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State utility Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) looked set to become the country's first issuer of overseas corporate bonds Thursday, as state media reported it had sought permission to sell US$150 million worth.
The bonds would be sold on international markets to raise funds for power plants, the Saigon Economic Times weekly reported, citing EVN's head of Stock and Equitization Committee Dang Phan Tuong.
The Hanoi-based utility, which dominates the electricity industry in booming Vietnam, has submitted plans of the bond issue to the Finance Ministry for approval, Tuong said.
Power demand in Vietnam's economy, the world's fastest growing one after China, is forecast to grow up to 17 percent per year, driving the government to plan 60 additional plants by 2020.
Vietnam's state oil monopoly PetroVietnam also has plans to issue overseas bonds.
It was not immediately clear which institution would mandate the issue but in the last domestic bond sale in November to raise $62 million, EVN teamed up with Vietnamese part-private An Binh Bank, Deutsche Bank and fund management firm VinaCapital.
Unlisted EVN has raised VND5 trillion ($311 million) from domestic bonds so far this year, saying the proceeds will go to the construction of major power plants, such as the $2.3 billion Son La hydro power plant.
Tuong said EVN would issue more domestic bonds this month to raise VND1 trillion to VND2 trillion ($62 million to $124 million) for next year's investment.
Last month EVN Deputy General Director Dinh Quang Tri said the firm needed VND250 trillion ($15.6 billion) for the 2006-2010 period to build power plants.
Apart from bond issues, EVN has been taking loans from domestic banks and international institutions such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank.
On Monday state media said PetroVietnam and the state-run Bank for Investment and Development were working on a similar corporate bond issue to tap the global capital market to raise funds for a $125 million investment in Kazakhstan's Karazhanbas oilfield.
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