Aug. 19 – Tax authorities clarified in June that corporate income tax incentives shall not apply to new business activities after a foreign company has already been granted an investment certificate.
Official Letter 2057 says a foreign invested company that decides to offer business activities in addition to the activities stated on its investment certificate shall be considered as expanding its business. The new activity will not be qualified for CIT incentives but will be charged a 25 percent tax. Read the rest of this entry »
Aug. 18 – Vietnam’s currency, the dong, dropped a further 1.1 percent to VND19,320 against the U.S. dollar from VND19,425 earlier as part of government efforts to rally economic growth and increase exports, said economists.
Yesterday, the central bank let the dong’s daily reference rate slip by 2 percent to VND18,932 per dollar. “The main reason for the central bank’s move is to balance onshore foreign-exchange demand-and-supply and to support exporters,” said Prakriti Sofat, a Singapore-based economist at Barclays Capital. “Vietnam largely exports low value- added goods and typically competes on prices.” Read the rest of this entry »
Aug. 18 – The Ministry of Industry and Trade is planning on expanding the list of banned goods and services from 92 to 101.
Some of the forbidden items on the list will include sky lanterns, antiques with historical value and gold trading floors at banks. It will also ban specific dangerous chemicals and smuggled tobacco products. Read the rest of this entry »
Aug. 17 – Beverage and food giant PepsiCo Asia is committing to invest US$250 million in Vietnam to upgrade its manufacturing capacity in the next three years.
The company says it will also develop new products for the market. PepsiCo has new facilities in Binh Duong and Can Tho. Global multinational companies are expanding operations in emerging markets as a way of coping with slower demand in the United States and Europe. Read the rest of this entry »
Aug. 16 – Beginning August 22, Vietnam Customs will group imports under four categories following Decision 1807/QĐ-TCHQ.
Authorities will include documents, trade vouchers, goods enjoying exemption preferences, and duty-free treatment in the first category while the second category will include taxable imports worth up to VND1 million in registration value. These categories will not be required to undergo a customs check. Read the rest of this entry »
Aug. 13 – The Vietnamese government plans on spending VND16 billion to push border trade promotion programs, says the deputy director of the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Mountainous Area Trade Department.
The agency will be responsible for managing the campaign and allotting the funds. “This is the first time money has been poured in trade promotion in border areas, so we have carefully scrutinized the programs,” said Nguyen Van Hoi adding that the money would be divided among six trade promotion programs.
Of the money, an estimated VND4.5 billion will be set aside just for improving agricultural exports at the China border gates located in northern Lang Son and Lao Cai Province. Moreover, VND3 billion will be used to develop capacity building for agricultural export businesses dealing with Chinese trade by making training courses on law, certification of origin, payment, contracts and technology available. Read the rest of this entry »
Aug. 12 – Vietnam has introduced a new online warning system that will help local companies avoid anti-dumping cases being filed against their products.
The web site, www.earlywarning.vn, was funded by the Global Competitiveness Facility based in Denmark. Vietnamese exporters have been struggling with anti-dumping lawsuits against their products from the the United States and the European Union. Read the rest of this entry »
Aug. 11 – Beginning June this year, authorities are to issue each company an Enterprise Code Number (ECN) that will be used as both its business registration code and tax code.
Following Decree No. 43, the ECN will be unique to each company and will help cut down on bureaucracy and make it easier for the government to monitor corporate activity. For representative offices, branches and business locations based in the country, they will be given a Code Number of Subsidiary Units. Read the rest of this entry »
Aug. 11 – Taiwanese companies have become Vietnam’s second largest source of foreign direct investment so far with an estimated US$22.58 billion worth of projects in Vietnam, according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment.
The top Taiwanese firms investing in the country include the biggest contract manufacturer of notebook PCs, Compal Electronics Inc., and the biggest electronics provider, Foxconn Group. From January to July, Taiwanese companies committed to investing a total of US$939.9 million, making the region the fifth largest foreign investor in Vietnam.
Aug. 10 – Beginning May 1, businesses are required to provide Certificates of Free Sale (CFS) issued by exporting countries or territories that verify a product is manufactured and freely sold in the country where it is manufactured.
The CFS requirement will affect traders, state management agencies, manufacturers, organizations and individuals in Vietnam. A CFS is good for two years from the date of issue and must contain the following details: Read the rest of this entry »
