Notable documents of Vietnam in the previous week (from November 11 to November 17, 2024)

Vietnam’s update on 2 Decisions on deposit interests from November 20, 2024 

On November 11, 2024, the State Bank of Vietnam promulgated 2 Decisions on deposit interests, specifically: 

- Decision No. 2410/QD-NHNN 2024 on maximum interest rates of deposits in USD of organizations and individuals at credit institutions and foreign bank branches according to Circular No. 46/2024/TT-NHNN

(Specifically, the maximum interest rate of deposits of organizations (excluding credit institutions and foreign bank branches) is 0% per year; the maximum interest rate of deposits of individuals is 0% per year). 

- Decision No. 2411/QD-NHNN 2024 on maximum interest rates of deposits in VND of organizations and individuals at credit institutions and foreign bank branches according to Circular No. 48/2024/TT-NHNN 

(Specifically, the maximum interest rate of demand deposits and deposits with a term of less than 1 month is 0,5% per year; the maximum interest rate of deposits with a term from 1 to less than 6 months is 4,75% per year; particularly, people’s credit funds and microfinance institution shall apply the maximum interest rate of 5,25 % per year regarding deposits with a term from 1 month to less than 6 months).

Vietnam’s regulations on requests for suspension of karaoke services for remedies for violations 

This is a content of Decree No. 148/2024/ND-CP on amendments to Decree No. 54/2019/ND-CP on guidelines on the operation of karaoke venues and nightclubs, effective as of November 12, 2024.  

According to the Decree, regulations on requests for business suspension for remedies for violations are as follows: 

(1) The authority competent to issue business eligibility licenses shall issue a written request for business suspension when the enterprise or household business: 

- Violates the business conditions prescribed in Articles 4 and 5 of Decree No. 54/2019/ND-CP, but the violations do not cause damage in terms of lives, health, or property; in case of violations against regulations on the assurance of fire safety conditions applicable to karaoke venues and nightclubs, the license shall be revoked under Point b Clause 1 article 16 of Decree No. 54/2019/ND-CP;

(Previously, it was: Violates the business conditions prescribed in Articles 4 and 5 of Decree No. 54/2019/ND-CP, but the violations do not cause damage in terms of lives, health, or property).

- Repeats any violation relevant to responsibilities during business operations prescribed in Articles 6, 7, and 8 of Decree No. 54/2019/ND-CP.

(2) The written request for business suspension must specify the violations and time and duration of the suspension. The duration of the suspension depends on the severity of the violations and the time limit for adopting remedial measures if determined by the licensing authority. The suspension duration must be no more than 3 months. 

(3) The enterprise or business household shall suspend their business following the request and remedy the violations. 

Vietnam’s new regulations on operations of toll booths 

On November 14, 2024, the Minister of Transport of Vietnam promulgated Circular No. 34/2024/TT-BGTVT on the operations of toll booths. 

According to the Circular, the regulations on the management, operation, maintenance, and upgrade of toll booth infrastructures and front-end systems are as follows: 

- The collection operator shall implement the management, operation, maintenance, and upgrade of toll booth infrastructures and front-end systems according to assigned tasks or collection service contracts with the collection management unit. 

- Regarding booths for collecting road tolls according to the law on prices, the costs of the management, operation, maintenance, and upgrade shall be covered by the revenues from collecting road tolls, determined in the financial schemes of investment projects with road toll collection. Where road toll payment service providers are also collection operators under contracts with competent authorities, the costs of the management, operation, maintenance, and upgrade shall be included in the concluded contracts with competent authorities.  

- Regarding booths for collecting expressway tolls for vehicles on expressways under established all-people ownership, invested in, owned, managed, and used by the State, the costs of the management and operation shall be covered by the revenues from collecting expressway tolls according to the law on the collection of expressway tolls and the costs of the maintenance and upgrade shall be covered by the financial sources prescribed in Clause 1 Article 42 of the Law on Road. 

Circular No. 34/2024/TT-BGTVT comes into force as of January 1, 2025.  

Vietnam to promote prevention and combat against corruption and negativity and intensify waste prevention  

This is a content of Resolution No. 218/NQ-CP dated November 12, 2024 on the periodic meeting of the Government of Vietnam in October 2024. 

Regarding the promotion of the prevention and combat against corruption and negativity and intensification of waste prevention; consolidation and intensification of national defense and security potential, maintenance of independence, sovereignty, security, politics, and social order and safety, and improvement of the effectiveness of diplomacy and international cooperation: 

- Ministries and central and local authorities, based on their assigned functions and tasks, shall: 

+ Promote the prevention and combat against waste similar to the prevention and combat against corruption and negativity; develop the culture of waste prevention and control, turning thrift practice and waste prevention into voluntary and self-aware behaviors; strictly handle individuals or collectives causing loss or waste of public property. Review and revise management regulations and technical-economic norms that are no longer conformable with the actual development of Vietnam; complete regulations on the handling of wasteful behaviors, regulations on the management and use of public property, etc. 

+ Intensify comprehensive and in-depth international integration while maintaining Vietnam’s independence, sovereignty, and self-strength; actively and effectively participate in new and general issues of the region and the world. Effectively utilize FTAs and attract high-quality FDI, new-gen ODA, green finance, logistics, and semiconductors. 

- Ministries of National Defense, Public Security, and Foreign Affairs of Vietnam shall take charge and cooperate with relevant ministries and authorities in proactively grasping, assessing, and predicting situations of the world, regions, and Vietnam, focusing on strategic competition, force mobilization, developments of politics and military, etc., to promptly provide counseling for the CPV and the State for guidelines on the successful handling of events, preventing passivity and surprise and contributing to the prevention of risks of conflicts and the maintenance and stabilization of a peaceful environment for the development of Vietnam.

- Ministries of Public Security and Foreign Affairs of Vietnam shall, based on their assigned functions and tasks, urgently research and propose visa exemption for citizens of specific countries to intensify the attraction of investment, trade, and tourism and submit reports to the Prime Minister of Vietnam in November 2024. 

- Ministries of Agriculture and Rural Development, National Defense, and Foreign Affairs of Vietnam shall, based on their functions, tasks, and powers, cooperate with relevant authorities in strictly handling illegal fishing in foreign waters while adopting measures to protect Vietnamese fishermen carrying out fishing activities in compliance with regulations in the East Vietnam Sea. 

- The Inspectorate of the Government of Vietnam shall take charge and strictly cooperate with central and local authorities in effectively implementing citizen reception and processing and settlement of complaints and denunciations, especially crowded, complicated, and prolonged cases, preventing them from becoming “hot spots”.

See more details in Resolution No. 218/NQ-CP dated November 12, 2024.  

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