UN suspends food handouts in Pakistan's Bajaur

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) said Monday it had suspended food distribution in a lawless Pakistani tribal district where a woman suicide bomber killed more than 40 people.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for Saturday's attack in Bajaur, one of Pakistan's seven semi-autonomous tribal districts bordering Afghanistan, in what was Pakistan's first known suicide attack carried out by a woman.

"WFP has temporarily suspended food distribution in Bajaur following the attack at a police checkpoint several hundred metres away from WFP's food distribution point," spokeswoman Jackie Dent told AFP.

"We are talking with the district authorities and hoping to resume the distribution as soon as possible."

"Our top priority is the safety and well-being of our beneficiaries and staff, and we are committed to continue assisting the people of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas as they work to rebuild their lives," Dent said.

WFP provides general food rations to approximately 294,000 internally displaced people in Bajaur, where the Pakistani military has been fighting against homegrown Taliban militants since August 2008.

So far this year, WFP has provided assistance to an estimated 2.6 million IDPs, returnees and local people in the northwest.

Zakir Hussain Afridi, the top administration official in Bajaur, said that hair, along with parts of hands and feet "leaves no doubt that the bomber was a woman".

Pakistan has claimed repeatedly to have eliminated the Islamist militant threat in Bajaur, part of the tribal belt that the United States considers the global headquarters of Al-Qaeda and among the most dangerous places on Earth.

Around 4,000 people have died in suicide and bomb attacks across Pakistan since government forces raided an extremist mosque in Islamabad in 2007. The attacks have been blamed on networks linked to the Taliban and Al-Qaeda.

National Patriotic Emulation Congress opens

The 8th National Patriotic Emulation Congress opened at the National Convention Centre in Hanoi on December 27 with the participation of 1,500 eminent delegates from across the country.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung is chairman of the Central Council for Emulation and Reward.

The aim is to review the results of the emulation movement in the past five years and discuss ways of improving the quality of patriotic emulation and rewarding to contribute to the successful implementation of the socio-economic development plan for the next period 2011-2015.

Present at the opening session were Party General Secretary Nong Duc Manh, former Party General Secretary Le Kha Phieu, former President Tran Duc Luong, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung who is also chairman of the Central Council for Emulation and Reward, National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Phu Trong, permanent member of the Party Central Committee’s Secretariat Truong Tan Sang and President of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee Huynh Dam.

The nation’s position further strengthened

In his speech PM Dung said the congress is the great festival of the national patriotic emulation movements which have been launched over the past five years.

On June 11, 1948, late President Ho Chi Minh initiated a patriotic emulation movement, calling on all people to respond to the movement. Over the past 62 years, the whole Party and people have launched many similar movements, encouraging all people and soldiers to overcome difficulties and join efforts to bring the Vietnamese revolution to glorious victories.

In the renewal process, emulation and rewarding has changed in both content and form. The movement is now closely connected with the campaign “Study and Follow President Ho Chi Minh’s moral examples” with a view to bringing into play the integrated strength of the entire people to ensure the steady sustainable development of the nation.

PM Dung affirmed that the patriotic emulation movements have played an important role in the revolutionary cause of the Party and the nation.

Over the past five years, Vietnam has faced a lot of difficulties and challenges, rising from the effects of the global financial downturn, natural disasters, epidemics and acts of sabotage by hostile forces.

Promoting the patriotic emulation tradition initiated by late President Ho Chi Minh and implementing the Politburo’s directive 39 on strengthening the emulation movement, the emulation and rewarding has helped to encourage the entire people to make greater achievements in all fields of economics, culture, social affairs, national defence, security and external relations.

PM Dung said that the results of emulation and rewarding over the past five years have made it possible for the country to weather the global economic crisis, maintain macroeconomic stability, keep the economy in balance, maintain high economic growth rate (6.7 percent in 2010) and improve the people’s living conditions and social welfare. Vietnam’s sovereignty, politic security and social order have been maintained, its position and the national great unity bloc have been strengthened along with the building of the Party and the political system.

Expanding emulation movement across the country

Vice President Nguyen Thi Doan who is vice chairwoman of the Central Council for Emulation and Reward, said that over the past five years emulation and rewarding has been given due attention by the Party, government agencies and Fatherland Front organisations at all levels to keep pace with the campaign “Study and Follow President Ho Chi Minh’s moral example”.

It has greatly contributed to stepping up the process of national construction, defence and development.

Over the past five years, the Party and State have presented:

- 80,764 anti-American resistance war medals and orders

- 8,199 anti-French resistance war medals and orders

- 6,329 Prime Minister’s certificates of merit

and completed rewarding those actively involved in the two resistance wars.

Hanoi unveils plan to beautify the city

Hanoi will spend VND3.3 trillion (US$ 165 billion) in the next five years in an effort to improve its infrastructure and beautify the city, according to a new plan released by city authorities.

Under a draft plan proposed by the city's Department of Construction, a total of 174 projects will be carried out from 2011-2015 that are expected to bring about a dramatic change to the face of the capital.

Nguyen The Hung, deputy director of the Department of Construction said most of the planned projects would involve improving water drainage and lighting systems, upgrading road surfaces and burying electricity and telecommunications cables.

The work will start in the city centre and move to the outskirts.

The city would also invest money to upgrade squares, parks and flower-gardens, he said.

According to the plan, which was unveiled last week, the first phase will start next year involving 40 projects costing approximately VND 602 billion ($30.1 billion). Each district and town in the city will have at least one project.

More than 100 projects will be carried out as part of the next phase from 2012-2015, expected to cost more than VND2 trillion ($100 billion)

In 2010, the city carried out 69 renovation projects on the occasion of its 1,000th anniversary. However, the implementation of so many projects in such a short period of time was criticised by many Hanoians, for turning the city into a giant construction site for the first 10 months of the year before the grand ceremony started in October.

Reports from the Department of Construction also showed that a remarkable number of projects were not finished on time, and those that were, did not meet sufficient standards. This was largely due to contractor failings and the complexity of the work.

Failed rocket launch threatens India's space ambitions

The explosion of an Indian space rocket is likely to hit the country's efforts to push further into the global market for launching commercial satellites, experts warned Sunday.

The unmanned Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) blew up live on television Saturday less than one minute after launch, at the start of a mission to put a communications satellite into orbit.

The accident was the second setback for India this year following the crash in April of a rocket that was meant to showcase domestically built booster technology, from the same site in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh.

On Sunday, scientists at the Indian space project began their search into the cause of the latest failure.

"Teams are looking at the data to find out the reason for what happened," Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) spokesman S. Satish said. "A failure analysis committee is likely to be constituted in the next one or two days."

The GSLV veered from its intended flight path and was intentionally blown up 47 seconds after take-off at a height of about eight kilometres (five miles) over the Bay of Bengal.

Experts called on the ISRO to go back to drawing board with the 1.75-billion-rupee (39-million-dollar) GSLV before attempting to offer the rocket as a platform for international satellite launches.

They also warned that India's ambitions to send its first manned space flight in 2016 were under threat.

"Saturday's failure will certainly produce delays," space scientist M.N. Vahia told the Times of India.

"If my payload was being flown on this mission using a GSLV, I would certainly want this rocket to be tested and evaluated more thoroughly.

"What happened is unnerving as India's reputation as a reliable space launching country has taken a serious dent."

India first staked its claim for a share of the lucrative commercial satellite-launch market by sending an Italian satellite into orbit in 2007.

In 2008, it launched an Israeli spy satellite and separately put a probe on the moon's surface in an event that the ISRO hoped would give the country international recognition in the space business.

U.R. Rao, a former ISRO chairman, urged India not to be put off by the recent setbacks.

"There's always a general worry and unhappiness when a launch fails. But we can't allow that to bog us down," he said. "We have to zero in on the problem and work out an appropriate solution."

India sees its space exploration programme as an achievement that underlines its emergence as a major world economy, and many Indians take great patriotic pride in its development.

Vietnam, Cambodia and U.S. embark on horticultural mission

Regional universities are setting out to improve horticultural crop production, marketing, and postharvest activities in Vietnam and neighboring Cambodia.   

The universities will work in coordination with the U.S. Government on a three year project funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the Horticulture Collaborative Research Support Program recently awarded a $500,000 grant to a research team at the University of California, Davis, for a project that will address some of the greatest challenges facing farmers.

“These funds will be used to help farmers produce vegetables for the Vietnamese and Cambodian people that meet high standards of quality, safety, and nutrition,” said lead researcher, Cary Trexler.

The project is designed to empower small-scale farmers, 59 percent of whom are women, with education and training for sustainable vegetable production that limits postharvest losses, increases food safety, increases market access, and increases income.

Collaborating with the Hanoi University of Agriculture, University of Agriculture and Forestry in Ho Chi Minh City, and the CAM Royal University of Agriculture, faculty members and the local Departments of Agriculture and Rural Development will create a network of people to help farmers solve problems related to producing and marketing safe vegetables and enhance farmers' income and livelihoods.  

The grant for research in Vietnam and Cambodia is one of five projects under the USAID-sponsored program across 15 developing countries that add a research-based approach to horticultural development.

Ho Chi Minh City: road accidents drop, toll down, congestion up

According to the latest statistics, the number of traffic accidents in Ho Chi Minh City has dropped by 969 cases, a 7.7% decrease so far this year.

Compared to the same period last year, the number of traffic-related deaths is also down (788 deaths or an 8% decrease) with 404 injuries (9.8% decrease).

However, traffic congestion incidents have not been tackled successfully.

Local authorities will try to reduce traffic death toll by 5% next year by increasing street patrols and improving infrastructure, assured Nguyen Ngoc Tuong - deputy chairman of the city Traffic Safety Committee.

In related news, so far this year, city police have succeeded in breaking up 270 racing gangs.

Central Highlands see positive socio-economic changes

The Central Highlands Steering Committee held a conference in Buon Ma Thuot, Dak Lak province on December 27 to review ten years of implementing the political bureau’s resolution on socio-economic development and national defence and security in the Central Highland region in the 2001-2010 period.

Over the past ten years, localities in the central highlands have achieved impressive results in socio-economic development. The average income per capita in the region increased remarkably from VND2.9 million in 2001 to VND15.5 million in 2010 (making up 67 percent of the nation’s average rate with economic growth rate reaching 11.9 percent per year.

In the reviewed period, the Central Highlands upgraded to two first-tier urban areas, and established two cities and four towns. Infrastructure in both urban and rural areas in the region improved. 91 percent of communes possessed roads leading to the centre while 98 percent of hamlets had access to the national grid. All communes have primary schools, kindergarten, and health stations. Five provinces in the region have completed compulsory high school education.

Vocational training and job generation also gained positive results with nearly 1 million recruited workers including more than 180,000 ethnic minority people. The unemployment in urban area dropped to 2.51 percent. Nearly 111,000 households escaped poverty. The proportion of poor households fell to just 10.34 percent. In the ethnic minority group alone, the rate of poor households dropped sharply from 47.8 percent in 2006 to 19.9 percent in 2010.

Delegates also pointed out some shortcomings in the region. For example, socio-economic infrastructure in the region remains low while the quality of human resources has not been improved. While the rate of poor households decreased sharply, the rate of households fall into poverty again remained high. Over 11,000 households have had enough land for production.

Deputy Head of the steering committee, Tran Viet Hung said poverty reduction and hunger elimination for ethnic minority groups remained an urgent task for the region. Therefore, he said it is necessary to improve infrastructure in the region.

Coins as cash a dying breed in Hanoi

Coins have been almost entirely removed from transactions in Hanoi nowadays, even though they were favoured just a few years ago.

Coins have been almost entirely removed from transactions in Hanoi nowadays.

Ms Thanh, who lives on Hai Ba Trung in Hanoi, said that she has not kept coins in her pocket while going to the market for a long time as they are no longer preferred.

“Even onion sellers refuse to receive coins. One day, I ran out of small bills and was forced to pay in coins but the seller allowed me take the items and pay later with bills, refusing to accept coins,” Thanh said.

When asked, a seller in the Hanoi-based Dong Xuan market said, “You should take your coins back to a piggy bank for memories, I cannot accept payment in coins. Even though you go to other stores, you may be scolded for paying in coins.”

Concerning this issue, Ms. Hai Ha, an administrative official of a Hanoi-based company said, “I go to supermarkets to buy stationery for my company monthly and sometimes receive coins, I often return them or exchange it for candy. Nowadays, people no longer use coins as this type of money may be worth nothing in time.”

After short-term trial operation, a soda machine using coins, which was installed in front of the Hanoi Railway Station, brought in revenues of around VND100,000 (USD5) per day but coins have been gradually kept out of circulation.

Tung Anh, a pupil of grade 7 in Hanoi said, “I sometimes receive some coins from my parents for my piggy bank but when I broke my money-box the coins became blackened. Since then, my parents no longer give allowance to me in coins.”

Many people explained that they prefer light and tidy money while coins are easy to go missing due to the small size, regardless of its weight.

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), on December 17, 2003, issued coins with face values of VND5,000; VND1,000 and VND200. On April 1, 2004, the institution issued additional coins with values of VND2,000 and VND500 in order to increase the amount of coins in circulation upon the market demand.

By May 2005, coins had accounted for one fourth of change in circulation and this type of money was used more widely at the time. In the same year, SBV requested the Government to reduce circulation of paper money with small face value to boost coin use. Some state-owned enterprises including Vietnam Post & Telecommunications Corporation (VNPT), Saigon Post and Telecommunications Services Corporation (Saigon Postel) and three foreign telecom firms installed telephone posts using coins and automatic goods sellers.

However, SBV Governor Nguyen Van Giau admitted at the 11th National Assembly’s 6th session that the plan on boosting coin use was ineffective and attributed it to the previous governor’s responsibility. Giau added that he had requested to stop printing more coins and recall substandard ones.

Hackers pose growing threat to internet banking system

VietNamNet Bridge – Hackers attacked more than 1,000 websites last year, double the 2008 figure and three times more than that in 2007, said Pham Viet The, head of the Computing Department at the Ministry of Public Security.

A survey of 40 banks conducted by the Bach Khoa Inter-network Security Centre (BKIS) found that 20 of them were unsecured.

The investigation revealed vulnerabilities in money transfers and discovered that the password recovery function to user accounts could also be used to change the customer's password. Customer question and complaint forms could be used to install dangerous codes into the server and control the internet banking system, the survey found.

Banking security networks were always at risk of being attacked if they did not have proper management systems, said director of the Ministry of Information and Communications' Viet Nam Computer Emergency Response Team (VNCERT) Vu Quoc Khanh, adding that the banking sector was a favourite target for hi-tech criminals.

Statistics show that 80 per cent of banks nationwide have established, or planned to establish, internet banking solutions. However, there is an agreement within the sector that internet banking increases the risk that banks will be attacked by network criminals.

Dang Manh Pho, director of the IT Department at the Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam (BIDV), said the bank had made significant investments in technology, including a banking security system which accounted for 20-30 per cent of the total costs. The bank spent VND1.6 trillion (US$82 million) on its banking security network in 2009 and another VND1 trillion ($47.6 million) in 2010.

BKIS experts offered solutions for banks to overcome the risks to their internet banking systems, such as independent assessments to determine the weaknesses in their systems combined with application of ISO 27001 standards on information security management, overall computer anti-virus solutions and digital signature certification to secure bank transactions.

Nguyen Minh Duc, general director of BKIS, said the existing vulnerabilities in network securities at Vietnamese banks was attributed to the lack of an independent security assessment process of internet banking systems as well as a lack of standards on information security.

The US will be a tough negotiator in TPP?

VietNamNet Bridge – It is still early to talk about what Vietnam will gain and lose when it joins the Trans-Pacific Economic Partnership Agreement (TPP). However, analysts say that TPP will be a challenging game until the US recognises Vietnam’s economy as market economy.

The story about the origin of goods

Since November 13, 2010, Vietnam has officially began the negotiations for TPP. Of the nine members the US proves to be the toughest partner for negotiating favourable TPP terms for Vietnam.

The US has set up disadvantageous conditions for a small economy like Vientam, and analysts say Vietnam would not enjoy benefit from tariff cuts and increase exports to the US.

Let’s talk about what will happen to Vietnam’s four key export products, garment, footwear, seafood and wooden furniture.

Jay L.Eizenstat, lawyer from Miller & Chevallier, who once joined the US’ negotiations for free trade agreements (FTA), said that in TPP, the US may use the frame tax of 0-6 percent on seafood, 0-32 percent on garment, 0-37.5 percent on footwear and offer tax exemption on wooden furniture products.

However, Vietnam’s seafood and wooden furniture exports to the US are enjoying tax exemption already.

The other two key products, footwear and garment, are are subject to high tax rates when entering the US market. These two industries are not included in tariff reductions within TPP.

Eizenstat said that the US may apply very strict rules on the origin of the products. For example, the imports to the US must be made of fibre mateiral from TPP’s members. And if Vietnamese garment and footwear products are made of materials from third countries which are not members of TPP, the products will not be able to enjoy TPP’s tax preferences.

The third countries include China.

It is clear that with the materials now mostly imported from China, Vietnam will find it difficult to take full advantage of TPP.

Dr. Nguyen Thi Thu Trang, from Legal Department under the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) said that the above given example shows that for Vietnam, TPP will not be beneficial, unless it manages to negotiate some good terms.

The challenges in “playing” with big countries

Trang stressed that everyone knows that the US always applies very strict technical barriers. “Even when the tariff is low, whether exporters can take full advantage of the low tariff would be another story,” Trang said.

“If Vietnamese products cannot meet the technical requirements set by the US, while the US sometimes sets up new requirements, the advantages in TPP will be neutralised,” Trang said.

“Supposed that we can meet all the requirements, and we can enjoy the zero percent tariff and we hope to boost exports to the US, there will still be one more risks to face – the anti-dumping lawsuits.

“There are always a degree of risk and lawsuits may be raised at any time, when Vietnam’s exports to the US increase sharply,” Trang said.

Meanwhile, since Vietnam still has not been recognised as a market economy, it does not have many opportunities to win the lawsuits.

Eizenstat also admitted that TPP will not help reduce the risk of facing anti-dumping lawsuits from the US, unless Vietnam can meet the standards of a market economy.

Meanwhile, the US viewpoint is that there will not be two “regimes” in TPP, which means that the roadmap for market opening will be the same for all members. In other words, Vietnam will not get any preferential treatment and it will have to play on the same field with big economies.

96 percent of Vietnamese businesses say “yes” to TPP negotiations

Despite the big anticipated challenges, 96 percent of businesses polled by VCCI said that Vietnam should be a member of TPP.

It is clear that TPP would not be a perfect solution for Vietnam in the global economic integration. As for trade, maybe TPP would not bring a large advantage to the national economy. However, businesses believe that TPP can bring many smaller advantages. while, if Vietnam does not join TPP, there won’t be any advantages at all.

Businessses said that with TPP, they can see the opportunities to import technologies at reasonable prices from the US instead of importing technologies from neighbouring countries at high prices.

Pham Chi Lan, a well known economist, said that with TPP multilateral negotiations, Vietnam should put the issue of asking the US to recognise Vietnam as a market economy on the table, the thing which will be unattainable in Vietnam-US bilateral negotiations

Why does the US urge Vietnam to join TPP?

As for the US, TPP would be a “century’s agreement”, because this will be the only channel to get involved in the FTAs, the number of which has been increasing sharply in Asia Pacific

In particular, TPP proves to be the best solution for the US to increase its benefits in the economic and external policies with South East Asia. Only with TPP, the US will be able to strengthen its position as the counterpoint to China, the second biggest economy in the world.

looking at current TPP’s members, Chile, Peru, Singapore and New Zealand, one can see that the four countries already have FTAs with the US. Therefore, in TPP negotiations, the four economies will not be the targets of the US. This means that Vietnam will be an important partner in trade negotiations.

The US has been continuously urging Vietnam to sit for the negotiations for TPP. The recent visits of the US Deputy Trade Chief of Representative and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are the evidence.

It is clear that Vietnam is not an unimportant target for the US, and that Vietnam’s position is quite different from the positions of other countries that the US has FTAs with.

SABECO requests Singaporean partner to change its name

VietNamNet Bridge – Regarding the case in which Vietnamese Saigon Beer Alcohol Beverage (SABECO) faces the risk of being swallowed by the Singaporean partner, SABECO’s Marketing Director Le Hong Xanh has told VietNamNet that SABECO has requested the Singaporean partner to change the name of the company in order to avoid misunderstanding.
Who to blame on SABECO brand case?
SABECO is a Singaporean brand?
The Singaporean partner has agreed to change name

When talking with VietNamNet’s Vietnam Economic Forum, Xanh has informed that SABECO has asked the Singaporean partner, SABECO ASIA PACIFIC, to change its name in order to avoid misunderstanding and settle the case.

“And the partner has changed its name already,” Xanh said.

When asked about the new name of the partner, Xanh said he does not know the new name of the company..

When VietNamNet’s reporters asked what SABECO explained to their Singaporean partner when requesting they change their name from SABECO ASIA PACIFIC, Xanh did not give answer and requested the reporters contact Mr Hoa, the Administration and Legal Director of SABECO.. However VietNamNet’s reporters could not contact Mr Hoa on November 30, because he did not pick up the phone or return any phone calls.

Xanh has also confirmed that to date, SABECO has completed the registration for its trademark and protection for it company’s name in Singapore.

However, according to Xanh, the registration for protection of the company’s was only submitted “some one or two months ago, while the registration for trademark protection was completed “a long time ago”. When asked how long is “a long time ago”, Xanh said “several years ago”.

In fact, the plan to register for trademark protection (the logo with the dragon image and four trademarks of four products – Saigon Lager, Saigon Export, Saigon Special and 333 can) in six countries (Singapore, India, Cambodia, Myanmar, China and Madrid in Spain) was only submitted by SABECO’s marketing division to the general director on April 1, 2010.

According to Xanh, the registration for the protection of the company’s name was wrapped up 1-2 months ago. However, that is still too late if compared with the contract signed with SABECO ASIA PACIFIC (the contract was signed on December 11, 2009). However, better late than never.

When asked: “At the time when SABECO intended to sign a valuable long-term contract with SABECO ASIA PACIFIC, why did SABECO not register for the trademark and company’s name protection in order to avoid such troubles?”, Xanh, once again, declined to give answer, asking the reporters to contact Mr Hoa.

Again, Mr. Hoa still did not answer the phone.

Many deadly problems occurred
A lawyer in Hanoi who has substantial experience with intellectual property cases told VietNamNet that if there are no other agreements except the business contract, it is clear that SABECO, the holding company, and SATRACO, the subsidiary, were negligent when signing such a valuable contract with SABECO ASIA PACIFIC.

The lawyer identified some “loopholes” after reading the principle contract No 01EXC/SATRACO-AP dated December 11, 2009 signed between SATRACO and SABECO ASIA PACIFIC. He said that the shortcomings in the provisions of the contract may allow the Singaporean partner to exploit the loopholes and spontaneously use the brand name.

Doubts have been raised if the Singaporean partner has actually changed its name.

“I think Vietnamese SABECO can ask the partner to change its stamp, but it will be difficult to ask the partner to change its name, because SABECO ASIA PACIFIC registered its name in Singapore and it does not violate any laws. At the time when SABECO ASIA PACIFIC registered its name in Singapore, the name “SABECO” was not protected in the country,” the lawyer said. “I still cannot tell fact from fiction in this case,” he added.

How to ease the “dollar fever”?

VietNamNet Bridge – State management agencies blame speculation for the dollar price fever. People rush to purchase dollars, while businesses refuse to sell dollars to banks. why do people and businesses try to hoard dollars?

Uncertainties encourage speculation

Thanh Minh, 38, who lives in Hanoi, has to check the dollar price every day, because he wants to purchase dollars to pay his debts. Minh bought a car earlier this year on the installment plan. Since the car’s price was in dollars, it has become more expensive because of the steady dollar increase. Minh has decided to pay debts right now, or else he will not be able to pay debts if the increase continues.

on the morning of December 1, Minh bought dollars on the black market at 21,570 dong per dollar. The dollar price has increased by 2000 dong per dollar just over the past two months. The price has exceeded the record threshold of 21,500 dong per dollar and it is coming closer to 21,600 dong.

“Several months ago, when the dollar price began increasing, I decided not to buy dollars at this moment, because I hoped the dollar price would go down again. The central bank promised to stabilize the dollar price,” Minh said.

Minh is not alone. Many other people have the same problem. The debts they incur have increased by tens to hundreds of millions dong over the past few months just because of the dollar increase. Fearing further increases, people rush to buy dollars on the black market,.

Thanh Phuong, whom VIetNamNet’s reporter met on Ha Trung street foreign currency market on December 1, related that she has bought $200,000. Phuong believes that she made a right decision. She got the money from selling an apartment in Thanh Xuan District and she initially intended to reinvest it in the real estate market. However, she later realized that the real estate market is too quiet, while the gold and dollar prices keep increasing. “Keeping dollars proves to be the best way to keep your assets at this moment,” Phuong said. 

Meanwhile, Huy Nam in Dinh Cong new urban area, who has a saving of one billion dong which he intends to use to build a new house, has also decided to purchase dollars. “I feel anxious about the dollar increases, therefore, I have to keep my money in dollars,” Nam explained.

The strange thing is that the more the dollar price increases, the more people rush to purchase dollars. The owners of the exchange shops on Ha Trung street also said the demand for dollars will increase further, because people believe the dollar will continue to rise.

Tran Du Lich, Head of the HCM City Economics Institute, commented that people feel anxious when the inflation rate is increasing. The Ministry of Industry and Trade has admitted that keeping the inflation rate at one-digit level would be an impossible mission. People would not rush to buy dollars if the dong/dollar exchange rate is stable, but they will rush to collect dollars if they see uncertainties. It is clear that uncertainties encourage speculation.

The real demands

It is estimated that in 2010, the total foreign currency purchase turnover would be $58.5 billion, a decrease of 12 percent over 2009, while the total sale turnover would reach $59.92 billion, down by 4.3 percent. The dong mobilized capital is estimated to reach 579,430 billion dong (+ 30.8 percent), and foreign currency mobilized capital 195,820 billion dong (+ 17 percent). The dong outstanding loans would reach 501,650 billion dong by the end of the year, while the outstanding loans in foreign currencies 198,160 billion dong.

The figures show that the dollar outstanding loans would be relatively high. Meanwhile, the demand for dollars is increasing because people always try to pay debts at the end of the year. In fact, the high demand for dollars towards the end of the year has been anticipated.

In November 2010, the import turnover reached $1.3 billion, the highest level in the last nine months, which has raised the trade deficit to $10.7 billion. It is estimated that the total trade deficit may reach $12 billion for the whole year 2010.

The Prime Minister has instructed the State Bank to follow a flexible monetary policy which to control the volume of cash in circulation. He also requested the State Bank to apply necessary measures to control the foreign currency exchange rates more tightly and ease the speculation.

Vietnam’s import-export turnover increases 22% in 11 months

VietNamNet Bridge - The total import-export turnover of Vietnam has reached US$139.22 billion in the first eleven months of the year, an increase of 21.9 percent over the same period last year, said General Directorate of Customs.

Seafood sees the highest growth in export revenue at an estimated $4.9 billion, 6.5 percent higher than planned, a year-on-year increase of 16.4 percent.

In the past 11 months, export turnover posted more than $64.28 billion, a 24.5 percent year-on-year increase.

The growth of export turnover in the past 11 months was attributed to the increase in most commodity prices, including agricultural products from 4.8 percent to 83.8 percent; crude oil, 33.9 percent; and coal, 53.2 percent.

Of agricultural product, cassava saw the highest increase of 83.8 per cent; rubber, 81.2 percent; cashew, 21.2 percent; pepper, 39 percent; tea, 11 percent; and rice, 4.8 percent.

Although facing difficulties regarding input materials and trade barriers from foreign markets, seafood still saw the highest growth in export revenue at an estimated $4.9 billion, 6.5 percent higher than planned, a year-on-year increase of 16.4 percent.

Rice export prices surged significantly since the beginning of last month, ranging from $490 to $500 per ton. Higher export prices and stable demand for rice from importers will assure rice export revenues reach 6.6 million tons or $3.08 billion for the entire year.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MIT) announced that there was a shortage of coffee supply for the global market, causing coffee prices to continue increasing which in turn would buoy Viet Nam's coffee products. This year, coffee exports were estimated at 1.15 million tons accounting for a revenue of $1.74 billion, 4.5 percent higher in volume and 1.5 percent greater in earnings than expected.

Export rubber revenues will reach $2.23 billion, increasing $956 million. Despite an increase in costs for input materials, textile and garment revenues exceeded $1billion last month.

MIT estimated textile and garment revenues of the entire year would total $11 billion, a year-on-year increase of 21.3 percent, surpassing the 5.1 percent planned, worth $500 million.

While import turnover over the past 11 months climbed to $75 billion, a 19.8% increase year on year. By November 2010, trade gap stood at $10.7 billion, as much as 16.7% of total export turnover.
According to economists, more effective measures must be taken to stabilize the national economy while Vietnamese Dong- US dollar exchange rate remains high and the trade deficit continues.Source: SGGP