HANOI, April 8 (Reuters) - PetroVietnam Power (PV Power)

said on Monday it has signed an agreement for a $300 million

short-term loan from Citibank and ING to fund its projects to

develop Vietnam's first two LNG power plants.

PetroVietnam said in a statement that it is also in talks

for a long-term loan of $600 million from the two lenders for

the Nhon Trach 3 and Nhon Trach 4 power plants being built in

southern Vietnam.

Vietnam, a regional manufacturing hub, is seeking to ramp up

its power generation capacity to support its economic growth.

The country has experienced brief power shortages in recent

years that affected industrial production.

The two LNG facilities are part of a planned 13 LNG power

plants with a combined capacity of 22.4 gigawatts that the

country wants to build by 2030.

The Nhon Trach 3 plant is scheduled to start power

generation from November this year, and Nhon Trach 4 from May

next year, according to PV Power.