A stretch of the Ho Chi Minh Highway runs through Central Highland Dak Lak Province. Remaining capital from the expansion project on the highway will be used to construct 17 new projects.— VNA/VNS Photo Huy Hung

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — A total amount of VND14.2 trillion (US$634 million) from government bonds, which is the remaining capital from expansion projects on National Highway 1A and Ho Chi Minh Highway passing through Central Highland region, will be used to construct 17 new projects and repair dozens of weak bridges on highways.

It is a part of State budget estimates in 2016 approved by the National Assembly.

VND1.6 trillion ($73.2 million) will be spent on projects including constructing 13 bridges, adding four bridges crossing southern Binh Thuan Province and resettlement assistance for National Highway 1 expansion projects.

As many as 17 new projects will be implemented using the remaining VND9.274 trillion ($412.2 million).

Nguyen Hoang, head of the transport ministry's Planning and Investment Department, said that the Ministry of Transport submitted a document to the Prime Minister on reallocation of the capital on February 3.

After the allocation, the capital is predicted to continue to reach a redundancy of about VND3.811 trillion ($169.4 million) to implement an additional 13 projects.

Transport Deputy Minister Nguyen Hong Truong assigned the Planning and Investment Department to submit a document and propose ratification of the general plan to Ministry of Science and Technology. It aims to accelerate the use of the capital and allow projects to be implemented in the first quarter of this year.

In a related development, transport ministry announced plans to carry out 23 transport public-private-partnership (PPP) projects this year. Total investment of the projects reaches up to VND39.899 trillion($1.7 billion), with nearly 99 per cent sourced from investors.

Truong asked the management board of PPP projects to finalise a list of PPP projects for all sectors in 2017 and the following years.

According to the management board, the transport ministry is supervising 80 PPP projects worth more than VND223.670 trillion ($9.7 billion). 33 projects have been put into operation and 47 others are being implemented. — VNS