The city needs this amount to develop its infrastructure over the next five years, asserted HCM City Vice-Chair Nguyen Thanh Tai at a conference on the city’s infrastructure investment needs on June 24.

At the meeting, HCM City called for billions of dollars for infrastructure projects in the form of PPP (public private partnerships), BOT (build-operate-transfer), BT (build-transfer), etc.

Department of Construction Deputy Director Bui Xuan Cuong called for investment in 25 projects to build roads, ports, parking lots, etc. in the city, totaling nearly 120 trillion dong ($631 million).

The Saigon Water Supply Corporation (Sawaco) introduced its major projects for the next 5 years, plans that require more than 3 trillion dong ($157 million) in capital. After 2015, Sawaco will need another 29.5 trillion dong ($1.55 billion).

The Urban Rail Management Board plans to build seven metro and three tramcar routes, totaling 167km. The capital for these projects is estimated at $4.95 billion.

The city also needs hundreds of millions of dollars to build a dike system and dredge canals.

Bui Xuan Cuong calculated that the transportation sector needs $2 billion a year, but capital from the stage budget and ODA loans can only satisfy 15 percent.

Development experts suggested that HCM City apply the PPP model to raise capital, but it requires clear policies to draw private investors. PPP is still a new model in Vietnam.

PV