Pilot PPP project in starter’s blocks

Vietnam’s first pilot private-public partnership project has just taken a step closer to reality after the government officially approved its first two investors.

Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai recently signed a document stating that local firm Bitexco Group and International Financial Corporation (IFC), the World Bank Group’s financial arm, will be the first and the second investors of pilot private-public partnership (PPP) Dau Giay-Phan Thiet expressway.

PPP involves the government and private sector carrying out a project with social benefits, under an agreement to share responsibilities and risks. The project is expected to pave the way for further private investments in infrastructure.

“The third investor of this project will be selected through international competitive bidding,” said the document. The document did not mention when the bidding would take place or when the project will start. Bitexco Group and IFC were not available for comments when contacted by VIR last week.

However, the Ministry of Planning and Investment, which is in charge of drafting PPP financial supporting legal framework, and the World Bank – which is helping Vietnam make the framework, previously drew a timeframe allowing the Ministry of Transport to approve the project’s feasibility study by September, 2010 and organise bidding in May, next year.

The 100 kilometre expressway is one of southern Vietnam’s most important transport infrastructure projects and will connect Ho Chi Minh City and Binh Thuan province’s Phan Thiet City.

The World Bank has agreed to give financial support to the project by allowing investors to borrow capital from its International Development Association (IDA) and International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD).

In June, international investors urged the government to push the implementation of the pilot PPP project and provide greater details about the PPP regulations.