HANOI, Aug. 26 (Xinhuanet) -- Vietnam may halve the tax rate imposed on imported mobile phones to minimize the number of smuggled products.

    The Ministry of Trade has recently proposed the Ministry of Finance lower the rate to 5 percent from the current 10 percent, according to local media reports on Thursday.

    Earlier, the Ministry of Trade asked local mobile phone importers and traders to re-organize their distribution networks, and not to sell smuggled products. Some 70 percent of mobile phones available in the local market are now smuggled ones. Vietnam is expected to consume 1.2-1.3 million mobile phones this year, up 50-78 percent over last year.

    According to the International Telecommunications Union, the country ranks second in the world after China in telecommunications growth rate. By the end of June, it had more than 3 million mobile phone subscribers, or 3.7 units per 100 residents. Enditem