Dung Quat Economic Zone to expand four times

The government has approved a major plan for expanding Dung Quat Economic Zone in the central province of Quang Ngai by four times to 45,332 hectares.

The zone will be the key component of the broader key economic area of central Vietnam and play an important role in security in the central region in the future.

Le Van Dung, vice director of Dung Quat Economic Zone Authority, said the expansion that will connect the zone and a new deepwater port would make room for more heavy industry projects, especially in the petrochemical sector.

Dung Quat Oil Refinery within the zone will increase its refining capacity from 6.5 million tonnes to 10 million tonnes a year.

Japanese contractor JGC has been awarded a $2.5 million contract to conduct the feasibility study for upgrading the $3 billion refinery, which is able to meet about 30 percent of the nation’s fuel demand.

So far 111 projects have been licensed into the zone with total registered capital of over $10 billion. There are 53 projects operational at the moment, creating more than 11,000 jobs.

The zone is expected to require around 40,000 workers by 2010 but skilled labour is in short supply there. – Saigon Times

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