Nearly 7,000 billion VND to build Sapa airport

Sapa Airport will be invested in the form of a public-private partnership (PPP), with a total investment of nearly 7,000 billion VND.

On October 21, Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh authorized Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh to sign a decision on investment policy on the construction project of Sapa airport (Lao Cai). The project will be divided into two investment phases, expected to use 371 hectares of land (phase 1 is 295.2 hectares, and phase 2 is 75.8 hectares).

Phase 1 will be implemented from 2021, including the construction of Sapa airport up to 4C grade airport standards (according to the standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization – ICAO) and a grade II military airport capacity of 1.5 million passengers per year.

Phase 2 construction and investment from 2028 will complete the items to increase the capacity to 3 million passengers per year.

According to the Prime Minister’s decision, the investment period to build and operate the Sapa airport project is 50 years, of which construction is four years and exploitation and capital recovery is 46 years.

Due to the investment in the form of public-private partnership (PPP), the whole project will be divided into 2 component projects, including the site clearance project in the form of public investment and the airport’s construction by the PPP method type BOT contract.

The estimated total investment of this project is VND 6,948 billion, of which phase 1 accounts for 60% of capital (VND 4,183 billion); The remaining 40% capital is in phase 2 VND 2,765 billion.

The State will “contribute” about 2,730 billion VND to this project in the field of site clearance, resettlement, infrastructure construction support… Investors will mobilize the remaining 4,218 billion VND.

The capital contribution between the State and the investor will be evenly distributed in the two investment phases of the project. Accordingly, in phase 1 of the project, the State contributes 1,193 billion VND (including 600 billion VND from the central budget, 593 billion VND from the local funding), and the investor’s capital mobilized 2,990 billion VND. In the second phase, investors poured 1,228 billion VND and the State poured 1,537 billion VND.

The Prime Minister assigned the Lao Cai Provincial People’s Committee to take full responsibility for the information and data in the pre-feasibility study report of the Sapa airport project. The province is also responsible for selecting qualified investors to do this project on the principles of openness, transparency, efficiency, and schedule.

Previously, according to the approved plan, Sapa domestic airport had a capacity of 3 million passengers per year and could receive aircraft equivalent to Airbus A320 and Boeing 737. The airport has a 2-level passenger terminal. The south has reserved land for building an additional passenger terminal after 2030.

By mid-2020, the Lao Cai Provincial People’s Committee proposed that the Government consider and approve the investment policy of the Sa Pa airport project in the form of PPP. The Ministry of Planning & Investment then appraised the pre-feasibility study of this project.

(Source: vnexpress)