Binh Dinh threatens revoke

Binh Dinh flexes its muscles as it threatens to revoke investment certificates from slow paced projects
photo: Le Toan

The local authorities, in a recently released document, announced that it was considering whether to reject 22 registered investment projects in Nhon Hoi Economic Zone, and Phu Tai, Long My and Nhon Hoa industrial parks.

These projects include Emerald of Vietnam tourism project, Nhon Ly-Cat Tien coastal resort, Phuong Mai 1 wind power farm, Phuong Mai 2 wind power farm, Trung Luong resort, Trung Hoi resort and some other projects in the industrial manufacturing sector. According to the local authorities, the long delay of these projects has raised question over the financial ability of investors due to their failure to implement commitments in the province.

In the past, Binh Dinh withdrew investment certificates from investors that proved unable to make their investment plans a reality. Saigon Invest Group, one of Vietnam’s leading domestic private firms, last December had its investment certificate revoked for  the registered Saigon-Binh Dinh pulp factory in the province, after the lengthy delay in the construction.

The recent announcement of the local authorities warns of the  possibility of the biggest withdrawal of investment certificates in the province.

Located in the central coastal region, convenient for accessing local markets as well as for exports, Binh Dinh has attracted greater interest from investors after Thailand’s national petroleum company, PTT Public Company Limited, late last year proposed to build a mammoth $28.7 billion oil refinery and petrochemical complex there.

According to the Thai firm, the complex would have the total refining capacity of 660,000 barrels per day, or 33.6 million tonnes of crude oil per year. If the project were approved, it would become one of the largest oil refinery and petrochemical complexes in Asia.

Last month, Russia’s Buscenter Met Company received an investment certificate for developing a factory with the total registered capital of $1 billion covering nearly 50 hectares in Nhon Hoi Economic Zone. The Russian firm plans to produce agricultural tools, auto parts, buses and cars, with 70 per cent of their products bound for the export markets.

 “It is sure that there would be many investors coming to our province if the Vietnamese government approved the mega investment proposal by PTT. So, we have to clear long-delayed and ineffective projects to offer land to others,” said Man Ngoc Ly, director of Binh Dinh Provincial Economic Zone Management Authority, adding that PTT was willing to explain the project’s feasibility to the Vietnamese government to dispel doubts over the investor’s capabilities.