Company News

The Indian government may issue new polices to only allow 49 percent foreign direct investment (FDI) into the country’s pharmaceutical market through the automatic avenue due to concerns that the increasing foreign market control may cause a price monopoly on drugs. Currently India allows 100 percent automatic FDI into the sector.

China has dramatically changed its regulations concerning the operation of representative offices (ROs) in the country and these alterations are due to take effect from March 1 this year. They will alter the operational and financial effectiveness of using ROs in China considerably.

Vietnam’s central bank is proposing to the government that the country set interest rates annually and allow companies to negotiate the price they pay for the country’s currency independently with banks, according to reports by Tuoi Tre, a local newspaper.

Mongolia’s government is reviewing a list of more than 1,700 mining licenses for possible termination under regulations aimed at environment protection, a senior official told reporters.

Representative offices in China may find themselves having to comply with China’s transfer pricing regulations for the first time in the upcoming annual audit period.

Utilizing potential DTAs is something that needs to be discussed at the planning stage of any investment into China, as applications to government organizations such as customs and the tax bureau need to be made by the new entity in order to take advantage of the pertinent DTA.

China’s State Council recently issued new regulations to “strengthen” the administration of resident representative offices (ROs) of foreign enterprises in China. These regulations affect foreign investors setting up representative offices in China, as well as ROs already established on the mainland.

Plans have been laid to create 11 new industrial zones and high tech parks in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi over the next five years in a bid to attract further domestic and foreign investment, Nguyen Xuan Chinh, head of the Hanoi Industrial and Export Processing Zone Management Board, said on Thursday.

China recently signed a tax information exchange agreement (TIEA) with another tax haven, Bermuda, following the TIEA signing with the British Virgin Islands last year. The growing number of TIEAs signed by China show the country’s strong determination to curb capital flight.

Starting next year, Vietnam will increase the mandatory minimum monthly salaries for people working at local and foreign companies by between VND100,000 and VND370,000 according to a government statement issued last week.