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Southeast Asia’s biggest cable factory opens in Vietnam
VNECONOMY updated: 18/07/2007
The biggest cable factory in Southeast Asia, the Taihan-Sacom joint venture plant in Dong Nai Province’s Long Thanh Industrial Park, was inaugurated on July 16.
The new facility makes power, optic and telecommunication cables along with copper and aluminum rods.
The first medium and high-voltage power cables for local sale and export were produced on the inauguration day.
The US$40-million plant occupying 15 hectares employs more than 600 people and can turn out 25,000 tons of power cable and 6,000 tons of telecommunication cable per annum.
It also has workshops to cast and roll 6,000 tons of bronze and 20,000 tons of aluminum per year.
The TSC joint venture between South Korea’s Taihan and the Vietnamese listed firm Cable and Telecommunication Materials (Sacom) has chartered capital of US$28 million. Taihan, one of South Korea’s leading cable producers, holds a 70 per cent stake.
Source: Sài Gòn Giải phóng
http://www.vneconomy.com.vn/eng/?param=article&catid=01&id=bbcb2c9d6597bd
July 16, 2007 - 4:30 PM
Switzerland supports Vietnam's market economy
Swiss Economics Minister Doris Leuthard has signed four agreements with Hanoi aimed at trying to integrate Vietnam better into the global economy.
The accords, which will cost Switzerland about SFr9 million ($7.49 million) are also intended to make the communist southeast Asian nation more attractive for Swiss investors.
Leuthard, who is in Vietnam after a visit to China, signed on Monday one key agreement on the protection of intellectual property with the Vietnamese minister of science and technology, Hoang Van Phong.
After working out legislation that is compatible with the World Trade Organization, the Swiss will support the Vietnamese in applying it effectively. There will also be help in developing intellectual property law in universities.
Aid from the Swiss State Secretariat for the Economy for the programme, which stretches over three years, is budgeted at SFr1.2 million. The Federal Institute of Intellectual Property and the Vietnamese authorities are to continue cooperation on the issue.
Copies
Vietnam, as China, produces many copies of products, machines and technical systems. The most affected sectors are watchmaking and pharmaceuticals.
"This accord is vital for the [Swiss] pharmaceutical industry as there will be a good basis for trade exchange," commented Leuthhard at a news conference in Hanoi.
Switzerland is also going to help Vietnam to bring its trade issues up in the World Trade Organization in Geneva as well as putting its WTO liberalisation obligations into practice.
The aim of an accord on this, with costs of SFr1 million, aims to give expertise to Vietnamese government officials and diplomats.
"All these projects will help the Swiss economy open doors later," Leuthard noted, helping trade and investment grow.
She said in the long run, the aim was to have economic and free trade accords with countries like Vietnam, but these needed time.
Banking
A third project, costing SFr5.8 million and signed with the Vietnamese central bank, aims to develop the country's banking sector. It will help modernise the bank, introduce a programme of reforms and improve training.
Leuthard signed a fourth agreement - on strengthening competition - with the Vietnamese trade minister Truong Dinh Tuyen.
The aim of the SFr900,000 programme is to increase the powers of the local competition authorities and demonstrate the advantages of a competitive market.
"Competition in Vietnam is still a difficult area," Leuthard commented. The country still has many state-owned enterprises and it is not clear how and how quickly they will be privatised.
Leuthard also met the prime minister, Nguyen Tan Dung, on Monday discussing reforms in Vietnam and cooperation between the two countries.
swissinfo with agencies
http://www.swissinfo.org/eng/front/detail/Switzerland_supports_Vietnam_s_market_economy.html?siteSec...
[table][tr][td]Currency Conversion Results
Symbol U.S. Dollar Exchange
Rate Vietnam Dong Bid Ask
USDVND=X 1 Jul 18 16,120 16,120 16,120 16,125
[/td][/tr][/table]
Edit: Okay, that did'nt post as I was hopeing.
Ill test the table again later just to see how it looks with the new look.
Trav, Trav.
Man that is cool,
Thanks buddy.
Trav.
Announcement No.(968)
D.G. of Foreign Exchange Control
The 968 daily currency auction was held in the Central Bank of Iraq day Tuesday 2007/7/17 so the results were as follows :
Details Notes
Number of banks 13 -----
Auction price selling dinar / US $ 1249 -----
Auction price buying dinar / US $ ------ -----
Amount sold at auction price (US $) 59.220.000 -----
Amount purchased at Auction price (US $) ------
Total offers for buying (US $) 59.220.000 -----
Total offers for selling (US $) ------ -----
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
1 Vietnamese Dong = 0.00006257 US Dollar
1 US Dollar (USD) = 15'981.8 Vietnamese Dong (VND)
Median price = 0.00006139 / 0.00006257 (bid/ask)
Minimum price = 0.00006085 / 0.00006202
Maximum price = 0.00006198 / 0.00006314
FXTrade: Online Currency Trading with OANDA FXTrade.
FXConverter - Currency Converter for 164 Currencies164 Currency Converter © 1997-2007 by OANDA.com.
Forex trade, dong interest rates stable
14:30' 12/07/2007 (GMT+7)
Trade deficit seen growing toward year-end
Dollar/dong trading continued to be stable in the first week of the month in line with the official rate announced daily by the State Bank of Vietnam.
Both official and market rates have been reported at around VND16,130 per dollar. Importers are enjoying a zero swap point on the dollar/dong pair for tenors up to three weeks and just a few dongs as premium forward point for one-month tenor.
Regarding the county's trade balance issue, authorities have forecast a huge trade deficit, at around US$8bil, toward the year-end given that the first half's figure hit a record high of US$4.78bil.
The country has been spending lots of its foreign currencies built up from both FDI and FII flows for big projects' machinery and equipment imports.
It is reported the Vietnamese Government has decided to review the timetable for initial public offerings (IPOs) by big five State-owned banks and some giant companies this year to avoid a boost of supply that could hurt the local stock market.
IPOs by the five State-owned banks this year will be followed by several major State-run firms such as Electricity of Vietnam, Vinaphone, MobiFone and Vietnam Airlines next year and they could lead to stock prices declining from the market.
Vietcombank plans to offer its shares to the public in August 2007 together with the Mekong Delta Housing Development Bank.
Incombank plans its IPO in October 2007 and BIDV is projected to offer shares within the last quarter of this year while Agribank will launch an IPO in August next year.
The country's stock index has risen 34% so far this year, closing at 1,010.53 points by the end of last week.
Dong at stable start for July
The first week of July started with relatively stable Vietnam dong interest rates. The opening overnight rate on Monday offered on the inter-bank market was about 5%, higher than the closing rate of the previous week.
However, the overnight rate has steadily declined since then and reached 4.4% on July 9. Other tenors also had similar changes, which are larger for shorter tenors and not significant for six months and above.
These changes are 0.4% for one and two months, and 0.2% for three months. These declines right at the beginning of the month suggested that liquidity in the banking system remained healthy.
In the first week of July, the amount of dong withdrawals by the State Bank of Vietnam continued to be at a significant level. There was VND10.5tril taken out of the system via its open market operations and VND500bil via its weekly auctions. Once again, it proves that the dong is still in excess in the banking system.
News reports say interest rates for dollar deposits have firmed up slightly as demand for the greenback from importers is rising.
It is reported Vietnam's growing trade deficit underlined demand from importers for dollars to pay bills.
Some local commercial banks have raised their deposit rates by five to 20 percentage points per annum to meet increasing corporate demand for dollar borrowing.
(Source: SGT)
Vietnam money: dollar rates rise to help meet importer demand
A major Vietnamese bank has raised interest rates on dollar deposits in a bid to meet strong demand for funds from importers.
Bankers said state-run Vietcombank, which handles around 30 percent of Vietnam's trade payments, boosted its rates on dollar deposits with terms from six months to 60 months by between 0.1 and 0.25 of a percentage point.
Vietcombank, the country's third-largest lender by assets, has offered 4.65 percent for six-month deposits from July 6, up from 4.4 percent previously, while its rate for 12-month deposits went up to 5 percent from 4.85 percent.
From July 6, partly private Phuong Nam Bank also raised its dollar savings rates by 0.5 percentage point, the bank said.
Dollar rates in Vietnam have thus risen to between 4.2 percent and 5.3 percent in the past month, from 4-4.7 percent earlier.
Vietnam cut import tariffs on many goods following its WTO accession in January and importers have increased their purchases to meet domestic consumption.
Meanwhile, rates on dong deposits have eased slightly.
Vietnam's four big lenders, including Vietcombank, quoted overnight lending rates on the dong at 4-5 percent on Monday versus 4.5-5.0 percent last Monday.
The range on six-month rates also widened to 7.8-8.7 percent, against 8.4-8.7 percent two weeks ago.
But bankers said demand for dong funds would rise in the next few months as the state poured money into key projects in ship building, transport and energy.
The Planning and Investment Ministry has forecast Vietnam would boost investment for development to VND118 trillion ($7.3 billion) between July and September, up 10 percent from the previous three-month period ending in June.
Source: Reuters
Vietnam money: dollar rates rise to help meet importer demand
A major Vietnamese bank has raised interest rates on dollar deposits in a bid to meet strong demand for funds from importers.
Bankers said state-run Vietcombank, which handles around 30 percent of Vietnam's trade payments, boosted its rates on dollar deposits with terms from six months to 60 months by between 0.1 and 0.25 of a percentage point.
Vietcombank, the country's third-largest lender by assets, has offered 4.65 percent for six-month deposits from July 6, up from 4.4 percent previously, while its rate for 12-month deposits went up to 5 percent from 4.85 percent.
From July 6, partly private Phuong Nam Bank also raised its dollar savings rates by 0.5 percentage point, the bank said.
Dollar rates in Vietnam have thus risen to between 4.2 percent and 5.3 percent in the past month, from 4-4.7 percent earlier.
Vietnam cut import tariffs on many goods following its WTO accession in January and importers have increased their purchases to meet domestic consumption.
Meanwhile, rates on dong deposits have eased slightly.
Vietnam's four big lenders, including Vietcombank, quoted overnight lending rates on the dong at 4-5 percent on Monday versus 4.5-5.0 percent last Monday.
The range on six-month rates also widened to 7.8-8.7 percent, against 8.4-8.7 percent two weeks ago.
But bankers said demand for dong funds would rise in the next few months as the state poured money into key projects in ship building, transport and energy.
The Planning and Investment Ministry has forecast Vietnam would boost investment for development to VND118 trillion ($7.3 billion) between July and September, up 10 percent from the previous three-month period ending in June.
Source: Reuters
Forex trade, dong interest rates stable
14:30' 12/07/2007 (GMT+7)
Trade deficit seen growing toward year-end
Dollar/dong trading continued to be stable in the first week of the month in line with the official rate announced daily by the State Bank of Vietnam.
Both official and market rates have been reported at around VND16,130 per dollar. Importers are enjoying a zero swap point on the dollar/dong pair for tenors up to three weeks and just a few dongs as premium forward point for one-month tenor.
Regarding the county's trade balance issue, authorities have forecast a huge trade deficit, at around US$8bil, toward the year-end given that the first half's figure hit a record high of US$4.78bil.
The country has been spending lots of its foreign currencies built up from both FDI and FII flows for big projects' machinery and equipment imports.
It is reported the Vietnamese Government has decided to review the timetable for initial public offerings (IPOs) by big five State-owned banks and some giant companies this year to avoid a boost of supply that could hurt the local stock market.
IPOs by the five State-owned banks this year will be followed by several major State-run firms such as Electricity of Vietnam, Vinaphone, MobiFone and Vietnam Airlines next year and they could lead to stock prices declining from the market.
Vietcombank plans to offer its shares to the public in August 2007 together with the Mekong Delta Housing Development Bank.
Incombank plans its IPO in October 2007 and BIDV is projected to offer shares within the last quarter of this year while Agribank will launch an IPO in August next year.
The country's stock index has risen 34% so far this year, closing at 1,010.53 points by the end of last week.
Dong at stable start for July
The first week of July started with relatively stable Vietnam dong interest rates. The opening overnight rate on Monday offered on the inter-bank market was about 5%, higher than the closing rate of the previous week.
However, the overnight rate has steadily declined since then and reached 4.4% on July 9. Other tenors also had similar changes, which are larger for shorter tenors and not significant for six months and above.
These changes are 0.4% for one and two months, and 0.2% for three months. These declines right at the beginning of the month suggested that liquidity in the banking system remained healthy.
In the first week of July, the amount of dong withdrawals by the State Bank of Vietnam continued to be at a significant level. There was VND10.5tril taken out of the system via its open market operations and VND500bil via its weekly auctions. Once again, it proves that the dong is still in excess in the banking system.
News reports say interest rates for dollar deposits have firmed up slightly as demand for the greenback from importers is rising.
It is reported Vietnam's growing trade deficit underlined demand from importers for dollars to pay bills.
Some local commercial banks have raised their deposit rates by five to 20 percentage points per annum to meet increasing corporate demand for dollar borrowing.
(Source: SGT)
Your request to keep it civil seems reasonable.
Just a little question here from me though.
Could you have gone through the chain of command with the Staff here first? You have the ability to send a PM to any of them. I am certain that RJ, and Strongtower would have listened to you and would have taken the time to handle the situation them selves
Trav.
Yeah, no kidding . Hopefully we'll see that next week.
Trav.
Announcement No.(964) $1249 ----
D.G. of Foreign Exchange Control
The 964 daily currency auction was held in the Central Bank of Iraq day Wednesday 2007/7/11 so the results were as follows :
Details Notes
Number of banks 16 -----
Auction price selling dinar / US $ 1249 -----
Auction price buying dinar / US $ ------ -----
Amount sold at auction price (US $) 65.095.000 -----
Amount purchased at Auction price (US $) ------
Total offers for buying (US $) 65.095.000 -----
Total offers for selling (US $) ------ -----
I know allot of us are use to Pinkies and seeing some large gains in just a day at times. But the Bank of Nova Scotia still looks pretty good.
http://finance.google.com/finance?q=BNS
Check out the 5 yr and 10 year chart from Google, and all the DIVI's.
Trav.
LOL, figures it would be on a CMKX board. LMAO.
Hey, Ive still got alot of shares of that stock I'll sell ya for real cheap. LMAO
Trav.
Someday my friend, probly not today, maybe not tommorow or the next day. But someday out there. A week, a month, a year or four. we are still seeing it go up in value, even if it has slowed down allot over the past couple months. Its just simmering right now. lol.
Trav.
HSBC, Australian Banks Up Vietnam Stakes
Updated: 4:13 a.m. PT July 9, 2007
HONG KONG - HSBC will spend $33.7 million to raise its stake in Vietnam Technological and Commercial Joint Stock Bank, or Techcombank, to 15 percent, a spokeswoman for the British bank said Monday.
Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. said it would buy 10 percent of Vietnamese investment banking business Saigon Securities Inc. for $88 million
The State Bank of Vietnam, the country's central bank, has approved the increase, the first time Vietnam has allowed a foreign bank to own 15 percent of a Vietnamese bank, Techcombank said in statement Monday.
HSBC Holdings PLC's Asian unit, Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Corp., already has a 10 percent stake in the bank that it bought in Dec. 2005 for $17.3 million, said Vinh Tran, an HSBC spokeswoman in Hong Kong.
"Obviously they have done quite well and the value has gone up," she said.
Vietnam passed a decree in April allowing foreign banks to own 15 percent of domestic commercial banks, with the option to increase the holding to 20 percent on approval from the government. HSBC said it in a statement released Friday that it will also apply to increase its stake in Techcombank to 20 percent.
"Raising our investment in Techcombank will allow us to expand our presence in one of Asia's fastest growing economies, and reflects our focus on emerging markets," said Vincent Cheng, chairman of Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Corp., in the Friday statement.
In addition to increasing its holding in the Vietnamese bank, HSBC has also committed $13.5 million to technical service assistance for Techcombank over five years, Cheng said.
Techcombank's assets were worth 25 trillion Vietnamese $1.6 billion at the end of May, according to HSBC. The bank, one of Vietnam's largest joint stock banks, serves almost 200,000 retail customers and over 13,000 commercial customers through a network of more than 100 branches.
Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. Senior Managing Director Bob Edgar said in a statement that its investment in Saigon Securities would benefit ANZ's existing institutional capital markets business in the fast-growing Vietnamese economy.
ANZ, Australia's third largest bank, was one of the first foreign banks to open in Vietnam and said it regards expansion in the country as one of its highest priorities.
ANZ already has retail and institutional businesses in communist Vietnam, an investment in Sacombank and an agreement with Sacombank to form a credit card joint-venture.
Edgar said the two groups have been cooperating for some time on corporate bond issues for large Vietnamese companies.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19673928/
Vodafone prepares for Vietnam push
Mark Kleinman in Hong Kong, Sunday Telegraph
Last Updated: 12:50am BST 08/07/2007
Mark Kleinman's blog: Notes from the Far East
Vodafone is preparing to break into Vietnam, one of the world's last remaining untapped markets for international mobile phone operators.
The Sunday Telegraph has learned that the British group has begun scouring the country's state-dominated mobile phone sector for prospective acquisitions that could ultimately cost it hundreds of millions of dollars.
advertisementVodafone has opened a representative office in Hanoi in recent weeks ahead of an expected privatisation programme overseen by Vietnam's communist government.
Fresh from its £5.5bn takeover of Hutchison Essar, the Indian mobile network, Vodafone is accelerating its push into Asia, where it also owns a small stake in China Mobile, the state-owned behemoth that operates in a market boasting almost half a billion wireless customers.
People close to Vodafone said this weekend that the company's interest in Vietnam was at an early stage but that it was positioning itself in readiness to secure partnership agreements and, ultimately, significant stakes in at least one of the government-owned companies.
Other international mobile operators are also thought to have set up representative offices in Vietnam in recent weeks. Among the overseas firms that already operate there is Hutchison Telecommunications International, the Hong Kong-based company from which Vodafone acquired its stake in Hutchison Essar.
Warren Finegold, the former UBS investment banker who is now Vodafone's chief executive of global business development, oversaw the opening of the Hanoi office on a recent visit, when he also held talks with government officials and regulators.
Jonathan Kriegel, the managing director of Vodafone's interests in China, is understood to have taken on the additional role of country officer for Vietnam.
Vietnam's economy, which has experienced expansion comparable to China and India, is fuelling a consumption boom that has seen industries including mobile telecoms achieve rapid growth in customers and revenues.
Although Vietnam has a sizeable population of 80m people, only a quarter are mobile phone users. Industry forecasts suggest that take-up is likely to double by 2010.
First in line for the Vietnamese Ministry of Post and Telematics ' privatisation programme are likely to be VinaFone and MobiFone, two of the country's biggest mobile companies.
The Vietnamese government is already engaged in a far-reaching programme of privatising state-owned assets, which include banks and other financial services firms, retailers and utilities.
Strategic foreign investors are being encouraged to buy stakes in these companies in an effort to accelerate corporate governance reforms and bring Western operational expertise.
Vodafone declined to comment on any prospective deals in Vietnam.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2007/07/08/cnvoda108.xml
Vietnam ‘a better bet than China’David Smith
THE most attractive location for manufacturing investment is Vietnam, not China, and the United Arab Emirates beats India as a location for service-sector activities, according to a new emerging-market index to be launched by Price Waterhouse Coopers this week.
The index assesses 20 prominent emerging-market locations on the basis of “reward” factors, including production costs, size of market, taxes, transport costs and tariffs, and “risk” factors, largely defined by bond-market risk premiums.
It finds that the so-called Bric economies � Brazil, Russia, India and China � do not come top as locations for either manufacturing or services.
In the case of manufacturing � where it is assumed that 50% of production will be sold in the domestic market and the rest exported � China comes second to Vietnam, and is followed by Poland, Chile, Malaysia, Thailand, India, South Africa, Hungary and Saudi Arabia. Vietnam, according to the index, is highly cost-competitive, though risks are also relatively high.
“India and China are undoubtedly important markets but Vietnam and Malaysia are now serious rivals,” said Ian Coleman, Price Waterhouse’s head of emerging markets.
For services, the assumption Price Waterhouse made was that only 10% of output is exported. This fits more closely the model for sectors such as financial services, rather than the outsourcing of back-office and call-centre work.
The UAE came top, followed by Saudi Arabia, South Korea, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Russia, Chile, Kazakhstan and Malaysia. India was in 18th place, due to the limited opportunities for selling services into India.
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/economics/article2041477.ece
No word bac from them either, on the Email. If they did do that with our money, I guess we wouldnt have to worry about what to do with our money's anymore. Somebody else would have the new fleet of Mercedies parked in there driveway. lol.
Trav.
Thanks for shareing this, Ive got a few friends up in Nova Scotia and it gives us another place to be able to sell if/when the time comes.
Trav.
lol, I dont think I've replied to my own post so many times before. At least I didnt have an arguement with myself.
Trav.
I Emailed Dinar Deposits and asked what any fees would be, and asked how to go about with the converting DINAR to US funds, if/when that time comes.
Ill post when I hear back from them.
Trav.
PS, Im talking to myself. LMAO.
Check your account when you get back in. Could/Should be there now.
Trav.
Currency Regulations
Ameraq Exchange & Group Services does business in the New Iraqi Dinar currency (NID) and the American Dollar (USD).
Deposits may be made in:
New Iraqi Dinar (NID)
American Dollar (USD)
Withdraws made be made in:
New Iraqi Dinar (NID)
American Dollar (USD)
http://www.dinardeposits.com/
//////////////////////////////////////////
That page.
"Deposits may be made in: New Iraqi Dinar (NID)"
"Withdraws made be made in: American Dollar (USD)"
At the bottom of the page there it says you can get greater than 15 % off if you set up an account with them.
"The prices above reflect cost to get the dinar into your physical possesion.
You can save over 15% off the listed cost of dinars shown below by setting up a secure account with us at DinarDeposits.com."
They need grammer check at the Web Site. lol.
Now if you follow the website listed......
And go to currency policy tab. This pops up.
Saying that they will take Dinars for deposit. And emplies that you can withdrawl US funds. It might be something to look into farther for exchangeing our DINAR someday.
Currency Regulations
Ameraq Exchange & Group Services does business in the New Iraqi Dinar currency (NID) and the American Dollar (USD).
Deposits may be made in:
New Iraqi Dinar (NID)
American Dollar (USD)
Withdraws made be made in:
New Iraqi Dinar (NID)
American Dollar (USD)
Hong Kong investors looking to Vietnam
By Olivia Chung
HONG KONG - Capital flows to where the profits are. As taxation and production costs increase on mainland China, more Hong Kong enterprises are eyeing Vietnam for investment opportunities following the Southeast Asian country's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in January.
In order to capture the fresh business opportunities, Peter Woo Kwong-ching, chairman of the government-affiliated Hong Kong
Trade Development Council (TDC) led a 17-member Hong Kong business delegation to Vietnam on June 18-21. The TDC delegation, with representatives from Hong Kong's clothing, jewelry, financial, logistics and electric appliance sectors, visited Hanoi before going to Ho Chi Minh City.
In Hanoi, the delegation met with Vietnam Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, who said overseas investment was an integral component of Vietnam’s economic development and his government would provide favorable conditions for Hong Kong investors, particularly in the financial, banking, insurance, securities, shipping and manufacturing sectors.
Earlier, the delegation was briefed by Vietnamese Minister of Trade Truong Dinh Tuyen and Vice-minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Bich Dat on the latest developments in Vietnam, including laws recently introduced to create a more effective business environment in the country.
Woo said Vietnam's competitive labor force and its competitiveness as a manufacturing base, particularly for garments and electronics, have drawn attention from Hong Kong businessmen.
Trade between Vietnam and Hong Kong in January-September, 2006, grew 19.5% to US$2.1 billion. In the same period, Vietnam absorbed more than US$600 million foreign direct investment (FDI) from Hong Kong, which was the largest among all foreign investments in the country.
Light-industry manufacturing and real estate, such as hotels and commercial and residential buildings, seem to be Hong Kong investors' favorites, jointly accounting for over 75% of Hong Kong FDI between 1998 and 2005, according to a TDC study on Vietnam.
The study said that Hong Kong companies should consider investing there due to its growing access to the world’s top trading nations, especially the US. Foreign investment in Vietnam continues to grow unabated. Last year, the country attracted a record US$10.2 billion. In the first five months of this year, the country attracted US$4.28 billion, 18.7% up from the same period last year. Its government expected up to US$20 billion to come in this year.
In March, Vietnam's government said that the country's economy had expanded 7.7% in the first quarter, up 7.2% from the same period last year. Overall, the country's economy grew 8.2% last year, and its government is targeting growth this year of 8.5%
Vietnam’s deputy prime minister Nguyen Sinh Hung told the World Economic Forum on East Asia on June 24 that the country looks set to sustain economic growth of between 8% and 10% yearly till at least 2020.
Hung said the country’s economy is expected to double by 2010 from 441.6 trillion dong in 2000, and that will increase twofold by 2020.
Dao Quoc Khanh, commercial consul of the Vietnam Trade Office in Hong Kong, said Vietnam's economic growth is sustainable as the communist country attracts more foreign investment with plans to cut taxes and amend laws such as enterprise law and investment law.
He said the country has a cost-competitive labor force; the monthly salary of low-skilled labor is at least US$100, higher than the minimum salary level of US$70.
“Of a total population of 86 million in Vietnam, 75% are youngsters who have received a better education, particularly those with a university degree can speak English, which can help solve the communication problem where foreigners are concerned,” he said.
Hong Kong-listed automobile equipment manufacturer Zhongda International Holdings is setting up its first overseas plant for the production of truck chassis and special purpose vehicles in a US$60 million joint venture with the state-owned vehicle manufacturer, Vietnam Motors Industry.
“The Vietnamese government invites us to manufacture vehicles after knowing that we can make good value-for-money ones, which also can meet the standard requirement for vehicles in Vietnam,” said Allan Kwok, executive director of Zhongda, which has been selling car maintenance equipment in Vietnam for more than five years. The annual production capacity of the joint venture is 5,000 buses, 20,000 framed chassis with engine and 10,000 bare chassis.
The Vietnamese government intends to turn auto manufacturing into a pillar industry, and Kwok said the potential market for the automotive and parts industry is great. In Vietnam, vehicles including passenger cars are mostly second-hand or assembled there with imported parts. But the prices are not cheap and supplies aren't stable due to the necessity of importing part.
“The market is huge for the first vehicle manufacturing company in Vietnam, Kwok said. Part of the reason is because transport companies seldom switch to other vehicle manufacturers once they make the first orders, he added.
Zhongda is still talking with a provincial Vietnamese government about further tax cuts, such as tax holidays. The plant will be set up in the special economic zone (SEZ) covering China’s Guangxi province and part of Vietnam. At present, taxes for vehicle assembling companies and vehicles manufacturers in Vietnam are 18% and 10% resepectively.
One prime concern for Zhongda is the poor Vietnamese road system, but he said the government has promised to improve the national infrastructure. “A 'highway' in Vietnam can be a single-lane road for two-way traffic ... but the government has pledged to make improvements, for example: build an expressway in the SEZ. We hope it can start soon,” he said.
Another Hong Kong company, listed construction giant Chun Wo Holdings, is also in Vietnam, working on a multi-purpose property development project in Ho Chi Minh City. Eddie Yeung, director of Chun Wo, said the company invests in Vietnam due to the company’s desire to diversify, the close proximity to China and the positive economic outlook.
“The local partner we have been working with is great,” Yeung said. “They have given us very useful advice on designing residential flats and consumer tastes in Vietnam. Our presale flats have attracted an enthusiastic market response,” he said. “It's not easy to find a good local partner, so we are thinking of working with them again on any new projects,” said Yeung, who described a good local partner as “a walking stick” for his company in exploring the new market.
The demand for property development in Vietnam is strong, Yeung said. He and Kowk said the country is much like China in the late '70s and early '80s, with many opportunities, including a large, competitive lower-paid labor force, for investors to get the first slice of a potentially huge market.
Olivia Chung is a senior Asia Times Online reporter.
I cant PM.
Thanks, I'm trying my hand at gardening. LOL, I suck at it so far. I need to be on my Quad rideing up a hill somewhere, lol.
Take care buddy.
Trav.
Yeah, as long as it holds long enough for us to make it to a bank that trades them. lol. I'll be 90% gone from it. Ill keep a few for just what ifs, or to show friends what I had and how I managed to buy a few toys. lol.
Have a great day Rick.
Trav.
My thoughts on this investment have changed somewhat. And I do not find it one that you want to hold onto for very long if/when it does do a Re - Val. The country is far to unstable, so is the DINAR. Strongtowers post the other day just strengthened by beliefs.
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=20960786
If/when it does a Re - Val, it could just as easily turn and do a 180 on you over night, leaveing you with next to nothing all over again. IMO, it would be best to walk away soon after a Re - Val, and not hold onto it for our children or childrens children as some of us had hoped to do. There are plenty of other investments out there that are alot safer to be in for those needs. If / When this does Re - Val, I'll be mostly out of it.
JMO's
Trav.
PS, my exit point starts at a dime. Im not to greedy, and have plenty to live off of if it hits that. I will not be a multi milloniare, but its a good start to a very early retirement.
Yeah, but with the arsenal that we have, I wouldnt mind fexxing it some to speed things up a bit. You know, get 'er done now. Set an example.
Trav.
Yeah, too much time huh. And we cant do to much without someone calling us a bunch of barbarians, we have to be somewhat civil.
Trav.
I just hope its all over with soon. Are guys/gals need to come home. Iraq needs to get there stuff together. This violence is senceless.
Trav.
I know it. Man it makes me sick.
Trav.
Done
Trav.
Imbreeding should be illegal in all countries.
IMO.
Trav.
Iraq suicide truck bombing kills more than 100
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19640140/
Attack comes after U.S. military reports 8 American soldiers slain in 2 days
Emad Matti / AP
A man covers the face of Iraqi intelligence officer Hecor Mohammed after he died in the hospital after an attack by gunmen in Kirkuk on Friday.
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Updated: 22 minutes ago
TUZ KHORMATO, Iraq - A suicide truck bomber blasted a Shiite town north of Baghdad on Saturday, killing more than 100 people, police said, in a sign Sunni insurgents are pulling away from a U.S. offensive around the capital to attack where security is thinner.
The marketplace devastation underlined a hard reality in Iraq: There are not enough forces to protect everywhere. U.S. troops, already increased by 28,000 this year, are focused on bringing calm to Baghdad, while the Iraqi military and police remain overstretched and undertrained.
The top U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, told The Associated Press he expected Sunni extremists to try to “pull off a variety of sensational attacks and grab the headlines to create a ‘mini-Tet.”’
Story continues below ↓
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He was referring to the 1968 Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Tet offensive that undermined public support for the Vietnam War in the United States.
The U.S. military on Saturday also reported that eight American service members were killed in fighting in Baghdad and western Anbar province over two days, reflecting the increased U.S. casualties that have come with the new offensives. A British soldier was killed in fighting with Shiite militias overnight in the southern city of Basra.
In Saturday’s attack—Iraq’s deadliest since February—the truck detonation ripped through the market in the farming town of Armili at around 8:30 am, as crowds had gathered for morning shopping.
It demolished several dozen old mud-brick homes and shops, burying dozens of people under the rubble, and set cars on fire, survivors said.
‘I don’t know the fate of my brother’
While residents and police dug through the wreckage for hours, victims were ferried in farmers’ pickup trucks 30 miles to the nearest hospital, in Tuz Khormato.
Weeping and screaming relatives searched Tuz Khormato’s hospital frantically for word of loved ones. Ali Hussein read the names of victims being moved further north to Kirkuk for treatment. “My cousin died in the explosion, but I don’t know the fate of my brother,” he said in tears.
Abdullah Jabara, deputy governor of Salahuddin province where the town is located, told Iraqi state television that 115 died—nearly three-quarters of them women, children and elderly—and blamed al-Qaida. Police gave a similar death toll, along with more than 200 wounded, though Tuz Khormato’s police chief, Col. Abbas Mohammed Amin, put the toll at 150 dead.
The attack’s location suggested it was carried out by Sunni extremists fleeing the three-week old U.S. offensive centered at the city of Baqouba, 60 miles to the south on Baghdad’s northern doorstep. The sweep aims to uproot al-Qaida militants and Sunni insurgents using the area to stage car bomb attacks in the capital.
But U.S. commanders acknowledge that many insurgents fled Baqouba before the assault, and they may have found easier ground for attacks further north.
“Because of the recent American military operations, terrorists found a good hideout in Salahuddin province, especially in the outskirts areas in which there isn’t enough number of military forces there,” said Ahmed al-Jubouri, an aide of the provincial governor.
Armili, 100 miles north of Baghdad, is a town of 26,000, mostly Shiites from Iraq’s Turkoman ethnic minority. Residents say tensions are constantly high with Sunni Arabs who dominate the surrounding villages. Iraqi security presence is scant in the remote region, near the border with neighboring Diyala province.
“The number of Iraqi police and army in this area is too low. This is a farming area with a lot of empty areas, so it’s neglected. There’s not even much presence of government officials,” said Haytham Khalaf, 37, an Amirli resident whose niece was injured. He accused local Sunnis of helping al-Qaida set up a presence there.
Extremists hit a similarly isolated location hours before the Armili blast. Friday night, a suicide car bomber hit a funeral tent in the Kurdish Sunni village of Zargosh, about 75 miles northeast of Baghdad, killing 22 people.
U.S. tolerating attacks?
The U.S. military may be forced to tolerate attacks further north as they focus on pacifying Baghdad and its surroundings, hoping that calm in the capital will give the government time to take key political steps. Washington is pressing Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to pass measures to encourage Sunni Arabs to turn away from support of the insurgency to back the government.
Attacks have fallen in recent weeks in much of Baghdad. Still, a suicide car bomber blasted an Iraqi army patrol in an eastern commercial district of the capital, killing five soldiers and a civilian, police said.
Roadside bombings killed five U.S. soldiers in Baghdad on Friday and another on Thursday, the U.S. military said in its latest statements on U.S. casualties. Two Marines were killed in fighting Friday in western Anbar province, it said.
Dozens of Sunni Muslim sheiks and tribal leaders met Saturday in the western city of Ramadi, pledging to fight terrorism and restore peace to Anbar province—for years the heart of the insurgency.
Among them were members of the Anbar Awakening, which was formed in April by more than 200 Sunni sheiks whose followers are now cooperating with U.S. forces against al-Qaida and other insurgents. The meeting also called for the release of security detainees who had not been convicted of crimes and for a bigger role for their group in representing Sunni interests.
In the far south of Iraq, British troops came under heavy attack by militants in Basra, killing one soldier and wounding three, the British military said Saturday.
Britain has withdrawn hundreds of troops from Iraq, leaving a force of around 5,500 based mainly on the fringes of Basra, Iraq’s second-largest city, 340 miles southeast of Baghdad. British bases come under frequent mortar attacks from Shiite militias. The U.S. currently has about 155,000 troops in Iraq.
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© 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
US Gallons (Liquid): A US capacity measure (for liquid) equal to 4 quarts or 3.785 liters. Note also there are different measures of US dry gallons and UK gallons.
http://www.metric-conversions.org/volume/liters-to-gallons.htm
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How do they expect to live on the equevelant of 160 US a month. (200,000 Dinars)
Think I they should move the DINAR to 0.01 per US dollar.
Trav.
New oil discovery offshore Vietnam
Last updated: 16:17 - July 2, 2007
Nhan Dan - Lam Son Joint Operating Company (Lam Son JOC) has announced the second success in its 2007 Drilling Campaign, discovering commercial oil at Dong Do Prospect, Block 02/97, Cuu Long Sedimentary Basin in the south-east offshore Vietnam.
Drilling of the Dong Do-1X well was started on May 15, 2007. Oil has been discovered at the middle Miocene sandstone reservoir with a flow rate of 2,500 barrels of oil a day.
The discovery of oil in the middle Miocene sandstone reservoir has opened up new possibilities for oil exploration in the Cuu Long basin. The depth of the reservoir, around 1,500 metres, is also said to be the shallowest in the region to date.
Lam Son JOC is a joint-venture between PetroVietnam Exploration and Production Corporation (PVEP) and Petronas Carigali Overseas Sdn. Bhd (PCOSB), Malaysia.
The Lam Son JOC is joint venture between the Vietnam Oil and Gas Group, PetroVietnam, and Malaysia’s Petronas Carigali Overseas Sdn.Bhd.
http://www.nhandan.com.vn/english/business/020707/business_n.htm
I was in my work car, it would have given it all away. LMAO.
Someday though, a day, a week, a month.. a year or four. Ill upgrade my work car to a Hummer. lol.
Trav.