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Today is 30 Year Anniversary of Sino-Vietnamese War
Feb. 17 - Today marks the 30th anniversary of the Sino-Vietnamese War that erupted on February 17, 1979 when Chinese military forces launched a brief invasion of Northern Vietnam.
China, under the leadership of Deng Xiaoping, sent 200,000 troops along with 200 tanks across the border. Two days earlier, China had publicly said that they intended to attack Vietnam for their invasion of Cambodia. It would be the first time that China struck against a Soviet ally after the 1950 Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship and Alliance expired that same year.
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New Electricity Rates Applicable in March
Feb. 16 - New electricity rates will be applicable beginning March 1 at an average rate of VND948.5/kWh, an increase of 8.92 percent.
Vietnam has announced that for marginalized households and low-income families, costs will be subsidized by the state.Thirty five to forty percent of the price for the first 1 to 50kWh used will be subsidized while those using 51 to 100kWh will be charged the average price.
The new rates are applicable to those subscribing power from the national grid.
Power traders in the rural areas not able to sell electricity at the new prices will be allowed to maintain their current rates VND700/kWh until September. -
FDI Pledges Could Drop to US$20 Billion in 2009
Feb. 16 - The head of Vietnam's Foreign Investment Agency (FIA) predicted that pledges of foreign direct investment (FDI) could plunge to US$20 billion this year compared to last year's robust US$64 billion because of the global economic slowdown.
Last year, close to US$24 billion of the $64 billion FDI pledged went to real-estate development projects."New foreign investment will fall this year but that does not mean our investment environment has worsened," Phan Huu Thang, told VietnamNet.
"We believe there are investors that are not seriously affected by the crisis and we need to refocus to tap these sources," Thang added. FIA is looking into attracting investors from the Middle East in addition to investors from East Asia and Singapore.
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Top 10 FDI projects for 2008
Feb. 13 - Vietnam received a record inflow of over US$64 billion in foreign direct investment last year. The top 10 foreign-invested projects in 2008 accounted for US$44.2 billion of the total, or roughly 70 percent.
The Foreign Investment Agency of the Ministry of Planning and Investment announced the 10 projects by value, a majority of them are in sectors such as oil refining, steel, real estate and tourism.
This is how they were reported: -
HCMC Named One of the Top Emerging Locations for Outsourcing
Feb. 11 - A global service survey has named HCM City as one of the world’s top ten emerging locations for outsourcing in 2008.
The top 50 Emerging Global Outsourcing Cities survey was conducted by Tholons, a strategic advisory firm for global outsourcing and research.
Ho Chi Minh City was ranked at fourth place in terms of application development and maintenance, product development and testing.
The city's biggest firms for outsourcing include FPT Software, IBM, Luxoft and Vietnam Software Outsourcing which hire most of their employees from the HCM City National University and the University of Technical Education.
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Collection of Personal Income Tax Moved to End of May
Feb. 10 - The Vietnamese government has announced that it will move the collection of personal income tax to the end of May to boost domestic spending.
The National Assembly is still undecided whether payments will be cut completely or collected at a later date. The personal income tax covers salaries, profit from real-estate and stock transactions and other investment returns.
Non-resident individuals will not be required to pay tax for income from financial investments, transactions, copyright and franchising until May as well.
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A Look at Vietnam’s Stock Index
By Christian Fleming
Feb. 9 - The Vietnamese economy took a beating last year when the country’s benchmark VN-Index (Vietnam Stock Index) became the worst performing in the region.
Despite attempts by the government to control the economic slowdown, including six interest rate cuts since October, the economy seems to be slipping towards recession with the VN-Index declining 66 percent in 2008.
In addition to the performance of the VN-Index, Vietnam’s GDP growth in 2008 fell to its lowest level in ten years, portraying a grim outlook for the country in 2009.
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Government to Spend VND165 billion to Promote Farming, Rural Industry
Feb. 6 - The Ministry of Industry and Trade said that they will spend VND165 billion (US$9.3 million) this year to promote industrial production in rural areas.
The budget is set 50 percent higher compared to last year's figure. The ministry’s will pay special attention to light and small-scale industries in the north, Central Highlands, and Mekong Delta.
The ministry has already told industry departments in all 64 provinces and cities to assess and submit their industrial master plan through 2015 in addition to finalizing policies for promoting industry and attracting investment in 61 poor districts around the country. -
Foreign Debtors Blocked From Leaving
Feb. 5 - Ho Chi Minh City government says it will block foreign investors and company directors who owe taxes, salaries or social insurance payments from leaving the country.
On Wednesday, the city government requested the immigration and police department to stop a Korean businessman from leaving the country because his company still owed an estimated US$14,300 to its 97 employees for salaries due last December.
The company's name was not made known although the police has already impounded its sewing machines.
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Vietnam to Sell 1.5 Million Tons of Rice to the Philippines
Feb. 4 - Vietnam has agreed to sell 1.5 million tons of rice to the Philippines this year in a deal that would account for 30 percent of its forecasted exports.
The Philippines is the world's largest buyer of rice and its pact with Vietnam is expected to fulfill its grain needs for the year. Last year, Vietnam sold 1.6 million tons of rice to the Philippines.
Previous reports said that the Philippines would buy 1 million tons of rice at US$380 a ton plus cost and freight, with 500,000 tons to be delivered in February and March.