The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and authorities of Vietnam’s biggest city of Ho Chi Minh May 17 signed a $500 million loan contract for metro route No. 2, state media reported on May 18. The loan agreement to this effect was signed by Principal Transport Specialist for Southeast Asia, Robert Valkovic and Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Nguyen Huu Tin. The metro route 2 has a total investment of $1.25 billion with $540 million expected to come from ADB, EUR150 million from the European Investment Bank (EIB) and EUR240.75 million from the German Reconstruction Credit Institute (KfW). The second metro route was designed to have length of 20 kilometers, beginning at Thu Thien and ending in An Suong Bus Station. The project will be divided into two phase, with the first phase focusing on construction of 11-kilometer section from Ben Thanh market to Tham Luong with 11 stations. It is slated for completion in 2016. Earlier in early 2011, the Vietnamese government signed the first loan agreement worth EUR28 million with the Germany government for the project. (Phap Luat TPHCM – HCM City Law May 18 p4, Lao Dong – Labor May 18 p3)
