Construction this year will start on the new Dong Nai Bridge, HCM City-Long Thanh and Dau Giay Expressway, Dong Nai General Hospital, and two high-technology centres in agricultural production.

In April last year, the central and local government approved the Dong Nai Bridge project, the first bridge to be built crossing the Dong Nai River after 1975.

The three-lane bridge, to be 461 metres long and 20 metres wide, will be built under the BOT (build-operate-transfer) model.

The investment capital for the project, including a tunnel for the HCM City-Bien Hoa route and a flyover for the Tan Van-HCM City route, is VND1.584 trillion (US$99 million).

The expense for site clearance is estimated at VND668 billion ($41.7 million). The project will be carried out in the first quarter of this year.

New expressway

In January this year the Government agreed on building the HCM City-Long Thanh-Dau Giay expressway project.

The Japan Bank of International Co-operation (JBIC) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) will fund $600 million of the project. The expressway is part of the north-south highway system.

The expressway will help reduce traffic congestion on National Highway 1A.

It is estimated that VND9.890 billion ($600 million) will be invested in the first stage of the project and VND18,884 billion ($1.18 billion) in the second stage.

The project will be carried out in the fourth quarter of this year and completed in 2012.

Another project to begin this year is the Dong Nai General Hospital, which will have 700 beds and 41 departments.

The Korean-owned Yooil Engineering and Architects Co. Ltd has been contracted to prepare the technical design of the hospital.

The hospital, which will cover 90 ha, will also have training facilities and specialized centres including areas for forensic exams, medical exams and high-tech diagnosis centres.

The Korean company will continue to perfect the infrastructure of the hospital in the second stage, with the project completed in 2010 at a total cost of VND889.4 billion ($55 million).

The local government has also approved the construction of an industrial and agricultural production complex and a hi-tech area in an agricultural production zone in Thong Nhat and Xuan Loc districts. Both are expected to open in 2015.