Fee dispute in Tan Duc IP runs higher

April 23, 2016 | 13:02

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Tan Duc industrial park has decided to withdraw the lawsuit against the Japanese confectionery producer-Tango Candy Co. Ltd. from the Duc Hoa District People’s Court to send to the Ho Chi Minh City Commercial Arbitration Centre (Tracent).

The Duc Hoa People’s Court in the southern province of Long An also announced that it would stop dealing with the dispute between Tan Duc IP and Tango Candy according to Tan Duc IP’s will.

Meanwhile, Tu Khanh Hung, Tango Candy’s representative told newswire baodatviet.vn that the company would continue pursuing the lawsuit to the end. Tango Candy is willing to confront with the plaintiff.

Previously, Tan Duc IP sued Tango Candy Co. Ltd. for delaying its infrastructure fee payments. Simultaneously, Tan Duc IP sent a petition to the government in late March explaining that the infrastructure fee was fairly applied to both foreign and domestic firms within the park, and called for the local authorities’ objective assessment to protect the rights of Vietnamese enterprises in general and Tan Duc IP in particular.

Tan Duc IP was censured because it had not complied strictly with the provisions of laws. Notably, it did not register an infrastructure fee framework with the local authorities, and set high fees without first getting written agreements from its tenants.

Following this, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc told Long An authorities to take punitive measures against the improper behavior of Tan Duc IP’s management board over an infrastructure maintenance fee dispute with Tango Candy.

Besides, the Ministry of Planning and Investment sent a message to the authorities of the southern province of Long An to urge them to take stronger actions to reassure foreign investors following the dispute, which caused concerns about Vietnam’s investment climate.

The dispute between the two companies centred on unpaid infrastructure maintenance fees that Tan Duc asked Tango Candy to pay starting in 2013, at a rate of VND10,018 ($0.45) per square metre per year. The Japanese firm refused to pay, arguing that the rate was exorbitantly high. The IP developer went as far as blocking the entrance to Tango Candy’s factory and even temporarily turned off the electricity and water supply at the plant.