Standard Chartered Bank to join local retail banking market

The Standard Chartered Bank in Vietnam, with two branches in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City and capital of 30 million USD, will provide retail banking services by the end of this year, according to the Standard Chartered Group.

The Standard Chartered Group from Britain has announced the results of its business in the first half of this year, with fruitful operations in all areas. Its before-tax profit increased by 15 per cent (roughly $1.527 billion), turnover increased by 27 per cent to $4.112 billion.

The Standard Chartered Bank Vietnam has provided capital for many strategic infrastructure and power projects and also has contributed to humanitarian projects. By the end of this year, the bank will fully join the retail banking market in Vietnam.

Binh Duong attracts more foreign investment

The southern province of Binh Duong has attracted $929.43 million in foreign investment over the last eight months, accounting for 132 percent of its annual target.

During this period, Binh Duong has licensed 156 new foreign invested projects with a total registered capital of $497.5 million and allowed 123 other projects to add a total of $431.9 million to their registered capital.

The province now has 1,243 foreign invested projects with a combined registered capital of more than $5.9 billion.

With this added momentum, the province will be able to hasten the construction of new processing and industrial zones.

Vietnam Oil and Gas Group to be established

The Prime Minister on Aug. 29 approved a plan to establish a Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam).

The group will be set up based on a rearrangement of the Vietnam Oil and Gas Corporation (PetroVietnam) and its subsidiary companies. It will operate under a parent-subsidiary model, with the controlling interest being owned by the State.

Once established, the Vietnam Oil and Gas Group will take over the legal rights, obligations and interests of the Vietnam Oil and Gas Corporation.

The group will be active in various areas, focusing on exploring, exploiting, processing and distributing oil and gas products.

The decision will come into effect 15 days after it was announced on Aug. 29.

Vietnam, Philippines sign electricity agreement

The Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) Corporation and the Philippines National Power Corporation (NPC) signed an agreement on Sept. 1 to boost cooperation in the power industry.

Under the agreement, the two corporations will cooperate in a project to design, power plant operations and maintenance, dam and water resource management, rural power management, expert training, as well as other related areas.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, the Filipino Ambassador to Vietnam, Estella A. Berenguel pledged favourable conditions for the cooperative project between EVN and NPC as well as for other power providers from the two countries.

The agreement would also help the ASEAN countries to successfully implement a regional power grid connection project, said Dao Van Hung, EVN General Director.

Agro-forestry products earn $4.8 billion

Vietnam earned $640 million from exporting agro-forestry products in August, raising the country's total agro-forestry export revenues in the first eight months of this year to $4.8 billion, an annual increase of 24.3 percent.

The export value of agricultural products reached $3.4 billion, a rise of 35 percent over the same period last year, while forestry products raised nearly $1.4 billion in export revenue, up 23 percent.

Export of a number of staples increased in both quantity and turnover. Of these, coffee rose by 7 percent and 56 percent respectively; rubber, 45 percent and 121 percent; tea, 46 percent and 33.6 percent; cashew nuts, 31.4 percent and 9.5 percent; and pepper, 36 percent and 45 percent.

In the fourth quarter of 2006, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will instruct its affiliates to help enterprises advertise Vietnamese agricultural trademarks, so as to increase the number of export contracts and fulfill the annual export targets.

Vietnamese, German companies discuss business in Frankfurt

The "Vietnam Centre", a trade promotion place, in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, on Aug. 28 hosted a business seminar with the participation of representatives of German businesses and the Vietnam Handicraft and Fine Art Articles Association.

The president of the Trade Association of Germany's Hessen and Thyringen states, Freitag, and Vietnamese counsellor from the Vietnamese embassy, Hoang Binh, attended the seminar.

Tran Xuan Hoa, chairman of the managing council of the Vietnam Centre, introduced to participants about the centre's services to help businesses open their representatives offices in the centre.

Speaking at the seminar, the head of the trade promotion department of Dreieich city praised the close cooperation between the Vietnam Centre and the city. She welcomed the presence of Vietnamese handicraft and fine art businesses at the trade fair in Frankfurt am Main, saying that their diverse and beautiful products are sure to win over German customers.

Many memorandums of understanding were signed between the Vietnam Centre and businesses throughout the seminar.

Vietnam's longest bridge gets final link

Two ends of the longest bridge in Vietnam were connected in the central province of Binh Dinh on August 30.

The 2,500-metre-long bridge across Thi Nai lagoon will link the Phuong Mai Peninsula and the Nhon Hoi Economic Zone to Binh Dinh's provincial capital of Quy Nhon.

The bridge is expected to start trial runs on the National Day (Sept. 2) and be officially opened to traffic on December 22.

HCM City: trade, service sector posts high growth

HCM City's economy maintained a high growth rate, especially in the services and trade sector, in the first eight months of the year despite the impacts of increasing prices of petrol and a number of other materials.

At a meeting on Aug. 31, the Standing Board of the municipal People's Committee reported that retail sales and services in the city totalled VND82.5 trillion ($5.1 million) in the period, up 20.4 percent year-on-year. Exports revenues reached 9.2 billion USD and the industrial production value was VND189.1 trillion ($11.8 million), representing rises of 16.7 percent and 13.5 percent, respectively, over the same period last year.

The city licensed 170 foreign invested projects worth a combined $1 billion over the past eight months, a quadruple increase over the same corresponding period in 2005.

Meanwhile, 69 other FDI projects added an additional 193 million USD to their existing capital.

Dong Nai to build 21st industrial zone

The Prime Minister has given the green light to Bien Hoa IZ Development Company in southern Dong Nai province to build a 177 ha-industrial zone in Vinh Cuu district.

The Thach Phu Industrial Zone (IZ) will bring the total number of Dong Nai-based IZs to 21 with a total area of more than 5,600 ha, leading the country in terms of area.

Dong Nai earned nearly $2.7 billion from exports over the past eight months, a year-on-year increase of 34 percent.

Of the figure, the foreign-invested sector contributed $2.5 billion, a 34.4 percent rise. Electronic components, footwear, foodstuffs, and fabric are major export products of this sector.

Meanwhile, centrally- and locally-run businesses posted increases of 32 percent and 24.5 percent, respectively, in export turnover.

Export products recording strong growth include footwear, up 102 percent; cashew nuts, 56 percent; coffee, 33 percent; and garments and textiles, 19 percent.

The province is currently home to 736 valid foreign investment projects with a total registered capital of more than $8.4 billion, and ranks third in the country. Of which, 565 projects are operational with a total registered capital of $6.6 billion, employing 230,000 workers.

BIDV, Russian bank to establish joint venture

The Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV) and the Russian Foreign Trade Bank will set up a joint venture bank in which BIDV will hold a 51 percent stake.

A contract to this effect was signed in Moscow, Russia, on Aug. 31 in the presence of Deputy Director of the Vietnamese Government Office Nguyen Quoc Huy and Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation Viktor Nikolaevich Melnikov.

The new bank will open branches in Vietnam and a number of countries which have economic relationship with both Vietnam and Russia. The bank is expected to provide a fast and convenient payment channel for Vietnamese and Russian businesses.

Source: VNA