Thousands of tariffs on ASEAN imports to be cut until 2013

Hanoi – The Ministry of Finance has released a list of thousands of imports from ASEAN countries that will benefit from a reduction in import duties over the next five years.

The move is part of the country’s commitment to implementing an Agreement on the Common Effective Preferential Tariff (CEPT) for ASEAN countries.

Thousands of goods imported from the regional group, including artworks, antiques, furniture, optical equipment, live animals and fruit and vegetables, will be taxed at rates of between zero and 5 percent.

Meanwhile, import taxes on some foodstuffs will be reduced from 30 to 5 percent by 2013, including rice, eggs and pomeloes. Duty on meat will drop from 40 percent to 5 percent by 2013 and from 20 percent to 5 percent on sugar products.

Vehicles, motor and accessories also enjoy tariff cuts. Vehicles with 10 seats or more will have import taxes cut from 83 percent to 70 percent in the period from 2011 to 2012 and to 60 percent in 2013.

Specially designed vehicles will pay only 5 percent duty compared to the present 10 percent. And no tax will be applied to vehicles such as ambulances, fire-fighting vehicles and prison transport.

Accessories and parts also will benefit from a tax reduction of up to 5 percent,

The import tax on ASEAN region motorbikes will be reduced from 90 percent to 75 percent in 2012 and 60 percent in 2013.

Bicycles, terrain motorbikes and accessories will benefit from a 5 percent tax reduction this year.

To qualify for the reductions, all goods must be imported directly from the ASEAN countries to Vietnam and possess certificate of origin.

Dong Nai draws 2.1 billion USD in FDI

Dong Nai – The southeastern province of Dong Nai reported an inflow of 2.1 billion USD in foreign direct investment capital in the first half of the year.

According to the provincial Planning and Investment Department deputy director Nguyen Luc Hoa, Dong Nai also attracted 7 trillion VND in domestic investment capital, a seven-fold increase over the same period last year. The province’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 15.3 percent over the same period last year to reach 12.7 trillion VND, or 43.7 percent of the yearly target.

The construction and industry sector rose by 15.8 percent while the service sector increased by 17 percent and the agro-forestry and fisheries sector, up 5 percent.

Construction output soon to triple

Hanoi – Vietnam’s construction materials industry will triple the value of its output, according to a plan put forward by the Ministry of Construction.

The plan, submitted to the Government for approval, forecasts that the nation’s rapid urbanisation will result in soaring demand for construction materials.

Specifically, there will be significantly greater demand for cement (3.45 times higher), tiles (2.3 times), porcelain (2.6 times), construction glass (2.5 times) and sand (2.6 times).

Urban areas will grow 45 percent by 2020, forcing demand for construction materials to rise, the ministry explained.

However, as construction material firms rush to meet higher demand, they will also be pressured to supply products of satisfactory quality, the plan says.

The ministry spotlights the industry’s two big weaknesses: quality and environmental friendliness.

Despite the industry having focused on updating its production techniques, outdated machinery remains in use on many production lines, a survey for the ministry’s Department for Construction Materials Management found. For example, 15.5 percent of cement and 50 percent of bricks are still produced manually.

The ministry identifies four regions that specialise in cement, tile, glass and porcelain production.

The cement region includes Red River Delta provinces such as Quang Ninh, Hai Phong, Hai Duong, Ha Nam , Ha Tay and Ninh Binh, and northern central region provinces.

Tiles are produced in Hanoi , Ho Chi Minh City , the Red River Delta provinces of Vinh Phuc and Thai Binh, and the southern provinces of Dong Nai, Ba Ria-Vung Tau and Binh Duong.

Construction glass is mainly produced in the northern Bac Ninh province and the southern provinces of Ba Ria-Vung Tau and Binh Duong. Porcelain production takes place in Hanoi , Thai Binh, Dong Nai, Binh Duong and HCM City .

For the plan’s targets to be met, a comprehensive set of measures need to be taken. First, macroeconomic policies must provide better support for the development of construction material firms. Second, the search for natural mineral resources, especially those that are used in cement, porcelain and glass production, must be stepped up.

Modern technology for construction material production must also be used and the training of qualified industry professionals needs to be improved.

Car import reduces as tax raised

Hanoi – The country’s car import decreased in June as the government raised the import tax rate for automobiles and parts with the aim of reducing traffic congestion and trade deficit and curbing inflation.

In June, about 4,500 CBUs (completely built units) were imported, nearly 1,000 units less than May’s figure.

Imports of automobiles and automobile parts were valued at 230 million USD, down by 16 million USD from May.

In the first six months of the year, Vietnam imported 42,000 CBUs and the imports of automobiles and automobile parts were 1.59 billion USD.

PM orders acceleration of inflation curbing solutions

Hanoi – The Prime Minister on June 25 asked ministries, branches and localities to speed up the implementation of drastic solutions to curb inflation and stabilise the macro economy in the second half of the year.

The PM instructed the State Bank of Vietnam to timely provide capital to credit institutions to increase the banking system’s liquidity and to meet businesses’ capital demand.

By the end of June, the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) must announce the list of public investment projects subjected to capital reduction or suspension, targeting projects funded by the State budget, the Government bonds and State-owned economic groups, corporations and businesses.

The PM also required the MPI to review the investment situation, capital absorption and disbursement and enterprises’ production and business activities and to propose solutions to ensure enterprises’ stable production and maintain the economic growth rate in the remaining months of the year.

The Ministry of Finance is responsible for keeping a close check on the investment situation, building a price control plan for a number of essential goods and measures to help poor families and other social beneficiaries.

State Bank of Vietnam pledges assistance to banks in difficulties

Hanoi – A Vice Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has pledged supports for banks in difficulties while affirming that the bank has no plan to force banks to merge.

SBV Vice Governor Tran Minh Tuan made the affirmation at a recent meeting of a SBV group on charge of supervising the monetary market.

According to the group, commercial joint stock banks have so far this year posted good growth rates in terms of services, technological application, financial and competitive capability, and provision of safe operation.

The Government’s solutions package to control inflation, stabilise macro-economy and ensure social welfare, particularly including measures to tighten monetary market of the SBV, have yielded initial positive results.
By June, the total means of payment of the banking system has increased 4.48 percent, a remarkable drop compared with 20.5 percent recorded in the same period last year. A declining treand has also shown in credit growth rate, from 1.63 percent in January to 1.22 percent in June.

Expert also said the banking system is capable of meeting importers’ demand for foreign currencies and the VND/USD exchange rate will be stabilised towards the yearend.

For the remaining months of the year, SBV will reinforce the inspection of loans to real estate developers and stock investors, and expenses of credit organisations to ensure commercial banks and SBV branches to operate in line with their functions and duties as regulated by law.