VietNamNet Bridge - 2016 has been a year full of burning environmental issues, with Vietnam saying that it would not welcome foreign investors who conduct transfer pricing or cause environmental problems.

The environmental disaster caused by the steel complex of Taiwanese Formosa Group caused serious consequences.

The discharge of untreated waste water polluted four provinces in the central region – Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien – Hue, caused mass fish deaths and damaged local people’s livelihoods.

PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc said at the online conference with local authorities on December 28 that the disaster caused the damage worth 0.3 percent of Vietnam’s GDP.

Besides, it made many people become unemployed. By the third quarter of 2016, about 22,700 households and 65 communes in Ha Tinh province had been affected by the disaster. 24,500 people had lost their jobs or had not had stable jobs.

2016 has been a year full of burning environmental issues, with Vietnam saying that it would not welcome foreign investors who conduct transfer pricing or cause environmental problems.

Lee & Man’s paper project in Hau Giang province, though it still has not been put into official operation, was feared to kill fish and aquatic creatures.

The public was also stirred up by information that Binh Thuan provincial authorities considered clearing 1,000 hectares of the Hon Cau marine protected area to make room for the Vinh Tan thermal power center.

A series of other investment projects involved a huge investment of billions of dollars and believed to cause environmental problems. These included the Hoa Sen Ca Na steel complex in Ninh Thuan province capitalized at $10 billion.

At the Vietnam Business Forum (VBF) held several days ago, Ken Atkinson from the British Business Group expressed the group’s concerns about environmental problems.

He said many members of the group had voiced their concern about noise pollution, traffic jams and floods, problems which are becoming more serious in Vietnam. Air pollution has also increased to an alarming level.

These problems can affect people who plan to come to Vietnam to live and work, thus limiting foreign direct investment in the country.

Chair of Dragon Capital Dominic Scriven said at VBF that Dragon’s biggest investor has announced a decision to leave Vietnam because of the lack of policies and convincing actions to protect the environment.

Dinh Duc Truong from Hanoi Economics University warned that if the situation doesn't improve, Vietnam would surpass China in pollution levels.

According to Truong, pollution now causes damages worth 5 percent of GDP to Vietnam every year. The figure is 10 percent for China.

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