70th anniversary of Hanoi's Liberation Day Vietnam - Asia 2023 Smart City Summit Hanoi celebrates 15 years of administrative boundary adjustment 12th Vietnam-France decentrialized cooperation conference 31st Sea Games - Vietnam 2021 Covid-19 Pandemic
Oct 18, 2014 / 08:10

Japan committed US$2 billion to Long Thanh airport project

Japan has committed US$2 billion to Vietnam to build Long Thanh airport in the southern province of Dong Nai, announced Deputy Minister of Transport Pham Quy Tieu at an October 17 online conference.

Participants at the event discussed possible opportunities and challenges created by the construction of Long Thanh airport.
 
 
They raised concern over capital shortage due to current financial difficulty and heavy burden caused by ODA debt.
Deputy Minister Tieu said despite numerous difficulties, effective projects should be carried out. It is necessary to use ODA loans and Government bonds to construct Long Thanh airport as no investors have shown interest in the civil aviation infrastructure development under the forms of build–operate–transfer (BOT) and private-public partnership (PPP).

Japan’s US$2 billion commitment is part of an agreement reached by Vietnamese and Japanese Prime Ministers at the end of 2013 to facilitate the implementation of the US$18-billion Long Thanh airport project, which is estimated to cost US$7.8 billion in the first phase. Around 50% of investment will be sourced from ODA and Government bonds, while the remaining 50% will come from other sources, he revealed.

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) predicted that in the next 10 years the Asia-Pacific region will see rapid development in the aviation sector, with a forecast growth rate of 5-6%. Therefore, Tieu said, the Long Thanh airport project will bring about considerable economic efficiency in the future.