GS E&C, Kumho E&C seek major construction deal

The two Korean firms are eager to get involved in the major water treatment system in Quang Ninh province-Photo: Le Toan

Nguyen Duc Tiep, deputy head of the Quang Ninh Investment Promotion Agency’s Investment Promotion Division, told VIR that South Korea’s GS E&C and Kumho E&C had been working with the agency on constructing a major water treatment system, with the total investment capital expected to reach more than $100 million, in the province.

“GS E&C met with the agency last week, stressing that they want to start this project as soon as possible,” Tiep said. “But Kumho E&C is also co-operating with

another South Korean firm, Kuhwa, in a bid to build this project. Kumho E&C has met with the local authorities on several occasions.”

The local authorities have asked GS E&C and Kumho E&C to make official investment proposals for this project in the form of either build-lease-operate-transfer or build-operate-transfer, or any kind of public-private partnership model.

The potential investors can also base their proposals on the project’s construction time, as the project has been listed by the Quang Ninh People’s Committee as one which is “in critical need of construction”.

“The two investors have said that they would submit their investment proposals to provincial officials soon. Officials will then make a decision,” Tiep said. “In the case whereby the proposals are equally attractive, the province will organise a public tender to select an investor.”

This project includes many sub-projects to be built in the province’s cities of Cam Pha and Uong Bi, and Van Don district. Specifically, the project will cover two water treatment plants with a total daily capacity of 63,000 cubic metres in Cam Pha, a 52,000 cubic metre per day plant in Uong Bi, and two plants in Van Don with a total daily capacity of 61,000 cubic metres.

According to the Quang Ninh People’s Committee, upon implementing this project, the investor will be given special investment incentives, including in terms of corporate income tax. The province will also support the investor in site clearance, provision of water and electricity, and employee recruitment, as well as in the processing of administrative procedures.

In Vietnam, GS E&C has been participating in many infrastructure projects, such as Tan Son Nhat-Binh Loi expressway, Ben Thanh-Suoi Tien metro line, and several urban areas in Ho Chi Minh City. The company is also the engineering-procurement-construction contractor of Nghi Son oil refinery in the north-central province of Thanh Hoa, and LG Electronics’ manufacturing complex in the northern port city of Haiphong.

Meanwhile, Kumho E&C, a subsidiary of South Korea’s Kumho Asiana Group, has also been actively operating in Vietnam with several infrastructure projects, such as Kumho Asiana Plaza in Ho Chi Minh City. It has also constructed a number of water treatment facilities across the nation.