VIETNAM biz UPDATE ISSUE NO 9 march 9 2009

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
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.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