Construction of biggest refinery plant starts Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung at the ceremony (Source: VNA) Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung on October 23 ordered the start of the construction of Nghi Son Refinery and Petrochemical Complex–the largest-ever in Southeast Asia and also the largest foreign project in Vietnam with capital topping 9 billion USD.  Addressing the ceremony in central Thanh Hoa province, PM Dung thanked the Governments of Japan and Kuwait for their funding to the project. He also asked relevant ministries and agencies, the Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PVN) and contractors to do their best to complete the project in the next 40 months. Provincial authorities and investors were also urged to train local workers in vocational skills, thus making it easier for them to work for the complex in the future. The complex is a joint-venture among the PVN, Kuwait Petroleum International, Japan’s Idemisu Kosan group and Mitsui Chemicals company. Once operational in 2017, it will be the second in Vietnam, alongside the Dung Quat oil refinery plant, satisfying two-thirds of domestic demand for national industrialisation and modernisation.  It is designed to annually process 10 million tonnes of crude oil in the first phase. The figure will double in the second phase.-VNA