Workers at My Phong garment firm in the southern province of Tra Vinh return home after working hours. Photo by VnExpress/Chau Thanh A Taiwanese footwear firm in southern Vietnam has announced massive layoffs just days ahead of Tet, leaving thousands of workers in the lurch. My Phong textile company in the Mekong Delta of Tra Vinh Province, which makes leather shoes for export, decided to terminate the contracts of 10,142 workers on Tuesday. Tet, the Lunar New Year, is the country’s biggest festival which peaks on February 5. A company spokesperson said the reason for the mass dismissal is that its partner in the U.S. has gone bankrupt, affecting nearly 70 percent of its export contracts. Local authorities immediately dispatched officials to meet the management to safeguard the legitimate rights of the workers. The company promised to fully pay the laid-off workers their January and February salaries, holiday bonuses and unemployment benefits in accordance with labor … [Read more...] about Taiwanese firm in Vietnam sacks 10,000 workers before Lunar New Year
Human rights law firms
Firms face tougher competition ahead as CPTPP takes effect
The CPTPP is considered a high standard trade agreement which features in-depth commitments. Therefore, Vietnam needs to accelerate institutional reforms to seize upon the opportunities presented from the trade deal. The leather and footwear industry has seen a host of opportunities emerge for export growth as 10 out of 11 CPTPP member nations are potential export markets. In addition, tax lines for leather and footwear products, along with handbags, will be slashed to zero percent, offering opportunities to further boost exports. However, Phan Thi Thanh Xuan, vice chairwoman and general secretary of the Vietnam Leather, Footwear and Handbag Association (Lefaso), said small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have still encountered difficulties in grasping the rules of CPTPP markets. In addition, SMEs have also faced serious shortages of capital and in their workforce as they seek to expand their production scale. Ms Xuan said there remains a lack of policies to support … [Read more...] about Firms face tougher competition ahead as CPTPP takes effect
Bringing Vietnam’s laws up to speed with CPTPP
Marko Walde Chief representative, German Industry and Commerce Vietnam On behalf of the German Industry and Commerce Vietnam, I think that the CPTPP, as a quite comprehensive agreement, will offer Vietnam not only trade and investment opportunities, but also a chance to modernise and bring its labour law, penal law, anti-corruption law, and the intellectual property rights policy in line with international standards. This will certainly have a positive effect on the ratification of the free trade agreement between the EU and Vietnam. The CPTPP is a high-quality agreement which includes 15 per cent of global trade, as well as more than 13 per cent of the global economy, tantamount to $10 trillion. The agreement will also affect global value chains and is expected to help Vietnam expand exports and join global value chains more deeply. About 66 per cent of tariff lines will be eliminated immediately after the CPTPP takes effect, which will rise to 86.5 per cent three years after the deal … [Read more...] about Bringing Vietnam’s laws up to speed with CPTPP
MLMs undeterred by stricter laws
MLM systems are growing even as regulations are becoming more stringent Recently, the dossier of the Lien Ket Viet Company case, a multi-level company masquerading as a firm under the Ministry of Defence, has been sent to the People’s Supreme Court. This company was pretending to be a corporation managed by the Ministry of Defence to do business and conducted illegal activities, such as collecting a fee worth VND8.6 million ($374) from each person who wants to join its system, as well as holding conferences and presentations to disseminate false information. According to local media, Lien Ket Viet leaders always wore military outfits and boasted of relations with military generals, as well as forged documents and governmental merits. Accordingly, the company lured in over 66,000 members and collected VND2 trillion ($87 million). Numerous heads of offices and multi-level agencies will be subject to legal proceedings, with seven defendants being prosecuted and 34 heads … [Read more...] about MLMs undeterred by stricter laws
Cambodian people benefit from CPP’s policies
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen (Source: AFP/VNA) Hanoi (VNA) - Over the past five-tear term of the National Assembly, the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) has done a lot for the Cambodian people, helping raise public confidence in the upcoming general election. The maintenance of peace, political stability and security has created favourable conditions for Cambodia to continue recording new and greater achievements in socio-economic development and in the improvement of the people’s living standards. Cambodia has emerged from a low-income country into a low-middle income nation, and is on the path towards the high-middle income status by 2030. Such achievements have demonstrated the success in the implementation of the Political Platform and the Rectangular Strategy - Phase 3 during the five-year term of the Government led by Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen, and proved that they have received public support and trust. This was primarily attributable to … [Read more...] about Cambodian people benefit from CPP’s policies