HCM CITY – HCM City will need VNĐ1,000 trillion (US$44 billion) to upgrade its transport infrastructure in the next 15 years, according to the municipal People’s Committee.

Addressing a conference titled “Measures to mobilise investments for infrastructure development in HCM City” on Thursday, deputy chairman of the People’s Committee, Trần Vĩnh Tuyến, said upgrades to transport infrastructure would contribute to socio-economic development in the near future.

With public funding facing constraints, the city has given priority to mobilising capital from other sources, he said.

He called on the HCM City Finance Investment Co (HFIC) to co-operate with relevant agencies to mitigate difficulties facing resource mobilisation for transportation infrastructure development.

He urged it to mobilise capital from all available sources (such as house and land funds and equitisation of land use rights), launch PPP (public-private partnership) projects, and offer incentives to speed up major infrastructure works.

Economist Trần Du Lịch said the city’s urban land fund is a potential capital source for infrastructure development.

PPP is one of the best solutions for capital mobilisation in HCM City, he said.

The city should seek a specific financial mechanism from the Government to successfully carry out its major infrastructure works.

Some experts warned that city authorities should be cautious about the PPP investment mode, saying it is not the best option for mobilising funds for transport infrastructure.

Some large overseas PPP projects reveal that poor management could lead to losses, especially because of dubious expenses at large-scale infrastructure projects.

Experts also called on the Government to establish an agency to manage public-private partnerships to better allocate and use international and domestic resources for infrastructure projects not only in HCM City, but also elsewhere in the country.

At the meeting, HFIC and the city transport department agreed to co-operate for programmes to reduce traffic congestion and accidents, urban flooding and environmental pollution and respond to climate change and saltwater intrusion. —VNS