They submitted proposals regarding tax reduction and exemption, and the streamlining of tax procedures and improvement of export policy to help remove difficulties in production and export.

FDI businesses presented those proposals at their meeting with representatives from the Ministry of Industry and Trade in Hanoi o­n April 3. Okazaki Masahiro, a representative of Panasonic Vietnam Company, pointed to infrastructure and customs procedures as the two thorny issues challenging FDI businesses.

The Vietnamese Government’s improvement of infrastructure will help ‘businesses catch up with the market demand when the global economic crisis is over’, the Japanese businessman said. Sharing the view, Mark Barnett – Director of the wholly foreign-invested Son Ha Spice Essence Co. Ltd in northern Bac Ninh province, also remarked that the Vietnamese Government should develop a more transparent management system equipped with competent personnel to enable their better coordination with businesses.

At the meeting, Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang assured FDI businesses of the Vietnamese Government’s consistent policy of treating all businesses equally while reporting that his ministry is inquiring into difficulties facing FDI businesses to promptly remove them.

The ministry will work o­n a new decree o­n modernising customs procedures to submit to the Government for approval this year, Minister Hoang said. He highlighted the trial application of e-customs clearance in Ho Chi Minh City and Haiphong port city as a step towards realising the target of providing e-customs service for as many as 90% of applicants by 2012, the level in other Southeast Asian countries.

For its part, the Ministry of Planning and Investment said it has already submitted to the Prime Minister several prioritised solutions regarding law, planning, infrastructure improvements and human resource development in order to further perfect business environment in Vietnam.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, FDI businesses about 40% of the national export value in recent years and the figure reached over 55% in 2008. However, in the first two months, FDI businesses gained an export value of close to US $3 billion, a decrease of 9% compared to the same period last year, due to impacts of the economic recession. The FDI businesses’ export decline is forecast to be 10-15% for the whole year.