Thu Thiem 2 Bridge

The HCM City Transport Department has submitted a document to the People’s Committee reporting the current status of transport infrastructure and suggesting prioritizing resources for urgent transport works in the 2021-2025 period.

The report shows that because of difficulties in capital mobilization, the city’s transport infrastructure has not had appropriate investments as planned.

To date, only two out of five highways have been completed, namely HCMC –Trung Luong and HCMC – Long Thanh – Dau Giay. Meanwhile, Ben Luc – Long Thanh is under construction, expected to be completed by 2023.

Regarding Belt Road No2, investments have been used to implement 54.6 out of 64.1 kilometers, while Belt Road No3 has not received investments as planned. Highways No1, 1K, 50, 22 and 13 have not been upgraded and expanded as scheduled.

Regarding railways, 90 percent of the workload of the Urban Railway No1 (Ben Thanh –Suoi Tien) project has been implemented and the project is expected to be completed by 2023. No2 (Ben Thanh – Tham Luong) is expected to be put into operation by 2026.

The department estimated that HCMC needs VND970.654 trillion to develop transport infrastructure projects in 2021-2030. Of this, VND533.529 trillion would be needed in 2021-2025 (VND218.239 trillion from the city’s budget, while the remaining VND315.29 trillion would be from other sources, including state budget, ODA and PPP), and VND437.125 trillion for 2026-2030.

In 2021-2025, HCMC will prioritize projects for which capital has been arranged, including important ones such as An Phu intersection; Highway No50 expansion; Tran Quoc Hoan Road; four routes in Thu Thiem new urban area; Thu Thiem Bridge; and Metro No1 and Metro No2 which is expected to be completed by 2026.

The city will prioritize mobilizing capital for Belt Road No2, No3, HCMC – Moc Bai, HCMC – Chon Thanh Highways and Nguyen Khoai projects.

The city’s budget for the projects is VND72,640.6 billion.

Also, the city is prioritizing preparation for investments in Belt Road No4, Elevated Way No1 and No5, Thu Thiem Bridge No4, Can Gio Bridge and the bridge that connects with Thanh Da Peninsula; and Long Binh ICD port. The total investment capital of the projects is VND61.232 trillion.

According to the department, the approved medium-term public investment capital for 2021-2025 from the city budget (VND142.557 trillion) is just enough for projects carried forward from previous years, not for the implementation of new projects.

Therefore, the department has proposed that the HCMC People’s Committee suggest a mechanism to increase the proportion of budget allocated to the city in 2022-2025 from 18 percent to 23 percent.

It has proposed that the municipal authorities ask for the PM’s permission to issue bonds to raise funds for transport projects. 

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