The complex will supply a vast array of heavy-industry machines for local projects, especially those types currently supplied from overseas, said Le Van Dung, deputy director of the Dung Quat Economic Zone Authority.

These include steam generators for thermo-power plants, heat recovery steam generators, seawater refining machines, chemical processing equipment, boilers, forklifts, loading and unloading equipment, and turbines.

According to Doosan Vietnam, up to 80% of its output will be for export. The company has exported some products early this year, and has now received orders from Brazil, Indonesia, Japan, Syria, Rumania and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), among others.

The biggest complex of its type invested by a foreign company in the country is completed after just two years of construction, Dung told on Tuesday.

The large-scale industrial complex covering 111 hectares in the central province will also turn out tool machines, steel structures, towers and equipment for wind power generation, cement producing equipment, environmental protection equipment and automation systems. When in full steam, Doosan Vina project will create jobs for around 2,500 local people. It now has some 1,700 jobs, according to the company.

This Korean-invested heavy industry complex is also expected to lure a lot of other satellite factories as well as related service industries into the Dung Quat Economic Zone.

Vietnam is developing and needs infrastructure. So, the company is working with the Government and developers on a couple of developments and it hopes to be able to announce the signing of contracts shortly, according to the company.

Dung of Dung Quat zone said the Doosan complex was would be a significant breakthrough for Vietnam’s heavy industry sector. The project also plays an active role in transferring manufacturing know-how to the local sector and helps develop the economy in the central region, he added.

Doosan Vina is established by two Korean investors, Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction Company Ltd., and Doosan Mecatec owned by Korea-based Doosan Corporation. The complex also includes a port area with a berth used for loading raw materials and equipment. Doosan Vietnam is the fourth largest project licensed into the zone up to now.

Dung Quat Economic Zone has become attractive to investors since the Government is seeking to develop the zone into a growth driver in the central region and the Central Highlands. The driving force for the zone is the Dung Quat oil refinery.

The zone is home to a deep-water seaport, industrial zones for heavy industry projects such as laminating steel and building ships of up to 400,000 DWT, urban areas and a tourism complex. More than 160 projects have been licensed into the zone with total registered capital of US$10.5 billion. Projects capitalized at a combined US$6 billion have got underway.

The zone is expected to require around 40,000 workers by 2010 but the downside is that there is a worrying shortage of skilled labor there.

The Dung Quat Economic Zone Authority is working with other state agencies to draw up a plan to expand the zone by six times in Quang Ngai to meet demand of investors.

Dung said the province and the zone authority wanted to expand the zone from the current 10,300 hectares to 63,000 hectares, including Ly Son Island and water area. The expanded area will also encompass My Han port, which is twice larger than the current Dung Quat port.