Kunming steel group encouraged to expand investment in Vietnam Deputy Prime Minister cum Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh has highlighted the Kunming Iron & Steel Group Co.Ltd (KISC)’s investment cooperation with Vietnam as a contribution to stimulating the local socio-economic development and deepening the time-honoured friendship between Vietnam and China. On April 10, Deputy PM Minh accompanied by Minister of Planning and Investment Pham Quang Vinh, Minster of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang visited the Kunming Iron & Steel Group Co.Ltd (KISC) and the China Southern Power Grid Co., Ltd (CSG) as part of the China trip by Party leader Nguyen Phu Trong and his entourage. Established in 1939, experiencing more than seven decades of development, KISC has become a major industrial firm in China as well as in the region with more than 200 factories and 10,000 employees spreading throughout Yunnan province. The Vietnam-China mineral metallurgy project having a capacity of 500,000 tonnes/ year built by KISC, the Vietnam Steel Corporation and the Lao Cai Mineral Company have entered operations. Deputy PM Minh suggested the Kunming steel group apply most advanced technologies to effectively use iron ore resources in northern Lao Cai province and pay heed to environmental protection, adding that the Vietnamese Government would facilitate the group’s expanded investment in Vietnam. Meeting with the Board of Directors of the Yunnan Power Grid Company under China Southern Power Grid Co., Ltd that ranks 115th in the top 500 enterprises in the world, Deputy PM Minh appreciated the company’s efforts to rise from a power supplier for Vietnam in 2014, to become a power plant construction and infrastructure investor in the Southeast Asian nation evidenced by the Seo Chong Ho hydropower plant project in Sa Pa, and the Vinh Tan 2 thermal power project in Binh Thuan province. Minh also reiterated the Vietnamese Government’s willingness to create every condition for Chinese investors to do business in Vietnam. He also underlined the need to ensure steady and safe power supply and technical skill training for Vietnamese employees. By late 2014, the Yunnan Power Grid Company provided Vietnam with nearly 2 billion kWh. VOV