VietNamNet Bridge - Businesses affected by the disturbances in Ha Tinh, Binh Duong and Dong Nai provinces will have their taxes and land rents waived, reduced or deferred, and receive other assistance, at the request of Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.

The Government Office on Wednesday morning issued the announcement after a meeting between Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and leaders of ministries and provinces on means to assist businesses deal with damages and help them recover their production and business.

In the announcement, the Prime Minister instructed the officials of these provinces to work directly with each affected firm, to learn about the situation in order to help them. These provinces were also requested to establish a special body to handle administrative procedures related to assessment of the damage and appropriate support. In case records and documents were lost, local bodies are allowed to implement the assistance policy based on the affected firms’ commitment and post-inspection activities.

The Ministry of Finance was instructed to guide insurance agencies to urgently evaluate the damage to these firms and to pay compensation with simplified procedures.

Tax authorities were asked to extend deadlines for submission of tax declarations and tax payments, based on the damages the businesses incurred. The maximum extension is two years and the affected businesses are not to be fined for late payment.

The customs body was told to implement import-export tax exemptions and tax refunds for the damaged goods and to allow clearance of export-import shipments of the damaged businesses with tax debts. Tax authorities have to urgently deduct or refund input value added tax for damaged goods and services without compensation, including the cases without documents and invoices. Enterprises will see their luxury taxes reduced up to 30% in 2014, but not exceeding the value of the damaged property after compensation.

The affected provinces will offer exemptions or reductions of land rents to the damaged businesses.

The Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs was told to ensure a sufficient workforce for the affected firms. The Ministry of Public Security will create favorable conditions for foreign investors and foreign workers to obtain visas to Vietnam for the damaged businesses that need additional foreign workers.

To meet the urgent needs of workers, the Prime Minister is allowing the relevant bodies to grant work permits to foreign experts who have university degrees or at least 5 years of experience in the related fields. Regarding the grant of work permits for foreigners residing in Vietnam for 6 months or more, only the police record issued by the judicial authorities of Vietnam is required.

For damaged businesses that cannot resume operation immediately and are unable to pay salaries to employees from April to June, the employees of these firms will be paid with unemployment insurance.

The State Bank of Vietnam is directed to guide credit institutions to take active measures to solve difficulties in transactions and loans in order to help businesses quickly recover production and business.

The Ministry of Public Security must urgently investigate and punish extremists and thieves in the riots and recover the lost assets of the affected firms.

The Prime Minister asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to keep other countries informed of the real situation and the direction of the Vietnamese government, and ask them to encourage their businesses to feel secure about their investments in Vietnam.

Na Son