MEDIA RELEASE
Released By:
Downer
Ipswich company Aquatec Maxcon is one of six Queensland businesses contracted by the Federal Government to supply more than $20 million in materials and equipment for an Australian aid project in Vietnam.
The five-year, $70 million Vietnam Provincial Water Supply and Sanitation Project will help to help provide clean running water in five provincial towns, and will benefit more than 400,000 people by providing households with clean, safe running water - either through their own tap or a community tap.
Fifteen Australian companies were successful in winning $30 million to supply equipment and materials for the project. Queensland companies got the largest share of contracts worth more than $20 million.
Aquatec Maxcon, which has its head office and factory at Leichardt, is the largest supplier for the project with a contract worth approximately $10.1 million.
'This has been a very substantial project for us and it has given us an excellent opportunity to get to know people in the water business in Vietnam,' managing director Greg Johnson said.
'We hope to build some enduring relationships on the back of our presence during this particular project.'
Aquatec has supplied mechanical and electrical equipment, including water filters and clarifiers, for four of the five plants being built with Australian aid.
Lack of access to potable water a major development issue in Vietnam with only 43 per cent of the population having access to safe water and 22 per cent having access to sanitation.
'The guarantee of a safe water supply and the safe disposal of human waste has the biggest single impact on people's life expectancy,' Mr Johnson said.
'I think it's extremely valuable to be able to leave the people of Vietnam an enduring benefit such as a water treatment plant to improve life expectancy and productivity.'
Mr Johnson said the contract had other spin-offs for local businesses.
'This contract has provided $10 million worth of work for us, but it has almost been spent again with other Australian companies. We are buying pumps, pipes and fibreglass tanks, for example, from other businesses, so there's not just one impact, but a real flow-on impact.'
How other businesses can become involved in Australia's overseas aid program will be discussed at a public seminar on the Gold Coast this Friday morning (19 June). The seminar will be hosted by the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, and Member for Moncrieff, Kathy Sullivan M.P. (Lib, Qld).
In February, Mrs Sullivan officially commissioned the first water treatment plant to be opened as part of the Vietnam project in Bac Giang, north of Hanoi. A similar plant has since been opened in Bac Ninh. Construction is well underway on plants in the remaining three towns of Ha Tinh in the centre of the country, and Tra Vinh and Vinh Long in the south.
'Each year overseas, contracts worth more than $350 million are won by Australian businesses - both small and large - there are great opportunities out there for more of them to get involved,' Mrs Sullivan said
'The Vietnam Provincial Water Supply Project is an excellent example of AusAID working together with the Australian business community for the benefit of people in developing countries.'
The other Queensland companies involved in the project are Crevet Pipelines (Eagle Farm), Iplex Pipelines Australia (Brendale), Vinidex Tubemakers (Coopers Plains), Auslog (Sumner Park), and Brisbane Wholesale Hardware (Woolloongabba).
Media contacts:
Kristen Pratt (Mrs Sullivan's office) 02 6277 4381 or mobile 0412 313 665 Carol Haffke (AusAID) 02 6206 4966 or mobile 0417 683 767