Swiss cement in Vietnam

Swiss cement in Vietnam

HANOI (AFP): Morning Star Cement Ltd. signed agreements for loans worth US$186.6 million Saturday to build a cement plant in southern Vietnam with an annual capacity of 1.76 million tons, company officials said.

Funds for the plant have come from the International Finance Corp., the private sector investment arm of the World Bank, Japanese trading house Nissho Iwai and the Export-Import Bank of Thailand.

Morning Star Cement is a joint venture between Holderbank Financiere Glaris Ltd. of Switzerland and Ha Tien I Cement Corp., a state-owned firm that is part of the Vietnam National Cement Corp. conglomerate.

Holderbank, one of the world's largest cement producers, will build a clinker plant in Kien Giang province and a grinding center near Ho Chi Minh City with a total investment of $309 million.