NGOs Strongly Oppose JBIC Decision to Support Vietnamiese Coal-fired Power Generation Project
(FOE Japan, Tokyo, 29 January 2021) JBIC, a public financial institution, announced it's decision on December 28 to provide project financing of up to US $636 million to the Vung Ang 2 coal-fired power generation project in Vietnam. The private-sector financial institutions participating in the cofinancing are believed to include Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, MUFG Bank, Mizuho Bank and Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank. Vung Ang 2 has been criticized internationally, and many problems with the project have been pointed out. The signatory NGOs strongly oppose JBIC's decision to support the project and its failure to be accountable or address many criticisms, which include the project’s inconsistency with climate change measures and inadequate environmental impact assessments. The project was originally to be sponsored by Hong Kong-based CLP Holdings together with Mitsubishi Corporation, but CLP announced its coal phase-out policy in December 2019 and decided to withdraw from the project. Standard Chartered Bank of the UK, OCBC Bank and DBS Bank of Singapore, all of which had been considering financing, also withdrew from the project. General Electric, which was expected to participate in the project announced on September 21 2020 that it would “exit the new build coal power market”. In addition to JIBC, the Export-Import Bank of Korea (Kexim) and a group of private lenders, will provide nearly US$1.8bn in loans for the project.