By admin

Published: March 30, 2011

ExxonMobil to start exploration

DA NANG – American oil and gas giant ExxoMobil will start its first exploratory drilling off the central coast of Vietnam late next month.

The decision was agreed upon at a city yesterday between leaders of the People’s Committee of Da Nang City and representatives from ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Vietnam Ltd.

The drilling will be conducted at block 119 on the continental shell offshore from Quang Ngai Province and Da Nang City.Phung Tan Viet, vice chairman of the Da Nang People’s Committee asked the company to strictly guarantee technical requirements to avoid environmental pollution. The two sides also discussed plans to ensure safety during oil-rigs construction.

Viet also ordered the city’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to inform fishermen not to use the exploration area during the 40 days of drilling.

According to reports from state-owned Vietnam Oil and Gas Group PetroVietnam, Vietnam’s crude oil reserve in 2010 was estimated at 4.4 billion barrels. The crude oil and gas exploration output in 2010 reached 15.1 million metric tonnes and 9.4 billion metric tonnes, respectively. VNS

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By admin

Published: March 30, 2011

FDI disbursements hit peak

A worker of the Taiwan-invested Tung Kuang Industrial Joint Stock Co inspects the quality of aluminium products. Disbursement of foreign direct investment in March reached US$1.39 billion, the highest level since the beginning of the year. — VNA/VNS Photo Hong Ky

HA NOI — Disbursement of foreign direct investment in March reached US$1.39 billion, the highest level since the beginning of the year, according to the Foreign Investment Agency (FIA) of the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

The latest amount brought disbursements during the first quarter to a total of $2.54 billion, an increase of 1.6 per cent over the same period of the last year and 22.1 per cent of the target set for all of this year, the FIA said.

The first three months, however, have witnessed a slump in newly registered investment. During the period, the nation attracted $2.37 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI), down 33 per cent year-on-year. Only 173 new foreign-invested projects were licensed during the period, worth just over $2 billion in total, a decrease of 35 per cent in capital and 40 per cent in the number of projects from the first quarter of last year.

However, in one bright spot, 23 projects were approved to increase their registered capital by a combined $248 million, compared to just $5 million worth of capital increase in January and $81 million in February.

Among major new projects registered during the quarter were a $1 billion Singapore-invested project to produce solar panels, a $266 million power plant project, and a $174 million tourism and shopping complex.

With the large project, Singapore became the leading source of foreign investment during the quarter, accounting for 46.7 per cent of total registered capital.

Hong Kong ranked second with $331.5 million, followed by the British Virgin Islands with $277.4 million, and South Korea with $193 million.

During the period, $1.55 billion or 65 per cent of the total registered capital flowed into the processing and manufacturing sectors, making them the most attractive sectors in the eyes of foreign investors. Construction and retail also proved their attraction, gobbling up $206 million and $50 million, respectively.

The southern economic hub of HCM City was the top destination for foreign investment, absorbing $1.1 billion, followed by the central city of Da Nang with $364.7 million and the central province of Binh Thuan with $266 million.

The foreign-invested sector saw an estimated three-month export turnover of $8.9 billion, up 31.3 per cent year-on-year, and accounting for 46.2 per cent of the country’s total export turnover. The sector also posted an export surplus of $969 million. — VNS

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By admin

Published: March 30, 2011

Japanese nuclear plant offers lessons

HA NOI — Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan admitted that Viet Nam is determined to go ahead with the building of the nuclear power plants in the central coast province of Ninh Thuan.

Nhan told the National Assembly deputies yesterday that the disaster at the Fukushima nuclear plant was a precious lesson for Viet Nam.

He said that since the adoption of Resolution No 41 by the National Assembly in 2009 on guidelines to build the nuclear power plant in Ninh Thuan, the Government had issued five legal documents guiding the implementation of the Law on Nuclear Power.

The Prime Minister has decided to establish the Ninh Thuan Nuclear Power Project Steering Committee with a Deputy Prime Minister as the director and representatives from various ministries, sectors and Ninh Thuan province as project members.

An Inter-governmental Joint Committee on the building of the Ninh Thuan Nuclear plant No 1 between Viet Nam and the Russian Federation was signed on October 31, 2010. Preparations for the construction of the plant had been ongoing since then, including a credit agreement with Russia.

For the second nuclear plant, negotiations between Viet Nam and Japan were underway, including a credit agreement to build the plant from Japan.

The construction sites of the two plants had been approved by the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

A feasibility report on the construction of the Ninh Thuan No.1 Reactor is currently being drafted.

For the second plant, the Japanese Government had agreed to provide $25 million in the form of non-refundable aid to compile project documentation.

Electricity of Viet Nam (EVN) was confirmed as the project owner of the two nuclear plants.

The EVN had consulted with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on the safety of the plants.

Viet Nam had also sent students and abroad to study nuclear energy in Russia, Japan, South Korea and France.

Construction on the first nuclear plant would begin in December 2014 and the first nuclear reactor would generate electricity in 2020, with the second going online the following year.

For the second nuclear plant, construction was slated for May 2015 and the first nuclear reactor would generate electricity in 2021, with the second reactor going into commission in 2022.

“Site selection for the nuclear plants and the technology have been and would thoroughly be considered, including the case of extreme weather conditions as earthquakes, tsunamis or plane crashes,” said Nhan. — VNS

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Published: March 30, 2011

Confab promotes energy efficiency

Solar lighting systems of the Central Area Electrical Mechanical Joint Stock Co in the central city of Da Nang. Many enterprises in the country are looking to save energy and reduce production costs. —VNA/VNS Photo

HA NOI — Viet Nam is a nascent market for energy efficient technology, presenting an exciting opportunity for investors, energy service companies (ESCO), equipment suppliers and financial institutions, heard attendants at a conference in Ha Noi yesterday.

The “Climate Change Response and Energy Efficiency Investment in South East Asia” conference held by the British Embassy in Viet Nam aimed to present the potential of Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand and Viet Nam as potential energy efficiency investment markets.

British Ambassador to Viet Nam Antony Stokes, said investing in energy efficiency was an effective way to reduce greenhouse gases and save energy costs.

He said the use of energy efficiency solutions could reduce energy shortages and create opportunities for businesses which operate in the sector.

“Viet Nam has taken drastic measures to deal with climate change. The country should consider investing in increased energy efficiency instead of fossil fuel for its sustainable development,” he said.

George Norris, head of South East Asia Economic Network said countries in the region still subsidised fossil fuel despite its cost.

“Eliminating fuel subsidies could yearly increase GDP by 0.1 to 0.7 per cent due to lower taxes and the removal of price distortions,” he said, adding that the elimination could also reduce CO2 emission by 14 per cent by 2050.

The ReEx Capital Asia Pte Ltd’s report showed that energy efficiency could reduce the region’s annual energy bill by US$1.34 billion, and Viet Nam’s by $193 million.

All primary and secondary energy consumers including industry, commerce, residential and transport sectors have energy efficient potential.

Singapore, Philippines and Viet Nam were evaluated to offer lucrative markets while Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand had larger markets.

Viet Nam’s market was estimated to be worth $850 million. Energy efficiency could also annually save the country about $190 million. The report also showed that the average payback for the investment in the country would be 52 months.

In the commercial sector the pay-back time would be 43 months, shorter than 62 months in the industrial sector.

Deputy general director of the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Science and Technology Department cum head of the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Office Phuong Hoang Kim said the yearly average growth rate of Viet Nam’s energy use during 1999 to 2006 period was 12.4 per cent while its GDP grew 7.2 per cent.

The energy intensity of Viet Nam’s economy grew from 387 kilogrammes of oil equivalent (kgoe) per $1,000 of GDP in 1998 to 569 kgoe in 2006.

“Industrial and residential consumers were the two dominant electricity sectors in Viet Nam, consuming 48 and 43 per cent of the total respectively.” Kim said.

He said barriers to achieving energy efficiency in the country were a lack of information, insufficient readily available expertise and energy pricing.

“In Viet Nam, prices paid for energy were low relative to those in most other countries,” he said, adding that domestic coal prices were below levels in other countries.

Tran Tat Thang, deputy general director of Viet Nam Steel Corporation said businesses in the sector have paid great attention to energy efficiency.

“However, there has been difficulties in accessing loans, as most of them were small projects which would struggle to receive loans from international organisations, while domestic banks have not been interested in such projects,” he said.

George Norris said market-based electricity tariffs and energy efficiency friendly policies were crucial for the development.

“It also needed to build market awareness and capacity to take advantage of low-cost options for carbon reduction. Countries in the region should take innovative financing mechanism including loans, credit enhancement and loan guarantees for market development,” he said. — VNS

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By admin

Published: March 30, 2011

Nation urged to rethink dependence on ODA funds

HA NOI — Viet Nam’s reliance on official development assistance to sustain its investment-based growth is increasingly challenged by the decline of ODA at a global level, a problem amplified by the global slow-down, said United Nations Independent Expert on Foreign Debt and Human Rights Cephas Lumina yesterday.

Lumina said while the country had recorded impressive success in socio-economic development and become a lower middle-income nation, social problems, especially among the most vulnerable groups were still an issue.

Lower middle-income status, however, would result in less ODA as donor countries would turn to more needy countries, said Lumina at the conclusion of his 9-day research trip to Viet Nam yesterday.

In the last decade, Viet Nam’s income per capita has risen from US$390 in 2000 to $1,200 in 2010. More than seven million jobs have been created. ODA has played an important role in advancing human development in Viet Nam. Last year, it supplemented nearly 11 per cent of total social investment and 17 per cent of the State budget.

Lumina praised the Government for placing Vietnamese citizens at the centre of national development, and suggested that to fully ensure that principle, it was important that “national economic and social policies and programmes were firmly anchored in a human rights-based framework that underscored participation, transparency and accountability”.

He said the Vietnamese Government had made great efforts to have information on trade deficit and foreign debt available for citizens but the more important questions were ease of accessibility and quality of it. “To enhance transparency and accountability in the management and use of public resources, the Government should ensure the broad availability of accurate and timely information on debt and ODA,” he said. “The Government can do a better job to make the information more accessible to people. It could make the information more simple and easy to understand as some technical figures can be difficult to understand.”

According to the independent expert, Viet Nam’s foreign debt in 2010 was about 42 per cent of the GDP, an increase of 4 per cent compared to the previous year. This figure remained within the safety line but it exhibited a tendency to continue increasing and would increase in 2011, he said.

Lumina however also said that Viet Nam had done well in maintaining education, social welfare and medical treatment for its population, but an increase in foreign debt would result in an increasing burden for the Government to pay the debt and interest and lead to a cut in social spending. — VNS

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