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ADVANCED TRANSLATION WEEK 6 – PRACTICE

Credendo: Viet Nam continues successful economic story beyond a contained pandemic
Credendo Group’s offices in Germany and Austria have published a study to evaluate the level of risk in Viet
Nam, which emphasised that the Southeast Asian country is continuing its successful economic story after its
good performance in controlling the COVID-19 pandemic.
The article quoted the latest country study of Credendo, saying that Viet Nam has been one of the few highly
resilient countries during the unprecedented COVID-19 shock.
The swift, strict and very effective containment of the virus after the outbreak in neighbouring China largely
explains this, it said, noting that an early travel ban, testing and wide-scale contact tracing on top of the
containment measures have helped keep the virus under control.
While most countries were severely hit and hindered by the economic impact of the virus, Viet Nam’s economy
continued to operate at a good albeit slower pace despite an initial high level of business disruption, it said.
Credeno's study shows that in 2020, Viet Nam had exceptional economic performance while advanced and
emerging economies in all the world’s regions have suffered a record recession.
The study said for Viet Nam, the global demand slump was more than offset by the strong global demand for
medical products, electronics and computers resulting from the COVID-19 crisis. Hence, exports of goods grew
last year.
Increased public investments in infrastructure also played a significant role in supporting economic activity. A
more accommodative monetary policy – including the State Bank of Viet Nam’s policy interest rate cut from 6
percent to 4 percent – brought an extra stimulus.
According to Credendo, Viet Nam remains largely immune to the further waves of the virus that are currently
affecting many parts of the world. Hence, the Vietnamese authorities will take time to vaccinate the population.
Viet Nam is confidently looking ahead to continue the country’s economic success story, which has been
characterised by average growth of 6.8 percent in the past two decades, it said.
The study stressed that an impressive outcome in the COVID-19 context lies in the fact that Viet Nam’s
economic and financial risks have not increased. Even though GDP growth reached its lowest level since the mid-
1980s, it was in positive territory in 2020 – unlike for most of the country’s peers in the region – and is expected
to accelerate strongly this year and towards 6.5 percent – 7 percent in 2022.
Meanwhile, Viet Nam’s external debt ratios remain low and debt service has barely increased, whereas the
current account surplus is persisting despite some narrowing, it said, adding that post-COVID-19 prospects are
positive for those risk factors on the back of a global economic recovery.
So far, Viet Nam has been benefiting from the changing commercial environment and ongoing supply chain re-
organization.
The study said COVID-19 has shaken global supply chains, which could benefit Viet Nam in the long term, as it
is seen as a stable investment location for business relocation in South-East Asia.
In addition, free trade agreements (FTAs) that Viet Nam signed in the period 2019-2020 such as the European
Union-Viet Nam FTA (EVFTA) or the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP) will
help boost its trade and FDI inflows.
Over the past few years, Viet Nam has become a magnet for the biggest multinationals such as Samsung and
Apple, which are attracted in particular by strong growth prospects, a low-cost workforce and an investment-
friendly climate, to set up large manufacturing sites.
Credendo also stressed that at the 13th National Congress of the Communist Party of Viet Nam, which ended in
early February, the general political direction for the coming years was confirmed, with the economy and its
continued liberalisation as a key priority and guarantor of the stability of the one-party regime.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Credendo has kept its political risk ratings unchanged. The ST political risk
rating is likely to remain at a solid 2/7 thanks to resilient liquidity. It forecast that the assessment will be
improved further after the COVID-19 pandemic ends, the global economic situation normalises and Viet Nam’s
strong economic momentum resumes.
Credendo is a European credit insurance group with offices across the world. This group operates in all areas of
commercial credit insurance and political risk insurance, as well as provides risk insurance products worldwide.
Culture makes creativity: expert
Vietnam currently pursues building a startup nation based on innovation, but there are remaining many
difficulties challenging the country. Assoc.Prof.Dr. Bui Hoai Son talks with us about this issue.
In your opinion, why do cities want to participate in the world's Creative Cities Network?
The new trend of the world today is to tap into creativity as the most important resource for development,
because creative resources are unlimited, compared to natural ones. So that people should exploit resources to
enrich themselves and the society.
Countries that make good use of the creativity potential of human have a better advantage than others. It is
evident that many countries with limited natural resources are among the most developed ones, such as Israel,
Singapore, Japan, South Korea.
Moreover, innovative products play a more important role in life and economic development, especially when the
creativity industry does not make air pollution, which is linked with many of the United Nations sustainable
development goals. The 4th Industrial Revolution also supports the development of the creativity industry.
Vietnam currently pursues building a startup nation based on innovation. What do you think about the role of
the creative culture in a startup country?
In addition to the common trend of the world, Vietnam has paid attention to the culture and creativity industry
since 2005 when the Convention on Protection and Promotion of Diversity of Cultural Expressions was issued by
the United Nations. The Convention emphasizes the preservation of national cultural identity, the role of cultural
products and services associated with customs and traditions as well as the supply and demand of the market in
the cultural development.
The investment in culture is still below expectation. How should we measure the value of culture?
Cultural development also requires paying attention to the economic aspect. But it is not only about the revenue
of cultural products. Their messages to people are more important. Furthermore, culture and arts improve the
spiritual life, making a place becomes a worth-living one. Therefore, towards sustainable development, we must
focus on cultural and creative industries.
What should Vietnam do to promote creativity?
In the cultural industry, creativity centers must be set up. For example, the US has Hollywood as a gathering
place for creative people with the same vocation such as cinema, art, fashion, among others. These centers help
spread creativity to the community and other places. In Vietnam, creative hubs should be Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh
City, and Danang.
Hanoi is the first city in Vietnam to participate in the world's Creative Cities Network. As a participant in the
preparation and submission of documents to UNESCO, in your opinion, what are the strengths for Hanoi to
be selected as a Creative City?
Hanoi was selected as the first city of Vietnam to join the world’s Creative City Network. It can be said that this
is a relatively risky choice because Hanoi is not an ideal place for new “experimentation”. Hanoians are usually
cautious with changes. However, it must be Hanoi because it has a huge cultural resource with over a-thousand-
year history that not all capital cities in the world have. Hanoi is the land that gathers the most talented people of
the country for centuries.
It is also home to plenty of craft villages, valuable tangible and intangible heritages and a rich world of cuisine. If
Hanoi promotes creativity based on the potential of craft products and cuisine, many new interesting products and
events will be created to attract the public as well as the investment in conservation projects.
Moreover, most important central state organizations are located in Hanoi so that it is easy to promote the
national and international brand for cultural events taking place here.
Besides, Hanoians have recently changed with a more open mind that accepts and adapts to innovation and
adjustment to create breakthroughs.
After more than one year becoming a creative city, has Hanoi made significant changes, in your opinion?
Hanoi has not achieved the goals that we expected, even though we devised a lot of ambitious plans such as
organizing contests, setting up design centers, training about creativity and public art development, among others.
Hanoi has recently organized two seminars, showing the concern of city leaders on the role of creativity to the
city’s development. However, Hanoi needs to take more action to achieve its goals on creativity.
Thank you for your time!
How governments can use tax policy to speed economic recovery?
The COVID-19 pandemic has created opportunities for a fairer, more robust and more efficient tax revenue and
spending system.
Governments worldwide have responded to the COVID-19 crisis by ramping up public spending and rolling out
emergency fiscal response measures in an effort to bolster healthcare systems, strengthen social protection, and
boost the economy. By November 2020, more than $25 trillion in financial support was announced by Asian
countries to combat the pandemic. At the same time, tax collections are declining everywhere.
Even prior to the pandemic, tax revenues in many Asian developing countries were below the level needed to
achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The COVID-19 pandemic has driven these revenues further
down, and brought socio-economic hardship on a scale not seen before.
This is expected to push tens of millions of people in the region into extreme poverty, sharpen pre-existing
inequalities and roll back decades of progress on sustainable development. How can governments finance the
response to these challenges?
Governments will need to raise taxes once the pandemic abates. A possible solution lies in taxing property and
wealth. Over the past two decades, the Asia-Pacific region has undergone a remarkable economic transformation.
However, it has also brought with it a surge in income inequality.
A widening wealth gap between the “haves” and the “have-nots” and the concentration of wealth and power in
the hands of a few, could erode social cohesion, threaten political and economic stability and, consequently,
undermine investors’ confidence.
Inequality also makes a greater proportion of the population vulnerable to external shocks and possibly deepens
pockets of poverty. Taxing the wealthy, many of whose incomes have been largely unaffected or even enhanced
by the crisis, needs to be part of the solution.
To this end, taxes on property, such as recurrent taxes on immovable property, recurrent taxes on net wealth,
taxes on estates, inheritances and gifts, as well as progressive income taxes should be considered as part of
countries’ medium and long-term revenue strategies.
Our latest study, Mapping Property Tax Reform in Southeast Asia, offers broader insight into the performance of
recurrent immovable property taxes, which are defined as taxes payable regularly, usually each year, for the use
or ownership of land, buildings or other structures.
Our study looked at Cambodia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, and found that the scope for raising
revenue by increasing taxes is noticeably clear. Property tax reforms in these countries can contribute to broader
government strategies, and can benefit from coherence with other systems, as well as government functions
related to land management.
While some of these revenue enhancing reforms were put on hold in 2020 (with Thailand significantly reducing
the impact of the newly introduced Land and Building Tax), the reforms, and their effective implementation,
have now acquired a renewed sense of urgency.
In the Philippines, for instance, the government is embarking on the Real Property Valuation and Assessment
Reform program, which will usher in efficient, transparent, and equitable real property valuation and transaction
systems at the Bureau of Local Government Finance. It is estimated to yield incremental real property tax
collections at local government units by 25% in 2023 onwards.
Other Asian developing countries are using this analysis as a basis to compare, evaluate and improve the
performance of their property taxation systems and to engage in broader policy discussions on reform
opportunities.
The opportunity to enhance revenue mobilization is not limited to property taxation. Indeed, Asian developing
countries are addressing a range of necessary tax reforms in their strategies for domestic resource mobilization
and international tax cooperation.
Renewed efforts will be important to combat tax evasion and avoidance and to improve compliance and
administrative efficiency. The challenges however will not stop here and over the longer term a revenue reform
strategy will have to recognize how to address other challenges such as COVID-19, the climate change crisis,
economic inequality, and the digital divide.
The COVID-19 pandemic has created unprecedented fiscal challenges. But it also presents opportunities for a
fairer, more efficient and more robust tax revenue and spending system.
Thủ tướng: Dự án nào không thể khắc phục, kiên quyết cho giải thể, phá sản
Đối với 12 dự án kém hiệu quả của ngành công thương, dự án nào không còn khả năng khắc phục thì kiên quyết
thanh lý, giải thể, phá sản theo quy định của pháp luật, thu hồi tối đa tài sản nhà nước.
Chiều 3-3, Thủ tướng Nguyễn Xuân Phúc chủ trì cuộc họp Thường trực Chính phủ về các dự án chậm tiến độ,
kém hiệu quả của ngành công thương với sự tham dự của ban chỉ đạo và các bộ, ngành.
Theo báo cáo, đã có 3 dự án ra khỏi diện theo dõi, chỉ đạo xử lý. Một số dự án đã duy trì vận hành sản xuất, có
sản phẩm nhưng còn nhiều khó khăn, lỗ lũy kế lớn; một số dự án còn dở dang hoặc dừng hoạt động.
Đặc biệt, có 5 dự án tranh chấp hợp đồng EPC đã đàm phán nhiều lần nhưng không thành công. Theo ý kiến của
Bộ Công thương, do việc chưa quyết toán được hợp đồng EPC nên không đủ cơ sở pháp lý để thoái vốn.
Đánh giá cao nỗ lực của ban chỉ đạo để xử lý công việc cụ thể cũng như trách nhiệm của các ngân hàng vì các dự
án có vốn vay lớn, Thủ tướng cho rằng bước đầu có kết quả tốt. Với 3 dự án đã đi vào hoạt động, các dự án còn
lại được yêu cầu tiếp tục xử lý. Trong đó, Bộ Công thương trình phương án xử lý đối với dự án Nhà máy Bột
giấy Phương Nam trước ngày 10-3 để Thủ tướng xem xét, có ý kiến chỉ đạo trên cơ sở chặt chẽ, đúng pháp luật.
Những dự án còn lại là những dự án phức tạp, tổng mức đầu tư cao so với ban đầu, thua lỗ kéo dài, trong khi Bộ
Chính trị, Chính phủ cho ý kiến là không được sử dụng ngân sách để cơ cấu lại doanh nghiệp nhà nước.
Do đó, Thủ tướng yêu cầu ban chỉ đạo, trực tiếp là Ủy ban Quản lý vốn nhà nước tại doanh nghiệp cần tập trung
chỉ đạo, đề xuất cụ thể hơn. Trong đó xếp loại và chỉ đạo hướng xử lý cụ thể đối với các dự án còn lại, bao gồm 3
dự án của Tập đoàn Hóa chất. Một số dự án thiếu cơ sở pháp lý thì các bộ, ngành thảo luận, đề xuất có biện pháp
xử lý cần thiết.
Thủ tướng cũng yêu cầu các tập đoàn, tổng công ty tính toán cơ cấu lại các dự án theo đúng thẩm quyền, quy
định. Tinh thần là hạn chế thấp nhất tiêu cực đối với ngân sách nhà nước và nền kinh tế, bảo đảm quyền lợi cho
người lao động, cho an ninh, quốc phòng, cho môi trường và ổn định xã hội.
Những dự án nào không còn khả năng khắc phục thì kiên quyết thanh lý, giải thể, phá sản theo quy định của pháp
luật, thu hồi tối đa tài sản nhà nước. Thủ tướng đề nghị ban chỉ đạo đưa ra danh mục dự án không thể khắc phục
để xử lý cương quyết.

Tiềm ẩn rủi ro khi đầu tư vào các sàn Forex, tiền ảo

Tại họp báo Chính phủ thường kỳ tháng 2-2021 diễn ra chiều 2-3, lãnh đạo Ngân hàng Nhà nước Việt Nam, Bộ
Công Thương, Bộ Công an đã thông tin về một số vấn đề liên quan đến sàn trao đổi tiền tệ trên thị trường tài
chính toàn cầu và tiền ảo...
Liên quan đến dấu hiệu lừa đảo của các sàn Forex (sàn trao đổi tiền tệ trên thị trường tài chính toàn cầu), Phó
Thống đốc Ngân hàng Nhà nước Đào Minh Tú cho biết, chỉ có các tổ chức tín dụng được nhà nước cấp phép thực
hiện việc trao đổi tiền tệ quốc tế, các sàn Forex hiện nay đều hoạt động không đúng quy định pháp luật. Việc
tham gia các sàn Forex tiềm ẩn nhiều rủi ro, không được pháp luật bảo vệ. Do đó, Ngân hàng Nhà nước khuyến
cáo người dân thận trọng khi tham gia các sàn giao dịch này.

Liên quan đến thời gian gần đây, việc đầu tư vào các đồng tiền ảo tiếp tục rộ lên, Phó Thống đốc Đào Minh Tú
cho biết, pháp luật Việt Nam không cho phép tiền ảo thay thế chức năng của đồng tiền pháp lệnh. Việc sử dụng
các đồng tiền ảo để thanh toán hoặc thay thế đồng tiền pháp lệnh là vi phạm pháp luật. Các cơ quan chức năng
hiện đang triển khai, làm rõ cơ sở pháp lý của việc kinh doanh tiền ảo, tài sản ảo để có biện pháp quản lý.

Thông tin về việc quản lý các sàn Forex, Thiếu tướng Tô Ân Xô, Chánh Văn phòng Bộ Công an cho biết, Bộ
Công an tập trung thực hiện 3 giải pháp. Trong đó, Bộ đã kiến nghị Chính phủ giao các cơ quan chức năng
nghiên cứu đầy đủ, đưa loại hình kinh doanh này vào khuôn khổ, tuyên truyền cảnh báo các nhà đầu tư về các
dấu hiệu vi phạm pháp luật và xử lý nghiêm nếu đầy đủ chứng cứ phạm tội.

Thứ trưởng Bộ Công Thương Đỗ Thắng Hải phân tích, các sàn Forex kinh doanh theo phương thức đa cấp. Bộ
Công Thương khuyến cáo các nhà đầu tư không nên tham gia các hình thức kinh doanh này.