Tay Ninh Province to get first industrial ‘ecology’ zone; Citigroup to help PetroVietnam seek $550 mln loan for plant; Foreign arrivals to Vietnam drop by 25 percent in October 

Investors look at an artist’s impression of the Bourbon An Hoa Industrial Garden project in the ground breaking ceremony

Citigroup to help PetroVietnam seek $550 mln loan for plant

Citigroup Inc. will help Vietnam Oil & Gas Group, known as PetroVietnam, source a US$550 million loan for the Nhon Trach 2 power plant in the south of the country, the head of the plant said.

“We have authorized Citigroup to help get money from some local and international banks and Citigroup itself will also give us some funding,” Le Tu Hieu, chairman of the plant’s management board, said by phone from Ho Chi Minh City Thursday. He declined to name other banks involved.

The loan will be for 12 years with a grace period of zero interest in the first two-and-a-half years, according to Hieu. He declined to say how much of the loan Citigroup, the third-largest US bank by assets, would provide.

Vietnam needs more power plants as the government forecasts electricity demand will rise as much as 14 percent annually through 2015. The 750-megawatt, gas-fired Nhon Trach 2 plant is scheduled to start operations in March 2011, Citigroup said in an e-mailed statement Thursday.

“In the wake of the global economic crisis, we can see increased interest among investors and financial institutions to support this kind of critical infrastructure in Vietnam,” Brett Krause, managing director of Citibank N.A. Vietnam, said in the statement.

Citigroup opened its first retail banking branch in Vietnam this month to take advantage of increasing wealth in the $90 billion Southeast Asian economy.

Hanoi-based PetroVietnam, a state-owned company, has moved into electricity generation after Electricity of Vietnam, the country’s biggest supplier, struggled to meet demand.

Foreign arrivals to Vietnam drop by 25 percent in October

The number of international visitors to Vietnam in October reached some 228,000, a decrease of 25 percent over last month, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).

Specifically, the number of visitors coming to Vietnam by air and sea, at 158,000 and 3,000, respectively, dropped compared to the same period last year. Only the number of those who travel by land increased, by 72.2 percent.

The total number of international visitors to Vietnam in the first ten months of this year is more than three million people, declining by 16.3 percent compared to the same period last year. The number of visitors coming from the Republic of Korea saw the biggest decrease, of over 24 percent, followed by China, Thailand and Taiwan with decreases of 23.6 percent, 18.8 percent and 16.5 percent, respectively.

The decline was attributed to the global economic crisis and the impact of the A/H1N1 flu.

The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism said that the target of receiving 3.7-3.8 million foreign tourists this year can be fulfilled thanks to a policy to exempt entry visa charges for tourists to Vietnam through the end of the year and the third Asian Indoor Games, which will be held for the first time in Vietnam .

The administration has taken various stimulus measures and organised tourism promotions inside the country and abroad to attract more tourists as well as investment in the tourism sector. Additionally, the government has issued a regulation on building and implementing a national tourism promotion programme for the 2009-2010 period.

The tourism sector has proposed that foreign embassies in the country help promote Vietnam’s National Tourism Year through their information networks, and that also, members of the Asian Network of Major Cities 21 and the Council for the Promotion of Tourism in Asia (CPTA) advertise the year of Vietnam Tourism in major Asian cities.

The National Tourism Year and the image of Thang Long-Hanoi broadcast in and outside the country are expected to bring a large number of foreign tourists to Vietnam in the coming time.

Vietnam willing to promote trade, investment with Japan

The Government of Vietnam is willing to cooperate with the Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) to further promote trade and investment relations between the two countries, said Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.

The commitment was delivered at PM Dung’s reception for JETRO President Yasuo Hayashi in Hanoi on October 30, who is visiting Vietnam to attend the inauguration ceremony of JETRO’s assistance office for Japanese small- and medium-sized enterprises in the country.

PM Dung said the new office and the upcoming Vietnam-Japan exhibition of supporting technologies this November will help accelerate trade and investment cooperation between the two countries.

At present, Japan is the leading investor in Vietnam and the potential for bilateral cooperation in several different areas is huge, he added.

The JETRO leader said Japanese enterprises are exerting their full efforts to increase the exchange of trade with Vietnamese partners.

He said around 60 Japanese companies will attend the upcoming Vietnam-Japan supporting technology exhibition in Hanoi on November 12-13.

Vietnam’s investment policy and law introduced in Italy

Vietnam’s investment policy and law were introduced at a seminar in Turin in northern Italy.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Italy Dang Khanh Thoai affirmed that despite the global economic downturn, Vietnam’s economy has been able to maintain a relatively high GDP growth and remains an attractive venue for foreign investors.

President of the Italy-Vietnam Trade Chamber Giovanni Giustetto said that Vietnam has changed rapidly over recent years and is in need of large-scale capital for modernising all of its economic sectors.

Italian businesses highlighted Vietnam’s potential as a market, with a population of 86 million people, but admitted that Italy has not undertaken many major projects in the country.

Italy had 28 investment projects totalling 114 million USD in 2008, jumping from the 36th place in 2007 to the 31st place among 81 investors in Vietnam . Two-way trade recorded a 20 percent year-on-year rise to 1.7 billion USD in 2008. The Italian government has agreed to grant 30 million EUR in credit in the 2009-2012 period to Vietnam’s small and medium-sized enterprises operating in environment and health care.

However, Italy’s foreign economics cooperation agency noted that although the Italian Government considered Vietnam as a strategic bridging point in its foreign economic policy through 2020, its businesses have failed to receive their government’s assistance on information and policies on investing in Vietnam, which has slowed their entry in to the market.

The two countries’ businesses hoped to have more opportunities for future dialogue and cooperation following President Nguyen Minh Triet’s official visit to Italy slated for December this year.

Quang Ninh to host Vietnam-China int’l trade fair

The 2009 Vietnam-China international trade-tourism fair will open in Mong Cai city in northeastern Quang Ninh province on December 4.

According to the organising board, about 250 Vietnamese enterprises and 120 businesses from China have registered to take part in the fair, which will last until December 8.

Entitled “Cooperation for development of trade-tourism, investment”, the fair will showcase economic and social achievements of the host province and China, and spotlight products from local and foreign-invested and enterprises, including those operating in the fields of tourism, services and hotels.

Within the framework of the fair, there will be numerous other activities including performances by Vietnamese and Chinese artists, as well as a seminar on measures to promote trade and tourism between the border provinces of Quang Ninh and Guangxi.

The fair, the second of its kind, will be jointly held by the Ministry of Trade and Industry and Quang Ninh People’s Committee.

VietNamNet/VNA, TN, ND

Related posts:

1. BUSINESS IN BRIEF 23/9

Link to the original site

VnnNews - Vietnam and Cambodia are planning to open two routes linking the coastal city of Sihanoukville in Cambodia with Phu Quoc Island and Can Tho city.

VietNamNet/VNA

Related posts:

1. Vietnamese businesses gain traction in Cambodia

Link to the original site

Among provinces with dengue fever outbreaks, Hanoi is fast becoming the worst affected area, with the number of recent infections skyrocketing.

Dengue patients are currently treated at the National Institute of Infectious and Tropical Diseases (Photo: dantri)

VietNamNet/SGGP

Related posts:

1. Hospitals can provide swine flu consultations
2. Hospitals overcrowded by hand-foot-mouth, respiratory disease

Link to the original site

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia>, Aug 31, 2009

It is located 13km north from KL and quite easy to access by bus.

It is free and quite unique, and you can figure that out at the first sight of the giant statue!
If you cannot climb stairs, forget it. There are 272 steps to go to the cave, and with the heat it was quite exhausting. The best attraction on the way were funny monkeys going all around, not scared of people are they are very use to see them in this place which is very touristic and very important for Hindus. It was not too crowded though.
Once inside, it is a peculiar atmosphere. I would not say Batu Caves is a must-see in your life, but if you are around, it is unique and I do not think there is any other place like that, so it can be worth a visit!

More pictures on my travel blog.

Link to the original site

Bangkok, Thailand>, Aug 31, 2007

The hotel is conveniently located on the river and within walking distance to public transportation. I’m not a big buffet lover but the breakfast was outstanding.

Link to the original site

Hangzhou, China>, Oct 30, 2009

Hangzhou is famous for its West Lake.  It’s hailed by pretty much everyone and their mother as one of the most picturesque places in China.  All I have to say is, if this place is supposed to be one of the gems of China, I’m SCREWED.

The West Lake is man-made: it started as a marsh and hundreds (if not close to a thousand) of years ago some emperor or another had it emptied and expanded and made into a proper lake.  Succeeding emperors further developed the landscaping and had bridges built and temples and pagodas were constructed in the surrounding area.  Sounds kind of nice, actually.  And from the pictures I’ve seen, it’s beautiful.  Being here to witness it for myself is another matter.  Photoshop has done WONDERS for this place.

As with everything else in China (although in fairness, to a much lesser extent), the West Lake is dirty and polluted and basically looks like millions of people have come here to take a dump in it.  (Come to think of it, that is probably more accurate than I care to admit.)  From a distance, it looks almost serene.  Once you’re actually alongside it, you can see just how filthy (and smelly) it really is.  We’re not talking pond scum (although there’s plenty of that), we’re talking bottles and wrappers and a filmy residue of all sorts of chemicals and who knows what across the top.  Toxic sludge, really.

I contemplated renting a bike from the hostel (it was pushed on me pretty heavily), with the girl at the desk vigorously shaking her head and adamantly telling me I simply could not walk the lake, it was much too large.  A bike sounded like a nice change of pace, but seeing as the lock wasn’t working properly before as I so much as left the property and the warnings to keep it safe were as strong as they come and the deposit being so high, I decided against it.  That, and when I realized you couldn’t actually ride the bike along the smaller lanes of the lake, you had to park it outside in the city traffic and then walk into the surrounding park area on foot, it made even less sense to have to worry about a bike.  Had my share of run-ins with thieves for one week, thank you.  My feet will do me just fine.

Set out pretty early (see earlier reference to inconsiderate roommates and doors slamming and crates of who knows what being dropped at all hours) and tackled that polluted lake in half a day.  You heard me.  Lapped the whole thing.  Not sure what kind of mileage we’re talking, but I’d guess in the ballpark of five or so.  Not terrible.  But made for another dripping with sweat day.  (DRIPPING.  Backpack SOAKED.  Disgusting.)  I also took the opportunity to give my first visible FUCK YOU to China via my chosen attire for the day: shorts (the scandal!) AND a tank top (oh no you didn’t!).  You better believe I did.  I only packed one of each, thinking I’d break out the shorts in Southeast Asia and reserve the tank top for cooler layering purposes.  But it is HOT here.  Disgusting, hazy, polluted, sticky HOT.  And these people are jerks.  You don’t like looking at my shoulders?  Tough.  Stop spitting on me.

Popped up one pagoda, the famed Leifeng Pagoda.  Supposed to give spectacular views of the lake and surrounding area.  But with the entrance fee cranked up like we were in Disney World and the haze so thick you couldn’t see the sun, there wasn’t much to see.  That, and the pagoda was constructed in 2001 (yeah, real old), and after climbing up all those stairs and not being able to see for squat I’m going why exactly did I agree to pay that again?  To be fair, the original pagoda was built in the first century AD, and burned down in the 1920s.  But still.  Was feeling a bit cheated on that one.

The rest of the lake was pleasant enough, once you get over the fact that it’s filthy and best not to look at the water directly.  Once I crossed over to the far side it was almost enjoyable, having escaped the thousands upon thousands of Chinese tourists pushing and shoving and screaming every which way.  I stopped to sit on a bench and attempt a poorly-lit self portrait, but in doing so apparently attracted the (supremely unwanted) attention of a passing couple, who took the opportunity to gape and giggle at the strange looking foreigner, and even went so far as to pull out a camera and take several pictures of me.  I didn’t trust myself to open my mouth because it would have been a whole manner of shouting and GO FUCK YOURSELVES, but I let my eyes do the talking.  I stared right back.  For every millisecond.  Stared DAGGERS.  I hope they went home and cried themselves to sleep.

As you might imagine, circumnavigating a lake on foot while dodging wayward elbows and airborne wads of spit is somewhat exhausting, and I worked up quite the appetite.  I noticed a bright, big, welcoming Indian restaurant just opposite the bus stop the day before, and so kept that as my “you can do it” mantra for the latter half of the lake.  It crossed my mind that they might be a dinner-only place and if that had been the case I might have thrown a temper tantrum right there.  Much to my IMMENSE delight they were open and better yet — EMPTY.  I know, I know, an empty restaurant isn’t a good sign.  But you don’t understand.  I’m in China.  The food here is shit.  I’ll take bad Indian food over good Chinese food ANY DAY.  That, and do you have any idea what an empty restaurant means??  SILENCE.  And baby, that silence was GOLDEN.

The waiter came to take my order and I prefaced myself by saying I was going to order A LOT.  Translation: don’t give me grief for ordering enough food for two.  Or fourteen.  I’VE EARNED IT.  I had myself a FEAST: fresh watermelon juice, an ICE COLD beer (that was downed so fast it’d make my mother proud), a “mixed vegetables salad” that turned out to be an ENTIRE PLATTER of raw sliced carrots and cucumbers and cabbage — my stomach was so ecstatic and shocked it was squealing with glee, garlic nan, basamati rice, and a piping hot trough of spicy black lentils and red beans cooked together in a terrific curry.  Everything was DELICIOUS.  I was stuffing things into my mouth as fast as I could, two hands at a time.  Do you have any idea how good Indian food tastes in China??  Not that it’s any different — it tastes exactly like it does at home.  But it’s INDIAN.  And I LOVE Indian food.  And better yet — it’s NOT Chinese!  And the added bonus is it’s SO EASY to eat vegetarian when you’re eating Indian.  I essentially had a whole menu catered to me.  THRILLED.  They even let me pack up leftovers to go.  SUCH a happy tummy.

I then ambled back to the hostel to laze away the remainder of the afternoon.  I met Ben, a dude from Ghana, who now lives in China full time.  We goofed off for a bit and then headed out to a hostel he had stayed at before (much nicer, but booked and hence he was staying here), where we had pizza and two big fresh mango and yogurt shakes each for dinner.  We shot a couple games of pool (by which I mean I was the good sport and humored him by attempting to stab those stupid little balls across the table, and he was a good sport and took the game seriously) and then bought MORE overpriced Chinese tea (not sure what that was about) before making our way home.  I tried for the early bed route again and succeeded, but only until the troops came in and unleashed the circus, screaming monkeys and all.

All in all, a MUCH better day than the one prior.  Now I just have to figure out what exactly I’m going to do for the next two days.  (Enter China’s ridiculous rail system, and I can’t leave earlier than my scheduled train late Sunday night.  Even if I forked over the cash for a whole new ticket they’re all long sold out by now.  This is going to get old FAST.)  Par for the course.

Link to the original site

Pangboche, Nepal>, Oct 31, 2008

The early arrival of the afternoon cloud in Pangboche the previous day bought with it weather worries, so it was with some relief that we awoke, once again, to bright blue skies and, crucially, a complete absence of wind.

If I thought the Khumbu beautiful at Lukla, our short trek away from Pangboche, through Dingboche and up to Chukhung, revealed a diifferent, but very satisfying beauty. The trail followed a wide elevated terrace above the river, with mini paths breaking off and rejoining the route constantly, past wiry scrub and around boulders and the occasional memorial to dead climbers from previous years.

We were now directly below Ama Dablam, and ahead of us Nuptse’s multiple summits were flanked by the utterly awesome Lhotse Wall - the mountain’s South face. Ama Dablam would claim two lives the week we walked past it - next year there would be more memorial stones no doubt…

Besides Lhotse, sat our goal, the 6189m high Island Peak. Anywhere else in the world, Island would have looked like an impressive hill in its own right, but sitting alongside a 3km high vertical face of rock on the shoulders of Everest, it looked almost laughably small.

Not that we were laughing at it though - our pleasant three day stroll in the beauty of the Khumbu was coming to an end and, after the debacle on Mera, we all knew things would get a lot harder from here.

After an indifferent lunch at Dingboche, an hour or so before Chukkung the Everest Base Camp highway swung off to the North and Pheriche, leaving us in relative isolation as we continued up the valley.

Anyone we now met coming the other way had either climbed Island Peak, or come over the Amphu Labsta Pass from the Hongu Valley, as we were now walking towards the dead end of the Imja Tse Glacier.

Link to the original site

Phnom Penh, Cambodia>, Jul 13, 2008

I woke up early to picked up by a transfer van of Mekong Express, the bus company where i purchased my ticket the day earlier, and five minutes after, we were bound for Phnom Penh. It was my 29th birthday, and i would have wanted to spend it more productively, or should at least memorably so I thought of going to the Killing Fields and the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum as soon as I arrived. That way I was sure I’d never forget. My seatmate in the bus was a Cambodian yuppie, and he made the 6 hour trip to PP seem too short. He talked non stop about Cambodian culture in general, and how until now the country was coping up with the war atrocities from PolPot’s regime. Not a single family in Cambodia has had at least one death in the family due to the civil war. Most still wonder how it all came to be in the first place. Despite it all, he still thought that the Khmers were blessed because of the continuous influx of tourists that come to Angkor. Angkor was one thing they will all forever be proud of he says. After a few hours of talking, i couldn’t help but tell him that today was my birthday, he got quite excited and even encouraged me to eat at least 1 fried bug among the dozens sold during the stopover at Kampong Thom. Spiders, giant bugs, starfish, grasshoppers were sold in the sidewalk stalls. No way in my life would i want a taste of the showcased delicacies haha, so i settled for a cup of ice cream from a nearby grocery instead.

Link to the original site

Samsung opens $700 mln cellphone plant in Bac Ninh; Vietnam fourth most confident country; WB helps develop agriculture in Central Highlands    

Vietnam fourth most confident country 

Vietnam is the fourth most confident country in the world-up five places since March this year, the Nielsen Company’s global consumer confidence survey showed.

Consumer confidence in Vietnam had increased for the first time after declining for six consecutive surveys since March, 2007.

Its confidence index jumped 24 points from 85 in April this year to 109 this month, in contrast to the world average which jumped 9 points over the same period to stand at 86.

Hong Kong was in the lead, up 14 points in the third quarter from 79 to 93 index points, followed by the Republic of Korea (+13 points) and Brazil (+12 points).

Only 69 percent of Vietnamese surveyed said their nation was in a recession compared to 76 percent in April. Fifty-five percent said yes, the country would be out of the recession within the next 12 months, 22 percent said no and 23 percent did not know.

Complementing the jump in confidence, 54 percent of Vietnamese believed job prospects would be good to excellent over the next 12 months. Sixty-six percent also believed the state of their personal finances was good to excellent.

However, despite a relatively positive outlook on jobs and finances, 46 percent stated the timing was “not so good” to buy the things they wanted and needed.

WB helps develop agriculture in Central Highlands

The World Bank is expected to grant nearly 8.53 million USD to help ethnic minority people in the Central Highlands province of Dac Lac to develop agriculture in a sustainable manner.

The project will support and enhance the planting of coffee bushes and avocado trees and the breeding of wild boar, as well as promote the trading of products made from them.

It will also help to create an association that will liaise between both farmers and local businesses who hope to raise profits and boost sustainable agricultural development by meeting the local demand for these types of products.

The union project will be carried out across 370 family households in the region from now to 2013. It will provide farmers with training courses on intensive cultivation technologies that conform to the world-wide coffee certification programme “UTZ Certified”.

It will also help farmers to build pigsties, provide them with breeding stock, increase their capacity to manage their financial affairs and promote their products before their products are traded on local markets.

Local people will also get assistance to grow avocado trees with the DAKADO trademark.

Korea life opens second Vietnam office

Korea Life Insurance Co Ltd has opened its second office in Hanoi.

Since the company began Vietnam operations in April, Korea Life has contracted with more than 5,000 customers with annual premium income of more than 28 billion VND (1.5 million USD).

It expected 2009 premiums to total 40 billion VND (2.1 million USD).

In addition to its offices in HCM City and Hanoi , the company was also preparing to open a branch office in the city of Buon Ma Thuot in the Tay Nguyen (Central Highlands) province of Dac Lak.

Electronic, IT exports may hit 3 billion USD

The Vietnam’s electronic and information technology export turnover this year may reach 3 billion USD, according to Tran Quang Hung, General Secretary of the Vietnam Electronic Industries Association (VEIA).

Like previous years, more than 90 percent of the total export turnover is forecasted to come from companies with foreign-invested capital.

Vietnamese electronic enterprises are generally small- and medium-sized. Due to a lack of capital and out-dated technology the imbalance in export turnover between domestic and FDI companies is unlikely to be resolved in the near future, Hung said.

According to Hung, the recent biggest challenge that the industry is facing is a dependence on multi-national companies.

In 2007, the Government approved a master plan to develop Vietnamese electronics industry up to 2020. However, the problem was how to implement the strategy, he said.

To solve the problem, Hung suggested that support industries be developed and research and development into new products using existing spare parts be carried out.

“Capital is a big problem. For example, it costs about 500 million USD to invest in a production line to produce LCD screen. So, I think, the best way is to develop a support industry,” he said.

This year, the electronics industry faced many difficulties due to the world economic recession.

Up to the end of March, the industry lost 30 percent of export orders. In the first four months of this year, export turnover dropped by 8 percent over the corresponding period last year.

However, signs of recovery came in May. Export turnover in the first eight months of the year increased to 1.6 billion USD.

Up to the end of this year, the domestic electronics industry will see between 10 percent and 15 percent growth thanks to the Government stimulus packages.

VietNamNet/VNA, TN

Related posts:

1. BUSINESS IN BRIEF 25/9
2. BUSINESS IN BRIEF 4/10
3. BUSINESS IN BRIEF 20/10

Link to the original site

VnnNews – Vietnam must face another anti-dumping complaint, this time by the American makers of plastic shopping bags.

‘Dumping’ is generally defined as selling goods at a price below their cost of production.

Plastics Today reported that the anti-dumping complaint was filed by two US plastic bag makers that claimed their business is unfairly impacted by the low-priced imports.

USDOC set the ‘dumping margin’ (estimated dumping amount) for the Indonesian plastic bag makers at 67 percent, for the Taiwanese manufacturers at from 29 to 96 percent, and for the Vietnamese manufacturers at from 52 to 76 percent.  For the Vietnamese bag makers, that means that if more bags are imported from Vietnam, a surcharge of 52 to 76 percent of their sales price must be deposited into an escrow account each time.

USDOC now must investigate the actual situation and make a final determination within 135 days.  Presumably it will send investigators to gather data directly from the Vietnamese and other bag makers, as it has done in dumping investigations of shrimp and  ‘tra’ and ‘basa’ catfish from Vietnam.

If the investigation upholds the preliminary finding, some or all of the deposited funds will be taken and the US will establish an anti-dumping tariff on continued plastic bag imports.  If the investigators decide that the dumping complaint is in error, however, the funds put in escrow will be returned to the exporters.

According to US data, over seven million plastic bags annually were exported from Vietnam to the US in 2007 and 2008.  Nearly three million bags were exported there from Indonesia, and about 4.5 million from Taiwan.

Vietnam, together with China, is also fighting a dumping complaint by European shoe manufacturers.

VNNet Bridge/Plastics Today (US)  

Related posts:

1. Vietnam should maintain tax preferences for automobile industry?
2. Plastic welders perform magic on the streets

Link to the original site