The Vietnamese government has approved the upcoming second batch of abroad issuing government bonds worth some 1 billion U.S. dollars some time this year, to fund projects on the country's first oil refinery, power development, and ship purchase, local newspaper Young People reported Thursday.

Among the money to be obtained from issuing the bonds with maturity of 15 years and 20 years some time in 2007, some 700 million dollars are scheduled to finance the construction of the Dung Quat refinery with an annual refining capacity of 6.5 million tons of crude oil in central Quang Ngai province, 240 million dollars to buy seagoing vessels of the state-owned Vietnam National Shipping Lines, and 60 million dollars to fund the development of a hydroelectric plant.

Capitalized at some 2.5 billion dollars and expected to become operational in late 2008 or early 2009, the Dung Quat refinery, whose construction started in November 2005, is of significance in ensuring energy for the country, said Vietnam's state-owned National Oil and Gas Group, the project's investor.

The Vietnamese government's first overseas dollar-denominated bonds, with a total face value of 750 million dollars, were completely picked up by foreign investors in New York in 2005.

Source: Xinhua