Project or Mineral Exploitation?
The manufacturing and assembly plant project for automobiles and construction machinery of Thanh Hoa Vinaxuki Automobile One-Member Co., Ltd. was once a famous name, associated with Mr. Bui Ngoc Huyen’s dream of made-in-Vietnam cars. The project was licensed for construction in 2010 with a total capital of VND 1,360 billion.
When operational, the factory was expected to produce promising numbers, such as manufacturing and assembling 15,000 trucks, 400 buses, and 75,000 tons of automobile parts of all kinds annually. The plant started operating in 2011 but stopped a few years later and was abandoned.
The project “died prematurely” after a few years of implementation. (Archive photo)
By 2021, this “prematurely dead” project seemed to have been “resurrected” when the People’s Committee of Thanh Hoa decided to revoke 456,344 m2 of land of Thanh Hoa Vinaxuki One-Member Co., Ltd. and lease it to Global Audio-Visual Entertainment Joint Stock Company to continue implementing the project. automobile and construction machinery manufacturing and assembly plant.
Not long after, on the morning of February 22, 2022, Global Audio-Visual Entertainment Joint Stock Company, a subsidiary of TF Financial Investment Group, held a grand groundbreaking ceremony for the cluster of automobile and construction machinery manufacturing and assembly plants with a total investment of VND 6,900 billion. The groundbreaking ceremony was attended by representatives of the leaders of Thanh Hoa province, departments, branches of the province, and representatives of Hau Loc district leaders.
Information at the groundbreaking ceremony, Global Audio-Visual Entertainment Joint Stock Company has proactively connected with partners on a continental scale, approached and selected advanced and modern technology and machinery lines. According to the design, the production and assembly capacity is expected to reach 6,000 vehicles/year in the first year, and when reaching 100% capacity, the output is expected to reach 30,000 vehicles/year. The company aims to diversify its production, including assembling electric cars, manufacturing batteries, and assembling construction machinery. The main consumption market belongs to the group of Southeast Asian countries.
Grand groundbreaking but “inactive”. (Archive photo)
In addition, the next goal is to expand the project outside of 45.6 hectares to produce oriental medicine, process drugs to standards; food processing and manufacturing plants, intelligent food with high nutrition.
The project has a total investment of VND 6,900 billion, of which the investment capital of phase I is VND 1,993 billion, including site clearance and infrastructure construction packages. After completing the two phases and putting them into operation, this company strives to achieve 17 strategic products, with an estimated revenue of VND 12,000 billion/year, creating jobs for 11,000 local laborers, and contributing VND 1,000 billion to the local budget/year.
Desolate scene at the billion-dollar project. (Photo: QH)
The vision and aspiration are so great, but after the grand groundbreaking ceremony, this project became “inactive”, and the implementation activities seemed to stop at fumbling to go for mineral exploitation of more than 5.5 million m3 of soil, a very large amount, larger than the average reserve of a common soil mine.
Perhaps before taking over this “difficult” project, Global Audio-Visual Entertainment Joint Stock Company had to calculate very carefully, because this enterprise is a stranger in the field of automobile and construction machinery manufacturing and assembly.
Fumbling to apply for mineral exploitation of 5.5 million m3 of soil
According to documents obtained by Cong Thuong Newspaper, after being leased land by Thanh Hoa Provincial People’s Committee in 2021, on May 22, 2023, Thanh Hoa Provincial People’s Committee issued Document No. 1713/QD-UBND approving the adjustment of the master plan. detailed planning at a scale of 1/500 of the automobile and construction machinery manufacturing and assembly factory. On October 9, 2023, Hau Loc District People’s Committee granted Construction Permit No. 53/GPXD; In which, the item of site clearance has a soil volume to be transported out of the project of more than 5.5 million m3, the dumping location is not determined.
Three days later (October 12, 2023), the enterprise signed a basic contract No. 12/HĐNT/2023 for the construction package of site clearance and preparation of ground for the automobile and construction machinery manufacturing and assembly factory project with Nguyen Manh Tien Private Enterprise. Co., Ltd. The next day, Nguyen Manh Tien Private Enterprise submitted a dossier requesting to exploit more than 5.5 million m3 of soil with an exploitation capacity of 2.77 million m3/year, exploitation time of 2 years.
For some reason, on December 27, 2023, Nguyen Manh Tien Private Enterprise sent Document No. 2711/CV-NT requesting to exploit soil for site clearance within the area of 12.88 ha (area for construction of administration – service area and workshop area) with a volume of 952 thousand m3 within 1 year.
Fumbling to apply for mineral exploitation of 5.5 million m3 of soil. (Archive photo)
After studying the above proposal, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment has not been able to advise the People’s Committee of Thanh Hoa province, so it requested the Vietnam Mineral Resources Department (Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment) for guidance and then gave a conclusion that in order to be licensed to exploit minerals in the project area, the contractor will have to make an environmental impact assessment report on the exploitation activities, transportation of soil volume submitted to the competent authority for approval according to regulations, in which the plan to restore the environment will be a content in the environmental impact assessment report.
Also according to the conclusion of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Thanh Hoa province, the volume of excess soil that needs to be excavated and transported out of the project is about 5.5 million m3, while the progress of the project is only until January 27, 2025, so it is not feasible. According to calculations, the volume of soil that needs to be transported up to January 27, 2025 is 476 thousand m3.
After receiving the above advisory document, on July 13, 2024, the People’s Committee of Thanh Hoa province issued Document No. 10024/UBND-CN on approving in principle, allowing Nguyen Manh Tien Private Enterprise to make a dossier requesting a license to exploit soil minerals for construction in the area of the automobile and construction machinery manufacturing and assembly factory project in Hau Loc district with a volume of 476 thousand m3 on an area of 12.88 ha for the purpose of providing construction materials for works and projects in need.
It’s unclear what Global Audio-Visual Entertainment Joint Stock Company is calculating when it’s just fumbling to find a way to exploit the soil. (Photo: QH)
Without analyzing the financial situation as well as the activities related to the profession of manufacturing and assembling automobiles and construction machinery of Global Audio-Visual Entertainment Joint Stock Company, just from the developments of the whole process of implementing the project of manufacturing and assembling automobiles and construction machinery, it can be seen that this project has almost not been implemented and of course has not yet achieved the expectations that the authorities and people of Thanh Hoa province are expecting. The picture of creating jobs for 11,000 local laborers, contributing VND 1,000 billion to the local budget per year has not been seen, but only the enterprise fumbling to go for soil exploitation is not finished.
Comparing with the following figures: Thanh Hoa province has currently granted 45 licenses with an exploitation capacity of about 4.55 million m3/year, and from 2023 to the first 6 months of 2024, Thanh Hoa province has auctioned mining rights for 34 soil mines with a reserve of about 55.6 million m3, then 5.5 million m3 of soil to be exploited at the automobile and construction machinery manufacturing and assembly factory project of Global Audio-Visual Entertainment Joint Stock Company is really a “huge number”, larger than the annual exploitation capacity of the whole province. Thanh Hoa. And with the above volume of soil, if put up for public auction, will bring a huge budget to the locality.
