Nov 30, 2012

Vietnam - Rushing to study to obtain a master degree, for what?

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VietNamNet Bridge – It is now a growing tendency for people to follow further studies to obtain master degrees and doctorates. However, the majority of them follow higher education just for job promotion, not for scientific research.

Two postgraduates of the Hanoi University of Technology have been forced to stop studying, because they have not joined academic activities of the faculty, have not submitted periodic reports and have not written scientific reports as required.

Prof Nguyen Trong Giang, President of the Hanoi University of Technology, said the decision was made following a school’s inspection over postgraduates and masters in 2010 and 2011. A lot of students have been found as not fulfilling the required works, thus badly affecting the training quality.

Postgraduates – the big clients of schools

The higher education scale at universities nationwide has been enlarged considerably in recent years. In 2011, the Hanoi National University planned to train 4000 masters, 376 doctors. Meanwhile, the school only had 5500 full-time training students.

The Hanoi Transport University enrolled 1000 postgraduates for master training for the first turn in 2012 alone.

Dr Ngo Kim Thanh from the Business Administration Faculty of the Hanoi Economics University has noted that studying for master degree is now in fashion.

However, while the number of learners has been increasing rapidly, the training quality and learners’ qualification have decreased.

Dr Thanh said that a lecturer, who has doctorate, now has to be the guide to tens of masters just within several years. Therefore, the training quality must not be high.

Also according to Thanh, most of postgraduates learn through correspondence courses, because they have to go to work in daytime. Since the learners do not have time for their studies, they have to “play tricks” to fulfill the works of postgraduates.

A lot of these have been found as the products of the “cut and paste” technology. In many cases, postgraduates plagiarized others’ theses, while the fraud was not found.

Dr Nguyen Ngoc Quang has noted that a lot of postgraduates write dissertations, give lectures and do their private business at the same time.

Quang knows a colleagues, who, when writing dissertation, still gave 1000 lecture hours at a university.

However, despite the low qualifications and under-standard theses, universities still turn a blind eye to the postgraduates. As such, after a certain period of studying at universities, the postgraduates automatically obtain the degrees they want.

It is understandable why schools decide to ignore the problems of postgraduates. If schools force someone to stop studying, they would be boycotted by postgraduates, which means that the schools would have no sources of income and no training achievements.

The guides, the judges - who are they?

Also according to Quang, there are too many problems with the lecturers in charge of guiding postgraduates to write their dissertations.

Many of them do not have deep knowledge in the fields of research suggested by postgraduates. However, they still accept to become the guides. Some of them have had no scientific research work made public over the last five years.

Judges in Vietnam all seem to be easy scientists. Sometimes, they give violent criticism to the dissertations, which made people believe that the postgraduates failed to defend their theses. However, they finally still gave high marks to the theses.

NLD


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Vietnam - Free apps pick Vietnamese users’ pocket

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VietNamNet Bridge – Under the mask of free services, mobile phone applications have been trying to pick the Vietnamese users’ pocket through different ways that users do not know.

Tien, a Hanoian, who has purchased an iPhone, some days ago--yesterday, brought the smart phone to a shop to have some software pieces installed. An officer of the shop advised him to set up some free apps which he said would be very useful to smart phone users.

Tien agreed on the installation after he was convinced that he would have to pay 200,000 dong for the installation fee to the shop in order to obtain the package of 100 copyrighted apps, and all of them are free of charge.

“Later, I found out that only several out of the 100 free apps are useful to me. Meanwhile, the others are all games or obscene funny stories,” Tien said.

He decided to come back to the shop, requesting to install the software pieces as ordered. However, he was told that these were not available.

“Even if I wanted to upgrade the software pieces installed before, I would have to pay a fee to the shop,” he complained.

A lot of complaints about free apps have appeared on information technology forums. A member wrote that he was so foolish when thinking that he would be able to use as many applications as he wanted and did not have to pay fee.

“In fact, they have their ways to charge users, especially for entertainment apps,” he wrote.

“You just could play the games for some minutes, and you would see a window which requests you to pay for the app, or the app would be stopped,” a user commented on Android Market.

He said that users may have to spend up to millions of dong for the free apps.

In many cases, the software pieces may make users’ computer pending. If users do not click the “agree” button, he would not be able to escape from the main screen.

“I got a lot of troubles with the software like these and I had to bring my phone to the shop, where I had to pay for the service of rescuing me from the troubles,” he said.

“I now keep away from the free apps. I would rather to pay money for copyrighted software to feel secure with my expensive phone. If you use legal software, you can foresee how much you have to pay. Meanwhile, if you use free software, you would still have to pay money, while you don’t know how much it would cost you,” he continued.

A member of Tinhte forum, said though he downloaded some Vietnamese apps labeled as “free apps,” he still lost 15,000 dong from his account every time when he ran the apps.

After downloading the apps free of charge, users would receive the messages which say they need to send messages to some certain addresses to activate the apps. Of course, users would have to pay for the messages.

Especially, the message sending and receiving occurred without any warnings that users have to pay for the apps.

In many cases, users have to pay money for every time they use the apps. This means that they have to pay money many times for the same apps. Meanwhile, the subscribers do not think that they do not have any more duties to the service providers.

“Most of the free apps are Vietnamese products,” he said.

NLD


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Vietnam – 2.5 billion USD Starlake ready to twinkle

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The Hanoitimes - THT Development officially broke ground o­n the biggest urban development project so far in Hanoi – the 2.5 billion USD Starlake.

Invested by Daewoo E&C and the Korea Development Bank (KDB), plans call for Starlake to become a modern and environmental friendly urban area for 25,000 residents located in the west of Hanoi.

The start of this large scale project was among a wide range of activities to celebrate 20 years diplomatic relations between Vietnam and South Korea.

According to Seo Jong Uk, chairman of Daewoo E&C, the brand name of the project was very meaningful. The Star represents for a symbol of a modern urban area and Lake represent for the mark of Hanoi’s West Lake and friendly living environment close to nature.

“A brilliant star sparkling in the sky of Hanoi and shinning o­n the waterfront ofthe West Lake represents the state-of-the-art first class urban area by the West Lake,” said Uk.

“We aim to develop Starlake into new model urban area of Vietnam which will represent for the future of Asian cities,” said Uk.

Starlake is envisioned as a new cultural hub with international commercial and financial centres that promote trade and the building of cultural networks. The project is in step with Hanoi’s master planning to 2030 with a vision towards 2050, as ratified by the prime minister in 2011.

Especially cultural international standard constructions which will be built in Starlake will be an exclusive example for the close cultural exchange between Vietnam and Korea, as well as international standard buildings will be offices for both two countries’ companies, he added.

Lee Kwon Sang, general director of THT Development company, representing for the investors said that with the brand name of Starlake the project will become a modern and Korean style urban area with ideal and environmental friendly living standard.

“Starlake’s brand mark colour is orange – the combination of yellow colour of Vietnam flag’s star and red colour of luxury and sophistication symbolising the sunset o­n the West Lake, which all together conveys a warm and thriving feeling,” said Sang.

According to Nguyen Huy Tuong, Deputy Chairman of Hanoi Municipal People’s Committee, investors had seriously studied the project and the implementation had been in a professional manner.

“We at local authority have highly appreciated the efforts of the investors to start construction of the project even right at the real estate market in its sluggish time, Tuong said, adding that the local government and its relevant authorities would reserve highest efforts to support the investors to push the project forward.

Starlake is built in a total area of 207 hectares belonging to Xuan La ward of Tay Ho district, Nghia Do ward of Cau Giay district and Xuan Dinh and Co Nhue wards of Tu Liem district.

The location is the nicest venue of Hanoi boundary by busy wards and next to the West Lake. Via two railways connected to the internal Hanoi centre, it takes o­nly 10 minutes to get to Starlake from downtown or Noi Bai International Airport. The future connections can help Starlake become the major transaction centre of Asia.

In the total of 207ha, the investors reserves 90ha for road, promenade, parks, trees and lakes, more than 25ha of open space projects for the public service activities of the city and the new headquarters building departments will move o­n.


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Vietnam - E-commerce – effective way to overcome crisis

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The Hanoitimes - The Vietnamese Government has made great efforts to help businesses promote exports and join the global trade network. Domestic businesses need to capitalise o­n the government’s investment in developing and expanding markets.

Deputy Head of the Import-Export Department Tran Thanh Hai says trade liberalisation can remove tariff barriers and create tax incentives for export businesses to penetrate new markets within the framework of trade agreements signed between Vietnam and other ASEAN countries.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade forecasts that despite facing crunch time at home and abroad, this year’s exports will grow by 16.6 % (still higher than the projected figure of 13%) to 113 billion USD. This means Vietnam will join the club of exporters exceeding 100 billion USD.

Like other export-oriented Asian countries, Vietnam has become the world’s largest coffee and rice supplier.

It owes its successful export business to e-commerce, an effective tool for most businesses to minimise production costs, improve competitiveness and expand their markets.

Vietnam has huge potential for information technology and e-commerce to develop. By the end of September 2012, its Internet users accounted for 35.49% of the total population, 12 times higher than nine years ago. Experts say that if a country has more than 10% of its population using internet services, e-commerce is bound to grow and flourish.

While the global economic downturn has yet to ease, more and more international clients are moving away from traditional markets like China to ASEAN countries where new markets are emerging with low transport costs. This is a good opportunity for Vietnamese businesses to grasp.

Alibaba.com Group representative Michael Mang suggest they take the initiative to expand their client network through e-commerce channels and gradually adjust their sales and marketing methods to meet customer demand.

Export businesses should evaluate the efficiency of their e-commerce performance o­n a regular basis to ensure sustainable growth, Michael says.

According to the latest statistics gathered from a survey into export businesses o­n website B2B, their most favoured items o­n the e-trading floor are food and beverages and agricultural products (24% and 18% respectively), followed by construction materials and housing estate (8%).

By the end of the third quarter of 2012, the US topped other countries with bulk orders for Vietnamese products (10%), followed by China (8%), and India (7%) and three newly-emerging markets, Russia, Hong Kong, and Australia.


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Vietnam - Visa fee hike hotly debated at tourism conference

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HCMC – Visa fee hike for international visitors to Vietnam provoked fierce protests at a conference on tourism in the southern region held by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in HCMC on Wednesday.

Tour operators and tourism officials shared the view that visa fee increase would be a step backward in tourism development and international integration. It will drag down the number of foreign tourist arrivals in the current difficult situation.

Under Circular 90/2012/TT/BTC of the Ministry of Finance, the fee for issue of a one- time visa will be raised from US$25 to US$45 on January 1, 2013.

Vu The Binh, vice chairman of the Vietnam Tourism Association, said the policy on visa fee hike untimely came out when inbound tourism was experiencing hardship. It will hinder efforts of the tourism authorities to attract international tourists in 2013.

Moreover, entrepreneurs voiced their concern over the information that foreign visitors from certain markets to Vietnam would no longer enjoy visa exemptions in the coming time.

“Visa fee increase and removal of visa-free policy may bring some benefits, but please consider the common good, consider the major source of foreign currency generated from tourists and give a second thought to this policy,” said Nguyen Van Tran, general director of APEX Travel Co. Ltd.

Previously, APEX proposed extending visa-free stay for Japanese visitors from 15 to 30 days in a bid to lure elderly tourists from this country to resorts in Vietnam. This is a fertile source of tourists, whose demand for relaxing has grown after the earthquake and tsunami horror in Japan early last year.

So far, there has been no response to this proposal, so the plan for attracting such tourists must be put on hold.

Nguyen Van Tuan, general director of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, said visa fee hike was the greatest displeasure of enterprises at present, but the tourism authorities could not effect a change.

“We have submitted our petition to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but it has not been considered yet,” he said.

In the year to date, Vietnam has welcomed some 6.6 million international tourist arrivals, up 10% against last year.

Currently, Vietnam is granting visa exemptions for citizens of some nations. Specifically, those holding passports of Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Laos enjoy visa exemption when staying less than 30 days in Vietnam.

The period of visa-free stay for tourists from the Philippines is 21 days and Brunei 14 days. Visitors from Japan, South Korea, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Russia and Finland are not required to obtain visa for a less-than-15-day stay in Vietnam.

The latest tourism report shows that the numbers of domestic and foreign tourists are still growing in 2012. However, representatives of travel firms and hotels said they had not seen any bright signal for tourism growth in the future.

Although the Government has defined tourism as a spearhead industry, investment in this industry is insufficient and ubiquitous barriers make it difficult for enterprises to lure tourists.

As per the plan for a tourism stimulus program in 2013, hotels, tour operators, air and road passenger transporters and tourist sites across the country are encouraged to join the program to reduce service prices by 10-30% during the off-season.

In addition, management agencies and enterprises will organize promotion programs and familiarization trips for foreign media and travel firms to promote the image of tourism in Vietnam.

To carry out the tourism stimulus program, the tourism ministry will propose a 50% value added tax cut and corporate income tax exemption for tour operators, hotels and transporters during the run of the program.

Dao Loan - The Saigon Times Daily


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Vietnam - Vietnam to start mandatory use of bio-fuel in end-2014

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HCMC – Petrol with 5% bio-ethanol content, or E5 petrol, will be officially sold in major cities and provinces by December 2014, giving ethanol producers and cassava growers hope for strong future sales.

The Prime Minister last week passed the schedule for sales of mixtures of biological and fossil fuels. As per this schedule, E5 petrol will be sold in Hanoi, Haiphong, HCMC, Can Tho, Danang, Ba Ria-Vung Tau and Quang Ngai from December 1, 2014 and available nationwide from December 1, 2015.

Meanwhile, gasoline blended with 10% bio-ethanol (E10 petrol) will go on sale in the aforesaid localities from December 1, 2016 and be sold across the country from December 1, 2017.

Nguyen Anh Toan, deputy general director of PetroVietnam Oil Corporation (PV Oil), said two of the three ethanol plants developed by PV Oil in Quang Ngai and Binh Phuoc had begun production in the second quarter. However, only 10% of the products are consumed locally.

In August 2010, PV Oil launched E5 petrol into the market for trial sale. So far, the sales volume has been modest.

PV Oil forecasts around 200,000 liters of E5 petrol will be sold this year, while the annual capacity of each plant that PV Oil invests in is 100 million liters.

According to a previous plan, five ethanol plants would have begun operations by 2012. However, given the trivial market share of E5 petrol, some plants are still on a trial run, leading to a huge volume of cassava being unsold or sold on the cheap.

Dang Quoc Dung, deputy general director of PetroVietnam Central Bio-fuels Joint Stock Company (PCB), said that when E5 petrol is brought into mandatory use in 2014, bio-petrol producers will have a better chance of good sales in the local market. At present, they mainly export products given poor consumption at home.

Similarly, cassava, material for bio-fuel, is being exported en masse, but the situation will change in late 2014. Local ethanol producers will compete with traders in the purchase of dried sliced cassava, Dung forecast.

Cassava growers in the provinces where ethanol plants are located like Phu Tho, Binh Phuoc and Quang Ngai hoped for stronger sales as these plants annually need nearly 800,000 tons of dried sliced cassava for production.

However, several plants are suffering low consumption of bio-petrol because of many reasons, including investment incentives still being studied.

Typical ethanol plants in Vietnam are Ethanol Phu Tho, Bio-ethanol Dung Quat and Bio-ethanol Binh Phuoc, each of which has a capacity of 100 million liters and a demand for 240,000 tons of sliced cassava per year. Each of these plants has an investment capital of VND1.6 trillion.

In addition, Ethanol Dai Tan plant has an annual capacity of 125 million liters, produced from 300,000 tons of cassava, and Ethanol Tung Lam can produce 60 million liters every year.


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Vietnam - French-funded fishing boat monitoring facility in place

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HCMC – The Directorate of Fisheries has put into operation a fishing boat monitoring center as one of the main components of a fishery project using France’s official development assistance (ODA) loans.

The 13.9-million-euro project uses Movimar satellite technology to keep track of fishing boats, fishing grounds and marine resources. Components of the project include the monitoring center based at the Directorate of Fisheries, two regional centers – one in Haiphong and the other in Vung Tau, and an equipment installation and maintenance center. There will be some 3,000 offshore fishing boats in 28 coastal provinces.

The modernly equipped monitoring center will track activities of fishing boats and receive information about emergencies, rescues, accidents, piracies and fishing operations.

The project is aimed at improving management of fishing boats, strengthening forecasting capacity, increasing the efficiency of fishing operations and protecting marine resources.

The project will also improve the quality of weather forecasting at seas, and help fishermen cushion damages caused by natural disasters. The monitoring center can also help detect foreign boats that violate Vietnam’s territorial waters.

Sao Mai - The Saigon Times Daily


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Vietnam - Japan explores Vietnam market

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HCMC – A delegation from the Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and Industry (TCCI) has arrived in Vietnam to visit a couple of small and medium enterprises (SME) to sound out cooperation prospects.

Mariko Kitagawa, president of Tsukishima Soko Co., said members of the group were mainly SMEs, so they had come here to explore the possibility of doing business with Vietnamese SMEs.

Tsukishima Soko active in infrastructure and logistics sectors has been joining hands with Vietnam’s TRA-SAS Co., a sea transport services firm.

The visiting Japanese businesses on Wednesday visited Tan Thuan Dong Port to learn about the port’s warehouse system and then work with TRA-SAS. Members are representatives of Japanese SMEs operating in different sectors such as passenger transport, hotel, restaurant, consulting and advertising.

Nguyen Van Quy, chairman of TRA-SAS, said Japan had a policy of helping SMEs seek cooperation and business opportunities in many different countries like Vietnam, and that his offered a good chance for Vietnamese firms to build business links with these businesses.

Pham Thai - The Saigon Times Daily


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Vietnam - Industry remains sluggish, inventories high

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Industrial production continued to see low growth in November with the nation's Index of Industrial Production (IIP) increasing just 4.8 percent over October, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).

The index for the first 11 months has risen by just 4.6 percent over the same period last year.

The IIP growth rate this year has been much lower than in corresponding periods in 2011 and 2010, said GSO expert Vu Quang Ha, noting that the IIP rose 6.9 percent last year and 9 percent in 2010.

The slowing trend was attributed to impacts of the global recession which has lowered domestic purchasing power as well as demand in major export markets, such as the US, EU and Japan.

In specific industries, electrical generation and distribution saw a growth of 12.4 percent, and water supply and treatment grew by 8.1 percent during the 11-month period, but manufacturing and processing industries – which account for over 70 percent of all industrial production value – grew by only 3.9 percent. The mining industry saw a similarly sluggish 4 percent growth.

It was even worse for a number of leading export-driven sectors. The textile and garment industry saw a growth of only 3.4 percent, while the wood products grew by only 1.9 percent. Negative growth was seen in some sectors even saw, including footwear (down 0.6 percent), cement (down 6.2 percent), paper (down 9 percent) and machinery (down 14 percent).

The low figures reflected the stagnation in many of these industries, which have seen many production facilities closed and many enterprises liquidated.

Among the few bright spots, the manufacturing of telecommunications devices saw rapid growth of 50.4 percent in the first 11 months of the year, while electronics grew by 18.3 percent, pharmaceuticals by 15.3 percent and crude oil production by 11 percent. The consumption index of products of manufacturing and processing industries during the first 11 months lagged behind the production index. October saw the consumption index at a 10-month low of only 3.3 percent.

Due to weak consumption, inventories continued high, with no improvement since August. As of November 1, the inventory index was 20.9 percent. Telecommunications devices, fertiliser, motorbikes, tobacco, cement, paper and fisheries were among those with high inventories.

VIETNAMPLUS


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Vietnam - Gov’t orders no stamping on new Chinese passports

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The Vietnamese government spokesman Vu Duc Dam said at a regular press conference yesterday that the Vietnamese government has ordered immigration agencies not to stamp anything on the new Chinese passports that contain the illegal 9-dash line.

Dam, who is also Minister, Chairman of the Government Office, said that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has clearly stated Vietnam’s position and sent a diplomatic note protesting the inclusion of the U-shaped line to the Chinese side.

However, in line with the tradition of openness and integration, Vietnam tries to not cause difficulty to Chinese visitors.

“The government has ordered, with regards to Chinese persons holding passports with the cow’s tongue line [9-dash line], no Vietnamese stamp of any kind will be put on them”.

But such visitors will be issued with separate visas [not attached to the said passports] and can therefore enter Vietnam as normal, Dam explained.

This, on the one hand, creates conditions for Chinese citizens to work, travel in Vietnam while, on the other hand, expressing the official position of the Vietnamese government, the spokesman added.

Meanwhile, a representative of a checkpoint at Mong Cai border gate in Quang Ninh province recently told Tuoi Tre: “Mong Cai border guards only issued separate visas to Chinese nationals entering Vietnam with e-passports containing the cow’s tongue line".

"When issuing separate visas, competent authorities will not have to stamp on such passports, through which we assert the non-recognition of Chinese cow’s tongue line under any forms”.

For now, they have not complained but “in the long term, the Chinese will feel inconvenient with the separate visas and will ask their authorities to change”, this representative added.

According to Le Vinh Truong, of the East Sea Research Fund, China is “waging psychological warfare”. They tried to brainwash their citizens with wrong ideas, wrong facts, repeating them again and again in an effort to turn them into the “truth”.

TUOITRENEWS


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Vietnam - When SOEs are governed by 101 agencies

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VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnam has 1,309 wholly state owned enterprises (SOEs) and they are managed by up to 101 stage bodies, according to Dr. Tran Tien Cuong, former head of the Enterprise Reform and Development Department of the Central Institute for Economic Management (CIEM).

State enterprises have too many "mothers" but it is very difficult to define which mother takes the responsibility for their children’s mistakes. This problem has been discussed in many forums and meetings, especially at the National Assembly sessions, when some state-owned groups, as the Vietnam Shipping Lines Group (Vinalines) and the Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Group (Vinashin) incurred losses of up to billions of USD.

The situation in which SOEs earn profit and their losses are suffered by the state budget and SOEs do not have to take responsibility for their losses is expected to gradually reduce along with the implementation of the SOE restructuring process, in which an important solution being disinvesting their capital from non-core business fields to focus on their core business.

However, according to Mr. Nguyen Dinh Cung, CIEM deputy director, the implementation of this plan seems to be reluctant, hesitant and not really aggressive. Some even "talked back" that this plan cannot be completed before 2015 as committed.

In the desire to create a turning point for the economy in 2012, specialists from the Vietnam Institute of Economics in a recent workshop invited Dr. Pham Duy Nghia, a lecturer of the Fulbright Economics Teaching Program to present on the issue of ownership of SOEs.

This speaker said that the lack of a clear representative mechanism, the ownership right of state capital in SOEs is actually divided among many state agencies, by civil servants who are appointed as representatives, by the boards of management of groups and the holders of the operating rights in SOEs.

In the conflict between national interests, the interests of ministries and sectors, the interests of enterprises and the group of people who hold the ownership right at SOEs, the lack of counterpoise and continuous monitoring pressure--that representative power is more likely to be abused for private benefit." Nghia said.

The speaker also "lamented" that, in Vietnam ministries can be legal entities to manage state-owned groups, while in many countries, the change of a corporation's charter must be approved by the congress.

Going into management decentralization of SOEs at the economic forum with the topic "Innovating decentralization in institutional reform," held by the National Assembly’s Economic Committee in September, Dr. Tran Tien Cuong mentioned the fact that there are too many agencies representing the state ownership and managing SOEs.

Specifically, at the end of 2011, there were 101 state bodies involving in the management of 1,309 wholly state-owned enterprises (not mentioning the agencies that manage enterprises that are partly owned by the state), including: 17 ministries and ministerial-level agencies, government agencies with 355 SOEs; 63 provinces with 701 SOEs, 11 State economic groups with 147 SOEs and 10 corporations with 106 SOEs.

At the same time there are five agencies performing the role of the state owners at SOEs, including the four Ministries of Finance, Home Affairs, Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, Planning and Investment and the Government Office.

This form of management has led to the corollary that SOEs have low economic efficiency but nobody takes responsibility for that, causing public concerns.

In a report presented at the 11th session of the National Assembly Standing Committee, the National Assembly’s Finance and Budget Committee stated that "business performance of SOEs is not commensurate with the advantages of this type of business, does not guarantee the position and the role in the economy."

The committee also cited the audit report for 2010, which said that SOEs had high occupancy rate of capital; most of them invested in non-core business fields; more than 50% of them operated based on occupancy capital and borrowed capital; 70% of the total number of SOEs incurred losses (around $6.5 billion in 2010); after-tax profits of SOEs was about 9%, close to the consumer price index (CPI) (11.75%).

According to documents from the National Assembly's Economic Committee, SOEs accounted for about 70% of total bad loans of banks, in which economic groups, corporations accounted for 53% of the bad debts.

Defining the owners of SOEs has become crucial. To do this, Dr. Pham Duy Nghia said that it is necessary to have public property committee (being appointed by public entities owned by the central government or the local authorities) to usurp all ownership rights over SOEs, which are still scattered now.

"It is time to terminate the business management of ministries and allocate them to the public property management committees," Nghia suggested.

Dr. Tran Tien Cuong said that in the medium and long term, Vietnam needs to set up specialized agencies representing the state owner, which are under the government.

These agencies will perform the representative role over important SOEs and guide and monitor the implementation of the ownership function at ministries and provincial People's Committees.

Cuong also said that the provinces and cities that have many SOEs can establish specialized agencies to exercise the rights and obligations of the representative of the state ownership at SOEs in these localities.

Vinh An


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Vietnam - FDI capital begins flowing to dyeing and textile projects

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VietNamNet Bridge – As predicted, the foreign direct investment (FDI) flow has been heading for the dyeing and textile sector, because investors can take full advantage of the tariff preferences Vietnam can enjoy as the member of the Trans- Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement, expected to be wrapped up soon, and of the other free trade agreements (FTAs).

A lot of fiber manufacturers and dyeing enterprises have come to Vietnam recently to seek the opportunities to invest in the dyeing, textile and material production projects.

In November alone, Vietnam received nearly 10 foreign enterprises which have suggested setting up joint ventures with the Vietnam Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex) and its subsidiaries, to make garment materials in Vietnam

These include the big groups from the countries with developed textile and garment industries, namely Chinese Texhong, Japanese Toray International and Mitsui, Austrian Lenzing and Chinese Sunrise Textile and Garment Company.

As such, the prediction about a new wave of foreign investment into the textile and garment sector has come true. Foreign investors can see the great advantages they can enjoy if setting up production bases in Vietnam, a member of the FTAs and the expected TPP.

The first dyeing and textile joint venture was established on November 5 – the Thien Nam Sunrise Textile JSC. The partners in the joint ventures are Chinese Sunrise and Vietnamese Binh Duong-based Thien Nam Investment and Development Company.

The joint venture would develop the 24 million dollar woven fabric production project in the Bao Minh Industrial Zone in Nam Dinh. The factory would churn out one million meters a month and 300 tons of knitted fabric a month.

The project is expected to kick off early the next year and would become operational by 2014.

Meanwhile, Texhong, one of the 10 most competitive companies in the Chinese textile industry has had a working session with Vinatex, discussing the establishment of the third plant in Vietnam, either under the mode of 100 percent foreign owned, or joint venture.

Texhong has two fiber plants in Vietnam already, located in the southern province of Dong Nai and northern province of Quang Ninh.

Japanese Toray International and Mitsui have suggested two investment modes, either to develop a new project on making garment materials, or expanding the existing projects.

It is expected that the projects by the two groups with VInatex and its subsidiaries would be implemented right in 2013, so that they can put out the first products by 2015.

Meanwhile, Austrian Lenzing Group has suggested a project on an integrated factory system to make wood pulp and high quality viscose fiber in Vietnam.

Michael E. Mayer, a senior executive of Lenzing Vietnam said on Dau tu that Vietnam is the ideal place with favorable conditions to apply the vertical development model which has been utilized in Autria by Lenzing over the last 75 years.

If the project succeeds, it would not only bring benefits to Lenzing, but also bring the opportunity to Vietnamese spinning and weaving companies to use high quality artificial fiber at reasonable prices.

Tran Quang Nghi, General Director of Vinatex, said foreign investors now want to develop material production projects in Vietnam because they can see the advantages in Vietnam once the country signs the TPP and the FTA with the EU.

If the negotiations succeed, TPP would be valid as of 2015, from which the garments and textiles using domestic materials would enjoy the zero percent tariff.

Le Tien Truong, Deputy General Director said on Kinh te Vietnam newspaper that Vietnam has great advantages to attract FDI to the textile and garment sector. The WTO membership brings the advantages in materials, markets and policies. Meanwhile, Vietnam is negotiating for FTAs, under which textile and garment is always a priority core sector.

Compiled by C. V


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Vietnam - Vietnamese “coffee King” sneers at Starbucks

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VietNamNet Bridge – Dang Le Nguyen Vu, the owner of the Vietnamese well- known Trung Nguyen coffee brand, who has been called the Vietnamese “coffee King” has triggered a public quarrel when he publicly made derogative remarks about Starbucks’ coffee.


"They (Starbucks) are great at implanting a story in consumers' minds, but if we look into the core elements of Starbucks, what they are doing is terrible. They are not selling coffee, they are selling coffee-flavored water with sugar in it," he said when giving an interview to a Reuters’ reporter when he was in Switzerland.

His words can be understood that in thoughts of Vu, most of Starbucks’ success lies in their branding, and not in their actual product.

The statement has immediately raised a wave of discussion about the power of Vietnam’s coffee in the world market and the home market. The statement has, whether by accident or design, been made after local newspapers all reported about the plan by Starbucks to penetrate the Vietnamese market, slated for December 2012.

Therefore, the statement by Vu is considered the gauntlet thrown down by Trung Nguyen to the US giant, who “rules the world” and is setting one foot on the Vietnamese market.

An article with the title “Starbucks vs. The Coffee King — Which Team Will Reign Supreme?” has been published on Foodbeast.com, an US food news website.

Some people believe that the Vietnamese coffee King has every reason to say so about the US coffee brand.

“Does anyone really go to Starbucks for their refined roastin’ abilities? No, you go to order that slightly embarrassing frilly/fruity drink, to work on your startup while you sit in their cushy lounge chairs, even to listen to that cheesy singer-songwriter music that’s always playing. People go for the experience, not the commodity or the service, because we live in an experience economy,” the website comments.

Meanwhile, Nguyen The Khoa, the trade representative of Starbucks in Vietnam, denied the opinion about the low quality Starbucks’ coffee.

Khoa said on Giao duc Vietnam that it is really a blunder to say Starbucks is selling the “coffee flavored water with sugar in it.”

With 87,000 drink products, Starbucks aims to serve different groups of clients with different tastes, from those, who like fine coffee to those, who likes coffee with 30 percent caffeine. However, Khoa affirmed that all the products are made of the coffee materials selected from the best coffee growing material areas all over the world. This explains why Starbucks coffee has been sold at 17,800 shops around the globe.

“If someone says Starbucks is serving the coffee flavored with sugar, I am sure he is not a connoisseur of coffee,” Khoa said.

Meanwhile, foreigners keep watching the discussion about Trung Nguyen and Starbucks with interest. Some foreign newswires have commented that the statement by Vu aims to heighten the national image and put Vietnamese brand into a new position in the global market.

Vu, the owner of the Trung Nguyen coffee chain, frankly said that he considers the US Starbucks coffee chain as an ideal marketing model for him to follow, which would help Trung Nguyen popularize its preparation method and brand in the world.

Vu Vinh Phu, Chair of the Hanoi Supermarket Chain, commented on a local newspaper that Vu’s statement could be seen as a behavior of conducting unhealthy competition, because Vu has defamed Starbucks.

However, the majority of Vietnamese businessmen have applauded Vu, saying that Vu has been known as a businessman with real capability.

Compiled by C. V


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Vietnam - Despite economic downturn, billions of dollars still poured into casinos

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VietNamNet Bridge – While the capital flow to investment channels has got stuck in the economic downturn, billions of dollars’ worth of capital still have been poured into casino projects.

Philip Falcone, the founder and President of Harbinger Capital investment fund, visited MGM Grand Ho Tram Beach, a component of the Ho Tram Strip – an integrated resort project capitalized at four billion dollars in the southern province of Ba Ria – Vung Tau.

The president emphasized that Harbinger has been pursuing the projects since the very beginning, and there has been no change in its commitments to develop the project in Vietnam.

Currently, ACDL (Asian Coast Development Ltd) is nearly completing the interior decoration for the first phase of MGM Grand Ho Tram Beach before it hands over the construction work to the investor in the next month, so that it can be operational by early 2013.

This would be a complex comprising of 541 rooms, a casino, conventional center, restaurants and high end shopping malls. All of the items would be located on a beach with 2.2 kilometers in long, surrounded by the forests.

In October, ACDL announced that it kicked off the second phase of the MGM Grand Ho Tram Beach project sooner than initially planned. A golf course is also under construction which would become operational the next year.

With the strong commitments by the investor and the speedy implementation, analysts say, the investors do not lack money and determination to develop investment projects in the crisis, and they would still pour money into where they can find profits.

In late October, when ACDL started the construction of the second five-star hotel tower sooner than initially planned, Lloyd Nathan, ACDL’s General Director, said on local newspapers that the opportunities are very big in Vietnam, even though at present, Vietnamese people are not allow to go to casinos.

The businessman said he can see a bright prospect for casino projects, because the demand is still very high in Asia, while the supply remains low. The main clients of Ho Tram would come from Asia, including China, Japan, South Korea, Thailand and Indonesia.

VOV has quoted an official from the Kien Giang provincial Planning and Investment Department, as saying that two investors have expressed their willing to make investment in casino project in Phu Quoc island in the province. The project is expected to cover an area of 135 hectares and to have 4 billion dollars in investment capital.

The joint venture of Bo Bien Vang Phuong Nam, headquartered in Phu Quoc island, with a Philippines-based investment group and Ngoi Sao Bien Tourism Company, has decided to join forces with a Hong Kong’s consultancy firm - Asia Strategic Consulting & Advisory Service Ltd – to register the project.

The two investors regularly contact the Kien Giang provincial Investment and Planning Department to ask for information and the Vietnam’s standpoint on their proposals.

One year ago, President and CEO of Las Vegas Sand Sheldon Adelson, sent words intimating that he wanted to develop a big integrated resort in Vietnam, which has the same scale as the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, with the total investment capital of 6-8 billion dollars.

The president said in local newspapers at that moment that he would be ready to fly to Vietnam once he can receive “good signals.” However, there has been no “good news” since then. Meanwhile, Vietnam has reaffirmed its strategy that casinos would not be opened to Vietnamese citizens.

Linh Tu


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