VN news / business news (July 23)

[Dam Son <son@u.washington.edu>]

Vietnam and Egypt to sign a bundle of agreements to promote ties
Korea's business operations in Vietnam rated successful 
Vietnam may extend no-visa period for Malaysians 
Vietnam braces for floods as torrential rain batters north 
Vote counting complete in 12 Vietnamese provinces 
Vietnam Local Authorities License 6 Projects
Vietnam Bks Told To Pay Minh Phung, Epco Letters Of Credit 
Vietnam Central Bank Places 16.6 Bln Dong T-Bills At 11.0% 
Vietnam's Import-Export Tax Revenue down Five Percent 
Vietnamese, Brunei FMs arrive for Asean meeting 

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Vietnam and Egypt to sign a bundle of agreements to promote ties

Hanoi (dpa) - Vietnam and Egypt are expected to sign 18 agreements aimed
at jumpstarting bilateral commercial ties early next month in the Vietnamese
capital, Cairo's said ambassador Wednesday.

The agreements - which cover trade and investment promotion, civil aviation,
and various exchange programmes - will be signed by the two countries'
trade ministers August 8.

Egypt's minister of trade Dr. Ahmed Gewelli will be in Hanoi to attend
the first meeting of a bilateral commission aimed at promoting economic
relations.

Le Van Triet, Hanoi's trade minister will head the Vietnamese delegation
to the commission meeting, which wil also be attended by a delegation
of Eygptian businessmen.

Despite diplomatic relations that stretch back 34 years there is virtually
no trade or investment between the two countries currently but the ambassador
is convinced there is a ample room for development.

"Through these agreements we create not only the foundation but also
the mechanism for follow-up... but this is just the first steps" said
Ambassador Haney Sharaf El Din.

"The most important [agreements are] in agro-industries because we can
offer, in specialized fields, Vietnam very substantial help especially
in cotton, sugarcane, and horticulture," he said.

As part of Egypt's effort to rationalize its use of water, Cairo is looking
to start a plantation and refinery in Vietnam for sugar cane, which is
a big consumer of water.

Eygptian experts are currently studying a 30,000 hectare site in Vietnam's
Central Highlands in a project that would require at least 100 million
doolars for a 4,00 tonnes per day facility.

The two countries are also in the process of setting up pilot programs
in cotton, horticulture and livestock raising, which could lead to additional
commercial ventures, he said.

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Korea's business operations in Vietnam rated successful 

SEOUL, July 22 (Yonhap) - Korean business operations in Vietnam since
diplomatic normalization between the two countries in 1992 has been a
success, according to a Seoul university professor.

In a seminar sponsored Monday by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry
to assess Korean business operations in Vietnam over the past five years,
Prof. Oh In-shik of Sangmyong University, Seoul, stated that Korean business
operations during the initial period following diplomatic normalization
were carried out successfully. He pointed to Korea's investments in Vietnam
totalling US$6.7 million for 161 projects to support his contention.

He noted, however, that Korean businesses have faced considerable hardships
in Vietnam due to shortages in social overhead capital, difficulties
in raising capital, a backward banking sector, and discriminatory policies
affecting foreign corporations.

Prof. Oh said that long-term rational investment planning is necessary
and that the selection of business partners should be done carefully
in order to minimize investment risk and maximize investment return.

(Yonhap)

22-07 1029

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Vietnam may extend no-visa period for Malaysians 

KUALA LUMPUR, July 22 (Bernama) - Vietnam is favourable to a request
that the no-visa ruling for Malaysian travellers to the Indochinese country
be extended from 15 days to three months, Malaysian Foreign Minister
Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said today.

Speaking to reporters after a one-hour meeting with his Vietnamese counterpart
Nguyen Manh Cam here, Abdullah said he raised the matter during their
discussion.

"Cam reacted very favourably and it is something that he could agree
to," he said

He said Malaysians, especially businessmen, sometimes needed to take
longer than 15 days to settle their affairs in Vietnam.

Abdullah said Cam would certainly have to take whatever necessary administrative
measures in Hanoi before granting the request.

He also said both of them agreed that the Malaysia- Vietnam Joint Commission
meet in Kuala Lumpur next year. The last meeting of the commission was
held almost two years ago.

The Vietnamese Foreign Minister arrived here today to attend the two-day
Asean Ministerial Meeting (AMM) which starts on Thursday.

He said they also shared views on the AMM, particularly the issue of
Cambodia.

Abdullah said both of them believed that it would be necessary for them
to hear the report of Indonesian Foreign Minister Ali Alatas who headed
an Asean mission to meet Hun Sen last week.

"It's important to be careful in the decision that we make...we don't
wish to make decisions that can send the wrong signal and therefore aggravate
the situation on the ground in Cambodia.

"This is something that we should not allow to happen," he said.

Abdullah said if the Cambodians themselves have a formula to resolve
the crisis in their country, this would certainly be welcome.

He said the Cambodian election must take place in May next year as scheduled
and it was hoped that the election would provide a permanent solution
to the present political crisis in that country.

"If we lose that opportunity, then I think it will be a long, long time
before stability can return to Cambodia," he said.

(Bernama)

22-07 2056

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Vietnam braces for floods as torrential rain batters north 

Hanoi (dpa) - Emergency services have been put on full alert for flooding
as torrential rains over the last few days have caused rivers in northern
Vietnam to rise to dangerous levels, officials said Wednesday.

The capital city has been put on "red alert" as the waters of the bordering
Red River have risen to near flood levels, according to officials of
the Central Committee for Floods and Storms Control.

Numerous streets in the capital are under water after several days of
nearly non-stop rain.

Among measures taken so far are deployment of work crews to quickly repair
weak or damaged sections of sea or river dykes that criss-cross the Red
River delta area.

With its long coastline Vietnam is battered annually by typhoons, with
the rainy season typically running from August to November.

Last year more than 1,200 people were reported to have been killed in
the storms, the worst death toll in years.

A million homes were destroyed and a half a million hectares of rice
damaged, leaving some 1.5 million peasants in need of emergency food
aid, officials reported.

Flooding also affects the southern Mekong River delta region, the country's
rice-producing area, but despite widespread damage last year Vietnam
managed a bumper crop and exported more than 3 million tonnes of rice.

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Vote counting complete in 12 Vietnamese provinces 

Hanoi, July 22 (AFP) - Vote counting from Sunday's National Assembly
elections in Vietnam has been completed in 12 out of 61 administrative
districts, official sources said Tuesday.

The National Assembly Information centre also said 51 provinces had reported
results of voter turnout, posting a nationwide average of 98.27 percent.

No preliminary results have yet been released.

A total of 450 National Assembly deputies will be chosen from 663 candidates
to serve in the next five-year session.

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Vietnam Local Authorities License 6 Projects - Report 

Hanoi, July 23 (Dow Jones) -- Vietnamese local authorities have licensed
six foreign-invested projects since new regulations giving them the authority
took effect on July 1, the Saigon Times Daily reported Wednesday.

Some foreign observers living in Vietnam have said they hope the new
legislation, by decentralizing the approvals process, will create competition
between different provinces and speed up the time it takes to get a license
for foreign-invested projects.

Bell Sac Indochina received permission from Hanoi for a $3 million Hong-Kong
invested project to make handbags for export.

Japan's Usui Metals and Sumitomo and the Southern Waterways Co. got permission
from Ho Chi Minh City for a $3 million joint venture to recycle used
electrical wire and cable.

Taiwan's Lin Chin Wen and Phu Dong Co. got permission from Ho Chi Minh
City to establish a forestry product processing company worth $1.2 million.

Indonesia's PT Sinar Sosro and Thang Loi Co. got a license from Binh
Duong province to set up a $2.3 million mineral water joint venture.

Singapore's Leung Kai Fook received permission from BaRia-Vung Tau province
for a wholly owned $2 million plant producing medical oils and inhalers.

And Messer Haiphong, a joint venture of Germany's Messer Griesheim and
Haiphong Ship Dismantlement & Shipping Co. got permission from Haiphong
for a $4 million industrial gas joint venture.

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Vietnam Bks Told To Pay Minh Phung, Epco Letters Of Credit 

Hanoi , July 23 (Dow Jones) -- Vietnamese commercial banks have been
given government orders to pay letters of credit issued on behalf of
Minh Phung and Epco, the Saigon Times Daily reported Wednesday.

To date, those contracts have not been fulfilled.

Both companies have been implicated in high-profile corruption scandals.
Directors of the two firms are under arrest and awaiting trial.

According to the newspaper, a July 15 letter signed by Vietnam Prime
Minister Vo Van Kiet authorizes banks to settle the deferred letters
of credit when they become due.

The directive said the letters of credit must be viewed as 'compulsory
loans,' and that the commercial banks can sell assets mortgaged by the
defaulting companies as a way of recovering the value of the loans, the
paper said.

Vietnam's central bank recently took steps to tighten issuance of letters
of credit after several banks issued them to companies that were not
financially sound and who later defaulted on obligations.

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Vietnam Central Bank Places 16.6 Bln Dong T-Bills At 11.0% 

Hanoi, July 23 (Dow Jones) -- The State Bank of Vietnam, the country's
central bank, awarded 16.6 billion dong of 12-month Treasury bills at
a yield of 11.0% Wednesday.

It had offered to sell 150 billion dong but refused bids from Vietcom
Bank and Incom Bank of Vietnam because they wanted a higher yield than
what was on offer, a source in the bank's press department said.

At its July 16 auction, the Vietnamese central bank awarded 150 billion
T-bills at a yield of 11.3%.

Successful bidders were:

Vietnam Insurance Corp. (Bao Viet) 15.0 Bln
National Reinsurance Co. 1.0 Bln
Petrolimex Joint Stock Insurance Co. 0.6 Bln

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Vietnam's Import-Export Tax Revenue down Five Percent 

HANOI (July 22) XINHUA - Vietnam's revenue from import-export tax in
the first six months decreased five percent to 6,500 billion Vietnamese
dong (about 560 million U.S. dollars), compared to the same period last
year, local press reported today.

The revenue accounted for 37 percent of the import-export tax revenue
collection target for the whole year.

The reduction should be attributed to structural adjustments of import-export
goods with major increases in imports of equipment and production materials
by foreign joint ventures and investment projects.

Meanwhile, imports of consumer goods were put under tighter control,
including the suspension of imports of fully-assembled motorbikes and
under-12-seat automobiles in mid-April, and the additional suspension
of imports of 12 kinds of consumer goods in the first quarter of the
year.

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Vietnamese, Brunei FMs arrive for Asean meeting 

KUALA LUMPUR, July 22 (Bernama) - Brunei's Foreign Minister Prince Mohamed
Bolkiah and Vietnamese Foreign Minister Nguyen Manh Cam arrived here
today for the annual Asean Ministerial Meeting (AMM).

Neither spoke to reporters on arrival at the Sunway Lagoon Resort Hotel,
the venue of the meeting.

The other ministers - Ali Alatas of Indonesia, Prachuab Chaiyasan of
Thailand and Domingo Siazon of the Philippines -are scheduled to arrive
later today. Singapore's S. Jayakumar is expected to arrive tomorrow.

The ministers will attend the ceremony for the admission of Laos and
Myanmar into Asean tomorrow before the start of the AMM on Thursday.

Myanmar's Foreign Minister Ohn Gyaw arrived last night, while Laotian
Foreign Minister Somsavat Lengsavad is scheduled to arrive tonight.

(Bernama)

22-07 1811

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