Billionaire Tran Dinh Long pledges 10 million tons of steel for Vietnam to enter the railway era

Receiving the working delegation of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh at the Hoa Phat Dung Quat Iron and Steel Complex (Quang Ngai) yesterday (February 9), Chairman of the Board of Directors of Hoa Phat Group Tran Dinh Long shared his "heartfelt" thoughts on the opportunities and challenges of the construction materials industry in the period when the country is entering a new period of opportunity.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh works with leaders of Hoa Phat Group

Construction industry welcomes great opportunities

According to Mr. Tran Dinh Long, in the period of 2025 - 2030, there will be many very large public investment projects, especially high-speed railway projects, urban railway projects in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, projects connecting with Chinese railways, Hanoi - Lao Cai, Lao Cai - Hai Phong - Quang Ninh, Hanoi - Lang Son... These projects are worth up to 250 billion USD, which is a great opportunity for enterprises. The development of the domestic steel industry will contribute to meeting the demand for raw materials for key national projects, reducing dependence on foreign supplies. "Like in the time of Mr. Park Chung Hee, they boldly assigned domestic enterprises to do high-speed railway projects. Thanks to that, from the 1960s - 1970s to the present, Korea's GDP per capita is 36,000 USD, surpassing even Japan", Chairman of Hoa Phat cited.

According to Mr. Tran Dinh Long, at many forums, Government leaders have expressed their support for domestic enterprises to participate in key railway projects. Hoa Phat proposed that the Government issue a Resolution and document clearly expressing this policy to create a great source of encouragement for domestic enterprises, material manufacturers, and construction contractors who are waiting.

"Vietnam can learn from Korea's lesson, have a resolution to boldly assign to domestic units which are manufacturing enterprises and construction contractors like us. That will solve two problems, one is that we boldly invest and importantly, when investing, we have output products. In the near future, Hoa Phat can start construction of a railway factory with an investment capital of 10,000 billion VND. This is a very special product, if it is not used for the project, we do not know who to sell it to. Therefore, we really hope to have a document like a Resolution so that enterprises can confidently invest and produce products to serve the project" - Mr. Tran Dinh Long proposed to the Prime Minister.

The Vietnamese steel "king" also committed to the head of the Government that Hoa Phat has the capacity to supply steel rails and manufactured steel products that ensure quality for making train axles and railway accessories. It is estimated that the three current railway projects need about 10 million tons of steel. Hoa Phat commits, first, to supplying enough quantity of 10 million tons, Hoa Phat's production capacity will be 15 million tons/year. Second, quality; third, ensuring delivery schedule; and finally, lower prices compared to imported goods.

Chairman of the Board of Directors of Hoa Phat Group Tran Dinh Long proposed many solutions to develop the construction industry in the coming period. PHOTO: PH

Industrialization, indispensable steel industry

After listening to Mr. Tran Dinh Long's sharing, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh affirmed: Industrialization and modernization cannot be without the steel industry. Without a foundational industry, it will always be passive, it will be difficult to implement long-term strategies, think deeply, do big things, and look far and wide. In particular, having strong Vietnamese steel enterprises like Hoa Phat will make the country's innovation process more secure and proactive in terms of strategy.

Emphasizing the priority of developing domestic enterprises, allowing domestic enterprises to participate in investing in the railway system, whether it is high-speed railway or urban railway, the Prime Minister requested the People's Committee of Quang Ngai province to continue to help enterprises develop locally. The State will create conditions for enterprises such as Hoa Phat to continue expanding their factories, focusing on the production requirements of developing the country's railway industry.

Previously, the Vietnam Steel Association sent a document to the Prime Minister reporting on the industry's current situation. Currently, the entire Vietnamese steel industry is dependent on importing about 30 million tons of ore each year, of which 95% is imported from markets such as Australia and Brazil.

This is clearly demonstrated by witnessing large cargo ships, up to 200,000 tons, continuously docking at the port to supply raw materials. This poses a foreign currency problem when the steel industry has to spend no less than 3 billion USD each year on imports. Meanwhile, Vietnam owns a number of large ore mines but they have not been exploited effectively.

Mr. Tran Dinh Long cited: Vietnam has two large iron ore mines, Quy Xa and Thach Khe. Of these, Quy Xa has been exploited, but according to the latest information, the mining license has been revoked. The remaining Thach Khe iron mine is the largest in Southeast Asia, with an estimated reserve of about 500 million tons, with a total value of up to 4 - 50 billion USD. If exploited effectively, the Government can collect 15 - 20 billion USD in taxes, creating a large resource for the state budget.

However, over the past 10-20 years, this iron mine has not been put into operation due to many conflicting opinions from local authorities, ministries and the Ministry of National Defense, saying that exploitation would face many difficulties. In fact, with current technology, exploitation has become much simpler.

From the above analysis, Mr. Tran Dinh Long proposed that the Government soon organize a bidding for Quy Xa mine exploitation in the first quarter of this year to ensure domestic raw material supply. At the same time, consider reporting to the Politburo and the Central Committee to soon make a decision on exploiting Thach Khe iron mine, avoiding wasting resources. Exploiting these mines will basically solve the problem of raw materials, save a lot of foreign currency and help businesses, especially increase revenue for the budget.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/ti-phu-tran-dinh-long-cam-ket-du-10-trieu-tan-thep-cho-viet-nam-tien-vao-ky-nguyen-duong-sat-185250210143413596.htm