VN Buss. News (Mar. 11-1997)

[vuca@envi.env.civil.saitama-u.ac.jp (Vu Thanh Ca)]

Mar 11: Asian Cash Rice Flat; Indonesia Seen Buying  Vietnamese
Mar 11: Vietnam Retail Sales Up 23% In 1996 Vs 1995 - Report
Mar 11: Hanoi to impose stiff fines on violators of foreign business licences



Tuesday, Mar 11, 1997  

Asian Cash Rice Flat; Indonesia Seen Buying  Vietnamese

SINGAPORE (Dow Jones)--Cash rice offers are holding steady late
Tuesday in Asia as sellers in  Vietnam await Indonesia buying, trade
sources said.   

'We're now waiting for Indonesia,' said a trader in Ho Chi Minh city.
'As far as I know, they will buy about 500,000-600,000 tons of 
Vietnamese rice this year. Reliable (government) sources have said Bulog
is interested in buying  Vietnamese rice, but we haven't received any
official enquiry yet.'


Meanwhile, at the Ho Chi Minh city port, vessels bound for the
Philippines and Malaysia are being loaded with 25% broken rice and 100%
white rice respectively. According to the trader in Ho Chi Minh city,
some 30,000 tons of 100% white rice concluded at more than $300/ton,
FOB, with the  Vietnam Southern Food Corp. are still waiting to be
shipped to Malaysia. The agency is currently offering the rice at
$306/ton, FOB.   

Shipments to the Philippines will take place from March to May, with
the initial order of 100,000 tons expected to be shipped by April and
the additional order of 100,000 tons to be shipped from April to May,
said the Ho Chi Minh city trader.   

Offers for  Vietnamese 25% brokens are unchanged at $235-$237/ton,
while offers from  Vietnam Southern Food Corp. are heard steady around
$255/ton, compared with $245/ton last week.   

Elsewhere, offers for the 25% broken rice are at $245/ton in India,
$270/ton in Thailand and $215/ton in Pakistan.   

In India, the market is very quiet, with traders saying they don't
expect to see any significant buyers this year except for Saudi Arabia. 

'They have been buying Indian rice and are still showing buying
interest,' said a trader in Bombay.   

He said Saudi Arabia bought some 250,000 tons of 0-4% long-grain
brokens in the last six months at $300-$330/ton on a cost and freight
basis, Saudi Arabian port, and some 150,000 tons of basmati rice.   

'By the end of the year, their imports may reach 300,000 tons and that
will be 30%-40% above their average imports,' said the Bombay trader.
'Otherwise, it has been very quiet. There isn't much enquiries. People
are just going to Pakistan.'   


Tuesday, Mar 11, 1997  

Vietnam Retail Sales Up 23% In 1996 Vs 1995 - Report

Hanoi (AP, Dow Jones) -- Vietnamese retail sales increased 23% to 145 trillion
dong (about $12.5 billion) in 1996 from the year before, the Ministry of Trade 
said, according to an official media report Tuesday.
<p>The figures were released at a government conference evaluating market 
management in 1996, the English-language Vietnam News said.

No comparative 1995 data were provided.

Vietnam's gross domestic product in 1996 was about 259 trillion dong, 
according to preliminary government data.

Trade Minister Le Van Triet told the conference the trading sector
must focus on increasing exports, in particular the volume of processed
exports.

Vietnam's trade deficit in 1996 was nearly $4.00 billion, or about 17% 
of gross domestic product. Narrowing that gap is a government priority 
for 1997.

According to the article, delegates at the conference agreed: 'State 
management must be utilized to ensure that the trading sector promotes 
both the market economy and socialist values.'


Tuesday, Mar 11, 1997 

 Hanoi to impose stiff fines on violators of foreign business licences

HANOI (AFP) - Hanoi will impose fines of up to
80,000 dollars on foreign businesses which violate the
terms of their licences, the Vietnam News reported Tuesday. 

The new maximum penalty, announced by deputy trade minister
Mai Van Dau will be nearly ten times the previous fine of
9,000 dollars. 

The new fines came just one week after Peregrine Capital
Vietnam and its affiliates were fined a total of 100,000
dollars for violating the terms of their representative
offices. 

Dau said the government had increased penalities as old
levels were too low to deter violations.  

Existing penalities meant "nothing to representative
offices of foreign companies who intentionally break the
law for lucrative transactions," Dau was quoted as saying. 

He also said existing regulations on activities of
companies engaged in insurance, banking, tour agencies and
advertising needed tightening.