VN-Index drops below 1,100 point-mark

The VN-Index at the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HoSE) dropped 11.33 points to finish at 1,085.74 points by the end of the October 22 trading session.

By closing, 10.3 million shares, worth more than 1 trillion VND, changed hands. 31 shares made gains while 72 declined and 19 remained unchanged.

Tuong An Oil Joint Stock Company (TAC) was the biggest loser of the day by having 7,000 VND wiped off its listed price, followed by Song Da Urban and Industrial Zone Investment and Development (SJS), Vincom JSC (VIC), Ha Tien Transport Joint Stock Company (HTV) and North Kinhdo Food Joint Stock Company (NKD).

Gainers included Construction Joint Stock Company No. 5 (SC5) (10,000 VND), followed by Ba Ria-Vung Tau Housing Development Company (HDC), Nam Viet Joint Stock Company (NAV), Hangxanh Motors Services (HAX) and Thu Duc Housing Developing Corporation (TDH).

The HaSTC-Index at the Ha Noi Securities Trading Centre dipped 2.55 points to finish at 374.28 points with 4.8 million shares, worth 538 billion VND, being traded.

Slight decreases were seen in listed prices of Nam Dinh Education Equipment and Books (DST) and Saigon Transportation and Services (PSC).

At the capital’s bourse, the Pan Pacific Joint Stock Corporation (PAN) drew interest from investors due to its marked growth over the first nine months of this year. Its listed price increased more than 300 percent since early October to 194,000 VND per unit from 62,000 VND per unit.

Association set up to better business administration

The Viet Nam Association of Corporate Directors (VACD) made its debut in Ha Noi on October 22 with an initial membership of nearly 200.

Han Manh Tien, head of the VACD organising board, said that the establishment of the association marked a big step in the development of Viet Nam ’s business administration.

The VACD will focus on the building of business governance standards, he said.

The association also planned to increase its membership to 350-400 by the end of 2008.

New bridge to cross Han river in Da Nang city

The Da Nang municipal authorities on October 18 decided to choose the design presented by US firm Louis Berger to build another bridge spanning the Han river.

The planned 35 million USD bridge will be 31.5m wide with six lanes and two walkways.

The design was submitted for an architectural competition held by the city’s People’s Committee in late 2005.

Dutch to loan 8 million USD to Sacombank

Financial leasing company Sacombank Leasing said the Netherlands Development Finance Company has agreed in principle to provide an 8 million USD loan.

Under an agreement concluded on October 20 in Washington DC , the loan is for a five-year term.

The Dutch agency provides support to the private sector in developing countries, and has an investment portfolio of around 2.7 billion euros (3.86 billion USD).

Hai Phong zones off village for overseas Vietnamese

The northern port city of Hai Phong will zone off some 90-100 ha for a village for overseas Vietnamese.

Vice Chairman of the Hai Phong People’s Committee Hoang Van Ke signed a memorandum of understanding on the building of the village with President of the Association of Vietnamese Businesses in the UK (VBUK) Pham Minh Nam , in London on October 19.

Under the MoU, the VBUK will invest 90 million USD to build apartments, villas and cultural, sport and entertainment facilities in the area, which will serve as a resort for overseas Vietnamese.
Around 35,000 Vietnamese are residing in the UK , of whom 8,500 came from Hai Phong.

Star Cruises resumes tours to Ha Long Bay

The Star Cruises group will cooperate with the Saigon Tourist Corporation (Saigontourist) to resume weekly tours to Ha Long Bay in northern Quang Ninh province as from December this year.

The group, which operating 20 cruise liners, plans to use the Super Star Libra and Super Star Virgo ships to carry tourists to the UNESCO-recognised world heritage site.

As scheduled, the two ships will leave Hong Kong, China, for Ha Long every seven days with around 1,000-2,200 tourists aboard.

Previously, the Star Cruises group used to offer Ha Long Bay tours on its Super Star Leo and Super Star Gemini ships, carrying 80,000 tourists every year on average to Ha Long Bay.

PVFC launch IPO; investors see potential

PetroVietnam Finance Corporation (PVFC) on October 19 launched its initial public offering (IPO) of 59.6 million shares on Ha Noi Securities Trading Centre.

More than 8,000 investors, including 121 institutional buyers, ordered a total amount of 140.5 million shares, which represents an oversubscription of more than double for the offering.

Due to the scale of investor interest, PVFC’s auction is expected to last two days.

By 19:30 on October 19, about three fourths of the bidding tickets had been processed with 170,000 VND (10.6 USD) as the highest bid price compared to a starting value of 51,000, the HASTC said in its website.

A senior official at PVFC’s Planning Department who asked not to be named, said: “The company carried out this IPO to be in line with equitisation schedule of its parent groups, PetroVietnam. Through this auction, we also want to know how attractive we are in the market. As a result, we will be better prepared for listing in a couple of years.”

He predicted that the share price would reach around 70,000 VND. “That is a reasonable price for most investors. Of course, at a higher price, we would earn more, but at this price, we can attract long-term investors. That is what we need.”

Many analysts agreed. Dao Van Khanh, an Agribank Securities’ expert, said: “This IPO came at an advantageous period. However, investors have showed their professionalism in the first day of auction by placing orders at an affordable price. I think the share price will fix at between 70,000 VND to 75,000 VND. [The IPO] seems successful considering it was this corporation’s first auction.”

Furthermore, following PVFC’s debut, there are a number of large IPOs to come, especially that by Vietcombank. As a result, investors will not pour as much money into this IPO as otherwise they night have, he said.

After equitisation, the corporation is aiming for average annual growth of 36.1 percent in 2007-11 period. The dividend payment will stand at 7.02 percent this year, rising to 10.02 percent in 2011.

“With this promising data, investors can be sure to make a stable profit in the future,” Khanh said.

Vinamilk finalises its listing in Singapore

Vinamilk is preparing final procedures for listing on the Singapore stock market, the State Capital Investment Corp (SCIC) said on October 18.

SCIC, which manages State capital at Vinamilk said that Vinamilk has also chosen the consultant for the overseas listing, but did not release the name of the consulting company.

The listing is regarded as an important step in the restructuring of the enterprise after the transfer of state capital to SCIC. The State capital accounts for 46.7 percent of Vinamilk

ACB Real Estate penetrates Ha Noi market

The Ha Noi Department of Investment and Planning has granted a licence to the representative office of the Ho Chi Minh City-based ACB Real Estate Joint Stock Company (ACBR).

ACBR will be able to participate in large-scale property investment activities, co-invest with other companies in real estate projects and purchase second-hand property projects from other companies to develop.

It will also have the right to assess property values, provide consultation services and trade on real estate transactions floors nationwide.

Vinalines moves into real estate with Hoang Quan

Viet Nam National Shipping Lines (Vinalines) has signed an investment cooperative agreement with the Ho Chi Minh City-based Hoang Quan Real Estate Company.

Under the accord, the two sides will buy each other’s stocks to establish a partnership. They will invest in real estate projects such as residential housing, office buildings, trade centres, industrial parks, logistical services centres and sea ports.

Vinalines and Hoang Quan will support each other in supplying information, settling investment procedures and seeking business opportunities suitable to the strengths of both companies.

Vinashin builds shipyard, resort in Quang Tri

Viet Nam Shipbuilding Industry Corp (Vinashin) will invest 3.2 trillion VND (200 million USD) to develop a complex comprising a shipyard and a resort in the central province of Quang Tri .

The shipyard, which requires an investment capital of 1.6 trillion VND, will be able to receive huge vessels with a holding capacity of up to 70,000 DWT.
A 300 ha golf resort and an eco-tourism area in Cua Viet complex project will also be built in the area at a total cost of 1 trillion VND.

Besides the Cua Viet complex project, Vinashin will invest in two new wharves and a ship yard in Chan May-Lang Co Port in neighbouring Thua Thien-Hue province.

China-ASEAN trade volume likely to reach 190 billion USD

China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have seen fast growth in bilateral trade with the volume being expected to reach 190 billion USD this year.

The figure is expected to top 200 billion USD in 2008, two years earlier than the two sides’ expectation, China’s Xinhua news agency cited Zhang Xiaoqin, secretary general of China-ASEAN Expo Secretariat, as saying.

China and ASEAN are now each other’s fourth largest trading partners, Zhang said, adding that the China-ASEAN trade volume was 160.8 billion USD last year, while in the first eight months of this year, the bilateral trade hit 127.95 billion USD.

Besides pushing the development of good trade, China and ASEAN countries have also sped up cooperation and investment on service trade since the two sides signed the negotiation on service trade in January this year, according to Xinhua.

Coastal province makes offers to German investors

Binh Thuan province’s vice chairman Nguyen Van Thu has assured German investors of simple license-granting procedures, preferential taxes and land leases in an effort to lure foreign investment into eco-tourist and sea food processing projects.

Thu made the offers at a recent seminar in Bochum city, that was attended by a number of German businesses.

High priorities will be given to the Ham Thuan-Da Mi eco-tourist project with a needed investment of 40 million USD and a sea-food processing zone south of Phan Thiet fish-port with a designed capacity of 100 tonnes per day, said the official.

Dr. Juergen Krestschmann, Rector of the George Agricola Technical University, who had paid 10 visits to Viet Nam and brought a number of businesses from Germany’s Ruhr region to the Southeast Asian nation, highlighted Viet Nam’s political stability and the local working force’s industriousness and skillfulness.

He, however, recommended Viet Nam to further intensify investment promotion campaigns in Germany.

Vietnamese General Consul in Frankfurt/Main Nguyen Huu Trang called on Ruhr businesses to increase their presence in Viet Nam, saying the great potential Germany ranks at low 20th level among 69 foreign investors in Viet Nam.

Viet Nam enjoyed a year-on-year surge of 38 percent in foreign investment for the first nine months of 2007, he emphasized.

Work cut out on WTO targets

A workshop designed to help State agencies and businesses comply with World Trade Organisation commitments was held on October 19 in the capital.

As a member of the WTO, Viet Nam must fully abide by its laws, regulations and standards, representatives were told.

The director of the Multilateral Trade Assistance Project Viet Nam II (MUTRAP II), Tran Thi Thu Hang, said: “The biggest challenge facing Viet Nam, the legal framework is now complete. However, businesses need to be given detailed advice about what WTO membership will mean for them.”

Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Viet Nam director Le Quoc Bao said there was a desperate need for greater cooperation between State agencies and businesses on how best to meet WTO commitments. So far this has not been done well, he said.

When asked, only 30 percent of businesses were even aware that they would have to make changes to meet WTO regulations, said Bao. Far fewer understood what was required of them, he said.

The Government has established an Inter-department Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade to give advice when disputes arise.

Oil distiller installed at Dung Quat refinery

Dung Quat’s oil refinery contractor Nippon Express on October 19 successfully installed an oil distiller at the project’s catalytic cracking workshop.

The T1501 equipment is used to distill oil products from oil residue fluid after being processed. Together with reactors, the catalytic cracking workshop will help turn out products such as gasoline, oil and diesel.

The oil distiller, weighing 547 tonnes and 68m in length, was produced and supplied by the Republic of Korea firm Doosan.

Started the construction work in June 2005, the Dung Quat oil refinery in central Quang Ngai province has a designed capacity of 6.5 million tonnes per year.

Once operational, which is scheduled for February 2009, the project will meet one-third of the country’s demand for oil and petroleum.

Work starts on highest building in Nghe An

Eurowindow Holding began construction of a trade-office-apartment complex in Vinh city, central Nghe An province, on October 20.

Covering more than 11,500 sq.m, the project has an investment capital of 364.5 billion VND (22.7 million USD) and is carried out by the contractor the Infrastructure Development and Construction Corporation (Licogi).

Once completed in late 2009, the 20-storey building - the highest building in Nghe An province to date - will house a total floor space of 27,455 sq.m. 

(Source: VNA)