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Indian mining firms dig Viet Nam
Representatives of Indian mining companies gathered for a seminar in Ha Noi on Friday to discuss business and investment opportunities in Viet Nam's mining sector.
Nguyen Thi Bich Van, deputy director of the Ministry of Planning and Investment's Foreign Investment Agency, said the Government was encouraging foreign investors to bring advanced technology and environmental protection measures to the nation's mining industry.
"The mining industry plays a significant role in poverty reduction in many remote areas, creating jobs," Van said.
Indian Ambassador to Viet Nam Lai T Muana said Friday's meeting was only the first expected between Vietnamese and Indian stakeholders in the mining sector.
"It aims to highlight the aspirations and concerns of Indian companies who are interested in investing in natural resources, so that policymakers know what they may need to do and so that those coming in the future will know what to expect," Muana said.
"Although we are witnessing worsening global economic recession, business does not need to come to a halt," he added.
"In fact, Viet Nam will not face any recession and will continue to grow in the midst of the regional slowdown. Moreover, the recovery of Vietnamese economic growth is a certainty. It is important that we discuss the problems faced by stakeholders in exploration and value addition in Viet Nam's natural resources before such recovery comes full steam."
According to ministry figures, as of December last year, Indian enterprises had invested in 30 projects in Viet Nam, worth US$195.6 million, in such fields as oil and gas, rubber and steel production, making India the 30th leading source of foreign investment in Viet Nam, out of 84 countries/territories worldwide.
Kamlesh Kumar, head of Tata Steel's Mining South East Asia Project, presented advanced and environment friendly technologies and water treatment processes in the mining of coal, iron ore, chrome, manganese, limestone, dolomite and others.
Tata planned to set up a joint venture with the Viet Nam Steel Corporation to build a steel plant with an annual capacity of 4.5 million tonnes at Vung Ang Industrial Zone in Ha Tinh Province.
Rod Murfitt, a representative from the Mining Working Group, said Viet Nam was a mineral-rich country, but the existing mining industry was small compared to this potential.
"Foreign investment is needed to introduce new technologies to enhance mining safety and environmental standards," Murfitt said, pointing to some legal constraints on development of the mining sector in mineral law, natural resources administration and fiscal regimes.
He urged the development of master plans for mining and stabler, more appropriate tax policies in the sector.
Foreign investment in mining had not kept pace with general development in other industries, Murfitt said. During the 1998-06 period, mining accounted for 10 per cent of total FDI. Since 2006, it accounts for only about 1 per cent of the total.
Murfitt explained that other industries had all enjoyed rapid deregulation, legal reforms and the creation of a more level playing field between domestic and foreign investors. The mining industry had not yet been improved to a corresponding degree, he said.
Viet Nam's Department of Geology and Minerals said that the State still accounted for most investment in mining in Viet Nam, although this proportion had fallen from 90 per cent in 2000 to 36 per cent in 2008.
The number of enterprises engaged in the mining industry has increased from 427 in 2000 to 1,800 last year.
Foreign investment in mining has grown but still occupies a low position in comparison with other economic sectors.
To boost the industry's development on par with its potential, the State has adopted preferential policies to encourage investment in mining and mineral processing projects with advanced technology, high environmental protection, maximum recovery of useful components, production of metal and alloy products or products with high added value, mineral processing using imported minerals to meet the demand for both domestic use and exports, and projects in areas wife difficult socio-economic conditions.
VietNamNet, Viet Nam News
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