Vietnam: Journalist arrested for bribing police

A campaigning anti-corruption reporter, Nguyen Van Khuyen, of well-respected southern newspaper Tuoi Tre News, was taken into custody by police in mid-January for bribing a police officer. He paid traffic police officer Huynh Minh Duc around $715 for the return of a confiscated motorcycle but was in fact 'assuming the identity' of a traffic offender in order to publish an excoriating report on police corruption in Vietnam.

'He should not be charged with bribery because of what he did in the course of an undercover investigation,' Reporters Without Borders said in a press release. 'He was acting as a reporter, not for personal gain.' The organisation estimates that he may be in prison for four months while authorities investigate. The police officer was suspended after the story ran but the journalist was still suspended from his paper in early December, apparently at the behest of the police.

Police corruption is a hot topic in Vietnam and the traffic police, who regularly threaten citizens and solicit bribes, are widely hated, to the point at which recent camera phone footage of a dying traffic police officer earned praise on various video sites.

Exposure of corruption by the press is sometimes encouraged by the government as it understands the anger it generates. Most targets are not main players and most journalists know who they can and cannot attack.

For more news and expert analysis about Vietnam, please see Vietnam Focus.

© 2012 Menas Associates

Mekong joint patrols

Joint patrols of the Mekong River by China, Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar have begun as a way to combat crime and drug trafficking on the major waterway. The Golden Triangle has long been a centre of drug production, trafficking, and piracy. Gangs often hijack boats, which they then use for trafficking or smuggling and to kidnap people.

Earlier nine Chinese crew members were killed and nine Thai soldiers arrested. (They assert their innocence.) The murders finally prompted an agreement between the four nations in Beijing on 31st October.

The launch of these joint patrols is part of a plan to increase security in the increasingly busy river and shipping lane. They have set a precedent for more transnational cooperation in security issues in the region. On the first venture out, on 10 December, five armed police boats escorted 10 Chinese cargo ships along a stretch of the Mekong from China's southwesterly Yunan province to Thailand's Chiang Rai, heavily armed with machine guns and hundreds of soldiers.

The four nations will patrol 24 hours a day and provide convoy escort for cargo ships in an area that is rapidly becoming an important trade route for regional trade. One enthusiastic English-language Chinese newspaper called the plan 'a blessing to the 70 million people living in the river basin and the international commercial vessels travelling along the river.'

For more news and expert analysis about Vietnam, please see Vietnam Focus.

© 2012 Menas Associates

Vietnam: Nuclear plans afoot

During a recent state visit by Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev and an accompanying delegation, the official news agency announced that Kazakhstan would like to supply Vietnam with nuclear fuel for the production of energy and also hopes to cooperate in the development of Vietnam’s oil and gas industry.

Hanoi has already made deals with Russia and Japan to support its nuclear development plans (although the agreement with Japan has yet to be ratified by the Japanese parliament). In November, the government announced that it will invest three trillion dong (around US$143 million) in upgrading its human resource capabilities in the sector.

Using Russian help, Vietnam plans to build its first nuclear power plant in 2020 – it hopes to have 14 operational power plants by 2030 and has pledged the investment to ensure that it is able to build, manage, and maintain the facility when it opens. Training will be offered to 2,400 engineers and 350 academics and industry experts through cooperation between Hanoi’s Ministry of Science and Technology and the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Most of the funding for the project will come from Vietnam’s stage budget, with a smaller amount being invested by Electricity of Vietnam, the state’s power supplier.

For more news and expert analysis about Vietnam, please see Vietnam Focus.

© 2011 Menas Associates

Vietnam to strengthen co-operation with South Korea

On Tuesday 8th November, Vietnam's President Truong Tan Sang and his South Korean counterpart Lee Myung-Bak agreed to strengthen bilateral ties and co-operation on a number of projects to build atomic power plants in Vietnam.

Sang is on a three day visit to South Korea. The two officials released a joint statement saying the countries were going to strengthen co-operation for peaceful use of atomic power. The statement went on: “The two sides took a special note of South Korea's proposals on developing Vietnam's nuclear power plant based on South Korean technologies, nurturing human resources, transferring technologies and cooperation in other related areas.”

South Korea operates 20 nuclear plants, which generate about 35 per cent of its electricity needs, and plans to build 12 more over the next 14 years. It decided to carry out its nuclear programme as planned despite concerns following the earthquake in Japan on 11th March.

Vietnam continues to face energy shortages and foreign investment companies have expressed concern about the country's instability. As a result, Hanoi has recently intensified its drive to co-operate with nuclear capable countries to help meet its needs.

South Korea and Vietnam have boosted economic and diplomatic relations since they normalised ties in 1992. Last year, the two-way trade totalled $12.9. The two countries have agreed to boost trade to $20 billion before 2015 and further to $30 billion.

Sources: Yonhap, AFP, Korea Times

For more news and expert analysis about Vietnam, please see Vietnam Focus.

New IMF representative for Vietnam

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has installed a new country representative to work with the Vietnamese government as it attempts to overcome a series of economic difficulties that have resulted from expansionary monetary and fiscal policies put in place to mitigate the impact of the global financial crisis.

The IMF has worked in Vietnam since 1994, when it approved its first three-year structural adjustment loan for the country, which was then embarking on a programme of economic reforms to make the transition from a planned to a market-based economy. Vietnam joined the IMF in 1956 but then lived through a period of civil war and international isolation that severely limited its contact with international banks and other institutions.

Speaking during a farewell to the IMF's outgoing country representative, Benedict Bingham, Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang said the assistance of the Fund has helped 'lift Vietnam from a country with shortages to a developing nation with much potential for international cooperation.' He expressed hope that the IMF would continue to work with Vietnam to establish the policies needed to renew growth and continue the ongoing process of economic restructuring.

The new IMF representative for Vietnam, Sanjay Kalra, arrived in Vietnam in October and will use his expertise in Asian finance and monetary policy to help the country overcome its current economic problems.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has asked Kalra to support Vietnam's bid to host the 2015 IMF/World Bank annual meeting.

For more news and expert analysis about Vietnam, please see Vietnam Focus.

© 2011 Menas Associates

Vietnam to strengthen bilateral relations with Uzbekistan

While on an official visit to Uzbekistan Vietnam's Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung met with his Uzbek counterpart Shavkat Mirziyoyev to discuss trade relations between the two nations. Mirziyoyev spoke very highly about Vietnam's achievements and socio-economic progress. He also congratulated Dung on his re-election.

For his part, Dung said he was glad to see Uzbekistan prosper and maintain socio-political stability, economic development, improving people's life and raising Uzbekistan's position in Asia and on the international arena.

The two men confirmed their respective nations' desire to further develop bilateral relations, and agreed to increase co-operation via exchange of delegations at all levels, especially high-ranking. They noted that bilateral trade remains modest with $18 million in 2010 and $15.5 million in this year's first half, and that it is yet to reach its full potential.

The leaders also agreed to foster export-import, step up trade promotion activities, and create conditions for Vietnamese and Uzbekistani partnerships in the fields of oil and gas, agriculture, fertilizer production, construction materials, electronics, information technology and telecommunications.

Both Dung and Mirziyoyev spoke highly about PetroVietnam's operations in Uzbekistan, stressing that oil and gas is a spearhead co-operative area between the two nations.

Dung said the two countries were soon to finalise procedures for the signing of a contract between PetroVietnam and Uzbekistan's Oil and Gas National Holding Company in Bukhara Khiva.

Sources: Vietnam News Agency, Saigon Daily

For more news and expert analysis about Vietnam, please see Vietnam Focus.

Vietnam: Agreeing to disagree

China and Vietnam have climbed down from months of tense stand-off over territorial claims in the South China Sea by agreeing during a meeting in Hanoi to 'negotiations and peaceful, friendly consultations' to find a compromise. The two governments also decided to speed up talks and to sign an agreement as soon as possible.

China has long squabbled with its southern neighbours – not only Vietnam but also the Philippines, Malaysia, and others in Southeast Asia – over ownership of the Spratly and Paracel Islands in the South China Sea. It claims a large swath of the maritime territory, including areas that the other countries insist fall within internationally recognised maritime borders within 200km from their coastline.

This summer, Chinese ships raised hackles in both Hanoi and Manila by acting in ways that were viewed by the Southeast Asian governments as provocative and aggressive.

The agreement between China and Vietnam was signed on 6 September, the fifth anniversary of the establishment of a China–Vietnam Steering Committee on Cooperation. The two parties agreed that under the 'current, complex international environment' it made sense for the neighbours to attempt a reconciliation.

Earlier, in late August during a meeting in Beijing, the two governments agreed to establish a hotline linking the two defence ministries and to expand military ties using the exchange of official delegations and students. China also promised to share its experiences working with UN peacekeeping forces, something Vietnam has not done but in which it has expressed an interest.

For more news and expert analysis about Vietnam, please see Vietnam Focus.

© 2011 Menas Associates

Vietnam jails blogger for three years

A French-Vietnamese blogger, Pham Minh Hoang, has been sentenced to three years in prison for publishing articles that have reportedly "blackened the image of the country".

Speaking during his trial in Ho Chi Minh City, Hoang said he had joined an opposition group but emphasised the fact the he did not intend to overthrow the government.

There has been talk among human rights activists about the increasing numbers of imprisonments of those who dare critique the Vietnamese government. France's Foreign Ministry had earlier voiced "serious concern" about Hoang's case.

Hoang, who was said to have written over 30 articles under the pen name Phan Kien Quoc, asked for leniency, stating that he did not know he was breaking the law.

Addressing the court he said: "My writings were not aimed at overthrowing anyone…I only pointed out the negative things in society, and I think the country needs to be more democratic."

Hoang, who has dual citizenship, received a more lenient jail term of three years due to the aforementioned, and although he confessed to belonging to the banned opposition group Viet Tan, he said he was not acting as an active operative.

Sources: BBC News, AFP, Bloomberg

For more news and expert analysis about Vietnam, please see Vietnam Focus.

Vietnam and US sign military co-operation agreement

The US navy released a statement saying US and Vietnam have signed a co-operation agreement in Hanoi, paving way for a future military relationship. The statement said, the two countries will work together on health, setting the stage for exchanges and research collaboration in military medicine.

The new agreement marks the first formal military co-operation between the former foes since the neutralisation of diplomatic relations in 1995. The Navy's Surgeon General Vice Admiral Adam M. Robinson Jr said the agreement was not politically motivated but based on prospective future collaboration on health issues.

Robinson explained: “Medicine and medical research are universal languages that all countries and cultures understand. Diseases affect us all in the same way…By working together in areas such as infectious disease research, we not only help each other, we help the world meet these global health challenges."

The US is expanding military co-operation with the Southeast Asian nation despite concerns over Vietnam's human rights record. In fact, in recent months, a number of US lawmakers have urged President Barack Obama's administration to improve relations with Vietnam contingent on improvements in human rights.

Sources: AFP, The Australian

For more news and expert analysis about Vietnam, please see Vietnam Focus.

Vietnam: China's coal lessons

The question of coal imports spotlights the dif­ficulties of Vietnam's energy pricing structure and the limits it is causing in the growth of energy and the timing of liberalisations in the energy sector.

China is currently facing similar constraints in its electricity, and the Chinese case shows that the liberalisation of markets, especially miner­als and electricity, needs to be carried out in a coordinated way.

China is currently suffering an electricity crisis due to its continued control of electricity pricing in the domestic and industrial markets and its reliance on coal for electricity production.

China relies on coal for 73 per cent of its electricity production and the price of coal has been steadily rising as demand for electricity has grown in manufacturing, industry, and the consumer market.

Yet while coal prices are allowed to increase in line with domestic and import costs, electricity producers are forced to keep their prices in line with government guidelines. Electricity genera­tors are losing money as input prices rise and retail prices remain steady.

Electricity generators and utility companies, the majority of which are state owned, are growing very unhappy. Many have decided to cut pro­duction rather than continue to incur losses.

This is affecting industry across China as factories are forced to cut production due to brownouts and blackouts. And commodity mar­kets as far away as Australia are suffering from a downturn in demand for natural resources such as coal, copper, and tin used in China's manufac­turing industry.

The obvious lesson is that the Vietnamese government should be careful how it introduces competition into the electricity market and should ensure that input markets move at the same time. Input suppliers and producers can suffer losses for only so long and as demand for electricity grows so will the strength of partici­pants in the electricity sector.

For more news and expert analysis about Vietnam, please see Vietnam Focus.

© 2011 Menas Associates

Vietnam: Hmong history of unrest

The Hmong constitute Vietnam's largest ethnic group, with almost 1 million members throughout the country: predominantly in the northern highlands along the border with Laos and China, but also with large popula¬tions in the central highlands. Large popula¬tions of Hmong can also be found in southern China (3 million), Laos (450,000), Thailand (150,000), and as far as Myanmar.

The Hmong have various lineages and clans and were named the Montagnards, or 'mountain people,' by the French. They have a history of revolt, including against the French in the 1920s.

During the war between the United States and Vietnam, the Hmong in the central highlands and also in Laos worked closely with the Americans against the communists. As a result of this alliance, after the war the Hmong were initially mistrusted and heavily controlled. Numbers fled to camps in Thailand and more than 250,000 now live in America.

They also fought against Laotian forces throughout the 1980s and '90s and were forced to flee to Thai refugee camps. The last Hmong refugee camp was closed in Thailand in 2010 and remaining refugees either relocated to the United States or Australia or were forcibly returned to Laos.

Despite this history the Hmong in Vietnam have been gradually absorbed into Vietnamese society, though there was sporadic unrest in Dien Bien Phu province in 1999 and also in the central highlands in 2001 and 2004.

It seems that the timing of the most recent revolt was not an accident, coming a few days before Dien Bien Phu province was to celebrate the 67th anniversary of the defeat of French forces there in 1954. Celebrations were kept to a minimum as a result.

For more news and expert analysis about Vietnam, please see Vietnam Focus.

© 2011 Menas Associates

PM Nguyen Tan Dung urges Kazakhstan to open an embassy in Vietnam

Vietnam's Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has urged Kazakhstan's Deputy Foreign Minister Kazhykhanov Yerzhan to open an embassy in Vietnam to foster bilateral co-operation and trade between the two countries.

Dung noted that Vietnam was particualrly keen to strengthen economic and energy-industry relations, saying he hoped Kazakhstan would support Vietnam's negotiations in signing the Free Trade Agreements with member nations of the Russia-Belarus-Kazakhstan Customs Union.

The talks commenced while Yerzhan was on an official state visit to Hanoi. Dung promised to create favourable conditions for Kazakh companies to invest in Vietnam, and commended its partner for working closely with Vietnamese domestic companies in the energy sector.

For his part, Yerzhan congratulated Vietnam for its achievements, and confirmed that President Nursultan Nazarbayev is expected to visit Hanoi later this year.

Sources: VOVNews, Viet Nam News

For more news and expert analysis about Vietnam, please see Vietnam Focus.

ExxonMobil to start drilling in Vietnam at the end of April

ExxonMobil will start its first exploratory drilling off the central coast of Vietnam at the end of April. The decision followed a meeting of the company's representative and leaders of the People's Committee of Da Nang City.

The two sides discussed plans to avoid environmental pollution and ensure safety. The drilling will be conducted at block 119 on the continental shell offshore from Quang Ngai Province and Da Nang City. Vice chairman of the Da Nang People's Committee, Phung Tan Viet, ordered the city's Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to inform fishermen not to use the exploration area during the 40 days of drilling.

ExxonMobil' Chief Executive Officer Rex Tillerson recently said that the company plans to spend around $100 million a day for the next half decade as it drills previously unreachable oil and natural gas deposits. He added that the company has budgeted $34 billion for capital projects this year, a 5.6 per cent increase from 2010.

Sources: Viet Nam News, Huston Chronicle, AP

For more news and expert analysis about Vietnam, please see Vietnam Focus.

Vietnam: 12th National Assembly session

As Vietnam Focus went to press delegates were gathering for the final session of the 12th National Assembly before May's elections. The session will last just over a week and will tackle only five new laws: on the prevention of human trafficking, government cryptography, independent audit, and an amendment and supplement to some articles of the Code of Civil Procedures and the Law on Capital. The body will meet again in late June for the first session of the 13th National Assembly.

One of the first items of business this week was the Vinashin affair. The Assembly has been very vocal in recent months, especially after its November and December session, in which delegate Nguyen Minh Thuyet from Lang Son attempted to bring a vote of no-confidence against Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung for his mismanagement of the shipping conglomerate. His bid was ultimately rejected.

Vinashin was again a lead item in the final session, but those who hoped some blame would be assigned within the government will have been disappointed. On the opening day, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung, who is the former minister for finance, announced that no individuals or organisations other those already under investigation would be held responsible for the mismanagement of Vinashin and its losses of $4.4 billion.

The Politburo considered that the violations outside of Vinashin itself were not serious and that those involved within the economic group had already drawn enough criticism and would learn from the events.

For more news and expert analysis about Vietnam, please see Vietnam Focus.

© 2011 Menas Associates

Vietnam says it will still build country's first nuclear power plants

Deputy Director of Vietnam's National Centre for Hydrometeorological Forecast, Le Thanh Hai, has denied rumours that Vietnam was going to be hit by “radioactive rain” travelling from Japan. He added: “No wind can bring radioactive dusts from Japan to Vietnam. There is no wind from Japan to China and then to Vietnam. There is only wind blowing from Vietnam to Japan. The current rain is caused by monsoon, not acid rain.”

Subsequently, the Vietnamese government has said that it intends to implement the plan to built the country's first nuclear power plants, with the help of both Japan and Russia.

A spokesman for Vietnam's Foreign Ministry, Nguyen Phuong Nga, said that the country's environmental security was at the top of the government's agenda and was “particularly important in the context of climate change and natural disasters, particularly the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.” She went on to say that Vietnam would work with Japan and other international partners to develop nuclear energy while “ensuring nuclear safety and environmental protection.”

Former director of Vietnam's institute for nuclear science and technology, Tran Thanh Minh, said the government was right to stay on course despite the ongoing nuclear crisis in Japan. He said: “I'm concerned about what's happening in Japan but...Vietnam will be using the latest nuclear technology and will have to put a bigger focus on safety and engineering when it comes to our nuclear reactors.”

Sources: FT, MSN Philippines News, Vietnam Net

For more news and expert analysis about Vietnam, please see Vietnam Focus.

Vietnam: Inflation, again

The government's continued fight against inflation could be damaged by the latest devaluation. Inflation rose to 12.17 per cent last month, the highest rate since the government brought it under some control after the peak of 2008, when it reached over 24 per cent.

Inflation stood at over 10 per cent for much of 2010, well above the government target of 7 per cent of the year. While the devaluation may reduce Vietnam's reliance on imports, the burgeoning trade deficit could continue to expand. In January alone it reached $1 billion: imports of $7 billion and exports of $6 billion. The government is target¬ing a trade deficit of $14.2 billion for 2011, up from $12.4 billion in 2010.

Vietnam remains very reliant on imports, especially for consumer goods. In 2008, according to United Nations trade data, it imported $5 billion in steel, $1.5 billion in fertilisers, $2.4 billion in telecom equipment (mostly from China), $11 billion in petrol, and $2.7 billion in gold. However, exports continue to be mostly resource based, such as coffee ($2.1 billion), rice ($2.8 billion), and seafood ($3.8 billion), with oil accounting for $10.4 billion.

Continued government support for exports does not inspire much confidence, especially after the general failure of currency devaluations over the last 14 months either to increase exports or to reduce imports.

Dariusz Kowalczyk, Credit Agricole CIB's senior economist, questioned the government's focus: "It seems the authorities are trying to support exports and to support growth rather than to fight inflation. That's very surprising because inflation is a major problem." Well, one of several.

For more news and expert analysis about Vietnam, please see Vietnam Focus.

© 2011 Menas Associates

PetroVietnam starts gas output from offshore facility

PetroVietnam has begun gas production from its processing plant and pipeline network, based at its offshore Rong-Doi Moi oil fields. The gas compressing rig, in southern Vietnam, processed in the region of 960,000 cubic metres per day, which accounts for 4.3 per cent of the estimated daily output for this year. The field contains around 2.5 billion cubic metres of gas.

The gas unit is connected to the gas pipeline in the Rong-Doi Moi and White Tiger oil field through a RC-3 rig and five underwater pipelines totaling 43 kilometers. PetroVietnam and its subsidiary PVGas are partners in the project together with VietsovPetro, a joint venture of PetroVietnam and Russia state-owned oil and gas company Zarubezhneft.

VietsovPetro said the project will supply gas to power plants material production plats and household customers throughout Vietnam. The annual gas volume is estimated to cost around $56.5 million annually and is expected to cover the investment cost in eight years.

PetroVietnam has said that Rong-Doi Moi is one of several gas projects the company has been working on and that its subsidiary PVGas currently operates five gas pipeline networks, with annual capacity of 14 billion cubic metres. More projects are shedualed for competion by 2014.

Sources: VietNamNet, Platts

For more news and expert analysis about Vietnam, please see Vietnam Focus.

Vietnam joins the club

It has been a busy month for Vietnam's leaders. Prime Minster Nguyen Tan Dung jetted off to Korean capital Seoul this month to join G20 leaders for the Seoul summit. Prime Minster Dung attended the summit representing both Vietnam and ASEAN and met again many of the world leaders who had earlier joined the 17th ASEAN meeting in Hanoi, though the meeting gave the prime minister the opportunity to again meet American President Barack Obama. The focus of the G20 summit was understandably to address the post-crisis global economy.

Obama tried to use the summit to address the global imbalance in trade between East Asia, the United States, and Europe, in particular the imbalance between the United States and China as well as China's undervalued currency and build-up of US dollars.

Vietnam's prime minister would have listened with some concern and interest to Obama's proposal for a 4 per cent limit on national trade deficits and suggestion of an apparent 'currency war,' in which several countries are accused of artificially devaluing their currencies in order to drive export growth.

Vietnam and the United States have both seen their trade deficit with China grow hugely over the last 10 years. Vietnam's went from a modest $32 million in 2000 to a worrying $10.5 billion in 2008 and is expected to reach over $11 billion in 2010. Vietnam has also engaged in a series of dong devaluations over the last 12 months in an attempt to bolster its flagging exports and address some of the trade deficit.

Following the G20 meeting, Vietnam's President Nguyen Minh Triet was again joined by many of the same leaders at the 18th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Yokohama in Japan.

For more news and expert analysis about Vietnam, please see Vietnam Focus.

© 2010 Menas Associates

Russia and Vietnam sign co-operation agreement

Russia's President Dmitri Medvedev has signed a co-operation agreement with Vietnam's President Nguyen Minh Triet for the Russians to build a nuclear power station in Vietnam, the first for the south-east Asian country.

“If we reach the goals we've set, this power plant will account for a great share of Vietnam's energy market and will allow it to develop as a modern state that not only produces and processes oil, but also uses other energy sources, which is very important in today's world,” said Medvedev.

During a state visit to Vietnam, on the back of a regional summit, the Russian leader said he was looking forward to working with Vietnam and added that the country, “is actively developing in terms of construction, organisation of economy, fortification of defence and security, and also solving social issues. In all these areas Russia will assist Vietnam, which is our close friend.”

The deal, said to be worth more than $5 billion, was commended by Vietnam's president and held up as a sign of how ties between Moscow and Hanoi are strengthening.

“The signing of an agreement on the construction of an atomic power plant in Vietnam demonstrates the special ties we have with Russia and, of course, the deal indicates the confidence which Vietnam has in Russia's technology. We will continue to work together in the oil and gas industry, both in Russia and Vietnam,” said Nguyen Minh Triet.

Source: Tribune Magazine

For more news and expert analysis about Vietnam, please see Vietnam Focus.

Binh Son refinery signs sales deals with four oil companies

Binh Son refinery has signed contracts with four state owned oil companies for the sale of oil products commencing in 2011. Binh Son signed deals with Petrolimex, Vinapco and two of Petrovietnam's subsidiaries PV Oil and Petec Trading and Investment Corp.

The volume committed to the four companies totalled 4.7 million cubic meters, comprising of 92 RON and 95 RON gasoline, diesel, jet A-1 and fuel oil, accounting for about 81 per cent of Dung Quat refinery's planned output of petroleum products for next year.

The refinery's planned output for 2011 is 4.9 million cubic metres of which 4.6 million cubic are petroleum products. Of Binh Son's committed sales volume of 4.7 million cu m for 2011, Vinapco will take 200,000 cu m of jet A-1 while Petrolimex has contracted to buy 2 million cu m, half of which is 92 RON and 95 RON and the other half, diesel. PV Oil and Petec will lift 1.5 million cubic metres and 1 million cubic metres respectively.

Source: Platts

For more news and expert analysis about Vietnam, please see Vietnam Focus.