Seaport fee collection in HCMC proposed to be delayed until October

A corner of the Cat Lai Giang Nam Terminal in HCMC’s Thu Duc City. The HCMC government has proposed delaying the seaport fee collection until October 1 – PHOTO: THANH HA

HCMC – The HCMC government has proposed the municipal People’s Council postpone the collection of fees for using infrastructure facilities and public services at seaport terminals in the city until October 1 instead of July 1.

According to the municipal government, the delayed fee collection is necessary to support enterprises facing difficulties caused by Covid-19, the local media reported.

The fee revenue in three months was estimated at VND723 billion.

The city has decided to start collecting the fees in October as it might have controlled the pandemic by that time. The Covid-19 vaccination is being conducted widely and enterprises will have time to recover.

At a meeting in late 2020, the HCMC People’s Council passed a plan to collect infrastructure fees at seaports, starting from July 1 this year to have more than VND3 trillion for the development of the road system near seaports.

According to the plan, the lowest fee is VND15,000 per ton and the highest is VND4.4 million for a 40-foot container. Revenue from the seaport infrastructure fees will be contributed to the city’s budget after deducting a maximum 1.5% of the total revenue for fee collectors.

According to the municipal Department of Transport, if the traffic system near seaports is improved, the cargo transport time will be shortened, benefiting import-export firms. In addition, the city can increase its revenue from import-export, corporate income and value added taxes.

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