China remains key market for exports

China’s diverse demand for goods and services, its cultural and political similarities as well as geographical proximity made it a key export market with many advantages for Vietnamese firms to exploit, experts said yesterday.

Dao Ngoc Chuong, deputy head of the Asia-Pacific Market Department, said at a seminar in HCM City that China’s different regions needed different goods and services that Vietnamese enterprises should seek to meet.

"For instance, the southwest region has high demand for seafood because there are no seas in the area, while the east needs more goods including furniture, seafood and tropical fruits," he said.

China’s southern region needs coal because of the difficulties in transporting it from the north of the country. The south also needs raw materials for industries and assembly components for its auto industry.

Bui Thi Thanh An of the Viet Nam Trade Promotion Agency (Viettrade), which organised the seminar, said China was a market with huge potential because of the large purchasing power of its population of 1.3 billion people. Per capita income in the big cities reached US$18,000-20,000 and the lowest was $250-300, she said.

"China’s total export-import turnover is expected to reach $1.8 trillion next year, of which imports account for $850 billion. This shows that China is an open market that can greatly benefit Vietnamese enterprises.," said An.

Chuong said Vietnamese enterprises should focus on what the Chinese market really needs so they could fully exploit its export potential. Currently, China needed tropical agricultural products from Viet Nam like rubber, fruits, pepper, coffee, tea and rice, he said.

Chinese customers also favoured furniture, seafood, processed food and consumer goods, he added. Chuong advised local businesses to map out long-term development plans and study the Chinese market in greater detail and understand its import-export regulations to enhance the competitiveness and diversity of export items.

He also stressed the need for specific strategies to build up and popularise companies’ brand names in the Chinese market.

To promote exports to China, he said Vietnamese companies should be more active in seeking partners through Chinese trade associations. They should also participate in international trade fairs in China.

Dairy firm’s milk recall nears completion 

Friesland Campina has recalled 90 percent of its Dutch Lady Vivinal GOS-brand milk after the products were accused of causing allergies in children, the Dutch dairy firm said last week. 

Truong Van Toan, head of the firm’s Legal Department, said the remaining 10 percent was hard to recall as consumers might have already used the products.

Friesland Campina had estimated the volume to be recalled at a total 3 million products. The company is still receiving the products from customers, Toan said.

Friesland Campina, formerly known as Dutch Lady Vietnam, introduced Dutch Lady Vivinal GOS to Vietnam in September. Last month, the Ho Chi Minh City-based Children Hospital No. 2 admitted 10 children with rashes and respiratory difficulties developed after consuming the milk.

The company said tests of 1,200 Vivina GOS samples conducted at a World Health Organization-authorized laboratory had found no relation between the milk and the allergies.

Viet Nam-Myanmar trade fair opens in Yangon

A Viet Nam-Myanmar international trade fair opened at the Myanmar Convention Centre in Yangon on November 19.

At the four-day event, 52 Vietnamese businesses are displaying products such as pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, foodstuffs, garments, footwear, electronics, stationery, household utensils, construction materials, fertilisers, rubber and furniture.

Meanwhile, 10 companies from the host country are exhibiting fisheries products, consumer goods, traditional handicrafts and pictures made from gems.

Viet Nam is Myanmar’s 16th largest export market. It mainly buys agro-forestry products, seafood and electronic components, while Myanmar imports steel products, electronic equipment, pharmaceuticals, industrial products, chemicals, computers, plastics, cosmetics and machine oil.

Construction of nation’s first LPG warehouse begins

Construction of the country’s first cold LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) warehouse started on Thursday at the Thi Vai gas complex in the Cai Mep Industrial Zone in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau.

The warehouse, which has a cold LPG capacity of 60,000 tonnes, will be built at a cost of VND2.5 trillion (US$138.8 million).

According to the Viet Nam Gas Corporation, the project, which is expected to be completed in late 2012, will help stabilise the supply of gas for domestic demand.

Construction work is being carried out by the Viet Nam Oil and Gas Construction Corporation and the Daewoo Engineering Co Ltd.

BASF introduces solutions for construction industry

BASF Viet Nam Ltd has introduced its latest building materials at a promotion event in the southern province of Bac Lieu.

Products include waterproofing materials and industrial flooring.

BASF opened a representative office in Viet Nam in 1994.

Automakers urged to develop plan

State agencies and Viet Nam’s automakers should collaborate on a long-term plan to develop the auto industry, the chairman of Viet Nam Automobile Manufacturers Association, Akito Tachibana, told a seminar on Thursday

The seminar, titled "Developing a sustainable and viable Viet Nam automobile industry and experiences in some Southeast Asia countries", was part of the five-day Viet Nam Motor Show 2009 that opened on the same day.

In the opening speech of the seminar, the VAMA chairman and General Director of Toyota Vietnam, said the automobile industry played an important role in national economic development by meeting transport demands and fostering trade.

Tachibana said, however, Viet Nam’s automobile industry had problems with unstable policies, high production costs and a lack of strategic products and supporting industries

President of the Thai Automotive Industry Association, Suparat Sirisuwanangkura said it was necessary to have more collaboration between the Government and private sectors.

He said that the auto industry in Thailand was developing eco-friendly vehicles and setting up a suitable energy plan that matches energy demand and supply.

The Government had been very supportive of the local auto making industry, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Le Duong Quang said but added there had been strong competition from imported cars, especially from developed countries such as Japan and America.

He suggested there should be more development of supporting industries and strategic products, and pledged to work closer with relevant agencies to develop more supportive policies for the industry.

Deputy head of Tax Policy Department under the Ministry of Finance Pham Dinh Thi pointed to general guidelines of tax policy for the industry, saying tax policies must fit both international commitments and domestic automakers.

An auto assembly line of the Xuan Kien Automobile Co.

Sacombank Securities cancels planned IPO

Sacombank Securities Co has suspended its plan to make a public offering of VND176 billion (US$9.6 million) worth of shares which had been scheduled to begin on November 28.

Instead, the brokerage announced on Tuesday, it will sell shares directly to strategic partners in a privately negotiated deal. "Stopping this auction is not something we wanted to do," said Sacombank Securities deputy director Dinh Hoai Chau. "This change was caused by some legal and formal hindrance, not by any negative assessment of the stock market or a desire to sell to strategic partners at a higher price."

The firm would refund the deposits of investors who had registered for the IPO on November 17-24, said Chau, adding that registered investors who remained interested in buying shares could offer the same price as the strategic partners.

Hoang Duc Long, director of the State Securities Commission’s legal department, said Sacombank Securities’ IPO had only advanced as far as an information release and prospectus. Potential investors have lost only an expectation to bid on shares, without any real damages.

The company had not committed any kind of punishable offense, Long said. Dinh Nguyen Hoai Phuong, head of Sacombank Securities Co’s international business and public relations department, told Viet Nam News that the firm would reschedule its IPO sometime in the future and continued to plan to list its shares on the stock exchange.

Sacombank Securities Co is currently one of the largest brokerage firms in Viet Nam. It recently signed a strategic co-operation contract with Microsoft Viet Nam to apply Microsoft licensed technology to its operations.

Wall Street adds to local doldrums

0.75 per cent yesterday to close out the week at 555.84 points.

Sai Gon Securities Inc (SSI) continued as most-active share on the HCM City Stock Exchange, with a volume of 2.73 million, accounting for 5.3 per cent for the total market volume of 50.42 million shares. The value of the day’s trades totalled VND2.63 trillion (US$131.1 million).

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index lost nearly half-a-per cent to end the day’s trading at 184.79. The value of the day’s trades reached VND986.4 billion ($54.8 million) on a volume of over 24.4 million shares. Construction giant Vinaconex (VCG) accounted for about 10 per cent of the total volume, with nearly 2.5 million shares traded.

The stock market has rebounded about 6.8 per cent overall from its most recent decline, raising the possibility of increased profit-taking pressures in the next few sessions, said Bao Viet Securities Co analyst Nguyen Duc Thi, who also noted the continuing influence of Wall Street on recent market performance.

"Unfortunately, the US Dow Jones last night was unfavourable enough to cause buyers to hesitate, especially in the final session of the week," said Tran Huy Hoang, an analyst with a HCM City-based asset management company.

But Hoang saw reason for optimism in the latest Government announcement that its second stimulus package would take effect next month.

"This announcement helped cool down investor worries about the tightened money supply and the central bank’s recent ban on lending for property and financial asset investments," Hoang said.

Foreign investors extended their latest buying streak by another session, picking up a combined net of 780,000 shares on both stock exchanges.

PM okays VNPT’s investment in undersea cable

The Prime Minister has given the nod to the Vietnam Post and Telecommunications Group (VNPT) to invest in the Asia-Pacific Gateway (APG) undersea cable system construction project.

The 8,000-kilometre cable line will link regional economies, namely China, Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Thailand and Singapore.

The project, jointly invested by Chinese carriers China Telecom and China Unicom, Taiwan’s Chunghwa Telecom, the Republic of Korea (RoK)’s KT Corp., Japan’s NTT Communications, Philippine Long Distance Telephone (PDLT), Telekom Malaysia and Vietnam’s VNPT, is expected to be in service in the third quarter of 2011.

APG will be used to provide extra capacity for growing demand in the region and as a preventive solution to replace existing regional cables.

Mekong Delta grapefruit prices plunge

The cost of Nam Roi grapefruit has taken a dive in recent days, leading many farmers in the Mekong Delta provinces of Vinh Long, Soc Trang, and Ben Tre to abandon their crops.
 
Bumper crops and low demand have led to a sharp drop in the price of Nam Roi grapefruit this year (Photo: Dat Mui Newspaper)
Nguyen Thanh Duoc, secretary of the My Hoa Commune Party committee in Binh Minh District, Vinh Long Province, said November 21 that a kilogram of the grapefruit recently dropped to VND2,000-3,000, just 50 percent of last year’s prices during the same period.

While prices have now moved slightly higher to VND3,200-3,500 a kilogram, farmers are still reporting losses.

This year, domestic demand for grapefruit was low while farmers saw bumper crops of the fruit. Exporting the product also met with difficulties, leading to an excess of grapefruit and the subsequent fall in prices, said Secretary Duoc.

Vinh Long Province People’s Committee has ordered the provincial Agriculture and Rural Development Department to help farmers enhance grapefruit quality, build brand names, and increase advertising to find export markets. 

PV