Key highway projects planned for Vietnam

Vietnam's new highway projects Key highway projects are being planned in Vietnam including the Ninh Binh-Thanh Hoa Expressway, which will run for 127km and is expected to cost US$1.6 billion to construct.

The Nghi Son-Bai Vot Expressway will cost $1 billion to build and 2560 Vietnam's Ministry of Transport hopes to source a loan from the 2332 World Bank for the project. At present, the Ministry is putting the projects through the tender process, and the deals will be made under either the build-operate-transfer (BOT) or public-private partnership (PPP) models.

To date, nine companies including 3042 POSCO of South Korea; 3043 Bangkok Mass Transit System Public Company and Asia China Investment Fund have expressed interest.

Meanwhile the Ministry is applying pressure to the Ho Chi Minh Highway Project Management Unit to speed up preparation work for the 80km La Son-Tuy Loan section of the Ho Chi Minh Highway.

The project runs from Tuan Bridge in central Thua Thien-Hue province to Danang's Tuy Loan village, and Singapore-based DBS Bank has said it will provide funding worth $850 million to build the highway.