Rusal eyes highland bauxite reserves

“The company’s management officially announced its interest in developing a $1 billion complex project in mining and processing bauxite in Vietnam,” said Igor Khovaev, minister-counsellor of the Russian Embassy in Vietnam last week.
He also said the project would enhance economic ties with Vietnam, of which investment remained a weak point.
“Representative offices of Rusal and OOO (Otechestvenie Lekarstva) have been opened in Vietnam. Quite a few groups like FGUP and ZAO have visited Vietnam,” said Khovaev, adding that apart from exploiting bauxite deposits, Russian companies were also interested in building power plants, railways and developing the Central Highlands’ aluminium industry.
“The OAO and the Russian Railway company are considering to invest in railway upgrading projects of Vietnam” said Khovaev.
He also revealed that the two countries were working on the establishment of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City trade centers in Moscow, and Moscow trade centers in the two Vietnamese cities.
“The Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City trade centers in Moscow will help Vietnamese who are living in Russia have opportunities to do business in a modern environment,” said Khovaev, who pointed to new Russian regulations stopping foreign labourers from working illegally in Russia. Thousands of Vietnamese people lost their jobs after the regulation came into effect.
He said Russia had allocated land for the two Vietnamese trade centers in Moscow but, the Russian centres had yet to receive an address. “I hope that Vietnam will quickly complete all procedures for this issue,” he said.
Khovaev also voiced the Russian Government’s expectation that consultation rounds with Vietnam on Russia’s WTO membership would wrap up soon as a result of mutual understanding between the strategic partners. Consultations are what leaders from the two countries have agreed upon instead of negotiations on Russia’s WTO membership.