Thread: Latest news on the Dong!

Originally Posted by barmurphy

Actually I just took this from another thread/ re: WTO status

Quote:
Originally Posted by PAn8tv View Post
Is the VND fully convetable? If not how did Vietnam gain entry?

blackwulf
I read it in an article "somewhere" that (this is in line with my latest post on Iraq's application status) they got entry only if they'd agree to non-market status for 3 to 5 years. Under non-market status they don't have to have a revaled currency. However, I posted an article in the VND section a few days ago. That said Vietnam has grown so much that it will eventually have to reval.

Do the ristriction would have to be lifted or we have a little while to wait?

Thank you.

OOC, Petro-Vietnam sign MoU for cooperation in oil and gas ONA
Sunday, May 20, 2007 12:39:44 AM Oman Time

HANOI — Oman Oil Company (OOC) signed an MoU with Petro-Vietnam, the oil and gas group company in Vietnam, here yesterday for cooperation in oil and gas. Maqbool bin Ali Sultan, minister of commerce and industry and OOC chairman, signed on behalf of OOC while Dr Crown K., chairman of Petro-Vietnam, signed on behalf of his company.

After the signing ceremony, Maqbool told ONA that the MoU with Petro-Vietnam came within OOC’s strive to increase and expand its investments base in oil and gas.

The MoU includes joint cooperation in oil and gas fields and projects associated with production and refining operation, cooperation in exchanging of expertise and joint investment, he said.

Petro-Vietnam is a company owned by the Vietnam government, which operates in oil and gas exploration, oil refineries and associated petrochemicals, industries. Vietnam’s production of crude oil is estimated at 350,000 barrel per day.

It owns a gas reserve to the tune of 70 trillion cubic feet.

Central bank to be reformed: SBV Governor13:46' 19/05/2007 (GMT+7) VietNamNet Bridge – According to the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) research, the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) is at the lowest level of the four levels of independence of central banks in the world. How will the SBV be reformed so that its independence is improved? The interview with SBV Governor Le Duc Thuy will partly answer this question.

Do you agree with the IMF’s appraisal about the current independence of the SBV at present?

SBV Governor Le Duc ThuyWe will surely have new policies and mechanisms to raise the independence of the SBV. An independent central bank is always necessary in the building of a banking system under international rules.

Independence means having the control to realise necessary measures to maintain macro-stability, to control inflation and to ensure that credit institutions operate healthily under the laws, through creating a favourable environment for sustainable growth.

What is the itinerary for performing this task?

We have to quickly issue two new laws: The Law on Credit Institutions and the Law on State Bank of Vietnam to replace the current laws. We also need the Law on Inspection and Supervision to create a higher legal framework for banking operations.

Our goal is that from now to 2010 those laws will come to life based on the re-organisation of the machinery of the SBV and adjusting the role and functions of SBV branches in provinces and cities to ensure the independent role of the central bank in realising the monetary policy.

It is expected that local SBV branches will see changes. At first, the functions of small branches will be cut down while those of more important branches will be increased. The establishment of regional branches will be considered.

Will the reform of the SBV influence the five state-owned banks which currently account for around 70% of the banking market?

State-owned banks will gradually have self-control before the law like other banks of other forms of ownership. Along with equitisation, the State will only be one of the shareholders of those banks and the SBV may not be the State’s representative for that part of capital, but another organisation.

Will this help put an end to designated loans?

Even when equitisation is not performed, designating loans needs to be stopped and it can be stopped because we have the Development Bank and the Policy Bank to assume this function.

If there are changes, the change would be the further reduction of unnecessary administrative interventions into state-owned commercial banks. In principle, state-owned commercial banks are treated and behave like commercial banks of other forms of ownership.

What do you think about the opinion that SBV should not manage forex reserve fund?

I think there is not much controversy about this issue but there is no central bank that manages the monetary policy without managing the forex reserve fund because it is not financial management but reserve management to keep the value of the national currency. Therefore this fund must be controlled by the central bank and control doesn’t mean that it can spend the fund for any purpose.

But a large part of foreign currency sources from crude oil is now under the control of the Finance Ministry?

The Finance Ministry collects funds in the Vietnam dong or the US dollar, and this is just the form of collection, but when they spend by selling that money outside or sell to the SBV to increase forex reserves is two different processes. Money collected from crude oil is not directly transferred to the forex reserve fund. The SBV also has to buy foreign currency when it wants to have foreign currency for reserve.

(Source: TBKTVN)

Oil billionaires interested in Vietnam’s real estate15:07' 21/05/2007 (GMT+7) VietNamNet Bridge – The interests in Vietnam’s real estate of billionaires from oil exporting countries like Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Bahrain is a new phenomenon but the Republic of Korea will still be the top investor in Vietnam’s real estate market.

The Kingdom Hotel Investment group of prince Alwaleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz Alsaud fired the first shot to open the capital flow from oil producing countries in the Middle East to the Vietnamese real estate market when it decided to buy the Vegas tourism project of the Magnum Investments Company in the central city of Da Nang.

The group plans to invest US$65 million to build a 150-room hotel and 15 villas on 15.4ha of land, which are scheduled to be put into use in 2011, named Raffles Resort.

The logistic sector is also attractive to investors from the Middle East. After merging with Britain’s P & O Ports group, the Dubai Ports World group has officially entered Vietnam through a port project in HCM City with a total investment of $230 million.

In addition, the Sama Dubai group is negotiating the construction of the Cua Dai bridge in the central province of Quang Nam and has expressed the wish to participate in the Binh Quoi – Thanh Da urban area project in HCM City.

“Around 20 investors from Dubai, Qatar and Bahrain are seeking opportunities of investment in Vietnam. They not only target to the logistic industry like container ports but also seek investment opportunities at new residential areas in Hanoi, HCM City and even in the central region,” said Marc Townsend, General Director of CB Richard Ellis, a real estate service company.

According to CB Richard Elllis, investors from the Middle East are big groups which have implemented huge real estate projects in their countries and are expanding investment to Asian countries.

For example, the Kingdom Hotel Investments is purchasing a series of hotels, resorts, and luxurious apartment buildings in Thailand, the Philippines and China.

“Oil kings are targeting China and Singapore but they mainly focus on the Vietnamese market because this is a new and potential market,” said Mr Marc Townsend.

This is also confirmed by prince Alwaleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz Alsaud in a press release issued after his group bought the tourism project in Da Nang: “Vietnam is one of the fastest developing economies in Asia and ranks the sixth for tourism development according to forecast of the World Travel and Tourism Council. With the fast growth of tourism, entertainment and business, we will build a high-class hotel here”.

According to Marc Townsend, oil billionaires are very serious in choosing Vietnam as a destination and they are surveying and negotiating with localities and the Vietnamese government. However, as projects are in negotiation process, their details can’t be revealed. In addition, oil billionaires can’t easily obtain projects.

“This is similar to Malaysian investors. Groups like Gamuda Land, Berjaya and Sertia have signed memorandums of understanding on investment in big real estate projects in Hanoi and HCM City but so far none of them have been implemented because negotiation and investment formalities are still being performed,” Mr Marc Townsend said.

While investors from the Middle East, Singapore, Japan and Malaysia are seeking opportunities, Korean investors are emerging as the leading investor in the real estate market of Vietnam and they will still be at this position in the future when new projects are signed.

Big names in this field are Posco E & C with the $212 million Bac An residential area project, Kumho with $230 million Asiana Plaza Saigon project, the West West Lake Co, Ltd with $314 million West West Lake residential area project and Booyoung with $171 million apartment project in the northern province of Ha Tay.

(Source: Dau tu)

Monday, May 21, 2007 21:13:37 Vietnam (GMT+07)



Markets climb to fresh highs






Vietnamese stocks continued their upward trend Monday for the third straight session, promoting rises in both bourses – a healthy jump on Vietnam’s main index flanked by narrower gains in Hanoi.

Ho Chi Minh City’s VN – Index gained 18.85 points, or 1.77 percent to close at 1085.41. Hanoi’s HASTC-Index increased 2.5 points to close at 349.37 points.

There were seventy-three gainers and only 17 losers out of 107 stocks listed in HCMC. Half the gainers hit the ceiling price of 5 percent, including major blue chips like NKD, KDC, VIP and SJS.
The market closed with trading volume and turnover up 44 percent and 32 percent respectively to 7.8 million shares and VND993 billion (US$62 million).
STB was the most traded stock with 1.1 million shares changing hands, accounting for 21.4 percent of the market’s trading volume.
Small stock, BMC continued to hit the roof growth limit of 5 percent to close at VND847,000 per share.
Market analysts attributed the continuously skyrocketing price of the stock to the limited shares on offer [the stock gained in 50 consecutive sessions]. Only about 600,000 shares are traded on the market.
Two mutual funds, PRUBF1 and VFMVF1 lost marginally to close respectively at VND13,800 and VND34,900.
Foreign investors were net buyers again, stockpiling around 1.2 million shares for worth VND165 billion mainly PPC, GMD, VNM and VSH.
The Hanoi market saw 1.7 million shares traded for VND218 billion with 58 gainers and 21 losers out of 86 stocks.
Cable marker issue
HCMC bourse-listed Cable and Telecommunications Materials Co (Sacom) is set to issue 17 million shares to raise capital for business development to branch out into real estate and telecoms services.
Sacom is expected to raise its capital to VND545 billion from the current VND374 billion after the new share issue.
As planned, 7.48 million shares will be offered at a face value of VND20,000 for existing shareholders with a ratio of one new share for every five shares held, with the balance going to strategic partners at a negotiated price which will not lower than VND150,000 each.
The raised capital will help Sacom implement major projects including a $21.7 million Sacom Resort in the central highlands Dalat city and a capital contribution of $6.2 million to a venture with Saigon Cables Co to manufacture optic cables.
Its business expansion also covers a $25-million office building in HCMC, investment of $5 million in Cambodia-based Pacific Communication joint venture and increase of its stakes in Taihan-Sacom joint venture to 40 percent via $2.8 million funds contribution.
It posted pre-tax profit of VND53 billion in the first quarter – a year-on-year jump of 88.9 percent.
On the back of good business performance, the company raised its yearly targets to VND1.6 trillion in turnover and VND175 billion in profit.
Sacom had talks with the Vietnam Motor Industry Corporation (Vinamotor), Lilama and Duc Giang Garment Company to set up a bank in the northern Bac Ninh province.

If the central bank approved, the bank would have a registered capital of VND1.5 trillion ($93 million).
Source: Thanh Nien – Compiled by Dong Ha

Vietnam latest news - Thanh Nien Daily

Last Updated: Monday, May 21, 2007 11:41:34 Vietnam (GMT+07)



A Vietnamese consortium of banks and gold enterprises is set to open the Ho Chi Minh gold trading center later this month in what they call Vietnam’s first gold exchange to meet gold trade demand.

The consortium includes the Asia Commercial Joint Stock Bank (ACB), the Vietnam Export-Import Bank (Eximbank), Saigon Commercial Bank, and Saigon Jewelry Holding Co. (SJC).

The bourse is expected to have a maximum 12 institutional members [from the current four] which are gold businesses and banks permitted to trade gold.

Investors will make orders via the bourse’s members whose representatives are seated at ACB’s center.

The gold exchange will run from 9 am to 11 am and from 1 pm to 3 pm Monday to Friday, using JSC gold for trading on the bourse in the initial stages.

The minimum trading volume is 10 taels (1 tael = 1.25 oz) and the price change is capped at VND5,000 per tael.
Trading, in the initial stages, will be limited to Vietnamese investors who must pay a security deposit accounting for 10 percent of their transaction value.
Expert suggestion
Globally, gold futures finished higher on late weekend movement from the previous two sessions’ sharp decline, helped by physical buying at lower prices and higher crude oil.
Most-active gold for June delivery division of the New York Mercantile Exchange settled up $4.80 at $662.00 an ounce, after traded between $656.40 and $664.00.
Market analysts said other key factors supporting the rise in gold prices, such as geo-political tensions, high energy prices and investment demand are forecast to drive gold towards the $700 landmark soon.
It is estimated that gold will end up averaging around $753 for 2007.
According to Nguyen Thanh Truc, deputy chairman of the Vietnam Association of Gold Trading the domestic gold market has seen unexpected volatility since mid April on the back of global movement.
Investors have been warned to take prudent measures before investing in gold, said Truc, adding this was a sensitive time for gold trading.
In contrast to analysts, Truc forecast the precious metal would tumble in the near term as the International Monetary Fund was going to sell 400 tons of gold.
The association has asked the central bank set up a gold bank to keep the country’s gold market in tune with the international bullion business.
The bank would provide support and consultancy for local gold businesses.
Vietnam’s demand for bullion, used to produce jewelry, and some other forms of gold, is estimated at some 60 tons this year, up 20 percent against last year.
In a related development the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has given the greenlight to three more commercial banks to trade gold via accounts based offshore.
The banks include the HCMC Housing Development Joint Stock Commercial Bank, the Phuong Nam Joint Stock Commercial Bank and the Sai Gon Joint Stock Commercial Bank.
The allowed banks are required to ensure that gold balances in their accounts do not exceed 20 percent of their existing capital.

The central bank’s latest move aims to create a risk insurance tool and reduce transaction costs for the trading of gold.

Since January 2006, the SBV has permitted a total of 13 local banks to open accounts based overseas for the sole purpose of trading in gold.

Many domestic banks have shown an interest in gold trading as a means to diversify their services to retain a competitive edge as foreign rivals increasingly enter the Vietnamese market.

Source: VietnamNet, Nguoi Lao Dong – Compiled by Dong Ha

Vietnam latest news - Thanh Nien Daily

Thanks Din!!

Din and Notaz thanks for all the wonderful news and insights to where Vietnam is headed. You guys rock, true to the SF creed and general orders. Keep on bringing it! Although we've never met I know your heart.

BTW guys although I am not part of our active fratenity anymore I was just wondering how many others may be incognito lurking here, tell 'em to send me a p.m. I would like to add them to my pray list for them on a daily basis and maybe do a little something for them if they get deployed.

Ballmer Visits Vietnam to Cement Anti-Piracy Deal
AP
HANOI, Vietnam (May 21) - Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer witnessed the signing of an agreement Monday requiring all of Vietnam's government offices to use licensed computer software in a step to curb rampant piracy.

"The agreement demonstrates very strong commitments of the government of Vietnam," in protecting intellectual property rights, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung told Ballmer before the signing ceremony.

Vietnam's Ministry of Finance was the first government agency to sign the Microsoft Office licensing agreement during a visit by company Chairman Bill Gates last year.

"I see a prosperous future ahead for Vietnam, and the country is doing the right things by looking now at how it can foster a healthy local software ecosystem, which will help open up this market to the rest of the world," Ballmer said in a statement.

The software piracy rate in Vietnam is about 90 percent, one of the highest in the world, according to the U.S.-based Business Software Alliance, a piracy watchdog group. A version of Microsoft Windows can be bought on the street for as little as 50 U.S. cents.

The Business Software Alliance hails the licensing agreement saying it demonstrates how the government is serious about protecting intellectual property rights and reducing piracy.

"We anticipate that the Vietnam government licensing agreement of desktops could reduce the overall piracy rate in Vietnam significantly next year," Jeffrey Hardee, the Alliance's Asia Pacific regional director said in a Microsoft Corp. statement.

Local information technology developers said Ballmer visit will be another boost to the country's IT industry following Gates' visit and Intel Corp.'s kicking off construction a US$1 billion semiconductor plant in southern Vietnam last month.

"The whole world sees Vietnam as a new destination for information technology," said Truong Gia Binh, President and CEO of FPT Corp., Vietnam's leading IT company. "This trend will continue after the visit."