Dong A Bank leads in money transfer service

BUSINESS IN BRIEF 21/4
17:29' 21/04/2008 (GMT+7)
The Dong A Money Transfer Company of the Dong A (East Asian) Joint-Stock Commercial Bank obtained a revenue of 1 billion USD in 2007, holding a market share of 20 percent.
According to the State Bank of Vietnam ’s statistics, in 2007 Vietnam received a total of 5 billion USD in foreign currencies remitted by overseas Vietnamese and guest workers from abroad.
Dong A has maintained the leading position in money transfer service over the past 8 years by expanding its network to 100 offices in 44 provinces and cities nationwide. Its customers may receive remittances from over 170 countries via the company’s worldwide partners.
The Dong A Company has also developed its cooperation with foreign partners to bring the services to Vietnamese people living and working in the US, Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Malaysia and Taiwan.
Global Summit to bring international business women to Vietnam
Vietnam will host the 18th Global Summit of Women from June 5-7, which is expected to attract more than 1,200 delegates from over 100 countries.
The summit will be themed “Woman and Asia - Driving the Global Economy” said Vice Chairperson of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) Tran Thi Thuy, who is head of the summit organising board, at a seminar in Danang city on April 21.
She said more than 70 countries had already registered for the event.
The topics of discussion at the summit will include “Vietnam - an emerging dynamic economy”, “enterprise development in Asia”, “dialogue with female enterprises” “young people’s forum on business”, “women trafficking prevention”, and so on.
The summit will also see female CEOs and successful business women share their experiences, and networking between the participants encouraged.
Thuy said the summit would provide an opportunity for Vietnam to promote its international image, draw more investment, develop tourism and introduce its business environment to foreign friends.
The launch seminar in Danang city, which drew business women from Danang city, Thua Thien-Hue, Quang Nam and Binh Dinh provinces, will be followed by two more similar seminars in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City before the main event in June.
Phu Yen develops with foreign investment influx
The south-central province of Phu Yen has attracted major foreign investment projects after years of lagging behind other parts of the country.
In 2007, the province attracted a record 2.3 billion USD in FDI, accounting for 7.9 percent of the country’s total foreign direct investment and ranking fifth among the country’s investment destinations.
Chairman of Phu Yen Province People’s Committee Pham Ngoc Chi attributed the rapid growth to investments in petro-chemical projects, particularly the Vung Ro oil refinery plant. Technostar Management Ltd (UK) and Russia ’s oil company Telloil invested 1.7 billion USD into the refinery, which is expected to have a capacity of 4 million tonnes a year.
The 380-ha project in Ong Hoa District will be operational in 2011 and reach a turnover of 2.23 billion USD a year.
Other major projects involve building infrastructure for a 2,600 ha petro-chemical industrial park in Dong Hoa District and a deep seaport in Bai Goc to accommodate ships of 250,000 DWT.
These projects will be completed in 2024, with an investment capital of 11 billion USD including 5 billion USD from Naptha Cracking oil complex. They will provide jobs for 15,000-20,000 people and have a combined turnover of 20 billion USD a year.
Chi said the investment success stemmed from the province’s promotiion efforts. In 2007, an investment conference organised by provincial officials in Singapore led to an agreement to invest in the petrochemical industrial park and the oil complex.
Investors from the US , Canada , Japan , Australia , the Republic of Korea and Middle East have also flocked to Phu Yen to explore investment opportunities.
Taking advantage of its favourable geological conditions with highway, railway and seaport networks linking the central and the Central Highlands provinces, Phu Yen officials are cooperating with other central provinces to develop major transport infrastructure projects.
These projects involve the railway linking Tuy Hoa (the town of Phu Yen ) with the Central Highlands , an underground tunnel through Ca Pass, and the upgrading of highways between the province and the Central Highlands.
Chi said the province will further invest in building Phu Yen into a gateway for the area bordering Vietnam , Laos and Cambodia via road, railway, waterway and air networks.
The Prime Minister recently approved a plan to establish an economic zone in southern Phu Yen. The 20,370-ha zone will house industrial parks and link up with Vung Ro seaport, Tuy Hoa airport and Van Phong economic zone in central Khanh Hoa province.
Leading producer imports fertilizers to cut price hike
The PetroVietnam Fertilizer and Chemical Co. (PVFCCo), the country’s leading fertilizer producer, has signed contracts to import 106,000 tonnes of fertilizers in an effort to cut the price hike.
PVFCCo forecast that the country will need about 660,000 tonnes of fertilizer by the end of the second quarter of the year, but local producers can supply only 500,000 tonnes.
PVFCCo’s Phu My Fertilizer Plant has so far this year produced 197,825 tonnes of urea fertilizer.
US group plans to build textile factory in Tien Giang
The A&E group of the US has announced they intend to invest in building a textile and dyeing factory in the southern province of Tien Giang.
During a recent visit to the province to study investment opportunities, A&E officials had a working session with the Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Nguyen Huu Chi.
The American businessmen said if an agreement could be reached, A & E will rent 3.5 ha of land in Tan Huong industrial zone to build a textile and dyeing factory.
The environmental friendly factory will have an estimated initial capital of 12.5 million USD.