Phuong Nam Food Co pays outstanding debt
Phuong Nam Food Co pays outstanding debt
Foreign clients resumed orders with Phuong Nam Food Processing Company in the southern province of Soc Trang after the company settled its debts.
Tran Van Tri, the company's vice chairman, told a local newspaper that the clients were the company's traditional partners who had returned because of the good news.
"New orders would help the company reach their goal of US$30 million in exports by the end of the year," he said.
The company, once in the nation's top ten, recorded an export turnover of more than $88 million in 2007 and supplied more than 3,200 jobs.
The company was left to wrangle with VND1.6 trillion ($76million) in debts after the former chairman, Lam Ngoc Khuan, failed to return from the US due to medical reasons. The debt had accumulated with seven banks and several trading partners.
The company has partially recovered with the help of creditors; agreeing to suspend the company's debts for three to five years with zero interest. As one of the banks, Lien Viet Post Bank provided new lending to the company to purchase raw materials.
Phuong Nam Company resumed business under new leadership from deputy chairman Tran Van Tri, the former deputy director of Lien Viet Post Bank, who became responsible for tackling the remaining VND238 billion ($11.3 million) debt.
In the first six months of the year, the company recorded a weak export turnover of $2 million; but turnover has quickly soared to more than $8.5 million with the export of 800 tonnes of shrimp in the last two months.
Tri said farmers have started selling shrimp to the company, bolstered by its improving finances, adding the company employs 2,000 workers who recently received a 20 per cent increase in their monthly salary thanks to higher production capacity.
Along with plans to return to the top 10 seafood exporters in Viet Nam by 2015 and generate $80 million in export turnover, Phuong Nam Company forecasts to have its debts settled by 2019.
The company continues to export to traditional markets including the US, Japan, the EU, Canada, South Korea and Malaysia.
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