Proposal to amend the policy to support the conversion from personal vehicles to public transport

The Government Office issued Notice No. 8/TB-VPCP dated January 8, 2025, concluding the conclusion of Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha at the meeting on green transport development policy.

The announcement stated: Green transformation of the economy and green transformation of means of transport in the context of air pollution caused by traffic activities has become urgent, affecting people's health in some urban areas; converting means of transport using fossil fuels to using green energy plays an extremely important role in reducing carbon and methane emissions.

In recent times, the Ministries of Transport, Construction, Planning and Investment, Finance, Industry and Trade, Science and Technology, Natural Resources and Environment and the People's Committees of localities have basically implemented the assigned tasks, initially contributing positively to creating the premise for converting road vehicles to use green energy. However, the implementation in ministries, branches and localities is still slow, not focused, and has not produced clear results.

Proposal to amend the policy to support the conversion from personal vehicles to public transport

To achieve the goal of developing a green transport system, the Deputy Prime Minister requested the Ministry of Transport to preside over and coordinate with relevant agencies to review the legal corridor on regulations, standards, and economic-technical norms for new means of transport (vehicles put into circulation for the first time), ensuring strict management of the roadmap for applying emission standards in accordance with the provisions of law.

At the same time, review the planning of Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and localities, ensure integration with transport planning on infrastructure related to green transport conversion, including public transport (especially charging stations for electric cars), and report to the Prime Minister on implementation results in the first quarter of 2025.

The Ministry of Transport shall preside over the review of policies supporting the conversion from personal vehicles to public transport (policies for transport enterprises, for people, public transport users, etc.), propose appropriate amendments and supplements (note the proposed form of documents, issuing agencies, etc.), and report to the Prime Minister in the first quarter of 2025.

The Ministry of Transport shall preside over and coordinate with relevant ministries, branches, localities and units to draft the Prime Minister's Directive on promoting the development of green transport vehicles, and submit it to the Prime Minister in the first quarter of 2025.

Building electricity prices applicable to charging stations for electric cars and electric motorbikes

The Ministry of Industry and Trade urgently ensures the production, import and supply of fuel for motor vehicles with quality in accordance with national technical regulations on gasoline, diesel fuel and biofuel to meet the roadmap for applying emission standards for motor vehicles; propose or promulgate policies and mechanisms to prioritize the use of biofuel gasoline; coordinate with the Ministry of Transport in inspecting and supervising motor vehicle manufacturing and assembly facilities to comply with emission standards prescribed by law.

Early develop regulations on electricity price lists for production and business to apply to charging stations for electric cars and electric motorbikes; research and propose information disclosure and application of retail electricity prices during peak and off-peak hours of the electricity retail market, and submit to the Prime Minister in February 2025.

Reviewing tax and environmental protection fee policies to control and limit high-emission vehicles

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment shall urgently submit to the Prime Minister before March 31, 2025, regulations on the application of emission levels for vehicles in circulation (including attention to raising emission standards; regulations on criteria for each highly polluted area and locality that requires traffic restrictions for high-emission vehicles as a basis for localities to implement); identify and publicize information or guide localities to identify and publicize information for high-emission areas.

At the same time, review tax policies and environmental protection fees, propose amendments and supplements to control and limit high-emission vehicles; review land policies to serve the development of parking infrastructure and charging stations for green vehicles; urgently refer to the experience of Thailand and some other countries on green financial policy models, coordinate with international organizations to access domestic and foreign financial sources to support greenhouse gas emission reduction through converting vehicles using fossil fuels to green vehicles; research and propose to issue criteria for green vehicle production projects, to be completed in January 2025.

Must be one step ahead in building green transport infrastructure

The Ministry of Construction has issued a document guiding the People's Committees of provinces and centrally-run cities to implement the new phase of urban construction planning, requiring the local transport sector to be one step ahead in building green transport infrastructure, ensuring synchronization between transport infrastructure and urban infrastructure.

The Ministry of Finance is studying policies to encourage state agencies and public service units to switch to using green means of transport to replace vehicles using fossil fuels.

The People's Committees of provinces and centrally run cities urgently develop policies to switch to green means of transport in their localities; in particular, the People's Committees of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City urgently issue policies to control means of transport, protect the environment, and have solutions to control means of transport in areas and localities with high levels of pollution.