Improving corporate governance capacity is a major challenge for businesses, especially small-and-medium sized enterprises (SMEs) when joining the EU-Viet Nam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), requiring the Government to have policies and mechanisms to facilitate their operation.

The EU – Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) to be signed on June 30 in Hanoi will bring both opportunities and challenges to Vietnam, so domestic enterprises should be really prepared to take full advantages of benefits from the deal, said Sebastian Eckardt, lead economist of the World Bank (WB) in Vietnam.

Vietnam and the EU last week signed their bilateral free trade agreement and investment protection agreement. Nicolas Audier, chairman of the European Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam, shares his view on the importance of the deals to Vietnam, what challenges they will create, and how they can bring opportunities for investors in the country.

The Government on May 13, 2019 released Decree No. 40/2019/ND-CP amending and supplementing some of articles of the decrees detailing and guiding the implementation of the Law on Environmental Protection ("Decree 40").

The passing of the amended Law on Tax Management by the National Assembly is expected to improve the taxation on e-commerce activities.

Logistics is a crucial component for the Vietnamese e-commerce market to succeed and reach its full potential. Many foreign logistics providers and e-commerce operators are making forays to seize the opportunities provided by the rapidly growing demand. Bich Ngoc reports.

The State Bank of Viet Nam (SBV) has recently made public a draft circular on safety limits for banks and called for public comment on the proposed changes. The circular would tighten regulations on lending, especially in the high-end real estate segment.

The Government issued Decree No. 39/2019/ND-CP on the organization and operation of the small and medium-sized enterprises development fund (“Decree 39”) on May 10, 2019.

The ICT (information and communication technology) reference framework for the development of smart cities (version 1.0) has been issued by the Ministry of Information and Communications as a basis for localities and businesses to develop smart city projects.

Vietnam is serious about the future growth of its energy sector, which will be spurred by solar energy, thermal power generation, and wind energy. Duong Manh Cuong, senior project officer of the GIZ Energy Support Programme through the Ministry of Industry and Trade, spoke to VIR’s Phuong Thu about the new and changing incentives with wind power projects.

Korean investors are keen to invest in renewable energy due to its potential and the incentives that Viet Nam has offered to foreign investors, an HSBC official has said.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT)’s key task is to evaluate the building and adjustment of policies to support the development of the digital economy, according to Deputy Minister Cao Quoc Hung.

The Vietnam Venture Summit 2019 was held in Hanoi on June 10 as a platform for policy dialogue between the government and international venture funds.

Minister of Construction Pham Hong Ha said at the Tuesday meeting of the National Assembly that his ministry and the Ministry of Natural Resources would complete regulations relating to condotel and officetel this year.

Vietnamese enterprises are in dire need of capital to expand production and business, but the current development of the capital market cannot meet this demand. While the stock market and government bonds are gradually helping raise capital, the corporate bond channel has not developed as expected.

Seven Government’s Decrees and three ministerial-level Circulars will take effect in June.

A new resolution has been published to ensure uniform implementation of the regulations against money laundering.

The long-awaited new decree guiding to the Law on Planning is expected to open a wider business development space for businesses to venture further into projects in Vietnam in the months ahead, with a new market orientation approach being a prominent highlight.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) pledged to Viet Nam in the first five months of this year hit a four-year high of US$16.74 billion, a Foreign Investment Agency report has shown.

In anticipation of the growing importance of public-private partnership, Vietnam and partners are working on a new model to strengthen primary healthcare services as the foundation to achieve universal healthcare coverage by 2030.