Allowance for poor for upcoming Tet

The Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee has announced a plan to offer each poor household in the city VND850,000 (US$39.8) as an allowance on the occasion of the upcoming Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday, which will fall on February 19.

>> Highest Tet bonus in HCMC is $21,400
The Vietnamese southern hub currently has 29,106 poor households. Under the current poverty threshold, a resident is considered poor if his or her income is less than VND16 million ($749) per year.
In addition to poor households, elderly people who are at least 80 years old and people who regularly receive social welfare will also enjoy an allowance of VND850,000 per person.
War invalids, sick soldiers, revolutionary senior officials, women with the title of “Vietnamese Heroic Mother”, and some other subjects will be given support ranging from VND960,000 ($45) to VND2.5 million ($117).
Meanwhile, civil servants at State administrative agencies in the city and employees at the SOS Village in Go Vap District will be given VND1.2 million ($56.2) per person, according to the plan.
Financial support for all the above groups for Tet is higher than last year, according to the People’s Committee

Vietnam loans down, money supply up at end-April | Look At Vietnam

Vietnam loans down, money supply up at end-April 

June 22, 2012

Money supply at the end of April rose 3.14 percent from the end of 2011

Vietnam’s outstanding loans at the end of April fell 0.59 percent from the end of 2011 to VND2,617 trillion Vietnamese (US$125.2 billion), the central bank said on Thursday.
The Southeast Asian country’s economy slowed to a 4 percent growth in the first quarter, the lowest in three years. Businesses had high inventory and were reluctant to borrow while lending rates were high, leading to a negative credit growth.
Money supply at the end of April, excluding the value of the debt bought by banks, rose 3.14 percent from the end of 2011 to VND3,036 trillion, State Bank of Vietnam data showed.
Deposits by residents rose 11.78 percent during the period to VND1,449 trillion, while deposits by banks dropped 5.6 percent to VND1,084 trillion, the data showed.
It was the first time Vietnam’s central bank has published the value of outstanding loans, deposits and money supply generated in the banking system.
Bankers say they would rather have negative lending growth than bad debt.
The inventory index, a measure of unsold goods held in warehouses, rose 34.9 percent as of March 1 from the same period last year, government’s statistics showed.
Vietnam’s economic growth is forecast to slow to an annual pace of 4.31 percent in the first half of this year, even though second-quarter growth accelerated to an estimated 4.5 percent.
In late May, the government shifted its priorities to stimulating expansion and Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung told banks with surplus funds to boost lending, after the inflation rate fell to below 10 percent for the first time since October 2010.
The State Bank of Vietnam said last year it would publish statistics of the banking system’s operations, in addition to policy news and details of bank mergers and acquisitions, in a move to bring more transparency to the sector.
It also plans to disclose five of the 12 core banking system indicators, in line with the International Monetary Fund’s financial soundness indicators, including capital adequacy ratio, return on assets (ROA), return on equity (ROE), bad debt and breakdowns of bank loans.
On Wednesday the central bank said banks had weaker financial performance last year than the year before and their bad debts recently have been “rising continuously”.
Bad debts in Vietnam hit $5.18 billion, or 4.14 percent of total loans as of April, up from 3.06 percent in 2011, due to economic difficulties faced by businesses, based on a central bank report to the National Assembly reported by state media.

HCM City woman suddenly dies, leaves $50 million | Look At Vietnam

I think I knew this woman.

HCM City woman suddenly dies, leaves $50 million

June 1, 2012

LookAtVietnam – A 65-year-old woman in HCM City died suddenly, leaving VND1 trillion (around $50 million) without a testament, resulted in a dispute between her adopted daughter and her relatives.

Ms. P’s brother at Sacombank on May 30.

This huge amount of money is now at the Saigon Commercial JS Bank (Sacombank).
The woman, named P, dropped dead in early 2011 without a will. She did not have children, only a 22-year-old adopted daughter, who was studying in Germany when she died. Ms. P adopted this girl when she was just born at HCM City’s Hung Vuong Hospital, and the daughter is recognized by the law.
In March 2011, Binh Thanh District Distrainers’ Office conducted inventory of Ms. P’s assets at the witness of the woman’s brothers and sisters, her adopted daughter and local police officers.
Distrainers had to work for nearly a week to check her assets, which include 100 taels of gold, $1 million, diamonds, 17 saving books worth hundreds of million USD. She also owned a lot of land, factories in HCM City and some southern provinces.
The woman not only kept gold, diamonds and money in strongboxes but also hid gold under her desk in her office. She also kept a lot of banknotes with face values of only VND200, VND500, VND1,000 and VND2,000.
The woman’s parents were Chinese, who produced rice vermicelli. They transmitted this trade to their children, including this woman.
At first, the woman produced vermicelli manually. She gradually expanded this trade and built factories. She bought a lot of land in HCM City and neighboring provinces. Her assets kept growing to millions of USD.
According to this woman’s workers, she lived very simply and often did charity in secret.
Ms. P has six brothers and sisters who also produce vermicelli and are rich. One of them currently owns a famous vermicelli brand. Two of them are living in Germany.
Most of Ms. P’s relatives want to keep her assets at bank, not giving to her adopted daughter. They and the Ms. P’s adopted daughter agreed to keep the assets at Sacombank by the end of March 2012. After this day, the adopted daughter wanted to withdraw it but the woman’s relatives did not agree because the conflict was not solved yet. They said that the huge assets were created by the efforts of the entire family, including those in Germany, who contributed money to Ms. P’s business.
The adopted daughter refused to answer any question about the assets. However, according to distrainers’ office, if she inherits the assets, she will donate it to UNICEF Vietnam.
Nam Nguyen

NA deputies unimpressed by Govt economic restructure plan | Look At Vietnam

NA deputies unimpressed by Govt economic restructure plan

May 26, 2012

Several National Assembly deputies have came out against the Government’s economic restructuring plan, calling the content vague and cursory.

A realistic economic restructuring plan should be made based on the country’s current socio-economic situation, natural resources and other advantages
During a discussion held on the afternoon of May 24, the majority of NA deputies emphasised the necessity for the economic restructure plan, but were not satisfied with its content.
Nguyen Dinh Quyen, a NA deputy from Hanoi, said the plan still lacks legality and the Government had not clarified its purposes before seeking for NA approval.
“While the NA is the country’s legislative body, the institution has yet to be granted real and meaningful authority in deciding several national issues,” Quyen said.
“Any decisions on state budget spending should be made by the NA. These plans are estimated to cost thousands of billions of VND and should obviously decided by the NA, which represents the people and not other agencies,” he added.
According to him, the plan’s content was cursorily prepared and failed to estimate impacts on the business community, society and people’s lives, as its implementation could lead to the bankruptcy of a number of enterprises as well as the amendment of several laws.
“Efforts should be made to consider the pros and cons of a plan as important as this. If the NA is compelled to make a decision on the plan, I will dissent,” he shared.
Another NA deputy, Nguyen Hong Son, said, “The plan’s content is too cursory. I propose that the NA not adopt it but require the Government to achieve it by its own means.”
Deputy Tran Thi Quoc Khanh said that the current methods suggested by the plan would be inefficient. Actually, she said, the plan should be made based on eight millennium goals, the party’s latest policies and resolutions, the current laws and regulations as well as international commitments if it is to foster sustainable development.
Deputy Nguyen Ngoc Bao, from HCM City, urged more efforts to further analyse the current economic structure, which could be used as a foundation for choosing a suitable restructuring plan with due attention paid to the banking industry.
“I see the plan as simply a good suggestion, and not as a feasible strategy. A realistic economic restructuring plan should be made based on the country’s current socio-economic situation, natural resources and other advantages,” he commented.
Deputy Truong Trong Nghia said that the plan has yet to carefully assess the damages caused by corruption to the national economy or the impacts it has on society.
“In order to drive the country out of the average-income group, it will be vital to heighten the efficiency of the State administration. In our country, law enforcement is rather poor. In order to further develop, the country needs to change its model for growth and improve its legal framework,” he added.
Dantri

Economists slam measly gasoline price cut, import tax | Look At Vietnam

Economists slam measly gasoline price cut, import tax 

May 24, 2012

A worker pumps gasoline to a motorcycle at a gas station in Hanoi. The pump price of A92 gasoline was reduced by VND500 per liter to VND23,300 (US$1.1) on May 9.
Economists have criticized the recent fuel price cuts and the reimposition of the import duty on petroleum products as coming too little, too late.
The pump price of A92 gasoline was reduced by VND500 per liter to VND23,300 (US$1.1) on May 9, and diesel by VND300 to VND21,600.
Import duties, which were scrapped on March 8, have been reinstated at 2 percent on gasoline and diesel and 3 percent on kerosene and fuel oil.
Gasoline prices increased twice this year, in March and April, by a total of VND3,000.
Nguyen Minh Phong of the Hanoi Socioeconomic Research Institute said the reduction came in response to public pressure after a VND900 increase on April 20. Petroleum companies were only losing VND500 per liter at that time.
He said the Ministry of Finance, instead of raising the import tax, should have ordered petroleum companies to make deeper cuts in gasoline prices.
Many firms are having difficulty merely surviving due to a slump in demand and other problems, and could do with bigger price cuts to help reduce costs, he explained.
The government’s tax breaks won’t suffice, he said, referring to a tax relief package of VND29 trillion ($1.4 billion).
Le Dang Doanh, an economist, said: “The meager price cut and import tax increase would make people lose faith (in the government’s policies). Restoring public confidence is much more important than collecting gasoline import taxes.”
The fuel price cuts should have been bigger because global prices have fallen sharply. According to the Vietnam National Petroleum Group, also known as Petrolimex, the gasoline price in Singapore fell to $121.6 per barrel on May 9 from $128.1 on April 20.
Nguyen Tien Thoa, head of the Ministry of Finance’s Price Control Department, said the interests of fuel traders, consumers, and the government come under consideration whenever gasoline prices are adjusted.
According to the tax framework issued by the department, duties on gasoline and diesel can be raised to a maximum of 20 percent and 15 percent.
The tax revenues can be used to stabilize gasoline prices when global prices rise, Thoa said. “The price is forecast to rise this winter when demand increases.”
Thoa said gasoline accounts for 3.2 percent of the basket of goods and services used to calculate the consumer price index. The VND500 price cut would help bring down the CPI by 0.24 percentage point, he said.
But most industries said the reduction is too meager for them to cut their own prices.
Nguyen Manh Hung, chairman of the Vietnam Automobile Transport Association, said: “It is an insignificant reduction. So, transport firms cannot cut their prices.”
Pham Xuan Bang, a Hanoi taxi driver, said: “We (taxi drivers) did not expect the small reduction. It came just to make sure people are not shocked by future hikes.”
Policy issues
Ngo Tri Long, former deputy head of the Market and Price Research Institute, said retail prices are adjusted based on average fuel costs over 30 days.
“The period is too long, failing to precisely reflect changes in the world market. We need to shorten the period, maybe to a week.”
Thoa said: “We are aware of the problems in calculating fuel prices and plan to fix them.”
He said shortening the period to 10 or 20 days will be considered.
A new policy limiting the commissions fuel companies pay retailers could also be introduced, he said, adding that excessive commissions are paid in the hope of expanding market share.
The average price during the 30-day period ending May 8 was VND828 per liter lower than the retail price on that day, he revealed.
Some analysts said the fuel price adjustments are not timely or based on market forces.
In 2009 the government passed a decree stipulating that fuel prices would be based on the market.
Under the decree, businesses are allowed to adjust retail prices and only have to inform the Ministries of Finance and Industry and Trade about it.
But due to spiralling inflation, the government invoked a clause in the decree which says “if the price hike can affect socioeconomic development, the government will adopt measures to stabilize fuel prices” to repeatedly intervene.
With the government only increasing fuel prices when it is no longer able to keep them unchanged, the hikes have come in massive chunks instead of incremental ones, the analysts pointed out.
But other analysts said that, since the gasoline market is monopolistic – with Petrolimex holding some 60 percent of the market – the government should regulate the prices.
The country’s sole refinery Dung Quat contributes too little to the market to help the government stabilize prices when world prices are volatile.
The 6.5-million-ton-per-year refinery, located in the central province of Quang Ngai, meets only 30 percent of the domestic demand. It is seeking to sell a 49 percent stake to foreign investors to raise funds to expand capacity by 54 percent to 10 million tons a year.
This would help it to meet 40-45 percent of demand, according to the Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical Co, which runs the $2.2-billion refinery.
Even with Dung Quat running at full capacity, Vietnam imported 10.65 million tons of oil products in 2011, according to the General Statistics Office.

By Ngan Anh, Thanh Nien News (The story can be found in the May 18th issue of our print edition, Vietweek) 

Ha Long cruise offers tours for a fraction of a cent | Look At Vietnam

Ha Long cruise offers tours for a fraction of a cent

May 19, 2012

LookAtVietnam – The Quang Ninh-based Tuan Chau Five Star Yacht Joint Stock Company (Paradise Cruise) has just launched a big promotion offering tours costing from only VND7 to VND1.7million (US$85), starting May 15.

Quang Ninh-based Paradise Cruise JSC’s Paradise Luxury ship.

Titled “Summer in Paradise,” the program, on the occasion that the bay has just been recognized as a new world wonder, includes 7,000 tickets at the above prices for 2-day-1-night tours of Ha Long Bay on the Paradise Luxury ship for the period from June 1 to September 30.
The promotion is for customers going in pairs. One of them will have a chance to buy one ticket at VND1.7million, while their partner will get the discount prices at VND7, VND70, VND700, VND70,000 or VND700,000.
If a customer goes alone, he or she will buy ticket for VND1.7million.
The prices include Deluxe cabin rates, tax, entrance tickets to Ha Long’s tourist destinations, a tour guide, breakfast buffet and insurance.
“Ha Long has been recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is now a new world wonder. It’s wonderful!”, Caroline Thomas, director of the marketing department of Paradise Cruise, shared.
The promotion is a sign of the company’s goodwill to express gratitude to the millions of people who voted for the bay, and is also a way to promote a beautiful Vietnamese tourist destination, she added.
Paradise Cruises launched their first boat, Paradise Luxury I, in November 2008, which was soon followed by the Paradise Luxury II in March of 2009.
The company is offering tourists four ship options, including Paradise Luxury, Paradise Privilege, Paradise Peak and Paradise Explorer.
For detailed reservation information, interested people can access the company website at www.paradisecruises.vn or email promotion@paradisecruises.vn.
VietNamNet/Tuoi Tre

Rail fares to increase by 12 percent | Look At Vietnam

Rail fares to increase by 12 percent

May 18, 2012

Train fares will increase by 12 per cent on an average from May 15 to September 4, 2012, announced Vietnam Railways on May 14.

For instance, the
price of a soft bed in an air-conditioned coupe on the North-South train
route will go up by 13 per cent while a hard seat without
air-conditioning will go up by 15 per cent. Other seats will go up by 12
per cent.
Moreover, fare for a soft
seat in an air-conditioned carriage on the high quality train SE3/4 will
be VND1,200,000 (US$57.6) and will be different for carriages on the
rest of the train.
The lowest price on the Thong Nhat train TN1 will be VND530,000 and the highest VND1,300,000.
Standing seat prices,
passengers’ premium, luggage shipping rates and free discount tickets
for beneficiaries of social policies apply under the current rules.
During this time, the
company will not discount for collective tickets. Moreover, it will not
conduct deduction for returning tickets or changing tickets which are
around 20 per cent.
The Railways announced
reduction in prices for beneficiaries of social policies as follows:
people about sixty years of age will enjoy a 20 per cent discount; hero
mothers will get a 90 per cent reduction while wounded soldiers and
disadvantaged students from special schools will be offered 10 per cent
reduction.
Children less than five
years of age with height under 1.05 metres will enjoy exemption of fares
while children from five to 10 years of age will get a 50 per cent
discount.

Billions of dollars needed to rescue enterprises | Look At Vietnam

Billions of dollars needed to rescue enterprises

May 13, 2012

The Government should spend US$3 billion or so to help enterprises restructure their debts if the national economy is to be put back on the development track, said a local economist.
Le Xuan Nghia, former vice chairman of the National Financial Supervision Committee, said the Government should buy enterprises’ debts totaling billions of U.S. dollars to help trigger the cash flow in the economy again, otherwise the stagnation would worsen.
“The Government could issue bonds (to have capital for buying debts) and in my opinions many banks with ample funds will be ready to buy up the Government bonds,” Nghia said in on Wednesday’s issue of Sai Gon Tiep Thi.
He said that “we should tackle debts of groups 4 and 5 (as the worst non-performing loans), and I estimate that the total amount of debts of these groups requires three billion dollars.”
The economist explained that heavily-indebted enterprises either dare not borrow more funds from banks, or are not eligible to take out more loans. Even if they can take out loans, many of them will wrongly use the capital by using it to service old debts.
Nghia highlighted the urgency of rescue packages now that the cash flow has almost stalled as seen in the inactivity in the banking sector.
As of the end of the first quarter, the credit growth was minus 2%, while deposits increased a mere 1.5%, Nghia said.
Many banks are facing a glut of funds, such as Asia Commercial Bank with some VND50 trillion in its coffer, while big State-owned lenders have hundreds of trillions of Vietnam dong each, he said.
Another sign of the stagnant cash flow is the tumbling transaction volume on the inter-bank market, although the overnight rate has crashed to only 5-6% annually.
Commenting on rescue solutions being mapped out by central agencies, Nghia hailed the measures of imposing the lending rate cap, resuming bank loans for the property sector, as well as extending value-added tax and corporate income tax.
However, he also observed that such measures had been taken too late, and should have been introduced since last year when business conditions worsened.
However, the extension of corporate income tax is of limited effect, since many enterprises have virtually halted business without any income generated, so the solution is not of any help to them.
If the Government had come to enterprises’ rescue earlier, the price to pay would be less expensive, he said. “Now, the cost (of rescue) is higher, but the effect will be smaller and come longer.”
SGT

Fake virginity for sale | Look At Vietnam

Fake virginity for sale

April 22, 2012

LookAtVietnam – Small ads offering virginity have become quite popular on the Internet recently.

“I’m a student of a university in Saigon. I need to sell my virginity at the price of VND25 million ($1,200) to have funding for my mother’s operation.” This is a small ad on several websites.
“I want a man who is proper, good-mannered man and does not contract social diseases. I live with my friends so please send texts to me.”
A correspondent called her number and a man answered the phone. He said that this girl boarded at his house. She was very poor and did not have a cell phone so she had to use his number.
This is another advertisement. “I cannot afford to pay school fees, accommodation, traveling, etc. I have only one way – selling my virginity. I sell it at the cost of VND20 million (around $1,000). Call me or email me if you are serious.”
Calling to the number in the small ads, one girl said: “My name is Phuong Thao. My life is very painful! My family used to be well off but since my father had a concubine, he has neglected his business. My mother has not wanted to lose her husband so she has sought every way to take him back. My family has gone bankrupt because of my father’s affairs.”
 “It hurts to do this dishonored thing so please do not bargain with me. If you agree to buy my virginity, I would like to have some money paid in advance to pay accommodation charges, my debts and my school fees,” the girl suggested.
When the correspondent offered VND12 million ($600), the girl entreated: “VND15 million please! Let’s think about it, it is very cheap! I’m stuck so I sell at that price!”
Reading small ads like these, many generous people were willing to help pitiable girls to overcome their circumstances without having to sell their virginity.
Mr. Cao Phong, from District 1, HCM City, says that after reading a similar small advertisement that he believed to come from a piteous girl, he wanted to assist the girl.
He called and sent text to make an appointment with the girl at a coffee shop near the Con Rua (Turtle) Lake in District 3.
But he and his friend immediately knew that they were cheated when they firstly saw the “pitiful student.” The girl skillfully played a poor, pitiable girl who was self-respecting but had to sell her virginity because she was at her impasse, but some details revealed herself as a “play girl.”
Mr. Phong analyzed: “That coffee shop is the venue of well-to-do people. A poor student made an appointment at such a café shows that she is not poor as she described herself.”
The girl asked Phong to pay 20 percent of the total money (VND20 million) in advance. She would go to a hotel and text Phong the address. After the transaction, Phong would pay her the remaining money.
“She called herself a poor and well-bred girl but she was very professional in making a deal with me. I was so afraid to seek to withdraw,” the man says.
However, many people were trapped by these girls, who are not poor girls as they introduced, but prostitutes or play girls.
Doctor Truong The Dung, leader of Niem Tin, a voluntary group to help disadvantaged people in HCM City says that his group took initiative in seeing several girls who posted virginity-selling advertisements on the Internet, but all of the cases are dubious.
According to doctors, fake hymens are offered for sale everywhere, priced of less that VND100,000/product ($5). Any girl can become virgins for tens of times.
ANTG

Kidney trading gang jailed for 5 to 6 years | Look At Vietnam - Vietnam news daily update

Kidney trading gang jailed for 5 to 6 years

November 24, 2011 about Uncategorized

LookAtVietnam - The People’s Court in Can Tho City on Tuesday sentenced four members of a kidney-trading ring to prison for five to six years each on charges of “organising people to flee the country”.

The four kidney sale brokers in court. (Photo: Tuoi Tre)

Organ trading is a crime in Viet Nam, but in this case, the criminal activity took place across the border in China. Thus, the court tried the case on a different charge.

The court handed down a six-year prison sentence each to Vo Dinh Van, a 25-year-old resident of HCM City’s Go Vap District and La Thi Thinh, 40, a resident of Bac Giang Province’s Son Dong District.

Le Son Truyen, 27, from southwestern Tay Ninh Province’s Duong Minh Chau District, and Quang Dai Vang, 24, from central Ninh Thuan Province’s Ninh Phuoc District were sentenced to five years each on the same charge.

The court also demanded the confiscation of illegal profits of VND98 million from Van, VND30 million from Truyen, VND21 million from Vang, and VND5.7 million from Thinh.

According to the court’s verdict, in early 2008, Van and Truyen were taken to China to sell their kidneys.

Van and Truyen became the first members of the ring to sell their kidneys to two Chinese traders whose details have not been released.

Van and Truyen were introduced to Thinh, who took people willing to sell their kidneys to Guangzhou Province in China.

For each person taken to the Chinese province, Thinh received 100 yuan (VND300,000 or US$15) from Van and Truyen.

Vang became a member of the ring after selling his kidney in China in 2009. Vang received VND3 million ($150) for each person he successfully took to China.

In February this year, Vang was arrested in Can Tho when he was on his way to take a Can Tho resident to China to sell his kidney.

The other members of the ring were discovered after Vang’s arrest.

According to the court’s verdict, from 2008 to February this year, the four members of the ring who have been sentenced to prison took 19 poor Vietnamese nationals from HCM City and southern provinces to China to sell their kidneys.

They earned profits of over VND150 million ($US7,300). Each kidney was sold for VND40 million to VND50 million ($2,410) with all travel and accommodation expenses paid by Chinese traders.

For each person taken to China, the brokers got VND10 million ($483).

According to medical exams conducted on three victims of the ring, the organ sale had damaged 41 per cent of their health, according to police’s investigation.

In 2008, a 22-year-old Vietnamese student died at his home in Ninh Thuan Province after selling his kidneys in China several months earlier.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News



Kidney trading gang jailed for 5 to 6 years | Look At Vietnam - Vietnam news daily update

Dollar hits new high in Vietnam | Look At Vietnam - Vietnam news daily update

Dollar hits new high in Vietnam | Look At Vietnam - Vietnam news daily update: "The dollar has gained around VND1,000 over the past week

The US dollar surged to a record high of VND22,200 on the unofficial market on Friday, one week after the central bank devalued the dong by 9.3 percent.

News website VnExpress reported that even though market activity remained almost the same without any significant changes in supply and demand, the greenback continued its climb against the local currency. The dollar has gained around VND1,000 over the past week.

The central bank’s devaluation last week aimed to narrow the gap between official and unofficial rates.

The official rates at commercial banks on Friday, however, were still far behind the black market rate of VND22,200. Vietcombank, for instance, quoted the dollar at VND20,885.

Le Duc Thuy, Chairman of the National Financial Supervisory Commission, was quoted in a Lao Dong (Labor) newspaper report as saying that the recent devaluation may be the only adjustment in 2011.

Thuy said he saw no reason for another devaluation of the dong through the end of the year.
Source: Thanh Nien

Hanoi: Rich men pay hundreds of USD for breakfast | Look At Vietnam - Vietnam news daily update

VietNamNet Bridge – Unhygienic food is now a big problem in Vietnam. Some rich people are willing to pay a lot of money to have meals at luxurious restaurants to have safe food.

Some people often take a bowl of pho (Vietnamese noodle) which is priced VND750,000 ($37) as breakfast. On the weekend, they take their whole family to restaurants and spend several hundreds of USD for the breakfast.
For a half of the year, Thang, the owner of a real estate firm in Hanoi, has become a familiar customer of a restaurant of a hotel on Lang Ha Street. Thang goes to this restaurant to enjoy the famous pho there.
The restaurant offers six types of pho, which are priced from VND 70,000 to VND750,000 dong ($3.5-37) a bowl. At popular pho restaurants, the prices only range from VND20,000-30,000/bowl.
The pho at this restaurant is very expensive because it uses special beef, which is imported from the USA, Australia and Japan. A bowl of pho with Wagyu beef from Australia is priced VND220,000 ($11). The price is VND125,000 ($6.5) for a pho bowl with beef imported from the US and it is up to VND500,000-VND750,000 ($37) for pho with Kobe beef from Japan.
The restaurant manager told VietNamNet that he was unexpected to see such a high number of customers who choose the most expensive kind of pho here. Notably, they order the special pho for themselves, not for guests.
The price for a bowl of pho with Kobe beef is equivalent to a feast for four people.
Thang, who has become a regular of this restaurant for a half year, said that he chooses restaurants to avoid food poisoning.
“I don’t think that I go to this restaurant to show off my wealth. It is simple that I can pay VND750,000 for a pho bowl that I think it is safe and delicious,” Thang explained.
Thang visits this restaurant twice or three times a week. He also takes his family, including his parents, his wife and two children to this restaurant.
“The Vietnamese economy is developing strongly and there is a class of wealthy people, who don’t care about money. I often see families of three generations who come to my restaurant to eat our special pho at the weekend. They pay nearly ten million dong for the breakfast,” the restaurant owner said.
This restaurant has special customers who have ordered the special pho for two years. They have special seats there. The restaurant has 150 seats and they are all occupied from 7-9am, the time for breakfast.
Not only breakfast, wealthy men in Hanoi go to hotels to take lunch and dinner to feel safe.
Thuy Anh, PR manager of a big hotel in Hanoi, said that the hotel’s restaurants previously served foreigners but now the situation has changed. Many Vietnamese people, both individuals and families, go to the hotel for meals. The hotel has had to change its menus to serve these customers. The price is at least VND650,000-700,000 for a person.
The number of individuals and families going to luxurious restaurants to have safe and delicious meals is also rising. These restaurants have offered menus with a lot of vegetables and healthy food to serve the rich, who are not afraid to spend money to get the best for their health.
According to the Health Ministry, the ratio of people who contract cancer in Vietnam in 2010 is 181.3/100,000 for men and 134.9/100,000 for women. In 2000, the rates were 146.6 and 101.6/100,000.
The latest research conducted by the HCM City Cancer Hospital shows that one third of the cancer patients have problems with food.
Cam Quyen

Housing Price in Hanoi so steep, few can afford

Housing prices are so steep in suburban Hanoi that few people will ever be able to buy a place of their own.


A worker at her rent house in Hanoi.
The average income in the national capital is between VND10 million and VND15 million, while the cheapest dwelling of 50 square meters costs VND300 million, according to the Hanoi Socioeconomic Research and Development Institute.

“That means a person would have to work for 25 to 30 years, and spend nothing in that time, to save up for a house,” the institute’s head, Nguyen Dinh Duong, said at a conference held by the Hanoi Construction Association on Friday.

“So a huge number of urban residents will never buy a home.”

The alternative, renting, is nearly as big a problem.

There are now 55 industrial zones in Hanoi, but almost none supply accommodation for their workers, Do Quoc Tuan, deputy director of Hanoi Construction Department, told the audience.

According to his department, only 30 percent of state workers have been provided with housing, and the college and university dormitories can barely accommodate 20 percent of the city’s 800,000 tertiary students.

Hanoi will need investment of VND43.5 trillion to build enough housing for 60 percent of the students, 50 percent of the workers and five percent of low-income earners in the built-up area by 2015, Tuan said.

His superior, Do Xuan Anh, said the task ahead was beset by “difficulties with policies to develop home funds and ensure investors get their money back.”

“Housing development efforts are yet to meet the demand of young laborers and young married couples,” he said.

In Hanoi so far this year, construction of 800 houses for low-income earners has begun in Long Bien District, and plans have been made to build housing for college students on nearly six hectares of land in two new satellite towns in Thanh Tri and Tu Liem districts.

Duong said housing could be made more affordable by reducing the average area to 30 square meters or less and using inexpensive building materials.

Nguyen Trong Ninh, deputy head of the Housing and Real Estate Management Department of the Ministry of Construction, suggested the government either invest directly to build housing for rent to low-income earners, or supply property developers with land to do the same.

Duong gave the idea his support and suggested the housing problem might be eased if low-income earners accepted the idea of renting and gave up all thought of ever owning a place of their own.

VietNamNet/TN

Vietnam has 23 million religious followers - Vietnam has 23 million religious followers

The Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front held a conference in Ho Chi Minh City on January 8 to review the results of implementing the Ordinance on Religion and Belief over the past four years.
With the aim of ensuring citizens’ freedom of religion and belief, the Vietnamese Government has recognised the operations of 42 religions organisations. The country now has 23 million religious followers, including 80,000 Catholics, and 26,000 churches.
All followers have played a positive role in social and charity activities, generating funds worth thousands of billions of VND, which has gone toward eradicating hunger, alleviating poverty and promoting socio-economic development nationwide.

Greenback black market price rises by VND 50/US $1

The foreign currency market kicks off a new week with the greenback price on the black market increasing by VND 50/US $1 over late last week to VND 17,280/US $1. The gold market remains quiet, with the price going the cross-line.

Foreign currency exchange shops on Ha Trung street in Hanoi this morning quoted the dollar prices at VND 17,250/US $1 (purchase) and VND 17,280/US $1 (sale), an increase of VND 50/US $1 since the end of last week.

Today, the State Bank of Vietnam announced the inter-bank exchange rate at VND 16,490/US $1, while commercial banks quoted the prices at VND 16,983 (purchase) and VND 16,985/US $1 (sale).

In the last week, the VND/US$ exchange rate quoted by commercial banks were always at the ceiling allowed levels, hovering around VND 16,975-16,980/US $1.

The State Bank of Vietnam has affirmed that it is keeping a close watch over the market performance, while following a flexible forex management policy, which aims to control the trade deficit and stabilize the macro-economy.

As for the gold market, the prices have not increased or decreased, remaining quiet with low transaction volume. SJC gold is now selling at VND 16.55 million/tael (purchase) and VND 16.65 million/tael (sale). Meanwhile, Bao Tin Minh Chau gold prices are VND 16.52 million - 16.6 million/tael.

On ACB gold trading floor, SJC gold was traded at VND 16.1 million/tael. Only 48,260 taels of gold successfully changed hands this morning, worth VND 776 billion.

In the world, the gold price (with spot delivery) quoted on Kitco.com is $763.5/oz. The domestic gold price is approximately VND 400,000/tael higher than the world’s price.



(Source: Dan tri)

VND/US$ exchange rate to hold its course

The greenback price has been increasing since November 7, when the State Bank of Vietnam decided to raise the forex trading band to +/-3% from +/-2%. However, no price fever has occurred, with banks’ foreign currency trading activities going smoothly.

The pressure on official exchange rate

The inflation rate of the first 10 months of 2008 was the highest level in the past 10 years (21.64% over the end of 2007). Meanwhile, the trade gap in the first 10 months of was $16.3bil. Export turnover has been decreasing for the last few months ($6.547bil in July, $6.018bil in August, $5.27bil in September and $5.1bil in October).

Vietnam’s export items are all facing big difficulties due to the global financial crisis, while 63% of the country’s GDP is accounted for by exports. Therefore, boosting exports is an important task, and the exchange rate policy is a tool to assist in this work.

Since March 10, 2008, the exchange rate announced by the State Bank of Vietnam has been hovering around VND16,025-16,515/US$1, which is believed is not encouraging exports.

Greenback price increases because investors anxious

The dollar price on the black market began rising on October 23, 2008, before the central bank announced the wider trading band at +/-3%. While commercial banks’ rate was at VND16,820/US$1, the rate on the black market hit the VND17,000/US$1 threshold. On November 7, Vietcombank’s rate was VND16,841/US$1, while the rate on the black market was VND17,300/US$1.

It is likely that for some additional days, the exchange rate on the black market will remain higher than the rates offered by commercial banks.

Analysts say that it is because domestic investors fear that foreign investors will sell stocks, collect dollars to transfer abroad. The decision by the central bank to widen the forex trading gap makes people think that the dollar price is on the rise.

However, economists have pointed out that the exchange rate on the black market does not have much effect on the exchange rate in general. In Vietnam, the exchange rate is decided by the official market, or the market in which banks and businesses make transactions.

VND/US$ exchange rate will not see big changes

According to Le Duc Thuy, former Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam, only the REER (the real effective exchange rate) should be used as the basis to set exchange rate policies, the policies should not be simply drawn up based on supply and demand. However, it is highly possible that in some more years, Vietnam will not float the exchange rate. Vietnam fears that risks may occur with foreign debts if it floats the exchange rate.

It is expected that the central bank will follow the flexible exchange rate policy in the last months of the year. The central bank has affirmed it is capable of extinguishing any foreign currency fevers that might break out. The dollar supply among the public proves to be relatively big. Meanwhile, banks have big volumes of dollars as they have taken back deposits from overseas banks. The national foreign currency reserves by October had reached $22bil.

Bankers say that the inter-bank exchange rate may go up further before the end of the year, but will not increase sharply over the current level.

The sale price may reach VND17,200-17,500/US$1, they say.

Trinh Ngoc Lan

Money supplies strong, interest rates expected to drop

With the new decisions released on November 3, the usable capital of commercial banks may reach VND100tril, which is believed will lead to the sharp decreases of lending interest rates.


The Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) on November 3 decided to cut the basic interest rate in Vietnamese dong by 1% to 12% as of November 5.

Nguyen Phuoc Thanh, General Director of the Vietnam Bank for Foreign Trade (Vietcombank), said that the usable capital of commercial banks has been in excess the last two months, with the volume increasing gradually from VND30tril to VND40tril and VND50tril recently.

The volume of VND50tril in excess was confirmed by the Monetary Policies Department under the State Bank of Vietnam at the end of October.

Besides the said volume of VND50tril, banks now can get capital from the VND20,300bil worth of compulsory bonds the central bank decided to ‘set free’ sooner than previously expected.

SBV on October 20 decided to make payments for the compulsory bonds before they matured on March 17, 2009. On March 17, 2008, with the aim of limiting the volume of cash in circulation to curb inflation, SBV issued VND20,300bil ($1,250mil) worth of compulsory bonds. Forty-one banks had to purchase bonds.

In addition, according to Dragon Capital, a foreign-owned investment fund management company, in October and November, there will be some $1.3bil worth of government bonds (VND22tril) maturing.

A noteworthy thing of the decisions released yesterday, November 3, was that the compulsory reserve ratios, for the first time in many months, were lowered to 10% from 11% for VND deposits, and to 9% from 11% for US$ deposits. As such, another source of money will be ‘liberalised’, which will bring even more usable capital to banks.

It is estimated that the volume of money to be ‘liberalised’ in accordance with the new decisions will be VND10-12tril. Each of the big banks like Vietcombank, BIDV and Vietinbank may get back VND1,000-1,500bil, while Sacombank or ACB may get back VND560-600bil.

Consequently, the excess usable capital of commercial banks may reach VND100tril in the time to come.

It is estimated that in February and March, the volume of money the State Bank of Vietnam ‘withdrew’ from commercial banks through compulsory reserves and compulsory bonds reached VND40tril.

A question has been raised about how commercial banks will deal with the VND100tril.

Lending interest rates decreasing rapidly

Signs of capital excess appeared in September, but credit growth has been very low since the beginning of the year.

By the end of September, the total outstanding loans of the banking system had just increased by 18.03%, while the ceiling credit growth rate for this year is 30%, which means that there is ‘big room’ for banks to push up loaning.

On November 3, the Vietnam Banking Association called on its members to adjust interest rate policies.

Big banks including Vietcombank, the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV) and Agribank have begun applying new interest rates which are 1.5%-2% per annum lower than the previous rates. The lowest interest rate now is just 15% per annum, or 3% lower than the ceiling lending interest rate.

(Source: TBKTVN)

Minimum wage to increase by VND110-200,000/month

The minimum wage of labourers working in domestic owned and foreign invested enterprises will increase by VND110-200,000/month as of January 1, 2009 under the newly promulgated Government decrees.


The minimum wage of labourers working in domestic owned and foreign invested enterprises will increase by VND110-200,000/month as of January 1, 2009
The minimum wage increase was officially announced today afternoon at the press conference held by the National Committee on Labour Relations.

Pham Minh Huan, Director of the Salary and Wage Department under the Ministry of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA), said that the Government on October 10 promulgated two decrees on the issue.

Four different minimum wage levels have been stipulated for four different zones.

Zone 1, which includes HCM City and Hanoi (including Ha Dong City of the former Ha Tay province), will see the highest increases in the minimum wage. The new minimum wage level for domestic owned enterprises will be VND800,000/month ($50), while the level for foreign invested enterprises will be VND1.2mil/month ($75).

Zone 2, which includes a number of new districts of Hanoi (Thuong Tin, Hoai Duc, Dan Phuong, Thach That, Quoc Oai and Son Tay City); districts of HCM City, the districts in Can Tho City (Ninh Kieu, Binh Thuy); Ha Long City (in the northern province of Quang Ninh); Thu Dau Mot town and districts (Thuan An, Di An, Ben Cat, Tan Uyen) in the southern province of Binh Duong, will have the minimum wage of VND740,000/month ($46.25) for the labourers in domestic owned enterprises, and VND1,080,000/month ($67.5) for foreign invested enterprises.

Zone 3, which includes the remaining districts of Hanoi; Bac Ninh City; Tu Son town; districts (Que Vo, Tien Du, Yen Phong) in Bac Ninh Province; Bac Giang City; districts (Viet Yen, Yen Dung), Bao Loc Town and Da Lat City in Lam Dong Province; Nha Trang City and Cam Ranh Town in Khanh Hoa province; Trang Bang district in Tay Ninh province, will have the minimum wage levels of VND690,000/month ($43.12) and VND950,000/month ($59.37), respectively.

Zone 4, which includes the remaining areas, will have the minimum wages of VND650,000 ($40.62) and VND920,000/month ($57.5), respectively.

The above said minimum wage levels should be considered as the pay to the labourers, who do the simplest works in the normal working conditions at enterprises.

The trained workers must be paid with at least 7% higher than the minimum wage stipulated for the zone.

Huan from MOLISA admitted that the said increases are not enough to offset the price increases in recent inflation. However, he said that the increases prove to be reasonable in the current conditions, when enterprises are facing a lot of difficulties, and the Government is prioritising the task of fighting inflation.

With the minimum wage adjustment, the minimum wage of labourers will increase by VND110-180,000/month for domestic owned enterprises, and VND120-200,000/month for foreign invested enterprises.

The minimum wage increases are believed not to cause big impacts on enterprises’ total expenses. In fact, a lot of enterprises already pay their workers higher than the stipulated minimum levels.

Do Minh

Stocks will fall deeply?

The stock market has experienced four falling trading sessions so far this month. Meanwhile, experts say that there are signs of further falls in the time to come, and that there is only a 10% chance of the recovery of stock prices this year.
Investors watching the world’s markets
Investors are watching the world’s markets
It is clear that the uncertainties in the world’s financial market and US economy have been making Vietnamese investors uncomfortable.
Lam Minh Chanh, Director of Dai Viet Securities Company, said that Vietnam, as a part of the world, will not remain untouched by the global financial market crisis.

Meanwhile, the director of an investment fund has warned that the business results of listed companies in the third and fourth quarters of the year will not be satisfactory and also be a barrier for the recovery of the VN Index in the last months of the year.

Le Dat Chi, a lecturer in the Faculty of Corporate Finance, HCM City Economics University, said that the securities indexes of the markets in the world have been sliding after bad news from the US and then Europe. He said the global economy will continue to be gloomy.

Chi said that the macroeconomy in Vietnam remains unsatisfactory despite the good news about the consumer price index (CPI), trade deficit and money supply. The worries about listed companies’ business results will badly affect share items which have big capitalisation volumes.

“Technical analysis shows that there is a 10% possibility of stock prices recovering. If stock prices do not bounce back on October 8, prices will fall further to a new threshold of 360 points,” he said.

In the latest news, the VN Index on October 8 dropped by another 12.91 points to 401.33 points, the deepest low since July 2008.

However, Chi said that the current stock prices are considered very cheap, and should prompt investors to buy stocks. A higher demand would help the stock market bounce back.

The analysis director of a securities company said that with the everyday trading volume of less than VND800bil it will be very difficult to push the market up. The director also said that the high P/E is really an obstacle for the recovery of the VN Index in the short term. He went on to say that there will not be optimistic signs for the stock market until mid 2009 when the economy becomes stable.

Chanh from Dai Viet Securities Company said that the VN Index will depend on investors. Investors believe that the business results of listed companies are unsatisfactory. Therefore, the only thing that could change their minds now is the increased performances of the world’s stock markets.

No intervention needed

Though experts have given pessimistic forecasts about the world’s and Vietnam’s stock markets in the time to come, they say that no intervention from the government should be made at this moment.

Chi said that administrative orders should not be abused, and that it is necessary to let the market follow economic laws and truly reflect its value.

Vu Bang, Chairman of the State Securities Commission (SSC), said that the watchdog has not made any plans to interfere in the market at this moment.

“SSC is still keeping close watch over the market and it will consider taking necessary measures only if the VN Index nearly falls to the previous low of 366 points,” Bang said.

Bang added that if the VN Index remains around 400 points, this should be understood as the market being stable. The state management agency will take actions only if it sees wide-scale sales and serious problems in liquidity.

Salary gap up to 109-fold

In Hanoi, the highest salary is 42 times more than the average and it is 109 times higher in HCM City, reported the Ministry of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs on July 25.

The average income of workers in foreign-invested firms is between VND1.2-1.4 million ($70.5-$82.3) per month. That of workers at non-state firms is from VND900,000-VND1.1 million ($53-$64.7) per month. In Hanoi, workers’ average salary is between VND1.5 and VND2 million ($88-117) per month.

According to the Ministry, the gap between the highest salary (VND75.2 million – $4,423) and the average (VND1.8 million – $106) is 42-fold in Hanoi and in HCM City, the gap is 109 times higher (VND240 million or $14,117 compared to VND2.2 million – $129.4).

The Ministry reported that at the above earnings, workers are facing many difficulties, especially workers who do simple jobs at private and foreign-invested firms. They are unable to save any money with their incomes.

Housing and living conditions are big problems for workers in industrial and export processing zones. Vietnam has over 1 millions workers of this kind. Over 70% of workers in industrial and export processing zones in HCM City, Dong Nai, Binh Duong, Hanoi and Hai Phong are from other provinces. Most of them are living in hired, under-standard rooms and they don’t have access to popular entertainment services like TV, newspapers, etc.

Some companies have built houses for lease but the leasing fees are high so their workers can’t afford them.

It is more difficult for worker families since they can’t find kindergartens for their children.

According to the Vietnam Confederation of Labour, many firms, especially non-state companies, seek every way to avoid buying social insurance for their workers.

In the first half of 2008, 350 strikes were recorded, including 124 in HCM City, 57 in the southern province of Dong Nai, 41 in the southern province of Tay Ninh, 29 in the southern province of Binh Duong, 26 in the southern province of Long An, 24 in the northern coastal city of Hai Phong and 53 in other provinces and cities.

South Korean companies suffered the highest number of strikes, with 79 strikes, followed by Taiwanese firms with 78 and Japanese firms with 52.

There were 277 strikes at foreign-invested companies and 77 at non-state companies.

Some strikes took place for a long time, like in the case of the Hue Phong Footwear Company in HCM City, which lasted for 20 days.

The major reasons for strikes are low salaries, extended working times, poor shift meals, etc.

Do Minh