EU leaders to discuss new treaty

Germany is hoping for a deal to crown its presidency of the EU

EU leaders are preparing to meet in Brussels to discuss a treaty to help the union work more effectively.

A draft tabled by Germany recommends deep reforms, but not a constitution - an idea spurned by French and Dutch voters two years ago.

The paper makes several concessions to EU member states opposed to key parts of the failed constitution.

But Poland and the UK are still warning they could use their vetoes if they do not get their way on a new treaty.

'No super federal state'

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso told the BBC on Thursday that the revised treaty "is good for Britain".

"Britain - with this agreement that is on the table - will have more votes, will have much more votes," he told Radio 4's Today programme.

Failure would almost amount to humiliation for Germany's chancellor, Angela Merkel Mardell's thoughts in full

"It is good for all those who want to push forward an agenda of an open Europe, a modern Europe, a Europe that is efficient. It is not at all about creating a kind of super federal state. No one is proposing this. Why are we creating imaginary threats?"

The UK Foreign Secretary, Margaret Beckett, said Britain wanted a Europe "of sovereign nations, not a superstate".

The summit is intended to issue a mandate for an intergovernmental conference to agree the precise wording of a treaty to replace the failed constitution.

We realise we cannot stop the process [of reform] - that would be too risky for the future Jaroslaw Kaczynski Polish Prime Minister Q&A: EU constitution EU summit sticking points Q&A: Charter of Fundamental Rights

If it fails, it will plunge the EU into a political crisis as deep as the one that followed the rejection of the constitution by French and Dutch voters two years ago.

The German paper proposes that the new treaty is called "The Reform Treaty", accepts that the EU will not have a "foreign minister", and provides countries with a chance to opt out of EU policies in the area of policing and criminal law.

'Olive branch'

Correspondents say the biggest remaining problem for the UK could be Germany's continued support for the idea of making the EU's Charter of Fundamental Rights legally binding.

The UK fears this could allow the European Court to make decisions that would change British labour law.

The part of the constitution that Poland most disliked - the introduction of a new voting system for decisions taken by member states - is preserved in the latest German proposals, seen by the BBC.

However, the BBC's Oana Lungescu in Brussels says the German paper offers Poland a "discreet olive branch".

For the first time it mentions, in a footnote, that the Poles, backed by the Czechs, want to raise the idea of changing the voting system at the summit.

The new system would benefit larger member states to the detriment of smaller and medium-sized ones, and have the effect of reducing Poland's clout.

'50-50 chance of deal'

Despite his warnings of a possible veto, Polish Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski hinted that Warsaw could drop its opposition if it guaranteed a strong voice in EU decision-making.

HAVE YOUR SAY What kind of democracy is this when our own leaders are doing deals behind our backs? Philip Davies, UK Send us your comments

"We realise we cannot stop the process [of reform] - that would be too risky for the future," he told Reuters news agency.

He said there was a 50-50 chance of the summit ending in agreement.

Under the latest German proposals, Britain gets reassurances that the European Courts will have no power to examine foreign affairs policies.

And at the request of the Dutch, the draft gives more power to national parliaments to block EU laws.

But a Dutch proposal to enshrine criteria for further enlargement in the treaty, is not fully satisfied.

That would send a very negative signal to Balkan countries, an EU diplomat said.

BBC

Where to go this summer?

16:12' 21/06/2007 (GMT+7)

VietNamNet Bridge – Travel firms have said that the number of tourists registering for tours this summer has increased by 25-30%. More tourists, more new tours Saigontourist said that it had served more than 38,000 clients since the beginning of the summer tourism season (May and June), including 15,000 foreign tourists (+76%), and 23,000 Vietnamese tourists, who have gone on domestic and outbound tours. Fiditour also said that the number of tourists this summer had increased by 20-30%. The company served more than 1,500 tourists on the occasion of the Nha Trang Sea Festival alone. Tour operators said that most clients wanted tours to the sea to avoid the summer heat. Fiditour has launched a series of tours called “Blue sea and islands” with the destinations of Phu Quoc, Con Dao, Nha Trang and Quy Nhon. Vietnamese tourists now like outbound tours for their holidays, and their favourite destinations are neighbouring countries including China, Cambodia and Thailand. According to Saigontourist, China attracts Vietnamese travellers not only because of its landscapes and historical sites, but also because it’s a business destination. Travel firms all have reported that the number of travellers going to China is increasing sharply. 30% of Fiditour’s outbound tourists and 27% of Saigontourist’s clients go to China. In order to meet the increased demand for travelling, firms have been trying to offer many new tours. One of the tours is to visit Cambodia along the HCM City-Chau Doc-Phnom Penh-Siam Reap waterway (through Tinh Bien border gate); another is Brunei-Indonesia, with the main destinations of Bali tourism island, and Brunei-Kota Kinabalu. Tourists can also go to Russia and the US to enjoy Russian and American summers. More cruise travellers Cruise travelling has become a favourite of Vietnamese people. Travel firms now provide MICE tours to Malaysia and Singapore on the five-star Super Star Gemini. This is the first time Vietnam has provided MICE tours under the form of cruise-fly. The fees for MICE cruise tours are 20-30% higher than air tours: the tour to Malaysia and Singapore (five days and four nights) with five-star cruise for departure and fly back on return is priced at nearly $700. Travel and studying in one Most local travel firms have launched new tours targeting young clients, under which school boys and girls can go abroad for tourism and training courses at the same time. The tour to Singapore for studying English, for example, lasts two weeks and has package expenses of $1,700. The 4-week tour to Singapore and Malaysia costs $2,500. Saigontourist has introduced a tour to Nha Trang sea city for 6-9-class schoolboys, “Children Care”. The programme lasts four days, and costs VND1.6mil ($100). Nguyen Sa

Wall Street Journal issues special insert on Vietnam

11:18' 21/06/2007 (GMT+7)

VietNamNet Bridge – On June 20, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) – the most reputed economic daily in the US, issued a special four-page insert on Vietnam on the occasion of Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet’s US visit. The photo on Wall Street Journal. Vietnam – Asia's newest star rises The most outstanding images in the insert on Vietnam are the photo of Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet shaking hand with US President George Bush in Hanoi on the occasion of the APEC 2006 and the photo of the Hoan Kiem Lake in Hanoi. Vietnam is introduced by WSJ as a new rising star of Asia with economic achievements, the change of position in the international market, the strongly developing stock market of Vietnam, the country’s investment incentive policy, Vietnam’s cooperation with Microsoft to protect software copyright, Vietnam’s attractive golf courses, etc. This insert is on WSJ’s global issue totaling around 2.2 million copies, including more than 114,000 copies delivered in Europe, around 80,000 in Asia – Pacific, and nearly 2 million in the US. This is the first time the WSJ has an insert on Vietnam. The insert is produced by Vietnam’s 2B Media Company and US-based Partner Concepts Company. Vietnam – the focus of US media On those days, Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet’s US visit has attracted the special attention of the US media. American newspapers have reported this event as a very important one, which makes a landmark in the development of Vietnam-US relations. The Voice of America radio quoted Dr. Alexander Vuving, an expert on international relations and world security at the Belfer Institute of the Harvard University, as saying that the visit of Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet is special because this is the first Vietnamese President coming to the US. He also said that both Vietnam and the US expect that this visit will help bring the bilateral relations to a new height. In terms of economics, this visit and the signing of a framework agreement on trade and investment will promote economic cooperation between the two countries. This is the following step of the Vietnam-US Bilateral Trade Agreement signed in 2001 and the first step to a closer ties on trade, even to a free trade agreement. Murray Hiebert, US Chamber of Commerce’s Senior Director for Southeast Asia, emphasised that American companies consider Vietnam as a favourite destination for investment. American companies are eager for investment in Vietnam. The Washington Post on June 19 ran a half-page letter submitted by 10 American groups, describing the visit as a milestone in the development of Vietnam-US ties. The letter said that exports from the US to Vietnam had increased by 300 percent since the two countries signed the Bilateral Trade Agreement in 2000. Joining the World Trade Organisation earlier this year, Vietnam has became a full partner in the world business community. In their letter, the American businessmen praised Vietnam's economic reforms, describing it as having turned the country into one of the fastest growing economies and most promising markets in the world. Also in the June 19 edition, the Washington Post published President Triet's photo and flags of Vietnam and the US. The ten groups signing in the letter include AES, BrooksBower Asia, Boeing, Citigroup, DHL, GE Imagination At Work, GlaxoSmithKline, Microsoft, Qualcomm and Texas Pacific Group (TPG). During the visit to the US by President Triet from June 19-23, CNN will broadcast a video clip everyday entitled, "Vietnam: A New Horizon", highlighting achievements of the "Doi moi" (Renovation) process in Vietnam over the past 20 years in all fields. Compiled by PL

Gold price plunges, dollar skyrockets

12:54' 21/06/2007 (GMT+7)

VietNamNet Bridge – Gold has lost VND440,000/tael just in the last few days compared to early May. Meanwhile, the greenback, which keeps revaluating since the beginning of the year, saw sharp price increases in the last few days. Price drops, time to buy gold The gold price plunged to the deepest low in the last three months last week in the world’s market. On the morning of June 11, gold was traded at $650/oz in Asia, down by $15/oz from the previous week’s level. In Vietnam, SIC gold was traded at VND12,800,000/tael on June 11, down by nearly VND200,000/tael over the previous price level. The price decreases have prompted businessmen and speculators to push up trade. The trading volume at the Saigon gold trading floor made a record on June 11, reaching 9,100 taels, worth VND116bil. Gold traders in HCM City also rushed to place orders to import gold. A source said that within one week, nearly 10 tonnes of gold have been imported. Some traders ordered a large volume, 500-600kg of gold. The Saigon Jewellery Company (SJC) reported that it now could sell 5,000 taels of bar gold a day, an increase of 50% over the previous days. As the gold price fluctuates heavily, gold traders can make the fat profit of VND150,000/tael, an analyst guessed. The gold price began slipping on May 11, when the price slightly decreased to VND12,930,000/tael. After that day, the price keeps decreasing every day. By the end of the last week, the gold price had dropped by VND440,000/tael compared to the highest price level seen in May. Dollar escalating The dollar price has reached the VND16,120/US$1 level, the highest peak so far this year. On June 18, Vietcombank announced the purchasing and selling prices at VND16,095 and 16,130/US$1 respectively, increasing by VND55-68/US$1 compared to one month ago. In the last few days, commercial banks have been raising the gold purchasing prices in order to buy more dollars to provide to import companies. In the black market, the dollar price has also been increasing, approximate to the banks’ prices. Though the dollar price increases, the purchasing power from individuals remains unchanged. Several commercial banks, anticipating the dollar price increases, have decided the US$ deposit interest rates. The Military Bank has raised the interest rate by 0.6%, while Habubank by 0.05-0.5%. Bankers said that they offer higher interest rates in order to attract more capital in the context of the stronger dollar. The demand for borrowing dollars is increasing from import – export companies. Analysts said that the higher US$ deposit interest rates would lead to the higher VND deposit interest rates in the coming time, especially when the State Bank of Vietnam has required the higher compulsory reserve ratio, which would make the usable capital lower. How high can the prices jump? The gold and the dollar prices always go in the opposite ways. According to Huynh Trung Khanh, an expert, the gold price would see another increase wave at the end of this year. “The VND13,338,000/tael level in April would not be the highest peak of the year,” Mr Khanh said. He added that in the fourth quarter of the year, the greenback may decline in value against other foreign currencies, while the gold price would hit the $700/oz level. In the world’s market, the gold price has slightly increased on the devaluation of the greenback after the news about the unsatisfactory CPI of the US. However, Eximbank’s experts still forecast that the gold price would see further decreases. Meanwhile, a banker said that the dollar may decrease in the time to come for two reasons. He said that the dollar price increased because of the higher demand for dollars to make payment for export – import deals. The VND/US$ exchange rate may see further increase in some days, but it is hardly to exceed the VND17,000/US$1 level as seen in mid 2006. “The foreign currency reserve at the central bank proves to be profuse, while the overseas remittance is big. The imbalance between supply and demand does not exist, therefore, there would not be sharp price increases,” he said. (Source: SGTT)

Vietnamese President attends education forum in New York

14:42' 21/06/2007 (GMT+7)

President Nguyen Minh Triet, Deputy Prime Minister Pham Gia Khiem and Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Thien Nhan at the forum (photo: AP) VietNamNet Bridge – President Nguyen Minh Triet, Deputy Prime Minister Pham Gia Khiem and Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Thien Nhan on June 20 participated in a forum on Vietnam’s higher education in New York. The forum, titled “Higher education: Driving-force of development”, started at 9am, June 20 (local time) and was presided over by former US Senator Bob Kerrey, President of The New School, and professor Henry Rosovsky from Harvard University. The forum was held on the occasion of the Vietnamese President’s visit to the US and was part of the Harvard-sponsored assistance programme for Vietnam’s higher education reforms, based on the suggestion of former Prime Minister Phan Van Khai during his trip to the US two years ago. It is interesting that all speakers praised Vietnam’s strong advances. “Vietnam’s sustainable economic growth exceeds all expectations,” said Bob Kerrey, a former senator who is interested in and supports the normalisation of US-Vietnam relationships. According to Mr Kerrey, when Vietnam is determined to do something, it performs very well. Once Vietnam is determined to develop its economy, Vietnam will gain great progress in economics. “When I ask Vietnamese people whether they want to develop like ASEAN countries, they say ‘No, we want to develop strongly and powerfully like China’,” David Dapice from Tufts University, said. Mr Dapice compared the development of Vietnam with the development of the Internet, saying that in 2007, Vietnam has the world’s highest growth rate for the Internet while this rate was the lowest in the world seven years ago. Explaining this leap, Mr Dapice said that when the State facilitated the access of its citizens to the Internet, Vietnam obtained the great leap in Internet development, which is reflected in the intellectual standards of the people and social development. President Nguyen Minh Triet presents gifts to Bob Kerry, President of The New School (photo: AP) “If the state’s management in education is reduced, Vietnam’s education can develop as fast as the Internet,” he said. At the forum, speakers shared the viewpoint: “Higher education is the driving force for social and economic development”. At noon on June 20, President Nguyen Minh Triet attended the meeting and welcome party held by the Asia Society. Speaking at the party, the President said: “I’m very happy to start my visit in New York, the symbol of the success of the American people and meet with representatives of the US political circle, entrepreneurs, scholars and friends of Vietnam. Vietnamese people wish and are willing to bring the current good relationship between the two countries to a new height. “From this forum, I want to send a sincere invitation to the American people: a peaceful, stable, dynamically developing Vietnam always opens its door to American friends to come for travelling, investing, cultural and educational exchanges and building up better relations between the two nations.” On the evening of June 20, Mr Triet and the Vietnamese delegation went to Washington DC to prepare for their third busy day in the US. “A modern university is a complicated entity. Efforts to build it often fail. Moreover, the Vietnamese government wants to have top-tier universities, so will it accept premises to reach this goal, including giving self-control to universities and expanding the domain of learning?” Mr Kerry asked. Tom Vallely from the Harvard University, who has deep understanding of Vietnam’s educational system, said that Resolution 14 (which stipulates the comprehensive renovation of Vietnam’s higher education) contained those common principles. “The current challenges are how to implement it,” he said. At the forum, attendants again affirmed “effective university administration principles” are effective everywhere. That’s the self-control mechanism, based on transparency, freedom in learning. According to professor Blair Sheppard, Dean of the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University, the governments of developing countries can’t provide higher education themselves or generate money to expand and improve the quality of higher education through taxes. On the other hand, governments can’t depend on the private sector in this issue. Therefore, the government must clearly determine its role in this task and at the same time help students by contributing both finances and effort to education. An expert on higher education in developing countries, Professor Rosovsky of Harvard University, noted that Vietnam should not import some foreign models because “a high-quality university is an entity combining the national quintessence, the actual situation of the country at that moment and the selection of good foreign models.” It is important to have qualified and enthusiastic leaders, the professor said. Speaking at the forum, President Nguyen Minh Triet affirmed that education was a field that the Vietnamese state attached special importance to. He also called for American educational experts to continue making contributions to Vietnam’s education and said this should be considered ‘the strand tying the relations between the two countries”. Viet Nam Net

Committee seeks legal aid reforms

17:14' 20/06/2007 (GMT+7)

VietNamNet Bridge – The National Assembly (NA)'s Law Committee yesterday asked the NA Standing Committee to consider two government decrees that guide implementation of the Law on Legal Aid and the Ordinance for the Implementation of Civil Sentences. According to the Law Committee, Decree 7 issued by the Government on January 12, 2007, regarding the Law on Legal Aid outlines how to assign and dismiss legal aid staff; policies for legal aid staff; who should be given legal aid and how the Fund for Legal Aid will work. However, as several of these points contradict current legislation, lawmakers must resolve these issues to make sure there were no legal discrepancies or incorrect understanding of public employee laws, they said. For example, the Law on Legal Aid states that legal aid staff are State officials, but according to Decree 7, staff must be assigned by provincial People's Committee chairs. Regarding people who receive legal aid, according to Law on Legal Aid, they are: "Poor people; citizens who have contributed services to the revolution; elderly without family, the disabled and orphaned; and ethnic minorities who are permanent residents of regions with extremely-difficult socio-economic conditions." This regulation states that ethnic minorities who are not poor can still receive legal aid if they live in regions with extremely-difficult socio-economic conditions, but Decree 7 defines ethnic minorities that are eligible for legal aid as: "People who regularly live in regions with extremely-difficult socio-economic conditions." The Law Committee pointed out that the decree had replaced the term "permanent residents" with "who regularly live" and this had reduced the number of ethnic minorities who could receive legal aid. The Law Committee also asked the NA Standing Committee to consider Decree 50 issued by the Government on April 11,2005, related to the civil sentences ordinance. The decree regulates staff in justice executive offices that implement civil sentences can lawfully use punitive tools such as: rubber clubs; electric clubs; electric gloves; gas guns; gas sprayers and guns that shoot plastic or rubber bullets. Legislators said this section of the decree had no legal ground because the Ordinance for the Implementation of Civil Sentences issued in 2004 did not regulate that these staff can use these tools to carry out justice. Members of the Law Committee said the right to use these assistant tools was very important and it directly impacted people's lives, health and legal rights. These tools should be only used to control riots, they said. (Source: Viet Nam Net)

Will stock market suffer from IPO-induced ‘indigestion’?

17:02' 20/06/2007 (GMT+7)

VietNamNet Bridge – The Government may ask giant state owned corporations and banks to reconsider the dates of their IPO (initial public offering), for fear that the stock market may suffer from “indigestion” if all of them make IPO at the same time. Tran Bac Ha, Director General of the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV), has asked the Government to re-arrange the dates for the IPOs of important state owned corporations and banks scheduled to take place in the second half of the year. According to Mr Ha, an overly high supply of shares may lead to the decrease of share prices, while creating losses for the state. Share ‘indigestion’ The IPOs of a series of big state owned corporations at the same time may make the market stumble. The big state owned corporations include BIDV, which will have the expected chartered capital of VND14tril ($0.875bil). Though proposing the time rearrangement, Mr Ha said that BIDV would still carry out its IPO as previously planned. When asked if the IPO of Vietnam Industrial and Commercial Bank (Incombank), also slated for the fourth quarter of the year, would have any bad impact on either big bank, Mr Ha said tersely: “The same quarter, but not the same month”. With the tentative chartered capital of VND10tril, Vietcombank has submitted its equitisation plan to the Prime Minister. Nguyen Thi Thu Ha, Deputy Director General of Vietcombank, said that with the current condition of the stock market, it would be difficult to sell shares at high prices, but added that the situation might be different in August. Huynh Nam Dung, Chairman of the Mekong Housing Development Bank (MHB), said that he had not received any instruction from the Prime Minister relating to the IPO delays; therefore, the bank was now still moving ahead with its previously set plan. He said that MHB might perform IPO in October. Meanwhile, investors have heard that other state owned giants in telecommunications and brewing are also planning to make IPO in the upcoming months. Le Ngoc Minh, Director of MobiFone, said that the company had not received any instructions on an IPO roadmap rearrangement. MobiFone previously planned to auction its shares in December at the latest. Meanwhile, Sabeco, a brewery and drink company, is having its assets valued, and its IPO plan is expected to be drawn up to be submitted to the Ministry of Industry and the Government by early August. After the plan is approved, Sabeco will auction shares equivalent to 20% of chartered capital in the first phase, and sell another 20% in 2008. Another brewery company, Habeco, is planning to make IPO at the end of the third quarter or early in the fourth quarter. Dilemma Economists give contradictory opinions regarding the massive IPO movement of state owned corporations. Nguyen Dinh Cung, Head of the Macro Economic Management Division under the Central Institute of Economic Management (CIEM), said that banks should not make IPO at the same time, because the market would not be able to consume such a big volume of commodities, especially at this moment, while it is in a low period. An economist said that the IPOs of several banks could be delayed, but Vietcombank could not delay its IPO, because the bank already issued convertible bonds in December 2005. Investors have been waiting two years for the right to become the bank’s shareholders. Meanwhile, bankers seem to not agree with the suggestions to delay the IPOs. A bank director said that the high price of shares was not the only thing the bank wanted when making IPO. “If IPOs are delayed, the equitisation and bank restructuring process will be prolonged.” How to arrange time for IPOs? According to an official of the State Securities Commission (SSC), the organ still does not know how to best arrange the time for IPOs. He said that it was a very big issue, and it needed to be discussed by a lot of state management agencies. “We put a series of enterprises into auction, while the State Bank of Vietnam is trying to tighten its monetary policy by limiting banks’ loans given for securities investment and requiring higher compulsory reserve ratio,” the official said. Meanwhile, according to the official, no one can measure the demand for securities at this moment. The State Bank still cannot release figures on foreign portfolio investment and the public idle capital volume. “What will we say, to delay or to continue IPO plans if we do not have any basis for our conclusion?” he questioned. (Source: Viet Nam Net)