Vietnam, Malaysia Join Hands to Boost Plastic Industry

Vietnam Plastics Association and Malaysian counterpart jointly held a conference on facilitating plastics production and exports on Monday [July 23] in Equatoria hotel in Ho Chi Minh City, state media reported.

 

The two sides actively discussed the current situation and potentials and introduced modern technology in the field.

 

Vietnam now has over 1,400 plastic makers, said Phan Van Thanh, chairman of Vietnam Plastic Association, adding that the country’s 84 million people would be also and ideal market.

 

With average growth of 20-30 per cent annually, the country’s plastic industry targets to ship US$1.3 billion worth plastic products exports in 2010, Thanh noted.

 

The General Statistic Office’s statistics showed that Vietnam imported US$1,146 million of plastic products in the first half of this year, up 35.8 per cent on-year and exported US$320 million, up 51 per cent on-year.

 

Meanwhile, Malaysia’s plastics processing industry, which grow 15 per cent annually over the last decade-one of its most dynamic growth sectors, said its official website, stressing that the country’s plastic businesses are showing special interest in emerging markets including China, Vietnam and Thailand.

 

Petronas, Malaysian owned oil and gas company, has recently bought an additional 43 per cent stake in PetroVietnam’s subsidiary Phu My Plastic and Chemicals (PMPC) as part of a cooperation deal signed by the two giants, raising its total stakes in PMPC to 93 per cent. (Liberated Saigon)