Vietnam to end state telecommunications monopoly
HANOI - Vietnam's 27-year state telephone monopoly will end in June when a
second company begins offering limited service in Ho Chi Minh City,
official media reported Wednesday.
Saigon Posts and Telecommunications, a joint-stock company, has been
licensed to begin offering service starting June 1, according to the
Thanh Nien (Youth) newspaper.
"This will be a breakthrough and a
good
sign for telecommunications providing service," Thanh Nien reported.
All telephone, Internet and mobile phone services in Vietnam now
must
go through state-owned Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications (VNPT).
However, Saigon PostTel will only be permitted to operate in limited
areas of Ho Chi Minh City rather than to expand its service to the
entire city with a population of 5 million and other cities and
provinces.
The rule effectively limits the number of Saigon PostTel's
subscribers
to about 500,000.
Another military-owned company, the Army Electronics and Telecom
Company (Vietel), is also seeking a license to join the market.
Vietnam has two mobile phone service providing companies, and five
Internet service providers, though all must be licensed and route
their systems through VNPT.
Deutsche Presse Agentur - March 13, 2002.
Vietnam's Cashews to be Sold Online
HANOI - Vietnamese cashew nuts will make their Internet debut today under a
new deal to sell them online through the Securities Trading Centre.
The nuts will be traded via the US Nuttrade.com website from the STC floor, marking the first time that an
agricultural commodity is traded thus, according to the Vietnam Cashew Association (VCA).
VCA is partnering with Nuttrade, a US global industrial nut trading group, to jointly sell cashew nuts over
the Internet, association officials said.
Nuttrade is providing computer equipment and software free of charge to the HCM City STC for
transactions.
With the Nuttrade system, cashew companies trading on the HCM STC will have direct access to the
latest market information on trading partners, prices, crops, and weather in the region and around the
world.
Cashews will be traded between 2-5pm three times per week during a six-month pilot phase, according to
the VCA, but trading sessions may be extended to five times weekly during harvest seasons or periods of
rising demand.
Cashew buyers will be charged 0.5 per cent fee on the total value of each transaction, the VCA says.
VCA reports that Vietnam exports about US$150 million of cashews each year. Despite unfavourable
conditions last year, cashew exports topped 38,000 tonnes, valued at US$125 million.
These figures have drawn the attention of a number of American and European importers, which have
since signed up to purchase Vietnamese cashews over the Internet.
Online deals comprise 90 per cent of the world cashew market and 60-70 per cent of all other nuts.
The arrival of online trading should create plentiful new opportunities for the Vietnamese cashew, the
association said.
Some experienced traders have expressed doubt that the new online market will succeed in Vietnam in the
short term.
They point out that the online trading requires both sellers and buyers to fully understand international
practices and to act with a high level of professionalism.
If there are excessive offers but too few buyers, local traders will need to follow the rules of the free
market and adjust prices or learn to be patient, experts say.
It may also be difficult to broaden the scope of trading if demand is flat and supply is not increasing.
The success of Nuttrade.com will attract international buyers to Vietnam, and hopefully pave the way for
other industrial nuts such as coffee and pepper to enter into online trading world.
Vietnam News Agency - March 13, 2002.
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