Gov’t says to disband several economic groups
Gov’t says to disband several economic groups
The Government is looking to pull down the number of State economic groups to around five or seven, meaning several conglomerate-type groups will be disbanded, stated Minister Chairman of the Government Office Vu Duc Dam.
Replying to local media’s question over the Ministry of Construction’s proposal to abolish the State economic group model of Song Da Corporation and Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUD) due to inefficient business, Chairman Dam said the plans for reorganizing HUD and Song Da are under consideration.
“The current number of eleven groups will certainly shrink to five or seven,” he said.
This is part of the process for State group and corporation restructuring already approved by the Government.
Particularly, the Prime Minister’s responsibility to manage the conglomerates active in the State monopoly fields like Electricity of Vietnam (EVN), Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PVN) and Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT) will be enhanced.
The remaining groups will be reorganized through dissolution, consolidation or handover to ministerial and local agencies, under the spirit of Decree 32 on State ownership in State-owned enterprises.
At the regular press conference of the Government on Wednesday, the Finance Ministry also fielded questions on tax issues.
“From now to 2020, the Government will propose tax reduction per unit of goods to encourage production and business activities,” said Deputy Minister of Finance Vu Thi Mai, in response to a report of on the macro-economy made by the National Assembly Economic Committee, with an emphasis on tax burden.
Mai said tax and fee payment contribution to the State budget had reached as much as 29% in the 2007-2011 period. However, this figure does not fully reflect the actual situation, as it comprises taxes levied on land and crude oil.
If land and crude oil tax payments were excluded, tax payments would only account for 12-14% of GDP, which is average compared to the world’s level.
The figure revealed by Mai is much different from the one given in the macro-economy report of the NA Economic Committee. According to this report, tax and fee payments, exclusive of crude oil, stand at some 26.3% of GDP, a very high ratio compared to levels in the regional countries.
Mai said the current corporate income tax rate in Vietnam is 25%, which falls to 16.32% with graces and incentives factored in. Meanwhile, the average tax rate is 30% in Thailand and the Philippines, and 27% in 83 other countries.
Similarly, the value-added tax rate of Vietnam is 5-10%, versus 12-25% in 112 other nations.
Mai said taxes in Vietnam had been constantly reviewed and amended, with 243 kinds of tax and fee removed since 2003. The Government will continue to ease tax obligations of citizens and businesses from now to 2020.
the saigon times
