Financial markets

SOE equitization and divestment needs greater efforts from all concerned as yet another deadline seems likely to be missed. The CEO of Japan Tobacco (JT), the world’s third-largest tobacco company, recently met with the Chairman of Vietnam’s Committee for the Management of State Capital (CMSC) Mr. Nguyen Hoang Anh in Hanoi and offered to participate in the equitization process of the Vietnam Tobacco Corporation (Vinataba). The Japanese firm has experience in transforming into a private company, as it was once a State-owned enterprise (SOE), and offered to share lessons learned so that Vinataba can improve its corporate governance and performance.  This is fully in line with the government’s ongoing efforts and strategy in recent years to speed up the equitization and divestment process at SOEs, though the country seems almost certain to miss its five-year plan for cutting State ownership in the economy by 2020. Slow progress Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan … [Read more...] about Some way to go in SOE equitization

Mr. Michael Piro, Chief Operating Officer at Indochina Capital, tells VET that foreign investors are keen on niches in Vietnam's property market where smaller local players lack the required expertise. ■ How do you view the development of Vietnam’s property market at this time? We are seeing more consolidation, as projects undertaken by smaller and less-experienced companies are taken over by larger groups. Large groups with significant financial muscle are bullish on the market, given that Vietnam continues to have strong economic fundamentals, including a young millennial population, high income growth, strong FDI, and a rapidly-growing economy. Therefore, we see many companies who are keen to expand through mergers and acquisitions. In the meantime, the market has grown to a level where experience is recognized and rewarded as consumers and buyers are becoming more sophisticated. Buyer demand has started to dictate the direction of the market and what kind of product … [Read more...] about Foreign investors stepping in

HONG KONG, CHINA - Media OutReach - 17 November 2019 - 66 per cent of respondents from the accounting and finance sector expect Hong Kong's economy to contract in 2020 while 73 per cent believe that the city's competitiveness will decline, according to the latest Hong Kong Economic Survey conducted by CPA Australia.Growing anxiety about the economic outlook The rather bleak prospects for the year ahead is reflected in the two-thirds of respondents forecasting Hong Kong's economy to contract in 2020. This represents a significant decrease in economic confidence from previous years, when only 20 per cent of respondents expected Hong Kong's economy to contract in 2019 and 4 per cent in 2018. The most frequently selected prediction is for Hong Kong's GDP to decline by greater than one per cent (chosen by 43 per cent of respondents). This signifies a major shift to negative sentiment from previous years where the most popular choice was for GDP to expand by 2 to 2.9 per cent … [Read more...] about CPA Australia Survey: Two-thirds of Accounting Professionals Expect Hong Kong’s Recession to Continue into 2020