US mulls travel ban on officials behind religious persecution

13/Mar/2005 AFPThe Bush administration is being urged to impose a travel ban on government officials in Vietnam who commit religious persecution, among other proposed sanctions to punish the country for its dismal religious rights record.

Vietnam-US trade talks start

14/Mar/2005 Tuoi Tre page 11Washington D.C today March 14 will hold a bilateral talk between Vietnam and the US concerning on Vietnam's entry into the World Trade Organisation (WTO), according to the trade ministry. It is scheduled the three day talk will focus on opening up service sector, proposing to cut down many import duties of Vietnam, making laws of Vietnam and others.

Endemic corruption hits transporters' bottom line

11/Mar/2005 Thanh NienHigh transport costs and under-the-table fees demanded by corrupt officials take a heavy toll on operating costs for businesses in northern and central Vietnam, economic researchers said March 11.

Since December 2004, a group of economists from the institute had carried out a research on 80 enterprises in the four localities, said researcher Chu Dinh Phuong. According to the research, shipping costs in the four cities and provinces were the highest in the Asian region.

Import taxes on EU, US textiles reduced

11/Mar/2005 Thanh NienThe government has reduced tariffs on textile imports from the European Union and the US according to bilateral agreements, the Ministry of Finance said March 10.

The ministry said duties on textiles that have EU and US certificates of origin are cut from 7% to 5% starting January 1 of this year.

Ministry forces textile quota alliances

11/Mar/2005 Thanh NienAbout 3.5% of total export quotas for Vietnamese textiles to the US market will be distributed to domestic producers cooperating with one another, the Ministry of Trade said March 11. To secure these quotas, a partnership of textile businesses must comprise of at least five members which have had strong exports to the US in 2004, the  trade ministry said.

Apparel exports to US forecasted at US$1.2b-US$1.4b in first half

12/Mar/2005 Cong An Thanh Pho Ho Chi Minh page 3The Ministry of Trade forecasts in the first six-months, garment export revenue to US will reach US$1.2 billion-US$1.4 billion due to quota fee for garment products export  to US reduced by some 70%.

In the first two-months, Vietnam witnessed garment export to US with earnings of US$224 million, a year-on-year rise of 12%.

Decree on small financial organisations issued

11/Mar/2005 VNASocial, political and trade organisations, charitable and social funds, and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are now allowed toestablish small-sized financial organisations following a prime minister's decree issued on March 9.

Special Consumption Tax modified

11/Mar/2005 Thoi Bao Kinh Te Vietnam page 2The Ministry of Finance issued a circular modifying and supplementing some points written in Circular 110/2003/TT-BTC by the finance ministry on the special consumption tax

(SCT).