Vinashin to Issue Bonds in International Markets

After the success of government bond auctions in the New York Exchange, US$750 million was loaned to the Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (Vinashin) for investment in production and business activities. Vietnam Business Forum interviewed Pham Thanh Binh, general director of Vinashin.

According to the operation plan of Vinashin throughout 2015, which was approved by the Government, Vinashin will need around US$3 billion to expand production, so as to implement large contracts on building ships for export. With a loan valued of US$750 million, from auctioning of government bonds, we are implementing projects with a total investment capital of around VND 20,000 billion. The loan is equal to VND 13,000 billion, and Vinashin will concentrate investment on large shipyards, expanding our shipyards of Nam Trieu, Bach Dang and Pha Rung, to continue to implement new orders on building ships for export. Also, Vinashin will concentrate on support industries, mainly on manufacturing diesel engines.

 

Debt payment possibility is within our hands. We estimate that with an investment of US$3 billion, each year our production value can reach US$3 billion. This year, our output reached around US$1 billion, up by 40 per cent. With an average growth rate of 30 per cent per year, in the long term, it is an effective investment deal. The loan is not bigger than soft interest, so with incomes mainly from export, we are certain that we will be able to pay the debt.

 

Vinashin is preparing plans to mobilise capital from international markets with a new issuance in 2006. At present, the world market has a huge demand for ships, so the shipbuilding industry has great potential. Many foreign investors, after knowing that their money would be invested in the shipbuilding industry, said that they would no longer have to worry about their money. We have finished negotiating contracts until 2009, which are valued at around US$1.5 billion. We are also negotiating new contracts.