The central city of Da Nang has called for investment from Singapore to build a 33km tram line connecting the city and Hội An by 2025, vice chairman of the city’s People’s Committee Dang Viet Dung said in a working session with Tan Keng Hwee Seth, Executive Director of Infrastructure Asia (IA) of Singapore.

Dung said the infrastructure project is a key part of the city’s Master Plan for 2030.

He said that in 2018, Da Nang had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Singapore Manufacturing Federation and Sakae Holdings to support the implementation of the plan.

Dung said the tram will link the city’s international airport and downtown with the coastal road and Hoi An ancient city – a UNESCO-recognised world heritage site.

As planned, the line would cost between US$279 million to $594 million in different phases of investment.

Da Nang will work with IA to seek Official Assistance Aid (ODA) funds and money from the city’s counter fund from $33 million to $66 million to commence construction soon.

The vice chairman also called for investment from Singaporean enterprises in construction of other key projects including Lien Chieu Port, railway station removal, urban resettlement, a second software park and a horse racing centre.

The city has 68 listed Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) projects, 22 of which are in the hi-tech sector, drawing an estimated total of $1.4 billion in investment from foreign and domestic businesses between 2017 and 2020.

City authorities hope these projects will help turn Da Nang into a ‘green city’ by 2025.

To date, the city has attracted a total of 679 FDI projects worth $2.9 billion and 322 domestic projects worth $4.2 billion.

Singapore was the biggest source of foreign investment in Da Nang with 23 projects worth $717 million, while Japan was second with 134 projects worth $598 million. — VNS