Archived News: Binh Thuan Business

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Phan Thiet Fish Sauce Trademarked

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.

Resort Shake-ups Around Phan Thiet

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.

New Aluminum Factory for Binh Thuan

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.

Japan Aids Binh Thuan Province
with Infrastructure Loans

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.

Bankruptcy for Fatimex in 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.

Environmental Issues an Increasing Priority
for Development in Mui Ne, Binh Thuan

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.

Sumitomo Considers Binh Thuan Investment

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.