EU accepts additional 25 seafood processors
The European Union has given permits to an additional 25 Vietnamese seafood processors that meet sanitary and safety standards for export.
The Viet Nam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) said that these seafood processors can export their products to the EU from Jan. 31, 2008, bringing the country’s total seafood processors meeting EU seafood standards to 269.
The National Fisheries Quality Assurance and Veterinary Directorate (Nafiqaved) said that the country’s seafood processors and exporters have strictly abided by the regulations on antibiotic residues in seafood products.
In addition, Viet Nam has taken prompt measures to deal with those batches of seafood exports that had received warnings, Nafiqaved added.
At present, the country’s “tra” and “basa” catfish processors have got many orders from the EU for delivery by the end of the second quarter.
VASEP forecasts that the nation’s seafood export volume to the EU will be high this year.
VNECONOMY  24.01

Viet Nam becomes attractive retail market
Viet Nam will become a common playground of local and foreign businesses and also an attractive retail market for multinationals when it completely opens the distribution market in January 2009, said Deputy Minister of Industry and Commerce.
Speaking at a seminar, entitled “Vietnamese retail market: Opportunities and challenges” held in Ha Noi on January 23, Deputy Minister Le Danh Vinh urged local retailers to dynamically renew themselves, improve their competitive edge and capacity so as they can develop appropriate business strategies and apply modern management methods. Domestic businesses should also join hands with each others for mutual development on the basis of non-discrimination and equality, he added.
Pascal Billaud, General Director of Big C retail group, spoke of the great potential of the Vietnamese market, including the country’s high economic growth rate, dynamic labour force, young population and high education. However, he said, the country should address urgent challenges, including the poor logistic services and unequal infrastructure development between regions.
Pascal Billaud said cooperation with Vietnamese partners is a decisive factor for his business’s success in Viet Nam.
The rapid development of Vietnamese retail market in the recent past makes the country attractive to multinational distribution groups. The World Bank gave Viet Nam 74/100 marks in 2007 global retail development index of in 2007 and the country ranks fourth in the world after India , Russia and China.
According to the Viet Nam Retail Association, retail sales annually grew by 8-10 percent in the 1995-2002 period. The increase was 18-22 percent between 2003-2007, hitting 740 trillion VND last year or a 23 percent increase over the previous year.
Viet Nam currently houses about 140 supermarkets and hypermarkets, 20 trade centres and nearly 1 million square metres of floor areas are under construction for retail business.
 VNECONOMY  24.01

Country tops list of world pepper exporters
Viet Nam will keep its top spot as the greatest pepper exporter in the world, according to Do Ha Nam, chairman of the Viet Nam Pepper Association.
The country is expected to export 90,000 - 100,000 tonnes of pepper this year, an increase of 10 per cent over last year.
The figure was based on the association’s surveys in pepper planting zones. Production was estimated to double last year’s output in provinces such as Gia Lai, Dak Lak and Dak Nong. The export price was expected to either remain the same or to increase over last year but the concrete price has not been forecast. The group was worried over stockpiling that took place last year which led to a lack of supply for domestic export and production enterprises.
"We don’t dare to forecast the pepper export concrete price this year as the farmers stored the pepper to elevate the price, causing problems for domestic producers," said Nam.
The country’s pepper export should be favourable this year with surging global market demands, caused by a decrease in pepper planting in other countries.
At present, pepper prices are high in the world market with India’s pepper offered at US$3,900-$3,950 per tonne; Viet Nam’s at $3,320-$3,500 per tonne and Brazil’s at $3,300 per tonne. He emphasised that to develop the pepper sector, it’s necessary for Viet Nam to maintain pepper planting of around 50,000ha, invest in the sector to increase output and quality and guarantee product safety levels.
Last year, the country earned nearly $300 million in pepper export profits, the highest in the last decade and up 29 per cent over the previous year. Viet Nam has more than 100 pepper export and production enterprises, including four foreign-invested enterprises. The country’s pepper output accounts for almost half of the world pepper market.
VNS 22.01

Ministry drafts decree to encourage overseas Vietnamese to buy homes
The Construction Ministry has drafted a new decree designed to make it easier for Viet kieu, overseas Vietnamese, to buy residences in Viet Nam.
The draft decree would supersede Decree No 90/2006/ND-CP of September 6, 2006, that expanded the number of Viet kieu eligible to buy houses in Viet Nam, the ministry’s House Management Department director Nguyen Manh Ha told Viet Nam News yesterday.
The Viet Nam News understands that feedback to the draft decree has been gathered from other ministries and it is now with the Justice Ministry.
The decree will go to Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung for expected approval by the end of April.
The draft decree divides eligible Viet kieu into two categories.
 The first is for Vietnamese citizens living abroad, including Vietnamese nationals and foreign-passport holders who retain their Vietnamese nationality.
They will be allowed to own an unlimited number of houses in Viet Nam in the same way as Vietnamese living permanently in Viet Nam.
Vietnamese living abroad, and who have not retained their nationality will be included in this first category if eligible as listed by the Housing Law, Article 126.
The second is for other Vietnamese living abroad and who have been in Viet Nam for at least six months or hold visa-exemption certificates will be allowed to own a single residence.
Prevailing Decree 90 stipulates that only Viet kieu who are long-term investors; scientists or cultural experts; those who have made significant contributions to the country; or those who have been allowed to live in Viet Nam for a long time can own an unlimited number of houses.
It also allows Viet kieu who have been staying in Viet Nam for at least six months in one visit to own a single residence.
Construction Ministry officials are known to believe that the decree fails to identify who is an overseas Vietnamese and lacks detailed supplementary documents to show how long a Viet kieu has been a resident and of which groups he, or she, is a member.
"I have read the regulations. They are quite ambiguous. I don’t know whether I am eligible and what to do to buy a house," said German passport-holder Ho Hiep.
"I think the Government’s policy is very good but its popularisation is more important, said Canadian Viet kieu Nguyen Hoai Bac who has been an investor in Viet Nam since 1992.
"But the policy should be turned into law.
"Decrees are less than a law and I’m afraid that Viet kieu may still face difficulties when working with local authorities."
But demand by Viet kieu to buy residences is difficult to predict.
Hiep said it was not really necessary for him to buy a house because as the chief representative of a German construction company, his rent of more than US$3,000 a month was paid for him.
"But I think I must buy a good apartment in the future if the company changes its policy to transfer a fixed monthly housing allowance to my bank account instead of directly paying the fees," he said.
Nguyen Hoai Bac said he lived in the house of his wife’s family.
The Viet Nam News understands that the draft decree clearly stipulates the documents required to prove a person an overseas Vietnamese.
As such, it is held to be both more practical and more detailed than the ruling decree.
Only about 130 overseas Vietnamese had bought houses since Decree 90 came into effect more than one year ago, said the House Management Department director Nguyen Manh Ha.
The number was too few when compared with a total of about 3.2 million overseas Vietnamese, he said.
Most of the 130 live in southern Viet Nam, especially HCM City.
The proposed changes to the decree would help realise the Government’s policy of considering overseas Vietnamese as an integral part of the Vietnamese community, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said in his summary of a meeting between representatives of the Construction, Foreign, Public Security and Justice Ministries to discuss changes to the decree last September.
The legal documents that now govern overseas Vietnamese buying residences in Viet Nam include:
– Housing Law, adopted on November 29, 2005, Article 126 to 130.
– Decree 90/2006/ND-CP, of September 6, 2006, Article 64 to 68.
VNS 22.01