The signing of the cooperation contract is part of the 9th meeting of Australia – Vietnam Joint Trade and Economic Cooperation Committee (JTECC), in June in Melbourne, Australia.

Mr Vo Hong Phuc, Minister of Planning and Investment and Mr Simon Crean, Australian Minister of Trade, witnessed the signing.

According to the agreement, ECT, through a joint venture which produces coal with Coldry clean technology in Australia (VCPL), will export 2 million tons of Coldry coal per year to Vietnam starting in 2014 and 20 million tons per year by 2020.

ECT will transfer the technology which converts brown coal into cleaner black coal which remains the energy content, while TinCom will invest USD100 million in the first period.

ECT and TinCom will cooperate to build a brown coal processing plant in La Trobe Valley, Victoria, Australia and put it into operation by late 2013 or early 2014. This is one of the biggest investment projects of Vietnam in Australia.

Minister Crean said that the Australian technology was being applied to help Vietnamese people create an energy solution which is more environment friendly and contributes to reduce carbon emissions.

According to the Australian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Trade, the total bilateral trade turnover reached AUD6 billion in 2009.

By Minh Duc