HCMC – Saigon Hi-Tech Park (SHTP) Authority on Wednesday started work on phase two to expand the park in District 9 a further 613 hectares, in addition to the first-phase area spanning 300 hectares, which is nearly full. The second phase, to be developed at a cost of VND5.8 trillion (some US$300 million), will include a supporting industry area, a hi-tech manufacturing area, an R&D and training... 

HCMC – Vietnam Export Import Commercial Bank, well-known as Eximbank, plans to achieve 44% growth in pre-tax profit this year as approved by the general meeting in HCMC on Wednesday. The bank also sets fairly high targets at other financial indicators. Eximbank plans to increase mobilization by 43% from 2009 to VND67 trillion and outstanding loans by 50% to VND58 trillion. Total assets are expected... 

VinaCapital has announced that it will invested 15 million USD in the Prime Group, the largest floor and tile maker in Vietnam , at a press briefing in Hanoi on April 28. VinaCapital’s Executive Manager Andy Ho said that Prime Group’s key products and construction materials met his group’s investment targets, which also include real estate, healthcare and consumer goods. Prime Group’s Vice... 

An economist with Barclays Capital disagrees with Fitch’s recent decision to give Vietnam a BB-rating and place the country’s economy on a negative watch. Vietnam was moving in the right direction, wrote Prakriti Sofat, the Barclays economist responsible for Indonesia , the Philippines and Vietnam , in her quarterly report on emerging markets published on April 27. Strong growth... 

The US-based International Business Machines (IBM) opened a US$2 million centre to help Vietnamese businesses in Ho Chi Minh City-based Quang Trung Software City on April 27. The centre will provide services that can help businesses restore important information along with ensuring their constant and sustainable operation. Accordingly, an isolated infrastructure system will also be established to maintain... 

HCMC – Binh Duong authorities and the Investment and Industrial Development Corporation (Becamex IDC) on Monday started building a new urban area in the southern province of Binh Duong, some 35 kilometers from HCMC. The project named Binh Duong New City covers a 1,000-hectare site, which is a combination of six communes in the province from Ben Cat District and Thu Dau Mot Town. Nguyen Van Hung,... 

Vietnam’s central bank said on Tuesday it would keep its benchmark base rate at 8 percent in May for a sixth consecutive month, after only a modest rise in consumer prices in April. Annual inflation hit 9.23 percent this month, while the consumer price index rose just 0.14 percent from March, the General Statistics Office said last Friday. A State Bank of Vietnam directive said the base rate will... 

Small lenders that are not able to raise capital to meet higher requirements set by the central bank should be forced to merge, a senior official says. “Mergers and acquisitions are good for banks, especially those that can’t raise capital,” said Le Duc Thuy, Chairman of the National Financial Supervision Committee. “Besides, the activities will reduce the number of credit institutions, which... 

Monetary policy management is taming inflation and revving up the national economic recovery. That was the message from Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung during last week’s meeting with the State Bank. The premier said an appropriate monetary policy had contributed to the impressive gross domestic growth (GDP) of 5.8 per cent in 2010’s first quarter. The country’s price pressures have eased in... 

Locally incorporated foreign banks are upbeat about expanding their businesses after a year operating in Vietnam. In its first year as a locally incorporated bank, HSBC reported that it gained a pre-tax profit of VND1 trillion ($52.63 million). Its net operating income before loan impairment charges was VND2.4 trillion ($126.3 million), with a 19 per cent return on shareholders’ equities. Its total...