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Nation’s targets laid out at WEF

09:34' 27/06/2007 (GMT+7)

VietNamNet Bridge - Vietnam’s is keying in on sustainable development policies that target environmental protection and a plethora of social welfare programs, Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung said at the World Economic Forum (WEF) on East Asia running in Singapore from June 24-25.

The Vietnamese representative said the targets needed to be achieved to fall into line with the rapid development of the regional economy in general and Vietnam in particular.

At a luncheon that ran within the WEF framework and focused on Vietnam, Deputy PM Hung spoke of Vietnam’s socio-economic achievements as well as the country’s potential, policies and strategies for development.

On the sidelines of the WEF, the Vietnamese senior official also met with the WEF’s Managing Director to discuss the possibility of Vietnam hosting the WEF on East Asia for 2009.

The WEF applauded the country’s development and said that Vietnam’s bid would be considered carefully in the near future.
Deputy PM Hung also met with Singaporean PM Lee Hsien Long, who said that Vietnam’s socio-economic development was a model for all developing countries and that he was confident Asia’s second fastest economy would maintain its high growth rates and expand its presence among the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the region and the world at large.

(Source: SGGP)

Vietnam red tape thwarts foreign investors


International investors hoping to get a foreign trade license in Vietnam have been held up by red tape.

A government decree allowing trading by foreign businesses in Vietnam was supposed to take effect in February – one month after the country’s WTO accession.

But the departments of planning and investment refuses to issues licenses without a circular from the Ministry of Trade spelling out the rules – the usual practice in Vietnam – for such issue.

The trade ministry, on the other hand, has inordinately delayed issuing such a circular but its Decree No 23/2007ND said clearly such a circular was not required for licensing trading companies as long as they did not plan to enter local distribution.

Lu Thanh Phong of Ho Chi Minh City’s Planning and Investment Department made it clear his agency could not issue the license until the ministry issued the circular.

Hoang Thi Tuyet Hoa, a trade ministry official, insisted, however, the department could issue licenses without the ministry’s guidance.

Le Cong Dinh, a lawyer at the HCMC-based DC Law Office, said the delay in implementing WTO commitments was a violation of the WTO’s basic spirit.

Some foreign investors lost patience and sought help from the local media and their consulates for fear of missing business opportunities.

Reported by Trung Binh – Compiled by Dong Ha

Vietnam latest news - Thanh Nien Daily



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How will this effect the projected RV of the Dong?

DesertWolf

Originally Posted by DesertWolf

How will this effect the projected RV of the Dong?

DesertWolf

yeah, what he said.

Originally Posted by DesertWolf

How will this effect the projected RV of the Dong?

DesertWolf

With the pressure on from the IMF and extra pressure from impatient foriegn investors, this may help to pursude the Vietnamese that it is not worth keeping the Dong depriciated for much longer.

If they keep this game up, they could start to lose business.

Originally Posted by Din Diesel

With the pressure on from the IMF and extra pressure from impatient foriegn investors, this may help to pursude the Vietnamese that it is not worth keeping the Dong depriciated for much longer.

If they keep this game up, they could start to lose business.

That is what I get from the Article.......Pressure is on.

Government ideological barrier to market-based economy
28-JUN-2007 Intellasia

Presently, there are 50 applications for establishing securities trading companies however the Vietnam Association of Securities Business (VASB) is proposing to temporarily stop licensing establishment of securities companies. Representatives of securities companies said stopping licensing establishment of securities companies is against the Law on Businesses, adversely impacting the business environment.

Phan Vu Tuan, vice director of the International Securities Co said "the stock market is developing, administrative measures should not be taken to manage the development of the stock market."

The general director of the First Securities Co, Tran Thien The, said the Law on Business clearly regulates that any business that meets all requirements must be licensed. The worry that if legal regulations are not considered cautiously, there will be widening differences between securities statutes and the Law on Business.

"We should not narrow the market by limiting the appearance of new brokerages. In a free market that we are looking forward to, there must be appearance of new businesses and shut-down of businesses, hence, generating the best businesses because securities companies which were established previously would not surely perform better than those which are applying for license," said Nguyen Chi Thanh, executive chairman of the National Securities Co.

One of the reasons that VASB cited upon proposing suspension of licensing establishment of securities companies was that "compared to regional countries, the number of securities brokers in Vietnam is now enough." However securities companies which are operating themselves said that the market still leaves much room that current securities companies have not yet tapped.

A representative from the Asia Commercial Bank's Securities Co (ACBS) questioned how many securities companies are enough. If 20% of Vietnam's population trade securities and it is supposed that the infrastructure system is much improved, ACBS is freely expand branches, trading floors based on its capacity, and is able to serve one million investors to open trading accounts, the Vietnam stock market needs only 20 companies like ACBS. However, ACBS now has only 50,000 accounts, said the representative.

The big cities of Hanoi and HCM City have the bulk of the brokerages but now more and more are branching out to other large cities such as Hai Phong and Can Tho. While securities companies are busy with their business expansion in the larger cities, who, if not new or planned brokerages, would look to setting up in the provinces. What is more, the number of stock punters in Vietnam is still relatively small compared with regional countries like Hong Kong, Thailand, Korea, Taiwan and others.

If the government is worried that the bankruptcy of a slew of brokerages would adversely impact the market and hence in turn society, and wants to limit new brokerages on that premise, then it must also take into account that the bankruptcy of securities companies should be seen objectively as the rule of the market economy and a brokerage is no different than that of other industries.

Securities companies say that in the long term, well-performing brokers will thrive and it is inevitable that some weak firms will either be forced to merge with stronger rivals, taken over, or simply go under. This is normal in developed countries and the government at best can only try to minimise adverse impacts but absolutely cannot create policies that fly in the face of a market-based economy.

BB<<<not going there other than that they are dont seem to be complying with the WTO in allowing enough brokers in.

Vietnam stock market news - Intellasia News Services

Business News
Vietnam exports up, but trade deficit growing faster

Jun 28, 2007, 7:19 GMT

Hanoi - Vietnamese exports were up an estimated 19 per cent in the first half of this year, but imports grew even faster at 30 per cent, expanding the country's trade deficit to 4.8 billion dollars, a government report said Thursday.

The trade deficit grew by 152 per cent thanks to imports totaling 27.2 billion dollars, mostly for machinery and equipment, refined petroleum products, steel, fabrics and electronic goods, according to the General Statistics Office report.

Export revenues from January through June were estimated at 22.5 billion dollars with crude oil accounting for the largest share at 3.7 billion dollars and garments and shoes bringing in 3.4 billion and 1.9 billion, respectively.

Vietnamese economist Pham Chi Lan, a former economic adviser to the prime minister's office, said the trade deficit is worth noting but no cause for immediate concern.

Lan said the rise in import spending signaled that investment in badly needed infrastructure is on the rise.

Investors, both domestic and foreign, are importing more equipment and machinery for manufacturing, and the rise in fabric imports feeds into garment manufacturing.

'Therefore, the rise in trade deficit is not something we have to worry about,' Lan said.

Vietnam is a net importer of refined petrol and other refined petroleum because the country does not have its own oil refineries although at least three refineries are now being built.

Of more concern, according to Lan, is consumer spending on imported luxury goods, especially sports cars, as tariffs drop with Vietnam's recent entry into the World Trade Organization.

'Spending on consumer goods normally account for 10 per cent of the total import spending, and this rate will increase as Vietnam has joined the WTO, resulting in lower import tariffs on some products and encouraging people to import more,' Lan said.


Vietnam exports up, but trade deficit growing faster - Business

US insurer AIG eyes expansion with Vietnam bank tie-up
Insurance biggie American International Group said Thursday it is expanding its business in Vietnam through a deal signed with the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV).

Speaking at the signing ceremony in Hanoi, AIG’s Senior Vice Chairman Edmund Tse said the event showed that his company was committed to promoting development in Vietnam.
AIG saw great potential in the country, which was the second-fasted growing economy last year and would continue to grow in the next few years, he said.
Under the MoU, the two firms will extensively co-operate in insurance, property management, financial investment, banking services, and training.
BIDV, one of Vietnam’s leading State-run commercial bankswith total assets of around US$12.5 billion, is planning an IPO for the fourth quarter.
The bank, also known as Vietindebank, is now conducting 180 projects in Vietnam which have involved in such arenas as securities, finance, banking and insurance, its General Director Tran Bac Ha told the signing ceremony.
According to financial and banking experts, co-operation between AIG and BIDV is a good sign for a new wave of US investment in Vietnam and will create further momentum for the nation’s rapidly-growing economy.
AIG was the first foreign insurer to enter Vietnam when it opened a representative office in 1993.
The world leader in insurance and financial services received a life insurance license six years ago. Its operations have grown rapidly since and it has more than 20,000 agents now.
It obtained a non-life insurance license in Vietnam in 2005 and established AIG Vietnam General Insurance.
AIG said it was attracted by economic growth of 7 to 8 percent annually in Vietnam for the past six years.
Foreign financial services companies Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank are all forging ties to Vietnam by linking up with local partners and making equity investments, Reuters reported Thursday.
Source: VOV – Compiled by Thu Thuy

HCMC bonded gold warehouse to put Vietnam closer to int’l prices
Vietnam’s second bonded gold warehouse is set to open Friday in Ho Chi Minh City to help keep the country’s gold market in tune with international prices.

The time required to release gold from the storehouse would be less than 24 hours, rather than two to three days as it is now.
The 100 sq.m-bonded warehouse near Tan Son Nhat Airport is invested in by the city-based Saigon Jewelry Joint Stock Company (SJC) and the British Brink’s Global Services, an express deliverer.
The storehouse, designed to stockpile gold and gemstones waiting to be checked by customs and taxed, will store the commodities pending such formalities before entering the local market or re-export to a third country.
It will also take in commodities from credit organizations and jewelry companies.
According to bullion traders, the storehouse is crucial to narrow the price difference between the local and international markets.
There has been a surge in demand for bullion in the country over the last three years as over 70 tons has been imported annually during the period.
About 86 tons were imported into the country last year and the volume is expected to reach 75 – 80 tons this year.
Globally, gold futures for August delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange settled at $644.80 an ounce Wednesday, down 50 cents, or 1.4 percent on the day. This came after sinking to an early session low of $641.10, its cheapest rare since earlier this year.
In Vietnam, the price fell by VND12,000 per tael (1.25 oz) to close at VND12.75 million Thursday.
The Vietnam Association of Gold Trading forecast that the precious metal would tumble soon as the International Monetary Fund planned to sell 400 tons.
Another 250 tons would be injected y EU central banks into the market by September.
Earlier this year, international gold traders had estimated that gold would end up averaging around $753 in 2007 due to geopolitical tensions and high energy prices.
Vietnam’s first bonded gold warehouse opened last July. It is run by run by the National Jewelry Company, an affiliate of the Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam.
Source: SGGP, Thanh Nien – Compiled by Dong Ha