Vietnam Insider - Page 1336 of 1522

Asian Games 2018: Vietnam beats Syria 1 – 0 in the quarter final

Advertisements

Vietnam are through to the semi-finals of Asian Games 2018 and will meet defending champions Korea Republic next after a 1-0 extra-time win over Syria in the quarter-finals on Monday – Fox Sport Asia reported.

In a keenly-contested encounter at the Patriot Stadium, both sides created their fair share of chances but were unable to find the breakthrough in the 90 minutes.

But, in the 108th minute, Vietnam finally found the breakthrough when Nguyen Anh Duc caught the opposition defence napping as he got in behind to race onto a long ball from the back.

Although his deft flick over the onrushing Ahmad Madyna came back off the bar, fellow substitute Nguyen Van Toan was perfectly placed to finish into the unguarded net.

Although Syria then gave it their all in a bid to equalise and take the game to penalties, the Vietnamese were able to hold out and advance to the semis.

Another tough test awaits Park Hang-seo’s charges in the last four as they take on Korea Republic, who have already 14 goals in four games thus far and boast a formidable attack including Tottenham star Son Heung-min, Red Bull Salzburg’s Hwang Hee-chan and tournament leading scorer Hwang Ui-jo, who has eight goals to his name at present.

SYRIA: Ahmad Madyna, Youssef Al-Hamwi, Jihad Busmar, Hussein Al-Shuayb, Khaled Kurdaghli, Ahmad Ashkar, Mouhamad Anez, Mahmood Al-Baher (Kame Koaeh 74’), Mohammad Al-Marmour, Ahmad Al-Ahmad (Zakria Hannan 112’), Abd Al Rahman Barakat (Abdulhadi Shalha 81’).

VIETNAM: Bui Tien Dung, Vu Van Thanh, Do Duy Manh (Pham Xuan Manh 117’), Tran Dinh Trong, Bui Tien Dung, Doan Van Hau, Nguyen Quang Hai, Pham Duc Huy, Nguyen Cong Phuong (Nguyen Van Toan 82’), Nguyen Van Quyet (Phan Van Duc 60’), Ha Duc Chinh (Nguyen Anh Duc 50’).

By Gabriel Tan

Continue reading “Asian Games 2018: Vietnam beats Syria 1 – 0 in the quarter final”

Vietnam’s tourism needs more high-quality workforce

Advertisements

The tourism and hotel industry is experiencing golden days with a boom in the number of foreign and domestic travelers, while the demand for workers meeting international standards is increasing rapidly, Vietnamnet reported

According to the chair of the Vietnam Tourism Association Nguyen Huu Tho, there were 1 million direct workers in the tourism industry in 2016. With the current growth rate, the figure is expected to reach 2.5 million by 2020.

Travel firms and hotels all complain that they need qualified workers and that recruited workers all need to be retrained.

Sim Tran from Imperial Group said the newly opened hotels in Phu Quoc, Ba Ria – Vung Tau, Long Hai and Phuoc Hai have ordered 500-700 workers for different divisions, but The Imperial International Hotel School cannot find enough workers to provide.

Hundreds of hotels in Phu Quoc are seeking workers in large quantities, but they cannot recruit workers on the spot. Therefore, they have to seek human resources in Kien Giang, An Giang, Can Tho and Rach Gia and bring to Phu Quoc for training.

The supply of tour guides, according to Nguyen Van My, chair of Lua Viet Tour, is ‘seriously lacking’. In 2017, Vietnam received 13 million inbound and 7 million outbound tourists, while there were only 13,000 tour guides.

The same thing is occurring with domestic travel. It is estimated that there are 70 million domestic travelers each year, while there are less than 10,000 tour guides.

Tho, commenting about Vietnam tourism said there is great potential, said there are four big problems – the lack of professionalism, cooperation, and weak capability of using IT to attract travelers and the short supply of high-quality workers.

With the predicted growth rate of 25-35 percent per annum, Vietnam would need 2 million high-quality workers for tourism.

Vingroup, FLC, Sun Group and other big real estate developers are building a series of 4-5-star hotels in Phu Quoc, Thanh Hoa and Phu Yen, which predicts a high demand for hotel workers in the near future.

Tourism schools admit they cannot satisfy the demand at this time and in upcoming years.

A report of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) showed that the number of trained workers in the industry is 43 percent of total workers and more than half of them cannot speak a foreign language.

The productivity of Vietnam’s tourism and hotel sector is just equal to one-fifth of Singapore’s, one-tenth of Japan’s and one-fifth of Malaysia’s.

Analysts have noted a new wave of workers flocking to Vietnam from regional countries, including Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia. Most 4-5-star hotels in Vietnam have foreign staff.

Thrillist: Lan Ha Bay among Top 10 Southeast Asian destinations

Advertisements

New York-based travel site Thrillist has named Lan Ha Bay on Cat Ba Island in Vietnam’s north as one of the most beautiful places to visit in Southeast Asia.

Backpacking in Southeast Asia can be a little overwhelming because there’s just so much to look at, all the time, the site wrote. The natural beauty of the region is hyped by every person who’s ever been there, and rightfully so. It’s also the human element, like the sizzling of fresh fish on the sidewalk and the miraculously functional chaos of the traffic, in which you’ll see scooters loaded down with entire families and livestock, that makes Southeast Asia so beautiful, VET reported.

Thrillist therefore revealed the best sights around Southeast Asia to help travelers decide where to visit.

Located in the southern reaches of UNESCO World Heritage Site of Ha Long Bay, Lan Ha Bay boasts Cai Beo floating village, which contains around 200 homes and dates back thousands of years, according to the site. Ha Long Bay itself is also home to numerous islands, of which Cat Ba is the largest and where you can rent a boat to explore or spend the day swimming.

There are well over 100 hotels in the immediate vicinity, so visitors can take their time if they understandably want to stay in the area a while.

Others on the list included Indonesia’s Kelimutu volcano, Brunei’s Kampong Ayer, Laos’ Kuang Si Falls, Malaysia’s Tun Sakaran Marine Park, the Philippines’ Banaue rice terraces Timor-Leste’s Atauro Island, Singapore’s Gardens by the Bay, Cambodia’s Angkor Wat, and Myanmar’s Bagan.

Just 30 minutes by boat from Cat Ba Island, you will be charmed by breath-taking views of the bay. Unlike its famous neighbor, Lan Ha Bay reserves a more pristine scenery with an intense concentration of limestone mountains which the sea surface has partitioned into smaller bays and gulfs. Due to it being a fair way from Ha Long city, not so many tourist boats venture there, meaning Lan Ha Bay has a more isolated appeal. Among three bays in the Ha Long Bay area, Lan Ha is considered to have the best water quality for diving and good conditions for rock-climbing (both on Cat Ba Island and on the bay).

Vincom Dong Khoi, Saigon is on fire, just 2 weeks after Vincom Landmark 81, Vietnam’s tallest building

Advertisements

Black smoke belches out of Vincom Dong Khoi. This happened just 2 weeks, after the Landmark 81, Vietnam’s tallest building on fire.

Outside of Vincom Centre after building fire alarms activated

Fire Department Of District 1, HCMC responded to the alarm

According to a report on local media, a caller reported that smoke was coming from Elite Fitness Center at level 3 or 4 of the building and they quickly extinguished the fire. No one was injured.

Top Fire Safety Tips

What to do in case of a building fire

Immediately pull the nearest fire alarm pull station as you exit the building.
When evacuating the building, be sure to feel doors for heat before opening them to be sure there is no fire danger on the other side.
If there is smoke in the air, stay low to the ground, especially your head, to reduce inhalation exposure. Keep on hand on the wall to prevent disorientation and crawl to the nearest exit.
Once away and clear from danger, call your report contact and inform them of the fire.
Go to your refuge area and await further instructions from emergency personnel.

Who to Contact in Case of a Fire

In order to ensure that the proper authorities are notified of a fire, when the opportunity arises once you are safe from imminent danger, call any of the following:

Vietnam Fire and Rescue Police Department: 114
Vietnam Emergency & Ambulance Services: 115

Fire Safety Precautions and Fire Systems Equipment

Keep doorways, corridors and egress paths clear and unobstructed. Make sure that all electrical appliances and cords are in good condition. Do not overload electrical outlets. Use surge protected multi-outlet power strips and extension cords when necessary.
Never store flammable materials in your room or apartment.
Do not tamper with any fire system equipment such as smoke detectors, pull stations or fire extinguishers. Doing so is a criminal offense.
Raising a false alarm is a criminal offense. It endangers the lives of the occupants and emergency personnel.

DON’T assume that a fire alarm is a test or burned microwave popcorn. Any alarm could be the result of a dangerous fire. DON’T waste time collecting personnel items. Take your keys and yourself to safety as soon as possible. DON’T use the elevators during a fire emergency; always use the stairs.

HCMC considering downtown curb on motorbikes

Advertisements

Motorbikes may no longer be the most popular means of transport in HCMC if it approves a proposal from the transport ministry to limit their numbers.

The ministry’s Transport Development and Strategy Institute, asked by Ho Chi Minh City’s transport department to draft a plan to deal with the chronic traffic gridlock, has suggested limiting the number of motorbikes in three phases over a decade from 2020.

By 2020 the plan seeks to make Truong Son Street outside Tan Son Nhat Airport in Tan Binh District and Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street in the central District 1 off-limits to motorbikes during rush hours, and do the same for part of the nearby Pasteur and Nam Ky Khoi Nghia streets between 7a.m. and 7p.m.

Between 2021 and 2025, the ban will be extended to full time on Vo Van Kiet, Dinh Tien Hoang, Dien Bien Phu, Hai Ba Trung, Nguyen Thi Minh Khai and Nguyen Van Cu streets, all major roads of District 1.

In 2026-30 the number of motorbikes will be capped at a certain level before they are completely banned in Districts 1, 3, 5, and 10.

The plan also proposes hourly parking fees and restricting parking lots in the downtown area, hiking the registration fee for automobiles, and imposing a fee in traffic jam hotpots for cars during rush hour.

Buses will play the major people-carrying role until other means like the metro and monorail go into service, possibly by 2030.

The city has to add 55-120 bus routes to increase the total number to 192-255 and operate 4,200-4,800 buses.

The motorbike plan was first put forward last year but many transportation experts said what the city needs to do first is develop its public transport.

Bui Xuan Cuong, director of the transport department, said then that the city would appraise the plan and make a decision.

“Only when public transport meets the needs of the public will the city ban motorbikes.”

By August last year HCMC had nearly eight million vehicles, including 7.3 million motorbikes.

In July last year Hanoi lawmakers approved a proposal to ban motorbikes from the city center by 2030 to reduce traffic congestion despite strong opposition from experts and the public.

The motorbike ban has been mooted and rehashed several times in the past few years, and always met with strong opposition from experts and the public as it targets the country’s most popular means of transport.

In recent weeks legal and transportation experts have railed against the ban, calling it “hasty” and even “impossible” given the state of public transport.

Some said the ban has no legal grounds and would put Vietnam at odds with the rest of the world since people are free to drive motorbikes in most countries.

According to a report on bizlive

The European Challenge Tour, Hainan Open to take place in Nov 22-24

Advertisements

Golf Pro Corporation has been selected to be the official partner of European Challenge Tour to promote the golf tournament in Vietnam.

To warm-up the campaign, a golf tournament was organized by both Golf Pro and Hainan Open at Tan Son Nhat Golf club, in Ho Chi Minh city of Vietnam on 24 August, 2018.

More than 100 local and international golfers, businessmen participated in the tournament. There were 3 groups, A for golfer with HDC from 00-13; Group B for HDC 14-24 and Group C for HDC 25-36.

After play was over, the golfers enjoyed a delicious gala dinner and awards ceremony. The final results as below:

Best Gross: Le Hong Son, Gross score: 77
Runner-up: Hoang Ngoc Quy, Gross score: 79
First prize Group A: Tran Van Hoang, Net score: 71
First prize Group B: Pham Van Tai, Net score: 68
First prize Group C: Dao Van Dien, Net score: 70.

In particular, 02 tickets to participate the Hainan Open 2018 in Hainan Island, China have been awarded to the winners with best gross score and fist runner-up.

Trinh Van Thanh, CEO of Golf Pro at the Tournament on 24 August 2018.

The European Challenge Tour Hainan Open will take place in Hainan, China from 22-24 Nov, 2018

2018 Pacific Robot Contest Champion: Vietnam Lac Hong University Galaxy team

Advertisements

Lac Hong University’s LH – Galaxy team representing Vietnam at the 2018 ABU Asia – Pacific Robot Contest (ABU Robocon) beat China team to win the competition for the seventh time – Reported by Vietnam Plus

The contest took place on August 26 in the northern province of Ninh Binh.

This year featured 19 teams from 18 countries including two from Vietnam.

The 2018 ABU Robobon’s concept is “Throwing con”, inspired by a Vietnamese folk game.

“Throwing con” is popular among northern ethnic minority people during festivals, in which players throw a ball made from cloth through a ring on top of a 15-20m tall bamboo pole.

This was the third time Vietnam had hosted the contest designed for technology students in the Asia-Pacific region.

Earlier, Vietnam triumphed at the ABU Asia-Pacific Robot Contest six times. The championships were claimed by Ho Chi Minh City University of Science and Technology in 2002, 2004 and 2006, while Lac Hong University won in 2014 and 2017, and Hung Yen University of Technology and Education took the title in 2015.

The 2019 ABU Robocon will be held in Mongolia.

Continue reading “2018 Pacific Robot Contest Champion: Vietnam Lac Hong University Galaxy team”

Chuong Duong – Vietnam’s once-famous brands struggle to regain strength

Advertisements

The brands were once ‘king’ in the market, but later lost their market share to foreign rivals.

Chuong Duong was once a rival equal in strength with Coca-Cola and Pepsi, but has lost the competition with the two foreign giants. In 2017, Chuong Duong met with misfortune with the consumption decreasing by 6 million liters, revenue decreasing by VND100 million and a loss of VND3 billion. In the first quarter of 2018, it continued taking a loss of VND400 million.

A report from BMI, a market analysis firm, showed the high growth rate of 7-12 percent of the Vietnam’s beverage market. However, in such a potential market, Chuong Duong’s revenue remains unchanged, about VND300-400 billion.

According to Vo Van Tho, general director of Chuong Duong Beverage, as the marketing budget is limited and there is no perfect branding strategy, sales cannot satisfy the profit expectations of distributors. Therefore, it is difficult to encourage distributors to expand the market and the products’ coverage.

Colusa-Miliket was once a strong instant noodle brand in Vietnam, well known as the ‘explorer’ in the food market. However, the brand which once led the domestic market has been lagging far behind because of the appearance of foreign rivals.

For many years, Colusa-Miliket has been satisfied with the profit of VND20 billion a year. The weak point of the brand, according to the company’s leadership, lies in marketing.

With 50 years of experience, Thong Nhat Match has also gone downhill. As electricity-run home appliances are present in households, the product is no longer popular. In the last 10 years, it can make a modest profit of VND2 billion a year only.

Dinh The Hien, a renowned economist, commented that the fame in the past cannot help Vietnamese brands live well in a market with stiff competition, if they cannot catch up with the customers’ taste and reform.

An analyst said Chuong Duong may see a brighter future as Sabeco, which is holding 62 percent of Chuong Duong’s capital, has been transferred to a Thai investor.

Previously, Chuong Duong needed approval from Sabeco, a state-owned enterprise, for its investment plans, and sometimes it missed opportunities because of delays. The foreign owner is believed to make decisions more quickly, which will help grab opportunities.

The structural reshuffling is also believed to help develop IFS, a food company well known with Wonderfarm tea brand.

After a period of taking losses, IFS recovered its business after Kirin, a Japanese F&B manufacturer, poured money into the company. In 2017, IFS made a profit of VND116 billion.

According to a report on Vietnamnet

Elpis launches World’s 1st AI, blockchain-empowered hybrid asset trading platform

Advertisements

Elpis, a visionary Swiss-registered fin-tech company, has announced their pioneering initiative to build the world’s first asset trading platform empowered by AI and blockchain technologies to manage both traditional and crypto assets for higher returns and greater transparency. While still in the making, the system has already proved its strong performance in increasing returns and reducing volatility during the test period.

“The world of institutional investment is long overdue a shakeup to rebuild trust and encourage more transparency,” said Anatoly Castella, Elpis Co-founder and CEO. Through the effective use of its proprietary AI technology, Elpis platform can remove human bias from investment practices, and deliver tailored and transparent strategies with lower costs and higher returns.

The platform also exploits blockchain technology to bridge the gap between old and new finance by trading both crypto and traditional assets. Also, different to the current status-quo where financial institutions keep their technological advantage for themselves or for the top 1% of the population, the Elpis platform will put every trade and transaction on the Blockchain Public Account Ledger for ultimate accountability. “We believe in radical transparency,” said Castella. “Our objective is to show each and every trade and transaction we make, registered on our Public Blockchain Ledger, so every client will be able to clearly see returns and trading activities.”

Unlike traditional asset management funds, Elpis will open up its platform and strategies to not only institutional/professional investors but also non-professional/retail investors. “Our clients, even the ones with no trading expertise, will be able to get access to our trading signals and mirror our trades allowing them to effectively manage their assets more efficiently and safely,” Elpis Co-founder and COO Andrea De Francisci said.

The Elpis team has been testing its strategies on US equities, futures and, more recently, cryptocurrencies since 2008 and has consistently beaten the S&P. “Tracking the last 10 years, our models outperformed the S&P consistently,” De Francisci added. “Especially in the trading from April to August this year, we have seen a return of over 40% in our balanced portfolio with crypto currencies and traditional assets.”

Elpis Testing Period: 28/12/2007 – 10/03/2017

Due to its confidence in its offering, Elpis platform will charge no management fees but be paid purely on average market performance fee – 20% of profits made, meaning that it only wins when clients win.

To raise fund to build such a platform, Elpis has started its ICO main sale on 21 August. Prior to that, it has already received considerable interest from investors and raised $1m during the pre-sale. All ELP token holders will have 1-year free access to Elpis trading signals and thereafter, will be able to use ELP tokens to pay for continued access.

For more information about Elpis, please visit https://elpisinvestments.com/

About Elpis

Elpis, will be the first hybrid quantitative trading company totally driven by Artificial Intelligence, exploiting Blockchain technology to bridge the gap between old and new finance by trading both crypto and traditional assets, offering the service to both institutional and retail clients.

VDSC Vietnam stock market weekly recap: NT2, MPC, PVS

Advertisements

This week the market traded on a more subdued level as it slowly creeps higher each week. One of the main events the market focused on was the US and China returning to the table on Wednesday for the first time in two months as trade negotiators from Trump’s administration readied a new round of tariffs on USD16bn worth of Chinese imports.

The main purpose of the two day meetings between delegations from the US Treasury Department and Chinese Ministry of Finance is to try and find a way to end the escalating trade standoff between the two nations.

Up to the two day event, although both sides have stated that it’s just preliminary working level talks, the stock market globally had responded well to it. Analysts have warned that the preliminary meetings are to just set up the stage for more discussions before cumulating to a meeting between US President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping later this year. They are expected to meet in November at a multilateral summit. However, Mr. Trump has stated that for the potential November meeting that he does not expect anything concrete to come out from the negotiations. He has stressed that he does not expect much progress to happen during the talks and that resolving the trade dispute will “take time.”

The main conclusion is that these talks will be made and be useful to identify areas of discussion and where further discussions could likely occur.

This week the VN Index closed out at 987.05, -0.03% for the day and +0.06% WoW. The VN Index had another quiet start and traded the week relatively flat for the week. The short term 50dma 950.28 vs 954.71 WoW and mid-term 100dma 1005.13 vs. 1015.11 WoW continue to gently slide down while the long-term 200dma 1015.95 vs. 1008.83 WoW gradually continues its ascension. The spreads between both the 50dma and 100dma, 60.4 points, as well as the 100dma and 200dma, 10.82 points, have widened indicating that the short-term recovery has weakened and full market recover could take longer than expected. Bears are digging in their claws into the Bulls…

This week’s liquidity has been slightly lower VND3.4bn -7.5% WoW (USD148mn), with total liquidity reaching VND17.3tn (USD742.5mn), 86.8% of total trading value. Put-through value was VND2.6tn (USD115.9mn), 13.1% of total trading value. Total trading value including put-through hit VND19.9tn (USD854mn).

In the derivatives market this week 418,996 (-8.4% WoW) vs. 457,549 contracts last week changed hands at a total value of VND39.99tn (USD1.71bn). MTD 1,559,008 contracts traded worth VND147.5tn (USD6.3bn).

Foreigners showed mixed results in trading this week net buying for two days and net selling for three days. However the week ended with Foreigners being net sellers again. Buying VND2.6tn (USD112.9mn) about 12.7% of the entire market value VND20.7 (USD482.5mn) including put throughs, while selling is VND2.7tn (USD115mn) about 12.95% of the total market value leading to a net selling of VND-51.6bn (USD2.2mn).

Rong Viet Securities Equity Research Summary

PetroVietnam Power Nhon Trach 2 JSC (HoSE: NT2) – The problem lies not in gas supply but in gas prices

The contract volume (Qc) of thermal power plants, including NT2, was reduced from 2018, business results would become even more sensitive to the adverse effect from rising gas prices.
There will be adequate gas supply for NT2 in the coming years.
As oil prices were on uptrend over the last 12 months and expected to stay at current level in the long-term, the gas price for NT2 is now a significant problem.
We expect that the average gas price for power plants in the Southeast region, including NT2, would increase as a result.
Lower Qc makes earnings more sensitive to gas prices.
Lower earnings base raised questions on the dividend policy of NT2 in the coming years.
Although NT2 has enough retained earnings to maintain the cash dividend of VND2,500/sh in the long-term, the aggressive debt repayment schedule until 2021 would leave it with inadequate cash to maintain this dividend level.
In general, the above analysis leads us to believe that, unless NT2 uses short-term debt to maintain the current dividend level of about VND2,500/sh, its annual cash dividend in 2019 – 2021 may have to be reduced to VND1,000 – 1,500/sh.

Minh Phu Seafood Corporation (UPCoM: MPC ) – Efforts to Come Back to the Race

After two years of being delisted, Minh Phu comes back trying to resolve long existing issues to get ready to re-list on HOSE in 2018.

Business results for the first 6 months of 2018

Sales remained concentrated in the United States, Japan, the EU and South Korea, with the proportion of these markets increased from 69% in 1Q18 to 77% at the end of 2Q18.
Gross margin has improved from 12% in 2017 to 13.5% at the end of 2Q18.

Business model

MPC has developed a value chain of shrimp production.
The self-farming area provides 10% of the demand for raw shrimp.
Two processing plants have operated at full capacity of 75,000 tons /year.

Improvements in farming and processing and expansion projects

Super-intensive shrimp technology.
Artificial Intelligence Technology (AI).
High-tech complex in Tri Ton (Kien Giang).
In 2019, once the company successfully implement the technology of super-intensive farming and AI on all 900 hectares of self-farming areas, the self-supply rate of raw material will reach 30%.

Investment points

Advantages of anti-dumping tax in the US market.
Indian shrimp is strictly controlled in the EU.
The yen has strengthened sharply by 5% compared to the beginning of the year.
China reduced import duty on shrimps. from 8% to 7%.

Risks

High debt leverage.
Foreign room has been raised to 100%.
Export prices depend on world prices.

Analyst view: Minh Phu has created a solid foundation for growth and reinforced its leading position in the shrimp industry in Vietnam. The new farming technology, although still in the experiment stage, contributes to the stabilization of raw material costs in 2017 and 2018.

PetroVietnam Technical Services Corporation (HNX: PVS ) – Prospect From 2019 on

Low earnings in 1H2018 will translate into a difficult year

Revenue in 1H was equivalent YoY at VND7.629tn but the net profit significantly dropped 67% to VND212bn due to falling gross margin from 9% to 5%.

Dissolve the JV is positive for PVS: ROV – JV between PVS and CGGV. PVS has already asked for the permission from PVN to dissolve the JV due to inefficient operations.

Expecting an improvement in FSO/FPSO thanks to a new leasing rate and a new FPSO: Business results in 1H were partly affected by the new leasing rate of FPSO Lam Son which is only at break-even point.

PVS will benefit from major oil & gas projects from 2019 on

In the last three years, there were not so many offshore projects for PVS.
We still keep the target price of VND22,500 per share for PVS and change the recommendation from “BUY” to “ACCUMULATE” on this stock with the total upside 11.9%, based on the closing price of August 23, 2018.

Marc Djandji, CFA
Head of Institutional Sales
Rong Viet Securities Corporation (VDSC)

FedEx Express Gives Greater Access to Vietnam With New Flight to Hanoi

Advertisements

Through the FedEx Hub located in Dubai, UAE customers have access to fast and reliable delivery to more than 220 countries and territories, through an extensive global air-and-ground network.

FedEx Express, a subsidiary of FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) and the world’s largest express transportation company, is enhancing its services into and out of the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi, with the introduction of a new flight connecting the city to the FedEx Hub in Guangzhou, China. This new route will significantly improve transit times to two business days between the UAE and Vietnam.

“Vietnam is a growing trade partner for the UAE, and with our new connection to Hanoi we are able to offer our customers even more access to the country’s thriving economy,” said Jack Muhs, regional president, FedEx Express Middle East, Indian Subcontinent and Africa (MEISA). “FedEx has served Vietnam since 1994 and was the first international express transportation company to operate its own flights into and out of the country. As one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, Vietnam is experiencing rapid development of manufacturing and high-tech industries, a surge in e-commerce, and a growing demand for healthcare services and products. This new flight will give our customers quicker, more convenient service between the UAE and Vietnam.

In 2009, the UAE and Vietnam signed trade agreements, which led to total trade between the two countries reaching close to US$9 billion in 2017. With increased access to Vietnam through the new Hanoi-Guangzhou FedEx Express link, which operates four times a week, businesses in the UAE will have the opportunity to send and receive shipments more conveniently than ever before.

Through the FedEx Hub located in Dubai, UAE customers have access to fast and reliable delivery to more than 220 countries and territories, through an extensive global air-and-ground network.

According to a report on albawaba

Regulation on sale promotions might help foreign retailers crush smaller competitors

Advertisements

Experts have voiced their concern about the capability of Vietnamese retailers, wondering if they can compete with powerful foreign retail groups flocking to Vietnam.

The Decree 81 guiding the implementation of the Commercial Law stipulates that the promotional value can be equal to up to 100 percent of the prices of promotional goods instead of 50 percent as stipulated in the old Decree 37.

Manufacturers and retailers are gearing up to prepare for the huge sale promotion campaign on the occasion of National Day, September 2.

A representative of Saigon Co-op, which holds the largest market share in the south, said on Nguoi Lao dong that the retail systems belonging to Saigon Co-op plan big discount rates for some strategic products. Big C, Lotte Mart and Aeon have also said they have got ready for the campaign.

In the campaign, retailers will, for the first time, be able to offer the discount rate of 100 percent for products.

Experts have applauded the new decision, saying that this will benefit customers because they can buy goods at best products, and benefit retailers and manufacturers as well, because they can apply the most suitable pricing policies to attract customers.

However, the experts warned that the new regulation may pave the way for unhealthy competition. Big retail chains may dump prices to lure customers and then corner the market. As a result, small retail chains will be swallowed by the big ones.

Do Quoc Huy, marketing director of the Vietnamese owned Saigon Co-op, said if enterprises sell products at below cost prices, this will lead to unhealthy competition. Therefore, it is necessary for management agencies to control the input prices of products and apply heavy sanctions to deter violators.

Huy also thinks that in the long term, the regulation on 100 percent promotion value will bring advantages to big retailers.

Saigon Co-op is one of ‘big retailers’, and so is Vinmart. However, there are only several Vietnamese retailers like these. The majority of big players in the market are foreign invested.

The Hanoi Supermarket Association, which has dissolved, once estimated that 50 percent of the retail market share belonged to foreign groups. Some experts believe the real figure was higher.

More and more foreign retailers have flocked to Vietnam recently. They have not only opened hypermarkets and shopping malls, but also small supermarkets and convenience stores.

Vu Vinh Phu, a retail expert, estimates that each sale point in foreign retail chains has revenue 5-7 times higher than Vietnam’s supermarkets. Therefore, once foreign retail chains have the right to raise promotion value, they will have more ‘weapons’ to struggle with Vietnamese ones.

According to a report on Vietnamnet

Developing airports: new playing field for billionaires

Advertisements

A series of new airport projects and upgrading of existing airports have been suggested with total investment capital of billions of dollars.

The Cam Ranh complex, worth VND4 trillion, was developed under the BOT (build, operation, transfer mode by a joint venture of private investors.

The modern complex with high investment rate has given a push to the local economy. Many resort tourism projects, valued at billions of dollars, located 10-30 kilometers from the airport, have been implemented.

Van Don, one of the three locations expected to become an SEZ (special economic zone), has also become a ‘hot spot’. Sun Group, a giant real estate developer, has inaugurated the Van Don International Airport, capitalized at VND7.2 trillion.

This is the only airport in Vietnam to be entirely exploited by private investors.

Recently, the mountainous province of Lao Cai asked for permission to build Sa Pa 4C standard airport with the capacity of 1.5 million passengers and investment capital of VND5.8 trillion under the mode of BOT.

Lao Cai wants to have an airport because it is seeing increasingly high number of travelers to Sa Pa, a famous destination for tourists. An airport and air routes will help attract travelers to the locality, where modern projects are ready, including the 5-star Mgallery Sapa, cable car system developed by Sun Group, Sapa Jade Hill by Truong Giang and Bitexco’s chain of seven projects.

Not only Lao Cai, many other provinces and cities are also rushing to seek permission for airport development. Binh Thuan province has drawn up an airport project worth VND5.6 trillion, while Vung Tau has Go Gang and Loc An to serve the Ho Tram Strip tourist complex.

Most recently, Quang Binh provincial authorities and FLC Group asked for the Ministry of Transport’s nod on the project on upgrading Dong Hoi Airport into an international airport which would raise its capacity from 500,000 to 10 million passengers by 2020.

The list of tentative airports being considered by the Ministry of Transport also includes An Giang Airport, capitalized at VND3.4 trillion, Lai Chau VND8 trillion, and the super-project Long Thanh Airport capitalized at tens of billions of dollars.

According to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV), 94 million passengers went through airports in 2017 in Vietnam and the number of air passengers may reach 142 million by 2020. That is why more and more investors want to join the fastest-growing aviation market in Southeast Asia.

Kim Mai report on VNN

Global firms explore investment in City

Advertisements

Chairman of the People’s Committee of HCM City Nguyễn Thành Phong received entrepreneurs from some multinational groups on Friday to brief them on investment opportunities in the city.

As the biggest economic and financial hub in the south of Việt Nam and an attractive destination for foreign investment, HCM City has spared no effort to improve the investment climate and enable overseas enterprises to make long-term investments, especially in the fields of clean energy and smart cities, the city leader said.

He believed with their experience in energy, the US Cache Solar and Arab Saudi March Global Inc will meet the increasing demand of the city and generate more jobs for local workers. The city welcomes and will create all favourable conditions for the ASEAN Golden Link Inc to invest in building a complex of hi-end hotels and restaurants in the city, contributing to the development of tourism infrastructure, Phong affirmed.

Leading officials of the groups expressed their interest in working with HCM City in the fields of renewable energy and green energy. They said they hope to partner with HCM City in various fields, including waste treatment, inundation prevention, tourism promotion and trade of farm produce and food.

Source: VNS

Producers of oil & gas firms see drop in profits, but distributors’ earnings rise

Advertisements

The oil price fluctuations have had a big impact on the business performance of Vietnam’s oil and gas firms. While miners and producers have unsatisfactory business results, distributors have made make fat profits.

PV Drilling, which does most of the oil field drilling for PetroVietnam, incurred the loss of VND300 billion in the first half of 2018.

The loss was blamed on the higher maintenance cost, operation below the cost price and exchange rate fluctuations.

PV Drilling’s chair Do Van Khanh said PVD’s revenue is composed of unit price multiplied by the number of operation days and the number of drilling rigs.

As drilling services are the core business of PV Drilling, once the above factors decline, this will affect the revenue and profit.

However, analysts commented that the major problem lies in the world’s quiet market. As the crude oil price is too low, oil & gas exploiters have suspend their drilling plans, which has led to low demand for drilling platform leasing.

Meanwhile, there is a high number of drilling rigs under the building, which causes an oversupply in the market and lowers the leasing fee.

Some years ago, PV Drilling leased drilling rigs at VND150,000-200,000 per day, but the price has dropped to $55,000-60,000.

PetroVietnam Technical Services Corporation (PTSC) doesn’t take loss, but it has seen the profit fall sharply. In 2014, it made a net profit of VND1.8 trillion, but in 2017, the profit dropped to VND800 billion.

The Q2 finance report showed the post-tax profit of VND68 billion, much lower than the VND317 billion of the same period last year.

A representative of PTSC said most of the oil field development programs in Vietnam and overseas have been suspended, which has led to the workload decrease.

Meanwhile, sea petroleum services, the core business field of PTSC, are witnessing stiff competition which leads to the sharp decrease in both number of jobs and service value.

PVC-MS has just reported the loss of VND26.5 billion in the second quarter, raising the accumulative loss in the first half of 2018 to VND46.6 billion.

By contrast, petroleum distribution companies have been thriving. GAS is an example. Collecting gas at oil fields and distributing gas in the market, the company doesn’t bear influences from the oil price fluctuations.

The company reported post-tax profit of VND10 trillion in 2017 and net profit of VND10 trillion in the first half of this year.

As for Petrolimex, which is holding 60 percent of the petroleum distribution market share, though it bears the impact from the oil price decrease, it still can earn trillions of dong each year.

Kim Nam report on VNN