Vietnam: State bank finances Vinashin to build a brewery

Vietnam’s leading state bank BIDV has agreed to provide the country’s largest shipbuilder Vinashin a credit loan worth US$27 million to build a brewery in northern Ha Nam province, Thanhnien News reported May 23.

Vinashin Beer Joint Stock Company, formed earlier this year, clinched the deal Tuesday with BIDV – formally known as the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam.

The beer plant project is estimated to cost $130 million in total investment – of which the Czech Export Bank (CEB) is contributing 50 percent.

The BIDV and CEB loans are repayable over a 10-year term. The local bank pledged to offer a fixed interest rate for the loan, however, the exact rate was not available.

The project also came as part of an earlier co-financing agreement signed between BIDV and CEB last year, following which the two lenders have committed to provide 70 percent of the total capital for the beer maker.

Also yesterday, Vinashin Beer entered into a deal to buy high-tech beer making equipment from the Czech’s ZVU Potez –for the construction of the brewery, with an annual capacity of 100 million liters.