Chinese Government provides $10.76 million grant — via ETCA — for Ha Bac Fertilizer Plant Upgrading and Renovation Project (Linked to Record ID#34187, #85380)

Project narrative

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 (Record ID#34188) and a $21.52 million interest-free loan (see Record 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 Record ID#85380) was 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.