The Vietnam National Coal and Mineral Industries (Vinacomin) Group is to increase production for domestic use this year and invest in exploration to meet long-term development.

The targets the corporation said it has set for this year include selling 45.5 million tonnes of coal, an increase of 1 million against last year, of which domestic consumption will account for 31-32 million tonnes and exports will be 13.5-14.5 million tonnes.

That will reduce coal exports by 3.3 million tonnes to meet domestic demand, the corporation said.

Estimates indicated that domestic demand for coal will reach 32 million tonnes this year, up 4.2 million tonnes in comparison with last year.

Vinacomin general director Le Duy Chuan said coal exports will be reduced gradually in order to ensure national energy security. Total coal exports by 2015 are estimated to fall to around 8 million tonnes.

Vinacomin plans to increase the volume of run-of-mine coal (straight from the ground) to 48.9 million tonnes this year, a 2.4 percent rise over last year.

It will invest around 600 billion VND (28.8 million USD) beginning this year to boost the capacity of existing mines and open new mines in order to reach 65 million tonnes of coal products by 2015.

The corporation is expected to reap 96.3 trillion VND (4.6 billion USD) in total revenue this year, a modest increase over last year's 94 trillion VND (4.5 billion USD)

In addition to the exploration plan for northeastern Quang Ninh province's coal fields and other important minerals such as copper serving sustainable development, the corporation see new technologies as a key to enhancing productivity and promoting its growth.

With the aim of continuing to curb inflation and stabilise the economy, Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai asked Vinacomin to increase investment from outside and allocate capital for exploration to evaluate coal reserves in Quang Ninh province as well as the Song Hong ( Red River ) Delta.

Vinacomin will also have to co-ordinate with localities in the management of illegal coal trading and coal bandits.

Hai said Vinacomin must identify itself as a major importer of coal for power production and develop facilities at coal ports so the country could import around 10 million tonnes of coal by 2015 and 65 million tonnes by 2020.

"The corporation should take responsibility for training human resources," Hai said.

Meanwhile, Vinacomin should also pay attention to technological innovation and investment, and promoting technology transfer.

Vinacomin last year produced 48.2 million tonnes of coal, contributing 6.7 billion kWh to the national electricity system and earned a revenue of nearly 94 trillion VND (4.5 trillion USD), up 15 percent over the year's target and 16 percent over 2010.

Its profit reached 7.8 trillion VND (371.4 million USD), adding 11 percent compared to the annual plan.

The return on equity ratio last year was 30 percent, ranking second to the National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam). In addition, Vinacomin was able to secure jobs for its 138,000 employees, "which is a great effort in the context of a troubled economy", Hai said.

"It was also a great effort for the corporation to invest in new mines," Hai said.

Meanwhile, Vinacomin focused on 24 modernising the measuring control systems in methane fields and developed mine rescue teams./.