Laws of Vietnam

Over the past ten years, export and import activities have recorded many big achievements and reached the targets laid down in the Strategy of Socio-Economic Development in the 1991-2000 period. Export value in the year 2000 may increase by more than 5.6 times that in 1990, averaging 18.4% per year, contributing to the annual growth of GDP, helping the economy to overcome the period of crisis in the early 90’s. Export is being an important outlet for many economic branches, making an important contribution to the industrialization and modernization of the country.

In preparation for the coming period, at its recent session in August 2000, the Government discussed and made suggestions to the Draft Strategy of Developing the Export and Import of Commodities and Services in the 2001-2010 period presented by the Ministry of Trade. Later, the Prime Minister held a meeting with enterprises in the whole country to discuss measures to promote export. In the appraisal of the Government, for all its many achievements, the import and export service, epecially export, still show not a few weaknesses, chiefly because: economic development of our country remains low, the competitiveness of our goods is weak, the cost price of our products is high while their quality is low, production has not kept close to market demands and has not relied on the market to clear the way for production while market is the vital question of export; the policies and mechanisms of export and import have been reformed in a positive way in recent years but are not yet stable; the ministries and branches have not taken the initiative in removing difficulties and obstacles for the enterprises.

In order to finalize and carry out the Strategy of Developing the Export and Import of Commodities and Services in the 2001-2010 period and promote export in the coming period, the Prime Minister urges all ministries, branches, the People’s Committees of the provinces and centrally-run cities and enterprises engaged in export-import production and business to firmly grasp the basic contents and promote the following works:

1. The Strategy of Developing the Export and Import of Commodities and Services in the 2001-2010 period, especially export, must be a strategy of all-round acceleration in many fields, and must involve breakthroughs with firm steps. The objective of our actions in this period is to carry on the policy of giving the highest priority to export; to create sources of quality goods with value added and high competitiveness for export; to help solve the job problem for society, to create the source of foreign exchange reserve in order to meet the demands of industrialization and modernization of the country; to shorten rapidly the gap in economic development between our country and other countries in the region.

2. Export of commodities and services in the 2001-2010 period shall have to grow by an average of 15% and more yearly and must meet the following requirements:

a/ The export structure must be changed vigorously in the direction of increasing processed and manufactured products, with emphasis on the products with a high technology and grey matter content; at the same time, attention must be paid to the exploitation of those goods using chiefly raw materials and materials on the spot, and using intensive labor required by the domestic as well as foreign markets. At the same time, we have to exploit all sources of exportable goods; strive to achieve trade balance by the years 2009-2010 and export surplus after the year 2010.

b/ To pay attention to raising the value of manufacture and quality of each export product; to reduce the export of roughly processed goods, increase the rate of deeply processed goods through new technologies; to reduce contractual manufacture, promote the production of export using high-quality raw materials and materials in the country requiring new technologies; to improve the infrastructures of breeding and planting, to make use of plant varieties and animal breeds of high output and quality and appropriate processing technologies along with measures of environmental protection; to adopt the planning of material areas for each group of products; the process of managing production must be reorganized scientifically and most economically; to step by step work out the national quality norms for export commodities under the trademark "Made in Vietnam".

c/ Export products must meet the diversified requirements of the world market, especially requirements in quality and designs. Each kind of goods must secure its main and prime markets and concentrate capabilities to broaden these markets, at the same time take the initiative in expanding them to other markets in the direction of multilateralising and diversifying our trade relations. We must adopt concrete policy towards each market and step by step reduce export through intermediate markets. The common orientation is to use all possibilities to maintain a rational export ratio into the existing markets in Asia, especially the Japanese market, further step up our direct export to the markets with high purchasing power like the United States and Western Europe; to penetrate and gradually increase our export ratio into the markets in Eastern Europe, Russia, SNG, America and Africa.

Marketing and trade promotion are of great importance and must be developed strongly with a view to creating a favorable international environment for export. The programs of trade promotion and market expansion must be concretized and linked with external relations activities, taking advantage of diplomatic activities to support the signing of framework treaties, agreements and long-term contracts of great value with other countries, international organizations and big markets in order to secure a stable outlet, from which to build a basis for investments to renovate technologies, raise the value of localization and the value added of exports.

Depending on their functions, the ministries, branches and overseas representative offices of Vietnam must step up their external relations activities, increase their international cooperation in order to broaden the export market. The associations of business lines must play an active role in coordinating the efforts of the enterprises and assist them in intensifying the search for markets and customers; to build and agree on programs of action aimed at protecting and raising the reputation as well as the common interests of the associations, of each member and of the nation in the competition on the international market.

3. Import must be closely oriented; average growth of import in the 2001-2010 period shall be maintained at 14%/year. Attention should be paid to the import of high-tech to meet the demands of the industries processing farm, forestry, aquatic and marine products and producing light industry goods. At the same time, this must be associated with the development and use of the technologies, plant seeds and animal breeds and materials newly adopted or produced in the country.

To restrict the import of quality products which have been produced in the country and which have achieved national or international standards; to enhance the approach to the markets supplying source technologies with great possibilities of efficacious investment such as Western Europe, the United States and Japan.

The policies and mechanisms of controlling import in this period must be considered carefully so as to make them conform with the process of carrying out our Government’s commitments on international integration with international and regional organizations and other multilateral and bilateral commitments.

4. At present, the role and potential of the export service and foreign exchange service have not been adequately appraised. We must regard this as an export potential that needs to be promoted in the 2001-2010 period. Among these services, we must pay attention to tourism, labor export, post and telecommunications, financial, banking and insurance services, service of goods transportation by air, sea and railway... The orientation for development of these domains should be reflected in concrete programs, in which attention should be paid to investing in the development of tourism in order to turn tourism quickly into a spearhead economic branch.

5. To achieve the above-said objectives and requirements, the related ministries and branches, the People’s Committees of the provinces and centrally-run cities should adopt plans to coordinate with the Ministry of Trade and the Ministry of Planning and Investment in determining the structure of export goods and services of each branch and each locality as required by the market; on this basis, to build target export programs and projects together with the concrete capacity of production, policies and business lines with concrete growth rates and the export markets, so that within a short period we can create competitive export products.

The target programs and projects of export, after approval by the competent authorities and becoming operational, shall be given priority in the granting of State credits and loans from the banks, shall enjoy preference in investment policies if their production and business prove effective.

The Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Ministry of Finance and the Vietnam State Bank should take the initiative in adopting plans to supply credit funds to the programs and projects of production and export in the 2001-2010 period and not let the lack of investments for the production of export goods occur.

6. Besides drawing up the above export programs, the Ministry of Trade is assigned with the task of assuming the main responsibility and coordinating with the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment, and the Vietnam State Bank to revise and finalize the concrete policies, mechanisms and measures to meet the demand of creating sources of export goods and stepping up export. These policies and mechanisms must cover all aspects, land, investment, finance, credit... aimed at effectively assisting the above target export programs, on the principle of ensuring preference to the domestic enterprises which produce and supply raw materials for the production of exports on the same footing with the export producing enterprises. Priority in capital shall be given to the establishment of the Export Support Credit Fund and deployment of its activities in 2001 in order to eventually establish the Import-Export Bank before 2005.

In the immediate future, in the year 2000 and early 2001, attention must be focused on handling difficulties and obstacles mentioned by the enterprises in the domains of customs, service, taxation and especially value added tax.

With a view to holding the initiative in international economic integration, it is necessary to study and issue legal documents based on the principles about customs, environment, health safety and epidemiological hygiene, as well as the principles on bilateral trade agreement, assistance to the major goods production branches in the country, especially agricultural production, with mechanisms against monopoly, against trade fraud and control of trade in border areas.

The Ministry of Trade and the relevant ministries and branches shall have to report at the end of the first quarter of 2001 to the Prime Minister on concrete programs of export and finalize the above said policies.

For the Prime Minister
Deputy Prime Minister
NGUYEN MANH CAM