VietNamNet Bridge – The State Bank of Vietnam has reported that
the outstanding loans provided to the aquaculture and seafood processing sector
increased by 11 percent in the first nine months of the year. However, the
fisheries industry is still thirsty for capital.
Where has the capital gone?
Tran Xuan Chau, Deputy Director
of the Credit Department of the State Bank of Vietnam, said the outstanding
loans to the fisheries sector had reached 33,762 billion dong by September 30,
an increase of 11.22 percent over 2011. The total outstanding loans to the
sector has reached 59,933 billion dong so far.
“The credit to the sector has
been growing sharply recently,” Chau said.
However, while Chau affirmed that
big capital has been pumped into the fisheries sector, farmers and seafood
companies still keep complaining that they would get bankrupted because of the
lack of capital.
Huynh Minh Doan, Vice Chair of
the Southwest Steering Committee, said the problem is that the capital has not
been used for the right purposes.
“Seafood companies borrowed money
to expand production and boost exports. However, in fact, they threw money into
real estate or stock investments. As a result, they incurred losses when the
real estate and stock prices went down, while they still lack capital,” Doan
said.
Some years ago, local newspapers
quoted experts as saying that catfish output was getting more than enough to
satisfy the domestic demand. However, seafood companies still keep complaining
that they lack materials for processing to fulfill export contracts.
“In fact, they just pleaded the
thirst for capital to borrow money for their real estate and stock investment
deals,” Doan said.
While Tran Thien Hai, VASEP’s
Chair, complained that seafood companies cannot access bank loans at reasonable
interest rates, Nguyen Tien Dong, Deputy General Director Agribank, affirmed
that the bank has profuse capital and it is ready to disburse money for
feasible projects.
Deputy General Director of
Vietinbank Le Duc Tho also affirmed that the bank can satisfy the demand of all
enterprises which can meet the bank’s requirements.
A senior official of the An Giang
provincial authorities raised a question: “Who can say for sure that seafood
companies would be revived if banks continue pumping capital to the sector?”
Meanwhile, Doan said it would be
better to check the loans provided before to enterprises. If necessary, banks
should freeze the old loans provide new loans to help revive enterprises, if
banks can be sure that the borrowers use the capital for the right purposes.
“Banks, not local authorities,
should keep a close watch over enterprises themselves, because local
authorities would not be able to effectively supervise enterprises,” Doan
added.
Fisheries sector would have one more tough year in 2013
A lot of measures have been taken
to help the fisheries sector survive the current difficulties. However, the
Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers VASEP said enterprises
would still face difficulties in 2013.
A VASEP’s report showed that in
2013, the materials Vietnam has to import for domestic processing would be 30
percent higher than that in 2012, worth 65-70 million dollars a month.
Meanwhile, the exports to the EU
have been predicted to see a minus growth rate of 12-15 percent. The exports
would find it difficult to penetrate the Japanese market because of the
Ethorxyquin problem. It is estimated that the export turnover to the market
would decrease by 1.5-2 percent.
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