According to Trinh Anh Tuan, Deputy Director of the Vietnam Competition and Consumer Protection Agency under the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), in enforcing the Competition Law over the past 12 years, the MoIT had conducted 87 pre-litigation investigations in important and sensitive sectors of the economy in order to detect violations. Minister Tran Tuan Anh said the amended Competition Law aims to surmount a lack of basis for control over actions taken beyond Vietnam’s territory that have or may have adverse impacts on the competition environment in Vietnam. The amended draft version of the Competition Law consists of nine chapters with 121 articles. The draft maintains six articles of the 2004 law, amends 66 articles, supplements 49 articles, and abrogates 49 articles. Major amendments and supplements aim to increase the range of subjects covered by the law. Apart from individuals and organizations doing business, the draft also applies to related domestic and foreign agencies, organizations and individuals. Stipulations pertaining to the control over the abuse of monopoly power were amended based on the combination between economic and legal considerations. The draft also consists of specific rules for dealing with unhealthy competition mentioned in other laws, but creates no overlaps to prevent conflicts in enforcement. Notably, the draft supplements the Competition Law by stipulating that a National Competition Agency will be the only authority to enforce the amended Competition Law. It will be based on the merger of the Vietnam Competition Authority and the Competition Council, and operate under… [Read full story]
US Ambassador Michael W. Marine has recently addressed the International Economic-Cultural Exchange Club on "US-Vietnam Ties: Opportunities and Barriers". Following is an interview with the Ambassador on this important occasion. What should Vietnam do in its competition with neighbouring countries on investment attraction and export markets ? To succeed, Vietnam must create an efficient, transparent, rules-based economy that is free from corruption. This means providing foreign firms and investors with access to Vietnam ’s growing markets and industries within a predictable legal and regulatory system. It means establishing a financial sector that mobilizes capital efficiently and loans it out…... [read more]
The Government has pledged to take stronger measures to create a level playing field for businesses and to improve the competitiveness of local enterprises.Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc made the commitment after hearing recommendations from entrepreneurs and associations at a conference in Ha Noi yesterday.The conference themed “Siding with Business”, the second of its kind since Phuc took office as Prime Minister, aimed to build breakthrough policies to better serve business development.Over the past year since Resolution 35 on supporting and developing businesses was issued, Viet Nam has gained some achievements, such as a record 110,000 new enterprises being established…... [read more]
Economist Pham Chi Lan tells the Tien Phong (Vanguard) newspaper that preferential treatment for foreign firms at the expense of Vietnamese enterprises will harm the nation in the long runCan you give some examples of different treatment given to Vietnamese and foreign invested enterprises?There are three main preferential treatments given to foreign enterprises.The first is land. Due to the rapid development of the real estate market, land prices in Viet Nam has become more expensive in the past few years and access to land for Vietnamese enterprises has become more difficult. But, for most of foreign direct enterprises, they can…... [read more]
A seminar entitled “Revising competition law: EU experiences and lessons for Vietnam ” was held in Hanoi on September 22. This was the last in a series of seminars held in Vietnam’s five major cities by the Multilateral Trade Assistance Project III (EU-Vietnam MUTRAP III) and the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) from September 14-22. Addressing the event, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Le Danh Vinh said that the Competition Law, which has six charters and 123 articles, is a voluminous legal document that plays a vital role in shaping Vietnam’s market economy. Consequently, the effective implementation of…... [read more]
The report on competition in 10 economic sectors, released in the middle of this month by the Vietnam Competition Authority under the Ministry of Industry and Trade shows competition in the production sector is much healthier than in the essential service sectors. Stifling competition To evaluate the competition, five criteria—market size, market entry barrier, market structure, policy impacts and current mechanism to the competition, and present state of competition on the market— were used. The five service sectors selected for the assessment were telecommunications, insurance, banking, oil and gas distribution, and aviation. These sectors are being steered towards having more…... [read more]
