With 1,940 valid investment projects, worth a total of 19.65 billion USD, Taiwan tops the list of 84 countries and territories investing in Vietnam , since the promulgation of the Foreign Investment Law in 1988.
Three quarters of Taiwanese projects are in industry and construction, numbering 1,460 projects valued at 16.2 billion USD, representing 75. The remaining mainly involve in services, agriculture, forestry and fisheries.
Taiwanese have invested in 55 provinces and cities across the country, but a majority concentrate in Dong Nai, HCM City, Binh Duong, Hai Phong, Long An, Ninh Binh, Vinh Phuc, Hai Duong and Ba Ria-Vung Tau.
According to the Foreign Investment Department, Taiwanese investment projects mainly used high technologies and state-of-the-art equipment, especially those involving in motorbike assembly, production of cement, sodium glutamate, synthetic fiber and electronic parts, farming technology, aquatic products farming and processing.
Source: VNA
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Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai has instructed the Ministry of Transport to design a plan to call for foreign investors to invest in the construction of the Van Phong International Entreport.
According to the Government Office, the Ministry of Planning and Investment, Ministry of Finance, the Van Phong Economic Zone Management Board and related agencies will join hands to develop this plan.
The Deputy PM asked the Vietnam Shipping Lines Group, Vinalines, to raise capital and develop this project. He also requested the project developer to choose capable conductors for the project’s bidding contracts.
The groundbreaking ceremony of the Van Phong International Container Entreport, which was scheduled in early 2008, was canceled after the local government of Khanh Hoa province proposed a huge steel project invested by Posco, a South Korean group in this area.
This project was protested by experts and the people for the worry of possible environmental pollution caused by this steel plant.
On October 31, 2008, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung refused this project, which is worth nearly US $10 billion, saying that the project may affect the future development of the Van Phong International Container Entreport and harm the environment.
Source: VNN
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Vietnam has awarded a US$1.5 billion contract to build a coal-fired power plant to Janakuasa Sdn., a Malaysian power generator, in the Mekong Delta province of Tra Vinh, a government official said Tuesday.
“The plant, part of a group of three plants in the province, is under the government’s master plan to ease the power shortage in the country,” Pham Van Chieu, chief administrator of the provincial People’s Committee, said by phone from the province, about 200 kilometers from Ho Chi Minh City.
The 641-hectare Duyen Hai power complex consists of three coal-fired plants with a total investment of about $5 billion and a combined capacity of 4,400 megawatts, according to the plan posted on the Tra Vinh Department of Planning and Investment website.
Duyen Hai 1 plant will be built by Electricity of Vietnam, the state-owned utility, Chieu said. Janakuasa will construct Duyen Hai 2 and a contract has still to be awarded for Duyen Hai 3, he said.
Construction of Duyen Hai 2 is scheduled to start in 2011 and will be completed by 2015, according to Chieu.
“Electricity generation from these plants will supply the national power grid,” Chieu said. “For Duyen Hai 2, the government, Electricity of Vietnam and Janakuasa will work out the sale price, as there are no details about the price yet.”
Source: Bloomberg
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A plane carrying Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and other Government leaders touched down a runway of the newly-built Can Tho air terminal at 10.30am on January 4, kick-starting a new air route between Hanoi and Can Tho city in the Mekong Delta region.
After three years of construction, the first phase of the terminal has been completed, with a 2,400m-long and 45m-wide runway capable of receiving big aircraft such as Airbus 320 & 321 and Boeing 737. With a total floor area of 2,400sq.m., the terminal can serve 400 passengers per hour and 400,000 passengers per year. Its ground control facilities meet international standards.
At the inauguration ceremony, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung praised the Southern Airports Corporation, Can Tho City and the construction workers for their great efforts to put the terminal into operation. He encouraged investors and contractors to continue with the second phase of the project to ensure that Can Tho International Airport will be completed and operational in 2010 as scheduled.
He asked Can Tho city to fully exploit the airport to develop its economy and serve as a gateway to other regions in the country as well as the world.
Once completed in 2010, the terminal will launch flights to Singapore, Thailand and Cambodia in Southeast Asia and Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan in Northeast Asia.
Source: VOV
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Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has approved loans for a new airport terminal in Ha Noi and a new airport in the southern province of Dong Nai.
He said Ha Noi's Noi Bai Airport would receive 50% of its capital to build the four-storey T2 Terminal from the Viet Nam Development Bank and the remaining capital from commercial banks.
Lend funds
The State Bank of Viet Nam will ask State-owned commercial banks to lend funds to the project and the transport ministry will develop a management framework to ensure full return on the investment.
The T2 Terminal, with a total floor surface of 90,000sq.m, includes an aircraft parking area, a fuelling system, a multi-storey car parking building and an internal system of roads and passing bridges.
The project, worth around US$35 million, is due to be completed on the occasion of Ha Noi's 1,000th anniversary celebration in October 2010.
The PM said the new Long Thanh International Airport in Dong Nai Province would receive 70 per cent of its capital from the State-owned stakeholders and the remaining 30 per cent from strategic foreign partners as well as other stakeholders.
With its possession rate of 11%, the Bank of Investment and Development of Viet Nam is in charge of defining the distribution of each founding stakeholder's contributions. The bank will also help implement the first stage of the project.
The authorities of Dong Nai Province government have been tasked to find land to relocate the displaced population that must move to make way for the airport, and in addition, assess the levels of compensation for residents.
Long Thanh International Airport will span an area of 5,000ha in Dong Nai's Long Thanh District with a total investment of US$8 billion.
The airport is expected to be competitive with other airports in the region.
Source: VNS
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Viet Nam Railway is to build an express railway to cut travel times between Saigon and Hanoi to only 6 hours. Officials hope to realize the project by 2035.
The big dream of Viet Nam railway
Opened October 1936, the North-South Railway has seen various changes over its lifetime. It was damaged extensively by bombs from the two wars brought by France and America. Innumerous railway employees risked their lives to repair the damage.
The moment the country was reunited and regained independence finally meant peace for the railway. Employees have continuously upgraded the railway and trains to reduce travel times between Saigon and Hanoi from 42 hours to 40, 36 and now to 29. However, the dream of rail officials does not stop there.
A railway transport development strategy for 2020 with a vision to 2050, approved by the Prime Minister on November 20, is expected to develop a modern, rapid and sustainable railway transport system. It will have ten stops over 1,630km: Ngoc Hoi, Thanh Hoa, Vinh, Dong Hoi, Hue, Da Nang, Dieu Tri, Nha Trang, Phan Thiet and An Binh. The project will cost $33 billion, of which $23.1 billion will come from the government to build infrastructure and $9.9 billion from Vietnam Railways to purchase land and set up facilities.
The North-South Express Railway will be built alongside the current track and will be open to the public.
$2 billion initial funding
Vietnam-Japan Consulting Joint Venture (VJC) estimates $2 billion will be needed to clear the ground for installing the railway. The express railway will require 4,261 hectares of land, about 70% is agricultural and forests, 20% is rural and 10% urban. The project will require the removal of 10,000 houses and relocation of 7,000 farmers.
VJC reports that if the plan stays on schedule travel times in 2020 will be Hanoi – Vinh (1 hour and 24 minutes) and Saigon – Nha Trang (90 mminutes). By 2030 these will include Hanoi – Da Nang (3 hours) and Hanoi – Saigon (5 hours 30 minutes to 6 hours and 30 minutes).
The train fare is expected to equal that of air fares.
Source: Sai Gon GP
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The southern oil-field province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau has unveiled a plan of establishing two more industrial parks (IP) to meet an increasing demand from investors, both domestic and international.
The provincial IP Management Board said 40 projects capitalised at over 4,642 million USD were licensed for operation in 12 IPs throughout the province last year.
Of these projects, 21 have involved foreign direct investments with a combined capital of 4.285 million USD and 19 others were domestic investment projects capitalized at some 357 million USD.
The figures represented a two-fold increase over the yearly plan in the number of newly-licensed projects and 15.47 times over 2007 in the volume of investments.
In addition, 30 operational projects have registered to increase their investments by almost 344 million USD.
In short, by the end of 2008, Ba Ria-Vung Tau province boasts 194 valid projects with a total registered capital of almost 11.45 billion USD, including 96 FDI projects capitalised at 8,352 million USD.
Last year saw three new IPs put into operation, expanding the provincial IP territory by more than 3,000 ha, said the management board.
Source: VNA
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