News

• Gold traders concerned competition law could force small firms to close

  April 28, 2014

  Gold retailers fear small companies will be forced out of business if the competition law bans the current system in which two trade associations set a daily price across the industry.

  They argue that shoppers will be confused by price differences from store to store and that big companies with financial muscle will sweep aside small operators.

  But Thomas Cheng, a member of the Consumer Council and associate law professor at the University of Hong Kong, said price recommendations could violate the competition law if widely followed.
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• DTI eyes tighter rules to protect consumers

  April 23, 2014

  The Department of Trade and Industry’s Consumer Protection Group (DTI-CPG) is proposing to tighten regulations in the Consumer Protection Act, specifically ramping up penalties in the law and adding provisions that cover online commerce.

  “We are now in the stage of proposing amendments to our consumer-protection law, increasing penalties from P500 to a minimum of P50,000 for any violation of the Consumer Protection Act to a maximum of P1 million from the present P 300,000 in the Consumer Protection Act,” Trade Undersecretary for Consumer Protection Victorio A. Dimagiba said.
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• In search of fairer competition

  April 19, 2014

  It was no longer a lone voice of a single business. At a recent dialogue with businesses on the ENT criteria for retail outlets of foreign-invested enterprises in Vietnam, foreign business associations unanimously demanded for further loosened and more transparent regulations on their outlets.

  Hong Sun, general secretary of the Korean Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam, acknowledged ENT is a tool used to control the growth of foreign distribution networks in Vietnam. “With ENT, the licensing agency is fully authorized to turn down proposals to open a second outlet or subsequent one. This is not necessary in localities,” Sun said at the event held in HCMC.
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• New ASEAN community offers export opportunities

  April 19, 2014

  HA NOI — The ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) would bring challenges, as well as improved export opportunities for Viet Nam when the AEC is formed in 2015, according to experts.

  The AEC marks the commitment of ASEAN leaders to building and promoting a single market and production base, a highly competitive economic region tempered with equitable development, and a region fully integrated into the global economy.

  ASEAN includes the Association of South East Asian Nations consisting of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam.
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• WTO raises outlook for global trade in good sign for economy

  April 14, 2014

  Global commerce is set to grow by 4.7 per cent this year, the World Trade Organization (WTO) said on Monday, with recovery in rich economies expected to mitigate risks in developing nations.
  GENEVA: Global commerce is set to grow by 4.7 per cent this year, the World Trade Organization (WTO) said on Monday, with recovery in rich economies expected to mitigate risks in developing nations.

  The WTO previously had forecast that trade would expand by 4.5 per cent in 2014, up from an estimated rate of 2.1 per cent in 2013.
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• FDI – Propelled economic growth: Myth and reality

  April 12, 2014

  A look at the role of foreign direct investment in Vietnam’s economic growth as viewed from the angle of quality.

  The role of foreign investment sector and its contribution to Vietnam’s economic development are too discernible to ignore. This argument is particularly true in recent years when domestic capital sources plunged remarkably due partly to the Government’s budget constraints and tightened public spending, especially investment in State-owned enterprises (SOEs). In such a circumstance, since 2007, the growth in foreign direct investment (FDI) has significantly offset the nose-diving domestic investment.
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• PAPI and PCI: Some questions should be answered

  April 12, 2014

  Following the Provincial Competitiveness Index 2013 promulgated on March 20 by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry and USAID, the Vietnam Provincial Governance and Public Administration Performance Index (PAPI) 2013 was made public on April 2 by the United Nations Development Program in collaboration with CECODES and VFF-CRT. Both the indices measure administration and governance quality of the same institution which is the provincial government in the eyes of citizens on the one hand and of enterprises on the other. While PAPI conducted interviews with 13,982 citizens, CPI polled 8,903 businesses. Both were carried out in all 63 provinces and cities nationwide at the same time during the year.
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• Shrimp anti-dumping tax battle drags on

  April 12, 2014

  The U.S. Department of Commerce’s recent announcement of the preliminary result of the eighth period of review (POR8) on anti-dumping tax rates imposed on warm water frozen shrimp imports from Vietnam from February 1, 2012 to January 31, 2013, leaves local shrimp exporters with more challenges.

  With bills worth US$185.4 million in 2013, the U.S. is the biggest market of Minh Phu Seafood Corporation in Vietnam. As U.S. importers accounts for 35% of total export revenue of Minh Phu, the enterprise has been always a mandatory respondent of the review. In 2008, Minh Phu contributed 90% of the stake in establishing Mseafood, a company in the U.S., to solve anti-dumping tax-related issues.
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