Tomohide Oyama from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) said there are many opportunities for private enterprises in Ba Ria-Vung Tau as the province has deep-water seaports and industrial parks, and many Japanese investors are eyeing projects there. JICA will hold talks with Japanese enterprises to provide them with more information.

Oyama said that to carry out PPP projects successfully, the management of risks for projects must be placed at the forefront. Moreover, risks need to be allocated for both public and private sectors so that private enterprises can be willing to make investments, he added.

Matthieu Discour, head of finance at the French Development Agency (AFD) in Vietnam, said that Ba Ria-Vung Tau had many advantages in attracting private investments in some key sectors such as water supply and drainage, transport infrastructure and seaports.

AFD will prioritize its loans for partners having feasible projects. To support the Vietnamese Government, AFD can provide preferential loans on its own or via its subsidiary Proparco, and provide technical support through grants.

Speaking to the Daily, Ho Van Nien, vice chairman of Ba Ria-Vung Tau, said that in addition to some pilot PPP projects in infrastructure, the province would seek to attract private investment into other sectors such as health and environment.

According to Tran Viet Dung, an expert with the PPP division under the Ministry of Planning and Investment, problems of PPP investments are being fixed, and the ministry may prepare the PPP investment law to facilitate private investors.