The
city recently organized a seminar that sought collaboration between investors
and banks in seven so-called breakthrough programs.
Participating
banks have signed loan agreements for eight projects, worth a total of VND 26
trillion (USD 1.1 billion) under the public–private partnership (PPP)
investment mode.
The
projects include a North-South road worth VND 18 trillion and Nguyen Tat Thanh street
worth VND 4.6 trillion.
Chairman
of the city People’s Committee Nguyen Thanh 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 Ho Chi Minh City, with
total investment of VND 451 trillion (USD 19.9 billion), of which 23 projects
worth a total of VND 71 trillion have been completed, and another 130 projects
worth VND 380 trillion are underway.
Though
the number of projects under the PPP mode only accounted for 5 percent 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.
Pham
Phu Quoc, Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Finance and Investment State-owned
Company (HFIC), said that HFIC had sponsored 152 infrastructure projects in the
city, valued at a combined VND 25 trillion (USD 1.1 billion).
It
has also called for VND 26.8 trillion of local government bonds, he added.
Upgrading
old buildings and building new ones are part of the city’s modernization 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
People’s 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” programs that are key to the city’s
development during the 2016-20 period, the city needs a total of VND 850
trillion (USD 37.5 billion) in funds.
Sixty
percent of that total would be for anti-flooding, transport and
infrastructure-related projects.
Source: VNA