PM encourages Thai high-tech investment in large-scale oil refinery project
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has asked Thailand’s Siam Cement Group (SCG) and Amata Vietnam to apply latest technologies in the US$5 billion oil refining and petrochemical project in Vietnam.
Receiving SCG Chairman and CEO Roongrote Rangsiyopash and Amata Vietnam CEO Somhatai Panichewa in Hanoi on February 16, PM Chinh showed his delight at the growing strategic partnership between Vietnam and Thailand across all fields, especially economy, trade and investment.
Thailand has been among the top 10 trade and investment partners of Vietnam for many years, he noted.The Government leader thanked the Thai side as well as SCG and Amata for cooperating with and supporting Vietnam in COVID-19 prevention and control.
He said that in 2021, when Vietnam did not have enough COVID-19 vaccines and treatment drugs for local residents with limited understanding of SARS-CoV-2 variants, the country was forced to use large-scale restriction measures to prevent the spreading of the virus, affecting socio-economic activities.
However, the Vietnamese Government designed various measures to support and remove difficulties facing businesses and minimise negative impacts on production and business activities as well as supply chains, he noted.
PM Chinh said that Vietnam is confident to reopen with flexible and safe adaption to and effective control of the pandemic, heading to fast and sustainable recovery.He lauded the SCG’s efforts to speed up the southern oil refining and petrochemical project in the Long Son industrial park of Ba Ria-Vung Tau province.
He suggested the SCG coordinate with Vietnamese ministries, sectors and localities to ensure that the project is put into operation as scheduled in a safe and effective manner, helping Vietnam reduce the import of petroleum products, ensure supply to local industries, and become one of the exporters of petrochemical products.
The SCG should use the most advanced, green and clean technologies for the project, while assisting Vietnam in improving its governance capacity and attracting green financial resources, he said. At the same time, he suggested the SCG and Amata invest in the Long Son oil and gas industrial park and Long Son Power Centre, while continuing expanding business activities in Vietnam in more sectors, and considering investment in high-tech parks in Vietnam, contributing to encouraging more foreign investors, including those from Thailand, to Vietnam.
Roongrote Rangsiyopash and Somhatai Panichewa spoke highly of the effective directions and management of the Vietnamese Government, which they said help balance the goals of ensuring people’s health and promoting economic development. Thanks to efficient support from the Vietnamese side, SCG has promptly overcome difficulties due to the pandemic and continued to develop its projects in the country, said the SCG leader.
Leaders of the two Thai firms briefed the Vietnamese PM on the progress of the southern oil refining and petrochemical project, which is the largest of its kind that the SCG has invested. Its second phase will be implemented with most advanced technologies following the direction of circular economy, they said, giving a number of proposals on the implementation of projects in Vietnam.
Noting down their proposals, PM Chinh pledged that Vietnam will continue to accompany and create optimal conditions for investors in general as well as SCG and Amata in particular to successfully and effectively operate their business in Vietnam.
