Monday, August 31, 2009

VN-Index goes past 540 despite fuel price hikes, Asian losses

The Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange Monday ignored increases in fuel prices and losses in Asian markets, rising 1.9 percent to 546.78, the highest since September 4.

Of the VN-Index's 170 members, 143 increased and 11 decreased while 16 were unchanged.

Turnover shot up to nearly 70 million shares worth VND3 trillion (US$168.3 million) from last Friday's 56 million worth 2.2 trillion.

In Hanoi, the HNX-Index climbed 2.7 percent to finish at 172.17.

Elsewhere in Asia, Chinese shares closed down 6.74 percent, Hong Kong shares closed 1.86 percent lower, and Japanese stocks ended down 0.4 percent.

Ngo Huu Hung, chief analyst at Ho Chi Minh City-based Dai Viet Securities, said, "Positive news showing economic recovery in the international markets have heartened Vietnamese investors lately and will continue supporting gains in the local stock market.

"The market may have some days with declines over the next few weeks, but its uptrend will definitely be extended into the next few months, as we have about one more month to go until the time when companies start to release earnings results, and they are expected to be good.

"As for the health of the domestic economy, there has been positive news lately including slowing inflation which may point to the government loosening monetary policy, and that will also support gains in the local market.

"I would expect the VN-Index to reach 600 by the end of October with rising daily trading volumes."

Vietnam Dairy Product Joint-Stock Co. (VNM), the biggest listed company on the exchange, advanced 1.3 percent to VND158,000. The Ho Chi Minh City-based company plans to buy back 15,320 shares, starting Monday, according to a statement on the exchange's website. The purchase will be completed by December 31.

Phuoc Hoa Rubber Co. (PHR), which operates a rubber plantation, rose 0.6 percent to VND48,300. The company's chief accountant Duong Van Khen will buy 50,000 shares, starting Monday to raise his holdings to 0.06 percent from zero, according to a statement filed on the exchange's website.

Saigon Fuel Joint-Stock Co. (SFC), which sells gasoline and other petroleum products, jumped 4.9 percent, the biggest advance since July 24, to VND85,000.

The government allowed oil product importers to raise their retail fuel prices by up to 8.3 percent on Sunday.

Source: Thanh Nien, Bloomberg

http://www.thanhniennews.com/business/?catid=2&newsid=52200


Wednesday, August 26, 2009

European Cyber-Gangs Target Small U.S. Firms, Group Says

By Brian Krebs
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Organized cyber-gangs in Eastern Europe are increasingly preying on small and mid-size companies in the United States, setting off a multimillion-dollar online crime wave that has begun to worry the nation's largest financial institutions.

Read the whole story from Washington Post.

Monday, August 24, 2009

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Friday, August 21, 2009

Cautiously, overseas Vietnamese eye real estate investments

17:14' 18/08/2009 (GMT+7)
VietNamNet Bridge – Viet Kieu (overseas Vietnamese) will be allowed to purchase real estate in their own names from September 1, 2009. However, experts doubt the new policy will cause any immediate changes in the real estate market.

Ownership transfer transactions will increase

Two months ago, Luong's relative in Germany asked her to help buy another apartment on Hoang Hoa Tham street in Hanoi.

According to Luong, the relative decided to invest money in real estate in Vietnam after he heard that apartment prices in Hanoi keep rising. Luong has purchased five apartments so far this year as 'authorised' by her Viet Kieu relatives.

Luong said that when the new policy on allowing Viet Kieu to purchase houses in Vietnam takes effect on September 1, she will transfer ownership to the real owners of the apartments.

Nguyen Van Tam, Director of GTC Real Estate, part of the TSQ Finance Group owned by a Viet Kieu in Poland, also thinks that when the new policy becomes effective, there will be more transfers of ownership than purchases.

In fact, Viet Kieu have been purchasing houses, apartments and time-shares in Vietnam for a long time as investments. They are well-represented in the most attractive real estate market segments.

The 13 hectare, $59 million 'Viet Kieu Chau Au (European) Village' is a 100 percent Viet Kieu-financed project east of Hanoi City, kicked off in 2007. Another high grade apartment project, TSQ's 'Euro Land,' capitalized at $70 million, is expected to cover an area of 8,200 square metre in the Mo Lao new urban area west of central Hanoi.

According to Tam, 35 to 40 percent of the buyers in Viet Kieu Chau Au village are Viet Kieu. Tam claimed that it is not clear if the Viet Kieu buy the houses and apartments for their own use or for speculation. However, he believes that many of them intend to live in the units because they have been keeping a close watch over the implementation of the project and adjusting the plans to their individual preference.

It is estimated that 60-70 percent of buyers now will be buying the apartments from original buyers instead of purchasing directly from the investor. The apartments are offered at $1,000 per square metre, up from $900-920 per square metre. Villas are now on offer at 55 million dong (about $3000) per square metre.

The director of a real estate brokerage said that speculators well understand the new policy and they have put down deposits on a lot of apartments and villas at the projects which they think will be attractive to Viet Kieu. However, they have been discouraged by the lower-than-expected influx of investment money from overseas Vietnamese buyers.
Lam, a real estate broker, said that the market has been quiet over the last month with very few successful transactions.

The market will not see big changes soon

Commenting about the outlook for Viet Kieu buyers, Tam said that more sales will be made, but big changes won't be evident when the new policy takes effect. In this market, so far characterized by 'underground transactions,' investors will spend some time watching to see how the new policy is implemented and defining the market tendency.

Tam has sold units in Viet Kieu Chau Au Village. He doubts that Viet Kieu house purchases will affect the real estate market in short term. Not all Viet Kieu can afford real estate products in Vietnam. Some experts believe that the prices have been pushed up high by speculators.

Tam said that Viet Kieu always think more carefully than Vietnamese people before they decide to purchase houses or apartments. At first, they will want to see how the revised law is implemented, and be confident that the market will develop in a stable way.

According to the Ministry of Construction, only 140 Viet Kieu have officially purchased houses in Vietnam since 2001, when certain categories of overseas Vietnamese were permitted to purchase houses in a trial basis. However, the revised law drops virtually all restrictions on such transactions. That's why experts believe that in long term, the real estate market for Viet Kieu will see strong growth.

In 2008, the members of the Vietnamese diaspora sent $8 billion in remittances to their relatives in Vietnam, an increase of 19 percent over 2007. Much of this money is invested in small businesses and projects.

It is estimated that some 3,000 businesses which have capital contribution by Viet Kieu and 60 percent of such projects have been going profitably. The figures show the great potentials of the market and make people believe that Viet Kieu investors will put money into many more investment projects.

VietNamNet/TBKTVN

Source: http://english.vietnamnet.vn/biz/2009/08/864073/

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

VN’s pharmaceutical industry needs hi-tech investment

Although Vietnam has a treasure of abundant and diverse sources of pharmaceutical materials, including nearly 4,000 herbal plants, the country's pharmaceutical industry currently depends on material imported from China to make up medicines. To exploit its own resources, it is necessary for Vietnam to boost investments in hi-tech extraction technologies.

A technician determines the quality of active element 10 DAB III and Taxol from Taxaceae via chromatography analysis (Photo: SGGP)

Latest statistical reports from the Drug Administration of Vietnam indicated that in 2008, locally-produced medicines meet just 50.18 percent of demand, with eighty percent of materials for the production of medicine imported from foreign countries, mainly from China.

Pharmacist Nguyen Tien Hung, chairman of the Board of Directors of the Vietnam Medical Products Import - Export Company (Vimedimex) blamed the situation for the fact that Vietnam has not yet made adequate investment in modern separation and extraction technologies to exploit medicinal plants. 

Reality shows that extraction technology of medicinal plants in the country is still underdeveloped. At present, Vietnam does not have any large hi-tech extraction plants. Most oriental medicine businesses build small scale plants, which are suitable for their own production demand.

The main extraction method employed in such plants is just intended for concentrating glues at normal pressure. Extraction plants built in areas where herbal plants are grown as materials, if any, are also small, equipped with rudimentary machines and equipment. Such plants are only used for producing one or two kinds of glues.

Thanks to the growing tendency among consumers to use herbal remedies, a number of oriental medicine businesses have begun to invest in modern plants equipped with controllable heat extraction technology. 

No matter how modern they are, such plants cannot produce high-quality medicinal medicines that can compete with imported products because they are still falling short in extraction processes.

Mr Hung pointed out that last year, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung approved a project to boost the development of the pharmaceutical industry and build a drug distribution system for the stages 2007 - 2015 and 2016-2020. 

The PM also issued two decisions to stimulate the investment in plants to extract active elements from pharmaceutical materials, but no company has gained benefits from these policies. 

It is really a loss for the country because if Vietnam can exploit the resources of medicinal plants appropriately, it can earn millions of US dollars each year.

Cited as an example, Mr Hung said that in 1980s Dr. B. Gluzin, deputy director of Medicinal Plant Research Institute of the Russian Ministry of Agriculture, and his fellow-workers came to work in Vietnam and found a large volume of mangiferin (an anti-oxidant agent) contained in mango leaves. This kind of mango leaf extract is used for making medicines that cures shingles. 

Based on the discovery, Russia decided to partially transfer the extraction technology to Vimedimex and placed an order, under which Vimedimex would supply mangiferin in the form of crude material to Russia. 

In 1998, Vietnam exported mangiferin with a purity of between 75 and 78 percent for the first time. In 2002, Sovipharm Joint -Venture (now BV Pharma) was established and Russia decided to transfer the entire extraction technology to Vietnam.

Hi-tech extraction technologies will help Vietnam produce hi-quality medicines that can compete with imported products(Photo: SGGP)

At present, BV Pharma can produce mangiferin with a purity of 98 and 100 percent. The volume of material and medicines in the form of finished products exported to Russia is worth $1 million a year. 

But it is not merely mango leaves, Vietnam has hundreds of kinds of medicinal plants with high contents of precious active elements. For example, Taxol is found in Taxaceae; Rurin and Troxerutin in Sophora japonica L. and Curcumin and Quercetin in Curcuma. 

Pharmacist Tran Hung, head of Department of Pharmaceutical Materials of the HCMC University of Medical and Pharmacy, said that to boost the development of the pharmaceutical industry and improve the production capacity of specific medicines, Vietnam has no choice but to stimulate investment in high-tech extraction technologies. 

To do so, it is necessary for the Government to have policies to encourage simultaneous investment in material growing areas, high technology and training. 

Since businesses feel hesitant to invest in hi-tech extraction technologies, as they require large investment capital, Mr Hung said that the Government should also issue macro policies related to financial funding and tax incentives to encourage investors.  

By Staff writers – Translated by Phuong Lan

Source: http://www.saigon-gpdaily.com.vn/Science_Technology/2009/8/73094/

Saturday, August 8, 2009