Dr. Tran Huu Minh, Chief of Office, National Traffic Safety Committee, said that Vietnam is one of the countries with the highest rate of motorbike ownership and use in the world. By September 2024, there were 77 million registered motorbikes, bringing the motorbike ownership rate per 1,000 people to 770 motorbikes, among the highest in the world.
Currently, motorbikes are not subject to technical safety inspection (emission inspection will be coming soon), leading to a situation where some old, unsafe motorbikes are still in circulation.
"Therefore, challenges and solutions in ensuring traffic safety for motorbikes will need to be prioritized in traffic safety programs in the coming time," Mr. Minh added.
According to information from the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry is drafting a Decision of the Prime Minister stipulating the roadmap for applying emission standards for imported, manufactured and assembled motor vehicles (3rd time).
In the submission, the Ministry of Transport proposed to add a roadmap for some types of vehicles. Accordingly, the authorities will raise the emission standards for imported and manufactured two-wheeled motorbikes from level 3 to level 4 from July 1, 2027.
Regarding this issue, the Ministry of Transport said that since 2021, the Ministry has been conducting research to "develop a roadmap to apply emission standards equivalent to Euro 4 for motorbikes and Euro 6 for cars in Vietnam".
The results show that raising the emission standards for imported and locally manufactured and assembled motorcycles to level 4 is feasible.
The survey also shows that manufacturing, assembling and importing enterprises are ready to raise the emission standards from level 3 to level 4. According to the production needs for export, some enterprises have invested in technology to produce motorcycles that meet level 4 standards.
On the other hand, the technology for producing motorcycles that meet emission standards level 3 can quickly meet the production of motorcycles that meet emission standards level 4 without having to invest too much in changing the technology.
According to the above research results, if the level 4 emission standard is applied to motorbikes, it will reduce 50 - 60% of toxic gas emissions from this type of vehicle. With the current annual growth rate of about 3 million motorbikes/year, it will bring significant effects on air environment protection.
A review of the application of emission standards in ASEAN countries shows that most countries in the region have applied or have a roadmap to apply Euro 4 emission standards (Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore are applying Euro 4; Indonesia plans to apply Euro 4 in 2025, the Philippines plans to apply Euro 4 in 2027).
Because of this, the Vietnam Association of Motorcycle Manufacturers (VAMM) has proposed to the Ministry of Transport to soon have a roadmap to raise the emission standards for imported and assembled motorcycles to level 4 to harmonize with countries in the region.
