HCM City has kicked off the project to replace all the diesel run buses with green environment-friendly buses by 2015. However, in order to fulfill the plan, experts say it is necessary to offer incentives to green bus developers. Since August 29, HCM City has put 21 buses run on compressed natural gas (CNG) imported from South Korea into operation. Le Trung Tinh, Head of the Road Transport Management Division under the HCM City Transport Department, said that the decision was made after three years of preparation. "The operation of the 21 green buses is the first step in the plan to use clean fuel buses. This aims to both save the energy and ensure a clean and green environment," he said. According to Le Hai Phong, Director of the Public Transport Management Center, the experiments show that CNG run buses have outstanding characteristics, in terms of the environment protection and fuel consumption reduction, in comparison with the normal buses run on diesel. The two buses run … [Read more...] about Government urged to offer incentives to green buses
Incentives
MOF doesn’t agree to offer tax incentives to auto industry
In its official reply to the Ministry of Industry and Trade's (MOIT) drafted automobile industry development program by 2020, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) states that there will be no tax incentives to the strategic car line.The "encouraged" or "important" industry? MOF believes that it would be better to consider automobiles as an industry which needs the encouragement to develop, not an "important industry" as suggested by MOIT. Vietnam once protected the automobile industry for a long time, but the industry's development remains far below the expectations. Automobile joint ventures have not made investment to increase the locally made content ratios in products, but they just simply make the assembling or import products for local consumption. According to MOF, statistics show a gloomy picture of the automobile industry. There are 397 enterprises in the industry, including 51 assembling enterprises (13 state owned, 23 private and 15 foreign invested), 40 enterprises that make … [Read more...] about MOF doesn’t agree to offer tax incentives to auto industry
Banks look for borrowers via incentives
Banks look for borrowers via incentives By Thuy Trieu - The Saigon Times Daily HCMC – Many banks have put on incentive programs by reducing Vietnam dong interest rates to lure back corporate borrowers to reverse their slowing credit growth. Housing Development Bank (HDBank) has launched a program of offering incentive rates for enterprises in supporting industries including cars, motorbikes, computing, home appliances, garments and shoes. The bank’s rates for those customers are 1-4 percentage points lower than the normal rates. The bank also offers services of consulting, plan or project formulation, and paperwork for borrowers. A customer in Tan Binh District said Asia Commercial Bank, or ACB, announced an interest rate reduction from 22.6% to 21.4%. “This is just a small cut but it still helps.” This reduction, applicable to loan disbursements from August to December, is part of a special offering of ACB aimed at individuals and households in need of capital … [Read more...] about Banks look for borrowers via incentives
MPI signals tax incentives for long-term investors
MPI signals tax incentives for long-term investors Binh Nguyen By Binh Nguyen - The Saigon Times Daily HCMC – Vietnam is expected to offer tax exemption and reduction for expansion parts of foreign-invested projects as well as tenants in industrial zones in order to attract long-term and environment-friendly investors, said an official of the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI). Deputy Minister Dao Quang Thu announced the planned incentives with representatives of foreign-invested and domestic enterprises at a business luncheon organized last Friday by the European Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (EuroCham). Thu briefed participants on the country’s general economic restructuring between now and 2020 with impacts and opportunities for businesses. He acknowledged that there remained big difference between the Investment Law and the Law on Corporate Income Tax (CIT) in Vietnam. He pointed out the Law on CIT did not cover incentives for the expansion of projects, so … [Read more...] about MPI signals tax incentives for long-term investors
Viettel seeks tax incentives for phone making
Viettel seeks tax incentives for phone making Van Oanh By Van Oanh - The Saigon Times Daily HANOI – The military-run Viettel is seeking permission from the Government to be exempt from import tariffs on components to expand production and reduce mobile phone prices. Le Dang Dung, deputy general director of Viettel, said that feature mobile phones made by his firm sell for over US$10 a unit while the price of its smart phones is some US$70-80 each. Viettel will lower the price of smart phones to only US$40-50 each if it enjoys an import tax rate of 0% on component imports, he said. Viettel has already produced smart phones and feature ones with a total volume of 600,000 units so far. The company has started producing smart phones at home recently after a period of outsourcing the manufacturing process to Chinese partners, when hundreds of thousands of products were turned out and sold well. Nguyen Nam Son, manager of Viettel’s M1 factory specializing in mobile devices, … [Read more...] about Viettel seeks tax incentives for phone making