SBV rejects debt swap

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Dau Tu Chung Khoan page 30
State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) reported that the subsidised outstanding loans till March 20 reached 151.093 trillion dong. Last week the outstanding loans of the government's interest rate support programme increased by 7.591 trillion dong or 5.26% from the previous week.
Before the rumours that the majority of subsidised loans were used for debt swap while the money using efficiency in production and business remained low. Many people said that the government should publicise the subsidised lending programme to prevent the law dodge of soft loan borrowers.
Last weekend SBV governor Nguyen Van Giau confirmed that commercial banks' deposits recently increased so there is nothing out of place between demand deposit rates and 12-month deposit rate of 8% pa. The transparency of banks is very good and the Central Bank has not planned to adjust basic rates, Giau said.
Reportedly, total outstanding loan of state commercial banks and Central People's Credit Fund was recorded at 115.659 trillion dong while that of joint stock banks was 31.731 trillion dong, of joint venture banks, foreign bank branches and 100% foreign owned banks was 4.513 trillion dong.
Regarding the some worries that the capital of demand stimulus policy is coming back to banks for debt swap, the governor told Dau Tu Chung Khoan that comparing the growth of total disbursed loans with growth of outstanding loans in February (with a gap of 0.8%) is very unsuitable. Subsidised capital contributed to create 620 trillion dong short-term loans, partially helping enterprises cut down the product prices. This year's outstanding loans of short, medium and long-term loans will be about 250 trillion dong, a year-on-year growth of 21-23%.
Giau explained, according to Circular No 02/2009/TT-NHNN, debt swap is the method of lending enterprises to pay that bank's debts or pay another bank's debts. To date, SBV has not received such a case from SBV Inspector and directors of local SBV branches. Many enterprises paid debts prematurely, liberalised the stockpiled goods and then re-borrowed bank loans for their new production and business plans, which is not debt swap.
In the process of carrying out the government's demand stimulus package, there will be many arising negatives so SBV confirmed it would supervise the subsidised lending closely through responsibility of CEO of banks.
SBV rejected the proposal of allowing enterprises to conduct debt swap because the move is very risky and there will be many weak businesses existing in the economy.
A representative from National Finance Supervision Committee and Finance Policy Advisory Council proposed the government to lengthen the stimulus package and allow enterprises to take medium and long-term loans to renovate technology and invest in equipments. Answering it, SBV governor spoke that the goal of stimulus package is to lend enterprises to lower the product price and maintain business production, but not focus on new investments or new jobs.

Sparks fly in Vinacomin-EVN pricing spat

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia | 20/Mar/2009 Sai Gon Tiep Thi
Following PVN, Vietnam Coal and Mineral Corp (Vinacomin) is complaining about selling electricity to the Electricity of Vietnam Corp (EVN).
Vinacomin has submitted an official letter asking the Ministry of Trade and Industry to settle disagreement on electricity selling price between Vinacomin and EVN in order to speed up the negotiation of the two sides.
According to Vinacomin, the Son Dong Thermo-electricity Plant in Quang Ninh province has been connected into the national electricity network since last December and is being adjusted to generate commercial electricity. After over one-year of negotiation, the electricity trading contract between Vinacomin and EVN has basically completed however what is most important is that the two sides have not yet reached an agreement on the electricity selling price. Namely, Vinacomin offers the electricity selling price in 2009 at 710 dong a kWh while EVN only agrees to buy electricity at about 678 dong a kWh. EVN said that EVN's average electricity production price under the newly-issued electricity price list is over 706 dong a kWh. Thus, the electricity price of 710 dong a kWh of Son Dong is higher than the average selling price to consumers.
In addition, like the Ca Mau Plant that signed an operation and maintenance contract (O&M) worth over eight trillion dong on its own with an affiliate of PVPS of PVN, that Son Dong negotiated the coal price with Vinacomin's members by itself in order to place all difficulties to EVN is unfair, said EVN.
As for Vinacomin, chief of the corporation's cost planning division Nguyen Van Bien said that EVN should reconsider Son Dong's electricity generation price is very normal in order to ensure business efficiency.
What is notable is that current electricity trading negotiations have only a buyer, EVN, and many sellers being investors outside EVN while the electricity trading mechanism is unclear.
Bien confirmed that negotiating coal prices between Vinacomin and big domestic consumer households is far easier because the government set a clear price frame. Furthermore, if Vinacomin and buyers fail to reach an agreement, relevant agencies being the finance ministry's price management department, the trade and industry ministry will work as a referee for those negotiations. Meanwhile, negotiating electricity selling prices has no mechanism and referee.
This is not the first time that Vinacomin gets troubles about electricity selling prices with EVN. Previously, EVN bought electricity through Vinacomin from the Na Duong Thermo-electricity Plant and the Cao Ngan Electricity Plant with very cheap prices of 620 dong a kWh and 625 dong a kWh respectively.
An official from Vinacomin said that it ran a loss when signing the above contracts although by the signing time, the negotiated prices were considered ensuring operation efficiency of Vinacomin's plants.
That was because most capital expenditure for equipment, materials and others were calculated in US dollars while the forex rate has recently much changed. Meanwhile, the above contracts last up to 25 years. Thus, if selling electricity of Son Dong to EVN follows the previous scenario, Vinacomin is unable to accept and may have to stop investments into next electricity plants.
"I see that only when the Electricity Trading Co is separated from EVN for independent operations, electricity trading will be fair," said Vinacomin's official.
Phan Thi Hoa, member of the Vietnam Oil and Gas Corp's managing board, said with EVN's proposed buying price, it is only enough to pay debts. "Whenever the Electricity Trading Co is dependent to EVN, other investors will always suffer from losses because this company has to buy electricity of EVN's electricity plants first," said Hoa.
PhD.Nguyen Quang A, director of the Institute for Development and Study, said that EVN's offering the low buying price is also logical because EVN cannot buy electricity at high prices and sell at low prices.
Thus, in addition to revising the electricity prices as the government is making, it is necessary to eliminate monopoly, whereby all electricity generation plants must be separated from EVN and be transferred to the State Capital Investment and Trading Corp for management. EVN should only wholesale and transmit electricity.
Tran Viet Ngai, chair of the Vietnam Energy Association, said that when the Electricity Trading Co has not yet been separated from EVN, in order to make EVN's electricity trading activities transparent, it is required to establish an electricity trading list and explain the proper fees, interest rates of the electricity buying company. On a quarterly basis, it is required to make an electricity generating chart, all electricity generating sources must be put into the gridline and arrange electricity trading activities logically.

Vietnam sells US$100m one-year bonds with 3% coupon

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Reuters
Vietnam's government sold US$100 million of one-year dollar bonds with a 3% coupon on Friday to fund its budget and big projects.
Thirty bidders, mainly banks, made US$766 million worth of bids for the government's first onshore dollar bond, offering yields between 1.5% and 6%, the Hanoi stock exchange said.
Many Vietnamese banks are sitting on "huge amounts" of dollars but in recent months had been reluctant to invest them or convert them into the weakening dong, said the treasurer at a foreign bank in Vietnam.
The relatively short-term of the bonds was a reflection of demand, he said, and selling them onshore offered the government a much lower cost of lending than a sovereign issue would.
"Some of the banks had been talking with the State Bank of Vietnam since the middle of last year about what to do with their dollars," said the treasurer on condition of anonymity.
Vietnam's domestic deal comes three weeks after Indonesia tested investors' appetite for its debt in a US$3 billion sale of 5-year and 10-year dollar bonds with yields above 10%.
Last week, traders expected the bonds to sell at a 50-100 basis point premium to dollar bank deposits, which were at about 3%, but dollar deposit rates have come down.
Fixings on one-year dollar lending rates stood at 2.54% on Friday on the interbank market versus 2.60% a week ago, according to Reuters data.
The one-year notes were the first of three sub-tranches of a planned US$300 million programme. Next week Vietnam will auction another US$100 million of two-year US dollar-denominated bonds, and US$100 million with a three-year term.
The central bank earlier this month polled commercial banks on their appetite for dollar bonds and ordered them to prepare funds to support the issuance.
Demand for dollar loans in Vietnam has also shrunk in recent weeks because borrowers have preferred to take dong loans to qualify for a government's 4% interest subsidy scheme.
In 2005, Vietnam tapped the international capital markets with a US$750 million sovereign bond. It approved another issue worth US$1 billion in 2007 but never proceeded with the sale.
The 6.875% 2016 bonds were unchanged on Friday, trading at 99/90 cents to the dollar for a yield of 9.289/8.859%.
The state budget deficit is projected to be 4.8% of gross domestic product this year.
The government budget for 2009 envisages expenditure of 491.3 trillion dong.

Vietnam's economy grew 3% in first quarter, minister Phuc says

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Bloomberg
Vietnam's economy expanded 3% in the first quarter from a year earlier, minister of Planning and Investment Vo Hong Phuc said late yesterday.
The Southeast Asian nation's economic situation in the first three months of 2009 was "quite positive" amid the global financial crisis, he told a Vietnamese parliament meeting, as reported on the government's Web site.
The International Monetary Fund cut its economic forecast for Vietnam to 4.8% growth this year, below a December forecast of 5%, because of weakening capital inflows, exports and remittances from overseas, it said in a statement on March 18. The World Bank has cut its estimate to 5.5% from 6.5% previously, acting Vietnam country director Martin Rama said by telephone on March 18.
Vietnam's economy expanded 6.2% last year, the least in nine-years and slower than an 8.5% pace in 2007, as the crisis deepened. The government targets a growth rate of 6.5% this year.
To bolster growth, the government said on January 15 it will use 17 trillion dong (US$972 million) from its stimulus package to subsidise loans for companies that export, import or produce essential products for the economy.
Local commercial banks lent 150 trillion dong under the loan subsidy programme, according to a statement posted on the State Bank of Vietnam's Web site yesterday.

Vietnam import spending dips by nearly half

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia | CafeF
Ministry of Industry and Trade most recently has reported that Vietnam recorded the trade surplus of US$1.647 billion in the first three months of 2009 because the import spending declined sharply.
The country's export turnover in March reached US$4.7 billion, down 2.8% year-on-year, bringing the total figure of Q1 to US$13.479 billion, rising 2.4% from the previous year.
Among 35 groups of goods, there were nine groups in positive territory.
A slight surge in March's export turnover was thanks to gemstone and precious metal exports. Export of the goods type this month brought in US$850 million, a 49 fold increase against the same period of 2008 and accounting for 18% of the country's total export turnover. In Jan-March, the goods export earned US$2.287 billion, increasing 48 times year-on-year respectively.
12 out of 13 key export items (belonging to "US$1 billion Exporter Club") all posted a reduction of 10-20%, including electronic and computing accessories, footwear, fossil coal, seafood, coffee, cashew bean, plastic. In which, compared to Q1 of 2008, the export of crude oil slumped 48.6%, electrical cable and wires down 47.3% and rubber plunged 43.9%, apparel down 4.2% slightly.
Only rice export turnover in Q1 grew by 23.5% and 76.4% in year-on-year.
Meanwhile, Vietnam's import spending in March was US$4.3 billion, declining 47% from 2008. In Jan-March, the figure was US$11.832 billion, a year-on-year fall of 45%.
Thus, Vietnam's trade surplus reached US$400 million in March and US$1.647 billion in Q1 of 2009.

Vietnam's 2009 GDP growth forecasted at 4.2%, Standard Chartered

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Lao Dong
Standard Chartered on March 22 released the report on evaluating and predicting Vietnam's economic growth in 2009.
Accordingly, Vietnam was highly appreciated for contributing positive activities to fight the global economic crisis through monitoring export-import scale, adjusting and improving trade deficit and promoting the infrastructure development for FDI attraction.
With these efforts, Vietnam still retained the ambitious economic growth of 6.5%. However, according to the foreign bank's research group, the country's 2009 GDP growth will be at 4.2% due to an estimated fall in overseas remittance, FDI and export import activities.

HCM City's Q1 GDP rises 4%

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia | CafeF | VNA
During the first quarter of 2009, all economic sectors in HCM City suffered the impacts of the global economic depression so the city's GDP only reached 58.473 trillion dong (real prices), rising by 4% year-on-year. This is the lowest growth in the last decade, reported HCM City Statistic Department.
Some enterprises whose majority of earnings come from exports were forced to narrow production while others had to suspend operation. The city's industrial production value in Jan-March increased by 1.9% but its construction production value jumped 13% in the period.
Notably, HCM City's total basic construction investment capital gained 10.251 trillion dong, a rise of 11.5% in Q1.
The total FDI attraction achieved US$515 million, equalling to 27% of the figure of 2008's Q1. Meanwhile, the total retail and service revenue was up 18.3%.
Also, the city earned over US$4.4 billion from exports in first three months of 2009, down 11% y-o-y.

HSBC wants to up stake in Vietnamese insurer

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Reuters
HSBC, Europe's biggest bank, wants to increase its stake in Vietnam's Bao Viet Insurance to 18% despite tough global economic times, a senior company executive said.
"We are looking to do more with the strategic partners," Paul Leech, Hong Kong-based head of international operations for HSBC, told reporters in Hanoi Monday.
HSBC bought a 10% stake in Bao Viet, Vietnam's biggest insurer, in 2007. Leech said the bank wanted to increase the stake to 18% but did not offer details.
HSBC owns a 20% stake in partly private Techcombank, which is the maximum that foreign strategic investors are allowed to hold in financial institutions in Vietnam.
In January, it became the first foreign bank to open a fully-owned operation in Vietnam.
"When we made the strategy to open, the world was a little different," Leech said. "The interesting thing is, actually, our strategy really has not changed."
The bank was planning to add offices in HCM City and Hanoi and open a new branch in Binh Duong Province in the south. Leech said HSBC would be looking at new lending carefully "but, again, I think our balance sheet will be bigger in Vietnam at the end of 2009 than it will be at the beginning."
"We hope to get a bigger share of the banking and insurance market here.
"Life is difficult but that is not going to deflect us from the fact that in our opinion Vietnam remains one of the most interesting emerging markets in the Asia-Pacific region."

China to offer US$300m soft loan to Vietnam

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Dow Jones
China has announced it will offer a soft loan worth US$300 million to Vietnam, Vietnamese state media said Friday.
The announcement was made at a meeting Thursday in Hanoi between Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo and Vietnamese Foreign minister Pham Gia Khiem, the Saigon Giai Phong newspaper said, without providing further details.
Vietnam and China have set themselves a target to raise bilateral trade to US$25 billion a year by 2010 from US$20 billion in 2008, the Vietnamese government said Friday on its Web site.
Dai's visit comes after China sent a fishery patrol ship to the disputed Spratly islands in the South China Sea on Monday.
Vietnam's Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Le Dung said on Wednesday that the country is "closely monitoring" all activities of the ship.
Vietnam, Taiwan, China, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei each claim all or a part of the Spratlys and the nearby Paracels. The waters around the islands are believed to contain substantial reserves of petroleum.

Banks allowed to mortgage US dollar G-bonds for dong loans

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia | 20/Mar/2009 CafeF
Under an Official Dispatch No 1868/NHNN-QLNH issued on March 20, 2009 by the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV)'s governor, to prepare for issuing government bonds in foreign currency, commercial banks are allowed to mortgage US dollar G-bonds for short-term loans in dong from the central bank.
SBV will issue detailed regulations on mortgage lending activities using G-bonds in foreign currency.
On March 20, Hanoi Securities Trading Centre (HaSTC) organised a tender for US$100 million of one-year term G-bonds for the first tranche of 2009.
These bonds will be issued on March 24, 2009 and matured on March 24, 2010.
The tender for US dollar G-bonds at the face value of US$100 per bond with terms of two-years and three-years will be held on March 24 and 27,

PVFC, Lienvietbank sign comprehensive cooperation agreement

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia | 20/Mar/2009 AtpVietnam
PetroVietnam Finance Corp (PVFC-coded PVF) on March 19 in Hanoi signed a comprehensive cooperation agreement with Lien Viet Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Lienvietbank) whereby the two signatories will work together in fields of capital sources, credit sector, investment and monetary and financial services.
The two sides will introduce each other business and financial chances.
PVFC is a non-banking credit institution with functions of establishing and managing the development investment capital for Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam).
PVFC, 10% stake held by its strategic shareholder-Morgan Stanley (Msihi), has a chartered capital of five trillion dong providing package financial products and services. Of which, finance investment is the company's core product.
PVFC's network includes three member companies, nine branches and 15 transaction sites in big provinces and cities nationwide.
PVFC plans a chartered capital of US$1 billion by 2015 with an average growth rate of 30%/year.

Habubank to issue 800b dong of book entry bills
24/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Lao Dong
From March 20 and May 18, Habubank will issue 800 billion dong of book entry bills in the dong with the minimum face value of one million dong.
Buyers are domestic and foreign individuals and institutions living and operating in Vietnam.
Habubank applies the corresponding interest rates of 7.8%, 8%, 8.1% and 8.2% per annum on terms of 3, 6, 9, and 11 months.

ANZ Vietnam gets 'Best Retail Bank in Vietnam'

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Dau Tu Chung Khoan page 33
ANZ Vietnam was recognised the Best Retail Bank in Vietnam by The Asian Banker magazine, marking the consecutive second year the bank received the prestigious award,
Last year ANZ Vietnam posted a 18% growth in capital mobilisation and a double surge in revenue.

Agribank reports providing 67.689tr dong of soft loans

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Dau Tu Chung Khoan page 33
Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam (Agribank) on March 21 reported that till the end of this month, the bank would reach the chartered capital of 10.701 trillion dong and total outstanding loans of 293 trillion dong.
Since February, Agribank provided 67.689 trillion dong of subsidised loans, accounting for 38% of the whole banking system's figure. In which, 37.228 trillion dong of loans were disbursed to the agriculture and rural development and 7.250 trillion dong were given to farmer households.

SHB targets 336b dong profit in '09

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Thoi Bao Kinh Te Vietnam
Saigon Hanoi Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SHB) targets to reach total asset of 20.503 trillion dong, total deposits of 16.249 trillion dong, 336 billion dong in pre-tax profit, and a dividend of 10.5% this year.
Also the bank plans to curb the ratio of overdue debts and total outstanding loans at less than 5%, the capital adequacy ratio of 15-20%, the ratio of profitability on average chartered capital at 16.08%.
The bank's shareholders' meeting recently passed the plan of allocating 2008's profit, issuing convertible bonds to raise capital from two trillion dong to 3.5 trillion dong (of which one trillion dong will offered to existing shareholders and 500 billion dong to foreign shareholders).
SHB plans to set up a jewellery trading one member ltd company and list on Hanoi Securities Trading Centre in 2009.
Last year, the bank recorded over 269 trillion dong of pre-tax profit and more than 14.380 trillion dong in total assets.

Techcombank to issue 8tr dong of convertible bonds

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Lao Dong
Vietnam Technological Commercial Joint Stock Bank or Techcombank reported finalising preparation for issuing eight trillion dong of convertible bonds in 2009.
The particular coupon rate of these bonds will be defined based on the SBV's basic rate of the dong.

VietA Bank announces 2009 business plan

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Dau Tu Chung Khoan page 7
In 2009, VietA Bank plans to scale up its chartered capital from over 1.359 trillion dong to 1.632 trillion dong, total asset of 15 trillion dong, total deposits of 11 trillion dong, total outstanding loans of 10 trillion dong and pre-tax profit of 270 billion dong.
Its network will be raised from 46 to 60 transaction sites.
Last year the bank posted 90 billion dong pre-tax profit, total asset of 10.316 trillion dong, total deposits of 7.448 trillion dong and outstanding debts of 6.633 trillion dong.

Finance companies to hike chartered capital

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia | 20/Mar/2009 State Bank of Vietnam
The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV)'s governor on March 19 issued a Decision No 579/QD-NHNN and another Decision No 580/QD-NHNN allowing two more finance companies namely Vinashin Finance Co (VFC) and Garment and Textile Finance Co to scale up chartered capital.
Accordingly, VFC will increase chartered capital to 1.323 trillion dong from the current 1.023 trillion dong and Garment and Textile Finance Co will hike its chartered capital from 234 billion dong to 300 billion dong.
These companies are also allowed to adjust operation and organisation regulations according to the new chartered capital.
Earlier, the central bank issued a Decision No 567/QD-NHNN allowing the Vinacomin Finance One Member Ltd Co to raise the chartered capital from 600 billion dong to one trillion dong.
These finance companies must register the new capital to state authorities and publicise information under current regulations.

ORC Worldwide announces list of the weakest working environments

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia | CafeF
US Business Week magazine has declared the list of cities with the weakest working environment in the world. In which, Vietnam's HCM City and Hanoi stood at 9 and 11th position among 55 cities.
The list was made by ORC Worldwide (ORC), a leading international HR consulting and management firm headquartered in New York.
Notably, all 55 cities are outside US, Canada and Western Europe, which belong to Africa region, India, China, south-eastern Asia region, Middle East and Central Europe.
The ranking list bases on environmental pollution, disease risk, political violence, comfort on goods and services, the classification of high risks that the labour have to suffer.
The list does not regard on the isolate sites where wars usually brake out, such as Iraq's Baghdad, Zimbabwe's Harare or North Korea.
Leading the list of cities with the weakest working environment is Nigeria's Lagos capital due to the weak infrastructure and rising criminal.
HCM City and Hanoi are assessed to be the highly potential risky. Problems that foreign workers living here have to suffer are disease risks and hygiene, climate, environmental pollution and criminal, according to ORC Worldwide.
Indonesia's Jakarta also was in top 20 of the ranking list, followed by China's five cities, India's four cities of Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai and Bangalore.

51b dong budget proposed to boost domestic trade

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia | 20/Mar/2009 Vietstock
The Ministry of Industry and Trade on March 19 sent a document to the prime minister proposing to invest some 51 billion dong for domestic trade promotion programme in 2009, down some 900 million dong compared with the previous plan.
As planned, the programme package will support 100% of costs for surveying the consumers' taste with an average support of 250 million dong per area, 100% of costs for surveying the distribution system with an average support of 700 million dong/sector and 100% of costs for surveying the corporate capacity with an average support of 150 million dong/province.
Notably, the programme will spend some 9.062 billion dong on promoting Vietnamese goods to rural areas.

ADB lends US$410m for expressway

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia | 20/Mar/2009 Saigon Giai Phong
The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) on March 20 in Hanoi signed a US$410 million credit contract with Asian Development Bank (ADB) to build the HCM City-Long Thanh-Dau Giay expressway.
The four lane HCM City-Long Thanh-Dau Giay expressway with 51 kilometres in length has a total investment capital of US$932 million.
Along with ADB's loan, the project's remaining investment capital will be loan from Japan Bank for International Cooperation (Jbic) and the corresponding capital from Vietnam Expressway Development Investment Co (VEC).
The project is expected to be completed by 2014.

Expats in for a PIT law boost

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Vietnam Investment Reviews page 1
Expatriates' home airfares, school fees for children and other income are set to be listed as non-taxable.
The Ministry of Finance (MoF) is drafting a new circular to replace Circular 84/2008/T'T-BTC dated September 30, 2008 with more tax exemptions for expatriate income in the pipeline.
According to the draft, which guides the execution of the Personal Income Tax (PIT) Law, airfares for expatriates will be tax-free for one trip home per year.
The MoF was also considering tax free school fees for expatriate children attending international schools in Vietnam, according to a senior Tax Policy Department official.
"If the expatriate works in Vietnam but sends children to learn at overseas schools or universities, the tuition fees will possibly still be taxable," said the official.
Although there is no specific provision relating to these items under the current Circular 84/2008/TT -BTC, according to the general Department of Taxation's guidelines, they are subject to tax.
Do Thi Thu Ha, an associate partner of the Roedl & Partner, said such proposed rules once approved might encourage foreign investment into Vietnam.
The European Chamber of Commerce (EuroCham) in January warned that the current PIT law regulations, which have been valid since January 1, may weaken the country's competitiveness in attracting foreign investment. While foreign employees remain a necessity as the domestic labour market lacked senior experts, the PIT law was leading to an increase in companies' labour costs by removing some preferences given to foreign employees under previous rules, EuroCham said.
Also under the MoF's draft, both local and expat employees enjoy some cash and "non-cash" benefits in addition to salaries, such as low-cost "industrial meals", are also specified as non-taxable.
As part of the government's efforts to stimulate the economy and prop up consumer spending, on February 6, the MoF issued Circular 27/2009/TT-BTC, allowing a temporary deferral of PIT payments from January till May 2009.
However, the National Assembly, which will meet in May, will decide whether this initiative will constitute a temporary deferral or total PIT exemption for this period.

Forex engine burning out

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Vietnam Investment Reviews page 1
The lubricant for forex engine operations is set to be burn out with a State Bank move possibly taking away decent market liquidity.
Last week, with the two documents 1819 and 1820/NHNN-QLNH, the State Bank effectively banned forex option services from March 23 and said it would accelerate inspections on banks' use of other derivatives to buy or sell dollars at rates higher than the exchange rate limit.
Nguyen Hong Van, a member of Vietinbank's board of directors, said authority's tightening moves would possibly freeze the forex market.
"Exporters want to keep greenbacks rather than selling them back to banks. Derivatives are tools that enable banks to buy dollars at higher rates than the ceiling rate," said Van.
A Vietcombank source said the supply of dollars for the banking system had dried up recently. "This shortage is not reflecting the real situation of the market. Exporters have lots of dollars but they don't want to sell at the exchange rate limit. This means the exchange rate is proving ineffective in providing liquidity," said the source.
In Vietnam, banks are allowed to trade the dollar 3% either side of the daily-fixed official exchange rate known as the interbank rate.
"Over the last few weeks, greenback buying from corporates has risen and local banks had no way other than offering better rates to get the dollar from exporters via derivatives tools such as options," the Vietcombank representative added.
Currency options contracts give the right, not the obligation, to buy or sell a specific quantity of one foreign currency in exchange for another at a fixed price. The buyer of a currency option then pays a premium to the seller.
According to an Indochina Capital financial specialist, the market was running on a dollar shortage and commercial banks had to find ways to source dollars, this means greenback that the State Bank pumped out was not enough.
"The derivative contracts have brought liquidity to the forex market by clearing the market at rates higher than the exchange rate limit," he added.
Van of Vietinbank said allowing banks to use derivatives favours greenback buyers.
"However, when local banks cannot source dollars from exporters, corporates in need of dollars couldn't buy greenbacks from us."

Business, banking and stock market briefs

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia
* Vietnam Manufacturing Expo 2009 is seen as the largest-ever international exhibition-fair that will take place in Hanoi on May 28th-30th. A large number of latest technological products from many countries will be showcased at the expo, according to the organiser, Reed Tradex from Thailand.
* Van Phong Economic Zone's PMU on March 21 allowed Nha Trang Shipping Industry Co to build Nam Cam Ranh Industrial Area. The industrial area project is designed on 204 hectares in Cam Thinh Dong Commune, costing an estimated 980 billion dong.
* Red River Investment Joint Stock Co yesterday broke ground on the Thanh Cong 2 apartment and office building on 5,200 square metres in Hanoi with total investment capital of US$30 million.
* State-owned Vietnam National Coal-Mineral Industries Group, or Vinacomin, and China Southern Grid Corp will start building a 1,200-megawatt power plant in the southeast Asian nation, Vietnam's Ministry of Planning and Investment said Friday in a statement.
* The EPC contract for the Block B-Omon gas pipeline leading to Ca Mau Gas Power and Nitrogenous Fertiliser Complex of Omon power centre was signed on March 19 between the South-western PMU and a contractor group including Vietsovpetro, PetroVietnam Technical Service Joint Stock Corp (PTSC) and PetroVietnam Construction Joint Stock Corp (PVC).
* Thai Binh Power Centre project with total capacity of 1,800 MW, including Thai Binh 1 thermo power plant, Thai Binh2, and road leading to the centre, ports and other construction items was started with total estimated expense of 13 trillion dong invested by Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) and PetroVietnam Power Corp.
* Vinh Tan thermo power plant, a part of Vinh Tan thermo power centre, will be built by this November in Vinh Tan commune, Tuy Phong Dist in the central province of Binh Thuan. Vinh Tan thermo power project is under the national energy development plan in 2006-2015 phase.
* Viet Hung Urban Development and Investment Joint Stock Co (Vihajico), the owner of Eco Park urban zone, has recently said that its project of building an urban zone worth over US$7 billion will be started work by the third quarter this year.
* FPT Telecom has provided the "3 in 1" service package meaning that three services namely internet MegaMe+, fixed telephone MegaYou+ and internet television MegaSave+ will be supplied by using the sole IPI layer according to Triple Play technology.
* Espace Business Hue Joint Stock Co was granted the investment certificate to build a trade centre and supermarket complex in Thua Thien Hue province, covering on 3,930 square metres in Ba Tieu Hung Vuong area, Hue City's Phu Hoi Ward with total cost of US317.5 million.
* Thai Binh Power Centre project with total capacity of 1,800 MW, including Thai Binh 1 thermo power plant, Thai Binh2, and road leading to the centre, ports and other construction items was started with total estimated expense of 13 trillion dong invested by Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) and PetroVietnam Power Corp The project is designed on a site of 250 hectares along Tra Ly river in My Loc Commune, Thai Binh province's Thai Thuy Dist.
* The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV)'s governor on March 19 issued a Decision No 579/QD-NHNN and another Decision No 580/QD-NHNN allowing two more finance companies namely Vinashin Finance Co (VFC) and Garment and Textile Finance Co to scale up chartered capital.
Accordingly, VFC will increase chartered capital to 1.323 trillion dong from the current 1.023 trillion dong and Garment and Textile Finance Co will hike its chartered capital from 234 billion dong to 300 billion dong.
* PetroVietnam Finance Corp (PVFC-coded PVF) on March 19 in Hanoi signed a comprehensive cooperation agreement with Lien Viet Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Lienvietbank) whereby the two signatories will work together in fields of capital sources, credit sector, investment and monetary and financial services.
* From March 20 and May 18, Habubank will issue 800 billion dong of book entry bills in the dong with the minimum face value of one million dong.
* ANZ Vietnam was recognised the Best Retail Bank in Vietnam by The Asian Banker magazine, marking the consecutive second year the bank received the prestigious award,
* Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam (Agribank) on March 21 reported that till the end of this month, the bank would reach the chartered capital of 10.701 trillion dong and total outstanding loans of 293 trillion dong.
* Saigon Hanoi Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SHB) targets to reach total asset of 20.503 trillion dong, total deposits of 16.249 trillion dong, 336 billion dong in pre-tax profit, and a dividend of 10.5% this year. Also the bank plans to curb the ratio of overdue debts and total outstanding loans at less than 5%, the capital adequacy ratio of 15-20%, the ratio of profitability on average chartered capital at 16.08%.
* Vietnam Technological Commercial Joint Stock Bank or Techcombank reported finalising preparation for issuing eight trillion dong of convertible bonds in 2009.
* In 2009, VietA Bank plans to scale up its chartered capital from over 1.359 trillion dong to 1.632 trillion dong, total asset of 15 trillion dong, total deposits of 11 trillion dong, total outstanding loans of 10 trillion dong and pre-tax profit of 270 billion dong.
* The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) on March 20 in Hanoi signed a US$410 million credit contract with Asian Development Bank (ADB) to build the HCM City-Long Thanh-Dau Giay expressway.
* Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (STC) announced receiving the application of Thac Mo Hydropower Joint Stock Co to list 70 million ordinary shares at 10,000 dong par on the bourse.
* Thien Nam Trading Import Export Joint Stock Co (coded TNA) passed the plan of issuing extra 4.7 mullion shares to raise the chartered capital from 33 billion dong to 80 billion dong with an aim to stay in Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (STC).
* On March 26, 88 million HT2 coded shares of Ha Tien 2 Cement Joint Stock Co will be officially traded on Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (STC) with the comparative price of 20,000 dong per share and the trading price amplitude of +/-20%.
* SABMiller Friday announced that it has signed an agreement with its JV partner, Vietnam Dairy Products Joint Stock Company, to acquire Vinamilk's 50% interest in SABMiller Vietnam JV Co Limited. Conditions to the transaction have been fulfilled and SABMiller Asia BV is now the sole shareholder in the Company.
* PetroVietnam Nitrogenous Fertiliser and Chemical Joint Stock Corp (coded DPM) posted a big loss of 87 billion dong in the last quarter of 2008 despite its revenue grew by 66% compared to the previous quarter because the listed firm deducted 643 billion dong for the standby fund of goods price reduction.
* Northern bourse-listed Song Da Joint Stock Co No 99 (coded S99) has recently announced the resolution of the company's shareholders' meeting held on March 13.
* Total Exploration and Production Vietnam has signed a Production Sharing Contract with Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) for the exploration blocks DBSCL-02 and DBSCL-03. The blocks, which are located in the Mekong Delta area onshore, will be operated by Total with a 75% interest, PetroVietnam Exploration Production ("PVEP") holding a 25% interest.

VN Index rallies thanks to a surge in PNJ price, HASTC Index dips 2.43 pts

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia | AtpVietnam | HASTC
Following the correction tendency of the stock market after a rise of last weekend, today's VN Index slumped 6.46 points or 2.42% from the previous session down to 260.16 points with total recorded market trade of over 15.4 million shares for 291.84 billion dong.
Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (STC) today welcomed the newcomer PNJ share code of Phu Nhuan Jewellery Joint Stock Co with total listing volume of 30 million shares at comparative price of 38,000 dong/share.
With the appearance of PNJ, STC now has 180 listed stock codes including 176 shares and four fund certificates. Ending the session, 121 share codes were down in prices, 31 increasing, 24 unchanged and four (BHS of Bien Hoa Sugar JSC, SGC of Sa Giang Import Export JSC, SJ1 of Seafood No 1 JSC and ST8 of Sieu Thanh JSC) had no transaction.
Big losers in the session included VIC of Vincom falling 1,700 dong to 33,300 dong per share, PPC of Pha Lai Thermo Power JSC -1,100 dong to 21,400 dong, PV -2,500 to 55,500 dong, followed by STB, VNM, DPM, FPT, HAG, REE, SAM, SSI, SJS and ITA.
The notable price gainer was PNJ jumping 7,600 dong to 45,600 dong per share.
In terms of matching order trade, STB still led the southern market with 1.96 million shares changed hands, SSI with 1.27 million, REE with 900,000 shares, SAM with 680,000 shares, PPC with 620,000 and HPG with 560,000 shares being traded.
Conversely, HASTC Index dipped 2.43 points or 2.54% to 93.14 points with a total trade of 10,063,250 shares worth over 192 billion dong.
A series of share codes saw a floor reduction in prices, namely BVS, CCM, and PSC. Especially VSP plunged 3,000 dong per share whereas SDJ climbed to 13,300 dong per share. Most of HASTC listed shares were traded under the comparative prices.
ACB fell 900 dong to 27,800 dong with nearly 600,000 shares being transferred.

Thac Mo Hydropower Co registers to list 70m shares on STC
24/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Thoi Bao Kinh Te Vietnam
Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (STC) announced receiving the application of Thac Mo Hydropower Joint Stock Co to list 70 million ordinary shares at 10,000 dong par on the bourse.
The company has a chartered capital of 700 million dong, headquartered at Area 5, Thac Mo township, Binh Phuoc province's Phuoc Long Dist.

TNA plans capital increase to stay in STC

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Dau Tu Chung Khoan page 5
Thien Nam Trading Import Export Joint Stock Co (coded TNA) passed the plan of issuing extra 4.7 mullion shares to raise the chartered capital from 33 billion dong to 80 billion dong with an aim to stay in Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (STC).
Of which 550,000 bonus shares will be allocated to existing shareholders according to the ratio 6:1, another 1.550 million shares will be sold to existing shareholders at ratio 2:1 with the price of 10,000 dong per share, and the remaining 2.5 million shares at 15,000 dong each will be retailed to strategic shareholders.
This year TNA plans to reach the net revenue of 500 billion dong, pre-tax profit of 25.58 billion dong, a year-on-year growth of 32.83% and an estimated dividend of 15%.

Ha Tien 2 cement maker to go public from Mar 26

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Dau Tu Chung Khoan page 7
On March 26, 88 million HT2 coded shares of Ha Tien 2 Cement Joint Stock Co will be officially traded on Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (STC) with the comparative price of 20,000 dong per share and the trading price amplitude of +/-20%.
Ha Tien 2 cement maker has a chartered capital of 880 billion dong, headquartered in Kien Luong Township, Kien Giang province's Kien Luong Dist.
Last year the firm reported the business results with nearly 1.259 trillion dong in net revenue, 176.494 billion dong in pre-tax profit and 124.523 billion dong in after-tax profit, which are expected to be 1.716 trillion dong, 140 billion dong after-tax profit and a dividend of 7.5% in 2009.

SABMiller buys remaining interest in Vietnam JV

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Dow Jones
SABMiller Friday announced that it has signed an agreement with its JV partner, Vietnam Dairy Products Joint Stock Company, to acquire Vinamilk's 50% interest in SABMiller Vietnam JV Co Limited. Conditions to the transaction have been fulfilled and SABMiller Asia BV is now the sole shareholder in the Company.
The Company's assets which are the subject of the transaction totalled US$31.8 million at the fiscal year end, 31st December 2008.
The Company's brewery is located in Binh Duong province and supplies the key markets of HCM City, Mekong Delta and Da Nang through an expanding distribution network.
The beer industry in Vietnam is still relatively small with total volumes of 18.5 mhl but is expected to grow significantly. Current per capita consumption is modest and is estimated to be 21 litres per annum.
Ari Mervis, Managing director of SABMiller Asia BV, said: "Having acquired Vinamilk's interest in the Company, we look forward to developing and expanding our interests further in the growing and attractive Vietnamese beer market.
"Partnering with Vinamilk at the outset has benefited SABMiller significantly as a result of the local insights and knowledge shared with us. This transaction will allow us increased flexibility to carry out various business initiatives in Vietnam and the Co will complement our existing beer businesses in the broader Asian region," he said.

Korean group targets 200 bakeries in Vietnam

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Vietnamnet
The Korean food service group CJ plans to develop a franchise chain of some 200 Tous Les Jours bakeries across Vietnam, a market that an executive of the group said had much room for quality bread, cakes and pastries.
Nam Young Hyun, general director of CJ Bakery Vietnam Co., Ltd, said the company had a clear strategy to reach the number of bakeshops with the focus on HCM City and Hanoi in the first five years.
"There are already four Tous Les Jours bakeries in HCM City and two more will be opened in this bustling city this year," Nam told the Daily on Wednesday when the fourth Tous Les Jours bakeshop was opened here, at 187 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street in District 1.
The other three existing Tous Les Jours bakeshops are situated on Hai Ba Trung Street, Tran Hung Dao Boulevard and Diamond Plaza on Pham Ngoc Thach Street. The first bakery of this brand was inaugurated the city in mid-June, 2007.
Nam said CJ Bakery Vietnam aimed to open European-style Tous Les Jours bakeries in HCM City's main streets first, adding the company was looking for locations on Hung Vuong and Cach Mang Thang Tam streets for the two shops planned for later this year.
Like the four existing Tous Les Jours bakeries, the new outlets are places where customers can sit down and enjoy various types of European-tasting bread, cakes, pastries and sandwiches as well as coffee and other drinks.
Nam said CJ Bakery Vietnam would centreed on promoting and positioning the Tous Les Jours brand as a bakery for quality bread, cakes and pastries in HCM City in the first three-years operation before branching out to Hanoi.
He expected the first Tous Les Jours shop in Hanoi would be inaugurated in the third quarter of next year, and after that more outlets of this brand would be available in other cities of Vietnam.
CJ Group now has a chain of 1,200 Tous Les Jours bakeries in Korea as well as outlets in China and the United States.

Vietnam Manufacturing Expo 2009 to take place in May

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Hanoimoi
Vietnam Manufacturing Expo 2009 is seen as the largest-ever international exhibition-fair that will take place in Hanoi on May 28th-30th.
A large number of latest technological products from many countries will be showcased at the expo, according to the organiser, Reed Tradex from Thailand.
The expo will contain 4 main themes: "InterPlas Vietnam 2009", "Intermold Vietnam 2009", "Automotive Manufacturing Vietnam 2009" and "Automation Vietnam 2009".
Executive director of the company Nichapa Yoswee said that there would be some 200 firms from 20 nations to take part in the event.
By introducing the latest technologies, the expo aims to support the Vietnamese manufacturing sector in reforming itself and improving its competitiveness in the global market.
In addition, this can be seen as a good chance for domestic businesses to seek cooperation and contracts with foreign partners.

DPM reports 2008 performance
24/Mar/2009 Intellasia | 20/Mar/.2009 Dau Tu Chung Khoan page 20
PetroVietnam Nitrogenous Fertiliser and Chemical Joint Stock Corp (coded DPM) posted a big loss of 87 billion dong in the last quarter of 2008 despite its revenue grew by 66% compared to the previous quarter because the listed firm deducted 643 billion dong for the standby fund of goods price reduction.
In the whole 2008, DPM's net revenue surged 4.7% year-on-year to more than 1.380 trillion dong and the revenue jumped 71.3% to over 6.475 trillion dong.
Its combined marginal profit ratio reduced from 39.2% in 2007 to 28.6% in 2008.
DPM invested over US$27 million to raise the plant's capacity by 60,000 tonnes of urea fertiliser a year to 80,000 tonnes. Also, it signed an EPC contract with Korea's Sam Sung Engineering in January 2009 to build the CO2 withdrawal system with construction time of 24 months.
On March 11, the closing price of DPM was 29,000 dong per share with an estimated P/E ratio of 6.8 times, lower than the average figure of 10.4 times of the fertiliser and chemical production sector.

S99 targets 23b dong profit in 2009

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia | 20/Mar/2009 CafeF
Northern bourse-listed Song Da Joint Stock Co No 99 (coded S99) has recently announced the resolution of the company's shareholders' meeting held on March 13.
Accordingly, in 2009, S99 plans to reach 136.8 billion dong in revenue and 22.6 billion dong in pre tax profit, increasing 50% and 15% against 2008 respectively.
This year, S99 will make its focus on Son La hydropower plant project.

Nam Cam Ranh Industrial Area to be commissioned

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia |Thoi Bao Kinh Te Vietnam page 1
Van Phong Economic Zone's PMU on March 21 allowed Nha Trang Shipping Industry Co to build Nam Cam Ranh Industrial Area.
The industrial area project is designed on 204 hectares in Cam Thinh Dong Commune, costing an estimated 980 billion dong.
The project will finish by late 2011.

Vinashin Finance Co to scale up chartered capital

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia |Thoi Bao Kinh Te Vietnam page 3
State Bank of Vietnam on March 19 allowed Vinashin Finance Co, and Textile and Garment Finance Co to increase chartered capital, according to Decision No 597 and 580/QD-NHNN.
Under it, Vinashin Finance Co's capital will be increased from 1.023 trillion dong to 1.323 trillion dong and that of the second finance firm will be raised from the current 234 billion dong to 300 billion dong.

Japan, Vietnam warming to nuclear power deal

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Forbes
The Tokyo and Hanoi governments are negotiating a cooperation pact, as Japanese companies seek building contracts.
Japan and Vietnam are likely to sign a nuclear pact in Hanoi next week. The bilateral agreement will pave the way for Toshiba Corp and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to win a contract to build Vietnam's first nuclear plant.
Officials of the two countries will meet in Hanoi next Wednesday to negotiate the terms of an accord on nuclear cooperation in 2010. Both governments appear to have agreed on the outlines and are now set to work out the details, the Nikkei Evening News said Thursday, citing government sources from both sides.
The Hanoi government announced earlier this year that it would start building two nuclear power plants, each with two 1,000-megawatt reactors, around 2013-15. The two plants are expected to begin power generation by 2020 to help relieve the country's severe electricity shortage. Vietnam's fast-growing economy has resulted in a power deficit that is estimated to hit 64 billion kilowatt hours in 2020, without measures to address the problem, according to domestic media sources, a further widening of the supply gap to 120 billion kWh will take place by 2030 amid rapid industrialisation.
A nuclear cooperation pact between Japan and Vietnam would simplify customs procedures and facilitate Japanese companies' exporting nuclear plant parts or fuel to Vietnam. At the same time, it would prohibit Vietnam from using the nuclear-related equipment for military purposes or transferring it to a third country, the Nikkei Evening News specified.
Besides clearing away hurdles for shipments of materiel and fuel by Japanese companies, Toshihiro Nikai, Japan's economy, trade and industry minister, promised in late February to consider providing public funding, possibly in the form of soft loans from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation or insurance by Nippon Export and Investment Insurance, a state-sponsored export credit agency, to support Vietnam's nuclear project.
Japanese players seem to have the inside track in the race to obtain the building contracts, which are estimated to worth about 1 trillion yen (US$10.6 billion) in total. Yet, other power companies such as Westinghouse in the United States, France's nuclear giant Areva, Russia's AtomStroyExport and China's Guangdong Nuclear Power Group have also approached Vietnamese officials to express their interest in the project.
China Guangdong Nuclear Power Group revealed earlier this month on its Web site that it had signed a letter of intent with the state-owned power holding company Electricity of Vietnam about the construction of a nuclear power plant in Ninh Thuan, a southern coastal province. The Chinese company said it had submitted a feasibility study for the plant for government consideration. The letter of intent is a preliminary agreement and is not legally binding.
The National Assembly in Hanoi is scheduled to discuss and approve the nuclear cooperation deal with Japan in May.

Total, PetroVietnam ink production sharing contract for two onshore blocks

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Rigzone
Total Exploration and Production Vietnam has signed a Production Sharing Contract with Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) for the exploration blocks DBSCL-02 and DBSCL-03. The blocks, which are located in the Mekong Delta area onshore, will be operated by Total with a 75% interest, PetroVietnam Exploration Production ("PVEP") holding a 25% interest.
Having created a partnership in 2007 with PVEP and the Korean company SK on offshore block 15-1/05, Total continues to develop its presence in Vietnam.
Total's experience in managing the environmental impact of its activities will be crucial in the Mekong Delta. The exploration activities will be carried out without disruption of the community's activities and following the environmental and social framework that is being set by the Authorities.
About the exploration works
Block DBSCL-02 covers an area of nearly 14,850 square kilometres and block DBSCL-03 covers an area of almost 13,800 square kilometres. Under the terms of the agreement, the first exploration phase will cover the acquisition of 2D seizmic on each block.

Vinacomin to build 1,200 MW plant with Chinese Co

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Dow Jones
State-owned Vietnam National Coal-Mineral Industries Group, or Vinacomin, and China Southern Grid Corp will start building a 1,200-megawatt power plant in the southeast Asian nation, Vietnam's Ministry of Planning and Investment said Friday in a statement.
The coal-fired plant will be part of the Vinh Tan complex, which will have a combined capacity of 4,400 megawatts, the ministry said.
It said it will cost US$6.1 billion to build the whole complex, which is located in Binh Thuan province, 200 kilometres northeast of HCM City.
Construction of the plant is slated for completion by 2011, the ministry said.

Work on Ca Mau gas pipeline begins
24/Mar/2009 Intellasia | VNA | Vietnam+
The EPC contract for the Block B-Omon gas pipeline leading to Ca Mau Gas Power and Nitrogenous Fertiliser Complex of Omon power centre was signed on March 19 between the South-western PMU and a contractor group including Vietsovpetro, PetroVietnam Technical Service Joint Stock Corp (PTSC) and PetroVietnam Construction Joint Stock Corp (PVC).
The gas pipeline is 152 kilometres long, across five Mekong Delta provinces.
The project will be started in Q4 of 2009 and finished by July 2011.

BP to withdraw from two exploration blocks off Vietnam

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Dow Jones
BP PLC (BP) will withdraw from exploration blocks 5.2 and 5.3 offshore of Vietnam, a company excecutive said Friday.
"This decision was made on the company's business consideration," said the official, who declined to be named.
"BP Vietnam is in discussions with PetroVietnam and partners to progress the withdrawal during 2009," she added, without giving an exact time frame for the withdrawal.
BP and PetroVietnam and ConocoPhillips have been jointly exploring oil and natural gas reserves since before 2000, said a PetroVietnam official in Hanoi.
In Block 5.2, BP holds a 55.9% stake, PetroVietnam 24.1% and ConocoPhillips 20.0%, while in Block 5.3, BP has a 60% stake, and PetroVietnam and ConocoPhillips each have a 20% stake, PetroVietnam figures showed.
"The parties involved in the two blocks are discussing the withdrawal," he noted, giving no further details.
BP is the biggest foreign producer of natural gas in Vietnam, with its operations supplying 3 billion cubic metres of natural gas a year from Block 06.1 in the Nam Con Son Basin.
BP's natural gas is supplied to the Phu My gas-fired power plant in Ba Ria Vung Tau, which accounts for more than 30% of the electricity produced in Vietnam, BP figures showed.
According to Hanoi-based financial analyst Bui Kien Thanh, BP's decision to leave the areas will hurt Vietnam's efforts to raise its natural gas supply to boost power production.
"As the two blocks are located at areas of difficult conditions for production which will certainly need the participation of strong international players, without BP, Vietnam will have to delay its plans to bring gas onshore," Thanh said.
He added that it's not clear whether BP would abandon its investment in the areas completely.

Construction on Thai Binh Power Centre begins

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia | CafeF
Thai Binh Power Centre project with total capacity of 1,800 MW, including Thai Binh 1 thermo power plant, Thai Binh2, and road leading to the centre, ports and other construction items was started with total estimated expense of 13 trillion dong invested by Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) and PetroVietnam Power Corp.
The project is designed on a site of 250 hectares along Tra Ly river in My Loc Commune, Thai Binh province's Thai Thuy Dist.
The road leading to the power centre is 7.3 kilometres long from National Road 39B and 12.5 metres wide.
In details, Thai Binh 1 thermo power plant invested by EVN has two 300 MW generators, designed on 47 hectares. Thai Binh 2 invested by PV Power will be built on 53 hectares, including two generators with a combined capacity of 1,200 MW. The main materials fed to the two thermo power plants are fossil coal and limestone from Quang Ninh province.

Construction of Vinh Tan thermo plant to start at end of year

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia | 20/Mar/2009 Thoi Bao Kinh Te Saigon
Vinh Tan thermo power plant, a part of Vinh Tan thermo power centre, will be built by this November in Vinh Tan commune, Tuy Phong Dist in the central province of Binh Thuan.
Vinh Tan thermo power project is under the national energy development plan in 2006-2015 phase.
As planned, Vinh Tan thermo power centre with a total investment of some US$6.1 billion will include three plants and one seaport.
The centre with an estimated capacity of 4,400 MW will produce an output of about 28.6 billion kWh/year.
Particularly, Vinh Tan 1 thermo power plant capitalised at US$1.9 billion co-invested by China-based Southern Group and Vietnam National Coal and Mineral Industries Group (Vinacomin) is expected to be in operation by 2010-2011 phase.
The thermo power plants of Vinh Tan 2 capitalised at US$1.6 billion and Vinh Tan 3 with a total investment of US$2.6 billion invested by Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) are expected to be operational by 2011-2015 phase.

Over US$7b urban zone to be built in Hanoi's outskirts

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia | 20/Mar/2009 CafeF
Viet Hung Urban Development and Investment Joint Stock Co (Vihajico), the owner of Eco Park urban zone, has recently said that its project of building an urban zone worth over US$7 billion will be started work by the third quarter this year.
The project covering an area of 500 hectares will be built in the northern province of Hung Yen.

Work on US$17.5m trade centre starts

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Thoi Bao Kinh Te Vietnam page 1
Espace Business Hue Joint Stock Co was granted the investment certificate to build a trade centre and supermarket complex in Thua Thien Hue province.
The project covers on 3,930 square metres in Ba Tieu Hung Vuong area, Hue City's Phu Hoi Ward with total cost of US317.5 million.
The complex is expected to be operational after seven months from receiving the certificate.

Red River Investment JSC brakes ground on Thanh Cong 2 building

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia |T hoi Bao Kinh Te Vietnam page 1
Red River Investment Joint Stock Co yesterday broke ground on the Thanh Cong 2 apartment and office building on 5,200 square metres in Hanoi with total investment capital of US$30 million.
The construction comprises two 21-storey apartment blocks, a 11-storey office block with total construction area of 3,510 square metres, which will be finished by 2010.

FPT Telecom provides '3 in 1' service package

23/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Thoi Bao Kinh Te Vietnam
FPT Telecom has provided the "3 in 1" service package meaning that three services namely internet MegaMe+, fixed telephone MegaYou+ and internet television MegaSave+ will be supplied by using the sole IPI layer according to Triple Play technology.
This is the modern technologic solution applied for the first time in Vietnam. The telecom provider's general director Tran Hai Nam said that Triple Platy supplies image, data and sound transmission services in the same service package so this will reduce the investment cost. So the cost for service package will be much cheaper in comparison with the total cost for single services at the moment.
With Triple Plan, customers can watch movies on demand, read newspaper via television and others.
Being as one of four first internet service providers in Vietnam with the market share of 35%, FPT Telecom now has over 350,000 internet subscribers.