Vietnam to Stop Steel Plants Failing to Meet Environment Standards: DPM

Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung has requested relevant ministries and local authorities to remove small steel plants with backward technology and do not meet environmental standards. Protecting the environment should be more valuable than the economic benefits the plants bring, the Cong Thuong newspaper cited the deputy prime minister as saying. The mass fish deaths caused by a giant Taiwanese steel plant and the chain of following incidents involving environmental violations have raised the alarm in Vietnam, he added. He also asked local authorities to follow technical and environmental standards when issuing investment licenses and gradually eliminate small steel enterprises with outdated technology that pose a threat to the environment. Vietnam’s steel production rose by 21.8% in 2015 from 19.8% the year before, making Vietnam the largest producer in Southeast Asia. The country also became the largest consumer in the region with on-year increase of 26.4% in steel consumption, followed by the Philippines with 9.6% and Singapore with 4.8%, according to the Vietnam Steel Association. However, this impressive growth has resulted in environmental problems, Mr. Dung added. He also requested the relevant ministries to encourage local steel makers to focus on production of cash iron, steel ingot and finished steel products that meet international standards. He asked the ministries of finance, industry and trade, planning and investment, natural resources and environment, science and technology, and construction to develop policies for the development of steel industry and choose suitable technology for steel production. Mr. Dung also requested the Ministry of Natural Resource and Environment to cooperate with Ministry of Industry and Trade, and provincial People’s Committee to ask steel plants in the localities to follow environmental standards. Steel plants, failing to meet environmental standards should be closed, he stressed. Truong Thanh Hoai, director of the Department of Heavy Industry under the Ministry of Industry and Trade said that the ministry will seriously study the environment impact assessment on a steel complex, to be developed by Hoa Sen Group (HSG) in the central province of Ninh Thuan. (http://baocongthuong.com.vn Sept 8)