Long Thanh airport gets go-ahead. What’s next? There is a mountain of work that needs to be done to turn the dream of a Long Thanh airport into reality.    Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai (middle) visits the site Leaders of the Ministry of Transport at their six-month review conference emphasized the feasibility study for Long Thanh Airport will be a priority task in the second half of 2015.  Which investment mode for Long Thanh? When asked which investment mode is the most suitable for Long Thanh, Le Manh Hung, CEO of the Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV), said the project will ‘need all resources in the society’. The capital for Long Thanh will be mobilized from many different sources, including the state budget, corporations and ODA (official development assistance). “Decisions will be released by the Ministry of Transport. However, it is highly possible that a joint-stock company will be established. ACV will make capital contributions. Foreign investors can also join to implement the project,” Hung said. According to Luong Hoai Nam, a renowned aviation expert, there are three major investment models which can be applied for Long Thanh – public investment, PPP (private public partnership) and joint stock company to develop the project. Nam thinks the third model is the most suitable for Long Thanh. This was also the investment mode chosen for the Beijing International Airport project. The state contributed 45 percent of capital and foreign strategic investors 10 percent, while 35 percent of Beijing airport shares have been traded on the Hong Kong stock market. “The investment mode of Long Thanh Airport will determine how to organize investment management and how to operate the airport. I believe that accountability and professionalism will be promoted at the highest possible level, if the joint stock company mode is chosen,” he said. Capital mobilization With two-thirds of the total investment capital to be mobilized from non-state sources, the project will be officially put into the investment and credit markets after the feasibility study gets National Assembly approval. By that time, also according to Nam, investors and financial institutions, domestic and international, will say which investment models they want. “I think that they (the investors) want a joint stock company in which the state’s capital is not higher than 50 percent of the total investment capital,” Nam said. Sources said some foreign investors have expressed their interest in Long Thanh, including French ADPi Group, Samsung, Incheon Airport Corporation and some Japanese groups. However, as said by Minister of Transport Dinh La Thang, foreign investors have not said anything in detail. “Only when the feasibility study is approved by competent agencies will the investors be able to calculate the investment efficiency before they make decisions,” Thang said. NLD