Vietnam: Police Arrested Vinalines’ Executives
May 19, 2012 (Vietnamica) — Police has detained Mai Van Phuc (former CEO, currently Deputy Director of Transportation Department, Ministry of Transport), Tran Huu Chieu (vice CEO of Vinalines, deputy Secretary of Communist Party Committee at Vinalines). The Police also tried but failed to arrest Duong Chi Dung, former chairman of Vinalines and currently head of Maritime Department, MoT. Dung did not appear in both his office and home (Lao dong, May 19).
Vietnam Plans for Revamping National Fleet of ShipsMay 7, 2012 (Vietnamica) — Vietnam Ministry of Transport proposed its “industrialization and modernization of Vietnam’s transportation” in which it would invest VND 100 trillion ($4.8 billion) for the state-owned Vinalines.
April 9, 2012 (Vietnamica) — The national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines (VNA) expects to raise US$200 million from IPO in 2013. VNA will offer the public up to 30 percent of shares. The State will hold the remaining stake equity (VNS, Apr 9).
Vietnam Needs US$29 Bln to Develop Domestic Transportation InfrastructureMarch 13, 2012 (Vietnamica) – According to the Ministry of Transport (MoT), Vietnam needs nearly US$29 billion to develop domestic transportation infrastructure by 2015. The figure is proposed in order to meet the country’s target of being a middle-income industrialized country by 2020, the Ministry explains (LoanSafe, Mar 12) .
March 12, 2012 (Vietnamica) — The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) on March 9 signed an additional financial agreement of US$97 million with the World Bank (WB) for the Third Rural Transport Project. The Project has refurbished about 2,100 km traffic roads and completed the maintenance of around 13,000 km of roads and bridges of district level. It is expected that about five million people in 32 provinces in central and northern Vietnam, including 14 provinces in mountainous areas will benefit from the improved transport system (VBN, Mar 12).
March 2, 2012 (Vietnamica) – In Vietnam, the logistics costs make up 25 percent of GDP, of which transport costs account for 50-60 percent. Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) calculates that logistics costs make up 12 percent of global GDP. In the U.S., logistics account for 9.9 percent of GDP. As for businesses, the logistics costs gobble up 4-30 percent of their turnover. In light of this, such high logistics costs are lowering Vietnamese businesses’ competitiveness (DDDN, Feb 23).
