The Ministry of Finance says in a draft proposal that the corporate income tax (CIT) should be slashed to 15%-17% from the current 20% for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

If Vietnam is not determined to reform, it will be a lower average income country forever, writes Vu Tien Loc, chair of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce & Industry (VCCI) for ‘For a Powerful Vietnam’, a forum initiated by VietNamNet.

Banks, enterprises and depositors are all concerned about what will become of deposit and lending interest rates.

When Vietjet Air and Bamboo Airways signed contracts worth billions of dollars for aircraft purchase during the recent U.S. President Donald Trump’s visit to Vietnam, many logistics experts expect freighters are among the aircraft ordered. 

 Vietnam’s stricter regulations on unsecured consumer lending are credit positive for finance companies, said the credit ratings agency Moody’s Investors Service in its latest Credit Outlook report released today, April 1.

 Golf tourism is emerging as a potential new tourism product in the central coastal city of Danang and central Vietnam to attract visitors from Europe, according to Deputy Director of the municipal Tourism Department Nguyen Xuan Binh.

 Some 5,400 tons of seafood for export are currently stuck at local fishing ports as these ports are not authorized to certify the origins of seafood, the local media reported.

 Private sector employees caught giving petty bribes could face fines of up to VND100 million (US$4,300), according to a draft Government decree guiding the Law on Anti-Corruption, which will take effect in early July this year.

 The rainy season is forecast to start in the second week of May in the south, later than in previous years. Scorching weather continues, with higher average temperatures than in previous years.

Several modern steel shell fishing vessels are being abandoned in the central province of Ha Tinh as their owners complained that they were incurring losses using them.

 A famous Vietnamese comedian has died on a tour in the US, according to some artists.

The 2018 Provincial Governance and Public Administration Performance Index (PAPI) Repor reveals that general improvement in provincial and local government performance, with citizens reporting less corruption in health care and education.

 Lao Cai authorities have arrested a man for trafficking women to China.

 The HCM City Real Estate Association (HoREA) has proposed solutions for suspended property projects to avoid damages to the property market, project backers and the State.

 Total outstanding loans of the banking system rose 2.28 per cent as of March 25 and the total means of payment grew by 2.67 per cent compared to late 2018.

 The Ministry of Industry and Trade has announced a plan to improve the performance of the logistics sector to improve the country’s business climate.

 Rising production costs are harming the competitiveness of Vietnamese seafood products, according to experts. These include the prices of feed, material input, electricity and labour.

 Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung has urged the fisheries sector to build a brand with food safety and high quality for seafood products.

VietNamNet Bridge - Vietnam has no startups with value of $1 billion and higher (called unicorns), but foreign investment funds are optimistic about the future.

HCM City announced on April 1 that its average population growth rate during 2009-2019 is 2.15 percent per annum, which means the city has an addition of 170,000 people each year.