A section of the La Son - Tuy Loan Expressway, connecting Thua-Thien Hue
Province with Da Nang City, which will be linked to the North-South Expressway.
Photo by VnExpress/Vo Thanh. 

The Transport Ministry has invited bids for construction of five sections of the North-South Expressway in the form of public-private partnership. 

Its public-private partnership department said the bids can be submitted from now through September, and the ministry expects to negotiate to sign contracts with investors by December.

Successful bidders have six months to acquire funding. Work on the five projects is expected to begin early next year. Local governments are speeding up land acquisition for them, the department added.

The five to be built under PPP mode are part of a total of 11 that will comprise the eastern cluster of the North-South Expressway, which is among the national top priority projects for upgrading Vietnam’s outdated infrastructure.

The other six are state-funded, of these three have seen construction underway.

The five sections include the Highway 45-Nghi Son (45 km), Nghi Son-Dien Chau (50 km) and Dien Chau-Bai Vot (50 km), Nha Trang-Cam Lam (29 km) and Cam Lam-Vinh Hao (91 km).

The total cost of the 11 projects is estimated at VND100.8 trillion ($4.3 billion), with VND78.46 trillion ($3.3 billion) coming from public funds.

The North-South Expressway covers 2,109 kilometers, extending from the northern mountainous province of Lang Son, which borders China to the southernmost province of Ca Mau. Once completed, it will be the main traffic artery connecting either end of the country.

The National Assembly in June passed the Public-Private Partnership Law which allows the government to share financial risks with companies in PPP projects.