Decision No. 4713/TC/TCDN regarding support for trade promotion

Pursuant to …;

REGARDING TEMPORARY REGULATIONS ON INCENTIVES AND SUPPORT FOR DIRECT EXPORT OF GOODS AND SERVICES

PEOPLE'S COMMITTEE OF THUA THIEN HUE PROVINCE

- Pursuant to the Law on Organization of People's Councils and People's Committees dated June 21, 1994;

- Pursuant to the State Budget Law, the Law Amending and Supplementing Certain Provisions of the State Budget Law, and guiding legal documents for implementation of the State Budget Law;

- Pursuant to Circular No. 61/2001/TT-BTC dated August 1, 2001, and Circular No. 4713 TC/TCDN dated May 17, 2002, of the Ministry of Finance, guiding support expenses for market development activities and promotion of trade;

- Pursuant to Decision No. 02/2002/QD-BTM dated January 2, 2002, of the Minister of Trade, promulgating the regulations on export award examination;

- Pursuant to Resolution No. 6a/2002/NQ-HĐND4 dated January 24, 2002, of the Provincial People's Council on economic and social tasks for 2002;

Based on the joint circular No. 712/CVLN-TCVG-TM-KHDT dated April 11, 2002, of the Directors of the Departments of Finance and Price, Trade, Planning and Investment;

Pursuant to …;

Article 1:

Issuing the "Regulations on Incentives and Support for Direct Export of Goods and Services" within the province of Thua Thien Hue.

Article 2:

This Decision shall take effect from the date of signing.

Article 3:

The Heads of the Office of the Provincial People's Council and People's Committee, the Directors of the Departments of Finance and Price, Planning and Investment, Trade, Tourism, and the Chairmen of the People's Committees of districts and cities in Hue, and the Heads of relevant agencies, organizations, and individuals shall be responsible for implementing this decision./.

REGULATIONS ON INCENTIVES AND SUPPORT FOR DIRECT EXPORT OF GOODS AND SERVICES IN THE PROVINCE

(Issued together with Decision No. 1584/QD-UB dated June 14, 2002)

Article 1: General Purpose

To encourage enterprises of all economic sectors (hereinafter referred to as traders) operating under the Law on State-Owned Enterprises, the Enterprise Law, the Cooperative Law, and the Foreign Investment Law in Vietnam, having their headquarters, paying corporate income tax, and achieving export turnover in Thua Thien Hue, to enhance production and business activities of goods and services for export including purchasing, processing, producing for export of agricultural, forestry, aquatic products, industrial goods, small-scale industries, software products, labor export abroad, and other services... contributing to job creation and promoting economic and social development in the province. In addition to enjoying general national incentives, traders also benefit from additional provincial incentives as stipulated herein. Turnover from temporary imports for re-export and barter transactions does not qualify for the incentives provided under these regulations.

Article 2: Subjects Eligible for Application of the Policy

The subjects eligible for application under these temporary regulations include state-owned enterprises, private enterprises, limited liability companies, joint-stock companies, cooperatives, and other economic organizations, collectively referred to as traders having their headquarters, paying corporate income tax, and achieving export turnover in Thua Thien Hue.

- Local units assigned specific tasks by the Provincial People's Committee.

Foreign-invested enterprises are not subject to the provisions of this regulation.

Foreign-invested enterprises are not subject to the provisions set forth herein.

Article 3: On capital support and infrastructure

- Regarding capital support: The Provincial People's Committee prioritizes providing sufficient 30% working capital to local state-owned enterprises engaged in producing and trading goods and services for export and supplying labor abroad that are effective and showing good development trends; Reimburse 50% of corporate income tax actually paid to the State Treasury over the three years 2002, 2003, and 2004 to supplement business capital for the aforementioned SOEs.

- Apply preferential land price framework according to the Regulation of the Provincial People's Committee on certain investment incentives and production and business support policies in Thua Thien Hue Province for merchants with annual export turnover exceeding 100,000 USD or attracting at least 30 workers, who lease land from the State for production and business premises; - The Provincial People's Committee will prioritize allocating investment capital for infrastructure to help merchants have more favorable conditions to promote production and business development of goods and services for export.

Article 4: On incentive policies:

Commend merchants who have achieved results in export work meeting or not yet meeting the criteria for commendation stipulated in Decision No. 02/2002/QD-BTM dated January 2, 2002 of the Ministry of Trade

regarding the issuance of regulations on awarding export achievements but have made significant contributions to the province in the field of exports. I. Award criteria:

1. Merchants exporting directly or entrusting the export of products manufactured in Vietnam for the first time to foreign markets, which are added to the list of Vietnamese export goods, or exporting to new export markets for a particular type of product for the first time. Priority is given to agricultural products, aquatic products, handicrafts; ready-made garments, footwear, and products processed and manufactured within the province.

2. Merchants exporting directly or entrusting the export with total export turnover in the following year higher than the previous year by more than 20% for two consecutive years.

3. Merchants whose directly exported products have high quality and have won medals at international exhibitions or fairs held abroad or have been certified or confirmed in writing by international organizations on product quality.

4. Merchants exporting directly or entrusting the export of products processed or manufactured using raw materials extracted within the province or products produced attracting at least 30 workers.

5. Merchants exporting directly or entrusting the export for the first time achieving annual export turnover of 100,000 USD or more.

6. Other indicators related to employment resolution and State Treasury payment.

II. Forms of commendation and levels of commendation:

The number of merchants to be commended depends on the results of direct export of goods and services in the reporting year. In special cases, the Provincial People's Committee will consider and make specific decisions. In addition to certificates of merit awarded by the Provincial People's Committee, enterprises also receive monetary rewards according to the following specific levels:

1) Merchants meeting criterion I.1 will receive a reward of 0.5% of the export value calculated in Vietnamese Dong based on the average inter-bank foreign exchange transaction rate at the time of evaluation, with a maximum amount not exceeding 50 million Vietnamese Dong per case.

2) Merchants meeting criterion I.2 will receive a reward of 0.5% of the export value for the portion of export value exceeding the previous year, calculated in Vietnamese Dong as specified in point II.1 above, with a maximum amount not exceeding 40 million Vietnamese Dong per case. 3) In addition to the monetary reward from the Ministry of Trade, merchants meeting criterion I.3 will receive a monetary reward of up to a maximum of 20 million Vietnamese Dong per case.

4) Merchants meeting criterion I.4 and I.5 will receive a reward of 0.5% of the export value calculated in Vietnamese Dong as specified in point II.1 above, with a maximum amount not exceeding 40 million Vietnamese Dong per case.

If a merchant meets multiple criteria, each criterion will be considered separately for commendation, but the total maximum monetary reward shall not exceed 80 million Vietnamese Dong.

III. Procedures for commendation

Annually, merchants submit relevant commendation files to the Department of Commerce for consolidation, reviewed by the Export Award Review Board, and then submitted to the Provincial People's Committee for commendation decision.

Members of the award review board include: The Department of Commerce

- Chairperson of the Board, and member departments: Finance and Price, Planning and Investment, Provincial Labor Union. Depending on specific circumstances, the Chairperson may invite

other relevant agencies to participate in the process. The award application file includes: - A request for commendation detailing the criteria met by the merchant and the proposed reward amount.

- An export achievement report.

- An export product and export market report of the merchant (according to the model issued by the General Statistics Office).

- Annual financial settlement reports.

- For criterion I.1:

additional detailed explanation about the production technology and process for the new product (with photos or samples attached).

- For criterion I.2, an additional report on the previous year's exports should be submitted. - For criterion I.3, an additional copy of the certificate or written confirmation of product or service quality should be submitted.

- For foreign-invested enterprises, an additional copy of the investment permit should be submitted.

IV. Use of the award money.

Merchants can use the award money for:

- Contributing to the unit's commendation and welfare fund.

- Rewarding organizations and individuals who contributed to the merchant's export achievements.

- Supplementing capital for production and business development.

- Awarding organizations and individuals who have contributed to the export achievements of traders.

- Supplementing capital for production and business development.

Article 5: Support policies for market development activities and promotion of trade:

I. The expenses for supporting market development and promoting trade to encourage the export of goods and services include:

I.1 Expenses for collecting information on markets, customers, and exported goods:

- Expenses for purchasing specialized product and market information (registered for purchase)

- Expenses for purchasing foreign information (with accompanying contracts)

I.2 Expenses for hiring economic and commercial consultancy services for exporting goods (with accompanying contracts)

I.3 Expenses for market search activities for exports:

Expenses for participating in seminars to search for export markets and business partners both domestically and internationally.

Travel expenses for staff traveling abroad to search for markets and business partners (in accordance with the current travel expense regulations of the Ministry of Finance)

I.4 Organizing exhibition booths at overseas fairs and exhibitions:

- Expenses for renting exhibition booths.

- Expenses for transporting displayed products.

- Travel expenses for staff participating in overseas fairs and exhibitions (in accordance with the current regulations of the Ministry of Finance).

I.5 Establishing Trade Promotion Centers or Representative Offices of enterprises and industry associations in foreign countries.

- First-year rental costs for office space.

- Costs for purchasing office equipment.

- Expenses required by local regulations to establish Trade Promotion Centers or Representative Offices of enterprises and industry associations.

I.6 Other export support tasks as decided by the Provincial People's Committee.

II. Eligible recipients:

Administrative and public service units assigned tasks by the Provincial People's Committee and traders mentioned in Article 1 (excluding foreign-invested enterprises).

III. Level of support

1. For administrative and public service units:

Reimbursement of 100% of reasonable and legitimate expenses for market development and trade promotion activities of the unit according to the approved plan by the competent authority.

2. For traders:

Maximum support not exceeding 0.17% of the export turnover calculated based on the FOB price at Vietnamese ports or equivalent delivery terms actually realized in the year, but if combined with the support from the Ministry of Finance (as stipulated in Circular No. 61/2001/TT-BTC dated August 1, 2001), it shall not exceed 70% of the actual reasonable expenses of the trader as specified in Points I.1, I.2, and I.3 of Article 4.

- Maximum support not exceeding 0.03% of the export turnover calculated based on the FOB price at Vietnamese ports or equivalent delivery terms actually realized in the year, but shall not exceed 100% of the initial investment costs (including the amount supported by the Ministry of Finance) as specified in Points I.4 and I.5 of Article 4.

- Export support tasks specified in Items I.1-I.6 of Article 4: If there is no increase in export turnover or the increase is too low depending on specific cases, the Provincial People's Committee will decide the payment amount for the trader, but it shall not exceed 70% of the actual reasonable and legitimate expenses of the trader for the assigned task. This support system also applies to tourism enterprises tasked with establishing branches or representative offices abroad to promote tourist arrivals to Thua Thien Hue and develop international air tours.

IV. Accounting for support funds:

All expenses for market development and trade promotion as specified in Item I of Article 4 of this Decision shall be accounted for as reduced business expenses. Except for office equipment expenses under Point 5 of Item I of Article 4, if they meet the criteria for fixed assets, they shall be accounted for as increased business capital.

Article 6: Sources of funds

- Funds for support and rewards shall be drawn from the Investment Promotion and Production Development Fund, state budget sources, trade promotion funds, and other sources.

- The Director of the Department of Finance and Prices shall guide procedures and methods for disbursing support funds in accordance with the provisions of the State Budget Law.

Article 7:

Directors of the Departments: Trade, Finance and Prices, Tourism, Planning and Investment are responsible for organizing implementation and monitoring traders to comply with this mechanism.

- Traders who engage in fraudulent behavior or lax management leading to negative outcomes in requesting rewards or support for market development and trade promotion... shall reimburse the State and be subject to strict administrative and legal penalties as provided by law./.