Vietnam to build $800m expressway

The money is made up of VND9.646tn ($419.4m) from private investors, VND8.554tn ($317.9m) from the public budget that includes VND4.227tn ($183.8m) from the provincial budget, and VND4.227tn ($183.8m) arranged by the central government.

Vietnam’s government approved the 67km project last week.

Infrastructure expert John Yeap of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law, said: “Given the geographical scale of Vietnam, good inter-regional connectivity is an important stimulus for economic growth. With the new PPP Law that came into force this year, Vietnam has in place the necessary legal framework to promote the development of various PPP infrastructure projects, including transportation projects. This proposed expressway project if it is approved and implemented effectively and efficiently, could be a template for many more PPP projects to come.”

The expressway is included in Vietnam’s expressway network development plan approved by the prime minister in 2016, in which 21 routes are included with a total length of 6,400km.

In January, Vietnam changed the status of two road building projects, making them public projects after failing to find investors for the work as a PPP.