VietNamNet Bridge - Le Van Kiem, General Director of the Long Thanh Golf Company in Ho Chi Minh City was awarded the Labour Order, first class, of Laos on Dec. 5 in recognition of his contribution to assistance to the Lao War Veterans’ Association (LWVA).
Lieutenant General Nakhone Sisanom, President of the LWVA; and Lieutenant General Somphet Thipmala, Vice Minister of Defence attended the award ceremony in Vientiane .
In 2008, Mr. Kiem, who is also Vice President of the HCM City War Veterans Association, has spent hundreds of thousands of US dollars to build the LWVA office and houses for Lao war veterans and contribute to Lao fund for support of the poor.
Kiem’s assistance to Laos and a 1 billion USD project signed recently between the Long Thanh Golf Company and Vientiane city have contributed to strengthen friendship and cooperation between the war veterans associations of the two countries.
On this occasion, Kiem handed over three houses, built at a total cost of 15,000 USD, to three Laos war veterans in Khammouan, Sekong and Attapeu provinces.
Monday, December 8, 2008
Vietnamese businessman honoured by Laos
More investment in construction to prevent economic downturn
VietNamNet Bridge - The industrial production value has increased by 15.8-16 percent, but the construction industry has decreased by 2 percent.
The key task for 2009 that Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung urged ministries and departments to implement is to prevent economic depression. The solution is investment encouragement.
Minister of Planning and Investment, Vo Hong Phuc said that to prevent economic depression and achieve an industrial growth of 7.4 percent in 2009, Vietnam should directly encourage investment in construction and construction materials. It means that the country must consume all materials in stock and remove difficulties for businesses involved in the field.
What capital will be used for investment encouragement? Mr Phuc said the National Assembly (NA) has approved a State budget of VND112,000 billion, with allocations for provinces remaining at their current levels and those for the public investment sector decreasing.
The State will stop funding State-owned enterprises and only invest in public service corporations and businesses which get involved in generating electricity for the Central Highlands and developing railways and seaports.
The NA has also agreed to add VND6,000 billion to Government bonds. Vietnam should accelerate disbursement of Government bonds which is currently being implemented very slowly to ensure material consumption for businesses.
The Government has also demanded accelerating the disbursement of ODA capital which at present only meets 70-80 percent of donors’ requirements. If this is done it will enhance the capital flow.
Other key sources include the investment credit of State-owned groups and businesses, individual capital and foreign investment capital. The Government should create fabourable conditions for investors to disburse hundreds of billions of US dollars of FDI capital that has already been committed.
In terms of strengthening business in the private sector, Minister Phuc said that Government will provide more support to businesses and put the small- and medium-sized enterprise credit guarantee fund into operation as soon as possible.
Another issue drawing great attention of the Government is poverty reduction. This year due to the high inflation rate, the number of poor households rose. In the near future, the Government will approve a resolution on providing assistance to the 61 poorest districts, mainly in the northern mountainous and central provinces.
Minister Phuc emphasised that if poverty reduction is not given due attention, in the context of economic downturn, the real problem is sure to come home to roost.
Vung Ro Oil Refinery plant plans postponed
VietNamNet Bridge – Construction of the Vung Ro Oil Refinery will be postponed, said Pham Ngoc Chi, Phu Yen Province People's Committee Chairman, at a recent provincial meeting.
Construction now would start at the beginning of 2009 instead of the end of this year as planned earlier, he said.
The postponement stems from a delay in the land clearance process. The province has yet to complete construction of the Phu Lac resettlement zone and the Hoa Tam New Administration Centre in order to provide housing for 5,100 displaced people.
Phu Yen People's Committee granted the investment licence for the Vung Ro Oil Refinery in November last year.
The US$1.7 billion project, with an investment capital of 51 per cent ownership by the British Technostar Management Ltd Co and 49 per cent by the Russian Telloil, will become the first wholly foreign-owned oil refinery to be built in the country.
Vung Ro Oil Refinery, the country's fourth, is expected to supply the domestic market with four million tonnes of petroleum products annually.
The project will be developed on a 200 ha inland area and 210 ha on the water's surface near Vung Ro Seaport in Tuy Hoa District.
Investors have also found stable supply of crude oil from the Middle East to increase product output.
The country's three other oil refineries are located in Quan Ngai, Thanh Hoa and Ba Ria-Vung Tau provinces.
When all four oil refineries are fully functional, their combined production output will total 20 million tonnes of petroleum per year through 2012.
Vietnam to offer market-driven air service charge
Vietnam will allow its aviation sector to adjust its air transport and service charges in line with market prices as part of its fulfillment of WTO commitments.
The move is expected to be implemented as from this month as proposed in a report the Government has submitted to the National Assembly Standing Committee.
These changes will then be tabled to the National Assembly’s fifth session in May, 2009 so that they can be supplemented to the Law on Civil Aviation.
Business opportunities in Vietnam remain unchanged, says asset manager
Vietnamese-Canadian asset manager Don Lam, who is working in Ho Chi Minh City has said business opportunities in Vietnam have not changed in the context of the global economic downturn.
“There has been great volatility this year but our view of the opportunity in Vietnam has not changed, we still see significant value and potential across the economy,” Don Lam told the Canadian Financial Post in a recent interview.
Vietnam had an enormous inflow of foreign investment in 2007 and this, combined with relatively free local money supply, lead to an overheating of the economy. However, the government has imposed a fairly comprehensive set of policies to cool the economy and slow credit growth, he said.
Vietnam, like every emerging market, will feel pressure from a global credit slowdown. However, it will also benefit from the strength of its agricultural commodities and because many of its manufactured products are not subject to big swings in demand. “The world still needs to eat and still needs affordable clothing,” he said.
According to Do Lam, the sectors where Vietnam can really compete with other countries in the ASEAN region or beyond to attract foreign investment in the long term are agribusiness, tourism and Vietnam’s relatively low labour costs.
