finance & business news 31 January 2019

FINANCE ...... 2 Vietnam aims to promote trade ties with Chile, Canada: PM 21 Liquidity hot again as the Tet is approaching 2 BIZ NEWS ...... 22 Exchange fee for new notes climbs before Tet holiday 2 Banks gain, helping the VN Index inch up 22 Interest rate fall leads to the re-issuance of 30-year bonds New competition of securities companies 23 after 6-month pause 3 Demand for delivery services surges before Tet holiday 24 Vietnam is ninth highest receiver of remittances 3 Vietnam shines in Traveller's list of best countries for budget International money transfer via banks increase sharply 4 travellers 25 Vietnam continues offering soft loans to low-income homebuyers 4 Vietnam among Rough Guide's 20 most beautiful countries 26 Consumer credit increases sharply and the related risks 5 Facebook Messenger most popular chat app for online Which banks will be given priority for credit room shopping in Vietnam 26 loosening in 2019? 6 Hanoi welcomes 2.4 million visitors in January 27 First FinTech Lab in Vietnam underway 7 Toll suspension proposal awaits approval 27 Vietnam steps up measures urged to expand e-payments 10,000 footwear workers in Tra Vinh sacked before Tet 28 via mobile subscribers 8 Pet Tet: Brisk Lunar New Year business for pet services 28 January marks auspicious start of 2019 for Vietnam's economy 9 PM's working group inspects scrap material containers Digitalised economy helps promote global competitiveness: at Hai Phong Port 29 expert 10 ODA funding urged for key bridge in Mekong Delta region 30 National IIP up about 8pct in January 11 Hotel room rates expected to rise slightly in 2019 31 Hanoi is highlight of Vietnam's success story of FDI attraction: HP launches premium computer line 31 deputy PM 11 Bamboo Airways opens HCM City-Thanh Hoa air route 32 Vietnam to build product origin site 12 Emirates to Treat Passengers to Lunar New Year January oil production exceeds target 13 Holiday Delights 32 Tuna exports predicted to flourish in 2019 13 Hoa Phat steps up Australian beef supply in Vietnam 33 Chinese cross-border policy hurting Vietnam's exports 13 Korean unicorn to enter local food delivery market in 2019 33 China continues being Vietnam's largest export market in 2018 14 VinFast bolsters Vietnam's car-making ambition 34 Bright prospects for real estate market in central coastal FPT profits up 30pct in 2018 35 localities 15 AI Cloud Service for construction companies launched 36 J.D. Power: service initiation weakest link in customer VCCI Top Events in 2018 37 experience 15 Vietnamese fashion brands make difficult comeback in home market 16 Firms asked to start internal audits 17 Phu Quoc potential real estate tourism market in 2019 18 PM Phuc invites tech titans to invest 18 Belgian-Vietnamese Alliance to boost support for businesses 20 Vietnam and Korea to promote strategic cooperation partnership 21 FINANCE

FINANCE Liquidity hot again as 31/JAN/2019 INTELLASIA| NDH the Tet is approaching Statistics of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) showed that the overnight rate soared to 5.12 percent per annum on the first day of the last week of the existing Lunar Year, the highest level since the beginning of 2019 On the six-month term, interest rates continued to stay above six percent, after surging to 6.28 percent per annum in the end of the previous week.

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The interbank interest rates across the terms have sharply risen in the recent weeks when the currency market entered the peak period of Tet holiday. The SBV has contin- uously net injected into the market in the recent two weeks with respectively 4.962 tril- lion dong and 47.521 trillion dong. Specifically, in the latest week, via Open Market Operation, the SBV made a forward purchase of 100.336 trillion dong on 21-day and 28-day terms, while 52.815 trillion dong matured in the week. According to statistics of Saigon Securities Incorporation (SSI) Retail Research, the volume of OMO in circulation sharply increased to 100.336 trillion dong. The amount of capital put into circulation through OMO channel is at the highest level in nearly two years. Some banks experiencing liquidity tension are actively mobilising capital on the inter- bank market to meet the demand for dong. The borrowing/lending value among banks is around 37 48 trillion dong per day. The interbank rates, thus, have been pushed up. However, this development is not surprising as the demand for cash often increases high in the last weeks of the Lunar Year to prepare for the needs of shopping and trav- FINANCE elling, etc. In 2016 and 2017, the SBV also often injected capital to support banks' li- quidity. In addition, on the unofficial and official market, the US dollar/dong exchange rate is also declining. According to expert, people's sale of US dollars to gather dong is also the reason that lower the exchange rate level. The listed exchange rate at banks is popular at 23,160 dong (buying) and 23,240 dong (selling) per US dollar. Meanwhile, on the free market, most shops are buying and sell- ing US dollars at respectively 23,180 23,210 dong per US dollar. From the beginning of the week, the central exchange rate was significantly reduced by 22 dong by the SBV to 22,858 dong per US dollar. However, the ceiling rate is still high at 23,544 dong per US dollar. The US dollar buying rate of the SBV is maintained at 23,200 dong per US dollar, only 10 dong less than the buying rate of shops. The amount of US dollars acquired by the SBV in the first three weeks of January was esti- mated to exceed one billion dong.

Exchange fee for new 31/JAN/2019 INTELLASIA| DAU TU CHUNG KHOAN notes climbs before On January 29 (24th December in Lunar Calendar), commercial banks are preparing to Tet holiday take a Tet holiday, so it is more difficult to exchange new and good-as-new notes than in the previous days. Meanwhile, the demand for these notes is still quite large, creat- ing positive conditions for outside services to push the exchange fees up. Although in working hours, Mai Anh (residing in District 9, HCM City) is still hope- lessly calling, texting her acquaintances working in banks to exchange new notes in or- der to prepare "lucky money" for her relatives. Hence, she is forced to seek for exchange services advertised on the Internet. Accordingly, when the keyword "change money, collect new notes" is typed on Google or social networks, immediately, hun- dreds or thousands of results are shown up within a few dozen seconds. All websites offer a detailed exchange fee table for customers to follow. However, customers can still bargain with the service providers to get a more reasonable fee. Through the phone, Mai Anh met a man claiming to be Ngoc, specialising in exchang- ing new notes and all kinds of changes in HCM City. He said that he was willing to offer door-to-door exchange services with all denominations if the guests were in the city centre but the fee was quite high. "I want to exchange five million dong to new notes with the face value of 20,000 dong, the service fee is 10%. Accordingly, I have to pay up to 5.5 million dong. For new notes with face value of 10,000 dong or less, the fee is up to a few dozen percent ", Mai Anh said. She shared that when she complained about the high fee, Ngoc agreed to reduce it to nine per cent. As stated by the reporter of Nguoi Lao Dong Newspaper, the fee for changes is differ- ent but quite high, from four to ten per cent, with face value of 20,000 dong or more. Customers including individuals and enterprises can change for huge amount with door-to-door service. Small denominated banknotes such as 500 dong, 1,000 dong and

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2,000 dong have exchange fees of up to 270 percent300 percent of total value but cannot be changed much and are not 100 percent new notes. People need these small denom- inations mainly to go to the temples during the Tet holiday. Many commercial bank employees said that changing money for the Tet holiday this year was not as easy as previous years, especially for small denominations. Some peo- ple could not exchange to the 10,000 dong denominated notes so they had to change to other notes such as 20,000 dong and 50,000 dong. According to the authorities of the State Bank of VietnamHCM City branch, the avail- able new change volume in Tet holiday this year are less than previous years but there is no shortage and all cash needs of credit institutions are met. During the year, they fully met the structure of cash denominations, so there was no shortage and new notes were spent in the months of the year rather than being accrued at end of the year as before.

31/JAN/2019 INTELLASIA| TRI THUCTRE

FINANCE Interest rate fall leads to the re-issuance of According to the updated monetary market report of SSI Securities Research and Ad- 30-year bonds after 6- visory Department, the State Treasury of Vietnam called for 7,000 billion dong with month pause terms of seven, fifteen and thirty years last week. However, the registration rate over bid volume was 2.9times, lower than the level of four times in the previous two weeks, of which the maximum term was 30 years with the registered volume of 2,615 billion dong5.2 times more than the bid volume. The lowest expected interest rate decreased by five basis points (bps), 30bps and 40bps corresponding to the fifteen, seven and thirty year term respectively compared to the latest auction. The winning rates for seven-year and fifteen-year tenors were 4.17 per- cent and 5.12%, which were 18bps and two bps lower than the latest winning rates. There was 395 billion dong of 30-year bonds issued at the interest rate of 5.8 percent after six months of not issuing. In the secondary market, bond yields fell from one to six basis points at all terms, to levels close to the winning rates on primary. Specifically, the current rate of one-year, three-year, five-year, ten-year and fifty-year terms were 3.29%, 3.62%, 3.85%, 4.82 per- cent and 5.12 percent respectively. The liquidity of secondary bond market declined so that total volume was reached 35.5 trillion dong, which was down 14 percent from the previous week. Foreign investors bought 1,101 billion dong, the largest net buying volume in more than one year. In which, there were net buying for twelve-month, two-year, three to five-year, ten-year, fifteen-year and net selling for 25-30-year. Furthermore, the terms of highest net buying were 12 months and 3-5 years, with amount of 482 billion and 450 billion dong respec- tively.

Vietnam is ninth 31/JAN/2019 INTELLASIA| VN EXPRESS highest receiver of Vietnam received remittances of nearly $16 billion last year, more than 100 times the remittances amount it had received 25 years earlier. According to World Bank statistics, the country was the ninth biggest recipient of re- mittances in 2018. It received remittance of $13.8 billion in the previous year. With GDP estimated at VND5.55 trillion ($238.17 billion), the inflows were equivalent to around 6.7 percent of that, indicating their importance to the country, economists said. The increasing number of guest workers it sends abroad has made the country among the world's leading recipients of remittances. The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs' department of overseas labour management said a record 140,000 workers went abroad last year. According to the Financing Sustainable Development in Vietnam report by the United Nations Development Programme published in 2017, the US is the largest source of re- mittances, accounting for 55 percent, followed by Australia, Canada, France, Germa- ny, and South Korea. https://e.vnexpress.net/news/business/economy/vietnam-is-ninth-highest-receiver- of-remittances-3876047.html

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International money 31/JAN/2019 INTELLASIA| TRI THUC TRE transfer via banks Demand for international money transfer of Vietnamese people for purposes such as increase sharply study abroad, settlement, transfer to relatives, etc. is increasing rapidly, especially for studying abroad when Vietnam is in the top among the list of countries having the largest number of students studying abroad. Grasping that demand, banks have recently implemented money transfer services more professionally and attracted more customers through simple procedures at counters, quickly handled transactions and ensured safety. Recently, Lien Viet Post Commercial Joint Stock Bank (LienVietPostBank) said that the number of international money transfer transactions of individual customers in this bank in 2018 increased by over 500 percent compared to 2017. The amount of foreign currency can transfer money to foreign countries to 135 different currencies. To continue attracting customers, in quarter 1/2019, the bank will allow international

FINANCE money transfer via Internet Banking. According to this bank's leader, it will maximise convenience to customers in terms of transaction time and procedures, thereby con- tributing to further boost the bank's international money transfer service. Currently, money transfer activities of other banks are also very active, and many big banks have allowed transferring money via internet banking since a few years ago. Like other services, since this segment still has a lot of development space, bringing good profit through fee collection, banks also race to launch promotions to attract cus- tomers, in which the common discount is up to 30-50%.

Vietnam continues 31/JAN/2019 INTELLASIA| HANOI TIMES offering soft loans to The Vietnamese government will continue provided loans for low-income homebuy- low-income ers at affordable interest rates in a bid to ensure sufficient housing supply for a large homebuyers number of people. The Vietnam Bank for Social Policies (VBSP), one of the two policy banks in the country, is going to set a maximum interest rate of 4.8 percent for those who borrow money to buy affordable houses, according to the government's recent decision. In 2019, VBSP plans to offer VND1.3 trillion (US$56.5 million) worth of soft loans to low- income homebuyers, up 30 percent from the 2018's outstanding loans in this housing segment. Seeking private capital Demand for low-cost housing is forecast to surge from now through 2020 and the Vi- etnamese government is seeking private capital for this housing segment, reports from a recent conference showed. At least 1.7 million people and another 1.7 million workers are in need of accommoda- tion by 2020, requiring quick preparations for the housing projects, Nguyen Van Sinh, deputy ministry of Construction said at the event held in Hanoi last week. By the year, Vietnam needs to build at least 12.5 million square meters of accommoda- tion for low-income earners in urban areas, Sinh said, adding that the figure could meet maximum 80 percent of the total demand. To lure more investment into this housing segment, the government has offered a se- ries of investment and tax incentives namely lend tenure fees and reduction or exemp- tion of corporate income tax and value added tax. Beneficiaries of social housing are state cadres, including low-ranking armed forces of- ficers who are in need of accommodation, and low-income earners who meet addition- al requirements given by the authorities. Tran Huu Ha, director of AMC Academy, recommended that the government should tap advantages of the golden population period by ensuring enough housing supply for the youths whose capacity is one of key factors for the sustainable growth. In an effort to ensure accommodation for low-income people, the government offered in 2012 a three-year preferential loan worth VND30 trillion (US$1.4 billion) to devel- opers who conducted low-cost housing projects in Hanoi and HCM City. But the project remains modest compared to the actual demand which is estimated to 110,000

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apartments in Hanoi. The price of social housing is maximum VND15 million (US$646)/square metre. Benefici- aries include those owning no domiciles or dilapidated houses, some soldiers and police- men in the payroll of the armed forces, some civil servants, and low-income people. https://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/business/217089/vietnam-continues-offering-soft- loans-to-low-income-homebuyers.html

Consumer credit 31/JAN/2019 INTELLASIA| DAU TU CHUNG KHOAN increases sharply and The high growth rate of consumer credit is potentially risky, hence, the policy of the the related risks State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) is to strictly control lending activities. Besides, the bank- ing industry will boost official credit to get over informal credit. Consumer credit tends to increase rapidly According to data from SBV, HCM City branch, in 2018, outstanding loans of credit in- stitutions in the city increased 14.69 percent compared to 2017. This is the lowest in-

FINANCE crease in the last five years. Meanwhile, consumer credit tends to increase rapidly. Specifically, in 2015, credit outstanding in the consumer sector accounted for only 12.73 percent of the total credit balance in the city, 82.9 percent in 2016, and 18.36 per- cent in 2017 of the total credit balance. Consumer credit continued to increase in 2018. Leaders of SBV, HCM City branch said that it is necessary to promote consumer credit activities, but must ensure risk control to limit arising problems related to interest rates, debt recovery methods, and debt management. SBV deputy Governor Dao Minh Tu said that the growth rate of consumer credit as in the past years in HCM City was a matter of concern and required control, particularly with the consumer loans that were actually used in other sectors, especially real estate. In fact, the pressure to reserve capital for investment is very large, so the policy of the State Bank is to push capital into the fields of production and trade, and to control the capital source tightly into the non-production sectors. Tu shared that, SBV received a lot of petitions of associations and enterprises request- ing to open credit for real estate sector, however, it was difficult to loosen the control. SBV is considering to categorise lending for house purchase as consumer loans or real estate loans. However, consumer credit increased rapidly mainly from lending activities to buy and repair houses, so the risk of real estate loans "hidden" under consumption is growing. In many banks, retail banking activities are associated with consumer credit and con- sumer credit outstanding loans have increased sharply in recent years. This not only causes bad debt risks but also impacts on interest rates, since consumer lending rates are often higher than production and trade credit. When consumer credit increases, the interest rate mobilisation race will follow which will affect the interest rate. Notably, compared to banks, interest rates for consumer loans at financial com- panies are often much higher, even up to 60-70 percent per annum. Will reduce informal credit According to financial and monetary experts, when formal credit including consumer credit growth strongly, informal credit will be pushed back, which will cause many consequences. Most banks boost consumer lending, not only in urban areas, but also in rural areas. Besides, the continuous growth of financial companies and the fierce competition in the financial and consumer sector bring convenience to people when there is demand for consumer capital. According to SBV, the agricultural and rural areas have increasing demand for consumer loans, the number of credit institutions expanding to this area has increased, which timely provides capital for agricultural, forestry and fishery production and capital demand for rural development, contributing to pushing back the black credit situation. As of the end of November 2018, the credit balance of agriculture and rural areas was estimated at 1.69 quadrillion dong, up 14.5 percent compared to the end of 2017 (higher than the general credit growth of the economy), with more than 14 million customers having outstanding loans; accounting for nearly 24 percent of total outstanding loans to the economy.

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Currently there are about 70 credit institutions and a network of more than 1,100 peo- ple's credit funds and Social Policy Bank participating in lending for agricultural and rural development. In particular, in some banks, lending in agriculture and rural areas increased sharply and accounted for a high proportion, such as Vietnam Bank for Ag- riculture and Rural Development (Agribank) with nearly 70 percent (total outstanding loans of one quadrillion dong); Vietnam Bank for Social Policies with 94 percent of its loans granting for agricultural and rural loans. However, to gradually fight back "black" credit, the banking system should continue to promote formal credit in the near future. In the future, Agribank will promote a five trillion dong credit package to limit black credit, with quick procedures and documentation, to meet the urgent and legitimate capital needs of the people. In addition, the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies and other credit institutions need to take part in research on consumer lending products so that people and micro enterprises can access official capital. According to Dao Minh Tu, when credit is officially pushed up, it will repel the black FINANCE credit problem. However, that does not mean banks and financial companies massive- ly lend to consumers without controlling credit quality. In contrast, consumer credit is a risky type of credit which needs to be controlled to avoid bad debt as well as prevent too high interest rates. In general, Tu affirmed that the banking sector still can control bad debts, especially credit growth quality. Credit growth in 2018 was 14%, but the economy still grew well, so this year, SBV request to continue to control credit growth at this level. Dr Can Van Luc, a financial and banking expert, said that personal consumption now accounts for 66-67 percent of GDP and plays an important role for economic growth. In order to serve this huge personal consumption demand, if credit is not officially de- veloped, black credit will have the chance to flourish. In addition, lending activities with "extremely high" interest rates should be strictly prohibited and controlled.

Which banks will be 31/JAN/2019 INTELLASIA| DIENDANDOANHNGHIEP given priority for Currently, only three banks have completed Basel II with credit room issued by the credit room loosening State Bank of Vietnam (SBV). So, how many banks are they looking forward to loosen- in 2019? ing credit room in 2019? Currently, credit room is seen as a "knot" in credit growth and profit with many credit institutions. LienViet Post Joint Stock Commercial Bank (LienVietPostBank) was a typical case. In 2018, this bank was not allowed to extend credit room by SBV, accordingly, the bank's management decided to reduce the pre-tax profit target for 2018 by 33 percent from 1,800 billion dong to 1,200 billion dong and reduce the minimum dividend from 12 percent to 10 percent at the same time. In addition to the business results, LienVietPostBank also reduced many targets on the balance sheet, in which the bank decreased 10,000 billion dong in total assets and capital mobilisation of market one, while outstanding loans to market one as of 2018-end was 117,557 billion dong, down nearly 6,000 billion dong compared to the original target. According to Nguyen DinhThang, LienVietPostBank Chair, the adjustment of the business targets was resulted from two main reasons: SBV did not grant more credit growth targets and the network expansion increased the cost. In 2018, some banks had been raised credit growth targets such as Vietnam Technolog- ical and Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Techcombank) from 14 percent to 20%, equiva- lent to the amount of 6,000-8,000 billion dong more to lend at the end of year 2018. In Vietnam Prosperity Joint Stock Commercial Bank (VPBank), SBV approved its cred- it growth higher than 15 percent thanks to the bank's strong capital base, after having a capital increase of 64 percent in the year to 25,300 billion dong. In some other banks, after their credit room was loosened, they adjusted some balances in operations, oriented to the new credit growth target of 17 percent instead of 15 per- cent assigned at the beginning. Since the beginning of 2018, SBV actively controlled credit growth limits, with specific

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allocation targets for each commercial bank, at a relatively low level of 14 percent -16%. Priority granted to the banks meeting Basel II standards Being the first banks to meet Basel II standard, Joint Stock Commercial Bank for For- eign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank), Vietnam International Joint Stock Commercial Bank (VIB) and Orient Joint Stock Commercial Bank (OCB), SBV has granted a more "open" mechanism to credit room. Meanwhile, other banks are still waiting for SBV's approval. Thus, in addition to the above three banks, if other banks meet the requirements set out in accordance with Basel II standards, SBV will consider loosening the credit room in 2019. According to Nguyen Thi Hong, deputy Governor of SBV, when banks meet Basel II standards, not only individual credit institutions, but also the whole system will achieve stability. "In the near future, SBV will drastically direct this goal to meet Basel II standards before 2020," she said. Nguyen Quoc Hung, director of SBV's Credit Department, said that some banks FINANCE would like to loosen growth targets based on the needs and actual operation situation of the system. In 2018, the credit of the banking system increased by about 12 percent compared to the expected annual growth of about 15%. "In 2019, there is still room for credit growth. Specifically, for banks that have demand for credit growth focusing on production, business, import and export of small and medium enterprises and rural agriculture, SBV will consider to grant more credit room for them. SBV will examine each case based on actual needs to meet market capital de- mand", Hung continued. Dr Can Van Luc, a financial and banking expert, shared that only well-performed banks that had low NPLs, high profits, expanded networks, good financial resources and no mistakes in the past would have chance of credit room loosening in 2019.

First FinTech Lab in 31/JAN/2019 INTELLASIA| DTI NEWS Vietnam underway VIISA and the Vietnam Fintech Club announced the first FinTech Lab in Vietnam at its opening event in Hanoi on January 24. The event was attended by representatives from the State Bank of Vietnam, the Viet- nam Banking Association, NGOs, funds, and investors such as Dragon Capital and BIDV. Over the formative years of these strategic partnerships, the Vietnam Fintech Club and VIISA have gained experience and traction in their strategy to include open innovation in partnerships with startups. Both have expressed a desire to develop their participation in accelerators to focus on working with fintech startups that are better positioned to pilot and quickly scale co- operation. Selected out of dozens of applications, the heavily customised programme shortlisted three startups to join its inaugural batch. This joint effort will extend the reach of both VIISA and the Vietnam Fintech Club, en- abling participating startups access to executives from and the networks of both. "We're seeing an exciting dynamic where more global fintech startups are looking for opportunities to enter or expand in Asia, especially in Vietnam," said Nguyen Thanh Dat, CEO of TheBank.vn, one of the three fintech companies to join the programme. "In the last one or two years, Vietnamese banks have looked at seriously cooperating with fintech startups. Seeing these startups as partners instead of competitors has be- come a clear trend in Vietnam's banking sector today." The six-month programme provides participating startups with seed investment, an undisclosed amount of services such as co-working space, Amazon Web Services, HubSpot, Google Cloud, Mapbox, and Zendesk, mentorship from the Vietnam Fintech Club's networks, such as Momo, Standard Chartered Bank, Dragon Capital, VFM, and BIDV, and attendance at the Investment Day to pitch to VIISA's investor networks. Startups can also leverage Fintech Sandbox's tailored enterprise-readiness programme as well as its data and resources. FinTech Lab 2019 includes three startups:

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Growth Wealth: A customer-centric peer-to-peer lending platform for small and me- dium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Vietnam to obtain direct financing from individual and institutional investors. FinTech Lab is 100 per cent committed to serving its cus- tomers with the smartest financing solutions and world-class services. bePOS: Partner of Success, from running your daily operations to better engaging with your customers, managing your staff, and even growing your market share. bePOS is the next generation of Point of Sale that enables you to do all these in the most exciting way. TheBank.vn: TheBank.vn has been in operations since 2014 and is the first online financial advisory website in Vietnam. It compares products such as credit cards, loans, savings and insurance to provide free financial advice to consumers. In addition, TheBank connects customers with thousands of experts and consultants at banks and insurance companies around the country. Vietnam has a large unbanked and under-banked population, as people don't often use banking services but instead prefer going through cash-based channels for retail needs, FINANCE according to Tran Huu Duc, CEO of VIISA and Permanent vice Chair of the Vietnam FinTech Club. "This means a large percentage of Vietnam's population is unbanked, cre- ating a huge window for fintech companies to jump in and compete with traditional banking," he said. FinTech Lab is poised to leverage Vietnam's vibrant fintech ecosystem and leading regulatory landscape as well as an incredible pool of talent. "We look forward to sup- porting fintech startups in Vietnam to catch up with this wave," he added. http://dtinews.vn/en/news/018/60530/-first-fintech-lab-in-vietnam-underway.html

Vietnam steps up 31/JAN/2019 INTELLASIA| NDO measures urged to Vietnam is seeking strengthened measures to promote e-payments via cellphones, expand e-payments considering it among the key incentives to boost e-payment in the country. via mobile subscribers According to the World Bank (WB), Vietnam currently has the lowest amount of non- cash transactions in the region, at only 4.9%, while the figure in Thailand is close to 60 percent and Malaysia 89%. In addition, while people in the above countries mostly use card payment methods or bank accounts, only 59 percent of adults in Vietnam own bank accounts, not to men- tion 60 percent of the population in rural areas doesn't have a bank account and face difficulties in accessing financial services. In addition, the system of payment acceptance venues is mainly concentrated in urban areas, restaurants, hotels and large shops. Therefore, the current e-payment system in Vietnam only meets a part of the retail payment demand of urban residents. For rural areas, this service is almost non-existent. In order to promote a non-cash habit among Vietnamese people, the government and the State Bank have issued a series of mechanisms and policies to develop the e-pay- ment and digital payment systems. A series of banks and payment intermediaries have also been established to provide this service to the people. However, the digital payment infrastructure in Vietnam still faces problems that need to be solved. First of all, these systems have not yet been universalised to all parts of the country. Several financial institutions focus only on developing networks and drawing more customers in urban areas, targeting high-income people and bank ac- counts. Meanwhile, people in remote areas with low incomes and saving habits also need cheap and easily accessible financial services. In addition, the "pure" Vietnamese payment system is still small and weak, combined with fragmented development in digital payment and commercial markets by Viet- namese enterprises somewhat lacking a strategic strategy. A large number of digital payment companies were born in the form of startups but due to a lack of financial re- sources, they had to call for investment from abroad. In 2017, there were about 20 large e-commerce enterprises operating in Vietnam, of which 17 were foreign-invested. From international experience, an effective solution to widely deploy low-cost digital payment services is to use telecommunications network infrastructure. In fact, the use

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of mobile subscriber accounts for small value service consumption has been widely ap- plied in Japan, Singapore and European countries, focusing on transactions such as payment on e-commerce sites, recharge of e-wallets and covering public transport service fees and parking fees. Even the rate of using mobile subscriber accounts for payment in many countries is five times higher than the use of bank accounts. In Vietnam, the use of mobile accounts for payment has also been applied to multiple types of services, such as making donation in charity programmes, paying for digital content applications or, most recently, covering the cost in the pilot e-parking service, namely I-parking in Hanoi and My-parking in HCM City. The results of the pilot e- parking service payment show that the proportion of users with telecommunications accounts stands at 94%, compared to 6 percent of those using bank accounts. Experts said that the use of mobile subscriber accounts for e-payments in Vietnam would create favourable conditions and opportunities to develop modern mobile pay- ment products and services, contributing to promoting no-cash payment and better meeting the increasing demands of customers. FINANCE In particular, this method is suitable for the population groups in rural and remote ar- eas, who have little access to traditional financial services. For that reason, if there are appropriate solutions to promote the expansion of e-payment through mobile sub- scribers, while promoting communications to raise public awareness and strengthen consumer confidence on this payment method, it would be an important contribution to creating a fundamental change in the public's perception about e-payment and their current cash use habits. http://en.nhandan.com.vn/business/item/7110402-vietnam-steps-up-measures-urged- to-expand-e-payments-via-mobile-subscribers.html

January marks 31/JAN/2019 INTELLASIA| VNA auspicious start of Keeping up the momentum from the previous year, the Vietnamese economy got off 2019 for Vietnam's to a good start in 2019 with many robust macroeconomic indices in the first month. economy According to the General Statistical Office (GSO), the index of industrial production (IIP) in January scored an expansion of 7.9 percent. The growth, though much lower than 22.1 percent recorded in the same time last year, is rather strong in the context that production had been accelerated in December 2018 to serve consumption demand during Lunar New Year 2019 which falls in the begin- ning of February, the department said. Another positive indicator is the increase in foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow. Foreign investors registered 805 million USD in new FDI projects in the country, rep- resenting a climb of 81.9 percent year-on-year, according to statistics of the Ministry of Planning and Investment's Foreign Investment Agency. In addition, 72 existing projects raised their capital by a total 340.3 million USD, resulting in 1.14 billion USD in the total FDI in the month, 27.3 percent higher than the same time in 2018. Foreign investors also contributed capital to or bought shares of domestic firms worth a total 761.9 million USD in the month, up 114 percent year-on-year. FDI disbursement was also impressive with a 9.2 percent increase to 1.55 billion USD. Furthermore, retail and services sales rose 9.4 percent compared to 7.7 percent in Jan- uary 2018. Strong purchasing power in the domestic market reflects the health of the economy, and is expected to stimulate the IIP in the coming months. However, there are several challenges that should not be ignored. Noticeable drops in the export earnings of several key commodities such as phones and spare parts, electronics, computers, coffee, cashew, rice and pepper, resulted in a trade deficit of 800 million USD in the month. The Ministry of Industry and Trade said Vietnam is likely to see trade deficit return in 2019. A stable growth forecast for Vietnamese exports along with increasing FDI projects will mean rising import of materials, machines and equipment. Besides, the rising trend of trade protectionism in the world is expected to have damaging impacts on Vietnamese export revenue. Another concern is the reduction of new firms established in January (10,079 as com-

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pared to some 11,000 one year ago). Meanwhile, the number of enterprises ceasing op- eration rose 25.3 percent to 10,804, and more than 1,800 firms completed dissolution procedures, up 16 percent from the same time last year. https://en.vietnamplus.vn/january-marks-auspicious-start-of-2019-for-vietnams- economy/145968.vnp

Digitalised economy 31/JAN/2019 INTELLASIA| VNA helps promote global Vietnam needs to accelerate the digitalisation of its economy and make the most of its competitiveness: full potential and strengths to promote global competitiveness, according to an eco- expert nomic expert from AlphaBeta Consulting. Konstantin Matthies macroeconomic expert and foreign director of AlphaBeta said that many countries in Asia-Pacific are doing well to speed up the digitalisation of their economy, thus increasing labour productivity and expanding growth. In Vietnam, the government has paid attention to and created favourable conditions

FINANCE for the business community to access, apply, and develop digital technology utilities. The increased use of mobile phones in connecting communities through social net- works; and strong development of telecommunications infrastructure 3G, 4G, or 5G towards e-commerce transactions and online payments have helped to modernise the lives of local people, enabling them to catch up with global development trends. Chair of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry Vu Tien Loc said that the government should focus on promoting the digital economy, towards transparent and effective administration. This is the most important requirement of a modern market economy, he stressed. In recent years, Vietnam has been a predominant country in taking the initiative with discussions on the Fourth Industrial Revolution and is expected to make considerable accelerations in the field. According to the Global Entrepreneurship Network's report, Vietnam's start-up index ranks sixth among the 54 economies surveyed. AlphaBeta also ranked Vietnam the second nation in terms of technology investment environment and third in digital tal- ent in the Asia-Pacific region. Experts said policymaking agencies should take further action to promote the devel- opment and application of sci-tech in the production, business, and trade activities of enterprises. Director of the Central Institute for Economic Management (CIEM) Nguyen Dinh Cung said that the growth of digital technologies and the digital economic era are cre- ating both room for potential and also possible barriers, adding that it is necessary to take advantage of new opportunities to overcome challenges. Deputy minister of Science and Technology Bui The Duy said Vietnam boasts advan- tages to promote innovation. The ministry has devised different policies to promote and improve scientific and tech- nological capacities of enterprises, with priority given to those specialising in develop- ing new technologies, he added. In looking towards a digitalised economy, it is not only the Ministry of Science and Technology but also many other ministries and agencies who must be actively apply- ing technological achievements to support and facilitate the development of business- es, Duy said. https://en.vietnamplus.vn/digitalised-economy-helps-promote-global-competitive- ness-expert/145981.vnp

National IIP up about 31/JAN/2019 INTELLASIA| VNS 8pct in January The national industrial production index (IIP) in January expanded 7.9 per cent year- on-year, much lower than the growth rate of 22.1 per cent in January 2018, according to theGeneral Statistical Office (GSO). Despite its growth over last January's level, the index fell 3.2 per cent from December 2018. The processing and manufacturing sector, responsible for a large part of domestic in-

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dustrial production, reported IIP growth of 10.1 per cent while the IIP growth of elec- tricity production and distribution and the water supply and waste-sewage treatment sectors reached 8.8 per cent and 9.4 per cent, respectively. Meanwhile, the mining sector's IIP continued its downtrend, decreasing by 6.7 per cent year-on-year. Some major industrial products achieved very high production growth in January such as gasoline (95.2 per cent), raw iron and steel (68.6 per cent), beer (47.1 per cent). However, some others had only slight growth or even declines in IIP year-on-year, such as fabrics made from natural fibers (up 1.1 per cent), rolled steel (up 0.7 per cent), NPK fertiliser (down 1 per cent), phone parts (down 2.3 per cent), sugar (down 4.6 per cent), natural gas (down 5.3 per cent), mobile phones (down 5.4 per cent), liquefied pe- troleum gas (down 6.2 per cent) and crude oil (down 17.1 per cent). The GSO said Hai Phong's IIP growth led the country with an increase of 23.6 per cent, followed by the provinces of Vinh Phuc with 18.2 per cent and Hai Duong with 11.9 per cent. FINANCE Hanoi and HCM City had IIP surges of 6.2 per cent and 5.1 per cent, respectively. However, Bac Ninh and Ba Ria-Vung Tau saw IIP reductions of 1.8 per cent and 5.3 per cent, respectively. http://bizhub.vn/news/national-iip-up-about-8-in-january_302882.html

Hanoi is highlight of 31/JAN/2019 INTELLASIA| HANOI TIMES Vietnam's success In 2018, Hanoi topped nationwide in FDI attraction for the first time in 30 years of eco- story of FDI attraction: nomic integration, with commitments reaching $7.5 billion. deputy PM Hanoi is the highlight of globally recognised Vietnam's success story in FDI attraction, according to deputy prime minister Vuong Dinh Hue. After 30 years of FDI attraction, Vietnam has lured 26,500 foreign invested projects from 129 countries and territories with registered capital of $339 billion, Hue said at a meeting with Hanoi's authority on January 29. FDI projects have been present in 62/63 provinces and cities and 19/21 industries of Vi- etnam, contributing 20 percent of the GDP in 2017 and 14 percent of state budget rev- enue. Moreover, the share of FDI in total social investment reached 23.7 percent in 2017 and the sector made up 70 percent of exports, creating 4 million direct employments and another 56 million indirect jobs, Hue added. The next ten year- period would pose more challenges for Vietnam in general and Hanoi in particular in attracting FDI, requiring a new mindset in FDI attraction, Hue stated. The deputy PM said Hanoi should consider investors as partner for mutual benefit, in which the city must ensure a favourable environment for investors to commit long- term business in the city. At the meeting, vice Chair of the Hanoi People's Committee Nguyen Doan Toan in- formed that Hanoi had 4,500 ongoing foreign invested projects with total registered capital of $36.6 billion as of December 31, 2018. In 2018, Hanoi topped nationwide in FDI attraction for the first time in 30 years of eco- nomic integration, reaching $7.5 billion, Toan said, adding that $18.9 billion has been disbursed, accounting for 52.5 percent of the total commitments. Real estate was the most heavily invested sector by foreign investors with 29.53 per- cent of total FDI inflow, followed by manufacturing and processing with 20.01 percent and telecommunication with 11.48%. Among countries and territories investing in Hanoi, Japan claimed the top spot with $10.4 billion, followed by Singapore with $6 billion and South Korea with $5.48 billion. According to Toan, FDI is an important source of capital for social investment, ac- counting for 1015 percent on average of total investment and contributing to the city's high GRDP growth over the past years (averaging 7.11 percent annually). At the same time, it is the FDI sector that has created stronger competition pressure in each sector, motivating domestic enterprises to innovate technologically as well as en- hance the economy's competitiveness. In the 2019 2020 period, Hanoi would focus on encouraging FDI investment in urban

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infrastructure development, high added value services, trade and education. Hanoi aims to build a government of service which supports businesses in every step, Toan added. Chair of the Hanoi People's Committee Nguyen Duc Chung said Hanoi has been proactive in searching for credible investors with high quality FDI projects. Hanoi will continue to establish a favourable investment and business environment so that enterprises and investors can successfully carry out their business and production plans, Chung affirmed. Additionally, the capital will create a radical change in developing the e-government to save time and costs for businesses, focusing on administrative reform and reducing administrative procedures, he added. http://www.hanoitimes.vn/hanoinews/2019/01/81E0D2C4/hanoi-is-highlight-of-viet- nam-s-success-story-of-fdi-attraction-deputy-pm/

31/JAN/2019 INTELLASIA| VNS

FINANCE Vietnam to build product origin site The prime minister approved the 'Scheme of deploying, applying and managing the traceability system' with the goal to build and operate a portal on national product and goods traceability by 2020. The project aims to improve the system of legal regulations, documents and guidelines on traceability; promote social engagement in traceability activities to serve interna- tional integration and improve the efficiency of State management; ensuring the qual- ity and safety of products and goods. At the same time, the project will focus on raising awareness among the public, agen- cies, organisations and enterprises on traceability through dissemination of informa- tion and training for related parties; ensuring publicity and transparency of information on traceability of products and goods on the market; providing essential information and knowledge about traceability. Regarding specific objectives, the PM clearly defined that, by 2020, the legal system on traceability will be reviewed. At least five national standards and one national techni- cal criterion will be issued. A system of traceability will be applied to some groups of products such as the agro-forestry-fishery sector, food, medicines as well as construc- tion. The scheme also stated that by 2025, at least 30 national criteria and two national tech- nical standards on traceability will be established. In addition, a minimum of 30 percent of enterprises operating in the fields of produc- tion, business and services using codes and bar codes in Vietnam have traceability sys- tems applying national and international standards, ensuring interoperability and data exchange with domestic and international business traceability systems. By 2030, the portal on national product and goods traceability will be able to serve the need of exchanging and exploiting information among domestic and international en- terprises, organisations and individuals; perfecting the management and updating the system of domestic and international products and goods databases. In order to fulfil the goals, the project set a series of tasks and solutions such as perfect- ing the legal system; issuing guiding documents on product tracing; applying a syn- chronous system on national traceability; boosting international cooperation in terms of traceability; as well as operating the national portal on tracing product origins. https://en.vietnamplus.vn/vietnam-to-build-product-origin-site/145972.vnp

January oil production 31/JAN/2019 INTELLASIA| VNS exceeds target Vietnam's oil and gas output hit an estimated 2.05 million equivalent tonnes in Janu- ary, surpassing the monthly target by 5.8 per cent. According to Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam), oil exploitation volume is 1.13 million tonnes and gas output reached 0.92 billion cubic metres, 3.7 and 8.6 per cent higher than planned, respectively. In addition, the group's urea fertiliser production came to 142,940 tonnes, up 4.4 per cent compared to the planned figure.

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Petrol and oil production also increased to more than 1.12 million tonnes, exceeding the monthly goal by 6.7 per cent. As a result, the group earned about VND56.8 trillion (US$2.4 billion) in revenue and contributed VND8.2 trillion ($353.7 million) to the State budget. Also in January, PetroVietnam spent more than VND3 billion ($129,000) on social wel- fare projects, including building houses and presenting gifts to disadvantaged groups. http://bizhub.vn/news/january-oil-production-exceeds-target_302880.html

Tuna exports 31/JAN/2019 INTELLASIA| VNA predicted to flourish Vietnam's tuna exports are expected to thrive in 2019 as several obstacles regarding or- in 2019 igin certification have been removed, said the Vietnam Association of Seafood Export- ers and Producers (VASEP). The country's tuna export turnover in 2018 increased 10 percent against the previous year, hitting 653 million USD, according to the association.

FINANCE Tuna exports to the US in December 2018 reached 21 million USD, up 33 percent com- pared to the same period of 2017, helping total export value of the product last year to expand 1.7 percent year-on-year. Spain was the largest EU importer of Vietnamese tuna in the year with total import value of 30 million USD, followed by the Netherlands with 25 million USD. https://en.vietnamplus.vn/tuna-exports-predicted-to-flourish-in-2019/145958.vnp

Chinese cross-border 31/JAN/2019 INTELLASIA| VNS policy hurting Vietnamese exporters have been warned of difficulties in 2019 because of changes in Vietnam's exports China's cross-border trade policies. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), in its market bulletin re- leased on January 23, warned that vegetable, fruit, rice and pork exports to China "will meet many challenges in 2019". The ministry said that higher taxes on rice, cross-border import restrictions and new requirements on traceability will be detrimental for Vietnam's farm produce. Rice Vietnam exported 6.1 million tonnes of rice worth $3.04 billion in 2018, an increase of 4 percent in export volume and 15.3 percent in value compared with 2017. By the end of November 2018, China was the biggest export market for Vietnam with 23.7 percent of total exports. China was also the biggest consumer of Vietnam's Jasmine and fragrant rice, amount- ing to 24 percent of the exports of these varieties of rice. As for sticky rice, China con- sumed 82 percent of Vietnam's exports. However, Vietnam's Japonica and Japanese-variety rice was mostly exported to Papua New Guinea, which consumed 56 percent, while China consumed 12 percent only. Vegetable & fruit Vietnam reported a bountiful year of vegetables and fruits in 2018 with output much higher than the years before. However, consumption still depended on the Chinese market. As China unexpectedly tightened imports and closed some border gates, Vietnam's vegetable & fruit exports did not increase sharply as seen in previous years. Vietnam exported $3.8 billion worth of vegetables and fruits last year, up by 8.9 per- cent over 2017. China was the biggest consumer of vegetables and fruits as of November 2018, with 73.3 percent of market share. Vietnamese enterprises are now rushing to export fruits to China for the Tet sale sea- son. government agencies encouraged enterprises to export fruits, especially durian, through official channels. However, farmers in some Mekong Delta provinces such as Ben Tre, Vinh Long and Tien Giang are worried as small merchants have been slow in collecting durian which is ripening. Pork

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The pork price increased in the first nine months of 2018 and decreased in the last three months. Livestock exports brought $546 million worth revenue in 2018. Pig farming is expected to continue to bring high profits to farmers thanks to high do- mestic and Chinese demand. China is lacking pork because of ASF (African swine fever) which is becoming serious and increasingly high demand as Tet is nearing. In late December 2018, China said that 630,000 pigs were destroyed because of epidemics. "Vietnam reported a bountiful year of vegetables and fruits in 2018 with output much higher than the years before. However, consumption still depended on the Chinese market." https://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/business/216888/chinese-cross-border-policy-hurt- ing-vietnam-s-exports.html

31/JAN/2019 INTELLASIA| SGGP NEWS

FINANCE China continues being Vietnam's largest China was the largest rice export market of Vietnam in 2018, accounting for 23.7 per- export market in 2018 cent of the market share, reported the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. In 2018, Vietnam exported 6.1 million tonnes worth $3.04 billion, up 4 percent in vol- ume and 15.3 percent in value over the previous year. During the first 11 months of the year, white rice export value made up 50 percent of total export turnover, Jasmine and fragrant varieties 32 percent, sticky rice 12 percent and Japonica and Japanese varieties 5 percent. Experts said that in 2018 rice export price increased 15-16 percent. Notably, export vol- ume to China much reduced but moved up to other markets such as the Philippines. In days near Tet holiday, the world export market has been gloomy. Still rice price in the Mekong Delta has been stable compared to many previous years. Vietnam Food Association reports that traders now pay VND4,600-5,400 a kilogram at rice fields. Dried rice is paid VND4,800-6,400. Of these, long rice price fetches as high as VND6,400 in Kien Giang province, VND300-800 a kilogram higher than the same variety in neighbouring provinces. Early 2019, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development announced Vietnam- ese logo rice. At the same time, Phoenix Group from Dubai signed an agreement with Vietnamese Loc Troi group to minimise negative impacts from climate change, diseas- es and natural disasters to rice production. According to the agreement, the two sides will carry out a project to assist 10,000 Viet- namese households to expand sustainable farming scale over 10,000 hectares. The project is expected to bring lot of opportunities for Vietnamese firms to supply high quality rice with trackable origin and chemical residue reduction and to improve in- come for farmers. http://sggpnews.org.vn/business/china-continues-being-vietnams-largest-export- market-in-2018-80025.html

Bright prospects for 31/JAN/2019 INTELLASIA| VNA real estate market in Localities surrounding Hanoi and HCM City, as well as the central coastal provinces central coastal from Thanh Hoa to Binh Thuan, are stepping up investment in economic, industrial, localities and urban development towards the sustainable growth of the real estate market in 2019, according to general Secretary of the Vietnam Association of Realtors Nguyen Van Dinh. This year, land lots continue to be the main focus, with prices forecast to rise by 10-15 percent. According to surveys, the land lot sectors in the southern provinces of Long An, Dong Nai, Binh Duong, and Vung Tau have drawn special attraction. Insiders said that com- pared with the average national price, the cost of land lots in these localities are lower, but looks likely to increase in the time ahead. The price of land in the outskirts of HCM City is making a record high. Dinh noted that 1 billion VND (43,100 USD) is not enough to buy a land lot there anymore, adding that

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with this amount, investors still have choices in surrounding areas. According to him, the property fever in Phu Quoc and Van Don special administra- tive-economic zones has died down, but the real estate market will continue growing, thanks to the development of tourism and strong investment in infrastructure. He advised localities to tread carefully in approving new real estate projects and avoid a mass approval, which would lead to an oversupply. https://en.vietnamplus.vn/bright-prospects-for-real-estate-market-in-central-coastal- localities/145990.vnp

J.D. Power: service 31/JAN/2019 INTELLASIA| VIR initiation weakest link As car ownership in Vietnam continues to rise and a higher volume of customers visit in customer service centres, expectations of the overall service initiation process have increased, ac- experience cording to the J.D. Power 2018 Vietnam Customer Service Index (CSI) Study released today.

FINANCE As was the case in 2017, service initiation in 2018 has the lowest satisfaction score among all five factors contributing to overall service experience satisfaction. Although more customers are making service appointments in advance (90 per cent in 2018 vs. 66 per cent in 2017), the study finds that in 2018, fewer customers were 'de- lighted' with the ease of scheduling their service visit (12 per cent vs. 16 per cent, re- spectively) and a higher proportion of customers were required to wait for three days or more between booking the appointment and the actual service date (38 per cent vs. 28 per cent, respectively). "With an increasing number of car owners booking services via website or mobile apps, there are now higher expectations from customers for a higher standard of on- line service booking platform," said Siros Satrabhaya, regional director, Automotive Practice at J.D. Power. "It is vital that dealers ensure a seamless customer journey from the point of initiation online to the actual service premises. Customers are increasingly sensitive to waiting time and with more service delays being experienced, dealers need to focus on dealer- ship productivity by addressing the growing service volume and responsiveness of service advisors." The study finds that customers who had to wait to speak to a service advisor are less satisfied than those who were approached by their advisor immediately upon arrival at the service centre (773 vs. 838, respectively). Furthermore, while customers reported a shorter average handover time at the service centre than in 2017 (22 minutes vs. 29 minutes, respectively), customers whose vehicle handover lasted only 10 minutes or less were more satisfied than those who had to wait for longer than 10 minutes (846 vs. 820, respectively). The following are additional key findings of the study: Satisfaction is higher when scheduling on a digital platform: Although only a small proportion of customers made service appointments through digital platforms (3 per cent on manufacturer's applications and 6 per cent on manufacturer's website), these customers are more satisfied compared to those who made an appointment through offline channels, such as calling directly or sending a text message (858 vs. 824, respec- tively). However, for future service visits, 27 per cent of customers would prefer to make appointments on the manufacturer's website (10 per cent) and app (17 per cent). Service advisor communication about service time needs improvement: The propor- tion of customers who were informed when their vehicles would be ready declined in 2018 to 88 per cent from 96 per cent in 2017. Of these customers, only 81 per cent men- tioned that the service advisor kept them updated on the service status of their vehicle compared with 93 per cent in 2017. More customers stay at the service centre during the service visit: Nearly two-thirds (66 per cent) of customers stay at the dealership during the vehicle service compared to 55 per cent in 2017. Satisfaction for these customers is much higher compared to those who left the service centre and returned later (832 vs. 804 points, respectively). Excellence in customer service experience enhances likelihood to promote brand: The

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Net Promoter Score(R) (NPS) measures customers' likelihood to recommend their ve- hicle make on a 0-10 scale. The NPS overall score in this year's study is 50. Promoters (customers who provide a rating of 9-10 points on the likelihood that they will recom- mend the vehicle brand) reported a CSI score of 868 points, compared with 667 points reported by detractors (those who provide a rating of 0-6 points on their likelihood to recommend the brand). Study rankings Among the eight brands ranked in the study, Toyota ranks highest for the third con- secutive year, with a CSI score of 837 points. Toyota performs particularly well on service facility and service quality. The 2018 Vietnam Customer Service Index (CSI) Study measures overall satisfaction among vehicle owners who visited an authorised dealer/service centre for mainte- nance or repair work during the first 12 to 60 months of ownership. This study is based on responses from 1,295 new-vehicle owners who took their vehi- cle for service to an authorised dealer or service centre between June 2017 and Decem- FINANCE ber 2018. The study was fielded online between June and December 2018. Now in its 10th year, the study measures new-vehicle owner satisfaction with the after- sales service experience by examining dealership performance in five factors (in order of importance): service quality (24 per cent); service initiation (21 per cent); vehicle pickup (20 per cent); service advisor (18 per cent); and service facility (17 per cent). The 2018 study for the first time includes the Net Promoter Score (NPS), which meas- ures customers' likelihood to recommend both their vehicle make and model on a 0-10 scale. J.D. Power is a global leader in consumer insights, advisory services, as well as data and analytics. These capabilities enable J.D. Power to help its clients drive customer satisfaction, growth, and profitability. Established in 1968, J.D. Power has offices serv- ing North America, South America, the Asia-Pacific, and Europe. https://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/business/217104/j-d--power--service-initiation- weakest-link-in-customer-experience.html

Vietnamese fashion 31/JAN/2019 INTELLASIA| VIETNAMNET brands make difficult Meeting barriers in export markets, Vietnamese garment companies are trying to re- comeback in home turn to the domestic market. market The 1997 Asian financial crisis caused big upheavals and changed the fates of many en- terprises. The escalating labour costs and the lack of experience in international mar- kets caused difficulties for companies doing outsourcing, such as An Phuoc. An Phuoc's owner Nguyen Thi Dien decided to shift to focus on the domestic market. At that time, the domestic market was the playing field of the 'big guys' such as Viet Tien and May 10. Dien decided to exploit a niche market by selling high-end products. From one shop in HCM City, An Phuoc now has more than 100 shops nationwide. As for Viet Tien, the company began spending big money on branding in 2016 with its budget increasing by 30 percent, developing products in different segments, from high-end to low-cost, and expanding distribution network and large-scale shops. Together with the opening of Viet Tien House, the company also joined forces with Skechers, an US footwear brand, starting a programme on working with international brands in the future. Vietnamese garment companies are doing both outsourcing for foreign partners and developing their own brands for the domestic market. However, exports remain the major revenue of the companies, with 80-90 percent of their output exported to the US, Japan, EU and Canada. The FTAs Vietnam has signed and the shift from OEM (original equipment manufac- turer) to ODM (original design manufacturer) have improved their profit margins. Analysts, reviewing the 2018 business results of listed garment companies, found that their revenue was higher than the previous year, but profits were unchanged. This was attributed to higher input material prices and operation costs, including management, labour and shop maintaining costs.

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They said the domestic market was challenging for garment companies, which mostly make products for export. Vietnam's products are less competitive in both design and price. Meanwhile, Vietnamese consumers favour foreign brands. Vietnam's fashion market was worth $3.5 billion in 2018 and the figure will rise to $4.7 billion by 2021, according to one report. However, the domestic industry can satisfy only 25-30 percent of demand. Millennials, or those born between 1980-1998, and centennials, or those born in 1996- 2010, will make up 50 percent of Vietnam's population in the next decade. Fashion brands will have to develop new strategies to attract these customers, according to Vu Thi Thu Dung from Kantar Worldpanel Vietnam. "Analysts, reviewing the 2018 business results of listed garment companies, found that their revenue was higher than the previous year, but profits were unchanged. This was attributed to higher input material prices and operation costs, including management, labour and shop maintaining costs." FINANCE https://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/business/216138/vietnamese-fashion-brands- make-difficult-comeback-in-home-market.html

Firms asked to start 31/JAN/2019 INTELLASIA| VNS internal audits Listed companies and public enterprises owned fully or partially by the State are re- quired to start internal audits on April 1, 2019. Under the government's Decree 05/2019/ND-CP (Decree 05), which was issued last week, the companies that must conduct audits include those listed on the stock ex- changes and public companies owned at least 50 per cent by the State running their own subsidiaries. Decree 05 is divided into three chapters with a total of 32 articles. Other subjects to the new decree include government agencies, ministries, city and provincial people's committees, public service government units and individuals and organisations involved in internal audits. The decree also encourages other businesses that are not required to carry out audits to do so anyway. The decree aims to make sure companies' internal control systems are well-established and run properly to help mitigate risks. Internal audits are done to assure the efficiency of risk management inside a business and assess the firm's tasks and targets. According to Hoang Hung, partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Vietnam, the Vietnamese branch of big-four global auditor PwC, the new decree will help improve the quality and transparency of corporate governance. "The issuance of Decree 05 will make local firms pay more attention to internal audits so that internal auditors can independently review and assess the procedures in cor- porate governance, risk management and internal management performed by a busi- ness," Hung was quoted by Thoi bao Kinh te Sai Gon (Saigon Times) newspaper as saying. Hung also served as a consultant to help the government develop Decree 05. The decree, with the draft revised Law on Securities and the Code of Corporate Gov- ernance, is expected to help protect investors and shareholders and improve the trans- parency of the stock market. Hung said one major issue was the availability of personnel to carry out internal audits, as there were few auditors qualified for the task. Those subject to the decree are required to complete necessary preparations within 24 months from April 1, 2019 to conduct an internal audit as outlined in Decree 05. govern- ment agencies, businesses and other subjects to the decree are expecting further detailed instructions from the State. https://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/business/217086/firms-asked-to-start-internal-au- dits.html

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Phu Quoc potential 31/JAN/2019 INTELLASIA| VNA real estate tourism Phu Quoc island district in the southern province of Kien Giang has a lucrative tourism market in 2019 market and lots of potential in the real estate market for tourism and resorts. This has opened up numerous opportunities for investors who want to do business in tourism on the pearl island. Last year was a successful year for the Vietnamese tourism industry, as the country welcomed a record number of nearly 15.5 million international tourists. From the beginning to the end of the year, the real estate tourism and resort market saw vigorous development in key areas such as Ha Long (Quang Ninh) and Phu Quoc. Mauro Gasparotti, director at Savills Hotels Asia Pacific, said the firm has a positive outlook for Vietnam's real estate resort market in 2019. Meanwhile, Nguyen Van Dinh, vice Chair of Vietnam Real Estate Brokerage Associa- tion, expressed confidence the number of transactions for real estate resort products in 2019 will surpass 2018's figure.

FINANCE The areas with the highest rate of new products will be Phu Quoc and Quang Ninh, he said, adding that Phu Quoc is expected to continue drawing investment thanks to its tourism growth. The links between international air routes from European and Asian countries and do- mestic routes, and the connection from the mainland to Phu Quoc through high-speed ferries has helped attract a lot of foreign visitors to the island. Notably, high-quality tourism products such as five-star hotels and the Sun World Hon Thom Nature Park entertainment complex with the world's longest cable car sys- tem have boosted the island's tourism growth. The launch of Boutique Shophouse Melodia of Sun Premier Village Kem Beach Resort project in late November 2018 also made helped by providing various kinds of tourism services. As a result, in 2018, Phu Quoc welcomed more than 4 million tourists, a year-on-year rise of some 36 percent. Located 46km from the mainland, Phu Quoc is famous for pearl farming, fish sauce, pepper and "ruou sim", a wine made from sim fruit or Rose Myrtle. A variety of tours are provided for travellers, such as scuba diving, coral reef snor- keling, fishing and tours to visit traditional fish sauce making establishments, pearl farms, Ham Ninh fishing village, Phu Quoc National Park, pristine beaches and many more. https://en.vietnamplus.vn/phu-quoc-potential-real-estate-tourism-market-in-2019/ 145964.vnp

PM Phuc invites tech 31/JAN/2019 INTELLASIA| VIR titans to invest At the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Switzerland last week, prime min- ister Nguyen Xuan Phuc stressed that Vietnam, which is building a digital economy, continues rolling out the red carpet to welcome foreign investors, particularly in high- tech industries. Over the past few years, Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB Inbev), one of the world's largest brewers, has been looking to engage more in Vietnam's beer and beverage sector. It is now seeking a stake in Habeco, a domestic giant which is widely coveted by foreign investors with the state holding an 81.79 per cent stake. Last week, AB Inbev's CEO Carlos Brito met with the prime minister in the run up to the forum in Davos, to talk about the group's future business plans, particularly re- garding the group's desire to purchase a stake in Habeco. Currently the brewer has two state-of-the-art facilities located in the southern province of Binh Duong and has Southeast Asian headquarters in HCM City. At its Vietnam- based breweries, the group brews international brands such as Budweiser and Becks as well as local brands such as Zorok. AB InBev was one of many global groups meeting with PM Phuc during his attend- ance at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum 2019 (WEF) on January 22- 25.

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All parties mentioned their surprise at the nation's strong development, and will con- tinue investment in the country. Many see potential emerging from increasing levels of consumption and a growing number of free trade agreements (FTAs). The WEF acts as a rendezvous for thousands of global groups, such as Apple, Procter & Gamble, Siemens, Adidas, Carlsberg, Mitsubishi, Toyota, Samsung, LG, ExxonMo- bil, and Ford. PM Phuc told the multinational corporations (MNCs) that the Vietnamese government is stepping up efforts to restructure the economy with a focus on sustainable develop- ment, and to improve the business and investment environment in favour of the busi- ness community. At a reception for Apple CEO Tim Cook, the PM expressed his support for the estab- lishment of an Apple data centre in the nation. He hoped the group will continue to invest in the country over the long-term. At a meeting with Magesvaran Suranjan, president of Procter & Gamble, PM Phuc hailed the group's operation in Vietnam and suggested it continue expanding business FINANCE in the country. During a reception for Carlsberg's president and CEO Cees't Hart, the PM stressed that Carlsberg and others have made significant contributions to the equitisation process of the beverage industry in Vietnam. Carlsberg currently holds 17.34 per cent of Habeco and has expressed an interest in raising the stake. Speaking to Facebook's vice president of Global Affairs and Communications Nick Clegg, PM Phuc asked for cooperation to develop the country's IT sector. An area of particular need is in assisting startups and small- and medium-sized enterprises in ac- cessing information and developing their business via social media. Regarding recent cases involving the spread of false information, the PM also asked Facebook to follow Vietnamese regulations in full, and improve its management as well as services to domestic customers. In the health sector, the PM spoke with executive vice president of Sanofi's External Af- fairs Kathleen Tregoning. PM Phuc praised the MNC's projects, which have contribut- ed to protect and improve health in Vietnam. He asked that Sanofi continue transferring medicine production technologies, vaccines, and biological medicinal products while improving product quality and reducing medicine prices to make them accessible for all citizens in the country. Grasping opportunities Most notably at the forum, for the first time, the WEF organised an exclusive session focusing on Vietnam, aiming to promote its image and business climate. Børge Brende, president and member of the WEF's Managing Board, told PM Phuc that the country is becoming a magnet for global investments thanks to its improved business climate. "With a growth rate of 7.08 per cent last year, among the highest in the world, the coun- try has become a reliable investment destination for all investors. We will continue our economic reforms, as the success of investors is also our success," PM Phuc stressed. "The Vietnamese government is boosting the development of an e-government and a digital economy, and this will create more investment opportunities." Currently the Vietnamese government is drafting a national strategy on Industry 4.0, which will focus on creating favourable conditions for businesses to boost their output and creativity, and for the government to develop a digital economy. "Industry 4.0 will offer opportunities for the country to realise its dream on becoming a strong and prosperous nation," PM Phuc said. "We have a market large enough for the development of fresh ideas. I hope that the WEF, businesses, and investors have strong confidence in our efforts." "The Vietnamese government stands ready to welcome new technologies, and will continue developing its Internet infrastructure, 5G networks, Big Data, and AI," he continued. Cementing cooperation During PM Phuc's attendance at the WEF, a cooperation agreement was inked on de-

Intellasia 31 January 2019 19 / 38 Vietnam finance & business 31 January 2019

veloping an Industry 4.0 centre in Vietnam. It would be located domestically and di- rectly connect with similar WEF centres in the US and in the EU. This cooperation means that the country will be considered by the WEF as a focal point for Industry 4.0 policy in the region. This would see Vietnam take the lead in developing relevant policies and be used for piloting new technologies, as well as applying public-private partnership models to create modern breakthrough products. During the WEF on Asean 2018 organised last September in Hanoi, one idea shared in- volved a need for the country to invest in education, training, and application of tech- nologies in a bid to become a digital economy. "If you want to visualise everything in the 21st century, you require these technologies, which means adequate research and development resources. There must be invest- ment in students, universities, and technology," Brende said. PM Phuc stressed that all enterprises such as AB Inbev, Apple, Ariston, Procter & Gamble, and Siemens will have great opportunities to apply their digital technologies FINANCE via Vietnam's more favourable policies. Truong Gia Binh, chair of Vietnam's leading IT group, FPT Corporation, said that the group, along with thousands of other Vietnamese companies, are looking to have a bigger stake in the global playing field. "One of the key things is that we need a spirit of renovation and to think big," he said. https://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/business/217097/pm-phuc-invites-tech-titans-to- invest.html

Belgian-Vietnamese 31/JAN/2019 INTELLASIA| VNS Alliance to boost The Belgian-Vietnamese Alliance (BVA) launched itself as a chamber of commerce and support for businesses industry for Belgium, Luxembourg and Vietnam on January 29. It was recognised as a member of the Federation of Belgian Chambers of Commerce on January 1. At the debut event in Brussels, BVA President Andries Gryffroy said with its new functions, the entity will become a trustworthy partner of institutions and enterprises to develop an international business network and offer useful links for legal, economic and investment information. Noting the alliance's focuses in 2019, he said it will continue helping businesses learn about the content, signing and ratification of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and the Investment Protection Agreement (IPA), along with business and in- vestment opportunities for both sides' firms. The BVA will also provide language sup- port for Belgian companies that want to invest and do business in Vietnam. Vietnamese Ambassador to Belgium and Luxembourg and head of the Vietnamese Delegation to the EU Vu Anh Quang said after being signed and ratified, the EVFTA and the IPA will open up more chances for Vietnamese businesses to strengthen part- nership with those of Belgium and other EU member countries. Echoing the view, head of the EU Delegation to Vietnam Ambassador Bruno Angelet said 90 percent of transactions between Vietnam and the EU will be exempted from different taxes after 10 years, so there is huge potential for promoting bilateral trade and investment. Founded in 2011, the BVA has made efforts to strengthen cooperation between Bel- gium and Vietnam in economic, cultural and social aspects. With its new functions, the alliance is expected to better serve as a bridge linking businesses of Vietnam, Belgium and Luxembourg. https://en.vietnamplus.vn/belgianvietnamese-alliance-to-boost-support-for-business- es/145967.vnp

Vietnam and Korea to 31/JAN/2019 INTELLASIA| HANOI TIMES promote strategic The relationship between Vietnam and South Korea is getting stronger and needs to cooperation be kept strengthening, two officials have agreed. partnership Vietnam and South Korea have had diverse and comprehensive cooperation relations

Intellasia 31 January 2019 20 / 38 Vietnam finance & business 31 January 2019

in numerous fields, in the spirit of strategic cooperation partnership. Deputy prime minister Truong Hoa Binh made statement while hosting a reception for visiting Prosecutor general Moon Moo-il of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office of South Korea in Hanoi on January 29. At the meeting, DPM Truong Hoa Binh said that South Korea is currently the largest investor in Vietnam, with accumulated commitments topping $64 billion. In particular, there are currently 50,000 Vietnamese brides among the over 160,000 Vi- etnamese people working, studying and living in South Korea. Vietnam South Korea cooperation is at its peak and continues to grow, Binh added. He expressed his delight at Korean head coach Park Hang-seo's substantial contribu- tions to Vietnam's football, thus fostering bonds between the two nations. The deputy PM said Vietnam is stepping up its fight against corruption and has achieved important results. Vietnam and South Korea are members of the United Nations Convention on anti-cor- ruption, thus, Binh suggested that the two countries should uphold the spirit of pre- FINANCE venting crimes and effectively enhance international cooperation in the field. The two sides expressed a clear responsibility for the recovery of corruption assets transferred by criminals, Vietnam is ready to partner with South Korea in line with the convention, Binh added. He appreciated the Supreme Prosecutors' Office of South Korea and Vietnam's Su- preme People's Procuracy for signing the 2019-2022 cooperation agreement, and hoped that South Korea would assist Vietnam in studying legal institutions, training prosecutors, and adopting modern technology in the management of cyber, transna- tional, organised, drug and human trafficking, and corruption crimes. For his part, Moon Moo-il said, there are also many Koreans living and working in Vi- etnam. Therefore, the relationship between the two countries is getting stronger and needs to be kept strengthening. He hoped that the deputy PM would continue to support ties between the Supreme Prosecutors' Office of South Korea and Vietnam's Supreme People's Procuracy. South Korea is willing to share experiences with Vietnam in anti-corruption. Moon Moo-il also expected that the Vietnamese government will support South Korea in making the Korean peninsula peaceful. In this regards, Binh affirmed that Vietnam always supports and holds responsibility for helping build the Korean peninsula of peace, cooperation, and development. http://www.hanoitimes.vn/news/viet-nam/2019/01/81E0D2C6/vietnam-and-south- korea-to-promote-strategic-cooperation-partnership/

Vietnam aims to 31/JAN/2019 INTELLASIA| HANOI TIMES promote trade ties As Vietnam, Chile and Canada are parties to the CPTPP, the room for further trade re- with Chile, Canada: mains huge. PM Prime minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has asked the ambassadors of Chile and Canada to Vietnam to work for a boost in respective trade between Vietnam with the two nations as the three are members of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans- Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). At a reception for Chilean Ambassador Jaime Chomali Garib in Hanoi on January 29, the Vietnamese PM said Vietnam seeks to promote trade ties with Chile as the two countries have yet to tap full potential.. Phuc stressed that as both Vietnam and Chile are parties to the CPTPP, the effective exploitation of this agreement will contribute to promoting the development of the two countries in many aspects, especially in economy, trade and investment. Although two-way turnover has increased but has not been commensurate with the two countries' potential, both sides need to promote more trade and investment coop- eration, the PM added. For example, Vietnam has many mobile manufacturers, and is ready to export to Chile a large number of these items. For his part, Chilean Ambassador Chomali Garib said that Vietnam is now the second larg- est phone provider, supplying the largest amount of frozen catfish and goods to Chile.

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The ambassador suggested that in the near future, Vietnamese enterprises will promote investment cooperation in Chile and vice versa. The Chilean government is also very in- terested in promoting cooperation in entrepreneurship and space. On the same day, at a meeting with Canadian Ambassador Deborah Anne Paul, PM Phuc said that the relationship between Vietnam and Canada is at the best level ever in all spheres. The PM expressed his desire that Deborah Anne Paul will make efforts for the two sides to keep promoting trade ties. Phuc suggested Canadian businesses learn about Vietnam's market and investment cooperation in the country to do business here. For her part, Ambassador Deborah Anne Paul agreed that trade and investment coop- eration is a priority in relations between the two countries and needs to be promoted in the time ahead. http://www.hanoitimes.vn/news/viet-nam/2019/01/81E0D2C5/vietnam-aims-to-pro- mote-trade-ties-with-chile-canada-pm/ FINANCE

BUSINESSBIZ NEWS Banks gain, helping 31/JAN/2019 INTELLASIA| VNS the VN Index inch up Banks maintained their positive performance in Wednesday morning trading, saving the benchmark VN Index from posting a loss. The VN Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange edged up just 0.05 per cent to 916.43 points, though the number of declining stocks outnumbered the gaining ones by 144 to 114. Only eight of the twenty stock groups tracked by vietstock.vn gained value while 12 saw losses. With many large-cap enterprises, the banking and insurance groups posted an average growth of more than 0.5 per cent. Eight of nine listed banks on the southern bourse rose in value. The Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BID), Military Bank (MBB) and Tien Phong Bank (TPB) all increased by more than 1 per cent. Big insurers like Bao Viet Holdings (BVH) and Bao Minh Insurance also rose but by a more modest rate of less than 1 per cent. On the other end of spectrum, some heavyweight stocks lost value and weighed on the market including Vinamilk (VNM), brewer Sabeco (SAB), Vingroup (VIC), Mobile World (MWG) and steelmaker Hoa Phat Group (HPG). Shares on the Hanoi Stock Exchange performed better with the HNX-Index increasing 0.52 per cent to close morning trading at 102.91 points. Liquidity was at an average level with more than 81 million shares worth a combined VND1.5 trillion (US$64.4 million) traded on the two markets. The afternoon session starts at 1pm. http://bizhub.vn/markets/banks-gain-helping-the-vn-index-inch-up_302879.html

New competition of 31/JAN/2019 INTELLASIA| DAU TU CHUNG KHOAN securities companies The fact that the market continuously declined in both score and liquidity in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2018 has made the profit of many securities companies to plummet. However, in the end, many securities companies still recorded higher results than 2017. How the year 2019 will be remains an open question, but the competition to win market share and customers for margin loans will surely be very fierce. The separate financial statement of Saigon Securities Incorporation (SSI) showed that in Q4 2018, most of the revenue from the main business lines of the company de- creased. For example, the Fair value through profit or loss (FVTPL) dropped by 44.1%, revenue from securities brokerage dropped by 35.8%, and revenue from financial con- sultancy decreased by 75.5%, etc. This fact has caused SSI's total operating revenue to fall by 15.2 percent over the same period of 2017.

Intellasia 31 January 2019 22 / 38 BUSINESS Vietnam finance& business Vietnam Intellasia According to data oftheState Securities Co ever intheir history. profit highest the achieved even units Some 2017. to compared 2018, in growth profit the year,the firstmonthsof accumulation in a sharpprofit reductionDespite experiencing The new competitionin2019 Securities Company)even saw adecline ofupto40%. rities Company), VDS,and BSI alsorecorded (VNDirect VND HCM, 2018. beginning ofQ4 MBS (MBSecuritiesCompany) and SSI The significantly. dropped also codes stock many of prices the market, the On them toexperienceanot made significant the stock market, down ofthe As thebusiness results of securities companies are closely related by eachupand clined in most majorbusiness lines. For manyother securities companies such by16 percent comparedto2017. 2018, up billion donginA42018.However, BSIachiev aresu As dong. billion 116.4 to loss in FVTPL billion sharply roseby92.6percentto153.5 riod slightlydeclined by 3.6 toonl percent For BIDVSecurities Joint Stock Company (BSI Stoc Song HongGarment Joint in ment den increase was only duetotheunaccounted in pre-taxprofitcomparedto percent rise FPT Securities Joint Stock Company(FPTS) was arare case inthis group torecord 415 ou to nine in Q42018pointedoutthatup the largestmarket companieswith securities notthestory is decline Profit third ofthesame period of dong, HC to 259.7billion dong the operatingexpensesofHCMde Although receivables decreased by 10.9%. alsofelltion oftransactionvalue,theFVTPL brok same period Its of 2018. bi 402.1 onlyreached revenueinQ42018 ating Similar developmentwas seen in HCM City financial expenses. dong, 22.5times higher than the same period revenuefrom although the 2017, pre-taxprofitinQ42018 to fall SSI's caused The sharpreduction in revenue while operat margin loans in the market was 44.2 trillion 44.2 trillion the marketwas in loans margin ening on lending by many securities companiesmany securities by ening onlending In the opposite direction, despite the strong companies has dec rities ing loans also fell byatwo-digitnumberin 31.5%. Simila up to down by 2.792 trilliondong, 2018. ForVCI, th Q1 of end compared tothe 31st 2018remainedon December of loans as ofsecuritiescompanies, the leading group In seen. increase margin loans The totaloutstanding nearlysixtrillion still dong) 20th2018(48.5trillion April of loans as Viet SecuritiesCompany, Tan dong higherthantheendof2017, eq lined to a lower levelth toalower lined 2017 with 88.8 billiondong. with88.8 2017 of just SSI and HCM.Statistics justSSI of erage revenue dropped erage revenue by 49. Viet Securities Comp M's pre-tax profit in Q4 2018 was only equivalent to oneequivalent to 2018 wasonly M's pre-taxprofitinQ4 very positive business season. face valueshavelostover20percent compared to the financial activities inthepe activities financial k Company (MSH) after it was after was listed. it (MSH) k Company t of10 units recorded profit reduction. mmission, bytheend of Q4 2018andthelendingbalance ofthosesecu- decline in score andliquidityinQ42018 the same period of 2017. However, this sud- this However, 2017. of period same the y 159 billion dong,BSI'soperating expenses e outstanding loans at the end of Q4 2018 was at theendofQ42018 loans e outstanding d but the differentiation trend was clearly d butthedifferentiationtrendwas dong, 10 percent lower lower 10percent dong, ly 3.262trilliondong,down by24.7percent share on City StockExchange(HOSE) HCM as VietDragonSecuri suchasatHCM,theoutstandingmargin dong, mainly due to the4.6timesincrease to dong, mainlydue by 14.7 periodof percent overthesame by14.7 when the VN Index set the peak period, but period, peak Index setthe when theVN decreaseof securities indextight- andthe most securities companies attained strong by 44.2%, and interests from lending and and fromlending interests and 44.2%, by decline by around 30%. VCI (Viet Capital declinebyaround30%. (Viet VCI Capital Securities (HCM)as Corporation its oper- ing expenses onlydeclined slightly has lt, BSIhadtoreportapre-tax loss of 19.2 of 2017 andfarexceedingthe of2017 growth of clined by 33.5 percent from 390.3 billion clined by33.5percent from 390.3 ed 239 billion dong of Securities Corporation), SHS (SHB Secu- (SHB Securities Corporation),SHS rly for VND, SHS, MBS, etc., the outstand- llion dong, down by40 percent overthe ), whiletheoperatingrevenuein pe- profit from the revaluationoftheinvest- an the beginning of 2018. of an thebeginning in Q4 2018, thanks to the positive positive thanksto profit in Q4 the 2018, to limitrisks, at manyother securities, any, etc., the revenue and profit de- revenueandprofit any, etc.,the uivalent toanincreaseof14.68%. on the business results of10 results business on the 2 percent due tothe 2 percentdue reduc- riod soared to 135.5 billion 135.5 riod soaredto 2018, the outstanding 2018,theoutstanding ties Company, Thien Thien Company, ties than theoutstanding 31 January 2019 31 January 31 January 2019 23 / 38 23 / 2019 January 31 pre-tax profit in BUSINESS Vietnam finance& business Vietnam Tet holiday surgesbefore services fordelivery Demand Intellasia ders online andwait for goods tobe delivered athome. Now, withoutleavin or supermarkets. stores But the development ofe-commerce ande-payments is helping them avoid going to that theycan'tgoshopping Many consumershave said that the hectic en convenient. come easyand For professionals likeher, online shopping most traditional, even forthe ofreportstofinish has plenty Sheclose. a Lan Anh,anaccountantliving VND1 million (US$45) a day." City,soIdrive hundreds of around HCM fewweeksbefo a But 50 packages. to 40 about a shipperfrom Le DiemHang, average day. well as requests for home delivery had increa Tran ThiThu Thao, aclothing store owner in the surgeindemand in therun-upto Tet items (L for especially services, Delivery 31/JAN/2019VNS INTELLASIA| In such situation, the fact ket is forecasted to more be difficult. 2019, when the andappropriati brokerage of the operatingprofit.Thisproportion ispred 29%. After deducting costs, the profit from HCM, thisnumberwas the totaloperatingrevenue.At of 20 percent foraccounted and profit of most securities companies. At SSI, the interest and receivables inQ42018 still is theinterest lending from In fact, joined the group ofcompanieswith le standing marginloans oflate2018, as Similarly, MiraeAssetSecuriti dongatthebegi from144 billion eight times by increased Company (YSVN) Stock Joint Securities loans Vietnam at margin Yuanta d the beginningofyearfrom544billion over times 2.1 by increased the company of lending margin the outstanding Q4 2018, of of KBVietnamSecuritiesReport JointStoc has continuously been promoted. the margin lendingforeign shareholders, over by which weretakenespecially those cheap capitalsources are promoting competiti tion to strongly develop the market scale. the tion tostronglydevelop manager's determina- the with fitting be exciting, to return soon the stockmarketwill Thedifficulty forecast. only is forecast that nies, when the competition sees new develo would 2019 year be adifficult and volatile predictions Year 2018 ended with contrary Joint Stock Company(VNCS), etc. Co Stock as VPBankSecuritiesJoint such plans toexempttransaction fee forinvestor rities canlowerthe fee tozero percent. abolished theregulation on minimum brokerag placed Circular 242 placed Circular242 of the Mini The fierceness in competition fiercer. increasingly custom andattract share, theracetoretain tool intoaneffective margin turning and that foreign securities comp must-have food itemsforTet. must-have will beseenclearer in 2019 128 Circular as which re- es Company also experienced a 3.3-time increase in out- increasein 3.3-time also experienceda es Company in District 3, is over-worked as the Lunar Yeardrawsto as theLunar 3, isover-worked in District stry of Finance will take ef will stry ofFinance District 4 in HCM City, said "on a normal day,Ideliver normal "ona said City, 4in HCM District the year's biggestholidayin City. HCM ading outstanding loans in the market. loans in outstanding ading reaching 3.583trilliondong. Vietnam Mirae Some securities companies have announcedSome securitiescompanieshave the "goose that lays golden eggs"forrevenue "goosethat lays the mpany or VietnamConstruction Securities to attract customers to attract and increase market and very little time time to spare for andverylittle shopping, ers amongsecurities companies will become k Company (KBSV) showed thatbytheendCompany (KBSV) k on revenue can hardlyimproveasthemar- kilometres. However, I earn more than in Januarywillgoand andthefirstquarter lending HCMof accounted for67 percent year whichyear isuneasyfor securities compa- ong trillion to 1.146 and emotions. Manypeoplebelieved that is aboon. Ordering andpayinghave be- unar New to Year), areworkinghard meet s as soon the Circular 128takeseffect, pments. Nevertheless, many others said d of the yearthem sobusy scheduleof keeps d nning of the year to 1.239trillion dong. sedtwo by tothree times compared toan g theiroffice or home, they can place or- re Tet, I deliver more than 100 packages packages 100 than I delivermore Tet, re District 3, District said ofbuyersas the number on byoffering preferen icted to continue toincrease strongly in e fee of 0.15%, which means that that secu- e feeof0.15%,which means anies with the advantage of advantage the anies with fect. Accordingly, the agency dong. Theoutstanding 31 January 2019 31 January 31 January 2019 24 / 38 24 / 2019 January 31 tial interest rates rates interest tial BUSINESS Vietnam finance& business Vietnam travellers forbudget countries Traveller'sbest listof Vietnam shinesin Intellasia traveller-s-list-of-best-count http://www.hanoitimes.vn/travel/attracti Everest. Sofortheadrenaline of summit have seenthe becauseevenenter acave,than people fewer to the insideofit haveseen caveguided forits famous It'salso taking. It'sbut cheap, that's far fromthebest thin better thought ofasavacationdest alwaysJapanVietnam seems tobewaydown th travelling peoplethink because of when it's "I never quiteunderstand how Vietnam mana cheap countriestovisit. 10 on its one destination destinati avacation Earlier, The Travel, Netherlands. The Greece, Spain, Vietnam, New Zealand tops the list, followed byRu small hostel, CosyNook," Traveller wrote. This is hometo the Hoscars' best-value hostel, DaLat Friendly Fun,andits third best Nha Trang,th An and spots likeSaigon,Hoi the coas to stick travellers "And while most and drink to the transport to the accommodation. spend,thei Vietnamis that tourists Traveller they if advises love Traveller, by list released a the bestcoun been named among has Vietnam the across board. packers into their budgetaccommodation, willbe welcoming tendto enjoyable and forback- care and thought put people where places butmost rule, the to exceptions are There 31/JAN/2019 INTELLASIA| HANOI TIMES the domestic e-commercemarketbuzzing wi is With Vietnamboasting alargeinternetcomm scallion, figs salted pickled like region, "To prepare fortheNew Year, Ihave ordered sometraditionaldishes fromthe central holiday_302850.html http://bizhub.vn/news/demand-for-del such as GHN, J&T and to For private and small businesses, they are working with professional delivery firms orders. delivery many eachsupermarket. large However,his compan 10 shippers arranged supermarket the service, Nguyen AnhDuc, deputygeneral directorof many deliveryfirms and supermarket HCM Citytoworkasdelivery people toincrease their income beforeTet. However, Many residents fromtheprovinces inth family's memberstosh before the holiday, he received Nguyen ThanhTu, shipperinDi aprofessional attractive promotions. and payments quick speeds, transaction fast products, and services diverse including online shopping issettobecomeahabitfor thenation As pushes its tomodernisat way for thebills and goodsbrought to my house," shesaid. plete mywork atthesame time asallthe tr "I boughteverythingfortheupcominghol social network. some products via e-commerce after seeing Phuong Anh, aresidentin HCM City's Bi r destination. This country is se is This country r destination. are the work with me." ensure their orders. an Australian travelwebsite. an Australian ries-for-budget-travellers/ around 500 to 600 around500to600 delivery orders. "Ihave my to ask ination," TheTravel'sauthor wrote. andpapayashrimp sauce," LanAnhsaid. still faceashortageofworkers. ivery-services-surges-before-tet- on website, has named Vietnamthenumber e Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta have come to have Cuu Long(Mekong)Delta e junkies, this destination is foryou. is destination this junkies, ons/2019/01/81E0D2C8/vietnam-shines-in- nh Thanh District, said he had purchased nh ThanhDistrict, saidhe g about it. The countryit. isabsolutelyg about The breath- tours, one of which actually takes four days takes four one ofwhichactually tours, to travel and don't have a lot ofmoneyto iday frome-commerce. Ican shopandcom- ansactions are conducte ssia, Portugal, Czech Republic,Colombia, t when they're inVietnam, hitting popular unity and a young, digital-savvy population, unity and ayoung, digital-savvy ion anddeeper international integration, many. This isfacilitatedseveral factorsby to Asia they think of China, Thailand, Thailand, China, of think they Asia to Saigon Co.op,saidthatto ensure delivery many sellersadvertise their goods on the for eachsupermarke ere's evenmore valueinland,inDaLat.ere's y has to work with Grab if therearetoo y hastoworkwithGrabif th activityaheadof ges tobe so widely underrated. Maybe tries for budget travellers,tries for according to e list, and Ican't quite grasp why it isn't strict 3, said that duringthetwoweeks 3,saidthat strict riously affordable, from the food the upcomingfestival. t and 18 shippers for t and18shippers 31 January 2019 31 January d online. Ijust wait 31 January 2019 25 / 38 25 / 2019 January 31 BUSINESS countries most beautiful Rough Guide's 20 Vietnam among finance& business Vietnam Vietnam for online shoppingin most popularchatapp Facebook Messenger Intellasia lar-chat-app-for-online-shop https://e.vnexpress.net/news 2.6 percent, by ple, growing from a year earlier. The number of consum Vietnam's e-commerce market No last surveysdone but datafromprevious The surveywas doneinJanuary with300 cent). respondents using it, followed by Zalo(89 percentof 94 with inVietnam app messaging popular themost is Messenger Facebook messages were notresponded. Fifty seven percent of respondents were how checking product/serviceav It is followed by purchase (55 percent), (57 percent). aproduct about But the topreason forcontacting a business The lowest rates are for banks (21 pe rants (48 percent), it found. People useMessengermostlytocontacts vey, released last Friday by HCMCity-b The rate of shoppers usingit Messenger, asurvey has found. Seventy percent of Vietnamese usingchat a 31/JAN/2019 INTELLASIA| VNEXPRESS tourist arri international of Thenumber 2017. millionforeign Vietnam welcomedsome15.5 andNew Indonesia, Africa, Zealand. South Croatia, Italy,Switzerland, Slov Iceland, Other countries onthe list included the US, tothecountry. ambiance alively and bringing well, alive is spirit preneurial roads are beingupgraded, new hotelsarespringing up, and Vietnam'sraucousentre- thatdirectfl Guidealsoappreciated Rough War. American of the endsince theyears so boundedvigor inthe40or with has re- country as thenew the the oldand appealing contrast inHanoibetween the Its cities are alluring too, whether you pref the beauty, site natural wrote. easily accessible th on Sapa fields ofmountainous raced rice From theimpressive rock formationsof Ha iday. UK travel siteprovided the listfortravelle over readers all from of on thevotesBased Rough Guide. Vietnam has been listed as one oftop20 Indonesia the only other Asian country on UK travel site'slist. 31/JAN/2019 INTELLASIA| VNECONOMIC TIMES most-beautiful-countries http://vneconomictimes.com/article/biz-tr rivals over recent years. UN WorldTourismOrganisation report for it fast fourth theworld's ranked Vietnam was trillion ($26.66 bill domest million 80 to catered also It 2010. in ion) inrevenue. according toGermany-based ma ailability (37 percent). has increased by 23 percenta ping-in-vietnam-3875405.html /business/data-speaks/facebook-messenger-most-popu- reached revenues of $2.27 billio of$2.27 revenues reached rcent) andworkshops (15 percent). inquiry about promotions(47percent) and enia, Norway, Finland, Mexico, Peru, India, India, Peru, Mexico, Finland, Norway, enia, ased marketresearch firm Q&Me, said. most beautiful countries in the world by in theworld countries beautiful most ersonline shoppingreached 49.8 million peo- hops (61 percent and of restau- respondents) people inHanoiand aveler/vietnam-among-rough-guide-s-20- er themodern skyscrapersof HCMCityor rs toconsider whenbookingtheir nexthol- Canada, England,Scotland, Ireland, Wales, pps for online shoppingdosoonFacebook percent) and phone text messages (59 per- phone textmessages(59 and percent) e Chinese border, Vietnam has a wealthof LongBay off thenorthern coasttothe ter- ic travellers last ye last ic travellers ights now arrivefromcitiesworldwide, the worldon its social mediachannel, the vember and in April2017alsovemberwas and collated. est-growing travel destination in the 2018 inthe2018 destination est-growing travel on Messenger is to ask for information information for ask to is Messenger on vals has surged three- vals has ever nothappy with businesses as their s impressive growth in international ar- ininternational growth impressive s visitors in 2018, up 19.9 per cent against centagainst per 19.9 up visitors in2018, ge pointssince the 2016, sur- rket researchfirmStatista. n in2018, up 29.4 percent HCM City responding, HCM Cityresponding, ar, generating VND620 VND620 ar, generating 31 January 2019 31 January 31 January 2019 26 / 38 26 / 2019 January 31 fold from 5 million 5million fold from BUSINESS January million visitorsin Hanoi welcomes 2.4 finance& business Vietnam sacked before Tet workers in Tra Vinh 10,000 footwear approval proposal awaits Toll suspension Intellasia Of thetotalvisitors,633,903are comes-2-4 million- http://www.hanoitimes.vn/economy/trad ing citydestinationsintheworl theworld's 25best destinations 12th among hasbeen Hanoi promoted in several rankings 2017. to compared percent 11.7 of increase an year, the throughout tourism from lion) In addition, Hanoiiscalculat tothe year, of Hanoi Department to theprevious Tourism. according were foreigners, 5.74million visitors, total In 2018,Hanoiwelcomed 26milliontourists, from travel services, an11. expe addition, Hanoiis visito Ofthetotal from 2018. Hanoi expects In 2019, to welcome 28.58mill holidaymakers, domestic were year. Ofthetotalvisitors,80, itors to Hanoiwas estimated at During threedays ofNewYear holiday, from year-on-year. percent Hanoi's tourism revenue is estimated at VND8.8 trillion (US$382 million), a rise of 34.2 1.7 million are dome He added the suspension will cr will thesuspension He added directorate' BOT projects,the said so thesuspension oftollcoll The number ofvehicles passing through tollboot collection oftollfees du ture projectshadsought theapprovalfrom inanoffi said The directorate ruary 4to 6 on theoccasion of the upco (BOT build-operate-transfer at collection toll Roads ofVietnam hassu The directoratefor 31/JAN/2019 INTELLASIA| THE SAIGON TIMES year, last period same the from increase Hano to The numberofvisitors riod lastyear. 253,139, wasestimated at visitors toHanoi of During three days of New Yearholiday, from 31/JAN/2019 INTELLASIA| HANOI TIMES working from February this year as theco On Tuesday, the company has announced th workers compared 19,000 now hasroughly three has which Co., Ltd Shoes Leather Phong My holiday due toexport difficulties. beforethe LunarNewYear10,000 workersright than off moreannounced tolay plans A wholly-Taiwanese leather shoes companyinthe southern province ofTraVinh has 31/JAN/2019 INTELLASIA| DTI NEWS al.html https://english.thesaigontim plans. investors, duetothe fear that the suspen the ministryrejected Earlier, new year with ajoyfulspirit because of smooth ployees off work to enjoythe visitors-in-Jan/ stic holidaymakers, a year-o stic holidaymakers,a cted toearna revenue ofVND8 ring some days inTet. 8 percent from2018. 8 percent increase 139 wereforeigners,ayear-on- rs, 6.66millionwillbeforeig es.vn/65946/toll-suspensio ection willnotsignificantly a Tet holiday with their families. their with holiday Tet some similar proposals of proposals somesimilar cial letter that someinvestor that letter cial ed toearnfor more than 253,139, a 10.6percentincrease 253,139, i in 2019isestimate January, up 8 percent year-on-year. up 8 foreigners, a16percen eate favourable conditions eate favourable conditions d by the 2018 World Travel Awards. Travel World the 2018 d by s deputyhead, Nguyen Xuan Cuong. according toHanoiDe ming Lunar New Year, or Tet holiday. Tet ming LunarNewYear,or sion couldadverselyaf e-service/2019/01/81E to the initialfigureof28,000.to mpany's mpany's partner in the UShasgone bank- marking ariseof16percentincomparison the agencyandtheministry tosuspendthe ggested theMinistry of Transportsuspend December 30toJanuary in 2018 and nominated nominated for lead- in2018 and the 2018 ) toll booths all over the countryFeb- ) tollboothsalloverthe from ion holidaymakers, a 9.8 percent increase 9.8 percent ion holidaymakers,a a 9.3 percent increase against 2017. Of the Of 2017. against increase 9.3percent a a 10.6 percent increase from the samepe- 10.6 percentincreasefromthe a at 10,142 10,142 workers at haveto would stop in 2018. The capitalcityhas beenranked 2018. in traffic, as well asa traffic,as December 30 toJanuary1,the number n-year increaseof8.5%. plants in Tieu Can and Tra Cu districts, Cu plants inTieuCanandTra hs in the three days is likely to be low, below, to likely is the threedays in hs t increaseagainstlastyear'speriod, VND75.8 trillion (US$3.26 bil- trillion (US$3.26 VND75.8 n-proposal-awaits-approv- 4.78 trillion 3.64billion) (US$ BOT transport infrastructure infrastructure BOT transport ners, a16percentincrease.In year increaseof16.3%,173,000 s of BOTtransport infrastruc- for residents to welcome the towelcome for residents d at 2.4 million, a 10.4 percent a 10.4 at 2.4million, d ffect the financialplansof partment ofTourism. from the sameperiodlastfrom 0D2C7/hanoi-wel- llow toll collection em- collection toll llow fect their financial fect theirfinancial 31 January 2019 31 January 31 January 2019 27 / 38 27 / 2019 January 31 1, the number ofvis- the number 1, BUSINESS Vietnam finance& business Vietnam pet services New Year for business Pet Tet: Brisk Lunar Intellasia While many customers seek a safe refuge for refuge safe a customersseek many While companions. products andse pet amount ofmoneyon large pets like familymembers. Manypeople, especially millennials,arewilling to spenda Pet care companies inVietnam have been expanding in recent years as peopletreat They're going tobe verybusywith alarge number of guests," Quang added. "We havearranged15employees tostay specifichours. "residents"play withother at out and The petsare a night. ($21.53) VND500,000 andVIP standard The companyoffersboth week before the holiday is very unlikely. aroom 2-10thisyear,toguarantee February Customers should book atleastone month International. VnExpress told customers are as allrooms booked," Nguy "Our facility inHanoican "Our large number of bookingsfor its She and her staff usuallyserve ada pets She andherstaff 50 they want." the quality they get "My price is a bithigher thanotherplaces onsize,samehaircut.depending pet thea woman amountnew for inVietnam a pays A groomingandcleaningserv revenue often triples during the Tetmonthbecause ofhigh demand. pet groomin two Linh, ownerof Nguyen Thuy amountlarge ofmoney togroom their pets Pet Mart, one of the largest pet service chai country's largest holiday nears. demand for lodging and grooming services as LunarNew Year Festival (Tet), the Pet owners like Trang arewhypetcarecompanies inVietnamarereporting a surge in worth it," said, Trang petting one ofthepoodles. have spent about a quarter of my income this I beautiful. most look to pets my I want so year the of time important most the is "Tet same services. queuing forthewere store wheredozensofpets in a and fedsaged been groomed,after afour-hourmoreoutmas- bathed,They had makeover. hanging Trang's poodlesseemed to wagging theirtails even more vigorously, their tongues But these dresses were notforher. They were for her three poodles. on KimMa a shop out of walked Thu Trang getting of Tet tradition the with keeping In Year New festivities. arebe pets nationwide, theTetbustle Amidst 31/JAN/2019 INTELLASIA| VNEXPRESS before-tet.html http://dtinews.vn/en/news/ women's shoes for exporttoEurope and the US. My PhongLeather Shoes Ltd Co. was setup jobs. find new jo local trade unionswillcontact Provincial 600 Some female workers who are pregnant or to claimsocial insurance and unemploymentbenefits. andFebr forJanuary Tet bonusesandsalaries to ensuretheemployeerightsbeforegivenwoulddismissed. theyareThe workers be th workingwiththeconfederation, After supporting theworkers. The Tra Vinh Confederation of affectingnearly70perc rupt, hold 150-200 pets, but every pets,but Te hold 150-200 018/60543/10-000-footwear-wor ent of its export contracts. of itsexport ent ice atLinh'sKimiPet,costs VND350,000-1 million($15-43) Labour has sent three delegations to the company for Labour hassentthree for tothe delegations company pet hotels in HanoiandHCMCity. e company's management board agreed e company'smanagement has with these pets throughout the holiday. and get them ready for Spring outings. Spring andgetthemreadyfor , butcustomersdon't complain,as long as fed three times a day and are allowed to go are allowedto a dayand fed threetimes en Duc Quang, acompany Quang, representative, en Duc new clothes to wear during the holiday, Vu their petduring the ho y, but this number doubles in the weeks weeks the in doubles number this but y, ns in Vietnam with12 ns inVietnam b centres to help the affected workers to the b centrestohelp in advance of the Te of the in advance rooms priced from VND150,000 ($6.46) to to ($6.46) rooms pricedfromVND150,000 in 2005 and mostlyfocuses onmaking , he said, adding that street with three new setsofclothes. threestreet with monthontheselittlebuddies, butit's all ing prepared tobeattheir best for Lunar uary. They willbe g stores inHanoi, said thather monthly onmaternal leave wi rvices to show their love for the little forthelittle love toshowtheir rvices t we have to many decline t wehave to kers-in-tra-vinh-sacked- t holiday, which falls lidays, others spend a spend others lidays, also instructed how stores, hasseen a securing aroom a 31 January 2019 31 January 31 January 2019 28 / 38 28 / 2019 January 31 ll not be laid off. laid be not ll BUSINESS Vietnam finance& business Vietnam Phong Port containers atHai material inspects scrap PM's working group Intellasia The prolonged congestion has forced many bu forced many The prolongedcongestionhas icy oftighteningtheimporten fectively, and even causedtrouble for hone The congestion was due tothefact that the days. 90 formorethan ports sea Vietnam's more 25, of thatas January estimated It is Vietnam. in up atmajorseaports 29 to inspect a huge number of containers of The prime minister's workingtripgroup tothe madeafield of Porton HaiPhong January 31/JAN/2019VND INTELLASIA| are not too concerned aboutprices, as long give theirpetsparticularty petswith ownersfeedtheir "In the past, for theirpets. ofmeat.Someownerssume alarge amount weigh as Huskies, whichcan such as dogs A kilogram ofhighwetquality dryor pe "There isalways a surge in orders near Tet aspeople want to store pet food for the holiday." food. revenueis expected increaseto by40percen at pet marketing head of HoaiThu, Nguyen andhealthy. fit tomakesure stay andefforts pets' they their diets ticular about Food is another sought-after worked until2a.m." "Last year, my 20petgroomersdidn'thave and photos, Linhsaid. grooming service asownerswant their pets is th holiday beforethe 10 days near Tet.The inspects-scrap-material-contai http://en.nhandan.com.vn/business/ite and reuse the scrap materials. Chair Dung suggested that the government For shipments ofscrapmaterials claimed by with port operators and shipping lines toreduce the warehouse costs for enterprises. At thesame time, the Ministry at ports willbe cleare suggestions torevisetherelevantdecrees so with government and minister the prime to be submitted will report a that stated He the difficulties toquicklycl one another blamethorities concerned notto urged theau- Dung Tien Mai Office government Chairofthe tour, theinspection After due toashortageof even close ness-for-pet-services-3875345.html https://e.vnexpress.net/news pets." care ofmore more employeestotake I had wish sighed: "I She take more guestsisbecause they are short staffed. coming 50dogsand ofallagesandsi cats This Tet, Nguyen Thuy Linh, owner ofKimi ing toolsdeliveredtotheir doorstep. Pet ownerscall away arephone nowjusta affordabletoluxuriousranging from customers, items. from of a variety this reason,petstoresofferFor food," Thusaid. d as soon as possible. as soon d ear the eligible containers. pe of foods dependingon their age, size andbreed. They commodity near Tet as Viet /business/industries/pet-tet of Finance is tasked with with tasked is Finance of ners-at-hai-phong-port.html the necessaryscrapmaterials. vironmentally harmfulscrap and waste. m/7108902-pm%E2%80%99s-working-group- whatever food was left over, but now theyleft over, but whatever foodwas t food costs up to VND150,000 ($6.46). Big ($6.46). VND150,000 to costs up food t scrap materials and are and waste building which scrapmaterials zes at her hotel. The only reason shedidn't than 24,000 containers had been piled up at containershadbeenpiledupat than 24,000 products to meet the wide range of demand wide rangeof products tomeetthe t this Tet pet with manycustomersbuying care chain PetCity, sa PetCity, chain care much 40kilogramspounds),(88 also con- from having treats, cages, toys and groom- st businesses, thepol- when implementing as their petsreceive agencies concerned failed tocooperateef- time fora lunch.proper Someofthem that containers ofscrapmaterialspiled up to lookmostpresentable for holiday trips Pet, will joinherhusband and staff in wel- assign Hai Phong to assign HaiPhong e "most intense" period ofthe year for the no one or those containing onlywaste, are willing to buy pricey imported food but to focus their efforts on dealing with on to efforts but dealing focus their sinessessuspend to directing thecustoms to work -brisk-lunar-new-year-busi- namese owners are morepar- namese owners id that the company's id thatthe the most nutritious dispose ofthe waste dispose 31 January 2019 31 January 31 January 2019 29 / 38 29 / 2019 January 31 their operations or BUSINESS Mekong Deltaregion for key bridge in ODA fundingurged finance& business Vietnam slightly in2019 expected torise Hotel roomrates Intellasia 31/JAN/2019VIETNAMNET INTELLASIA| Earlier, theMoThad met with projects. ininfrastructure investments resourcesare limited. Thisgoes alsoagains Highway 60 projectsalongNational BOT ing minister,that saidNguyen Nhat,MoTdeputy had high levels of risk with unspecificreturns ontheirinvestment. project. However,many thisschemefailedas those project,including 2bridge Mieu Rach The MoThadpreviously worked alongside BenTre province to find investors forthe into service in2015 with the toll connects the twosouthern provinces ofBenTr also 60 is Highway National Additionally, 2034. until tollcollectionlasting with 2019 RachMieu bridgeCo Chien to bridge. This phase is scheduled tobecompleted during Meanwhile, the second phase is being execut lection underway on the Km4+ Mieubridgeproject of Rach phase The first km intotal. several ongoing BOT projects throughout NationalHighway60whichstretches 115 execut The MoTattributedtheunfeasibleBOT of the project. ing the implementation development assistance(ODA) foreign and c ment, and the Ministry ofFina The document suggests PMPhuc assign bo unfeasible under the build-operate- Tien connectingof thetwoprovincesproject The MinistryofTransport(MoT)madethe regi Delta in theMekong proposing the use ofofficialdevelopmenta The Ministry ofTransporthassentadocume 31/JAN/2019VOV INTELLASIA| Of these, Phu Quoc Island continued toattr Trang City, Phu QuocIslandand the Phan Thietattracted most guests in2018. Sai GonTiepThinewspaper has quoted trav to the southslight increasehotel havein quoted a room rate. Hotels in tourismsite toanincrease inhotel demand. leading year, this travelle inbound and The number of domestic https://english.vov.vn/economy/oda-fundin rently overloaded. socio-economic development in theMekongDe The construction ofRach Mieu 2bridgeisan bridgeforprojectRach the Mieu2 funding ifthe Vietnamesea proposal.side makes consider to is likely EDCF the that revealed They (EDCF). Fund Cooperation velopment region-391427.vov mountains. Touristsare independentmostly travellerswhoare not on tours. There are geographical wonders, traditional fishing villages, pristine beaches and verdant Nebe Mui PhanThiet with City Meanwhile, rates are VND1.8-2.3 million fora4-star hot To stay in a 3-star hotel room, travellers usually pay VND1.2-1.5 million per night. The 5-8 percent. last year,includin travellers Phu Quochas over 500hotelswith more than has become anemerging tourism destination. s from Nha Trang City of Khanh Hoa province in the central region region the central in province Hoa Khanh of City NhaTrang s from on, reportsbaodautu.vn. g 540,000 foreign travellers.Th g 540,000 representatives from the Republ representatives from nce, toworkalongsidetheMo 617 section ofthehighway. collection expected to end by 2027. endby collection expectedto transfer (BOT) investmentformat. t thenation'spolicyofincentivisingprivate home to the CoChien bridge project which was inaugurated back in 2009 with toll col- with 2009 backin was inaugurated th the Ministry ofPlanningand Invest- who hadinvested in theRachMieubridge proposal after the Rach Mieu 2 bridge 2 Mieu the Rach proposal after ssistance for building Mieu2bridge ssistance forbuilding Rach Giang and Ben Tre hadproved financially act a high number of number act ahigh el and VND3.5 hotel. million fora5-star el andVND3.5 g-urged-for-key-brid urgent need to easetrafficjams andboost ach area ach area never loses itscharm to thanks el firms as reporting that hotels in Nha oncessional loans, witha view to hasten- nt toprimeminister ed to expandfour sections connecting 7,000 7,000 rooms, whichreceived 3.9 million e andTraVinh. This wasfirstput project potential financiers felt that the project that thefinanciers felt potential is impossible as the country's financial the use of the State budget to buy ongo- to buy ofState budget the theuse ion of the Rach Mieu 2 bridge project to rs is expected toincrease significantly lta region as Rach Mieu bridge is cur- as RachMieubridge lta region e hotel room rateincreased e hotelroom ic of Korea's Economic De- Economic Korea's of ic T inorder toseekofficial Nguyen Xuan Phuc Phuc Xuan Nguyen ge-in-mekong-delta- guests asthe island 31 January 2019 31 January 31 January 2019 30 / 38 30 / 2019 January 31 BUSINESS Vietnam finance& business Vietnam Thanh Hoa airroute City- opens HCM Bamboo Airways computer line HP launchespremium Intellasia http://bizhub.vn/tech/hp-launches- ality." setnew atthesame time standa and lives "With thispartnership, we wi market. AMD offer to HP with to partner pleased Peter Chambers, directorof sales,AMD As etnam andAMD. The launch, thecompany said, alsomarked Deskto 13, HP HP ENVYx360 includes the an processor Rysen anAMD with Equipped Vietnam, said. that meets users'workandpersonalneed we've seen increasing demand fortrusted, "As thehyper-mobile trend isfuelled byha consumers andbusinessusers, while With this inmind, HP's new premiumPCportfolioenables bothwork and play for that canmeet looking forproducts are They (SMBs) andself-employed entrepreneurs, w The Vietnamese economy is now heavily dr computers powered byAMDtechnology. premium new its has unveiled Vietnam HP 31/JAN/2019VNS INTELLASIA| rise-slightly-in-2019.html https://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/busi 5-8 percent." last year,includin travellers with moreth 500 hotelsover "Phu Quochas US$1=VND23,000 percent higher. the price50 weekends, willbe idays and or millionfo andVND1.3 hotelroom 3-star for a on Lat, Da to go to want travellers If while a 4-star room isVND1.5-2 million. close to that ofPhuQuoc.A3-star hotel room years, previous In However, there are now30,000 hotel rooms. Trang. Nha to go to plan find hotelrooms. to was difficult who travellers for tourists founditeasiertobookhotelrooms news good be might This million). (VND1.4-1.6 room fora3-star $40 (VND900,000) year: the Analysts predict that hotel room ratein travellers mostly 58-60 percent.However, According to the Binh Thuan provincial Touris about 4,000 hotel and resortroomsin Bamboo Airways ispartoftheVietBa tourism, he added. The launchoftherouteshows theairline's de oper FLCGroup. stra development in theaviation tourism Dang Thang,Tat BambooAirways CEO, said per day. flight Ho of Thanh province centralCity withthe VietnameseBamboo Airwaysthenewest airl 31/JAN/2019VNA INTELLASIA| g 540,000 foreign travellers.Th g 540,000 ll enable customers to get th premium-computer ensuring security and productivity. the city, half of which are 3-5 star. city, halfofwhichare the dinary days, they will have to pay VND800,000 dinary days, theywillhavetopay VND800,000 mboo Airlines Company based inQuy Nhon ness/216892/hotel-room-r flock there flock on weekendsholidays. and tegy of Bamboo Airways and propertydevel- Airways tegy ofBamboo p Pro A MT and HP EliteBook705seriesG5. MTand Pro A p rds for security, performancefunction- rds forsecurity, and s," Lim s,"Choon Teck, Lim managing director, HP for one night, for4-5-star room $60-70 Rysen powered HPPCs tothe Vietnamese reliable and easily accessible innovation d Radeon Vegad portfolio Graphics,new the bits oftheyoungerpopulationinVietnam, a on January 29, with the frequencyof one on January 29,withthe a ia PacificandJapan, an 7,000 rooms,which received 3.9 million the region willbe 3-5 percent higher this but large groupsoftouristsit complained iven bysmalland medium businesses their needs ofproductivity andsecurity. their the official collaboration between HP Vi- HP between collaboration the official line ofconsumer and business private ho accountfor 95 per cent of all firms. t Association, the aver t Association, hasarate of VND1millionforone night, termination to contribute to the locality's tothelocality's tocontribute termination The rates in Nha Trang are not low, but r a 4-star. But if they book rooms forhol- rooms r a4-star.Butiftheybook Thanh Hoa is an important destination destination important is an Hoa Thanh ine launched anair routelinking HCM -line_302889.html e mostoutoftheir digital e hotel room rateincreased e hotelroom said: "We are very ates-expected-to- age occupancyis rate 31 January 2019 31 January 31 January 2019 31 / 38 31 / 2019 January 31 BUSINESS Vietnam finance& business Vietnam supply in Vietnam Australian beef up Phat steps Hoa Delights New Year Holiday Passengers toLunar TreatEmirates to Intellasia route/145963.vnp https://en.vietnamplus.vn/bamboo-airway withup in2019, abroad home and The carrier willoperate37routes connecting festival. Year New lunar the during passengers serving province, thus Do and Van Nhon and Quy tween HCMCity th in island Quoc Phu and Lak, Dak of ince Me Thuo City, Buon Binh province,HCM Quang Quy Nhon, Nha Trang cityof Airways route, Bamboo the new Along with ment. those of traditional or full-s or those oftraditional http://vccinews.com/news_detail.asp?n plete list of terms and conditions, visit www.emirates.com/vn. Dubai. Formore information on Emirates, including howto book flights and a com- Emirates operates seven non-st black vinegarsauce. an flower pakchoy, babycarrot with sauce, menu Airportadd to its International will sengers duringthe holidayperiod, Emirates' experience in-flight tothe Adding festive 95. forallpurchasesoverUSD board from8 February to 10 enjoy can fort oftheir seats, passengers In addition, for those who wish to pick up enjoy coconutandmandarinmousse, served with mandarincompote. chee compote, shaped in the designof a fire can tuckinto a mouth-watering lychee and passengers Class Business desserts. ofspecial aselection in be toindulge able riod, will City board, passengerstravellingtoHCM passengersin-flight. to to its In addition trad the can enjoy celebrating etnam and Dubai travellers From 4-6February, period. holiday auspicious this during ings handed out tofamily, friends andrelatives es for happinessand prosperity extended most family, funandcelebration of is a Tet passengers across all classes of travel. await fare Asian and traditional of delicacies selection calendar. A in the special lunar airl international the treat as special in for a flights Emirates' travellingCustomers on 31/JAN/2019 INTELLASIA| VCCI NEWS Bamboo Airway haspositioned FLC USD). million oper FLCGroup,wasestablis city ofBinhDinh province. Vi imported Australian beef made up 42 perc 42 up made beef Australian imported Co.,Ltd, Phat Trading Last year, Hoa the ketbeef shareof importedfr a12percent post to strives it Accordingly, in2019. inVietnam farming about chainandlearn supply study themeat Hoa Phat Agricultural Development JSC, will expand the scale of its farms, further the under Trading Co., Ltd, Phat that itsHoa has announced Hoa PhatCorporation 31/JAN/2019VNA INTELLASIA| ervice carriers to meet the demands of everyseg- the demandsof market carriers tomeet ervice om Australiato45percent. et Bamboo AirlinesCompany, ownedby property devel- hed in 2017 with charter capital of 700 billion VND (30.2 (30.2 billionVND withchartercapitalof700 hed in2017 flying between Emirates' two central Khanh Hoa province, DongHoicityofcentral op flights a week from both HCM City and Hanoi to Hanoi week frombothHCM Cityand a flights op to 60 domestic flights per day. flights to 60 domestic s as a hybrid airline, blen a hybridairline, as s ews_id=36562&parent_id=0&cate_id=17 a 20percent discount on DutyFree itemson- the regionally inspired cuisine served on cuisine servedthe regionallyinspired , and creating amemorable journeyforpas- between Vietnam and DubaiduringTet are growth in beeftrading and increase themar- earned a double revenue from 2017 and its 2017 from revenue double earned a ent of the marketshare nationwide, placing to friendsare Red packetsand lovedones. d poached dumpling withspring d poacheddumpling onion and ine celebrates thebeginningofnew year and Hanoifrom Dubaiduringthesame pe- notably, feasting with salad shredded chicken, meat balls cooked s-opens-ho-chi-minh- cracker. Business Clas Business cracker. e southern province of Kien Giang, andbe- province ofKien southern e as awayofsendinggood wishes andbless- a gift for family and friends fromthecom- and friends forfamily a gift raspberry mousseserved with vanilla ly- high-quality cowbreedsfor experimental First and Business Class Lounge atDubai is operating others linkingHanoiwith major cities cities major and tourist at destinations n district in northern QuangNinh ition as Emirates brings a taste of home Emirates bringsatasteof ition as t city of the CentralHighlandsprov- t cityof points ofdepartureinVi- ding low-cost traits with traits ding low-cost citythanh-hoa-air- plentywarm wish- of s passengers canalso 31 January 2019 31 January 31 January 2019 32 / 38 32 / 2019 January 31 BUSINESS Vietnam finance& business Vietnam ambition Vietnam's car-making VinFast bolsters 2019 delivery market in enter localfood Korean unicorn to Intellasia Food delivery is seen as a"hot" segment in to sell itself to local food delivery company Vietnammm. out. Before Lalamove,themarket also saw dropping keep to players weak for unavoidable is it battlefield, fierce a in result, a As delivery, and separate storage space fr cal-food-delivery-market-in-2019.html https://english.vietnamnet.v further. more and playersmore are expected toente With thegoodprospects of the local market pany Euromonitor. milli $38 to increase to forecast is which profit growthcould reach 10-12per cent. F A representative ofafirmrunning in the se ground for beca manyfirms Despite high demand inurbanareas, thelo company now plans to haveitsfirst model onthe market thisyear. tw developed Phong and coastal cityof Hai Within ayear,VinFast had built a350-hect expected?the government has that the pace it keepup Can prototypes thatdebuted in VinFast,set upin2017,ha ISEAS the at Fellow a is Hiep thatthego momentum for industrialisation country' localised production,the Without the average ratiofor all vehicle types wasjust10%. the percent within next threeyears 20%-25 an proportion of parts used infinal assembly th In 2002, the government targeted to increase true. come dream a seems tobe Vingroup, development nam's leadingrealestate in automotive anindigenous by developing three decades,Vietnam, overthepast hassoug motive industry. If VinFastsuccessful, is it will provide ab 31/JAN/2019 INTELLASIA| HANOI TIMES whichand Now.vn, dominateth If enteringVietnam, Woona Brotherexpect is billion. Decemb inlast Singapore's GIC and Capital, Sequoia Capital, the Hillhouse like US' funds big from million investment $320 ceiving Woona Brothers hasjustbeen listedamong st chair ofWoonaBrothers,atthe Oh, vice to investinthecountry.We "We havealready researched the Vietnamese one of the rare startup unicornsoftheworld. The local food delivery market is ready 31/JAN/2019VIR INTELLASIA| 145926.vnp https://en.vietnamplus.vn/hoa-phat-steps- ca experts toensurethatcowsare launched apartners 2018, it In percent from 2017. by its 176 profit surging forbeefcattle, demand domestic the co many self-contained farmsacross With three beefafter of only Australian thetopsupplier it years ofjoining as the market. s built a huge manufacturing complex anddeveloped two the 2018 Paris Motor Show. Paris Motor 2018 the will definitelybepresent in use of lowprofit rates. n/fms/business/217098/south-ko hip programme on feed hip programmeon Yusof Ishak Institute, Singapore. e $33 million food e $33millionfood delivery ma red for up to the best standards. best to the forup red om other kinds of goodslike clothes. on in 2020, according to market research com- market according to 2020, in on to welcome South Korea's Woona Brothers, welcome SouthKorea's to oost to Vietnam's GDP andreinventoost toVietnam's itsauto- artup event Vakance 201 theof retirement Foodpanda whichdecided are manufacturing complex in the northern inthemanufacturing complex are up-australian-beef-supply-in-vietnam/ Vietnam withmarket gment stated that conditions, that in favourable gment stated s automotive industry cannotprovidethe ood deliveryrequires , competitionisunavoidable. Furthermore, cal food delivery mark ed to be a serious competitor to GrabFood toGrabFood serious competitor a be to ed r themarket, heatingupcompetitioneven the world's unicorn companiesafterre- the world's o prototypes namely sedan and SUV. The and SUV.The sedan o prototypes namely vernment wants, according toLeHong dustry.Viet- AndVinFast,amemberof at are notimported forpassenger carsto er, increasing the company's value to $1 $1 to value company's the increasing er, market andarenowlookingfor partners untry, the company met nearly half of theuntry, nearlyhalf thecompanymet the localisation ratio ratio which refers tothe the localisation d to 40%-45 percent by 2010. Yet in 2016, Yetin2016, percentby 2010. 40%-45 d to ht to boost its levelsofindustrialisation ht forcattle withleadingAustralian Vietnamin2019,"saidSeyoon rean-unicorn-to-enter-lo- rket after Lalamoveleft. rket preservation,swift value of $33 million,value of$33 et is not a fertileeta isnot 31 January 2019 31 January 8 inlastNovember. 31 January 2019 33 / 38 33 / 2019 January 31 BUSINESS Vietnam finance& business Vietnam Intellasia by 2025, with the capacity to produce 500,000 ve toproduce500,000 capacity the with by 2025, The group has set anambitiousgoal ofbe transfor to view a with Data, Big and gence er. Italsoestablished asubsid automotive industry Vingroup enteredthe innetprofit. and $254 million By 2017, it becameVietnam's largest privat agriculture. ed to retail,health care, education, rently makes mostofitsrevenue from real Vingroup, chaired by Pham Nhat Vuong the country's first self-made billionaire cur- ward-looking business strategy wi Secondly, as anewplayer, the company ca mands oflocalcustomers. could provefruitfulforVinFastandothercarm Vietnam class, middle expanding peoplewith arapidly of95 million country young Ind 55in and inThailand, 196 in Malaysia, rently, there are only 16 cars inVietnam fo for First all, there potential of great is that are wo anumberoffactors listed Hiep Advantages developing electricscooters, which have pany alsoacquired general MotorsVietnam and componentsinVietnam. Thecom- producing partsfactories to setupeight Bosch ABB, Siemenes, including suppliers international with To achievethis, has it worked locally made. percent 60 the government'ssupport.Forexample,VinF to ginning, ithasmobilisedsuchsentiments Finally, nationa years. few inthefirst difficulties financial any in Such of operations. 15 years foritsfirst tax various preferential incentives,including The ThiKim Ngan. Nguyen Assembly tional Nguyen Phu Trong, primeminister Nguyen Phuc, Xuan and Chairwoman of the Na- manufactur the company's year, the past In objectives. policy industrial the goals with government's its commercial aligns subs VinFast its nections, whichwillbring Fourthly, successinthe Vingroup's real esta bring with them uniqueadvantages in marketing in the domestic market. Thirdly, the group's solidbusiness ecosys to develop e-scooters and electric cars are key investmentportfolios. duce quality cars at (i) Reasonableprices: Commercial success will giants. from international competition mostly challenges, significant faces VinFast debut, impressive its Despite competition Tough ceremony for its new complexon Septem ket is a major impediment. In 2017, In2017, the co ket is amajorimpediment. To doso,itneeds totakeadvantageof ported models than domestically made ones. (iii) Taste: Those who areinthe market fo discouraged the country's city Vietnamese carmakersface. Frequent traffic Poor infrastructure:Underdeveloped road (ii) thatare more affordable toth Manufacturers' Association totalled 272,750 units. Expanding this market requires cars list sentiment could also work in VinFast's favour. Right from the be- reasonable prices. e average Vietnamese consumer. average Vietnamese e iary toinvestintechnologie dwellers from owningcars. thout havingtodealwith fashion, smartphone, pharmaceuticals and pharmaceuticals fashion, smartphone, growth in Vietnam's automotive market.Cur- automotive growth inVietnam's economic growth, but the smalldomesticmar- been on themarketsinceNovember 2018. coming a leading Southeast Asian carmaker Asian carmaker leadingSoutheast coming a ber 2, 2017 Vietnam's national day. national Vietnam's 2017 ber 2, mbined sales of of the sales mbined tem and customer bases of about 5million a 50 percent reduction on corporate income on corporatereduction a 50percent r a new vehicle are more likely to buy im- vehicle to buy r anew are morelikely estate business. The group has alsoexpand-group estate business.The r every 1,000 residents, comparedwith 341 idiary further advantages asthe company onesia. In addition, as a demographically a onesia. Inaddition,as in 2017 andsmartphone industry ayear lat- n adoptadvanced technologies anda for- e conglomerate,with$4billioninrevenue rking to facilitate the company'sbusiness. rking tofacilitate ing complex has been visited byPresident connectwithpotentialcustomersandwin ming itself into a tech companyby2028. te businesste owesmuchtoitspolitical con- to produce cars under license and started license and cars under to produce jams and lackofparkingspace havelongjams ast deliberately held centives areexpectedtohelpitnavigate government alsoprovidedVinFastwith government infrastructure is another challenge that another is that challenge infrastructure therefore depend onwhether it can pro- hicles ayearfrompa akers if they can cater to the varied de- tothevaried cancater akers if they s suchas Artificial Intelli- legacy issues. Vietnam Automobile the groundbreaking 31 January 2019 31 January 31 January 2019 34 / 38 34 / 2019 January 31 rts that are at areat least that rts Its decisions BUSINESS Vietnam finance& business Vietnam 2018 FPT profits up30pctin Intellasia http://vneconomictimes.com/article/ contributing 20 per cent to mi ($72.1 markets seas trillion was VND1.67 on transformati astrategicfocus digital With cent in2017. up 27 per cent. Overseasrevenue contributed prof pre-taxcent year-on-year,while 26 per Overseas marketsbrought FPT revenue ofVND9 growthdriver. an essential be intheglobal econom instability of Regardless Telecommunication Public Utility Se ly, thanks togoodbusiness VND1.1 trillion ($47.4 million), up 16per cent revenue. Revenueand pre-tax profitwere driver, growth was the key Telecom services cent to 105 per of the andup19per target cent year-on-year. the annual target of per cent Telecom saw revenue jump 15per cent, to VND8 per cent to55per cent year-on-year. on-year. All market revenues ofthissegmen cent year-on-year. Pre-tax profitwasVND1.3 Software outsourcing recorded revenue of up21 per cent and target and the 2018 million) andVND1.5 trillion ($ The technology sector recorded The technology per profit marginwas16.6 and 35per Earnings-per cent, respectively. trillion($138.1 VND3.2 to attributable that profit and After-tax incorporat Synnex FPTand Retail and ly, inalike-for-likeexcludingcomparisonth 17 perce andup target ofthe2018 per cent trillion ($ profit ofVND3.8 cording pre-tax earning reve in exceeded its2018plan FPT Revenue and profits uphandily in 2018. 31/JAN/2019 INTELLASIA| VNECONOMIC TIMES etnam-s-car-making-ambition/ http://www.hanoitimes.vn/e at central stage oftheeconomy. try, itwillreinforce Vietnam's market-bas ke a play can Vingroup if time, same the At an innovati based economyinto manufacturer will also symb motive industry.Thegroup'stransformationfr If VinFastsuccessful, is it will provide ab in nam's automotive argued thatthe group'semergenc it canbe Taken together,challenges facing the VinFas Prospects make thisachallenge. will sources opment capabilities,butthecountry's lack brand recognitionand VinFast needstobuild dustry as awhole. million) and VND2.6 trillion ( trillion VND2.6 million)and software outsourcing revenue. cent, up 1.7 timesover up cent, 2017. operationsanda lower contribution rate to the Vietnam . Pre-tax profit was VND1.4tr conomy/industry/2 olise Vietnam'sevolutionfr 64.7 million), percentand equal per to 110 104 cent of revenue and pre-tax profit revenueand on-led, industrialisedone. business/fpt-profi rvice Fund compared with 2017. compared with Fund rvice ing those under the equity method. ing undertheequity those 34 per cent year-on-year,respectively. cent per 34 theparent company's shareholders were oost to Vietnam's GDP andreinventoost toVietnam's itsauto- ed economic reformsandputprivate sector VND8.3 trillion ($357.7 million) and ofrelevant technologicaland human re- nt and 30 per cent year-on-year, respective- nt and30percentyear-on-year, nue ofVND23.2 trillion e remains a positivedevelopment for Viet- -share (EPS) was VND3,897. The pre-tax 164 million), percentand 164 equal to 106 111 y, FPT's "Going Global" strategy continues to trillion million),up35per VND8.4 ($262.1 y role in developing the automotive indus- theautomotive indeveloping role y it ofVND1.47 trillion t saw impressive growth, ranging from23 t may seem to outweigh the positives. But But positives. the outweigh seem to t may llion), up31per cent year-on-year and e one-off profit from divestmentsinFPT on, thisservice line's revenue from over- and percentyear-on-year, 26 respective- trillion ($56 million), up percentyear- 27 up million), ($56 trillion contributing 94per cent tothesector's investin heavily itsresearch and devel- 39 per cent to the total, up from 16 per per 16 from up the total, to per cent 39 om a real intoa developer estate hi-tech 019/01/81e0d2b3/vinf .8 trillion ($379.4 million), equal to 102 102 to equal million), ($379.4 .8 trillion .1 trillion ($392.1 mi trillion($392.1 .1 $112.2 million), up30 per cent $112.2 ts-up-30-in-2018 om aresource- and labour- illion ($60.3 million), equal illion ($60.3 million), of VND13.4 trillion($578.3 of VND13.4 ($63.3 million) was was million) ($63.3 31 January 2019 31 January 31 January 2019 35 / 38 35 / 2019 January 31 ($1 billion)and ($1 re- llion) in 2018, up ast-bolsters-vi- BUSINESS companies launched construction AI Cloud Servicefor finance& business Vietnam 2018 VCCI TopEvents in Intellasia panies-launched http://vneconomictimes.com/article/busine of seeking business partners business and boastingahigh-leveloftransp considered fordevelopi Asia, Singaporewas the co Vietnam as in Construction iscommon will boostR&D,allocating addi prettythe high.Alongwithprivate R&Dis ea at policies introducing thegovernment, by an important plays gy, Innovation Council R&D, toboostinnovativescience andtechnology. generalThe Science and Technolo- investme of aim the with up is built PRISM leads eration, which gen- next the to over documents tohand difficult more become itmay and senses, human on-sitesupervisors. There maynotbe transparent techniques duedependence tothe on sites, construction numerous at Meanwhile, boosted in every corner oftheworld. chine learning, and otheradvanced technologie the ofthedevelopment aresult As of inte crucial problem. worker numbersand contribute to makingtechniques becometransparent, whichisa resultsservercloudthe inmain for and visualisethe controlled data thefa and helpstoanalyse the AI then site. workers' helmetsand drones, it cancreate im Based on construction images collected from lysed fromanenormous datasetcollected fr techni is createdtovisualisethe An AIMap Infrastructure, and Transport(MLITT). su Expansion Programme) Investment Strategic (P PRISM project is part ofthe It etnam. the GifuUniversityfr centre (ACTEC),and AICON includestheAsanumaCorporation, for construction companies, inHanoion January 30. AICON (AIMap Innovation Consortium) laun struction sites. Service introduced by AI Ma 31/JAN/2019 INTELLASIA| VNECONOMIC TIMES structure development. primeministerNguy a changing world, modernag issues for GMSdevelopment suchasdefini The summit included plenary sessions and br domestic re 300 international and About and outsidethe GMS region, andrepresenta ment partners.Inparticular representativesBank (WB)andnearly of the Asean Secretary-GeBank (ADB), opment was Thesummit ofVietnam. the initiative CLV Conference. This is the first time th Foreign Affairs on March30,2018 on the sideli nam Chamber ofCommerceandIndustry (VCCI) GreaterThe Mekong SubregionBusinessSu 1. Greater Mekong Subr 31/JAN/2019 INTELLASIA| VCCI NEWS to difficulties in optimising in to difficulties egion BusinessSummit , the summit attracted more than 2,000 enterprises morethan2,000 , the inside attracted summit construction points.Machine learning is appliedtostore in Singapore and Vietnam. inSingaporeand p InnovationConsortium for ricultural development, and tional budget fund productivity tocutdown productivity improvements, on ublic and Private Research and Development and Research and Private ublic e GMS BusinessSummitis organised under porters andcovered summit. attended the 100 international organisationsanddevelop- 100 rnet and the appearance of Blockchain, theappearanceofBlockchain, ma- rnet and the construction progress the constructionprogress om Japan, and the Mio System JSCfromVi- System om Japan,andtheMio attended by the President ofAsian Devel- ss/ai-cloud-service- ng newdrivers foreconomic growthamid nt strategicexpansion in public/private role inscience andtechnologyinnovation ctors causingprogressstagnation, if any, design of these corporate policies,of these PRISM corporate design ques of workers at construction sites, ana- sites, ofworkersatconstruction ques arency. The projectis now intheprocess mmit was jointly organised by by the Viet- organised jointly was mmit om sensors attachedtoworkers' helmets. the Advanced Construction Technology the AdvancedConstruction tives ofnearly40provinces and cities. untry develops remarkably. In Southeast Southeast In remarkably. develops untry ng theproject due toit being ahubfor neral, Executive director oftheWorld ch ministry wherech ministry efficiency inbuilding en Xuan Phuc attended and chaired andchaired en Phuc the attended Xuan sensors, cameras, and GPSattached to ages of a specific ages ofaspecific part of a construction nes of the 6th GMS Summit andthe 10th nes of Summit the 6thGMS eakout sessions that focusedon urgent efficiency and analysing data. ched the AI Cloud Service, primarily ched theAI Cloud s inrecent years, productivity can be pervised by Japan's Ministryby ofLand,pervised in collaborationwiththeMinistryof s if necessary.s if financial sources forinfra- sources financial greater efficiency at con- greater efficiency for-construction-com- 31 January 2019 31 January 31 January 2019 36 / 38 36 / 2019 January 31 is still evaluatedby is still BUSINESS Vietnam finance& business Vietnam Intellasia 6. VCCI as the largest business informat asthelargest 6. VCCI goals. development tainable sustaina and competitiveness to thegovernmitted sixrecommendations for GreenGrowthand the GlobalGoals 20 andIndustryVietnam ChamberofCommerce On thisoccasion, representatives of the Mi solutions. the introductionofglobal scale up and ships todeliver globalsustainabledevelo de 4.0" revolution industrial "Enhancingrealis competitiveness,theme of The National Conference on Sustainable De 5. National Conference on Sustainable Development interests ofenterprises. tunities; reducingfor busi tunities; businesscosts vation; ensuring business rights, equal rights to access business resources andoppor- facilitation; providingafavourable envi associations focused on suchissues as adva percentwere 546petitionsor77.89 of 2018, country through information channels. Acco VCCI directly gathered701petitions from to outresolu carry and businesscommunity with coordinated five assignedtasksand all business supportand 35/NQ-CP on Resolution tocarryout In 2018, continued VCCI 2020 ofResolution35 4. Continuedapplication to seeVietnam who continued corporations The forumwas by than750 attended more ment and business contacts. ente for providing thechance operation while the twosides discussedthe forum, At cooper paid corporations, leading dent Moon Jae-in, byabusinessaccompanied and the Korean ChamberofCommerceand The forumwasorganised bytheVietnam VietnamKorea3. Business Forum business community. andmakeitanimport 2019 nam to host VBS etnamese businesses toreach out tothe worl V affirms also but investors to international nationally, promotingVietnam's imageas an The successofVBS 2018 not onlycontribute organisations inVietnam. sentatives fromembassies,diplomatic dia, Chile and Oman, leaders of foreign businesses inVietnamas well as repre- from th and businessdelegations Forum (WEF) th delegates, includingmore success.Th great a with up wrapped 2018 VBS drivin new Revolution as Fourth Industrial the and entrepreneurship the emphasized meeting The Innovate". and Connect ness: Summ Asean (WEF) on World EconomicForum on Se etnam BusinessSummit2018(VBS2018) Following the success of the success Following 2018) 2. Vietnam (VBS Business Summit GMS governmentBusiness Dialogue. the first edition in 2017 inDaNa in first edition the an official visit to Vietnam an officialvisitto from Vietnam 22-24, March 2018. signed tofacilitateand pr an 500internationaldelega ble developmentsupport, cont the Action Programme on implementation of the ActionProgramme on implementation and economicmissions and international ion and advisory agency for WTO andimpor- ion andadvisory agencyforWTO ronment forbusinesses and supporting inno- nesses; protectingle Chamber ofCommerce and Industry (VCCI) g forces in global economic development. economic global in g forces pment goals by 2030, achieve green growth achievegreen 2030, by goals pment on business support and development to enterprises andassociationsacrossthe 30 (P4G). After theconference, VCCI sub- ment ment on policymaking for betternational nistry of Planningand Investment andthe handled. Proposals from enterprises and fromenterprises handled. Proposals CCI's roleandbrandasafocalpointforVi- business delegates including big big Korean including delegates business ncing administrative reform and business ing sustainable development goals amidst ing sustainabledevelopmentgoalsamidst s to enhancingVietnam'sreputation inter- velopment 2018 organised by VCCI with organisedbyVCCI velopment 2018 relevant agencies, tion solutions. As of November 30, 2018, tion solutions.AsofNovember30, ant annual event ofdomesticandforeign event ant annual ation in investment, andtourism trade co- Industry (KCCI) as South Korean as Presi- South (KCCI) Industry as an attractive investmentdestination. as anattractive d. This is animportant premise for Viet- rding toVCCI,bytheend ofNovember of the on thesidelines ptember 13,2018 important linkage important of global valuechain e event was attended by more than 1,300 1,300 attended bymorethan was event e rprises ofboth sides toinitiateinvest- announced the launch of the Partnering the launch of announced delegation of more than 200 leaders of 200 leaders than delegation ofmore it 2018 themed "VietnamWe mean busi- it 2018themed"VietnamWe mean development to development 2020. VCCIcarried out e United States, South Korea, China,In- South United States, e omote public-privatepartner- ng City, VCCI organised the Vi- organised the ng City,VCCI tes from the World Economic tes fromtheWorld ributing torealising sus- gitimate rights and business associations 31 January 2019 31 January 31 January 2019 37 / 38 37 / 2019 January 31 BUSINESS Vietnam finance& business Vietnam Intellasia End http://vccinews.com/news_detail.asp to general remedies well as gration, especially the use of anti-dumping, anti-subsidy and safeguard measures as These activities supported enterprises with Television, newspapers and magazines. Assembly's ratification on mass channemedia gration; carried out communi TPP, ACFTA-AHKFTA and EVFTA; compil conferences on free trade agreements towh veloped countries." VCCI joined anddeli ments forfootwearenterprises,"and"Rulesor and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Paci agreements,publications composednine to theseagreements. the consulted VCCI VCCI to carried outmany suppor activities ofnew-generati enforcement the Prior to agreements trade tant trade inVietnam and theworld. cation campaigns on CPTPP at CPTPP on cation campaigns ?news_id=36560&parent_id=0&cate_id=1 on free trade agreements (FTAs), in 2018, in2018, (FTAs), trade agreements on free vered presentationsat business community on international trade and businessmanualson "Comprehensive fic Partnership (CPTPP),""FTAcommit- fic t the business communi ich Vietnam is a signatory, including CP- including signatory, a is Vietnam ich legal issues ofconcerns on economic inte- ed 20commentsand researches on inte- ls like VTV1, VTC10, National Assembly igin and procedures of origin in less de- less in origin of procedures and igin the back of the National the oftheNational back 23 seminars and seminarsand 23 31 January 2019 31 January ty on issuesrelated 31 January 2019 38 / 38 38 / 2019 January 31