Archived News: Binh Thuan Business
17.04.09 Le Thi Minh Tam, owner of the Seahorse Resort, recently received special recognition from the Vietnam government for her special achievements. Ms. Tam, a native of Phan Thiet, moved to Saigon when she was young and married the renowned surgeon and congressman from district 11, HCHC, Dr. Tran Dong-A. She soon opened up a shop making doll clothing. Her fine products were renowned for their quality and were in great demand both within Vietnam and internationally.
Ms. Tam desired to return to her roots in Phan Thiet, and when tourism began to pick up in Mui Ne, she decided to build Sea Horse. Everything at the resort received her special touch and undivided attention, from the landscaping to the furnishings and decorations in each villa. After the wide success of Seahorse, she began to look to other possibilities, and is currently developing Champa Resort, near Victoria.
On the recent International Woman’s Day, Ms. Le Thi Minh Tam was honored by the Vietnam government with the Golden Rose Award, given to a select group of women each year for their extraordinary achievements in their career and charity in the community.
 01.11.08 Java's new Mui Ne Handicraft shop will have their grand opening this evening. Stop by to watch deaf children create sand art, a double amputee embroides scenes from around Vietnam (but most importantly, scenes of life around Mui Ne and Phan Thiet, which can be found nowhere else), a Cham weaver create traditional patterns on an ancient loom and a local tailor makes clothing at bargain prices. Java/Baywatch is located at the entrance to Mui Ne on a hill just above the colorful town and harbor. Address: 152 Huynh Thuc Khang, Mui Ne Village.
(062) 324-1055.
 05.09.08 Phan Thiet will be holding a fair and trade show from Friday, September 5 through Thursday, September 11, at the fair grounds downtown, on the corner of Tuyen Quang Street and Nguyen Tat Thanh Street. Come after 6pm for great shopping and snacks not otherwise available in this area. Starting 8pm each night, nationally famous singers and performers will take the stage at the back of the fair. Singers include Quach Thanh Danh, Chau Gia Kiet, Luu Chi Vy, Giao Linh and others.
08.05.08 We've received repeated reports of the Petrolimex on the hill between Phan Thiet and Mui Ne cheating foreigners going all the way back to it's opening more than 4 years ago. Attendants have been known to play games with the meters and quote charges nearly double the current meter price. As complaints have resurfaced recently we recommend visitors avoid the Petrolimex and instead head to one of the 2 gas stations down the hill in Phan Thiet, just past the Phu Hai bridge. Both have a good reputation for treating customers (local and foreign) with fairness and honesty.
If you feel you've been cheated by any businesses in Mui Ne or Phan Thiet, we invite you to send your complaints so that we can look into the matter.
06.02.08 After a series of new titanium mining ventures have been announced in Binh Thuan Province, the news agency VietNamNet Bridge has launched a harsh criticism of local residents and officials for mismanaging and overexploiting valuable resources. VietnamNet accuses locals of selling--even smuggling the limited resource for foreign buyers, far below market value--all to make a fast profit. Binh Thuan Province is thought to contain 4% of the world's reserves of titanium. Read the complete article here.
03.11.07 Resort owners gathered at a tourism seminar last week and complained that though the provincial government talks about taking steps to correct environmental issues in resort areas, they have yet to act after several years of discussion. Issues include the need to designate official mooring areas for boats along the beach, the need for toilets and proper rubbish disposal on boats; legitimate wastewater treatment at resorts (currently most pump their waste directly into the sand, in violation of existing regulations). Pollution of the beach is the most common of any complaint from visitors to the area.
Unaddressed however, are issues of unplanned development leading to extensive coastal dune erosion, water shortage, development of landfills for garbage disposal, issues of road safety, maintaining public access to beaches, and protection of endangered species such of sea turtles and local bird life.
30.10.07 Residents of Phan Thiet have renewed protests about the recent leasing of Doi Duong Beach to a private company. In December 2006, Thuyen and Anh (The Boat and You) Company leased the public beach from the provincial government to build a private park. Construction of the project, which will include a souvenir shop, a massage area, a sports complex, a parking plot and a swimming pool, has already begun. Residents are frustrated with the local government who already allowed the private company to fence the beach.
Five months prior to the lease being granted to Thuyen and Anh Company, the province announced new plans to preserve and reinforce Doi Duong Beach, which pleased local residents. When it was learned however, that the project would not benefit the local community, but rather the private company, locals were outraged. The new project will instead claim all of the public beach previously devoted to swimming areas, parks and popular cafes, enjoyed by locals and tourists for many years. With public beach access disappearing in Phan Thiet and much of Mui Ne, local tourism may suffer as only hotel occupants will have access.
15.10.07 The Malaysia-based VM Agrotech company has been permitted by Binh Thuan Province to set up a bio-pesticide manufacturing firm in the province. US$30 million will be invested in the factory with a total output capacity of 2,400 tons of insecticide per year.
14.07.07 The Department of Intellectual Property under the Ministry of Science and Technology has registered "Phan Thiet Fish Sauce" as a trademark. The Binh Thuan provincial People’s Committee is responsible for managing the trademark. Any organization or individual that would like to use the trademark now must seek permission from the committee.
How the committee will seek to protect the trademark is not immediately clear. If managed well, it will protect local entrepreneurs and prevent the trademark from being diluted through deceptive use by companies located outside of Phan Thiet, seeking to profit from Phan Thiet's world-renowned reputation. Fish sauce made in Thailand or Taiwan often bears the words "Made in Phan Thiet" for this reason, but it remains to be seen in the committee will have any power to prevent this in the future.
If however, the new process is not well managed, it could actually harm Phan Thiet businesses, by taxing them or even preventing them from using the designation "Made in Phan Thiet" as they have previously done for generations. As Vietnam sought to join the WTO, there was a flurry of local governments and officials seeking to trademark and copyright local products, seeking to collect royalties where none had previously existed. The new system can be used to protect the local community if done in their interest, but it can also be abused.
Earlier, "Binh Thuan Dragon Fruits" were also protected nationwide. Dragon fruit is one of the top products of Bin Thuan province (and possibly the largest producer in the world), although the cactus fruit is actually native to South America.
08.06.07. Binh Thuan Province authorities have revoked licenses from 19 tourism projects worth nearly VND580bil so far this year due to long delays (the provincial government revoked the licenses of 13 tourism projects worth VND850bil last year for the same reason). The projects that lost their licenses include Belagio Resort, Long Beach and Hon Lan Villas--many belonging to local companies. Binh Thuan has more than 360 resorts licensed but only 100 of them are operational at the moment, and most are located around Mui Ne and Phan Thiet.
Meanwhile, Sacombank’s real estate affiliate, Sacomreal, has been appointed the sole authorised sales and marketing agent for the Sea Links project in Mui Ne. Rang Dong Construction Company is the developer for the property, which will contain 247 villas, a five-star hotel, shopping center, health care facility, tennis courts and an 18-hole golf course. If completed, it will be Phan Thiet's second golf course, and one of several villa offerings around Mui Ne. It is expected that the first nine holes of the golf course will open in October. The whole project is slated for completion at the end of 2008.
31.05.06 The Vietnam National Coal and Mineral Industries Group has selected a location in Binh Thuan province to build an aluminum factory. The first such facility in central Vietnam; it will cover 400-500 hectares and have an estimated annual capacity of 1.9 million tons in the first five years. A future expansion is planned to 800 hectares with a capacity of 3.8 million tons a year. Numerous factories are being developed in Binh Thuan; many to develop natural resources like titanium, magnetite, salt, oil, clay bricks and spring water.
30.03.06 Japan and Viet Nam have signed an agreement for preferential loans worth 88.32 billion Yen ($758 million USD). The agreement, for the first time, makes Viet Nam the largest recipient of Japanese development assistance (in a single fiscal year). The loans will be used for nine projects nationally, including building irrigation works in Phan Ri, and developing small-scale infrastructure in poor areas. Phan Ri is a lovely port town North-East of Mui Ne-Phan Thiet.
13.03.06 Binh Thuan Investment and Import-Export Co. (Fatimex), located at 34 Trung Trac, Phan Thiet, has received approval from the Binh Thuan Province government to declare bankruptcy, due to its failure to settle debts of more than VND60 billion. The company deals in agricultural, forestry and fishery products such as cashew nut, handicrafts and articles of fine art.
18.02.06 As rapid development of tourism projects continues in Binh Thuan province, environmental issues and regulations are now an increasing concern for local authorities, developers and the tourists who visit the area.
Binh Thuan's 192 km-long beach-front now has about 3,000 resort rooms and 2,000 hotel rooms. For the past five years, the number of tourists visiting the province has increased 30% annually. 80% of the province’s investment is now focused on tourism. The number of visitors to the area this year is expected to reach nearly 1.7 million.
There are 307 new resort projects registered or under construction in the province. This is nearly 5 times more than the current number of resorts in Binh Thuan. The astounding number of developments raises questions of whether local resources, especially water supply, can support them. New regulations to keep pollution at bay will likely be necessary. Short-sighted investments made without regard to environmental impact could destroy the local ecology and eventually undermine and damage the tourism industry in the long-term. Click Here to read more.
07.02.06 Tuoi Tre reports Japan’s Sumitomo group is considering a project worth US $500 million in Son My Services Industrial Complex in Ham Tan district. Sumitomo may build a services-industrial group and electric-power plant on an area of 1,000 hectares--about 1/4 of the Complex's total available area for development. Both Ham Tan and Phan Thiet have large, new industrial complexes under active development.
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