Vietnam: Indirect talks needed for Golan Heights conflict

The statement was made by Vietnam ’s Alternate Representative Dang Hoang Giang at the consultation briefing with the UNSC on Dec. 14 on the operations of the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) in the Golan Heights .

Given the tense and complicated nature of the peace process in the Middle East, Giang said the conflict in the Golan Heights can only be resolved through peaceful dialogues and negotiations and with a comprehensive, durable and just solution to regional peace.

Giang said the ceasefire in the Israel-Syria sector was maintained and the UNDOF area of operation remained generally quiet thanks to both efforts by the force to perform its functions in accordance with Security Council Resolution 350 (1974) and the cooperation from the parties concerned. 

He, therefore, called for all sides’ cooperation to facilitate greater freedom of movement and operational access in the UNDOF’s exercise of its mandates.

The Vietnamese representative, however, raised concern about the continued construction and renovation of defensive positions in the respective areas of limitations and about the deadly threats to UN staff and local inhabitants which are posed by mines and their deteriorated detonation systems. 

He called for both sides to increase cooperation with relevant UN agencies to address the remaining problems and to facilitate mine clearance activities as well as to raise mine awareness among the civilian population.

Vietnam backs UN agencies’ int’l cooperation against terrorism

New York (VNA) – Vietnam ’s representative to the UN Security Council pledged support for the UN agencies’ joint efforts to stepping up international cooperation and assistance to all nations in the fight against terrorism.

This statement was delivered by Ambassador Le Luong Minh in New York on December 14 while addressing the United Nations Security Council’s consultancy session regarding the operation of its Anti-Corruption Committee, to which Vietnam holds the Vice Presidency.

The same day, he reported to the UN Security Council on the work in the 2008-09 period of the Committee established pursuant to Resolution 1132 (1997) concerning Sierra Leone, to which Vietnam holds the Chairmanship.

He said since the adoption of Security Council Resolution 1132 (1997), Sierra Leone has achieved tangible progress in the course of peace consolidation, socio-economic reconstruction and international reintegration.

He noted that the Government of Sierra Leone has proceeded with its Agenda for Change and has recorded incremental results in the areas of anti-corruption, security sector reform, job creation and youth empowerment. 

Also, the cooperation between Sierra Leone and the UN Country Team, the Peacebuilding Commission and other development partners has been further strengthened within the framework of the UN’s Peacebuilding Strategy for Sierra Leone and the Joint Vision of the UN Family for Sierra Leone , Ambassador Minh stressed.

However, the ambassador pointed to the fact that Sierra Leone is now at a critical juncture of post-conflict peacebuilding with many challenges ahead and that the UN, regional organisations and Member States have a role to play in helping Sierra Leone better fulfill its responsibilities under relevant Security Council resolutions, taking into due account the fundamental principles of respect for the political independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Sierra Leone.

CPA Australia inks agreement with HCM City Economics University

Hanoi (VNA) – CPA Australia, one of the world’s leading accounting bodies, signed a cooperation agreement with the Ho Chi Minh City Economics University on December 14. 

Accordingly, CPA Australia is committed to providing learning opportunities for the university’s students and funding research in accounting and finance. In addition, CPA Australia will help the university raise its training standards to international level. 

CPA Australia now boasts a large membership of more than 122,000 finance, accounting and business professionals across the globe.

BUSINESS

Vietnam to facilitate Russian investment

Moscow (VNA) – The Vietnamese Government will facilitate Russian investors’ operations so that they can obtain successes in Vietnam , stated Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.

The Prime Minister made the statement while meeting with Russian leading entrepreneurs in Moscow on Dec. 14 during his current working visit to Russia .

The Vietnamese Government leader highlighted the active deployment of cooperation agreements between Russian groups with Vietnam in oil and gas, mining, electricity and banking, citing the establishment of the Vietnam-Russia investment fund worth 500 million USD to invest in Vietnam and the strategic partnership agreement between the Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) and the Russian gas group Gazprom.

He said the potential for cooperation between the two countries is still great in all field, especially in economy, trade and investment, thus promising practical benefits for both sides.

PM Dung stressed that Vietnam always attached importance to developing traditional friendship and strategic partnership with Russian for long-term benefits of the two people and for peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and the world.

The same day, PM Dung attended a ceremony to open a subsidiary bank of the Vietnam-Russia Joint Venture Bank (VRB) in Moscow .

Industrial park investment falls in southern zone

HCM City (VNA) – Investment in industrial parks and export processing zones in the Southern Key Economic Zone are showing signs of decline, officials said. 

Tran Van Lieu, head of the Binh Duong industrial parks management, said this year there has been a 50 percent drop in investment in the southern province’s 28 industrial parks to 500 million USD. 

The HCM City Department of Planning and Investment reported a similar situation in the city-based industrial parks and export processing zones, which attracted a mere 16.9 million USD. 

Tay Bac Industrial Park in the suburban district of Cu Chi has received no investment. 

In Dong Nai province, whose IPs are normally popular investment destinations, the second phase of the Nhon Trach 3 IP, which is under construction, has failed to attract any tenants this year. 

Nguyen Thanh Binh, its director, blamed the slowdown on the scrapping of some land – and tax-related incentives for investors developing infrastructure in IPs. 

Nguyen Van Thu, deputy director general of Tam Phuoc IP in Dong Nai, said the park, home to 80 percent of local timber processing firms, saw two of them shutting down and some others operate at half capacity due to lack of export orders from major markets like France and the US. 

To help companies in distress, IP authorities are allowing them to defer tax and land lease payments and offering soft loans. 

Lieu said IPs are attracting less investment because multinationals and other large companies are busy restructuring their businesses and going easy on fresh investments.

Pepper export value grows 11.5 percent

Hanoi (VNA) – Pepper exports fetched 328 million USD in the first 11 months of the year, an increase of 11.5 percent over the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. 

Export volume increased by an even more substantial 52 percent during the period to 128,000 tonnes. 

Both figures easily surpassed targets set earlier for the year of at least 100 million USD in export value and 100,000 tonnes in volume. These targets were now seen as highly conservative, as they were set during the worst days of the global economic downturn in late 2008. 

Last month alone, the nation’s pepper exports totalled 10,000 tonnes, worth 32 million USD. 

Pepper prices were also on the rise, noted Nguyen Viet Chien, director of the Statistics and Information Technology Centre of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. 

Vietnam ’s pepper output this year will reach an estimated 130,000 tonnes, 5 percent greater than last year’s total. Global pepper production will reach only 310,600 tonnes, 8,000 tonnes less than in 2008, according to the International Pepper Commission, which attributed the decline to bad weather and disease. 

Vietnam ’s leading export markets include the US , Germany , the Netherland, Egypt , India , and Russia . In the first 10 months of this year, the US imported 12,600 tonnes of pepper from Vietnam , worth 36.32 million USD, while Germany imported 12,080 tonnes, worth 33 million USD.

Central bank denies rumour of bank bailout

Hanoi (VNA) – The central bank has no plans to bail out the nation’s banking system, State Bank of Vietnam Governor Nguyen Van Giau said on December 14, countering rumours that had begun spreading on the stock market that banks were facing liquidity crisis. 

The rumour began to circulate when commercial banks recently increased deposit interest rates in an effort to attract more capital. 

Whispers began to be heard on the stock market that the central bank would inject as much as 20 trillion VND (1.05 billion USD) into the banking system, sending banking shares soaring and causing the VN-Index to end the day up on Dec. 14, snapping a run of declining sessions. 

“The central bank is pursuing a stable monetary policy and trying to curb credit growth. No money pumping. No higher interest rates,” said Giau emphatically. “The central bank encourages a competitive market among banks, which can attract capital and lend it out based on their own capacity, he told the English-language daily Vietnam News.”

Bailout rumour leads to market rally

Hanoi (VNA) – Strong buys early in December 14’s trading session on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange lifted the VN-Index to a close of 458.39 points, a gain of 3.2 percent despite strong sales by foreign investors. 

Banking shares like Sacombank (STB) and Eximbank led trading on the HCM City exchange, which totaled nearly 1.6 trillion VND (86.5 million USD) for the day on a volume of over 43.6 million shares. 

On Hanoi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index jumped by an even more impressive 4.97 percent to end the day at 146.95. Financial shares like Kim Long Securities and Asia Commercial Bank again led trading, as total market volume rose to 17.87 million shares, worth a combined 496.5 billion VND (26.8 million USD). 

Foreign investors bucked the trend on both markets, becoming net sellers by a combined volume of 2 million shares. 

Following the ending of December 14’s trading, State Bank of Vietnam Governor Nguyen Van Giau denied rumours that may have been circulating that the central bank planned to inject additional capital into the nation’s banking system. 

The day’s sudden market turnaround was also due to a “domino” effect from global markets, said John Nolan, an analyst with a HCM City-based fund management company. 

“Cheap prices” might have also contributed to the rally, as some blue chips had fallen enough over recent sessions to make the attractive buys again, said Nolan. 

“Until listed companies report their fourth-quarter earnings and there are more significant developments in the economy, then it’s hard to confirm the market rally now,” he added.