Vietnam's $4.6 billion Long Son Petrochemical Project could help boost economic contributions from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations' countries to Qatar, the Thai ambassador to the Persian Gulf Arab state said at a recent event.
The "trilateral project", which is being built on a 400-hectare complex inside the Long Son Industrial Zone, is a joint venture involving Qatar Petroleum International, PetroVietnam and Thailand-based Siam Cement Group, Arabian Oil and Gas reported.
"The project costs almost $5 billion and is expected to commence operations in 2019," Piroon Laismit announced during the celebration of the 48th anniversary of ASEAN in Doha on Thursday.
According to Laismit, the complex will use ethane, naphtha and propane as feedstock and is expected to cater to Vietnam's domestic demand for plastic resins.
"The complex will produce 2.7 million tons of polyethylene and polypropylene, as well as 700,000 tons of compounds for the production of polyvinyl chloride and 840,000 tons of other chemicals for the petrochemical and chemical industries," he said.
The Thai ambassador said Qatar would also benefit from Southeast Asia's workforce, which is set to join the country's services sector.
"For Thailand, we have around 2,500 skilled technicians in Qatar. We cannot support much of Qatar's need for workers in the construction sector because we have a similar need in Thailand. We even have to source out workers from neighboring countries," he said.
