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Friday 27 February 2009

7 rules to become a master of interpersonal relationships

7 rules to become a master of interpersonal relationships
Be a rays of sunshine experience for others

If you want to move up the ranks of masterful communication, you have to watch what you say to others. Not just in the showpieces of communication such as a presentation, a memo, or a meeting, but in everyday interaction. Learn these 7 rules and you can quietly and unobtrusively become a master of interpersonal relationships.

1. Be kind. No matter what you say or how you say it, at bottom your communication will always reveal your true thoughts and attitudes. As such, you always have two choices. You can communicate from a standpoint of love or from one of fear. When your communication is laced with sarcasm, blame, threat, anger, anxiety, worry, and control, you are essentially communicating fear. When your communication is laced with respect, appreciation, acceptance, joy, delight, wonder, and acceptance, you are essentially communicating love. If you don’t quite understand the difference, there is an easy way to communicate love not fear: always be kind.

“Words are but pictures of our thoughts.” (John Dryden 1631 – 1700)

2. Be aware of your effect on others. We often use language to criticize and attack others. Some people are masters of doing this in disguise; others do it openly. For many, communication is a battle that they have to win and words are their chief weapons of war. Harsh words can cut people deep and leave their scars for days if not years. That’s why the mark of the true communicator is to know what effect their words have on others and to adjust them accordingly.

“Some words are like rays of sunshine, others like barbed arrows, or the bite of a serpent. And if hard words cut so deep, how much pleasure can kind ones give?” (Sir John Lubbock 1834 – 1913)

3. Emphasize the positive. Really masterful communication doesn’t just depend on getting your message across or even clarifying what someone else is trying to say to you. It goes much deeper. Great communicators leave people feeling better than they did. They said something of value to the other person. Or they appreciated what the other person was saying to them. This happens when the communication isn’t just about the words; it’s about the people.

“There is a subterranean emotional economy that passes amongst all of us. In every interaction, we can make people feel better or worse.” (Daniel Coleman)

4. Don’t assume you’ve been understood. The history of relationships is littered with the history of misunderstood communications. A word gone awry here, a meaning missed there: they all add up to distorting your message and being mis-received.

The story is told of the teacher who handed out a set of worksheets to the pupil at the front of her class with the words, “Please pass these around”. She then turned her attention to the next topic. A few minutes later, she looked up to see the pupil at the back of the room sitting with all the worksheets wondering what to do with them.

As Stephen Covey reminds us, “First, seek to be understood; then understand.”

5. Know when to shut up. If you’ve ever attended a workplace meeting, you’ll know how hard it is to say nothing. Many people attend business meetings with the sole intention of talking, even if it isn’t relevant, even if the point has already been made. Talking is a way to impress. As a result, many meetings waste time and are unproductive. The best communicators are those who are secure enough to admit when they have little to say or little to add. They know when to shut up.

“If A equals success, then the formula is: A = X + Y + Z, where X is work, Y is play and Z is keep your mouth shut.” (Albert Einstein 1879 - 1955)

6. Don’t interrupt. If you’ve ever eavesdropped on a conversation between two people, you’ll probably have noticed that, instead of there being a progression of ideas building one on top of the other, most people talk over one another. It resembles a contest more than a dialogue. It is rare to see people listening with openness and non-judgment until the other person has stopped speaking. And even rarer to hear people asking for clarification and help with understanding. But holding back while you listen to others is the mark of the real communications expert.

“There is no such thing as conversation. It is an illusion. There are intersecting monologues, that’s all.” (Rebecca West)

7. Don’t gossip. Gossip is a particularly pernicious form of communication. It is idle, often indulged in merely to pass the time, and serves no real purpose other than to make ourselves feel better at the expense of others. If you work with others who like to gossip, simply learn the trick of disengagement: don’t reply, don’t be drawn in, and never do it yourself.

“Great minds think and talk about ideas. Average minds think and talk about situations. Little minds think and talk about other people.”

Working on improving your communications is a broad-brush activity. You have to change your thoughts, your feelings, and your physical connections. That way you can break down the barriers that get in your way and start building relationships that really work. Communicate with others like rays of sunshine, not poisoned arrows.



Eric Garner is one of the foremost leaders in management and personal development with a personal guarantee to make you a better manager, trainer, and learner. His company, ManageTrainLearn, runs corporate training programmes in the UK and since 2002 has published a website at www.managetrainlearn.com that provides a wide range of exclusive digital learning products.
Eric Garner is one of the foremost leaders in management and personal development with a personal guarantee to make you a better manager, trainer, and learner. His company, ManageTrainLearn, runs corporate training programmes in the UK and since 2002 has published a website at www.managetrainlearn.com that provides a wide range of exclusive digital learning products.


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Friday 13 February 2009

FINANCE STIMULUS - Banks agree to lend billions of dollars under government interest rate subsidisation scheme

FINANCE STIMULUS - Banks agree to lend billions of dollars under government interest rate subsidisation scheme





Three large banks, Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (Bidv), Vietnam Bank for Foreign Trade (Vietcombank), Industrial and Commercial Bank of Vietnam (Vietinbank), announced that they will offer 70 trillion dong each under the government's interest rate subsidisation.

Meanwhile, the lending amount of Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam (Agribank) under the government's interest rate subsidisation will surely be larger, possibly up to 100 trillion dong, because its large number of clients being farmers and agricultural businesses.

Among commercial joint stock banks, Vietnam Technological and Commercial Bank (Techcombank) planned to lend 50 trillion dong, Asia Commercial Bank (ACB) 35 trillion dong, Vietnam International Bank (VIB) 25 trillion dong. Other commercial joint stock banks also scheduled to offer loans of some 10-30 trillion dong. It is estimated that some 600 trillion dong worth of interest-rate-subsidised loans will be injected into the economy.

With such a large estimated lending amount, the government will have to subsidise about 24 trillion dong while the government scheduled an amount of only 17 trillion dong in planned eight-month period.

However, banks say they are well aware that the most important part of the government's interest rate subsidisation is extending loans to the right business.

ACB said that it would set aside loans primarily for export activities and short-term trade support with the lowest interest rate of only 1.2% a year.

Ly Xuan Hai, ACB's general director, expected that this would help increase outstanding loans for export, bringing its year-on-year credit growth to some 70%.

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) in Circular 02 dated 3 February 2009 regulating interest rate subsidisation in details allowed banks to fully satisfy borrowing demand of eligible businesses. After that, upon collecting interest, the central bank will transfer subsidised interest to banks based on banks' lending reports. With such a statute, there is no barrier for interest-rate-subsidised loans. Banks have the right to decide and take responsibility for loans.

Most of banks and businesses questioned why the government chooses the subsidised interest rate of 4%. In 2009, total credit to the economy through the banking channel is estimated at 1,200 trillion dong a year. Thus, the government's subsidy amount of 17 trillion dong will create some over 50% of cheap capital of the above total amount. The remaining credit will follow the normal lending mechanism. SET

INFRASTRUCTURE - Fast capital needed for infrastructure

INFRASTRUCTURE - Fast capital needed for infrastructure

HCM CITY — The city must streamline administrative procedures to ensure a steady flow of foreign capital for infrastructure projects, experts have said.

Experts at the HCM City branch of the National Socio-Economic Forecasting Centre said the continued disbursement of registered foreign capital was even more critical than an attempt to attract more foreign direct investment (FDI).

Last year FDI into Viet Nam increased to more than US$60 billion, with HCM City accounting for more than $8 billion.

Beginning in January, HCM City’s Planning and Investment Department reformed several administrative procedures to prevent slow disbursement by investors.

The department said the city would also pilot some simplified changes in administrative procedures related to construction investment in new urban area projects, housing projects and industrial zone infrastructure projects.

Among the changes would be the abolishment of investment certificates for new urban areas, and housing and industrial zone projects.

The implementation of the United Nations Development Programme’s administrative reform project was also being expedited, city officials said.

Infrastructure projects

According to deputy chairman of HCM City People’s Committee Nguyen Trung Tin, several major transport projects in the 2008-2010 period would be prioritised for investment.

The city needs $15 billion from now to 2020 to develop transport infrastructure, including new roads, according to Tin. Many urgent projects need capital, such as the two-way street Ha Huy Giap, the interprovincial highway 15 expansion project, and theVuon Lai Street and Vam Thuat Bridge projects.

The city will also have to mobilise capital for nine sewage treatment plants and two important projects, the Tham Luong-Ben Cat canal water discharge project, which requires an additional $800 million, and the Tan Hoa-Lo Gom canal sewage treatment and collection project, which requires another $500 million. — VNS

Banking finance – Financial sector stable, as interest rates drop

Banking finance – Financial sector stable, as interest rates drop



HCM CITY — The domestic financial market has been kept stable over the first month of the year, while deposit and lending interest rates have both decreased.

Independent market watchdogs said that the domestic market was still running rather smoothly, with supply and demand of foreign currencies ensured. And this was in spite of the local market being affected by complications in the global financial market, they added.

The exchange rate in credit organisation transactions has already reached a ceiling. Meanwhile, the exchange rate between the US dollar and the Vietnamese dong on the free market was between VND150 – 216 higher than the rates offered by commercial banks.

The exchange rate between the euro and dong declined in proportion to changes of the euro on the international market. The EUR/VND exchange rate on the free market changed based on official market rate changes.

In January, most commercial banks cut their lending and deposit interest rates after the central bank decided to cut the annual basic interest rate from 8.5 per cent to 7 per cent.

In particular, interest rates for deposits in Vietnamese dong fell between 0.2 and 1.5 per cent per year in January against the previous month, with the current popular rates of 6.99 and 7.84 per cent per year.

Meanwhile, the borrowing rate was also down by between 0.5 per cent and 1.2 per cent to 10.82 and 11.52 per cent per year.

Some State-run commercial banks have provided loans with a preferential rates of 6.5 per cent to enterprises involved in sectors deemed to be "priority" by the Government.

The interest rate for dollar deposits dropped by between 0.5 per cent and 1.2 per cent/year to 2.35 and 3.55 per cent/year as compared with the previous month’s level. Meanwhile, the rates of dollar loans stood at 6.61 per cent, down by 0.1 and 0.5 per cent.

Generally, experts said, the decreases in both deposit and lending interest rates contributed to raising the volume of money injected into the economy in January by 0.52 per cent over the amount recorded in December.

Experts attributed the monetary market’s positive changes to efforts by the State Bank of Viet Nam (SBV) in supervising the domestic monetary market and credit institutions.

Among the measures taken have been injecting between VND5,000 billion and 6,000 billion to buy back valuable paper from credit institutions participating on the open market, and allowing commercial banks to withdraw their SBV compulsory bonds before maturity.

The bank also sold foreign currencies to credit institutions in order to meet demand. Additionally, it ensured an adequate supply of cash for credit organisations and stable and safe payment systems. — VNS

Important Vietnamese Tax Changes

In January and February 2009, the Vietnamese Government announced, through the Ministry of Finance (MOF), a number of plans for tax reductions and deferral of tax payments, the details of which have been included in the recently issued Deloitte Tax Alerts. These changes affect Corporate Income Tax (CIT) and Value Added Tax (VAT). These measures are aimed at stimulating the Vietnamese economy.

A further major stimulus was released today affecting Personal Income Tax (PIT).

PIT Changes

Today, the MOF issued Circular 27/2009/TT-BTC, which provides that an employer is not required to withhold PIT from employees’ salaries and wages for the first five months of 2009.


The National Assembly will meet in May 2009. At that time, the National Assembly may decide whether the PIT not withheld from employees’ January through May 2009 salaries will be permanently forgiven, or be payable to the General Department of Taxation and, if so, under what terms.


In our view, the incentive granted in today’s Circular 27 clearly benefits those employees who are remunerated on a “gross of tax” basis. These employees’ cash flow should increase for the PIT that would normally have been withheld for the first five months of 2009. Furthermore, any PIT already withheld from 2009 salaries should be returned to employees.


For employees whose labor contracts are based on “net of tax” compensation, it is unclear how these tax savings will be realized by them and, effectively, it appears the tax benefit is earned by the employer.


The Vietnamese version of Circular 27/2009/TT-BTC is attached for your reference.


CIT and VAT Changes


A brief summary of the recently announced CIT and VAT key changes are:

* Small and Medium Vietnamese Enterprises (SMEs) have had their CIT rate reduced by 30% for the 4th quarter 2008 (to 19.6%), and for the 2009 tax year (to 17.5%);


* The 2009 CIT liabilities otherwise payable on a quarterly basis may each be deferred for payment by 9 months with no late payment or penalty interest accruing. Thus, the 1st quarter 2009 provisional payment due on 30 April 2009 may be deferred, without penalty or interest, until 31 January 2010; and



* The VAT rate has been reduced by 50% for goods and services provided by enterprises in certain industries, including tourism, automobile sales, domestic transportation and certain engineering works. For example, the standard VAT rate of 10%, for a hotel business, has been reduced to 5% output VAT with effect from 1 February through 31 December 2009.


In addition, some proposed regulations of PIT (yet to be approved) that may be of interest are as follows:

* Tax Treatment on Fringe Benefits : Under the new regulations, certain fringe benefits provided to which were previously not subject to tax (i.e. employees’ children school fees, home leave, relocation costs) and benefits previously taxed at a concession rate (i.e. domestic rents) will become taxable in full with effect from 1 January 2009. The impact of this, in some cases, resulted in more than 20% increased in tax cost.



In mid-January, the General Department of Taxation (“GDT”) drafted a circular to the MOF seeking to reinstate the previous tax treatment on fringe benefits, i.e. school fees, home leave and relocation costs will not be taxed. Based on the wordings of the draft circular, it appears that the tax exemption on fringe benefits is only applicable to foreign tax resident only. If this draft is approved and issued by the MOF, this will reduce the tax liability of foreign tax residents, i.e. expatriates substantially. In the draft circular, housing remains to be taxable in full.



It is yet to see if this draft will be approved by the MOF.



* Tax Treatment of Salaries and Bonus Relating to 2008, but Paid in 2009: Earlier this month, the GDT issued a Public Ruling dated 31 December 2008 which state that for “salary and bonuses and other benefits” that relates to the 2008 but was paid in 2009, the employer must calculate PIT based on the 2008 tax rates and not the 2009 tax rates. Resulting from this, many employers are required to recalculate the PIT payable in respect of salary and bonuses relating to 2008 but paid in 2009.



In the draft circular mentioned above, it was proposed that “salary and bonuses” paid by employers in 2009 be taxed at the 2009 PIT rates. It appears that there is no requirement to apply the 2008 tax rates even if the salary or bonus payments relates to 2008.



The draft is pending approval by the MOF.



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Any advice, comment, or analysis (collectively, "advice") contained in this e-mail is made or given based on the relevant laws, regulations, and rulings (collectively, “authorities”) in effect as of the date of this post, and the facts and assumptions provided to us by you. These authorities are subject to change, and any such changes may be retroactive in their effect. Any changes to the authorities subsequent to the date of this post may affect the validity of the advice. We undertake no obligation to advise you of any changes or developments that may affect the advice in this post or any other matters set forth in this post.

Source: Deloitte Vietnam