State Budget Loses US$265Mln Yearly Due to Smuggled Tobacco
State budget of Vietnam is estimated to lose US$265 million a year, or US$750,000 a day, for smuggled tobacco and cigarettes, said the Ministry of Finance.
In the first half this year, the country has burnt over two million illegally imported tobacco packs, most of them are branded Jet and Hero, said the ministry, noting that state bodies at Lao Bao border gate have burnt over 130,000 packs last week alone.
According to market watchdogs, the two brands make up for 15 per cent of Vietnam’s cigarette market, the ministry noted.
The country has 28 tobacco producing enterprises, 22 of which are state-owned, with capacity of 3.45 million packs annually. This year, the sector plans to produce 4.23 billion packs with 58 million from foreign-invested entities.
Under an overall development strategy for Vietnam’s tobacco industry until 2010, vision to 2020, Vietnam Tobacco Group will be established to operate as a holding company. (Vietnam Industry Magazine, VNA)
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