| POWER/NUCLEAR - First nuclear plant project for Vietnam | |
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The members of State Steering Board in Ninh Thuan nuclear plant project held a meeting yesterday to discuss about the solutions to carry out necessary procedures for constructing the first nuclear plant in Vietnam.
Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) has already finished approving the location and make feasibility studies for the Ninh Thuan 1 nuclear power plant.
Deputy prime minister Hoang Trung Hai required the concerning parties to work closely and carefully when carrying out the nuclear power plant project. The Ministry of Industry and Trade was required to work out each implementation phase to submit the project to the Parliament, and collect opinions from the concerning ministries and departments to work out the relating agreements in construction works on nuclear power plant with Russian partners.
The Parliament has already approved the investment project on Ninh Thuan nuclear power plant with total designed capacity of 4,000 MW, including two nuclear power plants of Ninh Thuan 1 and Ninh Thuan 2. According to the roadmap, the construction on the first power plant will be officially kicked off in 2014 and finished in 2020 with investment capital of about 200 trillion dong.chinphu
| RENEWABLE ENERGIES - Big wind power project gets nod | |
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Authorities of the central province of Ninh Thuan have approved in principle a project by Trung Nam Investment and Construction Joint Stock Co to develop a wind power project with designed capacity of 200MW.
The project will be carried out on the total area of 900 hectares encompassing two villages of Loi Hai and Bac Phong in Thuan Bac District. It will require total investment of $500 million.
In a letter of commitment sent to the provincial government, the company also pledges to carry out another project manufacturing technical equipments to supply local wind power plants once its 200- MW wind power project is completed.
Vietnam has attached importance to renewable energy. In its strategic plan for renewable energy development, the country targets renewable energy to account for 5 percent of the total power output by 2020 and up to 11 percent by 2050. The rate of renewable energy currently accounts for some 3 percent. SGTW
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OIL REFINERY - $4b invested in Long Son Oil Refinery Complex | |
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| Japan-based Itochu Group and Qatar Petroleum State-owned Group were currently completing the negotiation process to build the large oil refinery in Vietnam.
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FINANCE - Vietnam banks likely to achieve credit growth target of 25pct
Up to September 27, Vietnam's credit growth reached 19.27 percent and is expected to increase approximately 19.5 percent by end of September, State Bank of Vietnam Governor Nguyen Van Giau reported on SBV's website yesterday Sep 30.
Giau said that in 2010, State treasury deposits at commercial banks were estimated at about 57 trillion dong. The SBV allows banks to calculate Treasury deposits as mobilised funds, which will increase the credit. According to the new roadmap, Treasury deposits at local banks will be gradually reduced and this will not cause big changes to the market.
Currently, economic organisations have fairly large deposits and any small fluctuation can cause the banking system and capital problems. According to a survey of the Vietnam Banking Association, fluctuation of call deposits is likely to rise up to 80 percent. Thus, the amount of money in stock about 20 percent -30 percent is relatively stable.
Circular 19 allows credit institutions to use 25 percent of deposits of economic organisations to provide credit. However, the Governor noted that this is a sensitive rate, central bank will closely monitor the implementation to avoid the occurrence of mutations.
In addition, Circular 19 allows banks to use funds from "other banks' loan that has a term of three months." The SBV will require banks to calculate the loans very closely based on reality and ensure the ability of risk management.
Currently, the funds from "other banks' loans that has a term of three months or more" on the interbank market are only about 11 trillion dong (4.4 percent). Thus, the impact of high credit growth from this provision is not likely to happen.
Answering questions about the orientation of the central bank in operating the monetary policy in the last months of 2010, SBV Governor Giau said the central bank would continue operating under the direction of monetary policy to balance two objectives: of economic stability contributed to macroeconomic and economic growth as set out earlier this year.
By September 27, the credit growth of the banking system had reached 19.27 percent year-on-year. Thus, credit growth target of 25 percent for the full 2010 will be possibly performed. In the last months of 2010, the SBV will closely monitor macroeconomic developments and market conditions to devise flexible measures to ensure the compliance of the government's objectives..
For total outstanding loans in the banking industry up to the present, outstanding loans of the banking system to the non-manufacturing sector are estimated at 385 trillion dong, up 18.2 percent - lower than the outstanding balance of the whole system. Total loans to the real estate sector are estimated to have reached 218 trillion dong, up 18 percent of total outstanding loans and securities lending is 15 trillion dong, up 19.8 percent, and outstanding consumer credit is about 151 trillion dong, up 19.7 percent.
According to SBV Governor, outstanding loans to some prioritised areas of the agriculture - rural sector have increased 19 percent and loans to small and medium businesses soared by 20 percent.SBV
ECONOMY - Small firms show optimism
Vietnamese small- and medium-sized enterprises are the fourth most optimistic in the region that the Asia-Pacific economy will continue to grow, according to an annual report conducted by the market research firm TNS.
The sixth Asia Business Monitor done by US logistics firm UPS, which surveys SME decision makers across the region on the business sentiments and factors that drive success, said 59 percent in Vietnam expected growth, while another 32 percent expected the economy to remain the same.
The survey, which polled 1,350 SME decision makers in 13 key markets in March-April, included Vietnam for the first time.
Besides Vietnam, Australia, mainland China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand also took part.
Vietnam is the second most optimistic market in the region about business success in 2010, with 72 percent of the respondents believing their companies will perform better this year.
Though nine out of 10 Vietnamese SMEs are focused on conducting business within Asia and the Pacific, they expect trade with other regions to increase.
Global trading has helped Vietnam become a rapidly emerging market and this was confirmed by 58 percent of SMEs who said it had a more positive impact on their business growth and had opened up business opportunities for them.
Despite the prevailing positive growth sentiment, Vietnam was the least optimistic in the region when it came to the workforce: an overwhelming 61 percent intend to pare their workforce, while none plans to increase it.
As Vietnam's economic growth accelerates and it continues to invest in infrastructure, the building and construction industry is expected to boom. More than half of Vietnamese SMEs (53 percent) believe this sector will continue to be the country's key growth industry this year. It is followed by IT (36 percent) and leisure and tourism (28 percent).
When asked which industries will be the key economic pillars over the next three to five years, building and construction remained the top choice among Vietnamese SMEs with 53 percent, followed by agriculture, forestry and fishing (29 percent), leisure and tourism (29 percent), and IT (26 percent).
Though the Vietnamese economy is expected to grow this year, local entrepreneurs continue to face challenges and seven out of 10 SMEs said their top business concern was costs. The second biggest concern is interest rate hikes (46 percent) while competition (40 percent) is the third biggest concern.
Vietnamese SMEs want the government to continue its low-interest lending programmes since many banks still charge them above 14 percent.
Around 23 percent said they needed support funds to upgrade their technologies and equipment and 19 percent wanted the government to promote Vietnamese brands.
Of those who encountered problems in financing their business, 45 percent blamed this on bureaucracy and red tape in processing applications and 25 percent on the lack of institutions willing to lend to small businesses. Some 30 percent said they had no difficulties in finding funds.
To sustain their competitiveness, they said more needed to be done in terms of government support, transport infrastructure, and legal framework.
Asked about their perception of their own competitiveness, 31 percent said better service or quality was the key competitive advantage they had when competing with big corporations, followed by forming partnerships/associations (29 percent) and offering better prices (17 percent).
"[The survey] has clearly revealed that Vietnam SME leaders needed government support for them to grow and develop, and truly put Vietnamese brands on the regional as well as global map for years to come," Jeff Mclean, general manager of UPS Vietnam, said.
An important fact the survey uncovered is the importance of supply-chain management for SMEs.
Cost savings is the number one reason for Vietnamese SMEs to pursue a supply-chain management strategy (31 percent). In addition to cost savings, 28 percent view it as a method for quality assurance.
When asked what changes were needed in supply chain practices to support future growth, 31 percent said they would focus simply on reducing transport and distribution costs while 21 percent said they would shift their supply-chain operations closer to their final destination.SGTD
SHIPBUILDING - - Vietnam's Vinashin finishes Natixis debt repayment
Vietnam's state shipbuilder Vinashin has completed repaying its debt to French bank Natixis <CNAT.PA>, using funds from the Vietnamese government's overseas bonds for part of the settlements, a government official said on Thursday.
Vinashin, which has been near bankruptcy, used the bond proceeds to repay the remaining $3 million in the $25 million loan the French bank extended, deputy Transport minister Nguyen Hong Truong told a news conference.
"The group has now completed the debt settling duty with Natixis Bank," he said.
The overextended state conglomerate has racked up some $4.5 billion in debt, leading the government in July to reorganise the firm and later arrest several executives for mismanagement.
Truong rejected state-run media reports this month which said the government may allow Vinashin to use as much as $300 million from the $1 billion 10-year bond issued in January to settle the debt with Natixis.
Vinashin has raised $75 million by selling five ships and planned to sell another 35 ships to raise an estimated $160 million by the year's end, minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, head of the government's office, told the conference.
The government has also injected funds worth nearly $130 million to help Vinashin complete its shipbuilding orders and ensure their delivery this year.
Vinashin has projected turnimg a profit in 2013-2014 after losses expected in 2011-2012. REUTERS
WTO – TRADE - Vietnam's shipments to US to face more barriers
Numerous trade barriers will likely go up stateside, choking off the flow off goods into the Northern American market, especially from 'non-market economies' like Vietnam, a practitioner said in Hanoi on Wednesday.
William Barriger, a legal counsellor working alongside the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) since 2003 over the antidumping tax imposed on Vietnam's shrimp, said an estimated 14 new trade barriers would go up in the US
The lawyer of the law firm Winston & Strawn said at a meeting at the VCCI Office that the Secretary of the US Department of Commerce in late August had announced new proposals to aid American exports related to the antidumping tax. These proposals, with the primary goal to bolster US exports in the next five years, will in effect create new trade barriers and will defend punitive duties on certain imported products, Barriger said.
He informed the audience that the US considered Vietnam a venue of concern when initiating antidumping lawsuits as Vietnam is also emerging as a production base besides China.
Many commodities originating from China are imposed anti-dumping tariffs stateside, so many manufacturers want to move their production facilities to Vietnam, he said. Any surge in imports into the US from Vietnam may trigger questions on goods dumping, the legal adviser said.
The US Department of Trade in its new proposals also changed the method of calculating antidumping tariffs with an aim to slap higher punitive taxes on imported products seen as being dumped in the US soil, according to Barriger. For example, he said, Vietnam's tra fish has recently been imposed higher punitive rate as the US chooses Bangladesh for calculating the production cost to apply to Vietnam's products.SGTD
ASEAN FREE TRADE - Garment makers look for Asean materials
Vietnamese textile and garment producers are looking for more apparel materials from Asean countries to make the most of free trade agreements, said an industry insider.
Pham Xuan Hong, vice chair of Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS), said on Wednesday that to enjoy low import tariffs when shipping products to Japan, garment companies will have to source materials from Asean countries.
"Vietnam's garment exports to Japan have increased strongly recently due to the bilateral trade agreement. Japan is providing duty-free treatment to Vietnam's apparel articles," said Hong, who is also director of Saigon3 Garment Joint Stock Company.
Hong was speaking to the Daily while attending the Indian Textile Exhibition in HCM City on Wednesday.
"To be entitled to the treatment in Japan, Vietnamese garment producers are looking for material sources from Japan and Asean countries. My company Saigon3 Garment Joint Stock Company, for example, has just sent a team to Indonesia to look for textile and garment materials. We see Indonesia as well as Thailand as good materials suppliers," he added.
Asked where the rising prices of apparel materials make inroad into garment makers' profit, Hong said the impacts were not substantial as buyers were also willing to share the burden.
"We talked to foreign importers, and they agreed to share with us our hardships caused by the material price hike," he said.
However, local apparel producers are struggling with other challenges, including the labour shortage, and higher prices of electric power, oil, and transportation charges.
According to VITAS, in the first eight months of this year, Vietnam's textile and garment exports fetch $6.89 billion, up 17.4 percent year-on-year. The export value is expected to reach the target of $10.5 billion for the year 2010.
However, the country also suffers from a steep rise in the apparel import bill. Fabrics imports rose 26.6 percent year-on-year to $3.4 billion, while cotton and yarn imports rose 32 percent and 42 percent to $418 million and $700 million, respectively.SGTD
AVIATION - Air France unveils non-stop services to HCM City
Air France on Wednesday announced it would operate non-stop services between Paris and HCM City and will increase frequencies from Vietnam from November this year, a time when demand for travel to and from Vietnam surges.
Thierry Beragnes, Air France's country manager in Vietnam, told the Daily after a press conference held in HCM City on Wednesday to introduce the new services that the carrier would leave Tan Son Nhat Airport for Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris at 10:45 p.m. on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays from November 2.
The services from Charles de Gaulle Airport will be at 11:25 p.m. on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, and land on Tan Son Nhat at 4:55 p.m. the next days.
Air France will use its Boeing 747-400 equipped with 40 business and 396 economy seats for the three weekly non-stop services, which Beragnes said would mark a new step in its development in the Vietnamese market.
Air France showed confidence in the Vietnamese market, which he said had changed for the better compared to six years ago when it suspended a code-share pact with Vietnam Airlines for non-stop flights from Paris, leaving the Vietnamese airline the sole operator of direct flights on this route.
"The economic context has changed and Vietnam on Thursday is quite different from six years ago in terms of development. An airline like Air France is really confident in the development of Vietnam," Beragnes told reporters.
Air France will start to operate the new generation Boeing 777-300ER on the Paris-HCM City route in January to offer a full range of Air France in-flight products, including the new Premium Voyageur seat, which is positioned between the business and economy cabins.
Beragnes said passengers aboard the non-stop services would be served a choice of Vietnamese meals in all cabins in addition to the traditional French cuisine and wines.
From November, Air France will also join two weekly code-share services from HCM City and five frequencies from Hanoi, and these non-stop flights will be operated by Vietnam Airlines under an agreement between the two carriers.
Vietnam Airlines' non-stop services will depart from HCM City at 11:10 p.m. on Tuesdays and Saturdays, and arrive in Paris at 6:30 a.m. the next days. The flights from Noi Bai Airport in Hanoi will take off at 11:55 p.m. on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays for Charles de Gaulle Airport.
Beragnes said the flight and route changes underlined stronger cooperation between the two members of SkyTeam. The flagship carrier of Vietnam became a full member of the world's second largest airline alliance on June 10.
The changes mean Air France will stop flying between Paris and Vietnam via Bangkok as it does currently. However, passengers can board Air France's flights to Paris and then to other destinations in Europe and the world.
Air France now sells return fares from $777 excluding taxes and fees until October 24 for the non-stop services from either HCM City or Hanoi to Europe between November 1 and March 31, 2011. Beragnes said customers would be able to purchase these promotional fares on www.airfrance.com.vn, booking offices and agents.SGTD
Oil - Russia to send first crude oil shipment to PetroVietnam
Russia's TNK-BP Oil Group will provide the first shipment of 100 tonnes of crude oil for the PetroVietnam Oil Corporation (PV Oil) via the Eastern Siberia-Pacific Ocean (ESPO) in November this year.
PV Oil general director Nguyen Xuan Son and deputy Chair of TNK-BP's Management Board Maksim Barskiy signed the contract for the oil in Moscow on Wednesday.
Deputy prime minister Hoang Trung Hai attended the ceremony where he expressed the hope that the partnership would further develop.
Hai emphasized that the signing of the ESPO crude oil contract would be the foundation for more cooperation, including the exchange of experiences in crude-oil trading and processing.
The government supported the cooperation between PetroVietnam and TNK-BP in exploring for and exploiting oil and gas in both their own and in third countries.
Son said he hoped TNK-BP would continue to participate in oil processing, refinery and distribution in Vietnam. The contract was an initial step for the two companies to sign other agreements in order to boost cooperation and mutual investment, he said.
PetroVietnam general director Phung Dinh Thuc said his group considered Russia a strategic area and with the contract, TNK-BP had become the third biggest partner of PetroVietnam and PV Oil, after Zarubezhneft and Gazprom.
PetroVietnam had signed 20 oil and gas contracts with foreign companies, he said.vnnews
Total: Second oil discovery off shore Vietnam on block 15-1/05
French oil major Total SA (TOT) Thursday said its Total E&P Vietnam unit and partners on block 15-1/05 have discovered oil in the Lac Da Vang prospect, located in the southern part of the block in the Vietnamese offshore.
The Lac Da Vang exploration well is located approximately 125 kilometers east of the city of Vung Tau, about 65 kilometers off the coast, and was drilled in a water depth of 48 meters. The well produced up to 3,500 barrels a day of oil during tests.
The discovery was made on the second exploration well drilled and the second discovery made in less than a year later. Lac Da Vang is located 15 kilometers east-north east of Lac Da Nau, the first discovery announced in November 2009.
Phu Quy Petroleum Co, a subsidiary of PetroVietnam Exploration and Production Corp., is the operator with a 40 percent stake. The other partners on Block 15-1/05 are Total E&P Vietnam with a 35 percent stake and SK Energy Co (096770.SE) with a 25 percent stake.vnnews
GAS - PV Gas inaugurates three LPG tanks in Quang Ngai
PetroVietnam Gas Corporation (PV Gas) and its subsidiary PetroVietnam Southern Gas Joint Stock Company on Tuesday inaugurated three tanks of liquefied petroleum gas with a total containing capacity of 3,500 tonnes in Binh Son District of the central province of Quang Ngai.
According to a press release issued by PV Gas, the three LPG tanks, built at a total cost of some $3 million, will help distributing LPG gas produced at Dung Quat Oil Refinery in Quang Ngai Province to coastal areas nearby in the central and southern region as well as the Central Highlands.VNS
POWER - Tan Tao Group plans to begin construction project of Kien Luong power plant in Dec
Thai Van Men, general director of Tan Tao Industrial and Investment Joint Stock Co (coded ITA) confirmed at the meeting with the steering board of Kien Luong Power Centre project that the company would overcome the difficulty and try to kick off the Kien Luong 1 thermo power plant next December.
At present, the company was facing with three main obstacles that needed to be resolved in order to start up construction works on Kien Luong 1 thermo power plant as scheduled.
The first obstacle was that the investors lacked the materials for ground levelling purposes. The company had sent the document to the local functional authorities for permission to explore the mines in those mountains of Hon Tre, Ong Cop, Huynh and Son Tera. However, the Kien Giang province Department of natutal resources and environment had sent response in document to ITA, pointing out that there was no resourses left for exploitation purposes in the province at present.
Le Khac Ghi, director of the provincial department of planning and investment suggested the ITA's leaders to deal with two main obstacles of negotiating the power purchase agreement (PPA) with Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) Group and seeking for government-guaranteed loans.
The total investment capital for Kien Luong 1 thermo power plant was estimated at 40 trillion dong, 90 percent of which was loans. At present, ITA was working with 15 consulting agents to discus with large banks under international credit organisations and China's Sinosure Insurance Corp for lending capital. Especially, Sinosure had already approved in principle for offering insurance loans for the project, after getting the commitment from the government and power purchase agteement with EVn. After getting the loans, the company can appoint the EPC contractor for Kien Luong 1 thermo power plant.
At present, the project's main investor of Tan Tao Energy Joint Stock Co was negotiating the power price with EVN Group as well as convincing the relating functional authorities so as to get the government's approval for offering guaranteed loans in order to conduct the large project in time.VNS
Oliver Massmann
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