Thread: Latest news on the Dong!

I know this has been asked before... and I should look it up, but what kind of RV speculation are all the experts talking about? Is it big?

Does anyone have information about the dealer site vietnamcurrencytraders.com? I am looking for feed back before I order.

Thanks

Originally Posted by neno

This is the way I want to go. COD and sent with Certificate. Cool thanks for the Info. 1 million dongs for $120.00 plus $24 COD FedEx. With-in seven days, they ship after getting the Order.

Hi Neno

Sorry for being so stupid but where it is wriitten that they send a Certificate.

Thanks soooo much

Vietnam currency rates firm on stronger new year loan demand


Vietnam's interbank lending rates have edged up in the past week in spite of ample funds as banks expect corporate demand to strengthen for long-term funds, bankers said on Monday.

State-run banks, Vietnam's key lenders, bid for overnight dong loans at 6.8-7.0 percent this week, up from a range of 6.6-7.0 percent last Monday. The six-month rate was stable at 8.6-8.7 percent .

"The fund situation is pretty good right now thanks to strong dong deposits so far this year but since everyone expects demand to surge during the period between the New Year and Tet, the Lunar New Year, so rates are firming," a banker in Hanoi said.

Vietnamese celebrate the traditional Lunar New Year in mid-February 2007.

Demand for Vietnamese dong has been picking up and should continue to rise into early next year, partly because of higher demand for the dong during the holidays but also strong demand from the corporate sector for capital investment.

Businesses in Vietnam have said that they need more funds to invest in infrastructure to boost competitiveness.

Vietnam's GDP is forecast to grow up to 8.5 percent next year and the Southeast Asian country has won approval to join the World Trade Organization by the end of the year.

WTO membership is expected to bring more foreign investors and competition.

Source: Reuters

Stock market bullish, series of records set
16:44' 27/11/2006 (GMT+7)

VietNamNet Bridge – Between November 20 and 24, the stock market saw share prices, trading volume and the VN Index all increase sharply.

Soạn: HA 968423 gửi đến 996 để nhận ảnh này

The VN Index easily exceeded the 650 point threshold on November 24, reaching 665.53 points, an increase of 28.58 points over the previous transaction.

The prices of nearly all share items (53/56) increased considerably last week. Investors are investing heavily in the stock market as they believe in the bright future of the national economy.

Experts said that three important events in November – the successful organisation of the APEC 2006 Summit, the visit by the US President to the HCM City Securities Trading Centre, and the admission of Vietnam into the WTO – led to the boom in the stock market.

Ha Khanh Thuy, Director of Vietincombank’s securities company, said that the high VN Index was sustainable. The share price increases are mainly in powerful companies which are highly competitive, including Sacom (SAM), Vinamilk (VNM), Gemardept (GMD), and Sacombank (STB).

Mr Thuy said that securities prices would remain stable, or only see slight decreases in the immediate future.

Meanwhile, Nguyen Hong Nam, Director of the Saigon Securities Incorporated (SSI), said that the stock market had become healthier, and was not controlled by any group of speculators.

“Investors have become more professional, and they don’t make decisions on their feelings any more,” said Mr Nam.

15 share items on November 24 set records in terms of price. These include AGF (VND107,000/share), ALT (VND35,200), BMP (VND120,000), GMD (VND155,000) and NKD (VND105,000).

In the OTC (over-the-counter) market, bank shares prove to be the most wanted. Contrary to all predictions about the price decrease of Eximbank shares (the bank plans to issue additional shares), investors are still hunting for Eximbank shares. Eximbank share prices have been increasing continuously from VND6.2mil to VND7.9mil/share


Nhat Linh

Russian banker says joining WTO benefits Vietnam investment climate
23:33' 23/11/2006 (GMT+7)

VietNamNet Bridge – Peter Aven, president of Alfa-Bank, one of Russia's largest private banks, visited Vietnam to explore business opportunities. Viet Nam News spoke to him about Alfa-Bank's investment plans.

Do you have any plans to invest in Vietnam in the coming years?

Yes, we do. No telecoms market is buzzing more than those in the emerging markets, and Vietnam outshines most of them.

Alfa-Bank plans to invest about US$700mil in Vietnam's telecoms sector, particularly in its mobile phone operators.

We are exploring opportunities to invest in the country's three leading mobile phone operators MobiFone, VinaPhone and Viettel. Our bank has invested US$3bil in Turkey and we envision doing the same in Vietnam.

The reason Alfa-Bank is focusing so heavily on the telecoms sector is that the sector's potential for development has largely been untapped.

The telecommunications market in Vietnam will continue to grow strongly in the years to come, and as a financial investor, we would like to benefit from this growth.

Our investment in Vietnam's telecoms sector could take a number of different forms. We could invest capital in a mobile phone operator to help it develop services, content, marketing, customer services and expand its market share.

Alfa-Bank's strategy is not to have day-to-day management control of its investments but rather to make sure it has a say in all of the "big strategic decisions".

Or, we could partner with Vietnamese telecoms companies so that we can offer them technical assistance, share experiences and managerial know-how and help to develop human capital.

These are all vital factors for Vietnam and the telecoms sector in particular to further develop in the future and compete globally. I think such co-operation will create a win-win situation for all involved - Alfa-Bank, our Vietnamese partner, its employees and customers, as well as the Government.

You are a financial Institution, so why are you opting against investing in Vietnam's banking and financial sector to focus instead on telecoms?

Our bank has a stable relationship with Vietnamese banks and we have undertaken various business together. However, Alfa-Bank has not invested in the banking or financial sectors here.

We are focusing on investment in the mobile phone sector in Vietnam because we see a clear growth potential. So far, Alfa-Bank has no plans to invest in Vietnamese banking because we have yet to develop a clear understanding of the sector and the potential of its players.

How do you evaluate Vietnam's Investment environment, especially now that the country has joined the WTO?

I have just been in Hanoi for three days so I cannot give a detailed evaluation, but I can say this: joining the WTO will greatly benefit Vietnam's investment environment.

It will enhance access and transparency, while creating a level playing field which will open new opportunities for foreign investors in Vietnam.

I don't see any risks when investing in Vietnam because the business and political environment is stable. Russian businesses will focus on three major areas of investment: telecoms, oil and finance.

But our long-term plan to invest in Vietnam has not been influenced by Vietnam's recent entry into the WTO. We have always believed in the country's potential and I personally think that Russian companies are ready to invest in Vietnam again. We were always interested in Vietnam.

This is a high-priority market that is close to a Russian's heart, with the long-standing friendship between the two countries.

Russian and Vietnamese people understand each other very well thanks to their long-term relations. I think Alfa-Bank will be an exceptional partner for Vietnamese businesses.

Could you tell us briefly about Alfa-Bank?

Alfa-Bank is a privately-owned bank that was founded in 1990 in Russia.

The bank is present in every key sector of the financial services industry, including corporate banking, retail banking, investment banking, trade finance, insurance and asset management.

Alfa-Bank's branch network has grown to 200, including subsidiary banks in Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and the Netherlands.

By the end of June 2006, total assets of Alfa-Bank and its subsidiaries stood at US$12.3bil. As of June this year, the total number of corporate customers served by the bank was more than 40,000, while the number of retail customers increased to over 1.5mil.

Alfa-Bank is one of the few Russian domestic banks that operate under international auditing standards (PricewaterhouseCoopers - since 1993).

(Source: Viet Nam News)

Spain to promote investment into Vietnam
12:55' 23/11/2006 (GMT+7)
Soạn: HA 965071 gửi đến 996 để nhận ảnh này
Photo: SGGP

VietNamNet Bridge - Speaking at the seminar “Opportunity to Export and Trade with Spain”, Mr. Issac Mactin-Barbero, trade adviser of the Economic and Commercial Office - the Spanish Embassy in Hanoi said Vietnam is an attractive market to Spanish investors.

Spanish investors are interested in the subway project of Ho Chi Minh City.

Currently, a Spanish Petrol Corporation has invested US $2 billion in the Dung Quat Refinery Oil Company, making up 20 per cent of the total.

Key industries which interest Spanish investors in Vietnam are space industry, infrastructure construction, subway, energy recycling and water treatment.

Two-way annual export turnover rises gradually. It is expected to reach US $900 million in 2006, a year-on-year increase of 20 per cent.

Vietnam’s key exports into Spain are garment-textile, shoes, frozen fishes and agricultural products.

The seminar was held Wednesday by the Spanish Embassy and HCMC Investment and Trade Promotion Center.

(Source: SGGP)

Vietcombank, Sberbank strike agreement
12:41' 23/11/2006 (GMT+7)

VietNamNet Bridge - The Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank) and the Savings Bank of the Russian Federation (Sberbank) signed an agreement of co-operation in Hanoi on November 20.

Under the agreement, Vietcombank and Sterbank will initially conduct transfer cash and bank card technology as they are seen as points of strength for both institutions.

Sberbank enjoys a 50% market share in retail banking in Russia, while Vietcombank in Vietnam also leads in applying high-tech services for individuals with bank card technology.

The two banks have also decided to carry out invested projects with each other to boost their development. Sberbank is Russia and Europe's largest bank. It owns total assets of up to US $89.7 billion and has an equity of US $8.2 billion as of December 12, 2005.

President Nguyen Minh Triet and President Vladimir Putin attended the signing ceremony.

In other news, the Vietnam-Russia Bank (VRB), a joint venture between the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam and the Bank for Foreign Trade of Russia, was launched on November 19. This is an early foray into the world of banking co-operation between Vietnam and Russia, and coincides with President Putin's official visit to Vietnam.

(Source: VNA)

Some have been asking me about the feasibility of the dong....I found this article which tells better of the Vietnam's plans for the dong. Not encouraging to say the least.

Currency Strategists: Morgan Stanley Says Vietnam Dong to Fall

By Jake Lee

Nov. 22 (Bloomberg) -- The dong may fall for an 11th year in 2007 as Vietnam seeks a weaker currency to spur exports, raising complaints from trading partners, Morgan Stanley said.

Vietnam's currency will decline 1 to 2 percent next year as inflation reduces the value of the currency, said Asia foreign- exchange strategist Stewart Newnham. The central bank may allow the depreciation to keep exports competitive, defying a September call by the Group of Seven industrialized nations for emerging economies with current-account surpluses to have more flexible currencies.

``It's going to drop next year,'' Newnham said in an interview. ``There's high inflation expectations and of course they probably want to still look after exports.''

The dong's decline, which makes Vietnamese goods cheaper to overseas buyers, has caused concern among exporters in other Asian countries. Thai companies are losing orders to competitors in Vietnam, the president of Thai Frozen Foods Association said last week as the baht gained 12.1 percent this year.

The dong closed at 16,098 per dollar yesterday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The currency has fallen every year in the past 10 and lost 1.1 percent since the start of January. Hong Kong-based Newnham, who joined from Morley Fund Management this month, said it will climb sometime after 2007, without giving a specific forecast.

``There's going to come an inflexion point,'' he said. ``Vietnam authorities will be forced to let the currency go higher at some point.''

`Keep It Weak'

The State Bank of Vietnam restricts conversion of the dong and only allows the currency to trade 0.25 percent either side of its daily official exchange rate, according to HSBC Holdings Plc research.

``The State Bank has moderately pushed the dong's value so as to keep it weak enough to encourage exports,'' said Truong Van Phuoc, director of the foreign exchange department at the State Bank of Vietnam in Hanoi. ``But it also has to be within a range that ensures inflation will not get out of control.''

China, which last year switched to managing the yuan against a basket of currencies of its biggest trading partners from a dollar peg, is accused by some U.S. lawmakers of keeping the yuan artificially weak to boost exports. The yuan rose 2.5 percent this year.

Vietnam may face similar pressure as its current account expands, said Newnham, who has previously worked at State Street Corp. and Commerzbank AG.

Demand for Imports

The current account, a broad gauge of trade that includes income from commerce, investment and services, went into surplus in 2005 after three years of deficits as exports surged. Vietnam's trade deficit was $4 billion in the first 10 months of the year, the government said Nov. 2, down 2 percent from the same time a year earlier. Exports jumped 24 percent to $32.9 billion, while imports rose 21 percent to $36.9 billion.

``Although the supply of foreign exchange is increasing, since we import more than we export, the demand for foreign exchange for imports is still strong,'' Truong said.

The nation's 6.7 percent annual inflation in October, while the slowest in 2 1/2 years, was still more than double the 2.7 percent in the U.S.

Vietnam last week hosted the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum summit in Hanoi, which called for ``exchange- rate flexibility.'' The nation's Communist Party-led government has been slowly shifting to a market-based economy since establishing closer ties with the U.S. by opening diplomatic relations in 1995 and signing a trade accord in 2001.

Asian Tiger

Goods sent oversees to the U.S., the nation's biggest export destination according to HSBC, rose by a third in the eight months ended August, according to a report from the U.S. International Trade Commission on Oct. 13. The European Union is Vietnam's second-biggest export market.

Foreign-direct investment may also increase as Vietnam prepares to join the World Trade Organization after its membership was approved this month, said Newnham. Vietnam's economy will probably grow 7.8 percent this year and 7.6 percent in 2007, the International Monetary Fund said Nov. 8, making the nation of 83 million an ``attractive destination'' for foreign investment.

``Vietnam is going to become an Asian tiger, though at the moment it's just an Asian cub,'' said Newnham, who holds a ******* in financial engineering and a separate ******* in economics, both from London-based Birkbeck College. ``Growth in Vietnam looks pretty promising.''

I have just become affiliated with a friend who owns "Dinar Trade" and he now has a site within Dinar Trade called "Nam Dong" you can now purchase The Dong on Credit Cards Through His site by calling 1-866-581-DONG (3664).