Problems concerning electricity prices were
the focus during the current session of the National Assembly, as members of
the NA Standing Committee agreed that the Government should determine the
average power tariff during discussions of Draft Amendments to Electricity Law.
As per
the report submitted to the NA Standing Committee by the Industry and Trade
Minister Vu Huy Hoang, the low average power tariff in recent years (currently
VND1,300 per kilowatt-hour) had led to losses and discouraged other economic
sectors from investing in the electricity sector.
Moreover,
the current electricity price has not taken into account the constant changes
in the market and other factors such as exchange rates or hydrographic
conditions, Minister Hoang argued.
Thus he
proposed that the draft amendment should stipulate many components to establish
power prices, including transmission, distributing, wholesale, service prices
and power regulating fees.
However,
some deputies did not agree with the fees in the report by the Minister of
Industry and Trade.
Electricity
will remain a special commodity whose prices should be determined by the
government, said Phung Quoc Hien, Chairman of the National Assembly for Finance
and Budget.
“Power is still controlled by the state, so
the government should determine prices to avoid monopoly of price and profit,”
said Hien who also remarked that “there seem to be too many prices and fees.
Multiple layers of prices and fees will raise power prices”.
The
head of the NA Committee for Finance and Budget, agreed that Vietnam's
electricity prices were lower than those of other countries in the region, but
he said that allowing the market to determine the price would conflict with the
Draft Law on prices, which puts electricity on the price stabilization list.
Phan
Trung Ly, head of the NA Legal Committee, said that without careful
consideration, the Draft Amendments would lead to monopolization.
However,
Minister Hoang said while the electricity industry was under restructuring the
above-mentioned stipulations were unavoidable as EVN should only act as a power
buyer and seller, while the electricity generating sector was attracting the
participation of other players, including private businesses.”
The
Minister of Industry and Trade explained, the power sector consists of many
different aspects, from generating to transmitting power and there should be
different prices and fees.
In
response, NA Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung said that the retail market could be
determined by the providers and the Government would only be involved in
certain cases, such as supporting low-income households or implementing other
policies to encourage investments in the sector.
Related
to the Draft Amendments to the Electricity Law for the development of
electricity power industry, the NA Chairman stated that any policy had to
comply with concrete measures and the
provincial People's Committee plans for electricity development from a
five-year to a 10-year period to comply with the National Master Plan.
At
present Electricity of Vietnam controls more than 57 per cent of electricity
sources and 90 per cent of the retail market and Vietnam hopes to develop a
fully competitive retail power market by 2022.
On the
same day, the NA Standing Committee also discussed the Law on Advertising,
stressing on the responsibilities of the party that carries advertisements,
with regard to accuracy and content.
NA
Standing Committee members also gave their opinion on the draft amendments to
an ordinance for supporting veterans and their relatives.
SGGP
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