HCM CITY PLANS 7 INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS

Upgrading old buildings and relocating households living near canals are among the major projects that HCM City aims to carry out now and in the near future, according to city authorities.

The city recently organised a seminar that sought collaboration between investors and banks in seven so-called breakthrough programmes.

Participating banks have signed loan agreements for eight projects, worth a total of VNĐ26 trillion (US$1.1 billion) under the public–private partnership (PPP) investment mode.

The projects include a North-South road worth VNĐ18 trillion and Nguyễn Tất Thành Street worth VNĐ4.6 trillion.

Chairman of the city People’s Committee Nguyễn Thành Phong said that loans for the eight projects had created a push for future projects, as the city has a limited local budget.

More businesses are expected to invest under the PPP mode, he said.

Around 153 projects have been carried out under the PPP mode in HCM City, with total investment of VNĐ451 trillion, of which 23 projects worth a total of VNĐ71 trillion have been completed, and another 130 projects worth VNĐ380 trillion are underway.

Though the number of projects under the PPP mode only accounted for 5 per cent of the total of public-invested projects, the amount of investment was 51 times higher than total public investment during the 2011-15 period, he added.

Phạm Phú Quốc, director of the HCM City Finance and Investment State-owned Company (HFIC), said that HFIC had sponsored 152 infrastructure projects in the city, valued at a combined VNĐ25 trillion.

It has also called for VNĐ26.8 trillion of local government bonds, he added.

Upgrading old buildings

Upgrading old buildings and building new ones are part of the city’s modernisation plan.

At least 474 old buildings were built before 1975. Since the beginning of 2016, 1,592 households in four old buildings have been relocated.

The city has asked the People’s Committee to be in charge of planning upgrades of old buildings and construction of new buildings.

The committee will be in charge of making decisions on relocating residents who live near canals to other areas and upgrading infrastructure.

To effectively handle the seven “breakthrough” programmes that are key to the city’s development during the 2016-20 period, the city needs a total of VNĐ850 trillion in funds.

Sixty per cent of that total would be for anti-flooding, transport and infrastructure-related projects.

Source: VIR