The average cost of a kilometer of expressway in Vietnam is about US$12 million, far higher than in other countries.

A view of HCMC-Trung Luong Expressway. The average expressway construction cost in Vietnam is about US$12 million per kilometer, far higher than in other countries

As Minister of Transport Truong Quang Nghia was grilled at the ongoing National Assembly session, deputy Le Cong Nhuong of Binh Dinh Province said this was a calculation by Professor Vo Dai Luoc and Fulbright University Vietnam lecturer Nguyen Xuan Thanh.

This cost is exclusive of spending on construction of approach roads for expressways and land clearance compensation, Nhuong said.

Nhuong added the 1,372-kilometer North-South Expressway project was estimated to cost VND312.4 trillion, or US$14 billion, and that this means each kilometer would need about US$10.12 million.

Meanwhile, China spends US$5 million building one kilometer of express highway and the cost is ever lower in the U.S. and Europe, at US$3-4 million, he said. Thus, the cost of four-lane expressway in Vietnam is two to four times higher than other countries but its quality is lower.

Minister Nghia said calculations by the Ministries of Transport and Construction were based on a rule issued on October 11, 2015 by the Ministry of Construction, which sets the cost of a kilometer of six-lane expressway at VND200 billion, exclusive of land clearance.

The matter of cost depends on geological features and materials in different parts of the country. The country’s northern delta, for example, needs US$7.4 million for each kilometer while the cost is a whopping US$17.2 million in the nation’s southwest and south, Nghia explained.

Minister Nghia said expressway construction costs in some other countries were also high, such as Germany with US$10.9 million, Portugal with US$12.1 million, Hungary with US$13.3 million, Austria with US$16.7 million, the U.S. with US$12.8-40.8 million and China with US$10.5-13.6 million.

The North-South Expressway is projected to cost US$9.5 million per kilometer.

The transport sector is facing an extreme shortage of capital. Only VND31 trillion has been arranged for traffic infrastructure projects while the actual demand is VND925 trillion.

SGT