CM City earmarks VND5.6 trillion for market stabilisation

Local businesses have spent nearly VND5.6 trillion stockpiling goods to meet consumer demand during the upcoming lunar New Year festival (Tet).

The Municipal Department of Industry and Trade on December 10 reported that businesses have made plans since April 2011 to ensure a sufficient supply of diverse and high quality essentials, including food and foodstuffs, at reasonable prices.

Suppliers are those taking part in the city’s ongoing programme to stabilize market prices, said a department official.  

The city will monitor price listings at more than 2,500 kiosks to keep market prices in check and nip in the bud any market manipulation.  

We will collaborate with market management forces in districts to intensify inspection at kiosks and spring trade fairs, said Le Ngoc Dao, deputy director of the department.

The Saigon Co-op chain and convenience stores will provide services in the evening later than usual and they will be open on the second day of the Tet festival to serve consumers.

Businesses said prices of confectionaries and beverages are 15-20 percent lower than imported products of the same types.

The Tet festival will fall on January 22, 2011.

Banks Association holds fifth tenure congress

Representatives from the State Bank of Vienam (SBV) attended the fifth tenure congress of the Vietnam Banks Association (VNBA) in Hanoi on December 10, along with 54 commercial banks and financial companies.

In its past term, the VNBA successfully connected its members via a number of meetings and conferences to provide them with updated information on Party and State policies for overcoming the economic recession, controling inflation and managing interest rates, as well as the development strategy for the banking sector.

VNBA members have initiated various methods for preventing unfair competition and have called for more transparency in the industry.

Vietnam is restructuring its economy in the coming term, which will include commercial banks and create both challenges and opportunities for VNBA members.

The VNBA will continue to serve as a link between its members and other State agencies, create suitable training programmes, and expand and strengthen bilateral cooperation with other international banking associations.

VNBA General Secretary Duong Thu Huong said the association should focus on implementing State monetary and financial policies, effectively mobilizing capital and providing the credit necessary for economic development.

VNBA members should also improve their capacity and competitiveness, and promote professional training for their staff, she added.

Participants passed the congress’ resolution and elected Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank), Nguyen Hoa Binh, as its new VNBA Chairman.

Rice exports to face tough competition in 2012

Vietnamese rice is likely to enter a market with tougher competition from other exporters like India, Pakistan and Myanmar, says Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Food Association (VFA), Nguyen Van Bay.

According to Bay, Vietnam shipped more than 6.7 million tonnes of rice abroad in the past 11 months and it is expected to export nearly 300,000 tonnes in December to reach its export target of 7 million tonnes in 2011.

He says that Vietnam currently has more than 1.4 million tonnes of rice in reserve and businesses will continue purchasing rice from Mekong Delta farmers to prepare for export contracts in the coming year.

According to Bay's analysis, Thailand, the world’s biggest rice exporter, is now buying rice at a high price which gives Vietnam an advantage in the global market. However, rice prices in other markets, such as India, Pakistan and Myanmar, are about US$100/tonne lower than in Vietnam, which causes tough competition for contracts with African partners.

The VFA plans to penetrate foreign markets and ensure at least 30 percent profit for Vietnamese farmers, in accordance with the Government’s guidelines, Bay adds.

Poor infrastructure drives cruise ships away

Vietnam’s lack of tourist ports and poor traffic infrastructure have driven many international luxurious cruise ships away from visiting the country.

Although Vietnam has been receiving high-class tourism cruise ships over the last decade, not a single tourist port has been built along the country’s 3,200-km coastline.

As travel agencies catering to international tourists travelling on cruise ships are waiting for a tourist port, the luxury cruises have no choice but to dock in cargo ports alongside other transport vessels.

“That the cruise ships have to share the ports with cargo vessels is a big inconvenience,” Le Quang Thang, head of cruise ship tourism of Saigontourist, told Tuoi Tre.

“Stepping out of the luxurious space of the cruise ships, tourists may find it hard to adapt to the messy atmosphere of the cargo ports with annoying sounds and smells.”

At present, most cruise ships with loading capacity of above 1,000 tourists visiting Ho Chi Minh City have to dock at the municipal Navi Oil and Lotus ports, or the Ba Ria-Vung Tau-based Phu My port.

However, tourists often have to wait for a long time to reach the ports, which are always busy with cargo-loading activities.

Should tourists wish to visit Ha Long Bay in the northern province of Quang Ninh, which has been named among the world’s new seven wonders of nature, according to the global poll conducted by New Open World Corporation, as the Cai Lan Port, the only docking place there, is always packed with cargo ships.

Cruise ships thus have to dock off the port and tourists have to go ashore by small boats, which tour organizers say is inconvenient, costly, and unsafe.

Tour cancellation due to congestion

Inconvenient and congested traffic has also prevented cruise ship tourists from visiting more attractions in the country.

For instance, tourists to HCMC cannot travel further to the Mekong Delta provinces since it will take a lot of time while tourists’ staying time is limited.

Similarly, tourists to Hai Phong and Ha Long Bay wishing to visit Hanoi usually cannot make it since they would not arrive in the capital until half a day later.

In the most recent case, international five-star cruise ship Silver Shadow, operated by Monaco-based SilverSea Cruises Ltd, has announced it would cancel all visits to Hai Phong next year due to severe traffic congestion at the local Dinh Vu port.

Le Dinh Tuan, director of Viet Excursions Co, the travel agency to receive the Silver Shadow cruises, said it often takes tourists as long as 3 hours to get through the 3km-road from Dinh Vu port to downtown Hai Phong.

“The cancelation is of no surprise as we did expect it,” Tuan said.

Investment to Laos on rise, currently 3rd largest

Many Vietnamese businesses have chosen neighboring country Laos as their investment destinations in many sectors including agricultural processing and hydropower during the last few years.

Ta Minh Chau, Vietnamese Ambassador to Laos, told Tuoi Tre that the investment influxes from Vietnamese businesses to Laos have been steadily increasing for the past few years.

With the total registered capital of US$3.7 billion, Vietnam is now Laos’ third largest foreign investor, Chau said.

Many Vietnamese investors said Laos is a potential market for them.

For instance, Doan Nguyen Duc, chairman of Hoang Anh Gia Lai Group (HAGL), said that with the abundant natural resources and large available land plots, the southern region of Laos has many potentials for development.

“This is a suitable destination for HAGL to channel investments worth as much as billions of US dollars,” Duc said.

Nguyen Van Truc, CEO of the Saigon Agriculture Corporation, agreed, adding that the climate and soil condition in Laos are also desirable for growing industrial crops.

Many Vietnamese businesses currently operating in Laos said that the Laotian government offers many incentives for foreign investors, and many Laotian workers can speak Vietnamese.

Such factors are very convenient and appealing to Vietnamese investors, they said.

Last month, Hoang Anh Gia Lai Group (HAGL) started construction of a $100 million sugar and sugarcane industrial cluster in the southern province of Attapeu.

HAGL is also running many other projects in the rubber, palm and hydropower sectors in Lao, with the total registered capital of nearly $1 billion.

Other investors have also been promoting their investment and seeking new partners in Laos.

Since its first outbound investment in Laos four years ago, Saigon Agriculture Corporation has implemented a lot of projects such as growing more than 3,000 hectares of corn fields, 500 hectares of coffee and 10,000 hectares of rubber in southern Laos.

The Dak Lak Rubber Co, for its part, also established a subsidiary in Champasak Province, which is running projects worth $50 million on growing rubbers and other industrial plants.

Hong Hung, CEO of Tin Nghia – Laos JSC, said the company has plans to build a $2.5-milion coffee processing plant in Laos and expand the coffee growing area in the country to 1,500 hectares.

“Laos still has much potential for Vietnamese investors to exploit,” Chau told local businesses at a meeting in Attapeu in mid-November.

Vietnamese tra fish moving towards WWF 'sustainable' certification

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has announced that Vietnamese tra fish has been listed in the “Moving Towards Certification” category in European countries.

According to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), the new category is an upgrade for 2012 in the popular seafood guide and means that Vietnamese tra fish has been removed from the WWF 'red list', which was announced at the end of last year.

The new assessment from the WWF has contributed to building a more positive image of the product.

VASEP statistics show that Vietnam earned US$452 million from tra exports in the past ten months of this year, up 3 percent over the same period in 2010.

Vietnam, Canada boost trade ties

Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and the Canada-Vietnam Business Council signed a cooperative agreement in Hanoi on December 9.

Addressing the function, VCCI Permanent Deputy Chairman Hoang Van Dung said Vietnam-Canada economic and trade cooperation does not match the two countries’ potential and strengths.

The signing of the agreement will help boost trade relations between the two countries via market approaches and providing information on economic, trade and investment development policies, as well as setting up a working group to maintain regular information exchange, he said.

Dung affirmed that Vietnam will support and create all favourable conditions for Canadian businesses to invest in the Southeast Asian country as well as deal with difficulties the two sides have faced in the past.

According to the President of the Canada-Vietnam Business Council, Danny Leung, the signing of the agreement is a positive signal in economic development between the two countries.

The document will serve as a legal corridor for both sides to seek effective measures to strengthen economic and trade cooperation in the future, he noted.

Opportunities to boost exports in Middle East

A workshop was held in Can Tho city to introduce business opportunities in the Mekong Delta region to increase exports to Saudi Arabia and the greater Middle East.

The event was held by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) branch in Can Tho city.

Participants were provided with updated information on the Saudia Ariabian market and the market of the rest of the Middle East, detailing areas such as foreign trade policy, trade barriers, import-export activities, investment climate, political-trade relations and other important issues to help local businesses penetrate the promising markets.

Many delegates showed their interest in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East as they are offering incentive policies on trade liberalization and non-tariff barriers. These markets are seen as good venues for Vietnamese businesses to promote cooperation in labour exports, oil and gas exploration, science-technology, and tourism.

However, they also raised concerns about a number of difficulties in entering the markets, namely political instability, religious differences, trade barriers, and payment risks.

According to Ly Quoc Hung, Head of the Department for Africa, West Asia and South Asia under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, two-way trade turnover between Vietnam and the UAE reached US$745.5 million in 2010, including US$144 million from Vietnamese exports. The figure is expected to hit US$1.1 billion by the end of this year.

Meanwhile, Vietnam’s trade with the Middle East fetched US$3.31 billion in 2010, representing a year-on-year increase of 53 percent, including US$1.65 billion earned from exports. The bilateral trade figure this year is predicted to amount to US$5 billion, with US$2.4 billion from Vietnamese exports.

Currently, Vietnam exports garment and textiles, footwear, computers, electronic spare parts, handicrafts, and agro-forestry and fishery products to these markets.

US, Vietnam benefit from trade agreement

Two-way trade between Vietnam and the US has increased by 12 fold from US$1.5 billion to over US$20 billion since the two countries signed a bilateral trade agreement (BTA) in 2000.

Besides its economic benefits, the BTA also served as a springboard for Vietnam to join the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2007, according to a workshop held in Hanoi on December 9 by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the US Embassy.

US ambassador David Shear noted that over the past 10 years both the US and Vietnam have made strides in developing bilateral ties, especially in economics.

He said in his capacity as the US ambassador to Vietnam, he will give top priority to furthering bilateral economic cooperation.

Workshop speakers stressed that stronger trade and investment ties between Vietnam and the US have contributed to the process of economic transition in Vietnam.

Local people’s real income has increased by 7.2 percent annually and their GDP per capita has risen from US$413 in 2001 to US$1,300 in 2011. The poverty rate has fallen significantly from 58 percent in 1993 to 10.6 percent in 2010.

Both Vietnam and the US have identified principles for increasing their trade and investment cooperation. They are negotiating with 7 other economies a Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) as a cornerstone for economic integration in the Asia-Pacific region. Such integration will bring even more economic benefits to the two countries and generate more jobs for their people.

SOEs offer high salaries despite losses

Though they are suffering from debts and losses, many state-owned enterprises (SOEs) are still paying salaries which are three to four times higher than other companies, said the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs.

The ministry said that while directors of SOEs operating in “less advantaged sectors” were offered VND15 million (US$720) a month at most, directors of SOEs operating in “more advantaged sectors” could receive up to VND40 million a month.

“Less advantaged sectors” include forestry, coffee, textile and garment, paper, and railway transportation. Oil and gas, post and telecom, finance and banking, and construction belong to the other category.

Similarly, workers in the more advantaged group are paid about VND8.1 million monthly, which is thrice as much as the average VND2.4-million paid to those working in the less advantaged sectors.

Workers in the finance and banking sector are even paid as much as VND10.5-million a month.

Most importantly, the ministry said, many of the enterprises that have high salary policies, have been operating with losses.

Among them are Vietnam Electricity Group, Vietnam National Shipping Lines, Military Petroleum Co., Traffic Works Construction Corporation No 1, and Urban and Industrial Zone Investment and Development Co.

These enterprises have accumulated a total loss of VND26 trillion as of last December 31.

Vietnam-Thailand trade to hit US$7bln in 2011

Two-way trade between Vietnam and Thailand is expected to reach over US$7 billion by the end of this year, making Thailand the third largest trade partner of Vietnam among ASEAN countries.

By August 2011, bilateral trade fetched US$5.46 billion, a year-on-year increase of 28 percent.

The figures were released by Truong Hoang, President of the Vietnam-Thailand Friendship Association, Ho Chi Minh Chapter, at a meeting on December 9 to mark Thailand’s National Day and the 84th anniversary of King Bhumibol Aduyadej.

As of October 2011, Thailand had 257 valid investment projects in Vietnam with a total registered capital of nearly US$5.73 billion, ranking 10th among 93 foreign investors in the country. In HCM city alone, Thailand had 91 projects capitalized at nearly US$132 million.

The Thai consul general in HCM City, Somchai Powcharoen, said that relations between Thailand and Vietnam have developed rapidly and expanded in all fields. Both countries are striving for a strategic partnership, especially in trade, investment, tourism, and cultural exchange.

Vietnamese businesses keen on UK market

An online talk was held in Hanoi on December 9 to help Vietnamese businesses learn more about the UK market.

The event was co-organized by the Department of Information Technology E-Commerce Section under the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) and the Multilateral Trade Assistance (MULTRAP 1) project.

Tran Ngoc Quan, deputy director of the European Market Department under the MoIT, said that the UK is one of Vietnam’s largest export markets.

Over the past five years, Vietnam’s export turnover to the UK has reached an average of 20-25 percent per year. Key exports include footwear, garments and textiles, tea, coffee, seafood, and rubber.

Mr. Quan said that although the UK is considered an open economy, exports to this market are under strict scrutiny in terms of technical barriers and food safety. In addition, the UK has demanding consumers and it is not easy to change their habits. On the other hand, Vietnamese businesses are not fully aware of regulations on UK imports so they face a lot of difficulties when exporting goods to the market.

Pham Tuan Huy, deputy head of the European Market Department, said that exports to the UK should meet the EU’s technical standards such as REACH, IUU and FLEGT. He added that this is considered a developed market in which consumers have high tastes and are attentive to sustainable values such as health and the environment.

Such standards will affect Vietnam’s exports to the UK as low-cost production and a cheap labour force are no longer advantages of Vietnamese products, said Huy.

Notably, Vietnam’s major exports to the UK are all subject to value added tax (VAT). Therefore, the prices of these products will increase by 2.1 percent while individual spending is likely to decrease by 0.2 percent.

Southern province draws foreign retailers

Besides industrial manufacturing, more and more foreign companies are investing in the retail sector in the southern province of Binh Duong.

Foreign retailers used to choose big cities such as HCMC, Hanoi, Danang, Haiphong, and Can Tho as their destinations of choice.

However, the Binh Duong Department of Planning and Investment said several international distributors had come to the province to explore investment opportunities.
Certain projects have been formed and investors have decided to pour capital to carry out their projects.

Though it is not yet present on the local market, Aeon Corporation of Japan has selected HCMC and Binh Duong as its first destinations.

The retailer with over 180 affiliates plans to develop a commercial center in Thuan An Town of Binh Duong.

A source from Binh Duong said the Japanese retailer had basically completed the investment procedures and provincial authorities had approved a 6-ha location in the Vietnam Singapore Industrial Park (VSIP) for the investor to carry out the project.

At meetings with Binh Duong officials, Aeon said the commercial center in Binh Duong would have 3 stories and 75,000 square meters in total, with retail space accounting for 45,000 square meters.

The investor expects to commence work on the project in 2012 and put it into service by 2014. When in place, the center will create jobs for over 1,500 people.

Meanwhile, French firm Casino Group, the owner of the well-known supermarket chain Big C with 16 outlets throughout Vietnam, is also eyeing Binh Duong as a new venue.

According to a source from the provincial Department of Planning and Investment, Big C is planning a supermarket in Thu Dau Mot Town.

However, Casino would not be investing directly in this project, but would lease a location of a domestic infrastructure developer.

The source said Binh Duong authorities had agreed in principle to let Big C proceed with its supermarket project in Thu Dau Mot.

Among the investors from South Korea, Lotte Mart under the Lotte Group is considered the biggest retailer in Vietnam.

After opening a commercial center in each of HCMC’s districts 7 and 11, South Korea’s leading retailer is working on plans to expand toward the neighboring market of Binh Duong.

Lotte Mart is cooperating with Charm Engineering, a South Korean developer of several property projects in Binh Duong, to open a commercial center in the province’s Di An District.

The Korean firm will invest some US$7 million in the 5-story Charm Plaza shopping center covering 12,500 square meters. It is expected to open to business in 2013.

Commenting on the Binh Duong market, a representative of Lotte Mart said with its position as a fast growing industrial manufacturing province with a huge population and young consumers who are to ready to spend, Binh Duong was becoming a new place for supermarket and commercial center developers.

This is the reason why Lotte Mart has decided to choose Binh Duong as its next destination after HCMC under its plan to expand its shopping centers to over 30 in Vietnam, he said.

Another South Korean investor in the distribution sector with a large project underway in Binh Duong is GS Retail under GS Group.

This retailer has been granted a license to roll out the US$30 million project in Ben Cat District. US$10 million will be spent on the first phase of this project.

Nevertheless, the global economic crisis has left an impact on the progress of the project.
Yet, the early bird in Binh Duong is German wholesale store chain operator Metro Cash & Carry. Last November, Metro Cash & Carry Vietnam launched a wholesale center in Thu
Dau Mot Town.

The 5,600-square-meter store stocks 25,000 food and non-food items.

Vinci of France and other retailers are also considering building convenience stores in Binh Duong.

Explaining the growing interest of foreign distributors in Binh Duong, Le Viet Dung, deputy director of the Binh Duong Department of Planning and Investment, said more and more foreign retailers had come knocking in recent years.

Dung said the retail market still had room for more retailers since Binh Duong had many new urban areas and large industrial parks underway.

But these areas are still sparsely inhabited, he said.

GS Retail has invested in My Phuoc Industrial Urban Area, which is far from Thu Dau Mot Town, and Lotte Mart’s Charm Plaza project is in Di An Town where trading activities are not so bustling. Aeon is eyeing customers residing near VSIP and people working there.

Industry observers said Binh Duong’s retail market held strong growth potentials thanks to the province’s appeal as a manufacturing base of local and foreign investors.

Binh Duong is also developing a number of modern urban areas, offering convenient locations for service providers and retailers to come for business opportunities.

Moreover, Binh Duong is highly rated for its ideal geographical location at the center of the key southern economic region and important transport routes.

This explains why local retailers such as Saigon Co.op, Vinatex Mart, Citimart, FiviMart and BDMart or home appliance centers such as Thien Hoa and Cho Lon have set up shops in the province.

Nguyen Thanh Nhan, deputy general director of Saigon Co.op, the owner of Co.opMart supermarket chain, said though Binh Duong’s retail market was still in the early stages of development, Co.opMart had been doing well in the province.

Experts say Binh Duong, with total retail and service revenues amounting to VND60 trillion a year, coupled with steady GDP growth of 30% per year, will become a potentially large retail market in the next 8-10 years.

Gloomy forecast causes rice prices to drop

The Vietnam Food Association (VFA)’s gloomy forecast about next year export has caused rice prices to drop, affecting intermediary rice traders.

According VFA, the local rice market is struggling as both commercial contracts between local firms and foreign importers and government-to-government contracts are declining.

This is despite the fact that Thai rice export has been slowed down due to flooding.

VFA said one reason was that Vietnamese exporters had to compete harshly with exporters from India and Pakistan who offer much lower prices.

In early November, domestic rice prices were still high, from VND7,400-7,500 per kg for the dried paddy of the popular type IR 50404. However, this type is now being sold for VND6,600-6,800 per kg.

A trader named Nguyen Van Cong at Cai Lay District, Tien Giang Province said the prices of long-grain rice categories such as OM 4218, OM 5451 and OM 1490 continued to shrink by VND100 compared to last month, to the level of VND7,000-7,200 per kg.

Several rice traders, who have bought the products at low prices, are still suffering losses because of decreasing prices.

Nguyen Thanh Hon, a rice trader in Cai Lay, Tien Giang, said he had lost VND10 million from 100 tons of fresh rice bought in Dong Nai and Binh Thuan.

Nguyen Van Tien, a trader at Ba Dac Market in Cai Be District, Tien Giang, who have incurred a loss of VND7 million when buying 30 tons or rice, said he couldn’t see prices dropping this fast.

Traders said they were operating perfunctorily while waiting for a clearer market sign to decide whether to keep buying rice.

Vietnamese businesses keen on UK market

An online talk was held in Hanoi on December 9 to help Vietnamese businesses learn more about the UK market.

The event was co-organized by the Department of Information Technology E-Commerce Section under the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) and the Multilateral Trade Assistance (MULTRAP 1) project.

Tran Ngoc Quan, deputy director of the European Market Department under the MoIT, said that the UK is one of Vietnam’s largest export markets.

Over the past five years, Vietnam’s export turnover to the UK has reached an average of 20-25 per cent per year. Key exports include footwear, garments and textiles, tea, coffee, seafood, and rubber.

Mr. Quan said that although the UK is considered an open economy, exports to this market are under strict scrutiny in terms of technical barriers and food safety. In addition, the UK has demanding consumers and it is not easy to change their habits. On the other hand, Vietnamese businesses are not fully aware of regulations on UK imports so they face a lot of difficulties when exporting goods to the market.

Pham Tuan Huy, deputy head of the European Market Department, said that exports to the UK should meet the EU’s technical standards such as REACH, IUU and FLEGT. He added that this is considered a developed market in which consumers have high tastes and are attentive to sustainable values such as health and the environment.

Such standards will affect Vietnam’s exports to the UK as low-cost production and a cheap labour force are no longer advantages of Vietnamese products, said Huy.

Notably, Vietnam’s major exports to the UK are all subject to value added tax (VAT). Therefore, the prices of these products will increase by 2.1 per cent while individual spending is likely to decrease by 0.2 per cent.

Property market needs better management
 
The Prime Minister has pushed to enhance the role and responsibility of management offices in real estate investment and trading to spark growth in the domestic property market.

According to Directive No 2196/CT-TTg issued on Tuesday, the Ministry of Construction must join with ministries and sectors involved in the real estate sector to perfect the housing and real estate trading legal system and property management products including commercial and social housing and housing in low-income urban areas.

Cities and provinces with key property projects will join with the construction ministry and any ministry to the property industry to investigate property projects and report any issues to the Prime Minister in the first quarter next year.

The construction ministry will promote programmes focused on building houses for students, workers in industrial zones and low-income people in urban areas as well as programmes supporting housing for people in rural areas.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has ordered the construction ministry to submit plans for developing houses for lease, including social housing and saving funds for housing developments to the Government in the first quarter next year.

Dung entrusted the Ministry of Finance to study, propose and report to the Government in the second quarter of next year regarding property tax in order to reduce speculation and oversee the property use of land and property products and adjust regulations on personal income tax for property trading activities.

The finance ministry will finish the decree on implementing added regulations of the Securities Law which includes property capital raised in the securities market.

The State Bank of Viet Nam (SBV) will also direct commercial banks and credit organisations to ensure a reasonable amount of capital will flow into the property sector according to the general policy on credit management.

The SBV will work with the construction ministry to help credit organisations implement credit policies and activities in restructuring the property market; directing credit organisations to allow investment loans for development projects for sale and lease serving low-income people, workers in industrial zones.

Initially, the banks will limit loans for compensation, site clearance, new projects and luxury property projects and loans for individuals trading property products.

The directive pointed out the SBV must work with the construction ministry to check and continue giving loans for property projects that are nearly finished or able to sell in 2012.

The SBV will continue to check and supervise the provision of property loans and dealing with bad debt.

Dung also asked provincial people’s committees and cities at the central level to check house development projects to achieve cohesive development of social and technical infrastructure and reasonable schedules for large scale developments.

Authorities will withdraw investment licences from projects that do not meet their schedules or are developed too slowly.

Relevant offices will promote property market management and solve obstacles restricting property investment and trade activities to support transparency in the industry.

In recent years, the domestic real estate market has attracted large amounts of capital from domestic and foreign investors and has boosted development, and the legal system has created a favourable environment for the property market.

However, the property market suffers from instability and a lack of transparency, with high prices and complicated development, which is what the government aims to change with these new regulations, while improving housing for low-income groups.

Speculation and prices for property products have increased while trading activities have reduced.

Nguyen Manh Ha, director of House and Real Estate Market Management Department under the construction ministry, said investment in the property sector has not been based on market demand and the market has lacked development plans, which has created a waste of capital and land.

Property market capital has come largely from banks and individuals, while the country does not have medium or long-term credit sources for enterprises and people to invest in, according to Nguyen Minh Ngoc, deputy head of the National University of Economy’s Real Estate and Resource Economy Department.

Rubber exports decline in November

Recent latex exports have fallen due to the current global economic situation, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Last month, the country exported only 60,000 tonnes of latex, down 2,000 tonnes month-on-month. Export turnover in November was only US$225 million, about $7 million less than October.

“This is the third consecutive month the rubber industry has seen a downturn in latex export value,” the ministry affirmed.

The ministry explained that China was the largest importer of Vietnamese latex, accounting for 60 per cent of total export volume. However, China had frozen small quantity shipments from entering through its border gates.

“Since the beginning of August, China has applied measures to limit imports of rubber from Viet Nam through border gates such as Luc Lam and La Phu,” said general secretary of the Viet Nam Rubber Association Tran Thuy Hoa.

Hoa added that this action had significantly affected domestic exports.

In addition, the domestic rubber industry was also affected by the world market.

Demand for autos had dropped strongly in the EU due to the sovereign debt crisis.

Local CA providers handicapped

Local CA service providers have faced obstacles due to Root Digital Certificate Authentication (RootCA), managed by the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC), not embedding on default web browsers such as IE, Firefox or Safari.

To date, the Viet Nam Certification Authority (CA) service market has only six providers licensed by the MIC. These include the VNPT (Viet Nam Posts and Telecommunications Group), Nacencomm, Viettel, the FPT, Bkav and the CK. While most are supposed to provide individual CA, SSL (Secure Socket Layer) – CA for web browsers and Code Signing – CA for software applications, only individual CA is currently dealt in, SSL and code signing being the playground of foreign companies.

As an example, an SSL certificate is a file installed on a secure Web server that identifies a website. This digital certificate establishes the identity and authenticity of the company or merchant so that online shoppers can trust that the website is secure and reliable. In order to verify that these sites are legitimate (they are who they say they are), the companies and their websites are verified by a third party. At present, Vietnamese customers are obliged to use foreign SSL providers such as VeriSign, EnTrust, or GeoTrust if they want to use CA services.

In order to explain why domestic SSL certificates cannot be used, Deputy Director of VNPT-CA Mai Xuan Thanh said that internet browsers do not accept Vietnamese CA, most of which are not named in trust stores. As a result, customers cannot fully trust websites that they are accessing and local SSL cannot take effect in the Vietnamese market.

In mentioning SSL states, Director of the National Center for E-signature Certification Dao Dinh Kha said that local CA providers wanted to deal in SSL, but were inhibited by RootCA not embedding in browsers.

In order for domestic CA providers to market SSL services, Viet Nam needs to urgently work with application vendors such as Microsoft or Firefox to approve RootCA on their default browsers and popular applications.

Globally, the introduction of RootCA on web browsers is gradually becoming popular. China’s RootCA Firefox has been accepted while Japan’s RootCA has been registered since January 2009.

In reality, RootCA is promoting a number of activities to bring digital certificates to the operating system via web browsers such as MS OS, Sun, Linux or Firefox, IE, Safari. Vice Minister of the MIC Nguyen Minh Hong said that the position of Viet Nam’s RootCA would be upgraded when it became a unit run directly by the ministry instead of the Directorate for IT Application Promotion, enabling the centre to be better positioned to deal with foreign agencies and businesses.

Source: VietnamNet.