The Ministry of Industry recently submitted the 2006-2015 coal development strategy, with orientations towards 2025, to Prime Minister for approval, aiming to accelerate sustainable development and exploitation, local newspaper Vietnam Industrial Times reported.
The strategy comprising the sector’s coal reserve exploration, exploitation, processing, transportation, and distribution, aims to satisfy most of the growing domestic demand to fuel the country’s economic growth in addition to ensuring national energy security as well as environmental protection.
MoI’s plan also highlighted 6 measures to guarantee the sector’s sustainable development in the coming time, as Vietnam becomes the 150th WTO member, exposed to many opportunities and challenges.
In the first step, MoI proposed to suitably and effectively exploit, process and utilize fossil fuels. Advanced technologies are seen as decisive tools to be applied to exploration, exploitation, sorting, processing and usage in effective coordination with other economic sectors, MoI noted in its plan.
To compensate for the coal shortage, cooperation with foreign partners is encouraged as well as reducing coal for export to 12 million tons in 2010, 5 million tons in 2015 and after 2015 no coal for export.
A major task is for Vietnam step by step to form a competitive coal market in a bid to integrate into the regional and world market in addition to diversifying investments.
The Southeast Asian country will strive to build efficient legal procedures and policies supportive of forming a competitive coal market. The sector’s total output rose to 32.6 million tons in 2005 from 8.35 million in 1995, a year-on-year average increase of 14.6 per cent.
From 1995 to 2003, the coal sector invested VND230.7 billion into exploring activities. The Vietnamese government authorized Vietnam Coal and Mining Industries Group (Vinacomin) to cooperate with Japanese NEDO to jointly carry out explorations.
Currently, Vietnam’s largest five open-cast coal mines are under exploitation with capacity of 2 million tons. About 32 coal mines are explored. Vietnam’s coal reserve is estimated at 46-51 million tons by 2015, and about 50-55 million by 2020, 57-62 million in 2025.
The sector is also set to reduce coal loss to below 30 per cent in 2015 and down to less than 25 per cent in 2025.
Vietnam Industrial Times
Vietnamese
