General Director of Taiwan’s Formosa Group, Wu Guo Xing, has said the group would raise its investment in a steel and port complex in central Vietnam to $23 billion from the current $16 billion. The official announced the information during his two-day field trip ended August 5 to the Vung Ang Economic Zone in the central province of Ha Tinh, where the Son Duong steel and port complex will be built in, the state-run Vietnam News Agency said Aug 5. Formosa will invest $7.9 billion in the project’s first phase, which will comprise a cast iron foundry and a steel mill with an annual combined capacity of 7.5 million tons and a deep-water port with a loading capacity of 27-30 million tons of cargos per year. The group will build the first wharf in 36 months, and a cast iron foundry and a steel plant in 48 months after it gets the cleared site, the chairman said. Wu Guo Xing affirmed that the group will implement the project in line with its commitments to the Government of Vietnam and Ha Tinh province. Formosa’s initial investment in the project has reached $200 million, including VND68.5 billion ($3.59 million) to Ha Tinh for land rental, Hung said, adding that it is finalizing procedures to advance $30 million worth land rental to the province for site clearance and resettlement areas.
