Thu Ha Construction and Trading Ltd. Co., a private firm based in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province, is looking for partners to develop Dau Giay-Lien Khuong and Halong-Van Don expressways with a total investment of VND77 trillion (US$3.57 billion).

The two expressway projects were introduced at a conference held by the firm in HCMC last week on investment and cooperation in build-operate-transfer (BOT) projects. Thu Ha is seeking approval from the authorities to develop them.

To prepare a budget of more than VND65 trillion for two phases of Dau Giay-Lien Khuong Expressway, which connects Dong Nai and Lam Dong provinces, and around VND12 trillion for Halong-Van Don Expressway between Halong City and Van Don Airport in Quang Ninh, Thu Ha is exploring the possibility of borrowing from Agribank, VietinBank, OCB and ACB, said a source from the company.

Executives of 17 domestic transportation and construction firms at the meeting expressed interest in joining forces with Thu Ha in the two expressway projects.

These firms include Civil Engineering Construction Joint Stock Company No. 5 (Cienco 5), Thang Long Construction Joint Stock Company 18, and Urban Infrastructure Development Investment Corporation (UDIC).

In July last year, Thu Ha wrote to the Ministry of Transport seeking permission to invest in Dau Giay-Lien Khuong Expressway under the BOT format.

In its document sent to the ministry, the company said its own capital accounts for more than 10% of the project cost, so the rest would come from lender banks.

Apart from the two expressway projects, the company is also eyeing several BOT projects in HCMC.

Dau Giay-Lien Khuong Expressway, as part of the country’s expressway network development plan until 2020, will help ease traffic on National Highway 20. It is more than 200 kilometers long and 25.5 meters wide, and has four lanes.

To guarantee the feasibility of the project, the Transport Ministry and Lam Dong authorities have sought Government approval to build the first two lanes of the expressway in the first phase at a total cost of nearly VND34 trillion.

The 59.38 kilometer Halong-Van Don Expressway starts at National Highway 18 in Dai Yen Ward, Halong City and ends at the intersection with the main road leading to Van Don Airport.

On Apirl 9, the Government gave the go-ahead to Quang Ninh Province to award a no-bid contract to carry out the expressway.

Thu Ha specializes in BOT, public-private partnership (PPP), build-transfer projects and those in the tourism and hotel sectors.