News

Japan Airlines orders 10 new Boeing Dreamliners

16.02.2012

 

  Japan Airlines (JAL) on Wednesday said it had ordered 10 new Boeing Dreamliner aircraft as it looks to build on its recovery from bankruptcy and fight off the threat from an emerging budget sector. The announcement, part of a five-year plan, is in addition to an existing order for 35 Boeing 787 planes and is part of a capital expenditure programme worth 478 billion yen ($6.1 billion). The total order includes JAL's exercising of an earlier option for 10 other Dreamliners. JAL said it expects to introduce the new planes from fiscal 2015 on medium to long haul international routes. "The overall purchase of the Dreamliner now stands at 25 firm orders of the 787-8, and 20 of the 787-9 with 20 options, raising the total order of 35 Dreamliners to 45," the airline said. The Dreamliner made its first commercial flight in October -- with JAL's rival All Nippon Airways (ANA) -- after a string of technical mishaps and years of delays that cost US-based Boeing billions of dollars in lost or cancelled orders. JAL, which is emerging from years of restructuring after filing for bankruptcy in 2010 in one of Japan's biggest ever corporate failures, said it "intends to maximise the competitiveness of the super-efficient Dreamliner". The airline said it "acknowledges challenges posed by Japan's low economic growth rate, heightened competition from low cost carriers and the downside risks resulting from the European sovereign debt... ... Read more

Foreign retailers sell Vietnamese goods abroad

16.02.2012

 

  Many global retailers have recently put Vietnamese-made foods, garments, handicrafts, and household products on shelves at supermarket chains around the world.

According to Nguyen Xuan Hai, Southern managing director of France’s Big C, last year the supermarket chain exported three groups of Vietnamese commodities including fiber, food, and household products and handicrafts, to be distributed in the nine countries where its mother company, Casino Group, is operating.

The food’s export turnover was worth US$10 million, while the respective figures for the other two groups were $8 million, and $3 million, Hai told newswire Saigon Times Online.

Hai said the export volumes rose by 20 percent against 2010, and many products such as coffee, seafood and garments have been favored by international consumers.

Meanwhile, the Korean Lotte Mart retain chain has managed to bring 89 brand names of 31 Vietnamese businesses to 97 supermarkets in Korea.

Of these, 69 brand names belong to processed foods like Trung Nguyen coffee, Vinamit, Vifon, and Vinamilk.

Export volume has risen by 25 percent compared to the first shipment of Vietnamese products to Korea, Saigon Times Online quoted Lotte representative as saying.

“We have gained positive results, with sales surging by up to 40 percent as expected,” he said.

“Vietnamese products currently account for around 15 percent of the... ... Read more

Vung Tau seaports receive few vessels despite huge investments

15.02.2012

 

  Despite a number of modern container seaports with investments worth several billions of US dollars established in its waters, the Cai Mep – Thi Vai area in Ba Ria – Vung Tau Province has docked a modest number of container vessels. This grim reality runs counter to the investors’ high expectations of developing Ba Ria – Vung Tau into an urban port with high container-loading capacity. Ports have been built in large quantities, but the infrastructure serving their operations remains undeveloped, experts said. According to the Vietnam Port Association (VPA), the total container-handling capacity of the ports in Ba Ria – Vung Tau is as much as 8 million twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU), while the real demand is no more than 5 million TEU. In spite of the surplus capacity, the province is set to welcome several new ports in 2012, and 2013, VPA said. According to the provincial Department of Transport, Ba Ria – Vung Tau is now home to 53 seaports, 23 of which are already operational, while those remaining will soon reach completion. The department also said the total registered investment in the seaport system in the province by the end of last year was more than US$7 billion, while disbursement was worth $2 billion. Few vessels come to the ports In contrast to the high density of deep-water seaports in the area, and the busy atmosphere at the construction sites of the new ports, a gloomy air can be found at the... ... Read more