PRESS RELEASE

Petrolimex opens representative office in Cambodia

Phnom Penh – Cambodia, August 2, 2010 - The Vietnam National Petroleum Corporation (Petrolimex) officially opened its representative office in Cambodia. Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem and Cambodian Minister of Commerce Cham Prasidh cut the ribbon to open the office.

Present at the inauguration ceremony at the NagaWorld Hotel in the capital city of Phnom Penh were Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Cam Tu, Deputy Foreign Minister Dao Viet Trung, Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Cao Viet Sinh, Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications Le Manh Hung, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Ho Xuan Hung, Deputy Head of the Governmental Office Kieu Dinh Thu and the leaders of the People’s Committees of the 10 provinces that share the border with Cambodia and representatives from the State agencies of both countries and Petrolimex’s trading partners from home and abroad also attended the event. Representatives of Cambodian and foreign press agencies, including those from Vietnam, witnessed and covered the event.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem, Cambodian Minister of Commerce Cham Prasidh, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Cam Tu and Petrolimex’s CEO Bui Ngoc Bao cut the ribbon to open the office

The Petrolimex Representative Office in Cambodia was set up following Decision No. 409/XD-QD-HDQT issued by Petrolimex’s Management Board. The Cambodian office is located at 24, Road 302, Ward Boeung Keng Kang 1, Chamkarmon district, Phnom Penh. Dam Ta Nho was appointed by Petrolimex’s General Director as head of the office. The Cambodian Ministry of Trade granted a trade registration certificate coded Co.,0035 Rep/2010 for the office to Petrolimex on July 12, 2010.

Petrolimex’s office in Cambodia is tasked to promote the corporation’s image and conduct market research as well as seek out business opportunities for oil and gas based products and other goods and services in Cambodia.

Addressing the ceremony, Petrolimex’s CEO Bui Ngoc Bao said “the event marks an important step in the corporation’s strategy to expand and develop operations in foreign markets, especially the Cambodian market in particular and ASEAN in general. In the near future, the representative office will be upgraded into a company and will become the second affiliate of Petrolimex Overseas (after the Petrolimex Singapore Company). I totally believe that Petrolimex Cambodia will make a considerable contribution to Petrolimex’s sustainable development.”

Deputy PM cum FM Pham Gia Khiem highlighted Petrolimex’s efforts to develop in accordance with the Party and State’s orientations. “Petrolimex is a leading petroleum group in Vietnam with an assured quality management system. Vietnam always supports domestic enterprises who want to invest in Cambodia”, he said.

Cambodian Minister of Commerce Cham Prasidh welcomed the opening of the new Petrolimex representative office in Cambodia after its 20-year presence in the Cambodian market. “We had hoped that the group would open a branch in our country to earn legal status and take the initiative in signing contracts with Cambodian partners”, he said.

The Cambodian Minister called on Cambodian businesses to cooperate with Petrolimex while expressing his wish that the Vietnamese group would invest in insurance, banking, and the petrochemical industry, and increase its inspection over petroleum before it is exported to Cambodia.

Cambodia is a fast growing petroleum market with fierce competition in quality and services. Petrolimex has been a traditional trading partner of many Cambodian businesses since 1990. The corporation’s petroleum meets half of the Cambodian market’s demand, and generates an export value of nearly 700 million USD per year.

Petrolimex’s profile:

Petrolimex is a state-owned enterprise and is registered to operate in six business areas, with trading petrol as its core business. The other areas include transporting petrol by sea, pipeline, rail and road and producing petrochemical products such as lubricating oils, grease, bitumen and chemicals. It also produces gas for civil and industrial use and is involved in the design and construction of petroleum projects, as well as insurance and several other trade services.

The corporation plays a key role in the domestic petroleum market. Together with 10 other petroleum import-export businesses, the corporation ensures the supply of many oil based products to serve the country’s socio-economic development and ensure national energy security and defence. Forty-one out of its 67 subsidiaries trade petrol and oil products in 62 out of the 63 provinces and cities nationwide.

As for retail petrol services, out of 10,000 petrol stations nationwide, more than 1,900 belong to Petrolimex. The corporation now also provides its products to more isolated and remote areas.

Since it was set up in 1956, Petrolimex has played a key role in ensuring the country’s petrol and oil supplies and has always fulfilled its social responsibilities.
In addition to the domestic market, Petrolimex does business in other regional countries in the form of border gate-to-border gate transport and export. The corporation has also set up a one-member limited liability company in Singapore, the world’s largest petroleum centre.

It was also the country’s first retail petrol trader to accept payment by Flexicard, a prepaid or debit card jointly issued by Petrolimex and the GP Bank and offers banking services at petrol stations nationwide.-Enditem.