News

WAVBC Enjoys Participating in a Vietnam Roundtable

WA Vietnam Business Council in partnership with the Consulate General of Vietnam, Perth and the WA Dept of Jobs, Tourism, Science & Innovation recently hosted a Vietnam Roundtable at Beaumonde on the Point, East Perth.

Over one hundred and forty people listened to the guest speakers which includes the Hon Peter Tinley, MLA, Minister for Asian Engagement and Mr Phung The Long, Consul General of Vietnam, Perth. Some of the attendees came from as far afield as New Zealand and Vietnam.

Informative Vietnam engaging case studies were presented by Mr Mark Schiller (Austal Vietnam) and Mr Ky Cao (Financing Solar Energy Projects in Central Vietnam) whilst Mr Duc Hong Vo (Head of Economics, Ho Chi Minh Open University) provided a concise overview of Australia / Vietnam best practices for trade.

“Today was a memorable day not only for the WA Vietnam Business Council but also for the West Australian government who are now very aware that there exist a strong body of people in Western Australia who are very interested in building long term sustainable relationships with Vietnam” WAVBC President David Morgan said.

At the closing of the day Mr Phung The Long, Consul General of Vietnam, Perth presented Certificate of Appreciation Awards to five members of the WAVBC Committee for valuable support and general assistance provided over the last three years of his time in Perth. They were David Morgan (President), Hugh Collin (Vice President), Ky Cao (Vice President), Thuy Nguyen (Marketing) and Van Collin (Committee Member).

The committee of the WAVBC would like to thank all its members and friends who attended the Vietnam Roundtable – for those that wish to become members please visit our membership page.

See also:

Bang Tây Australia kêu gọi đẩy mạnh đầu tư với Việt Nam

Minister’s first formal trip to Vietnam aims to deepen trade links


In a McGowan Government first, Asian Engagement Minister Peter Tinley will officially visit Vietnam next month to strengthen its business and investment links with Western Australia.

The Minister’s four-day itinerary to identify and promote trade opportunities is expected to further deepen an already strong bilateral relationship between WA and Vietnam.

See the full media release at: https://www.mediastatements.wa.gov.au/Pages/McGowan/2019/03/Minister’s-first-formal-trip-to-Vietnam-aims-to-deepen-trade-links.aspx



Attend Trade Fair in Vietnam July 2019

The Ba Ria Vung Tau – Dept of Industry & Trade (BRVT) will host a Trade Fair for businesses in the south of Vietnam from July 11th  to 15th July 2019 in Vung Tau City. There will be a business matching event seminar on July 11 2019. The trade fair is mainly for FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) ranging from fast consumer goods to healthcare products etc. Other opportunities to meet local engineering and construction companies will also be available.

Please see attached the brochure for your information. There will be 20 air-con booths free of charge for Australia exhibitors. 

Brochure BRVT Outside ENGLSHDownload
Brochure BRVT Inside ENGLSHDownload

2018 Spring Event – 6 Sep 2018

The WAVBC Committee kicked off its 2018 Spring Event series at the Liberty Executive Offices, 197 St Georges Terrace, Perth last Thursday evening. Forty one people turned up to see and listen to a great presentation on ‘International Freight’ by Freight Mart International’s General Manager Craig Rourke.


David Morgan WAVBC President comments:
“It was great to see so many young entrepreneurial Vietnamese students and six local Vietnamese small business owners attend our event. There are already many small trade relationships between Western Australia and Vietnam our challenge remains to build and strengthen those relationships”.

“Special thanks to Craig Rourke for such an interesting presentation that is now posted on our website for those who missed the evening.”

Freight Mart International – WAVBC Presentation 060918



WA Commissioner Attends WAVBC Networking Event

The WAVBC recently held its June ‘Social Networking Evening’ at Bar 138 in
Perth. It was a good turnout especially considering that World Cup soccer
and AFL games were being played that same evening. Great to see John Catlin
the Singapore based WA Commissioner (Overseas Offices, International Trade &
Investment) attend the evening.

David Morgan (WAVBC President), John Catlin (WA Commissioner) & Hugh Collin
(WAVBC Vice President)

Change to WAVBC Membership Period

The WAVBC committee recently adjusted the WAVBC membership period from July 1st – 30th June to 1st January – 31st December. President David Morgan explains the rationale:

“The original membership period was aligned with the financial year and the committee thought it did not help us to attract new members as most of our activities and events are between March and November each year.

This will mean that for this year’s current financial members they will have the option to renew their memberships for either six months or eighteen months. For this year only new members will pay prorata depending when they join.”

2017 WAVBC AGM

The WAVBC recently held its Annual General Meeting in Perth. All committee members renominated successfully plus two members Ms Van Collin and Ms Chau Huynh joined the 2018 committee. Mr Hugh Collin accepted a Vice president role. Below is a the Presidents Report.

 

 

 

Maritime and property auction laws to take effect July 1

HÀ NỘI – The revised Vietnam Maritime Code and the Law on Property Auction will officially take effect from Saturday (July 1), online newspaper Vietnamplus reported.

With 20 chapters and 341 articles, an increase of 2 chapters and 80 articles compared with the Maritime Code 2005, the new Maritime Code is said to contain sufficient regulations overseeing all maritime activities. Passed by the National Assembly in November 2015, the Code is expected to provide new momentum to the maritime sector in line with its international commitments.

The Code provides detailed regulations on policies for maritime development. Of note, priorities will be given to investment into constructing maritime infrastructure, seagoing fleets, and human resources for maritime activities to meet domestic and international demand; and to enhanced international co-operation and integration as well as the application of advanced science and technology.

Well aware of the importance of maritime safety, security and environmental protection, the Code added a new chapter specifying maritime safety and security; search and rescue; scope for the protection and settlement of incidents related to maritime projects; and environmental protection in activities such as the dismantling of oceangoing vessels.

Improved administrative procedures were also a focus of the revised Code with regulations on the registration for purchasing and selling oceangoing vessels being clearly defined as well as a time-limit for temporary detention of seagoing ships to ensure publicity and transparency, as well as minimise damages and difficulties for vessel owners.

Crew passports are also eliminated to minimise the amount of personal paperwork the crew have to carry when operating on international routes; so are administrative procedures previously required for the naming of oceangoing vessels, seaports, offshore oil and gas ports, wharves, piers, and water zones and areas. The naming of these facilities now should only abide by principles defined by the Code.

Additionally, the Code revises provisions on towage of seagoing vessels, navigation, dismantlement of seagoing vessels, salvaging of sunken property, and disposal of dangerous sunken property. The provisions are clear and detailed in line with international treaties and practices.

Improved property auction

Under the Law on Property Auction, auctioned property includes property to be sold through auction as required by law and at the will of organisations and individuals.

Regarding auctioned property required by law, the Law details types of property on the basis of reviewing regulations stipulated in relevant laws in order to ensure publicity and transparency, which is used as a foundation for bodies, organisations and individuals to comply with orders and procedures stipulated in the Law when putting up the property at auction.

With 81 articles arranged in eight chapters, the Law specifies forbidden practices targeting auctioneers, auction organisations, property owners, auction participants, auction winners and relevant bodies and organisations in order to raise the legal and professional responsibility of auctioneers and improve the quality of auction activities.

The Law regulates that the wholly-State-owned organisation established by the Government to settle credit organisations’ bad debts (the Vietnam Asset Management Company – VAMC under the Enterprise Income Tax Law) are only allowed to put up at auction bad debts and VAMC’s bad debt guarantee property.

The Law on Property Auction was passed by the National Assembly last November.  — VNS

Read more at http://vietnamnews.vn/politics-laws/law-justice/379079/maritime-and-property-auction-laws-to-take-effect-july-1.html#SUkqy8lCCSf1LAK1.99

Vietnam Tourism Association proposes to expand visa exemption programme

The Vietnam Tourism Association has proposed to continue visa exemptions for Western European tourists to boost tourism.

Tourists at the Pagoda of Celestial Lady in Thua Thien-Hue Province

According to the Vietnam Tourism Association, in order to implement the government’s resolution to turn tourism into Vietnam’s key sector, visa exemptions should be continued for visitors from major tourist markets.

The association said they had received requests from tourism firms and local tourism associations to continue visa exemptions for tourists from France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Belarus and the UK for five years.

They also suggested exempting visas for visitors from India, Australia, Canada, and countries in Eastern Europe including Poland, Czech, Bulgaria and Hungary, as well as former Soviet countries.

Vu The Binh, the association’s vice chairman, said it was competitive as neighbouring countries all have open visa policies.

“Expanding visa exemptions is a common trend.

Thailand exempts visa for tourists from 61 countries, Malaysia exempts visa for 155 countries and in Singapore, it’s 158. Meanwhile, we have only exempted visa for 22 countries,” he said.

Tourism firms said since the visa exemption programme only lasted for one year, they didn’t dare spend too much on promotion. Normally, their short-term plans last from three to five years and over five years for long-term plans. The one-year visa exemption has only attracted independent tourists as firms await a more stable policy.

Tran Thi Viet Huong from Vietravel said most European tourists plan their vacations six months to a year in advance while the programme would end this June. This will affect their decision-making about holidays next year.

Le Tuan Anh, Deputy Director of the International Co-operation Department of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism said they had suggested extended the programme to five years and raise the standard length of stay for tourist visas from 15 to 30 days during meetings with other agencies.

“Resolution 8 on developing tourism states that pilot programmes can be carried out for urgent matters that don’t have their own regulations yet. This suits the tourism sector which includes many other sectors. Thanks to it that the e-visa programme was piloted quickly in February,” Anh said.

The number of visitors from Europe dramatically increased after the visa exemption was introduced. In the first quarter, the number of visitors from France, Germany, Spain, Italy and the UK reached 240,000, an increase of 12% compared to same period last year.

The growth rates from Spain were 23%, 13% from Italy, 13% from Germany, 11% from France and 9% from the UK.

Vu The Binh, the Vietnam Tourism Association’s vice chairman, emphasised that the e-visa was different programme and they still needed to expand the visa exemption programme.

Source Dtinews