PM calls on Romanian oil industry to invest in Vietnam

Vietnam is expanding some of its refineries and building a gas-fired power plant, and these are investment opportunities for Romanian companies, especially those based in oil hub Prahova, the visiting leader said Sunday.

"We are ready for partnership. Romanian companies, especially Prahova businesses, can come and invest, transfer their technology, human resources and equipment in the oil and gas industry."

This would improve the bilateral relationship, he said.

Prahova is the top oil and gas hub in Romania. The country’s first refinery was established here, and hundreds of Vietnamese engineers have graduated from the Petroleum-Gas University of Ploiesti, the Bucharest Academy of Petroleum and Geology and Ploiesti University of Petroleum.

Vietnam has two refineries.

The government is considering building a refinery and storage complex in the southern province of Ba Ria – Vung Tau at a cost of US$18.5 billion.

The country targets having 30,420 MW of gas-fired electricity capacity by 2030, three-fourths from liquefied natural gas.

Chinh said Vietnam and Romania could overcome geographical distance with technology.

A commercial partnership would link the two countries’ economies and help realize the vision of their leaderships, he said.

Chinh and his wife arrived in Bucharest on Jan. 20 afternoon local time at the start of an official visit to Romania at the invitation of Prime Minister Ion-Marcel Ciolacu.

Vietnam and Romania established diplomatic relations in 1950. In 2022 bilateral trade was a worth $400 million after quadrupling from four years earlier.

As of 2022 Romanian companies had invested $1.6 million in five projects in Vietnam.