Since 2017, only one business won the bid for the right to advertise on buses in the city. The three-year package worth VND162 billion has just expired. All other tenders for bus advertising in the city failed to attract businesses although the Transport Department has lowered the charges, relaxed the requirements and offered flexible payment options.

According to the head of an advertising company, the demand for outdoor advertising, including bus advertising, in the city was high 10 years ago, but has dropped drastically as clients are switching to online advertising.

Besides this, many buses in HCMC have become old and worn out, while the prices of bus advertising are higher than that of online advertising.

Moreover, the HCMC Transport Department said the Covid-19 pandemic has severely affected the operations of the city’s bus system.

HCMC now has over 2,300 buses running on 137 routes. The city spends more than VND1 trillion to subsidize its bus system every year. If businesses advertised on all of the buses, the city would earn more than VND100 billion from bus advertising annually.

SGT

HCM City seeks private investors for metro lines

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