Mr. Vu Khoan had a talk with the representatives at the tenth session of meetings of the Provincial People’s Council- the seventh course

Mr. Vu khoan - a former member of the Central Committee of the Party, the Former Deputy Prime Minister, elected to the eleventh National Assembly

Mr. Vu Khoan made a brief and succinct speech about the process of joining the WTO of  Vietnam, APEC conference’s results, via which he pointed out what our opportunities and challenges were when we officially became a member of the WTO.

Mr. Vu Khoan said that the reduction in import taxes according to the commitment on opening Vietnamese commodity market in the agreement to join the World Trade Organization (WTO) would impose a great pressure of competition on some Vietnamese manufacturing industries. In this situation, the average tax rate would decrease from the current 17.4% to 13.4%, applied gradually within 5-7 years. The average tax rate on rural products would decrease from the current 23.5% to 20.9%, applied within 5 years. The average tax rate on industrial products would decrease from 16.8% to 12.6%, mainly applied within 5-7 years. The industries whose tax rates decreased the most included textile, fish and fish products, wood and paper, other manufactures, machinery and electric-electronic equipment. So when the protective barrier was narrowed, the domestic production would have to face a higher level of competition from the outside.

Also in the same morning, Budgetary Economy Board of the Provincial People’s Council reported on the receipts and expenses of the national budget in 2006, on the investigation in the national budget balance in 2005, on the investigation in the regulation rates for the period of budget stabilization 2007-2010 and budget apportion 2007-2010. After that, all the representatives started discussing the results of the receipts and expenses of the national budget in 2006, the allocation of provincial budget and the extent of complementation of under provincial level budget in 2007 and so on.

In the afternoon, the meeting would listen to the provincial People’s Committee’s statement on the province’s land usage planning in the period of 2007-2010, the investigation report on the province’s land usage planning in the period of 2007-2010 and on the policies of compensation, support and re-settlement when the state relaimed the land. And then, the representatives would discuss all the issues mentioned above.

(Translated by THKC)