Cargo operations at Chinese airports hit break-point; freight rates slump
Airfreight demand out of China was lower than expected this week but it started to drop soon after the Golden Week holidays. It was a terrifying time for forwarders before the China holidays and soon after. Empty freighters, canceled charter contracts, missed flights and stricter PPE quality inspections also saw a reduction in demand for shipping PPE. Demand for air freight was lower than expected due to shippers holding...
Read MoreAbu Dhabi customs rolls out stimulus package for importers
The General Administration of Abu Dhabi Customs rolled out an economic stimulus package to offset the impact of the coronavirus on businesses who use the emirate’s ports for imports or as a transit gateway. The new incentives include the postponement of customs duties for 90 days for importers through facilities accounts and the acceptance of institutional guarantees, instead of bank guarantees, for customs transactions. Importers can also use pre-clearance...
Read MorePM allows resumption of non-essential services
HÀ NỘI — Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc has decided to allow non-essential service establishments, except for clubs and karaoke bars, to resume operations but they have to maintain preventive measures against the COVID-19 pandemic. The decision was made at a meeting on COVID-19 prevention and control in Hà Nội on Thursday after three weeks without new community transmission cases of COVID-19 in Việt Nam. Sports activities, football matches...
Read MoreSolutions should prioritize maintaining industrial production: ministry
HÀ NỘI — The Ministry of Industry and Trade said that the most important priority at present was to maintain the operation of domestic industrial enterprises during the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The pandemic has caused a lot of difficulties for enterprises in Việt Nam, especially industrial enterprises. If an enterprise is closed due the pandemic, its workers lose their jobs and it has negative impacts on other businesses in the supply...
Read MoreChina: Customs to crack the whip with rogue exporters
China has warned of stringent action against manufacturers who export defective and counterfeit medical products, including confiscation of the illegal income and punishment, to ensure the overall quality of its foreign trade, the General Administration of Customs said on Monday. The GAC will impose fines of more than 50 percent but less than three times the value of the goods on exporters who violate the rules, the administration said...
Read MoreMedical equipment, PPEs exempted from import duty, sales tax
KUALA LUMPUR (March 24): The Ministry of Finance (MoF) has exempted import duty and sales tax for the purchase of medical and laboratory equipment, personal protective equipment (PPE) and disposable products by any parties donating to the Ministry of Health (MoH) to help address COVID-19. The Royal Malaysian Customs Department, in a statement today, said this was agreed upon by Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz...
Read MoreTransport minister: Importation of 10 million face masks from China because local producers can’t keep up
Transport Minister Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong clarified today that the government’s purchase of 10 million face masks from the Chinese government was because local manufacturers were unable to keep up with the demand. Wee explained that after the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs minister restricted the export of face masks, the existing domestic manufacturers were only able to produce limited quantities of face masks and subsequently led to...
Read MoreEconomic Watch: Trade recovers on China-Vietnam border
NANNING, March 18 (Xinhua) — Hundreds of flat-bed and container trucks queued along a border bridge in Dongxing, a city in south China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, waiting for customs clearance, a scene that signifies the recovery of trade on the China-Vietnam border from the COVID-19 epidemic. Pham Van Tan, a 31-year-old Vietnamese, was driving a truck loaded with about 20 tonnes of dragon fruit produced in Vietnam’s Da...
Read MoreWhy that can of energy drink has doubled in price
Along with the other member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Saudi Arabia is gradually implementing the taxation of goods deemed to have negative effects on public health and the environment. For example, tobacco products, electronic vaping equipment and liquids, and energy drinks attract tax at a rate of 100 percent — doubling the price to the consumer. Tax on soft drinks and sweetened drinks is payable at a...
Read MoreThis will be a game-changer for African free trade
The AfCFTA is a vote of confidence in the value of international economic integration when trade conflicts are rife globally, writes Bohani Hlungwane The countdown has begun towards the “go-live” date of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) on 1 July 2020, which will potentially be a game changer for the continent, with its consumer market of 1.2 billion people with a combined GDP of $2.5 trillion (R37...
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