APR News

Vietnamese enterprises have gradually adapted to the new changes to stand firm in the Russian market, contributing to boosting trade between Vietnam and Russia, as well as building a strong Vietnamese communities in the host country.
The statement was made by Chairman of the Vietnamese Businesses’ Association in Russia (VBA), Le Truong Son, during a conference in Moscow to discuss VBA 2017 operations, on 17 March 2018.
Delegates at the event stated that, in the past year, Vietnamese businesses in Russia faced numerous difficulties due to the changes in the Russian economy and politics, requiring them to develop towards specialization and professionalism in order to adapt to the new situation.

The new lineup of China's State Council, nominated by Premier Li Keqiang, was endorsed by lawmakers at the ongoing national legislative session of 13th National People's Congress in Beijing on Monday.
Han Zheng, Sun Chunlan, Hu Chunhua and Liu He were endorsed as Vice-premiers. The latter is known as the major economic advisor of Chairman Xi Jinping on economic issues. Xiao Jie was appointed Secretary-general of the State Council.

China will expand its market access by lowering tariffs on imported vehicles and some consumer goods, the Minister of Commerce of the country Zhong Shan said at a press conference.
China is home to the world’s second largest consumer market, and consumption has, for the fourth consecutive year, become the largest driver of economic growth, Zhong said.
About 400 million of its 1.4 billion population are middle-income earners, the minister noted, adding that continuous social and economic development, rising incomes of the residents and improving livelihoods mean there is huge consumption potential in China.
As a result of China’s economic progress and supporting policy in recent years, China maintained a rapid growth in its vehicle sales, with the number topping the world since 2009. In 2016, over 20 million new vehicles were sold. At the same time, car ownership kept rising.

The Indonesian government will offer more tax incentives than other ASEAN countries, to lure more investment inflow, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati stated.
"We have done a benchmarking and in terms of allowance and holiday, our offers will be much better than Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Philippines," she noted here on Tuesday.
The incentives are made to finalize all investment`s regulation in Indonesia that had been ordered by President Joko Widodo (Jokowi).
The Finance Minister noted the incentive package will be announced by President Jokowi in April this year, in order to give global`s confidence towards economic growth, emerging market, and conducive investment`s climate in Indonesia.
Indrawati revealed that there would be some radical changes in the incentives` package on tax holiday and tax allowance.

Korean foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2017 rose to a record high of US $43.70 billion, up 11.8 percent from US $39.10 billion in the previous year. By industry, FDI in finance & insurance (up 47.5%) and wholesale & retail (up 64.9%) surged to a record high. FDI in real estate & renting fell (down 43.3%) after rising steadily since 2013. FDI in manufacturing also declined (down 3.4%). By type, greenfield investment, such as establishment of a foreign subsidiary, fell 2.1 percent, but mergers & acquisitions increased 33.6 percent.

China’s foreign trade embraced a larger-than-expected increase in the first two months of 2018, with a total value of 4.52 trillion yuan ($714 billion) for goods imports and exports, up 16.7 percent compared to the same period last year.
Exports stood at 2.44 trillion yuan ($386 billion), up 18 percent, while imports came in at $328 billion yuan, for a rise of 15.2 percent.
The EU, the US, the ASEAN and Japan were all key engines to China’s impressive exports and imports in January and February. The country’s total trade with Belt and Road nations stood at 1.26 trillion yuan ($199 billion), 5.2 percentage points higher than the general growth of its foreign trade.

The Vietnamese Government issued Decree 28/2018/NĐ-CP, which stipulates the principles for activities of foreign trade promotion agencies in Vietnam.
The decree states that agencies, including governmental and non-governmental organizations, associations and equivalents, need to set up a representative office in Vietnam in order to engage in trade promotion activities in the country. They are not allowed to establish more than one representative office in a province or centrally-run city.
These agencies do not include foreign entrepreneurs, non-governmental organizations, agencies for cooperation and research, cultural-educational institutes or other kinds of foreign organizations.

The construction of the Sino-Russian Tongjiang-Nizhneleninskoye railway bridge is expected to be completed this year together with other cross-border infrastructure programs aimed at enhancing China's connectivity with Russia, Central Europe and Central Asia, senior officials of Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province said on 8 March 2018.
Li Haitao, Heilongjiang Vice-Governor, made the remarks on Thursday during a press event on the sidelines of the ongoing session of the 13th National People's Congress in Beijing. The border province also vowed to be active in China's projects, including the Belt and Road initiative and China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor in the coming years.

On 6 March 2018, Minister of International Trade and Industry (MITI) Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed presented “Malaysia Investment Performance Report 2017”. During the presentation he stated, that the Government aims to attract new investors to less developed parts of the country, since currently most of the funds are concentrated in Johor, Penang and Klang Valley.
Less Developed Areas Incentive was launched in 2015 and offers such benefits, as
• 100% income tax exemption up to 15 years;
• Stamp duty exemption;
• Withholding tax exemption on fees for consultancy services up to 2020;
• Import duty exemption on raw materials and components, that are not locally produced;
• Import duty exemption on machinery and equipment.

In accordance with Regulation No. 11/2018, issued by the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry of Indonesia, foreign enterprises can participate in auctions of metal, mineral and coal mining concessions with area more than 500 hectares.
If concession’s area is less than 500 hectares, it will be put up for a tender, where regional authorities-owned entities (BUMD) are allowed to participate. In case no BUMD is interested in the land, national companies of other types and individuals can bid for it.