A draft law on establishing special economic zones (SEZs) in Vietnam has been put on ice so as to give more time for more research on the soundness of its provisions, particularly those pertaining to incentives.
Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung on August 11 announced the postponement of the creation of a law on special administrative and economic entities to enable relevant agencies to fine-tune the contents of the pending bill, according to local media reports.
The proposed changes in the organizational structure of the SEZs, the investment schemes, and the offered incentives as stipulated by the draft law have to be carefully revisited to ensure their feasibility, the government said.
Some of the proposed SEZ models favored a setup where they would be placed under a special people’s committee rather than following the current people’s committee model at city, provincial, and lower levels.
Moreover, other SEZ models reportedly provide for mechanisms and incentives designed to attract investments in casino and high-tech projects to hasten the development of the surrounding areas.
Customs considering bar codes
Meanwhile, the country’s General Department of Customs has been asked to look into the use of bar codes on the declaration forms for import and export goods to facilitate the clearance of shipments at ports and border gates.
The Ministry of Finance asked Customs to incorporate in the bar codes information concerning number and date, type of customs declaration form, import and export format, quantity, and registered number of container.
This request comes after an earlier instruction by the ministry for Customs to trim the number of steps for processing customs declaration forms.
Photo: ILO in Asia and the Pacific
