BUSINESS IN BRIEF 11/4

17:15' 11/04/2008 (GMT+7)

Industrial-commercial bank has new trade name

The Industrial and Commercial Bank of Vietnam has changed its trade name from “IncomBank” to “VietinBank”, the bank announced in Hanoi on April 10.

The bank will use the new brand name on all its products and services nationwide from April 15.

VietinBank currently has three transaction departments, 138 branches and nearly 700 transaction offices throughout the country.

Vietinbank is associated with 800 banks around the world and is a member of the Visa and Master Card networks. The bank also owns and holds shares in a number of companies.

Investors frown as bourses plunge further

Both bourses in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi have not halted their downward slide, as investors continued to sell rather than buy during trading on April 11.

The VN-Index at the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HoSE) lost 6.72 points, or 1.23 percent, to close at 539.01 points.
Close to 8.2 million shares changed hands at the value of 413 billion VND at the HoSE, a decrease of around 80 billion VND from the previous session.

The HaSTC-index at the Ha Noi Securities Trading Centre (HaSTC) slipped 3.42 points, or 1.81 percent, to end at 185.62 points.

The bourse saw 2 million shares traded at the value of 84.1 billion VND.

Experts forecast that the market would experience a further dip as investors show confusion about the HSBC bank’s recent report on stock markets in the world and Asia .

The VN-index is forecast to close at 600 points at the end of this year instead of 1,100 points predicted previously.

New brokerages become HOSE members

The An Thanh Securities JSC, the Nam An Securities JSC and the Viet Nam Industrial and Commercial Securities Company (VICS) were officially recognised as members of the Ho Chi Minh City Securities Exchange (HOSE) on April 11.

The three companies are the 74 th , 75 th and 76 th members of the exchange with chartered capitals of 41 billion VND, 140 billion VND and 150 billion VND, respectively.

The Hanoi-based An Thanh Securities JSC was licensed to operate in securities brokerage, securities deposit and financial advisory services.

Both Nam An Securities JSC and VICS operate in securities brokerage, trading and deposit and investment consultancy.

Yamaha installs European-standard motorbike fume testing lab

Yamaha Motors Vietnam Factory in Hanoi ’s outlying Soc Son district inaugurated a motorbike exhaust fume testing laboratory meeting European standards on April 10.

Yamaha Motor Vietnam boasted they were the first motor vehicle manufacturer in Vietnam to invest in an European-standard exhaust fume testing lab, which has been certificated by the Vietnam Register.

Yamaha researchers and technicians have improved their products to provide the market with environmentally friendly Yamaha motorbikes meeting Vietnam ’s exhaust fume control standard, TCVN 73S7:2003.

Southernmost province targets poverty rate

The southernmost province of Ca Mau plans to help lift 5,000 households out of poverty, reducing the province’s rate of poor households to less than 13 percent this year, a target that is two percent lower than the poverty rate of 15 percent last year.

With funding of 200 billion VND (12.5 million USD) from the Hunger Eradication and Poverty Reduction Programme, the provincial authorities will allocate preferential loans to 25,000 households, and provide vocational training for 28,000 people.

Funds will also be allocated to continue building rural infrastructure such as roads and bridges, and to provide consultancy to help poor households succeed in farming and small businesses.

Gov’t to issue bonds for health care development

The Prime Minister has agreed for the first time to issue Government bonds, worth 14 trillion VND, to support the health sector, announced the Health Ministry on April 10.

The money raised from the bonds will be poured into a project to build and upgrade district-level and inter-district hospitals nationwide in the 2008-2010 period .

The project, which is estimated to cost 17 trillion VND, will build, upgrade and provide equipment to more than 600 hospitals across all 64 provinces, including 552 district hospitals and 69 inter-district polyclinics.

The remaining capital of the project will be mobilised from local budgets and other sources during the period.

The Prime Minister has also decided to increase health insurance subsidies for poor people by 50,000 VND to 130,000 VND per month per head.

ASEAN electronic forum kicks off in Hanoi

An electronic forum of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) set off in Hanoi on April 10, drawing State management agencies, business associations and businesses from member countries.

Host Vietnam took the opportunity to present its electronics industry trategy, the Government’s relevant policies and opportunities to businesses, with an aim of luring more investments both from domestic and foreign investors.

High on the agenda of the two-day events are update information about the electronics industry development in member countries and measures for fast integration.

Participants are expected to reach agreements on more policies and latest measures to be taken by the ASEAN Community to boost the grouping electronics industry.