Canadian agency funds quality farm produce production

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Hanoi People’s Committee will jointly carry out a good manufacturing practices model for the city’s key farm produce--vegetables, pork and chicken.

An agreement to this effect signed on Nov. 23 is part of a Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA)-funded project on farm produce quality control to be carried out in 15 cities and provinces and in Vietnam over five years.

Under the agreement, the ministry and relevant ministries and branches will instruct units to implement a pilot manufacturing practices model while the committee will instruct relevant departments and branches to carry out the plan and monitor the implementation of the project.

At present, the capital city’s farmers are annually providing almost 570,000 tonnes of vegetables, more than 300,000 tonnes of pork, over 40 tonnes of seafood and more than 11,000 tonnes of milk to Hanoi and its neighbouring cities and provinces.

Tighter credit squeezes shares

A wave of profit-taking swamped gains by major shares early in the Nov. 23 session on the HCM Stock Exchange and sent the VN-Index into a sharp decline.

The Index ended the day down 3.34 percent to 537.29 points, while trading remained active. Market value reached 2.37 trillion VND (131.6 million USD) on a volume of 47.85 million shares.

On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index also shed over 3 percent of its value to close at 179.13. The value of the day’s trades totalled 958.8 billion VND (53.3 million USD) on a volume of 22.8 million shares.

With interest rates tending to increase, and brokerages less willing to lend money for securities trading, a major source of capital for securities trading had been choked off, suggested analysts from Dai Viet Securities Co.

Eurocapital Securities predicted the market would brighten before the weekend and was suggesting professional investors participate in the market now.

A survey by online newspaper vnexpress.net showed that 48 percent of respondents planned to inject half of their capital into securities this week while 20 percent had no plan to join in. Over 27 percent would buy in if trading kept rallied early this week.

Italian food producers seek partners in Vietnam

As many as 18 Italian food and beverage producers are on a visit to Ho Chi Minh City to explore the possibility of entering Vietnam’s consumer market where they see a high potential for growth.

The visit is part of the Sapori D’Italia (A Taste of Italy) programme in Vietnam, organised by the Italian Trade Commission and the Federation of Italian Chambers of Commerce, to bolster trade ties between the two countries in the area of food and beverages.

So far, 140 appointments have been made to help Italian businesses--whose product lines encompass appetizers, wine, vinegar, olive oil, pasta, vegetables and frozen foods--to establish contact with local importers and distributors in the field.

“With a population of more than 86 million, a stable and high economic growth rate and an increase in the number of middle-class people, Vietnam is a burgeoning market for Italy’s world renowned consumer goods industry”, said Marco Saladini, Italian Trade Commissioner in Vietnam. “The range of available Italian goods is quickly expanding and this implies that prices are also adjusting downwards, making them more affordable for the average consumer.”

Exports of Italian food and beverages to Vietnam stood at 8.8 million EUR in 2008, including 850,00 EUR from wine and 570,000 EUR from pasta.

Thai Binh factories face closure as gas supplies dwindle

Hundreds of factories in the northern province of Thai Binh’s Tien Hai District are facing a desperate situation after investing in an area thought to be rich with natural gas reserves.

Shoddy research and a mushrooming of factories in the area, has seen gas supplies decline much faster than expected.

Business owners are now growing anxious as competition heats up for the area’s limited gas supplies.

Several years ago, the government gave the green light to businesses to begin mining work after huge amounts of gas reserves were discovered beneath Tien Hai District.

Some 200 porcelain, enameled tile, glass and ceramics enterprises have operated in Tien Hai Industrial Park for more than nine years now, exploiting the area’s natural gas reserves for use in their operations. The largest such factory in the province operates on 250 hectares of land.

The province’s Department of Science and Technology said the reservoir of gas was estimated to provide output of around 20 million cubic meters a year when the industrial park was set up, but it dramatically decreased the next year to 16 million cubic meters, then 12 million and currently, just 7 million cubic meters yearly.

Deputy Director of the Thai Binh Department of Industry and Trade, Nguyen Tuan, said enterprises in Tien Hai demand 80-100 million cubic meters of gas a year, adding that reserves would continue to drop substantially over the coming years until they are fully depleted.

Entrepreneurs have spent vast sums on giant pumps and technology to exploit the gas, with little to show for it, said Bui Van Nghi, director of porcelain company Minh Thinh.

Due to the shortage, some factories are not working at full capacity and are producing less products of lower quality.

Company leaders at the Trang Tien Glass Company said if a replacement for the natural gas is not found quickly, the factories would be forced to shut down. The closure of the enterprises would leave around 30,000 workers unemployed.

The provincial People’s Committee and the Vietnam National Oil & Gas Group (Petrovietnam) have drilled eight more mines in four districts of Thai Binh, but have not discovered any more gas.

Song Hong Petroleum, a division of Petrovietnam, also proposed a project to bring in liquefied petroleum gas mixed with the underground natural gas to ensure the continued operation of the factories. However, an agreement has yet to be reached with factory owners claiming Song Hong Petroleum prices are too high.

Bui Cong Nghia, head of the Technique Division of the Department of Industry and Trade, said porcelain, glass and enameled tile enterprises require clean gas for their operations. As such, many have now turned to mining coal gas to continue operating.

However, many factories can’t afford to use such technology and are currently purchasing retail gas instead. The Hao Canh porcelain company is one such business and says that as a result of having to buy more gas, the price of their finished products has increased by 5 percent.

WB pledges more help to Vietnam

World Bank Country Director, Victoria Kwakwa, assured Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai of continued assistance in construction and legislative work during their meeting in Hanoi on Nov. 23.

She highlighted the WB’s efforts in co-sponsoring a workshop on November 24 to get feedback from investors, both at home and abroad, as well as international experts and Governmental agencies on the creation of a supportive framework for public-private projects on infrastructure as well as for finance and project management.

For his part, Deputy Prime Minister Hai sought stronger assistance from the WB in personnel training, information campaigns and law making.

“Projects in infrastructure construction normally draw multi-party involvement, which requires intensive personnel training and streamlined procedures in conducting projects so as to attract increased investment into this field from the private sector,” said Hai.

Hanoi’s November CPI rises 0.52 percent

Hanoi’s consumer price index (CPI) in November rose by 0.52 percent over October, according to the municipal statistics office.

The index was up 3.9 percent compared to the same period last year.

Commodity prices were quite stable in November, the municipal statistics office’s experts added.

Prices increased slightly between 0.18 percent and 1.06 percent for foodstuffs and services, beverages and tobacco, garments and footwear, housing, electricity, water, fuel, building materials, equipment and household utensils, medicines and healthcare services, transportation, post and telecommunication, as well as cultural, recreational and tourism products.

Meanwhile, the price of educational services remained stable compared with the previous month.

In November, the gold price surged by 9.34 percent and the price of the US dollar rose by 1.5 percent over the previous month, according to the statistics office.

VietNamNet/VNA, SGGP

Please send us your comments and feedback: