Vietnam invests in Cambodia for hydro-power study

The Urban and Industrial Investment and Development Corporation (IDICO) of Vietnam has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on feasibility study on a 980 MW hydro-power project in Cambodia.

Under the MoU, signed in Phnom Penh on December 9 in the presence of Cambodian Minister of Industry, Mines and Energy Suy Sem, the project will be located in the Cambodian north eastern province of Stung Treng close to the Vietnam border. The area is expected to generate some 3.76 billion kWh per year.

Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Construction Bui Pham Khanh said at the signing ceremony that all investors are financial powers having good relations with financial institutions both at home and abroad.

The investors also have experiences in developing a number of major hydro-electricity projects in Vietnam and Laos, said Khanh.

The investor group includes the Song Da Corporation, the Vietnam Machinery Assembly Corporation (LILAMA), the Construction Corporation I (CCI), the Infrastructural Construction and Development Corporation (LICOGI) and the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV).

BIDV President Tran Bac Ha said the feasibility study will begin in the dry season. As a key investor for the project, the BIDV chief guaranteed good capital supply to ensure the progress of the project.

The IDICO said its intensive surveys and exploration in Cambodia since 2006 have shown that provinces bordered with Vietnam possess great potential in hydro electricity, estimated at 5,000 MW. The Mekong River stretch running across the Stung Treng province has the greatest potential, said an IDICO representative.

The Stung Treng hydro-power project is considered to be of important significance to the socio-economic development in Cambodia and the Mekong Delta of Vietnam.

Tags: VietnamCambodia cooperation