Nguyen Thai Sung from Da Nang is the first Vietnamese teenager 10 gain admission to the Qatar-based Aspire Sports Academy on a three-year scholarship.
Sung, 16, and his teammates Dang Anh Tuan and Ma Van Tuan, were among 47 candidates to take part in last year’s final trial in HCM City.
The Da Nang-born footballer, who is a member of the national U-17 team, was competing with teenagers from 13 countries for a place on the course.
While honing his football skills. Sung will also receive academic schooling along with 19 others from Senegal, the Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, Thailand and Paraguay this summer.
After finishing the course, he will get the chance lo play for teams in Europe and Asia.
Last year, more than 20,000 Vietnamese aged 13 to 15 receiving training from Barcelona youth teameoaches.
In 2007, English Premier League club Arsenal set up the Arsenal-Hoang Anh Gia Lai JMG Football Academy in the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai at a cost of US$4 million.
The Scavi-Rocheteau academy also opened in HCM City last year.

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HA NOI

VTC 16, a new channel that will focus on agricultural activities aimed at farmers will pilot on April 10, with an offical launch set for April 22, announced Minister of Information and Communications Le Doan Hop on Wednesday.
The channel was a part of government efforts to narrow the information gap between urban and rural areas, said the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Cao Duc Phat.
Information and Communications and Agriculture and Rural Development ministries will run the channel, which was established to facilitate the quick transfer of Party and Government policies on agriculture to authorities and farmers nationwide.
The channel will feature content relating to domestic and global markets for agriculture, technical training for farmers, and rural culture, Hop said VTCI6 would be broadcasted free-to-air so fanners would not require digital television equipment.
As part of effort to promote rural status, VTC16 will hold two awards, the Scorpio Star Award and the Innovative Idea in Agriculture, which will be awarded to individuals or organisations that have made outstanding contributions to agriculture.

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Italian companies have made many visits to Viet Nam looking for business opportunities, with the most recent being a group of seven on a five-day visit that began on Monday. Viet Nam News discusses the economic outlook with Marco Saladini, Italian trade commissioner in Viet Nam.

Italian businesses have paid many visits to Viet Nam. What Is the attraction of this market?

In the last two or three years, we have recorded a steep increase in Kalian companies’ interest in the Vietnamese market. We believe that many are actually discovering Viet Nam, while a few are intensifying their efforts 10 break through, in the context of tough competition with producers from other countries. The main factors which attract Italian companies to Vif)t Nam are similar to those drawing the attention of other countries’ companies (a dynamic economy, a large population, a reasonably priced and skilled workforce, to mention a few).
But we believe that there are some additional points which do actually allow economic relations to gain momentum. In fact, both countries share a prevalence, within their economic fabric, of micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises and of industries transforming imported raw and intermediate materials into final goods.
Complementarities are very apparent, in those sectors where Italy can provide advanced, capital-intensive goods and services which meet the needs of Vietnamese buyers in labour-intensive industries. This happens lo a very large extent in the textile, footwear and chemical sectors. We believe that technologically advanced solutions as those offered by Italian companies can help Vietnamese ones in their rush to acquire a better and more profitable position in the global economic arena.

Which sectors in Viet Nam have Italian companies shown the most interest to?

We have been promoting, with good results in terms of participation and deals, a whole range of new sectors, beyond the traditional but still very important industrial machinery and plants. They include cosmetics, wines, services and supplies for the hospitality industry, and infrastructure works, such as transportation, power and environment, in addition to a cross-cutting activity such as investment facilitation, to which we have dedicated a specific task force operating from our HCM City office.

How do you assess trade relations between Italy and Viet Nam and recent years’ trade value? What are the main exports and imports to and from Viet Nam?

Trade relations improved strongly up to 2007 and remained on balance stable thereafter. Our projections for the first 11 months of 2009 indicate that Italy’s exports to Viet Nam in the whole year will .show a growth of about 7 per cent over 2008, reaching about 450 million euros . of which more than 30 per cent is accounted for hy industrial machinery applied in various sectors.
In the wake of increased competition from several other Asian countries and a surge in the euro’s exchange rates, we believe this is an encouraging result and we are expecting a new acceleration in 2010, Meanwhile, the main products exported from Viet Nam to Italy include agricultural products, foodstuffs, garment and footwear, which usually account for about 50 per cent of (he total export value. Last year, due to the global economic crisis, Viet Nam’s exports to Italy slightly dropped about 10 per cent year-on-year, settling around a total value of 700 million euros.

How should you promote bilateral business ties?

In the next few months, we will be carrying out a number of sector-specific initiatives such as sponsoring Italian pavilions al a few trade fairs in Viet Nam, including Propak,
Plastics and Rubber, MTA and Elenex. At the same time, we will co-operate with trade fairs organisers to send delegations of Vietnamese companies to important shows in Italy.
We are also setting up trade visits with customised agendas of meetings for groups of companies belonging to specific sectors or geographical regions. One of the important events in this area of work will be the visit by Adolfo Urso, deputy minister for Foreign Trade, currently scheduled to take place in May this year. Indeed, he will be accompanied by represenlatives of a number of companies, including some interested in infrastructure, textile and garments and footwear.
In order lo reach out to local consumers, around the Italian national day, which is June 2, we will support an Italian festival together with local traders and Italian invested companies. Last but not least, our website, www.ilaltrade.com/ Vietnam, offers some free services to Vietnamese companies willing to do business with Italian counterparts.

And what about investment? It seems that Kalian companies do not have investment Interest In Viet Nam. Why?

I think you are right lo bring up this issue, which we have been trying to confront for a few years now, thanks also to the work of the task force I mentioned before. I believe that besides the obvious geographical factors, there are also cultural differences and a gap in information, which we are trying to help fill wilh numerous publications and promotional initiatives specifically dedicated to investments.
We had a chance to renew our co-operation wilh several administrations and associations to this purpose, first and foremost wilh the Foreign Investment Agency, tied to the Italian Trade Commission by a memorandum of underslanding signed in November 2008. In April 2010, we will jointly run a capacity-building seminar for officers in charge of investment promotion at the provincial and Stale level, in order to equip them with a better knowledge of investment attraction techniques, of the ties between the two countries and of the features of the Italian economic system.
Finally, a stream of visits in both directions is helping lo make Italian companies aware of the advantages offered by setting up shop in Viet Nam. We have started seeing some results: the ranking of Italy as compared to other countries has improved, lhanks lo a spate of recent major investments, such as those by Piaggio (scooters), Datalogic (barcode scanners), Bonfiglioli (gearboxes for industrial machinery), Mastrotto (leather tanning) and Carvico (high-tech fabrics).

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HA NOI

The State Bank of Viet Nam yesterday announced that it would keep the prime rate unchanged at 8 per cent for a fifth month, surprising experts who had expected an increase as part of the Government’s effort to reduce inflationary pressures.
The decision came one day after the General Statistics Office released data showing inflation had risen by 0.75 per cent in one month in March and 9.46 per ceni over the same period last year. The consumer price index increased by an unexpectedly high 4.12 per cent in the first quarter alone.
Viet Nam’s inflation had reached "worryingly high" levels, as the Southeast Asian region overall began to sec resurgent price pressures amid the economic recovery, HSBC Holdings Pic said in a report released on Wednesday. The report had predicted that the inflationary pressures would force the central bank to add a percentage point to the prime rate.
In response to concerns that inflation in 2010 might surpass the National Assembly’s target of 7 per cent, Minister of Finance Vo Van Ninh said thai the Government would implement measures to curb inflation while ensuring economic growth, and that these measures would include consistent market pricing policies to avoid irrational pricing.
Some stock investors cheered the central bank decision and expected a market rally.

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HA NOI

Exchange-rate risks are discouraging most enterprises from taking out US dollar-denominted loans, despite the rising costs of borrowing in Vietnamese dong.
Lending rates for dollar loans from commercial banks currently range from 5.5 to 8 percent per year, compared to a whopping 16-19 per cent per year in negotiated rates for medium- to long-term dong loans.
"The difference belween the two is huge, about 10 per cenl," said Asia Commercial Bank deputy director Nguyen Thanh Toai, "’So, it is quite understandable that a number of enterprises are borrowing in dollars."
But dollar loans are also harder to come by. Most lenders only take exporters and major borrowers into consideration for such loans. Vietcombank treasurer Pham Thanh Ha said, "Although US dollar loans are increasing, they won’t become a market trend because banks only give the nod to potential export contracts."
And most enterprises contacted by Viet Nam News said that exchange-rate risks were sometimes spookier to them than high interest rates.
"We have borrowed US$400,000 at 6.5 per cent to import machines," said Duc Viet Foods Co general director Mai Huy Tan. "The interest is endurable now, but exchange-rate risks remain an ongoing concern because it’s something we can’t gauge for ourselves."
"We only borrow dollars minimally," said Asian Food Co general director Nguyen Van Tan, who complained that foreign exchange fluctuations had already caused the renegotiation of some contracts and made Vietnamese goods less competitive on international markets.
"We really limit dollar loans because exchange-rate risks in Viet Nam are really unpredictable," said Aprocimex Joint Stock Co general director Dao Trong Ly. "If the dollar suddenly appreciates very strongly against the d6ng, enterprises will die in harness."
The central bank has depreciated gradually the Vietnamese dong against the US dollar by over 10 percent since the beginning of 2009 and one dollar now costs about VND 19,000 through commercial banks and VND 19,250 on the black market.
"Enterprises are really looking forward a stable commitment from policymakers — then we will feel secured to do business," Ly said.
A senior State Bank of Viet Nam official, who asked to remain unnamed, told Viet Nam News, "We definitely want to stabilise the rate to support businesses and that’s what we are trying to do. But it’s really a big question because exchange-rate policy lias to consider other economic factors like the wide trade deficit, smaller foreign investment capital inflows and inflationary pressures."

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HA NOI

Faced with non-traditional security challenges, members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) needed to co-operate closely to tackle terrorism, piracy, climate change and epidemics, said Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.

He was speaking while receiving delegates to the 7th ASEAN Chiefs of Defence Forces Informal Meeting (ACDFIM-7), which was held in Ha Noi yesterday.

Dung highly valued the outcome of the meeting, saying that its success would be an important contribution to the building of an ASEAN community with the three major pillars of political security, economic security and cultural and social security.

Results achieved at the meeting would create the foundation for fostering co-operation between armed forces among ASEAN member countries, he said.

Dung added that apart from implementing regional co-operation based on agreements reached at the meeting, member countries also needed to develop co-operation with international partners

The success of the ACDFIM-7, the ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting and the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting would practically contribute to regional and international security and peace, he said.

On behalf of leaders of ASEAN defence forces, the Commander of the Royal Brunei Armed Forces, Major General Haji Aminudin Ishan said that the outcome of the ACDFIM-7 would be a solid basis for rapid development in regional defence co-operation.

Defence chiefs from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) met in Ha Noi yesterday to discuss a range of issues, including new security threats to the region.

Addressing the ACDFIM-7,Viet Nam People’s Army Chief of General Staff, Senior Lieutenant-General Nguyen Khac Nghien said new security issues such as the impact of global warning and international terrorism were threatening peace and stability in the region.

"While there is peace across the region, new security threats have emerged that threaten peace, stability and security in individual ASEAN countries as well as the region as a whole," said Nghien.

"There are threats posed by collusion between radical groups in the region and international terrorism, as well as threats stemming from severe natural catastrophes and the spread of diseases as a result of climate change.

"We are also confronting challenges in maritime, food and energy security."

The event is one of 13 meetings being held bythe Ministry of Defence during 2010, and comes as Viet Nam takes its turn to head ASEAN this year. The series of meetings aim to boost effective co-operation among regional armies in dealing with new security challenges.

"Enhanced co-operation will help us overcome these new challenges," said Nghien.

Participants at the meeting reviewed and approved an action plan for the 2010-11 period that aims to guide multilateral military co-operative activities among ASEAN countries.

The Viet Nam People’s Army has also proposed boosting co-operation in search and rescue activities as well as humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.

The ACDFIM was initially organised as a forum to build trust and informal links between ASEAN member countries, and is now increasingly being used as a forum to discuss practical co-operation.

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