Motor vehicle industry lacks strategy plan
Motor vehicle industry lacks strategy plan
A lack of unanimity among ministries had deterred the development of Viet Nam's motor vehicle industry, said Ngo Van Tru, deputy director of the Ministry of Industry and Trade's (MoIT) Heavy Industry Department.
Tru said the ministry had striven to build a motor vehicle development strategy to increase productivity while the Ministry of Transport's strategy was to reduce the number of motor vehicles on the roads due to weak infrastructure.
He said the MoIT's strategy should have been submitted to the Government in the first quarter but had been delayed till the third quarter because it was waiting for an impact report from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.
Statistics from the MoIT showed that Viet Nam's motor vehicle production had not increased since 2007. In April it was 7,000 vehicles, 24 per cent less than the previous month and 46 per cent down on the same period last year.
The ministry forecast about 81,000 new motor vehicles would be sold this year while the Viet Nam Association of Manufacturers of Automobile (VAMA) targeted 130,000 to 140,000.
The low consumption has resulted in high inventory, capital shortage and job cuts, which was alarming, he said.
Viet Nam Society of Automobile Engineers (VSAE) chairman Do Huu Hao said the problem holding back development of the industry was the lack of a clear Government policy.
While motor vehicle consumption was low, the support industries would not develop, he said.
He added that Viet Nam should encourage its people to use automobiles as citizens in an industrialised country could not be expected to walk.
He urged the finance and transport ministries to introduce stable policies with reasonable taxes and fees to stimulate the market.
Finance Ministry Tax Policy Department deputy director Pham Dinh Thi said the problem was how to build a development strategy that would ensure benefits to all parties, the Government, producers and consumers.
Distinctive model
Truong Thi Chi Binh, director of the Centre for Support Industry Business Development under the Institute for Industry Policy and Strategy of Viet Nam, said the country needed to build a distinctive model to develop the automobile industry.
The model would help develop production and manufacturing businesses, increase productivity and improve consumption habits.
However, engineer Tran Tien Vu said Viet Nam should not be in too great a hurry to develop the industry. A strategic motor vehicle model should be decided by the market.
Vu said the Government should review its tax policies on motor vehicles.
We should invest in infrastructure before developing the industry, he added.
vietnamnet
