A recent meeting of Ho Chi Minh (HCM) City’s People’s Council passed a resolution on amendments and supplements to the fees for using infrastructure and public services at ports. This included reduction by half in port infrastructure fees for international goods transported by inland waterways in and out of the Vietnamese city from August 1.
Apart from these measures, imported and exported goods for national defense and security and in response to natural disasters and epidemics, and some other purposes will be exempt from fees as well.
The decision aims at helping businesses deal with stiff challenges like rising fuel prices, and promote the city’s post-pandemic economic recovery programme.
Business associations had earlier suggested the prime minister to ask the city to stop collecting high infrastructure fees at seaports, and in response, deputy prime minister Le Minh Khai had asked the city to adjust infrastructure fees at seaports by July.
The reduction in fees also seeks to encourage businesses to increase use of waterways and reduce pressure on road transport, according to a report in a Vietnamese newspaper.
The fee charged now for goods for temporary import and re-export or deposited in bonded warehouses and for transit and transshipment goods is VNÐ50,000 ($2.2) per tonne for liquid and bulk cargo, VNÐ2.2 million ($94.5) for a 20-foot container and VNÐ4.4 million ($189) for a 40-ft container.
For imported and exported goods declared outside the city, the corresponding rates are VNÐ30,000 ($1.3), VNÐ500,000 ($21.5) and VNÐ1 million ($43); and for those declared in the city, VNÐ15,000 ($0.6), around VNÐ250,000 ($10.7) and VNÐ500,000.
