Germany is planning to provide an additional EUR220 million for the second phase of metro route No. 2 in Vietnam’s southern economic hub of Ho Chi Minh City, Vice-chairman Nguyen Thanh Tai said. The Thoi bao Ngan hang newspaper cited Tai as saying that the loan agreement is expected to be signed during the German prime minister to Vietnam which is scheduled in October. Earlier in March, the German Reconstruction Credit Institute (KfW) and the municipal authorities signed a deal to provide EUR28 million to build the $1.3 billion metro route, the official noted. The second metro route was designed to have length of 20 kilometers, beginning at Thu Thien and ending in An Suong Bus Station with a total investment capital of more than $1.35 billion. 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. (Thoi bao Ngan hang – Banking Times Jul 14 p2, thesaigontimes.vn Jul 13)
