Trading of shares of the PetroVietnam Oil Corporation (PV Oil), Vietnam’s second largest petrol distributor, officially started on the Unlisted Public Company Market (UpCOM) on the morning of March 7, more than one month after its initial public offering (IPO).

PV Oil’s petrol warehouse in Ho Chi Minh City’s Nha Be district 

PV Oil floated 200.4 million shares on the UpCOM at an initial price of 20,200 VND (0.89 USD) a piece.

PV Oil’s IPO on January 25 was a success with all its nearly 207 million shares on offer sold at an average price of 20,196 VND, compared to the asking price of 13,400 VND.

The company will sell more than 462 million shares, or 44.72 percent of its charter capital, to strategic investors. Under PV Oil’s approved equitisation plan, it will have charter capital of 10.342 trillion VND (455 million USD)

PV Oil currently operates 540 petrol stations across the country. It is among the country’s top oil products retailers with a 22 percent market share.

In 2017, PV Oil reported a consolidated revenue of 56 trillion VND (2.46 billion USD) with a pre-tax profit of 405 billion VND (178.02 million USD).

This year, the firm expects to earn 41 trillion VND (1.8 billion USD) in revenue and 340 billion VND (149.45 million USD) in pre-tax profit.

PV Oil is the third large-scale firm listing on the UpCOM this March, following Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical Company Limited (BSR), which was listed on March 1, and PetroVietnam Power Corporation (PV Power) listed on March 6.-VNA

Last year, Vietnam’s agricultural, forestry, and fisheries (AFF) exports posted spectacular performance with $36 billion of export turnover. However, there are many difficulties to overcome and reach the target of $40 billion this year.

Vietnam is considering boosting pork exports

Impressive performance across the board

In 2017, the export of agricultural products marked new records, such as fishery exceeded and forestry products hit $8 billion, and fruits and vegetables broke the record of $3.45 billion by increasing 40.5 per cent compared to 2016.

China, Japan, the US, and South Korea were the four leading markets importing Vietnamese fruits and vegetables, with market proportions of 75.7, 3.7, 2.9, and 2.5 per cent, respectively. Besides, the quality of Vietnamese fruits has gradually been confirmed, and the products conquered such hard markets like the US, the EU, Japan, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

Cashew nut exports hit 353,000 tonnes and $3.52 billion in 2017, up 1.9 per cent in volume and 23.8 per cent in value. The US, the Netherlands, and China remained the three biggest importers with 35, 15.6, and 12.9 per cent of Vietnam’s exports, respectively.

About 3.4 million tonnes of cashew materials were harvested throughout the year, 1.6-1.7 million tonnes of which has been processed in Vietnam.

Forestry exports were estimated at $8 billion, up 9.1 per cent on-year. The US, China, and Japan are the three leading import markets, taking up 42.8, 14, and 13.5 per cent of the total, respectively.

In 2017, the exports of agricultural products such as rice, coffee, rubber, and tea recovered but did not hit the earlier record. Rice exports reached 5.89 million tonnes and gained $2.66 billion, up 22.4 per cent in volume and 23.2 per cent in value on-year. 1.39 million tones of rubber have been exported throughout the year, fetching $2.26 billion, up 11 per cent in volume and 35.6 per cent in value.

Pork and seafood in the red

Of Vietnam’s major agricultural sectors, husbandry is the weakest export sector. The output of pork was estimated at 2.75 million tonnes in 2017, ranking sixth over the world. However, almost all live-weight pigs were exported to China through unofficial channels. Unofficial exports of live-weight pigs to China reached 12 million animals in 2016 (equivalent to 33,000 ones daily).

In 2017, live-weight pig exports to China have been cancelled and pig farming went into the red as supply exceeded demand. As a result, farmers have been reporting losses during the past year and a half.

Official exports of live-weight pig hit 19,475 tonnes in 2017 and fetched $78.38 million, down 54 per cent in volume and 22.7 per cent in value on-year.

Fisheries also slipped into the red after the EU gave a “yellow card” for Vietnamese fishery products on October 23, 2017 due to not meeting requirements on illegal unregistered and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

Vietnam’s seafood exports to the EU have recovered since then, but the time period of checking product traceability has been raised, leading to increased storage time and checking fees for Vietnamese firms. This also made importers in various markets anxious about Vietnamese fishery products.

Targeting $40 billion this year

Since the beginning of the year, a multitude of issues in agriculture and rural development arose. Firstly, it was imperative to remove the “yellow card” for seafood exports to the EU. Thereby, Vietnam has to perfect its institutions to manage fishing fleets and increase the inspection of fishing vessels on sea and at ports, as well as confirm the origin of aquatic goods and put a stop to the illegal exploitation of foreign waters.

The newly approved Law on Fisheries (2017) needs to be enforced effectively to ensure fishing activities are in line with EU and global regulations. Relevant ministries and agencies should collaborate and do their utmost to remove the yellow card.

Breaking open the pork exporting market is one of the major tasks set forth by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD). Following the first batch of Vietnamese chickens exported to Japan in last September, MARD and husbandry companies have set their eyes on exporting Vietnamese pork to the world.

Gabor Fluit, director general of De Heus Group Asia, said: “After the success of exporting chickens to Japan, De Heus and partners will try to export pork to China, Japan, and South Korea.”

According to MARD, the export value of fruits and vegetables was estimated at $321 million in the first month of 2018, up 36.9 per cent on-year. This is a spectacular performance and a foundation to actualise the goal of $40 billion of agricultural exports in this year.

At the conference summing up agricultural and rural development in 2017, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc set the goal of $40 billion for agriculture, forestry, and fishery exports. The common view is that as long as the country manages to pump out the necessary solutions to remove disadvantages and seizes the opportunities present, this goal is absolutely possible.

Vietnam’s agricultural, forestry, and fisheries (AFF) exports have seen spectacular performance in certain product categories and markets, such as processed chicken exported to Japan or dragon …

The Koyu & Unitek Company, based in the southern province of Dong Nai, plans to develop a second chicken processing factory to meet the demand …

Two Vietnamese husbandry associations are appealing to the government to launch a probe to determine whether U.S. businesses are dumping their chicken products at below-market …

VIR

The State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC) plans to sell nearly 30 percent of its stake in Binh Minh Plastic JSC or 24.1 million shares on March 9 on the HCM Stock Exchange.

The 24.1 million shares will be sold via competitive bidding and each investor must register to buy at least 20,000 shares.

The starting price will be announced on February 28. The bidding price must be above both the starting level and the daily decreasing band of Binh Minh Plastic Company’s share price on March 9.

For example, if the shares are sold at the starting price of 100,000 VND (4.44 USD) per share and the decreasing band of the shares is 95,000 VND per share, then the bidding price must be above 100,000 VND per share.

If the decreasing band of the shares is 105,000 VND per share, then the bidding price must be above 105,000 VND per share.

If investors forecast the required bidding price as unreasonable compared to their expectations, then they can cancel their bidding by 4pm on March 8.

Investors must deposit at least 10 percent of their purchase value based on the starting bidding price.

Binh Minh Plastic JSC is listed on the HCM Stock Exchange with code BMP. The company shares jumped 4.6 percent on February 23 to 93,400 VND.-VNA

Vietnam’s total newly registered capital and share buying in 2017 has valued at nearly US$36 billion and implemented capital reached nearly US$20 billion. This is record growth for FDI capital in Vietnam in 10 years.

Last year foreign enterprises invested in 19 sectors with the processing and manufacturing industries attracting nearly US$16 billion, accounting for more than 44% of the total registered capital. Production, electricity distribution, and real estate drew a large amount of investment. 

Among 115 countries and territories investing in Vietnam, Japan ranks top with total capital of more than US$9 billion, followed by the Republic of Korea and Singapore.

Investment environment – key to Vietnam’s success

Do Nhat Hoang, Director of the Department of Foreign Investment at the Ministry of Planning and Investment said there were many reasons for the sharp rise of FDI in 2017 against a forecast of US$30 billion. The rise was reported on both registered and implemented capital. 

In the total of US$20 billion worth of implemented capital, US$17.5 billion was disbursed, up 7.5% against 2016. Last year foreign investors spent more than US$3 billion on buying shares. 

Vietnam’s improved investment environment, political stability, large population, and strong workforce are major attractions for investors.

Hirohide Sagara, the Co-Chairman of the Vietnam Business Forum Alliance 2017, said, “I think current activities of the Vietnamese government can be valued highly. We’re glad to continue to work with the Vietnamese government.”

Opportunity to attract FDI

Despite regional instability, Vietnam has emerged as a leading investment destination with political stability, economic potential, and sound business environment. 

Vietnam’s hosting of the 2017 APEC Economic Leaders’ Week created a golden opportunity for the country to boost its cooperation with other APEC member economies including Japan, the Republic of Korea, the US, China, Thailand, and Taiwan, China. Since it first hosted the APEC Summit in 2006, Vietnam has become a magnet to FDI.

Robert Moritz, Global President of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) said US President Donald Trump’s attendance at the APEC events last November in Da Nang created major opportunities for Vietnam and the US to boost investment cooperation.

He said, “Just like every country in terms of areas for investment, you need to have a very strong domestic growth agenda. It has been proved over the past years in Vietnam and people want to see it continuing in Vietnam. Second thing, you need to make sure that there’s certainty and may be stability in rules and regulations, taxation, legal issue and again that’s gonna to be sustained because people are looking for stability and security in investment areas and make sure how to invest. Last but most importantly is to make sure that you have a quality workforce.”

According to PwC, Vietnam is among 5 leading countries and economies that APEC CEOs want to invest in.

VOV5