The opinion was expressed at a workshop on the automotive industry and production network development held in Hanoi on Thursday. According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the automobile industry has a capacity of 460 thousand vehicles/year. An increase in the production scale is expected to create new opportunities for the industry as well as its support industries. However, according to delegates at the event, the industry still lacks support policies, making it hard for production to expand. Vietnam will face fierce competition when the import tax on cars from ASEAN nations will come down to 0% by 2018 and the rate of local parts used will be 40%. The Ministry of Industry and Trade plans to submit proposals to create market outlets for domestic manufacturers and offer tax breaks for vehicles with a high rate of local parts.
