Vietnamese firm eyes $1 billion elevated road project in HCMC

The board of directors of the Ho Chi Minh City Infrastructure Investment JSC (CII) said it will study applying the public-private partnership (PPP) investment form for the VND24.5 trillion ($1.1 billion) road connecting the city center with two major districts.

The 14-km elevated road would run from Truong Chinh Street in Tan Binh District to Nguyen Van Linh Street in Binh Chanh District.

The CII board said that while the city is investing a lot of money in the metro system, it has not built elevated roads, which are common around the world.

"The company wants to contribute to the development of urban infrastructure in HCMC, especially the development of new infrastructure models," Le Quoc Binh, General Director of CII said in a document sent to the HCMC Stock Exchange (HoSE).

The company’s directors also said that they were encouraged by the National Assembly passing the Private-Public Partnership Law, creating favorable conditions to attract domestic and foreign investors to participate in developing transport infrastructure.

After completing its study, the company will submit it to the authorities for organizing bidding in accordance with the law.

CII has a chartered capital of over VND2.83 trillion ($121.5 million). The company focuses on four main areas: roads and bridges, real estate, water infrastructure and construction.

Earlier this year, the company had said it would stop making new investments until the end of this year to ensure adequate funding and manpower to execute existing projects.

The company has a portfolio of more than VND20 trillion ($859 million) with a number of major projects including the expansion of the Hanoi Highway, a build-and-transfer project in the Thu Thiem new urban area and the Trung Luong-My Thuan Expressway.

It has set a revenue target of VND5.8 trillion ($249 million) for this year and an after-tax profit of over VND800 billion ($34.4 million). The company plans to issue bonds worth VND1.2 trillion ($51.6 million) to restructure its debts and generate investment for key projects.