Mai Tuan Anh, general director of Vietnam Expressway Corporation (VEC), told the Daily the first two bidding packages of the Ben Luc-Long Thanh expressway project were planned to start late this year. But the depreciation of Vietnam dong since the project’s preparation has pushed total investment capital of the scheme up by around 30%, so it is necessary to narrow down the project’s scale, Anh said.

It is not until September could the adjustment be completed, he noted.

Besides, the mobilization of the counterpart capital for the site clearance process of the project is also running into troubles. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) as one of the major funders of the project requests Vietnam to provide sufficient counterpart capital before opening the bidding round for the project.

Only when every thing is smoothened out can work on the project be started in the second quarter next year, Anh asserted.

With a length of some 58 kilometers, the Ben Luc-Long Thanh expressway costs VND31.32 trillion, or around US$1.5 billion, in total investment. A majority of the money will be lent by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and ADB while the remainder will be sourced from the State Budget.

Similarly, the Danang-Quang Ngai expressway project is also facing the same woe as the first two bidding packages of the scheme, financed by JICA and the World Bank (WB), were unable to get off the ground at the year’s end as scheduled.

The reason is the designs of the two packages have yet to be available due to financial constraints, and the construction plan therefore has been delayed until the second quarter 2013.

Stretching 139 kilometers, the project requires total investment fund of nearly VND28 trillion which will be sponsored by the two foreign lenders and the State Budget.