Lion, Vinashin To Start Building $9.8B Steel,Port Complex Sun

Malaysia's Lion Group and the Vietnam Shipbuilding Industries Group, or Vinashin, will start construction of a $9.8-billion steel complex in central Viet Nam on Sunday, local media said Friday.

The Ca Na Steel Complex will cover nearly 2,000 hectares in Ninh Thuan province, 350 northeast of Ho Chi Minh City, said the news Web site VnEconomy.

The first phase of the project, to be completed by 2010, will include a steel mill with an annual capacity of 4.5 million tons, two power plants with combined capacity of 1,450 megawatts and a seaport capable of handling 15 million tons of cargo a year.

The first phase of the project will require total investment capital of $2.75 billion, the report said.

The whole complex is scheduled for completion by 2025, when it is expected to employ around 50,000 workers, it said.