Southern Bank - which has stolen the limelight in the local media since the police arrest Monday of former chairman Le Anh Kiet - yesterday denied a news report about the arrest of another former chairman of the commercial bank in HCMC.

HCMC-based 12G, the afternoon publication of Sai Gon Giai Phong newspaper, yesterday reported from hearsay that Truong Ty, former chairman of Southern, had been detained by the police in connection with Kiet in an alleged murder attempt and dubious business affairs.

The news spread while Ty, who is now chairman and CEO of Van Thanh Foam and Mattress Co., was working with foreign partners at his company's factory in the city's outlying district of Cu Chi.

He told reporters at the headquarters of the bank on Ly Thuong Kiet Street in District 11 that he had stopped short of the meeting to go straight to the bank office after he was informed by new chairman of Southern Mach Thieu Duc of the news report.

While on the way to the bank from Cu Chi, Ty told the Daily on the phone: "It (the news) is wrong. I'm going to Phuong Nam Bank to deal with this."

He said after reading the news report in 12G at the bank: "Such reporting is absolutely fatal." He later said he would go to the office of Sai Gon Giai Phong newspaper for complaining about the incident.

Ty is still a board member of Southern and has over VND30 billion worth of shares in the bank. He relinquished the post of Southern's board chairman in 2005.

Despite the news on 12G, the bank's operations remained normal and no massive cash withdrawals were reported as witnessed by the Daily and confirmed by sources from Southern Bank.

In a related development, the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) endorsed Southern's election of Mach Thieu Duc as new chairman yesterday.

Duc, 55, graduated from the HCMC University of Economics in 1977, joined Southern Bank in 1996 and held several key positions such as branch director and deputy general director. He had served as a board member since 2006.

Duc now owns 5% of Southern Bank, whose chartered capital is a little more than VND1.4 trillion (US$88.25 million).

Southern Bank picked Duc as new chairman on Tuesday, a day after Kiet and his personal assistant were seized by the police for allegedly having texted "terror" messages, including hints of a murder attempt, to a board member of the bank.

Kiet holds a stake of 6%, which the bank is still waiting for instructions from authorities to deal with.

The lender has seen no massive cash withdrawals over the past two days but Southern Bank has felt an impact of the news, with deposits declining from previous days.

HCMC - Italy’s Caffè Vergnano yesterday launched a variety of its coffee products and candies in Vietnam after a market survey and test sale, marking its official entry into the world’s leading robusta bean producing country.

Carolina Vergnano, the company’s export manager, told the Daily before the launching ceremony that the company had decided to bring its products to Vietnam as the demand for the quality Italian coffee was growing in this market.

“Vietnam is one of the markets where we just started a few months ago with International Caphe Co. Ltd. We’re happy because the market is growing together with the demand for high quality coffee. That’s why we’ve come here today,� Vergnano said.

She said Vietnam was the first market in Southeast Asia that Caffè Vergnano had sold products just one year after the Italy’s sixth coffee producer entered the Asian market.

Every year, the company exports 6,000 tons of coffee to 57 markets, including the United States and Europe as well as South Korea, Hong Kong and now Vietnam.

Vichai Saetia, general manager of International Caphe Co. Ltd., which is the distributor of Caffè Vergnano in Vietnam, said the Italian coffee had been retailed and wholesaled to around 30 customers on the local market, including such luxury hotels and resorts as Park Hyatt Saigon, Duxton Saigon and Six Senses Hideaway hotels.

Caffè Vergnano plans to open coffee shops in partnership with partners in the country. “We’ve brought coffee here and want to introduce a kind of Italian coffee places, … the image, design, quality and the habit of coffee drinking to this market,� Vergnano said.

She expected the first Caffè Vergnano coffee shop would be opened in Vietnam later this year or early 2009. “The location for our coffee shops depends on our partners.â€� 

Caffè Vergnano was established in 1882 in Italy’s province of Turin, and now becomes one of the renowned businesses in the European country. The family company produces coffee imported around the world from Central and South America, India and Vietnam.

“Vietnamese coffee quality is getting better and better,â€� Vergnano said, adding that the company bought tons of coffee from Vietnam to roast and blend it with the coffee from other producing countries into Caffè Vergnano products before export. 

 Tran Dinh Phu, general director of Saigon Water Supply Corporation (Sawaco), Jan Hoffer, managing director of Vitens-Evides International (VEI) of the Netherlands, Nguyen Thi Nhon, director of the HCMC Finance Department, and Armand Evers, first secretary of the Dutch embassy, sign a memorandum of understanding on a public-private partnership arrangement for an urban water supply and sanitation project in HCMC yesterday.

The Dutch embassy and VEI, one of the largest Dutch water suppliers, will arrange a grant of 3.3 million euro for the project. VEI as a private sector partner will contribute 916,000 euro and Sawaco will make 721,000 euro available for the project. The city government will facilitate the mobilization of funds from other sources to finance the required investment.

The Dutch embassy said in a statement that this public-private partnership is aimed at developing a comprehensive strategic plan for Sawaco.