Press Release: Contract signing ceremony for the construction of the largest deep-water port and thermal power centre in Vietnam.

ITA Group is pleased to announce that contract signing ceremony to develop the Kien Luong 4,400MW Thermal Power Centre has taken place. The Centre will have an estimated capital investment of about 6.7 billion USD whilst the entrepôt Deep Water Port at Nam Du archipelago, also called Nam Du-Kien Luong Port, will receive an estimated capital investment of about 1 billion USD. ITA Group will sign the contract with BLACK & VEATCH, a leading American global engineering, consulting and construction corporation, FHDI Engineering Co., LTD (FHDI), one of the fifty world leading port developers, and Power Engineering Consulting Joint Stock Company 2 (PECC 2). The ceremony took place at 5:30 p.m. on 8 April 2008 at Sofitel Plaza, 01 Thanh Nien Street, Ba Dinh District, Ha Noi.

This is the first project of this scale to build a thermal power plant in Vietnam. It will be run by a non-state run company under the principle approval of the Prime Minister. By letting ITA Group runs this project, the Vietnamese Central Authorities have demonstrated their tenacious determination to create a level playing field between state-owned and non-state companies to contribute to the rapid growth of the national economy.

Following the principle approval of the Prime Minister and of the People Committee of Kien Giang Province for ITA Group to invest in the Kien Luong thermal power centre, industrial park, and residential area, ITA Group and many leading domestic and international consulting companies have been working aggressively to develop the master plan for Kien Luong Thermal Power Centre, whose construction has been approved by the Ministry of Industry and Trade on February 27 2008.

THE NECESSITY OF THE PROJECT

The ratio of the use of electricity shows that the demand for power in Vietnam has increased from between 1.5 to 2 times more than that of other countries in the region. Vietnam will struggle to meet this increased demand with existing reserves of hydroelectricity, gas, and turbine alloy reserves. More still, local resources of coal for thermal power plants in the North and imports from Laos and China are rapidly being used up. It is expected that Vietnam will bring in more primary and atomic energy from 2015.

On the other hand, petroleum and gas have become increasingly more expensive and are extremely rare at the moment. Under such circumstances, thermal plants utilized F.O. oil. Gas turbine alloy plants of D.O. or F.O. oil are uneconomical and uncompetitive compared to a thermal power plant which uses coal. In accordance with the strategy for energy diversification in electricity, it will be necessary to consider the construction of a thermal plant using imported coal after 2010.

In order to meet the increasing demand of electricity and also to solve the above issue the Government is calling for investment from both domestic and international investors in power industry. In addition to this focus on new resources for electricity the electricity industry will also be expanded.

On July 18 2007, the Prime Minister approved the National Electricity Development Master Plan (Master Plan 6) for 2006-2015. Decision No. 110/2007/QĐ-Ttg estimated that the national demand for electricity by the year 2025 is likely to increase by 17% per annum (minimum estimation) and 20% per annum (maximum estimation), in which the latter should be taken as the directive role. It also warned that we should be prepared for a 22% rate in an unexpected substantial increasing. Kien Luong Thermal Power Center is considered a practical development to meet the steadily increasing demand of additional charge for the Southern region and the national electricity system, which has been predicted by the national Master Plan 6.

On July 15 2007, the National Office issued official document No. 3941/VPCP-QHQT which gave permission to ITA Group to construct an Industrial Park, residential area, Thermal Plant with a capacity of 4,400 MW and Deep Water Port in Kien Luong District, Kien Giang Province.

To implement the mentioned approval, ITA Group has consulted with the Ministry of Industry and Trade and has been approved to develop the master plan for Kien Luong Thermal Power Center under the official correspondence No. 0694/BCT-NL and the Decision No. 0760/QĐ-BCT of January 30 2008.

ITA Group has also signed an agreement for consulting services with the Power Engineering Consulting Joint Stock Company 2 (formerly the Power Engineering Consulting Company 2) to develop the master plan of Kien Luong Thermal Power Center, which will have a maximum capacity of 4,400 MW. ITA Group has signed an agreement with the Chinese FHDI Engineering Co., Ltd. to carry out a geological investigation with a view to developing a port at Kien Luong Thermal Power Center.

ABOUT ITA GROUP

ITA Group, also known as ITACO, has been in operation for over 11 years and has over 20 affiliated companies in various industries. ITA Group is currently one of the leaders in Industrial Park and Infrastructures Development in Vietnam. Their main success is illustrated by numerous projects in different cities across the country.

ITA Group has been extraordinarily successful in both operations and investment to continue its development, expansion and growth. ITA Group has provided at least 70,000 stable jobs and aims to generate about 100,000 new jobs in the next five years. ITA Group has been supporting and developing Binh Tan district, one of the poorest districts in Ho Chi Minh City. Thanks to this investment the district has the fastest growth rate in Ho Chi Minh City.

In the beginning, ITA Group’s first project involved transforming an area of low agricultural production value, 12km westward of Ho Chi Minh City, into the biggest industrial park in the South of Vietnam. Tan Tao Industrial Park stretches over 442 hectares and its modern infrastructure has brought in 204 local investors with the total capital of over 5,309 billion VND. ITA Group also accommodates 34 foreign investors from Taiwan, Hong Kong, Korea, China, Britain and United States with a total capital of 140 million USD. More than 234 companies have invested in production and warehouses, creating over 20.000 jobs for the local population. Up to now, ITA Group has been involved in developing 9 industrial parks across the nation with a total land area of 9,032.8 ha, and have successfully brought in thousands of jobs and businesses for the local areas.

On November 15th 2006, ITA Group was listed on the stock market of Ho Chi Minh City. ITA Group is rated as a Blue-Chip Company in the market.

ITA Group currently has over 1,000 employees, and the majority hold bachelor degrees. The management board consists of 12 individuals who have earned PhDs and Masters Degrees from reputable institutions from within Vietnam, and abroad.

ITA Group is also one of the leading charitable organizations in Viet Nam. During the past 11 years, ITA GROUP has donated several billion VND to build thousands of houses, kindergartens, elementary, and secondary schools for people in rural areas. ITA was also one of the leading aid providers during the hurricane season which devastated Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.

For futher information, please contact

Nguyen Tuan Minh – ITA Group Vice President

Telephone number: 0903.822.030