[governance-vn] Law/Oil: Vietnam Amends Petroleum Law

[Vern Weitzel]

Subject: [vnnews-l] Law/Oil: Vietnam Amends Petroleum Law
Date: Thu, 3 Apr 2008 21:35:33 -0700 (PDT)
sent to vnnews-l by Stephen Denney <sdenney at OCF.Berkeley.EDU>

  Vietnam News Briefs: Politics & Law: Vietnam Amends Petroleum Law
Vietnam News Briefs (Vietnam) - March 31, 2008
from the VIETNAM NEWS BRIEFS, March 31, 2008 Relevant ministries, branches
and agencies of Vietnam March 30 gathered at a meeting by the National
Assembly's Standing Committee in Hanoi to discuss and ratify the Amended
Petroleum Law Draft

The law that has taken effect since 1993 is now embracing inadequacies in
the new circumstance and needs amending and supplementing, said the
Ministry of Industry and Trade in its proposal

More open policies are to be applied to petroleum exploration and
exploitation activities to attract more investment projects and aid the
further development of the country's petroleum sector, according to the
amendment approved by the NA Standing Committee is expected to be ratified
at the NA meeting in June this year

A number of regulations on tax, contract transactions, petroleum trading
on the domestic market listed in the current Petroleum Law will be
abolished or adjusted in accordance with the current state of the
petroleum industry

Moreover, the corporate income tax rate of petroleum trading entities will
be maintained at between 32% and 50% instead of between 25% and 50% as
recommended to sustain the State budgets income, according to the
Committee

Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang said the adjustments will have
positive effects on the country's administrative reform, simplifying the
unnecessary procedures to create favorable conditions for investors and
their businesses

More adjustments will also be made to petroleum production, processing and
trading activities in the future and it is not until 2010 that the
complete law on petroleum will be finished, he added

Over $8 billion of foreign investment capital has been poured into
Vietnam's petroleum industry, especially into petroleum exploration and
exploitation activities

By the end of last year, Vietnam has signed 60 petroleum contracts and had
produced oil and natural gas at eight oilfields. (Vietnam Economic Times
Mar 31 p1, Pioneer Mar 31 p13, VietNamNet Mar 30, Thanh Nien Daily Mar 30)
Copyright 2008 Vietnam News Briefs
Provided By: Financial Times Information Limited - Asia Africa
Intelligence Wire