First law joint venture licensed in Vietnam

The AGZI LCT Co. Ltd has received a licence to operate in Ho Chi Minh City, becoming the first law joint venture in Vietnam.

The joint venture is between LCT Lawyers of Vietnam, Allen & Gledhill LLP of Singapore and Zaid Ibrahim&Co. of Malaysia.

It will start its operation on June 27.

Hai Phong port becomes one-member limited company

Hai Phong port in the northern coastal Hai Phong province has been turned into a one-member limited liability company of the Vietnam Maritime Corporation.

The port began operating in the new form on June 1 with a chartered capital of more than 765 billion VND. It specialises in cargo handling and delivery and storage services.

The makeover is expected to facilitate the port’s business.

Big steel project receives investment certificate

The Formosa Group of Taiwan will build a steel complex and a port at the Vung Ang Economic Zone in central Ha Tinh province.

Ho Anh Tuan, deputy head of the Vung Ang EZ Management Board, said that Formosa has received an investment certificate for the project.

The steel complex and the port, with a combined investment of nearly 7.9 billion USD for the first phase, is the biggest ever foreign-invested project in Vietnam .

Under a feasibility study submitted to the Prime Minister by Formosa , the 2,000 ha steel complex will have a capacity of 7.5 million tonnes a year in the first phase, which will be doubled in the second phase.

The Son Duong port will be built on 1,500 ha with a total investment of more than 619 million USD in the first phase.

Total investment in both phases of the steel complex and the port is estimated at more than 16.2 billion USD.

Mekong Delta harvests bumper early rice crop

By last week-end, farmers in the Mekong Delta had harvested more than 130,000 ha out of the region’s total 400,000 ha of early summer-autumn rice, which yielded between 5-5.5 tonnes per ha.

Rice price in the region is raising with one kilo of paddy currently selling for 5,100-5,500 VND, up by 2,000-2,500 VND over the same crop last year.

This year, farmers in the region planted 1.5 million ha of summer-autumn rice, including 400,000 ha of the early summer-autumn crop.

Vietnam attends World Economic Forum

Vietnam’s Finance Minister Vu Van Ninh has called for Asia to work together to find solutions to impacts from the slowdown in the world at a world economic forum.

Addressing the 17 th World Economic Forum on East Asia 2008 opened in Kuala Lumpur on June 15, Minister Ninh said given the strong integration of the global economy, the slowdown was certainly having an impact on Asian economies. Vietnam is also affected by high inflation.

At the opening session, managing director of the World Economic Forum, Borge Brende, said the fuel crisis and food shortages were proving a testing time.

"The region cannot afford to be complacent. The question is whether Asia can maintain its growth momentum against the strong headwinds," he said.

Participants in the forum agreed that Asia needs to first enhance regional cooperation and not resort to protectionism.

The Japanese Minister of Financial Services and Administrative Reform, Yoshimi Watanebe, called on Asian nations not to fall into the trap of protectionism and help one another.

During the two-day forum, participants from 25 countries debate the challenges and priorities that will ultimately shape the region's future agenda.

State Bank ensures liquidity for market

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has confirmed its continued intervention to ensure the liquidity for the market.

The SBV said in the third quarter of the year, it will set up inspection teams to inspect and make comprehensive assessments of the operation of credit institutions nationwide, especially those in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City .

Last week, the State Bank decided to raise benchmark interest rate by another 2 percentage point per year, readjust rediscount interest rate and prohibit banks from tacking on extra lending fees.

The SBV also assisted a number of commercial joint stock banks, which are temporarily lacking compulsory reserves for June 2008, by offering sales of large volumes of their valuable papers.

To reflect foreign currencies supply and demand in the inter-bank market, the SBV readjusted the inter-bank exchange rate between the Vietnam dong and the US dollar and asked credit institutions to list buying/selling rates. 

(Source: VNA)