Vietnam finance news

Credit organisation law restricts credits, investments in securities and brokerages

2009-10-25T06:51:00.001-07:00

29/Apr/2009 Dau Tu Chung Khoan page 16

In order to ensure safety for operations of credit organisations, the draft law on credit organisations puts forward eight restrictions for credit supply.

Namely, credit organisations are not allowed to lend securities trading businesses where credit organisations hold a controlling stake, credit organisations are not allowed to grant credit mortgaged by shares of those credit organisations or their affiliates, credit organisations are not allowed to lend capital to be used for capital contribution into other credit organisations by receiving mortgages in shares of contributed credit organisations and commercial banks, branches of foreign banks are not allowed to offer loans for securities investment and trading.

Explaining the above restrictions, vice governor of the central bank Dang Thanh Binh said that credit organisations are not only lenders but also borrowers, hence, they should restrict lending activities for risky sectors such as securities, real estate, some derivative tools in order to ensure safety for credit organisations, the banking system and generally the whole economy, particularly depositors.

"Several years ago, banks had raced to offer loans to securities trading activities, saying that those loans had very high safety levels and this was a normal lending activity. All banks in the world provided loans to securities trading activities. However, the fact went against the expectations. If the central bank had no timely intervene, namely limiting securities lending amount at 3% of total outstanding loans, we would not know what would happen," said Binh. The world's economic crisis showed that many products that credit organisations have been providing are going out of the state control and are the reason for the global economic crisis, added Binh.

Although agreeing that banking activities, particularly credit segment, are sensitive, significantly impact socio-economic activities, many banks fail to support for the above regulations.

According to lawyer Truong Thanh Duc, manager in charge of the legal division of Bao Viet Joint Stock Bank, discriminating different kinds of shares for mortgages is illogical because in fact although the stock market falls into the worst period of the crisis, bank shares remain safest shares. In order to ensure equality, credit organisations should be banned from receiving mortgages for all kinds of shares, said Duc.

Duc also worried over the regulation that "credit organisations are not allowed to operate any business activities other than banking activities and business activities specified in licenses issued by the central bank."

With such a regulation, if a credit organisation buy government bonds, the central bank's inspector or the State Securities Commission can fine that credit organisation for administrative violations because investing into the government bonds can also be illegal," said Duc.

With the latest draft law on credit organisation, Lai Thi May, chief of the legal department of Maritime Bank, worried that many commercial banks may be given administrative fines without knowing which regulation in the law they violate. "The Law on Credit Organisations allows commercial banks to underwrite securities issuance, securities self-deal including trading shares, corporate bonds, securities brokering and others via subsidiaries, associates. But without specific regulations, credit organisations may be fined any time," said May. In fact, Maritime Bank had ever invested into corporate bonds and committed to sell them at certain time. However, when investigating, the central bank said that this was a long-term investment and required risk provisioning fund.

"We did not know where this regulation came from. When asking the central bank, it presented an official letter that was not a legal statute and in fact, no credit organisation received this official letter," said May.

According to the draft law on credit organisations, only after getting approval from the central bank, can commercial banks be allowed to trade, supply forex services, gold, forex rate derivative tools, currency, other financial assets, transferable valuable papers. According to many commercial banks, this statute will restrict self-esteem and self responsibilities.

The law on credit organisations is a stormy law, according to Duong Thu Huong, general secretary of Bank Association. "Being a stormy law is because this law was built at the time when the financial-monetary crisis in Asia happened in 1997 and when this law was revised in 2008 and 2009, the global economic crisis that comes from the crisis of the monetary-financial crisis exists. Because this law was built and revised amidst the crisis time, the law on credit organisations sets many tough regulations. This makes representatives of commercial banks, who took part in building the law on credit organisations and instruction documents worried that the central bank would have to build instruction documents later. "The current law on credit organisations have many too tough regulations, restricting self-esteem of credit organisations. Although being aware that those regulations do not conform to the realistic situation, when building instruction documents, we do not how to instruct
those regulations so that they can conform to the reality," said Huong.

Second quarter GDP could reach 3.5-3.8pct, investment ministry predicts

Thoi Bao Kinh Te Vietnam

Ministry of Planning and Investment's National Centre for Socio-Economic Information and Forecast predicted that the country's Q2 gross domestic product could reach 3.5-3.8%, up 0.4-0.7% against Q1.

The prediction was released in the April economic review and some macro-economic targets for Q2 and the whole year based on figure from the general Statistical Office.

Industrial production value of some goods items surged again in April. Especially, that of chemical fertiliser increased 10.6% month on month, cloth from synthetic fibre up 11.1%, glass growing 61.8%, liquefied gas soaring 33%.

During the first four months of 2009, the output of seafood reached 802,000 tonnes, a year-on-year rise of 8.8%, marking the highest level in many recent years. Meanwhile, total retail and service turnover was estimated at over 360 trillion dong, up 21.5% from 2008.

Le Dinh An, director of the information centre confirmed that the April export only brought in US$4.5 billion, down 15.3% from the previous month but the value of many export items grew sharply, particularly the export turnover of electronics increased by US$28 million, footwear up US$21 million, seafood up US$17 million, apparel jumping US$11 million. According to statistics, the consumption power of Vietnam's main importers including US, Europe and Japan remained sustainable.

Giving the analysis on the above performance, Le Dinh An forecasted that the whole year's GDP could gain 5%.

The most important motive leading to the Q2 GDP is thanks to the government's demand stimulating package. Different from the previous years, Vietnamese economy will be helped be brisker because total value of the interest rate subsidisation programme (Package 1) and the second package focusing on investments in irrigation and construction will reach up to US$8 billion.

State brewers put listing plans in limbo

Thoi Bao Kinh Te Vietnam | CafeF

In 2009, the stock market is expecting the forthcoming listing of a series of big companies like Vietnam Joint Stock Bank for Foreign Trade (Vietcombank), Bao Viet Group, Vietnam Industrial and Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Vietinbank), Saigon Beer Alcohol and Beverages Corp (Sabeco), and Hanoi's Habeco.

Now Vietcombank was licensed in principle to list on STC while Bao Viet had drawn up listing plan within this year. However, some technical barriers pushed both of brewers to face difficulties as listing at this time for the fear of low stock prices.
In April 2009, Vietnam Association for Financial Investors (Vafi) directly proposed the industry and trade minister Vu Huy Hoang to compel state-owned brewers Sabeco and Habeco to go public as soon as possible.

According to the association, the listing of both brewers will create more commodities for the stock market. On the other hand, promoting the listing of Habeco and Sabeco is the optimal measure to upgrade the efficiency of managing state capital in joint stock companies and ensure the transparent finance.

Yet, as explained by Ministry of Industry and Trade, Sabeco and Habeco now have to face a lot of real disadvantages and technical obstacles. Particularly, pursuant to Section d Article 8 of Decree No 14/2007/ND-CP of January 19, 2007, detailing the implementation of a number of articles of the Law on Securities (Decree No 14), when listing on the securities trading centres, at least 100 majority shareholders must hold at least 20% of voting stake of that company. Thus, to list on the stock market, both companies will have to build up the plan of continuously selling state capital because the state now holds up to 81.7% in Habeco and 89.5% in Sabeco.

As for Habeco alone, the strategic shareholder Carlsberg now accounts for 16% of its chartered capital. In this case, Carlsberg will be not allowed to sell their Habeco shares if Habeco goes public because the share keeping time is not enough under the current regulations.

Notably, the stock market in general and prices of both companies' shares saw a too sharp reduction in recent time, meaning that the listing at this time could cause damages for their shareholders.

Therefore, for both companies, defining the floor price to list is very difficult to avoid damages for the state asset and negative impacts for the company's shareholders and employees if starting price is lower the preferential price for staffs, the ministry detailed. While the average VN Index only is equal to 30% of the start of 2007, the ministry said that the listing of Sabeco and Habeco at this time would difficultly reach expected succeed and could not meet benefits of the state and shareholders.

Over one-year ago (January 28), Saigon brewer (Sabeco) auctioned 128,257,000 shares via Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (STC) with total bidding volume of 78,373,000 shares at average winning price of 70,003 dong per share, only equalling to 61% of the offering volume.

After that (March 27), Habeco also auctioned 34,770,000 shares on the Hanoi Securities Trading Centre (HASTC) with total bidding volume of 4,377,900 shares or 12.6% of the offering. The winning price averaged at 50,015 dong per share. Recently, Habeco's shares were traded at 25,000 dong each on the informal stock market.

In the next time, the Ministry will continue cooperating with leader boards of both corporations to prepare necessary conditions and keep fast track of the stock market movements to select a suitable listing time.

Banks profit bolstered by gold business

Tin Tuc | Vietnam+

Closing the first quarter, most banks posted the good performance, of which tradition lending and the buoyant gold business contributed to high profits.

At Vietcombank's AGM on April 28, the bank's general director Nguyen Phuoc Thanh reported that in Jan-March, his firm earned total 1.3 trillion dong in profit respectively.

Previously, two leading joint stock banks of ACB and Sacombank also reported Q1 profit of 450 billion dong and 350 billion dong in turn, ABBank 87.7 billion dong, Maritime Bank 230 billion dong, a four fold increase against Q1 of 2008 while Military Bank's profit surged 1.7 times to 408 billion dong and LienVietBank gained 235 billion dong in profit.

In Q1 profit structure of banks, the earnings from credit activities accounted for a high contribution. According to Nguyen Phuoc Thanh, general director of Vietcombank, the earnings from credit made up 70% of its profit structure and the remaining 30% came from US dollar business.

Meanwhile, Sacombank's credit activities contributed 65-70% to the profit structure of first three months. Also, Sacombank earned about 100 billion dong from gold business, equalling to 30% of the total 2008 profit in gold business. According to the general director Tran Xuan Huy, profit from foreign currency and gold is only temporary. We [Sacombank] will upgrade infrastructure to increase earnings from services by 30% by 2010 and develop consumer credit products, which are to be sustainable profits for Sacombank.

Although the credit growth was still affected strongly by the economic recession which led to the sharp fall in capital demand, the government's economic stimulating package cut down the real lending rate to 6% per annum. With the attractive rate, many enterprises took bank loans whereby the lenders pushed up the credit growth.

Factually, in the first two months from the government's demand stimulating programme was launched, Sacombank had disbursed 8.070 trillion dong of soft loans along with developing individual lending products as from being allowed to carry out negotiated interest rate mechanism. Until the end of March, the outstanding loans of Sacombank totalled at 39.338 trillion dong, up 17% against the last year end.

A representative from Military Bank said that his firm is concentrating on promoting the interest rate subsidisation programme with total 4.190 trillion dong being disbursed. In 2009, the bank expects to reach a growth rate of 30-35% as for all financial targets and maintain the bad debt ratio at below 2%.

Central bank leaves key rate unchanged

Thoi Bao Kinh Te Vietnam page 15

On April 29, State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) announced some key rates of the dong which are applied from May 1, 2009.

Accordingly, the Central Bank will continue keeping the current basic rate of the dong at 7% per annum. Thus, the re-financing interest rate as for credit institutions was retained at 7% pa, re-discount rate of 5% and the interbank's overdraft lending rate was fixed at 7.0% pa.

SCB pledges loans for agribusinesses

Nguoi Lao Dong

Saigon Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SCB) pledged to provide one trillion dong of loans to the companies that are rice grinders and processors in three districts of Cai Be, Cai Lay and Chau Thanh of the Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang according to the government's demand stimulating programme.

Under it, apart from supporting the lending rate of 4% pa, SCB will continue reducing 3-5% pa for the companies when they [borrowers] committed to transfer turnover to the accounts at SCB.

Also, the bank lends dong loans in line with US dollar interest rate of 0.5% pa, and set up a group of supplying information on the rice market.

Eximbank cuts US dollar lending rate for importers

Nguoi Lao Dong

Vietnam Import Export Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Eximbank) has reduced the short-term lending rate for import companies.

Accordingly, the enterprises demanding to borrow US dollar to pay goods import will enjoy a new interest rate of 5% pa instead of the previous 6% pa of Eximbank. The lending rate of 5% pa will be applied on loans with terms of shorter 12 months.

Also, to help businesses to avoid forex rate risks, Eximbank launched the product "lending US dollar to support importers according to a sustainable forex rate, meaning that the bank will fix the selling price of US dollar at the disbursement time.

SeABank awarded 'prominent international payment' by CitiBank

Lao Dong Online

Southeastern Asia Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SeABank) on April 29 was awarded the "the prominent international payment" prize from CitiBank.

The prize is granted to the banks reaching over 90% of standard ratios in international payment.

Last year the local bank's tunrover from international payment gained 6.664 trillion dong, a year-on-year growth of 64%.

Vietinbank, Generali to co-establish life insurance arm

Thoi Bao Kinh Te Vietnam page 15

Vietnam Industrial and Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Vietinbank) and Italy's Generali Group signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in setting up a life insurance arm.
Selecting the Italian largest finance and insurance group, Generali to be the partner will help Vietinbank diversify sources of earnings, minimise risks in operation and business, promote advantages and step by step carry out its development strategy for future.

Pham Huy Hung, chair of Vietinbank said that following assignments would be finished soon to sign an official joint venture contract and inaugurate Life Insurance Joint Venture Co with Generali.

Bao Viet says will make IPO this year

Nguoi Lao Dong

Bao Viet Insurance Group (Bao Viet) passed the plan of listing on Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (STC) within 2009.

After being equitised in 2007, Bao Viet had a chartered capital of six trillion dong. Last year the insurer posted a combined revenue of 11.808 trillion dong and after-tax profit of 529 billion dong, of which the revenue from insurance business accounted for 93%.

This year the figures are expected to be 9.717 trillion dong and 507 billion dong.

The current price of Bao Viet's shares on the informal stock market was 19,000 dong against the average winning price of 73,910 dong per share in the share auction held in June 2007.

Auto registration fee slashed to counter weak sales

Thanhniennews

The government Friday halved the automobile registration fee to 5-6 percent of the vehicle price in an effort to boost sales and help automakers cope with the economic slump.

The lower rate will be in effect until the end of this year.

For a vehicle with fewer than ten seats, registration will cost six percent of the price in Hanoi and five percent elsewhere.

Auto dealers in HCM City say they recorded more visits Friday but made few sales, possibly because it was still a holiday.

They pointed out that the cheaper registration in many cases would not offset the higher prices of many vehicles since March and early April.

The Toyota Innova G minivan went up by US$3,800 in April, so buyers will pay just $1,640 less for registration.

Similarly, to register a Chevrolet Captiva SUV, which rose by more than $5,150 last month, it will cost around $1,930.

According to the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers' Association (VAMA), first quarter sales plunged 36 percent from the same period last year to 21,839 units as the economic slowdown hit demand.

Half of these were sold in March as buyers rushed to beat a steep hike in the luxury tax from April 1, the association said.

The General Statistical Office says it recorded an increase in car sales, which more than tripled to 4,300 units in March from 1,300 in January and should reach 4,500 in April.

The government has halved the value-added tax on a number of goods including fiber, cloth, garments, leather and footwear, paper and paper products, cement, tiles, and 125cc motorcycles or bigger, effective from Friday. The previous VAT rates on these items ranged from five to ten percent.

The government also knocked 30 percent off the corporate tax for the fourth quarter of 2008 for certain textile, garment and footwear firms.

All listed shares surge, VN Index jumps to 336.64 pts May 4

AtpVietnam

After a long holiday from April 30 to May 3, the stock market today marked a surprising return when the VN Index saw the allowable increase amplitude with 100% of listed shares surged in prices.

Some goods news that investors could be allowed to open many securities accounts, time for negotiated transactions could be shortened and others will help increase the market's transparency.

Meanwhile, initial statistics on the domestic economy in April started to be more optimistic thanks to the government's big efforts in preventing the economic decline. And most recently, the government continued offering the demand stimulating demand of US$8 billion.

After the final matching order phase, VN Index increased 15.01 pts or 4.67% from April 29 to 336.64 pts with total trade of over 12.88 million shares for 281.65 billion dong, down 50% in volume and 54% in value against the previous session.

Up to 174 among 181 listed stock codes saw a ceiling increase in prices and no code decreased.

The share codes falling in the ex-interest date today included GTA, TTP, VNS, OPC and TMC.

VNM jumped 4,000 dong to 89,000 dong per share, STB +1,000 to 22,000, SSI +1,900 to 39,900, PVD +3,000 to 72,000, DPM +1,800 to 38,300, and HAG +2,500 to 60,500 dong/share.

Leading the southern market in terms of trading volume during this session was VST with 1.11 million shares changing hands, PRUBF1 with 890,000 fund units, STB with 540,000 shares and HT2 with 460,000 shares being transferred.

Business, banking and stock market report May 4

* In Jan-March, Metallic Production and Trading Joint Stock Co (STC coded KKC) reached over 88.2 billion dong in revenue and a loss of 13.3 billion dong in after-tax profit, Mirae Fiber Joint Stock Co (HASTC listed KMF) with 20.4 billion dong in revenue and over 1.6 billion dong in after-tax profit, Lilama 45.3 Joint Stock Co (HASTC listed L43) with 54.1 billion dong and over three billion dong, Lilama 69.1 JSC (HASTC listed L61) with 69.1 billion dong and 2.6 billion dong, Lilama 69.2 JSC (HASTC listed L62) with 47 billion dong and 2.5 billion dong, Long An Book and School Equipment JSC (HASTC listed LBE) with 4.9 billion dong and 43.8 million dong, Ha Tay Pharmaceutical JSC (HASTC coded DHT) with 136.3 billion dong and 3 billion dong, Hacinco JSC (HASTC coded HSC) with 2.2 billion and 497 million dong, Ha Tinh Book and School Equipment JSC (HASTC listed HBE) with 2.9 billion and 58.6 million dong.

* Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (STC) announced that the registration deadline for Ha Tien 1 Cement Joint Stock Co (coded HT1) to issue more shares and pay the 2008 dividend is May 7, 2009. The cement maker will issue 22,607,520 shares to the existing shareholders with a ratio 100:26 (26 new shares for 100 shares held) at 13,000 dong/share. Also, the company will pay a 2008 dividend at 5.5% on May 27, 2009.

* Saigon Telecommunication and Technology Corp (SaigonTel) (coded SGT) has approved the plan of raising its chartered capital to 772.75 billion dong in 2009.

* Ba Ria Thermoelectricity JSC (coded BTP) reported gaining a turnover of 343 billion dong and after tax profit of 25 billion dong in Q1 of 2009.

* Viet Tien Garment Co (VTEC) earned 343 billion dong in Q1 revenue, increasing 28% against 2008, and an after tax profit of 15.7 billion dong.

* Bank for Investment and development of Vietnam (Bidv) Dien Bien Branch signed a credit agreement on May 2 to finance project of Nam He hydroelectric plant. The construction site is located in Muong Tung Commune, Muong Cha District with the project's total investment capital of 300 billion dong.

* Kinh Do Corp (coded KDC) recently announced its financial report for Q1 of 2009 with the Q1 after tax profit of 21.5 billion dong, a y-o-y reduction of 59%.

* Management board of Dung Quat oil refinery and PetroVietnam Transportation Corp (PVTrans) signed a contract for crude oil transportation for the factory.

* Bao Viet Insurance Group (Bao Viet) passed the plan of listing on Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (STC) within 2009. After being equitised in 2007, Bao Viet had a chartered capital of six trillion dong. Last year the insurer posted combined revenue of 11.808 trillion dong and after-tax profit of 529 billion dong, of which the revenue from insurance business accounted for 93%.

* Vietnam Import Export Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Eximbank) has reduced the short-term lending rate for import companies. Accordingly, the enterprises demanding to borrow US dollar to pay goods import will enjoy a new interest rate of 5% pa instead of the previous 6% pa of Eximbank. The lending rate of 5% pa will be applied on loans with terms of shorter 12 months.

* Saigon Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SCB) pledged to provide one trillion dong of loans to the companies that are rice grinders and processors in three districts of Cai Be, Cai Lay and Chau Thanh of the Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang according to the government's demand stimulating programme.
* Vietnam Industrial and Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Vietinbank) and Italy's Generali Group signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in setting up a life insurance arm.

* Southeastern Asia Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SeABank) on April 29 was awarded the "the prominent international payment" prize from CitiBank.

Ha Tien 1 cement maker to offer over 22.6m shares

Thoi Bao Kinh Te Vietnam page 12

Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (STC) announced that the registration deadline for Ha Tien 1 Cement Joint Stock Co (coded HT1) to issue more shares and pay the 2008 dividend is May 7, 2009.

Accordingly, the cement maker will issue 22,607,520 shares to the existing shareholders with a ratio 100:26 (26 new shares for 100 shares held) at 13,000 dong/share. The time for shareholders to transfer the buying warrant is between May 21 and June 15, 2009. The time to register and bid for new shares is from May 21 to June 16, 2009.

Also, the company will pay a 2008 dividend at 5.5% on May 27, 2009.

HCM City Securities Depository Centre will suspend deposits for HT1 coded shares on May 6, 7 and 8, 2009.

Talisman Energy profit drops less than estimated

Thanhnien news

Talisman Energy Inc., the Canadian oil company that's spending US$1.1 billion to develop fields off the coast of Vietnam, said first-quarter profit fell less than analysts estimated on gains related to an asset sale.

Talisman boosted its semi-annual dividend 13%.

Net income declined 2.4% to C$455 million (US$377 million) from C$466 million, a year earlier, Calgary-based Talisman said Thursday in a statement. Per-share profit was unchanged at 45 cents. Excluding a gain of C$519 million from the sale of oil fields off the coast of Norway and other items, profit was C$303 million, or 30 cents a share. On that basis, the company was expected to earn 17 cents, the average of 11 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Holders of common stock as of June 5 will receive a payment of 11.25 cents on June 30. The company last increased its dividend to 10 cents in 2007.

Production gained 7% to the equivalent of 450,000 barrels of oil a day, Talisman said. Maintenance hampered North Sea output a year earlier. Two-thirds of the company's oil and natural-gas reserves are in North America and the North Sea.

"North Sea production was a little bit higher," said Chris Theal, an analyst at Tristone Capital Inc. in Calgary who rates Talisman a "top pick" and doesn't own the stock. "You're seeing costs come down, particularly in the North Sea and Scandinavia. Lower operating costs are very additive to the bottom line."

UK costs fall

Talisman said operating costs in the UK fell 27% due to production gains and improved efficiency.

"The first quarter exceeded our internal projections for production," Talisman Chief Executive Officer John Manzoni said in the statement. "As usual, production in the second and third quarters will be lower due to maintenance shutdowns."

Revenue after royalties fell 21% to C$1.58 billion from C$2 billion.

The company's outlook for production to average about 430,000 barrels a day remains valid, Manzoni said. Talisman is expanding exploration in Southeast Asia to help stem declines from existing fields.

PV Trans signs Dung Quat Oil refinery transport deal

01/May/2009 Lao Dong Online

The management board of Dung Quat oil refinery and PetroVietnam Transportation Corp (PVTrans) signed a contract for crude oil transportation for the factory.

The contract will last five years, which is broken into two phases. The first phase will be from the start of trial period to the date when the factory is handed over. The second phase will start from the date of check before acceptance onwards.

According to the contract, PVTrans would take responsibility for transporting the crude oil from Bach Ho oil field (Vung Tau) to Viet Thanh Bay, Binh Tri Commune, Binh Son District to supply Dung Quat factory in processing its products.

After two months of operation, Dung Quat oil refinery factory has produced over 7,000 tonnes of diesel made in Vietnam. The factory plans to introduce A92, 94, 95 products to the market in the near future.

RusVietpetro to start pumping oil in Russia

Vietnamnet

A joint venture between the Russian firm Zarubezhneft and PetroVietnam will start extracting oil in the Nenets autonomous region of northern Russia this month, the Vietnam News Agency reported.

RusVietpetro plans to drill 13 wells this year and next, the agency reported, citing the Voice of Russia.

It anticipates extracting 500,000 tonnes of oil by the end of 2010 and two million tonnes the following year.

RusVietpetro, formed in July 2008 with PetroVietnam holding a 51% stake, is aiming for a maximum output of 6.4 million tonnes of crude oil by 2020.

Elsewhere in the world, PetroVietnam has been short-listed to negotiate drilling contracts in 11 oilfields in Iraq, the news agency reported in April.

Nine consortiums formed by 38 companies are vying for the tender, which was put out on December 31, 2008.

Besides PetroVietnam, the short-listed candidates are Rosneft and Tatneft of Russia, KazMunaiGas of Kazakhstan, Sonangol of Angola, Pakistan Petroleum, Japan's Jogmec, Oil India, and Britain's Cairn Energy PLC.

PetroVietnam is also planning to explore for oil and gas in Bolivia as it seeks to expand its interests in Latin America, Bloomberg said in late March, citing the president of Bolivia's state energy company, YPF Bolivianos.

Vietnam unconcerned over Indian move of safe guard on HR

Steel Guru

The Vietnam Steel Association said it does not feel threatened by a dumping probe initiated by India because the country did not manufacture the products that have come under investigation.

Pham Chi Cuong chair of the Vietnam Steel Association said that his association is not worried because Vietnamese steel companies do not manufacture hot rolled coils, sheets or strip steel the products under investigation.

He added that some trading firms imported the products late last year, but when prices dropped, re-exported to foreign markets, including India. Cuong said that "These companies are not members of the association and only antidumping lawsuits against manufacturers need to be paid attention to."

He added that "It is also difficult to initiate a dumping investigation against the trading firms because they exported the steel to India for just a brief period."

India's directorate general of Safeguards will impose anti dumping measures on steel imports from Vietnam and 15 other markets if its investigation finds the domestic steel industry injured or threatened by the imports.

SGT plans to increase hike capital to 772.75b dong

01/May/2009 CafeF

Saigon Telecommunication& Technology Corp (SaigonTel) (coded SGT) has approved the proposal to raise its chartered capital to 772.75 billion dong in 2009 in its shareholders' meeting held recently.

At present, the company's chartered capital is 585 billion dong. According to its plan, each investor who owns 100 shares would get extra 15 new shares.

The company said its dividend would be 12% in shares and 3% in bonus shares. It's expected to issue the total amount of 8,774,998 shares within Q2 year 2009.

In the last two quarters of year 2009, SaigonTel would offer 10 million shares (with value of 100 billion dong) for its major investors.

The company expected to achieve 650 billion dong of revenue in 2009, with after tax profit of 68 billion dong and dividend of 10% in its 2009 business plan

BTP reaches 25.2b dong in Q1 profit

01/May/2009 CafeF

Ba Ria Thermoelectricity JSC (coded BTP) announced to achieve a turnover of 343 billion dong and after tax profit of 25 billion dong in Q1 year 2009.

BTB's output reached about 632,900 MWh, equivalent to 30.48% of its year plan. The company's net revenue from business was posted at 343.4 billion dong and that from financial activities was 510 million dong.

The company's pre-tax profit and after tax profit were 28 billion dong and 25.2 billion dong in turn.
Its 2008 total revenue achieved 1.503 trillion dong along with the pre-tax profit of 244.5 billion dong, in which the earnings from forex rate difference was 185.9 billion dong.

There are 10 turbines in BTP at the moment with a total designed capacity of 388.9 MW. The company's chartered capital now is about 605 billion dong, 79.5% of which is held by Electricity of Vietnam (EVN). Vietnam Infrastructure Strategic Ltd (belonging to VinaCapital) owns 5%.

VTEC reports 28pct revenue spike

01/May/2009 CafeF

Viet Tien Garment Co (VTEC) reported gaining 343 billion dong in Q1 revenue, increasing 28% against 2008, and an after tax profit of 15.7 billion dong,

The company plans to reach a turnover of 1.470 trillion dong and 52 billion dong in after-tax profit this year.

VTEC's 2008 revenue was posted at 1.397 trillion dong and a profit of 46.9 billion dong.

The company's export market structure gained after Q1 includes Japan (accounting for 33% of its export turnover), US 23%, EU 26.5% and the others 17.2%.

Confectionary-maker profit burn out by 60pct

01/May/2009 CafeF

Kinh Do Corp (coded KDC) recently announced its financial report for Q1 of 2009 with the Q1 after tax profit of 21.5 billion dong, a y-o-y reduction of 59%.

In which, the profit contributed by the parent company made up 14 billion dong.

The company's combined profit was posted at 63 billion dong, down 11% due to net sales revenue was up 1% to 159 billion dong while the business cost increased 6%.

Net sales profit was 20.2 billion dong, a decrease of 62% against 2008.

Total pre-tax profit reached 21.7 billion dong in Jan-March.

Earlier, North Kinh Do JSC had released its business report with the after tax profit of 7.8 billion dong, slumping 51% from the previous year.

300b dong approved for Nam He hydroelectric plant

Thoi Bao Kinh Te Vietnam page 1

Bank for Investment and development of Vietnam (Bidv) Dien Bien Branch signed a credit agreement on May2to finance project of Nam He hydroelectric plant. The construction site is located in Muong Tung Commune, Muong Cha District with the project's total investment capital of 300 billion dong.

The main contractor is Song Da-Dien Bien Energy JSC, under method of Building-Operating (BO).

The plant's designed capacity is 15MW. It will officially operate its first turbine in 2010 and the second in Q2 year 2012. Nam He hydroelectric plant when in operation will contribute over 60 million kWh per year to the national grid.

40,000dwt container ship berths at Cai Lan

03/May/2009 Lao Dong Online

Cai Lan International Port welcome MSC PEGY (Panama), the ever largest container carrier has docked at this port at midnight May 03

MSC PEGY has its tonnage of 40,462 tonnes, with total carrying capacity of 32,696 tonnes. The carrier is 207 metres long and 32.24 metres wide. It landed in Cai Lan Port, carrying 1.092 TEUS (one TEUS is equivalent to a 20-feet container) from Hong Kong. The goods will be transported to Singapore. This belongs to MSC Mediterranean Shipping Co (Switzerland), the world's second largest company of container shipping capacity.

In order to meet the demand for development, to take full advantage of Cai Lan deep-water port, Quang Ninh Province has granted the certificate of investment to Cai Lan International Container Port Co Ltd to carry out the project for building, operating and developing the wharfs No 2, 3, 4 in an area of 155,685 square metres, with the total investment capital of US$103 million.

When the project is finished, the port can received those container carriers with tonnage of up to 40,000 tonnes, with other supporting vehicles and logistic system. The goods output transported via the port is expected to reach 760,000 TEUS in 2017.

Savills VN officially becomes VVA member

Nguoi Lao Dong

Vietnam Valuers Association (VVA) has admitted Savills VN Co Ltd (Savills) as an official member.

Neil MacGregor, vice executive manager of Savills VN said this would help Savills develop its professional consultancy services in Vietnam, as well as maintain its position as the leading provider for real estate consultancy services in this challenging market. Together with its long-term development commitment in Vietnam, the company hopes that becoming VVA's member will improve the value assessment quality in Vietnam, to be equal to international market.

Vietnam plans to export 5.5m tonnes of rice in 2009

Thoi Bao Kinh Te Vietnam

Vietnam plans to export 5.5 million tonnes of rice in 2009, increasing 500,000 tonnes against last year, according to Vietnam Food Association (VFA)'s report. Within the first six months, Vietnam has signed contracts to deliver 3.7 million tonnes.

VFA stated that the exporting price delivered in July-August has increased sharply by US$30-60 per tonne, compared to that of the beginning of 2009. It's expected that rice export volume would reach about 3.4-3.5 million tonnes in June. The figures in April show that the nation has exported 700,000 tonnes, with fob of US$290 million, up by 59.4% against last year.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade and VFA has recently asked for the government's permit to allow the enterprises to continue sign new rice export contracts, after earlier agreement of 3.7 million tonnes of rice delivered in the first six months.

VFA held a meeting with its members on April 27 to reach an agreement on methods for increasing rice export efficiency. The delivery time for new contracts will start from June.

According to The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)'s predict, the world's rice demand this year would be about 32 million tonnes, increasing 2,000 tonnes against 2008.

Riverorchid Vietnam launches Vietnammobile!

Adoimagazine

After months of almost clandestine work, including logo design, brand architecture and even store and SIM card design, Riverorchid Vietnam has launched the new Vietnamobile GSM network with a series of impactful TV commercials.

Called "Movement", the 60-second launch commercial shows the birth of the new brand through a popular mass mobilisation. With tongue firmly in cheek, the VM logo is seen to spread through Vietnam in an almost infectious fashion. The end tag: "Vietnamobile, it's not just a network, it's a movement".

Produced in Vietnam by Ho Chi Minh-based production house Sud-Est working with Australian director James Teh, and with music from KL's 2am Studio, the work had a truly multinational team behind it. Creative was led by ex-TBWA ECD Chris Howden and Head of Art VJ Anand, who previously worked on the successful Telekom Malaysia rebranding. Upstream of that, however, Riverorchid also developed all of Vietnamobile's product branding, created from scratch by Thai designer and art director Chaisit Srital-on, better known as Ball.

"What I love about Ball's work is how he has managed to give each product a fresh, dynamic look with a touch of attitude and individuality," said Howden.

"It's great to have such a wonderful opportunity to launch a major new brand. It's also given us the chance to show the market a glimpse of what Riverorchid is capable of... and there's more to come," said Nguyen Thi Kim Thoa, Head of Business Development for Riverorchid.

In what is proving a busy couple of months for Riverorchid Vietnam, the launch comes at the same time as several major new hires, including most recently, award-winning creative from O&M Sydney, Adrian McNamara, as Executive Creative director, Vietnam. Prior to O&M, McNamara spent several years with M&C Saatchi and Clemengers BBDO. He recently won an Australian Writers & Art directors award and several ADMA (Australian Direct Marketing Association) awards.

Said Sunny Hermano, GM of Riverorchid Vietnam, "across the six countries in which we operate, this year alone Riverorchid has actually increased its staffing levels by about a dozen people, and we're still recruiting. Though hard times are sweeping though much of the industry we're finding that our boutique network model is allowing us to respond very precisely to specific customer needs; offering good, measurable value in tough times. And we're still seeing considerable growth - in Vietnam and beyond."

VDC sets up Virtual Private Network with HK

Thoi Bao Kinh Te Vietnam Online

Vietnam Data Communication Co (VDC) signed an agreement with CPCNet Hong Kong to provide Virtual Private Network (VPN) on April 27.

The two parties agreed to set up a node for providing VPN services in Vietnam with an initial international transmission channel of 4Mbps between HCM City-Hong Kong.

The advantages of VPN are simple connection, low cost. VPN users only need to register the nodes and demanded gate speed, then NGN network system will carry out connection among the nodes via virtual private channels.

It's expected setting up the node for supplying VPN in HCM City would finish at the end of June, and officially in operation in July this year, This would meet the customers' demand for this service in the whole Asia.

By cooperating with COC Net, VDC expects that its international VPN services can be introduced to customers in other nations and territories such as Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Taiwan and Japan

The two companies will work together to set up the second node in Hanoi in the near future.

2009-05-17T16:53:00.001-07:00

Vietnam brokers feel the pinch
23/Mar/2009 Dau Tu Chung Khoan page 22
Because of failing to meeting new requirements on capital, many securities companies have no ways but to cut some business operations. Amidst the current context, cutting underwriting that requires 150 billion dong in capital is normal but what is a pity to say a goodbye to other operations (except for brokering).
Currently, some securities companies that reduce some business operations are seeking ways to merge together. This may be an efficient way-out when internal strengths of many securities companies are weak and foreign partners seem to be indifferent to domestic securities companies, which is demonstrated by buying prices, post-M&A negotiations and others.
According to Nguyen Chi Thanh, chairman of the National Securities Co (NSI)’s managing board, at the first sight, securities companies of the same situation may consider M&A among them an uunrealistic idea. However, upon careful consideration, we can see that M&A is a way-out for securities companies that are facing up capital pressures, promising general strengths for themselves amidst the current context, particularly when foreign partners pay relatively poorly for securities companies because they thoroughly see all difficulties of domestic securities companies and thirst for capital of domestic securities companies.
For example, the Gia Anh Securities Co has not yet found any partner to sell 80% of its chartered capital and the company has not yet had any specific plan on raising its capital, said Gia Anh's general director Chu Hoang Anh.
Gia Anh that owns 22 billion dong in chartered capital is short of three billion dong for brokering. Without raising capital, the company has no way but to retain only consulting.
Pham Diem Hoa, general director of Wall Street Securities Co (WSS) said that merging is a way-out for securities companies amidst the current situation. Hoa added that in order to create active support values such as gold trading floors, OTC trading floors, corporate finance consulting, bond consulting and others, in short term, securities companies must overcome the capital barrier. Previously, WSS received some proposals on merger from small securities companies. However because the company saw that it had not needed to raise capital (WSS now has chartered capital of 160 billion dong), and the company gained big profit in 2008 while the market still had many untapped potential, WSS still has not yet accepted any offer for merger.
An official from a Hanoi-based securities company said that his company decided to retain the only operation, that is securities brokering, and concerned that if continuing to operate in such a manner, his company on some day will get flu. Therefore, maintaining only one securities operation is the temporary solution to meet the new requirement on chartered capital. In long-term, his company will surely have to seek to ways to cooperate or even merge with securities companies of the same situation in order to expand business operations.
According to a representative from a M&A consulting company, when selecting M&A partners, securities companies should consider such factors as market share, human resources, surplus value and so on. Securities companies that plan to merge with others should consider their operation status to see where they dominate or have not yet tapped in order to have proper M&A plans.
Hoa said that if considering M&A a good way in reducing costs, doubling investment opportunities for securities companies when clients are gathered to only one place, whether M&A is successful or not will depend willingness of two sides as well as the economy's health, the market's demand and supply. In addition to the incomplete legal framework, that M&A of securities companies has not yet been seen in Vietnam may cause troubles. Therefore, it is required to consult M&A of securities in other countries before M&A is conducted.
World trade growth to plummet 9% in 2009: WTO
24/Mar/2009 Intellasia | AFP
World trade volumes are expected to drop by an average of nine% in 2009, the sharpest fall since World War II, the World Trade Organisation said Monday.
But the WTO said in its latest forecast for global trade flows that data from key Asian traders like China last month suggested that the worst of the global trade decline may be over soon.
"The collapse in global demand brought on by the biggest economic downturn in decades will drive exports down by roughly nine% in volume terms in 2009, the biggest such contraction since the Second World War," the forecast said.
Trading volumes of the developed economies should contract 10% this year, while trade in developing economies should slip 2 to 3%.
Despite the dismal projections for the full year, the WTO pointed out that import data for China, Singapore, Taiwan and Vietnam turned positive in February following successive months of decline.
China posted an increase of 17% in imports compared to January, while Singapore posted growth of one%.
"While this is only a single month of data, and should therefore be interpreted cautiously, it could be evidence of slowing decline and perhaps a 'bottoming out' of negative trade growth trends," said the report.
In Vietnam, February imports were up 32% compared to January, which in turn was down 38% from December 2008.
February imports in Taiwan gained 22% over January, a sharp reversal from the 24% in January compared to December.
Year-on-year comparisons of trade data are usually deemed more accurate as they factor in seasonal effects such as festive holidays.
But in this instance, after consecutive months of sharp decline, analysts have been watching for the point of reversal.
In 2008, world trade growth reached 2%, but it "tapered off in the last six months," said the WTO.
The WTO added that it was "implausible" that trade volumes could continue to fall at the rate they been declining in the past few months.
Citing China as an example, the WTO noted that if the downturn were extrapolated according to recent export figures, then "China's exports would be approaching zero within ten months to a year".
Vietnam expands dong trading band to support exports
24/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Bloomberg
Vietnam widened the trading band for the dong to 5% either side of a daily fixing rate, seeking to support an economy growing at the slowest pace in almost a decade.
The currency’s allowed fluctuation from the reference rate will widen from 3% starting from tomorrow, according to a statement posted on the central bank’s Web site. The first widening of the band since November will allow “exchange rates that are closer to supply and demand,” the State Bank of Vietnam’s Governor Nguyen Van Giau said in the statement.
The government is trying to bolster exports after the economy expanded 6.2% last year, the slowest pace since 1999. The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund last week forecast Vietnam’s 2009 growth will be 5.5% and 4.8%, respectively.
“This is the right decision by the government since it will enable the exchange rate between dong and dollar in the interbank market to be closer to the rates in the so-called free market,” said Phan Thi Chinh, deputy general director of Bank for Investment & Development of Vietnam, the country’s second-biggest bank.
The dong was little changed at 17,486.5 per dollar as of 6:05 p.m. in Hanoi, compared with 17,488.50 when the market closed on March 20, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The currency touched its record low of 17,492 on December 29.
‘Quite Stable’
The currency’s exchange rate at money changers in Hanoi was 17,650 to 17,680 today, versus 17,640 to 17,670 the previous day, according to a telephone directory information service, known as 1080, run by state-owned Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications.
“I don’t think from now on we will see further significant pressure to depreciate more,” said Fiachra MacCana, head of research at HCM City Securities Corp “Because it is likely interest rates are close to bottoming out, our feeling is that depreciation pressure on the currency is less and less. The currency is going to be quite stable from now on.”
Vietnam in February posted its first year-to-date trade surplus since 2006. The surplus for the first two months of the year totaled US$290 million, compared with a deficit of US$5.13 billion in the same period a year earlier, according to the general Statistical Office. Exports fell 5.1% to US$8.02 billion, while imports plunged 43.1% to US$7.73 billion, according to the preliminary figures.
The central bank on December 25 devalued the dong 3% by fixing its reference rate at 16,989 dong per dollar, versus 16,494 the previous day. The monetary regulator on November 6 expanded the trading band to 3% from 2%.
“Along with the trading band expansion, the central bank will strictly punish any currency trading that exceeds the limit,” the statement said. The monetary regulator will also take measures to prevent hoarding of U.S dollars and “to ensure a healthy flow of foreign currencies in the economy,” it said.
Commercial banks not allowed to withhold dollar sales: SBV
24/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Thanhnienenws
The central bank will take measures to deal with commercial banks that try to hold back their dollars to avoid selling within the allowed trading band, Governor Nguyen Van Giau said Sunday.
In a meeting with the Young Businesses Association, Giau said the central bank has ordered commercial banks to ensure that their forex trading abides by the regulations.
The State Bank of Vietnam has caught one bank trying to sell the dollar at rates outside the trading band and [punitive] measures against this bank would be taken, the governor said, without naming the bank.
The central bank had warned last Wednesday that commercial banks are not allowed to use derivatives to trade dollars at rates outside the official trading band, and offenders would be punished.
The central bank had already banned last June the use of third currencies to circumvent a trading band running 3% on either side of a midpoint it sets each day. But bankers say that in practice, some traders have been using a range of methods, including currency options and third currencies, to trade dollars and dong outside the band at rates many see as more market-oriented.
One day after the central bank decision, bankers said dollar trading by commercial banks could grind to a halt. As most banks have bought foreign currencies at rates outside the trading band, they do not want to sell the currencies at official rates now, bankers said.
“A dollar scare seems to come back just like a year ago, pushing the forex rates upwards,” Nguyen Thanh Nhon, deputy chair of the Young Businesses Association, said at the meeting.
Nhon said association members now have to buy the greenback at higher rates on the black market to pay for their goods.
The unofficial rate Sunday reached 17,800 dong for a dollar while the rate listed by Vietcombank was 17,490 dong.
Tran Hoang Ngan, an economist at the HCM City University of Economics, said the recent hike in the dong/dollar rate is because of speculation that the government will allow the dong to fall against the dollar.
Ngan, also a member of the National Advisory Council on Monetary and Financial Policies, said this expectation has pushed the unofficial dong/dollar rate higher than the trading rate at commercial banks a year ago by 20%.
The dong last week remained little changed from the end of 2008.
Out of reach
The Young Businesses Association said at the meeting Sunday that its members have found it difficult to obtain loans at interest rates lower than 10.5%, the maximum rate that commercial banks are allowed to charge.
The government had decided in January to use 1 7 trillion dong (US$970 million) from an economic stimulus package to provide a 4-% interest subsidy on loans to companies that export, import or produce essential goods.
Most commercial banks are lending at 10% per annum and if businesses are eligible for the government subsidy programme, they only have to pay 6% interest on their loans, Giau said in a central bank statement on March 16.
Song Long Food Company, a member of the association, said a commercial bank agreed to lend it at the subsidised rate. The company, however, failed to have the loan guaranteed by Vietnam Development Bank, or VDB, due to differences in assessment and criteria between the two banks. VDB has been tasked to guarantee unsecured loans made by firms eligible for the government loan subsidy.
As of last Friday, commercial banks had lent a combined 151.9 trillion dong (US$8.67 billion) to businesses at subsidised rates, a 5.26% increase over a week earlier, according to the State Bank of Vietnam.
Vietnam sees Q1 trade surplus of US$1.65b
24/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Reuters
Vietnam expects a trade surplus of nearly US$1.65 billion in the first three months of 2009 due to a sharp decline in imports, a state-run online newspaper quoted the Ministry of Industry and Trade as saying.
Exports in the first quarter were estimated to have edged up only 2.4% compared with the same period last year to US$13.48 billion while imports were estimated to have plunged 45% to US$11.83 billion, the VietnamNet (www.vnn.vn) quoted a ministry report as saying on Monday.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade report said exports in March alone were estimated to fall 2.8% from a year ago to US$4.7 billion while imports would drop more than 47% to US$4.3 billion, leaving a monthly surplus of US$400 million.
The report also said the reason exports rose in the January-March period was because of a record export of gold and precious stones of US$2.29 billion, offsetting sharp declines in the exports of other traditional items such as garments, textiles and crude oil.
Last month, the central bank relaxed a ban on gold exports to allow some traders to re-export the precious metal to take advantage of high prices.
The Vietnam Gold Business Association has said gold exports in February alone totalled about US$800 million.
Late last week, planning minister Vo Hong Phuc said the economy was estimated to grow at 3.1% in the first quarter, versus 7.4% in the same period last year.
Hanoi still projects annual growth of 6.5% this year after a slowdown to 6.2% in 2008 from 8.5% in 2007. Many economists expect slower growth.
Banks to be allowed use of dollar bonds as collateral
24/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Bloomberg
Commercial banks will be allowed to use government-issued dollar-denominated bonds as collateral when borrowing from the central bank.
The State Bank of Vietnam decided to allow lenders to use the debt as a “mortgage asset,” according to a statement posted on the website of the Hanoi Securities Trading Centre Friday, where the bond auctions are held.
The State Treasury raised US$100 million by selling one-year dollar bonds Friday, in the first of three domestic sales this month.
The bonds were sold to yield 3%, according to an e-mailed statement sent by the Trading Centre.
“This adds to the reasons why banks might wish to buy these bonds,” said Dominic Scriven, director of fund manager Dragon Capital in HCM City. The central bank has always accepted government bonds denominated in the local currency, he said. With the dollar bonds, banks “can hold on to them as an asset, or they can lend them to the central bank if they need liquidity.”
The Treasury plans to sell US$100 million worth two-year notes on March 24, and a similar quantity of three-year debt on March 27.
A “temporary” dong shortage in the money market may encourage commercial banks to borrow from the State Bank of Vietnam, said Le Ba Hoang Quang, the Hanoi-based head of research at Sacombank Securities Inc.
Agribank sees '09 loan growth up 15-17%
24/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Reuters
Vietnam's state-run Agribank has forecast loan growth of 15-17% in 2009, up from 14% a year ago, as lending accelerates under a government interest rate subsidy programme, the central bank said on Monday.
Agribank's forecast is lower than the overall 21-23% credit growth projected last week by State Bank of Vietnam Governor Nguyen Van Giau for the country's banking industry in 2009.
Lending has increased in Vietnam since the government introduced a rate subsidy programme in January to stimulate the economy in the midst of a global downturn.
The projections for Agribank, which provides about 70% of its credit in rural areas of the country of 86.2 million people, were included in a central bank report on Monday.
Agribank expected deposits to increase by 18-20% this year, and it aimed to cut bad loans to 2% of total loans from 2.7% a year ago.
The bank's total assets have risen nearly 3% to 398 trillion dong since the end of 2008.
Pharmaceutical companies still report good results despite economic crisis
23/Mar/2009 Dau Tu Chung Khoan page 21
The economic crisis has placed many businesses into difficulties, even resulted in temporary closures of some businesses and put under control. However, six pharmaceutical companies list at the HCM City Stock Exchange (Hose) still reported optimistic results in the fourth quarter of 2008 and most of them fulfilled or over-fulfilled their 2008 plans.
DHG still took the lead in revenue and profit when its revenue rose by 21.1% to 1.537 trillion dong. However, DHG’s net profit increased by only 5.9% to 135.9 billion dong in 2008. IMP reported its net profit up 14.2%, reaching 62.2 billion dong while IMP’s post an increase of 24.4% in revenue, totaling 561.8 billion dong.
Meanwhile, DMC booked a profit but by only 4.7%, amounting 67.2 billion dong and revenue up by 15.6% to 937.8 billion dong. Among three newly-listed pharmaceutical companies (DCL, OPC, TRA), DCL posted the highest profit growth, 25.5%, totaling 51.2 billion dong and its revenue rose by 33% to 474.9 billion dong. Following was TRA that registered an increase of 20.3% in profit, reaching 46 billion dong and a rise of 46.3% in revenue, totaling 780.2 billion dong. As for OPC, its net profit reduced by 8.6% to 31 billion dong although its revenue still rose by 21.8% against 2007.
Nevertheless, net profit growth of most companies in 2008, particularly newly-listed companies slowed down significantly. For example, the net profit reduced to 25.5% from 289% for DCL, 20.3% from 139.6% for TRA, 5.9% from 47.4% for DHG; to 4.7% from 32.1% for DMC; 14.2% from 29% for IMP; particularly minus 8.6% from 25.2% for OPC.
The gross profit on revenue ratio of pharmaceutical companies was improved more or less. Only the gross profit on revenue of TRA reduced by 6.6% and OPC decreased by 5.6%. The net profit on revenue rate of companies declined by 0.6% for DCL; 0.7% for DMC; 1% for IMP; 1.3% for DHG and TRA; and 4.7% for OPC. That was attributed to adverse impacts from inflation. As for DHG and DMC, they had to pay corporate income tax from 2008.
While many companies are facing up difficulties in capital, pharmaceutical companies except for DCL still reported good positions in net cash with the net debt on ownership’s equity ratio was quite high, 63.4% in 2008 from 14.1% in 2007. However, what should be notable was that DMC’s net cash was reducing within the last one year when the net debt on ownership’s equity ratio was minus 1.04% by the end of 2008 from minus 21.7% at the end of 2007
With the closing price on March 19, the average P/E of those pharmaceutical companies is 12.3 times, lower than the average P/E of 12.9 times of the pharmaceutical sector.
According to the Kim Eng Vietnam Securities Co, the growth of those pharmaceutical companies will slow down. However, Kim Eng believed that pharmaceutical shares should be considered for long-term investments.
ADB to loan Vietnam US$95m to improve food safety
24/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Vietnamnet
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) announced March 23 a US$95 million loan that will be used to improve the safety, quality and quantity of Vietnam’s commercial food crops, and provide alternative and clean energy supply to households through biogas development.
“The increasing integration of Vietnam’s agricultural production, processing and marketing with international markets makes it critical that improvements are made in product quality and food safety if Vietnam is to maintain and increase its international market share,” Mahfuzuddin Ahmed, senior agricultural economist with ADB’s Southeast Asia Department, said in Monday’s announcement.
According to the bank, the project will seek to improve food regulations and quality control systems to meet both domestic and export standards. New infrastructure and facilities to support safe food products will be established, and biogas plants will be built to reduce health hazards from livestock waste.
Financial support, including a credit line, will be made available to 40,000 households for the development of biogas digesters, which both reduce pollution and provide an alternative energy source, the lender said. ADB added that projects eligible for carbon credits will be developed in conjunction with the biogas units, helping to generate revenue for the government.
Also according to the bank, the project is expected to directly benefit around 6.5 million farmers in 16 provinces and generate about 1.4 million jobs in post-production work. As a result, poverty incidence in the project areas is expected to fall from 19% to 10% over the period of 2016 to 2020.
The lender said the total project cost of US$110.4 million includes US$6.22 million from the central government, US$6.5 million from the people’s committees in the 16 provinces, US$1.35 million from partner financial institutions and another US$1.35 million equivalent from the beneficiaries of the biogas plants.
The ADB loan has a 32-year maturity with a grace period of 8 years carrying an interest rate of 1% per annum, which rises to 1.5% for the balance of the term. The executing agency is the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the estimated completion time is June 2015.
ADB is also providing a technical assistance grant of US$1.5 million to provide startup support for the project management and to design a strategy to expand the national biogas programme. The central government is contributing US$300,000 to the technical assistance.
Vegetexco 1 ’08 profit dips 8%
24/Mar/2009 Intellasia| Dau Tu Chung Khoan page 20
Vegetexco 1 Hanoi Import and Export Vegetables Joint Stock Co released the 2008 fiscal report with revenue from sales and services of 101.430 billion dong falling 20.17% against 2007.
The company gained 5.083 billion dong in pre-tax profit down 8.19% and after-tax profit of 4.048 billion dong falling 6.92%.against 2007
Olympus increases gold resources in Vietnam to 1.61m ounces
24/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Marketwire
Olympus Pacific Minerals Inc. (the "Company" or "Olympus") is pleased to report significant increases to the mineral resource at the Bong Mieu East Gold-Tungsten deposit as outlined in a Technical Report prepared by Terra Mining Consultants and Stevens & Associates ("TMC/SA"). The full text of the report is will be available on the Sedar website: (www.sedar.com) within 45 days of this Press Release.
TMC/SA reviewed exploration results and resource calculations undertaken by Olympus staff and verified the results as accurately calculated and presented.
The Bong Mieu property is located in the southeast corner of Quang Nam Province of central Vietnam, some 70 kilometres south of the port city of Da Nang and 20 kilometres southwest of the provincial capital Tam Ky. The property hosts four known gold deposits, -Ho Gan, Ho Ray, Thac Trang and Nui Kem.
Bong Mieu East
The TMC/SA report will focus on the Bong Mieu East and will undertake the auditing function for the Mineral Resource estimates prepared by Olympus staff, validating the block model tonnages and grades. TMC/SA classified the Resources using the CIMM standards as required by NI 43-101.
Measured and Indicated Resource categories at Bong Mieu East are increased to 145,270 ounces (Measured Resources total 55,700 ounces and Indicated Resources total 89,580 ounces). Inferred Resources total 208,450 ounces.
Using values of US$210/MTU for Tungsten and US$880/oz for gold, at Bong Mieu East, the value of the Tungsten and Fluorine credits contained within the deposit, give a contained gold equivalent in Measured and Indicated Resources of 170,110 ounces (Measured 32,340 ounces Indicated 52,380 ounces). The Inferred Resource is 85,390 ounces.
To view a map of the Bong Mieu property map, please visit the following link:
http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/Bong%20Mieu.pdf
The TMC/SA report reviews and compares historical resource estimates, estimation methodology and comparative estimates while detailing the methodology used to make the Resource Estimate summarise in the Table below:
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Category Tonnes (t) Au W Au
(g/t) (ppm) Equivalent
Ounces
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Measured 876,100 1.98 1,227 88,040
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Indicated 1,765,600 1.58 986 141,950
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Measured+Indicated 2,641,700 1.71 1,066 229,990
-------------------------------------------------------------------
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Inferred 4,663,000 1.39 609 293,840
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Data Analysis and Resource Calculation Methodology
The statistical analyses and block model calculation methodology used by Olympus and detailed in the TMC/SA report are listed in that report.
-A 10 g/t Au top cut and 0.5g/t lower cutoff were employed throughout.
-Densities for calculating tonnage were 1.97 g/cm3 for the oxidised ore and 2.81 g/cm3 for fresh ore.
-Block models were created in Gemcom. The mineralised zone wire frames were filled with 2m x 2m x 2.0m model cells
-The Mineral Assay, and Service Co Ltd (MAS Laboratory) located in Bangkok, Thailand, performed assays using the Fire Assay method on 50 grams of prepared sample. The Thailand Departments of Industrial Works and Ministry of Industry certify the MAS laboratory.
Olympus Pacific Minerals Inc., as first mover in Vietnam, is positioned to become a leading gold producer and explorer in Southeast Asia. Olympus is committed to its vision of producing gold from its reserves, making major discoveries in the region and increasing shareholder wealth.
OLYMPUS PACIFIC MINERALS INC.
David A. Seton, Chair and Chief Executive Officer
Unless otherwise, noted, the technical information in this release has been prepared by and reviewed by TRP (Rod) Jones, vice-President Exploration for Olympus Pacific Minerals Inc, who is a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101.
Statements in this release that is not historical facts are forward-looking statements which involve risk and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. The Co relies upon litigation protection for forward-looking statements.
For more information, please contact
Olympus Pacific Minerals Inc.
David Seton
Chair and Chief Executive Officer
(416) 572-2525 or Toll Free: 1-888-902-5522
(416) 572-4502 (FAX)
or
Olympus Pacific Minerals Inc.
Jim Hamilton
VP Investor Relations
(416) 572-2525 or Toll Free: 1-888-902-5522
(416) 572-4502 (FAX)
www.olympuspacific.com
Serica Energy announces Vietnam farm-out and operational update
24/Mar/2009 Intellasia | CNW
Serica Energy plc ("Serica" or "the Company") announces that it has agreed the terms of a farm-out of part of its interest in Block 06/94 offshore Vietnam and provides an operational update of its activities in Indonesia, where production is expected in the second quarter, and in Ireland where drilling is expected to commence in May.
Vietnam Farm-Out
Serica has reached agreement with Australian Worldwide Exploration Limited ("AWE") on the terms of a farm-out of part of Serica's interest in the Block 06/94 Production Sharing Contract offshore Vietnam ("the PSC"). The agreement is subject to the waiver of a pre-emptive right held by PetroVietnam, the Vietnamese State oil and gas company, and to the approval of the government of Vietnam.
Under the agreement, AWE will bear Serica's 33.33% share of the costs of the three well drilling programme in the PSC, subject to a financial cap, in order to earn an interest of 23.33% in the PSC, with Serica retaining a 10% interest.
The Ocean general drilling rig is expected to arrive on location in Block 06/94 for the Tuong Vi exploration well in June 2009. The second and third exploration wells on the block are not expected to be drilled until 2010.
Operational Update
Indonesia: In the Kambuna field development (Serica 50%), the 58 kilometre offshore and onshore pipeline has been laid and tested. The offshore platform topsides were successfully installed this month and offshore hook-up and commissioning are in progress. Work continues with the construction of the onshore gas reception facility and first gas is scheduled for June 2009. In the Kutai PSC (Serica 54.6%), offshore and onshore East Kalimantan, the 280 kilometre onshore 2D seizmic survey is being recorded.
Ireland: Serica expects shortly to secure a drilling rig to drill the Bandon exploration prospect off the west coast of Ireland in Licence PEL 01/06 with drilling planned to commence in May. This gas prospect has a potential resource range of 230 billion cubic feet to 1.7 trillion cubic feet. Serica's costs on this well will be largely carried by RWE-DEA, which is farming in to earn a 50% interest in the Licence, with Serica remaining operator and retaining 50%.
Paul Ellis, Serica's Chief Executive Officer, said:
"Serica continues to make strong progress on a number of fronts with development of the Kambuna field in Indonesia now well on course for first gas production in the second quarter of this year. The successful farm-outs in both Ireland and Vietnam enable the Co to retain material upside to the near-term drilling programme in these two highly prospective blocks whilst substantially reducing the costs".
Further information regarding Serica's interests can be found on Serica's web-site at www.serica-energy.com
The technical information contained in the announcement has been reviewed and approved by Peter Sadler, Chief Operating Officer of Serica Energy plc. Peter Sadler is a qualified Petroleum Engineer (MSc Imperial College, London, 1982) and has been a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers since 1981.
The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
To receive Co news releases via email, please contact catarina(at)chfir.com and specify "Serica press releases" in the subject line.
For further information
Serica Energy plc: Paul Ellis, Chief Executive Officer, paul.ellis@serica-energy.com, +44 (0)20 7487 7300
Chris Hearne, Finance director, chris.hearne@serica-energy.com, +44 (0)20 7487 7300
JPMorgan Cazenove: Steve Baldwin, steve.baldwin@jpmorgancazenove.com, +44 (0)20 7588 2828
Tristone Capital Limited: Majid Shafiq, mshafiq@tristonecapital.com, +44 (0)20 7355 5872
Pelham Public Relations -UK: Philip Dennis, philip.dennis@pelhampr.com, +44 (0)20 7337 1516
Andy Cornelius: andy.cornelius@pelhampr.com, +44 (0)20 7337 1514
CHF -Canada: Cathy Hume, cathy@chfir.com, (416) 868-1079 x231
Catarina Cerqueira, catarina@chfir.com, (416) 868-1079 x251
Dot VN, Inc. signs exclusive cooperation agreement with VNNIC to develop a 'Parking page -Pay Per Click' programme for Vietnam
24/Mar/2009 Intellasia | PRNewswire
Dot VN, Inc., a Delaware corporation ("Dot VN" or the "Company") (www.dotVN.com), (OTC Bulletin Board: DTVI -News), an internet and Telecommunications Co and the exclusive online global domain name registrar for the Country of Vietnam, announced today that on March 16, 2009, the Company, through its wholly owned subsidiary, Hi-Tek Multimedia, Inc., a California corporation, executed an agreement in principle with the Vietnam internet Network Information Centre ("VNNIC") to serve as its exclusive partner to develop a parking page programme for the Vietnamese ccTLD ".vn" (the "Parking page Agreement").
Pursuant to the Parking page Agreement, Dot VN is the exclusive registrar charged with developing a programme whereby typing any unregistered.VN domain names, as well as certain expired domain names in the web browser's address bar will be directed to a unique parking web page which (i) provides the current unregistered status of the domain name, (ii) recommendations on registration of the domain name, (iii) allows the visitor to register the domain name instantly via the Company's online payment gateway, and (iv) will also feature sponsors advertising links on parking pages, often provided by notable companies such as eNom, Microsoft adCentre, Yahoo! Search Marketing and Google AdSense, to other websites that have the content relevant to the available domain name as opposed to the usual dead link notice. Dot VN plans to tailor the links based on the predicted interests of the visitor and may change the links dynamically depending on the results the visitors click on. Dot V
N expects that revenue will be generated based on how many sponsor links have been visited (e.g. pay per click). Further, the Co anticipates that the number of domain registrations through it website www.vn will increase based on the direct links from the parking page to Dot VN's registration portal.
"Dot VN continues to successfully work closely with VNNIC to grow its domain registration revenue. The Co will be able to generate significant revenue as the exclusive registrar providing "Parking page -Pay Per Click" programme for.VN ccTLD. We are extremely excited to be involved as a provider in this growing multi billion dollar internet Advertising market." said Thomas M. Johnson, Dot VN's Chair and Chief Executive Officer.
For more information about Pay-Per-Click, please click on the link below:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pay_per_click
About the Companies:
Dot VN, Inc. (www.DotVN.com) provides internet and Telecommunication services for Vietnam. Vietnam internet Network Information Centre ("VNNIC") awarded the Co an "exclusive long-term contract" to be the first registrar to market and register its country code Top Level Domain ("ccTLD") of.VN (Vietnam) and Parking page Marketing via the internet. Dot VN has established agreements with international ISP's (internet service providers) along with over 73 top domain resellers in 30 countries to commercialise.VN. Also, the Co is currently developing initiatives to offer internet Data Centre services and Wireless applications.
Vietnam internet Network Information Centre ("VNNIC"), (www.vnnic.net.vn) is an agency of the Ministry of Information and Communication ("MIC") of Vietnam. VNNIC was founded on 28th April 2000, and carries out the functions of managing, allocating, supervising and promoting the use of internet domain names, addresses, autonomous system numbers in Vietnam, providing internet-related guidance, statistics on internet usage, and representing Vietnam at internet related events.
For more information, contact:
Thomas M. Johnson, Chair & CEO
Dot VN, Inc.
Phone: 858-571-2007 X14
Email: Inquiries@DotVN.com
Website: www.DotVN.com
Register your.VN domains at: www.VN
IBM awarded multi million-dollar contract by Vietnam based Gtel Mobile
24/Mar/2009 Intellasia | RTTNews
Monday, International Business Machines Corp (IBM: News ) said it has been awarded a multi million-dollar contract by Gtel Mobile to build a high performance IT infrastructure, mobile service network and a range of business solutions to support Gtel Mobile's commercial launch this year.
Pursuant to the agreement, IBM will facilitate the implementation of the global system for mobile communications network for Gtel Mobile to manage the 24/7 operation of the company. Additionally, IBM will provide the technology and associated services to build the business solutions for billing, customer care and value added services.
Tourism-services tax hikes need to be delayed: business leader
24/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Thanhniennews
The government should put off a proposed hike in tax on tourism-related services to safeguard the tourism industry which has already been buffeted by the global economic downturn, a top business executive said.
Under the amended Special Consumption Tax Law, set to take effect April 1, tax on golf services will double to 20% and those on casino and electronic gaming services will go up from 25% to 30%.
Baron R. Ah Moo, head of the Vietnam Business Forum’s Tourism Working Group and CEO of Indochina Hotels and Resorts, said encouraging tourists to spend money and easing their financial burden by deferring the tax to a “more appropriate” time should be a priority in the current context.
As the visa process and infrastructure are already handicaps for the Vietnamese tourism sector, the tax increase would badly hurt its competitiveness compared to other countries, Ah Moo added.
In the first two months this year, the number of international arrivals fell 10% year-on-year to 688,700, according to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism.
With the low season approaching, the number of foreign visitors is likely to continue to drop, the tourism industry fears.
The Vietnam Business Forum is a regular forum between the government and businesses and is chaired by a deputy prime minister, the World Bank Country director, the IFC Country manager, and the minister of Planning and Investment.
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2009-05-17T16:45:00.001-07:00

SBV rejects debt swap

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Dau Tu Chung Khoan page 30
State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) reported that the subsidised outstanding loans till March 20 reached 151.093 trillion dong. Last week the outstanding loans of the government's interest rate support programme increased by 7.591 trillion dong or 5.26% from the previous week.
Before the rumours that the majority of subsidised loans were used for debt swap while the money using efficiency in production and business remained low. Many people said that the government should publicise the subsidised lending programme to prevent the law dodge of soft loan borrowers.
Last weekend SBV governor Nguyen Van Giau confirmed that commercial banks' deposits recently increased so there is nothing out of place between demand deposit rates and 12-month deposit rate of 8% pa. The transparency of banks is very good and the Central Bank has not planned to adjust basic rates, Giau said.
Reportedly, total outstanding loan of state commercial banks and Central People's Credit Fund was recorded at 115.659 trillion dong while that of joint stock banks was 31.731 trillion dong, of joint venture banks, foreign bank branches and 100% foreign owned banks was 4.513 trillion dong.
Regarding the some worries that the capital of demand stimulus policy is coming back to banks for debt swap, the governor told Dau Tu Chung Khoan that comparing the growth of total disbursed loans with growth of outstanding loans in February (with a gap of 0.8%) is very unsuitable. Subsidised capital contributed to create 620 trillion dong short-term loans, partially helping enterprises cut down the product prices. This year's outstanding loans of short, medium and long-term loans will be about 250 trillion dong, a year-on-year growth of 21-23%.
Giau explained, according to Circular No 02/2009/TT-NHNN, debt swap is the method of lending enterprises to pay that bank's debts or pay another bank's debts. To date, SBV has not received such a case from SBV Inspector and directors of local SBV branches. Many enterprises paid debts prematurely, liberalised the stockpiled goods and then re-borrowed bank loans for their new production and business plans, which is not debt swap.
In the process of carrying out the government's demand stimulus package, there will be many arising negatives so SBV confirmed it would supervise the subsidised lending closely through responsibility of CEO of banks.
SBV rejected the proposal of allowing enterprises to conduct debt swap because the move is very risky and there will be many weak businesses existing in the economy.
A representative from National Finance Supervision Committee and Finance Policy Advisory Council proposed the government to lengthen the stimulus package and allow enterprises to take medium and long-term loans to renovate technology and invest in equipments. Answering it, SBV governor spoke that the goal of stimulus package is to lend enterprises to lower the product price and maintain business production, but not focus on new investments or new jobs.

Sparks fly in Vinacomin-EVN pricing spat

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia | 20/Mar/2009 Sai Gon Tiep Thi
Following PVN, Vietnam Coal and Mineral Corp (Vinacomin) is complaining about selling electricity to the Electricity of Vietnam Corp (EVN).
Vinacomin has submitted an official letter asking the Ministry of Trade and Industry to settle disagreement on electricity selling price between Vinacomin and EVN in order to speed up the negotiation of the two sides.
According to Vinacomin, the Son Dong Thermo-electricity Plant in Quang Ninh province has been connected into the national electricity network since last December and is being adjusted to generate commercial electricity. After over one-year of negotiation, the electricity trading contract between Vinacomin and EVN has basically completed however what is most important is that the two sides have not yet reached an agreement on the electricity selling price. Namely, Vinacomin offers the electricity selling price in 2009 at 710 dong a kWh while EVN only agrees to buy electricity at about 678 dong a kWh. EVN said that EVN's average electricity production price under the newly-issued electricity price list is over 706 dong a kWh. Thus, the electricity price of 710 dong a kWh of Son Dong is higher than the average selling price to consumers.
In addition, like the Ca Mau Plant that signed an operation and maintenance contract (O&M) worth over eight trillion dong on its own with an affiliate of PVPS of PVN, that Son Dong negotiated the coal price with Vinacomin's members by itself in order to place all difficulties to EVN is unfair, said EVN.
As for Vinacomin, chief of the corporation's cost planning division Nguyen Van Bien said that EVN should reconsider Son Dong's electricity generation price is very normal in order to ensure business efficiency.
What is notable is that current electricity trading negotiations have only a buyer, EVN, and many sellers being investors outside EVN while the electricity trading mechanism is unclear.
Bien confirmed that negotiating coal prices between Vinacomin and big domestic consumer households is far easier because the government set a clear price frame. Furthermore, if Vinacomin and buyers fail to reach an agreement, relevant agencies being the finance ministry's price management department, the trade and industry ministry will work as a referee for those negotiations. Meanwhile, negotiating electricity selling prices has no mechanism and referee.
This is not the first time that Vinacomin gets troubles about electricity selling prices with EVN. Previously, EVN bought electricity through Vinacomin from the Na Duong Thermo-electricity Plant and the Cao Ngan Electricity Plant with very cheap prices of 620 dong a kWh and 625 dong a kWh respectively.
An official from Vinacomin said that it ran a loss when signing the above contracts although by the signing time, the negotiated prices were considered ensuring operation efficiency of Vinacomin's plants.
That was because most capital expenditure for equipment, materials and others were calculated in US dollars while the forex rate has recently much changed. Meanwhile, the above contracts last up to 25 years. Thus, if selling electricity of Son Dong to EVN follows the previous scenario, Vinacomin is unable to accept and may have to stop investments into next electricity plants.
"I see that only when the Electricity Trading Co is separated from EVN for independent operations, electricity trading will be fair," said Vinacomin's official.
Phan Thi Hoa, member of the Vietnam Oil and Gas Corp's managing board, said with EVN's proposed buying price, it is only enough to pay debts. "Whenever the Electricity Trading Co is dependent to EVN, other investors will always suffer from losses because this company has to buy electricity of EVN's electricity plants first," said Hoa.
PhD.Nguyen Quang A, director of the Institute for Development and Study, said that EVN's offering the low buying price is also logical because EVN cannot buy electricity at high prices and sell at low prices.
Thus, in addition to revising the electricity prices as the government is making, it is necessary to eliminate monopoly, whereby all electricity generation plants must be separated from EVN and be transferred to the State Capital Investment and Trading Corp for management. EVN should only wholesale and transmit electricity.
Tran Viet Ngai, chair of the Vietnam Energy Association, said that when the Electricity Trading Co has not yet been separated from EVN, in order to make EVN's electricity trading activities transparent, it is required to establish an electricity trading list and explain the proper fees, interest rates of the electricity buying company. On a quarterly basis, it is required to make an electricity generating chart, all electricity generating sources must be put into the gridline and arrange electricity trading activities logically.

Vietnam sells US$100m one-year bonds with 3% coupon

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Reuters
Vietnam's government sold US$100 million of one-year dollar bonds with a 3% coupon on Friday to fund its budget and big projects.
Thirty bidders, mainly banks, made US$766 million worth of bids for the government's first onshore dollar bond, offering yields between 1.5% and 6%, the Hanoi stock exchange said.
Many Vietnamese banks are sitting on "huge amounts" of dollars but in recent months had been reluctant to invest them or convert them into the weakening dong, said the treasurer at a foreign bank in Vietnam.
The relatively short-term of the bonds was a reflection of demand, he said, and selling them onshore offered the government a much lower cost of lending than a sovereign issue would.
"Some of the banks had been talking with the State Bank of Vietnam since the middle of last year about what to do with their dollars," said the treasurer on condition of anonymity.
Vietnam's domestic deal comes three weeks after Indonesia tested investors' appetite for its debt in a US$3 billion sale of 5-year and 10-year dollar bonds with yields above 10%.
Last week, traders expected the bonds to sell at a 50-100 basis point premium to dollar bank deposits, which were at about 3%, but dollar deposit rates have come down.
Fixings on one-year dollar lending rates stood at 2.54% on Friday on the interbank market versus 2.60% a week ago, according to Reuters data.
The one-year notes were the first of three sub-tranches of a planned US$300 million programme. Next week Vietnam will auction another US$100 million of two-year US dollar-denominated bonds, and US$100 million with a three-year term.
The central bank earlier this month polled commercial banks on their appetite for dollar bonds and ordered them to prepare funds to support the issuance.
Demand for dollar loans in Vietnam has also shrunk in recent weeks because borrowers have preferred to take dong loans to qualify for a government's 4% interest subsidy scheme.
In 2005, Vietnam tapped the international capital markets with a US$750 million sovereign bond. It approved another issue worth US$1 billion in 2007 but never proceeded with the sale.
The 6.875% 2016 bonds were unchanged on Friday, trading at 99/90 cents to the dollar for a yield of 9.289/8.859%.
The state budget deficit is projected to be 4.8% of gross domestic product this year.
The government budget for 2009 envisages expenditure of 491.3 trillion dong.

Vietnam's economy grew 3% in first quarter, minister Phuc says

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Bloomberg
Vietnam's economy expanded 3% in the first quarter from a year earlier, minister of Planning and Investment Vo Hong Phuc said late yesterday.
The Southeast Asian nation's economic situation in the first three months of 2009 was "quite positive" amid the global financial crisis, he told a Vietnamese parliament meeting, as reported on the government's Web site.
The International Monetary Fund cut its economic forecast for Vietnam to 4.8% growth this year, below a December forecast of 5%, because of weakening capital inflows, exports and remittances from overseas, it said in a statement on March 18. The World Bank has cut its estimate to 5.5% from 6.5% previously, acting Vietnam country director Martin Rama said by telephone on March 18.
Vietnam's economy expanded 6.2% last year, the least in nine-years and slower than an 8.5% pace in 2007, as the crisis deepened. The government targets a growth rate of 6.5% this year.
To bolster growth, the government said on January 15 it will use 17 trillion dong (US$972 million) from its stimulus package to subsidise loans for companies that export, import or produce essential products for the economy.
Local commercial banks lent 150 trillion dong under the loan subsidy programme, according to a statement posted on the State Bank of Vietnam's Web site yesterday.

Vietnam import spending dips by nearly half

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia | CafeF
Ministry of Industry and Trade most recently has reported that Vietnam recorded the trade surplus of US$1.647 billion in the first three months of 2009 because the import spending declined sharply.
The country's export turnover in March reached US$4.7 billion, down 2.8% year-on-year, bringing the total figure of Q1 to US$13.479 billion, rising 2.4% from the previous year.
Among 35 groups of goods, there were nine groups in positive territory.
A slight surge in March's export turnover was thanks to gemstone and precious metal exports. Export of the goods type this month brought in US$850 million, a 49 fold increase against the same period of 2008 and accounting for 18% of the country's total export turnover. In Jan-March, the goods export earned US$2.287 billion, increasing 48 times year-on-year respectively.
12 out of 13 key export items (belonging to "US$1 billion Exporter Club") all posted a reduction of 10-20%, including electronic and computing accessories, footwear, fossil coal, seafood, coffee, cashew bean, plastic. In which, compared to Q1 of 2008, the export of crude oil slumped 48.6%, electrical cable and wires down 47.3% and rubber plunged 43.9%, apparel down 4.2% slightly.
Only rice export turnover in Q1 grew by 23.5% and 76.4% in year-on-year.
Meanwhile, Vietnam's import spending in March was US$4.3 billion, declining 47% from 2008. In Jan-March, the figure was US$11.832 billion, a year-on-year fall of 45%.
Thus, Vietnam's trade surplus reached US$400 million in March and US$1.647 billion in Q1 of 2009.

Vietnam's 2009 GDP growth forecasted at 4.2%, Standard Chartered

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Lao Dong
Standard Chartered on March 22 released the report on evaluating and predicting Vietnam's economic growth in 2009.
Accordingly, Vietnam was highly appreciated for contributing positive activities to fight the global economic crisis through monitoring export-import scale, adjusting and improving trade deficit and promoting the infrastructure development for FDI attraction.
With these efforts, Vietnam still retained the ambitious economic growth of 6.5%. However, according to the foreign bank's research group, the country's 2009 GDP growth will be at 4.2% due to an estimated fall in overseas remittance, FDI and export import activities.

HCM City's Q1 GDP rises 4%

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia | CafeF | VNA
During the first quarter of 2009, all economic sectors in HCM City suffered the impacts of the global economic depression so the city's GDP only reached 58.473 trillion dong (real prices), rising by 4% year-on-year. This is the lowest growth in the last decade, reported HCM City Statistic Department.
Some enterprises whose majority of earnings come from exports were forced to narrow production while others had to suspend operation. The city's industrial production value in Jan-March increased by 1.9% but its construction production value jumped 13% in the period.
Notably, HCM City's total basic construction investment capital gained 10.251 trillion dong, a rise of 11.5% in Q1.
The total FDI attraction achieved US$515 million, equalling to 27% of the figure of 2008's Q1. Meanwhile, the total retail and service revenue was up 18.3%.
Also, the city earned over US$4.4 billion from exports in first three months of 2009, down 11% y-o-y.

HSBC wants to up stake in Vietnamese insurer

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Reuters
HSBC, Europe's biggest bank, wants to increase its stake in Vietnam's Bao Viet Insurance to 18% despite tough global economic times, a senior company executive said.
"We are looking to do more with the strategic partners," Paul Leech, Hong Kong-based head of international operations for HSBC, told reporters in Hanoi Monday.
HSBC bought a 10% stake in Bao Viet, Vietnam's biggest insurer, in 2007. Leech said the bank wanted to increase the stake to 18% but did not offer details.
HSBC owns a 20% stake in partly private Techcombank, which is the maximum that foreign strategic investors are allowed to hold in financial institutions in Vietnam.
In January, it became the first foreign bank to open a fully-owned operation in Vietnam.
"When we made the strategy to open, the world was a little different," Leech said. "The interesting thing is, actually, our strategy really has not changed."
The bank was planning to add offices in HCM City and Hanoi and open a new branch in Binh Duong Province in the south. Leech said HSBC would be looking at new lending carefully "but, again, I think our balance sheet will be bigger in Vietnam at the end of 2009 than it will be at the beginning."
"We hope to get a bigger share of the banking and insurance market here.
"Life is difficult but that is not going to deflect us from the fact that in our opinion Vietnam remains one of the most interesting emerging markets in the Asia-Pacific region."

China to offer US$300m soft loan to Vietnam

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Dow Jones
China has announced it will offer a soft loan worth US$300 million to Vietnam, Vietnamese state media said Friday.
The announcement was made at a meeting Thursday in Hanoi between Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo and Vietnamese Foreign minister Pham Gia Khiem, the Saigon Giai Phong newspaper said, without providing further details.
Vietnam and China have set themselves a target to raise bilateral trade to US$25 billion a year by 2010 from US$20 billion in 2008, the Vietnamese government said Friday on its Web site.
Dai's visit comes after China sent a fishery patrol ship to the disputed Spratly islands in the South China Sea on Monday.
Vietnam's Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Le Dung said on Wednesday that the country is "closely monitoring" all activities of the ship.
Vietnam, Taiwan, China, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei each claim all or a part of the Spratlys and the nearby Paracels. The waters around the islands are believed to contain substantial reserves of petroleum.

Banks allowed to mortgage US dollar G-bonds for dong loans

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia | 20/Mar/2009 CafeF
Under an Official Dispatch No 1868/NHNN-QLNH issued on March 20, 2009 by the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV)'s governor, to prepare for issuing government bonds in foreign currency, commercial banks are allowed to mortgage US dollar G-bonds for short-term loans in dong from the central bank.
SBV will issue detailed regulations on mortgage lending activities using G-bonds in foreign currency.
On March 20, Hanoi Securities Trading Centre (HaSTC) organised a tender for US$100 million of one-year term G-bonds for the first tranche of 2009.
These bonds will be issued on March 24, 2009 and matured on March 24, 2010.
The tender for US dollar G-bonds at the face value of US$100 per bond with terms of two-years and three-years will be held on March 24 and 27,

PVFC, Lienvietbank sign comprehensive cooperation agreement

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia | 20/Mar/2009 AtpVietnam
PetroVietnam Finance Corp (PVFC-coded PVF) on March 19 in Hanoi signed a comprehensive cooperation agreement with Lien Viet Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Lienvietbank) whereby the two signatories will work together in fields of capital sources, credit sector, investment and monetary and financial services.
The two sides will introduce each other business and financial chances.
PVFC is a non-banking credit institution with functions of establishing and managing the development investment capital for Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam).
PVFC, 10% stake held by its strategic shareholder-Morgan Stanley (Msihi), has a chartered capital of five trillion dong providing package financial products and services. Of which, finance investment is the company's core product.
PVFC's network includes three member companies, nine branches and 15 transaction sites in big provinces and cities nationwide.
PVFC plans a chartered capital of US$1 billion by 2015 with an average growth rate of 30%/year.

Habubank to issue 800b dong of book entry bills
24/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Lao Dong
From March 20 and May 18, Habubank will issue 800 billion dong of book entry bills in the dong with the minimum face value of one million dong.
Buyers are domestic and foreign individuals and institutions living and operating in Vietnam.
Habubank applies the corresponding interest rates of 7.8%, 8%, 8.1% and 8.2% per annum on terms of 3, 6, 9, and 11 months.

ANZ Vietnam gets 'Best Retail Bank in Vietnam'

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Dau Tu Chung Khoan page 33
ANZ Vietnam was recognised the Best Retail Bank in Vietnam by The Asian Banker magazine, marking the consecutive second year the bank received the prestigious award,
Last year ANZ Vietnam posted a 18% growth in capital mobilisation and a double surge in revenue.

Agribank reports providing 67.689tr dong of soft loans

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Dau Tu Chung Khoan page 33
Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam (Agribank) on March 21 reported that till the end of this month, the bank would reach the chartered capital of 10.701 trillion dong and total outstanding loans of 293 trillion dong.
Since February, Agribank provided 67.689 trillion dong of subsidised loans, accounting for 38% of the whole banking system's figure. In which, 37.228 trillion dong of loans were disbursed to the agriculture and rural development and 7.250 trillion dong were given to farmer households.

SHB targets 336b dong profit in '09

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Thoi Bao Kinh Te Vietnam
Saigon Hanoi Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SHB) targets to reach total asset of 20.503 trillion dong, total deposits of 16.249 trillion dong, 336 billion dong in pre-tax profit, and a dividend of 10.5% this year.
Also the bank plans to curb the ratio of overdue debts and total outstanding loans at less than 5%, the capital adequacy ratio of 15-20%, the ratio of profitability on average chartered capital at 16.08%.
The bank's shareholders' meeting recently passed the plan of allocating 2008's profit, issuing convertible bonds to raise capital from two trillion dong to 3.5 trillion dong (of which one trillion dong will offered to existing shareholders and 500 billion dong to foreign shareholders).
SHB plans to set up a jewellery trading one member ltd company and list on Hanoi Securities Trading Centre in 2009.
Last year, the bank recorded over 269 trillion dong of pre-tax profit and more than 14.380 trillion dong in total assets.

Techcombank to issue 8tr dong of convertible bonds

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Lao Dong
Vietnam Technological Commercial Joint Stock Bank or Techcombank reported finalising preparation for issuing eight trillion dong of convertible bonds in 2009.
The particular coupon rate of these bonds will be defined based on the SBV's basic rate of the dong.

VietA Bank announces 2009 business plan

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Dau Tu Chung Khoan page 7
In 2009, VietA Bank plans to scale up its chartered capital from over 1.359 trillion dong to 1.632 trillion dong, total asset of 15 trillion dong, total deposits of 11 trillion dong, total outstanding loans of 10 trillion dong and pre-tax profit of 270 billion dong.
Its network will be raised from 46 to 60 transaction sites.
Last year the bank posted 90 billion dong pre-tax profit, total asset of 10.316 trillion dong, total deposits of 7.448 trillion dong and outstanding debts of 6.633 trillion dong.

Finance companies to hike chartered capital

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia | 20/Mar/2009 State Bank of Vietnam
The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV)'s governor on March 19 issued a Decision No 579/QD-NHNN and another Decision No 580/QD-NHNN allowing two more finance companies namely Vinashin Finance Co (VFC) and Garment and Textile Finance Co to scale up chartered capital.
Accordingly, VFC will increase chartered capital to 1.323 trillion dong from the current 1.023 trillion dong and Garment and Textile Finance Co will hike its chartered capital from 234 billion dong to 300 billion dong.
These companies are also allowed to adjust operation and organisation regulations according to the new chartered capital.
Earlier, the central bank issued a Decision No 567/QD-NHNN allowing the Vinacomin Finance One Member Ltd Co to raise the chartered capital from 600 billion dong to one trillion dong.
These finance companies must register the new capital to state authorities and publicise information under current regulations.

ORC Worldwide announces list of the weakest working environments

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia | CafeF
US Business Week magazine has declared the list of cities with the weakest working environment in the world. In which, Vietnam's HCM City and Hanoi stood at 9 and 11th position among 55 cities.
The list was made by ORC Worldwide (ORC), a leading international HR consulting and management firm headquartered in New York.
Notably, all 55 cities are outside US, Canada and Western Europe, which belong to Africa region, India, China, south-eastern Asia region, Middle East and Central Europe.
The ranking list bases on environmental pollution, disease risk, political violence, comfort on goods and services, the classification of high risks that the labour have to suffer.
The list does not regard on the isolate sites where wars usually brake out, such as Iraq's Baghdad, Zimbabwe's Harare or North Korea.
Leading the list of cities with the weakest working environment is Nigeria's Lagos capital due to the weak infrastructure and rising criminal.
HCM City and Hanoi are assessed to be the highly potential risky. Problems that foreign workers living here have to suffer are disease risks and hygiene, climate, environmental pollution and criminal, according to ORC Worldwide.
Indonesia's Jakarta also was in top 20 of the ranking list, followed by China's five cities, India's four cities of Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai and Bangalore.

51b dong budget proposed to boost domestic trade

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia | 20/Mar/2009 Vietstock
The Ministry of Industry and Trade on March 19 sent a document to the prime minister proposing to invest some 51 billion dong for domestic trade promotion programme in 2009, down some 900 million dong compared with the previous plan.
As planned, the programme package will support 100% of costs for surveying the consumers' taste with an average support of 250 million dong per area, 100% of costs for surveying the distribution system with an average support of 700 million dong/sector and 100% of costs for surveying the corporate capacity with an average support of 150 million dong/province.
Notably, the programme will spend some 9.062 billion dong on promoting Vietnamese goods to rural areas.

ADB lends US$410m for expressway

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia | 20/Mar/2009 Saigon Giai Phong
The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) on March 20 in Hanoi signed a US$410 million credit contract with Asian Development Bank (ADB) to build the HCM City-Long Thanh-Dau Giay expressway.
The four lane HCM City-Long Thanh-Dau Giay expressway with 51 kilometres in length has a total investment capital of US$932 million.
Along with ADB's loan, the project's remaining investment capital will be loan from Japan Bank for International Cooperation (Jbic) and the corresponding capital from Vietnam Expressway Development Investment Co (VEC).
The project is expected to be completed by 2014.

Expats in for a PIT law boost

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Vietnam Investment Reviews page 1
Expatriates' home airfares, school fees for children and other income are set to be listed as non-taxable.
The Ministry of Finance (MoF) is drafting a new circular to replace Circular 84/2008/T'T-BTC dated September 30, 2008 with more tax exemptions for expatriate income in the pipeline.
According to the draft, which guides the execution of the Personal Income Tax (PIT) Law, airfares for expatriates will be tax-free for one trip home per year.
The MoF was also considering tax free school fees for expatriate children attending international schools in Vietnam, according to a senior Tax Policy Department official.
"If the expatriate works in Vietnam but sends children to learn at overseas schools or universities, the tuition fees will possibly still be taxable," said the official.
Although there is no specific provision relating to these items under the current Circular 84/2008/TT -BTC, according to the general Department of Taxation's guidelines, they are subject to tax.
Do Thi Thu Ha, an associate partner of the Roedl & Partner, said such proposed rules once approved might encourage foreign investment into Vietnam.
The European Chamber of Commerce (EuroCham) in January warned that the current PIT law regulations, which have been valid since January 1, may weaken the country's competitiveness in attracting foreign investment. While foreign employees remain a necessity as the domestic labour market lacked senior experts, the PIT law was leading to an increase in companies' labour costs by removing some preferences given to foreign employees under previous rules, EuroCham said.
Also under the MoF's draft, both local and expat employees enjoy some cash and "non-cash" benefits in addition to salaries, such as low-cost "industrial meals", are also specified as non-taxable.
As part of the government's efforts to stimulate the economy and prop up consumer spending, on February 6, the MoF issued Circular 27/2009/TT-BTC, allowing a temporary deferral of PIT payments from January till May 2009.
However, the National Assembly, which will meet in May, will decide whether this initiative will constitute a temporary deferral or total PIT exemption for this period.

Forex engine burning out

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Vietnam Investment Reviews page 1
The lubricant for forex engine operations is set to be burn out with a State Bank move possibly taking away decent market liquidity.
Last week, with the two documents 1819 and 1820/NHNN-QLNH, the State Bank effectively banned forex option services from March 23 and said it would accelerate inspections on banks' use of other derivatives to buy or sell dollars at rates higher than the exchange rate limit.
Nguyen Hong Van, a member of Vietinbank's board of directors, said authority's tightening moves would possibly freeze the forex market.
"Exporters want to keep greenbacks rather than selling them back to banks. Derivatives are tools that enable banks to buy dollars at higher rates than the ceiling rate," said Van.
A Vietcombank source said the supply of dollars for the banking system had dried up recently. "This shortage is not reflecting the real situation of the market. Exporters have lots of dollars but they don't want to sell at the exchange rate limit. This means the exchange rate is proving ineffective in providing liquidity," said the source.
In Vietnam, banks are allowed to trade the dollar 3% either side of the daily-fixed official exchange rate known as the interbank rate.
"Over the last few weeks, greenback buying from corporates has risen and local banks had no way other than offering better rates to get the dollar from exporters via derivatives tools such as options," the Vietcombank representative added.
Currency options contracts give the right, not the obligation, to buy or sell a specific quantity of one foreign currency in exchange for another at a fixed price. The buyer of a currency option then pays a premium to the seller.
According to an Indochina Capital financial specialist, the market was running on a dollar shortage and commercial banks had to find ways to source dollars, this means greenback that the State Bank pumped out was not enough.
"The derivative contracts have brought liquidity to the forex market by clearing the market at rates higher than the exchange rate limit," he added.
Van of Vietinbank said allowing banks to use derivatives favours greenback buyers.
"However, when local banks cannot source dollars from exporters, corporates in need of dollars couldn't buy greenbacks from us."

Business, banking and stock market briefs

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia
* Vietnam Manufacturing Expo 2009 is seen as the largest-ever international exhibition-fair that will take place in Hanoi on May 28th-30th. A large number of latest technological products from many countries will be showcased at the expo, according to the organiser, Reed Tradex from Thailand.
* Van Phong Economic Zone's PMU on March 21 allowed Nha Trang Shipping Industry Co to build Nam Cam Ranh Industrial Area. The industrial area project is designed on 204 hectares in Cam Thinh Dong Commune, costing an estimated 980 billion dong.
* Red River Investment Joint Stock Co yesterday broke ground on the Thanh Cong 2 apartment and office building on 5,200 square metres in Hanoi with total investment capital of US$30 million.
* State-owned Vietnam National Coal-Mineral Industries Group, or Vinacomin, and China Southern Grid Corp will start building a 1,200-megawatt power plant in the southeast Asian nation, Vietnam's Ministry of Planning and Investment said Friday in a statement.
* The EPC contract for the Block B-Omon gas pipeline leading to Ca Mau Gas Power and Nitrogenous Fertiliser Complex of Omon power centre was signed on March 19 between the South-western PMU and a contractor group including Vietsovpetro, PetroVietnam Technical Service Joint Stock Corp (PTSC) and PetroVietnam Construction Joint Stock Corp (PVC).
* Thai Binh Power Centre project with total capacity of 1,800 MW, including Thai Binh 1 thermo power plant, Thai Binh2, and road leading to the centre, ports and other construction items was started with total estimated expense of 13 trillion dong invested by Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) and PetroVietnam Power Corp.
* Vinh Tan thermo power plant, a part of Vinh Tan thermo power centre, will be built by this November in Vinh Tan commune, Tuy Phong Dist in the central province of Binh Thuan. Vinh Tan thermo power project is under the national energy development plan in 2006-2015 phase.
* Viet Hung Urban Development and Investment Joint Stock Co (Vihajico), the owner of Eco Park urban zone, has recently said that its project of building an urban zone worth over US$7 billion will be started work by the third quarter this year.
* FPT Telecom has provided the "3 in 1" service package meaning that three services namely internet MegaMe+, fixed telephone MegaYou+ and internet television MegaSave+ will be supplied by using the sole IPI layer according to Triple Play technology.
* Espace Business Hue Joint Stock Co was granted the investment certificate to build a trade centre and supermarket complex in Thua Thien Hue province, covering on 3,930 square metres in Ba Tieu Hung Vuong area, Hue City's Phu Hoi Ward with total cost of US317.5 million.
* Thai Binh Power Centre project with total capacity of 1,800 MW, including Thai Binh 1 thermo power plant, Thai Binh2, and road leading to the centre, ports and other construction items was started with total estimated expense of 13 trillion dong invested by Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) and PetroVietnam Power Corp The project is designed on a site of 250 hectares along Tra Ly river in My Loc Commune, Thai Binh province's Thai Thuy Dist.
* The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV)'s governor on March 19 issued a Decision No 579/QD-NHNN and another Decision No 580/QD-NHNN allowing two more finance companies namely Vinashin Finance Co (VFC) and Garment and Textile Finance Co to scale up chartered capital.
Accordingly, VFC will increase chartered capital to 1.323 trillion dong from the current 1.023 trillion dong and Garment and Textile Finance Co will hike its chartered capital from 234 billion dong to 300 billion dong.
* PetroVietnam Finance Corp (PVFC-coded PVF) on March 19 in Hanoi signed a comprehensive cooperation agreement with Lien Viet Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Lienvietbank) whereby the two signatories will work together in fields of capital sources, credit sector, investment and monetary and financial services.
* From March 20 and May 18, Habubank will issue 800 billion dong of book entry bills in the dong with the minimum face value of one million dong.
* ANZ Vietnam was recognised the Best Retail Bank in Vietnam by The Asian Banker magazine, marking the consecutive second year the bank received the prestigious award,
* Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam (Agribank) on March 21 reported that till the end of this month, the bank would reach the chartered capital of 10.701 trillion dong and total outstanding loans of 293 trillion dong.
* Saigon Hanoi Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SHB) targets to reach total asset of 20.503 trillion dong, total deposits of 16.249 trillion dong, 336 billion dong in pre-tax profit, and a dividend of 10.5% this year. Also the bank plans to curb the ratio of overdue debts and total outstanding loans at less than 5%, the capital adequacy ratio of 15-20%, the ratio of profitability on average chartered capital at 16.08%.
* Vietnam Technological Commercial Joint Stock Bank or Techcombank reported finalising preparation for issuing eight trillion dong of convertible bonds in 2009.
* In 2009, VietA Bank plans to scale up its chartered capital from over 1.359 trillion dong to 1.632 trillion dong, total asset of 15 trillion dong, total deposits of 11 trillion dong, total outstanding loans of 10 trillion dong and pre-tax profit of 270 billion dong.
* The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) on March 20 in Hanoi signed a US$410 million credit contract with Asian Development Bank (ADB) to build the HCM City-Long Thanh-Dau Giay expressway.
* Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (STC) announced receiving the application of Thac Mo Hydropower Joint Stock Co to list 70 million ordinary shares at 10,000 dong par on the bourse.
* Thien Nam Trading Import Export Joint Stock Co (coded TNA) passed the plan of issuing extra 4.7 mullion shares to raise the chartered capital from 33 billion dong to 80 billion dong with an aim to stay in Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (STC).
* On March 26, 88 million HT2 coded shares of Ha Tien 2 Cement Joint Stock Co will be officially traded on Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (STC) with the comparative price of 20,000 dong per share and the trading price amplitude of +/-20%.
* SABMiller Friday announced that it has signed an agreement with its JV partner, Vietnam Dairy Products Joint Stock Company, to acquire Vinamilk's 50% interest in SABMiller Vietnam JV Co Limited. Conditions to the transaction have been fulfilled and SABMiller Asia BV is now the sole shareholder in the Company.
* PetroVietnam Nitrogenous Fertiliser and Chemical Joint Stock Corp (coded DPM) posted a big loss of 87 billion dong in the last quarter of 2008 despite its revenue grew by 66% compared to the previous quarter because the listed firm deducted 643 billion dong for the standby fund of goods price reduction.
* Northern bourse-listed Song Da Joint Stock Co No 99 (coded S99) has recently announced the resolution of the company's shareholders' meeting held on March 13.
* Total Exploration and Production Vietnam has signed a Production Sharing Contract with Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) for the exploration blocks DBSCL-02 and DBSCL-03. The blocks, which are located in the Mekong Delta area onshore, will be operated by Total with a 75% interest, PetroVietnam Exploration Production ("PVEP") holding a 25% interest.

VN Index rallies thanks to a surge in PNJ price, HASTC Index dips 2.43 pts

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia | AtpVietnam | HASTC
Following the correction tendency of the stock market after a rise of last weekend, today's VN Index slumped 6.46 points or 2.42% from the previous session down to 260.16 points with total recorded market trade of over 15.4 million shares for 291.84 billion dong.
Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (STC) today welcomed the newcomer PNJ share code of Phu Nhuan Jewellery Joint Stock Co with total listing volume of 30 million shares at comparative price of 38,000 dong/share.
With the appearance of PNJ, STC now has 180 listed stock codes including 176 shares and four fund certificates. Ending the session, 121 share codes were down in prices, 31 increasing, 24 unchanged and four (BHS of Bien Hoa Sugar JSC, SGC of Sa Giang Import Export JSC, SJ1 of Seafood No 1 JSC and ST8 of Sieu Thanh JSC) had no transaction.
Big losers in the session included VIC of Vincom falling 1,700 dong to 33,300 dong per share, PPC of Pha Lai Thermo Power JSC -1,100 dong to 21,400 dong, PV -2,500 to 55,500 dong, followed by STB, VNM, DPM, FPT, HAG, REE, SAM, SSI, SJS and ITA.
The notable price gainer was PNJ jumping 7,600 dong to 45,600 dong per share.
In terms of matching order trade, STB still led the southern market with 1.96 million shares changed hands, SSI with 1.27 million, REE with 900,000 shares, SAM with 680,000 shares, PPC with 620,000 and HPG with 560,000 shares being traded.
Conversely, HASTC Index dipped 2.43 points or 2.54% to 93.14 points with a total trade of 10,063,250 shares worth over 192 billion dong.
A series of share codes saw a floor reduction in prices, namely BVS, CCM, and PSC. Especially VSP plunged 3,000 dong per share whereas SDJ climbed to 13,300 dong per share. Most of HASTC listed shares were traded under the comparative prices.
ACB fell 900 dong to 27,800 dong with nearly 600,000 shares being transferred.

Thac Mo Hydropower Co registers to list 70m shares on STC
24/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Thoi Bao Kinh Te Vietnam
Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (STC) announced receiving the application of Thac Mo Hydropower Joint Stock Co to list 70 million ordinary shares at 10,000 dong par on the bourse.
The company has a chartered capital of 700 million dong, headquartered at Area 5, Thac Mo township, Binh Phuoc province's Phuoc Long Dist.

TNA plans capital increase to stay in STC

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Dau Tu Chung Khoan page 5
Thien Nam Trading Import Export Joint Stock Co (coded TNA) passed the plan of issuing extra 4.7 mullion shares to raise the chartered capital from 33 billion dong to 80 billion dong with an aim to stay in Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (STC).
Of which 550,000 bonus shares will be allocated to existing shareholders according to the ratio 6:1, another 1.550 million shares will be sold to existing shareholders at ratio 2:1 with the price of 10,000 dong per share, and the remaining 2.5 million shares at 15,000 dong each will be retailed to strategic shareholders.
This year TNA plans to reach the net revenue of 500 billion dong, pre-tax profit of 25.58 billion dong, a year-on-year growth of 32.83% and an estimated dividend of 15%.

Ha Tien 2 cement maker to go public from Mar 26

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Dau Tu Chung Khoan page 7
On March 26, 88 million HT2 coded shares of Ha Tien 2 Cement Joint Stock Co will be officially traded on Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (STC) with the comparative price of 20,000 dong per share and the trading price amplitude of +/-20%.
Ha Tien 2 cement maker has a chartered capital of 880 billion dong, headquartered in Kien Luong Township, Kien Giang province's Kien Luong Dist.
Last year the firm reported the business results with nearly 1.259 trillion dong in net revenue, 176.494 billion dong in pre-tax profit and 124.523 billion dong in after-tax profit, which are expected to be 1.716 trillion dong, 140 billion dong after-tax profit and a dividend of 7.5% in 2009.

SABMiller buys remaining interest in Vietnam JV

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Dow Jones
SABMiller Friday announced that it has signed an agreement with its JV partner, Vietnam Dairy Products Joint Stock Company, to acquire Vinamilk's 50% interest in SABMiller Vietnam JV Co Limited. Conditions to the transaction have been fulfilled and SABMiller Asia BV is now the sole shareholder in the Company.
The Company's assets which are the subject of the transaction totalled US$31.8 million at the fiscal year end, 31st December 2008.
The Company's brewery is located in Binh Duong province and supplies the key markets of HCM City, Mekong Delta and Da Nang through an expanding distribution network.
The beer industry in Vietnam is still relatively small with total volumes of 18.5 mhl but is expected to grow significantly. Current per capita consumption is modest and is estimated to be 21 litres per annum.
Ari Mervis, Managing director of SABMiller Asia BV, said: "Having acquired Vinamilk's interest in the Company, we look forward to developing and expanding our interests further in the growing and attractive Vietnamese beer market.
"Partnering with Vinamilk at the outset has benefited SABMiller significantly as a result of the local insights and knowledge shared with us. This transaction will allow us increased flexibility to carry out various business initiatives in Vietnam and the Co will complement our existing beer businesses in the broader Asian region," he said.

Korean group targets 200 bakeries in Vietnam

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Vietnamnet
The Korean food service group CJ plans to develop a franchise chain of some 200 Tous Les Jours bakeries across Vietnam, a market that an executive of the group said had much room for quality bread, cakes and pastries.
Nam Young Hyun, general director of CJ Bakery Vietnam Co., Ltd, said the company had a clear strategy to reach the number of bakeshops with the focus on HCM City and Hanoi in the first five years.
"There are already four Tous Les Jours bakeries in HCM City and two more will be opened in this bustling city this year," Nam told the Daily on Wednesday when the fourth Tous Les Jours bakeshop was opened here, at 187 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street in District 1.
The other three existing Tous Les Jours bakeshops are situated on Hai Ba Trung Street, Tran Hung Dao Boulevard and Diamond Plaza on Pham Ngoc Thach Street. The first bakery of this brand was inaugurated the city in mid-June, 2007.
Nam said CJ Bakery Vietnam aimed to open European-style Tous Les Jours bakeries in HCM City's main streets first, adding the company was looking for locations on Hung Vuong and Cach Mang Thang Tam streets for the two shops planned for later this year.
Like the four existing Tous Les Jours bakeries, the new outlets are places where customers can sit down and enjoy various types of European-tasting bread, cakes, pastries and sandwiches as well as coffee and other drinks.
Nam said CJ Bakery Vietnam would centreed on promoting and positioning the Tous Les Jours brand as a bakery for quality bread, cakes and pastries in HCM City in the first three-years operation before branching out to Hanoi.
He expected the first Tous Les Jours shop in Hanoi would be inaugurated in the third quarter of next year, and after that more outlets of this brand would be available in other cities of Vietnam.
CJ Group now has a chain of 1,200 Tous Les Jours bakeries in Korea as well as outlets in China and the United States.

Vietnam Manufacturing Expo 2009 to take place in May

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Hanoimoi
Vietnam Manufacturing Expo 2009 is seen as the largest-ever international exhibition-fair that will take place in Hanoi on May 28th-30th.
A large number of latest technological products from many countries will be showcased at the expo, according to the organiser, Reed Tradex from Thailand.
The expo will contain 4 main themes: "InterPlas Vietnam 2009", "Intermold Vietnam 2009", "Automotive Manufacturing Vietnam 2009" and "Automation Vietnam 2009".
Executive director of the company Nichapa Yoswee said that there would be some 200 firms from 20 nations to take part in the event.
By introducing the latest technologies, the expo aims to support the Vietnamese manufacturing sector in reforming itself and improving its competitiveness in the global market.
In addition, this can be seen as a good chance for domestic businesses to seek cooperation and contracts with foreign partners.

DPM reports 2008 performance
24/Mar/2009 Intellasia | 20/Mar/.2009 Dau Tu Chung Khoan page 20
PetroVietnam Nitrogenous Fertiliser and Chemical Joint Stock Corp (coded DPM) posted a big loss of 87 billion dong in the last quarter of 2008 despite its revenue grew by 66% compared to the previous quarter because the listed firm deducted 643 billion dong for the standby fund of goods price reduction.
In the whole 2008, DPM's net revenue surged 4.7% year-on-year to more than 1.380 trillion dong and the revenue jumped 71.3% to over 6.475 trillion dong.
Its combined marginal profit ratio reduced from 39.2% in 2007 to 28.6% in 2008.
DPM invested over US$27 million to raise the plant's capacity by 60,000 tonnes of urea fertiliser a year to 80,000 tonnes. Also, it signed an EPC contract with Korea's Sam Sung Engineering in January 2009 to build the CO2 withdrawal system with construction time of 24 months.
On March 11, the closing price of DPM was 29,000 dong per share with an estimated P/E ratio of 6.8 times, lower than the average figure of 10.4 times of the fertiliser and chemical production sector.

S99 targets 23b dong profit in 2009

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia | 20/Mar/2009 CafeF
Northern bourse-listed Song Da Joint Stock Co No 99 (coded S99) has recently announced the resolution of the company's shareholders' meeting held on March 13.
Accordingly, in 2009, S99 plans to reach 136.8 billion dong in revenue and 22.6 billion dong in pre tax profit, increasing 50% and 15% against 2008 respectively.
This year, S99 will make its focus on Son La hydropower plant project.

Nam Cam Ranh Industrial Area to be commissioned

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia |Thoi Bao Kinh Te Vietnam page 1
Van Phong Economic Zone's PMU on March 21 allowed Nha Trang Shipping Industry Co to build Nam Cam Ranh Industrial Area.
The industrial area project is designed on 204 hectares in Cam Thinh Dong Commune, costing an estimated 980 billion dong.
The project will finish by late 2011.

Vinashin Finance Co to scale up chartered capital

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia |Thoi Bao Kinh Te Vietnam page 3
State Bank of Vietnam on March 19 allowed Vinashin Finance Co, and Textile and Garment Finance Co to increase chartered capital, according to Decision No 597 and 580/QD-NHNN.
Under it, Vinashin Finance Co's capital will be increased from 1.023 trillion dong to 1.323 trillion dong and that of the second finance firm will be raised from the current 234 billion dong to 300 billion dong.

Japan, Vietnam warming to nuclear power deal

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Forbes
The Tokyo and Hanoi governments are negotiating a cooperation pact, as Japanese companies seek building contracts.
Japan and Vietnam are likely to sign a nuclear pact in Hanoi next week. The bilateral agreement will pave the way for Toshiba Corp and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to win a contract to build Vietnam's first nuclear plant.
Officials of the two countries will meet in Hanoi next Wednesday to negotiate the terms of an accord on nuclear cooperation in 2010. Both governments appear to have agreed on the outlines and are now set to work out the details, the Nikkei Evening News said Thursday, citing government sources from both sides.
The Hanoi government announced earlier this year that it would start building two nuclear power plants, each with two 1,000-megawatt reactors, around 2013-15. The two plants are expected to begin power generation by 2020 to help relieve the country's severe electricity shortage. Vietnam's fast-growing economy has resulted in a power deficit that is estimated to hit 64 billion kilowatt hours in 2020, without measures to address the problem, according to domestic media sources, a further widening of the supply gap to 120 billion kWh will take place by 2030 amid rapid industrialisation.
A nuclear cooperation pact between Japan and Vietnam would simplify customs procedures and facilitate Japanese companies' exporting nuclear plant parts or fuel to Vietnam. At the same time, it would prohibit Vietnam from using the nuclear-related equipment for military purposes or transferring it to a third country, the Nikkei Evening News specified.
Besides clearing away hurdles for shipments of materiel and fuel by Japanese companies, Toshihiro Nikai, Japan's economy, trade and industry minister, promised in late February to consider providing public funding, possibly in the form of soft loans from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation or insurance by Nippon Export and Investment Insurance, a state-sponsored export credit agency, to support Vietnam's nuclear project.
Japanese players seem to have the inside track in the race to obtain the building contracts, which are estimated to worth about 1 trillion yen (US$10.6 billion) in total. Yet, other power companies such as Westinghouse in the United States, France's nuclear giant Areva, Russia's AtomStroyExport and China's Guangdong Nuclear Power Group have also approached Vietnamese officials to express their interest in the project.
China Guangdong Nuclear Power Group revealed earlier this month on its Web site that it had signed a letter of intent with the state-owned power holding company Electricity of Vietnam about the construction of a nuclear power plant in Ninh Thuan, a southern coastal province. The Chinese company said it had submitted a feasibility study for the plant for government consideration. The letter of intent is a preliminary agreement and is not legally binding.
The National Assembly in Hanoi is scheduled to discuss and approve the nuclear cooperation deal with Japan in May.

Total, PetroVietnam ink production sharing contract for two onshore blocks

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Rigzone
Total Exploration and Production Vietnam has signed a Production Sharing Contract with Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) for the exploration blocks DBSCL-02 and DBSCL-03. The blocks, which are located in the Mekong Delta area onshore, will be operated by Total with a 75% interest, PetroVietnam Exploration Production ("PVEP") holding a 25% interest.
Having created a partnership in 2007 with PVEP and the Korean company SK on offshore block 15-1/05, Total continues to develop its presence in Vietnam.
Total's experience in managing the environmental impact of its activities will be crucial in the Mekong Delta. The exploration activities will be carried out without disruption of the community's activities and following the environmental and social framework that is being set by the Authorities.
About the exploration works
Block DBSCL-02 covers an area of nearly 14,850 square kilometres and block DBSCL-03 covers an area of almost 13,800 square kilometres. Under the terms of the agreement, the first exploration phase will cover the acquisition of 2D seizmic on each block.

Vinacomin to build 1,200 MW plant with Chinese Co

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Dow Jones
State-owned Vietnam National Coal-Mineral Industries Group, or Vinacomin, and China Southern Grid Corp will start building a 1,200-megawatt power plant in the southeast Asian nation, Vietnam's Ministry of Planning and Investment said Friday in a statement.
The coal-fired plant will be part of the Vinh Tan complex, which will have a combined capacity of 4,400 megawatts, the ministry said.
It said it will cost US$6.1 billion to build the whole complex, which is located in Binh Thuan province, 200 kilometres northeast of HCM City.
Construction of the plant is slated for completion by 2011, the ministry said.

Work on Ca Mau gas pipeline begins
24/Mar/2009 Intellasia | VNA | Vietnam+
The EPC contract for the Block B-Omon gas pipeline leading to Ca Mau Gas Power and Nitrogenous Fertiliser Complex of Omon power centre was signed on March 19 between the South-western PMU and a contractor group including Vietsovpetro, PetroVietnam Technical Service Joint Stock Corp (PTSC) and PetroVietnam Construction Joint Stock Corp (PVC).
The gas pipeline is 152 kilometres long, across five Mekong Delta provinces.
The project will be started in Q4 of 2009 and finished by July 2011.

BP to withdraw from two exploration blocks off Vietnam

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Dow Jones
BP PLC (BP) will withdraw from exploration blocks 5.2 and 5.3 offshore of Vietnam, a company excecutive said Friday.
"This decision was made on the company's business consideration," said the official, who declined to be named.
"BP Vietnam is in discussions with PetroVietnam and partners to progress the withdrawal during 2009," she added, without giving an exact time frame for the withdrawal.
BP and PetroVietnam and ConocoPhillips have been jointly exploring oil and natural gas reserves since before 2000, said a PetroVietnam official in Hanoi.
In Block 5.2, BP holds a 55.9% stake, PetroVietnam 24.1% and ConocoPhillips 20.0%, while in Block 5.3, BP has a 60% stake, and PetroVietnam and ConocoPhillips each have a 20% stake, PetroVietnam figures showed.
"The parties involved in the two blocks are discussing the withdrawal," he noted, giving no further details.
BP is the biggest foreign producer of natural gas in Vietnam, with its operations supplying 3 billion cubic metres of natural gas a year from Block 06.1 in the Nam Con Son Basin.
BP's natural gas is supplied to the Phu My gas-fired power plant in Ba Ria Vung Tau, which accounts for more than 30% of the electricity produced in Vietnam, BP figures showed.
According to Hanoi-based financial analyst Bui Kien Thanh, BP's decision to leave the areas will hurt Vietnam's efforts to raise its natural gas supply to boost power production.
"As the two blocks are located at areas of difficult conditions for production which will certainly need the participation of strong international players, without BP, Vietnam will have to delay its plans to bring gas onshore," Thanh said.
He added that it's not clear whether BP would abandon its investment in the areas completely.

Construction on Thai Binh Power Centre begins

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia | CafeF
Thai Binh Power Centre project with total capacity of 1,800 MW, including Thai Binh 1 thermo power plant, Thai Binh2, and road leading to the centre, ports and other construction items was started with total estimated expense of 13 trillion dong invested by Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) and PetroVietnam Power Corp.
The project is designed on a site of 250 hectares along Tra Ly river in My Loc Commune, Thai Binh province's Thai Thuy Dist.
The road leading to the power centre is 7.3 kilometres long from National Road 39B and 12.5 metres wide.
In details, Thai Binh 1 thermo power plant invested by EVN has two 300 MW generators, designed on 47 hectares. Thai Binh 2 invested by PV Power will be built on 53 hectares, including two generators with a combined capacity of 1,200 MW. The main materials fed to the two thermo power plants are fossil coal and limestone from Quang Ninh province.

Construction of Vinh Tan thermo plant to start at end of year

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia | 20/Mar/2009 Thoi Bao Kinh Te Saigon
Vinh Tan thermo power plant, a part of Vinh Tan thermo power centre, will be built by this November in Vinh Tan commune, Tuy Phong Dist in the central province of Binh Thuan.
Vinh Tan thermo power project is under the national energy development plan in 2006-2015 phase.
As planned, Vinh Tan thermo power centre with a total investment of some US$6.1 billion will include three plants and one seaport.
The centre with an estimated capacity of 4,400 MW will produce an output of about 28.6 billion kWh/year.
Particularly, Vinh Tan 1 thermo power plant capitalised at US$1.9 billion co-invested by China-based Southern Group and Vietnam National Coal and Mineral Industries Group (Vinacomin) is expected to be in operation by 2010-2011 phase.
The thermo power plants of Vinh Tan 2 capitalised at US$1.6 billion and Vinh Tan 3 with a total investment of US$2.6 billion invested by Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) are expected to be operational by 2011-2015 phase.

Over US$7b urban zone to be built in Hanoi's outskirts

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia | 20/Mar/2009 CafeF
Viet Hung Urban Development and Investment Joint Stock Co (Vihajico), the owner of Eco Park urban zone, has recently said that its project of building an urban zone worth over US$7 billion will be started work by the third quarter this year.
The project covering an area of 500 hectares will be built in the northern province of Hung Yen.

Work on US$17.5m trade centre starts

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Thoi Bao Kinh Te Vietnam page 1
Espace Business Hue Joint Stock Co was granted the investment certificate to build a trade centre and supermarket complex in Thua Thien Hue province.
The project covers on 3,930 square metres in Ba Tieu Hung Vuong area, Hue City's Phu Hoi Ward with total cost of US317.5 million.
The complex is expected to be operational after seven months from receiving the certificate.

Red River Investment JSC brakes ground on Thanh Cong 2 building

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia |T hoi Bao Kinh Te Vietnam page 1
Red River Investment Joint Stock Co yesterday broke ground on the Thanh Cong 2 apartment and office building on 5,200 square metres in Hanoi with total investment capital of US$30 million.
The construction comprises two 21-storey apartment blocks, a 11-storey office block with total construction area of 3,510 square metres, which will be finished by 2010.

FPT Telecom provides '3 in 1' service package

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Thoi Bao Kinh Te Vietnam
FPT Telecom has provided the "3 in 1" service package meaning that three services namely internet MegaMe+, fixed telephone MegaYou+ and internet television MegaSave+ will be supplied by using the sole IPI layer according to Triple Play technology.
This is the modern technologic solution applied for the first time in Vietnam. The telecom provider's general director Tran Hai Nam said that Triple Platy supplies image, data and sound transmission services in the same service package so this will reduce the investment cost. So the cost for service package will be much cheaper in comparison with the total cost for single services at the moment.
With Triple Plan, customers can watch movies on demand, read newspaper via television and others.
Being as one of four first internet service providers in Vietnam with the market share of 35%, FPT Telecom now has over 350,000 internet subscribers.

Finance

2009-05-17T16:41:00.001-07:00

Actualised GDP revised down against estimated figure

30/Mar/2009 Intellasia | 27/Mar/2009 VnExpress
Vietnam's economic growth reported only 6.18% instead of 6.23% that had released previously because of unexpected reduction in many sectors. The country's GDP is expected to grow by only 4.8-5.6% in 2009.
The general Statistical Office (GSO) on March 27 released a socio-economic report of the first quarter and supplements some realised results of 2008. Notably, unexpected sharp growth of agriculture-forestry-aquaculture sectors could not compensate for downturns of two remaining sectors, construction industry and services.
Thus, the country's GDP in 2008 reached only 489.800 trillion dong, down by 1.4 trillion dong compared to the estimated figure that was announced at the end of last year.
GSO said that the above general economic figures were revised after information about the realistic situation was updated.
Additionally, the country's goods export last year also reduced by US$221 million against the estimated figure, totalling only US$62.7 billion. Meanwhile, Vietnam's import increased by over US$298 million against the estimated statistic to US$80.7 billion, raising total trade deficit to US$18 billion instead of US$17.5 billion.
Bui Ba Cuong, director of GSO's national account system department, said that every December, GDO released the estimated statistics for the whole year. "Then, not until the end of the next year, will the actualised figures be announced after all data from annual investigations about businesses and individual business households are collected.
However, this year, the planning and investment ministry requested an immediate revision right in the first quarter in order to timely adusjust this year's targets amidst the difficult situation with unforeseeable movements of the domestic and international economies.
"After two investigations conducted at the start of March and October, at the end of this year, we will release the final statistics. Further revisions might be needs," said Cuong. Every year, as usual the actualised results are only 0.01-0.02% against the estimated figures.
When the economy is stable, statistical activities are conducted based on scheduled plans. Every year, there is about three investigations re-appraising socio-economic situation of last year, of which the investigations about businesses is carried out at the start of March, the investigation about population, employment is taken place at the beginning of April and the investigation about individual business households at the start of October.
When collecting all statistics about these investigations, GSO will finalise the actualised figures.
Nevertheless, Cuong said that amidst the current unforeseeable economic changing context, it is necessary to conduct more investigations on other subjects more regularly otherwise GSO will not have updated information or have less information for socio-economic forecasts.
GSO estimated that GDP in the first quarter inches up by only 3.1% against last year, far lower than the same period of previous years. Accordingly, agriculture production was estimated to reduce by 0.1%. Industrial production value in the first three months still increases by 2.1% that mainly thanks to efforts of the private economic sector and the foreign invested enterprise sector. Industrial production value of the state-owned sector declines by 3.2%.
Production of many industrial products in the first three months sharply decreases against the same period last year, mainly because of slow sales, narrowed markets.
Many businesses in key provinces, cities must cut regular employment by about 15% and regularly apply the alternating work mechanism such as in Binh Duong, Dong Nai, Hai Phong, Vinh Phuc provinces and others.
Total retail sales of goods and services in the first quarter was estimated at 270 trillion dong, a year-on-year increase of 21.9%.
Actualised investment in the first quarter based on the estimated price reaches 116.3 trillion dong, a year-on-year growth of 9%.
Of the total actualised capital, capital of the state-owned sector between January and March reports at 57.4 trillion dong, up by 20% against last year, capital of the private sector reaches 39.6 trillion dong, rising by 30%. As for the foreign-invested enterprise sector, the actualised capital is only 19.3 trillion dong, down by 32%.
GSO forecasted that amidst the current economic difficult situation, Vietnam's GDP might grow by only 4.8-5.6%, lower than the target of 6% set by the National Assembly. Export of goods might reach only US$56-58 billion and import US$63-65 billion.

Vietnam Q1 growth lowest in decade: official

30/Mar/2009 Intellasia | AFP
Vietnam's first-quarter growth fell to its lowest level in a decade, government figures showed Friday, in what officials said was still a relatively good performance during a global crisis.
The 3.1% first-quarter growth is the lowest level since the 3.8% recorded in 1999, said Bui Ba Cuong, head of the general Statistical Office's (GSO) department of national accounts.
The GSO forecast full-year growth of 4.8-5.6% and said the government's target of 6.5% expansion this year looks unattainable.
"I don't think we can reach the target set by the National Assembly, given the current situation," Cuong said.
The Assembly, the communist country's legislature, is to meet in May and only then will a possible adjustment to the growth target be made, Cuong added.
Vietnam reported 7.4% gross domestic product growth in the first quarter of last year and on Friday slightly revised downward the full-year 2008 growth figure to 6.18%, its lowest level in almost a decade.
"Entering 2009, the country's socio-economy continues to suffer from the consequences of the global economic crisis and the recession of several major economies," a GSO report said, describing growth for the first three months as "very low" compared with that in recent years.
"But in the context of the global economic crisis and most world economies... suffering from strong downturn, such a growth reached by our economy showed a big effort," the GSO said.
In its unusually-detailed report, the GSO said pledges of foreign direct investment were down by more than 40% year-on-year in the first quarter, to six billion dollars.
Tourist numbers fell by more than 16% to 999,000, it added.
"Due to the impact of the global economic recession, domestic production... has been reduced, leading to unemployment in several enterprises, especially in the foreign-invested sector," the GSO said.
It forecast an unemployment rate of 7.7% this year, against the 4.65% it estimated for the country's industrialised urban areas last year.
The report projected full-year exports of between 56 and 58 billion dollars in value and imports in the range of 63 to 65 billion dollars.
This compares with last year's record trade deficit, which GSO Friday said stood at 18 billion dollars. It had previously put the estimate at 17 billion dollars.
The GSO noted that inflation, which hit record levels last year, has been restrained and said the country has several factors working in its favour.
"Vietnam is still considered an attractive investment market, while the government has issued several flexible measures to deal with the unexpected economic upheavals," it said.
The government has announced a stimulus package worth one billion dollars in spending, tax cuts and lower bank interest rates.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently downgraded its growth forecast for Vietnam to 4.75% this year, while the World Bank sees 5.5% expansion.
In a separate forecast, the research and advisory wing of the firm that publishes The Economist magazine said Vietnam's economy would grow just 0.3% in 2009.
The Economist Intelligence Unit said Vietnam is one of just four Asian countries expected to expand in 2009, along with China, India and Indonesia.

Government to sell US$1.25b bonds to fund HCM City projects

30/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Thanhniennews
The government will issue bonds worth 22 trillion dong (US$1.25 billion) to fund two major projects in HCM City, minister of Finance Vu Van Ninh told city officials Wednesday.
The Treasury would also lend the city 3 trillion dong (US$169 million) after its People's Committee asked for financial support for the Hiep Phuoc Port and Industrial Zone in the outlying district of Nha Be and Thu Thiem, a new urban area in District 2, he said.
The projects would play an important role in attracting foreign investment in the years to come, he said.
Work on the first of three stages in the Hiep Phuoc Port and Industrial Zone project is expected to be finished by September.
As for the Thu Thiem project, People's Committee Chair Le Hoang Quan said, 60% of displaced residents have been paid compensation for their land and the government's support would speed up the remaining site clearance and compensation tasks.
Ninh agreed to a city request to advance more than 2 trillion dong (US$113.6 million) from its bonus for exceeding last year's revenue target to fund other ongoing and new projects.
Last year, the city's revenues topped 124 trillion dong, up 34.8% year-on-year.
But the tax and customs departments expect revenues to drop significantly this year because of tax breaks and deferment and the effects of the economic slowdown.
Bonds advance, dong falls
Bonds Thursday rose the most in two months after the central bank said it plans to leave its benchmark interest rate unchanged next month, having halved it to 7% since mid-October. The dong retreated.
"There were more buyers than sellers, probably because bond yields are expected to drop further as the central bank will maintain its key rate," said Nghiem Ngoc Minh,
Hanoi-based head of the capital-management department at Bank for Agriculture & Rural Development, Vietnam's biggest bank by assets.
The yield on the benchmark five-year note dropped 0.17%, the most since January 23, to 9.19%, according to a daily fixing price from about 10 banks compiled by Bloomberg. The rate had climbed to the highest level in more than two months on March 24.
The dong weakened for a third day following a move by the State Bank of Vietnam on March 24 to widen the currency's daily trading band. Policy makers allowed the dong to trade up to 5% of a daily reference rate, which was set at 16,975 dong to the dollar Thursday, from an earlier limit of 3%.
The dong declined as much as 0.3% to an all-time low of 17,824 dong against the US currency, before trading at 17,787 dong as of 4:05 p.m. in Hanoi, according to prices from banks compiled by Bloomberg.

Banks race against time to fulfil profit targets

30/Mar/2009 Intellasia | 27/Mar/2009 Dau Tu Chung Khoan page 28
Profit targets of many banks in 2009 are not as high as previous years. However, banks are racing against time to fulfill those targets. Credit expanding strategies were launched right from the start of this year, particularly since the State Bank of Vietnam introduced the package of subsidising lending interest rates for businesses, stimulating market demand.
Viet A Bank put forward its action plan for 2009 with pre-tax profit of 270 billion dong compared to the realised pre-tax profit of 90 billion dong in 2008. Viet A Bank said that in addition to the government's policy on subsidising the lending interest rate of 4%, the bank also support capital for individuals who borrow money to buy home and land.
At Asia Commercial Bank (ACB), in order to fulfill the targeted profit of 2.7 trillion dong that has not been approved by the shareholder meeting, the bank has constantly marketed loans. Since the central bank issued a circular instructing Decision 131/QD-TTg of the government on subsidising lending interest rates for individuals, businesses, ACB has twice held customer meetings in order to expand credit in the Mekong delta and southern provinces. Total capital that ACB by March 21 disbursed under the government's subsidising lending interest rates amounted over two trillion dong on total registered amount of 16 trillion dong.
In the first two months, Saigon Thuong Tin Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Sacombank) gained 222.8 billion dong in profit, of which revenue from credit accounted for over 50%. Sacombank targeted to obtain 1.6 trillion dong in pre-tax profit, 350 billion dong higher than last year. In order to realise the targeted profit, Sacombank set the credit growth target of 50 trillion dong, rising by 50% against last year and overdue loans will be controlled below 2.5%.
Tran Xuan Huy, Sacombank's general director, said that the bank's strategy is mainly targeting at small and medium enterprises and individuals under the government's demand stimulation policy. By the middle of March, total outstanding loans of Sacombank reached 37 trillion dong. Currently, the bank is promoting the credit growth, particularly consumer loans.
The pre-tax profit target of HDBank is 172 billion dong, doubling last year's figure of 80 billion dong. Thus, the bank expected to raise total deposits of 11 trillion dong in 2009, rising by 42% against last year. In order to promote such potential, HDBank this year planned to increase its chartered capital to three trillion dong.
In 2008, HDBank made financial investment of about 528 billion dong, accounting for 5.5% of total assets, of which investment into valuable papers of the government and credit organisations was 224 billion dong. The bank set aside some 24.16 billion dong for price depreciation provision.
Tran Phuong Binh, general director of Eastern Asia Bank (EAB), said that in the first two months, the bank obtained 109 billion dong in profit and planned to reach some 180 billion dong in profit in the first quarter. The main revenue of the bank still comes from credit and gold trading. This year, EAB expected 750 billion dong in pre-tax profit, rising by 50 billion dong against 2008. In order to realise such a target, EAB has reduced interest rates in order to share difficulties with clients in order to fulfill its credit growth target of 27 trillion dong this year.
In order to promote credit growth, realise profit targets in 2009, banks have put forward different measures to share with clients. For example, ACB does not collect fines for credit contracts that are paid prematurely, which help businesses ease pressures on lending interest. Meanwhile, EAB has four times reduced its lending interest rates for credit contracts when the ceiling lending interest rate remains high.
According to Ho Huu Hanh, director of HCM City branch of the central bank, by March 23 the southern banks disbursed 21 trillion dong worth of credit under the government's subsidising lending interest rates, accounting for one seventh of total disbursed credit of the whole banking system.

Advantages lean to foreign insurers

30/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Dau Tu Chung Khoan page 29 | Lao Dong Online
Foreign insurers operating in Vietnam were paid special attention last year. Information on loss or profit of subsidiaries of global well-known insurers in Vietnam are massively publicised, but did the information affect to the psychology of customers in the country?
According to Phung Dac Loc, general Secretary of Vietnam Insurance Association, in nature, the operation of 100% foreign invested insurance firms in Vietnam are being managed closely like domestic providers, meaning that Vietnamese authorities are monitoring the insurers' moves in ensuring interests for Vietnamese customers after singing contracts.
Sharing about the issue, Thomas O'Dore, general director of Liberty Vietnam stated that basically, subsidiaries usually operate independently of holding company. In Vietnam, Liberty focuses on products for individual customers and corporates such as insurance for car, health, housing and tourism.
However, in case the holding company posted high profits, subsidiaries will have extra advantages, he assessed.
In 2008, the US insurer Liberty Mutual reached the total revenue of US$28.855 billion, rising by US$11.2 billion year-on-year. With the financial strength, the insurance firm bought back other insurers namely Safeco and Ohio Casualty Corp and continued supporting its subsidiary in Vietnam. Particularly, the holding company raised the authorised capital of Liberty Vietnam to US$20 million, higher two times than the finance ministry's ruled level and sent experienced insurance experts to Vietnam aiming to bringing better products to local customers.
Given explanation on the good performance of Liberty Mutual in 2008 despite of economic movements, the group's chair Edmund F.Kelly said that the success was thanks to effective investment management and concentration on the core business of insurance field.
Immediately after Vietnam opened the door of insurance market, a line-up of foreign investors flooded into Vietnam. From this, a brisk and fierce competition among foreign and domestic insurers broke out, in which foreign insurance companies have more advantages than locals.
In March 2009 alone, two insurance giants from Japan and Korea entered wholly in Vietnamese market. HanWha Group pumped US$60 million in Korea Life Insurance Co in Vietnam and Japan's MSIG launched insurance products for asset, goods delivery and mechanical vehicles.
Some people assessed that Vietnamese market turned on the red light for local insurers. In 2005, there were three foreign firms among 16 non-life insurers operating in Vietnam. In field of life insurance, there were one state firm, one joint venture and six foreign invested companies.
In fact, the life insurance market now is totally dominated by foreigners. In 2007, Prudential led the market with total premium of 3.958 trillion dong, followed by Bao Viet Life Insurance Co with 3.250 trillion dong, AIA 547 billion dong, ACE Life with nearly 200 billion dong. Last year Prudential posted 4.270 trillion dong, Bao Viet 3.425 trillion dong, Manulife 1.072 trillion dong, and ACE Life's premium grew by 184% respectively.
Regarding non-life insurance market, big gainers in 2008 were still domestic firms, typically Bao Vietnam with the non-life insurance premium of 3.305 trillion dong, PetroVietnam Insurance (PVI) 2.016 trillion dong and Bao Minh 1.981 trillion dong. However, behind the above successful figure of Vietnamese insurers is a big alarming on their competitive strength. Factually, the success is for the reason that only few foreign firms were licensed to operate in non-life insurance. Especially, Vietnamese firms' good performance in non-life insurance field was thanks to the advantage of the policy of compulsory insurances mainly insurance for mechanical vehicles. According to the specialists, the advantage will be reduced gradually in 2009 because foreign insurers will have the right to launch the insurance products as Vietnamese companies.
Just in the year early, domestic firms raised the insurance fee whereas foreigners did not, even Liberty discounted 20% for promotion.
Thanks to the appearance of foreign firms, insurance products and services will become more diversified and professional and enjoyers are customers.
The insurance market is forecasted to grow by 13% in 2009 from total premium of 26.082 trillion dong in 2008. Vietnam now has 11 life insurers, 26 non-life insurers, one re-insurance company (Vinare) and 10 insurance brokerages, reported by the finance ministry.

Egypt suspends import of Vietnam processed catfish

30/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Lao Dong Online
Egypt suspended granting of import certificates for Vietnam's trade and basa shipments to carry out investigation on the product, reported on March 27 by Nguyen Huu Dung, vice chair of Vietnam Association for Seafood Exporters and Processors (Vasep).
The investor was started after Vietnam processed tra and basa catfish had been accused of being infected antibiotic.

India applies anti-dumping tariff on thread and cloth made by China, Thailand and Vietnam

30/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Kinh Te Vietnam & The Gioi page 1
India decided to impose the anti-dumping tariff of up to US$527 per tonne on the thread and cloth imported from China, Thailand and Vietnam in order to protect local producers, according to Customs general Administration People's Republic of China.
The new tariff will be enforced until September 25, 2009 and range between US$112.64 and US$527.31 per tonne.
Earlier, Anti-Dumping and Allied Duties (DGAD) of India's trade ministry reported the country's thread and cloth producers had to suffer material damages because of the dumping goods imported from China, Thailand and Vietnam.
Last week early, India imposed the import tariff of 35% on some aluminium products to protect domestic manufacturers before the flood of cheap goods from China.

Extra 65.96b dong for trade promotion

30/Mar/2009 Intellasia | government Website
Ministry of Industry and Trade approved 54 national trade promotion programmes for the second phase of 2009, mainly in processing industry and agriculture with total extra capital of 65.96 billion dong adding to the previously approved 62.64 billion dong of first phase.
The majority of trade promotion programmes are under methods of fairs, international exhibitions ordinary shares at 10,000 dong par market surveys in some countries and territories such as Japan, Germany, US, China, Korea, Singapore, India, Italy and Spain.

Q1 car import spending falls

30/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Thoi Bao Kinh Te Vietnam
During the first three months of this year, Vietnam's car import was over 6,000 units worth total US$102 million, falling 71.2% in volume and 72.4% in value compared to the same period of 2008. Of which, about US$62 million was spent on importing 3,500 Complete Built Units (CBUs), reported general Statistic Office (GSO).
In March alone, the import was 2,500 units worth US$60 million equalling to the import spending of both previous months.
Due to the impacts of new tariff on car import, from April 1, the prices of 6-9 seat cars and below 5-seats with the cylinder capacity of over 3,000 cm3 are forecasted to rise sharply.

Vietnam raises half of planned US$100m in dollar-bond sale

30/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Bloomberg
The government sold three-year dollar bonds worth US$50.1 million in the domestic market Saturday, half its originally planned amount, as investors balked at buying riskier longer-maturity debt.
The securities were sold with a coupon of 3.6%, according to an e-mailed statement from Hanoi Securities Trading Centre, where the auction took place. The highest rate sought by the sale's seven bidders was 7%, while the lowest was 2.15%. Bids totalled US$362.1 million.
At a previous auction on March 24, the government had sold only US$80 million of the planned US$100 million of two-year debt at 3.2%. Earlier, on March 20, the government sold US$100 million worth of one-year notes as planned at a coupon of 3%.
"The results of the auctions signal that investors are more interested in the short-term bonds," said Nguyen Manh, Hanoi-based director of treasury at the Bank for Investment & Development of Vietnam. "Investors expected higher interest rates" for the longer-term debt.
The bonds auctioned Saturday would be issued on March 31, the Hanoi exchange said. The Ministry of Finance announced on March 13 plans to raise US$300 million in the domestic market to help the government fund its stimulus package.

State Treasury raises US$50.1m from third tranche issue of US dollar bonds

30/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Thoi Bao Kinh Te Vietnam
Hanoi Securities Trading Centre (HASTC) on March 27 reported raising US$50.1 million from the three-year government bonds in US dollar issued on March 31 for the third tranche of 2009 by the State Treasury.
Attending the bond tender were seven members with total lawful bidding value of US$362.1 million, the lowest bidding coupon rate of 2.15% per annum, highest at 7% pa and the ceiling level of 3.6% pa.
Finally, total US$50.1 million of G-bonds at US$100 par were sold with the winning rate of 3.6% pa.
The government previously succeeded in mobilising US$100 million of first tranche bonds at 3% pa on March 20 and US$80.01 million of two-year bonds at 3.2% pa on March 24, 2009.
Therefore, through three bond tenders at HASTC, the mobilised capital reached US$230.11 million among total offering of US$300 million.
Earlier, the Ministry of Finance issued Decision No 505/QD-BTC guiding the issue of first phase bond issue in 2009, accordingly G-bonds will be issued, listed, traded and paid in US dollar.
Bondholders will have the right to transfer, present, or use as collateral in credit relations according to current regulations. They also must declare and pay PIT on earnings from bond business.

Nearly 180tr dong of soft loans disbursed

30/Mar/2009 Intellasia | CafeF
Commercial banks reported providing 178.722 trillion dong of subsidised loans up to March 26, 2009.
State Bank of Vietnam said that compared to March 20, 2009, the outstanding loans of the government's interest rate subsidisation programme increased by 26.819 trillion dong or 17.65% after one week.
Of which, the subsidised loans provided by state commercial banks and central People's Credit Fund accounted for 133.602 trillion dong, up 17.943 trillion dong or 15.51% while the figure of joint stock banks was 37.265 trillion dong, rising by 17.44%, joint ventures and foreign bank branches and 100% foreign invested banks with 7.559 trillion dong, and that by financial companies was 296 billion dong.
State companies borrowed 65.686 trillion dong of soft loans, private firms 107.172 trillion dong, cooperatives 651 billion dong, individuals and households were lent 4.968 trillion dong, and other institutions 245 billion dong.

MSIG sets up subsidiary in Vietnam

30/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Nguoi Lao Dong
MSIG Vietnam non-life insurer yesterday March 27, a subsidiary of Japan's Mitsui Sumitomo insurance group officially announced its commercial operations in Vietnam.
Entering Vietnam from 1995, MSIG established a joint venture in Vietnam two-years later and associated with other local insurers like Bao Minh.
With the event, MSIG is the first 100% Japanese invested non-life insurer in Vietnam.

Vietcombank, Bidv allowed to retain total lending limit and import guarantee for Petrolimex

30/Mar/2009 Intellasia | State Bank of Vietnam
Under the government's order, the State Bank of Vietnam's governor released Document No 2104/NHNN-TD allowing Vietcombank and Bidv to continue providing loans worth over 15% of their equity and credit guarantee of higher 15% of equity to Petrolimex.
Particularly, both banks can continue the credit limit of 2008 until June 2009.
Vietcombank and Bidv must report the lending for Petrolimex to the SBV governor every month.

TienPhongBank to issue 100m shares for capital raising

30/Mar/2009 Intellasia | CafeF
Tien Phong Commercial Joint Stock Bank (TienPhongBank) recently decided to increase its chartered capital by one trillion dong to reach the minimum compulsory capital of three trillion dong by 2010.
The bank will issue 100 million shares at 10,000 dong to raise capital to two trillion dong within this year and a similar rise in 2010.
After six-months from being operational, the bank earned 50 billion dong in after-tax profit and gained a dividend of 6%, reported the bank's general director Dao Trong Khanh.

LienVietBank to launch ATM system by Q2

30/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Dau Tu Chung Khoan page 29
Lien Viet Commercial Joint Stock Bank or LienVietBank on March 28 held the one-year establishment anniversary and reported gaining 679 billion dong in profit, total asset of 9.595 trillion dong, and total outstanding loans of 2.566 trillion dong.
The bank's network now covers 13 transaction sites including one headquarter, five branches and seven transaction offices.
LienVietBank also introduced the multi-functional ATM system which will be launched by the second quarter of 2009.

SCB awarded "Prominent International Payment" by Wachovia Wells Fargo

30/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Dau Tu Chung Khoan page 29
Saigon Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SCB) was recently granted the prominent international payment prize by Wachovia Wells Fargo.
This is the consecutive second year SCB received the prestigious award.
Last year SCB's revenue from international payment service increased by nearly 70% against 2007.

HASTC listed share code put into supervision list

30/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Thoi Bao Kinh Te Vietnam
Hanoi Securities Trading Centre (HASTC) on March 27 announced that it put the VE1 coded share of VNECO1 Electrical Construction Joint Stock Co into its supervision list because the firm posted a big loss in pre-tax profit last year.
Ending last Friday March 27, VE1 share price was down 1.96% to 5,000 dong per share.
Up to the start of March, there were 15 share codes being put into Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (STC)'s supervision while VE1 was the first case at HASTC.

SBV ordered Vinaland to stop issuance of housing saving fund certificate

30/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Phap Luat
State Bank of Vietnam-HCM City arm ordered Vietnam Real Estate Investment Joint Stock Co (Vinaland) to stop issuing the housing saving fund certificate, Phap Luat newspaper talked to Nguyen Ngoc Thang, vice director of the bank arm on March 27.
Through investigation, Vinaland was detected to violate Clause 13 Law on Credit Institution. In audition, the real estate trader illegally offered the committed lending rate of 200% while the Civil Law rules that the lending rate is not allowed to exceed 150% of SBV's basic rate.
On March 17, SBV released an official letter requiring Vinaland to halt the issuance of these fund certificates as well as other methods of capital mobilisation.
Thang added, the capital refund to fund certificate buyers is still under consideration of HCM City People's Committee.
Although SBV ordered to stop Vinaland's fund certificate issuance, the enterprise still invited the people registering to buy the first phase funds to sign money borrowing contracts. Also, the firm issued fund certificates for the second and third phases at six million dong each fund unit to 100 buyers.
In the first phase, on February 20, Vinaland had issued 522 housing saving fund certificates with the face value of five million dong to raise 2.083 billion dong.

PXP rejects rumours on withdrawal from Vietnam

30/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Thoi Bao Kinh Te Vietnam page 1
Kevin Snowball, general director of PXP Vietnam Assets Management Co on March 28 confirmed that his company planned to unify three independent investment funds into a sole fund and also rejected the recent rumours on the withdrawal from the Vietnamese market.
We are creating conditions for some shareholders to withdraw capital from PXP's funds, however, the money amount only is around US$10 million, he added.
Previously, PXP appointed Karim Salamatian to be the firm's investment research director in Vietnam.

Vinacomin allowed to export 3m tonnes of low-quality coal a year

30/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Thoi Bao Kinh Te Vietnam page 3
The Ministry of Industry and Trade allowed Vietnam Coal and Minerals Group (Vinacomin) to export low-quality coal (with ash ratio of over 39.5% or numerical heat transfer ratio of coal at below 4,600 cal per kilogramme) through Van Gia border gate of Quang Ninh province with the output of no more than three trillion tonnes a year. The group must be responsible for managing coal exports.
Before the 5th day every month, Vinacomin must report on coal export to ministries of industry and trade, natural resources and environment, general Customs Department.

India eyes Vietnam's mineral mining industry

30/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Thoi Bao Kinh Te Vietnam page 4
Indian Embassy to Vietnam and India Business Chamber (Incham) last Friday held a seminar titled "India's participation in the natural resource development of Vietnam".
Attending the seminar were Vietnamese Department of Foreign Investment, Tata Steel Group, and Indian businesses operating in Vietnam.
According to statistics of Incham, Vietnam's total investment for mineral mining has declined since 2008 to only 15% of FDI flow into Vietnam. But Indian enterprises are paying much attention to Vietnam's highly potential mining industry.
Vietnamese Ministry of Planning and Investment reported that till the end of last December, India invested 30 projects in fields of petroleum, steel production, rubber, tea in Vietnam with total value of US$195.6 million. India ranks 30th position among 84 foreign investors in Vietnam.

Business

VN Index ends increasing impetus

30/Mar/2009 Intellasia | AtpVietnam | HASTC | CafeF
After one week with four consecutively increasing sessions, the stock market today March opened a new week and ended a month with a sharp fall.
Although the purchase power in the market in previous session continued to be sustainable with a matching order trade of average 25 million shares each session, the high pressure of securities selling-off will be heavier. Due to this, the VN Index today officially cut the increasing impetus as falling 5.03 points or 1.75% from last Friday down to 282.38 pts. The session recorded the total matching order trade of nearly 24 million stocks for 534.13 billion dong, slumping 32% in both value and volume.
105 among 181 STC listed stock codes saw a reduction in prices, 46 rising, 29 standstill and one (BAS) had no transaction.
VIC of Vincom performed an impressive growth as rising by 2,000 dong to 42,300 dong per share. Meanwhile, VNM was down 500 dong to 80,000 dong, HAG falling to 52,500, PVF to 18,000, VPL plunging to 48,000, and STB slipping to 16,200 dong per share.
HPG and PPC both reduced by 900 dong to 31,100 dong and 24,900 dong per share correspondingly, DPM -1,400 to 32,000 and PVD -1,000 to 59,500 dong/share.
On the Hanoi Securities Trading Centre (HASTC), the HASTC Index on March 30 dipped 1.22 points or 1.24% against the previous day to close at 97.36 pts with total trade of 10,238,400 shares worth more than 215.385 billion dong.
During the session, VSP of Vinashin Petrol Investment and Petrol Joint Stock Co became the focus of the northern bourse when it had dipped to 42,500 dong per share and then suddenly saw a ceiling increase to 45,500 dong per share. 100 SVI coded shares of Bien Hoa Packing Joint Stock Co were traded at 12,600 dong each.
The leading code ACB fell 1,000 dong to 29,200 dong per share with over one million units changed hands.
BVS continued rising to 21,500 dong, HPC unchanged and KLS was down to 13,000 dong per share.

Business, banking and stock market report Mar 30

30/Mar/2009 Intellasia
* State Bank of Vietnam-HCM city arm ordered Vietnam Real Estate Investment Joint Stock Co (Vinaland) to stop issuing the housing saving fund certificate. Through investigation, Vinaland was detected to violate Clause 13 Law on Credit Institution. In audition, the real estate trader illegally offered the committed lending rate of 200% while the Civil Law rules that the lending rate is not allowed to exceed 150% of SBV's basic rate.
* Hanoi Securities Trading Centre (HASTC) on March 27 announced that it put the VE1 coded share of VNECO1 Electrical Construction Joint Stock Co into its supervision list because the firm posted a big loss in pre-tax profit last year.
* Dong Nai Garment and Textiles Corp (Donagamex) decided to change the par value of shares from 100,000 dong per share to 10,000 dong, issue more shares and convert the bonds to scale up chartered capital in 2009.
* State Securities Commission (SSC)'s governor on March 25 licensed the establishment of Hong Bang Securities Joint Stock Co (HBSC) with a chartered capital of 35 billion dong.
* Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) and Bolivia Gas and Natural Gas Group (YPFB) recently signed a cooperation deal in the petroleum sector whereby both signatories will co-research each other's petroleum potential toward to investment operation at some particular blocks.
* State Securities Commission (SSC)'s governor on March 25 licensed the establishment of Hong Bang Securities Joint Stock Co (HBSC) with a chartered capital of 35 billion dong.
* After spending US$49 million on taking over the paper and pulp mill in Canada's Quebec, Vietnam's firm Tan Mai Paper Group Joint Stock Co signed a contract with E.C Euro Consult Co to dismount and carry four technology lines of the paper mill to Vietnam. The entire technology lines will be equipped for Tan Mai-Mien Dong in Dong Nai province's Long Thanh Dist with a capacity of 150,000 tonnes of paper a year, Tan Mai-Kon Tum with 130,000 tonnes of pump paper and 200,000 tonnes of paper a year, Tan Mai-Quang Ngai with the same capacity of Tan Mai Kon Tum plant, and Tan Mai-Lam Dong capable of producing 200,000 tonnes of pulp a year.
* MSIG Vietnam non-life insurer yesterday March 27, a subsidiary of Japan's Mitsui Sumitomo insurance group officially announced its commercial operations in Vietnam. Entering Vietnam from 1995, MSIG established a joint venture in Vietnam two years later and associated with other local insurers like Bao Minh.
* FPT Telecom Joint Stock Co passed the plan of paying the 2008 dividend of 60% including 20% in cash and 40% in shares. Last year the telecom firm reached 1.299 trillion dong in net revenue, a year on year rise of 51% and 262 billion dong in after-tax profit, growing by 50.4% from 2007.
* The Ministry of Industry and Trade allowed Vietnam Coal and Minerals Group (Vinacomin) to export low-quality coal (with ash ratio of over 39.5% or numerical heat transfer ratio of coal at below 4,600 cal per kilogramme) through Van Gia border gate of Quang Ninh province with the output of no more than three trillion tonnes a year. The group must be responsible for managing coal exports.
* A memorandum of understanding on bilateral cooperation in petroleum exploration, service provision, oil refinery and human resources training was signed between the chair of Vietnam National Gas and Oil Group (PetroVietnam) Dinh La Thang and Exequiel Espinoza, president of Argentina's ENARSA Every Co.
* 577 Investment Joint Stock Co on March 28 broke ground on Son Tinh residence area project covering an area of 100 hectares in Son Tinh township, Quang Ngai province's Son Tinh Dist.
* FPT Joint Stock Co yesterday March 29 held the annual shareholders' meeting and offered the 2009 business plan with total revenue of 17.078 trillion dong, pre-tax profit of 1.451 trillion dong, growing by 17.01% against 2008's 1.240 trillion dong.
* Vinh Packing Plastic Joint Stock Co reported that last year it gained 219.683 billion dong in net revenue from sales and service provision, 5.587 billion dong in pre-tax profit, 3.940 billion dong in after-tax profit, EPS of 2,076 dong, and a dividend of 15%.
* Vang Danh Coal Joint Stock Co reported that in the last half of 2009, its dividend gained 9% in cash. The payment date is April 18, 2009.
* Under the government's order, the State Bank of Vietnam's governor released Document No 2104/NHNN-TD allowing Vietcombank and Bidv to continue providing loans worth over 15% of their equity and credit guarantee of higher 15% of equity to Petrolimex.
* Tien Phong Commercial Joint Stock Bank (TienPhongBank) recently decided to increase its chartered capital by one trillion dong to reach the minimum compulsory capital of three trillion dong by 2010. The bank will issue 100 million shares at 10,000 dong to raise capital to two trillion dong within this year and a similar rise in 2010.
* Lien Viet Commercial Joint Stock Bank or LienVietBank on March 28 held the one year establishment anniversary and reported gaining 679 billion dong in profit, total asset of 9.595 trillion dong, and total outstanding loans of 2.566 trillion dong.
* Saigon Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SCB) was recently granted the prominent international payment prize by Wachovia Wells Fargo.

Donagamex to raise capital from 20.8b to over 30.65b dong

30/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Dau Tu Chung Khoan page 20.
Dong Nai Garment and Textiles Corp (Donagamex) decided to change the par value of shares from 100,000 dong per share to 10,000 dong, issue more shares and convert the bonds to scale up chartered capital in 2009.
Accordingly, the company would issue extra 416.000 bonus shares at 10,000 dong par equivalent to the current chartered capital of 20% for existing shareholders and convert 2007 into 569,060 shares at 10,000 dong par. After finishing the plan, Donagamex's chartered capital will be increased from 20.8 billion dong to over 30.65 billion dong.
The shareholder's meeting passed the 2009 business plan with total revenue of 520 billion dong, pre-tax profit of 10 billion dong and a dividend of 15% against 2008's 20%.

Hong Bang Securities Co licensed

30/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Thoi Bao Kinh Te Vietnam
State Securities Commission (SSC)'s governor on March 25 licensed the establishment of Hong Bang Securities Joint Stock Co (HBSC) with a chartered capital of 35 billion dong.
HBSC is allowed to carry out the business specifications like securities brokerage and investment consulting.
The broker is addressed at Floor 1, Building No 144 Chau Van Liem St, Ward 11, HCM City's Dist 5.

Northwest Airlines licensed to fly to Vietnam

30/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Vietnamnet
The Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam (CAAV) has approved Northwest Airlines to launch daily service between HCM City and the United States, giving another option for pan-Pacific travel.
Vo Huy Cuong, director of CAAV's Air Transport Department, confirmed with the Daily on Wednesday that the aviation authority gave the go-ahead earlier this month for the subsidiary of the US's Delta Air Lines to fly to HCM City starting June 1.
Cuong explained that Northwest would operate flights between HCM City and San Francisco and Los Angeles via Tokyo. Passengers originating from HCM City will not be allowed to disembark in Japan nor will the flights take on passengers in Tokyo.
Cuong said Northwest had registered to use the 160-seat Boeing 757 aircraft and that the airline expected to organise a function in HCM City in April to announce its entry into this aviation market.
In a statement last November, Northwest announced it was planning to commence air service between Tokyo and HCM City given the growing demand for air travel between Japan and Vietnam. Delta Air Lines and Northwest operate flights from Tokyo to Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Atanta and Detroit.
Brian Swain, managing director of Northwest for Asia, said that as demand for travel between Vietnam and the US continued to grow, Northwest Airlines would offer convenient service to every major destination in North America.
Northwest will be the second American airliner to operate daily service to Tan Son Nhat International Airport in HCM City. United Airlines flies between HCM City and the US via Hong Kong.
According to CAAV, 46 foreign airlines operate passenger and cargo flights to and from Vietnam.

PNTC Corp's profit targeted at 17b dong in 2009

30/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Dau Tu Chung Khoan page 17
Phu Nhuan Construction Technology Corp passed the 2009 business plan with total net revenue of 197.9 billion dong, after-tax profit of 17 billion dong on a chartered capital of 41.3 billion dong. The company also will pay a 2009 dividend of 18% (including 8% in cash) if its profit in the first half of 2009 reaches over five billion dong.
Last year its pre-tax profit was recorded at 22.6 billion dong.

Ben Thanh Material Corp's '08 profit up 30.75%

30/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Dau Tu Chung Khoan page 17
Ben Thanh Material Corp reported that last year it gained 282.413 billion dong in total net revenue from sales and service provision, falling 9.72% year-on-year and 2.974 billion dong in pre-tax profit, rising by 29.30%, 2.555 billion dong of after-tax profit, jumping 30.75% against 2007 and ESP of 1,277 dong
The shareholder's meeting of the firm will be held on 16 April 2009.
The company now has a chartered capital of 20 billion dong.

Tan Mai Group equips modern production technology for big paper projects

30/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Thoi Bao Kinh Te Vietnam page 3
After spending US$49 million on taking over the paper and pulp mill in Canada's Quebec, Vietnam's firm Tan Mai Paper Group Joint Stock Co signed a contract with E.C Euro Consult Co to dismount and carry four technology lines of the paper mill to Vietnam.
The entire technology lines will be equipped for Tan Mai-Mien Dong in Dong Nai province's Long Thanh Dist with a capacity of 150,000 tonnes of paper a year, Tan Mai-Kon Tum with 130,000 tonnes of pump paper and 200,000 tonnes of paper a year, Tan Mai-Quang Ngai with the same capacity of Tan Mai Kon Tum plant, and Tan Mai-Lam Dong capable of producing 200,000 tonnes of pulp a year.
After finishing the projects, Tan Mai group's production output will be raised by 460,000 tonnes pf pulp and 350,000 tonnes of paper a year (excluding Tan Mai-Kon Tum) compared with the current figure of 150,000 tonnes a year.
By 2010, the mills will be operational.

Vinh plastic packing producer's EPS posted at 2,076 dong/share

30/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Dau Tu Chung Khoan page 20.
Vinh Packing Plastic Joint Stock Co reported that last year it gained 219.683 billion dong in net revenue from sales and service provision, 5.587 billion dong in pre-tax profit, 3.940 billion dong in after-tax profit, EPS of 2,076 dong, and a dividend of 15%.
Now the firm has a chartered capital of 15 billion dong and addressed at No K8 Phong Dinh Cang street, Ben Thuy Ward, Nghe An Province's Vinh City.

Australian Worldwide focuses on Vietnam after buying oil area

30/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Bloomberg
Australian Worldwide Exploration Ltd is concentrating on Vietnam and looking at investments there after buying a stake in an offshore oil exploration development in the country.
"Looking broadly at Vietnam and the opportunities there, Vietnam is now a focus area for the company," Australian Worldwide managing director Bruce Wood said in a telephone interview Wednesday. "We're putting our technical teams to work on Vietnam now."
This week Australian Worldwide agreed to buy a stake in Block 06/94 from UK-based Serica Energy Plc. A unit of Abu Dhabi-based Mubadala Development Co and a unit of Sweden's Lundin Petroleum AB also own shares in the block.
The government is trying to attract investors to offshore areas in a bid to reverse a four-year slump in production. JPMorgan Chase & Co predicted last year that Vietnam would boost output in 2009. The nation's crude oil exports rose 22% to 4.26 million tonnes in the first quarter, or about 355,000 barrels per day, according to government figures.
Block 06/94 is in the Nam Con Son Basin, about 250 miles off the coast and adjacent to an area where a group led by BP Plc is producing natural gas. The area is also adjacent to one where Premier Oil Plc has found oil, Australian Worldwide said in a March 23 statement.
Oil prospect
"There's proven oil generation in the block next door and we've looked intensively at our block, and we believe strongly there's an oil story there," Wood said. "Our fundamental focus is oil exploration, but we recognise there's also a significant possibility of gas. But we think there's a good chance for oil."
A prospect on Block 06/94 has "unrisked gross potential resource" of 159 million barrels of energy, Lundin said last month.
The move comes amid a flurry of recent activity in Vietnam's oil industry.
Total SA signed a contract to explore two onshore blocks in Vietnam's Mekong River Delta last week. Salamander Energy Plc said Wednesday it has completed seizmic work on a Mekong River Delta block it plans to drill in 2010 and that it will also drill offshore Vietnam in 2010, while Premier said Wednesday that its exploration focus for 2009 is in Vietnam.
The global economic situation is benefiting Australian Worldwide in its plans to expand in Asia, Wood said. The company currently also has interests in production or exploration areas in Australia, Indonesia, New Zealand and Yemen.
"In the current downturn, we can enter into projects more cheaply than we could have previously," he said, declining to say how much Australian Worldwide will pay for its stake in Vietnam. "We have no debt and a strong balance sheet, so we can move in where previously there was more competition, driven up by companies that were using debt financing."

PVFC's 2009 net earnings seen up eightfold

30/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Reuters
PVFC PVF.HM, the financial arm of state oil group PetroVietnam and 10% owned by Morgan Stanley (MS.N), forecast its net profit this year would jump nearly eightfold to 400 billion dong (US$22.5 million).
Revenue in 2009 was projected to rise 61% to 3.9 trillion dong from 2.42 trillion last year, mainly thanks to expected higher lending, the Hanoi-based company said in a statement on Monday.
Earlier this month PVFC said it would lend up to 20 trillion dong under a government-sponsored stimulus package to help businesses cope with the economic slowdown.
Last month PVFC said it posted a net loss of US$24 million for the fourth quarter of 2008 against US$17.5 million profit in the previous quarter as it made US$66 million provisions for investments, mainly in shares, and set aside another US$22 million for credit risks.
The company also said it aimed to achieve a return on equity of 6.9% in 2009.

Vietnamese export of crude oil surges in first two months of 2009

30/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Xinhua
Vietnam shipped 2.79 million tonnes of crude oil in the first two months this year, a year-on-year increase of 22.6%, according to the information centre of Vietnam's Ministry of Industry and Trade on Friday.
In February alone, though Vietnam's exported crude oil saw an increase of 1.1% in volume compared to January's figure to 1.4 million tonnes, prices of exported crude oil fell sharply of 54%, said the centre.
The country earned export turnover of crude oil in the first two months down 43.6% over the same period of 2007 to about 936 million US dollars.
Vietnam's major crude oil importers in the first two months this year was Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, Japan and China.

PetroVietnam expands investment to southern America

30/Mar/2009 Intellasia | VNA
Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) and Bolivia Gas and Natural Gas Group (YPFB) recently signed a cooperation deal in the petroleum sector whereby both signatories will co-research each other's petroleum potential toward to investment operation at some particular blocks.
In future, PetroVietnam will continue signing another deal with Argentina national petroleum company ENARSA.

PetroVietnam cooperates with Argentina's firm in petroleum projects

30/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Vietnam+
A memorandum of understanding on bilateral cooperation in petroleum exploration, service provision, oil refinery and human resources training was signed between the chair of Vietnam National Gas and Oil Group (PetroVietnam) Dinh La Thang and Exequiel Espinoza, president of Argentina's ENARSA Every Co.
Both signatories pledged to set up a general monitoring committee and a research group in future.

Vang Danh coal miner's H2 dividend reaches 9%

30/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Dau Tu Chung Khoan page 20.
Vang Danh Coal Joint Stock Co reported that in the last half of 2009, its dividend gained 9% in cash. The payment date is April 18, 2009.
With the chartered capital of 123 billion dong, the coal miner last year reached 878 billion dong in revenue and 32 billion dong in after-tax profit while its EPS was 2,619 dong.
In 2009, the company 1.500 trillion dong in revenue, 29 billion dong pre-tax profit and a dividend of 12%.

Vietnam National Coal to build a deepwater port

30/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Bloomberg
Vietnam National Coal-Mineral Industries Group, known as Vinacomin, will build a deepwater port at Khe Ga cape in Binh Thuan province, the Saigon Times Daily reported, citing deputy director Duong Van Hoa.
Khe Ga Seaport will be used for importing coal and exporting aluminum and minerals the group gets from the Central Highlands provinces of Dak Nong and Lam Dong, the newspaper said.
The US$250 million-port, occupying 315 hectares (778 acres), will be able to handle ships up to 80,000 deadweight tonnes, said the Saigon Times. Binh Thuan province is about 188 kilometres (117 miles) northeast of HCM City.

Vietnam's hotel room rental drops 30-50%

30/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Tuoi Tre
Vietnamese travel and tourism firms announced that the hotel room rental dropped 30-50% sharply against the last year end. Even, some hotels cut down the room rental twice or three times a year with 5-10% discount each time.
Four-five star hotels decided to reduce room leasing price by 15-40% while three star hotels by 5-15%, according to Bui Viet Thuy Tien, director of Asian Trails.

1.2tr dong to build Son Tinh residence area

30/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Thoi Bao Kinh Te Vietnam page 1
577 Investment Joint Stock Co on March 28 broke ground on Son Tinh residence area project covering an area of 100 hectares in Son Tinh township, Quang Ngai province's Son Tinh Dist.
Total cost for the project is estimated at 1.2 trillion dong and the completion time is scheduled by 2012.

Asian coffee prices flat, Vietnam trade slow on quality concerns

30/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Dow Jones
Coffee prices in Asia were little changed in the week to Friday, with stagnant trading in the world's largest robusta exporter, Vietnam, as buyers turned away from black beans, traders said.
Cash discounts in Vietnam were little changed at US$120 a metric tonne against the Euronext.liffe May robusta contract, which rose slightly to settle at US$1,572/tonne Thursday from US$1,565/tonne a week ago.
"There is no business, no buyers -they have probably turned to Indonesia, given the quality problems," said an executive at a large trading house in Vietnam.
Traders said the unseasonal rains earlier had damaged the quality of coffee beans, resulting in more black beans this year than usual.
Meanwhile, farmers in Vietnam continued to hold on to their stocks.
"They are smart. They know the economy has problems, and they know the currency may depreciate more, so they think holding the beans at the moment might be wiser, as they can probably get better prices later on," said a trader in Singapore. "After all, they are not short of cash."
Vietnam's exports in the crop year, which started October, rose 16.2% on year to 659,000 tonnes, or 10.98 million 60-kilogram bags, according to data provided by the general Statistical Office Tuesday.
In Indonesia, which is the world's fourth-largest coffee producer, the new harvest has just begun, and traders said the total output this year is likely to remain steady on year.
In India too, coffee prices remained steady.
Arabica plantation grade A prices were quoted around US$3,400/tonne, but traders said actual transactions were few, given the fall in output this year.
Robusta cherry AB crop prices were around US$1,650/tonne, unchanged from last week.

Pepper export price drops to US$2,282/tonne

30/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Tuoi Tre
Vietnam's pepper export in the first quarter of this year is estimated at about 25,000 tonnes of pepper, a year-on-year growth of 65%. Till March 20, the export reached 23,000 tonnes of pepper for US$56.3 million.
However, the price of exported pepper in the period dropped strongly from US$3,323 to US$2,282 per tonne, pulling the domestic price down to 28,000-29,000 dong per kilogramme.
The country's pepper harvesting output in 2009 will be about 95,000 tonnes, up 4,000 tonnes against 2008.

FPT Telecom targets 30% growth of both revenue and profit

30/Mar/2009 Intellasia | CafeF
FPT Telecom Joint Stock Co passed the plan of paying the 2008 dividend of 60% including 20% in cash and 40% in shares.
Last year the telecom firm reached 1.299 trillion dong in net revenue, a year-on-year rise of 51% and 262 billion dong in after-tax profit, growing by 50.4% from 2007.
FPT Telecom includes Northern FPT Telecom Ltd Co (FTN), Southern FPT Telecom Ltd Co (FTS), FPT Online Data Ltd Co (IDS), FPT Online Advertising Ltd Co (ADS), and FPT International Telecommunication One Member Ltd Co (FTI).
This year the firm targets to increase revenue by over 30% to 1.7 trillion dong and pre-tax profit to 465 billion dong, and plans to list on Hanoi Securities Trading Centre (HASTC).
FPT Telecom will issue 8,504,990 ordinary shares at 10,000 dong par to State Capital Investment Corp (SCIC) and another 7,184,314 shares to other shareholders in order to scale up the chartered capital from 424 billion dong to more than 594 billion dong. Of which SCIC will hold 50.1%.

FPT plans 1.451tr dong in 2009 profit

30/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Sai Gon Giai Phong
FPT Joint Stock Co yesterday March 29 held the annual shareholders' meeting and offered the 2009 business plan with total revenue of 17.078 trillion dong, pre-tax profit of 1.451 trillion dong, growing by 17.01% against 2008's 1.240 trillion dong.
The meeting also passed the 2008 cash dividend of 26% and the remaining profit will be kept to ensure the capital source for the group's business production plan in next years.
Thus, total ownership capital of FPT after paying the cash dividend will be 2.373 trillion dong.

New Material Research Centre project licensed in HCM City high tech park

30/Mar/2009 Intel Asia| Thoi Bao Kinh Te Vietnam page 2
The New Material Research and Training Centre (CETRATE) invested by the Saigon Technology and Economy Colleges was licensed yesterday March 27 by the management board of HCM City's High Tech Park (SHPT).
This project worth US$28 million (496 billion dong) will be built on an area of 1,000 square metres
During the first quarter of 2009, SHTP licensed three projects with total investment capital of US$102 million. There were eight projects being operational here and 13 others under construction.
To date, the High Tech Park has attracted total committed investment capital of US$1.717 billion.

Russian firm enters Vietnam's mobile information market

30/Mar/2009 Intellasia | VOVNews
Russia's mobile service provider, Vimpelcom with the Beeline brand name, has reached an agreement with Vietnam's GTel Telecom Group to set up a joint venture, GTel-mobile, in which Vimpelcom will hold a 40-% stake.
According to GTel-mobile's marketing director, Sergei Zakurayev, Vietnam is an attractive market for foreign investors because the Southeast Asian country is developing rapidly.
Zakurayev said that Vietnam's mobile information market is developing on par with countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). At present, Vietnam has six mobile service providers, three of them using the second generation of the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), creating fierce competition in the domestic market.
GTel-mobile plans to test its network in 2009 and cover the whole Vietnamese territory over the next three-years, Zakurayev said.
He expressed his belief that Vimpelcom will successfully penetrate the Vietnamese market and expects to secure 20% of the country's market share.
GTel-mobile was established in Vietnam in November 2007 under a contract signed during prime minister Nguyen Tan Dung's visit to Russia in September 2007.

Finance

2009-05-03T01:07:00.001-07:00

Vietnam experts calm despite clashing growth estimates

19/Mar/2009 Intellasia | DPA
International analysts in recent days have presented wildly varying estimates for Vietnam's 2009 GDP growth, but local economists said Wednesday they were not worried. "The global situation is volatile, and international experts cannot forecast the current situation," said Tran Dinh Thien, director of the Vietnam Institute of Economics. "So how can they do that for Vietnam?"
At a business roundtable that concluded Wednesday, the only thing economic forecasters could agree on was that the government's growth target for 2009 was too optimistic.
Justin Wood, director of The Economist Intelligence Unit's Southeast Asia Corporate Network, forecast growth for 2009 at just 0.3%, down from 6.2% last year.
Lim Chuan Poh, CEO of Singapore Telecommunications International, said growth would likely come in at 3%. JP Morgan Chase Chief Economist David Fernandez agreed with an International Monetary Fund forecast that put growth at 5%.
All the estimates were lower than the official government target of 6.5%.
"Lack of information about Vietnam's economy is the main reason for the different estimates," said Tran Duc Nguyen, former head of the prime minister's Research Commission, an economic advisory council that was abolished in 2006. "If they had sufficient data, the figures would not be varying by a factor of twenty times."
Nguyen said The Economist Intelligence Unit's low estimate was due to excessive reliance on Vietnam's export economy, not domestic demand, which he claimed constituted a large portion of Vietnam's GDP.
According to official statistics, however, exports account for 70% of Vietnam's GDP.
The economists also said they felt GDP growth was overrated as a measure of economic well-being.
"The government should not devote all its efforts to achieving high economic growth, but should pay attention to the quality of our growth," Thien said.
"Emphasising the rate of economic growth is very biased," Nguyen said. "It does not help to raise the quality of people's lives."
Since the 1990s, Vietnam's government has championed the success of its "doi moi" policies of economic reform in delivering greater wealth to its people. The country cut its poverty rate by more than half between 1991-2005, and per capita income topped 1,000 dollars per year in 2008.
Economists warn that falling export revenues due to the global economic slowdown are leading to large-scale layoffs and threatening the government's ability to raise enough revenue to meet its budget needs.
Some observers worry that economic setbacks may lead to rising social and political tension.

Financier upbeat on dollar G-bond issue

19/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Thoi Bao Kinh Te Vietnam
With the small scope issuance of US dollar G-bonds, it seems that the government is treading cautiously in testing the market's reaction.
On March 20, Hanoi Securities Trading Centre (HASTC) will officially auction the first session for US$100 million government bonds, starting the plan of issuing US$300 million G-bonds in the domestic market.
Concerning the plan, Thoi Bao Kinh Te Vietnam had a talk with Mac Quang Huy, independent financier about some relating issues in the following interview. Excerpts:
Is the government's decision to issue G-bonds in US dollars at this time suitable or not?
I think that the plan of issuing US dollar G-bonds in the domestic market at this time is very good because the move can help reduce the issue fee and capital mobilisation cost compared with the overseas issue. At the end of February 2009, Indonesia issued US$3 billion in international bonds (including US$2 billion of 10-year bonds at the yield rate of 11.75% per year and US$1 billion of five-year bonds at 10.5% pa). Meanwhile, Vietnam's first sovereign bond issue in 2005 are now traded at about 9.7% pa in the international market. Vietnam and Indonesia have the same lending limit so if issuing international bonds, Vietnam will have to pay a yield rate of about 10% a year. In which, the US dollar G-bonds with a term of less than 5 years issued in the domestic market carry the yield rate of about 3% pa.
I forecast, the yield rate of the government's US dollar bonds at 4% pa will be successful whereby the government could save 6% pa. Also, if issuing international bonds, the government will have to pay the issue fees for investment banks, rating companies, and cost of broadcast. On the other hand, the US$300 million of G-bonds is divided into three terms 1, 2 and 3 years with a small share offering volume so the government did not announce a too low yield rate ceiling whereby the capital mobilisation plan will be likely successful and not cause strong impacts on the foreign currency market.
Some people said that the issuance of US dollar G-bonds in the domestic market aimed to create a new financial tool and a new attractiveness for foreign investors. What do you think about this?
There will be few long-term foreign investors joining the issue because they can purchase G-bonds of Indonesia and Philippines with more attractive coupon rate. As for them, buying bonds of Vietnam or of Indonesia will have to suffer sovereign risks, leading to a rise in credit spread and a high demand yield rate.
When taking Vietnamese G-bonds, foreign investors usually purchase additional credit default swaps (CDS) of foreign providers in order to minimise risks. Now, the CDS spread for Vietnam's international bonds remains high at 7% pa.
Some domestic investors will not buy CDS because they accept a much lower coupon rate of G-bonds. Therefore, participants of the government's March 20 bond issuance are mainly local commercial banks and foreign banks in Vietnam. These banks now own a huge volume of low-cost US dollar capital raised from the domestic market. However, short-term foreign investors can pump capital into these G-bonds as a flexible cash management tool. Foreign investment in US dollar G-bonds can help the investors limit the depreciation of the dong against US dollar. Thus, Vietnam needs to increase transparency of government bonds in US dollar through the secondary market.
The government plans to offer these bonds under the public tender method. What is your comment?
In my opinion the government should not offer these bonds under the public tender to retail investors. Instead the bonds should be offered separately to some Vietnamese commercial banks that have surplus US dollars, for example Vietcombank, Bidv or ACB.
Vietnam now has billions of US dollars in bank deposits or banks have transferred excess hard currency funds offshore with foreign banks but earning very low interest. Also, banks are mobilising US dollar at 3.2% per annum for terms of 1-5 years. So, if the government should sell US dollar bonds to Vietcombank at the yield rate of 4% per annum, which will likely be successful because Vietcombank can enjoy the difference of 0.8% per annum (between US deposit rate of 3.2% pa and the G-bond coupon rate of 4% pa) to buy the government's less risky bonds.
In future, if wanting to reach the successful US dollar bond issues on the domestic market, the government needs to ascertain the combined US dollar holding of the banking system and private holdings to make informed decisions. A US$1 billion bond issuance could cause a very strong affect on the market. By that time, commercial banks could hike US dollar deposit rates, which will urge people to deposit US dollars instead of the dong and influence the dong/US dollar forex rate. Some say dollarisation [of the economy] could surge again as a result.
What do you think about the goal of the G-bond issue?
Regarding the capital usage, I do not have a clear awareness on the government's capital usage purpose excepting the compensation for state budgetary overspending, raising capital for key projects. I think that the government is testing the market's reaction to launch following issuances.
As I know, the government now plans to issue US$1 billion international bonds in 2009. Vinashin also schedules to offer US$400 million bonds overseas. I will not be surprised if Vinashin is allowed to borrow the capital supply from the government. Absolutely, the more importance is that the capital using purposes must be clear and effective because the state budget is naturally people's tax.

No worries in US dollar bond issuance: specialist

19/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Vietnamnet
Le Duc Thuy, former Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam, now Chair of the National Finance Supervision Committee, believes that there are no worries about the dollarisation in the issuance of bonds in US$.
In the talk with Thoi bao kinh te Vietnam's newspaper, Thuy said that the bond issuance will not worsen the dollarisation as some experts fear, while it will help put dollars drifting on the market under control and ensure that the dollars can be used for the right purposes.
He said:
In principle, the National Finance Supervision Committee advocates the issuance of government bonds in both local currency and dollar. Therefore, we cannot see any worries in the upcoming issuance.
The government bond issuance proves to be a must, when we need to mobilise capital from the public for investment, while the state budget may face the deficit.
The main thing we need to care for is that the bond interest rates should be reasonable to successfully raise funds from the public. At the very sensitive moment, accepting a little high interest rate to successfully mobilise capital would be better than insisting on low interest rates and unsuccessfully mobilising capital. The failure of the capital mobilisation will badly affect the demand stimulus policies.
The interest rates are relatively high on the international market. Vietnam will not be able to afford such high interest rates. However, if we are mobilising capital at the domestic interest rates, the buyers of the bonds will be Vietnamese people only.
Some experts have warned that the bond issuance in dollar at this moment will make the dollarisation more serious. Do you agree with this?
I don't think so. The dollarisation occurs when people use dollars in payment, especially when the dollars lie among the public. Meanwhile, issuing bonds in dollars means that we try to collect dollars and put them in the banking system. This should be seen as a measure to fight the dollarisation.
Jica has just said that the dollarisation in Vietnam has decreased as the deposits in dollars have been increasing. This means that the dollars drifting on the market have been put into the bank system.
If the government does not need to use all the dollars it mobilises, it can sell the dollars to get dong to serve its spending. The dollars will be sold to those who really need to the dollars. Therefore, there is no need to worry about the dollarisation.
But why do you think the government plans to issue bonds in dollars, not dong, at this moment?
We once issued bonds in both dong and dollars. We lately issued bonds in dong, but the issuance failed because of the offered low interest rates.
The most important thing that makes us think of issuing bonds in dollars is that banks have profuse capital in dollars, but the loaning in dollars have been going slowly as businesses dare not borrow in dollars for fear of the exchange rate fluctuations.
In the US, the bond always has the interest rate at less than 1%. Meanwhile, experts believe that the interest rate of the bonds to be issued will be relatively high. Do you think that the high interest rates will badly affect the credit ranking of the government?
To date, even as the Chair of the National Finance Supervision Committee, I still don't know how high the interest rates should be. Commercial banks are paying between 2.5-3% per annum for US$deposits.
I think we should not compare the bond issuance in Vietnam with the US. Only the country with the credit ranking at AAA can borrow money with the interest rate close to Libor.

Vietnam inflation could dip below 10% in '09

19/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Tuoi Tre
The Central Institute of Economic Management (CIEM) on March 17 organised an international conference titled "Financial crisis and the role of investment" to seek and share experiences in countering with the global economic storm.
According to the assessment of some international organisations, Vietnam's GDP growth will range between 4.3% and 5.5% in 2009 and the inflation will be around 6-9%, less than 10%.
Sharing experiences with Vietnam, Dr Zhang Yunling-director of China's Social Science Academy's International Research Institute said that to fight the strong affects of the global economic earthquake, China reduced export tariff, built up reform programmes for 10 key industrial sectors, launched the four trillion yuan stimulus package (of which 37% was given for infrastructure development, 9% for rural area development, 10% for housing development and 9% for industrial restructure).
As stated by Fuku Kimura-chief economist of the Economic Research Institute for Asean and East Asia (ERIA), Vietnam's macro-economic policies in short-term should focus on maintaining transparency, stabilising finance and reinforcing the social security network.

Gold market in downturn

19/Mar/2009 Intellasia | 18/Mar/2009 VnExpress
Along with the downtrend of the world gold price, the domestic selling gold price on March 18 dropped by 50,000 dong per tael against previous day.
At Saigon Jewellery Joint Stock Co, the SJC gold price was listed at 19.35 million dong/tael (buying) and 19.43 million dong/tael (selling), a day on day fall by 50,000 dong/tael and it was 19.37-19.43 million dong/tael (buying-selling price) at Phu Nhuan Jewellery and Gemstone Joint Stock Co (coded PNJ).
Meanwhile at Bao Tin Minh Chau Joint Stock Co, the selling price declined by 100,000 dong/tael against previous day to 19.42 million dong/tael and the buying price quoted at 19.32 million dong/tael.
On ACB gold trading floor, the trading price ranged around 19.212 million dong/tael with a total trading volume of 33.6 taels worth 644.95 billion dong.
In the free foreign currency market, the forex rate was traded at 17,680 dong/US dollar (buying price) and 17,710 dong/US dollar (selling price), increasing by 10 dong/US dollar from yesterday.

Vietnam says banks can't skirt FX band with derivatives

19/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Reuters
Vietnam's central bank said on Wednesday commercial banks could not use derivatives to trade dollar/dong on the spot interbank market in order to skirt the currency's official trading band.
The State Bank of Vietnam several months ago banned the use of third currencies to circumvent the band, which stands at +/-3% around a midpoint set each day by the central bank. It said on Wednesday it planned to step up monitoring.
Bankers say that in practice some traders have been using currency options and other methods to trade dollar/dong outside the band, at a rate that many see as more market-oriented.
Last week commercial banks' forex rate was listed common at 17,481-17,486 dong per US dollar.

Hanoi's total deposits estimated at 460.251tr dong in Jan-Mar

19/Mar/2009 Intellasia | CafeF
Total deposits of Hanoi based banks and credit institutions are estimated at 460.251 trillion dong in the first three months of this year, up 25% year-on-year but down 0.36% from the end of 2008.
Meanwhile, the banks lent total 276.156 trillion dong in the period, jumping 27.4% against the previous year and 4.04% from the last year end.

SHB receives dong deposits at 8.58%/yr

19/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Thoi Bao Kinh Te Vietnam
Saigon Hanoi Commercial Joint Stock Bank or SHB yesterday announced to adjust the progressive dong deposit rates all over the network whereby the bank's highest deposit rate was 8.58% per annum, marking one of attractive interest rates on the market now.
SHB raised deposit rates for all terms by 0.3-0.5% per annum. The 6-36-month deposits carry an interest rate of 8-8.5% pa. With a deposit of over three billion dong and a term of 36 months, depositors can enjoy the highest level of 8.58% pa.
According to the bank's general director Nguyen Van Le, the interest rate adjustment aims to raise capital for meeting the rising demand of corporate customers under the government's stimulus package.
In this month, pursuant to SBV's Decision 508/QD-NHNN, SHB Asset Management Co Ltd was established.

PVFC to allocate 20tr dong for subsidised loans

19/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Thoi Bao Kinh Te Vietnam page 10
Southern bourse-listed PetroVietnam Finance Joint Stock Corp (PVFC-coded PVF) yesterday March 18 officially carried out the credit subsidisation package to Vietnamese enterprises under the prime minister's Decision No 333/QD-TTg dated March 10, 2009 allowing financial companies to launch the interest rate subsidisation programme according to the Decision No 131/QD-TTg.
Tong Quoc Truong, PVFC's general director said that his firm will spend some 20 trillion dong on this programme.
The interest rate subsidisation will be 4% a year based on the total outstanding loans and the lending duration of from February 1 to December 31, 2009. The maximum subsidised lending duration will be eight months.

VietinBank to negotiate on loan rate

19/Mar/2009 Intellasia | 18/Mar/2009 Cong Thuong
The Bank for Industry and Trade of Vietnam (VietinBank) on March 18 said it would offer loans at negotiated rates for home buyers, land use rights used to build a home, cars, or studying costs and medical treatmenta and other consumer loans.
The negotiation lending rate can exceed 150% of the central bank's basic rate but not lower than the VietinBank's regulated floor interest rate in each period.
As for credit contracts signed before March 16 and not yet being disbursed, customers can negotiate to resign these credit contracts according to the negotiation lending rate.
VietinBank's negotiation lending rate programme relies on the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV)'s governor's Circular No 01/2009/TT-NHNN dated January 23, 2009 guiding negotiation lending rate of credit institutions for consumer loans.

HDBank signs credit guarantee deal with VDB

19/Mar/2009 Intellasia | 18/Mar/2009 Vietstock
Under a credit guarantee agreement signed recently between HCM City Housing Development Joint Stock Bank (HDBank) and Vietnam Development Bank (VDB), the two sides will jointly provide credit and credit guarantee to enterprise, especially SMEs, for investment projects and business and production development.
Accordingly, HDBank and VDB will introduce to each other customers who want to borrow capital. In addition, HDBank will provide VDB information on enterprise appraisal and ranking along with regulations on lending conditions to enterprises.
In return, VDB will also provide HDBank guidance on guarantee regulations and other relevant regulations in VDB's system.

Mekong Delta housing developer allowed to deduct for risk standby fund

19/Mar/2009 Intellasia | 18/Mar/2009 State Bank of Vietnam
The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV)'s governor on Match 18 issued an Official Dispatch No 1818/NHN-CNH allowing Mekong Delta Housing Development Commercial Joint Stock Bank (MHB) to deduct for its risk standby fund according to the Clause 7 in the Decision No 493/2005/QD-NHNN.
Under the document, MHB was required to continue to study, check and appraise to periodically complete the bank's internal credit ranking system and suitable risk standby policy in accordance with the laws. The lender has to study and build database system on customers' credits to appraise the credit risk as well as insolvency of borrowers.

VietBank inaugurates Phu Nhuan transaction site

19/Mar/2009 Intellasia | 18/Mar/2009 Lao Dong
Vietnam Thuong Tin Commercial Joint Stock Bank (VietBank) yesterday March 18 officially inaugurated Phu Nhuan transaction office at No 95C Phan Dang Luu, ward 7 in Phu Nhuan Dist.
VietBank has opened its transaction sites in four provinces so far and plans to inaugurate five branches in Hai Phong, Da Nang and HCM City in the first half of this year.
As planned, the bank's network will include 40 transaction sites nationwide by the end of this year.

Korea life insurer sets up in Vietnam

19/Mar/2009 Intellasia | 18/Mar/2009 Lao Dong
Korean life insurer Hanwha Group on March 16 officially joined Vietnam's life insurance market.
Representative from Korea Life said that it was licensed in 2008. This year, Korea Life plans to open two branches in Hanoi and HCM City.
At the same time, the insurer will introduce four main products to attract about 4,000 customers by the end of the year.

Supply increases, VN Index drops 2.32% to 267.04 pts

19/Mar/2009 Intellasia | AtpVietnam | HaSTC
In the face of the strong increase of the supply, the Vietnam's stock market today March 19 tumbled after four consecutive increases. The index of Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (STC) lost 6.35 points or 2.32% to 267.04 pts with the total matching order trade of over 32.2 million shares worth 639 billion dong, rising 17% in volume and 26% in value day on day.
70% of listed shares decreased. Particularly, among 175 share codes and four fund certificates being listed on the southern bourse, the stock market saw 127 shares decreased with 67 falling to the floor price, 27 others increased with four reaching the ceiling price and 25 remaining shares stood still.
Out of top ten market largest capitalised shares, only PPC of Pha Lai thermo power firm reached the ceiling price with 1,000 dong to 21,500 dong per share along with VNS, MPC, DHG, REE, GMD, DQC and DCL. Others decreased such as DPM -1,500 to 29,500 dong per share, FPT -2,300 to 45,500, HPG -1,400 to 27,800, VIC -1,900 to 36,800 and VPL -2,100 dong to 40,500 dong per share.
STB still led the market in trading volume with 4.28 million shares and then SSI with 3.09 million, REE 2.54 million, SAM 2.05 million, ITA 980,000 and DPM with 920,000 shares changing hands.
Similarly, Hanoi Securities Trading Centre (HaSTC) today March 19 also tumbled as the HaSTC Index slipped 1.84 points or 1.87% to end at 96.3 pts with the total market trade of 21,767,881 shares valued at nearly 434 billion dong.
Some big gainers were KBC +2,100, S99 +2,000, VSP +1,700, SDC +1,400 and PAN and PSC +1,200 dong per share.
Some big losers included DTC -1,800 and GHA and VMC -1,100 dong per share.
ACB was still the bestseller with 3,838,900 shares and followed by KLS with 3,648,400, BCC with 2,422,800, BVS 1,542,200, VSP 928,100, BTS 858,000, TS HPC 834,700, VCG 554,600 and PAN with 420,100 shares being transacted.

Business briefs March 19

19/Mar/2009 Intellasia
* Southern bourse-listed Vietnam Dairy Product Joint Stock Co (Vinamilk-coded VNM) has recently announced this year's business and production plan which will be submitted to the company's coming shareholders' meeting on March 31. As planned, Vinamilk targets to bring 9.22 trillion dong in revenue, 1.438 trillion dong in after tax profit, a year-on-year rise of 10% and 15% respectively and 30% dividend payment.
* Listed firm Refrigeration Electrical Mechanical Joint Stock Co (coded REE) announced that it started construction on the plant of producing electricity from rubbish bury field in Dong Thanh Commune, Hooc Mon Dist and Phuoc Hiep commune of Cu Chi Dist, HCM City. The project investors are Korea's KMDK Ltd and REE.
* The Vietnam Machinery Installation Corp (Lilama) on March 18 inaugurated a shipyard using the world's most modern technology in the northern city of Hai Phong. Lilama's shipyard project, which is part of the government's shipbuilding industry development scheme to 2010, has a total investment capital of 260 billion dong including 45 billion dong from the state budget, 60 billion dong in preferential loans of Vietnam Development Bank (VDB)'s Hai Phong Branch and the remaining parts mobilised by Lilama.
* Tan Dinh Travel Joint Stock Co, better known as Fiditour, yesterday launched a promotion for domestic package tours from HCM City to the central and northern regions with discounts of 32%-40%, equivalent to 1.6-3 million dong. Accident insurance has been raise from 10 million dong to 20 million dong.
* Ngoc Ngan Co Ltd has cemented a deal with Tien Giang Province's Coo Be District to export 150 hectares of Global GAP standard longans. The company is shipping four containers of the fruit daily to the UK, France and Canada.
* Espace Business Hue Joint Stock Co has been granted an investment certificate to establish a Big C supermarket, the largest of its kind in the northern and central regions, at a cost of nearly 300 billion dong on 20,300 square metres in Hue City
* Phu Nhuan Jewellery Joint Stock Co has announced its 2008 revenue from selling and exporting gold ingots topped one trillion dong and US$16.2 million, 98% and 84% year-on-year increases respectively. The company has already sealed deals ensuring its 2009 revenue and net profit targets of 4.5 trillion dong and 150 billion dong respectively, up 23% over last year.
* Construction of the 200 bed Minh Duc general Hospital, to be the first private-owned hospital in the Mekong Delta's Ben Tre Province, is underway on 5,200 square metres in Ben Tre Town. The six-story facility will be worth over 119 billion dong.
* Vietnam Thuong Tin Commercial Joint Stock Bank (VietBank) yesterday March 18 officially inaugurated Phu Nhuan transaction office at No 95C Phan Dang Luu, ward 7 in Phu Nhuan Dist. VietBank has opened its transaction sites in four provinces so far and plans to inaugurate five branches in Hai Phong, Da Nang and HCM City in the first half of this year.
* Saigon Hanoi Commercial Joint Stock Bank or SHB yesterday announced to adjust the progressive dong deposit rates all over the network whereby the bank's highest deposit rate was 8.58% per annum, marking one of attractive interest rates on the market now.
* The Bank for Industry and Trade of Vietnam (VietinBank) on March 18 said it would offer loans at negotiated rates for home buyers, land use rights used to build a home, cars, or studying costs and medical treatmenta and other consumer loans. The negotiation lending rate can exceed 150% of the central bank's basic rate but not lower than the VietinBank's regulated floor interest rate in each period.
* Under a credit guarantee agreement signed recently between HCM City Housing Development Joint Stock Bank (HDBank) and Vietnam Development Bank (VDB), the two sides will jointly provide credit and credit guarantee to enterprise, especially SMEs, for investment projects and business and production development.
Sources: Thoi Bao Kinh Te Vietnam, Lao Dong, Nguoi Lao Dong, Dau Tu, Dau Tu Chung Khoan, Tuoi Tre, Thanh Nien, Tin Tuc, Nhan Dan, Vietstock, SSC, VCBS, HaSTC.

Vinamilk plans 30% dividend in 2009

19/Mar/2009 Intellasia | 18/Mar/2009 Thoi Bao Kinh Te Vietnam
Southern bourse-listed Vietnam Dairy Product Joint Stock Co (Vinamilk-coded VNM) has recently announced this year's business and production plan which will be submitted to the company's coming shareholders' meeting on March 31.
As planned, Vinamilk targets to bring 9.22 trillion dong in revenue, 1.438 trillion dong in after tax profit, a year-on-year rise of 10% and 15% respectively and 30% dividend payment.
In addition, Vinamilk will invest 1.208 trillion dong in its fixed assets. Of which, 203 billion dong will be invested in Maga factory project and 295 billion dong in soft drink factory project.
In 2008, the company's total revenue was 8.381 trillion dong and 1.371 trillion dong in pre tax profit with EPS of 7,132 dong.

Citigroup Global sells 5,330 DHG coded shares

19/Mar/2009 Intellasia | AtpVietnam
Hau Giang Pharmaceutical Joint Stock Co (coded DHG) announced that its shareholder Citiroup Global Market Ltd and Citigroup Global Market Financial Products Ltd sold out 5,300 DHG shares on March 3, reducing the holding of Citigroup Global in DHG from 1,003,076 shares (or 5.02%) to 997,746 shares or 4.99%.
During the last quarter of 2008, DHG reached 437.952 billion dong in net revenue from sales and service provision, up 2.5% or 10.414 billion dong from the same period of 2007, and 32.136 billion dong in after-tax profit, bringing the figures of the whole 2008 to about 1.546 trillion dong revenue and 135.867 billion dong profit.
The firm's EPS was posted at 6,796 in 2008.
After the session March 18, DHG increased by 5,000 dong to 105,000 dong per share with a recorded trade of 58,790 shares.

Sao Ta Food JSC registers to buy nearly 500,000 fund shares

19/Mar/2009 Intellasia | CafeF
Sao Ta Food Joint Stock Co (coded FMC) has recently registered to buy 497,530 its shares as fund shares to stabilise the price of FMC-coded shares according to the negotiation and matching order methods.
The purchase duration is from March 25 to June 25.
The capital to buy these shares is from the company's capital surplus to December 31, 2008.

Local shoemakers can't find foothold

19/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Vietnamnet
The export slowdown has had local shoemakers turn their attention to the domestic market, which has been dominated by foreign products, particularly those from China and Thailand.
The general Statistical Office has noted a dramatic decrease in orders from Vietnam's key export markets in the US, Europe and Japan. Footwear exports generated US$658 million in the past two months, a decrease of 7.3% from the same period last year.
Vietnamese footwear producers have not been able to carve out a strong presence in the domestic market because foreign offerings are better designed and less costly.
Huynh Quang Thai, a footwear trader, says he delivers goods directly to small booths at the markets in District 5 for an average of 85,000 dong (US$5) for brand name pairs made in Vietnam and those are sold to customers at around 140,000 dong (US$8.2). However, buyers pay just 65,000 dong (US$3.8) for products with diverse designs from China.
Vu Van Minh, general director of Vietnam Shoes Company, says footwear consumption in the domestic market has reduced by 30-40% compared with the same period last year.
Many domestic manufacturers, wholesale and retail businesses, as a result, are in deep trouble and facing the threat of closure.
Financial troubles have caused consumers to tighten their budgets and Chinese shoes companies facing export difficulties in major markets are now switching their focus to the Vietnamese market, hence domestic footwear makers are suffering, Minh says.
Independent market observers also say local enterprises have lost significant market share to foreign competitors because they lack distribution networks, and have not yet built up their brand names in the local market.
Footwear made in Thailand also have a major presence in the Vietnamese market, offering, like the Chinese, a wide variety of designs at lower costs.
A footwear wholesaler in An Dong market says Thai footwear costs only half as much as similar locally-made products.
According to the Vietnam Leather and Footwear Association (Lefaso), domestic tanneries are capable to meet just 20% of national demand. Vietnam, therefore, has to import 80% of its tanned leather from foreign countries.

Vietnam blocks US manufacturer's products on cancer scare

19/Mar/2009 Intellasia | DPA
Large supermarkets in Vietnam have stopped selling Johnson & Johnson products on news that the company's baby shampoo sold in the US contained chemicals that could cause cancer, the supermarkets said Wednesday. A US consumer group, the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, reported this week that it had found formaldehyde and 1,4-dioxane in several varieties of Johnson's baby shampoo. The chemicals are considered probable carcinogens, and are banned from cosmetics in some countries, but not in the US.
"We received the order to stop selling most Johnson & Johnson's products, except for makeup powder, in our supermarket chain on Tuesday," said Nguyen Tuyet Thu, a sales manager at Coopmart, one of Vietnam's largest domestic chains.
Nguyen Thi Hong Gam, head of the products division at top Vietnamese supermarket Fivimart, said distributors had informed her Tuesday they were no longer supplying Johnson's products.
The Vietnamese newspaper Lao Dong reported Wednesday that the international retailer Big C would stop selling Johnson's products at its Vietnamese stores until they were certified as safe.
On Monday, Truong Quoc Cuong, head of Vietnam's Drug Administration Agency, said his agency would test Johnson & Johnson products and announce its results as soon as possible.
Vietnam is one of several East Asian countries, including Hong Kong and Taiwan, where stores have dropped Johnson & Johnson products since news of the contaminants broke.
Formaldehyde is used widely in construction materials in Vietnam, and tests have periodically detected it in locally made rice noodles.
The Vietnamese press and public have become increasingly concerned about chemical contaminants in recent years. In the past 18 months, the government has ordered recalls of contaminated soy sauce, substandard milk powder, and melamine-contaminated Chinese milk.

Vietnam Airlines to buy 14 ATR72-500 aircraft Jun '09-May '10

19/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Dow Jones
Vietnam Airlines will purchase 14 new ATR72-500 airplanes from June this year to May next year to replace its existing ATR72-200 planes, the Ministry of Transport said Wednesday.
The ministry didn't say how many ATR72-200 planes the country's flag carrier currently has, but said it operates a total of 50 planes on 29 domestic routes and 36 international routes.
The airline plans to expand its fleet to 104 by 2015 and to 150 by 2020. The expansion will include the purchase of 39 new Boeing B787s, Airbus A350-900s and A321 planes, the ministry added.
It said Vietnam Airlines is preparing to become the second biggest airline in Southeast Asia by 2015, after Singapore Airlines.
Earlier this month, the Vietnam Aviation Department said Vietnam Airlines will invest 4.49 trillion dong (US$264 million) to develop its business this year.
The company will use 3.74 trillion dong to buy new airplanes, the department said. The rest will be invested in training and in other businesses.

Vietnam trade fair to be held in Russia

19/Mar/2009 Intellasia | VOVNews
Local enterprises are preparing for a fair featuring Vietnamese exports, the first of its kind, in Russia from September 15-18.
The European Market Department, under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, reported that 50 domestic companies from 10 sectors such as agriculture, aquatic products and light industry, are expected to take part in the fair to promote trade to the European market.
La Van Chau, from the Department, commented that Russia is a high-potential market for Vietnamese commodities, particularly seafood, farm produce, apparel and footwear, as demand for these products is on the rise in the European market.
Vietnam and Russia have seen a surge in bilateral trade in recent years, marked by a record of US$1.5 billion in two-way revenues in 2008. Of that amount, Vietnam exported US$672 million, an increase of 67% year-on-year, and plans to increase that figure to US$1 billion in 2009.

Vietnam dumps lamps, says India

19/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Vietnamnet
Vietnamese exporters of compact fluorescent lamps will suffer higher import tariffs in India after the country's anti-dumping agency ruled that they dumped products.
The Vietnam Competition Authority (VCA) said Monday India's director general of Anti-dumping and Allied Duties had finalised a lawsuit against Vietnamese exporters of compact fluorescent lamps.
Exporters from China and Sri Lanka were also named in the lawsuit, but only Chinese exporters would face punitive measures along with their Vietnamese counterparts, VCA said.
Chinese exporters will face antidumping tariffs ranging from US$0.364 to US$1.908 per unit and Vietnamese exporters between US$0.452 and US$1.582, according to the Indian authority.
The ruling charged Vietnamese and Chinese exporters of injuring Indian manufacturers and threatening the country's industry.
Compact fluorescent lamp imports from China increased sharply from 36.32 to 87.86% of India's total lamp import in the 2003-2007 period while Vietnam accounted for 4.46% in 2007.
Exporters from Sri Lanka were ruled out of the lawsuit as their products accounted for less than 3% of India's total imports and have yet to injure its industry, the authority said.
India imported 121 million lamps in 2006-2007, according to the director general.

Lilama inaugurates modern shipyard in North

19/Mar/2009 Intellasia | 18/Mar/2009 Hanoi Moi
The Vietnam Machinery Installation Corp (Lilama) on March 18 inaugurated a shipyard using the world's most modern technology in the northern city of Hai Phong.
Lilama's shipyard project, which is part of the government's shipbuilding industry development scheme to 2010, has a total investment capital of 260 billion dong including 45 billion dong from the state budget, 60 billion dong in preferential loans of Vietnam Development Bank (VDB)'s Hai Phong Branch and the remaining parts mobilised by Lilama.
The project under the consultancy of Japan-based Kanematsu Group, was designed by Port & Waterway Engineering Consultant Joint Stock Co (TEDI PORT)-the Ministry of Transportation.
At the inaugurating ceremony, Lilama also delivered the MS "Mittelpate" ship worth US$5.6 million and signed another contract to build a Hohe Bank with Germany-based Briese ship-owner.

Global equipment supplier receives investment capital from Japanese bank

19/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Saigon Economic Times Online
Global Equipment Service Joint Stock Co (GES) announced to receive the stake investment capital from Development Bank of Japan (DBJ).
Two sides have not yet revealed the investment figure. However, Tran Don-chair cum general director of GES said that the extra capital will be invested in developing infrastructure and upgrading customer care services, signing M&A deals and new production technique.
GES will also expand network globally to develop businesses in other markets, launching training applications and modern technologies.
According to Shin Kikuchi, head of DBJ's Business and Technology Finance Group, the bank focuses on GES for investments in overseas projects on manufacturing solar energy equipments, Flat Panel Display and transistor equipments.
Formed in 2006, GES has launched technical services in 11 nations. IDG Venture Vietnam is the pioneer fund in providing capital to GES, followed by IT Farm Nozomi Investment Fund of Japan.

Steel price keeps falling

19/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Thoi Bao Kinh Te Vietnam page 1
The Vietnam Steel Association yesterday reported that the steel price continued decreasing by another 200,000 dong per tonne as for the steel bars and rolled steel, marking the third reduction from the beginning of 2009.
In the southern market, Vietnam Steel Corp sells 10.25-10.58 million dong per tonne, while the price of Vinakansai stands at 9.6-9.8 million dong per tone (VAT exclusive).
The retail price of steel ranges between 11.2 and 11.3 million dong/tonne.

Vietnam to build LPG depot at Dung Quat

19/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Oil&Gas Journal
Vietnam's PetroVietnam Gas Corp., keen to reduce the nation's expenditures on imports, has begun construction of a liquefied petroleum gas depot and a tank truck station at the recently launched Dung Quat refinery.
The project, valued at 226.6 billion dongs (US$13.32 million), includes two 1,000-tonne LPG rundown tanks, a system to deliver LPG from the rundown tanks to tank trucks, a firefighting system, and an industrial pipeline system.
When operational in first-quarter 2010, the project will ease distribution and delivery from the refinery to the central coastal and Central Highlands regions, enhancing Vietnam's domestic LPG market stabilisation.
Together with existing facilities of PV Gas North and PV Gas South, the new project-along with a cold LPG warehouse to be built in Ba Ria-Vung Tau province later this year-will form a complete infrastructure system for LPG distribution.
Last December, PV Gas and PV Gas South jointly inaugurated another LPG depot in the Tra Noc II industrial zone, at Can Tho city on the Mekong Delta. The 1,140-tonne capacity Can Tho LPG depot, valued at 115 billion dongs (US$7.18 million) will supply some 50,000 tonnes/year of LPG.
The uptick in activity by Vietnam's state firms underlines the competitive nature of the county's LPG industry, starting last December when Castrol BP Petco shareholders stopped BP Gas operations after a review of LPG business in central and southern Vietnam.
Nguyen Minh Huyen, communications manager of BP Vietnam, said that lower-than-expected profit and the pressure from illegal bottling activities and counterfeit bottles on the local market led to the business closure.
Huyen said illegal filling is widespread in Vietnam, which, combined with a competitive market environment, led to reduced profits for BP Gas, which initiated operations there in 1998 to supply LPG products for household, commercial and industrial consumers.
Earlier in December, though, Elf Gas Saigon, a joint venture of Total Oil Asia-Pacific and Saigon Construction Corp., reported its acquisition of the local rival Saigon Gas Holdings Corp., including an import terminal in Go Dau.
Total said the acquisition "secured its position" as one of Vietnam's leading LPG suppliers, boosting its share of the local gas market to about 15%.
"In Asia-Pacific, Vietnam is one of our key countries for development, and this opportunity for growth fits well with our strategy in the region," said Thierry Pflimlin, senior vice-president of Total Oil Asia-Pacific.
Total operates throughout Vietnam, with affiliates Total Gas Hai Phong in the North, Elf Gas Da Nang in the central region, and Elf Gas Saigon, Total Gas Can Tho, and now Saigon Gas in the South. All affiliates have import terminals.
Vietnam's LPG consumption averages 950,000 tonnes/year, with 30% or 285,000 tonnes/year of the total produced domestically at the country's only LPG plant in Ba Ria-Vung Tau province.
Vietnam imports the remainder, about 665,000 tonnes/year, much of it coming from neighbouring China. In January this year, China exported 58,817 tonnes of LPG, with 50.1% or 30,000 tonnes of the total going to Vietnam.
Two-years ago, PetroVietnam forecast that Vietnamese LPG demand would rise by more than 50% to 1.2-1.3 million tonnes/year by the end of 2010. It said additional demand will then double to 2.4 million tonnes/year by 2020, with domestic supply covering about 1.8 million tonnes of the total.

Coal sales set at 40m tonnes in 2009

19/Mar/2009 Intellasia | VOV
Vietnam Coal and Minerals Group (Vinacomin) said it has finalised negotiations and signed coal sale contracts for 2009. Accordingly, the group's coal sales this year is estimated at 40 million tonnes including 19.5 million tonnes for domestic market and 20.5 million tonnes for export.
Vinacomin said it would concentrate on increasing mining production in opencast coal ores, changing and upgrading coal mining technologies, strengthening capacity of Khe Cham 3, Nam Mau, Ha Lam, Mong Duong ore.

Song Ong hydro adds to national electricity supply

19/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Nhan Dan
The generator groups No 1 and 2 of Song Ong Hydropower plant on March 17 came into the national grid after three-years of construction. The last generator group will be operational on March 18, 2009.
The plant was invested and built with total first phase cost of over 156 billion dong by Lilama's Song Ong Hydropower Joint Stock Co Total capacity of the three turbines is 8.1 MW.
With the designed electricity output of 41 million kWh a year, the plant will surmount partially the electricity shortage in the central region.

REE starts work on US$25m CDM power plant

19/Mar/2009 Intellasia | CafeF
Listed firm Refrigeration Electrical Mechanical Joint Stock Co (coded REE) announced that it started construction on the plant of producing electricity from rubbish bury field in Dong Thanh Commune, Hooc Mon Dist and Phuoc Hiep commune of Cu Chi Dist, HCM City.
The project investors are Korea's KMDK Ltd and REE.
Total cost for the project is US$25 million, of which 30% is ownership capital and 70% is loans.
The designed generation capacity of the power plant is 6-8 MW. Construction time is about 1-2 years,

ADB to offer US$410m loan to Vietnam for expressway project

19/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Dow Jones
The Asian Development Bank said Wednesday that it will lend Vietnam US$410 million to build an expressway in the country's southern region.
The ADB said it will sign an agreement on the loan with the State Bank of Vietnam Friday.
The 51-kilometer expressway, which will link HCM City, Vietnam's economic hub, with Dong Nai province, will require a total investment of US$932 million.
The Japan International Cooperation Agency and the Vietnam Expressway Corp will provide the rest of the money needed for the project.
Construction of the expressway is scheduled to begin in the second quarter.

Construction on City Gate Towers starts in Q2

19/Mar/2009 Intellasia | CafeF
Nam Bay Bay Investment Joint Stock Co (coded NBB) will start work on City Gate Towers project worth 1.708 trillion dong by the second quarter of 2009.
The project is situated in Ward 16, Dist 8, HCM City, comprising three buildings of 19 storeys, 24, and 28 storeys and two basements, trade centre, service area, one 12-storey office building, designed by SMEC International Co.
Total construction area for City Gate Towers is 172,667 square metres. Out of the investment capital, NBB contributes 70% and the remainder is invested by CII.

Total rubber production output estimated at 680,000 tonnes in '09
18/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Saigon Tiep Thi | CafeF
Among over 70 countries and territories buying Vietnam's rubber, China is the biggest importer. Particularly, China spent US$952.7 million on importing Vietnam made rubber, accounting for 56% of Vietnam's export market share, followed by Malaysia, Korea and Taiwan with an average market share of 3-5%.
10 markets that posted the highest growth in importing rubber from Vietnam in 2008 included Germany and Italy. Between 2007-2008, Germany's natural rubber import growth was 7.65%, in which the import spending on Vietnamese rubber surged 14.7%. The figures of Italy were 13.49% and 38% correspondingly.
However, some markets such as Korea, US, Japan and Turkey reduced the demand for importing natural rubber from Vietnam while their total import last year increased sharply against 2007.
Czech spending on importing Vietnam's rubber in 2008 was US$8.3 million, a year-on-year jump of nearly 50% compared with 2007's US$3.6 million. Meanwhile, Vietnam only earned US$30.5 million from rubber export to US, down nearly 20% from the previous year.
Vietnam's rubber production output accounts for 5.4% of the world's total output, ranking the fifth position after Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and India.
According to the development plan of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the country's rubber plantation area in 2009 will reach 640,000 hectares and the total output is estimated at 680,000 tonnes.

Russian market to open up for Vietnam's catfish again

19/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Vietnamnet
Russia will likely open up its market for Vietnamese catfish products again after months of interruption due to food safety concerns, as a group of local seafood processors left for Russia on Monday to ink an agreement to this effect.
Vietnamese exporters will meet with Russian importers and are due to cut deals to ship tra catfish products to the market under the witness of the Russian Federal Service for Veterinary and Physio-sanitary Surveillance (VPSS), said an official of Vietnam's agriculture ministry.
Deputy minister of agriculture Luong Le Phuong told reporters on Monday that "the job of reopening the Russian market for Vietnamese catfish products is 90% complete."
Russian food safety authorities ordered a halt of catfish import from Vietnam on December 20 last year and dispatched a team of experts to Vietnam to look into production and processing conditions between February 21 and 28 this year.
The inspection was aimed to see whether Vietnamese processors had improved production and processing conditions as warned by the Russian side. Earlier last year, Russian inspectors had also visited Vietnam to look into such conditions in 24 local enterprises that were sending seafood shipments to Russia, plus 15 other local enterprises that wanted to penetrate the market.
Late last year, Vietnam's agriculture ministry also issued new rules to tighten control over food safety and hygiene in seafood bound for Russia.
Deputy minister Phuong said Russia and Vietnam had agreed to cut down on the number of Vietnamese processors allowed to export catfish to Russia, and emerging market for Vietnamese seafood. The agreement was arrived at between Russia's VPSS and Vietnam's testing and quality assurance agency Nafiqaved.
Despite the temporary ban in Russia, Vietnam last year still shipped nearly 120,000 tonnes of tra catfish products to this market with total value of US$188 million, an upsurge of 161% in volume and 123% in value over 2007. This compared with US$1.45 billion worth of Vietnam's tra catfish export of 640,000 tonnes last year.

FPT Software targets US$10-15m profit in 2009

19/Mar/2009 Intellasia | 18/Mar/2009 CafeF
The annual shareholders' meeting of FPT Software Joint Stock Co (FSOFT) held on March 14 passed this year's business and chartered capital increase plans.
Last year, FSOFT made revenue of 714.6 billion dong (US$42 million), a year-on-year growth of 49% and 213.2 billion dong in after tax profit, rising 32% y-o-y with EPS of 8,968 dong.
To the end of 2008, FSOFT's chartered capital was 238 billion dong.
The company's main market is Japan with a revenue of US$25.4 million in 2008, accounting for 60% of the firm's total revenue and increasing 55% against 2007.
Based on the current business situation, The company set three business scenarios for 2009 as follows:
* A: Revenue of US$50 million and profit of US$15 million
* B: Revenue of US$47 million and profit of US$13.2 million
* C: Revenue of US$42 million and profit of US$10 million
FSOFT also plans to issue nearly 13 million ordinary shares at 10,000 dong par to hike its chartered capital from 238 billion dong to 367.57 billion dong. Particularly, 11,888,450 shares will be allocated to the existing shareholders at the ratio of 2:1 (one new share for two old shares), 570,980 shares will be offered to the company's staff with the price of 10,000 dong per share and 499,600 remaining shares will be sold to the employees with a good performance in 2008.
After the share issuance, FPT's holding rate into FSOFT will be reduced from 68.89% to 66.91%.
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Finance news

2009-04-23T14:17:00.001-07:00

Finance

Vietnam must tighten belt for lean times, says EIU

18/Mar/2009 Intellasia | 17/Mar/2009 Thoi Bao Kinh Te Vietnam
After high growth rates for many years, Vietnam's GDP fell to 6.23% in 2008. But now with the financial crisis that started to grip at the end of last year, increasingly pessimistic assessments of Vietnam's growth prospects have been put forward by international credit organisations such as the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and banks such as HSBC and others.
Recently, the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) on March 16 was the most downbeat in an article that forecast Vietnam's GDP at near zero of only 0.3% in 2009.
Defending his projection, EIU's director for Southeast Asia, Justin Wood, said his forecast was based on external impacts likely to affect the country. Three impetuses for Vietnam's economic growth -- exports, investment and consumption --will sharply reduce this year, Wood said.
With Vietnam's strong exposure to foreign markets and given that world consumer markets are contracting sharply, imports by key markets such as the US, EU, Japan are expected to plunge by 52% this year and will inevitably hit Vietnam's exports hard.
Regarding foreign direct investment, the EIU anticipates that global, FDI will be slashed by some 70% this year. As for Vietnam, actualised FDI in 2009 will fall to only US$2.2 billion from just US$7.6 billion in 2008. This will compound and restrict production of goods for exports by Vietnam, Wood said.
In the following interview, Wood elaborated further with various Vietnamese newspapers. Excerpts:
The Economist magazine's second round-table business conference was held in March 17-18 amidst the downturn of the world's economy. Regarding the forecast on the global economy in 2009, EIU is seemingly more pessimistic than any organisation. Why so?
I believe that almost everyone accepts the fact that the global economy in 2009 will continue to weaken and we forecast the world economies to contract by minus 1.8%. The period of the biggest credit bubble in history when money was abundant and cheap has gone. The negative side of such period was that western economies, particularly the US and Britain, reported all-time high debt. We are now having to pay for that period of excess. Banks are scrutinising their balance sheets and offer few loans. Consumers are cutting back on debt and spending far less. The fear of risk is increasing and financial markets are still very tense.
Under such circumstance, all economies in the world will feel the impact. Although the world's emerging economies, for example Asian economies, did not join the rush into debt [like the West], those same economies nonetheless are also hurting badly. Demand for exported items in the region is evaporating and investors are withdrawing their investments, which is putting high pressure on stock markets and making it very difficult to raise capital.
The EIU forecast that Vietnam's GDP in 2009 will grow by only 0.3%, some 5% lower than the all-time low GDP growth recorded at the time of the financial crisis in Southeast Asia over one decade ago. Why does this current situation impact Vietnam's economy more adversely than the impacts of that financial crisis?
What we should mention first is that although Vietnam's GDP growth that we forecast looks low, in fact, that figure is still far higher than almost all other Asian countries. Namely, we forecast that GDP of some economies will fall to negative levels, for example, Singapore we expect will contract by 7.2%, Taiwan -5.5%, and Japan -5.5%. We see only a few economies that could post positive growth this year and the exceptional cases include China with 6%, India 5% and Indonesia 1.5%.
So why should Vietnam's economy be weaker? This first reason is a reduction of exports that results from expenditure cuts by Americans, Europeans and others.
The second reason is reduction of personal consumption that is the result of the increasing unemployment rate and the decrease in incomes due to high inflation in Vietnam in 2008.
The third reason comes from reduction of investment.
Regarding why this crisis will impact Vietnam more adversely than the previous crisis, over the last decade, Vietnam has integrated more deeply into the global economy and hence the country is impacted from global events much more than 10 years ago.

Vietnam sticks head in sand on 'buoyant growth' forecast

18/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Lao Dong Online
Speaking at the conference held on March 17 and 18 under the cooperation of the Economic Research Institute for Asean and East Asia (ERIA) and Vietnamese Ministry of Planning and Investment's Central Institute for Economic Management, Dr Vo Tri Thanh was adamant that Vietnam's 2009 GDP growth will be at least 4% despite a forecast by the Economist Intelligence Unit released a gloomy report putting Vietnam's 2009 GDP at just 0.3%.
The global economic earthquake has affected strongly to Eastern Asia and Asean countries whose economies are very active and open. So the conference pointed out the serious impacts of the crisis, challenges and experiences of many nations to counter with the financial storm, said Thanh.
In 2009, Vietnam could retain a satisfactory agricultural growth at 3.5-4%, contributing 0.8% of GDP while the service will grow by 4-5%, 1.6% of GDP contribution. Meanwhile, the industry and construction sector will continue stabilising the disbursement of investment capital supplies thanks to the government's US$6 billion stimulus package.
The Economist's prediction on Vietnam's 2009 growth of 0.3% is too pessimistic and Vietnam's economy was devalued. Everyone all will be surprised at the shocked figure, according to Martin Rama-World Bank director in Vietnam. Most recently, World Bank forecasted that Vietnamese economy could grow by 5.5% this year, lower than the initial figure of 6.5%.
At the conference, Dr Zhang Yungling, director of Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, pointed out the Chinese government's flexible policies to fight the global economic crisis. As a result, when the US financial recession broke out, China's imports slumped more sharply than exports. From the end of 2008 to the beginning of 2009, the country's industrial production also continuously went down so the government changed the macro-economic policies from the monetary tightening up measures to the cutting down of basic rates and compulsory reserve ratio by five times. After that, Chinese government launched the four trillion yuan economic stimulus package within two-years for infrastructure, development programme in rural areas, housing development, industrial sector restructure, and reduced import tariffs.
However, the Chinese doctor assessed, like Vietnam the more importance is that Chinese banks had a little involvement in the US's under-regulated lending so the country did not suffer strong impacts from the collapse that had happened to Asia countries in the 1997 regional crisis.
Although Vietnam shifted policies to combat against the financial crisis, the economic open-door remains limited creates negative impacts on commence, investment and finance so the country will continue facing many difficulties and challenges, Zhang Yungling commented.
According to Dr Vo Tri Thanh, 60% of Vietnam's exports rely on big markets of US, EU, and Japan. Thus, once the big economies have not rallied yet, Vietnam's export activities will be likely influenced, followed by investments.
Last year FDI inflow to Vietnam accounted for 30% of total investment while FII through G-bonds, stock market made up high ratios, 39% in bonds and 25% of total market capitalisation of Vietnam. But, the figures are in downward trend.
Vietnam's total trade deficit was ballooned to over US$17 billion last year, particularly the trade gap between Vietnam and China was US$12 billion (meaning Vietnam spent much money importing China made goods) and the country only reached trade surplus with US and EU.
Meanwhile, Vietnam's investment ratio on GDP was very high (41% in 2008) due to the increase in state investment and FDI whereas private investment was tending to fall.
Moreover, GDP growth mainly depends on investment, so Vietnam's capital disbursement speed is almost standstill while the added value of industry and construction sector has dropped sharply since the fourth quarter of 2008, showing a unsustainable growth, reported Dr Thanh.

Office rentals expected to fall as supply spikes

18/Mar/2009 Intellasia | CafeF
While rental prices of offices for lease are on a downward trend, the marketing organisation for BID Tower, CB Richard Ellis, announces the leasing price of up to US$70 a square metre a month plus service charges on top.
Currently, some companies which want to expand their offices in Hanoi find it hard to seek A-level offices with wide areas and have no way but to accept high rental prices if they like to stay in the city's centre.
HCM City-based companies have more options with newly-built A-level office buildings such as Centec and Asiana Plaza and other high-rise buildings such as Sailing Tower, Havana and Centre Point of which quality is nearly the same as A level.
High-rise building owners have suffered from high pressures over the last five months. Newly-built high-rise buildings or to-be-launched buildings have rental prices reduced by up to 30%. The decrease in rental prices of many new buildings has resulted in an average price reduction of 14.3% for A-level high-rise buildings, 28.2% for B-level high-rise buildings and 24.5% for C-level buildings in the first quarter against last year. The average rental price in the first three months is US$60 a square metre for A-level buildings, US$28 for B-level buildings and US$20 for C-level buildings.
However, the downtrend has not yet stopped because companies continue cutting costs, narrowing operations while supply of office-for-lease buildings is on the increase. HCM City is expected to have another 228,000 square metres of A-and-B-level offices to be put in use this year, up by 49% against total areas by last year.
With such high supply, CB Richard Ellis forecasted that A-level offices will be offered at very low rental prices by the end of this year, only US$30 -60 a square metre, B-level offices US$18 -25 and C-level offices US$8 -12.
The above forecast is nearly the same as opinion made by Toby Dodd, general director of Cushman & Wakefield, at the end of last year.
Meanwhile, CB Richard Ellis still offers A-level office buildings at high prices because of very good performance of A-level high-rise buildings in Hanoi. According to John Gallader -CB Richard Ellis's vice director, despite cost reduction of companies and difficult economy, A-level office buildings around Hoan Kiem Lake are nearly fully occupied.
Rental prices of A-level high-rise office buildings are staying at high levels, US$52.5 a square metre a month on average, reducing by about 2% against the end of last year. Rental prices of B-level buildings also reduce by only 3%, averaging at US$33.75 a square metre a month.
"Seeing those figures, I can see supply of A-level buildings remains limited while demand for A-level buildings are still high. The global financial crisis has resulted in closures of many representative offices but many other companies still want to expand operations. And, there are now not much room for them to open offices," said Gallander.
However, Brett Ashton, general director of Savills Consultancy Co, said that Hanoi market will follow the general downtrend amidst the economic recession and increasing supply of offices.
A real estate consultant commented that although the A-level office market segment remains limited in supply, Bidv Tower will meet various difficulties in leasing offices at US$70 a square metre because Capital Tower is going to be completed soon and some other high-rise buildings such as CDC, CEO Tower are preparing to come into operation.
CB Richard Ellis also admitted that the average rental office price in Hanoi will gradually reduce by the end of this year because another new 140,000 square metres m2 will come into operation and demand for office lease will decrease gradually. The difference between offer prices and realistic rental prices will be wider because building developers will seek all ways to keep and attract clients by reducing realistic rental prices.
Robert MacDonald, chief of Savills's customer consultation division, advised companies to snap up such rare opportunity to reconsider their operation costs, reappraise future demand for office lease and well know the market information to improve their status in negotiating office rental prices.
Some companies will take this opportunity to move to high-rise buildings with higher quality that have the same prices or lower prices than the current prices.

Vietnam bans rice speculation

18/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Reuters
Vietnam moved to quell panic over rice supplies on Monday, banning speculation in the market after a "chaotic" buying binge at the weekend highlighted growing global fears about food security.
Queues and empty shelves were still evident on Monday as the world's second-biggest rice exporter joined other nations in feeling the impact of a nearly threefold rise in rice prices this year, a rally triggered by exports curbs by top suppliers --including Vietnam itself, which has banned exports through June.
The growing sense of crisis over soaring food costs and supplies caused riots in Africa and toppled Haiti's government. Although Asia consumes over 80% of the world's rice, the impact has been limited as countries like China, India and Japan are self-sufficient.
The frantic pace of price increases in Thailand, the world's largest rice exporter, looks set to cool in the weeks ahead, a Thai rice exporter said, with improved supplies.
"The market is likely to correct up to 20% even if the bans by India and Vietnam remain," Korbsook Iamsuri, the secretary general of the Thai Rice Exporters' Association told Reuters on Monday.
"Crop arrivals are much better than what it was three weeks ago," she said, as Thai prices remained above the historic US$1,000 (500 pounds) per tonne level reached a week ago.
Over the weekend, in HCM City, Vietnam's largest urban area of about eight million people, people rushed to supermarkets and street markets in scenes described as "chaotic" by some local media reports.
Concern mounted in the southern city many still call Saigon after a popular supermarket chain, Saigon Co-op Mart, said it was selling only 10 kilogram of rice for each purchase. That came less than a week after US giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc's Sam's Club warehouse division put limits on purchases of rice.
By Monday, there were lines at the co-op and people loading up bags of rice, although it was also a sale day for food and other produce to mark the April 30 Liberation Day holiday.
Authorities are trying to reduce hoarding and a supermarket worker filling bags of rice said, "We don't want people to buy a lot at the same time".
At Ba Chieu market in the city centre on Sunday, some stalls were empty and people were seen loading up to 10-kilogram bags of rice on motorbikes as vendors raised prices on the spot.
"The government should control the price," said a customer in the market, who declined to give her name. "It is rising very fast and sometimes it changes daily. If prices are too high, people will go hungry."
World Bank Help
The events in Vietnam came as the Philippines said it has asked the World Bank to persuade rice-exporting nations to lift shipment curbs that threatened the food security of importing countries.
"I have asked the World Bank if it's possible to use its moral persuasion, its stature, its influence to talk to the supplier countries," Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap told local television.
Rice has become a hot political issue in the Philippines. Yap confirmed the Philippines is considering rolling back the government's direct role in subsidising expensive rice imports.
The Vietnamese government, facing the challenge of double-digit inflation as it makes the transition to a market economy, blamed hoarding and speculation for the weekend buying spree, and reacted by ordering local authorities to regulate markets and ban non-food traders from trading rice.
"Our food output in 2008 is fully able to ensure sufficient domestic consumption and also to set aside part for exports," it said in a statement broadcast nationwide on Voice of Vietnam radio on Monday.
Hoarding and Speculation
Vietnamese rice mills, food supplying companies, coffee or pepper trading houses and even share investors have invested in buying rice for hoarding to make profits, said Truong Thanh Phong, Chair of the Vietnam Food Association.
The government statement said it "strictly forbids organisations, individuals without function to trade food, from buying paddy and rice for speculation."
Food companies and farmers have more than 1.3 million tonnes of rice in stock, the government said. It said it has also been buying rice to boost national reserves.
The consumer rush for rice took place even as Vietnam's output for the winter-spring crop was estimated at 9.9 million tonnes, 400,000 tonnes higher than last year.
Rice prices in Vietnam have risen 25% this month from the end of March and surged 85% since last April to 5,500 dong (35 US cents) per kilogram of paddy as of Friday.
Rice futures on Chicago Board of Trade also rose more than 1%, as continued strong demand from rice-importing nations such as the Philippines provided support.

IMF cuts Vietnam growth to 4.75% due to crisis

18/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Reuters
The International Monetary Fund said on Tuesday economic growth in Vietnam is likely to slow to 4.75% this year, perhaps more, in the face of global economic turmoil, putting pressure on the exchange rate.
In December, the IMF projected Vietnam's growth will drop to 5% in 2009.
Still, the Fund said that over the medium term the economic outlook for the country was favourable and Vietnam would remain an attractive investment destination.
In the near term, however, the country faced "substantial" challenges tied to the sharp deterioration in global economic conditions, the IMF said in its latest review of Vietnam's economy.
"Economic growth is expected to slow in 2009 with capital inflows, exports, and private remittances likely to decline significantly, while the current account deficit will remain large," the IMF said.
It said risk aversion remained "acute" as foreign investors continued to reduce their portfolio exposures to Vietnam, particularly in bonds and the stock market. Meanwhile, depreciation pressures on Vietnam's dong currency had resurfaced, it said. The IMF urged the authorities to allow for greater exchange rate flexibility, and said IMF staff estimates show that the dong "appears somewhat overvalued compared with its estimated medium-term equilibrium level."
The Fund also said that the authorities should assess the effects of recent monetary adjustment before considering easing further.

Vietnam keeps bad debt below 3.5% of loans

18/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Reuters
Vietnam's banking system remains stable, with good liquidity, and the bad debt ratio remains below last year's rate of 3.5% of loans despite the impact of the global recession, the central bank governor said.
"The results of credit institutions' operations show banking activities are relatively stable, deposits and credit being expanded, interest rates on a declining trend," State Bank of Vietnam Governor Nguyen Van Giau said in an interview published on Tuesday.
None of the country's more than 40 banks faces payment problems and "the bad debt ratio is kept lower than 2008", Giau said in the interview with the official Vietnam News Agency published on the central bank's website.
Last December Giau said bad debt in the banking system was expected to reach 3.5% of loans by the end of 2008, up from 2% a year earlier.
Giau gave no value figures for the loans or the bad debt.
The central bank aims to keep credit growth this year at around 20%, after monetary tightening to contain inflation early last year led loan growth to slow to 21-22% from a surge of 54% in 2007.

PM announces 36tr dong G-bond plan

18/Mar/2009 Intellasia | government Website
Ministries and cities' governance on March were assigned to carry out the issuance of 36 trillion dong G-bonds for 2009.
In which, 21 trillion dong of G-bonds is allocated to the traffic and transportation sector, including the state managed projects worth 13 trillion dong, and 8 trillion dong for projects managed by local governances. Also, the irrigation sector was assigned to use eight trillion dong (raised from G-bonds), in which 3.850 trillion dong is disbursed for state managed projects and 4.150 trillion dong for local irrigation works.
The prime minister also decided to allocate one trillion dong of G-bonds for the resettlement of Son La hydropower project, three trillion dong for districts' and provinces' general hospitals according to the National Assembly's Resolution No 18/2008/QH12 and another 3 trillion dong for the school reinforcement programme.
In addition, the remaining capital of 7.7 billion dong being mobilised from G-bond issuance in 2008 will be continued to be used within this year.
[Decision No 350/QD-TTg dated March 16, 2009]

Joint stock banks beef up capital base

18/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Tuoi Tre Online
Some joint stock banks held shareholders' meeting for 2009 and all planned to raise the chartered capital through offering new shares to shareholders.
Yesterday Eastern Asia Commercial Joint Stock Bank (EAB) passed the 2009 business plan with total pre-tax profit of 750 billion dong, a y-o-y growth of 7.1%, a dividend of 12%. The bank will raise chartered capital from the current 2.880 trillion dong to 3.4 trillion dong, in which 520 billion dong of shares will be offered to the shareholders according to the ratio of 18 new shares for 100 old shares by June 2009.
Also, the bank's director board was assigned to negotiate with domestic and foreign partners to hike chartered capital to no more than 4.5 trillion dong.
Previously, Saigon Thuong Tin Commercial JS Bank (Sacombank) decided to increase its capital from 5.116 trillion dong to 6.7 trillion dong (by 31%) through paying the 2008 dividend of 15%, issuing a share volume equalling to 15% of chartered capital to the shareholders. Another five million of STB coded shares will be offered to the key employees. The bank plans to reach 1.6 trillion dong profit and a dividend of 14-16% this year.
Similarly, Saigon Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SCB) passed the plan of hiking chartered capital from 2.047 trillion dong to 3.374 trillion dong by issuing convertible bonds to existing shareholders at ratio of 1:100 (meaning that one bond will be converted into 100 shares when due) and foreign partners. SCB's convertible bonds will have a mature of 13 months and coupon rate of 12%.

Viet Phu E-payment Corp to launch forex service

18/Mar/2009 Intellasia | 17/Mar/2009 State Bank of Vietnam
Under an Official Dispatch No 56/GP-NHNN issued on March 16 by the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV)'s governor, HCM City-headquartered Viet Phu E-Payment Corp is allowed to provide foreign exchange service.
Accordingly, the company will carry out remittance delivery service from overseas Vietnamese and foreigners to receivers in Vietnam via the company's headquarters.
The company must obey Vietnam's current regulations on foreign exchange management and other relevant regulations.

NaviBank licensed for gold trades

18/Mar/2009 Intellasia | 17/Mar/2009 State Bank of Vietnam
The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV)'s governor on March 16 issued a Decision No 543/QD-NHNN and another Decision No 544/QD-NHNN allowing Nam Viet Commercial Joint Stock Bank (NaviBank) to launch gold trading activities according to the current regulations.
In addition, the central bank also approved the resolution of bank's shareholders' meeting. Accordingly, the bank's headquarters will be located at No 343 Pham Ngu Lao St in HCM City's Dist 1 and the bank's chartered capital will be one trillion dong.
At present, the bank has a chartered capital of one trillion dong.
These decisions take effect from the signing date.

EAB targets 750b dong '09 profit

18/Mar/2009 Intellasia | 17/Mar/2009 CafeF
The 17th annual shareholders' meeting of Eastern Asia Commercial Joint Stock Bank (EAB) held on March 17 passed many important decisions.
Accordingly, this year, EAB targets to gain 750 billion dong in total profit, a year-on-year rise of 7.1% and increase chartered capital to 3.4 trillion dong (in 2008, the bank's chartered capital increased from 1.6 trillion dong to 2.88 trillion dong).
The lender also plans a 12% dividend payment in 2009.
EAB will scale up its chartered capital via offering 52 million ordinary shares at 10,000 dong par to the existing shareholders at the ratio of 100:18 (18 new shares for 100 old shares) at the end of this June.
In addition, the bank's director board was assigned to negotiate with domestic and foreign partners to increase more chartered capital but not exceed 4.5 trillion dong.
The bank's additional chartered capital will be invested in infrastructure and business activities and provided to Eastern Asia Finance Co.
Due to unfavourable conditions from Vietnam's stock market, EAB will not list shares in the first quarter this year to ensure the interests of shareholders.
Additionally, the bank's shareholders' meeting also will suspend the equitisation for EAB Securities Co.
Notably, this shareholders' meeting shortened the share holding duration of staff to three-years instead of seven-year approved in the 15th shareholders' meeting.
EAB's some targets for this year are 40 trillion dong in total assets, rising 19% against 2008, 32 trillion dong in total deposit, 27 trillion dong in total outstanding loans, US$2.4 billion in revenue from international payment services, US$1.2 billion in revenue from remittance services.
The bank also plans to issue more 1.5 million cards, a year-on-year increase of 100%.
In 2008, EAB's profit was 703 billion dong including 11 billion dong from remittance services and 1.6 billion dong from securities arm.

First Vietnam-Laos cross-border payment service launched

18/Mar/2009 Intellasia | 17/Mar/2009 Cong Thuong
The Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Agribank) and Laos' Phonsavanh Bank have recently inaugurated Vietnam-Laos cross-border payment service via the Lao Bao and Densavan border gates at the Lao Bao Special Economic Zone in Huong Hoa district in the central province of Quang Tri.
The cross-border payment service will included seven payment methods including banking bill, cross-border money delivery voucher, trade payment voucher, cross-border payment mandate letter, money delivery, cross-border voucher credit letter and guarantee letter for cross-border payment.
In addition, two banks are allowed to directly carry out currency exchanges of Laos' LAK and dong according to the forex rate.
This will create favourable conditions to ensure the implementation of cross-border payment service in an effective manner.
Vietnam's Agribank has successfully managed cross-border payment services between the Sino-Vietnamese border for many years.

VIB Bank signs cooperation deal with PTI

18/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Vietstock
Vietnam International Commercial Joint Stock Bank (VIB Bank) and Postal Insurance Joint Stock Co (PTI) today march 17 signed a comprehensive cooperation agreement whereby two sides will take each other's advantages and exchange experiences in finance.
Both signatories will set up a special assignment group in charge of studying and launching the banking insurance product packages through VIB network. PTI pledged to provide the financial support to VIB Bank through capital mobilisation from funds. In return, VIB will help PTI design and release insurance products suitable to the bank's each customer group.

Tourism firm Vinpearl to raise 1tr dong in bonds

18/Mar/2009 Intellasia | 17/Mar/2009 CafeF
March 17 will be the registration deadline to buy bonds issued by Vinpearl Trade and Tourism Service Joint Stock Co (coded VPL) under the guarantee of Bidv's Quang Trung Branch, according to VPL.
The company plans to mobilise one trillion dong of bonds with five-year term.
These bonds will be issued on March 18 with the coupon rate of 10.1% per annum for the first year.
The coupon rate for following years will be defined based on the G-bonds with the same term plus 3.5% pa.
In case the G-bonds issuance fails, the coupon rate will be defined based on the average saving rate in dong of 12-month term of the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (Bidv), the Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank) and the Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Agribank) plus 2.5% a year.
Bidv's Quang Trung Branch and Bidv's Securities Ltd Co will be consultant and arranger for the company's bond issuance.

CPD0911004 G-bonds to be traded on HaSTC from March 20

18/Mar/2009 Intellasia | 17/Mar/2009 HaSTC
Based on the Document No 134/KBNN-HDV dated February 3, 2009 by the State Treasury and the Dispatch No 277/TB-TTLK dated March 10, 2009 by the Securities Depository Centre, Hanoi Securities Trading Centre (HaSTC) has announced the first listing and trading date of G-bonds CPD0911004 on the northern bourse.
* Issuer: State Treasury-Minsitry of Finance
* Bond name: government bond
* Bond type: G-bond issued by method of auction
* Bond form: book entry
* Face value: 100,000 dong/bond
* Total listed volume: one million bonds
* Total listed value: 100 billion dong
* Bond code: CPD0911004
* ISIN code: VNTD09110048
* Bond term: two-years
* Coupon rate: 6.7% per annum
* Issue date: February 16, 2009.
* Maturity date: February 16, 2011.
* Payment method: Bond principal is paid once at the par value on the maturity date. Coupon is paid on the issue date of each year (first coupon payment is on 16/02/2010). At maturity, if the bondholder has not come to get principal and coupon payments, the principal and coupon payments will be reserved without interest after the maturity date.
* First trading date: March 20, 2009.

Gold price drops, forex rate at 17,700 dong/US dollar

18/Mar/2009 Intellasia | 17/Mar/2009 CafeF
The domestic gold price yesterday March 17 continued to fall slightly by 20,000 dong per tael (1.2 oz) to 19.52 million dong per tael against previous day. The US dollar price also dropped by 10 dong to 17,700 dong/US dollar.
At Saigon Jewellery Joint Stock Co, the SJC gold price was listed at 19.45 million dong/tael (as buying price) and 19.54 million dong/tael (as selling price).
At Bao Tin Minh Chau Co, the selling price remained unchanged at 19.52 million dong/tael meanwhile the buying price listed at 19.42 million dong/tael, falling by 10,000 dong per tael day on day.
At ACB gold trading floor, the trading price was 19.385 million dong/tael with the trading volume of about 14,720 taels worth 285.34 billion dong.
As for foreign currency market, the US dollar price dropped by 10 dong against previous day to 17,680-17,700 dong per US dollar (buying and selling price) in the free market.
According to the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), the quoted forex rate was 16,977 dong/US dollar in the interbank market and it was 17,485-17,486 dong/US dollar at commercial banks.

Brokers ordered to archive all electronic orders for a decade

18/Mar/2009 Intellasia | 17/Mar/2009 CafeF
Under a Circular No 50/2009/TT-BTC issued on March 16 by the deputy minister of finance, Tran Xuan Ha, securities companies must save all electronic transaction orders and record all phones for orders for at least 10 years.
According to the circular, securities brokers will directly provide online securities transactions to investors to open accounts, make orders and offer requirements for securities transactions and receive the results via internet or by phone.
Share codes being traded in online transactions must be shares being traded on the stock trading floor.
The circular will take effect after 45 days as of the signing date.

Export tariff on coal adjusted

18/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Thoi Bao Kinh Te Vietnam page 1
The Ministry of Finance yesterday March 17 issued Circular No 51/2009/TT-BTC changing the export code and tariff on coal subject to the Category 44.02 of the preferential import and export tariff list.
Accordingly, the sorts of coal Category 4402.10.00.00, 440.290.00.90 will suffer the preferential import duty of 5% and export tariff of 10%, Category 402.90.00.10 will be applied the export tariff of 5% as well.
The circular will be applied on customs declaration from March 23, 2009.

Business

VN Index bounces 3.97% to 273.39 pts

18/Mar/2009 Intellasia | AtpVietnam | HaSTC
Following the increasing impetus from previous sessions, the Vietnam's stock market today March 18 continued increasing as the VN Index jumped 10.19 points or 3.97% to 273.39 pts with a total matching order trade of 27.4 million shares worth 508.96 billion dong.
Statistic from STC showed that among 175 share codes and four fund certificates being listed on the southern bourse, the stock market saw 153 shares increased with 86 reaching the ceiling price, 14 others decreased and 12 remaining shares stood still.
Most blue-chips reached the ceiling price.
Particularly, DPM jumped 1,400 dong per share to 31,000 dong, FPT +2,200 to 47,800, HAG +1,000 to 55,000, ITA +1,000 to 21,500, PPC +900 to 20,500, PVD +2,500 to 59,000, PVF +800 to 17,400, SSI +1,100 to 24,500, STB +800 to 17,300, VIC +1,700 to 38,700, VNM +3,000 to 79,500 and VPL +1,400 dong to 42,600 dong per share.
STB still led the market in terms of trading volume with 3.52 million shares and followed by SAM with 1.56 million, DPM 960,000, FPT 910,000, PVT 850,000 and VF1 and VF4 with 2.77 million and 1.1 million respectively.
Like the southern bourse, the Hanoi Securities Trading Centre (HaSTC) today March 18 kept increasing as the HaSTC Index bounced 4.57 points or 4.88% to 98.14 pts with the total market trade of 15,665,263 shares valued at over 264 billion dong.
Amongst 177 listed shares on the northern floor, the stock market recorded 19 shares decreased including CIC, CTB, CTC, DHT, HHC, HUT, L61, L62, MKV, PSC, QST, SEB, SRA, TBX, TDN, TPH, VBH, VC6 and VHL, six shares with no trade namely BST, CJC, HSC, NPS, QTC and SDS, four shares remained unchanged including BTH, DAE, GHA and LBE and 148 remaining shares increased.
Some big gainers were VSP +2,800, NTP, VNR and SCJ +2,200, KBC +2,100, S99 and VC2 +2,000, NBC and RCL +1,900, ACB, SD5 and VCS +1,800, PVS and SD7 +1,700, HLY and PVI +1,600, MIC +1,500, and DTC, PAN, PVC and SDC +1,400 dong per share.
BCC suddenly gained the pole place in trading volume with 2.693 million shares and then ACB with 2,519,600, BTS 2,183,900, VCG 795,000, PVS 448,700, KLS 365,700 and DBC with 354,600 shares being traded.

Business briefs Mar 18

18/Mar/2009 Intellasia
* Top broker Saigon Securities Inc (SSI) reported registered to buy extra 331,300 PAN coded shares of Pan Pacific Joint Stock Co between March 18 and April 18, 2009. Earlier, SSI purchased 368,700 PAN shares, bringing its size in PAN to 5.268%.
* March 17 will be the registration deadline to buy bonds issued by Vinpearl Trade and Tourism Service Joint Stock Co (coded VPL) under the guarantee of Bidv's Quang Trung Branch, according to VPL. The company plans to mobilise one trillion dong of bonds with five-year term. These bonds will be issued on March 18 with the coupon rate of 10.1% per annum for the first year. The coupon rate for following years will be defined based on the G-bonds with the same term plus 3.5% pa.
* Phu My Water Supply Joint Stock Co (Phu My Wasuco) has released the 2008 business results with total revenue of 33.5 billion dong, a year-on-year rise of 21.46%, after-tax profit of 17.1 billion dong, up 15.57% and EPS of 3,236 dong/share against 2007's 3,061 dong. In 2008, the firm paid a dividend of 25%, higher than the previous year's 29%.
* Binh Dinh Agricultural Materials and Technique Joint Stock Co (ATM) reported that last year it earned 778.9 billion dong in net revenue from sales and service provision, 20.2 billion dong in total after-tax profit, and EPS of 7,028 dong, growing by 46.08%, 188.57% and 66.3% correspondingly compared to 2007.
* The HCM City Book Distribution Corp, better known as Fahasa, will open the biggest bookstore of its chain worth 100 billion dong at 387-389 Hai Ba Trung Street, District 3, tomorrow. With over 120,000 titles, foreign and domestic, the store will hold a draw for valuable prises in May for those spending at least 100,000 dong.
* Japan's Kobe Steel Ltd and Sojitz Corp plan to set up a US$300 million venture to develop an iron project in Vietnam, according to the Foreign Investment Department under the Ministry of Planning and Investment. The Japanese venture will build a plant to produce iron nuggets and survey iron ores with an initial investment of US$1 million.
* DAP No 2-Vinachem Joint Stock Co has made its debut in the northern mountainous province of Lao Cai with four founding shareholders, of which Vietnam National Chemical Corp (Vinachem) holds a 51% stake. The company will complete DAP No 2 fertiliser plant, worth nearly five trillion dong, with an annual capacity of 330,000 tonnes by 2012 in Tang Loong Industrial Zone.
* Tay Do Resort and Ecotourism Joint Stock Co has begun construction of the Tay Do resort, the Mekong Delta's largest, on 15.3 hectares in Chau Thanh A District. The 760 billion dong project, once operational by 2011, will have 200 rooms, entertainment and sports facilities, a supermarket, a three-star hotel and a residential area for the elderly.
* Southern FPT Telecoms Co Ltd, a subsidiary of HCM City-based FPT Telecoms Corp, has opened a branch on 30/4 Street, Ninh Kieu District of the Mekong Delta's Can Tho City. The branch will offer customers broadband high-speed internet services via Symmetric Digital Subscriber Line (SDSL) and Fiber-to-the-home (FTTH), and other added value services like iTV and iVoice via the high -speed internet bandwidth. The company will launch a promotion for customers registering for the services from now to month-end.
* Ha Tay Brewery Co Ltd, authorised producer of Tiger and Heineken in northern Vietnam and established in November 2003, has been renamed Asia-Pacific Brewery Hanoi and has appointed Lee Larry general director. The brewery distributes its products in 28 provinces and cities in the north.
* Asia Refrigeration Industry Co Ltd, an affiliate of Seaprodex Refrigeration Industry Corp, yesterday broke ground for its plant worth nearly 300 billion dong and covering 25,000 square metres in Binh Tan District's Tan Tao Industrial Park. The plant, once operational in August, will offer 300 jobs with average monthly incomes of 4.5-5 million dong.
* PetroVietnam Gas Corp, a member of the Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group, yesterday started work on a liquefied petroleum gas depot and an entrance/exit checking station for tankers worth over 226 billion dong and covering 6.3 hectares in the east industrial park of the Dung Quat Economic Zone in Binh Son District. The project, mainly a transit facility for products going from the Dung Quat Oil Refinery Plant to the southern central coastal region and the Central Highlands, will be finished by the first quarter of next year.
* The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV)'s governor on March 16 issued a Decision No 543/QD-NHNN and another Decision No 544/QD-NHNN allowing Nam Viet Commercial Joint Stock Bank (NaviBank) to launch gold trading activities according to the current regulations.
* Under an Official Dispatch No 56/GP-NHNN issued on March 16 by the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV)'s governor, HCM City-headquartered Viet Phu E-Payment Corp is allowed to provide foreign exchange service.
* Vietnam International Commercial Joint Stock Bank (VIB Bank) and Postal Insurance Joint Stock Co (PTI) today march 17 signed a comprehensive cooperation agreement whereby two sides will take each other's advantages and exchange experiences in finance.
Sources: Thoi Bao Kinh Te Vietnam, Lao Dong, Nguoi Lao Dong, Dau Tu, Dau Tu Chung Khoan, Tuoi Tre, Thanh Nien, Tin Tuc, Nhan Dan, Vietstock, SSC, VCBS, HaSTC.

Dragon Capital expects profitable year

18/Mar/2009 Intellasia | CafeF
Dominic Scriven-director of Dragon Capital investment fund had a talk on the fund's action plans in 2009 as outlined in the following interview:
How do you expect in profit from Vietnamese stock market in 2009?
I know everyone all is disappointed about previous forecasts on the development prospect of Vietnamese stock market, but at present, almost the market slumps are over. Market plunges in 2009 will be only temporary and will start to surge again immediately. Both Vietnam's and the world's finance market showed bottom levels, so we will start to build development based on the foundation thanks to long-term investments (over three months). I expect that Dragon Capital could reach the profit growth of over 30% from the current level. But no one can predict what will happen in future.
Which shares should investors to pump capital into? Can you reveal your investment portfolio particularly?
In investment, experience is very important. All global investors must have awareness that pouring entire capital into securities is at high risk. We [investors] always have to own many "investment bags": bags of real estate, gold, bonds, money and shares. In the current context, I have both shares and bonds because bonds will help ensure my capital and bring in sustainable earnings. However, we have to predict inflation in advance. If the coupon rate of bonds is around 8-9%, inflation must be lower the figure to reach a capital safety. In case the market rallies, shares also will be a good investment opportunity.
What will Dragon Capital do if the financial crisis lasts till 2010?
The answer is very simple. We will try to raise capital.
How far has Dragon Capital's NAV fallen since the start of 2008?
Foreign securities investment funds in Vietnam all had to witnessed a sharp fall of 50% in net asset value. The NAV reduction of Dragon Capital was lower than the VN Index, which fell about 50% as well.

Binh Chanh construction investment firm reports first trading session

18/Mar/2009 Intellasia | 17/Mar/2009 Thoi Bao Kinh Te Vietnam page 7
Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (STC) on March 16 officially put 54.2 million BCI coded shares of Binh Chanh Construction Investment Joint Stock Co into transaction with a comparative price of 27,000 dong per share and the trading amplitude of +/-20%.
Ending the first trading session, BCI closed at 24,000 dong per share, down 3,000 dong/share against the comparative price with 243,240 shares changing hands.
The company has a chartered capital of 542 billion dong, headquartered at No 550 Kinh Duong Vuong, An Lac Ward, HCM City's Binh Tan Dist.

SSI continues buying 330,000 PAN coded shares

18/Mar/2009 Intellasia | CafeF
Top broker Saigon Securities Inc (SSI) reported registered to buy extra 331,300 PAN coded shares of Pan Pacific Joint Stock Co between March 18 and April 18, 2009.
Earlier, SSI purchased 368,700 PAN shares, bringing its size in PAN to 5.268%.
After the registered transaction finishes, SSI's holding in PAN will be 700,050 shares or 10%.

DB Schenker opens Vietnam logistics centre

18/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Ci-online
Schenker Vietnam on March 17 opened its 10,000 square metre flagship facility in Song Than Industrial Park I of Binh Duong Province, close to HCM City.
The facility is the product of a US$5.5 million investment with Vietnamese partner Gemadept. Schenker plans to create a key logistics hub for manufacturers and distributors in local high-tech and industrial zones.
"More than ever, this facility will not only serve as an important hub for the Vietnam market, but will also be an integral hub in our regional and global network, as we continue to strengthen our logistics footprint to better serve our customers needs in Vietnam, Asia Pacific and the rest of the world," said CEO Steve Dearnley.
DB Schenker is the Germany's leading provider of warehouse and logistic services with a yearly revenue of 18 billion euro (about US$23.5 billion). The group first entered the Vietnam market in 1990.

Phu My Wasuco reaches EPS of 3,236 dong

18/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Dau Tu Chung Khoan page 17
Phu My Water Supply Joint Stock Co (Phu My Wasuco) has released the 2008 business results with total revenue of 33.5 billion dong, a year-on-year rise of 21.46%, after-tax profit of 17.1 billion dong, up 15.57% and EPS of 3,236 dong/share against 2007's 3,061 dong.
In 2008, the firm paid a dividend of 25%, higher than the previous year's 29%.
Phu My Wasuco has a chartered capital of 52.892 billion dong, of which 28% is held by the state shareholders and its share capital surplus was 4.4 billion dong.

Binh Dinh Agricultural Co '08 net revenue at 779b dong

18/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Dau Tu Chung Khoan page 17
Binh Dinh Agricultural Materials and Technique Joint Stock Co (ATM) reported that last year it earned 778.9 billion dong in net revenue from sales and service provision, 20.2 billion dong in total after-tax profit, and EPS of 7,028 dong, growing by 46.08%, 188.57% and 66.3% correspondingly compared to 2007.
The company has a current chartered capital of 32.88 billion dong and the ownership capital of 48.1 billion dong, in which the big shareholder Binh Dinh Export Import Service Production and Investment Corp holds over 57%.

Laos, Vietnam sign joint mining deal

18/Mar/2009 Intellasia | VNA | Vietnam+
Representatives from Laos and Vietnam's government on Monday signed a cooperation agreement of mining minerals in Sepone, Laos' Savanakhet province.
Vietnamese representatives included Pham Minh Thao-chair of Laos Vietnam Natural Mineral Mining International Joint Venture Co, Tung Bach Joint Stock Co, Defense Ministry's Co 319, and others.
The project will be conducted on a large area in Savanakhet.

TigerInvest transfers Hoa Binh Tower

18/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Dau Tu Chung Khoan page 6
Being as a broker and consultant, Vietnam Finance Investment Co (TigerInvest) successfully transferred Hoa Binh Real Estate Construction and Trading Joint Stock Co's (HBC) Hoa Binh Tower project.
Particularly, HBC signed a contract of transferring the land using right of Hoa Binh Tower project designed on a site of 2,775 square metres at Lot C17-1-1, Zone A, HCM City's Southern Saigon Urban Area. Total value of the transfer contract is nearly US$12 million.
TigerInvest specialises in supplying M&A package services, especially in real estate field.

Da Nang to open six high-class coastal tourism sites

18/Mar/2009 Intellasia | CafeF
Da Nang City Department of Culture, Sport and Tourism on March 16 reported that through tourism project surveys, there would be extra six high class coastal tourism areas put into operation for the first phase between now to the year end.
The tourism area projects include Ba Na. Silver Shore-Hoang Dat, Olalani, Tien Sa, Xuan Thieu and Son Tra Spa.
In 2008, in Da Nang, four high-quality hotels with 295 rooms were operational, especially the Green Plaza five star hotel with 175 rooms.
The city now has 46 tourism investment projects worth total US$1.819 billion, including 12 foreign invested projects worth US$763 million and 34 domestic invested ones worth US$1.056 billion.
This year Da Nang targets to receive 1.33 million tourism arrivals, up 10% year-on-year, in which 950,000 arrivals are domestic, total revenue of 900 billion dong, a y-o-y growth of 11% and social earnings from tourism activities estimated at 2.340 trillion dong.

Japanese architectural designer sets up shop in Vietnam

18/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Thoi Bao Kinh Te Vietnam
Japanese architectural designer Kume Sekkei Groupon March 16 officially entered Vietnam through setting up/establishing Kume Design Asia arm in Hanoi and HCM City.
At the debut ceremony, Yukio Yamada, general director of Kume Sekkei spoke that Vietnam's real estate market especially the architectural design consultancy field remains at high potential so his firm decided to set up shops here.
The group wants to help Vietnam become "one international standardised-architectural design site" focusing on developing urban areas in Asia's neighbouring countries, Middle East and northern Africa, he added.
Formed in 1932, Tokya headquartered group to date has designed 6,000 projects in Japan and 40 other nations.

Vietnam needs to 'accelerate' infrastructure projects: ADB

18/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Thanhniennews
Vietnam needs to prioritise and "accelerate" its infrastructure projects, as it has ambitious plans to build power plants, ports, roads and railways in a period when financial resources are squeezed globally, ADB said.
Even with a global credit crunch and recession in many countries, there is money available to Vietnam from governments, international agencies and the private sector, said Ayumi Konishi, the Asian Development Bank's country director in Hanoi.
Vietnam "cannot do everything on its own and at once," Konishi said, noting that foreign companies would be deterred if they have to deal with power outages and transport bottlenecks.
Government officials have said about US$6 billion of stimulus spending will be budgeted this year, without specifying how it will be allocated or how much may have been in previous plans. The economy expanded 6.2% last year, the least in nine-years, as consumers in the US, Japan and Europe reined in spending.
Vietnam, a nation of 86 million with an US$85 billion economy, last month unveiled a plan to build a 1,555-kilometer high-speed rail from Hanoi, its capital, south to the economic hub of HCM City. That project would cost US$55.8 billion, according to Nguyen Huu Bang, chair and chief executive officer of state-owned Vietnam Railways.
"The high-speed rail is crucial for Vietnam," Bang said at the Asia Pacific Rail 2009 conference in Hanoi last week. The railway would have two stages completed by 2019 and the final two in 2035, he said.
When complete, travel time between Hanoi and HCM City will be about five-and-a-half hours, from 36 hours now, Bang said. Vietnam would consider technologies used in Japan's Shinkansen, Germany's Inter-City, and France's TGV rail system, he said.
Vietnam's north-south railway was built by the French between 1882 and 1936.
Konishi spoke at the event, where companies such as Alstom SA, Alcatel-Lucent UK Ltd, and Singapore's SMRT Corp made presentations on their transit products and services.
"There is a real competition here," Dominique Pouliquen, senior vice president for Alstom Transport Asia Pacific and country president for Alstom Singapore, said in an interview in Hanoi. "However, there is enough space regarding the number of opportunities in Vietnam."

Cat Lai port new wharf put operation

18/Mar/2009 Intellasia | 17/Mar/2009 CafeF
Tan Cang (New Port) Saigon Co on March 16 inaugurated the wharf No 7 in HCM City's Dist 2. The firm's deputy general director said that the new wharf would lift the cargo loading capacity of Cat Lai port to 350,000 teus (or 4.5 million tonnes of cargo) a year.
Saigon New Port Co now manages three ports including Tan Cang, Tan Cang Cat Lai and Tan Cang-Cai Mep. The cargo loading capacity through Tan Cang Cat Lai port reached over 27 million tonnes last year for the revenue of nearly three trillion dong.

My Thuy deep water seaport project approved

18/Mar/2009 Intellasia | 17/Mar/2009 Thoi Bao Kinh Te Saigon Online
My Thuy deep water seaport project with a total investment capital of eight trillion dong for the first phase was recently approved by the Quang Tri provincial People's Committee.
The seaport with 3,090 metres in length will be built in communes of Hai An and Hai Khe in Hai Lang district by Maritime Construction Investment Joint Stock Co under Vietnam Maritime Corp (Vinalines).
Last month, Malaysia-based Giant Group Limited (GGL) signed a memorandum of understanding with Quang Tri provincial People's Committee to carry out feasible study for the project.

Finance news

2009-04-23T14:01:00.001-07:00

Finance

Securities mortgaging in vogue again

17/Apr/2009 Intellasia | 15/Apr/2009 Dau Tu Chung Khoan page 21

Value added services of securities companies for investors are seemingly recovering together with the stock market.

In addition to workshops, presentations for information assistance, many securities companies are actively cooperating with credit organisations in a bid to provide financial assistance, increase trading capacity for investors. Currently, in the stock market, it is not difficult for investors to obtain such services as advancing revenue from securities sales, mortgages, share repo and others.

Although being a new player, on April 14, Truong Sinh Securities Co (TSS) signed a cooperation deal with Lien Viet Bank to provide capital assistance to investors. Pham Ngoc Thang, TSS's general director, said the mortgage value amounts up to 50% of the share market price and interest rates are relatively competitive.

Having developed mortgage services for long-term, Petroleum Securities Co (PVS) by this time is also promoting this value added services. Currently, PVS has cooperated with various credit organisations in offering securities loans. Lists of shares, value and interest rates of securities mortgage at PVS vary depending different partners. What is notable is that there is no maximum limit for securities mortgage at PVS. The interest rate for securities mortgage at PVS is 10.5% a year. In addition, PVS is also introducing repo services for such bank shares of Military Bank, Vietnam Export and Import Bank only. At Gia Quyen Securities Co (EPS), investors can use securities mortgaging services and advance payment for securities sales because EPS cooperates with partner banks to provide those services. With the securities mortgaging services, investors can use listed and unlisted shares in the accepted list of shares for mortgage to borrow loans.

In the past Bao Viet Securities Co (BVSC) had partnered with many banks including Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (Bidv) in order to supply capital to clients through securities mortgage in transaction accounts. Currently, BVSC accepts securities mortgage for 23 codes listed on the both floors, mostly blue-chip codes such as FPT, VIC, REE and so on. And if shares have a market price of 30,000 dong a share or more, the mortgage value will be 50%. As for the market price of from 20,000 to 25,000 dong a share, the mortgage value will be 8,000 dong a share, for the market price of 16,000 to less than 20,000 dong a share, the mortgage value is 7,000 dong a share, for the market price of from 25,000 to 30,000 dong a share, the mortgage value is 10,000 dong a share. The maximum limit that BVSC and partner banks can offer is five billion dong for the lending duration of three months.

VNDirect Securities Co also makes a partnership with Bidv to offer securities mortgage services with an interest rate of 0.03% a day. In fact, VNDirect works as a broker to arrange meetings between clients and banks only. All procedures are processed directly by between investors and banks while the securities company only manages securities and supervises debt payment obligations.

Pressure on lifting mortgages, when the market started strongly declining by early 2008, perhaps still haunting many securities companies and banks. However, there are many reasons for securities companies to rev up this kind of service, namely increased demand of investors, lowly decreased share prices, abundant capital source of banks.

Nguyen Manh Cuong, vice director in charge of securities trading and service division of Bidv-Ha Thanh branch, said that the bank now sets aside a limit of securities-backed loans worth 100 billion dong for BVSC, SSI each.

Cuong added that Bidv has put forward various measures to manage risks for such kind of loans. In addition to categorising different kinds of mortgaged shares, banks also set specific alert rates and solutions. If share prices reduce by 30% against the price at the time of mortgage, investors will have to pay in secured assets in cash or securities. If three days has passed from the deadline, investors still fail to pay in secured assets, the bank and securities companies will sell shares to settle loans.

The market is on an upward tendency with the positive sentiment of local investors. As for banks, after promoting interest rate subsidised loans under the government's demand stimulating policy, banks' credit growth expands, hence, the room for securities-backed loans is also widened. This makes many investors engage into offering securities-backed lending activities.

Currently, most of banks lend investors 20 to 50% of share market prices for short-term. According to banks, VN Index will be likely to fall below 300 points. However, with a relatively tough regulation on settlement rate [if the share price reduces by 30% of the share market price, securities-back loans will be settled], securities-backed lending activities are considered to be relatively safe.

Commercial banks continue pushing deposit rates

17/Apr/2009 Intellasia | Lao Dong

Commercial banks now join the competition of negotiated lending rates, and continue pushing up the deposit rates while the US dollar interest rate is falling.

Saigon Commercial JS Bank on April 15 announced a new interest rate benchmark higher much than the previous rates whereby the rate of one week deposit is 5% pa, two weeks at 6% pa, three weeks at 7% pa, 2-3 months at 7.85% pa, 4-5 months at 7.9%, 6-8 months at 8.1% and 9-12 months at 8.2% a year.

At Vietnam Tin Nghia Bank, the dong saving rate for a term of one week was raised from 4.2% to 4.5% pa, two weeks from 5.4% to 5.5%, two months from 7.6% to 7.7%, six months from 7.8% to 7.9% and 12 months from 8.2% to 8.3%. Meanwhile, one-month deposit at Nam Viet Commercial JS Bank carries a new rate of 7.7% instead of the previous 7.5% pa, two-month deposit rate was up from 7.6% to 7.8% and three months from 7.7% to 7.9% pa.

Large sized banks with more advantages are also preparing for interest rate hikes. From April 16, Eximbank decided to increase the 12-month deposit rate to keep customers and avoid affects to other services.

However, the capital mobilisation recently has signalled to slow down, according to bankers, because of the economic difficulties and the capital flow shifted to the stock market.

State Bank of Vietnam's figures showed that in the first three months of 2009, the dong mobilisation of HCM City banks only grew by 3.84% while the dong lending jumped 4.8%.

Among commercial banks (mainly joint stock banks), the fierce competition in consumer lending was started up. Thus, although deposit rates surged, negotiated lending rates still tended to decline.

This year many banks targeted to reach the consumer lending accounting for 20-30% of total outstanding loans. Some boosted marketing by door-to-door offering.

Few lenders lowered the negotiated lending rate down to nearly SBV's basic rate ceiling. The blooming consumer lending activities could lead to unpredictable risks.

Meanwhile, the US dollar interest rate since April early has kept decreasing. ACB reduced the one-month US dollar deposit rate down to 1.6% pa, two months at 1.8%, three months at 2% pa, six months at 2.3%, nine months at 2.6% and 12 months at 2.9% pa, down 1-3% depending on each term.

The heavier pressure of the surplus of US dollar deposits made the deposit rate of some small banks slump. In Vietnam Tin Nghia Bank, the deposits with a term of one-month carries the rate of 1.2% (down 0.8% from the start of April), six months at 2% pa (0.5%) and nine months at 2.2% (0.6%).

Different from the dong, the US dollar mobilisation continued growing strongly whereas the lending is going down. HCM City banks' US dollar raising soared by 11.5% in Jan-March but their credit growth was negative.

Many enterprises that have US dollar earnings are keeping a huge volume of foreign currencies and then send to banks for interests. They [US dollar keepers] are waiting for an expected increase in the dong/US dollar forex rate, which affects strongly to banks' foreign currency business.

Informal bank shares prices surge riding on back of formal market

17/Apr/2009 Intellasia | Dau Tu Chung Khoan page 28

Prices of bank shares on the informal stock market as well as two listed share codes of ACB and STB have recently surged sharply ahead of the upward trend of the stock market.

But should investors buy bank shares when the real bad debt ratio of Vietnamese banks is under question according to many financiers while local banks are targeting to reach a high credit growth this year.

Duong Cam Da, vice investment director of Vietnam Equity Holding under Saigon Asset Management Corp (SAM) said that there were three reasons pushing bank share prices up to high levels recently. Firstly, leading lenders such as Asia Commercial JS Bank (ACB), Sacombank (coded STB), Techcombank and Eximbank posted a fairly high profit in Jan-March. Secondly, the US stock market also witnessed a rally after US financial institutions namely Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo announced a huge Q1 profit. Thirdly, prices of bank share plunged to a level lower that of other shares. Because of above reasons, investors now are rush to pump capital into the "king shares".

In his opinion, the Vietnamese finance sector is at high potential because locals are habitual users of cash in the economy and the number of bank account users and credit card users still remains comparatively low. SAM [Saigon Asset Management Corp] invested in STB with suitable price ranges and will continue following up Vietnamese stock market in general and the banking sector in particular to release strategic steps.

In order to pursue this year's business targets, a lot of banks planned to reach a credit growth of 90%, which contains the hidden bad debts in the current context.

However, it is still too early to say whether Vietnam's banking sector will remain unscathed from the affects of the global financial tsunami said Nguyen Viet Cuong, vice managing director of VinaCapital.

But market watchers say in any event, the surge in the informal price of bank share trades recently was due to a ride on the back of the formal market and recent the rally of the Vietnamese stock market is not yet sustainable.

Vietnam admits dam resettlement programmes inadequate

17/Apr/2009 Intellasia | DPA

Vietnam's efforts to resettle villagers displaced by the massive Son La hydroelectric project have been slow and inadequate, government officials said Thursday. Most of the villagers displaced by the dam in the mountainous northern province of Son La belong to ethnic minorities. National Assembly member Ksor Phuoc, an ethnic Jarai who heads the assembly's Committee on Nationalities and its Group for Resettlement and Supervision of the Son La Hydroelectric Plant, said those resettled felt insecure in their new homes.

In some resettlement areas, Phuoc said, displaced villagers have already arrived, but roads, power lines, and schools have yet to be built.

"In those places, children have to travel to schools far from their new homes," Phuoc said.

Phuoc's comments echoed a report delivered Tuesday to Vietnam's National Assembly Standing Committee on the resettlement of people displaced by the dam.

The report said the process is behind schedule and likely to cause resentment among those resettled.

Authorities have so far moved 62% of the 91,000 people who will be displaced by the dam's holding reservoir. Vietnamese deputy prime minister Hoang Trung Hai said Wednesday that resettlement had been held up by delays in awarding compensation to displaced households.

The government granted each displaced household between 50 million and 70 million dong (US$2,800 to US$4,000) to build a new house. But Phuoc said the actual cost of the new houses was between 200 million and 300 million dong (US$11,500 to US$17,000).

Phuoc said hundreds of households were still unsure how to earn a livelihood, two-years after being resettled in their new locations.

Nguyen Thai Hung, deputy Head of the Management Board for Displacement and Resettlement in the Muong Lay district of Son La province, said that besides infrastructure, the resettlement areas lacked good farmland.

"The fertile land is already allocated to local people before the displaced arrive," Hung said. "Authorities can only allocate land in mountainous areas which are very difficult to farm."

Hung said most of the resettled were used to growing lowland wet rice, and had to learn new methods for growing upland dry rice. He said they had received little help from agricultural experts in learning how to work the land they had been granted.

The Son La Dam is the largest ever built in Vietnam, with a capacity of 2,400 megawatts and an estimated cost of US$2.5 billion. It is scheduled for completion in 2015.

The dam has been controversial since it was first proposed, partly because of the resettlement issue and partly due to environmental concerns. The province of Son La is prone to earthquakes, and if the dam fails, it could flood the city of Hanoi.

KPMG says Vietnam still prospective for FDI

17/Apr/2009 Intellasia | Vietnamnet

The international consulting group KPMG has highlighted Vietnam as a prospective destination for foreign direct investment (FDI) from developed countries in a large swathe of business areas despite the slump worldwide.

In a just-released statement, the auditing, taxation and advisory group of services firms says that "whilst the propensity and capacity of foreign investors to do deals in emerging markets is generally down..., we still see attractive opportunities in Vietnam. Sectors that are attracting attention are fast moving consumer goods, media and entertainment, telecoms, financial services, infrastructure and real estate."

The statement from KPMG Vietnam says the country "still possesses many investment opportunities for the medium to long-term investors" in the above-mentioned sectors for those investors who are prepared to spend the time to study the market.

KPMG observed that developed-to-emerging market deals has fallen sharply in recent times, especially in the second half of last year, but the FDI disbursement in Vietnam will remain positive.

Citing the latest Emerging Markets International Acquisition Tracker (EMIAT) from KPMG's Advisory practice, the statement shows that second half of 2008 saw a 37% decline in developed-to-emerging deals. For the six months mentioned, only 230 such deals were recorded by EMIAT, the lowest figure since the beginning of 2003.

EMIAT monitors deals in 11 developed economies and 11 emerging, high growth economies, the latter group including Vietnam, Brazil, China, Central and Eastern Europe, Hong Kong, India, Russia, and South Korea among others.

Truc Ba Ha, M&A Advisory Services at KPMG in Vietnam, says that FDI commitments are expected to decline to an estimated US$20 billion this year in comparison to US$64 billion pledged for 2008. However, "FDI disbursements in 2009 are expected to be similar to 2008 level at approximately US$11 billion, an indicator that the appetite for Vietnam still remains strong."

Ian Gomes, Chair of KPMG's High Growth Markets practice for KPMG in the UK, commented: "We are seeing a marked decline in terms of deals into the emerging, high growth markets. However, this is more indicative of the purchasers struggling for credit than it is of the emerging markets losing their appeal... The trend of increasing capital flows from west to east is not cancelled, it is merely postponed."

Truc Ba Ha notes that "Vietnam will continue to be an attractive emerging market in both mid and long-terms for local and foreign investors since many of the fundamental characteristics still remain such as favourable demographics, large private sector, WTO commitments, business legislative reforms, large untapped rural market."

In the year's first quarter, FDI commitments in Vietnam exceeded US$6 billion, while FDI disbursements amounted to some US$1.5 billion, according to figures from the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

Vietnam govt bond sales fail due to high yield bids

17/Apr/2009 Intellasia | Reuters

Vietnam's State Treasury failed to sell any government bonds this week because bidders sought higher yields than the Treasury was prepared to accept, the Hanoi stock market said.
Five bidders at the auction on Thursday sought to buy 600 billion dong (US$34 million) worth of two-year bonds at yields of between 8.2-9.5% but the treasury's ceiling was 7.6%, the exchange said in a statement.

Two bidders also sought 350 billion dong worth of five-year bonds at between 8.8-9.2%, well above the State Treasury's ceiling of 7.9%. The exchange did not name any bidders.

The State Treasury had hoped to raise 1 trillion dong in the bond sale to big infrastructure projects, such as roads, bridges and ports.

At the previous auction of government dong-denominated bonds on March 12, the Treasury also failed to sell any two-year and three-year debt.

The government has pledged 17 trillion dong (US$956 million) in economic stimulus, including loan subsidies. State media have reported that more such policies were in the works, but it was unclear how they would be funded.

Government bonds were an option if policymakers relaxed their stance on yields, the Vietnam News quoted former central bank governor and National Monetary Policy Consulting Council member Cao Sy Kiem on Wednesday as saying.

"If we want a more successful bond issue, the yield should be raised," Kiem said.

18 domestic banks win Citi Awards for payment capabilities

17/Apr/2009 Intellasia | Vietnamnet

Four State-owned commercial banks and fourteen joint stock banks in Vietnam have been announced as winners of the annual Citi Straight Through Processing (STP) Awards Program, in recognition of their their leadership in global payment capabilities, Citi Vietnam announced in a press release today.

The annual program recognises those banks in Vietnam that have state-of-the-art international payment services. The awards are based on the straight through processing (STP) rate, a rate assigned for accuracy in electronic transfers, which is at least 90%.

This year's winners include the Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam, Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam, Vietnam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development, Vietnam Bank for Industry and Trade, Asia Commercial Bank, Saigon Thuong Tin Commercial Joint Stock Bank, DongA Commercial Joint Stock Bank, Military Commercial Joint Stock Bank, Vietnam Technological and Commercial Joint Stock Bank, Orient Commercial Joint Stock Bank, Housing Development Commercial Joint Stock Bank, Southern Commercial Joint Stock Bank, Indovina Bank, An Binh Commercial Joint Stock Bank, Hanoi Building Commercial Joint Stock Bank, Vietnam Maritime Commercial Stock Bank, Vietnam International Commercial Joint Stock Bank, Southeast Asia Commercial Joint Stock Bank

"This is the seventh year in a row that Citi has recognised our local banking partners. The increased numbers of winners over the years is a clear testimony of the improved payment processing capabilities of both state-owned and joint stock banks in Vietnam," Brett Krause, Citi Country Officer for Vietnam, said in the release.

"This award program continues to make an important contribution to the banking industry in Vietnam by encouraging banks to constantly improve service quality and apply international quality standards. The program also gives Citi an opportunity to share best practices with some of our local banking partners," said Krause.

Citi has made a long-term commitment to Vietnam and has played a key role in assisting in the development of Vietnam's financial markets. Citi was the first US financial institution to receive a branch license and the first US bank to open a full branch in Hanoi in 1994.

PXP fund unit surge

17/Apr/2009 Intellasia | Thoi Bao Kinh Te Vietnam page 11

PXP Vietnam Asset Management reported on Wednesday that Net Asset Value of its fund unit reached US$2,611 till March 31, 2009, surging 8.385% compared to February 27, 2009.

Last month Vietnam Fund invested about 88.8% of total investment fund in listed firms and another 10.8% in Vietnam's unlisted companies.

Previously, Vietnam Lotus investment fund under PXP also announced the NAV was US$1,608 per fund unit last month, decreasing over 15.8% month on month.

SHB launches PhoneBanking

17/Apr/2009 Intellasia | Dau Tu Chung Khoan page 29

Saigon Hanoi Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SHB) has launched the PhoneBanking service all over the network whereby from April 16, customers can enjoy prominent services like frequent update on banking products, personal account information, low using cost and customer support service 24/7 and others.

On April 20, 50 million SHB coded shares at 10,000 dong par will be put into transactions via the northern trading floor.

VietABank dips into gold

17/Apr/2009 Intellasia | Dau Tu Chung Khoan page 29

From April 22, Viet A Commercial Joint Stock Bank (VietABank) will launch the gold investment business programme according to the world's price at its gold trading centre.

With this, customers' total trading volume can be higher 14 times than their ownership capital. As gold investors demand to borrow capital, the dong loan rate (provided by VietABank) will be 8% pa, gold loan rate at 4% pa. But, the interest rates will be adjusted in each period.

Apparel export to Japan on the rise

17/Apr/2009 Intellasia | VNA

Vietnam's apparel export value to Japan has surged recently against diminished exportation to the U.S. and the European Union.

Vietnam's apparel industry reached US$138 million in export turnover within the first two months of this year, a 27% year-on-year increase, according to the Vietnam Trade Office in Japan. The northeast Asian country reduced tariffs on many apparel products from Vietnam after the Vietnam-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement was signed last year.

Moreover, the Japanese yen has appreciated against the US dollar and Japan has announced to seek another Asian garment supplier besides China due to rising prices.

Towel, T-shirt, shirt and underwear exports to Japan increased by 128%, 102%, 35% and 26% respectively within the first two months of the year.

Business

VN Index ends six consecutive increasing sessions as slumping 9.74 pts

17/Apr/2009 Intellasia | Atp | CafeF | HASTC | STC

The VN Index today April 17 ended the six consecutive increasing sessions as slumping 9.74 pts or 2.83% from yesterday to close at 334.14 pts with total matching order trade of nearly 67.2 million shares for about 1.617 trillion dong, surging 51% in volume and 41% in value compared to the previous session.

However, the stock market still recorded a successful trading session with a total rise of 9.09 pts in VN Index.

There were 106 share codes decreasing, 59 rising and 16 standing still.

Among top ten largest cap share codes only PVD soared 2,000 to 70,000 dong per share and remaining shares down, particularly FPT fell 2,500 to 55,500, HAG -3,000 to 60,500, PPC -1,400 to 28,000 and VNM -4,000 to 83,500 dong per share, followed by VIC, REE, ITA, SJS and VSH.

SAM still maintained the matching order price higher the comparative price while SSI saw a floor decrease. After the session closed, SAM surged 100 dong slightly to 24,000 dong/share with a trade of over 6.8 million shares, SSI slid 2,300 to 44,200 dong/share with 4.62 million shares being transferred.

Notably, BCI of Binh Chanh Construction Investment JSC was up 1,400 to 29,700 dong per share.

In terms of matching order trade, STB led the market with 12.03 million shares, SAM with 6.8 million, SSI with 4.62 million, VF4 with 3.54 million, VF1 with 2.69 million, BCI with 2.16 million and VIP with 1.76 million.

Like STC, the Hanoi floor today witnessed a decline when its index was down 6.89 pts to close at 122.56 pts with a market trade of 32,447,800 shares worth more than 848.793 billion dong.

Business, banking and stock market report Apr 17

17/Apr/2009 Intellasia

Vietnam Air Petrol Co Ltd or Vinapco, an affiliate of the national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines, has been fined three billion dong for allegedly violating the Competition Law by stopping air fuel supply to Jetstar Pacific Airlines on April 1, 2008 without warning, causing the airliner to cancel 30 flights, according to a judgment of the National Competition Council, Lao Dong reports.
Korean-owned Posco Vietnam Co Ltd is planning to turn out the first 40,000 tonnes of cold-rolled steel from its 1.4 million tonnes/year plant, for the first phase worth US$366 million in August. The largest steel project in Vietnam with total investment capital of US$1.12 billion, will commission its hot-rolled steel plant by 2011.
LongAnFood Processing Export Joint Stock Co (Lafooco) has proposed trading rice for cashew from African countries to the Vietnam Cashew Association and is awaiting approval from the ministries of agriculture-rural development and industry-trade this month. Once approved, the project will help processors to cut import costs for cashews and open new markets for Long An rice exporters.
Clever Online Advertising Corp, or Clever Ads, the authorised advertising company of Google Inc. licensed with Google Advertising Professional in Vietnam, has introduced a new internet-based advertising service via key words called Google AdsWords. This way of advertising is said to be more effective and less expensive as enterprises using the service can track detailed behaviour of internet users and potential customers, improve advertising and marketing strategies and make the best use of other add-on tools available from the worldwide search engine Google.
In 2008, Thien Viet Securities Co (TVS) reached 99.4 billion dong in revenue from securities business and investment, a year-on-year growth of 45 billion dong. However, because the cost for securities business operation surged from 16.5 billion dong in 2007 to 67 billion dong last year, the pre-tax profit was down 4.6 billion dong to only 20.7 billion dong.
PXP Vietnam Asset Management reported on Wednesday that Net Asset Value of its fund unit reached US$2,611 till March 31, 2009, surging 8.385% compared to February 27, 2009.
Singapore's Sembcorp Industrial Park Group, who joined a venture with Vietnam's Becamex to set up Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park (VSIP), will start construction on VSIP Hai Phong urban industrial zone in this September, the group's chair Low Sin Leng confirmed on the occasion of Singaporean prime minister Lee Kuan Yew's Vietnam visit on April 14.
Saigon Services Joint Stock Co-Savico (coded SVC) on April 15 reported that its total assets reached 1.363 trillion dong in the end of 2008, a year-on-year growth of 27%. In 2009, the company targets to attain 2.250 trillion dong in total revenue, 70.5 billion dong in pre-tax profit and a dividend of 10%.
Pha Lai Thermo Power Joint Stock Co (coded PPC) reported that last month, its revenue from electricity production and business reached 404.784 billion dong while the pre-tax profit totalled at 106.867 billion dong because of the increased electricity-selling price of Electricity of Vietnam (EVN).
Saigon Hanoi Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SHB) recently released the Q1 business results with a total pre-tax profit of 80.8 billion dong, total asset of 13.651 trillion dong, decreasing 730 billion dong from the year early.
Saigon Hanoi Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SHB) has launched the PhoneBanking service all over the network whereby from April 16, customers can enjoy prominent services like frequent update on banking products, personal account information, low using cost and customer support service 24/7 and others.
From April 22, Viet A Commercial Joint Stock Bank (VietABank) will launch the gold investment business programme according to the world's price at its gold trading centre.

Australian steel maker launches specialised products

17/Apr/2009 Intellasia | The Saigon Times Daily Online

BlueScope Steel Vietnam on Wednesday launched new Clean COLORBOND steel products for manufacturing facilities as well as curved roofs and walls of structures in a move to further tap the local market.

Le Anh Tuan, vice president of the Australian-invested company, said the pre-painted steel products were made with zinc-aluminum coating and anti-fungus performance.

"BlueScope Steel turns out the products in various colors to meet diverse needs of companies for developing industrial facilities including retail and wholesale stores in Vietnam," Tuan told the Daily before the launch ceremony in HCMC.

He underscored the importance of having new products to provide project developers with more options for construction materials in a time of falling demand due to the impact of the global economic turbulence on the world's steel industry.

"Vietnam's steel industry is not an exception," Tuan said. He quoted sources including the Vietnam Steel Association as saying that steel makers in this market had seen their turnover fall by at least 30% over the past six months.

Earlier this year, the association estimated domestic steel production in the first quarter plunged by 24% year-on-year to 761,000 tons while steel consumption slumped by up to 71% compared to the year earlier period to around 700,000 tons.

"BlueScope Steel Vietnam faces the same difficulties," Tuan said, pointing out the decline in foreign direct investment (FDI) in the country in recent months as one of the reasons.

The Ministry of Planning and Investment's figures showed Vietnam drew over US$6 billion in FDI including injected capital in operational projects in the January-March period, down nearly 40% year-on-year.

However, Tuan said BlueScope Steel was optimistic about Vietnam's steel market as this was a developing market and many investors would return and come to build factories in this market.

"New opportunities come when investors return to Vietnam again as they will need steel, especially the quality products," Tuan said.

Currently, BlueScope Steel Vietnam turns out pre-painted and zinc-aluminum alloy-coated steel sheets in addition to other steel materials. The company has operated a US$105-million metallic coated and painted rolled steel mill in Phu My 1 Industrial Zone in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau since November 2005.

The facility includes a 125,000 ton per annum metallic coating line and 50,000 ton per annum paint line.

Alpine Biomed to set up plant in Vietnam

17/Apr/2009 Intellasia | VNA

Alpine Biomed, a developer of specialty diagnostic devices, is planning to double its manufacturing capacity and expanded its worldwide network by opening a new facility in Vietnam.

Located in Ho Chi Minh City, the new factory will produce and distribute medical devices that are used in diagnosing gastroesophageal reflux disease, reported the Pharmaceutical Business Review.

Alpine Biomed's new facility is one of the first US-headquartered companies in Ho Chi Minh City to receive medical device quality management system certification from the International Organization for Standardisation.

The manufacturing center will export diagnostic devices to customers throughout the world and employ approximately 100 people.

John Arnott, President and CEO of Alpine Biomed, said: "Our new facility in Vietnam is another key component of our strategic plan to become one of the world's leading specialty diagnostic device companies."

"It is a state-of-the-art facility featuring the most advanced technologies that connect our manufacturing centers around the world to provide our customers with the highest-quality devices that diagnose a range of gastrointestinal and neurological disorders," he said.

Sembcorp commits to industrial park expansion

17/Apr/2009 Intellasia | Thoi Bao Kinh Te Vietnam page 3

Singapore's Sembcorp Industrial Park Group, who joined a venture with Vietnam's Becamex to set up Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park (VSIP), will start construction on VSIP Hai Phong urban industrial zone in this September, the group's chair Low Sin Leng confirmed on the occasion of Singaporean prime minister Lee Kuan Yew's Vietnam visit on April 14.

VSIP Hai Phong project is designed to cover 1,600 hectares with total cost of US$100 million for the first phase. In 2009, the investor [Sembcrop] will pour US$30 million to carry out the project.

To date, Sembcorp has invested in VSIP 1 (500 hectares) and VSIP 2 (2,045 hectares) in Binh Duong province, VSIP Bac Ninh 700 hectares and VSIP Hai Phong that will be broken within this year.
Total committed investment capital for building infrastructure of above four VSIP projects is estimated at US41.5 billion. Of which US$660 million has been disbursed.

Vietnam Airlines says to talk soon to buy 10 A321s

17/Apr/2009 Intellasia | Reuters

National flag carrier Vietnam Airlines plans to talk with European plane maker Airbus over the purchase of 10 A321-200 aircraft by early May, a Vietnamese company excecutive said on Thursday.

"Our chief executive will go to France late this month or early next month to talk with Airbus over the purchase," said the Vietnam Airlines official, who is familiar with the purchase plan but declined to be identified by name because he was not authoorised to discuss the matter.

Earlier this month prime minister Nguyen Tan Dung approved a plan for the Hanoi-based unlisted airline to buy the 10 planes for delivery between 2011 and 2014, the government has said.

Based on 2008 average list prices, the planes would be worth around US$900 million.

Vietnam has forecast air passenger traffic to more than double to 32.4 million people by 2020 from 16 million in 2008.

Vietnam Airlines, the country's largest airline now with a fleet of 50 aircraft, has targeted its passenger handling this year to rise 7.3% to 9.46 million.

The airline and Vietnamese aircraft leasing firm, in which Vietnam Airlines was one of five founders, signed contracts to buy 47 planes in late 2007, including 12 Boeing 787s, five ATR 72s and 30 Airbus planes.

Last December, Vietnam Airlines signed a US$112 million contract to buy another six turboprop ATR 72-500 planes from ATR, a joint venture between EADS and Finmeccanica.

Vietnam Airlines said it carried 8.82 million passengers last year, 10.6% higher than in 2007 and almost 54% of Vietnam's total.

Savico reveals '09 business plan

17/Apr/2009 Intellasia | Nguoi Lao Dong

Saigon Services Joint Stock Co-Savico (coded SVC) on April 15 reported that its total assets reached 1.363 trillion dong in the end of 2008, a year-on-year growth of 27%.

Of which 38.66% was poured into commercial services, 41.84% for real estate services and 19.5% for financial investments. At that time, chartered capital of SVC was posted at 203.6 billion dong and the ownership capital was 479 billion dong.

In 2009, the company targets to attain 2.250 trillion dong in total revenue, 70.5 billion dong in pre-tax profit and a dividend of 10%.

SVC was recently licensed to move trading floor from HASTC to STC.

Air carriers in hock over fuel

17/Apr/2009 Intellasia | VnExpress

The jet fuel supplier Vinapco has announced the overdue debts owed by Indochina Airlines and Jetstar Pacific Airlines. The announcement was recorded in the official letter sent to ministries of traffic and transportation, industry and trade and Competitive Management Competition yesterday.

Till April 16, total debts of both air firms were up to 75.3 billion dong, in which Jetstar Pacific owed 57.2 billion dong and Indochina Airlines 18.1 billion dong. The old debt of 3.1 billion dong was paid already by Indochina Airlines.

In 2007, Vinapco said it suffered a loss of 27 billion dong as supplying fuel to Vietnam Airlines and 2.9 billion dong to Jetstar Pacific.

PVI signs US$110m of contracts

17/Apr/2009 Intellasia | Dau Tu Chung Khoan page 5

PetroVietnam Insurance Joint Stock Corp (coded PVI), Bao Viet insurer co-signed a contract of providing aviation insurance programmes to Service Flight Corp of Vietnam (SFC) in 2009 and 2010, including insurance for aircraft body and responsibility insurance for passengers, luggage, goods, personal property, and flight crew.

In Q1 of 2009, PVI earned 1,000 trillion dong in total premium, leading Vietnam's life insurance market. Yesterday the insurer also passed the 2009 business plan with total premium of over three trillion dong, profit of 218 billion dong and a dividend of 10%.

PVI contributed capital into some big projects like Viet Laos hydropower plant, Sao Mai Ben Dinh JSC and Song Da Finance JSC.

Song Da consulting firm plans to hike capital

17/Apr/2009 Intellasia | Dau Tu Chung Khoan page 6

Song Da Consulting Joint Stock Co (SDC) has approved the plan of issuing more shares to hike the chartered capital from 15 billion dong to 21.5 billion dong, which will be broken into two phases.

For the first phase, the firm will share the dividend of 20% through offering 300,000 shares to raise capital by three billion dong. And then SDC will issue the share buying warrant of 4.8:1 to hike capital by another 3.75 billion dong.

Total remaining shares of the issue will be allocated to other investors.

Last year the consulting firm posted 131.35 billion dong in revenue from sales and service provision, a y-o-y rise of 10.96%, 8.77 billion dong in after-tax profit, up 19.97% against 2007. The figures are expected to 123.54 billion dong and 9.52 billion dong in 2009.

Vietnam fast-tracks highway deals

17/Apr/2009 Intellasia | Yonhap

With new overseas construction orders tumbling, Korea's major builders are scrambling to win orders for highway construction from Vietnam in an effort to bolster their sagging sales, market watchers said yesterday.

New overseas construction orders plunged 42% on-year to a combined US$8.2 billion in the first quarter on decreased demand from Asian countries stung by the global economic recession, according to the International Contractors Association of Korea.

New orders from Asian countries, including Vietnam, nose-dived 65% from a year earlier to US$1.92 billion in the January-March period, it said.

"Due to the global economic crisis, Korean builders are striving to clinch orders for highway and other public works projects from Vietnam," said an ICAK official, who declined to be identified. According to the ICAK, demand for highway construction in Vietnam is expected to increase sharply on the back of the country's policy to expand its nationwide highways. The Vietnamese government has mapped out a plan to construct highways spanning 5,753 kilometres (3, 574 miles) nationwide. Between 2006 and 2020, the country will pave a total of 2,235 kilometres of highway. Four highways spanning 231 kilometres are already under construction.

State-run Korea Expressway Corp is leading efforts to receive orders for highway construction in Vietnam. The company opened a branch in Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, in March 2006. "We are stepping up efforts to win orders for highway design and construction supervision in Vietnam," said an official for Korea Expressway.

In February 2008, Korea Expressway Corp signed a deal to design a 105.5-kilometer highway linking Hanoi with Hai Phong, a port city 100 kilometres from Hanoi with Vietnam Infrastructure Development and Finance Investment.

Following the deal, GS Engineering and Construction Co., Korea's second-largest builder, won a US$175 million order last December to build a 9.3-kilometer section of the Hanoi-Hai Phong expressway from Vidfi. The builder plans to complete construction by October 2011.

Posco Engineering and Construction Co signed last month a US$153 million deal with state-run Vietnam Express Corp to build a 27-kilometer section of the 244-kilometer highway linking Lao Cai and Noi Bai. Posco Engineering and Construction is in talks with VEC to obtain orders to construct a 22.1-kilometer section of the highway, according to ICAK.

Pha Lai thermo power plant reaches 300b dong in Q1 profit

17/Apr/2009 Intellasia | CafeF

Pha Lai Thermo Power Joint Stock Co (coded PPC) reported that last month, its revenue from electricity production and business reached 404.784 billion dong while the pre-tax profit totalled at 106.867 billion dong because of the increased electricity-selling price of Electricity of Vietnam (EVN).

Thus, in Jan-March, the company gained 283.766 billion dong in after-tax profit (excluding the profit from forex rate difference).

Based on the first phase debt payment schedule of 2009, PPC paid the periodic debt amounting to 928.37 million yen on March 20. The foreign debt of PPC till March 21, 2009 was 35.278 billion yen left.

The dong/yen forex rate on the market now is decreasing. On April 13, the forex rate was announced at 168.73 dong per yen by State Bank of Vietnam, down 16.23 dong against December 31, 2008.

High-end apartment prices to continue freefall

17/Apr/2009 Intellasia | Saigon Economic Times Online

At a meeting on Hanoi's real estate market outlook in Q1 and prospect for the whole 2009 held yesterday, Richard Leech, director of CBRE Vietnam spoke that the offering price of high and medium class apartment projects declined 4-8%, even 20-30% whereas that of simple-mannered houses surged 5-10%.

In the latest report, CBRE also assessed that Hanoi's office rents continued decreasing and the ratio of vacancies remained high.

Particularly, in the first quarter of 2009, the rent of offices Grade A was down 8% from the last year end to US$49 per square metre with the vacancy ratio of 2.6% while that of offices Grade B also tumbled to US$33 a square metre, down 5% year-on-year with the current vacancy ratio of 19%.

Within this year, Hanoi will have extra space supply of 100,000 square metres of offices Grade B and 13,000 square metres of offices Grade A.

Vietnam's timber market attains position as world's fourth largest hardwood chip exporter, reports wood resource quarterly

17/Apr/2009 Intellasia | Eworldwire

Vietnam is now one of the most important suppliers of plantation Eucalyptus and Acacia wood chips to the pulp industry in both Japan and China. The country has expanded shipments gradually over the past six-years and is now the world's fourth largest hardwood chip exporter, reports the Wood Resource Quarterly.

Vietnam has become a major exporter of wood chips in a short period of time. In 2002, the country exported only 150,000 metric tonnes of wood chips and was a marginal supplier at the time. In 2008, the country became the fourth largest exporter of hardwood chips in the world, with an estimated volume of two million tonnes being shipped, mainly to Japan and China.

The interest from farm households in planting trees has turned around quite dramatically the past decade. In the 1990s and early 2000, production of rice, livestock and tea generated more profits than timber, with the consequence that farmers converted forestland to farmland. This changed when the wood chip exports took off in 2002-2003. Many farmers are now planting trees as the profitability is considered very good compared to many other crops.

The number of woodchip mills has exploded in Vietnam from only 15 plants in 2003 to currently 50 wood chip mills along the 3500 kilometres long coastline. The chip mills typically have a annual capacity between 50,000 and 150,000 tonnes, but many of them are currently running at a reduced rate due to a lack of logs. Total chip production is estimated to be close to two million tonnes, while capacity is somewhere between three and four million tonnes. Wood chip exports, of which a majority is Acacia, has steadily gone up the past five years. The two major destinations have been Japan and China, with Taiwan and South Korea accounting only for about 10% of total shipments.

The average cost of hardwood chips from Vietnam to Japan was US$169/metric tonne (CIF) in the the fourth quarter of 2008, according to the Wood Resource Quarterly. These were among the lowest-cost chips imported to Japan last year, with only chips from Malaysia and Thailand being cheaper.

Without a doubt, the forest industry is growing in importance in Vietnam, and the country is expanding its domestic timber resources to be less dependent on imported wood raw-material in the future. Wood chip exports will probably increase in the short-term, but with the pulp industry in expansion mode over the next few years, wood chips shipments to Japan and China may decline long-term.

Global timber market reporting is included in the 50-page publication Wood Resource Quarterly. The report, established in 1988 and with readers in over 20 countries, tracks sawlog and pulpwood prices in most regions around the world and also includes regular updates of the latest developments in international timber, pulp, lumber and biomass markets.

Contact Information

Wood Resources International LLC

Hakan Ekstrom

info@wri-ltd.com

http://www.woodprices.com

Vietnam Telecommunications Report Q1 2009

17/Apr/2009 Intellasia | PressWIRE

www.companiesandmarkets.com adds new report: Vietnam Telecommunications Report Q1 2009 BMI estimates that, by the end of September 2008, the number of mobile customers in Vietnam had risen to over 57mn. Our estimates are based on the latest data to be published by Vietnam's Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC), which suggested that there were around 51.6mn subscribers at the end of June 2008. According to MIC figures, Viettel, which is owned by the Vietnamese military, continued to lead the Vietnamese mobile market with a market share of around 37.8%, a 2.5%age point rise over the quarter. Figures for major rivals, next largest mobile operators, MobiFone and VinaPhone were not released, although it is estimated that they remained in the high 20s. We did not make any alterations to our forecast for mobile subscriber growth in Vietnam, which continued to show strong growth.

Alterations were made in our fixed-line forecast, with the MIC reporting a total of over 13mn fixed-lines at the end of September 2008, (reflecting a growth rate of 17.1% since the end of 2007), we now believe that by the end of 2008, the market will have achieved similar growth levels to 2007 of 23%. Strong takeup of fixed-line has been due to the reduction in tariffs introduced since June 2007, which has attracted a growing number of users. The MIC in an effort to continue with gaining new subscribers to the fixed-line market announced that it would reduce monthly subscription charges from dong 27,000 (US$1.66) to dong 20,000, but inter-province calling rates would rise from dong 120 to dong 200 per minute, in an effort to bring rates above cost price.

These rates, due to be introduced from 2009 until 2010, are not expected to have an impact in the immediate term, but by the end of the decade, could be negatively impacted by increased mobile substitution and the proliferation of VoIP services results in weaker demand for fixed-line services. The slowdown will partly reflect fixed-line saturation in urban areas of Vietnam, while rural parts of the country will be more inclined to take up mobile telephony. At the end of our five-year forecast, we expect a total of 20.5mn fixed-lines, and a penetration rate of close to 22%.

Meanwhile, according to Vietnam's internet Network Information Centre (VNNIC), the number of broadband subscribers rose by 49% in the first 10 months of 2008, reaching 1.928mn. This new growth occurred on the back of the impressive 150% growth recorded in 2007. By the end of 2008, we forecast a market of around 2mn broadband subscribers, which is equivalent to a penetration rate of 2.3%. Growth in the latter half of our five-year forecast should be robust as operators increase the level of investment in broadband technologies and make tariffs affordable to a larger proportion of the population. Furthermore, although currently in trial phase, WiMAX should also boost take-up of broadband, particularly in areas where ADSL access may prove problematic.

Google enters keyword advertising in Vietnam

17/Apr/2009 Intellasia | Thoi Bao Kinh Te Vietnam

Through signing a partnership agreement with CleverAds Vietnam, Google started to enter and develop the keyword advertising market of Vietnam.

According to local firm CleverAds, Google AdWords is the online advertising mode with many disadvantages while companies are trying to cut down business cost.

Each click on Google AdWords will be charged at 1,000-1,500 dong flexibly. Customers will not have to pay fees if not click advertising content.

Nguyen Khanh Trinh, director of CleverAds said that Google AdWords is the highly potential online advising sector. The growth rate of the advertising field of Vietnam is forecasted at over 30% a month.