Thread: Latest news on the Dong!

Originally Posted by lglwzrd

all this double dipping nonesense is just made up observations started on this and the other forum. im wondering who started the rumor of a vnd rv?? dealers started the dinar rv movement....think back as to how the 1st ones of you started to speculate...a lot can be traced back to free dinar.

But let them RV one before the other. I will perticipate in that nonesense DD. Come on lglwzrd, you are growing impatient of late my FRIEND.

100,000 Japanese investors clamouring after Vietnamese securities17:20' 15/05/2007 (GMT+7) VietNamNet Bridge - Shigekazu Utsunomiya, Director of Investment Consultancy Million Millionaires Project Company (TMMP), said that the number of Japanese investors to come and make investment in Vietnamese securities might reach 100,000.

Vietnam’s bourse lures foreign investors
VietNamNet Bridge briefs a talk between Mr Shigekazu Utsunomiya and a VNExpress reporter.
What do you think about Vietnam’s stock market?

Mr Shigekazu Utsunomiya Since the 1990s, Japan’s economic growth has slowed down, which makes the investment within Japan less attractive. As a result, Japanese investors tend to shift their investment into developing countries. Japanese investors have been paying special attention to Vietnam’s stock market in the last year.

Vietnam has been witnessing very high growth rates in the last few years, and the population is very young, both of which are attractive to Japanese investors.

How can Japanese investors access and get updated information about Vietnam’s stock market?

Now in Japan, there is more information about Vietnam’s stock market than information about the Chinese or American stock markets. Besides our website ベトナãƒ*æ*ªæƒ…å*±ã‚µã‚¤ãƒˆã€Žãƒžãƒ�ーベトムŠãƒ*ã€� there are several tens of other operational websites providing information (in Japanese) about Vietnam’s stock market for investors. Three books providing detailed information about Vietnam’s stock market have come out recently, which give detailed explanations about the laws and regulations related to securities investment in Vietnam.

Besides TMMP, many other companies and investment funds provide investors with training courses on doing business in Vietnam. Mass media always has reportages and news about Vietnam’s stock market. Therefore, many Japanese investors, who come to Vietnam for the first time, can have a thorough grasp of Vietnam’s securities, market performance and they know well which business fields can bring high profit.

What would you say about the investment tendencies of Japanese people?

There are two important factors, address of investment and time of investment. Now the world’s oil price is escalating; therefore, it would be profitable to inject money in oil and gas companies. Japanese investors do not care much about the price fluctuations every day; they aim at long-term investment.

As for most Japanese investors, it would be wise to make investment in Vietnamese companies when the national economy performs well, though share prices go up and down at certain moments.

What predictions would you make about the investment of Japanese people in Vietnam’s stock market in several years?

The value of the listed capital, both at HCM City and Hanoi Securities Trading Centres, estimated at Yen2,500bil, proves to be quite small compared to that in Japan (yen550-600,000bil). However, Japanese investors still put high hopes on Vietnam’s stock market.

As far as I know, some 1,000 Japanese investors have opened accounts for making securities transactions in Vietnam. I think the number may rise to 100,000 in several years. There are 13mil Japanese people who make investment in securities, including 100,000 injecting money in China.

Of course, in order to lure 100,000 Japanese investors to Vietnam in the next several years, I think, Vietnam needs to provide online transactions. If Vietnam can do this, I think, this would attract Japanese investors very much.

Some Japanese investors have made fat profit investing in Vietnamese securities. In November 2006, I advised a big investor to come to Vietnam. He later injected $800,000 in Vietnamese securities and got $1.5mil back within only several months.

(Source: VNE)

Foreign investors trigger stock market fall in April: HSBC17:30' 15/05/2007 (GMT+7) VietNamNet Bridge – The Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) on May 3 announced a report on Vietnam’s economy “Vietnam Monitor”, which said that foreign investors triggered the stock market fall in April.

The cover of 'Vietnam Monitor'According to HSBC, after the P/E index reached 32 in April, foreign investors decided to sell shares out to make profit, which worried domestic investors, who then sold shares in big quantities, leading to the sharp fall of stocks prices.

The trading value at the HCM City Securities Trading Centre (HSTC) decreased from $63mil in March to $47mil in April. Foreign investors bought $345mil worth of shares in January, and $158mil in February. In March, they sold shares out on 14 out of the 22 transaction days of the month, while they bought $83mil worth of shares in April only.

HSBC said that the prices of blue chips prove to be relatively expensive for foreign investors. Moreover, foreign investors do not want to buy shares at this moment as they are still waiting for big corporations to list on the bourse. Shares of big corporations like Vietcombank, Incombank, MobiFone and Vinaphone are expected to be equitised and available on the bourse in the time to come.

HSBC has also given the P/E indexes of listing companies in Vietnam. However, the indexes of several companies have been found as being false.

The Saigon Securities Incorporated’s P/E index (SSI), for example, was 251.8, while Nguyen Duy Hung, Chairman of SSI, said that SSI’s P/E was only 25.2, according to the Hanoi Securities Trading Centre (HASTC).

The information about false figures stirred up the market as HSBC is a prestigious institution.

HSBC on May 14 had to announce the changes in its report, admitting the errors in calculating the P/E indexes of SSI and four other companies: Bao Viet (BVS), Vinare (VNR), the Petroleum Services and Drilling Company (PVD) and But Son Cement Joint Stock Company (BTS).

In a report announced in early May, the P/E indexes of the four companies are 59.1, 76.4, 108.7 and 6.2, respectively. In the new report, the information about the four companies’ P/E remains absent as HSBC still needs to get updated information.

HSBC’s representative has attributed the errors to the lack of source materials. He said that the changes in the P/E indexes of several companies did not affect other conclusions released in the report.

Share items

Companies

P/E

STB

Sacombank

56.2

VNM

Vinamilk

36.6

FPT

FPT

53.8

PPC

Pha Lai Thermo Power Plant

n/a

ACB

ACB

34.6

PVD

PVDrilling

n/a (*)

SSI

SSI

25.2 (*)

REE

REE

27.6

ITA

Tân Tạo Industrial Zone Development Company

40.8

VSH

Vinh Son-Song Hinh Hydropower Plant

29.5

SAM

Cable and Telecommunications Materials

33.1

BMI

Bao Minh Insurance

72.2

GMD

Gemadept

37.4

SJS

Song Da Urban Development

45.2

KDC

Southern Kinh Do

32.3

BVS

Bao Viet Securities

n/a (*)

BTS

But Son Cement

n/a (*)

BCC

Bim Son Cement

42.7

VNR

Vinare

n/a

(Source: VNE)

Earnings from securities trading will be taxed17:25' 15/05/2007 (GMT+7) VietNamNet Bridge – The bill on personal income tax (PIT) will be open for public referendum in June. Under the bill, earnings from securities trading will be taxed, while interest from bank deposits will still not be the subject to PIT.

The attempt to tax the earnings from securities trading once faced strong opposition from the public. However, the situation has become quite different as the stock market is booming and many investors have made fat profit.

Deputy Minister of Finance Truong Chi Trung said that it proves to be the right time to tax securities trading. Some experts have even said that the proposed tax rates on securities earnings were relatively low.

Mr Trung said that there would be three kinds of securities earnings to be taxed. First, earnings from dividends, or yearly profit from securities will be taxed 5%. Second, investors will have to pay an assignment tax when transferring shares. Third, Vietnam will collect taxes from non-resident foreign investors.

When asked if Vietnam will tax bonus shares (shares issued by listing companies to existing shareholders as a bonus), Mr Trung said that bonus shares were a newly arising problem. The General Department of Taxation will compile documents about the issue.

Taxing interest from bank deposits has been the most ‘sensitive’ problem in the bill and has raised a lot of arguments. MoF has decided that in the first period of the law’s implementation, bank deposit interests will be exempted from PIT. MoF will consider the living standards and average income of people later to decide whether to tax earnings from bank deposits.

Mr Trung said that all the problems were being discussed and the bill’s compilation would be wrapped up after the bill was open for public opinions in June. The bill on PIT is scheduled to be submitted for the National Assembly for consideration by the end of this year.

Phuoc Ha

Vietnam’s real estate market hot and complicated: MIPIM17:24' 15/05/2007 (GMT+7) VietNamNet Bridge – The real estate market in Vietnam is hot and complicated, said Julien Sausset, Commercial Director of MIPIM Asia, the organiser of the world real estate exhibition MIPIM Asia 2007, during his trip to Vietnam to survey the market in early May.

Mr Julien said: “We have learnt from surveys and discussions with investors, individual and institutional real estate traders in HCM City and Hanoi that Vietnam’s real estate market proves to be hot and have a lot of potential, but is relatively complicated.”

It is a market with potential because the developing economy will lead to the high demand for property to serve production and accommodation. The market has been described as complicated because it is not as transparent as investors expect.

Mr Julien said that the procedures to licence projects in Vietnam proved to be very complicated. It also takes time to get site clearance. Moreover, investors are also concerned about the procedures to send money abroad.

Many investors still hesitate to make investment in Vietnam as they do not know how to tackle the said problems, while other investors try to do business in Vietnam through domestic partners, Mr Julien said.

He has found that the leasing fee rates for hotel rooms, high-grade apartments and offices in the central areas of Hanoi and HCM City prove to be relatively high compared to other regional countries. He said that the shortage of hotel rooms, apartments and offices would continue for some time more as the demand still far exceeds the supply.

Regarding the civil construction market, the market has warmed up after a long time of freezing thanks to the high economic growth rate, which has led to the higher demand for accommodation.

“I think there are many opportunities for domestic and foreign real estate investors,” Mr Julien said. The thing that domestic investors need to do is to choose the right foreign partners and suggest projects which can meet the market demand.

During the trip, Mr Julien had meetings with the HCM City Real Estate Traders Association, introducing the international real estate exhibition to be held in Hong Kong from November 28-30, 2007. Some 3,000 real estate traders in the world have registered to attend MIPIM 2007, up by 49% over last year.

Ng. Sa

There will be Vietnamese owned hypermarkets17:22' 15/05/2007 (GMT+7) VietNamNet Bridge – The Vietnam Distribution Associate Network (VDA) officially presented itself before the public on May 14 in Hanoi. A lot of supermarkets were opened in the last month, aiming to hold positions in the market before foreign retailers land.

Under its WTO commitments, Vietnam will open its distribution market in 2009. Meanwhile, giant distribution groups are already present in Vietnam, including Metro, Big C and Parkson.

In order to compete effectively with big foreign distributors, the four biggest Vietnamese retailers, Hapro, Satra, Saigon Co-op and Phu Thai Group, have decided to join forces to set up VDA, which is hoped will become the leading distribution and logistics group in Vietnam.

Having the investment capital of VND1,500bil ($93.75mil) in the first period of investment (March 2007-October 2008) and VND3-6,000bil ($187.5mil-375mil) in the second (November 2008-October 2011), VDA will focus on the development of modern trade centres, supermarkets and hypermarkets, which will hold a big share in the distribution market.

It is estimated that nearly 10 supermarkets and trade centres were opened in the last month.

Hapro (the Hanoi Trade Corporation) has launched the 500 sq m Hapro Mart in the northern province of Bac Kan. The corporation is also planning to open other supermarkets in Thai Nguyen and Hai Duong in May.

In early May, the eighth Citimart supermart in HCM City was put into operation in Binh Thanh district in HCM City. The supermart is located in a residential quarter, serving the demand of local residents.

Five days before, Citimart My Dinh, the 16th in Vietnam, was opened in Hanoi. It is estimated that there will be 25 Citimarts before this year is up as more supermarts of this chain will be launched in big cities like Hanoi in the north, Dong Thap, Can Tho, Kien Giang and Binh Duong in the south.

On April 30, 2007, Co-op mart Phan Thiet made its debut with turnover from the first day of operation reaching VND2bil. Co-op mart chain plans to open one supermart every month this year in HCM City and neighbouring areas.

Local distributors are seemingly racing against time trying to expand their distribution networks to get ready for the anticipated fierce competition with foreign retailers. A lot of distribution models have been implemented.

Dai Phuc Company, for example, has put the Saigon Outlet Mall into operation in Binh Duong province. It has the total investment capital of $30mil. Like a trade centre, Saigon Outlet Mall consists of many areas for food, cosmetics, and furniture products display, but unlike other trade centres, it is a place where producers introduce and sell their products directly to customers.

Meanwhile, Saigon Co-op is planning to launch three new models of distribution: market and supermart in one, supermart in residential quarter, and franchise shops to be run by private households.

It is expected that in September, the first supermart-market will be opened at the An Dong Food market in district 5 in HCM City. The ground floor will still be a place for fresh food, shrimp, meat and fish as other traditional markets. Meanwhile, the upper floors will be reserved for department stores, where goods sell under the mode of self-service.

The residential quarter’s supermart will be opened in district 3, aiming to serve local residents.

As for franchise shops, they will be 50-300 sq m each. Saigon Co-op will be responsible for providing goods and ensuring supplies for traders.

(Source: VietNamNet, SGTT)

Vietnam money: dong rates fall on fund surplus
Vietnam's interbank dong lending rates have fallen in the past week on signs that banks have built up a surplus of funds, traders said on Monday.

Vietcombank and three other state-run banks offered overnight dong loans at between 3.5 percent and 4 percent on Monday, down from 4.0-4.5 percent a week ago. Their six-month loan rates eased to 7.5-8.0 percent from 7.7-8.0 percent.
The four state-run banks are Vietnam's key lenders.
"The falling rates are due to demand and supply on the market as banks now have surplus funds for the short term," a dealer at a state-run bank in Hanoi said.
Deposits have risen after banks raised interest rates from late 2006 to attract idle funds and to compete with a fast-expanding stock market.
State-run Bank for Foreign Trade (Vietcombank) said its deposits at the end of March had risen 5.4 percent from the end of last year to VND118 trillion ($7.3 billion).
Vietnam wants to keep investment at 40 percent of gross domestic product in 2007 as part of a plan to try to quicken economic growth to 8.5 percent from 8.17 percent in 2006.
The main stock market in Ho Chi Minh City, which has risen about 40 percent this year, prompted many people to withdraw bank deposits to invest in shares.
The central bank has allowed the dong to ease just 0.08 percent so far this year against the dollar. It cut the official exchange rate on Monday to VND16,114 per dollar from VND16,101 at the end of last December.
Source: Reuters

Vietnam's Sacombank Jan-April profit nearly triples
Vietnam's sixth-largest lender, Saigon Thuong Tin Commercial Bank, said its gross profit in the first four months of this year nearly tripled from a year ago to VND413 billion ($25.6 million).

The Ho Chi Minh City-based bank said in a weekend statement seen on Monday that the four-month gross profit has risen 183 percent from a year earlier. It did not provide the net figure.
The bank, also known as Sacombank, raised VND29.5 trillion ($1.83 billion) in deposits over the past four months while loans reached VND18.7 trillion ($1.2 billion), the statement said.
Trading in Sacombank shares dominated Vietnam's main stock market on Monday with 1.25 million shares changing hands.
The stock gained 2.7 percent to close at VND152,000 ($9.4) each, which valued the bank at $1.97 billion.
The World Bank's International Finance Corp., Dragon Capital and ANZ Bank together own 26.3 percent of Sacombank.
Last July Sacombank became the first bank in Vietnam to list on the Ho Chi Minh City stock market.
The VN Index ended up 2.54 percent at 1,066.04 points, up 41.8 percent so far this year and which is a steady rise from April 24 when it dropped to 905.53 points in a market correction.
Investor interest in the Southeast Asian country's robust economic growth of around 8 percent a year had driven the index up 55.7 percent from the end of 2006 to a lifetime high of 1,170.67 points on March 12.
Source: Reuters

Vietnam's hotel prices may discourage travellers
Posted on : 2007-05-15 | Author : DPA
News Category : Travel


Hanoi- Travellers to Vietnam trying to find a bargain may find they are sorely disappointed, industry experts warn. Vietnam has long had a reputation as an inexpensive but exotic destination. For many years, elegant four-star hotel rooms in downtown Hanoi or along Vietnam's white sandy beaches could be had for under 50 dollars a night.

But a shortage of hotel rooms, coupled with a significant jump in prices, means a visit to Vietnam is no longer the bargain-hunter's dream vacation it once was.

During this year's peak spring travel season, many hotels in Hanoi were sold out for days and even weeks at a time. Travel agents report that prices for accommodation rose as much as 60 per cent over the previous year's rates.

"The main causes are a shortage of international standard hotel rooms and a huge increase in foreign tourists coming to Vietnam to attend conferences since Vietnam's admission into the WTO (World Trade Organization)," said Hoang Thi Mai, director of ERA Co. Ltd., a Hanoi-based travel firm.

The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) estimates that the country will receive more than four million foreign visitors in 2007, a 14 per cent increase over last year. Yet the number of hotel rooms has not increased at the same pace.

Mai said the crunch has caused massive headaches for travel agents who are forced to put guests in dodgier accommodation. The rise in hotel rates also forces tour companies to constantly renegotiate package tour costs.

Ironically, Vietnam runs the risk of pricing itself out of the market compared to other countries in the region, Mai said, "thus affecting our future ability to sell tours in Vietnam."

Despite the hotel shortage, Vietnam is still hoping to lure six million foreign visitors annually to its shores by 2010.

As a quick-fix measure "We are encouraging families to take in home-stay guests," said Vu The Binh, the director of the Tourism Department at VNAT. "And we have urged two-star hotels to make investments to upgrade to three-stars."

The government says it will need to attract 5.5 billion dollars in investment to properly develop the country's travel infrastructure.

Intel stakes $1 billion on Vietnam plant | Tech News on ZDNet

Communist-run Vietnam gave Intel, the world's largest chipmaker, a license to triple its investment there to $1 billion, a week before President Bush is due to visit. In February the California-based firm announced it would put $300 million in Vietnam to package and test microchips that power computers and mobile phones, the biggest investment in the country by a U.S. company.
Pham Chanh Truc, chairman of the Saigon High-Tech Park management board, handed the license to Rick Howarth, general manager of Intel Products Vietnam, on Friday at a ceremony in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam's commercial center.
Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said at the ceremony that Vietnam, which on Tuesday got formal approval to become a World Trade Organization member by the year's end, "will make favorable conditions for the investment and business environment."
Intel will expand its assembly and test facility area now under construction in the Saigon High-Tech Park to 500,000 square feet from 150,000 square feet, making it the largest single factory within the firm's assembly and test network.
Production following the increased investment will begin in 2009, instead of the second half of 2007 as previously planned.
Vietnam's economy is the world's fastest growing after China. Hanoi will host the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting from November 12 to 19.
President Bush is scheduled to visit Ho Chi Minh City, more widely known as Saigon, after attending the APEC summit.
Vietnam's technology sector is relatively small. The country is the top exporter of robusta coffee and black pepper, and is also the second-largest rice exporter and Southeast Asia's third-biggest crude oil producer.