News

• Vietnam slaps anti-dumping tariffs on stainless steel

  January 4, 2014

  Many cold-rolled stainless steel products imported from China, Indonesia, Malaysia and Taiwan will be subject to anti-dumping tariffs from January 25, 2014 following a decision of the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

  According to the decision issued on December 25, anti-dumping tariffs will be levied on rolled stainless steel and steel sheets which are less than 3.5 millimeters thick and coded HS, including 7219.32.00; 7219.33.00; 7219.3400; 7219.35.00; 7219.93.00; 7220.20.10; 7220.20.90; 7220.90.10; 7220.90.90 imported into Vietnam from those four markets.
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• The Age of Sustainable Development

  January 02, 2014

  NEW YORK – A half-century ago, John F. Kennedy observed that, “man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life.” Those words speak to us today with special urgency.

  Our generation can indeed end the ancient scourge of extreme poverty. Yet it can also destroy the earth’s life-support system through human-induced environmental devastation.

  By necessity, then, we have entered The Age of Sustainable Development. So I am enormously excited to be launching a free, global, online university course by the same name in January 2014. I hope that people all over the world will join the course – and then join the generation-long quest to achieve sustainable development.
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• Domestic mobile giants cleared of tariff-fixing

  January 02, 2014

  HA NOI — Three mobile service providers, Viettel, MobiFone, and VinaPhone, have been cleared of suspicions that they violated regulations on tariff increases with their 3G fee hike.

  The Competition Administration Department of the Ministry of Industry and Trade reported this conclusion following an investigation of the 3G fee hike by the three mobile service providers on October 16.

  According to the department, the 3G fee hike was implemented because the number of subscribers and the demand for bandwidth capacity had increased beyond their existing service capacity.
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• Claim on supermarket prices shows need for credible competition body

  January 01, 2014

  Competition and trade practices laws can seem remote from day-to-day life. But the Consumer Council has put Hong Kong’s new competition law front and centre of the issue of the cost of living, with a claim that supermarket giants ParknShop and Wellcome are keeping prices artificially high by pressuring suppliers not to sell to smaller rivals who undercut them. In its latest study of the grocery market, the watchdog said the two chains had reached exclusive agreements with suppliers and facilitated a “recommended retail price” system. It said the new Competition Commission should investigate whether this was anti-competitive.
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• Nation pays heavy price for industrial gains

  December 30, 2013

  HCM CITY — The excessive number of industrial parks and export processing zones have caused serious environmental pollution in the country, experts said at a seminar held in HCM City last Friday.

  Dr Vo Thanh Thu, member of the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s International Trade Policy Advisory Committee, said that rapid industrialisation in the past 20 years had led to a boom in IPs and export processing zones.

  As of last year, the country had 289 IPs, EPZs and hi-tech parks, and 878 industrial clusters.
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• Flotation time bells ringing

  December 28, 2013

  That Viettel, MobiFone and VinaPhone simultaneously recently raised their 3G rates by 40% has landed a major blow on consumer confidence. The public have expressed skepticism about a possible behind-the-scenes deal on service rate hikes and unfair competition in the telecom market. And together with it, the time for floating telcos may be coming.

  Experts and organizations believe Vietnam should accelerate flotation of telecommunications companies to give birth to a truly competitive market.
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• Poor roads, red tape hinder tourism

  December 26, 2013

  HCM CITY — Poor infrastructure, human resources and cumbersome immigration procedures has limited tourism development in the Greater Mekong Sub-region, which includes portions of Viet Nam, Laos and Cambodia.

  Caravan tours between cultural and historic sites in the three countries have faced challenges.

  During a recent “investigation trip” by officials, they discovered that roads from the border-gate at Viet Nam to Kratie, Cambodia extend 230km but are not in good condition.
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• Border trade needs nurturing

  December 20, 2013

  HA NOI — The Government needs to come up with flexible policies to exploit the significant potential that exists for developing border trade in the country, experts say.

  According to the Central Border Trade Steering Committee, Viet Nam shares long borders with China, Laos and Cambodia with dozens of international border crossings.

  Border trade has grown at around 10 per cent each year reaching a total of US$72 billion during the 2008-13 period, accounting for an increasing portion of bilateral trade that the country enjoys with its three neighours.
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