Vietnam seeks investors for HCM City Line Five

At a workshop on 27 May, Tat Thanh Cang, director of the city's Transportation Department, said the city will build six to eight metro routes and three tram routes.

Construction of Metro Lines One and Two has commenced and the routes are scheduled for completion in 2018. The remaining routes are now in the investigation phase or calling for investment.

"HCM City has no experience in the construction of metro lines so it needs cooperation with the countries that have built this kind of public transportation," said Cang.

HCM City's British Consul General Douglas Barnes said the British Consulate has been supporting British businesses in cooperation with Korean companies to invest in metro projects. The companies from both countries expressed their interest in the Metro Line Five project - Phase Two.

Introducing this project to foreign investors, Le Khac Huynh, deputy head of the HCM City Urban Railway Project Management Unit, said Metro Line Five is to be connected to all other metro routes, except Line Six.

The capital for the first phase of Metro Line Five (from Bay Hien crossroad to Saigon Bridge, nearly 9km long, with 9 stations) has been identified, with USD 850M to be funded by the Asian Development Bank, the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Spanish government. The first phase will be kicked off next year.

The second phase of Metro line 5 will start from Can Giuoc bus station in Binh Chanh District and run to Bay Hien crossroad, totaling 14.5km in length, with 13 stations. The total cost of this phase is estimated at USD 1.8bn.