The project has a total capital of 15 million USD invested by the Sao Mai An Giang Group with equipment provided by the Belgium-based Desmet Balesstra.

The refinery will refine fat of “tra” and “basa” fish, which is available in the Mekong Delta, to oil for use in cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and foodstuffs.

The plant is expected to be put into operation by the first quarter of 2012 to produce 100 tonnes of refined fish oil and increase its capacity to 200 tonnes/day from its third year of operation.

The project is aimed at reducing import of cooking oil and then for exports./.

 


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NZ earthquake breaks 30 million tonnes of ice

 

Hanoi (VNA) - Nearly 30 million tonnes of ice broke off from the New Zealand ’s biggest glacier, Tasman, due to the 6.3 magnitude earthquake occurring on Feb. 22.

Tasman is located around 200 kilometres in the West coast from the Christchurch city.

The earthquake caused ice split from the Tasman, creating iceberg and even three-metre high wave, said tourist guides at the Tasman region in the Southern Alps mountain range.

The devastating earthquake killed at least 113 people and left nearly 200 people missing./.

 


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Seminar talks measures to improve economic growth

 

Hanoi (VNA) – Measures to improve the quality of Vietnam ’s economic growth were discussed at a seminar held in Hanoi on Feb. 24.

The seminar, co-hosted by the National Assembly’s Economic Committee, the National University of Economics and Japan ’s National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS), was attended by NA Vice Chairman Nguyen Duc Kien and 250 prestigious scientists, policymakers and managers.

The participants focused discussions on analysing the reality of the Vietnamese economy in the 2001-2010 period as well as forecasting on the world’s politic, economic and financial situation in the new period, thus giving specific recommendations to address basic issues that are obstacles for the country’s economic growth.

They said that besides achievements, the Vietnamese economy is facing a series of macro instabilities such as current and payment balance deficits, inflation pressure, high budget deficit and public debts, poor economic growth quality and low competitiveness.

The seminar heard many scientific and practical arguments that are necessary for the selection of suitable economic growth models for Vietnam’s situation and the trend of the era, ensuring a rapid, balanced, harmonious and sustainaible growth for the country in the coming periods./.

 


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World oil price hits peak since August 2008

 

Hanoi (VNA) – World o il price surged to its highest since August 2008 on February 24 on concern that unrest in Libya could spread to other major oil producers in the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia .

By 8 GMT, Brent crude oil for April spiked up almost 7 USD a barrel to a peak of 119.79 USD, while US crude futures for April rose as high as 103.41 USD, the highest since September 2009, Reuters reported.

Libya , the world's 12 th biggest exporter and a member of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), has cut at least 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) from its 1.6 million bpd output.

The cuts in Libyan oil output represent the first disruption to supply as a direct result of protests that have swept through the oil-producing regions of North Africa and the Middle East .

The concern for oil markets is how unrest might affect Saudi Arabia , which has a 4 million bpd output and supplies around 10 percent of the world's oil market./.

 


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List names 500 fastest growing firms

 

Hanoi (VNA) -- Vietnam Report has released the first FAST500 - a list of 500 companies with the fastest growth rate in Vietnam .

FAST500 is aimed at highlighting effectively run companies with a fast growth rate.

"These companies are the new stars of the Vietnamese economy. They operate in a variety of fields and are located across the whole country," said Vietnam Report's vice chairman Phung Hoang Co.

"FAST500 was compiled from a database of about 200,000 companies that have been registered with Vietnam Report and other sources for the past five years," Co added.

Vietnam Report rates companies according to independent criteria including total assets, benefits and number of employees.

Researchers found that the average growth rate of the top 500 companies from 2006-09 was 54 percent. That figure reached 160 percent for the top 50 and 112 percent for the top 10.

With a growth rate of 675.3 percent, Nguyen Kim Trading Joint Stock Company topped the FAST500.

"FAST500 has many meanings. We believe that it will help foreign investors and banks," said Co.

Private companies accounted for 78 percent of the list.

"This is a good sign. It shows that the private sector is developing dynamically," Co said.

Vietnam Report also released a list of the 500 fastest growing small and medium enterprises (SMEs), topped by Thanh Dat Steel Joint Stock Company.

Vietnam Report said that 45 percent of companies in the FAST500 were located in the northern region and 50.4 percent of them were in southern provinces.

The top 10 companies in the FAST500 list are Sabeco Song Hau Joint Stock Co, Dong A Joint Stock Co, Mobile World Joint Stock Co, Thien Quang Corporation, Thai Hoa Manufacture and Trading Co, Mai Son Joint Stock Co., Furniture 190 Joint Stock Co, Viet Phap Paper Ltd Co and Masan Industrial Corporation.

The FAST500 awards ceremony will be held in Hanoi at the end of March./.

 


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Inflation rate to stay high in March

 

HCM City (VNA) — The country's inflation rate is expected to remain high in March, following a hike in petrol prices and appreciation of the US dollar, according to an economics expert.

Speaking at a meeting in HCM City on Feb. 24, Pham Chi Lan said that electricity prices would also rise by more than 15 percent in March, which would affect the prices of other goods and services.

"Although the Government on Feb. 24 issued a resolution on measures aimed to control inflation, the consumer price index (CPI) will not fall in March," she said. "I hope that government agencies immediately implement the Government's anti-inflation measures."

The high CPI could adversely affect both businesses and households, she said.

Enterprises usually raised the prices of their goods and services when input costs increased, she said, noting that this would make locally made goods become less competitive than imported ones.

She said that businesses should restructure their production and trading strategies, including using electricity more efficiently and upgrading technology to cut costs and improve quality.

This would only help them cope not with the current economic pressure but also aid their long-term competitiveness.

The country's CPI in February rose 12.31 percent over the same period last year, and was up 3.87 percent compared to December./.

 


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Dollar falls after record high

 

Hanoi (VNA) -- The greenback on Feb. 24 was down to 21,880 VND after reaching a record Vietnamese high of 22,400 VND on Feb. 20.

This follows a State Bank order for enterprises to sell excess US dollars to commercial banks.

Foreign exchange (FX) vendors on Ha Trung and Tran Nhan Tong streets traded the dollar at 21,880-21,970 VND, down 130-170 VND from Feb. 23's rate or 430 VND from Feb. 20's rate.

Trading on Feb. 24 was quieter than a few days earlier. After the central bank devalued the dong by 9.3 percent against the dollar on February 11, the FX market seemed confused and the dollar appreciated for 10 consecutive days.

"It was a natural response, but the FX market is gradually stabilising. Some entrepreneurs told me they started selling dollars to banks," State Bank of Vietnam 's Governor Nguyen Van Giau said.

In fact, enterprises are the main dollar holders in Vietnam . In a random check last year, the State Bank of Vietnam reported that enterprises kept about 1-1.3 billion USD idle in bank accounts instead of selling to commercial banks.

On Feb. 24, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung stated that national economic groups and corporations could no longer hold on to US dollars and must sell them back to commercial banks. In turn, the banks must sell sufficient dollars to enterprises at quoted prices when they need them to settle overseas accounts. The move, in principle, will improve the dollar liquidity of banks and help ease tension on the FX market. This may cool the pressure on the US dollar.

The depreciation of the dollar on the street on Feb. 24 pushed gold prices down by 100,000 USD per tael – or a total of 800,000 VND per tael from weekend.

SaigonJewellery Co, the Sacombank Jewellery Co, Bao Tin Minh Chau, Agribank Jewellery Co and Phu Nhuan Jewellery Co were trading gold at 37,57-37,69 million VND (1,707-1,713 USD) per tael (one tael equals 1.2 ounces).

Meanwhile, global spot prices for gold edged up 0.1 percent at 1,413.35 USD an ounce as spreading turmoil in Libya and soaring oil prices stoked the worry of slower economic growth. Investors seeking security are turning to gold bullion.

Late on Feb. 24, gold price rebounded to 37.76-37.88 VND (1,716-1,721 USD) per tael, and the dollar was up to 22,000 VND./.

 


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Conference urges looser limits on share transfers

 

Hanoi (VNA) -- A conference of experts from the securities industry held here on Feb. 23 called for loosening of regulatory restrictions of share transfers, complaining that the regulation interfered with the ability of many firms to effectively raise capital.

The conference was called by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry to review the first year of implementation of Government Decree No 01/2010/ND-CP issued in January 2010.

Under the decree, shares offered by private placement of joint stock companies are restricted from transfer within one year, and the interval between two consecutive private placements of shares is required to be at least six months.

Lawyer Pham Chi Cong from Khai Phong Law Co Ltd said the restriction consistently reduced the feasibility and attractiveness of share placement plans.

"Shares offered for sale aim to mobilise capital in order to serve business purposes of joint stock companies," Cong said. "Changes in shareholders after that don't affect the operation of companies."

The transfer restrictions effectively limited joint stock companies to offer to only trading partners, many of which were not always ready to invest for a long term, Cong said.

Meanwhile, Cao Ba Khoat, director of business consultancy firm K & Associates Co Ltd, agreed that the six-month interval between two consecutive placements was too long and had decreased the investment opportunities of companies.

Pham Khac Nam , head of business registration for Bac Ninh province's Department of Planning and Investment, said dossiers for registration of private offers of shares to raise capital of many companies in Bac Ninh had also not been processed due to the lack of guidance on implementation of this decree.

Nam proposed the abolishsment of the decree altogether, as the work had run smoothly before the existence of the decree.

Nguyen The Tho, director of Securities Issuance Management Department of the State Securities Commission, said the commission would review the decree and submit its recommendations to the Ministry of Finance in the near future. He hoped a revised decree would be issued sometime after July 1, when the amended Law on Securities takes effect./.

 


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Petrol hike sends stocks crashing

 

Hanoi (VNA) -- Petrol prices rising to record highs on Feb. 24 morning sent stocks into a nosedive on both national stock exchanges.

The price of petrol set as of 10am on Feb. 24 was set at 19,300 VND per litre – a whopping 18 percent increase and the steepest one-day increase since 2008.

"The hike in petrol prices was forseeable," said Nguyen Huu Hao, the chief broker at a HCM City-based securities company. "It was a necessary consequence of the change in the foreign exchange rate. But coming unexpectedly soon had an impact on securities trading."

Previous word from the Government that it would use the petrol price stabilisation fund to compensate petrol wholesalers for losses, and the decision that electricity rates would increase in March had left many under the impression that petrol prices also wouldn't go up until March at the soonest, Hao said.

Minister of Finance Vu Van Ninh said on Feb. 24 that increasing the petrol price to 19,300 VND per litre was only about 44 percent of the increase the ministry needed to make. A 17.7-percent increase, he said, should cause March inflation to increase by 1.03 percent.

The market was already labouring under the news of sky-high inflation during February, as well as word that the trade deficity had climbed to 960 million USD, said Dang Anh, an analyst with financial service provider Stoxplus Corporation.

On the HCM Stock Exchange on Feb. 24, the VN-Index reacted to the heavy burden of bad news by dropping nearly 2 percent from Wednesday's close. The VN-Index finished the session at 461.29 points.

The volume of trades rose by 16.8 percent over the previous day to just over 43 million shares, worth a total of 974.4 billion VND (44.9 million USD).

About 30 shares plummeted to their floor prices, including insurer Bao Viet Holdings (BVH), conglomerate Masan Group (MSN), PetroVietnam Drilling (PVD) and Tu Liem Urban Development Co (NTL), while Dong Phu Rubber Co (DPR) closed down 4.5 percent and Cotec Construction Co (CTD) lost 4.2 percent.

Real estate developer Vincom (VIC) was the only blue chip to buck the loss trend, closing up 1.9 percent.

On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index slid by 1.35 percent to 95.64 points, well below its original reference mark of 100.

Trading continued brisk at 34.8 million shares, worth 548.6 billion VND (25.3 million USD). Some bottom-catching in the final minutes brought a small influx of capital and save the northern market from heavier losses.

Foreign investors returned to being net buyers on Feb. 24, picking up a combined net of over 900,000 shares on both markets./.

 


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PetroVietnam Securities gets Japanese partner

 

Hanoi (VNA) -- Japan 's Nikko Cordial Securities Inc became a strategic partner of PetroVietnam Securities Co on Feb. 24, by acquiring a 14.9 percent stake from a local brokerage.

The acquisition was worth about 133.7 billion VND (6.2 million USD), raising PetroVietnam Securities' charter capital from 509.3 billion VND (23.5 million USD) to 598.4 billion VND (27.2 million USD).

Via the acquisition, the first investment by Nikko Cordial in Vietnam and Southeast Asia , Nikko Cordial Securities will help PetroVietnam Securities improve corporate governance and develop investment banking. Staff training courses will also be organised.

Chairman of PetroVietnam Securities Bui Ngoc Thang said the partnership with Nikko would make the company more competitive in the securities services sector.

The relationship would provide an opportunity to promote the PetroVietnam trademark in the Japanese market, benefiting all PetroVietnam subsidiaries in their attempts to attract foreign capital, he added.

Hiroshi Kobayashi, chief executive officer of Nikko Cordial Securities, said that he was proud to be in Vietnam partnering a leading local petroleum company.

He pledged support for PetroVietnam Securities and said he hoped that it would become a market leader.

PetroVietnam Securities targeted a revenue of 352 billion VND (16.2 million USD) and a pre-tax profit of 102 billion VND (4.7 million USD) this year. It achieved a turnover of 258.7 billion VND (11.9 million USD) and a pre-tax profit of 85.7 billion VND in 2010./.

 


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Pioneering British DJ set to drop heavy dubstep sessions

 

Hanoi (VNA) -- The pioneering British DJ and producer Rob Smith, who is half of the famed production duo Smith and Mighty, will give a one-night show in Hanoi on Feb. 25 night.

Smith has been pushing bass heavy rhythms for more than two decades.

Forming the now legendary production duo Smith and Mighty with collaborator Ray Mighty in 1987, the pair's early releases on the Three Stripe label were influential in laying the groundwork for both the trip-hop and jungle scenes for which Bristol would become renowned.

As well as their own releases, they take production credit for Massive Attack's first release Any Love and the Fresh Fours top ten hit Wishing on a Star.

Under the moniker RSD, Smith produces fresh, innovative bass music that simultaneously pays dues to his deep sound system roots while pushing things ever forward.

He remains firmly at the forefront of Bristol 's endlessly inventive music scene. With a staggering discography and a range of projects encompassing dub, drum and bass, two-step and dubstep, Smith has his finger squarely on the bass-pulse.

His show will start at 9pm at House of Son Tinh, 31 Xuan Dieu street , Hanoi Vietnam .

Besides the show tonight, Smith will also play at HCM City on Feb. 26. The HCM City show will take place at Vasco's, 74/7D Hai Ba Trung street, District 1, free entry./.