Latest news with #Cuong
Korea Herald
2 days ago
- Business
- Korea Herald
Lee, Vietnam's President agree to deepen economic ties
President Lee Jae-myung talked over the phone with Vietnamese President Luong Cuong on Thursday and agreed to elevate bilateral ties across the economy and in the infrastructure and energy sectors, Lee's office said. In their first conversation, Lee praised the development of bilateral relations since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1992 and vowed to work closely with Cuong to further advance the comprehensive strategic partnership, according to presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung. "The two leaders agreed to expand and deepen bilateral cooperation to match the level of their comprehensive strategic partnership, including in strategic sectors, such as high-speed rail and nuclear power," Kang told reporters. During the 25-minute call, Cuong described South Korea as a "key partner" in Vietnam's economic cooperation and invited Lee to Vietnam, the office said. Lee responded that he hopes to visit Vietnam for further discussions and to enhance high-level exchanges in light of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit to be held in South Korea in November, it noted. It marks Lee's first call with a Southeast Asian leader since taking office last week, and the fifth conversation with a foreign head of state, following phone talks with the leaders of the United States, Japan, China and the Czech Republic. (Yonhap)
Business Times
5 days ago
- Business
- Business Times
Vietnam Tax Rule Targets 5 Million Informal Businesses
[HO CHI MINH CITY] It's a familiar scene in a bustling alley of Ho Chi Minh City's District 1: rows of motorcycles crowd the fronts of mom-and-pop shops, ranging from eateries and grocery stores to barbershops, coffee houses and street food stalls. But behind the lively hum, anxiety is brewing among them – part of a sprawling 5.2 million household businesses nationwide – over a new tax rule that could significantly reshape the way they operate. Nguyen Thanh Cuong, manager of a small French restaurant in the area, said he is working with a software provider to install a new cash register system that links to tax authorities and issues electronic invoices with authorised codes. He is among some 37,000 establishments across the country scrambling to comply with a new regulation that took effect on Jun 1, requiring household businesses earning more than one billion dong (S$49,283) a year to report their sales using e-invoices. Collectively, these non-farm household businesses, which outnumber registered businesses by five to one and employ about nine million people nationwide, generate up to 30 per cent of Vietnam's gross domestic product. However, according to the tax authority, these establishments contribute less than 2 per cent to total tax revenue – a figure mainly attributed to the previous presumptive tax regime, where shops paid fixed monthly taxes based on local officials' revenue estimates, often far below their actual sales. A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU Friday, 8.30 am Asean Business Business insights centering on South-east Asia's fast-growing economies. Sign Up Sign Up The new rule aims to close that gap as part of the government's broader push to formalise the informal economy, requiring all household businesses to eventually adopt proper bookkeeping practices for tax compliance, particularly through the use of e-invoices. 'With the system now linked to the tax authorities, few dare to underreport revenue. But some might use two separate systems to reduce their declared sales and pay less tax,' Cuong said. His eatery has been operating as a household business for more than a decade. Despite the new rule, many household businesses have continued to exploit loopholes and resist adopting proper practices, from underpaying taxes and avoiding accurate bookkeeping. Some have even refused to accept payments via bank transfers, shut down entirely or continued operating off the books without registration. 'Taxes will probably be higher, leading to increased costs for input purchases, and eventually, we will have to raise our prices,' he added. Formalising the informal sector Another pathway for those family-run businesses to minimise such payments – and be taxed on profits rather than revenue – is by transitioning into formal enterprises, a move strongly encouraged by the country's leadership. 'Forcing household businesses to register, follow accounting rules, connect with tax database and pay tax is a pillar of the formalisation push,' noted Le Truong Giang, analyst at London-headquartered consultancy Control Risks. The initiative, combined with efforts to crack down on counterfeits and smuggled goods, is expected to expand the nation's tax base, reinforce the formal economy by directing spending and investment towards registered businesses, and enhance consumer protection, Giang said. 'The promises are better public services and more public goods,' he added. '(However,) the potential downsides are significant. Impacts include huge disruption to business activity and household purchasing power as well as inflationary pressure.' The brief period of intensified enforcement over this month appears to expose gaps in the ability of bureaucrats and the regulatory and digital infrastructure to realise promised efficiency enhancements. 'There's an overwhelming amount of work. We are working at full speed but still barely keeping up with all customer inquiries,' said Bui Hai Nam, co-founder and chief executive at SoBanHang, which translates to 'sales book' in Vietnamese. The startup, backed by various foreign investors including Antler – a Singapore-based venture capital firm that focuses on early-stage investments – serves more than 650,000 small-scale sellers and household businesses in Vietnam. It offers basic sales management tools for those unable to afford traditional point-of-sale systems and has teamed up with authorised e-invoice providers to support merchants in meeting the new tax compliance requirements. 'I believe the new practices will encourage the most progressive household businesses to convert to formal enterprises, which already adopt similar accounting standards,' Nam said. 'Such a shift is critical for them to grow and be able to serve larger customers.' Quach Thi Thu Hien, deputy chief executive at a Hanoi-based distribution firm for international cosmetics brands, noted that household businesses rarely buy supplies from her company, which provides products with verified origins and value-added tax (VAT) invoices – normally at higher prices than in the informal market. 'But now it is changing. Many have started to adopt VAT-invoiced purchases and even register to become a formal enterprise. They are also actively looking for training and consulting about compliance and management,' she said. 'This move towards greater tax transparency creates a level-playing field between companies like us and those household businesses.' Finding growth engines This new direction is underscored in a landmark policy document signed by Communist Party of Vietnam general-secretary To Lam in May, which aims to develop the country's private sector, with a goal of increasing the number of formal firms from 940,000 to two million by 2030. This is not the first time it has set such a goal. However, the earlier targets of hitting one million firms by 2020 and 1.5 million by 2025 have so far gone unmet. Under the directive locally known as Resolution 68, the Politburo, Vietnam's top policy decision-making body, decided on a series of reforms. Vietnam will abolish business licence taxes and exempt corporate income taxes for small and medium-sized enterprises in the first three years of establishment, limit inspections and audits at firms to a maximum of once a year, alongside other incentives to facilitate their access to resources of land, capital and high-quality human resource training. The presumptive tax regime for household businesses will also be removed entirely by 2026, with the promotion of digitalisation and transparency in accounting, tax reporting and insurance – regardless of their revenue levels. In 2024, 64.6 per cent of the workforce, or about 33.2 million people, was still engaged in informal employment, based on Vietnam's National Statistics Office. They mainly include agricultural and rural workers, employees at household businesses, online merchants, as well as people working at underground enterprises. While foreign-invested firms and domestic private enterprises led the way with high growth rates, small household businesses recorded some of the slowest growth in the non-state sector, with year-on-year increases of more or less 6 per cent before the Covid-19 pandemic. 'Culturally, they are super important to Vietnam, but it's not a growth engine,' said Rich McClellan, principal at RMAC Advisory and vice-chair of the AmCham Environment, Social and Governance Committee. 'There were no incentives for the informal economy to formalise. If you don't want to grow, all you are trying to do is earn enough to get by and stay under the radar,' he added. Vietnam is now in a monumental phase – an 'era of national rise', as described by To Lam – with sweeping reforms underway across multiple sectors aimed at transforming the economy into a high-income status within the next two decades. Much of the attention has gone towards big corporations, which are doubling down on big-ticket projects such as high-speed railways, mega energy plants, international financial centres, as well as new international airports and seaports. The state has also significantly streamlined its bureaucracy, with about 250,000 jobs cut at local levels following the finalisation of the administrative mergers in the second half of this year. The question is how to accelerate the growth of small family-run businesses at the other end of the spectrum and generate jobs and higher incomes for more people, including those purged from the state sector. Starting with tax may be burdensome at first, but it could prove to be one of Vietnam's boldest bets yet to grow its pool of formal enterprises and sustain double-digit economic growth through the rest of the decade. 'If you could get the state-owned enterprises to privatise, get the informal economy to become part of the formal economy, then... you're actually getting close to that double-digit growth that the country wants,' McClellan said.
Korea Herald
16-04-2025
- Business
- Korea Herald
Seoul, Hanoi agree to close ranks over US tariffs
Vietnamese President Cuong expresses expectation to attend S. Korea-hosted APEC summit The top diplomats of South Korea and Vietnam agreed to closely coordinate in response to the looming "reciprocal" tariffs announced by the US and to develop their comprehensive strategic partnership across a broader array of sectors, including infrastructure, the Foreign Ministry in Seoul said Wednesday. South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul met with his Vietnamese counterpart, Bui Thanh Son, in Hanoi on Tuesday for their second foreign ministerial meeting, following the first held in Seoul in May 2024 — in line with the leaders' June 2023 commitment to hold such meetings annually. 'The two ministers reaffirmed their unwavering determination to advance the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries,' said the South Korean Foreign Ministry. 'Both also agreed to strengthen cooperation across a wide range of areas, including diplomacy and security; trade and investment; strategic cooperation in nuclear power, high-speed rail and mega infrastructure projects; scientific and technological innovation; as well as consular services and people-to-people ties." The meeting took place at a critical juncture, as South Korea and Vietnam scramble to cushion the blow of potential US tariffs — set at 25 percent and 46 percent, respectively — that are set to take effect in July following the expiration of a 90-day global moratorium, except for China. 'The two ministers agreed to closely communicate on the matter of the US administration's reciprocal tariffs, given the close linkages between the two countries' economies,' according to the Foreign Ministry in Seoul. Vietnam serves as a critical node in the supply chain for South Korean companies doing business in the US, with over 20 percent of exports from Korean firms based in Vietnam estimated to be bound for the US market. Samsung Electronics produces around 50 percent of its smartphones at its Bac Ninh and Thai Nguyen plants in northern Vietnam, with most of them exported to the US. LG Electronics has planned to increase the production of refrigerators and washing machines at its Hai Phong plant in Vietnam. 'Minister Cho emphasized that South Korea and Vietnam have become premier economic partners, with the two countries ranking among each other's top three trading partners and South Korea standing as Vietnam's largest investor,' Seoul said. 'Cho called for close cooperation to achieve the bilateral trade target of $150 billion by 2030, as agreed by both countries.' Trade between South Korea and Vietnam has surged since diplomatic relations were established in 1992, from $500 million to $86.7 billion in 2024, a staggering 170-fold increase. 'The two ministers also shared the view that bilateral cooperation should be expanded in strategic and future-oriented sectors, including nuclear energy and high-speed rail, in a manner befitting their comprehensive strategic partnership and concurred on working closely together toward that goal,' Seoul said. While Vietnam has decided to revive its once-shelved plans to build nuclear power plants, South Korea and Vietnam have been reactivating their cooperation on nuclear power, which was dormant for years, since signing an intergovernmental memorandum of understanding on nuclear energy in 2011. Vietnam's high-speed rail project connecting the capital Hanoi in the north to Ho Chi Minh City in the south has emerged as another priority cooperation area, with South Korea actively seeking to join the project through a joint effort by the public and private sectors. Cho also paid separate courtesy calls on President Luong Cuong and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on Wednesday, during which he "expressed hope that South Korea and Vietnam will maintain close communication on the US reciprocal tariffs," according to the Foreign Ministry in Seoul. "Cho also conveyed appreciation for Vietnam's efforts to reflect the interests of South Korean companies during its consultations with the US and requested continued efforts in the forthcoming full-scale negotiations," a separate statement on Thursday read. Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Ahn Duk-geun also visited Vietnam on Monday to discuss measures to mitigate the adverse impact of potential US reciprocal tariffs on Korean companies. During the meeting, Cuong said he looked forward to participating in this year's APEC Summit to be hosted by the South Korean government this November. In return, "Cho expressed hope that South Korea, as this year's APEC chair country, and Vietnam, as the APEC chair country in 2027, will actively promote cooperation within the APEC framework. In that regard, he welcomed President Cuong's participation in this year's APEC Summit in Gyeongju," the Seoul ministry said. Cho embarked on his three-day official visit to Vietnam on Tuesday at the invitation of his counterpart Son to attend the Partnering for Green Growth and the Global Goals 2030 summit in Hanoi as a representative of the South Korean government.
Miami Herald
14-02-2025
- Science
- Miami Herald
From pet aquariums to the reefs of Bora-Bora: See the latest new species
The summaries below were drafted with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists in our News division. All linked stories were reported, written and edited by McClatchy journalists. Unique creatures, odd animals and new species are discovered across the planet. Some are found lurking in remote corners of the world, while others have been hiding right under our noses. Learn more about some of the best new discoveries: 'Long'-limbed creature with bright yellow belly found lurking. It's a new species In western Thailand, scientists discovered a new species of gecko named Cnemaspis enneaporus, or the Sai Yok rock gecko, while exploring a karst forest. These geckos have slender bodies, large eyes, and distinct coloring, with males displaying a bright yellow belly. The discovery highlights the rich biodiversity of the Sai Yok District, where these geckos were found. | Published Feb. 7 | Read More | Sleeping creature with 'dagger-like spines' found in Vietnam. It's a new species In the forests of southern Vietnam, researchers discovered a new species of lizard called Acanthosaura cuongi, or Cuong's horned tree lizard. These lizards are moderately-sized with 'dagger-like spines' and varying colors, blending well with their surroundings. The species was named in honor of Vietnamese researcher Cuong The Pham for his contributions to herpetological research. | Published Feb. 6 | Read More | 'Vivid' green creature — with beefed-up forearms — is new species in China. See it In southern China, a new species of frog called Amolops gudao, or the Gudao Cascade frog, was discovered in the Gaoligong Mountains. These medium-sized frogs have 'vivid' green skin with black spots and notably robust forearms. The species was named after the Southern Silk Road, reflecting its historical significance. | Published Feb. 12 | Read More | Scuba diver spots 'spaghetti'-like creature — and discovers new species in Bora-Bora A marine biologist discovered a new species of marine worm, Loimia poraporaensis, or the Porapora spaghetti worm, while diving in Bora-Bora. These worms have long white tentacles and live in tubes made of coral fragments. The species was named after Bora-Bora, where it was first found, and plays a critical role in marine ecosystems. | Published Feb. 6 | Read More | 'Armored' river creature found in pet aquariums worldwide turns out to be new species In Brazil's Xingu River, researchers identified a new species of catfish, Hypancistrus seideli, or Seidel's armored catfish, known for its maze-like pattern and popularity in aquariums. These medium-sized catfish have armor-like plates and large eyes, with a distinctive color pattern. The species was named in honor of aquarist Ingo Seidel for his contributions to the field. | Published Feb. 12 | Read More | McClatchy News continues to follow the discovery of the most unusual and intriguing new species. Check back for the latest studies.
Los Angeles Times
07-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Pacific Symphony composer-in-residence Viet Cuong builds on lessons, relationships
Before Viet Cuong took a seat on the floor to listen to the Pacific Symphony rehearsal on Wednesday night, more than one reporter asked him to recall his time working with the orchestra. While his music has taken him many places, a constant in his love for music has been the relationships, Cuong said. That was true when he was a clarinet player and a percussionist attending high school in Georgia. Cuong, a Lake Forest resident, is now in his third year as the composer-in-residence for the Pacific Symphony, which calls the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall in Costa Mesa its home. The time spent working with the orchestra has been 'special,' said Cuong, who added that he feels like he is 'writing for people.' That feeling of connectivity and trust extends to his relationship with Carl the longtime conductor of the Pacific Symphony. 'I feel like I'm in a safe space,' Cuong said of collaborating with 'I know that the music will be taken care of well.' a Laguna Beach resident, is in his final season as music director, a role he has held for 35 years. He will stay connected to the symphony as music director laureate. (Alexander Shelley was named as successor in November.) That relationship began when Cuong heard that his music was going to be played at USC during the coronavirus pandemic. That's when he met who was guest conducting a concert with the USC Thornton School of Music's wind ensemble. 'Everything was being canceled all the time, and I hadn't heard a piece of mine played in months,' Cuong said. 'I reached out to USC, and I was like, 'Would you allow me to come on campus, so I could hear this piece played? … [ was so excited that I was there, and I got to talk to him a little bit. I think I was one of three people in the audience for that concert because it was a livestream concert.' Pacific Symphony picked up a fifth piece from Cuong, 'Marine Layer,' for a world premier during its performances this weekend. 'I think it's really hard to do anything that's truly one of a kind or never been done before,' Cuong said. 'There's so many composers who have tried so many things, so many chords, so many melodies, so many different orchestrations. For me, things stay exciting when I feel like I've figured something out for myself that I probably wouldn't have thought of a year ago, or even yesterday. 'Whenever I'm writing a piece, whenever I get that feeling, the piece feels like it starts to write itself when I have that excitement.' Cuong, 34, got his start in music when his mother put him in piano lessons as a young boy. 'I always joke that I took it too seriously, like I got too interested in it,' said Cuong, who noted that he was encouraged to pursue fields with more stability as the son of Vietnamese immigrants. By his senior year of high school, classmates were playing pieces he wrote, and he was beginning to win support at home, albeit with a healthy bit of skepticism. 'I think that their apprehension made me work even harder because I always thought to myself, 'Well, they took a big leap of faith, and I want them to see that it was worth it,'' Cuong said. Cuong attended the Peabody Conservatory, before enrolling in graduate studies at Princeton University and the Curtis Institute of Music. 'I feel grateful for all my teachers I've had,' said Cuong. 'There's a composer here based in Southern California named Frank Ticheli, who was the composer-in-residence for the Pacific Symphony [from 1991 to 1998]. … I played a lot of his music when I was in high school, and he still is writing really amazing music and still has a really wonderful career as a composer. 'He has always been really kind to me, and he even guest conducted a group in Korea, a piece of mine, this past summer. I think if you had told me when I was 14 that one day Frank Ticheli would be a fan of mine and conducting my music, I would have freaked out.' Cuong now splits his time between Orange County and Las Vegas, where he is an assistant professor of music composition at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. 'Students today have the same insecurities and dreams and ambitions as when I was a student,' he said. 'I think my role as a teacher is to use all the knowledge that I've gained over the years, and all the lessons I've learned, and have those lessons be in service of someone other than myself. It's really rewarding in that way.'
