The Ministry of Transport (MOT) has just sent an official dispatch to the Prime Minister and the People’s Committee of Lai Chau province on the assessment of the PPP funding option for Lai Chau Airport.
In this dispatch, the Ministry of Transport notes that the current status of the governmental budget capital for infrastructure investment is still difficult, so the ministry supports Lai Chau province to study the plan to mobilize investment resources in Lai Chau airport project through PPP model. After ensuring all the planning conditions, the People’s Committee of Lai Chau province should actively cooperate with relevant agencies to implement the next procedures and report to the competent authorities for permission to deploy the investment in accordance with regulations. .
Previously, Lai Chau Provincial People’s Committee had proposed to the Prime Minister to allow investing in the construction of Lai Chau Airport under the PPP method and assign the Committee to be the competent agency to implement the project.
According to the master plan on development of the national airport and airport system for the period of 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050, which is being submitted to the competent authorities for approval, Lai Chau airport is planned for the 2030 period with a capacity of about 0.5 million passengers/year, and for the vision to 2050 with a capacity of about 1.5 million.
Lai Chau airport project belongs to the group of new airports (including Sa Pa, Quang Tri and Lai Chau airports), proposed to be funded through PPP contracts. Thus, in the context of limited state budget, the assessment of the PPP funding option for Lai Chau Airport is consistent with the policy of socializing resources in transport infrastructure investment.
However, the province still needs the Prime Minister’s approval to be the competent agency to implement this airport project.
