Vinacomin would be committing a huge mistake by progressing with their bauxite projects in the Central Highlands, said Director of Vinacomin's Red River Coal Projects management board, Dr. Nguyen Thanh Son in an interview with DTiNews.
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| Dr. Nguyen Thanh Son |
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| Ore conveyor (photo:nld newspaper) |
According to Vietnam Coal and Mineral Group (Vinacomin), the extracted aluminum would be exempted from export tax duties, would this decision cause a budget deficit?
The bauxite ore contains about 98% aluminum oxide, so tax exemption would certainly benefit Vinacomin and the importers. We would be giving our natural resources away for free.
What do you think about the initial reported losses from the projects, such as capital shortages and long capital recovery time?
Vinacomin didn't follow the government's guidelines. First, though the politburo noted that Vinacomin must choose advanced technology for the project, they opted to use Chinese contractors who didn't have much experiences with the type of bauxite found in the Central Highlands and used outdated equipment.
Second, Vinacomin ignored instructions to maintain adequate infrastructure in order to ensure the area's socio-economic development.
Representatives of Vinacomin said they couldn't stop the Nhan Co project because they more than halfway done and they would incur huge losses. But what would the consequences be if they decide to follow through with the project?
If they don't stop now, it would be a big mistake. I think they should stop now to mitigate damages. If the Tan Rai project proves to be effective then the Nhan Co facilities could be used to expand Tan Rai.
Vinacomin continues to emphasise the economic importance of bauxite projects for the future. Do you agree with them?
A project must be effective itself before it can bring any positive effects to the economy. But the bauxite projects may be exempted from taxes and Tan Rai can only generate around 1,500 jobs. Meanwhile, the total capital investment has reached USD1.5 billion for two projects. It really amounts to nothing.
I think the coal industry is more important to Vinacomin than those two bauxite projects. The best thing Vinacomin' can do is to focus on coal mines to produce energy for the country, not export aluminum with no export duties.