Kuala Lumpur, 4 March 2011 - It has been reported that the Vietnamese Government has revoked the licence for the proposed joint venture steel mill project between The Lion Group and Vietnam’s state-owned shipping company (Vinashin) in Ninh Thuan, Vietnam on the basis that there has not been any activity undertaken since the groundbreaking ceremony in November 2008.
The Lion Group wishes to clarify that the lack of progress is due to the financial and management issues affecting Vinashin which has not been able to respond on the continuity of the project. In addition, the Group has certain investment criteria and conditions including adequate import tariff protection for the project, that need to be in place especially for such heavy investments involving billions of dollars. As these requirements have not been met, the Group has therefore decided not to proceed with the project.