HCMC – The Ministry of Transport and a consortium of investors of the Dien Chau-Bai Vot subproject of the North-South Expressway project today, May 13, signed a contract for the subproject, which requires an estimated investment of VND11.2 trillion (US$484 million).
Le Kim Thanh, director of the Public-Private Partnership Department under the Ministry of Transport, said Dien Chau-Bai Vot was the second subproject of the expressway project executed under the PPP model to have its contract signed, after Nha Trang-Cam Lam, Thanh Nien Online newspaper reported.
Negotiations and the signing of the contract would not only help boost the socioeconomic development but also be a positive signal for the PPP investment model in traffic infrastructure projects in the 2021-2025 period when the State budget is tight.
Nguyen Quang Vinh, general director of Phuc Thanh Hung Investment JSC, which the investor consortium established to execute the subproject, said after signing the contract, it and the investor consortium would conduct a survey on the construction site, come up with a design and choose contractors to start work on the subproject late this month or early next month.
Speaking at the contract signing ceremony, Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Nhat said in the 2011-2015 period, the transport sector executed 88 infrastructure projects under the build-operate-transfer (BOT) format. However, since then, no projects have been implemented under this format.
The Ministry of Transport has worked with 126 teams inspecting and auditing BOT projects and has learnt about conducting BOT projects better, ensuring benefits for both the State and investors.
The PPP Law, which took effect on January 1 this year, has also created a legal foundation to conduct PPP infrastructure projects, including three subprojects of the North-South Expressway project.
Nhat asked the investor consortium to mobilize resources to ensure the subproject’s progress and quality. In addition, agencies under the Ministry of Transport must closely coordinate with the governments of Nghe An and Ha Tinh to remove obstacles facing the site clearance for the subproject.
According to Nhat, PPP projects need investors with strong financial capacity. The investor consortium of the Dien Chau-Bai Vot subproject includes many large firms which are experienced in construction.
Of these, the Civil Engineering Construction Corporation No. 4 is executing many large packages of the North-South Expressway project that use public investment and other expressway projects.
The Truong Son Construction Corporation has also developed many large traffic projects, such as the Ho Chi Minh Road and the Hanoi-Thai Nguyen and Noi Bai-Lao Cai expressways. It also won tenders for the Mai Son-National Highway 45, Cam Lo-La Son and My Thuan-Can Tho subprojects of the North-South Expressway project and is the investor of the first phase of the La Son-Tuy Loan Expressway project costing over VND11 trillion.
The Dien Chau-Bai Vot subproject was designed to be some 50 kilometers long, with 44.4 kilometers in Nghe An and 4.9 kilometers in Ha Tinh.
In the first phase, the section will have four lanes with a total width of 17 meters and a design speed of 80 kilometers per hour. The section will comprise the 1.1-kilometer Than Vu Tunnel and four-kilometer Hung Duc Bridge.
As for the investment, some VND5.1 trillion will be mobilized by the investor consortium and nearly VND6.1 trillion will come from the State budget. It will take three years to execute the subproject and more than 16.5 years to recover the capital.
