Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee has proposed the Finance Ministry
exempt import taxes for Compressed Natural Gas (CNG)-powered buses to
encourage the use of this environmental-friendly means of public
transport.
The city authorised the Sai Gon
Transportation Mechanical Corporation and the Sai Gon Bus Joint Stock
Company to launch a pilot programme using CNG-powered buses.
Under the programme, two buses will be put into operation on a trial
basis, according to the municipal transport department.
The city had plans to run 20 CNG buses by the end of this year, but
most transport companies have fallen short of the capital required to
purchase the vehicles.
"CNG-powered buses are much
more expensive than diesel-powered buses, making it difficult for
transport companies to afford them in spite of preferential policies
such as low-interest loans," said the department's deputy director Duong
Hong Thanh.
A CNG-powered bus costs nearly 3
billion VND (153,000 USD) while their diesel-powered counterparts cost
just over a third of that.
If transport companies
are exempted from import taxes, it will cost them around 1.56 billion
VND (79,560 USD) to purchase a CNG-powered bus, he said.
The tax exemption will encourage transport companies to use more
CNG-powered buses, which will help reduce environmental pollution while
also saving fuel.
"CNG fuel costs about 50 percent
less than gasoline or diesel oil while emitting 60 percent less carbon
dioxide than other kinds of fuels," he said.
CNG
fuel has been used effectively in many other countries, including the
Republic of Korea , mainland China , Thailand and Singapore .
There were 754,000 CNG-powered buses in use throughout the world by 2007./.
