Vietnam Ministry Asks for Resuming ADB-, JICA-funded Expressway before Mid-Feb

Vietnam’s Ministry of Transport has asked contractors to resume the construction of Ben Luc-Long Thanh expressway, funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), before February 15.

The ministry asked the state-run Vietnam Expressway Corporation (VEC), the project’s investor, to work with the builders of package J1, which is aimed to build Binh Khanh and Can bridges with a total length of 2.76 kilometers.

VEC signed the package worth nearly VND2.82 trillion ($117.5 million), excluding provisions and value-added tax (VAT) with a consortium of Japan’s Shimizu Corporation and Vietnam Construction and Import-Export Joint Stock Corporation (Vinaconex; HOSE: VCG) in 2015 and the package was fully suspended in 2020. So far, the package’s workload has reached over 77%.

The Ben Luc-Long Thanh expressway has a total investment of VND31.32 trillion, including over VND13.6 trillion from the ADB and nearly VND12 trillion from the JICA.

The 57.8-kilometer expressway will link the southern economic hub of Ho Chi Minh City with the Trung Luong expressway in southern Long An province and the Bien Hoa-Vung Tau expressway in southern Dong Nai province. (Saigon Times, Dau Tu, Tin Tuc)