Gold prices top VND20 million mark.
Gold prices on Saturday climbed to VND20.12 million (US$1,177) per tael (1.2 ounces), prompting more people to sell.
An employee of the sales department of Bao Tin Minh Chau Gold Trading Company in
Hanoi
said more customers came to sell gold than buy it.
Most customers said they were selling because the price was high now and they expected it would fall again.
Gold traders in Hanoi said prices in the global market rose to $934 per ounce on Friday before dropping to $928 per ounce later, causing gold prices to rise in
.
Vietnam Gold Business General Director Tran Thanh Hai said, “People have reasons to expect gold prices will drop because the stimulus policies of the governments of the
and other countries might help the global economy recover, sending prices down.”
Longer morning stock market hours aim to promote liquidity
Stock market trading hours will be extended by 15 minutes in the morning from next month following the State Securities Commission approval.
The longer trading hours will help activate transactions and promote market liquidity, commission Market Development Department head Nguyen Son said.
The commission is working with stock exchanges and the securities depository centre to revise the capacity of technical and payment systems for the longer trading hours, Son said.
Previously, the commission planned to lengthen the trading hours to the whole afternoon which would have helped investors catch up with what was happening in the world market, he said.
"But the extra session needed more advancing technical and payment systems which take time to get working well."
In the attempt to promote investment activities in equity market, the commission submitted a draft on a trading method to the Ministry of Finance in which it allowed investors to open more than one account and sell or buy in the same session.
At present, an investor has only one account open in one securities firm and each investor is allowed to sell or buy shares in a single session.
PetroVietnam gets government green light for gas price hike
Vietnam Oil and Gas Group, or PetroVietnam (PVN), has received the government’s approval to raise the price at which it sells gas to power plants to counter a slowdown in its earnings caused by higher maintenance costs.
With effect from June 1, PVN said it would increase its gas price from US$2 to $2.80 per one million BTU, or British Thermal Unit, a measure of thermal heat energy.
The increase follows a slide in PVN’s margins from selling to power plants in the southeastern region, with the return on investment in gas production declining from 21.7 percent in 2007 to 18.7 percent last year.
The rate is expected to drop further to 10.3 percent this year.
PVN said higher maintenance costs and a tax hike of 2.2 US cents to 7.2 cents per cubic meter this year is the main cause of the falling margins.
The new price is reasonable, Thoi bao Kinh te
Saigon
said, citing the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
Power plants’ operating costs are expected to increase by an average of around VND238 billion ($13.4 million) this year, Tuoi Tre newspaper said.
The average power price was increased by 8.9 percent to VND948.5 for a kilowatt-hour on March 1.
The state power company Electricity of Vietnam, the country’s biggest gas consumer, has yet to respond to the news of the gas-price hike, Thoi bao Kinh te
Saigon
reported.
Slow payers worry tea exporters
Tea exports reached 32,000 tonnes worth a total of US$40 million in the first four months of the year, according to the Viet Nam Tea Association.
The figures represent an increase of 116 per cent in volume and 114 per cent in value against the same period last year.
Tea is one of the country’s few products which have seen an increase in export value this year despite the global economic recession, according to the association.
However, tea producers are also facing difficulties as most export contracts have delayed payments.
Several importers have also proposed prolonging the delivery of export contracts.
To deal with the problem, the association says the Government should have incentive policies, including credit policies, to support tea producers and traders.
The association estimates that tea exports will continue to increase this year, with a target of 117,000 tonnes, up 13 per cent against last year.
To reach this target, tea producers need to improve the quality of tea, its hygiene and food safety, says the association.
The association says tea producers should replace traditional processing facilities with advanced technology to help improve the quality and value of tea products and reduce production costs.
Besides maintaining its current markets, the tea industry needs to expand its outlet to other countries, including , , , the , and , according to the association.
now exports tea products to 110 countries and territories under the trademark of CheViet.
The country has 35 provinces which grow a total of 131,500ha of tea with an annual average output of 6.5 tonnes of fresh tea per hectare.
HCMC people want income tax law delayed until 2010
Ho Chi Minh City
’s people have suggested delaying implementation of the 2007 Law on Personal Income Tax until January 1, 2010, according to the city’s National Assembly (NA) delegates.
They feel the prime minister should order the Ministry of Finance in coordination with the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs to study the real situation on the ground and submit to the government a report seeking the NA’s opinion on delaying the law.
Voters have also petitioned the NA and its agencies to increase their supervision and suggested the government present a report on the performance of the Law on Social Insurance at the seventh-tenure NA’s fifth meeting scheduled to begin next Wednesday.
The petitions from city voters have been collected and will be presented at the upcoming NA meeting.
Spanish architectural firm opens office in HCM City
Spanish architectural firm Global Architecture Local Office opened an office in
HCM
City
, its first in
Asia
, on Wednesday.
GALO Viet Nam would focus on city planning and living space, including hotels and resorts, accoring to the company’s general director, Carlos Garcia Lorente.
"To prepare one’s personal vision for the urban design and development of a city, one must have a good sense of what the city currently is," Lorente said.
The firm opened the office after several trips to assess ’s economic performance and its design and construction industry last year.
Lorente said the description of one’s personal image of a city was important as a means to determine differences in perceptions of images.
"While I might find
HCM
City
to be a very stimulating intensive environment, my neighbours might think [it] is too messy and chaotic.
"It is these differences in perceptions that are important to lay out and explore to determine the basis for change in the environment that people can agree upon and make happen."
GALO did not have any favourite projects or sectors when it came to undertaking work in this country, he said.
"We will not consider office buildings because it’s a bad time to invest in projects of this sort due to the global recession," he said, however.
Bernando de Pablo, general director of GALO Architects International, said the company would help bring Spanish investors to in the next few years.
Chau My Anh, deputy president of the HCM City Architecture Association, said Vietnamese architects would now have the opportunity to learn from their Spanish colleagues’ experience.
Property network to help investors
A network of real estate trading floors in the north which opens in Ha Noi today was tipped to be a strong force in the domestic market.
Establishment of the network was based on five firms, including Viet Nam Vreex Real Estate Trading Floor Joint Stock Company, Housing Group, Viglacera Land, Thang Long Aviation Service Joint Stock Company and Eurowindow Holding.
The network’s management board would be responsible for organising activities for the 52 members who had joined so far.
Vreex chairman Phan Thanh Mai, who is head of the board, said establishing the network was timely.
It would develop under State standards and had the capacity to help real estate investors and traders share information and reduce risks.
The State could check trading processes and legal procedures of property on the network, he said.
Thang Long Aviation chairman Pham Ngoc Thanh, who is the board’s secretary, said a proliferation of real estate trading floors existed with many associated problems.
The network would solve the troubles, connect the trading floors and boost trading activities between businesses, investors and customers, Thanh said.
Former national resources and environment deputy minister Dang Hung Vo said the network would ensure the property market developed transparently.
Unfinished paper mill sends farmers broke
Farmers in three districts in southern Long An Province say they have lost more than VND40 billion (US$2.2 million) after growing jute since a paper mill that contracted to buy it remains unfinished two years after the original deadline.
In 2006 work began on the Phuong Nam Paper Mill in Thanh Hoa District, and it was to have been finished in 2007.
Equipped to produce 100,000 tonnes of paper powder annually from jute, it committed to buy 600,000 tonnes of jute every year. For the purpose, farmers in Thanh Hoa, Tan Thanh and Moc Hoa districts planted the crop on 9,000ha of exhausted rice paddies in 2006.
They expected a yield of 50–60 tonnes and an income of VND5-7 million on every hectare.
But at harvest time, the mill was still under construction and farmers had to sell to traders at much lower prices than those promised.
Many farmers stopped growing jute and returned to growing rice. As a result, by May 2008 the whole province had had only 1,500ha under jute.
Meanwhile, the delay continued due to lack of funds and the paper mill is now due for completion only in September this year.
It has already used up the entire budget of VND1.9 trillion (US$112 million) but is only around 70 per cent complete. A further VND500 billion is needed to finish it.
The provincial People’s Committee has asked the Government for funds from the stimulus package or lend the money on easy terms.
Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has ordered the ministries of Science and Technology, Industry and Trade, Agriculture and Rural Development and Finance to evaluate the project.
From a problem of plenty it is now headed towards a shortage — to supply the mill with 600,000 tonnes of jute annually, the province needs to have 15,000ha under jute. But it has just 1,500ha.
PM asked to okay $292 mln loan for new urban area
The
Ho Chi Minh City
administration has asked the government to allow the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam to grant a VND5 trillion loan (US$292.4 million) loan to a new urban development project.
The funds are to be used to pay compensation for properties taken over by the Thu Thiem New Urban Area Investment and Development project in District 2.
People’s Committee Chairman Le Hoang Quan has said city authorities will direct concerned agencies to manage and carefully supervise the use of the capital in compliance with regulations.
The city will also collect income from the project to repay the loan on schedule, Quan said.
The city has spent more than VND3.47 trillion ($202.92 million) to compensate for 6,244 properties since 2002. This year it needs about VND20 trillion ($1.17 billion) to complete the compensation payments for the project, according to the committee.
Saigon
Co-op celebrates its 20th anniversary
’s leading retailer, Saigon Co-op, has been awarded the third-class Independence Medal by President Triet for its contribution to economic development and building socialism on its 20th anniversary held May 16 in
Ho Chi Minh City
.
Saigon Co-op has been developed into one of the biggest retailers in the country. After 20 years of building and development the supermarket has become a leading retailer in and been listed in the top 500 retailers in
Asia
.
Saigon Co-op has broadened its activity to many fields with a focus on retailing with 35 supermarkets and tens of convenience stores nationwide.
Saigon Co-op is planning to open a further 65 supermarkets in the country by 2015.
Also attending the anniversary celebrations were Nguyen Van Dua, deputy secretary of the HCM City Party Committee and Nguyen Thanh Tai, deputy chairman of the city People’s Committee.
Exports to increase sharply
’s export turnover to
reached more than US$72 million in the first quarter of this year, up 37.5 percent compared to the same period last year.
Major export items are rice, milk, tea, garments and textiles, footwear and seafood, according to ’s trade office in .
’s trade counselor in , Dang Ngoc Quang, said that is a large market and a traditional partner of . Currently, is in the process of national reconstruction and stabilization, so the country’s demand for imports will continue to increase.
Mr Quang added that will once again one of ’s leading import markets in the African- Southwest Asian region with major potential items such as rice, milk, tea and seafood.
Vietnamese enterprises had established relations with previously and they now only need to re-set up distribution channels and seek partners in , said Mr Quang.
PV