Binh Dien Long An topped group A at the VTV Volleyball Tournament with a fourth win yesterday over Bai Bang Paper Mill in the Central Highland province of Dac Lac.

Reigning champion Long An, who had no worthy rivals in their group, beat Bai Bang 25-16, 25-13, 25-13 to continue Sunday’s winning streak.

With serves from national members Nguyen Thi Ngoc Hoa and Dinh Thi Dieu Chau along with Thai attacker Khanan Harumon, host Long An had no difficulties dumping Bai Bang comfortably in straight sets.

They showed their rivals no mercy in a completely one-sided battle in the two first sets.

During the third set was the only time that Bai Bang had nothing to lose. They came up and led 4-2 before Long An attacked with some dandy and dazzling volleyball to capture the set 25-13, and the match.

Bai Bang attacker Nguyen Thi Nhi was the only player at her peak, scoring a number of points for the team. Her and setter Nguyen Thi Thu nailing some balls for points were the only bright spots for the visiting side. But they were not enough to pull the team up from a third loss.

On Long An’s side, Narumon played an impressive game and was appreciated by coach Luong Khuong Thuong, who didn’t have to work very hard for his win.

"I was really surprised with Narumon’s performance. In such a short time she quickly integrated into the team with other members. Through four games, I can say that she is the most dynamic and multi-purposed player on the team," said Thuong.

The 24-year-old Narumon began playing volleyball at the age of 12 and was called for the national junior team three years later. She became a national member at the age of 20.

After just a brief stint in Viet Nam, she said she wanted to stay with the Vietnamese club for a long time.

After four wins, Long An rank first in group A and are waiting for the results of the later matches to know who the will face in the semi-finals. Bai Bang were sent home with only one win and three failures.

Players will have one day off today and will be back at 3pm tomorrow for the semis. The final is scheduled for Sunday.

The VTV tournament drew 10 local and foreign teams vying for a total prize of US$17,000, of which the top team will take home $5,000 and the cup.

The tournament will offer athletes a chance to gain experience ahead of the first round of the National Top Volleyball Clubs Championship, which will be held in the next few months.

New Chairman of V-League’s Halida Thanh Hoa Nguyen Quoc Hung has asked the VFF, the football governing body, to safeguard the club’s interests following the signing of star midfielder Mai Tien Thanh with First Division Vinakansai Ninh Binh.

The transfer deal, which has been dogged by problems, has yet to be finalised – even though the VFF ruled that the contract was legitimate earlier this week. The latest squabble is over the level of compensation to be paid to Thanh’s former club.

Ninh Binh did not want the case to end in litigation so they agreed to compensate Thanh Hoa for the training Thanh had received while at the club. The issue came close to a resolution when Ninh Binh said they would pay Thanh Hoa VND700 million (US$43,750) for the 11 years the player had been at the club.

 Thanh Hoa, who are now in their second season in the top-flight V-League, had initially asked for VND900 million ($56,250). However, Ninh Binh subsequently reduced their offer to VND372 million ($23,250) – the level of compensation required under VFF rules. As a result, Thanh Hoa, together with T&T Ha Noi, which also tried to sign the player, are suing Ninh Binh.

The Ha Noi club on Sunday announced that they had also signed Thanh for a record VND6.5 billion ($406,000) when the deal between Thanh Hoa and Ninh Binh met problems. Thanh Hoa tried to prevent Thanh’s move to Ninh Binh, who signed the national player for VND2.5 billion ($156.250) over five years, last August. Under the deal, Thanh’s monthly salary would be VND25 million ($1.560) – in addition to a VND1 billion ($62,500) he has got as ‘bonus’.

Ninh Binh are striving to win promotion to the V-League and have spent billions of dong getting the players they want. Earlier, they were embroiled in a month-long dispute with V-League defending champions Binh Duong for midfielder Nguyen Huu Thang. Ninh Binh eventually agreed to pay VND1 billion (around $62,500) – instead of the VND1.5 billion the two sides had previously agreed – for the injured player two weeks ago.

Thanh refused to play for Thanh Hoa in the first two matches of the season and is now training with his new club.

Hung, who was recently appointed chairman of Thanh Hoa, sent a letter to the VFF on Wednesday, the day after Ninh Binh confirmed Thanh’s signing.

In the letter, Hung claimed that Thanh had extended his contract until 2010. He said the VFF had okayed the new contract and that Thanh was on their players’ list for the 2008 season.

The chairman also asked the VFF to ban the 22-year-old, who is expected to make his debut at his new club in April, from playing for his new club for six months. The club claimed Thanh broke his contract with Thanh Hoa by refusing to play for the club in the first two matches of the season against Sai Gon Port and Ha Noi ACB.

The VFF promised to respond to Thanh Hoa’s claim this week.

Private truckmaker Xuan Kien (Vinaxuki) will increase its localisation rate from 40 to 60 per cent this year in a bid to cut production costs.

According to Vinaxuki general director Bui Van Huyen, raising the localisation rate is the only way to limit price escalation as materials become more expensive.

He said the move will help Vinaxuki to cope with the Government’s aim of increasing locally made parts in truck manufacturing to 80 per cent by 2010.

A ban on run-down and self-modified trucks took effect on January 1 which creates great conditions for local truckmakers like Vinaxuki.

"The truck market as a whole is expected to grow by some 30 per cent this year," he added.

Vinaxuki hopes to sell 13,000 trucks this year by focusing on the increasingly popular light truck segment.

The company plans to complete its equitisation in the first quarter of this year and will also inject VND930 billion (US$58 million) into a new manufacturing plant in Ha Noi.

Vinaxuki, which invested a total of VND450 billion in manufacturing and distribution in 2007, sold 7,358 vehicles last year, a 207 per cent increase on the previous year. 

 Private truckmaker Xuan Kien (Vinaxuki) will increase its localisation rate from 40 to 60 per cent this year in a bid to cut production costs.

According to Vinaxuki general director Bui Van Huyen, raising the localisation rate is the only way to limit price escalation as materials become more expensive.

He said the move will help Vinaxuki to cope with the Government’s aim of increasing locally made parts in truck manufacturing to 80 per cent by 2010.

A ban on run-down and self-modified trucks took effect on January 1 which creates great conditions for local truckmakers like Vinaxuki.

"The truck market as a whole is expected to grow by some 30 per cent this year," he added.

Vinaxuki hopes to sell 13,000 trucks this year by focusing on the increasingly popular light truck segment.

The company plans to complete its equitisation in the first quarter of this year and will also inject VND930 billion (US$58 million) into a new manufacturing plant in Ha Noi.

Vinaxuki, which invested a total of VND450 billion in manufacturing and distribution in 2007, sold 7,358 vehicles last year, a 207 per cent increase on the previous year.

Apter posting impressive gains on Wednesday, the VN-Index fell back again yesterday, losing 12.26 points or 1.45 per cent to close 833.81. Eighty-nine codes posted losses, although for most the declines weren’t significant.

Thang Long Securities analyst Do Hiep Hoa said that the fluctuation was due to investor worry. Fearful investors wanted to grab earnings after Wednesday’s strong rebound, so many put in sell orders yesterday, causing the market to reverse again, Hoa said.

On the other hand, he noted, foreign investors were active buyers yesterday.

Sacombank (STB) was the most-heavily traded share, at 1.85 million matched orders. It helped raise turnover of the whole market yesterday to VND863.6 billion (US$53.9 million).

Most of the gainers in yesterday’s trading were penny stocks, e.g., Bim Son Packaging (BPC) which closed up 0.6 per cent to VND32,400, and Da Nang Plastics (DPC) up 1.7 per cent to VND33,500.

Due to good business results which were reported in the mass media, Vincom (VIC) became the only blue chip to gain points, closing up 0.7 per cent to VND146,000.

Ben Tre Forestry and Aquaproduct Import-Export Co (FBT), a newcomer on the bourse on Monday fell 0.5 per cent to VND197,000.

John Nolan, a securities analyst for a Ha Noi-based fund management company, said that the coming IPOs of beverage giants Sabeco and Habeco would create another huge influx of shares on the market.

Domestic investors would continue to sell shares to collect money for the Tet holidays and meet the deadline to pay for Vietcombank shares, he predicted, with the market likely to remain unstable for a short while.

Nolan also expected foreign investment in the market to remain limited for the time being.

He suggested that domestic investors not sell out massively, which would simply exacerbate the existing abundance of shares on the market. They should hold on to good shares and day-trade only in penny stocks, he said.

The Ha Noi market yesterday also declined slightly down 2.73 points or 0.96 per cent to close at 282.9. Turnover of the session was VND350.7 billion on a volume of 4.2 million shares.

The Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam (BIDV) listed 30 million bond certificates worth VND3,000 billion (US$187.5 million) on the HCM City Stock Exchange yesterday.

The five-year term bonds with a face value of VND100,000 have an annual interest rate at 8.15 per cent, the bank said.

Its BID10107 bonds had been issued last July targeting Vietnamese and foreign institutes, with Deutsche Bank being appointed the underwriter for the issuance.

Of the total bond amount, foreign investors bought 48 per cent and the remaining was purchased by domestic investors, said Tran Anh Tuan, the bank’s general director.

The first phase bond issuance in 2007 raised BIDV’s total bond volume in the market to 7,200 billion dong, making BIDV the biggest bond issuer in Viet Nam.

BIDV became the first bank issuing bonds to foreigners not residing in Viet Nam, Tuan said.

In 2007, the bank’s total assets were VND204,992 billion, up 26.7 per cent against 2006 and gross profit was reported at VND2,112 billion, a 57.8 per cent increase over 2006. This year, the bank targets 52 per cent growth of gross profit and a 23 per cent increase in total assets against last year. Bad debt was expected to be limited to below 3 per cent, the bank said.