Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai has confirmed that the bauxite project in the Central Highlands region will bear fruit in the long run.

Hai was speaking to the media on the sidelines of the current session of the National Assembly, easing public worries about the economic efficiency of the project.

The project has been given the green light from the Party’s Political Bureau and the National Assembly, under which a Tan Rai bauxite plant will be built in Lam Dong province, and a Nhan Co alumin plant in Dak Nong province, both in the Central Highlands.

It has been implemented by the Vietnam National Coal and Mineral Industries Holding Corporation Limited (Vinacomin).  The Tan Rai plant has churned out its first commercial products.

Vinacomin reported that the global economic recession has taken its heavy toll on the project, slowing down its implementation pace and affecting its economic efficiency. The payback period could last longer than initially estimated.

The Tan Rai project is expected to pay back over 12 years and the Nhan Co project is likely to clear its debt over 13 years.

Vinacomin insisted that it has calculated the economic efficiency of the two plants over 30 years.

Deputy PM Hai quoted a Ministry of Industry and Trade report, saying rising global input prices and exchange rates resulted from the global economic slowdown negatively impacted the project’s scheduled plans.

Not only the bauxite project, but many other development ones have borne the brunt of the global economic slowdown, he said.

The crux of the matter is to keep its progress in check, and it is the responsibility of the Ministry of Industry and Trade and Vinacomin, Hai said.  

Although the project is in its infancy, it will turn out to be efficient in the long run, taking into account future forecasts of global aluminium prices, the Deputy PM confirmed.  

Vinacomin has also pledged to mobilise capital to incur losses of the project in the coming years due to global market price fluctuations.