HAG: Work begins on cogeneration plant in Laos
The HCM Stock Exchange-listed Hoang Anh Gia Lai Group yesterday began construction of a US$100 million complex that will have a thermal power plant and a sugar, ethanol, and fertiliser factory in Laos's Attapeu Province.
Once it begins operation next September, the sugar plant would process 7,000 tonnes of sugarcane annually, HAG chairman Doan Nguyen Duc said.
The complex will also produce 30,000 tonnes of ethanol and 50,000 tonnes of fertilisers a year, while the power plant will have a capacity of 30MW.
As part of the project, HAGL will plant 8,000ha of sugarcane, but also buy another 4,000ha grown by local farmers.
Duc expected the project to generate 4,000 jobs.
Also yesterday, HAGL inaugurated a 200-bed hospital and an elementary school as part of a larger, $35 million programme under which it will build more schools, bridges, and houses for poor people.
Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc hailed HAGL's investment in Attapeu, which he said would boost bilateral social and economic co-operation.
His Lao counterpart Somsavad Lengsavad promised that his government would make every effort to facilitate Vietnamese projects like those of HAGL.
He hoped HAGL would make further investments in his country.
The company has invested in tens of thousands hectares of rubber and sugarcane in Laos besides hydropower plants.
It plans to build an airport in Attapeu and more hydropower plants in the country with an investment of $1 billion.
Also yesterday HAGL inaugurated a four-star hotel in the province, which it built at a cost of $6 million.
The Viet Nam-based Laos - Viet Bank, a joint venture between the Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam and a Lao partner, opened its first branch in Attapeu yesterday.
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