Five local Vietnamese banks will jointly give a loan of VND3.4 trillion (US$213.8m) to the Bim Son Cement Company to build a new production line, according to the contract signed between the two sides on July 21.  The 11-year loan account for 83 per cent of the total investment capital required for the project, which stands at the VND4.1 trillion. When operational by the end of 2008, the new production line will turn out 2Mt of cement per year. 
 
The syndicated loan is offered by a group of five banks, including the Industrial and Commercial Bank of Vietnam (Incombank), the Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank), the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV), the Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Agribank) and Indovina Bank. Incombank acts as the main sponsor with the total offering of VND2.2 trillion, equivalent to 63.5% of the total lending.