Heineken intends to halt production at its factory in Quang Nam in central Vietnam. This is on the back of declining sales that the firm is attributing to broader economic challenges but also Decree 100 which reduced the allowed blood alcohol content when driving in Vietnam to zero.
Decree 100 has repeatedly fallen into the cross hairs of local alcohol producers, distributors, and retailers in Vietnam over the last year or so. The decree, which applies hefty fines on drink driving is, is often blamed for a decrease in alcohol consumption and subsequently delivering a blow to the bottom lines of businesses dependent on alcohol sales.
These claims, however, seem somewhat overblown with a broader economic slowdown driving consumers to tighten their belts and to save and invest rather than spend on luxury goods. Car sales for example are also down whereas banks deposits, gold prices, and the stock market are all floating around record highs.
That said, there are obvious public health and safety benefits to this policy, though it’s not clear that these outcomes are being monitored or investigated.