Vietnam Overseas

Under the Decree No. 141 stipulating the legal capital of credit institutions, banks must have VND 1 trillion in chartered capital prior to January 1, 2009. Cao Sy Kiem, former Governor of the State Bank of Viet Nam, talks about whether banks can increase their capital to meet the requirements and how to deal with the banks, which cannot meet the requirements.

Only one month left for banks to increase their chartered capital to VND 1 trillion. Which do you think will be the banks able to increase capital prior to the set time?

Despite the great difficulties in the financial market, the chartered capital of the banking system still increased by 28% in the first ten months of the year. As far as I know, nine joint stock banks still have the chartered capital at below VND 1 trillion. I think that only the banks which now have VND 800-900 billion in capital will be able to increase capital prior to the set moment, while the ones with VND 500-600 billion in capital will not.

Could you please tell us more about that?

As the stock market keeps plummeting, and even the stocks of well known banks are being traded at low prices, banks seem to be unable to issue shares to increase their chartered capital and find strategic partners as well.

In 2008, banks have also been facing a lot of difficulties, and many of them have to lower the targeted turnover and profit plan, which means that it is impossible to increase capital with profited money.

As a banking expert, are you worried about that?

At a very sensitive time as it is nowadays, it would be very dangerous if a bank, unable to meet the requirement on chartered capital, and later becomes dissolved. Therefore, the State Bank of Vietnam should think and submit to the Government the measures to deal with the problems to be arisen, to ensure that banks will have VND 1 trillion in chartered capital by January 1, 2009.

Vietnam’s banks prove to be too small, with US $30 million in chartered capital only. The increase of chartered capital to become stronger has become an urgent task, especially after Viet Nam joined the WTO.

Do you think that we should merge small banks into each other to get bigger ones?

This is really a measure but it is difficult to be implemented. It always happens that a weak business is merged into a strong business, or businesses with some advantages are merged into businesses with other advantages. Meanwhile, the merge of weak businesses into each other will not make the businesses stronger.

In principle, the central bank does not force small banks to merge into other banks by administrative orders. However, if the situation becomes dangerous, the central bank has to make the decisions to ensure the safety for the whole banking system.

What will happen if some banks cannot increase capital as required? Will we let banks dissolve, or amend the Decree 141?

It is really a difficult question whether Vietnam should let a weak bank go bankrupt, though the bankruptcy of a bank proves to be a normal thing in the world. As far as I know, the State Bank of Vietnam is considering many solutions, including allowing the dissolution of some banks or merge into bigger banks. If worse things are to occur with some banks, the state will have to ensure the benefits of depositors.

Do you think that the State should inject money in the banks when the stocks now prove to be very cheap?

Injecting state’s money in small banks to become strategic shareholders of the banks, restructuring banks and then selling the stakes of the banks, are the things that have been occurring in many countries. However, no precedent has been seen in Vietnam, while the law on state budget does not stipulate the sum of money for this work. (DTCK)

HerbalGram. 2001;52:50-54 American Botanical Council

by Steven Foster

In June of 1997 and January of 1998, I traveled to Vietnam on behalf of the herb company previously known as Murdock Madaus Schwabe (the parent company of Nature’s Way) to assess the possible commercial development of a rare species of ginseng—Vietnamese ginseng (Panax vietnamensis Ha & Grushv., Araliaceae). My travels took me to meet with researchers and officials in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) and Kontum Province. On the second trip in 1998 I observed cultivation of this medicinal plant in a remote mountain village near the Laotian and Cambodian borders with Vietnam.

Vietnamese ginseng was discovered on March 19, 1973 at Ngoc Lay, Gia Lai-Kontum, in the central highlands of Vietnam. The plant was found at an elevation of 1,800 meters, in a dense broadleaf evergreen and coniferous forest. A follow-up survey discovered 108 populations from 13 mountainous villages in three districts in two Vietnamese provinces. In 1978, the Science-Production Centre of Vietnamese Ginseng was established in Ho Chi Minh City to conduct further population and demographic studies. In 1980, the Vietnamese government established a national reserve for the conservation of the plant and to develop large-scale cultivation. However, to date, commercial cultivation has yet to begin, primarily due to economic and political complexities. Panax vietnamensis is included in the Red Book of Plants for Vietnam, as one of 250 rare, threatened or endangered species.1,2

Vietnamese ginseng is similar in morphological appearance to other species of Panax. The rhizome has numerous nodes, bearing the scars of the previous year’s aerial stem. The primary root is globular (top-like in shape) or a taproot (carrot-like). Most roots are relatively small, though one 62-year-old wild root collected in 1978 weighed 710 grams (dry weight) and was 90 cm in length. A 72-year-old root collected in 1983 weighed 780 g.2 I met a Laotian foreign official in Vietnam, who claimed to have dug an 80-year-old root while on an excavation expedition looking for the remains of American MIAs in mountains near the Laotian border. He claimed the herb occurred in Laos as well.

Known in Vietnam as Cu Ngai Rom Con, Vietnamese ginseng was a secret medicine of the Sedang ethnic minority in the Annamitic Mountain Range. The root and rhizome were used as a folk remedy for numerous diseases and for enhancing physical strength. It was first studied in 1978, with a botanical description as a new species published by Ha and Grushvitzky in 1985, twelve years after its discovery.2,3 During the past two decades, the Science-Production Centre of Vietnamese Ginseng (under the direction by Nguyen Thoi Nham) along with other government agencies in Vietnam, have studied the botany, production, chemistry, pharmacology and clinical aspects of Vietnamese ginseng. Research has been carried out in conjunction with Japanese, Polish and Russian scientists.4

Lutomski and Nham first published on its chemistry in 1976. Two main polyacetylenes have been identified from the root (falcarinol and heptadeca-1,8(E)-diene-4,6-diyne-3,10-diol) to which cytotoxicity, local anesthetic, anti-inflammatory, antiplatelet, antibacterial and antifungal activities have been attributed.5-8 At least 23 known ginsenosides have been found in the root in addition to the isolation and structural elucidation of 14 new dammarene saponins deemed vina-ginsenosides R1–R14. The major dammarene saponins reported are the ginsenosides Rb1 (2.0%), Rb3 (0.11%), Rd (0.87%), Rg1 (1.37%), Rc (0.2%), along with ocotillol-type saponins including notoginsenoside R1 (0.36%), majonosides R1 (0.1%) and R2 (5.29%). Majonoside R2 is reported at very high levels (5.29%), representing over half of the total saponin yield.9-11

The pharmacological effects of P. vietnamensis root extract have been described as “general stimulation of the body in case of physical, mental and sexual asthenia, enhancement of physical strength and immunity, reduction of fatigue after hard working, treatment for hypotension which causes fatigue, vertigo and syncope, and strengthening the effect of antidiabetic drugs.” It also has been found to be a local anesthetic, anti-inflammatory, anti-platelet, antibacterial and antifungal. The activity is described as similar to that of Asian ginseng (Panax ginseng, C.A. Mey., Araliaceae), but with much stronger antibacterial activity.12

In recent years, most published reports have focused on the pharmacological activity of isolated saponins, particularly majonoside R2. Vietnamese and Japanese scientists reported that a crude extract of the root, along with an extract of total active constituents (saponins), both orally and when injected into the body cavity of mice, produced a significant increase in the ability of immune cells to identify and attack invading bacteria. The immunostimulant effect was compared to that of echinacea.13 A dose-dependent cholesterol and total lipid-lowering effect has been described in triton-induced arteriosclerotic models for both extract and tablets.14 Studies on antioxidant activity of Vietnamese ginseng—its saponins fractions, and isolated saponins—showed a significant inhibitory activity on free radical-mediated lipid peroxidation for the whole root and total saponin fraction. However, the major saponins majonoside R2, ginsenoside Rg1 and ginsenosideRb1 showed little antioxidant activity, suggesting components other than the major saponins were responsible for the observed activity.15

Majonoside R2 has been found to reverse the psychological stress-induced decrease in pentobarbital sleep to normal levels in mice; to attenuate the antinociception (anti-pain) effect caused by opioid agonists and conditioned fear stress, and that benzodiazepine receptors are partly implicated in the effects. Additional antinarcotic and antistresss effects have also been reported.*16-18 According to Huong,19 accumulating evidence strongly suggests the involvement of the central opioid, GABAA receptor, and corticotropin-releasing factor mechanisms in the effect of majonoside R2.

Chemopreventative activity has also been attributed to majonoside R2.20-21

Products from Vietnamese ginseng—including tablets, liquid extract, liquor, tea, and creams—are available in limited quantities in Vietnam. Researchers and managers I met in Vietnam were already reporting a decline in wild populations of the plant. Chain link fences were placed around some wild populations in an attempt to protect the plants. However, in the extremely remote areas where the plant occurs, the action instead served to draw attention to them, facilitating their extirpation. While Vietnamese researchers have studied the botany, population ecology, cultural aspects, chemistry, pharmacology and possible clinical application of Vietnamese ginseng, future utilization is hampered by a serious lack of raw material. Commercial development of this rare, threatened, and fascinating medicinal plant is still years into the future.

References

1. Laird S, Burningham M. The development of a benefit-sharing partnership in Vietnam: Panax vietnamensis – a ‘new’ ginseng. In Kate KT, Laird SA, editors. The Commercial Use of Biodiversity: Access to Genetic Resources and Benefit-sharing. London: Earthscan Publishing Ltd; 1999. pp. 112-115.

2. Nham NT, Phan VD, Luan TC, Duc NM, Shibata S, Tanaka O, et al. Pharmacognostical and chemical studies on Vietnamese ginseng, Panax vietnamensis Ha et Grushv. (Araliaceae). J Jpn Bot. 1995; 70:1-10.

3. Dung HT, Grushvisky IV. A new species of the genus Panax L. Araliaceae in Vietnam: Panax vietnamensis Ha et Grushv. Bot Jour Vietnam. 1985; 70:518-522.

4. Nham, NT. “Country Report 10 – Vietnam” (unpublished Vietnamese government report, no date).

5. Lutomski J, Luan TC. Polyacetylenes in rhizomes and roots of vietnamese ginseng (Panax vietnamensis Ha et Grushv.). Herba Polonica 1989; 35(4):207-211.

6. Lutomski J, Luan TC. Polyacetylenes in the araliaceae family. Part I. The isolation and identification of acetylenic compounds from rhizomes and roots of vietnamese ginseng (Panax vietnamensis Ha et Grushv.). Herba Polonica 1991; 37(3-4):113-123.

7. Lutomski J, Luan TC. Polyacetylenes in the araliaceae family. Part III. The qualitative and quantitative determination of polyacetylenes from the crude extracts of Panax vietnamensis Ha et Grushv. and Polyscias fruticosa (L.) Harms. by thin layer chromatography and spectrophotometry. Herba Polonica 1992; 38(2):53-61.

8. Lutomski J, Luan TC., Hoa TT. Polyacetylenes in the araliaceae family. Part IV. The antibacterial and antifungal activities of two main polyacetylenes from Panax vietnamensis Ha et Grushv. and Polyscias fruticosa (L.) Harms. Herba Polonica 1992; 38(3):137-140.

9. Duc NM, Nham NT, Kasai R, Ito A, Yamasaki K, Tanaka O. Saponins from Vietnamese ginseng, Panax vietnamensis Ha et Grushv. collected in central vietnam. I. Chem. Pharm. Bull. 1993;41(11):2010-2014.

10. Duc NM, Kasai R, Ohtani K, Ito A, Nham NT, Yamasaki K, Tanaka O. Saponins from Vietnamese Ginseng, Panax vietnamensis Ha et Grushv. Collected in Central Vietnam. II. Chem. Pharm. Bull. 1994; 42(1):115-122.

11. Duc NM, Kasai R, Ohtani K, Ito A, Nham NT, Yamasaki K, Tanaka O. Saponins from Vietnamese Ginseng, Panax vietnamensis Ha et Grushv. Collected in Central Vietnam. III. Chem. Pharm. Bull. 1994; 42(3):634-640

12. Department of Health of Kon Tum Province. “Report on Region 5 Ginseng,” Kon Tum (unpublished report), May 1993.

13. Huong, NTT, Matsumoto K, Majonoside-R2, a major constituent of Vietnamese ginseng, attenuates opioid-induced antinociception.” Pharmacol Biochem Behav 1997; 57(1-2): 285-291.

14. Lutomski JH, Tilgner H, Mrozikiewicz A, Tung TN, Nham NT. Study on antiarteriosclerotic effect of extract and tablets produced from Panax vietnamensis Ha et Grushv. root. Herba Polonica 1988; 34(3):151-158.

15. Huong, NTT, Matsumoto K, Kasai R, Yamasaki K, Watanabe H. In vitro antioxidant activity of Vietnamese ginseng saponin and its components.” Biol Pharm Bull 1998: 21(9): 978-81.

16. Huong NTT, Matsumoto K, Yamasaki K, Nguyen MD, Nguyen TN, Watanabe H. Crude saponin extracted from Vietnamese ginseng and its major constituent majonoside-R2 attenuate the psychological stress- and foot-shock stress-induced antinociception in mice. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 1995; 52(2):427-32.

17. Huong NTT, Matsumoto, K, Yamasaki K, Duc NM, Nham NT, Watanabe H. The possible involvement of GABAA systems in the antinarcotic effect of majonoside-R2, a major constituent of Vietnamese ginseng, in mice. Jpn J Pharmacol 1996; 71(4): 345-349.

18. Huong NTT, Matsumoto K, Nham NT, Quang NH, Duc NM, Yamasaki K, et al. Effect of Vietnamese ginseng on the phagocytosis in vitro and in vivo. Phytomedicine 1997; 4(4):341-346.

19. Huong, NTT, Matsumoto, K, Watanabe H. The antistress effect of majonoside-R2, a major saponin component of Vietnamese ginseng: neuronal mechanisms of action. Methods Find Exp Clin Pharmacol 1998; 20(1):65-76.

20. Konoshima T, Takasaki M, Tokuda H, Nishino H, Duc NM, Kasai R, et al. Anti-tumor-promoting activity of majonoside-R2 from Vietnamese ginseng, Panax vietnamensis Ha et Grushv. Biol Pharm Bull 1998; 21(8): 834-838.

21. Konoshima T, Takasaki M, Ichiishi E, Murakami T, Tokuda H, Nishino H, et al. Cancer chemopreventive activity of majonoside-R2 from Vietnamese ginseng, Panax vietnamensis. Cancer Lett 1999; 147(1-2): 11-1

Shakhawat Hossain

Milk powder import has come to zero as the importers, rocked by the current melamine test scam, have suspended opening of fresh LCs for the item, central bank officials and importers said Thursday.

“During the last one week, no fresh letter of credit (LCs) for the import of powdered milk was opened,” said a senior official of Bangladesh Bank.

Opening of LCs for the import of powdered milk, an important ingredient of many delicious foods and bakery items, was in a declining trend after the news of melamine in the imported Chinese powdered milk.

During July-August LCs worth US$ 17.20 million were opened for the import of milk powder in the country.

It came down to $12.83 million in September and went further down to only $1.24 million until October 16, according to the BB statistics.

“The test by the Dhaka University chemistry department about the presence of melamine in eight brands available in the local market dealt the hardest blow to the import business of the item,” said the official.

“The milk powder sales declined by almost 75 per cent in the last 20 days,” said a businessman in the city’s main wholesale hub Moulavibazar.

The milk powder sales are declining fast as general people are panicked, said Moulavibazar Business Association president Abdur Razzak.

He said powdered milk will be scarce in the local market in the coming days as importers have put suspension on import of the item in the wake of melamine scam.

The country is totally dependent on import to meet local consumption of milk powder.

It imports around 40,000 tonnes worth nearly $200 million a year. Of them, 30,000 tonnes are baby milk powder and full-cream milk powder while the rest are skimmed milk.

Nestle Sales Director Mohsin Ahmed said they have no other option but to keep suspended the import of milk powder as people are panicked about use of powder milk.

But he expressed the hope that thing would be settled within next one week to help them to resume import of the item.

“The government has made commitment to clear confusion on melamine test within next one week. It is an important health issue in a country that produces milk far less than the consumption,” he added.

Allah Food that markets Dano in the local market also expressed the hope that it could start opening of LCs in the next one week.

“We are watching the situation,” said its Country Manager Ahmed Kabir, adding that the final government test on melamine would be negative.