Seven urgent transport projects funded by official development assistance will receive capital injections totalling 2-2.5 trillion VND (95-119 million USD) in 2014’s first round of advancing reciprocal capital for projects, probably soon after April 30, the Vietnam Investment Review (VIR) reported on April 15.

The decision has made at a recent meeting among the misnitries of transport and finance, the State Bank of Vietnam and Government Office.

These seven projects include a road linking Noi Bai international airport to Nhat Tan port in Hanoi, the Da Nang-Quang Ngai expressway, the Ben Luc-Long Thanh expressway, Hanoi’s urban railway section from Cat Linh to Ha Dong, Mekong Delta transport infrastructure development (WB5), upgrading the northern sub-Mekong region transport network (national highway 217) and the Lo Te-Rach Soi highway (Delta region).

“This list is temporary as they will only see capital injections once developers show that they have finalised disbursement of 70 percent of this year’s reciprocal capital before April 30 and have land acquisition plans approved by local governments,” said Deputy Head of the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI)’s Infrastructure Department Tran Duc Toan.

Of these above listed projects, two highways developed by the Vietnam Expressway Corporation (VEC) are reportedly in position 15 days ahead of the deadline.

“We will disburse nearly 900 billion VND (42.8 million USD) in reciprocal capital to the Da Nang-Quang Ngai and Ben Luc-Long Thanh expressway projects no later than mid-April,” said VEC General Director Mai Tuan Anh.

According to sources, additional reciprocal capital demands for the two projects are somewhere in the area of 2.3 trillion VND (110 million USD) this year, with 1.5 trillion VND (71.4 million USD) needed just by the latter. Construction of the Ben Luc-Long Thanh expressway is slated to kick off in June.

According to the Government Office, the National Assembly has approved only 8 trillion VND (381 million USD) in reciprocal capital for the whole country for implementing ODA projects this year.

The transport sector is likely to be the biggest recipient with an expected 35 percent of the approved figure.

In a document sent to the Prime Minister this March, the MoT proposed an additional allocation of 8.2 trillion VND (392 million USD) in reciprocal capital for ODA projects this year.

This figure did not include 2.5 trillion VND (121 million USD) to be sourced from government bonds, already ratified by the Prime Minister earlier this year.

“To achieve the full reciprocal capital demand for this year, ODA projects would have to disburse 35 trillion VND (1.66 billion USD) to complete 245km of highways, 12km of key urban roads, upgrade 167km of highway, complete the construction of the T2 terminal at Noi Bai Airport, and more,” said the head of MoT’s Planning and Investment Department Nguyen Hoang.

Concerning ODA transport projects, the role of reciprocal capital is essential as it links with compensation and land acquisition, decisive factors in construction and general disbursement.

“Key transport projects have a huge demand for reciprocal capital this year and a slow disbursement pace could make their targets unrealisable,” said Toan from the MPI.-VNA