|
BUSINESS IN BRIEF 17/1
Leather,
Footwear, Handbag Industry Generates US$10.3 Billion in 2013
Exports
of leather, footwear and handbags hit US$10.32 billion in 2013, according to
the Vietnam Leather, Footwear, and Handbag Association. This is an increase
of 18 percent since 2012, exceeding the total target by 3 percent.
Suitcase
and handbag exports reached $1.92 billion, an increase of 26 percent.
Footwear exports hit $8.4 billion, an increase of 15 percent.
These
products account for 11 percent of industrial-product exports and 7.7 percent
of the country’s total exports.
The
The
General System of Preferences (GSP) of the EU, Trans-Pacific Partnership
Agreement and several Free Trade Agreements will reduce tariff on footwear
products in 2014. Due to this, the Association set export target at $12
billion.
Total
forest product exports hit a record high of US $5.3 billion in 2013 with a
monthly average of $425-450 million, according to the Ministry of Agriculture
and Rural Development. This gives a total increase of 15.24 percent compared
to 2012.
Exports
of forest products were at $227 million. This is a rise of 6.6 percent since
2012, achieving 75.7 percent of the annual target of total exports, according
to the Ministry. These products include rattan, bamboo, and sedge.
Wood
exports were also at a high. Exports to
By the
end of 2013, the area of new forest is estimated at 213,200 hectares, up 14.5
percent year-on-year, according to the Ministry. The area of protected forest
is at 4.2 million hectares, up 52.7 percent year-on-year.
By
December 2013
The
city granted investment licenses to 42 new FDI projects with total pledged
capital of US$48.4 million and 17 existing projects with additionally
increased capital of US$246 million.
Despite
global economic fluctuations, FDI businesses in
In
addition, remarkable progress was also seen in the city’s Official
Development Assistance (ODA) capital attraction with 11 ODA valid projects
totaling US$697.81 million.
LaoVietBank
reviews accomplishments in 2013
The
Lao-Viet Joint Venture Bank (LVB) on January 15 provided a presentation to
its customers and the business community on its activities and
accomplishments for 2013.
LVB
Leaders announced that the total assets of the bank are now valued at US$550
million, up 68%from a year earlier and the bank’s capital mobilization has
reached over US$280 million, up 47% while services also surged by 66% from
the previous year.
Over
the past year, LaoVietBank has met the country’s socio-economic development
demand for capital and has become one of the four largest commercial banks in
The
Governments of Vietnam and
LVB
leaders also announced plans to expand its chartered capital to US$80 million
this year and US$100 million by 2015.
Last
year, apart from developing a modern core banking network, LVB provided an
additional ten services and products with new facilities to meet the growing
customer demand.
LVB
has reaffirmed its commitment to fulfilling its tasks, giving a boost to Lao
socio-economic development as well as strengthening special solidarity
between the two countries.
The
Kazakh Parliament's Lower House has approved a cooperation agreement aimed at
bolstering trade and investment with
At a
January 15 plenum of the Lower House, Kazakh Minister of Economy and Budget
Planning Erbolat Dossaev told parliamentarians that the agreement is
comprehensive and addresses the areas of exports, nationalization, and
compensation in addition to procedures for setting up an international
tribunal for the settlement of disputes.
During
the first eleven months of 2013, two-way trade turnover between
Dossaev
suggested oil and gas cooperation between
Hundreds
of large-scale FDI projects in
Large-scale
projects include
Investment
fields of foreigners’ interest are the processing industry, power and water
supply, air conditioner production and real estate.
The
official operation of Idelmitsu Oil & Gas Co, Ltd, under Japan’s Idemitsu
Kosan Co, Ltdat the beginning of the new year hasproved that Vietnam is an
attractive destination for foreign investors.
Idelmitsu
Oil & Gas Co, Ltd Director R Yuji Kusakasays that the project’s
investment capital comes from
A
sharp increase in foreign investment has recently accelerated the development
in other fields in localities.
Hai
Phong is a case in point, attracting the most foreign investment. It has
secured investment from 400 foreign businesses from ten major groups namely
Bridgestone, Nipro Pharma, Fuji Xerox Posco and LG.
HaiPhong
Municipal People’s Committee Chairman Dan Duc Hiep said that since the Law on
Investment took effect, Hai Phong has attracted over US$26 billion from big
investors.
In
2014 and the following years, the city hopes to make the best of its
advantage to attract even more foreign money.
In the
context of capital shortages, foreign investment is a priority trend to
restructure the economy and deal with bad debts and large inventories aiming
to establish long-term cooperation between banks and businesses.
The
MPI said that
In
addition, poor infrastructure and laborious administrative formalities have
made
Planning
and Investment Minister Bui Quang Vinh stressed the need for
At
present, the Vietnamese Government has re-built projects with the crucial
role of the foreign-invested sector, which will bring changes in economic
restructuring, develop enterprises with high environmentally friendly
technologies and create competitive products in both international and
Vietnamese markets.
Foreign
investment attraction will help restructure the Vietnamese economy and offer
a more competitive environment for Vietnamese businesses.
Economists
urge that businesses should devise clear strategies and objectives to attract
foreign investment based on incentive policies for such fields as high
technology, support industries, infrastructure development and the financial
market.
Shrimp
exports projected to rise
Shrimp
export value this year is expected to reach US$3.5 billion, higher than last
year's $3 billion, according to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters
and Producers (VASEP).
VASEP
general secretary Truong Dinh Hoe said last year, the local shrimp industry
gained a record high at $3 billion in export value, a similar figure to rice
export value and even higher than other farm produce such as coffee, rubber
and pepper.
However,
local shrimp trading firms promoted to sell all kinds of shrimp to China
because the market imported all while traditional export markets such as the
US, the EU and Japan had strict standards for Vietnamese shrimp export products,
Hoe said.
He
said
Le Van
Quang, general director of the Minh Phu Seafood Joint Stock Company, said the
state should have solutions on controlling closely quality of shrimp to avoid
a situation that shrimp exports have been sent back because some firms have
infected impurities to shrimp for export, according to the Cong Thuong (Trade
and Industry) newspaper.
Pham
Amh Tuan, deputy head of the Fisheries Department under the Ministry of
Agriculture and Rural Development, said this year, the ministry would promote
control of quality of export shrimp to avoid bad effects on this key export
product.
The
local enterprises should meet demand on quality standards for shrimp export
products in key markets of the EU, US and
The
shrimp industry in other countries including China and Thailand needs two
years to recover after the Early Mortality Syndrome (EMS) that is an emerging
disease caused by bacteria. So, local firms should get good chance to
increase shrimp exports this year, Tuan said.
Meanwhile,
the southernmost
Ly Van
Thuan, General Director of the Ca Mau Seafood Processors' Association, said
several measures will be taken to achieve the target, which represents a
year-on-year rise of 10 per cent.
These
include increasing shrimp production to 250,000 tonnes, meeting 50 per cent
of the processing demand, expanding export markets through trade promotion
activities, and providing policy support to make aquaculture a spearhead
sector in the province.
Local
officials have said trade promotion activities will focus on major markets
like the
The
province also plans to participate in regional and international fairs to
boost aquaculture exports, and enhance co-operation with other localities as
well as foreign partners.
RoK
businesses satisfied with Ha Nam
A
delegation of businesses from the
At the
meeting, the RoK Embassy to
The
provincial authorities have strictly implemented their commitment to
facilitate operations of RoK enterprises, he added, saying that his
compatriots are extremely grateful for this support, especially in the
provision of premises, construction and manpower recruitment.
For
his part, Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Mai Tien Dung pledged
to create favourable conditions for foreign investors, especially the RoK
businesses.
The
province would improve local infrastructure and offer priority policies to
promote foreign investment, Dung noted.
PM
Dung calls on oil and gas group to accelerate restructuring
The
Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PVN) has been asked to speed up restructuring
to become a leading economic group capable of competing with regional and
international companies.
Prime
Minister Nguyen Tan Dung made the request at the PVN Conference in
He
said the Group should focus on intensifying oil and gas exploitation and
exploration to contribute to ensuring national energy security, economic
growth and affirm national sovereignty.
PM
Nguyen Tan Dung gives a speech at the conference.
PM
Dung applauded the oil and gas sector’s significant contributions to the
country’s socio-economic development as well as state budget revenue and
national energy security.
PVN
needs to deal with existing weaknesses and boost restructuring to improve its
operational efficiency and competitiveness, said PM Dung.
He also
asked the economic group to resolutely withdraw investments from non-core
business and continue to improve the quality of its staff as well as
administrative capacity.
Last
year, PVN’s targets, key projects and tasks assigned by the Government were
fulfilled on time or ahead of schedule and its contribution to the State
budget exceeded US$2.22 billion.
The
Prime Minister presented the Independence Order (third class) to the Vietnam
Petroleum Institute and the Labour Order to outstanding PVN employees and departments
for their contributions to the oil and gas sector’s development.
Hydropower
company urged to intensify investment
The Da
Nhim-Ham Thuan-Da Mi Hydropower Joint Stock Company (DHD) should increase
investment and expand the scale of its Da Nhim plant.
Deputy
Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai was speaking at a ceremony to present Da Nhim
Hydropower plant with the Labour Order (second class) in
Hai
asked the joint stock company to manage its hydropower plants, participate in
the competitive electric market, and raise the electricity supply per capita
from the current 1,400kWh per year to 8,000-10,000 kWh per year.
DHD
was also asked to work with Lam Dong and Binh Thuan local authorities to
strictly ensure the safety for the plants and lowland areas during the flood
season.
Established
in 1961, Da Nhim plant is one of the first hydropower projects in
According
to DHD General Director Nguyen Trong Oanh, the project to expand Da Nhim
plant has been added to the National Master Plant for Power Development in
the 2011- 2020 period.
In
December 2013, the Japanese and Vietnamese governments signed notes of
exchange for ODA projects, which will increase its total Da Nhim plant
capacity to 240MW.
The
Lao National Assembly (NA) held a seminar in
Delegates
heard reports from high-level Vietnamese experts on businesses’ operations,
development orientations for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and
plans to restructure the economy in
The
aim of the seminar was to help
Lao NA
leaders highlighted
The
city also aims for a 10% import-export growth, earning US$29,230 million in
revenue.
Deputy
Director of the HCM City Department for Industry and Trade Le Ngoc Dao said
to achieve the target, the economic focus will be on boosting the export of
processed industrial products with high added value, reducing the import of
luxurious products, as well as encouraging the purchase of machines and
equipment for production and business operation.
Phan
Thi Thanh Minh, Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT)’s Southern Operation
Department Head said in 2013 the industry and trade sector recorded remarkable
achievements despite numerous economic difficulties.
As a
spearhead for national economic development,
Minh
also suggested providing more support for local producers and exporters to
ease business difficulties.
MoF
launches tax management scheme
From
February 5, enterprises can negotiate and reach agreements with tax
authorities over the taxable prices of their goods or services, according to
a newly-released circular by the Finance Ministry on the implementation of
the Advance Pricing Agreement.
Under
the amended Tax Administration Law, which came into effect last July, the Advance
Pricing Agreement (APA) is a binding and written agreement between the tax
authority and taxpayers for a period of time with respect to the
determination of the ‘basis for tax' calculation, the transfer pricing method
and the application of the arm's length principle for transfer pricing.
The
APA will be issued before taxpayers submit their tax declaration documents.
In
other words, under an APA, enterprises will have to pay a fixed amount of
tax, regardless of whether they make a profit or loss on their operations.
That is because, under an APA, the price and quantity of the goods are
already agreed to by the tax payer and the tax authority. The tax is
calculated on that price and quantity, not on the annual business operations
of the firm.
According
to the ministry, the implementation of the APA will improve tax management,
reduce the costs of tax compliance and reduce conflicts in determining market
prices for business activities that generate profits for enterprises to meet
their obligations of corporate income tax.
The
APA is also expected to help in the fight against fraudulent transfer
pricing.
Under
Circular 201/2013/TT-BCT, an APA can be unilateral, bilateral or
multilateral. In particular, when a taxpayer requests an APA for a transfer
pricing method or a price based on arm's length pricing for related-party
transactions, such a request will be based on an agreement between the tax
authority and the taxpayer on a unilateral, bilateral or multilateral basis.
That
means the agreement can be between a Vietnamese tax authority, the taxpayer
and the tax authorities of relevant countries or territories.
An APA
can be enforced for up to five years, and can be extended for a maximum of
another five years.
Nguyen
Quang Tien, director of the Tax Reform and Modernisation Department under the
ministry's General Department of Taxation, told the Hai quan (Customs)
newspaper that the APA mechanism is expected to become an effective tool for
tax authorities to collect taxes and prevent fraudulent transfer pricing by
enterprises.
"It
will also make enterprises more careful while drawing up business plans and
fulfilling their tax obligations," he said, adding that when applying
for an APA, corporate taxpayers need to provide information and evidence to
help the tax authority assess a company's method of arriving at a proposed
market price.
The
tax authority has the right to accept or refuse the applications, he pointed
out.
As
quoted in Thoi bao Kinh Doanh (Business Times), deputy general director of
Ernst&Young Viet Nam and member of the Viet Nam Tax Consultants'
Association Vu Thi Lan Huong said the APA provides a way to simplify tax
administration, help the government receive stable income and increase the
compliance of companies by ensuring that transfer pricing audits are avoided
during the duration of the APA.
The
APA will help enterprises reduce some risks that affect their profit, such as
paying arrears or fines if they were found to have violated tax regulations,
she added.
Bui
Ngoc Tuan, deputy general director of Deloitte Viet
However,
he expressed worries about the application of the APA in
For
instance, he said, customs officials tend to prefer highly taxed imported
goods because that increases their tax collections, but it also leads to
lower corporate income tax.
"If
the products are sold in
Association
to support young entrepreneurs
With
the economy expected to remain sluggish this year, the HCM City Young
Businesspeople Association will take action to help member companies stay
afloat.
Speaking
at its year-end meeting held on Tuesday in
In
addition, activities will be organised to enhance linkages and improve mutual
support among members, he said, adding that special events would be held to
mark the 20th anniversary of YBA's establishment this year.
Last
year, the association's executive board worked closely with members to help
them stabilise production and trade, resulting in a number of achievements.
In
addition, many practical programmes were organised, including the
Last
year, members contributed more than VND1 billion (US$47,619) to social and
charitable activities.
At the
meeting, YBA admitted 28 new members, with the total number now reaching 800.
New
decree targets reduction of cash payments
From
March 1 State enterprises will have to switch to non-cash payments as
stipulated by a Government decree issued in December.
Organisations
and individuals using public funds will be prohibited from making payments in
cash unless permitted or required by the Ministry of Finance and the State
Bank of
Non-cash
payments will become the norm also for securities transactions on the stock
exchanges as well as outside of the trading system.
Cash
will not be permitted to be used for any financial transaction including
capital contribution, sale and purchase of shares, and lending and borrowing
between enterprises.
The
new decree also requires credit institutions seeking to disburse cash to
borrowers to do so in accordance with State Bank of
The
issuance of the decree is part of the Government's ongoing efforts to
popularise non-cash payments.
The
non-cash payment project (or Project 291), launched in 2006 by the central
bank and related ministries and agencies, has so far yielded encouraging
results.
The
central bank has established a modern inter – bank electronic payments system
linking all 63 provinces and cities that can meet the gradually increasing
requirements of the economy.
Most
banks have established core banking systems and internal payment systems
based on advanced technologies.
As a
result, non-cash payment through banks has become rapid, secure, and
accurate.
Banks
have focused on non-cash payments through electronic means of payment and
payment via cards and online, which are constantly expanding, enabling
e-commerce development.
According
to official data, employees of most state agencies receive their salaries
through bank accounts. This is a sector considered as a model for boosting
non-cash payments.
This
is also a key way of improving the quality of bank payment services, thereby
reducing cash flows in the market and saving costs and reducing risks.
However,
in spite of the encouraging results, the development of Project 291 has
remained slow and beset by difficulties: Technical infrastructure remains at
development process; ATMs are mainly used to draw cash; other types of money
transfers are mainly done through the banking system; points of sales are not
well developed.
In the
public sector, a large portion of transactions between firms are still done
in cash.
Even
in cities, where there are favourable factors enabling non-cash transactions
at places like supermarkets, malls, and elsewhere, the use of cash remains
very popular because of people's habit and psychology.
Project
291 envisages that by 2015 the proportion of cash transactions in the economy
will fall to less than 11 per cent, and the proportion of people with bank
accounts will increase to 35-40 per cent of the population.
Clearly,
the Government and banks need to make greater efforts to remove the obstacles
to achieving the targets
Quang
Ngai IZs seek investment
The
central
Doan
Tan Hau, head of the Quang Ngai Industrial Zone Management Board, said
investment priority would be given to projects that are more aligned with the
province's socio-economic development plans.
He
also said the province's Quang Phu and Tinh Phong IZs have targeted a
combined industrial production value of VND2.9 trillion and exports of $40
million this year.
Last
year, the two industrial zones attracted 11 projects with a total registered
capital of VND890 billion ($42.38 million).
The
province's industrial production value in the two IZs last year reached
VND2.71 trillion ($129 million). They earned revenues of VND6.7 trillion
($319 million) of which exports accounted for $29 million.
Vietcombank
unveils online fees
The
Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade of Viet Nam (Vietcombank) has
revised its transaction fees and transaction limits for online money
transfers.
From
January 15, individuals and organisations will be charged VND3,300 (US$0.15)
for each online transaction with other Vietcombank account holders. The fee
for an inter-bank transaction remains unchanged at VND11,000 ($0.52).
Individuals
and organizations will also be permitted to transfer a maximum of VND300
million (nearly $14,290) per day to Vietcombank account holders and a maximum
of VND100 million ($4,760) per day to account holders in other banks.
Earlier,
the transfer of money between individual Vietcombank account holders was
free, while organizations were charged VND11,000 per transaction.
The
previous limit on transactions between Vietcombank account holders, as well
as between Vietcombank account holders and other bank account holders was
VND100 million.
Ca
Mau targets $1.1 billion in fisheries export
The
southernmost
Ly Van
Thuan, General Director of the Ca Mau Seafood Processors' Association, said
several measures will be taken to achieve the target, which represents a year-on-year
rise of 10 per cent.
These
include increasing shrimp production to 250,000 tons, meeting 50 per cent of
the processing demand, expanding export markets through trade promotion
activities, and providing policy support to make aquaculture a spearhead
sector in the province.
Local
officials have said trade promotion activities will focus on major markets
like the
The
province also plans to participate in regional and international fairs to
boost aquaculture exports, and enhance co-operation with other localities as
well as foreign partners.
Over
VND4 trillion to upgrade Central Region road
The
Transport Ministry and Central Highlands Lam Dong Province People's Committee
kicked off a project yesterday to upgrade part of National Highway 20 running
through the province.
The
project is expected to cost over VND4.1 trillion ($195 million), including
VND1.4 trillion from build-operate-transfer contracts and over VND2.7
trillion from build-transfer contracts.
The
road is a key route that connects
Officials
noted that the road has been seriously degraded in recent years.
More
than 127,000 businesses in the economic hub of Ho Chi Minh filed and paid
their taxes online in 2013, accounting for 91 percent of all enterprises in
the city, according to the municipal taxation department.
The
municipal taxation department has enhanced customer support to improve the
service’s efficiency.
The
department reported that the city contributed 167.65 trillion VND (7.88
billion USD) to the state budget in 2013, or 106.93 percent of year’s plan
and up 11.83 percent against the previous year.
However,
the city posted tax arrears of 17.3 trillion VND (831 million USD) last year,
of which the recoverable debts were over 13 trillion VND (611 million USD);
debts claimed to be adjusted valued were 1.2 trillion VND (56.4 million USD);
and bad debts were 143 billion VND (6.7 billion USD).
In
2013, the tax department inspected 54,000 businesses with tax violation signs
and collected 13 trillion VND from them. The department also worked with
other 230 businesses on their exaggerated losses and collected 2.3 trillion
VND of tax.
More
than 100 leading Vietnamese and foreign suppliers of food ingredients are
expected to take part in an exhibition in May.
The
first Food Ingredients Vietnam will showcase raw materials and additives and
chemicals used in the food industry, including in dairy, confectionery,
beverage, and foodstuffs, according to Rungphech Chitanuwat, business
development director of exhibition company UBM Asia (
There
will be seminars on macro trends and market perspectives during the three-day
event.
The
exhibition is scheduled to take place from May 21 to 23 at the Saigon
Exhibition and Convention Center in District 7.
An
Giang targets 4 mln tonnes of quality rice
The
Mekong Delta
To
realise the goal, the sector will implement crop restructuring, while
encouraging farmers to use high-quality seed to reach an output of 1.77
million tonnes of rice in the winter-spring harvest, up 21,000 tonnes over
the same period last year.
Meanwhile,
farmland areas in the summer-autumn and autumn-winter crops will be reduced
by 1,300 ha and 11,470 ha respectively because the two harvests usually meet
unfavourable weather conditions.
The
provincial authorities also urged the sector to broaden new cultivation
models such as developing the growing of vegetables in Cho Moi and An Phu
districts and the cultivation of sticky rice in Phu Tan district.
In
addition, the province also enlarged cultivation in line with the Global Good
Agricultural Practices (GolobalGAP) standard to reduce the price of products,
meet the increasing demand of the market and improve income for local
farmers.
Investment
by businesses from
Statistics
from the Tien Giang Province Department of Planning and Investment indicated
that
The
projects covering industry, agriculture, tourism, information, communications,
health, education and science-technology have proved effective, the
Department said.
It
added that Tien Giang is realising solutions to further enhance its
collaboration with Ho Chi Minh City by taking advantage of both localities’
potentials to facilitate future provincial economic growth.
Apart
from luring investment, the province plans to promote information and
dialogue exchanges between local authorities and businesses and investors
from the southern economic hub to address any difficulties in the field.
About
70km from
Agricultural
sector gradually improves added value
Despite
the negative impacts of the world economy, the agricultural sector posted a
GDP growth of 6.27 percent and an export turnover of 27.5 billion USD in
2013.
These
are joyful signals for the sector in the path of increasing farm produce
sales by raising added value step by step.
Looking
back on the year 2013, the sector faced a host of challenges, especially in
selling agricultural products. In addition, low investment, high interest
rates and input costs also hindered its development.
The
farming sector has yet to see sustainable development, as measures for farm
produce have predominantly been short-term fixes, stated Minister of
Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat at a recent conference to
review the sector’s 2013 performance.
However,
it still maintained growth equivalent to that of the previous year,
contributing to the country’s progress, inflation control, social security
and new rural development, he said.
He
also expressed his belief that the sector will continue to enjoy significant
growth in the time to come as its restructuring drive is being implemented in
all areas.
In
order to remove difficulties for agricultural businesses and farmers, Phat
said that the Government has recently issued policies to support production
and sale, strictly prevent smuggling, and enhance the control and prevention
of diseases.
Together
with policies supporting the scientific and technological application, the
Government is also developing the processing of agro-forestry and seafood
products and reducing post-harvest losses, he said.
The
State Bank of
Regarding
the new rural development, Minister Phat said that the Party, National
Assembly and Government has focused resources on speeding up a national
target programme in this area, with a view to changing the outlook of the
rural areas.
By the
end of 2013, an impressive 93 percent of communes completed their new rural
planning while 7,995 out of 9,084 communes approved projects on new rural
building. Total social investment mobilised for the programme reached nearly
41.4 trillion VND (1.97 billion USD).
Many
localities such as Tuyen Quang, Quang Ninh, Thai Nguyen and Ha Tinh have
applied good policies in mobilising resources for this campaign.
Through
the programme, more than 7,000 production models have been launched,
contributing to improving production efficiency and rural residents’ incomes,
said the minister.
Quality
improvement needed to exploit
In
addition, a Vietnam-RoK free trade agreement is also expected to be signed
this year.
In
2013, exports of agricultural products to
However,
many batches of exported seafood have been sent back from
Currently,
Only a
few fruits from
Meanwhile,
2013:
State budget revenue exceeds target
Despite
difficult economic circumstances both at home and abroad,
In
September, the state budget revenue had reached only 66.6 percent of its
annual target, nearly 9 percent lower than expected by that time of the year,
the Finance Ministry revealed.
To
tackle the risk of budget revenue failure, the ministry closely collaborated
with other ministries and local authorities to work out breakthrough
solutions, said Minister Dung.
The
financial industry has implemented drastic measures to combat tax losses,
solving tax arrears and fixing tax refund activities.
By the
end of 2013, the industry inspected 60,273 businesses and collected over 13
trillion VND. The tax authority also fetched a little over 25 trillion VND
from tax arrears, accounting for 52 percent of total tax arrears by the year
end.
Dung
also noted that his ministry had tightened its inspectorate works and applied
strict punishments for tax collectors and customs officials who broke the
rules on tax refunds, added value tax, and tax evasion.
Economic
restructuring to be accelerated this year
The
Government has committed to undertaking economic restructuring in 2014,
focusing on investment, credit organisations, the financial market,
State-owned enterprises (SOEs), agriculture and rural areas, and industry and
service.
The
Government Portal said on January 15 that under Government’s Resolution 01 on
major solutions guiding and directing the realisation of the plan on
socio-economic development and State budget estimate in 2014, ministries,
agencies, localities, and SOEs were asked to implement the Master Scheme on
Economic Restructuring and Prime Minister’s Directive 11 on a number of tasks
to be performed during 2013-2015 to realise the master scheme.
The
Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) is in charge of finalising the
draft law on public investment and tightening the management of State
budget-sourced projects, Government bonds, ODA capital, SOEs as well as
Government-guaranteed loans.
State
budget and Government bonds would be prioritised for important and urgent
projects, used as corresponding capital to ODA projects, cover site clearance
and the building of new rural areas, and support programmes to respond to
climate change (SP-RCC), and PPP projects.
The
State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) takes the prime responsibilities for
restructuring credit organisations, especially weak commercial banks, and
submitting a mechanism to enable credit organisations' mergers.
The
SBV will strengthen supervision and investigation into the safety of the
system while handling overlapping ownership in the areas of banking,
security, insurance and gold business.
Meanwhile,
the Ministry of Finance (MoF) will work with the SBV and other ministries,
agencies and localities to develop the capital market and security market.
The
MoF is in charge of categorising, investigating and restructuring security
business organisations and imposing tough punishments on infringements.
The
MoF, the MPI, and the Steering Committee for Enterprise Reform and
Development will assume the prime responsibilities for realising the approved
project on enterprise restructuring.
Some
economic groups and State general corporations will be re-organised.
The
processes of equitisation, divesting, and selling and reduction of capital in
those SOEs which the State does not need to own controlling interests should
be sped up.
In
addition, SOEs shall be put under stricter supervision and management.
The
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is in charge of fulfilling the
project on agricultural restructuring towards higher value-added production
and sustainable growth.
In
addition, the whole society would be mobilised to fruitfully realise the
programme on building of new-style rural areas.
Accordingly,
a string of preferential policies on agriculture and rural area development
would be conducted.
The
Government also encourages investment in labour-intensive sectors,
agro-processing and preservation industries, handicrafts and service.
The
Ministry of Industry and Trade will cooperate with the Ministry of Science
and Technology to accelerate the restructuring of processing and
manufacturing industries and the deeper participation into the global value
chains.
Meanwhile,
economic components are encouraged to develop high-tech, value-added, and
export-oriented industries, auxiliary industries, and processing industries
of agro-forestry and fishery products.
The
overall strategy on service development shall develop potential, advantageous
and value-added service sectors like tourism, telecom, transport, logistics,
finance and banking.
DATC
acquires 82 million USD of business debts
The
Debt and Asset Trading Corporation (DATC) signed 15 contracts to buy debts
valued at nearly 1.8 trillion VND (81.82 million USD) in 2013, the Ministry
of Finance announced the figure at a meeting in
Last
year, the corporation's total revenue was 530 billion VND (24.09 million
USD), including that from debt trading activities of more than 326 billion
VND (14.82 million USD). It focused on negotiations with commercial banks to
buy bad debts of mainly State-owned groups and corporations, and restructured
five State-owned enterprises into joint-stock companies.
This
year, DATC is targeting the restructuring of 20 businesses, including
restructuring the debts of 12 enterprises that converted from 100 percent
State ownership to joint stock companies.
In addition,
the Government-owned entity recently said it is necessary to increase its
scale of operations and capital, as well as reconsider its business model.
In
particular, it expects to become the main national entity under government
management responsible for dealing with bad debts, according to Thoi bao Kinh
Te Sai Gon (The Saigon Economic Times).
The
corporation is also seeking permission to increase its chartered capital and
the right to issue government-guaranteed bonds that will be used to buy debts
from credit institutions.
It has
also mentioned the necessity of establishing some joint stock companies in
which it hopes to hold shares ranging between 36 percent and 49 percent.
The
joint-stock companies are expected to have a total charter capital of 2
trillion VND (90.9 million USD).
The
expectation is that these companies will help attract more capital from
different financial sources, which would help the process of settling bad
debts.
Source:
VEF/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/Dantri/VIR
|
Thứ Năm, 16 tháng 1, 2014
Đăng ký:
Đăng Nhận xét (Atom)
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét