HCMC allows massive tourism project near biosphere reserve to expand: report The complex of hotels, resorts and a shopping mall has received permission to eat into the sea despite environmental concerns A tourism project near a treasured biosphere reserve on the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh City has been allowed to encroach on 1,080 hectares of sea area, news website Saigon Times Online reported on Tuesday. Can Gio Tourist City Corporation will conduct a feasibility study for the tourism complex, known as Saigon Sunbay, and submit its revised design to the city's government next month, it said. Originally the project only planned to take over 600 hectares of the sea. The investor has been ordered to create plans and make sure the construction of transport infrastructure will not affect the biosphere reserve in Can Gio District, which has been recognized by UNESCO. Part of the Saigon Sunbay project as seen in a map released by Can Gio District in 2012 First announced 15 years ago with … [Read more...] about Social News 24/10
News from saigon times online
Vietnam’s finance ministry wants $219 mln in cash dividends from top lenders
In a new attempt to boost state revenue, the Ministry of Finance has sought the central bank's intervention to collect cash dividends from BIDV and Vietinbank, two of the largest lenders in which the government is a major stakeholder. In April, the shareholders of BIDV, Vietnam's largest partly-private bank by assets, agreed on distributing stock dividends at a yield of 8.5 percent, compared to the original plan of nearly 10 percent. The second biggest lender Vietinbank's shareholders voted on no dividend payment in either cash or stock. The government now owns over 95 and 64.46 percent of the banks, respectively. Both the banks said profits from the financial year 2015 should be reinvested into expansion plans, local media reported. However, in its letter to the central bank, the finance ministry cited existing rules as saying that as a major stakeholder, the government has to be consulted on dividend payout plans. The central bank should order its representatives at BIDV and … [Read more...] about Vietnam’s finance ministry wants $219 mln in cash dividends from top lenders
Red tape holds back Saigon canal boat tour: report
The operator of the only canal tour in Ho Chi Minh City has said that it is still building toilets and other tourist facilities and, in the meantime, cannot receive more than a hundred visitors a day. Phan Xuan Anh, chairman of tour operator Saigon Boat, was quoted by news website Saigon Times Online as saying that since the row boat tour along the Nhieu Loc-Thi Nghe Canal was launched in September, his company has turned down many group bookings due to the lack of facilities. Its fleet of 22 boats can serve 200 people every day, but the company is receiving a few dozen only, mostly backpackers who do not mind the inadequate services. Anh blamed the problem on "a long time" to receive construction licenses. Now that most of the facilities have been nearly completed, the tour will be open fully on January 15, he said. In the meantime, the company is still waiting for permission to launch a shuttle bus service to link the tour's terminal wharfs. The service is meant to make it easy … [Read more...] about Red tape holds back Saigon canal boat tour: report
Japanese carmakers want more tax breaks from Vietnam as imports surge
The association said car parts that have to be imported from outside ASEAN, especially from Japan, should be exempt from import duties, according to local media. It also called for the Ministry of Finance to reduce luxury tax on cars with fewer than nine seats from the current 45 percent to 30 percent, starting on July 1 next year, and then to 25 percent from January 1 2018. Automakers and car part manufacturers should also be given income tax incentives and financial aid, the association was quoted by news website Saigon Times Online as saying. It urged Vietnamese government to announce a timeframe for import duty cuts on cars from other ASEAN countries, so that local manufacturers can adjust their production plans. According to the association, information it has gathered so far showed that the tariff will be first reduced from 50 percent to 40 percent in January next year, and then to 30 percent one year later. Import duties on ASEAN cars will be totally removed in January … [Read more...] about Japanese carmakers want more tax breaks from Vietnam as imports surge
Vietnamese exporters undercut as global rivals benefit more from currency effects
Vietnam's farm exports dropped 7.7 percent year-on-year to around US$9.2 billion in the January-August period, and experts warn that further declines should be expected. They made the gloomy forecast at a conference held by the Institute of Policy and Strategy for Agriculture and Rural Development on Wednesday in Hanoi, news website Saigon Times Online reported. Nguyen Do Anh Tuan, chief of the institute, better known as Ipsard, said since China, which buys 20 percent of Vietnam's agricultural exports, depreciated the yuan last month, Vietnamese exporters have been under pressure to reduce their prices to be able to compete with Chinese products. Some other major competitors such as Brazil, India and Thailand have also let their currencies declined, he said. Over the past year, the Brazilian real has fallen 72 percent against the US dollar and the Thai baht, 18 percent, he said. Nguyen Trung Kien, a researcher with Ipsard, was quoted as saying that in 2013, Vietnamese rice … [Read more...] about Vietnamese exporters undercut as global rivals benefit more from currency effects