Vietnam brokers feel the pinch
23/Mar/2009 Dau Tu Chung Khoan page 22
  Because of failing to meeting new requirements on capital, many securities companies have no ways but to cut some business operations. Amidst the current context, cutting underwriting that requires 150 billion dong in capital is normal but what is a pity to say a goodbye to other operations (except for brokering).
  Currently, some securities companies that reduce some business operations are seeking ways to merge together. This may be an efficient way-out when internal strengths of many securities companies are weak and foreign partners seem to be indifferent to domestic securities companies, which is demonstrated by buying prices, post-M&A negotiations and others.
  According to Nguyen Chi Thanh, chairman of the National Securities Co (NSI)’s managing board, at the first sight, securities companies of the same situation may consider M&A among them an uunrealistic idea. However, upon careful consideration, we can see that M&A is a way-out for securities companies that are facing up capital pressures, promising general strengths for themselves amidst the current context, particularly when foreign partners pay relatively poorly for securities companies because they thoroughly see all difficulties of domestic securities companies and thirst for capital of domestic securities companies.
  For example, the Gia Anh Securities Co has not yet found any partner to sell 80% of its chartered capital and the company has not yet had any specific plan on raising its capital, said Gia Anh's general director Chu Hoang Anh.
  Gia Anh that owns 22 billion dong in chartered capital is short of three billion dong for brokering. Without raising capital, the company has no way but to retain only consulting.
  Pham Diem Hoa, general director of Wall Street Securities Co (WSS) said that merging is a way-out for securities companies amidst the current situation. Hoa added that in order to create active support values such as gold trading floors, OTC trading floors, corporate finance consulting, bond consulting and others, in short term, securities companies must overcome the capital barrier. Previously, WSS received some proposals on merger from small securities companies. However because the company saw that it had not needed to raise capital (WSS now has chartered capital of 160 billion dong), and the company gained big profit in 2008 while the market still had many untapped potential, WSS still has not yet accepted any offer for merger.
  An official from a Hanoi-based securities company said that his company decided to retain the only operation, that is securities brokering, and concerned that if continuing to operate in such a manner, his company on some day will get flu. Therefore, maintaining only one securities operation is the temporary solution to meet the new requirement on chartered capital. In long-term, his company will surely have to seek to ways to cooperate or even merge with securities companies of the same situation in order to expand business operations.
  According to a representative from a M&A consulting company, when selecting M&A partners, securities companies should consider such factors as market share, human resources, surplus value and so on. Securities companies that plan to merge with others should consider their operation status to see where they dominate or have not yet tapped in order to have proper M&A plans.
  Hoa said that if considering M&A a good way in reducing costs, doubling investment opportunities for securities companies when clients are gathered to only one place, whether M&A is successful or not will depend willingness of two sides as well as the economy's health, the market's demand and supply. In addition to the incomplete legal framework, that M&A of securities companies has not yet been seen in Vietnam may cause troubles. Therefore, it is required to consult M&A of securities in other countries before M&A is conducted.
World trade growth to plummet 9% in 2009: WTO
24/Mar/2009 Intellasia | AFP
  World trade volumes are expected to drop by an average of nine% in 2009, the sharpest fall since World War II, the World Trade Organisation said Monday.
  But the WTO said in its latest forecast for global trade flows that data from key Asian traders like China last month suggested that the worst of the global trade decline may be over soon.
  "The collapse in global demand brought on by the biggest economic downturn in decades will drive exports down by roughly nine% in volume terms in 2009, the biggest such contraction since the Second World War," the forecast said.
  Trading volumes of the developed economies should contract 10% this year, while trade in developing economies should slip 2 to 3%.
  Despite the dismal projections for the full year, the WTO pointed out that import data for China, Singapore, Taiwan and Vietnam turned positive in February following successive months of decline.
  China posted an increase of 17% in imports compared to January, while Singapore posted growth of one%.
  "While this is only a single month of data, and should therefore be interpreted cautiously, it could be evidence of slowing decline and perhaps a 'bottoming out' of negative trade growth trends," said the report.
  In Vietnam, February imports were up 32% compared to January, which in turn was down 38% from December 2008.
  February imports in Taiwan gained 22% over January, a sharp reversal from the 24% in January compared to December.
  Year-on-year comparisons of trade data are usually deemed more accurate as they factor in seasonal effects such as festive holidays.
  But in this instance, after consecutive months of sharp decline, analysts have been watching for the point of reversal.
  In 2008, world trade growth reached 2%, but it "tapered off in the last six months," said the WTO.
  The WTO added that it was "implausible" that trade volumes could continue to fall at the rate they been declining in the past few months.
  Citing China as an example, the WTO noted that if the downturn were extrapolated according to recent export figures, then "China's exports would be approaching zero within ten months to a year".
Vietnam expands dong trading band to support exports
24/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Bloomberg
  Vietnam widened the trading band for the dong to 5% either side of a daily fixing rate, seeking to support an economy growing at the slowest pace in almost a decade.
  The currency’s allowed fluctuation from the reference rate will widen from 3% starting from tomorrow, according to a statement posted on the central bank’s Web site. The first widening of the band since November will allow “exchange rates that are closer to supply and demand,” the State Bank of Vietnam’s Governor Nguyen Van Giau said in the statement.
  The government is trying to bolster exports after the economy expanded 6.2% last year, the slowest pace since 1999. The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund last week forecast Vietnam’s 2009 growth will be 5.5% and 4.8%, respectively.
  “This is the right decision by the government since it will enable the exchange rate between dong and dollar in the interbank market to be closer to the rates in the so-called free market,” said Phan Thi Chinh, deputy general director of Bank for Investment & Development of Vietnam, the country’s second-biggest bank.
  The dong was little changed at 17,486.5 per dollar as of 6:05 p.m. in Hanoi, compared with 17,488.50 when the market closed on March 20, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The currency touched its record low of 17,492 on December 29.
  ‘Quite Stable’
  The currency’s exchange rate at money changers in Hanoi was 17,650 to 17,680 today, versus 17,640 to 17,670 the previous day, according to a telephone directory information service, known as 1080, run by state-owned Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications.
  “I don’t think from now on we will see further significant pressure to depreciate more,” said Fiachra MacCana, head of research at HCM City Securities Corp “Because it is likely interest rates are close to bottoming out, our feeling is that depreciation pressure on the currency is less and less. The currency is going to be quite stable from now on.”
  Vietnam in February posted its first year-to-date trade surplus since 2006. The surplus for the first two months of the year totaled US$290 million, compared with a deficit of US$5.13 billion in the same period a year earlier, according to the general Statistical Office. Exports fell 5.1% to US$8.02 billion, while imports plunged 43.1% to US$7.73 billion, according to the preliminary figures.
  The central bank on December 25 devalued the dong 3% by fixing its reference rate at 16,989 dong per dollar, versus 16,494 the previous day. The monetary regulator on November 6 expanded the trading band to 3% from 2%.
  “Along with the trading band expansion, the central bank will strictly punish any currency trading that exceeds the limit,” the statement said. The monetary regulator will also take measures to prevent hoarding of U.S dollars and “to ensure a healthy flow of foreign currencies in the economy,” it said.
Commercial banks not allowed to withhold dollar sales: SBV
24/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Thanhnienenws
  The central bank will take measures to deal with commercial banks that try to hold back their dollars to avoid selling within the allowed trading band, Governor Nguyen Van Giau said Sunday.
  In a meeting with the Young Businesses Association, Giau said the central bank has ordered commercial banks to ensure that their forex trading abides by the regulations.
  The State Bank of Vietnam has caught one bank trying to sell the dollar at rates outside the trading band and [punitive] measures against this bank would be taken, the governor said, without naming the bank.
  The central bank had warned last Wednesday that commercial banks are not allowed to use derivatives to trade dollars at rates outside the official trading band, and offenders would be punished.
  The central bank had already banned last June the use of third currencies to circumvent a trading band running 3% on either side of a midpoint it sets each day. But bankers say that in practice, some traders have been using a range of methods, including currency options and third currencies, to trade dollars and dong outside the band at rates many see as more market-oriented.
  One day after the central bank decision, bankers said dollar trading by commercial banks could grind to a halt. As most banks have bought foreign currencies at rates outside the trading band, they do not want to sell the currencies at official rates now, bankers said.
  “A dollar scare seems to come back just like a year ago, pushing the forex rates upwards,” Nguyen Thanh Nhon, deputy chair of the Young Businesses Association, said at the meeting.
  Nhon said association members now have to buy the greenback at higher rates on the black market to pay for their goods.
  The unofficial rate Sunday reached 17,800 dong for a dollar while the rate listed by Vietcombank was 17,490 dong.
  Tran Hoang Ngan, an economist at the HCM City University of Economics, said the recent hike in the dong/dollar rate is because of speculation that the government will allow the dong to fall against the dollar.
  Ngan, also a member of the National Advisory Council on Monetary and Financial Policies, said this expectation has pushed the unofficial dong/dollar rate higher than the trading rate at commercial banks a year ago by 20%.
  The dong last week remained little changed from the end of 2008.
  Out of reach
  The Young Businesses Association said at the meeting Sunday that its members have found it difficult to obtain loans at interest rates lower than 10.5%, the maximum rate that commercial banks are allowed to charge.
  The government had decided in January to use 1 7 trillion dong (US$970 million) from an economic stimulus package to provide a 4-% interest subsidy on loans to companies that export, import or produce essential goods.
  Most commercial banks are lending at 10% per annum and if businesses are eligible for the government subsidy programme, they only have to pay 6% interest on their loans, Giau said in a central bank statement on March 16.
  Song Long Food Company, a member of the association, said a commercial bank agreed to lend it at the subsidised rate. The company, however, failed to have the loan guaranteed by Vietnam Development Bank, or VDB, due to differences in assessment and criteria between the two banks. VDB has been tasked to guarantee unsecured loans made by firms eligible for the government loan subsidy.
  As of last Friday, commercial banks had lent a combined 151.9 trillion dong (US$8.67 billion) to businesses at subsidised rates, a 5.26% increase over a week earlier, according to the State Bank of Vietnam.
Vietnam sees Q1 trade surplus of US$1.65b
24/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Reuters
  Vietnam expects a trade surplus of nearly US$1.65 billion in the first three months of 2009 due to a sharp decline in imports, a state-run online newspaper quoted the Ministry of Industry and Trade as saying.
  Exports in the first quarter were estimated to have edged up only 2.4% compared with the same period last year to US$13.48 billion while imports were estimated to have plunged 45% to US$11.83 billion, the VietnamNet (www.vnn.vn) quoted a ministry report as saying on Monday.
  The Ministry of Industry and Trade report said exports in March alone were estimated to fall 2.8% from a year ago to US$4.7 billion while imports would drop more than 47% to US$4.3 billion, leaving a monthly surplus of US$400 million.
  The report also said the reason exports rose in the January-March period was because of a record export of gold and precious stones of US$2.29 billion, offsetting sharp declines in the exports of other traditional items such as garments, textiles and crude oil.
  Last month, the central bank relaxed a ban on gold exports to allow some traders to re-export the precious metal to take advantage of high prices.
  The Vietnam Gold Business Association has said gold exports in February alone totalled about US$800 million.
  Late last week, planning minister Vo Hong Phuc said the economy was estimated to grow at 3.1% in the first quarter, versus 7.4% in the same period last year.
  Hanoi still projects annual growth of 6.5% this year after a slowdown to 6.2% in 2008 from 8.5% in 2007. Many economists expect slower growth.
Banks to be allowed use of dollar bonds as collateral
24/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Bloomberg
  Commercial banks will be allowed to use government-issued dollar-denominated bonds as collateral when borrowing from the central bank.
  The State Bank of Vietnam decided to allow lenders to use the debt as a “mortgage asset,” according to a statement posted on the website of the Hanoi Securities Trading Centre Friday, where the bond auctions are held.
  The State Treasury raised US$100 million by selling one-year dollar bonds Friday, in the first of three domestic sales this month.
  The bonds were sold to yield 3%, according to an e-mailed statement sent by the Trading Centre.
  “This adds to the reasons why banks might wish to buy these bonds,” said Dominic Scriven, director of fund manager Dragon Capital in HCM City. The central bank has always accepted government bonds denominated in the local currency, he said. With the dollar bonds, banks “can hold on to them as an asset, or they can lend them to the central bank if they need liquidity.”
  The Treasury plans to sell US$100 million worth two-year notes on March 24, and a similar quantity of three-year debt on March 27.
  A “temporary” dong shortage in the money market may encourage commercial banks to borrow from the State Bank of Vietnam, said Le Ba Hoang Quang, the Hanoi-based head of research at Sacombank Securities Inc.
Agribank sees '09 loan growth up 15-17%
24/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Reuters
  Vietnam's state-run Agribank has forecast loan growth of 15-17% in 2009, up from 14% a year ago, as lending accelerates under a government interest rate subsidy programme, the central bank said on Monday.
  Agribank's forecast is lower than the overall 21-23% credit growth projected last week by State Bank of Vietnam Governor Nguyen Van Giau for the country's banking industry in 2009.
  Lending has increased in Vietnam since the government introduced a rate subsidy programme in January to stimulate the economy in the midst of a global downturn.
  The projections for Agribank, which provides about 70% of its credit in rural areas of the country of 86.2 million people, were included in a central bank report on Monday.
  Agribank expected deposits to increase by 18-20% this year, and it aimed to cut bad loans to 2% of total loans from 2.7% a year ago.
  The bank's total assets have risen nearly 3% to 398 trillion dong since the end of 2008.
Pharmaceutical companies still report good results despite economic crisis
23/Mar/2009 Dau Tu Chung Khoan page 21
  The economic crisis has placed many businesses into difficulties, even resulted in temporary closures of some businesses and put under control. However, six pharmaceutical companies list at the HCM City Stock Exchange (Hose) still reported optimistic results in the fourth quarter of 2008 and most of them fulfilled or over-fulfilled their 2008 plans.
  DHG still took the lead in revenue and profit when its revenue rose by 21.1% to 1.537 trillion dong. However, DHG’s net profit increased by only 5.9% to 135.9 billion dong in 2008. IMP reported its net profit up 14.2%, reaching 62.2 billion dong while IMP’s post an increase of 24.4% in revenue, totaling 561.8 billion dong.
  Meanwhile, DMC booked a profit but by only 4.7%, amounting 67.2 billion dong and revenue up by 15.6% to 937.8 billion dong. Among three newly-listed pharmaceutical companies (DCL, OPC, TRA), DCL posted the highest profit growth, 25.5%, totaling 51.2 billion dong and its revenue rose by 33% to 474.9 billion dong. Following was TRA that registered an increase of 20.3% in profit, reaching 46 billion dong and a rise of 46.3% in revenue, totaling 780.2 billion dong. As for OPC, its net profit reduced by 8.6% to 31 billion dong although its revenue still rose by 21.8% against 2007.
  Nevertheless, net profit growth of most companies in 2008, particularly newly-listed companies slowed down significantly. For example, the net profit reduced to 25.5% from 289% for DCL, 20.3% from 139.6% for TRA, 5.9% from 47.4% for DHG; to 4.7% from 32.1% for DMC; 14.2% from 29% for IMP; particularly minus 8.6% from 25.2% for OPC.
  The gross profit on revenue ratio of pharmaceutical companies was improved more or less. Only the gross profit on revenue of TRA reduced by 6.6% and OPC decreased by 5.6%. The net profit on revenue rate of companies declined by 0.6% for DCL; 0.7% for DMC; 1% for IMP; 1.3% for DHG and TRA; and 4.7% for OPC. That was attributed to adverse impacts from inflation. As for DHG and DMC, they had to pay corporate income tax from 2008.
  While many companies are facing up difficulties in capital, pharmaceutical companies except for DCL still reported good positions in net cash with the net debt on ownership’s equity ratio was quite high, 63.4% in 2008 from 14.1% in 2007. However, what should be notable was that DMC’s net cash was reducing within the last one year when the net debt on ownership’s equity ratio was minus 1.04% by the end of 2008 from minus 21.7% at the end of 2007
  With the closing price on March 19, the average P/E of those pharmaceutical companies is 12.3 times, lower than the average P/E of 12.9 times of the pharmaceutical sector.
  According to the Kim Eng Vietnam Securities Co, the growth of those pharmaceutical companies will slow down. However, Kim Eng believed that pharmaceutical shares should be considered for long-term investments.
ADB to loan Vietnam US$95m to improve food safety
24/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Vietnamnet
  The Asian Development Bank (ADB) announced March 23 a US$95 million loan that will be used to improve the safety, quality and quantity of Vietnam’s commercial food crops, and provide alternative and clean energy supply to households through biogas development.
  “The increasing integration of Vietnam’s agricultural production, processing and marketing with international markets makes it critical that improvements are made in product quality and food safety if Vietnam is to maintain and increase its international market share,” Mahfuzuddin Ahmed, senior agricultural economist with ADB’s Southeast Asia Department, said in Monday’s announcement.
  According to the bank, the project will seek to improve food regulations and quality control systems to meet both domestic and export standards. New infrastructure and facilities to support safe food products will be established, and biogas plants will be built to reduce health hazards from livestock waste.
  Financial support, including a credit line, will be made available to 40,000 households for the development of biogas digesters, which both reduce pollution and provide an alternative energy source, the lender said. ADB added that projects eligible for carbon credits will be developed in conjunction with the biogas units, helping to generate revenue for the government.
  Also according to the bank, the project is expected to directly benefit around 6.5 million farmers in 16 provinces and generate about 1.4 million jobs in post-production work. As a result, poverty incidence in the project areas is expected to fall from 19% to 10% over the period of 2016 to 2020.
  The lender said the total project cost of US$110.4 million includes US$6.22 million from the central government, US$6.5 million from the people’s committees in the 16 provinces, US$1.35 million from partner financial institutions and another US$1.35 million equivalent from the beneficiaries of the biogas plants.
  The ADB loan has a 32-year maturity with a grace period of 8 years carrying an interest rate of 1% per annum, which rises to 1.5% for the balance of the term. The executing agency is the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the estimated completion time is June 2015.
  ADB is also providing a technical assistance grant of US$1.5 million to provide startup support for the project management and to design a strategy to expand the national biogas programme. The central government is contributing US$300,000 to the technical assistance.
Vegetexco 1 ’08 profit dips 8%
24/Mar/2009 Intellasia| Dau Tu Chung Khoan page 20
  Vegetexco 1 Hanoi Import and Export Vegetables Joint Stock Co released the 2008 fiscal report with revenue from sales and services of 101.430 billion dong falling 20.17% against 2007.
  The company gained 5.083 billion dong in pre-tax profit down 8.19% and after-tax profit of 4.048 billion dong falling 6.92%.against 2007
Olympus increases gold resources in Vietnam to 1.61m ounces
24/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Marketwire
  Olympus Pacific Minerals Inc. (the "Company" or "Olympus") is pleased to report significant increases to the mineral resource at the Bong Mieu East Gold-Tungsten deposit as outlined in a Technical Report prepared by Terra Mining Consultants and Stevens & Associates ("TMC/SA"). The full text of the report is will be available on the Sedar website: (www.sedar.com) within 45 days of this Press Release.
  TMC/SA reviewed exploration results and resource calculations undertaken by Olympus staff and verified the results as accurately calculated and presented.
  The Bong Mieu property is located in the southeast corner of Quang Nam Province of central Vietnam, some 70 kilometres south of the port city of Da Nang and 20 kilometres southwest of the provincial capital Tam Ky. The property hosts four known gold deposits, -Ho Gan, Ho Ray, Thac Trang and Nui Kem.
  Bong Mieu East
  The TMC/SA report will focus on the Bong Mieu East and will undertake the auditing function for the Mineral Resource estimates prepared by Olympus staff, validating the block model tonnages and grades. TMC/SA classified the Resources using the CIMM standards as required by NI 43-101.
  Measured and Indicated Resource categories at Bong Mieu East are increased to 145,270 ounces (Measured Resources total 55,700 ounces and Indicated Resources total 89,580 ounces). Inferred Resources total 208,450 ounces.
  Using values of US$210/MTU for Tungsten and US$880/oz for gold, at Bong Mieu East, the value of the Tungsten and Fluorine credits contained within the deposit, give a contained gold equivalent in Measured and Indicated Resources of 170,110 ounces (Measured 32,340 ounces Indicated 52,380 ounces). The Inferred Resource is 85,390 ounces.
  To view a map of the Bong Mieu property map, please visit the following link:
http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/Bong%20Mieu.pdf
  The TMC/SA report reviews and compares historical resource estimates, estimation methodology and comparative estimates while detailing the methodology used to make the Resource Estimate summarise in the Table below:
  -------------------------------------------------------------------
  Category Tonnes (t) Au W Au
  (g/t) (ppm) Equivalent
  Ounces
  -------------------------------------------------------------------
  -------------------------------------------------------------------
  Measured 876,100 1.98 1,227 88,040
  -------------------------------------------------------------------
  Indicated 1,765,600 1.58 986 141,950
  -------------------------------------------------------------------
  -------------------------------------------------------------------
  Measured+Indicated 2,641,700 1.71 1,066 229,990
  -------------------------------------------------------------------
  -------------------------------------------------------------------
  Inferred 4,663,000 1.39 609 293,840
  -------------------------------------------------------------------
  Data Analysis and Resource Calculation Methodology
  The statistical analyses and block model calculation methodology used by Olympus and detailed in the TMC/SA report are listed in that report.
  -A 10 g/t Au top cut and 0.5g/t lower cutoff were employed throughout.
  -Densities for calculating tonnage were 1.97 g/cm3 for the oxidised ore and 2.81 g/cm3 for fresh ore.
  -Block models were created in Gemcom. The mineralised zone wire frames were filled with 2m x 2m x 2.0m model cells
  -The Mineral Assay, and Service Co Ltd (MAS Laboratory) located in Bangkok, Thailand, performed assays using the Fire Assay method on 50 grams of prepared sample. The Thailand Departments of Industrial Works and Ministry of Industry certify the MAS laboratory.
  Olympus Pacific Minerals Inc., as first mover in Vietnam, is positioned to become a leading gold producer and explorer in Southeast Asia. Olympus is committed to its vision of producing gold from its reserves, making major discoveries in the region and increasing shareholder wealth.
  OLYMPUS PACIFIC MINERALS INC.
  David A. Seton, Chair and Chief Executive Officer
  Unless otherwise, noted, the technical information in this release has been prepared by and reviewed by TRP (Rod) Jones, vice-President Exploration for Olympus Pacific Minerals Inc, who is a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101.
  Statements in this release that is not historical facts are forward-looking statements which involve risk and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. The Co relies upon litigation protection for forward-looking statements.
  For more information, please contact
  Olympus Pacific Minerals Inc.
  David Seton
  Chair and Chief Executive Officer
  (416) 572-2525 or Toll Free: 1-888-902-5522
  (416) 572-4502 (FAX)
  or
  Olympus Pacific Minerals Inc.
  Jim Hamilton
  VP Investor Relations
  (416) 572-2525 or Toll Free: 1-888-902-5522
  (416) 572-4502 (FAX)
  www.olympuspacific.com
Serica Energy announces Vietnam farm-out and operational update
24/Mar/2009 Intellasia | CNW
  Serica Energy plc ("Serica" or "the Company") announces that it has agreed the terms of a farm-out of part of its interest in Block 06/94 offshore Vietnam and provides an operational update of its activities in Indonesia, where production is expected in the second quarter, and in Ireland where drilling is expected to commence in May.
  Vietnam Farm-Out
  Serica has reached agreement with Australian Worldwide Exploration Limited ("AWE") on the terms of a farm-out of part of Serica's interest in the Block 06/94 Production Sharing Contract offshore Vietnam ("the PSC"). The agreement is subject to the waiver of a pre-emptive right held by PetroVietnam, the Vietnamese State oil and gas company, and to the approval of the government of Vietnam.
  Under the agreement, AWE will bear Serica's 33.33% share of the costs of the three well drilling programme in the PSC, subject to a financial cap, in order to earn an interest of 23.33% in the PSC, with Serica retaining a 10% interest.
  The Ocean general drilling rig is expected to arrive on location in Block 06/94 for the Tuong Vi exploration well in June 2009. The second and third exploration wells on the block are not expected to be drilled until 2010.
  Operational Update
  Indonesia: In the Kambuna field development (Serica 50%), the 58 kilometre offshore and onshore pipeline has been laid and tested. The offshore platform topsides were successfully installed this month and offshore hook-up and commissioning are in progress. Work continues with the construction of the onshore gas reception facility and first gas is scheduled for June 2009. In the Kutai PSC (Serica 54.6%), offshore and onshore East Kalimantan, the 280 kilometre onshore 2D seizmic survey is being recorded.
  Ireland: Serica expects shortly to secure a drilling rig to drill the Bandon exploration prospect off the west coast of Ireland in Licence PEL 01/06 with drilling planned to commence in May. This gas prospect has a potential resource range of 230 billion cubic feet to 1.7 trillion cubic feet. Serica's costs on this well will be largely carried by RWE-DEA, which is farming in to earn a 50% interest in the Licence, with Serica remaining operator and retaining 50%.
  Paul Ellis, Serica's Chief Executive Officer, said:
  "Serica continues to make strong progress on a number of fronts with development of the Kambuna field in Indonesia now well on course for first gas production in the second quarter of this year. The successful farm-outs in both Ireland and Vietnam enable the Co to retain material upside to the near-term drilling programme in these two highly prospective blocks whilst substantially reducing the costs".
  Further information regarding Serica's interests can be found on Serica's web-site at www.serica-energy.com
  The technical information contained in the announcement has been reviewed and approved by Peter Sadler, Chief Operating Officer of Serica Energy plc. Peter Sadler is a qualified Petroleum Engineer (MSc Imperial College, London, 1982) and has been a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers since 1981.
  The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
  To receive Co news releases via email, please contact catarina(at)chfir.com and specify "Serica press releases" in the subject line.
  For further information
  Serica Energy plc: Paul Ellis, Chief Executive Officer, paul.ellis@serica-energy.com, +44 (0)20 7487 7300
  Chris Hearne, Finance director, chris.hearne@serica-energy.com, +44 (0)20 7487 7300
  JPMorgan Cazenove: Steve Baldwin, steve.baldwin@jpmorgancazenove.com, +44 (0)20 7588 2828
  Tristone Capital Limited: Majid Shafiq, mshafiq@tristonecapital.com, +44 (0)20 7355 5872
  Pelham Public Relations -UK: Philip Dennis, philip.dennis@pelhampr.com, +44 (0)20 7337 1516
  Andy Cornelius: andy.cornelius@pelhampr.com, +44 (0)20 7337 1514
  CHF -Canada: Cathy Hume, cathy@chfir.com, (416) 868-1079 x231
  Catarina Cerqueira, catarina@chfir.com, (416) 868-1079 x251
Dot VN, Inc. signs exclusive cooperation agreement with VNNIC to develop a 'Parking page -Pay Per Click' programme for Vietnam
24/Mar/2009 Intellasia | PRNewswire
  Dot VN, Inc., a Delaware corporation ("Dot VN" or the "Company") (www.dotVN.com), (OTC Bulletin Board: DTVI -News), an internet and Telecommunications Co and the exclusive online global domain name registrar for the Country of Vietnam, announced today that on March 16, 2009, the Company, through its wholly owned subsidiary, Hi-Tek Multimedia, Inc., a California corporation, executed an agreement in principle with the Vietnam internet Network Information Centre ("VNNIC") to serve as its exclusive partner to develop a parking page programme for the Vietnamese ccTLD ".vn" (the "Parking page Agreement").
  Pursuant to the Parking page Agreement, Dot VN is the exclusive registrar charged with developing a programme whereby typing any unregistered.VN domain names, as well as certain expired domain names in the web browser's address bar will be directed to a unique parking web page which (i) provides the current unregistered status of the domain name, (ii) recommendations on registration of the domain name, (iii) allows the visitor to register the domain name instantly via the Company's online payment gateway, and (iv) will also feature sponsors advertising links on parking pages, often provided by notable companies such as eNom, Microsoft adCentre, Yahoo! Search Marketing and Google AdSense, to other websites that have the content relevant to the available domain name as opposed to the usual dead link notice. Dot VN plans to tailor the links based on the predicted interests of the visitor and may change the links dynamically depending on the results the visitors click on. Dot V
N expects that revenue will be generated based on how many sponsor links have been visited (e.g. pay per click). Further, the Co anticipates that the number of domain registrations through it website www.vn will increase based on the direct links from the parking page to Dot VN's registration portal.
  "Dot VN continues to successfully work closely with VNNIC to grow its domain registration revenue. The Co will be able to generate significant revenue as the exclusive registrar providing "Parking page -Pay Per Click" programme for.VN ccTLD. We are extremely excited to be involved as a provider in this growing multi billion dollar internet Advertising market." said Thomas M. Johnson, Dot VN's Chair and Chief Executive Officer.
  For more information about Pay-Per-Click, please click on the link below:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pay_per_click
  About the Companies:
  Dot VN, Inc. (www.DotVN.com) provides internet and Telecommunication services for Vietnam. Vietnam internet Network Information Centre ("VNNIC") awarded the Co an "exclusive long-term contract" to be the first registrar to market and register its country code Top Level Domain ("ccTLD") of.VN (Vietnam) and Parking page Marketing via the internet. Dot VN has established agreements with international ISP's (internet service providers) along with over 73 top domain resellers in 30 countries to commercialise.VN. Also, the Co is currently developing initiatives to offer internet Data Centre services and Wireless applications.
  Vietnam internet Network Information Centre ("VNNIC"), (www.vnnic.net.vn) is an agency of the Ministry of Information and Communication ("MIC") of Vietnam. VNNIC was founded on 28th April 2000, and carries out the functions of managing, allocating, supervising and promoting the use of internet domain names, addresses, autonomous system numbers in Vietnam, providing internet-related guidance, statistics on internet usage, and representing Vietnam at internet related events.
  For more information, contact:
  Thomas M. Johnson, Chair & CEO
  Dot VN, Inc.
  Phone: 858-571-2007 X14
  Email: Inquiries@DotVN.com
  Website: www.DotVN.com
  Register your.VN domains at: www.VN
IBM awarded multi million-dollar contract by Vietnam based Gtel Mobile
24/Mar/2009 Intellasia | RTTNews
  Monday, International Business Machines Corp (IBM: News ) said it has been awarded a multi million-dollar contract by Gtel Mobile to build a high performance IT infrastructure, mobile service network and a range of business solutions to support Gtel Mobile's commercial launch this year.
  Pursuant to the agreement, IBM will facilitate the implementation of the global system for mobile communications network for Gtel Mobile to manage the 24/7 operation of the company. Additionally, IBM will provide the technology and associated services to build the business solutions for billing, customer care and value added services.
Tourism-services tax hikes need to be delayed: business leader
24/Mar/2009 Intellasia | Thanhniennews
  The government should put off a proposed hike in tax on tourism-related services to safeguard the tourism industry which has already been buffeted by the global economic downturn, a top business executive said.
  Under the amended Special Consumption Tax Law, set to take effect April 1, tax on golf services will double to 20% and those on casino and electronic gaming services will go up from 25% to 30%.
  Baron R. Ah Moo, head of the Vietnam Business Forum’s Tourism Working Group and CEO of Indochina Hotels and Resorts, said encouraging tourists to spend money and easing their financial burden by deferring the tax to a “more appropriate” time should be a priority in the current context.
  As the visa process and infrastructure are already handicaps for the Vietnamese tourism sector, the tax increase would badly hurt its competitiveness compared to other countries, Ah Moo added.
  In the first two months this year, the number of international arrivals fell 10% year-on-year to 688,700, according to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism.
  With the low season approaching, the number of foreign visitors is likely to continue to drop, the tourism industry fears.
  The Vietnam Business Forum is a regular forum between the government and businesses and is chaired by a deputy prime minister, the World Bank Country director, the IFC Country manager, and the minister of Planning and Investment.
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