Design of Long Thanh International Airport (Photo: ACV) Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - The State-run Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV) hassaid it wants to borrow US dollars from local banks for thecountry's largest airport project, Long Thanh International Airport in southernDong Nai province.
ACVChairman Lai Xuan Thanh sent a report to the Economic Committee of the NationalAssembly, asking them to support the plan of borrowing and paying inUS dollars in order to maximise benefits and efficiency.
Thanhsaid as the interest rate in the foreign currency was lower than the Vietnamese dong, it would help the firm to save oncosts.
Accordingto the ACV’s leader, phase one of the investment project, estimatedto cost about 2.5 billion USD, was being focused on, but theCOVID-19 pandemic had a great impact on economies around the world and in particularthe aviation industry.
Asall international commercial flights were stopped in Vietnam, it affected the ACV'smain source of foreign currency revenue, while the outbreaks in some localitiesalso significantly reduced domestic passenger volume.
Thanhalso said the pandemic has made it difficult to negotiate and signcontracts with partner companies as foreign experts had to undergoquarantine.
Moreover,the ACV representative said, the soaring price of raw materials,especially steel prices, was causing difficulties for the project’simplementation.
Todeal with all the factors, the ACV proposed the Prime Minister to allow it toaccumulate money from production and business activities for investment.
Thefirm also proposed the PM consider and approve the plan to allow the ACV toborrow from domestic state-owned banks in USD and pay in USD to save oninterest.
TheACV's representative said: “The lending interest rate in USD is alwayssignificantly lower than that in VND, while the ACV has direct and indirect USDrevenue from business activities in international airports such as NoI Bai, TanSon Nhat and Phu Quoc to pay interest on foreign currency loans.”
Thanhsaid: “At present, domestic state-owned banks that have a surplus of USD needto find reliable lending partners and bring higher interest rates than depositrates at foreign banks,” adding such a lending option could ensure benefits forthe State and improve project efficiency while preserving and developingstate capital in the ACV as a state-owned enterprise.
Alsoto ensure the progress of the Long Thanh Airport project in the context of thepandemic, the ACV suggested the National Assembly direct the relevant authoritiesto soon apply measures to stabilise the price of materials as well as supportthe plan of borrowing and paying in USD to ensure maximum efficiency.
InApril this year, the ACV, which is the investor of the expensive and ambitioustransport hub project in the southern province of Dong Nai, committed to startconstruction of the Long Thanh International Airport’s passenger terminal earlynext year.
Asthe Long Thanh International Airport is one of the breakthrough projects of thenational transport sector in the 2021-2025 period, Deputy Minister of TransportLe Anh Tuan urged all parties to coordinate and facilitate the progress ofall components of the project and disburse the allocated State capital.
Accordingto the ACV, the Long Thanh International Airport will be built in three phasesover three decades. In the first phase, one runway with a length of 4,000m,taxiways, an apron, and a passenger terminal with other auxiliary workssprawling 373,000sq.m will be built to serve 25 million passengers and 1.2million tonnes of cargo each year.
Theairport, which was expected to cost 336.63 trillion VND (14.5 billion USD), isdesigned to have four runways, four passenger terminals, and other auxiliaryfacilities to ensure a capacity of 100 million passengers and 5 million tonnesof cargo a year by 2040./.
ACVChairman Lai Xuan Thanh sent a report to the Economic Committee of the NationalAssembly, asking them to support the plan of borrowing and paying inUS dollars in order to maximise benefits and efficiency.
Thanhsaid as the interest rate in the foreign currency was lower than the Vietnamese dong, it would help the firm to save oncosts.
Accordingto the ACV’s leader, phase one of the investment project, estimatedto cost about 2.5 billion USD, was being focused on, but theCOVID-19 pandemic had a great impact on economies around the world and in particularthe aviation industry.
Asall international commercial flights were stopped in Vietnam, it affected the ACV'smain source of foreign currency revenue, while the outbreaks in some localitiesalso significantly reduced domestic passenger volume.
Thanhalso said the pandemic has made it difficult to negotiate and signcontracts with partner companies as foreign experts had to undergoquarantine.
Moreover,the ACV representative said, the soaring price of raw materials,especially steel prices, was causing difficulties for the project’simplementation.
Todeal with all the factors, the ACV proposed the Prime Minister to allow it toaccumulate money from production and business activities for investment.
Thefirm also proposed the PM consider and approve the plan to allow the ACV toborrow from domestic state-owned banks in USD and pay in USD to save oninterest.
TheACV's representative said: “The lending interest rate in USD is alwayssignificantly lower than that in VND, while the ACV has direct and indirect USDrevenue from business activities in international airports such as NoI Bai, TanSon Nhat and Phu Quoc to pay interest on foreign currency loans.”
Thanhsaid: “At present, domestic state-owned banks that have a surplus of USD needto find reliable lending partners and bring higher interest rates than depositrates at foreign banks,” adding such a lending option could ensure benefits forthe State and improve project efficiency while preserving and developingstate capital in the ACV as a state-owned enterprise.
Alsoto ensure the progress of the Long Thanh Airport project in the context of thepandemic, the ACV suggested the National Assembly direct the relevant authoritiesto soon apply measures to stabilise the price of materials as well as supportthe plan of borrowing and paying in USD to ensure maximum efficiency.
InApril this year, the ACV, which is the investor of the expensive and ambitioustransport hub project in the southern province of Dong Nai, committed to startconstruction of the Long Thanh International Airport’s passenger terminal earlynext year.
Asthe Long Thanh International Airport is one of the breakthrough projects of thenational transport sector in the 2021-2025 period, Deputy Minister of TransportLe Anh Tuan urged all parties to coordinate and facilitate the progress ofall components of the project and disburse the allocated State capital.
Accordingto the ACV, the Long Thanh International Airport will be built in three phasesover three decades. In the first phase, one runway with a length of 4,000m,taxiways, an apron, and a passenger terminal with other auxiliary workssprawling 373,000sq.m will be built to serve 25 million passengers and 1.2million tonnes of cargo each year.
Theairport, which was expected to cost 336.63 trillion VND (14.5 billion USD), isdesigned to have four runways, four passenger terminals, and other auxiliaryfacilities to ensure a capacity of 100 million passengers and 5 million tonnesof cargo a year by 2040./.
VNA
