Paribas loan guaranteed for hydropower plant

The government will guarantee a BNP Paribas loan to finance the construction of the Dak Mi 4 hydropower plant in the central province of Quang Nam.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has approved the guarantee, a statement posted on the government’s website Monday said. The project, being developed by IDICO Urban & Industrial Zone Development Co. based in the southern province of Dong Nai, is expected to generate electricity by 2011. Vietnam could face electricity shortages in the future, Tuoi Tre newspaper quoted Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Bui Xuan Khu as saying on January 7. State-owned Electricity of Vietnam expects to spend VND50 trillion (US$2.85 billion) on projects this year, including four coal-fired power plants with a total capacity of 3,800 megawatts, the Saigon Times said on January 12, citing General Director Pham Le Thanh. Construction of the 190-megawatt Dak Mi 4 plant will cost VND4.6 trillion ($263 million), according to the statement, which did not say how much of the investment would be covered by the BNP Paribas loan. Telephone calls to the project developer went unanswered. The government said in a statement on January 13 it would lay out the rules for state guarantees of bank loans for small- and medium-sized companies in an “all-out effort” to halt a slowdown in economic growth. Source: Bloomberg