Vietnam to Exempt 2,586 Tax Lines for Japan-sourced Goods Beginning Oct 1

The Vietnamese Ministry of Finance will exempt 2,586 out of 8,873 tax lines on imports from Japan beginning October 1, 2009 through March 31, 2012 as the first phase in line with the Vietnam-Japan economic partnership agreement (VJEPA), which will take effect October 1 this year.

 

Meanwhile, Japan will cancel 7,220 out of 9,100 import tax lines for Vietnamese products during the period, said the newspaper, but it gave no details on which products would be exempt. 

 

Under VJEPA, Hanoi and Tokyo agreed to exempt taxes on 92% of bilateral trade within 10 years of implementation (2009-2019).

 

Last year, two-way trade between Vietnam and Japan hit US$15.5 billion.

 

Japanese investors now rank first in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) disbursement despite being the third largest foreign investor in Vietnam, said an official from the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI).

 

Japan has pledged to invest US$17.2 billion in 1,100 projects but disbursed over US$5 billion, said Phan Huu Thang, head of the Ministry’s Foreign Investment Agency. (Local sources)