Puma Energy, a subsidiary of one of the world’s largest independent commodity traders Trafigura Beheer, on November 1 announced it had completed the acquisition of Chevron Kuo Pte Ltd, a Singapore entity which owns 70 per cent of Chevron Bitumen Vietnam Limited “CBVL”. The new company will be called Puma Energy Bitumen Vietnam and within three months the company’s assets will be rebranded Puma Energy. According to Pierre Eladari, Puma Energy's chief executive officer, Puma Energy was quickly becoming a global marketer of bitumen. “Our investment in logistics operations and in our bitumen terminals in Spain, Africa, Central America and now Vietnam will help us to deliver ambitious growth in sales volumes,” Eladari said. Puma Energy Bitumen Vietnam imports, stores and distributes asphalt for road building and infrastructure developments in Vietnam. The company's assets include a Haiphong terminal which has wharf facilities with a state-of-the-art … [Read more...] about Puma Energy completes acquisition in Vietnam
Downstream in supply chain
BUSINESS IN BRIEF 9/11
$50 million road for HCM City Construction of a 2.7-km long road costing VND1.134 trillion ($50.8 million) connecting Pham Van Dong Boulevard and the Go Dua intersection on National Highway No. 1 in Ho Chi Minh City has been approved by the City’s Department of Transport, with construction to be in the build-transfer (BT) form and conducted from 2015 to 2017. The road will complete Ring Road 2, connecting main traffic routes in the city and reducing traffic density along arterial roads. In the first phase two roads running parallel to each side of the main road (to be built in the second phase) will be built with three lanes each. Three bridges will also be constructed (Rach Lung Bridge, Rach Ong Viet Bridge, and Rach Go Cat Gridge), with each being approximately 80 meters long. Additional works will also be built, such as drainage systems and lighting. The main road, built in the second phase, will have eight lanes. The Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee approved the … [Read more...] about BUSINESS IN BRIEF 9/11
BUSINESS IN BRIEF 20/6
Local suppliers find blocks to supermarket access Small local suppliers are being confronted with demands for huge trade discount rates and bribery in order to access supermarket distribution. At the workshop on the retail market, Pham Ngoc Hung, vice chairman of the HCM City Business Association, said in order to get products on display, firms are being arm-twisted into paying VND10-20m (USD454-909) for each type of product. They also have to bribe sorting and placement staff or their products won't be displayed properly. Small sized firms aren't in a position to pay huge amounts and also have to accept huge trade discount rates to get their products displayed, especially export firms who consider discount rates as marketing costs. As a result, this has encouraged even higher discount rates. Le Thi Thanh Lam, director of SaigonFood TM Company said foreign-owned supermarkets were asking for huge discount rates while domestic supermarkets were indifferent toward them. "Some supermarket … [Read more...] about BUSINESS IN BRIEF 20/6
BUSINESS IN BRIEF 21/5
Da Nang hosts int’l accounting, finance conference Experience, initiatives, and research outcomes in accounting and business administration were shared by over 200 experts from the UK, Japan and Vietnam during a conference in the central city of Da Nang on May 20. The International Conference on Accounting and Finance (ICOAF 2016) was organised by the University of Economics at the University of Da Nang, Japan’s Yokohama National University, and the Aston University and theAssociation Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) of the UK. Participants heard 47 reports by experts, including six by those from Japan and the UK . Participants discussed challenges facing the country in these fields and put forward measures and ideas for Vietnam’s accounting sector to meet its international integration requirements. The reports focused on topics relating to business finance, banking, stock market, auditing, internal auditing, and quality of financial statements. Vietnam’s … [Read more...] about BUSINESS IN BRIEF 21/5
BUSINESS IN BRIEF 20/5
HCM City needs VND630 billion for LPG distribution upgrade The HCMC government will find about VND630 billion (US$28.2 million) for a major project to improve the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) distribution system by 2025, according to a new development plan for LPG trading in the city. To execute the project, the city will encourage local and foreign firms to invest in upgrading LPG distribution and prioritize allocation of zoned land for construction of storage facilities, ports and LPG bottling stations. HCMC will build a modern LPG distribution system comprising storage facilities, bottling and distribution stations, and LPG facilities of wholesale traders, general agents and agents in line with the plan submitted to the city government last week by the HCMC Department of Industry and Trade. The department expects the LPG distribution system will meet local demand for LPG, which is forecast to increase from the current 300,000 tons (or 35 kilograms per person) a year to 391,600 tons … [Read more...] about BUSINESS IN BRIEF 20/5