Jul. 13 – Thirteen new projects worth an estimated US$157.8 million have been allowed to invest in Phu Quoc Island located in Kien Giang Province in southern Vietnam.
The new project brings the total number of licensed projects on the island to 64 amounting to US$ 2.4 billion, according to Deputy Head of the Investment Management Department of Phu Quoc Island, Nguyen Van Sau on Saturday. Read the rest of this entry »
Jul. 12 – A pilot regulation will open Japanese-funded projects to third parties for bidding in an effort to clamp down on corruption.
The Ministry of Planning and Investment said (MPI) said that under the trial regulation, a third party will be allowed to join tenders; study documents related to the bidding process and send reports to investors, the MPI and the Japan International Cooperation Agency on bidding irregularities. Read the rest of this entry »
Jul. 9 – The Prime Minister’s Taskforce on Administrative Reform is recommending that the five year limit on petroleum trading licenses be removed to cut down on administrative procedures.
The group advises shortening the time it takes to grant a petroleum license from 30 days to 20 days. Regular performance reports by petroleum importers and exporters are also recommended to improve government management. Read the rest of this entry »
Jul. 8 – Vietnamese economic growth prospects are positive said Sean Doyle, the head of the European Union’s delegation to Vietnam yesterday, adding that the prospects for EU investment in the country were also strong.
The comments come as manufacturing in China appears to be coming more expensive in the light of employment unrest, increasing salary demands and higher welfare payments there.
Doyle pointed out that a lack of investment in infrastructure within the supply chain had a negative effect on the country and was leading to high imports of raw materials and machinery, much of which should be sourced or manufactured from within the country. The EU remains the second largest market for Vietnamese goods, accounting for some 20.4 per cent of imports of Vietnamese products, behind the United States. Read the rest of this entry »
Jul. 7 – Authorities have given the go signal to build a border gate economic zone (EZ) located in the southern province of Dong Thap to facilitate trade within the Mekong region.
The EZ is slated to be developed to cater to industrial production, trade, tourism, agriculture, forestry and fishery in a total area of 31,936 hectares. The zone will span the districts of Hong Ngu and Tan Hong including international border gates Thuong Phuoc and Dinh Ba along the Vietnamese-Cambodian border. Read the rest of this entry »
Jul. 6 – A World Bank report released in June lauded Vietnam’s progress in 2009 saying that the country had navigated the global crisis better than many other nations.
The report attributes this to the government’s flexibility in the face of rapidly changing economic conditions. Vietnam’s GDP grew by 5.3 percent in 2009, even registering higher at 6.9 percent during the last quarter, an impressive achievement considering that exports contributed to around 67 percent of GDP during the crisis. Read the rest of this entry »
Jul. 5 – The Netherlands topped the list as Vietnam’s largest foreign investor from January to June this year at US$2.2 billion worth of investment.
During that time, 438 foreign-invested projects were licensed amounting to US$7.9 billion while 121 existing projects were allowed to bring in more funding worth US$525 million. The Netherlands was followed by South Korea with US$1.6 billion, Japan with US$1.2 billion and the United States with US$991.5 million. Read the rest of this entry »
Jul. 2 – Vietnam’s broad application of a special tool allowed for World Trade Organization members to curb market access has hindered major foreign retail companies from entering the country, market analysts are saying.
“We talked to some international distributors who are interested in Vietnam’s market like Walmart. They said that they will only come to Vietnam when they are sure that they can open more than one store,” said Fred Burke of the consulting firm Baker & McKenzie during a retail market workshop sponsored by the National Assembly’s Economic Committee held on Tuesday.
The Economic Needs Test (ENT) Non-objective Criterion gives authorities the power to reject applications made by foreign retailers to expand and open more stores. Specifically it states: “The establishment of retail outlets outside the first retail outlet shall be considered case-by-case … [including] the sustainability of the investment project to the plans of the province or city.”
Read the rest of this entry »
Jul. 1 – Vietnam will exempt as much as 90 percent of tax lines on goods imported from Australia, New Zealand and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members this year.
By 2017, Vietnam will remove import tariffs on butter, milk and cheese. Import duties on car components will also be slashed to 5 percent by 2018. In exchange, Australia, New Zealand and other ASEAN members will also do the same to remove at least 90 percent of tax lines. Read the rest of this entry »
Jun. 30 – The biggest casino in the country has been ordered to shut down due to permit violations.
Located in Danang, the casino is a joint-venture between U.S.-based Silver Shores and Hoang Dat of Hanoi. Hoang Dat Silver Shores International Entertainment Co. will only be allowed to reopen the casino and hotel complex after it complies to regulations. Read the rest of this entry »
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