February 22, 2012 (Vietnamica) – The country’s oil minister expelled the head of Chinese-Malaysian oil consortium Petrodar (Reuters)amid rising tensions between Juba and Chinese oil firms. South Sudan, which recently shut down its oil output, has accused the firms of helping neighboring Sudan steal its oil.
February 22, 2012 (Vietnamica) – The Vietnam Electricity (EVN) is waiting for an approval of central bank’s HCMC Branch on its sale of 5.3 percent equity stake of ABBank to HDBank. EVN is planning to exit ABBank (DTCK, Feb 21).
February 21, 2012 (Vietnamica) — Iran warned today of a preemptive attack against its perceived enemies if the country feels its national interests are in jeopardy (NYT), amid rising tensions with the West over its controversial nuclear program. A day earlier, UN nuclear investigators visiting Tehran were barred from Iranian nuclear facilities.
Feb 16, 2012 (Vietnamica) — On Feb 10, State Bank of Vietnam and Asian Development Bank – a regional multi-donor funded lender – signed a credit agreement, following which Vietnam would receive $1,121 million loans for expanding the national grid.
Investors to Put US$4.5 Bln in Long Son Petrochemical ComplexFebruary 13, 2012 (Vietnamica) – The Ministry of Trade and Commerce unveiled that Siam Cement (Thailand), Thai Plastic and Chemical PCL (TPC), Qatar Petroleum International (QPI) of Qatar Petroleum, PetroVietnam, and VinaChem had signed a memorandum of understanding on investing US$4.5 billion in Long Son Petrochemical Complex. This first Vietnam’s Petrochemical Complex is expected to start operation in 2015 (eFinance, Feb. 13).
February 1, 2012 (Vietnamica) — In the Coal Industry Development Plan to 2020 with a vision to 2030 which was recently approved by the Prime Minister, all coal mining areas throughout the country to 2020 should meet environmental protection standards in an effort to preserve the surrounding ecology. The volume of annual coal exploitation is also expected to increase year by year (Steel Guru, Feb 1).
