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Phung Tuan Son, head of the Economy and Planning Division of the Thang
Long Project Management Board which
oversees the expressway's Phan Thiet-Dau Giay road section, told media on
October 21 that seven investors had expressed interest in the sub-project.
The Thang Long Management Board, along with other seven management boards in
charge of the eight sub-projects of the expressway, began selling bid
application forms to interested investors on October 17.
Deputy Director of the Ministry
of Transport’s
Public-Private Partnership Department Nguyen Viet Huy said the expressway had
attracted several Vietnamese firms looking to participate in the projects.
The Project Management Board No 2, for example, managed to sell four application
forms to potential investors of the section of National Highway 45-Nghi Son in
less than four hours since the sale opened, Huy told the media.
The Project Management Board No 6, which oversees the Nghi Son-Dien Chau and
Dien Chau-Bai Vọo sections, said each project already had four application forms
sold in the first day of sales.
“The selling of application forms will last for a month, ending on November 11,
and it’s expected there will be more investors interested in the projects,” he
added.
The Ministry of Transport in late September reversed its decision to allow
foreign companies to participate in bidding for eight sub projects and
restricted bidding to Vietnamese enterprises.
The ministry explained the move aimed to "bring out the domestic strength",
adding that it also took into account security and national defence when
organising the bids.
Huy said the ministry had to loosen some of its criteria to attract more
Vietnamese companies to bid.
Potential investors which were partly foreign-owned companies were still allowed
to take part, Huy said, under the condition that the percentage of the
companies’ shares under foreign ownership doesn't exceed 51 percent.
The rule was designed to widen the investor pool as many Vietnamese companies
were already listed and had their shares bought by foreign entities, he added.
After receiving all the applications, the ministry would hold the first round of
selecting investors in February next year, and another round of bidding
application is expected in April, Huy said.
“If everything goes smooth, the bidding work to choose investors can wrap up in
November 2020.”
Huy, however, remained cautious whether Vietnamese companies had the ability to
pull off the project.
“If we can’t pick investors, the Ministry of Transport will report to the
Government and the National Assembly to switch the investment model (from
public-private partnership, or PPP) to public investment,” he said.
The expressway has a total of 11 sub-projects for investment. Of which, three
are under public investment while eight are up for the PPP model. The transport
ministry has estimated the cost for all projects at 118 trillion VND (5.1
billion USD).
Source: VNA
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