Workers install printers at Samsung Viet Nam. South Korea has the largest FDI business community in Viet Nam. — VNA/VNS Photo Thai Hung

Deputy Minister of Finance Do Hoang Anh Tuan said that the conference, organised annually, aimed to tighten the connection between the Government's tax and customs department and Korean firms in Viet Nam.

Tuan said the Korean business community was the largest FDI business community in Viet Nam with considerable contribution to the country's socio-economic development.

He pledged that the Government of Viet Nam would strive to create favourable conditions for the business community in general and for Korean firms in particular.

According to Jun Dae Joo, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Viet Nam, quoted by the Ministry of Finance's e-portal, the government listening to difficulties encountered by firms was of great importance as the business climate was one among the major factors to be considered when businesses chose destinations for their investments.

Joo believed that the two-way trade between Korea and Viet Nam would hit US$70 billion by 2020. Last year, the bilateral trade reached a record value of $30 billion.

At the conference, the General Department of Customs answered queries of Korean firms about corporation income tax, individual income tax, and value added tax, apart from tax refunds and tax reductions.

Viet Nam strove to cut tax filing times by 410 hours, with online-tax fillings applied in all 63 provinces, to date.

Rumours denied

The rumour that Samsung is redirecting its investments to Thai Nguyen Province to evade tax in Bac Ninh Province is totally untrue, said Samsung Electronics Viet Nam (SEV).

In a document sent to Viet Nam News from SEV yesterday, the company said the reason for the decrease of first quarter sales of SEV was that SEV introduced lots of the CNC equipment to produce a Galaxy S6 and S6 edge with a metal case. Therefore, there were some special circumstances in the first quarter, but the full year sales of SEV would maintain last year's level, or were expected to decrease slightly.

"In addition, Samsung Display has decided to invest an additional $3 billion in Bac Ninh. If Samsung Display's Bac Ninh plant gets fully operational, industrial production in the Bac Ninh Province is expected to increase significantly," it added.

Earlier, the province's report on its international integration showed that the localisation rate of Canon was 65 per cent while that of Samsung was 36 per cent.

It said the FDI into the province last year saw a decrease, staying at VND23 trillion ($1.02 billion).

One of the reasons for the decline was due to a decrease in Samsung's production and exports.

Statistics from the provincial Department of Customs showed that in the first quarter of the year, total import and export value of Samsung Bac Ninh were $3.1 billion and $3.6 billion respectively. Those in the same period last year were $5.1 billion and $5.6 billion respectively.

Samsung Thai Nguyen posted a surge in import and export value of $3.7 billion and $3.6 billion in the first quarter of the year. The figures in the corresponding period last year were only $246 million and $77 million.

The department said Samsung Thai Nguyen was a large scale company and enjoying 100 per cent corporate income tax waiver.

This was the reason why it chose a low-cost production area in Thai Nguyen Province, which would benefit the group, the department added. — VNS