VN Bus. News (May 13, 1997)

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

May 13: Japan, Vietnam agree on regular high-level talks 
May 13: Netnam, FPT to create linked nets -- Minister appointed leader of
national Internet coordination board 
May 13: Taste of Vietnam at KL hotel 
May 13: DHI Exhibits Its Heavy Equip. to Booming Vietnamese Market 
May 13: Fedex gets US go-ahead for Vietnam charter flights 
May 13: Vietnam plans Mekong Delta development bank 
May 13: BBC report on timing of VN-U.S. trade pact denounced 


Japan, Vietnam agree on regular high-level talks 

Japan Economic Newswire

TOKYO -- Japan and Vietnam agreed Tuesday to hold regular talks
between their vice foreign ministers as a part of efforts to expand
bilateral relations, a Japanese Foreign Ministry official said.

Foreign Minister Yukihiko Ikeda and Vietnamese Foreign Minister Nguyen
Manh Cam reached the accord at a meeting in which they discussed how
to speed up Japan's assistance for Vietnam's push to achieve further
economic development, the official said.

Ikeda was quoted as telling Cam that Japan will send a fact-finding
mission to Vietnam next month to study the possibility of using
low-interest yen-denominated Japanese loans for training Vietnamese
personnel.

Cam, on a four-day visit to Japan through Wednesday, also exchanged
views over the food shortage in North Korea, which he visited before
coming to Japan.

At Cam's request, however, the official declined to reveal the details
of their talks about North Korea.

Ikeda paid an official visit to Vietnam last July and he and Cam
subsequently met in October at a meeting of the U.N. General Assembly
in New York.

Japan has been the largest donor to Vietnam since resuming official
development assistance in November 1992.

Last January, Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto visited Hanoi and
offered 81 billion yen in loans to finance nine infrastructure
projects, mainly in the energy and transportation fields.

In addition, Tokyo offered 3 billion yen in grants to Vietnam without
designating its end use.
                 ___________________________________


Netnam, FPT to create linked nets -- Minister appointed
leader of national Internet coordination board 

(SGT-HANOI) Two of Vietnam's major computer networks, Vietnam Wisdom
and Netnam will sign a cooperation deal this month, a Netnam official
said.

Tran Ba Thai, Netnam's administrator said the two networks have
reached a preliminary agreement to offer combined services for their
users. "In the first stage we will provide internet E-mail services
for our subscribers and later on other services that are now available
on each network separately," Thai said.

Netnam and Varenet were established by the Institute of Information
Technology while Vietnam Wisdom is operated by the Corporation for
Financing and Promoting Technology - FPT. They have a combined
subscriber-base of 6,400 users.

As all local networks are not linked to the Internet, users of one
network cannot exchange direct E-mail messages with others in another
network. If one user of Netnam wants to send a message to another
Vietnet user, for instance, the message will first be routed to a
server in Australia, then back to Vietnet.

The agreement between Netnam and FPT will pave the way for other
similar deals among other local networks. So far Vietnam has around
ten local networks.

* Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet last Thursday appointed Minister of
Science, Technology and Environment Pham Gia Khiem chief of the
national Internet coordination board.

Mr. Mai Liem Truc, head of the General Department of Post, was chosen
to be vice chief of the board. There are six other members who are
ministers and deputy ministers of Education, Interior Affairs, Culture
and Information and others.

This is a decision aiming to manage and use the Internet efficiently
in terms of politics, economic issues, society and national security.
On March 5, the Government gave a go-ahead to the establishment of a
gateway link with the Internet.

* It is necessary for the country to upload its data and information
onto the Internet, an official with the Ministry of Culture and
Information told the local press.

Mr. Luu Van Han, head of the Press Department of the ministry, said if
Vietnam does this, unwanted programs on the Internet can be
restricted.
                 ___________________________________


Taste of Vietnam at KL hotel 

The New Straits Times

EQUATORIAL Kuala Lumpur is paying tribute to its Vietnamese and local
guests with A Taste Of Vietnam at its Nipah Coffee Shop.

The food promotion is available for lunch and dinner during weekdays
and for dinner during weekends until Sunday.

Three Vietnamese women chefs - Lee Thi Kim Anh, Trinh Tri Thai Chan
and Dang Thi Thu Trang - from Hotel Equatorial Ho Chi Minh City were
flown in to ensure the authenticity of the dishes.

The buffet menus vary daily for lunch and dinner.

Selections include Fresh Crystal Spring Rolls with Beef, Grilled
Eggplant Salad, Rice Cake with Dried Shrimps and Fish Sauce Dip and
Chicken Meat and Cabbage Salads.

Soups include Fish Soup with Celery, Chicken Pineapple Soup and Crab
Meat Soup with Asparagas and main courses, Sliced Beef with
Lemongrass, Stewed Seabass in Claypot, Grilled Chicken with Lime Skin,
Ginger Crabs with Szechuan Peppercorns and Vietnamese Ravioli with
Roasted Goose.

In conjunction with the food promotion, Vietnamese traditional music
and cultural shows by a nine-member troupe from Vietnam will be held.

A photography exhibition on images of Ho Chi Minh City by Stephen Wong
entitled Picture Slogan is also on at the Nipah Foyer, Lower Lobby,
until May 31.

Open from 10am to 10pm, it features 25 pictures on life in Vietnam.

To complete the Vietnamese experience, buffet diners have a chance to
win a holiday to Vietnam by taking part in a contest. Winners will get
air tickets and accommodation at Equatorial Ho Chi Minh City.

For reservations, call 03-2617777 ext 8555/8556.
                 ___________________________________


DHI Exhibits Its Heavy Equip. to Booming Vietnamese Market 

Comline Daily News Financial Markets

Heavy equipment imports have been on a sharp increase in line with
active infrastructure projects, such as the Inchon International
Airport construction, and the rising demand for specialty equipment.

Industry sources said that the imports of heavy construction equipment
soared from 60 billion won in 1994 to 210 billion won ($236 million)
in 1995. The imports will reach an estimated 300 billion won this
year.

The activity has attracted more companies into this business sector.
At present, 70-80 companies are engaged in the imports of various
heavy equipment models. The firms vary from general trading companies
such as Kilwoo Corp., Haein and Soosan Trading, and many other small
firms devoting to importing a single item.

To support the robust inflow of imports, these companies are striving
to strengthen after-sales service and sales networks, the two major
obstacles in imported equipment marketing. Haein recently established
a mammoth repair center, covering 42,900 sq. meters, in Chonan, South
Chungchong Province.

Specialty and multi-functional construction equipment models consist
of a major part of the imports. Since these are not actively produced
domestically due to a lack of profitability, the imports of the these
`machines will continue for some time.
                 ___________________________________


Fedex gets US go-ahead for Vietnam charter flights 

By Jim Gilchrist

HONG KONG, May 13 (Reuter)- Federal Express Corp has been granted
permission by the U.S. government to begin charter flights to Vietnam,
a Hong Kong-based Fedex spokesman said.

In April 1995, shortly after Washington lifted its trade embargo on
Vietnam, Fedex airlifted charity relief supplies and became the first
U.S. carrier to return since the end of the Vietnam war, the spokesman
told Reuters.

Linking up with the company's Subic Bay hub in the Philippines and
adding Vietnam to the integrator's Asian network is not yet possible
as there is no bilateral agreement between Hanoi and Washington, and
any flights will be on an ad hoc charter basis only, he added.

Fedex does not have any firm plans for the number of flights or their
frequency, the spokesman said.

Industry sources said the Fedex go ahead is another step towards an
aviation treaty which would allow scheduled air links between the two
former enemies. Four hundred and fifty U.S. companies are estimated to
have established themselves in Vietnam where the economy is growing
rapidly along with demand for express parcel deliveries.

"We are open for business in Vietnam and awaiting charter work. We
were the first U.S. carrier to return to Vietnam with the charity
relief airlift a couple of years ago and we are now looking forward to
flying there a lot more often," the spokesman said.

Fedex already has offices in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City and currently
uses scheduled airlines to connect with its worldwide network, the
spokesman added. --Reuters Air Cargo Newsroom Tel+44 171 542-7706
Fax+5017
                 ___________________________________


Vietnam plans Mekong Delta development bank 

Hanoi (Reuter) - Vietnam is planning to set up a bank to provide funds
to rice-farming communities in the flood-prone Mekong Delta, an
official at the Vietnam Banking Association said on Tuesday.

The official, who declined to be named, said Mekong Delta Housing and
Development Bank would be established with registered capital of
between $86 million and $129 million.

He declined to confirm a newspaper report that the government would
have a 50-percent share in the bank, saying only that a ``major
stake'' would be held by the state.

More than half of Vietnam's rice production, which in 1996 was more
than 26 million tonnes, comes from the fertile provinces of the Mekong
Delta.

However, much of the area is hit by annual floods and many of its
farmers have little or no access to credit to buy fertiliser or build
storehouses for their crops.

The new bank would join 54 other non-state banks, known as joint-stock
banks, which have sprung up since the banking system was liberalised
in the early 1990s.

Some of those banks have recently run into problems of liquidity and
debt, much of which has been blamed on bad management practices and
corruption.
                 ___________________________________


BBC report on timing of VN-U.S. trade pact denounced 

(SGT-HCMC) -- The information about the signing of a bilateral trade
agreement between Vietnam and the U.S. by August 1997 is incorrect, an
official from the America Department of Vietnam's Ministry of Foreign
Affairs told the Daily yesterday.

A few hours after the U.S. Ambassador Pete Peterson's arrival in Hanoi
on Friday, Vietnam News Agency was quoted by the British Broadcasting
Corporation (BBC) as saying that a trade agreement is expected to be
reached between Vietnam and the U.S. by August 1997.

BBC commented that the information (from Vietnam News Agency) "amazed"
U.S. diplomats in Hanoi. BBC also quoted an American diplomat in Hanoi
as saying that such an agreement, on which MFN status depends, could
be reached only after long negotiations which may last one to two
years.

During his visit to Vietnam in early April, U.S. Secretary of the
Treasury Robert Rubin said a bilateral trade agreement (between
Vietnam and the U.S.) is "based on Vietnam's willingness" to make a
substantial commitment to open markets and treat foreign firms the
same as Vietnamese businesses.

When asked (at a seminar on normalization of Vietnam-U.S. economic
ties held in Hanoi during Secretary Rubin's visit) if a bilateral
trade agreement will be signed in July (1997), Vietnamese Deputy FM
Nguyen Dinh Bin said that the U.S. has put forward many prohibitively
high conditions not in line with Vietnam's current development and
economic situation. "The U.S should play a fair game," he said.

The U.S has presented a draft of the trade agreement and another round
of discussions on the issue was held in Hanoi shortly after the U.S
Treasury Secretary's visit to Hanoi in April.