Jun 18, 2014
UNDP VN – Ha Noi, 18 June 2014 – “Fossil fuel subsidies should be phased out and a price set on carbon,” the UN Development Programme (UNDP) in Viet Nam has recommended in a discussion paper launched today.
The paper, “Green Growth and Fossil Fuel Fiscal Policies in Viet Nam – Recommendations for a Roadmap for Policy Reform” argues that despite the Government’s commitment towards green growth and restructuring the energy sector including price reform, there are still substantial indirect subsidies on fossil fuels in the country.
According to the paper, Viet Nam’s energy prices are low compared to other countries in the region. Although there have been significant price increases, average retail prices remained the same during 2008-2013, and are in fact lower than the previous five-year period, when measured against 2002 prices taking into account inflation.
GOV.UK 
Some argue that ASEAN is both toothless and clueless in responding to these changes. Seen as ‘talk shops’, ASEAN’s regional institutions — the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), ASEAN+3, ASEAN+6 and the East Asian Summit (EAS) — might have been sufficient when great-power relations were less volatile right after the Cold War, but they have outlived their usefulness. ‘ASEAN centrality’, and even its very survival, is being written off.
The white star marks the location of the Kra Isthmus. The red star is Singapore, at the entrance to the Strait of Malacca.(Map/China Times)
Đọt Chuối Non 