Vietnam will need an estimated US$25-30 billion per year for infrastructure development over the next 10 years. Mobilizing capital from the private sector is necessary, so it is wasteful to ignore the build-transfer (BT) contract, said Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Quoc Toan of Hanoi Construction University in an interview with The Saigon Times. What went wrong with BT projects? The Saigon Times: The amended Law on Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Investment has reinstated the BT contract type. Previously, this format raised concerns, particularly over the risk of property loss. Is the reintroduction of BT contract necessary given Vietnam’s need to mobilize private capital for critical infrastructure projects? Assoc. Prof., Dr. Nguyen Quoc Toan: Investment under the PPP format has been applied globally since the 1980s. Its popularity surged after the 2008 financial crisis when governments sought private capital to finance infrastructure and boost economic growth. PPP, including BT contracts, is an effective tool for optimizing public-private collaboration in infrastructure development and public service delivery. There are various forms of contract under the PPP model, including build-transfer (BT), build-operate-transfer (BOT), build-transfer-operate (BTO), build-transfer-lease (BTL), and operate-maintain (OM). According to the Public Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility (PPIAF) under the World Bank, the BT […]