Border province seeks high speed railway vnexpress international

Ba Ria-Vung Tau to speed up key national projects

October 27, 2020 by en.vietnamplus.vn

Vung Tau city in Ba Ria-Vung Tau province (Photo courtesy of the provincial People’s Committee)

HCM City (VNA) – The southern coastal province of Ba Ria – Vung Tau has asked the Government to allocate capital from the central budget to speed up progress of national key projects in the province over the next five years.

Of the 16 major public-invested projects , three of the most important projects are the Bien Hoa – Vung Tau expressway , Phuoc An Bridge and 991B Road, according to the provincial People’s Committee.

Nguyen Van Tho, Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, said the three national key projects would connect the southern key economic region with the Cai Mep – Thi Vai deep water port, a key port in the region.

“The port system can receive large container vessels of up to 200,000 deadweight tonnage (DWT) and is capable of international goods transport, which allows direct export to the EU and the US without transshipment, reducing logistics costs and improving the competitiveness of Vietnamese goods,” he said.

The expressway, connecting Bien Hoa City in Dong Nai and Ba Ria City in Ba Ria – Vung Tau, is expected to be completed and opened to traffic by 2025.

The province said it had asked the PM to approve the pre-feasibility study for the first phase of the project, which will be implemented under the build-operate-transfer (BOT) investment model.

To build the expressway, around 34.2km of the road will be built in Dong Nai and 19.5km in Ba Ria-Vung Tau.

The project requires an estimated investment of 23.07 trillion VND (995.5 million USD), according to the provincial People’s Committee.

The province proposed that 9.95 trillion VND should be sourced from the State budget to fund site clearance and construction of the section in the province, and that 13.125 trillion VND should come from the private sector.

The developer of the project will mobilise the remainder from its own budget and bank loans. To recover capital, the investor will be allowed to collect toll fees from road users for about 25 years.

The expressway is expected to ease traffic congestion on National Highway 51, and facilitate travel between Dong Nai and Ba Ria – Vung Tau provinces and HCM City and the southern key economic zone.

Another national key project is the Phuoc An Bridge, which will connect the Cai Mep-Thi Vai port complex with the Ben Luc – Long Thanh expressway.

The 4.3-km bridge will be built in Phu My Town in Ba Ria-Vung Tau province and Nhon Trach district in Dong Nai province.

The bridge is expected to cost 4.88 trillion VND. The province has asked for an allocation of 50 percent of the cost (2.4 trillion VND) from the central government budget over the next five years.

In addition, the 991B road is an important project with a total cost of 3.95 trillion VND, of which the central government has already allocated 920 billion VND. The province has asked the government to arrange an additional 2.22 trillion VND over the next five years.

Call for investment in 23 projects

In addition to 16 key public-invested projects, the province is calling for investment in 23 national key projects, according to a report from the provincial People’s Committee.

These projects include ports, cultural parks, airports, roads, inspection centres, tourism services, and urban area works.

Of the 23 projects, nine land plots will seek investment through auction of land-use rights and public property auctions, including one that has already been successfully auctioned.

In addition, the province has added the April 30th Park in Ba Ria City and a national grid system for Con Dao district to the list of key projects that need speeding up.

Pham Viet Thanh, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, said the province would choose qualified and reputable investors to carry out the projects.

“Relevant localities and agencies must follow the progress of each of the key projects and remove difficulties in a timely way and deal with arising problems,” he noted.

With a coastal line of over 30km, Ba Ria-Vung Tau serves as the country’s major trade gateway due to its proximity to industrial zones, port complex, major highways, and transshipment routes.

Located on the southeastern coast, the province is one of the leading foreign direct investment (FDI) sites in Vietnam./.

VNA

Bright prospects for bank stocks

April 15, 2021 by vietnamnet.vn

Bank tickers will remain in the spotlight, with investors racing to capitalise on bright profit prospects.

In its forecast for 2021, Hanoi-based VNDIRECT Securities Corporation said banks would be among the first corporate entities to take advantage of the economic rebound. The company also anticipates a sharp jump in banks’ profit this year in the wake of improved net income margin (NIM) and higher credit growth.

Banks’ profit is forecast to be on a sharp rise in 2021

Agreeing with the forecast, the BIDV Securities Company (BSC) recently issued a report on the prospects of the banking sector, saying that commercial lenders would witness a sharp rise in profit thanks to the economic rebound and good control of asset quality post-pandemic.

The BSC report assumed that the whole sector’s pre-tax profit could soar 28 per cent, chiefly attributable to 14 per cent credit growth in 2021, plus the interest rate going sideways and reduced pressure on making loan loss provisioning.

Notably, despite their continual short-selling in Vietnam’s stock exchange since early 2021, foreign investors and investment finds are holding banking tickers, putting their trust in their upbeat growth potential. Finnish equity fund PYN Elite even forecast 50-60 per cent growth for banking tickers in the first quarter this year, compared to a year ago.

Le Duc Khanh, Investment director at VP Bank Securities Company (VPS) said that based on forecasts by several international organisations, banks’ after-tax profit could be growing at 18 per cent in 2021 in the wake of improved credit performance and higher revenue stream from services.

BSC’s report, meanwhile, says that a slew of banks are scaling up efforts to replenish their low-cost capital source (Customer Account Saving Account – CASA), striving to expand customer base through reducing transaction-transfer fees or upgrading operation system and infrastructure.

The CASA ratio in the banking sector reached 18 per cent in 2020 and is expected to further increase in the forthcoming time.

The ticker NVB offers ample space for future growth

Accordingly, with a flexible business model and low bad debts ratios post-pandemic, small- and medium-scale banks have numerous opportunities to bolster operational efficiency. By beefing up the retail segment via cutting-edge payment technology platforms to augment CASA, several banks have succeeded in enhancing their business efficiency.

For instance, in 2020 a raft of small- and medium-scale banks like NCB, ABB, or PGB posted 30 per cent-plus growth in their demand deposit (CASA) volume.

Bright prospects for bank tickers

Can Van Luc, a renowned financial expert, said that with Vietnam’s success in containing the COVID-19 pandemic and on-going economic rebound as well as positive forecasts by prestigious financial institutions like Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, and Nomura, alongside several Asian markets, Vietnam’s stock market might pick up about 15-20 per cent this year.

According to the Vietnam Financial Consulting Association (VFCA) and BSC, Vietnam’s stock market might not be growing as impressively as in 2020, but growth would be more sustainable. The VN-Index is anticipated to be hovering around 1,200-1,300 points, leveraging economic rebound, listed firms’ profitability, lower price-to-equity ratio compared to the region and the world, and well-controlled bad debts.

The CASA ratio in the banking sector reached nearly 18 per cent in 2020 and is expected to further increase in the forthcoming time

Banks would be the first group to cash in on this rebound, which explains the sharp rise in banking stock prices from the outset of this year. According to SSI Research, the price-to- book (PB) ratio of local banks averaged 1.27x in 2019 with return on equity (ROE) ratio averaging 18.6 per cent. In 2020, the PB averaged 1.4x with ROE averaging 17.2 per cent, whereas average PB ratio in 2021 is set at 1.53x.

Economic rebound is partly reflected in the ticker price. Choosing the proper tickers, therefore, would help the investors to pick higher returns.

Among the banking stock, several tickers are showing lucrative prospects. For instance, in the past year, the NVB ticker of National Citizen Bank (NCB) has been on a steady rise, growing by more than 90 per cent (up more than 70 per cent in the past three months alone). This impressive growth came about not only thanks to banking stocks’ positive growth but also from the bank’s particular performance.

Along with this, this year NCB envisages raising its charter capital to more than VND7 trillion ($304.3 million) through stock issuances to existing shareholders and issuing private placements of convertible bonds valued at a total of VND4.5 trillion ($195.6 million).

NCB’s upbeat performance and its commitment to boost financial strength has secured investors’ attention. In addition, the high growth potential of medium-sized banks, the high speed of settling bad debts, and compelling digital model are among the factors why investors have an appetite for banking tickers like NVB.

VIR

Vietnam’s Covid-19 tally jumps by 21

April 15, 2021 by english.thesaigontimes.vn

Vietnam’s Covid-19 tally jumps by 21

The Saigon Times

A woman at a centralized quarantine center has her body temperature checked. Vietnam has had 21 new imported Covid-19 cases – PHOTO: VNA

HCMC – Vietnam’s total number of Covid-19 cases has increased by 21 to 2,758 this evening, April 15, with all of the fresh cases entering Vietnam from overseas and being quarantined upon their arrival in the country, according to the Health Ministry.

Of the total new cases, five were reported in the Mekong Delta province of Ben Tre. The five arrived home from the Philippines on Flight VJ2527, which landed at Can Tho International Airport on March 29 and were immediately quarantined in Ben Tre.They tested positive for Covid-19 on April 14 and are being treated at the Ben Tre Province Tuberculosis and Lung Disease Hospital.

Five other patients in HCMC include four locals – two women and two men – and an Indian expert.

Of the cases, the two women arrived at the Tan Son Nhat International Airport from the United Arab Emirates on April 13, and were found to be infected with Covid-19 two days later, while the Indian expert flew to Vietnam from the United Arab Emirates on April 10 and tested positive for Covid-19 on April 14.

For the two male patients, one returned to Vietnam from Qatar on April 11, while the other entered Vietnam from Thailand on March 31. The two were also found to be infected with the disease on April 14.

All the five are receiving medical treatment at the Cu Chi Field Hospital.

One case was reported in Thai Nguyen, who is a man residing in Nghe An Province. On April 9, he flew back to Vietnam from Japan through the Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi and was sent to a centralized quarantine center in Thai Nguyen. He was found to be diagnosed with Covid-19 on April 15 and is being treated at the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases in Hanoi’s Dong Anh District.

Two more cases, a man and a woman, were reported in An Giang Province. They entered the country through the Long Binh International Border Gate and was immediately quarantined in An Giang. The two tested positive for Covid-19 today and are being treated at the medical center of An Phu District.

Seven cases in Danang are all men. One flew back to Vietnam from Japan through the Danang International Airport on April 4, another on April 5, one more on April 7 and four others on April 13.

All of them were found to be infected with Covid-19 on April 14 and are being treated at the Danang Lung Hospital.

The remainder is a two-year-old girl who flew to Vietnam from Angola on March 31 through the Van Don International Airport in Quang Ninh and was quarantined in Bac Ninh Province. She tested positive for Covid-19 on April 15 and is being treated at the Bac Ninh General Hospital.