OneStepVietnam presents
Monthly Newsletter of June 2024
ECONOMIC NEWS
The General Statistics Office (GSO) released data on Saturday showing that in the first half of this year, the GDP of Vietnam grew by 6.42%, which is only slower compared to the same period of 2022 during the 2020-2024 period. In particular, the industrial and construction sector increased by 7.51%, the service sector by 6.64%, and the agro-forestry-fishery sector rose by 3.38%.
In terms of trading, Vietnam’s export and import revenue with the rest of the world reached US$368.53 billion in the first half of this year, with a trade surplus of US$11.63 billion. Specifically, the total export value increased by 14.5 percent year over year to US$190.08 billion. The anticipated value of processed product exports was US$166.79 billion, accounting for 87.7% of the total volume of exports. In the same period, Vietnam imported goods valued at US$30.15 billion, up 13.1% from the previous year, with production materials as the main import category, which accounted for 94% of all imports for the six-month period.
In addition, official data indicates that the foreign investment disbursement during the January-June period hit a five-year high of US$10.84 billion.
The manufacturing sector in Vietnam appears to be thriving, as seen by the significant increase in the Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) from 50.3 points in May to 54.7 points in June (reported by S&P Global), which highlights three major findings: the number of orders increased the strongest since March 2011, employment grew again and output prices increased at the fastest rate in two years.
Source: Online Newspaper of the Government
NEW LEGAL REQUIREMENTS
1. Law on Water Resources
This law provides for management, protection, regulation, distribution, restoration, development, exploitation and use of water resources; prevention of, response to and recovery from damage caused by water in the territory of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. One of the important provisions of this law is the regulation on water resource exploitation permits.
Organizations and individuals exploiting water resources for purposes such as domestic use, agricultural production, aquaculture, industrial production, hydroelectricity, irrigation, sports, tourism, business, services, water supply, salinity prevention, flood control, landscape creation, and other objectives must obtain the corresponding water resource exploitation permits for the type of water source being utilized. In cases of groundwater extraction, a groundwater exploration permit is also required prior to the construction of any facilities.
Water resource exploitation permits consist of:
a) Surface water exploitation permit;
b) Groundwater exploitation permit;
c) Seawater exploitation permit.
An organization or individual is not required to declare or license the exploitation of water resources and register the exploitation and use of water resources in the following cases:
a) Exploit water for cultural activities, religious activities, practices of folk beliefs, fire prevention and fighting, national defense and security purposes, plant watering and road cleaning for public purposes;
b) Exploit surface water on a small scale to be used for agricultural production and aquaculture;
c) Exploit surface water on a small scale to be used for purposes other than those specified in points a and b of this clause and point dd clause 5 of this Article;
d) Exploit water for domestic activities in areas in the event of a drought, water scarcity, saltwater intrusion, pollution incident or epidemics announced by competent authorities according to the provisions of law;
dd) Exploit seawater to be used for saltwater production;
e) Exploit seawater to serve activities at sea;
g) Exploit seawater on a small scale to be used for production, business, service provision and aquaculture on islands or mainland;
h) Use river, stream, canal, ditch and reservoir water surface for aquaculture, business, and service provision on a small scale;
i) Dig lakes, ponds, canals and ditches on a small scale to create space to collect, store and convey water, and create landscapes;
k) The use of water surface within hydraulic structure protection corridors shall comply with regulations of law on irrigation;
l) Other cases prescribed by the Government.
Households exploiting groundwater for domestic purposes must make the declaration for management.
Organizations and individuals must register the exploitation and use of water resources in the following cases:
a) Exploit surface water on a medium scale to be used for agricultural production and aquaculture;
b) Exploit groundwater on a small scale to be used for purposes other than those specified in point A clause 3 and clause 4 of this Article;
c) Use groundwater naturally flowing in a mining pit to select ore at the pit or pump water to drain the water naturally flowing into the mining pit;
d) Exploit seawater on a medium scale to be used for production, business, service provision and aquaculture on islands or mainland;
dd) Small and medium-sized river, stream, canal and ditch damming works for the purposes of source creation, saltwater intrusion prevention, inundation control and landscape creation;
e) Use river, stream, canal, ditch and reservoir water surface for aquaculture, business, and service provision on a scale other than that specified in point h clause 3 of this Article; use reservoir surface water for solar power production;
g) Dig lakes and streams; dig lakes, ponds, canals and ditches to create space for water collection, storage and conveyance, and create landscapes on a scale other than that specified in point I clause 3 of this Article.
Additionally, the government has issued two decrees to provide guidance on this law, including Decree No. 53/2024/ND-CP elaborating on some articles of the Law on Water and Decree No. 54/2024/ND-CP on groundwater drilling practicing, water resource-related declaration, registration, licensing and services and fees for water resource exploitation right.
2. Decree No. 73/2024/ND-CP Prescribing Statutory Pay Rate for Officials, Public Employees and The Armed Forces
According to the new regulation from The Government, the statutory pay rate will be increased from VND 1,800,000 to 2,340,000
The statutory pay rate shall be used as the basis for:
a) Determining the levels of salaries in payrolls, allowances and other benefits for officials and public employees;
b) Determining the levels of subsistence allowances as per the law;
c) Determining contributions and benefits concerning the statutory pay rate. Such as:
– Increase the maximum mandatory insurance (social insurance, health insurance and unemployment insurance) contribution level (maximum 20 times of the statutory pay rate).
– Increase the per-diem allowance for convalescence and health rehabilitation after sickness.
– Increase the lump-sum allowance upon childbirth or child adoption
– Increase the per-diem allowance for convalescence and health rehabilitation after the maternity leave period.
– Increase the lump-sum benefit and monthly benefit relating to occupational accidents or occupational diseases
– Increase the rate of direct health insurance benefit payment.
– Increase the requirement for participants in health insurance to enjoy 100% coverage of medical expenses after 5 consecutive years.
The Decree was issued on June 30, 2024. This regulation came into force from July 01, 2024 and replaced the Decree 24/2023/ND-CP dated May 14, 2023.
3. Decree No. 74/2024/ND-CP Prescribing the Statutory Minimum Wages Paid to Employees Working under Employment Contracts
Effective from July 1, 2024, the new regional minimum wage will be applied as follows:
– Region I: 4.960.000
– Region II: 4.410.000
– Region III: 3.860.000
– Region IV: 3.450.000
This adjustment aims to ensure fair compensation and improve the living standards of workers across different regions.
According to this decree, several localities will be moved to regions with higher minimum wages. Specifically:
a) Region II to region I
– Quang Ninh province: Cities and district-level towns, including Uong Bi, Mong Cai, Quang Yen and Dong Trieu;
– Hai Duong province: Hai Duong city
– Dong Nai province: Thong Nhat district
– Long An province: Tan An city and Duc Hoa, Ben Luc and Can Giuoc districts
b) Region III to region II
– Hai Duong province: Chi Linh city, Kinh Mon town and Cam Giang, Binh Giang, Tu Ky, Gia Loc, Nam Sach, and Kim Thanh districts
– Dong Nai province: Tan Phu and Cam My district
– Long An province: Kien Tuong district
– Bac Giang province: Bac Giang city, Viet Yen town and Yen Dung district
– Thai Binh province: Thai Binh city
– Thanh Hoa province: Thanh Hoa city, Sam Son city, Bim Son and Nghi Son districts;
– Khanh Hoa province: Ninh Hoa town
c) Region IV to region III
– Hai Duong province: Ninh Giang, Thanh Mien and Thanh Ha districts
– Thai Binh province: Thai Thuy and Tien Hai districts
– Thanh Hoa province: Trieu Son, Tho Xuan, Yen Dinh, Vinh Loc, Thieu Hoa, Ha Trung, Hau Loc, Nga Son, Hoang Hoa, and Nong Cong districts
– Ninh Thuan province: Ninh Phuong district.
4. Decision No. 496/QD-TTg on the Issuance of the National Plan for the Management and Elimination of Ozone-Depleting Substances and Controlled Greenhouse Gases
This decision establishes a comprehensive national strategy aimed at managing and phasing out substances that deplete the ozone layer and control greenhouse gases. The plan outlines specific measures and regulatory frameworks to be implemented to mitigate environmental impacts and promote sustainable development.
This decision has set forth a plan up to the year 2045 for managing and eliminating HCFC and HFC substances. It includes the management of products and equipment containing or manufactured from HCFC and HFC substances according to their GWP values, the lifecycle management of controlled substances, and the application of sustainable cooling solutions.
ONESTEPVIETNAM NEWS
This month, we provided regular audit, assessment, Higg FEM and SLCP verification services for its customers as our usual business.
OneStepVietnam team – June 2024