HCM City to invest $5.5 billion in traffic projects

Sep 24, 2015

According to the HCM City People's Committee, the investment budget for road traffic projects in the next five years will be VND124 trillion (US$5.5 billion) tripling the amount in the period of 2011-2015.

Besides VND55 trillion ($2.4 billion) from the city's budget, HCM City would mobilise funds from the private business sector in order to improve the infrastructure system, according to the People's Committee.

Deputy Chairman of People's Committee, former Director of Transport and Telecommunication Department, Tat Thanh Cang said the government budget itself could hardly meet the huge amount of investment fund needed for infrastructure projects.

That the private sector invested hundreds of millions for traffic project was highly appreciated and should be encouraged, said Cang.

HCM City has invested a total of nearly VND39 trillion ($1.7 billion) since 2011 which included the private business's contribution of hundreds of billions of dong, according to the statistics from the People's Committee.

Key infrastructure including a new road system has been in use and several projects were implemented in 2015.

A boat tour of the Nhieu Loc - Thi Nghe canal in and around the downtown area was launched early this September. The city invested hundreds of millions of dollars to clean up the badly polluted canal making it a tourism destination.

The 12km path along Tan Hoa-Lo Gom, canal which was once plagued with murky water and rampant garbage, now has a new look and helps to connect Districts 6 and 11, Tan Binh and Tan Phu Districts. The city invested a total of VND2 trillion ($88.9 million) for this project.

In addition, a 14km road which started from the Tan Son Nhat airport to the National Highway 1 and ran through Tan Binh, Go Vap, Binh Thanh and Thu Duc district helped to connect the city centre with urban areas and neighboring provinces. The $340 million project also helped to reduce traffic on severely congested roads like Xo Viet Nghe Tinh, Dinh Bo Linh, Bach Dang.

An Y-shaped flyover project at Go Vap crossroads which was expected to open for traffic by late 2015 would help to reduce 80 per cent of traffic congestion in the area.

Total investment capital was estimated at VND405.7 billion ($18 million) with VND247 billion ($11 million) coming from the city's budget, according to the Transport and Telecommunication Department's statistics.

Besides funds in the form of BOT and BT, HCM City allowed investors to give advance capital to avoid a budget deficit, which often slowed down the progress of the project.

HCM City had effectively mobilised funds from the private business sector and many enterprises invested in the form of PPP, BOT, BTO, BT, according to the experts.

HCM City focused on investing in avenues, highways and ring roads including Vo Van Kiet-Mai Chi Tho avenue, Nguyen Van Linh avenue, and Pham Van Dong avenue which not only facilitated access to suburb areas but also boosted economic development, said architect and doctor Ngo Viet Nam Son, an expert in urban planning.

Son said the city was making the best use of private sector's fund to improve the infrastructure system.

Source: VietNamNet Bridge