Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung has urged the ministries of Transport and Industry and Trade to implement current policies and assist in the removal of obstacles for auto businesses.

His request is aimed at enabling auto businesses to develop their operations in Viet Nam.

This is part of the Government Office’s concluding report that Dung released at the last week’s meeting on reviewing the implementation of Government’s Decree 116/2017/ND-CP. The decree stipulates the conditions for production, assembly, import and business of automobile warranty and maintenance services, issued on October 17 last year.

After a period of validity, Dung said many policies and regulations had met the requirements of automobile development in Viet Nam, especially Decree 116 and the transport ministry’s Circular 03, which aims to clarify the regulations of Decree 116, helping automobile importers implement procedures when they import autos to the Vietnamese market, said the report.

Dung said relevant organisations and individuals needed to gather ideas to further study Decree 116 and Circular 03, meeting the requirements on fairness, transparency and competition in accordance with international commitments and practices, ensuring the development of the national automobile industry strategy.

He asked the ministries to organise field trips to businesses for inspection and find solutions to handle difficulties, if any.

Dung also assigned the Ministry of Finance to send a report to the Government soon on tax policies for the development of the automobile industry. The report will then be submitted to the National Assembly for approval this year.

He asked the ministries of Transport and Industry and Trade and relevant sectors to control the import of cars within ASEAN in accordance with the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA), ensuring strict fulfilment of the conditions for enjoying a tax rate of zero per cent.

According to ATIGA, to enjoy zero import tax, vehicles must reach a localisation rate of 40 per cent or more in the country of origin.

In addition to this, the ministries and relevant sectors will have to study and improve policies and regulations related to the automobile industry’s development as well as strengthen automotive quality control in Viet Nam.

The report pointed out that the Vietnamese automobile market was experiencing strong growth and was expected to continue developing in the coming years, thanks to the country’s economic growth rate, which was quite high compared to other countries in the region.

Meanwhile, the income of people has also improved, and the transport infrastructure is more systematic, resulting in increasing demand for cars.

The Government has asked the ministries to gradually meet the demand of the automobile market while protecting the rights and interests of consumers and the environment, effectively implement the development strategy for the domestic automobile industry, especially increasing the localisation rate (local parts supply) and develop the supporting industry to concentrate on creating Viet Nam’s automobile brands. — VNS