Indronil Sengupta, chief executive of Tata Sons Limited – the holding
company of Tata Group – in Vietnam, told VIR that Tata’s belief in the
country “stands unshaken.” His announcement followed reports in the
local media outlining Tata Steel’s withdrawal from a $5 billion
investment plan in Ha Tinh’s Vung Ang Economic Zone. Tata reluctantly
withdrew from the steel project last May following disagreements with
the local authorities over the cost of site clearance.
Previously, Tata Steel asked for the same amount of financial support
for site clearance that had been offered to Taiwan’s Formosa Group for
their nearby $9.9 billion steel manufacturing and seaport complex. Ha
Tinh provincial authorities instead demanded that Tata Steel should foot
the entire bill for clearance.
“We were extremely serious and had spent over five years trying to
develop the project. However, despite our sincerity and strenuous
efforts, we could not successfully implement the project. We were
disappointed as we had spent a significant amount of time and
resources,” said Sengupta, who was previously chief executive of
Southeast Asia Projects at Tata Steel Limited.
“Although it has been a setback, our confidence in Vietnam remains and
we are pursuing a power project with proposed investment of $2 billion
in the Mekong Delta province of Soc Trang,” he said, noting that Tata
Power was also working towards an earlier commissioning date on the
project which is reflective of its interest, confidence and faith in
Vietnam.
Sengupta said Tata Steel was still considering participation in the
steel and mining sector in Vietnam in the future “if the global dynamics
and the local environment are conducive to the development of such
projects.”
Tata is currently focusing on the power sector. Tata Power last
November signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of
Industry and Trade for investing in Long Phu 2 project in the southern
province of Soc Trang. The power investor quickly started engineering
studies and geological surveys following the agreement, Sengupta said.
“We are very positive about Long Phu, and we don’t see site clearance
issues arising as we are satisfied with the co-operation we have
received from the leaders of Soc Trang so far,” he added.
With the potential growth of the economy and the expanding market,
Sengupta believes that Vietnam will remain at the top of Tata’s list of
interests. Tata products are already available in Vietnam via Jaguar and
Land Rover passenger vehicles, Tata Daewoo buses and trucks and Titan
watches.
“Several of our group companies have global marketing plans and will enter the Vietnam market based on demand,” said Sengupta.
(Source: vir.com.vn)