BBL to put $12m into cement

Five commercial banks, including Bangkok Bank (BBL), signed a contract in Hanoi on Wednesday to provide US$120 million (Bt4.7 billion) for a project to build the second line of the Chinfon Hai Phong cement plant in the northern city of Hai Phong.

According to the state Vietnam News Agency, the Bank of Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank) will contribute $60 million, the Vietnam Industrial and Commercial Bank $24 million and the Asian Commercial Bank, the Southeast Asian Bank and the Bangkok Bank (Hanoi branch) $12 million each.

The project, with total investment capital of $160.8 million, will raise the company's annual capacity to 2.5 million tonnes of clinker this year from 2.1 million tonnes in 2005.

The company expects to earn a profit of more than $21 million in the fiscal year 2006. - The Nation.

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New executive plumber steps in

American Standard (Thailand), a US-Thai joint venture, has appointed veteran executive Jon Rigg its new managing director of baths and kitchens in Southeast Asia to succeed Norman Livingstone.

He will be responsible for six countries: Thailand, Vietnam, Burma, Laos, Cambodia and Malaysia.

His financial goal by year-end is to generate 3- to 5-per-cent sales growth to Bt2.5 billion in accordance with the company's target set early this year amid many negative factors in the business environment, but he expects to add another 2-per-cent market share to reach 37 per cent.

To achieve his goal, Rigg will continue the company's strategy of innovation to maintain high brand loyalty.

The company is allocating more than Bt20 million to enhance production and technology efficiency this year. - The Nation.