As of January 1, 2008, all laborers and retired people will enjoy a pay increase. The minimum salary for State employees will be VND540,000 per month, up by VND90,000.

The minimum salaries for workers in local companies will be VND540,000, VND580,000, and VND620,000 per month. For foreign invested firms, they have been raised to VND800,000, VND900,000 and VND1 million per month.

The Vietnamese Government defines minimum salary as the lowest pay for laborers who do the simplest work in normal working conditions.

For retired people and those who benefit from social welfare, their pay will rise by 20%. Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung promised that pay raises will be applied as of this month.

Under Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, as of January 1, Ministries, Government agencies and provincial People’s Committees must pay employees via bank accounts. This new method will be introduced first in major cities like Hanoi, HCM City and Da Nang. As of January 1, 2009, all state employees nation-wide will receive their salary via bank accounts.

New land price table

As of 2008, Hanoi and HCM City capped Government project land prices at VND67.5 million per sq.m as part of their real estate price control plan. The new land price policy will be used to calculate and apply land use fees, land use right transfer taxes, land registration fees, land leasing fees, land compensation, etc.

According to experts, the new price cap is nearer to the market price; however, it will make State spending on site clearance and land compensation increase and cause difficulties for businesses that purchase land in 2008.

The new regulations on trading State-owned houses also took effect on January 1. Accordingly, the leasing fees of State-owned houses will increase by 4.6 times. State-owned houses will also be sold at much higher prices.

1,700 tariffs cut

The import taxes on alcohol, beer, cigarettes, coffee, vegetable oil, processed meat, fresh vegetables and other products will be reduced as of January 1, 2008.

According to the Ministry of Finance’s new preferential import-export tariff, there are at least 26 categories of goods slated for a 1-6% tax reduction.

The Finance Ministry said the new tariff keeps commitments to the WTO, ASEAN and other countries. When Vietnam joined the WTO (January 11, 2007), it slashed tariffs on over 1,000 product categories.

Other products to be reduced include gold, gemstones, glass, footwear, household products, electronics, iron, etc., with reductions between 10-25%.

Ban on pedicabs and homemade vehicles

Under a Government resolution, all homemade vehicles, whether motorized or not, including delivery pedicabs, dilapidated trucks and passenger automobiles that are not roadworthy, as well as unregistered and self-modified three- and four-wheel motor vehicles are to be confiscated and sold as scrap if found on Vietnamese streets as of January 1, 2008.  The ban is said to affect the lives of 60,000 people in HCM City and around 2,000 in Hanoi, many of those with disabilities.

HCM City wants to retrain pedicab drivers in new vocations. After surveying the lifestyle of pedicab owners, HCM City authorities asked the Government to postpone the ban by 6-9 months and the Government agreed.

Accordingly, pedicabs - motorized three or four-wheelers with open cargo bins up front - that have been registered for a license but not for technical safety can still run on the streets until June 30. However, they can only operate between 10pm and 4am.

Homemade three or four-wheeled vehicles used to collect garbage can operate between 10pm and 6am. For those not registered and not used for garbage collection purposes, such vehicles will only be allowed through February 29 and restricted to between 10pm and 4am.

The southern province of Tra Vinh will temporarily allow pedicabs and homemade vehicles to continue carrying goods after January 1, while Hanoi only bans homemade vehicles from transporting goods. The disabled can still use their vehicles.

Pre-paid mobile subscriber identification

Mobile networks will require pre-paid mobile subscribers to register identification information starting January 1, 2008.

They will have to provide their personal information to service providers, including name, phone number, birthday, ID or passport number. Foreigners must give their nationality.

Registration can be done directly at service providers’ offices or by sending an SMS to 1414, using the following format: name. birthday. ID number or name. birthday. passport number.

Source: VNE.