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New energy for Vietnam: Producing power from rice husks
http://english.vietnamnet.vn/reports...-husks-937064/
VietNamNet Bridge – A top rice producer like Vietnam also produces lots of rice husks. In the Mekong Delta, entrepreneurs are learning how to turn this ‘waste’ into electricity.

’Waste’ rice husks enroute to a brick kiln in the Mekong Delta province of Vinh Long.

In 2007, Vietnam produced nearly 36 million tons of rice, over half of it in the lush, sprawling Mekong Delta. It also ‘produced’ 7.5 million tons of rice husks.

About half the volume of rice husks is used to feed cattle or make fertilizer or plywood. Some of it fuels brick kilns. However, about half is just wasted.

The redundant rice husks are a headache for many rice millers because they have no place to put it. During the harvest seasons, some pay a lot of money to have the heaps of husks carried to rubbish dumps. Some just dump the rice husks into rivers (which is of course illegal).

Not surprisingly, it has occurred to entrepreneurs and renewable energy experts that rice husks can be used to generate electricity. The experts say that 1.6-2.2kg of rice husk is enough to create 1kWh of power.

Tran Quang Cu of the International Finance Corporation (IFC, an arm of the World Bank) advocates that Vietnam set up medium-sized power plants fueled by rice husks of 160-180 megawatts (MW) in capacity near rice growing areas. By burning 1.5 million tons of rice husks a year, Cu says, Vietnam can produce 1-1.2 terawatt hours of power.

In the Delta, a kilo of rice husks currently costs only 200-300 dong – that is, it’s practically free to anyone who will haul it away. Rice mills in the Mekong Delta are mainly located along rivers so it is convenient to transport rice husks to thermo-power plants.

In Southeast Asia, experimentation with rice husk power plant projects started in the mid 1990s. Two projects implemented in Thailand demonstrated their feasibility. Project developers in Southeast Asia gained confidence by visiting these projects. Today, many more such projects are in various stages of development and implementation.

From the technological perspective, in the last 10 years, most problems have been solved. Today the plants are fully automated and, for well designed plants, the efficiency of the boiler and the overall efficiency of the power plant are very good.

There has also been considerable reduction in the total investment cost, mainly due to the competition of a dozen boiler suppliers who have mastered the technology.

Most plants are much smaller than the power plants suggested by the IFC’s Cu. In Thailand, they range from 22 MW down to two MW. A 50 MW plant was studied, but due to the problem of fuel security, that project did not materialise. A 30 MW power plant was studied in Philippines and it also was abandoned due to fuel collection and transportation issues.

By contrast, an average-sized coal-fired power plant will produce about 600 MW of power.

With advancement in technology, some of the projects produce high quality silicate ash that’s valuable as fertilizer. It is exported to Europe, Japan, Korea and other countries for as much as $400/ton. Some projects focuses more on rice husk ash than power. This solves the ash disposal problem, as rice husk contains up to 20 percent ash.

Vietnam hops on the bandwagon

Nearly a dozen rice husk-fuelled power plants are underway in the Mekong Delta. They include two in An Giang province - one in the Hoa An industrial zone in Cho Moi district and the other in Thoai Son district.

The first plant is built on an 18 hectare lot with 10 MW capacity and total investment of over $10 million by Dong Thanh, a local company. The second plant also has 10 MW capacity and is built by a local firm, with a reported investment of $15 million. These two plants will consume around 240,000 tons of rice husks a year.

In Tien Giang province, the local authorities have approved a 10 MW rice-husk power plant worth $18.6 million.

In Dong Thap province, Duy Phat JS Company is licenced to build a 10 MW factory in Lap Vo district, at a cost of 296 billion dong ($16.4 million).

Kien Giang province is searching for a good place to build an 11 MW factory. By building this factory, the investor aims to earn emissions reductions offsets of over 27,000 tons of CO2 and CH4.

In Can Tho City the Dinh Hai Thermo-power JS Company has built a rice-husk power factory in Tra Noc industrial zone. This company is also cooperating with J-Power (Japan) to build another 10 MW plant in Thot Not district that will use around 80,000 tons of rice husk a year.

J-Power said that if this plant operates successfully, it will joint-venture 10-15 husk-fuelled plants in the Mekong Delta.

Vietnam economic growth speeds up in third quarter

http://www.businessweek.com/ap/finan.../D9IGRD8O0.htm

Vietnam's economy expanded at a faster pace in the third quarter, helped by higher industrial output and services, putting the country on track to exceed its 6.5 percent growth target for the full year.
Gross domestic product expanded 7.2 percent from a year earlier in the third quarter, compared with 6.4 percent in the second quarter, the government said Tuesday. Vietnam releases economic growth data just before the end of each quarter, based on estimates.
Economic growth in January through September was 6.5 percent, compared with 4.6 percent a year earlier, the General Statistics Office said.
Industrial production and construction expanded 7.3 percent in the first nine months of this year while services grew 7.2 percent, it said.

Vietnam joins race for biofuel
Published on: September 28, 2010 at 16:05
http://www.commodityonline.com/news/...32124-3-1.html

HANOI (Commodity Online) : Vietnam said it has intensified efforts to promote biofuel production in the country under the plan on biofuel development to 2015 with a vision to 2025.

According to country’s energy ministry, Vietnam is focussing on production of ‘green gasoline’ from cassava, coconut, sesame, peanut, flax and jatropha, and from animal products such as catfish fat.

The government has instructed ministries to give incentives for the production and use of biofuel, defined as fuel made from these raw materials.

Under the plan on biofuel development to 2015 with a vision to 2025, Vietnam will produce 1.8 million tons of ethanol and vegetable oils for use as fuel annually, meeting 5 percent of domestic petrol and diesel demand in the next 15 years.

Many countries already manufacture large amounts of biofuels, especially in the US and Brazil. Once a big importer of oil, Brazil has substantially reduced its requirement thanks to biofuel development.

Some Asian countries are strongly investing in biofuels, among them Thailand, China and India.

There are about four million hectares of deforested hill country in Vietnam – including more than half the Central Highlands – which are considered to be suitable for growing jatropha curcas, the crop that many countries use for biofuel.

Jatropha has a high oil content, and can produce the feedstock for one to three tons of bio-diesel per hectare.

Experimental plantations of jatropha bushes, which grow in poor soils and have a life cycle of 30 years, are being established. The Dong Xanh Joint Stock Company is planting 30,000 hectares of jatropha in seven central provinces to supply its ethanol plant in Quang Nam.

Dong Xanh JSC’s ethanol plant, the first in Vietnam, began operation in August. Its annual capacity is 100,000 tons of biofuel a year. The plant is already working at 70-80 percent of its designed capacity, supplying ethanol to state-owned Petrolimex. Its principal feedstock is cassava grown in Quang Nam and Binh Dinh provinces.

Petrolimex began selling bio-petrol (5 percent ethanol and 95 percent petrol) in August at filling stations in HCM City, Hanoi, Vung Tau, Hai Phong and Hai Duong and will add sales points in Da Nang, Hue and Can Tho this year. The biopetrol is offered at 500 dong per liter less than normal gas.

Three more ethanol plants with capacities in the 100,000 tons per year range are being built in the centre and north.

In Vietnam’s far south, refiners in Can Tho and An Giang are making bio-diesel from catfish fat, hitherto considered a waste material. The Mekong Delta factories currently process 30,000 tons of catfish fat each year.

The first plant producing biodiesel from catfish fat was inaugurated in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho in early 2009, ran by Minh Tu Co., Ltd. This plant can produce 50,000 liters of biodiesel a day. The plant has exported its product to Singapore.

By the end of 2011, Vietnam will have five biofuels plants with a total capital of 365,000 tons of ethanol, which, mixed with gasoline, will yield 7.3 million tons of E5 petrol.

The legal framework for biofuel production and trading in Vietnam is nearly complete.

Biofuel has been designated a key industry and biofuel production projects enjoy the highest level of investment incentives.

According to Government planners, from 2007 to 2010, Vietnam will finalise a legal framework to encourage the production and use of biofuel, design the roadmap for using biofuels in Vietnam, learning biofuel technologies, training human resources for this industry, zoning and developing material areas for biofuel, build biofuel plants to meet 0.4 percent of the country’s need for petrol by 2010. This start-up work is basically on schedule.

From 2011-2015, according to planners, Vietnam will begin to produce additives, enzymes and other materials for biofuels and expand their production, develop new varieties of high productivity, and expand biofuel plant capacity to satisfy 1 percent of the country’s need for petrol by 2015.

From 2016 to 2025, Vietnam will build an advanced biofuel industry that will produce 100 percent of the national requirement for E5 and B5 fuels, i.e., will provide five percent of the fuel needed to run the nation’s motor fleets.

Biofuels are a wide range of organic materials which are in some way derived from biomass and can be used to produce energy. The term covers solid biomass, liquid fuels and various biogases.

Ethanol is an alcohol made by fermenting the sugar components of plant materials and it is made mostly from sugar and starch crops. Using advanced technologies still under development, cellulosic biomass, such as trees and grasses, can also be used as feedstocks for ethanol production.

Ethanol can be used as a fuel for vehicles in its pure form, but it is typically used as a gasoline additive to increase octane and improve vehicle emissions.

Biodiesel is made from vegetable oils, animal fats or recycled greases. Biodiesel can be

used as a fuel for vehicles in its pure form, but it is usually used as a diesel additive to reduce levels of particulates, carbon monoxide, and hydrocarbons in emissions.

Biofuels in general have 70 per cent less CO2 emissions and 30 per cent less poisonous chemical emissions compared to petrol. Biofuel made from sugar has 89 per cent less CO2.

Compared to traditional fuel like coal and natural gas, biofuel produces less greenhouse gases, disintegrates faster and does less harm to water and land resources. It also causes less wear and tear on engines.

A United Nations Environment Programme report showed biofuels accounted for 1.8 per cent of transport fuel. Ethanol production tripled between 2000-07 and biodiesel production rose eleven-fold.

The UNEP report also said mandates to blend biofuel into fossil fuels for vehicles had been enacted in 17 countries by 2006, most requiring blending with 10-15 percent ethanol or 2-5 percent biodiesel.

Brazil exported 5 billion litres of ethanol in 2008. Its investment in biofuels rose to $4 billion in 2007 and had most likely risen substantially since then.

Vietnam to relax bank lending rules to boost loans

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSSGE68R03320100928

(Reuters) - Vietnam's central bank said it would let commercial banks lend money from a wider array of sources as of Oct. 1 to assuage concerns that new regulations would dampen lending and possibly hurt the economy.
However, a senior government adviser said the measures did not go far enough.
Bankers had voiced concern about the original rules, arguing they would hinder their ability to boost credit and lower interest rates. In response, and under pressure from the government, the central bank issued amendments late on Monday.
These allow banks to lend up to 25 percent of non-term deposits raised from economic institutions instead of keeping them as reserves. Banks can also lend money they have borrowed from the interbank market for terms of three months or longer.
A central feature of the new rules -- raising banks' capital adequacy ratio to 9 percent from 8 percent -- remained unchanged.
The benchmark Vietnam Index .VNI gained 1.1 percent on the news, but share traders remained wary. Many analysts had flagged the original set of rules as a potential damper on the market and economy, and had hoped for bigger changes.
"The market is unlikely to see a big rally because traders are still cautious and they will look at how commercial banks react to the new circular in the near term," said Doan Tran Phuong Phi, a broker at Ho Chi Minh City Securities.
Le Xuan Nghia, deputy director of the National Financial Supervisory Commission, said the amendments would not really help banks expand credit or cut interest rates. "The changes are not large enough to boost lending," he said.
Central bank Governor Nguyen Van Giau has defended the original rules, saying they would make the banking sector safer. He also warned even stricter rules would take effect from January because of amendments to the law on credit institutions.
Earlier this year the central bank asked banks to restrict their interbank borrowing to less than 20 percent of deposits.
Dong lending rates range from 13 percent to 15.5 percent, although the government wants them cut to 12 percent. Banks promised in May to get nearer that level by the end of September.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/rad...k=MW_news_stmp

Radient Pharmaceuticals Signs 5-Year Exclusive Distribution Agreement for Its Onko-Sure Cancer Test in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos




TUSTIN, CA, Sep 28, 2010 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- Through its subsidiary AMDL Diagnostics Inc., Radient Pharmaceuticals Corporation /quotes/comstock/14*!rpc/quotes/nls/rpc (RPC 0.76, +0.02, +2.68%) , a US-based company specializing in the research, development, and international commercialization of In Vitro Diagnostic (IVD) cancer tests, announced today it has entered into an exclusive 5-year full-service distribution agreement with Phu Gia Trading Co. Ltd. to expand the Company's Onko-Sure(TM) IVD cancer test into the Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia healthcare markets.
Phu Gia has committed to purchase a minimum of 2,425 Onko-Sure(TM) kits over the duration of the agreement. Phu Gia Trading Co. Ltd. will represent RPC while obtaining regulatory clearances and providing marketing, sales, and distribution services for Onko-Sure in diagnostic centers and clinical labs throughout the designated territory. Marketing, sales and distribution services include developing product localization strategies; representing Radient Pharmaceuticals and its Onko-Sure IVD cancer test at relevant healthcare conferences and events; and ensuring all relevant product marketing materials are available in local languages. The Phu Gia customer service team will also be responsible for responding to customer inquiries and technical questions. Phu Gia will work directly with the Vietnam Ministry of Health and other government officials to secure approvals and regulatory clearances.
"Our full-service distribution partnership with Radient allows us to work closely with top diagnostic centers and clinical labs in Vietnam, and reach healthcare professionals across the designated territories of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. Cancer continues to be one of our gravest healthcare challenges and Onko-Sure offers a valuable new tool for cancer detection and cancer treatment monitoring," commented Jack Nguyen, President, Phu Gia. "We plan to commit extensive outreach resources to oncology thought leaders along with automating the Onko-Sure test at top labs -- including the Ho Chi Minh Diagnostic Centre, to increase cancer testing across our region."
"With a significant cancer challenge, Asia continues to show an increased demand for cancer diagnostic products like Onko-Sure," commented Mr. Douglas MacLellan, Executive Chairman and CEO of RPC. "Phu Gia becomes our third distribution partner for Onko-Sure in the rapidly expanding Asia healthcare market, and we feel confident in our ability to gain strong market share throughout the region as we establish long-term agreements with well positioned partners like Phu Gia."
Onko-Sure is a simple, non-invasive, patent-pending and regulatory-approved in vitro diagnostic test that enables physicians and their patients to effectively monitor and/or detect certain types of cancers by measuring the accumulation of specific breakdown products in the blood called Fibrin and Fibrinogen Degradation Products (FDP). FDP levels rise dramatically with the progression of cancer. Onko-Sure is approved by the US FDA for the monitoring of colorectal cancer and by Health Canada for lung cancer detection and treatment monitoring.
RPC Contact Information: For additional information on Radient Pharmaceuticals, ADI and its portfolio of products visit the Company's corporate website at www.radient-pharma.com. For Investor Relations information contact Kristine Szarkowitz at [email protected] or 1.206.310.5323.
About Radient Pharmaceuticals: Headquartered in Tustin, California, Radient Pharmaceuticals is dedicated to saving lives and money for patients and global healthcare systems through the deployment of our Onko Sure(TM) In Vitro Diagnostic cancer test. Our focus is on the discovery, development and commercialization of unique high-value diagnostic tests that help physicians answer important clinical questions related to early disease detection; treatment strategy; and the monitoring of disease progression, prognosis, and diagnosis to ultimately improve outcomes for patients. Radient Pharmaceutical's current Onko-Sure(TM) cancer test is used to guide decisions regarding patient treatment, which may include decisions to refer patients to specialists, perform additional testing, or assist in the selection of therapy. To learn more about our company, people and potentially life-saving cancer test, visit www.radient-pharma.com.
Forward Looking Statements: Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: The statements contained in this document include certain predictions and projections that may be considered forward-looking statements under securities law. These statements involve a number of important risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially including, but not limited to, the performance of joint venture partners, as well as other economic, competitive and technological factors involving the Company's operations, markets, services, products, and prices. With respect to Radient Pharmaceuticals Corporation, except for the historical information contained herein, the matters discussed in this document are forward-looking statements involving risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements.

Japan plans to mine rare earth metals in Viet Nam
http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2010/10/23/5087307.htm
TOKYO, Oct 23, 2010 (China Daily - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Japan plans to mine in Vietnam for rare earth metals used in high-tech manufacturing, officials said Friday.

Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan and Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung are expected to agree on the proposed deal in Hanoi later this month, a trade ministry official said.

Japanese trade minister Akihiro Ohata said Vietnam has a promising potential for rare earths production, and Tokyo wants to jointly work with Hanoi on the exotic metals.

Rare earths are crucial in advanced manufacturing such as computer disk drives, mobile phones and hybrid car components.

Trade Ministry official Hideyuki Wakutsu said Japan and Viet Nam will set up a joint venture to mine rare earths in the Southeast Asian country. He gave no further details.

Young, bold and confident — Indonesia, Vietnam are Asia's new economic stars
http://www.chinapost.com.tw/commenta...Young-bold.htm

The scene: a coffee shop in a modern shopping center in Jakarta. Nineteen-year-old Shiela and her friends are nursing their 30,000 rupiah (about US$3.35) cups of iced milk tea while keeping their eyes glued to their Blackberry smartphones as they rapidly pound out what may be their thousandth message of the day.



Shiela represents the consumer segment now being targeted by big multinational brands, such as Nokia, Swatch and Coca-Cola. This group of consumers in the 15-20 age bracket tend not to save or display personal independence, preferring instead to support brands favored by their friends. One Indonesian marketing expert describes these young spenders as “ABG,” or “anak baru gede,” meaning “kids who've just grown up,” and it is they who form the backbone of the emerging middle class that will drive Indonesia's economic growth in the coming decade.
Another scene, this time along Dong Khoi, the premier shopping street in Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City. Thirty-one year-old single mother Nguyen Phi Nhu and her friends brave a downpour to exercise their passion for shopping. Nguyen is a mid-level manager for the Ho Chi Minh City branch of multinational pharmaceutical Abbott S.A., and she also owns her own public relations firm.
These well-educated, high-income women employed by foreign companies pattern themselves after the main characters of the U.S. TV series Sex and the City, yearning for the same economic independence, freedom to consume and enjoyment of life exhibited by Carrie Bradshaw and her friends.
For Indonesia and Vietnam, the times, indeed, are changing.
The archipelago of 10,000 islands endured a decade of suffering in the 1990s, dragged down by the dictatorship of then president Suharto, fierce ethnic clashes and the Asian Financial Crisis. But it has since rebounded, receiving kudos this year from the New York Times: “After years of inefficiency, Indonesia emerges as an economic model.”
Torn asunder in the past by uninterrupted military conflict and now under the autocratic control of the Communist Party, Vietnam gained prominence in the eyes of global investors even earlier than Indonesia as a land of new opportunities. In December 2005, investment bank Goldman Sachs named Vietnam as one of the “Next Eleven” economies expected to “be the next BRICS” of the 21st century, and in a research report in April 2008, the bank called Vietnam “the next Asian Tiger in the making.” The Southeast Asian country was also included among the Economist Intelligence Unit's “CIVETS” (Colombia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey and South Africa), considered as emerging markets to watch over the next 10 years.
The 320 million people living in Indonesia and Vietnam have seen their lives change dramatically from the turmoil of the past to the robust economic growth of the present, a transition that has left them more confident than ever, despite the recent global financial crisis.
Of the four BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India and China), only China and India experienced strong economic growth in turbulent 2009. Growth rates of 4.5 percent in Indonesia and 5.3 percent in Vietnam far outpaced the negative growth seen in Brazil and Russia.
With both countries expected to grow by over 6 percent in 2010, multinational corporations and investment banks are pouring in, sending foreign direct investment (FDI) soaring again. Indonesia's stock market has risen 40 percent this year, the highest in Asia. Two major factors have enabled these two stars to shine brightly in the night: China's economic restructuring and the rise of a new Asian Way.



“When China raises its wages, we see manufacturers start to relocate. We benefit a lot from the relocation,” admits Mari E. Pangestu, Indonesia's trade minister, in a recent interview with CommonWealth Magazine. But to take full advantage of the opportunity, Indonesia must adjust its own policies as China restructures and open its arms to welcome foreign manufacturers, she says, confident her country will meet the challenge.
“But it's not like that kind of foot-loose relocation. They don't move just because later on labor will get cheaper somewhere else — in Africa, Latin America. The pattern is changing. They are diversifying their production in different areas, and for different specializations. I think it [Indonesia] has become more specialized and the best place for them in the global value chain,” says Pangestu in fluent English. Indonesia's stable supply of labor, growing domestic demand, and continuing political reforms all have factored into foreign companies' decision to develop a presence there.
In its report “Asia Macro Views” released this September, Citigroup argued that with wages in China rising 15-20 percent, Beijing would imitate the roads taken by Taiwan and South Korea in the 1980s to upgrade their economies, and that would leave Indonesia and Vietnam among the winners in the resulting shake-up of Asia's manufacturing chain.
As Indonesia and Vietnam boast minimum wages merely a third of what Foxconn Technology Group (aka Hon Hai) pays its employees in China, they will be the countries that absorb the manufacturers leaving the Middle Kingdom.
Taiwanese companies, which have been active around the world, have long been Vietnam's biggest “real” source of FDI.
According to Vietnam's statistics bureau, South Korea and Japan rank ahead of Taiwan as FDI sources.
“But that's because when Taiwanese companies first started investing in Vietnam, they invested through Hong Kong or offshore companies or even Vietnamese companies,” Ho Quoc Phi, deputy representative of Vietnam Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei, explains in fluent Chinese.
“Taiwanese businesses have invested more than US$20 billion in Vietnam. There is no doubt that Taiwan is one of our most important partners,” he says.
Many Taiwanese businessmen operating abroad are now paying even more attention to Indonesia.
When Taiwan's economics minister Shih Yen-shiang took a rare session off from reporting to the Legislature at the beginning of October, it was to lead a trade and investment delegation of more than 100 people to Indonesia, the biggest delegation Taiwan had sent there in recent memory. Joining the group were the chairman of the Taiwan Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers' Association, Arthur Chiao, and Teco Group chairman Theodore Huang. In June this year, Nissan Motor Company, Japan's third-largest carmaker, announced it would invest US$20 million to double its annual car production in Indonesia to 100,000 vehicles in three years and increase sales there from 20,000 units in 2009 to 90,000 units. Global shoe giant Reebok also plans to expand capacity in the country. The Taiwan-based Pou Chen Group, which already ranks as the biggest foreign enterprise in Indonesia, is expecting to increase its work force to 120,000 employees, from 70,000 at present.



The second factor helping Vietnam and Indonesia gain attention is the rise of a new Asian Way, dictated by the need to overhaul Asia's export-oriented growth model to cope with an anticipated prolonged period of economic sluggishness in Europe and the United States.
The latest report from the Asian Development Bank asserted that Asia's manufacturing network must phase out its export-oriented model and focus on domestic demand. The new Asian Way will no longer concentrate on vertical integration to serve the European and American markets, but will instead emphasize horizontal integration among Asian countries to serve the region's own end-markets.

The Youngest Domestic Demand Markets
Indonesia and Vietnam, with populations of 230 million and 86 million people, are among Asia's most dynamic countries, bursting with vitality. That's why foreign enterprises consider the two countries, along with China, to be “future markets” that cannot be ignored. Over 45 percent of their population falls in the 15-29 age bracket, amounting to nearly 100 million people, and many are avid consumers.
Nowhere is that enthusiasm for spending money more evident than at Jakarta's upscale shopping centers, including the Pacific Place Mall, where Taiwan-based DinTaiFung restaurant has an outlet that has built a loyal following among members of this emerging middle class. R. Survander, a 28-year-old wedding planner, and his friends, for instance, visit the restaurant twice a week, spending over 200,000 rupiah (US$22) each time.
In both Indonesia and Vietnam, there are a growing number of young people such as Survander who have no inhibitions about consuming.
The middle class will soon grow rapidly, predicts Robby Susatyo, the managing director of the Indonesian branch of global market research firm Synovate. Half of Indonesia's population spends between 1 million and 2 million rupiah (US$112 to US$224) a month, often going through their wages soon after collecting them.

Confident in the Future, Eager to Spend
Even though young people in Vietnam and Indonesia have average incomes far lower than in Europe and the United States, they are seemingly unafraid to consume. According to Chris Von Selle, CEO of advertising agency JWT Vietnam, who has also lived in Malaysia, the Philippines and Dubai, this is because they have never experienced the conflict of war, and they were also not really affected by the first Asian Financial Crisis in 1997. “Most of them only know one direction-and that is 'up,'” he asserts.
A common trait among these emerging middle class consumers is their passion for high-tech gadgets and international brands. Though it may be hard to believe, BlackBerry's fastest growing market in the world is Indonesia, with the number of units sold growing four-fold in 2009 and doubling this year. In this archipelago with the world's fourth biggest population, BlackBerry has defeated the king of smartphone brands, the iPhone. According to a CNN report, small mobile phone retailers in Jakarta sell only one iPhone a day, compared to five BlackBerry smartphones that, for a fee of US$20 a month, allow users to surf the Internet and chat.
Private consumption accounts for 60 percent of Indonesia's economy and 40 percent of Vietnam's economy, and unlike in Taiwan, it is a key engine of growth in both countries.
As urbanization accelerates, a middle class consisting of more than 100 million people with annual per capita income exceeding US$5,000 is being born. In this post-financial crisis era, Asia's newest economic stars are poised to take off. Translated from CommonWealth magazine by Luke Sabatier. Additional reading selections can be found at http://english.cw.com.tw.

Vietnam Money-Pressures build though cbank says keep dong stable
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSSGE69O06C20101025

Oct 25 (Reuters) - The Vietnamese dong VND= sunk on Monday to its lowest level ever on the unofficial market, traders said, and the central bank looked set to combat the downward pressure by selling dollars to select firms instead of devaluing.
The dong fell to 20,140/20,190 per dollar at 0530 GMT on Monday at a major gold shop in Hanoi, slipping 1.5 percent from last Monday.
Dealers at two gold shops in Hanoi said Monday's level was the lowest in history.
The State Bank of Vietnam has devalued the currency three times since last November with the currency under pressure from inflation fears, a persistent trade deficit and widespread expectations that it will continue on its downward track.
Last Tuesday, SBV Governor Nguyen Van Giau rejected market rumours of another dong devaluation, saying the central bank had no plans to adjust the dollar/dong exchange rate, even though the dong's value has been dropping. [ID:nHAN476684]
The central bank, however, may sell dollars to several commercial banks to help meet demand for essential goods imports, the online newspaper VnExpress (vnexpress.net) quoted an unidentified central bank official as saying. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^ For the latest interest rate fixings, click <VNIBOS For details on open market operations SBVOMO2010 For the latest SBV banking review, click [ID:nSGE69J05T] ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^>
Vuong Thai Dung, deputy general director of Petrolimex, Vietnam's top petrol and gas distributor, said the firm had asked the central bank for help in securing dollars.
"We have received information that we can have dollars from the commercial banks that we do business with, but we have not started disbursing for our import contracts yet," Dung said.
He said the dollars will be used for import contracts Petrolimex has signed with foreign partners earlier this year.
Meanwhile, two government advisers said there was no need for a change in the foreign exchange rate at this point.
The central bank still had means to stabilise the market, the Vietnam Economic Times quoted Cao Sy Kiem, a member of the National Monetary and Financial Policy Advisory Council, as saying in an online report (vneconomy.vn) on Friday.
A devaluation would worsen Vietnam's foreign debt burden and lead to higher imported inflation, he said.
The central bank-run Banking Times on Monday quoted Tran Hoang Ngan, another member of the council, as saying a devaluation would not necessarily spur exports.
"Vietnam has to import materials for producing export goods, therefore net exports are not so large. I think we should not change the rate in the short term," he said.
Psychology and soaring gold prices were driving the market, Ngan said.
But Le Dang Doanh, an independent economist and former government adviser, said liquidity was tight because of rising demand for dollars heading into year-end end and hoarding by speculators hoping to smuggle gold into the country.

"Vietnam still has room for further devaluation this year as the local currency has kept losing value since 2007," Doanh said, even though the dong has fallen 5.52 percent so far this year.
MARKET SUMMARY - Oct 25 Oct 18 Change
(pct) VND onshore interbank quotes VND=VN 19,490 19,498
0.04 VND unofficial VNDUNOFF= 20,120 19,850 -1.36 Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange index .VNI 448.61 457.59 -1.96 Hanoi Stock Exchange index .HNXI 111.77 118.89 -5.99
NEWS HIGHLIGHTS
- Vietnam's October annual inflation was estimated at 9.66 percent while the consumer price index rose 1.05 percent from September, the government statistics office said. [ID:nHAN482431]
- Vietnam has projected a stubbornly wide $13.5 billion trade deficit this year despite a rise in exports of 19.1 percent, three times the initial target. [ID:nHAN476178] ($1=19,450 dong) (Reporting by Ngo Thi Ngoc Chau; Editing by John Ruwitch)

India, Malaysia announce comprehensive economic pact

http://sify.com/news/india-malaysia-...1oabiggbd.html


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Putrajaya, Oct 27 (IANS) India and Malaysia Wednesday announced the conclusion of negotiations on the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA), saying it would take the bilateral engagement to new heights.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Malaysian counterpart Najib Tun Razak said the agreement will be signed by Jan 31, 2011, and come into force July 1.

Razak said the two countries had concluded 'very productive' bilateral discussions.

He told a joint news conference that when he visited New Delhi in January this year, his desire was to make Manmohan Singh's return trip 'equally significant and historic'.

He called CECA a corner stone of India-Malaysia relations and said this will unleash tremendous potential in trade, investment and other economic linkages.

The Malaysian leader described himself as a great admirer of Manmohan Singh for 'transforming India into an economic powerhouse'.

He said they also discussed military cooperation, maritime security, terrorism, higher education, and visa issues.

Manmohan Singh said his discussions in Malaysia had laid the basis for a multifaceted partnership between the two countries.

He said CECA 'will transform our economic engagement in a very substantive way'.

The discussions between the two leaders, he said, had laid the basis for a 'multi-faceted partnership between India and Malaysia'.

They had agreed to work closely on a gamut of issues including on ways to battle terrorism.

Later, while delivering the Khazanah Global Lecture, the prime minister said disarmingly: 'I have spoken today about many things that bring us together and that can continue to keep us together. Indeed, there is no issue that divides us at present.'

India and Malaysia also signed six agreements - freezing the CECA agreement, traditional medicine, cooperation in IT and services, cooperation in tourism, cultural exchange programme and a pact with India's Centre for Science and Industrial Research (CSIR) on research and development.

The agreements were signed in the presence of the two leaders by Commerce Minister Anand Sharma and Secretary (East) Lata Reddy from the Indian side.

Manmohan Singh arrived here Tuesday on the second leg of a three-nation Asia tour that has already taken him to Japan. He leaves here Thursday for Vietnam where he will take part in the India-ASEAN Summit and the East Asia Summit.

Intel to open billion-dollar chip plant in Vietnam
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HANOI — The world's biggest chip maker, Intel, will on Friday open in Vietnam a billion-dollar assembly and test facility billed as the company's biggest, as the country vies to move up the technology ladder.
Vietnamese government leaders and officials of the US firm will cut a ribbon to inaugurate the plant in Ho Chi Minh City four years after it was conceived.
The opening of the high-tech facility comes as analysts say communist Vietnam risks losing out both to poorer, lower-wage nations and richer ones that are more innovative and have a higher-quality labour force.
Vietnam's economy depends too much on exploitation of natural resources and its industry, often dominated by large state-owned groups, lacks dynamism, Vietnam's Academy of Social Sciences (VASS) and the World Bank said in a joint report in August.
The country is the world's second-largest exporter of rice and of coffee. Seafood, footwear and garment shipments are other key earners.
But the Intel facility is a sign that Vietnam is "moving up the food chain toward increasingly sophisticated manufacturing", said Adam Sitkoff, executive director of the American Chamber of Commerce Vietnam.
"Intel's investment in Vietnam is undoubtedly a vote of confidence" in the country, said Leon Perera, group managing director of Spire Research and Consulting in Singapore.
The investment proves that Vietnam is benefiting from the need of multinational companies to diversify beyond China, Perera said.
"Intel was the first major foreign high-technology investor in Vietnam and the factory... is the largest computer equipment and manufacturing plant" in the country, Intel says on its website.
The facility, one of seven worldwide, is projected to employ up to 4,000 people when it reaches full production of the chips used in personal computers, Intel says.
Sitkoff said these are "higher-quality jobs for Vietnamese people".
Intel says it aims "to develop a stronger digital workforce, integrate technology into education and government, and make technology more accessible for business and consumers within Southeast Asia."
Company executives were not available for interviews before the plant's opening.
Intel says the 500,000-square-foot (45,000 square metres) plant is its largest single assembly and test facility.
It could attract other high-tech firms to Vietnam, Sitkoff said.
"Usually when Intel goes somewhere, that's a sign to other technology companies that they can go there also," he said.
With its labour-cost advantage over China, closeness to the Chinese market, and participation in regional free trade pacts, Vietnam "may be well suited for assembly of IT products", Perera said.
When the Intel project was launched four years ago, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung hailed it as a move that would encourage foreign investment "especially in the field of information and communication technology".
An obstacle could be Vietnam's relatively underdeveloped logistics industry, although this is being corrected by government and private-sector investments, Perera said.
"For some categories of products, the lack of a well-developed supplier base implies the need for import of key components, placing a burden on the logistics industry," he said.
"Another obstacle would be the relative scarcity of English speakers as compared to Malaysia, or even Thailand and China."
Vietnam's science and technology standards are low compared with regional rivals, VASS president Do Hoai Nam has said.
He added the country's economic infrastructure is not well-developed, there is a lack of specialisation and competitiveness and a shortage of skilled workers.