Vietnam Economy Forum

[Viet]

Niceview, somehow it reminds me of Hamburg

Lol, but it is hotter in Vietnam
Can you speak German a bit?
Sprichst du schon ein bißchen Deutsch? Wie gefällst dir das Leben in Deutschland?

 

[nufix]

Lol, but it is hotter in Vietnam
Can you speak German a bit?
Sprichst du schon ein bißchen Deutsch? Wie gefällst dir das Leben in Deutschland?

A little bit, Ich bin nie mehr als 5 monate in Deutschland sein, so meine deutsche Sprache ist nicht sehr gut wie Sie. Aber Ja, ich kann fuer die meistens Gespraeche auf deutsch sagen. Das Leben in Deutschland ist gut, weil die Einrichtungen und die Verbindungen alles gut sind. Auch die Lebensmittel von Asia sind nicht so schwer zu finden. Marburg allein hat viele Asia Gaststaette und es gibt auch einige Vietnam Retaurants, die Verkaufen SudOst-Asiatische Essen wie aus Malaysia oder Indonesia, in der naehe der Bahnhofstrasse in Marburg. Ich finde dass, das Leben in Deutschland fantastisch ist.

Sowieso, wie lange haben Sie in Deutschland gelebt?

 

[Viet]

A little bit, Ich bin nie mehr als 5 monate in Deutschland sein, so meine deutsche Sprache ist nicht sehr gut wie Sie. Aber Ja, ich kann fuer die meistens Gespraeche auf deutsch sagen. Das Leben in Deutschland ist gut, weil die Einrichtungen und die Verbindungen alles gut sind. Auch die Lebensmittel von Asia sind nicht so schwer zu finden. Marburg allein hat viele Asia Gaststaette und es gibt auch einige Vietnam Retaurants, die Verkaufen SudOst-Asiatische Essen wie aus Malaysia oder Indonesia, in der naehe der Bahnhofstrasse in Marburg. Ich finde dass, das Leben in Deutschland fantastisch ist.

Ja, es ist schon schön in Deutschland zu leben, wenn das Wetter and das Essen ein bißchen besser wären, wäre ich zufriedender. Na ja, man kann nicht alles haben.

Sowieso, wie lange haben Sie in Deutschland gelebt?

Wir können gern duzen. Ich lebe schon ziemlich lange hier. Ein halbes Leben quasi.

 

[Viet]

$1.15bn steel project comes online in style

09:24 | 28/05/2013 VIR

A $1.15 billion integrated steel factory in southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau province, backed by a joint venture led by Taiwan’s China Steel Corporation, went into commercial operation last week.

It officially opened its representative office late last week after completing the factory construction and run test according to a source from the Vietnam Steel Association.

Located in Ba Ria-Vung Tau’s My Xuan A2 Industrial Park, China Steel Sumikin’s project will be among the largest steel factories in Vietnam, capable of producing 1.6 million tonnes of steel each year.

This is a joint venture led by Taiwan’s largest steel-maker, China Steel Corporation, which holds a 51 per cent stake and other shareholders include Japan’s largest steel-maker Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Group, Chun Yuan Steel Corporation, Hsin Kuang Steel Corporation and Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Corporation.

 

[Viet]

Great! Thanks to Taiwan!



Formosa Plastics pledges $27bn

15:04 | 27/05/2013 VIR

Taiwan’s Formosa Plastics Group has approved a plan to triple its total investment capital into an integrated steel and port complex in central Vietnam to a massive $27 billion sum.

A Formosa Plastics Group source in Vietnam said the group “has officially decided to increase the total investment capital [at the under-construction integrated steelwork complex in Ha Tinh province’s Vung Ang Economic Zone] to $27 billion” from $9.9 billion registered in its current investment certificate.

Formosa Plastics Group, in a document sent to VIR last week, also confirmed it would increase the total annual production of this steelwork to 22.5 million tonnes of steel from 7.5 million tonnes, putting it on the map as one the world’s largest integrated steelworks.

The steel facility, covering 2,000 hectares of oceanfront land, will comprise six blast furnaces, a 32-berth seaport and a 2,150 megawatt thermal power plant. The construction of this factory will be conducted till 2020.

“In the next few months, we will officially submit this expansion plan to the Vietnamese government for approval,” said the source. “An area of 2,000ha will allow us to increase the facility’s production capacity.”

The group has completed the construction of office buildings, guest-houses and residential buildings for workers. Other works including a seaport and the first blast furnace are under construction. The first blast furnace will operate in 2015.

The Formosa Plastics Group source said the firm had strong financial ability to develop such a large-scale manufacturing facility in Vietnam.

He said that the group’s mammoth project in Vietnam would not create an oversupply of steel products in the domestic market.

“We do not produce construction steel. Our products are hot-rolled steel that Vietnam still largely depends on imports,” Formosa stated.

The Taiwanese investor estimated Vietnam had to import 3.58 million tonnes of hot-rolled steel in 2011 and the country would need $3.5 billion to import 5.2 million tonnes of hot-rolled steel in 2015.

“Fifty per cent of our products would supply the domestic market, helping save foreign currency for the Vietnamese government while the rest would be exported. In the recent years, because of the strong growth of industrialisation and urbanisation in the Southeast Asian region, the demand for steel has been growing rapidly,” the group said.

Presently, the Southeast Asian nations are reliant on imported steel products from China, Taiwan, Japan and South Korea.

“Our steelwork in Ha Tinh will aim to cover the Southeast Asian market, and enjoy tax incentives from the ASEAN free trade area,” it added.

 

[Viet]

Japan-funded water treatment plant operational in Binh Duong

Updated : 5/31/2013 5:59:50 PM

(VOV) - A plant funded by Japanese ODA capital and designed to treat the wastewater from Binh Duong province’s Thu Dau Mot City entered into operation on May 31.

Binh Duong Water Supply-Drainage and Environment One-Member Company are the plant’s two primary investors.

The project, which is due to benefit 13,000 local residents, will help improve the water environment, protect the environment and improve the livelihood of residents in the southern part of the province.

 

[Viet]

Vietnam to manufacture Airbus spare parts

Updated : 5/27/2013 5:18:41 PM

(VOV) - The Republic of Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) is planning to build a factory in Vietnam to manufacture spare parts for Airbus planes, according to Korean communications sources.

The proposed factory will be located in an industrial zone in the central city of Danang.

A representative from the Korean Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam said the RoK is the second largest foreign investor in Danang.

He added that Korea considers Vietnam a good place to invest because of its abundant cheap labour and its ability to manufacture high tech products. If the factory is built in Danang, it will be the second aeronautical project in Vietnam.

In 2009, the Japanese Mitsubishi Heavy Industries built a factory in Vietnam to manufacture wings for Boeing aircraft.

The new factory is expected to generate jobs for local people and lay an important foundation for Vietnam to gradually access space technology.

 

[Viet]

Bye bye China...Japan, you are welcome in Vietnam!


More Japanese businesses eye Vietnam market

Updated : 5/31/2013 4:57:27 PM

(VOV) - Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) Managing Director HirotakaYasuzumi believes Vietnam will attract more Japanese businesses if its support industry develops strongly.

In a recent interview granted to the Vnexpress newswire, Yasuzumi said Japanese businesses are currently shifting their production bases and material suppliers from China to Vietnam.

He said Vietnam is also benefiting from sharp increases in Thailand’s labour costs, making finding human resources in the vicinity of Bangkok more difficult.

Japan contributed 51 percent of the total US$7.8 billion in foreign direct investment Vietnam attracted last year. It has invested US$3.7 billion in Vietnam in the first five months of 2013, making it the country’s largest foreign investor.

Yasuzumi warned support industry deficiencies continue to hamper Japanese investment in Vietnam.

He recommended Vietnam focus on five support industry areas, including mould manufacturing, plastic injection and stamping, electrical and electronic components, machinery equipment, and heat and surface treatment.

The Japanese expert also suggested replicating a training exchange model involving sending employees of small and medium-sized enterprises to Japan for additional spare part manufacturing training. These workers will eventually constitute important human resources for the domestic support industry.

 

[Viet]

Phone handset exports to UAE increase sharply

Updated : 5/30/2013 11:07:08 AM

(VOV) - Vietnam earned US$1.02 billion from exporting phone handsets to the United Arab Emirates in the first 4 months of this year, 4 times higher than last year’s corresponding figure.

The export of the products to this Middle East market rose 207% to US$204.6 million in April alone, according to the Vietnam Customs.

Vietnamese exports to the UAE have maintained high growth over the years, says the Africa, West Asia and South Asia Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

 

[Viet]

Vietnam invests in largest sugar project in Cambodia

Updated : 5/27/2013 11:32:57 AM

(VOV) - The largest complex of sugarcane, ethanol and thermal power plants in Cambodia was inaugurated in Okrieng commune, Sombour district, Kratie province on May 26.

Addressing the ceremony, Cambodia’s Deputy Prime Minister Yim Chay Ly emphasized that the complex inauguration in Kratie was the outcome of the initiative between the two Prime Ministers of Cambodia and Vietnam.

The main investment came from Kamdhenu Ventures Cambodia Limited (KVCL) whtin the framework of a joint venture between Vietnam and a foreign company.

The factory, considered as one of the largest foreign-invested projects in Cambodia, has a total investment of around US$90.7 million, including US$25.3 million from KVCL and US$65.4 million from the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV).

 

[Viet]

McDonald’s is coming to Vietnam

16:54 | 30/05/2013 VIR

McDonald’s plans to open restaurants in Vietnam, with the first to open in Ho Chi Minh City "in the next two years".

McDonald’s senior officials have visited Vietnam to talk to prospective franchisees and planning is now under way for the first stores. The real opening time is likely to be far less than two years, depending on McDonald's ability to ensure a reliable and secure supply chain of fresh ingredients and complete its complex training program of franchisees and then staff.

The American fastfood chain - a notable absence in the market which is dominated by KFC, Pizza Hut and Korea's Lotte-owned Lotteria - plans to open two outlets in Ho Chi Minh before expanding to Hanoi.

Long term it plans 100 outlets, according to the unidentified official.

 

[Viet]

New social housing project breaks ground in Hanoi

TUOITRENEWS
UPDATED : 05/29/2013 11:52 GMT + 7

Ground was broken on a new social housing project consisting of more than 1,000 apartments in Hanoi on Tuesday.

The project, invested by the BIDV Insurance Corporation and constructed by the Housing and Urban Development Corporation, will provide 1,037 apartments for low-income earners who are eligible for the government’s house-buying aid worth VND30 trillion (US$1.44 billion).

The project will span 2.2 hectares out of the 49-hectare land plot zoned for the Tay Nam Linh Dam urban area in the capital city. It will consist of six apartment blocks with nine to 18 stories.

The VND710-billion project is scheduled to reach completion in 2015. The apartments are expected to be sold at below VND12 million (US$ 600) per square meter.

 

[Viet]

Bac Lieu wind mill generates power for national grid

08:52 | 30/05/2013 VIR

The first ten turbines with a capacity of 16MW of a wind mill in the Mekong Delta province of Bac Lieu started generating electricity for the national grid on May 29.

The ten turbines are capable of generating more than 55 million kWh a year.

The plant, located on 500 hectares in coastal Vinh Trach Dong commune, Bac Lieu city, is invested by the Cong Ly Construction-Trading-Tourism company with a sum of 5.2 trillion VND.

With a total capacity of 99 MW from 62 turbines, the wind mill is expected to generate 320 million kWh per year once its remaining 52 turbines are put into operation in December 2014.

 

[Viet]

Hunger erased, but poverty remains in the Delta

TUOI TRE
UPDATED : 06/03/2013 05:14 GMT + 7

Farmer Le Van Lo, in Cao Lanh District of Dong Thap Province is unable to build a brick house though he is now 76 years old

The national program for hunger elimination and poverty alleviation in the Mekong Deltea has been a half success for its erasure of hunger, while poverty reduction remains ongoing and needs further effort and investment.

Under the plan for poverty alleviation approved by the law-making National Assembly, the central government will spend over VND5 trillion (US$240.4 million) from now till 2015 to pull down the national poverty rate from 9.6 percent to less than 5 percent.

In addition, poor people will continue to benefit from receiving other social welfare programs for education and job training for income increases, healthcare and nutrition, housing, access to legal assistance, land for cultivation, clean water, and costs of electricity supply.

 

[Viet]

Indian firm invests US$1.8 billion in Long Phu thermal power plant


Updated : 6/7/2013 6:37:25 PM

(VOV) -India’s Tata Power Co. Ltd has won a US$1.8 billion contract to develop the thermal power plant Long Phu 2 in the Mekong Delta province of Soc Trang.

The Indian firm beat out businesses from the Republic of Korea and Russia to win the 1,200 MW plant’s construction contract.

The Tata group, India’s leading multinational company, is anticipated to help anchor India’s Look East policy by developing resilient economic links with Southeast Asia’s high growth economies.

“This is a milestone in a way for India,” said Charan Wadhva, an economist with the Centre for Policy Research in New Delhi. “Vietnam is one of the region’s dynamic countries and is considered a major growth area.”

The construction of the plant is expected to start in 2019. The Tata group will need to complete financial closure procedures and draw up a power purchase agreement.

In a letter addressed to Indian Ambassador to Vietnam Ranjit Rae, Tata Power Executive Director S. Ramakrishnan thanked the Indian envoy for the support that enabled the company to win the contract so quickly.

Tata Power’s investment in the Long Phu 2 plant shows its positive assessment of Vietnam’s business environment, despite the US$5 billion integrated steel project currently deadlocked in the central province of Ha Tinh.