Vietnam News Today (Dec. 6): Ample Room For Vietnam, Japan to Boost Cooperation in Digital Economy

Vietnamese National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue speaks at the first plenary session of the first CLV parliamentary summit in Vientiane on December 5.

Vietnam puts forward cooperation initiatives at first CLV parliamentary summit

Vietnamese National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue has made major proposals to rev up cooperation between the legislatures of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam (CLV) at the first CLV parliamentary summit in Vientiane on December 5.

In his speech, Hue first emphasized that the relationship of solidarity, friendship, closeness and political trust between Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam is an invaluable heritage with long-term strategic significance in the cause of national construction, defense and development of the three countries.

Vietnam always values and considers this a strategic task and top priority in its foreign policy, he said.

He affirmed that the establishment of the CLV parliamentary summit mechanism is an important milestone in the history of cooperation between the three parliaments, which will elevate cooperation between the three legislative bodies to new heights, towards realizing the outcome of the high-level meeting of the top Party leaders of the three countries in September 2021.

To foster tripartite parliamentary cooperation, Hue suggested that the three legislative bodies enhance cooperation in perfecting institutions and promulgating legal policies to support their Governments in socio-economic development, ensuring security and national defense, while closely coordinating and supporting each other at regional and international forums, especially the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum (APPF), and ASEAN-Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA), contributing to successfully building the ASEAN Community and promoting Mekong Subregion cooperation.

He asked the three parliaments to closely monitor the effective implementation of the signed documents on economic, trade and investment cooperation and negotiate to sign new documents, in order to make a breakthrough in economic cooperation, and strengthen complementarity and connection between the three economies, with a primary focus on specific mechanisms and policies for the CLV Development Triangle Area, cited VOV.

Regarding social and cultural affairs, the Vietnamese leader suggested that the three parliaments coordinate and supervise the implementation of policies on tourism development, especially the ‘three countries – one destination’ model, as well as those on healthcare, education-training, and cultural cooperation. He expected that the three parliaments would continue to ask the Governments to create favorable conditions for the Vietnamese, Cambodian, and Lao communities to live, study, and work in each country.

Hue emphasized the need to respond to environmental issues and climate change, saying the three parliaments should enhance coordination, pass laws, and increase exchanges on cooperation with partners related to the environment and water resources, especially the sustainable management and effective use of water resources of the Mekong River. In addition, the three parliaments should encourage their governments and relevant parties to promote the implementation of global sustainable development goals and respond to climate change.

With regard to defense and security, the Vietnamese leader underscored the importance of the strong mutual support between the three parliaments in maintaining stability, order and security in each country, not allowing any force to use one country’s territory to fight against another country. He also urged the three legislatures to support the early completion of land border demarcation and border marker planting between the CLV countries.

Ample room for Vietnam, Japan to boost cooperation in digital economy: Forum

Vietnamese and Japanese experts exchanged views on solutions to foster cooperation in digital economy between the two countries at a forum in Hanoi on December 5.

The “Vietnam-Japan Policy Research Forum: Digital Economy Partnership under Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity: How should Japan and Vietnam cooperate?” was held by the Central Institute for Economic Management (CIEM) in coordination the Graduate School of Public Policy under the University of Tokyo, with the support of the Toshiba International Foundation.

A view of the forum. (Photo: qdnd.vn)

Speaking at the event, Nguyen Anh Duong, Director of the CIEM’s Department for General Economic Issues and Integration Studies, highlighted Vietnam’s efforts in boosting digital economy and cooperation in this field.

Kazuo Kusakabe, Chief Representative of Hanoi Representative Office of Toshiba Asia Pacific Pte Ltd, pointed to substantial potential for the two countries to strengthen their collaboration in digital economy, according to VNA.

Vietnam and Japan issued a joint statement on the elevation of their relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership for peace and prosperity in Asia and the world last month, which also mentioned enhancing cooperation in digital economy, he stressed.

Participants said Vietnam should work to raise its capacity for digital economy in combination with its partnerships in this regard. They also discussed changes in the Vietnam-Japan relations, and international trends and developments that affect economic cooperation in the Indo-Pacific.

Vietnam to develop initiatives to sustain FDI flows

Vietnam will set up a support fund to encourage and lure strategic investors and multinational groups, making it more attractive in attracting foreign direct investment, as the National Assembly recently approved a resolution on applying additional corporate income tax in accordance with the Global Anti-Base Erosion Rules (global minimum tax).

Under this resolution that takes effect from the first day of the next year, a global minimum tax rate of 15% will apply to multinational enterprises (MNEs) with revenue exceeding EUR750 million (about US$800 million) or more in two of the four consecutive years. Investors subject to the tax will have to pay the global minimum tax in Vietnam. It is estimated that more than 120 MNEs in the country will be affected by the global minimum tax.

The 15th National Assembly agreed in principle and asked the Government to build a draft decree on the establishment, management and use of a fund to support investment from the global minimum tax and other legal sources to stabilize the investment climate and attract strategic investors and MNEs.

This means together with embracing the global minimum corporate tax rate, Vietnam will carry out initiatives to retain its foreign investment magnetism, cited VNA.

Ho Chi Minh City attracts more than 3 billion USD in foreign direct investment during January - November. (Photo: VNA)

At the Vietnam Business Forum (VBF) held earlier this year, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said the Government was keeping a close watch on and learning experience from other countries to sketch out a suitable policy on the global minimum corporate tax that is able to create favorable conditions for foreign enterprises to run effective business in Vietnam.

Meanwhile, Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung has reiterated that Vietnam will prepare “incentive packages” to support investors in the context that the global minimum corporate tax is levied right in 2023, helping sharpen the competitive edge of the investment environment and harmonizing benefits of the sides.

Although there is a long way to go to build the draft decree, the Government and National Assembly’s moves will make a significant contribution to winning confidence from foreign investors.

Canon Vietnam Deputy General Director Dao Thi Thu Huyen said tax incentive is a key factor for the company to expand large-scale production in Vietnam, adding the country should have timely policies to maintain the commitments it has made or foreign firms will consider relocating their workshops to other destinations with better competitive advantage.

Many other giants have expressed their concern that the new global tax will make them less competitive in the Vietnamese market, which will possibly lead to their decision to withdraw their capital from the market.

According to economist Tran Hoang Ngan, besides financial incentives, Vietnam should sharpen focus on the upgrade of socio-economic infrastructure, training of high-quality human resources, the development of a green economy, and the facilitation in administrative procedures.

Those are the issues that foreign investors are interested in, he said.

The FDI inflows have not only created favorable conditions for Vietnam to speed up the expansion of the international market, but also helped the country improve its business activities in all aspects, thus reducing the capital burden for many large-scale projects.

Alongside, the attraction and use of FDI has also motivated the economic transition and restructuring and growth model renovation, enhancing the competitiveness of the nation, sectors, products and services, and promoting the reform of institutions, legal policies, and environmental considerations, heading to the development of a full, modern and integrated market economy.

Make-in-Vietnam platforms compete equally with foreign giants

In the past, the country was dominated by foreign digital platforms, but that has changed. The domestic market has witnessed the strong rise of Vietnam-made platforms in recent years.

Tran Minh Tuan, director of the Department of Digital Economy and Digital Society under the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC), said the number of monthly users of digital platforms via mobile apps in Vietnam surpassed 500 million in the first six months of 2023, an increase of 16 percent over the same period last year.

The upward trend shows Vietnamese users’ interest in Make-in-Vietnam platforms.

MIC reported that there are about 60 platforms and mobile apps with more than 1 million monthly users, up 10 percent over the same period last year.

Among the Vietnamese-run digital platforms, Zalo is the best known with 74 million users monthly. It is also the most influential digital platform in Vietnam, with the number of users accounting for 75.5 percent of the total population.

Of the 16 apps with regular monthly users of over 20 million, there are three Vietnamese ones -- Zalo, Zing Mp3, and MoMo e-wallet, accounting for 18.75 percent.

Among the group of 12 apps with the number of regular users of 10-20 million, there are also Vietnamese names, such as Bao Moi, Vietcombank, Tiki, My Viettel, and MB Bank.

Tuan noted that digital transformation must rely on digital platforms. In cyberspace, those who hold digital platforms hold the data. So, if Vietnam doesn’t rely on Vietnam-made digital platforms, the major beneficiaries from digital transformation won’t be the Vietnamese people.

To encourage the establishment and development of digital platforms, MIC will join forces with ministries and branches to approve national digital platforms, platforms that serve businesses’ transformation, and platforms that serve the public.

In the next step, the ministry will carry out campaigns in mass media, messages and basic information systems to attract people to these digital platforms, VNN reported.

Photo: VNN

Meanwhile, the network for business digital transformation consulting and community digital technology group will help businesses digitize using Vietnamese digital platforms.

Vietnam platforms

Emphasizing the importance of Vietnamese platforms, Nguyen Chi Thanh, deputy CEO of Viettel Solutions, said national digital platforms can serve as basic infrastructure, like roads for traffic.

There must be national digital platforms that act the leading role. It takes a lot of money and resources to set up a platform so it will not be feasible if every business builds a platform for itself.

According to Thanh, thanks to concentrated investments, national digital platforms will be strong platforms. The use of commonly shared platforms will help businesses optimize costs in digital transformation. When using platforms, businesses will pay small fees.

Deputy CEO of VNPT IT Nguyen Duc Kien believes that encouragement by the state to develop Vietnamese platforms will bring two benefits, including high quality and optimization of costs for businesses once the list of commonly used platforms is released.

Nguyen Thuong Tuong Minh, CEO of Base.vn, said digital transformation is based on the combination of three factors – human resources, tools and procedure.

“I completely agree with the view to prioritize investment and modernization of Vietnam's digital platforms, because this is the factor that brings the three 'weapons' to businesses, which are speed, leanness and data," Minh said.

He said that platforms developed by Vietnamese technology firms in recent years did well in the first period of digital transformation, which focused on supporting businesses to go digital. In this period, the major benefit of technology was helping divisions in enterprises interact with each other and operate effectively from a distance. This was done well during the pandemic.

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