Vietnam oil joint venture reports profitable year

Vietsovpetro, a Vietnamese-Russian oil and gas joint venture, announced revenues topped US$5 billion last year, a 16 percent jump, despite lower output.
Net profit was $836 million, a year-on-year jump of 18 percent and 21 percent higher than earlier projections.

Its output was around 9.8 million tons of crude oil, some 850,000 tons less than the previous year, due to a production cut in some wells.

However, its bottom line benefited from consistently high global oil prices last year.

Vietsovpetro was set up by the state-owned Vietnam Oil and Gas Corporation and Russia’s Zarubezheft over two decades ago when it became the first international JV to explore for oil off the Vietnamese coast.

The JV has generated $33 billion in revenues, turning it into one of the country’s most successful joint investments, and also contributed $20 billion to the state coffers over the past 25 years.

Last year it contributed around $3.55 billion to the state budget a rise of $530 million over a year earlier.

The company has produced nearly 161 million tons of crude oil to date from Bach Ho (White Tiger), Rong (Dragon) and Dai Hung (Big Bear) fields, and has acquired 16.8 billion cu.m of liquid petroleum and other gases.

It makes up 80 percent of the oil and gas output of Vietnam which is the third largest producer and exporter in Southeast Asia.

The JV plans to expand operations in Vietnam and to other countries.

By Dong Ha

Vietnam stocks hit new high

Vietnam’s stock market index soared 3.51 percent to close at a new lifetime high on Friday as blue chips made all-around gains.
The VN-Index rose 28.57 points to 817.39, beating the record of 809 set on December 20, with 67 gainers and 20 losers.

Trading volume jumped by 2 million shares to 7.9 million shares. Total value rose to VND898 billion (US$55.5 million) from VND668 billion.

Hanoi-based infrastructure developer SJS became the first stock to cross the VND600,000 mark, hitting the 5 percent ceiling to close at VND604,000.

IT developer FPT also rose 5 percent to close at VND495,000.

Other heavyweights to gain 5 percent were REE which closed at VND326,290, GMD which closed at VND396,720, and VNM which closed at VND632,890.

Analysts attributed the sharp rise to positive news about the future of the market.

Nguyen Van Dung, director of the Hanoi Securities Trading Center, added that foreign portfolio inflows into the market had jumped because of optimistic forecasts on the country’s economy and stock exchange by international financers like Merrill Lynch and Credit Suisse.

But he warned that a steady market needed experienced investors who were not driven by the “herd instinct”.

Compiled by Dong Ha

Vietnam’s largest container port targets top 50 status globally

Ho Chi Minh City’s Cat Lai port, run by the Saigon New Port Company, has set a target to become one of the world’s 50 leading container ports by 2010.
To achieve the goal, the Saigon New Port Company and the Saigon Customs Bureau Region No1 have agreed on stronger collaboration to better serve importers and exporters.

After Vietnam entered the World Trade Organization (WTO), experts forecast that there would be a fresh wave of imports and exports at the nation’s ports.

Leaders of Cat Lai port, whose construction was started three years ago in District 2, are striving to satisfy the imminent boom in goods.

The company is investing in more advanced equipment so that by 2008 it can handle some two million TEU (twenty-foot-equivalent units) of cargo, roughly 28 million tons of commodities.

Cat Lai port currently transports some 60 percent of import/export containers in Ho Chi Minh City and over 40 percent in Vietnam.

Reported by Tran Hung – Translated by Tuong Nhi

Tapping Vietnam’s coastal tourism, the right way

Vietnamese coastal attractions should develop in separate and distinct ways, to diversify the overall view of travel and put the developing nation on the global tourism map.

The enormous potential for tourism of Vietnam’s over 3,200 kilometers of coastline has remained mostly untapped with the coastal provinces’ major earnings coming from seafood, transportation, and crude oil and gas.

Yet it has been said that many sites along the coastline, such as Vung Tau, Nha Trang, Phu Quoc, Phan Thiet, and Ha Long, are not less, or even more, attractive than those well known in other Southeast Asian countries, such as Thailand’s Pattaya, Phuket, Ko-samui, or Indonesia’s Bali.

Increasingly aware of that, many Vietnamese coastal provinces have considered developing tourist sector their top priority, expecting it to be the motive force to boost the whole economy.

The need to diversify coastal tourism has grown with Vietnam’s recent admission to the World Trade Organization.

As the local market is now open to foreign travel agents, Vietnam expects to welcome more foreign tourists, including those on boards cruise vessels, to visits its coastal attractions.

Besides conventional tourism, there have been increasing demands for MICE (meetings, incentives, conventions/conferences, exhibitions/events) trips, as well as trips to learn about Vietnam’s history and culture.

In the rush to cash in on their coastal attractiveness, however, many provinces have based their tourist development on unsustainable strategies which failed to promote their characteristics and to protect local environment and culture.

The strategies often overlap, undermining their effectiveness and long-term vision.

For example, Vung Tau could focus on organizing beach events, such as sports, cultural or entertainment activities. Con Dao and Phu Quoc Islands are most suitable sites for luxury beach resorts. Meanwhile, Nha Trang and Phan Thiet could develop meeting/convention and shopping facilities.

Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Hoi An and other provinces lining the northern central coast, studded with UNESCO-recognized heritage sites, could be the best place to organize trips to learn about the Vietnamese history and culture.

In the north, besides the world-acclaimed Ha Long Bay, tourists could also be lured to other attractions, such as Sam Son, Cua Lo, and Do Son.

Coastal tourism with due focus on MICE and history/culture-learning trips should be parlayed into an advantage for Vietnam, especially if the country can achieve its plan of a 3,200km tourist road that would run the length of the coastline, and boost investment for advertising and promotional activities.

Diversifying tourism would help elevate awareness of Vietnam’s bountiful coastal attractions to draw travelers worldwide.