Retail in Asia

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VN retailers face pressure as foreign firms enter the market

Vietnamese businesses are seeing significant pressure after the government started allowing foreign investors to open wholly-owned retail companies in January, said Nguyen Minh Phong of the Hanoi Socio-Economic Development Research Institute.

Free trade agreements have forced members to accelerate the process of cutting taxes on foreign trade in the region. Since 2010, the ASEAN-6, comprising Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, have eliminated 99.4 percent of the taxes ASEAN wants slashed.

Vietnam had eliminated 72 percent of foreign trade taxes by 2014, and roughly 90 percent were cut by January 1, 2015. ASEAN will lift all duties starting in 2018.
 

(Source: Viet Nam News)