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Vietnam Economy Forum

If VN is a democratic country, PM Nguyen Tan Dung and his cabinet fell down in last year. The reason is that he was too indulgent of state corporations, government's darling units. However, the state corporations are loss-making constantly, severe corruption, rampant violations... lead to bad loans (of state corps) fall to the banks.
 
Hanoi metro due for operation by 2016
Updated : Thu, July 7, 2011,9:02 PM (GMT+0700) | tuoitrenews.vn

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A pilot metro rail line in Hanoi is expected to start service by 2016, with the first survey drill for the project set to begin Thursday evening at the Hanoi station.

The pilot 12.5km-long metro line linking Nhon, in Hanoi’s Tu Liem suburban district and the Hanoi railway station in the inner district of Hoan Kiem, includes a 8.5 km elevated section and 4km underground section from Thu Le to Hanoi station.

The Nhon-Hanoi line is an important transport project not only for Hanoi , but also for the whole country, contributing to reducing traffic congestion and to sustainable development, Marie-Cecile Tardieu-Smith, economic counsellor of the French Embassy in Hanoi, told reporters in Hanoi on July 7. Success of the pilot line will facilitate implementation of other metro lines in Hanoi , she said.

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The US$1 billion project received financial support from major donors such as the French Economic, Finance and Industry Ministry, the French Development Agency, the Asian Development Bank and the European Investment Bank.

Alain Bechereau, from French consultancy Systra, said soil testing was required before construction of the underground tunnels and his company aimed to define technical designs for underground line stations and tunnels of the metro line, as well as select appropriate machines for the construction and choose international bidders.

Work on construction of depots was scheduled for November, while work on the elevated section was to begin in February, 2012 and the underground section in November 2012, according to the consultant.

The project started last September, with work on the train depot in the presence of Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung on the occasion of the millennium anniversary of the capital city.

There will be 12 stations along the line which is designed for a maximum speed of 80 km per hour and capable of carrying over 900 passengers per train. It will take passengers about 20 minutes to travel the whole length of the line.

The soil testing was witnessed by Nguyen Van Khoi, Deputy Chairman of the Hanoi Municipal People’s Committee and Marie-Cecile Tardieu-Smith, the French Embassy’s economic counsellor.


Hanoi metro due for operation by 2016 - Breaking news, sociey news from Vietnam on TuoiTreNews
 
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Vietnam's economy loses its roar
By Chris Brummitt on September 11, 2012

BAT TRANG, Vietnam (AP) — Four years ago, Le Van Tho borrowed $200,000 to build a new ceramic factory on rice fields bordering Hanoi. But with the economy slowing, orders have slumped this year and she recently laid off almost half her workers.

It's also a grim picture down the road: bowls, statues and flower vases gather dust in export showrooms as shoppers in a recession-hit Europe and sluggish United States stop spending.

Once seen as an emerging Asian dynamo racing to catch up with its neighbors, Vietnam's economy is mired in malaise, dragged down by debt-hobbled banks, inefficient and corrupt state-owned enterprises and bouts of inflation.

Vietnam's one-party Communist government has promised reforms, but it appears unwilling to give up the reins of an economy that has delivered fortunes to top officials and their business partners.



Vietnam's economy loses its roar - Businessweek
 
He he, China will collapse and Tibet, East Turkistan, Inner mongolia, Manchu Quo.. will be independence states, and Viets (Yue) will regain Nan Yue Quo and let cantonese and Hakka create new Nan Yue Quo included Guangdong Quangxi and Fujian.:D
Oh yeah, I love our old map :D
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Even a bad news is a good news for Vietnam. Just few years ago, nobody cared of the vietnamese economy. Now it is worth an article in the Wallstreet Journal.




September 10, 2012, 2:59 p.m. ET

Vietnam Loses Glow as a Market Darling
Bad Bank Loans Cloud Country's Outlook; Talk of Bailout


By JAMES HOOKWAY in Hanoi and ALEX FRANGOS in Hong Kong

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The landscape in Vietnam is littered with stalled construction projects. Above, unfinished villas in Hanoi.

Until a few years ago, Vietnam was one of the world's hottest emerging markets. Now it faces an urgent task: fix a beleaguered banking system or watch its economy continue to slip behind faster-growing neighbors.

Piles of bad loans following the financial crisis have dragged down growth in Vietnam and left banks weakened and reluctant to lend.

The government recently acknowledged that nonperforming loans—many made to inefficient state-owned companies—could be as high as 10% of the banking system, substantially higher than reported by individual banks. Fitch Ratings analysts think the number is as high as 15%.

A record number of firms are declaring bankruptcy, and in the sprawling urban areas encompassing Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, the landscape is littered with stalled construction projects as builders run out of cash or put on the brakes as demand for condominiums and office space dries up.

Vietnam fought off rumors in recent days that it was seeking an International Monetary Fund bailout for its banking system. An IMF spokeswoman said no requests for aid had been made. State Bank of Vietnam Deputy Gov. Le Minh Hung said in a statement on the government's website that the country had no intention of seeking a rescue.

Heard on the Street

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However, the IMF and others have been advising Vietnam on how to implement a domestically financed bailout that would restore its banks to health. In its latest economic review the fund said that "quick and comprehensive action" was needed to solidify weak banks and put the economy on more solid ground.

Fears over Vietnam's banks intensified in August when one of the country's most prominent tycoons, Nguyen Duc Kien, was arrested for allegedly improperly lending money to real-estate projects. Efforts to reach Mr. Kien, who now runs a number of private investment funds and owns Hanoi's main professional soccer club, have been unsuccessful. Stocks dropped in the days following the arrest, and the Ho Chi Minh Stock Index is down 18% since the beginning of May.

Vietnam shares fell 2.2% Monday, led by selling in property-related stocks after state media reports suggested real-estate developers are trying to cut prices to boost sales of apartments.

Song Da Thang Long Joint Stock Co. is among the local developers that have struggled. In July it secured an additional loan of 300 billion dong, or around $14 million, from the state-owned Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam to help complete its sprawling, 13-tower U-Silk City development in Hanoi's suburbs. The project began in 2009 at the height of Vietnam's property boom but quickly fell victim to the subsequent property slump and soaring interest rates.

Some question whether this cash injection is enough to keep the project alive, and Song Da Thang Long's stock price has fallen about 60% in the past six months. Chairman Nguyen Tri Dung has said the firm is trying to arrange additional credit lines with other lenders. He couldn't be reached for comment.

Economists warn that Vietnam has entered a dangerous cycle where banks, saddled with bad debts, are unwilling to lend, making it harder for businesses to invest. That feeds into slower growth, which in turn makes it harder for companies to pay back loans, again harming the banks.

The result is that Vietnam's economy is likely to grow below its potential for years to come, unless stronger steps are taken to clean up the banks, economists say.

"I don't think there's any quick fix to a problem like this, as you see in the West. It takes time to work through a solution" to a banking crisis, says Gareth Leather, an economist at Capital Economics. He figures Vietnam's economy will grow at closer to a 5% rate in coming years than the 8% the country enjoyed through much of the previous decade. Although higher than growth rates in the West, 5% is considered slow for a developing Asian country like Vietnam and might not be fast enough to generate sufficient jobs to keep its growing population employed.

The government this month revised its forecast for 2012 growth down to 5.2% from 6% previously.

Vietnam's leaders have acknowledged that a fix is needed. Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung in March approved a three-year restructuring plan for the banking sector designed to strengthen the country's largest banks and encourage a series of mergers among smaller lenders, but officials appear uncertain about how to put the blueprint into effect.

Plans to launch a "bad bank" to buy up distressed assets have been discussed, but a foreign investor familiar with government discussions say implementing such a solution is being delayed by Hanoi's lack of expertise in managing a modern banking system.

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Laborers a year ago worked at a Hanoi construction site, but the real-estate market has worsened since then.

People familiar with government plans say there are proposals to let foreign banks increase stakes in domestic banks from the current cap of 20% in some instances to as high as 49%. Another plan would allow majority stakes, but with a time limit of five years, after which the foreign banks would have to divest.

Government officials didn't respond to requests for comment.

It isn't clear if foreign banks will be interested in increasing their commitments without having the influence of being a permanent majority owner. There are more than a dozen foreign banks with stakes in domestic banks, including HSBC Holdings PLC, Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. and Société Générale.

Many of the foreign banks are dealing with troubles at home, and are said to be reluctant to double-down without assurances of more control over local partners. One foreign banker said at least some of the foreign banks are looking to exit Vietnam at the right price, rather than put more money in.

While the banking situation has deteriorated, Vietnam has tackled other problems by taming double-digit inflation and stabilizing its currency, in part through interest-rate increases. Vietnam has relatively little foreign debt and its trade deficit has shrunk this year.

Some think the government might be able to afford to run a bailout of its banks by itself. The government's debt-to-GDP ratio is about 44%, and the annual budget deficit has fallen to less than 4% of GDP last year from 9% in 2009, well below levels of financially strained economies in Europe.

But because of the large role the state plays in industry, the government has so-called contingent liabilities to back up debt in state-owned institutions. Fitch Ratings figures those liabilities equal an additional 10% of Vietnam's $125 billion GDP.

In the meantime, investors are waiting for more action to resolve the banking situation. Louis Nguyen, chief executive of Saigon Asset Management, which invests in a broad range of Vietnamese companies, said his firm tried to launch a fund last year in conjunction with a large Vietnamese bank to invest in problem loans.

But the fund was put on hold when he found the banks were unwilling to acknowledge problems on their books and sell loans at any sort of discount to their face value.

Bad Loans Weigh Down Vietnam - WSJ.com
—Nguyen Anh Thu in Hanoi contributed to this article.
 
Let me post this article. It is really worth for 5 minute reading.




Vietnam ranks as world's second happiest nation

The Vietnam News/Asia News Network
Tuesday, Jun 19, 2012

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HA NOI - Despite residents' constant groaning over traffic jams and overcrowded hospitals and schools, Viet Nam is considered the second happiest country in the world, behind Costa Rica, with Colombia third.

The ranking, the Happy Planet Index, was compiled and released by the New Economics Foundation, a UK independent think tank.

The Happy Planet Index ranks countries based on the health and happiness they produce per unit of environmental input, using global data on life expectancy, happiness and environmental sustainability.

Accordingly, Costa Rica, Viet Nam and Colombia live the longest, happiest, most sustainable lives.

The ranking this year marks a rise for Viet Nam compared to previous years. It ranked 12th and 5th in 2006 and in 2009, respectively.

Besides Viet Nam, the rest of the countries in the top 10 are from South America, including Belize, El Salvador, Jamaica, Panama, Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Guatemala.

The US ranks 105th and the UK ranks 41 on the index.

The lowest-ranked countries are Qatar, Chad and Botswana.

Saamah Abdallah, a senior researcher at the foundation, said rich and poor nations face different challenges but their ultimate goal is the same.

"The index not only reveals how far every country has to travel before it achieves good lives that don't cost the earth - or within its fair share of planetary resources - but also the direction it needs to move in," he said.

The independent think tank aims to improve quality of life by promoting innovative solutions to economic, environmental and social issues.
Vietnam ranks as world's second happiest nation
 
Vietnam's first alumina plant to operate in October
| Tuoi Tre | Sep 12, 2012 10:14 am

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The $460-million Tan Rai alumina plant in Lam Dong province has almost been completed and the facility will be put into operation in October 2012, said the Lam Dong bauxite-alumina project management board.

Tran Duong Le, the board’s deputy director, released the information at a meeting between the board and the provincial authorities yesterday, adding that up to 99 per cent of all the main work items of the plant, including a powerhouse, an ore selection facility, conveyor lines and pumping systems, have been completed.

Sub-works, such as the Cai Bang Lake dam, the general repair quarter, the workers’ dorms, and parking lots are also available.

If there had not been problems with a number of projects and equipment, the country's first alumina plant could have run with no load sooner – within this month, Le said.

The contractor of the plant, China Aluminum International Engineering Co. (Chalieco), a subsidiary of state-owned Aluminum Corp of China, or Chinalco, said it has accelerated repairs so that the plant can operate next month.

The National Coal and Mineral Industries Group (Vinacomin), which owns the plant, has forecast Tan Rai's alumina output at 300,000 tonnes this year, increasing to 500,000 tonnes in 2013 and 650,000 tonnes in 2014.

Alumina is a white granular material, a little finer than table salt, and is properly called aluminum oxide, which is used to produce aluminum.

Vinacomin and China's Yunnan Metallurgical Group have entered into a memorandum of understanding, under which the former has agreed to sell 600,000-900,000 tonnes of alumina a year to the latter to feed its smelter, Yunnan Aluminum Industry Co. Ltd.

The group, which is Vietnam's top coal producer, has also been developing the Nhan Co alumina project in the Central Highlands province of Dak Nong, with expected initial output of 300,000 tonnes in 2014 and 650,000 tonnes by 2016.
Vietnam Investment Review - Top News - Vietnam's first alumina plant to operate in October
 
The Wall Street Journal or any other foreign news agencies seem not to understand that it is on the best of Viet Nam's interest to under report our GDP growth:smokin:

Anyone wants to see how Viet Nam is really doing, go to skyscrapercity and look for yourselves, the cranes are keep popping up like there is no tomorrow
 

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