EVN Telecom Inks $50 Mln Deal with Foreign Banks

EVN Telecom, a subsidiary of Electricity of Vietnam November 19 signed a loan agreement worth $40 million with Standard Chartered Bank, Cathay United Bank, the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ and the United Overseas Bank Ltd to fund its infrastructure projects over the next five years.

 

The loan, which is guaranteed by the EVN Group, has a four-year term.

 

Ashok Sud, CEO of Standard Chartered Vietnam, said Vietnam would need as much as $50 billion in loans to fund planned infrastructure projects over the next five to seven years.

 

“For large-scale funding, it would be strategically critical for large corporations in Vietnam to approach the international markets for syndicated loans and bonds,” he said, adding that the domestic market was still too “shallow” to fully meet demand.

 

Nguyen Manh Bang, CEO of EVN Telecom, said the loan would be used to fund the purchase of terminal equipment and provide services for CDMA (code division multiple access) mobile phone customers.

 

London-based Standard Chartered helped to finance a number of infrastructure projects including Phu My 3 Power Plant and a number of ports and mining projects, Sud said.

 

EVN Telecom has 2.2 million subscribers utilizing CDMA technology. That figure is expected to rise to 2.5 million by the end of this year and four million by the end of 2008. (Vietnam Economic Times)