Vietnam ministry makes yet another correction on airport funding commitment

On October 17, Deputy Transport Minister Pham Quy Tieu revealed at an online talk that ADPI, a fully owned subsidiary of the Aéroports de Paris Group (ADP), has “committed $2 billion in loans” to fund the construction of Long Thanh International Airport.

The new terminal is to be located in the eponymous district in Dong Nai Province, around 50km from Ho Chi Minh City.

But an ADPI representative said no such commitment exists, Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper reported on Wednesday, adding that the French company only specializes in airport architecture and engineering, rather than functioning as an investor.

Deputy Minister Tieu had previously stated that the $2 billion commitment was to come from Japan, under the form of official development assistance (ODA), but had to retract this information later, saying it was ADPI who had committed to funding the Long Thanh project.

However, much to the surprise of observers, the transport ministry said in a press release on Wednesday that it “does not know who ADPI is.”

“We have never worked with ADPI on the [Long Thanh] issue,” the document reads.

The transport ministry said ADPM – another ADP subsidiary – is the firm that it had discussed the funding plan with.

While ADPI is an airport design company, ADPM, fully known as Aéroports de Paris Management, mainly invests in airport concessions and manages airports worldwide through management contracts, according to the company website.

The transport ministry said ADPM has repeatedly expressed interest in working on the Long Thanh terminal, as well as allocating a $2 billion in funding for the project through meetings and document exchanges between the two parties.

In a letter sent to the ministry on January 2, 2013, ADPM said its parent company, ADP, would “contribute $500 million and allocate another $1 billion in funding sourced from its partner credit institutions and banks” to develop infrastructure at Long Thanh airport, according to the Vietnamese ministry.

ADPM then worked directly with the ministry on September 17 when its CEO, Frederic Duyperon, said ADP and its partners will supply a $2 billion credit package to the Long Thanh project if it is approved by the Vietnamese National Assembly.

The ministry then asserted that it had only worked with ADPM, and has no idea what ADPI is.

Self-contradiction

However, the transport ministry did mention ADPI in document 10599/BGTVT-KHDT, which was signed by Transport Minister Dinh La Thang on August 26, according to a copy obtained by Tuoi Tre.

The document was submitted to the State Assessment Council to apply for in-principle approval of the terminal.

The ministry said in the document that many foreign investors are keen on investing in the first phase of the project, such as “France’s ADPI (which has pledged to invest $500 million and $1 billion borrowed from loans), Samsung, Incheon, and Japanese groups.”

It thus remains unclear from which company the reported $2 billion funding commitment will really come from, given the conflicting information regarding the issue from the ministry and its deputy chief.