10 highlights of the business community in 2010

Thoi bao Kinh te Vietnam reviews 10 highlight events of the business community in 2010.

Vinashin restructuring

The arrests of many key persons of the Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Group (Vinashin) and then the Government ‘sdrastic measures to restructure and rescue the has been highlighted by Thoi bao Kinh te Vietnam as the most important event of the business community in 2010.

Vinashin is a big state owned economic group which has been enjoying a lot of preferential treatment from the Government, but it has been incurring heavy losses which put it on the verge of bankruptcy.

Vietnamese businesses optimistic about future prospects

The report on the business environment in 2010 recently released at the Vietnam Business Forum shows the domestic enterprises’ optimism about the business prospect.

Up to 76 percent of polled enterprises said they planned to expand their business in the next three years., foreign invested enterprises prove Especially optimistic with 80 percent of enterprises saying so. The enterprises operating in the fields of information technology, finance, insurance, education and law are the most optimistic: 83 percent of them said they would expand business in the next three years, while 73 percent of manufacturing enterprises said they would.

68 percent of enterprises believe in the good prospects of Vietnam’s economy, and 59 percent of enterprises believe that the domestic and regional markets will see high growth rates.

The business circle joins programme 30

The programme 30 on administrative reform has been implemented and quickly brought desired effects. This is the first time Vietnam witnesses such a drastic administration reform.

The noteworthy thing is that the programme is not only the work of government agencies, asthe business circle has also made a big contribution.

Experts have pointed out that the idea contribution by the business circle has helped bring success to the programme. A lot of complicated procedures that once hindered business operation, have been removed.

Enterprises print invoices themselves

This should be seen as a breakthrough in the administrative reform in the taxation sector. From now on, enterprises can take initiative in issuing and using invoices, which allows them to save a lot of time. In the past, the invoice purchase took a lot of time, especially for the large enterprises which needed tens of thousands of invoices every year.

Real estate enterprises confused by policy changes

Real estate enterprises have experienced a tough year with the changes in the policies. The frequent policy changesmade the enterprise confused

In Hanoi, the halt of some projects has affectedmany real estate developers . Meanwhile, the Ministry of Construction and the Hanoi People’s Committee differ in their views, thus putting enterprises in a difficult situation.

Tighter control of stock market

The fact that Le Van Dung, Chair of Vien Dong Pharmacy Company was arrested for controlling stock prices shows that government agencies are trying to tighten the control over the stock market.

Barriers for seafood in international trade

Vietnam’s tra fish was put by WWF on the Red List showing that the fight against international trade barriers is tough, though in principle, once a member of WTO, Vietnam should be able to enjoy free trade.

The fight against the “price transfer”

The prosecution against Equatorial Hotel in HCM City for its price transfer is considered the first move by Vietnamese government agencies to fight against the price transfer movement in Vietnam.

About 8000 foreign invested enterprises, mostly manufacturing enterprises, will face the tax inspection in the time to come. The fight is believed to be very tough.

The InnovGreen story

The foreign investor has been encountering difficulties with its afforestation projects. The fact that local authorities have been allocating land to the investor raised many questions and the issue was widely discussedat the National Assembly.

Circular on price management raises disputes

The Circular No. 122 on pricing management has raised disagreements from different enterprises. Enterprise believe that the prices should be decided by the supply and demand instead of administrative orders- Thoi bao Kinh te Vietnam