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Posts Tagged ‘year’

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Seafood shares look promising in last quarter this year

In Uncategorized on December 16, 2010 at 10:10 am

Most of seafood exporters announced healthy earning results in the first nine months of the years thanks to surging demand worldwide and the strong US dollar. However, some catfish and basa producers were hit by anti-dumping taxes, while shrimp exporters took profit from the weakening supply caused by the Gulf of Mexico oil spill in the US.

(Photo: tuoitreonline)

Minh Phu Seafood Joint Stock Company (MPC) produced 16,660 tons of shrimp in the first three quarters of 2010, with the profit reaching VND253.3 billion (US$13 million).


Sao Ta Foods Joint Stock Company (FMC) made an after-tax profit of VND5.97 billion ($298,500) in the third quarter, a significant increase of 190 percent year-on-year. The profit from exporting seafood, which is the firm’s core business, surged 176.5 percent year-on-year to VND31.11 billion ($1.6 million).


Financial experts said seafood exporters took big profit from the dollar/Vietnam dong exchange rate fluctuation, which saw the rate rose from VND18,465 per dollar early this year to VND19,500 per dollar. The stronger dollar gave the exporters selling seafood to the US around 5 percent of their revenue in the first three quarter this year.


Catfish and basa exporters meanwhile suffered heavy losses in the first nine months of the year as they struggled to deal with increasing material price and anti-dumping taxes. Among losers are BASA Joint Stock Company (BAS) with a loss of VND7.5 billion ($375,000).


Third quarter revenue of Cuulong Fish Joint Stock Company (ACL) rose 45.8 percent year-on-year, but its profit dropped 64.7 percent. Similarly, the net profit in the first nine months of Hung Vuong Corporation (HVG), one of the country’s biggest catfish and basa exporters, only made out of 50.9 percent of the target.


But analysts said the seafood sector’s average price-to-earnings rate (P/E) of 7.6x was much lower than the stock market’s average P/E rate of 11.4x, showing seafood share prices are pretty good.


They also expect seafood sector will be booming in the last quarter thanks to the yearend rising consumption prices and the US dollar getting stronger.


The seafood demand at developed countries often increase significantly in the last quarter every year as they come into the festival season.


Shrimp price surged to $3-4.8/pound in the first nine months as the Gulf of Mexico oil spill in the USA prompted to a shortage in shrimp supplying.

Source: SGGP

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Ceiling interest rate to not exceed 15 percent per year

In Uncategorized on December 16, 2010 at 10:04 am

The ceiling interest rate of commercial banks will be increased from 12% to 15% a year, from this Sunday.

A banking staff directs a customer about lending procedures. Banks agree that ceiling interest rates will not be higher than 15% percent a year (Photo: SGGP)


The decision came from a meeting between the State Bank of Vietnam in Ho Chi Minh City and the Vietnam Banking Association, in collaboration with the commercial banks on Saturday.


A day earlier, the State Bank in Hanoi chaired a meeting, in which 12 northern commercial banks signed a commitment, agreeing that their maximum interest rate would be 14% a year.


In case, the banks give their customers any promotional programs (cash or any other gifts); the real interest rate would not surpass 15% a year. Any bank violating this regulation will suffer severe punishment from the authorized organizations.


Because of the rocketing interests during the last few days, the State Bank intervened to stop any more increases. At one stage, the interest rate was 17% to 18% a year in some commercial banks. However, now the ceiling is lower. In HCMC, it remains at 15.5% to 16.5% a year.


Related article:
State Bank tries to prevent banks from increasing their interest rates

Source: SGGP

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Deadline for banks to raise capital pushed back a year

In Uncategorized on December 16, 2010 at 10:02 am

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has accepted a proposal from the State Bank of Vietnam to extend the deadline for banks to raise their chartered capital to VND3 trillion (US$141.7 million) by one year to December 31, 2011, said the bank on December 14.

Transaction conducted at an Asia Commercial Bank branch in Ho Chi Minh City.

The proposal was sent to the Government when it was found that commercial banks faced a looming December 31 deadline to meet stricter minimum capital requirements.


Earlier, the central bank had been adamant that if they failed to meet the deadline, banks would face closure, or be forced into mergers with other institutions. The bank said that the deadline was ‘hard-and-fast’ as the banks had had four years to prepare for the capital increase.


The Government issued Decree 141/206/NĐ dated on November 22, 2006, requiring banks to raise their chartered capital to at least VND3 trillion by December 31, 2010.
 
The Decree was aimed at eliminating any weak banks and strengthening the financial capacity and security of the banking system. 
 
The banking system has quickly developed during the past years of renovation. However, most of banks are small-sized and may be vulnerable to the ups and downs of the market.
 
Additionally, objective reasons like the global financial crisis and economic downturn have prevented foreign partners from pouring money in the banking system and the Vietnamese banks themselves from raising capital through issuing shares.
 
Besides, the Government has required the State-owned enterprises to focus on their main business lines, so they have withdrawn money from banks, causing difficulties for the banks.


By the end of October, all 22 commercial banks not yet in compliance had received the Central Bank’s approval to increase registered capital from an average of nearly VND1.6 trillion ($75.57 million) to an average of VND3.5 trillion ($165.32 million).
 
Eleven of these banks had received the State Securities Commission approval to raise additional funds by offering shares. However, because of the gloomy state of the market during the last several months, these plans were derailed.


The State Bank previously extended deadlines for commercial banks to meet higher capital requirements. Commercial banks were required by law to registered capital of at least VND1 trillion (US$47.23 million) by the end of 2008, but only 28 banks had met the requirement by the deadline. Another 10 managed to meet it only as late as the end of 2009, with the central bank granting permission for delaying the compliance.

Source: SGGP

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Tourism Year 2011 to to boost tourism in south central region

In Uncategorized on December 16, 2010 at 9:51 am

The National Tourism Year 2011 program will focus on boosting the tourist industry and to encourage more protection of our beautiful beaches in the south central region, said a tourist official on Sunday.


The organizing board met in Tuy Hoa City, central province of Phu Yen and this was to introduce more than 30 cultural, sport and tourism events, which are scheduled to take place in the south-central coastal region next year.

Logo of the National Tourism Year 2011


The South-central coastal region includes Quang Nam, Quang Ngai, Binh Dinh, Phu Yen, Khanh Hoa, Ninh Thuan and Binh Thuan provinces and Da Nang City,
 
The press conference was attended by representatives from cities and provinces from all over the south-central coastal region and more than 30 press agencies.


Under the theme of “Visit Vietnam Year – Phu Yen 2011: Exotic Beach and Island”, major events of the National Tourism Year 2011 will include the international mountaineering tournament at Da Bia mount, the Vietnam-South Korea cultural exchange, the sea and island month and the ASEAN traditional music festival.


The opening ceremony of the National Tourism Year is scheduled to take place in Tuy Hoa City on April 1, 2011 to mark the 400th anniversary of the province’s establishment.


In preparation for the National Tourism Year 2011, Phu Yen Province has organized a series of cultural, sport and tourism events, aimed to popularize the National Tourism Year 2011 and to introduce the province’s exotic land to as many people as possible.


The province has built tourism facilities and has upgraded many projects and various infrastructures. With capital investment of over VND230 billion (US$11.5 million), the province’s tourism sector has launched training courses for tourism staff to improve the quality of tourist products and services.


As schedule, from December 3-10, a tourism research team has been studying famous tourist spots from Khanh Hoa Province to Da Nang Province.


Since the beginning of this year, the southern central coastal province of Phu Yen has welcomed more than 312,500 visitors, including 12,000 international tourists, an increase of 20% as compared to the same period last year.

According to the province’s Department of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, due to the increased number of tourists, the provincial tourism sector has earned 249.5 billion VND, an increase of 1.7 times compared to last year’s figure, and 50% of local hotel rooms were now occupied.

Source: SGGP

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Chavez seeks power to rule by decree for 1 year

In Uncategorized on December 16, 2010 at 9:44 am

 Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez asked congress Tuesday to grant him special powers to enact laws by decree for one year, just before a new legislature takes office with a larger contingent of opposition lawmakers.


The measure, which quickly received initial approval from the overwhelming majority of pro-Chavez lawmakers, would give the president the authority to bypass the National Assembly for the fourth time since he was first elected almost 12 years ago.


Vice President Elias Jaua made the request on Chavez’s behalf, saying the president will use the authorization to ensure fast-track approval of laws aimed at helping the nation recover from severe flooding and mudslides that left thousands homeless and in government shelters.


“The measures we have to take are deep. Almost 40 percent of the country was affected” by the heavy rains, Jaua said.

Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez carries a baby as he waits for the arrival of Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa at the Fort Tiuna military base in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2010.

Only five of the assembly’s 165 lawmakers voted against the proposal Tuesday. The legislature, which is dominated by Chavez allies, is expected to give final approval to the measure before the end of the week.


Chavez’s opponents accuse him of using the natural disaster to impose socialist-inspired measures and undermine the power of newly elected opposition lawmakers.


Hundreds of Chavez opponents protested outside the legislature Tuesday, saying Chavez is violating democratic principles and objecting to other planned laws that could impose regulations on the Internet and endanger Globovision, the country’s last stridently anti-Chavez television channel.


Decrees planned in the next two weeks include laws to speed construction of housing and roads and increase the value-added tax, Jaua said.


“The situation continues to be critical, and we need to tend to it with a set of laws,” Chavez said while visiting a Caracas military base along with President Rafael Correa of Ecuador.


Chavez said he has yet to determine how much to raise the value-added tax, which is now 12 percent. He said the government estimates damage from the heavy rains at about $10 billion.


A draft of the law says Chavez is also seeking powers to issue decrees in areas including the country’s “socio-economic system,” telecommunications, the banking system, information technology, the military, rural and urban land use, and a “new geographical regionalization of the country.”


“All of these laws will be within the framework of the constitution,” Chavez said on state television.


Newly elected opposition lawmaker Julio Borges said the measures being taken up by the National Assembly in its final days go against the will of the voters.


“As elected deputies, we’re asking for a meeting between the new assembly and the old one, so that people are respected — the voters and the constitution,” Borges told reporters.


Chavez announced the plan to seek decree powers Friday, and some critics suggested he intended to push through controversial measures during the holidays while many Venezuelans are focusing on their families.


Opposition newspaper editor Teodoro Petkoff called it a “Christmas ambush,” writing in his daily Tal Cual that Chavez is preparing totalitarian measures that amount to “a brutal attack … against democratic life.”


In his nearly 12 years in office, the leftist Chavez has been granted temporary decree powers three times by lawmakers, in 1999, 2001 and 2007.


The last time, he enjoyed special legislative powers for 18 months and used them to seize control of privately run oil fields, impose new taxes and nationalize telecommunications, electricity and cement companies.

Chavez supporters have dominated the National Assembly since the opposition boycotted 2005 elections, but the opposition gained ground in September elections.

Starting Jan. 5, Chavez will face 66 opponents among the 165 lawmakers, a group large enough to challenge some government measures and prevent him from holding a two-thirds majority — the threshold needed to approve some laws, such as granting the president decree powers.

Source: SGGP

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Facebook founder named Time’s ‘person of year’

In Uncategorized on December 16, 2010 at 9:42 am

NEW YORK, Dec 15, 2010 (AFP) – Time magazine named Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg “person of the year” Wednesday, ignoring a push by readers of the magazine for WikiLeaks maestro Julian Assange to take the honor.


Zuckerberg, only 26, is the second youngest person named to the cover of Time’s ritual annual.


Managing editor Richard Stengel said Zuckerberg’s social networking service was “transforming the way we live our lives every day.”


The runners-up chosen by Time were the conservative US Tea Party movement that made a big impact in recent midterm elections, followed by Assange.


Assange, currently behind bars in London on Swedish sexual assault charges, is at the center of a global uproar over his organization’s leaking of secret US diplomatic cables.


Readers of Time magazine had voted overwhelmingly for him to be named “person of the year,” followed by Lady Gaga, the US singer best known for her elaborate costumes.


But Stengel said that Facebook has turned into a global influence of unprecedented scope.


“For connecting more than half-a-billion people and mapping the social relations among them (something that has never been done before); for creating a new system of exchanging information that has become both indispensable and sometimes a little scary; and finally, for changing how we all live our lives in ways that are innovative and even optimistic, Mark Elliot Zuckerberg is Time’s 2010 Person of the Year,” Stengel said in a statement.


Stengel described Zuckerberg, a Harvard dropout, as the equivalent of a “T-shirt-wearing head of state.”


In an interview on NBC television, Stengel said Zuckerberg was “humbled” and “deeply affected” by the award.


Contrary to the unpleasant portrait of Zuckerberg presented in the hit Hollywood movie “The Social Network,” the Facebook mogul is “very affable,” Stengel said.


“He’s very quick, he’s quick witted.” However, “what happens on camera is he pulls back, he gets shy.”


Controversial, US-backed Afghan President Hamid Karzai and the group of Chilean miners who survived being buried underground in a tunnel were the final runners-up selected by Time.


In 1927, American aviator Charles Lindbergh was Time’s first “man of the year,” as it was then known, and the youngest at the age of 25.


The popular issue goes on newsstands Friday, bearing a close up photo of the blue-eyed Zuckerberg on the cover.

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Source: SGGP

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Tour prices to jump ahead of lunar new year

In Uncategorized on December 16, 2010 at 9:37 am




Tour prices to jump ahead of lunar new year


QĐND – Wednesday, December 15, 2010, 21:6 (GMT+7)

 The price of Tet or Lunar New Year tours are set to jump by up to 10 percent, forecast tour operators.

The operators attribute the prospective increases to growing demand and likely higher transport and accommodation costs.

The length of the break – seven days – and the arrival of overseas Vietnamese and international visitors are the major reasons for higher price, explained Vietravel Communication Department director Nguyen Minh Man.

“Customers for the 2011 Lunar New Year – from February 1 – will increase by 30 percent,” Man said.

“High demand will see accommodation and transport costs soar, so tour prices will jump by 7-10 percent”, he added.

A representative of the Lua Viet Tours Company agreed that tour prices will increase by Tet holiday because of higher air travel costs.

The company says the prices for air tickets out of Vietnam have increased between 50 USD and 150 USD.

Despite higher costs, tour operators are trying to keep prices down.

“More expensive air tickets are beyond our control. However, we’ve still managed to keep our tour prices low to avoid sudden changes in price,” said Man.

Outbound tours to Hong Kong (China), mainland China, the Republic of Korea and Japan remain favourite destinations.

Tours to neighbouring countries remain popular due to their price of just 10 million VND (476 USD). Moreover, these tours have not been affected by the dong’s devaluation, said Director of Lua Viet Travel Company Nguyen Van My.

The Vietnam Railway Corporation is set to increase its prices by 20-25 percent on peak days over the Lunar New Year Festival.

Source: VNA/ Photo: Vneconomy


Source: QDND

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Banks get extra year to raise charter capital

In Uncategorized on December 16, 2010 at 9:32 am




Banks get extra year to raise charter capital


QĐND – Wednesday, December 15, 2010, 21:6 (GMT+7)

Commercial banks have one more year to comply with stricter new minimum capital requirements.

The Prime Minister on Dec.4 set a new deadline of December 31, 2011, for banks to comply with the requirement that they maintain a minimum charter capital of 3 trillion VND (141.71 million USD).

He has instructed the State Bank of Vietnam to work with related agencies to amend Decree No 141, which sets the deadline at the end of this month.

The State Bank had earlier vowed that the deadline was hard-and-fast, since banks had had four years to prepare for compliance, and warned that banks failing to meet the deadline would face closure or forced merger or acquisition.

However, the process of increasing charter capital had been complicated for many banks by the global financial crisis, the withdrawal of investment by State shareholders, and a gloomy domestic securities market, said the head of the State Bank’s supervisory and inspection department, Duong Quoc Anh.

“The fact that the Government has discouraged State-owned economic groups from investing in non-core business lines and instructed these groups to revoke such investments has caused big trouble for a number of financial institutions,” Anh wrote on the State Bank website.

State-owned garment maker Vinatex, for instance, recently sold an 11-percent interest in Navibank, one of the banks unable to meet the new requirements.

In prior proposals to the Government, the central bank had insisted on the higher charter capital requirements in order to improve the security and capacity of the nation’s banking system.

By the end of October, 22 commercial banks not yet in compliance had received State Bank approval to increase registered capital from an average of nearly 1.6 trillion VND (75.57 million USD) to an average of 3.5 trillion VND (165.32 million USD). Eleven of these banks had received State Securities Commission approval to raise additional funds by offering shares.

The State Bank has previously extended deadlines for commercial banks to meet higher capital requirements. Commercial banks were required by law to register capital of at least 1 trillion VND(52 million USD) by the end of 2008, but only 28 banks had met the requirement by the deadline. Another 10 managed to meet it only as late as the end of 2009, with the central bank granting permission for the delayed compliance.

Source: VNA/ Photo: LDO


Source: QDND

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Baby sister maltreats three year old girl

In Uncategorized on November 25, 2010 at 5:19 am

A baby sister stepped on a three year old baby to bath her and grabbed the child’s hair to continuously slap in her face with water.

Tran Thi Phung (L) make a statement with officials in Binh Duong Province on November 24 (Photo: SGGP)

That were seen on a video clip, has been posted on the internet. According to Sai Gon Giai Phong reporters, the case took place at a daycare in Binh Thuan 1 Hamlet, Thuan Giao Commune, Thuan An District, the northern province of Binh Duong on the afternoon of November 19 or 20.


Yesterday morning, the commune authorities and officials from the province Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs investigated the daycare, which is also the woman’s house.


The baby sister, identified as Tran Thi Phung, admitted that she had bathed the baby in the clip. Meanwhile, the little girl named Ho Thi Thuy Ngan, baby of a worker’s family, living near the daycare.


Ngan usually refused to have a bath, so Phung stepped on her body to prevent her from running around, Phung explained.


There was a swollen scar on Ngan’s head while the remaining five children’s bodies were black and blue and with scratches. Ms.Phung said the injuries had been caused as the babies fell down at their homes.


Having been not licensed, Phung has worked as a child minder for workers’ families for ten years old. At present, Phung takes care of six babies, aged from 1-3, with the prices of VND300-350,000 a month, including food expenses.


Local officials said that Thuan Giao Commune now has about 20 unlicensed daycares. In the beginning of each school year, investigators from departments examine these basics and remind them to register for licenses.


However, with such thin investigation, the illegal daycares still have gap to operate and partly meet demand of poor parents.


Thuan Giao’s population is about 9,000 while the number of immigrants is ten folds higher that number, Mai Thi Phuong, chairman of the commune’s Woman Association said.


In addition, the commune now has only one public and two private pre-schools, just able to accommodate 600-700 in the total of 2,000 children, from and below five year old.


Operation of Phung’s daycare should be halted to wait for decisions from authorized organizations, the chairwoman proposed.


Video clip of the baby tortured case

http://www.sggp.org.vn/flash/swf/mediaplayer.swf


 

Source: SGGP

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Swine flu claims 8 lives in Vietnam this year

In Uncategorized on November 19, 2010 at 2:01 pm
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