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Bac Ninh mulls new deadline for IGS Capital Group
Bac Ninh authorities are set to extend the deadline for Korean IGS Capital Group to prove its financial capacity to launch a $1.5 industrial park and township project.
Vu Duc Quyet, Director of Bac Ninh Industrial Zones Authority, told VIR that IGS Capital Group might have up to two months to December 31, 2009 to prove its ability.
“IGS Capital Group’s leaders wanted to extend the deadline until late 2010 when the global economic further recovers, but we did not agree. Frankly, we would have liked the company to withdraw from the project as of last month,” said Quyet.
IGS Capital Group is part of a joint venture with IGS Vietnam Group, the investor in the project. The Korean company holds a 70 per cent stake in the joint venture and the remaining 30 per cent belongs to Vietnam’s Nam Hong Company Limited.
Last year, IGS Vietnam Group received an investment certificate for developing the project in Bac Ninh with total investment capital of around $1.5 billion. The project is situated on 600 hectares housing an industrial park with approximately 250 manufacturing facilities as well as residential and auxiliary facilities like an exhibition hall, a logistics centre, warehouse, dormitories and a hotel.
At the ground-breaking ceremony in October 2008, the joint venture announced the industrial park would draw about $2 billion from Korean companies and create more than 50,000 local jobs.
However, construction has yet to start. IGS Capital Group has struggled since the economic crisis and Bac Ninh authorities have asked the Korean company many times about its continued investment in the project.
“This may be the last chance for IGS Capital Group to prove its financial ability before we officially decide to revoke the investment certificate,” Quyet said. He added while asking IGS Capital Group to prove itself, the provincial authorities were also preparing administrative procedures and collecting other essential information for revoking the investment certificate.
“We are undertaking those works at the same time. If IGS Capital Group cannot pursue the project, we will have sufficient basis to revoke the investment certificate immediately,” said Quyet.
Quyet said many domestic and foreign investors have offered to replace IGS Capital Group. However, he said the province had not accepted the proposals as IGS Capital Group was still trying to prove their financial capacity to back the project.
vietnamnet, vir
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