§ Dr. LadymanTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement about recent achievements of British business in Vietnam. [64090]
§ Mr. FatchettUK business has indeed achieved a series of important successes in Vietnam. UK investment in the country has risen by 50 per cent. in 1998. Foster Wheeler Energy Ltd. have recently won an important contract, worth some $15 million, as front-end engineering design consultants for the planned $1.5 billion Dung Quat oil refinery in Vietnam. The award of this contract against stiff competition is a major success. We expect Foster Wheeler's involvement to lead to substantial further business—worth perhaps several hundred million pounds—in the refinery for UK suppliers. The firm has also secured a $2 million contract to run and maintain Petro Vietnam Gas Corporation's operations in Vung Tau.
Cable & Wireless received a $207 million investment licence in August to install 250,000 telephone lines in Hanoi, during the visit of my hon. Friend the Minister for Trade. Negotiations took four years. Earlier this year, Mitsui Babcock won the largest ever UK export order 406W to Vietnam to supply power station boilers worth $123 million; and Tate & Lyle has invested $85 million in a sugar refining plant.
These successes follow several years of persistent efforts in support of would-be British investors in Vietnam not only by the companies themselves, but also by our diplomatic posts in Vietnam, by visiting UK Ministers, and by DTI and FCO officials. Those efforts continue in support of other major potential business which could result in significant spin-off benefits for many British equipment and service providers and further enhance the commercial relationship between the UK and Vietnam.