Theo Bộ Giao thông Vận tải, ngày 23-11 tới sẽ khởi công xây dựng Cảng Hàng không quốc tế Phú Quốc, quy mô diện tích hơn 900 ha tại xã Dương Tơ, trên huyện đảo Phú Quốc (tỉnh Kiên Giang).
Đây là dự án trọng điểm chiến lược quốc gia, nhằm tạo động lực cho sự phát triển kinh tế - xã hội của đảo Phú Quốc và khu vực đồng bằng sông Cửu Long, phục vụ nhiệm vụ an ninh – quốc phòng.
Tổng mức đầu tư dự kiến của Cảng hàng không quốc tế Phú Quốc hơn 16.200 tỷ đồng , bảo đảm tiếp nhận các loại máy bay tầm xa như Boing 777, Boing 747 – 400 và có thể tiếp nhận hạn chế máy bay A 380 – 800 (là loại máy bay tầm xa có sức chứa lớn nhất hiện nay) có thể đón 2,65 triệu lượt khách vào năm 2020.
Bộ Giao thông Vận tải giao Tổng công ty Cảng Hàng không miền nam triển khai dự án này với mục tiêu đến quý 2 năm 2012, sẽ đưa vào khai thác đồng bộ. Hạng mục khu bay được khởi công đầu tiên, quý 2 – 2009 sẽ tiếp tục khởi công dự án nhà ga hành khách công suất ba triệu hành khách/năm. Đây là mô hình đầu tư dự án sân bay đầu tiên được triển khai tại nước ta theo hình thức sử dụng 100% vốn của doanh nghiệp để đầu tư mới một sân bay với quy mô Cảng hàng không quốc tế.
Đến năm 2020 cảng hàng không quốc tế Phú Quốc sẽ có các đường cất hạ cánh 3.000 m x 45m, kết cấu mặt đường bảo đảm tiếp nhận máy bay B 767, B 747 – 400 và tương đương.
Sân đậu máy bay sẽ có 14 vị trí, sau năm 2030 sẽ nâng lên 25 - 27 vị trí. Vào năm 2030, theo tính toán, có thể tiếp nhận 7 triệu lượt hành khách/năm. Nhà ga hàng hóa có công suất đạt 8.600 tấn hàng hóa quốc tế và 5.700 tấn hàng hóa nội địa.
Giai đoạn 2030, tổng lượng hàng hóa tiếp nhận lên tới 27.600 tấn/năm. Nguồn vốn đầu tư cho Cảng hàng không quốc tế Phú Quốc gồm vốn ngân sách Nhà nước, vốn tự có của doanh nghiệp, vốn tư nhân,… với các hình thức đầu tư như BOT, BT,… tùy theo tính chất của mỗi dự án thành phần.
Cảng hàng không quốc tế Phú Quốc sau khi hoàn thành sẽ khai thác các chuyến bay tầm trung và tầm xa, nối huyện đảo với Hà Nội cũng như các vùng miền trong nước và quốc tế, khai thác triệt để các tiềm năng sẵn có của Phú Quốc, đặc biệt là tiềm năng du lịch sinh thái biển - đảo và đầu tư thương mại.
Sân bay hiện tại của Phú Quốc đang nằm ở Dương Đông, là một trong sáu cảng hàng không địa phương do Cụm cảng hàng không miền Nam quản lý. Sân bay Dương Đông hiện tại chỉ có thể tiếp nhận các loại máy bay tầm ngắn như ATR, Fokker và có công suất 300 nghìn lượt hành khách/năm.
Source: ND
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* Crude Distillation Unit (Unit 011)
- Capacity Design: 6.5 Million tonnes per annum (148.000BPSD in case sweet crude and
141.000 BPSD in case sour crude).
- General Description
Crude enters the Crude Distillation Unit (CDU) and is preheated against product and pumparound streams prior to entering a fired heater. The crude is split into a number of products in a main fractionator and associated side stream strippers. Overhead Naphtha is further processed in a stabiliser and a splitter.
The CDU products are:
Product Destination
Whole Range Naphtha Naphtha Hydrotreater
Kerosene Kerosene Treater Unit
Light Gas Oil Tankage (via Blending)
Heavy Gas Oil Refinery Tankage
Atmospheric Residue RFCC
- Light ends from the CDU are sent via the RFCC gas plant to the LPG Treater Unit (LTU). -Naphtha is fed to Naphtha Hydrotreater Unit (NHT) and following to Naphtha Spliter where Naphtha is split in to Light Naphtha and Heavy Naphtha.
+ Light Naphtha from the Naphtha Spliter is routed to Isomer Unit.
+ Heavy Naphtha from the Naphtha Spliter is fed to the Continuous Catalytic Reformer Unit (CCR).
-Kerosene from the CDU is routed directly to Kerosene tankage or it is used as a blend stock for diesel and fuel oil production, or it is sent to the Kerosene Treater Unit (KTU). In the KTU the levels of mercaptan, hydrogen sulphide and naphthenic acids are reduced, and water is removed. The treated kerosene is then sent to tankage where it is used for Jet A1 grade kerosene.
-Light gas oil from the CDU is pumped directly to the Diesel blenders and from there to tankage at the Product Tank Farm.
-Heavy gas oil is pumped to tankage at the Refinery, from which it is pumped to the Diesel/Fuel Oil blenders.
- Residue from the CDU flows to RFCC where it is upgraded into higher value intermediate products.
* Naphtha Hydrotreater (Unit 012)
- Capacity: 23.500BPSD
- Licensor: UOP ( Universal Oil Product).
- General Description
The Naphtha Hydrotreater Unit is required to process the whole range naphtha stream from the Crude Distillation Unit (CDU).
A single fixed bed catalyst reactor is employed and the catalyst regeneration cycle life is a minimum of 2 years. Facilities shall be provided to regenerate catalyst in-situ.
Naphtha product from the Naphtha Hydrotreater Unit is routed directly to the Naphtha Spliter. Off-gas from the NHT shall be routed to the RFCC Gas Plant for processing through the fuel gas amine absorber.
* Continuous Catalytic Reformer (Unit 013)
- Capacity: 21.100 BPSD
- Licensor: UOP ( Universal Oil Product)
- General Description
The Continuous Catalytic Reformer processes hydrotreated straight run heavy naphtha feedstock from the Naphtha Spliter.
The reactor feed contacts with a recirculating catalyst, which is continuously regenerated to maintain activity.
Reactor effluent is separated into a hydrocarbon liquid stream and a hydrogen rich gas stream. Valuable hydrocarbon liquids are recovered from the hydrogen rich gas stream.
The Reformate liquid stream undergoes re-contacting and fractionation to produce Reformate and un-stabilised LPG.
The Reformate is routed directly to tankage at the Refinery. The un-stabilised LPG is blended with other refinery LPG streams before being routed to storage at the Product Tank Farm.
* Kerosene Treater (Unit 014)
- Capacity:10.000BPSD
- Licensor: Merichem.
- Technology: Filber – film Contact.
- General Description
The Kerosene Treater Unit is designed to process the Kerosene cut from the Crude Distillation Unit.
The Kerosene Treatment Unit is designed to reduce mercaptan levels, hydrogen sulphide and naphthenic acids, from the straight run kerosene feedstock produced in the CDU.
Fresh caustic for the unit is provided at the desired concentration from off plot facilities.
The Kerosene Treatment Unit removes all water from the product. The required product specification is achieved in one stage of extraction.
Product from the Kerosene Treater is routed to tankage, from tankage it is either sold as Jet A1 grade kerosene or used as a blend stock for Diesel and Fuel Oil. The Kerosene Treater produces kerosene capable of meeting the Jet A1 specification.
A weak amine solution (MEA) will be used on the KTU on an infrequent batch basis for regeneration of the catalyst.
* Residue Fluid Catalytic Cracking (Unit 015)
- Capacity: 69.700BPSD
- Licensor: IFP
- Operation Mode: - Maximise RFCC Naphthan ( Maximise Gasoline)
- Maximise LCO ( Maximise Distillates )
- General Description
Convertor Section
The Unit receives hot atmospheric residue directly from the Crude Distillation Unit (CDU), or cold from tankage.
The Convertor Section of the RFCC shall produce the following streams:
- A wet gas stream which is routed to the RFCC Gas Plant
- An overhead distillate which is routed to the RFCC Gas Plant
- A light cycle oil (LCO) which is routed to tankage and then to LCO-HDT.
- A decant oil (DCO) which is routed to fuel oil blending or to refinery fuel oil.
The Converter Section comprises the reactor/regenerator section, main fractionator, waste heat boiler, catalyst handling, LCO stripper, product cooling/rundown equipment and associated facilities.
RFCC Gas Plant
The wet gas and overhead distillate from the main fractionator are charged to the RFCC Gas Plant, which shall produce the following streams:
- An unsaturated off-gas from the amine absorber located within the RFCC Gas Plant.
- A mixed C3/C4 stream which is routed to the LPG Treater Unit prior to separation within the Propylene Recovery Unit.
- A whole naphtha stream which is routed to the RFCC Naphtha Treater Unit;
- The RFCC Gas Plant includes two amine absorption columns to treat fuel gas and LPG prior to them leaving the Unit and will use a stream of lean amine from the Amine Regeneration Unit (ARU). The rich amine stream shall be returned to the ARU from the RFCC Gas Plant.
* LPG Treater (Unit 016)
- Capacity: 21.100 BPSD
- Licensor: Merichem
- Technology: Fiber – film Contact
- Process: Thiolex Technology Two stage
- General Description
The LPG Treater Unit (LTU) is designed to process the C3/C4 stream from the RFCC Gas Plant prior to routing to the Propylene Recovery Unit. The bulk of the H2S in the LPG stream is removed in an amine absorber, located in the RFCC Gas Plant.
The LTU is designed to reduce mercaptan and H2S levels in the C3/C4 product, when charged with design feedstock.
* RFCC Naphtha Treater (Unit 017)
- Capacity: 45.000 BPSD
- Licensor: Merichem
- Process: Mericat II
- Technology: Fiber – film contact
- General Description
The Naphtha Treater Unit (NTU) is designed to process the RFCC Naphtha from the RFCC. The unit is designed to produce a sweet (i.e. low mercaptan sulphur) naphtha product. Product from the NTU is routed to the Mogas blenders.
Off-specification storage is provided downstream of the NTU.
Fresh caustic at the desired concentrations is supplied to the unit for use in the treaters. Spent caustic from the treaters is routed to the Spent Caustic Neutralisation Unit.
* Sour Water Striper (Unit 018)
General Description:
Sour water from the CDU, NHT and RFCC units is fed to a surge drum where hydrocarbons are degassed. These sour gases are routed to the sour flare header.
Combined sour water is pumped via feed / bottoms heat exchanger to a single stripping column where dissolved ammonia and hydrogen sulphide are removed from the sour water.
Sour gas overheads from the stripper column are condensed and refluxed, and the residual concentrated sour gas is directed to the sour flare header.
Stripped water is cooled against incoming feed and air prior to routing to the effluent treatment plant. A slipstream of stripped water is used as desalter water on the CDU.
A sour water storage tank is provided to allow for outages on the unit. The tank is sized to give two days storage of sour water. Under normal operation the tank will be by passed and so will be normally empty.
* Amine Regeneration Unit (Unit 019)
General Description:
Combined rich amine from the RFCC unit is routed to a feed surge drum where hydrocarbons are skimmed and degassed from the amine. Skimmed oil is routed to light slops and sour gases are scrubbed and routed to fuel gas.
Rich amine is routed via feed / bottoms heat exchange to a regeneration column where hydrogen sulphide is stripped.
Sour gas overheads from the column are condensed and refluxed, and the residual concentrated sour gas is directed to the sour flare header.
Stripped lean amine is cooled against incoming feed and air. The lean amine is then pumped and treated with anti-foam agent (if required) back to the H2S absorbers on the RFCC. A slipstream of amine is filtered to remove impurities.
An amine surge tank is available to hold the total refinery amine inventory in the event of a shutdown. Fresh amine is stored in a small make-up tank for preparation of initial and make-up solutions.
* Spent Caustic Neutralisation Unit (Unit 020)
General Description:
The Spent Caustic Neutralisation Unit is required to neutralise and remove phenolic and naphthenic oils from various spent caustic streams.
The spent caustic is degassed and then neutralised by treating with sulphuric acid. The neutralised brine is routed to the effluent treatment plant. The Sour Gas produced from the unit is routed to Sour Flare Flows to the unit are on both a batch and continuous basis.
The unit is designed to produce neutralised brine with a pH of between 6-8, when charged with design feedstock.
Fresh sulphuric acid is supplied to a storage tank within the battery limits of the unit.
* Propylene Recovery Unit (Unit 021)
General Description:
The PRU is designed to process the mixed C3/C4 stream from the LPG treatment unit. The PRU will separate and purify propylene to polymer grade (99.6wt%) specification.
The first stage in the process is a C3/C4 splitter, which removes C4’s from the LPG.
The main propane/propylene splitting facility normally has two stages. The first of these is a de¬ethanising stage, which releases products lighter than Propylene. The second stage is the Propane/Propylene splitting column, which is a low-pressure heat pumped column.
The propylene product from the propane/propylene splitter undergoes further purification. The first stage would be secondary carbonyl sulphide removal over a dry catalyst bed. The second purification stage normally consists of removal of arsenic, phosphorous and antimony, again over a dry catalyst bed. The purification stages are combined in a single vessel.
* Sulphur Recovery Unit (Unit 22)
A Claus Sulphur Recovery Unit (SRU) shall be provided in Package Unit type. The Unit shall have capacity of processing 3 tons/day of sulphur to process acid gas from ARU, ammonia acid gas from SWS and off-gas from CNU.
Acid Gas from ARU sent to Thermal Reactor, Ammonia Acid Gas from SWS and Off-gas from CNU sent to Incinerator.
Free Sulphur in the Sulphur Product will be 99.9% minimum, and Sulphur Recovery of the Claus Unit does not less than 92.6%.
Emissions of NOx, SOx, and CO concentrations from SRU Incinerator will meet Vietnamese Air Quality Standard TVCN 5939-1995.
* Izomerization Unit (Unit 23)
- Capacity: 6.5000 BPSD
- Licensor: UOP (Universal Oil Product)
- General Description
ISOMER will be added to produce Isomerate product by using hydrotreated light naphtha as feedstock in order to improve octan number of gasoline pool.
* LCO Hydrotreating Unit (Unit 24)
- Capacity: 1.320.000 tonnes per annum
- Licensor: IFP (Axens)
- Description:
LCO-HDT will be added to treat the LCO produced in RFCC Unit in order to make it possible to be blended into Auto diesel pool, by hydro-treating the LCO to improve the stability.
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VietNamNet Bridge - Can Tho airport will come into operation this December, 6 months earlier than expected, according to the Southern Airports Corporation.
Can Tho airport is built on former Tra Noc airport with an expanded area of 400 ha. Almost all the construction items of the 520 billion VND (31 million USD) project, including an upgraded 2,400m runway, have been basically completed.
Early flights will bridge Can Tho and some southern airports, including Tan Son Nhat, Rach Gia and Ca Mau, the Corporation said.
It also plans to lengthen the runway by 600 metres for the airport to receive B767, B777 and similar airplanes.
In March 2008, the Southern Airports Authority began a 1,000 billion VND (60 million USD) project to construct a terminal that can serve 2 million passengers per year. International flights from and to the terminal are planned for 2010.
Source: VNA
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Hanoi (VNA) - The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) made an announcement on Nov. 19, stating that it is to apply international competitive bidding procedures for goods contracts for its Financial Sector Modernisation and Information Management System (FSMIMS) project. The International Development Association (IDA) has provided a credit facility of 60 million USD to support the SBV’s project. The money will be used to pay for goods and consultancy services necessary for the implementation of the project. The project consists of three primary components; the first of which is designed to modernise the SBV. It will assist the central bank in developing its policies and an institutional framework, as well as increasing capabilities for information management and informed decision-making.
It will provide key input to providing specifications of user needs and the functional requirements of a new ICT platform for information management, and design and build a centralised ICT platform that meets international IT standards to support SBV’s evolving role as a central bank, taking into account all relevant international practices and critical Vietnamese realities.
The second component focuses on strengthening the Credit Information Center (CIC) by assisting the CIC in restructuring the processes for its core business as Vietnam’s public credit registration centre, as well as acquiring and installing a centralised data management system for the collection, storage, processing, analysis and sharing of credit information.
The third component is aimed at enhancing the Deposit Insurance of Vietnam (DIV). It will assist the government-owned deposit insurance agency in re-engineering its business processes and increasing its technological capacity so that the government-owned deposit insurance agency can consolidate its role in Vietnam ’s financial sector safety network.-Enditem
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Hanoi (VNA) –The use of independent agencies for the evaluation of education systems is a necessity for ASEAN member countries, said the participants at the 2 nd ASEAN Education Forum in Hanoi on Nov. 19.
Regional differences in educational targets and requirements make the assessment of the quality of education more difficult, they said.
The application of information technology is the best way to bridge the gaps between nations, according to experts attending the forum, hailing from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members nations, as well as non-members.
They also recommended that the region’s governments increase the engagement of non-state educational sectors in order to help relieve the burden on state budgets and achieve the goal of “education for all.”
Taking the theme of “Linking knowledge bridges in ASEAN – Education for all”, the forum focused on creating an ASEAN education space, developing a regional verifying system, improving competitiveness in education, as well as numerous other issues.-Enditem
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Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam’s fourth-largest oilfield, the Su Tu Vang (Yellow Lion) oilfield, situated on lot 15-1 on a continental shelf off the central province of Binh Thuan, has officially commenced production.
Vu Ngoc An, General Director of the Cuu Long Joint Operating Company (CL JOC), told a press briefing in Hanoi on Nov. 19 that in the month since the field’s first oil well began pumping on Oct. 14, the company has put another four wells into use.
An said that, once the sixth well in the Su Tu Vang oilfield is operational, his company expects to double its crude oil output to 100,000 barrels per day. As a result, the total output for this year is expected to hit 3 million tonnes, 10 percent higher than planned.
The CL JOC, the first company of its kind in Vietnam, was established under an agreement regarding oil exploitation on Lot 15-1, signed on Sept. 16, 1998 by the Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam)’s Exploration and Production Corporation (PVEP), the UK’s ConocoPhillips, the Republic of Korea’s National Oil and Gas Corporation and SK Company, and Monaco’s Geopetrol Company.
The company now operates four oilfields, including Su Tu Den (Black Lion), which commenced operations in Oct. 2003. Su Tu Trang (White Lion) and Su Tu Nau (Brown Lion) are scheduled to begin production in next few years.
The CL JOC has been one of the nation’s top two companies in crude oil output and export since 2003, second only to the Vietnam-Russia Oil and Gas Joint Venture (Vietsovpetro).-Enditem
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The national air carrier of Vietnam will finally sell tickets on the Internet as of December 15, 2008.
When passengers book their tickets online and pay for the tickets, they will receive an announcement from the airlines verifying their booking. Buyers can pay by credit card Connect 24 issued by the Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank).
Passengers can bring the printed version of their Vietnam Airlines’ announcement and their personal documents to the airport to fly with Vietnam Airlines.
Vietnam Airlines had planned to start selling tickets online in November 2006, but it was postponed to February 2007, then to June 2007, and now December 15, 2008.
Online booking service is a necessary condition for implementing the e-ticket project but for Vietnam Airlines’ passengers who buy an e-ticket they would still have to go to the firm’s booking office to declare personal information and show up with their personal documents.
Explaining this sluggishness, Vietnam Airlines’ official Le Hong Ha said the firm’s passenger service software, including the booking software, is designed to have connection to and process information from various booking systems of other airlines in the world so it still requires a lot of time for testing.
Source: VNE
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VietNamNet Bridge – Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has approved a proposal by Vietnam Airlines and the Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam (BIDV) to hire a foreign consultant for the planning of Cam Ranh International Airport in Khanh Hoa Province.
The Prime Minister has asked BIDV and Vietnam Airlines to identify the most suitable candidate. The Ministry of National Defence must then approve the selection, he said, adding investors must cover all costs of hiring foreign experts.
Revising its earlier policy, the Government now plans to develop Cam Ranh into an international, rather than domestic, airport.
Cam Ranh International Airport will be located on Cam Ranh Bay, 30 km from Nha Trang City. Formerly a military airfield, in 2004 it was converted to a civilian airport serving the city of Nha Trang.
On May 19, 2004, after major reconstruction, Cam Ranh Airport received its first commercial flight from Ha Noi. It now handles all of Nha Trang's commercial flights, which previously headed to Nha Trang Airport.
Source: Viet Nam News
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Director of the HCM City Department of Information and Communications Le Manh Ha told VietNamNet that Huynh Ngoc Si, Director of the East West Avenue and Water Environment Project, had been suspended pending investigation.
Si, who is also Deputy Director of the HCM City Department of Transport, is temporarily suspended while investigations are being made of corruption allegations by some officials of Japan’s Pacific Consultants International Company (PCI).
Previously, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung told related agencies to coordinate with Japan to investigate and solve the case in accordance with Vietnamese laws.
According to the November 12 edition of the Japanese daily Yomiuri Shimbun, defendants in a bribery scandal related to the Tokyo-based Pacific Consultants International (PCI) confessed to giving a senior official in HCM City a bribe of US$820,000 in connection with ODA projects in Vietnam.
Source: VNN
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Viet Nam has rejected a proposal by South Korean steel maker POSCO to build a $5 billion steel mill due to fears it would hurt the environment in Vietnam's most popular resort area, state media reported.
Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung asked authorities in the southcentral province of Khanh Hoa to request POSCO choose another site for their project, the online newspaper Viet Nam Net quoted a government directive as saying.
A POSCO spokeswoman said it was considering other sites for the project and talking to the Vietnamese government on the issue.
POSCO, the world's fourth-largest steel maker by output, had applied to build the mill in Van Phong Bay, near Khanh Hoa's beach resort city of Nha Trang, raising the public's concerns in one of Vietnam's most beautiful bays.
The Tuoi Tre (Youth) daily also quoted the government as saying the POSCO mill would affect a government's project to develop the country's biggest container transhipment port in Van Phong Bay.
Apart from the POSCO project, Hanoi has approved investments by foreign steel makers of at least $22 billion this year, including a $9.8 billion joint venture between Malaysia's Lion Industries and top state-run shipbuilder Vinashin.
Other projects include $7.8 billion project by Taiwan's Formosa Heavy Industries and a $5 billion venture by India's Tata Steel.
Source: Reuters
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Taiwan's Formosa Plastics Group was looking into plans to invest up to $15 billion in a major petrochemical complex in Vietnam, which would make it the largest foreign investment project in the country, even as the sector is suffering a downturn.
The project, slated for central Vietnam, has won initial approval from the government, the Viet Nam Investment Review reported on Monday.
But a spokesman for Formosa Petrochemical, a unit of Formosa Plastics Group, told Reuters the project was now only at a feasibility study stage.
"It is still in the process of evaluation and it is very preliminary. We were surprised when we heard it because we haven't submitted (the project) yet," said K.Y. Lin, spokesman for Formosa Petrochemical, the largest producer of ethylene in Asia, said.
The global petrochemical sector is in a slump, which some analysts say could last up to four years, more severe than recent downturns, due to weakening Chinese demand, oversupply and competition from more efficient Middle Eastern petrochemical makers that use cheaper gas, instead of naphtha, as feedstock.
This has forced Asian naphtha crackers to reduce processing rates to limit their losses.
The Viet Nam Investment Review report quoted Vo Kim Cu, vice chairman of the central province of Ha Tinh's People Committee, as saying the province had agreed to provide 1,000 hectares (2,470 acres) of land for the petrochemical project.
Construction of the complex is expected to start in 2010, the report quoted Cu as saying.
Viet Nam, which has no major oil refinery now, aims to raise its annual refining capacity to 30 million tonnes of crude oil, or 600,000 barrels per day (bpd) by 2020. Its first 140,000-bpd refinery, the Dung Quat plant, is expected to come onstream in next February.
Hanoi also aimed to develop a petrochemical sector to cut reliance on imports of products such as plastics and materials for the textile and garment industries.
In September state oil group Petrovietnam and Siam Cement SCC.BK, Thailand's top industrial conglomerate, began construction of another joint-venture petrochemical complex in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau at a cost of $3.77 billion.
The Ba Ria-Vung Tau complex will meet about 65 percent of the country's demand for polyethylene and polypropylene.
Another $1.5 billion naphtha cracker project by Singapore's SP Chemicals in the south central province of Phu Yen is also projected o come onstream from 2014, state media had reported.
Source:Reuters
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The Prime Minister has agreed to allow the Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam (BIDV) to select foreign consultants to do planning for development of Cam Ranh International Airport.
The PM has also authorised the BIDV and the Vietnam Aviation Corporation to represent investors to negotiate with foreign organizations. A decision to choose foreign partners must be approved by the Ministry of Defence.
All costs related to hiring foreign experts will be paid by investors.
Source:vnbusinessnews
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VietNamNet Bridge – The Viet Nam National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) has long considered entering into regional co-operation by joining a trans-Asia gas pipeline, the chairman of its gas arm has said.
Do Khang Ninh, head of PV Gas Corporation, told the annual 18th Gasex Expo and Conference held for the first time in Ha Noi last Friday that participating countries would need to make further studies though the co-operative initiative was conceived quite a long time ago.
He did not reveal more details about PetroVietnam's pipeline plan.
He spoke about its current efforts to build a domestic gas pipeline that would link Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province and natural gas wells in the Nam Con Son basin with the southernmost province of Ca Mau.
This should help balance the demand between the two regions and facilitate gas transport within the country, he said.
Viet Nam's gas reserves were less abundant than regional countries', he said, adding the country was likely to face a shortage and had to import the fuel in the next few years given its current consumption of billions of cubic metres a year.
More than 30 billion cu.m of gas had so far been channelled ashore to generate electricity, produce liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), nitrogenous fertilisers, and other products, he said.
By 2012 Viet Nam is expected to import 4-5 billion cu.m of gas a year and PetroVietnam has already begun negotiations.
With suppliers demanding a prohibitively high US$20 per million British thermal units, PV Gas can only import enough LPG to meet 65 per cent of demand.
The company has signed a deal with China's Sinopec Co to develop a clean energy cluster in Nghi Son in the central province of Thanh Hoa.
The complex will include a liquefied natural gas repository that will supply gas to urban areas and industrial parks.
Source: Viet Nam News
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VietNamNet Bridge – Recent forecasts have all predicted that more money will flow into the stock market in the time to come. And the main reasons for the conclusion? Bank interest rates have been decreasing and stock prices have decreased to the point where they are attractive to investors.
Interest rates believed will drop further
The HCM City Securities Company (HSC) believes that the VND basic interest rate will decrease by another 2% by the end of January 2009. This means that the basic interest rate would decrease to 10%, which also means the maximum lending interest rate would be 15% per annum. In fact, the lending interest rates currently applied by big banks are below 14%, for certain clients, while the popular rates are between 14.5-16%.
Vietcombank’s Securities Company’s (VCBS) report also said that following a series of measures to loosen monetary policies, deposit and lending interest rates both have been decreasing, which it believes will revitalise the stock market.
“Deposits will become less attractive as an investment channel. Therefore, it is likely there will be a big volume of money injected in the stock market as stock prices have decreased so deeply,” VCBS’ report reads.
The Saigon Securities Incorporated (SSI) also believes that the basic interest rate is now under pressure to decrease further in the context of the economic development slowdown and the interest rate cuts all over the world.
If interest rates are cut further, this would help make the stock market more attractive as money would be injected in stocks which are considered reasonably-priced.
In a newly-released report analysing Vietnam’s economy in the first nine months of the year, Eurocapital cites four factors it believes are responsible for making bank interest rates go down: 1/ the usable capital and liquidity of banks has improved 2/ banks have to cut deposit interest rates to make profit 3/ banks have cut lending interest rates to boost disbursement and 4/ banks have to lower interest rates to become competitive.
Interest rate cuts benefit stock market
Securities companies have also pointed out that lower interest rates would create good conditions for listing companies to access bank loans and reduce production costs.
Statistics released by Eurocapital show that in the first two quarters of the year, high lending interest rates pushed finance costs higher. 163/209 (78%) surveyed enterprises had higher finance costs in the first two quarters of 2008 compared to the first half of last year. 120/209 saw their finance costs up by over 50%.
Experts, agreeing with VCBS and SSI, say that when depositing money becomes less attractive, investors will inject their money in stocks which have reasonable prices.
Reports by some foreign institutions which have been released recently say that Vietnam’s stocks are now less attractive than those of many other markets. However, idle domestic money is believed will still flow into Vietnamese stocks as it cannot ‘cross the border’ to go to places where the stocks are more attractive.
Source: TBKTVN
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Taking vitamin C and E pills does not lower the risk of cancer, according to a latest study involving nearly 15,000 men in the U.S., media reported Monday.
"After nearly 10 years of supplementation with either vitamin E or vitamin C, we found no evidence supporting the use of either supplement in the prevention of cancer," said Howard D. Sesso, Sc.D., M.P.H., an assistant professor of medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital. "While vitamin E and C supplement use did not produce any protective benefits, they also did not cause any harm," he added.
The research, funded by the National Institutes of Health and several vitamin makers, tracked cancer risk in 14,641 male U.S. doctors who took either 400 IU of vitamin E every other day or a placebo, or 500 milligrams of vitamin C daily or a placebo. Their average age was 64 at the start of the study and they were followed for eight years on average.
The participants experienced a total of 1,929 cases of cancer, including 1,013 prostate cancers. Overall, 490 men taking vitamin E developed prostate cancer compared to 523 in the placebo group. Similar results were seen for vitamin C. The overall risk of cancer generally was also not statistically significant between the two groups.
"Well-conducted clinical trials such as this are rapidly closing the door on the hope that common vitamin supplements may protect against cancer," said Marji McCullough, nutrition chief at the American Cancer Society. "It's still possible that some benefit exists for subgroups that couldn't be measured, but the overall results are certainly discouraging."
The public has been whipsawed by good and bad news about vitamins. Previous laboratory research and observational studies in which people who reported eating a diet rich in vitamins E and C were found to have a lower risk of cancer, had suggested that taking these vitamins as individual supplements may offer some protective benefits.
"The American Cancer Society recommends getting these and other nutrients by eating a mostly plant-based diet with a variety of vegetables, fruits and whole grains. A bonus is that this type of diet helps to prevent obesity, which increases the risk of several cancers," said McCullough.
VietNamNet/Xinhuanet
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Viet Nam is revving up for the third Asian Indoor Games to be held in provinces and cities nation wide next November.
Ha Noi will be the main venue for 11 sports, along with HCM City, Hai Phong, Bac Ninh, Hai Duong, Quang Ninh, Phu Tho and Dong Nai.
In a meeting with the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) in June, Viet Nam agreed to pay US$2.5 million for the right to host the biggest indoor sports event in Asia, which is expected to attract over 4,000 athletes, coaches and officials from 45 countries and territories.
Viet Nam is currently making preparations to construct an indoor sports centre to house the event.
The 24 official sporting events include athletics, short course swimming, finswimming, dance, archery, petanque, wushu, boxing, shuttlecock kicking, sepak takraw, aerobics, chess, Chinese chess (Xiangqi), futsal, Thai muay, traditional Vietnamese martial arts (Vovinam), billiards, kurash (central Asian wrestling), bowling, mountain climbing, kick boxing, hockey and a demonstration of the martial art jejitsu.
At the 2nd Indoor Games in Macau, China last October, which attracted 4,500 athletes from 45 countries and territories to participate in 135 events, Viet Nam ranked 13th in the medals tally - with two golds, five silvers and eleven bronzes.
At the 1st Asian Indoor Games in Thailand in 2005, Viet Nam, who sent a 15-member squad to compete in six of the 15 sports, finished in 21st place with one silver and one bronze medal.
The Asian Indoor Games is a biennial competition held by the Olympic Council of Asia for its 45 National Olympic Committee members and is designed to encourage young Asians to participate in a wider range of sports at top levels.
Source: VietNamNews
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Ngày 14/11, ông Hồ Văn Tiến- Chánh văn phòng UBND tỉnh Phú Yên khẳng định có sự chậm trễ trong xây dựng khu tái định cư Phú Lạc rộng 45 ha và khu trung tâm hành chính mới- khu dân cư mới Hoà Tâm (gọi tắt là khu tái định cư) rộng 90 ha để phục vụ các dự án lọc, hoá dầu.
Ông Tiến cho biết: Tổng kinh phí đầu tư xây dựng Khu tái định cư Phú Lạc khoảng 130 tỷ đồng và Khu tái định cư Hoà Tâm khoảng 900 tỷ đồng. Hai khu tái định cư nói trên sẽ giải quyết nơi ở mới cho 1.428 hộ dân với gần 5.100 người thuộc xã Hoà Tâm và Bãi Chính, Bãi Ngà, Bãi Lách (xã Hòa Xuân Nam) của huyện Đông Hòa. Do ngân sách khó khăn nên tỉnh đã kêu gọi các nhà thầu ứng vốn đầu tư xây dựng, tỉnh sẽ thanh toán sau. Theo đó, đầu tháng 9/2008 Công ty xây dựng công trình giao thông 5 (CIENCO 5) đã chấp thuận thực hiện trọn gói toàn bộ từ khâu lập dự án đến thiết kế, thi công nhằm đảm bảo tiến độ theo yêu cầu của dự án và tỉnh sẽ thanh toán trong vòng 3 năm sau khi đưa vào sử dụng. Tuy nhiên, khoảng nửa tháng sau CIENCO 5 phải thông báo không thể thực hiện dự án do không vay được tín dụng. Gần đây hai doanh nghiệp là Công ty TNHH xây dựng- thương mại-du lịch Cát Phương Nam (thành phố Hồ Chí Minh) đã đề nghị được xây dựng Khu tái định cư Hòa Tâm và Doanh nghiệp tư nhân Nam Ngân (tỉnh Bình Định) thực hiện dự án Khu tái định cư Phú Lạc. Hiện Sở Kế hoạch- Đầu tư đang thẩm định năng lực hai doanh nghiệp trên và trong vòng một tuần nữa UBND tỉnh sẽ có quyết định chính thức về việc có chấp thuận để hai doanh nghiệp trên xây dựng các khu tái định cư hay không. Nếu được, dự kiến đến đầu năm 2009 sẽ xây dựng giai đoạn 1 Khu tái định cư Phú Lạc rộng 10 và Khu tái định cư Hoà Tâm khoảng 20 ha để kịp thời di dời dân.
Theo kế hoạch cuối năm 2008 tại Khu kinh tế Nam Phú Yên sẽ khởi công Nhà máy lọc dầu Vũng Rô công suất 4 triệu tấn/năm, trị giá 1,7 tỷ USD do Công ty TNHH Dầu khí Vũng Rô gồm liên doanh giữa Công ty Technostar Management Ltd (Vương quốc Anh) và Công ty dầu khí Tetttoil (Cộng hòa Liên bang Nga) làm chủ đầu tư. Đầu năm 2009 sẽ khởi công Khu công nghiệp hóa dầu Hòa Tâm và Tổ hợp hóa dầu Naphtha Cracking trị giá 11 tỷ USD do Công ty SP Chemical Ltd (Xin-ga-po) làm chủ đầu tư. Do đó, tỉnh Phú Yên cần khẩn trương xây dựng các khu tái định cư để sớm giao mặt bằng cho nhà đầu tư. Tuy nhiên, cho đến thời điểm này các khu tái định cư mới hoàn thành quy hoạch tỉ lệ 1/2000 và phương án đền bù tổng thể.
Source: baoxaydung
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