During a meeting with state-owned enterprises on March 3, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh received information from Mr. Dang Hoang An, Chairman of Vietnam Electricity Group (EVN), that after 69 years of development, Vietnam’s electricity system is ranked number one in Southeast Asia.
However, EVN faced many difficulties in 2023, including power shortages in the northern region from late May to early June. The cause was attributed to a sharp increase in electricity consumption while hydroelectricity, one of the two main sources, was reduced due to drought. The World Bank estimated the economic cost of power outages at that time to be about 1.4 billion USD, equivalent to 0.3% of GDP.
According to Mr. An, although the power shortage only occurred for a short period of time, it had a significant impact on the lives, production, and business of the people and enterprises.
“This is a profound lesson that EVN is still analyzing and dissecting in order to improve and perform better in the future,” Mr. An said.
EVN’s Chairman committed to ensuring sufficient electricity for production, business, and consumption to meet the target of GDP growth from 6-6.5%.
“In 2024, EVN will not let power shortages occur in any situation, as directed by the Prime Minister,” Mr. An said, adding that the corporation has prepared with a high-growth electricity demand scenario (9.18% or higher). The total electricity output of the entire system can reach 306.4 billion kWh, an increase of 26 billion kWh compared to 2023.
Mr. Dang Hoang An, Chairman of EVN, speaking at the meeting with state-owned enterprises on March 3. Photo: VGP |
In addition to electricity, petroleum is also a commodity that the government has repeatedly requested various industries, localities, and enterprises to ensure supply for the economy in all circumstances.
Mr. Pham Van Thanh, Chairman of Vietnam National Petroleum Group (Petrolimex), committed to fulfilling production and business tasks, including supply and price stabilization to ensure national energy security.
Mr. Pham Van Thanh, Chairman of Vietnam National Petroleum Group (Petrolimex) – Photo VGP
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In 2022, there was a situation of disruption and breakage in the petroleum supply at some localities. One of the reasons was the discount – the commission level for distributors was slashed to zero, causing many retail companies to suffer losses and even close.
Petrolimex representatives suggested that the government issue a new decree on petroleum business to improve the quality of the leading companies, tightening warehouse conditions, and requiring enterprises to have certain capabilities in terms of materials, technology, and finance.
Petrolimex also believed that state management of petroleum business needs to be enhanced, adopting electronic invoicing after each sale, directly connecting data from petroleum warehouses and petrol stations to customs and tax authorities.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade is currently developing a new decree on petroleum business in the direction of market-oriented management of this commodity, as announced by Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien. According to Mr. Dien, the ministry may propose maintaining a stabilization fund to manage the petroleum market but with higher conditions.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade is revising the storage fee rates and developing mechanisms for investment in national petroleum reserves infrastructure. Alongside this, the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Information and Communications are developing software for electronic invoicing to be applied to distributors and retailers. Currently, more than 50% of retail stores have applied electronic invoicing for each sale.
