Post and Telematics Ministry calls for new telecom cables

16:03' 06/06/2007 (GMT+7)

Photo: seaengineering.com VietNamNet Bridge – The Ministry of Post and Telematics (MoPT) has ordered telecom companies to hasten research of and participation in undersea optical cable projects to ensure national information security. A representative of the MoPT’s Telecommunications Department said that this was one of the measures that the ministry had instructed telecom companies and Departments of Post and Telecommunications of coastal provinces to initiate to deal with the current situation as communication between Vietnam and the world depends on only two optical cable routes, SMW3 and TVH. The latter is now being repaired as it was illegally cut. Another measure is speeding up the construction of the broad-band optical cable system directly connecting Southeast Asia and the US, called AAG international gate, to put this system into operation before 2008. The Vietnam Post and Telecommunications Group (VNPT) has been urged to coordinate with foreign partners to repair the TVH optical cable route as soon as possible. The MoPT, under the guidance of the Prime Minister, will chair a meeting with related ministries and agencies to discuss cooperation in protecting telecom cable routes. Source VietNamNet

President receives British Telecom delegation

09:11' 06/06/2007 (GMT+7)

VietNamNet Bridge - Vietnam is undertaking reforms within the country for the sole purpose of maintaining sustainable economic growth, President Nguyen Minh Triet said. President Triet made the remark to a delegation from the telecommunications giant British Telecom (BT) led by BT'S Asia Pacific President Allen Ma, on June 5. President Triet said that Vietnam has become and will continue to be an attractive investment destination for major British companies such as BP, and Prudential. The Vietnamese leader urged British Telecom to look at cooperating with relevant Vietnamese agencies to carry out projects and programmes for the benefit of all. Ma expressed his admiration for Vietnam 's socio-economic achievements over the last two decades and said he believed after the country's successful entry into the WTO last year, Vietnam is now on the cusp of a very bright future. Ma concluded by saying that British Telecom is eager to work with Vietnam in upgrading the country's information technology infrastructure, and is also prepared to help Vietnamese software businesses export their products. (Source: VNA)

US performers to raise funds for visually-impaired children

10:11' 06/06/2007 (GMT+7)

VietNamNet Bridge – Multicultural Education and Counselling through the Arts (MECA), a US community-based non-profit organisation, will be performing at the Youth Theatre in Hanoi this Friday evening. Ay chihuahua: Members of MECA Mariachi will travel to Hanoi for the first time to perform at a charity benefit concert. Come with MECA will feature jazz, classical and folk music. Trumpeter David Dove will be rubbing shoulders with Vietnamese group Giai Dieu Xanh (Green Melody) and perform works by Francisco Tarrega and Fernando Sor, among others. Expat Vietnamese guitarist Nguyen Quang Binh will also be giving a solo-performance. MECA Mariachi, the non-profit organisation's 30-member band, will be spicing up proceedings with hot Mexican melodies such as the Maya Song and the Song of Farmer. The performance is part of MECA's campaign to raise funds for disadvantaged children around the world. Proceeds from the night will go to Nguyen Dinh Chieu School for the blind. Tickets can be purchased by calling (04) 9434673 or by visiting Youth Theatre's box office at 11 Ngo Thi Nham Street in Hanoi. (Source: Viet Nam News)

Vietnamese consumers looking at Chinese goods with wariness

08:47' 06/06/2007 (GMT+7)

VietNamNet Bridge – Chinese goods have been flooding Vietnam like they have been dominating the world’s market. However, Vietnamese consumers now keep cautious when using Chinese products. Why can China-made goods dominate Vietnam’s market? Because they are very cheap and diversified in design. Why do Vietnamese consumers keep cautious now when using Chinese products? Because they are toxic. This also explains why the US and European markets try to boycott China-made products. Chinese-made products dirt cheap… China-made products can be seen everywhere, from the big ones like motorbikes or cars, to very small ones like screws or glue. China-made motorbikes, for example, once flooded Vietnam’s market thanks to their surprisingly low prices compared to the products sourced from Japan, Republic of Korea or Thailand. A Dream motorbike assembled in Vietnam or Thailand is priced at several tens million dong, while a China-made motorbike was sold at VND5-7mil, a Japan-sourced @ motorbike is selling at several thousand dollars, while a China-made luxury motorbike is just valued at $1,000 at maximum, which prove to be affordable for low income earners, who still want status symbols. China-made electronics and home appliances have also been dominating the domestic market. TV sets, VCD and DVD players, electric pans, cookers, screws and TV antenna all can be China-made products. A Tiger electric cooker made in Japan is priced at $1.5mil, a Philips cooker sourced from the Netherlands at VND800,000, from Thailand at VND500,000, while the same product made in China is selling at VND120,000 only. Clothes, footwear, watches, food and children’s toys are also the products which were once favoured by Vietnamese consumers. The appearance in the domestic market has been causing a headache to local producers, who do not understand why Chinese producers can make things at such low production costs. … and very toxic Over the last few years, Vietnamese consumers whispered in each other’s ears that China-sourced eggs are not rotten and fruits are not spoiled even if they are kept unused for a long time. They said that the food and fruits may be covered by a kind of chemical substance, but they do not have any proof. Mrs Hoa, a saleswoman of fruits at Tan Thanh border gate, said that Chinese fruits are 30-40% cheaper than other domestically grown ones, therefore they are still being consumed well. Several days ago, Vietnamese women were shocked when hearing about the news that lipsticks with sudan that can cause cancer made in China were found. It is unclear how many Vietnamese women, who like cosmetics but cannot afford expensive products, have used this kind of very cheap lipstick. After that, Vietnamese consumers were, once again, shocked when hearing about the discovery of diethylene glycol, the substance that can cause cancer, in the tooth paste made in China. Other consumer products like bedding, children’s clothes and toys all are believed to contain toxic substances, which can harm human health. Most recently, Sydney Morning Herald, a newspaper in Australia has made public the documents showing that the bedding with the trademark Sheridan Indugence that Australia imports from China has the formaldehyde content which is 10 times higher than the allowed level. The information has been worrying Vietnamese consumers as blankets and pillows made in China are being used in many families throughout the country. Vietnamese consumers now consider the phrase “the cheapest are the dearest” when talking about Chinese goods. (Source: VN Net)

Summer vacation: high-grade tours favoured

14:14' 05/06/2007 (GMT+7)

More and more Vietnamese people travel abroad. VietNamNet Bridge – High-class tourism products have become quite popular in Vietnam. Tours to local luxurious resorts and villas and foreign tours are more and more attractive to Vietnamese people. In the first five months of 2007, there were nearly 1,000 Vietnamese people bought tours to four-star resorts and hotels, up 35% year on year, according to the Hanoi Travel Company. The firm expects to attract around 700 to 1,000 visitors of this kind in June and July. According to local travel companies, it is a good sign for travel firms as more Vietnamese are buying high-class tours because this kind of tourists have high level of spending (over VND500,000/person/day) and often buy long tours of 4-5 days. Foreign tours are also the choice of many Vietnamese tourists this year. According to the Vinatour International Tourism and Trade Joint Stock Company, the most attractive foreign tours to Vietnamese travelers are tourism-shopping tours to Singapore, Malaysia, China and Hong Kong. The number of visitors to Hong Kong and China soared early this year, three times more than the same period of 2006. The HCM City Department of Tourism reported more than 300,000 Vietnamese visitors going abroad in the past five months, up by 30% year on year. Some 50,000 people registered for foreign tours in May only, mainly tours to China, Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand. Tours to Europe, the US, North, the Republic of Korea, and Egypt are also selected by many visitors. Along with the increasing need for high-class tours, provinces and cities in Vietnam have focused on developing high-class tourism products on a large scale. For example, the northern province of Ha Tay has begun to implement large-scale tourism projects to realise its goal to become a centre of tourism in the north. Specifically, the construction of a resort with 36-hole golf course worth US$22 million will be kicked off in Chuong My district this third quarter by the DK ENC Company from the Republic of Korea. Another $200 million project to upgrade the tourism site at King Pond – Bang Ta – Tan Vien valley has been licenced while a $97 million project to build a golf course, high-grade apartment blocks, a five-star hotel, an entertainment zone and a shopping mall is planned. Ha Tay’s officials said that some investors from Japan and Australia want to participate in this project. Along with designing the tourism development plan for the Ba Vi National Park, Ha Tay province has kicked off the An Khanh ecological tourist site project worth VND343 billion (US$21.43 million). The province also develops new tours to famous pagodas like Huong Pagoda, Thay Pagoda, Dau Pagoda, Tay Phuong pagoda and to craft villages like Phu Vinh bamboo – rattan village in Chuong My district, Chuyen My mother-of-pearl inlaying village in Phu Xuyen district and Son Dong statue in Hoai Duc district. In the central province of Quang Ngai, the local administration has granted an investment licence to the Qudos Hoian Company Limited to build the high-class Qudos Hoi An tourist site in Cam An ward, Hoi An town with total investment of $18 million. The project will complete after 33 months. (Source: TBKTVN)

OTC share prices plunge as investors hunt Bao Viet

08:06' 06/06/2007 (GMT+7)

VietNamNet Bridge – The prices of a lot of OTC share items drop dramatically as investors try to sell OTC shares to buy Bao Viet’s which prove to have reasonable prices and promise big profit. On June 4, just one day after the result on Bao Viet’s share auction was announced, investors hurried to sell OTC shares to take back money for injecting in Bao Viet’s shares. The websites specializing on OTC share trading were all full of the offers on selling OTC share. There were also the offers on selling Bao Viet’s shares at VND70-80,000 (the average auctioned price of Bao Viet’s shares was VND73,910/share). OTC shareholders now rush to sell OTC shares, including both the little known ones, and blue-chips (banks, real estate, securities and petroleum companies). This has resulted in the dramatic decreases of OTC shares. Hoang Anh – Gia Lai, Eximbank, Mai Linh, Phu My Fertiliser, Hoa Phat Hanoi, Phu Thai, Phuong Nam Bank, An Binh Bank all saw the sharp price decreases. On the official stock market, the VN Index dropped by 15.26 points yesterday, June 4 due to the ‘effect of the Bao Viet phenomenon’. Trinh Hoai Nam, Director of the Brokerage Division under the Saigon Securities Incorporated (SSI) said that VND70-80,000/share would not be a high price level for Bao Viet’s shares. Investors expect that Bao Viet’s shares would increase in the time to come and that explains why they are hunting for the shares. According to Nguyen Ngoc Truong Chinh, Head of the OTC Share Brokerage Division under ACBS, it is understandable why investors are injecting money in Bao Viet’s shares. The prices of insurance companies’ shares on OTC market are all higher than VND100,000/share, while they do not own a big brand name like Bao Viet and have worse business result than Bao Viet. Meanwhile, experts have advised investors to keep cautious with the ‘Bao Viet’s share fever’. Huy Nam, a securities expert has recalled the Phu My Fertiliser case, where investors failed to gain the expected high profit. Analysts said that the biggest effect that the Bao Viet’s IPO could bring was that it could pull share prices down, while setting a precedent for the IPO of other companies, which will not see overly high prices. (Source: VNNet)

SBV’s decision on compulsory reserve rate surprises banks

16:42' 01/06/2007 (GMT+7)

VietNamNet Bridge – The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has decided to increase the compulsory VND reserve rate applicable to banks, and the decision seems to have been unexpected by banks. The rate is up from 5% to 10% for non-term and under-12-month Vietnamese dong savings at State owned banks, rural commercial banks, joint venture banks, foreign bank branches, and finance firms. For the Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam (Agribank), the rate is 8%. The decision, according to SBV, aims to help curb inflation this year. However, it seems to unsatisfactory to banks, as the news came unexpectedly. With the new compulsory reserve rate of 10% (if a bank mobilises VND10 in capital from the public, it will have to make a deposit of VND1, or 10% of VND10 at the central bank, and can only lend the other VND9). An official from SBV said that the capital at banks was now superfluous; therefore, it would be better for banks to make deposits at the central bank. Commercial banks will get interest for the deposits, which is better than leaving the capital idle and unprofitable. Moreover, raising the compulsory reserve rate can be considered a suitable tool aiming to stabilise currency value. In fact, over the last one year, when commercial banks all reported excess of usable capital, they tried to give more loans. The statistics showed the credit growth rate of 30% in the first quarter of the year. In February and March, the credit growth rates were reportedly very high, at 6% per month. “The required higher compulsory reserve rate will force banks to keep cautious when giving loans,” the official said. Nevertheless, experts have pointed out that in the long term, when capital become scarcer, the high compulsory reserve rate will have the reverse impact, as this will make banks’ expenses higher. With the high compulsory reserve rate, banks will have less capital to lend production and business, because their capital is deposited at the central bank. According to many bankers, the central bank should have consulted with commercial banks before making a decision. The director of a joint stock bank said that the excess of capital only happened with State owned banks and not joint stock banks. Therefore, the move by SBV would have bad impacts on joint stock banks’ operations. He stressed that the 30% credit growth rate is not big, and it is not necessary to curb the credit growth rate by requiring higher compulsory reserve. “There are two most important tasks that the central bank needs to harmonise: curbing inflation, and capitalising the national economy,” the director said. The new compulsory reserve rate: VND bank deposits Foreign currency bank deposits Credit institutions Demand deposits and less-than-12-month term deposits 12-24 month term deposits Demand deposits and less-than-12-month term deposits 12-24 month term deposits State owned commercial banks (not including Agribank), urban joint stock banks, joint venture banks, financial companies, finance leasing companies 10% (5%) 4% (2%) 10% (8%) 4% (2%) Agribank 8% (4%) 4% (2%) 10% (8%) 4% (2%) Rural joint stock banks, cooperation banks, central credit funds 4% (2%) 4% (2%) 10% (8%) 4% (2%) Note: The figures in brackets are the previously applied rates (Source: DTCK)

Vietnam to test type/H5N1 vaccine on humans

14:08' 05/06/2007 (GMT+7)

VietNamNet Bridge – The State Scientific and Technology Council has agreed in principle to test locally-made type A/H5N1 vaccine on humans, reported the Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, the vaccine producer. Scientists injected the vaccine for some monkeys and analysed those monkeys’ serum. After being diluted 64 times, scientists still found out a volume of antibody in the serum. This is the significant factor that makes scientists decide to test the vaccine on humans. The Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology is performing necessary formalities to get permission from the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Science and Technology for the test. The Nha Trang Vaccine and Bio-medical Institute also reports that it is completing its research of type A/H5N1 vaccine for humans. According to the institute’s director, Dr. Le Van Hiep, the institute has completed the production process of the vaccine on eggs with embryos and produced nine batches of vaccine (10,000 doses), which meet verification standards of the on-the-spot laboratory. The institute has sent 5,000 doses to the National Institute for Vaccine and Bio-medical Verification for testing. The institute will finalise this state project this year’s end. Notably, the production process of type A/H5N1 vaccine of the Nha Trang Vaccine and Bio-medical Institute is praised by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and this organisation has provided the institute with $25,000 for experimental production of the vaccine. The Nha Trang Vaccine and Bio-medical Institute is one of six units producing this kind of vaccine on a trial basis which is being considered by WHO to be granted with $2 million for their task. (Source: SGGP)