BRIEFS: Vietnam sees rise in exports to Macau

Vietnam’s exports to China’s Hong Kong and Macau grew impressively in 2014, state-run Radio Voice of Vietnam (VOV) reported on Friday. The broadcaster quoted the Vietnamese Consul General to Hong Kong and Macau, Hoang Chi Trung, as saying that Vietnam’s exports to Hong Kong reached USD5.2 billion in 2014, up 26.7 percent year-on-year. Meanwhile, exports to Macau increased by 17.4 percent and the number of Vietnamese migrant workers in Macau also rose. Hong Kong has invested USD3 billion in 99 projects in Vietnam, ranking second among 60 economies. Hong Kong will continue to be a gateway for Vietnamese products to reach countries throughout the world, said the consul general.

Gov’t vows better petrol price control

The Macau government has received 150 applications for the petroleum products importation permits. The Macau Economic Services director, Sou Tim Peng, said yesterday on the sidelines of the TDM Forum that the authorities want to better understand the import prices and storage of petroleum products. He also wants to introduce competitors into the market through the system. Under the permit system, importers have to submit to the government the import costs and amounts of their products. This will help the government to better monitor the importers.  The permit system will come into effect today. The authorities estimated that it will take them around one to three business days to process an application.

Credit to SMEs increases by 9.4 pct

Credit limit approved by Macau banks and granted to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) rose by 9.4 percent reaching MOP25.4 billion in the second half of 2014. Figures released by the Monetary Authority of Macau show that by the end of December last year, the outstanding value of total SME loans increased to MOP60 billion, which is a 15.1-percent rise from the end of June and a 48.4-percent increase from a year earlier. When compared to the numbers at the end of June 2014, the value of SME loans to non-monetary financial institutions, restaurants and hotels, and wholesale and retail trade, increased at respective rates of 143.1 percent, 10.4 percent and 8.9 percent. The utilization rate, which is defined as the proportion of outstanding credit balance to the credit limit granted, rose by 2.3 percent from six months ago to 66.7 percent currently.