Vietnam plans to put some 2,200 km of highways into operation by 2020, Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Hong Truong told our reporter in a recent interview.

Transport infrastructure development is among the three breakthroughs that the Vietnamese Government is now focusing on.

He said that the plan is feasible after the Ministry has completed the construction of 600 km of highways, including Noi Bai-Lao Cai and Ha Noi-Hai Phong.

To reach the target, the country needs to mobilize nearly VND 500 trillion from non-budget sources such as official development assistance and credit loans.

The Ministry is now selecting highways sections with high volume of vehicles to call for investment in terms of build-operate-transfer (BOT) and public-private-partnership (PPP) models, Mr. Truong said.

Regarding the PPP model, the Government has issued Decree 15/2015/ND-CP and Decree 30/2015/ND-CP on investment in the form of PPP and selection of investors to implement this model projects.

Under these Decrees, the State shall contribute up to 70-80% of the total investment capital of a PPP project and ensure site clearance.

Mr. Truong said the Ministry is mulling over a legal framework to transfer operation rights of certain infrastructure projects to domestic and foreign investors in order to raise funds for other infrastructure projects.

VGP