State-owned lenders Vietcombank, VietinBank, BIDV and the Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV) on Saturday signed a credit agreement to provide ACV with a syndicated loan worth US$1.8 billion for the execution of the third component of the big-ticket Long Thanh International Airport project in Dong Nai Province, southern Vietnam.

The third component of the first phase of the airport project, whose investor is ACV, includes essential facilities.

The loan is equivalent to some 45 percent of the third component’s total capital, with $1 billion set to come from Vietcombank, $450 million from VietinBank, and the rest from BIDV.

Nguyen Thanh Tung, general director of Vietcombank, said that the project has secured the biggest loan in the banking industry.

Also, this is the first project to be offered a medium-term dollar loan by state-owned banks with more favorable lending conditions than loans provided by international credit institutions, he said.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh stated that the Party and state see building a synchronous infrastructure system as one of the three strategic breakthroughs to develop Vietnam.

In particular, a focus on a traffic infrastructure system of expressways, railways, and airports is the cornerstone of the country’s strategy to drive up socio-economic growth, ensure national defense and security, and enhance diplomatic activities and international integration.

The prime minister believed that the syndicated loan provided by the three lenders would be a prerequisite to encourage commercial banks to offer loans to other key projects.

“This is the first time that state-run banks have joined hands to arrange a loan worth $1.8 billion to such a key project,” PM Chinh underlined.

The Long Thanh International Airport project is a national key project and will play a strategic role in advancing the socio-economic development of the southern region and the aviation industry once it becomes operational, said the government leader.

Long Thanh International Airport is expected to contribute 0.98 percent of the country’s gross domestic product growth in 2030 and create 200,000 jobs.

The first phase of the Long Thanh International Airport project needs an estimated investment of some VND110 trillion ($4.3 billion).

The project includes four components with the third carrying a price tag of over VND99 trillion ($3.9 billion).

The entire project requires an investment of some VND336.63 trillion ($13.3 billion) and will be the largest airport in the nation with an annual capacity of 100 million passengers and five million metric tons of cargo.

The prime minister urged ACV and the Ministry of Transport to speed up work on all components of the project, while mobilizing as many resources as possible to develop a series of strategic infrastructure projects, especially highways, high-speed rail lines, airports, and seaports to attract investors and increase production capacity.

The Ministry of Finance and the State Bank of Vietnam were asked to mobilize capital to bolster investment in strategic infrastructure projects.

He hinted at reviewing suitable policies, and encouraging commercial banks and credit institutions to offer loans with favorable lending conditions in order to channel capital into key projects.

The prime minister believed that the technical operations of runways at the Long Thanh International Airport project would start before April 30 next year, three months earlier than the planned progress.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!