Thread: Latest news on the Dong!

Investment from US to Vietnam likely to reach US $8 billion in 2007

US Ambassador to Vietnam Michael Marine has forecasted that foreign investment from the US to Vietnam will probably double to US $8 billion in 2007, up from US $4 billion in 2006.
He told reporters in Hanoi on December 13 that in 2006, investment from the US to Vietnam reached US $4 billion. US businesses will start to implement three or four major projects in Vietnam next year. If this happens, the US’s investment in the country will reach US $8 billion.
He also said that most of businessmen from the US, Vietnam and other countries, who had taken part in the Vietnam Business Forum in Hanoi on December 13, were optimistic about the prospect of their investment in Vietnam.
“2007 and the time after 2007 will be a very good time for Vietnam to attract more FDI. However, this will not be the case unless Vietnam continues its economic reform,” Marine stressed.
Regarding bilateral relations between the two countries, Ambassador Marine said that the US considered Vietnam as not only a good partner in trade and investment, but also in strategic and political issues.
According to the Vietnamese Ministry of Planning and Investment, by last month, the US had 305 investment projects in Vietnam, with a combined registered capital of US $2.1 billion and an estimated disbursement of US $730 million. The US was ranked 9th among the 75 countries and territories that have invested in Vietnam.
Seventy four other projects in Vietnam, capitalised at about US $2.4 billion, were invested by US businesses via third countries.
If combining direct investment from the US and its indirect investment through third countries, the total investment from the US to Vietnam reaches US $4.4 billion, and the US becomes Vietnam’s fifth largest foreign investor. (VNA)

That sounds like some good news you found there Notazbad. could be profitable for us?

Here it is now, June 4, 2007 and the VN Minister of Finance is still showing a blank next to the VN Dong/ USD currency value chart.

Banking services to go high tech
(01-06-2007)

Customers enjoy looking at products at the Acer pavilion during Banking Vietnam 2007, a two-day exhibition on products and services for the banking sector. The expo also provides a forum for bank managers to exchange information on technology. — VNA/VNS Photo Tran Viet

HA NOI — Over the next few years, the banking industry will go through a major transformation as companies adopt new technology to offer a wider range of services, according to delegates at yesterday’s Banking Viet Nam 2007 conference.
State Bank of Viet Nam Governor Le Duc Thuy said the event, which is themed around modernising the financial sector as part of the country’s global integration, will provide executives an overview of new technology as local banks learn to become more competitive.
The conference focused on key areas as non-cash transactions, e-banking services, risk management and links with the securities market.
Citi Country Director Charly Madan said in the near term to expect Vietnamese and foreign companies to work more closely with the central bank in transferring new technology to the market.
The conference, hosted by the State Bank and the International Data Group, attracted over 240 spe******ts in banking, finance and IT. The conference ends today. — VNS
Viet Nam News

Gold price unexpectedly exceeds VND13mil/tael threshold12:42 04/06/2007VietNamNet Bridge – The gold price has unexpectedly surpassed the VND13mil/tael ($812.5) threshold. The market has immediately become gloomy due to the overly high prices.



The domestic market saw the gold price dramatically increase late last week, which exceeded the ‘sensitive’ threshold of VND13mi/tael. This is for the first time since May 17 the gold price returned to the VND13mil/tael level. The increase has been attributed to the world’s price increases by $15-16/0z late last week compared to mid week.

On the afternoon of June 3, the gold price listed at the jewellery shops at Ben Thanh market was between VND13,020,000 and VND13,090,000 per tael. The gold price offered by the Saigon Jewellery Company (SJC) on its website was VND13mil per tael. Eximbank’s offered prices proved to be higher than that offered by gold shops, at VND13,100,000 per tael.

However, experts have noted that the quoted price levels did not reflect the real situation of supply and demand as most of bar gold production companies closed for the weekend.

The price hike has made the market quiet. M, the owner of the jewellery shop at Ben Thanh market said that unlike the previous years, people now only purchase gold when the price falls down. She said that she did not receive any clients who sought to buy bar gold in the last two days.

One week before, when the gold price fell down to below VND12,900,000 per tael, the volume of bar gold sold by companies and shops reportedly increased by 20-30%. The gold price decreased on the news that IMF would sell a big volume of gold. However, the trading volume dropped later as soon as the price increased.

The gold price was stabilized in the last two consecutive weeks before at $650-660/oz. However, the price unexpectedly fell down in the last trading session, soon after the US Government announced the GDP growth rate in the first quarter of 2007, the lowest level since 2002. The greenback has become weaker and devaluated against other hard foreign currencies.

At the same time, US Department of Energy has reported the decline in the oil reserve. The oil price increase and the weaker dollar have both ignited the gold price hike wave.

On the afternoon of June 3, the World’s Gold Council announced the reference price at $671/oz, or $15-16/oz higher compared to two or three days before.

Unlike the domestic market, transactions in the world’s market were very bustling when the price began increasing. The gold price has been continuously fluctuating so far this year, however, it is clear that the deepest lows after every price increase move are higher and higher.

When predicting about the price tendency, Huynh Trung Khanh, Advisor to the World’s Gold Council in Vietnam, said that though the price is on the rise, it is too early to say that the gold price would shoot up in prices. It is not very likely to see the price exceed the $700/oz level.

In a statement released on June 1, the European Central Bank (ECB) has announced it has sold 600 tonnes of gold since the last September and would not sell more gold until this September.

In New York, the gold price has increased by $10/oz in contracts to $670.6/oz for spot delivery contracts, while the contracts for delivery in August saw the price increase of $10.2/oz in the latest trading session. The sharp price increase late last week helped the last week’s price increase by 2.3% over the week before.

(Source: Lao dong, VNE)
VietNamNet - Gold price unexpectedly exceeds VND13mil/tael threshold

Hong Kong businesses ‘ready and able’ to invest in Vietnam

A business delegation from Hong Kong will conduct market surveys in Vietnam June 18-21, according to the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (TDC).

The survey would study Vietnam's investment environment and seek opportunities to develop trade relations between Hong Kong and Vietnam's localities, said TDC's Deputy Executive Director Alan Wong at a press conference Friday.
The delegation, headed by TDC Executive Director Peter Woo, includes representatives from such well-known Hong Kong corporations as Giordano International, Taifook Securities Group, Hong Kong Stockbrokers Association, Pacific Alliance Group and G.B.W Corporation.
Hong Kong businesses were able and ready to invest in various projects in Vietnam, some of which involve infrastructure construction, electronics factories, the garment and textile industry and stock markets and services, said Wong at the press conference.
Two-way trade turnover between Vietnam and Hong Kong reached over US$2 billion in 2006.
Source: VNA

Story from Thanh Nien News
Published: 04 June, 2007, 20:53:11 (GMT+7)
Copyright Thanh Nien News
Vietnam latest news - Thanh Nien Daily

Is this place rolling in dough or what??
Uncle Ho must be spinning in his grave.

Vietnam President to visit U.S. on June 22

By Grant McCool | June 4, 2007
HANOI (Reuters) - President Nguyen Minh Triet will visit U.S. President George W. Bush in the White House on June 22 at a time when Washington is applying pressure on Vietnam over the trials and jailing of political activists.
A U.S. Embassy official said on Monday that a formal invitation has been made to Triet, who will be the first Vietnamese head of state to visit Washington since the end of the U.S. war in Vietnam in 1975.
The two countries established diplomatic relations in 1995 and friendly ties are largely founded on trade and business.
"The White House meeting will take place on June 22," the embassy official said.
Triet, who is expected to be greeted by protests in support of Vietnam's tiny dissident community, is making the trip to reciprocate Bush's state visit to the communist-run country last November around the time of an Asia-Pacific summit in Hanoi.
The relationship between the former enemies has matured in the last 12 years to encompass trade and business, military ties, education and fighting diseases such as HIV/AIDS and bird flu.
"I believe there is a recognition on both sides that individual events should not be an obstacle to continued dialogue aimed at strengthening ties," said Tom Vallely, head of the Vietnam program at the Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
The United States, along with the European Union, has condemned a series of trials since March in which at least seven proponents of a multi-party system were jailed for between three and eight years.
Western governments have also called for their release and the release of other dissidents opposed to one-party rule.
Last week, Bush met Vietnamese-American supporters of the dissidents at the White House.
The Vietnamese President is also expected to visit New York and Los Angeles, diplomatic sources said. His entourage will include representatives of Vietnam business.
Among the issues to be discussed are efforts to clean up so-called "hot spots" of dioxin, commonly known as "agent orange" from three former American wartime air bases.
"This issue is important and we are pleased that we are having more ongoing conversations about that," a U.S. Embassy official said.
The issue has long been sensitive in the relationship, but last year Hanoi and Washington set a new tone in discussing it.
However, a Vietnamese victims group has pursued a lawsuit against U.S. chemical manufacturers. Coincidentally, a hearing in the case is scheduled for June 18 in New York while Triet is in the United States.
Dioxin is a small compound within the "agent orange" herbicide that the Americans used to defoliate the jungles where communist troops were based, but it is one of the most toxic compounds known, scientists say.

Vietnam President to visit U.S. on June 22 - Boston.com

wow. Wonder what will be on THEIR menu!!! hehe

Party General Secretary meets with Cuban leader Fidel Castro
(04-06-2007)

General Secretary Nong Duc Manh (left) hugs Cuban President Fidel Castro. — AFP/VNA Photo

Party General Secretary Nong Duc Manh and Cuban Vice President Raul Castro view the honour guard in Havana. — VNA/VNS Photo Dinh Xuan Tuan

HAVANA — Communist Party General Secretary Nong Duc Manh held a two-hour meeting with recuperating Cuban President Fidel Castro at the CIMEQ Medical Centre in Havana on Sunday.
Images of the meeting were broadcast on Cuban and Vietnamese televisions, showing the 80-year-old Cuban leader in apparently good condition, chatting with and embracing Manh.
In their talks, the two leaders discussed measures to enhance bilateral ties and international issues of mutual concern.
They shared the common stands on international issues, and each expressed absolute support for each others’ independence and self-determination foreign policies.
The two parties and nations would continue relations of friendship and mutual trust and comprehensive co-operation for the sake of peace, national independence, democracy, social advancement, co-operation and development in Southeast Asia, Latin America and all over the world, they agreed.
Manh wished Fidel Castro a quick recovery so he could once again lead the Cuban people to new and glorious achievements.
On Saturday, Manh met with Cuban Vice President Raul Castro, who is also Second Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba’s Central Committee and First Vice President of the Council of Ministers.
They agreed that the two nations would use the Viet Nam-Cuba Joint Governmental Co-operation Committee as a platform to expand mutual co-operation in energy, biotechnology and agriculture.
The committee has been charged with promoting prospecting and drilling for oil on land and in the Gulf of Mexico, providing technical assistance for a biotechnology centre in Viet Nam, and improving rice cultivation in Cuba.
The host and the guest also focused on increasing the exchange of visits by Party and state officials and furthering security and foreign relations co-operation.
Raul Castro said that Manh’s visit to Cuba would be a stepping stone in lifting the friendship and tradition of co-operation between the two parties, states and people to new heights.
He also lauded Manh’s tour of Latin America, during which he has made stops in Chile, Brazil and Venezuela, describing the visits as an important political event for the region and for future co-operation between Latin America and Southeast Asia.
Raul Castro also reiterated Cuba’s support of Viet Nam’s bid for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council for the 2008-09 term.
Manh responded by saying Viet Nam stands firm with Cuba in its struggle to lift the US embargo on the island state, get five young Cubans released from US custody, and have accused airline and hotel bomber Luis Posada Carriles brought to trial.
Manh and Raul Castro witnessed the signing of eight agreements on finance, sports, television and oil exploration; a cultural co-operation protocol; an archives co-operation plan; and a memorandum of understanding on rice cultivation in Cuba.
Manh also presented part of a total of 3,000 tonnes of rice Viet Nam will donate to the Cuban people and 100 television sets to offices of the Communist Party of Cuba.
During his visit to Cuba, Manh also met with Cuban Vice President and Secretary of the Council of Ministers Carlos Lage.
Lage emphasised that Manh’s visit to Cuba opened a new era in the friendship of Viet Nam and Cuba, especially in bilateral trade and co-operation in science and technology, which should be promoted to match the two countries’ political ties and potentials.
Manh stressed the additional importance of expanding and strengthening co-operation in economic development, investment, culture, education and training, tourism and sports. Mutual projects on the table included a bulk light plant in Cuba and construction of a bio-technology centre in Viet Nam.
Manh said that along with bilateral co-operation, both sides should expand co-operation with regional countries and third parties in areas of food products and consumer goods production. — VNS
Viet Nam News

Originally Posted by cooldolphins

wow. Wonder what will be on THEIR menu!!! hehe

And this could lead to another rumor!! Just kidding!