The government has just given the green-light to the Ministry of Transport (MoT) to appoint investors to build the important highway project.

The prime minister moved to decide the MoT to select the investors based on the state of urgency facing the project.

In an earlier development in mid-October, the prime minister gave in-principle approval to the 55km Trung Luong-My Thuan expressway project under the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) model with the state supporting the investment process by allowing investors to collect tolls on the Ho Chi Minh City-Trung Luong highway.

According to Cuu Long Corporation for Investment, Development and Infrastructure Project Management (Cuu Long CIPM), which is in charge of managing the project – the move means the highway’s biggest bottleneck has been nearly pushed through.

The Trung Luong-My Thuan expressway project was once in the hands of the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV), as developer of the four-lane motorway.

But BIDV reneged on its plans to execute the project two years later due to its inability to raise the needed capital.

To ensure the project’s feasibility and reduce costs, the expressway will be scaled down from four lanes to two main lanes with a designed velocity of 80km per hour and two subordinate lanes with a designed velocity of 40km per hour.

The project also envisages building approach roads to National Highway 1 and the main lanes.

As proposed by the project consultant, total investment for the first phase is around VND14.6 trillion ($698 million), including VND6.75 trillion ($321 million) for construction and equipment and VND2.55 trillion ($121 million) for land compensation and resettlement.

According to Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Van The, construction is slated to kick-off before the end of the first quarter next year.

Cuu Long CIPM estimates show that current traffic volume on National Highway 1’s Trung Luong-My Thuan section amounts to 45,000 standard vehicle equivalents per day, which is expected to reach 100,000 units by 2030.

The timeline for collecting tolls to recoup investment is slated to begin on January 1, 2019 when the highway opens to traffic and will continue for 11 years for the Ho Chi Minh City-Trung Luong section and 20 years for the Trung Luong-My Thuan section.

Initial fares will be VND1,700/standard vehicle unit/km for the former section and VND1,200/standard vehicle unit/km for the latter.

These fare rates are subject to revision every three years with an expected hike of 18 per cent each time.

A raft of both domestic and foreign investors have revealed interest in the project, such as the Tuan Loc-Yen Khanh-BMT-Thang Loi-Hoang An consortium, Metro Pacific Tollway Corp from the Philippines, and local firms Cienco 1, Cienco 5 and Cienco 6.