HCM CITY — Nguyễn Thành Phong, chairman of HCM City People’s Committee, on Monday, ordered a halt on all Build-Transfer (BT) projects that are under negotiation to wait for the new procedure.

At a meeting to review economic development in October and the first 10 months of 2017, Phong said the implementation of BT projects needed to ensure transparency and create favourable conditions for investors.

He also announced upcoming conferences on BT and BOT (Build-Operate-Transfer) investment with the participation of experts and scientists to evaluate and propose management solutions for these projects.

For better evaluation and to mobilise private capital, Phong called for a halt on BT projects under negotiation. Those that have already been approved by the Government can continue to be implemented.

At a press conference on the same day, Sử Ngọc Anh, director of HCM City’s Department of Planning and Investment, said the city has 18 BT projects with investment of more than VNĐ59.2 trillion (US$2.6 billion). Some 130 investors are willing to co-operate with the Government, with total capital of more than VNĐ350 trillion ($15.4 billion).

In the next five years, the city will need VNĐ500 trillion ($22 billion) to develop social and economic infrastructure, although it can only allocate VNĐ171 trillion ($7.5 billion) from the State budget. Therefore, there is huge demand for private capital.

“Localities cannot wait for funds from the State budget for development projects, therefore capital mobilised from the private sector is necessary. With 61 per cent of investment coming from the people, the city’s authority must come up with solutions to attract and build trust in them,” Anh said.

Introduced in Việt Nam in the 1990s, BT is the practice of exchanging land for investment with those who commit to develop infrastructure as localities across the country lacked funds for building infrastructure. — VNS