Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Investment capital for the first phase of theconstruction of Long Thanh International Airport in the southern province of DongNai was high compared to other international airports, said the StateAppraisal Council.

According tothe council, the project has an investment rate of more than 4.66 billion USD to serve 25 million passengers in phase 1. 

Minister ofPlanning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung said total investment for Vietnam’slargest airport construction project was made in accordance with theprovisions of Decree 68 on construction cost management.

Dung saidthe total investment of the airport had been verified and determined inaccordance with regulations, adding the investment rate was evaluated incomparison with airport international investment in the world and ensurednot to exceed the total investment directed by the National Assembly (NA).

Previously,the NA’s Resolution 94/2015/QH13 approved the investment policy of Long Thanhinternational airport with the serving capacity of 100 million passengers andfive million tonnes of freight annually at the investment of 336.63trillion VND (14.51 billion USD) for three phases. In which, phase 1 witha capacity of 25 million passengers and 1.2 million tonnes of cargo per yearwill have a total investment of 114.45 trillion VND (4.9 billion USD).

The councilnoted that after the project of the first phase is approved by the PrimeMinister, the MoT and the investors of the component projects must beresponsible for reviewing, updating and determining the specific cost and totalcost and to ensure the investment is efficient.

Earlier, theMinistry of Transport (MoT) found the investment rate of about 15 billion USDper 100 million passengers of Long Thanh airport was equivalent to theinvestment rate of other major airports across the world.

The MoT saidthe first phase of Daxing International Airport in Beijing, China phase 1,which ran since last year, has a total investment of about 11.7 billion USDfor a capacity of 72 million passengers or about 16.26 billion USDper 100 million passengers per year.

IstanbulAirport in Turkey was built in 2015 with a capacity of 90 millionpassengers per year with a total investment of about 12 billion USDor 13.33 billion USD for 100 million passengers, said the report.

It also saidwith the inflation rate of 2 percent per year according to the research ofthe International Monetary Fund (IMF), the investment cost of IstanbulAirport in 2019 was 14.93 billion USD.

Regardingthe progress of the project of the airport, on November 2, Minister ofTransport Nguyen Van The said: “As of the plan, they will start building thefence of the airport at the end of December 2020 and will start levelling thefirst quarter of 2021.”

The saidthey would try to complete phase 1 of the project by 2025 as planned.

Tan Son Nhatinternational airport in HCM City, the country’s largest, is reported to beoverloaded. The ministry said the new airport in Dong Nai near the city shouldbecome an aviation hub for Southeast Asia./.