HCM City: Korean bank proposes investment study for Metro Line No. 5

The Export-Import Bank of the Republic of Korea (KEXIM) has asked Ho Chi Minh City’s authorities for permission to conduct an investment study for Phase 2 of Metro Line No. 5, set to be carried out in the public-private partnership (PPP) format.

The track of Metro Line No. 1, from Ben Thanh Market to Suoi Tien Theme Park, in HCM City (Photo: VNA)

HCM City (VNA) – The Export-ImportBank of the Republic of Korea (KEXIM) has asked Ho Chi Minh City’s authoritiesfor permission to conduct an investment study for Phase 2 of Metro Line No. 5,set to be carried out in the public-private partnership (PPP) format.

In its letter sent to the Chairman of themunicipal People’s Committee and the city’s Management Authority for UrbanRailways (MAUR), KEXIM said it will soon provide funding for the update of theproject’s pre-feasibility study, which covers technical, financial, and legalaspects, according to the MAUR.

The bank noted that members of the researchgroup and participating investors have experience in building and operatingurban railway routes, including Metro Line No. 9 of the RoK’s Seoul capital, inthe PPP format.

The MAUR said it had a working session onJanuary 19 with some investors and consultancies from the RoK to discuss thestudy and related orientations for the project.

The Korean side, including KEXIM and somebusinesses and consultancies, presented the plan to update the pre-feasibilitystudy, whose final version is expected to be submitted by the end of 2021.

The pre-feasibility study for Phase 2 of MetroLine No. 5 was previously financed by the Korea International CooperationAgency (KOICA). However, due to certain objective reasons, the project wasunable to be funded through official development assistance (ODA) loans, butthe PPP format.

The 23.39km-long Metro Line No.5 is developed in two phases. 

The first one, from the Bay Hien intersection toSai Gon Bridge, is about 8.8km long and invested with around 1.66 billion USD.It is funded with ODA capital from the Spanish Government, the AsianDevelopment Bank (ADB), the European Investment Bank (EIB), and the Germandevelopment bank KfW.

Meanwhile, Phase 2 is about 14.5km long./.
VNA

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