BUSINESS IN BRIEF 7/12

Coffee exporter receives $48.5 million loan

The Bank for Investments and Development of Vietnam (BIDV) will loan 800 billion VND (48.5 million USD) to the Tay Nguyen Coffee Import-Export Co to support its export activities.

The coffee exporter said BIDV’s loan was expected to facilitate its activities amid coffee price fluctuations and upheavals in the world financial market.

The company is one of the world’s leading Robusta coffee exporters, with average export volume reaching 160,000 tonnes a year. The company plans to ship 200,000 tonnes of coffee abroad from the 2008-2009 crop.

Property giant readies IPO for City exchange

Property trader Hoang Anh Gia Lai will list about 179.8 million shares on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange on Dec. 22.

Although the company has not revealed the initial offer price, it is expected to be around 40,000 VND.

According to the company, members of its management board have pledged to reserve stakes they hold in the company for at least three years to avoid share dilution on the bourse. The company for potential investors on Dec. 15.

Hoa Sen Group gets on City board list

The Binh Duong based steel Hoa Sen Group (HSG) became the 168th listed firm on the board of the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange on Dec. 5, a move expected to improve liquidity for its more than 57 million shares.

HSG owns several factories, including a cold rolling steel plant of 180,000 tonnes, a zinc-aluminum alloy plating steel plant of 150,000 tonnes annually, and a building materials factory capable of producing 165,000 tonnes of steel pipes and 44,000 tonnes of plastic pipes and other plastic items.

Operating 82 distribution branches nationwide, the company netted a profit of 215 billion VND (13 million USD) for the first half of the year, up from last year’s 170 billion VND.

High-end tower to open in HCM City

A Grade A office building is expected to become operational in Ho Chi Minh City during the second quarter next year.

It will be the first such building in HCM City since 1999.

The Centec Tower , located at 72-74 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai St. has been developed by the domestic Sao Phuong Nam Corp. It will have 23 storeys, three basements, and a net office space for lease of almost 27,800 sq.m.

Chris Currie of property services firm CBRE, which is the exclusive leasing agent, said the tower would have all the conveniences of a high-end office building, including energy-saving glass walls and the capacity to withstand an earthquake of six on the Richter scale.

Other Grade A office buildings in the city are Diamond Plaza, the Metropolitan, the Sunwah building, Saigon Tower and Saigon Center.

Alstom group seals 54.6 million USD rail signaling contract

The Alstom Transport SA-Hasitect-Alstom Vietnam Ltd consortium on Dec. 5 signed an EPC bidding package worth more than 42.7 million euros (54.6 million USD) to modernise the telecommunications and signaling system for the second phase of Vietnam Railway’s Hanoi-Vinh line.

The upgraded section, part of the Hanoi-Ho Chi Minh City line, 319 kilometres long and includes 36 train stations.

“Upgrading the line to satisfy domestic demands for transportation in the future is absolutely essential because transport density and railway transport through capacity here are so high,” said Vietnam National Railway general director Nguyen Huu Bang.

The project was approved by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and funded in 2005 with a 40.3 million-euro loan from the French Ministry of Finance’s Treasury and Economic Policy General Directorate (DGTPE).

The two-phase project has a total cost of 51.3 million euros, of which about 11.1 million euros is being paid by the Vietnamese Government.

The project will replace out-of-date telecommunication and signaling systems on the Hanoi-Vinh section of the transnational railway to improve the capacity, quality and safety of rail transportation.

Project director Tran Van Luc said that the contract would cover surveying, technical planning, cost estimates, training and other elements of the project.

The French Embassy first trade counselor, Guillaume Rousson, said, “DGTPE and the France Development Agency has sponsored 142.5 million euros for Vietnamese railways since 1990, proving it is a special concern of the French Government for the modernisation of Vietnam”.

Vinafood II to export more rice to Malaysia

Vietnam Southern Food Corp, Vinafood II, will export 100,000 tonnes of 5 percent broken rice to Malaysia at a price of 460 per tonne, according to a recently signed contract.

Under the contract, the biggest in the last two months, the rice will be delivered by the end of the year with the seller paying the freight (CF).

Eco-systems the key to sustainable catfish farming

Pangasius (basa, tra) farming, the fastest-growing field in global aquaculture, needs an integrated approach through an ecosystem to ensure sustainable development, said international experts at a seminar in Can Tho city on December 5.

More than 150 representatives from 18 nations have gathered in the Cuu Long ( Mekong ) Delta city in Can Tho for an international symposium to share experience in all aspects of basa farming.

The event, called “Pangasius aquaculture in Asia ; Present status and challenges for sustainable development” discussed reproduction, nutrition, technology, diseases, environmental and social impacts as well as marketing.

“Pangasius aquaculture in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta is no doubt to be the fastest of its kind in the world, achieving a production level of 1.2 million tonnes in less than a decade,” said Professor Sena De Silva, Director General of the Thailand-based Network of Agriculture centre in Asia and the Pacific.

“Recently, food safety and environmental integrity have been highlighted by customers. In this context, an inter-governmental organisation to help achieve sustainability is necessary.”

Professor De Silva stressed the role that the Vietnamese government should play in post-production market and value-chain issues to cope with emerging problems in aquaculture. He also mentioned that all adaptive measures need to involve farmers.

Purbasari Surjadi, chief operating officer of Sustainable Fisheries Partnership, suggested that certifications be provided to farmers who follow standards for environmental protection. She added that there should also be sector-wide performance monitoring which involves, among other things, better zoning practices.

“This directly helps maintain good conditions for Pangasius farming and reduces the adverse impacts on river and coastal environments,” she said.

Only 28 percent of SOEs equitised

Vietnam has restructured 121 State-owned enterprises (SOEs) since early this year, including 73 being equitised, according to the Ministry of Finance (MoF).

The ministry says that the SOE equitisation process is slow going, meeting only 28 percent of the target set by the Government for this year. It says economic difficulties and the downturn of the stock market have affected the equitisation process.

The MoF proposes that the Government and relevant ministries introduce policies to help iron out snags for businesses. Accordingly, they should stabilise market prices, incur losses, lower interest rates, extend tax debts and adjust import tariffs on several products.

The ministry says it will complete a business financial management mechanism, which promotes self-financed management and clarifies the responsibility of the governing body in ensuring charter capital for businesses.

Vietnam Airlines resumes service to Bangkok

Vietnam Airlines on December 6 resumed its service to international Suvarnabhumi airport in Bangkok as the airport had taken up again its full operation after a long shutdown due to anti-government protesters’ blockage.

Twenty stranded Vietnamese passengers were brought home on the first flight that landed Vietnam at around 2 p.m.

Two other flights, one from Hanoi and the other from Ho Chi Minh City , are scheduled to land at Suvarnabhumi airport later on the day.

Nguyen Khoi Nguyen, Chief Representative of Vietnam Airlines in Bangkok, said two regular Vietnam Airlines flights from Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to Bangkok will take off as usual thereafter.

Thailand’s Suvarnabhumi airport, one of Asia 's largest, resumed full operations on December 5 after the more than ten-day-long shutdown because of a political crisis.

Vietnam, Laos enhance cross-border trade

Vietnamese and Lao trade officials have discussed measures to promote trade in the two countries’ border areas, with the aim of raising their trade turnover to US$1 billion by 2010.

At the sixth meeting on trade management in the border areas between Vietnam and Laos on December 4-5 in the Savannakhet province of Laos, the two sides agreed to increase levels of cooperation between border area authorities, pairs of bordergates and markets along the border.

They also agreed that cross-border economic and commercial exchanges not only boosts trade activities in the border provinces, but also maximises the potential and strength of each locality and forms active economic zones in the Vietnam-Lao border areas.

The meeting proposed that each country’s authorities remove obstacles to policies, simplify commercial procedures, improve infrastructure at border areas, and facilitate cross-border activities and the trade of goods.

The Vietnamese delegation was led by Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry Nguyen Cam Tu and the Lao delegation was headed by Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry Khemmant Phonsena.

(Source: VNA, SGGP, VOV, VNS)