Heineken Vietnam recently shut down its brewery in the central province amid plummeting sales.

The Dutch company also expressed concerns to the provincial people's committee about the draft Special Consumption Tax.

The Dutch company proposed that the government carefully consider introducing the tax, as local beverage makers have faced financial difficulties due to the prolonged economic recession following the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the company, the decline in beer consumption following the COVID-19 pandemic and the government's zero tolerance for drunk driving in recent years has greatly affected sales, leading to their decision to close the Quang Nam plant.

Heineken predicts that consumption will remain low this year, so taxes should be gradually introduced so that firms have time to adapt.

Opened in 2007, the Heineken Quang Nam plant was the smallest of their six breweries in Vietnam.

Vice chairman of Quang Nam Provincial People's Committee, Ho Quang Buu, said their plant closure had led to a VND 500 billion black hole annually in the province's tax revenues.

"The company used to pay between VND1-1.2 trillion during the pre-Covid period," the official said.

The Vietnam Beer-Alcohol-Beverage Association (VBA) has also proposed that the National Assembly and the government consider delaying the implementation of the Special Consumption Tax Law until at least 2025 to create conditions for Vietnamese beverage makers to recover, stabilise and gradually develop.

"Beer sales fell by 11 percent and the industry's profits by 23 percent in 2023," VBA said.