Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính visits the Nghi Son refinery and petrochemical complex. VNA/VNS Photo

THANH HOÁ – Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính on Saturday inspected major projects in Nghi Sơn Economic Zone during his working trip to the central province of Thanh Hoá.

Located in the south of the province, the Nghi Sơn Economic Zone covers an area of 106,000ha with 55 sub-zones. The area for industrial projects is about 9,057ha, with many operating projects.

This year, the Nghi Sơn Economic Zone and industrial parks in Thanh Hóa Province aim to achieve VNĐ265 trillion (US$10.89 billion) in production value, earn VNĐ5.7 trillion in export turnover, pay VNĐ26 trillion to the State budget and create jobs for about 10,000 labourers.

Visiting Nghi Sơn refinery and petrochemical complex run by Nghi Sơn Refinery and Petrochemical LLC, a joint venture of the Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (Petrovietnam) and Kuwaiti and Japanese partners, PM Chính asked the Nghi Sơn Refinery and Petrochemical LLC to restructure itself for more efficient and stable operations.

Having total investment of nearly $9.3 billion, the complex is currently one of the biggest FDI projects in Việt Nam. It is now providing about 35 per cent of the total petrol volume to the domestic market. So far, it has paid over VNĐ85.23 trillion to the State budget. However, the firm has reported a loss of over $4.37 billion.

The Government leader underlined the need for the company to strengthen decentralisation and delegation of power during production and business activities, while increasing inspection and supervision to give timely response to arising problems, and paying greater attention to human resources and technology transfer so that Vietnamese workers can master all technologies for safe and efficient operations of the complex.

The company should focus on restructuring in the fields of finance and production to cut costs, and re-negotiate with Kuwaiti partners to reduce the import prices of crude oil.

Examining Nghi Sơn port project, PM Chính highlighted the important role of the project in forming and developing the Nghi Sơn Economic Zone and industrial parks of Thanh Hóa thanks to its functions and a goods trading point connecting with the North of Laos, Northwest of Thailand and Thanh Hóa adjacent areas as well as national and international shipping routes.

Under its planning, the Nghi Sơn port system comprises 51 wharves and wharf areas. The Nghi Sơn port is capable of receiving ships with a tonnage of up to 70,000 - 100,000 DWT. As of July 2023, 21 wharves had been put into operation. Currently, the Nghi Sơn port's capacity is about 75 million tonnes per year.

PM Chinh requested Thanh Hóa authorities to coordinate with relevant ministries and agencies to carefully study resolutions regarding the socio-economic development and defence-security protection of Thanh Hóa as well as strategic planning and development strategies for the locality and the central coastal region to design the planning for the development of the Nghi Sơn Economic Zone and Nghi Sơn port in the future.

Regarding the idea of building a defence-economic complex on Hòn Me island, which is about 10km from the mainland, the PM hailed this defence-economic combination model, and ordered Thanh Hoá to work with relevant ministries and localities to build this project.

The same day, PM Chính also visited Nghi Sơn steel rolling mill, which is invested by DTS Nghi Sơn Iron and Steel JSC with a capacity of producing 980,000 tonnes of rolling steel each year in its first phase. In the second phase, a factory will be built to produce steel structure products used in construction and industrial production, with an expected capacity of 30,000 tonnes of products per year, along with a factory for cold rolling and production of shaped steel pipes used in construction, with a capacity of 300,000 tonnes of steel pipes, boxes, and galvanised steel products per year.

The project will cover an area of about 51ha and have a total investment of VNĐ5.5 trillion.

Also on Saturday, PM Chính visited Hợp Lực International General Hospital project invested by Hợp Lực Group in Nguyên Bình Commune of Thanh Hóa's Tĩnh Gia District.

The hospital has total investment of nearly VNĐ600 billion with 500 beds. In the first phase with a cost of over VNĐ300 billion, the hospital will have 250 beds. Currently, it has 330 staff members, including 66 doctors.

PM Chính affirmed that the Party and State always take the people as the centre, subject, resources and motivation of development, and give people's health top priority.

According to the PM, thanks to great attention and investment in caring for the people's health, solid progress has been seen in the field. Besides, the socialisation of the health care sector has been strengthened, contributing to bettering health care services for the people, with the development of many private hospital models like the Hợp Lực International General Hospital, he noted.

The Government leader expressed his hope that the model of the hospital will be multiplied to meet the people's increasingly diverse demand in health care services. VNS