Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc: 'Investing in Thai Nguyen Iron and Steel is like throwing money into fire'

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said he will resolutely not invest in investment projects of state-owned enterprises with unclear efficiency.

The above-mentioned management viewpoint was emphasized by the Prime Minister at the preliminary conference of the industry and trade sector on July 12. Accordingly, the management agency aims to build a creative government, creating the best conditions for businesses and people to develop... at the same time, determined to eliminate asking - giving, group interests, local interests and not subsidize weaknesses.

For state-owned enterprises that are waiting for capital to invest but are not effective, such as the Thai Nguyen Iron and Steel Plant (TISCO) Phase 2 project. "The government cannot continue to throw money into Thai Nguyen Iron and Steel, that is no different than throwing money into fire," said the Prime Minister.

The government has refused to inject more capital to implement the project to expand phase 2 of the Thai Nguyen Iron and Steel Plant.

Previously, in mid-May, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc directed the Ministry of Industry and Trade and TISCO to clarify a number of points in the petition sent to the Government, especially the possibility of negotiating with Chinese partners to complete the factory and put it into operation.

The Thai Nguyen Iron and Steel Corporation's Phase 2 Production Expansion Investment Project has attracted attention as it has been "shelved" for many years, after encountering financial problems. According to TISCO's calculations, the total investment after adjustment is up to 9,031 billion VND, an increase of nearly 1,000 billion VND compared to the old figures. Previously, at the request of the Chinese contractor, this project's capital was increased from 3,843 billion VND to 8,014 billion VND, "increasing" more than 2 times compared to the original.

In addition to the proposal for the Government to inject more capital to complete the project, to ensure its effectiveness when continuing to implement it, TISCO has made a series of recommendations on "huge" incentives such as exempting loan interest payments, tax incentives... for this project.