Rice OMS ahead of Ramadan

The government will launch Open Market Sale (OMS) of rice ahead of the Ramadan when essentials’ prices typically spiral upwards, reports bdnews24.com.
Food ministry has already started preparations as suggested by an inter-ministerial committee to monitor prices.
The committee was given charge of consumer commodity price control by the commerce ministry.
The committee, headed by an additional secretary, in an earlier meeting of June 21 had identified specific reasons for price hike of rice.
It requested the food ministry to take necessary steps according to its suggestions.
The committee identified some rice mill owners and traders who were allegedly hoarding rice with the help of bank loans.
It had also proposed the Bangladesh Bank for actions against those hoarders.
The committee proposed that the central bank suspend the provision of such loans.
As part of their suggestions, the committee requested the food ministry to launch OMS ahead of Ramadan.
Food secretary Barun Deb Mitra said that the inter-ministerial committee had sent a letter to that effect.
He said that OMS launch was based on that proposal.
“It will be in effect before the Ramadan,” he said.
The letter mentioned that the price of rice was on the rise. “OMS is required to control the price hike,” it said.
Mitra said that the government had thus decided on the sales programme to ensure that rice remains affordable through Ramadan.
“A meeting of the food inspection committee on July 1 would decide upon the OMS price and distribution strategy.”
The meeting will also discuss current food reserve, future imports and the amount that the government might procure from domestic sources.
The government is set to import 0.4 tonne of wheat and 0.1 tonne of rice from India, said the food secretary.
This would be processed at the government level and the process is already underway.
“A three-member team headed by the food directorate chief is scheduled to fly to India on July 1 to confirm the rice and wheat import,” said Mitra.
“At the beginning of this year, Russia had wanted to sell 0.3 tonne of wheat for cheap rates ($219/tonne) to Bangladesh.
“But they did not stick to the proposal as the price from March.”
But the government will increase food reserve through alternative means since they are not responding, he said.

Export to US scales down

News Report
The country''s merchandise export to the US market narrowed by 7.74 per cent in the first ten months of the outgoing fiscal compared to that of the previous fiscal period following a substantial fall in demand for local apparels.
Bangladesh shipped goods worth 3139.38 million US dollars to the US market during the July-April period of fiscal year 2009-10 which was recorded 3402.87 million dollars in the same period of previous fiscal (2008-08).
The US market remained top export destination for Bangladeshi goods where export grew 12.85 per cent to 4052.80 million dollars in 2008-2009 than that of the previous fiscal period.
Despite the export fall the United States of America (USA) remains the top export destination for Bangladeshi goods followed by Germany, the UK, France, Italy Belgium and Netherlands, accounting 24.28 per cent market share of the total export during the July-April period, according to the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB).
However, garment exports from Bangladesh dropped 6.88 per cent to 2897.71million dollars in July-April of 2009-10 fiscal compared to 3091.09 million dollars during the corresponding period of previous fiscal 2008-09, fresh data released by EPB showed.
During the period USA imported woven garments worth 2211.80 million dollars, knit garments 685.91 million dollars.
Market analysts said that export growth is witnessing a declining trend to the US market as the world largest economy has largely affected by the recession, cutting down demand of Bangladeshi goods, especially for the ready-made garments (RMG).
"The local garment items have been grabbing a major share to the US export market. But the ongoing recession to the US forced to cut down demand of local garments attributing a significant export fall to the market, "they pointed.
Besides, the local exporters are also facing tough price competition from the competitor countries like China, India Vietnam and Cambodia. At the same time the local RMG industry is reeling under the unprecedented energy crisis and as well as price hike of yarns and raw material pushing its production cost high.
"Local garments have lost its competitive edge over the competitors as they are offering lower price than us because of lower cost of production. And as a result marker share of the local garments to the US market is witnessing a falling trend in the recent times," they added.
US imports more than 70 billion dollars garment items annually from all over the world. The world''s export market of ready-made garment items is 410billion dollars where Bangladesh''s market share is only 2.0 per cent.
Meanwhile, EPB data show that Bangladesh''s RMG exports reached 12.26 billion during the fiscal year 2008-09, registering 15 per cent growth over the same period of previous fiscal. Bangladesh fetched 10.7 billion dollars from RMG exports in the same period of 2007-08.
Bangladesh fetched 15.56 billion dollars from export in FY 2008-09, and it was 14.11 billion dollars in FY 2007-08, registering a growth of 10.31per cent against the same period of previous fiscal.

Barua advocates developing herbal and Unani treatment

The Yunani and Ayurvedic medicines are likely to get a status of agro-based industry as Industries Minister Dilip Barua Tuesday assured of extending further support to the sector from the government, reports BSS.
“The government would also extend credit facilities to the sector under the package of small and medium enterprise development,” he said as the chief guest at a workshop on Ayurvedic Medicine in the city.
Bangladesh Ayurvedic Oushad Shilpa Samity (BAOSS) organized the workshop with support from Medicinal Plants and Herbal Products Business Promotional Council (MPHPBPC) of the Ministry of Commerce.
President of BAOSS Dr Selim Mohammad Shahjahan, who chaired the function, said more than 70 per cent of total population, especially the rural poor, mostly depends on homeopathy, Ayurvedi and Yunani herbal medicines because of their low cost and no side effects.
He said the herbal medicine sector could earn a sizable amount of foreign exchange provided the government extends necessary fiscal and cash incentives.
“I urge the government to keep the import of raw materials for the sector completely free from VAT net for next five years,” Dr Selim said, adding the demand of herbal products and cosmetics has gone up recently all over the world.
Dilip Barua agreed with the perception of Dr Selim and said steps should be taken to ensure smooth of supply raw materials for the production of herbal items in Bangladesh.
More than 500 species of herbal plants are now being on the verge of extinction, he said urging the sector leaders to focus more on developing new gardens of medicinal plants across the country.
The minister also urged the big industry and corporate houses to invest in plantation programmes of medicinal and herbal plants as part of their social responsibilities.
The plantation, he said, would not only help meet the existing demands but also open up further avenues to boost export earnings from herbs.
He, however, reminded people not to be allured by lucrative advertisements from fake companies of herbal medicines in Bangladesh. In this context, he urged the Yunani and Ayurvedi medicine producers and doctors to remain cautious against a vested group who has been creating image crisis of the sector.
Joint secretary of Commerce Ministry Monoj Kumar Roy, chairman of Bangladesh Homeopathy Board Dr Dilip Kumar Roy, president of Yunani Medical Association Dr Mohammad Yusuf Harun Bhuiyan, deputy coordinator of Business Promotional Council Mohammad Atiqur Rahman Khan, president of Bangladesh Homeo Yunani Ayurvedic Federation Dr Rezaul Karim, among others, spoke on the occasion.

China’s AgBank on track for world IPO record

SHANGHAI, June 29: Agricultural Bank of China is on track for the world’s largest initial public offering after saying yesterday it planned to raise up to 10.1 billion dollars in the Shanghai portion of its share sale, reports AFP.
AgBank — the last of China’s “big four” state lenders to float shares — plans a dual listing in Shanghai and Hong Kong, which it is estimated will raise more than 23 billion dollars.
The bank said in a statement to the Shanghai stock exchange that it had set a price range of 2.52 to 2.68 yuan (37 to 39 US cents) a share for the Shanghai IPO.
Dow Jones Newswires reported that it would sell up to 25.57 billion shares in Shanghai, which would see it raise up to 68.5 billion yuan, or 10.1 billion dollars.
Last week, the bank set the range for the Hong Kong portion of the IPO at 2.88-3.48 Hong Kong dollars a share (37-44 US cents), which would raise as much as 13.08 billion US dollars, Dow Jones reported.
This means AgBank’s monster share sale is now expected to overtake the 22-billion-dollar offering by Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) in 2006, which currently stands as the world’s largest.
Eleven so-called cornerstone investors — including Qatar’s sovereign investment fund, British bank Standard Chartered and Hong Kong’s richest tycoon Li Ka-shing — are pouring money into the massive sale, ahead of the bank’s trading debut in Hong Kong and Shanghai next month.
Estimates for the IPO — which starts Wednesday — had ranged from about 19 billion dollars to 30 billion dollars as market volatility left a key question mark over the sale’s chances of smashing previous records.
Some analysts consider the rural lender to be the weakest of China’s big banks owing mainly to its bad-loan burden.
But investor optimism that markets may have bottomed out could help the sale, said Aaron Boesky, chief executive of China- focused hedge fund Marco Polo Investments.
“Retail interest should surprise on the upside, based on cheap pricing and current perceptions regarding a bottom in the market,” he told Dow Jones.
The size of the cornerstone investors’ commitment — about 5.45 billion US dollars — combined with heavy interest from retail investors could make it tough for some institutional buyers to get their hands on a worthwhile chunk of the offering, Boesky added.
“There will be little room for the mid- and small-size managers, which is shocking considering the size of the listing,” he was quoted as saying.
Other analysts noted however that the amount the sale looks set to raise is well off the highest earlier estimates.
“I’m afraid investors aren’t keen on the bank’s agricultural- related businesses,” said Shen Jun, a strategist at BOC International (China) Ltd.
Analysts say the return on capital from rural loans is typically 20-30 percent less than that for loans in urban areas as the size of the loans is generally smaller and monitoring costs higher.
The share sale comes after Hong Kong’s bourse, faced with growing competition from Shanghai in recent years, claimed top spot as the world’s largest IPO market last year, raising almost 32 billion US dollars.
But market volatility has also seen several companies shelve Hong Kong IPOs in the past two months.
Swire Properties, a major real estate developer in the territory, aborted a planned 3.09-billion US dollar share sale last month, just two days after Giti Tire, China’s largest tyre maker, shelved a 500-million dollar IPO.

IMF chief says yuan still too low

WASHINGTON, June 29: The head of the International Monetary Fund said yesterday that China’s yuan was still undervalued, despite its central bank’s pledge to make its exchange rate more flexible, reports AFP.
But IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn warned that even a sharp revaluation of the yuan, also known as the renminbi, would fail to correct the imbalances that impair the global economy.
“We still believe, as we have a general view on this, that the renminbi is undervalued,” Strauss-Kahn told reporters.
China unpegged its currency to the dollar in 2005 and earlier this month pledged to let it trade more freely against the dollar, though it ruled out any dramatic moves.
President Barack Obama on Sunday urged China to “be serious” about its promise. US lawmakers have threatened retaliation against China, accusing it of deliberately keeping its yuan low to fuel exports of cheap manufactured goods.
But Strauss-Kahn said he believed China was mostly responding to its own domestic strategy to encourage more growth from domestic demand instead of exports.
“Even a very strong revaluation won’t solve all the imbalances — far from that,” he said.
“Of course the revaluation of the renminbi goes in the right direction, and we’re still pushing for this, but there are a lot of other source of imbalances which will not be addressed only by changing the currency,” he said.
Strauss-Kahn said it was too early for the yuan to become part of the reserve currency used by the IMF, known as Special Drawing Rights (SDR).
The international lender now determines the currency with a basket of the US dollar, euro, Japanese yen and British pound sterling.
“I think it will be difficult to include the renminbi before the renminbi is really at a market price or one way or another a floating currency,” he said.
“But the sooner the better because as time goes by, there are more and more reasons to include other currencies in the SDR basket,” he said.
Strauss-Kahn was speaking ahead of a July 12-13 conference in the South Korean city of Daejeon which aims to study Asia’s growth model and economic management and the region’s role in international lending institutions.
Strauss-Kahn hoped the conference would help improve the image of the IMF in Asia, where some in South Korea and Southeast Asia remain resentful over lender’s role in the 1997 financial crisis.


The IMF had pressed governments to cut back on spending and allow insolvent banks to fail to halt the crisis, which was triggered by a collapse of the Thai baht and spiraled across the continent.
“Obviously the way the IMF has worked in the Asian crisis has been very badly received by Asian countries,” Strauss-Kahn said.
“Maybe they were wrong, or at least they were a bit unfair, because the mission of the IMF was to contain the crisis and clean up the financial sector,” he said, pointing out that banks in affected countries weathered the 2008 global shock.
But Strauss-Kahn, a French socialist, acknowledged that many Asians had understandable concerns about the impact that austerity packages had on ordinary people.
He said the IMF was conscious of the backlash a decade ago as it negotiated more recent bailouts for countries such as Hungary and Pakistan.
“Looking backward, it appears that probably it could have been done another way and we drew the lesson from this,” he said.

Romanian leu falls to record low

BUCHAREST, June 29: The Romanian leu fell to a record low yesterday against the euro after Bucharest agreed to a sharp hike in value added tax at the weekend to secure a new tranche of IMF loans, reports AFP.
The leu dropped to 4.32 lei for one euro on Monday from 4.28 lei to the euro on Friday, according to the exchange rate quoted by the country’s central bank.
Despite the new low, ING Bank chief economist in Romania Nicolae Chidesciuc said that the fall was not “dramatic taking into consideration the economic and social context in Romania”.
He attributed the Romanian currency’s weakness to uncertainty about whether a loan agreement with the International Monetary Fund can be maintained in the face of stiff opposition and political instability.
Bucharest has promised the IMF to reduce its public deficit to 6.8 percent of gross domestic product in 2010 in exchange for a new instalment of an aid package worth 20 billion euros (25 billion dollars) agreed in 2009.
However, an austerity plan announced by the government in May to cut the deficit has been strongly criticised by the opposition and was declared partially unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court on Friday.
After the court rejected a plan to cut pensions by 15 percent in 2010, the centre-right government agreed on Saturday with IMF and EU officials to raise value added tax to 24 percent from 19 percent.
The five percentage point sales tax hike comes on top of a cut in public sector salaries by 25 percent.
The IMF is due to hold a board meeting on Wednesday to discuss unblocking a new tranche of 900 million euros for Bucharest after the weekend agreement to hike sales tax.
ING economist Chidesciuc said that the leu’s fall could continue in the absence of credible measures whose importance “must be understood by all politicians”.

The Romanian currency had previously reached a record low of 4.31 lei to the euro in January 2009.

Stocks tumble on global economic worries

NEW YORK, June 29: Stocks and interest rates tumbled Tuesday after fresh signs of a global economic slowdown spooked investors, reports AP.
U.S. markets are following those in Asia, which fell when Japanese data showed that the nation’s recovery has slowed. And then European indexes fell sharply after Greek workers walked off the job to protest steep budget cuts.
Interest rates fell in the bond market with investors seeking the safety of Treasurys. The yield on the 10-year note dropped to as low as 2.97 percent, the first time it has fallen below 3 percent since April 2009. The yield, which is used as a benchmark for many consumer loans and mortgages, bounced off its low and edged up to 2.99 percent.
Falling yields are a sign that investors are willing to forego potential big gains in stocks for more certain, but smaller profits in bonds.
Investors are worried that the global rebound is weakening. Consumers may be similarly shaken. A report due out Tuesday on consumer confidence is expected to show confidence fell in June after three straight months of gains.
Economists polled by Thomson Reuters forecast the Conference Board’s consumer confidence index fell to 62.8 from 63.3 last month. The index needs to climb above 90 to indicate the economy is on solid footing.
Companies have indicated things are getting better, yet there are few signs they are ready to hire in big numbers. The Labor Department’s monthly employment report due out Friday is expected to show the unemployment rate rose 0.1 percent to 9.8 percent in June.
In early morning trading, the Dow Jones industrial average dropped 129.01, or 1.3 percent, to 10,011.40. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 15.14, or 1.4 percent, to 1,059.43, while the Nasdaq composite index plummeted 39.55, or 1.8 percent, to 2,181.10.
A report that showed home prices rose in April did little to affect trading. The S&P/Case-Shiller home price index 20-city home price index rose 0.8 percent between March and April. The gains, though, are likely being written off because April was the final month when buyers could receive a tax credit. Nearly all housing indicators got a boost in April from the credit, but have since shown a slowdown in the market.

Toyota starts production of Europe’s first hybrid car

LONDON, June 29: Japanese giant Toyota launched production of Europe’s first full hybrid vehicle yesterday at its car factory in Burnaston, central England, handing a boost to Britain’s battered auto industry, reports AFP.
The first European-made hybrid version of Toyota’s Auris hatchback rolled off the production line under the eye of the British government’s business minister Vince Cable.
“Toyota’s decision to make Burnaston the only plant in the world to build the Hybrid Auris is a strong endorsement of the UK as a manufacturing base for the next generation of cars,” said Cable, after touring the Burnaston plant.
“It is sending a signal to manufacturers that if you’re not in the UK, then you’re missing out on all the strengths and skills that the UK has to offer.”
The new Auris Hybrid Synergy Drive car, which uses both a traditional petrol engine and an electric motor, will arrive at British car showrooms on July 1.
The model will be assembled at Burnaston, in Derbyshire, while the engines will be produced in Deeside, northern Wales. They are the first hybrid engines to be made outside of Japan.
Production of the Auris car will help safeguard around 400 British jobs at the two factories.
“The UK has proved to be a valuable business partner,” said Toyota’s Motor Europe president Didier Leroy on Monday.
“Building on almost 20 years of manufacturing experience, Toyota’s team members continue to deliver the quality, efficiency and flexibility needed to meet the exacting standards of our customers in Europe.
“A new chapter is opening today as Britain, a traditional origin of industrial innovation, becomes home to the manufacture of the first full hybrid vehicle for Europe,” Leroy added.
Katsunori Kojima, managing director of Toyota Manufacturing UK, said the group was “proud” to begin British production.
“It is a proud day for Toyota Manufacturing UK as we celebrate the official start of production of the Auris Hybrid Synergy Drive, yet another premium quality model to be built in Britain,” Kojima added.
“To manufacture a world-class vehicle you need a world-class team and the commitment and dedication of our members has been crucial.”
The group’s reputation has however been tarnished by a series of recalls for accelerator and brake problems on a whole range of their cars.
The Japanese giant has recalled around 10 million vehicles worldwide since late last year, mostly for problems with sudden acceleration, which have been blamed for more than 80 deaths in the United States.
Toyota president Akio Toyoda last week apologised to shareholders for the mass recalls.
Dr Keith Pullen, joint head of the energy systems and engines group at London’s City University, praised Toyota for making the new hybrid vehicle Britain.
“The decision to manufacture the Toyota Auris hybrid at Burnaston is welcome news for the UK and clear recognition that we are still at the forefront of innovative automotive technology,” Pullen told AFP on Monday.
“Manufacturing vehicles such as this is the future for the industry, so this should be seen as a positive sign.”

Greek crisis, inflation, rate hike may impact India’s economic growth

NEW DELHI, June 29: The Indian economy has been on a growth trajectory fuelled by both a rebound in domestic demand (mainly private investment) as well as in exports, reports agencies.
This is evidenced by the rise in GDP growth to 8.6% during the last quarter of fiscal year 2009-2010 from 6.5% in the previous quarter, with double-digit expansion of 16.3% in the manufacturing sector, lifting the annual average growth rate for the full fiscal year to 7.4%.
Industrial production also registered a double-digit growth rate for the seventh straight month by clocking a spectacular 17.6% growth in April, with capital goods soaring to 72.8% year-on-year (although partly due to the low base effect) and growth in consumer durables touching 37%. India’s exports have also grown 36.2% year-on-year in April while imports have grown 43%, with the rise in non-oil imports of 34.3%.
The downside risks to this growth momentum are the possible adverse impacts of the Greek crisis, easing in global growth, domestic inflationary pressures and the expectation of higher interest rates to rein in inflation.
This growth in the economy was predicted earlier by the DSE-ECRI Leading Index, a harbinger of Indian economic activity designed to anticipate cyclical turns in the economy (i.e., it is expected to turn up ahead of economic upswings and down before cyclical downswings in economic activity).
The Leading Index and its growth rate rose from late 2008 through mid-2009 before easing from June 2009 from a level of 224 to 188.5 in December. Since the lead time of the Leading Index is generally expected to lie between 6-12 months (although it may be somewhat shorter in India due to lags in the availability of data), the recent growth in the economy was anticipated by the DSE-ECRI Leading Index.
The Leading Index has more recently rebounded slightly in early 2010 edging up to 199.5 in March 2010, along with its growth rate. Nevertheless, since the recent levels and the growth rates are well below their earlier highs, the cautious prognosis is of a more restrained outlook for the Indian economy.
The robustness of India’s economic growth also depends on growth in the global economy and its impact on the Indian economy through the trade linkages. The DSE-ECRI Indian Leading Exports Index captures the expected global demand for India’s goods, as reflected in the leading indexes of India’s major trading partners.
This index, a predictor of the direction of Indian exports that is designed to lead turning points in Indian export growth, grew substantially from late 2008 through October 2009, showing improved prospects for India’s exports as a result of expected improvement in global economic growth.
The index growth rate, however, has dropped from over 180% in September 2009 to around 50% in early 2010, mostly reflecting the prospects for an easing in the pace of the global recovery.
At least outside Southern Europe, the global economic revival is set to continue, and is unlikely to be derailed by potential shocks. In other words, even aside from Asia, the major developed economies should continue to grow in the coming months. However, after accelerating out of the global recession, the pace of economic growth is set to throttle back in most major economies.
This imminent deceleration in the rate of international economic growth is driven in part by a downturn in global industrial growth, which is reflected in the recent plunge in commodity price inflation. Few economies are likely to escape entirely unscathed by this industrial slowdown, which has just begun and is being transmitted globally through trade.

Google changes China access after Beijing objects

BEIJING, June 29: Google Inc. said Tuesday it will stop automatically routing users in China to its Hong Kong site after Beijing threatened the company with the loss of its Internet license in their latest skirmish over censorhip, reports AP.
Google shut down its China-based search engine March 22 to avoid cooperating with the communist government’s Internet censorship and has rerouted users to Hong Kong. But Google said regulators told the company its Internet license, which allows it to operate a music download service and other features in China, would not be renewed after it expires Wednesday if that tactic continues.
“They made it clear to us that they did not think the redirect was acceptable,” said a Google spokeswoman, Jessica Powell. She declined to say what reasons the government gave for its objections.
The loss of permission to operate a China-based website would damage Google’s access to an Internet market that already is the world’s biggest and still growing fast, with 384 million people online at the end of 2009.
Under the new measure, instead of being automatically switched to Hong Kong, visitors to Google.cn see a tab that says, “We have moved to google.com.hk.” Clicking on that takes users to the Chinese-language site in Hong Kong, which is Chinese territory but has Western-style civil liberties with no Internet filtering.
Automatic rerouting would end completely in the next few days, Google’s chief legal officer David Drummond said on a company blog, leaving open the possibility that some users still were being switched to Hong Kong on Tuesday.
There was no immediate word from Beijing about whether the move was sufficient for Google to keep its Internet license.
“This new approach is consistent with our commitment not to self-censor and, we believe, with local law,” said Drummond.
“We are therefore hopeful that our license will be renewed on this basis so we can continue to offer our Chinese users services via Google.cn.”
But Chinese regulators might not be satisfied, said Edward Yu, president of Analysys International, an Internet research firm in Beijing.


“It’s not clear today whether just doing it that way is also permitted,” Yu said.
Google’s popularity in China was unhurt by the automatic rerouting and advertising revenues stayed strong, Yu said. But he said the added click to reach Hong Kong, if Chinese regulators allow Google to operate that way, might drive away some users.
“If traffic is hurt, then advertisers will panic and cut spending,” he said.
A foreign ministry spokesman, Qin Gang, said he had not seen Google’s announcement and could not comment on it. However, he added, “I would like to stress that the Chinese government encourages foreign enterprises to operate in China according to law.”
Beijing encourages Internet use for business and education but tries to block access to pornography or subversive material.
Google launched its China-based site in 2006 after the filters blocked many Chinese users from reaching its main site.
The Mountain View, California-based company announced in January it no longer wished to comply with Chinese censorship and said hackers working from China tried to steal its code and break into e-mail accounts of human rights activists.
The statement was an embarrassment for China’s leaders, who want foreign companies to help develop its technology industries.
Google hopes to keep a research center in China, an advertising sales team that generates most of its revenue in the country and a fledgling mobile phone business.
It has a 30 percent share of China’s search traffic, versus 60 percent for local rival Baidu Inc. Baidu is expected to pick up any advertising lost by Google but industry analysts say the lack of competition if the U.S. company leaves could slow the development of what Chinese leaders see as an important industry.
In a statement June 8, the government said the Internet played an “irreplaceable role in accelerating the development of the national economy.” But it vowed to keep a tight grip on online content and to block subversive material.
Regulators block websites such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter to prevent dissidents and human rights or Tibet activists from using them to spread criticism of Beijing.

Vietnamese bankers seek investment opportunities in Myanmar

YANGON, June 29: Vietnamese bankers are seeking investment opportunities in Myanmar and more cooperation with its Myanmar counterparts following the opening of a representative office of the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV) in Yangon more than two months ago, reports Xinhua.
According to the official daily New Light of Myanmar today, a delegation of the BIDV, led by senior executive vice president Hoang Huy Ha, has met with senior members of the Union of Myanmar Chambers of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI) at the latter’s office in the former capital and had discussions on the cooperation matters.
Details over the move are yet to be worked out.
Meanwhile, a 41-member Vietnamese business delegation, led by Vice Chairman of the Hanoi People Committee Nguyen Huy Toung, also met with UMFCCI delegation in Yangon last week, discussing such cooperation sectors as sale and manufacturing, construction, arts and crafts, food industry, security, printing and stationery, real estate investment and consultant service, information and technology, electronic devices, education, crude oil, chemical, cement and servicing, earlier report said.
According to the Vietnam Customs, Vietnam-Myanmar bilateral trade went down 8.6 percent year-on-year to 99 million U.S. dollars in 2009 due to the impact of the global economic recession with Vietnam suffering a trade deficit of more than 31 million dollars and accounting for 91.4 percent of Vietnam’s total export turnover to the market.
In the first quarter of this year, their bilateral trade reached 35.4 million dollars, a sharp increase of 247 percent year- on-year.
According to official statistics, Vietnam’s investment in Myanmar hit 23.4 million U.S. dollars as of February this year since the country opened to such investment in late 1988.
Vietnam stands the 16th among Myanmar’s exporting countries. Myanmar mainly exported its forestry products to Vietnam, followed by agricultural produces, seafood and electrical spare parts, while it imported from Vietnam steel, electronic goods, pharmaceuticals, medicines, industrial products, chemical products, computer and accessories, plastic, cosmetics and engine oil.

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