Vietnam News: мая 2010

суббота, 29 мая 2010 г.

Dangerous stunt part of daily life in Central Highlands commune

For residents of Dak Nong Commune, every young and old, stunts that marines and circus acrobats perform is the stuff of daily life.

Tran Thi Anh Tuyet, a second grader, swings on a cable in Kon Tum Province to school. The cable has been the only means of transport across the Ko Po River for the riverside residents.

For several years, they have been slinging themselves down a 150 meters long cable over dangerous waters to get to school, workplace and the market.

The cable is situated at a height of 20 meters over the Po Ko River and it takes 10 seconds to slide across with a pulley.

Since settling at the place in 2007, people from Dak Nong Commune in Kon Tum Province’s Ngoc Hoi District have been swinging down the cable to get to the other side of Dak Ang Commune to work on fields. And people from Dak Ang travel back to Dak Nong to reach the Ho Chi Minh Road nearby and get to schools and markets.

“It’s too dangerous to cross the river on boat as the water is rough and can overturn the boat. And to swim across is impossible, especially during the flooding season. So we thought of this,” said local resident Tran Van Chin.

Tran Thi Huong, a seventh grader, said, “The first day of travelling like this I was very scared! But then I got used to it.

“Otherwise, there’s no way to go to school.”

Residents have set up cables at three places along the river. But the only means of transport they have is not always safe.

At least five accidents have occurred causing severe injuries when the cable broke or people slipped, Chin recalled.

One of them happened to A Phin, a local police officer. He was sliding on the cable holding his child when the pulley broke. The pulley knocked him unconscious and the child was swept away by the river.

Chin and his children managed to save them and get them to the hospital.

Xieng Thanh Ty, chairman of Dak Nong Commune, said the area used to have a chain bridge but it was swept away by floods and officials were planning to rebuild it.

Chau Ngoc Lan, official of Ngoc Hoi District, said travelling on cable is “too dangerous and threatening people’s lives.”

But Lan said it takes time to build chain bridges and “the district’s capabilities are limited.”

Source: Thanh Nien

пятница, 28 мая 2010 г.

Stock market will list many more commodities

Securities investors will have more choices for their investment portfolios, since the volume of new shares to be listed on the bourse is expect to be three times higher than 2009.

Securities investors will have more choices for their investment portfolios

In April alone, the HCM City Stock Exchange HOSE approved the listing of nearly 30 businesses. In the first 20 days of May, HOSE saw 12 more businesses list their shares. On May 21, 20 million TNT and SPM shares made their debuts on the HCM City bourse.

The Hanoi bourse also welcomed newcomers last week, including DLR (the Da Lat Real Estate Company), KHB (Hoa Binh Mineral Company). Others have applied for listing, including Nam Hanoi Housing and Development Corporation, Ben Thanh Service Tourism and Hung Dao Container. Thirty three million VDS shares of Rong Viet Securities Company will join the Hanoi bourse early this week, May 25.

Analysts have predicted that the supply of shares will continue increasing. Many banks are issuing additional shares to increase their chartered capital to three trillion dong by the end of 2010 as instructed by the State Bank. Kien Long Bank, for example, plans to issue 100 million shares at the face value of 10,000 dong per share. Dai A Bank plans to offer 200 million shares.

Petrolimex Bank has also plans to issue more shares to raise its chartered capital to two trillion dong in 2010, and covert 1000 billion dong worth of convertible bonds into shares in order to raise its chartered capital to three trillion dong by March 2011.

According to Dr. Le Tham Duong from HCM City Banking University, in 2009, with the economic crisis, only 2.5 percent of capital needed was mobilized through the stock market, while 97.5 percent was provided by commercial banks. However, with the 2010 economy recovery, many businesses decided to take full advantages of the bourse and mobilize capital thoughthe stock market.

The listing of more shares will lead to an abundant supply for the market, and higher market capitalization value, which also means more investment opportunities.

According to Duong, the dark side is that the abundant supply will lead to so-called “share dilution.” For example, 20 banks need to increase their chartered capital by two trillion dong, and each plans to issue shares to mobilize capital. This means that 4 billion in bank shares will be put into transactions. When the supply increases and the demand remains unchanged, the price of the shares will decrease.

Duong can also see positive effects in listing new share items on the stock market, because it means that the equitisation process in Vietnam is on the right track.

Hung, an investor on Bao Viet securities trading floor, also views it as good news. “When businesses list their shares on the stock market, investors will be able to know better about enterprises and find it easier to trade shares on the bourse than in the OTC market.”

Having decided to list shares in July, Sacomreal Chair Dang Hong Anh is optimistic about the listing plan. The real estate firm hopes that it will help mobilize medium and long-term capital and improve its shares’ liquidity.

Nguyen Ho Nam, Chair of Sacombank Securities Company, maintained that the current debt crisis is not as big as that which took place in the US and Europe, so it has not had a huge impact on investors’ feelings. Nam believes that it is reasonable to list shares on the bourse at this time.

Sixty businesses have listed on the bourse so far this year, while financial experts believe that the number may double or triple that of 2009.

Source: VnExpress

четверг, 27 мая 2010 г.

Tons of ivory shipped to Hai Phong Port

The customs bureau of Hai Phong on May 24 detected the illegal import of a huge volume of ivory, reported Hai Phong Chief Customs Officer Vu Hoang Duong.

According to Duong, the ivory was transported from Africa to the port on a ship named Noble. The owner of this batch of goods is a company based in Lang Son province. However, this firm denied owning the goods.

Ivory is cut off into pieces and hidden in bags of shells and snail shells.

Police are working on the case.

In early May, Hai Phong port customs officers also discovered over 2 tons of ivory hidden in seaweed bags, sourced from Africa.

It is observed that Vietnam is a transit point of ivory from Africa to China.

среда, 26 мая 2010 г.

Sapa in new transplanting season

Taking advantage of early rains, Sapa farmers are growing rice seedlings. This is the only rice crop in this area.

Source: Dan Tri

Real estate developers race to build skyscrapers

Thirty-seven, sixty-eight, seventy, even 102 storeys – in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, bigger and bigger buildings are reshaping the skyline.

Most skyscraper projects have been developed by heavyweights in Vietnam’s real estate sector. In the south, everyone’s heard about Bitexco’s 68 storey ‘Bup Sen’ (Lotus) Financial Tower in Ho Chi Minh City. It’s been under construction since 2005 and will be completed at last this year. The Bup Sen tower will dethrone the 37 storey Saigon Pearl and the 35 storey the VCB – Bonday – Ben Thanh Tower and Saigon Trade Centre buildings as Vietnam’s highest structure.

However, the Bup Sen Tower won’t keep its title for long. By 2012, the Keangnam Group’s Hanoi Landmark Tower will top out at 70 storeys. The South Korean firm is investing $1.05 billion in the skyscraper on Pham Van Dong Street in Cau Giay District.

The Landmark Tower could lose bragging rights in turn to another building planned for Hanoi. Ocean Group and PetroVietnam signed an agreement on May 7 to build the 102 storey PVN Tower at a cost of $1 billion.

It’s often heard that building skycrapers will give Vietnam more ‘international stature’ and attract more investors and tourists to Vietnam. In a number of other rising nations, skyscrapers have become icons. Dubai has its Burj Khalifa tower (168 storeys), a building in Taiwan is 101 storeys and Malaysia has the 88 storey Petronas twin tower, for example.

According to Johan Nyvene, General Director of the HCM City Securities Company, only availability of capital and investors’ business capability limits the height of skyscrapers. Real estate developers see great potential for such development in Vietnam and they are rushing to build office complexes, hotels and retail premises which will well serve clients in the next few years.

According to Bitexco, the biggest profit an investor can gain from building skyscrapers is prestige. Dinh Dung, a Bitexco executive, said that Bitexco Financial Tower’s eye-catching design pushed up construction expenses by 30 percent. And it’s worth it, he says: “the thing that we want is to position Bitexco’s brand in Vietnam, and Vietnam’s brand in the world.”

PetroVietnam Chairman Dinh La Thang expects to see considerably more development of skyscrapers in Vietnam, saying that Vietnamese enterprises have opportunities and capability to implement big projects.

“I think that enterprises must make heavy investment in design consultancy, project management, and especially in technology and workforce, so that they can undertake big projects,” Thang explains.

Meanwhile, some other real estate executives consider skyscraper building ‘just a risky game for the big guys.’ Dang Van Quang from John Lang LaSalle Vietnam warns that investors in such big project will only recover their investment capital only after a very long time. A normal real estate project, he says, pays back its investors in seven to eight years, whereas the investors of 60-70 storey buildings will only be able to recover capital after 15 years.

Vietnam’s new skyscrapers are mostly located outside the center of the cities, build with one eye on the urban development plan. Because the office leasing market segment has not been fully recovered, and only lower storeys can be used for retail premises, the decision to move ahead requires a measure of boldness and faith in the real estate market of the future.

Source: VnExpress

ICT group opens its own research institute

FPT Group on May 25 introduced the FPT Technology Research Institute, aiming to lure Vietnamese talent.

The institute has signed cooperation agreements with five research agencies.

LookAtVietnam - The Corporation of Financing and Promoting Technology, which is more popularly know as FPT Group, on May 25 introduced the FPT Technology Research Institute, aiming to lure Vietnamese talent.

Software giant FPT posts rising revenue

FPT software to open branch in Paris

IT giant FPT gains foothold in US market despite recession

Director Tran The Trung noted that the establishment of this institute marks a significant step in FPT’s progress over 20 years. The institute will focus on four directions: application of information technology, clean energy and energy saving, biotechnology and space technology.

The institute will perform scientific research activities under agreements with not only FPT, but individuals and organizations at home and abroad. The institute will also organize training courses and perform know-how transfers.

FPT University Director Le Truong Tung observed that this institute will attract students, lecturers and experts of FPT Group and Vietnamese and foreign scientists.

“The establishment of this institute will offer a chance for young people to research and turn their dreams into reality,” maintained FPT Chair Truong Gia Binh.

This agency currently has over 10 research and development projects. Two of them have been implemented, including the Fspace satellite and picture processing projects. FPT will finance the institute’s activities, with 3.5 billion dong for 2010.

The institute has signed cooperation agreements with five research agencies, including the Institute for Information Technology under the Hanoi National University, Vietnam Foundation, FBM Biology and Regenerated Medical JS Company, FPT Software and Asia Petro.

вторник, 25 мая 2010 г.

Salt fields gleam in central Vietnam

Hot weather has affected millions of people but it has benefited salt makers in the central province of Quang Ngai.

Salt fields in Sa Huynh, Quang Ngai looks dazzling white. From above, salt piles look like hills. Sa Huynh salt field, which is more than 112 hectares, belongs to 610 families. This is the largest salt field in the central region.

“Drying Sea Water” – one salt-making stage.

Measuring the saltiness of sea water.

Making salt piles. Scorching sun is needed for a fast salt-crystallizing process.

Carrying salt from the field to the shore for packing. In the early 20^th century, French built the North-South railway and the Sa Huynh rail station to transport salt.

Sa Huynh salt field yields around 8500 tons of salt for the central and Central Highlands markets.

Source: VNE

понедельник, 24 мая 2010 г.

Mechanical engineering enterprises call for help

Vietnam will need an estimated $250 billion worth of equipment for industrial projects from now to 2025, providing an attractive market for mechanical engineering enterprises. Yet Vietnamese enterprises are not among them.

According to Nguyen Van Thu, Chair of the Association of Mechanical Industries (VAMI), every year Vietnam must import $10-18 million worth of mechanical products. These are equipment and production lines for domestic-invested enterprises. Meanwhile, the mechanical industry development strategy approved in 2002 predicted that by 2010, Vietnam would meet 45-50 percent of domestic demand for mechanical products.

Dr. Nguyen Chi Sang, Head of the National Research Institute of Mechanical Engineering (NARIME) maintained that, among the 21 cement plants that have been built, only a few projects have relatively high proportions of domestically-made equipment (Song Thao Cement Plant has a localization ratio of 40 percent, or 1.4 million tons per annum; Thai Nguyen Cement has a locally-made content ratio of 65.7 percent). Other projects have low localization ratios at just zero to five percent.

These statistics show that the goal of making 45-50 percent of total equipment needed in Vietnam is still far away and cannot be reached by 2010.

Domestically-made equipment accounts for small proportions in industrial projects, including those where domestic enterprises are EPC (engineering, purchasing, construction) contracts. As for Ca Mau 1&2 and Nhon Trach 1 power plants, the value of equipment made domestically accounted for only 20 percent of the total value. Foreign companies supplied the remaining equipment.

Mechanical products made by domestic enterprises are mostly those with low value made by old manufacturing plants with modest investment.

“Vietnam still does not have mechanical engineering plants with modern technologies, while it lacks a research and development workforce, especially consultants, technicians and manufacturing designers,” Thu of VAMI noted.

According to VAMI, most mechanical engineering enterprises only invest in sectors that do not need big investment capital, but bring low added value. A lot of enterprises spend only 0.2-0.3 percent of their revenue on research and development. In contrast, the proportion is five percent in India and 10 percent in South Korea. Thus, EPC contractors from Europe and Japan take only work with high economic value, leaving less important tasks for domestic sub-contractors.

Mechanical engineering companies think that they are still weak because they have no support from the State.

“Enterprises always have to face complicated procedures when they carry out investment projects,” Thu observed. “Interest rates on loans for investment and development have been increasing. That explains why only three out of 24 projects in themechanical industry development program approved by the Government in October 2003 have been implemented with preferential loans.”

Meanwhile, Nguyen Van Vu, General Director of Vikyno (an engine and agriculture machine producer), remarked that many foreign-made engines and machines with low quality have been imported, creating losses for both the State and farmers. Vu has called for technical barriers to prevent such low quality products from entering Vietnam.

Source: Dau tu

суббота, 22 мая 2010 г.

Hanoi’s West Lake dyed yellow by sunset

Hot weather and a rainstorm turned the West Lake sky a honey yellow in the late afternoon. Truong Anh Duc shares his photos.

Source: VNE

"Miss World project" violates construction rules

Thoi Son ecological tourist site, built for Miss World 2010 pageant and invested by Tien Giang Construction JS Company, has nine construction works, but six are unlicenced.

Tien Giang Department of Construction has reported four unlicenced works in this project to authorities and asked for guidance.

According to the Department of Construction, nine works belonging to Thoi Son project in My Tho city are under construction, but only three were licenced by My Tho People’s Committee in late 2009.

The other six works have been built illegally. All ongoing construction is at locations that are contrary to the approved plan.

“My Tho city only licenced three works to be built on land approved by the provincial government. Other works are being built on land that Hoang Kieu bought recently and are unlicenced,” My Tho Vice Chair Mai Thanh Minh told VNExpress newswire on May 21.

Minh added that authorities are now checking this project.

Tien Giang authorities approved the detailed plan for Thoi Son project in December 2009. My Tho licenced some works for this project in late 2009 and early 2010.

Tien Giang Department of Construction inspectors are investigating this project. It is expected that the Department will cancel this project with guidance from Tien Giang authorities in the next several days.

Source: VNE

вторник, 18 мая 2010 г.

Southern Vietnam escapes blazing heat

A two-hour downpour in HCM City and in some southern provinces on May 22 marked the start of the rainy season, easing the prolonged sweltering weather.

The downpour caused floods in some places in HCM City. It also made thousands of salt fields in the delta’s coastal areas melt away.

A senior expert from the Southern Region Hydro-meteorological Forecast Centre, Le Thi Xuan Lan, remarked that this downpour officially kicked off the rainy season in HCM City and the southwestern provinces. The rainy season officially began in other southwestern provinces on May 21.

As of that day forward, rain will come every afternoon and the average temperature in the south will drop to 33-35oC.

The National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting reported that a weak cold front would overflow and cool northern Vietnam down on May 23. Highest temperatures would slide to around 30 Celsius degrees. The cold front, coming at the end of the hot season, would cause thunderstorms and tornados.

The cold front is also forecast to push a low pressure ridge in the northern area further to the southern region.

As a result, central and southern provinces would continue suffering scorching weather with temperatures hovering around 38-40 degrees over the next few days.

среда, 12 мая 2010 г.

Secondhand festival attracts young and old

Thousands of youngsters attended the secondhand item exchange festival or “Mottainai Festival” at Hanoi’s Trung Vuong primary school.

The first Mottainai Festival was organized in 2008. “Mottainai” is a Japanese word, meaning “Alas, so wasteful!” This word is often uttered when a useful thing is misused.

This word has been appropriated for an annual secondhand item exchange festival in Japan, which has spread to many countries in the world, including Vietnam.

Many people gathered at the yard of Trung Vuong primary school in the early morning to participate in the fifth annual Mottainai Festival.

At this special event, visitors don’t need money. They only need their un-needed but useful items to swap for other things that are still in good condition.

The theme of the 5^th Mottainai Festival is “3R Fair”. It reproduced the atmosphere of a kermis in Hanoi in the old time with traditional cuisines and folk games to celebrate Hanoi’s 1000^th birthday.

Young people were happy to exchange. “I’ve participated in the Mottainai three times. I’ve exchanged many necessary things. I think this festival is very meaningful because it helps us practice thrift and reminds people about protecting the environment,” remarked Dieu Huong, a student from Hanoi Teacher Training University.

Vu Thuy Anh, from the Hanoi-Amsterdam High School, commented: “This is the first time I have attended this festival. This is not only a meaningful event, but also a playground for us to show our organizing ability and our creativeness.”

The festival also drew elderly participants. Mr. Tuan, 65, observed: “I’m very glad that young people have organized this festival. This is a way to protect the environment and protect our lives. I hope that such holidays will be held in the future.”

Attendants bring their secondhand items to the classification table to exchange for tickets of A, B, C grades and then exchange these tickets for other used items of equivalent value.