Transportation costs in Vietnam are some of the highest in the region, and they show no sign of significant reductions in the near future.
Passengers at My Dinh Bus Station
During a conference about transportation costs on November 13, Khuat Viet Hung, deputy head of the National Traffic Safety Committee announced that Vietnam’s average transport fee was USD0.148/tonne/km, compared to USD0.766 in South Korea. But, if average per capita income were to be factored in, transport fees would work out to three times higher that of South Korea.
Statistics from the World Bank showed that Vietnam’s total transport costs comprised 11.8% of GDP, while the figure in the US was 4.5%, 4.8% in Singapore, 5.8% in EU and 6% in Japan. “Vietnam is still an emerging economy, but the transportation costs are too high. Lower costs would ease pressure on both businesses and consumers,” Hung said.
Phan Thi Thu Hien, deputy director of Department of Transport, said fuel accounted for 35-50% of the total cost. She went on to say that policies to stablise the market through fuel cost would not work if transport companies did not lower their prices. She said, “Many taxi firms have increased their prices several times but are hesitant to lower them. Since early this year, fuel prices have dropped by 1.2% a month so transport cost should drop by 5.6-8%.”
The Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Transport will conduct inspections on price declarations. The inspection will not force enterprises to lower prices, but it is hoped to heighten transparency uncover any ongoing tax evasion.
Nguyen Van Thanh, chairman of the Automobile Transportation Association, said transport companies are wary of lowering prices because of worries about the volatile fuel market. “Many companies said that fuel prices may see a reduction today and then increased tomorrow. We’ve tried to persuaded them that the stabilisation fund would help for at least 6-12 months, but they seem to be unconvinced,” he said.
Đăng ký: VietNam News
