SGS wins Vietnam license

SGS wins Vietnam license

HANOI (AFP): Swiss international inspection giant Societe General de Surveillance S.A. (SGS) has received a license to begin operations in Vietnam a company official said yesterday.

SGS will invest more than US$800,000 to open a Hanoi-based office offering inspection and verification of export goods ranging from shoes to rice to petroleum products, said a company official who declined to be identified.

"We will test anything from the percentage grade of rice to shoes and textiles through to petroleum exported to Cambodia," he said.

"We act as a third party umpire between buyer and seller," he added, saying there is great demand for such services from foreign buyers interested in Vietnam.

The group already has opened representative offices in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

Its new license will be valid for 15 years.