VN business news (Apr 29-30)

[Dam Son <son@fermi.phys.washington.edu>]

April 30: Marriott to Manage New Hotel in Ho Chi Minh City 
April 29: Vietnam To Amend Foreign Investment Regulation 
April 29: Vietnam Conducts Hydro-Power Plant Feasibility Study 
April 29: Petrofina Makes Another Oil, Gas Discovery Off Vietnam 
April 29: Vietnam to build 120 million dollar television tower: report 
April 29: Vietnam passes corporate income tax law: report 
April 29: Vietnam to build 120 million dollar television tower: report 


Marriott to Manage New Hotel in Ho Chi Minh City

WASHINGTON (PRNewswire) -- Marriott Lodging has been named to manage a
new 285-room hotel that is currently under construction in Ho Chi Minh
City, Vietnam.

Owned by Hai Thanh-Kotobuki Joint Venture Company, the hotel is
scheduled to open later this year as the Saigon Marriott in the
central business district of Ho Chi Minh City. It will be an integral
part of a mixed-use complex including an office tower with
approximately 110,000 square feet of space located on the west side of
Ton Duc Thang Street, opposite the Saigon River. It will be Marriott's
first hotel project in Indochina.

Among the amenities the Saigon Marriott will offer are an outdoor
swimming pool, a 600-square-meter health and fitness center, gift
shop, business center, on-site parking for 120 vehicles, lobby
concierge and a beauty-barber shop.

For dining and entertainment, the Saigon Marriott will have three
restaurants, including a Chinese and an Italian restaurant, a lobby
bar and lounge.

For meetings and social functions, the Saigon Marriott will offer 700
square meters of space, including a 400-square-meter ballroom that is
divisible into three sections; three individual meeting rooms as well
as an executive board room.

Marriott is currently represented in Asia by the JW Marriott Hotel
Hong Kong, the Singapore Marriott and the Marriott Royal Garden
Riverside Bangkok. Later this year, it will open the 423-room JW
Marriott Hotel Bangkok, the 515- room JW Marriott Hotel Kuala Lumpur
and the 304-room Cebu City Marriott in the Philippines. Marriott has
six additional hotels under construction in the region. SOURCE
Marriott Lodging WASHINGTON (PRNewswire) -- Marriott Lodging has been
named to manage a new 285-room hotel that is currently under
construction in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Owned by Hai Thanh-Kotobuki Joint Venture Company, the hotel is
scheduled to open later this year as the Saigon Marriott in the
central business district of Ho Chi Minh City. It will be an integral
part of a mixed-use complex including an office tower with
approximately 110,000 square feet of space located on the west side of
Ton Duc Thang Street, opposite the Saigon River. It will be Marriott's
first hotel project in Indochina.

Among the amenities the Saigon Marriott will offer are an outdoor
swimming pool, a 600-square-meter health and fitness center, gift
shop, business center, on-site parking for 120 vehicles, lobby
concierge and a beauty-barber shop.

For dining and entertainment, the Saigon Marriott will have three
restaurants, including a Chinese and an Italian restaurant, a lobby
bar and lounge.

For meetings and social functions, the Saigon Marriott will offer 700
square meters of space, including a 400-square-meter ballroom that is
divisible into three sections; three individual meeting rooms as well
as an executive board room.

Marriott is currently represented in Asia by the JW Marriott Hotel
Hong Kong, the Singapore Marriott and the Marriott Royal Garden
Riverside Bangkok. Later this year, it will open the 423-room JW
Marriott Hotel Bangkok, the 515- room JW Marriott Hotel Kuala Lumpur
and the 304-room Cebu City Marriott in the Philippines. Marriott has
six additional hotels under construction in the region. SOURCE
Marriott Lodging
                 ___________________________________

Vietnam To Amend Foreign Investment Regulation 

Hanoi (VNA) - The Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) is working
out regulations for foreign-invested projects and business cooperation
contracts which have a duration of over 50 to 70 years.

According to Article 17 of the country's current Foreign Investment
Law, foreign-invested projects and business cooperation contracts are
not to have a duration over 50 years, except for specific cases
decided by the standing Committee of the National Assembly and the
government, but whose duration then shall not exceed 70 years.

So far, no foreign-invested projects have been licensed for over 50
years.

MPI plans to include in the amendment three following particular
investment areas which will have a longer duration up to 70 years:
large-scale afforestation; large-scale eco-tourism and construction of
hi-tech zones. These investment categories are also the government's
investment priorities.
                 ___________________________________

Vietnam Conducts Hydro-Power Plant Feasibility Study 

Hanoi (VNA) - A feasibility study for the biggest hydro-electric power
plant in Vietnam is now being conducted.

Under the study, the 3,000 MW plant in the northern province of Son La
will link into the Hoa Binh hydro-electric dam scheme and cost about
VND 26,5000 billion for a 215 m high dam wall or VND 39,800 billion
for a 265 m dam. This will generate 8.5 billion kWh or 14.2 billion
kWh, respectively.

A reservoir in Son La will also supply water for the Hoa Binh plant,
increasing the country's hydro-power annual capacity to 3 billion kWh.

Electricity of Vietnam generated 4,343 billion kWh in the first
quarter of this year, with 3,328 billion kWh provided for production
and civil consumption, a year-on-year increase of 10.96 per cent.
                 ___________________________________


Petrofina Makes Another Oil, Gas Discovery Off Vietnam 

BRUSSELS (DJ) -- Belgian oil and gas company PetroFina SA said Tuesday
it discovered a sixth oil field off the coast of Vietnam.

In a statement PetroFina said its local subsidiary, Fina Exploration
Minh Hai, had discovered a field capable of producing 6,700 barrels of
oil a day.

The field is also capable of producing 49 cubic meters of gas a day.

The find follows other finds off Vietnam in April and February 1997
and in July of last year.

                 ___________________________________


Vietnam to build 120 million dollar television tower: report 

HANOI (AFP) - Vietnam is working on a feasibility study to build a 120
million dollar television tower used for broadcasting to most of
provinces in the north, a report said Tuesday.

The nine-storey tower with a height of nearly 400 meters (1,320 feet)
will be able to provide television coverage for northern provinces in
the Red River delta, the Thanh Nien newspaper reported.

The detailed feasibility studies of the project will be submitted to
the government in the second quarter of this year for approval, it
said adding that total initial cost for the project is estimated at
around 120-to-130 million dollars.

The tower will be built in Tay Ho district of Hanoi on a site of 15
hectares (38 acres).

Currently 70 percent of Vietnam's population has access to television.

Satellite access is tightly restricted, and terrestrial television is
controlled by government owned Vietnam Television and local
state-owned stations.
                 ___________________________________

Vietnam passes corporate income tax law: report 

HANOI (AFP) - Vietnam's National Assembly has passed corporate income
tax legislation that will impose a uniform rate of 32 percent, a
newspaper reported Tuesday.

The English language Vietnam News said the legislation was passed by
lawmakers on Monday, coming on the heels of a new value added tax
passed last Friday. Neither law would take effect until January 1999.

According to Richard Irwin, tax manager at Price Waterhouse Vietnam
Ltd, existing regulations set out in a Foreign Investment Law passed
last November, and an existing statute on foreign company profits law,
would remain in force until then.

However he noted that in the interim Vietnam planned to introduce a
circular which would amend existing regulations outlined in the
company profits tax law.

"This new law will have broad sweeping implications, but there are so
many overlapping circulars and decrees it is quite complicated to work
out," he said.

The value added tax will replace the existing turnover tax. According
to another foreign lawyer in Hanoi, the question is not one of
legislation but of enforcement.
                 ___________________________________

Vietnam to build 120 million dollar television tower: report 

HANOI (AFP) - Vietnam is working on a feasibility study to build a 120
million dollar television tower used for broadcasting to most of
provinces in the north, a report said Tuesday.

The nine-storey tower with a height of nearly 400 meters (1,320 feet)
will be able to provide television coverage for northern provinces in
the Red River delta, the Thanh Nien newspaper reported.

The detailed feasibility studies of the project will be submitted to
the government in the second quarter of this year for approval, it
said adding that total initial cost for the project is estimated at
around 120-to-130 million dollars.

The tower will be built in Tay Ho district of Hanoi on a site of 15
hectares (38 acres).

Currently 70 percent of Vietnam's population has access to television.

Satellite access is tightly restricted, and terrestrial television is
controlled by government owned Vietnam Television and local
state-owned stations.
                 ___________________________________