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Vietnam Protests Chinese Tours to Spratly Islands
Mar. 13 - Vietnam is protesting against China’s decision to allow Hainan’s Zhou Jiang International Tourism to open a tour to Phu Lam Island in Hoang Sa or the Paracel archipelago.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Le Dung told Vietnam News: "This act seriously infringes upon Vietnam’s territorial sovereignty and is unbeneficial to bilateral negotiation to seek a fundamental and durable solution to the sea issues between the two parties."
Vietnam has laid sovereign claims over the Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagoes on the basis historical and legal grounds. -
Regulations on Trade Union Expenses for Foreign Companies
Mar. 12 - The Ministry of Finance has released a circular advising on the payment and use of the trade union’s expense for foreign invested companies.
Trade unions will function in accordance with the law on trade union and will include foreign invested enterprises in Vietnam;Vietnamese enterprises with the foreign shareholding of more than 49 percent; and operational offices of foreign investors with business cooperation contracts in Vietnam.Expenses for trade unions will be equivalent to 1 percent of the salary fund which is paid to Vietnamese employees in such foreign invested enterprises or foreign operational offices and is deductible from corporate income tax. Trade union expense is counted as business expenses for the foreign operational office.
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Incentives for Companies Investing in Border Zones
Mar. 11 - Vietnam has announced that companies and individuals that invest in border gate economic zones (EZ) and non-tariff areas are qualified for a series of incentive policies effective May 1.
Projects that invest in these areas will be given tax, land rental and finance incentives. According to the decree, state budget will also be used to aid large infrastructure construction projects in the border gate economic zones and non-tariff areas. Projects investing in important infrastructure and public works in the border gate EZs will be listed among Government projects calling for official development assistance capital sources, reports Vietnam Net.
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Thirty Percent of Foreign Employees Working Illegally in HCMC
Mar. 10 - Ho Chi Minh City labor inspectors estimates that 30 percent of foreigners working in the city are illegal.
Among the 200 foreign-invested firms located in the city, 10,300 persons are official registered although the Department of Industry and Trade said the real number might be more because companies tend to hire foreigners even without registering them with the Department of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs.
According to the Department of Industry and Trade, there are now more than 2,000 representative offices in the country but only 156 are registered. Foreign employees hired illegally will be fined VND5-10 million following Decree No. 113. -
Plastics Industry Aiming for US$1Billion in Exports
Mar. 9 - The Vietnam Plastic Association is aiming for an export turnover of US$1 billion this year, an increase of 15.9 percent compared to previous figures.
The plastic industry shows the most potential for growth considering its export growth rate in the past years. In 2006, export growth rate grew by 37 percent then 33 percent in 2007 and 34 percent in 2007.
According to the U.N. Comtrade, the Vietnamese plastic goods have the opportunity to break into foreign markets.The association said that the plastic industry is still struggling to develop world-class standards of quantity and design.
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Vietnam to Invest US$50 Billion for Coastal Economic Belt
Mar.6 - Vietnam has approved the plan to invest US$50 billion to build an economic belt along the northern coast.Upon completion, the area's economic growth is expected to grow 1.4 to 1.5 times more than Vietnam's GDP growth by 2020 and account for an estimated 6.5 to 7 percent of the country's GDP.
The plan will transform the northern coastal region into an economic area for economic, scientific and technological cooperation with China and other members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
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Vietnam to Spend VND300 Trillion to Boost Growth
Mar. 5 - As part of its overall annual budget, the government announced that it would allocate RMB300 trillion to cope with the slowing economy.
The money will be used to improve infrastructure, help exports, and invest in social security projects. The figure is close to a quarter of Vietnam's US$$71 billion economy.
For 2009, the government is forecast to spend VND491 trillion, an increase of 23 percent higher compared to last year.
“The spending will help boost economic growth and investors’ confidence,” Cao Sy Kiem, president of the Vietnam Association for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, told Bloomberg.
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Renminbi Use at Sino-Vietnamese Border Increasing
Mar. 3 - The use of the Chinese renminbi for trade settlement has been increasing at the Sino-Vietnamese border.
Transnational commuters crossing to the border number several thousands daily with more than 10,000 local Chinese are engaged in border trade. In the urban districts of Dongxing alone there are more than 6,000 registered dealers. Dongxing is located in Vietnam's Mong Cai special economic zone and across the Beilun River.
"When I began to do this business, traders were prone to choosing the U.S. dollar or the Vietnamese dong for trade settlement payments. But the Renminbi has become a hot choice in recent few years, " said Ruan Jinhua, a resident in the border city of southern China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region told Xinhua.
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Office Space Demand in HCMC Slowing
Mar. 3 - Demand for office space in Ho Chi Minh City is slowing down as businesses stall expansion plans or downsize.
Some businesses have even resorted to renting from homeowners instead office buildings.
The marketing director of a popular office building in downtown HCMC who wished to be anonymous told Thanh Nien News that up to 30 percent of offices at high-end buildings were unoccupied while the rate is 40 to 70 percent for lower-grade buildings. -
Dezan Shira & Associates Expands Offices in Hanoi
HANOI, Mar. 2 - Dezan Shira & Associates, the boutique professional services firm and publishers of Vietnam Briefing expanded to a larger office in Hanoi last Friday. The new offices, located in the Pacific Place Building in downtown Hanoi will be managed by Hoang Thu Huyen, who joined the firm in 2008.
Dezan Shira & Associates opened offices in Vietnam last year as a response to the increased investment from multinationals elsewhere in Asia that had spurred a flurry of activity around the region. The firm has moved to better serve their growing client base in the country. In addition to Hanoi, the practice also has offices in Ho Chi Minh City.