Foreign convenience store chains continue rapid expansion despite losses in Vietnam

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‘It’s not time to make a profit yet. It’s time to grab more market share.’

Nguyen Thu Ha has abandoned traditional markets on her afternoon shopping trips in favor of a more convenient option.

Uncomfortable with the crowds and dubious origins of the food, the 35-year-old from Hanoi now prefers to spend her money in the convenience stores that are mushrooming across the city.

“The quality in convenience stores is guaranteed, unlike grocery shops and traditional markets,” she said. “That’s why I go to them now.”

Like Ha, many shoppers are turning to convenience stores, encouraging foreign retailers to expand their presence in the market.

The number of convenience stores had increased to over 1,500 as of June 2016, according to market research firm Nielsen Vietnam. Famous foreign brands now occupy 70 percent of the market.

In June, Seven & i Holdings, which operates Japan’s biggest convenience store chain 7-Eleven, opened its first outlet in Ho Chi Minh City.

Kyodo News quoted a company representative as saying that it plans to open 100 stores in Vietnam within three years and expand the number to 1,000 in the next decade.

American chain Circle K has around 250 stores, mostly in the country’s two biggest cities, Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi.

FamilyMart, Japan’s second largest convenience store chain, has a combined 130 stores in Ho Chi Minh City, the nearby resort town of Vung Tau and Binh Duong Province.

Southeast Asian chains Shop&Go and B’s mart are running another 300 stores.

South Korea’s GS Retail also plans to enter the market in the near future with the first outlet bearing its GS25 convenience store brand in Ho Chi Minh City.

GS25, which will be the first Korean convenience store chain operator to enter the Vietnamese market, is expected to open 2,500 outlets in the next 10 years.

“We have received requests from many countries, including China and other Southeast Asian countries, to export our brand,” said a GS Retail spokesman. “After months of research, we concluded that Vietnam had the largest potential for growth.”

A.T. Kearney’s Global Retail Development Index this month named Vietnam the sixth most attractive retail market in the world. The country made headlines worldwide when it topped the list in 2008.

International market research organization IGD forecasts double-digit compound annual growth rate over the next four years in Vietnam, reaching 37.4 percent in 2021.

“Convenience stores in Vietnam have become popular destinations for young consumers to shop and hang out, as the stores provide them with an air-conditioned environment, well-organized shelves and seating areas, high quality products and, in some stores, free Wi-Fi,” said Nick Miles, head of Asia-Pacific at IGD. “It is also easier to get licenses for stores under 500sq.m, which is why retailers have been expanding to gain market share.”

Vu Vinh Phu, former chairman of the Hanoi Association of Supermarkets, said convenience stores have expanded with the growing middle class, who are increasingly willing to pay a little more for the convenience of mini-marts that are open for longer hours and can be found in more locations.

Economists say Vietnam has great potential for convenience store expansion, considering the number of existing stores now is still small compared to the population.

There is one convenience store for every 2,100 residents in South Korea, 2,300 in Japan, and 24,900 in China. The ratio in Vietnam is one per 54,400 residents, according to a recent report by international property research firm Savills.

Vietnam’s trade ministry has projected the country’s retail market will hit $179 billion by 2020, a jump of 52 percent from last year.

Uneasy to earn

Despite bright prospects for convenience stores in Vietnam, their development has not always been smooth, as in the case of FamilyMart. Japan’s second largest convenience store chain plans to stay focused on its domestic market after reporting losses in several Southeast Asian countries, including Vietnam.

Koji Takayanagi, the company’s president, said the firm is reviewing its loss-making businesses in Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam. “If we can get them to rally we will, but we cannot continue to pour in resources,” he was quoted by Reuters as saying.

Another example is the case of a joint venture between Ministop, an affiliate of Japan’s second largest retailer AEON, and G7, an arm of local coffee producer Trung Nguyen. The joint venture aimed to develop 500 convenience stores across the country within five years from 2011. However, the partnership ended in 2015 when Trung Nguyen withdrew from the deal after only 17 stores had been opened. The venture reportedly failed to reach the target because of difficulties in finding premises in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

Ministop now has only 80 convenience stores in Ho Chi Minh City and Binh Duong Province.

As well as the difficulties they face finding retail space, convenience stores must also compete with other retail channels, which are also expanding rapidly, especially online shopping, said head of the Association of Vietnam Retailers, Dinh Thi My Loan.

Explaining why retailers are continuing to expand in the convenience store market, despite losses, an industry insider said their current goals is to stretch their influence in the market. Retailers often suffer losses in the first four to seven years, he said. “It’s not time to make a profit yet. It’s time to grab more market share.”

Ho Chi Minh City residents getting in Christmas spending spirit

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Hundreds of real Christmas trees imported from temperate-climate countries have been sold out

With two weeks left until Christmas, families and business owners in Ho Chi Minh City are already getting in the Christmas spending spirit as an air of joy and festivity lingers about every corner of the southern hub.

Some stores selling Christmas decorations have reportedly sold out their stock, while shoppers spare no expense in getting their homes ready for the festive season.

Fake Christmas trees are especially hunted for this year, with stores introducing a wide variety of designs at prices ranging from VND600,000 to one million (US$26.43 – 44.05) to appeal to consumers of all backgrounds.

“Home decorators typically opt for those between 1.2 and 1.5 meters in height, while those who want to decorate their stores would go for trees taller than 1.8 meters,” said Oanh, owner of a Christmas decoration shop in District 10.

According to Oanh, minimalistic designs are in style this year, with the colors white and red being consumers’ favorites.

Those with more money at hand may even go for a real Christmas tree, imported from regions with temperate climate such as the U.S. or Europe.

Since Wednesday, over 500 real Christmas trees have arrived at Ho Chi Minh City from Denamark to meet local demands for the luxury decoration.

The trees had been kept hibernating in cold storage for four weeks while they were transported by sea over the long distance.

According to Diep, an importer of real Christmas trees, real trees have a pleasant aroma and an appearance superior to fake ones, while their branches are much more durable, making it easy to put on decorations.

Diep’s imports last year had been positively received by the local market, giving her confidence that this year’s shipment would also sell like hot cakes.

Prices for a real Christmas tree can range from VND1.5 million ($66) to over VND20 million ($880) depending on its size, which can be anywhere between 1.2 meters and over five meters.

Diep said over 80 percent of her imports had already been sold, while the rest will be put on display at public areas for everyone to enjoy the Christmas spirit.

Other Christmas ornaments such as wreaths, baubles, decorative strings and Santa Claus statues are also selling fast across the southern hub, with prices being maintained at almost the same level as last year’s thanks to abundant supply.

Those with less time to shop for decorations can buy pre-packaged Christmas combos at the price of VND85,000 – 3 million ($3.74 – 132) each, which includes all ornaments necessary to lighten up one’s house for the season.

Christmas services see gold

Nguyen Hoang Ngoc, sales executive at an event management company in Ho Chi Minh City, said 60 percent of their Santa Clause impersonators had been booked for December 24 and 25.

Hiring a Santa Clause to host a Christmas event can set one back VND1 – 3 million ($44 – 132), while gift-delivering Santa’s are hired at around VND500,000 ($22) per three hours on average.

“The presents are prepared by the customers, as we only carry out the delivery,” Ngoc said.

Santa Clause costumes can also be rented at from VND150,000 ($6.61) per set a day, with deducted price for those renting for more than one day.

Source: https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/business/20171210/ho-chi-minh-city-residents-getting-in-christmas-spending-spirit/43085.html

Saigon tax man slaps Facebooker with $400,000 bill in rare online retail management victory

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Facebook is the most popular social network in Vietnam and an e-commerce platform that tax authorities have struggled to keep track of.

Ho Chi Minh City’s tax department has handed a bill of VND9.1 billion ($401,300) to a Facebook retailer in a rare successful attempt to levy sales on social media.

A source from the department said that the tax declaration submitted by the cosmetics retailer was millions of dollars short compared to information acquired from the retailer’s banks.

Le Thi Thu Huong, deputy director of the department, said the sum was the biggest amount ever to be claimed by her agency from an online retailer for tax evasion.

The department contacted nearly 13,800 Facebook accounts earlier this year asking them to pay tax for businesses they were running on the social network, but few complied.

Facebook is the most popular social network in Vietnam with more than 52 million active accounts, and is also used as an e-commerce platform that tax authorities have struggled to keep track of.

Vietnam levies a 0.5 percent income tax and a 1 percent value added tax on sales of more than VND100 million ($4,400) per year.

Local tax authorities have recently stepped up efforts to collect taxes from online businesses that use Facebook and other social media sites such as Instagram and YouTube.

Tax departments in both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City have sent out tax demands to around 27,000 Facebook retailers in a move to target tax avoidance by online businesses.

Online sales in Vietnam have expanded rapidly in recent years, currently accounting for 3.39 percent of the country’s retail market. The total retail market grew 10.2 percent last year to $118 billion, mainly fueled by a growing middle-class with expanding disposable incomes and an increasing number of internet users.

In an effort to minimize tax losses, the Ministry of Finance is considering a plan to impose value added tax and income tax on sales with a value of VND1 million ($44) upwards, or multiple sales of a lesser value.

Source: Thanh Le

Global brewers line up bids for Vietnam’s Sabeco sale: sources

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The auction of up to 54 percent of Sabeco offers brewers access to a fast-growing market with a youthful population and beer drinking culture.

Brewing groups including Thai Beverage, Anheuser-Busch InBev and Kirin Holdings are gearing up to bid for a stake in Vietnam’s largest brewer, Sabeco, people familiar with the matter said, with the $5 billion sale process by the government opening this week.

The auction of up to 54 percent of Sabeco, in what is set to be Vietnam’s biggest privatization, offers brewers access to a fast-growing market with a youthful population and beer drinking culture.

Thai Bev, controlled by tycoon Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, is shaping up as a strong contender, the people said, as it is familiar with the Vietnam system and sees Sabeco as key to expanding outside its home market.

“They have been around this situation for many years and are very keen to get this asset,” said one of the people, none of whom wanted to be named as they are not authorized to speak to the media.

Last month, a Thai Bev unit bought a 49 percent stake in a Vietnamese company which, the people said, could be used as a vehicle to bid for Sabeco as a domestic player, giving it an advantage over international rivals.

Thai Bev had no immediate comment, but said in October it was keen to grow through acquisitions in markets such as Vietnam. Firms controlled by Sirivadhanabhakdi also hold a 19 percent stake in Vietnam’s Vinamilk.

A spokeswoman for AB InBev, the world’s biggest brewer, said the company was committed to Vietnam and to growing its business for the long-term. A spokesman for Japan’s Kirin said it was carefully considering its options.

Other potential bidders include Asahi Group Holdings, San Miguel and Heineken, though several people said Heineken already had a strong business in Vietnam and could sit out an expensive auction that values Sabeco at about 36 times core earnings – more than double the trading multiples of around 15 for some global brewers, according to Reuters data.

Heineken, which already owns 5 percent of Sabeco, did not respond to requests for comment.

Asahi could not be immediately reached for comment, but the Japanese firm’s president told Reuters in September it was studying Sabeco.

San Miguel’s president Ramon Ang said the Philippine conglomerate was interested to bid for Sabeco. Kirin owns around half of its affiliate San Miguel Brewery.

The Sabeco auction is on December 18, and bidders who are keen to own a stake equal to 25 percent or more of Sabeco’s shares need to inform local authorities a week before the auction.

Ownership cap

Foreign ownership in Sabeco is limited to 49 percent.

That means overseas bidders can only bid for a minority stake of as much as 39 percent as foreign entities already own 10 percent.

Lack of control could put off some possible bidders, the people said.

“Having control of the business is very important for these international brewers because the multiple is very high. If you’re going to pay that much you want to be able to institute your plans,” said one of the people, who expected international firms to sell their own premium beers like Budweiser, Heineken and Kirin through Sabeco’s distribution network, in addition to Sabeco’s beers, which include the Bia Saigon and 333 brands.

Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade, which represents state shares in Sabeco, said foreign investors can link with Vietnamese firms to buy Sabeco shares, but have to comply with local laws and regulations.

Sabeco’s share price has nearly tripled since its listing a year ago, with analysts citing a small float as inflating its market value.

The brewer’s sky-high valuations and a complicated sale process could pose challenges for some potential bidders, the people said.

The Sabeco sale could also set the pace for peer Habeco, in which Danish brewer Carlsberg A/S owns 17.3 percent.

Source: Reuters

Vietnam plans to raise over $570 million through IPOs in energy firms

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The three share sales are expected within three months, the government said.

Vietnam hopes to raise a total of more than $570 million by selling stakes in an oil refinery, an oil distribution firm and a power company, the government website said on Saturday.

The country has accelerated its privatization program in recent weeks, partly because of the need to fund a budget deficit and in the face of growing public debt.

Vietnam aims to raise at least $297 million by selling a 20 percent stake in PetroVietnam Power Corporation and at least $155 million by selling 7.79 percent of the Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical company, the government said.

In addition to the sale of those shares in initial public offerings (IPOs), the government said it planned to sell a 28.9 percent stake in the power company and a 49 percent stake in the refinery to strategic investors.

The government also approved an earlier planned IPO in oil distribution firm PetroVietnam Oil Corp (PV Oil), aiming to raise at least $122 million by selling a 20 percent stake.

The three share sales are expected within three months, the government said, without giving more precise details of the timing.

Last month, Vietnam unveiled plans to sell a stake of up to 54 percent, worth $5 billion, in the nation’s biggest brewer, Sabeco, in what is set to be the country’s largest privatization yet.

Source: Reuters

Saigon plans to double traffic fines to combat congestion and accidents

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The head of the city’s transport department says the increased fines are not aimed at boosting the city’s budget.

Ho Chi Minh City is deliberating a plan to double fines for traffic violations in an effort to sort out its streets and reduce gridlock and accidents.

According to the proposal, floated by the city’s transport department, drivers who park illegally or drive in the wrong lane, and contractors that do not clear barriers and signs from construction sites once work is completed, will all receive higher fines.

The plan, which was put forward at a meeting of the municipal legislative People’s Council on Monday, is to discourage drivers from violating the rules and has nothing to do with the city’s budget, Bui Xuan Cuong, the department’s director, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Friday.

3,960 traffic accidents were reported in the city last year, and 805 people were killed, up 5.54 and 14.6 percent, respectively, against 2015.

Part of the revenue from the increased fines will be used to train traffic officers, while the rest will be allocated to the city’s police and the National Traffic Safety Committee, he said.

The proposal will be open for public opinion.

Councilor Le Nguyen Minh Quang, head of the HCMC Urban Railway Management Authority, agreed with the proposal, saying that the current fines are too low.

“Traffic chaos worsens during rush hour as drivers ride onto the sidewalk and drive into oncoming traffic,” he said.

The city’s mayor, Nguyen Thanh Phong, said in August that up to 7.6 million motorbikes and 700,000 cars were being used in the city.

Traffic congestion has plagued HCMC for a long time, so the city has been trying to find different ways to deal with the problem.

Aside from building overpasses, its latest effort is a plan to impose a congestion charge in the center during rush hour to restrict the number of four-wheel vehicles.

When the plan was rolled out in September, it said the charge could come into force at the same time the city’s first metro line is launched in 2020.

In July, the city came up with a roadmap to limit private vehicles. But Cuong, the transport director, said that the city would not ban motorbikes before 2030.

Source: Staff Reporters

Nielsen: Smartphone growth continues upwards

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Recently-released Nielsen Vietnam Smartphone Insights Report 2017 reveals latest trends in smartphone use around the country.

Growth in the number of smartphone users in Vietnam continues, with rural smartphone users reaching up to 68 per cent of mobile phone users, according to the latest Nielsen report released on November 24.

According to the Nielsen Vietnam Smartphone Insights Report 2017, the number of people using smartphones among mobile phone users enjoyed growth of 84 per cent in 2017, compared to 78 per cent in 2016.

In secondary cities, 71 per cent of local people use a smartphone among 93 per cent of people using mobile phones. More notably, in rural areas, while 89 per cent of the population owns a mobile phone, 68 per cent possess a smartphone.

“The rapid up-take of connected devices, especially smartphones and tablets, is inevitable in Vietnam,” said Mr. Doan Duy Khoa, Director of Consumer Insights at Nielsen Vietnam. “This could correspond with the fact that smartphone brands are offering consumers abundant choice at an affordable and reasonable price. Another reason is that consumers are enjoying increasing standards of living and expressing their desire for connectivity anywhere, anytime.”

Nielsen conducted another study earlier this year in cooperation with Younet Media to shed light on evolving trends in rural consumption. The study revealed that social media has emerged as one of the key platforms for obtaining information, being entertained, and keeping in touch with family and friends, with 22.5 million Facebook users compared to 23.5 million Facebook users in urban areas.

“This plays an instrumental role in media consumption shifting beyond traditional media formats such as broadcast and cable TV, and also beyond traditional time parts,” said Mr. Khoa. “For media owners and advertisers, it is becoming increasingly important to understand both urban and rural consumers’ viewing habits in order to deliver the right content at the right time.”

The Nielsen Vietnam Smartphone Insight Report, which looks at the market landscape, smartphone brand performance, and smartphone use and attitudes, reveals major trends on smartphone penetration, segment movement, product life cycle, purchasing factors, brand satisfaction, and expectations from consumers towards a brand.

A sample of 1,882 frequent online users in key cities, 1,930 users in secondary cities, and 2,027 users in rural areas aged 16 years or older and who used the internet in the last month were captured using online survey methodology.

Source: http://www.vneconomictimes.com/article/business/nielsen-smartphone-growth-continues-upwards

Small change or candy? Debates spark as Vietnam’s long lost smallest banknote reemerges

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The next time you are offered one or two tiny pieces of candy in lieu of small change from a supermarket or grocery store in Vietnam, insist on getting the banknotes, no matter how small the denomination.

Vietnam’s biggest banknote

is the VND500,000 bill, equal to US$22, while those with smaller face values, such as VND200 and VND500, are often ignored or considered nearly worthless.

That attitude has led to retailers, ranging from supermarkets to sidewalk stalls, offering candy in place of small change.

Unbeknownst to many, however, is that the lowest value Vietnamese banknote in circulation is actually VND100, a fact that sparked serious debate when the ‘forgotten’ bill grabbed headlines following a ‘tollgate scandal’ in southern Vietnam.

Vietnamese dong with small face values and their issuing dates. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Surprise comeback

In a show of protest against what many believe is an unfairly positioned toll station in Tien Giang Province, many drivers chose to pay the VND25,000 toll fee with VND25,100 before insisting on receiving their VND100 change.

The Cai Lay toll station was forced to temporarily shut down after failing to meet the demand, due primarily to the fact that the VND100 banknote has been effectively absent from circulation for nearly a decade.

The situation led the State Bank of Vietnam, the country’s central bank, to issue a statement asserting that the VND100 bill is still valid as legal tender and immediately provided a huge stock of the banknotes to the operator of the contested tollgate.

The 100 dong bill is currently listed in the “Vietnamese banknotes” section of the central bank’s official website.

A driver (right) poses with a VND100 bill he receives from the Cai Lay tollgate. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Currency is national sovereignty

Protests at the toll station are one issue, but the refusal of many businesses to use banknotes with small face values is becoming a hot topic across the country.

Many businesses employ a ‘candy as change’ policy that many local consumers oppose, yet still accept rather than waste energy on insisting they be given a VND200 or VND500 banknote.

However, with the ‘return’ of the VND100 banknote, a call to end the policy is beginning to circulate amongst the public.

Those who welcome the low value notes say the issue runs deeper than just what one can buy with 100 Vietnamese dong, or 1/220 of a U.S. dollar.

“In other countries businesses are expected to give every single cent of change back to customers. This shows respect for that nation’s currency,” one reader wrote on news outlet VnExpress.

The 100 dong banknote is seen in this photo taken from the website of the State Bank of Vietnam.

Many countries also have laws against destroying national currency or refusing to pay in the national currency on home soil.

“National currency is a designation of a country’s sovereignty, aside from its national flag and official name,” Assoc. Prof. Vo Tri Hao, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper.

In Vietnam, the erstwhile Penal Code 1985 criminalized such activities, but the current law only slaps a civil fine on violators, according to Hao.

“Money, of a small or large denomination, is national currency and no one is allowed by law to refuse payment in small change,” Hao underlined.

The professor added that those drivers who protested the Cai Lay tollgate will not be fined, because “it is those who refuse to use small change, such as supermarket cashiers or tollgate attendants, are the real law offenders.”

“There are no legal documents that ban the use of small change in payment,” he added.

Source: Tuoi Tre News

 

​Vietnam struggling to force Internet giants to pay local taxes

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Industry insiders and experts are calling on the government to rewrite local tax rules to force major Internet companies to pay tax on profits they make from the Vietnamese market.

As more and more Vietnamese holidaymakers get used to booking their trips online, hotel booking platforms such as Agoda and Booking.com earn hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars per year in the country.

Making it a win-win for these international companies is the fact that they do not have to pay taxes, with the responsibility shouldered by their Vietnamese partners due to loopholes in current tax rules, according to pundits.

Understanding ‘foreign contractor tax’

It’s essential to understand ‘foreign contractor tax’ in Vietnam before digging deeper into the issue.

Foreign contractor tax consists of value-added and corporate income taxes, with rates set by tax authorities depending on the type of services.

The current rate is 5 percent for both value-added and corporate income tax for foreign companies that generate income via services offered in Vietnam.

When a Vietnamese entity contracts a foreign party that does not have a licensed presence in Vietnam, the payment the contracting party makes to the contractor is subject to foreign contractor tax.

As the contractor does not have a legal presence in Vietnam, the contracting party has to pay the tax on its behalf.

The Vietnamese entity can offset this obligation by deducting the foreign contractor tax when calculating the payment it has to make to the contactor.

For example, if a Vietnamese company has to pay a foreign contractor of $1,000, the foreign contractor tax will be $100.

According to the law, the Vietnamese company must negotiate the payment at $900, setting aside the $100 to pay the local taxman.

However, local hotels have claimed that it is not so easy to do so when working with companies like Booking.com.

Two tourists look up information on online booking platforms prior to taking their trip to Da Nang. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Local firms take the burden

Booking.com, which is based in the Netherlands, collects a 20 percent commission from Vietnamese hotel owners on every room booked through its platform, and this income is subject to foreign contractor tax.

However, Pham Ha, CEO of Luxury Travel, said Booking.com will not accept the tax deduction by its Vietnamese partners, saying it should enjoy a tax exemption thanks to a double taxation avoidance agreement between the Netherlands and Vietnam.

The online platform will regularly threaten to cease their partnership if Vietnamese companies insist on the deduction, Ha said.

“Many local companies have been forced to use money from their own pocket to pay the taxes, fearing that the contract termination with Booking.com will affect their sales,” the insider said.

“This is a double whammy for Vietnamese companies as they already have to pay their own corporate income tax. “

Pham Xuan Anh, chairman of Viet Excursions Co., confirmed the phenomenon that Vietnamese companies have no choice but to pay the tax for Booking.com, as the online service insists they receive a 20 percent commission without tax deduction.

“Some Vietnamese companies have to accept smaller profits as they have no other choice,” Anh said.

Tax losses

Le Dac Lam, CEO of the hotel booking website Vntrip.vn, said revenue from the Vietnamese hotel sector is expected to reach US$21 billion by 2020, with 50 percent, or $10.5 billion, coming from online booking platforms.

Supposing that domestic tourists contribute 50 percent of the revenue, online booking companies will rake in approximately $1.25 billion, which leaves a significant amount of tax Vietnam is unable to collect.

Lawyer Tran Xoa, principal at the Minh Dang Quang law firm, said many Internet companies have taken advantage of loopholes in current tax rules, including the double taxation avoidance agreement, in order to avoid paying foreign contractor taxes on incomes generated in Vietnam.

According to the law, a foreign company is still recognized as not having a permanent presence in Vietnam even when it has a representative office or a subsidiary in the country.

Booking.com or Uber have said they only work with local hotels and drivers rather than having a presence in the country, so they should be able to enjoy the tax exemption.

Source: Tuoi Tre News

​Ho Chi Minh City to auction landscaping contracts

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Authorities in Ho Chi Minh City plan to open bidding on contracts for the management and maintenance of green trees across the metropolis.

Deputy Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Tran Vinh Tuyen recently approved auctioning contracts in order to select suitable contractors to care for trees in 12 out of 24 districts in the southern city.

The plan will take effect on January 2, 2018.

Areas included in the scope of work include District 2, District 7, District 9, District 12, Tan Phu District, Tan Binh District, Thu Duc District, Hoc Mon District, Cu Chi District, Binh Chanh District, Nha Be District, and Can Gio District.

Bidding for tree management in Tao Dan, Gia Dinh, and Le Van Tam, three of the city’s major parks, will begin in the second quarter of 2018, following flower festivals and markets held in the parks in celebration of the Lunar New Year holiday in mid-February.

City officials will evaluate the effectiveness of the maintenance plan after the first year in order to determine whether it should be conducted in the remaining districts, Tuyen said.

The municipal Department of Transport will be charged with the process, the official continued.

The management and maintenance of green trees in Ho Chi Minh City was previously overseen by Greenery Parks Company and a local public services firm.

However, an unofficial auction of the management tasks was carried out and several other organizations now oversee the process.

Source: Tuoi Tre News

​Vietnam launches new child protection hotline amidst violence scandals

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Vietnam  launched a new national hotline for child protection at 111, which citizens are encouraged to reach for reports of child abuse, harassment and other forms of violence against children.

The three digits were chosen for their memorable pattern compared to the old hotline number of 1800 1567.

Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam was among the government leaders to attend the hotline’s launch ceremony in Hanoi, organized by the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA) in cooperation with the Government Office.

Deputy Prime Minister Dam on Wednesday was also appointed chairman of the newly established National Committee for Children, Vietnam’s latest effort in promoting children’s rights.

MOLISA Minister Dao Ngoc Dung was appointed vice chair of the committee, which oversees the running of the child protection hotline.

Speaking at the ceremony, Minister Dung said the brief and memorable hotline would ensure that it is known to as many people as possible and becomes a go-to number for people who wish to make reports of child abuse, harassment and violence.

Reports of all kinds are welcomed, whether they are made by individuals, organizations or educational institutions, Dung underlined.

Three call centers in Hanoi, Da Nang and An Giang Province are in charge of handling calls from the northern, central and southern regions of Vietnam, respectively.

The hotline is toll-free and available 24/7, including holidays, to guarantee uninterrupted support of children in an emergency.

The old hotline of 1800 1567 will be kept temporarily active until the public becomes familiar with the new number and no more calls are made to the old one, according to a counseling official from MOLISA.

Since the establishment of the national child protection hotline in 2004, over 2.5 million calls have been received by operators, at an average rate of 240,000 calls per year, according to the official.

The new hotline is on stream amidst repeated reports of violence against children in Vietnam in recent weeks, including the brutal beatings of kids at a household-run daycare center in Ho Chi Minh City and the alleged torture of a seven-year-old with heated iron by her own father.

Just last month, a 65-year-old woman in northern Vietnam became the prime suspect in the death of her weeks-old grandson, whom she allegedly killed over superstition.

Earlier, a court in the southern beach city of Vung Tau sentenced a 77-year-old man to three years in prison for molesting two preteen girls aged six and 11.

Source: Tuoi Tre News

​Hanoi set to develop $4bn ‘smart city’

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Hanoi is scheduled to break ground on the construction of a multibillion-dollar ‘smart city’ in an outlying district next year.

A consortium between Japan’s Sumitomo and Vietnam’s BRG will develop the ‘smart city’ on a 272 hectare plot in Dong Anh District in five separate phases, according to a plan released after a working session between the consortium and Hanoi chairman Nguyen Duc Chung on Thursday.

The new US$4 billion project will feature a modern traffic system along the Nhat Tan-Noi Bai route using Japanese technology and will connect with the No.2 urban railway route in Hanoi.

Dong Anh District lies about 16km north of Hanoi’s central area.

Hanoi and the Sumitomo – BRG consortium signed a memorandum of understanding on the smart city development in June, during Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s official visit to Japan.

The consortium is scheduled to complete planning for all five stages of the project by the end of the month and submit its proposal to the Hanoi administration for approval, BRG chairwoman Nguyen Thi Nga asserted at the meeting.

The project is scheduled to break ground within the first quarter of next year.

Source: Tuoi Tre News

More foreigners touching down in Vietnam, but belts have been tightened

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And whether they come back is another big question.

The number of foreign tourists arriving in Vietnam has been rising steadily, but new data has revealed that they are spending less.

The average foreign visitor in Vietnam spent $1,283 in 2004, well below the amount they spent in Thailand ($1,865) and Singapore ($2,670).

Shopping made up the largest slice of the pie in Vietnam, accounting for 16.6 percent of total spending, compared to 19.6 percent in Thailand and 22.3 percent in Singapore, according to the General Statistics Office.

A survey conducted by the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) in 2014 found that foreigners spent on average $1,114 in Vietnam, falling from a decade before.

VNAT also found in August this year that up to 80 percent of tourists said they would not return to Vietnam after their first trip to the country.

Ken Atkinson, chairman of Grant Thornton and vice chairman of the Vietnam Tourism Advisory Board, said he “personally believes the actual return rate for tourists is actually lower than the quoted 20 percent, as some reports record return tourists at less than 10 percent.”

The main reason for the low return rate is that Vietnam has yet to really establish itself as a destination for family holidays, as Thailand and Indonesia have managed to do. It is believed that the return rate for tourists in Thailand is closer to 50 percent, he told VnExpress International.

In order to establish itself as a family destination, he suggested that Vietnam should have a more friendly visa regime, more activities for family recreations and better infrastructure, as well as higher quality services and safer roads.

“Nevertheless, our tourism numbers continue to boom but we need to start to look at the quality of those tourists and their average spend in country,” he said.

Vietnam is on track to receive as many as 12.8 million foreign tourists this year, a rise of 28 percent against 2016.

Official data from the General Statistics Office show more than 11.6 million foreign tourists arrived in Vietnam between January and November this year, up 28 percent against the same period last year.

Last year, foreign visitors surged 26 percent from the previous year, reaching an unexpected all-time high of 10 million.

In 2015, Vietnam received 7.9 million tourists and forecast just 8.5 million for 2016.

Source: Staff Reporters

Saigon scores high on global property growth index

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Vietnam’s economic powerhouse will be marching into the next decade with its property market on the rise.

Ho Chi Minh City has been ranked third in a survey of 50 cities worldwide for property rental growth.

The survey, conducted by real estate firm Savills, also ranked Vietnam’s southern metropolis fifth in terms of investment prospects, and second for development prospects.

In its new publication, “Impacts: the future of global real estate”, Savills said cities that are resource rich, young and fast-growing, economic powerhouses, or at low risk from natural disasters, are the ones to watch for over the next decade.

Troy Griffiths, deputy managing director of Savills Vietnam, said: “This is an annual, long-running survey across a multitude of sophisticated property investors that demonstrates the strong sentiment towards Ho Chi Minh City and Vietnam as a highly favorable investment destination.”

“This is underwritten by the first position across all surveyed cities as buy options for office, retail, industrial and residential assets,” he added.

According to another report, “Emerging Trends in Real Estate Asia Pacific 2016”, jointly published by the Urban Land Institute and consulting firm PwC, foreign investors, mainly from Japan, South Korea and Singapore, are interested in the city’s property market on expectations of an annual return of between 20 and 25 percent.

The city is an attractive destination to investors mainly due to the government’s efforts to stabilize the local currency, control inflation, ease property lending regulations and improve market access for foreigners.

Global investors prefer entering Vietnam’s real estate market through mergers and acquisitions. Many are eying beach resorts, serviced apartments, residential buildings and hotels, mostly in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang.

Source: Ngan Anh

Bitcoin surges above $16,000 as concerns mount

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‘Bitcoin now seems like a charging train with no brakes.’

Bitcoin flirted with $17,000 on Thursday, triggering a warning the cryptocurrency was like a “train with no brakes” and prompting fresh concern about its looming launch on mainstream markets.

Still under $14,000 in Asian trading hours, it smashed through $15,000 in European trading and got as high as $16,777 before pulling back, according to Bloomberg data. Near 2145 GMT, bitcoin stood at $16,070.

The rally came just a day after the virtual currency, which has been used to buy everything from an ice cream to a pint of beer, hit the $12,000 mark for the first time. The eye-popping rise has seen the currency’s value soar more than 50 percent in just one week, and from just $752 in mid-January.

Bitcoin — which came into being in 2009 as a bit of encrypted software — has no central bank backing it and no legal exchange rate.

It has surged dramatically in the past month, driven by growing acceptance among traditional investors of an innovation once considered the preserve of computer nerds and financial experts, and sometimes more shady users.

But some, including the U.S. Federal Reserve, have warned against dabbling in bitcoin as it could threaten financial stability, and fears of a bubble have increased as the price has soared.

“Bitcoin now seems like a charging train with no brakes,” said Shane Chanel, from Sydney-based ASR Wealth Advisers. “There is an unfathomable amount of new participants piling into the cryptocurrency market.”

But he warned: “Once the hype slows down, we will most certainly see some sort of correction.”

Financial industry concerns

There also are mounting concerns about its introduction into the mainstream financial system after a U.S. regulator last week cleared the way for bitcoin futures to trade on major exchanges, a decision which analysts say has helped spur the recent rally.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission decision allows bitcoin derivatives to be offered on the Cboe Futures Exchange starting this weekend and on the world’s biggest futures venue, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), from December 18.

But the Futures Industry Association, which groups some of the world’s biggest derivatives brokerages, criticized the CFTC’s move in a letter to the regulator, saying contracts are being rushed through without properly weighing the risks.

“A more thorough and considered process would have allowed for a robust public discussion among clearing member firms, exchanges and clearing houses,” the association said.

Bitcoin transactions happen when heavily encrypted codes are passed across a computer network.

Goldman Sachs, an FIA member, plans to clear bitcoin futures contracts for some clients, meaning it will serve as intermediary to enable transactions, a spokeswoman said.

“Given that this is a new product, as expected we are evaluating the specifications and risk attributes for the bitcoin futures contracts as part of our standard due diligence process,” she said.

The NiceHash marketplace was meanwhile on Thursday investigating a security breach resulting in the theft of bitcoin.

“Clearly, this is a matter of deep concern and we are working hard to rectify the matter in the coming days,” NiceHash said in a statement.

“In addition to undertaking our own investigation, the incident has been reported to the relevant authorities and law enforcement and we are co-operating with them as a matter of urgency.”

Bitcoin and other virtual currencies use blockchain, which records transactions that are updated in real time on an online ledger and maintained by a network of computers.

In 2014 major Tokyo-based bitcoin exchange MtGox collapsed after admitting that 850,000 coins — worth around $480 million at the time — had disappeared from its vaults.

Bitcoin’s use on the underground Silk Road website, where users could use it to buy drugs and guns, also raised suspicions about the virtual money.

Source: AFP

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