Vietnam will reduce tax rates and abolish tariffs applied to 7,640 categories out of 9,222 of the current import tariffs as promised in the ASEAN-India Free Trade Area (AIFTA) agreement.
According to Circular 59/2010/TT-BTC issued lately, the Ministry of Finance has decided to lower import tax for petrol from 20% to 17% and for oil from 15% to 10% since April 21 on.
An import tariff ranging from 0-5 percent applies to all goods shipped to China or ASEAN as of January 1, 2010, but Vietnam will be exempted until 2015, said an official from the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade has said meeting the annual export target of US$61.1 billion this year, a 7 percent increase over 2009, will be a tough task.
The Ministry of Finance has asked all customs departments to reduce checks on export and import containers at ports nationwide to help companies cut cost and time for customs clearance.
One of the major success stories of the Asia trade boom remains undoubtedly China, and even though the global recession saw significant downturns in trade volumes, exports have recovered and are now back almost to pre-recession levels.
A new idea in structuring investment, the private and public partnership (PPP, has been submitted for approval to the government by the Ministry of Investment and Planning (MPI).
Vietnam’s trade deficit is estimated to have surged to US$3.51 billion in the first quarter of 2010, compared to the revised trade surplus of US$1.499 billion last Q1, the General Statistics Office said on March 26.
