Vietnam - News and Regulations

WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM ON VIETNAM - Vietnam trade environment ranks 71st

Vietnam has leaped 18 places to 71st in the World Economic Forum's latest report on trade environment.

The Global Enabling Trade Report 2010, released May 19, says Vietnam has achieved among the biggest progress made by any of the 125 countries and territories in the report.

The improvements in the country's trade environment reflect Vietnam's commitments following its accession to the WTO in 2007, which is leading to a significant liberalisation of trade in goods and services.

Vietnam's market access ranks 50th among the 125 economies studied.

The country's tariff schedule remains complex but bigger concerns are border administration and infrastructure.

The country's low rank of 104th for transparency of border administration indicates room for improvement in this area, and trade could be further enabled by upgrading the country's transport infrastructure, which is in a dire state.

Low airport density, poor road quality, and insufficient port facilities indicate that the booming economy is straining the country's infrastructure.

The report ranks countries based on four criteria -- market access, border administration, transport and communications infrastructure, and business environment.

Singapore and Hong Kong continue to occupy the top two positions followed by Denmark, Sweden, and Switzerland.intella

INFRASTRUCTURE - Jica funds $200m for two infrastructure projects in HCM City

Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) yesterday signed detailed agreements with Vietnamese government relating to ODA loans of $200 million dong for two projects in HCM City. The first loan of about $150 million will be used to finish the East-West Corridor project in order to put into operation in the following year. The second loan valued at approximately $50 million will go on water environment improvement in HCM City. Under the project, Binh Hung waste water treatment plant was built and started operation in December 2008 with designed capacity of 141 cubic metres per day.TBKT

NUCLEAR POWER - EVN proposes corporate bond issue for developing nuclear power in Vietnam

Phan Minh Tuan, head of EVN renewable energy and nuclear power project's investment board said that bonds might be issued for carrying out construction project of the first nuclear power plant in Vietnam. He revealed the information on the occasion of participating the international exhibition on nuclear power held on May 27 and 28.

Tuan added that investment capital for setting up a nuclear power plant would be at the highest level among the industrial power generator models at present.

At present, Electricity of Vietnam Group (EVN) has started cooperation with Russia in providing technologies for the country's first nuclear power plant in Ninh Thuan province.

The project's feasibility study was underway and EVN would approve the profile to seek for partners' opinions.

The construction of Ninh Thuan Nuclear Power Plant was expected to be started in 2014 and to be finished after 18-24 months.LDONLINE

Vietnam to operate first nuclear power plant by 2020

The construction of the first nuclear power plant at Ninh Thuan will begin in 2014 and the first turbine will become operational in 2010, said a representative from the Electricity of Vietnam (EVN).

At a press briefing held in Hanoi on May 25 on the fourth international exhibition on nuclear power, the Head of EVN's renewable energy and nuclear power projects' investment board, Phan Minh Tuan, said a feasibility study is underway and the project is seeking opinions from consultants and partners.

EVN has also started negotiations with Russia on choosing the right technology as it is experienced in civil nuclear power, he added.

The country is also cooperating with Russia in human resource training nuclear power sector. According to director of the Vietnam Atomic Energy Institute Vuong Huu Tan, Vietnam has sent 40 students and MAs to Russia for further training in this field. Seven domestic universities are also training workers for the sector.

Together with its rapid economic development, the country's energy consumption is rising fast, said Tan. The Ministry of Industry and Trade has forecast that Vietnam will need around 294 billion kWh of power in 2020 and 562 billion kWh by 2030. Meanwhile, current energy sources will only be able to supply around 230 billion kWh by 2020 and 293 billion kWh by 2030.

Developing nuclear power, therefore, is extremely important, said Tan, adding that it would not only meet the national economy's increasing demand for power but also ensure energy security.

The fourth exhibition, which focuses on the Ninh Thuan nuclear power project, will take place in Hanoi from May 27-29, drawing many of the world's leading nuclear technology companies from Japan, Russia, France, the US, China, Canada and Bulgaria.

The Ninh Thuan project, which was approved by the National Assembly in its November 2009 session, includes two reactors which combined can produce over 4,000MW.

RENEWABLE ENERGIES - Wind power potential of Binh Thuan province estimated at 5,000MW

Binh Thuan province has finished the wind power development plan for 2010-2015 and vision for 2030 and submitted it to the Ministry of Industry and Trade's Energy Department for appraisal. Accordingly, the province's wind power potential is estimated at total 5,000MW.

Nguyen Anh Tuan, vice head of the department said the wind power development areas mainly locate in coastal districts of Tuy Phong and Bac Binh.

Development of wind power potential requires preferential power purchase policies to encourage investors.

To date, Binh Thuan provincial Department of Industry and Trade has licensed 12 wind power projects (covering total 13,900 hectares of land) with total capacity of 1,540MW for 10 investors.TBKT

RESOURCES- Vung Ro Oil Refinery project to be started in 2011

Representative of Russia-based TellOil Group, main investor of Vung Ro Oil Refinery project revealed yesterday that at present, the company has pushed up designing works and contractor selection in order to officially kick off the project in 2011.

It is the third time after nearly three years of receiving the investment certificate that the $1.7 billion project has been worked out the deploying plan. Previously, due to financial problems caused by the world economic recession, the foreign investors of the UK's Technostar Co and Russia's TellOil Group had to delay the implementation on the project.

Vung Ro Oil Refinery will be constructed on an area of about 400 hectares of land and water surface, with designed capacity of 4 million tonnes per year. The oil refinery is expected to raise the production capacity to 8 million tonnes per year in the second phase.TBKT

INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION - Industrial production value soars 13.6pct y-o-y

Vietnam's industrial production value in May is estimated to reach 64.7 trillion dong, up 13.8 percent over the same period last year, reported Ministry of Planning and Investment (MoPI) on May 27. Of which, private economic areas posted a rise of 11.4 percent and foreign-invested economic areas soared 19.2 percent year-on-year.

Totally in Jan-May, the country's figure reached 301.8 trillion dong, a year-on-year increase of 13.6 percent. Of which, private economic areas increased 12.4 percent and foreign-invested economic areas saw a year-on-year rise of 16.7 percent.

Noticeably, crude oil exploitation decreased 17.9 percent y-o-y while other products posted year-on-year increases.

Items reached high growth such as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) up 93 percent, air conditioner up 45.7 percent, and tyre up 43.2 percent.

Some provinces reported high growth including Vinh Phuc up 41.9 percent, Phu Tho 24.1 percent and Da Nang up 20.1 percent y-o-y.

Some others posted lower growth against the average level such as Ba Ria Vung Tau up 10.7 percent and Khanh Hoa up 8.3 percent y-o-y.

Also according to MOPI, the total state budget collection during the first 15 days of May was estimated to reach 15.8 trillion dong, bringing the total figure in Jan-May to 176.8 trillion dong, or 38.3 percent of this year's estimate, higher than the same period last year (31.8 percent of year's estimate).

Of which, domestic tax collection reached nearly 113.3 trillion dong or 38.4 percent of the year's estimate, tax collection from crude oil reported at 22 trillion dong, or 33.3 percent, and collection from export and import activities posted at 39.5 trillion dong or 41.4 percent of the year's estimate. Total budget spending during the first 15 days of May was 19.8 trillion dong, bringing the total figure in Jan-May to 197 trillion dong, or 33.8 percent of this year's plan (it was 28.2 percent last year). Of which, spending for development and investment was 44.4 trillion dong or 35.8 percent, spending for socio-economic and defence at 125.4 trillion dong or 33.8 percent and spending for debts and aids at 26.8 trillion dong or 38.1 percent of this year's plan.

In May, spending for development and investment was 12.2 trillion dong including 3.8 trillion dong for central development and investment and 8.4 trillion dong for local development. Totally, the figure in Jan-may was 45.6 trillion dong or 36.5 percent of the year's plan. Of which, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development disbursed 62.8 percent, Ministry of Education (55.8 percent) and Ministry of Transport (48.3 percent).

Some provinces reported high disbursement including Ninh Binh (75 percent), Hoa Binh (60.7 percent), Da Nang (53 percent) and Hai Phong (52 percent of the year's plan).

Till the end of May, total credit for investment and export reached 23.9 trillion dong, or 44 percent of the year' figure including 5.5 trillion dong of domestic credit, or 20.8 percent, 2.4 trillion dong from ODA or 24 percent and 16 trillion dong of average total outstanding loans to support exports.

From the early this year till now, ODA attraction reached $497 million including $454 million of loans and $43 million of non-refundable aid.

During the first five months this year, total ODA disbursement was estimated to reach $844 million or 35 percent of the year's plan including $767 million of ODA loans and $77 million of non-refundable assistance.CAFEF

FOREX - Vietnam's overseas remittance of 2010 expected at over $6b

Many financiers, economists and bankers forecast that the overseas remittance inflow to Vietnam in 2010 will be more satisfactory and at higher potentials compared to previous years thanks to the world's economic recovery.

Replying to Dau Tu Chung Khoan magazine, Nguyen Hoang Minh-deputy director of State Bank of Vietnam-HCM City arm said that the inward remittance via HCM City banks during the first five months of 2010 reached $1.079 billion, marking a growth of 32.13 percent against 2009's $4 billion.

Prof Dr Tran Hoang Ngan, vice master of HCM City Economic University cum member of the National Monetary Policy Advisory Council in a statement said that inward remittance of Vietnam this year could be over $6 billion.

The current movements of free market's forex rate was closer to the banks' listed forex rate, which will create conditions for residents to decide to keep more US dollar at banks for longer time. Factually, between 2009 end and 2010 early, when the forex rate between free market and commercial banks was around 300-500 dong per US dollar, banks felt very hard to keep inward remittance because remittance receivers used to withdraw US dollar for selling on the free market to earn profits from forex rate difference,

At Sacombank, overseas remittance transference in Jan-April attained $430 million, up 33.5 percent year-on-year. The payment turnover is expected to achieve $1 billion, higher than 2009's actualised result of $900 million.

Ending the first four months of this year, the inward remittance payment turnover via Eastern Asia (DongA) Commercial Joint Stock Bank (EAB) also increased by 20 percent compared to the same period of 2009. The turnover could increase from $991 million in 2009 to $1 billion this year. With flexible policies, EAB's remittance payment now accounts for 15 percent of the country's total figure.

In the same period, the overseas remittance transference via Vietcombank grew by 14 percent to $434 million.

Usually, the overseas remittance payment will blossom in the last months of year when many Viet Kieu want to send money to the homeland for spending in Lunar New Year.DTCHK

Insurance - M&A in insurance expected to surge in 2010

Mergers and Acquisitions between companies are blossoming strongly this year on account of difficulties in capital mobilisation and network expansion.

Although in the past time, M&A in the insurance field has not really become a strong wave like other production sectors. But the trend of M&As in insurance is expected to be brisker in the near future.

2010 M&A operation started with a record business deal that UK's Prudential insurance group took over AIA insurance firm under US AIG Finance Group. Both groups have subsidiaries in Vietnam.

Previously, Vietnam's insurance market also witnessed several remarkable M&A events.

Over 10 years ago, Allianz Vietnam, a 100 percent foreign invested insurer decided to transfer its entire network to Australia's QBE Insurance Co after nearly seven years of operation. Terms and compensations of insurance contracts signed before the merger were still valid.

Another deal, Bidv Bank had contributed capital into Viet-Uc (Australia) Co to set up Viet-Australia Insurance JV but the new firm did not operate sufficiently. On December 28, 2005, Bidv officially bought back the JV and establish Bidv Insurance Co (BIC) that came into official operation from 2006.

Or lately, Dai-ichi Life of Japan took over local insurer Bao Minh CMC to form Dai-ichi Life Vietnam. At present, Dai-ichi Life Vietnam posts good performance with seven percent market share and its annual growth rate always is higher two times than the average growth of the whole market.

The quick development in number of insurance companies, especially as for the non-life insurance field, led to the shortage of qualified manpower. Meanwhile, a source from finance ministry's Insurance Supervision Department said that till the last year end, most non-life insurers met enough authorised capital level of at least 300 billion dong but now some insurers still are implementing the capital increase to 300 billion dong, namely Bao Long, Bao Tin, Hung Vuong, UIC and Samsung Vina.

Shortage of capital, good workforce and IT system has forced insurance firms to look for foreign strategic partners. In 2007, Bao Minh Non-Life Insurance Co officially joined hands with France's AXA Group through selling its 16.6 percent stake to the foreign insurer.

According to Nguyen Cong Ai, deputy general director of KPMG law consulting firm, Vietnam's insurance market always welcomes foreign invested companies because local firms need the capital and technical supports from foreign partners.

But the process of looking for foreign partners is not easy. Duong Duc Chuyen, director in charge of investment and strategy construction of Bao Viet Group (that had a successful cooperation deal with HSBC) shared, in M&As, companies will have to define what they want to sell and what foreigners want to buy.

Bao Viet group, for example, previously expected to find out a good partner with business experience and technical support willingness for Bao Viet.

"M&A does not mean to sell a part of companies to take money. After M&A deals, how companies do to develop is the core result", he added. Before the marriage between HSBC and Bao Viet, two sides had to undergo a detailed and long run negotiation process.

Takashi Fufi, CEO of Dai-ichi Life Vietnam also said that a successful M&A deal requires a clear strategy. The post-M&A strategy are very important also.cafef

BANK/CAPITALIZATION - Central Bank proposes legal capital roadmap for commercial banks

Mission group chaired by Tom Tobin, general director of HSBC Bank (Vietnam) Ltd remarked at the Business Forum that SBV's draft on compulsory legal capital of commercial banks at 5 trillion and 10 trillion dong in end 2012 and 2015 correspondingly was already submitted to the government for consideration and approval. We {HSBC Vietnam] comprehend 10 trillion dong is a huge capital level that a lot of banks will not able to reach.

The forum was held in Hanoi on May 26.

Banks addressed, the requirement will lead to the inefficient usage of many banks in Vietnam in future. So banks expected Central Bank would consider lowering the capital level.

Concerning the foreign ownership ratio of foreign investors at Vietnamese banks, a banker proposed the government to consider raising the ratio according to a particular roadmap to create conditions for strategic partners to draw up long term strategy. Currently, the foreign ownership ratio at a local bank is disallowed to surpass 30 percent. In which, the maximum ratio of a strategic partner (international bank) is 15 percent that could be 20 percent if obtaining prime minister's approval.

The mission group represents for over 30 international groups and companies operating in Vietnam, including subsidiaries, branches and transaction offices of well known consumer finance companies and banks from over 15 countries.CAFEF

FUND INVESTMENTS - Vietnam Dream Fund to start investment in stock market from Jun 1

As of June 1, Vietnam Dream Fund capitalised at $100 million will start operation on Vietnamese stock market. The fund was formed by the cooperation of Japan Asian Group's United Investment and MB Capital.

Thang Long Securities Co will be the official brokerage for the fund.

Truong Thi Huong Tra, business development director of MB Capital said that the establishment of Vietnam Dream Fund showed the faith of Japanese investors in Vietnamese stock market. From the start, two parties will continue making big efforts to raise capital from some other international markets to connect this capital flow with Vietnam.

Vietnam Dream Fund will mainly invest in Vietnam listed firms, she added.

Till end of March 2010, total assets managed by MB Capital reached over 20 trillion dong.

VNNEWS

BANKING - Banking Vietnam 2010 conference takes place in Hanoi

Information Technology Department of Banking, under State Bank of Vietnam, cooperated with International Data Group (IDG) to organise the Banking Vietnam 2010 from May 27-28 under theme of "Banking modernisation at the threshold of economic recovery".

The participants of this event focused on discussing on strategic planning for banking technology development, banking technology in boasting non-cash payment and banking technology in improving administration, management capacity for banking business in the renewal period.DTCHK

Reporting on Sibu

18 May 10 : 8.00AM

By Ding Jo-Ann
dingjoann@thenutgraph.com

Investigating frontpage stories
after the Sibu by-election...
(© clarita | morguefile.com)

(Corrected at 5.55pm, 18 May 2010)

THE day after Sibu fell to the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) in a closely-watched and fought by-election, what kind of frontpage stories greeted Malaysians in the press?

With some newspapers relegating the news of the week to a second lead and others completely ignoring it as a front page lead, what can Malaysians discern about media independence and fairness?

The message is clear, especially when one compares the way the press reported Barisan Nasional (BN)'s win in the Hulu Selangor by-election with its loss in Sibu.

Reading the news

Here's a pictorial guide to some newspapers' front pages the day after the 25 April Hulu Selangor and 16 May 2010 Sibu by-elections. We've also included our own totally impromptu rating on the newspapers' fairness in reporting the results. Readers are also invited to put their own ratings and contest ours, if they wish, in the comments section below.

Berita Harian: Tawan vs menang

Hulu Selangor: A victorious P Kamalanathan, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin are featured prominently.

Sibu: Professor Datuk Dr Ibrahim Ahmad Bajunid being awarded the 2010 Academic Leadership Award at Universiti Malaysia Pahang is featured prominently. The Sibu results were relegated to the second lead story.

Fairness rating: D+

---

Utusan Malaysia: Tumbang vs ???

Hulu Selangor: "PKR tumbang" screamed Utusan Malaysia's headline following BN's win in Hulu Selangor. This was followed up by four full-page reports and pictures on the by-election.

Sibu: "Hadiah Hari Guru" said Utusan's headline following PR's narrow but significant win in Sibu. The second lead was about Najib receiving an International Telecommunication Union award. The Sibu results were only reported on page four in a single article.

Fairness rating: F

---

NST: Teachers Day

Hulu Selangor: A beaming Kamalanathan, Najib and Muhyiddin surrounded by supporters featured prominently. The results occupied the entire front page.

Sibu: A beaming Professor Ibrahim featured prominently, with the Sibu results made second lead. Apart from a candidate profile picture in the inside pages placed alongside BN's Robert Lau Hui Yew and independent candidate Narawi Haron, no other photographs were published of DAP's Wong Ho Leng.

Fairness rating: D+

---

The Star: Picture perfect

Hulu Selangor: Kamalanathan, Najib and Muhyiddin once again.

Sibu: (Corrected) Wong Ho Leng's only appearance on the front page of a traditional peninsular Malaysia English and Malay language newspaper, although the caption focuses on Wong's defeated opponent instead of him. It reads: "Lau congratulating Wong on his victory." Nevertheless, The Star deserves some credit for even putting Wong's picture, although tiny in comparison to Kamalanathan's, on its front page.

Fairness rating: B-

---

Teachers vs election

As much as our teachers should be respected and revered, it is curious how annual teacher's day celebrations could take precedence over the Sibu by-election results. And with all due respect to Professor Ibrahim and his award, what was his picture doing on newspapers' front pages instead of DAP's Wong Ho Leng's?

The one appearance of Wong Ho Leng,
receiving congratulations from BN's
Robert LauFrom a newsworthiness perspective, it is clear that the story of the day was the PR's victory over the BN in Sarawak, especially following the PR's loss in Hulu Selangor. Indeed, it was the topic people were tweeting and talking about all weekend. Teacher's Day, while important, clearly wasn't the hot news of the day.

This then raises the question of how newsworthiness is measured in newsrooms. For certain, there is no such thing as objectivity or neutrality since editors, journalists and even media companies carry with them their own personal biases and value systems.

But not being neutral doesn't mean a journalist or media outfit cannot be fair, accurate and accountable especially when writing the news. The traditional media clearly were not in its coverage of the Sibu by-election, and that only reinforces certain things.

One, ownership by BN parties or BN-friendly parties was likely part of the decision-making process of what was front-page news the morning after Sibu. This only goes to show how important it is for political parties or politicians not to own the media.

Two, how can the traditional media expect to retain its credibility if it was so clearly lopsided in its reporting of two recently-concluded by-elections? Barring any major environmental disaster of tsunami-like proportions, would any credible newspaper in the world have omitted to mention the closely-fought Sibu by-election on its front page on 17 May 2010?

If Utusan Malaysia were to be honest, it would ask itself, how does relegating the big news of the day to the inside pages demonstrate that they will and can report fairly, whatever their political preferences? And if its readers cannot trust the paper to report fairly, how will the paper survive with other new media players competing for readers' attention?

As it is, Utusan's coverage of the Sibu by-election, in contrast to the way it reported on Hulu Selangor, clearly demonstrates its lack of professionalism. Perchance, this situation has been brought about because the paper is owned by a political party — Umno — which has much at stake in the current political scenario? How else would one explain why Utusan's newsroom thought that it was more important for the public to be educated on gifts for teachers instead of the by-election results?

Handling bias

It is unrealistic to expect any news room to ignore its political leanings. The UK's The Guardian for example is known for being partial to the Labour party. Guardian columnist Lucy Mangan's piece entitled "101 reasons to love our Tory government" and "How to learn to live with Tories" for example, clearly reveals her political leanings.

The Daily Telegraph on the other hand, has, perhaps unkindly, been branded by some as The Daily Torygraph because of its partiality to the Conservative party.

Screencap of Guardian's front page,
6 May 2010

Political preferences aside, when writing the news, these newspapers did not resort to underhanded tactics of denying front-page space to any political party during campaigning for the recent British general elections. In fact, on 6 May 2010, the day of Britain's general election, Guardian readers would have been greeted with a picture of Conservative leader David Cameron (right) on the front page of their morning paper. Interestingly, The Times, which is politically aligned to the Conservatives, had Labour party leader and then Prime Minister Gordon Brown on its front page on 6 May, albeit in a rather unflattering cartoon.

To put it simply, news is news, no matter who your editor may vote for or who owns your paper. And a rookie journalist would be able to tell you that "Goodies for teachers" is not more newsworthy than "Ho Leng wins Sibu with 398-vote majority".

http://www.thenutgraph.com/reporting-on-sibu

Tracing the brain drain trend

Sunday May 16, 2010

By DR FONG CHAN ONN Sunday@thestar.com.my

Between 1960 and 2005, the world's registered migration increased to an average of 919,302 per nation, an increase of 2.4 times. However, Malaysia's emigration numbers rose to 1,489,168, an almost 100-fold increase over the 45-year period.

THE recent report by the National Economic Advisory Council (NEAC) on the New Economic Model (NEM) laments that “we are not developing talent and what we do have are leaving”.

The report says that currently, some 350,000 Malaysians are working abroad with over half of them having tertiary education.

Worrying numbers: While our local hospitals are experiencing shortages of nurses and doctors, we had 7,431 Malaysian nurses and 4,129 doctors working in the OECD countries in 2000. - AFP

This leaves us with over 80% of our workforce with SPM-level qualification, and their wages are being continually suppressed by the easy availability of foreign workers and other barriers like subsidies and price controls.

The focus of this article is to trace some of the worrying brain-drain trends which underlie the severity of our setbacks to move up to a high-income economy, and the steps we should immediately undertake to overcome these challenges.

Beginning of brain drain

Out-flow of talent is not a new phenomenon but globalisation and rapid IT global communications have just speeded up the process. Malayans (and since 1963, Malaysians) began to seek overseas tertiary education soon after independence in 1957 when it became part of the British Commonwealth.

University education at home then was elitist, being confined to the University of Malaya at Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. Many bright young Malaysians, aided by their fluency in English, had to seek tertiary education abroad (with or even without their parents' financial support) in Britain, Australia and other English-speaking societies.

This trend was further accentuated by the various aid schemes, such as the Colombo Plan and Commonwealth Scholarships and later our own Mara, Public Services Department, Tenaga Nasional Bhd and Petronas scholarships, through which tens of thousands of bright Malaysian students have been sponsored for overseas tertiary studies since the early 1960s.

After completing their education, some choose to remain because of better job opportunities, some also choose to stay because they prefer the new life-style and social environment compared to that at home, while others such as the Malaysian women who married locally have to stay behind because their children, under Malaysian law, are not entitled to become Malaysian citizens or even permanent residents (PR).

100-fold increase

According to the World Bank, Malaysians residing overseas numbered only 9,576 in 1960 while the world's total registered migration was 382,912 per nation. By 2005, the world's registered migration increased to an average of 919,302 per nation, an increase of 2.4 times. However, Malaysia's emigration numbers rose to 1,489,168, an almost 100-fold increase over the 45-year period.

In 1981, the number of Malaysians residing in Australia was 31,598 and this increased to 92,337 in 2007 (see Table 1). Those who resided in the UK in 1981 numbered 45,430 and this went up to 61,000 in 2007.

The United States was a laggard with only 11,001 in 1981 but due to the country's very aggressive move to attract top talents, the number of Malaysians who took up residence there shot up to 54,321 by 2007.

Similarly, our Singapore neighbour has also been absorbing large numbers of Malaysians, from 120,104 in 1981 to 303,828 in the year 2000.

While the total figure is a matter for concern, further analysis of the migration numbers is even more worrisome.

The World Bank's report indicates that in 1990, the number of Malaysians with tertiary education residing in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries totalled about 72,649 with a majority of them in Australia (34,716), followed by the US (12,315) and then the UK (9,812) (see Table 2). The latest available data shows that in 2000, the number of Malaysians with tertiary education residing in OECD countries went up by 40.84%. The 102,321 Malaysian graduates that stayed in OECD countries in year 2000 make up 77.2% of the total Malaysians (132,468) that decided to domicile in these countries (See table 3).

And who are these graduates that we are losing?

An example is given by the data on foreign-born medical personnel in OECD countries. While our local hospitals are experiencing shortages of nurses and doctors, we had 7,431 Malaysian nurses, 4,129 doctors, 652 dentists and 798 pharmacists working in the OECD countries (see Table 4) in 2000.

Further, the current global high-tech consumer boom has created a huge demand for science and technology (S&T) researchers in the US, accentuating the migration of talents from the developing world (including Malaysia) to that country. Table 5 shows that in 2003 there were 7,955 Malaysian S&T researchers working in the US compared to 10,419 such researchers working at home.

Talent export

However, in this highly competitive global environment, it must be pointed out that Malaysia is not alone in losing the best talents to the OECD countries.

As Table 3 shows, South Korea, a member of the OECD, has 885,885 of its citizens residing in other OECD countries, with 652,894 (73.7%) of them being graduates, and this constituted about 1.39% of the total South Korean population!

India has 1.5 million of its citizens living in OECD countries with 69.0% of them being graduates.

Even Singapore, a richer but much smaller country than Malaysia, saw 67,560 Singaporeans taking residence in OECD countries in 2000 with 50,019 of them being university-educated. It is only slightly behind Malaysia with 74% of its emigrants into the OECD countries having tertiary education.

On the proportion of graduate migrants to total population, Singapore appears to be losing out more than us, with the number of Singaporean graduates in OECD countries standing at 1.24% compared to our 0.44%. Little wonder the city-state is working its hardest to attract bright Malaysians over the Causeway!

Further, Table 3 shows that though Thailand and Indonesia may “export” a much higher number of their workforce to the OECD countries, only about 40% of their own nationalities have tertiary education. This is mainly due to a lower proportion of their tertiary-educated workforce having a good command of English, and hence may have greater difficulty fitting into the high-level jobs there.

Table 4 also shows that we are not alone in losing medical talents. The Philippines have 110,577 of its nurses and 15,859 of its doctors residing in the OECD countries! There are also 5,332 doctors from Taiwan, 2,798 doctors from Hong Kong, and even 1,356 Singaporean doctors working in OECD countries.

In terms of S&T researchers, Table 5 shows that in 2003 there were 158,524 Chinese researchers (17.5% compared to such researchers at home), 44,236 Vietnamese researchers (4.5 times the number of S&T researchers at home) and 26,602 Hong Kong researchers (2.1 times of such scientists at home) working in the US. The 7,000-odd Malaysian scientists among these hundreds of thousands of foreign scientists is actually a small figure; but that is, of course, no consolation in our losing them in the first place.

What Tables 3, 4 and 5 have highlighted is that in the global environment of the 21st Century, OECD countries, with their advanced infrastructure, robust social institutions, numerous world-famous universities and R & D institutions as well as booming markets, are powerful natural magnets for the developing world's professionals.

Gaining the illegals

We have about 2.5 million unskilled legal (and illegal) foreign workers in the country. Some 650,000 of them work in the manufacturing sector, followed by about 300,000 in construction. Domestic workers make up another 220,000. The balance is in the services, plantation and agriculture sectors.

The services sector alone hires about 400,000 foreign workers mostly as waiters, security guards, general workers and cleaners.

Our addiction and dependence on these unskilled foreign workers has deepened to the extent that many of our manufacturing plants and the main-stays of our palm oil exports (plantations such as Sime Darby, IOI and KLK) will have to stop operation in their absence.

According to a One Utama executive, as high as 90% of workers in the food and beverage sector are now made up of foreigners. Therefore, we should no longer be surprised at not being able to order our meals in Malay, Mandarin, English or any other commonly spoken language known to Malaysians anymore!

And who are we gaining instead?

As Table 6 shows, in year 2000, we have 627,700 Indonesians working in Malaysia, followed by 124,600 from the Philippines, 55,200 Bangladeshis, 53,500 Chinese, and 48,000 Indians. Though the skill level of these workers is not stated in the database it will be naive to assume that many of them are graduate professionals.

Table 6 also shows that in 2000 there were only 5,750 US citizens, 8,800 Japanese, 3,100 Australians and 1,250 New Zealanders (all members of the OECD) residing in Malaysia. Again, though it is not stated in the database, it can be assumed that most of them would be expatriates or professionals working in the manufacturing or services sectors.

"By one stroke of the pen we can immediately enlarge significantly our talent pool"- DATUK SERI DR FONG CHAN ONN

This is consistent with the recent NEAC report on the NEM, which says that the numbers of expatriates have fallen from nearly 90,000 in 2000 to nearly half of that by 2008. The net result is a “shortage of dynamic talent to push Malaysia into higher added value activities”.

The trends illustrated in Tables 3 to 5 are indicative that our brain drain is serious, while Table 6 shows that the brains we are trying to attract are not coming in. Of course, Tables 3 to 5 also show that we are not alone in losing out.

But is that a sufficient consolation? I think not. It will be shown later that while other countries have taken steps to remedy the problem, we are still far behind in trying to resolve the challenges we are facing.

Losing the talents

This issue has been discussed extensively, but let me try to summarise why we have been losing our talents.

> Legislative issues

As I have elaborated at the beginning of this article, under Malaysian law, a child born overseas to a Malaysian mother, whose husband is a non-Malaysian, is not entitled to Malaysian citizenship or even permanent resident (PR) status. This large pool of talent is just kept out of our shores.

I vividly remember Datuk Syed Norulzaman (a retired Malaysian ambassador) lamenting to me last month over dinner about how his daughter, a JPA medical scholar at Dublin, worked hard over the years to qualify as a medical specialist. She unfortunately could not return to serve Malaysia because she married her Norwegian classmate, and their children are classified as non-Malaysians. With tears in his eyes, he said he had never felt so helpless as an ambassador because he could not explain to his daughter why Malaysia does not accept her children.

And of the thousands of talented foreign spouses who have returned to Malaysia with their Malaysian husbands, what is happening to them? Medical experts, top-notch scientists or experienced teachers they may be, but they are not even accorded PR status and are not allowed to work here, their adopted home.

> Educational Opportunities

Up to the late 1990s, a large number of Malaysians migrated for their children's education. University education opportunities for Malaysians (particularly the non-Malays) were limited by the quota system and financial aids. However, the implementation of the 1996 Private University Act saw rapid expansion of opportunities for tertiary education in the country. And with the establishment of the Government University Loan Scheme (PTPTN), providing financial aid to all students including those from Independent Chinese Schools, as well as the opening up of JPA scholarships to all excellent students, all Malaysians who aspire for tertiary education can now pursue their dreams within our shores.

Although many Malaysians still go overseas for their education, they now go by choice and not out of necessity.

> Domestic social-political issues

In this global-village world, Malaysians are being continuously exposed to the world environment. We see, feel and hear first-world lifestyles, first-world civil society structures, and first-world social institutions over TV and the media all the time. Many Malaysians felt disillusioned, or even short-changed, by the non-optimal functioning of our social-political institutions which seem always constrained by the many sensitivities of our multi-religious and multi-ethnic background.

Last year, pop star Beyonce Knowles was scheduled to perform in KL, but the concert was put off when some groups protested against it. She then went on to perform to record crowds in Jakarta.

Many of us cannot accept unwarranted constraints like this on our social lives and feel that the grass is greener on the other side of the fence (or Causeway?).

Of course, the fact that Malaysia has never taken public relations with the rest of the world seriously, and consequently is always reported negatively in the world media, does us even greater damage especially in the eyes of the Malaysian professionals abroad.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, fortunately, understands these concerns clearly. The radical reforms he is currently pushing through under the NEM (including emphasising needs-based over race-based policies), the Key Performance Indices, and the all-inclusive 1Malaysia programme will hopefully bear fruit in the next one year, and will result in a significant increase in the “feel-good” factor with a corresponding reduction in our social-political environment being a push factor for Malaysians to migrate.

First-world pull

With the current high-tech boom, many first-world nations realise that to capture the global markets with new innovative products and services (iPads, smartphones, nano-products, etc.) they have to take aggressive steps to build their talent pool “by instant” rather than through natural organic growth. These advanced nations (I am including Singapore and Hong Kong in this category) have introduced talented-immigrant attraction policies as follows:

The US: Employer-sponsored visas (H-1B) given liberally to immigrants who have at least a Bachelor's degree in arts, science, education, and other disciplines.

The UK: Tier-1 Point-based migration under which immigrants have to score at least 75 points based on age, experience and qualification.

Australia: Skilled Migration Programme, under which applicants are assessed on a point system again based on age, experience and qualification.

Singapore: Employer-sponsored (Scheme 1) working visas are issued within three working days on receipt of application. And under its Scheme 4, top-notch professionals are “purposely” sought from all over the world and attracted to reside in Singapore.

Hong Kong: Working visas are readily given out on a points system; the points are again assessed based on age, experience and qualification.

Many Malaysians have gone to these countries on these programmes, and in the process contributed to these societies' development.

Retain, recruit talents

What can we do to retain the talents we have in the country, as well as encourage our talents from overseas to return; besides trying to recruit non-Malaysian experts to enrich the pool of our expertise? This is obviously a tall-order question which I will attempt to answer.

Firstly, besides pushing on with the reforms needed under the NEM and the 1Malaysia programme, we need to immediately abolish all the gender-biased legislative impediments preventing the husbands and children of our female talents, who have married non-Malaysians, from becoming citizens or even PRs. Unless this is done, and done retroactively, the thousands of these Malaysian talents will be forever lost from our shores.

Further, the thousands of wives of Malaysians who have returned should be immediately given PR or even citizenship so that their expertise can be harnessed by the nation.

By one stroke of the pen we can immediately enlarge significantly our talent pool.

Secondly, we need to negotiate more country-to-country youth exchange programmes with OECD nations, like the Malaysia-New Zealand Youth Exchange Programme. Our youths have been going over to their shores for decades, and now with these exchange programmes we can at least begin to attract some of their youths to our shores, first as guests, and later maybe as experts.

Thirdly, we should get away from our cold-war seige mentality mind-set, bite the bullet and immediately reform our working permit, PR and citizenship policies. Working permits for expatriates should be quickly approved for applications from employers for bringing in the expertise that they need to run their businesses or factories. PR status should be accorded to the top experts that we want to recruit. Their coming into our midst will result in new innovations and thousands of new high-paying jobs for our people.

If we can approve the hundreds of thousands of unskilled labour, why can't we allow the engineers, scientists, and other experts required by the multi-national corporations to enter?

Fourthly, we need to relook our own incentive schemes implemented to attract the return of our professionals. Under the Human Resources Ministry's “Return of Experts Programme”, an approved returnee is entitled to bring back two cars tax-free (as well as the applicant's accumulated income, also tax-free). This is hardly an incentive as in OECD countries there is no such thing as Approved Permits or prohibitive taxes on imported cars.

We need to follow on the successful examples of other countries, such as the Taiwanese Hinshu Science Park established in the 1980s for returning scientists from the US, under which returnees are given R&D grants for start-ups and educational assistance for their children. Out of this, Taiwan emerged to be a major exporter of IT appliances.

Or the Korean Institute for Science and Technology (KIST) set up to provide research grants and managerial autonomy for talented returnees, mimicking the US research environment; and now South Korea has a 96% broad-band penetration rate.

Even China has established its “Freedom to Come and Go” Policy and Special Development Zones for its talented returnees.

Through our embassies, we need to identify and directly engage our professionals world-wide and make them part of our global ambassadorial network. With their support and goodwill, we can greatly improve the image of our country. Some of them can even be persuaded to set up base at home. If they have good ideas, venture capital and R&D grants should be provided so that they can be assisted to transform these ideas into products and services.

It is already quite late in the day for us to start these policies to attract talents.

My meetings with many of our professionals abroad indicate that they are still very much Malaysian at heart. They miss the nasi lemak, our colourful multi-ethnic lifestyles, and the relatively stress-free nature of our work environment. Similarly, many Japanese, US and Korean expatriates will prefer to work in KL compared to other Asian cities.

Though it may be late in the day to attract and recruit them back to Malaysia, at least we know we are starting on a reservoir of goodwill. But let us implement these Attract and Recruit Programmes with the fullest commitments now, so that our plan to emerge as a high-income economy can become reality in the not too distant future.

http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/5/16/nation/6273783&sec=nation

The big bad web

Sunday May 16, 2010

By HARIATI AZIZAN
sunday@thestar.com.my

The Internet poses various safety issues and Facebook's latest privacy gaffes make it even worse.

A JEALOUS husband murders his wife after becoming enraged that she had changed her Facebook status to single.

It may sound like a Hallmark movie-plot but last year alone saw a few similar incidents around the world. And this does not include the harassment, threats or legal suits that Facebook members faced over their postings.

Risks without borders: The privacy policy of giant social media network Facebook has come under fire as it exposes users to malicious attacks and cyber crimes. - Picture posed by model

After Edward Richardson, 41, stabbed his estranged wife Sarah Richardson, 26, to death - the third of such homicide cases in the United Kingdom over 12 months - British authorities were quick to highlight the importance of social media literacy.

Crimes of passion are nothing new but social networking may just have changed the variables. And while Facebook is in no way to be blamed for the violence - she could have used MySpace, Meebo or any other social network - this case is an undeniable example of how increased connectivity, the speed with which information is transmitted, and privacy controls are changing our world.

The main question thrown up in discussion groups was whether Richardson fully understood how Facebook worked.

Was she aware that by changing her status, her estranged husband would instantly receive a post on his Facebook newsfeed? Did she know how to exclude him from such updates if she had wished to?

Malaysia has not recorded any similar cases yet, but with reportedly 2,619,040 Malaysians registered on Facebook, there may be cause for concern.

"Many who go to social media networks do not realise the consequences of how they act and what they say on the Internet will have on themselves, their families and friends"- ASSO C PR OF DR KHAIDZIR ISMAIL

As psychologist Assoc Prof Dr Khaidzir Ismail from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia highlights, many of the Malaysians who go to social media networks do not realise the consequences of how they act and what they say on the Internet will have on themselves, their families and friends.

“The Internet is a good outlet for people to express themselves and socialise. However, many, especially the young, do not have the skills or etiquette to know how to behave on the social media networks. One problem is that many are IT illiterate,” he says.

Worse, the latest Facebook privacy scandals may make the existing security worries so 2009 for many users.

New privacy issues

While many were still grappling with how to find their way around the social media network and manage their personal information on it, Facebook introduced new privacy settings at the end of last year.

Too personal: Over the past six years, social networking has been Facebook's stand-out phenomenon, linking up more than one billion people eager to exchange videos, pictures or last-minute birthday wishes. - Reuters

The changes made more private data public by default as users are given the responsibility to opt out if they want to keep their information private, or share it only with a trusted group of friends.

They caused a lot of confusion and many users were unaware that their personal information was available to everyone.

Another Facebook glitch recently further highlighted the vulnerability of its users - estimated to be more than 400 million people worldwide - as the malfunction made it possible for people not friended by Facebook users to access their personal information, including chat conversations, friend lists and more.

Unsurprisingly, censure mounted from the authorities worldwide - US senators reiterated their public calls for Facebook to rethink its privacy safeguards; the American Civil Liberties Union launched a petition against its founder Mark Zuckerberg and European data protection officials slammed the privacy changes.

It also caused a backlash among the tech-savvier user community and technology industry.

A number of high-profile users reportedly deleted their Facebook accounts while other irate users have launched an online campaign to make June 6 a “No Facebook Day”.

This has led to a crisis meeting at the Facebook headquarters last Friday, as it took steps to address the problems. Subsequently, tighter security measures were announced to protect its users' personal information.

However, as Facebook stressed in the press, in its bid to calm the furore over its privacy policy, the first line of defence is the user.

Chief executive officer of CyberSecurity Malaysia - the national cyber security specialist centre under the purview of the Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry (MOSTI) - Lt Col Husin bin Haji Jazri (Retired) concurs that users have to practise safe behaviour on Facebook and anywhere else online, he says in an e-mail interview.

Security upgrade

According to the Malaysian Computer Emergency Response Team (MyCERT), there were more than 150 complaints of cyber security breaches last year.

While this included cases of identity theft, hacking and cyberstalking, there were also reports of personal data abuse by estranged dating or married couples who have access to their partners' personal information.

As MyCERT chief Adli Abdul Wahid revealed to a local Malay language daily at the last Computer Security Day celebrations, they have received complaints from Internet users who have found their contact details - with offers of sex service - posted on public toilet walls and Internet forums as well as circulated via e-mail to strangers.

A quick e-mail survey by Sunday Star, however, shows that most Malaysians know how to protect themselves on the Internet, especially on social media networks like Facebook.

An IT executive who only wants to be known as Davina K. is among those who feel that the world's biggest social network needs to review its privacy policy.

“Most of us got onto Facebook to keep in touch with friends and family overseas or reconnect with old schoolmates. But now instead of connecting with them, half the time we have to monitor our privacy setting to make sure that our personal information is safe. It is taking the fun out of socialising,” she says.

Many, like engineer J. Tan, say that they have always been very careful about what they put on their profile page in Facebook.

“I like Facebook because it keeps me in the loop with what my friends and family are doing without me having to speak to them at all. But I am careful about sharing personal details with strangers. There is always the danger of your details ending up on public toilet walls, right?” he says.

Media executive Adibah A. is another who keeps a tight rein on what personal information gets out.

“I don't simply disclose information that I don't want people to know of. To me, it is better to be careful than sorry later. People can always spam my inbox with marketing flyers and any other junk. To protect my privacy, I am very selective of the information shared among friends.”

When audio visual (AV) designer Ruza Jajuli realised how her work and family were spilling into Facebook, she quickly made a list of “close friends”.

“There are things I would not like to share with them (family or office mates) as I wouldn't in 'real' life, so I created a list for the people who I do not want to see my 'crazy' pictures or comments,” she shares.

The fear of having her personal secrets being abused by others, including those who she counts as friends and acquaintances, is why regular Internet user Melissa K. is swearing off Facebook.

“You can say I am a bit paranoid, but I am now careful after a not-so-nice separation from my ex many years ago. He saved everything I said in anger (on voicemail, e-mail and SMS) and gossiped using it.”

Lt Col Husin advises those who have been threatened or victimised to lodge a police report.

“Then the police will do the necessary investigation and determine whether or not a crime has been committed. After which, law enforcement authorities (like the police) will determine if further action can be taken on the said person,” he says.

More importantly, with Facebook being so open, it is vital that users take safety precautions should they start interacting offline with those they meet online.

Just last week, an inquest hearing in the UK revealed how one former army warrant officer Stewart Shaw stabbed his partner Julie Sudlow - whom he had met on Facebook - after their whirlwind romance went sour.

As reported in British daily The Telegraph, the testimony of the investigating officer showed that Sudlow soon discovered that the man she was seeing was not the same as the man she had met on Facebook.

He became violent with her and when she called the police on him, Shaw lost his temper and accused her of ruining his life before murdering her in rage.

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/5/16/nation/6265280&sec=nation

How to stay safe on Facebook

Sunday May 16, 2010

PRIVACY and security must be dirty words at the Facebook HQ at the moment as the world's largest social media network comes under fire for its privacy policy that has left users exposed and vulnerable.

Amazingly, it was reported that Facebook's privacy policy is a whopping 5,830 words long, even more verbose than the Constitution of the United States which reads at 4,543 words.

Here are some of the precautions you need to take to stay private and safe:

Make friend lists

Categorise your “friends” into various groups according to what information you want them to have access to, from “Work Friends” (minimal access) to “Acquaintances”, “Family” and “Close Friends” (full access) .

Restrict access to profile

To prevent strangers from accessing your page, it is advisable to allow “Only Friends” to access your profile.

Remove your address and phone number

This may be useful information for your real friends and family but imagine what will happen if the information falls into the wrong hands.

Remove your full birthdate from your profile

Identity thieves can use it to obtain more information on you and even gain access to your bank or credit card account. If you want to remind your friends about your birthday, remove the year.

Be careful when registering for new applications

It is all fun and exciting to try out new games and quizzes but what many don't realise is that you may unknowingly be sharing all your information with the developers who can then sell your data or spam you.

Go to “Privacy Settings” and tick “Applications”, followed by “Settings”. Uncheck the boxes for the personal information that you do not want them to obtain.

Still, according to security expert website, the CSO (Chief Security Officer) Online, Facebook users unwittingly expose themselves to five dangers that might be beyond their control: their information is shared with third parties; their privacy settings revert to a less safe default mode after each redesign; malware from Facebook advertisements; fake profiles from scammers; and real friends who unknowingly make them vulnerable.

http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/5/16/nation/6272384&sec=nation

Scorching weather sets to cover country

WEATHER

Thursday ,May 13,2010, Posted at: 12:42(GMT+7)

The cold front that overflowed Vietnam’s northern and central regions has ended and the hot low-pressure system coming in from the west should begin moving into those areas by Thursday. Meanwhile, the southern region continues to suffer through an extreme heat wave. The northern and central regions’ weather would be boiling against as the cold front from the north has gone away The National Hydro Meteorological Forecast Center said that the country would continue experiencing hot and muggy weather across vast areas over the next few days. The northwestern region and mountainous areas in the northern central provinces of Thanh Hoa and Nghe An should see severely hot and arid conditions, with temperatures soaring above 37 Celsius degrees, possibly to 40 degrees at some places. Meanwhile, southern and Central Highlands regions continue to endure the severe heat wave that has plagued these areas for several days already. Young people are especially vulnerable to heat-related illnesses caused by the sweltering weather experienced in the southern regions recently. This past week in the Mekong Delta City of Can Tho, Children Hospital’s health check department has been receiving from 1,200 to 1,500 children per day with respiratory illnesses, pneumonia, diarrhea, and petechial fever a day. The resident-treatment ward normally accommodates 400-600 children and has only 250 sickbeds, forcing two to four children to share the same bed. The hospital director Dr. Le Hoang Son said that many parents do not understand the difference between less serious respiratory illnesses and pneumonia, thus, they wait too long before taking their children to the hospital, which can lead to unfortunate consequences including fatality.

By staff writers – Translated by Hai Mien http://www.saigon-gpdaily.com.vn/Nature/Weather/2010/5/82016/

Vietnam - News and Regulations

BUSINESS CONFIDENCE VIETNAM - Q1 Business Confidence Index up 3 pts

With the expectation that business prospect will be better in 2010, a lot of enterprises plan to expand investment and improve manpower. But many of them complained about the difficulties in accessing capital source and changes in business conditions.

The above conclusion came from a survey conducted between April 12 and early May of 143 enterprises in 11 major sectors of Vietnam by PetroVietnam Finance Investment and Consultancy Co (PVFC Invest) and Financial Intelligence Services Co Ltd (WVB Vietnam). Over a half of this figure are small to medium sized enterprises.

Accordingly, Business Confidence Index (BCI) in Q1 rose by three points as compared with the previous quarter to reach 138 pts, marking the highest point level since the first survey made in Q3 of 2008.

A slight rise in Q1 BCI partially inflected the improvement of business confidence of domestic firms during the first months of this year, the report said.

Particularly, up to 80 percent of surveyed companies said that Vietnam's general economy now is better in comparison to last 12 months. Only one percent said the economic conditions were weaker.

Giving prediction on Vietnam's economic situation in next 12 months, the surveyed enterprises were optimistic. Around 89 percent believed Vietnamese economy will grow better whilst only one percent was worrying about the economic prospect in 2010.

The faith of enterprises in growth of revenue and profit was improved compared with the previous quarter. About 78 percent expected their revenue will surge and 22 percent forecast that their 2010 revenue will be maintained.

One percent of surveyed firms are afraid of a sharp reduction in next 12-month profit.

Over 50 percent of the enterprises said that accessing domestic capital source in Q1 became more difficult against the same period of 2009.

Most enterprises said that the factors mainly affecting their business confidence are changes in market demand, structure of production expense and investment opportunities.

Regarding corporate development plan, 52 percent of firms planned to upgrade manpower, lower than 59 percent of the previous survey of Q4 2009, and 48 percent planned to expand investments.TBKT

REGIONAL TRADE - Vietnam-Asem trade may reach $107b

The latest statistic from general Department of Vietnam Customs recently showed that the total trade between Vietnam and member countries of Asia-Europ Meeting (Asem) reached $22 billion in Q1, rising 9.2 percent from the same period last year.

This year, the figure could be up to $107 billion if the average trade growth momentum of nearly 28 percent/year of 2005-2008 is maintained.

However, if the average trade growth reaches some 18 percent/year (2005-2009), the bilateral trade between Vietnam and Asem would be only $99 billion in 2010.

In 2009, Vietnam exported to 11 member countries and imported from nine member countries of Asem with the total value of over $1 billion including nations of China, Thailand, Singapore, Japan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Korea, Germany and India.

Of which, Japan is the Vietnam's biggest buyer with the total export turnover of $6.29 billion and then China with $4.9 billion and Singapore $2.08 billion.

Meanwhile, China, Korea and Japan are the biggest suppliers for Vietnamese enterprises with main commodities such as machines, equipments, instruments, components, petroleum, computer, electronic products and spare parts, materials for garment and textile, leather and footwear sectors, components for automobile manufacturing, chemicals, plastic materials and plastic products.

Vietnam's key export items include agro-forestry and fisheries products, minerals, light industry, crude oil, apparel products, seafood products, footwear, electronic products, coal, coffee, wood and wooden products.VOV

Telecom - Telecom companies make efforts to obtain market share

The telecommunication giants raced to draw up the detailed evaluation and market share separation for themselves.

In a report sent to Vietnam Post and Telecommunication Group (VNPT), VinaPhone publicised its market share of 30.3 percent in last December, ranking second after Viettel in Vietnam. The firm also confirmed 2009 was its banner year in developing subscribers, increasing market share and attracting many customers.

Many people questioned where VinaPhone took statistics to divide market share for itself. Because according to the parent group VNPT, VinaPhone's market share till 2009 end only reached 23.88 percent, following Viettel and MobiFone. Last year VinaPhone's total revenue was posted at 20.519 trillion dong and MobiFone's at 33 trillion dong.

MobiFone did not give any comment on the statistics announced by VinaPhone. If basing on the data of VNPT, MobiFone's revenue will be higher than VinaPhone's.

Pham Ngoc Tu, business manager of VinaPhone told Vnexpress that the figures of his firm are exact but temporary only, meaning that our market share in December 2009 really climbed to over 30 percent in respect to the number of subscribers.

Market share separation will be made by Ministry of Information and Communication based on some factors like number of subscribers, real subscriber volume on system, revenue and others. However, the telecom firms themselves have personal tools to measure their market share. "VinaPhone was a leading mobile network in Vietnam and we are trying to regain all things we had," Tu said.

However, an official from Viettel confirmed that the first position absolutely will belong to Viettel if regarding number of subscribers, and its plan to conquer the goal of 100 trillion dong in revenue. In 2009 its revenue hit nearly 70 trillion dong with a network of approximately 50 million subscribers. Concerning the 3G network, the firm has reached over one million subscribers.

In its report, Viettel also confirmed the number one position on the mobile market, some times it touched over 36 percent market share, even 41 percent.

Meanwhile, VNPT, the father of two big mobile networks VinaPhone and MobieFone had the different explanation. As mentioning market share, VNPT surely stands at the first position because both VinaPhone and MobiFone (although they are operating independently) are still under the management of VNPT. Therefore, the revenue and market share of VNPT at 55 percent include both firms. Last year VNPT posted a good performance with total revenue of 78.6 trillion dong, higher 18.6 trillion dong than Viettel's. In 2010, VNPT and Viettel both plan to attain targeted revenue of 100 trillion dong. Specialists forecast the race to obtain the leading mobile network will become tenser within this year.vns

LOGISTICS - UPS announces joint venture in Vietnam

UPS announced a new joint venture in Vietnam on Tuesday, a country with an expanding economy where the shipping company sees opportunity for growth.

UPS Vietnam, a partnership with P&T Express, will offer express pickup and delivery service to 63 provinces.

Economic growth has averaged more than 7 percent annually over the last decade in Vietnam, and per capita income has risen from $400 in 2000 to $1,000 today.

In Hanoi, the capital and HCM City, where UPS' joint venture is based, income is about double that.

"With this joint stock company and the strong relationship we have with our local service partner, UPS gains greater flexibility to grow transportation and logistics capabilities in Vietnam," said Derek Woodward, president of UPS's Asia Pacific Region.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

United Parcel Service Inc. launched service in Vietnam in 1994 with VN Post as the service agent. P&T Express was created in 2006 as a wholly owned subsidiary of VN Post to take over work with UPS.VNS

ECONOMIC GROWTH - Vietnam's GDP growth forecasted at 5.8pct in 2010: UN

United Nations (UN)'s representative office in Hanoi on May 12 organised a press conference and announced the results of socio-economic survey in Asia-Pacific in 2010.

Under it, UN called the government of regional nations to increase the spending for social sector to enhance and promote the long term and sustainable economic recovery.

The survey showed that Vietnam is one of regional countries that will be able to withstand the global economic recession.

Also according to the report, Vietnam's GDP growth in 2010 was predicted at 5.8 percent.NGLD

INVESTMENT ZONES - Investment attraction in IZs tends to fall

Investment attraction in industrial and export processing zones are showing signs of decline during recent time. The statistic underlined that many IZs have not yet drawn any projects for past two years.

So far, the country's total land area ratio leased by investors in IZs has reached only 46 percent.

According to the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MoPI), the reason is that from 2008 so far, the investment capital, especially FDI inflow, has been poured strongly in real estate sector, accommodation services, and catering and resort services.

Currently, Vietnam has 228 IZs in 56 provinces and cities with total areas of 58,400 hectares. Of which, 145 IZs have been in operational and the remaining is under the ground clearance period.

Particularly, IZs are mainly in Mekong Delta areas such as Dong Nai southern province with 28 IZs, Binh Duong (27) and HCM City (16).

Additionally, the country has 14 economic zones on total sites of 630,000 hectares mainly central are (10 economic zones), southern (2) and northern (2).

According to statistic from MoPI, yearly IZs contribute about 20 percent of export turnover for the country and create jobs for over one million workers.

As planned, from now to 2015, Vietnam will open 91 more IZs with total areas of over 20,800 hectares and expand 22 existing IZs with total area of 3,500 hectares.TBKT

FOOD PRODUCTION - Vegetables and fruits exports see sharp increase

In April, Vietnam's vegetables and fruits export fetched $45 million, bringing the total figure during the first four months this year to $165 million, up 25 percent against the same period last year, according to the general Statistic Office (GSO).

The figures were $45.8 million in March, rising 42.6 percent month on month and up 32.4 percent year-on-year.

In March, China was still Vietnam's biggest vegetables and fruits buyer with an export turnover of $4.26 million, up 30.2 percent from previous month, bringing the total figure in Q1 to $14.37 million, up 35.8 percent y-o-y.

Also in March, the country's vegetables and fruits export to Netherlands posted a month on month rise of 182 percent, reaching $3.24 million and then the US market at 180 percent and Italian market saw a 10 fold increase month on month.

Another important buyer was Russia with a slight rise of 7 percent to $2.46 million in March, Indonesia at $3.27 million, and Japan at $2.87 million.VNS

AIRCRAFT CONSTRUCTION - Viking Air says in deal for Vietnam navy aircraft

A Canadian company says it has become the first Western firm to build fixed-wing aircraft for the military in communist Vietnam, which is seeking to upgrade its maritime defences.

Viking Air of Victoria, British Columbia, said it has finalised with the Vietnamese navy a purchase agreement for six amphibious DHC-6 Twin Otter Series 400 aircraft, in a statement obtained by AFP on Wednesday.

It said the deal would give the navy its first fleet of fixed-wing aircraft, some of which are designed specifically for marine patrol.

Each aircraft is priced at more than five million Canadian dollars (around five million US) but a Viking spokeswoman told AFP the total value of the deal, which includes flight training and other components, was yet to be determined.

The planes are scheduled for delivery from 2012 to 2014.

Vietnam late last month approved an 8.5 billion-dollar economic and defence development plan for a string of islands along its resource-rich coastline, as a broader maritime sovereignty dispute simmers with China.

In December Vietnam and Russia -- a longtime supplier of military equipment to Hanoi -- signed a major arms deal reported to involve the purchase of six submarines.

Analysts said the deal aims to bolster claims against China over potentially resource-rich islands in the South China Sea.

Prime minister Nguyen Tan Dung confirmed only that the Russian deal included submarines along with aircraft and "military equipment".

Russian media have reported that the aircraft order involved 12 Sukhoi Su-30MK2 warplanes. They are among the world's most advanced and could provide air cover for the surface fleet, analysts said.

Canada's de Havilland aircraft company began producing Twin Otters in the 1960s. They gained favour with commuter airlines but had their roots in de Havilland's legendary Beaver bush planes.TBKT

RESOURCES - Korea National Oil begins extra oil production off Vietnam block

State-run oil developer Korea National Oil Corp. said Thursday that it has begun producing an additional 22,000 barrels of oil a day at an oil and gas field offshore Vietnam.

KNOC late last month began pumping crude oil from the northeastern part of Su Tu Den in the 15-1 block it jointly operates with PetroVietnam and ConocoPhillips (COP), it said in a statement.

As a result, the total volume of daily oil production from the 15-1 block has risen to about 100,000 barrels from 75,000 barrels previously, according to the statement.VOV

WATER - Arup helps HCM City build water management scheme

The global engineering, technique and consulting group, Arup will help HCM City build general scheme on water sources management and in dealing with impacts of climate changes, Mark Watts, Arup's director said in the seminar on "urban life" that took place on May 12 in HCM City.

According to specialists of Arup, the impacts of climate change such as rising sea levels, longer dry seasons, heavy rains in summer, are causing urban flooding, salination of water sources and underground water depletion.

Therefore, Roger Alley, Arup's senior manager, said that the city should consider building the raw water reservoir at the appropriate locations, as well as in two sides of the river, to store water during rain season, and drain water to reduce salty water supply during the dry season.VNS

ROAD CONSTRUCTION - Construction on southeast Hai An ring road in Hai Phong City starts

Hoang Trung Hai, deputy prime minister yesterday participated in the ground breaking ceremony of construction project of south-eastern ring road in Hai An Dist, Hai Phong City. Hanoi Urban Development Infrastructure Development Corp (UDIC – Hanoi) won the bidding contract for the project and UDIC Investment Joint Stock Co was to carry out this project.

The total investment capital for this project was estimated at 886.96 billion dong, in which 400 billion dong was from government's fund, 200 billion dong from Hai Phong City's state budget and 286.496 billion dong from auctioning the land use rights for the land plot in Hai An Dist.

The project was supposed to be completed and put into operation in the end of 2012.TBKT

METRO SYSTEM - Hanoi invites Moscow to help build subway system

Hanoi officially invited Moscow to join designing, building and putting into operation Metro system in the capital. At the same time, Hanoi also suggested Moscow authorities to help the city in urban planning, Nguyen The Thao, chair of Hanoi People's Committee at the meeting with the mayor of Moscow, Yuri Luzhkov on May 12.

Luzhkov suggested Hanoi in particular as well as Vietnam in general to increase exporting key export items such as seafood, agricultural and crafts, and fine arts to Moscow. In addition, Vietnam should promote Vietnam's tourism to attract Russian tourists.

Luzhkov said the constructions of Hanoi Trade and Culture Centre in Moscow and Moscow Culture House in Hanoi will contribute to the closer tie between the two capitals of the two countries in many sectors.CAFEF

From Golf to Residential - Hanoi changes property project

Hanoi City people's committee has issued the Decision No 2088/QD-UBND on May 5, 2010 regulating changing the using purposes of 32.1-hectare land plot near the national convention centre from a nine-hole golf course into residential complex.

The project was sited in Me Tri Commune, Tu Liem Dist, Hanoi. The land plot was next to Lang-Hoa Lac road in the north, the Viglacera Tower in the northeast, the planned ring road, and green park, lake and Phung Khoang new urban area in the southeast, Luong The Vinh Street, Me Tri Radio Broadcasting Station in the southwest.

Me Tri Entertainment and Sport Development Co Ltd, the main investor of the nine-hole golf course project with investment capital of $15 million continued being assigned for setting up the detailed construction plan for the new high-rise tower.cafef