The Lamela Group hopes to build a US$400 million cement factory in the highlands province of Bac Can, making it the first Czech company to express an interest in investing in the impoverished highland province. Lamela representatives made a fact-finding trip last week to the proposed construction site in the province’s Cho Moi district, where they signed an initial agreement with the local government regarding their investment plans. The factory would make Lamela the second investor from the Czech Republic to set up shop in Vietnam after an US$18 million Bohemia crystal factory in the central province of Quang Binh.
Hung Dung, an official from the Bac Can Province People’s Committee, said that under the agreement, Lamela would build a cement factory with an annual capacity of 1.2-1.5Mta in order to satisfy regional demand. If it is built, the factory would be the first foreign-invested project in Bac Ban, one of the poorest provinces in Vietnam. "We are hoping to lure foreign investors to Bac Can with the most attractive incentives," Dung said, “but its isolated geographical position and under-developed infrastructure are deterring foreign investors from coming here."
