China investor likely to replace Russian firms in subway project
 

China Shanghai Corporation for Foreign Economic and Technological Cooperation, or SFECO Group, is seen as a possible candidate to replace a Russian consortium in a subway project in HCM City.

The city government has agreed with SFECO Group over researching and planning the underground rail line, paving the way for signing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in this regard next month.

The 12-km line is planned to connect the city’s northern district of Go Vap with District 4 in the south.

 
If approval is forthcoming, SFECO Group will carry out the entire project from making the pre-feasibility study to designing and building the line, the fourth planned for the city.

The city government has asked the Department of Planning and Investment to announce the expiry of the MOU signed last year between the city and the Russian consortium.

Last May the Russian consortium comprising Moscow Metrostroi, Jobrus Ltd. and Sistema Hals signed the MOU with the city, under which they would undertake a pre-feasibility study and a financing plan for this subway.

The Russian firms should seek finance from Russia and other countries if the project is approved by the Vietnamese Government.

However, this cooperation has not made as good progress as expected, so the city has selected SFECO as a substitute for the Russian investors to continue the project.
 

The city’s Urban Railway Preparation Unit says the project will require an estimated US$500 million.
 

Tran Quang Phuong, director of the HCMC Service of Communications and Public Works, told the Daily that the city would develop six subways with a total length of 107 km and three tramways with a total length of 37 km by 2020.
 

The city needs a staggering US$4 billion to translate these projects into reality.
 

Three other lines are well on the drawing table with involvement of international investors. The first one, Ben Thanh-Suoi Tien (19.5 km), will be financed by Japan’s ODA while Ben Thanh-Tham Luong and Ben Thanh-Mien Tay Coach Station, worth US$850 million, will be funded by loans from Germany, the Asian Development Bank and other sources.
 

(Source: The SGT Daily)