* VAT refund for foreign tourists: Foreign passengers on exit will have value-added tax refunded for commodities they buy in
According to Vietnam News daily, tourists who buy commodities valued at over VND 2 million per receipt issued within 30 days of their exit from
* Inspection of foreign loan-funded projects: As reported by Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper, the Ministry of Finance has recently notified Minister Vuong Dinh Hue’s conclusions after working with the Ministry’s departments and sections. The Department for Debt and External Finance Management was asked to report on borrowing, use and management of public debts during 2006-2010 and coordinate with the Ministry’s Inspectorate in planning the inspection of the efficiency of projects receiving on-lent ODA loans or government guarantees, and devising remedies for inefficient projects.
The Department was also assigned to improve the legal framework for enhancing the management of government debts, local administrations’ debts and government-guaranteed debts.
The Finance Minister instructed the Enterprise Finance Department to finalize the scheme to establish a General Department for Enterprise Finance Management and Surveillance and make analyses and annual consolidated reports on the financial status and production and business efficiency of state business groups and corporations.
* Method of identifying the automobile localization rate to change: According to a notice released on August 26 by the Government Office, Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai requested the Ministry of Science and Technology to amend Decision No. 05/2005/QD-BKHCN on the method of identifying the automobile localization rate to keep up with the scientific and technological development and uphold the government policy of promoting the localization of the automobile industry, and the Ministry of Finance to revise Circular No. 184/2010/TT-BTC, specifying import duty rates applicable to this industry.
Recently, many enterprises have imported auto parts which fail to meet the condition for classification and taxation under Decision No. 05 and are consequently subject to retrospective duty collection.
The Deputy Prime Minister approved the Ministry of Finance’s proposal on permission for calculating the import duty at the rate prescribed for each kind of part for parts not knocked down enough under Decision No. 05, provided the total value of imported parts not knocked down enough does not exceed 10% of that of total parts for assembly into complete automobiles and these total parts satisfy the required localization rate.
* Some economic zones to be narrowed: Minister of Planning and Investment Bui Quang Vinh announced at a seminar held last month on mechanisms and policies to develop coastal economic zones that the Ministry will coordinate with related ministries, sectors and localities in reviewing all existing economic zones and may downsize ones without development advantages, in order to concentrate investment on those with development potential.
According to Saigon Economic Times weekly, the general direction is that no more economic zones will be set up, at least in the near future, so as to concentrate resources on improving technical infrastructure for existing economic zones to boost economic development, particularly in the central coastal region.
* Future halt in the export of important metal minerals: The Ministry of Industry and Trade will soon revise Circular No. 08/2008/TT-BCT to temporarily stop the export of some important metal ores, including iron, lead, zinc, chromium and manganese, and limit to the utmost the export of some other minerals, and set up teams to inspect mineral export, Minister Vu Huy Hoang was quoted by Dien dan doanh nghiep (Business Forum) website as announcing.
These teams would be tasked to combat cross-border mineral smuggling and other trade frauds in mineral export, especially through the northern border provinces, which have caused state budget and natural resource losses.
The Ministry requested local authorities and related ministries to inspect border roads and ports recently used for illegally exporting minerals and to supply necessary resources for customs offices and border guards to combat mineral smuggling.
* Environmental protection mechanisms need more detailed guidance: Set to be revised in 2013, the 2005 Environmental Protection Law is currently subjected by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Investment (VCCI) to criticisms from all sectors, according to the Business Forum website.
Colonel Luong Minh Thao, deputy director of the Environmental Police Department, complained that the Law was not specific enough for administratively or criminally handling polluters depending on the severity of their violations. Article 92 of the Law did not specify grounds for delimiting polluted areas, making the tracking and identification of polluters very difficult.
Nguyen Van Phuong, head of the VCCI’s Environmental Law Revising Group said the Law was unclear on harmonious combination of economic, social and environmental aspects of sustainable development. He urged revision of the criteria for makers of environmental impact assessment reports as well as penalties against them in case their untruthful reports cause environmental damage, and addition of provisions permitting export of wastes for treatment, especially those from export processing zones.
Chairman of the Vietnam Steel Association Pham Chi Cuong urged the issuance of environmental technical regulations conformable with international practice for distinguishing importable scraps from wastes banned from import.
* New laws proposed for more effectively regulating the real estate market: Director of the Central Institute for Economic Management Le Xuan Ba has recently proposed the promulgation of some laws concerning the establishment and development of real estate, reported by the National Academy of Public Administration’s website.
These laws include a planning law to govern all types of socio-economic and urban development and land use master plans, a real estate registration law, a law on the secondary real estate mortgage market as a legal ground for the banking system to convert short-term real estate mortgages into long- and medium-term ones, and a law on real estate saving funds.
Also concerning the real estate market, at the Vietnam Construction and Real Estate Forum held last month, many experts shared the idea of early preparing a law on real estate investment funds, which constitute a long-term financial channel, together with other types of funds (life insurance and pension funds), for the market; a law on real estate investment trust funds; a law on real estate tax to complement the law on land and house use tax and combat real estate speculation. They also suggested the issuance of regulations on real estate bonds.
Regarding the transparency of the market, Dr. Tran Kim Chung from CIEM proposed the issuance of regulations compelling the provision of real estate information to help develop three real estate-related indexes, including housing price index (HPI), real estate price index (RPI) and real estate market index (REMI), and clearer decentralization of powers to different ministries to manage entities involved in the field. For example, the Ministry of Planning and Investment manages real estate projects and developers; the Ministry of Justice: registration of security transactions; the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment: land; the Ministry of Construction: houses and the real estate market; and the Ministry of Finance: real estate tax and funds.
* Ministry of Planning and Investment determined to simplify business registration procedures: A senior official from the Department for Business Registration Management, the Ministry of Planning and Investment recently told Phap luat thanh pho Ho Chi Minh (Ho Chi Minh City Law) newspaper that the Department plans to substantially change business registration-related procedures.
At a seminar to gather opinions on enterprise registration procedures held in this month the Department’s vice director Bui Anh Tuan said registry offices would accept only authenticated documents in business registration dossiers to reduce time for registry officers to check their authenticity. The announcement of enterprise establishment would be required to be made only on the national e-portal for enterprise registration in a uniform format.
The Department is currently collecting opinions on online business registration but has proposed three options which permit (i) online registration of only newly established enterprises, (ii) online registration of newly established enterprises and all changes related to operating enterprises, e.g. change of at-law representatives, and (iii) online registration of newly established enterprises and certain changes in operating enterprises, such as new names, addresses or business lines.-