Gov’t seeks OK on highway, airport

The projects include the North-South Highway, the Long Thanh International Airport and an electricity infrastructure project.

The four-lane North-South Highway, running from Hanoi to HCM City, is designed to be 1,373km long and is being divided into 20 smaller projects.

The Government will focus on a pre-feasibility study report in the 2016-20 period. It’s expected to be built in the 2020-30 period and will become operational by 2050.

According to Vietnamnet, the project is expected to cost VND222.8 trillion (US$9.97 billion), of which, VND136.28 trillion is to be mobilised from the private sector, while the remainder, used for site clearance and consulting will come from the State budget.

In the 2016-20 period, the project expects to use VND70 trillion of Government bonds as the State’s capital contribution.

The Long Thanh International Airport in southern Vietnam is planned to receive 100 million passengers per year with an estimated capital investment of US$16.3 billion.

Of the sum, some US$5.9 billion will be invested in the first phase, which includes a runway, a terminal with a yearly capacity of 25 million passengers, and 1.2 million tonnes of goods.

The Government has also asked the National Assembly to approve a VND858.66 trillion (US$38.4 billion) electricity infrastructure project, with 75% for developing power resources and 25% for the power network. 

The Government hopes to receive some VND100 trillion from foreign investment capital, VND200 trillion from Official Development Assistance capital, VND4 trillion from the State budget and VND554.6 trillion from the project’s investors and commercial loans.