A joint Vietnam-Slovakia business exchange was held in Hanoi on 27 January to increase economic, trade and investment cooperation between the two countries, VOV news reported. Addressing the event, Vice Chairman of the Vietnam National Assembly Nguyen Duc Kien affirmed that the Vietnamese government attaches great importance to strengthening ties with Slovakia and it’s time for the business communities of the two countries to boost investment cooperation. He hoped that businesses would discuss specific measures to seek their investment opportunities, establish partnerships and enter their huge European and ASEAN markets. Slovak National Council Speaker Pavol Paska pointed out both countries’ potential and said they can cooperate in energy, transport, health care and national defense. Slovakia supports bilateral cooperation and it believes that such cooperation will bring about good results, said speaker Paska. Representatives of 10 Slovak economic groups and businesses introduced their potential fields in transport, pharmacy and construction to nearly 40 Vietnamese businesses. The event was co-hosted by the Slovak Embassy and the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry. (neurope.eu)

The People’s Committee of Thai Nguyen province and the An Khanh Thermo-electric Power Joint Stock Company have started the construction of the An Khanh Thermo-electric Power Plant in An Khanh commune, Dai Tu district, with a capacity of 100 MW.

The VND 2 trillion plant covers an area of 22.7 hectares.

The main source of material for the plant is the assorted coal of poor quality in Thai Nguyen province and the Khanh Hoa coal mine with a total demand of around 420,000 tonnes a year.

It is planned that the plant will have generated electricity by 2012.

Once operational, the plant will create jobs for 400 workers and contribute around VND 100 billion to the State budget every year.

This is the biggest ever project in Thai Nguyen province, with an enterprise in the province as its investor.

Two new wind power plants to produce 74 megawatts of power will be constructed in Binh Thuan Province by year-end, raising the number of renewable energy projects in the province to three, said Dinh Huy Hiep, vice director of the province’s Department of Industry and Trade.Hiep said the two new wind power projects were the 50-megawatt Thuan Nhien Phong Plant developed by Asia Renewable Energy Joint Stock Company in Bac Binh District and a plant developed by Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) in Tuy Phong District with a generation capacity of 24 megawatts.

Hiep told the Daily on Thursday that Binh Thuan had an operational wind power plant in Tuy Phong with an electricity output of 7.5 megawatts deployed by Vietnam Renewable Energy Joint Stock Company (REVN).

He said REVN expected to install another 15 wind turbines at its plant to increase capacity to 30 megawatts.

According to the department, total wind power reserves in Binh Thuan are around 4,000 megawatts and the province has approved 12 new wind power projects totaling 1,500 megawatts.

However, many of the potential areas for developing wind power overlap with titanium reserves, causing the province to limit new wind power projects.

To help solve this problem, the province last week established the Binh Thuan Wind Energy Association to accelerate the development of local renewable energy as an optimal solution for future energy supply.

Hiep said the key objectives of the new association in 2010 would be solving the location question and helping to prepare new policies and an overall plan to develop the green energy.

The association this year will cooperate with Germany’s GTZ to continue research into technologies to exploit wind power reserves in the province.

Russian investors can join in setting up oil refinery and metallurgy businesses, executing power projects, building hotels and business centres, providing machinery and equipment as well as manufacturing cars in Vietnam , Mr Petrov said.

Vietnamese Ambassador Bui Dinh Dinh applauded the organisation of the seminar, saying that similar activities will help promote traditional friendship and strategic partnership between the two countries.

Last year, two-way trade recorded a year-on-year rise of 4 percent, fetching more than US$1.7 billion in 2009, said Ambassador Dinh.

Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Cao Viet Sinh briefed the participants on the country’s political stability and social security, a high economic growth and huge investment demand which made Vietnam a destination for foreign investors. He called for closer cooperation between Russian and Vietnamese businesses for mutual benefits.

Russian businesses discussed issues related to investment in manufacturing construction cranes, energy projects, realty market and housing, training officials, a free economic area in Vietnam and the framework of ASEAN.

The Vietnamese government has just approved a proposal to build a 2,400-megawatt coal-fired power plant in Hai Ninh and Hai Chau communes, Hai Hau district, Nam Dinh Northern province to help meet the country’s increasing demand.

The plant is a Build Operate Transfer (BOT) joint venture between Hoang Anh 05 Shipbuilding Industry Joint Stock Company (Hashinco) and South Korea’s Taekwang Vina Industrial. It will operate within 25 years.

Director of Taekwang Vina Industrial, Mr Park Yoen ChaPark said that the Company is negotiating with relevant agencies of the country in the matter of electricity trading, saying that the upcoming plant will making around 25 billion USD during its operation.

Taekwang Vina Industrial is expected to complete the first stage of the plant in 2017 (with the capacity of 1,200 megawatt) and the second stage in 2021 (with the same capacity of 1,200 megawatt).

The ratio of capital contribution for the project is 95% for Taekwang Vina Industrial and 5% for Hashinco.

The two-turbine plant is expected to start generating power in 2015 or 2016

The global economic recession has slowed foreign direct investment (FDI). FDI in Vietnam for 2009 is equal to 30 percent of that in 2008. Still, many huge investment projects have been registered in Vietnam, ones that will provide foreign investors attractive profits.

According to Thoi Bao Kinh Te Vietnam, the 10 biggest FDI investment projects in terms of registered capital in 2009 include six real estate projects, two projects in accommodation services, one processing industry project and one mining project.

The top 10 FDI projects are capitalized at $12.7 billion, of which real estate projects alone make up $6.48 billion. Most were just granted licenses in the fourth quarter of 2009.

Five FDI projects have registered capital of over one billion dollars, four of which were registered in the second half of the year.

All the projects are expected to be carried out in central and southern regions, since procedures for land allocation and investment licenses are simpler than in the north.

Of the 10 biggest projects, Ba Ria – Vung Tau has three projects, Dong Nai has two, while the provinces of Quang Nam, Phu Yen, Binh Duong and HCM City have one project for each.

All except one of the projects have chartered capital lower by tens of times than the registered capital. Analysts warn that foreign investors may not bring foreign money, but plan to mobilize capital in Vietnam to carry out the projects.

Here are the top 10 projects (In order of decreasing capital volume):

1. Dragon Ecological Tourism Complex, invested by the US TANO Capital, LLC and Global C&D, INC.

The project will cover 400 hectares in Quang Nam, including nine high grade hotels with 15,000 rooms, an international conventional centre with 10,000 seats, a trade centre and office area, villas and apartments.

The chartered capital of the project is $100 million, or 1/41.5 of the registered capital ($4.15 billion).

2. Nhon Trach Berjaya New City project, invested by Berjaya Land Berhad’s, a subsidiary of Malaysian Berjaya Group.

The two billion dollar project would cover 600 hectares, including 18-45 story housing blocs, service and cultural buildings

3. Binh Duong housing project, invested by Phu Thang Long Company, a joint name of Smart Dragon Development LTD (Samoa) and Tuster Development LTD (Seychelles)

There will be 90,000 apartments for low and medium income earners. The chartered capital of the project is $10 million, just 1/170 of the registered capital of $1.7 billion.

4. Nam Tuy Hoa creative city project, invested by the US Galileo Investment Group.

The project will cover an area of 1,347 hectares in Tuy Hoa City and neighbouring districts. Its chartered capital is $350 million, just ¼ of the registered capital of $1.68 billion.

5. A steel complex project, invested by China Steel Sumikin Vietnam, a joint venture of Taiwanese China Steel and Japanese Sumitomo Metal Industries and Sumitomo Corporation.

The steel mill will cover 109 hectares in My Xuan A2 Industrial Zone in Ba Ria – Vung Tau. It will churn out high quality steel products for shipbuilding and engine manufacturing. The chartered capital of the project is $574 million, or ½ of the registered capital of $1.14 billion.

6. Toc Tien new urban area project, invested by South Korean Charm Urban Development, has chartered capital of $150 million, or ¼ of the registered capital.

7. Safari zoo project and Binh Chau resort has total investment capital of $500 million.

8. Geologic survey and oil exploitation at blocs 129 to 132, run by Russian Gazprom-Zarubejneftegaz.

The contract is valid for 30 years, with a possible extension of five years. Its chartered capital and registered capital is $382.2 million.

9. The 9A2 complex project – the South HCM City new urban area, invested by Viet Lien LUKS (British Virgin Islands).

The project will be located on 19.4 hectares in Binh Chanh district, including a housing section and a trade area, and will have 4,000 residents. Its chartered capital is $79 million, or ¼ of the registered capital.

10. Phu Hoi new urban area, developed by Phu Hoi Urban Area Company, a joint name of Licogi (70 percent of capital), Vinaland Eastern Limited (22.5 percent) and Vinaland Heritage Limited (7.5 percent)

The project has the chartered capital of 985 billion dong, or $56 million, while the registered capital is $205.7 million.

HCMC – The Central Highlands province of Dak Nong will organize an investment forum in HCMC next week to call for investment into 30 projects with total capital of VND9 trillion.Do The Nhu, vice chairman of the province, told a press meeting in HCMC on Tuesday that Dak Nong Province was promoting investment in a range of sectors including tourism, new urban and infrastructure development, manufacturing and construction. Preferential policies will apply, he said.

On the list to be put forth to investors at the investment forum scheduled for December 17 at the Reunification Palace will be 14 manufacturing projects needing VND3.1 trillion, seven infrastructure development projects worth VND3.2 trillion and five tourism projects requiring VND2.6 trillion, Nhu said.

The province will also call for VND200 billion for projects in culture, agriculture, trading and education, he said.

The province, some 200 kilometers from HCMC, has more than 200,000 hectares of agricultural land and a population of 486,000.

Some investors appreciated the potential of the province but were put off by poor infrastructure and human resources. Preferential policies will be needed to hook them up.

“The province creates the most favorable conditions for investors. Dak Nong is considered one underdeveloped locality, so we will introduce a series of incentives to lure more investors at the coming conference in HCMC,” Nhu said.

Incentives include infrastructure facilities to be developed at the expense of the local government.

Nhu said the province would announce specific policies to attract investment such as building main infrastructure like electricity, water, roads and communications and barriers at zoned industrial parks, industrial complexes and tourist sites.

Investors investing outside industrial parks and tourism areas will also be offered many incentives, he said.

The seminar is expected to draw over 300 local and international companies.

Local authorities will explain the economic potential, the strengths and the investment policies of the province which has so far attracted only six projects from foreign investors capitalized at US$18 million.

Under Gazprom Group’s 2010 plan, the company will invest as much as RUB14.9 billion (US$550 million) in surveying and exploiting petroleum in the Vietnamese and Indian continental shelves, RUB9.43 billion of the total will be invested in Vietnam.

This is said to be the biggest amount of money Gazprom has ever invested.

Gazprom is now surveying in India’s Bengan oil field and six oil fields in Vietnam. The Group intends to develop oil and gas in India in 2012 and in Vietnam in 2015 with a total capacity of 1.1 billion tonnes of oil.

Standard Chartered Bank will lead source a syndicated term loan facility of $250 million for the Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) to construct and complete the Dung Quat Refinery.

Under a deal signed between the two sides in Hanoi on Wednesday, proceeds from the facility will be used to partly finance capital expenditures in relation to the construction and completion of the Dung Quat Refinery.

Standard Chartered Bank is the Original Mandated Lead Arranger, Book Runner, Facility Agent and Security Agent.

Ashok Sud, Chief Executive Officer of Standard Chartered Bank in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, said: “PetroVietnam is leading the way in tapping large pools of international capital markets which will be essential to finance the growing needs of infrastructure in Vietnam.”

Located in the Dung Quat bay in central Vietnam, the refinery has an annual processing capacity of 6.5 million tons of crude oil per year providing about 30 percent of domestic demand on oil and gas on a 100 percent projected capacity run.

Standard Chartered Bank and PetroVietnam have also signed a Memorandum of Understanding on this occasion under which the former will arrange to raise financing of up to $1.5 billion from the capital market for PetroVietnam Group’s forthcoming financing requirements.(Thanhnien)