VN/News-VET:092499

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Friday, Sep 24, 1999 Consumer Price Index CPI in 9 months: 0.2 percent

(VET)- According to the General
Statistics Office the consumer price index CPI in September falls 0.6
percent compared with that of August, in which food and food stuff price
falls considerably 1.0 percent
(food falls 1.2 percent and food stuff 1.1 percent).
Gold price falls 0.3 percent and dollar price falls 0.1 percent;
therefore the consumer price index has risen only 0.2 percent; CPI has
fallen in the last 7 consecutive months.  Market analysts say that the
steady fall in prices is being caused by an oversupply in the economy. 
Vietnam^Òs CPI has dropped steadily through most of the 1990s, down from
6.7 percent in 1991 to 5.2 per cent in 1993 and 3.8 percent in 1997,
before rebounding to 9.2 percent last year. 



Controversial income tax on farmers reconsidered

(VET)- Finance Minister Nguyen Sinh
Hung and Taxation Bureau boss Tran Xuan Thang are reported to have met
with the Vietnam Farmers Association recently on the controversial
income tax on farmers.  The meeting ended up with an agreement to
conduct the survey of farmer^Òs income and gathering of opinions to set a
more appropriate corporate income tax to be imposed on farmers. 



PM Khai starts his five-day visit to Finland

(VET)- PM Phan Van Khai began his
five-day visit to Finland yesterday aimed at boosting the bilateral
trade, economic and investment relations.  PM Khai is also expected to
sign cooperation agreements on rural and agricultural development. 

Two-way trades last year amounted to US$ 41 million, US$ 25 million of
which were worth of Vietnam^Òs exports to Finland mainly garments and
footwear items.  Finland has so far granted Vietnam US$ 230 million in
the field of transport and water supply sectors. 



No encouraging sign of credit investment

(VET)- According to the State Bank of
Vietnam (SBV) the total outstanding loans of commercial banks in HCMC in
August rose just VND 200 billion, which did not signal an encouraging
sign of credit growth in the third quarter of the year. 

Loans lent out by the banks in August amounted to VND 7,200 billion and
VND 7,000 collected from the due debts; while the outstanding loans in
the joint venture banks fell 0.9 percent and in the foreign bank
branches rose only 0.15 percent. 

For the time being the interest rate is set between 0.6 percent and 0.7
percent for the three month maturity deposits and 0.65 percent and 0.8
percent for the 6 month maturity deposits, but the deposits have still
risen, as of the late August the total deposits in the HCMC commercial
banks had amounted to VND 38,780 billion.  Vietcombank now sets the
lowest lending rate at 0.85 percent / month for Vietnamese dong and 6.2
percent/ year for American dollars. 

Commercial banks have now tended to apply the syndicated loans to
overcome the capital glut and minimize risks. 

Lending in Vietnam as of June 1999 Bank Amount in million VND

Percentages State Commercial banks

18,257

46.8 Commercial Joint stock

9,532

24.4 JV banks

1,217

3.1 Foreign banks

10,005

25.7 Total

39,011

100.0

(Source: State Bank of Vietnam)



Incentives to lure investors to Ba Ria
- Vung Tau

(VET)- A number of incentives have been
applied by Ba Ria - Vung Tau Province authorities to lure local and
foreign investors into the province. 

The incentives include the lowest land rent and one-price policy for
water supply for investors engaged in aquaculture, manufacturing,
infrastructure development and tourism.  Besides fees on considering
investment applications will be lifted and the employers are authorized
to recruit employees if local labor supply centers fail to do so.  Ba
Ria - Vung Tau lists 20 investment projects in these four industries,
including shipbuilding, seafood processing for export, entertainment,
and production of building material and exploitation of minerals. 



86 FDI projects licensed in Hai Phong

(VET)- As of early September Hai Phong
had licensed 86 FDI projects, 65 of which have been put into operation
and other four projects under construction.  The total capital of the
FDI projects in Hai Phong is US$1.4 billion.  Hai Phong is one of the
localities to have high percentage of projects being implemented with
62.5 percent. 



Urban unemployment rate still on the rise

(VET)- The latest figures released by
the General Statistics Office reveals that that working-age unemployment
rate throughout the country is now 7.4 percent for men and 8.26 percent
for women.  Unemployment rates in urban areas across the country have
increased by 0.55 per cent over the same period last year. 

The Red River Delta area tops the list of the unemployment rate with
9.34 percent.  The capital city of Hanoi has the highest rate of
unemployment with 10.31 percent for urban laborers.  Quang Ninh Province
and HCM City have lower rates with 9.29 percent and 7.04 percent
respectively. 



Circular on drug trading expected

(VET)- Ms. Pham Binh Minh, an official
with the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Equipment Import Export Management
Department was quoted as saying that the Ministry of Health would issue
a circular on pharmaceutical trading later this month in a move to give
a guideline for the implementation of some documents formerly issued by
the Government.  Technical conditions and standards will be included in
the proposed circular for pharmaceutical trades. 

She said the recent conference held in Hanoi was aimed to consult some
130 businesses specializing in pharmaceuticals and medical equipment
import export trading to the draft circular. 



HCMC environment project gets financial backing from Norway

(VET)- An agreement was signed last
week between the city authorities and the Norwegian government, under
which US$400,000 in terms of non-refundable aid from the Norwegian
government through the Norway Agency for Development Cooperation
(NORAD) has been provided for a project
related to HCMC environmental improvement. 

The project is aimed at helping the city to perfect financial and
technological regimes for small-scale projects to collect and transport
solid waste; treat waste at dumpsites; and upgrade Hang Bang Canal water
drainage system.  The work is expected to be completed in May next year.



Danish businesses interested in Vietnam^Òs garment industry

(VET)- Jens Bollerup Jensen, director
of the Federation of Danish Textile & Clothing said that in the past ten
years, the textile and garment industry of Denmark has changed a great
deal, but it is faced with high labor costs, forcing the Danish
entrepreneurs to bring production abroad to benefit from more favorable
conditions, adding that Vietnam's reasonable labor costs have attracted
the attention from Danish textile and garment businesses seeking
partners in the country.  The overseas production facilities were
previously focused on Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine.  Bollerup-Jensen
indicated that Vietnam is an increasingly important country to Danish
businesses.  About 300 garment export enterprises are currently
operating in HCMC with a total work force of roughly 100,000. 



Vietnam to scrap interest rate ceiling

(SGT)- Vietnam is set to remove
interest rate ceilings in December as part of an action plan to prop up
the private sector. 


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First audit criteria to come out next week

(SGT)- Vietnam would bring out its
first four criteria on auditing next week, said a source from the
Ministry of Finance. 


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US$ 121 million training project to start in 2000

(VNS)- A US$121 million project to
provide technical education and vocational training at 15 centers
throughout the country is to be implemented within five years, the Dau
Tu
(Investment Review) newspaper reports.
Funded with $ 100 million from foreign organizations and banks and the
remainder coming from the Vietnamese Government, the project is
scheduled to commence in the year 2000.  Representatives from the Asian
Development Bank, nearly 100 experts, cadres from the General Department
of Vocational Training and officials from various provinces Departments
of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs attended a coaching conference
last week to develop this national project. 

The conference focused on mapping out a strategy to develop technical
education and vocational training programs, the issuance of management
policies, and the implementation of the project throughout Vietnam.  The
fifteen centers funded by the program are expected to provide a model
for vocational training centers nation-wide to follow. 



New State financial company will make better market players

By Nguyen Van Ninh, director of the Finance Ministry's State Fund and
Properties Management at Enterprises Department. 

( VNS)- To promote the conversion of
State-owned enterprises (SOEs) into companies, the Finance Ministry is
to submit to the Government the pilot State Financial Investment Company
(SFICO) establishment project. 


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