After more than 6 months of implementing Resolution 98/2023/QH15 on piloting a number of specific mechanisms and policies to develop Ho Chi Minh City, the locality has initially attracted a number of strategic investors to pour capital into projects. high-tech projects in the right direction.
Investors still want tax incentives
One of the most important issues that investors are concerned about when investing in Ho Chi Minh City is tax incentives, especially in the context of the global minimum tax that has been applied by Vietnam since the beginning of this year.
"When the global minimum tax takes effect, businesses are most concerned about whether the Government has any policies to support them or not?", Ms. Dang Mai Kim Ngan, Deputy General Director of Deloite Vietnam raised the issue at the Conference. Conference Prospects and solutions to attract investors in the context of global minimum tax implementation and new trends, taking place in Ho Chi Minh City recently.
According to Ms. Ngan, when deciding to invest, businesses want to know whether Vietnam's support policy goes against the commitments of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), because they are worried that, if not, Uniformity can easily lead to double tax payment.
Answering questions from businesses, Mr. Do Van Su, Deputy Director of the Foreign Investment Department (Ministry of Planning and Investment) said that the Ministry of Planning and Investment is collecting opinions on the Draft Decree on establishment, Management and use of Investment Support Fund. Among them, there are preferential support solutions such as investment subsidies, land rent exemption and reduction, credit support or credit guarantees... In addition, there are also support policies on training and development costs. Human resource development, research and development costs, investment costs to create fixed assets, costs of producing high-tech products...
The leader of the Foreign Investment Agency also specifically informed that, according to OECD guidance, corporate subsidies are considered inappropriate if they violate one of four factors: the object of support is not beneficial to all businesses. enterprise; only beneficial to businesses affected by global minimum tax; The benefit is due to the payment of global minimum tax; Beneficiary policies were issued after the introduction of the global minimum tax rule.
"Therefore, Vietnam is reviewing the possibility of legal conflicts with the provisions on investment guarantees under the current Investment Law," Mr. Su informed.
Do not take tax incentives to attract investment
After just a few months of implementing specific mechanisms from Resolution 98/2023/QH15, attracting investment to Ho Chi Minh City has seen very positive changes.
Mr. Nguyen Anh Thi, Head of the Management Board of Ho Chi Minh City Hi-Tech Park, said that after Resolution 98/2023/QH15 took effect, the Hi-Tech Park has re-established the one-stop shop mechanism in place, so it can be shortened. administrative procedures for investors.
For example, investor BESI (Netherlands) said that only 4 months after being licensed to invest in the High-Tech Park to produce chip packaging inspection machines, they put the machines into production. According to Mr. Thi, this is a new record in investment in the City.
From the story of BESI investing in Ho Chi Minh City Hi-Tech Park, many large businesses also agree that the issue they are most concerned about is whether the business environment is stable and favorable or not, not incentives. tax.
In the current new orientation, Ho Chi Minh City also determined not to take tax incentives as a competitive advantage in attracting investment, but the City attaches importance to improving the investment and business environment.
Mr. Vu Tien Loc, Chairman of the Vietnam International Arbitration Center (VIAC) also said that in the context of today's risky investment environment, what investors are most concerned about is stability and transparency. transparency of the investment - business environment and creating an ecosystem for businesses to develop, not just support measures in terms of money, taxes, and incentives.
“Currently, technology has changed every 6 months, but applying for an investment license takes several years, so it is very difficult to attract investment. If the investment environment is favorable, investors can generate a lot of profits without needing tax incentives. As for delayed procedures and no ecosystem, even though there are many incentives, investors are still not interested," Mr. Loc emphasized.
Expressing his opinion on attracting strategic investors to Ho Chi Minh City, Mr. Nguyen Anh Thi said, strategic investors must meet two conditions: helping Vietnam improve its technological capacity and helping attract foreign investors. Pulling businesses to invest along the global value chain. He gave an example: Although BESI's factory only has an investment capital of 2 million USD, it belongs to the field of semiconductors and microchips - a high-tech field, has global value and is in line with the orientation of attracting customers. investment of Ho Chi Minh City.
