Poor performers pay big bonuses; Egypt launches probe into Vietnamese fish; Poor performers pay big bonuses; Vietnam Expo reaches out to new export markets
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Hoping to increase exports amid a global economic crisis, this year’s expo will feature Vietnam’s primary export staples, including arts and crafts, wood products, foodstuffs, garments and textiles, footwear, household appliances, construction materials, electronics, and electronic components which will be showcased in 520 booths.
Three hundred enterprises have registered to attend the fair, themed “Vietnam – An Opportunity for Business and Investment” including new and high-potential markets such as China, Belarus, Malaysia, the Republic of Korea, Cuba, Laos, Cambodia and Algeria, the last of which is attending the event for the first time.
Vietnam Expo 2009 is one of the country’s most important trade promotion activities, helping boost exports and develop the local market, said Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Thanh Bien at a press briefing in Hanoi on March 30.
The annual trade fair will also give local enterprises the opportunity to approach new markets to strengthen future export activities.
Seminars between enterprises from China, Nigeria, Hong Kong and Vietnam are also on the agenda.
Since first being organised in 1990, Vietnam Expo has acted as a bridge linking Vietnamese and international economic and trade organisations, opening up export, trade and investment opportunities for local enterprises.
Egypt launches probe into Vietnamese fish
Egypt is investigating basa fish imported from Vietnam following reports they contain banned antibiotics that can cause cancer, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Luong Le Phuong said Friday.
Further exports are likely to be halted until Egypt announces the results of its investigation, he said.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will meet with concerned enterprises and the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers to discuss the issue before responding to Egyptian authorities.
Egypt is a major market for Vietnam’s basa fish, buying US$55 million worth last year.
Poor performers pay big bonuses
Many listed companies are paying out generous employee bonuses for 2008 despite sub-par earnings and sharp profit falls last year.
PetroVietnam Insurance Corp. announced it will give its staff bonus shares worth one percent of its VND1 trillion (US$56.46 million) chartered capital even though the insurer didn’t meet its earnings target last year.
The 2008 net profit of the insurer, which is listed on the Hanoi bourse, amounted to VND260 billion, 21.2 percent below the target of VND330 billion ($18.63 million).
The company has already set an easier VND275 billion target for this year, yet it has increased its bonus pool to 4.5 per cent of revenue, up 30 percent on the present 3.5 per cent of revenue.
Hoa Binh Rubber Co. is aiming for a pretax profit of VND40.6 billion in 2009, less than half of last year’s VND104 billion target. The rubber producer, however, will allocate 15 percent of its pretax profit to bonuses.
If the 2009 target is achieved, the company’s directors and supervisory board members will also divide up an extra bonus pool funded with 0.5 percent of the pretax profit. Otherwise it will be 0.3 percent.
Hoa Binh’s respective proportions last year were 0.3 percent and 0.2 percent.
Thong Nhat Rubber Co. saw it is 2008 pretax profit plummet by 75.72 percent to VND8.2 billion, against VND34 billion in the year before.
Yet the company will pay out VND413.35 million in employee bonuses plus 0.3 percent of pretax profit as separate bonuses for the directors and supervisory board members.
VietNamNet/VNA