VIETNAM

Work Starts on Thermal Power Plant: The $205-million, 675-megawatt plant is in the Nha Be province southeast of Ho Chi Minh City, the Vietnam News reported. It is funded by Taiwan’s Hiep Phuoc Power Co., will have a 60-kilometer transmission line and is expected to be completed by early 1997. The plant will serve the Tan Thuan Export Processing Zone and a new urban area to be built in southern Saigon, the paper reported. The World Bank said last week that it would lend $230 million to Vietnam to upgrade its power supply.