August 20th, 2008
Vietnam eyes steep tax increases on mining, gas, coal
Vietnam’s Finance Ministry has proposed steep tax hikes on domestic production of minerals, metals, natural gas, coal and gemstones to help protect the environment and prevent unauthorised mining.
Foreign firms operating, or planning to invest in Vietnam’s energy and steel sectors that could be exposed to the tax include BP Plc (BP.L: Quote, Profile, Research), Gazprom (GAZP.MM: Quote, Profile, Research) and Tata Steel (TISC.BO: Quote, Profile, Research).
Vietnam vies with the United States as the world’s seventh biggest exporter of thermal coal and is Southeast Asia’s third-largest producer of crude oil.
“Raising the natural resource tax on minerals will contribute to limiting the widespread exploitation and raising revenues for provincial budget to help improve the environment,” the ministry said in a statement seen on Wednesday.
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