The Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and Dien dan Doanh nghiep (Business Forum) organised a meeting on how the revised law would affect foreign direct investment yesterday in Ha Noi.

Clearer policies

Deputy director of the Ministry of Planning and Investment’s Legal Department Quach Ngoc Tuan said that regulations on prohibited and conditional businesses were some of the most important contents of the revised law.

The regulations strictly follow the Constitution adopted last year, which sets out the principle that people have the right to do business in sectors that are not explicitly prohibited by law.

According to the draft submitted to the National Assembly at the eighth session of the 13th National Assembly, there are six prohibited business sectors, as well as 272 conditional sectors whose acceptance will be based on the results from 51 prohibited businesses and 386 conditional businesses in accordance with existing law. The list is currently being updated.

The revised law will also provide clear regulations for economic organisations that use foreign investment capital, Tuan added.

Nguyen Van Phung from the Tax Policy Department said there would be changes to corporate tax policy. Specifically, enterprises would not have to register materials consumption with tax agencies. Additionally, there would be 10 to 20 per cent tax reductions for new investment projects, as well as exemptions from taxes on personal income, import and export and expanding investment.

FDI accounts for 22-25 per cent of total investment capital and is increasing. The country’s FDI disbursement capital reached $11.5 billion last year and this year’s target is $12.5 billion, according to the Foreign Investment Agency under the Ministry of Planning and investment.

The 10 leading FDI partners of Viet Nam are Japan, Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, the UK, Hong Kong, the US, Malaysia, China and Thailand.