French bank interested in Việt Nam’s thermal power projects

HÀ NỘI — Societe Generale Corporate & Investment Banking (SG) of Singapore is particularly interested in sponsoring thermoelectric projects invested by the Việt Nam Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam), an official from the bank said on July 19.

Pascal Lambert, SG Country Head for Singapore and Head in South East Asia and India, spoke during a working session with Chairman of PetroVietnam Trần Sĩ Thanh in Hà Nội, during which they discussed possibilities of co-operation between the two sides.

Lambert thanked PetroVietnam and its members for their support and cooperation in choosing SG as a partner to fund major projects of the Vietnamese group in recent years.

The bank hopes to fund thermoelectric projects Nhơn Trạch 3 and 4, and Sơn Mỹ 1, he said, adding that SG especially wishes to give consultancy on the issuance of international bonds for PetroVietnam and participate in the financing of commercial loans for projects.

With its experience in financing gas thermal power projects in Japan, Indonesia, Malta, and Bangladesh, SG hopes to share experiences with PetroVietnam in this field, he stressed.

For his part, Thanh highly valued the recent cooperation between PetroVietnam and SG, saying that SG has provided capital to many key projects of the group, including thermo-power project Sông Hậu 1, contributing significantly to PetroVietnam’s development.

PetroVietnam would like SG to continue providing financial consultancy for the group and its subsidiaries in future projects, he said.

Arriving in Việt Nam in 1989 with two representative offices in Hà Nội and HCM City, SG has actively participated in funding major infrastructure and industry projects around the country.

It has cooperated with PetroVietnam since 2007, providing loans for PetroVietnam Transportation Corporation (PV Trans) to build three ships. In 2013, SG joined other banks in the financing of the Nghi Sơn Oil Refinery project. — VNS