Laos to use new international fuel management system
Laos to use new international fuel management system
The Finance Ministry's Customs Department gave a green light to Buathip Lao Co Ltd on the installation of an integrated fuel management system project nationwide, aimed at stopping illegal fuel import and supply.
The department and the company signed the project agreement yesterday in Vientiane, attended by officials from related ministries.
“The project will have to complete the system installation within the next 10 months at a cost of about 120 billion kip (US$15 million),” Customs Clearance Division Deputy Director, Mr Sirivanh Phankhamphiew, said at the ceremony.
“The company will hold 90 percent of the equity and the remaining 10 percent will be the government's,” Mr Sirivanh said.
The company will operate the project for 10 years but the agreement can be extended once.
The project will have two phases. The first phase will involve the installation of the system from the border checkpoints to the fuel storage depots and the second one will be from the depots to the retail outlets.
The system, which will be a n electronic system using technology from Singapore, will be used for checking the fuel importation and supply locally. The system will include an online meter, controlling programme, global positioning system (GPS), supply recorder and controls.
According to technical research, the project will help to prevent the illegal import and supply of fuel to ensure that tax and customs duty are collected for the national revenue.
The company President, Mr Yai Phommachack, said currently many countries worldwide have used the system effectively. The new system will be mainly for facilitating the tax and customs officials on the management and checking of fuel import and supply.
The Lao Petroleum and Gas Association reported recently that total fuel consumption in Laos was more than 911 million litres in the last fiscal year of 2012-13.
“The fuel imported increases about 15 to 20 percent per year,” Mr Sirivanh said.
vientiane times
