PORT-OF-SPAIN (AP):
TRINIDAD AND Tobago has reached agreements with private investors to build six new industrial plants in an investment valued at US$7.4 billion, the Prime Minister said yesterday.
The project includes plans for two urea ammonium nitrate plants, a petrochemical complex, two aluminium smelters and an integrated iron and steel plant, Prime Minister Patrick Manning said.
Construction on the projects will begin early next year in the Caribbean country's southern peninsula, Mr. Manning said.
"These projects will produce over 17,000 jobs in the construction phase and over 3,000 permanent jobs in Trinidad and Tobago," Mr. Manning told a gathering of his ruling People's National Movement party.
U.S. aluminium producer Alcoa Inc. will build one of the smelters, while Venezuelan firm Sural and the state-owned National Gas Company of Trinidad will build the other, the Prime Minister said.
S.R. Steel of India will build the iron and steel complex. The two urea ammonium nitrate plants will be financed by Trinidadian firms. Mr. Manning did not give details on the petrochemicals plant.
The Prime Minister also said Trinidad's oil production was expected to reach 165,000 barrels per day by early 2006, up from 160,000 per day, as the country improves its refining capacity.
