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Border residents shop duty-free
Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has allowed local residents in An Giang and Tay Ninh provinces to continue to buy goods at the duty-free shops along the southwestern border until 2012.
But the Prime Minister asked the Ministry of Finance to work with the Ministry of Industry and Trade to set a duty-free limit for goods that are typically taxed, including cigarettes, beer and alcohol.
On July 1, the PM decided to ban duty-free sales to local residents to stop illegal purchases made by individuals using fake IDs. The goods were often resold within the country at higher prices.
Prior to the decision, local and foreign travellers who were in transit via air, bus or train could make purchases.
After the July 1 ban, markets in the Moc Bai border gate economic zone, the southern province of Tay Ninh, saw sales plummet.
One duty-free market at the Moc Bai border gate had often welcomed 10,000 shoppers a day, but with the new regulation, that number had fallen to nearly zero.
Le Van Tuong, deputy director of the zone’s management board, said 46 out of 48 supermarkets and trade centres in the Moc Bai border gate economic zone had to shut down temporarily.
Duty-free shops at the Tinh Bien border gate in the Mekong Delta province of An Giang had become empty, with some of them facing bankruptcy.
Province officials recently asked the PM to revoke or amend his decision, saying that sales had plummeted and shops were going bankrupt.
The extension from the PM has brought new life to the markets.
Duong Thanh Van, head of the board’s planning and investment division, said 15 supermarkets and trade centres re-opened on July 10 after closing for more than one week.
Shops at Tinh Bien border gate opened to resume their businesses on that day.
vietnamnews
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