Many investors eye expressway project

Wednesday, July 31,2013,20:09 (GMT+7)
By Le Anh - The Saigon Times Daily

HCMC – Dau Giay-Phan Thiet Expressway attracted the interest of many investors who attended promotion events held in three Asian countries last week, said the management board for public-private partnership (PPP) projects under the Ministry of Transport.

A presentation about this project was delivered to international investors in India’s Mumbai on July 22, South Korea’s Seoul on July 24 and Singapore on July 26. About 100 investors from infrastructure development firms and financial institutions in the region expressed their interest in the expressway project, said the transport ministry in a statement released on Monday.

Dau Giay-Phan Thiet is the first expressway in Vietnam to be built under the PPP format to ensure the financial feasibility of the project, making it attractive to private investors.

The project will set an example of PPP mechanism development in Vietnam, serving as a precedent for other traffic projects to be developed in the PPP form in the future, said Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Ngoc Dong.

Bitexco Group has been named the first investor of this expressway project and will contribute 60% of the total capital. The second investor will be chosen via bidding and will contribute the remaining 40%.

Dau Giay-Phan Thiet Expressway, stretching a total of 98.7 kilometers, will have six lanes and a vehicular speed of 120 kilometers per hour.

The US$750-million project will help shorten the time for travel from HCMC to the southern central region and tackle traffic congestion on National Highway 1A. Also, it will facilitate formation and development of industrial zones and tourist sites along the route.