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Bolivia opens int'l bidding on petrochemical plant

Xinhua, May 2, 2016 Adjust font size:

Bolivian President Evo Morales on Sunday invited international firms to bid for a landmark petrochemical plant, a major project in the country's industrialization drive.

Bidding on what is touted as Bolivia's largest-ever industrial project opened on Sunday, which marked the 10th anniversary of the country's nationalization of the oil and gas sector on May 1, 2006.

The propylene-polypropylene plant, worth 2.2 billion U.S. dollars, is set to be built in Gran Chaco in the department of Tarija.

The plant is expected to produce 250,000 tons of polymers a year by processing more than 906,000 tons of propane a day, according to the Bolivian News Agency ABI.

It is also set to produce plastics for mobile phones, vehicle parts, tubing and other items, with 80 to 90 percent of production destined for export.

When completed, the plant is expected to create 4,000 direct and up to 10,000 indirect jobs, and generate some 420 million dollars a year in revenue.

"It is a very ambitious project and is starting to become a reality, with an investment never seen before in the country's development projects," Energy and Oil Minister Luis Alberto Sanchez told Xinhua in an interview earlier this week.

According to Sanchez, financing for the mega-project was secured through a credit agreement signed on April 13 with the Central Bank of Bolivia for 1.8 billion dollars, to be paid back over 25 years at 1 percent annual interest. The remaining 400 million dollars will be contributed by the state oil firm YPFB.

The construction is estimated to begin in 2017, with the plant coming on line by 2021.

The plant is seen as a significant step of Morales' push to industrialize one of Latin America's poorest countries.

"We are now moving to the industrialization (stage)," Morales said at a ceremony at a hotel in Tarija, adding that he expects the construction contract to be signed by the end of this year.

"Bolivia has a great future," added Morales, who launched Bolivia's industrialization drive to nationalize the energy industry and use the revenues to invest in the country's infrastructure. Oil and gas in Bolivia were previously controlled by foreign multinationals. Endi