Viet Nam News HÀ NỘI — The Government’s mechanism to calculate the compensation rate for residents whose land it takes for public purposes is "detached" from the market value instead of relying on it, leading to prolonged opposition and grievances from those affected. Such was the unanimous consensus by experts who gathered last week at a conference held in Hà Nội on land policies and regulations, one of the ‘hot button’ issue as the country undergoes a boom in infrastructure development. Assoc. Prof. Ngô Trí Long, an economist, claimed that the Government’s limit on how much it is willing to pay only equals 20-30 per cent of the market value. “The low compensation makes those who have their land expropriated feel unhappy and unwilling to co-operate during the land clearance process. During any project, land clearance is always one of the biggest bottlenecks that severely delays progress,” Long said. In … [Read more...] about Compensation for expropriated land “detached” from market value: experts
New land enterprises
FOL ambiguities in new Securities Law
Vietnam’s revised Securities Law promises to ease restrictions on foreign ownership, although details of the draft bill remain challenged by market participants. The new draft Securities Law contains some much needed tweaks to the foreign ownership limit Throughout November, the Ministry of Finance and the State Securities Commission (SSC) have held conferences in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to collect public opinion on the draft amendments to the Securities Law. The revised bill, to be presented to the National Assembly in 2019, includes comprehensive changes on securities trading, corporate governance, share issuance, and most notably, foreign ownership limits (FOLs). According to the draft version, as a general rule, foreign investors are allowed to own 100 per cent of the shares at a Vietnamese company that operates in a non-critical business sector. This applies to listed firms, equitised state-owned enterprises, and private non-listed businesses. Shareholders at each … [Read more...] about FOL ambiguities in new Securities Law
FOL ambiguities in new Securities Law
The new draft Securities Law contains some much needed tweaks to the foreign ownership limit Throughout November, the Ministry of Finance and the State Securities Commission (SSC) have held conferences in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to collect public opinion on the draft amendments to the Securities Law. The revised bill, to be presented to the National Assembly in 2019, includes comprehensive changes on securities trading, corporate governance, share issuance, and most notably, foreign ownership limits (FOLs). According to the draft version, as a general rule, foreign investors are allowed to own 100 per cent of the shares at a Vietnamese company that operates in a non-critical business sector. This applies to listed firms, equitised state-owned enterprises, and private non-listed businesses. Shareholders at each company will decide for themselves the amount of foreign-owned shares that they are comfortable with. This is different from the current Securities Law, which automatically … [Read more...] about FOL ambiguities in new Securities Law
New tax rule rattles IP, EPZ developers
New tax rule rattles IP, EPZ developersBy Quoc Hung - The Saigon Times DailyHCMC – A new tax rule is unnerving industrial park (IP) and export processing zone (EPZ) development companies.The Ministry of Finance has ordered IP and EPZ developers to pay land-use rights transfer tax, from which these companies have so far been exempted.Speaking at a seminar on this tax issue in HCMC yesterday, most IP and EPZ development enterprises said this tax together with corporate income tax would jack up their tax obligations though they were not real estate traders.On January 8, the Tax Policy Department of the ministry issued a document defining that the business of IP and EPZ development means leasing land with finished infrastructure. Infrastructure and land-use rights still belong to the developers, so enterprises must pay land-use tax when they lease land.Developers of IPs and EPZs said they developed infrastructure and subleased rather than sold lots of land with infrastructure. These … [Read more...] about New tax rule rattles IP, EPZ developers
Numerous new cars debut at motor show in city
Numerous new cars debut at motor show in cityBy Quoc Hung - The Saigon Times DailyHalf of the six participating VAMA represent Japanese automakers Toyota Vietnam, Honda Vietnam and Suzuki Vietnam. Toyota Vietnam is displaying the FT-86G Sport concept, along with the familiar models available on the market such as Fortuner, Corolla Altis, Yaris and Land Cruiser Prado.Similarly, Honda Vietnam is introducing two popular urban models – Honda City and Honda Jazz, apart from the three models assembled and distributed in Vietnam – Civic, CR-V and Accord. This is considered the firm’s step to explore the market.Meanwhile, Suzuki Vietnam reveals the new Suzuki Grand Vitara that replaces the previous model. Still, the event is not attended by other famous auto firms from Japan like Mitsubishi, Isuzu and Hino.Ford Vietnam is not present at the largest automobile industry exhibition either but General Motors (GM) Vietnam, the predecessor of Vidamco, is taking part. The event … [Read more...] about Numerous new cars debut at motor show in city
Two years struggling with land use fee
Two years struggling with land use feeBy Dinh Dung - The Saigon Times DailyThis issue was mentioned in a recent document of the HCMC Real Estate Association (HoREA), petitioning central authorities to remove difficulties for realty businesses.Dozens of seminars on the decree have been held, but there is no answer for the land use fee payment as investors deemed it impossible to develop their housing projects under Decree 69, regulating land use fee equal to 100% of the market prices via price evaluation.According to HoREA, the fee charging method stipulated in Decree 69 led to the situation that enterprises must pay compensation to residents and land use fee to the Government both following market prices. On the other hand, the actual expenses spent on site clearance compensation are not deducted sufficiently and properly.While enterprises are struggling with the high fee, financial and tax agencies are also facing difficulties in collecting land use fee due to the lack of a foundation … [Read more...] about Two years struggling with land use fee
Downtown land scarcer for BT investors in HCMC
Downtown land scarcer for BT investors in HCMCLe Anh HCMC – Land in downtown HCMC is becoming scarcer for those Build-Transfer (BT) investors who want to develop infrastructure projects in HCMC, said the city’s Chairman Nguyen Thanh Phong. Speaking at a meeting last Saturday with 120 enterprises active in urban infrastructure investment to discuss the urban development orientation of the city in the coming time, Phong said the city wanted private funds to develop infrastructure facilities. However, BT investors should consider land in outlying districts in exchange for infrastructure. At the meeting, the municipal government called for stronger investment in four sectors that have great impacts on people’s livelihood, including transport, environment (garbage and wastewater treatment), urban upgrade and flood control. For transport infrastructure development alone, HCMC needs over VND553 trillion (nearly US$24.5 billion) in 2020-2025. Director of the city’s … [Read more...] about Downtown land scarcer for BT investors in HCMC
APPF-26 Hanoi Declaration sets new vision for Asia-Pacific parliamentary partnership
The following is the full text of the Hanoi Declaration: “HANOI DECLARATION: A New Vision for Asia – Pacific Parliamentary Partnership Participating delegates at APPF-26 pose for a photo 1. We, the parliamentarians of the Asia – Pacific Parliamentary Forum (APPF), gathered in Hanoi, Vietnam under the theme “Parliamentary partnership: Peace, innovation and sustainable development”. We endorsed this Hanoi Declaration to mark the 25th anniversary of APPF and chart out the course of development for the Forum towards 2030. 2. We recall the timely establishment of the APPF in 1993 to meet the demand for dialogue and cooperation of member countries and the region at the end of the Cold War. Outstanding Achievements 3. We are pleased to note on the remarkable achievements that the APPF has attained in its twenty five years of development. The APPF has relentlessly … [Read more...] about APPF-26 Hanoi Declaration sets new vision for Asia-Pacific parliamentary partnership
HCM City focuses on five sectors at new tech park
The Saigon Hi-Tech Park (SHTP) in Ho Chi Minh City (Source:VNA) HCM City (VNA) – Ho Chi Minh City will call for investment in five sectors at the city’s second science and technology park, which is scheduled to open in 2019. The sectors are information technology, renewable energy, biotechnology, semiconductor circuits and applied space technology. The city will offer low-interest and long-term loans for enterprises investing in the sectors. Le Hoai Quoc, head of Saigon Hi-Tech Park Management Board, said the aim is to attract big foreign companies to the park. Local enterprises will also have more opportunities for investment in the hi-tech park. However, local companies face more difficulty accessing capital and have less capital than foreign firms. A representative of one enterprise said that land rent, which was much higher than surrounding provinces, was the biggest barrier for local enterprises. Local enterprises also lack high-quality human resources … [Read more...] about HCM City focuses on five sectors at new tech park
Ministry builds mechanism for land agglomeration, large-scale farming
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment will build mechanism for land agglomeration, large-scale farming (Illustrative image. Source VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE) will continue to work towards an institutional breakthrough for promoting the agglomeration of land for large-scale agricultural production. The ministry will submit to the National Assembly a draft law on adjusting and supplementing a number of articles of the Land Law for consideration. The ministry will also submit to the Government a draft decree and a draft Prime Minister’s decision on land agglomeration. According to the General Department of Land Management under the MoNRE, many localities are taking steps in this direction. The Red River delta province of Thai Binh has seen the accumulation of 3,220ha of land, on a scale of at least 10ha for each plot. The Mekong delta province of An Giang has developed large-scale fields of at least … [Read more...] about Ministry builds mechanism for land agglomeration, large-scale farming