After a long delay, the Law on Planning was finally adopted by the National Assembly last Friday, making it more convenient for firms and investors to decide on their local business and investment plans. Vu Quang Cac, head of the Ministry of Planning and Investment’s Department of Planning Management, spoke with VIR’s Thanh Tung about how this law will contribute to Vietnam’s business and investment climate.

The southern province of Binh Duong plans to seek more partnerships with neighbouring cities and provinces, businesses and local and international experts to build a Binh Duong smart city, Mai Hung Dung, deputy chairman of the province’s People’s Committee, said at a press conference on Thursday.

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam needs more investment from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the areas of renewable energy, hotels, tourism, infrastructure construction, seaports, aviation, real estate and agriculture processing.

Indian companies are looking to cement ties with Vietnamese counterparts in the textile and garment sector.

HÀ NỘI — The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) recently cut 675 business and investment procedures, equivalent to 55.5 per cent of total business conditions.

HÀ NỘI — State-owned enterprises can apply the book building method at their initial public offering (IPO) from the beginning of 2018, according to a recently issued decree.

Many foreign investors jumped on the opportunity when the Vietnamese government has completed normative legal documents on the betting business.

German companies, with experience in engineering and environmental treatment, want to cooperate with the southern province of Dong Nai to build waste treatment systems.

Although fluctuations in international demand and pricing have put pressure on returns from Viet Nam’s mining industry, the sector remains a magnet for foreign direct investment (FDI), a sign of confidence in its long-term prospects.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) is drafting regulations on new retail prices for electricity, aiming to lower electricity prices for hotels in order to strengthen the tourism sector and hike prices for electricity-guzzling households in an effort to incentivise lower consumption.

The southern province of Binh Phuoc announced on November 17 it has approved an investment plan for a US$54 million solar power plant project funded by Indian Tata Power Company.

From December 1 this year Vietnamese who can show a minimum income of VNĐ10 million (US$440) a month can gamble in casinos.

Vietnam is expected to start building a law on public-private partnership (PPP) investment in 2018 to pave the way for future foreign investment inflows.

The public-private-partnership investment model as a solution for Viet Nam’s long-term infrastructure development can only work with all stakeholders fully understanding their roles and the risks involved, experts said at a conference on Thursday.

Latest Savills report notes ongoing interest in large-scale mixed-use projects with a residential component during third quarter.

The Ministry of Finance has proposed amendments to the Law on Tax Management, aiming to enhance efficiency of tax collection from multinational companies, cross-border transactions and online businesses.

Instead of focusing on conducting M&A deals to acquire large-scale Vietnamese enterprises, South Korean enterprises are now eyeing small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in different sectors to conduct M&A activities in Vietnam. 

Credit cardholders will not be allowed to withdraw cash worth of more than VND5 million for domestic transactions and no more than VND30 million for foreign currency.

The draft Law on Special Administrative, Economic Units needed to be substantially revised to make it feasible and to fully exploit resources for boosting economic development, according to a verification report from the National Assembly (NA) Law Committee.

A series of new policies on wine business, establishment of social support facilities, supervision of securities transactions on the securities market, assessment of language proficiency come into effect in November 2017.