Accordingly, Vietnam Development Bank will provide VND2 trillion (US$78.5 million) to help the Ben Luc - Long Thanh Expressway construction project have more capital for continuing construction and completion of the first phase as planned.
The Ben Luc - Long Thanh Expressway has a total length of 57.8 kilometers, including a 2.7-kilometer long section passing through the province of Long An, a 26.4-kilometer long section through Ho Chi Minh City and a 28.7-kilometer long section in the province of Dong Nai.
The total adjusted investment for the project is VND29,586 billion (US$1.2 billion) from loan sources of Asian Development Bank, the Japan International Cooperation Agency, counterpart funds from the State budget and VEC's self-arranged capital.
The project was commenced in October 2014, but by 2019, it has creased construction due to obstacles of numerous policy and funding issues, and contract terminations with some contractors. At that time, the project reached 80 percent of the construction volume.
In July 2023, the Prime Minister agreed to extend the project completion period to September 30, 2025.
Recently, the Ministry of Transport again suggested the Government to extend the project completion period and adjust its capital due to the prolonged procedures for investment policy adjustments to utilize VEC funds, contractor selection and contract signing.
Following the new schedule, the investment policy adjustment procedures are expected to be completed by January 2025, and the project investment adjustment procedures will be done by February 2025.
The investor set a goal of opening some sections to traffic in 2025 and complete the entire project by September 30, 2026.
At the current time, the Ben Luc - Long Thanh Expressway investment and construction project has achieved about 89 percent of the construction volume.
