Commerce has decided to impose anti-dumping duties from zero to 2.39 USD per kilo on Vietnamese tra fish fillets imported to the US between August 2012 and July 2013.

According to the DOC's preliminary decision, Vinh Hoan JSC – one of the leading local tra fish exporters to the US, who was under investigation and taken off the list of Vietnamese tra fish exporters, enjoyed a zero tax rate.

Meanwhile, duties on Hung Vuong Corporation, one of the large tra fish exporters to the US and 23 other companies were revised from 1.2 USD to 0.58 USD per kilo.

AnviFish was charged duty at the highest rate of 2.39 USD per kilo as it did not supply specific timely information to the DOC.

However, the VASEP said the duties were unreasonable, as the DOC continued using Indonesian – a country that does not has similar economy with Vietnam - as the surrogate country in calculating the anti-dumping rate.

The new duties will, however, not take effect until the final decision is made. Relevant parties will have 120 days to reply before a final decision is taken.

According to Vietnam's General Department of Customs, export value of tra fish to the US in the first five months, showed a year-on-year drop of 26 percent to 126.6 million USD.

During the first five months, Vietnam's total export value of tra fish saw a year-on-year decline of 3.8 percent.

Two key tra fish export markets of Vietnam, the US and the EU, which accounted for 39.3 percent of the total export value, saw a reduction in export values over the past few months, according to VASEP.

The association expected the exports of Vietnamese tra fish to the two markets to recover by the end of this year.

Other key export markets for Vietnamese tra fish, such as Brazil, Mexico, China and Hong Kong continued to grow, along with Colombia and Saudi Arabia.-

Source: VEF/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/Dantri/VIR