Taipei, June 23, 2008 (CENS)--Y.C. Wang, founder of the Formosa Plastics Group (FPG), will fly on July 5 to Vietnam accompanied by senior executives of the group`s major subsidiaries to host the groundbreaking ceremony for a large steel mill, marking the petrochemical conglomerate`s formal entry into the steel industry.

The FPG executives accompanying Wang to Vietnam will be from FPG subsidiaries as Formosa Plastics Corp., Nan Ya Plastics Corp., Formosa Chemical & Fibre Corporation, Formosa Petrochemical Corp. and Formosa Heavy Industries Corp. The July trip will be Wang`s fourth to Vietnam, one that realizes his long-time dream to set up a large steel mill in the Indochina nation.

To prepare for the startup of the proposed steel mill, FPG has been running wanted ads in Taiwan media over the past few months to recruit manpower to work in Vietnam.

FPG`s steel mill project will likely make FPG the largest investor in Vietnam this year, with the investment to account for half of the total foreign investments in that nation.

Besides the proposed steel mill, FPG is also planning a mega ethylene project in that nation by cooperating with its subsidiary in Vietnam-the Formosa Industries Corp. If all goes as planned, this mega ethylene project will become FPG`s other integrated petrochemical production complex besides the one in the U.S.

FPG said it has been licensed by Vietnamese government to build the steel mill, the largest of its kind in Vietnam. The initial stage will see FPG invest US$8 billion to build the steel mill, which will be completed by 2011, after which it will have an annual output of 7.5 million metric tons of steel products to be sold in Vietnam and Southeast Asia.

The steel mill to be set up by FPG will be the first of its kind in Southeast Asia.

(by Ben Shen)