Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc receives leaders of major Thai corporations

This morning and afternoon (August 18), Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc received leaders of several large Thai corporations with investment activities in Vietnam.

Within the framework of the official visit to Thailand at the invitation of Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha, on the morning of August 18, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc received leaders of AMATA Group, SGC Group, Big C & BJC Group and Thai Beverage PLC, Kasikorn Bank and Central Group.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc receives General Director of AMATA Group Thailand

Receiving Mr. Vikrom Kromadit, General Director of AMATA Group Thailand and Ms. Somhatai Panicheawa, General Director of AMATA Vietnam Public Company, the Prime Minister expressed his pleasure to meet the group's leaders again and said that AMATA is a brand name, the Vietnamese Government always creates favorable conditions for foreign investors in Vietnam, including AMATA.

The General Director of AMATA Group thanked the Prime Minister and the Government of Vietnam for creating favorable conditions for AMATA to operate smoothly in Vietnam over the past 20 years. From a small company, it has now become a large enterprise investing in Vietnam, including Quang Ninh, a province with a developed economy. AMATA is committed to contributing to the development of Quang Ninh, wishing to invest in a smart city project in Quang Ninh.

Supporting AMATA's investment activities in Vietnam, the Prime Minister reminded the Group about the issue of land clearance and environmental protection. Welcoming AMATA's investment in the smart city project in Quang Ninh, the Prime Minister emphasized that Quang Ninh is a province with strong administrative reform in Vietnam.

The Prime Minister requested the leaders of Quang Ninh province (present at the meeting) to coordinate and create all favorable conditions for AMATA to operate in the locality.

Currently, AMATA is preparing to invest in the "Future City" project in Quang Ninh with an area of ​​nearly 6,000 hectares.

Prime Minister receives Chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO of SGC Group

** Receiving Mr. Roongrote Rangsiyopash, Chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO of SCG Group, the Prime Minister expressed his support for the Group's investment projects, including the Southern Petrochemical Complex Project (LSP) in Ba Ria - Vung Tau with a total investment of 5.4 billion USD, a joint venture between the Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (29%) and SCG Group (71%).

The Prime Minister stated that this is a major, key project of Vietnam, and is also a project that the Prime Ministers of Vietnam and Thailand have high expectations for in order to promote cooperation between the two countries. Informing that the site clearance and procedures have been resolved by the Vietnamese authorities, the Prime Minister hopes that SCG will coordinate with PVN and the Vietnamese authorities to be able to start the project next September.

The Prime Minister requested the Ministry of Industry and Trade and Ba Ria - Vung Tau province to coordinate with the Group to resolve remaining issues and start the project.

The Group's leaders also reported to the Prime Minister on measures to mobilize capital for the project and committed to speeding up the project's progress. During the project's implementation, environmental issues will be ensured, jobs will be created and the lives of local people will be improved.

According to the Cooperation Agreement signed between Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PVN) and Siam Cement Group (SCG) on promoting the progress of the Southern Vietnam Petrochemical Complex Project, the two parties agreed to provide maximum support for Long Son Petrochemicals Company Limited to start implementing the EPC Contract as soon as possible in the fourth quarter of this year. PVN and SCG also agreed that the capital contributors must ensure that the capital arrangement must be feasible and approved by banks to lend to achieve the best terms and conditions.

Prime Minister receives Mr. Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi

** Also this morning, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc received Mr. Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, the second richest person in Thailand with a total asset value of 12.8 billion USD, owner of TTC Holdings Group with members: Big C & BJC and Thai Beverage PLC.

TCC Holdings has successfully acquired Metro Vietnam and Big C Thailand. To date, ThaiBev has 127 subsidiaries in 90 countries. The group has a wide distribution network including 400,000 points of sale in Thailand. ThaiBev's profit in 2016 reached 756.3 million USD.

At the meeting, Mr. Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi expressed his desire to invest long-term in Vietnam, through the Big C retail supermarket chain system to bring Vietnamese products to the world, especially Vietnamese agricultural products, which have high prestige in the international market. Through the group's business activities, it will contribute to training Vietnamese workers with international qualifications.

Mr. Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi said he is planning to invest in Sabeco and hopes the Vietnamese Government will support this.

Welcoming Big C's efforts to implement many programs to help promote and bring Vietnamese goods abroad, the Prime Minister suggested that Big C, as a large retailer, create conditions for high-quality Vietnamese goods and agricultural products to be present in the Group's supermarket system. Thereby, supporting Vietnamese farmers in consuming agricultural products, building a source of good quality agricultural products at reasonable prices for the Group's supermarkets. The Prime Minister also suggested that Big C continue to expand its support for Vietnamese people in Thailand through social responsibility activities.

** On the afternoon of August 18, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc received Mr. Tos Chirathivat, Senior Chairman and CEO of Central Group.

The Prime Minister highly appreciated Central as one of the largest retail groups in the region and its initial successful business in Vietnam. In addition to retail, Central is also a prestigious group operating in many other fields. The Prime Minister welcomed the Group's intention to cooperate with Vietnamese partners for mutual development.

The Prime Minister said that the potential for tourism cooperation between the two countries is still very large, and the number of Thai tourists to Vietnam is still small compared to the number of Vietnamese tourists to Thailand. Vietnam considers tourism a key economic sector and wants the Group to participate in this field, helping to develop tourism in both countries. The Prime Minister also hopes that the Group will research and invest in developing high-class hotel systems in Vietnam.

Regarding the retail sector, the Prime Minister suggested increasing the number of Vietnamese agricultural products sold in Thai supermarkets, especially in the context that in the past six months, Thai agricultural products imported into Vietnam increased by 70%.

Mr. Tos Chirathivat said that the Group was established 70 years ago and is currently a prestigious group in the retail sector. Central is pursuing a policy of developing in Europe and Vietnam, considering Vietnam as its second home. In Vietnam, the Group has 15,000 employees and a labor value of 1 billion USD.

Agreeing with Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on some cooperation suggestions, the Group's Chairman said that he is currently operating in the hotel sector, including the Vietnamese market. Central is ready to operate in tourism and promote the image of Vietnam abroad to attract tourists.

In the retail sector, Central is willing to import Vietnamese fruits to sell in supermarkets in Thailand, and is willing to cooperate to develop Vietnamese agriculture. This includes researching the process of bringing fruits into factories to sell products in Thailand.

** Also this afternoon, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc received Mr. Kornrasit Pakchotanon, Chairman of the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand – EGAT.

Currently, EGATi, a subsidiary of EGAT, is developing the Quang Tri 1 Coal-fired Thermal Power Plant Project in Quang Tri province with a capacity of 2x660 MW, applying Ultra-Supercritical technology (Ultra-Supercritical USC) under the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) model.

At the meeting, the Prime Minister said that the construction of the thermal power complex in Quang Tri has been dragging on for many years, which is something that both sides need to quickly overcome. The Prime Minister also noted that Vietnam attaches great importance to environmental protection and forces projects to close if they use outdated technology. The Prime Minister asked Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh to be responsible, together with Thai authorities, for resolving the project's problems and hoped that EGAT would promote the project's implementation.

The Chairman of the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand hopes that the Government and Prime Minister of Vietnam will create favorable conditions for the Thai side to promote the project, and at the same time commit to ensuring environmental issues and not allowing environmental problems to occur. He also committed to using modern technology. He said that the Group is aware that this is an important project for both countries, so the Group will ensure to fulfill its commitments and promote the project on schedule.

Prime Minister receives Mr. Banthoon Lamsam

Earlier this morning, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc received Mr. Banthoon Lamsam, Chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO of Kasikorn Bank./.

According to VOV