[Vnbiz] Vietnam

[Steve Culbert]

Dear fellow VNBiz members,

About eight years ago a good friend of mine, Bill
Humphrey, was approached by some leaders of the
Oklahoma City Vietnamese Association.  Like many
Vietnamese Americans they regularly send money back to
Vietnam (remittances to Vietnam total around US$4
billion per year).  Their question was if it was
possible to pre-purchase healthcare coverage for 
their relatives for access to private and/or foreign
owned hospitals in Vietnam.  In 1998, there was no
such service.  Since that time we worked to create
such a program and have found a partner in Bao Minh
Insurance 
to make it possible. 

The criteria set in that first meeting were: 1) a card
that enabled in-patient care with no deductible; 2)
access to semi-private rooms at a minimum, private
rooms when available; and 3) access to the very best 
hospitals and medical providers in Vietnam.  We've
accomplished all that while keeping costs low -
especially when compared to private health insurance
in America or Australia. 

What we're working on now is creating a
distribution/agent network in the US.  Current
thinking is to market to travel agents, independent 
insurance agents and other financial consultants
already providing services to the Vietnamese community
in the US.  I'd certainly welcome any suggestions
regarding the types of organizations and individuals
we 
should be talking to.  Also, any and all suggestions
regarding the program in general are most welcome. 
You can check out the policy details, healthcare
partners, etc. at www.humphreyhealthcare.com. 

Thanks and best regards, Steve

--- "Phan, Tai" <Tai.Phan at ed.gov> wrote:

> 
> [Vietnam Business Forum]
> 
> 
> 
> Vietnam coffee supplies face shortage
> 
> When Vietnam starts harvesting its coffee crop in
> two months' time, it could face a dearth of good
> quality beans because of a high volume of committed
> shipments and possible delays due to prolonged
> rains.
> 
> Wednesday, August 16, 2006
> 
> When Vietnam starts harvesting its coffee crop in
> two months' time, it could face a dearth of good
> quality beans because of a high volume of committed
> shipments and possible delays due to prolonged
> rains.
> The first fresh beans usually arrive in port in
> November.
> 
> Fears of tight supplies in Vietnam, the world's top
> robusta coffee exporter, have pushed up prices on
> the London futures market to 6--year highs in recent
> weeks.
> 
> "There would be a shortage of coffee in November if
> many exporters try to sell for loading that month,"
> said Van Thanh Huy, chairman of the Vietnam Coffee
> and Cocoa Association.
> 
> There were no estimates for the size of shipments in
> November. Sales of both remaining stocks and fresh
> beans soared in early July, when domestic prices
> jumped 7.9 percent to 19,000 dong (HK$9.23) per
> kilogram, from 17,600 dong in late June.
> 
> Prices in Vietnam eased this week to between 20,400
> and 20,500 dong per kilogram from last week's peak
> of 20,600 dong, but the market was quiet on thin
> stocks.
> 
> The London November robusta contract fell 3.2
> percent to US$1,345 (HK$10,491) a tonne Monday.
> 
> "Everyone, sharing the view of a bumper crop, took
> the opportunity to sell when prices started rising
> and many have sold with loading in November and
> December," a dealer with a foreign trading house in
> Ho Chi Minh City said.
> 
> Farmers begin their four-month harvest in the
> Central Highlands coffee- growing belt from
> mid-October, provided the rainy season ends on time.
> The region produces 80 percent of Vietnam's coffee.
> 
> When the weather is dry, it takes seven to 10 days
> for the new coffee to be picked, dried, bagged and
> moved to the Saigon Port in Ho Chi Minh City, 300
> kilometers southwest of the Central Highlands.
> 
> But the rainy season has been in full swing in the
> region since July and it is uncertain when it will
> end, traders said, citing delayed shipments and
> complaints over quality at the start of the 2006
> crop. Last year, the rainy season ended in November,
> a month later than usual, after its arrival was
> delayed by a drought.
> 
> Rains slow the ripening process of coffee cherries
> and disrupt drying, delaying delivery, while
> extensive use of small-scale driers causes the
> quality and taste of beans to deteriorate.
> 
> However, before supplies from the coffee belt pick
> up, exporters can still use the stock carried over
> from the current crop to blend with early beans from
> several southern provinces outside the coffee belt
> for loading.
> 
> Cherries often ripen in September in low-lying
> provinces such as Dong Nai and Binh Phuoc, making
> small shipments possible from early October, the
> start of the new crop year.
> 
> Vietnam's 2007 crop would rise by a third to between
> 780,000 tonnes and 950,000 tonnes based on industry
> and traders' estimates as trees have revived after
> the drought last year.
> 
> Output in 2006 fell 14 percent on the previous crop
> to 11.5 million 60kg bags, or 690,000 tonnes, the
> coffee association said. "The remaining stock from
> the current crop has already been thinning so there
> might be 20,000 tonnes left when we start the new
> crop," Huy said.
> 
> REUTERS
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