The four main State-owned banks in Vietnam have signed to lend VND1.98 trillion to Ha Tien I Cement Co. for the VND4.75 trillion (US$300 million) Binh Phuoc cement project. The deal was inked at HCMC’s Caravelle Hotel yesterday by representatives of the Bank for Investment and Development, the Industrial and Commercial Bank, the Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development, and the Bank for Foreign Trade. Ha Tien I director Nguyen Ngoc Anh said his company would invest the loan and VND527.7 billion of its own money in the project, and try to borrow the rest from foreign banks. Work on the 2Mta works began last December, and also includes building a clinker grinding station able to turn out one million tons a year in HCMC’s District 9.
Ha Tien 1 will soon put out to tenders for equipment for the plant which is due for opening by 2007, Anh said, adding that the limestone would come chiefly from Binh Phuoc, Ba Ria-Vung Tau and Dong Nai provinces. Anh said the new works role would be to supply HCMC and the southern region generally, as well exports to Laos and Cambodia.
