Accordingly, Management Board of Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park was merged into Binh Duong Industrial Zones Authority (referred as Management Board) since May 22, 2020. The Management Board is a unit directly under the Provincial People's Committee, having its own legal status, account and seal; has a Head and no more than 03 Deputy Head appointed by the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee. The Management Board consists of 06 rooms; functions and duties of the Board are specified in Article 63 of Decree No. 82/2018/ND-CP dated May 22, 2018 of the Government and other relevant legal documents.

On this occasion, the provincial People's Committee also awarded Decision of the Chairman of Provincial People's Committee to appoint Mr. Nguyen Thanh Trung - Deputy Head of Management Board of Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park to hold the position of Deputy Head of Binh Duong Industrial Zones Authority. Thus, the leaders of Binh Duong Industrial Zones Authority include: Mr. Bui Minh Tri - Head; Mr. Nguyen Thanh Nhan and Mr. Nguyen Thanh Trung hold the position of Deputy Head.

Mr. Tran Thanh Liem (middle) - Chairman of the provincial People's Committee awards the Decision and Mr. Nguyen Thanh Truc (left) - Vice Chairman of the provincial People's Committee presents flowers to the leaders of Binh Duong Industrial Zones Authority.

​Targets to 2025 must complete the construction of electronic government; labor productivity will increase by an average of 7% - 7.5%/year; develop smart city in Binh Duong province in some areas such as: Health, Education and Training, Agriculture and Rural Development, Natural Resources and Environment, Transport. Completing digital transformation in state administrative agencies; basically carry out digital conversion at agencies of the Party, Fatherland Front, socio-political organizations in the province. At the same time, basically complete the implementation of items and component projects of e-government and smart cities according to the approved programs and schemes; apply smart urban model to solve some urban issues, promote economic development in Binh Duong province, especially Thu Dau Mot city.

By 2030, ensure 5G mobile network coverage for all citizens to access broadband Internet at low cost; digital economic development; transform e-government model into digital government model and Binh Duong smart city connected to the smart urban network nationwide; labor productivity will increase by 7.5% - 8% on average.

To achieve the above goals, Binh Duong innovates thinking, unifies awareness, enhances the leading role of the Party, the management of the State, promoting the participation of Fatherland Front and socio-political organizations. Concretize the Party's guidelines, the State's policies and laws in accordance with the provincial practices in order to create favorable conditions to actively participate in the Industrial Revolution 4.0 and the digital transformation process. Develop essential infrastructure - Technology platform to build e-government towards digital government; formulate development policies and raising the capacity for innovation, human resource development policies to attract and develop priority industries and technologies; promote international integration; promote digital transformation in Party agencies, the State, Fatherland Front, and socio-political organizations.

Plan​

​Attending the meeting were the Standing Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh; Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh; Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung; leaders of a number of ministries, branches, 8 provinces and cities in the Southern key economic zone, enterprises, associations and experts etc.

On the Binh Duong side, attending were Mr. Tran Van Nam - Member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Head of the Provincial National Assembly Delegation; Mr. Tran Thanh Liem - Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee; leaders of related departments and branches and representatives of businesses in the province.

Binh Duong leaders attended the conference

Opening remarks, referring to the cause of the important initial victory in the Covid-19 disease prevention and control, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc emphasized: "We have the timely and right policy. At the same time, we are committed to the dual goal of fighting against pandemic, protecting the health of the people and not collapse the economy". In the context of world economic recession, Viet Nam's economy in the first quarter of 2020 still grew by about 4% and in May the situation was better. With an important role of the Southern Key Economic Region, accounting for 42% of the national GDP, the Prime Minister asked localities in the region to contribute their enthusiastic comments to the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Ministers, ministries and branches to make the better and right decision.

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At the conference, representatives of the provinces and cities in the region committed to fulfilling the socio-economic targets of 2020, at the same time proposing to the Prime Minister many issues to promote economic development. Chairman of Binh Duong People's Committee Tran Thanh Liem affirmed that although the impact of the disease on the socio-economic development of the province is very large, Binh Duong still endeavors to maintain the growth target of 2020 at 8.86%. At the same time, the province also introduced solutions to maintain the growth target, together with provinces and cities to overcome challenges, support businesses to develop sustainably.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc speaks at the conference

Concluding the conference, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc emphasized, the Southern key economic zone is the key economic zone of the country. In the near future, this will be a megacenter, with the leading scale in Southeast Asia and the whole Asia region. The Prime Minister said that Ho Chi Minh City and the remaining 7 provinces will be "diamond octagon" here. Therefore, the Southern key economic zone will reach its goal, reaching the goal at least 10 years earlier in the goal of a strong and prosperous Viet Nam, ie becoming a powerful region by 2035.

According to the Prime Minister, to achieve that goal, localities need to unite and hold hands to develop together in a vision. According to regional development planning of Ho Chi Minh City and 7 neighboring provinces: Ba Ria - Vung Tau, Binh Duong, Binh Phuoc, Tay Ninh, Long An, Dong Nai, Tien Giang, Ho Chi Minh City is determined to play a role in linking and supporting regional cities for development.

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Attending the meeting were representatives of the leaders of the Department, of the SBV; Provincial National Assembly Delegation; representatives of departments, branches, commercial banks and representatives of some associations and businesses in the province.

In the first months of 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic seriously affected all aspects of social life, causing adverse impacts on the economy of the country generally and of Binh Duong province particularly. According to statistics, the economic growth rate of Binh Duong province has slowed down; all economic development indicators have growth but the speed has decreased compared to the same period in 2019; Enterprises producing export goods have appeared certain difficulties and inadequacies due to the shortage of raw materials, as well as the volume of goods exported to some countries in the markets.

Under the impact of the pandemic, under the direction of the SBV, the State Bank – Binh Duong branch has implemented many solutions on currency, exchange rate, interest rates, credit etc. to support removing difficulties for customers affected by the pandemic. As a result, after 2 months of implementing the Circular No.01/2020/TT-NHNN dated March 13, 2020, to April 30, 2020, Credit institutions in Binh Duong province have restructured the repayment period for 571 customers with a loan balance of VND 2,262 billion; exempted and reduced interest rates for 2,316 customers with outstanding loans of over VND 753 billion; lending to 4,470 new customers for preferential interest rates with cumulative sales from January 23, 2020 reaching nearly VND 25,000 billion.

At the conference, many businesses highly appreciated the efforts of the Banking industry, especially debt restructuring, loan principal rescheduling, interest rate exemption and reduction, and debt group maintenance etc. These are practical and timely policies. However, many businesses also believe that it is difficult to access these support sources due to complicated procedures, causing difficulties for businesses and interest rates are still high etc. Therefore, the Banking industry should soon have more solutions to help businesses quickly overcome difficulties.

Mr. Dao Minh Tu - Deputy Governor of the SBV speaks at the conference

Concluding the conference, Deputy Governor of the SBV Dao Minh Tu asked the entire Binh Duong Banking industry to acknowledge and supplement mechanisms and policies to remove difficulties for businesses. SBV has always created favorable conditions for businesses, people and the Banking sector to minimize the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. For credit institutions, the Deputy Governor also required the units to continue to closely guide and promote the implementation of solutions, to share maximum difficulties of customers. The SBV will strictly handle leaders and professional staff who are slow to implement, intentionally causing difficulties and troubles for enterprises, and are irresponsible. People and businesses' customers need to propose and recommend issues related to the banking sector's mechanisms and policies so that the industry can provide more effective support to overcome difficulties caused by pandemic, promoting the economy to continue developing after the pandemic and increasingly better serve the needs of monetary and banking services to all economic sectors.

On the side of Binh Duong province, Mr. Tran Thanh Liem - Chairman of the provincial People's Committee suggested the relevant departments and agencies should promptly recognize and implement strict and effective implementation of solutions to support businesses under the direction of the Central and the guiding documents issued by the Provincial People's Committee. Particularly for the provincial State Bank, it is necessary to continue directing and guiding credit institutions to promptly balance and meet capital demands for production and business activities, speeding up reform of administrative procedures, shortening the time to review loan applications, improving the access to loans of customers; promptly applying supportive measures such as rescheduling, repayment and interest rate exemptions, keeping the debt group, discount etc. for customers facing difficulties due to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. Along with that, promote non-cash payments; electronic payment service fee reduction and reduction programs to directly support service users, especially online payment of public administrative services; coordinating with departments, agencies, People's Committees at all levels to promptly share, inform, propagate and disseminate mechanisms, policies and solutions of the Banking industry; contribute to creating a consensus in the deployment, implementation and urge the implementation and inspection of credit institutions in the province in the observance of industry’s guidelines, regulations and instructions of the SBV.

According to the timber enterprises (DN) in the province, many wooden orders that have been exported before are delayed, along with a number of countries that have closed and stopped trading goods (mainly markets UK, USA) due to the Covid-19 epidemic, many businesses in the industry faced financial difficulties and export markets. In addition, the production and export situation of the timber industry is affected by importing countries applying restrictions on import and export or strengthening goods control to limit the spread of epidemics, leading to interrupting the progress of implementation of export contracts previously signed, causing large quantities of goods of many enterprises.

At the beginning of 2020, many experts said that Binh Duong's wood industry continued to make breakthroughs and possibly together with the whole country, bringing the export value of wood products to 12,5 billion USD, but the disease has slowed the pace of the machine. enterprise. The closure of cargo ports in some countries has narrowed production, many businesses suspended production and waited for the epidemic to pass to ensure the health and safety for workers and workers.

According to the Chairman of Binh Duong Timber Association of Dien Quang Hiep, the province currently has 1.600 enterprises operating in the timber industry (accounting for 40% of the timber enterprises across the country), in January, February of 2020 production value of the businesses have a growth, but since the beginning of March, the Covid-19 epidemic has caused 30% of businesses to suspend operations, businesses with export orders to countries such as the US and Denmark are coming soon. countries in the European Union (EU) also produced in moderation waiting for "signals" to open from partners when the epidemic was controlled. In fact, combined with the forecast of a short decline in orders, the remaining months of the year will be difficult to achieve export value of 12,5 billion USD as the target set from 2019.

However, in the context of the disease also appeared bright spots. Some businesses have good growth, abundant orders and overtime to ensure progress. These are long-time companies in the industry, have a wide customer network, especially built an online sales system early to help proactively market and trade through E-Commerce Exchange.

Facing the aforementioned difficulties, many wood enterprises in the province are trying to find domestic sources of raw materials to replace imported materials. In addition, many wood enterprises have built online sales systems, transacting via e-commerce exchanges. Currently this form accounts for more than 50% of the orders of wood businesses in the province.

Mr. Dien Quang Hiep said that the complex disease context has proved that online transactions are an indispensable trend in the world. The business community of timber industry in Binh Duong is one to two years slower than other countries, but now businesses are deploying cooperation with major E-Commerce exchanges in the world such as Alibaba Group, Amazon ... At, Binh Duong Timber Association supports by continuously opening online transaction training courses for member businesses and receives a great response from businesses. E-commerce transactions currently account for more than 50% of the orders of businesses in the province of Binh Duong.

According to information from the People's Committee of Binh Duong Province, in the first quarter of 2020, most businesses have been proactive in sourcing raw materials for production until the end of March 2020, to ensure the orders signed from the beginning of the year, many The company has signed orders with traditional customers until the second quarter of 2020. Typically, at Hiep Long Export Furniture Manufacturing Company (Hiep Long Company, Thuan An City), from the beginning of 2020 until now, goods have been exported with a value of over US $ 3 million, an increase of about 5% compared to with the same period.

In addition to solutions to overcome difficulties of enterprises, the Wood Association of Binh Duong province also proposed many solutions to remove difficulties and speed up production such as policies on reducing land tax and enterprise income tax; Proposing commercial banks to reduce interest rates to 2%, to extend the time to complete mature debts; suspend payment of insurance premiums (Social Insurance, Unemployment Insurance) and encourage workers to take unpaid leave, and share difficulties with businesses when production must be temporarily pause.

At the Binh Duong bridge point, there were Mr. Tran Thanh Liem - Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee and leaders of some departments and sectors.

Delegates attending the meeting at Binh Duong bridge point

According to the evaluation results report, the State Bank of Vietnam topped 17 ministries and branches in the 2019 PAR Index with 95,40%. At the bottom of the ranking is Ministry of Transport with 80,53%.

Results PAR Index in 2019 of provinces, cities and Quang Ninh ranks first in the country, followed by Ben Tre province. Binh Duong reached 82,30 / 100 points, ranked 17th in the PAR Index and ranked in B group of provinces with an index of 80% - less than 90%.

The administrative reform results in 2019 of the provinces and cities had an average value of 81,15%, the highest in the last 4 years; 62 provinces and cities had an increase in the evaluation score compared to 2018.

The Red River Delta and Southeast regions are still the two regions with the highest average values, followed by the Northern Midlands, North Central and Central Coast, Southwest, and Central Highlands regions.

Regarding the satisfaction index of people and organizations for the service of the state administrative agency in 2019 (SIPAS), headed by Quang Ninh province; the province with the lowest satisfaction rating is Binh Thuan.

Binh Duong reached 88,2%, ranked first in the Southeast region and ranked 13th in the country, an increase of 2,9% compared to 2018 (85,3%).

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​​​New generation free trade agreements

The term "next-generation free trade agreement (FTA)" is used to refer to FTAs with broad and comprehensive commitments, including commitments on free trade in goods and services such as "Traditional FTA"; the deepest level of commitment (tax reduction is almost to 0%, there may be a schedule); have strict enforcement mechanisms and moreover, it covers areas that are considered "non-traditional" such as: Labor, environment, state-owned enterprises, government procurement, transparency, mechanisms resolve investment disputes ...

Vietnam has now participated in a number of new generation FTAs, including the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the Free Trade Agreement between Vietnam and the European Union (EU) - EVFTA.

Specifically, for the CPTPP Agreement, the countries committed to abolishing import duties on 65-95% of tariff lines and completely eliminating 97-100% of tariff lines as soon as the Agreement comes into effect. Remaining goods will have a roadmap to eliminate tariffs within 5-10 years.

In the CPTPP, Vietnam commits to eliminate high tariff lines, whereby: 65,8% of tariff lines will have a tax rate of 0% right after the Agreement comes into effect; 86,5% of tariff lines will have a tax rate of 0% in the 4th year when the Agreement takes effect; 97,8% of tariff lines will have a tax rate of 0% in the 11th year when the Agreement comes into effect. For export taxes, Vietnam commits to abolish the majority of goods currently subject to export tax according to the schedule from 5-15 years after the Agreement comes into effect.

EVFTA Agreement, the main contents of the Agreement, including: Trade in goods, trade in services, rules of origin, customs and trade facilitation; measures for food hygiene and safety, animal and plant quarantine, technical barriers to trade, investment, trade remedies, competition, intellectual property and sustainable development; legal issues, cooperation and capacity building.

In EVFTA, Vietnam and the EU committed to eliminate import duties on 99% of tariff lines over a period of 7 years for the EU and 10 years for Vietnam. Accordingly, Vietnam commits to eliminate tariffs right after the Agreement comes into force with 48,5% of tariff lines, after 3 years is 58,7% of tariff lines, after 5 years is 79,6% of lines tax, after 7 years is 91,8% of tax lines and after 10 years is 98,3% of tax lines.

With respect to export taxes, Vietnam has committed to eliminate most of its export duties to the EU with a schedule of up to 15 years.

Positive impact on Vietnam's economy

The signing and participation of new generation FTAs will have a great impact on Vietnam's economy through expanding export and import markets. Accordingly, import-export turnover to partner countries will increase, consolidate traditional markets, open up many potential markets on the basis of promoting relations with important economic strategic partners. Specifically:

Firstly, boosting export activities: Trade liberalization in general and new generation FTAs in particular have the effect of promoting export activities. The provisions of these FTAs compel member economies, including Vietnam, to restructure, open new markets and create attraction in goods. In the coming time, when the implementation of tariff reduction under FTAs enters a deep reduction phase, Vietnam's exports are expected to continue to grow strongly due to: (i) The efforts of the ministries, relevant branches in striving to achieve the export growth target of 7-8% set by the National Assembly; (ii) When the tax rate is reduced, especially for raw materials for production of exports, such as: Textile materials, plastics, corn, rubber ...; (iii) CPTPP and EVFTA Agreement will come into effect, which will be a driving force for Vietnam's exports in the near future.

The signing and participation of new generation FTAs will have a great impact on Vietnam's economy through expanding import and export markets

In particular, with the commitment to open markets in EVFTA, it will help further expand export markets, especially products that both have advantages such as agricultural and aquatic products, wooden products, textiles, footwear ... of Vietnam, EU machinery, equipment, cars, motorcycles, and alcoholic beverages.

Secondly, for domestic production: Participation in new generation FTAs will make many products as input materials for domestic production lower prices, so the production costs of businesses Therefore, commodity prices will be more competitive than imported goods, thus boosting domestic production for export. The reduction of tariffs will make more imports from countries, especially EU countries into Vietnam, due to the low price, abundant and diversified designs, and a positive impact on domestic production.

Thirdly, for the business environment: Participation in new generation FTAs such as EVFTA, CPTPP on institutional issues, legal policies behind the borderline ... will create favorable conditions and opportunities for change. , improve policies and laws towards greater transparency, convenience and more in line with international practice. The new generation FTAs will help Vietnam to strengthen the state apparatus, in the direction of promoting administrative reform, increasing responsibility, discipline and discipline of cadres, thereby supporting the process of tissue renewal. growth model and economic restructuring of Vietnam.

Fourth, for attracting foreign investment (FDI): In the new generation FTAs, there are commitments to treat fairly between domestic and foreign investors in establishing, acquiring, expand, operate, deploy, operate, and trade. That will create opportunities for foreign investors to access Vietnam market faster. New generation FTAs also have regulations on sustainable development, which help to reduce backward technologies and promote the development of technologies using renewable and environmentally friendly energy sources. These trends bring a lot of benefits to Vietnam's economy and to Vietnamese businesses.

In the coming period, when the new generation FTAs come into effect, the removal of measures to restrict investment and services, opening the Government procurement market, financial services ... will open up great opportunities for with the investment sector of Vietnam.

With the provisions of the new generation FTAs, investors will invest deeply in Vietnam market, therefore, the quality of foreign investment will be improved, creating motivation for economic development. For example, EVFTA will motivate high quality EU and other partners to enter Vietnam. Up to now, EU investors have been present in almost all important economic sectors, focusing on industry, construction and some service industries.

Businesses take advantage of opportunities

In order to take advantage of opportunities and limit challenges in the implementation of commitments of new generation FTAs, businesses need to pay attention to a number of solutions in the coming time.

Continuing to implement activities of providing and advising businesses on business law, knowledge of international economic integration, as well as experience in dealing with international lawsuits, trade barriers of export markets; Organize many trade-investment promotion programs based on specific markets, industries and business sectors to improve access to domestic and foreign markets.

Continue to promote the role of a bridge between businesses and regulatory agencies, and facilitate connection and exchange between member businesses; enhance the dissemination of integration information about the laws of countries, intellectual property, industrial property, quality management, rules of origin ... for member businesses, support businesses to build businesses. effect.

Strengthening links with each other, creating investment opportunities to increase competitiveness; Proactively build production and business capacity, improve product quality and models to improve competitiveness and build brands; Increasing investment in developing supporting industries, investing in raw material growing areas to minimize dependence on raw materials of foreign suppliers.

Innovating corporate governance and information technology, improving product quality, promoting brand promotion; Along with that, proactively building business strategies, developing production to be able to compete with goods from regional countries even in domestic and export markets, researching to meet the criteria of rules of origin to enjoy tariff preferences. In addition, businesses need to closely monitor the information, schedule of commitments ... from there, give the right direction, build a reasonable business strategy. More importantly, the business community must have a roadmap to adapt and change accordingly. Because, if the tariff barrier is completely removed and brings major economic benefits, the rules of origin emerge as a new barrier.

It is necessary to have a mechanism for early investment in human resources, and appropriate remuneration for material and spiritual benefits, especially for highly skilled workers. This is the investment in human resources to create a competitive advantage in integration. In addition, businesses need to renovate the salary management mechanism associated with labor productivity and business efficiency, encouraging employees to automatically improve their occupational skills.​​

​At the meeting, Mr. Nguyen Phuoc Duc - General Director of Southern Power Corporation informed about the situation of electricity production and business in the first 4 months of 2020 in Binh Duong province. Accordingly, the commercial electricity output reached 4,341,158 MWh, an increase of 4.41% over the same period in 2019 and reaching 29.19% of the plan; Electricity sales reached VND 7,868 billion. In order to share with the difficulties of customers using electricity affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, Binh Duong Power has implemented a price reduction according to Official Letter No. 2698/BCT-DTĐL of April 16, 2020 of the Ministry of Industry and Trade. So far, Binh Duong Power has asked the departments to support the list to reduce electricity prices for customers in accordance with the right object. According to calculations, within 3 months of implementing the electricity price reduction, from April 16, 2020, the province will support 491,399 customers (accounting for 96.6%) with the total support of VND 653 billion.

Mr. Nguyen Phuoc Duc - General Director of Southern Power Corporation speaks at the meeting

Besides, Mr. Nguyen Phuoc Duc also presented difficulties and obstacles in the investment and construction of power grid works in the province. Thereby, proposing to the provincial People's Committee, the departments, agencies and branches to continue to support the Southern Power Corporation in alignment directions, change the planning and compensation for ground clearance of key projects: 110kV Uyen Hung - Phu Giao transmission line, 110kV VSIP II - MR2 Substation, My Phuoc 2 110kV Substation etc. For the implementation of electricity price reduction, the Provincial People's Committee is requested to direct departments and branches to provide a list of customers entitled to policies for Binh Duong Power to comply with regulations.

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Truc acknowledged and appreciated the contribution of the Electricity industry to the development of the province. He affirmed that, under the influence of the Covid-19 pandemic, Binh Duong had implemented many measures to prevent and control the pandemic, and at the same time determined to well implement socio-economic development goals. The Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee instructed the departments and agencies to quickly review and inventory the subjects entitled to electricity price and electricity bill reduction due to the effect of Covid-19 pandemic. Regarding the construction of electricity projects, proposing the Electricity industry to coordinate closely with the province to strictly comply with the regulations; Department of Industry and Trade coordinates with B​inh Duong Power to advise on the construction of electrical works in accordance with the planning.

Accordingly, phone number: 0274.3823718: answer information on the status of application processing; 0274.3824817 - 0274.3824818: answer information about administrative procedures, contact the document handling specialist directly.

Time to receive calls: Business hours on weekdays as prescribed.

Export efforts

In the first months of 2020, the country's import and export situation faced many difficulties when the Covid-19 epidemic broke out around the world. However, with the relentless efforts of businesses, coupled with the "resistance" was prepared in advance, the close support of local authorities, the key industries of the province still maintained growth.

Export growth in April reached the lowest level since the beginning of the year, which is also the general situation of international and regional trade. The good news is that compared to 2019, turnover still has an impressive positive number. Specifically, the export turnover in April 2020 was estimated at US $ 2 billion, down 4.8% from the previous month and up 5.4% over the same period. In the first 4 months of 2020, export turnover is estimated at 8 billion USD 2 million, up 5.4% over the same period. In which, domestic economic sector was 1,372.4 million USD, rising by 3.6%; foreign invested sector 6,630.3 million USD, up 5.8%.

It is worth noting that the main export items still had impressive increase figures thanks to the leverage from the economy in the first quarter. Of which, wood products in April 2020 were estimated at US $ 255,5 million, up 4, 7% from the previous month. In 4 months, export turnover is about 924.5 million USD, up by 3.5% over the same period, accounting for 11.5% of total export turnover.

The Covid-19 epidemic has had a double impact on Vietnam's textile and apparel industry. If right from the first month of the year, businesses lack of raw materials for production, from mid-March to now, businesses fall into shortage of orders due to partners in the US and European markets postponed, canceled orders. However, with outstanding efforts, textile and garment export turnover in April 2020 was estimated at 211,2 million USD, up 2,9% over the same period. In the first 4 months, export turnover is about 777,8 million USD, up by 4,1% from the previous month, accounting for 9.7% of total export turnover. However, textile enterprises also said that in May and June 2020, Vietnam's textile and garment industry has not shown signs of improvement, enterprises still have to focus on coping and finding solutions to maintain jobs and ensure livelihoods for worker.

With the complicated disease situation in most major export markets such as the US and EU, especially the global demand is expected to decrease by about 25%, the leather and footwear industry will have a year of sharp decrease in needles. export quota. However, in April, the export turnover of this item was estimated at 264.6 million USD, up 3.5% over the previous month. In 4 months, export turnover is about 951.4 million USD, up by 3.5% YoY, accounting for 11.9% of total export turnover. Ceramics and porcelain in April-2020 continued to increase slightly, export turnover was estimated at 12.7 million USD, up 2.5% compared to the previous month. In the first 4 months, export turnover is about 47.0 million USD, up by 3.6% over the same period.

Diversify the market

According to the Department of Industry and Trade, in order to prevent risks due to imbalance of exports and imports in some areas and to diversify and limit dependence on some markets, over the past time, the department has focused on monitoring. closely monitoring the situation of each market to review and identify the categories of goods that countries are in need of importing to exploit and promote export. The Department has also made efforts to connect and inform Vietnamese Trade Offices / Branches in foreign countries to grasp the demand for goods in each local market. On that basis, the department provides the opposite information to gather, classify and connect with associations and businesses.

Department of Industry and Trade stated that with many bilateral and multilateral trade agreements that Vietnam has signed to participate, it promises to promote market access, especially for export. Department of Industry and Trade said that the existing foundation should continue to focus on promoting restructuring in the field of industrial production. In particular, the focus area is supporting industries and right now it is necessary to focus on restructuring the link chains to serve industrial production.

Regarding the implementation of free trade agreements (FTAs) to which Vietnam is a member, after concretizing legal documents on FTAs, the Department of Industry and Trade will coordinate with departments and branches to advise the provincial People's Committee to promote activities. propaganda, dissemination and guidance on new-generation free trade agreements ... With many forms, the Department of Industry and Trade will promote the dissemination for businesses in the province to grasp the roadmap of commitments in FTAs. Vietnam is a member of the commercial business sector as well as guides to learn about commitments on tariffs, services, business and investment rights, and procurement so that enterprises can orient and build appropriate business plans. , developing in the right direction.

Attending were Mr. Tran Thanh Liem - Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee; 160 official representatives representing more than 400 party members and 170 guest delegates.

Overview of the Congress

Political reports for the 2015-2020 term at the Congress showed that the ideology of cadres, party members and the masses in the stable agency always believed absolutely in the leadership of the Party and the State. The Party's work in association with the organizational structure of the agency has facilitated its cells and sub-departments to implement. Personnel work is strictly managed, in accordance with regulations. Party Committee, Party Committee Party Cells have well performed the task of annual inspection and supervision. Through examination and supervision, they have promptly rectified the limitations and shortcomings of organizations and individuals, so that the violations must be disciplined. During the term, there were 82 party members admitted, bringing the total number of party members to 462.

Mr. Tran Thanh Liem (3rd from the right) - Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the provincial People's Committee presented a flower basket of the Provincial Party Committee to congratulate the Congress

Especially, in implementing political tasks, the Party Committee of the Taxation Department has focused on leading, directing, managing, constructing and implementing the political tasks of the industry with many positive results. Although, the business production situation of enterprises in recent years still faces many difficulties, the tax industry has united and strived to perform the assigned tasks, the revenue of the following year is always higher than the previous year. Specifically, in 2015, the revenue was VND 26,168 billion, in 2019 was VND 42,922 billion. The revenue of the last tenure has contributed to the good implementation of the provincial budget revenue and expenditure balance, meeting the province's socio-economic development requirements.

The congress set out directions and tasks for the 2020-2025 tenure, which strengthens, strengthens and enhances the leadership capacity of Party organizations and party members. To build a clean, strong and solid Party Committee unanimously and acting in the entire Party Committee. Striving to complete the assigned tasks. Continue to study and follow Ho Chi Minh's ideology and style. Strive for the term of enrollment of 30 or more party members.

Speaking at the meeting, Mr. Tran Thanh Liem - Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee and Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee highly appreciated the efforts of the entire Taxation Party Committee in the past term. He noted that Binh Duong Tax Industry continues to strive to build, preserve and promote its core values, which are "Transparency - Professionalism - Integrity - Innovation". At the same time, the Party Committee of Taxation paid attention to the work of fostering professional ethics for cadres and civil servants of the whole branch from which to build a loyal, intelligent and creative tax officers and public servants. and need, thrifty, integrity, righteousness and impartiality are truly public works of the people.

The Congress also elected the Executive Board of 15 comrades, the Standing Board of 05 comrades, Mr. Nguyen Minh Tam was re-elected Secretary of the Provincial Taxation Party Committee for the term 2020-2025. Electing Delegates to attend the General Meeting of 10 higher comrades.

Delegates cast votes on the Executive Board and the Standing Committee of the Provincial Tax Department

Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Tran Thanh Liem (9th from the left) takes a photo with the Executive Committee of the Provincial Tax Department Party Session X

The Congress approved the Resolution of the Congress of Delegates of the Provincial Tax Department in the term of 2020-2025.

​According to the newly released PCI report of 2019, with 67.38 points, Binh Duong continues to be among the localities with good operating quality, leading the Southeast region.

According to the results of 10 PCI component indicators in 2019 in Binh Duong province, the highest is the Land Access Index, Labor Training, followed by: Transparency, Business Support Services, Cost time, Market entry. Meanwhile, the lowest indicators are Unofficial Costs, Fair Competition, Legal Institutions and Order Security.

Topping the PCI rankings in 2019 continues to be Quang Ninh (the locality with the 3 consecutive years leading), followed by localities: Dong Thap, Vinh Long, Bac Ninh and Da Nang.

PCI index with 10 component indexes, 128 sets of indicators, can be considered to evaluate all business environment of provinces and cities of Viet Nam. The PCI measures the actual quality of provincial economic administration, through local good practices.

According to the Head of the Legal Department of Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) Dau Anh Tuan, 12,429 businesses from 63 provinces and cities across the country participated in the PCI 2019 survey, in which 1,583 foreign-invested enterprises (FDI). After 15 years of conducting the PCI survey (2005-2019), more than 141,000 enterprises responded to the PCI survey, including 125,160 private enterprises and nearly 15,850 FDI enterprises. For every 5 enterprises 1 enterprise participates in the PCI survey.

There is an improvement in the PCI in 2019, which is the average score of 63.25 points. The scores between provinces are no longer quite a distance. The lowest province in the rankings is approximately 60/100 points, compared to the previous time only at 39-40 points. Business environment tends to be more equal in provinces and cities. Transparency shows signs of improvement. The quality of the government's Web site has been improved; the business said it is accessible.

The report has shown a number of clear changes, including the increasing level of dynamism and creativity of the provincial government, the improvement of obstacles and difficulties for enterprises, a more equal business environment, and businesses have greater access to information, legal institutions and improved security, the unofficial cost burden continues to fall, administrative reforms have positive results etc.

Another highlight in the PCI 2019 report is that FDI enterprises continue to have a positive assessment of Viet Nam's business environment. The most impressive improvements are in the area of business registration, land access and unofficial cost cuts as well as the burden of compliance costs for businesses.

FDI enterprises also said that Viet Nam needs to continue promoting administrative procedures related to the operation period after registration, import and export procedures, social insurance, taxes etc. FDI enterprises want Viet Nam to have effective strategies and policies to improve the quality of labor, especially skilled workers.

However, the space for reform is still large, according to VCCI Chairman Vu Tien Loc, that access to public spending is still difficult. The rate of enterprises still having difficulties in administrative procedures on construction land is much higher such as ground clearance, construction planning, urban planning and investment policy decision etc. The previous unofficial cost of 68% now tends to decrease to 53% but is still above 50%.​

Accordingly, employees working under the labor contract regime must agree to postpone the performance of labor contracts, unpaid leave of a month or more due to businesses having difficulties due to the Covid-19 pandemic, without turnover or without financial sources to pay salaries, they shall be supported with VND 1,800,000/ person/ month. The period of support is based on the actual time of temporary deferment of the labor contract, unpaid leave according to the actual situation of the pandemic, counting from April 1, 2020 and no more than 3 months.

The employer has financial difficulties and has paid at least 50% of the termination salary for the employee in advance under Clause 3, Article 98 of the Labor Code between April and June 2020, is entitled to unsecured loans up to 50% of the regional minimum salary for each employee based on the actual pay period but not more than 3 months with 0% interest, maximum loan term of 12 months at Vietnam Bank for Social Policies to pay the remaining salary and disburse monthly directly to the unemployed.

Individual business households that have a tax return of less than VND 100 million/year temporarily suspend business from April 1, 2020 are supported with VND 1,000,000/ household/ month monthly depending on the actual situation of the pandemic, but not exceeding 3 months.

The employee is terminated labor contracts, working contract but not eligible for unemployment benefits; employees who do not have a labor contract and lose their job shall receive VND 1,000,000/person/month monthly depending on the actual situation of the pandemic, but not exceeding 3 months. Application period is from April to June 2020.

People with meritorious services to the revolution, who are enjoying monthly preferential allowances, are entitled to an additional VND 500,000/person/month. The application period is 3 months, from April to June 2020 and to be paid once.

Social protection beneficiaries who are receiving monthly social allowances are supported with an additional VND 500,000/person/month. The application period is 3 months, from April to June 2020 and to be paid once.

Those who belong to the poor and near-poor households on the list as of December 31, 2019 are recognized by the competent authorities as support of VND 250,000/person/month. The application period is 3 months, from April to June 2020 and to be paid once.

Employers affected by the Covid-19 pandemic result in a 50% or more reduction in the number of employees participating in Social Insurance compared to the time when a competent authority announces the outbreak (including temporary suspension of employment contracts, unpaid leave arrangements) then the employee and the employer may temporarily suspend the payment to the retirement and survivorship fund for no more than 12 months.

The support for the subjects must be ensured according to the conditions, complete dossiers, according to the prescribed order and procedures at Decision No. 15/2020/ QD-TTg of April 24, 2020 of the Prime Minister; right subjects, publicity and transparency, not to take advantage of, profiteering policy. The support subjects who are entitled to 02 or more policies are only entitled to the highest support regime; Do not support voluntary subjects not participating.

Attending were Mr. Nguyen Hoang Thao - Standing Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee; Mr. Tran Thanh Liem - Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee; members of the Provincial Standing Committee, Provincial Party Executive Committee, leaders of departments, agencies, districts, towns and cities.

The meeting announced the decisions of the Party Central Committee Secretariat on cadre work of Binh Duong province. Accordingly, the Party Central Committee Secretariat approved the Standing Committee member of the Binh Duong Provincial Party Committee for the term 2015-2020 for Mr. Ho Quang Diep - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Council; appointed Mr. Nguyen Thanh Khiem - Secretary of District Party Committee, Chairman of Bau Bang District People's Council to participate as Member of Binh Duong Provincial Party Executive Committee for the term 2015-2020; approved Mr. Duong Van Tho – Member of Provincial Party Inspection Committee as Deputy Chairman of Binh Duong Provincial Party Inspection Committee; approved Mr. Tran Thanh Liem - Member of the Provincial Party Committee, Standing Deputy Chief of Organizing Committee of Binh Duong Provincial Party Committee to hold the position of Member of Provincial Party Inspection Committee; approved Mrs. Ho Viet Mai - Deputy Head of Operation Department 1 of Provincial Party Inspection Committee to hold the position of Member of Provincial Party Inspection Committee for the term 2015-2020.

Mr. Tran Van Nam (4th from left) - Member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Head of the Provincial National Assembly Delegation; Mr. Nguyen Hoang Thao (3rd from right) - Standing Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee; Mr. Tran Thanh Liem (3rd from left) - Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee hand the Decision and present flowers to comrades approved and appointed by the Party Central Committee Secretariat

Delegates attending the meeting focused on assessing the socio-economic situation, national defense and security in the first quarter of 2020. In the quarter, the provincial People's Committee drastically implemented the resolutions and directions of the Government, the Prime Minister, the provincial Party Committee and the provincial People's Council on the tasks of socio-economic development, defense and security in 2020. At the same time, drastically directing and administering the disease prevention and control, at the same time removing difficulties, promoting production and business, ensuring social security and people's life, accelerating the implementation and disbursement of public investment. Industrial Production Index is estimated to increase 6.14% over the same period in 2019. Total retail sales of goods and services were estimated at VND 62,146 billion, increased by 11.7% over the same period. Export turnover is estimated at USD 5.8 billion, increased by 3.6%, maintaining a trade surplus (USD 1.6 billion). Total development investment capital of the whole society is estimated at VND 20,920 billion, increased by 10.2% compared to the same period in 2019. In the first quarter, there was an additional VND 9,526 billion of domestic investment capital and USD 293.5 million of foreign investment capital. Budget revenue is estimated at VND 17,140 billion, reaching 28% of the provincial People's Council estimate; increased by 15% over the same period. Regarding public investment, as of March 15, 2020, total value of capital disbursement achieved VND 665 billion, reaching 5% of the year plan. Facing the complicated and unpredictable situation of Covid-19, the province has focused on implementing many measures to prevent, control pandemic. Up to now, the province has not recorded any positive cases for Covid-19.

The meeting also heard reports of some initial results of organizing the Party Congress at the grassroots level and the preparation of the Party Congress at the higher level on the basis of the term 2020-2025 in Binh Duong province. Accordingly, the committees at all levels from the provincial to grassroots levels have focused on thoroughly implementing the Directive No.35-CT/TW of the Politburo and the Planning No.101-KH/TU dated August 14, 2019 of the Provincial Standing Committee; the subcommittees serving the Congress urgently performed the assigned tasks; focused on internal politics to build a new team of committees to ensure the conditions, standards and firmness in political prowess, competence and professional qualifications. The Party Committees under the Provincial Party Committee have selected 34 branches, grassroots Party Committee (accounting for 5.8% of the total number of grassroots Party organizations in the whole province) organize congress and pilot congress of the grassroots Party Committee that directly elects the Party Secretary.

The meeting

Concluding the conference, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee Tran Van Nam informed a number of issues related to the Covid-19 disease prevention and control over the past time in the province. The Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee acknowledged and praised the health sector, the armed forces, departments, unions and comrades for direct and indirect with the to prevent and control Covid-19 disease over the past time. “I wish that we are absolutely not subjective and complacent because there are many difficulties ahead. On this occasion, I would like to suggest comrades to continue promoting their initiatives, strengths, tightening solidarity, promoting the spirit of solidarity to overcome difficulties etc.” Mr. Tran Van Nam emphasized.

Regarding the key tasks in the second quarter of 2020 and the coming time, the Provincial Party Committee Secretary noted some issues that need to be focused on implementing. They are: On a general mission basis of both against pandemic and socio-economic development, drastically and synchronously implementing the directions of the Central Government; continue to closely monitor the situation of enterprises, firmly grasping the labor situation to better serve the leadership and direction of the province; determination to do well the social security work; accelerate the progress of public investment in order to create jobs, create vitality for the society, and contribute to perfecting infrastructure for socio-economic development. The Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee also emphasized the organization of the Party Congress at all levels; proposed to strictly implement the guiding documents on the Party Congress at all levels to the 13th National Delegate Congress of the Party. Maximum focused on the preparation of documents and personnel for organizing the congress at higher-grassroots level, first of all two congresses meeting to serve as a basis for drawing common experience.

​Accordingly, Binh Duong reached 43.97/80 points, an increase of 0.47 points compared to 2018, being classified as a "High Medium" score.

Many content indexes increased significantly, such as the "Transparency" Index reached 5.65/10 points, an increase of 0.42 points compared to 2018. In particular, Binh Duong has made progress in the "Supply of public services" index of 7.19/10 points, an increase of 0.61 points compared to 2018.

In addition, in the 02 new content indexes that have been applied since 2018 are "Environmental governance" and "Electronic governance", Binh Duong reached 3.28 points, a decrease of 1.06 points compared to 2018 and 4.31 points, an increase of 1.23 points compared to 2018, in the highest group.

In addition to the achieved results, the 2019 PAPI Index also showed the limitations that the province needs to continue making efforts to overcome in governance and public administration in the locality.  In the Content Indicators: "Public Administrative Procedures", "Accountability", "People's participation at grassroots level" Binh Duong decreased compared to 2018.

The PAPI Index is implemented by the Center for Community Support Development Studies (CECODES), Center for Personnel Training and Scientific Research of Viet Nam Fatherland Front and the United Nations Development Program in Viet Nam.

The PAPI Index in 2019 has 08 content indexes, 28 component content indexes and 120 main criteria. In 2019, PAPI surveyed the assessments of 14,138 Vietnamese citizens randomly selected across 63 provinces. The PAPI Index is divided into 04 groups of points (not ranked): The highest score group, the high average score group, the low average score group and the lowest score group.

According to experts, the PAPI Report in 2019 showed that, even before Viet Nam was affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, poverty, economic growth and the environment were the people most concerned about. The report also highlighted encouraging progress in governance and public administration to meet the needs of the people and insight into the areas of reform for nearly a decade. This is useful information for policy makers in 2020 - a transitional year for Viet Nam's new development stage. The analytical results from the people's experience and lens inform the national sustainable development agenda and policymakers at a critical time when Viet Nam is developing its Socio-Economic Development Strategy for the next decade as well as addressing the global health and economic crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. ​