Coffee exports likely to top US$2 billion

Vietnam exported 600,000 tonnes of coffee in the first half of the 2010-2011 crop, earning US$1.1 billion.

According to the Vietnam Coffee and Cocoa Association (Vicofa), coffee export turnover is likely to exceed US$2 billion thanks to a sharp increase in coffee prices on foreign markets.

Vicofa Chairman Luong Van Tu said that a number of businesses and foreign representative offices had bought a huge volume of coffee, much higher than expected. Since Vietnam’s admission to the World Trade Organisation (WTO), foreign businesses have raised the bulk purchase of coffee by 16-50 percent.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) asked State management agencies to strictly monitor the purchase and the export of farm produce by foreign businesses and representative offices in Vietnam.

Ho Chi Minh City requests tax reduction

Ho Chi Minh City’s People’s Committee has asked the Ministry of Finance to reduce corporate tax by at least 30percent for small-and-middle-size businesses that are suffering from financial hardships.

Ho Chi Minh City’s People’s Committee has asked the Ministry of Finance to reduce corporate tax by at least 30 percent for small-and-middle-size businesses as part of an effort to help businesses cope with rising prices.

Nguyen Thi Hong, Vice Chair of the HCMC People’s Committee said the finance ministry’s plan to postpone tax filing for small and middle size businesses for one year was commendable but not enough.

HCMC thus was proposing additional measures to help businesses who are facing a shortage of capital as interest rates across the board are rising, Hong said.

For instance, HCMC suggested that the ministry should reduce taxes by 20 percent to 30 percent for businesses that sell essential items whose prices are being kept stable by the government as well as businesses that provide boarding services to workers and students.

Hong said HCMC also found the current personal income tax floor – VND4 million/month – as well as the VND1.6 million deduction for every dependent – were too low in the face of rising prices.

HCMC thus also proposed raising these levels as well as considering applying different levels to different regions as prices in cities are generally higher than elsewhere.

Dung Quat accelerates production of bio-ethanol

The Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) is accelerating the building of the Dung Quat bio-fuel production plant, aiming put it into operation on a trial run by October, 2011.

After 16 months of construction, 75 percent of the project has been completed. This is the biggest bio-fuel production plant in central Vietnam and it will use cassava to produce 100 million liters of bio- ethanol petrol per year. The super clean product will partly replace traditional petrol.

The first phase of the project cost more than VND 2,200 billion.

PVN to charge associates for use of trademark

Associate companies of the Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PVN) will in future pay franchise costs to the parent company for use of its logo at a minimum charge of VND1 billion (US$47.6 million) per year.

PVN stated this on April 15 in Hanoi.

As per this new order, all group associates and subsidiary partners holding 100 percent stake in chartered capital, shares or contributed capital over 50 percent of chartered capital and all PVN-owned scientific research and training units will have to use the trademark effectively, properly and ethically under the group’s regulations intended to promote the image and value of PVN.

All associates and subsidiaries have the right to use the trademark but they cannot sublet the use to their subsidiary companies unless PVN accepts a franchise contract.

According to PVN, though regulation of use of the trademark has been applicable since June 2009, only 70 of the 148 companies have signed trademark franchise contracts.

Many companies have not signed the contract because they cannot afford the charge due to difficulties in production and businesses.

Vietnam, China businesses boost cooperation

Businesses from Vietnam and China reached dozens of agreements on economic cooperation at a seminar held in Vietnam’s northern province of Quang Ninh on April 17.

The seminar themed “Economic exchange and cooperation between Vietnamese and Chinese enterprises” was jointly held by the Cooperatives and Non-state Enterprises Alliance and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Association of Quang Ninh province in coordination with the alliances in Hanoi, Lao Cai and Hai Phong.

The event brought together nearly 100 businesses from the two countries and the Industry and Commerce Unions of China chapters in Fangcheng, Guangdong, Dongxing and Liuzhou.

Participants discusses issues regarding their business operation and sought cooperation opportunities in numerous areas, including wood products, fertilizers, mechanical engineering, farming machines, transportation and services.

At the event, The Cooperatives and Non-state Enterprises Alliance in Quang Ninh signed a memorandum of understanding with the Industry and Trade Union of Liujiang country, Guangxi province, under which the two sides agreed to provide each other with information about the market and regional fairs along with exchanging visits of businesses.

On the same day, an investment and trade promotion centre was opened in Mong Cai city.

Loan drought dries up project ambitions

A dearth of commercial loans has forced state-run Electricity of Vietnam to cut one-fifth of its planned investment for power generation and transmission projects this year.

The group’s projected investment capital for 2011 will be slashed to VND53,300 billion ($2.57 billion), from VND65,875 billion ($3.17 billion), affecting some 300 projects.

EVN’s deputy general director Duong Quang Thanh told VIR that the majority of the affected projects faced difficulties sourcing commercial bank loans this year.

According to EVN, the investment cutback was also part of the implementation of the government’s Resolution 11 dated February 24, 2011 to rein in inflation and stabilise the macroeconomy.

EVN planned to start construction of five power projects this year with an aggregate capacity of 3,830 megawatts, including the 1,500MW Mong Duong 1 thermal power plant, the 1,200MW Duyen Hai 3 thermal power plant, the 1,200MW Vinh Tan 2 extended thermal power plant, the second generator of the O Mon 1 thermal power plant and the 100MW Song Bung 2 hydropower plant.

“For the second generator of the O Mon 1 thermal power project, for example, EVN initially planned to open bidding for its construction this year. Anyway, we decided to delay this work because of the lack of commercial loans and gas supply [to fuel the plant] as well,” Thanh said.

Some other transmission projects, which must be invested in by EVN, to connect with new power generation projects invested by other independent power producers (IPP) have also been delayed this year.

“Those transmission projects must actually finish this year to enable other IPPs’ sources to connect to the national grid when they become operational from next year. However, those generators have been delayed their commercial commission until next several years,” Thanh said.

EVN will also retreat its investment capital in some affiliated joint stock companies, which amount to VND414 billion ($20 million).

In the first quarter of this year, EVN brought three power generators into commission with a combined capacity of 515MW, including the second generator of the 190MW Song Tranh 2 hydropower plant, the first generator of the 180MW Dong Nai 3 hydropower plant and the 330MW Uong Bi extended thermal power plant.

UAE oils up ambitions

A royal delegation from United Arab Emirates is on the hunt for investment opportunities across a wide range of sectors in Vietnam.

Bui Ha Nam, assistant to the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ (MoFA) West Asian and African Affairs Department, said the group wanted to get involved in big infrastructure projects like ports, roads, airports and hospitals.

It is also keen on projects related to electricity, telecommunications, and oil and gas exploration and exploitation. The projects could be implemented in the form of joint ventures, public-private partnership or wholly-foreign invested enterprises.

His Highness Sheikh Saeed bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan, chairman of the Emirates Gate Industry Group, last week worked for the first time with the MoFA, ministries of planning and investment, and transport, and Vietnam’s state-owned groups Electricity of Vietnam (EVN), Vietnam Post and Telecommunications Group (VNPT) and PetroVietnam to look at business opportunities.

“The delegation wants to see whether Vietnam can give them such feasible projects and how local partners can cooperate with them first,” Nam said, adding the capital might be “huge”.

“I think they were very serious about doing business in Vietnam. Other investors often hired foreign consultants to explore investment opportunities first before they themselves set foot in Vietnam to discuss with local authorities. But what this group did was different, the leaders themselves and their sector-related consultants came to Vietnam together to discover opportunities via talks with ministries and state-owned groups,” he said.

Nam noted the Emirates Gate Industry Group was in sound financial health, because it belonged to a royal family. “The group’s representatives would return to Vietnam as soon as they have carefully reviewed their visit to Vietnam.”

In similar developments, early this month a UAE delegation made up of representatives from big corporations and the UAE’s Abu Dhabi Economic Department also came to Vietnam in search of investment opportunities.

The companies included Al Dhafra Int’l Lubricants Oil Factory (gasoline and lubricants), Al Khazna Chemical Fertilisers (fertilizers and chemicals), Abu Dhabi Fertiliser Industries Company and Emirates Vision Environmental Services.

As further proof of the burgeoning relationship between Vietnam and the Emirates, late last year Vietnam Government Office chief Nguyen Xuan Phuc visited the UAE and the infrastructure developer Tamouth Group.

Tamouth Group then said it wanted to develop large-scale infrastructure projects in northern Quang Ninh province including a Hạ Long-Mong Cai expressway, industrial parks, an airport and a deep water port.

The group also expressed an interest in building roads and urban areas in southern Binh Thuan province and Ho Chi Minh City.

On this occasion, Tamouth Group clinched some specific project construction contracts with Vietnamese partners.

According to Vietnam’s Ministry of Planning and Investment, the South East Asia country is currently home to just three UAE projects. They had a combined registered investment capital of $128 million.

Waste wins friends for UK’s RCR

A UK-based firm’s proposed multi-billion dollar urban solid waste treatment project in Vietnam has foreign investors straining at the leash to get involved.

Chau Dieu Hai Nam, business development manager for the South Korean-backed SK Engineering and Construction Company Ltd’s (SKEC) Hanoi representative office told VIR that SKEC would love to make a joint-venture with ReCycled Refused International Group (RCR), one of the UK’s leaders in energy and waste treatment industries.

SKEC expressed interest in a partnership with RCR following news that the latter would develop a giant urban solid waste treatment project worth around $3.8 billion in Vietnam.

Local firm Technology-Trading and Investment Consultancy Joint Stock Company (Tecin), which is RCR’s representative in Vietnam, several weeks ago told VIR that RCR was preparing this project under the public private partnership (PPP) model, which would include 15 urban solid waste facilities in 15 provinces and cities nationwide.

Tecin’s deputy general director Le Trung Truc said 13 province and city authorities had agreed to give locations to RCR’s 13 facilities in this project. Truc expected that locations for the remaining facilities would be agreed on by June this year.

“SKEC is a big group with billions-of-dollars projects in oil refineries and energy. I think that RCR’s project would be a good one we can cooperate on. We will work with RCR for further details,” Nam of SKEC said.

Japanese-backed Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd was cited by Truc as also coveting cooperation opportunities on this project.

“A Mitsubishi representative phoned me, saying that the company wanted to cooperate with us in waste treatment technology. They wish to sell their technology to us. I think that Mitsubishi’s technology is quite good,” Truc said.

He said Mitsubishi had told him they would physically introduce the technology and related documents to Tecin soon.

Truc said that many foreign enterprises were eyeing investment and cooperation opportunities as part of this project. For example, last month, representatives from a Thai-backed company’s Ho Chi Minh City-based representative office worked with Tecin on possibilities of engaging in this project.

“This company’s technology and financial health are good,” he said, adding that RCR was ready to cooperate with all investors and enterprises on this project.

In November, 2010, RCR trumpeted a plan to implement the massive project, under which 15-20 waste treatment facilities with a total treatment capacity of 15 million tonnes of solid waste per year, would be built in Vietnam.

The facilities, each totalling up to five hectares, would also annually manufacture 3.5 million megawatt hours of power. However, some five years would be needed for all these facilities to operate smoothly.

The facilities would employ 25,000 workers and help localities put a stop to burying 95 per cent of their waste, a practice which caused a great deal of environmental pollution.

The new facilities’ gas discharge and wastewater standards would be far higher than those required by Vietnam.

RCR also wanted to carry out three other PPP projects in Vietnam including a $1.69 billion ethanol manufacturing project, a $2.82 billion project to desalinate sea water with solar energy and a $88.83 million project to destroy and recycle automobile tyres.

Thus, the total investment capital RCR wanted to pour into Vietnam for the four projects would be over $9.2 billion.

Bosch looking to hammer home its new regional advantages

German giant Bosch Group last week inaugurated a $42 million, high-tech facility in southern Dong Nai province.

Covering 160,000 square metres at Long Thanh Industrial Zone, the plant will produce up to 1.6 million pushbelts in its first year, accounting for 40 per cent of pushbelts produced by Bosch Group.

With the majority of Bosch’s customers for CVT (continuously variable transmission) technology located in Asia, it expects the production volume to reach 2.3 million units by 2015 to support the growth of the automobile industry, in particular in Japan and China.

Bosch gasoline systems vice president Coen Booijmans said: “Asia, especially, plays an important role in our growth. Not only the mature Japanese market, but also the significantly fast-growing automobile markets in China, India and Korea”.

In 2010, over 38 million vehicles were built in this market – more than half the number produced worldwide. Of which, about six million CVT units annually found their way to the market. The majority of them were fitted with a pushbelt which could be fitted into vehicles ranging from sub-compact cars to sports utility vehicles with diesel, gasoline or hybrid engines.

For the Long Thanh plant, it is the first hi-tech CVT pushbelt production site for Bosch in Asia and the second of its kind worldwide after Tilburg in the Netherlands.

Bosch Group gasoline systems president Rolf Bulander said the Long Thanh plant would be a key manufacturing site in Asia-Pacific.

“Vietnam is an attractive investment location to Bosch, due to the country’s social and political stability, and the favourable economic reforms by the government, especially since Vietnam became a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO),” said Bulander.

The good level of education and the willingness to invest into infrastructure, like the Long Thanh international airport, also supported Bosch to come to the Long Thanh Industrial Zone.

In the near future, to meet the fast increasing demand of its customers, the German supplier plans an extension to the current facility, enabling it to build its own components for pushbelt assembly. The extension construction is expected to start in July, 2011 and finish by mid 2012.

From the beginning of next year, it will start serial production of the second component.

Vo Quang Hue city, managing director of Robert Bosch Vietnam, said: “As the manufacturing of these CVT pushbelts involve state-of-the-art, specialised production, we have hired local Vietnamese talents to join our operations and sent them to Europe for several months of training. As a multinational company, Bosch has always adopted a local-for-local strategy to develop the talent of its local associates. Vietnam is no exception”.

In early May, Robert Bosch Vietnam will open its first software and engineering centre in Southeast Asia, in Ho Chi Minh City. The centre will develop engineering applications and information technology enabled services to support the Bosch group of companies globally.

Paper prices continue to rise

Despite recent price adjustments, paper producers are expected to continue increasing selling prices later this year.

Vu Ngoc Bao, general secretary of the Viet Nam Pulp and Paper Association, attributed the increase in selling prices to continuous increases in raw materials prices, which are already at a record high.

At the same time, the price of used paper purchased in the country also increased, while the rising prices of gasoline, oil and electricity along with fluctuations in exchange rates have also impacted the paper industry.

Vinacomin targets coal, mineral sales

The Viet Nam Coal and Mineral Industries Group (Vinacomin) will prioritise efforts to boost sales of coal and minerals in April and in the second quarter of this year, as global prices are at a high level, according to the group’s Deputy General Director Bui Van Khich.

Vinacomin plans to sell 13.3 million tonnes of coal in the second quarter, out of an output of 13.5 million tonnes.

In April alone, the group aims to sell 2.45 million tonnes on the domestic market while exporting about 2.15 million tonnes.

In addition, Vinacomin will increase the application of advanced technology and boost investment to raise its exploitation capacity and ensure labour safety.

In the first quarter of this year, the group sold only 9.6 million tonnes of coal and produced 12.5

Macau firms on working visit to City

Representatives from 25 leading companies and investment funds from Macau have been on a working visit to HCM City from April 14-18. The delegtion, headed by Jackson Chang, president of the Macau Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM), aims to look for investment opportunities.

“We specially look for investment opportunities in areas of real estate, tourism, resort, restaurant and health care,” said the IPIM president at a meeting with Vietnamese companies, including large property firm like C.T Group, Nam Long, Cotec Land and Tuan Chau, last Saturday.

Macau covers around 25,000sq.km with a population of almost 600,000, however this territory achieves more than US$30 billion annually from tourism, hotels and entertainment services.

Toshiba launches new laptops

Toshiba Viet Nam has announced its new notebooks Satellite L700, Satellite E300 and the new Portege R830 with an improved design and technology.

Toshiba Satellite L700 Series is equipped with a powerful Intel® Core™2 new generation.

The Satellite’s new E300 series, thin and light with stylish design and advanced technologies, especially WIDI 2.0 Intel ® allows wireless connection with a large screen.

Meanwhile Portege R830 notebooks are thin, lightweight and high profile, particularly suitable for business people.

Banks offer plastic for travel abroad

Following the government’s recent decision to reduce the amount of foreign exchange allowed to be taken out of the country from US$7000 to $5000, many banks are promoting their international credit cards.

Sai Gon Thuong Tin Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Sacombank) offers to send staff directly to customer’s houses to complete the paperwork for issuing cards.

HSBC has unveiled the Home&Away service that offers customers using its cards discounts at 19000 merchants’ in more than 40 countries.

Vietcombank has launched a new promotion program for American Express cards.

Customers can earn a point every time they spend VND100,000 (US$5) to receive cash or gifts at the end of the year.

DongA bank offers customers short-term debit cards for up to VND140 million ($7,000) for three-month terms when traveling abroad.

Trinh Thuong Thuc, Vietcombank’s head of card services in Ho Chi Minh City, said it is more convenient to pay by card when travelling abroad since buying foreign currency requires air ticket and other documents.

Besides, when traveling abroad, customers can only buy up to $600, and $1000 in case of medical treatment, he pointed out.

Central bank tells banks to closely monitor lending

The State Bank of Vietnam has instructed banks to keep a closer eye on their lending to ensure credit growth does not exceed 20 percent this year as envisaged by the government in its Resolution 11.

It wants them to set specific targets for every quarter and advise branches and transaction offices of the targets besides informing its Monetary Policy Department before April 22.

It ordered local lenders to reduce credit for non-production purposes like real estate, stocks, and consumption to 22 percent or less by June 30 and 16 percent by year-end, and threatened to double reserve requirements for failure to do so.

They have to report on their non-production loans every month to the central bank by the 12th of the following month, it said.

In case of failure to report for June and December by that deadline, it said it will use the earlier available figures to set reserve ratios.

Though many banks have stopped lending for non-production purposes and limited lending for consumption, some are struggling to recover earlier loans and bring down the growth rate.

The chairman of a commercial bank, who wished to remain unnamed, told Tuoi Tre that his bank’s outstanding non-production loans are 30 percent of the total. But with the realty market in the doldrums, it is unable to bring down the figure by recovering the loans.

The general director of another bank echoed this saying it is uncertain if loans to realty can be recovered any time soon.

Loans outstanding at all banks at the end of the first quarter was VND110 trillion, up 4.81 percent year on year.

PetroVietnam’s arm fined $11,950 for violating law

State Securities Commission of Vietnam (SSC) has decided to impose a VND250 million ($11,950) fine on PetroVietNam Songhong Investment and Trading Joint Stock Co (PVSH) for selling stocks without registration.

PVSH flouted the security law by selling out its stocks to 444 investors to increase its chartered capital to VND450 billion without registration with SSC in August-September last year.

Besides the fine, SSC also asked PVSH to retrieve the sold stocks, and refund investors.

Vietnam to export hi-tech toys to Brazil

Vietnam ’s high-tech toy manufacturer, Tosy Robotics JSC, will export its products to Brazil for the first time in September.

The announcement was made by the company’s International PR Executive, Pham Huyen Trang after attending the Brazilian International Toy Show ABRIN, the biggest Latin American toy exhibition, which was held in the city of Sao Paulo from April 13-16.

She said the company held discussions and signed a contract to export 70,000 products to the biggest toy distributor in Brazil , DTC.

A leading high-tech toy producer in Vietnam, Tosy Robotics JSC trademark has registered its copyright in more than 40 countries. One of its innovative products was voted as a prominent technological product in 2011 by the US “The Street” magazine.

Vietinbank provides better foreign service

The Viet Nam Bank for Industry and Trade (Vietinbank) has expanded its electronic remittance services to Britain, Australia and Germany.

In Germany, remittances are limited to 3,000 euros (US$2,040) per transaction for a fee of 10 euros ($6.8). The British market is limited to 3,000 pounds and the Australian market to A$3,000 for transaction fees of 10 pounds and A$10 respectively.

Recipients will receive the full amount deposited at any Vietinbank offices nationwide without paying fee. In addition, recipients with an ATM account can withdraw in US dollars at any time.

New rules for faster origin certificates

New regulations on granting certificates of origin (C/O) will operate from May 4.

Accordingly, the time for granting a certificate for exports will not exceed four working hours after applications are completed for air cargo and eight working hours for other types of transport.

For businesses filing applications by mail, the maximum time is one day.

Information about online application is available at www.ecosys.gov.vn.

Pre-stressed concrete pile plant opens

Vinaconex Phan Vu Concrete Joint Stock Company opened a plant making pre-stressed concrete piles last week in Quynh Phuc Kim Anh Industrial Area in northern Hai Duong Province.

The plant has a total investment of VND124 billion (US$5.9 million) and projected capacity of 35,000-40,000 cubic metres per year.

Quang Ngai province attracts $46.5m

In the first quarter, central Quang Ngai Province attracted 96 projects worth VND1 trillion (US$46.5 million) to provincial industrial complexes in 11 districts.

Sixty of the projects worth VND175 billion ($8.14 million) have already begun operation.

The province has asked districts to develop the complexes by mobilising capital for infrastructure, management and land relocation.

Bio-fuel plant to have trial operation

The National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) will give the Dung Quat bio-fuel plant a trial operation in October.

The plant, with a design capacity of 100 million litres of ethanol per year, is close to completion after 16 months of construction.

The bio-fuel plant, which uses cassava to produce fuel, is the biggest bio-fuel manufacturing plant in the central region.

Samsung ranks first in TV, smart phone brand: GfK

Samsung Vina announced last Thursday that it secured number one position in the local TV and touch screen smart phone market last year in a survey conducted by the market researcher GfK.

Nguyen Van Dao, deputy general director of Samsung Vina, said that Samsung held dominant market shares of 29% and 56% for TVs and touch screen smart phones last year. He was speaking at a press meeting to introduce its latest products and technological solutions at Samsung Expo 2011, which is the largest home appliances and mobile devices exhibition ever by Samsung.

Samsung was also the leader of Side-by-Side washers in five consecutive years and became the fastest growing business in Vietnam. In the field of IT products and solutions, Samsung stood at number one in monitor and HDD/ODD, he said.

Samsung also enjoyed significant growth in air conditioners, refrigerators, washers as compared with the overall growth of the market, according to the company. In digital cameras and camcorders as emerging markets, Samsung products have been growing well in the country.

“To maintain growth sustainability in 2011, Samsung’s targets are to keep our leading position in TV devices, and to achieve the first position in mobile products and home appliances, and to continue expanding our share in the laptop market,” Cho Seok Hee, general director of Samsung Vina, said in a statement.

In 2011, Samsung also introduces “A Smarter Life” concept in Vietnam. This will be the key philosophy in every of its electronics and digital products.

At the two-day exhibition at White Palace Convention Center in HCMC, Samsung introduced all five business units present in Vietnam including audio-visual products, mobile devices, digital home appliances, digital imaging, IT products and solutions to the public.

FPT merger dominates annual meeting

FPT Corporation, the country’s largest software producer at its recent shareholder meeting agreed to the merger of three of its subsidiaries. FPT Software, FPT Trading and FPT Information System will fuse into a single member company under the FPT Corp’s governance, with the aim to cut administrative costs and increase synergy.

To finalise the merger, FPT Corp will issue 19.8 million shares to swap shares held by minor shareholders in the three units. The shares will be listed additionally in the HCM City Stock Exchange following the merger.

Au Viet Securities’ analysts viewed the merger as major step forward for minor shareholders of the companies in the short term. “The merger should offer increasing profitability for FPT shares in the future if the corporation retains its rapid growth.”

The corporation’s shares closed yesterday down 2.83 per cent to VND53,000 a piece.

The merger comes as something of a surprise, with FPT Trading and FIS split from their mother corporation just two years ago, with analysts warning that the move might prompt market scepticism about the corporation’s business strategy.

General director Truong Dinh Anh also used the meeting to confirm that FPT would end its interest in buying a 49 per cent stake in EVN Telecom. The software giant had successfully proved its financial capacity by depositing VND708 billion (US$33.7 million) with EVN Telecom following Government approval for the bid.

However following due diligence, EVN Telecom internal inefficiency, and the impending application of Government decree No 25/2011/ND-CP which bars organisations or individuals that hold more than 20 per cent in an enterprise from holding more than a 20 per cent stake in a telecom company, FPT’s acquisition of a dominant share in EVN Telecom had become impossible, Anh said.

FPT would face no difficulties in recovering the deposit.

The meeting also ratified the corporation’s annual targets, which included revenue growth of 20 per cent this year, reaching VND24.5 trillion ($1.1 billion). Post-tax profits were set at VND1.5 trillion ($71.4 million), which would allow a cash dividend at 15 per cent.

Deputy general director Nguyen The Phuong estimated a first-quarter turnover of VND5 trillion ($238.1 million), accounting for 20.1 per cent of the annual target and pre-tax profit of VND516 billion, a year-on-year increase of 26 per cent.

Profit-taking drives shares down

More than 70 per cent of listed stocks and fund certificates lost points yesterday, which sent the VN-Index of HCM City Stock Exchange into 1.19 point fall.

The index retreated to close at 455.46 points, with 212 out of 288 listed stocks and fund certificates sliding.

Trading volume was 21.6 per cent higher than last Friday, with 29.8 million shares worth VND578.6 billion (US$27.6 million) changing hands.

Saigon Securities Inc (SSI) was the most active with 1.6 million shares traded after the company posted a loss of nearly VND102 billion ($4.9 million) in the first-quarter post-tax profits. SSI tumbled 4.23 per cent to VND20,400.

Among the 10 largest capitalised shares, Eximbank (EIB) and VietinBank (CTG) closed unchanged, only insurer Bao Viet Holdings (BVH) registering a 0.7 per cent gain to VND76,500) while the others declined.

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index closed down 1.69 per cent on Friday to 86.49 points. Trading volume was 13.7 per cent higher than Friday, hitting 25.6 million shares worth almost VND353.5 billion ($16.8 million).

Losers outnumbered gainers by 250-49.

Kim Long Securities (KLS) was the most active stock on the Ha Noi bourse with 2 million shares changing hands. It closed unchanged at VND9,600.

Foreign investors balanced the selling and buying volume in the southern market. They bought and sold nearly 2.5 million shares each. While they were also net buyers in the northern bourse by picking up 4,600 shares.

Mekong Securities analysts said that retail investors were becoming increasingly depressed as the market seemed dead, with trading volume declining and both indexes slipping marginally on a daily basis.

“Online stock forums are shadowed with pessimism, and there are complaints that the Vietnamese stock market won’t provide any major opportunities this year and suggesting investors should leave the market now,” they said in their market report.

The VN-Index would probably have another dive to its support level of 450 points and the HNX-Index may fall to the support level of 88 points.

Investors should then consider buying more stocks, some experts said.

Sacombank spends US$3 mil. on Oracle Exadata

Sacombank last Thursday announced its successful deployment of Oracle Exadata Database Machine, allowing the bank to benefit from the solution’s predictive analytics to make strategic business decisions in real time. The bank has spent more than US$3 million for this investment, which is the first Oracle Exadata Database Machine to be deployed in Vietnam.

The solution provides data warehousing, integrated with Oracle Business Intelligence with a view of the business from predictive analytics to real-time strategic and tactical decision support throughout the organization, said an Oracle executive.

Sacombank’s successful deployment is “a milestone marking our Oracle Exadata success in Vietnam’s financial sector. We are confident that Oracle Exadata will further improve Sacombank’s operational efficiency and competitiveness,” said Ricky Kapur, vice president of technology for Oracle ASEAN.

Exports to North, West Africa seen to decline sharply

Vietnam’s exports to some countries in the North and West Africa are forecasted to decline 10-20% this year due to political crisis in the markets, said an official at the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Ly Quoc Hung, general director for the Southwest Asia and Africa Markets Department under the ministry, observed that trade with the African regions over the past few months had tumbled due to the problems.

“Vietnam’s exports to some nations in North and West Africa, such as Ivory Coast and Libya, have stagnated in the last two months. Vietnam’s imports and exports from and to the markets were impacted seriously, and banks in these places have limited transactions due to the political crisis,” Hung told the Daily.

Cashew imports from the markets, for instance, were hit hard. Last year, Vietnam imported over 210,000 tons of cashew from Ivory Coast, or more than a half of a total 404,000 tons of cashew imported by the country, according to statistics of Vietnam’s Customs and the Vietnam Cashew Association (Vinacas). However, cashew import from the West African country has come to a halt due to the crisis.

Vietnam’s exports to some countries in North Africa such as Egypt and Algeria, however, are gradually turning normal, Hung said. He suggested that local enterprises check carefully their partners before making any transactions to avoid risks.

Hung forecasted that while exports to Africa this year in generally might not be affected much, but exports to some markets in North and West Africa may shrink by 10-20%.

Truong Dinh Hoe, General Secretary of the Vietnam Association of Seacooking Exporters and Processors (VASEP), told the Daily that Vietnam’s seafood shipment to Egypt as a major market in the region is recovering gradually, but he ruled out any substantial development.

Vietnam’s major exports to Africa are rice, garments, coffee, computers and electronic components, chemical and seafood.