Vietnam Economy Forum

[BoQ77]

 

[frequency]

has anyone interest in real estates?

• Home

• › Economy

Updated
April, 29 2015 17:05:28


Metro line to greatly impact property market: CBRE

The first metro line in 2020 will impact HCM City's property market. — VNS File Photo

HCM CITY (Biz Hub) — The first metro line in HCM City will become operational in 2020 and will greatly impact the city's property market, a CBRE Viet Nam report released on Wednesday in HCM City revealed.

Marc Townsend, Managing Director of CBRE Vietnam, said the report had concluded that the introduction of a metro system will bring about a number of benefits. In particular, it will improve the ability of the population to access employment, retail and recreational activities.

The experience among other countries also suggested that one of the most significant impacts of a metro line project was the effect it would have on property values, he said. Rail transit development would bring many noticeable changes to areas around transit stations: land prices would surge, real-estate development would boom and retailers and offices would relocate.

"In theory, a home located near a public mass transit system would command a higher rent or sales price than the one that was further away because good public transport allowed those living nearby to travel more easily to and from destinations that are important to them," he said.

"This has been well proven through experiences of other countries where the premium for housing prices in locations close to public transport ranged from 6 per cent to 45 per cent."

However, he also said, "The impact of a new public transport system on housing prices depended on a number of mediating factors, including housing tenure and type, the extent and reliability of the public system, the strength of the housing market, the nature of the surrounding developments and so on. In a metro area, with a strong housing market and a reliable public transport system that effectively connected residents with jobs and other destinations, the price premium may well be much higher than the average."

Construction began in August 2012, and the metro is scheduled to become operational in 2017. — Photo VNA

CBRE believed that in the future, when the metro line became operational, the premium for land prices on sites located within a 10-minute walk from stations could be up to 10 to 20 per cent against sites in other areas.

In terms of new launches, CBRE expected that condominium supply in District 2 and District 9 would surge by 58 per cent and 200 per cent in 2017, respectively. Similarly, a 10 per cent increase in retail podium gross floor area (GFA) would be reported in District 2 in the next three years.

Regarding land-use impact, Duong Thuy Dung, Head of the Research and Consulting Department, said: "Better connectivity will allow commercial activities to be decentralised away from the congested Commercial Business District (CBD). This will also allow occupancy costs for the city to be controlled and managed by being able to offer alternative locations away from the CBD, but it will still be well connected. It is expected that new clusters of commercial properties will arise along the metro lines, especially for properties in the mid-end levels."

With 186,000 riders per day expected for the first line in HCM City, obvious opportunities will be seen in the retail sector where a retail mall is usually incorporated in a community to benefit from commuter traffic. On the other hand, the metro line will also help in expanding the retail catchment area by providing vehicle cost savings to remote shoppers, encouraging them to come to the city centre for shopping.

The construction site of the first station of the first metro line of Vietnam in District 1,

"The first metro line in 2020 will cut journey times by at least half meaning that anywhere with decent access to these lines will really benefit. For this reason, we can expect mixed-use developments along the metro line to include condos, apartments, offices, hotels, restaurants, shops, outdoor activities, educational institutions and cultural and other attractions, just as can be seen today in cities, such as Hong Kong, Bangkok or Singapore." — VNS

Yes, I am. Anything good to buy atm?

 

[CCP]

Yes, I am. Anything good to buy atm?

Buy houses in GTA and Vancouver.

 

[Viet]

WOW great news. the new future car assembly that will produce 100,000 cars a year. that will give our car industry a great boost. no info about how much money will be put on the table, investment sum, but from the news, the plant will produce Peugeot 3008.

Sino-French DPCA plans Peugeot assembly in Vietnam

English.news.cn 2015-05-20 20:51:40

WUHAN, May 20 (Xinhua) -- French carmaker PSA Peugeot Citroen's Chinese joint venture is planning to start assembling a Peugeot SUV model in Vietnam, the company told Xinhua Wednesday, in the latest move to tap into the rising car market of Southeast Asia.


Dongfeng Peugeot Citroen Automobile (DPCA), a joint venture of PSA and Chinese automaker Dongfeng Motor Corporation, is aiming to start assembling Peugeot 3008 compact SUVs in Vietnam this year in cooperation with local carmaker THACO Group, a DPCA spokesman said.

It marks a fresh attempt by PSA and Dongfeng to expand their presence in Southeast Asia, which is expected to overtake Japan to become the world's fifth-largest vehicle market this year.

DPCA had previously said it planned to build a new auto plant in Southeast Asia, and the company has set a target of selling 100,000 cars in the region annually by 2020.

DPCA currently has three plants in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province, where Dongfeng is headquartered, and is building its fourth factory in Sichuan Province.

Industry observers say Southeast Asia is an important overseas destination for PSA and Dongfeng as both are eyeing expansion outside the saturated auto market of Europe and China, where car sales have slowed in recent years.

 

[Jlaw]

Vietnam is going to implode soon. The tall tale signs are visible.


Vietnam's public debt is rapidly approaching limit: finance ministry

Vietnam's government is currently under some distress because public debt is "rapidly" increasing, approaching the limit set at 65 percent of gross domestic product, the Ministry of Finance said Thursday.

The pressure was because the government's debt structure was "not really sustainable" -- using short-term loans to fund long-term projects, Truong Hung Long, chief of the ministry's Department of Debt Management, said.

Around 16.1 percent of state revenues will be spent on debt payments this year, which is below the limit of 25 percent approved by the National Assembly, the department reported.

The ratio was 13.8 percent last year and 15.2 percent in 2013.

A recent report by the assembly's finance committee showed that the government was supposed to spend up to 31 percent of its revenue paying public debt this year, news website Saigon Times reported.

Asked about the difference, Nguyen Minh Tan, deputy chief of the ministry's Department of State Budget, told the website that the higher estimate also covered loans on-lent to a third party.

The ministry late last year reported that Vietnam’s public debt was over $84 billion, about 60.3 percent of GDP.

In the meantime, Long said: "Since the country's resources are still limited, it is necessary to borrow money for investment.

"A huge public debt is therefore inevitable."

Foreign debt

At the meeting on Thursday, Long also dismissed claims that Vietnam's public debt position will be affected by the state bank's recent devaluation of the dong by 1 percent against the US dollar.

He said 46 percent of the government debt was external and had a diversified currency composition, with only half of the foreign debt in US dollars.

Even though the rate adjustment can affect US dollar borrowings, the effect can be offset by loans in other currencies, Long said.

At a meeting early this year, Nguyen Quoc Anh, a senior official from the Ministry of Investment and Planning said that with the exchange rate's hike, Vietnam's external debt will increase by about VND10 trillion ($458.8 million).

He said 80 percent of Vietnam's external debt is in US dollars, much higher than the figure reported by the finance ministry.

In March, the central bank announced that it aimed to keep the dong depreciation at less than 2 percent for the whole of 2015.


Vietnam's public debt is rapidly approaching limit: finance ministry | Politics | Thanh Nien Daily

 

[biendong]

Hanoi Haiphong highway, the first stage is finished

 

[ComradeNam]

Current PM Nguyen Tan Dung is skill reformist. He did a lot of reform lately current economic get better and better. Compare to the other previous dumb comservative and pro China; Do Muoi, Nong Duc Manh lead country for 20 years nothing is done, no progress make. That is being said, leadership is as important as AQ. A dumb conservative leader rule will lead country to poor and collapse, good example; Tu Duc of the Nguyen Dynasty, a weak emperor and very Chineseist. Anything associate with Chinese, nothing can be good, not to blame them for our down fall, but blame dumb azz for follow them, especially the pro Chinese faction current in Vietnam, northerner mostly.

 

[JaiMin]

Good news guy

Samsung Display to invest extra $3 billion to boost Vietnam output: Source
Reuters | Aug 7, 2015, 03.09 PM IST

SEOUL: A subsidiary of Samsung Electronics plans to increase its investment in Vietnam by an additional $3 billion to boost display module production capacity, a person with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

The plan comes as Samsung Electronics ramps up manufacturing capacity in Vietnam to lower production costs amid intensifying price competition in the smartphone market.

The investment by Samsung Display comes on top of a $1 billion it has earmarked for a new OLED display module assembly plant in Bac Ninh province, which began production in the first quarter.

The fresh $3 billion in spending will be spread out over several years until 2020, the person said, adding that the specifics of the investment have not been decided. The person declined to be identified as he was not authorized to speak on the matter.

Samsung Display's annual capital spending has averaged 3.9 trillion won ($3.4 billion) in the past three years.

Samsung Electronics, the world's top smartphone maker, in November applied for approval to invest $3 billion in building a second smartphone factory in northern Vietnam.

 

[JaiMin]

Goods news guys

Vietnam The most investor friendly country in ASEAN
Aug 14, 2015

• 126 views
• 0 Comments

• Share on LinkedIn
• Share on Facebook
• Share on Twitter

Lawyer in Vietnam Oliver Massmann
The most investor friendly country in ASEAN
An Investor's perspective
By Oliver Massmann
Vietnam is the most investment worthy place in ASEAN – this is a common response of many foreign investors when being asked about their investment plan in the upcoming years. This is not an exaggeration about Vietnam’s current investment environment as well as its potential but is in fact based on valid and practical grounds, where improved economic diversification, international integration, reformed investment legislation and good economic policy must be counted.
Economic recovery and stable development
According to a recent statistics by the General Statistics Office, GDP growth of Vietnam over the first six months is quite high, at 6.28%. This is the highest growth for the past five years and could be far over the targeted growth for 2015. Not only the Vietnamese Government is optimistic about the economic development of the country this year, other international organizations also provide positive forecast about Vietnam’s GDP growth in 2015. For example, ANZ maintains its forecast about Vietnam’s GDP growth to be at 6.5% in 2015 and 2016 based on positive signals such as increased domestic demand, increasing attraction of foreign direct investment of the manufacturing industry and consumer confidence index reaching a new peak in June. Vietnam is also the only country among the nine East Asian countries that World Bank raises its GDP forecast in 2015 compared with its previous forecast at the end of 2014. In addition, the inflation rate is controlled by the Government with Consumption Price Index to be in the range of 3-5% for the whole year, which is far below the maximum allowed inflation rate of 5% in 2015. These two important macroeconomic indices have proved the Government’s success to a certain extent in recovering and maintaining stable development of the economy.
Government’s sound economic policy and positive results

Together with macroeconomic stability and controlled inflation, the Government of Vietnam is fiercely improving the business and investment environment and making great attempts to achieve key economic indicators of top regional countries until 2016. Resolution No. 19/NQ-CP/2015 of the Government dated 12 March 2015 has set out the Government’s strong commitments and positive changes to improve the business environment and strengthen the economy’s ability to compete in 2015 and 2016 by pushing for reforms to reduce time-consuming and burdensome administrative procedures; enhancing governmental offices’ transparency and accountability; and adopting international standards. Up to 01 January 2015, the total time for tax compliance is reduced to 370 hours per year, which is an impressive decrease compared with 872 hours annually according to the 2013 statistics. Time for tax declaration and payment is also reduced to 121.5 hours per year, with possibility of online tax declaration and payment. In 2014, 95% of the enterprises have conducted online tax payment compared with 65% of previous years.

With the implementation of single window regime at international sea ports, it is expected that goods clearance time would be reduced from 21 days to 14 days for exports and 13 days for imports. Enterprises would benefit from the reduction of 10-20% in costs and 30% in customs clearance time if the national customs single window regime is fully implemented.

Not only in the tax and customs sectors, the Government also managed to reform administrative procedures in insurance sector. The total time for insurance payment is decreased by 100 hours, from 335 hours to 235 hours per year.

Vietnam’s regional and international integration
Investors consider that Vietnam’s current efforts to integrate into the world economy by negotiating many Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) also brings them better investment opportunities. In particular, Vietnam, together with other 12 countries, including its major trading partners like Japan and the United States is negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) with market size of 800 million people (accounting for 38% of global GDP). Vietnam would be the largest beneficiary of this trade pact as a result of its strong trade ties with the United States, and its highly competitive positions in industries such as manufacturing where China is gradually losing its competitive advantage. Statistics shows that by participating in the TPP, Vietnam’s GDP would add an additional increase of 13.6% to the baseline scenario.

Beside the TPP, the EU- Vietnam FTA will also unlock huge opportunities to Vietnam such as tariff reductions, trade facilitation, investment attraction, expansion of markets to 27 EU countries, sustainable development and economic restructuring. 99% of Vietnam’s exports to the EU will be entitled with 0% import duty, leading to an increase of 30-40% in exports and 20%-25% in imports.

Vietnam and nine ASEAN countries will establish an ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) by end of this year. This is a potential and dynamic market with over 620 million consumers, 60% of which is under the age of 35. This community, once established, would be the 7th largest economy in the world – 4th largest by 2050 if growth trends continue. AEC will be an attractive single production hub and facilitate international trade. The aim is to remove barriers to investment and enhance free movement of skilled labours. Investors can have a production base in one country and sell their products across the rest. Many foreign investors have started the trend and relocated their production base from other countries, especially from China, to Vietnam as shown in examples below.

Other FTAs that Vietnam has just concluded are Vietnam – Korea FTA and Vietnam – Eurasian Economic Union. These FTAs open the doors for Vietnam to export its textiles, leather, wood furniture, and agricultural products, etc. These FTAs are driving foreign investors to increase the investment capital and expand their businesses in Vietnam. The FTAs are expected to create a second investment wave in Vietnam after the first wave when Vietnam acceded to the WTO in 2007.

Second investment wave in Vietnam

It is no longer in theory. Vietnam is actually benefitting the most from growing wages in China, with more and more manufacturers shifting their production to Vietnam. foreign investors of a number of high-tech investment projects in Vietnam have decided to increase the investment capital and expand their production activities to timely grab the opportunities that FTAs create when they come into effect.

Recently, Bel Vietnam, a famous producer of French cheese in Vietnam has started constructing a 17,000 m2 new factory in Binh Duong with the total investment capital of US$17 million. The factory is expected to come into operation by June 2016 and full operation will be in 2020 with its capacity to be 9 times as much as the old factory. According to the General Director of Bel Vietnam, the new factory will be used as a regional supply centre, focusing on South East Asian market to take advantage of the AEC. The new factory will also serve as an R&D centre for products of the group.

LG Group is another case. Its initial investment capital was US$ 300 million to build a factory in Hai Phong. However, it then decided to increase the capital to US$ 1.5 billion. The factory is the largest complex in the region in an area of 800,000 m2, which will manufacture and assemble high tech products such as TVs, mobile phones, vacuum cleaners, etc. for export and domestic consumption.

Samsung in its export-oriented investment strategy announced its increase in investment capital by US$ 3 billion on 10 November 2014. Samsung is currently operating US$ 1 billion, US$ 2 billion and US$ 2.5 billion plants in Thai Nguyen and Bac Ninh Province. The additional US$ 3 billion is used to expand the US$ 2 billion plant to produce handsets. This is another example of production shifting away from China as a result of South Korea’s low exports to this country.

Other investors in textile sector are also preparing their entry into Vietnam’s market to grasp the advantages of the upcoming TPP. Since members of the TPP do not include China, India and Thailand, who are the direct competitors of Vietnam in the textile industry, Vietnam will have price related competitive advantage over these countries due to tax preferential treatment that TPP countries grant to Vietnam. This is critical considering the fact that China and the EU are still studying about the possibility to negotiate an FTA with each other. Up to now, Itochu Group from Japan has purchased 3% of Vinatex’s shares at US$ 9.25 million and invested in certain textile projects in Vietnam. A Taiwanese textile group has also increased its capital investment by US$ 320 million to conduct a complete production process in Vietnam. It is expected that with the TPP, Vietnam’s textile export turnover will reach US$ 30 billion in 2020 and US$ 55 billion in 2030. Not only in the textile industry, there has recently been a range of relocation of production facilities for low value goods such as footwear from China to Vietnam as investors search for lower production costs. According to 2014 statistics, more than 70% of foreign direct investment projects in Vietnam was in the manufacturing and assembly processing sectors. This number has already included low value-added textile and material manufacturing from China.

New investment legislation

At the same time, the Government is really aware of the importance of institutional reforms in improving the business climate. It is becoming more important when the new trade pacts are coming into effect very soon and institutional reforms are among conditions of these agreements. New laws considered the most liberal and investor-friendly in the region, such as the new Enterprise Law, Investment Law and a decree on Public Private Partnership, have been adopted. Barriers to business and investment are removed to pave the way for an open, transparent and full-of-opportunity environment for foreign investors. The 2014 Investment Law makes a great attempt to reduce the number of prohibited business activities and conditional business activities. More importantly, the 2014 Investment Law for the first time includes provisions regulating M&A activities. Accordingly, starting from 01 July 2015, foreign investors will not need to undergo lengthy investment certificate procedures when buying stakes in Vietnamese target companies. The change will hopefully end years of uncertainty and frustration faced by foreign investors eyeing Vietnam market entry or expansion via M&A. The second wave of M&A seems to already start in 2014 when six deals are reportedly made every week. The total M&A deals in 2014 was 313 with value of US$2.5 billion, a 15% increase compared with the previous year. Notable deals in 2014 include the acquisition of 19 Cash & Carry and their related real property of Metro by Berli Jucker with deal value of US$ 879 million; Vingroup bought 70% of Ocean Retail Company’s capital; Mondelez International bought 80% of Kinh Do JSC’s capital in sweets manufacturing section at US$370 million; and Standard Chartered Private Equity acquired a significant minority stake in An Giang Plant Protection JSC at US$90 million. The business community highly hopes that total value of M&A deals could reach US$20 billion in the second wave (2014-2018).

Meanwhile, the 2014 Enterprise Law grants certain flexibilities for investors to manage their entities in Vietnam by allowing multiple legal representatives and carry out all types of business activities provided that they are not prohibited by law.

Potential privatization market

In addition, the Government aims at privatizing 289 state-owned enterprises in 2015 and highly emphasized on substantive and efficient privatization. The number of commercial banks is forced to be reduced to 13-15 in 2017 and smaller banks under the pressure of competition and capital requirements will look for new foreign investors to achieve expansion. The Government is also aware that privatization process must increase the number of shares sold and ensure a win-win solution for both investors and the government. During the 2000- 2013 period, the number of state-owned enterprises fell by almost 50% from 5,800 to 3,135. Privatization was reported to be successful with over 80% growths in earnings, while 40% had growth of over 10% following privatization. These successes drive foreign investors in their investment in these very potential areas.

Relaxed foreign ownership in public listed companies

In an attempt to ease burdens on investors, on 26 June 2015, the Government issued Decree No. 60/2015/ND-CP to provide more flexibilities in foreign ownership ratio in public listed companies, up to 100% in certain cases. Decree 60 also allows foreign investors to make unlimited investment in Government bonds, bonds guaranteed by the Government, bonds of the provincial authority or enterprises. Foreign investors may also invest in securities investment fund certificates, shares of securities investment companies, non-voting shares of public listed companies, derivative securities, and depository receipts without any limit.

Government’s reduced monopoly over distribution and production of power, petrol and coal

In Vietnam’s energy market, EVN has long been known as the state monopoly in transmission and distribution of electricity. Vietnam still features the Single Buyer Model with EVN’s purchase of all electricity generated from on-grid independent power projects. Investors find it extremely hard to negotiate the Power Purchase Agreement with EVN. Meanwhile, EVN keeps operating at loss with huge debts to PetroVietnam and Vinacomin.

Although the decree is still in draft, the proposed adoption of the list of goods and services subject to state monopoly will then limit the power of EVN. The State only maintains its monopoly over the operation of multi-purposes hydropower and nuclear power plants, transmission, moderation as well as operation of the national electricity system of big power plants and those having special importance in terms of socio-economic and national defence and security. Trading in petroleum and oil is also no longer subject to state monopoly.
With an open and competitive market, foreign investors will find it more attractive to invest in this sector. They are now no longer required to sell the electricity they generate to EVN but can sell it to other distribution companies or even transmit/ distribute through their own system.

Foreign investors will also no longer face obstacles in negotiating the power price with the EVN. According to a recent report by Ban Viet Securities Joint Stock Company, although power retail price in Vietnam has doubled during the past ten years, from VND 781/kWh (3.5 US cents/ kWh) in 2005 to VND1,622/ kWh (7.3 US cents/ kWh) in 2015, this is still low compared with other countries like Cambodia, Thailand, and Singapore in the APEC. This is among major reasons that discourage investors from pooling their capital into the sector.

However, power price is planned to increase from 2016 according to power increase schedule, which aims to ensure capital recovery and reasonable profits for investors. Accordingly, power retail price may increase at 8-9 US cents/ kWh in 2020, equivalent to an increase by 18.4% within the next five years. Power price should also reflect the demand and supply in the market. Foreign investors then find more incentives when making their investment decision.

Conclusion

WTO Country Limitation of market access* Country Limitation of market access*
Malaysia medium Myanmar high
Indonesia medium Cambodia medium
Philippines medium Laos medium
Singapore low India high
Thailand medium China medium
Brunei high Vietnam low

Vietnam ties in first place with Singapore, thus it provides highest possible protection for investment

Vietnam is a country of changes and currently offering increasing opportunities for foreign businesses. The underlying strength of the economy is reflected in, among others, controlled macroeconomic indicators, strong productivity gains and extensive integration into regional and global economy. It is now exactly time for foreign investors to start their business plans and grasp the upcoming clear opportunities.


---o0o---
Please do not hesitate to contact Mr. Oliver Massmann under omassmann@duanemorris.com if you have any questions on the above. Oliver Massmann is the General Director of Duane Morris Vietnam LLC.


Source:https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/vietnam-most-investor-friendly-country-asean-oliver-massmann

@NiceGuy, @Yorozuya ,@Viet ,@vtnsx ,@xesy ,@BoQ77 ,@Rechoice

 

[JaiMin]

Vietnam yields cautionary tale over Chinese investment
Gavin Bowring, FT Confidential Research
Author alerts
13 comments | China’s new charm offensive in Asia – using infrastructure development to garner soft power at the expense of rivals US and Japan – has reached new heights in recent weeks. Multi-billion US dollar deals with strategic partners such as Sri Lanka and Pakistan aside, even countries with reservations about China’s rise have begun taking a more pragmatic view toward using China’s huge foreign exchange reserves to their benefit

Earlier this month, Indonesian leaders travelled to Beijing seeking to tap financing for power and transport projects, notwithstanding the new administration’s strong emphasis on both national and maritime security. Chinese companies are challenging Japanese bids for high speed rail contracts in Malaysia and Thailand. This week, a team from Indian Railways flew to Beijing to discuss a potential Delhi-Chennai high speed rail link.

Yet in spite of the huge stashes of money available in Beijing, Chinese financing for existing energy projects in Vietnam – an economy with high dependency on China – has been all but frozen as a result of bilateral tensions over the South China Sea, according to research by Asean Confidential, a research service at the Financial Times.

Power gripOutwardly, tensions have been temporarily patched up. Government officials on both sides have agreed to paper over mutual differences. Official bilateral trade has grown 15 per cent year on year, and in late September a new Asia Development Bank-funded expressway connecting Hanoi, Vietnam’s capital, with the Chinese border at Lao Cai was formerly inaugurated.

But since May’s anti-China riots, Chinese lenders have effectively frozen credit lines to many Vietnamese engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts, leaving a number of projects in limbo and having forced some into restructuring. Unless this changes, Vietnam will have to rely heavily on South Korean and Japanese financing and subcontracting to fill the void.

What remains unclear, however, is whether South Korea and Japan are either willing or able to finance a planned 55 GW build-out between 2014 and 2030, with 29.5 GW of coal-fired generation targeted by 2020 alone (see map). The exposure of both countries to Vietnam is already high, potentially making them wary of further ratcheting up involvement.


Source: Asean Confidential







Many of these projects are already into their first phase of development, and are heavily invested by Japanese and Korean companies – which account for roughly 60 per cent of cumulative foreign direct investment (FDI) stock, with companies such as Marubeni, Sojitz, Kepco, Daelim, and Hyundai Heavy Industries taking the lead backed by Japanese official development assistance.

The problem, however, is that the EPC contracts for many of these projects have been sub-contracted to state-owned Chinese consortiums, with sometimes up to 95 per cent of the total EPC value going to Chinese firms. These sub-contractors are in turn financed by export credits and concessional loans from Chinese policy lenders such as the China Ex-Im Bank – thus creating the vulnerability to a freeze in Chinese finance.

How far can diversification go?In the meantime Vietnam is seeking to rapidly diversify both its investment partners and its energy mix. Recently concluded or announced power deals include participation by not only Japanese and Korean companies, but also those from Thailand, Malaysia, India and Russia.

Perhaps of even greater significance – although still inconclusive – is the revived momentum in negotiations with ExxonMobil over a long-delayed $10bn gas extraction deal, which would include onshore gas-fired power plants. With Asia’s fourth largest reserves of natural gas, independent estimates suggest that gas fields in undisputed waters off south Vietnam alone could generate an additional 20GW in coming decades.

This dovetails with the government’s push to reduce its dependency on refined fuel imports, resulting in a recent foreign investment boom in new refineries (on paper, a minimum $12bn in new investments through 2020), driving the share prices of PetroVietnam Gas – which accounts for almost 20 per cent of the Vietnamese stock market capitalization – to astronomical heights this year. Nuclear plants are also envisioned in the much longer term, attracting interest from Western, Japanese and Korean industry participants.

Nevertheless, while Vietnam could manage to diversify its key investment relationships, it may not be able to substitute for its northern neighbour entirely. As Vietnam gears towards the upcoming Congress of the Communist Party in 2016 – requiring incumbent Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung to step down – the issue of how to manage the China relationship and Chinese financing of Vietnam’s infrastructure development, will become a paramount issue within Vietnam’s political circles.

Similar, different risks in the PhilippinesLike Vietnam, the Philippines – which also disputes China’s claims in the South China Sea – has largely been left behind by China’s international largesse.

Itself witnessing a boom in power generation (an expected power deficit next year notwithstanding), the country has however traditionally been less reliant on Chinese financing, in part due to the lack of government support for infrastructure projects. Its macro economy likewise is less China-centric, and has suffered only marginally as a result of a recent slump in Chinese packaged tours to the island resort of Boracay and imports of key products such as timber and fruit.

Nevertheless, China’s State Grid Corp has a 40 per cent equity stake in, and provides technical support and equipment to the Philippines’ National Grid Corp (NGCP), the country’s sole power grid operator. There are concerns in Manila that a Chinese stake in the country’s grid constitutes a risk to its operations and management.

NGCP’s cooperation is urgently needed at a time when growing power integration will require greater levels of interconnection across the country’s sprawling archipelago, including between Visayas and Mindanao, between Negros Island and Batangas, and an upgrade of the existing Luzon – Visayas grid. Elsewhere, a Chinese quasi-government wealth fund owns a controlling stake in 2GO Group, which operates nationwide ferry services, an expansive network of warehouses, and as a result manages roughly 50 per cent of domestic Philippine freight.

Of course, both are single equity investments by technocratic, commercially driven companies, and have been highly profitable in both cases due to their effective monopolies in respective sectors. In that sense, the levels of attached political risk may to some extent be overblown.

Nevertheless, the Philippines, like Vietnam, is likely to turn towards its other investment partners at a time when Beijing is shunning the two countries in favour of other infrastructure-deficient countries in the region. Indeed, the scale of China’s largesse everywhere else in the region serves in part as a subtle reminder that both countries have much to lose by refusing to accept China’s new role in regional order.

Superb article, Financial times as always
@Yorozuya , @Carlosa. @Viet, @Namin,
@vtnsx ,@xesy ,@BoQ77 ,@Rechoice, @Viva_Viet

 

[Carlosa]

Viet Nam's mobile app development most dynamic in Southeast Asia

VNA
Published: September 11, 2015

Developing apps for mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets has been one of the most dynamic fields in Viet Nam, and the mobile sector’s development has been considered the strongest in Southeast Asia.

The remark came from Dr. Michael Mandel, chief economic strategist at the Progressive Policy Institute in Washington, at a forum introducing the draft report on Viet Nam’s mobile app development field.

Viet Nam ranks first in mobile app development in the region, still falling behind Japan and China but is very strong in comparison with neighbouring countries, he said.

The report estimates Viet Nam has roughly 29,000 job opportunities relating to software development, such as programmers or developers.

According to Dr Mandel, Viet Nam should continue investing in human resources and talent as the country is only in its first stage of the Internet development cycle.

Viet Nam has the potential to become the centre of the mobile app development sector in the global economy, he added.

(Source: VNA)

 

[Rechoice]

Vietnam climbs up 19 places in Global Innovation Index 2015

Vietnam is ranked 52th out of 141 countries in this year’s Global Innovation Index (GII), up 19 places from last year, said the Ministry of Science and Technology.

• Technology innovation promoted for global integration
• Toyota encourages children’s innovation in Dream Car Art contest

GII, annually co-published by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), US-based Cornell University, France-based INSEAD business school, surveys 141 economies worldwide, using 79 indicators to gauge both innovative capabilities and measurable results.

According to the GII report, Vietnam, together with China, Malaysia, India, Jordan and Kenya, are among a group of countries outperforming their economic peers.

It came third in the Southeast Asia region this year, after Singapore and Malaysia thanks to the considerable investment in science and technology development over the past year.

The country was placed 71th and 76th in 2014 and 2013, respectively.

Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Sweden, the Netherlands and the United States are the world’s five most innovative nations in 2015.

Minister Nguyen Quan said, following the positive result, the Ministry of Science and Technology will work with the scientist community in Vietnam to continue fostering innovation as a catalyst for Vietnam’s industrialisation and modernisation.

 

[Viet]

Work starts on $1.2bn complex, featuring 86-story tower, in Ho Chi Minh City

TUOI TRE NEWS
Updated : 10/03/2015 09:07 GMT + 7

A three-party joint venture broke ground Friday on a US$1.2 billion observation tower complex project in the Thu Thiem New Urban Area in Ho Chi Minh City.

The 14.56-hectare Empire City consists of a deluxe shopping mall, a five-star hotel, an office building and a modern condominium, besides an 86-story multifunctional tower, which is likely to be the highest building in Vietnam once completed.

The project is implemented in four phases, with the first one, running between 2016 and 2018, intended to complete around 130,000 square meters of construction floor area, according to the developer, Empire City Limited Liability Co.

Empire City Limited Liability Co. is a joint venture between Tien Phuoc Co. Ltd., real estate company Tran Thai, and UK-based Denver Power Ltd.

Tien Phuoc and Tran Thai collectively hold a 50 percent stake as the representative of Vietnam in the joint venture with the foreign partner.

The Thu Thiem New Urban Area is located along the Saigon River in District 2, which lies to the east of the city, and is connected to District 1, District 7, District 9, and Binh Thanh District.

 

[Viva_Viet]

TPP update:

Biologic drug patent differences stall TPP agreement at Atlanta talks

Officials from the U.S., Japan and 10 other Asia Pacific-rim countries remain stalemated over an agreement for theTrans Pacific Partnershipcurrently being negotiated in Atlanta with the length of patent protection for biologic drugs a key stumbling block, theJapan Newssaid.

The U.S. is leading the charge to ensure biologics are extended data protection aking to U.S. law, a move that is backed by key lawmakers and pharmaceutical giants like Pfizer ($PFE) and Amgen ($AMGN), who say they need the protections because of the costs--$1 billion in some cases--involved in bringing biologic drugs to market.

Countries such as Australia and New Zealand however worry that extended protection for newer therapies would increase the costs associated with their national healthcare systems.

...........

The original TPP negotiations were launched in 2010 and involved the United States, Australia, Brunei, Chile, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. Malaysia, Mexico, Canada and Japan joined the talks later.
Biologic drug patent differences stall TPP agreement at Atlanta talks - FiercePharmaAsia

 

[DaiViet]

I really dislike those northerners especially northerners officials. They are consevative, slow adapt, greedy, Backward thinking and very pro China.

They want everything good for themselves even though their contribution is minimal. Now they want to unified Vietnam stock exchange and place head quarter in Hanoi so they can manage it.

For years ever since Vietnam unified, they took all the wealth from Saigon southern to Hanoi. Saigon was one of best economic hub in Asia become dirt poor. Despite all the favor Hanoi has it is out performced by even Da Nang. Hanoian sucks in every category even music, and making movie.

When those northerner held power Vietnam economy just does not move, people like Do Muoi, Nong Duc Manh for example. Contrary when Southerners hold power Vietnam economy thriving, Vo Van Kiet the one initiated reform, then Phan Van Khai, and Nguyen Tan Dung is the best VCP leader to date.

If you see anything that look like Chinese, wear Chinese, use Chinese stuffs, eat like Chinese, think like Chinese, that is northern Vietnamese.

Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City stock exchanges likely to be merged this yearVietnam Business News