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News
December 4, 2002
Vietnam
Appraises Impact of BTA With U.S. After a Year
HANOI (Asia Pulse) - To mark the end
of the first year of the Vietnam-US Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA), businesses
have gathered in HCM City to discuss the agreement's influence on the growth of
industrial and export processing zones, the latest concern of local authorities
and businesses.
With the BTA imposing weakened tax and non-tax State measures on import,
local industrial and export processing zones (IZs and EPZs) are likely to become
less attractive to investors, warned Nguyen Cuong, deputy head of the HCM City
Export Processing Zones and Industrial Zones Management Authority (HEPZA).
Enterprises in the economic zones have not yet brought the BTA into full play in
the way US businesses have. Export turnover to the US remains moderate, worth
US$34.5 million in local EPZs and $18.2 million in IZs.
Of the 413 enterprises located in the city IZs and EPZs, most are small- and
medium-sized and have a limited success in the US market because of a lack of
complete information about the market, consumer tastes, quality standards and
American import-export laws and regulations, said Cuong.
According to economic experts in HCM City, enterprises should take part in
international fairs and exhibitions held periodically in the US to enhance
co-operation with American distribution channels. Co-operating and setting up
representative offices in large cities of the US could help enterprises woo
customers, collect market information and thus take greater advantage of the BTA,
experts urged. Apart from enterprises benefiting from at hand trade relations
with US firms and those acting as sub-contractors for foreign firms, most
enterprises were established by their parent companies to supply foreign orders.
They are totally dependent on parent companies and have no contact with the
market, according to Cuong.
"Subsidiaries should ask parent companies permission to deal directly with the
US demand and to work out their own development plans," Cuong said.
Nguyen Van Minh, a HEPZA official, called for more loans with low interest rates
for enterprises to improve facilities and equipment or to introduce products to
large US cities.
Phan Chanh Duong, representative of the Tan Thuan EPZ, said the zone's
Management Board was waiting for the local authority's permission to expand the
EPZ's functions, in a bid to raise competitiveness and improve delivering
services.
The EPZ is also calling for more investment in the fields of high-tech and
information technology, he added.
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Vietnam a
Safe Haven in Southeast Asia According to Warnings
HANOI (Asia
Pulse) - Many countries are warning against travelling to Indonesia,
Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines, but Vietnam is one of the few places in
Southeast Asia that is considered safe.
The Agence France Presse (AFP) on Dec. 3
quoted Alfonso Romero, general manager of Hanoi's Melia Hotel, as saying in an
article entitled "Vietnam's tourist industry cashing in on regional terror
fears".
The source said "the deadly bomb attacks in Bali may have cast a shadow over
many of Southeast Asia's traditional tourist hotspots, but Vietnam is cashing in
on its reputation as an oasis of calm in a troubled region."
Tour operators across the country are reporting increased bookings, and "no
vacancy" signs are being hoisted at many top hotels in Ha Noi and in the
southern business capital of Ho Chi Minh City.
"Compared to last year, the number of guests has increased by 25 per cent in the
months of October and November," said Romero.
Like many hoteliers, he attributes the rise to the October 12 blasts on the
Indonesian island of Bali, which killed more than 190 people and decimated the
tourist industry at one of the region's most popular get-away destinations.
The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) estimates that 2.65
million tourists will have visited the country by the end of the year, 150,000
more than targeted.
Le Quang Hau, sales director at the Sofitel Metropole Hotel, one of Ha Noi's
oldest and grandest institutions, said better tourist infrastructure and
improved investment conditions were also having an impact on numbers.
"The operating environment for both the tourism and corporate market has
improved dramatically," he said.
"We have just closed the books for November and the results are fantastic. We
had a 92 per cent occupancy rate compared to 72 per cent in November 2001. We
haven't experienced such figures since May 1996."
However, he acknowledged the most significant reason for the bursting occupancy
rates was "the perception that Vietnam is politically stable".
The country was ranked by the Hong Kong-based Political and Economic Risk
Consultancy (PERC) in late October as the safest Asia-Pacific country for
business.
"Moreover, Vietnam's security apparatus is so tight that it is very unlikely any
foreign terrorists would consider it worthwhile even to try to cause an incident
there."
Lionel Moinard, general manager of the Novotel Garden Plaza Saigon in Ho Chi
Minh City, said he anticipated the occupancy boom to continue as a result of
Vietnam's immunity from regional woes and its emerging reputation as a "new
tourist destination".
Pham Tu, deputy head of VNAT, said that while Vietnam had benefited from
regional terrorist threats, it had also played a pro-active role in boosting
tourist arrivals.
"The number of tourists coming to Vietnam is increasing more and more each year
because we have taken concrete measures to improve the tourist infrastructure.
"We have also undertaken a concerted marketing campaign overseas in Europe,
North Asia and Australia," he said.
Over 2.17 million tourists visited Vietnam in the first 10 months of the year,
an 11.3 per cent increase over the same period in 2001.
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