Business in China

Vietnam has approved the licenses for HSBC Holdings Plc. and Standard Chartered Plc. to enter the country's financial market.

Prior to this, foreign banks were limited to investing in minority stakes in Vietnamese banks.The banks were approved as wholly-owned units and will be given a year to establish operations in the country.

The Vietnam banking sector is still in its infancy with only 10 percent of 86.5 million Vietnamese opening bank accounts. Local incorporation will allow foreign banks to grow their distriution network and attract more clients.

HSBC, which arrived in Vietnam in 1870, said it would build its headquarters in Ho Chi Minh City.

The bank wants to be the first foreign bank to operate a fully-owned local bank in the fast-growing Vietnamese banking sector.

Standard Chartered expects the move to expand bank services and competition for consumers and companies raising funds.

The two UK-based banks are among the 40 foreign banks operating in the country and make up for a total of 14 percent of lending market.

HSBC Bank Vietnam will have a registered capital of US$182 million, while Standard Chartered’s Hanoi-based bank will have a capital base of $61 million, reports the State Bank of Vietnam.

Vietnam Customs To Open Online Forum On Aug. 22For the first time, Vietnam's Department of Customs will open an online forum on August 22 from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. to take customs inquiries.

The office located in the southern Binh Duong province and is expected to field questions from more than 2,300 local businesses. It will soon extend its services to include import-export procedures through e-customs.

The website address is www.haiquanbinhduong.gov.vn.

Dragonair to Launch Hong Kong-Hanoi Flights
Hong Kong-based Dragonair announced yesterday that it will open a new air-route to Hanoi on October 26, 2008.
Besides transporting passengers from Hong Kong to Hanoi and vice versa, Dragonair plans to conduct tourists and businessmen from North Asia, North America, Australia and New Zealand to Hanoi as well.
Dragonair General Director Kenny Tang said Vietnam is a bustling market with high economic and travel growth rates.
The Hong Kong-Hanoi air-route will have two flights a day from Hong Kong to Hanoi and vice versa.

Vietnam Textile Sales to U.S. Surpass India, Second Behind China- Vietnam has surpassed India to move to second behind China in apparel exports to the United States, shipping garments worth US$4.76 billion in May this year against India's exports of US$3.14 billion.
Out of the total US$73 billion dollars annual imports by the US till May-end, Vietnam managed to capture 6.55 per cent share while China remained the largest exporter to the American market with 30.6 per cent share, according to data released by the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Pushing the country’s growth has been the large number of Chinese garment makers have shifted their operations to Vietnam to benefit form lower production costs.