BUSINESS IN BRIEF 29/4

17:10' 29/04/2008 (GMT+7)
Real estate developer sets for 530 million USD projects
Real estate developer Phat Dat Corporation will begin two major projects this year at a total investment of around 8.5 trillion VND (530 million USD).
The company’s chairman, Nguyen Van Dat, said on April 27 that Phat Dat would break ground for The EverRich 2 building in the next quarter.
Located on more than 11ha of land in Ho Chi Minh City ’s District 7, the project is expected to be completed in early 2013, offering more than 3,200 apartments and commercial space. Another 1 trillion VND will be invested in a five-star hotel and resort project in Cam Ranh in Khanh Hoa province and completion in slated for 2011.
Dat plans to increase his company’s chartered capital to 1.5 trillion VND this year from the current 1.3 trillion VND.
The company also plans to list at the HCM City Stock Exchange next year.
Da Nang city chases foreign investment
The central city of Da Nang has listed 78 projects in search of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the next three years, according to the city’s Department of Planning and Investment.
The projects include information technology, electronics, agriculture and seafood processing, engineering, textiles-garments, real estate and footwear.
To make use of opportunities brought about by Vietnam ’s admission into the World Trade Organisation, Da Nang has taken steps to improve the local investment environment.
This has included accelerating administrative reform by enacting consistent policies and shortening the time for investment registration.
The city has licensed 5 foreign-invested projects – valued at more than 240 million USD – in the first four months of this year, said an official from the department’s Investment Promotion Centre.
They include a 200 million USD commercial, office and serviced-apartment building known as the Jade Residence Complex. It is sited on 8.8ha in Hai Chau district. Financed by Kreves Land Co Ltd, the complex will open later this year.
There are now 126 foreign-invested projects in the city worth more than 2 billion USD.
Ca Mau businesses promote in Germany
Seafood exporters from southernmost Ca Mau province met with their German partners at a forum in Berlin on April 28 to seek further cooperation.
At the Vietnam-Germany Fisheries Forum, Deputy Director of the provincial Trade and Tourism Promotion Centre Tran Van Bo introduced the province’s strength in fisheries development, citing its diverse ecosystem, abundant natural resources and improved infrastructure and road system.
Ca Mau is currently home to 27 seafood processing factories, each with a capacity of between 1,000-1,500 tonnes per year. The application of international food quality and safety standards has meant their products have penetrated the worldwide market, including Japan , the US and European Union.
In 2007, local producers netted 159,000 tonnes of seafood and exported 81,000 tonnes of shrimp.
At the forum, German businesses inquired into aquaculture methods in Vietnam as well as food quality, quarantine works and transportation.
HCM City draws 1.9 billion USD in FDI
Ho Chi Minh City has so far this year attracted 126 Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) projects, worth more than 1.9 billion USD.
Nearly 966 million USD came from 86 wholly-foreign invested projects, accounting for 49.6 percent of total registered capital.
The projects are chiefly invested in real estate, construction and industry.
According to experts, the southern industrial hub of the country is absorbing an influx of real estate projects due to the success of giant corporations in this field over the past year such as Indochina Land Holding and VinaCapital Fund Management Companies.
The policy to allow foreigners to buy and own houses in Vietnam is also considered a key factor behind a recent boom in real estate investment in HCM City.
Largest MDF plant to be built in Binh Phuoc
The construction of a plant manufacturing medium density fiberboard (MDF) in southern Binh Phuoc province was confirmed with the signing of a 124 million USD (2 trillion VND) contract between the Vietnam Rubber Corporation and the Republic of Korea ’s DongWha Holdings Corporation on April 28.
The 30ha plant with a capacity of 300,000c.m per year will be the largest and most modern MDF plant in Southeast Asia .
The Vietnam Rubber Corporation will contribute 49 percent of the total investment.
Once operational at the end of 2009, the plant will provide jobs for more than 100 local people.
Central region must plant rice as planned
Bui Ba Bong, deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, has ordered the southern central and Central Highlands provinces to plant summer-autumn rice according to their individual cultivation schedule.
The provinces are estimated to plant about 326,000ha of summer-autumn rice crop.
The provinces harvested 1.2 million tones of rice in the winter-spring crop, a drop of 100,000 tonnes compared to last winter-spring crop, according to the Cultivation Department.
Money launderers in the spotlight
Financial analysts from Cambodia , Laos and Vietnam sharpened their skills at a regional workshop in the capital on April 28.
The two day workshop organised by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the World Bank (WB), focused on different analytical methods and access to information sources in the pursuit of suspected money launderers.
Each of the analysts were from Financial Intelligence Units in their respective countries. In Vietnam , the unit also the State Bank of Vietnam ’s Anti Money laundering Information Centre, which analyses financial reports and investigates suspected money laundering cases.
The financial intelligence unit often works with suspicious transaction reports and large cash transaction reports from banks and other reporting institutes.
The workshop is part of a long term technical assistance programme, provided by UNODC and the WB to tackle money laundering as an organises crime.
Kinh Bac plans to raise 106 million USD
The listed firm Kinh Bac Urban Development Joint Stock Co is planning to offer more shares this year to hike its charter capital to 1.7 trillion VND (106 million USD).
Chairman Dang Thanh Tam made the announcement at a recent Kinh Bac shareholder meeting, saying the company was aiming to make over 1.18 trillion VND (74 million USD) in revenue and 611 trillion VND (38.2 million USD) in after tax profit, and pay a dividend of at least 30 percent in 2008. He also announced that the company would pay a 2007 dividend of 43 percent in shares.
“A growth rate based on a firm foundation will help the company have enough financial capacity to be ready for large projects in the future,” the chairman noted.
Current projects the company is working on include a 100 million USD plan to expand Bac Ninh province’s Que Vo industrial complex to over 600ha, a 200 million USD Yen Phong industrial zone project in the first phase in Bac Ninh and the Phuc Ninh urban zone project coming in at 200 million USD.
This year, the company will joint hands with Taiwanese Foxconn Group to develop the Trang Cat high-tech and new urban area complex in the northern port city of Hai Phong , along with other projects.
Kinh Bac, an affiliate of Saigon Invest Group, specialises in real estate development, trade, financial services, infrastructure construction, investment consulting, power generation and mining.