Hanoi (VNA) – A joint venture between Vietnameseinfrastructure developer Deo Ca Group JSC and Petroleum Trading Lao Public Company (PetroTrade) has been allowed to develop a railway projectlinking the two countries.
General Director of the Deo Ca Group JSC Nguyen Quang Vinh hasannounced that the Ministry of Transport accepted the joint venture’s proposal on developing Vung Ang – Tan Ap – Mu Gia railway project under the form of Public-Private Partnership (PPP).
The joint venture as the project investor is required to conducta pre-feasibility study and submit an assessment report as regulated in the Lawon Investment, Law on Railway, relevant laws and planning schemes.
The Vung Ang - Tan Ap - Mu Gia railway project is part of theVientiane - Vung Ang railway, which was included in the national railwaynetwork development planning in the 2021 – 2030 period, with a vision until 2050. It has a length of 103km and is estimated to cost nearly 27.5 trillion VND (1.12 billion USD).
It is an important project, part of the overall Vietnam - Laosrailway project, and one of the priorities of the Governments of Vietnam andLaos.
The Vientiane - Vung Ang railway has a total length of 554.7 kmfrom Vung Ang port in Vietnam’s central coastal province of Ha Tinh to Vientiane, thecapital and largest city of Laos.
The project will be builtunder the public-private partnership, with a total investment of 149.55trillion VND (6.3 billion USD).
Vung Ang port - the railway’s ending point will play animportant role in promoting the the two countries' economic ties through tradeexchange and maritime transport, targeting the markets of Northeast Thailand,China, the Republic of Korea and Japan.
According to the representative from the Deo Ca Group JSC, afterhighways, investing in railway infrastructure has been identified as the newdirection of the business in the next 5-10 years./.