Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade, Nguyen Cam Tu, has defended the country's fuel pricing system. Speaking at a seminar aiming to increase transparency of local fuel retail prices, Tu said that the Vietnamese market is already transparent.
Tu told the conference that domestic fuel retail prices are still determined by the government, rather than by the country's largest wholesaler, Petrolimex. “For those who don’t believe that fuel prices are transparent, please spare a second to read the Thi Truong (Market) newspaper,†he said. “In the newspaper published on any day, you will find the cost prices of fuel products on that day as calculated by the finance ministry. Hence, we cannot say the fuel market is non-transparent.â€
The Deputy Head of the Price Management Agency, Nguyen Anh Tuan, also insisted that the fuel price management system operated in an open, transparent manner. “We are managing fuel prices under market forces with the management of the government,†he said.  “Whenever adjusting fuel prices, we always hold press conferences to publicize the information on how the prices are calculated and adjusted, and provide necessary explanation. The inspection results on the fuel sectors are also openly published via the media,†he noted.