Hanoi: Vietnam has decided to slash import tax on petroleum products to zero percent from five percent, according to local newspaper Youth on Thursday. This is the fourth time the country has adjusted tariffs on petroleum products since early this year, the newspaper quoted the Vietnamese Finance Ministry as reporting.
The new tariff came into force on Wednesday is to help assist local petroleum importers that are currently facing losses since the world petroleum price still remains high, said the ministry. Vietnam imported over 5.3 million tons of petroleum products worth nearly 2.7 billion U.S. dollars in the first five months of this year, posting respective year-on-year rises of 15.7 percent and 11.7 percent, according to the country's General Statistics Office. Meanwhile, it exported more than 6.4 million tons of crude oil totaling roughly 3.1 billion dollars, down 6.2 percent and 10.7 percent, respectively.
To reduce reliance on petroleum imports, Vietnam, in late 2005, started to construct its first oil refinery with annual refining capacity of 6.5 million tons in central Quang Ngai province. The refinery will go into operation in late 2008 or early 2009. [01/06/07]
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