First Asian life insurer set up in Viet Nam

Cathay Vietnam Life Insurance Company has become the first Asian firm to establish a life insurance business in Viet Nam .

According to Eric Wu, Business Director of Cathay Viet Nam , the 60 million USD company will provide comprehensive insurance services in an effort to become Asia ’s strongest financial group.
At the first step, the company will target southern provinces, including Dong Nai and Binh Duong and Ho Chi Minh City.

SanDisk broadens memory card business in Viet Nam

SanDisk corporation, specialising in designing and marketing flash memory card products, has named Viet Nam ’s FPT corporation and Ingram Micro as its authorised distributors in the Vietnamese market.
SanDisk’s move is aimed at expanding its retail flash memory card business in Viet Nam , where the demand for high-end technology products is growing fast.

FPT, a leading Vietnamese distributor of IT and mobile phone products, and Ingram Micro, the world’s largest wholesale distributor of technology products, will distribute SanDisk products, including the 8GB MicroSDHC and M2 card, Extreme Ducati and Cruzer Contour flash memory cards, and imaging software –Skype, CruzerSync and HP photosmart, in Viet Nam .

Gavin Wu, Managing Director of SanDisk Corporation Asia Pacific said the current economic growth rate and the available infrastructure base make Viet Nam an ideal market for SanDisk products.

A campaign to market SanDisk products in Viet Nam will be launched late this month, the SanDisk official said.

Bac Ninh province houses third Viet Nam-Singapore Industrial Park

Work on the construction of the third Viet Nam-Singapore Industrial Park (VSIP) in Viet Nam kicked off on December 11 in northern Bac Ninh province.

The ground-breaking ceremony was attended by Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai and Singaporean Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong, who is on a visit to Viet Nam , among other guests.

Singaporean Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong expressed his belief in the third VSIP’s future growth and affirmed Singapore ’s willingness to share its development experiences with Viet Nam to fortify the two countries’ cooperation.

The third VSIP, located in Dinh Bang commune in Tu Son district, about 20 km from Ha Noi, covers a total land area of 700 ha, of which 500 ha is reserved for industrial area. The zone hopes to attract 2 billion USD in investment and generate jobs for 40,000 workers.

It has drawn 15 projects with a combined registered capital totalling 200 million USD, of which seven projects with a combined investment of 120 million USD were given licences on this occasion.

The VSIP, an initiative of the governments of Viet Nam and Singapore , was first launched in Viet Nam in January 1996.

The first VSIP, about 17km north of Ho Chi Minh City, spans 500 ha and is a fully integrated industrial park with a comprehensive range of infrastructure, including power, water, sewerage treatment and telecommunications.

It has attracted 235 manufacturing companies which have poured in more than 1.6 billion USD and employed 45,000 people.

The second VSIP has been built in the Binh Duong new township, about 32km north of Ho Chi Minh City .

Offering an on-site logistics centre with on-site customs office, the VSIP II has attracted 93 customers with investment of 236 million USD.

The fourth VSIP is planned to be built in the northern port city of Hai Phong.

Bao Viet group gets green light to set up bank

The biggest insurer in Viet Nam, Bao Viet Group, has get an approval from the State Bank to set up the Bao Viet Commercial Joint Stock Bank with a charter capital of 1.5 trillion VND (93.75 million USD).

According to Bao Viet, the group will hold a 40 percent stake of the charter capital, while two other founding stockholders, the Southeast Asian Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SeaBank) and the Viet Nam Dairy Joint Stock Company (Vinamilk), own a combined 16 percent.

The new bank is expected to boost Bao Viet’s competition edge with added-value insurance, banking and financial services, according to the group’s representative.

US businesses plan big investment in Viet Nam

US businesses have big plans to invest in Viet Nam ’s infrastructure, hi-tech, energy, tourism, transportation and finance and banking, according to the director of the US-based Vlocity group, Lars-Ivar Sundberg.

Sundberg, who heads a US business delegation, also told Minister of Finance Vu Van Ninh at their recent meeting in Ha Noi that he hoped a number of projects will receive investment licences on the occasion of the country’s Lunar New Year.

Minister Ninh told the US business delegation that the Vietnamese government is focusing its efforts on accelerating administrative reforms and creating a transparent and open investment environment.

Ho Chi Minh City and Ha Noi are the country’s two economic and cultural centres, which are very much in need of investment in building infrastructure, he added.

Soc Trang to invest 5 billion USD in power centre

The Mekong Delta province of Soc Trang will pour 5 billion USD into building a power complex in Long Phu district, said Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee Huynh Thanh Hiep.

Under the master plan approved by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the project will comprise three thermoelectricity plants with a combined capacity of 4,400 MW on an area of 330ha.

The 1,200 MW Long Phu 1 Thermoelectricity Plant will be constructed between 2009 and 2013 while work on the 1,200 MW Long Phu 2 and 2,000 MW Long Phu 3 is scheduled for completion in 2015 and 2017 respectively.

At present, the Electricity of Viet Nam (EVN) is coordinating with local relevant agencies to clear the site for the construction work to start as early as possible.

Stock market continues downward trend

Both the Ho Chi Minh City bourse and its Ha Noi counterpart continued their downward trend on December 11.

By closing, the VN-Index at the HCM City Stock Exchange (HoSE) dropped 17.44 points to close at 941.04 points with 7.4 million shares worth 744 billion VND changing hands.

By the close of trade in Ha Noi, the HaSTC slid 5.99 points to 329.86 points with 2.6 million shares worth 269 billion VND being traded during the day.

The group of Song Da construction shares suffered losses for another day, having between 5,000-10,000 VND wiped off their listed prices.

Deutsche bank increases stake in FPT

Deutsche Bank AG has purchased nearly 478,778 shares of Financing and Promoting Technology Corporation (FPT).

The purchase brings Deutsche Bank AG’s stake in FPT to more than 4.8 million shares, equivalent to 5.22 percent of the charter capital.

In the first three-quarters of the year, FPT earned 566 million USD in revenue, posting 41 million USD in net profit, yearly increases of 20.6 percent and 91 percent, respectively.

First petrol bonded depot under construction

Construction of Viet Nam ’s first bonded petroleum-storage facility began in the Van Phong Economic Zone in Ninh Hoa district of central Khanh Hoa province on December 9.

The depot is an investment of the Van Phong Warehouse Company Ltd., a joint venture between the Vietnam National Petroleum Corporation (Petrolimex), its subsidiary Petrolimex Insurance Joint Stock Company (Pjico) and Singapore’s PB Tankers Ltd.

Nguyen Van Que, Director of Van Phong Warehouse, said the project has two phases, with the first phase costing 100 million USD over 18 months.

The depot will be capable of holding 500,000cu.m of petroleum at the end of the first phase, which will be doubled in the second phase, Que said.

He added that the depot would be equipped with the latest environmentally friendly technology and would be able to handle 150,000 DWT-oil tankers.

According to Que, the investor has hired a company from Singapore to manage the project.

Domestic businesses awarded for excellence

Over a hundred Vietnamese businesses received awards for excellence in product quality and performance at the Viet Nam ’s Quality Award 2007 in Ha Noi on December 9.

The awards were a significant achievement for the 131 enterprises, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan said as he handed over the prizes. “With this recognition for quality of services and products, these honourable enterprises have proved their firm foothold in the international and domestic market as the country embraces economic integration.”

Nhan suggested the Ministry of Science and Technology help enterprises adapt to international business standards and honour enterprises and individuals who have high quality products and services.

The Deputy PM said he hoped the award would become more popular among Vietnamese enterprises and asked the ministry to expand the criteria of candidate eligibility for non-business sectors such as health and other public services.

Businesses have to adhere to seven criteria before they are eligible for the annual award, including leadership, strategy plan, customer and market planning, information and operation analysis, human resource development, management and business result.

The award is also a part of the International Asia Pacific Quality Award established by the Asia Pacific Quality Organisation. 

(Source: VNA)