Foreign investors show interests in airport development projects in Vietnam

A South Korean company has expressed a desire to develop an airport in Quang Ninh province, while a Japanese investor is eyeing the Long Thanh airport project and US investors have arrived to seek investment opportunities.

Unable to develop airports with just state sourced money, Vietnam is seeking capital from private foreign investors. The information has driven the special attention from the international community to Vietnam, which has been developing the aviation infrastructure system with its own capital so far.

Vietnam plans to build five more airports by 2020 and upgrade the 21 existing airports in order to serve the socio-economic development. It is estimated that the works would cost 220 trillion dong, a huge capital sum which cannot arrange itself. Therefore, it has been trying to call for foreign private investment.

The Quang Ninh airport project announced in April 2012 needs roughly 250 million dollars in investment capital by 2030. The Quang Ninh provincial authorities then informed that two South Korean investors, namely the ROK Airport Corporation and Jionus Company showed the interests in the project.

When asked about the implementation of the project, a senior official of the provincial authorities said the South Korean investors were told to complete the works for the investment preparations and submit their plan to the provincial authorities in 2012. However, no reply has been received from the investors so far.

Meanwhile, Tadashi Okamura, Chair of the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said at the dialogue between Vietnamese and Japanese businesses held recently that Japanese enterprises are willing to cooperate with Vietnamese partners to develop the Long Thanh airport.

Besides South Korea, Japan and the US have been interested their desire to make investment in the airports in Vietnam for a long time. In 2010, the US ADC & HAS, specializing in developing airports, met the leaders of the Da Nang City to discuss the development of an airport in the city.

In 2011, the US group showed its interest in the Cam Ranh airport project. And in September 2012, it once again put forward the airport development under the mode of PPP (private public partnership) at the meetings with the leaders of the Ministry of Transport.

Le Manh Hung, General Director of the Vietnam Airport Corporation, has confirmed that Vietnam is considering different investment modes for airport development, including the PPP.

In the past, Vietnam tried to develop airports with its own money. However, with the increasing demand for infrastructure, Vietnam tends to diversify the investment capital sources.

Hung went on to say that the Ministry of Transport has set up an agency in charge of pushing up the investment projects under the mode of PPP.

US investors also highly appreciate the idea of developing airports under different investment modes. The US Ambassador to Vietnam David Shear has also affirmed that the US is actively working with the Vietnamese side to implement the plan to develop aviation infrastructure.

However, State’s officials have said that special regulations would be applied for the PPP investment mode in the airport development, which is also a special business field.

An official of the Quang Ninh provincial authorities said that the State would inject money and control key infrastructure items, while private investors would be able to exploit other items such as the terminals, port authorities’ houses and services.

Vietnam’s aviation industry has been witnessing a steady growth rate of 18 percent in 2006-2011.

A lot of projects have been carried out to serve the aviation industry development, including the T2 terminal at Noi Bai Airport, the project on upgrading Tan Son Nhat airport to be capable to serve 25 million passengers a year, the Phu Quoc international airport project in Kien Giang province which is expected to become operational in December.

Compiled by C. V

Source: VIETNAMNET Bridge

Bac Ninh sets up air logistic warehouse in VSIP

Bac Ninh Provincial People’s Committee has proposed the Vietnamese government to allow construction of a warehouse for air logistics in Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park Bac Ninh to enhance import and export operations.

In a document sent to the government, the provincial committee said domestic Aviation Logistics Joint Stock Company (ALS) would invest in this warehouse, but the details such as total investment and throughput capacity have not been revealed.

According to the province, this warehouse will further improve infrastructure and logistics system in Bac Ninh, thus attracting more foreign investors to the province because Noi Bai international airport is just 30 kilometres far away from Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park (VSIP) Bac Ninh.

“This is an advantage for Bac Ninh to attract investments from the globe’s two largest mobile phone makers, Samsung and Nokia,” it said in the document.

The warehouse, if approved by the Vietnamese government, would provide all logistics services and custom services on the spot, thereby saving time and cost for manufacturers.

Three years ago, the Vietnamese government permitted ALS to build an air logistics warehouse in Yen Phong industrial park. The warehouse has significantly contributed to the success of Samsung’s mobile phone factory in Yen Phong, Bac Ninh Provincial People’s Committee said in the document.

Total throughput capacity this year in the warehouse in Yen Phong industrial park is estimated to reach 40,000 tonnes, doubling the total in 2011. This volume accounts for 35 per cent of total cargo handled through Noi Bai international airport.

Bac Ninh Provincial People’s Committee said VSIP Bac Ninh was a big industrial park that had attracted many foreign investors in hi-tech electronic industry such as Foster, Unigen Fujikin and Nokia.

“Most of hi-tech products are exported and imported through air transportation so that the demand for air logistics service in this industrial park is very high. An air logistics warehouse in this place is needed,” the provincial committee said in the document.

Source: VIR

Puma Energy completes acquisition in Vietnam

Puma Energy, a subsidiary of one of the world’s largest independent commodity traders Trafigura Beheer, on November 1 announced it had completed the acquisition of Chevron Kuo Pte Ltd, a Singapore entity which owns 70 per cent of Chevron Bitumen Vietnam Limited “CBVL”.

 

The new company will be called Puma Energy Bitumen Vietnam and within three months the company’s assets will be rebranded Puma Energy.

According to Pierre Eladari, Puma Energy's chief executive officer, Puma Energy was quickly becoming a global marketer of bitumen.

“Our investment in logistics operations and in our bitumen terminals in Spain, Africa, Central America and now Vietnam will help us to deliver ambitious growth in sales volumes,” Eladari said.

Puma Energy Bitumen Vietnam imports, stores and distributes asphalt for road building and infrastructure developments in Vietnam.

The company's assets include a Haiphong terminal which has wharf facilities with a state-of-the-art bitumen storage terminal with a capacity of 5,000 metric tons and the management of a bitumen distribution business around Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. The 35 members of staff have transitioned to the new business.

Puma Energy is a global integrated midstream and downstream oil company active in over 30 countries.

Formed in 1997 in Central America, Puma Energy has since expanded its activities worldwide, achieving rapid growth, diversification and product line development.

The group directly manages over 4,000 employees and has regional hubs in Singapore, Johannesburg (South Africa), San Juan (Puerto Rico) and Geneva (Switzerland).

Puma Energy’s core activities in the midstream sector include the supply, storage and transportation of petroleum products.

Puma Energy’s activities are underpinned by investment in infrastructure which optimises supply chain systems, capturing value as both asset owner and marketer of product.

Puma Energy’s downstream activities include the distribution, retail sales and wholesale of the full range of refined products, with additional product offerings in the lubricants, bitumen, LPG and marine bunkering sectors.

Puma currently has a global network of over 1,300 retail service stations. Puma Energy also provides a robust platform for independent entrepreneurs to develop their businesses, by providing a viable alternative to traditional market supply sources.

Source: VIR