The Management Authority for Urban Railways (MAUR) in Vietnam’s southern economic hub of Ho Chi Minh City has proposed the municipal People’s Committee seek the government approval to borrow from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for the metro route No. 5. MAUR made the proposal after the Spanish government decided to cut the loan for the project to EUR200 million from EUR500 million during its plan to cut aid and commercial loans to foreign countries as its state budget is shrinking. Ambassador Fernando Curcio, however, said that Spain will help Vietnam seek the financial support for the project through multi-national organizations such as the European Investment Bank (EIB) and ADB. The 17-kilometer metro route No.5 linking Bay Hien crossroad with Saigon bridge will be built under an Engineering, Procurement and Construction contract (EPC). The southern metropolis needs $7.5 billion to develop six urban railway projects and five metro routes between now and 2020. Of the sum, $6.3 billion is expected to come from foreign loans. (tuoitre.vn Mar 3)
