Australian market news February 2015

Main content of the statement on Strengthening the Comprehensive Partnership between Vietnam and Australia

Within the framework of the official visit to Australia by Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, the two sides issued a Declaration on Strengthening the Vietnam-Australia Comprehensive Partnership. Below is the main content of the Declaration.

Vietnam - Australia relations are built on mutual respect and common interests. That relationship contributes to peace, stability, cooperation and development of each country, the region and the world. On September 7, 2009, in order to strengthen and strengthen bilateral relations, the two countries established the Vietnam - Australia Comprehensive Partnership. The following year, the two countries agreed to develop a Vietnam-Australia Action Program for the period 2010 - 2013 to create a framework to promote the implementation of cooperation areas of the Comprehensive Partnership.

Recognizing the economic and strategic changes in the region since 2009, the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the Government of Australia are committed to continuing to promote the achievements of the Comprehensive Partnership and the original Action Program through this Declaration on Strengthening the Comprehensive Partnership, which has been updated to reflect current changes in the region as well as the increasingly stable bilateral relationship. The two countries will develop a second Action Program to implement priority areas of cooperation with a new focus.

Prime Minister attends Vietnam - Australia business dialogue

Accepting the invitation of Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbot, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung paid an official visit to Australia on March 17-18, 2015. Within the framework of activities in Sydney city, on the morning of March 17, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and Ministers attended the Vietnam - Australia Business Dialogue. The dialogue attracted more than 100 large Vietnamese and Australian businesses in the fields of finance, banking, energy, education, agriculture... to participate.

Speaking at the dialogue, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung overviewed the achievements and results of Vietnam's socio-economic development, international integration, and improvement of Vietnam's recent investment and business environment. The Prime Minister also emphasized the directions for economic reform and restructuring from now to 2020 with focuses including: Focusing on effectively implementing 3 strategic breakthroughs associated with innovating growth models; promote restructuring solutions including restructuring public investment, state-owned enterprises and the banking system; comprehensively innovate education and training to develop high-quality human resources; continue to give high priority to the development of socio-economic infrastructure, especially transportation and energyquantity; Focus on cultural development, progress and social justice, perfect the rule of law, and strongly promote the freedom and democracy of people and businesses.

Affirming that attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) is Vietnam's major policy, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said that in 2014, Vietnam issued many important laws that are highly competitive compared to the region, including the Investment Law and Enterprise Law. The Government also directed to promote administrative procedure reform in the direction of increasing the efficiency of enforcement, making efforts to sharply reduce the time and cost of administrative procedures, striving in 2015 to achieve and exceed the average level of the ASEAN-6 countries in 2015 and at least reach the average level of the ASEAN-4 countries in 2016.

Regarding the relationship between Vietnam and Australia, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said that since the establishment of the Comprehensive Partnership in 2009, bilateral relations have developed strongly in all fields of politics, economics, defense and security, science and technology, culture and education, and people-to-people exchanges. Australia is the 19th largest investment partner in Vietnam with 328 projects and 1.66 billion USD of registered capital; is Vietnam's 8th largest trade partner and reached the milestone of 6 billion USD in 2014.

Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang worked with Australian Minister of Trade and Investment Andrew Robb

In the framework of the official visit to Australia and New Zealand by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, on March 18, 2015, Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang had a working session with Australian Minister of Trade and Investment Andrew Robb in Canberra.

At the meeting, the two Ministers both expressed joy over the achievements achieved in the field of economic, trade and industrial cooperation between the two countries in general, and cooperation between the two Ministries in particular over the past time, especially since the two countries established comprehensive partnership in 2009 (*). The two Ministers also agreed that the potential and prospects for cooperation between the two sides are very favorable, especially when the foundation of political trust continues to be strengthened through the signing of the Declaration on Strengthening the Comprehensive Partnership between Vietnam and Australia on this occasion as well as the bilateral and multilateral economic and trade cooperation frameworks of which the two countries have become and are becoming members.

Speaking at the meeting, Minister Vu Huy Hoang suggested that the Australian Ministry of Trade and Investment pay attention to promoting a number of important cooperation contents in the fields of energy and trade in the coming time. Specifically, regarding energy, Minister Vu Huy Hoang asked the Australian side to support this country's businesses in researching the possibility of implementing investment cooperation projects to build ports and warehouses, supply LNG gas for electricity generation in Vietnam, and at the same time promote the signing of long-term coal supply contracts to serve the growing needs of Vietnamese power plants in the near future.

Import and export turnover between Vietnam and Australia in January 2015

Two-way import-export turnover between Vietnam and Australia in January 2015 reached more than 416 USD, of which export turnover only reached 233.6 million USD, down 20.7% over the same period.

Australian economic situation in 2014

Australia's economy developed quite stably in 2014, maintaining positive growth for 23 consecutive years, with GDP growth increasing by 3.1% in the 2013-2014 fiscal year. The Australian economy in 2014 had a number of key characteristics such as: mining continued to be the main driver of growth, contributing 80% to GDP growth, trade growth was maintained, labor productivity increase.

According to assessments, one of the important factors contributing to the stable growth of the Australian economy is the effective macroeconomic policy of the Coalition Government with the main priorities of reducing regulation, implementing tightened monetary and fiscal policies, attaching importance to economic diplomacy, and strongly promoting trade liberalization. However, the Australian economy continues to face key difficulties that can impact the economy such as reduced investment in the resource sector (mining and related industries), reduced public investment due to tightened fiscal policy, and mineral export prices continue to decline.

The 2014-2015 federal budget was approved in the National Assembly (May 2014), and is the tightest budget since 1996 aiming for a budget surplus, including the main points of increasing taxes, reducing budget expenditures, stabilizing and gradually reducing the proportion of the Central Government in the economy. At the same time, monetary policy has been implemented in a balanced and effective manner, including eliminating the public debt ceiling and maintaining a low interest rate of 2.5% from August 2013 to present to further stimulate business investment. Inflation remains within the target range of 2-3% in the next 2 years. Australia strongly promotes trade liberalization as a pillar of economic diplomacy through key policies such as reducing trade barriers and promoting exports.exports, completing FTAs ​​with Korea, Japan and China within a year.

Importing goods into Australia: What do you need to know when importing goods into the Australian market?

There are a number of regulations that control what goods can and cannot be imported into Australia. These regulations are administered and controlled by a number of different government agencies.

Some items require an import license, while a very few other items are completely banned from import. Prohibited import items are items that cannot be imported into Australia under any circumstances. However, most items can be imported into Australia without an import license.

The Ministry of Agriculture is the focal point for information on licensing requirements and import control.

Regulations for imported goods valued at no more than 1,000 AUD?

Items, excluding products containing alcohol and tobacco, with a value not exceeding AUD 1,000 may be exempt from import duty. If goods (other than products containing alcohol and tobacco) are imported into Australia by post (i.e. Australia Post delivers within Australian territory), the Australian Customs and Border Protection Agency will not require any documents to be submitted, other than the requirement to declare parcels or goods subject to an import permit. At that time, Australia Post will deliver the goods directly to the recipient. If imported by air or sea, goods with a value of not more than 1,000 AUD (except products containing alcohol and tobacco) will not be subject to import tax. Goods valued under 1,000 AUD (except products containing alcoholn and tobacco) do not need to make an import declaration but must make a self-assessment clearance declaration according to the requirements of the Customs and Border Protection Agency. Usually the carrier will declare on behalf of the shipper, but sometimes the shipper must declare himself.

Regulations for imported goods valued at over 1,000 AUD?

Imported goods will be subject to import tax and 10% goods and services tax (GST). Tax rates depend on the nature of the goods. Goods may be subject to Wine Equalization Tax (WET) or Luxury Car Tax (LCT) and other taxes according to Australian law.

When carrying out procedures for imposing import tax and GST, the tax rate is determined based on the Goods Tariff Schedule (Customs Tax Law 1995). Import duties, if any, are calculated based on the customs value of the goods. Australian Customs and Border Protection may require invoices to be presented to determine customs value. Therefore, it is necessary to keep all documents for a minimum period of 5 years in accordance with the provisions of the Customs Law 1901.

Cases of food hygiene and safety violations of Vietnam when imported to Australia in January 2015

In January 2015, Vietnam had 3/16 cases of violations when importing food into Australia.
Check for risks from imported foods:

In January 2015, the Australian Department of Agriculture controlled and identified the following food shipments as having a high or moderate risk to public health. These shipments will not be allowed to be sold in Australia, and the importer must destroy or re-export them to the country of origin under the supervision of Australian authorities. Subsequent shipments will be 100% inspected until they meet specified standards. Vietnam had 1/5 cases of violation in January 2015, etc.

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