On 27 February 2006, the mission from Japan Transport Cooperation Association (JTCA) visited Binh Dinh Province to continue the feasiblity study of the ODA project to produce bio-diesel from coconut oil. The two members of the mission, Mr. Ryo Masutomo - Director of the Japan Research Institute - and Mr. Isamu Koike - Project Manager, had separate meetings with the Provincial Department of Planning and Investment and Department of Industry to review what had been done for the last two years and discussed the cooperation in 2006. At the meeting with Mr. Nguyen Van Thien, Vice Chairman of Binh Dinh Province People’s Committee, and the heads of the provincial department afterwards, Mr. Koike informed that the project was part of the Asean - Japan Cooperation in Bio-fuel Development and would be financed by the Government of Japan. Once approved, the project would include the construction of a bio-diesel fuel plant with the capacity of 100 tons per day. This plant should be supported by 5 crude coconut oil plants each of which requires 10,000 hectares of coconut trees to supply raw material. The total investment capital for the project was estimated at USD80 or 100 million, of which some USD20 million or more to build the main plant is from private sectors and the remainder will be the Japan’s ODA used to develop coconut plantations and set up the crude coconut oil plants. Presently, Binh Dinh has 11,500 hectares of coconut trees but mainly of old varieties which cannot give nuts of high productivity and all year round. Supporting this project, Binh Dinh Province should re-plan the coconut tree plantation areas and issue a proper policy to encourage the farmers to develop coconut trees. In the mean time, the project manager should mention in his feasibility study the import of new seedlings of coconut tree and application of new technology in planting and caring for the coconut trees in the province. This agreement was reached by the two sides at the above meeting.

With the point of view to support the clean development programmes in order to reduce carbon dioxide emission and reduce the dependancy on imported fuel, the Vice Chairman of Binh Dinh Province People’s Committee committed himself to instruct the provincial relevant agencies to cooperate closely with JTCA and the Project Manager in the next steps of the feasibility study.