Intellasia - News Highlights of Vietnam – March 23, 2005ContentsGeneral
news General newsTwo bird flu outbreaks reported in last two days21/Mar/2005 VNA Two-bird flu outbreaks have occurred at two duck breeding households in Vinh Hoa and Tan Xuan communes in Ba Tri district, the Mekong Delta province of Ben Tre on March 19-20, announced the veterinary department. Ba Tri district is the only locality that has seen outbreaks of the bird flu for a week. Task group set to investigate deadly train derailment21/Mar/2005 VNA A task mission was set up to further investigate the recent train derailment in central Vietnam, Transport spokesman Nguyen Hong Hien said on March 21. The task mission, led by deputy Transport and Communications minister Ngo Thinh Duc, will work to discover the cause of the train wreck, as well as determine the responsibilities of relevant organisations and individuals, the spokesman said. Vietnam product re-enters Japan after winning patent case21/Mar/2005 Thanh Nien The door to the Japanese market has re-opened for Duy Loi Company’s collapsible hammocks after the Vietnamese producer won a lawsuit in Japan over the hammock design. The Japanese Kaiyo Group, which owns a chain of some 160 leading supermarkets, has ordered more than 3,000 hammock sets worth 84,000 US$, confirmed Lam Tan Loi, Duy Loi’s manager on Monday. 575 people killed by work accidents in 200421/Mar/2005 Nong Nghiep page 2 Officials of Quang Ninh provincial people’s committee, ministry of labour, invalids and social affairs, and Vietnam Trade Union gathered on March 20 at the sea city of Ha Long to launch the seventh National Week for Labour Safety and anti-fire. According to statistics, there were 6,026 accidents happening during production, representing an increase of 54.67%, that killed 575 people and injured 6,186 others. There were 3,003 fire cases which claimed the lives of 63 people and injured 235 others. Province unaware of bird flu outbreak until media report21/Mar/2005 Thanh Nien Authorities in central Quang Binh province became aware of a serious bird flu outbreak only after media recently uncovered a bird flu death and hundreds of suspected cases in one of the province’s communes. Provincial authorities learnt of the outbreak after Thanh Nien newspaper carried a news report on Sunday March 20 saying that 195 people in Chau Hoa commune had symptoms of the bird flu – a disease that had killed at least a dozen people in Vietnam since late last year. In addition, two children in the commune fell ill and were taken to a hospital in Dong Hoi town in March. The 13-year-old girl died at the hospital on March 9, testing positive for the deadly H5N1 strain of the avian influenza, according to health authorities. However, the Dong Hoi hospital never reported the case to provincial leaders, a Thanh Nien investigation showed. Tornado kills four, injures seven22/Mar/2005 Vietnam News page 3 A tornado and heavy rains hit Bao Lam District in the northern province of Cao Bang on March 21 morning, killing four and injuring seven others. According to Lanh To The, chief of the Bao Lam People’s Committee Secretariat, the tornado struck around midnight, and Mong An and Quang Lam communes suffered the heaviest damage. Four schools were hit and hundreds of houses collapsed. TopEconomyExports to Britain forecast to rise 20%22/Mar/2005 VnExpress It is expected that export revenue to Britain this year will reach US$1.2 billion, a year-on-year increase of some 20%. The key export items include footwear, wooden products, apparel products, bicycles, coffee and seafood. TopIndustry & investmentPM approves equitisation of VMS21/Mar/2005 VNA Prime minister Phan Van Khai has approved the scheme to equitise Vietnam Mobile Telecommunication Services Co (VMS). The state new holds 51% of its statutory capital. 1b dong for trade promotion20/Mar/2005 Nguoi Lao Dong It is scheduled that the Apparel and Footwear Show (A&F Expo 2005) will be held on April 6-10 at The Stadium of Military Zone 7. This is the first time that the Investment and Trade Promotion Centre (ITPC) has ever held an export fair for apparel and footwear. In a bid to create businesses to seek for clients at the fair, HCM City People’s Committee supported the ITPC one billion dong to invite foreign visitors to Vietnam. Tea export prices surge21/Mar/2005 Thanh Nien The export prices of Vietnamese tea have gone up 24% year-on-year to reach US$1,100 to US$1,200 per tonne, according to the Ministry of Trade. Green tea now sells for US$550 per tonne while black tea and dried green tea sell for US$420 and US$1,350 per tonne respectively. Auto production to hit top gear21/Mar/2005 Vietnam Investment Review page 1 Competition carmakers should heat up as investors submit licence applications to make automobiles in Vietnam. The Vietnam Manufacturing and Export Processing Co Ltd (VMEP) has applied to build a production line at a cost of about US$70 million as part of its expansion plans, a source from the Ministry of Planning and Investment told Vietnam Investment Review. US$344m for Uong Bi 2 expansion21/Mar/2005 Thoi Bao Kinh Te Viet Nam The Ministry of Industry has submitted to the government a plan of expanding Uong Bi Thermoelectricity Plant no 2 to 300 MW with total investment of US$344 million. If approved, the project will start in March 2006 and put into operation after three years of construction. Vinamilk reports 527b dong earnings22/Mar/2005 Nguoi Lao Dong Vinamilk reported revenue of 526.9 billion dong in the year to date, an increase of 22.7% year-on-year. Sales of key products of Vinamilk are stable, the company said with sales rising up to 23% for some items. Fruit juice sales rose 15.5% and condensed milk of different kinds 23.3%. Trung Nguyen Coffee Co inaugurated tourism area20/Mar/2005 Nguoi Lao Dong Well known coffee franchiser Trung Nguyen Coffee inaugurated the 20 billion dong Tien Phong Quan tourism area covering 3,000 square metres in Bao Lam district in the central highland province of Lam Dong on March 20. Ha Tien Cement Co earns 70b dong in sales21/Mar/20005 Kinh Te Viet Nam & The Gioi page 8 Ha Tien Cement Joint-stock Co no 2 sold over 80,000 tonnes of PCB 30 cement to Mekong Delta provinces and HCM City since the start of the year earning turnover of over 70 billion dong, an increase of 25% on the same period last year. Samco to equitise subsidiaries21/Mar/2005 Tuoi Tre page 3 Saigon Automobile Mechanical Engineering Corp (Samco) reports seven subsidiaries of the corporation will be equitised from now to 2006. Navico begins work on VNIs biggest catfish factory22/Mar/2005 Saigon Times Daily page 1 Navico, Vietnam's leading catfish exporter, has started constructing a huge catfish-processing factory in Can Tho City in the Mekong Delta. Work on the US$14 million, 28-hectare factory named Dai Tay Duong is scheduled to take more than six-months, according to Navico general director Doan Toi. This will become the country's biggest catfish processing factory. Transimex to make share issue21/Mar/2005 Dau Tu Chung Khoan page 4 Shareholders approved the plan by listed trans-forwarding and warehousing firm Transimex Saigon Co (TMS) to issue new shares worth 19.8 billion dong to fund new investment projects this year. TopFinance & bankingInvestors hone in on private bank prospects22/Mar/2005 Saigon Giai Phong page 6 Shares of joint stock commercial banks are drawing a great deal of attention of foreign investors, especially shares of the most progressive local banks Asia Commercial Bank (ACB), Saigon Thuong Tin Joint Stock Commercial Bank (Sacombank), Eastern Asia Bank (EAB), Vietnam Export and Import Joint Stock Commercial Bank (Eximbank) and some others. Investors are seeking any way of buying up shares of joint stock banks and even are willing to pay premiums of three times over par. Bankcard market set to boom22/Mar/2005 Thoi Bao Kinh Te Vietnam The Vietnamese bankcard market is set to blossom this year and in following years because banks have started to cash in on the card market opportunities, predicted Nguyen Thu Ha, chair of the Vietnam Bank Card Association (VBCA). STC marks 1,000th trading session21/Mar/2005 Thanh Nien | Nguoi Lao Dong The HCM City Securities Trading Centre (STC) on Monday March 21 held a ceremony to celebrate its 1,000th trading session on March 21. The STC, which is Vietnam’s first bourse, was launched on July 28, 2000 with only two listed companies and a total of 270 billion dong in listed value, said STC director Tran Dac Sinh. Laos-Vietnam Bank launches gift programmes22/Mar/2005 Saigon Giai Phong page 6 In a bid to attract more idle capital from the society, recently the Laos-Vietnam Joint Venture Bank has launched a promotion programme called “gifts for depositors”. Accordingly, depositors of one month term deposit of 50 million dong will be granted a goods voucher of Maximart worth of 50,000 dong each. TopGovernment & legalSecurity cooperation deal with China signed21/Mar/2005 Thanh Nien Vietnam and China on Monday March 21 signed an agreement on security cooperation after a meeting between minister of Public Security Le Hong Anh and visiting Chinese minister of state Security Xu Yongyue. HCM City sees company boom22/Mar/2005 Saigon Times Daily page 1 A simplified Enterprise Law and easier registration procedures for businesses in HCM City have led to their number surging more than predicted, according to an official from the HCM City Service of Planning and Investment. Up to 500 people visit the office every day seeking information on company registration compared with just 100 in 2003, said Dao Xuan Duc, head of the service's business registration department. Duc said almost half of all new enterprises received licenses by applying online with the service sometimes receiving as many as 120 online applications a day. TopODAWB lends US$100m for Hanoi road upgrades22/Mar/2005 An Ninh Thu Do page 2 The World Bank has recently agreed to finance a project to build two road network upgrades in Hanoi with total capital of nearly US$100 million, according to the management board of the Hanoi urban transport project. Top…ends
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