The Wine Chronicle 《品醇集》

THIS WEBSITE USES COOKIES TO ANALYSE TRAFFIC, YOU AGREE TO THIS BY CONTINUING.


TRENDING 最新消息 FOCUS 中文焦點 MISSION 公司宗旨 ABOUT US 關於我們 CONTACT 聯絡方法

NEWS

VIETNAM’S ALCOHOLIC DRINKS SECTOR CALLS ON GOVERNMENT TO HALT TAX HIKE

By Siulan Law Mathews DipWSET

23-6-2022



Credit: M. Marlowe/Unsplsh

Vietnam’s alcoholic beverages industry calls on the government to delay the proposed increase in special consumption tax until the industry has fully recovered from the effects of the pandemic.

The Vietnamese government is currently working to change the country’s tax scheme by levying special consumption taxes on beer, liquor and cigarettes, a roadmap of tax hikes until 2030 is expected to be announced soon.

The country’s alcoholic beverages industry said the planned tax hike would add further burden on businesses which have already suffered from severe revenue drop caused by the pandemic.

The current tax rates on alcoholic drinks are already quite high, they are 65 percent for beer and 35 to 65 percent for liquor.

Chairman of the Vietnam Association of Beer, Wine and Beverages, Nguyen Van Viet, said the two years of Covid caused beer sales to drop one billion litres accounting for 20 percent of pre-pandemic consumption.

He warned that some businesses, which just managed to survive the pandemic, may not be able to survive the extra burden comes with the special consumption tax.

Corporate affairs director of Heineken Vietnam, Holly Bostock, said any increase in special consumption tax would add to the burden on the beverage and tourism industries, while what they need now is stability and support.

According to a survey conducted by the Central Institute for Economic Management, around half of Vietnam’s breweries and distilleries saw revenues and profits fall in 2020 and 2021.

Over 79 percent of the businesses have to cut costs, and 58 percent have postponed expansion plans or laid-off employees.

It is estimated that 4 to 7 percent of workers were laid off, and the rest saw their incomes reduce by 7 to 10 percent.

Though business conditions are improving due to the reopening of the economy this year, the cost-of-living crisis which is unfolding around the world makes a quick recovery unlikely.

Production costs are rising rapidly, prices of fuel and malt have jumped 50 percent, and materials to make beer cans are 30 to 40 percent more expensive.

Despite being a medium sized country with 97 million people, Vietnam has the world’s 8th biggest beer consumption consuming 5 billion litres a year.

(the writer can be contacted at: info@thewinechronicle.com)

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

**IF YOU THINK THE WINE CHRONICLE IS WORTH SUPPORTING, PLEASE MAKE A DONATION TO HELP US IMPROVE AND CONTINUE OUR WORK**

One-off Donation
Or You Can Donate Monthly

TRENDING│ FOCUS│ MISSION│ ABOUT US│ CONTACT