$362 mln investment proposed for southern Vietnam expressway

The Ministry of Transport has proposed to build the Dau Giay-Tan Phu expressway, part of a 200-kilometer expressway connecting Ho Chi Minh City to the Central Highlands, in the form of public-private partnership (PPP).

Accordingly, the 60.3-kilometer Dau Giay-Tan Phu expressway will have four lanes, with a roadbed width of 17 meters and a design speed of 100 kph in the first phase.

The expressway begins in Thong Nhat district, Dong Nai province where it intersects with National Highway 1 and meets the end of Ho Chi Minh City-Long Thanh-Dau Giay Expressway. It ends in Phu Trung commune, Tan Phu district, Dong Nai where it intersects with National Highway 20.

It is a section of the 200-kilometer Dau Giay-Lien Khuong Expressway, connecting HCMC to the Central Highlands, while relieving traffic congestion on National Highway 20.

Construction is scheduled to commence in 2023 and complete in 2025, the transport ministry said in a report submitted to the government.

The fee collection period is 20 years and three months, which will be clearly defined in feasibility studies and documents to invite bids to choose investors. After the fee collection period ends, the investor will transfer the expressway to the state.

The ministry estimated the total investment capital for the project at more than VND8,365 billion ($362 million), of which construction costs are VND4,962 billion and land clearance costs, which will be funded by the state, VND1,287 billion.

The capital to come from the investor is more than VND7,000 billion ($305 million), of which ownership capital accounts for 20% while the remainder comprises commercial loans.

Together with two other sections, Tan Phu-Bao Loc and Bao Loc-Lien Khuong, the Dau Giay-Tan Phu expressway is expected to promote trade between Southeastern provinces and the Central Highlands.

Dong Nai province, which neighbors HCMC, is a manufacturing center of southern Vietnam.