Thread: Latest news on the Dong!

VN-Index goes down on low trade
11:22' 12/06/2007 (GMT+7)

VietNamNet Bridge - The Ho Chi Minh Securities Trading Centre today witnessed a continuous decline of the VN-Index when it slipped 16.61 points in the final trading session to close at 1040.75 points.
Closing the session, the market’s total trading volume fell strongly to 5.05 million shares worth VND566 billion, down 23.1% from the earlier session.
The falling trading volume was mainly due to STB, the biggest stock on the southern bourse which was diluted this morning, prompting its price to drop to VND75,000 from VND78,500 each.
Obviously, investors holding STB did not want to sell shares in the hope of a higher price.
Therefore, the trading volume of STB yesterday was 777,460 shares, only one-third of the volume of last weekend.
While 34 stocks actually managed to rise, 54 stocks fell in today’s session including the blue chips FPT (-VND10,000), HBC (-VND6,000), PVD (-VND6,000), NKD (-VND6,000) and ALT (-VND5,000).
Other blue chips like BMC, TCT, SGH, LGC, and HAX were among the winners of the day, rising to nearly 5% of the trading limit.
Similar to the Ho Chi Minh City market, the Ha Noi bourse this morning was down 5.34 points to close at 322.31. Its total trading volume was more than 1.2 million shares worth VND122 billion. Out of a total 86 stocks, 55 went down, 16 rose and 15 remained unchanged.

VietNamNet - VN-Index goes down on low trade

Vietnam's Incombank picks JP Morgan as IPO adviser
Tuesday, June 12, 2007 10:52:19 Vietnam (GMT+07)


State-run Industrial and Commercial Bank (Incombank), Vietnam's fourth-largest, has picked JP Morgan to advice on its equitization and an IPO scheduled for October, local media reported Tuesday.
"Incombank has selected JP Morgan to be the consultant for its equitization," the central bank-run Banking Times newspaper said without elaboration.
Officials at the Hanoi-based Incombank could not immediately be reached for comment.
JP Morgan has joined the Incombank tender along with Daiwa Security SMBC, Lehman Brothers, Macquarie, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and UBS.
Incombank, with assets of US$9.2 billion, has said it will conduct the IPO in October 2007. It is one of four state-run banks ordered by the government to issue shares this year.
The bank has not said how much it aimed to raise in the IPO nor disclosed whether it would list on the main Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange or the over-the-counter Hanoi Securities Trading Center.
Partly-private Sacombank is the only bank listed on the Ho Chi Minh City market and Asia Commercial Bank has listed shares on the Hanoi exchange.


Vietnam latest news - Thanh Nien Daily

VNPT offers technical support to Incombank in service deal

12/06/2007 -- 4:14 PM
Ha Noi (VNA) - Viet Nam Post and Telecommunication Group (VNPT) on June 11 signed an agreement to provide Industrial Commercial Bank of Viet Nam (Incombank) technical support in expanding its financial network.

In return, Incombank will provide the State-owned telecom firm with additional financial services.
Incombank recently lent over 2.3 trillion VND (143.75 million USD) to VNPT's Viet Nam Satellite project.
"The cooperation between the bank and VNPT is very important for the development of both partners and is in line with the country's integration into the global economy," said Incombank general director Pham Huy Hung.


Vietnam News Agency (VNA)

Officials struggle to keep inflation low
12/06/2007 -- 4:53 PM



Ha Noi (VNA) – Although the prices of goods and services have continued to rise, officials still believe the country will meet its target of keeping inflation below the rate of growth in GDP.
The Ministry of Finance forecasted that the consumers price index (CPI) would rise 0.5 per cent in June, lifting inflation in the first six months to roughly 4.7 to 4.8 per cent. The nation has targeted a growth rate of 8.2-8.5 per cent for the year.
This means the country will have to struggle to keep inflation in the second half of the year below 3.5 per cent, officials said.
“Even without any signs of price fever in the last months of the year, price movement in the period will remain complicated,” said director of the Ministry of Finance’s Price Management Department, Nguyen Tien Thoa.
Thoa said many factors could cause prices to spike in the latter half of the year, leaving consumer prices unlikely to return to “normal” levels as against prices during 2004-05.
Besides the unexpected volatility in global financial and monetary market, Thoa attributed rising costs to shortages of raw materials supplies on the world market, causing a domino effect on prices of goods and services.
Viet Nam was still largely dependent on imported materials such as petroleum and steel ingot. Prices of transportation, electricity, building materials, and food products have all increased in the wake of rising fuel prices.
Moreover, Thoa said, the country was still struggling with the effects of natural disasters and epidemics, including bird flu outbreaks. Unhealthy competition, speculation and fraud have all contributed to rising prices.
Thoa also that prices were often seen to make their highest increases during the October – December period prior to the Tet (lunar new year) holiday.
This means authorities will have a tough road ahead to keep a lid on consumer prices throughout the rest of the year and meet the nation’s target to keep the rise in CPI below the GDP growth rate.
The Government has already urged relevant bodies to take bold measures aimed at controlling prices. Besides balancing supply and demand of goods and services, the Government has also ordered authorities to stamp out epidemics and improve natural disaster prevention.
Financial measures include tax and fee policies to lower input costs.
The Government has given petrol dealers the freedom to decide retail petrol prices, so it would also monitor prices closely to ensure that petrol dealers do not collude to raise prices or manipulate the market.


Vietnam News Agency (VNA)

Foreign investment in Vietnam hits a record high
Updated, 06/11/2007, 11:00 GMT

Vietnam hit a record high in attracting foreign investment with a total capital of US$5.2 billion in the past five months.
The growth rate of more than 30 percent was achieved in terms of disbursed capital, export value and budget contribution.

Many of 400 foreign investment projects which have been granted licenses in the first half of this year are in poor and remote areas such as Thai Nguyen, Ha Giang, Cao Bang and Son La.

The achievements are thanks to the Government’s open-door policy encouraging foreign investors to engage in projects for the import-export of seafood, garments and electronic components.

However, compensation for land clearance is still the biggest challenge to the implementation of projects, especially relating to real estate development.

In the reviewed period, an additional US$2.1 billion capital was spent on building workshops and purchasing machines. The figure was an increase of 30 percent compared to the same period last year but accounted for one-third of the plan target.

In the near future, the Ministry of Planning and Investment will propose the Prime Minister issue a decree on attracting foreign investment and issuing an investment list of projects in the 2006-2010 period.


Economics

Financial liberalisation goes together with risk control

Updated, 06/11/2007, 10:10 GMT

Each level of liberalization will result in a respective level of risk. The opening of the financial market will depend on our capability to control risks, says deputy head of the Banking Strategy Department of the State Bank of Vietnam Nguyen Dai Lai.

The implementation of WTO commitments will strongly affect the financial market, especially the capital market, according to economic experts. The process will also impose new challenges in controlling inflows of international capital within the domestic market and improving fierce competitive capacity with foreign financial groups. VOV interviewed Nguyen Dai Lai, deputy head of the Banking Strategy Department of the State Bank of Vietnam.

Reporter: How has Vietnam carried out financial liberalization in the context of WTO commitments?

Mr Lai: The financial liberalisation includes liberalisation of the monetary market and the capital market. The liberalisation of the monetary market has achieved successful results over the past 10 years. For example, 10 years ago, the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) fixed interest rates. But since June 2002 SBV has only needed to announce basic interest rates on which commercial banks and credit organisations will decide their own interest rates. In November 1999, Vietnam removed management of fixed exchange rates and shifted to management of exchange rates according to the market.

Reporter: What is the biggest challenge in management of financial sources since the country opened the financial market?

Mr Lai: The challenge is that each level of liberalization will result in a respective level of risk. The opening of the financial market will depend on our capability to control risks. This requires technology, management skills and international practices. If we quickly open the financial market to receive short-term capital sources, or disburse foreign indirect investment before being provided with long-term capital sources and foreign direct investment, we have to pay the price. At that time, short-term capital sources will be released if there are market changes or crises in the financial market.

Reporter: Can you compare Vietnam’s opening of its financial market with that in other regional countries?

Mr Lai: In the past three years, Vietnam’s commitments to open its financial market have been put into practice. This showed the country’s high speed in its efforts to open the market. We also did it in an appropriate way. First called for foreign direct investment and since later 2006 we have appealed to foreign indirect investment in the country.


Economics

Cash Substitution Cards Required
Tuesday, June 12, 2007 2:07 PM GMT+7

Vietnam Economic News' reporter, Hoang Nhan, interviewed Leonhid Delberg, the chairman and CEO of BGS Smartcard AG (Austria).

Would you have any comments on the current payment in Vietnam?

Yes, Vietnam currently has some 3.5 million payment cards, some 12,000 POS, 2,200 ATMs (penetration of 45,000 persons per ATM), and most significantly just six percent of the population is banked. The main usage of the cards is currently for withdrawal of cash from ATM and thus even much more expensive cash is used to purchase goods and services. This payment infrastructure covers the requirements of foreign tourists and businessmen coming to Vietnam and maybe some of the needs of the wealthiest Vietnamese. What the current infrastructure does not, and maybe cannot cover is the usage of the card for everyday payments in places where the population spends the most money. Satisfying the interests of foreigners and the higher society, current systems don't care about the needs of the remaining 94 percent of the population. Payment services are not available on the right places, interchange fees and merchant commissions are too high and outreach to the suburban and rural areas currently close to none. This is even more problematic as cash becomes more and more costly. Vietnam requires a very efficient cash substitution card system covering the whole country, customized for specific domestic needs to be able to service the entire population. As the experience of other countries shows, conventional cards are simply not able to provide such services to affordable prices. An innovation shift is required to more secure and much less costly technology.

As a company specialized in development and integration of smartcard payment systems, what product suitable for an emerging market like Vietnam will BGS bring in?


In order to meet the specific needs of the Vietnamese banks and the requirements of the Vietnamese population we will offer a tailor made DUET technology, customized together with local banks. We will target two main objectives: first of all to offer solution for substantial substitution of domestic cash of banked clients thus offering card acceptance where clients spend their money. Secondly we will provide to the banks and microfinance institutions an innovative technology to open the banking services to those clients who today are not banked, and are not bankable with the current standard banking services. Based on DUET technology, payment infrastructure total cost of ownership will be substantially reduced and banks will be able to develop own domestic infrastructure available to everybody and everywhere. Using our multipurpose platform, banks can offer to government authorities and other service organizations the possibility to use this system to provide additional services such as e-government, medical insurance, social welfare and transportation based on a shared business model.


Our vision of a country-wide domestic payment system with a combination of online and offline card acceptance enables the realization of a mass infrastructure at a very low cost. Based on substantially reduced cost structure, banks can implement many new card products (supply card, social services, pension, savings, micro-loans, insurances et al.) to benefit the socio-economic structure of the country. Furthermore, domestic payment system belongs entirely to Vietnam, absolutely no information about payments concluded within the Vietnamese market will ever leave the country; all payment data will be kept securely within the national borders.

What is the prominence of that product?

BGS Smartcard Systems is an Austrian company whose core business consists of developing and integrating smart card-based offline and online financial transaction systems for local and domestic mass markets.
Since 1993, BGS Smartcard Systems implements tailor-made smart card-based payment solutions in cooperation with banks, enterprises and government authorities worldwide. BGS has been continuously focusing on emerging economies which demonstrate a very dynamic evolution due to the fact that they are increasingly leapfrogging old technologies. BGS is headquartered in Vienna, Austria, and has subsidiaries in India and Russia, and a branch office in the Ukraine. Distributors are located in Asia, Central and South America, the CIS and the Middle East. BGS was awarded the Austrian Export Prize in 2006 as the most innovative Austrian company.
BGS is just a technology provider; the payment system belongs to domestic banks-participants.


Our technology is based on user specifications and will be adapted to all domestic requirements.


We are using unique funds pre-authorization concept, card has guarantied spending power, money still stays on client bank account.


Payment transactions happen in off-line mode between microprocessor client and merchant card; it is direct, very secure, fast and very inexpensive. All amounts can be paid via the card (no minimum amounts, no maximum amounts).


Client card has all the information about client, bank, balances and transactions on it, the client can count his money all the time and see how it was spent.


Also the merchant card has all relevant information including transactions done during the day; settlement with the bank is done once for a complete daily batch.


Card can have up to eight payment and non payment applications which can be managed and updated both before and after card issuance; as the card can be issued for up to 10 years, life cycle management becomes a very important function.


DUET is well developed and market proven product, it accumulates the experience and knowledge of all our banking customers and users; we have implemented DUET since 15 years in different domestic markets and are improving it every year with more and more functionality.

Does BGS intend to stay long in Vietnam by setting up a rep office or a supply network here?

Once BGS begins to work in a market it rarely leaves. BGS utilizes different strategies for its regions depending on what is best applicable. Currently we are working very closely with our local partner Nacencomm (Mr. Huan Hoang, President), and the synergies of our companies have complimented each other well. We are confident about our possibilities of success and of course envisage the establishment of a fully operational office here, in parallel with project developments.


http://ven.org.vn/English/?news=1226

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Ngày 12/6/2007

1 USD=16 113 VNĐ

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Ngày 12/6/2007

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By all glory....hmmm, those lovely figure$ are far from spoiled and turning red into DONG$!!!

I know, It moves so very little and the wrong direction. whats with that? 00001 + Yikes since the last time I posted. Thanks for the banner to.