Chinese Government provides $21.52 interest-free loan — via ETCA — for Ha Bac Fertilizer Plant Upgrading and Renovation Project (Linked to Project ID#34188, #85380)

In December 1999, the then Prime Minister of the China visited Vietnam. During his meeting with the then Vietnamese Prime Minister, he indicated that the Chinese Government was willing to finance the Ha Bac Fertilizer Plant Upgrading and Renovation Project. Then, on June 12, 2000, China’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation and Vietnam’s Ambassador to China met in Beijing and signed an Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreement (ETCA) committing approximately $55.254 million of funding for multiple projects. One of subsidiary projects supported through the ETCA was Ha Bac Fertilizer Plant Upgrading and Renovation Project. From this 2000 ETCA, the Chinese Government issued a grant worth $10.76 million (see Project ID#34188) and a $21.52 million interest-free loan (see Project ID#34187) for this project. The borrowing terms of the loan included a 0% interest rate, 20-year maturity, and 10-year grace period. The Government of Vietnam on-lent the proceeds of the loan to the state-owned Ha Bac Fertilizer Company. The purpose of the project was to upgrade and renovate a nitrogenous fertilizer plant in Bay Giang province that was first constructed with financial support from the Chinese Government in the 1960s after an agreement was signed by the two governments on February 18, 1959. The upgrades were designed to lower the plant’s energy costs and improve its environmental performance. Upon completion of the project, it was envisaged that the plant would have the capacity to produce 90,000 metric tons per year of ammonia and 150,000 metric tons of urea nitrogen. Anyang Chemical Industry Group Corp. Ltd. was the contractor responsible for implementation. It signed a project implementation contract worth $32.28 million on September 23, 2000. The formal groundbreaking ceremony took place on November 23, 2000. The plant was put into operation on August 16, 2002. It then passed two inspections in April 2003 and July 2003. The plant was officially inaugurated on July 23, 2003. On December 22 and 30, 2003, the Chinese Government and the Government of Vietnam signed letters of exchange regarding the Ha Bac Fertilizer Plant Technical Cooperation Project (see Project ID#85380) in order to provide technical support to local personnel on the operations and maintenance of the fertilizer plant. This project was successfully completed on March 20, 2005.

Additional details

1. The Vietnamese project title is Công ty phân đạm Hà Bắc or án phân đạm Hà Bắc. The Chinese project title is 中国援助越南北江氮肥厂工程 or 河北氮肥化工公司技改工程 or 越南河北氮肥化工公司技改扩建工 or 越南河北氮肥厂改扩建项目. 2. The rest of the funds committed through the June 12, 2000 ETCA were allocated to a Thai Nguyen Iron and Steel Company Upgrading Project (see Project #34207). An official source (see "Decision No: 860/QA-TTg) provides the borrowing terms of this loan: 0% interest rate, 20-year maturity, and 10-year grace period. Because both of these loans came from the same ETCA, it is safe to assume the borrowing terms are the same. 3. The Vietnamese title for the ETCA is "Hiệp định hợp tác kinh tế kỹ thuật giữa Chính phủ nước Cộng hoà xã hội chủ nghĩa Việt Nam và Chính phủ nước Cộng hoà Nhân dân Trung Hoa ký ngày 12 tháng 6 năm 2000 tại Bắc Kinh."

Number of official sources

10

Number of total sources

23