Vietnam’s central bank is placing greater importance now than earlier this year on managing the stability of the country’s foreign-exchange market, fund manager Dragon Capital said in a note to investors.

The so-called official exchange rate of the Vietnamese dong against the US dollar was about 17,856 per dollar as of Friday, compared with 17,483 at the end of 2008. On unofficial markets, the currency’s exchange rate is fluctuating between 18,200 and 18,300 per dollar, according to the research note from Ho Chi Minh City-based Dragon. “Over the past quarter, indications are that the State Bank of Vietnam has shifted tact from expanding credit to managing the foreign exchange” rate, Dragon wrote in a note Thursday. “Dollar injections (Vietnamese dong subtractions) are the likely policy component in rising Vietnamese dong interest rates.” Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd., which predicted last month that the Vietnamese central bank would devalue the dong by 4 percent by the end of the year, this month said that “pressure for greater flexibility” in the exchange rate is increasing, citing a decline in the country’s foreign reserves. Vietnam’s foreign-exchange reserves dropped to US$17.6 billion by the end of June from $23 billion at the end of 2008, according to the Asian Development Bank. HSBC Holdings Plc said this month it expects “modest” depreciation in the official exchange rate to 18,200 dong per dollar “in the next few months.” The State Bank of Vietnam is working with international organizations such as the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank to bolster the country’s foreign-exchange reserves and prevent instability in the dong, central bank Governor Nguyen Van Giau said this week. “Vietnamese dong liquidity is getting tighter,” Dragon said. “Dollars are available, but domestic sentiment for the Vietnamese dong is uninspired.” Source: Bloomberg

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A sculpture depicting the Maitreya Buddha to be displayed at an exhibition in Ho Chi Minh City for the Buddha’s birthday Buddhist and other art works will be on show in Ho Chi Minh City from Sunday until next Friday for the 2553rd anniversary of the Buddha’s birth.

The profits from the exhibition of paintings, calligraphy, sculptures and decorated stones by local artists and monks will be given to 80 city workers with fatal diseases. As well as art to examine and buy, there will be poetry chanting, martial art demonstrations, and performances of cai luong (southern folk opera) and other music. La Pagoda in Go Vap District is the main organizer of the event at the HCMC Labor and Culture Palace, 55B Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street, District 1. Reported by Ha Dinh Nguyen

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Vietnam’s first entrant in Miss Bikini International knows she can please the judges.

Huynh Thanh Tuyen is ready to take on the world at the 36th Miss Bikini International competition in Hainan, China this month. “I did a lot of thinking and considered how the public would react before deciding to take part in the pageant,” says the 22-year-old model with an 85- 60-93 figure. She realizes that its name is rather sensitive in a tradition-bound society like Vietnam’s, but Miss Bikini International also judges talent, speaking skills and national costume, so the only major difference between it and other beauty contests is the more exacting physical side of things. “Because of the prestige, a contestant in Miss World, Miss Universe or Miss Earth gets generous support from everyone, but Miss Bikini International does not have the same standing so I’m not that fortunate.” says Tuyen. “After the contest, my name will be associated with the bikini for sure, which is an undesirable thing for a woman, especially a Vietnamese woman. “But what counts is that I know what I’m doing and believe in myself. I pretty well ignore public opinion.” Publicity shots of Vietnam’s first contestant in Miss Bikini International Huynh Thanh Tuyen Though she’s never competed in an international beauty contest, Tuyen is confident of doing well in China. True, the contest will be full of gorgeous gals, 89 of them in fact, but Tuyen believes she’s in with a real chance. “It’s not easy to win an international contest as it takes talent, preparation, opportunity and a bit of luck. But I’m confident of myself and know where I stand. “I realize that I cannot be physically on a par with the Western contestants, but as far as I know we will be divided into continents when we wear our bikinis. I believe I can win if my body is judged alongside other Asian contestants.” When the start of the 15-day pageant was postponed from April 13 to May 18, it meant Tuyen had more time to prepare, but she thinks it isn’t necessary in her case. “Social knowledge and life skills cannot be acquired overnight; they must be learned in our day-to-day lives. “I’m not trying to stuff my head with knowledge or work out intensively as the contest gets nearer. So I feel no pressure at all.” Still, she is making thorough preparations for everything from costumes to make-up. Tuyen says she never goes out of her way to land a modeling contract or a spot in a television commercial. Instead, she waits for offers to come to her. This attitude partly explains why her modeling career hasn’t really taken off after three years in the industry. “Though I’m ambitious and always want to be in the lead, I’d rather take it slow and steady. There are some things I’m terrible at, so I don’t try to do many things at the same time. I know my limitations.” Many models make the leap from photo shoot to film to the recording studio in one fell swoop, but Tuyen would rather stay focused on one thing until it is perfect. “I want to reach the summit of this mountain before going on to scale other peaks. I give my best in everything I do. If I feel I’m no good at something, I leave that opportunity to others. “Being a perfectionist means I miss many opportunities, but I want everyone to acknowledge that I have real talent, that I am not a phony. “Some celebrities try to draw attention to themselves by driving expensive cars, strutting about on the concert stage, or creating scandals, but they will end up nowhere if they have no genuine abilities.” Tuyen, who was born in 1987, has a head-turning height. When she was younger, Tuyen felt so embarrassed by her “abnormal” height that she stopped swimming, her favorite sport, because she was afraid it would make her taller. It took a modeling class while she was in the eleventh grade to change her thinking. The class, which was run by the Vietnamese modeling agency Professional Look, taught her to use height to her advantage. The head of Professional Look, Tran Thanh Long, noticed Tuyen and said “the tall girl” had the potential to become a successful model. After the class, he offered Tuyen an exclusive contract. She took it and has been on the agency’s books ever since.

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By David Mildenberg

Feb. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Bank of America Corp., the nation’s largest bank, declined to its lowest level in New York trading since 1984 on concern regulators may seize the company after a $138 billion U.S. bailout package failed to halt the slide.

The bank fell 55 cents, or 12 percent, to $4.15 at 10:44 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading, and earlier declined as much as 20 percent to its lowest level since October 1984. The stock of the Charlotte, North Carolina-based company has dropped for six days and lost more than two-thirds of its value this year.

The descent follows the U.S. government’s latest infusion of $20 billion in fresh capital and a plan to share losses on $118 billion in mortgages, corporate loans and derivatives. The U.S. previously committed $25 billion to the bank and Merrill Lynch & Co., acquired earlier this year. Bank of America lost $1.79 billion in the fourth quarter, its first deficit since 1991, as more borrowers fell behind on paying their loans.

“Washington is dithering while the banking stocks are going to zero,” said Nancy Bush, an independent bank analyst in Annandale, New Jersey. Trading is being driven by speculation that the government may take over Bank of America and other lenders as part of a plan to bolster the nation’s financial system, she said.

Scott Silvestri, a spokesman for the bank, said the company declined to comment on its stock price.

Tipping Point

“You have got to nationalize the banks,” said Paul Miller, analyst at Friedman, Billings, Ramsey Group Inc. in an interview yesterday, adding that the public may not be ready for Bank of America and Citigroup Inc. to be seized. “We’re past the tipping point, and the government is taking small steps.”

Citigroup, which dropped as much as 8.3 percent today, fell 11 cents, or 3.2 percent, to $3.38.

Bank of America’s risk increased after it acquired Countrywide Financial Corp., the largest U.S. home lender, and Merrill Lynch, the world’s largest brokerage, said David Dietze, president of Point View Financial Services Inc. in Summit, New Jersey, in an interview late yesterday. Merrill lost $15.3 billion in the fourth quarter.

“There is this lurking shadow of nationalization which haunts the banks, but particularly Bank of America,” he said. “It’s pretty spooky.”

To contact the reporter on this story: David Mildenberg in Charlotte at dmildenberg@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: February 5, 2009 11:01 EST

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The power to assess and ratify the environmental impact of new projects coming up in Ho Chi Minh City industrial zones may be transferred from the environmental regulator to zone authorities at the latter’s request.

Ngo Anh Tuan, deputy head of the HCMC Export Processing and Industrial Zones Authority (HEPZA), said his agency would soon send a request to the city People’s Committee. The Department of Natural Resources and Environment is currently entrusted with the task. Earlier, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment released a circular, effective from January 7, saying the management board of economic, industrial, export processing, and hi-tech zones can be allowed to evaluate and approve projects if they satisfy certain conditions. Tuan added that HEPZA would also ask the city administration for authority to approve investors’ environmental protection commitments which now invests in district-level people’s committees. Source: TBKTSG Online

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Vietnam may export as much as 2.8 million metric tons of rice in the first half of this year, Thoi Bao Kinh Te Viet Nam reported, citing an estimate by the Vietnam Food Association.

Around 2.4 million tons of rice have already been contracted for sale, with more than 900,000 tons scheduled for shipment in January and February, the paper said. The newspaper did not provide year-earlier comparisons. Vietnam, the world’s second -biggest rice exporter after Thailand, shipped 4.7 million tons last year, the association said January 6. The group plans to ship at least four million tons of the grain in 2009. Source: Bloomberg

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While some large textile and garment firms received enough orders for the first half of this year, smaller ones are still trying to get enough contracts to avoid layoffs, according to the Vietnam Textile and Garment Association Many workers in the garment and textile industry are expected to move from struggling small firms to larger ones as the economic downturn magnifies disparities in wages between the two categories, a union official said.

Vu Ngoc Quyen of the Trade Union of Garment and Textile Workers said while job-hopping is common in the industry, it was not a problem in the past thanks to small differences in salaries. Until six months ago, workers at small firms could do a lot of overtime work, meaning their total income was close to the wages paid by larger companies. But now, with the industry hit hard by the global economic turmoil, small businesses are struggling to maintain sales and their workers can no longer work overtime. With the gap in wages and bonuses gradually increasing, Quyen said it is likely that small companies would face a shortage of workers after Tet (Lunar New Year festival). Successful companies like Nha Be, Phong Phu and Viet Tien pay workers as much as VND2.6 million (US$148) a month on average while smaller firms pay around VND1.8 million ($103). Pham Xuan Hong, deputy chairman of the Vietnam Textile and Garment Association, said while some large firms received enough orders for the first half of this year, smaller ones are still trying to get enough contracts to avoid layoffs. The large companies will pay VND5-6 million as Tet bonuses while the smaller ones are likely to pay just a month’s wage or even less. A human resources manager at a garment and textile company employing 20,000 people, who wished to be unnamed, said his company recruited more than 500 workers in the last quarter of 2008, compared to around 90 a year earlier. But he said many workers applied to his company after their small enterprises closed down. His firm needs to employ 700 more, he said, admitting for the past several years it had been more than 1,500 workers short. But with supply expected to exceed demand, he said his company would focus on recruiting skilled workers after Tet. Tuan Nguyen Nghi, managing director of Nha Be Corp., said since the company has already received enough orders to remain busy for the first six months, recruitment would go on. Other companies’ layoffs give his the opportunity to hire experienced workers. Truong Lam Danh, deputy chairman of the HCMC Labor Union, said while many workers had lost their jobs recently because of the economic downturn, large companies like Viet Tien, Nha Be, Viet Hung and Viet Thinh regularly announce they are hiring. But the Vietnam Textile and Garment Association’s Hong warned: “Workers who want to keep their jobs at large companies or wish to work for them will have to concentrate on their skills since the sector is expected to face more problems.” Source: TBKTSG Online

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Hanoians buy food for Tet (Lunar New Year) holidays at street shops. From the making of several dishes to visiting relatives, Tet traditions have undergone a transformation.

As the main part of her Tet celebrations, Nguyen Thu Ha is in touch with some travel agents so she can take her family to the beautiful coastal city of Nha Trang for a holiday. For Ha, choosing an attractive place for her family to visit is the most interesting part of Tet preparations. As the 37-year-old chief accountant of a bank in Hanoi, she puts in long hours – as many as 12 – at the office every day, and she reckons her break is well-deserved. “My family wants to make use of the occasion to relax after one year of hard work. In addition, my son could learn swimming,” Ha says. She knows there is a world of difference between the way she prepares for Tet and what her mother used to do during her childhood. “My mother used to struggle to make some delicious food and get some new clothes for us every Tet. Now, we don’t have to worry about food, since meat and fish, which were on the dining table only at family parties or Tet during my childhood, have become a common part of our daily meals.” Vietnam's strong economic development has seen the emergence of middle class and high-income groups of people that can afford a luxurious lifestyle, which has spilled over into how they welcome Tet. Most of these people, especially in big cities like Hanoi, Hai Phong and Ho Chi Minh, no longer make the banh chung (square cakes made from glutinous rice, pork and green beans), lean pork paste and fruit jams during the Tet season. People choose blossoms trees in Hanoi to decorate their house during Tet Modernization means they have neither the time nor the inclination for such activities. Spending many hours at offices and factories leaves little time for cooking at home, and everything. Expensive imported items and locally-made food products that serve many budget levels are available in the market. From street vendors, groceries stores, and regional markets to plush upmarket trade centers, the options are plentiful if you have money. Already clogged with motorbikes and an increasing number of cars, streets in the cities are snarled on pre-Tet days as people rush to markets, supermarkets, trade centers and other shops. “The number of customers coming here during the Tet shopping season has increased many times over ordinary days. We have prepared more goods and mobilized more staff to serve them,” says Nguyet Anh, an employee of the Trang Tien Plaza in Hanoi. At a supermarket in the plaza, streams of customers with shopping carts loaded with foods, beverages, cosmetics and garments cram through its narrow doorways. “In my mother’s generation, cooking used to be one of their joys during Tet. Now, we don’t want to spend much time on it [cooking]. We want to spend Tet relaxing,” says nurse Nguyen Thi Hanh, 27, while choosing some semi-processed chicken. People today also spend more time decorating their houses with flowers and bonsai for Tet. Many have spent hundreds of dollars on bonsai plants and trees with beautiful shapes for the holiday, which falls on January 26 this year. People in the north have a tradition of displaying peach blossoms and kumquat trees while those in the south display ochna plants that bloom yellow flowers during Tet. This year, many people in the south have chosen peach blossoms and kumquat bonsai mainly grown in Hanoi and the northern provinces of Bac Giang and Hung Yen, as well as that of ochna plants grown in southern localities, says gardener Nguyen Duc Minh, as he waters trees pruned in the shapes of pyramids, dragons, phoenixes and even waterfalls. There are other changes in the way Tet is celebrated, including one indispensable activity, which is to visit relatives and not leave without eating or drinking. That custom is changing now. Instead of welcoming Tet at home, many people are choosing beaches, including Nha Trang, Phan Thiet, Phu Quoc and Tuan Chau, while others prefer to travel abroad, mainly to regional countries like China, Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia. Another Tet tradition that has changed a lot in recent years is the offering of gifts. Previously, Tet gifts were locally-produced wine bottles and boxes of jams as offerings to parents, relatives and bosses as a sign of affection and respect. Now, many people choose to buy expensive gifts for their superiors with some presents destined for officials worth thousands of dollars. Amidst all the changes, there is a constant. Every New Year is awaited with expectations and hopes of greater joy and prosperity in the coming year. Reported by Bao Anh

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The “notorious” Van Thanh 2 Bridge opened to traffic last Thursday Ho Chi Minh City residents will have a new vantage point to the Lunar New Year’s Eve firework displays when the Khanh Hoi Bridge opens to traffic a day earlier.

The new bridge will connect District 4’s Nguyen Tat Thanh Street with District 1’s Ton Duc Thang Street when it opens on January 24. At 167 meters long and 22 meters wide, the bridge will be able to handle 30-ton trucks and would meet the demand for transporting goods from HCMC’s Saigon River to southeastern provinces, said Vuong Hoang Thanh, deputy head of the East-West Highway and Water Environment Project Management Unit. The unit is tasked with overseeing construction of the bridge. Another bridge belonging to the East-West Highway project and linking districts 1 and 4, the Calmette Bridge, is also set to open next Tuesday, Thanh said. The new Calmette overpass includes an intersection of six streets. Two major sections from District 1’s Calmette Street and District 4’s Doan Van Bo Street are scheduled to be completed on Tuesday, while the remaining sections connecting to the East-West Highway and Thu Thiem underground tunnel will be completed by the year-end. Thanh said the commission of the two new bridges would significantly ease traffic congestion at the city center. ‘Notorious bridge’ also ready The controversy-mired Van Thanh 2 Bridge also opened to traffic last Thursday after being rebuilt for more than a year. The bridge, on Binh Thanh District’s Nguyen Huu Canh Street, is also expected to resolve traffic gridlocks from HCMC to neighboring provinces in a big way, an official said. After being put into operation in 2002, it was found soon after that the bridge was sinking on both sides. In 2007, the city approved a 10-month repair project costing VND141 billion (current US$8 million) to upgrade the road on both sides. The Tan Thuan Bridge 1 in District 4’s Nguyen Tat Thanh Street also opened to traffic last Thursday. Another bridge-opening in the offing is that of the Nguyen Van Cu Bridge over Ben Nghe Canal that connects districts 1, 4, 5 and 8. The section linking districts 1 and 5 with District 4 will open very shortly, while that connecting districts 4 and 8 is scheduled for completion soon after the Tet holidays. The bridge will ease traffic congestion on the Nguyen Tri Phuong, Y and Cha Va bridges. Reported by Phuong Thanh

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Workers at Saigon 2 Garment Company. Apparel makers anticipate a tough year ahead and want the government to give them a helping hand. The textile and garment industry is demanding government assistance to overcome the export hurdles posed by the recession.

At a meeting organized by the Vietnam National Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex) with Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Bui Xuan Khu in Ho Chi Minh City Wednesday, apparel exporters suggested that the government should consider introducing a package of three measures. The first is for assisting workers in businesses facing export difficulties or considering layoffs, Le Quoc An, chairman of the group and of the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association, said. He suggested spending 1 percent of the total garment export earnings. The second, worth VND5 trillion (US$294 million), is for subsidizing exporters’ bank credit. An said the rate offered by banks may have fallen to 12 percent recently but it is still too high at a time of recession. The third measure is for promoting the industry in the international market at a cost of VND50 billion ($2.94 million). Vietnam’s main apparel markets are the US, Japan and the EU. Khu assured them that the government would support the industry since it is a major foreign currency earner. Textiles, in fact, replaced crude oil as the top earner last year at $9.1 billion after the plunge in oil prices. The industry also created more jobs than the others, he said, adding his ministry would submit the package to the government for approval. Shrinking orders An said Vietnam’s apparel producers had less export orders than last year. Foreign businesses were affected the most though they have more orders than local producers, he said. Many of them cut jobs and closed factories because of the economic slump in key markets like the US, Japan, and the EU, he said. He forecast exports to fall 15 percent year-on-year in the first quarter. But he said it is difficult to set a target for the whole year since no one knows when the recession would end. Bui Van Tien, general director of Viet Tien Garment Corporation, said recessions occurred in every decade, adding firms should not worry too much about them. But they should restructure their business and train human resources, he said. The industry would recover soon if apparel producers focused on the home market in addition to their traditional export markets, he assured. Reported by Minh Quang

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At least 350 households at the 727 Tran Hung Dao apartment block in District 5 have refused to relocate, citing unsatisfactory compensation. The block is in imminent danger of collapsing. Unsatisfactory compensation and relocation plans are blamed as residents stay on.

Its foundation has sunk and cracks run up and down the walls as though they are ropes used to tie the building to the ground. Residents of the apartment block in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 5 know that their building is crumbling and on the brink of collapse, but they are staying put. The deadline for relocating the residents, so that the 727 Tran Hung Dao apartment block in District 5 could be demolished for a skyscraper to take its place, was April 30 this year. As with other similar projects, inadequate compensation and relocation plans have left residents angry and uncertain about their future. On December 10, the municipal administration issued another dispatch saying the eviction and site clearance of the apartment block, home to 535 households, must be completed by next March at the latest. But so far at least 350 households have declined to move, despite the fact that the block could collapse at any time. Under the relocation plan, each evicted resident would receive compensation of between VND7-8 million (US$412-471) per square meter depending on the floor they live. “The compensation fees for my apartment, covering an area of 25 square meters, would be just around VND200 million ($11,772). How can I buy a new house with that money?” asked a resident on the third floor. Nguyen Van Nha, the block’s deputy manager, pointed out another shortcoming hindering the relocation. As part of the plan, the block residents are set to be moved to the Nguyen Bieu apartment block in the same district. Since each apartment there is nearly double the size of their current residences, evicted residents are being asked to pay for the surplus area which costs between VND23-29 million ($1,350-1,700) per square meter. That means each evicted resident would have to pay an additional VND600 million (about $33,400) each for their new apartment, Nha said, saying this was another reason discouraging hundreds of households in the block from moving. Compensation disputes have also bogged down two other dilapidated apartment blocks in the city. In its December 10 dispatch, the city government mentioned that the buildings on 192 Nam Ky Khoi Nghia Street in District 3 and 289 Tran Hung Dao Street in District 1 will also have to be demolished by March 2009. But 15 households sharing the same walls with the 289 Tran Hung Dao apartment block in an adjacent alley have insisted on staying though the investor has offered to increase their compensation fees to VND90 million ($5,300) from VND69 million ($4,061) per square meter. The investor also promised to provide them with financial assistance of between VND350-450 million ($20,600-26,500) each. Recently, the District 1 government warned it would carry out compulsory eviction of those 15 households if they continued to defy the relocation directive. At the apartment on Nam Ky Khoi Nghia Street in District 3, two evicted households have lodged complaints about unsatisfactory compensation. THE MASS RELOCATION PLAN In a dispatch issued on December 10, the HCMC government said it would spend around VND1.78 trillion (US$104.4 million) for revamping dilapidated apartment buildings with around 2,000 households set for eviction. The Department of Construction is tasked with overseeing the demolition of 20 ramshackle apartment buildings between now and 2010 and ensuring evicted residents are properly housed in new homes. The apartment buildings at 289 Tran Hung Dao Street in District 1, 192 Nam Ky Khoi Nghia Street in District 3 and 727 Tran Hung Dao Street in District 5 will be the first to be demolished. After 2010, another 156 apartment buildings are set to be demolished and some 14,300 households resettled, the dispatch said. Reported by Tran Thanh Binh

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Hanoi’s Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs said the highest annual bonus granted to employees in the capital so far was VND80 million (US$4,500) each.

The employees who will receive the fat bonus work for a foreign-invested beverages company, according to the department. Further details were not available. The average bonus at foreign-invested enterprises in the capital city was VND3.1 million ($177) – a 1.5 percent increase over last year; and the lowest bonus at a foreign-invested firm was VND300,000 a person. Overall, the lowest bonus given in Hanoi this year was VND100,000 a person ($5.71). Only 79 businesses have provided information about bonuses. Source: SGGP

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The Rach Mieu Bridge that connects Ben Tre and Tien Giang provinces is set to open on January 19 Several infrastructure projects in the southern region are set for completion this year and work has been expedited on construction sites to ensure they adhere to the schedule.

The Transport Ministry plans to inaugurate the Rach Mieu Bridge that connects Ben Tre and Tien Giang provinces on January 19. The VND1.4 trillion (US$80 million) suspension bridge, which has been under construction since 2002, is the country’s first Vietnamese-designed and built cable bridge crossing the Tien River. It measures 2.9 kilometers in length and 12 meters in width. The build-operate-transfer (BOT) project was financed to the tune of 58 percent by the government budget and the remaining 42 percent was invested by the Transport Ministry’s Civil Construction Engineering Corporation (Cienco) No.1, Cienco No. 5 and Cienco No. 6. Under the BOT model, ownership of an asset reverts to the government after a set period of time. In Ho Chi Minh City, the project to widen the Cong Ly Bridge that connects Phu Nhuan District’s Nguyen Van Troi Street and District 3’s Nam Ky Khoi Nghia Street, is expected to be completed by the year-end. The Cong Ly Bridge that links Phu Nhuan District’s Nguyen Van Troi Street and District 3’s Nam Ky Khoi Nghia Street, a major route in HCMC, will be completed by the end of 2009 The project includes construction of a 30-meter wide bridge and installation of underground cables for power, telephone and information lines. The contractor will complete paving the surface and sidewalks and planting trees by the second quarter. Several important bridges on the East-West Highway project are also scheduled for completion in 2009. The new Khanh Hoi Bridge will connect District 4’s Nguyen Tat Thanh Street with District 1’s Ton Duc Thang Street, instead of Ho Tung Mau Street as it did earlier. The new Calmette overpass includes an intersection of six streets at its center. Two major sections from District 1’s Calmette Street and District 4’s Hoang Dieu Street are scheduled to be completed before the Tet holidays, while the remaining sections connecting to the East-West Highway and Thu Thiem underground tunnel will be completed by the year-end. Construction of the Phu My Bridge connecting District 2 and District 7 is expected to be completed in September. The 2,031- meter bridge crossing the Saigon River will be the city’s longest, with an estimated traffic flow of around 100,000 vehicles daily. The bridge has a clearance of 45 meters for waterway traffic, allowing vessels of up to 30,000 tons to reach the city’s ports. The Nguyen Van Cu Bridge that connects District 1, District 4, District 5 and District 8 over Ben Nghe Canal will be completed by the first quarter of the year, says Director of the municipal Transport Department’s urban traffic management division No. 1, Le Quyet Thang. The bridge section connecting District 4 and District 8 is scheduled to complete soon after the Tet holidays. The bridge will ease traffic congestion on the Nguyen Tri Phuong, Y and Cha Va bridges, he said. Eighty percent of the construction of the HCMC–Trung Luong Highway, which runs through Long An and Tien Giang provinces, has been completed. The highway will open to traffic in mid-2009 on the Tan Tao-Cho Dem-Trung Luong section. The remaining sections that connect Binh Thuan Street to Cho Dem in HCMC will be completed by the year-end. The 62-kilometer highway will allow speed limits of up to 120 kilometer per hour (kph) on one 40- kilometer stretch and up to 80 kph on the remaining part. This highway is the first one in southern provinces that has been designed and constructed by local engineers. Source: TN, Agencies

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Early birds at the Hanoi tax office arrive to get a slot number for submitting applications for the permanent tax code. The Personal Income Tax Law will take effect next Thursday as scheduled but the Party Politburo will take the final decision on how it will be enforced, the vice speaker of the Vietnamese parliament said Saturday.

There have been calls for deferment of the law because of its possible impacts in the context of an economic slowdown when the need of the government is to stimulate investment and boost consumer spending. The law stipulates that the taxable income threshold is VND4 million ($238) monthly for both locals and foreigners working in Vietnam, with taxpayers allowed deductions of VND1.6 million (US$95) for each dependent. National Assembly (NA) deputy chairman Nguyen Duc Kien said that the government and the NA would refer three proposals on implementing the law to the Politburo, the decision-making committee of the Communist Party, to make a final decision. Under the first proposal, enforcement of the law will be postponed until July 2009 or January 2010. During that time, the ordinance on high-income people would still take effect but grant a 30 percent reduction. Under the ordinance, people whose monthly income exceeds VND5 million have to pay income tax without any deduction for dependents. Under the second proposal, a one-year waiver will be granted for incomes on capital gains and stock market transactions as well as those on the transfer of contributed capital and interest received on loans. A 30 percent personal income one-year tax cut for households and individuals who had been subjected to the corporate tax earlier is also included in this proposal. The third proposal made by the NA has all taxpayers having their tax payment deferred until next October when the NA convenes its year-end session, for further decisions. But the NA Standing Committee unanimously decided Saturday that the Personal Income Tax law would take effect on January 1, 2009 as approved at its plenary session in November last year. Tong Thi Phong, another NA deputy chair, also said it was unnecessary to convene an extraordinary session to decide upon this issue. The five-day session of the NA Standing Committee wrapped up Saturday in Hanoi. Rush for tax code applications By 4 a.m. on Friday, people were already queuing up at the Hanoi tax office, braving the chilly weather to submit applications to obtain tax codes. Nguyen Thanh Loc, an employee of a Hanoi-based transport and forwarding company, said he had to get up half an hour earlier so that he could be the first to hand in the applications for his firm. To his chagrin, however, he received slot number 28, meaning he could have to wait until the afternoon to have the applications processed. Pham The Dung, who arrived at the tax agency on behalf of an animal feed company, said his lot number was 34 despite the fact that he had come at 5a.m. Both Loc and Dung told Thanh Nien they had to come early because they hadn’t been served during the previous days because of the large crowds. Not as lucky as Loc or Dung, Linh, who represents the Hanoi Natural Science University, said she was not expecting her documents to be processed on that day because she arrived at the office only at 7:15 a.m. “I might as well come tomorrow,” Linh said. Every organization or company is required to hand in their applications by the end of this month so that their personnel are granted a permanent tax code. Each organization has deputed its representatives to carry hundreds of documents to the tax agency where the personnel are understaffed, leading to an overload. Many people have opted to come very early to pick up their slot numbers. Thanh Nien found a person at 3:30 a.m. on Thursday. But many people have complained about the way the Hanoi tax agency has handled their applications, saying it had used only two out of 10 counters to receive them. Only 32 firms were able to submit their documentation in a morning session, they said. Thanh Nien found that there was considerable pushing and shoving among applicants to get to the counter early. The tax office was asking applicants to start from scratch the next day if their paperwork was not accepted within the day, said Nguyen Xuan Hoang, an Amway company employee. Many people have resorted to staying in the queue no matter how hungry and thirsty they were, applicants said. Thanh Nien could not contact senior officials of the Hanoi tax office on Friday for a comment. Reported by Thanh Nien staff

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An American-Korean consulting team signed Friday a nearly-US$6-million contract with the Vietnamese government to develop a master construction plan for the capital city of Hanoi to 2030, with a vision to 2050.

The team, which comprises experts from the US Perkins Eastman and Korea’s Posco E&C and Jina, is expected to submit their draft plan to Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung for approval in June 2010 at the latest. They promised to preserve Hanoi’s 1,000-year-old characteristics in the planning. “The contract is of historical significance as it relates closely to the capital city’s future growth,” Deputy Chairman of Hanoi’s People Committee Phi Thai Binh said at Friday’s signing ceremony. Sub-contractors in the project include the Institute for Architecture, Urban Planning and Rural Development of the Construction Ministry, the Hanoi Construction Planning Institute and other local consultant units. The city officials want Hanoi to develop sustainably as the national political, administrative, cultural, scientific, educational and economic and international trade center in the 21st century. At present, the capital covers a land area of 3,344 square kilometers and has a population of more than six million people. Source: VNA

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Foreign visitors at an information center in Ho Chi Minh City Friday. Tourism arrivals have dropped sharply of late, prompting authorities to launch a huge promotion campaign targeting across the board price cuts. A large scale promotion campaign to try and staunch the sharp decline in visitor arrivals will need a concerted, cooperative and proactive effort by all stakeholders, industry officials say.

The primary thrust of the campaign, set to be launched on January 1 and run until September 2009, will be to effect across the board cuts in prices and improved service quality. This would be vital to the nation’s ability to cope with the competition posed by regional countries, said Nguyen Manh Cuong, deputy head of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT). The campaign announcement comes in the wake of a 22 percent drop year-on-year in the number of foreign visitors last month, and a statement earlier this month by Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Hoang Tuan Anh saying that the sector would face zero growth or even worse next year. The tourism sector employs more than 10 percent of country’s workforce. Cuong noted that although Vietnam was not as good as its neighboring countries in promoting tourism, the upcoming campaign could at least help the local sector overcome current difficulties, which are compounded by stiff competition from neighboring countries. Thailand, for instance, has launched a 1.9-billion-baht (US$54.86-million) public relations campaign called “Apologies Thailand” in an attempt to woo tourists back to the country following the recent political crisis. Vu The Binh, a senior official at VNAT, noted Thailand has cut hotel prices to as low as $25 per night and even offered 100,000 free air tickets to bring back tourists, which means Vietnamese tour operators would face very harsh competition. Binh asked local businesses to work together to make the campaign work, instead of waiting for other companies to lower prices first as they often do. He said VNAT has chosen leading travel agencies and hotels to take part in the campaign and they have pledged to cut prices to attract more tourists, especially those from Vietnam’s main tourism markets. The national tourism agency said a website on the campaign will also be created where visitors can find links to websites of participating tour operators. Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Tran Chien Thang, said the ministry has proposed the government to halve the value added tax for travel agencies, hotel and restaurants to 5 percent so that they can lower their prices. The ministry has also requested the introduction of a visa-on-arrival system and VAT refund scheme for tourists. Many agencies and hotels said it was not too difficult to slash prices by about 30 percent. Some of them started doing it a few months ago, but with modest results. On Thursday, 30 hotels in Ho Chi Minh City agreed to cut room rates by at least 30 percent next year to support the campaign. A hotel manager, who wished to be unnamed, said it would be a huge success if cutting prices by 20 percent could increase occupancy rates to 80 percent from 50 percent. Binh said national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines would offer 30-50 percent discounts on its fares to help lower tour prices and many businesses providing related services have also registered for the campaign. Nguyen Van Tran, general director of APEX Company, said with the price cuts by hotels and airlines, travel agencies could offer cheaper tour packages to tourists. Tran said his working group, which focuses on the Japan market, would begin to advertise tour packages at new prices to their partners in January. Prices would be about 30 percent lower than at present, he said. Luu Nhan Vinh, director of the Vietnam Tourism Company in Hanoi, said once the campaign is launched, VNAT needs to ensure that registered companies really cut their prices to maintain its credibility. If companies advertised their products at lower prices but did not keep their promises, tourists would lose faith, Vinh said. Saigontourist Company Director Vo Anh Tai said there are always people who want to travel, but amid the economic slowdown, they will not accept to pay prices that have not been lowered. La Quoc Khanh, deputy director of Ho Chi Minh City Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said if the marketing works well in main markets including Japan, Australia, Western Europe, South Korea and China, the tourism sector could attract 80 percent of the visitors it needs. Local retailers have also expressed their enthusiasm for the campaign. Dinh Thi My Loan, general secretary of the Vietnam Retail Association, said all association members want to cooperate with businesses in the tourism industry. They would meet to discuss detailed plans for this “meaningful cooperation,” Loan said, adding that local retailers are well aware of the current situation and would accept lower margins to offer the best prices to customers. Source: TN, Agencies

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Employees count money at an Asia Commercial Bank branch in Ho Chi Minh City. The central bank said Vietnam’s commercial banks do not have any direct connections with troubled foreign banks. Vietnamese banks have withdrawn funds from overseas banks to reduce their exposure to the US financial crisis and shifted part of the funds to banks in Singapore and Hong Kong, the government said.

But the government statement did not mention how much money was involved. Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, in a separate statement, also urged the central bank to pursue flexible policies on interest rates, the currency and foreign reserves to ensure liquidity in the banking industry. Governments, central banks and regulators globally are scrambling to protect their markets from the financial tsunami sparked by last month’s collapse of investment bank Lehman Brothers. The impact has been felt mostly in the US and Europe but a number of countries in Asia have sought to assure investors that their banking systems are sound. The State Bank of Vietnam’s Monetary Policy Department, in a statement published on the government’s website at the weekend, said the Vietnamese banking sector is operating normally and that commercial banks do not have any direct connections with troubled foreign banks. In addition, the businesses of two Vietnam-based banks fully owned by HSBC Holdings and Standard Chartered, foreign banks' branches and all joint venture banks in the country are stable, the statement said. Limiting crisis impacts In a statement published by on the central bank’s website Monday, the prime minister asked the central bank to request commercial banks to review their operations to limit the impact of the global financial crisis. He urged the central bank to pursue a tighter monetary policy but maintain flexibility in management of interest rates, exchange rates and foreign reserves to ensure liquidity of the banking system. Dung said local commercial banks may implement measures such as restructuring investment portfolios and withdrawing funds to ensure liquidity after examining their deposits and investments in foreign financial institutions. Banks should also help exporters expand business as a measure to reduce the country's trade deficit, which has ballooned this year owing to the rising cost of imports as inflation surged to double digit levels. The prime minister requested the central bank to establish regulations to merge troubled local banks, the statement said. The central bank must also ask commercial banks to reassess thoroughly loans in “high-risk” fields, including real estate and stock investments. Real estate-related loans by commercial banks account for 9.15 percent of the country's total outstanding loans, online newspaper VnExpress reported last week. The State Bank of Vietnam's reserves rose to $21.9 billion at the end of September from $20.7 billion three months earlier, Governor Nguyen Van Giau said on September 30. The central bank has 82 percent of these reserves deposited with central banks in the US, UK, France, Germany, the International Monetary Fund and other global financial institutions, Giau said. The rest is held in banks with credit ratings of AAA or AA. Interbank rates stable The Vietnam interbank overnight rate, or VNIBOR, was stable at 14 percent and domestic lending rates were also stable, the Monetary Policy Department said. But the average rate for three-month interbank loans edged up to 17.68 percent Monday from 17.5 percent a week ago on stronger demand. "Demand for short-term loans is strong while long-term loans are not preferred as borrowers expect lending rates to ease," a dealer in Hanoi said. The central bank has raised the interest rate it pays to banks for their compulsory reserves against dong deposits from October 1, increasing it to 5 percent from 3.6 percent, to reduce lending rates. Bonds gain Five-year bonds advanced on speculation the central bank will lower the base interest rate by the end of this year. The dong remained unchanged. The yield on the benchmark note fell 16 basis points to 15.83 percent, according to a daily price from 10 banks compiled by Bloomberg. One hundred basis points make a percent. “Investors are passing on the word that the central bank may cut interest rates by the end of the year as the banking system's liquidity has increased,” said Vu Anh Duc, a senior dealer at the fixed-income department of the Hanoi-based Vietnam Bank for Industry and Trade, known as VietinBank. “Banks have reduced borrowing costs and the central bank also wants to bring bond yields down.” Source: TN, Agencies

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