IN FOCUS BANKS GIVE $4.6B IN SUBSIDISED LOANS About VND80 trillion (US$4.6 billion) has been disbursed at the Govern- ment-subsidised interest rate of 4 per cent as of Friday, February 20, re- ported the State Bank of Viet Nam. Figures published on the central bank’s website show the following disbursement.: The State-owned Mekong Housing Bank (MHB) VND1.42 trillion ($81.61 million); the bank will provide VND24 trillion ($1.38 billion) at the sub- sidised rate this year; about 15 Agrib- ank branches in HCM City and others in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta about 12 trillion ($689.65 mil- lion); and Sacombank VND2.03 tril- lion ($116.72 million). The bank plans to disburse VND4–5 trillion ($229.88-287.35 million) to the end of March; The Asia Commercial Bank (ACB) has disbursed VND1 trillion ($57.47 million) of a planned VND7.4 trillion ($425.29 million);the Viet Nam Ex- port-Import Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Eximbank) VND1.2 trillion ($68.96 million) of a planned VND7 trillion ($402.3 million) to the end of March; the Housing Development Commercial Joint Stock Bank (HD- Finance ISSUE No.9 March 09, 2009 1 Vietinbank Securities to revive IPO when VN-Index rises to 270 Vietnam Bank for Industry & Trade Securities Co., the brokerage unit of the country’s fourth-biggest bank by assets, said it will resume its initial share sale when the benchmark VN-Index climbs to 270. “It was a wise decision to cancel the sale because there are many blue-chip stocks sold at a very low price at the moment. Liquidity is low and I do not think many investors will be interested,” Nguyen Mien Tuan, director of Ho Chi Minh City-based Viet Dragon Securities Co, said. The Hanoi-based brokerage, known as VietinBank Securities, has planned to raise around US$7.8 million in an initial share sale. It will sell about 13.4 million shares, with a minimum bid of VND10,200, the Hanoi Securities Trading Center said in a statement on its website. Bloomberg VN-Index enjoys two-day mini-rally The VN-Index posted its second straight day of modest gains yesterday, closing up nearly a per cent to 246.68 points. Trading volume also rose by about a million shares from Wednesday’s levels to 8.43 million, with a combined value of VND156.66 billion (US$8.9 million). Trading in Sacombank (STB) was particularly active, at a volume of 1.5 million shares, while foreigners became net sellers yesterday on the HCM City Stock Exchange. Habubank Securities Co cautioned that this week’s rally was temporary, as Wall Street continued to fall, hitting 12-year lows. The brokerage warned investors to consider carefully before making any in- vestment at this time, as share prices were now highly susceptible to news of global markets. Nguyen Van Thuan, a teacher of Banking-Finance Section at the Ha Noi Open University branched in HCM City, said that consumer spending would revive by the end of the first quarter, helping enter- prises stabilise. "In the short term, however, our market will move according to what’s happening on markets world- wide," he said. In Ha Noi yesterday, the HASTC-Index also rose a healthy 2.75 per cent to 84.77 as cheap share prices managed to tempt more investors to buy. Trading volume increased to nearly 5 million shares, worth of VND91.44 billion ($5.2 million). Thanh nien VIETNAM An international fair to be held in HCM City later this month will seek to promote exports of furniture and other wooden products and pop- ularise Vietnamese brands on the global mar- ket. The second Viet Nam International Furniture and Home Accessories Fair 2009 will be or- ganised by the HCM City Handicraft&Wood Processing Industry Association, and joint stock company Lien Minh at the Sai Gon Exhi- bition and Convention Centre. On display will be furniture meant for use in the living room, bedroom, and dining room, out- door and office furniture, and other products. Machinery and equipment for wood manufac- turing and processing, interior decoration items and accessories will also be among the major exhibits. Organisers said the fair is set to attract 150 local and international exhibitors from the US, France, Britain, Germany, mainland China, Holland, Italy, Japan, Taiwan and Southeast Asia. There will be 600 booths, 10 per cent more than the last year. The organisers said they spent US$150,000 on a marketing and advertising campaign on the international media. Nguyen Trung Tin, vice chairman of the HCM City People’s Committee, said the inaugural fair last year was very successful, attracting plenty of foreign visitors and potential distribu- tors. Sixty-nine contracts worth tens of millions of dollars were signed. The fair’s efforts to promote local brands are being supported by the Ho Chi Minh City In- vestment&Trade Promotion Center and the People’s Committee. The four-day fair opens on March 11. VNS HCM City set to host furniture exports fair Biz Updates .vn Bank) VND356 billion ($20.56 mil- lion); and Sai Gon Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SCB) VND253 billion ($14.54 million). State Bank of Viet Nam governor Nguyen Van Giau has chaired meet- ings with representatives of 40 credit institutions in HCM City and numer- ous banks in northern Viet Nam to review the subsidy and deal with any difficulties arising from it. The governor reiterated that the pro- gramme was intended to reduce the price of goods, maintain production and create jobs. Commercial banks needed to ensure implementation of the policy to be transparent because there were no policies that allowed borrowers to monitor lenders, he said. Banks should avoid unregulated competition and credit institutions should not ease their lending require- ments. The governor emphasised that effec- tive implementation of the subsidy would enhance the status of the banking industry. The support policy provided an op- portunity for commercial banks to im- prove their regulations; extend their operations; renovate technology, en- hance management capacity and as- sess staff qualifications. The governor was told that imple- mentation of Prime Ministerial Deci- sion 131 had not been difficult. As a result, commercial bank repre- sentatives at the meetings focused on ways to improve the policy and regulations and simplify borrowing procedures to make the programme more effective and convenient for their customers. Raising capital Banks are apparently determined to meet borrower demand for the 4 per cent subsidy and several are re- ported to have made a great effort to absorb all available "idle" money. The central bank says interest for three-to-12-month dong-deposits at State-owned banks last week ranged from 6.82-7.4 per cent and from 7.24-7.5 per cent at joint stock banks – an average rise of about 0.5-1 per cent. Most banks also slightly raised interest for long-term deposits to meet the demand of stimulus lending till the end of this year. This contrasts with the middle of last year when some banks that lacked liquidity heavily raised the interest paid for very short to short-term de- posits. 2 Real Estate Construction begins on new complex Construction of a public services and office complex worth VND523 billion (US$30.76 million) has started at Trung Van Commune, Tu Liem District, Ha Noi on March 07, 2009. Built by the Infrastructure and Transport Building Investment Company, the project covers an area of 23.829sq.m, with office space taking up 2.998sq.m. The project will complete and transfer the lower-storey area to customers by the end of 2009, and finish the complex completely in 2011. Vietnam News FPT Securities Co opens gold trading floor FPT Securities Co and the Viet Nam Gold Exchange opened a gold trading floor in Ha Noi on Wednes- day. Gold can be traded on the floor using spots, forwards, futures and options. FPT Securities official Nguyen Van Dung said the establishment of the floor was part of the company’s plan to diversify in- vestment channels. "Securities and gold are two attractive investment channels; when one of them is in decline, our customers can easily shift to the other," he said. VNS PetroVietnam Finance sells stake in construction arm PetroVietnam Finance Co (PVF) will sells its holdings in the PetroVietnam Construction Co on a first-come,first-served basis between March 2 and 24. PVF now holds 83.37 per cent stake in the construction firm. The selling price will VND11,000 (US$0.65) per share, and volumes will depend on demand for the shares. PVF general director Tong Quoc Truong said the company would take advantage of opportunities to realise profits from its investments, in an effort to reach profits of VND1 trillion ($58.8 million) this year. PetroVietnam Construction expected to earn about VND3.4 trillion ($200 million) in turnover and a net profit of VND144 billion ($8.5 million) in net profits in 2009. VNA Loaning without mortgaged assets: many offers, few contracts Commercial banks say they are laying down the red carpet to welcome clients who come for con- sumer loans. Meanwhile, clients are saying that they cannot access bank loans. High credit limits and long-term loans with soft lending interest rates are the favorable conditions banks are offering to clients. A lot of people, attracted by the impressive advertisements, thought that the door to con- sumer loans has been widened, and came to banks. But they returned from the banks without loans. HN News 3 Bilateral trade with Spain tops unprecedented heights Bilateral trade between Spain and Viet Nam reached a record high in 2008 of US$1.59 billion, a 24 per cent rise compared with 2007. This growth between the two countries comes from increases in both exports and imports. Spanish companies imported $1.43 billion in goods from Viet Nam, a 25 per cent year-on-year in- crease, illustrating the growing interest Spanish companies have in Viet Nam. Spain mainly imported manufactured products ($828 million) and food ($400 million). As for exports, Spain sold $157.05 million in goods to Viet Nam, a year-on-year increase of 15.2 per cent. Although there is still room for improvement, these figures reveal that Viet Nam is beginning to be considered a potential market for some Spanish companies. Semi-manufactured products ($61.23 million) and capital goods ($59.67 million) were the biggest Spanish exports. The Spanish Economic and Commercial Counsellor in Viet Nam, Alberto Cerdan, says "the trend is "The interest increase this time is in- tended to mobilise more capital in preparation for growing applications to borrow at the subsidised interest rate," explained VP Bank Deputy General Director Nguyen Thanh Binh. The Dai A Commercial Joint Stock Bank (DaiA Bank), has raised its yearly interest rate to 8.3 per cent for 18-month deposit. The banks is also offering a 7.65 per cent rate on a six-month term de- posit and a 7.8 per cent rate on a 12-month term deposit. DaiA Bank General Director Quach Cong Phong said the interest rate paid for deposits had been in- creased to raise capital to expand its provision of credit. The 12-month rate of the Maritime Bank has been raised to 7.5 per cent and the Sai Gon-Ha Noi Bank has increased its maximum deposit rate to 8.1 per cent. ACB did not increase its interest rate but instead launched promotion pro- grammes to attract depositors. Individuals or organisations deposit- ing VND5 billion or more receive a gift worth one-tenth or a second- tenth of a tael of gold. Customers who deposit smaller sums are also given valuable gifts. ACB General Director Ly Xuan Hai said the bank wanted to grow by 90 per cent so it must increase capital by 80 per cent. The global economic crisis would continue to hamper economic growth, production and consumption and capital would become scarcer and have higher value than in previ- ous years, he said. It meant that liquidity would continue to be a major problem for the bank- ing system. Beating inflation Vietcombank General Director Nguyen Phuoc Thanh said the Gov- ernment’s decision to subsidise in- terest rates had created opportunities for enterprises that need capital to expand. Other bank officials said the raising of interest was to balance the benefit to depositors against inflation which increased during the first two months of the year. The Consumer Price Index for Janu- ary increased by 0.32 per cent against December after a three- month fall. In February, the CPI increased 1.17 per cent against the previous month. VNS Housing market doldrums Few property projects are marketed or houses sold in HCM City, making the market even more somnolent after Tet. Middle-income earners in need of housing continue to put off buying decisions, hoping prices will fall further when speculators offload properties to repay bank loans. The property sector, which crashed 12 months ago, is showing no signs of recovery amid the global economic recession. The Government is taking measures to keep the economy afloat, including efforts to encourage investment in low-income housing. A HCM City property developer says a number of foreign investors may either withdraw completely from the market or suspend their projects. But on the flip side, this can benefit property developers by preventing a supply overhang that plagues many foreign markets. A report from real- estate service provider CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) last month said the property mar- ket would recover in two to six years, propelled by economic and population growth. But Marc Townsend, managing director of CBRE, was quoted by Sai Gon Giai Phong (Liberated Sai Gon) newspaper as saying there would be "unpredictable" changes in the property market this year. He listed certain laws and regulations that have come into force as the causes. He was referring to the laws on personal income tax, value-added tax, housing ownership by foreign- ers, hikes in automobile and property registration fees, lower bank interest rates, and resumption of bank loans for property projects. Dang Hung Vo, a former deputy minister of natural resources and environment, said a stimulus pack- age for the property market announced recently by the Government would help revive the property market. VNS TRADE 4 IN GLOBAL CRISIS, EXPORTERS TURN TO LOCAL MARKET Experiencing a slowdown in export or- ders, many local companies are shift- ing their production to the local market in a bid to ensure growth during the global financial crisis. In an effort to help local companies, the Government has provided a total of VND17 trillion (US$1 billion) in fi- nancial support to jumpstart produc- tion. In January, the country’s total retail sales were up by 8.2 per cent over the same period last year, excluding price hikes. Experts consider the rate to be healthy given the current economic climate, and say that it points to further room for continued consumer spending. If consumers begin to buy more local products, companies will have more opportunities to sell their products and then have even more capital to pour into their businesses. But economists say it is necessary to find ways to cut prices of consumer goods and services, and improve product quality. They also emphasise that the employ- ment rate should be stable so con- sumers can have the financial capacity to spend. The Ministry of Industry and Trade said it would help support enterprises to manufacture products for the do- mestic market, particularly those that produce goods that can replace im- ports. It also plans to assist labour – intensive enterprises. Industries eligible for the support plan will include food processing, bever- ages, garments and textiles, pharma- ceutical, and building materials, mechanical engineering, ship building and fertilizers. Industry and Trade Deputy Minister Nguyen Cam Tu said the Government should also increase consumption by creating policies that would help busi- nesses produce more for the domestic market. Since October 2008, the country’s monthly export value has steadily dropped and stood at under $5 billion level. In particular, Vietnamese enterprises’ exports achieved only $3.8 billion in January, down by 18.6 per cent as compared with the previous month’s figure, and 24.2 per cent over the same period last year. The price of rice In January, while exports for most key very positive". "The rapid growth of Viet Nam in recent years and the speed of change of the country are attracting more and more Spanish companies, and we are working to improve and strengthen the co-operation between both coun- tries," he adds. Many Spanish companies have shown their interest in the Vietnamese market, and the presence of Spanish products is growing steadily. Spanish companies are already established in sectors such as architecture, chemicals, shipbuilding, hand- icrafts and leather. VNS Nation still attractive to foreign investors With its medium-and long-term advantages, Viet Nam remains an attractive FDI destination, according to the head of the Ministry of Planning and Investment’s Foreign Investment Department, Phan Huu Thang. Some newly-licensed projects in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province show just how attractive. In the first days of the Year of the Buffalo, the southern province has approved seven projects involving more than US$5 billion. The Sai Gon Atlantis Hotel received the nod to increase its capital from $300 million to $4.1 billion; the $600-million Toc Tien Urban Area will be developed; and the $500 million Binh Chau-Viet Nam Re- sort and safari will be developed by a joint venture between a foreign and two Vietnamese firms. Thang says considering the recession, the investments provide an impetus for the development of not only Ba Ria-Vung Tau but also other provinces. Despite the dire economic forecasts for this year, there is also optimism about positive developments in the global economy in the fourth quarter. "That is why foreign investors continue to invest in Viet Nam, awaiting a recovery in the world econ- omy," Thang explains. Many of them first come to Viet Nam on fact-finding tours and consider the situation carefully before making any investment decisions. "The bigger the challenges posed by the global economic recession to the country’s investment en- vironment, the warmer the welcome we should give foreign investors," Thang says. While it is difficult to attract investors to a country, it is even more difficult to make them stay for a long time, he points out. It is not only the responsibility of the ministry to make foreign investors stay here but also that of other re- lated agencies and provincial authorities, he says. Besides the inexpensive labour, the country must also offer better and more competitive services to woo in- vestors. "Top priority should be given to administrative reform," Thang says. Vietnam News Investment 5 commodities fell, rice exports reached 310,000 tonnes, the highest level in 20 years. In previous years, monthly rice exports averaged only 100,000 tonnes. In addition, contracts involving the ex- port of 2.86 million tonnes of rice have been signed, and the amount of rice exports in the first half of this year is expected to top 3 million tonnes. The Viet Nam Food Association (VFA) hopes that the current 850,000 tonnes of rice in stock will be used, given the current demand. Other good news is the price of paddy and rice, which remains relatively high. Last week, prices of high-grade rice (5 per cent broken rice) soared by VND300 per kilo to VND5,500. VFA experts attributed rising rice prices to a contract calling for the shipment of 0.5 million tonnes to the Philippines. Manila also plans to purchase about one more million tonnes of rice from Viet Nam. In addition, customers from other countries are also negotiating with Vietnamese exporters. According to VFA, given the 850,000 tonnes of stockpiled rice and the out- put of the winter-spring crop – which is expected to be a bumper crop – the entire country will have about 3.2 tonnes for export in the first six months of the year, meeting market demand. Export prices are also favourable, hovering around $430 per tonne. Experts said that falling interest rates and the Government’s application of several support measures have en- couraged enterprises to increase rice exports. In spite of such positive signs, experts have told exporters to be cautious and take into account the unusual changes in the volume of rice exports as well as prices in the remaining six months of the year. They said many countries that have faced drought and lean harvests would likely be importing large vol- umes of rice, creating strong price fluctuations. Meanwhile, total output of the coun- try’s rice crops for the rest of the year cannot be predicted because of un- foreseen weather patterns, so ex- porters continue to hedge their bets, at least for now. Competitive edge Le Ky Anh, an official of the European Union Delegation of the European Commission to Viet Nam, said that if Viet Nam did not seek ways to sharpen its competitiveness soon, it would be difficult to realise set targets. Policies Price of electricity about to surge The new retail electricity rates for all power drawn from the national grid, averaging VND948.5/kWh, took effect on March 1 under a decision signed several days before by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung. The new price marks an increase of 8.92 per cent over current prices. Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai said during a press conference last week that any effect of the increased prices on economic growth would be limited to an estimated 0.3 per cent of the GDP, and that the higher rates would only cause the consumer price index to rise by about a quarter of a percentage point. The Government would take strict measures against any traders who try to take undue advantage of higher power costs to boost the prices of other goods, he said. Reducing waste in generation and distribution of power, coupled with increasing investment in power infrastructure, would help create jobs during a tough period, the deputy Prime Minister said. This year, 35-40 per cent of the price for the first 1-50kWh used for daily life will be subsidised. House- holds consuming from 51-100kWh will be charged at the new average price. However, fears persist about the negative impacts of this move, including higher prices for consumer goods. An official of the environment department in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta city of Can Tho is afraid that producers may ignore regulations on waste treatment due to the higher power expenditure in- volved. The increase in power prices is expected to account for VND550 billion of the VND4.5 trillion in this year’s profits for Electricity of Viet Nam (EVN), the national power utility. EVN’s turnover this year is expected to reach VND16 trillion, with the higher prices accounting for around VND4.8 trillion. This means purchasing power for other products will go down by the same figure, according to Dr Nguyen Duc Thanh, head of the Centre for Economy and Policy Research, the Ha Noi National University. There are suggestions to separate the functions of power production, distribution and transmission to clearly demarcate the cost of each and open up the way for a new competitive electricity market and break the monopoly of the EVN, whose activities cover all these. To date investors in power production projects have to negotiate with the EVN on the price, but in the future it will perhaps turn into a power trading business, analysts have said. Thanh nien Vietnam, China prepare for meeting to discuss cooperation Vietnam’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Ho Xuan Son, met with As- sistant Chinese Foreign Minister, Hu Zhengyue in Beijing on March 5 to discuss preparations for the third meeting of the Steering Committee for Vietnam-China Cooperation, scheduled to take place in mid-March. During his stay in Beijing , the Vietnamese Deputy FM paid a courtesy visit to China’s Foreign Minister, Yang Jiechi, and at- tended a meeting with his counterpart, Wu Dawei, who is also head of the Chinese governmental border and territorial nego- tiators’ delegation, and other officials. Vietnam+ 1 d án thy đin 6 Technology Viettel gives phones to the poor Military-run telecom service provider Viettel has presented 100 wireless phones to poor families in Thanh An and Thanh Tuyen communes and Dau Tieng town of southern Binh Duong province. This is the first disbursement of Viettel’s social-service pro- gramme to give 10,000 phones, valued at 5 billion VND, to poor people in 63 provinces and cities nationwide in March. Each household receiving a phone will not have to pay the monthly subscriber fee, and will receive 15,000 VND towards their Homephone account. Vietnam+ Mobifone to offer money transer service Mobifone is getting set to provide a new money transfer service to its pre-paid subscribers, but the service will be limited to a meagre VND100,000 (US$5.88) per transfer. The service will allow Mobifone’s pre-paid subscribers to transfer money to each other through Mob- ifone’s network. Subscribers who want to use the service must be two-way pre-paid subscribers. The charge for a money transfer is VND2,000 per transfer (including Value Added Tax). Vietnam News Targets for this year include export contribution of 87.26 per cent to the GDP, and between US$11 and 12 bil- lion of disbursement of foreign direct investment (FDI). Viet Nam’s exports this year are pre- dicted to go through a rough ride be- cause of the global financial crisis. In major markets of Viet Nam’s exports such as the US, the EU and Japan, the crisis has dampened demand. US GDP growth this year is esti- mated to reach 2 per cent, the EU’s 0.4 per cent and Japan’s, zero per cent or even negative growth. Worse still, several importing coun- tries are applying more trade barriers to foreign products to protect their do- mestic markets. Nguyen Thi Canh, lecturer at the HCM City National University’s Eco- nomics Faculty, said that Viet Nam’s competitiveness was much lower than those of regional countries, par- ticularly China and Thailand, which have similar economic conditions. This limitation has significantly inhib- ited growth and is partly due to Viet Nam’s Incremental Capital Output Ratio (ICOR), which is higher than many other countries in the region, according to Canh. A lack of export items with high added value and low labour produc- tivity are also factors contributing to a lack of competitiveness. Hirota Nakanishi, senior analyst of the Japan Economy and Trade Or- ganisation (JETRO), said Viet- namese companies still lacked an impetus and method to cope with re- cession. He said their weakest point was an inability to improve product quality and cut production costs. He also pointed out the unsatisfac- tory progress of the domestic support industry, and said that JETRO planned to work with Vietnamese agencies to find ways to develop this industry. He suggested that improving rela- tions with the country’s major trade partners was of great significance, especially during the global eco- nomic downturn and current chal- lenges facing Viet Nam. Local enterprises’ improved compet- itiveness would lay the foundation for the entire country to enhance its competitive ability, he added. VNS .vn .com.vn Tp chí ngành g 7 Crisis can’t keep US tourists away Increased foreign arrivals from the US and other markets were not enough to offset a dramatic decline in the first two months of this year in tourist visits to Viet Nam from other Asian nations. Visitors from the US jumped 40 per cent to 90,000 from the same time last year, according to figures from the General Statistics Office, making the US the leading source of inbound tourism. Tourist arrivals from Australia, France and Canada also rose by 12-30 per cent to 49,500, 31,200 and 22,500 re- spectively, but tourism fell dramati- cally from major Asian markets like mainland China, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan, which together account for 40 per cent of the national tourism market. The overall number of foreign arrivals to Viet Nam in the first two months of the year therefore fell to 689,000, 10.3 per cent lower than in the same period last year. February saw just 343,000 foreign ar- rivals, 0.8 per cent lower than Janu- ary’s total. A promotional programme to give tourists discounts of up to 50 per cent was launched last month as part of the sector’s efforts to lure visitors to the country. Nguyen Le Huong, deputy general di- rector of Vietravel Tourism Co, said the company had built discount tours with partners from France, Greece, Austria and Germany to establish long-term co-operation in the tourism industry. Saigontourist was one of few tour companies that gained growth in for- eign tourists in the first two months of this year, with 40 per cent more than in the same period last year. The com- pany has plans to boost advertising in key markets. The sector is also promoting Viet Nam as a tourist destination in the global media by organising more press jun- kets throughout the country. VNA Agriculture Prime Minister asks firms to buy rice from farmers Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has asked northern and southern food corporations – the two key agencies in processing and trade of food in Viet Nam - to buy entire rice harvests at a price that will allow farmers to profit at least 30 per cent. Speaking at a conference on trade and production in Ha Noi, with a focus on rice exports, Dung said the two corporations also needed to invest in upgrading and building a storage system in 2009-10 to stabilise the market and ensure food security and incomes for peo- ple. Dung affirmed Viet Nam’s position as the second largest global exporter of rice. However, rice exports were still facing challenges like low prices and a lack of brand recognition and communication between farmers and State enterprises. He required the Viet Nam Food Association and the two corporations to take initiative in preparing sources and penetrating the market, with focus on building trademarks, ensuring price stability and constructing a foodstuff market system in all localities. The corporations would need to become strong in the trade of foodstuff and competitive throughout the region and the world, said Dung. According to General Director of the Southern Food Corporation Truong Thanh Phong, the corporation shipped 2.2 million tonnes of rice to foreign countries last year, produced more than 30,000 tonnes of feed for aquaculture and sold more than 23,000 tonnes of processed foods, bringing in a total rev- enue of VND34.2 trillion (US$1.9 billion), an increase of 20 per cent compared with 2007. This year, Phong said his corporation planned to buy and sell 2.8 million tonnes of rice and earn more than VND30.6 trillion. Phong admitted that the corporation failed to control rice prices in a timely matter during the price hike in April 2008, which caused instability in the domestic market. The corporation also built seven warehouses with a combined capacity of 82,600 tonnes of rice and two seafood production factories. The Northern Foodstuff Corporation reported that it exported 600 million tonnes of rice last year. It is scheduled to buy 2.85 million tonnes of rice this year, of which 720,000 tonnes will be exported. The country is expected to export 3.5 million tonnes of rice in the first half of this year. VNS Jetstar Pacific, Vietnam’s budget airline, has announced that it is to offer 50,000 low- price fares on its domestic routes to travelers flying be- tween March 3 and May 21. The tickets will be available from Feb. 18-22 through a wide range of outlets, including its website, at www.jetstar.com, at booking offices and agents na- tionwide, or via its ticket hot- lines, which can be reached by dialling 19001550 or 08.39550550. Tickets for domestic flights con- necting Ho Chi Minh City with Da Nang and Hue cities, and Hanoi with Da Nang will be slashed to 250,000 VND, whilst tickets for flights from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi, Hai Phong and Vinh cities, and from Hanoi to Can Tho city will be available for just 500,000VND. VNS Others Jetstar Pacific offers huge discounts on domestic fares 8 The government may subsidize garment and textile shipments and cut cotton import taxes to help factories cope with a slump in demand that is hurting Viet- nam’s second-biggest export earner, an industry association said. T he government plans to provide producers around VND40 for each dollar earned from exports, Le Quoc An, president of the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association, said Thursday. About 100,000 textile workers were fired in January and Febru- ary as orders slumped, An said in a phone interview. Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has pledged VND300 trillion (US$17.2 billion) in government spending to fight the impact of the global recession, including export incentives. The economy expanded 6.2 per- cent last year, the least in nine years, as consumers in the US, Japan and Europe reined in spending. “The textile industry is in trouble,” said Pham Xuan Lanh, an invest- ment analyst at Hanoi-based Vin- com Securities Joint- Stock Co. The subsidy program “may help ease the industry’s need to lay off more workers, but its business re- lies totally on external factors,” Lanh said. Asian governments, reliant on ex- ports to support economic growth and generate employment, are in- troducing stimulus plans and ad- justing tax regimes to try to prevent layoffs and bolster indus- tries. China’s Premier Wen Ji- abao said Thursday his government would “significantly increase” investment in 2009, widening efforts to meet an eco- nomic growth target and protect jobs. Vietnam’s textile industry is tar- geting exports of $10.5 billion this year compared to $9.1 billion in 2008, even as orders decline, ac- cording to a government state- ment last month. If the planned subsidy were paid on that figure, it would total about VND420 bil- lion ($24 million), according to Bloomberg calculations. ‘Crisis deepens’ “The industry’s situation is really unpredictable as the crisis deep- ens,” the association’s An said from Hanoi. “Even with the sub- sidy, we may still fire more work- ers if the global economy does not get better by the second half of the year.” The value-added tax on imported cotton may be reduced to 5 per- cent from 10 percent to cut indus- try costs, An said. According to the plan, the State Bank of Vietnam would also grant low-interest loans to Vietnam Tex- tile Corporation (VTC), which will stockpile enough cotton yarns for production over the next couple of months. A VTC official said it may need up to $15 million a month for the pur- pose. Details of the support plan, in- cluding how the subsidy pay- ments may be made, are being worked out by officials, he said. Vietnam’s textile industry em- ploys around two million workers, according to the association, and generated about 15 percent of the nation’s exports by value last year, government figures show. The government may offer “timely” support for textile and footwear exporters, Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai said in a report posted on the administra- tion’s website on January 20. Textile shipments from Vietnam fell 12 percent to $1.2 billion in the first two months of 2009 com- pared with a year earlier, accord- ing to government data. Textile sales to the US may fall 15 per- cent this year, the Ministry of In- dustry and Trade said on February 6. “We have seen more than 10 large and medium-sized compa- nies shut down because of the crisis this year,” An said, without identifying the businesses. “The actual number may be even higher than that as many small companies did not report closures to us.” The association has about 1,000 members. Bloomberg Annual market almanac to debut A new yearly publication on companies and the stock market, the Viet Nam Golden Stocks, is set to debut in the second quarter of 2009. To be published by the Sunday Market News, Vifinfo Limited Company, and Moco Joint Stock Company, the book will provide comprehensive information on both listed and unlisted companies and independent analyses of the market and companies for the benefit of funds and other in- vestors. It will also provide an overview of the stock market since its establishment in 2001, assessments and analyses for the current year, and forecasts. It will carry a list of the best listed companies nominated by a group of experts. The Vietnamese version will be published by the end of May and the English version, titled Viet Nam Golden Stocks 2009, will be published abroad a few weeks later. More than 1,000 investment funds are soon set to enter Viet Nam, the publishers said in a press release. VNS VIETNAM MAY SUBSIDIZE GARMENT EXPORTS, INDUSTRY SAYS . Development Commercial Joint Stock Bank (HD- Finance ISSUE No. 9 March 09, 20 09 1 Vietinbank Securities to revive IPO when VN-Index rises to 270 Vietnam Bank for Industry & Trade Securities Co.,. District, Ha Noi on March 07, 20 09. Built by the Infrastructure and Transport Building Investment Company, the project covers an area of 23.829sq.m, with office space taking up 2 .99 8sq.m. The. their operations; renovate technology, en- hance management capacity and as- sess staff qualifications. The governor was told that imple- mentation of Prime Ministerial Deci- sion 131 had not been difficult. As