US$600mn required to connect Ninh Binh, Thanh Hoa

The Noi Bai - Lao Cai Highway. Photo for illustration. - VNA/VNS Photo Viet Hung

The highway is planned to have six lanes with a total width of 32.25m and a designed speed of 120kmph. In the first phase of the project, four lanes will be constructed with an investment of nearly VND14 trillion (US$616 million) in three years. The estimated payback time is some 18 years.

The highway starts at km 274+111,86 in Mai Son Commune, Yen Mo District, Ninh Binh Province, and ends at km 337+478,11 in Tan Phuc commune, Nong Cong District, Thanh Hoa Province, crossing 10 districts of the two provinces.

According to the Vietnam News Agency, the government recently delivered to the National Assembly the pre-feasibility study reports of some parts of the North-South Expressway for the 2017-20 period, with a total investment of VND120 trillion ($5.3 billion).

According to the plan, from 2017 to 2020, highways connecting Cao Bồ District (Nam Định Province) with Ba Bọt District (Ha Tinh Province), Cam Lo District (Quang Tri Province) with La Sơn District (Thua Thien-Hue Province), Nha Trang City (Khanh Hoa Province) with Dau Giay Town (Đong Nai Province) and My Thuan 2 Bridge will be prioritised for construction. These projects will be implemented under the public-private partnership (PPP) model with build-operate-transfer (BOT) contracts.

The capital allocated from the State budget will be VND55 trillion ($2.42 billion), including some VND14.2 trillion ($625 million) for land clearance, VND27.7 trillion ($1.2 billion) for PPP projects and VND13.2 trillion ($580 million) for public-invested construction items. Investors will contribute some VND64 trillion ($2.8 billion), including VND12.7 trillion ($560 million) of owners’ equity and VND51 trillion ($2.2 billion) of loans.