Five foreign banks fund power plant By Truong Nam - The Saigon Times Daily HANOI – Five international banks have signed an agreement to provide Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) with US$904 million to finance the Vung Ang 1 thermal power plant. The banks are China Development Bank, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Credit Suisse, Intesa SanPaolo and HSBC. The loan will be insured by the China Export and Credit Insurance Corp. and Germany’s Hermes Bank through export credit agencies (ECA). Vung Ang 1 power plant in the central province of Ha Tinh has total investment capital of nearly US$1.6 billion, of which an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract worth US$1.17 billion has been signed with Vietnam Machine Installation Corp. (Lilama). PetroVietnam is arranging an ECA loan worth US$96 million insured by JBIC and Nexi banks. The plant has two generators with a total capacity of 1,200 megawatts. The first turbine is scheduled to begin commercial … [Read more...] about Five foreign banks fund power plant
China export and credit insurance corp
Russia, China, object to tough sanctions on Iran
Russia and China have raised objections to nearly every Western proposal for new U.N. sanctions against Iran over its nuclear ambitions except a ban on arms exports, according to a working paper. The document, seen by Reuters on Thursday, shows some Russian and Chinese reservations about other proposals for a U.N. Security Council resolution. These include a mandatory travel ban, financial and trade restrictions and an expanded list of Iranian officials and firms whose assets would be frozen, such as those controlled by Iran's Revolutionary Guards and Iran's state-owned Bank Sepah, already under U.S. sanctions. In an effort to break the logjam, senior foreign policy officials from the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China held another telephone conference on Thursday, followed by a meeting of U.N. ambassadors late in the day. "We were just taking stock on where we are," said Alejandro Wolff, a U.S. ambassador, after the meeting. "There have been lots of … [Read more...] about Russia, China, object to tough sanctions on Iran
BUSINESS IN BRIEF 20/3
SHB awarded bank of excellent payment The Saigon-Hanoi Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SHB) has recently won the "Excellent International Payment Bank in 2011" award for the second time. The annual reward is granted by the Bank of New York Mellon (BNY Mellon), one of the world's most prestigious banks, to the bank that has the highest Straight-Through-Processing standard ratio (STP) of at least 95 per cent for international payment transactions. In Vietnam , only a few banks have received BNY Mellon's award. It has recently presented a similar award to the Vietnam Technological and Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Techcombank). Belgian firm keen on river dredging project A representative of Belgium's Jan De Nul n.v. in a meeting with HCMC vice chairman Nguyen Huu Tin on Thursday expressed strong interest to join the dredging project of the Soai Rap River. Jan van Impe, regional director of Jan De Nul n.v., told the vice chairman that his company wants to contribute to seaport and river … [Read more...] about BUSINESS IN BRIEF 20/3
BUSINESS IN BRIEF 21/12
Power project receives credit for implementation A credit contract, worth 3.3 trillion VND (160 million USD), for a 500 kilovolt power transmission project was signed on December 19 in Hanoi. The contract was signed between the State-owned Vietnam Electricity's Power Transmission Corp and the Bank for Industry and Trade of Vietnam ( Vietinbank) - Hanoi branch. The credit will fuel the 500 kV Pleiku-My Phuoc-Cau Bong project, which is part of the Government's national grid development master plan. Covering the provinces of Gia Lai, Dak Lak, Dak Nong, Binh Phuoc and Ho Chi Minh City , the project aims to ensure electricity supply to southern areas in the 2014-2015 period, as well as power grid connectivity across Vietnam , Laos and Cambodia in 2015. The 9.28 trillion VND project is also funded by the World Bank, the Vietnam Development Bank and the Asia Development Bank. Ministry eyes new fuel tax scales The Ministry of Finance is considering a more exact way of changing its … [Read more...] about BUSINESS IN BRIEF 21/12
BUSINESS IN BRIEF 28/11
Rice exports hit more than US$3.2 billion Vietnam exported 6.38 million tonnes of rice, worth US$3.22 billion, in the past 10 months of this year. According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Asia was the largest consumer of Vietnam’s rice, making up around 64 percent of the country’s exports. It was followed by Africa, with 25 percent and America, 7 percent. The Mekong delta - the country’s rice basket - has so far this year shipped abroad 5.8 million tonnes for more than US$2.8 billion. The country’s rice output is estimated at 22.8 million tonnes this year, almost 1.3 million tonnes more than the 2010 figure. Vietnam, Russia target $5 bln in trade by 2015 Vietnam and Russia have agreed to double two-way trade to $5 billion by 2015 thanks to significant steps of development in bilateral relations, which was lifted to the strategic partnership ten years ago. The target was set at the first meeting between the co-chairmen of the … [Read more...] about BUSINESS IN BRIEF 28/11