HANOI -(Dow Jones)- Vietnam has started building its first shipyard in the Mekong Delta region at a cost of VND1.7 trillion, or $106 million, to boost local industries, the government said on its Web site Wednesday.
It said Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung presided over a groundbreaking ceremony held in Hau Giang province, in the delta region, on April 30 at the proposed shipyard, which is located 200 kilometers west from Ho Chi Minh City.
State-owned Vinashin, or Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Corp., plans to build large 70,000-metric-ton vessels in the shipyard, which should be operational by 2010.
The 290-hectare-large shipyard will also house a factory capable of making 120,000 container ships a year, a cement plant with an annual capacity of 1 million tons and a 3,600-megawatt power plant, the government notice said.
Vinashin, which currently focuses its operations in the north, is expanding into the Mekong Delta because it has received a large number of orders, valued at a total of more than $10 billion, from foreign and domestic companies, the government said.
Vinashin is expected to provide 5,000 jobs for the province, where labor is abundant, it added.
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The government Web site:
http://www.chinhphu.vn/portal/page?_pageid=33,1&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL
