Vietnam Insider - Page 1311 of 1522

Vietnamese startup makes super materials from recycled animal fat

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A graphene product created by Nano Life has been tested at laboratories in Vietnam and Japan.

Nano Life, which has applied for a patent in the US, impressed the jury board at Vietnam Startup Wheel 2018, an important event for startups, when presenting the project on using recycled animal fat to make graphene.

Considered a ‘super material of the future’, graphene can be used to create ultra light material panels, thinner than plastic wrap by 60,000 times.

Graphene could be 200 times more durable than steel and has good thermal conductivity. With such characteristics, it is expected to be the ideal material for electronic components in the future.

Besides being ultra-light, ultra-thin, super durable and heat-conducting, graphene can also be used in many other fields.

In 2014, scientists from Rice University discovered that graphene, when mixed with vanadium oxide, will create cathodes that can charge 90 percent of battery capacity just after 20 seconds. Even after about 1000 cycles of usage, the battery charging capability will remain unchanged.

Michigan Technological University found that graphene can replace platinum, an important but expensive component in solar cells.

As for mobile devices, graphene not only can be used in battery and chip manufacturing, but is also to make ultra soft and ultra durable wearable devices and phones.

Leading electronics manufacturers such as Apple, IBM and Samsung are racing to conduct research the new material. More than 5,000 patents related to the material have been announced since 2003, when graphene was successfully extracted.

Despite the preeminent characteristics, graphene still cannot be used on a large scale, mostly because of its high production costs.

According to Nano Life, graphene is now mostly synthetized from coal, a process which is unfriendly to the environment. Graphene is priced at $50-100 per square centimeter.

Meanwhile, Nano Life can make graphene from recycled animal fat at a cost just equal to 20 percent. The technology not only allows to cut down the production cost, but also helps treat organic waste and protect the environment.

If considering the smartphone market alone (1.55 billion smartphones were sold in 2017), the low-cost graphene production would have a market worth billions of dollars.

Nano Life has filed for patent in the US and will focus on developing the market. Once the production process is set up, the team hopes 1 ton of graphene can be made every month in the first year of production.

According to a report on Vietnamnet

iPhone XS Max price falling after one day in Vietnam

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iPhone XS Max unexpectedly lost half of its value just after one day in Vietnam, with the price falling from VND79 million to VND40.5 million.

The first iPhone XS Max in Vietnam appeared on September 21. It was displayed at a private smartphone shop on Hoang Van Thu street in HCMC with quoted price of VND79 million.

VND79 million is a record high price for an iPhone. The iPhone X that first appeared in Vietnam was sold at VND68 million, while iPhone 8 Plus was VND28 million.

Vietnamese iPhone fans always compete with each other to become the first users of next-generation iPhones, and are willing to pay exorbitant prices.

On the first days in Vietnam, iPhone XS Max saw prices changing hourly. It is now being sold at VND40.5 million for 512 GB, or VND38.5 million lower than the initial price.

Minh Tuan, the owner of a private shop in HCMC, said the demand is not high now. While a few people want to get iPhone XS Max at any cost, the majority tend to delay their purchase until the price becomes more reasonable.

At a shop in Hanoi, the quoted price of iPhone XS Max is VND35 million for the 64 GB-memory version. The price level is VND1-2 million more expensive than shops in HCMC.

“The supply is profuse, so the product is not as hot as in previous years, and the prices will be stabile soon,” said The Long, manager of a shop on 3/3 street in HCMC.

The iPhone XS Max model with two physical sims from Hong Kong and China have arrived in Vietnam. They sell VND2-3 million more than products with one physical and one e-sim.

Some private shops have advertised the sale of locked iPhone XS Max at VND25.9 million, or VND10 million cheaper than the international version. However, they do not have products for prompt deliveries, saying that the products would be available in three to four days.

iPhone XS is available in Vietnam with the quoted price from VND31 million, but is not in high demand.

The old-generation iPhone X is still selling well with the price slightly decreasing by VND500,000. Thanh Thuy, a smartphone dealer, affirmed that the demand for iPhone X remains stable.

“Customers still favor iPhone X. iPhone XS and XS Max don’t have many improvements compared with the previous-generation models, and they are too expensive at this moment,” she explained.

Meanwhile, retailers said genuine iPhone XS and XS Max to be distributed via authorized resellers (with VN/A code) will hit the shelves in late October or early November.

According to a report on Vietnamnet

Vietnam to take part in Asian Para Games

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Vietnamese athletes will take part in the Asian Para Games which will start in mid-October in Indonesia.

A statement from the Việt Nam Sports Administration released on Thursday said that the delegation including 56 athletes would compete in seven sports of swimming, athletics, power lifting, chess, judo, badminton and table tennis.

The administration also said these participants were the country’s strongest athletes who had spent time training hard and competing over the past months in preparation for the coming continental Games.

However, the team will miss the man with the greatest potential for winning a gold medal as world champion and record holder Lê Văn Công cannot make it. The 34-year-old weightlifter who is also a Paralympic winner has suffered injuries and will be sidelined this time. He is the defending champion of the men’s 48kg category. Công also stayed out of the Asian championship in Japan earlier this month. Doctors said he needed up to four months to recover.

Athletes will take part in a sending-off ceremony on September 28 in HCM City. They will leave for Jakarta on October 1. The flag raising ceremony will be organised four days later, one day before the third tournament officially begins.

The Games’ opening ceremony is on October 6 and it will wrap up on October 13. Teams from 45 countries will arrive to compete in 18 sports.

Four years ago, around 4,500 athletes from 41 countries competed in 443 events in 23 sports in the second Games in South Korea.

China topped the final medal tally with 174 golds. They were followed by the hosts and Japan. Vietnamese athletes won nine golds and placed 10th in the ranking.

Source: Vietnamnews

Vietjet Air seeks $300m convertible bond listing on SGX

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Vietnam’s first budget airline Vietjet has announced its plan to issue and list $300 million convertible bonds on the Singapore stock exchange (SGX).

Specifically, the company will issue 3,000 five-year term notes at the par value of $100,000, scheduled until the end of 2018. The yield of the bonds will be below 5 per cent.

In conjunction with the bond issuance, Vietjet will issue up to 28 million new shares to exercise the conversion. This is in accordance with the foreign ownership limit regulated by law, the company said, in its notice to shareholders.

The current cap for Vietjet is 30 per cent, and the low-cost carrier is lobbying with the government to lift it to 49 per cent.

The convertible bond plan is subject to shareholder approval.

Last month, property major Vingroup also solicited $400 million from selling convertible dividend preference shares to South Korea’s Hanwha Asset Management.

Vietjet has been the headline target since its preparation for IPO, which raised $170 million in 2016. It was Vietnam’s first and biggest internationally marketed offer.

Vietjet’s overseas investors include BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan and GIC. The Singapore sovereign fund, initially a 5.5 per cent shareholder, has pared its stake to 4.97 per cent.

The carrier’s shares were priced at VND152,400 ($6.6) on Thursday, representing a 50 per cent jump since its debut 1.5 years ago. The company’s current market cap stands at $3.6 billion.

Vietjet has also marketed its overseas listing ambition since the IPO, seeking the possibility in markets like London, Hong Kong, Singapore and New York.

The company takes up a 43 per cent market share, surpassing the state-owned rival Vietnam Airlines and its low-cost partnership Jetstar. Vietnam Airlines was also listed in early 2017. Its stock at times dipped by half in price and currently is in the region of VND40,000 apiece, marking a corporate valuation of $2.5 billion.

According to a report on Dealstreetasia

52 students get food poisoning after eating school lunch

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A student of Ninh Xá Primary School is given medical care at Bắc Ninh General Hopsital after having lunch at school on Thursday. — VNA/VNS Photo Diệp Trương

Authorities in the northern province of Bắc Ninh are testing food samples taken from Ninh Xá Primary School as 52 students of the school suffered from food poisoning after eating lunch at school on Thursday.

According to Vietnamnews, after eating the school lunch, the students were reported to have headache, stomachache, vomiting and diarrhea.

They were taken to Bắc Ninh General Hospital and Bắc Ninh Province Maternity and Pediatric Hospital.

Doctor Nguyễn Văn Dũng, head of Communicable Diseases Department at Bắc Ninh General Hospial, said that the students were infected with bacteria or gastrointestinal disturbance.

All the students were discharged from the hospitals on Thursday night and Friday morning.

As many as 945 students of Ninh Xá Primary School ate lunch at school on Thursday. They had chicken noodles and grilled pork

The Tailor to compete at Oscar 2019

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The information was given by Head of the Vietnam Cinema Department Ngo Phuong Lan, Dtinews reported.

The film was produced by renowned actress Ngo Thanh Van and directed by Kay Nguyen and Tran Buu Loc.

The film is about a young tailor named Nhu Y in the 1960s. She was born into a family of tailors who specialised in making Ao Dai. By some kind of miracle, she travels to the future and meets herself a few decades later. She witnesses the tragedy of her family’s trade in the future, which resulted from the fact that she had turned her back on the craft. She then realises the value of the traditional career and learns respect for the long dress.

The movie was internationally released at 22nd Busan International Film Festival on October 14th 2017 in South Korea, before the official release in Vietnam on November 10th 2017. After one month, the movie earned more than VND60 billion (USD2.72 million) in theatrical revenues.

It also awarded Best Feature Film at the Golden Kite Awards by the Vietnamese Cinema Association in 2017 and has been screened at various international film festivals.

Each country is allowed to send one entry to the Best Foreign Film category at Oscars, which should be screened between October 1, 2017 and September 30, 2018. The jury will announce the five nominees early next year and the final results will be announced in Los Angeles on February 24, 2019.

Over 100 foreign players to join BRG Golf Hanoi Festival

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More than 140 Vietnamese and 100 foreign players will compete at the BRG Golf Hanoi Festival 2018 slated for October 2-4.

Venues for the competition, organised by the BRG Group, are the Kings Course at the BRG Kings Island Golf Resort, the Legends Course at the BRG Legend Hill Golf Resort, and the BRG Ruby Tree Golf Resort.

Throughout the championship, all courses and associated facilities are operated by a team of qualified professionals from the UK, Canada, and Australia. These experts will guarantee quality conditions and fair play for players under the rules of the royal and ancient game.

This year’s tournament offers a wide range of fabulous prizes, including a daily opportunity to win the latest auto models of Honda Civic and Accord.

Division Director of BRG Group Mark Reeves said that this year’s BRG Golf Hanoi Festival is expected to be the best compared to the previous two editions of the event.

It has better courses, better prizes, and more innovation, he added.

According to a report on VNA

The procedure for business registration in Vietnam, Improving but Challenges

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As one of the most trustworthy business law consulting companies in Vietnam, annually, hundreds of foreign investors from 104 countries using the company formation services of GBS.

“The procedure for business registration in Vietnam is improving recently, but challenges still remain as the legal system are unclear to foreign investors”, said Chip Hardy, President, Nova Hotel Renovation & Construction. “That’s why we seek for the business law consulting firm like GBS”, he added.

Foreign investors are attracted by Vietnam’s 90 million-strong population which supports a large and young workforce and that has also seen an increase in disposable income in recent years.

In the first nine months of this year, Vietnam has attracted US$25.37 billion worth of FDI capital, or 99.6% of last year’s figure, the Foreign Investment Agency (FIA) has announced.

Within 104 countries and territories supplying FDI to Vietnam, Japanese investors remained the largest source of foreign investment. Japanese investors registered to invest US$7 billion, making up 28% of the total FDI. The Korean investors came second, pumping in US$5.6 billion or 22.4% of the total FDI, followed by Singaporean with US$3.6.

Hanoi in the north and Ho Chi Minh City and Ba Ria – Vung Tau in the south attracted the largest amount of FDI capital during the period, with a total registered capital of US$5.8 billion, US$4.2 billion and US$2.1 billion, respectively.

Improving trends

Sophie Dao, Partner of GBS told Vietnam Insider that, according to the Vietnamese Law, every foreign investor can set-up a foreign invested company, which they own unlimitedly the chapter capital of the company, except some special cases, such as listed companies, public companies, securities trading organizations and securities investment funds or state-owned enterprises.

Depend on the legal form (representative office, branch office, private company, foreign partnership company, multi member limited liability company, single member limited liability company, foreign shareholding company) or type of the investor, required documents will be different and normally, it takes 15 days to 30 to get every done.

But don’t worry, Sophie and the lawyers at GBS will help you, even you don’t need to enter Vietnam.

… Challenges remain

The World Bank and International Finance Corporation (IFC) ranked Vietnam in 99th place in the world for ease of doing business, which means it is essential to seek local help when expanding in the country.

Starting a Business: There are 10 procedures to undertake when starting a business in Vietnam, making it among the most complex start-up environments in the world.

Dealing with Construction Permits: It takes up-to 110 days and 11 procedures to get permits for construction in Vietnam, requiring interaction with several official departments

Getting Electricity: Getting electrical connection is among the most rigorous tasks facing startups in Vietnam, taking 115 days to complete and costing a significant percentage of income per capita

Registering Property: It takes 57 days to complete, which is far higher than the OECD norm but around average for East Asia and Pacific

Getting Credit: Vietnam is home to quite a stable credit environment, and obtaining capital is a relatively smooth process for businesses.

Protecting Investors: Investor protection is an area in which Vietnam fails miserably. It is ranked in 169th place by the World Bank and IFC, with a weak director liability index and shareholder suits index.

Paying Taxes: There are a massive 32 corporate tax payments to be made each year which takes an average of 872 company hours to complete.

Trading Across Borders: Given its strong manufacturing base and reliance on interconnectivity, trading across borders is a cheap endeavor. However, that isn’t to say the process is not complicated.

Enforcing Contracts and Resolving Insolvency: It takes up-to 400 days to complete and 34 procedures.

Culture: The Vietnamese believe in the teachings of the early Chinese philosopher Confucius which emphasize the importance of relationships, responsibility and obligation. Vietnam is also a collectivist country and community concerns will almost always come before business or individual needs.

Need help?

Contact Sophie Dao, Partner of GBS

Call/ iMessage/ Viber/ WhatsApp: +84903189033
Email: info@gbs.com.vn | Website: https://gbs.com.vn

Vietnam convicts second person this week for anti-government Facebook posts

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On Thursday, police in Vietnam reported that a court had jailed a 40-year-old man for two and a half years due to the comments included in his Facebook posts. This is the second Facebook-related imprisonment in the country in the past week.

According to the country’s Ministry of Public Security, Manh Dong allegedly “distorted the guidelines and policies of the party and the state, and defamed party and state leaders,” Reuters reported.

The conviction is reflective of Vietnam’s efforts to repress speech critical of the government. According to the ministry, Dong was guilty of “abusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the state,” according to Reuters, and that, according to police, his posts “hurt the prestige and leading role of the party and the state.”

Dong’s imprisonment comes just days after a similar sentence for Facebook posts. On Monday, 42-year-old Doan Khanh Vinh Quang, an activist, was sentenced to 27 months in jail for “abusing democratic and freedom rights,” police said, stating that he had admitted to posting and sharing posts on Facebook over the past few years that authorities said criticized the country’s Communist Party. And in May of this year, 56-year-old Vui Hieu Vo was sentenced to four and a half years in jail for Facebook posts that allegedly “distorted” the country’s political state of affairs.

The country’s punishments for anti-government sentiment comes amid a greater crackdown on citizens’ online activity. A cybersecurity law approved by Vietnam lawmakers this year, which will go into effect in January, requires internet companies to store users’ personal information and data. It specifically states that tech companies are required to store this user data locally within data centers in the country.

“With the sweeping powers it grants the government to monitor online activity,” Clare Algar, Amnesty’s director of global operations, said in a statement, Reuters reported, “this vote means there is now no safe place left in Vietnam for people to speak freely.”

According to a report on Gizmodo

3 drug traffickers arrested in Vietnam

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Police of Son La, a northern province in Vietnam said on Friday they detained three local men when they were transporting 10 cakes of heroin.

The trio included Hang A Giong, 38, Hang A Ho, 34, and Hang A Ly, 29, all from Son La’s Muong La district. The provincial police were further investigating the case.

3 drug traffickers arrested in northern Vietnam

Vietnam has some of the world’s toughest drug laws. According to the Vietnamese law, those convicted of smuggling over 600 grams of heroin or more than 2.5 kg of methamphetamine are punishable by death. Making or trading 100 grams of heroin or 300 grams of other illegal drugs also faces death penalty.

In August, a court in HCMC, Vietnam sentenced 5 to death, 4 get life for drug trafficking.

How fake helmets in Vietnam are putting our lives at risk

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For Nguyet Tran – a Vietnamese citizen and Ryan Brown – an expat in Vietnam, like millions of other two-wheeler riders in Vietnam, the choice of helmet is always dictated by its price.

Duong Thi Hang, 30, a two-wheeler rider killed near a tragic worksite accident on Thursday, September 27 in Le Van Luong street, Hanoi, Vietnam. People said, her helmet broke into many pieces when she met with the accident, it looks like a fake helmet.

Her helmet broke into many pieces | @ Zing.vn

Expressing concern over the staggering number of Vietnamese getting killed and injured in road accidents, both locals and expats hoped that these helmets would make people ditch the fakes.

“Fake helmets are like fake medicine. Both kill,” says David Tan, an expat in Vietnam. “It’s unfortunate that people are so reckless when it comes to buying helmets.

Bored Panda collected a series of extreme pictures, all showing helmets that have been subjected to potentially life-threatening damage. From bike helmets cracked in half to motorcycle helmets sanded flat by pavement, these photos prove that helmets really do save lives.

Despite the scary nature of these images, the important thing to note is that helmets really do work – and if the people wearing the helmets had just so happened to forget theirs that day, their stories likely would have ended very differently.

Scarily smooth: After being involved in a crash, this motorcycle helmet was sanded down by the pavement

Safety on the slopes: This snowboarding helmet quite literally split in two during an accident – better the helmet than the head!

Grateful: This man is thankful that his helmet put him in the hospital instead of in a body bag

These photos are not simply rare, once-off occasions. The statistics support the fact that all types of helmets save lives every day.

Not a pretty picture: It’s scary to imagine what might have happened to this construction worker had they not been wearing a helmet

Vietnam-Thailand trade expected to reach $20 bn by 2020

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In 2017, Thai-Vietnamese bilateral trade stood at US$16 billion in total value. Of which, Thailand exported up to US$11 billion worth of products to the country while Vietnam exported US$5 billion to Thailand, said Sanan, who is also chairman of Srithai Superware Plc.

Thailand benefits a lot from trading with Vietnam but Vietnam also gains from importing goods from Thailand as most of the Thai exports are capital goods, he explains. Hence, Thai exports help push the development of the manufacturing industry in Vietnam, he says.

The bilateral trade value between Thailand and Vietnam amounted to US$12 billion from January to August this year, growing 14.9 per cent from the same period last year, according to the Thai-Vietnam Business Council. Some of the key Thai investors in Vietnam are Thai BEV, Central Group and SCG.

THE TARGET for bilateral trade between Thailand and Vietnam has been set at US$20 billion by 2020, said Thai-Vietnam Business Council’s president Sanan Angubolkul during an interview with The Nation yesterday.

The Thai-Vietnam Business Council represents private enterprises in Thailand that are trading or investing in Vietnam.

“Our partner is the Vietnam-Thai Business Council, our counterpart in Vietnam. Through sharing networks, information and know-how, we aim to promote investment and trade between Thailand and Vietnam,” Sanan says.

“We have up to 500 entrepreneurs in our network who are trading or investing in Vietnam 90 per cent of which are successful,” he says.

The Thai-Vietnam Business Council works to demonstrate to the Vietnam side that Thai entrepreneurs are strategic partners who can improve the manufacturing industry and infrastructure of Vietnam as opposed to aggressive competitors who are looking to dominate the Vietnamese market, Sanan explains.

The most challenging issue facing Thai exports is the introduction of trade barrier on automobile parts by the Vietnamese government, says Sanan.

This is because Vietnam is going to launch its own nationally-produced car brand called ‘VINFAST’.

“Hence, it has introduced non-tariff barriers against exporters of automotive parts which makes up a significant amount of Thai exports to Vietnam,” says Sanan.

“The Thai-Vietnam Business Council along with the Ministry of Commerce have cooperated in negotiating with the Vietnamese government to reduce these trade barriers,” Sanan continues.

“The negotiation is currently in progress, and Thailand aims to establish a certified body to test the cars and automotive parts in Thailand and sidestep the trade barrier,” he says.

Another initiative to boost exports to Vietnam and encourage Thai small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to trade and invest in the neighboring country is through a ‘Mentorship Program’ which will be launched in 2019. This program will bring together entrepreneurs who have both failed and succeeded in trading and investing profitably in Vietnam as well as prospective entrepreneurs who are interested in the Vietnamese market.

The mentors will then give constructive advice and access the readiness of their mentees to trade and invest in Vietnam. Sanan expects this program to be more successful than past business matching events, which he says has not produced very impressive results.

Retail Banking strategic view to be discussed at Emerging Vietnam 2018

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Emerging Vietnam 2018 is a special business conference, organized by Ho Chi Minh City Securities (HSC), taking place in HCMC on September 27-28, 2018. The conference aims to connect Vietnam’s leading companies with the international investment community.

There are over 40 leaders of Vietnam’s top companies, such as Ho Van Long, D. CEO of Vietnam International Bank (VIB); Kalidas Ghose, Vice Chairman & CEO, FE Credit; Sabbir Ahmed, Head of Retail Banking and Wealth Management, HSBC Bank Vietnam; Trinh Bang Vu, Head of Retail Business Development, Shinhan Bank Viet Nam and other companies spanning a variety of industrial sectors ranging from banking and finance to internet and media, and everything in between.

More than 200 investors from all over the world, including the United States and Europe, as well as Asian countries and territories such as Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Korea, and Thailand.

Historically this event has drawn institutional investors from across the globe, managing portfolios that range from US$100 million to US$100 billion in AUM.

More information about the event can be found at: http://hsc.meetingceo.com/2018/hscic

Hoa Sen Group construction fire adds salt to injury

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A trade centre of a HoaSen Group subsidiary under construction caught fire, adding to the mounting debt problems of the corporation.

Fire damage at nearly $9,000
Hoa Sen Group has issued an announcement about the fire at its four-star complex including a trade centre, hotel, and event place at Nguyen Tat Thanh Street in the northern province of Yen Bai’s Yen Bai city.

Accordingly, at 2.20PM on September 23, a huge fire broke out from the basement and first floor of the project. Although the construction units complied with safety regulations, during welding works, the wind blew ash into the area where combustible material was kept on the first floor of the building, which resulted in fire.

“Workers tried to bring the fire under control with fire extinguishers, sand, and water, but the wind was too strong and the fire spread too fast. They had to call the fire department for support. By 2.40PM the fire was extinguished. The incident was detected soon and caused no damage to life or property, and has not affected the quality or the progress of the project. The construction unit suffered some damage, around VND200 million ($8.850),” noted Hoa Sen Group.

The project construction was kicked off on May 19, 2016, at the centre of Yen Bai city on 1.5ha of land. The total investment of the project is estimated at VND1.2 trillion ($53.1 million) and it is developed by Hoa Sen Yen Bai Building Materials One Member Limited Liability Company (HSYB-Ltd), one of the member companies of Hoa Sen Group JSC.

This will be the biggest and highest building in Yen Bai city. The shell of 15 floors of the building has been completed, and the contractor is currently installing inside equipment. The complex is expected to be put into operation in the first quarter of 2019.

Hoa Sen Group deep in the red
Over the last two years, Hoa Sen Group’s profit margin has been falling. The after-tax profit of the last two quarters was under VND100 billion ($4.4 million), far from the VND855 billion ($37.8 million) peak in the first two quarters of the 2016-2017 fiscal year.

According to the 2018 second quarter financial statement of Hoa Sen Group, the corporation’s revenue increased by 40 per cent on-year to over VND10 trillion ($442.5 million). However, the group’s profit continued to decrease to VND83 billion ($3.7 million), down 70 per cent on-year. This is the second consecutive quarter that HSG’s profit was under VND100 billion ($4.4 million) and is at a four-year low.

Viet Capital Securities assessed that the fall in HSG’s profit was due to the fierce competition. In 2016-2018, the capacity of the leading steel companies has increased sharply.

In 2016, Hoa Sen produced 1.5 million tonnes more, which is 121 per cent of its 2015 production volume. Nam Kim’s production rose by 800,000 tonnes (190 per cent). Additionally, Hoa Phat, a new player, produced 400,000 tonnes in the first quarter of this year.

Moreover, the high input costs also eat into HSG’s profit. In the three first quarters of 2016, the company’s gross profit margin was 24-26 per cent. In the next five quarters, this figure reduced sharply to around 15-18 per cent, and was only 10 per cent in the last quarter.

As of the end of June 2018, the short-term debts of HSG were VND12.42 trillion ($550 million), increasing by VND3.4 trillion ($150.4 million), or 38 per cent, compared to the beginning of the year. Long-term debts also rose by 22 per cent to VND3.46 trillion ($153 million).

As a result, the accumulated debts of HSG stand at nearly VND16 trillion ($700 million), and the group had to pay VND190 billion ($8.4 million) of interest in the last quarter.

On the stock exchange, the HSG ticker has been falling since April and is at VND12,000 currently.

Nguyen Huong report on VIR

90 percent of Vietnamese want tobacco tax raised: survey

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Most Vietnamese want the tax on tobacco raised as a means to reduce smoking, a survey has found.
The survey, by Canadian NGO HealthBridge, released at a conference Tuesday showed that 90 percent of Vietnamese think raising the price of a 20-pack of cigarettes to VND45,400 ($1.95) will have an impact on smoking.

The average price now is VND15,000 (64 cents), the survey said.

Over 80 percent of respondents said smokers would be deterred if the price is hiked to VND22,700 (97 cents), the survey, which polled around 600 people, said.

The same number said the tax should be increased to 45-70 percent. The special consumption tax (SCT) on tobacco is currently 35.6 percent.

Le Thi Thu, senior project manager at HealthBridge, told VnExpress International that studies have shown smoking is a greater financial burden on the poor than the rich since treatment of diseases caused by smoking costs a lot of money.

“The negative impacts of smoking on Vietnamese people’s lives are undeniable.”

Smoking gets easier

But Vietnam’s policies on tobacco tax have not been effective in reducing smoking, experts said at the conference.

Nguyen Thu Huong, communications officer at the Ministry of Health’s Tobacco Control Fund, said the average price of a 20-pack of cigarettes fell from VND12,700 (54 cents) in 2010 to VND11,000 (47 cents) in 2015.

The low price allows more people, even children, to smoke, she added.

Dr Nguyen Tuan Lam, a specialist at the World Health Organization (WHO) Vietnam, noted the current SCT of 35.6 percent on tobacco is lower than the global average of 56 percent.

It is also lower than in several other Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand, Singapore, the Philippines, and Malaysia, he said.

Vietnam’s tobacco prices are the second lowest among 20 western Pacific countries for which data is available, he said.

The Ministry of Finance has proposed two options for raising the tax.

The first option is a combination of an SCT and a fixed tax. With it, a 20-pack of cigarettes will attract an additional VND1,000 (4.3 cents) in fixed tax, and each cigar, VND1,500 (6.4 cents).

The second option is to increase the SCT every year until it reaches 85 percent in 2021.

Health officials favor the first option, but said the fixed tax should be higher at VND2,000-5,000.

Lam said a tax of VND5,000 would reduce the number of male smokers by 6.3 percent and the number of people dying of tobacco use would fall by 900,000.

Pham Thi Hoang Anh, country director of Healthbridge Vietnam, said the government should gradually increase the taxes on tobacco every year. “Thailand increased them every two years between 1992 and 2015, from 55 percent to 86 percent.”

But that was on wholesale prices, which would be equivalent to 115-600 percent on retail prices in Vietnam, she explained.

“No one is harmed when tobacco tax is raised. There are few industries that are growing as strongly as tobacco, which is growing at 9-10 percent a year.”

A tax hike would not kill businesses, but would decrease the number of smokers and increase the government’s revenues, she added.

Last June WHO advised the Vietnamese government to hike the tax on tobacco to deter people from smoking.

Vietnam is among the 15 countries in the world with the lowest tobacco prices, WHO chief Kidong Park said.

To achieve its target of reducing the rate of male smokers from 47 percent to 39 percent by 2020, the government would need to raise the fixed tax rate on tobacco by at least VND2,000 per pack, he said, referring to the finance ministry proposal.

VND5,000 per pack would be better, he added.

Vietnam has among the world’s highest numbers of smokers. An estimated 15.6 million Vietnamese spend VND31 trillion ($1.36 billion) on cigarettes each year.

Smoking is a major cause of lung cancer and cardiovascular diseases in the country, and costs it VND23 trillion ($1 billion) in treatment and labor loss annually, according to the Ministry of Health.

Dat Nguyen report on Vnexpress