Coteccons-led venture promises to complete Long Thanh terminal in three years

The group, comprising Coteccons, Hoa Binh, Central, An Phong, Delta, Unicorns, Thanh An and Thailand’s Power Line Engineering (PLE), is now seeking to win the bid for the project. It has been studying the project for around a year.

Coteccons chairman Bolat Duisenov said that Long Thanh terminal is a challenging project and it naturally attracts the most capable companies. Each company will contribute to the project in their own expertise, he said.

Thai company PLE was included in the portfolio because the company has finished its mechanical, electrical and plumbing engineering contract at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok.

Tran Quang Tuan, CEO of construction firm Central, said that to speed up construction speed at Long Thanh terminal, the group is willing to endure a negative cash balance of VND5 trillion (US$211.4 million), but it is confident that big lenders such as Vietinbank, MB, TPBank and BIDV will provide the necessary cash.

The terminal is estimated to cost over VND35 trillion and this is the most expensive contract of the airport.

Three groups of bidders have registered to compete for the contract, including the group led by Coteccons.

Another group is led by Turkey’s IC Istas construction firm. Vietnamese companies that are part of the group include Ricons, Newtecons and Sol E&C.

The last group is led by China Harbour Engineering, one of the biggest construction companies in China, which often builds key infrastructure projects.

The group includes other firms such as Thuan Viet, CDC, Xuan Mai and Beijing Construction Engineering.

The Long Thanh Airport in southern Dong Nai Province, to become Vietnam’s largest, is budgeted to cost around VND336.63 trillion.

Its construction is divided into three phases. The first, with one runway and terminal, is expected to be completed in 2025, allowing the airport to handle 25 million passengers a year.

In the second, to be completed by 2035, another runway and terminal will be added, doubling the capacity to 50 million.

Other infrastructure will be built by 2050 in the third phase, when the capacity will again double to 100 million passengers.